Anthology

Shoutout to @zeekerry for requesting this! You said to write a happy ending story and omegaverse....and this happened. Sorry if I didn't get Shikamaru's voice right, I always have a hard time getting his tone right.

(Note- when Naruto says Warden he is talking about Shikamaru, who is dressed as the Warden.)

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"Hell no." 

"Oh come Naruto, it's not going to be that bad." Kurama said with a roll of his eyes. "It's just a little brain teaser, ya know. Keep the mind active during break."

"Why, of all the things ya want to do, did you pick this?" Naruto said confused.

"Because, it'll keep my brain sharp during break and it looks like fun!" 

"Fun?" 

"Yeah."

"In what way is paying to be locked inside of a room and have to solve a stupid puzzle to get our, fun?" The blonde said wrinkling his nose, before he broke into a grin. "If you want to get locked up so bad I can put a lock on your door." 

"Naruto." Kurama said rolling his eyes exasperated before casting him another pleading look. The blonde threw his hands into the air.

"This sounds really nerdy, but fine." He agreed watching at Kurama quickly got excited and quickly booked an appointment over the phone scheduling them in for that evening. 

"Maybe afterwards we can see if Sakura or Sasuke want to do a game?" The younger brother mumbled still thinking about the game. 'Its nice to see him so amped up.' Naruto thought as he walked away to go clean up some before heading over there. The alpha had been outside for most of the morning and wanted a shower before he did anything.  'The fox brain has been moping over his steady girlfriend back in Miyabigaoka the entire break so far.' Naruto thought, happy that his little brother was funny showing some excitement. "Still, This is going to be a long night.' He thought, as he got ready. Naruto didn't mean anything bad by that, but it was simply that Kurama and he had different views on what was fun. Naruto, no matter how much he loved his Beta little brother, would never understand how that fox brains loved school.

*******

'Guess we are really doing this.' The blonde thought as they locked the house and load up into the car. Kurama decided to use the annoying voice navigation maps app thing, which kept going off and interrupting good songs. By the end of the (short fifteen minute) drive, Naruto felt ready to bash his brothers head against the car— in the loving brotherly sort of way. 

"This is place!" Kurama said, climbing out of the car before it had fully stopped and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I couldn't tell despite the loud maps app." Naruto muttered getting out and slipping on his orange jacket against the chilly autumn wind. Kurama had already gone inside. The blonde alpha frowned, because to be honest he wasn't sure he would have been able to pick this place out if it weren't for the stupid map app thingy. It blended seamlessly in between the Dance Studio and Vietnamese Restaurant with a simple exterior and a sign reading: ESCAPE overtop the door. 

The inside however, reminded him of a doctors office though, and Naruto immediately shivered. Somehow he could just imagine Sakura coming around the corner to punch him in the gut for some wound he had gotten before fixing him up. It set his teeth a little on edge with its stiff but cushy chairs. It was a bland paint job, save for the the wall next to the windows and doors, which spotted a massive mural depicting some sort of... ninja war? Kurama looked like he was bubbling, or at least his own version of bubbling anyway. Before Naruto could look to closely at the mural wall a voice spoke yanking his attention back. 

"Welcome." Someone said. Naruto assumed it was the one running the front desk. Kurama says his greeting, hi he thinks is what he says, but Naruto couldn't be sure. The Blonde alpha was too busy being completely stunned by how gorgeous the guy who greeted them was. 

Dark hair pulled back into a ponytail almost giving him a mad scientist sort of vibe and green vest with the company logo on it that suited him way too much. 'How does he make a green freaking nerd vest look good?' The blonde questioned, effectively swallowing his words. 

"We have a booking for 8:30." Kurama said, taking on the whole talking thing. 'Probably a really good kyuu's talking. I mean just— damn it's forest green vest it should not be that attractive!' The blonde thought. 

"Uzumaki?" The still unnamed handsome hot shot asked. 'Present and single.' Naruto thought swallowing again at how hot stuff seemed to make bored and uninterested a thing. An attractive thing. 'I'm just going to call him hot stuff now. Thats your new name Hotstuff. Hot shot. Pretty nerd." Naruto mentally rambled trying not to be creepy while he eyed him. 

