My Pet Peeve

Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine.

It had only been three days and already Shikamaru was used to waking up to sharing his bed with a half naked man spooning him. Or perhaps he'd resigned himself to his fate and accepted that for the time being there would be no way of getting rid of him. Although Ino was leaving him alone a lot more since she was uncomfortable around the little stalker so there was one bonus. Being stuck in a death grip when you were desperate for a piss in the early morning wasn't so good...

"Hidan? Hidan... Hidan!" No movement. Not even a twitch. It was like the man had died in his sleep. That wouldn't be so good... This is not something I want to deal with every morning. "Hey! Wake up!" Slapping someone on the head with the corner of a book was not the nicest thing to do but it was getting serious.

Hidan woke up with a start and once again fell off the bed. Another seemingly common occurrence. The fool might have hurt himself but Shikamaru was too busy dashing for the bathroom to care. He had also probably missed his first lecture without the Ino alarm clock but that wasn't too major. Surely Sasuke would cover for him anyway.

When he heard his phone start to ring he dashed back to his room at full speed to try and grab it. You couldn't expect the idiot to do anything. It had somehow managed to get into one of his shoes but he wasn't exactly the most organised so he didn't mind too much.

"Yeah?" Well he'd only just got up; he wasn't going to be the most sociable.

"Thank god you're still alive."

"Err... Thanks Kiba, I really appreciate your concern." It made you feel pretty good to know your friends cared.

"We thought that guy may have killed you in your sleep and that's why you didn't show up."

"I rarely ever show up anyway. And you really think I'd let someone kill me in my sleep?"

"Well you're pretty easy to sneak up on."

"...The fact that you've considered this worries me. Anyway is that all you wanted?"

"Actually I was gonna ask if you wanted some donuts."

"Donuts?!" Now that was random, even for Kiba.

"Look outside!" ...That little- He pulled back the curtains to see Kiba standing outside waving and grinning with an amused looking Sasuke and Gaara standing next to him. ...How I didn't hear someone so loud I will never know. He put the phone down on the laughing and looked over at Hidan who was, for some reason only known to him, playing with Shikamaru's boxers. "...Please put those down. And get some kind of clothing on, my friends are here. "

Shikamaru left the room before he had time to reply. The awkwardness hadn't completely gone away obviously, but he wasn't as worried about being stabbed in his sleep as he had been.

"Why the hell couldn't you just have knocked on the door? And why do you have donuts?"

"Because the look on your face was worth it. And because these are the best fucking donuts in existence and I felt they should be shared like the awesome buddy that I am." It was entirely deserved when Shikamaru slammed the door shut on him. Although being an ass, Kiba had stuck his foot into the door to stop it. "Ah, fuck!"

"What's wrong with you?" Sasuke voiced what everyone else was thinking about.

"They always do it in the movies, I thought it would work!"

"You're a moron." But he did at least pity him enough to let them in. "And Kiba if you break anything I will kill you."

Why he had to be surrounded by so many difficult and weird people was something he just couldn't work out. Not to mention the fact that almost everyone seemed to be trying to steal things from him. Like the way that Kiba was 'subtly' attempting to steal his notes folder.

"What are you doing? I don't what you're trying to find but there's nothing interesting in there."

"I need to borrow a few things and the others won't help me."

"I don't see the point in stealing mine when I go to less lectures than you do. And rarely take notes."

"...Fuck. I didn't think of that. Screw it, they'll do."

"For what?"

"I asked Hinata to meet up with me to 'study'."

"You're obviously not keen on studying so why bother?" Sasuke had been through this with him several times before. Gaara just couldn't be bothered with conversation and had settled down happily on the sofa and began flicking through the TV channels.

"It gives me an excuse to spend time with her!"

"You could just ask her on a date instead of making an ass of yourself."

"...Just screw you guys. And I'm gonna steal this anyway."

"Whatever." Kiba had been lusting over the young Hyuuga ever since he'd first met her and it was frustrating sometimes to watch. Why he was so persistent at putting things off and just making flimsy excuses to meet her rather than just tell her was foolish. And speaking of fools, he hadn't heard anything from upstairs in a while.

Where's Hidan? Maybe he's uncomfortable with Kiba again? Quite likely...

-Page Break-

Hidan was slumped on the bed. It seemed that he was always feeling at least a little depressed nowadays. Shikamaru had seemed to accept that he didn't want to talk about anything but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't stop thinking about things. Anytime he was left on his own it would set off. He was starting to feel so pathetic and needy. Thinking back he'd always been this way. It was only now he'd been pushed away he was desperately clinging to anything he could get close to.

It wasn't that he's gotten particularly attached to Shikamaru, it was that the boy had been the first person to notice him in a long time and the only person to really show him kindness. And he'd needed it all so badly he'd stuck to him.

This feeling of being some kind of parasite was what kept bringing him down. Yet he did like being this way... Not that he'd ever admit it to anybody else. Especially the one he could hear walking down the hallway.

"Hi..." Shikamaru was always a little off around him. A fact that hadn't gone unnoticed by Hidan. He'd never blame him for it though. He knew that he was a difficult person. "Are you... feeling ok?"

"Yeah..."

"Because if something's bothering you, I'll try and help." Even though he had no clue what he could do to help, he was willing to try.

"..." Hidan wanted one thing in particular but he didn't know how to ask. "Could you... hold me?" Yes that did sound very weird. You could tell from the boy's facial expression.

"Hold you?"

"Yes." Well there was no way he was going to try and explain this. Even he wasn't sure why he wanted it, he was just desperate for human contact.

