Chapter Text
Shikamaru, as the recently named Ambassador of Konohagakure, and all four of the heirs of Konohagakure's biggest clans were currently in Suna, meeting their Ambassador of Suna and their heirs as a cultural exchange and political bonding; Shikamaru thought the whole thing was a drag but who was he to argue political strengthening orders?
He looked beside him to the blonde Suna Jonin and shared a smirk with her. Especially if it meant he could spend time with his new girlfriend.
They had just started going out after the war, just over two months ago, and yea, sure, they didn't see each other all that much and they had a lot of awkward moments and a lot of misunderstanding that resulted in arguments, but didn't every new relationship?
Temari, Shikamaru, Kankuro and Hinata were currently in a joint bar-restaurant getting something to eat after their final day of meet and greets.
Kiba had dragged Shino and Choji off somewhere; probably to do something energetic like training; Kami knew Kiba could only sit still for ten minutes during a meeting with the promise of something fast paced afterwards.
Kankuro was making a fork and knife dance, with his puppeteering skills, for Hinata's amusement making the heiress giggle into her fleece's sleeves.
Temari leaned in against his side.
"Bet you any money Kankuro is going to ask her to go for a walk with him," the blonde Jonin whispered, grinning. "And he's going to put the moves on her."
Shikamaru turned his head round to his girlfriend. "What?"
"Oh yea!" The blonde nodded, grin still in place. "He's become quite the little Romeo recently."
As if that was the queue Kankuro looked like he was about to speak but Hinata, who had been looking just over the puppet masters shoulder, got up then and headed away from the table. When Kankuro sat back in his seat, looking put out, and Temari leaned over to make fun of him; Shikamaru couldn't help but let out a relieved silent sigh.
He didn't know why; but the idea of Kankuro running his hands all over Hinata made a low, angry heat burn in his stomach.
It was just overprotectiveness of his friend and fellow godparent; he would have felt the same if was Ino, or Sakura or Tenten even.
That's when the music started playing.
When he looked up he saw Hinata up dancing by herself, swaying and spinning on her spot of the empty dancefloor, and he could actually hear people, including Temari, laughing at her under their breath. The image of Kurenai hearing Shikamaru had just sat there and let them entered his head, with the angry and disappointed look she would wear, and with a sigh he got up, making Temari throw a "where you going?" at his back.
I got a funny feeling
The moment that your lips touched mine
Something shot right through me
My heart skipped a beat in time
He caught Hinata's wrist mid spin and he actually felt her pulse jump under his thumb.
"Shi-Shika," she breathed in relief when she saw who it was.
"Dancing alone in a bar is dangerous Hinata," he told her as he continued to hold her captured hand and he lifted his chin up in a 'go away' motion to an older man openly checking her out. "Come sit down."
"Bu-But;" she pouted lightly, making him raise an eyebrow in amusement. "I w-want to d-dance a little," she smiled then in a comforting way. "I'm okay Shi-Shika! You can go ba-back to the others."
He sighed, not releasing her wrist. "I can't leave you here all alone."
The heiress smiled brightly at him. "Dance with m-me then."
He very nearly gapped at the ridiculous suggestion. "Dance with you? I don't dance Hinata."
She spun out of his grip then and in the corner of his eye he saw another man at the bar look her up and down with open, leering, eyes. Shikamaru grabbed her back to him in trepidation, making her take a few quick steps to regain her balance.
Hinata blinked up at him innocently.
He took her hand in his again, he threw the guy at the bar a dirty look before turning back to her. "What a drag; one dance."
She looked so happy, it made his nerves flutter.
There's a different feel about you tonight
It's got me thinking lots of crazy things
I even think I saw a flash of light
It felt like electricity
The purple haired girl must have sensed that he had no idea what to do because she took a gentle hold of his hand and spun under it, giggling a lovely sounding giggle the whole time.
A grin fought its way onto his face at her carefree, childish nature. She was so free when she allowed herself; but that sturdy reliability still lay beneath the surface. It was the same when she looked after Kurenai. Hinata would happily run around her sensei's house, doing chores the pregnant woman couldn't do, humming a tune and beaming a smile the whole time.
When she came back to him he put a hand on her back, the hand holding hers took a more solid grip and her other hand came to rest on his shoulder.
