A/N: Okay, I really don't expect a lot of reviews,(or any at all...) But some would be appreciated, if you don't mind. I just want to know if you people are still alive out there and reading. This is my first fanfic so any type of criticism is welcome. Thanks!
Naruto not mine.
Chapter One-
It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, but unfortunately squad 7 had training today. Even if the weather was beautiful, the sun's rays were beaming with heat. Heat and Intense training didn't mix together very well.
After 4 hours straight of training in the forest, Sakura, Naruto, and a very tired Uchiha sat down under the shady tree.
"Lunch time!", Kakashi sensei called.
Everyone was relived and opened their boxed lunches Kakashi had prepared for them. While reading his favorite book 'Itcha Itcha Paradise', he watched his students devour their lunches. He was proud of them. They trained hard everyday, improved themselves on missions, and worked best as a team.
After finishing their lunches, the trio and their sensei headed for the river. It was a pretty hot day and Sakura splashed her delicate face with water. The cool water on her warm face felt really good. Naruto watched Sakura's every move by the river. Since he did have a major crush on her, he couldn't help it! Sakura noticed she was being watched by Naruto.
"Naruto! Do you mind?", she yelled. The blonde just turned his head away quickly and blushed a light shade of pink.
"Well Sakura...", he paused, "...you just look very pretty today...", he blushed even more.
"Whatever...", Sakura's response was cold and her voice was filled with uncaring.
But she couldn't help feeling sorry for Naruto. He was only being nice to her after all.
"I'm sorry Naruto, I guess the heat is going to my head.", she said apologetically. Naruto smiled an Sakura walked over next to Sasuke. The quiet Uchiha was sitting on a large rock starring into the open. Sakura went and sat next to him.
"Hey Sasuke...", Sakura greeted.
"Hn...", Sasuke's answer was barely a response. Sakura knew how Naruto felt a while ago.
"Um Sasuke, you're really good at training, I was wondering, well-", she was cut off by Sasuke.
"Sakura, no. Whatever your question is, the answer is NO."
His words hit sakura like a ton of bricks. She was only going to ask if he would train with her some more. She thought asking him would be useless, so he decided to just drop the subject.
The air was tense and full of teenage angst. Kakashi sighed heavily and ended the training session.
The three friends walked into town to explore. But things change. Sasuke decided to head home, Naruto wanted to go eat ramen at Ichiraku's, and Sakura was left alone. Poor Sakura, all she wanted to do was spend some time with her friends, but that didn't happen! She decided to go to Konoha Shopping Mall. She was browsing for dresses when she heard a familiar voice.
"Shika, what do you think of this one? Or maybe this one? C'mon, tell me what you really think!"
Sakura turned the corner ans saw Ino torturing Shikamaru. Ino seemed to be trying on dresses and trying to get an opinion from Shikamaru.
"Hey, billboard-brow! What's up?", said Ino.
"Nothing Ino-Pig...", Sakura responded. It was silent for a moment and the two girls burst into laughter.
"Hey, why are you here by yourself?", Ino asked
"Oh, um, well...", Sakura just studdered.
"Well, you can come hang with us!"
With that, Ino bought her dresses/outfits and walked out the mall. She was holding hands with Shikamaru and smiling happily. Sakura had almost forgotten that they were a couple now.
"So guys...", Sakura started to speak, "How long has it been since you two were going out?", she asked.
"Well,", said Ino, "It's been about 2 weeks." , she smiled happily at Shikamaru.
"Yeah, I still remember when I asked you out Ino..."
Flashback (Yay!)
Chouji, Ino, and Shikamaru were worn out from training that day. They decided to go to Ichiraku's for some ramen to re-fuel their energy. Obviously, Chouji agreed and practically ran to the little restaurant. Since Chouji has chosen to run ahead, Ino and Shikamaru walked together in silence. This was really awkward for Shikamaru because he noticed that Ino wasn't talking up a storm. Heck, by now she should have been blabbing on about how she loved Sasuke so much and how handsome he was. Finally he spoke up,
"Okay, tell me, what's wrong?", Ino looked up at him. She gave him the it's-none-of-your-business-so-don't-bother-asking look. Shikamaru stopped Ino and firmly asked her what was wrong and why she was suddenly so quiet.
After standing in the same spot for about five minutes Ino finally spoke, "Well, it's just that, Sasuke turned me down on a date." He looked at her with a perplexed face.
"Hasn't he turned you down on like a billion dates already? "
"Yeah..."
"So tell me, why is this one so different from the last?"
