Don't own Naruto nor any part of it. Incase y'all were wondering.

...

Ugh, how does he have that much energy? It's like he never stops moving. Ever.

Shikamaru thought to himself as he watched the boy from on his rooftop. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and took a drag on his cigarette. He had just gotten home from a mission last night and was taking his break by cloud watching for the day. Sitting up on his roof, he was also able to see the hustle and bustle below him in the village, which he didn't really pay attention to until he saw the energetic boy. The Nara continued to stare at the boy below, unable to take his eyes off of him for some reason.

The shadow-nin sighed, blowing smoke into the sky above him and laid back on the roof, the images of the dog-lover and his side kick running through his head. Just as Shikamaru was closing his eyes to the warmth of the sun above him, he heard someone drop on his rooftop. He cocked one eye open and glanced to his left where the sound was hear. The sun was blazing, so the Nara had to shade his one open eye with his left cigarette-holding hand.

"Oh, hey Kiba." He said, nonchalantly, and settled back, closing his eye and drawing on his smoke.

"Hey. How was your mission, Nara?" Kiba took a seat next to the shadow-nin. "I heard you took a few kunai to the shoulder."

"Ah yeah. No big deal though. Tsunade fixed me up right away last night. Can't move it too much for a week, but other than I'm perfectly healthy. As awlays." He said with a grin.

There's that damned grin. Gets me every ti- STOP! God, Kiba, it's Shikamaru! There's no way anything would, or could happen. Kiba thought to himself, lightly slapping his forehead with his right palm. "That's good to hear. You going to dinner with everyone tonight? Naruto wants us to all go out for ramen since we're all home for once."

A groan slipped past Shikamaru's lips. "Ramen. He always wants ramen." He sighed once more and sat himself up. "But yeah, I've got no plans for tonight so I'll go."

Yes! Kiba inwardly fist pumped. Although the dog-nin would never admit it out loud to himself or anyone else, he had always wanted to spend more time with the lazy jounin. Because he was so unmotivated and wore a mask of carelessness, Kiba wanted to know what was under all that laziness.

"Okay, well I think everyone's going to meet there around six tonight. See you then." The dog-nin gave a smile and a small wave before leaping off the rooftop to meet his giant dog below.

"Alright." Shikamaru waved after the hyper-active boy. He chuckled to himself and took one last drag on his cigarette before putting it out. "What a drag…" The lazy ninja mumbled with a smile.

...

"And then he came out of nowhere and was all like BAM and I was like no way man not in my village's forest and Sakura was all nooo Naruto don't you can't do it yourself but I knew I could do it myself so I did and-" The blond ninja kept talking until finally Sakura punched him the head to shut him up. Everyone was laughing and having a good time.

Kiba, however, was finding it hard to concentrate on the conversations surrounding him. He was more focused on his fellow ninja who was sitting across the table from Kiba. Instead of his usual uniform, Shikamaru wore a lose fitting dark blue t-shirt with some faded blue jeans. His hair, of course, was pulled into a ponytail. Kiba wanted so bad to stand up, walk over to the lazy male, and take his hair tie out just to see what he looked like without it. Kiba, stop drooling, he told himself, shaking his head.

Suddenly, Shikamaru stood up. He couldn't take this. All he wanted to do was relax back at home. He also wanted to ask a certain dog-nin to accompany him, but he knew that was out of the question. Sighing as he stood up, Shikamaru mumbled that he was tired and didn't feel well to Choji and Ino, and made his way to the door with a wave.

Watching the lazy man walk away, Kiba quickly finished his bowl of ramen and excused himself from dinner. He had an opening and would be damned if he didn't take it. He almost bolted out the front door of the restaurant.

There he was, up ahead, lighting up his damn cigarette. God, Kiba hated the smell of those things. He snorted as the smoke wafted to the air. Rolling his eyes and breathing through his mouth, the young ninja jogged to catch up to Shikamaru.

"Hey! Shikamaru! Wait up!" Said ninja turned around, one eyebrow cocked up in question.

"Oh, hey, Kiba." Shikamaru said, dragging on his smoke. "Couldn't handle Naruto's obnoxious story-telling anymore?"

