A/N: The second NaruxWHO!? one-shot from me to you! I also love this couple –nods-. But has anyone else noticed that in pretty much every couple, no matter who it's with, Naruto is uke? It's true. In most every shounen-ai couple Naruto is traditionally uke! I think I should give him a break...but not just yet. Listened to 'A Moment Like This' by Kelly Clarkson while writing this.

Warnings: shounen-ai, minor to major fluff (depending on what you're used to—but I firmly believe that the world needs more fluffy-ness-osity), and maybe a bit of OOC-ness...

--

Why Can't It Last Forever?

Shikamaru x Naruto

--

A conjugation of large, angry looking dark clouds formed overhead slowly blocking out the sunlight. Nara Shikamaru's eyes opened slightly as the warmth of the sun faded from his face. Cursing slightly he sighed, watching lazily as nature did as it pleased and prepared for a thunderstorm. Thunder and lightning suddenly pierced the sky, warning everyone to get indoors. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and pushed himself up from the ground where he'd been lying.

As if just waiting for Shikamaru to stand, another loud crack of thunder rocked the sky and Shikamaru tensed before rain began pelting down from the clouds as if there were no tomorrow; with the way it was raining it seemed like there really would be no tomorrow. Shikamaru sighed again as the rain quickly soaked him to the bone. Grumbling silently he began his walk back to the Nara compound, where his mother would no doubt be waiting to cuss him out for getting so wet. It was just water, that's what most people failed to see.

Weaving through the trees expertly, he decided he'd take a small detour through the training grounds, if he should happen to pass by the Ichiraku's and just happened to have a free ramen coupon, then so-be-it. But Shikamaru had never been one to rush, and a little heavy, flood-causing rain was not going to break his streak.

As he passed through the training grounds he heard someone close-by still training, curious as to who the idiot could be, he walked towards the noises. Upon arriving near the person, a flash of orange passed by quickly and attacked a stationary wooden pole at full force. Shikamaru stepped back slightly, realizing who it was he stepped forward again and called out, "Oi, Naruto!"

The blonde shinobi quickly stopped what he was doing and turned with a big grin on his face. "Hey! So you came back, eh Sasu—oh, hi Shikamaru." Naruto's smile wavered slightly when he saw Shikamaru standing there instead of the raven-haired Uchiha. Shikamaru disregarded this and continued.

"Naruto, what are you doing out here? You're going to kill yourself." Shikamaru stated bluntly, remembering how the blonde had only recently been allowed out of the hospital.

Naruto cocked an eyebrow then grinned, "No way! I can't die yet anyways."

"It doesn't matter, if you get sick again you're going to kill yourself anyways. Come on, you idiot." Shikamaru sighed, beckoning the blonde to come with him.

"N-no! I have to train more!" Naruto argued stubbornly. Shikamaru groaned inwardly and scowled at the younger boy. Shikamaru was certain that Uzumaki Naruto was more troublesome than any woman he knew. Hell, the guy could turn into a girl; why wouldn't he be just as troublesome?

"Why do you have to train more right now? It's our day off!" Shikamaru sighed, hoping to convince Naruto to come with him.

"B-because! Because I just do...!"

"That's not a reason. Come on, you idiot." Shikamaru gestured for him to come once more. Naruto shook his head no, folding his arms over his chest. As he did so the rain's amount increased until it was raining buckets full of water down on the two shinobi. Naruto sneezed several times then glared, walking over to the dark-haired chuunin. When Naruto was safely at his side, Shikamaru slipped his vest off and held it over their heads to deflect some of the rain. But no matter how much he deflected, he needed to get Naruto into a dry place before he got sick again!

Neither could be heard over the rain, so they remained eerily silent as they walked towards wherever Shikamaru had decided best. Naruto sneezed again, a bit more violently this time and Shikamaru moved closer to the blonde in a feeble attempt to keep him warm.

Finally, they arrived at a rundown looking house where Shikamaru and his teammates often rested on their breaks during training days. The two crawled onto the porch and slid the door open, crawling inside but leaving the door open so they could see the rain pouring down outside. Shikamaru lay his drenched vest aside and turned his attention to the sneezing gennin next to him.

"Naruto," Shikamaru sighed, "Why were you out training on our day off? Even you know that you're supposed to use that day to relax."

Naruto blinked for a moment, his cheeks tinting a light pink. Shikamaru disregarded this and waited for the answer, "Well...I just wanted to train, is all. Is that so hard to believe...?"

"No, but there's something else bugging you, you're not that good at hiding your feelings Naruto." Shikamaru explained bluntly. Naruto blushed a slightly deeper pink and groaned to himself, cursing quietly.

Once he'd recovered from the slight blow to his ego he sighed and began, "You ever just wake up one morning and just...don't wanna be alone?" Naruto asked, searching Shikamaru's serious eyes for some kind of sign that he could relate. Shikamaru nodded slightly to indicate that he had in-fact had a few days like that. "Well...when I woke up today I felt like that. But I couldn't think of anyone that would want to be with me...Kakashi-sensei is on a mission, Sakura-chan is with her parents today, and Sasuke was training but left when I showed up...so I started to train, hoping that maybe...you know, the feeling would just go away..."

