Hi everyone, sorry for being a little bit late! I'm going to slow down soon with the updates to give me time to write more chapters...

And for the moment that everyone has been waiting for...

First off, Sora hadn't expected to sleep all the way till the next morning like her friend had warned her. In fact, the first thing she knew, someone was knocking on her door. While walking toward the door, she realized that it was already ten o'clock, the next morning. The second thing that she didn't expect was for Reena to change her plans. When she opened the door, not only did she find her best friend but also someone else: Lee.

"Good morning beautiful maiden! Your eyes, which reflect the infinite sky, are shining like thousands of suns today!" the boy in a green jumpsuit shouted.

Only half awake and confused as hell, Sora's sole reaction was to motion for them to come in. When she shut the door, Lee went in the living room on his left and Reena turned around with a huge smile.

"Slept well?"

"Mmmyes. I think," mumbled Sora, still waking up.

"Good! Because today, Lee and I will work on your taijutsu!"

Now fully awake, the black hair girl looked at her friend in surprise.

"Why the sudden switch? Weren't we working on genjutsu?"

"No need to do that. From what I could see yesterday, you don't need much training on that. Beside, you said you wanted to work on your weak point, right? Then you need to work on your taijutsu."

Sora opened her mouth to argue but then closed it again, fully knowing that the white hair girl had a point.

"Beside, you learn fast so might as well learn from the best!" continued gleefully Reena.

Sora sighed. "Just let me go get ready…"

As fast as she could, she got ready, went to the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast and headed outside with the other two. When walking outside, she asked:

"So which training ground are we going to train in today?"

"We will train here!" shouted out excitedly Lee.

"Why here?" asked the girl.

"This place is perfect! It is wide and clear and has such a beautiful view of everything!" he explained, still in a loud voice.

As Reena had planned, the training burned Sora to the core. However, it was completely worth it. She saw how, at first, the black hair girl was discouraged as she couldn't keep up with Lee who was extremely fast. Little by little, she started blocking one hit, here and there, by following very closely Lee's tedious tips and tricks. Reena had also given her what Lee called some cheating tricks. All she really thought her, however, was how to use her chakra to help her not only move faster but hit harder too. Toward the end, Sora even managed to land a hit but the white hair girl wondered if Lee hadn't been distracted by Sakura's arrival.

When the pink hair girl arrived in the late afternoon and Sora sent Lee a few steps back, Reena called for a break. While the two comfortably settled under a tree, Sakura and her talked privately a bit further. Turns out that team 7, with the exception of Kakashi, at Reena's disappointment, was chosen as one of the few teams to help deal with the missing nins that have been wreaking havoc between Konoha and Suna. The two had to go to see the Hokage for more information on how they would arrange their meet up with the sand ninjas. When Reena turned around to tell her best friend that she had to leave, she realized that Sora was sound asleep against a tree. She smiled, knowing full well from experience that she would be sore for a few days.

With Sakura's and Lee's help, they brought her inside the house and in her room. Once they settled her down, Reena found some paper and a pen, and wrote her an elaborated letter on how she had to leave for a mission, which also meant that Sora needed to rest as much as possible for a few days and eat lots of protein for her muscles. When she was satisfied, they all left, making sure to lock the door behind them.

That day, Shikamaru kept himself as busy as possible by hanging out with Choji but even his best friend could tell that he was distracted. By habit, the black hair boy was trying to plan out how tomorrow would go. He soon came to realize that he couldn't plan these kinds of things, unlike missions or even fights.

The next day, Shikamaru headed to Sora's house toward noon with the only excuse he could come up with: play a shōgi game. He was surprised though by how he ended up waking up the girl when he knocked on the door. It took several minutes for her to open the door as she had all the trouble in the world with getting out of bed. Not only was she sore, her body was hurting everywhere that Lee had landed a hit. But to top it all off, when she opened the door, her heart dropped at the sight of the boy. She had been so distracted recently that she had come to forget about everything else. The sight of him brought it all back.

"Hey," she greeted him dryly.

"Hey, you free today?" asked the boy.

