"𝑶𝒃𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏"; 𝑁. 𝑆𝘩𝑖𝑘𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑢 𝑥 𝑡𝘩𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭: 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲𝐬

You came back home to finally rest for a few days, but even if your body was recovering, your mind was still complicated. You didn't see Shikamaru during the week, and you were informed by Naruto that he left for a mission with his team. You were also requested to another one with Shino and Neji again – your favorite companions in missions -, letting little time left for you to think about Shikamaru. Actually, he didn't contact you, so you didn't contact him either.

You started wondering if that night really happened or if it was a dream. Your only physical reminder was some hickies he had left in your chest, which ones disappeared in a couple of days.

Today, you were solving some stuff to the Hokage with Sakura. It was the first time since that day you were paired with Shikamaru to the mission you could talk to the girl. She complained about Naruto, Sai and Sasuke having a terrible dynamic sometimes.

"I know we are technically great, but sometimes I just get overloaded with stress."

"Yeah, I got it. Once I left for a mission with Naruto and Kiba. It was almost the same thing. I was unlucky Shino wasn't there, so I had to deal with it alone."

"You really get along with him, don't you?"

"Yes. I mean, Shino is extremely focused. We finish the missions with a lot of quickness and a great chance of success. Of course we became friends after that."

"So... how was the mission with Shikamaru?"

You swallowed dry, coughing a little. "Hum, ahm, It was... good, I mean... we didn't fight or anything, so... besides the fire, it was all fine..."

Sakura gave you an interested look. "(Y/n), are you okay? Your cheeks are red. Do you have a fever?"

You almost screamed back. "No! I don't have a fever!"

"Or maybe... Did something happen while you were there?"

Smart bitch.

You just couldn't hide it. "Nothing special... I mean... Yeah... we..."

You were interrupted by Shizune, who entered the Hokage's office with a thousand of new documents to be checked. "Girls, it's okay now, you can leave. Tsunade-sama will check this out." She rolled her eyes, doing the usual expression of I must take care of the Hokage's obligations and I can't take this anymore.

"I will stay here for a little more." Sakura said, putting the box she was organizing on the floor. "(Y/n)-san" she called, and you gave her a scared look. "Tell me later, if you want to." And she smiled.

"Yes, I guess?" You said, and left Sakura with that mean look behind.

...

You fixed your hair as you went down the stairs. Today you didn't mind doing a battle appropriated hairstyle, so you just let it looser and held it with a small ribbon in a low ponytail. When you touched the last footstep, you heard a familiar voice.

"Hey."

You looked up and Shikamaru was leaning against the wall with his hands on the pockets, not griming or smirking, but smiling smoothly to you, too kind for you to not want to smile back. You tried to control it as much as you could, but a little smile appeared on your face.

"What are you doing in here?"

"I came to talk to Tsunade-sama with my team and I saw you entering the office, so I decided to wait. It's been a while since we could talk to each other."

"Yeah, that's right." You felt butterflies in your stomach to the idea of him waiting for you.

"Why are you wearing long sleeves today?"