(no subject)
Okay, because the birthday fic for Dark was SO late, I told her she could pick a second one. So, here we go. ;)
Title: It Started With A Puzzle
Genre: Yaoi romance
Rating: PG
Characters: Neji and Shikamaru
Summary: The greatest thing in their lives are puzzles. (Set several years after the timeskip.)
It Started With A Puzzle 1/1
JBMcDragon
It started, as so many things in Neji's life did, with a puzzle.
Well, a puzzle and a mission. One of those tedious life-or-death missions that involved a whole lot of running, fighting, and hiding. It was the hiding that wore at him. Hiding wasn't so bad if someone was hurt; at least then you had something to do. You could try and make them more comfortable, or do emergency surgery, or if you were in pain yourself then you were thoroughly occupied trying not to think about the pain you were in.
No, the ones that wore on him were the ones where no one got hurt. He had a few scratches on one arm, and Shikamaru had a bruise on his shin the size of an egg, but that was all. This was how scars were formed, Neji had decided. By people being so bored that they kept peeling the scabs off of the shallow wounds, just so they could doctor them again.
Not that Neji did that. At least, not while anyone was looking. He'd started doing it less when Kiba had mentioned his constantly bleeding to a medic, and they'd started testing him for blood-thinning diseases and jutsu. He'd completely stopped after being paired with Shikamaru, and the man had pointedly-idly (a talent that only Shikamaru had, and Neji was half-convinced was a bloodline limit) asked if Neji was going to keep cutting, and if so would he please use a kunai as the blood under his fingernails was annoying.
Neji had stopped picking.
But that left him with even less to do on missions like these; the fight-fight-fight-hide missions they just kept SENDING him on. He couldn't even distract himself with trying to be as still as possible, because they weren't hiding in a tree or under brush or anything interesting like that. They were hiding in a hide-out. A cave long since hidden that had, of all things, enough room to pace (but not enough to properly spar), and amenities. Like food. And battery-powered heat. Even radios. He was left with nothing to do.
And, as if this wasn't bad enough, some joker had left a puzzle.
Ah, you thought we'd forgotten the puzzle. But the puzzle (and this mission) was where it started.
The puzzle was a simple thing; a wooden block with pieces that slid. They were brightly colored, and instructions written on the wall--in blood, it looked like--said that you were meant to slide the blocks around until every side had a different solid color. At first, Neji had thought this was brilliant. He worked on sliding the blocks for several hours while Shikamaru napped, and the ninja hunting them ran around outside. Eventually, Neji had come to realize it was a trick. A rotten trick. Genma had probably done it. Neji always said that the man's sense of humor had taken a turn for the mean when that jutsu had shot through his brain, frying half of his chakra pathways. Other people said it just made him twitchy, but Neji knew better. This was just like Genma.
Eventually, he'd put the puzzle down and returned to pacing, pausing in front of the rock wall with its rock door and window that showed the outside world. Careful illusions and jutsu upon jutsu kept them hidden, even when the enemy walked right up and looked straight at the window.
He really preferred those hide-outs where you were in constant danger. Much less boring.
The enemy ninja finally gave up. Neji had worked with Shikamaru enough to know that they'd stay put for several more hours to make sure the way was clear. Most of the time, he suspected Shikamaru did that just so he didn't have to get up right away. 'Most of the time' meaning, of course, 'always.'
Neji looked back at the other man, a Chuunin to Neji's Jounin, but field leader all the same. It didn't sting, though. Neji was pretty sure Shikamaru was only a Chuunin because he hadn't bothered with the Jounin Exams; he was the only Chuunin to work under Ibiki in Intel.
The day Ibiki had hired Shikamaru was legend: the man had come storming into the ramen house, marching up to Shikamaru's table in the staggering walk he'd begun after losing mobility in his left arm. He'd flung the lists for the applicants to the Jounin Exams down across Shikamaru's bowl--lists that were notably absent of Shikamaru's name--and yelled, "Damn it, boy! You're not going to dodge working for me by shirking the Exams!"
Shikamaru, by all accounts, had slurped up the noodles he'd been eating and looked at Ibiki calmly. "I wasn't dodging," he said, sounding vaguely annoyed. "I just didn't feel like getting the application forms."
Ibiki had glared, pointed with his good finger, and snapped, "You're hired, anyway."
Shikamaru had sighed and nudged the list out of his bowl with his chopsticks. Then he'd gone back to eating.
The story had flown around the village. At the time, Neji hadn't believed it. But a week later Shikamaru got a promotion to Intel and a pay raise to rival Neji's own. A month after that they'd been paired on their first mission together, and apparently the powers that be liked the work they'd done; all of Neji's missions where he needed Intel or a partner were suddenly with Shikamaru.
Shikamaru, who was sprawled in the corner of the cave on his back, head propped up by the wall, the puzzle on his stomach.
You thought we forgot the puzzle. But the puzzle is where it started.
"It's impossible," Neji said after watching Shikamaru flip through combinations for a while. "There isn't a way to get one color per side."
Shikamaru only grunted, and gave the cube another twist.
"I worked on it for hours," Neji said, annoyed that the other man hadn't bowed to his superior expertise and given up. All his other partners listened to him. "It isn't possible."
"It's something to do," Shikamaru said idly. He gave the cube another twist.
Neji folded his arms across his chest sullenly and glared out the window. If he glanced over his shoulder occasionally, it was only so he could smirk when he saw that the cube was still a mess. And if, after an hour, he started to draw closer, it was only because he was bored and watching Shikamaru's moving hands was better than watching nothing.
And if, after another hour, he found himself sitting cross-legged beside the other man, it was only because Shikamaru had done the impossible: he'd gotten two sides to be solid colors.
The remaining four sides were still a wreck, mind you. But he'd gotten farther than Neji had.
Then Shikamaru sighed and tossed the cube away. "We should probably go," he said, glancing around.
Neji blinked and looked around as well, realizing that night had fallen outside. "Yes," he said quickly, shaking off his fascination and rising to his feet. "We need to report in."
