Comment (ao3) inquiry: "think it be funny to have like one person be utterly chill with how weird Team 8 is despite them not seeming like it
like for some reason Sasuke of all people finds them chill/gets along and normal compared to the rest of the village etc"
here is my answer to that :)
Shikamaru was curious.
It has been over a month at this point that Sasuke had left on a mission with Team 8. They were supposed to establish a camp at the south-eastern border of the land of Fire and monitor an insurgent group that Kakashi wanted more information on as it could potentially lead to future threats for the Hidden Leaf. Team 8 was sent for their reconnaissance and tracking abilities, and Sasuke was added to the mix in case they needed someone to help out with combat.
Shikamaru did not really understand Kakashi's reasoning behind sending someone like Sasuke with a group like Team 8. But he was not going to risk being sent instead, so he did not dare question that decision aloud.
To be quite honest with himself, Shikamaru kind of expected Sasuke to show up back in Konoha already after the first few days of the mission, too fed up with Team 8 to continue and asking for a replacement. From his own experience, Shikamaru knew that being with Team 8 for extended periods of time meant having absolutely zero privacy, and he also knew that if there was someone who valued their personal space and privacy more than anyone in their shinobi group, it was Sasuke.
So when Sasuke didn't show up after a week and even after another, and when Kakashi still kept receiving update messages from Shino even after that (implying that Sasuke had not, in fact, murdered them all in the meantime), Shikamaru grew curious.
And thus, when Kakashi announced that he was searching for someone to go after them to deliver additional information, Shikamaru was actually sufficiently intrigued to offer himself to go despite his laziness.
Well, he wasn't ready for what was waiting for him.
Once he reached their base on the south-eastern border after a day of travel, Shikamaru found Sasuke sitting on the ground, leaning against a big, rocky wall with Akamaru happily lying in his lap, licking him all over. Shikamaru had no clue that Sasuke even liked dogs. The Uchiha was petting the giant's dog's head while holding a stick in his hand, waving it in the air at something far ahead in front of him.
"Fetch!", the Uchiha shouted and threw the stick several meters into the air above the field in front of him.
To Shikamaru's surprise however, it wasn't the dog who jumped after the stick.
He couldn't believe his own eyes.
"Wha- what are you doing, Uchiha?"
"Isn't it obvious?", the Uchiha responded, not even looking in Shikamaru's direction, just watching Kiba enthusiastically grab the stick mid-air, carry it back in his mouth and return it to Sasuke.
Shikamaru thought he might have been caught in a very odd genjutsu.
"You are playing… fetch with Kiba?"
"If I don't, he will have too much energy later in the evening, and he will be annoying. Aburame insisted and assured me that this is the easiest way.", Sasuke responded coldly, while once again throwing a stick into the distance, with Kiba launching himself after it just like he did before.
Shikamaru had seen weirder things, he was attempting to convince himself, just not to lose his cool.
He would perhaps rather change the topic.
"Talking about Shino, I have some news for him regarding this mission from Kakashi-sensei. Where is he?"
Sasuke finally moved his head and nodded to his right, towards the beginning of a nearby forest.
"He agreed to make me a hammock from his insects' webs. I believe he is working on it over there somewhere, as he needs trees to support it."
Okay, this definitely was some kind of a bad genjutsu, Shikamaru decided.
"He agreed to- wait, come again?"
"A hammock, between the trees over there. I play fetch with Kiba during this mission, so in return, he makes me a hammock for the night. It's far more comfortable for sleeping compared to just staying on the ground, especially with an injured back."
Shikamaru was just staring at the Uchiha in disbelief.
He would go talk to Shino if only to reassure himself that these people were still their fellow Leaf ninja and not some odd replacements put in place to cover up the fact that his comrades have all been kidnapped or murdered.
"And while you are there, tell him that Akamaru has just smelled that Hyuga is slowly returning from scouting, so he should also get finished soon. My back is still hurting."
The shadow nin nodded, not really wanting to know more at this point, and left Sasuke in peace, his brain overheating.
The trip to the nearby forest was too short for him to collect his thoughts and figure out just what the fuck was going on however.
At the edge of the forest, just like Sasuke promised, he found the Aburame almost artistically organizing his insect swarms in an effort to create a perfect web hammock.
Shikamaru shook himself, trying to refocus on why he was here in the first place. He reached for his bag after Shino noticed and acknowledged his presence.
"Shino, here are a few scrolls from Kakashi with additional information he got on the group from Anbu. He said it could be useful for your further information gathering, so you should go over it as soon as possible."
Shino nodded.
"Very well, thank you, Shikamaru. Is that all?"
Shikamaru was debating with himself how exactly to phrase the next part without sounding too weird.
Well, fuck it, things already were weird here anyway and it wasn't his fault.
"Uhm… Sasuke also said that Hinata is slowly returning, so you should be finished soon as well, because his back is hurting? Though I am not quite sure what he meant by that exactly."
"I see. And I can deduce that you wonder why? It is because Sasuke accidentally injured the right side of his back a couple of days ago while scouting. Hinata's Byakugan could see where his chakra network was damaged, so I utilized my leeches with her assistance to help the bloodletting in the area. He ended up growing very fond of the leech massage, and so now we do it for him every evening."
...
Sasuke was being massaged by Shino's leeches?
What in the world was going on in here?
Only when he noticed Shino eyeing him up and down did he realize that he still hasn't uttered a word back.
"If you too are interested, Shikamaru, you can also try."
Yeah, Shino has most likely interpreted his shocked silence as jealousy.
No.
Just, no.
Fucking hell.
Shikamaru cleared his throat.
"Thank you very much for the offer Shino, but I think I am fine. I should start heading back to the village."
"It is already late, Shikamaru. You may stay with us for the night if you wish. Sasuke showed us that he can create fire that never goes out, so you will be warm. Kiba and Akamaru also always assure that we have fresh meat. You can sleep with us, or I can even create a private insect cocoon for you if you wish to keep your space. And should something still prevent you from a good night's sleep, Hinata knows exactly which chakra points on you to target and how so that you fall asleep instantly and wake up energized in the morning. Or, Kiba's poison can do the same thing - it can act as a sedative if used in smaller amounts."
Aaand, that was it, Shikamaru decided.
He turned on his heels, issuing a half-assed excuse constructed without much thought and ran away. He threw one last look at the Uchiha who was still playing fetch with Kiba, this time even scratching him behind his ear after he retrieved the stick.
Yeah, he would go back to Konoha and just watch the clouds.
Chances are, in those, he would still find more sensible things than whatever he had just witnessed at the south-eastern base.
thanks for reading, there will be one more chapter on jonins!
and please, do let me know what you think if you want :) i am fairly new to writing and any feedback/ comments/ ideas would be valuable