Say My Name

II.

Shikamaru Nara was not one for parties.

Events and social gatherings always drained his energy. He wasn't asocial, he'd just rather spend his time playing shogi or cloud-watching than dancing or getting wasted around a bunch of people he didn't know.

So why in Kami's name was he standing in front of an expensive, fancy-ass restaurant? Why was he wearing a black dress shirt with the collar buttoned all the way up to fit the green tie and expensive dress pants that seemed to make him more nervous about ruining than the shiny black loafers he was wearing? Why was he so on edge? Why was he so agitated?

Why did nobody tell him that his "date" was going to look stunning in a dress that she seemingly picked out at "the last minute?"

Shikamaru tried his best not to let his nervousness show. He tried not to mind the sweat that was beginning to form, threatening to ruin his late father's cologne that he had asked his mom to lend him. It proved difficult to do so when his left arm was held by the object of his recently confused emotions.

Sakura Haruno was an attractive woman. In her civilian clothing, she was pretty. In her uniform, she was graceful. All dressed up in formal attire? The woman was poisonous.

She had her long pink hair pulled into a messy bun. Shikamaru hadn't realized her ears were pierced until the moment she stepped out of her apartment, a single pearl earring in each ear. Sakura was wearing a long dark-wine dress with a slit on one side, exposing her left leg all the way up to her mid-thigh. The cut at the front of her dress wasn't deep, but it was enough for Shikamaru (and anyone with wandering eyes) to peek at her cleavage. The sleeves were laced and ended at her wrist. Her nails, he noticed, were painted a color to match that of her dress. She wore no makeup, with the exception of the clear gloss color that painted her lips.

For someone who never wore heels, Sakura knew how to walk with them on. She had not stumbled once since he picked her up. He wondered if all girls innately had that ability.

Then he remembered how much Ino struggled with her five-inch stiletto heels one time and quickly dismissed that thought.

Shikamaru was careful in keeping his breath steady. One wrong move and he would catch a nose-full of her intoxicating perfume. He made that mistake earlier when she leaned towards him, becoming dizzy from breathing in a good amount of her scent. He was sure she put on no more than two spritzes, but for some reason her scent was just overwhelming.

He didn't want to become so addicted.

"Troublesome..." he muttered while tugging at his stiff collar.

Sakura watched him fidget, before turning to face him. "You don't have to button it all the way up." She placed the small gift bag—presumably for Sai—down on the cobblestone ground.

Shikamaru tried not to focus on the hands that were fixing his tie. "It wouldn't have stayed on if I didn't."

She chuckled but said nothing. He allowed himself to enjoy the moment, with the feeling of her nails gently brushing against the skin on his neck and her scent wafting through the air.

But some moments didn't last long.

The door to the restaurant flew open and the bells that indicated the arrival or departure of customers chimed. A gleeful Ino came barreling out, tugging a less-than-excited Sai by the hand behind her.

"Sakura! You—"

She stopped as she looked at the scene in front of her. Her turquoise eyes darted back and forth between Sakura and Shikamaru before a sly smile creeped onto her lips.

"Are we interrupting something?"

Shikamaru quickly jumped away from the pink-haired girl. He glanced at Sakura, whose cheeks were tinted a light pink. He heard Ino's snickering, but refused to meet her eyes.

"If you two are done...we were waiting for you!" Ino jumped down to give both of her friends a hug. "We're gonna cut the cake soon!"

"What? Already? Has everyone else arrived yet?"

"Of course, Forehead." Ino huffed and folded her arms. "You two are the last ones to come."

"I thought the invitation said to come at 10?" Shikamaru didn't personally receive one. But Sakura had showed him the fancy looking invitation earlier.

"Yeah, well..." Ino shrugged.

"Everyone wanted to arrive earlier, it seems." Sai spoke up. For the first time, Shikamaru realized that he was not bothered at all by the man's presence.

"Ah. Here..."

Shikamaru took something from his pocket and handed it over to the confused man. The present was wrapped neatly in silver wrapping paper, a small bow sat on the top.

"What is...?" Sai asked while taking it.

"It's a gift. For your birthday." Even though it's months away. "It's not much but it'd be rude to show up at a birthday party without anything for the birthday person."

Ino and Sai exchanged a look as they eyed the present. Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head. Why were they looking at him like that? Even Sakura had gone quiet. She was staring hard at the ground, making sure to avoid eye contact.

The awkwardness was broken when Sai gave him a smile. "Thank you, Shikamaru-san."

Shikamaru was taken aback. The smile was genuine. There was no hint of it being forced nor fake. Since when was Sai able to smile like that? Since when was he able to show such a sincere expression?

"Let's all go inside." Ino took her fiancé's hand and they interlocked their fingers.

