A/N: Prompted by sunblaze24 for KakaSaku + ShikaIno double date shenanigans. This turned out really long, because I enjoy these pairings so much. It's a 2 parter, I'll upload the final half next time. Also, to anyone following my multichap Love and Other Verses, I've been steadily working on a new chapter that had turned out 16K long (and counting!) Sorry for the delay, and I hope y'all are still interested. I promise some actual resolution on the next updated Anyway onward to the fic!
Kakashi planted his nose deep in his book as he ignored the pouting woman next to him. Except Sakura wasn't to be discouraged easily, and when he realized he'd been staring at the same page for ten minutes now, he sighed, finally dropping his reading material on his lap.
"Do I have to go?" came his last strand of protest.
"Yes!" Sakura inched closer to where he sat on grass, leaning in as if to observe his crumbling resolve at close distance. With a sweeping glance around their perimeter, Kakashi concluded their intimate proximity safe from prying eyes. He couldn't remember exactly, who decided on this secrecy, only that they were both eager to protect the other, even as Kakashi wondered if Sakura truly knew how little he cared for what people thought of him.
"I mean, it wouldn't be a double date without you, would it?" she urged again. Kakashi smirked behind his mask at the twinge in her tone that was close to pleading.
"I just don't understand why it has to be; those two can entertain themselves just fine. If not, then.." He shrugged, not caring to expound on the troubling nature of a relationship that needed others to stay entertained.
"It's not that.." She relaxed a little, resting on the trunk he'd been leaning on. "They're just.. new, okay?" Her gaze averted away at that last part.
"But wouldn't that make us obvious?" It was frustrating to him how she tended to gloss over the little odds and ends of hidden relationships.
"Not really, friends do it for each other all the time. I've gone as Ino's double date before. Unless... you want it to be obvious?" Sakura puckered her lower lip as she shrugged in such aggressive nonchalance Kakashi found even more hard to believe. He wanted to laugh; why couldn't she just say it? The answer was yes, of course, but he wasn't about to make it that easy for her, as clearly she had quite a lot to learn about communication.
"Anyway, third-wheel isn't nearly as fun. That's all." And it was always that defeated tone that broke him.
"What time?" He let a small smile hang on his face and it grew even more so when Sakura's expression suddenly lit up.
"Eight p.m. And don't be late!" Ecstatic, she quickly tackled him on the grass, sending both of them backwards, the faint smell of shampoo in her hair as they remained there snuggling made it hard for him to care about their surroundings. "I hate you," he mumbled defeatedly at the crook of her neck.
"No you don't," Sakura teased as she jammed a finger on his exposed sides, making him yelp, begrudgingly so, in laughter.
"I hate you," she said while pairing up fresh cut flowers on her lap. Her words stated so matter-of-fact was something Ino knew nicked at Shikamaru more than her usual emphatic tone.
"I know.." he replied anyway with an indifference that grew unnerving with each drag of his cigarette. Where was the apology? Her expectations had clearly been set so high, she appraised spitefully to herself. But brooding in silence proved not nearly as gratifying as her usual kind of outrage, and she grabbed the thorniest rose in her hand to flick directly at Shikamaru's face.
"Oy!" Anger was etched in his expression as he turned around to glare at her. "The hell's wrong with you?"
"How dare you keep secrets from me and Chouji!"
"Please, don't drag Chouji in this. It's you who can't let go of gossip."
"Me?!" Ino was beyond enraged now. "You're so fucking sexist you know that?" And she debated grabbing the withering cigarette from his fingers (for that had always pissed him off like nothing).
She huffed as her posture slouched there at the steps of her shop. "Why can't you just tell me what you guys were talking about.." It wasn't like people weren't allowed their secrets, but she felt so slighted by this particular one.
After all, this was Sakura, and it hurt her that whatever it was her best friend was hiding (not that she didn't have a growing suspicion of what it was, anyway ), was something Sakura felt more comfortable sharing with Shikamaru. Were they that close? Ino wasn't about to delve into that kind of jealousy, not now, not certainly during such a transitionary, undefined stage in their relationship.
"You can ask her yourself." He puffed into his cigarette a final time, before smothering the glowing tip on the pavement next to him.
Ino bit her inner cheek as she felt Shikamaru glance at her curiously. "She would never tell me, though.."
"You're afraid to ask her, aren't you?" He smirked, and just before Ino could open her mouth in vehement denial, Shikamaru stood up to dust himself off.
"Anyway, are you free tonight?"
"Oooh, like a date?" Her eyebrow shot up daringly, her mouth pursed into a smarmy smirk though regretting her sarcasm the instant Shikamaru took a few steps towards the rose Ino had mercilessly flung a few minutes ago.
"What else would it be?" he said as he examined the scuffed petals before handing the flower back to her. "I'll pick you up at eight."