Troublesome Hormones

by naruko75

All Naruto wanted was to have some fun, nothing wrong with that right? Wrong. She never realized that sneaking around with one lazy bastard will come with its own set of consequences, especially when falling in love is the least of her troubles.

7. Chapter 7

Naruto frowned at the envelopes she was carrying as she walked up the stairs of her apartment.

It was letters the hokage had given her, they were from possible 'suitors' as the old hag liked to call them. 'Yeah, right.' Naruto thought with a scowl as she opened the door of her little apartment. Bullshit is what she believed it was. Since the war had ended, she'd been receiving a lot of letters from various people all of them wanting to meet her, some of them even going as far as proposing to marry her, Sakura often joked of how Naruto's wish of being acknowledged had gotten her lots of fans instead. As if she would want a bunch of strangers sending her love letters, come on, she'd never even met most of them!

She dropped her shopping bags on the floor as she jumped on her lumpy bed. Today had been a trying day for her. The walk to the village had been so silent and awkward because apparently Sakura had remembered her little breakdown in the bar. Coupled with her hangover, she'd been grumpy the whole way back to the village bossing Naruto more than usual she refused to even acknowledge Sasuke, but to be fair, the bastard didn't even notice. Though, he seemed to notice that Naruto hadn't tried to fight with him as much as usual by the way he kept sending her inquisitive looks. What Sakura had told her had weirded her out, she just hadn't known how to act with Sasuke with the knowledge that he might like her.

She felt a little guilty turning his offer for a spar down, but at the time she had other more embarrassing things in mind.

Naruto groaned covering her face with her hands. When she'd seen Shikamaru, she'd been assaulted with memories of that night. She could barely look at him without blushing, she'd felt such a strong pulse between them she was surprised that he didn't feel it too.

She hadn't expected to see him so soon after she got back. She'd thought she would have a few days to prepare before she could go and apologize for punching him and forgive him for being an asshole, then they could get past this whole mess, because she was getting tired of thinking about it. Thinking was never her strong suit. But now, she realized getting passed the whole thing wouldn't be so easy.

Just looking at him had been hard to do without her face burning, how is she supposed to act like nothing ever happened between them? Plus, there was the feeling that she had when her eyes met his. It was like she was in his room all over again, him looking at her with that same hungry look. She'd felt that same warm feeling of joy and power and a little confusion- because she doesn't understand why would someone like Shikamaru would look at her like she was the most desirable person he'd ever seen. No one had ever looked at her like that before, and it was nice even though he'd been drunk that night (and hungover the next morning) and he had probably thought he was looking at Temari. But today -and that's what is confusing her- Shikamaru hadn't been drunk yet she'd caught the same hunger and appreciation in his eyes. She was lost as to what to make of it.

On one side it is nice that someone finally acknowledged that she's a woman now and not the same little tomboy she'd been when she was twelve, so maybe Sakura had been right to make her buy all those clothes -but hell would have to freeze over before she admits it out loud to her! Anyway, on the other hand this is Shikamaru, who is a good friend of hers, and who -she kept reminding herself - had just broken up with Temari who he still loved very much and who was Gaara's sister for crying out loud! He would be devastated if he learned of what they'd done -or murderous in Shikamaru's case- but the point was, it is wrong on so many levels. He shouldn't be looking at her like she was a piece of chicken he'd like to devour (not that anyone could ever look at her like a piece of anything), and she shouldn't be feeling happy about it.

He was probably just confused anyway, maybe his break up had left him conflicted and he thought she was Temari because they're both blonde? Unlikely but that's the only explanation she could think of. But what if he wasn't conflicted? And the reason he was looking at her like that was because he... She shook her head off the wishful thinking, there's no way he could harbour any kind of feelings for her, he thought she was annoying.

Bah, nothing can be done about it and it's not like she wants to have any kind of relationship with him (or anyone) anyway. She has to train to become hokage and she has no time for romance. But she would still need to talk to him though, about it so she could put it behind her. With that, she got up from the bed. All that thinking made her hungry.

She opened the small fridge in her living room to find that there wasn't anything to eat, well except the milk which she is sure to be expired by now. She looked around and grimaced at the sight of her dirty apartment, there was a sink full of dirty plates. How the hell does a person that lives alone mess up so many plates? Clothes laid on her couch haphazardly, she ran her finger on the top shelf and inspected it, at least there wasn't too much dust, she thought. Ah well, she'd just have to clean it when she gets back from the grocery store. She grabbed her Gama-Chan from the bed stand and walked out the door ignoring the snotty landlady that opened her curtains to glare at her as she walked passed her door.

For some people it's just hard to forget about the kyuubi attack. With a shrug and a sunny smile, she walked into town. Her smile widened when some shop keepers greeted her with smiles of their own. She's glad that only a few people still harbour a grudge against her about the kyuubi. The majority having recognized her as a great ninja and awesome kunoichi 'ttebayo! She laughed at her verbal tic that she so rarely used nowadays, having grown out of it.

She whistled as she made her way through aisles of food picking what she needed for the new recipe she'd managed to ask the chief at the restaurant in the Land of Waterfalls. For some reason she'd taken up cooking as a hobby.

Sometimes she would try to make her own recipe, it sucked not having anyone to taste her food so there was no way she could know if she was improving. Though Iruka-sensei had tried to convince her that she was getting better than he'd expected -thanks for the vote of confidence sensei!- the last time she'd made him taste (read: Eat) one of her cuisine. Her interest in cooking had been totally accidental. It was during a mission with Sasuke they'd stopped in a small village just out of Fire Country's border to eat something, to her displeasure the ramen there had tasted like crap, she'd complained about it to Sasuke, but the teme had just rolled his eyes at her and told her, "it's not like you can do any better, you probably wouldn't know what to do with a pot and a spoon if it was staring at you in the face." She probably would have dismissed his comment, after all it was true that she couldn't cook, but then he went and gave her one of his superior sneer that she hated so much, the one that says "I'm-better-than-you-and-there's-nothing-you-can-do-to-change-that" which she'd naturally took as a challenge and everyone knew she wasn't one to back down from a challenge. As soon as she'd gotten back to the village she'd applied herself into cooking ramen even asking Teuchi Ojichan for tips. It took her a few tries in which she'd burnt the food several times resulting in a few black pots. At the end she'd made it, she had cooked a perfectly good (in her opinion) and edible (in Sasuke's opinion) ramen.

Since then, she'd been trying to cook all kinds of different food. It turned out that she really enjoyed cooking, there was something soothing about it that she liked. Iruka-sensei who had turned out to be a good cook helps her from time to time when he isn't busy to the point where she could say that she's proficient in the art.

Speaking of the academy teacher, Naruto could see him by the cash register.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto called out loudly, her former teacher winced at the volume but turned around with a smile on his face waving. Naruto quickly got her stuff and ran to him, she jumped on him for a hug to which he caught her with a surprise oof.

"Whoa, Naruto!" He said chuckling as he hugged her back. "Remember you're not as light as you used to be." He said with a wink.

"Ah, sorry Iruka-sensei!" She quickly got down scratching behind her head sheepishly.

Iruka waved his hand dismissively. "How are you?" He glanced at the basket that she'd dropped at her feet. "Grocery shopping, I see."

Naruto grinned, "I'm fine Iruka-sensei, I just came from a mission and I'm kind of hungry, but my fridge is empty!" She finished with a whine bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Iruka chuckled, "What about your cups of ramen that you always keep in your top shelf cupboard?"

"Yes, but I wanted something different!"

"Alright, alright." Iruka said paying the cashier, "How about this? Come to my house and I will cook us something to eat you can tell me all about your mission."

"Yatta!" Naruto cheered as she paid for her food too. "I got a new recipe that I want to try out, can you help me with it, please." She showed him her her best puppy eyes.

"Okay, sure I will be happy to help." Iruka laughed ruffling her hair, he blinked in surprise when he noticed what she was wearing for the first time. "Well, look who finally decided to get in touch with her feminine side?"

Naruto pouted at being teased taking her grocery bag, "Not you too, Iruka-sensei!"

"I'm kidding," he said as they walked out of the store. "You look nice."

Naruto looked down shyly fiddling with the hem of her dress, she mumbled something that sounded like thank you.

Iruka smiled softly, he knew how insecure Naruto was sometimes about herself. He gave her a sly smile and a wink. "Keep this up and you might finally get yourself a boyfriend."

Instead of the disgusted face and indignant cry he expected silence greeted him. He glanced at her sideways, she was still looking down her lips was twisted in slight frown. "What's wrong?"

Naruto shook her head and gave him grin, "Nothing."

He narrowed his eyes, but before he could say something her grin turned sly. "Speaking of boyfriend, how are things going with Shizune-nee?" Iruka turned red from embarrassment.