Shikamaru hmm'ed.
**
It started with a puzzle. It was several weeks before the puzzle returned, found in another hidey hold, the colors all mussed once more. Neji spent several hours working on it, determined that he could do better than Shikamaru. To his disgust, he couldn't even get the colors aligned on one side. He threw the cube at his sleeping companion, waking him abruptly.
"It's rigged," he declared to Shikamaru's sleepily blinking gaze. "That last time was a fluke." No one was better than he was.
Shikamaru looked around, found the offending item, and looked at it as if he'd never seen it before. He scooted up into a sitting position, then silently began turning the blocks.
"It can't be done," Neji said imperiously. "I tried. I worked on it." He was a genius! Things he worked on worked, damn it!
Shikamaru didn't respond. He just turned and twisted, pausing here or there to yawn or scratch or just stare at the cube.
Before they left, he had three sides in all solid colors.
**
It started with a puzzle. Which was remarkable, because the puzzle wasn't even there.
But Neji was there. Neji was there, pounding on Shikamaru's door, his pajamas plastered to his body, soaked through from the rain. He shivered, cold and hot by turns, weaving on his feet.
When the door opened he yelled over the storm, over the thunder booming through the sky. "The puzzle is yours! I figured it out! You already know how to solve it! It's a jutsu and you make the puzzle appear!" Rain ran into his eyes, trickling under the heavy fall of his hair to reach his nape. He trembled with the chill.
Shikamaru looked at him for a moment, then reached out with one hand and grasped Neji's wrist, pulling him inside.
Neji nearly fell across the other man, but Shikamaru caught him, heedless of getting his own clothes wet. Together they staggered toward the couch, and Shikamaru swung Neji down onto it easily.
Neji rocked back when a hand came at his face, but it only settled across his forehead.
"Ahhhh, Neji," Shikamaru drawled, "does your doctor know you left the hospital?"
Hospital? He couldn't remember a hospital. He remembered the puzzle, and Shikamaru's clever, infuriating fingers as he solved what couldn't be solved. Neji glared up into black eyes with dark brows arching perfectly above them. "You made the puzzle and you bring it to torture me," he said through chattering teeth.
Shikamaru huffed a small laugh, as if a full one would be too hard. Then he turned and walked into another room, only to come back a moment later with a blanket. He wrapped it securely around Neji's shoulders, rubbing slim arms with his broad hands. "You shouldn't be out of the hospital room, Neji. Do you remember getting hurt?"
Hurt? No. He shook his head and the world spun. Somehow, he faded out. When he came back he was still sitting up, and Shikamaru was on his knees before him, dark hair glossy in the lights. Lightning rolled, painting the other man in blue and white, exposing strong shoulder muscles under the thin net of his shirt. Neji's heart raced, thumping sporadically in his chest as he reeled back.
Then he realized Shikamaru was cleaning up vomit, muttering under his breath as he did so. "...wake me up in the middle of the night and throw up on my floor. Of all the bothersome things..."
"Shikamaru?" Neji asked weakly, his head feeling stuffed with cotton, if cotton were exquisitely painful. "I didn't mean..." his nose wrinkled at the smell of stomach acid.
Shikamaru sighed and stood up, taking the vomit-bag to the window and tossing it out.
Neji had a moment where he could imagine it hitting someone on the street below, and choked back a laugh. Then he blinked uncertainly as the world twisted into lines, like etching on a black background.
"Neji? Focus. No, not on my chakra--on my voice. Focus on my voice."
It was a mellow voice. It was always a mellow voice, even in the midst of battle. As if Shikamaru always had all the time in the world, or maybe that he knew he was always safe because he couldn't be troubled with getting hurt. It smoothed down Neji's nerves, like a balm over his raw and splintered chakra pathways. He realized he could see Shikamaru again, and tried to smile. The expression felt unfamiliar on his face, and only seemed to disturb Shikamaru. He stopped.
"That's better," the Chuunin grumbled. "Neji, I called your doctor and they're sending someone to get you as soon as they can, all right? You have to go back to the hospital. You're very sick."
"I feel sick," he agreed quietly, shivering under the blanket. He looked down at his bare feet, toes poking from under the hem of his silken drawstring pants.
His toes looked like worms.
He started to scream.
"Oh, now, don't look at that," Shikamaru said, sounding annoyed and bored all at once. "It's nothing."
"Nothing?" Neji cried, shaking his feet to try and change something. "It's not nothing!"
Shikamaru caught Neji's chin in one broad, warm hand, and turned his face away from his feet. "It's nothing. It's the jutsu. It's why you're supposed to be at the hospital, but instead you're here."
Neji panted shallowly, terrified to look back at his toes, staring at Shikamaru instead. He believed Shikamaru. Shikamaru didn't lie; remembering one was too much trouble. Neji knew, because he'd worked with Shikamaru longer than he'd ever worked with anyone, and occasionally they talked.
Very occasionally.
It was still more than he'd done with previous partners. His other partners had never stuck around long enough for him to get attached to. That was probably for the best.
"You're here," Shikamaru repeated, looking confused. "Why are you here?"
"I--I--" Neji stopped, trying to remember. Everything was fuzzy. Everything was a blur. "I was lonely." He remembered that, wishing for someone, anyone, to come take the terrors away.
A jutsu, he remembered that now. Fried half his brain and left him seeing things. An injury, and infection--he shivered again, breaking out in a sweat.
"Lonely?" Shikamaru asked, looking at Neji the same way he'd looked at the cube. "Why didn't you go home?"
Shikamaru's hand was warm, callused, slightly rough against Neji's jaw. Neji focused on that instead of the pounding in his head. "I--" he didn't have an answer, exactly. He'd wanted comfort, and warmth, and to be safe, and... he'd come here. "The puzzle," he said, grasping at straws. "I figured out the puzzle."
Shikamaru graced him with a very rare smile. "I didn't make the puzzle. Or jutsu it. Or whatever you were saying."
