Note: Thank you so much for thew reviews!
Sorry, i really like dialogues...;_; And my chapters are pretty short, I guess?
"I knew that voice, yeah. It was you." Said the blonde man, chuckling to himself. "Well well, flower lady. Fancy meeting you here, neighbour."
Ino didn't hesitate to let out a look of disbelief.
"The gardening tools are nice with big sculptures."
No.
"Ew, you really do like that ugly shade of violet. Or is that purple? I can't see very well."
This was not happening.
Meat sizzled on the pan infront of them.
"He's so fucking annoying!" complained Ino to her two childhood friends- Shikamaru and Chouji. Both of them just sighed and listened to her ramble about her neighbour for what it felt like forever.
She gritted her teeth and flipped the meat in such an aggressive manner that Chouji gasped and slapped her hand. "Don't treat food like that!" He argued. It's true though; no one should treat food that way.
Ino calmed down and apologized.
"Sorry," she muttered. "It's just that...I don't know, should I report him to the police?"
Shikamaru opened the window and sat down, shaking his head.
"Don't. First, the landlord has to know about this. Second, there has to be a lot of you that send them a letter. Does he even know the appartment rules?"
"Maybe he does the noise by accident, like how he threw something out of the window?" added Chouji while placing one of the cooked meat on his plate.
Ino rolled her eyes. "I don't think that he does them by accident. It happens every now and then, that's too much!"
This wasn't good. It's only been two days since she met him, and he's already plaguing her life- in a bad way. Like a chewed gum that got stuck under your shoe and you can't get it off. And even if you did manage to take it off, there's still going to be a thin layer that stays.
Once the meat were well cooked, they all started to eat. She let the subject aside and asked Chouji about his stay at Korea with his girlfriend.
"Speaking of Karui," she swallowed the meat and rice that was in her mouth. "Why didn't she want to come?"
"She's tired..." Chouji trailed off and tried to avoid the subject. "Anyway, this meat's delicious! I missed Japanese meat!"
Shikamaru lifted an eyebrow at his unusual behaviour.
"Chouji," said Ino and Shikamaru in usion along with a deadpan expression. "Spit it."
The chubby friend gulped. "No, really, She's-"
"Spit. It."
He sighed and Ino frowned- but that quickly disappeared after she heard him say:
"I'm going to become a father?" laughed Chouji nervously.
"What?!" Both Ino and Shikamaru shouted at the same time.
The blonde proceeded to ask hundreds of questions that aimed at her childhood friend. Shikamaru only stared, still shocked. They already had friends who were expecting their children quite soon or in a few months. Some who can't bear children- not because of infertility, but because, well, some of their friends were either gay, lesbian or ace- were also already planning to adopt sometime in the future. Even Shikamaru thought things were going way too fast; he originally didn't plan on having kids with his current girlfriend, but he did love her and wanted one perhaps later. But now, they were only in their mid-twenties. And now, his best friend is going to become a father? Wow. Just, wow. He was happy for him though, somewhere in his shocked state.
Chouji didn't even had a time to talk when Ino just suddenly beamed in the middle of her questions. That slightly annoyed him, but he isn't the type to get angry- unless he's called the f word.
"Oh my god, Chouji! Can I be the fairy god mother?" She squealed and took his hand into hers. "I'll give your baby the best baby shower! Oh my god, I'm so excited. Have you guys found a name yet? What about the marriage? Want me to help? Shikamaru, let's help him!"
And there she goes again, bombarding him with questions, while his girlfriend is sound asleep on bed back at their place. Ino's shock quickly faded away into excitement.
Bang!
All three stopped what they were doing and looked at eachother before their eyes adverted to the wall in Ino's bedroom, wheras the door was open. Ino gritted her teeth. That was unmistakenly the infamous neighbour.
"God, fucking damn it!" came the voice behind said wall. The boys just looked at eachother and then at their female friend, who in return smiled darkly at them while the banging and objects clashing continued.
