(Belated) Happy Christmas and Happy New Year (in advance) to all!
Disclaimer: Naruto's author is Kishimoto, not me.
Shikamaru was pacing back and forth for almost ten minutes.
Taking decisions on a confusing matter is his forte but in this situation he can't seem to get to any conclusions. He even started to doubt his decision of standing at the entrance of that street- Tsukuyo's street.
He glanced in the direction of her apartment which was a few meters away, pondering, if he really should go and knock on her door. He took few steps toward her building remembering how weak she looked the last time he had met her, which was four days ago. But then he stopped and retraced his steps back to where he started. '…I mean, is it really be okay for me to approach her in her house without prior notice?' he continued with his to and fro motion. 'Why not? I mean well. I just wanted to know how she's been doing.' And back again. 'No. Approaching her house so abruptly will be wrong.'
"Shikamaru?"
He turned so swiftly, he almost gave himself a whiplash. Tsukuyo had approached him while he was busy rationalizing his thoughts.
"It really is you." Tsukuyo smiled as she approached him. "I'm surprised to see you here. Are you here to meet someone?"
Shikamaru couldn't think of anything to say. His mind went completely blank. "Kiri, I…well"
"It's Kagiri." She corrected him. Seeing Shikamaru still confused, she elaborated, "Everyone at the academy calls me Kagiri. That's my codename for now."
"Teaching? Is that your new mission?"
"Yeah. My new job is teaching …and I suck at it."
"…But isn't that a chunin level job?"
"Yes. And technically, I was a chunin before ANBU so..."
They stood there, awkwardly, on the street as their small talk ended, not knowing what to say next, to each other.
Shikamaru was processing the information. It only led to more unanswered questions. 'Why would Hokage appoint a more than capable ANBU member for teaching? Is academy under some kind of threat?'
Tsukuyo was surprised to see Shikamaru on her apartment street out of all places. 'Was he waiting for me?' 'No. that can't be it. I mean, look at his face. Such sharp eyes, creases on his forehead, that uneven pace of walking… probably deep in thinking about some serious matters. He surely must have some important work with… some other person living here. He must be waiting for them, not for me.'
"Why don't you come inside?" She said out of nowhere. "I mean… my flat is right here and you can… you know…wait there for whoever you are waiting for instead of on the street."
There was a little eagerness in her voice and she noticed it. An eagerness that was born when she thought someone has come to visit her. A thought she had started to entertain that there is still a person who helped her when she was in need. A thought that was too positive for her but she still wanted to believe in it.
'Is she thinking I'm waiting for someone else?' he wasn't sure how she concluded on that because his every action pointed in a totally opposite direction- he himself approached her at the graveyard, tried to help her get over her grief, dropped her outside her apartment and now waiting exactly on that same spot trying to rationalize his sudden visit to her apartment.
"Okay." At last he answered with only a word.
She led him to her one room flat. It was on the second floor in a standard shinobi apartment, just a bedroom and a kitchen. He took a quick glance at the insides. The flat was nothing fancy, just furnished with bare minimum. He saw some unopened boxes stacked at the corner of the room, but otherwise everything was impeccably clean.
"Sit wherever you want." She called him as she turned towards kitchen to empty her hands with the things she had bought on her way from the academy.
Shikamaru chose to sit on the chair which was paired up with an all-purpose table at a corner.
Tsukuyo entered her room after a minute and took a seat on her bed. He noticed she did not relax even after sitting down, her breath kept going uneven for some reason. It was like she wanted to say something but stops herself just when she opens her mouth.
Yes, she did wanted to say something but wasn't sure how to say it. She wanted to thank him in earnest way possible for what he had done for her, she wanted to thank him for just being there to notice and to guide her through her grief; for his advice and, as she hoped, for being her… friend?
"You seem… well." Shikamaru said finally.
Her restlessness stopped. Her eyes softened on hearing Shikamaru's question/statement.
"I took your advice." She said. "…and I found my closure. I'm trying to not dwell in past and to continue on with my life. And that's… one of the reason why I invited you in. I wanted to thank you. For what you did for me." and gave him a sincere smile.
Shikamaru felt a little tug somewhere in his stomach when he saw how sincere her smile was. It made him forget the weak and vulnerable face that he saw back at the graveyard.
"It's… no big deal. I just showed you a path. But it was up to you to choose to walk on it." He said. "And I'm glad that you did."
Her stomach growled as a reply for his statement. Shikamaru saw her blush furiously as her hand automatically went down to clutch her stomach. Embarrassed, she stood up from her seat and tried to explain herself that only came out of her mouth as gibberish.
'Cute.'
He ignored her gibberish and said as he too, stood up. "Let's go to Ichiraku's. I'm hungry."
She was floored at how considerate he was being. That a mere sentence from him brought a smile to her face. She quickly grabbed her key to her flat and hurried after Shikamaru. She caught up to him at the end of the staircase and spoke softly, "Thank you."
'My pleasure.' he whispered.
