The Nara heir lay sprawled on his back in a small meadow, almost hidden from the casual observer by the tall, blossom-studded grass. He watched the sky and let his mind drift, not really thinking about anything in particular. This was one of his favorite ways of relaxing and passing excess time, second only to sleeping and playing Go or Shogi. Right now he sorely needed to relax. His relationship with a certain blonde sand-nin was causing him stress. Again.
He sighed heavily as he thought of Temari. She was so troublesome. He wasn’t sure why he kept up their relationship at all. It had been almost a year since the first time she had dumped him, since the first time he had slept with Naruto, and since Shikamaru had dared to tell her they would no longer be exclusive. She hadn’t taken that well. Out of respect for her feelings he’d refrained from engaging in Naruto’s idea of a three-some with her younger brother Gaara. He didn’t want to hurt her.
The trouble that put him here in this quiet clearing, gazing at earth’s azure ceiling was yet another fight with the woman. She was convinced that he had indeed bedded her brother, despite denials from them both and Naruto’s reassurance that he’d kept Gaara for himself that night. No matter how many times the three swore up and down that no such thing had happened, Temari would still drag it up every time she was mad at Shikamaru. He was beginning to see that this was one of those issues that would haunt him for the rest of his natural life, or at least for as long as he kept dating and/or sleeping with Temari.
“What a bother,” he muttered to himself, trying to banish the unwelcome thoughts and just lose himself in the ebb and flow of the lazy siris clouds. “How I wish I could be like you,” he whispered to the pale, air-born objects of his attention. “Never tied down, forever free to float.”
It always took the same path, their fights. She would get pissed at some flaw she perceived in him, spend several minutes expounding on it and how he should change. He would tell her he didn’t care to change, that he was happy the way he was and it was too much of a hassle anyway. She would fly into a rage, shout about his sexual habits, accuse him of sleeping with her brother, then call him a fag and a slut. He would lose patience and call her tiresome, then walk out to find a peaceful place to cool down. She would scream after him that it was over, for good this time! then leave town and return to Suna.
He wasn’t a slut though, no matter what she thought. When she was in town he paid sole attention to her. When she wasn’t he only slept with Naruto or Ino. The Nara heir didn’t consider that to be promiscuous at all. Naruto was promiscuous. The fox-nin had notches on his bedpost for well over half the shinobi in Konoha, as well as several from other hidden villages. Ino was promiscuous. She wasn’t far behind Naruto in number of partners she’d had. Of course this abundance of experience made them both fantastic lovers.
Shikamaru was sure Temari was simply jealous that he had other partners at all, but he wasn’t about to go exclusive again. It gave her too much opportunity to pull his strings, an activity that she excelled at. He knew she meant well, was trying to improve him as she viewed it, but he had no desire to be improved, especially to suit another person’s view of what he should be. Any improvement would be done to fit his own view of how he should be a better person.
What it really boiled down to was that Temari was trying to make him her perfect man, an idea that was bad for two reasons. First, there was no such thing as perfect. Second, as with most females, she set her ideal standards ridiculously high, such that no human could ever live up to them. Why couldn’t girls just settle for what they got?
The lazy brunette lay there pondering these great mysteries until the sun hung low behind the trees and set the sky on fire. Red was too vibrant a color for Shikamaru to enjoy the way he did blue, so he stood and brushed the bits of grass from his clothes, then headed back to the village. He could use a drink and the company of someone level headed. Lucky for him Kurenai was out of town so Asuma was spending most of his evenings at the quiet little pub that both of them favored.
Sure enough, Shikamaru’s former sensei was sitting at his usual spot at the bar, a bottle of sake in front of him. He seemed to be expecting his former student, for there was already an empty cup in front of the seat to his right. The Nara heir took his spot and Asuma automatically filled the cup for him.
“Woman troubles again, eh?” It was more a statement than a question.
“Yeah, how’d you know?” replied Shikamaru after taking a sip of his liquor.
“Kakashi told me he heard that vixen of yours screaming this morning. Figured you’d show up here sometime after the sun set.” Shikamaru couldn’t help but chuckle at that. This scenario was beginning to become regular enough for other people to predict. What a rut to be stuck in.
