| TANGLED |

{7} You're amazing, you know?! ✔️

The bell rang throughout the academy, signalling the beginning of lunch. The students all cheered before they got up from their seats and began to make their way towards their friends, ignoring their teacher who stood at the front of the class. 

Iruka's eye twitched before he let out a long sigh. He grabbed a stack of papers from his desk before he began to make his way towards the exit. The brown-haired male opened the door and was about to take a step outside when he turned to look at his students. He eyed everyone in the classroom before his eyes stopped on a specific long-haired girl, who sat still in her seat, facing her lap.

A soft smile formed on his lips before the brunet walked out of the classroom. 'I hope she's doing alright, it's tough being the new kid.'

Meanwhile, (Y/N) stared at her lap for a couple of seconds before she glanced around the room. Naruto wasn't here, Sasuke was getting surrounded by girls and Hinata was sitting next to her.

(Y/N) looked back at her lap and took in a deep breath. She hoped it would calm her nerves down. She would just talk with Hinata, weren't they friends?

"Oi! (Y/N)" she heard Shikamaru call her.

Somehow, by the sound of his voice, all of her nerves disappeared. She looked up from her lap as she turned her head towards the direction of the voice. The weird feeling in her stomach slowly vanished as Shikamaru walked towards her, his hands in his pockets.

"You doing okay?" he asked in a casual tone, yet hidden behind his eyes held concern.

"I'm okay," she assured in a whisper.

Shikamaru nodded his head before he glanced around the room. He tilted his head towards the exit and asked, "Want to have lunch with my friend?"

(Y/N)'s eyes widened by a tiny bit. She slowly nodded her head.

Shikamaru's lips twitched upwards as he pulled his hand from his pocket. "Come on." He urged her to take his hand.

The long-haired girl stared at his hand for a couple of seconds before she reached out and gently gripped his hand.

———

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched as he watched Shikamaru led (Y/N) out of the class. He bit his tongue once he saw they were holding hands. As soon as they left the classroom, he rolled his eyes and turned his head away, facing the window.

'I should've invited her for lunch," he thought to himself. He let out a 'hn' before he stood up from his seat, deciding to go eat lunch.

———

Shikamaru opened the door towards the roof and began to walk up the stairs, (Y/N) following behind him. Once they reached the roof, (Y/N) recognized the place. It was where he brought her when she was having a panic attack.

She looked around and saw a chubby boy, her age, eating a bag of chips. He sat on the bench under the shade. 'That must be Shika's friend.' She thought to herself.

Shikamaru gently pulled her towards the bench. As soon as they reached the bench, Shikamaru called out, "Yo Choji," in a nonchalant tone.

The boy looked up and spoke, his mouth full of chips, "Oh, hey Shikamaru."

Shikamaru turned his head behind him. He let out a chuckle when he realized (Y/N) was hiding behind him.

(Y/N) looked up to find Shikamaru smiling at her. She felt her lips twitch upwards as she continued to stare at his smile.