Thank you to all who have reviewed. I'm really glad that you all are open-minded to the pairing.

Chapter 2

"It's been over a week, Hinata. Do you think we should tell Ino?" A pink haired teenage girl posed the question while her friend was eating a bowl of ramen noodles. As soon as the last noodle was slurped, her raven haired companion contemplated her answer to the question.

"Well," she began, placing her chopsticks on top of the bowl, "I suppose you could, Sakura. Not me-Ino gets really scary when she's angry at Shikamaru."

"That is true, but she deserves to know about his mysterious new girlfriend." Just then, a blonde hair girl walked towards their table, with another girl, whose brown hair was tied into two buns, trailing behind her.

"His mysterious what?!"

"Ugh," Hinata had already begun stuffing her mouth with ramen noodles again, so by default, Sakura had to answer the pissed off Ino. "Well, Ino, I don't know how to say this, so I'll just say-"

"Shikamaru has a girlfriend!" Six pairs of eyes landed at the usually quiet and bashful Hinata. Ino shot her a deathly glare, Ten-ten's jaw dropped, and Sakura squinted at her, "What? It's true." Seeing that there was no way out of saving Shikamaru from Ino's long over due speech about how she cared for him, Sakura took a peek behind Hinata's head and lo and behold, Mieke was walking side by side with him. Pointing to the window, Sakura sighed, "Ino, you can go and see for yourself. He's right outside with her now."

"Oh, you better believe he's going to get a mouthful." The scary look that Hinata was talking about before her arrival washed over Ino's face. Putting the money down for their check, Sakura and Hinata got up and followed Ino, in an attempt to stop her, though Ten-ten was a few yards in front of them. Bending over to see the tea menu and knowing her cloud watching friend's citrus preference, Mieke ordered two cups of orange green tea.

"Well, here you go, Shikamaru." she said, handing him his cup with a friendly smile.

"No wonder I missed having you around." Placing an arm around her, he returned the smile. It was a short lived moment because Ino was ready to rip the girl she saw him with to shreds.

"SHIKAMARU!" Rolling his eyes, and seeing the annoyed look on his face, Mieke decided to make a sarcastic, yet witty comment.

"You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend. What have you really been up to since I left?" Quickly removing his arm, his heard his inner voice laughing hysterically at the comment. Still standing next to him, Mieke sighed as she sipped her tea, and chose to remain quiet until the blonde girl decided to quit chewing and spitting him out. Oddly enough, she recognized the tremors in the ground from the first day she had returned, but a third one seemed to throw her off. All in all, Ino arrived first, followed by Ten-ten, and Sakura and Hinata were last. To say that Ino was pissed off, would not even begin to describe the way she had begun to yell at her teammate. Staring into her cup and watching the ripples form from her shaking hands, Mieke studied the faces of the other women who chose to stay out of the argument as well.

"How could you, Shikamaru? She doesn't even wear shoes! And-" it was then that Ino began to rant on the way Mieke was dressed that day; white shirt, once again hemmed, and a pair of black cut off shorts, without wearing any shoes, of course.

"Ino, you're insane, you know that?" Shikamaru fired back.

"Yeah, Ino, why are you being so mean?" Ten-ten tried to interfere, but Ino wasn't having any of it.

"Shut up Ten!" No one heard the tea cup drop, but they all heard the fast paced footsteps just as Ino returned her attention back to Shikamaru. Mieke ran with all the ease and agility she was born with; eyes clouded by the memories of her rival 's sayings in the Sound Village, her heart began to beat faster and all the while, her conscience told her to not look back.

"Damn it ,Ino!" Shikamaru cursed as he began to chase after the sound of Mieke's steady running.

"Now look what you did Ino." Sakura said glaring, "C'mon Hinata!" The two of them began to run after him, in hopes of catching the freedom-seeking ninja. Stopping at the field to think, Shikamaru looked up at the clouds-it was a bright and blissful afternoon. Knowing that Sakura and Hinata were trailing right behind him, he waited for them to catch up to him before he decided to move on any further.

"She's a fast runner," Sakura said in between breaths.

"Yeah, she is." Hinata said, holding her knees, "I never had to run that fast. She's faster than Lee." Nodding his head in agreement, Shikamaru sighed.

"I don't think Mieke wants to be found," he said.

"Mieke? So that's her name." Sakura said, patting his shoulder, "She is pretty, I'll give you that much."

