First Dance (sort of)
Up until an obvious contradiction at the beginning of junior year, Ino Yamanaka was never the girl who people thought would go for a long-term relationship. She was more of the hook-up-at-parties-tantalize-every-guy-before-shutting-them-down kind of girl. That was the way Ino liked it, after all; she didn't want the stress or the emotion of an actual relationship. Casual hookups were easy and fun and she didn't have to care about whoever was on the receiving end. As long as they were cute and preferably muscular (and not total assholes; she'd had too much experience with that kind of guy in the past).
That all changed, however, when Shikamaru Nara entered the picture as someone who was maybe more than a friend. The two of them had had a dysfunctional relationship since middle school. They couldn't stand each other (they were complete and total opposites, after all). They were the last people to ever get together, at least in their own minds.
The first moment when Ino realized, with horror that she actually liked him in a real way, and not a 'you're hot let's make out' way, was fall of sophomore year. Stupid Temari from Suna was in town and clearly liked him too. She was so obvious and gross about it, and whenever the two of them hung out (which was often) Ino seethed from the sidelines. Then she realized what she was doing. And was, of course, disgusted with herself. Ino Yamanaka was never supposed to be a victim of unrequited love. That was Hinata's job. And maybe Sakura's. Well, probably not Sakura anymore. That girl's head was messed up, but Ino knew with (almost) all certainty that Sasuke Uchiha was no longer part of it.
Ino cursed herself for falling in love with the one guy who was literally impossible to be around for more than five minutes without getting furious. She also cursed herself for falling in love with the one guy who she couldn't control herself around. Shikamaru just did something to her that no one else did. And no matter what she did, she couldn't get rid of it. It was so infuriating. No matter what she did, nothing worked. No matter how many guys she flirted with and kissed, there was always that black ponytail and lazy (sexy) posture in the background somewhere. And it only got worse. She hated herself for it, because she wasn't supposed to have these problems. Every guy was supposed to kneel at her feet.
It was September of junior year at some club-sponsored dance, and Sakura had just left Ino to take a break from the hot crowd to hang out with the rest of their group on the edge of the dance floor. Ino, however, was never one to take a break, but as the music blasted she suddenly found herself right next to Shikamaru (it was definitely accidental), who for some reason was much closer to the middle of the crowd than she'd expected.
"What are you doing here? I thought you hated dances." Ino asked loudly from behind him.
Shikamaru started slightly at her voice. "Oh. Ino. Yeah, well, I'm only here because I was keeping an eye on—Never mind."
"Who?" Ino hated herself for being so jealous, but she couldn't control it.
"I—"
"Sakura? Ami Watanabe?"
"What are you talking about?" Shikamaru was looking at her like she was crazy.
"It's some girl, isn't it!"
"Yeah." Shikamaru took a step back. "Never wanted to admit it, but yeah."
"Who is it, Shikamaru, tell me." She hissed, pointing a finger at him.
"Why do you care so much, anyway?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Because I—" No, there was no way she was going to admit it. "Because you'd look like a total idiot going after some girl. Especially if it's Ami Watanabe. If it was her, that'd be disgusting."
"Honestly. You're always crazy." Shikamaru said, exasperated. "It's not Ami Watanabe. Or Sakura. Jeez."
"Who is it, then?" Ino asked, attempting to resign herself to her fate.
Shikamaru sighed. "You."
For once in her life, Ino Yamanaka was left completely speechless. "Uh—I—What?"
"You're fucking crazy and I can't stand drama queens and shrieking and basically everything about you is obnoxious. I was planning to find someone nice and mellow and not insane, but…That's not really working out. I don't even know what the hell this is, but I can't help it and I don't really want to. There's no strategy for this."
"I hate you so much." Ino said, and smashed her lips against his. The music blasted around them and that's when she felt something real that no sexy midnight hook-up would ever match.
And that was the only time when Ino Yamanaka was happy to break the reputation she had proudly upheld for so long.
It was also the only time when Shikamaru Nara could be seen in the middle of a dance floor, kissing a girl with more energy than seemed humanly possible for someone who supposedly had no energy for anything except sleeping.
A/N: These two are so much fun to write, I couldn't resist. Also I was worried Ino was getting all the attention in B(P)B. This is probably going to be a series of one-shots, with the main characters being the two of them.
This is all complete fluff, so enjoy :)