Naruto snickered at her sensei's reaction. Iruka and Shizune have been dating for close to a year now. After months of stalking from Iruka he'd finally found the courage to ask her out, to which Shizune hadn't been sure at first but after seeing that the first date had gone well she'd agreed to go out with him again and since then they've been dating. Her former teacher seemed to like her a lot and Shizune-nee is a good person and they both deserved to be happy. That doesn't mean she would stop teasing her surrogate brother about it though. With a mischievous smile that caused Iruka to narrow his eyes again but for different reason this time she said, "You're not working her ragged are you?" He didn't understand her until she added, "We'd hate to have a very tired medic to help patients, especially if she hasn't been sleeping because... You, you know, kept her up all night." She finished with a wink.

Iruka squawked his whole face red. "Naruto!"

Naruto ran cackling loudly all the while dodging startled civilians.

"Naruto, come back here! Hey-wait up!"

Naruto shook her head as she ran even faster to his house.

Iruka shook his head fondly at her retreating form smiling as he followed at a slow pace.

When he reached her he gave her a mouthful about minding her own business to which she replied that the fact that she'd walked in on them more than once gives her the right to tease him to which he blushed again and told her if she'd bothered to knock before entering she wouldn't have seen anything.

They continue to banter back and forth as he cooked dinner with Naruto helping, Shizune arrived to a very lively home.

"Shizune-nee-Chan!" Naruto jumped on her for a hug.

"Hey Naruto!" Shizune hugged the girl back. "How are you?"

"I'm great, just helping Iruka-sensei make dinner." She said going back to the stove, she tried to taste but Iruka smacked her hand off.

Shizune walked over to give a peck to her boyfriend's. "What are you cooking?"

"Stew beef." He answered.

"Hmm, ravishing." She said taking a spoon and leaning over to taste, Iruka let her ignoring Naruto's cry of "Hey, no fair!" As he waited for her to comment.

Shizune eyes lit up. "It's good, as always."

An embarrassed blush spread on Iruka's cheeks but he had a pleased smile. Naruto grumbled something about him being smitten which earned her a slap on the head making Shizune laugh.

They talked for awhile about Shizune's work and when the food was ready, the three of them sat around the table and started eating with Naruto enthusiastically telling them about her mission and how she kicked ass without breaking a sweat. They all laughed when Naruto demonstrated how she made the restaurant owner speak.

When they were done, she stood to take the plates but Shizune stopped her.

"Leave it, you go sit I will make us tea." Naruto tried to protest but Shizune wouldn't hear any of it. Naruto gave up and went to join Iruka in the sitting room.

"So Naruto," Shizune said joining them and handing them their tea. "What's with the dress?"

"Sakura made me go shopping during our mission."

"Well, I think you look really pretty. Not that you didn't already look pretty." She added with a smile.

Naruto blushed and looked down shyly, "Thanks."

Shizune shared a smile with Iruka before changing the subject. "Still training hard to be hokage uh?"

"Of course!" Naruto said excitedly, her embarrassment all gone. "I'm going to be the greatest hokage ever!"

"I'm sure you will." Shizune said.

"Don't forget that to be the greatest hokage you need to be strong up here too." Iruka said indicating his head. "And for that you need to read the books that the hokage gave you that I'm sure you haven't started on."

"I have too!" Iruka raised an eyebrow, and she relented. "Okay, maybe I only started on the first sentence but I can't help it, it's just so boring!" She whined.

"It is not supposed to be fun, Naruto." Iruka said disapprovingly making Naruto shrink back on the couch, since she hated disappointing him. "It's supposed to get you ready for what you're getting yourself into."

Naruto slumped but nodded because she knew he was right. "I know, but between training and studying seals I hardly have time to read."

She started studying seals close to a year now. Her skills are mediocre at best but she had to admit that she was getting better considering she only had her parent's' and godfather's notes to study from, the library only covers the basics of sealing. She didn't want the legacy of her mother to die so she'd taken upon studying seals in order to remember her mom by, not that she needs seals to remember her mother it's just nice to learn something her mother was good at since she hadn't inherited the Uzumaki chains like her mother.

She already had her father's rasengan, though it seemed he was a master in his own right in sealing too just from looking at the seal engraved on her stomach.

"Oh I'd forgotten that you do seals too." Shizune said taking a sip of her tea.

"How is that going? You haven't talked about it today." Iruka asked.

"I'm still learning. I can make little things like shock tags, freezing tags, seal protection but I haven't gotten to the big flashy stuff yet."

Iruka narrowed his eyes. "And what do you mean by 'flashy stuff'?"

"Oh I don't know," Naruto said innocently. "How about sealing demons?"

Iruka frowned. "That's not funny."

"Relax Iruka-sensei, I'm just messing with you." Naruto laughed. "Kakashi-sensei supervises my progress so there's nothing to worry about."

"I think you're progressing relatively well for eight months." Shizune interjected before Iruka could give his disapproval in letting Kakashi supervise her training, not that she can blame him. The guy is a lazy pervert but his skills and prowess makes up for it and the fact that he knows what he's doing when it comes to sealing.

"Thanks Shizune-neechan, it means a lot." Naruto grinned before looking at the clock on the wall. "I need to get going, it's getting late."

Iruka stood up."Let me walk you to the door."

Naruto grabbed her shopping bag and they both walked to the door. "Thank you for tonight. I really appreciate it."

Iruka waved his hands dismissively, he smiled. "Anytime, you just come to me if you need anything."

Naruto smiled rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. "Thank Shizune-nee for me." She turning around and waved him bye.

Iruka waved back. "Be careful, okay?"

"I will, bye Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka watched until she disappeared into the darkness, before shaking his head and walking back inside his apartment.

Naruto hummed as she walked toward her apartment swinging her bags back and forth. Not worried about the dark empty street, her mood was still good from the dinner with Iruka and Shizune and it's not like anyone would dare hurt her anyway. She would pummel them before they could even try.

She smiled as she thought back on all the things they'd talked about. She was just a minute away from her beat-up apartment when the two shopping bags in her hands broke and everything fell on the ground. She cursed, but sighed kneeling down to pick up the things.

It was then that she heard footsteps coming towards her. At first she ignored it thinking whoever it was was just walking past, but then the footsteps paused just a little distance from her and then resumed walking in her direction.

Naruto grumbled a little about her rotten luck and hopefully it wasn't a mugger trying his luck on her. She looked up ready to tell whoever it was to get lost, her words caught in her throat and a sound that sounded like a whimper came out instead. She swallowed thickly trying to stand up, but failing as her legs had suddenly gone to sleep.

Shikamaru was walking calmly towards her, she couldn't tell his expression because of the darkness but she was sure it was set in a bored mask like always.

Shikamaru stopped in front of her with his hands in his pocket. Now that he was in front of her she could see he was wearing a mesh shirt that hugged his body making his defined muscles visible and faded jeans. She swallowed averting her eyes

"Do you need help?" He asked indicating to the things scattered around her.

Naruto shook her head. "I- I got it." She stammered trying to pick up the rest of the things but her arms were already full.

Shikamaru sighed bending down to pick up the rest of the stuff. Naruto's breath hitched when she caught a whiff of his smell. She shook herself, 'Get a grip on yourself, Naruto!' She scolded herself silently. 'It's just Shikamaru.' That didn't stop her breath from catching again when he looked at her in askance. She blinked wondering why he was looking at her.

"Um, Naruto?" He said and he sounded amused, and she noticed his voice sounded like chocolate, smooth and deep and she liked the way he said her name- wait what? 'Okay Naruto, don't be daft you do not like the way he says your name! It sounds too lazy and deep and...and nice.' Naruto inwardly screamed in frustration, it's a good thing it was too dark so he couldn't see the blush on her face. "Do you plan on staying on the floor for the rest of the night?"

Naruto blinked when his smooth voice interrupted her mental debate before registering what he'd said. "Oh... Oh right!" She stood up hastily, she almost fell back down but he caught her by the arm with his free hand.

For a short moment they just stood there looking at each other. She swallowed again before trying to shake off all those foreign feelings that wanted to overcome her. Shikamaru too seemed to remember himself because he quickly dropped her arm as if it was on fire. She crushed the disappointment that she could feel forming in her stomach.

They walked silently to her apartment, she could still feel her arm tingling where he'd touched her. All this was making her confused, her body shouldn't be reacting like that just from his touch and it's not like this is the first time he'd touched her, they've touched before and not once as she felt weak in the knees like she was feeling now. She felt self-conscious as she climbed the stairs to her apartment with him behind her, she could feel his eyes on her back.

She opened the door easily since she never locked it. They went in and she showed him where to drop the stuff.

Shikamaru shifted awkwardly where he was standing. She looked up expectedly. He seemed to be as uncomfortable as she felt. That oddly comforted her.

"I came here so we could talk." He didn't need to tell her about what she already knew, herself planning to do the same thing, but she would have preferred if it was later rather than sooner. Though it's good that it was happening now, she wanted to get it over and done with.

"Take a seat," she said indicating to her sofa which was full of clothes by the way. She flushed in embarrassment as she quickly went to take them off all the while berating herself for not cleaning earlier.

