"Perfect!" The blonde ninja shouted to no one in particular. She had been starring at the fairly large black splotch on her white sheets. She couldn't believe that she had been so clumsy as to spill ink, black ink! And on her sheets no less! She mentally slapped her forehead… well more like punched herself in the face she was so mad, but you get the idea.
"Ino dear, is everything alright? I heard you scream" Came the unmistakable voice of her mother.
Ino sighed. "Yeah Mom I'm fine, I just spilled some ink on my sheets" She paused for a moment then added "I guess I'll go stick them in the wa-"
"Aw Damn it!!" someone yelled, it sounded like her father. She rushed out of her room and down the stairs to find her parents arguing in the family room.
"Um… everything okay here?" She asked innocently. "I heard you yell Daddy".
"Well.." Her father started "The washer just crapped out".
"Of course it did" Ino inaudibly mumbled under her breath.
"Ino, you could always run down to the academy and use the washing machine there" Her mother suggested kindly.
"Alright" She huffed. Then she rushed back to her room to take the sheets off of her bed. After she accomplished this she left her house and started walking towards the academy.
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The walk was quiet, but she didn't mind. Silence let her mind wander aimlessly, well until she ran into something of course. Once she entered the academy, she started searching for the schools washing machine.
She found it pretty easily. After she checked to make sure it was empty, she tossed her sheets in with a little bit of detergent, and started the cycle.
It was done within a few minutes {I know it usually takes like 20 minutes, but please ignore that fact} She retrieved the sheets and then tossed them into the dryer.
The thumping of the dryer sounded something like a beat to a song she had heard not too long ago. She started humming, which was soon followed with muffled singing. Then she started the song over again and sung loudly.
You wake up its raining and its Monday
looks like one of those rough days
times up your late again so get out the door
She picked up a discarded paintbrush from a workbench and used it like a microphone. While singing she was unaware of the other presence that entered the room.
sometimes you feel like running
find a whole new life and jump in
let go get up and hit the dance floor
The teen watching her began to smirk as she started dancing. And it wasn't good dancing either. It was the kind of dancing you do when your alone, in your room, and the music is up too loud.
when the lights go down its the ending of the show
and your feeling like you've got nowhere to go
don't you know
He had heard this song before and knew that the chorus was coming up. Which he knew, had many difficult notes to hit. But besides that he could hardly believe that she could sing this well. She actually sounded better than the original singer. But he still couldn't get over her dancing, and the paintbrush she was singing into, it was hysterical.
you can change your hair. you can change clothes
you can change your mind , that's just the way it goes
you can say goodbye and you can say hello
but you'll always find your way back home
He was amazed, she was singing it perfectly! He held back laughter because the louder she sung the crazier her so called 'dancing' got. And it had to be extremely funny to make him laugh.
you can change your style you can change your jeans
you can learn to fly and you chase your dreams
you can laugh and cry but everybody knows
you'll always find your way back-
"Ahh!" She screamed as she realized the presence of her lazy teammate. "Sh-Shikamaru! Don't do that!!" She yelled as a deep blush spread to her cheeks. Shikamaru stood in the doorway looking slightly confused, but then a small smile played on his lips.
Then he fell into a fit of giggles, which quickly took the form of all out laughter. After a minute or so he started to hold his side.
"You..*giggle* should have *deep breath* have seen..yourself..DANCING!!" He somewhat managed to say between giggles and gasps. But just then they heard faint voices. "It sounded like Shikamaru" one said "It came from over there!" Another stated.
Then the seven other 'rookie ninja' entered the room, followed by Rock Lee and Asuma. They walked in only to witness Shikamaru, their lazy ass teammate, fall to his knees in laughter.
At first they all looked as taken aback as ino was, but Asuma just smiled and put a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder, signaling him to calm down. Another minute went by and Shikamaru's laughter slowly died down. He wiped a tear from his eye then sighed.
He looked around the small and crowded room only to find everyone looking at him.
"What the hell was that?!" Naruto demanded. And you could hear a faint "Idiot" by Sakura.
Shikamaru smirked. "What? Am I not allowed to laugh anymore?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes and huffed under his breath "well it's not like you've ever laughed before.."
A few people sighed, than they started filing out of the room. Left were a confused Choji, a giggling Shika, an even more bewildered Ino and a broadly smiling Asuma. Choji and Asuma watched as Shikamaru walked up to Ino.
He reached up and gently patted her head while smiling softly. Thanks he whispered to her. Then he left the room followed by Asuma.
"Wow" Choji said while stuffing chips into his mouth. Ino, who was blushing madly simply said "Shut up Choji", as she took her sheets out of the dryer.
Meanwhile In the Hallway
"Jeez Shikamaru, what was that all about?" asked a chuckling Asuma.
"What?" Shika replied innocently, "Do you know what I'd do..meaning put forth effort.. for a girl who can make me laugh?" He said while blushing lightly. He looked to the floor, smiled softly then left.
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A light breeze ruffled her blonde hair as she watched the first night star appear in the sky. Yes, this was her hobby, stargazing. She loved the cool, crisp night air, the silence and the crickets' song.
It was simple, she did it all the time. On that grassy hill. In the shade of that tree. Under that starry sky. Her mother hated her coming here though, because sometimes she would fall asleep, she doesn't mean too, it just happens. Come to think of it, I am kind of tired, and my eyelids are just so heavy. I could just…rest …for a.. while… She was sound asleep within seconds. After some time she felt something warm grasp her arm.