She stood up, letting go of Chouji's hands and turning towards the balcony. "Wait right here, I'll tell him to stop."
"Ino," Shikamaru started. "Leave him be. Let's just eat dinner." But the blonde just ignored him and Chouji who menaced that he'll be taking her half of the meat and knocked on the balcony wall that separated them, and tip-toed to look at what the hell he's doing.
He was clearly throwing what it looked like hardened clay on the floor and on the wall; instruments for sculpting- along with the gardening tools and even kitchen tools- scattered on the floor. Paint tools along with incomplete canvases lying around. His bedroom, she assumed as she saw a bed further away, was a mess. The door was open and she could faintly see his living room was the same; objects scattered around, tons of energy drinks and take away foodbags. There were also a lot of cigarette butts on a- is that the outside ashtrays they have at restaurants? The big long ones meant for outside for public use. Did he steal that? ... Well, at the very least, he threw them in ashtrays instead of the floor or throwing them outside the balcony.
His back was turned from her, but she could still see that his clothes were dirty from paint, clay powder and the likes. Then it just occured to her that he really was an artist. A slight empathy washed on her as she realized that he was, probably, having an artist's block. She knew how that felt, when she had to do ikebana for clients or for her personal use. She glanced at the unfinished flower arrangement in her room; it was too late though, as the flowers were slowly withering. Her eyes looked at her neighbour once again.
And this time, he opened the door from his balcony and lit up a cigarette. His hands were white from clay and he breathed in quite long before breathing the smoke out. He gritted his teeth and looked at the night sky.
"Fuckin' hell," he blurted out after a few seconds of silence, "ugh." He breathed out smoke and noticed his little neighbour's platinum blonde hair peeking out of the wall that separated them. He furrowed his brows.
Ino blinked when their eyes met.
"What the hell are you doing?" he spat out rudely- and Ino frowned. Okay, she takes the empathy back.
"Could you keep it down?" she tried to ask as politely as possible and was replied with a simple grunt.
"You know, if you continue like this, I'm going to tell the landlord," she couldn't help herself- she can't stop now, "and you'll be thrown out. You keep making noises everyday and it's becoming tiring. I don't know how or why but-"
"Did anyone tell you that you talk too much, yeah?" he let out a dry laugh and puffed smoke again, his back leaning against the window and smirked at her as he exhaled, smoke blurring their view for a brief moment.
Okay, that's it. Ino felt her face getting hot from anger and before she could yell at him, she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to look at who it was; Shikamaru's, and Chouji was just behind him. The black haired boy shook his head and mouthed a 'no'.
Since when did she obey, anyway?
She shook off his hand and proceeded to yell at him.
"Listen here you imbecile, you don't even know the appartment rules. You cannot make noises after a certain hour and throw shit at the wall- it's fucking annoying, especially at night. If you thought you're lucky because you think I won't do shit and just have a big mouth, you're wr-"
"Oh, wow," he whistled. "A big mouth? That's nice to know for next time." He winked, inwardly laughing at her throwing fit.
"Ugh! I'm going to beat the shit out of you!" She even prepared to jump over, but was held back by her two friends.
"Ino, stop! He's doing it on purpose!" said Shikamaru placing Ino on Chouji's arms as the latter held her tight so that she wouldn't go on a rampage again. All they heard is the laugh from the darker blond.
"Oh yeah, your name is Ino, right? It's the same kanji as boar, yeah? Suits you well. Kudos to your parents."
"Oh my god, Chouji, let go of me, right now. I have to punch him. Let go of me, now!"
Their larger friend didn't know what to do so he just tighten his grip and let out a nervous laugh, "Sorry, but Shikamaru's got a point, he's doing it on purpose and you shouldn't play his games."
"Wow, Chouji? Shikamaru? Wait, wait. Are the kanji's somewhere around Butterfly and dear? Wow, such girly names for guys. And then there's boar-chan, hahaha, wow. This should be some comedic trio."
