Shikadai and Himawari found themselves in a thick crowd, cheering on the loud rappers on the stage. What a drag, Shikadai thought to himself. He wasn't sure how they had gotten pushed towards the front of the crowd, but it was not a preferred spot for him. He could feel the sticky sweat of the people leaning up against him, and feel their hot breath on his neck.

Himawari did not seem annoyed by their predicament. She was staring up at the stage with a bright smile, cheering on her friend. It was a talent show contest, a new event for this year's peace day festival. Currently on the stage was Cho and her mother's master, Killer Bee. They had created a rap together, and the crowd was going wild.

Shikadai enjoyed the singing of his friend, but he wanted desperately to get out of the thick crowd. He pulled Himawari's hand and led her off to the side, where they could still see the stage clearly but weren't in the front. He sighed once they were released from the chaos.

"Wow," Himawari said, "I never knew Cho could rap like that."

"Yeah, she learned from Killer Bee," Shikadai said.

"I wonder who will be next?" Himawari was really enjoying the talent show. "Maybe you and I could enter the contest next time!"

"Huh?" This didn't seem to interest Shikadai, it seemed too troublesome to him. "And what would our talent be, exactly?"

"Hmm, I don't know," Himawari said, pondering this, "maybe we could put on a skit or something."

Shikadai waved his hands in front of his face, "no way. That's not really my thing."

Himawari made her eyes wide, in a puppy-dog like pout face. "Oh man, would you really make me go through all that?" Shikadai asked, trying not to stare into her beautiful big eyes.

Himawari broke free of the puppy-pout and laughed hysterically, "Oh man, you should've seen the look on your face!" she cried, "of course I wouldn't make you do that! If you don't want to do a talent show I won't force you to!" She was still laughing at Shikadai, who sighed in relief. She was really something.

After Cho and Killer Bee left the stage, they watched an odd performance by Metal Lee and his father, Rock Lee. The two of them showed off their taijutsu skills in a fight against each other. The only problem was that they got a little carried away, and almost broke the stage in half. As one of the judges, Lady Tsunade stepped in and stopped their so called 'talent performance' before they did any real damage. She herself almost broke through the pillars of the stage to stop them, ironically.

Their act was followed by a calm and soothing performance by Inojin and his father Sai. The two of them laid out a large canvas and did a collaborative artwork drawing. They drew a tree with cherry blossoms and a young girl under the tree, catching the falling flowers. When they had finished drawing, they used their jutsu to make the cartoon come to life. The tree swayed realistically with petals falling down on the stage and the cartoon girl went to grab each one. Himawari and Shikadai were captivated by its beauty.

Shikadai and Himawari decided not to stick around to find out the winner of the contest, they figured they could hear about it all later. Instead, they took a stroll by the edge of the village, where there were hardly any passersby. Shikadai was happy to finally have some time together alone.

Himawari took in a deep breath as they walked casually, "I feel like I can finally breathe," she said.

"Yeah, no kidding," Shikadai agreed. "The peace day festival is great, but there's always an overwhelming amount of people around. Sometimes I just like to come out here to get away from it all."

"It's a great idea," Himawari said. She began to swing his hand around in hers, and they laughed a little. "So, what do you want to do?"

"Well, there's a place close by to here where I like to sit and cloud gaze. I mean, we don't have to do that if you don't want to," he said rather lamely. He realized that probably the only two lazy shinobi who enjoyed cloud gazing were himself and his father. It was also late in the afternoon, and would be getting dark soon.

"Actually, that sounds great!" Himawari said, beaming. Shikadai smiled back enthusiastically, and led her to his favorite cloud gazing spot. It was a large wooden bench where his father used to take him. It was large enough to lay back on and look up at the sky.

Shikadai and Himawari laid down and looked up, still holding on to each other's hands. "So you used to come here with your dad?" Himawari asked.

"Yeah," Shikadai said, "when I was little I used to love hanging around here with him."

"That's so sweet," Himawari said, "I used to always play rough games with my dad and brother. When we were little, we would play ninja before Boruto and I could use ninjutsu. We always loved to roughhouse with my dad, or make him show us his ninjutsu. I used to think it was so amazing, watching him make a rasengan or go into nine tailed mode."

"Well, you're dad does do some pretty amazing things. But he's nowhere near as amazing as you," Shikadai said. He turned to look at Himawari, and noticed she was blushing.

"Wow," she said, "you always find a way to make me feel embarrassed." She was holding her hands up to her face, "I'm not that amazing."

"Himawari," Shikadai said, "you're truly the most amazing woman I've ever met." He leaned his head against hers, looking straight into her eyes. He kissed her forehead, which brought a smile to her lips. Then he kissed her lips gently, and pulled back to see an even bigger smile. "There's that Uzumaki smile that I know so well," he said.

He laid back down again and looked up at the sky. They laid in silence for a moment or two, watching the clouds drift by slowly. For a minute, Shikadai thought that maybe Himawari had fallen asleep, but she was still staring up at the clouds. "Are you bored?" he asked her.