She looked up at the time to realize that it was noon, meaning that if Reena had plan anything today, she would have already been there.

"Yes," she lied quickly.

Shikamaru tilted his head, knowing that the girl was lying.

"Oh? And with what?" he asked, deciding to push the matter further.

"I'm meeting Reena..." she continued lying.

Shikamaru smiled knowingly. "Funny because Reena left on a mission last night. Guess that means you're free then! Want to play shōgi with me? It's been a while!"

Sora bit her lip, hating herself, but also stared at the boy in wonder. Something was strange about his attitude today. She took a deep breath, knowing full well that she shouldn't hold it against him for loving someone. Finally, she let out:

"Fine, come in..."

Without a word but with a sly smile, he walked in and she closed the door behind him. After he went in the living room, she told him:

"Let me go take a shower and get ready. We can play after if you want."

Once he nodded, she left for her room. As she walked in, she saw the letter that Reena had left on her night table. Shikamaru had been right; her best friend was gone on a mission again. Sora scratched her head while thinking about how her team was getting fewer missions than others and wondered about the reason. After reading all the instructions, she slowly and painfully walked in her shower and got ready. Once she was all dressed, she somewhat quickly went to her kitchen and cooked an omelette in order to eat some proteins. When she was almost done, a voice behind her made her jump.

"Smells good."

She turned around and saw Shikamaru standing in the dining room with his shōgi board.

"Thanks," she mumbled. "Want some tea while I eat breakfast?"

"Sure."

When everything was ready, she brought it all to her table and they settled down.

"Did you want to settle on my back balcony like last time?" she asked between two bites.

"Actually, I was wondering if you'd like to go settle out more in nature. Maybe that place on the hill that you like so much?"

She nodded, not seeing any reasons to refuse. With his eternal patience, he waited for her to be done her breakfast while sipping his tea. He offered to help her clean but she politely refused. Soon enough, they headed to Sora's and now Shikamaru's favorite spot. The girl looked up at the cloudy sky. The sun was clearly hiding somewhere. The boy was more busy thinking about how he felt like somehow it'd be less awkward to talk to her about his feelings out there but it bugged him how he still didn't know how he'd cover the matter or even introduce it to begin with. Deeply lost in his thoughts, he was surprised by how fast they arrived at their spot.

Without a word, he quickly settled down with the game he's been carrying around and quickly prepared it. All the while, Sora slowly took her spot, watching Shikamaru in wonder. Something was clearly weighing on his mind and she started wishing that she could help him talk it out. She wondered if he was thinking about his crush but quickly pushed the thought away. She didn't want to let these thoughts ruin her friendship with him. If the best she could have was having him as a friend then she would still be happy. At least, that's what she tried to convince herself.

The game started. All throughout, they stayed silent not peeping a word. This heavy silence continue for a very long time as Sora tried to build the best strategy she could while the boy struggled with finding a way to introduce the subject he wanted to cover.

Much further in the game, Shikamaru did a move which left Sora dumbfounded. She looked at him with wide eyes to see if he realized what he did. Noticing how she wasn't making a move, the boy looked up and was confused by the look she was giving him.

"What?" he asked.

"Are you letting me win or are you really THAT distracted?" she replied, seeming a tad insulted by the first possibility.

Unsure what she was talking about, he looked down at the board and studied the pieces. Well shoot, he thought. He really was in a bad position. He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably as he realized what was happening.

"Wow, I guess I really was not paying attention..." he mumbled, not sure what else to say.

She sighed. "Why did you bother me with playing a shōgi game when you're obviously not interested in playing it?"

He looked at her, searching for what to say. His tongue was burning with the desire of spilling everything out but, even though Ino had told him that Sora liked him, he was still filled with the fear of being rejected. While he struggled with what to say, the girl looked at him worried. Whatever was bugging him seemed like a huge deal.

"Shikamaru? We can play another time if you're not feeling up to this..." she told him, now feeling a bit bad by the way she had snapped at him before.

He snapped out of his daze and upon seeing her expression, he put on a smirk and said:

"I bet even now I can still beat you."

