Midori Fields

by D'unforgiven Assassin

There was no teacher around and the whole class was in major chaos. Summer was already nearing but Ino couldn't understand why it was so cold.

She looked outside the window and she saw the athletes starting their practices for the upcoming Summer Sports Festival to be held in Suna.

She had been blankly staring at the dark-haired boy sitting on the bench who also glared at her the moment she looked at him. To avoid being embarrassed, she just stood up and transferred to another corner, leaving the boy looking at the now empty seat.

Now, she was sitting by the door, thinking why she was so stupid. "Damn it! Damn it! That was Uchiha Sasuke, why did I look at him like that?!" she thought to herself.

Suddenly, the door opened and two tall boys entered the room. "Okay 4-C, tone down your voices, Asuma-sensei will be arriving any moment." the boy wearing eyeglasses announced. Ino's eyes widened as she noticed that it was Sasuke standing behind the four-eyed-freak, Kabuto.

She tried to hide herself from him by covering her face with a book. But, there was no escape, she felt a hand grab her arm and immediately pulled her out of her seat.

The class didn't even know what had happened since they were busy doing other stuff, but one pineapple-haired guy did.

As the two walked along the corridors, they stayed silent. The blonde-haired girl was stunned when they stopped walking and Sasuke punched, with his bare fist, the glass-covered bulletin board.

Tears fell from her eyes while blood dripped from his right hand. "Why?" he asked softly. Then he turned around and ran away, leaving the shocked girl alone, with the broken glass pieces on the ground and droplets of blood.

She sat in one corner, hugged her knees and leaned her head on the wall.

It had been an hour now, but no Asuma-sensei came, no one noticed her there, not until the bell rang for dismissal.

Shikamaru rushed her to the school clinic but then it was already closed. He never dared follow them when he saw Sasuke pull her out of the classroom; it wasn't his 'stuff'. He knew that the two still had some unfinished business even though Ino was now his girlfriend.

--

Ino slowly opened her eyes and saw herself lying on the bench. Shikamaru was sitting under the tree in front of her. "So you're awake." he mumbled. "Yeah, thanks." she smiled at him. He smirked back. "A-about Sasuke, what happened to him?" she asked. "Dunno." he answered lazily. He never cared about him anyway.

Shikamaru walked her home. It was a day she could never forget. By the time she took a bath, and looked at herself in the mirror, the scene played again. She could see him punching the bulletin board again, blood dripping from his hands. "Why couldn't he forget about it…forget about 'us'?" she thought.

She lay on her bed and covered herself with the blanket…she thought of that pink-haired girl who was smiling every time Ino said the name 'Sasuke'.

"You know, it's the first time I've seen Sasuke this happy, Ino-chan. I guess I wasn't just good enough for him. Before I leave, I want to thank you. I hope when I come back, I would still see you with him; I would still see him smiling. Promise me." she said those words seriously. Ino smiled. "I promise." then the blonde-haired girl passed out.

It was a broken promise. They were no longer together. He never smiled. He was always alone. "I'm sorry I broke my promise, Sakura…" she mumbled in her sleep.

--

The next few weeks Ino didn't hear much about Sasuke. She decided to ask some of his friends because she was worried and was also curious about what happened to him after that event. Along her way to the football field, she encountered Kiba who was in a hurry. "Inuzuka-san!" she called out. Kiba turned his head to her and took a deep breath. "Ah, Yamanaka-san…" he gave her a sinister look. "Why are you here? Captain and you had gone 'bye bye' right?" he asked. Ino looked down, "How is he?" she asked softly. "Why don't you ask him that? Go Yamanaka-san! Fighting!" he yelled and ran away.

Ino turned around hopelessly and was surprised to see Sasuke standing inches away from her, half naked. She walked passed him silently. "Why did you come here?" he asked. "It's none of your business." she replied nonchalantly.

Gai-sensei appeared into action breaking the heating conversation between Sasuke and Ino. "Ah, it's really rare for me to see a couple dating beside the football field. By the way Uchiha-san, are you ready for tomorrow?" Gai-sensei asked.

Ino's eyes widened. "Tomorrow? What's happening tomorrow?" she thought to herself.

Sasuke smirked and answered, "I have been waiting for this moment Gai-sensei."

Ino bowed before them and left. "What's going on? What's happening tomorrow?" she thought while walking along the corridors.

--

The next morning, Ino was surprised to see almost half of the students in school standing in front of the school gates. "Why is everybody here?" she asked Shikamaru who was standing beside her. "The athletes are going to have a training camp in the Tea Country. They're leaving today and I guess everybody is here to show their support." he answered and looked at her. She turned to him. "What?" she asked innocently. He smiled at her. "Nothing." he looked down with sad eyes.

Fan girls were everywhere and so were the teachers. "Sasuke-sama, good luck!" the fan girls yelled. Sasuke didn't even look at them from the window. Naruto punched him lightly on the shoulder and he turned to him. The fox-boy pointed at the girls outside holding banners. Sasuke looked at them with his sharp eyes and they all giggled and screamed.

