He's Been There When
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Note: I lucked out. My karate changed its schedule while I was gone and I now have about an hour and a half between my two classes. This fic is dedicated to the best guy friends a girl could ever ask for: Sean, Brian, Guy and Josh. I love these guys!
-!-!-!-!
"My best friend is like a fairy tale. They've been there since once upon a time and will be there until forever after."-Anonymous
-!-!-!-!
He's been there…
When I cry
The young platinum blonde girl sniffed, holding her swollen ankle. The sun was setting, casting long shadows and everyone was heading home, like Ino had been before she tripped over that darned tree root and had sprained her ankle, or so she figured, because it hurt a lot.
Ino looked up when she saw a pair of sandaled feet and saw a skinny boy with a spiky ponytail and dark chocolate eyes.
"Shikamaru! What're you doing here?"
"Looking for you and it was a good thing I did. Your mom got worried 'cause you weren't home yet." He answered before looking carefully at her ankle, "I take it you can't stand up."
The seven year old shook her head.
He crouched down in front of Ino, offering her back. "Climb on."
"You're not strong enough to lift me."
Shikamaru gave her a reassuring smile. "Relax. I'm stronger than people give me credit for. Besides, your house isn't that far."
Ino gave in and reluctantly wrapped her arms around his neck. He got up slowly, letting his body get used to the extra weight and supporting her by her thighs, careful not to jostle her ankle too much.
When I get heartbroken
Naruto didn't bother knocking, knowing she wouldn't answer anyway, and let himself in. The apartment was dark, the only light from the streetlights outside. He found his quarry, her slender body shivering slightly in the cold, as she was only in her pajamas.
She looked up sharply as she heard his footsteps, her jade eyes glistening. He held up his hands to show he wasn't armed and she let a self-mocking chuckle escape her lips. It sounded so wrong to Naruto who gently wrapped an arm around her small shoulders and hugged her close. Sakura buried her face in his T-shirt, trying to hide the tears.
She wouldn't cry often, not anymore, but on nights like these when the moon was full and its soft light reflected off the team portrait, she would get overwhelmed. Naruto always knew somehow; when these nights would happen and would always make it a point to be able to be there for Sakura.
When I laugh
Tenten grinned as Neji, face emotionless, pleaded with his pale eyes to be free from the torture of their sensei and his lookalike. "It's a guy's thing, Neji. You have to go." She told him, mirth dancing in her caramel eyes.
Lee looked over and frowned slightly. "This feels a little sexist. Are you sure you would not like to join us, Tenten?"
That broke her fragile control over her amusement and she started laughing so hard she need the tree's support. Lee ran over to her perplexed as to why she was laughing and tears were coming down her face. Lee looked over to the other two males, both of whom shrugged.
When there's been rough times
Kiba knocked on the glass, although he didn't dare let it be loud, because the Hyuugas were annoying when they caught an outsider on Hyuuga property. He didn't knock right away after the person didn't answer in less than a minute, because he knew in her condition that it would take her a little longer.
Hinata finally opened the window and he smiled at seeing her face. True, it was paler and her lips were flecked lightly with blood, but if she was able to walk, then that was certainly an improvement.
"Hey, Hinata. I was wondering if you wanted to go out for some ice cream. Hana says it's good for chest problems and it's gotta be better than staying in there all day."
Hinata smiled and nodded, not trusting herself to speak without coughing up blood, and Kiba held out a hand to help her out the window.
When I'm mad
Temari was fuming and her brothers both knew this to be a very bad thing. True, she was a passionate person, but she had a fairly good reign on her temper. This time she was mad as hell, and Gaara and Kankuro were more than a little concerned.
Gaara cautiously came closer to the blonde and asked a little hesitantly, "Is everything all right?"
Temari whirled on him. "No, everything is not all right! If it was I'd be able to open this damn jar of peaches!"
When I'm happy
Kurenai ran to Kakashi's apartment and came in through the window, disregarding all the traps he had laid. Sighing he looked at her over his infamous orange book and gave her a questioning look.
The brunette grinned and showed him her hand. It took him a moment to realize what the slim silver band on her left ring finger meant. He smiled up at her and said, "It's about time he proposed. I thought he would chicken out."
Kurenai laughed and hugged him gently, knowing his dislike for closeness and told him, "You know you're gonna have to learn to dance for this, right?"
He hugged her back slightly after he grew comfortable (after all, this was a special day for her) and sighed. "You like torturing me, don't you?"
She only laughed.
When I'm jealous
Ino simply glared at Shikamaru and Temari's retreating backs. Chouji cautiously reached out and placed a hand on her thin shoulder. "It's all right. It's not like they're dating or anything."
"But he spends all her time with her!"
"Only because he's ordered to and he doesn't need to be ordered to hang out with you." Chouji reminded her.
She smiled at that and was left feeling a good bit less envious.
When I'm crazy
Yuugao had that cold rage in her eyes again. Genma carefully gauged her anger based on how unfeeling her eyes were and on a scale of one to ten, this was a twelve.
"Revenge isn't going to bring Hayate back you know."
She only glared at him coldly, but he saw a hesitance in her step as she jumped away.
When I'm down
Hinata had been rather depressed since Naruto had left and this worried Shino. Hinata wasn't a really exuberant type, but when she was usually content. He knew this had to do with Naruto, for nothing else had happened lately.
Shino had passed by the sweet smelling dango shop and had stopped to get her some, knowing she rarely got to eat it. He got extra napkins to wrap them in and headed over to the training grounds, where he knew Hinata would be.
His hypothesis had been correct. She was taking a break, resting against the post, though there wasn't much light in her eyes when she raised her eyes to look at him.
Shino held out the wrapped dango without a word knowng she would get the message. She took it and a smile lit her face fore the first time in two weeks.
When I'm sad
Ayame sniffed slightly, trying to keep the tears from her eyes as her son told them the good news. He was getting married. Her little boy had grown up and it had only seemed like yesterday.
A kind but strong arm draped across her shoulders and she looked up to see Naruto smiling gently at her.
"He's all grown up."
"Mmhmm. And it didn't seem so long ago that I first held him and h started walking."
The blonde laughed. "He was an adventurous little bugger."
Ayame elbowed him lightly and chuckled through the joyful tears.
When I'm pretty
Sakura turned in a circle, trying to see whether she looked fat in the elegant gown. It was softest eggshell white with light petals sown into the fabric, the skirt falling past her heels along the ground. Ino had done a complicated braid/bun thing with her hair that she had grown out for the wedding.
Sakura turned back around as she heard the door and smiled when she saw Naruto looking rather handsome in a tuxedo, although he just had to have his orange tie.
"You don't need to worry about it." Sakura didn't need to ask what. "You look beautiful."
When I'm ugly
Everyone laughed when Kurenai was forcefully dunked into the river, compliments of Obito. She whirled at him, her mascara running down her glowing cheeks, eye shadow mixing with it.
The Uchiha grinned mischievously before leaping away to hide behind Rin. Kurenai was about to go after him, when a calming, calloused hand landed on her shoulder.
"Relax. It's not everyday we get to see you so pissed off. Besides, Obito plays tricks on everyone." Asuma told her.
"Who wants to try Kakashi next?" Obito called out and every guy there raised their hands.
Basically he's been through everything with me and that's why I call him my best friend.