Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail and Naruto. They belong to their respective owner.
A/N: Thank you to fellow readers, old and new especially Yours truly – Pride, fin, kurumi fan, the oyabak, fictionlover1993, annarochev, Guest, hi, neko erza, queen of cute, hhhh, sasuza fangirl, naruto x fairy tail, erza-chan, chae kyung sooh, sauza shipper, a person, king, NeitherSaneNorInsane, nikkitheprincess, and fizirazak forreviewing the previous chapter and also to those who favorite/follow this story. I really appreciate it.
As usual, sorry in advance for any mistake. I was in a hurry. =)
CHAPTER 8
.
Sasuke walked out of the classroom in irritation. It was lunch time. And he prepared himself to talk to Erza to apologize. But after he packed his book and placed them in his bag, walking to see the red head, she was nowhere to be found. She really was determined to avoid him. But she couldn't hide from him and avoid him forever, especially when he knew where she disappeared to everyday during lunch time.
After telling Naruto that he would see him later, he made his way towards the back of the school, at the little bench under the tree. He felt confident that he would find her there. Before he reached the stairs that lead to the back of the school, he purposely peek his head outside the window to see if he was right about her being there. And there she was, sitting at her usual place on the bench. She had her face looking upwards with her eyes closed and a smile grazing her lips. She looked like she was enjoying the gentle breeze that blew past her, making her smooth red hair swayed with the direction of the wind. Her back face facing him, so she didn't notice him there at the second floor looking at her.
Sasuke let out a gentle smile grazing his lips, enjoying the view of Erza looking so carefree and relax without any care in the world. She looked more beautiful this way.
Seeing as she was in a good mood, he felt more spirited to go and apologize to her. Hopefully she would just nag a bit at him about his accusation and with a possibly non-threatening bodily harm, she would forgive him. He knew that she would forgive him in the end. In the short time that he came to knew the girl, he knew that she might come off as a strict no nonsense kind of girl but she really was a kind girl at heart.
Just as he wanted to move away from the window to go see her, he saw someone approaching Erza from the corner of his eyes. He paid attention to the newcomer and saw Nara Shikamaru walking at a steady pace towards her with two lunch boxes in his hand.
Sasuke saw Erza glanced at Shikamaru as she heard him approaching her. The wide happy smile she gave Shikamaru at the sight of him made his blood boil for no apparent reason. Sasuke glared at Shikamaru and cursed him for interrupting his chance to meet with Erza.
Suddenly, Shikamaru glanced at the direction of the second floor so Sasuke quickly move aside and hide behind the wall.
Shit! Did he see me or not? Sasuke thought to himself. Damn, that guy really is something. We haven't even properly introduced yet, but he already gets on my nerve.
Sasuke didn't dare to look back outside the window to spy on them, afraid that his presence to be noticed by the surprisingly sharp and observant Shikamaru. From his laid back attitude, Sasuke wasn't expecting it from him. He remembered Naruto saying that Shikamaru was a genius and not to be fooled by his appearance, so he guessed Naruto was right. Shikamaru indeed was an interesting person but Sasuke still was annoyed with him for ruining his chance to see Erza. So with a scowl on his face, he opted to walk away from the scene and went to the rooftop to meet with Naruto and the rest.
###############################*******###############################
Shikamaru tore his concentration away from Erza's smiling face and looked up towards the second floor window near the stairs. He thought he saw someone there from the corner of his eye and he might be mistaken but he thought he saw Uchiha Sasuke standing there just a moment ago. Shikamaru was one to trust his instinct so he was confident that he saw the young Uchiha. And he wondered what Sasuke's interest was with Erza.
At least that was what he deduced since she was the only one at the bench beside him. And he himself couldn't be the focus of Sasuke's interest since they didn't know each other personally. There was nothing interesting happening in the nearby vicinity so that leaves Erza as his main focus.
"Is there something wrong? What are you looking at?" Erza asked curiously, turning in her seat trying to get a glimpse of what had caught his attention.
"Nothing," he answered as he looked back at the red head. "Here, I bring this for you," he said, dumping one of the lunch boxes on her lap as he moved to sit next to her on the bench. He saw the smile returned to her face at the distraction.
"You really bring me food," she muttered with glee. "You really are the best!" She exclaimed with a thumb up towards him and continued to open the box.
He only smirked in return at her enthusiasm at the prospect of food. She would be more delighted once she saw what was inside.
"Strawberry cheese cake!" She once again exclaimed in excitement seeing her favorite food. "This looks delicious. Thank you Shikamaru, you really make my day today," she thanked him gratefully.
