In Sickness And Health ~Shikamaru~

Chapter 16

"Do you have any idea just how worried we were about you! You should have come home first instead of hanging out with your friends! Right dear?" My mom yelled.

Dad just sat in his chair looking like he didn't exactly want to be there. "Don't drag me in this..."

"Dear do something about your son!" She yelled, waking him upside the head.

"Hey! Yoshino, why is that when he does something you don't like he's my son?" All my mom had to do was give him 'the look' and he sighed. "Fine, listen to your mother, should have come home, blah blah blah, glad to see you're safe. Happy?"

"Wise ass..."

My family... wonderful right? This right here is why I consider most women to be incredibly troublesome. But mother, Yoshino Nara, is the most troublesome of them all. Watching her argue with my dad I attempted to sneak away, only for her all knowing gaze to sense my retreat. "And just where do you think you're going?! I'm not done with you yet!"

"Come on Mom. Leave me alone."

"You ungrateful child!"

"How did this become about me being ungrateful?"

"Go to your room!"

"Thank God." She continued to throw a tantrum as I walked down the hall to my room. Why did my Dad choose such a troublesome woman, seriously. Mom might be mad now, but come tomorrow morning she'll be happy and give me a few errands to run while I'm out and then by the time I come home she'll throw another tantrum where I inevitably get sent to my room, which is where I want to go anyway. But seriously... what sixteen year old chunnin still gets sent to his room? I sighed and sat cross legged at my table, pulling out a piece of paper and a pen.

I did tell her I'd write, might as well start. So I started the first of what would be many letters.

Dear Reeva.

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"So what are your plans today?" My dad asked as mom set breakfast down on the table.

I rubbed the back of my head. "I figured I'd just take Reira to Al's house again."

"You've been spending a lot of time with this Reira girl, haven't you?" Mom asked.

"I don't know if I would say a lot of time."

"So when do we get to meet this girl?" Dad asked, suddenly interested.

"I didn't know you wanted to..."

"Of course we want to meet the girl who has captured our sons heart!" Mom said emphatically.

"What are you talking about?"

"She must be cute to have caught your eye." Dad agreed.

"Can't we ever just have a normal conversation?"

After another good few minutes of their mindless bantering, I put my plate in the sink and went to put my shoes on. "I'm leaving." I called out.

"Oh Shikamaru, wait a moment." What did I tell you? Never fails, she always has one errand for me. She met me at the door and handed me a list. "Before you come home, can you stop by the store for me?"

"Yeah, sure." I sighed and began to leave again.

"Oh wait, one more thing." Now what? But when I turned around my mom had a strangely kind and sweet smile on her face. "Why don't you invite your friend Reira over for dinner tomorrow night? Your father and I really would like to meet to her. The way you talk about her she seems like a very sweet person."

What strange foreign creature has possessed my mom? But she really seemed like she meant it, and it would give Reira somewhere to go that isn't Al's house, so maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea... Who am I kidding, anything having to do with my parents is a bad idea. But still... with a sigh I nodded and left the house to see Reira.

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"So my mom wants you to come over for dinner tomorrow." I said. Reira and I were walking through town, mainly window shopping since there wasn't much else to do and Al was working.

"That sounds fun." Oh if only she knew. It's impressive though how much better she's gotten with her communication now, there's almost no pause of process and she can say a whole seven words without having to stop and think. Her doctor says it's almost a miracle, he honestly thought she would never speak again after the accident. She has a few more check-up's later in the week, to really see where she's at mentally.

My face turned to fire when Reira grabbed onto my arm. She really looked like she was having fun, a large smiling gracing her face and little giggles escaping. I wonder if I should tell her how I've been feeling lately... would she understand? Actually come to think of it, how can I expect her to understand when I don't even understand? Man what a pain.

"Shikamaru, look!" Reira said excitedly, pointing to a snow cone cart. I've never seen her this excited. Is some of her old personality slipping through? But she still seems like her quiet shy self. I guess even shy girls get excited sometimes. I bought us both snow cones, her a cherry, me a lime. It was actually really nice to see Reira smile like that. but after a few bites her face scrunched up in pain. "Ooooowww."

"Brain freeze." She only nodded sadly. "I can show you how to get rid of it. Here, just press your thumb to the roof of your mouth." Is it sad to say that I found her extremely adorable when she did that? Cause yeah... it was kind of cute.

"Wow! Thank you!" She shot me that prize winning smile and latched onto my arm again. You know, telling her how I've been feeling would be weird. It's kind of nice just how things are right now. As long as I can see that smile, I'm happy.