Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shikamaru pulled away from the giant vault. “It won’t budge. We’re stuck.”

“Stuck?”

“Yeah. That’s what I said.”

The Hyuga felt the cold door with a single hand and used his Byakugan to see through to the other side.

From the looks of it, they were stuck in some sort of study. It was tasteful, but the heavy duty door could only imply the owner either had a very eccentric taste or was brutal enough to lock himself away when due dates were just around the corner. Either way, it was unsettling. It looked like a regular, old fashioned, warm, stale library with floral cushions on floral living room seats and velvet pillows in wooden chairs. The floor was a thin carpet much too short to catch any debris from any shoe that walked along its pale pinkish shade. The lighting was soft and dull, dim enough to suggest an indoor evening or night. They were underground, trapped but out of the way of the enemy. 

Shikamaru sighed with a hand slowly squeaking down the cold surface of the impermeable door. He just had to keep still long enough to either think of something or be saved by one of the tens of team members they had on the surface. How Naruto would find out there’s really another, lower level to the first hidden basement, Shikamaru didn’t know, but he could hope. 

“Okay, well have you ever just talked to him?”

Shikamaru ignored the girl in favor of whatever he could find in the lab’s fridge. Save for temperature sensitive solutions, there really was nothing to distract himself, not even in the lab.

“I know I told TenTen I’d keep my mouth shut, but —

“Yeah?” Shikamaru asked, counting her silence as a bittersweet win.

“Don’t,” she shut her eyes and shook her head, “you’re not avoiding this that easily.” She held the countertop and leaned forward to really center her pecking tone in on the Nara’s general direction. “TenTen just wishes you guys would settle your differences and —

He scoffed, “differences?” He reached for a cold jar of insect preservative. 

“Yes,” she stressed an expressive nod, “differences, Shikamaru.”

The lab’s white overhead light gave the space a certain interrogative accent. “We don’t have differences,” he mumbled, pretending to care more for the dead still bug on the inside of the glass. “We just don’t get along."

“Exactly!”

“Your point?” 

“We’ve all known each other for so long. Whatever it is, you guys could squash it.”

He put the jar back. “I’m fine.”

“And you can only speak for you. Maybe he’s put off because you don’t ever talk to him. I’ve seen it, Shikamaru. You ignore him. You would have struck up conversation with Shino before you’d ask Neji anything.”

Shikamaru sighed over the lab sink where he found discarded instruments that had yet to be rinsed off, his father’s doing, he was sure of it. “Sun’s going down.”

“I just don’t get it…”

Of course, that wasn’t enough to get the girl to drop it.

“What is your issue with him?” Ino asked.

Shikamaru used just a sliver of his strength to turn on the faucet’s cold and hot water after rolling up his sleeves to the forearm. “Nothing,” he spoke quietly. He waited for the water to warm up and in the midst, watched it swirl down the drain. “He’s…”

“Get lost,” Neji ordered before turning his back to Ino, Ino Yamanaka. It wasn’t a common feat. He was incredibly dismissive towards those who he considered to be beneath him in strength or wits. He was a piece of work. A pain in the ass, if Shikamaru could put it more appropriately.

“No,” Neji was blunt even in the faces of those who tried to offer him anything at all. Even as Lee begged the Hyuga on his hands and knees over something Shikamaru had no context of, the Nara could safely assume it was something regarding some sort of bonding exercise. It was fitting considering just how sour Neji’s face had gotten. Not only that, but Neji did not bother in repeating himself, leaving Lee on his knees in the grass of the training field.

“How can you eat that?” Neji disapproved the bulk of anything enjoyable. Naruto could only shrug at the Hyuga as the blond slurped up noodles of spicy hot broth. It didn't matter that Naruto invited them all into his relatively empty apartment and offered them cups of ramen to eat, Neji would pass judgment over anything that swooped underneath his elevated nose. Simply put, Neji Hyuga was a prick, prissy in every sense. He was nit picky, troublesome and a real drag to work with especially when he said nothing at all. Being around the Hyuga during his selective silences was suffocating. It was like he was meditating but he wasn’t. It was like he was still judging everything without a word or an external hint of what he was thinking. He could be a harsh critic one day and no more present than the fluff of a dandelion passing along a gust of wind the next. More recently, it was the latter. 

“…a piece of work,” Shikamaru concluded.

Ino yawned, “I just don’t get it, I guess. Maybe it’s a guy thing.” She bent over to touch her toes. “We just want you two to get along, but if it’s too much to ask then I guess there’s nothing we can do.”

He hummed carelessly.

“He used to be a real jerk, but he’s kind of nice now, Shikamaru. Just talk to him if you see him around.” She headed for the door, “promise me.”

“Sure,” he called out as he scrubbed bubbles into the equipment. 

The waves were strong that day and really kicked up a saltine spray every time they met the beach’s shore.

“You wanna get in the water?” Chouji asked. Diligently, the boy spread a good layer of sunscreen along his arms and shoulders, leaving splotches of white along his rosy nose and cheeks.

“I’d rather stay here,” Shikamaru had long adjusted to the shade of the beach umbrella and the blanket’s protection from the sand’s grating pebbles. 

“You sure?” His childhood friend inquired.

Then, from afar, he could see a hand emerging from the dying wave’s inward roll. Following the pale skin was a thick layer of hair concealing a certain face. It was like watching a horror film where a girl was climbing towards her next victims through the very body of water that had claimed her life. 

Neji rolled onto his hip revealing a wet stomach lightly coated in sand. Using an arm, the Hyuga slung his hair over his head and back so he could see the beach through stinging eyes.

Or, maybe it was more like looking at a washed up mermaid who hadn’t touched the surface world in eons. 

“You might as well get into the ocean before it gets too cold out,” Chouji said.

Neji moved to sit on his knees and plant his hands against the wet sand. His head fell forward and with it, his hair hid the side of his face. 

“Fall is coming,” Chouji continued.

Finally, Neji stood and started towards his team’s blanket just in front of Ino-Shika-Cho’s. The Hyuga dug into their pool bag for a bottle of water and broke its seal.

