Her entire world had been a neat and closed cardboard box; like a *erfly fairy she had been dwelling in a secret twilight garden made of books and scrolls fluttering between the blooming pages and *ling on the essential nectar that were words and letters and the space between...

Or at least that was what she liked to imagine about herself. She was more of a carterpillar of a bookworm, really, nibbling and gnawing her way from board to board through the underneath of the underneath of sooo many books stuffed and stacked in that ill-lit low massive structure, which was the 'Konoha Angou Kaidoku Han'-building.

Her aloof boss sometimes joked the crypt*ysis team's library could as well be called her home and quietly chuckled into his beard afterwards... but he was not far from the truth either.

Shiho liked the small, quiet world she inhabited and she poured her heart into her work; she felt contented whenever she could make herself comfortable in one of the nice cosy corners between the shelves and burry her nose in another shrouded mystery to solve, thick glasses compensating the permanent deteriorative semi-darkness that she hardly ever left.

Codes and ciphers and equivocations and numericals and riddles and symbols - these were the world she knew and understood, these were her breath and viands, these were the place where she belonged and where she stayed for as long as boss let her.

And then one day her secret twilight garden was invaded.

Oh, it was nothing out of the ordinary when people flitted in and out of her team's office with messages for them to decrypt or encrypt. Shiho didn't care about those people; they were just meaningless faces looming on the periphery of her vision, soon to be gone and forgotten. Often she didn't even bother to interrupt her work to look up at them and sometimes she didn't even notice someone other than her boss or Yurika had been there at all.

But this particular intruder shortly before official closing time had Shiho perk up as soon as he set foot into her realm with the picture of the cryptological frog-prince in hand.

The voice was the first thing she noticed about him, a low and calm drawl that was both raspy and velvety enough to make her curious who it belonged to. Quietly she set down the scroll she had been reading, stood up and did her ridden up Hitae-ate around her waist. Scooting around shelves and aisles she tiptoed closer to understand what was said and finally found her intruder talking to her boss. Shiho took in the sight of the young Shinobi as if he was some kind of apparition or spectre; and somehow she felt as if he was...

Often times she stayed so long in the library she'd just fall asleep between her beloved books, her body blanketted in scrolls, her head cushioned on familiar pages, and her mind dreaming up a fairytale novel of her own. So she needed to see and she had to know if this man was a dream or if he was really real!

Quietly, quietly she inched her way closer and closer to where he was standing. So very cautiously she approached her boss's desk and sharply trained her gaze on the Shinobi as if she feared he might be but an illusion and disappear into thin air. Her bespectacled eyes absorbed his very presence like crispy dry pages of a centuries old book soaked up a drop of fingerprint sweat; she outlined his prominent features as if she wanted to carve the very code of his DNA into her mind while he talked to boss in his calm deep voice.

He was really there, she realized once she noticed she was already close enough to smell his distinctive scent that held a blend of freshness and *iness of the world outside: sunshine and breeze, long grass and cedar, tobacco and ink... and it enticed her and made her heart flutter and uncaracteristically long for that foreign place he came from.

Ah, she wanted to forever keep looking at him like this; and she was sure she'd never be sated of the sight.

'Stay here, handsome stranger', her burning eyes silently silver-tongued the tale of her heart's desire, 'please, turn around and look my way.'

But he hadn't noticed her yet and her boss's antics and words told her he was about to dismiss the man and go home. Shiho had to get his attention before time was up and he left for good; who knew if the Hokage wouldn't send a different Shinobi next time and this was her only chance to get to know the dream invader of her world! She inwardly fidgeted and racked her brain on how to make her presence known, how to prolongate his presence in her realm. Finally she saw an opening, quickly braced up and cleared her scratchy throat in the faint hope he would hear her.

And he did.

Sharp bedroom eyes targeted her and instantly ensnared her in his beautiful deep and scrutinizing gaze. Her breath caught and a hot shiver ran up and down her spine but she tried her best to gloss over her nervousness and excitement; this was her only chance so she didn't want to screw it up, now, that she had his full attention.

Pushing the fogged-up glasses up her nose Shiho tried her best knowledgable voice: "Excuse me, but if you don't have the 'combination', you'll never figure it out!" When he answered an indication to elaborate her heart was doing somersaults.

He was really talking to her and looking at her, which meant he was noticing her and staying with her longer, which meant he wanted to be with her too, which meant the feelings were mutual, which meant-...

