"Uchiha."

It wasn't a greeting. It wasn't a question. Perhaps it was just an acknowledgment. Shikamaru didn't really care how the other man saw it.

The addressed, stoic and stock-still, yet still brimming with crackling energy just behind the eyes, didn't budge from his spot in the middle of the path Shikamaru took almost daily to his lounging solitude on a grassy hill.

The Nara grumbled an irritated sigh. "...Did you want something?"

This game, if that's what it was, had gotten old fast.

Six months ago, Uchiha Sasuke, a shinobi ranked amongst the greatest of the traitors of Konoha, had returned for reasons only known to him. Voluntarily. Knowing full well that treason was an offense which was punishable by death. But being well and truly the very last living Uchiha, his life was spared. Not that he went without punishment. It was sheer good behavior on his part that he was even allowed out of his apartment without a chaperone half a year after coming back.

Three months ago was when Shikamaru noticed he saw the Uchiha in passing more frequently than was expected. It used to be a rare thing to come across each other even when they were in the Academy together, and in the very same class no less. Mostly, it had to do with Shikamaru's habit of sleeping through the lessons, and Sasuke's habit of ignoring just about everybody. Now, they were crossing paths at least a few times a week. At the Korean barbecue joint he frequented with Chouji and Ino, at the training fields, in the marketplace, even a couple times at the smoky and seedy shogi den Shikamaru would visit every so often. And every time, he felt those black eyes on him. It had gotten to the point where the Nara would feel the stare before seeing the starer. If he didn't know better, he'd have thought he was being openly stalked. And it was open quite purposely, because Shikamaru was damn sure if Sasuke wanted to be hidden, he'd be all but invisible to even the most skilled jounin.

And there stood the Uchiha, not even using the pretense of eating ribs, or buying apples, or playing shogi, standing on the narrow dirt path separating Shikamaru from his sanctuary.

Long moments passed in silence. The Nara was never the type to make the first move. It seemed Uchiha was the same type.

Shikamaru, hands in pockets, shifted his weight from one leg to the other. "Well?"

For crap's sake, just say something already. Sasuke was the first to break eye contact, and tilted his head upwards, looking up at the sky.

Shikamaru's mouth twisted to the side in consternation. This guy was worse than a woman. Stalking, silent treatment, approaching then ignoring. What the fuck? He languidly continued on the path, and with a slight tilt of his head, wordlessly invited the Uchiha to walk with him.

Casual loping matching stride for stride, the two men walked across the open expanse of grass. Walking perfectly side by side, Shikamaru noted that Sasuke seemed to know exactly where to go and wasn't actually following him. Unnerving. Sasuke must have watched him come here several times already.

Without preamble, he stopped at a patch of grass that seemed permanently flattened for all his lounging, and settled himself, but didn't lie down as he usually did. He had a guest with him. It'd be rude.

His guest settled next to him, silent as ever, not so much as a side glance at his host.

"Take your time. I have all afternoon," the pony-tailed young man said, impatience ebbing away now that he was where he wanted to be. He really couldn't care less if Sasuke decided to inform him of his reasons for approaching him, be it today, tomorrow, or next year. He felt no killing intent in the times they'd seen each other in passing, no aggression of any kind. Just a sort of barely leashed intensity. Plus, Sasuke was quiet. Shikamaru didn't mind that at all.

When the Nara was quite sure he was going to end up napping before anything noteworthy could happen, the silence was broken.

"You were leading the team that was meant to retrieve me," Sasuke started.

The Nara hummed his confirmation. It wasn't a secret, though it still embarrassed him. A 12-year-old newly promoted Chuunin, handed what was easily a Jounin-level mission, leading a team of kids no older than himself, and failing the mission spectacularly.

"Your personality and reputation suggest you're the kind of shinobi who would choose to cut his losses and back away." Rather than get practically the whole team killed, it went unsaid, but it was understood.

Shikamaru exhaled sharply but slowly. This conversation wasn't one he wanted to have with the person who was the reason they all could have died needlessly.

"I don't follow how this pertains to your following me." No sense beating around the bush. If Sasuke made no effort to hide his presence, Shikamaru made no effort to pretend he was unaware.

After a long pause, the raven-haired young man replied, "I suppose I just wanted to figure out why you did it."

Did what?

As if reading his mind, Sasuke continued, "I wanted to know why someone who otherwise didn't have any connection to me would go to such extreme measures to bring me back."