“Were you drowning?” Shikamaru asked.

The Akimichi stopped his attempt at persuading Shikamaru to just touch the water.

Neji gulped however much water before bothering to answer the Nara. “If I was, thank you for saving me.”

“How was I supposed to know?” Shikamaru frowned.

“You were watching long enough.”

Chouji looked at his friend awkwardly, as if Shikamaru would come up with an even smarter remark.

Shikamaru had stopped eyeing Neji around the time the Hyuga finished downing the water bottle. He could only shrug carelessly before lying down against the beach blanket and one by one, he heard the two boys leave the beach blankets.

Shikamaru closed his eyes and folded his arms underneath his head. “Differences,” he echoed Ino.

Chapter Text

After inspecting the door and what lies beyond it, Neji looked right at his partner in captivity.

Shikamaru instantly started in a slow turn away from the Jonin who was most likely expecting some sort of immediate solution. “There’s gotta be a way out on another end.”

“We’re surrounded by dirt and bedrock. If there is a way out, then it’s this way,” Neji said as he looked over the door. “The sooner we can escape, the sooner we can see that the plan is carried out.”

Shikamaru could’ve told the Hyuga that much. 

“Do you have any paper bombs left?” Neji asked.

“No.” It just so happened that before their captors tossed them into a locked down study, his flammable talismans were stripped from his person. Shikamaru started a stroll around one of the study’s many authentic wooden tables. “Give me a second to think.” He watched Neji move along the shelves of books to take in their surroundings. “I wouldn’t touch anything either.”

“I wasn’t planning on it.”

Neji’s reply didn’t go over the Nara’s head. “Really? Looked like you were ready to ask a librarian how many books you could take at once.”

“I’m not an idiot, Shikamaru.”

And just like that, the Nara’s irritated smile dropped to an expression of irritation alone. “I didn’t say that.” His fists met the glossed, wooden table as he thought and thought. Over and over he would look at the visible corners of the room and the door’s giant wheel and then the table top.

Neji, however, continued to browse, now with his arms crossed neatly over his chest.

“Look, we need to find a way out of here.”

“I know,” Neji answered, “I’m only giving you a ‘second to think’.”

“What’s your problem?” Shikamaru’s hands left the chairless table. He had never heard the Hyuga speak to any of their comrades in such a way.

Neji continued along the shelf. “I don’t have one. Do you?”

“I don’t have a problem, alright?” But the way he frowned begged to differ. The longer they waited for someone to open the door, the heavier the dread became. Something was seconds from possessing Shikamaru into tossing the stupid gift at the doorstep and wandering off to take a nap in the field just because the walk to his house would be too far.

“Welcome,” Hiashi greeted at the door.

Nothing about the stern man told Shikamaru this was the right address for a fourteenth birthday party. Luckily, no other residence housed pale-eyed, long-haired taijutsu specialists. 

The three preteens made their way in with a gift in Shikamaru’s sweaty palms. The place made him uncomfortable. It was like no one lived there and it was impossibly quiet. Maybe it was more of a gathering than a party.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Neji complained. “Lady Hinata, I appreciate the trouble you’ve gone through, but I don’t care for parties.” And that one had been a surprise one.

“I thought it would be nice for your fourteenth birthday,” the girl defended though barely just because of how soft spoken she was. 

“Relax, Neji,” Naruto urged, “all your friends are here and they brought you gifts, see?” Naruto lifted a poorly wrapped box and placed it on the table next to where Neji stood with his arms crossed. “Open it! I passed it in the store and it made me think of you!”

Neji visibly softened by a smidge and tore the gift open in one go. 

“Ah?” Naruto waited for a verdict. “What do you think?”

Neji twitched. “A doll hairbrush set?”

“Yeah, but you could use the brushes. You’ve got a lot of hair, you know?” Naruto observed. “Shikamaru, what’d you get?”

Just like that, all eyes were on him and the troublesome box of green wrapper. Without acknowledging the birthday boy, Shikamaru sat the box right next to the glittery pink combs. The way that Neji simply waited for the shadow-nin to step out of the way boldened how ungrateful the boy truly was. From that point on, Shikamaru truly couldn’t care less what Neji thought about the half ass gift. Of course, he never really did. 

“A diary,” Neji announced.

“It was Shikamaru’s idea,” Ino explained.

Chouji only nodded to solidify the claim and Shikamaru itched to swat his own forehead.

“Where did you get the idea?” Neji asked.

“You don’t really talk that much. You just look at everything like it’s a drag but don’t really mention whatever it is that’s such a waste of time.”

Shikamaru halfway turned to face Neji in this jumbled explanation. “It was supposed to be a gag gift.” His hands sought solace in the pockets of his pants. “Write in it or don’t. It’s just some paper. I don’t care.”

Neji lowered the leather back journal onto the wrapping paper that covered the table. “Thank you.”

“I don’t have a problem. I’ve never had a problem, so what’s your deal?”

Neji’s eyes finally left the book spines. “My deal?”

“Why do you act like that?”

Neji fully faced the Nara and once again, his arms were crossed over his chest. “How do I act?” He narrowed his eyes.

“Like an arrogant asshole.” It was said so casually with eyes similar to the tired ones he sported day after day. 

“That’s your problem.”

“I don’t have a problem, dammit.” He pocketed his hands and offered a sarcastic grin, “you walk around with your nose in the air half the time anyway, how could you even tell if I had a problem or not? I thought I’d be too beneath you for you to notice anything anyone else has going on . ”

“Whatever it is you have against me is hard to imagine, I haven’t done anything to you.” He approached the hearty table step by step, keeping his eyes on the comfortably slouched shadow-nin. “For as long as I can remember, you have either ignored me or spoken to me as if everything that comes out of my mouth is nonsense, but I dismissed it because understanding you was never one of my biggest concerns.”

“Are you sure?” Ino asked, “I mean, I know he can be annoying, but I’ve never seen you so hung up on someone else. You don’t usually feel like holding grudges.”

