In the Rain

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Summary: Shizune comes back to Konoha and meets an old friend, bitter, hurt, and waiting for her.

Pairings: Genma/Shizune

Shizune sighed and stood in a puddle outside the Hokage's building. It was raining, hard but she ignored the fact. It was good to be home again. Through the rain she could hear the sounds of Academy students playing in the puddles and the ruckus of the village market not too far from where she was standing. It was all in place like it should be. Luckily, Tsunade was in a good mood and gave the tired Shizune a break to relax and sink in to the new surroundings.

"It's good to be home." She said to herself as she walked around the village to nowhere in particular. She waved at a few children running past her as she made her way around. Not far from her, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were eating ramen at Ichiraku's Ramen Stand. She sniffed the air and agreed he made the best in all of Konoha.

"Naruto, you dobe!" Came Sasuke's irritable voice. He and Sakura were both standing and yelling at Naruto for apparently spilling ramen all over him.

"Hm, nothing's changed." She let out a small laugh before spotting a red bridge not far from the Hospital.

'That's the same bridge that I use to go to when I was a Genin!' She thought and through the downpour she ran to it. Her feet made a big 'CLANK!' as her sandals went over the wooden floor. It was her childhood bridge still standing.

"I've missed you!" Shizune said to the bridge as she clutched the wet railing and let the drops of rain drop onto her face. It started to rain harder but she didn't care. It was good to be home and at the moment, she didn't care if it was strange to talk to a bridge. But in her 'glory', she didn't notice somebody stepping onto the bridge, his feet making the same 'CLANK!' on the wooden platform.

"So have I, Shizune." Came the stranger's voice.

Shizune stopped, wiped her face, and turned to the stranger. Her eyes widened and she suddenly shivered from the cold rain now soaking through her black dress. She hadn't expected to meet him here. She had expected him to be somewhere else now, even married.

"Genma…" She said breathlessly to the Special Jonin standing before her.

The brown haired Special Jonin with a senborn in his mouth made his way closer to her. He was now standing a mere two feet away. His eyes were fixed on her, narrowed. His mouth was clamped on the senborn and he held a bitter expression on his face. It was as though he had expected to see her.

"Nice to see you're back." He shot at her, bitterly.

Shizune wasn't surprised. She left without saying good-bye to neither of them nor saying anything about where she was going. But still, she wasn't going to take this crap from him. Besides, she had a long day of traveling.

"Genma, let's not start this now." The kunoichi tried to reason with him. It didn't work much.

Genma gave a scoff. "What do you mean? You started this, not me."

He was still mad at her after all these years. One day they were making smores along with Hayate, Aoba, and Raidou and the next thing, she left without another glance, leaving him the dark. Of course he was upset; one of his best friends has left him without a trace.

"Please, I didn't have a choice." Her voice felt small compared to the clatter against the wood of the bridge. The water rushed below them like a waterfall.

"Shizune, you could've left a note." He said, making it sound like it was the most obvious thing to do. His voice was dangerously calm.

Shizune shook her head. Truth be told, she could've, but it was too painful for her. "I…I couldn't, it's too much pain to handle." His next reaction took her back for a surprise.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'IT WAS TOO PAINFUL'?!" Genma screamed in a sudden outburst. "What the hell do you think I'm feeling right now? Joyful?!"

He was seething in anger now and for a brief moment, their eyes met and instead of seeing red hot anger, Shizune saw hurt in his eyes. Hurt because he had left her just point blank like that. Tears suddenly filled her eyes. She knew her friends would be upset but Genma was hurt, hurt deeply.

"Genma…" She called to him, fighting her tears. "I didn't mean to…"

"Didn't mean to? You sure meant it when I never saw you for eight years!" He snapped. His face and hair was dripping wet and his senborn clung to his mouth as he talked.

Shizune didn't know how much more she could handle so she decided to go home now. Her good mood was spoiled by this confrontation and she wanted no more to deal with this. She turned her back to him and walked away. A hand grabbed her arm and was whirled around to meet Genma, his face several inches away from her's.

"Where do you think you're going?" He sneered. Apparently, he wanted to take care of this now. "Nobody's going anywhere."

It rained even harder. Shizune was close to cracking but didn't dare to let herself do so. She wiggled her hand free from his firm grip and walked away. This time, nobody grabbed her arm. Instead, a voice filled with hurt was called to her.

"Shizune, why?" He called through the rumble his entire suit getting soaked wet. "Why did you leave us? Why did you leave me?" He said the last part a little quieter.

Unfortunately for him, Shizune caught everything. She turned her wet body back to him. "I had to, Genma. For Dan, for everybody, and…for you."

The rain calmed slightly. The two shinobi stood there, facing each other. Shizune stood there, panting slightly. Opposite of her, Genma rolled his senborn around his mouth. He was no longer looking angry but sad and upset.

"Damn it," He swore under his breath. "Damn it, Shizune, I loved you! You didn't have to prove anything to anybody!" The rain softly watered his cheeks as it calmed.

Shizune finally broke. Her tears slid out, mingling with the rain. "It's not that…it's just too complicated to understand. I never meant to hurt anybody, believe me."

She began to walk again and then heard quick steps following her. She gave sigh. When would he learn?

"But you did, you hurt everybody who cared about you." Genma took out his senborn and held it in his hand. He twiddled with it. "You hurt me a lot. I was waiting for you to come back ever since."

Shizune felt a hand wipe her cheek and she grew hot, even with the cold air surrounding them. There was silence between them and they walked. When they reached the front of her apartment complex, she finally spoke.

"I'm sorry." She muttered sincerely.

There was no answer from him.

Either he hadn't heard her or he heard her but he wasn't going to forgive her. Knowing she could go no further, she went up the stairs. Again, somebody followed her. By the time she made it to her door was finally when the other man made interaction. She fiddled around for her keys and felt a hand get a grapst of her wrist. She was whirled around and this time met the lips of him. Her soft, angel like lips crashed into Genmas's not as equally soft ones. His sanborn was on the cement, having dropped it from his mouth.

It wasn't a very short kiss either. It was a long, passionate one. Shizune felt Genma's tongue go into her's and enjoyed the bliss of it. Everything was forgotten the minute they lip locked.

After what seemed like years, they broke apart. Genma was staring at her, gasping for some air. Shizune just stood there shocked.

"Wow, that was…" She was looking for something to say. She unlocked the apartment door. Genma kneeled down to pick up the senborn, and placed it in the pocket of his vests. He figured he wouldn't need it right now.

"I love you." He said and felt himself being pulled into the dark room.

"I love you too." Came a female voice and he suddenly felt his vest getting unzipped.

Read and Review! My first Genma/Shizune story.