Chapter 10 Shikamaru is standing beside me

"Shikamaru! And I have a present for you!"

In the morning, Haruko handed him a square gift box, which was wrapped in light yellow paper and tied with a green and gold ribbon at the diagonal.

The most eye-catching thing is definitely the cartoon character drawn with crayons in the middle. Although it is relatively simple, the iconic hairstyle makes it clear that it is Shikamaru Nara.

At least at this moment Nara Shikamaru was attracted. After he took it, he couldn't help but touch the little man on it with his hand.

"This is Shikamaru. Isn't he cute? I drew him!" Haruko Asahi explained with a smile.

"How can it be like me..."

Although he said that, Nara Shikamaru was in a good mood and raised the corners of his lips.

Originally, Uzumaki Naruto was worried about what gift to give, and then the military advisor Haruko Zaoma kindly suggested that you can give a cake, which will never go wrong.

Uzumaki Naruto was excited for a moment at her suggestion, but then he started to worry about what cake to send.

Haruko Asahi: ...Do you really want to give him a gift?

But when meeting the innocent blue glass eyes of the golden retriever, Haruko wiped her sweat and contributed her own design to him, while Naruto Uzumaki was in charge of the rest of the selection + purchasing + supervision + errands.

"The cake is better when it's fresh, so Naruto, it's better for you to go and get it in the morning!"

Morning Haruko Sincerity.JPG

Naruto Uzumaki, who was confused, chose to trust his best friend unconditionally, so he not only accepted Haruko Zaoma's advice, but was also tricked into picking up the cake early in the morning so that he arrived five minutes later than her.

Cunning adult (crossed out)

Cunning Kid: Haruko Hayama: Yeah!

"Can I open it now?" It would be a lie to say that he didn't look forward to her gift. Even Nara Shikamaru couldn't fool himself.

"of course can!"

Nara Shikamaru carefully removed the ribbon and then peeled off the outer wrapping paper. Even though Haruko said in the morning that it didn't matter if the packaging was damaged, Nara Shikamaru still stubbornly and carefully removed it.

Especially with each step he took, the cartoon Shikamaru in the middle seemed to be looking at him, and Nara Shikamaru felt inexplicably moved.

Open the last wooden box to reveal a small forest inside.

"I prepared chess. Didn't Shikamaru say that he wanted to play chess every day when he got old? If the chess I gave you is still there by then, you can think of me when you play!"

Although it is a very ordinary chess piece, Haruko Zao specially painted it a beautiful green color, and added some small flowers, making it look like it is from the same series as the cake.

The only difference is that the color on the chess piece is darker, which is because Haruko deliberately neutralized the color in the morning, creating a calm forest color that both children and adults will like.

"Don't underestimate this chess set. I painted it with paint. Doesn't it look beautiful? I hope Shikamaru will like this color when he gets older. It took me a lot of time to create it..."

Her soft, sweet voice filled Nara Shikamaru's ears, and his attention was occupied by the chess piece that matched his own.

At that moment, he felt that he was completely surrounded by her, and he really wanted to throw away his awkward mood and surrender.

This gift, which was the result of some idiot's hard work day and night, really made him feel flattered.

"Thank you, I like it... No, I like this gift very much." Nara Shikamaru looked at Haruko Hayama seriously and replied.

Morning Haruko's smile brightened, "I'm so glad you like it!"

"I'll go back to my room first." After saying that, Nara Shikamaru left quickly.

He had to go back to his room and put the chess set away. If he lost it or his father found out and played with it, he would probably regret it for the rest of his life.

Afterwards, Akimichi Choji and Yamanaka Ino also came to celebrate his birthday. What shocked Nara Shikamaru the most was that Uchiha Sasuke also came, and not only did he come but also prepared a birthday present for himself!

I hope it won't rain red tomorrow... Nara Shikamaru thought.

Facing everyone's surprised gaze and Haruko's gratified look, Uchiha Sasuke once again regretted that he should not have come.

