Hidden Love

It's Too Troublesome

"Naruto, make sure you report to Lady Hokage soon, alright?" Sakura shouted behind her, already running off to the hospital. Naruto just waved her off, heading home to sleep after the long mission. He was planning on going to Tsunade after a short nap, maybe with training after that. He still had to perfect some of his more complex jutsus Kakashi had taught him not too long ago.

He hadn't been walking very long before bumping into someone. Literally.

Shikamaru lay on the ground, staring up at his second favorite thing in life. The clouds. Though he wasn't enjoying them now, seeing as he was forcefully placed on the ground by Naruto. Shikamaru sighed. Troublesome people were not welcome in his life, but they always seemed to worm their way in, deeper and deeper into his peaceful being.

Not that he'd have it any other way, no matter how much he complains.

"Hehe, sorry, Shikamaru. Didn't see ya there!" Naruto said, hand rubbing the back of his head, clearly showing his embarrassment. Shikamaru just sighed one more time. Naruto's response to everything annoyed him to no end, but he couldn't even think of changing it to something else. Not only was change hard to do and required effort and persistence, Naruto was perfect the way he was. As troublesome as it was to admit it, even to his own self, Shikamaru couldn't help it.

"Doesn't matter. I have a mission to get to. And I'll be late now, thanks to your troublesome self." Naruto chuckled - mostly to fill the awkward pause in conversation and create some form of tension release - and helped Shikamaru up. The brown haired man dusted himself off and began walking to the gates, not walking any faster than he normally would.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later, then!" Naruto shouted behind him as he walked off. Shikamaru flinched at the loud sound before backtracking to stand next to Naruto, calling for him to come back in a lazy voice.

"First, I have something to ask you." He said, leaning closer to Naruto's ear. As his breath ghosted over Naruto's neck, he spoke in a whispered voice.

"Why is it the person I like is so troublesome?" Naruto pondered for a moment - mainly wondering who Shikamaru could possibly have fallen for - and didn't notice the man had left, already reaching the gates. Naruto did nothing but shrug, turn around, and walk the rest of the way to his apartment.

o.O.o

Days flew by without interruption in the village and, thus, in Naruto's daily life. The calm allowed him to ponder who Shikamaru liked.

At first he brushed off what Shikamaru said, not fully caring either way, but having nothing to do pushed him to think about things he normally wouldn't even acknowledge. And Shikamaru's love life was just a tad bit more interesting than anything else he had on his mind - not that there was much competition.

And so, after days had turned to weeks, Naruto went in search for Shikamaru, certain he would be back from his mission by now.

"Obaa-chan!" Naruto called out, right outside of the Hokage tower. He had learned it was better to give Tsunade a warning before entering the room. She tended to have calmed down just a little before he entered, saving him from sudden death.

"DAMN GAKI!" He heard in response. Naruto's grin widened and he jumped up the tower, finally landing just outside her window in time to see Tsunade raising her fist at the door, waiting for him to enter.

"Oi, Baa-chan, who are you waiting for?" A thud sounded where his head was recently resting, a kunai lodged in the wood. Tsunade seemed to have let the rest of her anger out earlier, because Naruto got away with even less of a beating than normal. Instead, Tsunade just asked what he wanted.

"Do you know where Shikamaru is?"

Tsunade fell silent.

"What level of mission did you give him?" Once again, Tsunade stayed quiet. "A? S? Or even worse than that? You should know he isn't able to complete a mission about an A without coming back almost dead! I know, because he's done it before. Don't even try to hide it!"

"Low S." She whispered. "He volunteered. Wouldn't take no for an answer. What was I supposed to do? Lock him up and make sure there was no way he could go without permission?"

"Yes." Naruto said firmly. "That's exactly what you should have done. Or told me about the mission and I would have gone with! Do you know what he said when leaving? 'Why is it the person I like is so troublesome'. What do you think that means? Did he think he was gonna die? And am I supposed to figure out who he likes and tell them that he's never coming back? Huh?"

"Naruto, calm down. The reason it was a low S was because we didn't know all that much about who he was sent to kill. The man could have been a great threat who earned the rank of S, or could have been just a rogue chunin causing trouble. The intel we could gather was unclear on his abilities, saying only that he could use multiple elements and none of his opponents had won in hand to hand. The last place they attacked was near the Nara Clan forest. That was why Shikamaru wanted to go. He seemed to be afraid of something, most likely that Hidan was still hidden within there, and he didn't want there to be even a chance of him getting out. Just wait, he'll come back soon and you can question him all you want."

Naruto begrudgingly responded with a 'fine' and left the room, exiting through the door. Tsunade sighed when the door slammed shut. She waited a while, staring at the door.

"When do you plan to tell him?" She asked seemingly nothing. Shikamaru walked out of the shadows he wrapped around himself.

"Never. It's too troublesome to deal with any of that." He complained. Tsunade could only sigh again.

"Come here. You're wounds are bugging me." She said. Shikamaru limped over, first giving over his broken wrist to be healed first. "Call for backup next time, will ya? I'm tired of healing your lazy ass all the time, just 'cause you don't want Naruto to see you like this." Shikamaru didn't speak, just as he always did when Tsunade told him this same line. Just like he would until he could get over his feelings for Naruto.

He knew he would hear these words until he died.