The Awkward Beginning

I held onto a flower as I looked at its beauty. The flower was a lily, a Yuri, which people say matched me perfectly. I don't know why, but they say that my name, and the flower just suited me… Well if you haven't guessed, my name is Yuri, Sukai Yuri.

I live in Kohona with my dad. Sukai Suisen, who happens to be a florist. Well not your typical type of florist, but he specializes in rare flowers that are often used by medical ninja. So although he isn't a ninja, he is closely linked to them, I mean, that is how he met my mother. But I guess you can say I'm taking after my dad since I do know quite a bit about rare flowers.

But enough of that, back to what I was saying. After I collected a few lilies and placed them in a light blue bag that just happened to match the dress I was wearing (well because my mom made the outfit for me back when I was young). That was when I began to walk home; however, on my way home I accidentally bumped into someone on the street.

I stumbled back slightly as a flower fell out of my bag, so I quickly tried to recover it. Luckily I grabbed it before it hit the ground, but also succeeded in making a fool out of myself. I blushed madly as I looked at the person who I had bumped into. He had a look of irritation as he slightly rolled his eyes, "Sorry…" I mumbled.

It was Nara Shikamaru; I had known him since I was small, in fact I used to spend a lot of time with him before we got old enough to go to the Academy. After that we just seemed to drift and now we're hardly acquaintances.

"Don't worry about it." He told me as he continued on his way, yawning loudly.

I sighed and placed the flower back into the bag, today was a normal day, like any other one. Although when I got home I saw that the house was a complete mess. "Dad?" I asked as I looked around, "Why is there stuff every… where…" My voice had phased out as I saw him packing his travel bag.

"Where are you going?" I asked him, as he rushed past me only to look for something and further mess up the house.

"There's an emergency situation in the Sand country, I have to head out there tonight to handle a rare flower that they found a couple of hours ago." My dad sluggishly told me as he finished up his bag.

"How long will you be gone?" I asked him holding the lilies in my hand slightly tighter.

"A couple of months darling. This is a flower that shows up only once a generation and I'm the only one close enough who's qualified to properly care for it. We want to make full use of it for medicines." He explained to me as he finally slowed down and stood in front of me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"But wait, what about me, am I going with you?" I questioned as his expression changed to one I couldn't read.

"Well… you're going to stay with a friend of mine. Everything's all worked out so all you have to do is pack your bags and head there before dark, alright?" He told me as he grabbed his bag.

"Who am I going to stay with…?" I kept on asking questions.

By now I was used to my dad leaving on trips, but usually it was only a few days. This is the first time that he's going to leave for a couple of months. So needless to say that this wasn't coming as that huge of a shock to me. My father stopped in front of me and kissed my forehead as he told me, "You're going to stay with the Nara's. I happened to see Yoshino on the way home and she graciously accepted."

"Oh…"

"Now be a good girl while I'm gone alright?" My dad asked me as I nodded (of course) and saw him off with a few other ninja that were escorting him to the Sand Country.

Once I got back home I looked around at the mess and decided to clean up before I left. Picking up pieces of clothes on the floor gave me time to think. After I had done cleaning, and placing my flowers into a vase and went to my room and began packing. My room was quite small, but I didn't need much space since I was usually out most of the day either researching flowers or acquiring them.

I sighed once I was all packed and took one last look at my house, "Well, I'll be seeing you in a few months…" I told it as I closed the door and locked it.

"What? She's coming to stay here?" Shikamaru asked irritated as his mother began to explain to him the situation.

"Yes she is. Her father was in a bind and asked me if she could stay here while he was gone. I agreed since we have the room." Yoshino explained to him.

"Ah come on Shikamaru, you and her were quite the friends when you were young." His father, Shikaku told him as they ate at the dinner table.

"When we were young. We're not two years old anymore." Shikamaru started, "I don't get why she can't stay at some girls house, like Ino or Sakura or something." He mumbled as he continued eating.

"Shikamaru, she's staying here and that's final." His mother told him as someone knocked on the door, "That must be her, so be nice." She stood up from the table and went to answer the door.

"How troublesome…" Shikamaru mumbled.

