Love Story
Chapter One – Meeting You Was Fate
Prologue
Rated T for future themes.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor do I own its characters. If I did, Shikamaru would definitely end up with Ino. Believe it! I also don't own 'Love Story' by Taylor Swift.
A/N: I haven't finished watching or reading Naruto yet so please excuse any mistakes that I might have made. I also know that Naruto isn't over yet so maybe, just maybe, Temari will die and Ino will take her place –shrugs innocently-. :D
We were both young when I first saw you
I closed my eyes and the flashback starts
I'm standing there,
On a balcony in summer air
The day was half over and the sky was painted bright orange. A couple of purplish-blue clouds floated overhead in various formations. The swaying grass looked even greener than it already was with the sinking sun shining down on it. A warm summer breeze blew through Konoha in short breaths causing the odd dandelion to separate as its spores were carried off with the wind. On a wooden balcony, a man stood with his young daughter awaiting their company.
Silhouettes of a man, woman and a small boy appeared just over the hill.
"Daddy, who's that boy with Shikaku-ojisan and Yoshino-obasan?" asked an eager seven-year-old girl, turning her head back to look at her father expectantly.
The boy had a spiky brown ponytail - which, she thought, closely resembled a pineapple - similar to the one sported by the older man beside him. He looked annoyed and as the woman began fussing over his shirt, he exaggeratingly rolled his eyes. A great many complaints could be heard spewing from the woman's mouth as the man, her husband, scratched his neck nervously and tried to rescue his son from his wife's nagging wrath.
Yamanaka Inoichi chuckled as he placed a large callused hand on his daughter's shoulder.
"He, my dearest Ino-chan, is Nara Shikamaru. He is Shikaku-san and Yoshino-san's son. He was born only a day before you." he said with a warm smile, causing the blonde girl's cerulean eyes to light up. He waved his friends over, welcoming them into the house.
The two men embraced each other in a brief manly hug. When the older Yamanka shifted to greet Yoshino, he was met with a wide smile as the woman thrust her child towards his daughter.
Shikamaru halted and folded his arms over his chest, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like "Mendokusai."
Ino's brows furrowed as she scrutinized the boy in front of her. He didn't seem very lively or polite. Here she was, a beautiful, energetic girl, wanting nothing more than to be friends with the boy and he was muttering silly words under his breath and pouting like a big baby. What to do, what to do? Maybe he just needed some motivation. Would he play a game with her?
"Hello Shikamaru-kun!" she said while smiling brightly, exposing bright white teeth and taking his rough hand in her soft one. "My name is Yamanaka Ino, but you can just call me Ino. Do you want to play a game with me?"
Instead of nodding his head excitedly like she thought he would, he shook his hand free of her grip and slung it back across his chest. Ino's smiled faded but unexpectedly, he didn't object to her question.
"What kind of game? Do you know how to play Shogi or Go?" he asked, sounding nothing other than bored.
She raised an eyebrow and cocked her head to the side, short platinum blonde hair cascading onto her small shoulder. "Shogi or Go? Aren't those old-men's games?" Ino asked, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "I was thinking something more like Hide-and-Go-Seek or maybe we could color pictures or pick flowers from the field."
Now it was the boy's turn to wrinkle his nose.
"Tch," he snarled. "Hide-and-Go-Seek? Coloring pictures? Picking flowers? What kind of troublesome activities are those?"
Ino's jaw dropped and her expression quickly changed from appalled to angry, making Shikamaru scramble backwards when her furious gaze neared.
"Troublesome? Is that all you can say? Those are some of my favorite things to do! Tell me how they're troublesome!" she retorted, huffing.
"T- tr- troublesome; oh is that what I said? What I meant to say is… terrific! Those are terrific ideas."
The blonde girl calmed down, releasing her grip on his shirt and squinted as if trying to tell whether not he was being serious or if he was just trying to please her. Either way, she was content. So she smiled and took his hand again and pulled him in the direction of the house.
Yoshino, Shikaku and Inoichi smiled at their children. Yoshino hugged her husband's arm dreamily and sighed. "They're so adorable."
Ino brought her new friend to see her bedroom where she proudly introduced him to all of her dolls and stuffed animals. In turn, he nodded half-heartedly and pretended to care. Sitting cross-legged, leaning his head on his fist, he sighed. "What a drag."
Taking quick notice that her friend wasn't interested she put down her stuffed rabbit, Jenrya, which she was getting ready to present and sat down, hugging her knees to her chest, in front of the Nara boy.
"So, if you don't like coloring, picking flowers or playing Hide-and-Go-Seek, what do you like to do? Besides Shogi and Go, I mean."
Shikamaru pondered the question for a moment, trying to choose his words wisely so not to offend the troublesome girl in any way.
"Hmm… I like to watch clouds or take naps. I suppose that I like to do anything that doesn't require too much energy." he spoke with a shrug of his shoulders.
Ino bit her lip, his answer running through her mind over and over. I've never watched clouds before… I wonder what it's like. Maybe I would like to watch clouds too.
After awhile, she called softly to him, "Shika-kun?"
Shikamaru's head snapped up. They'd only known each other for half an hour at the most and she was already calling him nicknames. But he decided that saying anything wouldn't be worth the nagging that would follow, so he kept his mouth shut and waited for her to speak.
"Do you think we could watch clouds together one day? I've never watched clouds before and maybe I might find out why you like them so much. So do you think we could?"
He was surprised to find that she wanted to watch clouds just because he liked to. He never expected her to do something because he wanted to. He nodded to her slowly as if reassuring himself that he was talking to the same bossy girl he'd met before.
At the sight of his nod, a cheery grin spread over the girl's face like wildfire and she let out a loud ear-piercing screech before leaping up and dragging him down the hallway to their parents.
Hearing his daughter's scream, Inoichi quickly stood up from the kitchen table where the adults were conversing, a look of worry spreading rapidly over his features. He stopped hesitantly when Ino came blundering down the stairs, Shikamaru trailing haphazardly after her.
"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Shika-kun said that I could watch clouds with him some time! Isn't that right Shika-kun?"
When Ino looked inquiringly at the boy, he, unsure of what to do, nodded his head up and down so fast he thought it might drop off any second.
Shikaku laughed, standing up and patting his son on the head whispering a sly "Already making dates son?" causing him to blush deep crimson.
Yoshino swooned and cradled her folded hands to her cheek.
Inoichi lifted Ino into his arms and the two walked back out to the balcony to say good-bye to their company. In the distance, the sun was barely seen in the horizon and Nara Shikaku waved good-bye and walked away, chuckling, with his arm wrapped around his wife's waist (who was once again pestering him about something). Shikamaru trudged a pace behind with his hands in his pockets only once turning around when Ino had called after him, "Remember Shika-kun, we're going to watch clouds together!"
A/N: Okay, so there is the first chapter. I think that it's pretty cute. Read and review please. Also, a round of applause to my great betas: Digital Skitty and gwendal's wife.