Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Gambare Shikamaru ❯ Trouble in Paradise ( Chapter 3 )

For anyone who is still reading, sorry for taking so long to update. I've had a hellish few weeks with tons of work. Hopefully this chapter is also enjoyable. It's the transition chapter to hopefully some future angst.

Otanoshimi ni kusasai ne~

And Naruto still doesn't belong to me. Darn.

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Ch. 3 Trouble in Paradise

Saturday afternoons meant Ino was out with friends at their favorite teashop. It didn't matter if Shikamaru was around or on a mission. If the weather was nice and the first half of the day was already over, Ino would be found at the said teashop chatting with friends over bubble tea and cake. This Saturday was no different, although, one aspect of it was unusual. This time, Shikamaru decided to go into town also while Ino was having her girl time. Shikamaru wouldn't be so foolish to join Ino and her friends. It wasn't like him to be the clingy husband of a beautiful woman. Instead, he lurked about and did whatever it is he did whenever Ino wasn't around.

*****

Ino sat in the teashop and sighed in an exaggerated manner when she leaned her arms on the table. Her friends knew it was cue to ask Ino to share her woes. Tenten decided to be the first to take the bait. "Is something the matter?" she asked with a smile.

Ino sighed again and played with the decorative strawberry on her cake despondently before lifting it up with her fork and putting it into her mouth. She chewed the fruit slowly. From the look on her face, she probably didn't even taste what she was eating. Her buddies shared knowing looks before fulfilling their role as her friend.

"Come on Ino", Tenten prodded. "If something is bothering you, you should tell us. That's what friends are for ne?" She grinned cheerfully.

"Y-yea……", Hinata joined in nervously. "We're here for you…. We'll do our best to lessen your unhappiness, Ino-chan." Her eyes avoided direct contact like they always did and she was twiddling her index fingers again.

Ino rolled her eyes. "Nothing's wrong!" she protested. "Everything is just peachy!" She cut a large piece of cake apart from the rest with her fork and shoveled it into her mouth. Yup, her friends knew, something was definitely bothering her.

Mayu, the neighborhood scandalmonger who forcefully inserted herself into their tight-knit group butted into their conversation. "Oh I bet it's about Shikamaru-kun!", she gushed. "He's the only one who can get Ino-chan like this!"

Tenten and Ino found themselves wondering once again why Mayu keeps showing up uninvited to their Saturday meetings. They would've said something to her but Hinata insisted that they "be kind to her" because "Mayu-san must be very lonely".

Ino licked the whipped cream off her fork then started to tap it annoyingly against her cup. She had that faraway look in her eyes again.

Tenten's patience was wearing thin. "OK," she slapped a hand

down on the table, "spill the beans because you're starting to bug me!"

Ino blinked in surprise as her eyes refocused. She looked away in embarrassment and quickly set her fork down. "Well….it is Shikamaru…"

Tenten smirked. "Yes yes tell us all the details," she said. "He's a horrible husband, he's selfish in bed, he's a lazy bum, and we'll all hate him with you because we're on your side." She tossed her fork into the air and balanced it on a finger expertly like she would a kunai.

Mayu giggled with a gossip-hungry gleam in her eyes. It was apparent that she wanted in on the information. The only one of the group not ready to discuss Shikamaru's shortfalls was the compassionate white-eyed girl. Hinata's reaction to what Tenten said was a shocked look on her face. "Shikamaru-kun isn't a horrible man like that!" she exclaimed. "You…you sh-shouldn't say things like that…"

Tenten gave her a reassuring smile. "Hinata-chan, I'm only joking." She finished with a wink. With a flick of her wrist, the fork she was balancing flew out and stuck perfectly in her piece of cake.

"A-ah…g-gomen nasai…."

Tenten patted the shy Hyuuga girl on the back to show there were no hurt feelings before turning her attention back to Ino. She could tell Ino was already on the brink of pouring everything out to them. All they needed to do was to give her a few nudges in the right direction. Ino was never any good at keeping things bottled up.

