Warnings: Panic Attack & accidental hurting of oneself, Assumed character death, death of parents
......
"A friend is like a star that twinkles and glows
Or maybe like a ocean that gently flows
A friend is like gold that you should treasure
And take care of forever and ever
A friend is like an angle that is there to guide you
A friend is someone you can trust out of a few
A friend is more than one in a million
They are one in ca-zillion
And you, my friend, are very special
and so it is official"
Ashley Campbell
_________________________
There was a girl on his hill and he was tired.
He was tired and there was a girl on his cloud watching hill reading a book.
How troublesome.
Shikamaru left.
...
The girl was still there the next day. He sighed.
...
The girl was there for two weeks.
He missed his cloud watching spot. It was the best spot for a nap.
The best spot to silence the constant noise in his mind.
...
At the end of the third week he admitted defeat.
He lay down beside her, head resting on his arm.
She scooted over a few inches, so he had enough room to lay comfortably. She flipped a page in her book, the noise oddly soothing.
They lay in companionable silence.
Shikamaru felt at peace.
...
They didn't talk.
Ever.
The two children would meet on the hill every day without fail. Her with a book, him with the clouds.
But they never talked.
...
Shikamaru decided that he should talk to the girl.
He started Academy this year and would rather go in with two friends rather than one.
He started with something simple. Something evidence says she would answer. The girl was reading a book about deer a few days ago.
And deer happened to be one of his specialties.
"Did you know that fawns don't have a detectable smell?" He asked into the peaceful air, causing the girl to look up at him in surprise.
"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.
Out of nowhere Makoto was getting smacked across the back of his head by his father, who was staring at his son with an unimpressed look.
"Don't scare off your sister's friend!!" he exclaimed, before turning to Shikamaru.
Shikamaru had no idea what to think of this family.
But he knew for a fact that Asami was just like them.
...
She loved the journal.
...
Shikamaru started the Academy.
The next 6 months were an absolute drag.
But as busy as it was, he never gave up their daily meetings on the hill.
Not for anything.
...
When he celebrated his 6th birthday, Asami gave him a deep green hammock.
He hung it in the Nara Woods.
...
There were 3 months left in the Academy.
And for the first time Asami wasn't at the hill.
Shikamaru didn't know what to think.
But above all he felt worried for his friend.
...
She wasn't there for an entire week.
He decided he would have to go to her.
...
He found no restaurant. Just a burned building where it once stood.
Shikamaru felt his heart stutter.
And then the panic set in.
...
Panic is an odd feeling.
Shikamaru, in his 6 long years on this earth, had never really felt it before.
Not to this extreme.
His palms felt faintly sweaty, and his head was pounding. Were his legs shaking? He couldn't tell. His heart... It felt heavy. And it was loud. Everything hurt in a way he couldn't even begin to describe.
When did the floor get there?
He didn't notice the feeling of gravel digging into his palms. Or the soot that stained his clothes.
Hands grabbed him and pulled him away.
Shikamaru, for the first time in his life, was unaware of what was happening.
...
When Shikaku Nara finally reached his son, his heart broke.
He'd been in his office in Hokage Tower, trying to sleep when his assistant burst into the room, startling Shikaku into a fighting position.
He didn't relax like he normally would, when he saw the look on Bashira's face.
"What's happened?" he asked, standing immediately.
"Shikamaru is in the hospital, Shikaku-Sama!"
Shikaku was there in the blink of an eye.
His son (his child, his baby. He's only 5. He shouldn't have that look in his eyes.) was sitting on the chair in the hospital room, unaware of anything happening.
His face was completely blank, hand held upward by a nurse who was trying to get him to respond to her questions, as she wrapped a wound on his hand that Shikamaru seemed to not feel.
"What the fuck happened?" he asked, a dark look in his eyes.
The nurse didn't even flinch. "Your son was found having a panic attack at the burned ruins of the "Little Himura's" restaurant. He stabbed himself through the hand with a nail and didn't respond to the pain at all."
Himura... Shikaku's eyes widened in realization.
Why did nobody think to mention that the restaurant that one of his son's best friends lived in had burned down?
Shikaku sighed.
Time to figure out just what happened. Because he knew where his son's thoughts had gone.
And those thoughts led to dark places that no child should have to go.
...
Makoto glared angrily at the officer in front of him. "No."
Officer Uchiha sighed in frustration. "Listen, kid-"
Makoto's glare deepened "No, you listen, officer (his tone let the Uchiha know that it was an insult). You will NOT be separating my sister from me. I am fully capable of taking care of her."
"She is a child! You are not to have that responsibility." the Uchiha insisted.
Makoto scoffed. "You're right. She is a child. A child who should not be taken from the only family she has left! And besides, that Uzumaki kid is younger than her, but you people don't seem to mind letting him live alone."
Officer Uchiha was speechless. "W-well... That's different!"
The oldest Himura looked unimpressed. "Oh, really?"
"Is everything alright, here, Officer Jun?" a voice asked from behind them.
Officer Uchiha jumped, eyes widening. "N-no, Itachi-sama! This kid just refuses to let us find his sister a good home."
Makoto actually growled at him. For a civilian, his ability to scare a Uchiha was admirable, Itachi thought. "How would you feel, Uchiha? If they told you your little brother was being taken away?"
Itachi looked at him with an eyebrow raised. This boy, the same age as him presumably, knows who he is.
Jun looked angry. "You will treat the heir with respect!"
Makoto scoffed. "Like hell I will."
Itachi decided that he liked this civilian.
"I'll take it from here, Officer Jun." Itachi said, before someone got murdered. "Please, leave us."
The Uchiha glared at Makoto as he left. Makoto waved sarcastically, flipping him off when the officer got to the doorway. Itachi quickly shut the door before anything more could happen.
"I, too, would be angry if they tried to take Sasuke from me." Itachi said, once they were alone.
"No fucking shit." Makoto grumbled. "Asami will live with me. I inherited enough money to care for the both of us. I'll open up another restaurant and we'll be fine."
Itachi didn't argue. "Okay. We will sponsor you until you get up and running again. In return, you will report any suspicious behavior to me. I'll come by every friday."
Makoto considered him for a moment, then nodded.
"Deal, Uchiha-Sama."
Itachi smiled. "You can call me Itachi."
...
It took two days for Itachi to find a building for the Himura's to convert into a restaurant. He and Makoto, with the help of a few Genin and Shisui, got it fixed and in livable condition quickly.
A week after the Little Himuras burned down, and the two it was named after became orphans, they had settled into their new home.
An 11 year old should not have to be the sole provider for his sister, Itachi thought, but he knew that arguing with Makoto would only cause the preteen to rebel in a dangerous way.
It was this same day that Shikamaru ended up in the hospital.
And Shikaku Nara ended up on their doorstep, asking desperately for Asami.
It took no convincing to let the Clan leader take Makoto's baby sister (the only family he had left) to the hospital to check on Shikamaru.
Itachi and Shikaku shared a nod of respect and understanding.
They would take care of this poor family.
They would make sure everything would be alright.
...
Later, when Shikamaru and Asami had fallen asleep next to each other, still holding each other close after sobbing for hours on end, Shikaku would go to visit Makoto.
He'd extend an invitation to the Himura's to come visit whenever they wanted.
They were family, now. And the Nara's protected their own.