Chapter I – Quit being a grump, Shikamaru!
[I think I'm going to regret writing some fan fiction with romance in it.
Most likely a few spelling mistakes... Gomen. Disclaimer: I don't own
Naruto.]
Shikamaru was lying on his back in the park, watching a few clouds slowly drift by in the sky as he lightly chewed on a blade of grass and his arms folded behind his head. The season was changing and he knew it as a few dried up orange and brown leafs shuddered in the trees as a gentle wind blew by. The temperature was getting colder with each passing day and for once, Shikamaru was glad that he decided to wear a sweater that day. He enjoyed days like this. No one around to pester him and he could just sit back and watched the clouds as he pleased. He heaved a somewhat content sigh and closed his dark eyes, hearing no one around him. Perfect solitude. A slightly chilly December day that gave Shikamaru what he wanted: Silence and solitude.
"Shikamaru!" He recognized that voice and a dark eyebrow twitched slightly.
'Go away...' He thought mentally, deciding to stay still.
"I know you can hear me!" Ino shouted again from across the field.
'No I don't...' Shikamaru could hear his blonde teammate stomp towards him.
He could feel the shadow of Ino crawl over him and Ino's foot was tapping impatiently right beside his head. Shikamaru groaned and opened his eyes, meeting his teammates angry bluish green gaze.
"Nani..." Shikamaru asked with little interest, his face obviously showing boredom.
"How could you leave me back there with Chouji and Asuma-Sensei!?" Ino practically yelled at him.
Shikamaru only blinked at her boredly before turning onto his side, propping his elbow up the grass and resting his head on his fist. "I'm tired of sitting there and watching how much Chouji can eat before he gives himself a stomachache..."
"That's no reason to leave me there!" Ino clenched a fist tightly. "Sasuke- kun's team is busy with a few village-round missions, Sakura is probably trying to get him and all you can do is lie there, staring at the clouds?!"
Shikamaru sighed, draping his other arm across his stomach as he lightly pulled a few blades of grass. "Not my problem..."
"Why are you always such a grump, Shikamaru?" Ino fumed, glaring down at the said person.
'I'm getting tired of your bitching...' Shikamaru thought to himself. 'If you're hung up on that arrogant Sasuke then go try to chase him yourself...'
"Why are you always so bossy..." Shikamaru answered with a question.
"Why you..." Ino growled before grabbing Shikamaru's earring and giving it a not too nice yank.
"ITAI! Damn it all, Ino!" Shikamaru rubbed his ear painfully, glancing back at the girl. "What the hell was that for?!"
"For being a jerk! That's why!" Ino huffed.
"Hn..." Shikamaru put his arm back over his side and looked back down at the grass that he was pulling. "Sasuke walked by here a while ago and Sakura wasn't with him..."
"Really?" Ino brightened up, looking around expectantly. "Where did he go?"
Shikamaru simply lifted an arm and pointed over his head, leading back to the residential area.
"Arigato, Shikamaru! You're the greatest!" Ino said quickly before she ran off to find the Uchiha boy.
"Works every time..." Shikamaru said to himself as soon as the other was out of earshot.
He yawned boredly, deciding to lie there a while longer until Ino's interruption didn't bother his cloud watching. He glanced back up at the clouds, narrowing his eyes boredly as a more chilled wind blew by.
"You're not going to let me lay around in peace, are you..." Shikamaru asked to no one in particular and he sighed. "Oi... How troublesome..."
He reluctantly got up from his comfortable position and let the blade of grass fall to the ground as he started walking back towards the village and brushing off any grass that had gotten in his hair. He yawned yet again, folding his arms behind his head as he started humming a quiet tune to himself, knowing that his regained solitude wouldn't last for long. Even the clouds betrayed him, warning him what was to come and he hated it. Everything was against him that day.
'Autumn...' He thought to himself, glancing at the trees that he passed lazily. 'I hate it... Damned dried up leaves... Damned cold... Damned little brats running through the damned leaves... Damned cold-... Hai, the damned cold...'
He heaved a heavy sigh, knowing that within a week or two, it would be cold enough for him to see his own breath in the icy air; mocking him even more.
'Damned winter...'
He glanced up at the sky, seeing a few more puffy white clouds gather. 'I would blame you... demo... it would be too bothersome to do so...'
He continued walking, ignoring the people that he barely collided into. Why didn't he take the effort to go around? It was troublesome. For once, Shikamaru didn't really know what to do at that point. He had gotten Ino off of his back for at least a good while, Chouji was probably satisfied with his meal and that could only mean one thing.