"Yeah yeah. It was not that hard to please you anyway. Just stuff you with strawberry cake, and you'll be happy for the rest of the day," he said in joking manner.
"Hmph!" She huffed. "Since you bring me strawberry cheese cake today, I'll let the condescending tone of yours slide today," she said, playing along with him.
"My point exactly," Shikamaru muttered while opening his own lunch box.
"Oh shut up," Erza replied back with a nudge using her elbow at his side. "Let's eat peacefully here."
Shikamaru just rolled his eyes at her antics. They had a quiet lunch as both of them enjoyed their food. Shikamaru looked at the clouds as he munched on his food. The clouds took shape of various things and some of them even looked like a rabbit. It moved slowly in the sky following the wind. It looked so peaceful. Not many people understand his fascination with cloud gazing, and he didn't expect them to.
It was his hobby. He always found some secluded spot for him to cloud gazing. He could just lie down on the grass staring at the clouds and the sky where it was quiet and nobody to bother him. It was a peaceful activity although most would find it boring. But to him, it was one thing that helped him relax and find peace.
"So how's the tournament?" Erza asked breaking the silence. He turned his attention towards her, noticing the empty lunch box.
"Boring," he said with a shrugged.
Erza chided at him. "Everything was boring to you. Seriously, you need to have more fun in your life," she said.
Shikamaru snorted at her remark. "This is rich coming from Erza Scarlet."
Erza laughed at him. "Seriously Shikamaru, how was it?"
"Like I said, it was boring. Everything was predictable, including my win," he said.
He saw the red head shaking her head with a small smile on her face. "Sometimes I don't know if you're being confident or gloating about everything."
"I'm just stating the obvious," he answered easily. "It's not that hard actually, I observe, I deduce and with a little information, I make my conclusion. Everyone can do it if they pay attention hard enough to things and their surroundings."
"It's easy for you to say, you're a genius," Erza muttered with a hint of jealousy.
"Now you're being ridiculous," he waved her off.
"And now you're being humble," Erza retorted with a grin. "Everyone knows you're a genius, it's just you who don't want to admit it. Even Itachi said so, and you know he doesn't give praise if he doesn't mean it."
He just sighed at the mention of the older Uchiha. "What does he want this time?" He asked towards Erza. He knew there was something that the Uchiha wanted from him and he could already guess what it was all about. It was the same thing that he wanted since they met a year ago.
Erza's reaction was telling him all he needs to know. She was flustered at the simple question. So he knew he hit the nail on this one. "W-what do you mean? I d-don't know what you're talking about," she stuttered, looking at anywhere but him.
"Yeah right," he said not believing her for a second. "I know you Erza Scarlet, you can't hide it from me."
He watched in amusement as her cheek redden in embarrassment and he smirked when he saw the defeating slump of her shoulder when she realized that he was right.
###############################*******###############################
Erza exhaled a loud sigh at her friend's remark. True enough, he did know her like an open book. He knew when she was being truthful or not. And once again, he was right so she might as well just tell him the truth. That was what she intended to do anyway but his bullseye guess caught her of guard. That's all.
"What do you think he wants from you," she said sarcastically. "He's been asking the same thing again and again. He wants you to join his company once you graduate from high school," she pointed the obvious. "Why don't you just accept his offer? Saves us all from the trouble," Erza muttered the last part.
Shikamaru snorted. "After high school? He must be crazy then," he said. "It will not look good on him if he hires a high school graduate without at least a diploma. His credibility as a leader and my credibility as a worker will be questioned by the board of director," he pointed heatedly.
"Okay, hear me out," Erza pleaded. Before today, Shikamaru flat out refused the proposition from Itachi without telling the reason why. Now that she knew his opinion in this, it was easier to reason with him. At least now she knew that he had weighed the option of agreeing to the proposition. That was at least something. "Itachi said he will pay everything for your educational purposes. If you want to go to the university, that's fine you don't have to worry about money. He just wants your words that you will work with him once you graduate," Erza said, trying to convince her friend to take up the offer. "Of course there is a term or two that you need to abide like going to the office once in a while in your free time to get use to the environment and stuff. And there might be a time when Itachi will need your help with works, but you could sum it up to work experience," she muttered sweetly.
"My family might not be rich but my parents could pay for my study just fine, and I have my own saving for my study," Shikamaru reasoned with a smirk.
Erza knew he wanted to see just how much Itachi would go to get him on his side. And Erza knew Itachi would go to a great length to get such a great mind like Shikamaru to be on his side.
