Another beautiful day in Konoha, three days after the assignment and the Nara again found himself following the Hyuuga.

He had been thinking about her the past three days, finding himself wanting to spend more and more time with her, his heart picking up a bit of a pace whenever he saw her again or if she visited Mirai and Kurenai when he was there.

He started to really take in things that he had ignored previously.

That pattern in which she would tap her fingers together when she was nervous, starting with tapping the first two together before winding them over each other, the way she would brush her hair back with her left hand while she worked with her right hand, the way she reacted to teasing aside from the romantic kind with a blush and a small pout, all and more served his heart to pick up speed.

He was following her that particular day because he found himself wanting to ask her for lunch before the evening visit to Kurenai and Mirai's, as she seemed to head over every other day if she didn't have other things to do.

She was kept in his sight before he heard a call for him.

" Shikamaru!"

The Nara found himself looking back and finding Ino walking out and about, dressed in civilian wear with a bright blue dress that showed off her body and matched her blue eyes.

His teammates were getting more into wearing civilian wear as they were working on their clans and getting used to their roles, not going to missions for a short period of time.

It had been offered to Shikamaru as well, but he made it clear he was going to wait to use that until he was ready for it, no matter how troublesome pushing time off away that was.

" Fancy seeing you out here! I was just heading to lunch, wanna join me? We can get Chouji in on this and have a Team Lunch just like we did before!" Ino called.

Shikamaru glanced to see Hinata almost turning out of the street before looking back, "... Sure."

It wasn't an enthusiastic grab at the chance, but Ino had long gotten used to Shikamaru being unenthusiastic to things that one would normally grab the chance at without thought, linking an arm with her friend and dragging him away from his intended place as he fell lax in her hold, Ino insisting on heading to the BBQ place to see if Chouji was there, and if not to order ahead while they got him.

He felt as if something was stretching out behind him and looked back discreetly to see his Shadow on the ground with it's fingers in the earth, trying to pull away instead of following him and Ino.

Almost as if it had a mind of it's own.

He closed his eyes and focused, snapping it back into it's proper place, feeling a little spooked as both him and his childhood friend left the area as well.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

" So." Ino smirked slightly as she played with the straw of her drink with two fingers, stirring up the bubbly mixture, " How're things with the two of you?"

" Things are going well with the Akimichi. My father was pretty on top of things, especially any financial aspects, as to be expected with how invested he was in the clan." Chouji smiled as he lifted up a skewer.

" He was always one to have a hand in everything there wasn't he?" Ino smiled nostalgically as she took a sip, " My father was a lot more focused in the interrogation and shinobi parts of his job while mom handled clan matters like money, so I still have her to fall back on."

" Mom was always into just the feasts we brought in, so she's only interested in helping me in arranging parties to catch women with." Chouji muttered, taking a bite of the skewer he had.

" Speaking of catching someone-" Ino started as Chouji had evidently spoken the magic words she wanted someone to say, her eyes sparkling as she looked to Shikamaru taking bites of some of the rice brought over, the black-eyed male glancing over to her, " I saw you following a certain someone."

" Someone?" Chouji asked as he looked over to his best friend, " Temari?"

" No." Both him and Ino spoke at the same time, Shikamaru a little put off while Ino was merely sparkling with the juicy gossip, the Nara feeling dread that she had caught him following the heiress.

Chouji didn't seem too surprised, he knew Shikamaru best after all, but he did seem curious, " Then who?"

Ino leaned over, a well-manicured hand covering one hand as if it would stop others from hearing, " Hinata Hyuuga."

Chouji leaned back with wide eyes, looking to him in surprise.

Shikamaru merely buried a hand into his hair and looked to the side, chopsticks still sticking out of his mouth, " Troublesome." He mumbled.

" Is this true Shikamaru? You never showed an interest in Hinata before, especially since she's practically a taken woman." The Akimichi pointed out Hinata's practically life-long crush to Naruto and the Nara found himself flinching a little bit.

" I wasn't looking to romance her." Shikamaru tried to defend himself, " I just wanted to ask her to have lunch with me before going to Mirai and Kurenai's, it's not like it's that big of a deal."

Both didn't look convinced and honestly he couldn't blame them, they knew him best after all.

" Doesn't Kurenai feed you guys anyways? Not like you need to eat beforehand." Ino pointed out, Shikamaru looking to the side with a curse as he found the blond too observant sometimes.

" Shikamaru, it's not like we'll judge you if you like Hinata, it's not like it's anybody's fault-" Chouji started before the blond cut him off.

" I mean we'll judge you a little, considering how she's practically married to the idea of Naruto-"

" Ino." Chouji sternly looked to the woman, whom fell silent with an embarrassed flush in her cheeks, " We'll be there for him like we were when you were having a crush on Sasuke. Maybe we can even help him out! I mean... It's not as if Naruto has ever returned Hinata-Chan's affections." Chouji pointed out.

Shikamaru looked to him before to the bowl in front of him and nodded.

That was true...

It may be troublesome, but maybe he could actually give it a shot.

He was still figuring himself out, but he was willing to try if it meant spending time with Hinata.


