In the Night © inogirl13
Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto
"Good morning, Sakura-chan!" Ino chirped as her bittersweet best friend entered the little flower shop. The bubblegum haired girl made her way to the front counter in an uncharacteristically meek manor. Ino noticed this almost immediately, and abandoned her half made bouquet.
"What's wrong, Sakura?" Said woman shifted uncomfortably in place, never quite making eye contact with her blonde friend. Ino touched her arm, "What is it?"
Sakura finally piped, looking down at her feet, "I saw Shikamaru with Temari."
Ino's eyes bulged a bit and she paused before laughing lightheartedly, "What, you mean they were talking? Nothing wrong with that. She does visit here sometimes." Ino tried to again attend to her flowers and swallow her absolute hatred for the Sand Village blonde.
Sakura sighed, "No. I mean…they were…flirting."
At this statement, Ino dropped the lily she'd been placing and it felt like her heart had stopped. "They were, or he was?" Sakura bit her lip, hating to see her friend on the verge of tears at her doing.
"Well, I mean it looked like they were, but—" Sakura didn't get to finish because Ino had already hung up her shop apron and was headed out the door, a sea of blonde hair marking her trail.
She was out of breath by the time she'd made it to Shikamaru's apartment. It wasn't the running, but more likely the intense shock and anger that was running through her veins. She'd thought about what she would do on the elevator as she caught her breath. Oh, she'd love to spit on him, or throw something at him—preferabbly a fist—or wreck his apartment. It'd be so sweet. But she knew in reality, what she actually ended up doing would be yelling.
Her legs felt like wet noodles as she made her way to his door. She had to pound on it for a couple minutes before he actually opened the door. Probably sleeping, she thought. Finally, his face emerged and before she could stop herself she felt the sting of her hand against his cheek. It felt good—really good. He fell back into his apartment, gaining her access, and yelled, "What the hell, Ino?" She paced into the little living room, trying to gather her thoughts. She thought she remembered her words, but honestly it was an out of body experience. Maybe she brought up Sakura telling her, although she hadn't wanted Shikamaru to have someone to blame. She probably most definitely cursed at least once. Her brain finally caught up with herself as she felt her lips make out the words, "You have two options, Nara. Either tell me the truth that you were, in fact, flirting with that whore, and I can kick your ass now, or lie to me, and I can find out the truth and kick your ass later—harder. Now, don't lie to me, Nara Shikamaru!" He sighed, probably trying to figure out how to escape his incredibly stupid mistake of cheating on Yamanaka Ino.
Then finally, he spoke, obviously trying to suppress his guilt, "I wasn't flirting with her. She came on to me; I turned her away." She felt the anger bubble; he was so lying. She made her way to the door, too angry to even form words, but he ripped her away with his fists—hard. He was trying to make eye contact, but just couldn't; being a ninja made it clear that this was a sign of dishonesty. "I love you, Ino. Not Temari, or anyone else. You. I would never hurt you." He was leaning in now; he was actually going to kiss her! This was unbelievable. Who knows how many other girls his lips had touched? She had to stop him, so she whispered, "I don't believe you." The true wrath shone in his eyes and she felt his grip tighten on her arms. For a second, she thought he might truly hit her, but he let her go and flew out the door, slamming it behind him.
This was almost perfect; she was alone in his apartment: the most opportune time for sabotage. Almost perfect because of the part of her heart that felt bad. She hadn't even slightly considered he was telling the truth. She was abnormally exhausted from the rage boiling her blood, and collapsed over his kitchen counter. For a few minutes, she just needed to cool tile against her burning cheeks. She didn't feel like going home; she needed to discuss this soon. If they left it alone, it would build up. She slowly made her way to his bathroom, choosing to take a shower. She walked in, flicking on the light, and found a normal, tiled bathroom. A pair of Shikamaru's boxers was on the floor and she had to pause. She couldn't take a shower.
An underwear clad Ino giggled, running on her toes to the bathroom. He followed close behind, and wrapped his arms around her waist. He started to kiss her neck softly, making her nerves electrify. "Shikamaru," she whispered. He turned her around and pushed her against the cool wall next to the shower. He feverishly kissed down her neck, sucking on her collarbone, and passionately running his fingers over her skin. Ino groped for the shower nozzle to her left and clumsily pushed it to the side, smirking when she heard the familiar squeak of the hot water. She looked down at her boyfriend and he smiled, sliding his hands behind her back to undo her bra. She was busy, as well, with promptly pushing his boxers down. She moaned when his fingers grazed her womanhood while he was removing her panties, and he grabbed her hand, drawing her under the hot water. Her back was cold against the shower tiles, but the rest of her was fervently scorching, she couldn't tell if it was from the water or not. She watched as her hair color started to match that of her boyfriends slowly moving his lips down her body. It had only been a month or two but those dark eyes got to her every time. Lifelong friends had bloomed into exquisite, albeit at times maddening, love—as everyone said it would, much to the couple's argument. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head when he stationed his hands at her hips and kissed down the inside of her thighs; combining his lips and the hot water was almost too much. She moaned his name and he stopped. Not exactly what she was hoping for…He stood, towering over her by a good 5 inches and cupped her face in his hands; his pointer and middle fingers softly stroked behind her earlobe and his thumbs caressed her cheeks. He had never looked at her this intensely before—water was dripping down his eyelashes and off the tip of nose, but all he seemed to be noticing was her flushed body beneath him. He leaned in close, so that their lips were but an inch apart and whispered, "I love you."
No, she couldn't take a shower. She'd end up forgiving him thinking about their shower escapades. She staggered out of the bathroom and flopped onto his full size bed. She closed her eyes and smiled thinking of that night in the shower. She remembered him repeating his words over and over again as if he could never get enough of the way they sounded. Goosebumps prickled on her arms as she continued to relive the moment. "No, stop it," She mumbled to herself, turning on her side in his bed. "Preserve your anger," she told herself, and tried desperately to hold on to all the times he'd made her furious. She stared at his night stand and counted his annoyances like sheep. "Cigarettes, being lazy, suppressing emotion…sleeping all day…cloud…gazing…"
Her sight began to blur, and her mind continued to wander back to that sugar sweet heart throb moment with Shikamaru. As she started to doze off, she thought of his mystifying eyes and velvety lips. A small smile crossed her lips and she thought, even if they broke up tomorrow, she'd have tonight to dream of him. He would be hers—and nothing else mattered.