Author:

Hello! So I felt like writing something fluffy and there is not enough of this pairing, so this happened.

Okay time for the 'warnings':

Shikamaru is a little emotional in this XD Not as chilled as usual so probably would be described as OOC. And there will be a ton of 'talking' and 'feelings' and other crap since I wanted a little bit of an actual story and some drama here, although I'm not sure how well it works.

Oh and I guess that the lemony scene might be slightly 'unusual'.

Sometimes things don't always go according to plan, no matter how far you try to plan ahead, no matter how many possible outcomes you think of.

Shikamaru took a deep, angry drag on his cigarette. He was pissed off and scared at the same time, hurting more than he cared to admit. His hands were shaking, his eyes were red and swollen.

Kankuro had left him.

He'd spent years trying to get close to the man, befriending his sister even just for the sake of being that much closer to him. They'd finally warmed up to each other months ago, and had started dating. Or at least fucking, Shikamaru told himself. Now that things were starting to get more serious, Kankuro had decided to run.

Pussy.

Shikamaru angrily ground the butt of his cigarette into an ashtray.

He cared about the sand shinobi more than he would have admitted to anyone but himself. Relationships were troublesome, and when he and Kankuro had started seeing each other they had decided that there would be no attachment, no feelings. Of course, 'just sex' was not that easy for Shikamaru, and he found himself longing to just be in the presence of the puppeteer.

Sighing, Shikamaru immediately lit up another cigarette. If Ino saw him now he would certainly get an earful, and possibly an ass-kicking. He didn't care, though. He needed something to calm him, and other than blowing something up, the only thing he could think of that could relax him in this state was chain smoking.

Kankuro was probably halfway back to his village by now. He had left that morning. Shikamaru had pretty much been alternating between smoking angrily and crying, curled up on his bed, ever since.

There was a knock at the door but Shikamaru didn't bother to answer it. If it was Kankuro, he could fucking stew out there – he deserved it. If it was anyone else, Shikamaru just wasn't in the mood for visitors. They'd try to console him, or tell him to calm down and smoke less, or, even worse, try to encourage him to go and get Kankuro back.

Hours passed before Shikamaru fell asleep on top of the covers, still in his clothing from that morning, emotionally and physically exhausted.

Two and a half weeks had passed since Kankuro had left. For most of it, Shikamaru had moped around, feeling hopeless and empty. He'd gone on a short mission with his team but had barely been useful – he had basically just tagged along. Getting out of bed had been even harder than usual.

The past couple of days had been different, though. He was starting to feel sparks of hope.

He knew deep down that Kankuro cared about him, too, but was just afraid of any sort of commitment. Shikamaru was going to change his mind.

"I would like to request leave and take a vacation in Suna," Shikamaru said to the Hokage as he stood in her office.

Tsunade looked up at him, quirking an eyebrow. "Suna? It's particularly hot there this time of the year."

"I have some personal business there," Shikamaru replied honestly.

"How long do you wish to be?" Tsunade asked.

"I'd like two weeks," Shikamaru replied. He'd have preferred even longer, assuming the sand jounin would take him back at all, but if he rejected him, Shikamaru would only be gone a few days.

"Fine, approved," Tsunade said. "You can deliver some documents to the Kazekage for me while you're at it. You can leave tomorrow."

Shikamaru walked out of the Hokage's office happily. He would have had a bounce in his step if he wasn't, well, Shikamaru. Instead, he lazily walked back home to prepare for his trip.

Suna was even hotter than Shikamaru had expected. After he dropped the documents off at the Kazekage's office he went straight to the foreign guest apartment where he would be staying to take a long, cool shower.

He needed rest after the two day journey, and as much as he wanted to go and see Kankuro he decided to turn in for the night so that he was well rested when he saw the other man.

He woke up early. It was still dark and chilly outside. He could never get used to the rapid temperature changes that this desert village suffered. Nevertheless, he got up and got ready for the day ahead, putting a jacket over his casual clothes until it warmed up.

Shikamaru wandered the dusty streets of Suna for an hour until the sun rose. The exotic scents of the market place relaxed him, the heavy aromas of various types of incense reminding him of the man he would see in a short while.

He knew that Kankuro would be awake early, possibly as early as Shikamaru had been, but he knew he had to wait for the puppeteer to be up and ready before he went there. Things would already be off to a bad start if he pitched up there before the other man had time to take a shower and have breakfast.