"I know you do, but if you accept his offer, you could save your money for future. And your parents, tell them to go for a romantic vacation or something with the money," she said. "And I think you could do a lot if you work there. Your talent, don't let it go to waste."
"Places don't matter as long as a person does his job well," Shikamaru pointed as he stared at her with an intent gaze. "Uchiha industry was not the only who approached me. There's three other company that had already contacted me with a proposition including Fernandez industry."
Erza gasped hearing that. She suspected that some major company to be interested in him but Fernandez industry, that was unexpected considering that he was the reason why they did not succeed in buying Scarlet Corporation.
"I understand," she whispered softly with a soft smile. He should be free in making his own choice. It was his future, he knew what was best for himself. "I know I cannot force you to make the choice, and no matter what your decision is I will support you 100% because you are my friend. Although I will be very happy if you take up Itachi's offer. I know he would treat you well and take care of you. And we could work together, so I thought it must be fun."
She was smiling at him but the truth is she was sad that she was going to lose him, another great person in her life. A great friend.
###############################*******###############################
Shikamaru watched as Erza tried very hard to control her emotion. He knew she thought that she was losing him. And it was very hard for her to lose another person in her life.
"Idiot," he said at the red head. And he could see the shock on her face. "You act like this is a goodbye already. Who said that I was going to accept their offers? Especially from Fernandez industry," he muttered with an incredulous face.
"But I thought-"
"I was just stating a fact," he answered quickly.
Erza looked at him with a dumbfounded expression. She tried to form a word but her brain failed her at the moment. So she chose to be silent, trying to process the information forced into her brain.
"I don't know what to say," she finally muttered softly.
"You don't have to say anything, I know how you feel," Shikamaru said in understanding bringing a smile to her face. "And tell Itachi that I have my own terms that he needs to abide should I accept his offer."
Her face light up hearing his statement. "What is it?"
"I haven't thought of it yet," he shrugged. "I'll tell you later once I have one."
"No problem. Should I tell him the good news?"
"Tell him I'm considering the options now. It's the only way to get you guys of my back," he muttered grudgingly.
Erza chuckled at that. "This is really good," she muttered.
"Enough about this depressing talk. Now tell me what the hell happen with you and Uchiha Sasuke for the past two weeks," he said with a sneer. It was time to dig in some information for his own entertainment. He knew there was something going on that she didn't want him to know.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Erza feigned ignorance.
Oh, this is going to be good, Shikamaru thought silently in amusement.
###############################*******###############################
Back with the younger Uchiha, he joined up with Naruto, Natsu, Gray and Gajeel at the rooftop.
"Where are the girls?" He asked nonchalantly, sitting in between Natsu and Gray.
"Lucy has a meeting with her club members, and Juvia said she needs to go to the library," Gray answered.
Without saying anything, he nodded at the answer and munched on his onigiri with a sullen mood.
"What's with you? Why the long face?" Natsu asked looking at him weirdly.
"Nothing," he dismissed it with a wave of his unoccupied hand.
"So, what happened yesterday?" Gajeel interjected, asking what had been on everyone's mind. They were curious to know what had happened when he went after Erza yesterday.
"Nothing happened," Sasuke said with a shrug. "I didn't found her yesterday."
"What?!" Natsu and Gajeel exclaimed simultaneously.
"No wonder she gave you the cold shoulder today. What really happened?" Naruto inquired.
Sasuke sighed at his friends demand but he told them nonetheless about what had transpired yesterday. They deserved to know the truth after his royal screw up.
###############################*******###############################
As the rain was getting heavier, Sasuke quickly went to his car and drove it out of the parking lot. He was really worried about her. He knew there was a bus stop not far from the mall, so he drove towards there hoping that he would find her.
As he reached the bus stop, he saw a few people were waiting for the bus but there was no sign of the red head. So he drove past the bus stop to look for her. There was a possibility that she chose to walk to her house and get trapped in the rain. He drove slowly while looking around so that he won't miss her. It was hard since he didn't know where her house was situated, so he was driving blindly without direction, just depending on what his gut said. After 5 minutes driving, he turned his car into a corner on his left and at the end of the road, he saw a red haired girl enter a fancy car before it moved away.
Sasuke scowled at the sight. He was sure that the girl was Erza. Even if the distance was far and he didn't really see her face, he recognized the blouse and skirt she wore earlier and not to mention the distinctive red hair was a dead giveaway on her identity. Sasuke scowled involuntarily, wondering who it was that picked her up in the obviously classy car. He hoped that she was not stupid enough to get into a stranger's car even in this weather. Many scenarios played in his mind, imagining the trouble that she would get herself into from the thought.
