Shikamaru opened his eyes slowly as the sun fell across his face. He sat up, stretching his arms, and glanced at his alarm clock, reading the time. "6:52" it read. "What a drag..." he sighed, blowing some of his loose hair out of his face. (He had taken his hair down last night so that he could take a shower, which he took at night to avoid waking up really early.) "I set the alarm, yet I still beat it." He threw back the sheets with a careless gesture, flinging them three-quarters of the way off of the bed. He'd have to fix that after getting dressed, or his mother would kill him.

He stepped off the bed onto the chilly floor, shuffling over to his dresser to get out some clean clothes to wear for the day. These he pulled on slowly, just going through the motions. He pulled on his vest and pulled his hair back, feeling for bumps in the top. Finding none, he wrapped the rubber band around it a few times, making sure to have it tight.

He picked up his leaf headband and examined it nostalgically. He could see his distorted reflection in the shiny surface, his face a bit more grown up since when he had first become a ninja. He smirked and tied the headband around his upper arm, yawning.

He opened his bedroom door, intent on leaving, but remembered about his bed. His mom would probably check to make sure he had made it, so he turned and did so quickly. After smoothing out most of the wrinkles and making sure it looked semi-neat, he left the room and closed the door quietly behind him.

He ate his breakfast at the table, which consisted of cereal today because he didn't feel like eating anything else. He sipped the milk from the bowl and rinsed it, putting it carefully in the sink with a few other dishes from this morning's breakfast.

Shikamaru left the house after saying goodbye to his parents, and headed out to find Choji. Choji had told him the other day that he had wanted him for something, so Shikamaru made sure to go to the place they usually met. Choji wasn't there, but he decided that he could wait a few minutes before leaving. Choji wouldn't forget and leave me here... he thought, leaning against the building.

He looked up at the blue sky, watching the clouds float on, loosing himself in time. He was shocked out of his stupor by the sound of a large dog barking. Akamaru?

Akamaru bounded up the stairs ahead of his master, who had been lagging behind because of how early it was. "Oi, Akamaru! Wait up!" Came the familiar voice of Kiba Inuzuka. Man, Kiba was not a morning person and he couldn't understand how Akamaru could be so damn energetic in the morning. The brunette male shook his head as he made it to the top, not really expecting anyone but him to be there. He looked up from the ground and jumped a little when he saw Shikamaru. Great. Could this day get any worse?

The Inuzuka walked over to the bench that was on top of the building and sat down on it, paying no attention to Shikamaru. Akamaru however had went over to Shikamaru and pounced on him. Kiba knew that his dog had no problem with Shikamaru, so he didn't stop him from doing that. Plus, since it was morning, he knew that Akamaru wasn't going to listen to him.

Kiba wasn't wearing his normal black, hoodless shirt that morning. He was wearing a coat that looked basically like the old one that he had worn when he was younger. The hood was up around his face, keeping the boy warm as he sat there. He didn't know why he was sitting there though because for some reason he hadn't been able to be around Shikamaru.

Shikamaru cried out as the large dog jumped on him, falling backwards with his legs flailing in the air. "Aah!" He kind of laughed, sweatdropping, and pet the dog's head kindly. "How troublesome." He said, wrapping his arms around the big dog's neck and pulling him away from his face so he couldn't reach him with his tongue any longer.

He looked up at the dog's owner, curiously. "Good morning Kiba." he called, scratching behind the dog's ears affectionately. "What's up?" he usually wasn't much of a talkative person, but usually Kiba at least said 'hi' to him when he passed, or called his dog off. Shikamaru didn't mind that he didn't call him off, he was just confused as to the reason he was ignored.

Kiba looked at the other and smiled a little. "Morning, Shikamaru," He said, still tired. He stretched his arms into the air, yawning loudly. Then the brunette male laid down on the bench and stared up at the sky, watching the clouds, which was something that he usually didn't do. A soft sigh escaped the brunette's lips as he watched one particular cloud, which looked like it was changing its shape into something, or someone.

The brunette glanced over at Shikamaru, his eyes moving over him and then looked back up at the clouds. "So, what brings you up here this morning, Shikamaru," Kiba asked Shikamaru, though he didn't look at him when he asked. He knew that Shikamaru would answer, even if he wasn't looking at him.. The Inuzuka put his hands behind his head and sighed. He whistled and Akamaru ran over to him, laying underneath the bench, though he didn't fall asleep. It was the dog's way of protecting his master and making sure that no one hurt him.