While her mind was creating this sweet dream of chain of association her crypt*ytical expert mouth formed the words she needed for him to understand that he needed her and her quite impressive brains as much as she needed him. But the more she talked about the code the more she realized she didn't have the answer to his question... and her boss dealt the final * when he practically sent her handsome Shinobi away to talk to someone else, even though he was perfectly right on a professional level.

'No! Don't leave me yet', her bleeding heart pleaded behind thick glasses but these words died on her tongue when he made his way to the exit.

But before he was really gone he paused at the doors and smiled over his shoulder at her: "Thanks a bunch! I'll be back if I need anything else." Immediately her heart was whole again and it danced in a circle while she was staring at the closed doors in a daze of bliss. Her gentle and kind stranger had thanked her; her handsome dream Shinobi would return to her!

Of course Shiho would wait for him for as long as it took, even day and night - hopefully it was night - until they were finally united again... An anticipating grin spread on her face. Maybe, he would return for her real soon.

'Need' he had said after all, need.

Suddenly she wanted to be pretty, so she hastily started smoothing out her messy mane as if she was getting rid of de*able dog-ears with her fingers and changed into a cleaner and less crincled lab coat.

She also couldn't wait for her boss to leave; Yurika was gone already, so she would have the m*l to herself if he came into her lair of secrets and darkness again.

"Ne, Shiho-chan...", her boss stated with a fatherly smile before he left the 'Konoha Angou Kaidoku Han'-building, "if you like Shikamaru-kun so much why don't you ask him out next time he visits... it might do you good to leave this place sometimes and breathe the light spring air, you know? And a Shinobi's life is short."

With a wink he left Shiho spluttering and blushing with her smitten mind in utter turmoil and her cowardly shy heart morseing an S.O.S. in every code she had learnt.

Ask him out? She couldn't do that; she wouldn't dare to. She was already perfectly satisfied if only he would come back and she could just keep watching him for the rest of her life. Moreover, her team aside this was the closest to a real conversation she had had with a man... and what a man, indeed.

Shikamaru only took a few hours to return, but the time in between had been gruesome like a session with T&I to her anticipating heart. However, in the meantime she had done a thorough research on him and memorized the complete data from early clan history to the distinct degree his lips pursed and the exact angle the corners of his mouth curled upward when he smiled; she embraced all of his intel with her mind and heart.

Though inside she was a total mess and she couldn't stop staring once he entered the office, unfortunately this time with Naruto in tow, but she just hoped it didn't show on her face and her fogged-up glasses wouldn't give her growning pining away. 'Frankly, compared to how excited I get around him, decoding messages is no problem!', she thought to herself while she felt her pale cheeks blush a healthier tone.

The three of them did a lot of progress this time; and she was in total awe to watch this incredible man in action as they worked together on Jiraya-sama's final code, their minds feeling connected to her; they were in the flow and feeding each other lines... and everything just clicked.

They were perfect for each other, which suddenly dawned on Shiho, her breath hitched and she wondered if he realized it, too. Hee seemed happier after all and his casual grin was heaven to her.

And his handsome face-... ah, his face was so priceless when Kakashi-san read out the pages from 'Icha Icha'! Perhaps, the both of them were dreaming the same dream right now...

But then, abruptly, the enchanted moment was over and it was decided to leave for Fukasaku-sama.

Panic was settling inside her belly; Shiho couldn't let it end just like this, she couldn't let him go where she couldn't see him anymore, abandoning her inside her lonesome secret twilight garden. Everything would be over within seconds if she didn't do anything about it now.

Her boss's words came to her mind then, and she knew he had been generally right about what he told her. A Shinobi's life, indeed, was short and she couldn't waste precious time anymore. For all she cared, the world as they knew it could even end today.

She still couldn't possibly ask him out. Not now anyways, probably not ever... but maybe this little carterpillar-bookworm was ready to become a *erfly fairy for real and fly out of the darkness of her cardboard box and into the bright unknown world out there.

The world where he lived, the world where he belonged.

And she wanted to see; she wanted to be beside him so badly and watch him some more and figure him out. That was all she really needed, even more than she needed codes and ciphers and equivocations and numericals and riddles and symbols.

So Shiho, the freshly hatched *erfly fairy, gathered all her courage and asked: "May I accompany you?" And as she heard Shikamaru's lazy answer her heart skipped another beat.

"Yeah, please."

Glee was radiating from her very being. She really had his permission to follow him like his shadow and keep watching him, always. It somehow felt like her personal happily ever after, the one she had always dreamt of between her naps amongst the piles of books.

And Shiho certainly would enjoy the good view to her handsome favourite Shinobi to the fullest! Because the bystander sees the best of the game.