Chapter 33: Flying Formation!

Shikamaru's words were barely above a whisper, but they were clear and direct. He had never been one to beat around the bush, and he wasn't about to start now.

"..."

When Hinata paused on her tracks, Shikamaru stopped right in front of her and let go of her hand when it dropped limp to her side, she was likely surprised.

Lately, Shikamaru had been saying things that could easily be misconstrued and misunderstood in her mind. From his request to write to him, or to the request to wait for him, something about having something to tell her when he's a Jounin. Shikamaru has also told her that he cares deeply about her. But now, he was saying that he likes her, always making her consider the possibility of that and more.

"Shikamaru, are you, are you confessing to me?" She couldn't observe his expression, but based on everything she was hearing, there was no prank detected in his voice.

His chest tightened. This was too much of a big deal to him, and the idea of going back to keeping these feelings to himself didn't feel like an option.

"I am. I really do like you."

"But... why?"

"Because," Shikamaru began, but a soliloquy wasn't right. He thought to keep it short. "Because you're kind, and you're strong, and you're beautiful. I've always admired you."

Hinata blushed.

'So that's how he sees me? Shika, you are the amazing one.' Hinata thought to herself, feeling flattered, since she had looked up to him, and then had realized some time ago that she had fallen for him as well. Hinata felt like she should tell him, but only found herself asking even more questions.

"How- for how long have you had a crush?" Hinata asked, her voice trembling.

This was different. It was more than a crush. But since Hinata hadn't ran away yet, and was willing to hear him out, Shikamaru didn't want to scare her in any regard.

"I think I've liked you since the last year in school, right before we all graduated. Then I ended up watching you and admiring you from afar," Shikamaru replied.

"I-I don't believe you," Hinata challenged, her voice laced with a playful skepticism. How was it possible that his feeling had been going on for so long, and yet she had never noticed anything before.

Shikamaru's brow furrowed in mock indignation. But looking past her blushed cheeks, he noticed she was only teasing him.

"Which part don't you believe?" He asked, humoring her.

"Um, the part where you claim to have watched me from afar... even though you would hold my hand and take naps on my lap many times. That's not really something someone does...from afar." Hinata replied, her tone teasing yet inquisitive.

"I'm talking about before all of that," Shikamaru explained, cheeks bursting in flames from being called out. "I knew about your crush on Asuma-sensei, you know."

"Shika, ple-please lower your voice!" she exclaimed through a whisper, her cheeks probably forever stained at this point, a light pink. "That was a long time ago! I'm not delusional anymore."

This was quite embarrassing. Hinata thought that her first secret crush had withered without anyone noticing. That had been about almost a year ago, which only proved Shikamaru's claim of watching her from afar. That means, well, Hinata still wasn't sure of what any of this meant, other than this proving she had been oblivious. She was aware of the problem, which is how she ended up asking for Shikamaru's help in the first place. All that time, and she didn't notice, and only recently had vaguely began to question his feelings.

'What would we even do together? What does a normal couple do?' Sure they go on dates, hold hands, spend time together, confide in one another, be there for each other, laugh and play around, be comfortable and not afraid to be vulnerable and share what's on their mind. The realization quickly dawned on her that it wasn't that different from the friendship they currently had. Will any of the things she likes about him change or will their friendship go away? Why did she suddenly feel afraid?

"Shikamaru, I," Shikamaru braced himself for rejection, as they were standing close enough that he could distinguish her pupiless eyes tinting with stress that he had likely caused.

"You don't have to give me an answer now. I just wanted you to know how I feel."

Hinata could hear it in his voice, a disillusionment likely caused by her hesitation. And yet, she thought it was sweet of him to think of her feelings, and if this is how Shikamaru was going to be, always gentle and perhaps patient, she couldn't help but feel less afraid. Suddenly, Hinata felt this overwhelming feeling of wanting to hug him; to let him know that his feelings were returned. Before Shikamaru knew it, his whole body went stiff the moment he felt Hinata's arms tightening around him.

He looked down, her dark blue hair almost tickling his nose. Then, it started with his sense of gravity, though his feet were planted on the ground, he felt like he might start floating at any second. His left arm became numb, and his face felt red. It was hard to breathe. If this hug lasts any longer he might faint in her arms, but he didn't want to move away.

"I like you too...but I also like what we have. I don't want it to change…what should we do now?" Hinata asked while hugging him.

