Test
The bell on the door of the Yamanaka Flower Shop tinkled, and a cherry blossom drifted in.
"I need help, Ino-pig."
"With what, billboard-brow?"
The girls smiled at each other, their traditional greeting done. Ino pulled up a chair next to the counter. Sakura thanked her and sat down.
"It's about Shikamaru…"
Ino rolled her eyes.
"Oh, that lazy bum again? What did he do this time? Do I need to go beat some sense into him for you?"
Sakura giggled at her friend's energy.
"No, no, it's not that. I was just wondering…we've been together for a while now…but…since you're his teammate and knows him very well…how will I know if he really loves me?"
Ino pursed her lips, thinking. Her eyes lit up as the answer came to her.
"Well…given Shikamaru's nature…hmmm…let me give you my mom's super secret recipe for love detection!"
Sakura looked at Ino quizzically as the blonde girl pulled out a pencil and paper.
"Huh?"
Ino grinned as she scribbled.
"Shikamaru is usually too lazy to try to cheer anyone up or go to the trouble of making up false pretenses to make someone feel better. But to people important to him, despite his outward appearance, Shikamaru is a pretty sensitive guy, and he's unwilling to hurt anyone he truly cares about…so, make him this!"
She handed Sakura the recipe. A vein popped in Sakura's forehead.
"Um…er…Ino…about this…"
Ino pushed her out the door.
"You can do it, Sakura!"
---
Which is how the next day, Shikamaru found himself sitting behind a plate which contained a lump of … something. It looked vaguely like meat.
"Eat up, Shika-kun!" Sakura chirped from behind him.
Shikamaru eyed the lump and poked it with a chopstick. The lump oozed. Shikamaru gulped. Sakura smiled sweetly.
"I spent a lot of time making this from a special recipe I found Shika-kun, I hope you enjoy it!"
Shikamaru poked at it again. A small piece of it fell off, dark green slime spilling out from the interior of the lump. Shikamaru shuddered, but picked up the small piece with his chopsticks and inserted it into his mouth. He chewed it slowly.
Sakura noticed, amused, the way Shikamaru's face turned several different shades of green in just a few seconds.
He swallowed.
Sakura's grin widened.
"Well, how is it?"
Shikamaru struggled to keep a straight face.
"I…I rather like it. It's delicious."
Shikamaru had no idea why Sakura nearly tackled him off his chair with her hug, tears streaming down her face.
He was completely clueless as to why she kept on murmuring, "Oh Shikamaru, I love you too…"
He decided whatever he just ingested was causing him to hallucinate…but this was one hallucination he didn't mind.