Shikamaru x Kagome

Note: Continuation of Chapter I

Shutting the door quietly behind her, Kagome wandered into the home that she officially shared with Nara Shikamaru. It had been five months now, and she could only bite her lip in anticipation.

He said he would be home, due to injury from his last mission, so she was looking forward to—well—

A blush appeared on her face, despite the fact Shikamaru had basically thrown himself onto her a year ago out of frustration. Well, not so much thrown himself, but the point remained. They had been together, like that, for some time now, and yet she still could not stop herself from—

She paused in the doorway to the living room, blinking out of curiosity. "Shikamaru?" she called, watching as another trail of smoke rose from her lover's cigarette. It was not an unnatural sight—though she did not approve of the habit—but it was odd that he, supposedly injured as he was, was lounging on the couch in nothing but a tie.

"Eh?" His unbound hair hung around his shoulders, making her squirm a bit at the thought of pulling upon them while she was situated in his lap. "Kagome, when did you get here?"

Tilting her head a little, Kagome took note of the wine glass in his hand. The sight was very familiar, in fact, she was positive he had done the same thing when he had first decided he had had enough of her innocence. Yet, there was something different this time. "Shikamaru, are you—?"

"What?"

"—are you drunk?" Kagome finally giggled out.

"I'll have you know that this is a perfectly good substance to drown out the pain that is being produced by my in—injuries," Shikamaru told her. His voice barely changed, as if he was not drunk off his ass, but it was obvious that there was something wrong with the way he was acting.

Kagome giggled again. "What did you do while I was away, go out with Chouji?"

"No," he mumbled. "Ino stopped by. She said that I shou—"

"What is it, Shikamaru?" Kagome asked, frowning.

"—Holy." Shikamaru glanced down at the glass in his hand, saying, "That damn blonde drugged me."

Unable to help herself, Kagome burst into laughter. She should have known, especially when she had spoken to Ino about how Shikamaru refused to retreat back into his serious, predatory state once he had caught her.

Appearing as bored as ever, Shikamaru said, "If you plan to have your mouth open like that, you might as well put it to good use."

As her boyfriend looked down into his lap, Kagome felt her blush return with a vengeance. "Shikamaru!"