Blushes Galore
(Sakura)
Sakura was 5 months (about halfway) into her first year at the academy and reading a book on childhood development. She had started reading it when she overheard her classmate Ami say, “My mom said that kids like us need to drink lots of milk, something about it helping us grow tall or something?”, and while Ami hadn’t shown to be very smart she was curious about if milk could actually help kids grow.
It can't, Ami’s mother had obviously lied, but it does make the bones a little denser, and it tastes good, so Sakura is going to keep drinking it.
After that sakura realized that she didn’t actually know if there were any specific foods she was supposed to be eating or not, sakura thought she was growing normally, she was pretty much the same size as everyone else and always ate her veggies like her grandmother told her to.
But this train of thought made her worried that maybe she was missing some vital nutrients that children her age were supposed to be getting so she did as she usually does when she wants to know something, she picked up a book.
Turns out, there's like a million different vitamins that kids need and Sakura is pretty sure she’s at least getting some of them by eating vegetables and fish for lunch and dinner but she's definitely not getting enough vitamin C, D, or calcium. She thinks the vitamins C and D are easy fixes, she’ll just make sure to incorporate some fruit into her meals and get more sun (maybe she could read in the park instead of in the library) but the calcium one has kind of stumped her because apparently a child her age should be getting 1000 milligrams of calcium a day?!
Sakura’s not entirely sure how much 1000 milligrams quantifies to in comparison to other things but it sounds like a lot and the only thing she eats with calcium in it is a small glass of milk in the morning and a handful of spinach every once in a while.
“Hmm, seems I may need to adjust my diet.”
2 hours and several books later Sakura has decided that she will be fine as long as she starts eating more broccoli and cheese, she doesn't particularly like either of those but she wants to be a ninja and a ninja needs to be healthy.
It’s only as she’s putting away the “Nutrition 101” book that Sakura sees the time and starts getting ready to leave, she still has to stop by the market and pick up fruits, veggies, and rice, and then after that she needs to get her laundry started and her homework done and if she leaves now she can do all that before 9, which is her bedtime.
Sakura wakes up the next morning at 5:45 as she does every day to the sound of her next-door neighbor’s wailing baby, she doesn’t like waking up early (or her neighbor's baby), but she needs to in order to have time to do the yoga/tai chi thing her grandma introduced to her when she was little. Grandma used to do tai chi every morning before breakfast and Sakura had wanted to join but didn’t have the control or patience for regular tai chi so her grandma somehow incorporated yoga into the sequence, Sakura isn't really sure how it works but she does know that it has made her the most flexible person in class and she enjoys being able to silently lord that over Ami.
(she also just really misses her grandma.)
Sakura finishes getting ready and leaves the house at around 6:35, giving her just enough time to reach the academy 5 minutes before class starts.
8 hours later the school day ends and as Sakura approaches her much-loved library she decides to enact her sunshine plan, basically, she's going to read in the park. (There's not much to it but giving the plan a name in her head makes it seem a lot more exciting) she picks out 3 good-looking books, one on the history of Kusa, one on the development of cats in recent history, and the last one is a cookbook labeled “EAT LIKE A NINJA”. (she actually picked them because they’re all the same shade of neon green and she thought that was a fascinating choice for a book cover.)
Sakura thinks about just going to the field closest to school but decides against it in lieu of it being a popular after-school hangout and ends up wandering around until she finds a quiet park.
She’s about to settle down on a bench when she sees a little boy lying on the ground a ways away, her first thought is “Oh a nap does sound good right now” which is quickly followed by “Oh shit is he breathing?”
(he wasn’t, he recently found out from Chouji's dad about lung training and wondered how long he could hold his breath, the answer? And impressive minute and 31 seconds, he's rather proud of himself.)
Sakura debates between getting help and just going to see if he’s all right herself for a moment and just as she decides on the latter and starts walking towards the little boy she sees him take a breath and let out a small sign of her own. “Oh good he’s not dead”.
But, instead of going back to her bench, she decides to brave the grass stains and sit next to him, just to make sure he doesn't stop breathing again. (her grandma died in her sleep, her mother says she just stopped breathing.)
“Why is he sleeping here anyways.”, Sakura thinks it's rather irresponsible to sleep here out in the open on his own and wonders why he doesn't have a parent to watch him. She’s recently learned that most children her age aren’t as independent as she is but maybe this boy is the same way? Maybe his parents have also decided that he should be on his own, or maybe he just doesn't live very far and his parents are in screaming distance? (It's none of those actually, the park they are in is Nara-owned and guarded, and every day Yoshino gets a report on anything of interest that happens to or around her son.)
