"Shika."
"..."
"Shi-ka-mar-u."
"..."
"I can keep doing this all day, ya know."
"...what?" he sighed, his eyes never leaving that particularly fluffy white cloud.
"Have you ever thought about dating Ino?" the girl beside him asked, her eyes closed.
"..."
"No! I'm serious. Answer this one. You ignored my last seven," she huffed.
"No. Too Troublesome."
"..."
-sigh- "Why, Sakura?"
"I thought that you two would end up together! I mean for Kami's sake, you two are practically inseparable whenever you're not playing Shogi with me, or cloud watching with me, or helping me study, or walking me home from training with Tsunade-sama. I don't get it," the pinkette said, now in a sitting position and looking at the fourteen year old beside her.
"..."
"Ugh. Forget it."
Shikamaru chuckled at this.
She really did get it. For as smart as she was, she was pretty damn oblivious.
"I don't even know why I asked, really. I guess I was just curious. I mean, you two would be quite cute together... if Ino-pig would actually shut up and let you talk sometimes." She mumbled the last part.
"Thank you so much for your interest in my love life," he drawled, ending with a yawn.
"..."
"Ino is like my sister, Sakura. Dating her would feel... wrong. And again, she would be too troublesome."
"See! Now, that's a damn answer," Sakura exclaimed, laying back down in the grass with a huff.
Shikamaru couldn't help but smirk at her choice of language. Ever since she started her training with Tsunade, her vocabulary had expanded to be a little more colorful. It worked for her though, he thought. It was about time she stopped being shy.
After Sasuke left the village, the girl had become mostly silent. When Naruto left for training with Jiraya, she practically became mute. Sakura would never engage in conversation, only respond when someone addressed her. When Kakashi seemed to disappear into the mission roster, the lone member of Team 7 didn't leave her house for nearly a week.
It wasn't until one day in the market that Shikamaru and his team ran into Sakura for the first time in weeks. Ino proceeded to throw a fit, effectively catching her off guard, and making her promise the Sakura would come out to their team dinner that evening. Shocking Choiji and Shikamaru, Sakura actually showed up, running a little late from her training.
That would roughly five months ago, Shikamaru mused.
"The clouds are clearing up," the shadow user said aloud.
"Do you want to grab something to eat soon?" Sakura asked, her eyes closed again.
"Sure... soon," he replied, his eyes closing.
The two teens feel asleep shortly thereafter, basking in the sunlight. They woke up a few hours later, the sun setting, and Shikamaru on his side facing Sakura, with his hand holding hers.
I might be leaving it as a one-shot. Or, if I ever have the motivation to update the same story, I'll make it into a multi-chapter story. But, I felt like experimenting with Shika/Saku and I didn't sleep last night, so yeah. This is what comes out of my insomnia at 7 in the morning. RR!