The two drank in companionable silence for a while, then played a few games of Go. Eventually Asuma took his leave and Shikamaru also left the bar. His thoughts were of comfort and companionship to ease his nerves. Unfortunately for him, Sasuke had recently broken up with Sakura, and the kunoichi’s response was to try and make the Uchiha jealous by bedding his best friend, Naruto Uzumaki. Sasuke couldn’t care less, but knowing that Naruto had harbored a deep crush on the woman since they were twelve, he pretended to be slightly put out so that Sakura would continue with the strategy. The fox-nin, needless to say, was positively delighted with the whole scenario despite the knowledge of her shallow motivations, and was milking it for all it was worth before Sakura caught on that she was being conned by both the men.
This meant that Naruto was temporarily beyond the Nara heir’s reach. That left Ino. So the shadow-nin found himself at her door ten minutes later. He turned and left before knocking though, for a shogi tile on a string hung from a nail in the wood of the portal. This particular symbol meant that she was on a mission. Who knew when she would be back.
Shikamaru sighed in frustration. This sucked. All three of his bedmates were unavailable for an unknown amount of time. It looked like he would be forced to resort to his hand like he was a teenager again. What a drag.
“Hey Nara.” Shikamaru looked up from his game of Go. He’d been playing both sides since Asuma was nowhere to be found, which probably had something to do with Kurenai returning from her mission this morning. No doubt they were already humping like bunnies.
“Hey Uchiha,” he replied to the raven-haired jounin that slid onto the barstool next to his.
“Playing with yourself?” smirked Sasuke. “What fun is that?”
“No fun at all,” replied the Nara heir, wondering if Sasuke was referring to Go or his personal life. The cool expression the handsome young man always wore didn’t reveal enough to tell.
“Need a partner?” That gave Shikamaru pause. He thought he saw a flicker of amusement on the Uchiha heir’s perfect features. After a moment he decided that the other shinobi was teasing him and took the offer at face value only, pushing the Go board to a spot between them and clearing the stones.
“Black or white?” he asked, giving the other the choice of color.
“Black,” replied Sasuke. “I prefer to be the dominant player.”
“That’s fine. I’ll still come out on top in the end,” replied Shikamaru without missing a beat. Sasuke raised an eyebrow but declined to respond verbally. “Need a handicap?” The raven-haired man shook his head and instead placed his first stone.
They played three games that evening, pausing between the second and third to order some food. Shikamaru had never played against Sasuke before, so was surprised by how good the Uchiha was at the game. Shikamaru had never lost a match, but Sasuke gave him a run for his money. The Nara heir felt unexpectedly thrilled at this challenge to his skill. He’d rarely had the pleasure of playing such a close match.
Once the third game had ended, with Shikamaru winning by only half a point, Sasuke begged off, saying he couldn’t concentrate that intensely for so long without getting a headache.
“I should be heading home anyway,” said the shadow-nin after glancing at the clock above the door. “This place will be closing soon.” He was mildly surprised to see how late it was. Time had really flown during the intense competition against the Uchiha heir.
“I’ll walk with you,” replied Sasuke, standing and stretching to his limits. They settled the tab and went on their way, walking along the moonlit streets in companionable silence until they reached the point where their relative destinations were no longer in the same direction. Shikamaru turned to bid his companion good night but the words did not make it past his suddenly occupied lips. To his utter shock Sasuke was kissing him! Though maybe he shouldn’t be so surprised. The Uchiha heir had made some fairly unmistakable allusions earlier. But he’d thought he was just ribbing him!
Before the Nara heir was able to recover enough to react, Sasuke had pushed him backwards until he was pinned between the raven-haired man and a wall, the Uchiha’s lips pressed fiercely against his own. He felt a warm thrill race up his back. He’d never really thought about Sasuke as a potential lover, but he couldn’t deny the man was impossibly attractive, and it had been nearly a week since he’d been laid. Shikamaru hadn’t even known Sasuke swung this way. All he’d ever heard about were his relationships with Ino, then Sakura. There had never been a whisper of him so much as looking at another male too hard.
