((This is my first try at a Fan Fiction so please R&R if you would and let me know what you think. I do not own any Naruto Characters at all, they are all Property of Kishi and company))

It was a beautiful spring day; the sun was rising brightly in the east shining over the whole of Konoha as he gazed at it. Nara Shikamaru was sitting at his favorite spot in the whole village, a nice tall sloping hill with an old oak tree, watching as the clouds rolled beautifully by in the pure blue skies.

~Wish I was a cloud on a day like this…~

That was the only thought he had on his mind as he looked at the beautiful image before his eyes. He slowly toyed with a blade of grass between his lips as he opted to lie down with his head cradled in his hands, enjoying his peaceful day off.

Of course it often seemed when he was at his most peaceful…

"HEY! Shikamaru, how can you just lie around all day on a beautiful day like this?", Yamanaka Ino said in her normal loud tone. She came up and stared at him with her arms crossed leaning over and blocking his view.

~What a drag… Can't she spend her day off with out getting in the middle of mine!?~

That was the thought that screamed as he looked at Ino and shook his head, as he let the piece of grass fall from his lips.

"Because it is a beautiful day Ino, that's how... ", Shikamaru said with a very loud sigh as he stared at her with a frown on his face, his tone hard and clear in how annoyed he was at her. "... Aren't you supposed to be working today?", he asked trying to change the subject; he just wanted to spend the day watching the clouds.

Ino scowled, staring at him even harder and from the darkness of the tree's shadow, she huffed and pointed at him as she spoke, "For your information I AM working! Unlike you I don't get to slack off all day! You know what your problem is?" She leaned into his face as she said this last part and poked him in the chest. "Woman hate guys who are lazy do nothings and by now, you would have found a girlfriend, if only you weren't such a slacker!"

This only made Shikamaru shake his head at her and look at her with a blank expression. "Then why don't you go bother Sai then or at least go back to your work, your blocking my view.", he said in a low tone, as he carefully removed her finger from his chest.

~ Can't she stay out my life, most of all my love life? ~

He thought to himself while muttering how troublesome she was out loud, which only made a now annoyed Ino, get even more frustrated. She stood up and scoffed at Shikamaru as she turned away and re-crossed her arms. "Sometimes I can't believe I am on the same team with you and Choji, both of you have no CLUE whatsoever about us women!", Ino said with frustration...

"You're just mad that Choji found some one before you.", Shikamaru snapped back, oblivious to the veins protruding on Ino's face. Her complexion quickly escalated to an angry red and it looked as if steam was about to pour out of her ears and nose.

"S-SHE is just d-dating him out of PITY or s-something, yes! Girls really don't like big guys, you know!? Neither do guys like big girls! Th-That's why I got to stay on my diet!", she stammered. She turned around and stomped off grumbling out loud as she made her way back to the flower store, secretly hoping to run into Sai on the way.

Shikamaru just laughed to himself as he said out loud, "She should gain a few pounds then guys might actually like her looks..." He smirked a little as he watched the thin, long-haired, platinum-blond and troublesome team mate fade into the distance. He then went back to watching the clouds with a small sigh as he smelt the scent of the grass and tree washing over him as a cool spring breeze blew by.

He shut his eyes and sunk deep into the scent of spring. His hands shifted behind his head as he leaned back in his intertwined fingers and let the smell awash him. Soon enough he was relaxed and continued enjoying his day alone. He listened to the birds humming and singing as they fluttered in the oak tree above him. He could also hear the faint buzzing of insects in the grass surrounding him and it sounded as if they were trying to complete the birds up in the tree. He concentrated a little trying to find harmony in the myriad of sounds but had to stop after hearing approaching footsteps, the crunching of chips and the smell of BBQ wafting into the air.

"Hey Choji… What's up?", Shikamaru asked with a smug look and with his eyes still closed.

Akimichi Choji, Shikamaru best friend in the whole world, munched down one his chips happily before saying in his usual kind and friendly tone. "Not much, just enjoying my day off after our mission. Beautiful day to watch the clouds, isn't it?", replied Choji as he sat down on the grass near the tree, still munching on a few more BBQ flavored chips. Shikamaru opened his eyes and sat up. Choji reached the bag of chips to him and Shikamaru took one for himself.

"Yep.", was all Shikamaru could muster as he brought the chip to his lips and ate it slowly as his friend eagerly munched away across from him. They both watched the clouds for a few minutes, enjoying the sight before them as the large white puffy clouds floated in front of the sun with their shadows creeping slowly over Konaha. Finally Choji broke the silence.

"Ino was here earlier, wasn't she?", Choji asked in a tone that came off more as a statement than a question. Choji was one of the few people who could read him like a book, or so he claimed. Even though Shikamaru disagreed, it was something his husky friend took a lot of pride in being able to do.

"Yeah...", Shikamaru replied with a loud sigh, slightly annoyed at being reminded about her being there earlier. He crossed his arms and turned to look over at his friend who was now scowling a little, obviously trying to figure out why Shikamaru was not so happy about that question. He got it!

"She got on you again calling you lazy, didn't she?"

Shikamaru grumbled quietly at the knowing smirk on his friend's chubby face as he finished off one bag of chips and opened a fresh one. Shikamaru adjusted himself to lean on the tree trunk and stretched out his arms and back while pulling his knees forward. His gaze was still fixed over the village and the sky.

