*Third Person: Shikamaru's POV*

"Shikamaru. Shikamaru, wake up. Wake up, lazybones!" someone whispered in his ear, while trying to shake him awake.

"What?" he murmured, rolling over in Tsunami's sleeping bag. She had shared with Naruto last night.

"Get up! Hurry." It was Tsunami. He opened his eyes and saw her crouching down next to him in her pajamas, with her bright blue hair all messed up.

"Why?" he whispered, getting out of the sleeping bag. It must have been about 5:00 in the morning, with light starting to creep into the sky and birds chirping while everyone slept.

"It's Kiba," she whispered back and Shikamaru noticed that one sleeping bag was empty and the annoying, yapping dog was gone, too. "He's gonna try to scare Kyoko with a snake. That's why he's down at the lake, he's looking for one."

"So?" he hissed, fiercely. He didn't care, and would have liked to sleep for a few more hours.

"So, Iruka-sensei's gonna be really mad when he gets woken up. Come down to the lake with me so we won't get blamed for it."

"Oh. Okay," he agreed and they both quickly and quietly stripped off their outer layer of clothing-they had their bathing suits on under their clothes.

"Alright!" Kiba whisper-yelled from down at the lake and Shikamaru and Tsunami crept down to the water. "You guys, look!" He held up a long, water snake. Harmless, but pretty scary-to a girl. Akamaru whimpered and backed away as the snake twisted in Kiba's fist.

"Kiba, be careful!" Tsunami cried, backing away a few steps.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, Akamaru!" Kiba said and charged up the hill, the small dog at his heels.

"Hurry," Shikamaru whispered and grabbed her hand, and they both jumped in the water.

"Brr!" Tsunami said when they resurfaced. She was right-the water was freezing.

"Yeah." They listened for any type of noise coming from the campsite, but it was silent. "What's taking Kiba so long?"

Tsunami shrugged. "I don't know."

"Hey, Tsunami?" Shikamaru asked and she turned to face him. "Why'd you wake me up and not someone else? Like Naruto?"

"Because I wanted to talk to you." He frowned.

"About what?"

"Do you remember when I ditched class that day last year? Well, I didn't. I...transported to my mom's side, and I guess she got really freaked out cuz she took me to the Hokage. He didn't do anything, but my dad told my mom something about me that she didn't know, and she was mad at me for a long time after that." She took a deep breath. "Then my dad died...and my mom told me what he told her...about me."

"What did he say?" Shikamaru asked.

"That I was an angel. Sent from heaven to protect the Leaf Village."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Yeah right.

"I knew you wouldn't believe me," she pouted.

"Well, it's pretty far-fetched."

"Naruto believed me." She told Naruto before him?

"You're really telling the truth? You're an angel?" he asked, uneasily and she nodded.

"But Mother told me that as angels get older, they become like stone: hard on the inside, and they have no feelings." Her eyes welled up with tears. "And I didn't want my feelings to go away so I went to the Hokage and got my angel powers binded."

She really is telling the truth! he thought as she wiped her eyes.

"And I also sorta..." Tsunami bit her lip and stared up at the sky. "like Naruto."

Shikamaru felt like he had been punched in the gut. "You do?"

Tsunami smiled, shyly and nodded. "Yeah."

An earsplitting scream cut their conversation to a halt. "KIBA! YOU SCUM-EATING PILE OF SHIT!" Kyoko shrieked. It usually made Shikamaru laugh to hear an 8-year-old swear like that, but today he didn't even stir up a smile.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OUT THERE?" Iruka-sensei screamed and Kiba came tearing down the hill with a furious Kyoko right behind him.

"Hurry up, Akamaru!" Kiba yelped and the small dog bolted out from under a bush, and rocketed himself into the lake with a splash.

"I hope you can swim good cuz you're gonna be joining your stupid dog in the water real soon!" Kyoko snarled, as Kiba stood at the edge of the lake.

"Come on, Kyoko, it was just a joke!"

"You know I'm afraid of snakes, you little buttlicker!" Kyoko yelled and shoved Kiba into the water.

"Aaaahh!" Tsunami yelled, holding up her arms to shield herself from the splash.

Shikamaru found himself staring at her, standing there in her purple bikini, the top covering up boobs that hadn't even grown yet, and her blue hair all drenched as she watched Iruka-sensei come stomping down the hill, his face all red with anger, and Naruto, Choji, and half the class following him, trying to see what was going on. She looked really pretty in her perfect moment, and all of a sudden he could believe that she was an angel. No human being was that beautiful.

Shikamaru shook away those thoughts and tried to push this nervous, excited, bubbly feeling farther and farther down. The same feeling that Choji must have felt when he told him that he thought Ino was "cute". The same feeling Tsunami must have felt when she told him that she liked Naruto a few minutes ago.

I don't care about her. I don't like her. I don't! he thought, fiercely, but it was useless. He did like her.

"You guys are sooo immature!" Ino spat, rolling her eyes as Iruka-sensei dragged Kiba out of the water. Shikamaru grimaced. What did Choji see in that brat?

"Yeah, you guys woke everyone up!" Sakura agreed.

"Great job, Tsunami!" Honako yelled and Tsunami rolled her eyes.

"It wasn't me!"

"Shikamaru, Tsunami, get out of the water! Everyone else, get back to bed!" Iruka-sensei snapped. Everyone began to retreat back up to the campsite, and Shikamaru and Tsunami waded out of the lake. Iruka-sensei turned to glare at Kiba and Kyoko. "As for you two..."

That was all they heard. Shikamaru and Tsunami changed back into their clothes and by the time they got back, everyone was settled back into their sleeping bag, most of them asleep.

"Tsunami! What happened?" Naruto whispered and she crept in next to him in the sleeping bag and started to tell him the story in a hushed tone.

Scowling, Shikamaru crawled into Tsunami's sleeping bag and rolled over, his back facing the two. He saw Kiba, Kyoko, and Iruka-sensei, followed by Akamaru, making their way up the hill. Kiba and Kyoko were glaring, hatefuly at each other (their hatred towards each other would only grow over time), while Akamaru followed his master with his tail through his legs and Iruka-sensei just looked tired and pissed off.

This whole trip had been a drag, just like he predicted. Shikamaru threw a pillow over his head and tried to pretend he was in his own bed at home, away from all this drama.

Aww, Shikamaru has a crush on Tsunami!3 This is not gonna be a Shikamaru/Tsunami story, though, so I'm sorry if I disappointed some of you.

Love, Rachel