Done waiting

By

Naruto4life

Ino was lying on her back on the side of a flowery hill. She turned over on her stomach and breathed in the fresh scent of the small flowers. She picked a nice yellow one and twirled it in her fingers. She breathed out a sign; she was having some confusing problems lately. First Sasuke ran away and became a traitor; he was the only thing that connected her and Sakura. Ino missed having her pink haired friend but she was so stubborn that she ended their friendship because of Sasuke. Ino wanted to be Sakura's friend again but the only way they ever had any connection was fighting for Sasuke, so that's what she did. Since Sasuke was gone, that connection was lost and left Sakura in tears.

'Anyone would be sad if they lost a teammate' Ino thought to herself. She didn't know what she would do if she lost Shikamaru and Choji. This comes her second problem. When Sasuke left she concentrated on other things besides beating Sakura too him. She hung out more with her team and realized stuff she never did before because of Sasuke and Sakura's distraction. She never noticed how good Shikamaru was at making her laugh or the way he cheered her up. She realized that she did care about Shikamaru a lot, maybe even more then a lot. Her feelings for him grew stronger and Ino didn't know how to confront him about it.

So besides Sasuke leaving, and her sudden love for Shikamaru, there was one obstacle that kept her from confessing her feelings for Shikamaru, and her name was Temari. After the survival mission, she noticed that Shikamaru's thoughts were not on his normal complaining of how everything was troublesome, but he seemed to space out. She soon learned from Choji that his thoughts were on a certain sand ninja. At first Ino was shocked.

Ino had been friends with Shikamaru for a long time, and thought maybe Shikamaru might be having feelings for her the same way she did for him. When Shikamaru began taking trips to the Suna, she knew that Shikamaru's feelings weren't set on her. Now she lay there in the grass thinking about him. She once met Temari and she was just as bossy and stuck up as her, but Ino was a lot different from Temari.

Ino heard footsteps coming toward her. She felt someone sit down next to her. She looked up and it was the one and only troublesome ninja, Shikamaru. She Sat up and crossed her arms. "Hey Ino, why did you just run off when Temari showed up?" Ino just turned the faced the opposite direction. "Because I don't like her!" Shikamaru muttered something along the lines of trouble some women.

Ino glared at him. "Ino, I'm lazy not dumb. I think I know what's going on, but I want you to tell me" Ino just couldn't be mad at him and she uncrossed her arms. "Well it's just that…when Sasuke left…I didn't have Sakura to compete against…I just…just" She pulled her knees to her chest. "Noticed how much you met to me and I…I …think that…I-I love you" She said the last part in a whisper, but Shikamaru heard her.

"Ino I…" Ino glare at him. "Then you went off with that sand girl, and you left! You left me and Choji, you abandoned us!" Ino's eyes were filling up with hot tears that she wouldn't let fall. "I didn't abandon you, Ino" He said quietly. "Then why did you go after the sand girl when I was right here?" She tried hard but couldn't keep the tears back any more and they slid down her cheeks with a gentle sob.

"Ino, I knew you were there. You just didn't know I was there and I got tired of waiting" Ino looked up at him with her teary eyes. "You were too busy with Sasuke, so I found some one who noticed me when you weren't there. I waited for you for a long time! I never abandoned you" Ino knew what he meant and now felt guilty for getting mad him. How could she be so blind? He was always there? She jumped in to his arms crying harder. "Shikamaru, I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry" Shikamaru wrapped his arms around her.

Ino sobbed into his chest and Shikamaru watched her whole body shake. "Shika…I'm so blind" She said threw tears. "Ino, stop crying" Ino lifted her head and tried wiping away the tears with the back of her hand. Shikamaru cupped her face in his hands. "Ino, I know you're sorry, I'm sorry too but it's too late. It hurts to see you cry. Please don't cry any more" Ino held back more tears, but nodded. Shikamaru pulled her close into a hug.

They didn't even notice Temari watching them. Temari saw the whole thing. She liked Shikamaru; she didn't want to give him up. She looked at the two hugging. She felt a ting of pity and guilt, which she hardly ever felt for anybody. Temari was a ninja and wasn't one to give in to such emotions. In her family, no one really showed much emotion. Her brothers had found suitable girlfriends, even her bloodthirsty brother had, and she hasn't yet. Both her brothers had found love, and she thought she had it with Shikamaru. Looking at Ino and Shikamaru made her realize what real love was.

She had to let Shikamaru go, as much as she enjoyed seeing people suffer, this wasn't right. She walked up to the two hugging friends. Shikamaru noticed her and let Ino go, Ino go and turned around. Ino instantly moved over from Shikamaru. Temari looked down at them her face sad. "It's okay, Ino you need him more then I do" Shikamaru look at her then at Ino. Ino was just as surprised to her this and stood up. She wrapped her arms around Temari smiling. "Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Temari pried Ino off of her and gave the blonde girl a glare, Ino back up a bit. "Temari, are you sure you want to do that?" Ino shot her eyes at Shikamaru. "Well I saw you guys and you looked better off. So go be happy and whatever" Shikamaru gave her a smile. "That doesn't sound like the Temari I know, are you going soft?" Temari gave her a glare. "I was being nice for once and that's what you say!" Temari hit him over head with her fan and his face went straight into the ground. "Trouble…some" Both girls started laughing. Shikamaru stood up and signed. "Hey Guys I have to go!" she wave them a good bye and left.

Ino looked over at Shikamaru. "Shika-kun, are you done waiting?" Shikamaru grabbed her hand. "Yeah, thanks for noticing" Ino leaned on his arm enjoying him being with her. Shikamaru turned to her and put his hand on her cheek. "Ino, I love you" Ino smile as her blue eyes sparkled. "Never leave me again" Ino moved a hand around his neck. "I promise" Then he leaned toward Ino and kissed her lightly on her smooth lips. Ino returned it with a deep kiss.