((This is me, warming up for a larger Shikatema fiction, I have waaayyy too much time to write so I'm going to overload myself with long fanfiction obligations. So that means 3 updates every two and a half weeks hopefully. Coolio. Oh, and always, Sasuhina and Narusaku in this oneshot thing…Yes, I know, I fail at writing from an ino/general perspective, and there's some Ino bashing.))
Ino's jaw had detached from her mouth in shock, her mouth was a gaping black hole of despair. The summer sun beat down on her back, causing her face to flush, half from heat, half from the embarrassment of intrusion.
Her… of all people?
It was the first time this had ever happened, Tsunade had created a dance and date opportunity for all ninjas… and there was Sasuke, the village heartthrob… with Hinata, the shy worthless Hyyuga girl. THEY WERE HOLDING HANDS!
Ino's world was melting, and all she could think of was
"What does she got, that I ain't got?"
Hinata broke the contact shyly, and wiped the sweat from her forehead, and in the heat of the day, lifted her jacket up and over. Ino's question had answered itself.
Sasuke quickly caught his new girlfriend as every boy's eyes turned to her fully developed curves.
What was that? I must be seeing things….
Ino watched Hinata live her dream, and felt her heart skip a beat as Sasuke shifted her to bridal style, and sighed before disappearing.
Now that she had regained sense in her numbing heart, she turned to see Sakura smiling of all things. Ino wanted to punch her.
"Hey forehead! What are you going to do now that I've got guys lineing up and Sasuke's got a girlfriend who's more developed than you'll ever hope to be?" She had to make it hurt, she wanted Saukra to hurt… it…. Didn't work.
"Oh, didn't you hear, I'm going with Naruto." She said this with a look so pure Ino felt like shivering. She even forgot the ever-present suffix 'Ino-pig'.
Somethings defiantly wrong here… forehead flat-chest got a date before me?
There was only one more tactic left, and Sasuke had to be hers in the end. She wouldn't lose to Hinata. Curves couldn't replace confidence. All she needed was her last resort.
Make him jealous.
Sasuke sighed, looking at the flushed face of his date. He was her last resort, and she was his. She got rid of the fangirls, he made Naruto jealous. The situation was win-win.
Of course… he had never seen her without that jacket… he looked at the baggy abomination… he couldn't help but feel a need to burn it. It covered up what would really make people like Ino melt. He smirked as he remembered her face. He grinned at the expression Naruto would have when he saw what he was missing all along… and then he began to laugh as Hinata woke up and said; "Ano… Sasuke… have you seen my jacket?"
"Nope."
A knock on the door…. Another knock…. The lazy ass would never get to the goddamn door.
Shikamaru was… always there. Her last resort, the boy who she could use whenever something went on. The one who she could play with, use to get to Sasuke, use to get her closer and closer. He was her last resort. Of course, she had no feelings for the bum, but it was easy to use his to her advantage. There is a certain equation that one must use to get Shikamaru to do what you want.
Incentive + Nagging + Flirting One geek at your fingertips. She had never considered that he would see through this. She was too sexy to be ignored, to beautiful for words, especially the word no.
"SHIKAMARU IT'S ME!!" Since he became a Chunnin, Shikamaru had moved into his own apartment, a shocking feat for such a will-less boy. His parents had even let him!
She still heard nothing, and growing impatient, she simply walked in.
Cascades of old clothing and forests of sharp objects infested the floor and glinted maliciously. She now knew why he had moved out. She could just hear Shika's mother screaming about the filth. She was so distracted by the hoard of crap, she didn't notice her last resort, a slight malice and hate stinging his eyes.
"Ino… people have doors for a reason."
"Shikamaru!" She lunged for a flirty hug, but he stepped back and she paused, letting awkward silence overwhelm them.
A few minutes passed like that, watching him have that look plastered to his face. It was so unlike Shikamaru… his eyes held boredom, fatigue, and intelligence… but never anger.
