I had the day off because I... Well actually I had just ditched, and I was wandering around the forrest without Akamaru for once, and I ran right into Shikamaru taking a nap. Really, I literally tripped over him. I'm not a clumsy person, but it was cause he was downwind and all and I wasn't paying much attention to where I was going when really I should've been more careful.

Anyway, I tumbled over him and he woke up cursing and almost took my head off with a kunai before he realized it was me. I turned bright red and got up quickly, apologizing like a madman. He started complaining, as per usual, trying to brush off his quick reaction. He had snuck away from Asuma just to catch a nap and I had ruined it...

Then he did something which, until the day I die, I will never forget, although I doubt I'm going to forget anything about Shikamaru anytime soon. He stopped mid sentence, grabbed my hand in both of his, quickly, but as gently as if he was holding a newborn babe, and then looked me dead in the eye. I cannot even begin to describe what my insides did at that moment. I know that my face could've fried an egg though; I could almost see the steam coming off of it.

You think I might've been more self conscious, and pulled my hand back, but I'm pretty sure that the heat from my face short circuited my brain, and I just stood there, bright as a tomato, with every intestine in my torso doing circus tricks, staring dumbly at him. I swallowed and moved my hand in his, to make sure it wasn't an illusion. There was a little pain, and they said you couldn't feel pain in a dream. I moved it a little more, just to make sure that it really was painful, and not a dream.

"Sorry, I cut your hand." He said, looking up. At me. Straight in the eyes.

I froze at the sound of his voice, like a deer in headlights. "Oh." I replied, dumbly. His eyes were so incredibly dark, and they were looking into mine. It was so just unbelievable that something like this would be happening and I was so unprepared for it. I felt like... well I can't describe it. The intensity was like nothing I'd ever felt before. It scared the hell out of me, and even though I was a shinobi of the leaf, a proud member of the Inuzuka clan who had earned his headband fair and square, I was frozen solid.

He frowned at me and gently moved his hand from my hand to my wrist and turned my hand over to look at it. "Is it uncomfortable? I'm sorry. Let me grab something to bandage it." He turned his head down, to look into his little first aid kit that we all keep on our belts. I just stared dumbly at his hand on my wrist until a loud bark brought me back to my senses.

I pulled my hand back suddenly like I had been struck by lightening, and turned to see Akamaru, though I had recognized his bark at once. He jumped at me and I grabbed him in my arms and buried my red face into his fur.

"Hey buddy, you okay?" I mumbled to him. He barked his response into my ear and I pulled back to look at him.

"You'll be the envy of all the ladies with that do." I said, grinning at him. I hadn't forgotten about Shikamaru of course, but I was trying to muster the strength to look as untomato-ish as possible, and to maybe actually interact with Shikamaru without making a complete fool of myself.

"Oi, don't get that dirty." He said from behind me. My shoulders stiffened as I tried to resist blushing. This is normal, Kiba. A normal, everyday situation. So act like it, damn it!

"Ah, He's just had a bath and a haircut." I replied, trying to keep my voice normal. I actually did a pretty good job of it too. Akamaru barked over my shoulder at him.

"Still, a dog's a dog. No offense, Akamaru." He said, patting Akamaru on the head as he sat down next to me.

Oh god. I thought, tensing at first and then trying to force myself to relax a little. It didn't work very well... Akamaru jumped out of my arms to chase a butterfly, and left me alone with Shikamaru. Sitting next to me. Like, three inches away. Oh. God.

"Let me see your hand." He held out his hand to take mine.

"Uh, it's fine. I'll tend to it later." I was sure I wouldn't be able to keep my cool if he took my hand again. He stared at me for a few seconds and then sighed heavily.

"What a pain..." He punched me lightly on the forehead, as if he were giving my head a fist bump. "Look, I know we're competing in the exams later on, but it's not as if we're mortal enemies. Give me your hand." He reached over me and grabbed my hand. It was my right hand and he was sitting on my left side, so he had to lean all the way over me. I sat perfectly still and silent, just watching him as he moved, until he started disinfecting the wound.

"Ow! Damn it..." I tore at the grass with my free hand.

"This is such a pain. It wouldn't hurt so bad if you hadn't pet the dog. Don't whine so much." He frowned at me, but I was in heaven. His hands were on mine, carefully wrapping the wound with medical tape. I just watched his hands on mine (His hands on mine!) until he was done, trying to will all my nerve endings to that spot. It was a few seconds until I realized he was done. I looked up, blushing, to see him staring at me with an odd expression on his face. My stomach flipped again, but I looked away before I could blush.

"Umm, thanks..." I said, drawing my hand back a bit and flexing it.

"Hmm. It would've been more of a pain if it'd had gotten infected." He replied, lying back down on the grass. "Just don't tell Asuma-sensei that I'm here."

I laughed awkwardly. "I'm supposed to be studying survival methods, actually." I grabbed Akamaru again and ruffled his ears. He licked my hand and barked.

"Hmm." I thought I could feel his gaze on my back, but when I turned around his eyes were closed. "Well then, would you like to nap here? You're the first person I've actually seen on this side of the forrest."

"Ah. Umm... I suppose so." I laid back next to Shikamaru and Akamaru barked again and curled up on my chest. Unable to nap, I stared up at the clouds, watching them change shape slowly. "Ah, there's a dog!"

"What?"

"Ah, sorry, did I wake you?"

"No. I was wondering which one."

"Umm, it was that one that kinda looks like a goat now."

"Ah. The head is coming off..."

...

"Man..." I sighed. "I've never really watched the clouds before. I feel like I could waste my whole life watching them change. They're so beautiful, it makes me - ah!" I stopped and looked over at Shikamaru. He was staring at me with the same weird expression as earlier, one I'd never seen before.

"Sorry! I was just rambling, I, uh, have to feed Akamaru now, so I guess I'll see you later! Bye!" I grabbed Akamaru and ran until I reached the house. No one was home because it was the middle of the day and my sister was on a mission. I went right up to the attic and sunk to the floor, hugging Akamaru close and blushing into his fur. He squirmed out of my arms and barked twice at me. I groaned and flopped back onto the boxes behind me.