Hmm, I think I did a good job. So here you are LoVe Is OnLy An IlLuSiOn, and I hope you like it. I really do. I had two ideas: it was either this comedy with Shika or the angst with Sasuke. I chose this one because I'm...happy? Well. that was a total lie. WAIT! I am happy, that just wasn't the reason I didn't do it. But if someone wants that one, just ask me.

Here we go again! Man, I love that song...you know, by Paramore.

Magic: the act of producing illusions as entertainment. Seriously, that came straight from the dictionary. Magic words, tarot cards, one of those crazy looking circles cults use to conjure up a demon, also called a magic circle. All this, even those symbols you might get tattooed on your ass when you're drunk as hell, is magic. Some magic, like with those circles, is all about supernatural. Otherwise, it's all an illusion. And you all know what that is right? You all know what the difference the word illusion has from delusion and hallucination, right? Of course you guys do! So since you do, you also know this: it's a wonderful thing…to some. You see, magic is against a lot of people's religion, but let's not get into that. Let's get interested into a person who finds all this interesting. He may be a lazy-ass bastard, who's not important to the world, at all. C'mon, he is only a simple business guy. He's the original: the office, the secretary, the co-workers. Just a plain-old guy who works for a somewhat big company. And since he has this SO interesting life, you all are going to take an interest in it.

Right now, he's sitting there, in a café, drinking coffee and reading a book. And you'll never guess what it's on. As he flips through the pages, he rereads every sentence twice. It was a stupid habit he picked up in high school when he wanted to memorize something. And, oh, he memorized it. So much he does it with everything he reads. And now here he is, reading his book that he picked up from the library last week, and doesn't care what anybody thinks. So what he reads about magic, it wasn't like he was going to do anything. His friends always joked, saying stuff like "You gonna put a spell on me!". Hell no he wasn't! He didn't believe in this stuff, not at all. The subject was just interesting. The one friend that joked about it the most was the one sitting to the left him at that little round table they let you use at cafés. He hated that. As he would say, they were so troublesome. He looked over, at the dumb blonde named Naruto. Man, did he thank God everyday that he wasn't his co-worker. Shikamaru, the guy you all just LOVE reading about, didn't like Naruto too much. Actually, he'd really like him at all. He caused so much trouble! Always disturbing Shikamaru when he was work, or getting them kicked out of a strip club that Shikamaru didn't want to go to at all but was forced because Naruto thought it'd be a good idea since it was the fool's last night of being single. Just plain trouble. And talk about being annoying! Shikamaru grimaced. Everything was always his fault. He didn't even know why the idiot was here, he didn't invite him. He just came. Shikamaru sighed out of depression; he always just comes. Now the redhead on the right of him, the serious, cold-hearted one, was kind of already here. See, Gaara always comes to the coffee shop on Sundays. Shikamaru guessed it was to get some work done.

Sadly enough, one thing irked the poor Nara. Oh, the poor, poor Nara. He was 26, turning 27. His friends next to him were 27. They both had beautiful wives and they both had a child coming on the way. You think this is all nice? Just all magical? WRONG! Not for Shikamaru it wasn't! He was turning 27 tomorrow and he still wasn't married. Now, you know that's some bullshit. How can a guy, who's been wishing for a perfect family all his life, not get one before the two he knew didn't care did. Bull! He had no girlfriend, no children, no dog! This was all he wanted!…Now you're probably wondering about the dog thing. You all have seen those perfect-family movies. The kind with the husband in a suit, the housewife, the two little boys that always got in trouble, and that one dog, most of the times a Lassie look-a-like. Well, all this crazy stuff, he wanted. So badly. But it just wasn't happening. And he was getting really desperate. You don't even know. You really don't. By now, he'd do anything, ANYTHING to get a wife, or at least a girlfriend that was going to become his wife. Just get this, and let it stick: HE—WAS—DEPERATE—AND—HE—WANTED—A—WIFE—NOW! Got it? Good. And also get that he didn't get his situation so much that he turned to Gaara and asked agitated, "How old am I?"; he needed a reality check.

Gaara stopped his typing on his laptop and slowly looked up. "You know." he said indifferently.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and looked over, frowning from seeing Naruto shove one of those jumbo-sized cookies you buy at any café. Naruto looked at his lazy friend and started chewing like the Cookie Monster. "26." he said with his mouth full. He swallowed, with difficulty. "Turning 27." The frown on our favorite guy's face deepened when Naruto grinned. "By the way, what are you doing tomorrow?"

He sighed, going back to his book; he hated his life. "To work." he said lazily, even held back a yawn, and was totally prepared for what was going to happened next.

