Time with You

2. Afternoons

Naruto opened his eyes, squinting at the sunlight shining down on him through his window. He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed silently hyping himself up to start the day. He scratched the back of his head and yawned, pushing himself off the bed as he walked over to the bathroom. He stared at his reflection with half-lidded eyes, his mind listing all the things he was supposed to do that day. He sighed, and began his morning routine.

After finishing up in the bathroom he changed out of his pj's and into his usual orange jumpsuit. He paused at the door, kicking on his shoes before stopping. "I wonder if Shikamaru's alright.." He opened the door, and froze, staring at the surprise visitor.

"Yo, Shikamaru!" Naruto grinned, stepping outside, shutting the door behind him. "Morning! I was just thinkin' about you," He mimicked an explosion with his hands, "and now you're here."

Shikamaru stared at the blonde, before sighing.

"Naruto it's noon, morning's been over for a while now."

Naruto stood still before shouting out, "AGH, I was supposed to meet up with Sakura and Sasuke this morning! They're gonna be pissed." He groaned, running his hands through his hair before suddenly straightening himself out. "Oh well.'' He shrugged. "Did ya need something?"

Shikamaru held up a hand, silently asking for a moment to process what had just occurred with the blonde. How can he move on so quickly, he's such an idiot- He looked back over at Naruto who was staring at him a small smile still placed on his lips.

"I wanted to see what you were up to—check if you're free enough to go cloud gazing with me..or something.." Shikamaru trailed off, averting his eyes, suddenly feeling nervous.

"Mmm." Naruto brought his hand up to his chin, looking up as he thought. Suddenly, he brought his hand down in a fist, connecting it with his open palm. He set his gaze back on Shikamaru before speaking, "Since I've already missed the meeting, my whole day wouldn't feel the same. So I might as well just ditch the rest of the plans and hang out with you." He grinned, throwing an arm over Shikamaru as he turned them towards the stairs.

Shikamaru's previous nerves vanished, instead replaced by exhaustion. Although he had set this up in the hopes of getting more information on Naruto, he wasn't sure if he could handle a whole afternoon with the hyperactive boy. He sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets as he tried to walk down the steps with a troublesome blonde practically hanging off him.

The two walked around the village for a while, Naruto did most of the talking while Shikamaru nodded, interjecting every once in a while. The sun was still high in the air when Naruto suddenly piped up, "So, where are we goin' anyway?"

"Let's go sit down by the tree, I'm tired of walking around." Shikamaru yawned, pivoting toward the direction of the path leading up to the hilltop.

Naruto paused for a bit before following Shikamaru, remembering their encounter the evening before. He jogged to catch up to him, slowing down once he was close enough.

"Oh, the one from yesterday right? How are ya doin' by the way? You seemed like you were in pain or somethin'."

"I'm fine, I wasn't in pain. I was just," Shikamaru paused. What was he doing? He couldn't say he was hiding from Naruto, that'd come off wrong thus leading him to fess up about seeing the other cry. He sighed. "I was just too tired to climb up the hill so I rested there."

Naruto laughed, smacking Shikamaru on the back causing the Nara to jerk forward. "Ah! I see! I thought you had diarrhea from eating something weird, the way you were squatting with your eyes closed n' all!" 

Shikamaru glared at Naruto for a moment before chuckling, "Only an idiot like you would do that."

Naruto snapped his head over at him, before yelling, "OI-"

Shikamaru cut him off by pushing him towards the hill. "Hurry up and climb."

Naruto ran up the hill while Shikamaru took his time, not wanting to waste the energy he barely had. Once the two boys met at the top they took a seat in front of the tree, looking out at the village below them. The scenery was the exact same as the day before yet it was so different at the same time. So many tiny details missed during the first viewing now shone brighter than anything else. Naruto stared out in awe not aware of the eyes watching him.

Shikamaru looked over Naruto, he seemed to be glowing. It was as though he was seeing a completely new person, a calmer more vulnerable version of Naruto. He didn't want to do or say anything, fearing he'd ruin the moment. W A I T. What moment exactly? Shikamaru shook his head, falling back onto the grass. He shut his eyes, taking this moment to face his thoughts. He let out a sigh. Good going Shikamaru, we've figured it out. The reason you want to know so much about someone you didn't give two shits about before. Question is, what am I gonna do now. Shikamaru opened his eyes, staring up at the clouds. "Forget about it." He mumbled, eyebrows furrowed.

Naruto crawled over to Shikamaru, positioning his face to be in the other's line of sight. "Shikamaru." He dragged out, an annoyed expression present on his face. "Are you listening to me?"

Shikamaru sat up, turning his head towards Naruto. "Huh? What'd you say?"

Naruto groaned, slumping forward as he crossed his legs. " I saaaaid, not that I'm complaining, but, why'd you invite me out today?" He mumbled a bit towards the end, averting his gaze to the side, before looking back at Shikamaru.

"Well." Shikamaru paused as he thought of what to say next. Lying seemed easier, plus way less troublesome. But, it won't really give him the answers he needed. "I wanted to, uh, let you know you can talk to me about you're uh..feelings..and stuff." He scratched the back of his neck, looking away out of embarrassment.

Naruto stared at Shikamaru, processing what he had just said. Shikamaru turned to look at him, the embarrassment had passed, his everyday look of boredom taking its place on his face as he raised an eyebrow, waiting for Naruto to speak. Naruto turned away, crossing his arms and shutting his eyes—eyebrows furrowed as he tilted his head to the side while he thought. Shikamaru resisted the urge to groan out of annoyance at how long he was taking to say something, instead he looked out at the clouds in front of him, waiting for the now silent blabbermouth to speak.