"Checkmate."

The two men stared each other down The older of the two, a man in his late fifties, abruptly got to his feet in disbelief.

"You gotta be kidding me! There's no way that move is legal! Wait…"

"Of course it's legal. You weren't paying attention," came the bored reply.

The older man huffed, walking away. His buddy clapped him on the back before scooting over and making room on the bench near the other chess table.

"So, he got you too, eh Tatsu?"

The man named "Tatsu" growled.

Taking a drag on his cigarette, the younger man leaned back on the bench, drifting his lazy gaze upwards to gaze at the wispy cirrus above him. He exhaled, sending a cloud of his own to join the others, then put it out.

"Ahh…. What a drag…"

Without another word, he removed himself from the chess area, walking up the lawn to a nice sunny spot and laying down in the grass. Putting his arms behind his head, just underneath a spiky ponytail, he dozed off, napping in the afternoon sun.

-

"Have you g-got everything?"

Shino nodded, heading out the door of his apartment.

"Are you sure this is alright?"

He nodded again, focusing on not dropping anything. Watercolor was cheap, and the paper he had given her wasn't horribly expensive, either.

"It's completely fine. C'mon."

The left the apartment, and Hinata locked it for him, pocketing the key and holding on to the supplies he had given her. She wanted to try her hand at painting as well. Who better to ask than an artist?

It wasn't long before they were hauling the equipment through the grass, headed towards the cherry trees. A gust of wind blew by, sending the leaves and blossoms into a fury, and they fell; a soft, pink, scented snowfall. Shino stood by as Hinata set up camp beneath one of the trees, her back to the trunk and the canvas in her hand. Shino had given her a bottle of water and a palette. The artist laid back, sitting in the grass by his equipment for a moment, before spotting a familiar spiky ponytail poking out of the grass. Ah, today was the day the chess players were out. What did that mean? Shikamaru would be here. And most likely, he handed all of their asses back to them with a bishop. Shino didn't know too much about chess, but knew he'd never be able to beat Shikamaru at the game.

Getting back to his feet, Shino walked across the park, Hinata gluing her eyes to her canvas and mixing some pinks. Upon reaching the man, Shino noticed that he was asleep. A little smirk crossed his lips. He crouched by Shikamaru's head, and growled.

"What're you doing sleeping on my property, runt?"

Shikamaru started awake, scrambling up to his elbows. Getting his bearings, he saw Shino snickering above him. Using his left arm, Shikamaru knocked him over.

"…Ass…"

"No harm, no foul."

"Hrm."

The two men got to their feet, and Shika yawned, not entirely wanting to be woken up. He stretched his arms behind his back, and the bones in his elbows popped. Ah, it was a nice spring day. With nothing better to do on the agenda, Shikamaru decided to see what Shino was up to. The artist always had domething interesting on his canvas. Besides… Going by what Ino had said (the two were close, like siblings), Shino had picked up a girlfriend (Ah, cell phones.) Sure enough, as he followed the bug artist, he spotted a dark-haired girl sitting under the cherry tree, waving a one-way fight with some watercolors. The paint was winning.

"Hinata?"

A disgruntled grunt sounded from her, and she looked up, a blush covering her already pink-paint stained cheeks.

"Uh…"

Shino chuckled.

"Don't worry about it. I'll teach you how."

Shika looked appraisingly at her. So, this was the daughter of the prominent Hyuuga? She didn't seem much, but feh, who was he to judge? His family was well known for its regional deer reserve.

"Mendokusai…"

"Hm?"

The girl looked at the newcomer oddly. Oh, right. English…

"I said, loosely, 'How troublesome.' Japanese."

"Oh…"

She seemed downcast.

"Don't worry about Shikamaru here. He's this friendly with everyone. I'm sure that he'll lighten up."

The artist's sunglasses flashed.

"He'd better."

Shikamaru's gaze wandered, looking to the shadow of the magnificent tree, dark patches, the blossoms, disintegrating as the breeze carried off the petals. How amazing it would be to control such a thing. Making the light-starved shadows bend to his will. And oh, what little effort he would use to do it. Twisting; writhing. Control. It was almost laughable; he'd probably only take the power for granted and still be as lazy as he ever was. Why not, instead, be a cloud? So light, carefree, and majestic. Yeah. Clouds were his envy. His dreamy gaze was snapped to attention when the shy girl stood before him, as if expecting something.

"She introduced herself, Nara."

