Hi everyone, thank you for still reading this far, the few that you are... I'm actually surprise to see that the other story which I'm writing in parallel is so popular. Is it because Kakashi is more popular than Shikamaru or because people don't like OCs stories? Kind of sucks considering how much more I wrote on this story...

Anyways, thank you lovinurbuks for the usual review. I appreciate the time that you take to write them and I love reading your opinion. I think I'm taking a risky turn with my story starting from here but I find that it makes the story more interesting compared to if I had just jumped into the super over the top fluff right away. I really like to build it up :)

Let me know what you think guys?

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, I think I'd have my OCs running around in it! Haha..

Two days later, Sora was running around her kitchen, desperately looking for things to make lunch. Turns out that during her depression a few days ago, a lot of the food had rotten. Normally, this wouldn't be a crisis but since Asuma had invited himself over for lunch, she was panicking. With the help of Shikamaru, she had managed to feel better and she was determined to prove it to the man who was still worried.

Finally, she stopped running and stood in front of what she hadn't thrown out. There wasn't much. Determined to make it work, she ran to her room, grabbed her wallet and her usual attire and ran out of the house. Looking up at the sky, she decided that she would have enough time to swing by a grocery store and maybe even clean her house a bit. While running, she took her wallet out and calculated how much money she had leading her to decide which grocery store to go to. Reaching downtown, she zigzagged around the massive crowd and finally reached the grocery store she wanted to go to. Even inside the store, she kept rushing. She didn't want lunch to be a fluke as she also wanted to show Asuma how responsible she could be on her own.

After paying for her massive amount of groceries, she picked up three huge paper bags filled with her newly bought food and balancing everything in her arms, she started sprinting back to her house. However, as she turned the corner outside, she hit something or someone hard and fell on the ground.

"Ow!" she said as she sat back up and looked at all the food that had fallen on the ground.

"I'm so sorry! Are you ok?" asked a manly voice in front of her.

Looking up, she took notice of whom she had run into. A tall guy, about her age, with chocolate brown hair and hazel brown eyes, was staring down at her worried. The sight of him made her feel butterflies in her stomach, exactly like those she had been having recently when she hung out with Shikamaru. Getting on all four, she started picking her things while saying embarrassed:

"No, no! I should apologise. I wasn't looking at where I was going..."

The boy kneeled down and started helping her.

"I should have at least tried to catch you!" he told her with a smile.

Still not used to feeling the way she was, she tried avoid his stare and concentrate on the food. When they finished picking everything up, they got up with the bags in their arms.

"That's quite a lot for you to carry alone. Let me help you. I still got time before I need to go work," he proposed in a cheerful tone.

"Oh, I'm fine! I'm used to these kinds of things!" she blurted out.

"Haha, I insist!"

Without giving her time to refuse again, he picked one of the two bags she was carrying so she would now need to only hold one.

"So, where are we off to?" he asked with a huge smile.

"Oh, um... south. I mean the south sector, that's where I live," she answered uncomfortably. This guy was nice but he made her feel... different.

"South, huh? That's perfect! That's actually near where I have to work!"

As they both walked in the right direction, curiosity finally had gotten the best of the young girl.

"What do you do for work?"

"Oh, I'm a builder. My dad is an architect so he plans all the building and the team I work with makes sure that they become reality."

"Cool..." she said looking in front of her. She was so used to being surrounded by ninja friends that being friendly to someone who had a different career was something new.

"So which rank are you?" he asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Huh?" She looked at him confused.

"Well, I'm guessing by the headband around your neck that you're a ninja. So which rank are you?"

"Oh! I'm a chuunin!" she said proudly.

"Wow, at your age? You must be good!"

"I have great teammates," she answered giggling as she started feeling a little bit more comfortable.

Shikamaru walked in Ino's flower shop. As soon as the door was open, a little bell rang over his head. Almost immediately Ino popped up at the front of the store.

"Shikamaru, you came!" she said cheerily.

"Yeah, but I don't have much time Ino. What's up?"

"Well, I need to speak to you about important matter which may be just more urging than anything else."

The boy looked amused. "I promised lunch to Choji, so I'm pretty sure that's also important."

The girl, who looked over the boy's shoulder, mumbled, "Sora...?"

"Uh, yeah. We're probably swinging by her place later to see if she wants to hang out with us. Why?" he asked confused by the girl's illogical train of thoughts.