Shikamaru sat up just straight enough to commence the board game without a certain Hyuga who declined his invitation to play.

“You look pretty pissed to me,” Ino said. Of course, it was only something she could see. As far as everyone else was concerned, the boy didn’t have a care or watt of energy in the world.

Shikamaru shrugged and waited for Ino to make a move just for the girl to whip her ponytail around to get another view of the Hyuga that had turned the Nara down.

“I guess he could’ve been nicer about it, but that’s Neji. He’s kinda cold to everybody, isn’t he?” The girl pointed out. “Let it go, Shikamaru.”

“Let what go?” He asked disinterestedly.

Ino rolled her eyes and took her turn. “You know,” she whispered. “What’s really going on? It’s gotta be something else because you’re never irritated for this long.”

Shikamaru’s eyes slipped into line with Neji’s own and the Nara was quick in moving his attention to the window. He didn’t have a problem with the Hyuga in particular, he just wasn’t too fond of Neji. To be fair, there wasn’t much to be fond of. 

And as Shikamaru stopped at Neji’s side to stare out amongst the many bookshelves and dusty lamp shades, he could conclude that just as he assumed years ago, Neji was an egotistical, self-centered, prick with a stick so far up his ass, the Nara could almost see its tip every time Neji spoke. 

The Hyuga kept his hands to the table and stared at the wall, ignoring the Nara right next to him. 

“See anything yet?” Shikamaru asked.

“Think of anything yet?”

The Nara clicked his tongue once, “you’re a real pain in the ass.” 

“You’ve never had it out for Sakura this long,” Asuma pointed out. “And that girl has probably smacked, punched, and kicked every last guy in Konoha. So, what is it about Neji?”

Shikamaru cursed under his breath and scratched the back of his head, “how the hell should I know? The guy’s a jerk, okay? Besides, Sakura can be nice when she wants to. Neji… I can’t tell if he knows how to be cool and just doesn’t want to or what.”

“What about Ino’s attitudes?” Asuma asked.

“I’m half convinced she can’t control those things. She just blows up every now and then. Neji’s a jerk all year round.” 

Asuma smiled out at the path they followed in the orange dusk. “I never thought about it like that. What does he do that makes you so mad?”

Just the mere feeling that Asuma was getting a kick out of it at all was only annoying him further. 

“Is it because he’s confident in everything he does?” Asuma asked.

“That’s one way to downplay it.” 

Asuma laughed, “I’m sorry, Shikamaru. It’s rare you’re ever this fed up with anyone. It’s weird. I’m trying to take it seriously, but…” he had to hide another chuckle. “I’m sorry.” He breathed through it. “Just tell me what the deal is, Shikamaru.”

“He’s…”

Chapter Text

“A real prick.”

Neji looked at the Nara’s vest for a moment as if Shikamaru’s accusation needed a second to fully seep through. Once it did, his icy eyes flashed up towards the genius. “A prick?” Neji repeated.

“Would you like me to use it in a sentence?” Shikamaru searched the ceiling again for any sign of a higher floor.

“Why are you just now saying so?”

“Was I supposed to tell you during the exams? During the Sasuke retrieval mission or while you were out doing whatever they make Jonin do? I’m not exactly around you 24/7, Neji. Sorry, I’ll make sure the next time I see you at the market from afar to call out for you. ‘Hey, Neji, I think you could take it down a couple notches and walk on the ground like the rest of us’.” His eyes met Neji’s.

“So, you think the way I act towards you is personal?”

“Personal?”

“Yes, Shikamaru. That’s what I said.”

The Nara’s head fell back just a bit with a comical smile. “You can be funny.”

“Surprise.”

“Don’t dry the joke out.”

“What now?” Neji asked.

“I can’t just pull something out of my ass. I don’t know if I made it seem that way or what, but you’re gonna have to give me some time to think.” He leaned aside just enough to somewhat reach Neji’s level. “Surprise.” He wandered off in search of anything that could help but primarily to give himself some space from the very male who he knew was seconds from following him.

“It’s quiet,” Neji noticed. 

“Right,” Shikamaru returned to the table, knowing he would be trying for nothing. The fighting was over. It was only a matter of waiting to see who would open the vault, their teammates or the enemy. “You didn’t see anything? Like an extra room or…”

“I saw everything we saw on the way in here together.”

Shikamaru wanted to run his hands through his own hair, maybe even rip it out from the roots. “Anyone, did you see anyone?” He wasn’t used to Neji being as dense as a select few others he’s had the joy of working over. 

“No, and if I had, I would have told you.” It was simple, devoid of an icky tone, but Shikamaru couldn’t help but feel as if there was more to Neji’s words than the Hyuga let on.

“Right… obviously.”

“Obviously,” Neji repeated.

Shikamaru planted his hands against the table to mirror Neji. “Did I piss you off?” Shikamaru finally asked. “What is it?”

“Nothing. Whatever it is that you think is between us is in your head. I’ve never had anything against you and find it hard to believe that you’ve ever had a good reason to dislike me,” Neji clarified. 

“I don’t dislike you.” Shikamaru straightened up and pressed the back of his hips against the hefty table. “You just get on my nerves.”

“How?” Neji was quick in asking.

“You’re arrogant.”

“I wouldn’t have taken you as the type of person to let other’s traits bother you.”

“Surprise.”

“I used your words against you once.”

“And you’re getting it back ten fold,” the Nara rubbed his neck. “Surprise,” he yawned with a smile.

“You’re insufferable.”

“Oh, so it’s not one sided,” Shikamaru said, “nice to know I’m not insane after all.”

“I never said you were insane.”

“Don’t have to say to insinuate.”

“Congratulations. It almost rhymed.”

The Nara lifted the bridge of his nose from his fingertips. “Just look for a way out of here.”

“I already have,” Neji hissed, now gripping the underside of the table top rim. 

“Well, look again,” anything to get the Hyuga off his case. “People could have come and gone by now.”

“I’m sure we would have picked up on someone being near us.”

