A/N: For once I decided to give NaruIno a break. There is something else that's been bugging me for the past few weeks and it's been keeping me from sleeping at night. Anyway, I wrote something similar to this almost two years ago and reading back on it I feel that I didn't do it as much justice as I think I should have.
Ino, I feel doesn't like to express her feelings so quickly, vulnerability isn't easy to show. So I don't know how well I incorporated that, be free to tell me how much I need to improve, believe me I sort of will have to agree to some extent. Oh yeah, I also tried to show the dynamics between Shikamaru and Ino (to me their friendship is like a seesaw) since they are both completely different characters all together. I feel that when it comes down to it, Shika isn't as much detached from the rest of his peers as he'd like to think he is.
And so, this is sort of a two year anniversary to my old story. I hope I improved, a little bit.
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Ino slapped her hands, patting away the dust that happened to accumulate onto the tips of her index fingers. She peered below at the box she finished carrying from the attic, one of the many. She tapped the end of her shoe onto the cardboard, watching a puff of dust suddenly hoist itself from the package. Her nose automatically wrinkled, feeling the slight irritation of dust tickle her nostrils.
This was nothing more than Spring Cleaning at its best.
She pressed her knuckles against the side of her hip, leaning the rest of her body to the side. Wiping at the buildup of sweat on her temples, she felt herself suddenly deflate at the sound of Shikamaru's exaggerated sigh from afar.
"…Ino…" Shikamaru drawled, the ends of his mouth twisting. Even that was much too a response for his absolute boredom. He turned to cock an eyebrow in her direction, one as though to emphasize just how tedious this all was. "This is such a-"
Ino shot him a glare that quickly had him eating his words.
For a Saturday morning he thought this was quite a drag. But because Ino was quite the persistent one, he was simply left to follow her orders. He always thought the idea of sky gazing was more interesting. Anyway, as much as he wanted to sulk in his situation, he found himself hauling unwanted boxes and dumping them into the middle of her small living room.
Actually, to be sincere about the situation, everything was small about her house including the damned living room. Not that he had a problem with it—not that he would ever tell her he had a problem with it, he just thought that having so many-useless-things for such a home that was reminiscent of a cottage, was just unnecessary.
After a pause to catch his breath he turned to meet her gaze. There was a thin haze of dust that covered the room, which only added to the mental list of complaints that Shikamaru had been making since the moment she had dropped by into his own house that very morning. His dark eyes examined the thin
piece of yellow cloth that was tied into Ino's hair. Useless, he thought, as though that would protect her from any bacteria in the air…
"So is that the last of it?" He asked, reluctantly. He watched her nod, finding his muscles relax with her gesture. It's over, he smiled.
"Now we have to get all the good stuff out!" Ino shouted, pumping her fist in the air. He immediately shuddered disgusted by the thought opening the boxes before him. "What are we looking for?"
"You know…" she trailed off, bending to rip open a box, "important stuff…"
If it was important, you wouldn't have stuffed it into the attic.
He glared at her, shaking his head from side to side. In defeat with absolutely no will power he lowered himself to the heap of boxes, tearing the cartons open with agitation. Inside amongst the various items coated with gray powdery dust was nothing. At least it looked like nothing to him. There were a few books, some of which Asuma-sama used to assign to them when they were younger. None of which they managed to read, to be certain.
"Is this how it's going to be for all of these boxes?" Shikamaru eyed the rest of them, annoyed.
"Who knows? C'mon Shika-I'm already up to my fourth box! There's only a few left!" She exclaimed. Bundled into her arms were a few random items, shirts and towels and such.
Completely useless...Half of those things were ancient. Why in the world would she keep storing them? It's only going to end up being a never ending cycle.
"I don't know what you consider important-"
"Shika, use common sense."
He shot her a crossed look while she returned it with a nod of enthusiasm. Frustrated he pushed the box to the side, pulling the next one up for inspection.
Shikamaru Nara always hated Spring Cleaning. Why he continued to help Ino not even he could account for. But every single yea he found himself to be in this exact spot, stuck dusting and cleaning and immersed in women's work for goodness sake! So for the fourth year and counting he sat down onto the dirty rug, hands rummaging into a box of crap he did not own.
"None of this even belongs to me…" he reasoned in his aggravation. Before him stood a cluster of what appeared to be frames and something else coated in dust. "What is this?" Curiosity captured his attention as he instinctively pulled at the plush toy, shaking off the dust. Even before he had a chance to reminisce about the poor thing Ino snatched it out of his grasp and protectively crushed it onto her bosom.
"I remember you!" She practically sang out, giving it a small kiss on its dusty ear. Shikamaru squirmed at the sight of her so willingly placing her mouth on something so…dirty.
"What is that?"
"You don't remember!" She asked, accusingly. She clutched the object further as though to shield it from him. He then rolled his eyes, heaving a long and tired sigh.
"No, Ino-"
"I can't believe you Shika…" she continued, kneeling down onto the hard wooden floor. She pulled the teddy bear away, observing it with great adoration. "His name is Theodore and you gave this to me six years ago."
"Me?" He wrinkled his nose, squinting to take a decent glimpse at the bear. He recalled, slightly, a teddy partially similar to that mess bundled in her arms, but only to a certain degree. That there was a gift, he recollected, for her thirteenth birthday or something along those lines. "Oh…." He drawled, the memory now slipping in small fragments.