"No! I meant : oh my god, is that Sora?" she said as she grabbed her friend and spun him around.

Together, they looked outside to see Sora, holding a bag of groceries, talking and walking side by side with a handsome young man, who also was holding two grocery bags. They both seemed to be enjoying their current conversation.

Connecting two and two together, Ino smiled slyly and said with that famous annoying tone:

"Well, no wonder she's been hiding him. With a cutie like him, anyone would be jealous!"

Turning around, Shikamaru looked at Ino.

"Just what are you talking about?" he asked, now irritated by what he saw.

"Oh, come on! It was obvious! You remember how shy she got when sensei talked about love. She wouldn't tell me who it was but she couldn't hide it forever!" she answered all excited. The girl was sure that she had pierced her teammate's secret and was already thinking about who she should gossip to.

Knowing her usual train of thoughts, he tried to stop her.

"Ino! Leave her alone. If she didn't want you to know, then there must have been a reason."

But with his unconvincing tone and her determination, there was no stopping her. Seeing that this was going nowhere, Shikamaru decided it was time to leave.

"Hey! Where are you going?" the blonde girl asked.

"Out. I told you already. I'm meeting Choji," he replied, annoyed.

"Okay! Gee, sorry for asking!" the girl said on a defensive tone.

As he left, she leaned over her counter and started thinking. What had gotten into Shikamaru suddenly?

When they arrived at her house, Sora and the boy stopped in front of the door. The girl took her keys out, and inserted them in the door. She closed her eyes in frustration when she realized that she, once again, forgot to lock her front door.

"Something's wrong?" the boy asked.

Her eyes shot open. "Yes! No! I mean... actually yes. My house is a huge mess and it would be better if you didn't come in," she blurted out.

He laughed. "Trust me, I have it worse! We're only men living in my house."

Knowing that she can't change his mind, she finally decided to let him in. Bracing herself for the worse, she walked as fast she could to her kitchen, hoping he'd follow her just as fast but he didn't. Slowly, he walked behind her, taking the time to look around.

"That's a really nice place you've got there!" he told her a few minutes later when he reached the kitchen.

"Thanks," she said rubbing the back of her neck.

As he put his bags down on the counter, he turned to look at the girl.

"Hey, you know what I just realized?"

"What?"

"We never properly introduced ourselves. I'm Daichi!" he said as he stretched out his arm in front of him.

"Oh right! I'm Sora!" she introduced herself and grabbing his hand to shake it.

She was about to let go when she noticed that he was still holding on. Looking into her eyes, he said:

"Want to go out with me?"

"Huh?!"

Sora had been so surprised that she didn't know what to say. She never faced that kind of situation and her only reaction was to pull her hand away.

"Ah! I'm sorry! I was thinking about it all day, so I came to forget how this would seem sudden to you..."

Sora looked down to her feet.

"I-I'm sorry! I can't accept!"

"Oh? Are you already with someone? I'm sorry, I didn't check first!"

"No, no! That's not it!" she said while waiving her hands in front of her. "I'm just... not ready for this kind of thing!"

The boy stared at her and smiled softly. "You have never gone out officially on a date?"

"Um, well...no," she said bringing down her hands.

"How about this then: give it a shot and come on a date with me tonight. After that, if you don't like it, we'll stop it there."

The girl studied Daichi's face. All she could see was sincerity and kindness. Finally, she asked:

"Can I think about it?"

"Of course!" he replied happily. "I'll be working until four today at the construction site near here. If you decide to try it out tonight, come and see me before then!"

"Wait, you mean the little school they're building?"

"That's us!" he answered proudly.

"Woah!"

"So think about it, ok? I need to go work now but I hope I'll see you later!" he said while heading toward the door.

"Ok! Have a good day!"

"Yeah, you too!"

And as quickly as she had met him, the boy had left.

As soon as Asuma had knocked on the door, he heard:

"Come in, sensei!"

He opened the door and walking in, he was surprised to find the place the exact opposite from what he expected: clean. Walking toward the dining room, which was connected to the kitchen, he soon found Sora putting the final touch on their lunch.

"Do you have to call me sensei even though we're alone?" he asked knowing full well the answer.

