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tampered2006-11-11 09:21 pm
violentflutist.livejournal.com) wrote in tampered2006-11-11 09:21 pm
Log; Complete
When; November 9th, Victorian Day
Rating; PG-13
Characters; Tayuya {![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
violentflutist} & Shikamaru {lazy_kage_mane}
Summary; Tayuya, annoyed that she cannot best Shikamaru in combat, settles for annoying him in any way she can.
Log;
He sighed as he walked across the room to flop down in the overstuffed (and often over-used) recliner. Leaning his head back against the coolness of the leather, he rubbed long fingers across the bridge of his nose. This was most definitely the most troublesome thing he had dealt with in awhile. The strange Victorian clothes were troublesome, the fact that his apartment was messy was troublesome, and the fact that he was mostly out of food was troublesome. Especially since Ino wasn't home and Chouji was out with that new girl Toph. Which meant that he would have to cook. And Nara Shikamaru did NOT cook. But above all those troublesome things loomed one that put them all to shame. Tayuya. The girl made no sense to him. One moment she was gloating, calling him "homo", and breaking his bones; the next, asking him to help her get undressed. He groaned and closed his eyes. Mendokuse...
Tayuya couldn't wipe the smirk off her face as she ascended the stairs of building five. Well... she could, but only long enough to curse at the dress she was in, that was constantly getting in her way. But the smirk would quickly resume. Why? Because she as bothering Shikamaru. If it was one thing in this world that irked her, it was that she couldn't beat him. And oh, she wanted to kill him. Badly. Almost as bad as she wanted to kill that bitch from Sand. But she couldn't. No matter what she blamed it on, they couldn't decide a winner in combat. So she couldn't just let him complacently sit about. Oh no. She'd need to at least make his life miserable, if she couldn't kill him. Some would call that petty. Tayuya called it just desserts. Finally reaching the door to the apartment she was looking for, she took a last glance at her appearance. These clothes... Victorian, or whatever the shit they were, was very constricting. The corset turned her waist, which was usually solid, maybe stocky, in appearance, into an hourglass shape, accentuating the hips and breasts. And... Breathing was difficult, not to mention the goddamn bustle attached to her ass. It was awful. But... if she played her cards right, she might getsome enjoyment out of the day. Finally wiping the smirk from her face, she knocked.
The lazy Chuunin glanced up at the knock at the door, a frown spreading across his angular features. She wouldn't...Well, he amended his thoughts. Maybe she would... Hoisting himself off of the chair, he reached over and snagged a pair of dark green pants that were nearly black and looked almost like they were made of soft leather. Swearing softly, he finally managed to figure out the complicated fastener and get the godforsaken things on. Shrugging his shoulders into some sort of shirt with a frilly ruffly collar thing on it, he fastened the bottom few buttons, leaving most of his chest bare. Running a hand through loose black hair, he hastily pulled it up into its customary ponytail and pulled the door open.
She had considered tapping her foot and knocking again, but just as she had raised her hand to do so, it opened, revealing just the man she wanted to see. Nara Shikamaru of Konoha. She twisted her lips into a smile, trying not to display how strained it was. "Good afternoon." She said, eyeing him up and down. He certainly did look as if he had just tugged on his clothes mere seconds before, but, she had to admit, he didn't look half bad. God, he'd grown. ... And saying that made her feel stupid. But he had. She'd been older than him before. Now she was younger. Another thing to irk her. But she kept smiling, reminding herself that she wasn't cursing right now. "Are you going to invite a lady in?" She asked, crossing her arms under her chest, which didn't help, considering with the corset that they were already quite displayed.
It WAS her. Tayuya of Sound. His slightly bored look turned into one of mild irritation and aggravation that simply screamed "troublesome". What was the girl doing here anyway? She didn't honestly expect him to trust her? OR to help her remove that...thing she was wearing. Dark brown eyes flickered slightly down as she crossed her arms, quickly snapping back to her face. He'd forgotten how those corset things made breasts so much more ... prominent. Not a good thing when women already used those things as a method of manipulation and psychological warfare. Leaning against the doorframe, he raised one black eyebrow sardonically and tucked a stray strand of black hair behind hi his ear. "Lady? What lady? I just see you. And I don't normally invite the enemy into my house."
"You might need to check your eyes, sir?" She kept the smile on her face. "But if you'd like, we can just refer to me as a female." Ah, so generous. "Since I do believe you cannot contest that fact." One eyebrow rose and the smile took on the slightest qualities of a smirk. "Now, perhaps if I ask more politely? Would you please invite me in? I wish to talk, and I don't relish doing that in this hallway."
He rolled his eyes slightly. What was she up to, anyway? Not only had she not said a single swear word, she was being polite. Tayuya? Polite? The two words were mutually exclusive in Shikamaru's mind. And besides which, what could she possibly have that she wanted to talk about? He sighed, ignoring the portion of his brain that spoke up with two facts. One, Tayuya did, in fact, look like a lady at the moment. And two, that perhaps she really DID just want to talk. The small portion of his cerebral network was readily beaten into submission by the larger and more suspicious portion that assured him that as an Otonin, as well as a woman, she OBVIOUSLY had to have some ulterior motive. He sighed and stepped aside.
"I'll at least grant that you LOOK female. Though as to whether you are or not, I don't really care." Ignoring her, he stalked back inside before folding his lanky form back into his favorite chair.
"Why, thank you." She bustled in after him, rather annoyed at the fact that, yes, indeed, she was forced to bustle. This dress was far too impractical, though she had to admit, the red color was rather nice. She dropped the small bag she had been carrying in the crook of her elbow at the side of the couch, sitting down slowly and carefully. Everything in this dress was slow and careful. The bag contained a change of clothes, men's clothes she'd commandeered. She had the full intention of having him help her out of this damn dress, because she wanted out of it. She would have asked Sakon or Ukon, maybe even Orochimaru, but the discomfort she'd seemed to cause the man when they'd had a sexual conversation had been too much bait for her. She had to take it. "Now," She began, folding her hands in her lap, remembering everything one of her teachers had taught her. "Would you tell me about Konoha? Not, about it per se, but about the people?"
If she thought his eyebrows had risen before, now they hit his hairline. He cocked his head to one side, leaning back and studying her with a leveled chocolate gaze. "You're serious? You prance into my house, take over my couch, and expect me to give intel to my enemy? You really DO have some screws loose, you know. Besides, why would you want to know about the people of Konoha other then to use that information against us. You're not exactly trustworthy, you know. Not to mention, we're at war. If you haven't forgotten."
"Not that sort of information, Shikamaru." She pursed her lips, trying to think of a way to phrase it. Of course, this was all just a precursor into what she was really here for, but she was slightly curious, even without the motive. "The information- you know, like... why you people are so..." She fished for a word. "Good." Crossing her ankles, she smiled. "Like, for example, your Yondaime keeps trying to redeem Orochimaru. And your friend Chouji keeps trying to redeem Sakon and me. What makes you Konoha ninja like that? Most ninja wouldn't care."
He smirked slightly. "Don't confuse me with Chouji or the Yondaime. I'm not like them, or Naruto or Sakura. Why don't you ask them? Why come and bother me about it?" Brushing yet another errant strand of hair from his face, he gave an exasperated sigh and yanked the tie out of his hair, sending the mass of black falling down around his face to brush his shoulders. Closing his eyes slightly, he ran hands through it, regathering it into its usual spiky ponytail, then changed his mind and simply pulled it all together at the nape of his neck.
"Why?" She gave a small laugh. "Why, because I see your friend Chouji is no where to be found at the moment, and your Yondaime seems to want nothing to do with me after I suggested blowing him up was not an entirely horrid idea." God, but this acting polite was going to kill her before anything else did. "And you, Shikamaru, are right here, and you let me into your home. Which tells me that perhaps you don't just wish to see me dead. Again."
He shrugged. "Would you like someone who suggested blowing you up was a good idea? And I think that saying I don't wish to see you dead might be a bit premature. Can't say I'd be broken-hearted, given the circumstances. After all, I distinctly seem to remember that the last time we met, you cracked three of my ribs, dislocated my shoulder, broke my collarbone in 4 places, and punctured 2 holes in one of my lungs."