Shikamaru was patient enough. He walked around as the streets started slowly coming to life, people milling around, shops opening, food scents filling the air… he would have gotten something to eat if he wasn't feeling so nervous.

When the sun had been up for a while Shikamaru found himself outside of Kankuro's place of residence – a small house that the jounin lived in alone, as nondescript as all of the other sandy buildings.

Taking a deep breath, Shikamaru knocked three times.

He knew that Kankuro would probably take several minutes to come to the door, so he leaned against the wall and stared up at the sky, which was more visible than it usually was in this dusty village.

When the door finally opened, his heart nearly stopped but he turned around to face the taller man. Within seconds, all of his anger and despair from weeks before rose up inside him, returning like a roaring fire, burning its way to his chest.

He pushed past Kankuro, into the small living room.

Kankuro seemed a little taken aback, but closed the door calmly behind him and turned towards the leaf shinobi.

Too late.

A long, thin shadowy spike shot through Kankuro's side, piercing the flesh painfully, and another laced its way through his arm. He cried out at the sudden attack, arching his back as the spikes forced him to remain standing.

Shikamaru glared at him, his hands locked in a seal as he leaned lazily against the opposite wall.

Kankuro's pain-filled gaze settled upon the other man as he grimaced and struggled against the spikes. They were lodged into his flesh, not deeply enough to kill or severely wound him, but deep enough to be god damned painful and keep him from moving.

They stared at each other for a long moment until Kankuro finally got over the shock, anger and adrenaline taking over.

"Shikamaru, what the hell?" he demanded, trying to form chakra strings through the pain.

The spikes, already right through his flesh, pushed in further, causing him to scream.

Once the pain subsided a little he looked over at the leaf ninja again. He noticed that Shikamaru's hands were shaking, and there was an uncertainty in the Nara's eyes. Was his chakra running out already?

Tears spilled from Shikamaru's eyes. He squeezed them shut, trying to force back the stinging liquid, but it seemed there was no stopping it. He pulled his hands apart, releasing the sand shinobi from his technique as he fell to his knees, sobbing.

Kankuro groaned as pain shot through him again as the spikes pulled out of him. He struggled to keep himself upright, holding on to the back of his couch for support.

"Seriously, what are you doing, you asshole?" he managed, clutching at his side where the pain was more severe than in his arm.

Shikamaru continued crying on the floor, not looking up at the older man.

Kankuro was shocked by the other's behaviour. This was why he was so against relationships. Things always got a bit crazy when there were feelings involved. And this was particularly crazy.

As much as he wanted to go over and comfort Shikamaru, Kankuro was pretty pissed off about the fact he'd just been attacked. He looked down to see blood dripping to the floor from both his side and his arm. He needed to tend to his wounds.

Ignoring Shikamaru for now, he went to his bedroom, propping a few puppets near the door just in case the shadow ninja decided to do more insane things. He pulled out a medical pack and started cleaning his wounds, wincing every now and then.

Shikamaru's sobbing eventually died down. What had he done? He hadn't been thinking straight. He's let himself be blinded by anger and had hurt someone he really cared about. If there was any hope of Kankuro taking him back, he had probably destroyed it now.

Still, he owed the puppeteer an apology at least.

He walked dazedly down the hall and stood in the doorway of Kankuro's bedroom.

The sand ninja was just sitting on his bed, staring at the wall. He was shirtless, his wounds expertly dressed.

"I'm so sorry," Shikamaru whispered, his voice hoarse and shaking.

Kankuro looked at him expressionlessly, but when he spoke, his voice had a hint of sadness in it. "Why would you do that?"

Shikamaru looked down at the floor. "I don't know what came over me. I was angry and hurt. I should never have reacted that way."

Kankuro remained silent.

"I've been going crazy without you," Shikamaru said, knowing that it was no excuse. What he'd done was pretty much unforgiveable. How could he have been so stupid? Of all people, he should have been able to think ahead. He'd just been so blinded by emotion.

"Clearly," Kankuro responded dryly. "Okay, fine. You attacked me, you're sorry about it – I can ignore that for now – but what the fuck are you doing here in the first place?"

"I…" Shikamaru couldn't get the words out.

Things really didn't go according to plan when there were so many feelings involved. He hated it.

Kankuro stared at him expectantly.

Shikamaru sighed and looked away. This had all been so much easier in his head.

