Title: Little, Troublesome, Love Story
Disclaimer: These characters are from Naruto, which is copyrighted by Masashi Kishimoto and all those Japanese companies that own/produce it.
Summary: Little story about Shikamaru and Ino's relationship a few years in the future. Ino helps take care of Shika after the death of his father.
Author's Note: Sorry about the wait. This chapter is funny, though the first chapter was a tad funnier I think. Tell me what you think and I'll take it into account when I write the next chapter.
Chapter Two
Two hours later, Ino was still diligently washing dishes, though there was finally an end in sight. Shikamaru sighed heavily as he continued to dry the dishes at a very leisurely pace. Every couple minutes he would pause in his drying to send Ino an expression of hope which she would respond to with a glare of anger. His hope at being finished with the chores was immediately dashed.
"If you don't like doing this much work then you should just rinse the dishes after you use them," Ino growled, plunging her hands into the sink up to her elbows and scrubbing at a resistant mass of food on a pan. "And I still have to cook your dinner after this... seriously, you'll be the death of me one of these days."
The comment was so obviously domestic and slipped from her mouth so naturally that it took a few moments for it to register in Shikamaru's mind. When it did, his cheeks became two matching circles of rosy colored happiness. Wha? Why am I so happy? She's just a stupid girl I've known all my life. She'll always be a stupid girl, even when she's sixty years old.
"Hey, pay attention!" Ino snapped, holding out a wet plate irritably. He blinked out of his mental stupor to take the plate from her, ignoring her as she scrutinized his expression. "Why are you blushing?"
"I'm not blushing. It's just hot in here. You know, it being summer and all," he informed her sarcastically as he patted the dish dry and put it away in the cupboard. But his hasty reply was not enough to completely douse Ino's curiosity, so she just grinned and continued to clean the disgusting mess of a kitchen.
As she finished the dishes, Ino's mind began formulating a simple plan to have some fun at Shikamaru's expense. "Here, you still have lots of dishes to dry. It really is hot in here. I'll be right back."
Confused, Shikamaru grunted a reply, not bothering to look up from drying as Ino left the kitchen going in the direction of the hall. What's up with that girl lately? She's being a little bit strange.
So he worked slowly but steadily for a number of minutes until the backlog of wet dishes that had piled up was finally dry. Just as he placed the last cup in its spot, the sound of Ino clearing her throat caused him to glance up from what he was doing.
"Sorry, I went in your room," she smiled, not looking apologetic in the least as she stood in the kitchen entrance wearing a pair of baggy shorts and a tight tank-top that looked like it belonged to an elementary school child. "It was too hot to keep wearing what I came in. Made me dizzy."
Shikamaru's eyes unconsciously ran up the length of her body and back down before he could stop himself. The look was not lost on her, no matter how much he tried to act like it was a passing gesture. Especially since his eyes kept drifting to the strip of flesh exposing her belly button down to the tiny amount of underwear that peeked over the low cut of the borrowed shorts.
"My face is much higher up than that, Shika-kuuuun," Ino snickered as she walked over to the stove and began preparing a pan to cook dinner. "Fried rice and noodles are okay?"
Taken aback at her question, Shikamaru coughed and tried to put himself into serious listening mode. "Yes. Don't call me that."
Rolling her eyes, Ino took out the ingredients she would need from their places in the kitchen. It required no thought as to where everything was located... she had been cooking for Shikamaru and his father long before old man Nara passed away. "Fine, DARLING."
He froze, though it was said to tease him, the word went spinning through his head. He over-analyzed everything around him way too much to let that slide. The bewilderment he experienced at her teasing and sly actions quickly turned into challenge, a feeling he hadn't felt since...
Um... ever? he contemplated, finishing the thought to himself.
The urgent feeling of having a worthy advisory brought him to his senses. A clever smile turned one corner of his lips upward as he took a step back to watch her cook. His hands came together of their own accord to form a square as he stared at her contemplating her actions.
Obviously she underestimated his genius. She continued to set up the area for food preparation, her back toward him. It was a basic rule of warfare that one should never leave their flanks exposed to the enemy.
No matter how attractive the flanks.
He watched her cook, the movements of her hands as she stirred the food, the look of semi-concentration on her face as she worked. After a few moments he realized he already knew everything there was to know about Ino and stopped examining her as if she were on par with his brilliance. Few people were.
Just to be sure, he retreated to the room looking out over the backyard and began setting up the chess set where he had left off. The best way to test a person's skill was to challenge them to a nice, friendly game of chess. Or Go.
Since he already had the chess set out, it was decided that he was too lazy to change to Go and thus they would duel using chess. He finished setting up the board just as Ino came in the room carrying two plates full of food, two pairs of chopsticks held securely between her teeth as her hands were both preoccupied with the plates.
She leaned down as she neared him and he absentmindedly took the offered chopsticks from her mouth, not really thinking as he did. She set his plate down on the table and took her own pair of chopsticks out of her mouth, grinning.
"Thanks for the food, Ino," he said, positioning himself in front of the plate and bowing his head slightly in thanks. Before he dug into the meal, he smirked and asked, "Oh, by the way, would you mind playing a quick game with me after dinner?"
Quirking an eyebrow at his question, Ino wondered what he was up to. "Chess, huh? Isn't that too easy of a conquest for you? Not even Asuma-sensei managed to beat you at this, what makes you think I'd do any better?"
Forcing an uninterested look across his face, Shikamaru shrugged and muttered, "Well, if it's too troublesome for you to bother..."
An angry laugh erupted from Ino's direction as she all but slammed her plate down on the table and plopped to the ground. "Troublesome! You make me clean your kitchen and cook your dinner and I'll probably end up doing your damn laundry too, and you're worried about a stupid GAME being too troublesome for me?"
He sent her a flat-eyed stare and a single word reply, knowing full well that she hated one-word answers. "Yes."
"Give me an attitude, will you?" she growled, hands balled into fists. "Fine, bring it on, genius!"
"Okay. But if I win you have to do one thing for me of my choice."
A blank look crossed her face as she considered this deal. "Only one thing?"
"Yes, just one. And if you win then I'll do one thing for you, your choice. Naturally."
"Like keeping your own house clean so I don't have to spend a whole afternoon picking up after you when I come over to visit?" she asked, uncertainly. He nodded in reply and a determined grin burst forth from her lips as she declared, "Let's get this game started!"