These thoughts brought back the suspicion that the Uchiha heir might just be messing with him, getting him riled up with no intention of taking it any farther than a tease. He decided to test the raven-haired man’s resolve and slid his tongue out to probe against the other’s lips, seeking entrance. Sasuke’s mouth opened readily enough and his tongue didn’t hesitate to meet Shikamaru’s. Taking it a little farther he slid a hand up under the Uchiha’s loose navy blue shirt, his fingers trailing sensually along the sensitive skin of his side then along his lower back. Sasuke moaned softly into his mouth and arched his back a bit in response to the subtle touch. Hmmm, he could still be faking. There was one thing he would react unfavorably to if that were the case. Shikamaru’s other hand traced his waistband around to the front then swiftly slipped down the raven-haired jounin’s pants.
Sasuke gasped and pulled away from the kiss, surprise flashing in his onyx eyes. Shikamaru was a touch surprised himself, for not only was the Uchiha heir going commando, he was rock hard. So much for him faking.
“Aren’t you forward,” murmured Sasuke, lust drowning surprise in his gaze.
“I was thinking the same thing about you,” mused Shikamaru. “Since when do you like guys?”
“Tsk, Nara, I’m surprised you hadn’t guessed,” smirked the Uchiha. “Naruto is my best friend after all. You really think nothings ever happened between us?”
“Really? He’s been unusually tight lipped about it then,” replied the shadow-nin.
“He can be discreet when the situation calls-aah!” he gasped, his sentence cut off as Shikamaru delicately squeezed the shaft he still gripped. Sasuke’s nails dug into his shoulders as the Nara heir sent his hand into a series of massaging motions, neither man interested in talking anymore. Sasuke nuzzled against his neck but was too overwhelmed by the brunette’s ministrations to really do anything but moan softly in his ear. That was more than enough to arouse Shikamaru though and he soon found himself grinding against Sasuke’s firm thigh.
“Stop!” gasped the Uchiha heir suddenly, pulling away. “Not here, too exposed.” The Nara heir reluctantly relinquished his hold on the other shinobi. “Come on, let’s go to my place,” urged the raven-haired male, adjusting his pants and shirt to hide his arousal. They set off at a brisk pace, both eager to get somewhere where they could continue this unexpected little tryst in private. Based on the fact that Sasuke was very discreet about his relationships, and that Ino, Sakura and Naruto had all been otherwise occupied for a while, Shikamaru assumed that the raven-haired man probably hadn’t been laid for at least as long as the Nara heir.
Running recklessly through the streets they soon reached the Uchiha estate, a large compound at the end of a remote lane featuring beautiful architecture and sprawling gardens. They didn’t make it all the way to the front door. Sasuke grabbed him and they tumbled onto the lawn. The raven-haired shinobi landed atop him, momentarily knocking the breath out of him. Grabbing his wrists and pinning his arms to the ground Sasuke attacked his neck. Shikamaru moaned and squirmed beneath him as he found that sensitive spot at the apex of neck and shoulder, nipping and licking until the shadow-nin was positive he would have a mark in the morning. Not that he cared at the moment. Sasuke’s warm weight pressing against him and his mouth on his skin felt too good for him to be concerned about such a trivial matter.
The Uchiha sat up long enough to rip his shirt off over his head, then give Shikamaru’s mesh the same treatment, his onyx eyes hazy with lust. The Nara heir took the opportunity to turn the tables on his partner, flipping him over and straddling his slim hips, then bending to pay some special attention to the young man’s nipples, nipping and sucking on each in turn so that they perked to hardness. His hands occupied with keeping the sensitive nubs tight he trailed his mouth downward, delighting in the way the abdominal muscles rippled as his tongue teased the pale skin of the Uchiha’s stomach.
Sasuke squirmed and moaned beneath the chocolate-haired ninja’s ministrations, then grabbed his hair and pulled him away before he could get too low, rolling to pin him again. He kissed him roughly, thrusting his tongue practically down his throat and bucking his hips hard against the shadow-nin's, drawing gasps and groans of pleasure from the both of them. In this manner they struggled against each other, neither willing to yield to the other for long, rolling about in the cool grass in a sensual battle for dominance. They nipped and bit, licked and sucked, scratched and stroked until both sported marks all across their chests and backs.
