Sorry for the wait! I blame writer's block, but that is no excuse. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the read. Again, this story is influenced by songs that I've listened to that I think correspond with my overall plot. So, kinda like a fan song list in the form of a fic. It makes sense in my head in an odd way. I'm not really sure how I feel about this chapter but I hope you enjoy it either way!

"Speaking" and 'Thinking'

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Beta'd by me. I apologize for any missed grammatical/spelling mistakes.

Song Influence – "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" – Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

Chapter Two – Somewhere Over the Rainbow

"Do you always have your head in the clouds?"

Blinking rapidly as if he had been wakened even though his eyes were most definitely open, Shikamaru turned his head to the right in the direction of what he would come to know very well as "the haughty voice."

He was not surprised to see Hyuuga Neji, the boy he had technically almost gotten killed because the other's lack of awareness just the week before. After Shikamaru had apologized for knocking him out of the tree, said goodbye and was on his way home, he wondered for a moment if he really would see the Hyuuga boy again. He certainly wasn't going to be the one to seek the other out. No, he was far too lazy for that. But that didn't stop his thoughts from turning to Neji if only because he was so very…strange.

Shikamaru decided on the way back to his house that if he did happen to see Neji again, he wouldn't question himself or the situation like he did with every other circumstance in his life. He would just accept it and go from there.

And if he didn't see Neji again, then he didn't see him again. That was that, and he would continue with his days of cloud gazing and avoiding all attempts at logical thought.

He was happy at this moment that he didn't have to question his actions but could just accept the fact that Neji was here. He even accepted the snarky comment the Hyuuga gave him and planned to return the favor in due time.

"Pretty much," he replied turning his gaze back to the sky. "My mom thinks that since I'm outside so much I should do something productive, but she never does anything to change my habits."

Neji's brow furrowed. "Is she not responsible for your well-being? Why would she not try to assure that you hone your skills and abilities to succeed later on in life?"

Shikamaru didn't turn to look at Neji as he spoke. "Probably because she's happier that I am outside in the sunlight acting like a normal kid than she would be if I was pasty and pale by remaining cooped up inside studying strategies and the history of jutsus."

He waited until he heard stammering before he allowed a small smile to grace his face.

'Head in the clouds and damn proud of it,' he thought to himself.

"I am not pasty. Or pale."

Shikamaru's smile only got wider as he could actually the faint grinding of Neji's teeth because of his suggestion.

"I didn't say you were," he replied nonchalantly, still not taking his eyes away from an interesting looking cumulus cloud.

"But you implied it," Neji stated as he still ground his teeth.

Shikamaru let out a breath and pushed himself off the ground into a sitting position before standing up and stretching his arms above his head.

"Maybe. But that doesn't mean you should take what I say seriously."

Neji stopped grinding his teeth and just looked at Shikamaru as if he could not comprehend the meaning of the younger's words.

It was then that Shikamaru noticed that while Neji wasn't glaring at him, rather just looking at him strangely, there was tension in his clenched fists.

"Neji," he began, "You need to relax."

Now, Neji really did glare at Shikamaru.

"Seriously. You shouldn't get all worked up over some meaningless words that a near stranger says to you. I don't even know you other than that I somewhat accidentally knocked you unconscious, and yet you're looking at me like you want to stick a kunai to my throat for some slight I said. So, relax and stop acting like an adult."

Shikamaru could see the tension leave Neji's hands and arms, though he saw some linger in his shoulders and while the Hyuuga no longer glared at him, he did give him a look that Shikamaru could only describe as "constipated."

A thought then occurred to Shikamaru.

"What are you doing here anyway?"

The look of "constipation" vanished from Neji's only to be replaced by a "deer in the headlights" look, a look that Shikamaru had definitely seen a lot of.

The surprise on Neji's face vanished almost as quickly as it came, only to be replaced by his normal "haughty" look. Shikamaru decided to begin keeping count for how many times he would see that look today. So far: two.

"You would not believe it if I said it was coincidence that I happened upon you on this hill." It wasn't a question.

