TITLE: Unexpected
FANDOM: Naruto/Naruto Shippuden
PAIRING: Shikamaru N. / Ino Y.
SUMMARY: Things don't always turn out as planned. And you know what? Sometimes that's a good thing.
A/N: My First time writing for Naruto. Set a few months before Naruto's return in Shippuden.
Yamanaka Ino slumped down onto the wooden chair that stood behind the counter of her family's flower shop. She let out a sigh of relief, having been released from her duties when her mother arrived from her grocery shopping trip a few minutes ago. Her parents were usually in charge of running the shop, but her father was out on another mission today and her mother needed to buy dinner ingredients.
Not that she didn't like watching the flower shop. In truth, her work at her family's store was on her list of things she loved doing. Not only was she surrounded by pretty flowers, but she also got tons of valuable "information" (she prefers to use this term instead of gossip) from her customers.
Ino had to admit, though, it did get a little boring sometimes. These days, it seemed like no one came into the shop anymore. Everyone was all too busy with their own things- like Sakura with her training under Tsunade, people on missions, Naruto on his journey with Jiraiya, and whatever stuff people were doing at the time. Ino felt like the only one who wasn't contributing anything to the village. She could've been training all this time. Besides, she wouldn't be able to live knowing one day Sakura might actually beat her. After all, Ino was second to Sasuke in almost everything back when they were genin.
The blonde sighs to herself as she unties her yellow apron and hangs it on the hook on the wall next to her.
She disappears into the door behind the counter as her mother appears to take her place. She runs up the stairs and into her room, heading straight for the dresser adjacent to her bed, hurrying to fix her hair. She combs the soft, golden strands before straightening her outfit for the day- a tank top in her favourite shade of purple, tucked in a pair black high-waisted shorts. Her long hair was in it's usual style-a high pony tail- secured by an orange hair tie, and kept in place by a red clip at the side.
She wore the earrings her teacher gave her when everyone on Team Ten officially became Chuunin.
On her wrist was a chain of silver, charmed by stars that sparkled like diamonds under any light.
It was a gift to her on her fifteenth birthday, given to her by a certain boy who would want no more than to chase clouds with his eyes from under a tree, for the rest of his life. Probably.
'Who needs clouds anyway? I'm here!' She thinks as her lips form a pout.
She shakes the though off later on.
Ino twirls in front of the mirror, and strikes a few random poses before she decides she's satisfied with how she looks. Her pastel blue eyes drift off into the world outside her window, revealing the blue sky she loves adorned with big puffs of white. It was a sky that 'he' also loved.
More clouds, huh?
She smiles as a certain boy crosses her mind.
"I bet even that lazy-ass is doing something important right now," she says inwardly as she turns away from the fair sky. "And Chouji's probably at the new yakiniku place."
Ino's last sentence is punctuated by a small giggle.
"Come to think of it, it's been a few weeks since we last got together!" She says as she turns around dramatically, then walks toward her bed. She falls down on the soft mattress, her eyes focused on the ceiling, her lips slightly upturned in a smile.
"Yosh! It's decided! We're going to go out today!" The blonde says, raising her fist up in the air as she gets up on her feet enthusiastially.
Ino runs out the door which closes behind her loudly, and runs down the stairs as fast as she can.
"Mom! I'm going out for a walk!" She calls as she makes her way out of the flower shop. Her mother shouts something back to her, but the excitement she felt was blocking her ears and she was too far away to turn back. Her mother would understand anyway, Ino thinks.
The blonde kunoichi begins her search. She really did miss her teammates. Now that she thought about it, yup. She missed her teacher, Asuma, even the smell smoke that came out of his lighted cigarette. Okay, maybe she was exaggerating about missing the smoke. It was one of the things she disliked, in truth.
She missed Chouji and his dear potato chips. He used to take a lot of breaks, she recalls, claiming that he was tired and hungry. Mostly hungry though.
And most of all, she missed that lazy-ass, who did nothing but complain- Shikamaru, that good-for-nothing genius. Sure, he complained a lot and he hated doing...well, almost everything. But really, Nara Shikamaru is charming in his own ways.
