Okay, I figured now would be a good time to profess my deep love of all things Naruto. Haha, okay not really. I like the story, but I'm not obsessed (and trust me you know when I'm obsessed with something because I'll go around for days telling people how great it is, and it will usually be the same people. So they get annoyed and all give me death glares when I ever mention it again. I try to tone down on the obsessions, right now my main one is Skillet (and my friend that usually gives me the most death glares is the one who turn me on to it HAHAHAHA!), but I've gotten better about not going on and on about it. Their actually usually books…I used to be completely obsessed with Naruto come to think of it…) Alright, well I am also very good at rambling on when I'm not thinking. So um…Shikamaru fluff. Oh, and for anyone who didn't know, in Japan they say the surname first, using the first name is a big deal there, so her name is "Suzume" (it means sparrow) …ONE SHOT:

Kobayashi Suzume. Truly an enigma. The Kobayashi clan was nearly as famous as the Hyuga, or even the Uchiha. Shikamaru lazily pushed himself into a slight rocking motion on the swing in which he sat. He had come here a lot when he was little. He let lazy thoughts drift into his mind. She was careless, that much was common knowledge. And thoughtless. But she was a good ninja. That too was only common knowledge. Her Kokoro Boushi1 was trained to near perfection. However, there was something strange about her too. As if she never showed her true character. She was always hiding behind a wall and never expressed anything personal. She was pretty too. He had to admit that. She had long chocolate brown hair that reached the middle of her shoulders and pale blue eyes that seemed to take in everything with curiosity and cheerfulness. He yawned looking up at the clouds. He noticed his legs were working on their own now, pumping him higher and higher. He remembered the familiar feeling, as if he was flying into the clouds.

Shikamaru stayed there for quite a while wondering why the girl had slipped into his mind. As the sun was setting he stood. He reminded himself his parents were out on a second honeymoon or something like that, at the hot springs. He sighed as he was walking home muttering something about how bothersome it was to cook. Then he spotted someone lying on the ground.

--

Suzume saw the boy on the swing. She named him in her mind, Nara Shikamaru. Then she sighed. He was on her swing. Now she wouldn't be able to get any good thinking done. She silently made her way to the forest behind the playground to wait for him to leave. She always did her best thinking on the swing. She didn't know why, but that feeling of flying, that feeling of freedom, it made her mind relax. Quietly she sat down on the freshly fallen leaves of November, ready to wait him out. But he would not leave. She waited as he lazily rocked back and forth on the swing, not even going high at all. She waited as he picked up momentum, she waited as he fell into a steady rhythm and she waited some more. And then she fell asleep. She had literally grown tired of waiting. So as she sat on the ground she fell back and went to sleep. He dreams included a large fountain of chocolate on a pirate ship in the middle of an ocean of punch.

Then Suzume woke up and looked around. She was on a cushiony couch in the middle of a rather cozy room. She looked around under half-open eyelids, slightly tensing, then she smelled something…well, really good. She got off the couch, bouncing in to wherever that smell was. "What is that?" she asked aloud.

"Food," a voice answered. It sounded as if it was slightly irritated and severely bored of everything in life. Shikamaru Nara.

"Ahhh!" she yelped jumping back into a fighting stance.

"Geez," he muttered. "Should've just let you catch a cold. So troublesome."

"What am I doing here? Where'd you take me? What are you doing here?" Suzume asked giving no time for answers. "Why aren't you answering? AND WHY WERE YOU ON MY SWING?!" the last question had a very large hint of blinding anger.

"You were asleep on the ground. I picked you up and took you here so you wouldn't catch a cold. This is my house, so I believe I'm allowed to be here. I wasn't answering because you were talking too fast and I wasn't aware you owned the public park." His last answer sounded sarcastic.

"Hm," she said. "Well, okay, you're good for now. Wait, where are your parents?"

"Out," he replied.

"Pervert!" she screeched. "Get away from me! Leave me alone! I'm leaving!" She turned around and started walking for what she hoped was the exit.