"Yes. We have already covered this. Although you are my godfather and legal guardian, I am still to honor you with the title 'sensei'," she told him, bringing two very well elaborated bento box on the table. "Eat up!" she added with a smile.

"Well, you're awfully happy. This is night and day compared to a few days ago. What got you in such a good mood?" he asked while digging in his food. The taste was amazing.

"There was a turn of event this morning that I never expected. It just put me in a really good mood," she told him in a cheerful tone.

"Oh? Care to share?"

A light blush appeared on the girl's face which grabbed his attention.

"Not now, but maybe later? What did you want to see me for?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Hm. Well, I don't want to ruin your mood but I'm here to talk about how you are feeling. It's almost that time of the year..." he said softly, studying her expression.

In a matter of seconds, he watched her face go from the happiest expression he had seen from her in a while to a much more serious and sad one. It broke his heart to know that he was the cause of it.

"You mean the date that my parents died."

"Yes," he answered still softly.

She put down her chopsticks and rested her hands on her lap as she stared at him.

"After all these years, it still hurts just as much. I would have thought that it would become easier to bear with over time..."

Asuma stared at her with care.

"I know and I wish I could do something about it. But I'm still here if you ever want to talk more about it or if it becomes too painful. I agreed to let you live your independency but it doesn't mean that you need to live through everything on your own. If for any reason you need my help, just say the word."

Sora had picked up her chopsticks again and started picking at her food.

"I know... And I truly do appreciate your intention."

There was a silence that settled in for a few minutes, as if they had continued to share their conversation quietly. As he was about to compliment her on how amazing her lunch was, a loud knock was heard on her front door. The girl looked up in confusion

"Were you expecting anyone?" her sensei asked.

"No, at least not that I can remember. You were the only one I had plans with today."

"I'll go check for you," he said with a smile as he got up.

A few seconds later, Sora heard voices coming from the front of her house.

"Sensei? We didn't expect to see you here!"

"Well, here I am Choji," the man answered with a mocking tone.

"Is Sora here?" asked a second voice.

"I certainly hope so Shikamaru. This is her house after all," the man continued joking. "Come in!"

Sora hid her face in one of her hands. Whoever asked her if they could come in?

When they walked in, the first thing Choji did was check out the lunches sitting on the table.

"These smell good! Did you make them?" he asked the girl.

She smiled. "Yeah, if I would have known that you two would come by, I would have also prepared you some."

"In other words, don't touch my lunch!" Asuma said with a laugh.

"Beside, we already ate Choji," Shikamaru told him.

Sora looked at her black hair friend curiously. Something felt different about him. Usually, he would have joked with his friend about eating again but not this time.

Noticing her curiosity, Choji told her: "Don't pay him too much attention. He's been grumpy ever since this morning."

Shikamaru ignored the comment as he sat down at the table. Not knowing what to do, Sora got up and offered to prepare some tea for her new guests which Choji accepted happily. While she was behind the kitchen counter getting the tea ready, the girl finally took pity on her friend who was now drooling over her bento box. She told him that he could take it, pretexting that she was already full. Asuma sighed with discontent but didn't peep a word. Not once, through the whole process, did Shikamaru say a thing. It was becoming clear at this point that something was bothering him.

Bringing tea to the table for her guest, she sat back down in her seat and asked the black hair boy: "So what's up with you?"

"Just thoughtful today," he answered her quickly as if to get it over with.

Now it was Asuma's turned to be surprise. Those two had gotten considerably close recently and now the boy was giving her the cold shoulder. Deciding not to push the matter any further, Sora looked at her sensei and asked:

"Are we planning on meeting up for training soon? I know Ino's been busy with business at her family shop with her mother gone on vacation but I was thinking that it would still be nice to at least meet up."

"Good point," the man said between two bites. "How about we meet tomorrow at noon?" I'll check to see if Ino will be able to meet us. Usual training ground since we won't do anything fancy this time."

Everyone agreed silently. Soon enough, Choji finished the food he had.

"So, Sora. We actually came here to see if you weren't too busy. Did you want to hang out with us this afternoon?"

Thinking about the cleaning she had started to do while preparing lunch, the girl kindly declined.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to pass for today."

Beside her, Shikamaru sighed and got up.

"There, you got your answer Choji. Now let's go." And without waiting for a reply, he left the dining room.

