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LOST CHAPTER TWO: NARA'S DAZE — SHIKAMARU CHAPTER.

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PRIOR TO THE UCHIHA DOWNFALL— PRE NARUTO

THIS CHAPTER FOLLOWS THE EVENTS AFTER "A MOTHERS LOVE"

He lied on the rooftop, a daily habit of his, as he quietly gazed among the clouds though there weren't many that surrounded the Village today. It had been a week since he had last seen her. [Name] Uchiha. The girl he seemed to have piqued an interest of his, though within that given moment he wasn't realizing it was formulated into a crush towards one, one he would hold onto for many years to come. Throughout the days that passed, he missed her dearly but had to understand the circumstances she currently faced.

Her mother had passed the week beforehand, and a lot of the talks within the class were in hushed whispers about her, as Sasuke was still present in the class and of course, knew her closely. He had not much to say verbally but a lot riddled his young mind about her situation and what she might be facing during her grief absences. "Hey.., Shikamaru.." he heard the voice of his friend, Ino from above him. He opened his eyes, looking up to see she had been looking down at him curiously. "We're making cards for [Name]..., Did you want to join us?" she then asked him, as his face began to heat up at the mention of the girl's name he ironically had on his mind a few seconds prior.

He nodded quickly, as Ino held her hand out to him, helping him up from the ground of the rooftop. "Man.., Iruka is gonna kill you.." she mumbled out to him, as he had made it a more reoccurring habit to skip more and more. Shikamaru could only shrug at the thought she pointed out, as Iruka didn't say much when it came to Shikamaru, he was still an astounding student within the class despite how little his participation was in class. It was bewildering really. "So.., you must like her a lot huh..?" Ino then abruptly spoke to the boy as they made their way downstairs. He halted at the comment she made, as he stood at one top of the staircase, she stood at the bottom.

The Blonde girl tried to conceal a smirk at the comment, as he tried to avoid her gaze and look around elsewhere. "No...?" he then lied, though Ino knew he was lying. "Well, whatever it is..! Don't let Naruto or even Sasuke get to her first..." Ino jokingly said to the boy, as his eyes widened at the thought. "Even Shino is a threat...!" and for some reason, those words would haunt the boy for a few years...

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NARUTO PRT I — PRIOR TO 'HOMECOMING'

"Well..." Shikamaru began, still staring into the distance as [Name] grew quiet. "Were you busy for the rest of the day..?" he asked the girl, whose grip on his forearm loosened. She hummed as overviewed her plans within her head. "How ironic of you to ask me on a date as soon as Naruto leaves the village." and his breath hitched upon [Name]'s statement. "A-WHAT?!" he panicked.

"Sorry to burst your bubble Shika..!, but I actually have to go. I'm supposed to start my training also.., but maybe tomorrow if I'm not too busy and if you aren't either?!" she questioned to him, noticing the look of defeat on his face before he divulged in his thoughts to overthink his own schedule. "What a drag..you're making me rearrange my schedule..but..if you're at your compound around Noon tomorrow.. Then we shall see."

And within that following day, he did just that. He stood outside the entrance of her compound, as he awaited the girl to appear before him. He felt nervous admittedly, the stares of the Hyuga's from inside of the compound looking at him mysteriously, almost suspiciously. He tsked out, tapping his foot as he wondered how long she would take. "Someone's nervous." he whipped his head around, looking above to the tree behind him to notice [Name] sitting on the branch of the tree. "Oh—" he facepalmed, he should've expected the unexpected from her.

"How long have you been there..?" he sighed out, as he jumped down after his question, a smile appearing on her face upon the question. "Ever since you struggled to get up..." she pointed towards behind them, and the steep hill that lead up the Hyuga compound. "That hill." Shikamaru looked over his shoulder, a rash look of irritation soaring on his face "How..troublesome.." he mumbled out embarrassingly. "It's okay.." she giggled out, the smile she sent his way seemingly waving the emotions he felt at that moment.

