Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, rub it in, why don't ya…
Summary: Shikamaru likes clouds. So what? Is it so wrong to take enjoyment in the simpler things in life? Besides… he doesn't like all clouds…
Rating: K
Clouds
It was troublesome, it really was. I mean, really - who cares if he likes clouds? Shikamaru pondered this one day as he watched a particularly fluffy and lazy cloud slowly meandered its way across the sky. Shikamaru resisted the urge to scowl. It was much too troublesome; but really – it was as though even the universe was making fun of him now.
Troublesome.
Shikamaru heaved a sigh – and regretted, as it caused a small strand of hair to go in his eyes, and now he'd have to move it, and how troublesome – and shifted just slightly, so the pleasant breeze was coming from just so, and continues contemplating his favorite pastime – or rather, the subject of his favorite pastime.
Sometimes, there were clouds like today's – large, lazy, and seemingly paying no mind to the air currents, but sleepily floated whichever way they wished. Shikamaru thought these types of clouds were some of the best. He thought himself to be much like these clouds, and enjoyed imagining that he was one of them, floating along for the rest of his life.
Other times, there were thinner while clouds; just as pretty, but less fluffy, they tended to let themselves be carried wherever the wind took them. Shikamaru tended to associate these clouds with most of the people he met, and found it ironic that just as these clouds were the most common, so were those types of people.
Then there were storm clouds, whose main purpose, it seemed, was to make it impossible to spend any amount of time watching said clouds. Sure, for a while they might just sit there and look menacing, but over all they simply let loose on the world, then left the damage for someone else to clean up.
That last type of cloud never ceased to remind Shikamaru of Sasuke, who angst-ed, brooded, then up and left, breaking hearts all over the place, forcing other people to clean up his mess. Sakura was a prime example. She refused to even eat until Naruto woke up after his physically – not to mention mentally and emotionally – damaging fight with Sasuke. She then attempted to fix her own broken heart, and in the end fell to pieces – though Lee was there to help glue them back together. Kakashi felt as though he failed his student, one of his few remaining precious people, and slid into a deep depression. Iruka, of course, was the one to fix that heart, though his own was hurting too.
Naruto… Naruto it seemed was broken beyond all repair. Everyone tried to put that heart back together, and in the end it seemed as though he might be okay. But Shikamaru knew; he saw the clouds that darkened those sky blue eyes when he thought no one was looking, and
Shikamaru knew that one day the band-aids just wouldn't hold together his heart anymore. Shikamaru knew, and he also knew that when that day came, he would be the one to pick up the pieces, and to chase those clouds away.