"If you're not going to say it, it's not gonna happen," Kankuro said, leaning back with a smirk.

"You left me, and now I should be the one to beg for you? If anything, it should be you begging me to take you back," Shikamaru said.

"Well don't act like I didn't think about going back to Konoha and doing just that," Kankuro said.

"How am I supposed to believe that when it seems like you don't care at all?" Shikamaru replied.

Kankuro sighed and patted the mattress next to him, indicating that Shikamaru should sit down. Shikamaru sat, but not as close as the other had indicated. He folded his arms and pouted.

Kankuro burst out laughing. "If I wanted a woman, I'd date one," he said. "Stop sulking. Let's just both be open about our feelings. What do you want?"

"Have I not made it clear?" Shikamaru asked, irritated.

"Fine, I'll start," Kankuro said. "I never wanted a relationship."

Shikamaru's heart sank. He'd been hoping he could change the puppeteer's mind, and yet here he was, being rejected again. He had no one to blame but himself, though – attacking Kankuro surely hadn't helped.

"But," Kankuro continued, "I'm starting to warm up to the idea. I mean, would it really be so bad?"

Shikamaru held his breath.

"I'll admit that you acted kind of insane just now," the puppeteer continued with a chuckle, "but that's what I love about you. You act like you don't give a shit, but you're really passionate."

Shikamaru's heart pounded in his chest. 'Love'? Maybe he didn't mean it that way. He shook his head.

Kankuro scooted closer and wrapped his arm around the younger ninja's shoulders.

Shikamaru's breath hitched in his throat as Kankuro's hand slipped under his shirt and wandered up his stomach towards his chest.

"I'm sorry," Kankuro finally said. "I shouldn't have left. You know that my pride usually comes before anything, so I'm sure you understand how hard it is for me to admit my feelings..."

"You don't have to," Shikamaru said. "Just as long as I can be with you…"

"No, I want to," Kankuro said. He sat on the floor in front of Shikamaru and took the shadow ninja's hands in his. "I tried denying it, but I can't anymore. I want to be with you, Shikamaru Nara, more than anything."

Shikamaru felt a blush creeping up to his face and made no attempt to hide it.

"We're from different villages, which makes it even harder," Kankuro continued. "We can make it work, though. We did before, even though that was different. I don't care. I just want to be with you."

Shikamaru stared down at the other man, a smile tugging at his lips. "Even though I just attacked you?"

Kankuro rolled his eyes slightly and smirked. "Seriously, forget about that for now. It's not too serious. I'll get my revenge later somehow."

Shikamaru sighed, pulling Kankuro back up onto the bed next to him. "You're troublesome, you know."

"I'm troublesome?" Kankuro asked in disbelief.

"Fine," Shikamaru conceded. "We've both been troublesome."

Kankuro chuckled and pulled Shikamaru into a passionate kiss. "I honestly wouldn't have you any other way," he said when they broke apart.

"Me either," Shikamaru replied breathlessly, diving back towards the other man's lips.

He pushed the puppeteer over onto the mattress and sat on top of him, careful of the wounds he had created as he ran his hands along Kankuro's chest.

Kankuro let out a deep groan. He'd wanted to go back to Shikamaru practically since the moment he'd left Konoha, but his pride had stopped him. He was grateful that Shikamaru cared enough to come to him, otherwise he probably would have lost the leaf ninja in a more permanent way.

"Now, I'm sure you can put your shadow techniques to better use," the puppeteer purred suggestively as the leaf ninja ran his hands up and down Kankuro's body.

Shikamaru paused. "What?"

Kankuro smirked and pulled the shadow ninja down towards him. "I'll admit that I've been curious. Show me what you can do."

Shikamaru hesitated. Did Kankuro really want him to use his technique on him, especially so soon after he'd been injured by it?

Kankuro stared up at his lover with his hands behind his head, still wearing that irresistibly sexy smirk.

"Okay, if that's what you want," Shikamaru said nervously. He wove his fingers into a hand seal, not tearing his eyes from Kankuro's as his shadow morphed into two hands, working their way up the puppeteer's torso.

Kankuro felt a cool tingling where the shadow hands touched him. He shifted around, moaning lightly.

Shikamaru blushed. He had no idea his jutsu was so enjoyable. He almost regretted using it on his enemies, but it served its purpose. "Do you like it?" he asked uncertainly.