As I stood at the door I couldn't help but be slightly self-conscious. After all I was going to be staying at someone's house who I barely knew. My dad on the other hand was quite acquainted with them, which explains why he thought I'd be okay here.

The door opened and Yoshino-sama stood there with a smile on her face, "Yuri! Come in!" She ushered me as I slowly stepped inside looking around slightly.

"We're in the middle of dinner, would you like to join us or settle your things in your room?" Yoshino asked me as she took my bags and placed them on the floor for me.

"Uhm. Well, I haven't eaten dinner yet." I told her as nodded and gently pushed me out of my spot and over to the dinner table, pulling out a chair for me to sit.

"I'll go grab you a plate." She insisted as I nodded and looked to the floor. I felt very awkward right now and I could tell Shikaku-sama and Shikamaru-san felt the same.

Once Yoshino-sama came back and placed my plate on the table she sat back down and continued eating her plate. I quietly began to eat as there was an awkward silence. Yoshino-sama decided to break it and asked me, "So why exactly did your father leave Yuri-chan? He didn't quite specify when he had asked me."

I looked up from my plate as I opened my mouth slightly and nervously told her, "T-they found a rare flower in the Sand Country that appears once a generation. And my dad was the only one close enough that is experienced in handling the flower, as they want to make medicine out of the extracts."

"Wow that sounds interesting." She told me, but I got a sense she didn't quite know what I was referring to.

And soon the dinner was over and I began to settle my thing in my room. I sighed as someone knocked on my door. "Oh.. Uh… Come in?" I told them as I sat on my bed.

When the door opened, I saw none other than Shikamaru. "Hi…" He awkwardly stated as he stood in front of the doorway.

Talk about awkward situation…

"Hi." I told him as we both just stood there quietly. I hated when I was forced into these types of situations. The type of situation being where you have to sit the presence of someone who barely know and don't really want to know, or someone you hate. Although, I didn't necessarily hate him, but you know… It was awkward.

"So… you're going to be staying here for a while?" Shikamaru asked me as he scratched the back of his precariously.

I nodded slightly, "Hai. For a while, as I explained during dinner."

"Well that's … good? I guess… Well we haven't talked in a while."

"I know…" I sighed as I sat on my new bed.

I hope the conversations won't be this awkward from now on. Now that I'm going to stay with Shikamaru, I knew that things would be awkward, but this is bad. Luckily, Shikamaru's mother had cut in and decided to show me around the house.

Thank the lord. I thought as she showed me around. This was going to be quite the awkward couple of months…

It's now been two weeks since I moved in with the Nara's and I must say, things have been just as awkward now as they once were. Like I did at my own house, I spend most of the day out, while Shikamaru-kun and Shikaku-sama are usually out on missions. Meaning I've spent most of my time with Yoshino-san.

However, whenever I talk to Yoshino-san she usually brings up the fact that Shikamaru and I act like strangers even though we used to be excellent friends when we were small. I keep reminding her that after we entered the academy, we drifted apart and she finds that hard to believe.

At dinner tonight we were all eating, as Shikamaru-kun and Shikaku-sama had just returned from missions they've completed. It had been a while since I had the experience of living with ninjas. "Shikamaru, you should spend more time with Yuri-chan!" Yoshino-san announced.

Shikamaru looked at her oddly as he continued eating, followed with this response, "I don't have time. Tsunade keeps sending me on out of town missions."

"Are you going on a mission tomorrow?" His mother asked him as I sat there listening.

He shook his head, "No."

"Good! You're spending the day with Yuri-chan then!" Yoshino-san smiled. I swear, she's bent on getting us together as a couple (and she acts like its such a secret as well).

"Uh… Bu-" Shikamaru tried to protest.

"Son. Just listen to your mother." Shikaku-sama told him.

Shikamaru's face flushed slightly, defeated. "Fine…" He's so whipped… Shikamaru thought in his head.

I looked around to the people sitting at the table with me. I felt really awkward since they acted like I wasn't there, and Shikamaru acted like it was a chore to be around me. I can't blame him though, I have sort of avoided him in the past two weeks.