Neji frowned, trying to remember what he had been saying. He felt queasy again, and the world was turning fuzzy at the edges. Something hammered nearby.
Then Shikamaru looked up, and Neji realized that the hammering was someone knocking at the door. When the Chuunin stood, Neji laid down, curling into a ball and feeling fever rage through him. Much time couldn't have passed before medics stood over him, trying to pick him up. Neji struggled, twisting to bite one of them.
"Neji-san, you have to come back to the hospital," that man said, jumping back. "If you'd like to walk that's fine, but you must get up."
He didn't want to go back to the hospital. He felt miserable, but he'd rather be miserable here, with company. Movement caught his eye and Neji turned his head, frowning at Shikamaru as the man walked out of the hall, a duffle bag slung over one shoulder.
Shikamaru returned the frown. "Well, there's nothing for it, is there?" he said in a greatly put-upon tone of voice. "I'll just have to go with you, if you won't go alone."
Something uncurled inside of Neji; something he'd held tight and close for too many years to count. He nodded silently, and when the medics tried to lift him again he didn't fight.
**
It started with a puzzle. Not just any puzzle, but an infuriating puzzle.
This time, Neji didn't even try to solve it. He didn't let Shikamaru sleep, either, but shoved the little cube at the man and said, "Try."
Shikamaru sighed with the air of one who goes above and beyond the call of duty--like a person who babysat the Inzuka dogs, or who had to go on a mission with Naruto. Then he sat down and began twisting the wooden blocks.
Neji sat crosslegged in front of the other man, eyes fixed on the cube. He wasn't going to miss a single move, this time.
Shikamaru himself was distracting, but Neji tried not to notice. That thing that had uncurled inside him hadn't quite been boxed back up. He wasn't sure he liked it, this sudden desire to see Shikamaru outside of missions. The tendency he found in himself to eat where Shikamaru frequented, or to wander by the man's house just to see if the lights were on.
Everyone liked Shikamaru, there was no doubt about that. The Chuunin was simply one of those people that others flocked to; Ino, Chouji, Temari, Kiba, Naruto, all had fallen under Shikamaru's spell. A spell Shikamaru didn't seem to be aware of. Neji was certain it was why Ibiki had wanted him for Intel.
Now Neji was caught in it, too, and he didn't like it. Not one bit. Maybe if he'd had a chance of winning Shikamaru over somehow, but he already knew he didn't. He wasn't personable--he was so unpersonable, in fact, that Shikamaru was the only mission partner who'd stayed with him for more than three missions. Neji figured it was because nothing bothered Shikamaru. Not even Neji.
There were other things Neji had used in the past to attract people, but Shikamaru didn't need his money. Even Neji's vaunted abilities didn't help--Shikamaru never seemed impressed, not even lately when Neji had pushed himself to his very limits in an attempt to make the other man notice.
And his mind just wasn't good enough to hold Shikamaru's attention. After all, Neji hadn't even been able to figure out the puzzle.
He'd finally settled himself into unrequited crush mode, and left it at that.
So he sat, watching Shikamaru twist and turn the cube with agile fingers, fingers that held tiny scars from countless missions. Neji bet that Shikamaru never got bored enough to scratch his scabs, just so he could re-bandage them.
Lantern light flickered off the cave walls, giving everything a warm glow. It spilled over Shikamaru's skin, and made his hair look limned with gold. Shikamaru tipped his head in concentration, and the light caught a pale scar along one broad cheekbone. Neji itched to reach out and trace it, but he didn't.
An hour passed, and after a while Neji realized that Shikamaru had stopped moving, and was simply staring at the cube with consternation.
Neji looked, and smiled. Four of the six sides were solid colors. He heard a noise, and glanced up to see Shikamaru studying him much like he'd been studying the puzzle a moment before.
"What?" Neji asked, straightening his features out of the smile, into a more comfortable glower.
Shikamaru just shook his head and stood, tossing the cube into one corner of the cave and reaching down toward Neji.
For a heart-stopping moment, Neji thought Shikamaru was going to do something. But the man only pulled a twig from Neji's black hair, letting it flutter to the ground.
"We should go. Should be clear," Shikamaru said, and walked out of their hidey hole.
**
It started with a puzzle. A puzzle, and a great deal of blood.
Neji had wanted to get his hands on Shikamaru's bare skin for a long time, but not like this.
"Here," he said, shoving the cube into Shikamaru's trembling hands. "Solve this."
"Can't," Shikamaru breathed. "It's impossible."
"You've already done four sides before," Neji snapped back, fear and tension making his voice harsher than he meant for it to be. "At least get back to that point." He gripped the ends of Shikamaru's already-torn pants and yanked. Cloth tore with a horrible rending sound, baring the leg right up to the bone protruding from the man's thigh. "Do the puzzle!"
He waited until Shikamaru focused on it, waited until the man started twisting it this way and that, knowing that it was little enough against the pain he was going to cause.
They'd lost their gear in the fight. They'd almost lost the fight. He'd almost lost Shikamaru.
He didn't wait, but wrapped his hands around the man's lower leg and pulled, drawing the bone back under the skin, feeling it grate as tendons pulled and snapped. More blood pooled.
Shikamaru breathed raggedly right up until he couldn't anymore. Then he began to scream. Then, blessedly, he passed out.
Neji set the bone as quickly as he could, using the man's unconscious state to make sure it was as correct as it could be. Then he took a deep breath and summoned chakra, channeling it into a healing jutsu and pushing it into Shikamaru's bones.
The man's body convulsed as bone was forced to re-grow, as tendons knit together. Muscle twisted and writhed as it moved, the ends dragging themselves somewhat into alignment under blood-smeared flesh.
When Neji was finally done, he could at least be certain that Shikamaru would get home. He leaned in, breathing hard from exertion and panic and effort, and rested his forehead against Shikamaru's chest.
The puzzle had fallen to one side. With a trembling hand, Neji picked it up and put it in his pocket.
