Blah blah blah, do not own, nag nag nag...
Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto-sensei, if I owned the characters I probably wouldn't live in a household that doesn't appreciate my artistic talents. TT
ShikaIno, a bit of fluff, but it soaked up all of the angst... Shika death. I died a little when I wrote it. Believe it.
This disclaimer thing is getting troublesome.
--------"You Heard Me."
Ino sat in front of the cold memorial, wrapping the green vest around her shoulders. Her frozen fingers fumbled with the lighter as she struggled to light her cigarette, and, succeeding, put it back into her pocket. The blonde inhaled the scent of the air around her and closed her eyes, allowing the scent of new earth, grass, and smoke to process through her mind. The Yamanaka girl picked at the newly unfurling, misty green shoots at her fingertips, eyes wandering everywhere but the memorial. Blue eyes watched as the grey clouds floated across the even grayer sky, bitterly amused at the irony.
It seemed to Ino that life dragged on from when she had returned from the Hidden Village of the Sound. Where-
Ino rammed her fist into the monument, letting it slide down as the pent up anger began to dissipate. She breathed deeply, yet again inhaling the scents from all around her. Rain pounded against the grass and her head, quickly making her hair soak. The blonde girl pulled the jacket even tighter around her body, not for the effect of warmth, but because it had been his.
That stupid Nara had always been completely self-sacrificing. In the Chuunin exams, when Gaara ran off and they had to get Sasuke was one time, another was the day Ino had turned Jounin, when she almost got mauled by a drunk. Shinobi only allowed Jounin and higher to drink, no matter the age, so the whole gang had ended up going to a bar and drinking themselves into a stupor. Shikamaru had walked her home, taken a beating meant for her from a drunk with a beer bottle, and then taken responsibility for Ino's lack of brains when they had to face Inoichi.
Back at the Sound Village when they had been surrounded was no different.
There had only been three at first, but more came when the first two were killed. Ino had taken over the third one when Chouji had reported that more Ota ninja were coming, Shikamaru nodding and catching her as she slumped over from the jutsu. However, the other ninja weren't fooled for long, and Ino's unconscious body was soon faced with about fifty simultaneously thrown senbon needles. Needles meant for her.
Needles that ended up outlining Shikamaru's spine. Ino called off her jutsu in horror, leaving Chouji to fight the last three ninja in her state of horror. Ino's trembling hands glowed bright green with medical chakra, tears collecting on her close friends face. His breathing was heavy and he opened one hazelnut colored eye with effort. "I guess it was troublesome to walk anyway." The brunette started coughing, but found that he couldn't lift his arm to cover his mouth. "Ino-" He was cut off by the traumatized medic-kunoichi as soon as he started.
"Don't worry Shikamaru, I'll figure out how to save you, I can, I need to... Don't die... I must... Don't leave me..." The blonde girl's eyes were blurry with tears. She couldn't do it. She and Shikamaru both knew that he would bleed to death, or heal and be paralyzed. Then there was the most likely possibility that he would die no matter what. "Ino." There was a gentle firmness in his tone that the Yamanaka girl had never heard directed towards her, and she looked up and locked gazes with him.
"You won't be able to get home. Leave me." "No. I won't. I can't." Her arms wrapped themselves around Shikamaru's waist, weaving through the senbon needles. "You have to." "I'm not going to, Shikamaru, and that's final!" "Ino." The gentleness was gone. "I'm the leader of this mission," Ino knew full well what he was going to say next and she was not going to allow it, "and I demand that you kiss me."
"NO! I won't leave you here, whether or not you're in charge!" Wait... What? Ino leaned Shikamaru into a position against one of the trees where the senbons wouldn't press in any farther than they were now, but he would still be somewhat upright. "You heard me right..." His face was so red... Shikamaru coughed again. "How close are you when you see spots, Ino...?" The medic-nin's heart skipped a beat and she opened his eye, searching it. She stifled a whimper and buried her face in her comrade's chest, fisting his jacket, her body wracking in noiseless sobs. "Ino..." The girl lifted her tear-stained face at the once again gentle voice. "I always said you were troublesome, but without you I wouldn't be a Jounin right now... I love you..." His look became distant and his body wracked once more from the damp cold before she felt all of his weight on her, cold.
"Shika? SHIKAMARU!" Chouji ran over, terror on his spiral-decorated face. His eyes widened. "Shikamaru..." He too knelt down in the soaking grass, trying to comfort the silently sobbing girl as well as himself. The Akimichi boy could feel the medical chakra emanating off of his blonde teammate. "He's not dead. I can't believe it. WAKE UP SHIKAMARU, DAMN IT!!!" Chouji picked up his friend, he could tell by the dead weight that his friend had indeed passed on. He didn't want to believe it. But he knew it was true. He pulled the senbons out of his best friend's spinal cord and leapt away, followed by a still-sobbing Ino.
And that brought her to today. Two years later, she still hadn't gotten over it. Ino sighed and let the tears drip down her face, rain as a backup excuse. The blue-eyed kunoichi clutched the jacket even closer to her and rocked back and forth rhythmically. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Chouji, smiling softly at her. Her blonde hair dripped as she stood up. The brunette boy motioned over towards a path. "Come on. Let's go hit the bars." The medic-nin sighed and nodded. Only Chouji would know how much she wanted to be hopelessly drunk and unfeeling today. Ino paused and spun around. "Just a minute, Chouji. I have to do something..." The boy gave her a thumbs up walked ahead. She took a deep breath and knelt before the great stone tablet again, placing a single red rose and pressing her lips to his carved name tenderly.
The girl got up and ran after Chouji, feeling slightly better about her inability to fulfill Shikamaru's last request.
He couldn't hear her because her voice wouldn't come out properly. It wouldn't have made a difference.
"Aishiteru, Shikamaru-kun... aishiteru..."
She fell in line with Chouji once again, casting a single backwards glance at the peaceful sanctuary. The sanctuary she had picked for its beautiful view of the clear sky.
Ino clung to the Akimichi boy's arm, and he smiled softly. He knew that she wasn't the only one affected badly by today, simply the most affected.
Both Jounin gradually stopped and looked back at the grave simultaneously, bowing their heads in respect.
Ino smiled softly, eyes watering.
'Happy birthday, you lazy bum.'
End------------
Yay OOC-ness. Lol, all of Shika's talk about being a real man etc. etc. and not getting whipped, then he comes out with a coward's retreat – tell her when you have no time left to feel the pain of rejection.
sigh My stupid bf... shakes a fist