"And you stabbed me through the neck, the right lung, and the gut." She tried to keep the grimace off her face. "So I think it might be fair to say we're even on that account." And the fact that they had been even drove her crazy. "I'm not here to fight you."
"Then why are you here? I fail to believe it's solely for the pleasure of my company, as Ino often tells me that it's somewhat lacking." He leaned foreword, folding long fingers and resting his pointed chin on them, elbows on his knees. "Why do you want to know what makes us the way that we are?"
"Because it makes no sense." She answered bluntly. "And I like things to make sense." She leaned forward as well, though with her dress the way it was, the effect was rather more... busty, than his was. "It makes no sense to me why the people of Konoha raise so many soft-hearted ninja. Kindly enlighten me?"
He smiled, though it was a smile laced with some degree of sarcasm. "Why, so you can use it against us? But then again, I suppose that since you're going to use EVERYTHING that I say against us, where's the harm in it. Not as though I'm going to be giving you any intel that would compromise Konoha." He leaned back, stretching long arms over his head and folding his hands behind his neck. "You wanted to know why Chouji and the Yondaime are constantly trying to "redeem" you? Well, that's just the way they are, I guess. I never knew the Yondaime, he died the year I was born. But Chouji..."
He paused, a small smile on his face as he thought of his friend. "Chouji is a kind soul. He's not a cynic like me. He's the sort of gentle person who frees butterflies from spider webs. The sort of person who just wants to see everyone smiling and happy. You probably wouldn't understand that."
"You're right, I don't." God, but she wanted to lean back, but the damnable dress wasn't having any of that. "I can't even imagine why someone would be happy just because they made someone else happy. There's nothing in there for you, so why do it?" Sensing something, she probed. "But you two seem close. Must be nice, having selfless friends."
He raised an eyebrow, looking at her quizzically. "If you don't care about anything but yourself, then why do you fight? Because it's an order? Why follow someone you don't admire?" He grinned slightly. "Yeah, we're close. And it is nice. Unlike the "friendships" that you Otonin seem to have, I don't have to worry about Chouji stabbing me in the back. I can count on him, and count on him to be there to back me up when I need it. It must get lonely, not having someone you can trust like that."
"Maybe it does get lonely?" She was about to lie through her teeth. "I follow Orochimaru-sama because if I don't, I die. Simple as that. He raised us to be his fighting force, and if we fail, we are nothing to him. We would be disposed of. And I value my life even more now that I've lost it before." She took a moment to actually think about what he'd said. She didn't think Sakon or Ukon would betray her, nor Kidoumaru or Jiroubou. But she didn't trust Kimimaro and Kabuto one bit, and Orochimaru only as long as she followed orders. At least... she didn't think they would betray her... "And the Sound Four won't betray me." She spoke up, though an obvious waver had come to her voice, as if she were trying to deny it to herself as much as to Shikamaru.
He caught the waver in her voice. "Oh really? You don't seem too sure of that. You believe that they'd sacrifice themselves to ensure your safety? That if you were in danger, they'd risk everything to help you?" He got up out of the chair and headed over to the kitchen. Pulling open the fridge, he pulled out two cans of soda, tossing one to her. "Here." A simple gesture nonetheless, but still something akin to hospitality. "So you follow Orochimaru because if you don't, then you die. Seems to me like a lousy reason to follow someone. You sacrifice your own dignity, your own morals, even your own wishes, for someone who cares less for them then he does for a bug crushed under his feet. You know why Konoha shinobi are different? They don't follow the Hokage because if they don't, she'll kill them. They follow her because they admire and respect her, because they know that, were Konoha attacked, she'd put herself between them and the attackers without a second thought. THAT is true loyalty. Not the fear that Orochimaru rules with."
"I'd rather live like that than try and escape and be killed!" She snapped, though most of the sting was out of her voice as she caught the soda and held it clasped tightly between her hands. "And if I try and betray him, he'll find out!" Now she'd throw in a trump card. A piece of utter truth. "Kabuto tried to keep his relationship with your medic a secret and look what it's getting him. The minute he comes back to the City Orochimaru is going to do something. I don't know what, but it won't be pleasant, I assure you." She lowered her gaze. "That's not going to happen to me." His words were striking too close to home. Those that are being used do not take kindly to being told as such.
"You're afraid." He popped the top on the soda and leaned back, letting the cool liquid slide down his dry throat. "So afraid of losing your life that you're willing to sacrifice everything that makes you who you are and turn yourself into nothing but an empty shell of a person. Tell me, what point is a life if you don't enjoy it? If every aspect of it, every facet and portion, is what someone else makes of it? If none of it is YOU? You laugh and say that Chouji is nothing but a weak fatass, and ridicule him for that. But he's stronger then any of you, because no matter what you say to him and no matter how much you beat him down, he'll never compromise who he is because of it."
"Besides." He set the drink down on the coffee table. "You say Kabuto will be punished by Orochimaru for his relationship with Shizune. But I bet if you asked Kabuto, he'd tell you that it would be worth it."
"..." She stared intently at her soda can, finally moving to pop the top and stare instead at the fizzing liquid for several moments before taking a drink. "Kabuto," she began, "would tell me it was none of my business. And besides, I bet he won't think it's worth it once Orochimaru is through with him." She frowned. "No "love" is worth that." Love was such a stupid thing to be involved in.
"Oh really? Fine then, don't think of it in terms of love. I'm sure that, even if just for a short time, there was a point in your life when you were happy. When you didn't live with the fear of Orochimaru's wrath hanging over you. A time when the world was "right" for you. If you had that again, wouldn't you fight to keep it? Wouldn't you try to hang onto it and treasure it?" He took another sip of soda, with a small "hmph". "No love is worth that, huh? I guess if you've never really HAD love, you might think that way. Can't say I know what it's like to be in Kabuto's situation. But as for love being worth fighting for, I know a couple of people who would disagree with you. One loves someone who hates her. Someone who blames her for all of the pain and suffering he's had to face. Most people would give up on someone like that. But not her. She just smiles and keeps on loving him. And I know someone else, who's been searching for the person that they love for 5 years. Even though that person has thrown it back in their face and stepped on those feelings countless times."
He sat back in the chair and sipped his soda, somewhat amused at how distressed she seemed. Shikamaru was no fool, he knew very well that she'd likely come over to try and make his life difficult in one way or another, and it felt somewhat good to know he had gotten under her skin and turned the tables.
She was frowning, malcontent showing on her face. "There was never a time I can think of when I was the kind of happy you're talking about." And thinking back, there wasn't really. She could remember a drunken father, being sold, running away, living on the streets, and then being found by Orochimaru. Not much in the way of the happy childhood. "Those people you're talking about, they'd be better off not loving. You just said how painful it was. Why willingly involve yourself in something painful if you can help it?" She took a sip of her drink, trying to lean back, but when her breath hitched in her throat, damnable corset, she sat back straight again. "I can't say if I'd fight for that stuff, because I don't have it."
He frowned slightly. Never happy? He didn't think that was possible. "I'm not talking about the sort of happiness that lasts. Even something as fleeting as an afternoon where you didn't have to worry about where the next attack was coming from, when you could just enjoy yourself. And yeah, I used to think they should just give up. Why worry about something so troublesome. But I asked one of them about it once. "Why keep chasing after him when he abandoned you and repeatedly steps on your feelings?" And he told me that sure, that was true. But that when he thought of the other's smile, and about how he felt when they were together, that he'd be willing to risk everything just to have that again for a moment."
Threading his fingers together in front of him, he queried further. "I'd wager to say that you didn't have a happy childhood. Orochimaru doesn't tend to take interest in those who don't have anything to be angry about. Who don't want to make the world pay for their pain. Too bad, I guess. Maybe you'd be different if you had. But don't you think, if you'd had a family that loved you, that CARED for you, and friends who didn't turn on you to look out for themselves, that you'd fight to keep that?"