"Aren't you hungry?" he asked. At the same moment Suzume's stomach growled and she sheepishly turned back around.

"Alright, I'll stay for dinner," she said. "But then I'm leaving."

"Whatever," Shikamaru replied.

After a few minutes of waiting (which, by the way, Suzume hated) a plate of steaming hot food sat in front of her. "Itadikimasu! Unabashed, she dug in. And when Suzume was hungry, you could tell. She started shoveling in the delicious food. She didn't even seem to care Shikamaru was staring at her as she did it. In about two minutes the plate was empty and Suzume was leaning against the chair a smile on her face. Shikamaru was actually eating civilly, so he wasn't finished for quite a few more minutes.

"Okay, I'm leaving now," Suzume announced as he took the plates and put them in the sink. She looked expectantly at Shikamaru as he rinsed off the dirty dishes.

He glanced up and took a minute before comprehending. "You want me to walk you home?" he asked. It was more of a complaint really.

"Yes!" she cried. "Good boy," she patted his head and took his hand, leading him out into the night. "You never know what perverts might be roaming about," Suzume said knowledgeably. "Come to think of it, you carried a girl to your house when your parents weren't home…"

Shikamaru grumbled something about letting her catch a cold.

They walked on in silence until Suzume stopped and Shikamaru, who had been walking behind her, nearly ran over her. "Well, here it is," she said. She turned and bowed. "Thank you for cooking for me, Nara-chan," she told Shikamaru.

"The lights are off, where are your parents?" Shikamaru asked.

"Dead, I think," she replied.

"Well, is anyone there?" he asked.

"No, unless they broke in," Suzume replied. "Well, actually Iggy's in there, he's my cat."

"But no one else?"

"Nope," she said. "There are a few other people living in the compound, but they all have their own worries. I'm alone. Have been for years. Anyways, goodnight!" She gave him a quick awkward hug and took a key from her coat pocket. She unlocked the door but then caught a glance at her watch. "Whoa, it's late," she cried. "Do you want to stay here tonight? I mean, I know it would be awkward over at a girl's house, but you could stay in Onii-chan's old room."

"Um," he said hesitantly but Suzume dragged him inside too fast and that, according to her, was that.

Suzume hung her coat on the coat rack, tossed her shoes to the floor, and skipped across the room to a stack of old movies. She took one out and popped it in the VCR. She skipped to the couched, curling up in a ball and snuggling in one of the large blankets thrown over the piece of furniture. Then she turned on the TV and pressed play. Through all of this, Shikamaru stood at the doorway, unsure of what to do as black and white figures moved across the screen and an old song played in the speakers. Suzume noticed this and turned toward him, "Don't just stand there, silly," she said laughing. "Come sit down. You let me eat dinner at your house, so now you can watch a movie with me."

Hesitantly, he made his way toward the couch after hanging his own coat on the coat rack and placing his own shoes next to hers. He sat down on the other end of the large couch.

"Here," a voice said as a large blanket hit him in the face. "Make yourself comfortable."

Slowly, Shikamaru grew more at ease in the cheerful girl's presence. She made him feel as though he was a new part of her family. A family he could see she needed, and wanted, desperately. But he could also tell she was different than she normally was. She was acting with more ease, as if the wall in front of her true character was gone. He wondered in passing why she let this guard on herself down in front of him.

The movie played on the screen in front of the two teenagers as they laughed, jokingly quoting lame lines and throwing a pillow at the other when they liked that line. Soon they were sprawled out on the couch laughing at the cheesy movie together. Shikamaru briefly wondered how she had gotten these rare emotions out of him so easily.

Eventually, Suzume fell asleep. When the movie was over he looked to Suzume to lead him to where he was supposed to sleep, but she was asleep on the end of the couch. "Kobayashi-san," he said. "Wake up, at least get in your own bed first, hey," he poked her in the side but she merely made a small irritated noise and rolled over, still very much asleep.

"Onii-chan," she muttered.