“Just —

But Neji was quick in using the Nara’s vest to direct the shadow-nin towards his lips and what they shared lasted much longer than Neji had anticipated and in that moment, Shikamaru felt tension but it was different. It wasn’t the kind that told him to turn around and leave no matter how, it was a different kind. It was one that reminded him of anticipation, maybe anxiety’s cousin. Whatever it was, it wrecked his train of thought and only when he broke away to breathe did Shikamaru begin to take in their surroundings once again. Where to go from there, Shikamaru didn’t know.

Neji’s fist still wrinkled the upper center of his vest and shirt. The way the Hyuga looked into his eyes was certain, not a hint of questioning. If Shikamaru didn’t know any better, he would have thought everything had been premeditated. The way Neji’s opposite hand still sat against the cold, contrasting table. The way Neji’s knee met the flat wood. The way Shikamaru had no clue of where to go from there.

The Nara held Neji’s wrist, ripping the Jonin’s hand from his chest. Instead, Shikamaru grew closer but his eyes showed of a greater caution than what shone in Neji’s. Eventually, Shikamaru was close enough for Neji to reconnect the strange kiss, the kiss that seemed to quiet the storm that Shikamaru pinned on the older boy long ago. Come to find out, he was right to do so.

Neji was to thank for any structure the kiss held. Shikamaru was more like a school kid who had never even considered the kiss of another. 

Neji’s lips broke away in a condescending smile but only for a moment until Shikamaru took the lead. He was irritated into comfort. Slowly, kiss after kiss, Neji was lowered against the table with Shikamaru’s hand tightly holding his chin and cheek. It was possessive in every sense.

Neji continued to smile as Shikamaru landed against him along the table. The Hyuga opened his legs to help the Nara melt onto him. Their kiss stretched in duration. They took in each other’s breaths and the small sounds accompanying them until plain urges began to direct Shikamaru. Telling from how energetically Neji moved up to meet his hips, Shikamaru was doing something right. It was dry but once the pieces started to fall in place, it was the best Shikamaru had ever felt. Still, it was hard to function when Neji’s tug at his shirt was enough to make Shikamaru jump in his pants.

Shikamaru’s hum turned into a passionate moan and jolt at the feeling of Neji’s hand taking the wheel from between them. The jonin’s touch slid into the loosened fly of the boy’s pants and with a couple of vague strokes, Shikamaru hips strengthened into a proper thrust just twice before reverting into shallow, comfortable rolls.

Shikamaru came up for air but was tied down by how Neji’s teeth held the Nara’s bottom lip. The shadow-nin took it as a reel to draw him back in, so Shikamaru’s forehead came down against the wooden table just over Neji’s shoulder. He ground down against the Hyuga’s hand and drank up the soft sensation for as long as Neji would allow it.

It was unimaginable. The position in which they defaced the table just minutes after Shikamaru swore Neji was the bane of the earth. And now, the Nara was left, desperately humping against the very same Hyuga’s scheming hand. Humiliating would be an understatement, but Shikamaru didn’t have the head space to conjure up a more fitting description. 

“Nara,” Neji shortened.

Shikamaru could only remain over his shoulder. He didn’t care for any kind of conversation at the moment.

Skillfully, Neji wrapped his legs around the Nara’s waist and twisted just enough to get Shikamaru onto his back. The elder of the two lowered himself to look Shikamaru in the eye while he worked the Nara’s pants the rest of the way. “You’re new.”

“You aren’t,” Shikamaru noticed simultaneously.

“You like men.”

Shikamaru rolled his eyes shut with a slight frown, “no,” despite how his hips nudged upward at the snake of Neji’s hand.

“No?”

“Give me a break, you look like a chick.”

Neji unbuttoned his top and peeled it from his shoulders. “Do I?”

He did, except his chest was flat along with his stomach. He was gracefully lean but tone where it mattered. “Yeah,” Shikamaru whispered before swallowing. He wanted to close his eyes, but he couldn’t. Oddly, watching Neji made the sensation that much better.

Neji moved off the table after gradually removing the Nara from his pants. He leaned forward to loom over the younger shinobi. Slowly, he stroked the self standing pipe, further working the tip to a begging pink. All the while, however, he kept Shikamaru’s virgin expressions in sight. “You only care for women,” Neji rewordered.

“No,” Shikamaru’s head fell back against the table. “I don’t care for anyone, alright? Stop asking questions,” he exhaled upon being swallowed whole. It was blinding, almost deafening. His eyes glossed over. He couldn’t tell anyone the color of the ceiling for as long as Neji spent sucking every ounce of blood in his body towards the tool that stood tall and proud against his lap. He sighed instead of rewarding Neji with a groan. Instead, he ran his fingers through Neji’s hair and raised his chest from the table, fighting hard against passing the win to the Hyuga between his legs. He felt the back of the Jonin’s throat over and over and each time was better than the last. It was dangerous. “Neji,” he panted.

The Hyuga made sure to part with the tool with an obnoxious smack before crawling over the novelty of a boy. 

Shikamaru fretted over being seen as soon as the vault opened whether it was friends or foe. Instead, he felt himself jumping once again this time at the sight of a topless Neji Hyuga who planted a knee next to the Nara’s hip.

“What is it?” Neji asked, sitting up and flicking his hair back over his shoulder. 

Shikamaru was speechless as he sat up. The Nara shook his head to dismiss the forgotten problem. His hand found the loose fabric of Neji’s lower back and stole the Hyuga’s slick lips. It wasn’t real. Neji Hyuga taking hold of his shoulders and winding against Shikamaru as if begging the Nara to take him after so many years of plain tension and misunderstanding. After a minute, the shadow-nin’s shy hand turned into his forearm taking hold of the back of Neji’s waist. He couldn’t get enough of how Neji pressed against him as if they would turn into one, as if enough pressure would tear through the clothes with ease. 

