Work Text:
“Shika!”
Shikamaru doesn’t need to turn around to know who that voice belongs to. Letting out a sigh, he lowers his head right as Naruto practically flings himself onto him.
“What do you want, Naruto?”
Naruto squeezes his arm around Shikamaru a little harder, jostling him a bit with his excitement.
“Well,” Naruto takes a pause, “I was wondering if you wanted to go camping together!”
Shikamaru raises a brow, finally turning his head toward Naruto, who in turn, beams at him, earning another sigh from Shikamaru.
“Camping? Why would I go camping with you?”
“Come on, Shika~... You’re free right?”
“No.”
“Liar!”
Shikamaru mutters under his breath before walking out of Naruto’s hold and turning to face him. The overly stuffed backpack on Naruto’s back makes it clear he won’t be able to get out of this. And the subtle gleam of sweat on his forehead is a sign that he has probably asked and been rejected by everyone he knows.
“What a drag.. But fine, I guess I can go. But why do you even want to go camping anyway?”
Naruto jumps from joy, “cause camping’s fun! Plus, I don’t wanna spend my free time alone!”
“So you’re spending it with me,” that’s the last thing the Nara wants. More time with Naruto means more trouble, more trouble means more unnecessary work.
Naruto lets out a hum, “okay, let’s go. You don’t need to pack cause I already got everything we need in my bag!”
Shikamaru doesn’t trust that but whatever, he’s not gonna pack a bag if he doesn’t have to. He puts his hands in his pockets and follows Naruto who is somehow already relatively far away. He has a feeling this is going to be a long camping trip.
—
“So, Naruto, how far are we exactly going?” Shikamaru asks.
“It’s not that much further, I found this spot earlier when I was training.”
“If you say so.”
The sun was now setting and the sky was an orange hue. Right as Shikamaru was about to complain, Naruto suddenly takes off. Shikamaru quickly runs after him yelling a brief “hey,” before Naruto abruptly stops, almost causing Shikamaru to run right into him.
“Here! Isn’t it nice?” Naruto spreads his arms out, presenting the place.
Shikamaru takes a moment to take in his surroundings. They’re standing in a good sized empty spot in the middle of the forest with a small river beside them that gives some nice background noise. He has definitely seen better but this isn’t bad.
“Hm, pretty good spot for an idiot like you.”
“Hey!”
Shikamaru walks over to Naruto and takes off his backpack. Shikamaru takes the tent and places it to the side before assessing what Naruto packed. There is a lighter, some snacks and water, and that’s it.
He can already feel the headache forming and face palms.
“Naruto, is this all you brought?”
Naruto kneels down with Shikamaru, “umm, yeah? Is there a problem?”
Sighing, Shikamaru looks at their supplies, “no, I just thought there’d be more.”
“Hm, well don’t complain about what I brought! At least I brought some stuff unlike you!”
Shikamaru, now frustrated and yelling, “that’s because you told me you had everything!”
Naruto pretends to think, putting a hand to his chin, “hm.. Don’t remember!”
Shikamaru lets out an exasperated sigh, “whatever, let’s just set up for the night.”
Shikamaru went out to get some firewood and left Naruto to set up the tent. After getting as much wood as he could carry, Shikamaru leisurely made his way back to camp. As he approaches, he can hear some struggling noises.
The first thing that came to mind was an enemy attack so Shikamaru picked up the pace. The noises got louder the closer he got and he could now hear some shuffling.
“Naruto! What’s ha-” the firewood he collected drops to the ground.
“Shikamaru! Help me!” Naruto struggles out.
“You fool..Seriously?”
Naruto chuckles sheepishly, giving Shikamaru a nervous smile. Naruto is tangled in the tent, the material twisting all over him.
“You’re a ninja. Stuck in a tent.” Shikamaru deadpans.
“Hey! This is harder than it looks!”
“Getting tangled in the first place is hard!”
Naruto huffs, “whatever, just help me out, okay?!”
“I should just leave you here,” Shikamaru says while walking over.
“But you wouldn’t!” Naruto teases.
Shikamaru takes a moment to figure out a way to untangle Naruto from this mess but it doesn’t take long and Naruto is quickly freed.
“Yay! Thank you, Shikamaru!’
“What a drag..I’ll set up the tent instead, you go pick up the wood over there and start the fire. I can barely see it’s so dark now.” Shikamaru orders.
“Okay!”
However, right as Naruto is running off, he trips on the tent he was just freed from and lets out a yelp. Shikamaru has no time to react before Naruto topples on top of him, making them both fall to the ground.
The wind is knocked out of Shikamaru but he quickly recovers. He can hear Naruto let out a pained grunt. Shikamaru opens his eyes to find Naruto on top of him, their faces incredibly close. Naruto has his hands planted on Shikamaru’s chest.
Naruto slowly cracks open his eyes, “ouch..Are you okay, Shika?”