**
It started with a puzzle.
Neji wasn't quite sure when it had happened, exactly, that he'd become comfortable in Shikamaru's presence. It was like sneaking candy from the jar, these stolen moments in the hospital where he lounged at the end of Shikamaru's bed (Hyuuga didn't lounge) and commented on the best way to get all the colors on that final damn side. (Hyuuga didn't comment. They didn't suggest. They knew, or they remained silent and let everyone guess as to whether or not they know.)
They'd been stuck on five sides for what seemed like forever.
Neji hoped they never got the sixth side.
"Try turning the other half," he suggested, stretching his leg out and pointing with his toe. Lifting an arm was much too hard.
Shikamaru reached down absently and grabbed the toe, giving it an idle squeeze before doing as Neji suggested.
Neji nearly blushed from the contact. Gods, but Shikamaru had been touching him like that for two days. (Hyuuga didn't touch.) He glanced toward the door like a child gleeful at getting away with something, but expecting an adult to come in at any moment.
No adults arrived.
"Try twisting it, now," Neji suggested at random, hoping to get another touch.
Shikamaru twisted without touching.
Neji pointed with his toe again. "No, that way."
Shikamaru reached down with a strong hand and squeezed, then twisted.
Neji nearly smiled.
"I think you're making it worse," Shikamaru groused, but Neji only felt warm at the sound. He knew Shikamaru didn't really mean that tone. "Shouldn't you be heading home for dinner and getting out of my hair?" the Chuunin added grumpily.
Neji almost smiled again, content. "They won't notice I'm missing. Try twisting it."
When Shikamaru didn't move, he looked at the man's face.
He was being regarded again, like something to be solved or put together. Neji shifted nervously. "Maybe I should go."
"No, stay," Shikamaru said, going back to the puzzle. "But stop suggesting twisting. Twisting isn't working."
"Try turning," Neji said.
Shikamaru only snorted.
**
It started with a puzzle. Well, a puzzle and a mission.
One of those tedious life-or-death missions that involved a whole lot of running, fighting, and hiding. Neji didn't mind the hiding so much, anymore. They had a cube that Shikamaru took everywhere. The paint was starting to wear off; Neji had begun carrying colored markers, so they could fix it whenever they needed to.
Soon, Neji suspected, they wouldn't need the markers anymore. He watched with breath held as Shikamaru slid the cubes around, each one clicking into the next place. Then, finally, the row ticked over to where they hoped it would work.
For a long moment Neji and Shikamaru just stared at it. Then Shikamaru said, "Hm."
Neji snatched the cube out of the man's hands, flipping it around, twirling it in his hands, double-checking. "Shikamaru!" he said, staring at it in amazement. "You did it!"
"Rather anti-climactic," Shikamaru grumbled, settling back on his heels, leaning against the cave wall.
"Anti--it is not!" Neji said hotly, his silver eyes narrowing. "This is an amazing achievement!"
"I didn't get a prize. Not that good," Shikamaru said, and crossed his arms behind his head.
Neji stared at him, appalled. After weeks and months of working on this stupid puzzle it was finally solved, and Shikamaru was grumbling about a prize? "What prize did you want?" Neji said finally, a smile touching the corners of his mouth. "I'll see if I can acquire it for you."
Shikamaru, who'd closed his eyes in preparation to nap, squinted. He lifted one hand and beckoned with a finger.
Neji edged closer, trying not to notice the heat of the man's body or the way he smelled--sweat and forest and antiseptic from too many small cuts to count.
Shikamaru reached out, catching a strand of Neji's hair as it fell over his shoulder. The Chuunin wound the glossy black lock around his finger, around and around until it began to tighten.
"You can't have my hair," Neji said, suddenly nervous--though he couldn't say why.
Shikamaru smiled lazily. "I don't want your hair. Mine is enough of a pain." He tugged sharply, and Neji moved forward to keep from getting pulled on.
Forward far enough that their breath mingled between them, warm and damp in the cool air of the cave. His heart shuddered in his chest. "Shikamaru?"
Shikamaru tugged again. Neji stretched, putting a hand on either side of Shikamaru's hips for balance. Then the man leaned in and brushed slightly chapped lips against Neji's own. When Neji didn't react, Shikamaru did it again, increasing the pressure. His tongue slipped out and rubbed over Neji's lower lip.
"Oh," Neji said quietly, one part statement and one part prayer. Warily, Neji reached out, putting a hand flat on Shikamaru's chest, feeling the padded muscle shift under his palm. Fingers wrapped around the nape of Neji's neck, pulling him closer, sliding through his hair.
Neji groaned and re-balanced, moving until he straddled Shikamaru's lap and could properly kiss.
It was a long while before they broke apart.
"We should get moving," Shikamaru said reluctantly, his broad hands stroking through Neji's dark hair. From the corner of his eye, Neji could see glimpses of tan flesh between shiny black locks. The pulse hammered under Shikamaru's skin, matching Neji's.
Neji tried to catch his breath, only partially succeeding. "You--" he began, his mind muddled. "But--me?" He wouldn't have chosen himself.
Shikamaru smiled slightly and tipped his head, giving Neji that look again. "I like puzzles." Then he stood, sliding out from under Neji and rocking to his feet. "Come on. The sooner we get home, the sooner we can return to that. Only comfortably."
Neji stopped Shikamaru by the simple expedient of refusing to rise. "What about when you figure me out?" he asked warily.
Shikamaru smiled slowly, head tipping first one way, then the other as he considered the question. "I already have," he said softly, and reached out for Neji's hand.
Neji felt himself respond, his skin warming under Shikamaru's steady regard. He reached up, pale fingers twining with Shikamaru's tanned ones. The Chuunin tugged, pulling him up and forward out of the cave.
In the corner of the hide-out, a puzzle lay on one of six sides. You thought we forgot the puzzle, didn't you? But this puzzle was only a toy. Shikamaru had better toys at home--and a much better puzzle.
