Pairings: Nara Shikamaru X OC
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Kishi would be out of a job and Akatsuki would rule the world. Hahaha, but no.
The academy students began to develop a good liking to Shikamaru's favorite spot to watch the clouds stroll by peacefully. He exhaled and turned to leave the fourth time this week. It was a pain when they ran around him when he was trying to sleep. He made no effort in trying to tell them that this was his favorite spot to sit and relax. Instead, the lazy Chuunin walked off to the riverbank in hopes of finding the peace he ever so wished to grasp.
She found it problematic that the children from the academy were a rowdy bunch. She wanted to read in peace, but found it hard with all the screaming and yelling of small kids running around and disturbing her thought process. The blinding rays of the sun shown through the light fabric that covered the window, giving the small room a little tweak of sunlight. Her brilliant green eyes scanned the wooden desk for her favorite bookmark that had an 'S' shape on it. She knew that the 'S' stood for Seikisui, her best friend that had passed away six years ago. Seikisui gave her the silver bookmark because she had always been intrigued by its shape and beauty. It was ironic that the 'S' could also stand for her name, Suri.
He had to avoid Asuma. He just had to. There was no doubt that there would be work involved if his sensei called him on his day off. With a sigh, Shikamaru turned the other way and bolted to the riverbank again. Half way to the market area, he created a shadow clone of himself and ordered it to walk around town without it being seen by his sensei. That would buy him enough time to enjoy the river and come back in time without being scolded at entirely. He would have to think of another excuse for him to miss any work assigned to him tomorrow. He knew Asuma was smart enough to maneuver around the same method.
Suri allowed a small smile to grace her lips as she stared at the water's surface. The river was a beautiful sight. It would be even more beautiful when the sun was down, bathing the river a mixture of orange and pink. Suri knew that she could not stay too long. The markets would close soon and she needed to buy the ingredients to cook dinner and tomorrow's breakfast. With an exasperating sigh, she made her way down from the bridge and out of the clearing to go back to Konoha. However, Suri had forgotten the book that she brought along with her. A small gust of wind blew and caught first few pages of the book. It was enough to make it fall down entirely.
Shikamaru made it to the clearing and made his way to sit under the bridge. The water touched his feet slightly, but not enough to affect him in any way. He closed his eyes and increased his hearing with his chakra. Nature was such a wonderful thing to be around. He could hear the water move with the current, the animals and insects around him, and... Sheets of paper? He allowed one eye to open and took a quick glance around him. To his dismay, a book was on the edge of a rock's surface. It was fighting to stay on the hard area, but the wind only pushed it more to the very edge of the rock. It would have fell in the river sooner if it weren't for the weight of the bookmark between two thin sheets of paper in the book. "How troublesome..."
Suri frantically searched her desk and around her bed for her most treasured possession. To no avail, she collapsed on her bed. How could she lose something so precious to her? Seikisui's bookmark was also in the book. It was as if the book was waiting for Suri to read it. After all, the bookmark was between the pages that she wanted to read the most. In an instant, she closed her eyes and waited for sleep to engulf her.
"Birds obtained their wings shortly after their mind progresses the evident factor of flying. The ability to fly will always be within their grasp regardless of such dangerous difficulties that they face. A bird's wings can be regarded as their life. Losing the ability to fly is simply worse than death.
Flying has always been one's dream. There are rare occasions where the average bird refuses to fly. That is when they sleep and when they perch. Gravity will always destroy a dream. Whether it is life threatening or suicidal, every person wishes to fly like a bird... Just like every person is jealous of a bird."
Shikamaru concluded that the page he just read seemed to be laced with a special coat of chakra. The book itself was old, but the chakra seemed to stop those two pages between the bookmark from fading away like the other pages in it. Both the pages looked new. He assumed that they were coated in chakra before he was even born. This book was written in special ink, but Shikamaru had a feeling that this book won't last another two years. He wondered if it belonged to anyone. Judging by the letter on the bookmark, it must have belonged to a person with a name that started with 'S'. It was ironic that Shikamaru's name started with a 'S' as well. For a second there, he assumed this ridiculous pretense was fate's handy doing.
