CHAPTER 4
I opened my eyes slowly and I was looking at Naruto.
"Good morning!" He said happily.
"What am I doing here?" I asked him sleepily.
"I saw you asleep in the hallway so I brought you here." Naruto explained.
"I'm sorry, was I not supposed to?" He asked.
"No, no, it's okay." I said politely.
"Want some cereal?" Naruto asked.
"Umm, I guess." I said, dazed. I got up slowly and realized that I was still in my nightgown and, I was supposed to have my robe on.
"Where's my robe?" I asked Naruto. He turned around.
"You were wearing it when I brought you here." He said while he poured milk into our cereal. I stood there and thought for a moment. Naruto put the bowls on the table.
"Well, before we eat, can we look for it?" I asked him. Naruto nodded. We started wandering around the apartment and we couldn't find a thing! I walked slowly to the door, thinking it may be back at my apartment. Just then there was a knock at the door.
"Here, I'll get it." Naruto said. He stood in front me as I pressed myself tight against the door. He reached around me to turn the doorknob. Just then, the door opened and Naruto fell forward on me. We fell to the ground with him lying on top of me. Kiba was at the door. He gasped and held his mouth open, his nose twitching. Just when we realized what it looked like and Naruto started to get up, Shikamaru came out from Choji's room, nodding. He didn't notice because he turned the other way, but we all stayed there in silence not moving so we wouldn't catch his attention. I looked back and forth from Naruto's hands on the ground beside my head, to Kiba's unchanging face. Naruto coughed and Shikamaru turned around. I flinched because I expected him to yell or something, but he didn't Shikamaru just silently walked away. I looked up at Naruto and I kneed him where it hurts. He got up, trying not to scream in pain and he went back to his room. I stay there, lying on the floor, wondering what would happen next. Kiba looked down at me, shook his head, and went back into his own apartment. I got up slowly and I walked down the hall, spotting my robe where the door should be on my apartment. Oh yah, it broke off… I thought, looking at the broken door on the floor.
I picked it up and heaved it to my room. A man was waking past at the time, he had stopped to look at the empty doorframe.
"You're going to need that fixed," He said, "Am I right?" I nodded slowly and the man went off to get everything I needed. I scurried to the window, feeling the warm breeze. I closed it and I walked over to my dresser and pulled out a pink tank top and jean shorts. I put them on in the bathroom because well, my door was gone. When I was on my way out, I saw Shikamaru. He glanced at me and kept going.
"Shikamaru…" I called quietly. He kept going, ignoring me. I clenched my fists and ran outside. I decided to do a lap around the village to vent my emotions. I started with a light jog, which developed into a run, which then developed further into a sprint.
"Why didn't Shikamaru react today when he saw Naruto and me!?" I muttered under my breath angrily, "I expected him to at least get angry." I slowed down to a jog when people started to look at me like I was an insane person. Why is Shikamaru ignoring me!? I thought. Before I knew it, I found myself walking up the stairs to his house on the hill. What am I doing!? I'm just as bad as him! And I get mad at him for following ME around! I thought to myself, angering myself. I started to walk back down the stairs and I tripped, tumbling down and landing on the hard gravel road.
"Ow…" I mumbled, getting up slowly. I saw feet and I craned my neck to look up at whoever it was. I knew that face, Sasuke Uchiha.
"What are you doing here, loser?" Sasuke asked meanly. I got up and put my hands on my hips.
"Who are you calling loser?" I asked confidently.
"Who else is there?" Sasuke asked. I nodded.
"You must think you're better then everyone just because you're from the Uchiha Clan." I said coolly. Sasuke glared at me.
"And what clan might you be from?" He asked.
"I don't know, I'm adopted." I said, lying.
"Oh, you're adopted, huh?" Sasuke asked, walking a lap around me and observing me.
"You look rather familiar." He added. I shook my head.
"I don't… think so…" I said quietly. Sasuke came closer to my face. I gulped.
"Get away from her Sasuke." Shikamaru said, suddenly appearing behind us. Sasuke stepped away slowly. He glared at me and walked away, shoving his hands in his pockets. I sat down on the ground, dazed.
"What happened?" Shikamaru asked, clearly concerned.