Shikamaru could be both dominant and submissive during sex. When he was with Naruto he was fucked as often as he did the fucking. He was fairly sure the Uchiha was fully dominant, had never let another have control of him in his life. Shikamaru was often defined as lazy and lacking motivation by those who knew him. Few were aware that when he determined to do something there was no stopping him, and right now he was determined to show Sasuke how good it could be to submit to another when making love.
When an opportunity presented itself he rolled away and put a small distance between himself and the raven-haired young man, crouching like a tiger in the moonlight. Sasuke rolled to his knees, a questioning look on his face, an expression that turned to alarm when the shinobi before him formed a familiar hand sign. He tried to move but it was already too late. Shikamaru was too close, and he had purposely put the full moon at his back. Sasuke found himself fully in the grip of the shadow-possession jutsu.
“What are you doing!” he demanded anger tinting his deep voice.
“Relax, Sasuke,” murmured Shikamaru with a smirk. “You’ll enjoy yourself more if you do.” The Uchiha heir scowled, then gasped, his eyes widening as Shikamaru began to move his hands over his own body, and by virtue of the jutsu he was under, the Uchiha's hands followed. They knelt in the grass facing each other, their fingers trailing across heated skin, caressing slowly, sensuously along the jaw line, across bruised lips, one slipping into the mouth where it was sucked and swirled by the tongue. The other hand slid along the neck and across the defined shoulders, down the chest to gently massage the nipples.
Sasuke gazed upon the incredibly sexy display in front on him, and even though it was his own hands touching him, following the Nara heir’s movements, he felt as though they weren’t his at all. It seemed to him as though Shikamaru’s hands danced over him, not his own. It was a delightfully kinky sensation. And all the while their eyes were locked, clouded with desire.
Shikamaru stroked his palm down his stomach and Sasuke’s did likewise, the tips of the fingers slipping teasingly into the waistband of his pants, brushing against his aching erection. He moaned as the fingers explored, sliding down his length and back up again so slowly it was almost agony.
“Keep watching, Sasuke.” The hand retreated and Sasuke whimpered at the loss, not realizing he had closed his eyes until Shikamaru spoke. He found himself standing and unbuttoning his pants, letting them fall to pool at his feet, then stepping out of them. Shikamaru stepped forward and Sasuke followed so that they stood less than a foot from each other. Kneeling in the grass once again, Shikamaru reached out his left hand to stroke the Uchiha’s pale skin while his right gripped his own throbbing member and began to stroke slowly. Sasuke gasped and moaned as his body mimicked the motions, pleasuring himself without being in control. It was so damn sexy he felt dizzy.
Shikamaru guided his hand, stroking it up and down his length, rhythmically squeezing as he did so, working his hips in time with the pumping. Sasuke’s eyes were closed, his mouth open as he groaned and cried out, and Shikamaru had to struggle not to come just from the sight of him. He couldn’t help but increase the pace, stroking faster, squeezing harder. The Uchiha heir climaxed suddenly and violently, and Shikamaru released him from his jutsu instantly, letting the other shinobi arch and fall backwards as he spilled his seed onto the lawn. The Nara heir had to bite his lip to fight back his orgasm as Sasuke screamed his name. He wasn’t ready to let go just yet. He had other plans for the raven-haired jounin.
As the Uchiha twitched and shivered in the grip of afterglow, Shikamaru wet his fingers with saliva. Lapping at his partner’s nipples as a distraction, he slipped one into his entrance. Sasuke gasped and tensed a bit at the unfamiliar sensation. Before he could protest or pull away Shikamaru curled the digit just so, searching for a certain spot. Sasuke bucked and shouted, and Shikamaru grinned, continuing to suck on the nipple he had trapped between his lips as he introduced the raven-haired shinobi to a whole new world of pleasure. When he was certain the other shinobi was thoroughly enjoying what he was doing to him he slipped in another finger and began to scissor gently, dipping his mouth to the Uchiha’s renewed erection, nibbling from the head to the base and back again.
