Tricked
Primary (Lady Soysauce Junior)

Shikamaru groaned. Whether it was from pleasure or anxiety or something troublesome, he wasn't clear. This always seemed to happen around her. His thoughts would be okay one second, and then the next, they would be all jumbled up and he wouldn't have a single clue of what he was going to say, which resulted in a seemingly dimwitted pause in speech. He hated it, and it was all her fault.

It was the first Saturday of the month, when ambassadors from Konoha's alliances would gather and hold a meeting. And so, every month for the past three months, she would stomp her way through the gates of Konoha. She, and her noise.

She would flash some sort of smirk-smile at him, and then whack him on his head for being late. Maybe that's what Shikamaru was groaning about.

He could hear the loud footsteps by now. He shut his eyes, and waited for the painful—"Ah!"

He hissed between his clenched teeth and pressed his palms against the new bump on his head, right next to the other three. "What was that for?" he said, as was the tradition.

"Where were you??" she yelled, "I waited at the gates for ten minutes! I'm five minutes late now! What kind of crappy escort are you??"

"A crappy one apparently…" he muttered, and pushing himself off the ground.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Troublesome…" Shikamaru sighed, but nevertheless, headed off in the direction of the Hokage Tower.

-

It was after the meeting, three hours later, that she found him. He was lying on the grassy hill again, and she snuck up on him, hoping to get another whack in before the weekend ended.

Before she could even lift up her fan, she was caught by a lazy and obvious Kagemane.

"Oi, woman, what do you want?" he said, not breaking his gaze into the sky.

She hmph-ed and he let her go.

"Bum-bum, let's go get something to eat," she said, slightly flustered.

It was at that moment that Shikamaru decided she was like a cloud. Her mood was always changing, like how a cloud never kept its shape for too long. It was almost funny, comparing something as peaceful as a cloud to who he considered the most annoying, troublesome woman in his life.

-

They sat across from each other in a booth at Yakiniku Q, silently munching on their food. "So, Shikamaru…" she began.

"Hm?"

"I was wondering…is there anything you want to say to me?" she paused, "I mean, I'm leaving tomorrow, and there isn't a meeting next month… I won't see you for a while."

Shikamaru watched her as she uncomfortably shifted in her seat. He really had no clue what she was talking about.

"I don't know, I just thought you might…"

For some reason, Shikamaru imagined the strange cloud he had observed earlier. It had resembled the Sand kunoichi, with four spiky bundles sticking out. And maybe for the same reason, he abruptly straightened up, and bent across the table.

"Actually…." A serious expression took over his usual lazy and indifferent one.

He bent across further, until he was just barely an inch away from her. "I've been meaning to tell you…"

Shikamaru's fingers reached to brush the tip of her chin. He could feel her tense up, and hold her breath. Soon he had his whole hand cupping her cheek, rubbing his thumb against her skin as he moved his way over to her ear to give it a quick tug. She sharply let go of her breath, and gave in to a slight shiver. He smirked, and let his voice drop a few more pitches into a husky murmur before continuing.

"You know…" he stopped and steadily dragged his eyes into her gaze, "I'm worried about you…"

She blinked an astonished blink and replied shakily, "O-Oh?"

"So what's been stressing you?" Shikamaru abruptly leaned out, "…I noticed that there's another wrinkle on your forehead this time."

His cloud froze, and he took the time for another stab in the gut.

"And, my, is that a white hair?"

Faster than Naruto could crack open chopsticks in front of steaming ramen, Shikamaru was on the floor, with a heavy shoe grinding into his face. He now had five bumps on his head.

AN: Haha… half a year since I last posted. Anyway, I hope this is passable, and thank you Coke (again) who I can't seem to write without anymore...