"What!!" Naruto shouted, and Shikamaru muttered a few words under his breath as everyone in the café turned all their attention to them. "Why would you do that!! Take off!!"

Shikamaru, as usual, ignored him; that was the plan. He sighed flipping another page. "I want a dog." he said out of the clear blue sky.

"Hey!! Did you hear me!!"

Gaara shrugged. "Then get one."

"Hey!!"

Through one ear and out the other. "There's no point."

Naruto hung his head; this always happened. And as usual, he lifted his head and asked out of pure boredom, "Why?"

He shrugged.

Gaara, with his whatever attitude, closed his laptop, got up, and LEFT. No goodbye, no nothing.

Another minute wasted, another page flipped, he was getting tired. He closed his book, but not before reading the title of the next chapter: mentalism. Ooh, what fun.

"Leaving?" Naruto asked and followed Shikamaru's actions by getting up as well.

He nodded, and explained because Naruto was somewhat of an interrogator. "I'm tired."

He nods, showing Shikamaru he understood, and both walked out of their favorite coffee shop: Konoha Café.

"See you later!" Naruto said happily before walking across the street.

Shikamaru spared him a simple wave and turned the other way. But he stopped and shook his head at the blonde's stupidity when he heard a car's brakes. He kept on walking; he knew Naruto didn't get hit, he never got hit. His friend always forgot that one simple rule: look both ways before crossing the street. Shikamaru mentally rolled his eyes; or he just could've followed the crossing signs. He quickened his pace. The faster he got home, the faster he could dream about the life he never had.

"Happy birthday Shikamaru!" the three co-workers yelled with joyous faces.

Shikamaru looked up from his computer and stared lazily at his three friends.

All their smiles stayed right in place. Waiting for a "Thank you guys!", but it never came. The smiles grew stale, but Hinata and Kiba's smile were still there, Ino's wasn't. She furrowed her brow. "Shikamaru!" she yelled, wanting her thank you.

He blinked twice then went back to his computer work. "What?"

She rolled her eyes and extended the small cupcake, with one lit candle, in her hand towards him. "C'mon!"

He stopped once again and gave her a stare saying "I don't think so".

"Argh!" she screamed and harshly placed the poor little cupcake on his desk, making the now sad pastry crumble into imperfectness. Kiba, his smile still present, watched Ino stomp out of the office. He let out a sigh and quickly picked up the cupcake, gave Hinata the candle, and devoured the little guy.

Chomp, chomp.

"Kiba!" Hinata pouted, watching her friend eat something that definitely wasn't his.

He swallowed the once perfect cupcake and turned to her. "What?" he asked, very confused. Then it hit him. "Oh! Sorry Hinata!" She gave him a small smile, saying it was alright, but it quickly dropped when he took the candle from her and grinned. "Man, you're lazy!"

She stared at him with half-lidded eyes then walked out the office as well. He threw his hands up in the air and followed her shouting, "What did I do?!"

Shikamaru stopped. He glanced up a few times before letting out a tired sigh and pulling out his now favorite book. He was on the chapter for mentalism. It was interest, more than all the others. He never really read about it before so he was reading the sentences more than twice. The book was talking about, basically, mind control. It said this: ask your subject any question you desire. What type of house do they live in. Do they have a job. Is that person interested in your interest. And most important, are they of homosexuality. He raised both eyebrows at the last sentence; he never thought about that. He quickly looked up when there was a knock on his door.

Hinata smiled at him. But before walking it, she gave her surroundings a quick check. She entered, swiftly, and gripped the plate in her hand tighter. "Happy birthday, Shikamaru." she said with a warm smile and handed him the plate of his favorite sweets: brownies.

He smiled a little as he took the plate from her, inwardly doing a cheer. He loved brownies! So much! Especially her brownies! They were always so chocolaty, and gooey, all that chocolate fudge oozing out. He could already taste it. He could already hear the crackling of the nuts in his mouth. He was going crazy just thinking about it. He wanted one now!

A weird smile appeared on Hinata's face when she saw how Shikamaru was eyeing the brownies she gave him. "You can have one, they are yours."

He snapped out of his trance, but didn't miss her words, so he quickly dived in for one. The plastic over them was now torn, and one was already missing, and another one, and another one, and another one. Shikamaru looked up with his fourth brownie in his mouth, and his fifth in his hand when Hinata started giggling. "Thanks." he said after swallowing, and knew what to say to make her stop laughing. "Why were you looking around like that before you came in? You looked paranoid."

And she stopped. He knew it would work. "Oh." she breathed out and glanced at the door. "I didn't want Kiba to get them. He kind of attacked me last year."