Sasuke’s fingers tangled in his hair and drew his head up to where he could kiss him fiercely. Shikamaru removed his fingers and slid his throbbing member home. Sasuke gasped and tensed again, nails digging into the shadow-nin’s scalp and shoulder, teeth biting his lower lip hard enough to draw blood. The Nara heir trembled with the urge to thrust, but forced himself to patiently wait until Sasuke had relaxed, occupying himself with stroking the other’s flagging erection back to life.
It didn’t take long for the Uchiha to relax and begin moving his hips into Shikamaru’s hand. The Nara heir pulled out until just the head was still buried, then slowly slid back in, angling himself carefully. He hit Sasuke’s prostate on the first try, having noted just where his finger’s met with a reaction. The raven-haired man cried out and clutched his new lover close to him. Shikamaru suckled at his neck as he continued his movements with both hips and hand, showing the Uchiha heir the true pleasure of being uke.
Sasuke moaned and cried out, thrashing beneath him and digging his fingers into his partner’s hips, begging for more with both voice and hands. Under such an assault Shikamaru couldn’t keep his control for long. His pace quickened rapidly and Sasuke encouraged him by wrapping his legs around his hips. He pounded into the Uchiha heir, their voices rising together as they both spiraled closer to their peaks. Shikamaru came first, his back arching as emptied himself into his partner.
“Sasuke!!” he screamed. The release after so long was pure ecstasy, and he spasmed violently, white flashes briefly dazzling his vision. The Uchiha heir followed upon hearing his lover cry his name so breathlessly. They collapse together on the cool grass, the heat of arousal slowly rising from their bodies and dissipating into the night air, chests heaving as they panted for lost breath. After his body had calmed a bit, Shikamaru slowly pried his sleepy eyes open to find Sasuke gazing at him.
“What?”
“Nothing,” replied the Uchiha, then visibly changed his mind. “I’ve never…” he hesitated and to Shikamaru’s surprise the cocky, self-assured, over-confident Sasuke Uchiha actually blushed and looked shy.
“Oh, I knew you hadn’t,” replied Shikamaru with a grin, propping himself up on his elbow. Sasuke looked surprised. “Oh, come on. You, the illustrious Uchiha heir, ol’ chip-on-my-shoulder, I’m-better-than-everyone-else-and-I-know-it Sasuke ever submitting to another without being tricked into it? Never.”
“You don’t have to put it that way,” muttered Sasuke, scowling at the shadow-nin. Shikamaru just chuckled and kissed his frown away.
Shikamaru and Sasuke lounged on the patio of the shadow-nin’s favorite little pub, enjoying the warmth of the sun and playing a game of Shogi. To Shikamaru’s utter delight he’d found the Uchiha heir to be an equally challenging opponent at Shogi as he was at Go. Sasuke had even won against him. Once.
It had been nearly a week since that first night and the two were still going at it at least twice a day. When Sasuke wasn’t training or on a mission he was with Shikamaru. He seemed to be quite taken with the Nara heir, which suited Shikamaru just fine. Despite the Uchiha’s over-bearing, superior attitude he could be good company, and he was a damn good lover.
“Oi, guys!” came a cheerful voice. They looked up and spied Naruto strolling up the lane, Sakura at his side and a mischievous grin on his whiskered face. As the strawberry-haired woman spied them she wrapped herself around the blonde’s arm, casting Sasuke a quick glance comprised of equal parts spite and longing. Shikamaru caught the fox-nin rolling his eyes at this and figured Naruto was beginning to get tired of Sakura’s attitude, child-hood crush or no. Sakura wasn’t really a bad girl he knew. She was actually very sweet most of the time, but when it came to her obsession with Sasuke she became uncharacteristically nasty. The Nara heir sighed softly to himself. He would never understand the way women worked. They were so troublesome, the whole lot of them.
