There weren't any clouds that day.
A clear azure color was etched across the sky, a simple gradient that wasn't troubled by dots of white which generally pompously traveled overhead, drifted with the gentle breath of the winds. There was no breeze, no clouds, only a brilliant sunlight that cast long shadows beside the boy on the hilltop who watched the empty sky with faint interest. The person approaching behind must of noticed this, for he heard a loud voice sounding and could feel the smile that accompanied it. "Those are some clouds you're watching, eh?"
"Tch." The cloud-watcher, the boy, thought nothing of the remark. His hands beneath his head, he kept his eyes upon what he had been looking at before the interruption, resting in the soft nest of grass he lay on.
The girl seemed to be getting impatient-"I don't get it. You're a genius, you know that?"
He made a subtle noise, something that the Sand-nin interpreted as agreement, and so she carried on with her ranting. "So why- just... why... do you spend all your time watching some dumb clouds roll by? Don't you have anything better to do?"
The boy cringed slightly, not sure why it bothered her so much. Lazily, he rolled into a sitting position and met her eyes—she smirked immediately, a satisfied expression having crawled upon her face.
He spoke nonchalantly. "Why're you here? You haven't visited Konoha in months." She was taller now, probably prettier, and she had gotten an outfit change. Though looking at her, with a smug smirk stuck on her face and her four bushy ponytails sticking outwards, she was exactly the same.
"Gaara has some business to discuss with the Hokage."
"Ah... troublesome."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing," He responded automatically. "So... why're are you here...?"
She narrowed her eyes. "I just told you why."
"No... but—why are you here here?"
"Hmm..." The sand-nin had sat down next to him and was currently deep in thought, her chin resting in her hands, teal eyes twinkling softly and lips drawn into a thin smile as she cast her gaze in front of her.
"I guess I just wanted to see you." It wasn't a confession. She didn't falter or blush; she wasn't possibly embarrassed. It was simply a statement. And, looking at Shikamaru, the cloud-watcher, the boy, she saw that he was smiling, too.
"Tch. I'm surprised you could find me."
"You're always here, it wasn't especially challenging."
"You know that's not true," said the boy.
"I'm sorry, I guess I just don't count sleeping and playing shogi. And eating."
"Missions."
"Oh yeah, missions. I don't know, maybe if you could've completed a few more of those you might be a jonin like me."
"...Too much work."
Although exasperated, a gentle little smile returned—the Sand-nin knew that there was nothing she could do about his laziness, that he was only interested in indulging in the smallest pleasures of life, striving to remain average when the boy clearly knew he was much more than that. She knew, however, that she didn't exactly care.
"You're hopeless."
He said nothing; the two of them had always been strangely communicative in that quiet, reserved way of theirs. Instead, he smirked as Temari lay down beside him and became motionless as she watched an empty sky.
There weren't many clouds to see, but the two lost themselves in the sky's depth, fascinated by the universe above them.
Silent, smiling, and not attempting to kill him: that was when Shikamaru liked her best.