That Nara... | Naruto Fanficiton

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"Shikarei! Your date is here!" ma's voice echoed through the house.

"Date?" Shikamaru piped up, poking his head into my room with a raised brow, "you. You're going on a date?"

"...Y...es..?" I replied awkwardly, "why... Problem?"

"You? A date? With who? That weird Ryuzo dude?" he asked.

"Yes?" I nodded, grabbing a jacket and some money, "again. Is that a problem?"

"No... It's just weird," he muttered, "I never expected you to ever... Try again since the last time ended up with you being in a weird relationship with a clan murdering flower of the hidden leaf who then became a member of the Akatsuki and tried to kidnap Naruto from under Master Jiraiya's protection and then tried to kill Sasuke but died from illness."

"Did you have to remind me?" I asked.

"Probably not but it's still weird," he replied, "you sure you're ready for this?"

"If I keep telling myself that I'm not over Itachi over and over, I'm not going to be able to be ready for anything new," I told him as we walked to the front door, "don't hover around me, Shika, I don't need you to hold my hand and tell me I'm doing a good job. Plus, you're younger than me, that's my job for you."

Shikamaru frowned but nodded and I flicked his forehead before leaving and meeting Ryuzo who was stood in a surprisingly tidy outfit.

"Hey, you look beautiful," Ryuzo greeted me with a slightly red tinted smile.

"You don't look half bad yourself," I smiled as we began to walk, I paused and forced him to stop too, "I need to get something straight before we do this. I still have feelings for Itachi and considering I haven't known you for too long--"

"I know," he smiled at me, it was gentle and small, slightly sad but understanding, "and I'm totally OK with that. I'm just glad that you're at least giving me the chance to try. I'm going to win you over, just you watch, Shikarei Nara."

He slipped his hand into mine and gave it a gentle squeeze before tugging me along.

"Where to first? Food?" he asked, glancing over to me.

"Sure," I nodded.

He started rambling and I just looked down at our hands.

Butterflies were swimming in my stomach, and I felt light for some reason. My face tingled slightly, and I just felt really... happy.

We had food at the barbecue restaurant and then Ryuzo took me around the village. Apparently there was a festival going on this evening, so we walked around, just exploring. He'd stop every so often to do something goofy like pick up a mask, put it on and do some silly dance. Or he'd try out at a game and become depressed when he failed to win.

"Aw darn, fifth game tonight," Ryuzo sighed, "impossible. They're impossible."

I chuckled and paid for a shot.

"Let me show you how it's done," I took the three hoops I was passed.

"Oh, come on. If I couldn't do it, I doubt that you ca-" he stared at the three hoops that had landed around a small stuffed panda, I was passed it and he just stared at me, "-an. Whoa-- impressive. You're amazing."

I laughed and gave him the stuffed animal.

"Hey, hold on, isn't it my job to give you the stuffed animals?" Ryuzo asked as he jogged to catch up with me once he'd noticed I'd started walking again during his momentary stun.

"Don't follow stereotypes, Ryuzo," I told him, patting his shoulder, "it only makes people irritated."

"Understood," he nodded before taking my hand again, "Hey, how do we get to the Hokage faces again?"

"That way," I pointed to a street leading away from the festival, "why?"

"Come on," he pulled me lightly off in that direction. I just shot him a confused look as he dragged me to the top of the cliff. We ended up sat on top of Lord Thirds head, looking out across the village.

"It's so peaceful," I smiled, "reminds me of what it was like at the end of the third great shinobi war. The village threw a huge festival to mark the return of their ninja, both living and dead and then the next day we held a mass burial. Though, I guess this time we did it the opposite way around."

"The hidden leaf is so different to the hidden sand," Ryuzo said, "we don't do things like this. We just live out our lives. Something will happen, it's solved and then we continue living. It's kind of boring when you get to see what other places are like."

"That life in Suna sounds relaxing," I mumbled, "in Konoha, I don't think I've ever truly been able to relax without worrying about what could come the next day or week or year. But maybe now that I've retired, I'll be able to relax a lot more than I used to."

Ryuzo wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his side, I dropped my head down onto his shoulders and looked up into the sky.

"There's one thing I'll never hate about my village though," I said, he gave me a questioning hum, "the sky."

"It is really beautiful out here," he nodded in agreement before the high-pitched whistling of a firework being set off echoed through the night sky.

The dark sky dotted with glimmering stars was suddenly illuminated in a beautiful red.

"Oh, and they really know how to have fun here," I smiled.

I felt Ryuzo press a kiss to my temple.

"Yeah," he said, "and it's just all in all great to be here. Especially now Danzo isn't here."

I let out an irritated groan before we both laughed.

"Thanks for this," I looked up to him as numerous different colours mingled together in the sky as more and more fireworks were set off.

"Thanks for giving me a chance," he smiled down at me, "I'm really happy that you did."

Me too.