Chapter Fifteen
I walked down the street, casually observing the civilians as they moved around the streets, and patted the small, carefully wrapped package in my pocket for the fifth time to make sure it had not fallen out. I was on my way to Shikamaru's house and I had made sure to bring a gift for his parents as a thank you for inviting me to the household and to dinner, no matter how casual Shikamaru had been about the invitation.
I nodded to the guard standing in front of the Nara compound and he responded in kind, informing me to wait for a moment for Shikamaru to come and get me. I was not waiting very long when he appeared, one of his hands in his pocket and standing with a little bit of a slouch as usual. I shifted a little uncomfortably as he stared at me for a moment, his eyes trailing down my body and back up to my face, causing me my neck to feel warm.
I had decided to forgo my shinobi clothes today because I was going to be meeting both of his parents, his mother for the second time, and so I was wearing a dark red shirt with intricate designs along the side and black pants. My face didn't have my normal paint and I had even changed the feather in my braid to a red color to match the shirt - all of which, the clothes and feather, were Yami's idea. She had also helped me pick out a gift for the two Nara's because of how nervous I was. Normally, I'm not one to fret over stupid things because it was a waste of time, but one of the people I was meeting is not only the jounin commander, but also a clan head.
"You look different." Shikamaru commented, stepping aside to let me pass him and enter the compound proper.
"I do." I agreed, walking beside him and wondering if I had overdone it. I hope his parent's didn't think I was weird. I had decided to put the whole crush thing on the back burner for now and just try to be friends with Shikamaru. Which I could totally do. He was just a friend that I happened to think was extremely cute.
"It's.." Shikamaru said, looking like he didn't want to say the wrong thing and thinking it over. "It's nice to see a different side of you."
"Thank you." I said, smiling at him and looking in front of us as we arrived at his house. "Are you ready to lose at Shogi?"
"As if." Shikamaru said dismissively, smirking at me. "I won't blame you if you want to forfeit now though."
"You wish." I joked, elbowing him a little bit and feeling the apprehension leave my body at the familiar banter between the two of us. Standing here, as I took of my shoes and followed Shikamaru to the back where a Shogi board was already sitting on a table, I don't know why I was so nervous to begin with. We both sat down in front of the board, with him choosing to be white and leaving me with black, we began to set the board.
The first game lasted an hour and Shikamaru won, although I did make him work for it. I could tell he had enjoyed our match because his eyes were lit up in interest instead of in their normally half-lidded state. That and the fact that he instantly challenged me to another game. The second game took a lot longer, both of us being more careful and thinking about our moves more. As tempting as it was, I didn't use my Sakimonagan to cheat even though at one point during the last game he had given me permission to do so - although I think it was in jest, because what fun would it be if I could see what he was going to do? Even without my dojutsu, I had an astute ability to anticipate my opponent's moves. It was easy for me to put myself in someone else's situation and think about how they would do something instead of how I would. So, with me carefully evaluating my moves and his, we were now almost two hours into our second game. Neither of us were really in the lead, it was about even, but the game was at a crucial point. It was the longest game of Shogi I had ever played and it was fun just because Shikamaru was so challenging. He made moves I wouldn't have even thought of because he was thinking so far ahead and so I had to adapt to be thinking that far as well. I wasn't nearly on his level of strategy, but I was proud that I was holding my own regardless. We were both concentrating on the game so much that I was surprised when a voice spoke up from my left, where the door to the house was. It had been a long time since we had spoken at all so it was jarring for the silence to be broken and I tensed automatically even though the voice was quiet.
"Looks like a good game." Shikaku Nara said softly, observing the two of us through dark eyes that reminded me of his son. I could see a lot of Shikamaru in his face, actually, and in the lackadaisical way he held himself. I wasn't fooled, he was an elite jounin after all, I knew he could spring into action at a moment's notice but he had an effortless relaxing manner about him that I admired. His scars were only a little intimidating but it was counteracted by the easygoing manner he had about him and the warmth I could see in his eyes as he watched his son. It took me a moment to notice that he had an eyebrow raised at me in a silent question.
