"Ugly!"

"Forehead Girl!"

Their words still rang into little Haruno Sakura's ears. Tears poured out of her green eyes and splashed against her small fists. Sniffling loudly she brushed them away, wetting her sleeves. She was sitting under the willow tree near Konoha's playground, watching the other children laughing and playing tag.

She wanted to join them but they'd just tease her again. Even Uzumaki Naruto, the goofy kid from Academy was with the class slackers, having fun. She stared at him, noting how big his smile was. Her mother had warned her not to play with him, and Sakura, being the obedient child she was, listened. She didn't question why and thought it to be unfair. As obnoxious and loud as he was, he always brightened up classes with his pranks. Not that she'd ever admit it out loud to anyone.

She was so focused on him that she didn't notice the shadow approaching her.

"You're in my spot."

With a small squeak she stumbled backwards, her back smacking against the tree's trunk. A boy around her age stared at her with a bored expression. She recognized him from the 'dead-last' bunch. Nara Shikamaru.

"Oi, oi. I'm not going to hurt you. A man should never hurt a woman." Shikamaru blinked down at the girl staring at him with wide green eyes. "You're...Sakura, right?" His eyes flicked to her forehead for the briefest second.

Sakura's right hand flew up to her forehead, brushing desperately at her bangs to cover it. She retreated to the other side of the tree, peeking around the trunk. "S-so what?! Are you going to make fun of me?!"

He plopped down on the grass and folded his arms under his head. "Too troublesome." He scanned the skies and smiled. "Besides, watching clouds is better than making fun of a girl." Turning his head slightly, he studied her, his brows knitted into a frown. "I don't get it."

"E-eh?" Sakura held her hands in front of her mouth, unsure of what he meant. She had half a mind to run home and hide under her covers where no one would see her.

"Why are you hiding from everyone? Don't you want to play with them?"

Biting her lip, she turned her head away facing the other children again. "I...I do but..." her voice trailed off and she mumbled something he didn't quite catch.

Sitting up, he cupped a hand over his ear, "Haaah? I can't hear you."

"...ead..." she mumbled again.

Resisting the urge to groan, he stood up and inched closer to her. "Y'know, it's troublesome to comprehend anything you say when you mumble like that." She fidgeted a little, twiddling her thumbs. When she opened her mouth to speak again he held a hand up. "Stop. If it's too much to say, you don't have to." He yawned and stretched out over the grass, cracking his knuckles. "You can join me if you want, the shade's nice and the sky is full of clouds."

"Clouds?"

"Mm. See?" He pointed up at the sky, grinning at her.

"I know what clouds are, but why would you watch them?"

Raising a thin eyebrow, Shikamaru stared at the pink-haired girl. She was busy staring at the sky, her brows scrunched up like she was looking for something that wasn't there.

"..." Reaching out, he grabbed her hand and pulled.

"Waaah!" She gracelessly fell into his lap. Shaking her head to reorient herself, she found herself face to face with Shikamaru. His expression hadn't changed much, except for a faint blush creeping across his cheeks due to their close proximity. Gasping, she scuttled to the side and just sat there beside him, not daring to meet his eyes.

With a cough, he pointed at the sky again, this time to a sizeable cloud floating up there. "Okay, see that one? To me it looks like a sailboat in the high seas. See the mast?"

She was silent for a moment, studying the shape. In the end she gave up. "I don't see anything. Just a cloud."

"Use your imagination." And on in went until the sun was nearly setting. She had finally listened to him and seen the clouds in her own way. Some of the things she had seen had made him smile. A cat, a fire-breathing dragon, and a lion. And while they had talked, he found himself quite enjoying her company, something rare for him. He contemplated this as he watched the pink-haired girl dozing next to him.

Soon he heard their parents calling them and he nudged her awake. "Sakura. Your mom is here. And mine will start nagging at me if we don't get moving."

Yawning, she slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Myah?" She looked over the playground and saw her mom standing there with another woman, hands on her hips, impatiently tapping her foot as she waited for her. "Oh! Uhm…" she stood up and picked off the bits of grass that had attached themselves to her beige pants. "C-can we watch clouds here tomorrow too, Shikamaru?"

He blinked at her and a small smirk formed on his lips. Waving his hand, he began walking towards his waiting mother, "Anytime."