I felt that Shikamaru was too nosy in my old story.
I don't think he'd voluntarily go out of his way to poke into Kyoko's life like that.
I kinda wanna ease him into her life.
~.~
Last Time:
Before I left with Shikamaru, I bowed to his parents, then followed Shikamaru who was waiting for me.
"Don't do anything Shikamaru," Shikaku grinned.
Another blush appeared on the Nara's face.
I tensed up,'...he better not...' glaring at Shikamaru, ready for anything.
"Dad! I'm not gonna do anything," Shikamaru said, dragging me quickly to the direction of my house.
~.~
By the time we go to my house, Kakashi wasn't home.
'Alright...I guess he'll find out later,' I thought.
I led Shikamaru upstairs, to my room.
'Wow, I expected her to have weapons on her walls or something,' Shikamaru thought, looking around my simple room.
I was anxious, I talked a lot to people who I wasn't comfortable with. I felt uneasy about it. I pulled out a notebook from my bag and began writing.
Shikamaru looked over my shoulder and swiped my notebook before I was able to form a sentence.
"Kyoko, we aren't communicating through this," Shikamaru told me, "That's a lot of work."
'I have other notebooks,' I thought to myself, pulling one out of my desk.
"Nope," He took it from me.
"...f-for a lazy boy, y-you're doing a lot of work to make me talk," I said.
"For a quiet girl, you apparently have a lot to say," Shikamaru told me.
"O-Only what needs t-to be said," I told him, "W-When the locks release, which is a-any minute now, show can shower in the guest bathroom."
"Why are you stuttering so much?" Shikamaru asked.
"Uh..." I shrugged, "U-Uncomfortable."
"Sorry," Shikamaru told me.
"N-Not you, er, yes, you, b-but," I thought for a moment.
"You did say you weren't comfortable earlier...this happens when you talk too much in an uneasy environment?" Shikamaru guessed.
My silence was my answer.
"Uh, since we only have these four hours, I suggest we change into our regular clothes after our shower," Shikamaru told me, changing the subject.
I nodded.
We sat in silence for a moment.
"Do...do you want to get better at talking?" He asked, "Or get comfortable with it?"
I looked at him quizzingly.
The Nara thought for a moment, "Communication is crucial in a team. It wouldn't be helpful if you stuttered," He explained, "...I could help you, since we're stuck like this. You can talk to me."
I looked at him with suspicion.
"Just a suggestion!" He told me, "Think on it."
At that moment, the handcuffs released us.
~.~
After Shikamaru left my room I sighed, Akumu emerged from the closet, crawling towards me, knowing the discomfort I was feeling. Akumu purred as I ran my hands through it's smooth fur.
"...you know how to comfort me, don't you?" I asked him in a soft voice.
He mewed answering my question.
"Did you be cute and make Kakashi give you more treats? I sure hope not, cause you'll get extra chubby," I told him, picking the cat up.
'Why didn't Iruka Sensei give us some other project? He's making my life difficult,' I thought, putting Akumu on my bed.
I walked into my bathroom. I turned on the water, letting it fill the tub. Steam filled the room, fogging up the mirror and windows. Once it filled the tub, I turned off the water. I stripped of my clothes and stepped into the tub. I felt my muscles tense up then relax in the hot water. I sighed in relief, letting my body soak in the water.
'This is gonna be a weird change,' I thought about the project, 'It's only for a week, a school week. Five days,' I assured myself, 'I feels weird and awkward to talk this much to someone other than Kakashi... I mean...it's not so bad...voicing my concerns and opinions.'
'Haha.'
I tensed and sat up, looking around.
"What...what was that?" I questioned, slowly laying back in the tub, "...let's make this a quick bath."
~.~
I changed into my usual outfit and had a towel around my neck because of my wet hair. I walked out of the bathroom to see Shikamaru already done with his shower. What surprised me was my cat. Akumu was out of the closet, on Shikamaru's lap.
"Didn't know you had a cat," Shikamaru said, petting the feline.
"...traitor," I said , drying my hair with my towel.
Akumu let out another mew.
"Hungry? I bet you are," I cooed, picking up the cat, "My wittle baby boy."
Akumu jumped out of my hands, he didn't like the fact that my hair was wet.
"Wow, you have a baby voice? Imagine hearing that voice while at the academy," Shikamaru commented.
I ignored him.
I looked at the time: 7:15
'Should eat soon...I didn't make any food though,' I looked around for my notebook.
I went to my desk. All my notebooks were gone.
"Whatcha looking for?" Shikamaru asked.
"...nothing," I sighed, "uh...I d-didn't prepare anything f-for dinner...so we can g-go out for food?"
"Well if there's nothing to eat then I guess we can go," He said, "Where do you wanna go?"
"Doesn't matter," I shrugged.
"Uhh...bbq?" He asked.
I shook my head.
"Uhh...we can go to Ichiraku's Ramen?" He suggested.
I nodded.
"Should we leave now?" Shikamaru asked.
I shook my head.
"7:30," I said, indicating that I wanted to go at that time.
"Well...what do you wanna do?" He asked.
"..study a bit...so g-give me my notebook back," I told him.
"...seriously?" he asked.
I nodded.
'These next five days are gonna feel like five weeks, what a drag,' Shikamaru sighed.
'I'm just gonna study for the next fifteen minutes,' I thought, grabbing a different textbook out of my bag and tied my damp hair into a high ponytail.
Shikamaru glanced at the book, it was about Medical Ninjutsu.