"No, just lost in thought," she said. She inched her body closer to his, and placed her head against his shoulder. He felt butterflies swarm in his stomach. She pointed up at the sky towards one particularly large cloud, "That one looks like you a little bit."

"What?" Shikadai laughed, "How so?"

"Well, there's a circular part there, and then some spiky stuff coming out of it…it looks like your face and your hair!" she laughed into his shoulder, realizing how weird her comment sounded.

Shikadai laughed with her, "you have quite an imagination."

"Well, what do you think it looks like?" she asked him.

"Hmm," he pondered, "maybe a flower…with half the petals missing. Yeah," he sounded more confident now, "it actually looks like a sunflower. Like you."

"Psh, that does not look like a sunflower," Himawari protested.

"Hm, maybe not…the wind is blowing it away now anyways," Shikadai said. Then, he remembered something, "you know, I searched all over the village gardens for a sunflower to give you on your birthday. That's part of the reason I was so late. I kept chasing for a sunflower without realizing that we didn't have any around. Ino's flower shop was closed already, so I couldn't just buy one."

"So you were planning on bringing a card, a bracelet and a flower for my birthday?" Himawari asked him. There was a sparkle in her eyes.

"Yeah," Shikadai said, "you make it sound excessive, haha. It didn't seem like a big deal to me at the time, I figured you deserved everything special for your birthday. When I couldn't find a sunflower, I headed to the restaurant and ended up a little late. I never told anyone I was looking for a sunflower, maybe I would've had better luck if I had asked for help."

Himawari wrapped her arms tightly around Shikadai, nuzzling her face up against his neck, "you don't need to look any further," she told him, "you have your sunflower right here."

Shikadai hugged her back, "Yeah, I do. And it's the best sunflower I could ever hope to find."

…..

Night fell upon them fast, and they hurried away from their cloud gazing spot to find a secluded area to watch the fireworks. Many of their friends asked them to join up to watch the firework display, but they politely refused every offer. Tonight, they wanted to watch the fireworks together, just the two of them. Using her byakugon, Himawari found a spot quickly for them that was deserted of all people.

They climbed up atop the small hill and set down a blanket on the grass. Most of the people watching were down in the field in front of the outdoor stage. The fireworks would be displayed in the sky right above the stage, so the field was really an ideal spot. However, Shikadai was sure they would still have an excellent view from atop their little hill, even if there were a few trees in the way.

Himawari sat down on the blanket, and patted the spot next to her, indicating that Shikadai sit there. "Hm," he said, "I think I'd prefer this spot." He sat directly behind her, and pulled her in close to him, wrapping her up in his arms and placing his legs on either side of her. He leaned his face over her shoulder, resting his cheek up against hers. He could almost feel the heat emanating from her face.

"I like this," she admitted, entwining her hands in his. He held onto her tight, remembering back to the time they had cuddled up like this in the cave while it was raining. He had been too afraid to kiss her then, but nothing was holding him back now. He started with a gentle kiss against her smooth cheek, and then he placed a kiss up by her brow. Himawari turned her face to him then, allowing him to kiss her on the lips. Although they had already kissed a few times before, each time still felt like the first time to Shikadai. He felt his heart swoop in his chest as their lips met.

This time however, they kissed differently. Shikadai pushed against her lips with passion, reaching up a hand to cusp her face and bring her closer to him. She pushed her lips up against his with as much force, and then moaned slightly. Her moan made his heart skip a beat. He opened his mouth cautiously, and she did the same. They pushed their tongues up against each others, exploring the new sensation. They made out like that for a little while, and then Shikadai began to feel curious. He wondered what it would feel like to kiss her neck, her ears, and her chin. So, he did just that. He parted their passionate kiss, and heard her moan again. He immediately turned his lips towards her ear, nipping it gently before brushing up against her neck with his lips slightly parted. Then, he kissed her neck with his mouth open, so he could suck gently on her skin and lick the area. He felt goose bumps rise up her arm as he kissed her neck, and a pleasant tingling coursed up his own spine. Kissing her anywhere felt truly amazing. He then ran his tongue along her jaw line and placed a small kiss on her chin, which made her laugh. Then, his lips were upon hers again. They couldn't get enough. They kissed passionately and vigorously, letting their hands explore around each other's bodies.

Then, before Shikadai could decide where to kiss next, they heard a loud 'boom!' Himawari and Shikadai looked up at the sky in confusion. The fireworks had just started, they witnessed the red sparks fly down to the earth before the next firework blazed through the sky with another loud booming sound. Himawari laughed, "wow, I almost forgot about the fireworks."

"Yeah, same here," Shikadai said. He placed his head up against her shoulder again, still hugging her from behind. His heartbeat was racing fast from their kiss. "I was thinking back to that time in the cave, and I told you yesterday that I wouldn't make the same mistake twice. I wanted to kiss you back then but didn't, so I made up for that now."