"She's a Sanjo, isn't she?" Hinata asked, straightening her body out.

"Sanjo? As in the infamous Sanjo clan? The clan whose bloodline carries the trait of the Chakra Cannon juutsu?" Sitting up in the tree whose branches placed her right above Shikamaru's head, Mieke decided to listen intently on what the cotton candy haired girl and the raven feathered haired one had to say about her clan.

"Is she your friend that moved away right after we made Genin, Shikamaru?"

"You know," jumping off from the steady branch, "I heard she came back to the Hidden Leaf Village recently." Mieke said with a broad, yet flattering grin. Folding her arms over her chest and seeing the confused look on all three of their faces, she indicated that she was in the tree right behind where they had stood.

"So," plopping down on the grass, "You two care to watch the clouds?"

"You know, Mieke, you left your tea back there. Do you want me to get you another one?" Raising her hand to refuse Shikamaru's offer, she laid down on the emerald blades with her eyes in the skies. Giving Hinata a 'I think we should go,' look, Sakura smiled at Shikamaru, "Well Shikamaru, we're going to go back and make sure that Ino doesn't have another explosive argument. Besides, I think Ten's afraid of her-you were right Hinata. Ino does get scary when she's angry at him." Giggling, Hinata nodded.

"Um, yeah. We gotta go before Ino gets all worked up about us chasing after you two. See you!" Hinata called out over her shoulder while she and Sakura began to running back to the village. Sitting up, Mieke began to bite her lower lip.

"Hey," she began, slowly, "I'm sorry for running away. Bad memories." Choosing to sit down in front of her, he looked her dead straight in the eye.

"You've been getting a lot of those lately. You all right?"

"I rather not talk about it right now, Shikamaru," redirecting her eyes to the cumulus filled sky, Mieke leaned back down again, "Let's watch the clouds, instead." A passing wind rustled the leaves in the surrounding trees, pushing the clouds to the west. Still sitting, Shikamaru studied her limp figure-hands at her side, legs crossed, back firmly in the ground-she had the appearance of serenity. The stray strands of her hair dancing as breezes began to wave the blades of grass around them. Watching the hues of the sky change from light blue, to pink, orange and violet, the colors of the sunset, Mieke began to remember why she loved the field from her past.

"I think we should start making our way back home, Mieke."

"Hmm?" her body rising as she pushed herself off the ground with her arms, "Let's go." Standing up, Mieke brushed off the excess blades that clung to the back of her shirt and pants. Then, combing her hair with her fingers, a few dead leaves fell as well. The walk back to his house was a quiet one. All the vendors and small stores had their lights on for those people who'd prefer shopping in the evening. Passing by the tea stand, Mieke turned her face upwards to see her old friend's face. He didn't look down, rather, he had a thoughtful look on his face. They were walking side by side yet again, and even the older residents began to take notice of the younger woman that seemed to accompany the Chunin on his walks around the village.

"You didn't watch the clouds, did you, Shikamaru?" her innocent voice broke through his strategic mindset.

"I was too busy watching you," he answered, removing his hand out of his pocket. He grabbed her hand, which caused her cheeks to become a tad bit rosier than they already were. Sakura had a paper bag full of groceries when she caught a glimpse of Shikamaru and the girl from earlier, walking towards her-something was a little off. She smiled at the thought of the one day he would be there to hold her hand.

Outside Shikamaru's house, the smell of stir fry noodles, rice and chicken escaped the cracks in the windows. Walking into the kitchen and taking their respectful places on either side of the table, dinner was eaten. As she was getting ready for bed, Mieke was about to lay down when Shikamaru's father walked in with more folded garments.

"Here, for tomorrow," he said, placing them on the table. Nodding, Mieke thought that was all, but she was wrong.

"Scoot over," the older man sat down next to her, "Why did you return to this place?"

"I-I had nowhere else to go."

"Mmhmm. They weren't treating you right in the Sound Village, were they?" Mieke' nodded innocently.

"Their remarks left some bumps and bruises, but who's counting?"

"Left you for dead too, kid. I know about the fire, you don't have to put on this brave front. You're still getting used to the idea that you're the only one left, but keep this in mind. So long as you have me and my son looking after you, you won't be alone. I just wanted you know," he stood up, and as he closed the door, Mieke stretched herself out on the bed. She fell asleep with a grin on her face. In her heart, she knew that everything was going to be all right; they did fill the void.