Perfectly lovely day

What a beautiful day. The sky was a clear blue and the clouds drifted across slowly enough to make out cloud patterns but fast enough that you didn't get bored of it; Shika's kind of day.

He lay down on the soft green grass in his favourite spot and sighed happily. The perfect day for cloud watching. Shikamaru lay there with his eyes on the sky. You could see that, for a change, his mind wasn't on his favourite hobby. His eyes had a glazed look, as if they were gazing passed the clouds at some vision only he was witness to.

A lone figure stood at the edge of Shikamaru's clearing. Her hair stood in four pigtails and she leaned casually against the tree, a seemingly relaxed look on a face that has obviously seen more scowls than smiles. Her eyes too were on the sky and, as she inhaled the soft, spring breeze, a small smile graced her lips. She too seemed deep in thought.

It was a strange sight, to see the normally stoic woman so happy and calm. She slowly opened her eyes and stared across the still, seemingly asleep, figure. She shifted, indecisive for a moment, before taking a breath, and walked calmly over to the resting Nara boy. She approached slowly, hesitantly, carefully pulled off her giant fan and lay it down on the grass before carefully sitting beside him.

The young man made no move to stop her. Instead he lifted a hand and pointed to a single cloud formation. Temari looked up but soon looked back at him, confused. He smiled at her and patted the grass beside him. Temari smiled gently and lay down on the grass beside him. He lifted his hand and began pointing at different clouds. They traded words, ideas of what the shapes might be perhaps.

Shikamaru pointed again at the formation she could not see. Her brow furrowed and she squinted trying to make out the pattern. He chuckled at her, a lazy, happy sound, and pushed a curl of blonde hair from her eyes as a soft breeze blew past. 'Don't try so hard' he seemed to be telling her. She closed her eyes and shook her head. 'No, I just can't see it.'

Shika shook his head and took her hand. He moved it above their heads and, slowly her eyes widened in amazement. Her mouth opened in a small 'o' as her eyes and mind finally caught sight of the image in the sky. Shikamaru laughed at her lightly and she pushed his head playfully. They lay there for a while, content to simply stare at the formation.

A voice called in the distance. Shikamaru sighed and stood slowly. He turned and offered his hand to Temari and helped her rise before reaching for her fan. He handed it to her and she strapped it across her back and they walked leisurely towards the voice that haled them. As they walked, their fingers found each other and intertwined.

They vanished into the Nara's forest and I raced up the hill and lay down in the soft, warm grass. I gazed up at the sky, trying to make out which shape interested them so much. A rabbit, a fox, a spearhead, I saw many different shapes. Then just as the wind was about to blow the clouds into new formation, I saw it; A giant heart hung, not in the clouds, but in the sky. The wind blew and the shape was lost but I stared at the sky and thought, 'what a perfect, lovely day.'