"What's the plans for today..?" she then asked him, as she began walking away from the compound and he followed behind her. "Hmm.." he had to admit, he wasn't quite good at figuring out what girls like exactly. "Clouds..." he then said without a thought. [Name] paused for a moment, quirking an eyebrow. "Clouds...?" she rose an eyebrow as she looked back at him. He seemed confident about his answer. "Were...so close to them..." Shikamaru then admitted as he looked up. The hill was pretty high from the rest of the village, overlooking the rest of Konoha. He smiled, "Hmm..." [Name] hummed out, even though it wasn't much of her forte she began turning her heel.

"I know a place..." she then said, as she began heading into the forest not too far off from the compound and an area she would usually train in. Past the denseness of the trees, a vast cliff was before them and the closeness of the clouds lay right above them. "Is this...what you usually do..?" [Name] asked to him, as she directed them into the entryway of the forest. "It..depends.., but mostly yes. It's the least stressful thing to do." Shikamaru commented, "They're so free in the sky...and I'm...down here, stuck.." [Name] snorted at the boy's comment, "With me at least so cheer up...!" she then added to his latter sentence. A smile plastered across Shikamaru's face at her comment. "Alright.." When he looked at the girl before her, he couldn't see the damage she had been dealt with, what she had gone through, the defection of Sasuke. It wasn't visible to him...

"So..that card.." Shikamaru almost froze up upon the mention of the card he was trying to rid of for so many years, she turned her heels and faced him. "I didn't..know..." added to him, as her face began to heat up, a smile creeping upon her face. "It's..thoughtful..." she mumbled out, "I...finally read it the other day, I didn't know you felt that strongly or even cared for me that much.." [Name] admitted to him, she rummaged through her satchel as she brought out a similar envelope to him, "So I wanted to make something for you in return."

PRESENT DAY.. — PRIOR TO CHAPTER FORTY FOUR

And so he began to understand why he liked her so much in his youth. He began to understand why his feelings still lingered today and why it was so difficult for him now to get over her. Her selflessness, the strong energy she carried around herself. It was all the reason why he liked her so much. "Shikamaru...?" Ino wasn't one to visit Shikamaru within his own compound a lot, considering they chose to meet up more as a team than to regularly check in on each other only if needed and considering what had been echoing throughout the village lately, it was needed. "I'm not sad about it." He tried reiterating to the blonde girl before him, though his position within his room and the look on his face said otherwise.

He faced towards the windows, watching as the clouds passed, just as he remembered him & [Name] watching them passing years ago near the cliffside of the Hyuga compound. Shikaku had allowed the girl in, after she voiced her concerns about Shikamaru's sudden change of demeanor and distant lately, especially after Asuma's death. There was a lot going on, and she knew it was putting stress on him. "But you are..and it's okay.." Ino replied back, though a frown encountered on her face as she tried cheering him up. "It's..—"

"Don't say it's okay." Shikamaru snapped at the Yamanaka, "..." he went quiet, as he felt himself contradicting her earlier statement. He was upset, livid, and most of all he was trying to understand how to grieve. He remembered Asuma's last words to him and all what it meant to him. His fist clenched as he was reminded to protect the King again. Ino stood quietly behind him, as the Nara got up, he eyed over to Ino slightly before he walked out the room and specifically out of the compound. "I'm fine.."

And though he kept saying it, he found himself straying further and further from the Nara compound and off into the higher hills of the Hyuga compound. His mind reminisced of the days to when he started making it a routine to watch the clouds from this view. It reminded him of her every time even though she had only joined him a few times during his cloud gazing. He reached the top, and a plethora of clouds met him.

A wisp of wind hit his face as he began to rummage through his pockets, grasping for the cigarette box and lighter within his pocket and into his hand. He grasped for the envelope she gave to him out of his flak jacket, the paper crinkle on the ends. He sparked the cigarette he held between his fingers, inhaling in and out as he closed his eyes and remembered her voice, and once again remembering Asuma's words to him. And it made him wonder something he probably would've never thought his mind would make to this extent. Just how far would he go? The lengths of protection for the King and most of all, to bring her back?

If only gazing into the clouds told him. If only they could bring her home.

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so, idk if i ever admitted this but ive rewatched og naruto over and over like 10 times this summer, fillers and all.....whats wrong with me? LOL