Spiraling

Chapter 39

"I guess you were right about free food." Shikamaru murmured from his seat beside Naruto. They had decided to have lunch in a BBQ restaurant and the owner was really generous, several times Naruto ensured him that he could pay the man but he was having no such thing. So now they were in a double grill booth by themselves with prime meat at their disposal. 

Naruto hummed a bit as he made meat skewers with the vegetables they were provided with. They couldn't eat it all in one setting so he was getting these wrapped up when the time came. "This brings a whole nostalgic vibe to the table. Like serious it took years to get them to stop and now it's come full force again. It's sweet really, I know they love me and I in some way cherish the people here but I just wish they could do some self preservation. Your giving me prime meat how are you going to make a profit like this? Never mind I'll leave the money when I'm leaving."

As Naruto babbled to himself at this point Shikamaru got to see something different to him. Sure Naruto was still a sadistic asshole, with a whole lot of issues that he refuses to treat but, he was caring to the villagers. It was almost like he inherited his father's love for the village. Shikamaru still had bits and pieces of Minato's reign as Hokage and what he could mostly distinguish from the man was that he was warm. Personality, chakra, features, the man was like the first breath of spring. "Your really like your father." He found himself saying out loud. 

Naruto snorted and turned to him with a smirk. "Yeah in looks, trust me wandering shadow I take after mommy dearest." He turned back to grilling the meat but Shikamaru could still see his ears at alert meaning he was still actively listening to him.

"No, you care for these villagers more than you care to admit. Sure they had a heavy hand in making you become spoilt, jaded but you saw they were coming from a place of love." Naruto gagged slightly at his words.

"Shikamaru please never say ridiculous things like that in public. As a matter of fact never say that ever again. I can feel the sickening sweetness in your voice and it's making me wanna vomit." Shikamaru wanted to smack the man but he held off on it for the sake of his own ass. Though Naruto might not say it, over the past week since he got discharged he's been making it very obvious he was going to break Shikamaru the right way. What really classified as the right way however he didn't know.

"Shikamaru didn't expect you here." A voice called out kindly. Naruto didn't bat an eye but Shikamaru looked over to see his friends making their way over. The one who had called over was Hinata. 

Before Shikamaru could even get a response Naruto had one already lined up. "Nope, get away we're on a date and I don't need screaming in my ears." Cold and to the point it had achieved it's purpose. They stopped short but Choji was the one to step up this time.

"Your still behaving like that even after what happened?" 

Naruto barked a laugh. "What happened was I protected my village as a loyal ninja should. You say it like I went on a life changing adventure." 

"Man I thought he'd stop being an asshole." Kiba murmured but everyone could hear him. 

"Look I have no problem with you hanging out with Shikamaru, quite frankly if I'm to be honest he should be locked away in my house away from your peasant views but I can't do that yet. So for now I'm being gracious in sharing his time with you lower class Clan heirs." Naruto placed a hand under his chin as he eyed them callously. 

"Yet?" TenTen asked alarmed, she turned to Shikamaru who had begun to roll his eyes at Naruto's statement but anyone could see the blush on his face indicating that he was alright with Naruto's choice of words. 

"Are you seriously alright with Naruto talking like a really obsessive lover on the brink of kidnapping you?" Neji asked seriously as his eye twitched. 

"He can't so why are you guys getting all twisted up by it." Shikamaru chuckled a bit. "He's just messing with you, rather coldly and feeling no remorse for your feelings but ultimately he's getting a laugh out of it."

"How the hell did you fall for someone like that?" It was Ino who asked who had her arms rather protectively in front of her body. It was the wrong question to ask because Shikamaru's response shook the group.

"And I wasn't the one to twist everyone's view on Naruto so he would end up alone for you to ask for a quick fuck. I heard you Ino, I listened to you trying to convince him that I'd never know. One of my big factors for falling for him was because he was loyal and you and your advances just proved it all the more that night. Get off your fucking high horse not everyone wants to fuck you." 

He has had that on his chest for the longest time. He never really got around to really calling Ino out on it. All he said to her was that he knew what took place that night and nothing more. To say it though felt so much better than keeping it buried inside where he knew he would eventually let it go but she called it out. She called out the bitterness he felt towards her. One of his former best friends since the two were conceived tried to bang his boyfriend and thought she could get away with it cause she was pretty. 

Ino was from the Yamanaka clan twisting minds in her favorite was the fucking family trade. And she used charm and compelling mind facts to push this accurate version of Naruto while still dipping him in more chaos to add an even more savage coating to his life. It was low and disgusting, why couldn't she just come right out and said she had a crush on the guy or an attraction to him. Why go through all of this?

"First Sakura and now Ino, you guys are not doing justice with keeping Shikamaru on talking terms with us." Sasuke piped up from his position against the wall. "At this point I don't blame him, even Ino had me fooled." 

"At this point your all a bunch of circus acts for me. I get a quick laugh and I'm back to normal being a 'danger to society and ninja around me'. I quoted that from one of the two either Sakura or Ino but I'm pretty sure it's Ino." Naruto chuckled a bit. 

"I'm a lot of things really, sadistic, asshole, I've been called a psychopath one too many times for my liking. And then people think they're layers of me that need pulling back, parts of me to be fixed but no matter how much I tell them I don't have anything that needs or warrants a fixing they still insist. I'm not a charity project, I do not have a sad life, I'm not low-key having pent up aggression." Naruto was rolling his eyes as he turned the meat.

"I'm just Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze who so happens to have lost his parents and that changed me. I'm not sending out secret signals for help waiting for minds on par with me to figure it out before I hang myself from being fed up with life. I do not have a mask that's slowly cracking after years of mastery just because now I have more people in my life that  feel the need to be really close to me after they witness a moment of me not being the textbook persona that I've always been."  Shikamaru was biting on his lips to keep the smile and chuckles at bay. Naruto however was on a roll.

"I'm not traumatized to the point I've gone off my rockers and need a straight jacket and simple commands from the Hokage to distinguish ally from foe. Your all really playing up the part that I'm a functioning mentally deranged person who likes carving into people. Just a heads up only people in my family bear my carvings and if I gave it to Shikamaru that means he's on the track to become my husband in a few years. And if any of you don't like it then you can choke on my cock and fuck right off." 

The finality in his tone was Shikamaru's breaking point. He laughed, it was unfiltered and joyous and you could tell he couldn't stop himself. He leaned into Naruto who started smiling as well before he started laughing with him. The couple laughed themselves silly with all the dialogue from before. The others took a look at Shikamaru's smiling face and came to a group decision that he was happy and that was enough for them to stop treating Naruto as the enemy. Ino had snuck away from the group to head home. It was clear that she wasn't wanted anymore. 

"Can we join you guys?" TenTen asked with a hopeful tone. The couple had begun to calm after Naruto kissed Shikamaru passionately. Naruto was still stroking the Nara's cheek when they both nodded. The hostility was gone and now all that was left was a new bridge to be built.