What A Drag... || Shikamaru x reader

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Edited: 30/05/24

Reuploaded: 06/06/24

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I found myself having a large group escorting me to the front gate even after resisting.

This is... kind of annoying? I just wanted to step into a shadow and disappear but here I am.

"Alright, really, I must dash or I'm not going to be able to get to the halfway point like planned," I spoke up, walking into the shadow of the gate before feeling someone grab my wrist, "tch—what now?"

"Don't do anything rash," it was Shikamaru, I looked at him with a brow raised.

"Why should you care anyway?" I asked before finally getting into the shadow and disappearing.

Shikamaru's PoV

"Why should you care anyway?" y/n asked me, pulling back a bit and then disappearing, my hand falling as if nothing was there to begin with.

"Why should I—women are so troublesome sometimes it just goes over my head," I mumbled before walking away.

"Shikamaru has a crush on y/n~" Ino cooed from where she was stood. I sighed.

"Whatever," I muttered before walking away. It's not that I do or don't have a crush on her. I don't really know what this feeling is, actually.

Sometimes it's there.

Sometimes it's not.

One thing I can say is that she's a good pillow and I don't want to lose that because she did something stupidly reckless.

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Half a day later_

Your PoV

I reached my destination. A small house in the Land of Waves.

Knocking on the door, I waited, about a few minutes pass when shuffling finally reached the door. It opened to reveal a lady who was the perfect definition of a mess. Her hair was tatty, her clothes were all wrinkled and creased, her Jinsukeet hanging off her shoulder. Her eyes had dark bags underneath them and she was holding a bottle of alcohol in one hand.

"Oh, it's just you," she muttered, walking away from the door. I took that as a 'come in or whatever' sign and walked in, closing the door behind me. Her house was in even worse shape that she was.

I know it's been a while but damn just what on earth has happened here?

"Hello, Honoko," I greeted her. She just threw herself onto the sofa. I sighed and grabbed the bottle away from her, pouring the rest of the liquid down the sink and then throwing the bottle away. Then I started to clean the house up while she just silently stared forward.

"How can she live in this dump?" I muttered to myself in a disappointed tone.

Once I'd finished cleaning, I grabbed a glass of water and forced her to sober up. When she did she just gave me a bored expression.

"Why are you here, brat?" she asked me.

"You're calling the girl who cleaned up your house and stopped you from ruining yourself a brat now? Wow, Honoko, you've really sunken pretty low," I told her not even trying to hide my disappointment now. I sat with my heels tucked under my butt, on the floor opposite her.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Why're you here?" she asked, now quite obviously bored with me.

"I need your help in training me," I told her, she looked taken aback for a moment.

"By training, you mean, you and f/n have settled?" she asked, I nodded, "where?"

"Konohagakure."

"What's the purpose of the training?"

"The chuunin final exam," I told her.

"You're a ninja?" she asked, I pointed at my headband, "Alright. Explain everything."

"Understood," I nodded and then started to do so, "we arrived in the leaf village a few years ago now, when I was nine. I was sent to the academy and my Dad reconnected with old friends and became a ninja again. I graduated and became a genin a few months ago. Now I'm in the final stages of the chuunin exam. I have a month to train and become better."

She stayed silent. Then she stood up and turned away.

"I can't help you."

Those words stabbed me like someone was throwing kunai after kunai at me when I was tied down.

Disappointment after disappointment here.

"I see..." I stand up and walk to the door, I opened it and before I left I turned to her and smiled, "I should tell you that I have my trigger and I'm able to use all my families jutsu. That's why I'm here. I came here because you, Honoko, are the best person to teach me how to manipulate this in my own way. Different to my Dad and my Mother and their parents before them."

She froze and looked at me shocked.

"What can I do? You've said no, so I've got to do this alone," I sighed before leaving the house.

Honoko is a friend, we met her a while back, when I was 7 we got caught in a pretty bad storm and she found us all and took us in. Allowing me and my Dad to stay and rest for a while at that point it'd been a few months since my Mother was killed and both of us were still a bit of a mess.

Back then she was kind, and we became good friends with her. I'm fairly sure that I only liked her because her house was on a cliff looking over a beach that was extremely beautiful early in the morning and late in the evening.

It hasn't changed, even now, looking out over the cliffs edge, sure it seems a bit dreary because there aren't any flowers like there used to be, but it still had its charms.

"Y/n," Honoko's form appeared in the doorway, I watched her, "I'll train you. You said you've got a month right? There's no time to waste. Throw your stuff in there and meet me on the beach."

I smiled.

"Alright! Thank you so much, Honoko sensei!"

"We need to get rid of that right now. Just Honoko, no sensei. Just Honoko," she repeated before walking down the cliff side. I threw my stuff in her house and started to make my way down to where she stood, waiting on the beach.

Dad's going to be pretty jealous when I tell him that I've seen Honoko and he hasn't. I can't wait to get back.