(He came back later for this one.)
--end
Title: It Started With A Puzzle
Genre: Yaoi romance
Rating: PG
Characters: Neji and Shikamaru
Summary: The greatest thing in their lives are puzzles. (Set several years after the timeskip.)
It Started With A Puzzle 1/1
JBMcDragon
It started, as so many things in Neji's life did, with a puzzle.
Well, a puzzle and a mission. One of those tedious life-or-death missions that involved a whole lot of running, fighting, and hiding. It was the hiding that wore at him. Hiding wasn't so bad if someone was hurt; at least then you had something to do. You could try and make them more comfortable, or do emergency surgery, or if you were in pain yourself then you were thoroughly occupied trying not to think about the pain you were in.
No, the ones that wore on him were the ones where no one got hurt. He had a few scratches on one arm, and Shikamaru had a bruise on his shin the size of an egg, but that was all. This was how scars were formed, Neji had decided. By people being so bored that they kept peeling the scabs off of the shallow wounds, just so they could doctor them again.
Not that Neji did that. At least, not while anyone was looking. He'd started doing it less when Kiba had mentioned his constantly bleeding to a medic, and they'd started testing him for blood-thinning diseases and jutsu. He'd completely stopped after being paired with Shikamaru, and the man had pointedly-idly (a talent that only Shikamaru had, and Neji was half-convinced was a bloodline limit) asked if Neji was going to keep cutting, and if so would he please use a kunai as the blood under his fingernails was annoying.
Neji had stopped picking.
But that left him with even less to do on missions like these; the fight-fight-fight-hide missions they just kept SENDING him on. He couldn't even distract himself with trying to be as still as possible, because they weren't hiding in a tree or under brush or anything interesting like that. They were hiding in a hide-out. A cave long since hidden that had, of all things, enough room to pace (but not enough to properly spar), and amenities. Like food. And battery-powered heat. Even radios. He was left with nothing to do.
And, as if this wasn't bad enough, some joker had left a puzzle.
Ah, you thought we'd forgotten the puzzle. But the puzzle (and this mission) was where it started.
The puzzle was a simple thing; a wooden block with pieces that slid. They were brightly colored, and instructions written on the wall--in blood, it looked like--said that you were meant to slide the blocks around until every side had a different solid color. At first, Neji had thought this was brilliant. He worked on sliding the blocks for several hours while Shikamaru napped, and the ninja hunting them ran around outside. Eventually, Neji had come to realize it was a trick. A rotten trick. Genma had probably done it. Neji always said that the man's sense of humor had taken a turn for the mean when that jutsu had shot through his brain, frying half of his chakra pathways. Other people said it just made him twitchy, but Neji knew better. This was just like Genma.
Eventually, he'd put the puzzle down and returned to pacing, pausing in front of the rock wall with its rock door and window that showed the outside world. Careful illusions and jutsu upon jutsu kept them hidden, even when the enemy walked right up and looked straight at the window.
He really preferred those hide-outs where you were in constant danger. Much less boring.
The enemy ninja finally gave up. Neji had worked with Shikamaru enough to know that they'd stay put for several more hours to make sure the way was clear. Most of the time, he suspected Shikamaru did that just so he didn't have to get up right away. 'Most of the time' meaning, of course, 'always.'
Neji looked back at the other man, a Chuunin to Neji's Jounin, but field leader all the same. It didn't sting, though. Neji was pretty sure Shikamaru was only a Chuunin because he hadn't bothered with the Jounin Exams; he was the only Chuunin to work under Ibiki in Intel.
The day Ibiki had hired Shikamaru was legend: the man had come storming into the ramen house, marching up to Shikamaru's table in the staggering walk he'd begun after losing mobility in his left arm. He'd flung the lists for the applicants to the Jounin Exams down across Shikamaru's bowl--lists that were notably absent of Shikamaru's name--and yelled, "Damn it, boy! You're not going to dodge working for me by shirking the Exams!"
Shikamaru, by all accounts, had slurped up the noodles he'd been eating and looked at Ibiki calmly. "I wasn't dodging," he said, sounding vaguely annoyed. "I just didn't feel like getting the application forms."
Ibiki had glared, pointed with his good finger, and snapped, "You're hired, anyway."
Shikamaru had sighed and nudged the list out of his bowl with his chopsticks. Then he'd gone back to eating.
The story had flown around the village. At the time, Neji hadn't believed it. But a week later Shikamaru got a promotion to Intel and a pay raise to rival Neji's own. A month after that they'd been paired on their first mission together, and apparently the powers that be liked the work they'd done; all of Neji's missions where he needed Intel or a partner were suddenly with Shikamaru.
Shikamaru, who was sprawled in the corner of the cave on his back, head propped up by the wall, the puzzle on his stomach.
You thought we forgot the puzzle. But the puzzle is where it started.
"It's impossible," Neji said after watching Shikamaru flip through combinations for a while. "There isn't a way to get one color per side."
Shikamaru only grunted, and gave the cube another twist.
"I worked on it for hours," Neji said, annoyed that the other man hadn't bowed to his superior expertise and given up. All his other partners listened to him. "It isn't possible."
"It's something to do," Shikamaru said idly. He gave the cube another twist.
Neji folded his arms across his chest sullenly and glared out the window. If he glanced over his shoulder occasionally, it was only so he could smirk when he saw that the cube was still a mess. And if, after an hour, he started to draw closer, it was only because he was bored and watching Shikamaru's moving hands was better than watching nothing.
And if, after another hour, he found himself sitting cross-legged beside the other man, it was only because Shikamaru had done the impossible: he'd gotten two sides to be solid colors.
The remaining four sides were still a wreck, mind you. But he'd gotten farther than Neji had.
Then Shikamaru sighed and tossed the cube away. "We should probably go," he said, glancing around.
Neji blinked and looked around as well, realizing that night had fallen outside. "Yes," he said quickly, shaking off his fascination and rising to his feet. "We need to report in."