"Hah, nah. I've heard it all from him before." Kiba smiled, putting his hand behind his head. What was he doing? It's not like he could just up in flirt with a man, nevertheless the man named Shikamaru.

"I think we've all heard it before." A smile and another drag on the cigarette.

"You know…" Kiba started, one eye crinkling up in concern. "Cigarette's cause cancer." Wow, really Kiba? Way to show you're interested. Dumbass. He mentally face palmed himself.

"Hah. Yeah. I know." Shikmaru said, a hint of sadness in his voice. "It's just…" A sigh escaped the Nara's lips. "It's all I have left of him." He stared straight into Kiba's eyes when he said that, a hurt look on his face. Kiba gulped, knowing that losing Asuma had hurt Shikamaru more than losing anyone else ever could. It was the equivalent if Kiba had lost Akamaru.

"Oh…yeah…" was all Kiba could say. He had put them both in an uncomfortable spot just because he never filter what he said before he actually said it. And this time it had potential to really screw up his plans. "Sorry." Sorry? He's heard sorry a million times, dumbass!

A pause, another puff on the smoke, and a small smile adorned Shikamaru's face. God, he's cute when he smiles. "Yeah. Me, too." Then he flicked the cigarette to the ground and put it out with the toe of this shoe. "Wanna go stargaze with me? It's a perfectly clear night."

Kiba could feel his eyes pop and his jaw drop at the suggestion. He never would have expected the lazy ninja to invite him anywhere ever, let alone tonight, especially after Kiba has just brought up a painful memory.

"Uh…yeah, actually. That'd be great." Kiba smiled.

Heh, he's got a cute smile. The Nara thought, as he turned to walk to his favorite sky watching place.

Kiba watched him walk a few steps before catching up in a few strides.

"So…nice night for star gazing, huh?" Kiba asked, unsure of what to talk about on the way to Shikamaru's star gazing spot.

"Yeah. There aren't any clouds to block the stars' light." Shikamaru said, glancing upwards. He reached over to rub his bare arms, but he winced as the muscles in his hurt shoulder pulled a little too much. "Ouch. Damn shoulder." He muttered.

"You alright?" Kiba asked as he reached out and gently touched the Nara's injury. Shikamaru froze, gaze staying on the road beneath his feet.

"Um…" He blushed. "Yeah. It's just a little sore. Thanks." He reached up and put his hand over Kiba's, gently moving it down off of his shoulder. Switching hands, he took Kiba's and interlocked their fingers loosely; he began to walk towards their destination, the cliff, once more.

Kiba was shocked, pleasantly needless to say. He didn't talk, for fear of ruining the small moment he was sharing with this beautiful man. When they reached the top of the cliff that Shikamaru had lead them to, Shikamaru dropped the dog-nins hand and plopped down on his behind, gazing at the few village lights winking below them.

"Have a seat, kid." Shikamaru said, patting the ground next to him. Kiba tentatively sat down, not close enough to touch the Nara but not too far away, either.

"So, whatever happened to you and Hinata dating? Naruto said he tried to set you two up but it fell through or something." Already asking about relationships, eh Shika? Guess there's no time like the present. He let out a soft chuckle.

"Ah, yeah. Hinata's whole royal lineage or whatever, mainly just her father being a dick, kind of put the whole ordeal to shit. We went out once, he got mad, she cried, I left not knowing whatever else to do and we decided the next day that friends was better and that was that." Kiba laughed. "She's nice just not the one for me. What about you? I heard you and Tamari had a thing back during the chunin exam days." Kiba turned his head to Shikamaru, waiting for his answer.

"Tamari's nice, but I just don't think I'm really into girls." Oh shit! Shikamaru's face drained of its color before it turned a bright red. "Uhm…I mean…." Fuck fuck fuck what do I say! "You know, because being a ninja's a lot of time and having a girlfriend would just be more of a drag." He threw his hand into the air for emphasis.

Kiba could not believe his ears. Did Shikamaru just admit to being gay or not interested in dating at all? Now Kiba was confused, excited and hopeful.

"Yeah, I gotcha. Girls are a pain." Kiba smiled, chuckling, trying to make the uncomfortable air go away.