"I don't know," Shikamaru said, half-dazed. "But I'm sure we'll figure it out together."

A dream?

Shikamaru slowly opened his eyes, confused as to how he ended up in his room, while there was a concerned look in his dad's eyes. His eyes widened. Had all that been just a dream?

"Son, what happened?"

"Troublesome, that's what I want to know."

"The Hokage's surveillance doesn't reach every place. So I went to check in on you to make sure you were safe, since you had gone to Danzo territory. Then I found you passed out on a bench, with Hinata trying to fan you with a wind technique. So I walked her home and sent my shadow clone to carry you home."

Noooooo! So he fainted?! Shikamaru knew he was already uncool, but now he was also lame!

"Did Hinata say anything!?"

His dad looked alarmed. "You mean about Lord Danzo? No, she was talking about you, saying she's worried you might not be getting enough sleep or enough hydration, and I have to agree. Don't drink any more tea tonight, just stick to water. Come down when you feel better, since dinner is ready. Your mom and I already took care of packing your traveling bag and supply."

"Thanks," Shikamaru replied.

His dad left the room, closing the door behind him. When he was alone, Shikamaru plopped back down in bed and sighed into his pillow. Being in love was troublesome. Well, weird was the right word for it. Everything was so weird, including logic. What was the logic in fainting during an important conversation? Then there was his stupid body getting overwhelmed by any little touch that set off all these intense emotions. There's no troublesome way in hell Kiba would actually want to listen about the secrets of manhood when it was so complicated.

"Shikamaru! Don't wait for dinner to get cold!" His mother called out.

The announcement drew attention to his stomach. He was starving.

Shikamaru got up and approached the stairway. He paused in mid-step, with one hand on the wall, finally recalling every single thing he felt while Hinata had hugged him, leaving him with emotion he didn't know how to process. Being that close to her was proven to be too dangerous. Although surprisingly, Hinata continued to feel super soft, even though she could probably beat him in a spar.

"Maybe I just need more practice." Was the obvious conclusion Shikamaru mumbled to himself as he continued down the steps. He didn't question his deduction any further, or the reason behind it. Continued exposure to her and her softness made so much sense at the time in order to overcome whatever this was, because with practice, he won't faint every single time.

The next day, at 4:20am, with the sun barely visible, Shikamaru let out a long yawn as he stood outside of Ino's house. He waited as Ino pecked her dad's cheek briefly before running up to Shikamaru.

"Bye dad! Don't forget to water the plants! If I return to find them dead-"

"Good luck sweetheart!"

Ino then glanced over at Shikamaru, though his face was barely visible, she could still see the dark panda under his eyes.

"Whoah, what happened? Did you stay up all night?"

"Couldn't sleep much."

"How come?"

"I ended up confessing to Hinata,"

"Seriously!?" Ino punched him hard on the side of his arm. "Idiot! You should've done it after the exam! If you couldn't sleep tonight, imagine how Hinata must also feel? Talk about bad timing! If you had been a stranger, I would've considered your confession a psychological warfare, a direct attack before the exam even began. I take it things didn't go well? I didn't think that she would reject you."

"She didn't."

"Then why couldn't you sleep?"

He couldn't exactly spill the details without having Ino laugh and tease him about his botched confession.

By then, they had already reached Chouji's home. The two waited around, surprised to see that Naruto and Sasuke also came outside, right after Chouji.

"Hey guys!" Naruto greeted them.

Shikamaru frowned and sent Chouji a look that gave his friend chills. His piercing brown eyes were coldly questioning why he hadn't been invited over to this Get-Ready-For-The-Exam slumber party. Or maybe his best friend had secretly started running an orphanage.

"Hahah… I went to your house yesterday to invite you, but you were out like a light. Your dad said you couldn't come because you weren't feeling well."

If Shikamaru had known about this, he would've grabbed his bag and made his way to Chouji's home, as it would've been the best distraction he just realized he needed at the time. Now he understood Naruto, as this is what it must feel like to be left out. Feeling annoyed, Shikamaru looked away and sighed. Why was he getting all territorial about his friendship with Chouji, all of a sudden? There was no need to feel this petty. Maybe he was just anxious and was creating internal drama just so that he doesn't have to face the thought of how things had gone with Hinata.

