#shikamina

Chapter 115: ShikakuMinato

The Nara were a clan known for their genius and Shikaku was no different, a shining example of every stereotype ever perpetuated about his clan. He had yet to meet a puzzle he couldn’t solve and so the mystery of his soulmate hadn’t even been a particularly hard puzzle; even a child could have solved that one. Konoha’s rising star was sort of hard to miss. From his bright personality to the brilliant yellow of his hair, Namikaze Minato was about as subtle with his emotions as a punch to the face.

Unless he wanted to be of course. The lad was allowed to go on S-class missions for a reason: he was a damn good shinobi.

Being a true product of his clan meant that Shikaku shared all the typical traits, good and bad, so it was no surprise to anyone that he much preferred to take his time about things. He’d figured out that Minato was his soulmate about two years ago but only lately had he begun to roll around the idea that he should maybe inform the other of this development. Minato was eighteen to Shikaku’s twenty and starting to show signs of looking for someone to fall in love with, even if they weren’t his soulmate. The friendship he had developed with Uzumaki Kushina was growing closer and more intimate with every day. Shikaku figured he should probably say something before things got too far; his other half deserved to make an informed choice, after all.

“That was a neat trick you pulled today, Namikaze,” he mumbled, taking a drag of his cigarette before stubbing it out under his boot. His mission partner gave him a smile fit to light up an entire room and Shikaku felt that special place just under his breastbone grow warm with borrowed pride. Minato must really have been touched by the compliment for him to be able to feel it too.

“Ah, it wasn’t much.” Minato rubbed at the back of his head with one hand. “I’ve been working on it for a while now. The jutsu isn’t complete yet, though. When it is I’m gonna call it the rasengan and it’s gonna be amazing!”

“I don’t doubt that.”

Lounging back against the tree they were sitting in, munching on a handful of soldier pills each in place of an actual lunch, the two of them remained silent for a few more minutes while Shikaku tried to plan out the best way to bring up the subject. Just springing it on the other man unexpectedly might scare him off or something. Genius though he might be, Shikaku had never been a fan of situations that needed delicate handling.

“Do most Nara not feel things really intensely or is that just you?”

Shikaku blinked, nonplussed. “What do you mean?”

“It’s just, I rarely ever feel very much from you and I wondered if that was because you have really good control over your emotions or if it’s just a clan thing.”

“You never…feel much from me?”

“Oh, did you not know that we’re, uh, soulmates?”

“Since when do you know?” Shikaku had to stop himself from gaping at the younger man, completely taken aback. He quickly began to comb back through his memories to see if there had ever been some sort of indication that Minato knew about their connection. Nothing jumped out at him and that was incredibly surprising. How could someone like him miss the all the signs?

Minato offered him an easy smile and a breezy laugh, one which had earned him several date offers that he never seemed to accept. Shikaku had never thought to question why. Like everyone else, he’d been taken in by the genuineness of that laugh.

“How fun, I can feel your surprise! It wasn’t all that hard to figure out, really. Just because you rarely ever show extreme emotions doesn’t mean it never happens. Just my luck I usually happen to be around during those times so I could make the connection.”

“Well I’ll be damned.” Shikaku leaned back against the tree and simply stared blankly at his companion for a minute or so. Minato looked back without a hint of smugness in that genial expression, only the faint curiosity which had driven him to ask his question in the first place. When it became clear that he wouldn’t be getting any answer until Shikaku had worked through a few thoughts inside his head, Minato shrugged.

“Perhaps we should be getting back. If you like, maybe we can talk about this more later? Over dinner?”

His smile as he leapt down from the branch they were resting on was all cheek this time. Shikaku watched him go, unable to move at first, until gradually he began to shake his head from side to side in amused bewilderment. Never in a hundred years would he have guessed that Minato had figured it all out already. Yet, he realized that he should have guessed it. After all, the Nara clan weren’t the only geniuses in Konoha.