Shikmaru sighed in agreement and flopped onto his back. Kiba followed suit and the two young men were looking up into the heavens at the bright, twinkling lights.

After a good ten minutes had passed, Shikamaru softly spoke. "I've come to terms with losing him, but every day I think about it and every day it still hurts." Kiba could hear the mask covering the emotions cracking. He wasn't really sure what to do in this situation, so instead he turned on his side to look at Shikamaru when he was talking. Shikamaru's glanced flicked to meet Kiba's before turning back to the night sky. "Sorry." He mumbled.

Kiba's face scrunched with confusion. He cocked and eyebrow and asked, "Sorry for what?"

"Oh, I dunno, acting like a little girl." Shikamaru said with a huff. "Anyway, everyone's lost someone important so who am I to cry and feel sorry for myself." He coughed, trying to cover up the lump in his throat he got every time he thought of his sensei.

"Nah, man. Don't be sorry. I mean, look at Naruto. He's still all choked up about losing Sasuke, who isn't even dead. You got a better handle on things than most of the ninja our age. Scratch that, than most ninjas in general." Kiba smile at Shikamaru, who finally met his gaze and held it.

A small, sad chuckle came from Shikamaru. "Thanks." He smiled at the dog-nin, amazed at how the kid didn't judge him for cracking open his emotionless façade. "You're pretty cool, you know that?"

What? "Hah? Thanks?" The dog-nin grinned. Both boys turned back toward the sky and laid in silence next to one another.

Okay. So. What do I do now. Kiba thought to himself. He snuck a glance at Shikamaru's face and saw the ninja had closed his eyes. Maybe he fell asleep? Slowly, Kiba inched toward Shikamaru's still body.

"What are you doing." Came the nonchalant voice from the closed-eyed man.

Shit! Kiba froze. "Um…Nothing." Smooth. He thought, face burning up with embarrassment.

"Nothing, my ass." Shikamaru turned to look at Kiba, who was awkwardly half sitting with his torso closer to Shikamaru than his bottom half. He was uncomfortable but couldn't move due to his embarrassment.

"Um…I was just going to….poke your face." Then he did. He rolled to his stomach and poked Shikamaru right in his cheek. Oh. My. God. I just poked him in the face. Kibas face turned even hotter and he was glad for the dark of night.

Cocking an eyebrow, Shikamaru was silent for a moment before he laughed harder than Kiba had ever heard him laugh. It was a burst of laughter, but coming from the seemingly emotionless Nara, it surprised Kiba. Kiba was stunned for a bit, before he, too, broke out in laughter. His laugh, of course, was louder and more bark-like, but Shikamaru thought it was cute nonetheless.

Wow. He covered himself there. Shikamaru thought to himself, still grinning at the laughing Inuzuka. The dog-nin finally settled down, wiping his eyes that were tearing up. "Heh, sorry. I just…hehe." He sat up and brought his knees to his chest. "Oh man." He said with a smile at the other man.

"You," Shikamaru said as he sat up as well, "are a strange person. But I like it." He turned his smiling gaze to Kiba. Well, guess there's not time like the present to take a change… Shikamaru thought as he scooted closer to his friend.

Did he just sit closer to me? Agh, what do I do now! Kiba was lost so he just looked at the lazy man next to him. The Nara was sitting less than a foot away from him. If he wanted, all he had to do was move his hand and it would be on top of Shikamaru's. All the possibilities of what he should do or could do were floating through Kiba's mind at the speed of light.

"You keep breathing that hard you're going to pass out."

Kiba snapped his head to the man next to him. "What?"

Shikamaru turned and met Kiba's eyes. "Stop thinking about it. Just go with the flow. It always seems to work out better that way." Suddenly Shikamaru leaned in and softly planted a kiss on the dog-nin's cheek. "See?" He whispered against Kiba's skin.

The Inuzuka could feel his face flame up yet again that night. Did he really just do that? Did he really just KISS ME! Oh my God what do I do now? Holy shit! Shit! If his mind was turning before, it was reeling twenty times faster now.