'We aren't learning this in the academy, she's learning this while studying for the other stuff in the academy? Not to mention training, she's gonna kill herself,' Shikamaru thought, he took notice of my dark circles around my eye.
I didn't take notice of Shikamaru staring at me, I just read my book, writing notes down on the pages, despite how sleepy I was. Shikamaru sighed and took the book away from me. I just sat there with a pen in my hand before looking at him with with an annoyed expression, hoping he'll give it back.
"I'm not giving it back to you," Shikamaru told me, keeping my book out of reach, "Your sleep deprived, I can see rings around your eye, you're starting to look like a raccoon. You'll be mistaken for one if you continue this," Shikamaru lectured me.
I glared at him, he didn't react.
'I don't care how sleepy I am, I'm still alive and I need to study for my own good,' I thought.
I stood up and tried to get it from him.
'Dammit, why are you so tall?' I thought, standing on my continued for only a few minutes, I soon ran out of energy and just stood there out of breath.
"See? You're already tired," Shikamaru told me, "I'm surprised you have enough energy to get up everyday, not to mention what you did to Ino."
'I'm surprised you can stay awake in class when I probably get more sleep than you,' Shikamaru thought to himself.
I just sat on my bed in defeat.
'He's not wrong, I surprise myself too. I'm sleep deprived, yet I stay awake in class. I'm able to spar, pay attention, and somehow retain information,' I thought.
'...that was easy...' Shikamaru thought with a surprised look on his face.
He put the book on my desk and sat beside me. I just looked at him while he looked back.
"...go sleep," Shikamaru broke the silence.
I looked at him, obviously not going to sleep.
Shikamaru sighed, he picked up one of my pillows, 'I'm probably going to die after doing this,' he thought and quickly threw it at my face. I was able to dodge, but not quick enough. It slightly grazed my face.
"What the hell?" I asked.
"Just take a nap," He told me.
"Not w-with you here," I said.
"I'm not gonna do anything, I swear," He told me.
"I don't t-trust that," I told him.
Akumu jumped onto the bed and sat between us.
"Don't animals have some weird sense able knowing whether a person is good or bad?" Shikamaru asked, "Your cat trusts me."
"You're g-gonna make this p-project difficult," I told him.
"I'm trying to help you," Shikamaru said back.
"I didn't ask for your help," I said.
"Well, we're gonna have to sleep in the same room for the next few nights anyway," Shikamaru told me, "Just take a nap."
Before I could respond, Akumu made a mew noise and curled up on my lap, purring.
"..." I shifted over to the inside of my bed, bringing Akumu with me.
"Nap time it is then," I said, snuggling with Akumu.
"The cat convinced you?" Shikamaru said in disbelief.
"Shush," I ordered, before closing my eyes.
~.~
Shikamaru waited a moment before moving so he could sit against the bedframe.
"I guess she only listens to her cat," Shikamaru sighed.
He noticed the collar around the cat's neck.
"Akumu..." He read, "She named the cat nightmare?"
He laid down next to them, giving the two enough space so when Kyoko wakes up, she won't freak out.
"She's so troublesome," The Na ra yawned, "Didn't think she was so...feisty."
He turned to look at her. Kyoko was sleeping soundly, half her face buried into the fluffy black fur. Cautiously, Shikamaru reached over to the girl's face. He gently pushed the hair out of her face, and placed it around her ear. He gave a soft smile.
"Not so feisty now, are ya?" He almost laughed, "You're definitely gonna be challenging to live with."
'This project is gonna be troublesome.'
~.~
I rubbed my eyes, waking up from a nap my cat demanded.
'...what time is it?' I looked at the time: 8:06.
I sat up, with a yawn. Beside me was the Nara boy, sleeping.
'...of course,' I thought.
I noticed that there was a gap between us.
'That's...considerate of him,' I thought, 'Least he respects my boundaries...although he's on the edge of the bed and could fall at any moment...'
I lightly nudged him, waking him up.
Shikamaru yawned as he woke up.
"Oh, you finally woke up," Shikamaru said, who for some reason gave me a small smile.
'?' I gave him a questioning look.
"You wanna go eat now?" Shikamaru asked.
"Um...sure," I said, getting up.
Akumu jumped onto my shoulders before I got off my bed.
We walked out of my room and down the stairs. I filled Akumu's bowl with food, making him jump off my shoulders.
I then sensed Kakashi near and went towards the front door.
"I'm back," Kakashi announced.
"Welcome back," I said, walking over to greet him.
"How was school?" Kakashi asked me, ruffling my hair.
"I told you to stop doing that," I told him, ignoring his question.
"Oh, uh, hello, Kakashi," Shikamaru greeted with a bow.
"Shikamaru?" Kakashi said in surprise, "Did Kyoko invite you here?"
"Of course not," I told Kakashi.
"Iruka made us partners for a project, teaching us about teamwork or something. We're supposed to be chained together but we get 4 hours of not being chained together, which is at 6 til 10. We're chained together for five days so that's why I'm here," Shikamaru explained.
"Ah I see," Kakashi said.
"We're gonna go out to Ichiraku's Ramen, we'll be back later," I told Kakashi.
"Okay, don't be back too late," Kakashi told me.
"Okay," I nodded before leaving the house.
"Thanks for letting me stay over," Shikamaru mentioned before following after.
"Hmm..." Kakashi thought for a moment, "I think I'll pay Iruka a visit," He said, leaving the house moments after the two had left.
~.~
Tell me whatcha think!
Tell me if you're enjoying this, or if you arent~
If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer in the beginning or end of next chapter!
Signing off,
Bluebird