The bus began to move and everybody was waving goodbye to the athletes. Ino also stood with the crowd, thinking of such impossible things. "What if he goes out of the bus, runs to me and tells me he still loves me?" she thought. Suddenly, the bus stopped and one athlete came down from the bus running. "Oh my gosh, Sasuke!" Ino exclaimed and immediately covered her mouth. "He's heading this way! My heart's beating too fast!" she felt that her body was totally paralyzed. He was already getting near when an orange-haired girl blocked her view. "Sasuke-kun, I knew you couldn't leave without this." she handed him his mp3. "Thanks, Yakumo-san." he said and left. All Sasuke's fan girls glared at Yakumo. Ino's heart sank, she wanted to faint. "I never knew…they're close." she thought.

A week had already passed and Ino still couldn't get over Sasuke. She was in her mind every second.

--

One peaceful afternoon, Shikamaru invited Ino for ice cream after school.

"What's the occasion?" she asked taking a teaspoon of her vanilla ice cream. "Nothing, I just want to see you." he said and smiled at her. "What? Have you gone mad Shikamaru?" she asked and laughed. "Yes." he answered seriously. "I'm going insane a million times a day." he added. "Why?" she asked in a now delicate manner. "Because…because I know you still love him." he answered. "Shikamaru…" she held his hand. "Let's end here, Ino." he mumbled. "What's wrong with you Shikamaru? I can't talk to you if you're like that!" she stood up and ran away. "I-Ino!" he exclaimed.

--

On the other hand, Sasuke and his team just finished practicing together with the soccer players from Choza Gakuen, a school in Tea Country.

While on their way to the bus, he saw a familiar person who was running towards his direction. "S-sakura?" he thought to himself. "Sasuke-kun, I never expected to see you around!" she yelled waving her hand. His friends turned to see the pink-haired girl. "It's Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted and gave her a friendly hug. "Hey, watch it." she said and poked his forehead. "Ow ow ow! I was just hugging!" he mumbled with puppy eyes. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Long time no see." Sasuke muttered. "You're same as always Sasuke-kun. How's it going with Ino-chan?" she asked. Sasuke looked down while the other athletes looked at each other. "S-sakura-chan…uh…you know…Sasuke-teme and Yamanaka have been well. Same as always, they go home together, they eat lunch to-OUCH!" he exclaimed when Sasuke punched his face.

"Shut up." he mumbled.

"You broke up huh?" she asked.

Sasuke didn't reply.

"Tell me everything." she took a grip on his wrist.

"Why would I?" he asked and shook her hand away.

He went inside the bus, leaving Sakura standing there.

"She broke her promise…" she thought within herself.

--

Ino was trying to fix her phone while walking along the corridors when she heard big news.

"At last, I'm going to see Sasuke-sama again!" a random fan girl said.

"Yeah, training camp is almost over and they'll be home by next week!" another one said.

Ino's mouth dropped and her phone fell from her hand. "Ohmigosh! Now I'm gonna start all over again! Sheesh…" she muttered and picked it up.

--

Today is the day the athletes will be attending class again. Monday though was their rest day, so today's Tuesday. The bell had just rang for lunch break and the students got out of their rooms and headed for the cafeteria.

Ino didn't want to eat lunch so she decided to go to the field. While on her way, she thought again of the past. She looked at the field, she saw herself playing. It was way back when she was in her junior years. Then, still in her mind, she saw Sasuke, playing soccer with her. "Hey, captain!" she remembered him calling her. "What's up, coach?" she replied. They both played together, not until Sakura arrived.

Ino sat on the bleachers when she reached the grandstand. "That time too…" she thought. "Sasuke broke up with Sakura and confessed his love for me." She covered her face with both hands. "Damn, I can't cry…" she thought to herself for a second. Then she began to sob.

"Hey, captain." he heard a boy's voice. She didn't want to know who it was. Someone tapped her shoulder and that made her look at the person.

"Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru smiled. "Reminiscing the past eh?" he asked. "Yeah, I can't still get over it." she replied and smiled. Shikamaru sat beside her, "I know."

She leaned on him. "It's not okay with you." she said and looked at him in they eyes. He smiled at her again. "Then, could we just be friends instead of lovers?" he asked. "Hey, you'll get mad at me!" she exclaimed. "Nope. I'm not going to be mad at you. I promised you before, remember? I'm going to make you happy no matter what…even if it means letting you go." His face looked sad. She knew he didn't want to say that. "You still love Sasuke don't you?" he asked her. "I…I don't know." she muttered. "C'mon! I know you still do!" he pinched her cheek.

"What do we have here? Love birds?" a voice from behind asked. "Uzumaki!" Ino exclaimed. "Hey, this isn't lovers' park guys. The bell just rang ya know." he informed. "Then why are you still here?" Shikamaru asked. "I hate to attend Kakashi-sensei's class. He's boring!" he said and ran away. "Let's go!" Ino pulled Shikamaru.

TBC

My third fic. Please read and review. Arigato! Chapter 2 will be up soon!