"Shikamaruuu~ Helloooo~"
Ino snapped her fingers in front of Shikamaru's face, trying to get his attention while he stared out the window with a blank face.
Sakura leaned her body a bit, getting a glimpse of his face and raised an eyebrow.
"Damn he's been like this for a while now. It's normal for him to ignore us but not to this extent! I'm still wondering if it's because something happened during the festival" Sakura asked, rubbing her chin with her thumb and pointer finger.
"It's obvious that something happened, have you not seen the way they act towards each other now?" Ino answered, snickering behind her hand while pointing a finger at him.
A few weeks has passed ever since the festival. Naruto and Shikamaru had grown more comfortable with each other, but at the same time, acted like lovesick puppies.
"Every time they are in close contact, they'd shy away and have that cute little bashful expressions. Whenever Naruto stares up at him, Shikamaru here would always turn his head away and have that nervous glint in his eyes"
Sakura and Ino clapped their hands together, both getting excited for Shikamaru's and Naruto's relationship finally beginning to develop further.
While the two were having their moment and threw around their own theories, Shikamaru continued to watch the gray sky grow darker and darker. No matter how long since the festival days passed, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about how close their faces were. How Naruto's warm hands cupped his cheeks and the way he looked at him with such warmth.
They'd been calling each other a lot more recently, talking during the night until one of them falls asleep and whispering soft sweet dreams. Sometimes, during their lunch break, they'd take naps together if Naruto was mentally burnt out.
"Oh Naruto! Welcome to our advisory, what do you need?"
Hearing his name, Shikamaru blinked back into reality and turned his head over to where the classroom door is. There stood Naruto, beaming happily at them and waving with his unoccupied hand.
"Hey guys! Asuma-sensei sent me to drop these off here buuuut I don't wanna return to class yet so let's chat!" Naruto said, proceeding to go over to their teacher's desk and plopping the stack of paper down.
He then quickly walked over to the trio and leaned down a bit.
"Winter break is one day away! I'm so excited, I love playing in the snow so much! And the special events that circle around winter!! The arcade is going to be so fun"
"Ah same! Also winter sales, I just love winter clothing and the thought of christmas is already making me get into the holiday spirit!" Sakura responded, giving Naruto a high-five.
"You know what else is going to happen? The winter fair! Wah~ it's so pretty when it's night time and very fun" Ino added on while giving Naruto a high-five as well.
The three of them glowed as they talked about winter. Shikamaru, though, could only grimace at the thought of winter, his lips frowning a bit as the others spoke so highly.
Naruto glanced over at Shikamaru, seeing him all moody and tilted his head a bit. "What's got you down?"
"Oh don't mind him, he's always like that whenever winter break nears" Ino answered for him, shrugging her shoulders. "He's not the type that enjoys cold weather".
Naruto let out an exaggerated gasp, quickly leaned down and stared at his face. "What?! How can you not like winter?? It's one of the best seasons here! Well besides summer but that's besides the point. The snow is so fun to play in and it's actually quite soothing to experience the snow fall"
