Clouds, Storm and Sun

By MaroonSorrow

Ch.2: Foreshadowing Winds

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. This is a SHIKAMARU/ NARUTO, and all the other pairings( real or implied) are plot devices...responses to reviews are at the bottom of the page....

( The first two chapters are somewhat gag chapters...)

( Flashback)

It has been two years since Shikamaru was winding his way home to find a group of crying fangirls huddled by the Uchiha estates' front gate. Shikamaru remembers that it was a cold, grey, cloudless day. He had tried to avoid Ino, but she had grabbed him by the collar and dragged him over to the group, then burst into tears. By the next day, it was all over Konoha, that the hated vessel of the Kyubi and the beloved Uchiha heir were dating...

Girls all over Konoha protested, swooned, cried and generally went into hysterics. There was a hush in the streets, and at Ino and Sakura's houses, there were constant streams of presents and condolences as Rock Lee and Chouji attempted to keep the girls from killing themselves. Shikamaru was just content with the fact that he could watch clouds at the park without any annoying picnickers bothering him. However... much to Shikamaru's dismay, life has the annoying habit of not leaving well enough alone, and Shikamaru soon found himself being forcefully cajoled into paying a visit to... Hinata!

XxxxxxXXX

When it was first discovered by the 'group ' that Sasuke and Naruto were dating, there were shocked expressions all around and then the silence was broken by Sakura's sobs. " No... no it can't be true! You're lying, aren't you, big forehead girl!! You're lying !!!" Half an hour of mass hysteria later, a crying Ino who was supporting a wilted Sakura nearly tripped over Hinata. It was then that they noticed Hinata's completely white face and the fact that she had curled up into a ball, hands clenched tightly.

" A-are you okay, Hinata chan? ( sob)" ventured Ino cautiously. " H-Hinata...?"

" I'm fine." The tone it was said in made it sound suspiciously like " Go to HELL!"

XxxxxxXXX

Since then, Hinata has not said a single word in three days... she doesn't leave any lights on in her room, she doesn't participate during practice. She just sits and doesn't talk to anyone...

So Shikamaru is standing outside of Hinata's door, because he wasn't on the list of people that ( I will not talk to...) Hinata pushed out from under her door. The door is splintered, which doesn't make Shikamaru feel very confident about this at all... He takes a deep breath and pushes open the door, stepping into the shadows...

Shikamaru's first impression of Hinata's room is some dusty exhibit in a museum, shadowed, once lively, now waiting for any resemblance of life to return. The lights are all off, and dust sifts through the air...The only reason Shikamaru can see anything is that small shafts of light have infiltrated the room through the half closed blinds. Hinata is curled up on the bed, facing away from the window, towards Shikamaru and the door.

" What are you doing here?" The question is said in a guarded, lifeless tone.

XXXxxxxXXX (Shikamaru's POV)

" Hinata...? " What do they expect me to do?

" You're Nara Shikamaru san . You are on Ino chan's team..."she mutters, not moving from her spot on her bed.

Why is she being so cold? Somehow, I don't think she's crushed because of Sasuke... But I can't just stand here...Why did Ino and my parents have to involve me in this... I'm no psychologist! I think I'll just be blunt about why I'm here...

" Hinata, are you sad about S- about Sasuke and Naruto?" Why is it so hard to say that?

Hinata's shoulders hunched up when I said that, then she immediately stiffened, turned and sat up, looking me in the eye. " Shikamaru, you don't say Naruto and Sasuke's names in the same tone that everyone else does..."

" W-what?" But I know what she is talking about- most people- they say Naruto's name like a curse and Sasuke's name like they are speaking of a hero.... Now that Hinata is sitting up, I can tell that she has a picture in her hand... a picture of Naruto.

" On the day that I found out that they were dating, I wandered around town aimlessly for a long time. While sitting under a tree, I saw them walk by..."

I didn't need to ask who " they" was.

" Naruto was smiling like he always does, but it seemed really... sincere that time. It wasn't an overly big smile, it was a soft one..."

I know what she means... Naruto's smiles are usually really big, so you can't see his eyes. His big, tired eyes...What am I thinking?! I know that I say Naruto's name in a different tone... but it isn't because I like him! I just don't hate him like everyone else...

