Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
A.N.: I've been reading a couple of stories and noticed how a lot of younger writers are so anxious to reveal their story that they skip over events in their hurry. They rush to key plot points, and in their effort they end up writing the skeleton of a story without a lot of metaphorical 'meat'. It's like reading the outline and trying to derive a very human story and it's hard. I understand that a lot can be said with little, so this is my attempt. Maybe in comparison to my other stories it'll look like randomness, but I hope you as the reader can understand my intentions. Please RxR.
He inhales slowly, pulling the air in through the cigarette in his mouth, and its glowing red tip takes one step closer to his lips. Each drag he takes sets his lungs on fire, but he feels fulfilled. Every exhale that slides out hurts him by causing a choked up feeling in his throat, even though the overall pain of his loss dulls.
He loved to sit lazily on idle days and watch the sky. There were no real cares in the world, just troublesome events and circumstances and even teammates that needed to be avoided from time to time.
Chouji doesn't go to the barbeque restaurant anymore, and it's not because he doesn't have his meal paid for now. Whether he's on that long awaited diet or not Shikamaru doesn't know; he hasn't talked to the heavyset boy in over a week.
Ino has busied herself with working in the flower shop; she nurtures and showers her attention to those flowers as if her goal is to make sure they don't die. The wilting petals that fall to the floor are just life's hard way of disappointing her.
These days, the boy who used to watch the clouds now makes them.
On cold mornings, the smoke lingers in the air, hanging there suspended like his feelings, and he doesn't know where to go. The one teacher he had to give him direction is gone.
If only he was smarter he could have developed a better strategy. If only he was faster, maybe he could have stopped the akatsuki member from completing the justu. If only...
If only.
No one says he's to blame, but it doesn't mean that he doesn't feel the guilt. The reason he'd volunteered to be the one to deliver the bad news to Kurenai was to punish himself. Each of her tears was a whip that lashed at his soul.
He longs for rainy days, where there are clouds covering the bright sky. When they roll over the land raining on the earth below, it helps him hide his sorrow.