royal // shikamaru nara

3

"I want to show you something" Shikamaru says as he starts walking a little faster than before and i tried my best to keep up with him. After a minute or two of walking briskly around Konoha, I look around to find my self on top of a little hill hidden behind all the buildings.

Shikamaru suddenly lays down on the grass resting his head on his arms and lets out a deep breath. I find my way beside him and do the same. I couldn't help but notice how much brighter the stars were here than back home. In fact, everything about Konoha was just so bright and lively.

"You come here often, don't you?" I ask knowingly, keeping my eyes on the night sky, trying to take everything in. "Everyday actually" He calmly replies. We sat there in silence just staring at the stars

A few minutes has passed and I look around to see how much dark my surroundings has gotten as the shops and restaurants were starting to close. I let out a sigh and sit up. This cause Shikamaru to open one of his eyes and look at me quizzically.

"I think its time for me to head home" I say as I'm still staring at the night sky in complete awe. "Let me walk you home" Shikamaru says as he slowly gets up from the ground and offers me a hand up. I gladly take it as I got up from the ground I couldn't help but notice the look in his eyes.

In the moment it was difficult to tell what he was thinking or feeling but the way his eyes looked at me intrigued me. It made me what to get to know him better, It made me want to know who Shikamaru Nara really was.

Shikamaru awkwardly coughed, breaking my line of thoughts as I was brought back to reality and the reality is that I haven't quite let go of his hand yet. "Sorry about that" I said as I quickly pull my hand away and faced the ground.

Awkwardness filled the air but that was probably due to the fact that I was staring at him for longer than I should've been. "uhh.." Shikamaru starts as he gestures for me to start walking, so I did.

The walk home was short and silent. As I was about to enter the Hyuga compound, Shikamaru turned around as he was about to walk himself home.

"Hey! wait a minute" I suddenly say as I turn around to see Shikamaru stop in his tracks and slowly turns to face me. "Uhmm... You want to... uh.." I started, trying to find the right words to say. "Grab something to eat together tomorrow?" I ask, mentally slapping myself in the face.

"Are you asking me out?" He says with a smug smirk on his face. "Uhhh..." I said as I felt the heat rush to my face. "Sorry but I'm not r-" He says but I cut him off, "I meant it as friends" I say as he raises an eyebrow at me "Fine, I'll pick you up tomorrow afternoon?" He asks, letting out a sigh.

"That sound good?" He asks, already turning around with his hands behind his head. "That'd be great" I reply as I turn around and enter the compound.

I enter the home to see Neji, Hinata and my aunt talking in the kitchen. "Hey Oba, sorry I was not able to see you when I arrived yesterday" I respectfully said as she offers me a smile in return.

"Not to worry my dear, I just hope you settled in well" She says as she offers me a hug which I gladly accept. "We have to catch up soon but as for now, I'm calling it a day" She tiredly says as she makes her way to her room, leaving me alone with Hinata and Neji.

"So..." Neji starts as he looks at me up and down "Shikamaru huh?" He blandly says raising an eyebrow at me as Hinata offers me a cheeky smile. "Where did you get that idea?" I asked, trying to hide the anxiety I felt by his interrogation.

"He walked you home, did he not?" Neji knowingly says as I stood there with my mouth open. "How did you know that?" I shockingly asked him.

"I saw you guys from in here with my Byakugan" He simply states as he walks away, leaving me as I try to process what just happened. "S-s-so-orry about Neji, he's just a straight forward person" Hinata says shyly, looking at the ground.

"It's fine Hinata" I smile at her as she smiles back and we continue to talk for a little longer but eventually go our seperate ways to our rooms.

I look around my new room and realize how bland it was. I let out a sigh and make a mental reminder to decorate it soon so that it can feel more like home.

I ended up staying up pretty late that night, staring out the window as I felt like someone was watching me from the shadows of the night.

//

I woke up the next day surprisingly early despite how late I went to sleep the night before. I got out of bed and did my morning routine followed by all the unpacking I had to do.

In the middle of unpacking, I was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in" I say loudly as the door slowly opens to reveal a sleepy looking Hinata. "H-hey uhm... Shikamaru is downstairs to see you" She says with a blush on her face and I smile at her.

"Tell him I'll be down in a moment, thanks" I say as she leaves, closing the door behind her. I grab my sling bag and look at myself in the mirror before heading downstairs to find Shikamaru and Hinata talking on the couch. They both stop talking as they acknowledged my presence and I smile at them.

"We can finish this later, Hinata" Shikamaru says as he gets up from the couch and Hinata smiles at him in response.

We both make our way to leave the Hyuga Compound as the sun was shining upon us. "So... what did you have in mind for today?" I ask him as I look up to see his face since he was much taller than me. "I don't know, you're the one who wanted to hang out here" He says smirking and i stood beside him with a dumbfounded look on my face and he chuckles.

"I'm joking" He laughs and begins to walk. "Follow me, you troublesome woman" He says as I walk next to him wondering where would he take me. We chatted along the way until he came to a stop a little shack infront of us that sold ramen.

We both enter and the smell of ramen engulfs me. We both took a seat as Shikamaru orders ramen for the both of us. "two miso soup ramen with extra pork" He states as the man behind the counter took our orders.

"So.. how was your day so far?" I ask, breaking the silence between us and he lets out a sigh and looks at me. "To be honest, its been such a drag. I have so much to do to prepare of the Chunin exams" He stresses out. "What's a Chunin exam?" I ask and he just stares at me for a while with a blank expression.

"You don't know what are Chunin exams?" He asks quizzically as I shook my head in response. "It's an exam for shinobis, specifically genins, to rank up their status as a ninja" He explain and I give him an 'Ohh' look.

"What made you want to be a shinobi?" I curiously ask as I didn't really see the appeal of fighting and risking your life on missions. "I actually don't know, it's just a thing in our clan that we become shinobis, its kind of a drag on most days but it can be fun too" He says as he takes a sip of his tea.

Our food was suddenly place in front of us and I start to dig in, realizing that I actually have not eaten all day. I let out a sigh in content as I finish the whole bowl.

We spent the rest of the day walking around Konoha and he showed me around. So far, I've learned that he and everyone I met yesterday are shinobis, He thinks his mom is the most troublesome woman he's met and he likes shogi.

"Hey, sorry to cut this thing short but I have some training to attend to" He starts as he once again scratches the back of his neck. "Asumas going to have my ass if I don't show up again" He says letting out a sigh and muttering a 'what a drag' beneath his breathe.

"It's no biggie, See you around?" I hopefully ask and he lets out a chuckle and nods before hoping of to wherever his training was.

--

(a/n) : FYI 'oba' is japanese for aunt, just in case any of you were wondering

and please tell me how you guys feel about this book because I'm not even sure if its any good or if I should keep writing.