She smiled back. "It's on!"

Today, the girl learned that even in a bad situation, Shikamaru still had the amazing ability to win. He had to sacrifice a lot of his pieces and take a brand new strategy but at the end, he still won.

"What the hell!" she shouted out in frustration. "I was clearly winning!"

"You were too drunk on what you thought was your victory," he offered as an explanation.

Slightly offended, she crossed her arms and pouted. The sight of her acting like this made him laugh which surprised the girl. She then smiled, happy that somehow she seemed to have made him feel better. Seeing her smile sweetly, Shikamaru's heart skipped a beat. Picking up all his courage, the boy opened his mouth, determined to tell her everything. However, he barely had the time to say "Sora" that he stopped when he noticed her suddenly looking up at the sky.

She blinked in surprise as another water drop crashed on her face. Crap. She quickly got up.

"We need to go, it's raining!"

The boy swore under his breath as more water drops came crashing down on them. He got up and, with Sora's help, he quickly packed up the game. By the time they had everything ready to go, it was now pouring hard.

"Come on! Your house is closer! Let's head there!" shouted out Shikamaru.

They started running in the right direction but Sora soon had slow down. Her sore body was screaming in pain as she was asking too much from it. It took a few minutes for the boy to notice this and, although it annoyed him to be soaked like this, he slowed down as he did not want to leave her behind.

When they finally reached her house, they got in quickly and the girl closed the door behind them. Seeing how silly they both looked made Sora burst out in laughter. She never thought that they'd be caught in a storm without ever planning on at least bringing an umbrella or something.

Her laughter lighten up Shikamaru's mood as he had been feeling gloomy by how soaked they were. He put down the shōgi game.

"Well it might dry off fast, but we won't..." he told the girl as he lifted one arm where more water dripped off.

"No worries, I'll go grab towels and it will be all fine!" she said in a surprisingly cheerful tone.

Normal people would have hated the feeling of being caught in such heavy rain but in her case, it made her feel happy. She quickly left the entrance hallway, motioning for Shikamaru to follow her. Down a hallway on the right, she opened a closet door near her bathroom and the two rooms of the house and took out a couple of towels. She handed one to the boy who immediately started drying himself. In the process, he pulled down his hair in order to take the water out of them. The girl was dazed by the view and a light tone of pink appeared on her face.

"Geez. I'm going to need to at least hang this up to dry it," he mumbled, now looking at his shirt while trying to take the water out of it.

Sora quickly turned away and headed to her room while saying awkwardly:

"I might have something for you to change in..."

She started looking through her things in a wardrobe while trying to take out of her head the image of a shirtless Shikamaru. The more it stuck in her head, the more she could feel her face warm up. Finally, she took out the two pieces of clothing that she was looking for and walked back at the boy who looked at her curiously.

"Here. They were my father's, so they should fit you," she said while looking away from him.

Oblivious to her strange way of acting, he took the clothing and looked at it.

"Yeah, I think it will."

He then went in the washroom to get changed while Sora told him that he could hang his clothing in the shower and waited patiently outside. After a few minutes, he came out wearing dark blue sweat pants and a black turtle neck sweater which were just a little bit loose on him.

"Thank you," he told her knowing how important these clothes must be for her considering how they used to be her father's.

"You're welcome. Want some tea to warm up?" she asked.

"Sure, after you get changed," he said while crossing his arms.

The girl looked down to realize that she was still wearing her soaking wet clothing that stuck to her like a second skin. She shook her shoulder.

"I'll be fine, it will dry off."

"No, you'll get a cold if stay in wet clothing."

Truth was, seeing her in soaking wet clothing made her body a tad too revealing to him, which of course woke some new feelings in him.

She pulled out her tongue at him childishly. "Well I'm not fussy about being in wet clothing like you so I'm fine."

Thinking she had the final word, she turned around and started heading for the kitchen.

"Oh no, you are not staying in this!"

She yelled out in surprise as she felt an arm grab her around her waist and another lift her under her knees. Afraid to fall down, she wrapped her arms around his neck and shouted:

"Shikamaru! Let me down this instant!"