The new wife picked up her fork again and twirled it between her fingers before finally staring to speak.

"Well…you guys know how Shikamaru is…."

*****

He sneezed loudly. Maybe the pollen in spring was getting to him. Shikamaru rubbed his nose and continued his aimless stroll down the street. The afternoon sun felt warm and comfortable on his skin and he wished he was laying on his favorite piece of grass field underneath his favorite piece of sky. With such a nice weather, the clouds were cotton-white and airily fluffy. Cloud watching was guaranteed to be superb. If only he could lay down and stare at them for hours. But actually, he did have time to burn. But he just couldn't bring himself to enjoy his favorite pastime. He would be lounging on his back right now if his antsy mood didn't make him restless.

A brat shoved past him while running about without adult supervision. Shikamaru snorted in annoyance. Everything annoyed him right now. Even the sunny weather seemed unbecoming and dark to him. And the source of it all was the woman he loves-the only person in the world who exercised enough influence to actually bother him so.

It didn't escape his keen sense of awareness that Ino hadn't been herself recently. She's been acting depressed and he often came home to find her moping around. It wasn't like her to lack life's vigor. And while he might not be cognizant of the reason behind her unhappiness, he wasn't an idiot who took no notice of her change in behavior. The way she felt distant to him and the reduction in the frequency of her shows of affection all alarmed him. Ino's cold-shoulder attitude has gotten to the point where it's unbearable for him. But for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what her problem was. That got under his skin like nothing ever did-like a thorn in his side that was just out of his reach. A man as genius as him can't figure out his own wife. What kind of a joke was he? How can he be trusted to anticipate the moves of his enemies, when, he hasn't even managed to get a grasp on how the mind of a woman he's known all his life functions? Some "genius strategist" he was.

Shikamaru exhaled heavily and slumped his shoulders. He shoved his hands into his pockets and continued drag his feet down the busy street. His mind was so focused that he didn't even take notice of the tantalizing aroma coming from street vendors, even though he hadn't lunch yet.

Ino's aloofness to him couldn't be blamed on his lack of effort either. Although it was his instinct to avoid confrontation, he had forced himself to attempt to wheedle information out of her. All he got himself were multiple bruises and front seat to Ino's verbal abuse. She had yelled at him about everything but the real problem. This was all very troublesome. Hell, his situation sank past troublesome five levels ago. He was in major need of help. And that's why he came into town with Ino today. He hoped time spent with friends would cheer her up. And if her friends would help shed some light on the cause of his dire situation, all the better it would be.

He took a look at his shadow on the ground to assess what time it was. The direction his shadow pointed in showed Shikamaru that it was pretty late in the afternoon. His brow bunched in distress. He should probably go pick Ino up at the teashop now, but, he feared how she would receive him when he does. He took a hand out of his pocket to scratch his head. It was time to take it like a Nara man.

*****

The girls had a look of utter disbelief on their faces as their mouths moved like dying fish. "You mean…." Tenten asked for confirmation, "he's never ever told you that he loves you?!"

Ino's eyes flickered away unhappily before nodding. As incredulous as that sounds, it was the sad truth. She had a hard time admitting that to them because it not only made her look bad but also made her marriage seem like a sham. Last thing she wanted was for people to think Shikamaru married her at kunai-point because he got her pregnant or something as shameful as that. It was then that Ino noticed everyone was staring at her stomach.

"HE DIDN'T MARRY ME BECAUSE HE GOT ME PREGNANT OK?!" She yelled in her defense.

"W-we know that, Ino-chan," said Hinata with a blush.

Mayu looked pale as a drop of sweat rolled down the side of her face. "But……you two erm..haven't had sex since…since…." She was unable to finish her sentence.

Ino bowed her head even more as she nodded.