A small laugh left his lips. Kiba was such a scavenger. He watched her take a seat in front of his desk, the usual. She did this every year, and every now and then. For the past three years he has known her, she did this. She'd always bring in the brownies, then sit. Not saying nothing. But, he liked that about her. Because he was always reading, so she never disturbed him like anybody else would. Examples: Ino, Naruto, and many others.

Now that he thought about, he knows her, if you get his drift. Like really KNOWS her…not like that! Perverts! Like, he's hung out with her outside of work. She invites him to any gatherings her family may have and she needs to bring someone. No, they never talked on the phone, but they really knew a lot about each other. Yeah! Now that he thinks about it, he kind of likes her. No, he really likes her. It could even be love. He looked down at his book in thought, finally leaving the brownies alone: but what if she didn't like him? What if she had a boyfriend or something. No, she's never mentioned one, but he never asked. But they kind of flirted, so…this was getting him nowhere. Everyone flirts. He furrowed his eyebrows; but that wasn't really Hinata. She was sweet, kind, and probably flirting with someone else other than her boyfriend would be wrong. Perfect for him! But how would he go about asking her out? It'd probably be awkward. And he really didn't feel like going through all that waiting. First you had to date, then you went out, THEN you go through all these major problems, and at the end you either stay together or you don't. It wasn't simple, and he didn't feel like waiting. He sighed, but then, suddenly, he thought of something. He flipped back to the page with the questions before, and kept glancing from the book to Hinata.

She turned to him and blinked twice. "What?"

He cleared his throat. He couldn't believe he was really doing this. "Do you have a boyfriend?" he asked looking at the book; he didn't want to see how she reacted.

Her eyes opened wide; she was dumbfounded. "Wha…What?"

He looked at her, by accident, and asked again quickly, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Umm, no." she answered slowly, still wide-eyed.

He nodded. One question down.

"Uh, why?" She really was confused.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Mm, survey." His eyes read another sentence. "Are you gay?"

"What do you want?" the guy behind the counter asked indifferently.

Shikamaru couldn't answer. He was too busy staring at this guy's many piercings along his face. They glowed in the dark. One was red, the other was green, and the other was blue, then it started all over again. It was…weird.

"Dude."

He snapped out of his gazed and breathed out a "huh".

"I asked what you wanted."

"Oh." Shikamaru said looking around the store. A very dark store. And it didn't bother him at all. The only thing that bothered him was that he was in a magic store.

See, told you he was desperate.

"Umm, chalk?" he said very unsure. Who would go to a magic store with a freak behind a counter when they could just go to one of those school stores?

"What kind?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "Uh, pink."

The guy stared at him, chewing the gum in his mouth like a cow, before he bent down and came back up with a pack of pink chalk. "Anything else?"

"Dogs…?"

"Like, what? Summoning, that mental stuff, umm, tarot ca—"

"Mental." He was starting to get the hang of this!

He turned around, looking through this old-looking shelf. "Mental right?"

"Yeah."

Five seconds later, he turned around and placed a dusty book on the counter. "That's it?"

Shikamaru nodded, and pulled out his wallet.

"300 bucks."

He stopped pulling out the 20 dollar-bill and slowly looked up at the weirdo. "What?"

"You heard me. This shit ain't cheat."

He bit his tongue and pulled out his checkbook.

He was really desperate.

"Bye Ino." Hinata said and waved to her friend as she walked back to her car in the big, lonely, dark parking lot. As she walked, all she heard was her own heels.

Step.

Hinata stopped and slowly looked around; that wasn't her heel. She quickly proceeded to her car.

Step, step.

She picked up the pace, but every time she did, the other footsteps would too. She was scared to death! She ran, taking out her keys to her car.

The steps got closer.

She was breathing heavily by the time she got to her small car. She looked from left to right but didn't see anything. And the footsteps stopped too. She exhaled and laughed it off. Calm down Hinata, she told herself with a smile, you're just being paranoid. Just like Shikamaru said. She calmly unlocked the car…BUT BEFORE SHE COULD EVEN OPEN THE DOOR, SHE FELT A ARM WRAP AROUND HER BODY!! SHE WAS FIGHTING, BUT HE, IT HAD TO BE A HE, WAS TOO STRONG!! HE COVERED HER MOUTH WITH A RAG and she felt herself drift off into unconsciousness.

Dun Dun Dunnnnnnnh!!

LOLZ!! I'm dumb! Aw, poor cupcake :(

So, yeah, seriously, I'm going to upload the next chapter in about a few minutes after I give it a quick revise like this one. I hope I didn't leave too many mistakes! I'm a little dazed out...-looks at the ceiling for no reason-

NO WAIT! It might even take longer than that. Because I'm getting lazy right now, sorry. I'll try...-looks outside a window-