Either way, Sakura has decided she might as well keep an eye on the boy if only to make sure he doesn't die.
(she carefully ignores the voice in the back of her head that says the company, as quiet as it is, is a rather nice change.)
It never occurred to Sakura that it might be weird that she’s never officially met the little boy she spends her afternoons with, it felt so natural, so peaceful. She never wondered if it would unnerve him to find out that he unknowingly had a companion in all these months of naps.
That's why, after waking the boy up and apologizing she thought nothing of it when she introduced herself saying “I’m Sakura by the way, I’ve been sitting next to you while you sleep for a while now.”
It was only when she admitted to watching him sleep out loud that she thought maybe that wasn't normal and felt her face burn with embarrassment. In response to this revelation, she kept her face turned down and purposely took longer than needed to gather her books and hoped the boy wouldn't avoid her after this. He was her first chance at having a friend in a while.
She looked up again as he introduced himself as “Shikamaru” and stated in a rather roundabout manner that he didn’t mind the way she had gone about monopolizing his company and even enjoyed the quiet companionship. She blinked in surprise and smiled as she finished putting her things together in her bag, “Oh well then I guess it's a good thing that sunset happened, I hadn’t been planning on introducing myself any time soon. You always look so peaceful, seemed like a shame to wake you.”
Shikamaru’s face did this little smile/smirk thing and it felt weird to see him make expressions other than a dozing smile or slight frown but she thought the smirk quite suited him. She was snapped out of her thoughts by him relaying, “Oh, well then I guess I'm glad to.”
Sakura was happy he wasn't upset with her and actually seemed glad to meet her but the sun was almost down which meant it was almost 7 and while she had done her homework already she still needed to do something she read about in “EAT LIKE A NINJA” called “meal prepping” for the rest of the week and go over her budget so she broke eye contact with the boy (who didn’t have pupils??) and glanced over at gate wondering how she should initiate a goodbye.
“So uh, I should probably head home, mom will be worried, troublesome woman, I’ll uh-” he stopped short looking towards the sky and glancing at Sakura who had started inching towards the gate once she realized that Shikamaru was being an awesome potential friend and giving them both an out, “-I’ll see you tomorrow right?”
But it seems Sakura was all out of words for the night because while she found it easy to smile and nod to him in agreement she practically had to force a short “good night” out before she was scurrying out the park entrance.
Sakura felt kind of weird as she walked home like she was nervous and excited all at once, and figured maybe that's why it was hard for her to talk earlier. That’s never happened before, and while she’s not exactly a talkative person she's never just run out of words, maybe it's been too long? She hadn’t quite realized just how little she talked nowadays but maybe she just needed to get used to talking to people again? Yes, that must be it.
As she reached to open the door to her house she thought, “Maybe I should practice my talking.”
That night, before Sakura fell asleep, she started a new ritual. Where she read the folktales her grandmother used to, to herself aloud, if only to practice her speaking.
(And when she dreamt, it was fields of gold and deer smelling of burning incense)
(Shikamaru)
Shikamaru spent the majority of the night he met Sakura thinking about her.
Thinking about her hair and her smile and what she would be like once they’ve actually talked for more than 5 minutes.
He thinks she’ll be smart, she has to be with how many books she reads (unless they’re all picture books but that seems unlikely), but he doesn’t know if she reads because she likes to or because she feels it’s a necessity.
He wonders if she's soft and kind like Chouji or more abrupt and opinionated like Ino. He wonders if she’s always so quiet or if she gets louder among people she’s comfortable with, if she likes jokes, what her favorite animal is, where she lives, what she thinks of ninja, why she spends all her evenings at the park.
He wonders if she’ll want to be friends.
He wonders and wonders until finally, he dreams.
(And when he dreams it’s of the perfect sunset)
Shikamaru woke the next day excited but with the knowledge that he’d have to wait a good 9 hours to see his new (maybe)friend. That's okay, he can be patient.
Or at least he thought he could.
He usually spends at least half of class napping, if only to pass the time, but today he finds himself stuck between wanting (needing really, he spent most of the night awake) to take a nap and for once being entirely unable to nap because he’s too excited to see Sakura in the afternoon.
(He’s never been so excited that he can’t sleep before, he’s not sure he likes it.)