Shikamaru looked over at her, annoyed. But then he realized she was still asleep, and that her face had a very scared look to it.

"Onii-chan," she said again. "Okaa-chan, Otou-chan," she shifted uncomfortably. "Don't go…don't go…don't leave me…please don't…"

"Kobayashi-san," Shikamaru said. He sat back down next to her on the couch, stroking her hair softly.

"Promise breakers," she whispered. "Don't leave me alone…" That was all she said.

Shikamaru sat there for a long time, looking down at Suzume. Eventually he too fell asleep. His arm unconsciously rapped itself around Suzume's waist. Suzume, on her part, rolled over and rapped her arm around him as well. And so they slept, each taking an odd sense of comfort in the other's body heat. All of this happened without conscious thought on their part.

Iggy, on his part, had been sitting in an obscure position on top of a bookshelf the entire time. He cocked his head and watched the pair of them sleep.

--

Suzume was the first to wake up the next morning. She noticed blankly that both she and Shikamaru were lying on the couch, that her arm was rapped around him, and that his arm was rapped around her. Blushing profusely she cried out and tried to jump away. His arm constricted a bit more, holding her in place. She took note that he was stronger than he looked. And a hard sleeper.

"Hey," she said irritably. He stayed where he was. "HEY!" Nothing, "HEY!!"

Shikamaru shook his head and propped himself up on his unused arm. "Huh?"

"Arm," she stated pointing to the arm attached to her waist. "Pervert."

A faint blush worked itself into Shikamaru's cheeks and he quickly took his arm away.

"Thank you," she said bouncing off the couch. The living room meshed with a large kitchen. A large counter marked its beginning. She began to pull things out of random places. "Like eggs?" she asked.

"Guess so," he replied sliding into a chair in front of the large counter. The chair was high off the ground and his feet dangled. He watched her as she began to fry eggs in a frying pan. He glanced at her. Then he spoke, "What happened to your family?" he asked, unable to hold his curiosity. "Last night, you were talking in your sleep. You were saying something like, 'Don't leave, promise breakers…' Or something along those lines."

She sighed, nibbling on her lip. "Well, that's a bit of a long story…" She looked thoughtful. "It isn't really something commonly known. You see everyone has always thought I was the Kobayashi prodigy, but most of the clan members think my antics are…well uncalled for to say the least. They say I should become graver, I should do something about my carelessness, which is odd, as I have never made a mistake during a mission or a battle, yet most of the other clan members, though I don't mean to say all, are careless and arrogant during such times. I suppose it makes them angrier that I focus enough to be able to win a fight from my older cousins, even some of my aunts and uncles. This is why none of them take care of me. Because of my personality. It's rare for one of the Kobayashi clan to have the personality I do. We are known for our level heads, or so they say. I, for one, think that you shouldn't force people to have the same personality, everyone has a different outlook toward life. It's useless to force on your own opinions onto people.

"I don't know why they left me. I have never been able to come up with a good reason. The only thing they told me was that they were going somewhere dangerous, and that they did not expect to come back. When I asked of this they told me that if any of them survived, they would return." Suzume's face was uncharacteristically grave. "However, they, all three of them, had promised never to leave me if there was a good chance of never returning. As ninja's, they risked their lives daily, but I trusted them on missions. Trips, however, trips that they did not have to go on, that were only useless ways of proving one's strength and bravery, those I was against. The Kobayashi clan seems to have some obsession about proving oneself. We send family members off on trips like these often. I cannot excuse the acts my clan has committed. They are idiotic and simple-minded acts, never thought fully through. Because of the attitude I generally have they label me as a mindless girl when they themselves are all the more thoughtless. Or so it seems to me.

