Author's Note: I was scrolling through my past stories and remembered how much I adored this one. I'm going to continue it after I edit all the existing chapters. I wrote this back in 2008! Wow!
Haha, if you're new here. Enjoy!
"It's alright, Ino." Sakura reassured her best friend, pressing a cool hand to her burning forehead.
"It's just a fever." She continued. Ino groaned. It definitely felt more than just a fever. She felt cold, so cold she was shivering slightly. She reached weakly toward her blanket and tried to cover herself. But Sakura snatched the blanket from her and tossed it effortlessly to the other side of the room.
"Using that will only make things worse. It's a temporal relief, that doesn't even make you better." Sakura muttered, placing a towel on Ino's forehead. The blond flinched and tried to turn away. Sakura held her head in place and wiped her sweat away. Ino groaned. She was so uncomfortable and her monster of a friend didn't seem to be doing anything to solve that. Sakura sat up and put on her jacket.
"I need to go to the hospital now, but I'll be back. Just try to sleep and get some rest alright?"
Ino didn't move a muscle. Her head was burning; her armpits, back and the back of her knees were on fire. Her feet felt cold, where was that blanket? Ino writhed. Who knew a fever could be this torturous. She felt too weak to move but she tried anyway. Removing the already hot towel from her head, she tried to throw it into the bowl of ice water. She aimed, but the towel knocked over the bowl and sent it crashing to the wooden floor, spilling all its contents. Ino moaned, reaching down.
She tumbled to the floor, landing on the puddle of water. The cool liquid seeped through her thin singlet and she sighed in relief. Ino's eyes fluttered shut and she drifted off to sleep.
Shikamaru scratched the back of his neck as he walked down the rows of doors looking for Ino's. She wasn't present for the lunch date the team had planned and Choji had an awesome time gulping down her share. Didn't she know it was rude to be late, much less absent? Shikamaru gripped the translucent bag and stuffed his free hand into his pocket. He had gone to buy her lunch; to replace the one Choji had eaten. He glared at the floorboards. This was so troublesome. He stopped in front of her door and paused to wonder if he should just leave it outside. Shikamaru rolled his eyes; if he just left it there someone else wouldn't just take it. Clearing his throat, he knocked.
There was no answer. Shikamaru frowned, knocking again, but harder.
"Ino." He called out, "It's me. Open up." He waited again but no one answered the door.
"I'm coming in!" He yelled. Grabbing the copper doorknob, he twisted it and forced it open, expecting it to be locked. But it wasn't, and he tripped as the door swung over forcefully. Shikamaru sighed. This was so annoying. The apartment was eerily quiet; he frowned, preparing himself to attack. His eyes darted from the kitchen to the bedroom when he froze. Ino lay motionless on the floor. Shikamaru sucked in a breath and ran into the room, tossing the food on a nearby table; he couched down next to his jutsu partner.
"Ino!" He growled, shaking her by her shoulders. "Get up! Ino!" She flopped and swayed and he shook her violently.
"Get up!" he roared. She didn't even flinch. Shikamaru felt himself panic. Slipping his arms under her, he heaved her onto her bed. She's burning, he noted. Her singlet was soaked through, at this rate she could get even worse. Shikamaru groaned. All he wanted was to give her lunch. But somehow, he was relieved he came. He rummaged through her closet, grabbing a random T-shirt. He clenched his fist, where was a girl when he actually needed one? Taking her singlet straps, he slipped her slender arms through them, careful not to expose her in any way. He pulled the fresh shirt over her and awkwardly slipped his rough hands beneath the cloth pulling the wet one off. He lifted her gently and removed the wet singlet.
"S-s…" She moaned. Shikamaru flushed, mentally slapping herself. What was she saying? He crumpled the singlet and put it on the table. Looking at the floor, he picked up the bowl and the towel. Walking to the kitchen he rinsed the both of them and added new ice water to the bowl. He cursed himself. He cursed himself for doing this, he cursed himself for feeling so comfortable in her apartment, and he cursed himself for not being here sooner. Shikamaru planted himself on the chair next to the bed and soaked the towel in the ice water.
"S-s..." She called, throat dry and coarse. Shikamaru wringed the towel and wiped her forehead, trying very hard not to blush. This was so troublesome. Why did he have to do this? That's because without her, he wouldn't have a jutsu partner. He knew that was a stupid excuse, but it was better than nothing.
"Sa… S-a…" She leaned towards the cool towel he placed on her forehead. Shikamaru stiffened. Sasuke? He clenched his fist, knuckles whitening. He should have known. Shikamaru felt the strong urge to walk out on her, right now. But his legs wouldn't budge. Instead, his hands kept working, trying his best to cool her down. He glared at her, watching her from where he sat. She lay, still on the bed. Occasionally, moving ever so slightly. He gently turned her over, he was no medic, but he certainly knew how to treat a fever. He ran the cool towel up her back and she flinched. His hand stopped moving and he examined her facial expression. She was uncomfortable, he realized. She was very uncomfortable.
