Clouds, Storm and Sun
By Maroon Sorrow
Chapter 3: Scarce Sunbeams
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. All flames will be used to fry Naruto's abusive boyfriends.
coughSasukeGaaracough
Humming to himself, Nara Shikamaru calmly stares up at the branches swaying in the wind. By his side is Naruto, who is wondering exactly what is so interesting about tree branches, of all things. He cranes his neck and looks up at the tree branches, and then looks back at Shikamaru.
" I bet you never get bored..." laughs Naruto.
Inwardly, Shika laughs too. ' I don't usually watch tree branches, but whatever...' On the outside, however, he responds " Hey, it gives me something to do other than graffiti the Hokage statues..."
" Hey, that was a long time ago! I was less mature then ..." shoots back Naruto, sounding like a little kid.
" You? Mature? That was five years ago, Naruto kun."
" Hey, five years is a long time..."
" Half a decade..." teases Shikamaru. " You don't seem to have changed that much... "
" Hmph.." retorts Naruto, scowling. ' No one takes me seriously!' He closes his eyes, as near to brooding as he gets in public. ' Not Sasuke , not Gaara, not Neji. Sometimes I wonder if even Iruka Sensei really takes me seriously...'
' Great...!' thinks Shikamaru. 'I've managed to make even Naruto broody. "Hmph...." he sounds like Sasuke! And he has changed... it's just not obvious... I know that. How could you date people like Sasuke and Gaara and not change? If I dated either of them, I'd probably either get myself killed or need serious therapy afterwards. Then again, I wouldn't date them.
One of the things... I respect about Naruto... is that he survived so long with those two. Glancing over at Naruto's slightly hunched form, he is again struck with the thought that casual conversation is not his forte, much less flirting. " Sorry..."
The word seems to shake Naruto out of his daze. " Sorry? " He tilts his head a little, examining Shikamaru's expression. " Sorry for ... what? " His voice is a quiet, soft ghost of his usual enthusiasm. Shikamaru just shakes his head and suddenly wishes he'd spent time with people other than that Sasuke groupie and her groupie. Naruto just looks at Shikamaru and in the background a bunch of crickets pop up to emphasize the awkwardness. "Chirrrrrrrrp." Damn those crickets. 'I have to say something...'
" Uh... sorry for being sorry?" 'Oh, great comeback...' a sarcastic voice in his head says. 'Very intelligent.' Shikamaru promptly tells the voice to shut up as a frustrated Naruto glares at him.
" Stop talking in circles!"
Shika turns from his position on the ground and looks Naruto in the eye. " Sorry for treating you like the hurricane- in-development you were five years ago. You have changed, it's just not that obvious.... " Naruto just stares and blushes a little. While it is nice to be taken seriously for once, didn't Shikamaru just contradict himself? And where did this line of conversation come from anyway?
" That's, um, nice of you to notice Shikamaru-kun, but didn't you just disagree with yourself? And you're talking in circles again!"
Shikamaru blinks but doesn't look away from Naruto. Naruto blinks but can't seem to look away from Shikamaru.. The crickets start up again, thunder booms in the distance and perhaps the awkwardness of the situation or how close Naruto is have finally gotten to Shikamaru because he starts blushing.
" Stupid crickets.." mutters Shikamaru, looking away. This rather random statement makes Naruto blink again and then start to laugh. A puzzled Shika starts to say " What are you laughing at?!" but one look at Naruto and he's laughing too. The kind of nervous, spontaneous laughter that happens in awkward situations. The kind of laughter that either makes friends or enemies out of people.
Just as their glee is starting to die down, Naruto notices that their loud laughter has scared away the insects who were under the tree with them. Unable to say anything, he just taps Shika on the shoulder and points at the retreating crickets, causing both of them to laugh even harder.
" Oh... that's great." giggles Naruto. " Looks like the crickets dislike you as much as you dislike them." After another brief peal of laughter Naruto again comments: "We can call you... Shikamaru the Cricket -bane! "
A rapidly turning red Shikamaru just stammers " Hmph." And then there's a blank, cricket free silence and then... " Shino would hate me."
The crickets retreat even further as Shikamaru and Naruto go into hysterics. In the middle of all of this, a single drop of water falls down, causing three things: Naruto goes cross eyed, Shikamaru starts to laugh again, and they both realize that it's drizzling. "Awwwwww.... now I'm going to get all wet!"
" Well, what did you expect, Naruto-kun, going outside on a day like this? The sky is darker than if someone cast an Yami no Jutsu. "
" Well, these clouds are even lazier than you, Shikamaru- kun. ( If that's possible...) They've been hanging around for the past month teasing us with the promise of thundershowers, but only now that I'm finally outside do they decide to bless us with rain!"
" Hmm..." replied Shikamaru, ignoring Naruto's first comment. He looked over at his companion, who was shivering a little, and absentmindedly wondered: "Why hasn't someone invented an Umbrella no Jutsu yet?"