Neji’s fingers raked the hair tie from the Nara’s strands, dropping the elastic somewhere against the polished wood and Shikamaru leaned in closer for a deeper kiss that elicited Neji’s tongue from between his lips. Shikamaru gladly took it in, using his other hand to feel against Neji’s higher back, locking the Jonin into his hold. The embrace pulled an airy sound from the Hyuga’s throat and Shikamaru broke away just to target Neji’s neck. The strategist’s hands repositioned to roughly cup the Hyuga’s back end and there, he fondled the Hyuga, taking full advantage of Neji’s position against his knees. To reciprocate, the elder shinobi rocked back into the Nara’s hold, but he couldn’t ignore the heat between them. 

Neji looked down to the nearly bleeding tip and continued like a wave against Shikamaru’s stomach and chest, building friction along the underside of the boy’s member. Just as he predicted, Shikamaru’s grip tightened and his thumbs rubbed deep circles while his hands tried to pull Neji apart. Hands became explorative and moved to the Hyuga’s waist where his shape was mapped out better than Shikamaru’s eyes could have ever caught a picture. The dip of Neji’s waist and the subtle outward curve of his hip added fuel to the fire until Shikamaru’s hands were addicted to the Jonin’s figure.

Neji removed the tie from the ends of his hair and combed through his strands to form a high ponytail while Shikamaru mouthed at his throat. Neji’s arms fell in surrender to how well Shikamaru was tending to him, allowing his hair to spill down his back. The Hyuga rested his hands against the boy’s shoulders just as Shikamaru looked up through hooded eyes, begging for Neji’s mouth and they came close until a book from afar fell over onto an empty shelf.

Chapter Text

“What was that, Shikamaru?” 

He would have preferred the silence proceeding what he had done, but naturally, Chouji would have questions.

Shikamaru looked up at the cracks in the wooden planks of the playground. He didn’t know how to explain it apart from what it was. He kissed his best friend. He couldn’t begin to say why, so he didn’t bother answering his friend’s first question. Instead he drew a single bruised knee up to his chest and shrugged. He wished Chouji would just go off and play, but with who? Shikamaru was the boy’s only friend. In that case, he wished the Akimichi would just stay quiet. Then again, Shikamaru simply wished he had never done it. “Mom and Dad do it sometimes, I was just trying to figure out what the big deal was.”

“…oh,” Chouji settled on the answer. “Okay.”

Shikamaru’s hands met the wood chips. “It’s not all that.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t tell anyone.” It was the most serious he had ever spoken to the boy.

Chouji shook his head to seal the deal. “Never!” He whispered enthusiastically.

Okay, great, that was done, but Shikamaru couldn’t figure out why the boy wouldn’t move from underneath the playground. 

“Um, Shikamaru?” Chouji gripped the hem of his own red t-shirt.

“What?” The Nara asked as if the boy bothered him.

“Can we do it again?”

A mouse fell from the very same bookshelf and ran from the investigating pair. Shikamaru placed the book where he found it and considered it case closed.

Neji hadn’t even bothered with fastening his shirt. He kept it tucked into his dark belt and the sleeves hooked in the crooks of his arms. “Was that it?” The Hyuga asked. 

Shikamaru watched the creature scurry as he hooked his fingers underneath Neji’s belt to bring him in closer. His hands cupped the male’s rear and glided up Neji’s back and down again, earning the Hyuga’s rolled rhythm a second time. So they were on the same page. There was no shame in wanting to pick up where they had left off.

“So…” his father flipped the page in the tall paper. “How’s Ino these days?”

“Fine,” Shikamaru answered before biting into a slice of burned toast. 

“You two getting along?”

Shikamaru glanced at the paper that hid his father’s face. “…yes?”

“Do you not like telling me things, Shikamaru?”

“What?” He squinted. “What are you talking about?”

“You just don’t talk about girls or… I know you’re busy.” His father lowered his paper and spread his legs, taking up unnecessary space on the small loveseat of the living room. “I’m not trying to rush you into anything extra, but when I was your age, girls were all the rage.”

“Times change.” Shikamaru sank into the sofa, keeping the small plate against his stomach.

“Not even Ino?” His father whispered. “Not even once?”

Shikamaru sighed, instantly earning an apology from his old man.

“I won’t push it,” he threw his hands up, “How’s Chouji then?” 

Chouji was Chouji. “Fine,” Shikamaru picked his teeth with his pinky.

“Yeah?”

Shikamaru wasn’t going to answer the question a second time.

His father turned the page, “has he gotten started?”

He had gotten started with a kiss in the dark and play oblivious kind of way, but it was just right for Shikamaru. Never would either of their parents question the frequency of his visits or why the Nara always managed to lose track of time until it was too late to walk across Konoha. He was more than welcome to spend the night any night and that gave them nothing but time to fine tune their arrangement by the day.

“Goodnight, boys,” Mrs. Akimichi passed Chouji’s room on the way to her own and Shikamaru made sure to return a decent smile before shutting the door and turning off the lights. 

He yawned, “Ino’s pissed again,” the Nara informed while pulling his shirt over his head following his vest. 

“What happened?” Chouji asked.

“I don’t know,” Shikamaru plopped down next to the Akimichi who had already gotten comfortable in his king sized bed. “Something with Sakura and Tsunade.”

“Hm,” Chouji acknowledged.

“It’ll pass,” Shikamaru rolled onto his side to face his friend who was hidden by the dark of night. 

“Mh,” his friend hummed as Shikamaru’s weight settled into the bed.

“Tsunade’s binge drinking again.” It always meant they would have to play catch up once the woman bothered to see the light of day again. He shut his eyes to his problems, “troublesome,” he said, but almost subconsciously, his hand crept until only the smallest of taps from his fingers could be felt against the hip of Chouji’s pajama pants. By then, Chouji had stopped responding as he normally did. It would be up to Shikamaru to fill the silence until the rush would suffice in killing the awkward build up to what both of them had been silently anticipating the minute one of them asked to hang out.

And gradually, that hand would become centric and sink beyond a fabric line. Neither of them ever mentioned the compulsion and no one on the outside suspected anything at all. If anything, the two were no more than friends, maybe even the closest in all of Konoha.