"He does that sometimes." Shikamaru said enigmatically, making me shift my attention to him and found him looking at me with his lips quirked upwards.
"I do what?" I asked indignantly, not sure if I should be offended or not.
"Stare." Shikamaru said, a full blown smirk coming onto his face now. "And get lost in your thoughts. You do it pretty often."
"Oh shut up." I grumbled, moving one of my pieces on the board and freezing as I realized I had told my host's son to shut up right in front of him. Yami would flay me alive. Thankfully, Shikaku laughed instead of getting offended and it made me relax a little bit. I did, however, stand up and bow to him. "Thank you for allowing me to visit your home, Nara-sama. It is very beautiful."
"Ah, call me Shikaku." Shikaku said, scratching the back of his head a little bit and waving. "We aren't big on formality here and there are too many Nara around to call me by my clan name anyway. You must be Ren, right?"
"Yes, Shikaku-san." I replied, looking at Shikamaru from the corner of my eye and wondering what he had told his father about me. Shikamaru was looking at the board steadily, giving it his full concentration, and I was torn between going back to the game and continuing the conversation with Shikaku - it wouldn't do to be a rude house guest.. But it was a really good game.
"Go ahead." Shikaku said, gesturing to the board game with a smirk that once again reminded me of Shikamaru. "I'll watch."
"Thank you." I said, turning my full attention back to the game.
I was right that it had been a critical point - Shikamaru stole one of the pieces key to my defense, but by doing so he walked into a trap I had set up. I sprang it on him only to realize he had a trap of his own that somewhat negated the effectiveness of my own. The game lasted for another hour but Shikamaru ended up winning that match as well. I sighed when it was over, considering asking him for a rematch, but his father spoke up.
"How long did you two play?" Shikaku asked his son, glancing between the two of us.
"First game was an hour. This one lasted three." Shikamaru said, a satisfied smile on his face as we cleared the pieces and put them back in the bowls.
"Impressive match." Shikaku said, nodding to me. "I know firsthand how hard it is to play against Shikamaru. Asuma usually only lasts a couple of hours and that's his best game, so to go three is impressive."
"Thank you, Shikaku-san." I said, humbled by his praise and feeling my cheeks warm up a little bit. I internally sighed, wishing I didn't show physical signs of my embarrassment as much as I did. It was particularly bad around Nara's, apparently.
"I like playing with Ren." Shikamaru told his Dad, shooting me a somewhat fond look. "He's challenging."
"I see." Shikaku said, appraising me with his eyes and making me a little nervous. I couldn't tell what was going on behind those eyes and that always set me just a little bit on edge. "Well, Yoshino sent me out here to tell you both dinner is ready and to wrap it up. I'm surprised she hasn't come to fetch us all yet. Ready to eat?"
Shikamaru and I both agreed, padding behind the older Nara and following him into the dining area where Yoshino was just beginning to set food onto the table. I offered to help, but she declined, telling me to take a seat and pour myself some tea while she brought the rest of the food into the room from the kitchen. Then she nudged Shikaku hard with her foot, asking him to help her with some of the dishes and making me grin at the almost petulant look he gave her. I sat beside Shikamaru, glad that we were going to be eating because I was surprisingly hungry even though I hadn't trained at all today, and we began talking about the match we had just played, comparing strategies and going over our thought process for certain parts of the game. When Yoshino and Shikaku had brought all of the food into the room and sat down at the table, I reached into my pocket to pull out the present Yama had helped me pick out.
"Yoshino-san, Shikaku-san." I said, bowing my head politely as I offered the package wrapped in a rather lovely and expensive green and white that Yama had decided would look good. Those were kind of my token colors anyway, considering it was what I wore all the time and the same color as the feathers on my arrows and in my hair the majority of the time. "Thank you for inviting me into your home and allowing me to dine with you tonight. I brought you this and hope you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed my time here today."