Hinata struggled with herself a bit before mustering enough courage to ask her. "And you can……actually count the number of times Shikamaru-kun has kissed you?"

Ino's head dropped all the way down in shame. If only some catastrophic natural disaster would happen right at that moment and distract everyone from their attempt to wrap their minds around the concept of her pitiful version of marriage.

Tenten forced a smile on her face. "There there, I'm sure there's a reason…maybe he's too lazy to um….do stuff like that." She gave Ino a few hearty slaps on the back. But Ino's mood didn't pick up in the slightest bit.

Mayu, who recovered from her surprise first, immediately slipped into her gossip mode. "Maybe he's gay! And he only married you to cover that up!"

Hinata looked bewildered as Tenten narrowed her eyes at Mayu.

"What?" Mayu asked as she looked around. "He does seem unnaturally close to that fat guy."

Ino looked up from her tea to fix Mayu with her patented hard look.

"Don't call Chouji `fat'," she hissed, "he's big boned."

Mayu snorted and mumbled something before digging into her cake.

"Maybe…Shikamaru-kun is very subtle in the way he s-shows his emotions.." Hinata offered her positive outlook.

Ino lifted her head slightly and gave the sweet girl a wry smile.

"But…" Tenten sucked on her fork thoughtfully. "I thought men were supposed to be really….uhhh…" She was trying to think of a better way to say it. "I mean…..aren't guys supposed to really like …..S. E. X.?" She looked around embarrassed after spelling it out. " Don't guys always have `that' on the mind?" Her face was bright red. Everyone turned their eyes to Ino. She was the only one of the bunch who had any experience.

Ino grew flustered. "That's what I thought too!" Then she glared down at her cup of bubble tea. "But Shikamaru usually acts like he doesn't really give a care. I think he likes it. He acts like he likes it. But then he never really tries to initiate it either…." Ino's voice trailed off until she was so quiet that she was talking only to herself. Suddenly, she looked up. "Come to think of it, my `sexy Ino jutsu' never worked on him either." She said.

Tenten started giggling. "Y-you've actually tried that on Shikamaru?!" she managed to gasp out between laughs.

Ino looked offended. "No its not like that," her face was about as red as it could get. "During the first chuunin test I tried it on Neji but Shikamaru was also there. He didn't seem affected at all." Ino went back to eating her cake to avoid looking at everyone.

"Did it affect Neji?" Tenten asked. She was pretty curious.

"Of course not."

Tenten sighed. "Nothing affects that fatalistic idiot." She gripped. Hinata and Ino drew from inference that Neji still hasn't warmed up to her.

"You can't wait for him forever, you know." Ino told Tenten.

"I know," Tenten said in a melancholy voice, "but never mind about my problems ok?" And that was the end of that.

"Errr….What about you Hinata?" Ino asked brightly to change the subject.

Hinata gripped the hem of her shirt. "Na-Na-Naruto-k-kun…..he…"

Ino sighed at her. "Hinata, its hopeless to go after him. He's with Sasuke."

"I-I know," Hinata stuttered, "but I really a-admire Naruto-kun. He was a-able to c-change himself after all. I want to be l-like Na-Naruto-kun."

"Trust me Hinata, one day you will become the type of person you want to be. Meanwhile, why don't you try going out with Kiba?" Ino had a mischievous smile.

"K-Kiba-kun?" Hinata looked astounded.

Tenten and Ino wondered if Hinata really didn't know. Nobody can be that oblivious, right?

"Don't tell me you never realized that Kiba is totally in love with you. He ONLY practically stalks you." Tenten exclaimed.

"B-but we're friends!"

"That's how it starts!" Ino piped up. "Shikamaru and I were friends!"

Everyone stopped talking as Hinata started to think back on all the years she's known Kiba. He was always kind and protective towards her. But it must be because he's her teammate she decided. The introspective silence was broken when Mayu started to talk again.

