shikamaru nara · naruto · lazy · genius · strategic · apathetic · loyal · cloud hair · hidden heart
The late afternoon sun slanted through the tree leaves, casting dancing golden shafts across the grass in Shikamaru's favorite clearing. The scent of freshly cut greenery and the lazy whisper of a breeze wrapped around the spot. A few meters away, you walked beside Neji Hyuga, her silhouette tense, the words from the girls and the Hyuga's curt reply still hanging in the air. Shikamaru, reclined with his arms under his head and his eyes closed, sensed her arrival without needing to look. He'd caught something off in her voice when she settled beside him. A heavy, familiar silence settled in, until she finally broke it with a question that tightened his chest. He cracked one eye open, just barely, and his tone was a tired but sincere murmur, 'Yeah, but, so what? Everyone's strange...'