"Nothing." I said.
"Oh." Shikamaru said.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, getting up.
"What, am I not allowed to be at my own house?" Shikamaru asked. I laughed.
"No, I, just, never mind." I said. We started to walk together.
"So… about this morning…" Shikamaru started. I knew this would come up…
"Shall I explain?" I asked him, looking up at him. He raised his eyebrow.
"Well, after I broke the door and you left, I fell asleep. I guess that Naruto had walked by and he brought me to his room…" I explained, "And, we were leaving to find my robe, there was a knock at the door and Naruto leaned over me to open it, and Kiba opened it from the other side, and, yah." Shikamaru nodded slowly, and then raised his eyebrow.
"Really?" He asked curiously, "Because I see you around with Naruto a lot these days…" I rolled my eyes.
"Shut up Shikamaru." I said. He stopped walking and he turned back to me, looking offended.
"Oh I'm sorry!" I said, running up to him and patting him on the back.
"Hey, I have somewhere I want to take you." He said, turning around and facing me, smiling. It's not very often that he smiles, he mainly smirks…
"Okay…" I agreed hesitantly. We slowly walked around the village. I had no idea where we were going, but it didn't matter to me. I had realized that all I really wanted was to be with Shikamaru. I looked down and I saw Shikamaru's hand, so close to mine, I couldn't help it. I grabbed his hand. Shikamaru seemed startled by it, I could tell because I saw his back move slightly. But, when I tried to pull away he had already locked my hand in a tight grasp so, we faced the inevitable. Shikamaru and I held hands. I had never held hands with a guy before; actually, I hadn't held hands with anyone before. I smiled as we walked farther and farther away from the village.
"Where are we going?" I finally asked.
"Well, do you trust me?" Shikamaru asked.
"I guess…" I said quietly.
"Then trust that I know what I'm doing." He said with a half-smile. We were lead to a long flight of concrete stairs. Shikamaru and I ran up the stairs, treating it like a race. It was the top of a building. It had a railing along the side so that you wouldn't fall, and a bench at the back. I ran right up to the ledge, my hair blowing in the wind.
"You can see the whole village from here!" I said in amazement. I leaned over the ledge to see it all, and before I knew it, I was tipping over the edge, but, quicker then I could start the full-fletched falling thing, Shikamaru grabbed onto my waist. I turned around slightly to look at him, raising my eyebrow. He pulled his hands away nervously.
"Um. Thanks." I said. Shikamaru nodded and went to lie on the bench, looking at the sky. I quickly joined him.
"What now…?" I asked hesitantly.
"You watch the clouds." Shikamaru said bluntly.
"Nothing else?" I asked. Shikamaru shook his head and smiled, closing his eyes.
"But that sounds so boring!" I said, getting up.
"We really are opposites…" Shikamaru mumbled.
"Well, opposites attract, don't they?" I said in a high pitched voice, shrugging. Shikamaru shot me a look and got up.
"Well Shikamaru, if you want to stay here, we can compromise." I explained, "We can watch the clouds for a while and talk a little, then I get to choose what to do!" Shikamaru nodded.
"Agreed." He said, lying back down. I lay down beside him.
"So…" I said, "How are you…?"
"Good, I guess." Shikamaru said. I was really fidgety because I needed to get up and move.
"You know Shikamaru… I was never like this back at the camp-I mean… at home" I started. I'm glad I caught myself there "I wasn't so…hyper and stuff and I never, ever cried. Maybe I do it here because I have so much more freedom. My br-father got mad at me when I cried, he said true Shinobi shouldn't show any emotion. And I wouldn't be allowed to be that happy. He always said; 'An angry, savage fighter will get the job done, a cheerful fighter will probably cry when he kills a man.'" Shikamaru turned to me.
"Your dad sounds too serious; he needs to relax a little." Shikamaru said with a slight smirk.
"I'm like that too, most of the time." I said with a blank expression.
"Yah but it's cute on you." Shikamaru said.
"Shikamaru!" I yelled, hitting him on the head with my hand.
"What?" He said loudly, but with a slightly playful tone, "I'm just saying, you look so much like a child, but you're so mature." I rolled my eyes.