Shikamaru watched with half lidded eyes as she fussed around trying to tidy anything out of place. He made sure to keep his eyes away from her legs when she bent down to pick up something.

"Naruto." He interrupted her when she was about to pick up something that looked suspiciously like a boxer-though he doesn't understand why would any girl need to wear boxers- that she'd dropped for the third time. 'Great, I'm making her nervous.' He sighed going to sit on the couch. "You don't need to clean up, I've seen your apartment in worse conditions."

Instead of the outburst that would normally follow, she just flushed harder and looked down in embarrassment and mumbled an excuse before disappearing in her room.

"Troublesome." This is not how he imagined things going when he'd come to see her. 'Maybe I should've waited till tomorrow, after all.' He thought, but then shook his head. He needed to do this today or he would not sleep tonight. He'd come earlier but she wasn't home so he'd gone back to his apartment only to come back an hour later because he hadn't been able to sleep for some reason that he refused to analyze. He wanted to see Naruto and make sure nothing had changed between them. Well, nothing that can stop them from still being friends. 'So much for that,' he thought. She can't even look at him properly without blushing! Not that he can blame her, he had to stop himself from avoiding her eyes on occasions only because he knew it would hurt her feelings. But still, right now Naruto is doing a perfect imitation of Hinata when she was younger, the only thing missing was the finger poking. On the positive side, she wasn't mad at him anymore, he had to take take that into consideration at least.

It saddened him to think that they might never be the way they were before. Something had shifted between them, he can't tell if it's good or bad. His thoughts were interrupted when Naruto returned, it seemed she'd calmed herself because she could now look at him in the eyes, but he could still see a faint blush on her cheeks. It made her look enticing and innocent. To be fair she was still innocent, that night was her first time having sex. He winced at the reminder. Naruto caught it and raised an eyebrow in question, he shook his head.

"Uhm, do you want some tea?" She asked after a moment of awkward silence.

"Okay, sure." He shrugged.

She nodded and went to the kitchen to put the kettle on, she came back and there was another moment of awkwardness when she realized that there was only one couch and that if she wanted to sit she would have to sit next to him. She contemplated just standing but figured it would seem kind of rude, normally she had no qualms about being rude but tonight is different, she's different. She hesitated a little before forcing herself to move while telling herself inwardly to get a grip, it wasn't a big deal. She settled herself as far away from him as the couch would permit.

Shikamaru watched silently, amused despite himself. Naruto saw his expression and glared at him. "You think this is amusing, don't you?"

He shrugged unapologetic, a lazy grin creeping on his lips. "Maybe a little."

She huffed crossing her arms and looking away. He chuckled at her antics turning in his seat to face her. Another awkward pause before she blurted. "I'm sorry."

He blinked at her in surprise. "For what?"

Naruto looked down at her hands. "For-for punching you."

Shikamaru's hand went to his cheek, the bruise had completely faded by now. He looked at Naruto, she was biting her lips her expression was worried as she looked at him. She was really feeling bad uh, he shook his head, that is so Naruto, always worried about others.

He shrugged unbothered, "It doesn't hurt anymore. Plus, I kinda deserved it." He finished with a crooked smile.

Naruto looked away from it as it was giving her small butterflies in her stomach. "Yeah you did. But I still shouldn't have punched you like that."

"It's fine, Naruto. Actually, I came here to apologize to you for being a jerk."

Naruto looked up at him in surprise, she shrugged. "It's fine I-"

"No," he interrupted. "It's not fine. I shouldn't have said what I said and I'm sorry. I was mad at myself for letting things get out of control and I took it out on you. It was your first time and I was an ass about it. I don't want what happened between us to destroy our friendship."

Blue eyes searched his face, for what he didn't know. After a moment Naruto relaxed and gave him a brilliant smile that seemed to light up the place. Before she could say anything the sound of the kettle went off, interrupting her. Naruto excused herself to go make tea.

Shikamaru relaxed as soon as she went. It was hard trying to focus with her sitting close to him, her smell was intoxicating. Everytime she looked away he had the urge to turn her head toward him so he could stare at those intense beautiful eyes.

He frowned when what he'd just thought occurred to him; what the hell is wrong with him? He shouldn't have these kind of thoughts at a moment like this. He shouldn't have these kind of thoughts at all, period. Though, he had to admit that she did have beautiful eyes and lips- 'Wait-what?' Shikamaru groaned softly, 'These damn hormones!' He paused at that, could it be? He thought, could it be that it's his hormones that are causing his 'possible' attraction for the blonde? He tried to remember the last time he'd had sex before recently, it was five months ago when he'd been to Suna for a conference meeting. He and Temari lived so far from each other that it prevented them from seeing each other a lot, both of them being too busy with their duties in their respective villages. This resulted in the lack of physical slash sexual activities between the two. Shikamaru hadn't minded though, he was never a physical person anyway. Well, until now.

For some reason he can't stop his body from reacting to Naruto and the only conclusion he could come up with is his lack of sex in life is finally catching up to him, lame right? Well, he couldn't think of anything else at the moment that would explain his growing attraction for Naruto. He can't even stand her as much as Ino and Sakura. She is loud, annoying and brash and hot and cute when she blushed. Shikamaru blinked before sighing in defeat, 'I will be damned.'

His hand went to his left pocket, taking out a cigarette and put it on his lips. He was about to light it up when he remembered in whose house he was sitting in, and that Naruto might not appreciate him smoking in her apartment. He sighed again taking it out of his mouth. He looked at it thoughtfully. Whatever, he came here to salvage their friendship, he will just have to control whatever urges or attraction he might possibly have for her, because he cannot afford to do the same mistake twice. With that decision made, he tucked his cigarette back into his pocket.

"I have a confession to make." Naruto said when she returned with a tray. "Some cookies I bought when I was at the store, help yourself."

"Thanks," he said as he took a cup of tea and a cookie, he waited patiently for Naruto to sit down and gather her courage for the confession she supposedly had. He tried to think of what it could be but surprisingly came up empty.

Naruto bit her lips as she thought on how to start what she wanted to say. It might probably make him angry, but she felt that he had to know, she felt that she owed it to him.

"I-" she started wringing her fingers together nervously. What if he doesn't want to speak to her ever again? She ducked her head in shame, "The thing is... I mean, I..."

Shikamaru groaned aloud. "Now you got me very interested. Come on spit it out already."

Naruto took a deep breath, 'Okay, here goes nothing.' "The thing is I wasn't completely drunk that night." She blurted out.

Shikamaru blinked in confusion, "I don't understand."

"What I mean is, that night wasn't totally accidental on my part. I kinda knew what I was getting myself into."

Shikamaru shook his head. "I know what you meant, what I don't understand is why did you let things proceed that far? Why didn't you stop me?"

"Because... Because... Oh, I don't know!" Naruto threw her hands up, "Maybe because I liked it? Don't get me wrong I feel bad about it okay, but at the same time I don't regret it."

Shikamaru's eyes was wide in shock. "Why?" He managed to choke out.

Naruto shrugged and smiled sadly. "You're the first guy that ever took interest in me like that and it made me feel good about myself... Kind of Special." She added quickly, "I'm not saying this to make you feel sorry for me. In fact don't. I'm telling you so that you should stop blaming yourself, the sex was consensual you didn't take advantage of me, I was a willing participant."

Shikamaru relaxed, he knew it shouldn't but for some reason what she said made him feel better. To somehow know that the feeling of desire he had was mutual was good, better than thinking that he took advantage of her. He watched as Naruto took a sip of her tea. He cannot imagine a girl as beautiful and strong as Naruto to have low self-esteem, not to mention she has a big heart. If she wanted she could have any guy she wanted. 'Even me.' The realization startled him, especially since it was true. There's just something about Naruto that drew people in.

They stayed silent for awhile each occupied with their own thoughts.

"So," Naruto said breaking the silence. "Are you mad at me?"

He looked up in surprise. "Why would I be mad at you?"

Naruto put her cup back on the tray but kept her head down. "I probably ruined things for you. I should have stopped us before we got further and I'm sorry."

Shikamaru tilted her head up so she could look him in the eyes. "You didn't ruin anything for me. Like you I was a willing partner and I wasn't completely drunk either."

It was Naruto's turn to be shocked. "You weren't?"

He shook his head.

"But-but in the morning you were- I thought-"

"I was just angry at myself for losing control and for taking advantage of you to forget my own misery."

Naruto shook her head vigorously. "But you didn't-"

"It felt that way, still does. Your first time should've been with someone special that you actually like."

"So," Naruto said carefully. "You don't regret it?"

Shikamaru thought of how to answer it for a moment. "It sucks that it happened like that, but I don't think I regret it. It was actually a pretty amazing experience." He finished with a wink.

Naruto sighed in relief before quirking a smile. "Yeah." She whispered taking a bite of her cookie as she thought on how to ask the next question. After a moment she gave up and just decided to say it bluntly. "Why did you kiss me?"