"Thank you, Ren-kun." Yoshino said, accepting the gift and putting it to the side. It was rude, Yami had explained, to open a present in front of someone that wasn't a close relative or friend. So they would most likely set it to the side and wait to open it later. She had also told me not to give it to them right away because it might suggest I was overeager and trying to rush through the experience of being here. By the end of her tangent on gift giving, my mind had been swimming because I never knew there was so much involved. "You are too kind. I'm glad you have enjoyed our home."
With that being said, we began eating. The food was absolutely delicious and I made sure to inform Yoshino of this. Throughout dinner we mostly talked about some missions I had done in the past, I asked questions about their medicine research but making sure to not overstep my place, and various other things. When dinner was finished, Yoshino waved away my offer of clearing the dishes and began to do so herself, leaving Shikaku, Shikamaru, and myself sitting at the table.
"So, up for another round?" Shikaku asked us both, raising his eyebrows in a challenge.
"Both of us against you?" Shikamaru asked, smirking a little bit as he exchanged a glance with me. I nodded, saying I was absolutely willing to play a game of Shogi against the Jounin Commander of all people. Even if I did have a sinking suspicion that we were about to get thoroughly beaten - I shouldn't have counted us out just yet though, knowing how clever Shikamaru was.
"Yeah, sure." Shikaku said, standing up and stretching a little bit.
"Can we use every advantage we have as long as we don't cheat?" Shikamaru asked him, the smirk still firmly planted on his lips as he eyed his father. Shikaku's eyebrows rose in silent surprise, then his eyes narrowed suspiciously before he slowly nodded, agreeing to the admittedly odd terms his son had laid out. I, however, knew exactly why he had phrased it that way - he wanted me to use my Sakimonagan so we could beat his dad.
"Set the board up, I'll be out in a minute." Shikaku said, still eyeing his son a little distrustfully before going to, presumably, tell Yoshino what we were going to do. As soon as he left the room, Shikamaru turned to me with a slightly pleading expression on his face.
"I haven't been able to beat him yet, I've come close but not actually beaten him. I want to see his face when we win, please? We are going to need the Sakimonagan. You don't have to but it would be pretty awesome." Shikamaru practically begged
"I don't know." I said doubtfully, wondering if it was a good idea. "Do you think it's a good idea?"
"He won't tell anyone." Shikamaru said confidently "Not if we tell him not to after we win. I know he won't."
"Uh.." I thought about it. Shikamaru seemed confident Shikaku wouldn't go around talking about it and it would be honestly kind of funny. I had trusted Shikamaru pretty easily and I didn't not trust the guy, I mean he was the jounin commander, but the Sandaime had told me to keep it a secret for a reason. I debated for another moment, taking in the look Shikamaru was giving me, before sighing and agreeing to do it.
"Yes!" Shikamaru said, showing more enthusiasm and energy than I had ever seen him show before. Then he hugged me, kissed the side of my cheek, and grabbed my hand to pull me to the back door and where the Shogi board was set up. I dazedly let him drag me, looking at where our hands connected us, and feeling my whole face light up red from where his lips had touched my cheek. It had been worth it, I decided, absolutely worth it.
Even though I was a little confused by the gesture and it pretty much ruined my whole 'I'm just going to be his friend and ignore my crush' thing, I just went with it. The little bubble of happiness that I could feel in the area around my stomach was rare and precious, I wasn't going to ruin it by overthinking and analyzing Shikamaru. I'd be happy with whatever he wanted to do, I realized bemusedly, even if he just wanted to hold my hand for the next year and a half. I will admit I was a tiny bit disappointed when he dropped my hand to set the pieces up, us being black and Shikaku white, but I shrugged it off and sat beside him, our knees brushing up against one another and sending a warm feeling throughout my leg. Shikaku came out just as we finished setting the board and took a seat opposite of us, giving us a lazy look and making his first move after thinking for a moment. That was when I activated my dojutsu and my normally grey eyes turned into the icy blue that let me see into the near future. Shikaku's eyes widened a little bit, looking between Shikamaru and I, and Shikamaru just gave him a smug smirk.
