Ino was terrified of thunderstorms. She didn't know why exactly, but she was. Maybe it's because it was storming the night her mother finally succumbed to cancer (A/N-not canon, making it up as I go along). She had only been four, but she'd been in the room and it had traumatized her. She snuggled up deeper beneath the covers as the thunder crashed just outside her hotel room window. She'd never admit it to anyone, not even under the threat of torture, but occasionally she still slept with her dad when there was a thunderstorm. She'd been doing it since she was a small child and even though she tried not to do it she still did. She'd been getting better at sleeping through thunderstorms without needing her dad as a crutch, but tonight was just awful. But she was on a mission and her dad/human security blanket was hundreds of miles away. Her sensei and surrogate father figure was in the bed beside hers, but something about snuggling with her sensei felt like a breach of the sensei/student relationship. The only other guy that made her feel safe was Shikamaru and well…well, that line of thought held intriguing possibilities.
No, Ino, your dad is one thing, but not Shikamaru! If he finds out what a scaredy-cat you are you'll never live it down!
Her thoughts were interrupted by a particularly loud thunderclap. She whimpered, and then decided to quietly sneak over to Shikamaru's room. She quietly crept down the hallway and slowly opened the door. Shikamaru was asleep, Choji in the bed next to him. Shikamaru was in a deep sleep. She snuck over to his bed, lifted up the covers and got under them. She rested her head on the pillow. She did feel better knowing he was beside her. Her breath caught in her throat as she felt him wrap his strong arms around her waist. He wasn't awake though. She snuggled deeper into his embrace. The thunder rolled, but as he held her closer she didn't feel so scared anymore. She soon fell into a deep and contented sleep.
She woke up as dawn light filtered through her window. The blood immediately flowed to her cheeks as she saw that Shikamaru was staring at her.
"You're scared of thunderstorms aren't you?"
How could he know that? "Y-yes."
"You've faced down bloodthirsty ninjas, faced death, faced explosions, faced torture yet…you're scared of thunderstorms?"
She sighed. "That's about right."
"How troublesome."
"You're telling me."
He grinned. "And you chose me to soothe your fears?"
"What are you getting at?"
He smiled innocently. "Do you like me?"
"N-no…yes…I don't know…"
He leaned over and kissed her forehead. That's the moment Asuma chose to walk into the room.
"Hey, Shikamaru, have you seen Ino-oh. Oh." He stood there stunned for a few minutes, then walked out of the room.
"Troublesome…" Mumbled Shikamaru, then turned and went back to sleep.