Shikamaru kept an eye on the other end of the vast room as his fingers undid the leather belt that somewhat hung off the pinch of Neji’s waist. Lower, the robes’ opening revealed tempting skin and the Nara’s nail beds kissed its surface as he toyed with the belt. Then, his hands hugged against the Hyuga’s waistline and his fingers gently rubbed against its warmth. It was comfortable, nothing forced or strange. 

“Did the mouse come in with us?” Neji asked, keeping his arms at his sides. His sleeves surpassed the length of his arms and hands as he allowed the boy’s touch to venture along his bare waist and back.

Shikamaru took a minute to answer and instead sat his chin against Neji’s shoulder. “Don’t know.” His hand moved upward along the Jonin’s back as the opposite pulled Neji’s hips forward with a gentle nudge. 

The Hyuga’s nose met Shikamaru’s cheek then ear before the shadow-nin began a new line of kisses started with a long kiss against the crook of Neji’s neck. His lips stuck to the spot for a while before moving to Neji’s shoulder and collar. He moved them backwards using his hold to guide Neji until he found a wall to press Neji against. Luckily, he wasn’t met with competition for the lead. Neji let him cover his chest with calculated kisses, but once Shikamaru dropped to a knee, Neji roughly gripped the Nara’s hair.

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth at the inconsistent sharp pain before looking up. He didn’t ask, instead he waited on Neji to answer the question in his impatient eyes. 

“I thought you were new,” Neji said.

Shikamaru’s hands slid down to Neji’s hips where his thumbs rubbed back and forth. “I never said I was.”

The Hyuga began to retort but remembered that the boy had been quiet earlier when he made the assumption. Neji rested the back of his head against the wall and loosened his grip on the shadow-nin’s hair. He gazed out to the hundreds of books before tensing at the overwhelming heat of Shikamaru’s tongue. Neji nearly doubled over. “Shika…” he began to scold before he surrendered in keeping his head to the wall. He relaxed his stomach and dropped his hands to the green padding of Shikamaru’s shoulders. He tried to focus on the books next to him but too often his eyes would roll shut. 

It was a bit harder to take when Neji jolted forward, coaxed by the tight heat. Shikamaru moved back for a moment before taking Neji in all over again, this time taking hold of the excitable hips and pressing them to the wall. With a second tug to his hair, Shikamaru groaned around the stiff shaft but not so much in complaint. It was as if Neji were fighting against the fact that he was falling apart in the Nara’s hands. 

It was something Neji would have never expected from the moment he met the boy. Back then, the Nara was a lazy, careless, and fairly bigoted kid, but in the depths of the antique study, his hands held weight and his mouth began to control Neji’s breathing. And with one slight pelvic jerk that Shikamaru’s hands barely contained, the shadow-nin was annoyed into standing.

Shikamaru’s face held no frustration. Still, he used his grip to urge Neji to turn around. Even then, he held onto the elder shinobi’s hips as if Neji needed physical direction because words would be futile. While one arm snaked around Neji’s slender waist, the other took hold of the slick member that had yet to be satisfied. Rhythmically, the hand ran up and down, pulling small beads from the heated tip. Slick from Shikamaru’s tongue and Neji’s nearing the edge helped in the blinding slide of Shikamaru’s fist.

Neji’s hands warmed the wall as Shikamaru’s lap served as a warm seat. The brick in the Nara’s pants almost distracted Neji from the hand between his own legs. The Hyuga’s breath condensed against the cool wallpaper as he was urged beyond his typically controlled composure. His head fell back just as he lost the strength to keep his eyes open. Then, he cared nothing for the room and just for the rhythmic hand that rendered him speechless. Without consent, a small pleasurable hum wafted from Neji’s lips, making Shikamaru’s hold tighter and hand slower until the Jonin’s breaths could play out past Shikamaru’s ear. 

The shadow-nin’s touch slowed as Shikamaru pulled Neji back against him and buried his face in the Hyuga’s neck. It was his turn to make Neji impatient, so he toyed with the male, rimming his very tip with his thumb. He played the part where he pretended not to feel just how heavy Neji felt in his hand or how the mass jumped at how Shikamaru’s touch felt spreading across his bare stomach. 

Neji held the wrist that graced his stomach. “Shikamaru,” he complained after exhaling. 

The Nara did not leave his neck, instead his eyes opened just enough to give Neji’s jaw a sedated look. Consequently, Neji leaned away from Shikamaru’s lips, making the Nara end the suction with a pop. Then, the younger was faced with a look of dazed annoyance. All Shikamaru did was start a slow grin. It was comical, Shikamaru knew the Hyuga was at a loss for the proper words. 

“What?” Shikamaru asked, his grin turning into a lazy smirk. He pressed up against Neji even closer, imprinting his excitement against the Hyuga’s leg and dissolving Neji’s visible irritation. The hand sank to its very base and simply held Neji’s erected weight.

Neji stared into Shikamaru’s eyes with a newfound intensity and the most focus he could muster through the fog of his mind. The Jonin’s hand cupped Shikamaru’s chin, his thumb running along his jaw and just then, Shikamaru felt another yet weaker pulse in his hand. The Nara’s knowing smirk had long gone and his hand started its ascent along the calming length. In just a few quick jerks, he was holding stone yet again. That time, however, he kept his blinding pace even as Neji held him in his palm. 

Each time Neji nudged back even a little, Shikamaru’s groin would subtly move up to meet him halfway. The Nara took Neji’s hand and wrapped both their arms around Neji’s stomach, reducing the Hyuga down to one hand and the wall. Neji found no use in choking on his voice. He sounded according to the amounting intensity that Shikamaru brought about without a thought. His sighs were loud and deep enough to make his neck weak. His head fell forward, gently using the wall for stability as his fingers curled against its pattern. His back curved, consciously teasing the quiet boy behind him who wasted no time in applying even more pressure from behind.

Much to Shikamaru’s surprise, Neji let a moan roll from the depths of his chest. The Hyuga bucked into his hand over and over desperately chasing the sensation. To the younger, it was exhilarating, more exciting than it had ever been. With anyone else, it was casual, out of boredom, one sided, never had he truly felt a rush like the one he felt with a certain shinobi pressed flush against his lap. The tactician hadn’t even gotten off yet.

