Once Upon a Daydream

Chapter 3: Troublesome Project

Shikamaru's House

Ino stepped in the Nara residence. The place was a perfect image of cleanliness. The slippery wooden floor was squeaky clean, the couches and table dusted, the books and papers organized neatly on the tables, and the windows wiped. Ino never saw a cleaner place. Shikamaru's place was so neat and tidy, it was so unlike him.

"Oh, sweetie, you're home! And you've brought Ino, too! How nice!" Shikamaru's mom stepped into the living room and greeted the two tired teens with her too-happy attitude.

"Mom, Ino and I are doing a project together."

Mrs. Nara grinned a huge grin. "Well, off you go to your room, I'll make sure nobody bothers you!" She walked off with a duster in her hand, humming a sweet tune.

"Come on, my room's this way." Shikamaru mumbled and pointed in a direction. He was quite embarrassed.

Ino followed Shikamaru into his room. She wasn't surprised at all to find it was the complete opposite of the rest of the house. Textbooks were piled on his desk, CD's, clothes, and books were scattered all over the room. The bed was a mess (Shikamaru never bothered to make it). The walls were empty except for the mural of the clouds in the sky painted on the ceiling. Ino put her hands on her hips.

"Honestly, Shikamaru, do you ever even think about cleaning your room?" said Ino angrily, picking up a magazine.

"Nah, it's too troublesome." Shikamaru looked at the mural painted above their heads.

"AHA! So this is what you did when you said you had to go to an orthodontist appointment! Here watching the clouds! I know you, and your teeth are the straightest in the world! You've never had braces and would never need them!" fumed Ino.

"Okay, okay! Sheesh! Ya don't have to rub it in my face!" Shikamaru yelled back.

Downstairs

Ino and Shikamaru's arguing was so loud that even Mr. and Mrs. Nara, who were downstairs, could hear it.

"Listen to that, will ya? They're arguing! Again!" said Shikato.

Mrs. Nara laughed a soft laugh. "But you know, they do love each other. They're just fighting to hide their feelings for each other. Flirting, actually."

"Now what makes you say that?" asked Shikato and smirked.

"Remember back when we were their age? We used to fight all the time and pretend to hate each other just to hide our feelings!" Mrs. Nara stated, staring out the window dreamily, as if she was trying to relive those days.

"Oh, yes. How could I forget?" Oh, and remember the time I came to your house on that rainy evening and told you how I felt?" Shikato joined his wife in staring out the window.

"Of course! I'll never forget that moment!" Mrs. Nara snapped back to reality and poured a cup of tea.

"So you're saying that Shikamaru and Ino are actually in love? That they'll end up just like us?" Shikato took a sip of tea.

"Let's hope so!" Mr. and Mrs. Nara both started laughing.

Shikamaru and Ino

"Aw, forget about it! We're wasting time anyways," said Shikamaru, who had clearly lost the fight.

"Yeah, sure," said Ino and took out a piece of paper and a pencil. Shikamaru did the same.

"So what do you want our movie to be about?" asked Shikamaru lazily.

"Well, I was thinking it could be a movie about drama, action, romance, and tragedy," said Ino dramatically. "Oh, and I want a lead role."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine, whatever. Troublesome."

"Hey! I just thought of a great idea! How about we convince Asuma-sensei to let the other guys work with us? Then we could have more characters and the movie could be a lot longer and more exciting!" exclaimed Ino.

"Well, a 3 ½ hour movie sure is troublesome for two alone, so…I guess," agreed Shikamaru.

"Okay, well, what are you waiting for you lazy bum? Let's go!" Ino headed for the door, but unfortunately a shoe (a shoe? Totally random sorry…) was in her way and she tripped with a scream and landed on top of Shikamaru.

Shikamaru looked up and saw Ino's face just a few inches from his. Oh my god…Ino-chan is this close to me…thought the lazy ninja and turned a deep red. Ino, who had just noticed this, too, also turned a deep red. Am I dreaming? Shika-kun and me in this position? It can't be happening! Should I kiss him?

The teenagers' thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Yoo-hoo? Shikamaru, Ino, are you alright?" Ino instinctively got up and so did Shikamaru.

"Uh…yeah, Mom, we're fine," said Shikamaru, who was still blushing. Mrs. Nara opened the door. "Don't lock yourselves in here, it'll get stuffy!" With that, she left.

Ino, who was also blushing, grabbed Shikamaru's hand and headed for the door. Shikamaru took a look at his hand being grabbed by Ino. Her hand was slightly smaller than his and felt warm. "Come on, let's go!"

At School

After telling Neji, Tenten, Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata, they all agreed that it was a good plan and headed towards Asuma's door. Tenten knocked three times and heard their teacher say, "Come in".

Tenten opened the door, revealing herself and her friends. Asuma put down the papers that he was grading and smiled as the gang stepped in. "Hello. What can I do for you?"

"Well, you know for the project…" Sakura started.

"…Do you think…" Hinata continued.

"…that we could work on it together?" finished Naruto.

Asuma put a cigarette in his mouth and thought for a moment. "All of you want to work together for one movie?" Everyone nodded. "Please?" said Ino. "It's too troublesome for two people alone to work on one movie," said Shikamaru.

Asuma rubbed his chin and said, "All right, I guess you can work on it together." Everyone cheered. Tenten threw confetti AGAIN.

"Okay. Thank you so much Asuma-sensei!" Ino thanked and headed out the door with everyone else.

The Park

Sasuke, Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru, Naruto, Hinata, Tenten, and Neji sat in a circle on the grass field at the park (in that order).

"Soo…watcha want the move to be about?" inquired Sakura.

"As I mentioned to Shikamaru before, it should be about drama, action, romance, and tragedy, and I should have a lead role," said Ino in that same dramatic tone. Tenten giggled. Sakura rolled her eyes at her best friend but wrote it down. The rest scoffed, smirked, coughed, or twitched their eyes.

"I think that's a great idea Ino," said Hinata.

"Okay, yeah. Then the pairs will be…me and Sasuke, Neji and Tenten, Naruto and Hinata, and Ino and Shikamaru…"

"Hold up! Why do I have to be with Miss Troublesome here?" Shikamaru interrupted. "And why do I have to be with this cloud-watching lazy bum?" complained Ino.

"Because," Sakura rolled her eyes, "it's obvious you two like each other. Admit it!"

Ino and Shikamaru held pencils threateningly in the air. Sakura could see both of them blushing and whispered something to Sasuke, who snickered and told Neji, who told Tenten, and so on.

"What's this, are we playing a game of TELEPHONE or something?" said Ino angrily. When it reached the last person (excluding Ino and Shikamaru) everyone burst out laughing except, of course, the couple.

"Troublesome…" muttered Shikamaru and blushed even more. Yes, this was going to be a very long day, indeed.

Hey guys! I'm back. So that was the third chapter. Sorry if it wasn't as good as I said it would be. This is my first fanfiction so it's not that good…if you don't like it, go ahead. Send the flames.