"He's going to go for an edge attack first, then attempt the dangle his pawn on the most left side." I advised Shikamaru, who nodded at the information and glanced at his father whose mouth was hanging open a little bit in amazement at what I had just said.
"How-?" Shikaku said, stunned for a moment before looking at his son's smug face and sighing. I think he was realizing that he had been set up. Shikaku, to his credit, smirked a little bit as well and then leaned forward to take a look at my eyes. "Interesting."
The match was still pretty amazing. Shikaku was a brilliant strategist and I could tell why everyone called him and Shikamaru geniuses. I had said the first bit of what he was going to do out loud to try and shake him, but the rest of the information I whispered in Shikamaru's ear as the game went on. We both strategized quietly but for the most part I was supplying information and Shikamaru was the one planning our own moves, I kept silent unless Shikamaru asked me for my opinion. I knew when I was out of my depth and I wasn't ashamed to admit when I was either. We won the game though. It was still incredibly close considering we knew what he was going to be doing practically throughout the entire thing, but there were a few moments when something slipped through the cracks. It happened more and more frequently as the game progressed and I think he was figuring out that I could only really see things when he planned them out, but impulsive actions left me blind. (I wasn't entirely comfortable with someone knowing how to counteract the Sakimonagan that I didn't trust implicitly, but I had already committed so I tried not to worry about it.)
"Congratulations, kid." Shikaku said, shaking his head at the both of us before smirking at Shikamaru. "Doesn't count though."
"I know but it was still fun." Shikamaru said, then explaining what they were talking about when he saw the confused look on my face. "Dad promised he would buy me a Shogi set that I've wanted for years the day that I beat him. It's really expensive and really awesome."
"Oh." I said, understanding replacing confusion. That was actually pretty cool, it made my heart clench just a little in jealousy at how obviously close the two of them were, but I shook it off before I lingered on it. I was happy with who I was and how my life had turned out, jealousy was a useless and unattractive emotion to harbor.
"That is a neat trick you have." Shikaku said, his eyes analyzing my now normal grey orbs.
"Thank you." I replied a little sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly and shooting Shikamaru a significant look that he didn't miss.
"Yeah, yeah." Shikamaru said placatingly, rolling his eyes but doing what he knew I wanted him too. "Ren wants that particular trick to not be talked about.. Ever. So, I told him you would be able to keep a secret."
"Ah." Shikaku said, looking at me with a carefully blank expression on his face. "Who all knows?"
"Shikamaru, obviously, as well as Takeshi-sensei. My surrogate parents as well. The Sandaime knew and is the one who advised me to keep it pretty quiet about it until I was older." I said, hesitating a moment. "Neji Hyuga and Tenten may also suspect, of Team Gai. We had a mission recently and I had to use it then."
"Okay." Shikaku said, obviously thinking before just outright agreeing to not saying anything. "Unless it is detrimental to the wellbeing of my family or the village itself, I won't tell anyone without your explicit permission."
I thought about it for a moment, going over what he said in my head. He wasn't agreeing to never talk about it, which I had kind of expected and that was why I had been nervous, but he wouldn't unless it was for a really good reason which was probably the best I was going to get out of him. "That is acceptable, Shikaku-san. May I make a request?"
"Sure." Shikaku said, looking at me with interest.
"If time permits, I would appreciate being told before circumstances force you to reveal it to anyone. Additionally, if not told prior, I would request you inform me of anyone who knows after you do tell them." I requested, hoping I had not stepped over any boundaries. It sounded okay in my head.
"I can agree to that." Shikaku said, nodding his head and grinning somewhat lazily at me. "So, you see the future?"
"I see many futures, Shikaku-san." I replied, smiling in relief. I think it was going to be fine having him know about the dojutsu, I wasn't in danger or should be on my guard. Also, maybe he had heard about the unique ability before and would have some idea of where it came from although that was most likely wishful thinking. "The future changes based on circumstance and the decisions of others."
