One-Player vs. Two-Player (ShikaNeji, G)
Title: One-Player vs. Two-Player
Author: dana_chaaan
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: Nara Shikamaru x Hyuuga Neji
Letter/Prompt: 01. A (Awe-struck; Table #12)
Rating: G
Word Count: 661
Warnings/Spoilers: Slash
Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto or the characters used in this story.
Notes: I’m so sorry. D: I should not be allowed to write. The ending absolutely sucks, but I couldn’t think of anything better. So sorry that the first one’s so lame, but hopefully the next ones will be better? (:
Summary: Neji finally ventures home from a two-week mission and discovers a little present left by Shikamaru.
Neji had long since discovered that dating another ninja proved to be a bit difficult, especially if both datees are of higher rank. Many a time, one would come home from a mission just days after the other had left for one. It was seldom that they were actually able to meet each other. This was the sole reason as to why they moved in with each other (though that didn’t really help). At the very least, the flat most always had a single occupant.
Idly, Neji tried to discern the last time he’d seen his boyfriend. He’d just returned from a two-week-long mission, and before that Shikamaru had been absent for nearly a month. He remembered his mission before that had ended sooner than estimated, and he was able to see Shikamaru off. So the last time he’d seen his boyfriend was six weeks ago, or 42 days ago, or 2,520 hours ago, or 151,200 minutes ago, or...
Shoving the key into the lock, he squashed any further attempts to continue that train of thought. All he wanted to do was get inside the flat, not think about Shikamaru, and collapse on the nearest piece of furniture (which he hoped was a couch and not a table). He pushed the door open, and he proceeded to do just that. His shoes were ripped off without much care, his things were abandoned on the nearest counter, and he himself moved sluggishly through the apartment.
The mess that had accumulated in the main rooms told Neji that Shikamaru had left in a hurry. As a courtesy, both of them would pick up at least a little before leaving so that the other wouldn’t have to worry about it when he came home. (Of course, training Shikamaru to do that took unimaginable amount of time and a lot of pissed-off bitchings from Neji.) Neji was used to it, though, so he paid it little mind as he shuffled toward the lumpy sofa. After ripping off his outer-wear and haphazardly making a pile near the couch, he sat listlessly on the uncomfortable cushions.
Just as he moved to lay down, Neji noticed the Shougi bored on the coffee table. He glanced at it and immediately realized the pieces were scattered across the board as if paused in mid-play rather than in their starting positions. This in itself was unusual. Shikamaru only played by himself if he was too bored to even sleep or cloud-gaze, and not many people he played Shougi with would prance over to the flat just to do so.
So, under the pretense of discerning who Shikamaru was playing against, Neji leaned in toward the table. He easily noticed the patient, defense strategy Shikamaru usually played with; however, the other player’s passive-aggressive, offensive playing style instantly made him think of himself. The overall hesitant tone was irrevocably Shikamaru’s though, so Neji quickly believed him to have been playing against himself. But as he scrutinized how he thought the game to play out, he quickly rationalized the moves of the opponent to be ones that he would have made.
His eyes widened in shock. Shikamaru, as himself, had been playing against Shikamaru, as Neji. It made him wonder just how often he did this and for what reason. Either he was training himself against Neji’s strategy (though Shikamaru was victorious in their games for the majority of the time) or he had missed playing against Neji (which, to Neji’s tired and stressed mind, meant Shikamaru missed him). But Shikamaru could have easily cleared the board before leaving, Neji rationalized, so this display was deliberate, which pointed to the latter reason.
As the awe and shock ebbed away, a smile tugged at his lips. Carefully, he reached over to move one of “his” pieces. He silently wished, as he collapsed fully onto the sofa, that Shikamaru would make it home before he had to leave again. He had missed playing against Shikamaru, too.
Author: dana_chaaan
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: Nara Shikamaru x Hyuuga Neji
Letter/Prompt: 01. A (Awe-struck; Table #12)
Rating: G
Word Count: 661
Warnings/Spoilers: Slash
Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto or the characters used in this story.
Notes: I’m so sorry. D: I should not be allowed to write. The ending absolutely sucks, but I couldn’t think of anything better. So sorry that the first one’s so lame, but hopefully the next ones will be better? (:
Summary: Neji finally ventures home from a two-week mission and discovers a little present left by Shikamaru.
Neji had long since discovered that dating another ninja proved to be a bit difficult, especially if both datees are of higher rank. Many a time, one would come home from a mission just days after the other had left for one. It was seldom that they were actually able to meet each other. This was the sole reason as to why they moved in with each other (though that didn’t really help). At the very least, the flat most always had a single occupant.
Idly, Neji tried to discern the last time he’d seen his boyfriend. He’d just returned from a two-week-long mission, and before that Shikamaru had been absent for nearly a month. He remembered his mission before that had ended sooner than estimated, and he was able to see Shikamaru off. So the last time he’d seen his boyfriend was six weeks ago, or 42 days ago, or 2,520 hours ago, or 151,200 minutes ago, or...
Shoving the key into the lock, he squashed any further attempts to continue that train of thought. All he wanted to do was get inside the flat, not think about Shikamaru, and collapse on the nearest piece of furniture (which he hoped was a couch and not a table). He pushed the door open, and he proceeded to do just that. His shoes were ripped off without much care, his things were abandoned on the nearest counter, and he himself moved sluggishly through the apartment.
The mess that had accumulated in the main rooms told Neji that Shikamaru had left in a hurry. As a courtesy, both of them would pick up at least a little before leaving so that the other wouldn’t have to worry about it when he came home. (Of course, training Shikamaru to do that took unimaginable amount of time and a lot of pissed-off bitchings from Neji.) Neji was used to it, though, so he paid it little mind as he shuffled toward the lumpy sofa. After ripping off his outer-wear and haphazardly making a pile near the couch, he sat listlessly on the uncomfortable cushions.
Just as he moved to lay down, Neji noticed the Shougi bored on the coffee table. He glanced at it and immediately realized the pieces were scattered across the board as if paused in mid-play rather than in their starting positions. This in itself was unusual. Shikamaru only played by himself if he was too bored to even sleep or cloud-gaze, and not many people he played Shougi with would prance over to the flat just to do so.
So, under the pretense of discerning who Shikamaru was playing against, Neji leaned in toward the table. He easily noticed the patient, defense strategy Shikamaru usually played with; however, the other player’s passive-aggressive, offensive playing style instantly made him think of himself. The overall hesitant tone was irrevocably Shikamaru’s though, so Neji quickly believed him to have been playing against himself. But as he scrutinized how he thought the game to play out, he quickly rationalized the moves of the opponent to be ones that he would have made.
His eyes widened in shock. Shikamaru, as himself, had been playing against Shikamaru, as Neji. It made him wonder just how often he did this and for what reason. Either he was training himself against Neji’s strategy (though Shikamaru was victorious in their games for the majority of the time) or he had missed playing against Neji (which, to Neji’s tired and stressed mind, meant Shikamaru missed him). But Shikamaru could have easily cleared the board before leaving, Neji rationalized, so this display was deliberate, which pointed to the latter reason.
As the awe and shock ebbed away, a smile tugged at his lips. Carefully, he reached over to move one of “his” pieces. He silently wished, as he collapsed fully onto the sofa, that Shikamaru would make it home before he had to leave again. He had missed playing against Shikamaru, too.