"Err... That's a little bit..." Shikamaru started thinking about how to gently tell the boy that there was no way he was doing that. The look on his face stopped that. He looked so lonely. "Ok I'll do it... only for a little while though..." Any longer and his friends might come up and see.

Hidan buried his face into his chest and gently gripped him round the middle. He'd hugged girls like this before, but never another guy and Shikamaru felt quite bemused. At least it seemed to make the man feel better.

It's like I have a pet or a small child... Despite the fact that he was probably older than Shikamaru he seemed so childlike. It yet again raised the question, why was this? And how did it happen?

"I need to get back downstairs. Will you be ok?" And he had to start getting ready for Neji's visit. It just wasn't going to end well.

-Page Break-

"Hey Shika, I just heard from Neji and he said he's bringing Lee along too."

"Lee?!" Well that was just super. This was awkward enough so why not bring the crazy teacher Gai's nephew along. Not that he wasn't a nice guy. He was just too enthusiastic sometimes and it drove him up the wall. In this kind of situation though perhaps he could be useful.

"At least we're not completely alone with Neji?" Choji was at least optimistic. "Plus we have your stalker friend."

"Yeah..." He wasn't sure Hidan would come down though. The guy had barely left the room all day and he was feeling a little worried. It was obvious this boy had been abused in some way and he knew he needed some kind of mental help. You couldn't force someone to look for help though and he couldn't make him go anywhere else.

It's a shame I have absolutely no clue on what to do here...Maybe I could ask Neji? That could be an idea... If he made it sound like he was asking for advice it may be easier to get things out of him. The knock on the door showed him that they were finally here. As usual Lee was pleased to see everyone.

"Shikamaru! I haven't seen you in so long!" He did wish that the guy hadn't decided to slap his shoulder like that. Lee really didn't know his own strength.

"Thanks for inviting us." And here was the man of the evening. Neji and Hinata looked very similar and many people mistook them for fraternal twins despite the fact that they were cousins. They were also quite close to each other as they'd been raised together which had led to Neji being oddly over protective of her.

"We've got food and drink in the lounge." If he could get them full and slightly tipsy it would be start. And as Lee was equally as susceptible to alcohol, the entertainment value would be good. It was only after twenty minutes of awkward sitting and staring into space he decided to attempt a conversation. "So... I actually wanted to talk to you about something."

"Me?" Neji raised his eyebrow. "About what?" Choji subtly started up talking with Lee.

"Well... I've actually got a guy staying here and there's a bit of a problem with him."

"A guy? Who is this?"

"His names Hidan and I found him on the street."

"The street?" Even the other two were paying attention now. "You just randomly bought a homeless person home?!"

"Well technically he followed me, but that's not the point..."

"You shouldn't let just anyone in Shika! He could be a homicidal maniac for all you know!"

"Is he still here?" Lee was also interested.

"Yeah, he's upstairs."

"Perhaps we should bring him down here?"

"No! I'd rather tell you guys all I know first. He's been depressed all day and I doubt he'll come down anyway."

"What's going on then?"

"Well as you know I found him in the street and as he followed me home and it was raining I let him stay. The next day I tried to get him to leave and he begged me not to 'throw him away'-"

"Throw him away? That's a very odd thing to say."

"Indeed. Anyway he wouldn't speak for a long time until Kiba really wound him up and he screamed at him in the middle of a lecture..."

"That was your friend?!"

"Ooo we heard about that! Everyone though it was hilarious." Lee grinned.

"It was pretty funny... Anyway I later got him to admit that he'd lived with the guy called Kakuzu. He said he wasn't family or a boyfriend or anything like that, but I'm worried he might've been abused. The guy is quite needy and he seems to be afraid of any kind of negative reaction to anything."

"That does sound likely... He sounds like he needs some serious help."

"He does, but I can't just send him to somewhere random and I don't think I can keep him here forever."

"Perhaps we can talk to him! We shall bring him out of his shell with the power of youth!" It seemed their 'youthful' friend was a little too optimistic.

"I kind of agree with you but you can't just bound in and drag him off with you. I think the best thing you can do is give him time and he'll talk on his own." Neji smiled at him.

"You're right there. Thanks Neji." It was nice to have someone to rely on. "Soo... do you want anything to drink?"

"Drink? Err..." He was always wary about alcohol due to the number of times they'd stripped him and put him in Ino's bras.

"I think we should invite your friend down!"

"That would be a good idea!" Neji was glad to avoid making a decision.

"Well I guess that's ok... You come with me Lee." Lee was unlikely to be put off by anything so could probably drag the boy down. All he had to do was leave it to Choji to attempt to get something out of him.

Lee was eagerly bounding up the stairs in front of him and he had to admit he was worried about Hidan's reaction. He wasn't going to enjoy being disturbed by this lunatic. But he was a coward at heart and he wasn't going alone.

"Hidan?" He peered round the door. Hidan was sitting on the bed staring at him. Not doing anything else. It was like he'd been doing that the whole time. "Is something wrong?"

"No."

"Ok... Well do you want to come downstairs? I have a couple of friends round."

"Friends?" His voice sounded quite dismayed at this. That was another oddity to add to the list. Just as he was going to give up and leave, Lee decided to bound in.

"Greetings Hidan, it is good to meet you! I am Lee." He grabbed Hidan's hand and started shaking it. The boy looked like he was in shock and Shikamaru stifled a laugh. "Come join us!" With a small amount of resistance he was tugged up and dragged out the room, sending pleading looks at Shikamaru. There was nothing to do though as once Lee decided on something that was that.

I almost feel sorry for the guy. I suppose he'll live...