He saw the car that she got into turned right at the corner disappearing from his sight and he speed up to catch up with it since he was quite far behind. But as he turned into the same corner, he saw that he had lost the car he was tailing.
"Damn it!" He cursed. He drove around hoping that he would find the car again but luck was not on his side. So after ten minutes of blindly driving around he opted to quit his search for that day and with a heavy heart he prayed that Erza make it to her house safely.
###############################*******###############################
"Maybe it was a friend who picked her up," Naruto concluded after hearing Sasuke's story. "At least nothing bad happened. She looked fine to me this morning."
"Yeah, maybe you're right," Sasuke agreed. "But I have this nagging feeling that I've seen that car before, but I don't remember where," he said in a thinking mode.
"Really?" Natsu asked. "Maybe it was someone that you've met before," he suggested.
"That's what I thought but I don't think that any of my acquaintance knows her. It's not possible," he dismissed the idea.
"Well, when are you going to apologize to her?" Gray asked.
"I'll find some time," Sasuke replied as he finished his lunch.
###############################*******###############################
After lunch, Sasuke and Naruto walked back to the class for the next period while Natsu, Gray and Gajeel disappeared somewhere. Knowing those three, they must be planning to play prank on someone, mostly juniors. It was a surprise that Naruto didn't join them since he was the most troublesome one amongst them.
Both of them were chatting about mindless thing when Naruto noticed someone turning a corner not far from them.
"Oi! Shikamaru!" He yelled. Sasuke narrowed his eyes watching him as the said boy stopped in his track and turned around with a bored expression while Naruto was waving excitedly at him. It was time that he figure out what kind of person Nara Shikamaru was.
"Yo Naruto," Shikamaru said with a smirk.
"What were you doing sleeping in class so early in the morning? You're lucky Erza didn't kill you for that."
His smirk widen at that. "She did try, but didn't succeed."
Naruto snickered in return. "By the way, this is my friend Uchiha Sasuke," he introduced pointing at him. "He transferred here two weeks ago from Konoha High."
"Nice to meet you. Just call me Sasuke," he said with a small smile, extending his hand to him for a shake.
"Nice to meet you too, I'm Nara Shikamaru. But you can call me Shikamaru," Shikamaru said, shaking his hand in a surprisingly firm grip. "Erza told me about you earlier, you caused quite a stir around here with your presence. Especially with the fangirl around."
Sasuke was shocked to hear that. He didn't expect Erza to talk about him with Shikamaru.
"I hope she's not talking badly about me. We're kinda not in a good term right now," he confessed.
"Yeah, I heard of what happened yesterday," Shikamaru said.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow at that.
Did she talk about everything with this guy here, he couldn't help but thought.
"Oh, so you know that she went out with us yesterday? It was fun until we encounter Fernandez and his girlfriend," Naruto informed.
"Yeah. I'm glad that she went out with you guys rather than holed up in her house, he said. But I wonder what made her agree to the outing? He continued with a raised eyebrow and a small smirk playing on his lip.
Sasuke knew that the question was directed at him and he suddenly felt nervous under the scrutinizing stare of one Nara Shikamaru. Did he know the truth or was he just trying to test him, trying to make him tell the truth. Before, he knew that Erza wouldn't tell a soul about him blackmailing her with the kissing picture but now he didn't know anymore.
"Yeah, you never told us how you persuade her to come with us yesterday," Naruto suddenly piped up.
Best friend or not, he felt like strangling Naruto at the moment.
"I ask nicely," he replied with a straight face although he was jumpy inside.
And he knew that Shikamaru didn't buy it from the way he snorted at his answer. But suddenly the bell rang indicating that the lunch hour had ended and the next period would start soon so he was actually saved by the bell from giving a detail answer.
"Oh no," Naruto whined. "We need to get back to the class," he said as he began walking expecting them to follow suit. And both Sasuke and Shikamaru trailed behind Naruto in silence.
"I saw you earlier you know," Shikamaru suddenly said.
Sasuke stopped in his track and looked at the other boy with shock written all over his face. He had a mind to play ignorance and denied it but he was confident that Shikamaru wouldn't buy it. He was too smart for that. So Sasuke just kept his silence.
"Erza won't be in class for the rest of the period. And she had a meeting with the principal and the rest of the student council after school. That's where you can corner her in case you want to apologize," he said and without waiting for any answer, Shikamaru walked away leaving him staring dumbly at his retreating figure in silence.
Sasuke didn't know what to think of Nara Shikamaru, but one thing for sure he knew that Shikamaru was going to be a good friend and ally.
To be continued
A/N: Thanks for reading you guys. I love you.