Shikamaru hmm'ed.
**
It started with a puzzle. It was several weeks before the puzzle returned, found in another hidey hold, the colors all mussed once more. Neji spent several hours working on it, determined that he could do better than Shikamaru. To his disgust, he couldn't even get the colors aligned on one side. He threw the cube at his sleeping companion, waking him abruptly.
"It's rigged," he declared to Shikamaru's sleepily blinking gaze. "That last time was a fluke." No one was better than he was.
Shikamaru looked around, found the offending item, and looked at it as if he'd never seen it before. He scooted up into a sitting position, then silently began turning the blocks.
"It can't be done," Neji said imperiously. "I tried. I worked on it." He was a genius! Things he worked on worked, damn it!
Shikamaru didn't respond. He just turned and twisted, pausing here or there to yawn or scratch or just stare at the cube.
Before they left, he had three sides in all solid colors.
**
It started with a puzzle. Which was remarkable, because the puzzle wasn't even there.
But Neji was there. Neji was there, pounding on Shikamaru's door, his pajamas plastered to his body, soaked through from the rain. He shivered, cold and hot by turns, weaving on his feet.
When the door opened he yelled over the storm, over the thunder booming through the sky. "The puzzle is yours! I figured it out! You already know how to solve it! It's a jutsu and you make the puzzle appear!" Rain ran into his eyes, trickling under the heavy fall of his hair to reach his nape. He trembled with the chill.
Shikamaru looked at him for a moment, then reached out with one hand and grasped Neji's wrist, pulling him inside.
Neji nearly fell across the other man, but Shikamaru caught him, heedless of getting his own clothes wet. Together they staggered toward the couch, and Shikamaru swung Neji down onto it easily.
Neji rocked back when a hand came at his face, but it only settled across his forehead.
"Ahhhh, Neji," Shikamaru drawled, "does your doctor know you left the hospital?"
Hospital? He couldn't remember a hospital. He remembered the puzzle, and Shikamaru's clever, infuriating fingers as he solved what couldn't be solved. Neji glared up into black eyes with dark brows arching perfectly above them. "You made the puzzle and you bring it to torture me," he said through chattering teeth.
Shikamaru huffed a small laugh, as if a full one would be too hard. Then he turned and walked into another room, only to come back a moment later with a blanket. He wrapped it securely around Neji's shoulders, rubbing slim arms with his broad hands. "You shouldn't be out of the hospital room, Neji. Do you remember getting hurt?"
Hurt? No. He shook his head and the world spun. Somehow, he faded out. When he came back he was still sitting up, and Shikamaru was on his knees before him, dark hair glossy in the lights. Lightning rolled, painting the other man in blue and white, exposing strong shoulder muscles under the thin net of his shirt. Neji's heart raced, thumping sporadically in his chest as he reeled back.
Then he realized Shikamaru was cleaning up vomit, muttering under his breath as he did so. "...wake me up in the middle of the night and throw up on my floor. Of all the bothersome things..."
"Shikamaru?" Neji asked weakly, his head feeling stuffed with cotton, if cotton were exquisitely painful. "I didn't mean..." his nose wrinkled at the smell of stomach acid.
Shikamaru sighed and stood up, taking the vomit-bag to the window and tossing it out.
Neji had a moment where he could imagine it hitting someone on the street below, and choked back a laugh. Then he blinked uncertainly as the world twisted into lines, like etching on a black background.
"Neji? Focus. No, not on my chakra--on my voice. Focus on my voice."
It was a mellow voice. It was always a mellow voice, even in the midst of battle. As if Shikamaru always had all the time in the world, or maybe that he knew he was always safe because he couldn't be troubled with getting hurt. It smoothed down Neji's nerves, like a balm over his raw and splintered chakra pathways. He realized he could see Shikamaru again, and tried to smile. The expression felt unfamiliar on his face, and only seemed to disturb Shikamaru. He stopped.
"That's better," the Chuunin grumbled. "Neji, I called your doctor and they're sending someone to get you as soon as they can, all right? You have to go back to the hospital. You're very sick."
"I feel sick," he agreed quietly, shivering under the blanket. He looked down at his bare feet, toes poking from under the hem of his silken drawstring pants.
His toes looked like worms.
He started to scream.
"Oh, now, don't look at that," Shikamaru said, sounding annoyed and bored all at once. "It's nothing."
"Nothing?" Neji cried, shaking his feet to try and change something. "It's not nothing!"
Shikamaru caught Neji's chin in one broad, warm hand, and turned his face away from his feet. "It's nothing. It's the jutsu. It's why you're supposed to be at the hospital, but instead you're here."
Neji panted shallowly, terrified to look back at his toes, staring at Shikamaru instead. He believed Shikamaru. Shikamaru didn't lie; remembering one was too much trouble. Neji knew, because he'd worked with Shikamaru longer than he'd ever worked with anyone, and occasionally they talked.
Very occasionally.
It was still more than he'd done with previous partners. His other partners had never stuck around long enough for him to get attached to. That was probably for the best.
"You're here," Shikamaru repeated, looking confused. "Why are you here?"
"I--I--" Neji stopped, trying to remember. Everything was fuzzy. Everything was a blur. "I was lonely." He remembered that, wishing for someone, anyone, to come take the terrors away.
A jutsu, he remembered that now. Fried half his brain and left him seeing things. An injury, and infection--he shivered again, breaking out in a sweat.
"Lonely?" Shikamaru asked, looking at Neji the same way he'd looked at the cube. "Why didn't you go home?"
Shikamaru's hand was warm, callused, slightly rough against Neji's jaw. Neji focused on that instead of the pounding in his head. "I--" he didn't have an answer, exactly. He'd wanted comfort, and warmth, and to be safe, and... he'd come here. "The puzzle," he said, grasping at straws. "I figured out the puzzle."
Shikamaru graced him with a very rare smile. "I didn't make the puzzle. Or jutsu it. Or whatever you were saying."