" A-And Sasuke, he was smiling too- but-..." Hinata is shivering a little... " It was a fake smile... like his face was happy but h-his eyes weren't..."

Hinata must really care about Naruto. How many times has she had to sit here- how many times total- has she had to listen to Naruto's voice being said in that tone?

" I know what you mean." I say the words in as neutral a tone as I can manage, but I don't think I'm fooling Hinata... She noticed the way I say "Naruto" ... even before I did.

" Shikamaru.... thank you. "

Hinata gets up and turns on the lights... suddenly I feel uncomfortable. This isn't a soap opera.! My role is to sit and watch... the role I promised myself I would never leave.

Because... when I tried to help... I'll play Go wonderfully, I'll read textbooks in a hour... but I don't do well with people.

" Everything you touch, you destroy!" That was what my mother said to me, that is the reason I don't interfere. My enthusiasm just causes pain. If Naruto is happy with Sasuke, then I should let him be. Because people are happier when you leave them alone.

Now.... now if only I could make my heart believe that....

XXXxxxXXX ( uh... Narrators POV?)

Shikamaru bows to Hinata and leaves.

" Thank you for having me over, Hinata chan."

Hinata quietly stares after his retreating back...

" Naruto kun..."

XXXxxxXXX ( Flashback over)

On that day, I promised myself I'd just watch. But now, looking at Naruto, I don't think my silence will do him any good.

" Hey, Shikamaru, what do you do on days when there aren't any clouds?"

Naruto says it without any of the malice I usually hear in comments like that.

" I play a game called Go... you play it with stones on a board..."

I trail off, unsure of how to describe Go.

" Stones? A board? You'll have to show me some time..."

I can't help but smirk a little, imagining the images of Go that are probably forming in Naruto's mind. Teaching him to play Go... it'll give him something to do other than get chased around town by fangirls intent on clobbering him.

Blink

"Why are you smiling?"

"No reason. Those are fascinating tree branches, don't you think?"

Shikamaru turns away a little so Naruto won't see him smirk. He swears to himself that not only is he staying with Naruto, but by the end of this conversation Naruto will either be coming home with him for cocoa or have promised to come over so Shikamaru can teach him Go. Shikamaru is sure he can get some kind of promise out of Naruto... He's a genius, after all.

::Justification for keeping you :: I'm keeping you out of trouble::

Tbc?

Chaos-Sempai: Try reading " Walk on" or something similar... I'm setting my story in a Konoha where everyone is after Naruto for their uke.... Don't worry, the final pairing will most definitely be Shikamaru and Naruto!

Spirit Goddess: Yay!... I'm so happy you didn't find him OOC... I was a little worried about that...:)

Risuchan: Here's your update!

Monmon: Obviously, I wrote more...I hope you found chapter two as interesting as chapter one!

Lovelybaabaa: I'm sorry, it's just that so many people asked for a continuation... really this story is going to both look at the relationships Naruto has had and look at the developing relationship between him and Shikamaru...I'm very glad you liked chapter one!

Sonic16: Is this quickly enough...?

Uno: So glad you liked it!

Luna( ):...uh... thanks? I usually like writing obscure pairings anyway...

CrystalShiva: I agree... there is so much SasuNaru you could create a separate category for it...and so little Shikamaru/Naruto. ( Gloom)

sunhawk: :) Yay... cuteness!

LittleDarkOne: Shikamaru/ Naruto forever! Yeah! There is a really cool Shikamaru shrine I found called " Hot But Can't Be Bothered"that you might want to visit...just look up " Shikamaru Shrine" and you'll probably find it...

WaterBookLover: I'm going to continue this as much as I can... ( loves water and Books too ;) )

Yasuhiro: I'm glad you think so... ( heart)

tie-synni: Where was it confusing? ( Let me know so I can fix it...)

Yuen-chan( ): Yeah, Shikamaru/Naruto is a little too scarce for my liking...

I am sooooo HAPPY with all of your reviews! ( Hands out Ramen.) If you liked this, I suggest you read the other Shikamaru/Naruto piece that I wrote. It's called " What Bothers Shikamaru" I'm continuing the story, again, only if enough people review and like the direction the story is going in... To all the people who told me to update quickly: I'll try, but I'm a semester into High School with three honors classes and so on... I don't have a lot of spare time. ( Gloom..)

-MaroonSorrow