"Siblings with the Kokoro Boushi share a connection with each other. I was able to go into his mind so I knew what was happening. They had gone into an enemy ninja camp. I suppose they were supposed to gather information which would help Konoha, often these trips help this village. However, at what cost? It was as if I was there as my brother was sadistically tortured, then killed, on a whim. I don't know what happened to my parents. I waited years hoping they would return. Then I gave up. Their names were already on the list of those ninjas killed in action. I was only five. I think part of the reason they sent my family there, was to punish me. My family had never been the most powerful, and when they saw my potential, they thought it was the atmosphere of the family making me the way I am. I believe my family knew this, but were unable to deny the clan. I hate my clan. Even if someone offered to take care of me, I would refuse. I refuse their silly trips and I ignore them and their remarks of me. They have committed acts I am unable to forgive. They make me sick."

Shikamaru looked taken aback. Suzume had finished cooking the eggs during her story and they were cooling on two plates. He wondered why she was so open with him. She had let him see her truly for who she was. She was not careless, not thoughtless, but intelligent. Her talkativeness made people see her in a false light. She was…amazing. That was the only word he could use to describe it, but still it seemed like too little praise.

--

A month passed

"Oh! Christmas, how I love you Christmas, we all get presents, it makes me happy! Christmas, oh I love you Christmas!" Sang Suzume at the top of her lungs for the umpteenth time. Finally Shikamaru clamped his hand to her mouth. She "hmph"ed but said no more on the matter. "It's Christmas Eve!" she said excitedly as he let his hand slip from her mouth. "Did you get me something? Huh? Did you? Shikamaru-chan?"

"How troublesome," he replied. "What if I didn't?"

"Shikamaru-chan!" she cried disapprovingly. "I got you one, if you don't give me a present, you're not getting yours!"

"Maybe I did," he said. "But maybe I didn't. You won't know until tomorrow."

"Fine!" she said. Then she looked around Konoha. Nothing could dampen her spirits. She loved Christmas. "Do you want to come over tomorrow?" she asked. "Or should I go to your house? Do you want to spend Christmas with your family?"

"They're going to visit some of their friends. Since they don't have any children my dad said it would be best I stay here, or I'd be bored the whole time. Probably would have anyway…Anyway, we're celebrating tonight. I'm free tomorrow."

"Yay!" she cried. "Okay, you come over, I've been prolonging the decorations, but I'm putting them all up tonight, it's going to look awesome!" she bounced up and down. "I've been so tempted to put them up, but I always wait till Christmas Eve."

Kiba, Naruto, Sakura, Ino, Choji, Hinata, Rock Lee, Tenten, Neji, and Shino were trailing the pair. None of them could actually believe that Shikamaru was actually spending Christmas with a girl. In fact Ino and Sakura both nearly fainted when she asked him to come over. As for Kiba he growled in envy and Choji punched the air as if his friend had scored a victory. Rock Lee said something about the power of youth as Hinata hesitantly said "G-g-good job, Sh-shikamaru-san," as Tenten patted her back. Neji and Shino were simply wondering why the heck they were there. And, well, you know Naruto.

"Yeah!" Naruto cried. "That's the way to go Shikamaru!"

Suzume and Shikamaru both turned to the bushes where the ninjas were all hiding.

"Hello, bush," Suzume said gravely. "Why do you congratulate Shikamaru-chan?"

"Guys," Shikamaru growled.

The ten shinobi crawled out of various spots in the row of bushes. "Hello!" Suzume said to all of them. "You were following us, weren't you? Why were you following us?"

"Because the power of youth was in full blossom!"

Suzume backed away from Rock Lee very carefully.

"Congratulations," Naruto said shaking Shikamaru's hand.

"Dude, he's not giving birth," Kiba said irritated.

Choji gave his friend a thumbs-up.

"Why are you here?" Shikamaru asked annoyed.

"It's just so bizarre!" Ino blurted out. "I mean, you're with a girl! A living, breathing girl your own age!" By this time, it might be mentioned, Neji and Shino had left to do anything else and Tenten had realized she needed to go shopping for weapons.

"And all this time I thought I was a one-hundred year old walking dead body," Suzume said sarcastically.

"But it is weird," Sakura said. "I mean, really, this is Shikamaru we're talking about."

