Hi everyone! This is another Ino/Shika one-shot. I know it's long but I couldn't figure out where to cut it so I left it as is. And yes, I know, it is kinda emo. I'm sorry, I know I made Shikamaru very OOC but it was the only way I could make it work. I hope everyone enjoys.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. (Pouts)
Ino sat on the floor of her room, at around 1am, wondering if she would ever be able to sleep again. About 2 weeks earlier, she had started having horrible nightmares. It got so bad that whenever she closed her eyes, she would see blood. Soon after the nightmares had started, she became unable to eat. Every time she put food in her mouth, she would have to run to the bathroom to throw-up. Eventually she became so depressed that she started cutting herself.
All of Ino's friends were very worried about her. They could all tell something was wrong from all the weight she had lost and the dark circles around her eyes. She had also started wearing arm warmers even though it was mid July.
Shikamaru had been the first to notice the changes. He was the only one brave enough to confront her about it, but every time Ino would say it was nothing and walk away. This only made him worry more.
As Ino sat there, she pulled out a knife that had been hidden under her bed. She was about to make another scar on her arm when she heard a knock at her window. She quickly hid the knife and went over to investigate.
As Ino approached the glass, she could see the outline of someone sitting on a tree branch just outside. She opened the window to find none other than Shikamaru sitting there looking very serious.
"We need to talk," was all he said. "But it's one in the morning. Shouldn't you be in bed?" Ino questioned, knowing full well what he wanted to talk about. "Shouldn't you?" Shikamaru retorted. He got her there, now she couldn't complain.
They reached a hill with a lone tree and decided that would be a good place to talk. Shikamaru sat with his back against the tree. Ino stood there for a moment before sitting next to him.
"Sooo… what do you wanna talk about Shika?" Ino asked, trying to sound oblivious. "Cut the crap Ino. You know perfectly well what I want to talk about," Shikamaru said, clearly pissed. "Why you've been losing so much weight, why you haven't been sleeping, and why you're wearing arm warmers in the middle of summer!"
Ino turned her head to see him looking straight at her, looking very angry. She looked at his eyes and saw no anger at all, but worry.
Ino decided it would be best if she pretended nothing was wrong. "What are you talking about, Shika? I'm going home if all you're gonna do is ask me absurd questions." Ino got up and started walking down the hill. Before she could get very far, Shikamaru caught up. He grabbed her warmer-covered arm. When Ino struggled, the warmer came off, revealing her many scars. She tried to hide them, but Shikamaru had already seen.
"So you've been cutting yourself too?!" Shikamaru lost it. "What is WRONG with you? You've got everybody worried sick about you! And you won't even talk to me about it!"
Ino finally burst. "You really want to know what's wrong? I'm bulimic, and I'm an insomniac. I've tried to find solutions, but none of them worked. I started cutting myself to see if that worked, but now it's become a habit an I can't stop." Tears started rolling down her cheeks. "But why would you care? You always think everything is to troublesome." Ino turned away not wanting to look Shikamaru in the eyes.
Shikamaru let her arm go, but she didn't try to run away again. She just stood there crying. Then, Shikamaru did something very unexpected. He hugged her. Ino was shocked by his sudden actions.
"Shika, why-", she started to say. "I'm sorry you thought I didn't care. But truthfully, I care about you more than anything. You're the most precious person to me. If anything happened to you, I don't know what I'd do. That's why I'm always looking out for you, worrying about you. All I want to do is help you, so why won't you let me?"
Ino couldn't believe what she was hearing. Someone actually wanted to help HER. Nobody ever wanted to help her. It felt so good to know that, especially since it was Shikamaru.
Ino pulled back slightly and finally had the courage to look into his eyes. "Shika, why do you want to help me so much?"
He looked at her not really knowing what was the best way to respond. He finally decided on the only good answer for her question. "Because I've fallen in love with you." Shikamaru looked away, a slight blush evident on his cheeks.
A few weeks later…
Shikamaru and Ino had been meeting everyday on that hill. Ino had been getting slowly better with his help. Tonight they were celebrating her full recovery.
"Shika!" Ino cried out as she ran up the hill. She was carrying a small picnic basket. When she finally reached the top, she discovered a seemingly asleep Shikamaru lying under the tree.
Ino set the basket down and crouched next to him. He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping, she didn't want to wake him. But she wanted to celebrate with him to thank him for all he had done, so she shook his shoulder lightly in an attempt to wake him up.
Suddenly, Shikamaru grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down on top of him. Ino didn't even have the chance to scream in surprise because he had forced her into a kiss.
Ino slowly closed her eyes, sinking deeper into the feeling of his soft lips pressed against her own. It felt so good; she never wanted it to end. Her eyes shot open when the realization of what was happening finally reached her brain. She pushed herself off him and fell backwards, obviously shocked.
"Wha-what was that for?" Ino asked staring at Shikamaru, who she now knew was fully awake. He turned on his side and looked at her, slightly bemused. "I wanted a reward for all my hard work," he stated simply
"W-well I already said that I would make you a picnic under the stars – made by me. That's what you said you wanted." Ino's face was getting redder as she remembered what his "reward" had felt like.
"No offence, but your cooking is horrible. I like my idea of a reward much better." Shikamaru smiled before rolling onto his back again, staring at the stars.
Ino went and lay down next to him. She stared up at all the different constellations and started thinking. "You know Shika, I think this whole problem was because of you." He looked at her, completely shocked by her sudden comment, but she went on. "It's because I've fallen in love with you. It all started with horrible nightmares where you died in some horrible way and I couldn't do anything to stop it. My subconscious associated meat with your blood that I saw in my dreams every night. Soon it became so bad that I couldn't eat without throwing up. I started cutting myself to try and ease the pain. If you hadn't helped me, I probably would have killed myself next." By this point, Ino had broken down into tears.
Shikamaru sat up with Ino and did his best to comfort her. She just sat there, crying onto his shoulder. They stayed like that until Ino felt good enough to stop crying. When she finally looked at Shikamaru, he was smiling softly at her. In her head she thought, damn, he looks good in the moonlight. At the same time he was thinking, She looks like an angel in this light.
Shikamaru leaned slowly closer to Ino. "You shouldn't have worried so much. You should know I'll always be here for you," he whispered. "Well I know that now," Ino wispered back before her lips were captured in a passionate kiss.
Well, I hope you all liked it because I didn't. If you did like it, review and tell me just how much I'm wrong. And I don't care of you flame me. I'm too tired to care. I know this was really long, but I didn't know where to separate it. If you have a problem with it, tough, it's my fic and I'm not gonna change it. I'm too lazy and busy. I'm in the process of moving, so I've been working on this fic and another for the last month, staying up till past midnight. I will try to keep writing, but you might not see that much from me for a while. I will have one other Naruto fic up this weekend but that's all I can be sure of. Oh, one more thing. I don't really care if you review or not. Good night all.