Work Text:
Cycles Chapter 1
What a drag.
The moment Shikamaru stepped into the hospital ward corridor, Naruto's voice was already rattling the walls. He couldn't make out the other person's replies though if there were any, but Naruto's side of the argument carried too loud to ignore.
"But I told you we were out of time! Sasuke's almost...!"
Then a beat, as though someone had cut him off.
"H-how?!" Naruto again, louder this time, indignant and desperate.
Shikamaru exhaled through his nose. To anyone walking by, it sounded like the knucklehead was arguing with himself. Troublesome as ever.
The door banged open, Asuma striding in without the slightest hesitation. Ino immediately chastised him for barging in without knocking.
"Sensei!" Ino's voice sharpened. "Could you at least try some manners?"
Asuma ignored her, pulling the cigarette from behind his ear as if the room belonged to him. Choji followed, already rustling open his chips. Shikamaru slipped in last, his gaze scanning the scene.
He greeted them with an aphetic "Yo".
Sakura stood close to Kakashi's bed, worry etched on her face. Naruto was still bristling, fists balled. And against the far wall leaned the pale, too-composed boy who had ambushed them before. What's his deal?
Shikamaru frowned. "You're that strange guy who attacked us the other time."
The boy gave a mild bow. "Sai. Root assigned me as a member of Team Seven."
Choji paused mid-crunch, nodded as though that was explanation enough, and went back to eating.
Shikamaru grunted but didn't push. Instead, he turned his eyes on Naruto.
"Tsunade told me what happened with Sasuke. Next time something comes up, I'll help too. Especially now that that bothersome Chūnin Exam is finally over."
For once, Naruto didn't flare up. His voice came out hollow, almost small. "Thanks."
Shikamaru studied him, noting the weight in his expression, then looked away. Heavy rooms like this were a drag.
Asuma clapped his hands together. "Alright, that's enough brooding. You kids should go eat, celebrate a mission completed, my treat!"
Naruto immediately jumped at it, shouting about Yakiniku Q. Ino and Choji followed in his wake, Sai trailing with that unsettling calm.
Shikamaru lingered a moment longer, then muttered, "I'll catch up later."
By the time the others reached the restaurant, his seat was still empty.
Yakiniku Q was already smoky by the time they arrived. Naruto threw himself at the table, waving for the server with more enthusiasm than manners. Sakura sighed and tried to rein him in, while Sai observed everything with that unsettling calm of his, as if cataloguing the chaos for later study.
Choji claimed his usual spot and immediately started piling plates high. Ino sat across from him, scanning the table once, then twice, before her lips pressed into a thin line.
"Where's Shikamaru?" she asked.
Choji didn't even pause mid-bite. "Said he was going to collect medicinal antlers with his dad."
Ino leaned back, incredulous. "Now? At this hour? He never skips after-mission dinners. Never."
Naruto barked out a laugh between mouthfuls. "That lazy bum just didn't want to come! Bet he's napping somewhere."
Sai tilted his head, eyes flicking toward Ino. "Or perhaps he wanted to avoid all of you."
Naruto spluttered, nearly choking on his food. Sakura scolded him, Choji kept eating, and the table filled with noise again, but Ino's frown lingered. Something about it didn't add up.
Shikamaru, meanwhile, was nowhere near Yakiniku Q. His feet had carried him in an entirely different quarter of Konoha. It didn't take long to find her. She looked up briefly, the late light catching in her hair. The strands weren't just blonde, they were bright, almost golden, like they'd hold the sun even after it set. Her eyes, sharp and teal, could cut through a person before they realized they'd been judged.
"Surprisingly punctual."
"Hello to you too, Temari."
They passed the village gates, the noise of Konoha drifting faintly behind them. Temari walked just ahead of him, the night air carrying her scent toward him. It was different from the subtle floral perfume that girls seemed to prefer in Konoha. Her fragrance was warmer, heavier, full of spice and sun-dried herbs.
"If you're going to drag your feet the whole way, I'll start thinking you'd rather the deer chase me out." She nagged as he continued to analyse her scent.
It filled the space around her, just as commanding as her voice. It suited her. Bold, unapologetic, hard to ignore. Troublesome.
"You wanted a guide, not a race." He noted, though he quickened his pace all the same. He had to take the lead anyway, better for the deer to sense his chakra before an unknown visitor.
The Nara Forest stretched quiet around them, cicadas humming in the branches overhead. He hadn't lied. Choji had bought the excuse easily, but then Choji always did. Ino wouldn't have. Neither would Naruto. If they knew he was going to see Temari, they'd have been insufferable, Ino's shrill teasing, Naruto's idiotic grins. Too troublesome to explain, and even more troublesome to deny. Better to spin a lie tied to truth: medicinal antlers, the forest… just not with his father.
Not that he would have minded dating Temari, he supposed.
Temari unstrapped her fan and set it carefully against a tree. Without it, the lines of her body stood out more clearly, broad shoulders tapering to a narrow waist, then widening again into full hips impossible to not notice.
"The antlers shed once a year," Shikamaru explained, his voice even, shifting his focus to his explanation. "Hormone cycle. When it drops, the antlers loosen and fall. New ones start growing right after."
She listened carefully and bent forward to study one of the fallen antlers, from his angle her movements made the line of her chest visible beneath the mesh and the kimono fabric. He sighed. Yeah. Hormones. Troublesome.
It didn't take a genius to see that she was attractive, but he just didn't see the point of making a big deal out of it, the way Naruto or Ino would.
"What is up with you?" Her voice wasn't delicate or soft, but it carried a note of care. Maybe it was the frown, the press of his lips, or the heaviness in his sigh that had given him away.
He needed to cool down. He dropped into the grass beside her and lay back, watching the clouds drift through the gaps in the canopy. That would help.
Her mouth curved, just enough to show amusement. "There you are! Back to your usual self." Even the teasing pitch of her voice was… What a drag.
He closed his eyes and let more serious thoughts sink into his head. He replayed the day, briefings, Orochimaru, Sasuke. Yeah, definitely a mood killer.
For a while, silence hung between them, broken only by the soft rustle of leaves. It wasn't uncomfortable.
Finally, Shikamaru spoke. "Naruto told me about Sasuke. Tsunade, too."
"What about it?"
She always carried herself differently from the people he knew in Konoha. She spoke like someone who didn't waste words.
"Same circle, same outcome. Feels like it never ends," he pressed on.
Temari glanced at him, sharp eyes steady. "And you think that's your burden."
"I was the leader when we tried before. Everyone nearly died. We lost then, and they're still losing now. Troublesome cycle."
He felt comfortable exposing his vulnerabilities to her.
Temari didn't soften, that wasn't her way. "You got your people back alive. That's not a loss."
Maybe it was her maturity. Maybe just age.
"Doesn't feel like enough," he said.
"Then figure out how to make it enough," she replied bluntly, brushing dirt from her gloves. "But brooding in the dark doesn't change a damn thing."
And maybe that was because she grounded him in a way the others couldn't.
He gave her a sideways look. "You make it sound simple."
Her smirk returned. "It is simple. Act, or don't. Everything else is wasted breath."
She was used to giving advice, the way an older sister might. And for that he couldn't imagine her ever looking at a boy like him. He figured she would only ever be interested in men her own age or older still.
Shikamaru snorted, turning his gaze upward to the canopy. "Troublesome woman."
The words earned him a chuckle this time, low and amused. Her smirk softened into a wholehearted smile, bright against the shadows of the forest.
He didn't need her to see him differently. Just now, her words, her smile were enough. The heaviness in his chest had eased not gone, but shifted, like a cloud moving just enough to show some light.