Kankuro arched into the touches, silently begging for more.

Shikamaru bit his lip as he concentrated on extending the shadows so that there were two more hands. He left the first two on Kankuro's chest, lightly pulling and pinching at the puppeteer's nipples, and sent the two new hands towards the waistband and zip of Kankuro's pants.

The shadowy hands took their time, sliding the pants and underwear over Kankuro's hips slowly as Shikamaru licked his lips and forced himself to concentrate. It proved difficult with Kankuro's cock standing to attention right below him, though.

Kankuro gasped as one of the hands slid around his length and another rubbed at his entrance. The tingling sensation that the shadows provided made the feeling even more intense than usual. He felt as though he might come just from Shikamaru's jutsu. He didn't want that, though. He wanted to feel Shikamaru inside him.

"Stop," he begged, panting hard.

"No," Shikamaru said with a smirk. He formed a different seal with his hands and the shadows retreated, turning into long spikes that hovered over the sand jounin's body.

Kankuro's eyes widened and he tried to squirm away, although Shikamaru was sitting on his legs, making it difficult. "Please, don't," he whispered.

"I won't hurt you," Shikamaru promised.

Kankuro inhaled shakily as a long spike made its way down toward his hips. It was a lot less sharp than they usually were. Its tip was rounded and soft. In fact, it almost looked like…

Kankuro's eyes widened again as he realised what Shikamaru intended do. He let out a breathy moan in anticipation, trying to spread his legs even though Shikamaru still sat on top of them.

"You want it, don't you?" Shikamaru asked with a devilish smile.

Kankuro nodded his head enthusiastically.

The shadowy tentacle made its way to his entrance, pushing right in since Shikamaru had thinned it out enough, then expanding slowly, filling and stretching the puppeteer, making him moan in ecstasy.

Shikamaru was painfully hard at the sight of his shadows doing such things to his cat boy, but he wanted to give Kankuro as much pleasure as possible this way. Concentrating on his jutsu was so troublesome at the moment. He had to stay focused.

He pushed the shadow in and out of Kankuro carefully, his hands shaking from anticipation and also because he was nervous about hurting him.

Tears were leaking from the corners of Kankuro's eyes, which were squeezed shut. Shikamaru panicked for a moment until he heard Kankuro's words between his gasping and moaning.

"So fucking…"

Shikamaru pushed the tentacle in deeper.

"Good!" Kankuro's voice turned into a squeal as Shikamaru pushed even deeper, making the puppet master see stars.

As hard as it was to focus, Shikamaru formed another tentacle and sent it straight into Kankuro's mouth. His chakra wouldn't last much longer, and neither would his concentration since his lust was becoming unbearable, so he was going to make the most of this while he could.

He watched as the sand ninja panted and cried out, sweating and arching his back as the tentacles thrust in and out of him hard.

Shikamaru could feel his chakra ebbing. He pushed the tentacles in harder and faster, determined now to push Kankuro over the edge using only the shadows.

"Shikamaru!" Kankuro cried out between moans. "Shika…"

Shikamaru used up the last of his chakra to force one more tentacle out, wrapping it around Kankuro's cock, making it squeeze and pull.

Kankuro howled in pleasure as he came, splattering up onto Shikamaru's hands as they released the seal, and back down onto his own hips and stomach.

Shikamaru collapsed onto the bed next to Kankuro, tired from using up all of his chakra, but still really turned on.

Kankuro sounded almost disappointed as he asked, "When do you have to go home?"

Shikamaru shifted closer to him and kissed him. "Two weeks."

Kankuro smiled. "That gives us a decent amount of time together, I guess."

"It also gives you enough time to work on a new puppet," Shikamaru replied slyly.

"A new puppet?" Kankuro asked, confused.

"I used my justu on you, now you have to do the same for me," Shikamaru replied, rubbing his clothed cock against Kankuro's damp thigh. "I'm sure your usual puppets wouldn't be up to the task."

Kankuro's face reddened. "No way!"

"It's only fair," Shikamaru said. "Just think of all the interesting pieces you could work on…"

"Well, maybe," Kankuro said, still blushing. "I guess I do have some spare parts lying around and it does sound like a good challenge…"

Shikamaru pulled Kankuro into a warm embrace, grateful that he had Kankuro back. He would definitely make the most of their two weeks together, he thought as they drifted off to sleep.