Just Me And My Shadow;; HinaShika

Chapter One;; Troublesome

You understood. You understood my pain, my suffering, my agony. You always stood behind me, always waited for me to talk. It was always silence. Well, like I always say…it's just me, and my shadow.

White fluff strolled through the saffron sky, wispy, swirling the slightest bit with each little breeze that whirled by. The fresh, subtle air whispering through the trees, the leaves rustling with every current, every fluid swish wavering the branches, causing the tree to croak and moan. The bark was the slightest bit rigged, scratchy, and had a sand-paper like feel to it. The ivy green grass felt as if it could crawl up your spine, tickling your toes with every gust of wind. The way the tall, lean strands of grass would sway was kind of relaxing; the brushy, feathery sound soothed the ears. A few, delicate, pale, flowers graced the tree with beauty, the waxy petals painted with scarlet swirls and sprinkled with pale pink flecks. The fragrant scent hushed my senses, the smell of fresh cherries and golden honey. The sunlight was dimmed as the sunset began to occur; the sky blushed with fruity peach strokes, autumn orange wisps, tangy yellow splotches, and the slightest dab of mulberry to blend with the collage of fruity appeal. The relaxing vibe was perfect, absolutely perfect.

The crunching of old petals alerted my ears. Ears perking, twitching a tad, my eyes narrowed as my fingers twisted and fingered a kunai, brushing the flesh of my long digits along the thin, sleek, narrowed blade, thinly slicing a bit of my skin. I saw a shoe, a sandal to be exact, the dark juniper color, the way the weight on the thick shoe-wear flattened a bit of the foliage beneath it. My eyes following the short legs, the structure of the body was a tad bit shaky, vibrating, the skin was visibly twitching. Though my gaze snapped quickly when I saw a drop of liquid splash against a bud of grass, and then my eyes averted back to the person, eyes flashing to her face, her eyes were closed tightly, a few beads of liquid escaping the edges of the big, pale eyes, the fluid splashing against the long lashes that often batted when she was nervous. It was Hinata Hyuga. No, it didn't shock me. Yes, I was wondering why she was all the way out here in the depths of the forest. I knew that she'd escape her feelings in the forest, but I never knew she reached this point without shriveling and breaking down near the entrance of the woods.

I said nothing. Lightly tapping my hand next to me, the light pounding noise vibrated through the air, though I was positive that only I could hear it. Within my time of being quiet, enveloped in the forest, and all alone, my senses had developed much more than if I hadn't. Withdrawing my hand away from the plush dirt and foliage, I shrugged my shoulders back and loosened up my jacket that coated my knitted black top and under-shirt, shrugging it off my shoulders, grasping it between my fingers and laying it down for her to sit on, not wanting her pants to get all dirty, and hard to wash. When she sat down, her knees instantly rose to her chin, cradling herself, wrapping her arms tightly around her shaky legs, burying her face into her pants, tears splashing onto them, moistening the fabric.

Part of me wanted to ask her what was wrong, the other part didn't see it fit to say anything at all. Instead, I lifted my hand from my lap, hand jerking a bit before steadying its mobility. With a digit, I lightly brushed the side of her cheek, moving a few strands of hair away, the strands resisting a bit do to the dewy, sticky flesh that is the clumped on. With the appendage I swirled the hair around a few times, tucking it behind her ear, and then traced my finger back down to her cheek, softly brushing the flushed skin, catching a few tears on my own skin, the salty water splashing underneath my fingernail.

"Hush now…"I whispered, the words tickling my lips. I brushed my flesh against her cheek again, asking,

"What's wrong…?" The words were hardly more than a hushed croak, choking on my breath a bit. The slack of communication was hurting, her sobs and whimpers tainting the quiet breeze.

Her eyes finally met mine, her cheeks were stained with soft red, eyes puffy and pink from all the tears she had shed, teeth clicking, making a chattering noise, her hands were shaking.

"T-Th-They d-d-disowned m-m-me," She managed to choke through her teeth, "T-The h-heritage is g-going to N-N-Neji." Her sobs stopped at a dead end, trying to catch some breath after her cries died out, "T-they t-thought that I w-wasn't g-good enough f-for the Hyuga C-C-Compound..."

Something clicked together in my brain, tying a few strands together, finally piecing the puzzle. They Hyuga family basically left little Hinata out of the heritage because she was much weaker than her older cousin, Neji, and they thought her unreasonable, and didn't even consider her because of her constant stuttering and her mercy, which her brother didn't own.

"I'm sorry." I said quietly, though that was the only thing that I could think to say at that moment. Lifting my hand again, I placed it on her shoulder and rubbed my hand chastely on the soft, plush coat that she wore.

She glanced at me gently and with a fluid motion she swung her arms around my neck, gripping tightly, pulling herself into my lap, snuggling her face into the netting and fabric of my knitted shirt and undershirt, burying her face between the netting, nose poking my sternum gently. My arm instinctively rising from my side, I wrapped it around her from the side and pulled her a bit more into my chest, allowing her to sit in my lap. I knew she needed comfort, I knew that she was really upset. I huffed absently and rested my forehead against her free shoulder, closing my eyes slowly, eyelashes brushing my under-eye, the dark, pale violet circles that traced the outside of my eyes revealed how tired I had been lately and the lack of sleep that I was receiving. Grazing my digits over her shoulder, I inhaled her sweet, sugary scent, mixed with the pleasant tinge of herbs.