Neji frowned, trying to remember what he had been saying. He felt queasy again, and the world was turning fuzzy at the edges. Something hammered nearby.
Then Shikamaru looked up, and Neji realized that the hammering was someone knocking at the door. When the Chuunin stood, Neji laid down, curling into a ball and feeling fever rage through him. Much time couldn't have passed before medics stood over him, trying to pick him up. Neji struggled, twisting to bite one of them.
"Neji-san, you have to come back to the hospital," that man said, jumping back. "If you'd like to walk that's fine, but you must get up."
He didn't want to go back to the hospital. He felt miserable, but he'd rather be miserable here, with company. Movement caught his eye and Neji turned his head, frowning at Shikamaru as the man walked out of the hall, a duffle bag slung over one shoulder.
Shikamaru returned the frown. "Well, there's nothing for it, is there?" he said in a greatly put-upon tone of voice. "I'll just have to go with you, if you won't go alone."
Something uncurled inside of Neji; something he'd held tight and close for too many years to count. He nodded silently, and when the medics tried to lift him again he didn't fight.
**
It started with a puzzle. Not just any puzzle, but an infuriating puzzle.
This time, Neji didn't even try to solve it. He didn't let Shikamaru sleep, either, but shoved the little cube at the man and said, "Try."
Shikamaru sighed with the air of one who goes above and beyond the call of duty--like a person who babysat the Inzuka dogs, or who had to go on a mission with Naruto. Then he sat down and began twisting the wooden blocks.
Neji sat crosslegged in front of the other man, eyes fixed on the cube. He wasn't going to miss a single move, this time.
Shikamaru himself was distracting, but Neji tried not to notice. That thing that had uncurled inside him hadn't quite been boxed back up. He wasn't sure he liked it, this sudden desire to see Shikamaru outside of missions. The tendency he found in himself to eat where Shikamaru frequented, or to wander by the man's house just to see if the lights were on.
Everyone liked Shikamaru, there was no doubt about that. The Chuunin was simply one of those people that others flocked to; Ino, Chouji, Temari, Kiba, Naruto, all had fallen under Shikamaru's spell. A spell Shikamaru didn't seem to be aware of. Neji was certain it was why Ibiki had wanted him for Intel.
Now Neji was caught in it, too, and he didn't like it. Not one bit. Maybe if he'd had a chance of winning Shikamaru over somehow, but he already knew he didn't. He wasn't personable--he was so unpersonable, in fact, that Shikamaru was the only mission partner who'd stayed with him for more than three missions. Neji figured it was because nothing bothered Shikamaru. Not even Neji.
There were other things Neji had used in the past to attract people, but Shikamaru didn't need his money. Even Neji's vaunted abilities didn't help--Shikamaru never seemed impressed, not even lately when Neji had pushed himself to his very limits in an attempt to make the other man notice.
And his mind just wasn't good enough to hold Shikamaru's attention. After all, Neji hadn't even been able to figure out the puzzle.
He'd finally settled himself into unrequited crush mode, and left it at that.
So he sat, watching Shikamaru twist and turn the cube with agile fingers, fingers that held tiny scars from countless missions. Neji bet that Shikamaru never got bored enough to scratch his scabs, just so he could re-bandage them.
Lantern light flickered off the cave walls, giving everything a warm glow. It spilled over Shikamaru's skin, and made his hair look limned with gold. Shikamaru tipped his head in concentration, and the light caught a pale scar along one broad cheekbone. Neji itched to reach out and trace it, but he didn't.
An hour passed, and after a while Neji realized that Shikamaru had stopped moving, and was simply staring at the cube with consternation.
Neji looked, and smiled. Four of the six sides were solid colors. He heard a noise, and glanced up to see Shikamaru studying him much like he'd been studying the puzzle a moment before.
"What?" Neji asked, straightening his features out of the smile, into a more comfortable glower.
Shikamaru just shook his head and stood, tossing the cube into one corner of the cave and reaching down toward Neji.
For a heart-stopping moment, Neji thought Shikamaru was going to do something. But the man only pulled a twig from Neji's black hair, letting it flutter to the ground.
"We should go. Should be clear," Shikamaru said, and walked out of their hidey hole.
**
It started with a puzzle. A puzzle, and a great deal of blood.
Neji had wanted to get his hands on Shikamaru's bare skin for a long time, but not like this.
"Here," he said, shoving the cube into Shikamaru's trembling hands. "Solve this."
"Can't," Shikamaru breathed. "It's impossible."
"You've already done four sides before," Neji snapped back, fear and tension making his voice harsher than he meant for it to be. "At least get back to that point." He gripped the ends of Shikamaru's already-torn pants and yanked. Cloth tore with a horrible rending sound, baring the leg right up to the bone protruding from the man's thigh. "Do the puzzle!"
He waited until Shikamaru focused on it, waited until the man started twisting it this way and that, knowing that it was little enough against the pain he was going to cause.
They'd lost their gear in the fight. They'd almost lost the fight. He'd almost lost Shikamaru.
He didn't wait, but wrapped his hands around the man's lower leg and pulled, drawing the bone back under the skin, feeling it grate as tendons pulled and snapped. More blood pooled.
Shikamaru breathed raggedly right up until he couldn't anymore. Then he began to scream. Then, blessedly, he passed out.
Neji set the bone as quickly as he could, using the man's unconscious state to make sure it was as correct as it could be. Then he took a deep breath and summoned chakra, channeling it into a healing jutsu and pushing it into Shikamaru's bones.
The man's body convulsed as bone was forced to re-grow, as tendons knit together. Muscle twisted and writhed as it moved, the ends dragging themselves somewhat into alignment under blood-smeared flesh.
When Neji was finally done, he could at least be certain that Shikamaru would get home. He leaned in, breathing hard from exertion and panic and effort, and rested his forehead against Shikamaru's chest.
The puzzle had fallen to one side. With a trembling hand, Neji picked it up and put it in his pocket.