"Yep." Kurama replies, still excited in that weird way of his. This pulled Naruto out his starry eyed stupor long enough to approach the counter and eye the clipboards Kurama has started to look over. Lines for signatures and dates seemed to cover the overly long papers and Naruto tried not to groan.

"Gotta sign our life away?" He questioned, and the man nodded with a faint amusement.

"Standard loss of life or limb waiver." He replied. 

"Damn, What sort of kinky place are you runnin here?" The blonde muttered, then abruptly froze because—  'I didn't mean to say that out loud!' He thought, as his brother immediately elbowed him in the ribs. The man behind the counter just gave a chuckle. 

"I assure you, we are not that kind of establishment." Naruto nods seeing the faint curling amusement linger in the guys eyes as he quickly signed away his nonexistent love life. 'Goodbye heart. Try not to get smashed to bits.' The blonde thought with a shake of his head. The still unnamed 'damnit. I need his name' guy led them back into a second waiting room before telling them he would be right back to finish up the paperwork. In this room four different bullientien boards had been posted, one theme for each board. One with a rocket ship saying: interstellar and another saying Top Agent with cool blue sunglasses drawn on the corner. The last two were Prison Break and Floor Thirteen, decorated with bars for the first and fake blood splatters for the second.

"So.... these are the different rooms, right?" Naruto asked and Kurama nodded. "Which are we doing?"

"Prison Break." The Beta brat replied and Naruto frowned when he saw that the rooms also had the success rate for finishing them listed below. 

"Dude, this only has a 17% completion rate."

"What, really?" Kurama said, stepping over and away from the chairs and then nodding in approval. "Good it's hard."

"Shouldn't we like easy into it?" The blonde mumbled. "We could do Floor Thirteen?"

"Ha right." Kurama said with a snort. "It would cheesy. It's like the only scary room they have." 

"Oh." Naruto said, defiantly not bringing up his aversion to ghosts. 'Any ghosts count me out. Call ghostbusters for that sorta thing.' He thought, happy they weren't doing that room.  The door opens back up and the guy walks back in holding a new clipboard. 

"Alright, So If you'll sit down I'll be explaining the rules." He said quietly, as though bored but- 'is he like a happy bored somehow? Is that even possible?' Naruto wondered, before shaking his head to concentrate. "My name is Shikamaru and I will be your game master for tonight. It's my job to make sure you have a smooth and pleasant experience so any questions or complaints should be directed back to me." Kurama and Naruto both nod. "Now then, is this your first time?" Again, they nod.  "If you are still unsure what an Escape room is, I lock you in a room for a set time frame and you try to escape. All the information you need is hidden in the and could range from physical props, to things you read or listen to. Some clues are locked away and you need to solve a puzzle before getting them, others aren't. You have to open every locked item before attempting an escape."

"So... this escape?" Naruto asks slowly. "I take it you don't mean bash out a window." 

"No, to escape you need to unlock the original door you come through with a four digit code that you find in the room. You don't need any outside info to get out, everything is in the room to get out." 

"Okay, so this is starting to sound a little cool." Naruto admitted, liking the whole search for clues part. The blonde was always a fan of working with his hands. 

"I will make a believer out of you." Shikamaru murmurs and Naruto blinks letting those words settle in his belly. 

"I look forward to it." He replies, trying to ignore the way Kurama was now watching him. Shikamaru continues to explain some of the basic guidelines and locks before he turns to leave the room, pausing at the door. 

"The Warden will be right with you." Shikamaru say with a casual knowing look in his eyes. Naruto and Kurama were left grinning in the waiting room. 

"Okay i admit this is interesting." Naruto says 

"You mean the Game Master is interesting?" Kurama replies raising his brow with a smirk.

"Well... I- in like a nerdy quiet book sort of way." Naruto tied to argue but the Beta just laughed. "Oh shut it." Naruto mumbled. 

"Hey, my lips are sealed."

"The hell they are." Naruto groaned already imagining the hell Kurama was going to put him through when they got home. After a few silent moments the two settled in to wait quietly before the door was opened. Scratch that, the door hadnt just been opened- it had been kicked open so violently that the door hand smacked against the wall so loudly that it jolted Kurama and Naruto to their feet. 