Shikamaru, brow furrowed, answered, "There were five of us, if you didn't know."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Uchiha nod in understanding, "But you led them."

Indeed, he led them. He had final say on everything as the leader. If he had decided to retreat at the point when it looked like they were going in over their heads, his team would not have questioned him, save Naruto. But Naruto was Naruto, so that hardly counted. Instead, he ended up breaking up the team the further they followed Sasuke, thinning out their number in what was likely the dumbest strategy known to shinobi.

And it was then that Shikamaru realized what Sasuke was asking. Despite the risks, despite the overwhelming odds, despite knowing the other chose to leave,

Why did you come for me?

Shikamaru's famously intelligent mind faltered. He knew why he went, he even gave an uncharacteristic speech about it right before heading out of the gates. But he never really thought about why he kept going. A child could reason fairly easily that losing five loyal shinobi was not worth losing one traitorous one. And why was Uchiha even bringing this up nearly a decade after the fact?

"Are you saying I shouldn't have bothered?" It wasn't a serious question. He came back on his own after all.

"Now you're just avoiding it," Sasuke smirked.

The taller boy ran a hand over his wild ponytail and matched the other smirk for smirk. "I could just as easily ask why you came back on your own."

Jet black hair hid blacker eyes as the Uchiha turned his face downwards in what might have been contemplation and silence reigned. Shikamaru figured it was unfair of him to ask something that was likely classified information when the question he was asked was merely speculative.

"...I don't know," the Nara answered belatedly, though clarifying what he was answering was unnecessary. His eyes drifted to the side – did Uchiha look...disappointed?

"It wasn't because of orders," he elaborated. "I suppose it was because I looked up to you in school." And he honestly did, in between his naps at least.

"Tch." The incredulity was apparent, though Shikamaru didn't bother to absolve Sasuke's skepticism.

"And why did you let me follow you for three months? It certainly can't be because of a schoolboy's admiration."

Well, that was entirely unexpected, and very true. Why did the strategist allow it? The Uchiha's criminal history was enough that even the tiniest offense during his probation would have him thrown in a cell indefinitely. True, Shikamaru felt no malice coming from his follower, but it was questionable behavior at best. He chalked it up to not wanting to deal with the hassles of written complaints and the extended interview and interrogation process that would ensue, but even he knew there was more to it.

In all those times that he sensed the Uchiha watching him, it wasn't hatred or anger he saw in the bottomless darkness of his eyes. He couldn't name it specifically, but the closest word he could come up with was loneliness, dark and intense. It certainly explained why he was so curious about a veritable stranger caring enough to risk five lives for him, and why he made his presence known to the point where Shikamaru had to begrudgingly invite him to join him (because Sasuke would probably drop dead before inviting someone else to hang out with him, God forbid anyone come to the conclusion that he wants to be around people).

When it came right down to it, Sasuke just wanted companionship, Shikamaru concluded. Not an eternal rival, or a former fangirl, or a perverted mentor with a tardiness problem. And Shikamaru wasn't one to begrudge a poor soul who was too embarrassed or proud or just plain clueless. Sure, Sasuke could be kind of a prick, but Shikamaru could think of far worse people stalking him for his friendship.

He sighed as he heaved himself off the ground and brushed the grass from the back of his pants. "So, are you actually any good at Shogi, or were you just hanging out in the den to look pretty?"

In a single fluid movement, Sasuke rose to his feet, damnable smirk twisting his lips. "Perhaps both," he replied as the two men headed back into town.

Author's Note:

Honestly, I have no idea what I was aiming for here. I started out with an idea, and it was going really well in the beginning, and somewhere in there it led to a totally different ending than I was anticipating. But I like the beginning and the end, perhaps separately. I was inspired by the Sasuke Retrieval arc (sooooo long ago) and I thought about Shikamaru's motivation. Obviously, I kind of didn't GO ANYWHERE with that, but whatever. If/when inspiration hits me, I suppose I'll split this drabble into two separate and unrelated pieces.

Also, it's thanks to that arc that Shikamaru has so many yaoi pairings. I doubt NejiShika, KibaShika, NaruShika, and even ChoujiShika would have nearly as many fans if it wasn't for that arc. And I really do find it intriguing that he'd go so far to get Sasuke back. It wasn't what made me ship them, but it's a fun idea to play with.