Thankyou again to the lovely people who have reviewed. And many thanks to Manatheron, who deigned to not only look upon, but also review my weird sasuke POV drabble. That made me really happy.

And Authoress Pendragon: As if i could EVER belittle our beloved Shikamaru-sama in ANY way...of COURSE I was gonna make him a hottie! xD

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But if i ever get near Shikamaru...xD


A Second Opinion

"Rapeable…" breathed Temari.

Ino, Sakura, Tenten and Hinata all looked at her in astonishment. Surely one didn't say things like that out loud?

Especially in such a public place as Ichiraku Ramen, where half of Konoha's younger generation liked to gather for miso ramen at 3pm on a Wednesday afternoon. And with a clear, piercing voice such as Temari's, anyone could have heard her comment, brief as it was.

Still, it took a few minutes before the brash sand nin dragged her eyes back to her companions, only to stop short at the looks on their faces.

"What?" she asked, not at all embarrassed, "Isn't that what we're all thinking, shorn of the poetry and romance?"

"Well, yes actually," said Ino, only to receive a slap on the arm from Tenten.

"But he is sitting right there. Could you at least not stare so obviously?" Sakura shrieked in a whisper, which is quite a tricky thing to do when you think about it.

"Oh please," Temari rolled her eyes. "Look who he's sitting with, he won't have the time to eat, let alone check for who's stalking him."

All eyes turned to the table in the opposite corner of the Ramen stand, which had in recent years been converted into a full-fledged restaurant, with air-conditioning, cushioned seats and a wide range of caffeine-based beverages included on the menu.

There in the corner was Nara Shikamaru, object of scrutiny, flanked by Konoha's beautiful blue beast in the flesh and the number one loudest, hyperactive ninja in an orange tracksuit, both describing their latest mission together in detail, complete with fight re-enactments and colourful descriptions at top volume, accompanied by various poses from Lee.

Ordinarily, Shikamaru would have been looking simply bored, but combined with sleek, silver, angular half-moon spectacles, his somnolent posture was inexplicably transformed into an aura that somehow encompassed magnetic aloofness, superiority and downright smouldering sexuality…

Tenten mentally slapped herself. What was she thinking? It must have been too long since she had last seen Neji. Neji didn't wear glasses.

How would Neji look with glasses?

Glasses and a spiky ponytail…and a sharp, chiselled nose, long flexible mouth, smouldering dark eyes…

At this point Tenten lost her coherent train of thought and sat, staring into space, cream dripping unheeded from her spoon onto the table. Hinata surreptitiously slid a napkin over the spot.

Temari and Ino, both with eerily similar predatory grins unconsciously forming on their faces, ran their eyes shamelessly over the shadow-user as he sat, muscular tanned arms folded, blinking drowsily behind his glinting silver frames, drifting off to sleep despite the commotion caused by his two companions.

Sakura watched her two blonde friends with a sense of trepidation. Ino and Temari had both already gone through most of the eligible young shinobi in Konohagakure and Sunagakure respectively and were notorious for their man-eating abilities.

While the pink-haired medic had respect for the lazy genius' intelligence and tact, she seriously wondered if even his skills could handle two wily kunoichi, both intent on adding his name to her list of conquests.

Her jade green eyes shifted from the two predators to the shy girl sitting next to an oddly spaced-out looking Tenten.

"So Hinata," she said, "How do you think he looks?"

The answer would be interesting. It was common knowledge that since their academy days, the Hyuuga heiress had been smitten by one Uzumaki Naruto, measuring all other men against the blonde baka. And to the dismay of Hinata's family and the disappointment of more than one young shinobi, no other could come close to matching Naruto's glowing standards.

Hinata turned her pearly gaze from the study of her crush as, with Lee's full cooperation, he re-enacted a Rasengan attack, while Shikamaru yawned.

"Well, Shikamaru-san looks very…different…very interesting and, I think those angular half frames really, ano, compliment his features…he looks…very serious, but…rather…att-att-attractive…" the pale girl blushed furiously, feeling almost guilty at her words of praise of a man other than the hyperactive blonde jounin of her dreams.

An incredulous grin spread over Sakura's face, and Ino slapped Hinata heartily on the back.

"Wow, if Shika's new look can even get past Byakugan girl's ramen haze, no one's safe!"

Hinata blushed even more and hastily excused herself to go to the bathroom.

Temari, Ino and Sakura were then surprised when Tenten suddenly rose to her feet.