Being the nosey person she was, Mayu leaned over the table to get closer to Ino before asking, "How IS Shikamaru-kun in bed? Tell me what you can from what little experience you have."

Hinata's eyes darted around nervously. The blush on her cheeks contrasted sharply with her pale skin. "I…I don't think I should listen to this…"

Ino blushed indignantly. "He's VERY good in bed, ok?" She said defensively.

*****

None of them noticed that Shikamaru was standing at the door of the teashop. It was a position where he could hear their conversation easily. It took all his willpower to restrain himself from running away when he heard the topic of the girls' conversation. How could Ino bring herself to share such private aspects of their lives? Especially since he's asked her many times not to? She should know how private of a person he was. The corners of his lips bent downwards in a frown. Shikamaru felt that he was getting…..slightly angry.

*****

Mayu pressed on with her barrage of questions shamelessly. Her unnatural desire for juicy details distracted her from noticing the man scowling with murderous intent.

"So," she asked breathlessly, "Is he big?"

Ino dropped her fork at that question. She was about to chew the nosey woman out for her rudeness when there was a warm pressure on her shoulder. The gentle pressure was caused by a large male hand that gave her a loving squeeze.

"Ino, it's getting late. I think we should go home now."

Ino looked up and saw Shikamaru standing behind her with an unreadable expression. He stared ahead unseeingly and didn't bother to acknowledge anyone other than Ino. The girls couldn't help but train their eyes on Shikamaru. As they stared, they sorted through all the things Ino told them about his behavior towards her. For their friend's sake, Tenten and Hinata truly hoped Shikamaru wasn't as loveless as Ino made him out to be.

Ino brushed his hand off her shoulder coolly and picked up her bag. The hurt look that flitted across his face didn't disappear fast enough to escape the notice of Hinata and Tenten, who were shocked at Ino's cold demeanor towards Shikamaru.

The girls watched the interaction between Ino and Shikamaru with their shinobi-trained precision. Every gesture, every word spoken, were filed into their memory bank. If they assess that Shikamaru was devoid of love for Ino, they'll make him pay and free her from her marital binding.

Shikamaru took Ino's hand and pried her fingers open to take the bag from her. Her cerulean eyes narrowed at him and he took a step back unconsciously.

"I can carry my own bag," she seethed under his gaze.

He looked at her blankly before holding the bag out to her obediently. Ino's expression was that of disgust when she yanked her bag out of his hand. Without another word, she brushed past him and went out the teashop. Shikamaru seemed to wither a bit.

"Men…dokusee…." He said without his usual conviction. There was a hint of sadness in his voice.

Tenten and Hinata exchanged worried looks. It looked worse than they thought.

Shikamaru turned slowly until he faced the girls. His poker face cracked. Cold rage was evident in his face as he glared at Mayu. Looking at her pissed him off. `The nosey bitch', he thought. The table shuddered and dishes clinked when he suddenly slammed his hand down on the tabletop. Other patrons of the teashop looked up in alarm at the noise.

"Look," he spat venomously, "If you're so curious about the size of my dick you can spy on me in the shower. But I warn you, you'll probably be plagued with sexual fantasies of me for the rest of your life." Shikamaru gave her a malevolent sneer. " But you also have to live with the fact that I'll never touch a disgusting animal like you."

He slid the chair Ino was sitting in under the table in all roughness and strode out the door in heavy steps. He didn't stay long enough to see Mayu cover her red face in shame. The intelligent part of him told him that he shouldn't have taken his stress out on the nosey woman. But like hell he gives a damn.

After he left, Hinata was still wringing the napkin in her hands in nervousness. Although she wasn't the target of his anger, the anxiety she suffered from Shikamaru's show of uncharacteristic disposition was beyond her tolerance level.

"I'll walk you home, Hinata-chan" said Tenten.

Hinata nodded mutely and the shaking of her hands lessened in severity.

"T-ten…..ten….?"

"What is it?" Tenten replied.

