A/N: Hellooo! It's been 10 years since I wrote the original Blooming Love and I've decided it needs an update. My writing has gotten stronger and since this story is so dear to me, I'm rewriting it in the hopes of making it better and giving it a second life. I hope you love this story as much as I do!
Nature is amazing. The way the river flows and clouds float by. Not needing any human interference. I understood why Shikamaru loved to sit and watch the clouds.
I glanced over to see Shikamaru staring out at the sky. He'd asked me to sit with him as he cloud-watched and strategized. Something about needing a calming presence. The setting sun outlined his handsome profile in a golden light, causing the feelings I had for him to wash over me. Feelings I'd had since we were children.
I was always the odd one in our class at the Academy. Well, along with Hinata, my best friend. We were the only ones, it seemed, who didn't have a crush on Sasuke Uchiha. Everyone else thought Shikamaru was dumb because his grades were low. I could see the genius behind the laziness. And that was when I started to admire him. It wasn't long before my admiration grew into something more. I never said anything, afraid of being rejected. But that all changed on a mission to recover a scroll that had been stolen from the Hidden Leaf.
"So, Yumi, how do you like being a chunin?" Shikamaru asked. I raised an eyebrow. Shikamaru had never really been one for small talk.
"It's fine," I replied. "I'm glad that I don't have to take the exam again." I'd taken the exam a few times and it was awful every time.
"That's good," he said. It felt like he wanted to say more.
"Is everything okay, Shikamaru?" I asked. He glanced behind us at the others, who were made up of the Rookie Nine minus Naruto and Sasuke.
"Sorry, I'm not good at small talk," he said, cheeks flushing pink. I smiled softly as I thought about how cute the blush was.
"Just say whatever you want to say," I encouraged in my soft voice. Being a soft-spoken person, it was sometimes easy for people to open up to me. Shikakmaru sighed.
"We've known each other a long time. And I think we're friends, at least sort of. But I'd like to get to know you better." I blinked at him, surprised. He'd always been kind to me, even when others hadn't been. But he'd never shown any interest in me. I twirled the end of my long, red ponytail around my finger nervously.
"S-sure," I replied quietly. I inwardly grimaced at the stutter in my voice. I had mostly gotten past that as I got older, but sometimes it came back when I was nervous. "W-what would you like to know?" He gave me a small smile, a real one. Not the smirk he used with everyone else.
"Anything. Everything," he said in a gentle voice. I felt so off balance. I'd never seen Shikamaru act like this. "But maybe, we can start with why you're so quiet?" I let out a sigh. I didn't like to talk about it because it make me feel weak. And kunoichi weren't supposed to be weak. But this was Shikamaru. He wouldn't say anything.
"Okay. To be honest, I used to get bullied when I was younger. Because of my hair." I watched as he frowned.
"I don't remember that," he said quietly. I smiled softly.
"You wouldn't. This was before the Academy. We were in different classes at that point. They used to say my hair wasn't naturally this red. That my mom dyed it to get me attention since our clan is so small. Ever since then, I've done whatever I could to keep people's attention away from me. If I don't talk, people might overlook me," I explained. Shikamaru was silent for a moment.
"I've never been able to overlook you," he replied, looking away. My heart began thudding in my chest. "You've caught my eye from the time we were four years old. I'll never forget the day we met." He looked at me again and smiled. I returned his smile, remembering the day he was talking about.
"The day at the park with our dads." His smile widened a bit.
"You were hiding behind your dad and I kept trying to get a peek at you."
I poked my head out from behind my dad's legs as he talked to the man with black hair in a ponytail and a goatee. There was a boy my age standing next to him. He tugged on the man's pant leg.
"Dad, why is that girl hiding?" the boy asked. My dad and the other man chuckled. My dad gently pulled me out from behind him and knelt next to me.
"This is my daughter, Yumiko. Yumi, can you say hello to Shikamaru?" my dad said. I felt my cheeks get hot.
"H-hi, Sh-Shikamaru," I said shyly. Shikamaru's cheeks turned pink.
"Hi, Yumi." Shikamaru's dad laughed.
"Look at you! Getting all shy in front of a girl." Shikamaru's cheeks went from pink to red and took off, joining a chubby boy who was playing on the playground.
"You ran away that day," I said, laughing quietly. His blush deepened.
"I thought you were pretty. I never stopped thinking you were pretty. But then we got a little older and Choji started to tease me about wanting to play with a girl. It was a drag, having him go on and on about it. So I never asked you to play again. And then we ended up on different teams and you only really talked to Hinata and your team," he replied, a sad note coming into his voice at the end. I toyed with the wrappings on my shoulders. I felt completely off balance. I'd never seen Shikamaru act this way. "Would you take a walk with me?" he asked suddenly. He gave the rest of our group a nervous glance.
"S-sure," I replied. I silently cursed myself once again. Shikamaru was the one person I really didn't want to stutter in front of. And ironically, he was the one who made it happen the most. He stood and held out his hand to me. Blushing fiercely, I took his hand and he helped me up. I let go once I was on my feet even though I didn't want to. "Lead the way," I said softly. He smirked and called out to the others.
"Yumi and I are going to check the perimeter. We'll be back soon." The others nodded and I followed Shikamaru into the woods.