He had always known, really, that they were fucked up. Naruto and Sasuke were the type of shinobi that thrived off of, and were better because of their weird intricacies and angst-ridden pasts. Their peculiarities made them unique, and set them way apart from the rest. It also made them a hell of an asset when on a mission. Anyway, oddities in a ninja were innate, and expected.
So when he’d first found out about it, he hadn’t wasted any energy on being surprised. He’d just blinked torpidly at Ino, said, “Really?” and went back to inspecting the wafting cirrostratus.
(Later on, he’d supposed that he could have been a little more sympathetic. Ino had been quite aggrieved at the time.)
It had been obvious to him all along, if no one else, the sort of cat-and-dog, magnetic attraction that the Uzumaki orphan and the Uchiha heir had garnered for each other, despite their heated rivalry. He’d been growing quite weary of watching them skirt glances at each other, or hearing them bicker over nonsensicalities like damned lovers. So if the only way for them to be together – whilst sparing Konoha the histrionics and possible mass infrastructural damage – was for Uchiha Sasuke, genius ninja of an ancient, revered clan, to dress himself up in drag that effectively left the male populace drooling and nose-bleeding in his wake, (the irony almost made his head hurt) then so be it.
If Sasuke had to become a pretty, well-mannered girl in order for him to even begin acknowledging his emotions, then that was the way it was going to be. If he wanted to be dominated, protected, and coddled….well, there you had it. If Naruto needed an aloof, yet frail girlfriend to defend and pamper, well then, by all means……
This was not, however, to be taken to mean that Shikamaru understood them, much less identified with them. The shadow manipulator had his issues, but you’d have to hit him multiple times about the head with a very big stick to get him befuddled enough to do something to that effect.
He’d never been one for analysing people anyway – unless he was about to fight them; there, he supposed a modicum of insight was needed – so he didn’t particularly want to comprehend. He could predict that it would be vastly troublesome for one to try to worm his way into either of those two’s heads.
So long as Saki reverted to Sasuke in time for missions; so long as the blond and the brunet maintained their skill and savvy in battle; so long as Chouji didn’t take his cue from the Uchiha, he really had no problem at all.
END
A/N:- WTF??
I, for one, have no idea where that smidgen of ShikaChou at the ending came out from (if indeed it was ShikaChou). I’m partial to ShikaIno myself.
*looks around wildly, before focusing on her target, and pointing a finger accusingly*
Asuka, I blame you.
(And yes, I like long sentences.)