"Very good Hyuuga. You read my mind." Shikamaru smirked, surprisingly anxious to hear the real answer.

Neji looked away from Shikamaru almost as if he were embarrassed by what he was about to say.

"I came looking for you."

"Yeah, I kinda figured that out already," Shikamaru said as if bored and suppressing a yawn just to see if he could antagonize the Hyuuga further.

It worked. Neji shot a glaring look back. The young Nara remained unaffected, waiting for the rest of the answer.

While still glaring, Neji continued. "I came looking for you because I was curious about you."

Now, it was Shikamaru who quirked an eyebrow surprised by Neji's words.

"You surprised me, Shikamaru, that day in the forest. And I am not that easily surprised. No Hyuuga is, but that's beside the point. Even though you attacked me and later apologized for it, you still treated me with kindness. But more so…" Neji paused and looked away from Shikamaru's face as if searching for the right words.

After a moment he looked up again and said, "You treated me like a normal person. You did not care that I am a Hyuuga and you brushed off my…rather rude behavior. Even the fact that I was a complete stranger did not deter you from being comfortable talking to me. Almost friendly even."

Shikamaru tried not to let Neji see his own surprise at the words. He may have somewhat expected Neji to seek him out, but he did not expect that this was why.

Neji looked away again, but he did not look embarrassed. "The reason I came looking for you today was because no one, other than my parents, has ever treated me that way before. And I wanted to know why you did."

Having finished, he looked back to Shikamaru and awaited an answer.

While putting his own thoughts in order and reassessing what Neji had just said, Shikamaru took a second to really look at Neji since he first saw him that day. What he noticed now was similar to the boy he encountered before. Neji stood poised with his shoulders back, standing straight and tall which seemed to give him confidence in himself. Yet, Shikamaru could tell nothing by looking in eyes. The pale pupils gave no emotions or thoughts away. But looking at his brow, Shikamaru could see the slightly furrow that indicated that Neji was not angry but rather slightly anxious about the answer Shikamaru was about to give.

'Huh.' Shikamaru thought to himself. 'Always full of surprises this one. And different from the rest, too. I wonder why….'

"Well…I just treated like…I treat any of my friends. You're right, I didn't know you and I don't know you very well now, but that doesn't mean I'd treat you like an outsider or whatever. That's just stupid and time consuming."

Shikamaru sighed and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"You looked like you needed a little cheering up, especially after that fall…but more so, you looked a little lonely and like you needed a friend. So I treated you like I would have treated any of my friends if I had almost accidentally gotten them killed." He smirked and then smiled when he saw the corners of Neji's mouth barely turn upward.

"So yeah, that's pretty much it." He shrugged his shoulders. "And I also thought you needed to relax a little since you seemed a little stressed. Actually, you still need to relax and settle down once in a while."

Neji's almost smile turned into a mini-glare. "I relax just fine, thank you."

Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders again. "Whatever you say…."

He was about to turn around when Neji no longer felt the ground beneath him as his legs were kicked out from under and he landed with a "thud" on the not so soft ground.

Neji blinked rapidly and saw Shikamaru standing over him, a look of boredom on his face.

"There. Now you can relax."

Neji was about to push himself up and show the Nara just how relaxed he could be while shoving someone else's face into the ground when he felt Shikamaru's foot on his chest.

"You need to settle down and relax like I told you. And please don't try to get up again. It's too troublesome to keep making you stay down."

Neji glared up at Shikamaru but stayed where he was. "I fail to see how this is 'relaxing.'"

Shikamaru let out an exhausted sigh. "It's not. Yet." He lifted his foot from Neji's chest and suddenly plopped down on his back beside the older boy while folding his arms behind his head.

"Now this is relaxing," Shikamaru said and turned his head to the sky.

Neji looked at Shikamaru and then looked to where Shikamaru was looking, failing to see the logic.