"Well you look old for your age." I said as a lame comeback. Shikamaru turned his back to me, pretending to be angry. I leaned over the side of his stomach and I smiled at him. He flipped over and I was resting my head on his stomach.
"Well, you look old and I look young, we'd make a strange couple." I said with a smile. Shikamaru frowned; he must have thought that I was implying something. I looked up at him with concern and then he smiled briefly. We lay there in silence for a while and I really took in why he liked lying here looking at the clouds. It was relaxing.
I then got up and leaned over Shikamaru's head, my hair lightly brushing his forehead.
"I have an idea." I said bluntly. He got up slowly.
"What is it this time?" Shikamaru asked.
"You see that ledge over there?" I asked.
"Yes…" Shikamaru said.
"It's perfect to go bungee jumping off of!" I said excitedly.
"No." Shikamaru stated sternly.
"Come on! It'd be so much fun!" I said, excited already.
"No, we're not going to, it's dangerous." He said rationally. Since when has danger stopped me!? I thought. Shikamaru crossed his arms and shook his head. But it was too late, my adrenaline was pumping, he wasn't going to be able to stop me now.
"Now we just need bungee cord…" I muttered to myself. He rolled his eyes.
"Fine, kill yourself; don't say I didn't warn you." Shikamaru said.
"Did you not grasp that I said we would go bungee jumping?" I asked, getting rather angry.
"Autumn, it could kill us." He said, still keeping that nagging parent tone. I rolled my eyes.
"Shikamaru, I lived in shelter my whole life until I came here. I'm finally free to do what I want and, frankly, this is now on my to-do list!" I said, stamping my foot to let him know I was mad.
"You know, there was a reason I took you up here and it wasn't to go bungee jumping." Shikamaru said quietly. I walked closer to him.
"I thought you just wanted me to watch the clouds." I said.
"No, Autumn, this place is special to me." He said.
"How?" I asked curiously, going to sit beside him.
"This is where I first met my best friend, Choji." He said with an anxious look on his face. I raised my eyebrow expecting more.
"And, this is where I had my first kiss," He said, "It wasn't much, just a peck on the cheek, but it meant much more." Just then, Shikamaru leaned and kissed my cheek. It then made sense. I smiled at him softly. I decided to play along.
"And who, did you have this first kiss with?" I asked.
"One of the nicest, prettiest girls I'd ever met." Shikamaru said.
We sat there for a few moments, observing the clouds.
I narrowed my eyes and looked at Shikamaru.
"I still want to go bungee jumping." I said coldly. Shikamaru got up with me following.
"Someday, I'm sure we will." He assured me, putting his arm around me. It didn't matter to me that the bungee jumping thing would probably never happen, all that mattered is what just happened.
We went to the ramen shop and ordered some ramen, chatting over it. I explained the afternoon to Naruto.
"Sounds like romance is blooming in Konoha, if only that would work for me and Sakura…" He muttered.
"Oh, some day you will have your chance Naruto." I said, smiling.
"Ah, so are you and Shikamaru…dating?" He asked hesitantly.
"No." I answered blankly. He looked surprised that I hadn't smacked him. I took a mouthful of some ramen.
"You seem quiet today." I said to Naruto.
"I know…it's just that…Christmas is coming up and-" He started, but I cut him off.
"What's Christmas?" I asked him.
"You don't know what Christmas is!?" He asked, astounded. I shook my head.
"Christmas is when you hand out presents to your friends and family, and you all get together and eat and stuff." Naruto explained.
"Why don't you like it then, it sounds right up your alley." I said with a solemn look. I ate more ramen.
"You see, I don't have a family, so I don't have anyone to spend Christmas with, and I don't get any presents because I don't have many friends, either." Naruto explained sadly. I frowned.
After our ramen I went back to my apartment. I thought of who I would give presents to.
By the end of the night, I had decided on Naruto, Kiba, Choji, and Shikamaru. Naruto and Shikamaru would get bigger presents because they're better friends of mine though. I smiled at this idea as I slowly fell asleep.
Aren't you glad that I finally finished chapter four? It's such a great accomplishment.
Well, anyways, please review and wait patiently for chapter 5.
Good bye everyone!
-- Zoey Motimiya