Hinata lowered her eyes. "I….d-don't think….Shi-Shikamaru-kun doesn't…l-love Ino-chan."

"Hn?"

"Shikamaru-ku-kun….seems….to be in…pain…He's sad….and hurt…"

"You think so?" Tenten responded. "Well so do I. I could tell he loves her by the way he acts around her. But you know how Ino doesn't really get subtlety. Her family is the straightforward type who says what's on their mind and shows what they feel. Hopefully, Shikamaru will pick up on that."

Neither of them noticed that Mayu had slunk away.

*****

It was the responsibility of the Hokage of a village to maintain the well being of all its inhabitants. In order to do that, the Hokage must make sure her immediate right-hand underlings were alert and ready all missions. That was why the recent strangeness in her favorite strategist's behavior didn't escape her observation. Something was definitely amiss.

He still did all his duties. But the way he went about doing them was all off. First of all, he didn't complain half as much about his missions. His lack of grumbling alone indicated there was something of greater importance troubling him. Second of all, his mental processes were sluggish. By his standards of course. It now took him 3 to 4 minutes to plot out game plans for his missions when he used to pull brilliant schemes out of his ass without so much a thought. Third of all……well, he was doing `third of all' again.

"Shikamaru?"

He had a vacant look on his face while he watched the not-so-fascinating wall of her office with vapid interest. Tsunade couldn't stand it when he spaced out like that. Was this seemingly brain-dead man really the renowned child prodigy of Konoha?

"SHI. KA. MA. RU."

The man turned his head. "Hm?" He looked pissed off. But he always looked pissed off.

Tsunade crushed the stress-ball she was rotating in her hand. It was the third one that day to suffer such a fate. But it was no big loss to her since Shizune bought them. Besides, she never thought those were any good at relieving stress anyways. She'd pick sake over it any day. "Just what exactly is wrong with you?" Godaime asked in the same tone she uses for interrogations. "Somebody could've stabbed you with a kunai and you would've bled to death because you wouldn't have felt it."

"Che. whatever." His entire frame slackened and he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Got missions for me?" He lifted his head with what seemed to be great effort to look at her with unconcerned eyes.

Tsunade raised a slender eyebrow. "You, of all people, asking for missions?" She drew her lips back in an vicious grin. She now knew what his problem was. "Are you trying to avoid going home? Trouble in newlywed paradise?" She asked.

Shikamaru glowered then dropped his weight on the leather couch in the Hokage office and kicked up his feet. "Ugh I'm so tired," he complained. "I'm gonna take a nap." At that, he closed his eyes and forgot all about her. Even with his eyes closed he looked sullen. She decided that Shikamaru was one of those few people who can't manage to look angelic even in sleep.

Tsunade wrinkled her nose at him. "You can't avoid facing confrontations by going to sleep," she said. Shikamaru's head lolled back on the armrest of the couch and a rumbling snore slipped out of his lax jaws. Ok, maybe in this case he can.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes as a pensive mood came over her. This settles it. It was up to her to fix Shikamaru's relationship with Ino because his home life was affecting his work performance. She's not a big fan of meddling. Mostly because people already come to her with troubles too often for her liking. But the amount of influence the gloomy but reliable jounin exercises on Konoha can't be underestimated. The future of Konoha has a lot riding on the quality of Shikamaru's life. If all was well with him, he can work faster and carry a greater load of missions. If all wasn't well with him…. Tsunade paused her train of thought to look at the napping Shikamaru. He was now sleeping on his stomach. She shook her head. Unless she's able to unearth another intellectually gifted person like Shikamaru, he's much too important to let go to waste.

When things were going well with Ino, he had a zest for life, in Shikamaru's quantity at least. It motivated him to go through missions with effective precision using the least amount of time because he wanted to go home to Ino A.S.A.P. He had also started to show up early for missions, which, can also attributed to being married to Ino. It left the job of waking him up each day to her, which is a nice change of pace for everybody. Most of the jounins were pretty sick of having to literally drag Shikamaru out of bed for his assignments. And Ino's positive influence on him didn't end there. Tsunade harbored the suspicion that the only reason Shikamaru is a jounin was because Ino wanted him to be.

