Lights Down Low

Prologue

"Really?!" she exclaimed, ignoring the way her long (why is it so long?) orange hair smacked her in the face.

Shikamaru, despite not particularly enjoying loud (because everything was loud all the time. And he'd rather it be quiet.), smiled in amusement.

Somehow, this girl's excitement was endearing instead of annoying.

"Mmhmm. Predators are not able to pick up on the smell of fawns which makes it easier to hide them." he continued.

She grinned.

He would do anything to make her smile like that again, he thinks.

...

Her name was Asami Himura.

Himura Asami was her name.

Asami was the perfect name for her.

Because she brought with her a peace that he had never really experienced before with another human being (only the clouds andt the deer). Peace that was reminiscent of early in the morning, when the sun was just lighting the sky, and the air smelled of rain. The time of day when the frogs and the crickets were still singing. And when the birds were gossiping.

She was Peace like she was Dawn.

"Morning Beauty" or "Morning Sea". That's what her name could mean.

Both meanings, he thinks, are as accurate as could be.

...

After that, Shikamaru and Asami became fast friends.

He learned that she was a civilian-born and had been going to the academy for a year, since she had turned 5. She was older than him by 6 months, and said that the academy was a bunch of fun, and she loved it.

Asami, it seems, loves knowledge in any and all forms.

Her parents owned a restaurant in the middle of Konoha, right next to the library. (And of course she lives next to a library. It just fits.) She has an older brother, Makoto, who she adores and loves to annoy. He is not a shinobi, choosing instead to follow in their parent's footsteps in Cuisine.

She leaned over and whispered, "Don't tell anyone I said this, but Onii-chan is a better cook than Ka-san and To-san."

She made Shikamaru pinky-promise to keep his lips sealed. Up until that point he hadn't even known what that meant.

...

Shikamaru didn't meet Asami's family until her 6th birthday.

He had gotten her a journal, with a metal clasp shaped like a sun. She had recently revealed that she wanted to start writing poetry, having read a whole book about it recently. If Shikamaru was anything, it was an enabler.

So enable he shall do.

He made his way to the restaurant she lived above. He glanced over at the sign that read "Little Himuras" and entered the building.

The first thing he noticed was that it smelled fantastic. The second was that Chouji would absolutely love it here.

The third was that Asami's older brother had a killer glare.

"Um. Hello?" Shikamaru greeted awkwardly.

Makoto Himura narrowed his eyes further, if that was possible. Faintly, Shikamaru realized that Asami's blue-gray eyes were far prettier than her older brother's brown.

He decided saying that would lead to more trouble than it was worth.

"So. You're the Nara kid, huh." the elder said, crossing his arms over his chest.