You shouldn't kiss me like this
Unless you mean it like that
'Cause I'll just close my eyes
And I won't know where I'm at
We'll get lost on this dance floor
Spinning around
And around
And around
And around
"I ne-never get to da-dance," she told him as they started to, in his opinion, awkwardly, sway on the spot. She didn't seem to think the same way he did, the smile couldn't be removed from her face. "I re-really li-like it."
He thought about that, his eyebrows coming together as he rolled her confession around in his head and it's hidden meaning. Hinata was always doing things for others. Being the heiress to her clan, a big sister to Hanabi, a medical ninja to the patients at the hospital, a teammate and friend to their group; when did she ever take time for herself? From how badly she wanted one, lowly, dance in a bar, to some dumb country song; probably never.
They're all watching us now
They think we're falling in love
They'd never believe we're just friends
When you kiss me like this
I think you mean it like that
If you do, baby, kiss me again
The lyrics seemed to remind him of all the men that were previously staring at her, when she was alone, and his eyes glanced up at the bar.
He was getting the evil eye from more than a handful of guys in the place.
That angry burning in his blood from earlier reappeared; like he would let any of these people try anything with her. He didn't even need to know anything about them to know that loving, nurturing, determined, talented, Hinata, was better than any of them.
His grip on her hand tightened on its own accord and he moved them so he was physically between the bar and the Hyuga girl.
Everybody swears we make the perfect pair
But dancing is as far as it goes
Girl, you've never moved me
Quite the way you moved me tonight
I just wanted you to know
I just wanted you to know
Feeling a little brave he spun them both, they stumbled with the sudden change to the normal movements and he prepared himself for the yelling at being so stupid, but she simply laughed it off; she even seemed to love the change, even if it didn't work properly.
When she spun again he imagined she completely missed the confusion written on his face for that second.
Why on earth had he expected Hinata to yell at him? When had Hinata yelled at anyone?
Ino? Definitely. Sakura? Of course. Tenten? When you really piss her off. Temari?
Shikamaru spun Hinata again to cover his internal panic.
Oh yes; Temari yelled; for a time he wondered if the sand ninja did anything else. Was that why he braced himself for a verbal beat down just then? Because he was used to it?
A memory of him coming to Kurenai's house with the wrong pregnancy vitamins for the genjutsu user came to mind. Hinata hadn't yelled at him; she had simply offered to accompany him to the store next time and show him the right ones to get. She had, in fact, joined him in his next shopping trip. They had ended up buying the right vitamins plus a tub of ice cream and two spoons to eat it with; they sat on a grassy hill sharing the dessert before heading back to Kurenai's.
His hand around her back pulled her closer at the memory.
You shouldn't kiss me like this
Unless you mean it like that
'Cause I'll just close my eyes
And I won't know where I'm at
We'll get lost on this dance floor
Spinning around
And around
And around
And around
He allowed himself to, just, look, at her, as they continued to make their small circles around the otherwise abandoned dancefloor. She really did have the most beautiful eyes; large bambi eyes you could gaze in, get lost in, happily. They weren't even a pure white like other Hyuga eyes; when the light hit them a certain way they had a lilac tint, that only made them more intriguing.
He liked the colour of her hair as well, the dark purple, it was so unique, like someone had made it by weaving violet flowers or amethyst gems into tresses just for her.
His thumb rubbed along her finger beside it to appreciate how soft her skin was.
When she tilted her head and narrowed her eyes in both worry and amusement he gave a long blink to bring his vision back to the present.
Kami; how long had been staring at her?
They're all watching us now
They think we're falling in love
They'd never believe we're just friends
When you kiss me like this
I think you mean it like that
If you do, baby, kiss me again
They stopped swaying as the song started winding down and Shikamaru spun her slowly in time with the slowing beat. When she spun back to face him, time seemed to slow down enough for him to be able to take in every single detail. Her long purple locks flying behind her like a veil, her bright eyes sparkling with enjoyment, her absolutely, radiant, smile, that could lighten a dark room.
Her hand came to hold his upper arm as her spin finished and her smile seemed to grow even more when she met his eyes.
Kiss me again
His hand moved from her waist to the back of her head and he lowered his lips onto hers, his eyes sliding closed when they met; Kami her lips were so soft; he felt her sigh before, a split second later, gasping.
Hinata shoved him then, as she very well should have, and, took a second to shoot him a wide eyed look that had so many conflicting emotions in it he couldn't begin to try to figure them out, before she dashed out the door.
