Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Also thanks to my reviewers, favorites and follows (I never expected that much!). As part of disclaimer this is a work of fiction so I won't go too much to the detail of Ino's sickness… Sorry for not detailing it a lot or any misrepresentation I will make.

This is a love story and Shikamaru and Ino's discovery of love amidst of the difficulty of falling in love. Been inspired of a Filipino film with the same premise but not necessarily the same story and of course the Bucket List.

Lastly, chapter inspired by the song Blindsided by bon iver (Please listen while reading if you can…)

…

It was deeper in the night when he arrived at the coffee shop. It stood lighted amidst the dark shops on the downtown street. The air breathed a cool February wind as he stopped his black motorcycle near the entrance. Peeking through the window of the cafe, he noticed that only few people were inside. This was expected as the moon was already higher up the sky. It was emitting a cold light on his path.

Dark shadows followed him while he parked his motorbike and removed his head gear. The man shook his head free, running his hand on his pineapple ponytailed hair. A deep sigh escaped his lips as he pushed back and glanced again at his watch. It was rare for him to be out late this night, there are things he would rather be doing and it was troublesome for a guy like him. He removed his black jacket and remained seated on his bike for a while.

He pondered thoughts on what he was doing there. It was early that night when he got a troublesome call from a voice he hadn't heard for a year. The lazy man wondered what would be the reason the troublesome woman would be calling him now and asking him to meet this late in the hour. He was deeply curious on what was the purposed of her call tonight.

Then again, when it comes to her he was always blindsided.

The only thing that registered in him was that she was in trouble. It wasn't the first time that she called him for help. When they were younger the blonde, would always seek him out when she finds herself in troublesome predicament. She would tease him that she was putting his genius to good use. Then, he would sigh, but gives in to her request none the less.

But still why now? It has been more than a year since he last saw and talked to her. She was missing from his life, as drag as it was it bothered him before. Although, the troublesome woman and he neither maintained communication and even though their family was close, he hadn't seen her in family events either.

Of course, he minded that she vanished from them, disappeared from him with not so much of a heads up. Somehow deep inside, he knew that he cared for her, she was her childhood friend after all. It was curiosity, anger and worriedness that were pulling him straight here.

Pushing himself off the bike, he proceeded to walk towards the entrance of the restaurant. The bell on the door tinkled as he opened it, notifying his arrival. Only the waiter about the entrance noticed him, and greeted him a good evening. Nodding, he roamed his eyes on the well-lighted shop to catch up on the blonde who asked him to meet her.

His eyes hitched to the only blonde in the room. Ino was seated near the window, her back leaning against the chair and her eyes closed, as if she was sleeping. With slow strides he sauntered over to her, basking in her features. His virtuoso mind was quick to notice the difference in her appearance now.

Ino looked pale and thin, much thinner when he last saw her. He knew that the blonde had stopped her troublesome diet years ago, when they had one of their longest arguments about it. It was a war between her dieting and his smoking. Heated shouting matches have taken place between them, resulting in neither of them talking to each other for six weeks. Eventually, he gave in and apologized as he always did for her. In return Ino compromised to stop dieting if he cut off his smoking and they smiled about it.

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed, looking at her directly. The paleness of her skin really bothered him. Just taking note of her appearance, he knew suddenly something was definitely amiss.

He cleared his throat.

"Hey." The blue eyed woman greeted with a smile.

Shikamaru nodded and sat on the seat opposite her. He noticed her eyes shifted outside and her fingers scrapping the place mat on the table.

Taking a deep breathe, the blonde looked back at him.

"Coffee?"

"I'm good."

"Ok."

"You're alone?"

"Yes. I hope you don't mind I called to meet you here tonight."

"It's ok." He replied.

He patiently waited for her to continue but she didn't. They remained sitting quietly for a while, each waiting for someone to break the ice. The coffee shop being much quieter, with them as the last customers.

Ultimately, he relented and gave her "the stare". That's what his closest friends, Ino and Chouji called it when he begins to stare and analyze the situation in front of him. They used to tease him about it for being a genius trait.

"Oh, ok." Ino sighed.

Apparently it worked, since Ino moved in her seat. She reached deep down her bag and presented him a notebook.

"Here." She said, tossing him the notebook. "I need your help doing all these things."

He opened the notebook and scanned her neat handwriting. What was written on it surprised him. It was a numbered list and each one contained tasks that doesn't make sense to him. Raising an eye on her, he said in a lazy and bored tone, "What's this?"

Ino blinked furrowing her brows together. "It's a list, idiot."

"I know it's a troublesome list. Why do you have it?" He snorted, letting out his frustration. Something about tonight was not making sense to him. The troublesome woman was not making sense at all.

She reclined in her chair, her eyes darting left to right, neither meeting his gaze. She looked deep in thought, as if her mind was at war, deciding whether she would tell him or not.

"Because..." she finally answered.

He sighed and put the notebook down in front of her. "Look Ino, I know you need my help, but you need to tell me why. If you are in trouble you can tell me and be honest."

Ino still remained silent and as if scared by his words she looked outside the window.

Sighing deeply again, he started to get up when Ino stopped him.

"Wait." Her words floated in the quiet cafe. It was merely a whisper but he heard her. "Please wait."

Ino finally meet his eyes.

"Ok, I'll tell you.