Finally, an hour into class Shikamaru settles on meditating the best he can with 20 rowdy children surrounding him. Blessedly, it's not as hard to tune out the noise as he’d thought it would be and by the time lunch has rung around Shikamaru is so deep into meditation that Ino has to physically shake him to get out of it.
When he recovers from the possible brain damage that is Ino it's to her physically dragging him outside for lunch, “Wait why are we going outside, we never eat lunch outside, too many gross sweaty boys remember?”
Ino rolls her eyes and grumbles, “Dad said I need to spend more time outside, says I’m not getting enough fresh air, whatever that means.” Ya her dad was probably right, Ino spent very little time outside if she could help it. She’s recently started getting self-conscious about her appearance (which is rather stupid in his opinion, they’re training to be shinobi for Kami’s sake) and is trying her very best to not get a sunburn.
Whatever, Shikamaru doesn’t really care where they eat, at least it’s nice out. Plus the academy yard has soft grass for when ninja kids inevitably act like ninja kids and start ruff housing.
Once they find a spot that Ino deems clean enough to sit on Chouji immediately plops down and starts chowing down on his three-tier bento box, acting like he hasn’t eaten in days and not like he ate at least 5 bags of chips throughout their morning class.
Shikamaru had planned to take this opportunity to get some sleep in, it was a lot quieter outside, even with the shouts coming from kids playing outside, and at some point, Shikamaru had mediated enough to clear his head and a majority of the excitement towards meeting Sakura later had settled. He was still excited, but now it was a normal amount, he could be patient this time, really.
Around 10 minutes later Ino wanders off to talk to some of her other friends, she does this every lunch once she’s finished eating and joins him again after she’s socialized (read: gossiped, a learned behavior from her dad) enough to be kept in the loop.
5 minutes after Ino leaves Chouji gets invited to play a game of ninja tag (it’s just regular tag really) and Shikamaru is left by himself to doze.
He’s alone for another 10 minutes until he hears light footsteps and a small body settle next to him, he thinks maybe it’s Shino at first, he sometimes likes to sit with Shikamaru when his other friends aren’t around. But then he hears a book page turn and immediately opens his eyes because Shino never reads at lunch, he always just plays with his bugs or something, and Shikamaru only knows one person who likes to sit next time him while he “naps” reading, “Sakura.” He stares at her
She turns to look at him and gives him a small smile “ -I wonder what her laugh sounds like-“ she has her hair pulled back today, “Hello Shikamaru.”
“Um, hey Sakura, I didn’t know you went to the academy” and wow Shikamaru's not exactly a social person but he has never been this awkward, luckily Sakura either doesn’t mind or hasn’t noticed, “mmh, yes, I’m in my first year, we must be in different classes.”
Ah, so she’s from a civilian family. Civilian kids and clan kids are separated into different classes for the first 2 years in order to “catch them up” to the clan kids who have mostly likely been learning to be shinobi since birth.
Before he can think more about the unfair standards of shinobi children and non-shinobi children Sakura clears her throat and shifts so she’s sitting in a seiza and bows her head just a tad before looking him in the eye asking, “Shikamaru, um, may we be friends?”
And Shikamaru can’t help but stare (again. This may be a problem) because, for one thing, he thought they already were friends (they technically hangout every day), and secondly Sakura has this little pink blush spreading over her face and Shikamaru is going to have to reevaluate what his favorite color is because forest green is great and all but he’s never seen a prettier color than the one Sakura is sporting on her cheeks.
(Then again he really only likes the color on Sakura and maybe sometimes Ino if she wears the right shade, so for now if people ask, his favorite color is still green. Like her eyes)
He finally answers when the blush starts losing color and his new friend looks more uncomfortable than nervous. “I’m going to be honest, I thought we already were.”
She looks startled for a moment, her eyes growing wide before the biggest smile he’s seen yet stretches across her face, it’s so big it squints her eyes and Shikamaru thinks maybe the sun is getting to him because suddenly the world is too bright and his face feels very warm and there’s a very small part of his brain that tells him that maybe he should be worried for his retinas and the possibility of getting a sunburn but none of that really matters because this smile is the best smile he’s EVER seen and he thinks he might just do anything to preserve it.
The moment is unfortunately soon over as Sakura gets called over by her teacher. He distantly hears a “see you later” from the radiant little girl as she runs towards her teacher who leads her into the main school building with a hand that Shikamaru very much doesn't like on her shoulder.
