In Sickness And Health ~Shikamaru~

Chapter 27

The next morning, my head was still fuzzy as I woke up from the light streaming in the room. Go away sun, no one likes you. I hid my face in the thing that was next to me and breathed in deep. Mmm, smells nice. Wait a minute... My eyes slowly creaked open to the sight of my sweet girlfriends long black hair. I forgot, I let her stay the night after Alsono's melt down. It was to late to take her back to the hospital.

Mentally shrugging my shoulders, I pulled her closer and burried my face in her hair as I tried to fall alseep again. For a good half hour I dozed in and out of conciousness. It wasn't until I heard Reira stirring that I thought 'I need to get up... what a pain...' She slowly inched her eyes open and rolled over to stretch. I don't want to admit it, but it was cute.

"Hey." I said, poking her in the side. "I want my shirt back." She snickered at my teasing and held out her arms, her sign that she wanted some loving attention. I wrapped my arms around her again and nuzzled my nose against her neck, earning another round of gentle laughter.

This is a great opportunity... It's been nearly a week since we started dating, and yet it seems our lives since then have been filled with problems. Whether it was her Father or Hanzo and Atari, or now the problems around Alsono and Choji, we haven't had time to relax and enjoy our new relashionship together. Now, we're alone.

My lips easily slipped across the soft skin of Reira's neck. She tensed and then quickly relaxed again, tightening her arms around my back. Slowly, ever so gently, I barely brushed my lips against her neck and brought them up to her ear. A soft nip at the fleshy lobe of her ear was all it took to get her to twitch and sigh. The trip was not over though.

Finally, I made my way across her face with gentle kisses before the soft touch of her lips meeting mine brought out the true passion. The soft flit of barely touching skin was gone. Now I kissed her deeper, putting everything into it. She held me tightly and I could feel her hand raking in my down hair.

My hands at her back moved forward and softly gripped her hips. I really love this girl. Sure, I have to pationt with her and she requires supervision, but for some reason, it doesn't bother me. I love being around her and talking to her and watching her. She's got a lot going on in her head but only a small portion of it actually comes out.

I went back to teasing her neck and smiled against her skin when I heard that sweet voice call out. She's so warm in my arms. We stayed just like that, wrapped up in each other in the pale light of morning.

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The front door of Al's house was open again when we arrived. It won't be long before she starts keeping it closed for winter. The trees are already turning red. When we stepped inside the soft voices of Alsono, Choji, and Ikuto could be heard. Why are Al's parents never home? In the kitchen, Al sat at the table with her head down and hands raked in her hair.

Choji leaned against his arm on the wall, looking like the world was coming to an end. Ikuto, however, looked like he was about to murder someone. "You can't throw EVERYTHING away because of this Al! Are you just trying to make yourself more miserable than this has already made you?! Because it's not just you who is suffering from all of this!"

"Ikuto, what the hell?" I asked as we stepped in more.

He gripped his hands tightly and looked down. His face was turnning red as he seemed to be fighting to hold something back. But finally he looked up to me with a strange kind of determination. "Shikamaru, what would ever make you think to break up with Reira?"

Whoa, what? Where did that come from? But all three of them looked up at me, waiting for an answer. I looked down to Reira who looked as confused as I felt, but when her eyes met mine she smiled softly and I knew the only answer to give. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" Ikuto asked, his tone implying that there was a hidden reason he asked.

"The only reason I would ever consider breaking up with her is if she cheated on me."

"I would never... do that... to you." She said, gripping my hand.

"I know." My smile was small but genuine and she leaned against my arm in an affectionate manner.

Ikuto glanced over at Alsono who had burried her head in her arms on the table. "So, let's say you got into an accident, and now you can't do a specific ninja skill because of it. Would you, say, break up with her because you feel like you aren't good enough for her?"

Okay, this getting intense. The atmosphere is getting really heavy. "Uh... no. That would be for her to decide."

"For her to decide!" He turned to look at Alsono with wide sarcastic grin. "Did you hear that? It's would be for her to decide whether he would be good enough or not."

Alsono pushed up in a hurry and fled the room. It was obvious she was crying and Choji ran after her. "Alsono, wait!"

"GO AWAY!" She screamed. Not long after I heard the sound of her bedroom door slam. Choji was still trying to talk to her through the door. Reira beside me was looking in the direction she went with a worried look. "Go ahead." I encouraged, and she ran off. Listening closly, I heard her knock and the door quickly open and close again. Choji came back in the room, his world still seeming to crumbled around him.

He sat at the table and let his head fall. "So... what's going on?" I asked.

Ikuto folded his arms and walked out the back door to the garden. Okay, so he's angry. That's okay, because when he's angry he tends the garden. That makes extra time making those veggies taste good. I slid into the booth next to Choji and crossed my arms. "Well?" But Choji was quiet. Whatever was going on, it was obviously causing a lot of problems between everyone. I hope Reira is having more luck with Al than I am with Choji.