"Makes sense." Shikaku said, nodding a little as if I was only confirming a theory of his. It honestly made me shiver a little to think he had deduced what my gift did and a decent method to counteract it all within an hour, but I pushed my discomfort aside once more. "So, if I decided to throw a kunai at Shikamaru and then did it, you could see it. If I just impulsively decided to throw it with no premeditation you wouldn't?"
"Basically." I confirmed, nodding my head.
"That is useful." Shikaku said contemplatively. "What is it called?"
"Sakimonagan." I said, making Shikamaru snort a little and me to shoot him a grin. When I noticed Shikaku's questioning look I elaborated so he would understand the interaction that just happened between his son and myself. "Shikamaru came up with a name for it. I don't know what it's really called."
"Future eye, huh?" Shikaku said wryly, lips twisting up a little as he looked at me. "Well, good teamwork you two have at least. You know your strength and weaknesses and didn't let your pride get in the way of victory."
We spend the next half hour going over the game between eachother, talking about various strategies and crucial points in the game. Afterwards, I thanked both Yoshino and Shikaku for inviting me over and allowed Shikamaru to escort me to the front gates of the compound. The sun had set not too long ago and I was extremely content. I was full of delicious food, my brain had gotten a lot of exercise, and today was a lot of fun.
"My parents like you." Shikamaru commented casually as we came to the front gate and he leaned up against the wall.
"That's good. I was worried they wouldn't." I admitted, tugging at my red shirt as if to emphasize my point.
"You had no reason to worry." Shikamaru said, rolling his eyes good naturedly. With the light hitting his face and casting half of him into the same shadows he manipulated, I decided to be more bold than I usually was. I had flirted, jested, and messed with him a lot but I hadn't ever asked outright because I was afraid of the answer. I think I would worry more about not knowing at this point, so I spoke up and my voice carried easily in the quiet of the night.
"And do you like me, Shikamaru?" I asked, stepping just a little bit closer. I watched him as he froze, a tiny bit of red dusting his cheeks for a moment, before he composed himself again and resumed his relaxed stance. He did, however, push off of the wall and step closer to me as well - making my heart pound a little harder, my hands to unconsciously clench a little more, and causing me to swallow reflexively as he got closer. It was the closest he had ever stood to me, so close that I could count his eyelashes individually if I wanted. I could feel his warm breath ghosting over my cheeks and I had to look up just a little bit to look him in the eyes while in this position. He leaned forward and I closed my eyes, not daring to move or say anything, hardly daring to breath. I felt the slightest touch of pressure on my lips, the feel of soft lips being placed delicately against my own, and then he was backing away from me. I sighed a little bit, disappointed and content at the same time, and opened my eyes to see him smirking at me lazily.
"I tolerate you." Shikamaru said, causing me to laugh at having my own words from that day we had decided to be friends thrown back at me. I was glad he remembered them and it gave me a warm feeling I couldn't begin to describe even if I wanted too.
"I tolerate you as well." I said, shaking my head at him and turning to head towards the gate. "Goodnight, Nara. I'll see you around."
"Yeah, see you around." I heard him reply quietly
I had a dopey smile on my face when I fell asleep that night and I wasn't surprised to still see it plastered on when I woke up the next morning. I needed to get it together and not walk around with a crazy, dopey smile though or people were going to think I was either an idiot or a maniac. I touched my lips, remembering the barely there pressure of Shikamaru's lips.
'Eh, who cares what people think anyway.' I thought, walking out the door to visit Yami and Akio, the smile still spread out for the world to see.
A/N: It is not saying that I have updated even though I have, so sorry everyone for that. I'm trying to get to fix it but no one is responding so I'm kind of at a loss on what to do. Regardless, here is a nice, fluffy chapter for you all to enjoy :) Let me know what you think with a lovely review! :) More coming soon!