**
It started with a puzzle.
Neji wasn't quite sure when it had happened, exactly, that he'd become comfortable in Shikamaru's presence. It was like sneaking candy from the jar, these stolen moments in the hospital where he lounged at the end of Shikamaru's bed (Hyuuga didn't lounge) and commented on the best way to get all the colors on that final damn side. (Hyuuga didn't comment. They didn't suggest. They knew, or they remained silent and let everyone guess as to whether or not they know.)
They'd been stuck on five sides for what seemed like forever.
Neji hoped they never got the sixth side.
"Try turning the other half," he suggested, stretching his leg out and pointing with his toe. Lifting an arm was much too hard.
Shikamaru reached down absently and grabbed the toe, giving it an idle squeeze before doing as Neji suggested.
Neji nearly blushed from the contact. Gods, but Shikamaru had been touching him like that for two days. (Hyuuga didn't touch.) He glanced toward the door like a child gleeful at getting away with something, but expecting an adult to come in at any moment.
No adults arrived.
"Try twisting it, now," Neji suggested at random, hoping to get another touch.
Shikamaru twisted without touching.
Neji pointed with his toe again. "No, that way."
Shikamaru reached down with a strong hand and squeezed, then twisted.
Neji nearly smiled.
"I think you're making it worse," Shikamaru groused, but Neji only felt warm at the sound. He knew Shikamaru didn't really mean that tone. "Shouldn't you be heading home for dinner and getting out of my hair?" the Chuunin added grumpily.
Neji almost smiled again, content. "They won't notice I'm missing. Try twisting it."
When Shikamaru didn't move, he looked at the man's face.
He was being regarded again, like something to be solved or put together. Neji shifted nervously. "Maybe I should go."
"No, stay," Shikamaru said, going back to the puzzle. "But stop suggesting twisting. Twisting isn't working."
"Try turning," Neji said.
Shikamaru only snorted.
**
It started with a puzzle. Well, a puzzle and a mission.
One of those tedious life-or-death missions that involved a whole lot of running, fighting, and hiding. Neji didn't mind the hiding so much, anymore. They had a cube that Shikamaru took everywhere. The paint was starting to wear off; Neji had begun carrying colored markers, so they could fix it whenever they needed to.
Soon, Neji suspected, they wouldn't need the markers anymore. He watched with breath held as Shikamaru slid the cubes around, each one clicking into the next place. Then, finally, the row ticked over to where they hoped it would work.
For a long moment Neji and Shikamaru just stared at it. Then Shikamaru said, "Hm."
Neji snatched the cube out of the man's hands, flipping it around, twirling it in his hands, double-checking. "Shikamaru!" he said, staring at it in amazement. "You did it!"
"Rather anti-climactic," Shikamaru grumbled, settling back on his heels, leaning against the cave wall.
"Anti--it is not!" Neji said hotly, his silver eyes narrowing. "This is an amazing achievement!"
"I didn't get a prize. Not that good," Shikamaru said, and crossed his arms behind his head.
Neji stared at him, appalled. After weeks and months of working on this stupid puzzle it was finally solved, and Shikamaru was grumbling about a prize? "What prize did you want?" Neji said finally, a smile touching the corners of his mouth. "I'll see if I can acquire it for you."
Shikamaru, who'd closed his eyes in preparation to nap, squinted. He lifted one hand and beckoned with a finger.
Neji edged closer, trying not to notice the heat of the man's body or the way he smelled--sweat and forest and antiseptic from too many small cuts to count.
Shikamaru reached out, catching a strand of Neji's hair as it fell over his shoulder. The Chuunin wound the glossy black lock around his finger, around and around until it began to tighten.
"You can't have my hair," Neji said, suddenly nervous--though he couldn't say why.
Shikamaru smiled lazily. "I don't want your hair. Mine is enough of a pain." He tugged sharply, and Neji moved forward to keep from getting pulled on.
Forward far enough that their breath mingled between them, warm and damp in the cool air of the cave. His heart shuddered in his chest. "Shikamaru?"
Shikamaru tugged again. Neji stretched, putting a hand on either side of Shikamaru's hips for balance. Then the man leaned in and brushed slightly chapped lips against Neji's own. When Neji didn't react, Shikamaru did it again, increasing the pressure. His tongue slipped out and rubbed over Neji's lower lip.
"Oh," Neji said quietly, one part statement and one part prayer. Warily, Neji reached out, putting a hand flat on Shikamaru's chest, feeling the padded muscle shift under his palm. Fingers wrapped around the nape of Neji's neck, pulling him closer, sliding through his hair.
Neji groaned and re-balanced, moving until he straddled Shikamaru's lap and could properly kiss.
It was a long while before they broke apart.
"We should get moving," Shikamaru said reluctantly, his broad hands stroking through Neji's dark hair. From the corner of his eye, Neji could see glimpses of tan flesh between shiny black locks. The pulse hammered under Shikamaru's skin, matching Neji's.
Neji tried to catch his breath, only partially succeeding. "You--" he began, his mind muddled. "But--me?" He wouldn't have chosen himself.
Shikamaru smiled slightly and tipped his head, giving Neji that look again. "I like puzzles." Then he stood, sliding out from under Neji and rocking to his feet. "Come on. The sooner we get home, the sooner we can return to that. Only comfortably."
Neji stopped Shikamaru by the simple expedient of refusing to rise. "What about when you figure me out?" he asked warily.
Shikamaru smiled slowly, head tipping first one way, then the other as he considered the question. "I already have," he said softly, and reached out for Neji's hand.
Neji felt himself respond, his skin warming under Shikamaru's steady regard. He reached up, pale fingers twining with Shikamaru's tanned ones. The Chuunin tugged, pulling him up and forward out of the cave.
In the corner of the hide-out, a puzzle lay on one of six sides. You thought we forgot the puzzle, didn't you? But this puzzle was only a toy. Shikamaru had better toys at home--and a much better puzzle.
(He came back later for this one.)
--end