Shikamaru turned to look at Neji. "Neji, if you want to start acting like a normal person, and in your case a normal kid since you've apparently tried to act way about your age your entire life, you need to just lay back and enjoy the clouds. Kick your sandals off, put your arms behind your head, and let your eyes and mind drift along with the clouds. That's what kids do. Or at least, that's what I do because I'm too lazy to do anything else."

Neji still looked skeptical and was beginning to think he made a mistake in his attempt to converse with Shikamaru. Maybe the idea of friendship was something that he was not capable of. He was alone up until this point and survived and he could continue to do so….maybe.

He felt a touch on his upper arm and saw Shikamaru trying to get his attention.

"Trust me, okay?"

Neji contemplated the risk and decided he was arguing with himself too much to actually make sense so he would take Shikamaru's word.

He nodded and did as Shikamaru suggested, kicking off his sandals but settling for resting his arms by his sides.

"Better," Shikamaru said.

Neji had to admit to himself that when he put his sandal-less feet to the ground, he rather enjoyed the feeling of the cool grass between his toes. He was not however going to voice that out loud.

"I guess this isn't too bad," he said.

"Told you so."

"Now what do you do?" Neji asked after a minute.

"Nothing really. Just look at the clouds in the sky. Sometimes I try to find images in them. Other times I just pretend that I am one, adrift in the sky, not knowing where I'm going but not caring because I'm completely at peace."

Now it was Shikamaru's turn to pause for a moment. He wondered to himself why he had given that explanation to Neji, why he revealed so many of his own thoughts and feelings into that one sentence. He didn't have an answer but he was strangely okay with that.

"Ahh," Neji said as he had no other words that could respond to such a simple yet profound statement. For whatever reason, lying in the grass next to Shikamaru and looking up at the clouds gave him a strange sense of serenity. And he had no desire to question why.

The two young boys lay in the grass in silence for a while before either said anything since neither felt the need to.

It was Shikamaru who spoke first.

"That cloud looks like a cat taking a nap."

Neji looked to where he was pointing. "It does."

"What do you see?"

"Hmm…" Neji turned away from the cat-shaped cloud and scanned the sky.

"There," he pointed and stated matter-of-factly, "A person attempting to perform a substitution jutsu."

Shikamaru's eyes went wide and he just looked at Neji.

"What?" Neji asked when he noticed Shikamaru staring.

"Nothing," he said and shook his head smiling to himself.

"Do you see anything else Shikamaru?" Neji asked.

Shikamaru let his eyes wander across the clouds.

"I see the Hokage's bald head complete with all the liver spots."

Now it was Neji's turn to look at his companion with wide eyes.

"Look for yourself. The spots are even in the right positions."

Neji still did not turn his head to the sky but asked, "How do you know what Sandaime-sama's head looks like without his formal headpiece?"

"Ahh," Shikamaru began, "Now that's a long story."

"Well, I am not planning on going anywhere, and it appears that we have plenty of time so why don't you begin telling it." Neji said and smiled at Shikamaru as if he thought he knew the younger boy was bluffing.

"Alright. I guess, too, that since you've decided to stay, that you don't mind lying here with your head in the clouds, too?" Shikamaru turned his head slightly to regard Neji's answer.

After a pause, Neji said, "No. I do mind this as I thought I might. It is surprisingly peaceful…and relaxing. You were right."

"Always am," Shikamaru said with a smug look on his face. "Now, about the Third's bald head. It happened on my first day at the Academy…"

The two boys stayed in their positions throughout the afternoon, Shikamaru telling stories so absurd that Neji only believed of them and Neji telling a few stories of his own that Shikamaru knew only scratched the surface of what really happened in Neji's life.

After a while, they fell into silence and just stared at the clouds above them. Each boy was thinking his own thoughts about what lay just beyond the wisps of white in the azure sky.

Today would not be the last day in which one could find the two of them in the same field and lying in the same positions, staring at the passing clouds overhead, but it would forever remain the first day where each had found something they had not had before, a companion that completely at ease and content to be in the other's presence.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter one! I will TRY to get chapter three out much more quickly than I got chapter two.