Ah.

Shikamaru watched as the couple went ahead first. He understood why the pale man was the way he was.

It was because of Ino.

"Should we go in too?" Sakura's green eyes looked up at him. She smiled as she waited for his response, eyes crinkling closed when he gave her a nod.

He thought nothing of it when he offered his arm and thought nothing about the way she took it casually and without hesitation. He thought nothing of their close proximity and how he was able to smell her sweet scent as they walked into the restaurant.

He thought nothing of the fact that the lights were not on, too distracted with his thoughts on whether or not he too would change if he found someone to love. His thoughts came to an abrupt stop because with just two more steps, a loud pop! was heard and he was blasted by something. Shikamaru was ready to attack, more than ready to elbow the person who pelted him with the unknown substance when the lights came on.

Shikamaru Nara was not prepared.

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHIKAMARU!"

A chorus of voices cheered and whistled. He was sure his ears had gone deaf. What was this? He asked himself.

Familiar faces lined up across the room. Everyone was dressed in formal attire, wearing the same goofy grin. Some of them were holding what he presumed to be confetti poppers. Shikamaru looked around the room. From his teammates to his old comrades, to his mom who stood next to Kurenai, everyone there was beaming.

He then looked to Ino, who looked extremely proud of herself, then to the pink-haired woman who was now a step or two behind him.

He received the warmest smile he had ever received in his life, and he received it from no one other than Sakura Haruno. The gears turned and they clicked within his mind. She was in on this. Ino must've mentioned that she wanted to celebrate his birthday (which was indeed today), but knew that Shikamaru himself didn't want to.

So Sakura offered her help.

"What is it?" She mouthed.

"You are a damn good actress." He mouthed back. The little laugh she let loose made his heart flutter and his mouth curved upwards.

"BLOW OUT YOUR CANDLES!" It was no doubt Naruto that shouted that comment. Great, he groaned. Two loud-mouthed blonds in one setting.

He dragged his feet to the center of the room where a large—goddammit, Ino—cake with four layers stood. Chōji would later tell him that each layer represented the amount of years that had passed without celebrating his birthday. Chōji would also tell Shikamaru that he knew the real reason why they had not been celebrating his birthday.

Ino became engaged on that day four years ago.

The party was in full swing despite the fact that most of them had to wake up early the next day. People took turns showering Shikamaru with hugs and birthday wishes. Those closer to him gave him presents.

"Happy Birthday, Shika!" Ino jumped on him from behind.

"Ow—Ino, get off!" He rubbed his neck as soon as the blonde woman got off.

"Happy Birthday." Shikamaru nodded a 'thanks' to Sai. Even though he didn't have any ill-feelings towards the man anymore, it was still awkward between them.

Ino jabbed a giant gift-wrapped box towards Shikamaru. "Here! This is from us."

"Thanks..." He took it, wondering what could be in such a huge box.

"This is also yours." Sai held out a familiar, silver-wrapped present towards Shikamaru.

The young Nara shook his head. "That's yours."

"But...it's not my birthday. I apologize for tricking you. You must've went through a lot of trouble finding a present."

"Well, it wasn't easy."

"Then—"

"But it's still a gift. If you want, think of it as a very late engagement present."

Shikamaru watched as Ino's face glowed. No doubt she was thinking that he was finally accepting Sai. He just hoped they wouldn't be inviting him out with them.

"Thank you." And there it was again. That genuine, sincere smile.

"Hey..."

Both Ino's and Sai's eyebrows raised. "What?" She asked.

"Can you both...say my name?"

Ino was sure her friend had gone haywire from the events of the day. She wondered why he was acting strange. "Uh, Shikamaru?"

"Shikamaru-san," Sai followed after his fiancée.

He sighed. "As I thought, it's not the same."

"What?" Ino's face scrunched up. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Perhaps..." Sai placed his chin between his index finger and thumb.

Shikamaru felt the hairs on his arms stand.

"Shikamaru-kun?"

"Shikamaru-kun." Ino repeated.

Shikamaru never again requested anything of the pair.

He found her staring at the butterfly cages.

To match its name, the owner placed butterfly cages throughout the small garden located just outside the back door of the restaurant. Shikamaru had only ever went to the Batafuraigāden once, and that was three years ago. Temari had visited and wanting to impress the Sand Shinobi, he reserved a table for dinner.

"Is this a date?" She asked, a wry smirk on her lips.

He could've only hoped it was.

"You ask too many questions, woman." Shikamaru droned. But instead of being turned off by his comment, Temari laughed, clearly amused.