There was silence for a few seconds before Ino started yelling again.
"You stupid little...little...shit...drag queen!"
That must have hit a soft spot because her neighbour just ran next to the wall and the balcony, glowering at her as he had one foot on the boarder and was practically standing on it, ready to leap on to her side.
"I am not a drag queen, yeah! You fucking take that back!"
"Well, you look like one, wearing your hair up like that and- oh my, is that eyeliner? Wow, you are a drag queen! And you apply it so bad, oops, are you training to be one? So, when's the contouring and the lipstick? Want me to help you put on some fake lashes?" She teased again, grinning from ear to ear even if she was practically boiling with anger at the moment. She honestly didn't mind drag queens or drag kings. For her it was some sort of self art and she liked it.
The man fumed and threw the cigarette out the balcony- he couldn't come up with a comeback and that was frustrating him. Shikamaru only stood between them and turned to look at the darker blond.
"Sorry for this mess, she has a bad habit of insulting," started Shikamaru, waving his hands to Chouji for them to go inside. The latter obeyed and carried Ino. "Let's continue eating, Ino, let Shikamaru hande this."
Deidara looked at the two men then back at Ino retreating, albeit against her will as she was trying to pry herself off her friend, and a grin creeped up her face.
"Oh, okay I get it. Sorry, my bad. I interrupted your threesome, yeah?" He snickered at her. "Well, you can go and fuck now, I won't butt in." He jumped down and laughed at her shouting insults and went back inside his room- but before that, he shouted;
"Oink!"
And Ino screamed in frustration.
It's been seven days since the incident with Shikamaru, Chouji and her neighbour- that she hasn't got a clue what his name is. Ever since then, the latter and her have been fighting on walls; him making noises, god knows why, and her banging on the wall for him to stop. And it did stop- for a few minutes, then the noises came back.
On the fourth night, she had sent a letter to the landlord and still no reply.
Ino let out a frustrated sigh, arranging the flowers for a client that had asked for their tea ceremony; Then started over again, for the third time.
She wasn't concentrated enough and that frustrated her even more than a certain blond. Even both of her childhood friends where annoyed by the guy, but they quickly brushed it off, told her that he was just a stupid asshole who tried to get attention, and that she shouldn't swim with him because that's what he wanted. Too bad for them, she isn't someone who backs down easily on these kind of situation.
The Yamanaka daughter finished her piece, looking at the time and realizing that the client will come by any minute picking it up and how the shop was closing. She wrapped the beautiful ikebana she had just made; one white orchid that sprouted into 3 branches in a long brown bowl with dirt and stones, and she placed three green spider mums and three white spider mums that made it look like fireworks. She even added cherry blossom petals around it. That was the theme the client had asked: simple, white, green and japanese. Carefully putting a pink ribbon after she wrapped the flower art, she wrote the name of the client before putting it on the reserved shelf.
"Wow, this is so pretty," came the voice of her mother behind her and smiled. "You're becoming more and more artistic everyday, I'm proud of you."
Ino thanked her mother, and glanced at her work. She was proud of it, she always were with her works. But this time, something went off. Proud but doubtful, perhaps? She knew the reason why, though. She wasn't concentrated, her heart wasn't mixed with love as usual, thus resulting to what she feared: bland. She felt that the ikebana she had spent hours on was bland. It stung inside, but she shook it off and went to the client who had just entered.
"Welcome, TenTen!" exclaimed Ino smiling at a brown haired client- no, friend- who had two buns in her hair.
"Hey!" replied TenTen. "I hope my order wasn't too much of a trouble!" She clasped her hands together and lifted them up infront of her and closed an eye, as if apologizing nervously. "Of course not, nothing's hard for me!" Ino laughed and took it from the shelf to show it to her, in which the latter beamed.
"Woah! This is so pretty, as always, you're the best, Ino!" She took the art in her hands. "Thank you so much! I was afraid that you'd have a hard time for the theme I gave you...You know, making the tea ceremony at Neji's place is so nerve-wrecking...His family, like, watches every detail that I do and put!"