"Shikamaru." A deeper voice said behind him.
"Eh..." Shikamaru stopped and glanced over his shoulder lazily.
"Care for a game of chess?" Asuma asked, shifting the cigarette slightly.
Shikamaru continued to look at his bearded sensei a while longer before he shrugged. "Whatever..."
Asuma smirked slightly, knowing that was Shikamaru's usual response to the strategic game. He just shook his head and walked past his student as the other followed him to their usual playing spot. As Asuma got out the chessboard, Shikamaru sat himself lazily on the wooden walkway with a dull thump and tilted his head back to look at the sky again. A flock of small birds flew by and Shikamaru's gaze followed them until they disappeared over the treetops. He heard a chess piece being slid across the board and Shikamaru sat cross-legged at his side of the game, propping an elbow up on his arm and rested his cheek on his fist.
"Why do you even bother..." He said dully, his hand hovering over his black chess pieces before he slid one forward.
"The challenge is always nice." Asuma said as he looked at the board in thought.
"You always lose..." Shikamaru said flatly as he watched his sensei make another move.
"Heh... You never know, I may beat you one of these days." Asuma heard Shikamaru mutter something as another black piece moved forward.
"The day I stop watching clouds is the day you'll beat me at any strategic game..." Shikamaru glanced off to the side boredly, scratching his head a bit.
The game went on for a while longer as the two sat silently, sliding their chess pieces across the board when it was their turn. Asuma was really in a pinch and he crossed his arms over his chest, thinking of a way to avoid Shikamaru's trap that was set up. After what seemed to be minutes of thinking, Asuma managed to capture one of Shikamaru's chess pieces and looked up at the boy, seeing that he had already dozed off lightly.
"Shikamaru."
"Mhm..." The said boy opened one eye indolently and looked at the board. "You've managed to capture my rook... I'm shaking in my boots..."
His hand moved forward slightly then he stopped, thinking for a split moment before he took his knight and knocked off one of the Asuma's pawns. Shikamaru resumed his light nap as Asuma took more time to think of a proper move. Unsurprisingly, this was normal to Shikamaru and frankly, he didn't really care. He furrowed his eyebrows slightly as another slight chilled breeze blew by.
"I hate it." He said.
"Hm?" Asuma looked up from the board. "Hate what?"
"The damned cold." Shikamaru answered bluntly before stretching back and looking at the board dully. "... Hmph..."
He pressed his fingers together and closed his eyes, his usual thinking position as he thought of a strategy to throw off his sensei and win the game. Asuma put out his cigarette in the ashtray beside him as his opponent took that time to think and he reached for another one. He lit the new cigarette up, as Shikamaru was finishing thinking, watching the boy hold his hand above the chessboard for a long moment before moving his remaining rook over a few spaces.
"Checkmate." Shikamaru yawned and lay back on the wooden porch.
Asuma looked down at the board, leaning down slightly to see what the boy had done. "Che... You're too smart for your own good."
"... Kuso..." Shikamaru grumbled as he looked up at the sky.
"What is it?" Asuma asked before looking up at the sky as well. "Ah, the first snowfall. Seems a bit late."
"Wonderful..." Shikamaru mumbled before he got up, stretching back. "I'm heading home... Ja."
He walked off, hearing Asuma's grunt in reply and knowing that his sensei was probably figuring out how he lost so easily. Shikamaru put his hands in his pockets and walked past the young kids that looked in awe at the falling snow.
"Oi! Shikamaru!" The bright blue-eyed Naruto ran over to him. "Look at that!"
"I wish I didn't have to..." Shikamaru muttered in reply.
"What is it?" Asked the blonde as he walked in step with the shadow user.
"You don't know what it is?" Shikamaru asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow slightly at the overactive boy.
"Of course I know what it is!" Naruto folded his arms behind his head before his facial expression turned vulpine-like and in thought. "... I don't know what it is."
"It's snow."
"Snow?"
"That's what I said." Shikamaru shook his head slowly. "Once there's snow, there's cold and you have to deal with it for about four months... It is very troublesome..."
"I think it's cool!" Naruto beamed, looking at the sky. "I've seen it so many times before but no one has told me what it was!"
"That's because you don't listen, you baka... You have a really short attention span sometimes..." Shikamaru stated in a matter-of-fact way. "The only thing winter is good for is sleeping in all day and doing nothing..."