"Don't worry, you didn't miss out on much. His mom taught us how to seal small things inside a scroll. We got a lot of food to last us for days." Naruto said sheepishly.

"Hn/Hmm, that is if you and Chouji don't eat it all," Shikamaru and Sasuke said in the same tone at the same time. The only difference was that Sasuke had crossed his arms while Shikamaru had shoved a hand inside his pocket, before lazily leaning his weight on one side.

Ino looked surprised. "I didn't know you were that close."

Shikamaru hadn't exactly considered Sasuke in that regard. Sasuke was just someone who hung around his best friend. He was pretty sure Sasuke felt the same way. Or maybe not, because Sasuke didn't dispute the statement and motioned all of them to get moving. They had an exam to start.

Sniffing familiar scents, Kiba turned around and waved their way while Akamaru barked. He was standing in front of the wooden booth, in front of Izumo and Kotetsu. It looked like he had already signed his name on the log which documented his departure.

"Yo!" Kiba greeted them. Trying to sound cool, like Kakashi-sensei.

"Good morning Kiba!" Ino greeted back as her eyes scanned the area. Neji and Tenten were further ahead, sitting on giant rocks, while Lee did sit ups. She hoped Hinata's team wasn't going to be late again.

"Hey buddy, what's with the panda eyes? Scared of a little field trip?" Kiba said while leaning closer to inspect Shikamaru's face.

"At least some of us have a rational sense of danger." Shikamaru retorted, as he still didn't understand how Kiba became a team captain when Sasuke was probably much better.

Suddenly, the atmosphere shifted when Sai emerged from behind Kiba, his kunai poised dangerously close to Kiba's neck. The tension in the air was palpable as Izumo and Kotetsu, the seasoned shinobi guarding the village, swiftly rose to their feet, ready to intervene.

But before they could react, Kiba vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving behind a log that crashed onto Shikamaru's feet. The unexpected turn of events left Shikamaru wide-eyed and pale-faced, realizing that he had been to laid-back. If it had been him in Kiba's place, he probably would've been trapped.

Kiba's voice was heard from up high.

"Hahah, I gotta say, it's so lame you thought you could get away with something dumb like that," Kiba said, while grinning proudly as he stood on top of the booth, looking down at Sai. "Right, buddy?"

"Arf! Arf!"

"Paper guy, what the hell is your problem?" Naruto demanded as he was ready to throw fist with Sai.

"I needed to determine whether this truce was worth the expenditure of my resources," He stated coolly and took out an ink pen and paper, ready to take Naruto on.

However, a swarm of bugs came together, blocking his path. The bugs took the shape of two humanoid figures. Seconds later, Shino and Hinata materialized, with her holding his sleeve slightly.

Shino looked down, slightly interested in a thought, as he stared at the log.

'So Kiba had preplanned a substitution.' Shino guessed that meant Kiba's ability and tactics had grown to the point he had been appointed Team captain. Still, it puzzled Shino. Sai was their captain because he was was an undercover Chūnin. Ino was captain in name only. After analyzing Sasuke's personally, Sasuke should've also been captain in name only. Why Kiba? Is Kiba also a Chūnin?

"Everyone, I'm sorry!" She apologized on behalf troublesome teammate. He always had his way of greeting people.

"Please don't be, I'm just sorry you got stuck with that excuse of a captain." Naruto said sympathetically.

Ino's eyes had a glint.

"Actually this whole situation is perfect, because now Neji's team isn't going to think that we're working together, and this is just an unfriendly encounter."

"What do you mean? It totally was! I was ready to beat his ass!" They ignored Naruto yelling in the background, and turned slightly to see Ino was right. Neji seemed to be shaking his head their way and muttering things, while walking away with his team. Something about them being losers and immature.

It was already 5am and it was time to leave. Chouji ripped open a bag of chips and started to eat.

"So guys, how do we do this? What's the plan?" He asked in between chewing.

"Give us a second while we plan it out." Ino replied.

Kiba hopped down from the roof of the booth and looked from Sai to Ino. The three walked off at a distance, to plan out the logistics, leaving the rest behind.

"Shikamaru-kun, are you feeling better?" Hinata asked with concern.

"Huh? Are you sick or something?" Naruto asked, even though Chouji did mentioned something like that during the slumber party.

"No, I'm fine."

From the corner of his eyes, Naruto could see Sasuke turning the other way while dragging him with him.