The first thing Naruto notices is the steel-toed combat boots, well worn but clearly taken care of. His eyes followed the lines of the runners legs framed by black skinny jeans. A studded belt and a police uniform shirt and-

"Oh." Naruto breathes, as his mouth went dry. Shikamaru had ditched his nerdy green vest for what had to be the sexiest but still modest police costume that Naruto had ever seen. A hat perched on his head, wearing aviators and a shiny badge clipped to his shirt. All evidence of the quiet Game Master was gone. 'I don't think i have ever had a police officer fantasy but now i definitely will.' Naruto thought feeling pinned underneath the other alphas hidden gaze, and not in a bad way. 

"You will be in my holding cell for the next sixty minutes." Shikamaru- no the warden- stated with completed confidence. "Afterwards the transport will arrive and take you to maximum security." He takes a step closer, a wicked smile appearing. "Attention." He stated calmly, yet somehow it felt so important to obey, to please. Kurama and Naruto both jumped into attention their elbows knocking togethers as they scrambled to obey. 

Kurama, the little shit, was grinning in amusement while Naruto's heart felt like it was going burst from his chest, and his head got a little dizzy. 'This was Shikamaru the Warden.' Naruto thought, swallowing again. 'Fuck.'

"We have had a few... mishaps over the course of the few months." The warden states with clear disapproval. "Some people have managed to escape on my watch." The wicked smile returns as he adds, "In response to this I took the liberty of improving my holding cell procedures." The warden leans forward and pulls down the aviators took look Naruto directly in the eye. "You are mine for the next hour. And mine only." The Warden practically growls. 

"Yes sir." Naruto blurted out. 'Shit, why the hell did i say that?' Naruto mentally yelled. Kurama snorts and the Wardens attention snaps over to him. 

"Do you think this is a game maggot?" The Warden growls and Kurama Immediately shakes his head no. 'Fuck I wish I wasn't wearing my jacket right now.' Naruto thought, already feeling heat building up. "Follow me. Single file." The Warden stated before turning on heel so well that he looked like he had been doing it for a long time. 

"Thanks for choosing this activity to be nerdy too." Naruto muttered breathlessly to Kurama, smacking him on the shoulder before hurrying after the Warden who had already left the room. The blonde alpha resoutly ignored Kurama's babbling and laughing as he darted to catch up with Shikamaru who was standing in doorway a bit down the hall, looking every bit addictive. Naruto tried, (and failed) to keep his eyes off the other alphas ass and just how well those skinny jeans seemed to fit on him. 

"Any personal belongings that will weigh you down, put in this trunk," The Warden says, gesturing to an open trunk. This causes the blonde to look around the room they had just entered. It wasn't big, but there was a small jail cell in the corner and table outside of it where an old fashioned phone rested. Another door with the letters Wardens Office printed on it was off to the left. Idly, Naruto set his phone, keys, and wallet into the trunk that the Warden had pointed out to him earlier. Kurama did the same, throwing his own jacket in. 'Guess is should take my jacket off as well.' The blonde thought, 'considering how hot it is here. Or rather how hot Shikamaru is.' He has enough time to shove his jacket in the trunk as well before the Warden slams it shut. 

They are ushered into the cell, and Naruto doesn't have time to process anything before the Warden is grabbing him by his wrist and being pulled forward towards the Warden. 

The noise that Naruto instinctively lets out was so embarrassing he immediately slapped his free hand over his mouth. His ears turned bright red, but the Warden is still smirking at him. Just when Naruto opens his mouth to say something snappy- he feels cold metal lock over his wrist. 

'Fuck.' Naruto thought in shock as looked down to see had been cuffed to the pole in the center of the cell. Kurama laughed at him before holding out his own wrist to be cuffed. 

"You will spend the next hour in here contemplating your horrible life choices." The Warden says shutting the cell door. The blonde blinks still recovering from they whole you cuffed me and I whined thing, before testing the cuffs. 'Damn these are real.' Naruto thought. 

"Hey,"the blonde calls out impulsively, because he really never learned to keep his mouth shut. "I thought you said this wasn't that kind of business?" The Warden saunters, actually saunters, to his supposed office door. 