"Hey Ino, Ino come on wake up. You shouldn't sleep out here you'll catch a cold." Shikamaru stated knowingly. She slowly opened her eyes, to find Shikamaru's face a mere inches away from her own. She blushed a deep red and pushed him away. She sat up and yawned.
"What time is it Shika?" Ino asked as she yawned again.
"I don't know, maybe around ten." He said back. "You should get home soon" then he added "Your Dads worried sick about you"
She looked at him oddly. "Wait, Shika you said it was only ten"
"Yeah I lied" he said way too calmly. "It's actually around one thirty"
"What?! I've got to get home!" She said as she tried to stand up, and failed. She was way too tired.
"Calm down" He said. "That's the reason I'm here" She looked at him suspiciously. "What do I have to explain everything?" He asked exasperated.
"Well…Yeah" She said, smiling slightly.
"Well your Father called my father and he asked me to find you"
"Oh..well thanks, I guess" She said shyly. The silence between them was very awkward and uncomfortable. Probably from the incident in the academy's laundry room the day before.{remember it's 1 o'clock now so it's tomorrow}
"Sorry for laughing at you earlier" Shikamaru said calmly. Though he was freaking out inside, he felt so uncomfortable.
"Heh, no problem, I'm just glad that I could make you laugh" She paused "I guess my singings worse than I thought" She blushed lightly and smiled at him.
"Naa, it wasn't your singing. You're actually a pretty good singer." He said while counting the stars in his head.{Yup he can multitask} "It was the-"
"The dancing" She cut in.
"Heh, yeah… it was pretty awful" He said as he chuckled lightly. "Sorry if I embarrassed you, I didn't mean to"
"It's alright, anyway…You look cute when you laugh…" She said. She hadn't noticed that she said the last bit out loud, Shikamaru noticed though. His eyes widened slightly as he looked over towards her. She felt his eyes on her so she turned to find him starring at her.
"What?" She asked somewhat rudely.
"You just, you called me..umm.." He blushed. Did she mean to say that? Was she kidding? ….I hope she wasn't.. Wait what?!
She looked at him curiously. She had never heard Shikamaru stutter like that. "Shika, your making no sense" She said. Ino wanted to know why he was looking at her like that, it made her feel uneasy.
"Well you..Ugh!" He said as he put his head in his hands. She had never seen him like this before. "Okay let's just calm down" He said out loud even though he was the only one freaking out.
"Alright" Ino said calmly "What did I do again?" She asked honestly.
"Well.." He said uncomfortably as a light blush appeared on his cheeks. "You told me that I look cute when I laugh"
She started blushing like crazy. I didn't say that out loud did I? Oh crap! I think I did! Gosh I bet he's questioning my sanity right now! "Umm..So? What's your point?" She asked nervously. She then mentally cursed. How could she say something so dumb? Well she sure didn't know.
"Umm.. Anything else you want to tell me then?" he asked. Part of him wanted to know but the other part of him didn't.
"Of course not" She stated. He was starting to get fed up. He knew she liked him, actually he had known for a while. And honestly he liked her too, but he could never tell her that so he needed to wait for her to say it first.
"Liar" He said stubbornly.
"What?! I am not!" She argued back.
"Well then tell me the truth" He said coldly.
"Well what do you want me to say? Huh?" She asked. "Th-that your cute when you laugh, or that I'm in love with that laid-back attitude you have, o-or that I nearly faint every time I see you without a shirt on?"
"What?! You-you really think that about me?" He asked astonished.
"Well…yea, I guess I do" She said as she got up and started walking away. She didn't want him to see how much she was blushing.
"Wait!" He yelled as he grabbed her wrist. And pulled her closer to him.
"Wha-" She was cut off by his lips melding onto hers. It was a quick, simple little kiss which didn't last nearly long enough. He rested his forehead on hers while he held her.
"So, what's the second verse to that song?" She knew what he meant and she started singing slowly and softly.
your best friends your little home town
waiting up where ever you go now
you know that you can always turn around
cuz' this world is big and its crazy
and this girl is thinking that maybe
that this life is what some people dream about
cuz' when I'm feeling down
and I'm all alone
I've always got a place where I can go
cuz' I know
you can change your hair. you can change clothes
you can change your mind , that's just the way it goes
you can say goodbye and you can say hello
but you'll always find your way back home
you can change your style you can change your jeans
you can learn to fly and you chase your dreams
you can laugh and cry but everybody knows
you'll always find your way back home
and they know exactly who you are
where the real you is a superstar
you know it's never too far away
you can change your hair. you can change clothes
you can change your mind , that's just the way it goes
you can say goodbye and you can say hello
but you'll always find your way back home
you can change your hair. you can change clothes
you can change your mind , that's just the way it goes
you can say goodbye and you can say hello
but you'll always find your way back home
you can change your style you can change your jeans
you can learn to fly and you chase your dreams
you can laugh and cry but everybody knows
you'll always find your way back home
you'll always find your way back home
you'll always find your way back home
you'll always find your way back home
you'll always find your way back home
She kissed him gently on the lips as she sung the last line, "You'll always find your way back home"
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About twenty minutes later…
"Shika! Carry me home! I'm tired!" Ino pestered. Shikamaru picked her up bridal style and sighed.
"Damn troublesome woman" He mumbled. She snuggled into his chest and said.
"I love you too Shika"
"Yeah whatever" He said as he smiled. "Ino give me a kiss"
She sighed, "Troublesome" she mumbled, than she poked her head up and kissed him gently. He laughed. Yea he definitely loved her.