"Hey, let me go, what gives!" Naruto said, flailing out of his grasp. But after Sasuke whispered something to him, Naruto had stopped. "Ohhhhh. Right!"

Chouji and Shino started a small talk, finding an excuse to be further away. Shikamaru almost reached out, asking them to stay, but it was too late. Talking to Hinata was now unavoidable.

"Hinata, I'm sorry for worrying you and and troubling you that way."

"It-It's fine. When I caught you, you weren't really heavy." After hearing those words, he felt his soul leaving his body. The mental image that she might've carried him bridal style just didn't sit well with him. Shikamaru was revived when he felt her hand lightly touch his arm, however briefly that was. But when replaying her words, he realized the playfulness disguised behind it. "I think something must be going around, since I-I also fainted the other day." Hinata added, deciding perhaps it wasn't nice to tease him too much. Ever since he had confessed, she found herself doing it too frequently.

He rubbed the back of his neck.

"I hope everything is still okay between us. So let's talk more after the exam?" He figured a little bit of distance for now would be good ever since finding out being too close to her is dangerous.

"Okay." That was probably for the best, since lately, it feels like the two are always apologizing. Another time would be best, since it was hard to focus on the conversation because she could hear everyone's side comments, including Chouji's constant use of the word "Shikamaru's girlfriend". Why was this so awkward? Hinata missed it when things weren't this complicated and her name wasn't the center of attention.

Shikamaru felt multiple eyes stabbing his back. He turned around only to see Kiba's knowing grin, Ino's smile, or the smirks shared between Chouji and Naruto. His feelings for her were out in the open. Feelings that had been reciprocated. Hinata was his girlfriend, and their friends were being goofy about it. Frankly, he felt kind of alone in this, crossing undiscovered miles while feeling disbelief. The reality still hadn't hit him yet.

Shikamaru turned back to Hinata who seemed to be about ready to retreat. He could reach out, and pat her affectionately on the head. Yes. That much he can do around so many people that wouldn't leave them alone.

"Hinata,"

"Yes?"

"Let's do our best." Shikamaru said as her dark blue hair felt soft underneath his hand.

Everyone huddled and came together after the meeting the team captains was over.

"Alright," Ino began. "So this is the formation we came up with. All of the team captains will share the same flight. Chouji, Sasuke, Naruto, you're considered kinda like our powerhouse in terms of raw strength, so you will fly in the back in case someone tries some kind of sneak attack. Shino, you will be our surveillance, with Shika as backup in the event there's trouble in the front. Hinata, I heard from Sai that you're good at dropping an enemy's defense."

"Wait I have a question, why can't we each have our own bird?" Chouji asked. He was fine with sharing but was curious about the lack of other options.

"If I summon too many drawings, I won't be able to hide my chakra. We'll camp on land depending on the weather, or my chakra level. Then we'll travel on foot depending on the area and terrane." Sai explained while he drew three birds and summoned them.

"Alright, we're kind of behind, so everyone let's go!" Kiba said.

Shino quickly walked up to one, and hopped on. He helped pull Hinata up behind him.

"You can leave the surveillance to me." Shino uttered his assurance. A hidden swarm of bugs rose from their secret hiding places, floating up ahead like a miniature army. They dispersed into several directions, each tasked with carrying out their surveillance duties.

Shikamaru, who was about to climb onto the towering bird, couldn't help but let his thoughts wander if Ino orchestrated his traveling placement in all this. Ino sent him a knowing smirk, the same one being sent to him lately. But their help was starting to feel like meddling.

"Awesome, this is like some kind of camping trip!" Chouji said happily as he watched Naruto and Sasuke fighting over who was going to be leading the mount. Their resolution involved Chouji sitting between them, acting as a buffer to separate the two rivals.

"Shika! Get a move on!" Ino yelled, as she was in the back of the bird. He noticed the way Ino was holding on paper feathers on the side, as opposed to holding Kiba's waist. Inspired by the contact-free example, Shikamaru decided he would try that out.

However, when it came to taking off, the ones sitting in the back quickly realized how unstable it was to merely grab onto paper feathers. The feathers ripped the moment they took off, and Kiba's mischievous grin widened as he felt Ino instinctively holding onto him for support. Shikamaru, with bated breath, held Hinata by the waist, his heart palpitating with a mix of nerves and anticipation.