"This Warden accepts bribes." He throws casually over his shoulder with a smirk in Naruto direction. 

"Naruto!" Kurama finally says loudly practically roaring out in laughter. Naruto flushed, as he remembered that it wasn't just him and the amazing Warden. 

"Worth a shot." The blonde mumbled still embarrassed. "Can you believe that was the same bored guy that greeted us when we walked in?"  

**************

(About an hour later)

Naruto and Kurama let out a cry of excitement as they were able to figure out how to get out with only a few minutes to spare. The door unlocks and swings open but their laughter dies on the lips as they are greeted with a rather pissed off looking Warden. His arms were crossed, aviators on his nose and- 'oh. hes holding a baton.' Naruto realized, feeling his knees go a little weak. 'Also that shirt makes his biceps look good.' he mentally adds as they stand in a tense silence, waiting.

"Congratulations, you outwitted the best." He says and Kurama lets out a laugh of relief,  while Naruto just tried to catch his breath. Shikamaru takes off the hat and gives them a smile, clearly breaking out of his Warden character.

"Im impressed. I have never had just two people escape that room before." 

"As in- ever?" Kurama asked raising his brows in surprise, and Shikamaru nods.

"It was interesting to watch."  

"My brain hurts." Naruto mumbles scratching at the back of his head while they grab their things from the trunk. Shikamaru just chuckles. 

"Thats one of the most common phrases I hear when people are done with my rooms."

"Wait, your rooms?" Naruto blurted out sending him surprised look. Shikamaru casts him a secretive smile. 

"My rooms." 

"Your the owner?" Kurama asks when the reach the front desk and Shikamaru nods.

"Okay so, do you design the rooms yourself then?" Kurama asked, immediately getting back into his weird nerdy mode. Shikamaru nods.

"I think of the concept, then the puzzles for them. Although i typically get help when actually building the rooms." Shikamaru says casually as though it wasn't the most amazing thing Naruto had ever heard. Kurama was equally impressed.

"That is so cool! It must take so much work! Oh and the acting stuff— you were great, it was awesome!" Shikamaru smiles, ducking his head a little at the praise. 

"Thank you. I appreciate the feedback. Especially coming from people who are smart enough to figure out my game."

"Nah, Kurama is like a little genius. Getting his doctorate and he thought this would be a fun way to keep his brain sharp during break." Shikamarus smile widens slight as he looked at Kurama.

"Im honored your chose this as your past time."

"No problem!" Kurama grinned. "We will be back for sure."

"Definitely." Naruto assured, his mouth moving yet again without permission. 'The room was fun, but i need a break or my brain is going to fry itself.' the blonde thought. 'Although a little frying for Shikamaru...' The blonde considers feeling his ears turn red. 'Shikamaru is definitely interesting. I wonder what other characters he can adapt to.' Naruto thinks trying not to shiver. 

"Sundays tend to be slow," The other alpha says gesturing to the lobby. "They are also the only day of the week that I'm here. Your welcome back on Sunday's for a discount if you can continue to impress me." Shikamaru's offers and Kurama grins again. 

"Thank you, that's awesome!"

"Awesome." Naruto agrees, already regretting the fact that now they had to leave. Or well, regretting the fact he had to leave Shikamaru's presence. 

"Hey." Shikamaru says, just as Naruto reached the door. Kuram was already next to the car and the blonde turns around to see the alpha had put the police hat on again. His brown eyes were focused on him and he gave Naruto that knowingly smirk.

"Stay out of trouble punk." He nearly purrs, gesturing towards him with the aviators. Naruto has to force himself to exhale a heat zipped through him.

"Yes sir." He replies and then turns and downright runs to the car not waiting to see what Shikamaru's reaction was to that. 'Somehow I think i know what the reply might have been.' He thought his ears a bright red. 

"Get his number?" Kurama said with a laugh and giving him a knowingly look as he threw himself into the car and they left. 

"Damnit!" Naruto cursed, smacking his steering wheel. It was too late to turn around, and they were stuck a the stoplight. 

"Next time, then." Kurama says comfortingly. "Also I'm totally telling Sasuke and Sakura about your new boy toy."

"Don't you dare."