'It's the perfect time to prank Sasuke!' Naruto thought excitedly.
Shikamaru glanced at the other boy, knowing what the beaming grin was for. "You're hopeless..."
"Ni hee hee hee..." Naruto laughed to himself as he thought of ways to piss off the Uchiha boy.
"The only thing you're going to be successful at is getting your ass kicked by him..." Shikamaru said, not caring if Naruto heard him.
"That's not true!" Naruto protested, holding a fist up. "Sasuke is gonna get it!"
"Get what, deadlast..." Sasuke asked as he asked from the window of his home.
"Quit calling me deadlast, damn it!" Naruto yelled, pointing accusingly at the Uchiha boy.
"Feh..." Sasuke continued to watch the other with dark eyes. "Whatever you're attempting to pull off, you're going to need all the luck you can get... You're not going to catch me off guard for anything, baka."
"You just wait, Sasuke! I'm gonna get you when you least expect it and I'll make you eat those words!" Naruto threatened.
Sasuke rolled his eyes and looked elsewhere, ignoring Naruto's constant yelling.
"You're just afraid that I'm gonna beat you at something and get you good!" Naruto grinned.
"Nani? Do you really expect me to feel threatened by your whining?" Sasuke asked, looking back down at him.
"I'm already thinking of so many things to get you back for all those times you've showed off!" Naruto crossed his arms, satisfied with his comment.
"I don't think you're capable of doing so, Naruto..." Sasuke pulled himself off of the windowsill and went back into his home. "Ja..."
"Don't you walk away from me, Sasuke!" Naruto started yelling again.
"... How troublesome..." Shikamaru sighed and continued on his way home.
He continued walking a few more blocks before he walked up to the front door of his house, placing his hand on the doorknob before pausing. He raised his eyes to the sky as more small snowflakes gently fell towards the ground from the clouds.
"... Too much effort..." He decided not to blame the clouds and walked into his house.
[Indeed... That was certainly odd. The genre says Romance for a reason... Don't worry, I'm putting some in... Unfortunately... *shakes head* Anyway, hopefully I'm keeping the characters in character and whatnot. If they seem a little OOC then... meh. I'm not perfect at keeping the personalities perfect. Anyway again... As the opening chapter, how'd you find it?]
[I think I'm going to regret writing some fan fiction with romance in it.
Most likely a few spelling mistakes... Gomen. Disclaimer: I don't own
Naruto.]
Shikamaru was lying on his back in the park, watching a few clouds slowly drift by in the sky as he lightly chewed on a blade of grass and his arms folded behind his head. The season was changing and he knew it as a few dried up orange and brown leafs shuddered in the trees as a gentle wind blew by. The temperature was getting colder with each passing day and for once, Shikamaru was glad that he decided to wear a sweater that day. He enjoyed days like this. No one around to pester him and he could just sit back and watched the clouds as he pleased. He heaved a somewhat content sigh and closed his dark eyes, hearing no one around him. Perfect solitude. A slightly chilly December day that gave Shikamaru what he wanted: Silence and solitude.
"Shikamaru!" He recognized that voice and a dark eyebrow twitched slightly.
'Go away...' He thought mentally, deciding to stay still.
"I know you can hear me!" Ino shouted again from across the field.
'No I don't...' Shikamaru could hear his blonde teammate stomp towards him.
He could feel the shadow of Ino crawl over him and Ino's foot was tapping impatiently right beside his head. Shikamaru groaned and opened his eyes, meeting his teammates angry bluish green gaze.
"Nani..." Shikamaru asked with little interest, his face obviously showing boredom.
"How could you leave me back there with Chouji and Asuma-Sensei!?" Ino practically yelled at him.
Shikamaru only blinked at her boredly before turning onto his side, propping his elbow up the grass and resting his head on his fist. "I'm tired of sitting there and watching how much Chouji can eat before he gives himself a stomachache..."
"That's no reason to leave me there!" Ino clenched a fist tightly. "Sasuke- kun's team is busy with a few village-round missions, Sakura is probably trying to get him and all you can do is lie there, staring at the clouds?!"
Shikamaru sighed, draping his other arm across his stomach as he lightly pulled a few blades of grass. "Not my problem..."
"Why are you always such a grump, Shikamaru?" Ino fumed, glaring down at the said person.
'I'm getting tired of your bitching...' Shikamaru thought to himself. 'If you're hung up on that arrogant Sasuke then go try to chase him yourself...'
