Secrets of the Heart - ShikaNaru

6

The early morning light barely seeped through the curtains, casting a faint glow over the room. Shikamaru, already awake, quietly shuffled through the suitcases at the foot of the bed, trying not to make too much noise. His movements were deliberate but slow, as if the act of going through their belongings might somehow distract him from the thoughts that had been swirling in his mind all night.

He was lost in the quiet rustling of clothes and the faint clink of metal when a voice broke through the silence.

"Shikamaru... what're you doing?" Naruto's groggy voice cut through the air, his face half-buried in the pillow as he blinked up at his friend, clearly still half-asleep.

Shikamaru paused, caught in the act, before glancing over his shoulder at Naruto. "Couldn't sleep. Figured I'd get our stuff sorted," he replied, his tone casual.

Naruto rubbed his eyes, trying to shake off the remnants of sleep. "You know it's, like, barely dawn, right?" His words came out as a yawn, his messy blond hair sticking up in every direction.

"Yeah, I know," Shikamaru muttered, continuing his search through the suitcase. "Didn't mean to wake you."

Naruto sat up slightly, leaning on his elbows as he watched Shikamaru rummage through the clothes. "You sure you're okay? You've been acting kinda... weird lately."

The question hung in the air, and for a moment, Shikamaru froze. He felt the weight of Naruto's gaze on him, and a dozen thoughts ran through his mind, none of which he was ready to voice. Instead, he shrugged, keeping his back to Naruto. "Just thinking about a lot of stuff. After all, the festival is today. Nothing you need to worry about."

"Alright... if you say so," he mumbled, lying back down with a sigh, though his eyes remained open, tracing Shikamaru's broad shoulders that seemed to carry a weight that the blond couldn't make out.

Shikamaru's hands paused again as he continued to sift through their belongings, but this time his mind wasn't on packing. He couldn't shake the tension from the night before—Naruto's late-night confession about Hinata, the awkward silence that had settled between them since. It was enough to make the simple act of searching through their suitcases feel heavier than it should.

But for now, he kept those thoughts to himself, burying them beneath the sound of clothes being folded and zippers being pulled shut, hoping that the day ahead would distract him from everything stirring just beneath the surface. 

There were moments of silence between them every now and then, but in a room filled with unanswered questions and reticent feelings, there was nothing about the quiet tension that would mitigate their complicated thoughts.

It was only natural to break the stillness.

"Hey, Naruto?"

"Yeah?" The blond sat up, rubbing his eyes once more.

"I'm planning on going to the festival with Temari."

There was a pause, and Naruto was sure that Shikamaru could sense it.

"So?" His tone was stern and cold, one that could pierce through even the toughest metal. It was unlike him, and yet it remained unnoticed to Shikamaru, who'd been tied up in his mixed thoughts.

But beneath the layers of facades he'd set up, there was a part of him that felt hurt and enveloped him with guilt for feeling that way. As he sat mere inches away from Shikamaru, Naruto found himself burring his frown into his knees.

"Just thought I'd let you know."

As Shikamaru glanced over to Naruto, he noticed a shift in the way the blond locked himself up, but didn't want to meddle into even more personal conversations. And so, the room diffused with silence.