He looked at the Aburame, slightly startled? Had she? He hadn't even noticed.

"Nice to meet you… Hinata, was it? I'm Shikamaru Nara. You might know the Nara Park and Deer Reserve."

He casually gestured around him, indication that this was the said park. She nodded, a faint smile appearing on her lips. Ah, so she was familiar with it. Good, good. The less he had to say, the better. He turned to Shino.

"How's Chou been?"

"Good. Great baker as always. We just saw him today, actually. What do you know of the Uchiha?"

Shikamaru's dreamy face turned hard. He glanced over to the girl, who had returned to her paints.

Hinata worked with the darn things while the men talked. Mix the pink with the water, and dip the brush. Ahh…. Too much water. She grew frustrated, and resorted to finger-painting. She discovered that she liked this method much better, and replaced the brush with her index finger, painting out some lines. She paid no attention to the men talking.

Within a few minutes, she had a good portion of the paper painted pink. Perfect. She wiped her hands in the grass, and changed her color to brown. Time for the trunk of the tree! She used her first three fingers of her right hand and drew a trunk, branching the fingers apart as she reached the pink. Yes! It looked almost like the cherry tree. Just then, a petal landed on her wet page, and she looked up at the tree. Oh, it was so pretty.

Shino's face was glum. Well, the situation was worse than he thought. Better not tell Hinata anything. Didn't want her worrying. His concern was that she would remain safe and, bluntly, oblivious. There was to be a carnival at the end of the week, perhaps they could go to that. So much for getting a painting done, though. He had things he needed to get done.

"C'mon, we ought to get going. See you, Shikamaru."

"Mm."

"Bye, Sh-Shikamaru."

The Nara's brow raised, ever so slightly, at the stammer. So, she has a stutter? Interesting. It was probably a side effect of the trauma. Nodding goodbye, he put his hands in his pockets and trudged off, back to work. He was a manager for a small storehouse, also doing the sweeping and other small custodial dutuies. It was a very small establishment. One of the back buildings of the reserve. Nothing big.

Shino and Hinata, carrying the equipment, got back into the car and headed back home.

-

"Damn it."

"Neji?"

"Damn it."

"…"

Neji Hyuuga paced his living quarters, worried about his cousin. It was late, and Shino had dialed him. The Uchihas were business rivals of the Hyuuga, and they knew each other rather well. This was bad. This was very bad. True, the Uchiha number had dwindled ever since the "tragedy" that left only two survivors, brothers Sasuke and Itachi. Few people knew that it had been Itachi that had laid the bomb. Even fewer knew that he didn't kill his brother as well out of love. Itachi knew that his family was corrupt. The Uchiha, Neji had learned, had been planning to tear apart the city of Konoha. Their accessories, eyewear, purses, wallets, any sort of small accessory (their eyewear was their most notable merchandise) was slander. There had been small nanobombs discovered in most of the purchases. In glasses frames, sewn into trim, this and that. Neji didn't understand the political reasoning, but also knew that the police force, heavily made up of the Uchiha, were what were known as "bad cops". True, there were a few left, some stragglers that had been out of town. But, for the most part, the Uchiha was a dead name.

Except Sasuke and Itachi. Itachi had turned himself in, having lost his sight due to a hereditary disease. Sasuke, however, turned on the world. Self-love. Greed. Power. That's what defined Sasuke Uchiha. And that rat had nearly killed his cousin. It made his blood boil. And Hanabi was there, trying to keep him from wearing a hole in the carpet.

"I don't see why you're so worried. The estate is better off with the wretch gone as it is."

Neji, used to Hanabi's badgering, shrugged it off. He knew that she felt no love for her older sister. She barely put up with him for liking Hinata. He played both sides of the game, working for his uncle, but keeping Hinata close. Even when they were little. And now this. Oh, what to do? His long hair, hanging loosely, swayed with his motion. Hanabi resisted the urge to yank it. She knew, if she did, Neji would judo her ass through the wall. It irked her. What did he think he was, a ninja? Tch. As if.

He threw his hands up in exasperation. Nothing to be done tonight. He'll have to round Ten-Ten up and do some research tomorrow. Until then, he had to go to bed.

"Go back home, Hanabi. Uncle will be waiting for you. It's bed time."

"Hrmph."

She left without so much as a "goodnight". Little pampered brat. Neji turned out the light and headed to the bedroom for the night.

Ah, about time I got a new chapter of this out. I do believe I capture Shikamaru well, don't you? :3