Careful
Chapter Two
Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto
Careful © inogirl13
Ino was confused. She had always loved Shikamaru, but—"He was too lazy for you, anyway." They were meant to be together forever, so—"Nobody wants to be with someone that can't even abide by a simple promise." She couldn't believe her father's words still choked her memory. She couldn't even remember what went wrong.
She acted normal now. She wasn't overtly bubbly, but still laughed with friends. There was no need to be loud and obnoxious now that Shikamaru wasn't hers. That was the only reason she put herself out there like that. I mean, could you imagine trying to get a rile out of that pain-stakingly unemotional expression?
Around her friends and family, she'd make jokes about how much she hated him, or wanted him to die. But when alone with her thoughts, all she could do was hope that one day, he'd come up to her and kiss her: like in the romance novels she'd submerged herself in recently.
She supposed it all started with the blasted ring she'd put her finger at the beginning of her relationship with Shikamaru. Ino tried to stop herself from blaming TenTen and Hinata. It was her choice to buy a purity ring, but they had led her to it.
They invited her to some all girls church event. Ino had never really been to church at all, but it was worth a shot; all her other friends were away on missions. It was about being "sexually pure," and saving virginity for your honeymoon. The way they talked about it—it made all the "heaven" and "eternal life with Kami" sound pretty good. They even prayed some prayer about giving your life to Kami. It all sounded so nice…before Ino could think of anything else, she was out getting a little silver ring. Her father drove her, and he couldn't get a smile off his face the whole time.
"Daddy, are you sure it's okay with you that I do this?" She had asked while waiting in line at the register. He looked down on her with blue, loving eyes, "Of course. I think this is a wonderful decision." Ino relished in the fact that her father approved. She always sought her daddy's thumbs up.
She wasn't planning on having sex. Why would she? She had that stupid ring for only a couple months. She wouldn't crack that soon! But…why did Shikamaru have to be so good-looking; always searing into her with those blazing brown eyes and that sharp jaw line. Finally, she had had enough. She'd talked to Sakura about it, but…
"Ino! You can't do that! You made a promise to your future husband and Kami! You're just going to throw it away!?" The pink-haired ninjas green eyes were on fire.
"Look who's talking, Sakura. You know just as well as I do that going down still counts as sex." The cherry blossoms face turned an even darker shade of red, but this time, out of embarrassment.
"Shut up, Ino-pig." Sakura huffed and crossed her arms. Ino smirked.
"See you in Hell." They both stood and Ino headed for her house.
Shikamaru always waited for her about a half a block from her house on the sidewalk. He could have gone inside, but Ino always insisted he stay right there, even in the icy cold.
Little did he know that she made him stand there for her own personal benefit. That was the street where they'd first kissed. The exact spot—perfectly parallel to an abandoned bird's nest in a peach blossom tree—was only known to Ino. She received a small shot of adrenaline when her feet would grace past the square of concrete. Sometimes—mostly more recently—she'd stop and remember that breezy afternoon.
The day after Ino had confessed her love was particularly nerve-wracking. She had invited him outside her house twenty minutes ago. It legibly read 3:30. Or maybe Ino's shaking hand had scribbled it a little.
He nonchalantly turned the corner, meeting Ino's nervous eyes. Maybe she could still turn around and wouldn't be noticed. No, it was too late. He already had his eyes glued to her.
"So, what's up?" He yawned and shoved his hand into his pocket. Ino glanced around his face anxiously, then averted her eyes to the side of Shikamaru's head. She noticed a bird's nest in a tree; the mother was coaching her babies to fly. One of them, desperately flapping its wings, landed with an thump on the grass. The mother hurriedly swooped down and rescued it. "That little bird is just like me; taking a risky dive. Only no one is going to be there to rescue me," Ino thought to herself. She turned back to Shikamaru whom still relayed that bored expression. Biting her lip, she decided it was now or never.
Moving almost too quickly, she wrapped her hands around his neck, closed her eyes, and went in for the kiss. She met a finger and snapped her eyes open. Shikamaru had stopped her…
"Great; the crash," She thought, depressed. Feeling tears in her eyes, it was all she could do to face him like a true Yamanaka. He smiled at her. What a jerk! Smiling when Ino was near crying.
"If your father catches me kissing you right outside his home, I'll be dead." With that said, he pulled her about a block down the street. He gently pushed her against a brown fence and wrapped his arms tight around her lower waist.
"Now…" he whispered. Ino was dumb-struck. To be flung from tears to utter joy was quite a whirl-wind. Before she could calculate the fact that almost everyone knew her father on this street, she smashed her mouth against his.
She was inexperienced and she was probably making an idiot of herself, but she didn't care. She was so eager and excited to have Shikamaru hovering over her protectively. He pulled away for a second to pull her hood over her head. Ino furrowed her brow.
"So nobody recognizes you. Don't you know everyone in this neighborhood knows your dad?" He said, smiling. She'd never seen him express such a joyous vibe in all the years she'd known him. She always prayed that he'd never stop acting like that around her.
She'd done her best to flaunt herself a little more than usual that afternoon. Shikamaru was completely unaware that Ino had purposely "misplaced" her purity ring and was too ready to lose her virginity to Nara Shikamaru.
He walked into her room—like he had almost every day since September—and sat down on her bed. Ino was dressed like she usually was when he would come in; a sports bra and sweat pants, her hair freed from its usual hair tie.
She carried on a normal conversation, trying to hide her nerves. But then Shikamaru just had to go rushing the process because he turned up right beside her, making her jump just a little. Her mind was racing and her heart pounding. Just as she was going to make the first move, Shikamaru had a grip on her arms that scared the wits out of Ino. He was heading for her lips, but paused right before hitting them.
"Oh, God! What are the odds! The freaking odds that he would seduce me the very day I was going to have sex with him!" She met him the rest of the way: wrapping her legs around his waist and jumping into his arms. He asked her if her dad was home and smiled when she gave him a satisfying answer; that smile that only showed up around her.
It wasn't until he laid her on the bed that her mind began to rethink, "It's actually going to happen. I'm going to have sex with Nara Shikamaru."
Shikamaru left as soon as they were done. It wasn't as glamorous as Ino had expected it to be, but somehow she didn't want to take it back.
She dressed herself, cleaned up her makeup, and headed downstairs. Her dad was home from work and sitting at the kitchen table.
Ino halfway passed him before he spoke, "Ino, you're not to see that boy again." He had spoken so calmly; all without even looking up from his paper had he broken his daughter's life. It was as if he knew. But he couldn't know. Ino was speechless.
"You broke your promise to Kami—and to me, and this is your punishment." How could he know? It had just happened five minutes ago!!
Ino's voice came out in a hoarse whisper, "Wha--What… do I say to him?" Her father seemed so rational about the whole conversation, "Oh, don't worry. I called Shikaku. They'll inform him as soon as he gets home."
Today, Shikamaru still doesn't know the truth. That Ino still loves him. That she wishes more than anything in the world that he wouldn't think what he does of her. That she just wants to be in his arms again.
A lot of days she wishes she could take back having sex with him; maybe then they'd still be together. But an emotional bond made through consensual sex should never be taken away, even if it means the unusual sight of a heart-broken ninja.
Fin!