Shikamaru blinked, processing how Naruto must have felt to wake up and realize that he had no one he could go to. After a few moments of contemplation, Shikamaru smiled lightly and put a comforting hand on Naruto's cold hand. "Naruto, if you ever feel like that again you can always come and find me and Chouji...hell, even Ino'd relate. There's no reason for you to feel that way when you don't have to, okay?"

Naruto smiled, "Okay, thanks Shikamaru...I'm glad you found me."

"Anytime Naruto, that's what friends are for."

Naruto nodded and shivered, his excessive training in the freezing rain was getting to him. Shikamaru cast him a sympathetic look and pushed the blonde's jacket off—if it was wet and cold it wouldn't do him much good—and pulled him in closer in an attempt to warm him up until the rain stopped.



After wrapping his arms around the tired gennin, Shikamaru shuddered at how cold he was. His skin was complete ice to the touch. Idiot... Shikamaru thought, rubbing his hand up and down the blonde's arm in an attempt to warm it up, even slightly. Naruto's crystal blue eyes rested at half-mast as he breathed calmly, the warmth of Shikamaru's body slowly warming him made his feel slightly sleepy.

Why would anyone run themselves into the ground like this...? Shikamaru wondered, looking down at the half-asleep boy resting contentedly in his arms. Shikamaru's thoughts slowly drifted to when they were kids. How Naruto must have felt when everyone went home with their parents at the end of the day and he had nobody.

He must have felt so...alone. Like he'd felt today. Shikamaru could scarcely imagine waking up in the morning and not wanting to be alone, and then realizing that he had no one to be with that would keep him from feeling that emptiness. It made Shikamaru feel sad, wishing he'd found the boy sooner than he had.

Naruto shivered again and instinctively moved closer to his source of heat, in this case; Shikamaru. Naruto didn't think much about how close he was to the boy, all he knew was the he had never been colder or lonelier in his life, and he needed to feel someone next to him. He needed to feel someone holding him close when it was raining. It astounded Naruto to realize that this was the first time he'd felt as if he had someone.

It made him feel wanted, and safe...and warm. Naruto never wanted the older boy to let him go, but sadly he knew that the rain would have to end sometime. Nothing good ever lasted in Naruto's life, he knew this very well by now. Eventually, everything good comes to an end. But this time, he wished it could last forever.

Shikamaru tightened his grip around Naruto and smiled to himself, resting his chin on top of Naruto's head and briefly inhaling Naruto's smell—God only knows how, but the boy smelled like strawberries. Shikamaru choked back a laugh, wondering how the hell that worked out, what with Naruto dining on nothing much more than ramen and training constantly. Eventually he gave up, leaving it to one of the great unsolved mysteries of the world.

Naruto rested a hand on one of Shikamaru's arms, as if holding onto him so he wouldn't leave. Shikamaru smiled into Naruto's hair, "Relax Naruto, I'm not going anywhere..."

When Shikamaru said this, Naruto didn't respond but his grip loosened on his tanned arm slightly as if saying; 'I want to believe you, but I can't.' This thought made Shikamaru's mood drop drastically, no one made a sound as the ain continued to splash down outside.

Naruto's tired eyes remained half-closed as he listened intently to the sounds around him, the rain splashing down on the earth; the sound of his and Shikamaru's hearts beating; and the quiet whispers Shikamaru gave every so often. As if he was reassuring Naruto he were still there.

"Shikamaru...?" Naruto suddenly spoke. Shikamaru blinked and looked down at the blonde expectantly.

"Hm...?"

"Why does everything good end? Why can't it just last forever...?" Naruto whispered, wanting to know exactly why it was that nothing good ever stayed with him.

Shikamaru blinked, slightly startled by the question. "It's just the way things are Naruto. Everything comes to an end eventually. Like spring, the rain...even lives. Nothing can last forever."

"What if you really want it to?"

"Even then, it has to end eventually or life wouldn't move forward. Nothing would ever change."

"But...I really want it to..." Naruto argued lightly, his grip tightening on Shikamaru's arm once more. Shikamaru smiled to himself, realizing what the blonde meant.

"Moments don't last, time will always slip away, even memories will fade...but I promise that I won't leave Naruto. The moment doesn't have to last because you can make another, an even better one." Shikamaru smiled.

Naruto sneezed quickly once more, his entire body shaking from the force of his sneeze. "Really Shikamaru...? You'll make another moment with me...?"

Shikamaru smiled calmly at the blonde's odd question and nodded, "Of course, and I'll try and make each one better than the last."

Naruto buried his face deeper in Shikamaru's chest and sighed as he started to fade from consciousness. "Thank you Shikamaru...I'm glad you're the one that found me..."

Shikamaru watched as the younger boy faded in his subconscious, his grip loosening slightly on Shikamaru's arm. Shikamaru brushed Naruto's damp hair from his face, allowing the blonde to sleep as the rain slowly came to a stop. Unable to resist his impulses, Shikamaru leaned down slightly and kissed the top of Naruto's head, enjoying the unusual smell of strawberries that came with it.

When he rose back up the rain had stopped, and a smile was on both his and Naruto's faces. Shikamaru leaned back, enjoying the moment as it was. Because he realized the blonde was right...

Nothing good can last forever...

--

A/N: I'm so original. Most people have fics with Shika on warm, slightly cloudy nice days. Mine had nothing to do with the clouds! Take that stereo-types! Oh well, hope everyone enjoyed it! Please review if you liked! –smiles-