He’s still staring at the doorway when Ino and Chouji approach, “What's up with you? Why do you have that look on your face?” Ino asks, hands on hips.
Shikamaru doesn't know what type of face he’s making but he immediately straightens it into what he hopes is his usual boredom before responding, “Nothing, just thinking. I think I’m going to ask Dad to look into the teachers here, should probably have a yearly background check anyway.”
“Oh okay” She doesn’t look entirely convinced but quickly gets distracted, “Oh! Speaking of teachers, you know that new history teacher we have, Imana-sensei or something? Ya, apparently she’s on teaching duty because she got pregnant! Can you believe-” Shikamaru lets the gossip wash over him and notices Chouji staring at him, he’s looking at Shikamaru funny like he’s confused. But he eventually goes back to munching and soon everyone’s being called in for afternoon classes.
Shikamaru settles back into his desk and gets ready for 4 more hours of waiting to see Sakura again and has to cover his mouth a little as it threatens to break into a smile, “Guess we’re officially friends”.
(Chouji)
Chouji’s not really all that smart, he, knows it, his friends know it, his parents know it, and that's okay, he doesn't really need to be all that smart. Shika is the smart one, Ino’s the emotional one (in all senses of the word), and Chouji is the one to bring them back down to earth with common sense, at least that's what he likes to think, it also why he’s kind of confused on how Ino hasn’t picked up on Shika’s crush. Though he guesses he’s had a bit of an advantage.
Chouji had been returning from playing ninja tag with Kiba and some other kids when he rounded the corner to the little grassy area they had settled at for lunch and saw Shika talking to a girl.
That in itself was weird because as far as Chouji was aware Shika rarely talked to anyone he hadn’t already been introduced to by his parents, and all the people Shika knew Chouji also knew from those same introductions and Chouji definitely didn’t know this girl, he thinks he would remember if he knew someone with pink hair.
But if you put Shika’s hermit habits aside what surprised Chouji was the fact that his friend was sitting up, talking, and SMILING. To this pink-haired girl. A pink-haired girl that Chouji would like to reiterate, that he does not know. Sure Shikamaru smiled, everyone smiled, but other than his family Shikamaru really only smiled at his friends, of whom he had two. (Chouji would know, he’s one of them.)
So the fact that Shikamaru is talking and smiling at this girl he does not know obviously means that he has, for the first time ever without interference from his parents, made a friend.
Now, Chouji learned to feel pride for his friends a while ago, every time Ino successfully psychologically profiled someone with her dad he felt pride (and kinda scared), and every time Shika got closer to winning a game of shoji with his dad he felt pride, heck, every time shika hugged him of his own will he felt pride (that one was a work in progress, Shika wasn't touchy but Ino and Chouji were, it's slow going but satisfying) and right now Chouji can say with certainty that he was proud of Shikamaru.
Shika’s made a friend!!! On his own!! With no help!!
Chouji was about to go over and introduce himself, shyness be damned when he saw the girl smile back at his best friend. It was a pretty, wide smile that crinkled her eyes and made Chouji want to smile as well. But it was Shika's reaction that made him stop in his tracks.
Shikamaru had the widest eyes he’d ever seen on his friend and a very very pink blush. Chouji has never seen his friend blush, not when Ino ribs him about a girl or his dad teases him about being so interested in that grey-haired masked shinobi that sometimes meets with Uncle Shikaku. The only time he’s ever even come close was when he forgot to bring clothes to a sleepover at Chouji's house and had to come into the kitchen after a shower in only a towel asking his mom for any spare pj’s they had.
“ Oh, Shikamaru hasn’t just made a friend, he’s got a crush.”
Chouji watched in half amusement half awe as Shikamaru stayed wide-eyed and blushing even after the girl ran to her teacher at their calling. He watched in further amusement as when the teacher led her inside with a hand on the shoulder Shikamaru frowned and squinted a little.
It was a rather silly look on his friend, blushing and squinting and frowning all at once, he actually looked kind of mad. Chouji started towards him at the same time Ino rounded the corner and watched in amusement as she hounded him for answers on why his face was red and he was looking bothered. He was a little confused about why he didn’t mention the girl in response but after thinking about it he came to the conclusion that his friend wanted to keep his crush private for now.
Fine by Chouji, he’s happy to sit back and watch the show.
(And he definitely noticed the little smile that followed his friends the rest of the day, no matter how much he tried to hide it.)