"Calm down, Dogboy." Shikamaru said as he pulled away from Kiba. "You gotta let your mind rest." Shikamaru sat on his knees and pulled out his cigarettes. "I know you hate the smell of these. So I'll see you around." With that he gently pushed the Inuzuka and stood up, pulling out a match and lighting his smoke with it.

As the man walked away, Kiba came to his senses. "Wait!" He said and he started to get up. Shikamaru turned around and cocked an eyebrow in question. "Um…" Kiba put his hand behind his head. "You busy tomorrow?" He smiled, hopeful.

"Nope. Gotta say here for at least a week, remember?" He said, tapping his injured shoulder.

"Ah, yeah. Um…want to hang out? We can train or something." Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes.

"Sure. I'll meet you at the training grounds after lunch. 12:30 work for you?"

"Absolutely. See you then." And with the, the shadow-nin turned, waved and blew a puff of smoke into the night air.

...

It was warm the next day. Not too hot, but good weather for working out in the training ring. The only problem was the dark clouds in the sky. But rain never stopped a ninja before.

Kiba was the first to the training grounds, which didn't surprise him. Akamaru and he began to practice their combined moves. After about 15 minutes of that, Akamaru stopped and turned to the front gate. There was the lazy ninja, sauntering into the ring as if it was the most dreaded thing in his life.

"You alright? You seem kinda down." Kiba called as he walked toward Shikamaru.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's gunna rain soon and rain is just a pain in my ass." Shikamaru waved to the skies.

"Ah, well we can get in a little training before it rains." Kiba smiled and Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Yeah yeah. Let's go." Shikamaru smiled. Kiba smiled and tried to come at Shikamaru but found he couldn't more. What the-ah hell no! The Nara had, of course, trapped the loudmouthed ninja with his shadow.

"Cheater." Kiba said, narrowing his eyes playfully.

"The shadows cover the ground today. There's no way you stand a cha- OW! What the Hell!" Shikamaru let his shadow go because he had just been blown over by the giant white snowball called Akamaru. "Stupid dog!" He scrambled to his feet just as Kiba came at him. The two began to fake fight, falling into a routine of kunai, punches and dodges.

Then there was the rumble of thunder.

"Ah just great." The Nara whined and stopped in his tracks. "I hate rain. It gets everything wet and it's annoying." He sighed.

"Ah, suck it up you big baby." Kiba caught the Nara off guard, knocking him into a wall and pinning him there. That's when the rain started to fall. "Rain can be fun, too, you know." Kiba said with a glint in his eye.

The two young men stood there just watching each other as the rain began to fall around them and on them. Akamaru whined and pawed the ground.

"Go home, boy. I'll be home soon." Kiba said and the giant dog turned and trotted on back to the Inuzuka compound. "I, for one, like the rain. It smells good." Kiba's grip on Shikamaru's wrists loosened, that way, if the Nara wished to leave, he could easily escape.

"Yeah. It does, I suppose. But it makes my hair stick to my face. Like this." Shikamaru said, rolling his eyes up to the hair that was sticking near his eyes. "And by pinning me to the wall, you prevent me from slicking it back." He cocked and eyebrow and slanted his lips in mock disapproval.

"Ah. Well. Lemme help you." You're going too far, Kiba. He's gunna think you're creepy or something. He inched his face closer to Shikamarus and used his nose and cheek to push the wet hair out of Shikamarus eyes and face. He heard the Nara's breath hitch for a moment and inwardly smiled to himself.

"Thanks." Came a shaky whisper. Kiba left his right cheek inches from Shikamaru's right cheek. The gap was closed when Shikamaru turned his face and the boys' faces were flush together. "Kiba." Came a soft whisper.

"Yeah?" A shaky reply.

"What are we doing?" A kiss to where his jaw hinged.

"Training, obviously." A small moment of awkward silence passed between the two ninjas before they both began to quietly chuckle.

"Obviously. Right." Within a crash of thunder, Shikamaru had the Inuzuka on the ground, back to the dirt.

"Oof!" Kiba definitely didn't see that coming. Shikamaru now had his wrists pinned to the ground, not too loose of a grip, either. He looked into the shadow-nin's eyes and cocked his eyebrow and gave him a playfully confused look.