Neji shut his eyes and moaned, shamelessly, half letting off steam and half entertaining the other. It was working for both parties. Shikamaru kept going until Neji’s voice was undoubtedly genuine. He soaked up the attempted thrust of Neji’s hips and the recoil that rubbed against his front. 

With loud chirps of heavy-duty hinges, the vault was opened and in came two unfamiliar voices.

Chapter Text

Neji opened his eyes, picking his head up from the wall and briefly glancing aside before Shikamaru’s hand rendered him weak all over again.

“I’ll tell you what, they weren’t gonna make it easy on us,” a deep voice rasped with age.

“No kiddin’,” a second, higher pitched.

“Shik — Neji’s neck went weak again and he could only breathe out the rest.

Shikamaru kept his eyes in the direction of the voices as his lips met Neji’s neck a second time. He continued where he left off on the tender spot against Neji’s skin. He sucked against the junction even harder, doing everything to pull an even bigger reaction from the Hyuga that weakened in his hands like a hard candy recently melted. 

“Did you hear something?” The squeak of a voice asked.

“What? You think some of those leaf shinobi made it down here? They better not, we barely got away with our lives.”

“Why’d boss choose the leaf anyway? Doesn’t he know about all the stuff they’ve got goin’? Demons and rogue ninjas and god shinobi and the great Sanin, even their Genin have the strength of Jonin, are you kiddin’? They still have complete control of their Jinchuriki and boss wanted us to face them first?!”

“Beats me, pipsqueak. Just know I’m not goin’ back upstairs.”

“H…” Shikamaru quickly pressed his hand to Neji’s mouth after pulling his lips from the Hyuga’s sensitive skin. The Jonin tilted his head towards the Nara’s own and sealed his eyes shut. 

“Sht!” The raspier voice ordered, “someone is in here,” his whispered. “Go check it out.”

“Me?!”

“Sht!”

“I’m the smaller one, you go check.”

“Nuh uh.”

“Fine, whatever. I don’t know why he lets you lead us anywhere. You always fall back and leave me as the Guinea pig.” 

Finally, Shikamaru caught sight of a skinny figure of small stature through a gap in the collection of books. The minute they stopped arguing, the two would be spotted. 

“Just shut up and go check.”

“Okay, but when I get thrown back here folded up like a pretzel, don’t be surprised.”

With a hearty shudder, Neji poured out against Shikamaru’s fingers, bringing the tactician back to the issue at hand. Even then, the slender opposition neared their corner and Shikamaru’s mind ran its daily marathon.

“Boys!”

The figure halted at a third voice that bolted from the vault.

“Get your asses back up there, it’s not over!”

“Yes, Boss!” The two exclaimed before scrambling towards the door, slamming it shut behind themselves.

Ideally, they would have been in the position to take the three on and break out of the bunker of a study but they were in no position to attack.

“Shit,” Shikamaru whispered before releasing Neji’s mouth. He unraveled his hold and stepped away to peer around the bookshelf that saved their dignity. He came close to holding onto the bookshelf but noticed his hand was still soiled.

“What now?” Neji asked.

“We need to find a way out of here,” Shikamaru said, taking a tablecloth at random and using it as a wipe.

“We can’t… anymore,” Chouji had said.

Shikamaru hadn’t even reached out across the bed, but he could have told Chouji that much. He could tell by the way the Akimichi lied down facing the wall that he was closing off. The Nara didn’t respond that night, he simply went to sleep and after that, his visits shrank to hardly any because it was hard to spend the night at the boy’s house without remembering their ulterior motives all those years.

Shikamaru looked for changes in patterns in the walls, dips in the floor, oddly engineered armrests on chairs, emphasized light fixtures and felt Neji following him the whole way.

“If there were a secret passage, I would have seen it the first time I checked.” It was as if Neji’s attitude had gotten worse after clarity but by then, their mistake had been Shikamaru’s last straw. 

“If it’s not gonna help us out of this place, you don’t have to say it. It won’t kill you to sit on it, you know,” per usual, he refrained from using his face to express just how badly he wanted to grind his teeth into powder. Regardless, he was largely ignored.

“There is no way out unless they come back.”

Shikamaru’s brow finally twitched.

Neji was quick in shoving the Nara back into a wooden chair’s burgundy cushion.

Shikamaru shut his eyes with a sigh, “we don’t have time for this.” Still, he placed his arms comfortably on the arm rest and sank into a comfortable slump with his legs spread. He didn’t put up much of a fight because a lot of his strength was still concentrated between his legs.

Comfortably, Shikamaru watched Neji, who had yet to seal his shirt and tie his hair, drop to his knees. The Nara clenched his jaw a couple times, keeping his conflicted eyes on Neji as he worked his fly for the Hyuga. It was as though none of it had happened, and somehow an almost awkward stage had been reestablished.

Their stare lingered up until the Nara was free from his pants. Neji stood on his knees readying his tongue before taking a ginger hold of the protrusion. Openly, Shikamaru watched him as though he were too exhausted to take in anything else around him other than the male who stroked him back to full hardness. Neji kept his attention on the stiffening length and took meticulous care of its pinkening tip, slowing his strokes the longer he held the Nara in his hand. He noticed how the tactician’s hands held onto the ends of the chair’s armrests and took it as a sign to bring his hand to a stop. Only then did he glance up only to find that Shikamaru hadn’t taken his eyes off the display for even a moment. It was all the reason for Neji to flick his tongue over his lips and start a ginger mouthing along the end, using his tongue to flip over the sensitive beacon. 

Shikamaru inhaled slowly, slightly readjusting the grip he had on the chair’s handles. The spread of his legs widened just a bit and he sank even further, giving Neji the flatter foundation he needed. The tired tension in Shikamaru’s stare flattened into an intrigued, cloudy gaze. That alone might have been enough given just how shamelessly Neji ground against him minutes ago. Then, a new thought, he studied the Hyuga’s signature hair. It was dark but still shone in the dim light of the study. Above everything else, touching the strands seemed the most scandalous. Shikamaru’s fist unraveled, his fingers tempted to run through the mane until his hand met Neji’s head, his finger tips intertwining with the dark locs. That served as the signal for Neji to sink along the mass of his lap.