It was only pure coincidence that at that same moment Shikamaru was taking a sip of his tea, the question taking him by surprise making him choke on his tea. Naruto bit her lips to stop herself from laughing as Shikamaru pounded his chest while coughing. He glared at her somehow sensing the amusement from her, she gave him an innocent look.

"Troublesome." He muttered putting back his cup and leaning back on the couch.

"So?" Naruto prodded, "Why did you kiss me?"

He looked at her with a scowl. "What about you? Why did you kiss me back?"

Naruto's jaw went slack, her face turned red. She quickly shook her head. "I can't answer that!"

He raised an eyebrow. "And why not?"

"Because... Because I asked you first, dumbass!" She crossed her arms smugly.

There was a moment of pause before they both burst out laughing.

"No, come on." Naruto said when they both sobered up.

Shikamaru grimaced, shrugging his shoulders. "Frankly, I don't know why."

Naruto looked down to hide her disappointment. "Is it because you felt sorry for me?" She said it so softly that Shikamaru barely heard it.

"What?"

She glared down, fists clenched on her lap. "Was it pity? Did you kiss me because you felt sorry for me?"

Shikamaru shook his head perplexed. "Pity? What are you on about?"

Naruto looked away. "I don't need your pity." She said through gritted teeth.

Shikamaru's hands shot forward to grip her shoulder forcing her to look at him in surprise.

"Listen to me carefully because I won't repeat myself," he looked at her in the eyes so that she can see he was being serious. "I do not do things out of pity. It's either I want to do it or I don't."

"But-but you said... What about what you said? About-about me being beautiful and stuff?" She stammered unable to look at him with his hands on her shoulder. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears she just hoped that he couldn't hear it.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "what of it?"

Naruto blushed. "I thought you only said that because I was feeling bad about myself that day, ya know? And you kissed me because you felt sorry for me."

Shikamaru looked at her in disbelief unable to follow what she's talking about. He looked at her for another moment before realization dawned on him. How could he have forgotten? Naruto wasn't used to people being nice to her, so of course she took his actions as him pitying her. She was shunned from the moment she was born by everyone because of the kyu- no, Kurama. Naruto had stressed he'd be addressed as that, because apparently the nine tail's feelings were hurt if he got called otherwise- so she wasn't used to getting compliments by others. She may be good at giving kindness but receiving it doesn't come naturally to her. He felt himself burn up with a rising anger at the villagers for treating one of his friends badly, just as it came the feeling disappeared suddenly. It's in the past now, there's nothing he can do about it except make her realise that pity had nothing to do with everything that happened between them. He sighed tiredly releasing her shoulder.

"Look," he said scratching his hair. "I don't know where you got that idea, but it's stupid. I didn't kiss you because I felt sorry for you. I kissed you because I wanted to."

Large blue eyes blinked at him in confusion. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know why, but when I saw you standing there I wanted to kiss you badly so I did. And about you being being beautiful? I was just being honest."

Naruto's eyes widen, her mouth was slightly parted. She looked so cute he had to stop himself from reaching out and kissing her.

"Oh," she said after a shocked moment of silence. "Uhm... Thanks, I guess."

"There's something else."

Naruto blinked. It seemed her brain was currently functioning slowly, so just she nodded for him to go ahead.

"I know that things might not ever be the same again, but I hope that you and I can still be friends." He sighed before continuing, "I realized that asking you to forget about that night was the wrong thing to say, because it's impossible to forget. But I do want us to put it behind us, I don't want that night to keep hanging around us every time we see each other. You probably already know this, but I really don't want anyone to find out about us and if we act weird around each other people might suspect something."

Naruto nodded in understanding. A part of her still hung up on him calling her beautiful, for some reason her stomach felt funny. "I understand. I won't say anything."

Shikamaru blinked, for some reason that sounded wrong. "It has nothing to do with you but more to do with me... Temari is going to kill me if she finds out... Shit, I'm saying this wrong aren't I?" He sighed and tried again. "What I mean is people will have my head if they knew I had sex with you."

Naruto laughed softly. "Relax, I get what you're saying and I don't mind. I wouldn't want people to know either, I feel like it's our business."

Shikamaru looked at her in surprise before a lazy smile formed on his lips. Naruto's breath caught on her throat and she found that she liked that look way better than his normally bored expression.

"Exactly!"

'Our business.' It sounded more personal, she liked it.

They smiled at each other, a moment later though Shikamaru's smile dropped and he stared intensely at her. Naruto started feeling a little self-conscious, she could feel the heat creeping up to her face, she tugged nervously at the hem of her dress. She looked away to hide her flaming cheeks.

'Get a grip on yourself, Naruto!' She scolded herself silently, 'Stop blushing like one of Sasuke's fan girls.It's just Shikamaru for crying out loud!' She took a deep breath to calm herself only to regret it as her oversensitive nose inhaled his scent which smelled like the earth mixed with some deodorant. She found herself wanting to be engulfed in that smell. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly, 'This is just the raging hormones talking,' she tried to convince herself because she most certainly does not want to be engulfed in any smell, especially not his! With that she opened her eyes slowly and found brown eyes still staring at her making her breath hitch. Her heart pounded in her throat, her body tensed in anticipation, for what she didn't know. She licked her suddenly dry lip nervously. Brown eyes briefly followed the movement.

She swallowed hard feeling the sudden need to touch him. She clenched her fist hard to stop herself from actually reaching out. She tried to concentrate on her breathing while reminding herself why acting out will be a bad idea- and why the fuck is he just sitting there staring at her? -but a larger part of her was egging her on, telling her that it wouldn't hurt to do it just to find out if everything she felt that night was just the alcohol or it was something... More. It seemed the space between them diminished. She belatedly realized that she was advancing on him, fucking traitor. She should stop her body before it could do something more, but she didn't and it seemed Shikamaru was just happy to wait it out, traitors both of them.

Her hand reached out- and when the hell did that leave her lap!? -it hovered just inches from his face. He was still looking at her. After a few seconds he closed his eyes and Naruto took it as invitation. She ran her fingers over his face, above his brows, on the curve his nose and lastly his lips. She took her time tracing the shape of his lips, noticing that his top lip was slightly thinner than his bottom one. Her hand slid down to the back of his neck.

She leaned forward, kissing him lightly on his jaw. She waited to see if he was going to pull away. He didn't.

She continued trailing slow kisses down his neck and back up to his lips. She hesitated a little before kissing him lightly on the corner of his mouth, teasing. She slowly pulled back, but not too far because she still had her hands behind his head.

What the hell was she doing? She shouldn't be doing this, especially minutes after they managed to reach some kind of understanding. And weren't they supposed to put everything behind them? She felt so confused at her actions right now, the unexplainable feeling of longing she was experiencing. It was all so new and... She didn't know how to describe it, but she felt a little excited mixed with fear and... Intrigued. Yes, she definitely felt intrigued.

Shikamaru's eyes slid open, there was an oddly blank look in his eyes as they connected with her own.

She felt a sense of panic when it occurred to her that she might have gone too far and she had somehow managed to screw things between them more than she had already done. Before she could think of ways in which she could apologize, even beg for forgiveness if she had to, a pair of lips captured hers. She hesitated for only a second before returning the kiss. The kiss was slow and hungry, she's never been kissed like that before -not that she actually has a lot of experience in kissing or anything but if she had to rate it over ten she would give it a nine and the other one... Well, that's just because she could feel him somehow holding back. She knew why though, and for some reason it annoyed her greatly. The emotion was quickly forgotten when his hand snaked around her waist pulling her closer to him, deepening the kiss at the same time.

She could feel every fiber of her body on fire and their tongues hadn't even touched yet!

She resisted the urge to moan as he bit lightly on her lower lip. She was never one for cliches, in fact she always rolled her eyes whenever Ino told them stories of her latest boyfriend and she would use overly dramatic words, but Naruto swore she felt a spark start from her stomach and down to her toes when she felt his tongue in her mouth. That's how amazing it was. She may not know why her body was suddenly drawn to Shikamaru but she had to admit that the feeling isn't totally unwelcome.

She let out a small noise that sounded like purring and he chuckle in his throat, the sound making her moan in pleasure. Who knew that having a guy laugh in your throat could be sexy? Hell, who knew that she would ever kiss Shikamaru and enjoy it?

After who knows how long of kissing, she started feeling dizzy and she realized that it's been awhile since she'd breathed.

Slowly almost reluctantly he pulled away, the both of them panting.

"Wow," Naruto whispered still dazed from the kiss.

"Yeah, wow." Shikamaru agreed shaking his head. He suddenly groaned hiding his face with his arm and leaning back on the couch.