"When ISN'T she calling me lazy?", Shikamaru asked rather loudly, resulting in a chuckle from his friend who nodded in agreement at that question. He took a few chips from Choji's bag and looked back at the clouds. "She just too bossy for her own good sometimes…" Shikamaru continued speaking, mainly to himself as he slowly munched down the chips he had taken.

Choji sighed and let out a loud 'uh-huh', in reply to this statement before saying, "I think she still has a thing for you and thinks if she's bossy enough, you will go out with her."

Shikamaru turned to look at his friend's face and grumbled again at this statement before sighing and turning back to the sky. "Ino has a better chance at that if she was less bossy and more understanding, instead of bitching at me for enjoying my day off how I want to. Besides Ino and I are like a brother and a sister more than boyfriend and girlfriend.", he said. Choji just nodded in understanding at what his friend was saying. "'sides… Ino had her chance and passed it up, not my fault...", Shikamaru added with a long drawn-out sigh as he took a few more chips to munch.

Choji sighed as he heard this and nodded in agreement, before saying, "Yep, though I doubt Ino thinks like that. For how she acts like she knows everything about what guys want, she really has no clue about us at all.", he said while chuckling at the irony in that.

Shikamaru just smiled at the comment, "So true, she stills gets flustered when I mention your girlfriend." He said looking at Choji, grinning at the thought of her girlfriend, Umeko. He began to laugh thinking about how angry Ino got when she found out that Choji had a girlfriend before Ino had found a boyfriend. She would always suggest that he had to lose weight to find a girlfriend, since as she thought girls had no interest in 'thick-boned' guys.

Shikamaru chucked along with his best friend at the memories of Ino's shock and surprise when Choji introduced Umeko to her. They reminisced about that for a little while before falling silent again to resume their restful pastime.

"Are you still thinking about Temari?", Choji asked without hesitation, breaking the silence and giving his friend a curious look. He hated how good Choji was at reading him sometimes, most of all when it came to such things.

"Sort of…", was all Shikamaru could say, now thinking about his ex-girlfriend, Temari. They decided to end it a while back for one reason. Temari wanted to stay in Sunagakure because she was not only the Suna ambassador to Konaha, but Garaa's older sister and currently second in command, among other responsibilities. She wanted him to move to Sunagakure so they could spend more time together.

However, after careful consideration, Shikamaru saw that he couldn't leave Konoha. His home was here and he too had many responsibilities like family and clan, as the next clan leader, his friends and almost all he cared about was also here; but most of all his promise to Asuma and the Will of Fire he entrusted to him.

Asuma's death had made it clear what his duties were and where they lay and that he could not let them go. He had also vowed to help raise his late sensei's child as well as take care of Yuhi Kurenai. Kurenai was Asuma's lover and mother of his child, whom he had entrusted to Shikamaru's care; his dying wish.

They constantly fought and it was no longer pretty to hear after a while. Neither wanted to leave their hometown, but couldn't let the other go. They loved each other but the distance was not helping. They wanted to be close, they wanted to be together but neither wanted to let go of their duties and responsibilities. In the end, they both decided to go their separate ways before the fighting and distance ruined their friendship as well as their budding relationship.

Choji knew all of this. He overheard some of the fights and also witnessed just how bad things could get. Shikamaru almost never yelled but when they fought over these issues, Shikamaru would sometimes lose his control. Choji had also come to understand why. Shikamaru held a deep sense of family and would not willingly do anything that would hurt them, the clan or the village. Coming from a large clan himself as well as being the next heir to the clan helped Choji gain an even deeper understanding of where Shikamaru was coming from. Responsibilities to your clan ran deep especially when you are the son of the current heir and next in line to take his place.

Temari had family to take care of in the Suna that needed her, but Kankuro and Gaara could learn to deal without her being there all the time. If she chose to leave Suna and stayed in the Konaha her duties could be passed on to someone else in her village, if she truly wanted to be with Shikamaru there was no way Gaara would have disagreed. Shikamaru had been told so by Gaara himself that if Temari wanted to stay with him in the Kohana she would have his support as her brother as well as the Kazekage. Yet Temari insisted on him leaving Konaha and going to Suna to live with her. She refused to believe that it also meant Shikamaru would be abandoning his responsibilities to his clan, his friends and even the village.

The two friends sat silently thinking of this for what seemed like a while. "She was a troublesome woman…", Shikamaru said shutting his eyes once more. "But that's why you loved her and she also loved you for being a slacker.", his friend replied standing up to adjust his body armor and red top. "Its sad she did not seem to want to give up her home in Suna to make a home here, she seemed to be happy here.", Choji added.

"Yeah…" was the reply that came and looked over at his friend with a forced smile as he tried to stop thinking about Temari and everything between them. Choji noticed this and frowned briefly before saying, "Well I should go see Umeko, she should be on her break soon. You want to come join me and get some Yakiniku while we wait for her?"

Umeko was one of the waitresses at Choji's favorite 'All You Can Eat' Yakiniku place, a place they all would often go with Asuma to eat after completing their missions.

"No thanks, Choji... maybe some other time." Shikamaru replied as his friend finished off his second bag of chips and dusted off his hands. "... Tell her I said hello though." He moved around in the grass laying back down so he could stare up into the leaves of the oak tree he had been sitting under.

"Will do!", Choji said in his cheeriest voice as he left his friend alone with his cloud watching, hoping Shikamaru would not dwell too long on Temari. Just as he started leaving, Haruno Sakura came running up towards them.