[Thread] You got me off the sofa, just sprang out of the air.

[lazyish]

Who: Shikamaru, Itachi, and later Nill and Naruto.
Where: Terra; Yosuke's apartment.
When: Friday the 13th..! After the sky turns yellow.
Summary: A little student-teacher bonding is misinterpreted. Maybe..?
Rating: PG-13?
Other: Oh sensei~~

Comments

[pogromanate]

Of course Itachi had gave Shikamaru a slight inquisitive glance as the bong was wiped out and inhaled -- but even if the teenager had offered it to for Itachi to take a hit, then it was simply refused. It was after a few rounds where Shikamaru decided that the floor was in fact a substitute for the shogi board that was right in front of them that Itachi had simply stood up, since Shikamaru found it entertaining to simply play with himself that Itachi’s absence simply went amiss, and Itachi had returned to reading on the couch

[unfeasible]

The silence stretched on, which was strange considering how much Naruto hated quiet. And usually filled it. But, well... He'd made a mistake. Usually he could laugh that off, but not when he'd involved other people at their expense.

He stared at the floor with a thoughtful frown, watching his shoe as it scuffed the floor trying to think of what to do...

"Sorry," he said sullenly, finally. His usual energy came back quickly afterwards, trying to ramble a loud explanation and giving Shikamaru an earnest face. "But I didn't--! Y'know, it looked funny, and Nill'n I were just-- And guys don't--"

[lazyish]

"Tch." Shikamaru scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. His face was still bright red because, hell, that had been some messed up scene for them to walk in on. He could only imagine how it had looked to Nill and Naruto from the doorway.

"Man, it isn't like that," he muttered, shoulders hunching. Not with Itachi, he added silently. He might have said it out loud but he didn't want Naruto to get any more bad impressions. Even if he didn't care who knew he was gay, it was still troublesome to deal with the resulting freakout. His mind went momentarily to Yosuke and he shut his eyes in irritation.

"What'd you come over for, anyway?" he asked, hoping to move the attention off himself.

[unfeasible]

Ah, short attention span. That worked, no problem. Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, but nonetheless he seemed proud of himself. "Nill invited me over!" he beamed. "I also got--"

Naruto looked at his hands, and looked shocked to find them empty. He looked around wildly, crouched oddly to peer under tables and things. He straightened up with an exclamation, then ran for the door (which was still half-open) and looked outside. He came back outside, lifting a ramen carrier into view with a triumphant smile.

"She ordered dinner while she was at it."

[pogromanate]

As much as disliked touch -- in spite of the scene in which both blondes had walked in on -- the faint tugging at his sleeve did not show as discomfort in reply, all it did was it brought him back to reality as his thoughts drifted off to more pressing matters that concerned the Uzumaki (Who had suspiciously disappeared, a matter that Itachi had concluded that the idiot had gotten himself killed and that was that). Instead the Uchiha opened his eyes as fingers coiled around the cup in hand and let fingers tuck back the wayward strands of black hair before red hues settled on Nill’s motioning lips

[silencedbird]

The girl gave a slight nod in reply to the Uchiha’s dismissive attitude towards what had happened with Naruto, and made a mental note that if she ever brought the boy over again, she’d have to check what was going on inside the apartment before she let him see what was going on. (no matter how shocking it might be, or... ‘innapropriate

[lazyish]

Shikamaru's lips twitched as he watched Naruto run around frantically. When he finally got his answer, he just gave a slight nod. "Made a good choice," he said. A light compliment. Naruto's ramen was a meal he wasn't going to get tired of anytime soon, even if they had it several times a week.

At that point, Itachi reentered the room. Shikamaru turned to face him, noting his expression. Not angry. Not even irritated. At worst, it looked like Itachi just wanted to get back to sleep, which made it odd that he was calling Shikamaru over instead of slipping off quietly to his bedroom to take advantage of Yosuke's absence and get some rest.

"Hey, Naruto," he said, glancing back to the blonde. "You can clear the board off the coffee table and set up the food there. I'll be a second."

Slipping his hands in his pockets, Shikamaru strode into the kitchen. His face reassumed its usual serious expression. This seemed like something important and he was ready to pay attention. He acknowledged Nill with a nod before uttering to Itachi, "Yes,

[unfeasible]

Naruto just blinked stupidly between Itachi and Shikamaru, finally smiling and nodding. "Okay."

He frowned and considered Itachi again, before the frown deepened in thought and conflict and he stared at the floor. When he looked up again, he had a wide, slightly apologetic grin.

"My bad."

