Chapter 16 A Fool's Gift
"Shikamaru! And here's a gift I prepared for you!"
Haruko handed him a square gift box, wrapped in pale yellow paper and tied with a green and gold ribbon at the corners.
The most eye-catching element is definitely the cartoon character drawn in the middle with crayons. Although it is relatively simple, its iconic spiky hairstyle makes it instantly recognizable as Nara Shikamaru.
At least Nara Shikamaru was attracted to it; after taking it, he couldn't help but raise his hand to stroke the little figure on it.
"This is Shikamaru, isn't he cute?"
"What a strange little person..."
They both spoke at the same time, and after noticing each other, they stared at each other.
As Haruko's face gradually puffed up with anger, Shikamaru coughed and tried to salvage the situation, saying, "Upon closer inspection, it's actually quite pretty."
"Can I open it now?" It would be a lie to say he wasn't looking forward to her gift, so Nara Shikamaru avoided her gaze.
"sure!"
Nara Shikamaru slowly untied the ribbon and peeled back the outer packaging paper. Even though Haruko Hayama said it didn't matter if he damaged the packaging, Nara Shikamaru still childishly and carefully disassembled it.
With each step of disassembly, the cartoon Shikamaru in the middle seemed to come to life, causing Nara Shikamaru's heart to flutter inexplicably.
Open the last wooden box to reveal a small forest inside.
"I prepared a chess set. Didn't Shikamaru say that he wanted to play chess every day when he got old? If the chess set I gave you is still here by then, you can think of me when you play!"
Although it's a very ordinary chess set, Haruko Hayama specially painted it with a beautiful green, creating a calm forest color that both children and adults would like.
"I painted all of this, doesn't it look pretty? I hope Shikamaru will like this color when he gets old. It took me so much time to put it on..."
Nara Shikamaru heard her soft, sweet voice, gentle and flowing, while his eyes were occupied by the chess set that matched his own.
In an instant, he felt as if he were surrounded by her again, and a sweet, honey-like feeling, which he could not say he liked, filled him. It was so sweet that he felt a little overwhelmed, but not too bad. He actually felt a surge of joy from the bottom of his heart.
This gift, which embodies the hard work of some fool day and night... truly made him feel flattered.
"Thank you, I like it... no, I really like this gift." Unlike his usual casual demeanor, Nara Shikamaru replied with a serious expression.
Haruko's smile brightened. "I'm so glad you like it!"
"I'm going back to my room first." After saying that, Nara Shikamaru quickly left.
He had to hurry back to his room and put the chess set away properly; otherwise, it would be a real problem if he lost it or if his father found out and took it to play with.
Afterwards, Choji Akimichi and Ino Yamanaka also came to celebrate his birthday. What shocked Nara Shikamaru the most was that Sasuke Uchiha actually came too. Not only did he come, but he also prepared a birthday present for him!
"I hope it won't rain blood tomorrow..." Nara Shikamaru thought to himself.
Under the astonished gazes of everyone and the relieved look in Haruko's eyes, Sasuke Uchiha regretted countless times on the way there that he shouldn't have come.
Despite Haruko Hayama subtly hinting to him a month, a week, and a day ago that Nara Shikamaru's birthday was approaching, Sasuke Uchiha considered himself not very familiar with him... well, not very familiar, so he initially didn't plan to come.
Even though he had prepared the gift a month ago...
but!
He didn't want to come, but his mother somehow got wind of it and kept urging him to visit.
Haruko Hayama, who had conspired with Uchiha's mother beforehand, kept her mission hidden.
“…Happy birthday.” Sasuke Uchiha shoved the gift into Shikamaru Nara’s hand as if he had dropped a time bomb on him.
"Uh... thank you." Nara Shikamaru, equally bewildered, stiffly accepted the gift.
Click!
Everyone present looked toward the source of the sound.
"This is such a memorable moment!" Haruko was incredibly glad that she had borrowed her mother's camera before leaving the house.
"Hey! Delete it now!" Uchiha Sasuke, enraged, tried to rush over and snatch the camera from her hand.
Haruko immediately hid behind Shikamaru Nara, who instinctively raised his hand to protect her. The two then chased each other left and right, causing everyone around them to burst into laughter.
Nara Shikamaru didn't even realize that a smile had crept onto his face as he watched the farce unfold before him.
"What a nuisance, you two, get out of my way!"
Later, they played games together at Shikamaru's house in Nara, lit candles on the cake that was refrigerated, and sang a birthday song for Shikamaru, led by Haruko Hayama and Naruto Uzumaki.
Nara Shikamaru was forced to listen to their off-key "Happy Self-Happiness" song, accompanied by Uchiha Sasuke's sour face.
P.S.: Only one-sixth of the cake was eaten; the rest was consumed because Naruto Uzumaki accidentally slapped his cake onto Sasuke Uchiha's face, which sparked a cake fight.
P.S.: Nara Shikamaru carefully protected that one-sixth of the cake and secretly escaped to eat it when no one was looking.
Aside from Sasuke Uchiha, who was offended, and Naruto Uzumaki, whose face was covered in cake, everyone else expressed their satisfaction with the birthday party.
While they were playing around inside, Haruko and Shikamaru sat quietly together on the edge of the room, bathed in the cascading moonlight, accompanied by the rustling of insects.
"Is Shikamaru happy today?" Haruko asked slowly.
"Well... so-so." Nara Shikamaru didn't look at her, but stared at the bright moon in the sky, and answered vaguely.
"Oh..." Upon hearing this, the idiot's voice suddenly turned negative.
Just as Nara Shikamaru was being tormented by his conscience, knowing that she would be disappointed if she heard this, but still too embarrassed to say that he was happy, and was about to say something to make up for it, he heard that some idiot had regained his confidence.
"Yoshi! I'll definitely work even harder next year to prepare and try my best to make Shikamaru happy!"
Haruko thought angrily in the morning, "I refuse to believe that with my mature adult planning skills, I can't satisfy a seven-year-old child!"
"Shikamaru is always lazy and doesn't talk to other people often. I'm worried about him."
"I want to see Shikamaru surrounded by many friends, Shikamaru with a smile on his face, Shikamaru full of hope for the future, and... Shikamaru standing by my side!"
"So, I will try even harder to make Shikamaru happy!"
Haruko Hayama's gaze was firm, and she clenched her fist, vowing to maintain her friendship with her ordinary friend, Shikamaru Nara.
Completely unaware of her inner thoughts, Nara Shikamaru's gaze softened. He twirled his fingertips, which were covered in the moonlight, as if trying to grasp the moon that belonged to him at this moment.
"Hmm...not bad this year either." Nara Shikamaru spoke casually, glancing at her nonchalantly. Meeting her bright, touched eyes, he drawled out in a good mood, "Idiot—"
Haruko Hayama showed none of the displeasure she usually felt when called an idiot; instead, she gave Shikamaru Nara a bright smile.
"I'm so glad Shikamaru likes it!"
Nara Shikamaru didn't answer, but simply raised his right hand and patted her fluffy head. Hayama Haruko also habitually snuggled into his hand.
Click!
Unbeknownst to them, Nara's mother had somehow picked up the camera that Haruko had brought and captured this moment of the two children snuggling together under the moonlight.
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