Tsunade pulled a blank scroll out from her many piles of paperwork and started to write. If Shikamaru couldn't help himself, she would help him. Her plan would be implemented tonight. She's not going to bother to tell him her plan or the role she expects him to take in it. He'll figure that out easily enough. Whether or not he chooses to take the initiative is up to him. He's the one that's married, not her. When Tsunade finished her writing her message, she stamped it with her Hokage seal that proved her identity. "Shikamaru wake up!" Tsunade threw a broken piece of the stress-ball at him. "Its time to go home!"

The jagged piece gave him a slight laceration when it bounced off his forehead. After a long pause, Shikamaru stirred. "…………….ow."

"Go home, Shikamaru." Tsunade commanded. "This is an order from your Hokage."

"Why should I?" He grumbled. Then he finally confessed what was in his heart. "She doesn't want me there." Shikamaru tried to keep the loneliness out of his voice in that admission. He licked his finger then rubbed that finger against his shallow cut. "ow…ow…ow…"

"She'll be angrier if you're not home."

He scoffed. "Either way I'm a dead man. I'd rather hide and prolong my life for as long as I can."

Tsunade sat up straight in her seat. "Go home, and I promise things will improve as long as you try."

Shikamaru immediately picked up on the vibe that there were more than what she's saying. He observed Tsunade with the corner of his eyes while trying to gauge her hidden meaning. `Is she planning something?' he thought suspiciously.

The godaime of Konoha smiled when she saw the cunning gleam in Shikamaru's eyes. So it would seem his mind was still sharp. "Now leave before I decide to baby you like the grandson I don't have." She threatened.

There was a horrified look on Shikamaru's face as he backed away towards the door. Then he decided he wasn't moving fast enough so he turned and ran instead.

Tsunade pouted at his reaction. She's not that bad with kids is she? Kids don't drink sake right? And you can't hug them too hard because her superhuman strength would crush any child. Anyways, that's not important right now. "Izumo! Get in here!" she yelled.

There was the sound of scuffling and then the heavy steps of a man running. "Hai Hokage-sama?" Izumo called out as he flung open the door.

He caught the scroll reflexively when Tsunade threw it at him. "This is…" he questioned.

"Deliver it to Shikamaru's house."

Izumo couldn't help but let his expression crumple. "Uhhh…..wasn't Shikamaru-san just here?"

"Yes. Your point?"

Izumo smiled nervously and made sure he kept his voice respectful.

"Couldn't you have just handed it to him when he was here?"

Tsunade's face was a blank. "No."

"Errr…ok then….." He bowed then left the room. The moment he closed the door behind him the muttering started. "Why couldn't she have just given it to him while he was here? I bet she's doing this on purpose because she hates me," he grumbled. "She always makes me and Kotetsu carry the paper work around while she naps. Its so unfair she-"

"You be the Hokage and I'll deliver the papers then." Said the voice that floated out of the office behind him.

Izumo froze. He gave a jittery laugh to mask his surprise. " Don't make such a joke Hokage-sama. I'll deliver the scroll right now!" he said in an obsequious manner before disappearing in a blast of nin smoke. And this time, he remembered not to mutter to himself. Just to be extra safe, he also kept his mind a careful blank in case she could also read minds.

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Whew so this chapter is finally finished. There's actually a side story chapter right before this chapter but I didn't finish it. So maybe I'll post it as a separate story later on.

I've been wanting to work on my only other fic (the short snippet one) because it actually has a lot of potential but….it seems like sucha huge endeavor I just dunno if I have time to start it or not. We'll see I guess.

Until next time then.

p.s.

Like all the other chapters. I might edit it later on and re-post it.