They stayed in silence for awhile, both lost in their own thoughts. Shikamaru though didn't know what to think of all this, his emotions were in shambles. He tried to gather his thoughts and analyze the situation but his brain drew a blank. He was feeling so many things right now he didn't know where to begin. He mentally cursed himself for feeling so attracted to Naruto, even now as he watched her bite her lips with the same confused expression he was feeling. He felt like pulling her to him and kissing every inch of her no matter how cheesy that sounded. He mentally groaned again, what the hell is going on? Why is he suddenly feeling attracted towards her? Could sleeping with her have awakened some sort of lustful desire towards her that he hadn't known existed? So many questions were running through his mind with no answers, and isn't that a first? He always had answers to everything, that's why they called him the genius of Konoha. Shikamaru could not once remember getting stuck on something, if something was bothering him he'd always just think up a solution.

He sighed, rubbing his eyes. This is too troublesome for him, not to mention Temari is the only girl that interested him, always has been. So he doesn't understand why his body decided to betray him. It's probably just a fling, he decided, he is obviously more upset about the break up than he thought, and now his body is missing her somehow and since Naruto is the only girl he'd slept with other than Temari maybe his body is confused or something. He sighed in defeat realizing how stupid the idea sounded even in his head.

"Uhm..." Naruto said drawing him out of his thoughts. She looked at him with her big beautiful blue eyes. How come he never noticed how beautiful Naruto's eyes were? This is so weird, now he's admiring Naruto's eyes, what's next? He stifled another sighed as he gave her a wry smile. "This is fucked up, huh?"

Naruto just blinked at him, biting her lips hard enough to draw blood. He sighed again closing his eyes. She watched as a small frown appeared between his brow and she knew instantly that he was thinking of reasons why this was wrong, for some reason she felt annoyed at this she doesn't get why he always needed to overthink things. Before she could stop herself she blurted out. "It doesn't have to be."

Where did that come from?

She was shocked and mortified at the same time. A part of her- the more hormonal one -realized that it was true. Why do they need to overthink everything? This is the third time this happened and it's obviously no coincidence nor a mistake. What if they just let whatever is happening between them be? Maybe, just maybe, it won't be so bad. But then a voice that sounded suspiciously familiar told her to stop whatever she was thinking of doing before it lands her in trouble. She ignored it.

Shikamaru looked at her in surprise, but curious at the same time.

Naruto swallowed trying and failing to stop herself from blushing. When the hell did she become such a girl? Blushing at everything like that. If Sasuke saw her right now he would never let her live that down.

She looked up and saw Shikamaru looking at her with amusement now shining in his eyes as she made a fool of herself, he was mocking her! At least that's how she saw it anyway. She scowled at him trying her hardest to glare at him but the effect was probably lost because of that stupid blush on her face. She huffed when he chuckled, she stuck her tongue out at him as proof of her maturity then looked away to take a deep breath to calm herself.

"What I mean is," she said after lots of deep breaths and she felt calm enough to talk without stuttering or blushing. "That it doesn't have to be a bad thing. We could always use it to our advantage."

Shikamaru's eyebrows shot up. She couldn't blame him, Naruto herself was more surprised that she'd said what she had. Sometimes even she doesn't believe the things that come out other mouth. Advantage? What kind of advantage could possibly come from them having sex?!

"And what kind of advantage is that?" Shikamaru asked, unknowingly echoing her thoughts.

"Well, maybe not advantage." 'Okay, Naruto that's your cue to shut up!' She advised herself but it seemed that her mouth had other plans because it was still talking! "But just think about it, there's obviously some kind of attraction between us so why don't we just... You know, satisfy our curiosity with no strings attached."

This is it, Naruto had officially lost her mind. Seriously, what the fuck?

It seemed Shikamaru was thinking the same thing because his expression was one of incredulity. He shook his head furiously, "Naruto... I'm not going to have sex with you." The hurt must have shown on her face because he quickly said. "Not that I don't want to because I do want to have sex with you, but I can't."

"Can't or won't?" She asked in a small voice.

"I can't... We can't have sex together again, Naruto. It won't be right." He sighed scratching his head in frustration. "Look, Naruto that night was amazing and I had fun, but I don't think it will be a good idea to repeat it. It's unfair to you because I'm in love with Temari, it would be like using you."

Naruto's face scrunched up thoughtfully. She could understand his point, he just got out of a relationship and according to him not for long. If they were to have sex again it might cause some problems in the future for the two of them, not to mention it might be a tad bit awkward for Naruto when it was time to interact with Temari. On one side she felt attracted to him even now as she looked at him she felt the need to touch him so strongly she had to clench her fist to stop herself from reaching out to him and looking into his eyes. She could see the same desire in them, she normally wasn't good at spotting these kind of things, but his must have been very strong if she could see it. He wanted to have sex with her as much as she wanted to have sex with him. But of course being the rational person he is, he was probably trying to talk himself out of acting out.

She sighed, this was a hard decision. The obvious choice is for her to agree so that they could put everything behind them, so no one would get hurt. But she found herself unable to do that, the need to touch him and feel him was so strong that she felt compelled to throw all reasons out the window. So instead she leaned forward and kissed him squarely on the lips and whispered. "No one has to know."

His reaction was funny, his eyes widen comically, his face flushed and he sputtered uncharacteristically. She smiled, it was actually cute. She froze, wait- cute? Now Naruto wondered if someone took over her body with her soul trapped inside because there's no way this was her thoughts.

When he regained his composure he looked at her with a frown. "Naruto, come on. I'm serious."

Naruto shrugged. "I'm serious too."

"You can't be serious!" Shikamaru exclaimed unable to believe that this was Naruto speaking. Maybe he somehow got transported in an alternate universe without him knowing and he's now talking with an alternate version of the blond girl. He pinched himself just incase he was having some kind dreams or maybe his lust for her was making him hallucinate.

Naruto gave him a dirty look, apparently she didn't appreciate him thinking she was an hallucination. Troublesome.

"I'm serious, Shikamaru." She shook her head as if talking to an idiot, Shikamaru felt kinda offended since he'd always thought Naruto was the idiotic one. "I don't know why you're always over thinking things, it's not like I'm asking you to marry me or anything. I'm not even asking you to date me! All I want to know is why I'm attracted to you physically and if sex is the way to satisfy my curiosity," she shrugged. "Why not do it? It's probably just a fling and when we have sex it will disappear." Naruto doubted that last part, whatever it was between them didn't feel like it would just disappeared after one night of sex. Everytime she looked at him, she felt an inexplicable hunger toward him and her whole body is aware of him. All she wanted to do is touch him and let him touch her in places she'd never been touched before. She shuddered just thinking about it. In a way it scared her, all these new emotions she was feeling. A small part of her wanted to run far away where these things she was feeling wouldn't reach her, because she had a feeling that it would consume her in a way that she might never recover from. But Naruto had never been one to runaway from her fears, she always confronted them head on, hence the reason she was asking him to have sex again.

She obviously had never heard of the saying curiosity killed the cat, Shikamaru thought, but he could see her point maybe having sex with her one last time won't be so bad and his body will finally realize that it was confused. Plus, he can't deny that he was curious himself. He wanted to experience that night again. But then he remembered Temari, his troublesome woman that he loves so much. He didn't want to betray her... Okay, he didn't want to betray her more than he already did. He can't let his hormones cloud his judgment.

He didn't want to use Naruto as his rebound, since he didn't even want to get over Temari. 'Ugh, this so frustrating. I shouldn't even have to think about this the choice should be obvious.' Yet it wasn't as his eyes slid from Naruto to her body, she was still wearing that short dress from earlier, it was even more short now that she was sitting making her tanned thigh visible. He swallowed hard at the arousal he could feel coming up.

Naruto caught him looking and she smiled knowingly at him.

Damn.

He sighed in frustration running his hand in his hair only belatedly remembering that it was in a ponytail. "Let me get you straight," he said leaning back so he can look at her properly. "You only want sex from me, and nothing else, so you can satisfy your curiosity?"

Naruto scowled crossing her arms. "Don't say it like that for fuck's sake!" She snapped blushing furiously.

Shikamaru shook his head, she didn't know what she was getting herself into. If he were to agree to this it wouldn't end well. In fact he can just imagine the messy outcome it would lead to. But he couldn't deny the fact that he wanted to have sex with her again, he was almost ready to throw all rationality out the window and take her right then and there.

He licked his lips, he could still taste her. She surprisingly didn't taste like ramen like he'd always thought, she tasted more like honey mixed with the tea they drank. He closed his eyes, he could still smell her, she smelled of jasmine, a different smell from the morning he'd woken up to find her lying naked on his chest. That morning he'd been too horrified to pay attention, but now he can almost picture it. The naked curve of her body on him, his body grew hot just thinking about it.

"What are you thinking about?"

He opened his eyes to see Naruto watching him with a curious expression, but he could see she was a little nervous by the way her hands couldn't stop fidgeting with the hem of her dress and the way she kept biting her lips at every interval. It seemed she wasn't as sure as she pretended she was.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into," he held up a hand before she could protest. "Trust me when I say that it's a terrible idea, plus I have Temari."