'Okay, okay, is okay, is okay. It's gonna be okay.' Shikamaru said like a mantra. Her hair smelled so nice...

"How's everyone doing?" Sai asked, wondering if they were able to maneuver the flight's path with no problem.

"No problem here." Shino reported up ahead as he briefly waved.

"Same here." Sasuke replied from some distance behind.

Being shorter, Ino had a hard time trying to glance over Kiba's shoulder. She popped her head to the side, able to look around him. From afar, Ino noticed Hinata's hair kept whipping Shikamaru on the face. She reached over to tap Sai.

"Pull up next to Hinata. I have an extra hair tie to spare."

Kiba glanced ahead, to see what Ino was talking about.

"Pfff. That bastard looks like he's fine to me." Kiba muttered as Shikamaru seemed to be having the best time in his life, with his girlfriend.

Sai did so anyway, pulling up ahead and glancing over to the side. Shino gave them an acknowledging side glance, and also slowed down. Maneuvering the flying paper creature took a lot of focus and was a little bit harder than it seemed.

"Shika, here, give this to Hinata," Ino said. They all glanced over as Ino tried handing over a hair tie to Shikamaru, however the wind was stronger and it got lost to the sky. "Shika! What the hell! That was my favorite one!"

Sai raised an eyebrow and spoke about his observation.

"You let go before it was in his hands."

"Whatever, I'm not giving him another one."

Sai nodded over to Shino, then tilted to the side, falling back into the middle formation.

"Um, Shikamaru-kun, I'm sorry if my hair is bothering you. I didn't think to bring a hair tie. We've never flown this high before, so I didn't think I would need it." Hinata said. But then she felt him letting go of her waist to do something. Her small head lifted slightly, trying to hear what he was up to.

"Hinata, can you turn to look ahead?"

Hinata puffed out her cheek at his choice of words he used, because the action of looking wasn't in her vocabulary. Regardless, she followed his instruction. Hinata shuddered when she felt Shikamaru combing through the knots on her hair. His heart raced as her hair moved like water through his fingers. He gathered her hair in a ponytail, rolling it up, before snapping his hair tie onto her bun. Some of Hinata's hair managed to slip out, framing her face.

"There." Shikamaru said.

"T-Thank you."

Shikamaru glanced behind him, immediately feeling a piercing glare coming from Kiba.

"Oiiii, Ino," Kiba called out over his shoulder. "If my hair is bothering you, you can tie it up for me."

"I'm fine. It barely reaches me. Besides, you can tie it yourself."

Sensing Kiba's emotion of rejection, Akamaru whined and pouted. Naruto's snickers didn't help.

With her hair now tied up by Shikamaru, Hinata doesn't know why she suddenly felt conscious of herself since the back of her neck was exposed. She shut her eyes tight, feeling her face heating up. Unbeknownst to Hinata, Shikamaru now kept his gaze fixed somewhere to the side. He watched the right side of the paper wings flapping, as their bodies passed through the same clouds that he had enjoyed watching so much. To be able to reach them now, Shikamaru wondered if maybe it was better when he was just watching from afar.

"Hey you! Guy in the front! How much longer until we take a break? It's been hours and I'm bored back here looking at the back of Sasuke's stupid head!" Naruto complained.

"At least you're not stuck in the front, watching all the flirting going on." Sasuke deadpanned.

Hinata's hold on Shino's loose coat tightened. Shikamaru wished he could burry his face against her back and disappear.

'!' Sai leaned forward, speeding the bird in the process.

"Shino, status. Any reports from the deployed surveillance?" Sai asked as he pulled to the front.

"Nothing notable." Shino replied, although reports made it back that they had been followed from the start. Three proctors to be precise.

Sai glanced behind him and lifted an arm for everyone to stop.

"Let's land over there and take a break. I think it's time to revise our flying strategies." Or rather, it was time to swap the members around as this didn't seem to be working.

Surprise-u, That's what I was going for! I wrote the author's notes at the beginning, so it don't take away from the bomb that Shikamaru dropped.

61394, The first Hina/Shika story that I read years ago left a positive impact on me. It was a one-shot and I wish I had saved it. I hope you can continue to look more into this pair. Thank you for adding me!

LB Cat, What other pairings do you read in the Naruto world?

sumo is, I also felt OMG because a confession was not part of the plan. Shikamaru had a linear path planned, but life can be like that lol