"Maybe..." She paused. If she'd had... a loving family? If her father hadn't been a drunk, if her mother hadn't just sat around crying all the time and getting the shit beat out of her? If they hadn't sold her to that place, if she hadn't had to live on the streets. She looked away. She could remember one time, one time, when she had looked in a window and seen a family eating dinner. Laughing, talking, sharing... She shook her head forcefully. "Maybe I would." She whispered. She sighed, leaning back once more, and being forced straight by the compression in her lungs. Setting her soda down, she muffled a curse, trying to reach around her back and grab the laces that eluded her fingers. "God- would you please help me change?" She grit out, straining to reach the red laces. Tayuya had no idea why these people had made clothes you couldn't get yourself out of.
He couldn't help the snicker that crept past his lips. So he'd been right. All of the conversation was mostly just a ruse to hide the REAL reason why she was here. She couldn't get out of her clothes. He shook his head with a smirk. "How did you get INTO it in the first place, if you can't get out of it now?"
"I was wearing this when I woke up!" She protested his amusement. "I fell asleep in my clothes last night and they turned into this!" She bit her bottom lip, using her other hand to force her right elbow up, still trying to catch hold of the laces. "And Orochimaru won't help me, and Sakon and Ukon just laughed at me."
He, for some reason, found that to be an entirely amusing thought. It was funny, but like this she didn't seem to threatening. Troublesome, yes. But a lot more troublesome in the way that Ino or Temari could be troublesome and less in the "going to kill you if you turn your back" sort of troublesome. Not to mention that the mental image of Tayuya in this getup, begging the other Otonin for help, was in itself an amusing picture. He pulled a kunai out of one pocket and held it up. "Why didn't you just cut it off? Or are you going to tell me that you don't have kunai in the Oto apartment?"
"Cause if I cut it off- these are my clothes!" She twitched her hand, almost managing to touch the tip of one. "My clothes turned into this, I don't want them coming back cut up!" She gave a small glare. "So no cutting the dress. I need you to untie it."
With a smirk, he rearranged himself in the chair, lanky 6 foot 3 frame dwarfing her smaller one. And she really WAS small. Or maybe he was just so much taller then he'd been the last time they'd met. Either way, he leaned forward slightly over the coffee table. "So...if I agree to untie that thing, do YOU agree not to try and stab me again?"
"I won't stab you." She dragged it out. "I can't fit any weapons in this dress anyway. She attempted to stand, and promptly slipped on the long gown, flopping back onto the couch in a puff of red fabric, biting back a snarl.
He smothered a snicker and a smirk as she stumbled. "I take it you brought your OWN clothes to change into? Because I'm certainly not going to give you mine."
"I brought my own." Okay, so technically she'd taken them from some faggoty looking boy and a vampire. But, whatever. She pointed at the bag she'd laid down. "You can check that for weapons too, if you want."
He raised an eyebrow sardonically. "No, I think I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. So turn around already."
"Thank god." She gave a long sigh, struggling to sit up. It took her a second, but she finally stood, turning her back to him, giving up on trying to get to the laces herself. "Just undo them, please."
With a slight sigh, he reached out, long fingers hooking in the loops that tied the contraption closed. As perplexed as she seemed to be with the garment, Shikamaru couldn't for the life of him figure out WHY any woman would want to wear this sort of stuff. Granted, Ino had looked quite stunning in hers, and he'd had to swallow a couple times and remember just what it was he was supposed to be thinking, but overall he couldn't see the appeal. Well, he could see why MEN liked corsets on women. That much was fairly obvious, considering the way it redistributed a woman's..."assets" in what was certainly a rather pleasing manner. With a couple of twists and a tug, the laces came untied, the edges of the corset gapping slightly. "Now just hold still." Looping slender fingers through the criss-cross of the laces, he pulled to loosen them.
Tayuya shifted before stilling, turning her head to crane over her shoulder and try to watch him. Damn, he'd gotten tall. And good looking. How old had he been since she last seen fought with him? He'd had to have been like... twelve. With that thought, something came to her, and she smirked. Oh, but that was an idea. "Be careful." She reminded him, moving one hand to sweep her long hair to the front, baring her back and neck.
He rolled his eyes. "Despite what I'm sure you believe, I HAVE done this before, you know." He let his chocolate-brown eyes study the cursed seal at the base of her neck with some degree of interest. He knew the thing was dangerous, highly so. But when you looked at it, it looked just like a tattoo. Very like the one that he, unbeknownst to anyone other then his team members, sported at the base of his spine. The only exception was that whereas his was the kanji for "shadow", surrounded by a swirl of the element itself, hers was a simple geometric pattern.
Sliding his fingers further down her spine, he continued unlacing the red cords that held the corset on. His hopes that she was wearing something underneath it were dashed as skin flashed between the edges of the material, but he didn't think too much on it. After all, it wasn't like HE wore any underwear most of the time either.
"Oh, you have?" Her voice took on a lilt. "Undressed a woman before, I mean." She smirked, shivering slightly at the touches on her back, unaccustomed to being touched in general. "I didn't know you had it in you." Tayuya baited a bit, not too strong, but no soft blow either.
"Hmph. You wouldn't." He noticed her shudder, finding it slightly amusing that he made her somewhat uncomfortable. He worked his fingers down to the base of her spine, pulling the last few loops loose. "There, now I untied it. Happy?" Slipping out of the chair, he snagged a book off of the nearby shelf, pulling a slim black case out of his pocket as he sat down. On went the pair of simple steel-rimmed glasses, and the book was flipped open to one dog-eared page as he seemed to utterly ignore her. "Bathroom's down the hall. Help yourself, I trust you can handle THAT on your own?"
She let out a long sigh and took a deep breath, pleasantly surprised at the rediscovered ability to breathe. Smirking, she glanced over to him. Ignoring her, was he? Oh, but she wasn't going to have any of that now. He'd been hitting way too close for comfort with his questions earlier, and she would certainly take him out of his in retaliation. Without a word, she dragged the bag over to her with one foot, beginning to shrug herself out of the dress.
Dark eyes flickered up at her, peering over the rims of silver glasses. "What are you doing? I told you the bathroom's that way."
"I'm changing." She answered, glancing over her shoulder back at him with a coy smile. "I don't like using other people's bathrooms." She flipped the thick dress straps off her shoulders, freeing her arms and taking hold of the dress bottom, beginning to move out of it, going slowly and languidly.
"Then go in the damned kitchen, woman. I don't care. God, don't you have any shame?" He rolled his eyes and lifted his book higher to block the view and also to block the fact that she was starting to unnerve him more then she already did. He could understand why she might have wanted help unlacing the dress, but now he almost wondered if she was trying to seduce him or something. The thought itself was no pleasant.
For, despite the fact that a small part of his brain capitulated the the fact that, had she been cleaned up and not swearing, and not attempting to kill him most of the time, Tayuya wasn't actually that bad looking, she was definitely FAR too troublesome for any of those thoughts. Especially given several crucial facts. One, she was an enemy. Two, she wanted him dead. Three, she was a woman and therefore far too troublesome to deal with. And fourth, though he might not admit it to very many people, Nara Shikamaru was in fact, rather in love with Yamanaka Ino.
"It's too..." She paused and smirked, noting the movement of his book. "... troublesome." She let his commonly said word roll of her tongue, still slipping out of the dress. She was wearing underwear, at least. "My clothes are here, and I'm here. Simple." She tossed the dress quite noticeably over the back of the couch, crouching down to rifle through the bag she'd brought. "And as for shame, I don't see you looking too much, so what's the problem?"
The only response she got initially was a "hmph." He glanced over the top of the book and cocked his head to one side, exasperated look on his face. "Who'd look at you? Besides, are you implying that I don't have the guts to look, or that you're disappointed I'm not?"
“I'm implying that while you may have undressed a woman before, you don't have the guts." She came up with the large shirt she'd taken from the vampire, twisting it around in her hands looking for the neck. "Are you saying you want to prove you've got them?" She stood, still looking for the neck of the shirt, that vampire was far too tall, clad only in a pair of underwear. Tayuya smiled. He was taking the bait. She reminded herself, if she could ever go back to Otogakure, to thank one of her teachers who kept trying to teach her about feminine manipulation. Because damn, did it work.
"And now why would I need to prove anything to you?" He was starting to sweat a little bit, though he did a good job of hiding it. If it wasn't bad enough that he had to avoid the occasionally grab for his crotch in Konoha, thanks to that one time he and the other men of the former Rookie 9 went to the hot springs, now he had an Otonin who seemed to want to see his goods. He sighed slightly. Goddammit Dad...why did you have to go spreading that rumor about how the "Nara family 'gifts' had been passed down yet again"?
"Don't ask me, you said it first." Ah, there was the neck. She flipped the shirt right side out, holding it against her to test the length. Damn, that vampire was too tall, that shirt almost hit her knees. Shrugging, she slipped it over head. In retrospect, she should have brought a bra, but that damned corset had felt enough like one that she'd forgotten. Oh well. "Although I could come up with some reasons if you'd like."
"Oh really? I seriously doubt that I would consider any of them to be valid." He studied her over the top of the book, eyes never leaving her face. So she wanted to unnerve him, did she? Well, he'd see about that.
“There you go." She smiled at him over the top of his book. "Be a man." She tugged the shirt down fully, taking out the pants she'd gotten from the little faggot boy. She'd told him she'd give him her dress later. But damn, those were not going to fit on her hips. With a sigh, she put them back in the bag. Now clad only in the loose white shirt and underwear, she crept closer to Shikamaru, eying the book with interest, cocking her head to the side to try and read the title.
He hmphed again, sighing at her words and just taking a good long look. "There, are you happy now?" With a shake of his head, he turned back to his book. As she crept closer, he again studied her over the edge of the paperback. "Do you need something?"
"Just looking at your book." She murmured. "Is that a crime?" But Tayuya crept even closer, until she stood directly in front of him, practically touching his knees with her own legs, slowly taking hold of the book and taking it from his hands, careful not to loose his place. "Interesting..." She said, turning the book over in her hands, but she wasn't looking at the book, she was looking at him, with a predatory look upon her face.
"Yes. It is." He glared up at her as she took his book, distinctly aware that not only was there a half-naked Sound nin looming over him, but that she was also staring at him in a most...disturbing way. In fact, it reminded the shadow-user of the sort of looks that Temari often had on her face whenever he had to escort her around. He backed up slightly in the chair, shifting away from him. "It's a very interesting book. Now can I have it back?"
"No." She tossed the book over her shoulder and it landed with a dull thud on the floor behind her, but she wasn't really listening, focused on seeing how far this could go if she pushed it. She certainly didn't plan on having sex, but she would go far enough to unnerve him, if only for personal satisfaction. She placed a hand on his shoulder, leaning in forcefully and placing her lips close to his ear. "Not when there are so many more interesting things to be doing..." She whispered, ending with a sharp nip on his earlobe, legs coming up to straddle him on the chair, left hand on his shoulder and right coming up to grab his forearm.
Well. In all the strategies and permutations of events that the lazy genius had plotted out, this one had escaped him. And so he was left to stare with shocked brown eyes as she leaned in and nipped his ear, climbing into his lap. With a hurried gulp, he backed up, trying to shake her hand off of his arm and pull his ear out of her grasp. This was NOT what he'd had in mind, and it was most definitely troublesome. Especially since he was relatively sure that had she slid a little further onto his lap she'd be able to tell, regardless of his current physical state, that said rumor about Nara men was indeed true. "H..hey! What the hell do you think you're doing!?"
“What does it feel like I'm doing?" She murmured, smirking. Oh, but this was certainly mission accomplished, if his sudden movements were any indication. To punctuate that sentence, she removed her hand from his shoulder and slid her hand down, roughly grabbing his crotch. Not too hard, but no gentle touch either. One eyebrow rose, and she slid a little farther into his lap, loose shirt hanging open in the front and offering... a view. "Oh-ho~" She mentioned, grip still firm.
If he'd been shocked before, the word "shocked" didn't begin to describe the current feelings of surprise, alarm, and panic that flooded his mind. His hand snapped around her wrist in a viselike grip, trying to get her to relinquish her hold on his...well, to relinquish her hold on him. He backed up even further, starting to sink into the overstuffed recliner in his zeal to get away from her.
"Someone needs to relax." Tayuya would have chuckled, but she was busy at the moment. Holding him was taking more than she was willing to admit. He didn't look it, but he was quite capably strong. Her grip on his loins tightened a bit, unintentionally, as a side effect of trying to keep her grip. Pressing against him, she lazily inched her way up, coming face to face with him, smirking. "You say you've undressed a woman before, have you not done this before, then?"
He bit his lip slightly as her grip tightened. Were it not for the fact that he didn't trust her not to cut them off, he might have enjoyed it. Oh, and there was the small fact that just a few weeks ago, she had wanted him dead. Very dead. Scowling, he looked her dead in the eye with as much venom as he could muster, though the embarrassed flush on his cheeks made the effect somewhat less then he'd planned. "What I have and have no done has nothing at all to do with whether I want YOU in my lap with your hand wrapped around my dick! Now get OFF!"
"Such foul language." She eased her hold slowly, finally letting go. "Am I rubbing off on you?" She purred, accompanying those words with exactly that, a small pout on her face. She would go for a kiss, that might startle him, but she had a feeling he'd bite back. Not that she was averse to biting. But she was enjoying herself now, and was prepared to back off a little. Didn't want to scare him too badly.
He was thinking fast. Well, as fast as a man who is backed into a corner by an aggressive woman can think. There were several different options in front of him. One, she was screwing with his head. Two, she was hard-up and didn't care where it came from. And three, she actually DID like him and was trying to show it in a roundabout sort of way. He bet his odds on the first one, seeing as how she'd been nothing but sarcastic and baiting to him during the entire process. The Chuunin calculated in his head, mentally reviewing strategies. Now what? He settled for another glare, and shoving her body away from his as best he could. "No, I'd have to say not. Besides, you're one to talk about foul language."
Using the momentum from the push, Tayuya took hold of his arms and managed to pull him back with her, ending up in a tumble on the floor, though she was slightly displeased to see that it had given him the upper hand, considering her was the one looming over her this time. But no matter, she still had a hold of his arms, and she doubted he'd actually do much harm at the moment. "It was a compliment." She said with a smile, one bare leg moving against one of his as she spoke.
Using the advantage gained from being on top, he peeled her hands from him and pinned her wrists to the carpet, glaring down at her. "I wouldn't call it that. Besides, you don't know nearly as much about me as you think you do."
"I never assumed much, actually. Except that you were male, I must admit, I did assume that." Her leg brushed against his inner thigh as she said that, inching higher. She turned her head to look at his grip on her wrists. That wasn't good. She turned her head once more, hair splaying out beneath her, looking into his gaze. "Is there something I was supposed to know?"
He smirked. "No, not really. Besides..." The smirk turned into a rather feral grin. "If you knew much about me, you'd know that I'm always 200 moves ahead." With that, he sat up, yanking her up with him. Before she could do anything, his mouth was on hers, tongue pushing past her lips in its invasion of her mouth.
She had been opening her mouth to reply, something along the lines of what that had to do with anything, but her mind sort of went blank in the next moment. Wait one goddamn second- was he- was that his tongue in her mouth?! Tayuya had most certainly not anticipated this. Her hands balled into fists in his shirt, but her eyes were wide open, quite shocked. This was not supposed to happen.
Taking full advantage of her shocked stupor, he grinned and let go of her, slipping one arm around her waist and tossing her over his shoulder. With his other hand, he snagged the dress she'd been wearing, as well as the other discarded clothes. Walking over to his door, he kicked it open. A moment later, the red-head found herself dumped unceremoniously on her backside in the hallway. The dress landed on top of her, as did the other clothes. He smirked down at her for a moment before wiping his mouth with his forearm. "Geez, the things I have to put up with. And I'm out of mouthwash, too. Oh well. I've helped you out, you didn't kill me, game over." And with that, he shut the door in her face. From his side, there was the click as the lock engaged.
Oh, but he was certainly a clever boy, she had to give him that. She muffled a curse when her bottom collided with the hard floor, still smirking. She may have gotten tossed out on her ass, but she had done what she'd come there to do. Make him uncomfortable. She was satisfied with the results. Standing, she brushed herself off, gathering her belongings. But before she returned to her own residence she shot off one last remark, rapping sharply on his door before speaking. "See you around, sweet." She called, before heading home.
Mission accomplished.
Rating; PG-13
Characters; Tayuya {
violentflutist} & Shikamaru {lazy_kage_mane}Summary; Tayuya, annoyed that she cannot best Shikamaru in combat, settles for annoying him in any way she can.
Log;
He sighed as he walked across the room to flop down in the overstuffed (and often over-used) recliner. Leaning his head back against the coolness of the leather, he rubbed long fingers across the bridge of his nose. This was most definitely the most troublesome thing he had dealt with in awhile. The strange Victorian clothes were troublesome, the fact that his apartment was messy was troublesome, and the fact that he was mostly out of food was troublesome. Especially since Ino wasn't home and Chouji was out with that new girl Toph. Which meant that he would have to cook. And Nara Shikamaru did NOT cook. But above all those troublesome things loomed one that put them all to shame. Tayuya. The girl made no sense to him. One moment she was gloating, calling him "homo", and breaking his bones; the next, asking him to help her get undressed. He groaned and closed his eyes. Mendokuse...
Tayuya couldn't wipe the smirk off her face as she ascended the stairs of building five. Well... she could, but only long enough to curse at the dress she was in, that was constantly getting in her way. But the smirk would quickly resume. Why? Because she as bothering Shikamaru. If it was one thing in this world that irked her, it was that she couldn't beat him. And oh, she wanted to kill him. Badly. Almost as bad as she wanted to kill that bitch from Sand. But she couldn't. No matter what she blamed it on, they couldn't decide a winner in combat. So she couldn't just let him complacently sit about. Oh no. She'd need to at least make his life miserable, if she couldn't kill him. Some would call that petty. Tayuya called it just desserts. Finally reaching the door to the apartment she was looking for, she took a last glance at her appearance. These clothes... Victorian, or whatever the shit they were, was very constricting. The corset turned her waist, which was usually solid, maybe stocky, in appearance, into an hourglass shape, accentuating the hips and breasts. And... Breathing was difficult, not to mention the goddamn bustle attached to her ass. It was awful. But... if she played her cards right, she might getsome enjoyment out of the day. Finally wiping the smirk from her face, she knocked.
The lazy Chuunin glanced up at the knock at the door, a frown spreading across his angular features. She wouldn't...Well, he amended his thoughts. Maybe she would... Hoisting himself off of the chair, he reached over and snagged a pair of dark green pants that were nearly black and looked almost like they were made of soft leather. Swearing softly, he finally managed to figure out the complicated fastener and get the godforsaken things on. Shrugging his shoulders into some sort of shirt with a frilly ruffly collar thing on it, he fastened the bottom few buttons, leaving most of his chest bare. Running a hand through loose black hair, he hastily pulled it up into its customary ponytail and pulled the door open.
She had considered tapping her foot and knocking again, but just as she had raised her hand to do so, it opened, revealing just the man she wanted to see. Nara Shikamaru of Konoha. She twisted her lips into a smile, trying not to display how strained it was. "Good afternoon." She said, eyeing him up and down. He certainly did look as if he had just tugged on his clothes mere seconds before, but, she had to admit, he didn't look half bad. God, he'd grown. ... And saying that made her feel stupid. But he had. She'd been older than him before. Now she was younger. Another thing to irk her. But she kept smiling, reminding herself that she wasn't cursing right now. "Are you going to invite a lady in?" She asked, crossing her arms under her chest, which didn't help, considering with the corset that they were already quite displayed.
It WAS her. Tayuya of Sound. His slightly bored look turned into one of mild irritation and aggravation that simply screamed "troublesome". What was the girl doing here anyway? She didn't honestly expect him to trust her? OR to help her remove that...thing she was wearing. Dark brown eyes flickered slightly down as she crossed her arms, quickly snapping back to her face. He'd forgotten how those corset things made breasts so much more ... prominent. Not a good thing when women already used those things as a method of manipulation and psychological warfare. Leaning against the doorframe, he raised one black eyebrow sardonically and tucked a stray strand of black hair behind hi his ear. "Lady? What lady? I just see you. And I don't normally invite the enemy into my house."
"You might need to check your eyes, sir?" She kept the smile on her face. "But if you'd like, we can just refer to me as a female." Ah, so generous. "Since I do believe you cannot contest that fact." One eyebrow rose and the smile took on the slightest qualities of a smirk. "Now, perhaps if I ask more politely? Would you please invite me in? I wish to talk, and I don't relish doing that in this hallway."
He rolled his eyes slightly. What was she up to, anyway? Not only had she not said a single swear word, she was being polite. Tayuya? Polite? The two words were mutually exclusive in Shikamaru's mind. And besides which, what could she possibly have that she wanted to talk about? He sighed, ignoring the portion of his brain that spoke up with two facts. One, Tayuya did, in fact, look like a lady at the moment. And two, that perhaps she really DID just want to talk. The small portion of his cerebral network was readily beaten into submission by the larger and more suspicious portion that assured him that as an Otonin, as well as a woman, she OBVIOUSLY had to have some ulterior motive. He sighed and stepped aside.
"I'll at least grant that you LOOK female. Though as to whether you are or not, I don't really care." Ignoring her, he stalked back inside before folding his lanky form back into his favorite chair.
"Why, thank you." She bustled in after him, rather annoyed at the fact that, yes, indeed, she was forced to bustle. This dress was far too impractical, though she had to admit, the red color was rather nice. She dropped the small bag she had been carrying in the crook of her elbow at the side of the couch, sitting down slowly and carefully. Everything in this dress was slow and careful. The bag contained a change of clothes, men's clothes she'd commandeered. She had the full intention of having him help her out of this damn dress, because she wanted out of it. She would have asked Sakon or Ukon, maybe even Orochimaru, but the discomfort she'd seemed to cause the man when they'd had a sexual conversation had been too much bait for her. She had to take it. "Now," She began, folding her hands in her lap, remembering everything one of her teachers had taught her. "Would you tell me about Konoha? Not, about it per se, but about the people?"
If she thought his eyebrows had risen before, now they hit his hairline. He cocked his head to one side, leaning back and studying her with a leveled chocolate gaze. "You're serious? You prance into my house, take over my couch, and expect me to give intel to my enemy? You really DO have some screws loose, you know. Besides, why would you want to know about the people of Konoha other then to use that information against us. You're not exactly trustworthy, you know. Not to mention, we're at war. If you haven't forgotten."
"Not that sort of information, Shikamaru." She pursed her lips, trying to think of a way to phrase it. Of course, this was all just a precursor into what she was really here for, but she was slightly curious, even without the motive. "The information- you know, like... why you people are so..." She fished for a word. "Good." Crossing her ankles, she smiled. "Like, for example, your Yondaime keeps trying to redeem Orochimaru. And your friend Chouji keeps trying to redeem Sakon and me. What makes you Konoha ninja like that? Most ninja wouldn't care."
He smirked slightly. "Don't confuse me with Chouji or the Yondaime. I'm not like them, or Naruto or Sakura. Why don't you ask them? Why come and bother me about it?" Brushing yet another errant strand of hair from his face, he gave an exasperated sigh and yanked the tie out of his hair, sending the mass of black falling down around his face to brush his shoulders. Closing his eyes slightly, he ran hands through it, regathering it into its usual spiky ponytail, then changed his mind and simply pulled it all together at the nape of his neck.
"Why?" She gave a small laugh. "Why, because I see your friend Chouji is no where to be found at the moment, and your Yondaime seems to want nothing to do with me after I suggested blowing him up was not an entirely horrid idea." God, but this acting polite was going to kill her before anything else did. "And you, Shikamaru, are right here, and you let me into your home. Which tells me that perhaps you don't just wish to see me dead. Again."
He shrugged. "Would you like someone who suggested blowing you up was a good idea? And I think that saying I don't wish to see you dead might be a bit premature. Can't say I'd be broken-hearted, given the circumstances. After all, I distinctly seem to remember that the last time we met, you cracked three of my ribs, dislocated my shoulder, broke my collarbone in 4 places, and punctured 2 holes in one of my lungs."
"And you stabbed me through the neck, the right lung, and the gut." She tried to keep the grimace off her face. "So I think it might be fair to say we're even on that account." And the fact that they had been even drove her crazy. "I'm not here to fight you."
"Then why are you here? I fail to believe it's solely for the pleasure of my company, as Ino often tells me that it's somewhat lacking." He leaned foreword, folding long fingers and resting his pointed chin on them, elbows on his knees. "Why do you want to know what makes us the way that we are?"
"Because it makes no sense." She answered bluntly. "And I like things to make sense." She leaned forward as well, though with her dress the way it was, the effect was rather more... busty, than his was. "It makes no sense to me why the people of Konoha raise so many soft-hearted ninja. Kindly enlighten me?"
He smiled, though it was a smile laced with some degree of sarcasm. "Why, so you can use it against us? But then again, I suppose that since you're going to use EVERYTHING that I say against us, where's the harm in it. Not as though I'm going to be giving you any intel that would compromise Konoha." He leaned back, stretching long arms over his head and folding his hands behind his neck. "You wanted to know why Chouji and the Yondaime are constantly trying to "redeem" you? Well, that's just the way they are, I guess. I never knew the Yondaime, he died the year I was born. But Chouji..."
He paused, a small smile on his face as he thought of his friend. "Chouji is a kind soul. He's not a cynic like me. He's the sort of gentle person who frees butterflies from spider webs. The sort of person who just wants to see everyone smiling and happy. You probably wouldn't understand that."
"You're right, I don't." God, but she wanted to lean back, but the damnable dress wasn't having any of that. "I can't even imagine why someone would be happy just because they made someone else happy. There's nothing in there for you, so why do it?" Sensing something, she probed. "But you two seem close. Must be nice, having selfless friends."
He raised an eyebrow, looking at her quizzically. "If you don't care about anything but yourself, then why do you fight? Because it's an order? Why follow someone you don't admire?" He grinned slightly. "Yeah, we're close. And it is nice. Unlike the "friendships" that you Otonin seem to have, I don't have to worry about Chouji stabbing me in the back. I can count on him, and count on him to be there to back me up when I need it. It must get lonely, not having someone you can trust like that."
"Maybe it does get lonely?" She was about to lie through her teeth. "I follow Orochimaru-sama because if I don't, I die. Simple as that. He raised us to be his fighting force, and if we fail, we are nothing to him. We would be disposed of. And I value my life even more now that I've lost it before." She took a moment to actually think about what he'd said. She didn't think Sakon or Ukon would betray her, nor Kidoumaru or Jiroubou. But she didn't trust Kimimaro and Kabuto one bit, and Orochimaru only as long as she followed orders. At least... she didn't think they would betray her... "And the Sound Four won't betray me." She spoke up, though an obvious waver had come to her voice, as if she were trying to deny it to herself as much as to Shikamaru.
He caught the waver in her voice. "Oh really? You don't seem too sure of that. You believe that they'd sacrifice themselves to ensure your safety? That if you were in danger, they'd risk everything to help you?" He got up out of the chair and headed over to the kitchen. Pulling open the fridge, he pulled out two cans of soda, tossing one to her. "Here." A simple gesture nonetheless, but still something akin to hospitality. "So you follow Orochimaru because if you don't, then you die. Seems to me like a lousy reason to follow someone. You sacrifice your own dignity, your own morals, even your own wishes, for someone who cares less for them then he does for a bug crushed under his feet. You know why Konoha shinobi are different? They don't follow the Hokage because if they don't, she'll kill them. They follow her because they admire and respect her, because they know that, were Konoha attacked, she'd put herself between them and the attackers without a second thought. THAT is true loyalty. Not the fear that Orochimaru rules with."
"I'd rather live like that than try and escape and be killed!" She snapped, though most of the sting was out of her voice as she caught the soda and held it clasped tightly between her hands. "And if I try and betray him, he'll find out!" Now she'd throw in a trump card. A piece of utter truth. "Kabuto tried to keep his relationship with your medic a secret and look what it's getting him. The minute he comes back to the City Orochimaru is going to do something. I don't know what, but it won't be pleasant, I assure you." She lowered her gaze. "That's not going to happen to me." His words were striking too close to home. Those that are being used do not take kindly to being told as such.
"You're afraid." He popped the top on the soda and leaned back, letting the cool liquid slide down his dry throat. "So afraid of losing your life that you're willing to sacrifice everything that makes you who you are and turn yourself into nothing but an empty shell of a person. Tell me, what point is a life if you don't enjoy it? If every aspect of it, every facet and portion, is what someone else makes of it? If none of it is YOU? You laugh and say that Chouji is nothing but a weak fatass, and ridicule him for that. But he's stronger then any of you, because no matter what you say to him and no matter how much you beat him down, he'll never compromise who he is because of it."
"Besides." He set the drink down on the coffee table. "You say Kabuto will be punished by Orochimaru for his relationship with Shizune. But I bet if you asked Kabuto, he'd tell you that it would be worth it."
"..." She stared intently at her soda can, finally moving to pop the top and stare instead at the fizzing liquid for several moments before taking a drink. "Kabuto," she began, "would tell me it was none of my business. And besides, I bet he won't think it's worth it once Orochimaru is through with him." She frowned. "No "love" is worth that." Love was such a stupid thing to be involved in.
"Oh really? Fine then, don't think of it in terms of love. I'm sure that, even if just for a short time, there was a point in your life when you were happy. When you didn't live with the fear of Orochimaru's wrath hanging over you. A time when the world was "right" for you. If you had that again, wouldn't you fight to keep it? Wouldn't you try to hang onto it and treasure it?" He took another sip of soda, with a small "hmph". "No love is worth that, huh? I guess if you've never really HAD love, you might think that way. Can't say I know what it's like to be in Kabuto's situation. But as for love being worth fighting for, I know a couple of people who would disagree with you. One loves someone who hates her. Someone who blames her for all of the pain and suffering he's had to face. Most people would give up on someone like that. But not her. She just smiles and keeps on loving him. And I know someone else, who's been searching for the person that they love for 5 years. Even though that person has thrown it back in their face and stepped on those feelings countless times."
He sat back in the chair and sipped his soda, somewhat amused at how distressed she seemed. Shikamaru was no fool, he knew very well that she'd likely come over to try and make his life difficult in one way or another, and it felt somewhat good to know he had gotten under her skin and turned the tables.
She was frowning, malcontent showing on her face. "There was never a time I can think of when I was the kind of happy you're talking about." And thinking back, there wasn't really. She could remember a drunken father, being sold, running away, living on the streets, and then being found by Orochimaru. Not much in the way of the happy childhood. "Those people you're talking about, they'd be better off not loving. You just said how painful it was. Why willingly involve yourself in something painful if you can help it?" She took a sip of her drink, trying to lean back, but when her breath hitched in her throat, damnable corset, she sat back straight again. "I can't say if I'd fight for that stuff, because I don't have it."
He frowned slightly. Never happy? He didn't think that was possible. "I'm not talking about the sort of happiness that lasts. Even something as fleeting as an afternoon where you didn't have to worry about where the next attack was coming from, when you could just enjoy yourself. And yeah, I used to think they should just give up. Why worry about something so troublesome. But I asked one of them about it once. "Why keep chasing after him when he abandoned you and repeatedly steps on your feelings?" And he told me that sure, that was true. But that when he thought of the other's smile, and about how he felt when they were together, that he'd be willing to risk everything just to have that again for a moment."
Threading his fingers together in front of him, he queried further. "I'd wager to say that you didn't have a happy childhood. Orochimaru doesn't tend to take interest in those who don't have anything to be angry about. Who don't want to make the world pay for their pain. Too bad, I guess. Maybe you'd be different if you had. But don't you think, if you'd had a family that loved you, that CARED for you, and friends who didn't turn on you to look out for themselves, that you'd fight to keep that?"
"Maybe..." She paused. If she'd had... a loving family? If her father hadn't been a drunk, if her mother hadn't just sat around crying all the time and getting the shit beat out of her? If they hadn't sold her to that place, if she hadn't had to live on the streets. She looked away. She could remember one time, one time, when she had looked in a window and seen a family eating dinner. Laughing, talking, sharing... She shook her head forcefully. "Maybe I would." She whispered. She sighed, leaning back once more, and being forced straight by the compression in her lungs. Setting her soda down, she muffled a curse, trying to reach around her back and grab the laces that eluded her fingers. "God- would you please help me change?" She grit out, straining to reach the red laces. Tayuya had no idea why these people had made clothes you couldn't get yourself out of.
He couldn't help the snicker that crept past his lips. So he'd been right. All of the conversation was mostly just a ruse to hide the REAL reason why she was here. She couldn't get out of her clothes. He shook his head with a smirk. "How did you get INTO it in the first place, if you can't get out of it now?"
"I was wearing this when I woke up!" She protested his amusement. "I fell asleep in my clothes last night and they turned into this!" She bit her bottom lip, using her other hand to force her right elbow up, still trying to catch hold of the laces. "And Orochimaru won't help me, and Sakon and Ukon just laughed at me."
He, for some reason, found that to be an entirely amusing thought. It was funny, but like this she didn't seem to threatening. Troublesome, yes. But a lot more troublesome in the way that Ino or Temari could be troublesome and less in the "going to kill you if you turn your back" sort of troublesome. Not to mention that the mental image of Tayuya in this getup, begging the other Otonin for help, was in itself an amusing picture. He pulled a kunai out of one pocket and held it up. "Why didn't you just cut it off? Or are you going to tell me that you don't have kunai in the Oto apartment?"
"Cause if I cut it off- these are my clothes!" She twitched her hand, almost managing to touch the tip of one. "My clothes turned into this, I don't want them coming back cut up!" She gave a small glare. "So no cutting the dress. I need you to untie it."
With a smirk, he rearranged himself in the chair, lanky 6 foot 3 frame dwarfing her smaller one. And she really WAS small. Or maybe he was just so much taller then he'd been the last time they'd met. Either way, he leaned forward slightly over the coffee table. "So...if I agree to untie that thing, do YOU agree not to try and stab me again?"
"I won't stab you." She dragged it out. "I can't fit any weapons in this dress anyway. She attempted to stand, and promptly slipped on the long gown, flopping back onto the couch in a puff of red fabric, biting back a snarl.
He smothered a snicker and a smirk as she stumbled. "I take it you brought your OWN clothes to change into? Because I'm certainly not going to give you mine."
"I brought my own." Okay, so technically she'd taken them from some faggoty looking boy and a vampire. But, whatever. She pointed at the bag she'd laid down. "You can check that for weapons too, if you want."
He raised an eyebrow sardonically. "No, I think I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. So turn around already."
"Thank god." She gave a long sigh, struggling to sit up. It took her a second, but she finally stood, turning her back to him, giving up on trying to get to the laces herself. "Just undo them, please."
With a slight sigh, he reached out, long fingers hooking in the loops that tied the contraption closed. As perplexed as she seemed to be with the garment, Shikamaru couldn't for the life of him figure out WHY any woman would want to wear this sort of stuff. Granted, Ino had looked quite stunning in hers, and he'd had to swallow a couple times and remember just what it was he was supposed to be thinking, but overall he couldn't see the appeal. Well, he could see why MEN liked corsets on women. That much was fairly obvious, considering the way it redistributed a woman's..."assets" in what was certainly a rather pleasing manner. With a couple of twists and a tug, the laces came untied, the edges of the corset gapping slightly. "Now just hold still." Looping slender fingers through the criss-cross of the laces, he pulled to loosen them.
Tayuya shifted before stilling, turning her head to crane over her shoulder and try to watch him. Damn, he'd gotten tall. And good looking. How old had he been since she last seen fought with him? He'd had to have been like... twelve. With that thought, something came to her, and she smirked. Oh, but that was an idea. "Be careful." She reminded him, moving one hand to sweep her long hair to the front, baring her back and neck.
He rolled his eyes. "Despite what I'm sure you believe, I HAVE done this before, you know." He let his chocolate-brown eyes study the cursed seal at the base of her neck with some degree of interest. He knew the thing was dangerous, highly so. But when you looked at it, it looked just like a tattoo. Very like the one that he, unbeknownst to anyone other then his team members, sported at the base of his spine. The only exception was that whereas his was the kanji for "shadow", surrounded by a swirl of the element itself, hers was a simple geometric pattern.
Sliding his fingers further down her spine, he continued unlacing the red cords that held the corset on. His hopes that she was wearing something underneath it were dashed as skin flashed between the edges of the material, but he didn't think too much on it. After all, it wasn't like HE wore any underwear most of the time either.
"Oh, you have?" Her voice took on a lilt. "Undressed a woman before, I mean." She smirked, shivering slightly at the touches on her back, unaccustomed to being touched in general. "I didn't know you had it in you." Tayuya baited a bit, not too strong, but no soft blow either.
"Hmph. You wouldn't." He noticed her shudder, finding it slightly amusing that he made her somewhat uncomfortable. He worked his fingers down to the base of her spine, pulling the last few loops loose. "There, now I untied it. Happy?" Slipping out of the chair, he snagged a book off of the nearby shelf, pulling a slim black case out of his pocket as he sat down. On went the pair of simple steel-rimmed glasses, and the book was flipped open to one dog-eared page as he seemed to utterly ignore her. "Bathroom's down the hall. Help yourself, I trust you can handle THAT on your own?"
She let out a long sigh and took a deep breath, pleasantly surprised at the rediscovered ability to breathe. Smirking, she glanced over to him. Ignoring her, was he? Oh, but she wasn't going to have any of that now. He'd been hitting way too close for comfort with his questions earlier, and she would certainly take him out of his in retaliation. Without a word, she dragged the bag over to her with one foot, beginning to shrug herself out of the dress.
Dark eyes flickered up at her, peering over the rims of silver glasses. "What are you doing? I told you the bathroom's that way."
"I'm changing." She answered, glancing over her shoulder back at him with a coy smile. "I don't like using other people's bathrooms." She flipped the thick dress straps off her shoulders, freeing her arms and taking hold of the dress bottom, beginning to move out of it, going slowly and languidly.
"Then go in the damned kitchen, woman. I don't care. God, don't you have any shame?" He rolled his eyes and lifted his book higher to block the view and also to block the fact that she was starting to unnerve him more then she already did. He could understand why she might have wanted help unlacing the dress, but now he almost wondered if she was trying to seduce him or something. The thought itself was no pleasant.
For, despite the fact that a small part of his brain capitulated the the fact that, had she been cleaned up and not swearing, and not attempting to kill him most of the time, Tayuya wasn't actually that bad looking, she was definitely FAR too troublesome for any of those thoughts. Especially given several crucial facts. One, she was an enemy. Two, she wanted him dead. Three, she was a woman and therefore far too troublesome to deal with. And fourth, though he might not admit it to very many people, Nara Shikamaru was in fact, rather in love with Yamanaka Ino.
"It's too..." She paused and smirked, noting the movement of his book. "... troublesome." She let his commonly said word roll of her tongue, still slipping out of the dress. She was wearing underwear, at least. "My clothes are here, and I'm here. Simple." She tossed the dress quite noticeably over the back of the couch, crouching down to rifle through the bag she'd brought. "And as for shame, I don't see you looking too much, so what's the problem?"
The only response she got initially was a "hmph." He glanced over the top of the book and cocked his head to one side, exasperated look on his face. "Who'd look at you? Besides, are you implying that I don't have the guts to look, or that you're disappointed I'm not?"
“I'm implying that while you may have undressed a woman before, you don't have the guts." She came up with the large shirt she'd taken from the vampire, twisting it around in her hands looking for the neck. "Are you saying you want to prove you've got them?" She stood, still looking for the neck of the shirt, that vampire was far too tall, clad only in a pair of underwear. Tayuya smiled. He was taking the bait. She reminded herself, if she could ever go back to Otogakure, to thank one of her teachers who kept trying to teach her about feminine manipulation. Because damn, did it work.
"And now why would I need to prove anything to you?" He was starting to sweat a little bit, though he did a good job of hiding it. If it wasn't bad enough that he had to avoid the occasionally grab for his crotch in Konoha, thanks to that one time he and the other men of the former Rookie 9 went to the hot springs, now he had an Otonin who seemed to want to see his goods. He sighed slightly. Goddammit Dad...why did you have to go spreading that rumor about how the "Nara family 'gifts' had been passed down yet again"?