They all turned to Shikamaru. "What?" he said brightly.

"And it's Kobayashi-san, too," Kiba grumbled. "Alone at her house, no parents,"

"Huh?" she asked. "What about me?" All of the boys (not including Shikamaru) gave each other a look as if they knew exactly what he meant and Ino and Sakura had shaken their heads saying something about "Perverted boys…" Hinata, on her part, was just as clueless as Suzume as to what they meant. Shikamaru understood but the thought made him blush and he turned away.

"Well, I don't know what you mean," Suzume said. "But what does it matter who I hang out with? Besides, I like Shikamaru-chan."

"Suzume-san," Shikamaru said. "Why don't you just go home and decorate your house. I have to get home too anyway, I'll see you tomorrow."

"'Kay," she said. "Thanks for walking me this far, Shikamaru-chan." She hugged him and skipped off.

"Already on a first name basis?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah, I guess," Shikamaru said. He had already begun to walk home.

"Shikazume," Sakura said. "That can be your couple name."

"You kissed her yet?" Naruto asked.

"Just stop," Shikamaru said. "She probably only thinks of me as a friend anyway."

"So that's a no," Naruto said.

"B-b-but what d-do you th-think about her?" Hinata asked quietly.

He sighed. "I think I like her," he admitted.

"The power of youth!" Rock Lee shouted triumphantly.

"How far have you gotten?" Kiba asked. Shikamaru ignored him. If they knew he had slept in the same room with her, let alone the same couch, they'd start rumors like wildfire. They were going to already. They continued bugging him about it until he finally reached his house and he forced them to leave.

"Merry Christmas!" Suzume cried to Shikamaru the next day. She was wearing a Santa hat along with long red pants and a green shirt. "Now come in before I catch a cold." She really had gone all-out on the decorations. There was a huge tree set up in her living room with ornaments weighing down every limb. There was a very large star on top. Ever-green plants were strung up on the ceiling and doorways.

"Merry Christmas," Shikamaru told her as she hugged him. She bounced around the room in a happy state as Shikamaru took off his coat and shoes. Iggy jumped onto the counter separating the kitchen and the living room. Suzume petted him on the head and started bouncing around even more.

Shikamaru took out a small box from his pocket. "Hey," he said. She turned to look at him and gasped.

"A PRESENT!" she cried. "Hurray! You got one! I knew you would!" She bounced over toward him as he held out the box. She made quick work of the wrapping paper and opened a box. Then she smiled. She took out the bracelet and put it on her wrist. It had an S charm on it. On the S was a series of patterns, in the very middle of which was a sparrow. On the back of it, it said, "For Suzume, always remember to fly free."

"Thank you," she said. Then she bounced away. "Wait a second, let me get yours!" She soon came back with a large box. "Here!"

Shikamaru took the box that was thrust toward him. He tore off the wrapping paper and opened it to find a shirt. The shirt was black with white characters on it. "Cloud Gazer" it said. Shaking his head he removed the shirt. Then he noticed something under it. Something he hadn't expected at all. A piece of mistletoe.

"Hey," Suzume said examining it. "How'd that get there?"

Shikamaru took it from the box and held it over her head. She looked up at it her mouth slightly open and her brow furrowed as if her mind was slowly registering what was happening. As she looked back at him he swiftly close the distance between them, kissing her. Suzume saw the mistletoe fall to the floor as she closed her eyes, remembering her manners; it's not polite to stare.

--

Years later Shikamaru would always tell anyone who asked that his favorite present had been that Christmas day. In a too-festive holiday room, with a black-cat on the mantle, and Suzume's soft lips on his.

MY MADE UP JUTSU:

1Kokoro Boushi: Okay, so this is the special jutsu I came up with for Suzume. It's not in Naruto (if it is, it's by complete coincidence) but it means "mind eye". It's a jutsu that lets her read minds and control them. But she has to be looking in their eyes. (On a side-note, the Kobayashi clan is famous for genjutsu)