The air hung around them, tensed and quiet. The fragility of her emotion was threatening to shatter. It is as if that time stood still for her. She fingered the brim of her notebook, nervously and took notice of the cup of coffee on her side. Controlling the sudden urged to drown the caffeine all at once; she carefully picked the cup and warily sipped its content. It had long been cold, and her tongue appreciated that fact.

She took a deep breath as the man in front of her waited for her answer. Glancing at him, she did notice his impatience at her winding down. Once again, he reverted back to his normal self, the bored and laid back personality that he had carried for the longest time. He sat down easily in the chair waiting for her to speak.

It had been more than a year since she had last seen him and for her nothing about him changed. His eyes still held a big mystery that only a few people she knew had the privileged to decipher. She was proud of the fact that she saw herself as one of those people. His demeanor remained lazy and bored and nothing about him emit that he was genius inside.

Only a few people can read him, and she was one of them.

She hoped he can read her well, too.

Ino put down the cup, now empty of its caffeine content. The coffee shop now was dimly lighted, adding to it the few lights outside that peek through the shop's windows. His frame was just a shadow and as everything that surrounds him. And that surrounds her.

Thankfully, the owner of the cafe has not kicked them out yet. She still had to think about how to tell him.

Her mind hasn't figured out yet if she will tell him everything, or how she can tell him everything. Maybe, calling and meeting him this soon has been a bad idea. He was myriad of memories that she had of her childhood and her net of all things that she wanted to stay. But at the same time, he was also a mirror to her. She always saw her reflection under his gaze, no matter whether she wanted to or not. Even if sometimes she had only seen it and not him.

Would she really rush out?

"Well..." He spoke to break her thoughts, raising an eye on her for her to carry on.

Once again she took in the air; she needed it before she began to speak.

"Well... I have..." She closed her eyes and clamped her hands together. "... Am not well." She opened her eyes and continued, her eyes darting anywhere but with him. "It's been going on for more than a year now. So, I had been going to a special doctor for treatment."

"It was not going on well and…" She paused, taking a deep breath once again.

"I haven't told anyone yet, but I had the latest result yesterday and... I just figured that I will need a list, right... So just in case..." She tried to fight the tears that threatened to flow from her eyes. "I know it's childish, but I read about it and watched it in a movie once. Maybe a good idea..."

She was not sure now if she was making sense anymore.

Glancing at him, his face remained stoic and passive; she knew he was still analyzing her long rambling. If he can make sense of it all, she knew she can't.

She remained quiet waiting for him to speak and finally, after a few minutes he does.

"What is it?"

For the agony, he'd rather know, cause blinded, she wished she can also be blindsided.

"Bone marrow cancer..." She timidly answered.

Shikamaru stood up and with forced, he suddenly pushed his chair hard from the table. There were rare times she had seen him lost his temper and if she can guess now, he was understandably mad at her.

"What the Fuck, Ino?" He furiously snapped at her, his eyes boring keenly into hers. "When were you going to tell us? Is that the reason you vanished and disappeared from us without even saying a word?"

She took it all in as the man in front of her glared anger towards her. The tears dropped and fell, she was holding on to the last of her sanity.

"It's mine alone to tell, Shikamaru." She finally replied with little strength she could muster.

"Well, certainly you are wrong." He glowered.

Then she saw it again her reflection against him. He was the window. She was crippled and slow. She looks defeated and scared.

Shikamaru shook his head. He gazed at her deeply, his eyes piercing through her veil. It was frustrations the same emotion that she felt, it was being mirrored by him once more.

"The list was bullshit, Ino."

"It's the only thing I have now."

"Do you think this is all a fucking game?" He snapped at her and she backed off.

"No..."

"You are going back to the hospital." His voice was hard and final.

She looked up, scared and confused with his tone. "I was asking for your help on my list not advice for my fucking dwindling life." She finally yelled at him, her voice reverberating in the now empty cafe.

Shikamaru stood still for a moment before he began to walk away.

"Then find someone else." He replied coldly.

Ino leaned her back and head in her chair, her tears flowing.

It finally started to sink in.

Sakura tiptoed noiselessly, her path to the bed, very careful that she won't wake up her blonde blue eyed boyfriend. She peeked at the clock and it was after midnight. It has been a long day for her, her shift at the hospital, her additional trainings with Tsunade, the head doctor and the lingering anxiety that she felt for her missing best friend had taken its toll on her today.

All she wanted to do for the moment was to lie down and sleep as long as she can.

She took out her robe and slipped as quietly as possible on the bed. After leaving a quick kiss on Naruto's forehead, she carefully laid down beside him. Naruto stirred a little long enough to put an arm around her. She let out a soft sigh, as she snuggled deep inside his embrace. His warmth and familiarity was hushing her closer to her desired slumber.

Her eyes blinked a couple more times; before she felt her eyes drop and sleep finally overtook her.

The sudden ring of her cell phone, jostled her wide awake. She sat up suddenly and Naruto stirred for a moment before moving to his back, falling right back to sleep. Sakura immediately grabbed her phone from the bedside table, curious about who would be calling her this late at night. She looked at her phone and was surprised it was her blonde best friend.

She hurriedly answered, "Ino?"

All she can hear in the background was a sobbing and sniffling sound. Her concern grew as she waited for her to speak.

"… Sakura…"