Within time, I noticed that she was gripping my arm, handling it with care, stroking her finger on the weaved top and the loose-fitting undershirt. Tugging gently at the fabric, she rolled up the sleeves with care, examining my lower arms. I gulped, the clump of saliva heaving down my throat. This made me quite nervous and a bit uncomfortable with her presence. She didn't need to know. She didn't need to see what was underneath the twined fabric, the weaved mess. That's when it happened.

Her fingers were tracing little red engraves, thumb rubbing the welting scars, the blood rushing up to the pressure she was inflicting on the wounds. Elevating my arm, she sat down firmly in my lap and wrapped her legs around me; she placed the arm on her knee, though I was tempted to revoke my arm. She was dabbling with her coat, fiddling with the zipper of it, the shiny, cold knob that was the zipper. She quickly removed her coat and placed it in her lap in a bundle. Drawing her sleeve up, she revealed incisions that littered her arms. They had such perfection, such precision. They were clean incisions. Perfect. Though her face was unscathed, she definitely had issues hidden underneath her timid smile. Just as I suspected.

"Y-You're j-just like me."

My eyes shot up and met her gaze. Her eyes held an empty, emotionless gaze. I felt a burning sensation affecting my nose, and a tingling sensation in my eyes, the ends of my lips pinching down into a tight frown, tears escaping my eyes, running down my cheeks, keeping down a choked whimper. I said nothing.

I swung my arms around her neck and held her close to me, letting my tears come free, cascading down my orangey flesh, leaving tear-trail stains. I choked out a whimper,

"I'm so sorry."

Her gaze came across mine again, eyes holding a tender sentiment. The atmosphere was tight. How did we even get here in the first place? I hardly knew her at first…but now we were corresponding as if we knew each other our whole lives and were associated forever.

"D-Don't f-feel r-r-remorseful for m-me…I-it's not a big d-deal." She tried to carry a definite tone when she talked, but it fell short and ended up sounding more like a plead for me not to feel sympathy for her.

"It's obviously a big deal if you are crying and you're acting in this manner, Hinata Hyuga." I muttered lightly.

She obviously had no idea what to say, she was most likely fumbling with words, getting them caught on her tongue, but even if she were to speak them, she'd most likely trip over them with her tongue.

I exhaled noisily, then inhaling the aroma that ticked her neck. My eyes were polished, a lethargic daze caught in my eyes. My inactive life-style caused me to plunge into slumber behind schedule, and this was no exception. It was late-night, I was tired, and a slumber was tainting my eye-lids. Whatever. What was the worse that could possibly happen? I mean, they can't yell at me for comforting a fellow Junín.

Elevating my arm, I grappled her arm and turned it over, my eyes exploring the skin of her nimble arm, examining the burgundy lacerations, the way that they disfigured the beauty of the ashen flesh. Moving my supple fingers towards the blemishes, the apex of my fingers caressed the wounded skin, placidly stroking each stripe and twisted mark.

Her gape met mine rather slowly, a perplexed look contaminating her pale jade eyes, swirled with the slightest bit of liberation.

"Don't make those incisions on your arms anymore, your blood doesn't need to spill over insignificant people and actions, it's not your fault that you are the way you are, no matter what someone says, just don't inflict this damage on your skin…" I rested my forehead against her own forehead, eyes gazing at sweet nothingness, "Hinata, you're beautiful, don't let anyone tell you otherwise, don't let anyone hurt you, don't let them do that…" I choked on the words at the end, holding back tears.

She stammered and stuttered, trying to locate words she wanted to say. I saw it in her eyes. Her eyes held a bit of disbelief, a flabbergasted look that painted her face,

"Sh-Shi-Shikamaru…"

I became more alert as I heard my name, ears shuddering the most insignificant bit.

"Yes?" The words glided through my lips, uncertain of what she was going to say to me. A bit of worry flashed through my mind.

"Than-Thank y-you….so m-much." She breathed heavily, resting her head in the crook of my shoulder, letting a few tears slide off the waterline of her eyes.

"No problem." I said quickly, bringing my hand up to the back of her head, the calloused fingers sliding gently through her raven hair, tangling through the smooth locks. I huffed and snaked my head around the side of her head and rested my chin on the back of her neck and relaxed my muscles and fell backwards a bit more, my grip on her still gentle, yet firm, enjoying her warmth and her company. I leaned against the tree, resting my head against the hard wood. As I adjusted how I sat, I noticed that the young Hyuga was breathing heavily, her chest heaving up and down. I tilted her back a smidgen to notice that she was safe and sound, asleep, tear trails beneath her eyes. Taking a thumb, I swiped the remaining tears off of her face. I eyed the scars again and shook my head the slightest bit before resting my head back against the tree to sleep, murmuring,

"Troublesome."