"Why are you always so bossy..." Shikamaru answered with a question.
"Why you..." Ino growled before grabbing Shikamaru's earring and giving it a not too nice yank.
"ITAI! Damn it all, Ino!" Shikamaru rubbed his ear painfully, glancing back at the girl. "What the hell was that for?!"
"For being a jerk! That's why!" Ino huffed.
"Hn..." Shikamaru put his arm back over his side and looked back down at the grass that he was pulling. "Sasuke walked by here a while ago and Sakura wasn't with him..."
"Really?" Ino brightened up, looking around expectantly. "Where did he go?"
Shikamaru simply lifted an arm and pointed over his head, leading back to the residential area.
"Arigato, Shikamaru! You're the greatest!" Ino said quickly before she ran off to find the Uchiha boy.
"Works every time..." Shikamaru said to himself as soon as the other was out of earshot.
He yawned boredly, deciding to lie there a while longer until Ino's interruption didn't bother his cloud watching. He glanced back up at the clouds, narrowing his eyes boredly as a more chilled wind blew by.
"You're not going to let me lay around in peace, are you..." Shikamaru asked to no one in particular and he sighed. "Oi... How troublesome..."
He reluctantly got up from his comfortable position and let the blade of grass fall to the ground as he started walking back towards the village and brushing off any grass that had gotten in his hair. He yawned yet again, folding his arms behind his head as he started humming a quiet tune to himself, knowing that his regained solitude wouldn't last for long. Even the clouds betrayed him, warning him what was to come and he hated it. Everything was against him that day.
'Autumn...' He thought to himself, glancing at the trees that he passed lazily. 'I hate it... Damned dried up leaves... Damned cold... Damned little brats running through the damned leaves... Damned cold-... Hai, the damned cold...'
He heaved a heavy sigh, knowing that within a week or two, it would be cold enough for him to see his own breath in the icy air; mocking him even more.
'Damned winter...'
He glanced up at the sky, seeing a few more puffy white clouds gather. 'I would blame you... demo... it would be too bothersome to do so...'
He continued walking, ignoring the people that he barely collided into. Why didn't he take the effort to go around? It was troublesome. For once, Shikamaru didn't really know what to do at that point. He had gotten Ino off of his back for at least a good while, Chouji was probably satisfied with his meal and that could only mean one thing.
"Shikamaru." A deeper voice said behind him.
"Eh..." Shikamaru stopped and glanced over his shoulder lazily.
"Care for a game of chess?" Asuma asked, shifting the cigarette slightly.
Shikamaru continued to look at his bearded sensei a while longer before he shrugged. "Whatever..."
Asuma smirked slightly, knowing that was Shikamaru's usual response to the strategic game. He just shook his head and walked past his student as the other followed him to their usual playing spot. As Asuma got out the chessboard, Shikamaru sat himself lazily on the wooden walkway with a dull thump and tilted his head back to look at the sky again. A flock of small birds flew by and Shikamaru's gaze followed them until they disappeared over the treetops. He heard a chess piece being slid across the board and Shikamaru sat cross-legged at his side of the game, propping an elbow up on his arm and rested his cheek on his fist.
"Why do you even bother..." He said dully, his hand hovering over his black chess pieces before he slid one forward.
"The challenge is always nice." Asuma said as he looked at the board in thought.
"You always lose..." Shikamaru said flatly as he watched his sensei make another move.
"Heh... You never know, I may beat you one of these days." Asuma heard Shikamaru mutter something as another black piece moved forward.
"The day I stop watching clouds is the day you'll beat me at any strategic game..." Shikamaru glanced off to the side boredly, scratching his head a bit.
The game went on for a while longer as the two sat silently, sliding their chess pieces across the board when it was their turn. Asuma was really in a pinch and he crossed his arms over his chest, thinking of a way to avoid Shikamaru's trap that was set up. After what seemed to be minutes of thinking, Asuma managed to capture one of Shikamaru's chess pieces and looked up at the boy, seeing that he had already dozed off lightly.
"Shikamaru."
"Mhm..." The said boy opened one eye indolently and looked at the board. "You've managed to capture my rook... I'm shaking in my boots..."
His hand moved forward slightly then he stopped, thinking for a split moment before he took his knight and knocked off one of the Asuma's pawns. Shikamaru resumed his light nap as Asuma took more time to think of a proper move. Unsurprisingly, this was normal to Shikamaru and frankly, he didn't really care. He furrowed his eyebrows slightly as another slight chilled breeze blew by.
