Warnings: None that I can think of. FYI: They're still in the academy.

Pairing: Shika/Naru

Summary: Shikamaru was way too lazy to care about what the villagers said, what the other kids said, what his parents said, and that's what Naruto loved about him.

Genre: WAFF, Romance

Rating: PG 13 for swearing a couple of times, but if you exclude that this is a very G kind of fic.

""-speech

''-thoughts

'Too troublesome this, too bothersome that.' Naruto angrily mocked in his head. All he'd asked the extremely lazy nin to so was help him with some homework! But no, Shikamaru just had to go watch those damned clouds of his all friggen day!

'He's just too lazy and uncaring!' Naruto huffed as he entered his apartment , kicking of his shoes before hurtling himself into his small living room and flopping on the couch. 'But, even if he's a bit of a frigid bitch sometimes, he still cares about me, right?'

Flashback

"Don't play with that boy." The parents would say to their children. "Don't play with him, he's stupid." The kids would say to their friends. "He's a monster, if you get too close he'll gobble you up." The villagers whispered among themselves, unaware that a small boy sitting alone in the sandbox could hear every word.

'No one's ever gonna wanna play with me.' The little boy thought in despair, tears filling up his sapphire eyes. 'No one's ever gonna lov-' He heard someone sit beside him and Naruto turned around in bewilderment. A boy his age was sitting beside him, wasn't afraid of him, wasn't tormenting him, wasn't- "Oi, stop staring at me." Naruto looked away and flushed. "S-sorry." He twiddled his thumbs, sneaking glances at the boy who was now laying down, staring up at the sky. The boy who didn't run away.

From then on, everyday at the park Naruto would be alone in the sandbox till the boy with the dark eyes and spiky ponytail came and laid down in the sand, staring up at the clouds, neither of them saying anything until one day when the curiosity was just too much to bear.

Naruto carefully turned to face the other boy and took a deep breath. "Why-why do you come over here, don't you want to play with the other kids?" The other boy glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and said nothing. "Well, are you gonna answer me or not!" Naruto asked angrily, the other boy sighed, turning his head so he could look Naruto in the eyes. "The other kids are too troublesome, but they never come over here."

Naruto grinned, he wasn't as annoying as the other kids! "My named is Uzumaki Naruto!" The other boy gave him a look before lazily drawling. "Nara Shikamaru."

End Flashback

"Damn it, I've definitely screwed up this time." Shikamaru muttered to himself as he made his way down the crowded streets of Konoha towards the apartment of a certain blonde haired, blue eyed cloud hater. Well, maybe not cloud hater, but the blonde had definitely stomped off in an over zealous fit of fury when Shikamaru chose cloud watching over helping Naruto with his homework. 'Like it would actually be helping him, he'd just copy my answers and forget anything he might have seen.'

Shikamaru sighed as Naruto's apartment finally came into view, dealing with Naruto when he was angry was so troublesome. Sometimes he forgot why he even bothered…

… Then he'd see Naruto and remember why he bothered, each and every time…

'Gah, I'm acting like some sort of fanatical woman!' Had Shikamaru been more energetic, he would have bounded up the steps, boldly knocked on the door and then barged in, loudly proclaiming undying love or something like that for all to hear. But since he was rather lethargic, he figured anyone should feel special if he had just walked a whole 17 minutes and 39 seconds just to apologize to them.

He was preparing himself for a, 'go away' or a, 'why aren't you cloud watching' or God forbid a, 'I have a date in a couple of minutes, go away, I need to get ready.' So it came as a bit of a surprise that when the door flung open he suddenly got an armful of blonde haired, blue eyed cloud hater.

"Hey Shikamaru, does this mean you've changed you mind and decided to help me!" Naruto asked excitedly. Shikamaru wanted to say something like, 'that's too troublesome' or, 'but then I have to go all the way back to my house' or even just a simple, 'no.' Instead he found himself saying.

"Yeah, whatever."

It definitely wasn't the smartest idea he ever had, now that he thought about it, because after Naruto had successfully copied the homework down he kept on asking stupid questions, mostly about why Shikamaru liked clouds so much.

Shikamaru would love to give the blonde the answer, but decided it was best to keep that information locked away.

Naruto was relentless in his efforts though, one had to give him credit, the boy never seemed to give up and could drive even the most indifferent person into insanity.

Shikamaru was doing a rather good job of ignoring most of the words coming out of the blonde's mouth when Naruto asked a question that Shikamaru felt somewhat obligated to answer.

"Why do like clouds more than me?"

It was said innocently enough, but Shikamaru could see the blonde was preparing himself for some harsh answer like 'because they're quiet', well, sometimes Shikamaru could surprise people too.

"Do you really think that?" Naruto nodded, eyes downcast and Shikamaru realized that this was one of those 'now or never' situations he had always tried so hard to avoid. 'Oh hell, what have I got to loose.'

"Naruto, do you want to know the reason I really like clouds so much?" He asked slowly and Naruto nodded energetically, with a long sigh Shikamaru began.

"I always heard the other kids talking about you, they were so loud and obnoxious that I really couldn't help over hearing them. And then, sometimes I'd hear the villagers talk about you as well. I didn't really care what they thought, since adults are prone to lying anyways." Shikamaru quickly scanned over Naruto's face, the boy was listening raptly so far…

"Then one day I saw you alone in the sandbox, so I went and sat down beside you, and I didn't really know what to say to you, so I just laid down and stared at the sky." A sort of confused look had made its way across the blonde's face, Shikamaru hoped that it wouldn't last for long and that Naruto would figure it out.

"Everyday I would stare at the clouds, and it wasn't long before I associated cloud watching as spending time with you… Every time I look at the clouds I think of you Naruto, and every time I look at the clouds, I love you more than ever." Shikamaru looked down at his hands, a small flush on his face, waiting for the rejection he was sure would come.

Speechless, Naruto was absolutely speechless, and it took quite a lot to get him into he frame of mind where no coherent sentences could be formed. Running though his mind over and over and again was the word- 'Love. Love? Love! Love.'

Shikamaru sighed, Naruto looked absolutely and utterly helpless. 'Well, I suppose that it could have been worse.' "I understand if you don't want to be around me for a while, but I'd really like it if our friendship coul-" "Did you mean it?" Shikamaru blinked for a moment. "Mean what?" Naruto fidgeted nervously. "That you love me?" A small smile spread over Shikamaru's lips. "Yes." "What about your parents, your friends, everyone." "Ch, as if I care about what they say."

Shikamaru had hardly finished talking when Naruto glomped onto him, and Shikamaru couldn't help but wrap his arms around the smaller boy, thinking about how this felt so right.

"Hey Shikamaru?" Naruto looked up into Shikamaru's face, a small blush forming on his cheeks. "I don't think I mind you watching the clouds so much anymore." Shikamaru scoffed. "Who needs the clouds when I have you?" Naruto smiled and lay his face against the crook of Shikamaru's neck.

'I think that this is the start of a beautiful relationship.'