Taking Time

Tokyo

Naruto sat behind the front desk of the book store. He was staring at the spreadsheet of their days sales. Every minute or two, he'd find himself losing interest in his work and just blankly gazing at the nothingness on the screen. He felt like shit. It had been five days since he'd walked out on Sasuke. He'd replayed the moments of that night over and over again—half the time it wasn't even voluntarily. He'd been a bigger asshole than he'd planned. His true intention had been to just give Sasuke a taste of the cruelty he'd endured for the last year, but he took it too far. He already knew that without even venting about it to someone else. He hadn't even looked at himself in the mirror during his time away. He was ashamed. And, even though he kept showing up to work, his attitude and lack of personality was affecting the entire staff. No one had been approaching him. Naruto could tell that Shikamaru had been controlling the environment so as to give Naruto the space he needed. And as the night came and the third day apart from Sasuke came to a close, Naruto's eyes were read from dehydration and staring at the computer screen too long. He heard the entrance bell for the door ring as Kiba and Temari left. He felt heavy. He wasn't even sure he'd blinked since he'd arrived that morning. He had an untouched cup of coffee that was brought to him when he arrived, but it was full. Oh how the hours seemed to move so quickly, yet, at the same time, not at all.

Naruto finally blinked, releasing stress from his eyes, just as Shikamaru touched his shoulder. With all the strength he had, Naruto moved his pupils to eye the man beside him.

"Ready to go?" Shikamaru asked, all packed up. So, the day was over... Naruto looked ahead at the screen again. He'd accomplished nothing. He hadn't even reconnected with Hinata to send her any of his writing. Not that it mattered anyway. His work wouldn't even make sense. He felt too far gone.

Naruto watched as Shikamaru shut off the computer in front of him and took the nudge to stand up. Leaving the cold cup of coffee in its place, Naruto mustered his remaining energy to follow Shikamaru out of the store. He leaned against the wall, watching as his friend locked up. But, before they continued to walk to Shikamaru's apartment, the ponytailed man stopped and looked at him.

"Naruto?" He asked, and the blonde just looked at him with hooded lids and bloodshot eyes. "I wish you'd explain whats going on to me. I don't feel like I'm able to help you otherwise."

Naruto looked away, closing his eyes in a deep exhale.

"You can't be like this forever. You're an adult—a man." Shikamaru pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lighting one up for himself.

"Want one?" He offered to Naruto, who shook his head in response. Shikamaru shrugged and took a long drag.

"You get what I'm saying, right? I can help you with whatever it is, but you have to let me."

Naruto felt Shikamaru's eyes on him in a studious glare. He opened his mouth, just barely, so he could get something out. "Maybe a drink."

Naruto looked up at Shikamaru and caught the small glimpse of a smirk. Shikamaru was his closest friend, and Naruto knew that the man probably guessed what was going on, but he still respected the blonde enough to not assume. Naruto didn't like feeling disgusting, so maybe Shikamaru could help him bleed out the toxicity that was infecting him.

Shikamaru brought the two of them over a bottle of sake with two small glasses to consume it. Even without taking a sip, Naruto could feel himself wanting to talk to Shikamaru and just confess everything—his mishaps, his judgements, his faults, his fears. Hopefully, Shikamaru would beat him up and then tell him how to fix it. Hopefully.

They sat in silence for a bit. It seemed that Shikamaru was going to let him lead the conversation, which made sense. Naruto, being the confident and outgoing individual he was—it would only be normal for him to speak first. However, he was currently struggling. He couldn't tell if it was because he was so lost in how to bring up the topic or because he was afraid of the reality the situation presented. Shikamaru was a no bullshitter type. He was bound to call it as he saw it. And Naruto knew that he might see something terrible. He sighed.