[pogromanate]

It was when Naruto faced Itachi with the sort muttered words that Itachi had let out a soft amused sound before he turned around and headed within the kitchen once again. The fact that Nill was still there didn’t bother the Uchiha in the slightest; he knew she wasn’t going to parade around in an urge of suddenness at what Itachi had to tell Shikamaru

[silencedbird]

It was a bit of surprise that neither Itachi or Shikamaru made an attempt to usher Nill out of the room, so instead of leaving to help Naruto the blond-haired girl just gave the boy a smile in return to his own apologetic one-don’t worry, Naruto, it’s okay-and instead moved further into the kitchen, taking a seat once more and turning towards Itachi to listen to what he had to say. She hoped it wasn’t rude, or that she hadn’t misunderstood or something, but... well. She deserved to know a few things, once in awhile. Even if it was only a few things

[lazyish]

Shikamaru's eyebrows shot up skeptically when Itachi revealed all of this to him. Naruto, a member of Akatsuki? He had seen the kid fight and it'd been sloppy. Akatsuki's standards had to be higher... They were elite assassins, weren't they? Unless, of course, Naruto was faking his ineptitude. Or could he really have forgotten all of his training, along with everything else about his experiences with Akatsuki

[unfeasible]

Ramen doesn't exactly take long to set up, especially when it's been delivered. So Naruto had unwrapped the saran covers and set them all on the table, and left with nothing to do, he stared at them. Then curiously back to the doorway of the kitchen. And back.

He wanted to know what was going on. Naruto was dumb, but he wasn't completely stupid; whatever was being said was just for their little family. But he hated being left out, even though it had nothing to do with him. There was no use dwelling on it; he'd been invited as a friend and Shikamaru would probably tell him later anyway, right? Because they were friends. Naruto grinned.

"Hey, genius, your food's getting cold!" he yelled after five minutes, which he figured was long enough for whatever needed to be said.

[pogromanate]

All it took was the softest of nods to assure himself that Shikamaru knew what he was doing. And still, it may have been a leap of faith that Itachi placed trust in Shikamaru’s hands. Although, there was no doubt in his mind that the teenager was not stupid, or as idiotic as the perfect example in the living room, to risk anything that provoked harm

[silencedbird]

Probably for the first proper time since she’d met Shikamaru, Nill narrowed her eyes at him in something close to a glare, and she stared at him like that for a good while before mouthing, with a more grave, serious expression she ever wore and with absolute certainty, “No.”

Because as far as she was concerned, Naruto was dangerous, not even a little bit. (she honestly felt like going over to the door and pointing at him, because honestly, how could the blond boy in the living room possibly be a threat to anything? For god’s sake, look at him!) Itachi had already said that something inside Naruto was the dangerous thing, right? So why was Naruto the dangerous one? After a moment though the expression faded into a slightly unhappy one, and she just let out a sigh and looked down at her lap, tangling her fingers in the fabric of the skirt she had on. Maybe she was wrong, though. After all... it wasn’t like anyone had told her about any of this stuff, not properly. Without knowing, she couldn’t really be sure, not about anything, but

[lazyish]

Shikamaru sighed at Nill's reaction, lingering in the kitchen for a moment after she was gone. He rubbed the back of his neck, exasperated. She'd gotten the wrong idea. He didn't intend to do anything to Naruto. He didn't even see the point of forbidding Nill from going near him. If anything, Nill would be good for Naruto. She had a calming power of her own, whether it was magic or not. And Shikamaru himself was now basically assigned to watch Naruto.

Because if there was a dark power within Naruto, and that power had previously been in Akatsuki's hands, then Akatsuki would want it back when they found where he'd gone to. Itachi wanted to make sure that didn't happen. If that was what Itachi wanted, Shikamaru would keep Naruto safely away from the organization.

He grabbed a can of iced tea from the fridge to give himself an excuse for delaying, then walked back out to the living room. "Sorry," he said to Naruto as he settled onto the couch beside Itachi. "Man, that smells good."

[unfeasible]

Naruto smiled as they all filed in to eat, finally. It only spread at Shikamaru's compliment.

"I added something kinda special this time! Looklook--" He rushed forward and grabbed Nill and Shikamaru both by the wrists, dragging them forward to the table to show them his handiwork. He let go when they were able to see the contents of the bowls clearly; and pointed at them with a proudly outstretched hand.

"Check it out! Specially aged beef, fresh mushrooms, chicken, shrimp--" His speech sped up as he excitedly rambled. "It's a little more expensive for the ingredients, but I call it the 'Everything or Nothing Special'! If the old man'd be willing to shell out for the stuff, I bet we'd make a killing for this one! It's AWESOME." He nudged Shikamaru roughly with his elbow. "Hurry up, try it!"