And no, Ino is not delusional.
Ino smiles, slowing down her pace, soon enough finding herself casually walking the streets of the hidden leaf.
Now, where should she start? Who should she invite first?
Well, who knows.
She'll probably meet one of them along the way to wherever she was going.
Fate's wind will blow her in the right direction, won't it?
But that just wasn't the case.
"Ah, Seriously!"
Ino sighs as she whispers her complaints to herself and stared at the solid ground she stood on.
'Troublesome,' is what he would say.
The blonde beauty has been walking around randomly for forty-five minutes, and not once has she come across even the mention of her teammates' names.
She's already exchanged greetings with almost everyone in the village- like Team Kurenai hanging out normally at Ichiraku Ramen and Team Gai at the yakiniku place they usually went to. There was Iruka and Kakashi talking on a bench, and her seniors Izumo and Kotetsu at their usual place at the gates. She came across Shizune and Tonton, and a few Jounin and Senpai she knew. She might've seen every possible person she could see. She probably met every single person she could cross paths with.
And of all those people... not a single one of them was on her Team Ten.
There was no Asuma-sensei.
No Chouji.
No Shikamaru.
She couldn't find them anywhere and it was getting really irritating.
"Really!" She said to herself as she passed by the Haruno residence. She breathes out another sigh. Gosh, she was becoming more and more like Shikamaru with the complaining and sighing and whatnot. Why was she complaining anyway? After all, she decided this on her own.
Ino lifts her head to look up front. Her blonde hair which was flowing down her back in a neat ponytail, following her movement as she raises her head.
"Ino!"
She sights a flash of pink from behind the group of people walking in front of her, about fifteen feet away. Her blue eyes widen and a smile makes it's way to her face.
"Yo, Sakura!"
The blue-eyed girl runs to her best friend/tival and they wrap their arms around each other. Sakura's probably headed home. She's been busy lately, like everyone else, so they didn't get to hang out that much anymore. Sakura trains with Tsunade for three days, and three days by herself. Same with Ino who trains with Tsunade on the days Sakura doesn't. It's rare for them to come across each other like this.
"It's been quite a while, hasn't it?" Says the blonde as she lets the other woman go.
"I know, and it's only been three months," replies the pinkette. "What've you been up to?"
"Stuff." She glances sideways, not really sure of what to reply to her best friend/rival. She knew more than anyone that Sakura was improving faster than she was.'That' incident involving Sasuke probably motivated her.
Both Sakura and Ino knew that they were no longer children. Times change, and so do people.
But Ino feels that she's the one who's changed the 'least.'
This meant she was losing to forehead. And yes, that 'is' a bad thing.
"I see," Sakura says, realizing she doesn't have much to say to her friend anyway, or does she?
A silence engulfs the two.
A few seconds later, Sakura bursts out laughing.
"What's your problem?" Ino cocks her brow as she looks at her friend with a weird expression.
"Oh come on. I was waiting for you to come out and tell me already," the pink-haired kunoichi replies.
Ino genuinely does not know what she means.
The blonde wears a confused expression on her face. Sakura rolls her eyes.
Don't make her spell it out for you, Ino.
"Shi-ka-ma-ru."
Ino freezes. Sakura knew more about her than she thought.
"What about him?" She asks in an attempt to turn it all around. The light pink color her normally-pale cheeks took on gave her away.
And after all, this is Sakura Haruno we're talking about. She's not stupid.
The pink-haired kunoichi glowers at the blonde, giving her a look that made her feel somewhat guilty and intimidated. It was the kind of look that said, "Ino, you shouldn't keep secrets from your best-friend."
But Ino didn't budge.
Sakura sighs.
"Asuma-sensei is out on a mission, Chouji has stuff to do with his dad. I wonder who you could eat yakiniku with."
Damn, Ino hated it when Sakura read her like an open book.
"The tree near Team Ten's training ground. You know that me later, pig." Sakura smirks as she waves Ino goodbye.
'Of course, why didn't I think of that?'
"You win this round, forehead."