"Sa-kura…" Ino groaned, catching Shikamaru by surprise. Sakura? Not Sasuke?
"It's Shikamaru." He muttered, flipping her over again. He gently wiped her face and neck, trying to bring her fever down. Why did he feel this way? Why was he annoyed when he thought she called Sasuke? Why was he so relieved when it was Sakura? He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. This was so troublesome. Putting a fresh towel on her head, he walked to the kitchen. It was already three in the afternoon and he bet that she hadn't anything to eat since morning. He rubbed the sides of his temples before opening the packet of food he brought her. It was her favourite, sweet and sour pork. But he knew she hardly ever ate this because of how fattening it was. That was why he went to the other side of Konoha to get her a salad too. He barely even knew why he bothered so much. He could be watching the clouds right now. But somehow he knew he'd rather be here than anywhere else.
He unpacked the sweet and sour pork, careful to separate the rice. It would be hard for her to chew now, he thought. Opening her kitchen cabinet, he pulled out a knife and started chopping violently at the pork. This was so annoying. What on earth was wrong with him? But there was one question he had to wreck his brains to answer. How do you make porridge?
Ino stirred, feeling a lot better than she had a few hours ago. She sniffed the air and her stomach growled. She was famished. There was a sweet aroma of sweet and sour pork in the air. That idiot Sakura! She knows how fattening that is. Maybe she wanted Ino to be fat so she'd look worse than her when Sasuke came back. Ino pursed her lips, flipping on her side. No way was she eating that!
Shikamaru looked into the pot of bubbling congee and felt extremely proud of himself. He put all his effort into a tray and walked to Ino's bedroom.
"You're up." He commented. Ino froze. Nope, that was definitely not Sakura. Maybe she went through another stage of puberty while she was asleep? Ino shook her head, no way.
"I made lunch. Well, not really. But it's still something." Shikamaru set the tray down on the table and sat on the bed. Ino's eyes widened, that voice, that tone. There was no mistake. She flipped around, and stared.
"Shikamaru?" She gasped. He raised an eyebrow, knowing so well he would have had the same reaction.
"Last time I checked, yeah." He replied, not looking at her. She continued to stare, her gaze drifted from his face to the bowl of porridge he was holding, and on to the dishes on the tray. She scrambled to sit up when she groaned and held her head.
"Easy." He warned, putting a pillow behind her back. She nodded slowly, still looking at him. She saw his ears turn red but he face remained composed.
"Here," he said, holding out a spoon of porridge with a bit of pork at the end. Ino hesitated but he never moved a muscle. She leaned forward slowly and ate off the spoon.
"It's nice," she chewed slowly. He half smiled.
"It also might be the reason you get sick again after this." He replied, scooping another spoon of porridge. She laughed, tilting her head. She looked at Shikamaru, her jutsu partner, her teammate. She never noticed how very handsome he was, the way his eyes focused on her, and, the way his mouth curled into a smile. Ino's heart skipped a tiny beat. He held up another spoon and she ate it gratefully.
"I got you some salad." He said, not looking at her. Ino stilled, salad? The salad bar was on the other side of Konoha. Had he really gone all the way just for her? Wasn't it too troublesome? So he knew she thought pork was too fattening and he tried to neutralize it with salad. She smiled suddenly. Shikamaru looked up at her, frowning. There was a gleam in her eye that unsettled him.
Ino leaned forward and took a chance. Her hand snaked up his chest to his right ear as she lightly brushed her lips against his. She felt Shikamaru stiffen and her heart sank. Maybe what he did today was just because she was a teammate. Disappointed, she pulled away slowly. Before she had time to think, she heard the bowl crash down on the tray and felt herself being pulled into a tight embrace while his hard lips collided with hers. Eyes wide with shock, she saw his eyes flutter close. The kiss was hot and urgent, like he was pouring his feeling into it. Shikamaru felt her smile against his lips as she kissed him back. It felt so right, like they were just meant to be. Shikamaru gently nudged her to lie down as he pulled away. His hands still wrapped around her tiny waist, as were her hands around his neck. He stared down at her for a moment, his eyes locked on hers. He bent down slowly and touched his lips gently to hers. Soft, she was so soft. Ino relaxed under his touch. This kiss was different from the previous one. It was soft and it was sweet. Shikamaru groaned softly against her lips.
Just like how a first kiss should be.
Sakura opened the front door and paused, raising her eyebrows when she saw the both of them, locked in a sweet embrace, lost in their own little world. She bit her lip and smiled.
"Looks like you're well taken care of." She laughed, closing the door behind her.
I'll edit the rest of the chapters as soon as possible. Hoping to finally finish this story, it's been six whole years.
Leave a review if you liked it! :^)