Origami

Disclaimer : Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, as do all the characters, while the fiction belongs to me.
Author's Note : This is for all you ShikaIno lovers out there (like me!) who feel the lack of... well, ShikaIno. Even if there's some hard and heavy evidence of ShikaTema, ShikaIno will forever remain as one of my top favorite Naruto pairings. They just go so well together. X3

Nara Shikamaru was smart, perceptive, and even considered a genius. Sure, he was lazy, but that didn't hold him back from being one of the smartest shinobi in Konoha. But even with that reputaiton of having an IQ over 200, there was one thing that was for certain: he did not, nor did he ever understand women. He could put together a working strategy in two minutes, but he just could not understand the way that the female mind worked.

And it infuriated him.

Women were like origami. Whenever he thought he had figured them out, they folded over and changed, only to prove him wrong. Normally, Shikamaru wouldn't mull over simple matters such as that, but when it repeated time and time again... He couldn't help but grow aggravated.

So he decided to seek some help.

"Sakura, you're best friends with Ino, right?" Yes, he had resorted to seeking advice from the pink-haired, loudmouthed, and yet ever-so-popular kunoichi of Konohagakure. Some might call him pathetic, but even he had to admit that he was a bit desperate.

The medic-nin blinked her large green eyes at Shikamaru, wondering what he was getting at. "Yeah..." she replied slowly, blinking in confusion. Sure, she and Shikamaru had had conversations before, but it was rarely about anything other than missions. For him to just confront her out of no where... Well, it was strange in the least. Especially since it was about the platinum-haired pig-- err, female.

"Well, I was just wondering..." He shifted uncomfortably under her gaze and shoved his hands into his pockets, coughing lightly. "She's... You... Uhh... You're a girl, right?" He looked up, only to find her staring at him with the same dead-panned look his mother had given him when he asked her the same question. "No, no that's not what I meant!" He held his hands up defensively, a small laugh escaping his lips.

"Mhmm..." She picked up her watering can and continued to water the flowers, though her ears were still listening to what he had to say. "Go on."

"It's just... Why are... Is it... Dammit, women are troublesome," he cursed, falling back onto her couch with a groan. She couldn't help but giggle silently to herself, but she said nothing as to let him continue on. "It's like you all have layers, and I can never figure it out."

"Every woman's layers are different, Shikamaru," Sakura informed as she put down the watering can.

"Troublesome."

She walked over to the couch and took a seat next to him. "This isn't just about whether I'm a female or not, is it?" she questioned, a knowing smile spread on her lips. He said nothing, but kept his brown eyes straight and answered with a grunt. "You mentioned Ino earlier, so this is obviously about her. What is it?"

"She's the most troublesome among you all," he grumbled, drumming the tips of his fingers against the couch's arm. "One minute she's prancing around throwing flowers everywhere and the next she's throwing flower baskets at you and cursing at you. She can never seem to make up her mind."

"You do know about her recent break-up with Shino, right?"

"Mm."

She sighed, leaning back against the couch. "Than you should also know that women get overly emotional when--"

"She always gets overly emotional. Break-up or not."

Sakura furrowed her brows and puffed her cheeks out - which he couldn't help but find slightly humorous. "Shikamaru, you've known Ino your whole life. For all intents and purposes, you probably know her better than I know her. Why don't you just talk to her?"

The genius's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "I already told you. She threw a damn flower basket at my head." He indicated the small red bruise that had grown on his temple.

"It was probably because you were talking about how 'troublesome' she was," Sakura said smugly.

"How does Naruto put up with this cynical woman?" Shikamaru thought irritably.

"Look Shikamaru. The only advice I can give to you is try to talk to her - without calling her troublesome, might I add."

Haruno Sakura was one piece of origami that Shikamaru decided to stay clear of the next time he needed some advice.

----------

Shikamaru was a defeated man. After getting his 'advice' from Sakura, he had gone to Tenten, Temari, and even Hinata. None of them helped. Although Temari did smack him over the head a couple times when he asked her if she was a girl. He was starting to wonder if he should just give up.

Rubbing the ridiculously sore spot on his head (Temari had wacked him in the same place that Ino had thrown that flower basket at him), he walked down the quiet dirt road. The sun had already begun set, so obviously everyone would be cuddled up with their lover next to warm fire.

That just made Shikamaru feel sick.

He had to be the only one of the Rookie Nine that was still a bachelor, or at least single. After Sasuke had returned, Sakura realized everything that Naruto had done for her and dumped the dark-haired Uchiha. The before mentioned male had found some random kunoichi that would help him revive his clan; he already had a kid on the way. After Naruto and Sakura got together, Hinata found sympathy, and a little something more, in Kiba, and up until recently Shino had been seeing Ino. Chouji was seeing the daughter of the owner of the Korean Barbeque, Neji and Tenten had gotten together, and even Lee had found someone.

Yes, Lee. That just made him feel even worse.

Well, it wasn't like he was romantically retarded or anything. He actually had a pretty long relationship with the golden blonde from Suna, but after a while they realized that they just weren't compatible enough. Or maybe it was that they were too compatible. Either way, it just didn't work out.