"I'm glad you did," Himawari said before turning her head and kissing him again.

He laughed into her kiss and then said, "Don't you want to watch the fireworks?"

Himawari shrugged, "I've seen fireworks before. I'd rather kiss you." She leaned in to kiss him again. Shikadai ran his fingers through her hair, taking in her scent with each breath.

They parted again, but Shikadai did not take his eyes off her. The fireworks seemed to be miles away from them, neither of them turned to look at them. "Hey Himawari," Shikadai said, feeling a tense knot in his stomach. "will you be my girlfriend? I know it's a little unconventional to ask that on the first date…but when you think about it, this is more like our 3rd date."

Himawari smiled warmly at him, "of course I'll be your girlfriend," she responded. Then, without another word to waste, she pulled him in for another kiss. Fireworks seemed to be exploding within Shikadai, not out there in the sky. His heart thrummed loudly in his ears, blocking out all other sounds. She said yes…Himawari is my girlfriend! He felt like he could die happy that night, as he continued to make out with his wonderful girlfriend.

They stopped their fervent kissing once the fireworks had stopped exploding in the sky. They grinned widely at each other, still wanting more. Shikadai held Himawari tightly, and whispered in her ear, "This has been the best night of my life, my sunflower."

Himawari replied, "mine too." She cuddled up closer to him, resting her head on him. They stared up at the sky, watching the faint smoke from the fireworks dissipate. The fireworks always signified the end of the festival, but for the two of them, it was just their beginning.

….

Shikadai watched his girlfriend scrutinize over her next move as they sat on his porch. They were playing shogi, the only game that she had yet to defeat him in. The peace day festival occurred about four months earlier, and the two of them had spent as much time together as they could between missions and training. Himawari became a jonin about three months ago, and Naruto was already speaking highly about her success with her team on the missions they had gone on. She had become an excellent team leader, and would soon be receiving a genin squad of her own. Shikadai himself had begun training a three person genin team a few weeks earlier. His students found him lazy, but they had high respect for him. He remembered thinking that training the young genin would be troublesome, but he found that he actually quite enjoyed it.

Himawari finally made her move, and Shikadai had been waiting for it. He quickly picked up his piece and moved it forward, setting up his pieces for yet another win. Himawari glared at him and he smirked. He knew she would best him someday, she was quite smart after all.

Himawari glanced down at the board game and then back up at Shikadai. A look of surprise swept across her face, and she looked down again on the board as if in disbelief. "What is it?" Shikadai asked.

Himawari moved up another piece, in a direction that he didn't expect. Shikadai was shocked, her move jeopardized his plan. He thought long and hard about what to do next…until he finally made his decision. There, let's see how she counters this!

Himawari grinned playfully and picked up one of her pieces, placing it down on the board with vivacity. Shikadai looked up at her with shock. She had just won the game.

"Oh yeah!" Himawari cried, punching a fist in the air. She then got up and did a little victory dance. Shikadai couldn't help but laugh at the sight, she was so adorable. He felt his heart burst with joy, he still couldn't believe she had finally beat him. "Did you see that Shika! I finally beat you in shogi!"

Himawari twirled around once more and then landed back down next to him, kissing his cheek before saying, "sorry to boast, but I'm just so glad I finally did it!"

"Yeah, you did," Shikadai said, "congratulations."

Himawari hugged him and then got up again, doing another silly dance in her victory. Shikadai stared at her in awe, she was truly perfect. Before he could think twice, three words escaped his lips, "I love you."

Himawari stopped her silly dance, and stared at him. Shikadai felt his face turn red, and he immediately began to stammer some excuse, "I mean, I-I," Himawari walked towards him and placed a finger upon his lips, quieting him. He noticed her eyes were slightly wet, as though she was about to cry. Oh jeez, what have I done?

"I love you too Shikadai," she said. She blinked, and the tears finally rolled down her cheeks.

"Then why are you crying?" he asked.

"I'm crying because I'm so happy," she said. Shikadai smiled at her, and then felt a tear roll down his own face. How troublesome, she's the only person who can make me cry like this…but that's how I know I love her.

He kissed her salty tears away from her cheeks and said, "I'll love you forever Himawari. That's a promise."

She nodded and then kissed him on the lips, "And I will always love you too."

From that day forward, Shikadai didn't daydream the way he used to. His real life was better than any dream. He had found his perfect sunflower.

End

...

Author's Note: This chapter was mostly fluffy/happy, hope that's okay!- I added in the little epilogue for the end to wrap up- I thought it would be appropriate to have closure on whether or not Himawari became a jonin and also how Shikadai and Himawari finally confessed their love for each other. Hope you guys liked the story! Please let me know! If anyone has any suggestions for future stories, I'd love to hear- I'm thinking to do a series of one-shots between the two some day- probably rated M so I can add in some smut. Ideas and reviews are welcome, thanks for all the reviews from everyone so far and for the support!