Naruto laughed harshly startling Shikamaru who looked at her in surprise. "You weren't thinking of your precious Temari when you had your tongue shoved in my mouth? Admit it Shikamaru, you want me as much as I want you, so stop the guilty conscience. Plus," she added with a sneer, "What makes you think she's not doing the same." As soon as it came out she regretted it.

Shikamaru reeled back as if struck, and Naruto's eyes widen when she realized what she'd just said.

What the hell is wrong with her?

She shook her head her hand going to him. "Shikamaru I-"

He abruptly stood up causing her hand to fall back on her lap. She watched him in silence as he paced back and forth in her small living room, his fist clenching and unclenching. She wasn't afraid he would hit her even though she deserved it for being a bitch, because she knew that no matter how much of a lazy jerk he is Shikamaru would never lay a finger on a girl, even if he happened to fight a girl during a mission he'd find a way to incapacitate her without touching her.

She was afraid to see the anger he was no doubt sporting on his face directed at her.

"I'm sorry," she tried again when he finally stopped pacing, his back was still turned. "I didn't mean to say that." 'Stupid, of course you didn't mean to say it.' A voice inside her head said, 'You were just thinking it and it came out.'

'Shut up and die.' She responded back, she didn't have time to argue with herself, she needed to make sure Shikamaru didn't hate her. But when he turned around his face was oddly blank, no sign of his usual bored mask that he's always sporting. She hated it.

"I have to go."

"Wait!" She cried standing up. "I'm sorry, please don't be mad."

Shikamaru looked at her for a moment then sighed, his anger deflating with that breath leaving exhaustion in its place. He shook his head, "I'm not mad, I just need some time to think. Both of us need to think things through."

"But-"

"Please." He said he sounded tired. She bit her lip stopping whatever she wanted to say and nodded slowly.

He sighed again but this time in relief and gave her a small smile, he turned around and left.

She heard the door click shut. She groaned aloud slumping on her couch.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" She said hitting the back of her head against the couch with every word.

Out of all the stupid things she'd said this really takes the cake. She was so pathetic, no wonder Shikamaru left in such a hurry. She really crossed the line with that comment about Temari and she regretted it the moment it came out of her mouth. She hadn't meant to say it, she was just so frustrated that he kept bringing her up as his excuse. She also didn't like the fact that he kept giving her mixed signals. She knew that he wanted her probably as much as she wanted him, yet she didn't understand why he was holding back. Okay, maybe she understood his concerns a little bit, but it's not like she was asking him to marry her and have babies with her or anything. Heaven knew she was not ready for that yet, she still had her long life dream to accomplish. For now all she wanted to do was have fun.

Maybe she'd read the signs wrong, maybe he wasn't at all interested in her.

'If he wasn't at all interested in you he wouldn't have kissed in the first place.' A voice at the back of her head said.

Naruto found herself nodding in agreement. It's true she may have initiated it, but he's the one that kissed her full on the lips. She doesn't think Shikamaru is the type to do things he doesn't want to do, he said so himself. So that could only mean he liked her.

She sighed, 'liked' as in the past tense. He probably hated her right now. She wouldn't blame him if he did, she hated herself right now. She felt regret as she thought on what she'd said about Temari. It was so unlike her to intentionally hurt somebody. Shikamaru was probably right, if they were to have sex it will only bring more harm than good, and Naruto knew for a fact that she didn't want to hurt anyone.

Naruto and Temari may not be close, but Naruto considered the other blonde like a friend. So what kind of friend was Naruto for wanting to sleep with her friend's boyfriend? She already felt guilty for sleeping with Shikamaru once, she caused him to cheat on her.

'Technically, it's not cheating if the couple broke up.'

'Still it doesn't make it right.' Naruto responded before blinking as she realized that the voice she'd thought was her inner self sounded familiar, it sounded almost like-

"Kurama?" She voiced.

There was a distinctive snort. 'Took you long enough to notice.'

"Kurama!" Naruto gasped in delight. "When did you wake up? And why are you whispering?"

No wonder she hadn't recognized him, he'd been whispering to her and she mistakenly thought it was her inner self.

She heard him sigh. 'I still have three more weeks on my sleep, the only reason I woke up is because I couldn't take all the ruckus in your head so I decided to check it out, and as usual you're in the middle of some kind of mess.' Another snort, 'Typical.'

"Jeez, I'm sorry Kurama. I didn't mean to wake you up with my thoughts, because I know for a fact how important sleeping is for you compared to what I'm going through." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. She blinked and she was now facing him in the seal. What used to be a sewer was now transformed into a plane valley with mountains in the distance, the wind was blowing past, ruffling some of the strand that was out of her bun. Well, the illusion of the real thing anyway, she could see clouds in the distance indicating that if she didn't calm down soon it might rain.

After the war she'd found out that her mindscape changed depending on what she was feeling since the seal that caged Kurama was no longer there.

She walked over to where the kyuubi was lounging, his tails swishing at regular intervals. She crossed her arms and glared. 'This is partly your fault too, you know.'

A lazy eye opened. 'How is any of this my fault? I don't remember telling you to go have sex with the kit.' He said in his normal growling voice.

Naruto blushed at his use of the word sex. 'I was drunk, and wouldn't have been drunk if you'd been awake to flush out the alcohol toxin.'

Kurama rolled his eye. Naruto was momentarily distracted by how huge the crimson orb was, before focusing back on the subject.

'What you just said doesn't justify your accusation. In fact it doesn't even justify your reason for having sex. We both know that you weren't really drunk.'

Naruto scowled, she knew he was right but she didn't feel like taking all the blame. 'Well, you could have stopped me.' She grumbled walking over to sit next to him.

He opened both eyes to squint down at her. 'And would you have listened?'

Naruto thought about it for a moment before sighing, 'Probably not.' She knew how she worked, she always acted on impulse. She was a do-now-think-later kind of person and if Kurama had tried to stop her, she probably wouldn't have listened especially since what she was feeling towards Shikamaru was so strong that she was ready to be selfish about it and throw all reasons out the window.

They sat in silence for awhile, before Naruto sighed again this time in defeat. 'What do I do, Kurama? I know the right thing to do is to take Shikamaru's advice and forget about everything that happened, but everytime I think about his lips on mine I get this jittery feeling like when I'm about to get a breakthrough with a jutsu. Only it's ten times more intense and amazing. I never felt that way before it's... It's different, ya know?'

'I wouldn't know.' Kurama snorted, 'But I have an idea.' He tipped his head toward the sky.

Naruto followed the direction and what she saw filled her with mortifying horror. It was her and Shikamaru, kissing. Only they weren't just kissing, they were doing all other stuff too, naked. Her eyes widen when she realized that it was images of the night they slept together.

'Turn that off!' She cried when it got to the more embarrassing part.

Kurama shook his head with a booming laugh. 'I can't. It's your mind remember?'

Naruto snapped her head to him. 'You mean those are my thoughts?'

He nodded and she groaned partly in embarrassment and partly in annoyance. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes concentrating, when she opened them the images were gone and they were left with a clear sky she sighed in relief.

'What should I do?' She groaned falling back on the grass that had appeared out of nowhere to cushion her fall, she blinked when she realized that they weren't in the valley anymore, their landscape had changed to a clearing she could hear water running close by signaling that they weren't too far from a lake.

Kurama didn't even bat an eye, already used to the constant change in Naruto's mind, seriously, the girl feels too much. 'From what I've seen in my previous tenants, the feeling of bliss that one normally experiences after sexual intercourse is due to the body's production of endorphins. Endorphins are created in response to certain stimuli, such as fear, pain or stress and the production of endorphins can also trigger the release of sex hormones. Obviously, the main thing endorphins do is make you feel great. They also reward you for doing things that you find pleasurable. '

Naruto blinked, 'I have no idea what you just said. Was that English you were speaking?'

The kyuubi rolled his eyes. 'Basically what I'm trying to say is what you're going through is part of the mating process that all humans go through, increasing your endorphins which then causes stimuli to react in your body, and since my chakra emerged with yours heightening all your senses. Which means in terms of sexual need you tend to be more hormonal than the average teenager which can affect your emotions and throw you into a confused state."

Wow, Naruto thought, that was the basics? And what's with that endorphin word? It keeps popping up. She shook her head from their foggy state that all that information caused when she tried to process it all. 'Uhm, so what you're saying is what I'm feeling is normal?'

He looked down at her like she was an annoying pest. 'That's what I just said.'

No you didn't, she wanted to say but instead she kept her mouth shut trying to go over what he just said.

'So,' she said. 'What should I do?'

Crimson eyes glared at her. 'Weren't you listening to a word I said?'

'I have. You told me what it is I'm feeling, but you didn't say anything about how to fix it!' Naruto said defensively tired of being looked down upon.

'If you'd listened properly you would've heard when I said considering our chakra are connected, physically as well as emotionally your endorphins are heightened-'

'Fuck, Kurama! All I want to know is should I have sex with him again or not?' Naruto said seconds away from pulling her hair in frustration.

