A Shikumaru One Shot.
Great Willows are the perfect tree. Not only are they beautiful, but majority of them are old, layering each branch and leaf with wisdom and memories from long ago. I ran my hands along its trunk and smiled. Yeah, this one was probably about a century old. I glanced up towards one of the branches and noticed a few birds perking their heads down at me, singing away. I chuckled and stuck my hand out slowly. I mimicked their song with my own voice quietly; they seemed to like it as they took a few steps closer to me on the branch. I continued to sing in tune with them as one brave little bird flew down from the tree and onto my hand. I smiled in awe and the fellow before me.
"Yo'Ayame, hurry up! we're almost to the Hidden Leaf Village" Asher, my team mate, screamed. The bird flapped its wings and flew back onto the branch. I sighed in disappointment and turned around, shooting Asher a glare. He rolled his eyes and grabbed hold of my hand, pulling me with him to catch up to the others.
"Such a tree-hugger." Asher mumbled, thinking I didn't catch that.
It didn't matter because my smile reappeared on my face as the gate to the village came into sight. I was excited to return here; it had been about three years since we had come back. Our mission had taken longer than we'd expected.
"It's good to be back here again." Cohn said softly, leaning on our sensei Chihiro. He was badly injured during the last and final battle we took place in and needed assistance walking. He would definitely have to be treated when we reached the village.
"You can say that again!" Asher screamed.
"You know, you can talk like normal people do when we're standing two feet away from you." I muttered, shaking my head. Sure, I loved my squad. Asher and Cohn were both very strong as well. But sometimes I just wanted to put a hundred pieces of duct tape over Asher's mouth. He grinned at my comment and placed his hands behind his head.
As we entered the gate, Chihiro-Sensei turned to us.
"I'm going to take Cohn here to the infirmary. You two report to the Hokage at once" Asher groaned and I elbowed him in the stomach, saying we'd do it first thing.
"What do you think the Hokage will say?" Asher asked after we continued to walk. I shrugged my shoulders and mimicked his earlier action by placing my hands behind my head and glancing up at the sky. It looked like it was going to rain.
I knew we would be heavily scolded. We were due back here literally two years ago, but stayed in the Hidden sand Village instead. I had grown accustom to their ways and close friends with Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. They made me feel like I belonged there; that was something I had never felt in the Hidden Leaf Village. Even though our mission was a success, like I said, it took us two years longer than we'd thought it would. And we required assistance from the neighboring village, The Hidden Sand Village. Gaara himself had to come out to help. Besides that, much of the land we were fighting on was destroyed. I shook my head in disapproval. With all the trees we'd destroyed, that land would be bare for another twenty or thirty years. A gasp made me return from my thoughts, but before I knew what was happening, I was knocked to the ground.
"Ayame, you're back!" I would have recognized that hyper-pitched scream anywhere. I grinned and messed up Nartuo's already messy hair. He had grown a lot since I had last seen him, I thought as we both stood.
"And you're back too." I noted in relief. He gave me his goofy grin before telling me how tedious and hard his training with Jiraiya had been.
"But I assume you're much stronger now?" He nodded.
"Damn right I am!" I laughed and turned to Asher because he had poked me in my side. I raised an eye brow, annoyed.
"Hate to break up this little reunion, it is great seeing you and all Naruto, but we have to see the Hokage."
"I completely forgot! We'll catch up later!" I called, already dragging Asher through the town to the Hokage's room. After a half hour, we exited, feeling very tired.
"What a surprise, another lecture." Asher mumbled. This time I actually groaned in agreement with him. I mean, I understood we took longer, but we finished the job didn't we? Besides, this was an important mission and she only sent four people to do it. What was she thinking?
"Well I'm going to get some food!" Asher called, already walking away. I rolled my eyes and thought of what to do with myself now that I was finally alone. I could use a nap.
Yeah, and I knew just where to take one; my special place.
When I arrived, a smile immediately formed on my face as I surveyed my surroundings. My special place was located on the top of a hill in the forest of the Hidden Leaf village. There was a small waterfall flowing to the left of it; I loved the sound of rushing water. It made a strong sense of calm flow through me. I trotted over to my sitting spot and leaned against my favorite tree, 'Big Willy' is what I called it. If you didn't already guess, it was a Great Willow Tree. I was just about to let a sigh escape my lips, when someone else beat me to it. I raised an eye brow and looked at the land in front of me, keeping my guard up. When nothing happened for another ten minutes, I grinned to myself. I was just being paranoid; still in mission-mode, that's all.
Another sigh.
"I hate reports. . . Their so troublesome."