Afterwards, he found himself growing... oh, how to say... attracted to his childhood friend. Yamanaka Ino and Sabaku no Temari were ridiculously alike: cocky, bossy, and blonde. But unlike Ino, Temari was actually quite mature, which was to be expected since she was three years older than him. Shikamaru always figured that he'd marry a mature woman like Temari, and yet he found himself attracted to the loud Ino. It was strange... and it drove him crazy.

Ino was... full of life, unpredictable, always pushing it to the edge. Sure, she was obsessed with Sasuke when she was a teenager, but what girl wasn't? Besides, after the near-to-death state that Chouji had been put in, she could barely find it in her heart to accept the Uchiha once he returned.

"What a pain." Shikamaru sighed as he looked up at the house he had stopped in front of. "The Yamanaka residence... I wonder if Inoichi's home." He had found himself standing in front of the same house everyday for the past two weeks. He never even though about it... His feet just took him here. He never knocked though. He always left before he could pick up the courage to do such a thing.

After his usual five minutes of just staring at the door, he swerved on his feet and proceeded to head back to his own home. Before he could take another step, however, he could hear the creaking of the front door. "Dammit! I'm caught!" he cursed.

"Shikamaru? Is that you?" His body tensed at the sound of her voice, but he slowly turned to face her. She smiled brightly at him, her green eyes sparkling. "It is! What are you doing here? It's freezing!"

He shrugged as nonchalantly as he could. "I just got back from... a friend's and I was heading home."

"Well why don't you come inside for a bit?" she offered. "My 'tou-san and 'kaa-san are on missions, so I could use the company." Shikamaru opened his mouth to decline, but she had already laced her fingers around his arm and was tugging him in. "Great!"

He stumbled inside as she immediately closed the door, cutting off the cold air. "Geez, it's like it's gonna snow," she sighed, wrapping her light purple sweater tighter around her thin body. "Come on, let's go sit in the living room!" She sauntered into the main room, followed by a somewhat reluctant Shikamaru.

Ino took a seat on a couch and patted the spot next to her, beckoning him to take the seat. Once he sat down, he leaned back against the couch, sinking in. "I remember this couch... I hated this couch," he thought disdainfully. "It always made my back ache."

"So where'd you go after you left the flower shop?" she asked. "I asked Chouji, but he said that he didn't see you anywhere either. I figured you went back to your house."

"Just visited a friend," he replied.

"What friend?"

"... Sakura."

Ino's brows rose in amusement. "Sakura? You went to see Forehead Girl? What for?" He could tell that she was almost laughing. What was so funny?

"No reason, really."

She giggled a bit and leaned back in her seat, murmuring a not-so-quiet, "Whateeeever you say, Shikamaru." She absent-midedly reached up to adjust the purple clip in her hair once silence passed over them. She shifted again so that she was now facing him. She cocked her head to the side and reached out to touch his temple.

He jumped up a bit, shocked at the sudden contact. "What are you doing?" he asked, sounding more curious than annoyed.

"The bruise wasn't this red when I threw that basket at you," she noted.

Shikamaru grumbled something about Temari, but Ino was unable to catch it. "It's nothing."

"You know, if you weren't such a pain I wouldn't have thrown it," Ino stated simply, withdrawing her hand. Shikamaru couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed when the warmth her skin left his.

"You were getting over emotional," he grumbled.

"Over emotional!?" she hissed, suddenly standing up. "Over emotional!? Shikamaru, I just went through a rough break-up, and you're calling me over emotional!?" Shikamaru couldn't help but sigh as she continued to rant about what an 'insensitive asshole' he was and how he 'never understood her'.

She had folded again, revealing another one of her layers. And he had to admit that this layer was rather frightening.

"Nara Shikamaru, are you even listening to me!?" Hearing his name being screamed, he was snapped out of his thoughts, only to find an infuriated blonde glaring daggers at him. "Don't tune me out when I'm yelling at you! I swear, this is why you have no love life! You always..."

"No love life? Love is troublesome," he scoffed inwardly. He looked up at the screaming Ino, who hadn't seemed to notice that he had, once again, tuned her out. "Women are troublesome."

"... and you're just so lazy and unmotivated! That's not very attractive, Shikamaru! Girls don't go for guys who just sit on their asses all day playing Shougi and Go, or who lay on their backs eating chips and watching clouds! Some shinobi! You'd rather laze around all day than train!"

"When did she start talking about me? ... There goes another fold."

"... Why can't you be more like Sasuke-kun? Or even Naruto? At least they try to look excited when they're training! You always have that damn lazy look on your face! And going around saying 'troublesome' all the time; you're gonna be one of those guys that lives with their mothers at age forty!"

"So now I'm being compared to the ice bastard and the loud moron. Another shift. Great." He closed his eyes and sighed quietly to himself. Shikamaru waited for the next shift in her rant, but it never came.

His brown eyes snapped open when warm lips crashed down on his own, capturing them in a swift kiss. Her palms immediately went up to caress his face, in which his hands instinctively went up to clutch her wrists. He finally gave in to the kiss, his eyelids falling as he allowed himself to drift into complete bliss.

Ino had folded again... She was one of those pieces that seemed to never end; there were so many folds and tucks that she seemed almost impossible. But as complicated and troublesome as she was, she was one piece of origami that he would never give up on.

Yes, it was lame and cheesey and Shikamaru was just a tidbit OOC, but that's okay. Because this has totally satisfied my need to write a ShikaIno. :D Review, please?