Kurama lifted his nose in the air haughtily. 'That is for you to decide.'

Naruto's brow twitched in irritation, and just then lightning cracked in the distance.

He looked down at her and saw how close she was to explode from anger. He didn't feel like dealing with an angry Naruto. He sighed making himself more comfortable. 'The way I see it you have two options. Option one is to do as the Nara says and pretend nothing ever happened between the two of you, you can ignore the attraction between you two. But then you have to deal with the tension that might occur which in turn will put a strain to your friendship until it just falls apart.'

Naruto bit her lips, that doesn't sound too bad. Except the fact that she might lose a friend! She didn't want to lose Shikamaru as a friend. 'So what's option two?'

'Well you could act on your attraction and deal with the consequences.'

'Deal with the consequence, right. That sounded worse than the first option.' She glared up at him. 'You still haven't told me what I should do."

'I was getting there.' Kurama rolled his eyes. 'My opinion is take the first option. There may be tension between you two, but I'm sure you can deal with it in time.'

How long is that? There's no way Naruto could go on the way she was feeling especially when he was around. The fox had said consequences, what kind of consequence could there be with sleeping with Shikamaru? Well, except Temari finding out, but they could always be careful about it, right?

The kyuubi seemed to know what she was thinking (no surprise there since they were in her mindscape), because he brought his head down to her narrowing his eyes his mouth stretching into a maniacal grin showing his sharp teeth. 'There's greater consequences than getting caught, Naruto.'

Narutoleaned back and hesitantly, almost afraid of the answer she asked. 'Like what?'

If possible Kurama's lips stretched further. 'Like falling in love.' He almost purred the words sending shivers down her back.

She shook her head. 'Kurama, I'm not going to fall in love with Shikamaru.' Even the idea seemed ridiculous. It's just sex, there's nothing more to it, right?

Kurama shook his head. 'Kit, sex is not just a physical thing. Emotions are involved too. You have to be strong enough to be detached if you don't want your emotions to be involved.'

'I can be detached too.' Can she?

The fox snorted. 'Please, we both know that you are emotionally involved in everything you do.'

Naruto was about to protest, but then shut her mouth when she realized that he was right. People told her she'd always wore her heart on her sleeves, she couldn't help it even if she'd tried. It was just the way she was.

'Love isn't something you want to get involved with, it's a very messy business unlike the fairy tale crap they feed you with. Let me ask you something, are you ready to sleep with someone knowing that he was probably imagining someone else in your stead?' He didn't wait for her to answer. 'And when you start wanting more than just sex? You will be filled with longing and that feeling will eat you up until it's the only thing you think about from morning to night. I'd hate for you to go through all that.'

Naruto blinked as warmth spread in her. The fox was right and the fact that he was telling her all this meant that he actually cared about her.

'I don't want to have to deal with you when you cry because your mood will affect your mindscape and that will just get in the way of my rest.'

And just like that the feeling evaporated leaving in it's place irritation. 'Geez, Kurama and here I thought you cared.' She said dryly.

'Don't get me wrong, I don't care what you do I just don't want to be the one to clean up your mess.'

'Well for your information there won't be any mess to clean, because I'm not going to fall in love. I like Shikamaru as a friend and nothing more.' So why did she sound uncertain?

By the way the Kyuubi was staring at her he seemed to have picked up on her uncertainty.

'It's true.' She said a little too defensively.

'I didn't say anything.' Kurama said making himself more comfortable to sleep.

Naruto crossed her arms in front of her chest. 'Well, you were thinking it.'

Kurama grunted. 'You're imagining things.'

Naruto looked at him suspiciously for a second before uncrossing her arms. 'Oh, well. In case you're wondering I'm choosing option one.'

Another grunt came from the beast, but he didn't say anything else.

'Yeah.' Naruto said looking down, her fingers playing with the grasses. 'I mean, Shikamaru loves Temari and I really like her, you know. I don't want to be the girl to jeopardize their relationship. They make such a great couple.' She sighed, but then straightened up when it came out sounding wistful.

'I mean, the thing with Shikamaru is obviously temporary, I will act like nothing happened and avoid being alone with him until the feeling fades away completely. How hard can it be? But of course, I will have to apologize to him first for saying that awful thing about Temari. I really hope he can forgive me because he is my friend and I would really hate-'

'Naruto. You're rambling.'

Her mouth shut closed and her cheeks reddened. 'Right.' She said taking a deep breath, 'All I'm trying to say is I'm not going to fall in love with Shikamaru no matter what happens.'

She just wished she could believe her words.

'Well,' Kurama said looking away. 'Whatever happens, I'm stuck here.It's not like I can go anywhere else anyway.'

Naruto blinked but then her face slowly broke into a wide smile when she registered the meaning behind his words. She lunged herself at him in a hug. 'And here I was starting to believe you were a hopeless case.' She mumbled in his fur.

He harrumphed in embarrassment. 'Whatever, now get out of here before I make you, you troublesome woman.'

Naruto laughed at the familiar term borrowed. So fitting considering the situation. She released him and stepped back.

'Goodnight, 'rama.'

'Night, kit.'

A moment later her surrounding faded back into her crappy apartment. She sighed knowing that there was no way she'd be able to sleep tonight, she had too much to think about.

---

Shikamaru watched as the smoke flew from his nose, his dosage of cigarette had multiplied these past days. It doesn't help that he hadn't slept a wink the night before, he kept replaying his kiss with Naruto. He sighed taking another drag of his cigarette, he'd never wanted somebody the way he wanted Naruto. He wasn't stupid, he knew how lust operated, lust wanted what lust couldn't have. And he couldn't have Naruto. At least that's what he tried to tell himself, but it seemed that the more he fought against the feeling the more thoughts of Naruto's lips on his invaded him.

Another drag was taken as he thought of how his fingers caressed her soft cheeks. The taste of her tongue in his mouth, sweet and addictive. He cursed as felt his arousal throbbing and took a deep breath to calm his raging hormones. He'd had the same problem last night, and he'd had to take a very long shower to relieve himself. He took another drag only now realizing that he'd reach the end of his stump.

With a sighed he threw it on the ground and dug in his pocket for another cigarette. Of course thinking of last night made him recall of the conversation they'd had, of her suggestion.

It was more than a suggestion. A little voice in his head said and he agreed. What she'd proposed was crazy not to mention ridiculous.

But you're considering it.

And he was. He couldn't deny that he'd spent most of the night lying on the bed running the idea in his head despite knowing he shouldn't. The thought of running his hands once more on her body sent shivers down his back, he could just imagine it.

He would kiss every inch of her until she doesn't remember her own name, until she'd start begging for him to take her and when he finally took her she would scream his name so loud he would start worrying about the neighbors and they'd both reach their climax and then... And then what? They would go back to acting awkwardly with each other? Or they would just act like nothing ever happened? What would happened when whatever it was they were feeling towards each other dissipated? Would things go back to normal between them or that would be the end of their friendship?

And here is a question he'd been dreading the answer to; What if something more than sex transpired between them? Will he be able to drop Temari and start something new with Naruto or is he going to be indecisive about his choice?

Those are all the questions running through his head as he tried to think of the outcome of his decision. As good as sleeping with Naruto would feel, he needed to think of all the possible consequences that would come of it.

"I don't know why you're always over thinking things."

Naruto had said that, referring to him not immediately agreeing to her 'suggestion,' but she doesn't realized that he couldn't help it even if he tried. It's how he'd always got out of sticky situations, that's the reason why he was still alive. Always turning ideas in his head, analyzing the pros and cons of things. That's why he is Konoha's best tactician. His father did the same, it's practically honed in his blood. Think before you act, his father always told him.

He was on his fourth cigarette when he sensed someone approaching. He didn't move from his position where he was sitting on the roof, his thinking place.

Chouji plopped himself next to him. "We have a mission." He announced, to which Shikamaru raised an eyebrow in question.

"B-ranked, we're supposed to go arrest this guy named Tanaka Akira from Kumo who is supposedly hiding in a nearby village and take him to the border. There will be a team waiting for us. We leave at sunset." Chouji reported reading from the scroll he'd taken out.

Shikamaru contemplated the information for awhile. It didn't seem too hard, this mission could take them approximately three days unless of course they ran into trouble. The time it will take to look for the guy, the time to form a capture plan and the time to travel to the border and back.

He took a long drag of his cigarette before flicking the small stick on the floor. This mission could be good for him, he thought. A short break from everything, from thinking about her.

Chouji who had been staring at all the cigarette buds on the floor turned concerned eyes on him. "You've been smoking more lately. Are you okay, man?"

Shikamaru shrugged standing up and stretching his muscles that had fallen asleep.

"If there's something bothering you, you can talk-"

"I don't want to talk about it." He said quickly, when Chouji's face looked hurt he sighed sitting back down. "Sorry," he mumbled, "I'm just tired."