"I hate it." He said.
"Hm?" Asuma looked up from the board. "Hate what?"
"The damned cold." Shikamaru answered bluntly before stretching back and looking at the board dully. "... Hmph..."
He pressed his fingers together and closed his eyes, his usual thinking position as he thought of a strategy to throw off his sensei and win the game. Asuma put out his cigarette in the ashtray beside him as his opponent took that time to think and he reached for another one. He lit the new cigarette up, as Shikamaru was finishing thinking, watching the boy hold his hand above the chessboard for a long moment before moving his remaining rook over a few spaces.
"Checkmate." Shikamaru yawned and lay back on the wooden porch.
Asuma looked down at the board, leaning down slightly to see what the boy had done. "Che... You're too smart for your own good."
"... Kuso..." Shikamaru grumbled as he looked up at the sky.
"What is it?" Asuma asked before looking up at the sky as well. "Ah, the first snowfall. Seems a bit late."
"Wonderful..." Shikamaru mumbled before he got up, stretching back. "I'm heading home... Ja."
He walked off, hearing Asuma's grunt in reply and knowing that his sensei was probably figuring out how he lost so easily. Shikamaru put his hands in his pockets and walked past the young kids that looked in awe at the falling snow.
"Oi! Shikamaru!" The bright blue-eyed Naruto ran over to him. "Look at that!"
"I wish I didn't have to..." Shikamaru muttered in reply.
"What is it?" Asked the blonde as he walked in step with the shadow user.
"You don't know what it is?" Shikamaru asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow slightly at the overactive boy.
"Of course I know what it is!" Naruto folded his arms behind his head before his facial expression turned vulpine-like and in thought. "... I don't know what it is."
"It's snow."
"Snow?"
"That's what I said." Shikamaru shook his head slowly. "Once there's snow, there's cold and you have to deal with it for about four months... It is very troublesome..."
"I think it's cool!" Naruto beamed, looking at the sky. "I've seen it so many times before but no one has told me what it was!"
"That's because you don't listen, you baka... You have a really short attention span sometimes..." Shikamaru stated in a matter-of-fact way. "The only thing winter is good for is sleeping in all day and doing nothing..."
'It's the perfect time to prank Sasuke!' Naruto thought excitedly.
Shikamaru glanced at the other boy, knowing what the beaming grin was for. "You're hopeless..."
"Ni hee hee hee..." Naruto laughed to himself as he thought of ways to piss off the Uchiha boy.
"The only thing you're going to be successful at is getting your ass kicked by him..." Shikamaru said, not caring if Naruto heard him.
"That's not true!" Naruto protested, holding a fist up. "Sasuke is gonna get it!"
"Get what, deadlast..." Sasuke asked as he asked from the window of his home.
"Quit calling me deadlast, damn it!" Naruto yelled, pointing accusingly at the Uchiha boy.
"Feh..." Sasuke continued to watch the other with dark eyes. "Whatever you're attempting to pull off, you're going to need all the luck you can get... You're not going to catch me off guard for anything, baka."
"You just wait, Sasuke! I'm gonna get you when you least expect it and I'll make you eat those words!" Naruto threatened.
Sasuke rolled his eyes and looked elsewhere, ignoring Naruto's constant yelling.
"You're just afraid that I'm gonna beat you at something and get you good!" Naruto grinned.
"Nani? Do you really expect me to feel threatened by your whining?" Sasuke asked, looking back down at him.
"I'm already thinking of so many things to get you back for all those times you've showed off!" Naruto crossed his arms, satisfied with his comment.
"I don't think you're capable of doing so, Naruto..." Sasuke pulled himself off of the windowsill and went back into his home. "Ja..."
"Don't you walk away from me, Sasuke!" Naruto started yelling again.
"... How troublesome..." Shikamaru sighed and continued on his way home.
He continued walking a few more blocks before he walked up to the front door of his house, placing his hand on the doorknob before pausing. He raised his eyes to the sky as more small snowflakes gently fell towards the ground from the clouds.
"... Too much effort..." He decided not to blame the clouds and walked into his house.
[Indeed... That was certainly odd. The genre says Romance for a reason... Don't worry, I'm putting some in... Unfortunately... *shakes head* Anyway, hopefully I'm keeping the characters in character and whatnot. If they seem a little OOC then... meh. I'm not perfect at keeping the personalities perfect. Anyway again... As the opening chapter, how'd you find it?]