"I know," Ino signed the receipt before giving it to her. "His family is putting a pressure on you...I mean, they are the Hyuuga clan, everything needs to be perfect for them!"
"I know!" TenTen sighed. "Why did I even agree to go out with him? Now I have to bear making tea ceremonies once per month. Help me, save me, Ino!"
The blonde laughed. They talked for about half an hour about TenTen's misadventures with the Hyuuga family, and how she wasn't aloud to be in Neji's room and the like. They joked about her boyfriend being the princess and her being the prince from another land that has to be in arranged marriage but they can't do anything before. In which, Ino teased her if she had already did it- and she just blushed and said that she had to leave.
Closing the shop and saying their goodbyes, her eyes wandered at the cherry blossom tree in their garden. She lingered infront of it for a moment, recalling memories of a certain pink haired girl. A small smile crept up her face and started to walk back home. She was too tired to go to her parents' house, so she took out her iPhone and sent them a message. She looked up at the sky after- it was pretty, she thought. She loved the sky when the sun was setting with pretty colours dancing in the great big canvas. If she were to control the sky, she would paint it different, bright colours everyday.
Upon arriving the building, she opened her mailbox to see a pink letter, and she instantly knew who this came from. Quickly opening it, she decided to take the lift to silently read the letter.
Dear Ino-Pig,
How are you? I can't believe that I'm actually writing a letter when I can just contact you by phone or whatever. But I found this cute stationary and I wanted to use it. So shut up about it, okay?
Anyway.
I miss you. Okinawa is a nice place to live in, though! You should come visit us here- the beaches are nice. The guys are nice too. It's time you find yourself a new boyfriend! And our neighbour is totally your type.
"Well, mine's not," Ino scoffed to herself and continued to read the letter.
My eyes have been washed by these hot guys- but my heart only belongs to Sasuke! Don't get me wrong, okay? Okay, okay I need to stop getting side-tracked. The paper's finishing!
"Idiot," Ino snorted.
We will be back there to announce something next month, so I hope you're available. Well, let me re-write that: you have to be available. It's important, okay? I can't wait to see your pretty flowers.
Take care, Ino-pig.
With lots of love, Sakura.
PS: Sasuke says hi (not really, but, whatever)
When the elevator opened, she laughed and folded the letter and back in her bag before walking out and searching for her keys.
Sakura was, is, her girl-best friend. Rival, perhaps? She remembered that they both had the same crush; Sasuke, as teenagers. In all honesty, it still hurt somewhere deep inside her. The day when Ino found out that Sakura had the same feelings- she forced her own closed so that they wouldn't fight. She honestly gave her everything to keep their friendship together, and listened to the pink haired girl talk dreamily about the same boy they had a crush on. When Ino was feeling down because of it, she talked to Chouji and Shikamaru about her crush on Sasuke. And that was so wrong. Shikamaru had accidentally blurted it out one day during recess at Sakura, who was fawning over the Uchiha.
Sakura had called Ino out, and broke their friendship. That was when it started to hurt in her. She didn't blame Shikamaru though, because she blamed herself for not being too honest with her. Even though if she was hurt, she kept her head high and made Sakura, her rival in love.
Tough luck, though. As it seemed that by their late teens, they started going out.
Ino didn't feel anything- because she knew that she stopped her childish crush on Sasuke way before they dated. So, she was happy and admitted defeat. So, her new competition with her rival is- marriage. Who gets to marry first. It was also childish, but Sakura happily accepted.
Ino chuckled to herself but was cut off by loud, rock music. She glanced at the door beside hers, and she clenched the keys in her hand. She noticed though, that the name plate was there.
Ino bent down to look at the name.
"Iwagakure Deidara, huh..." She whispered out loud, her voice sounded as if she was thinking deeply. Planning something.
"...I am so going to make you leave this flat."