"Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away."

"Now it looks as though they're here to say."

"Oh, I believe, in yesterday."

It had grown on him. It's deep blue, almost black color seemed to soothe him along with its many fireflies that filled the sky. He still laid out in the day too, his warm sun and soft, slow clouds haven't been replaced by the night time. Either way though, he was relaxed. All of his tension was stripped of him.

"Hey! Shikamaru!"

Then, it returned just as quickly.

"Shikamaru, what are you doing out here?" The blonde stood next to her team mate, looking down at him with her hands on her hips and a puzzled expression.

"Shouldn't I be asking you the same thing?"

Ino pushed her brows together even more, the frustration clearly rising in her.

"I was looking for you to tell you that the time of our meeting has been moved to ten. Geeze Shika, it took me forever to find you!" Ino placed her hands on her hips again after flailing them about from yelling at Shikamaru.

"Well, here I am and now I know."

His eyes remained shut and his arms behind his head. Clearly he was just blocking out her mere presence and trying to relax again. She was so loud and troublesome. How he could stand to fight by her side every day seized to amaze him in a way and yet as he thought about it, if it were any different he would probably enjoy her company even less. All though some times it did cause him head aches and more tension added to his life of being a ninja, it also helped to keep him on track; to stop being lazy and become the better person. Wait, that was a stupid thought. If Ino lost her voice it would be like heaven for him. Right?

"You're such an ass." Ino continued to glare down at the brunette. Shikamaru didn't reply to her, he continued laying there with his eyes shut. She knew that he was trying to block her out.

Ino's look of frustration faded as she took a seat next to the boy, her long, slender legs curled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. She looked down at him with her cobalt eyes, trying to register as to why he was out here in the first place.

"You still never answered my question."

Shikamaru finally opened one of his eyes and looked at the blonde then closed it again just as quickly.

"Troublesome..."

Ino's soft expression faded into oblivion. She then stood, looking down at the lazy fool as a small smirk slid onto her face. Her blonde hair twirled around her as she turned to make her exit from the grassy terrain.

"Fine. Sorry for bothering you, Shikamaru."

Normally he would ignore that statement and let Ino go on her marry way, but for some reason he felt the need to reply.

"I'm here because I don't get enough time to myself during the day."

The blue eyed beauty stopped in her tracks and turned back around to face him, the smirk still plastered on her face. With that, she made her way back to his side and laid down next to him, placing her arms across the top of her stomach. Ino scanned the night sky, looking at every twinkling star that shone and seeing which ones shined brighter than the others. The twinkling orbs reflected on her own azure eyes, looking as if she were stealing the stars and making them her own to watch and gaze at forever.

There were a few moments of silence before Ino spoke softly to her team mate. "What is it you think about?" The boy then opened both eyes and looked at her, her own gaze still attached to the deep blue above them. Shikamaru also looked at the sky then.

"I think about things I enjoy I guess. Seeing that I never really get to actually experience them all that much with so many troublesome things happening all the time."

Another small silence came before Ino replied with a small, "Oh." His eyes were closed again as he once more began to think to himself about things he enjoyed. That answer wasn't completely true. He really just thought about small things such as what he was going to eat for breakfeast or what their next mission may bring and things of that sort. Then he would fall asleep and let the dreamworld take him were it pleases. If he really did think about things he enjoyed then Ino would be one of them. He had never fully realized it, but Shikamaru did seem to think about her quite often. Every time the thought of a mission came into his mind or who the first person he would see in the morning would be, Ino always seemed to kind of pop up out of no where. She just waltzed into his thoughts like she would in real life, her long blonde hair always trailing behind her in the faint breeze and her smooth, pale skin in his hands. He thought about holding her slender body when she used her technique. When he was, he couldn't help but notice how vulnerable she looked when she was sleeping...and how beautiful. She had those soft, rose tinted cheeks and moist pink lips that...

"Who do you love?"

Interrupted by his thoughts once again, Shikamaru opened both his eyes and came to reality. He turned his gaze over to the blonde who was now laying on her side, her head resting on her hand.

"...No one? Why do you ask any ways?" Shikamaru raised a brow as Ino smiled a little and laid on her back again.

"I dunno, just came to mind." More silence. "Well, I was thinking about how I used to always praise and rant about Sasuke and then it just made me think. Every one has feelings for at least one other person, at least a little bit. But...you've never even seemed to mention anything about any girls." She followed with a small shrug. Shikamaru continued to stare at her, looking at how the stars reflected in her deep blue eyes.

"...I never talk about girls because I think about them to myself. I mean, not all girls, just one."

Ino looked over at him again. "You do? You love someone? Who is it? " Her voice was faintly louder now, more filled with excitement and the want to know who exactly this mysterious girl could be.

"I love...you."

Authors Note: First Fanfiction! Huzzah! Well, sorry for any typos. Sadly enough, my computer is old and crappy, so I had to use WordPad to type this which was horrible when it came to making sure everything was spelled correctly (until I found out you could do that on FF). Oh well, guess it's not too bad for a first time..right?

Thank you to DarkSacredJewelXoX for betaing my story.