"Well I don't know. For some reason I just feel that asking Sasuke out is a bad idea.", Ino said with depression in her voice. Shikamaru was still stumped. Ino was a member of the 'Sasuke Fan-Club' ever since he could remember. So why did she not want to be with him anymore?
"Also,", Ino continued, "Sasuke also seemed angry at me, at least more than usual. He told me that I should give up and I would never have a chance with him.", Shikamaru still wondered why she was so upset. I mean, she always got turned down by Sasuke. Right?
"So...", Shikamaru still didn't get it. (psh... dumb boys! J/k)
"So, I don't think I should chase him anymore. When he told me all that stuff, he had this weird look in his eyes and his voice was so cold towards me.", said Ino. Shikamaru seemed to understand now. After years of trying to get pestering Ino away from him, Sasuke had finally did it. Ino had finally realized that Sasuke's not interested. Shikamaru wanted to make Ino feel better. After all, she was his team mate and friend.
"Hey, how about we go to the park instead of Ichiraku's? I'm not really in a mood for ramen anyway..."
Ino just shook her head and they went off. The park was quiet and peaceful. No one was there except a happy couple. They were under a big shady tree having a picnic.(mini a/n: omg hurry guys! Eat you food before the ants do! EVIL ANTS!) The two went over to the swings and Ino sat down on one of them. Shikamaru just stood beside her. It was silent for a while until Shikamaru spoke up.
"Okay Ino, how about you be happy again?"
No respond.
sigh "Troublesome woman...will anything make you happy?"
STILL no respond.
Shikamaru was getting tired of Ino being all sad and depressed. This wasn't like her at all.
"Come one Ino, don't be so blue, I'm sure that you'll find someone who likes you just the way you are.", he said reassuringly.
"What makes you think that? Shikamaru, you and I both know that I'm so stuck up sometimes and I can be such bitch to everyone...Who the hell would anyone want to put up with that?", she was getting upset even more.
"Don't say that, I mean you have really good qualities too."
"Like what?"
"Well for starters, you're a great ninja, you're also pretty, smart, beautiful, funny- ", he was caught off by Ino's look. He realized that the blonde had started to blush.
"You really think that way about me Shikamaru?", He didn't know what to say. Even if he was just trying to make Ino feel better, he couldn't help but blush himself. Ino took his look the wrong way and thought he was lying to her about what he said.
"Hmpf! Like I said before, who would ever like a person like me?"
Studdering, Shikamaru finally said what he wanted to say, "I-Ino, I-I would l-like you...", he was blushing furiously and Ino's face was turning into a tomato.
"You-you really feel that way about me Shikamaru?", asked Ino
"Well, yeah, I mean I never had a chance to tell you with training and you obsessing over Sas-", he was cut off by Ino. She had ran up to him and buried her face in his chest. She was on the verge of crying but desperately held her tears back.
"Ino...", the boy couldn't find the right words to say. Instead he just hugged her back. Ever since that fateful (and lovely 3) day, the two were practically inseparable.
End Flashback
Ino and Shikamaru looked into each other's eyes. They were just gazing at each other and just standing there.
"Um, well if you two are busy, I think I'm going to go home now." The couple didn't even notice Sakura leaving. They were just too lost in each other's eyes. Sakura just sighed and thought if she'd find someone special in her life like that. (I know I do! lol)
She was walking home when she spotted Sasuke turning the corner at the end of the street. She started running up to him.
"Hey Sasuke! Hey Sasuke, wait up!", she yelled. Sasuke stopped and turned around to find Sakura running after him.
'Oh no,', he thought, 'what does she want now?', he just sighed and turned to face Sakura.
"Hi Sasuke, what's up?"
"Nothing Sakura, I just went to the market to buy groceries." Sakura looked at Sasuke's hand. He was holding a bag of groceries. Most of the items were tomatoes.
"Well, I'm just going to go home now.", with that the Uchiha turned around and walked away. Sakura, feeling a little disappointed also did the same.
She opened the door to her house to find her parents at the table, eating dinner without her.
"Thanks for waiting for me...", she said sarcastically.
"I'm sorry honey, I thought you'd be home late today."
"You know what, I'm not that hungry anyway.", with that, Sakura went upstairs into her bed room. She closed the door behind her and let out a heavy sigh. She wondered why Sasuke was always so cold and away from people. Especially her. The thought of this deeply saddened her. She plopped down on her bed and let out another sigh. Thinking of Sasuke, her eyelids grew heavy and she slowly drifted off to sleep...
End! (Of chapter one...)