“Uzumaki,” said Sasuke with feigned coolness, but before he could continue Naruto flashed a series of hand signs out of Sakura’s line of sight, fingers twisting through them so rapidly that Shikamaru only caught the ones for ‘I’ and ‘more’. Sasuke’s attitude changed suddenly. He smirked in a superior manner at the pair, a feat that came rather naturally to the Uchiha heir. “Enjoying yourselves?” he asked, casually examining his fingernails.
“Why yes, very much,” purred Sakura, snuggling closer to Naruto, though her eyes narrowed in suspicion at Sasuke’s expression.
“So glad to hear it,” replied Sasuke with an infuriating smile.
“We were just taking a walk,” explained Naruto. “Sakura wanted some air. What are you two up to?”
“We were just playing to see who got to be seme tonight,” replied the Uchiha heir blandly. Sakura choked. Shikamaru blushed. Naruto laughed.
“If that’s how you figure it out I bet Shikamaru gets top most of the time,” grinned the blond as if the revelation of their pairing came as no surprise to him, which it probably didn’t. If he hadn’t guessed on his own Sasuke had probably told him. Sakura’s eyes could have cut through glass as she glared furiously, first at Shikamaru then at Naruto.
“You…you knew this was going on?” she demanded of her companion.
“Well yeah,” replied Naruto with a cheerful smile. “I was the one who recommended Shika to Sasuke.”
“And you were so very right about him,” purred Sasuke. “Though I think you may not have given him enough credit in the creativity department.”
“Is that so?” asked Naruto looking intrigued.
“Very much so,” confirmed the Uchiha heir, still smirking in that self-satisfied manner. Sakura’s green eyes were all but drilling holes in Shikamaru’s head. He sighed heavily.
“Why are you guys telling her this?” he asked. “She doesn’t need to know about what goes on between us. Now she’s gonna glare at me every time I see her. What a pain.” Sakura had transferred her angry stare though. She had dropped Naruto’s arm and was snarling at the blond she’d been bedding for nearly a month.
“You knew about this,” she shrieked, and her thunderous gaze shifted to Sasuke. “You two set this whole thing up! You were just pretending to be jealous Sasuke, so that Naruto could have me!”
“True,” replied Sasuke. “But you threw yourself at him in an attempt to make me jealous first. I just helped him keep you around for longer. And don’t tell me you hated it the whole time. I know from personal experience that you had to have been enjoying yourself.” Sakura blushed and sputtered, then froze as the meaning of the Uchiha heir’s words fully registered in her flustered brain.
“You’ve had my Sasuke too!?” she yowled at Naruto, who just chuckled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. “Since when!?”
“Oh, Naruto was my first, not Ino as most people seem to think,” replied Sasuke casually.
“WHAAAAAT!?!”
“Yeah, I kept it on the down low at Sasuke’s request,” said Naruto.
“And he’s still my favorite,” said Sasuke, thrusting home the final barb. He glanced at Shikamaru. “Well, one of my favorites.” Sakura let out an unintelligible scream and punched Naruto in the jaw. He didn’t even try to dodge, though he turned and bent with it to lessen the impact. Muttering angrily the strawberry-haired kunoichi stalked off, fists clenched at her sides.
“Call me!” Naruto shouted after her. She responded with an utterly obscene gesture. The fox-nin sighed and sat on the porch with the other two young men. “Well, that went better than I thought it would.”
“Yeah, she only hit you once,” said Sasuke.
“I feel kinda bad, deliberately hurting her feelings like that. But damn, she was starting to smother me.”
“Ah, so now you realize just what a pain she can be,” observed Sasuke with a sage nod, placing a shogi tile on the board. “She’s not a bad girl, but man when she decided to cling to you she can be suffocatingly annoying.” Naruto nodded in agreement.
“Plus she’s just too vanilla,” he added. “No sense of adventure.”
“Yeah, you should have seen what it took to convince her to do it in that tree that one time.”
“You mean the time you fell? Haha! I think that incident scarred her for life. Anyway, speaking of adventure, maybe we could make a sandwich later.” He winked saucily. Sasuke grinned and looked at Shikamaru, who just shrugged lazily and replied, “Why not. The more the merrier.”