Shikamaru is about to let out a snide remark but for some reason nothing comes out of his mouth once his eyes start to focus. Naruto’s face has a slight blush to it, probably from embarrassment. His lips are slightly parted and his eyes are slightly watery, giving a noticeable shine to them.
Naruto seems to now notice how close they are and his blush becomes more prominent, “sorry-sorry Shika..Shikamaru!”
Shikamaru remains silent as Naruto quickly sits up, moving to straddling him instead and Naruto’s hands naturally move down to Shikamaru’s stomach with the movement.
Time seemed to pause for Shikamaru, he’s never felt this flustered or entranced by someone before. Has Naruto always been this pretty? How come he never noticed this before? No, this is Naruto. He can’t like Naruto in THAT way. No way. Impossible.
“Hey, can you move? You’re hurting my hip,” Shikamaru manages to say, his voice miraculously coming back.
Naruto scrambles off and Shikamaru stands up, dusting himself off, “what a drag.”
“Sorry..” Naruto rubs the back of his neck, still red.
“It's fine, idiot. Let’s just hurry, I’m hungry and getting tired,” that must be an explanation for earlier, he’s tired. Of course he’d never think of the idiot that way.
Shikamaru turns away, and both of them silently go back to completing their jobs and sooner or later they’re done. Shikamaru set the tent up quickly, it was very simple, making it even more confusing on how Naruto ended up messing it up.
“Here, Shikamaru,” Naruto says, holding out a snack bar as he sits by the fire.
“Thanks,” Shikamaru moves to sit next to him.
They eat in silence before Naruto shivers, “it’s getting kinda cold, isn’t it?”
“I guess, but we’ll be fine. We have the tent and sleeping bags, actually, where are the sleeping bags?”
“Well actually..” Naruto trails off.
“What.”
“Um..” Naruto looks away, “actually, we just have the tent..”
Shikamaru just stares, dumbfounded. He should’ve never agreed to this.
“Okay.” Shikamaru stands up, “I’m going to bed.”
“What? Already?”
“Yes, I’m tired. Put out the fire before going to bed, goodnight.”
“Aren’t we gonna like, you know.. hangout..?”
Shikamaru ignores him and goes into the tent. It’s big enough for two people so he claims one side. He flops down, it’s slightly uncomfortable from the lack of bedding but it will do. Shikamaru closes his eyes, and he falls asleep before he knows it.
—
Shikamaru is suddenly awakened by light tapping on his shoulder. He opens one eye to look at who is bothering him and to no surprise, it’s Naruto. Shikamaru lets out a sigh, and turns away from Naruto, burying his face in his arm.
“Shikamaru…” Naruto quietly calls out.
When he gets no response he tries again but louder, “Shikamaru..!”
“What.”
“Aren’t you cold?”
Shikamaru turns his head a little to get a look at Naruto. The blond looks freezing, curling into himself trying to preserve body heat.
“Not really,” and with that Shikamaru goes back to sleep, or attempts to.
“Shikamaru!”
“What! Can’t I get a moment of peace?”
Naruto contemplates for a moment, a slight blush like the one from before spreads across his face.
“I can’t sleep..” Naruto drawls out nervously, “it’s seriously cold.”
“What do you want me to do about it? You’re the one who forgot the sleeping bags, remember?” Shikamaru reasonably responds.
“Well, I was wondering if we could sleep together, y’know? You’re probably cold too! We’d both be benefitting!’
“What?” Now it’s Shikamaru’s turn to blush, albeit, not as noticeable as Naruto’s.
“It’d be practical! Believe it!”
Shikamaru stares at Naruto, thinking. There aren't really any cons to it, if they slept together they could keep each other warm so Naruto is right about that. There’s also a part of him that is jumping at the idea of sleeping and cuddling with Naruto.
“Gah, whatever, come here.”
Naruto looks at Shikamaru with surprise that he actually agreed, “well? Are you gonna come here or what?”
“Ok-Okay! Thanks, Shika!” Naruto quickly scrambles over and lays next to Shikamaru.
The pair lay there shoulder to shoulder, the awkward feeling prominent in the atmosphere. Shikamaru has his head turned away, trying to go back to sleep quickly before a warm arm snakes its way around his neck.
Shikamaru whips his head toward Naruto only to find the other already looking at him, blushing. Naruto, ignoring Shikamaru's stare, buries his head into Shikamaru’s neck.
Shikamaru can feel Naruto’s breath on his neck and he can’t help but stare more intensely at the blond. Naruto looks just as he did earlier when they fell, captivating. Shikamaru slowly moves his arm so he’s holding Naruto, his hand making its way to entangle itself in the other’s hair.
Naruto cuddles deeper into Shikamaru’s hold and Shikamaru swears his heart just skipped a beat. It’s unbelievable to Shikamaru that the person causing him to feel all of these emotions is Naruto.
Unpredictable impulsive idiot Naruto.
Shikamaru runs his fingers through Naruto’s hair and it’s surprisingly soft. Then he hears it, soft purring from Naruto.
“What a drag..”
Eventually, both of them fall asleep.