There was an ear shattering crash then and his head spun around to see what it was automatically. Temari was standing, face like thunder, glaring full force at him. The crash was the table she had flipped and all their plates, cutlery and glasses from their dinner earlier going flying and breaking on the floor.
She stomped out a different door then.
He stood there, frozen, hands hovering in front of him at hip height, wishing his genius level IQ would catch up and tell him what the hell he had just done.
When his head moved to the right he saw Kankuro, standing there, looking at him like he might attack him and that was the last push he needed. His feet immediately started in the direction to follow Hinata but he forced himself, with a grit of his teeth when he realised what he was doing, to run after Temari instead.
"Temari!" He yelled when he caught sight of her just ahead. "Temari wait!"
She stopped in her tracks and spun towards him. The slap, although expected, still stung like hell.
"Don't you dare Shikamaru!" The fan user shouted in his face as he held his stinging cheek. "And don't you dare try to blame her either! I saw what happened! You kissed her! And she shoved you off!"
"I wasn't going to blame Hinata!" He shouted back. "I kissed her! I wouldn't; I-!"
His own words made him freeze. He kissed Hinata; well; that was that wasn't it?
"I kissed her," he groaned pitifully rubbing a hand over his face. "I kissed her."
"Yea! I know! I freaking saw it!"
"Temari;" he started, sounding pitiful, even to his own ears, he didn't even know what he was going to say.
"Save it," she hissed, her fists clenching at her side. He mentally prepared himself for a punch this time instead of a slap.
Her entire body seemed to slump then; he had never seen her so; defeated.
"It's over; you know that right?" She whispered, sounding as defeated as she looked; before she let out a single hysterical bark of laughter. "It barely even started."
"Yea;" he sighed deeply, his face burying itself in his hands.
"The fact you're not even trying to fight for us speaks volumes you know."
His eyes snapped open behind his hands. She was right; Kami she was right; why wasn't he doing that? Why didn't it even occur to him to fight for this? For them?
Wasn't he even about to run after Hinata before her?
"Whatever Shikamaru," she snapped before turning and continuing to walk away. "Just leave me alone."
He didn't follow that time. There was no point. There was nothing else to say.
Shikamaru didn't sleep that night, just stared at the ceiling of his room; thoughts flicking wildly between Temari and Hinata until he seemed to pass out from mental exhaustion.
He could barely keep his eyes open when he met the other four leaf shinobi at the gates of Suna to leave the next morning. It was probably the only time it worked in his favour that everyone expected him to be the last one to show up.
"I would have thought Temari would be here to see you off," Kiba half yelled at him as he approached; Akamaru barking lightly at his side. "What gives?"
"We-" Shikamaru's gaze shifted to the Hyuga for just a second before angrily shoving the heel of his hand into his eye socket. "We broke up."
"Oh shit really?" Kiba gave him an apologetic grimace. "Oh damn, dude, sorry to hear that."
"What happened?" His best friend asked coming to stand beside him looking concerned. "You guys were fine yesterday. Weren't you?"
Shikamaru felt himself swallow heavily and then sigh. "Something; just; dammit what a drag;" he actually saw Hinata flinch in the corner of his eye. "Something; came up. Don't worry about it," the Nara cut Choji off before he could talk again. "Let's just go."
Hinata hadn't spoken to him in days; not that he really expected her too. As soon as they reported in to the Hokage Tower he hadn't seen hide nor hair of her. Considering Kurenai hadn't even seen her when he asked she was obviously hiding from him.
He sighed for what must have been the twentieth time that night alone, it looked like it was going to be another night sleep would evade him and leave him to his ruminating thoughts.
The sudden presence of another chakra source at his window had him on full alert.
"Shi-Shikamaru."
He froze.
The very girl haunting his every thought was now crouching on his window sill, dressed in some sort of flowy white dress, looking down at him with eyes as captivating at the full moon behind her.
"Shika," she breathed his name again, like some sort of angel, bathed in the moonlight.
He forced himself to blink himself out of his dazed daydreams.
"Hinata."
She crawled through his window to hover over him and his breathing stopped completely.
"Ki-Kiss me Shika," she pulled on his pyjama top desperately, lips hovering over his. "Kiss me again."
He rolled them over, so she was under him, wrapped up in his arms, and did just that.