Another crash of thunder and Shikamaru leaned down to Kiba's ear. "I don't like thunder." He said. "It's loud and annoying." Kiba's eyes got big. Shikamaru was actually opening up to him by his own free will. Kiba tugged on his left hand and Shikamaru let it go, putting it next to Kiba's head to hold himself up. Kiba's hand found its way to the top of the Nara's head. He took a deep breath and ran his hand back through Shikamaru's hair, tugging the hair tie out as he went. Another roll of thunder and Shikamaru pressed his head into the crook of Kiba's shoulder. Kiba, out of instinct, pulled lightly on the other boy's hair and held him to his shoulder.

"Thanks." Shikamaru whispered into Kiba's ear. Then he kissed where Kiba's ear met his jaw. Kiba involuntarily let a small moan escape his throat. Oh God damn it. He quickly let out a cough, hoping to cover himself.

"I told you before, just go with the flow." He smiled against Kiba's neck. "Ugh." He painfully groaned as he rolled off of Kiba. "Sorry, nothing against you, but my shoulder aches. Can't hold myself up for too long." He turned his head and smiled, his one hand still loosely holding Kiba's wrist.

"It's alright." Kiba said just loud enough for Shikamaru's ears to catch it over the rainfall. Chance time again. Kiba thought, as he grabbed the hand on his wrist and slid towards Shikamaru's shoulder. He gently laid his head on where the Nara's shoulder met his chest. Slowly, Shikamaru wrapped his arm around Kiba's shoulders, holding him close.

"I still don't know what the hell we're doing." Shikamaru said against the top of Kiba's rain-soaked head.

"Just go with the flow, right Shikamaru?" Kiba tilted his head to look Shikamaru in the eye. He let a smirk adorn his mouth.

"Heh, yeah." Shikamaru replied, kissing Kiba on the forehead. The Inuzuka turned a slight shade of red and tilted his face upwards towards the shadow-nin. Shikamaru, gettings the hint, leaned his head down and lightly brushed his lips against Kiba's.

Kiba, wanting more and no longer able to fully control himself, rolled on top of Shikamaru and firmly pressed their lips together in a demanding kiss.

The shadow-nin, caught slightly off guard from Kiba's actions, regained his composure quickly. He began to kiss back, but with less force than the over excited Inuzuka. Kiba bite Shikamaru's lower lip (harder than he meant to) making the boy gasp in surprise. Kiba took this opportunity to slip his tongue past Shikamaru's lips and taste his mouth.

Shikamaru let Kiba be in control for a few moments, before he took initiative. He grabbed Kiba's hair and pushed inside the boy's mouth with his own tongue. The two began to kiss with the hunger that they had let build up. Kiba began to nip more and more at Shikamaru's lips and tongue, causing the Nara to begin to moan against his mouth.

The boys, who had forgotten about the storm overhead, were soon reminded by a loud crash of thunder. Shikamaru stopped assaulting Kiba's mouth, resting their foreheads together.

"I really don't like thunder," he whispered, a small smile showing on his kiss-bruised mouth.

"Aha. Right. Um…want to come over?" Kiba asked, his breath coming in gasps. The Nara nodded and placed a light kiss to the boy above him, then giving him a light shove.

Kiba rolled off of Shikamaru, adjusting himself as he went as to hide his obvious arousal. Shikamaru, who noticed, chuckled and adjusted himself and got off the ground.

"You," Kiba said, laughter behind his voice, "are covered in mud."

Shikamaru scowled and turned to see his back. Sure enough, his back side was muddy. "You aren't any better, dogboy." Shikamaru said, smiling down at Kiba. The Inuzuka hoped up off the ground and tried to brush himself off to no prevail.

"Stupid mud," he muttered. Looking up, Kiba saw the Nara who was pushing his free hair out of his face. He looks really good with his hair down. Kiba thought, continuing to stare.

The pushing back of the hair stopped as Shikamaru met Kiba's gaze. "You wanna lead the way to your house? I only know where your compound is." Shikamaru smiled and stretched out his hand for Kiba to take.

"Ah. Yeah. Heh. This way." Kiba grabbed the wet hand and began to run towards his house, pulling the Nara with him.