Suri walked along the river with an elegant smile. She had found her book under the bridge just a while ago and flipped through the pages to make sure it wasn't soaked or damaged. Her brilliant green eyes scanned the literature in the book. Time had affected the book's text. It was faded and some words were barely legible, but she had already read what contents were in the book and practically memorized all the words. Suri could have sworn she almost had a heart attack when she lost the book four days ago. She searched everywhere and was happy when she finally found it under the bridge in the crevice of the wood.
Shikamaru scanned the sturdy footholds for the book he hid just three days ago. Where was it? The brats, his place to take a quick nap, and now this? Where was that book...? He knew if he continued to mess with the large blocks of wood and the firm legs of the bridge, it would soon collapse. Cursing at his bad luck, he gave up on trying to look for the book. Technically, he found it on a large rock some days ago and decided to help the poor thing instead of letting it balance itself only to fail when a small breeze would move it.
It was only just two days ago that Suri had found the book, but something was odd about it. The bookmark was not in the same place she last thought it would be. The wind was not to blame for this. Nor was the river. She was agitated by the fact that someone could have looked through the pages in the book, but brushed that thought away after knowing that she had finally found it.
After a whole day of looking for the book, he gave up. Perhaps it slipped through the crack and washed away. It was such a good book too. The small holiday the Hokage requested of him to take was beginning to become rather dull. Nothing seemed to go Shikamaru's way. He decided to check if anyone was up on his favorite spot to watch the clouds. To his surprise, he had not heard the screaming of little kids like he thought he would hear. Determined to find out why, he quickened his pace up the concrete steps only to find a girl sitting on one of the swings on the small playground set that was built a few years back.
"My bad, I thought no one would be here." He waved his hand to the side apologetically for startling the girl with brown hair.
"N-no... I had the same reaction you are having right now. The children can be a bothersome bunch after they're let out for the day. I should talk to the academy about their behavior some day..." She stood up gracefully and smiled. "It's rare to find this place empty. Even in the night." She added to her statement after she realized she spent her whole day on the swings of the playground.
"I guess." He didn't have much to say. The girl in front of him had said what was in his mind anyway. She made way to leave, but the book in her hands caught his attention. "Where did you find that?"
"This?" She brushed the cover of the book in her hands. "It's been with me for a very long time." Her green eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Why do you ask?"
"Well- no reason... I, uh..." He tried to find the words to explain the odd situation they were in. "I swore I found that book five days ago."
"Then... I'm guessing you hid this book in the crevice of the sturdy wood that held the bridge?" It wasn't a guess at all. She may be shy, but knowing that someone had found her book and hid it caused her suspicions to rise even more.
"I saved the thing from almost drowning in the river. You should thank me." He allowed a small smirk to appear on his lips. "It's not cool to lose things that are important to you, you know."
She felt her face flush, but nonetheless bit her lip and turned her head to the side. "Yeah, yeah."
"Say..." Shikamaru switched the subject as quickly as he could. Women were beasts when they got angry. "What's your name?" He wanted to make sure that it was the right person who had found the book. That question would prove it. He was the first in his class to advance to Chuunin. He wasn't going to let a small meeting like this slip by without being attended by a few facts.
"Suri," She genuinely replied. "You are?" He softened up a little by her definite reply.
"Shikamaru. It's nice to meet you." He gestured to the book after he properly introduced himself. "That book of yours..."
"What about it?"
"Can I borrow it some time?"
Suri blinked a few times in confusion, but regained her composure and smiled. "Does nature interest you, Shikamaru?"
He was glad that she did not end his name with a suffix. He wasn't really into that sort of thing. Her question, however, did catch his attention. Indeed, the book was about nature. He assumed that the girl was testing him.
"It does." His answer was curt, but he knew that wasn't what Suri had asked. "Do birds interest you, Suri?"
She allowed her smile to turn into a grin. "They do."
It was at that moment that Shikamaru started to wonder about fate. Was it fate that brought his attention to the book five days ago? Was it fate that had managed to catch him off guard?
However, he was sure about one thing. It was fate that had introduced him to Suri.
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