" Umbrella no Jutsu? " Several question marks proceeded to grace the air over Naruto's head.
" Sure. Umbrella no Jutsu. I mean, ninjas can seal away demons" -Naruto flinched a little at this-
" turn you into a girl, breath fireballs and summon giant toads, but we can't get an umbrella....? If there's Sexy no Jutsu then why not Umbrella no Jutsu?"
" Because... well, isn't that a little- undignified? But I guess you're right." Glancing out at the slowly thickening rain, Naruto began to seriously wish he had an "Umbrella no Jutsu."
" Dignity has never been your forte, Naruto, so don't worry about it. Besides, even the Hokage needs an umbrella... unless of course, you want to be like Rock Lee and dodge between the raindrops or something equally insane... as for me, I'll just stay under my tree in Konoha park and try not to get to wet. "
Naruto looked over at Shikamaru and wondered about something that had been bothering him a little. " Um, Shikamaru, before you started watching tree branches, why were you out here? I mean, I was taking a walk because my neighbors were being stupid... but almost no one is out today...and from what you said... do you stay out in the rain often?"
" Kind of... my neighbors are idiots too, but mostly it's just that my... my house is ... boring."
" Boring? You... bored? Can't you count ceiling dots or read books or something?"
" 56, 413 dots. And if I stay out of the house my mother can forget about me..." There was a blank silence as Naruto wondered why a mother would want to forget her child. He was about to say something when Shikamaru muttered " I guess I should probably be going home to point out to my mother than I'm alive... she'll be ever so disappointed."
Naruto opened his mouth as if he was going to ask something about the Nara family, but instead the words " Won't you get soaked?" came out. Shikamaru shrugged...
" It isn't pouring that hard... and I guess I can run home. It isn't far... are you planning to stay under that tree until it stops raining?"
"Um.. I guess so. Or at least until the bus comes by..."
Shikamaru sighed... " It's Sunday, Naruto. The bus won't be coming by... "
" Oh... yeah, huh." There was an awkward silence, punctuated by the soft rush of a steadily growing drizzle.
" I-If, you want, you can come over... assuming my Mom notices either of us, she won't say anything. We have Hot Chocolate and I can teach you to play Go... " Fortunately for Shikamaru, Naruto didn't notice a light blush staining his cheeks when he said this.
Although Naruto has been treated in a despicable manner his whole life, he is at heart a trusting person. From what Naru can tell, Shikamaru is not a Psycho like the other people whose houses' he has been to. ( Cough-Sasuke-cough) Second, Naruto is a pretty good ninja, and if he's afraid of Shikamaru, well, he might as well quit.
" Um... sure, I guess. Where's your house? "
" Go down the street where Sasuke lives and turn left at Kiba's house.... my house is at the end of that street. Do you know how to get to Sasuke's house from here? " Shikamaru didn't mention why he assumed Naruto knew where Sasuke's house was. He didn't need to.
" Yeah, I think so...."
" Well..." Shikamaru grinned, " On your mark, get set go...!"
Naruto was about to ask what that was all about when Shikamaru grabbed his hand and raced off, pulling Naruto... ' Oh, yeah, we have to run to his house...well, I'm not going to let Shikamaru- kun of all people outrun me!' Meanwhile, Shikamaru had the fleeting thought that 'Naruto looks cute with his hair wet.'
From the standpoint of another tree, some very confused insects watched until Naruto and Shika had rounded a corner and disappeared from sight.
: : : Oh, how bothersome:: I think I'm in love: : :
tbc?
Responses to Reviews:
Sonic16: Yay! I'm so happy you liked it! Did you like this chapter too?( sparkle sparkle)
Naruke: Shikamaru is such a perfect gentleman! ( Glomps Shika ) All boys should be like this!
Kleptomaniac Can Opener: Thanx for all your reviews! Meow!
Mikhyel: Ack!!! I killed her! freaks out and calls 911
Kittfox: You had to go and make me feel guilty about not updating...
Staryday: ( sparkly eyes) On your favorites list? Really?
Yuen-chan: You reviewed TWICE! (Throws confetti in air...) Would you like to make it three?
( puppy dog eyes)
nami: All my Shika/Naru stories are at least three chapters! Because Shikamaru and Naruto deserve more time together!
Luna: I continued!
YaoiloverS: Hmm, cute and fluffy... just like Naru!
Lostlily: Ganbatte? Nani? In this chapter.... a plot actually develops!
WaterBookLover: Sorry about the slow update....( Goes to brood in corner) Forgive me!!!
To all my reviewers... Thank You!!! I'm sorry about the slow update...but hey, Shikamaru-kun is lazy, I'm sure he'd understand....( Sniffle) The real reason you got this update is that I got my Shonen Jump in the mail and there was this adorable Shika Chibi in it... well I just had to write more after seeing it. I'm sorry if the dialogue turned out crappy or OOC. If you guys know of any other people who write ShikaNaru could you tell me? I'd love to compare my work to theirs... As for updating, I've already started work on the next chapter of " Colors" so...