Chouji hesitated for a moment before asking. "Is whatever bothering you have to do with... With what I saw the other day?"

Shikamaru's expression turned confused. Chouji cleared his throat and elaborated awkwardly.

"Uhm you know... The thing with the orange top."

Shikamaru cursed inwardly when he understood what his friend was talking about, he'd completely forgotten about that incident. He ran his hands through his hair all the while cursing at his carelessness. This whole situation is affecting him more than he'd thought. He'd forgotten that he had promised Chouji an explanation for finding Naruto's top on his couch, but the thing is he doesn't have any explanation for what happened, he had yet to figure out what was going between the two of them.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want." Chouji said mistaking his lack of explanation for reluctance.

Shikamaru shook his head. "No, no, it's just that I kinda don't know what to say." He took a deep breath, "The thing is that night was a mistake, we were both drunk. One moment we were just talking and the next it... It just happened." He finished lamely.

Chouji shifted uncomfortably and he wouldn't meet his eyes as he spoke, "When you say 'it just happened' you mean... Uhm... Okay don't hate me for asking this but I." he swallowed nervously, Shikamaru's eyebrows raised, he's never seen Chouji this nervous before. His friend was more of a laidback happy-go-lucky kind of guy, well, at least when you didn't eat his chips, but to see him like this was new to Shikamaru.

Chouji shifted again in his seat his hand itching to take out the chips in his pouch. "I just kinda of figured that since you broke up with Temari and all and... Well, Naruto was pretty drunk that night and you know her, she's always kind and I know you Shikamaru when you're drunk, you don't think properly, so um... Did you-"

"Wait," Shikamaru said standing up as the pieces of his best friend's rambling connected in his head. But it just couldn't be, there was no way Chouji would think that, was there?

"Are you trying to ask me if the sex between me and Naruto was consensual?" His voice was tight with controlled emotions as he said the words. Inwardly he was praying that he was wrong that his best friend meant something else, but when Chouji just looked away avoiding his eyes, it only confirmed his suspicions. He glared down at his friend, "You don't seriously think that I forced myself on Naruto just because I was drunk, do you?"

"Look I just had to ask." Chouji said.

"Fuck, Chouji how can you even think that? You know me better than that!" He ran his hands in his hair in frustration. "Chouji I would never... You know I would never do that."

Chouji sighed running his fingers in his own hair. "I know that you would never force yourself on someone, and I wasn't implying that. I'm sorry but I was just worried. Look, you just broke up with Temari and I just wanted to make sure that Naruto was willing, that she had sex with you because she wanted to and not because she thought you needed it, you know how Naruto can be."

He was right, Shikamaru knew exactly how Naruto could be. She was the type of girl that put people's happiness before her own and she'd always been one to sacrifice herself for people that didn't deserve it. She was too nice for her own good. He didn't blame Chouji for thinking that, that's what he would've thought too if he were in his place, because that was the right conclusion to come to for anyone that knew Naruto. Except it was wrong, the sex between the two of them was not a pity fuck, well, at least he didn't think it was. Naruto was a willing participant, she'd admitted just as much to him. In fact, she was the one that thought that he'd only slept with her because he felt sorry for her. Plus, they'd kissed last night, and he knew she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. And before his mind could conjure up the memory of the night before he decided to focus back on Chouji who was still waiting for him to speak.

Shikamaru sighed, sitting back down. "What we did was stupid and I regret it." Not all of it, but Chouji didn't need to know that. "We were drunk and things kind of went out of control."

And what an understatement that was.

"But I assure you," he continued staring at his friend in the eye to show how truthful he was being. "That whatever happened that night wouldn't have happened if she wasn't totally a hundred percent into it, Naruto isn't that stupid." It's not like she liked him that way for her to make that kind of sacrifice. Imagine losing your virginity to your friend just because you felt sorry for them? Nah, even that is a bit of a stretch for Naruto. "Anyway, Naruto herself told me she wanted it when I'd asked her." He added just to put Chouji 's worries to rest.

And he was right. As soon as Chouji heard that last part he relaxed. He should be infuriated that his own best friend didn't trust him, but he couldn't bring himself to. Chouji was just being a good friend by worrying about Naruto. Naruto deserved people to worry about her since she never seemed to worry for herself.

"So," Chouji said after a moment of silence. "You and Naruto talked? There's no awkwardness between you two?"

Shikamaru shrugged looking away. "We talked, but I don't think the awkwardness will ever go away." Especially if they don't deal with whatever is going on between them.

Chouji nodded in understanding taking out his chips from his back pouch, and they both fell into a comfortable silence only broken by Chouji's crunching.

"Holly Shit, you slept with Naruto!" Chouji said with his eyes wide and mouth hanging open exposing his chewed chips. as if the situation only now dawned on him even though he probably hadn't stopped thinking about it since he left Shikamaru's place that day.

Shikamaru sent his friend a half disgusted and half bemusement look. "I thought we already established that." He said wryly.

"Yeah, and I don't know whether to punch you or feel pity for you." Chouji shook his head in disbelief. "Do you realize how many will have your head when they find out? Oh, have you thought of what Lady hokage will do to you when she finds out you used her surrogate daughter that way?" He shuddered for effect no doubt imagining all the gruesome things the Hokage will do to Shikamaru.

"Firstly, I did not use Naruto... At least not in the way you're saying, you make it sound so vile." Shikamaru grimaced a little before glaring at his friend. "Secondly, Hokage-sama won't do anything to me because she won't find out, you're not going to tell her, Chouji."

Chouji shrugged, "I won't, but Naruto might."

Shikamaru shook his head before lying on his back facing the sky. 'No clouds today.Bummer.'"She won't, I already talked to her about it." She would have to if she wanted her 'suggestion' to work. 'I can't believe I'm actually considering it.' And why was he referring to it as that?

"I see," Chouji said with raised brows but then shrugged taking more bite of his chips. "Well, be thankful that it was just a one time thing."

When he only received silence as an answer, his chips froze halfway to his mouth and he hesitantly turned toward his friend. "Shikamaru? This is a one time thing, right?"

Shikamaru sighed, glancing away. "It's complicated."

Chouji's face had turned pale. "Shikamaru, please tell me you didn't sleep with her again."

Shikamaru sighed again, this time he took out another cigarette and lit it up. He contemplated what to tell his friend. On one hand he didn't think it was fair for him to tell Chouji while he'd made Naruto promise not to tell anyone, but on the other hand he needed to speak to someone before he drove himself crazy or made a mistake. Plus, Chouji already knew about their other mistake, so he decided to be vague with his response.

"I didn't sleep with her again."

Chouji slumped in relief. "Good, and please keep it that way."

"But we kissed."

"What?!"

Shikamaru nodded amused despite himself at his friend's reaction. "Two times," he confirmed. "I think I might be attracted to her. Well, physically at least."

Chouji shook his head vigorously, he set his chips aside before giving his full attention back to Shikamaru, which was rare because as far Shikamaru had known his friend his food had always been first priority except when duty is involved.

"You are not... I repeat you are NOT attracted to Naruto... Your hormones are confusing you because you broke up with Temari."

Shikamaru blew the smoke out of his nose in frustration, he shook his head. "That's what I keep telling myself because it's the only reason that makes sense, but I can't help feeling that there's something more to it."

Chouji sent him a pitying look no doubt, thinking that Temari breaking up with him had affected him badly.

Shikamaru looked away, inhaling another puff of smoke. Maybe it had affected him more than he'd like to admit, he should really go talk to Temari.

Come to think of it, he narrowed his eyes in thought, why hadn't he done that yet? He should've immediately gone to her when the hokage had propositioned him, yet he'd postponed it. His reason being that he wanted to make sure things were cool with Naruto, but now that they've somewhat reached an agreement there was no need to keep stalling. The right choice is to go to the hokage ask her for the permission slip to leave the village and go find Temari.

At least that's what he should've done as a loving boyfriend, it was partly his fault too. He should've tried harder to explain the reason why he didn't want to get married. He shouldn't have let things end with Temari the way it had, he should've tried harder to make her understand, and maybe all of this wouldn't have happened.

"Look," Chouji said his face softening. "I'm not trying to tell you what to do. It's your decision to make, and I know you'll will reach the right one. I just don't want it to blow back in your faces. Are you ready to destroy what you have with Temari for what might just be a fling?"

Shikamaru looked up, unable to deny the wisdom in his friend's words. Was he really ready to throw all three years with Temari for a temporary thing with Naruto? Surely it's not worth it. At this images of Naruto's lips on his flashed and he found himself uncertain.

He shook his head, Chouji was still waiting for reassurance from him and he didn't want to disappoint his friend. So with his best acting face that even Chouji his childhood friend couldn't differentiate, he nodded and lied. "You're right, man I don't know what I was thinking."

Chouji looked relieved, he cracked a small smile as he resumed eating.

Shikamaru looked away guiltily as he discreetly uncrossed his fingers from his back. They both stayed in silence until it was time to go on the mission.

---

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!