Making A Wish Under The Sun

EPISODE 12: Brain Over Brawn

"Psst!" A voice at her window cause Emi to sit up with a start, a kunai in her hand. Her hair was frayed and she was disheveled. She looked to her window. It was Naruto.

"What are you doing you idiot?!" She threw her kunai, just barely missing his face. She got up and stretched. She wore black stretchy pants and a mint sports bra with her clan emblem.

"Today's that date thing Ino and Sakura set up," Naruto began, "But I don't really know what to do for it."

"Well, bring her a gift like flowers and make sure to plan on where you wanna go before hand and what you can do when you're there," Emi explained, making a bowl of cereal.

"But like, where do you take a girl on a date?" Naruto asked, hopping in through her window.

"Well, I don't know... maybe a festival or something?" Emi said.

"You seem just as bad as me at this!" Naruto laughed.

"Shut the hell up," she waved her spoon at him threateningly.

The two spoke about the plans for tonight, apparently Sakura and Ino had not told either of them who their partners would be tonight. Emi guessed it would be Hinata because she remembered the girls bringing her up.

"So you're taking private lessons from Iruka-Sensei?" Naruto asked, helping himself to a bowl of her cereal.

"I can't imagine why they'd have me take private lessons like this. Shouldn't I just go to the academy?" Emi asked, cleaning the dishes.

"Maybe they didn't want you to be a distraction in class. I mean, look at you," Naruto began, his mouth full, "You're pretty good looking. Jaraiya-sensei would love to meet you."

"And who's Jaraiya?" Emi asked.

"He's one of the great sages. Jaraiya the Toad Sage!" Naruto fist pumped the air, nearly causing him to spill his bowl.

"Cool," Emi said, taking his dish and washing it.

"God you're like a wife," Naruto began excitedly, "Are you good at cooking? What about laundry?" This earned him a swift hit to the head. The two spent some time together before Iruka came and gave her another lesson. Naruto left before it'd began.

Much, much later that night she headed out to her date. Apparently Naruto was the reason it's started late. By the time she'd arrived Naruto had given Hinata a bundle of random flowers he'd picked straight out the ground. Emi wondered where her dat was and Hinata quietly said there had been a change in plans, or, at least thats what she'd heard from Sakura and Ino.

"Looks like I'm stick with you," Emi turned to where the voice had come from. It was Shikamaru.

"Ah, so you're in the market?" Emi asked, doubtful that he was truly interested in this thing.

"No, he's stuck on a certain sand kunoichi," Naruto whispered to her. Shikamaru scowled at him.

"Then why are you here?" Emi asked, a smile on her face, arms crossing her chest.

"Ino destroyed Shino's confidence, then Chouji agreed to do it, but then he went to go eat by himself instead. Lee was busy with Guy," Shikamaru explained.

"Well, let's just call this a friend date," she said, holding out her hand. Shikamaru shook it, a small smile on his face.

"Here," he handed her a lovely yellow flower, "I brought something, even if it's a friend date."

The two smiled. Hinata was quite red as her and Naruto walked together. The moon and stars were out and everything was closing up shop.

"Well Naruto, now that you've made everyone late and there's nothing to do in town, what are we supposed to do for this date?" Shikamaru asked.

"I've got it covered, done worry!" Naruto led the group up to the top of the great stone heads of the hokages. Sitting there was a large blanket, four bowls of instant ramen, and banana milk.

"Wow, ramen by starlight," Emi said sarcastically, "Good try though."

The group sat down and ate quietly. Hinata didn't speak very much, but Naruto was quite chatty. Shikamaru finished his food, laying back and looking at the sky. Emi did the same.

"Hey Shikamaru," she spoke up, "You've got a crush, right? How does it feel to like someone that way?"

"It's a drag," he said. Her expression dimmed, and he continued, "It's like... you're a pawn. You have take care of them, you'd risk your life for them."

"Hm, it doesn't sound so bad. Sounds like a really nice way to be motivated," She suddenly said.

"I guess you could put it that way," Shikamaru replied, a small smile appearing on his lips.