Troublesome.-Shikamaru love story-

Chapter One: Aftermath.

It's been about two years since the Fourth Great Ninja War. Almost everything was cleaned up as if the war never occured. I wish such a thing never occured. Smiles were seen everywhere as you walked through the village. Families and friends had been reunited to many and others had to deal with the pain. I, being under the 'others' collum, was left a dogless Inuzuka.

I've always heard the loss of your ninken was painful to endure, but nothing you're told can ever prepare you for when it actually happens. I lost my bestfriend and have barely spoken a word since. I tried, but I couldn't speak to anyone. I didn't want to get close to anyone and loose them too. The pain is too great for words so I just keep my mouth shut.

I walked down the streets in Konoha. The sun was setting and shops were closing. I made it to my destination and sighed in relief. The bar was my only escape these days. An escape from my worrying mother, paranoid sister, overprotective brother, and nightmares of Kuramaru's- my ninken's-death. I could drown my sorrows every once in a while and that helped keep me sane. I walked into the dimly lit building and took a seat on an empty stool at the bar. It was pretty empty for a Saturday night, which I was thankful for.

After a round of sake someone slid into the seat next to me. I didn't pay them much attention and ordered another round. "Y'know, you should really kick this nasty habit of your's," a familiar voice came from the no longer vacant bar stool beside me. I poured the drink into the small porcelin cup and looked over to the owner of the voice. Shikamaru sat beside me and although he sat fairly straight he still had that bored-lazy look about him. That is actually one of the things I enjoyed most about Shikamaru. You didn't have to keep up a conversation with him because, most of the time,he was too lazy to keep it up anyways.

"Says the person that smokes a pack a day," I shot back quietly. I know I said I didn't like talking to people, but Shika was different. We were friends growing up, fought beside each other during the war, and he helped me through my worst days after Kura's death. Really, I owed him more than I could repay him, so I figured I'd start paying him back by letting him alone hear my voice. He sighed. "Touche," was all he replied with. He ended up getting a small cup and sharing the sake with me. By the time we were on the sixth round the fuzziness had taken over my senses. I was still in control of myself, but I was much less tense. My sense of danger and the awareness of my surroundings were beyond muddled, though. Shikamaru was still pretty sober, then again he had much less to drink than me.

I began to get really tired and I was especially happy about this because I knew that I would have a blissfully dreamless night. Being fairly out of it, I lay my head on the bar counter and began to doze off. "Ame, c'mon you can't sleep here," Shikamaru said softly. I nodded absentmindedly and he put my arm around his shoulder and lifted me up bridal style. He began to walk and the rocking like feeling lulled me to sleep. I heard him mumble something about being a light weight before I drifted off into blackness. For a few hours I will be in peace.

What I didn't understand was why Shikamaru chose to stay sober all of the time. I knew he saw his fair share of horrors and was suffering just as much as the rest of us. Something in him, though, wanted to suffer, wanted to remember the horrors. I think that is what interested me most about Shikamaru and what made him all the more troublesome.

A/N: I know it was kinda short and a bit boring but it will get better I promise!! If you couldn't tell already, this is going to be a bit on the sad side, but it'll get happy.c: I also don't plan on making it awfully long. My story line is pretty short. Ten chapters maybe not even that. So I hope you enjoy it! Comments are appreciated c:

Also, obviously, I don't own any Naruto characters; just my originals and the story line c: