Shikamaru had called Naruto over four hours ago and slammed down a bottle of sake onto the table.
He told Naruto that he lost a bet, and if he was going to have a drink for the first time, it would be with the sunny-haired blond Jinchuuriki.
Releasing a little hiccup, Shikamaru grinned lazily and swung an arm over Naruto's shoulders. The blond boy giggled and held onto the long, gangly limb that was weighing him down.
"Y-You're like..." Shikamaru chuckled and pat Naruto's shoulder, "-Really weird, you know that?"
Scoffing mockingly, Naruto took a large step over a puddle. It was the middle of the night, the sun had set hours ago.
"And you're like..." Naruto waved his hand, motioning to his head, "Reaaally smart! How do you-" he hiccuped, "-you do it?"
Shikamaru let go of Naruto and stretched his arms up, breathing a sign of relief when he heard the cracks of his bones. "I'm a Nara, it's a troublesome factory setting of ours."
Naruto whistled in appreciation. "Cooool~" He then tripped over a small rock.
Yes, he was a ninja. But right now, he was a drunk ninja.
It was like it happened in slow motion. Naruto held his hands up to protect himself from the impending plummet to the dirt road. He roared in surprise when his wrist was grabbed and pulled towards the hard chest of his friend.
Shikamaru's arm was wrapped around Naruto's back, bending him backwards, as if he was a princess. Shikamaru stared into Naruto's eyes, black into cerulean - and they continued their gaze as the crickets chirped.
But Shikamaru's firm grasp on Naruto didn't last for long.
He was also drunk. Very drunk.
They yelped and screamed as they hit the ground with a loud thud. Shikamaru started rubbing his ass from the pain of the impact but started rolling his eyes when Naruto laughed and simply sprang back up and placed his hands on his hips.
Shikamaru shook his head with a smile, "Are you alright? You didn't twist your ankle or anything, eh?"
"No, no, no!" Naruto bellowed, "I'm fine! No, no, totally fine!"
Shikamaru furrowed his brows. Was he seeing things or was Naruto swaying? "Really? Because you're repeating words, you look pale, and you look like you're about to topple over."
With a blank face, Naruto blinked and nodded. "Yeah." He paused, stumbling, "You might wanna catch me-"
"-SHIT!"