I am pretending -spoiler!- that asuma does not die afer the timeskip. -end spoiler!-
This all came from a stupid dream. Cliche, right? :D I had a dream where some random girl liked this random guy. He didn't like her back, so he rejected her. Then she got over him. And then he fell in love with her. So I felt the need to make an odd oneshot concerning my favorite couple ever.
Shikamaru wasn't stupid.
Behind his lazy demeanor, he was calculating; observing each little detail of that around him. He simply usually didn't have the interest to be skeptical. He had been considered a number of things, including a slacker, a leader, a coward, even among the ranks of the emo, although he had no idea how he earned that title.
But never stupid.
He knew what it all meant.
The teal eyes watching him, following him, studying him. Recently, he merely couldn't escape the gaze of his childhood friend and teammate, Yamanaka Ino. She would stare at him, all too deeply, until he finally glanced back at her. This was when the eyes left to stare at the floor and the blush ensued.
He knew the blush well, also. Activated by Ino's general closeness to him, a faint crimson would often linger on her cheeks. As to why she became so flustered, most didn't have a damn clue, including their other teammate, Akimichi Chouji, and their teacher, Sarutobi Asuma. Weren't they supposed to know her as well as he did? he often pondered. But, then he would get annoyed at himself for focusing on the issue and forget about it. And so he would also pretend to ignore the bashed expression on Ino's face.
He wasn't oblivious to the nervousness. When he entered the room, she seemed to stop what she was doing entirely. She straightened her posture, unceremoniously flipped her hair out of her face, tried for perfection. Then she'd get lost in yelling at him for being tardy for whatever was happening, when she really didn't mind. She just wanted to hear his deep, calming voice.
Yes, he knew what it meant. But...
Wasn't she supposed to love Uchiha Sasuke? Her feelings truly were troublesome to the boy. Why him? It confused him, and Shikamaru didn't like puzzles he couldn't solve.
When he ambled to the training grounds, where she had called him to practice with her (which she did often), something seemed off. Of course, the pair of eyes continued to watch him. The color in her cheeks was still evident to the unmotivated ninja. He was able to discern the same air of her fixing herself as he had in days past. But today, she was bold.
He was lost in looking at the clouds as he waited for the usual lecture for not showing up on time. But he was surprised. In a second, the blonde kunoichi had made her way towards him, promptly lifted herself on her toes, and engaged him in a light yet meaningful peck on the lips.
He didn't know what to do. He stared at her, and by her expression, even through her closed eyes, he could tell what she was feeling. The magic of that first kiss. But Shikamaru didn't feel anything. The colliding of lips felt good, for sure, but in a friendly way; nothing special. He made no move to kiss back.
Ino pulled back, and it seemed as though she used all her courage in that single, quick kiss. She looked back to Shikamaru in obvious anticipation. But she was not pleased by his reaction.
"Ino.." he said gently. His voice was soft, uncharacteristically so for him. And in his small black eyes, she thought she saw...pity? No, she didn't imagine it; Shikamaru was looking at her like an adult looks at an orphan child. Sympathetically.
She could feel words spinning in her head. Did he have to look at her like that? It was like he felt sorry for her because she never even had a chance! Responding coldly would have been better than treating her like a fragile vase! An unfortunate, fragile vase. She was so frustrated, that she couldn't help but clench her fists and run out the door. He didn't see the tears, but was glad because he wasn't sure he could handle seeing his friend so broken.
-crappy transition 'ttebayo!-
Three years had passed. It had been overwhelming at first. He could see the pain in her eyes, and she would snap at people, before looking down and apoligizing quietly. Sakura had informed him quite bitterly that Ino had cried her eyes out the first week. Shikamaru looked away from the messenger and tried to act indifferent. It didn't work.
But gradually, Shikamaru notice the changes.
He didn't feel her eyes on him anymore. When he looked, she would be conversing with Chouji, pleading Asuma-sensei for a new technique, practicing on her own. She was preoccupied with other things; he wasn't her top priority anymore. Silently, he wondered why he kept checking to she if she looked. Had he been wanting her to watch him?
The embarassment left. He would be right next to her and her skin retained its pale color. She showed no signs of interest towards him, even when he complimented her. He groaned at himself mentally for trying to make her blush through flattery. Why? he had to ask himself.
And she was so relaxed now. He tried to tell himself that was a good thing. He would come to the training grounds to find her normally gorgeous yellow hair strewn messily around her face and shoulders, in its loose ponytail. The sweat would run down her face, and she would make no move to fix it. She didn't need to be perfect for him anymore. And it bothered him. Questions tumbled around in his mind constantly.
He touched his lips. Before, he honestly just thought of her as a close friend. The kiss had meant absolutely nothing to him at the time. So why, why, why did everything have to change now?
He talked to Chouji, hesitantly opening up to his best friend. Telling the story. Chouji had set down his chips (bad sign) and looked Shikamaru in the eye. And called him selfish. He explained that Shikamaru just felt like this towards Ino now because he had enjoyed the attention and wanted to keep it. Then, of course, Chouji had to relay the story to Asuma, with Shikamaru quite uncomfortable about his feelings being layed out to yet another person. The smoking jounin had kept Shikamaru after the mission that day and told Shikamaru that if it felt real, it probably was.
All these different opinions. Why couldn't Shikamaru figure it out himself? It really began irritating him. It was a long while before he finally concluded that he had indeed fallen for his old comrade, Ino.
But that was hardly helpful NOW. He had his chance. He simply grew up too late.
On second thought, maybe Shikamaru was stupid. Stupid for ever letting Ino go.