She wore a long black kimono. The top cut was low and her chest was (barely) covered by a mesh undershirt. Never mind the top; Shikamaru loved her legs. He loved the outfit she wore that day because with every step she took, he caught a fair amount of slightly-tanned legs. He also loved the fact that she wore heeled ninja sandals, prepared to run if necessary but with the extra feminine flare.

"You could be a little more discreet, you know." She stated without looking at him.

He was caught. Shikamaru's eyes slowly shifted upwards to her jawline. He held back a laugh and held the door open for her. "I can be discreet when I want to be."

She raised an inquisitive brow, but never inquired further. Perhaps, she caught on.

That was why he was infatuated with her. Temari was witty and quick on her toes. She was able to keep up with him even when no words were exchanged. He wanted her. He couldn't have lied. He held an interest in her ever since the chūnin exams. While his flame for Ino burned longer, the flame he held for Temari was just as intense, if not twice as much.

Temari of the Sand was his definition of a troublesome woman. The type of woman he would've avoided on a daily basis. The type of woman he couldn't handle.

The type of woman that was just so troublesome.

"This is cute. Why did they decorate it like this?"

Her teal eyes watched the abundant amount of butterflies fluttering about. Someone had opened their cages. Surprisingly, none of them flew more than twelve feet above the ground.

Shikamaru stuck his hands into his pockets. He didn't have an answer to her question. He always assumed they were there to keep up with the name of the restaurant.

"Why did they do this?" He mumbled under his breath.

Sakura turned, noticing him for the first time. She greeted him with a smile, a smile that seemed to make his stomach feel weird a lot lately.

"Did you know?" She pointed to one of the cages. Her finger was close enough to the latch. One butterfly, a dark-red and black color, perched itself next to her finger. "Before this restaurant was built, butterflies always circled this area. Even when they were constructing the restaurant, there would always be at least one butterfly that roamed about."

Shikamaru walked next to her. She looked at him once before turning her attention back to the cage she was currently touching.

"After the restaurant finished, butterflies always flocked to the area. The owner grew fond of them and decided to build a small garden where they would be able to reside in."

"Why the cages?" Shikamaru mentally counted. There were four wooden cages, and two metal cages painted white. Each of them had about four or five butterflies and a plant in the middle of the cage. "It's not like they would fly away."

He remembered back to when he visited with Temari. They never flew away, even when their cages were left open. He remembered they would fly out, but they would always flutter back inside their cage.

"It's not what you think."

Shikamaru looked down at the woman next to him. Her green eyes followed the movement of the red and black butterfly, but he felt as though she were looking miles away into the distance.

"There were customers that liked to catch them, sometimes by the wing and sometimes crushing them unintentionally with their hands." She motioned the action by clasping two palms together. "The cages serve as protection. You'd think they're there to limit their freedom so they wouldn't fly off. But in reality," she looked him right in the eye, "it's the opposite. The cages are a sanctuary, shielding them from outside harm."

He found the breath knocked out of him by the intensity of those swirling emerald orbs. Shikamaru didn't listen to anything else she was saying, instead he chose to focus on the way her lips moved and the peek of her tongue as she enunciated her words. He chose to look at the way her eyes dulled and came back to life at certain words she said.

He was lost in a trance.

"Shikamaru-kun?" She blinked up at him.

There it was. That strange, tingling sensation whenever she said his name. He never wanted to explore what that could mean or why his body reacted whenever she called out to him. It was just too much effort on his part to do something he didn't know the reason to.

"Yeah?" He exhaled, letting go of the breath he held for what seemed like forever.

She shuffled closer to him.

"W-what are you doing?" Shikamaru stuttered. The smell of her perfume wasn't as strong as before, but he still smelled something sweet and inevitably Sakura.

She dangled a gift bag—the one she was holding before—in front of him.

"I was going to give it to you earlier, but you were bombarded by everyone and never got the chance to." She explained as he took the green and white striped bag from her.

"You really didn't have to." He tried to peek inside, but the tissue paper obscured whatever was in the bag from his eyes.

"Of course I didn't have to," she huffed and folded her arms across her chest. "But I wanted to!"

He sighed and rolled his eyes. His apathetic attitude earned him a punch from the pink-haired woman.

"OW! That hurt—"

Whatever pain he was feeling disappeared in the next second. Slender arms wrapped around his waist, small hands pressed firmly against his back to pull him in. She was hugging him, his brain slowly registered. He never knew Sakura Haruno was so soft. He stiffened, not knowing what to do and where to put his hands because everywhere looked so tempting but dangerously off-limits. It wasn't until she slowly rubbed his back with her hand that he felt himself caving into the embrace. It wasn't until he hugged her back did he notice how strangely right it felt with her body molded against his.

It was barely above a whisper, but it was loud and clear in his ears.

"Happy Birthday, Shikamaru-kun..."