Now I just wanted to laugh; I knew that voice. As I sat there, leaning against my tree, I realized where he must be. I smirked, an idea forming in my head. Very quietly and cat-like, I climbed up 'Big Willy" and worked my way around to the other side of the tree hiding myself in its branches. I looked down below me at my victim and chuckled very quietly. He was going through what looked like paper work and sighing every few seconds or so, letting out a yawn. I rolled my eyes; this was so typical of him. I angled myself in the perfect position before using my chakra to control the water from the water fall. I splashed it on him from the opposite direction of where I was. He let out a small gasp and stood up in a defensive stance.
Now was my chance!
I jumped down from my tree and landed right on Shikamaru's back, knocking him to the ground. He let out a scream in surprise and turned his body around to face me, who was now lying on top of him. Once he realized it was just me, he let out a long sigh before narrowing his eyes at me and glaring. I busted out laughing and propped myself up just slightly on my elbows, removing some of my body weight from him.
"You almost scared me half to death, are you crazy woman?" He screamed, only making me laugh more.
"Ah, you are so easy." I mumbled, going to stand. He grabbed my arms, preventing me from moving and raised an eye brow.
"You are so troublesome, you know that?" I laughed even more and nodded my head with a grin. He rolled his eyes muttering something along the lines of 'what a drag'.
Good to see he hasn't changed.
Well, personality wise at least. I stared at his face, which looked much older than before. His hair was a little longer too, but he still wore it in the same style he had before. Basically, he had just grown up. When I realized I was staring, Shikamaru was smiling slightly; he obviously noticed I was staring and got the wrong idea. I felt my cheeks twinge of a light pink.
"You changed." He said suddenly. My eyes returned to his intense brown ones and I cocked my head to the side in curiosity.
"How so?" I asked. He chuckled.
"Well for one thing, your hair looks lighter and longer." He held up a strand of my dirty blonde hair in-between his fingers and stared at it for a second or two before letting it fall back into place. When I didn't say anything, a quick flash of worry flashed across his face.
"But the change isn't bad. You look. . . Nice." He said sheepishly. My heart fluttered in my chest for just a second, but I still felt it. I grinned back slowly in gratitude.
"Well you don't look too bad yourself." I replied.
This time his cheeks turned slightly pink, only making me smile wider.
"But I bet you're still the same lazy-ass kid who finds everything 'trouble-some' or stupid. You probably still just sit on some grass and stare at the clouds all day, day dreaming your pretty little head off." I said smirking. People would always compare Shikamaru and I, saying we were so similar, but I didn't see it. Shikamaru arched his own eye brow and glared slightly.
"And you're probably the same little girl with a fiery temper who thinks she can do everything by herself. Not too mention you obviously still like to wander off by yourself and stare at trees." His eyes glanced at "Big Willy" behind us. I scoffed and rolled my eyes.
"And to think people say we are alike!" Shikamaru blew out a breath of air, agreeing that the thought was ridiculous.
"Then again. . . " He started, staring back into my own hazel brown eyes.
"..What?" I asked.
He laughed, shaking his head, mumbling something about how it wasn't important. I glared and protested with a pout.
With a sigh, he muttered his famous line, "What a drag."
"All I was going to say was, I guess I can see why people think we're similar." My mouth hung open in shock. I was nothing like this boy who happened to still be underneath me.
"I mean, we both don't like paper work." He started, glaring at the stash of papers next to us. I grinned slightly for a second, hoping he didn't notice it.
"And we both think Asher is way too obnoxious and arrogant." This time a small chuckle escaped my mouth and I mentally smacked myself.
"We both like to watch the clouds, even if you won't admit it." I cocked my head to the side, suddenly interested in what he had to say. He absent-mindedly reached up and pushed a strand of hair that had fallen in my face, back in place.
"And we both see things in ways others would never understand." I thought back to all the names I had been called growing up; tree hugger, nature freak. I was always known for day dreaming in school, or just spacing out in conversations. I thought back to more recently, such as this morning and the incident with the tree and birds, and Asher's little snide comment. Everything Shikamaru was saying was indeed, beginning to make sense.
Shikmaru's hand released another piece of hair and he very cautiously placed it on my cheek. His hand was cool and felt nice on my skin that was hot from the glazing sun that was shining down on us.
"Why'd you leave?" He asked quietly.
My lips moved, but nothing came out. I wasn't sure what to say.
"I left because. . ." My voice trailed off. I turned my gaze away from his eyes and stared at the green grass below us.
"I left because no one here understood me." I said finally. When I my eyes still didn't return to his, his hand gently applied pressure to my cheek, forcing my face to becoming level with his. He stared up at me into my eyes once again and sighed.
"That's not true." Looking down at the boy before me, I realized he was right.
He understood me.
I found myself bringing my lips closer and closer to his, before placing a gentle kiss on his own. His eyes widened for a split second before applying more pressure and deepening the kiss. When we parted, I smiled down at him once more, before going to stand up.
His hold on my arms were still tight, and I glanced back down at him.
"Well are you going to let me go?"
He chuckled and shook his head. Wrapping his arms around me in an embrace he said;
"No. I'll never let you go again."