A/N:
A new story! This is kinda like my GaaSaku: "In between the lines" - in 3 parts I mean. I started writing on this one many years ago and thought I would be able to finish it to Shikamaru's birthday. Well, I couldn't and then I just put it aside for awhile. During Camp NaNoWriMo I finally got to finish it.

I hope you enjoy it, and I do love getting feedback - it helps me grow, so please take time to sit down and write down your thoughts.

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Disclaimer:
«I do not own any of the following pictures, music, characters or the original universe. I only own the story itself the main character and to the idea.»
Thanks a lot to Lightning Bee for betaing on this story.


It was you - Chapter 1


Shikamaru was looking out of the window. 'How troublesome…' It was only six in the morning, a time when the 15 year old genius would usually be in deep sleep – and not likely to get out of bed for many hours to come. However, this day, this EXACT date every year he kept waking up early. '23rd of September'. It was like the gods were playing a prank on him. Never letting him fully enjoy the night after his birthday, always waking him up early in the morning, not managing to go back to sleep…

"Geez, you really have a grudge against me, don't you?" he asked, looking up toward the early morning sun. Well, whatever, they wouldn't answer him – especially if they indeed DID hold a grudge.

Since he knew he wouldn't get any more sleep, Shikamaru got out of bed. After visiting the bathroom and taking a surprisingly quick shower, he got changed. With nothing else to do, he once again placed himself by the window.

As he let his observant, yet distant, eyes gaze up at the skies, Shikamaru got a feeling of starting to remember something. There was something, something from a time long ago. Something about a-

*bam!*

A loud sound made Shikamaru stop his train of thoughts and he looked down to investigate the source of the noise. Just outside, of the front door of his house, he could spot a practically dressed woman with a shopping bag hanging from one of her arms. Shikamaru let out a sigh. Seeing his mother leave was a clear indicator of how early it was in the morning. Each morning Yoshino Nara went out on her daily little shopping trip that took forever because the woman refused to eat groceries that were prepared the day before. It was a little unpractical, but Shikamaru had to admit to himself that he enjoyed the always crunchy bread at the breakfast table.

As his mother walked around the corner and out of sight, the young ninja laid back down on the bed, arms on the back, supporting his head. 'Geez...' He had nothing, absolutely nothing to do. Normally this something very welcomed in the young Nara's life, but that was when he was free to do nothing. This was different. He almost wished he had some chores... 'Aaaah!' The boy smacked his head. What was wrong with him today? He'd actually wished he had to do chores! Something was definitely not right. Letting his eyes scan his bedroom he noticed an old looking book peeping out from underneath his dresser. He groaned and managed to push himself out of bed to get it. The book was indeed old and as he picked it up he was greeted with a cloud of dust blowing up in his face. He coughed on his way back to the bed and sat down to look at what he'd found. The book was red with a couple of flowers on the inner side of the book cover. It seemed a little old and a thin layer of dust covered most of the title, so he used the corner of his blanket to brush atop of it to clean it.

'Hanabi'

He studied the title and tried to recall the story it contained. 'Fireworks, huh?' After a moment he gave up and opened the book for more clues, and landed on a page with a hand written message:

'Happy birthday, Shikamaru.
I hope you'll like this book, it's one of my favorites!
Can't wait to see you tomorrow at my place.
– Ino.'

The young Nara raised an eyebrow at the inscription. It had been a birthday present form Ino? He closed the book to once again have a look at the cover. Well, a flower was the symbol of the Yamanaka-clan, so it was a good chance his female teammate would have picked it out as to tease him.

Falling back down onto his bed, he let it fall to the floor with a hollow bump. Geez, why wasn't there anything to do? He could go out to do some training but if he did then he'd probably miss breakfast... he let out a sigh and bend his head backwards so that he could look up at the skies through the window to do some cloud watching. Well, that was what he'd intended to do. However there seemed to be no clouds available. 'I was right; Someone truly hates me today...' With an irritated growl he sat up again and looked up and down the street. There weren't many people outside, and those who were had all a focused look on their faces that suggested that they were outside in order to do an errand. Shikamaru was about to fall back down on the bed when he suddenly caught the glimpse of someone familiar. 'What's Chouji doing up this early?' His best friend might not be as fond of his bed as the Naraboy but he did appreciate lazing around during his morning hours.

"Ey, Chouji!" Shikamaru called out. The boy came to a halt and looked around and over his shoulder to find the source of the voice. As he did Shikamaru noticed what his teammate was carrying. 'Flowers? Why the hell would he carry around flowers?' Shikamaru shook his head; he'd probably get an explanation when he managed to contact the boy. "Chouji, up here!" He tried again, but it didn't seem like Chouji heard him clearly this time either because he looked behind him before shrugging on his shoulder and continued walking down the street. Inside, the spiky haired boy let out a frustrated grunt and fell face down on his feet. 'Just typical...'

He lay still for a while but even relaxing became troublesome after some time. Bored, he once again sat up and let his hand fumble in a bag beside the bed until picked out a small brain puzzle that was made in tree, and started fumbling with it without paying any attention to it. It had been one of the presents he'd gotten yesterday. The package had said it was 'a very difficult one' but Shikamaru had spent three minutes figuring it out and another two to solve it. He let out a little snort of satisfaction as he remembered Ino's face as her present had occupied him for such a short amount of time. With a last little thrust of his hand the last piece found it'd place and he looked down on the construct, admiring it. Lazily he threw the ball-formed puzzle in the air and caught it as it came back down. He repeated the motion but, as he reached for it, a loud bark broke off is concentration and he missed the ball by and inch, seeing it pass by his hand before continuing its fall down on the street. Shikamaru let out a curse. 'Was everything gonna go wrong today?'

Shikamaru got on his feet and slowly plodded himself down the stairs, went through the kitchen, and out on the street. The puzzle had now moved a couple of meters down the street and, as the Nara went over to it, a gust of wind swept by and moved the puzzle yet another meter. Irritated the boy followed, hurrying to pick it up before the wind could get another chance.

"Oh, hi Shikamaru. Not every day you're up at this hour." A voice commented as a shadow fell over him.


Again, please like /follow me if you enjoy my stuff:
Again, please like /follow me if you enjoy my stuff:
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