"Ugh… so troublesome." She felt a sigh of relief form in her throat at his old catch phrase, but his stare kept her from letting it loose.
"Shikamaru! Stop looking at me like that! I have a proposition for you."
He tilted one eyebrow up, the his arms folded. The expression never left his stern face.
Her last resort… it was easy from here. She causally leaned to one side, knocking her knees together in a cutie fashion. A finger to her lips and she spoke with that extra coating of suger and spice. "You know Friday, the Hokage approve-"
"A Dance right?" He said, leaning to the opposite side as her until his back rested against a corner.
She moved slightly forward, closing in.
"Yup! And I-"
"'ll buy you a bowl of ramen if you go with me, right?" Ino blinked.
"E-exactly…"
"And I get to be stuck being your slave while you go flirt with Sasuke because I'm your Last Resort." Those last words were ice. She shivered, and he pushed himself up from the wall, and moved towards the staircase, stepping up slightly so that he towered above his teammate, shadow writhing. Ino realized right then Shikamaru had his hair down, and watched the pieces of his hair swing as his eyes looked through all her acts down to what she really wanted.
"I knew all along. I knew that's what you wanted." Ino stepped forward, trying the nagging approach again.
"Shika, I don't know what you're talking about but plea-"
"Shut up."
"What?"
"Don't lie to me."
"Shika I really do-"
"YOU KNOW DAMN WELL WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" He slammed the wall, adding to the shabby appearance of the flat as plaster fell from his fist.
"I thought that for once I might be wrong. Perhaps you were humoring me all those times. Perhaps I was doing something worth wile." He looked down, his hair falling against his twisting face. Ino backed away slightly.
"But you're a liar Ino. I put up with this torment… for years!" his eyes were glued to her now. She couldn't move, but his shadow remained in it's simple quivering stare.
"Did you ever think… did you ever think that maybe I could be something more than a last resort to someone?" He studied her eyes and got the answer he knew she would give him… the truth.
"Did you ever thing that I am a human, not a play thing? Did you ever think of anyone's emotions but yourself? Let me answer you, NO." The last word and she broke free from his gaze and backed up, he pushed forward, this mass of pent up rage was more than she could ever expect…. She must have… hurt him badly…
No…. I can't show him I care, just like I can't show Sakura. This anger means something is different, and I CAN'T be pushed around by anyone, however angry they are!
She stiffened, and matched his gaze. If he noticed at all, he didn't show it. This only made her worse.
"Did you ever think that to someone, I would be the one they wanted most? To someone, I would be the one they think about, dream about, and love? DID YOU EVER THINK THAT I COULD HAVE BEEN LOVED?!" He was losing it again, and Ino heard a strange sound from above. Shikamaru paused, and looked up past the stairs… the look on his face was yet another new emotion.
"Did you ever think that you were making a mistake… did you ever realize the pain you put other through just to please yourself… did you ever know how much I had cared about you? Did you know how much I had gone out of my way…."
He was slowing down now, resuming his normal tone.
"Did you ever realize what you were playing with?" Who was that… what was that? Ino was frightened now, frightened of this new Shikamaru, frightened of what she had done to her teammate, and this web of lies she had spun around Kohona, all for her.
Perhaps the voice was simply her conscience… yes.
"Did you ever realize everything you wanted was fading before your eyes?"
There it was again!
Confuzed and scared, the girl did the only thing she really knew how to do.
"Psh." She folded her arms. "Last resort is all you are good for." She
moved towards the door, but kept her eyes locked with her teammate. "After all…
Who would ever fall in love with such a Lazy, rude, smartalek, useless, son of a bitch as you!?" She slashed her arms away from her body.
Before Shikamaru could open his mouth, a tap of two footsteps resounded behind him, and Ino let her eyes slowly drift to a new face… four pigtails and a pair of glowing eyes.
"I would."