Ino runs off to her destination, a place she knew far too well. Team Ten's previous training grounds, most likely used by this year's batch of rookie genin, was a place Ino would never forget. It was special.
She stops in her tracks to catch her breath, eyes wandering around in search of a boy that went by the name Nara Shikamaru.
And Ino smiles as she spots the silhoutte of a pineapple-haired boy by the very tree Sakura spoke of.
She walks slowly in that direction. He was in his usual position laying on the grass, his head resting on his crossed arms and his eyes focused on the puffs of white in the sky. Knowing him, he would've probably made out a hundred faces in those clouds. She's gone cloudwatching with the team before. Shikamaru would see most of the stuff Chouji and Ino couldn't, hidden in the clouds. Experience from lazing on roofs all day, she thinks.
"So this is the troublesome place you were in," she says smugly, arms hidden behind her back. And yes, she made sure to emphasize the word 'troublesome.'
"Ino?" Shikamaru's eyes tore off from the sky, genuinely surprised at the appearance of the blonde, and focused on the lady that was just a few centimeters away. "What are you-"
"I was bored so I went to find you guys," she places her arms on her hips. Her bracelet was reflecting the sunlight passing through the cracks in the leaves."Sensei and Chouji are busy though. So I-"
"You're wearing it," he says as he sits up.
And Ino swore she saw him smile.
She put on a confused expression, and gave him a questioning look. But she knew very well what he was referring to. She only pretended to play dumb.
Maybe because it would add to the drama of the scenario.
"O- of course, you got it for me..." She stutters, which she thinks is stupid and embarassing. Then Ino turns away, feeling her cheeks start to heat up. She didn't even notice that Shikamaru was now leaning on the tree trunk, standing beside her.
"O- oi, Ino."
"Wha-"
Her eyes widen as she's pulled into his arms full force. Before either of them knew what was going on, they were locking lips. And the two of them had their eyes closed. He held her like there was no tomorrow, at the same time making sure she was still able to breathe. But really, she wouldn't be able to even if he let go of her right now. She was overwhelmed by his courage. This was totally unlike him. No, Shikamaru definitely wasn't that super handsome prince charming on a white horse type that described Ino's ideal man. He definitely was not her type. Sakura would know.
There was just something about him that she couldn't put her finger on.
Something.
She didn't know what it was, but there was definitely something.
Not like it mattered anyway.
What mattered was this moment she is in, the magic she is experiencing.
And really, that's all she needs.
"Really, you women are so troublesome," Shikamaru says as he lays his head on Ino's lap. She strokes his jet black hair and smiles as she watches the day fade into night.
"Excuse me, men are the confusing ones," she giggles, and sees him smile once again.
The sky was darkening now.
"Hey Ino."
She never thought she'd hear those words coming from him.
"Mm?"
And he never thought he'd say them to her.
"I," The Nara boy hesitates at first, but after that kiss he should be able to say whatever to her. Things like this are really really troublesome. And where was the courage he had a few minutes ago?
Still there, maybe?
"I love you," The words finally come out of his mouth. He flushes a bright red color.
'How cute, he's embarassed.' Ino giggles.
"I love you too, Shika," she replies, planting a kiss on his forehead.
And the sun disappears into the horizon.
Somewhere behind another tree...
"Heh, I knew it," a certain pink-haired lady giggles.
"Did you get the photographs, Kiba?"
"Of course," comes a proud voice. A camera is placed in a bag and a small sheet of photo paper is passed around.
"Lee, you're too close to me and don't be too loud. We'll get found out," Neji says with gritted teeth.
"I just wanted to see the photo, Neji!" someone replies.
"I'll pass it to you later, geez. You'll get a turn," says the male Hyuuga, whose face bears the usual irritated expression.
"Shino-kun, your foot," Hinata says meekly as looks up to where her comrade is seated at a higher branch. The man in question mumbles a sorry in response.
"Who would've thought, huh?" Tenten giggles. Sakura, the mastermind, paints a gentle smile on her face.
"Yeah," she says. "Who would've thought?"
END.