Annabeth and Shikamaru

It was a Monday afternoon. Shikamaru had managed to escape from his mother's constant nagging and had arrived at his usual cloud- watching spot. And whom should he meet there but Annabeth.

"You're in my spot," he said sulkily.

Annabeth looked up from an enormous book on her lap. It seemed to be about architecture. Interesting, thought Shikamaru.

"There's plenty of space here," snapped Annabeth. "Sit somewhere else!"

Deciding not to argue with the scary girl, Shikamaru sat on the bench opposite her and lay back to watch the clouds.

After some time, Annabeth laughed derisively. "What are you doing, watching the clouds?"

"Yep," answered Shikamaru honestly.

Annabeth just snorted, which reminded Shikamaru of uncle Inoichi's prize sow.

"Where I come from, dude, you don't get time to lie down and watch clouds."

"Where I come from, woman, you don't get to nag men."

"Shut up, whiner."

"You too, smartie."

"Stop complaining, crybaby."

"Leave me alone, Wise Girl."

A sudden silence hung in the air. Shikamaru thought about what she had called him. 'Crybaby'. Only Temari called him that. He wondered how that particular incident seemed to have made the rounds with the girls so fast. He was about to say, "You remind me of my girlfriend," but was reminded of the implications of that statement and decided against it.

"You just reminded me of my boyfriend."

Shikamaru jerked. "What?"

"You reminded me of Percy, my boyfriend. He's the only one who calls me Wise Girl."

"Oh." Shikamaru suddenly realized that Annabeth had a boyfriend. "What's he like?"

"Oh, cute, dumb, brave, annoying. Nothing like you, except for annoying."

Shikamaru fake laughed.

"My girlfriend is a lot like you," he couldn't help answering. "Both of you are blonde, smart, bossy and annoying."

All that came from Annabeth was a slightly surprised, "You have a girlfriend?"

"Always the tone of surprise," replied Shikamaru.

There was an awkward silence. Annabeth stared at her book. Shikamaru watched the clouds.

"So…what are you reading?" he asked, finally.

Annabeth's eyes lit up. "Just a book on architecture I found in your Konoha library."

"You're into architecture, huh?" he asked, impressed.

"Very," she replied happily. "It's what I want to do when I grow up. What do you want to do when you're older, Shikamaru?"

"I already have a job, he replied carelessly. "Chief strategist and advisor of the Hokage. It's a drag but I do it."

"Really?" she said, her opinion of him rising quite a bit at this statement.

"Well yeah," he answered. "So tell me, what do you think of the local architecture around here?"

"Well…" Annabeth hesitated. "Actually, I don't think the style is that great. Besides, I was walking around the village yesterday and I noticed that a lot of the buildings seemed to be…destroyed."

"Well, we're in the middle of a war," said Shikamaru, shrugging. "You've got to expect that."

"I see," said Annabeth quietly. War. So they were in the middle of a war too. From the moment Annabeth had arrived here, she had suspected something of the sort. Although compared to the military atmosphere of Camp Half-Blood, Konoha looked like a peaceful holiday getaway, Annabeth could tell that everyone was prepared for war. She could tell that from the way everybody, regardless of age, had a weapon holster strapped to their legs. Besides, everyone here from her lazy companion to the shy Hinata to her best friend Sakura, had the same expression in their eyes as everyone at Camp Half-Blood did-fear, and an almost desperate survival instinct. War is the same everywhere, she thought. Just like we protect our camp, they protect their village. She studied the great faces on the side of the Konoha cliff which reminded her of Mount Rushmore. Though she didn't think much of Konoha's buildings, she had always admired that work of art immensely.

"Shikamaru! Lady Tsunade wants you!"

Sakura and Naruto came racing up the stairs. Annabeth and Shikamaru both jumped. Sakura froze in mid-run, staring at them as if she had interrupted their private moment. Naruto only gaped with his mouth open. Annabeth wished she could shut it for him.

"Oh, er, um, sorry," mumbled Sakura. "Er, Naruto, you go down with him, will you."

"Eh, what?" asked Naruto, befuddled. "I thought we were all going…er, why are you nudging me, Sakura-cha-"

"Shut it and get lost, you two," ordered Sakura, elbowing Naruto in the ribs so he couldn't breathe. Shikamaru rolled off his bench and slouched downstairs with him. Sakura sat down next to Annabeth.

"Found a friend, huh?" she smirked.

Annabeth blushed. "I guess so," she replied defensively.

"So what were you two chatting about?"

"Architecture? Seriously?" yawned Naruto. "You nerds need to get a life. You go on a date and all you can think of to talk about is architecture?"

"It wasn't a date!" spluttered Shikamaru.

"Oh, I'm sure it wasn't," remarked Sakura cynically. "Come on, spill the beans, Annabeth-san. I know you like him!"

"He's annoying!" cried Annabeth, blushing. Then, trying to change the subject, she said, "Sakura, what's that game he was playing with me called? I found it quite interesting. Do you think I could buy a set here to take it home?"

"It's called shogi," replied Sakura. "And yes, quite a lot of people like it. You don't need to buy a set. I'm sure Shikamaru has two or three extra portable boards. Why don't you ask him for one?" she added mischievously.

"You ask him," retorted Annabeth quickly.

"Heck no!" laughed Sakura gleefully. "I'm not asking him for anything! You keep avoiding the topic! So tell me why you like him. There's no use denying it, I know you do."

"Oh, well, it's not like I really like him, but…"

"…if you really want to know," grumbled Shikamaru, "I don't really like her all that much or anything. It's just…it's nice to finally have someone to play shogi with. Properly."

"It's just nice to have someone to talk to about, well, intellectual things. Like architecture. Or math. Or shogi. Back where I come from, no one's much interested in that kind of thing. Even my boyfriend, well, he's a cutie, but he can be so dumb sometimes," went on Annabeth.

Though Naruto liked being dumb, he could also be surprisingly sensitive to other people's feelings.

"I get what you mean," he said. "No one else around here is much interested in your nerdy stuff. Actually, that freaky blonde girl is kinda perfect for you."

"I understand, Annabeth-san," said Sakura gently. "I think the two of you are just perfect for each other, actually. But well…there's kind of a problem involved."

"What's that?"

"What's that?"

"What if Temari finds out?" asked Naruto.