Chapter Text
“Shit,” Shikamaru groaned as he slowly sat up from the floor. It awoke Neji who took over the entire bed top.
“Hm?” Neji sat up sleepily.
“Slept the wrong way,” the Nara complained, rolling his neck.
“Mh,” Neji hummed lying back down.
Shikamaru stood and stretched, cracking joint after joint.
“That sounded horrible,” Neji commented.
“Happens when you sleep like you fell off a building,” the Nara responded, stepping into the bathroom.
. . .
Shikamaru walked with his neck craned back, not bothering to watch where he was going.
“What is the matter?” Neji questioned, pulling the Nara to the side to prevent him from colliding with a garbage can.
Shikamaru sighed, “Well we were turned down at every job we tried to apply to.” It was true. Some places even turned the two away before they could step foot on their property, “So I’m guessing word got out about the fugitives trying to ‘betray the village’ or something. Even without your clan breathing down our necks they’re so…” the shadow-nin paused, “troublesome.”
“I know, but the village has many other places that we could try,” the Hyuga reassured.
“Work? Are you two looking for work?” Iruka beamed at the two. Both shinobi looked to the man who they were not aware was listening or even there for that matter. He seemed to have been standing nearby at a fruit stand and decided to add to conversation. They looked to each other before locking eyes with the academy instructor a second time suspicious of the man’s proposal.
. . .
The Nara looked directly into the toilet, “no,” he said after seeing what sat in the bowl. He looked to Neji who scrubbed the sink. “No,” he repeated.
The Hyuga stopped scrubbing and faced his cleaning partner. “We will only do this long enough to find another job. I will cash in the gold tomorrow and we can put our savings together and see if we can purchase a new living space. For now, what we are doing is only a step closer to achieving that.”
“Well then you do it,” Shikamaru deadpanned, holding the plunger to the one who seemed so dedicated to reaching said goal.
Neji stood and stared at the plunger, contemplating before taking it from the shadow-nin and looking into the bowl himself. Almost instantly sealed his eyes. He exhaled slowly. Shikamaru tilted his head and raised his brows having proved his point.
“Perhaps another position is open?” Neji tried.
. . .
“Thank you,” a girl smiled at Shikamaru after he smacked a blob of some unknown school lunch on to her plate. He offered an artificial smile and dropped it as soon as she moved down the line. “Thank you,” she repeated after being provided a beverage by Neji. He smiled more genuinely before looking to the Nara. He then removed his gloves and hair net having served the last meal of the day.
“Until we find a new job,” the Hyuga repeated earning a sluggish nod from the younger.
“Shikamaru? Neji?” Konohamaru emerged from the crowd of academy students and eyed the shinobi through the lunch line glass. “What are you guys doing here?”
“Volunteering,” Shikamaru lied.
“Working,” Neji answered truthfully.
The Nara sighed, “working.”
“Oh, well we were just showing the new kids the ropes having graduated and all,” he placed both hands on his hips as he smiled proudly. “It’s strange seeing you guys as lunch ladies.”
Shikamaru let out a sarcastic grunt of a laugh as he lidded the leftover food.
“We do not plan on working here for long. We are currently searching for better job opportunities,” the Hyuga explained.
“Why can’t you guys just work at his girlfriend’s flower shop?” The young boy asked.
“She’s more like a loud sister than a girlfriend and I don’t think her folks like us too much right now,” the Nara replied.
“Never know ‘til you try,” Konohamaru sang.
. . .
“Of course, you can work here!” Inoichi exclaimed before nearing himself to his near-nephew’s ear. “But know that I don’t want you spending too much private time with my daughter,” he whispered threateningly.
“Yeah, I know.”
“Perfect! You start now,” Inoichi gave the two aprons to keep dirt from smudging across their garments before exiting the store. Ino walked in from the storage room.
“Good luck guys,” she waved.
“Where are you going?” Shikamaru asked.
“I worked my shift. I’m going home, relaxing in a warm bath, and getting some sleep,” she said dreamily as she hugged herself tightly. “The job is pretty straight forward. Just make sure they pay for whatever they want, I’ll worry about the actual nurturing of the plants,” she said before leaving without further instruction. Shikamaru watched her through the shop’s windows and caught sight of a Hyuga eyeing them from across the street. The shadow-nin placed a hand on top of his head and slowly stepped away from the glass.
“Okay,” he breathed out trying to collect his thoughts.
“What is it?” Neji asked from behind the register.
“Nothing just another one of your guys watching us like we’re bound to do something malicious.”
Neji stepped from behind the counter and peered through the window, staring right at what the younger shinobi had pointed out. “Ignore him,” Neji decided before taking his position as the cashier, out of sight from the glass pane.
“I’ll try,” the Nara scoffed. He returned to reorganizing the shelves when the lights went out. The two tensed immediately.
“Stay here, I will go check the back,” Neji ordered.
“No that’s what they want. I’ll make a clone and send it out there just to be safe,” the Nara performed the sign necessary to produce a clone and sent it through the back door, “I knew the sentence they gave you was too light,” he mumbled.
“If they are using the Byakugan then they should be able to see what we are doing,” Neji warned.
“We’re still sealed, they shouldn’t be able to see anything right now.”
“Perhaps that is why they’re here. We should…”
“It’s gone,” Shikamaru was stunned.
“What?”
“The shadow clone, someone took it out,” the Nara locked eyes with the elder male. It was confirmed. There was a hidden portion of the deal Hiashi had made. The Hyuga were trying to kill them.