"You troublesome woman! You are going to get change, end of story. Don't make me force you to change your clothes too!" he told her while bringing her bridal style in her room.

He then slowly dropped her down on her bed and, when he started getting up, he realized how close he was to Sora's face, who was still holding her arms around his neck. He stopped his movement and looked into her sky blue eyes. Hypnotized, he realized that he couldn't take it anymore. With his hands on each side of her head, he slowly leaned down and gently pressed his lips against hers. Backing up a bit, he looked at her, worried that she would freak out about his kiss. He first saw her eyes widen in surprise but a glorious smile quickly appeared on her face. Happy, he leaned back down and started kissing her again. She gladly opened her lips when he asked permission with his tongue. He quickly explored the inside of her mouth, tasting the sweet victory of finally being able to show her how he felt. Their kiss grew more passionate as he deepened it, filled with the need to have her.

When she felt one of his hand traveled from her head down to her belly, a feeling of panic filled her. Gently but firmly, she placed her hands on his chest and pushed him back. Realizing his mistake, Shikamaru quickly pulled back and sat on the bed beside her while breathing heavily. Of course, this was going too fast for her, especially after what she experienced with Daichi. How could he have forgotten about that?

When Sora sat up, she started feeling guilty. "I-I'm sorry..." she mumbled.

The boy looked at her softly.

"Hey, don't apologize. I understand. I actually should be the one apologizing for rushing it like that."

Sora bit her lip, unsure what to say or do. It was obvious that she was happy about Shikamaru's feelings for her but didn't know what to do. Seeing this, the boy decided to take matters in his own hands and try to lighten up the mood.

"How about you get changed and I make tea? I'm pretty sure I remember where all the things are in your kitchen."

"Uh, sure…" she answered while trying not to sound awkward.

Once closed the door as he left, she gently touched her lips with her right hand. All this time, she had been jealous and angry at the thought that Shikamaru could have liked someone else but, at the end, he really liked her and her only. It was almost too good to be true but she had no doubt left after the kiss they had shared. She must have stayed a long time lost in her thoughts because she jumped when she heard a knock on her door and the boy say:

"Hey, I did some tea. Can I come in with it?"

"Ah! Not yet! I'm almost done!" she answered loudly.

Quickly, she ran around and swiftly changed herself in some dry clothing. When she felt ready, she opened the door to let the boy in. He went straight for her night table and settled down a little tray with all the tea accessories on it. Afterward, he turned and looked at Sora with a smile. When she returned his smile, he knew that she didn't hold it against him for what happened. Even better, it made him happy to see how she seemed happy about his quiet revelation.

A sudden roll of thunder made the two of them jump. Only a few seconds after they heard the storm, all the lights went out in the house.

"Shoot! Now there's no more electricity!" Sora said in a weak voice.

"Do you have any candles we can use?" asked the boy.

"Yeah... They're at the top of the closet, where I took out the towels from."

"Good, I'll go get some."

As he turned around to leave, another crack of thunder was heard over their head. In the process, Sora screamed a little bit and involuntary jumped toward Shikamaru who wrapped his arms around her in surprise.

"Don't leave, please!" she pleaded.

"Sora... You're afraid of thunder?"

Before she could answer, there was another crack of thunder. She quickly hid her face. Now that Shikamaru stopped and thought back, he had never seen the girl around when there was a storm. Somehow, she had always managed to hide herself from everyone during those time.

"Come here..." he softly whispered in her ear while leading her to her bed.

When they were comfortably settled, Sora remembered about the tea the boy had made. She looked in the direction of the tray. Seeing this, the boy shook his head and said:

"Forget about the tea. If you jump while you're holding it, you'll spill it everywhere and burn yourself. If you're cold, just wrap yourself under the blankets."

As he stayed closed to her to reassure her, Shikamaru realized that this day had been filled with revelations. Finally showing Sora his true feelings for her felt like a huge weight had been taken off his shoulders and that made him happy.

And that is it! Hoped everyone liked it!

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