A.N: Here's to my first Shikamaru one shot. Hope you enjoy!

"Shikamaru!! Get your lazy ass over here!!" Ino yelled.

You watched from a tree high above.

"How troublesome...," you hear him mumbling as he gets up from his spot where he was watching the clouds.

Now, everyone has grown up, Shikamaru has been a chuunin for 2 1/2 years, Naruto's back from his 2 years of training, and Sasuke is still gone. Neji's a jounin, Sakura finished her training with Tsunade-sama, Lee's got more youth in him and Hinata grew her hair out. Chouji got a chest plate, Ten Ten changed her style, Kiba and Akamaru perfected their old moves and Shino got a new jacket to cover up the rest of his face. Overall, everyone has changed. The sand siblings are hard at work in the Sand Village. Gaara became Kazekage, Kankuro learned some new tricks with those puppets of his, and Temari, we still keep in touch.

'Shika, I don't understand why you even put up with Ino. She just bosses you around all day.'

You jump down from the tree in front of Shikamaru.

"Hey, Shika," you say.

"Oh, Cho, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I was just up in one of those trees watching the village. Why do you let Ino boss you around like that?" you questioned.

"Well-," he began.

"You should stand up for yourself one in a while," you interrupted.

"Thank you, Cho, but its ok. I can handle myself," he answered as he passed you.

"Ok, uhh, well, I guess I'll see you soon," you said as you waved goodbye.

He gave a wave as he kept on walking towards where Ino was.

'Stupid! Stupid! I shouldn't have done that! I should've just shut up!! It's completely stupid... I should just stop. I sounded just as bossy as Ino right there. He won't like me back. If he did, I'm sure he would've said so myself. I'm acting so desperate...'

You walked the opposite way from him, thinking to yourself. You strolled on until you reached your unplanned destination. You didn't realize that you had walked to the meadow that contained so many childhood memories. It was where you and Shika first became friends. You decided to sit down and just take a break from the rest of Konoha for a day. You sat down in the meadow overflowing with spring flowers. The scent was intoxicating. The sweet smell allowed you to close your eyes and just live in the moment. Today was such a beautiful day, it was too bad you couldn't enjoy it with a special someone. You hugged your knees and placed your chin in between your knees.

'Shikamaru, he's done so much. He's been a chuunin for more than two years. He's lead missions, he's been recognized within the community, and he's... he's just so perfect. It's so far from what I am. I'm just an assistant to Iruka. Who would find that job great?'

You sighed and laid down. What you laid your head on didn't feel like ground and it seemed like it was moving.

"Hi, Cho," you heard Shikamaru's voice say.

"Holy!" you screamed in surprise as you popped up from your laying position.

He gave off a chuckle. You turned to look at him.

"Surprised to see me?" he asked.

"I didn't even sense you. How long were you here?" you questioned.

"A while ago," Shikamaru answered, "You looked so deep in thought; I thought that I shouldn't bother you."

"Oh, haha, thank you...," you said, "I guess?"

"It's ok if you lay on me, I don't mind. It's actually quite comfortable," Shikamaru said.

"Ummm, ok," you said as you laid back down on top of his chest.

Laying on his chuunin jacket was actually quite comfortable. You closed your eyes as you listened and felt his breathing rhythm. You listened to it until you matched it. You felt a string of your hair fall on your face. Shikamaru swiped it to the side.



"Seeing that you're always working and in town, I didn't think that you'd be down here often," Shikamaru said as he broke the silence.

"I needed a break. Somewhere far enough so I couldn't hear the sounds of the town. A place filled with nice memories to reminisce upon. So much has happened these past two years, everything has gone by so fast. I couldn't take it, I wanted to hinder time so badly. Just to take everything slowly. I wanted to breathe," you explained.

"That's the reason why I'm here all the time," he said.

You laughed. You turned and looked at him. He was smiling at you. That smile struck you hard. It broke free your passion burning inside you and you couldn't contain it any longer. You kissed him with all your heart. You could tell he was surprised by his reaction to you kiss, but after a couple seconds into it he relaxed. You broke the kiss.

"I'm sorry, I -" you began.

He chuckled. You've never seen Shikamaru so relaxed around anyone else. It was nice to see that you could do such a thing.

"It's alright, I enjoyed it. It's been a long time since I've been waiting for that."

That was the beginning of your relationship with Shikamaru. It was an end to a confused and misunderstanding life, and a beginning to open doors and happiness.

A.N: Thanks for reading! Hope cha liked it! Please review and help me improve my fan fic writing skillz. I would really REALLY... seriously appreciate it! Thanks again!