For example:

It was morning and I had put on my morning dress getting ready to head to the washroom. As I opened the door of my room, I saw a very sleepy and tired Shikamaru with his hair down staring me right in the eyes. You see his room just happened to be across from mine and usually I had woken up before him.

But today as I saw him my face flushed and I immediately closed my door, sliding to the floor and covering my face. Shikamaru who was still tired didn't notice how quickly I had shut my door and headed to the washroom.

Once he was in the washroom I slowly opened the door and sighed, waiting outside the door to go inside. After a while the door slowly opened and Shikamaru came out all ready to head out on a mission. I quickly snuck into the washroom without him noticing and he turned back at the door looking slightly confused, but shrugged.

That was only one of the awkward occasions between Shikamaru and I. You can imagine the rest. And now tomorrow we would have to spend all the day together… This can't turn out that well.

This morning I woke up groggily and looked outside my window. The light from the sun was shining oh so proudly on Kohona, making it an excellent day to go out. I sighed and began to get ready, putting on my usual light blue dress. After brushing my light brown hair and grabbed onto my light blue bag and decided that I would get some flowers today. Maybe that'll help to get the day going along with Shikamaru.

"Breakfast's ready!" Yoshino-san shouted as I opened my door to see two very sleepy ninjas walk down the hall and into the dining room.

I laughed slightly as I followed behind them and took my regular spot at the table. "So, have you two decided what you're going to do today?" Yoshino-san sprayed out happily, as she placed the plates on the table.

After saying grace and beginning to eat, I spoke up to answer her question, "No… We have yet to decide what to do…" I told her, picking up some of the food and placing it in my mouth.

"Oh… Well I'm sure you two will find something fun!" She grinned as both Shikamaru-kun and I moaned slightly.

Everyone could tell, even Shikaku-sama, that Shikamaru-kun and I were not the type of people to be friends, nor even acquaintances. Only Yoshino-san was blissfully ignorant to the fact.

After breakfast however, Shikamaru-kun and I were pushed outside the door gracefully by Yoshino-san. So as we walked around Kohona, Shikamaru and I looked in opposite directions avoiding eye-contact completely. "Well…" I started, "what would you like to do today?" I questioned him, still avoiding eye contact.

I heard Shikamaru-kun's clothes shift as he gave a slight shrug and stated, "I don't know."

For someone who is a genius you would think they would be able to come up with more ideas… I thought as we continued to walk. It was known to the entire town Shikamaru-kun's intelligence. However, only a few knew how lazy he was. I sighed, "Well around this time of day I usually head to the Yamanaka's. Would you like to go?" I asked him politely, turning to face him (for once).

His gaze slowly came to meet mine, as his lazy eyes met with my light blue orbs. He closed his eyes and sighed, "I suppose."

I smiled slightly as we began to head to the Yamanaka's only two blocks away. Once we arrived I was ecstatic as I looked at the new flowers that arrived that day. Shikamaru stood by the door leaning against the wall, it seemed really obvious he did not want to be there. "Yuri! And… Shikamaru?" Ino shouted out completely surprised. " I never thought Shikamaru would ever set foot in here with a girl." She murmured the last part.

I turned to Ino and said hello as I picked up some flowers heading towards the counter. "We just got those ones in, they're beautiful aren't they?" Ino questioned me as I nodded and told her.

"They're absolutely gorgeous." She smiled as I gave her the money needed and headed towards the door, "let's go Shikamaru-kun."

He sighed, "Hai."

"We need to find something that the both of us like to do." I spoke up as we continued our walking around the village from before.

"Hm." Was the only sound that came out of Shikamaru as I sighed and asked him, "What do you usually do?"

"Sleep."

"… And?"

"Look at clouds." He stated very briefly as he began to walk up some stairs.

I followed behind him, slightly intrigued at where he was going. At the top of the stairs was a bench, in which he sat down on, laying down immediately. I took a seat at the edge of the bench, closest to his head as we both looked up. "You mean like this?"

"Yeah." He commented as he closed his eyes slowly.

"Well… This is nice. I could get used to it." I told mainly myself out loud as I looked up and looked at the stratus clouds dead ahead.

"Mhmhm." Shikamaru mumbled as I turned to look at him and smiled slightly.

He fell asleep again.