The thought of her actually holding onto something for so long struck a cord in his system and had him smiling, though it was a faint one. Ino seemed to take notice for she returned his gesture with a similar smile. "Thanks…" she mumbled, stroking the teddy bear's ear.
Shikamaru veered his attention away from her, glancing back down at the remainder of her junk. He pulled at the frame overlooking the dirt that stuck to the tip of his fingers. There were only two frames, one much too smudged with grime to recognize while the other was not so unfortunate. He stared at the first one smearing his thumb against the dusty residue as a few familiar faces gazed in his direction.
A much younger version of himself stood there with a faux scowl and a euphoric glint in his eye. On one side stood his childhood friend Chouji with a blind smile, eyes shut tightly. On the other was a juvenile Ino, her arm hooked around his own neck while her other hand lay confidently on her hip. She had a cocky smile gracing her young features.
He figured his old mentor was the one taking the picture, since it was so long ago. There may have been a few changes after that picture was taken but nothing too extravagant. And that conclusion satisfied him so.
With that thought in mind Shikamaru voluntarily reached into the box, drawing the next frame close for further inspection. He blew at the dust watching the powder sway to a silent tune. Eyes now focused on the glass frame, he found himself surprised to see Ino with someone besides him and his old colleague.
He drew in the picture with much hesitation, not sure what exactly to make of it. Eyebrow arched, he lit up at the scene behind the ends of his thumbs. The photo appeared to be around the same time period, he figured, where Theadore had appeared. Two girls smiled with the greatest of ease. One had a smear of chocolate frosting lined against her cheek while the latter had a chunk of it hanging under her chin. The two leaned against one another, cheeks pressed together in a cheesy grin. He couldn't tell which birthday it was since they both happened to be wearing favorable clothing.
"What? What is it?" He perked his chin to face a curious Ino, glaring at him so. His breathing hitched as he handed her the photo without a second thought. As Ino laced her fingers onto the aged frame, the
light on her face that had once sparked with interest was suddenly blown out. A smile that had once graced her features was now replaced with a thin line. Something cold flickered in her eyes, something too quick to catch.
"Oh." The room had practically died, taking Ino's enthusiasm along with it.
After a second, she practically whispered. "…That…" with a bit of faux joy as though to ensure her friend that it was a joke, that she was not as emotionally wounded as he figured she was. But her reply came much too wavered, much too forced. She sighed when she realized her dreadful response, trying her best to avoid the glare of her younger self.
Unstructured memories flowed in and out of her conscious, effortlessly like water. She made a sad attempt at hiding the frown that lay plastered on her lips but found it to no avail. When she darted her attention away from the picture frame she was met with a concerned Shikamaru staring only a few feet from her.
"Y'know, this room is a bit stuffy in here, I think we need a break!" she proclaimed. A forceful push from the ground floor was followed by a beeline to the kitchen.
Shikamaru mentally flinched, his mind now filling itself with reprimands for his foolish actions.
After a pause, Ino laughed loudly. "Shika, you were right. Spring cleaning is a drag, we should stop y'know?"
She tried her best to smile while her fingers curled onto the chair, applying as much pressure as she could without possibly breaking it.
Shikamaru could have agreed with her and got up to leave. Instead, he chose to follow her into that other cramped room, swallowing hard at the scene of her trying so hard to…to what exactly?
It didn't matter; he shook away those thoughts entirely. What he did do, however, was pull her hand away from that blasted chair and simply entangled her into his arms. Anything, he thought, so as to keep her from not looking so dejected because he always hated when she wasn't her wired self-even though he kinda thought that was troublesome too, but not really.
She leaned onto his gesture, heaving a long sigh full of sincere sadness. He felt her hide herself into his torso, her arms encircling him into a tight hug but he did not mind too much.
What usually followed after a long period silence between them was a quip on one side and a sigh of annoyance on the other. But this time was different. There was a moment of hesitation as Shikamaru contemplated on his next movement, being the great thinker that he was.
It wasn't awkward letting Ino slip silent tears onto his loose shirt. He's done it a few times before, being that Ino always was an emotional girl and all she always had her moments. What surprised him this time was how easily she slipped into sadness over that simple photo but he knew there was something engraved between Ino and Sakura that not even he could distinguish.
There was something incoherent that followed in the low murmurs below him. He snorted at the vibrating sensation from her mouth that pressed against him so closely, her words tickled at him so.
As much of as talker as Ino was, she remained mute even at the minor mention of Sakura Haruno. When they were younger, they were inseparable but now that years had passed between them they were but unlinked strangers with no connection. She would never tell, but he figured a part of it had to deal with unsolved grudges and childhood crushes. And he would never push it, because that was only asking for trouble. It was all mix ups and it was pretty unnecessary. Yet, he could never find it in himself to rebuke her for her past. Guilt was always obvious when it came to referencing Miss Haruno but pride would somehow stop her from ever overtly admitting it. But not this time.
"Hey…" He finally spoke, his words brushing against the crown of her blonde head. She suddenly tensed underneath at the sound of his voice, she found it surprisingly soothing. He pushed all thoughts aside and without much of a reason, he blurted out, "I know."
She pulled away, her eyes glazed with tears as she caught the glimpse of understanding.
I find it hard to say…I'm sorry…I wish… it was as though he could read her thoughts as he gazed from one bright cerulean eye to the next.
"And it's okay." He finished.