"Er, yeah, thanks for showing me Shikamaru's new look, Sakura," she said, "But, I really think I need to go training. I've got to be ready to challenge Neji when he gets back from his mission."

"Are you serious? Do you think you could beat him?" Temari asked, raising an eyebrow.

"She means challenge him to a date." Ino clarified with a chuckle, "Neji and Tenten practically speak their own language."

Temari rolled her eyes. These Konoha nin…crazy…her eyes shifted back to the pony-tailed ninja in the corner. But damn fine…

"So yeah, I better head off, to train, to be ready to see Shik-uh-Neji," Tenten corrected herself somewhat less than smoothly and more than noticeably.

"Shik-uh-Neji?" a wicked grin spread across Ino's face. "I didn't know they came in combo form."

Tenten whipped around, ignoring her blonde friend and headed towards the door, only to be stopped by the waitress.

"Excuse me miss, it is not permitted to remove cutlery from the restaurant."

Tenten's mouth fell open as she looked at the teaspoon still clutched in her fist. Temari, Ino and Sakura burst out laughing.

"You'll have to forgive her," said the pink-haired medic to the suspicious waitress, "She's a little distracted at the moment."

The three girls ducked as the spoon flashed through the air, to be embedded handle-first in the plaster wall just above Sakura's head. Tenten then hurried out of the entrance before further embarrassments could occur.

"We'll call you," yelled Temari, as Ino and Sakura were laughing too hard to speak clearly.

"Seriously, though forehead-girl," Ino spoke after a few minutes, wiping her eyes, "How good does he look? It even got through to Hinata and Tenten! That's pretty impressive."

Temari shrugged at this comment. "I've always thought he was pretty sexy actually. Was planning on doing something about it sooner or later. And now," her eyes shifted to Ino, "I think I better do something sooner…"

"Yeah! Before I get to him!"

Ino punched the air, face hardened with determination. Temari's stormy blue eyes narrowed.

"Then may the best woman win," the sand kunoichi gave a feral smile.

"You can count me in on that!" A familiar voice sent a shock through the three girls, who whipped around to face the woman who had been seated out of sight in the next booth, now stepping out in front of their table.

"Anko-sempai? What are you doing here?" Sakura boggled at the special jounin, who gave her a toothy grin in response.

"I brought her to see Shikamaru's new look of course," said another voice disturbingly familiar to the pink-haired kunoichi.

"Shizune-sempai!"

The black haired woman popped her head up beside Anko's, running a hand through her short black locks.

"How on earth did you two find out about this?" Temari burst out, her brow furrowing as she looked from one to another.

Shizune winked at Sakura. "Sachie your secretary told me about the amazing transformation of a certain lazy jounin we all know and love, so I thought I wouldn't mind checking it out for myself. Anko was also curious, and even though Kurenai tried to get out of it at first…"

"Kurenai-sensei?" Ino nearly screamed, "She's here too?"

"She will be in a sec," said Anko, still grinning and chewing on a dango stick, "She just went to the bathroom."

At that, a soft voice interrupted.

"Everyone, look who I found!"

The five women looked up and there stood Hinata, smiling brightly, with Kurenai beside her, looking decidedly sheepish.

Ino chuckled.

"Hey Hinata, has Kurenai-sensei told you why she's here?"

Kurenai blushed furiously and hurried to the table, dragging Hinata with her.

"Yamanaka, you breathe one word of this to Asuma and I'll, I'll," the red-eyed woman clenched her fist under Ino's nose. The blonde smiled coolly at her former sensei's girlfriend and pushed her fist back with one finger.

"As long as you stay out of this competition, Kurenai-sensei, my lips are sealed."

"But mine aren't," Anko cackled at the look on Kurenai's face.

"Of course I wouldn't do anything, I'm with Asuma!" the black-haired jounin exclaimed.

"But if you weren't…" Shizune nudged her friend suggestively.

Kurenai sighed. "If I wasn't, boy, would I like to just go over there and get –"

"Kurenai-sensei!" The shocked look on Hinata's face sent the others into fits of giggles.

The older kunoichi sighed, shaking out her wavy black hair. "But, since I am with Asuma, I better head off, we're meeting up in a few –"her voice was drowned out by the piercing yell of a certain blonde Kyuubi container.

The shout rang out in the restaurant and all heads turned to the table where just five minutes ago, the lazy prodigy of the Nara clan had been trying to catch a little shut-eye.

"HEY LADY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO SHIKAMARU?"


AN: and the fun begins...XD