Red Is A Pretty Colour

60

Hiko's pov

After returning home I finally got the break I had been praying for. Of course I still got incredibly early and cleaned but I skipped my usual traing to go and annoy Shikamaru.

"Shika! You up?" I called as I approached his house, passing his bedroom window.

"Yeah, I'm here." Shikamaru said as he raised his hand in greeting, coming across his porch towards me. "You on a break or something?"

"Yup! Today is my first day off in forever." I said. "I thought I'd come harass you for a game of shogi."

Shikamaru gave one of his usual half smiles before motioning for me to follow him.

"I'm always up for shogi." Shikamaru said. "Wait here and I'll go and get the board."

"Okie dokie." I said.

I kicked my shoes off and then plonked myself down on the floor. It was the same every time I came over to play. Shikamaru came back with the board and sat it down between us. As the two of us began setting up the board Shikamaru began counting the pieces.

"Have you been eating the pieces again?" Shikamaru asked jokingly, referencing an old game we played a few years ago. He had asked me how I was winning and I told him I was feeding his pieces to his cat, he pointed out he didn't have a cat to which I said I was eating the pieces.

"Hm? What are you talking about?" I said as I picked up a piece and pretended to bite it.

"Troublesome woman, I can't play you without all my pieces." Shikamaru said.

"You're just making excuses because you know I'll win." I said.

"In your dreams." Shikamaru said.

"I don't have to dream it, I won last time too." I said.

"Now where are my pieces?" Shikamaru asked.

"Abra kadabra." I said, waving my arms infront of him and having the pieces all fall out of my sleeves.

Shikamaru laughed and shook his head.

"You're an idiot." Shikamaru said.

"Im amazing." I said.

"Yeah." Shikamaru said softly as he grabbed my wrist.

Shikamaru would always hold my wrists every time we hung out alone. It became a habit of his after everything that happened during our first chunin exam. Shikamaru pushed my sleeve up slightly to run his thumb over my cuts and I just smiled at him.

"Ready to loose?" I asked.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Shikamaru said before moving the first piece.

"Don't worry, I'll go easy on you." I said.

"You're just making excuses before you loose." Shikamaru said.

The two of us had barely been playing for five minutes when shikamaru's mum came out with a tray of tea and dumplings.

"I thought I'd make you two something to eat, they're chicken and pumpkin Hiko's favourite." Shikamaru's mum said.

"Thank you Yoshino~San." I said as I smiled up at the woman.

"You're very welcome dear." Shikamaru's mum said as she placed down the tray. "If you need anything else just shout, have fun."

Shikamaru's mother winked at him as she left and Shikamaru huffed, his cheeks red.

"Troublesome woman." Shikamaru muttered and I laughed.

"You better hope she didn't hear that." I said.

Time skip

We had played a few rounds of shogi before putting things away to cloud watch. We tied a few games and I lost a few but it was fun. The two of us were laying on the grass looking up at the different clouds half asleep.

"Have you ever just wanted to be a cloud, they seem so peaceful, floating around without any set path. Not a care in the world." I said with a sigh, the feeling of Shikamaru's fingers tracing my scared wrists lulling me to sleep.

"Yeah, they go wherever the breeze takes them. They're completely free." Shikamaru said.

"Sometimes I like to think that the clouds are jealous of us, getting to decide our paths." I said.

"Either way neither us nor the clouds get to choose where we end up even if we do choose our own paths." Shikamaru said.

"The philosophy of cloud watching, you're the only one that doesn't make me feel stupid for thinking like this." I said.

"If you're stupid then so am I." Shikamaru said.

"You're both geniuses." Asuma said as he appeared infront of us, eying us both with a raised eyebrow.

"Asuma~sensei." Shikamaru and I said in sync as we sat up, Shikamaru quickly pulling my sleeve back to cover my wrist. To this day Shikamaru was the only person who knew about my scars.

"Sorry to take him from you Hiko but team Asuma have a meeting." Asuma said.

"What a drag." Shikamaru complained.

"What a drag indeed, now I need to go and do something productive." I said and Shikamaru gave me a questioning look. "I promised Naruto I'd help him train for a bit once we were done hanging out."

"Same thing tomorrow?" Shikamaru asked.

"Of course, I'll bring some snacks with me next time." I said.

With that being agreed upon Shikamaru left with Asuma and I began walking home.