"Just so you know, I was quite busy with my first day at the academy. That's why I forgot to eat meal." Tsukuyo was slurping her ramen broth as she tried to explain again. It was her second bowl and still she was eating like a hungry lion. Shikamaru was relieved at some level that she was eating well.
He himself was on second helpings but he had a feeling that was it for him. 'I have to make a plausible excuse for not eating at home tonight.'
"I had some idea that it would not be easy for me but it took me not even a full day to know that the Academy is impossible. No. scratch that." She corrected. "Children are impossible."
"I know. It's bothersome to deal with them." he added.
"Exactly! They are so mischievous. I mean, I can understand some class lectures can get boring but that doesn't give you an excuse to sleep in the class!" She exclaimed. Shikamaru suddenly felt a lot more sympathetic as well as guilty towards her. "If this becomes a regular routine, I don't know how I'm going to perform as a teacher in the future."
"Don't worry. Today was just your first day, and children are not used to your teaching methods. Give it time. Everything will get sort out just fine."
Their attention diverted from their conversation when with a swish, curtains of the shop fluttered and a small child rushed inside, climbing almost at the countertop to place an order.
"Ojii san! One bowl of Miso ramen with extra toppings of minced pork, bamboo shoots, scallions and fish cake here, please." The child said eagerly, bouncing up and down on his heels. "Oh! And also a Tonkotsu bowl with roast pork, minced garlic and two raw eggs".
Another figure appeared a few seconds after, looking thoroughly beat. "…don't run off on your own, Hisoka."
They turned in the direction of the voice to see none other than Chouji entering the shop.
"You are too slow, Chou-ji san! I have waited here so long for you to come but you didn't, so I already placed your order too along with mine!" Hisoka chirped. A sigh escaped Chouji's mouth as he sat on an empty chair.
"You look thoroughly beat. Busy day?" Shikamaru addressed Chouji with a smile.
"Shikamaru!" Chouji exclaimed. "What are you doing here?! I have never seen you eating alone…" his eyes went over Tsukuyo ambiguously.
"Oh, I should introduce you. She's Kagiri. She's a friend of mine. We were just eating and–"
"Kagiri sensei! You are here! Do you like ramen too? Oh, I'm so hungry, I can't even think straight!" Hisoka interrupted and with the same never ending enthusiasm he went back to his bouncing on his heels, drooling and waiting for his food at the same time.
"Oh, so you are Kagiri sensei! Hisoka has been telling about you all this evening. He said you are the coolest teacher he has ever met." Chouji said with a little awe in his voice. "I'm Chouji by the way. I'm Hisoka's uncle. Nice to meet you, Kagiri sensei."
She laughed meekly at Hisoka's depiction of her. "Yeah… if by coolest teacher mean getting reprimanded by Iruka sensei for taking the class outside and playing in the mud, then sure, I am it."
But when she saw that her statement only made them more confused, she added hurriedly, "Anyways, nice to meet you too, Chouji."
By that time, Chouji and Hisoka's ramen came up and they got quite busy finishing it. Tsukuyo and Shikamaru, after finishing their meal, excused themselves to leave. They were barely out of the threshold, when Chouji called Shikamaru. Assuming that they have a private matter to discuss, Tsukuyo continued on with a slower pace.
"Shikamaru…" he said. "I am your best friend so, I expect if anything important happens in your life, you'll inform me, right?"
"Of course." Uncertain as to where this conversation was going, Shikamaru answered.
Chouji nodded as he gave a knowing smile to him and then turned to return back into Ichiraku's. "You remind me of Asuma sensei, you know. You both say the same lines in the same situations."
Shikamaru watched him as he entered back into the shop. It only took him a few seconds to grasp exactly what Chouji was referring to.
That night, when thinking about all that had happened that day, Shikamaru got worried. 'This is not like me at all. Since when did I become such a mother hen?'
But it bothered him more when he remembered what Chouji had said. 'You both say the same lines in the same situations'. Shikamaru knew exactly what situations he was referring to. That one time, Ino, Chouji, and he accidentally met with Asuma sensei and Kurenai sensei when they were at the Dango place. When asked 'what were they doing?' Asuma answered with, 'She is a friend.' And 'they are just eating together'. Back then, he didn't knew that they were dating. But now he knew that his sensei's worrying about little things when it came to Kurenai sensei was, in fact, what they called Love.
'Am I really attracted to her?'
'How does one even behave when somebody likes someone?'
He remembered how Ino used to worry over Sasuke back at the academy days about his eating habits, his training schedule, if he's feeling lonely or anything remotely related to him. Back then Ino called it 'Love'.
'Nah. That can't be it. I'm only worried about her because… it's the right thing to do. Because I'm her friend.'
More likes and follows! yayy! I'm so happy that you all like my story! Keep reviewing my friends! any suggestions, comments... all are welcome! :D
P.S. the next chapter might get delayed (but i'll try my hardest to prove my self wrong! _)