After lunch with Ino and Chouji he found himself making his way back to Kurenai and Mirai's place, only to find that Hinata wasn't there like he was expecting her to be.

" The boys took her not too long ago for some more training." Kurenai pointed out as she was washing dishes, Mirai pulling on his sleeve so that he would go and play with her, " Did you need to talk to her about something?"

Shikamaru paused.

Was he willing to go through such a troublesome process to find her?

He sighed, " Yeah, I know where she is now so I'll be off.

I'll come back as soon as I can, alright Mirai?"

" Shika Noooooooooooooooo!" Mirai whined, but her mother merely shut off the water and wiped her hand on a towel.

A couple minutes and a started tantrum and Kurenai was ushering her child's godfather out of the house, " You generally don't go looking for anyone unless you have to, so you go do whatever you need to, alright? No need to worry about Mirai, I'll take care of her."

" Thank you Kurenai." Shikamaru bowed his head to the single mother in respect before turning from the door and leaping away, heading for the Team 8 training grounds.

The first thing he heard was the slap of hands connecting skin, probably from taijutsu training but he found himself hoping it was the Hyuuga in action against his better judgement as he melded into the shadows a little to be able to see without alerting them immediately, finding Hinata blocking the attacks of two Kibas, one of them likely to be Akamaru, a fluidity in her movements speaking of her knowing her opponent like the back of her hand as Shino was watching from the sides.

" Kiba, quit using your usual moves on Hinata, she needs to be prepared for someone other than you attacking her."
" I'm tryin'!" The Inuzuka on the left barked, betraying which one was the actual Kiba as Hinata ducked from another blow, hitting his wrist upwards before trying to slide out from between the fight, the Kiba double reaching for her, only for her to jerk her elbow back and hit his hand away as she scrambled out of dodge, turning to face both of them as Shikamaru admired the look of sweat beading on her brow as her jacket was slightly unzipped, showing a mesh shirt as the Nara felt his cheeks heat up, looking away to the tree as Shino extended a hand and let a bug land on his finger.

" It appears as though we have a visitor."

Hinata and Kiba looked over, only for Hinata to be tackled by the Kiba double as she flew back and rolled on the ground with him as it puffed into smoke and showed a big white dog lying beside her as Akamaru panted, getting up and shaking himself off as Hinata wheezed on the ground for air, not quite expecting the full force of that attack.

" You both need to learn to not get distracted when someone's fighting with intent." Shino lectured as Shikamaru melted out of the shadows now that he had been caught.

" We only get distracted when you're the one talking to us Shino, we don't listen to mundane shit in the middle of a real fight!" Kiba protested loudly as Hinata finally pulled herself up and pushed her sweaty hair out of her face which was flushed with embarrassment from not only the scolding but visibly from how she looked as she zipped up her jacket, a little to Shikamaru's disappointment.

" Nevertheless, we'll need to continue the training. Is there something you need Shikamaru?"

The shadow nin shrugged, " I need to have a talk with Hinata."

Both males looked from him to Hinata, whom was clutching the front of her jacket, still a little embarrassed as she nodded, standing and brushing the grass stains off.

" O-Of course." She agreed, going over to him before he motioned with his head for her to follow, and she did so without question.

Such amount of trust she had for him made his face flush a little, a little proud of that as he walked her closer to town.

He found himself very aware of her as she walked behind him, the smell of sweat and medicinal herbs making his head swim a little as he could feel his pulse.

When they hit the tree line back to town he found himself turning to her.

" Hinata... I need to talk to you about something."

" I-Is Mirai okay?" Hinata asked, alarmed.

" No, she's fine. It's about you."

" O-Oh."

Shikamaru paused and found himself shifting, bringing one foot up and tapping his toes to the ground as he ran a hand through his hair, " Do you still like Naruto?"

He watched as her usual flush turned deep red and found the fluttering of his heart skitter to a slower pace, " I take that as a yes."

" Wh-What-" She pressed her hands to her face and Shikamaru merely looked away.

He didn't like to see her so flustered, especially just over the mention of Naruto's name.

" Has he ever answered your confession?"

Just like that the shyness died away to sadness as she looked to the ground, giving a small shake.

Enough of an answer for him.

" You know he respects you, right? He does... He just doesn't..." He trailed off as Hinata bowed her head a little more.

" Wh... Why are you telling me this?" Hinata asked as she stared to the ground.

" Because I'm your friend." Shikamaru murmured back, " And I just want you to be happy."

Just not with him.

" Maybe you should talk to him again. You need a clear answer." He urged her as she looked up to him, eyes watery but seeing him.

" An answer..." She whispered to him, looking almost through him, lost in thought.

" Ino and I were talking about it." He excused, " And everyone just wants to see you happy. So... However long it takes, do your best."

He then turned, leaving her those thoughts to mull over, as he had some of his own.

He only wanted to ask her to have something to eat, but he found his mind on a more pressing issue.

One that had to be addressed if he wanted to go out with her in any capacity.

And he had a plan to have it's probability more in his favor as he went to see what missions were available.