Utterly confused, the girl looked at her teammate then at her sensei to realize that they were just as dumbfounded as her. Deciding that she should go see what's wrong with him after all, she got up and walked after Shikamaru. Walking outside, she found him with his back against her house, arms crossed, and looking at the sky. She took the time to close door for privacy then asked:

"Seriously, Shikamaru. What's wrong? Did I offend you by not accepting the offer to hang out with you?"

Still not looking at her, he said: "Of course not. You can hang out with whoever you want."

"But I'm not planning on seeing anyone else this afternoon…?"

He looked down and stared at her angrily. "Stop acting like that. Ino and I saw you this morning walking with this guy. So just stop hiding him."

She stared at him blankly for several seconds before realizing who he was referring to: Daichi.

"Hiding...? Good lord, Shikamaru, I ran into him this morning! Literally! I never met that guy before."

"Of course you didn't. You think, after all this time, I don't know how you act with people you have just met?"

"Wait, why do you care so much about him? Even better, why should I even explain myself to you in the first place?!"

If her happiness hadn't been completely killed with her earlier conversation with Asuma, it definitely was now. Before the boy could answer, the door opened beside them. They both turned to see Choji standing there, unsure if he should say something to help the two of them.

"Took you long enough. Let's go." Shikamaru told him.

Choji looked at his friend who started walking away and then at the girl, who stared at Shikamaru with crossed arms, hurt painted all over her face. He quickly asked her if she was okay, which she answered with a quick nod, and then ran after his friend.

Walking out of the house too, Asuma saw Sora watching the boys walking away. To his surprise, she tightened her grip on her arms and yelled:

"Just walk away like you always do, Shikamaru! Walk away like the coward you are!"

The sensei looked at the boy to see his reaction but either he didn't hear her or pretended not to. He then saw the girl wipe some tears in frustration and walked in the house in a hurry.

"Hey, where are you going? What happened with Shikamaru?"

Walking back out while tying her hair back into a short pony tail for the first time in what felt like ever, she said angrily: "I don't know what's his problem but I have some business to attend to."

"Do you want me to talk to him?"

"No," she answered quickly. Then before leaving, she said: "Thank you for your visit sensei and I'm sorry it turned out like this. I do however appreciate your concern..."

"As long as you understand that I'm always here then I'm content," he said with a smile which she returned weakly.

Watching her leave, Asuma stood there several minutes before leaving, trying to figure out what happened between Shikamaru and Sora whom seemed so happy together not too long ago.

Putting the heavy pile of wood down, Daichi stood up and sighed. It was quite a beautiful day to work. He could also already imagine how great the school would look like once it was done. With a smile, he was about to turn around to get more wood when one of his coworkers shouted:

"Hey Daichi! You got a visitor!"

Shielding his eyes from the sun with one hand, he spun around to see the one person that made him happier than anything else.

"Sora, you came! I was actually getting worried that you wouldn't come!" he told her with a wide smile.

"Sorry you felt this way but I'm here now!" she said with a bright smile now on her face.

"Does that mean...?"

"Yes, I will go on a date with you tonight," she answered quickly, as if afraid of changing her mind again.

"That's great! What am I saying? It's not great, it's marvellous! I won't let you down!"

His happiness made her laugh. At least, she had managed to make one person's day.

"I'll pick you up at six tonight, at your house, okay?"

"Where are we going?" she asked.

He winked at her. "That's a surprise, my darling!"

Giggling, Sora bid her goodbyes and left, almost running back to her house. On her way back, she slowed down to eventually stop where there was no one. She looked up at the sky and started to wonder if she did the right thing. She had been so hurt by Shikamaru's sudden change of behaviour that she also wanted to hurt him. Of course, the only thing she could come up with was accept the invitation to go on a date with the one guy that seemed to bother him the most.

Silently, she whipped a tear that had slowly started going down on her cheek. Through her own mixed feeling, little had she noticed Shikamaru's growing affection for her over the past few days...

This is the end of this, holy geez, very long chapter! So, I realized that no one has really commented on whether I should keep this story a T or change it to an M later and include a lemon. However, I'm thinking of just doing a one-shot prequel at the end of this and rate it an M with a lemon. Again, if anyone wants to comment on this, feel free to do so!

Share the love, write a review... few readers that you are... (seriously, I only had 15 people read the last chapter... I guess I'm expecting too much)