Even though Haruko had hinted to him in the morning a month ago, a week ago, and a day ago respectively that Nara Shikamaru's birthday was approaching, Uchiha Sasuke considered himself not familiar with him... well, not very familiar with him, so he didn't plan to come at first.

Even though he prepared the gift a month ago...

but!

He didn't want to come at first, but his mother got the news from somewhere and kept urging him to visit.

Haruko had planned with Uchiha's mother in advance to hide her achievements and fame.

"...Happy birthday." Uchiha Sasuke stuffed the gift into Nara Shikamaru's hand, as if he had thrown a time bomb at him.

"Oh...thank you." Nara Shikamaru, who was also a little at a loss, took the gift.

Click!

Everyone present looked towards the source of the sound at the same time.

"This is truly a memorable moment!" Haruko was extremely glad that she had borrowed her mother's camera before going out in the morning.

"Hey! Delete it now!"

Uchiha Sasuke was so angry that he wanted to rush over and snatch the camera from her hand. Haruko immediately hid behind Nara Shikamaru. Nara Shikamaru subconsciously raised his hand to protect her, causing everyone around them to laugh.

Looking at the farce in front of him, Nara Shikamaru smiled without realizing it.

"It's so troublesome, you two, please stop hanging around in front of me!"

Later, they played games together at Nara Shikamaru's house, lit candles on the cake refrigerated in the refrigerator during dinner, and in the morning, led by Haruko and Uzumaki Naruto, sang a birthday song for Nara Shikamaru.

So Nara Shikamaru was forced to listen to a tune-deaf song they sang to wish themselves happiness.

ps: Only one sixth of the cake was eaten, and the rest was eaten because Uzumaki Naruto accidentally slapped his share of the cake on Uchiha Sasuke's face, which triggered a cake war.

PPS: The one-sixth of the cake was carefully protected by Nara Shikamaru, who secretly escaped and ate it when no one was paying attention.

Except for Uchiha Sasuke who was offended at first, and Uzumaki Naruto who was covered in cake, everyone else expressed that they were satisfied with the birthday party.

After seeing them off, Haruko and Nara Shikamaru sat on the edge of the ridge together in the morning, admiring the pouring moonlight and the rustling sounds of insects.

"Is Shikamaru happy today?" Haruko Asahi turned around and asked him.

"Well... it's just so-so."

For some reason, Nara Shikamaru didn't dare to look at her. He could only look at the bright moon in the sky and answer her mumbledly.

"Oh..." A certain idiot's voice suddenly became negative when he heard this.

Just as Nara Shikamaru was being scolded by his conscience and was too embarrassed to say that he was happy even though he knew she would be disappointed when she heard it, he was about to say something to make up for it, when he heard a certain idiot suddenly cheer up.

"Yoshi! Next year I will prepare even harder than this year and try to make Shikamaru happy!"

I don’t believe that my plan as a mature adult will not satisfy a seven-year-old child!

"Shikamaru is always lazy and doesn't talk to other people often. I'm worried."

If we don’t quickly deepen the relationship among the protagonists, how can we cling to a stronger and more united force?

"So I want to see Shikamaru surrounded by many friends, Shikamaru who always has a smile on his face, Shikamaru who is full of hope for the future, and... Shikamaru with me standing next to him!"

Did you understand my hint? If you become rich and powerful, don't forget me!

"So, I'll work harder to make Shikamaru happy!"

Seeing Haruko's determined look encouraging him in the morning, Nara Shikamaru's eyes softened when he looked at her.

"Well... this year isn't bad either."

"Really? Really?!"

"Fool."

Haruko Asama did not have the angry expression she usually had when being called an idiot. Instead, she gave Nara Shikamaru a bright smile.

"I'm so glad Shikamaru likes it!"

Nara Shikamaru did not answer, but raised his left hand and touched her furry head. Haruko Asamo also rubbed her head against his hand out of habit.

Click!

Behind them, what they didn't realize was that Nara's mother had picked up the camera that Haruko had brought in the morning and captured the moment of the two children cuddling each other in the moonlight.