"Don't ask me, you said it first." Ah, there was the neck. She flipped the shirt right side out, holding it against her to test the length. Damn, that vampire was too tall, that shirt almost hit her knees. Shrugging, she slipped it over head. In retrospect, she should have brought a bra, but that damned corset had felt enough like one that she'd forgotten. Oh well. "Although I could come up with some reasons if you'd like."
"Oh really? I seriously doubt that I would consider any of them to be valid." He studied her over the top of the book, eyes never leaving her face. So she wanted to unnerve him, did she? Well, he'd see about that.
“There you go." She smiled at him over the top of his book. "Be a man." She tugged the shirt down fully, taking out the pants she'd gotten from the little faggot boy. She'd told him she'd give him her dress later. But damn, those were not going to fit on her hips. With a sigh, she put them back in the bag. Now clad only in the loose white shirt and underwear, she crept closer to Shikamaru, eying the book with interest, cocking her head to the side to try and read the title.
He hmphed again, sighing at her words and just taking a good long look. "There, are you happy now?" With a shake of his head, he turned back to his book. As she crept closer, he again studied her over the edge of the paperback. "Do you need something?"
"Just looking at your book." She murmured. "Is that a crime?" But Tayuya crept even closer, until she stood directly in front of him, practically touching his knees with her own legs, slowly taking hold of the book and taking it from his hands, careful not to loose his place. "Interesting..." She said, turning the book over in her hands, but she wasn't looking at the book, she was looking at him, with a predatory look upon her face.
"Yes. It is." He glared up at her as she took his book, distinctly aware that not only was there a half-naked Sound nin looming over him, but that she was also staring at him in a most...disturbing way. In fact, it reminded the shadow-user of the sort of looks that Temari often had on her face whenever he had to escort her around. He backed up slightly in the chair, shifting away from him. "It's a very interesting book. Now can I have it back?"
"No." She tossed the book over her shoulder and it landed with a dull thud on the floor behind her, but she wasn't really listening, focused on seeing how far this could go if she pushed it. She certainly didn't plan on having sex, but she would go far enough to unnerve him, if only for personal satisfaction. She placed a hand on his shoulder, leaning in forcefully and placing her lips close to his ear. "Not when there are so many more interesting things to be doing..." She whispered, ending with a sharp nip on his earlobe, legs coming up to straddle him on the chair, left hand on his shoulder and right coming up to grab his forearm.
Well. In all the strategies and permutations of events that the lazy genius had plotted out, this one had escaped him. And so he was left to stare with shocked brown eyes as she leaned in and nipped his ear, climbing into his lap. With a hurried gulp, he backed up, trying to shake her hand off of his arm and pull his ear out of her grasp. This was NOT what he'd had in mind, and it was most definitely troublesome. Especially since he was relatively sure that had she slid a little further onto his lap she'd be able to tell, regardless of his current physical state, that said rumor about Nara men was indeed true. "H..hey! What the hell do you think you're doing!?"
“What does it feel like I'm doing?" She murmured, smirking. Oh, but this was certainly mission accomplished, if his sudden movements were any indication. To punctuate that sentence, she removed her hand from his shoulder and slid her hand down, roughly grabbing his crotch. Not too hard, but no gentle touch either. One eyebrow rose, and she slid a little farther into his lap, loose shirt hanging open in the front and offering... a view. "Oh-ho~" She mentioned, grip still firm.
If he'd been shocked before, the word "shocked" didn't begin to describe the current feelings of surprise, alarm, and panic that flooded his mind. His hand snapped around her wrist in a viselike grip, trying to get her to relinquish her hold on his...well, to relinquish her hold on him. He backed up even further, starting to sink into the overstuffed recliner in his zeal to get away from her.
"Someone needs to relax." Tayuya would have chuckled, but she was busy at the moment. Holding him was taking more than she was willing to admit. He didn't look it, but he was quite capably strong. Her grip on his loins tightened a bit, unintentionally, as a side effect of trying to keep her grip. Pressing against him, she lazily inched her way up, coming face to face with him, smirking. "You say you've undressed a woman before, have you not done this before, then?"
He bit his lip slightly as her grip tightened. Were it not for the fact that he didn't trust her not to cut them off, he might have enjoyed it. Oh, and there was the small fact that just a few weeks ago, she had wanted him dead. Very dead. Scowling, he looked her dead in the eye with as much venom as he could muster, though the embarrassed flush on his cheeks made the effect somewhat less then he'd planned. "What I have and have no done has nothing at all to do with whether I want YOU in my lap with your hand wrapped around my dick! Now get OFF!"
"Such foul language." She eased her hold slowly, finally letting go. "Am I rubbing off on you?" She purred, accompanying those words with exactly that, a small pout on her face. She would go for a kiss, that might startle him, but she had a feeling he'd bite back. Not that she was averse to biting. But she was enjoying herself now, and was prepared to back off a little. Didn't want to scare him too badly.
He was thinking fast. Well, as fast as a man who is backed into a corner by an aggressive woman can think. There were several different options in front of him. One, she was screwing with his head. Two, she was hard-up and didn't care where it came from. And three, she actually DID like him and was trying to show it in a roundabout sort of way. He bet his odds on the first one, seeing as how she'd been nothing but sarcastic and baiting to him during the entire process. The Chuunin calculated in his head, mentally reviewing strategies. Now what? He settled for another glare, and shoving her body away from his as best he could. "No, I'd have to say not. Besides, you're one to talk about foul language."
Using the momentum from the push, Tayuya took hold of his arms and managed to pull him back with her, ending up in a tumble on the floor, though she was slightly displeased to see that it had given him the upper hand, considering her was the one looming over her this time. But no matter, she still had a hold of his arms, and she doubted he'd actually do much harm at the moment. "It was a compliment." She said with a smile, one bare leg moving against one of his as she spoke.
Using the advantage gained from being on top, he peeled her hands from him and pinned her wrists to the carpet, glaring down at her. "I wouldn't call it that. Besides, you don't know nearly as much about me as you think you do."
"I never assumed much, actually. Except that you were male, I must admit, I did assume that." Her leg brushed against his inner thigh as she said that, inching higher. She turned her head to look at his grip on her wrists. That wasn't good. She turned her head once more, hair splaying out beneath her, looking into his gaze. "Is there something I was supposed to know?"
He smirked. "No, not really. Besides..." The smirk turned into a rather feral grin. "If you knew much about me, you'd know that I'm always 200 moves ahead." With that, he sat up, yanking her up with him. Before she could do anything, his mouth was on hers, tongue pushing past her lips in its invasion of her mouth.
She had been opening her mouth to reply, something along the lines of what that had to do with anything, but her mind sort of went blank in the next moment. Wait one goddamn second- was he- was that his tongue in her mouth?! Tayuya had most certainly not anticipated this. Her hands balled into fists in his shirt, but her eyes were wide open, quite shocked. This was not supposed to happen.
Taking full advantage of her shocked stupor, he grinned and let go of her, slipping one arm around her waist and tossing her over his shoulder. With his other hand, he snagged the dress she'd been wearing, as well as the other discarded clothes. Walking over to his door, he kicked it open. A moment later, the red-head found herself dumped unceremoniously on her backside in the hallway. The dress landed on top of her, as did the other clothes. He smirked down at her for a moment before wiping his mouth with his forearm. "Geez, the things I have to put up with. And I'm out of mouthwash, too. Oh well. I've helped you out, you didn't kill me, game over." And with that, he shut the door in her face. From his side, there was the click as the lock engaged.
Oh, but he was certainly a clever boy, she had to give him that. She muffled a curse when her bottom collided with the hard floor, still smirking. She may have gotten tossed out on her ass, but she had done what she'd come there to do. Make him uncomfortable. She was satisfied with the results. Standing, she brushed herself off, gathering her belongings. But before she returned to her own residence she shot off one last remark, rapping sharply on his door before speaking. "See you around, sweet." She called, before heading home.
Mission accomplished.