Shikamaru’s head fell back with a quiet hiss just before he solidified a painless grip in the groomed curtain. 

Neji’s hands sat along the Nara’s inner thighs, keeping the legs divided, not that Shikamaru needed the assistance.

The pressure that Shikamaru’s fingers applied fell lax and turned into a slow rake just before his pelvis rolled once to meet Neji’s wet lips. In response, the Hyuga popped from the member resentfully. 

“Hypocrite,” Neji whispered.

“Doesn’t seem like you struggled with it.”

Neji kept his defeated eye on the shadow-nin before quickly sinking back down to the base, kissing the shadow-nin’s pelvis and coming right back up, keeping a strong suction that could have pulled the Nara from the chair itself. With it, he managed to work a low groan from the boy. Neji pulled the member from his mouth before coating it in saliva and using his hand to stroke it ten quick times then following his hand with his warm mouth all over again. That time, he made sure to keep his eye on Shikamaru and the faces he would make once Neji had grown more than comfortable.

Neji relied on Shikamaru’s fingers to keep strands from tangling in the mess he had created, but inevitably, some strands stuck to the corners of his mouth. Comfortably, the Hyuga slid the Nara back and forth from the cushion of his tongue to the tight hug of the back of his throat. He grew drunk on the genius’ curt breaths and swallowed just as he thought the younger was winded, earning a couple of surprise moans. He glided up and down without any trouble at all, establishing his seniority compared to the lazy-nin that he swallowed over and over. 

A second time, Shikamaru rolled up, deepening the sensation and tightening his grip in Neji’s dark silk. He panted as his neck craned far back. Neji could tell he was close, dangerously close but that didn’t stop him from moving in a tight glide up and down, up and down, ignoring the pressure of Shikamaru’s hand. If it wasn’t before, the Nara’s hand was close to turning the armrest into woodchips. He forgot about even trying to be cautious about how deeply he ground against Neji’s lips, clearly the Jonin could take it.

Neji could have gotten off on the flutter of Shikamaru’s breaths and the quiet rasp of his moans. He would have never imagined something so erotically scandalous especially in the confines of an old, stuffy, study. It was off the rails, but didn’t really hit the Hyuga until his throat was used as a final option in Shikamaru’s rushed end. The Nara let out a hearty groan just as Neji registered just how deeply the shadow-nin truly sat in his throat. Neji tasted nothing at all. It wasn’t a problem, only a moment of self awareness. 

Neji slowly pulled Shikamaru from the deepest seat of his throat and wiped his mouth as Shikamaru tucked himself back in.

Shikamaru sat in bliss, his arms like jelly atop armrests and his head fallen over backwards. His legs remained spread and his eyes shut. 

“It’s good to know they’re fine on the surface,” Neji finally spoke before clearing his throat.

That made the Nara smile. “Come here.”

The Hyuga offered nothing more than a dismissive sidewards glance only to be pulled by his wrist and onto the Nara’s lap. 

“Your shirt’s still open,” Shikamaru noticed and began sealing the fabric just before Neji swatted his hands away. 

Neji buttoned his shirt and fastened his brown belt before eyeing an overly comfortable tactician. They sat in silence, one fronting irritability and the other relaxation. The two were polarized but nonetheless joined in a wet, sloppy kiss in which Shikamaru hummed passionately, partly to rub it all in Neji’s face. Yes, it had all just happened, yes they both got off, yes he’d do it again, and yes Neji was on board because how else would anyone explain the way the Hyuga reciprocated the profound contact.

Shikamaru’s hands started at Neji’s waist then both arms came around the Jonin’s back in greed. The Hyuga held the sides of Nara’s head, digging his fingers into his hair then gripped the back of the sophisticated seat once he started a rock against the Nara who broke away from the kiss, keeping a teasing bite against Neji’s bottom lip. Both boys were out of breath and reduced to hooded eyes watching one another in a newfound spell. Still, they went in for another kiss.

Loud squeaking of giant hinges sounded towards the front of the study.

“Shikamaru?! Neji?!” Chouji shouted.

“Shikamaru?!” Naruto called.

“Neji?!” Sakura followed.

The two froze and Neji tried to pull away only for Shikamaru to keep him in place with the fold of his arms. He kissed the skin of Neji’s chest and moved up to his collarbone and shoulder. 

“Stop,” Neji hissed in a whisper, pressing the palm of his hand to Shikamaru’s face. He felt a smile grow against his hand and frowned.

“What are you doing later?” Shikamaru asked shamelessly.

Neji narrowed his eyes and activated his Byakugan to gage just how much time they had before the group found them. 

“Shikamaru?! Neji?!” The boisterous blond called.

“Shikamaru!” Chouji followed.

“Shikamaru?!” Sakura echoed, “Neji?! Hinata said you two were down here!”

Neji froze. Shikamaru’s smirk grew. 

The Nara removed his face from Neji’s hand and let the male free from his lap but he followed closely behind as the Hyuga dusted himself off.

“There you are,” Sakura announced. “What happened to your hair?” Both shinobi had let their hair fall and hadn’t bothered straightening it from the imprints of tangled fingers.

Chouji was first to meet Sakura and with one look at the two, the Akimichi was silenced. He shared a brief glance with his childhood friend but no more.

“You found them!” Naruto emerged from a row of books. “Are you guys alright?”

“Those guys must’ve gotten down here. You look like you’ve just fought long and hard. It’s a good thing they couldn’t match us even if they tried,” Sakura sighed.

“We did beat them pretty good, I don’t know why Hinata was so scared to come down here,” Naruto wondered aloud.

Neji frowned and crossed his arms, knowing what he would have to face on the surface.

Shikamaru, on the other hand, grinned, knowing that he had finally resolved a tightly coiled and deeply seated tension.