DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto.
The Summer heat soon began to die down as the sun traded shifts with the moon. All around Konoha the air was filled with the melody of the songbirds, the droning buzz of the working class became quieter and each passing minute one of the friends would take their leave, and soon the group had parted ways. All except for Choji. He accompanied Shikamaru back to his apartment where he would help him prepare friend for his "date" tonight.
"Hmmph...what are you going to pick out for me buddy? The lazy Nara said, while aimlessly flipping through the channels.
"Well it depends." He replied with a light chuckle.
Shikamaru looked up at his chubby friend, "D-Depends on what?. He stammered...picking up once again. "I'm not going to take her anywhere special."
Choji glowered at him from across the room..
"No Choji! I don't think Ino isn't worth a nice dinner. After all we've been friend's since we were just toddlers, Plus mom would probably kill me if she found out that I took Ino on a crappy date- No!. It's not even a date! I don't like her!" He said trying to reassure both himself and Choji.
"But..."
"The truth is..well..We've been been eating out a lot lately..so pretty much I'm broke. " he said while still staring at the television, finally settling for the evening news. There was a rustling coming from beside him, but he didn't break his eyes away from the screen.
"Take this." His best friend said while reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small pouch filled with Ryo.
"Choji...you know I can't take this." Shikamaru pushed back his friends hand as he spoke.
"Shika take it!" He growled with a serious face.
"How am I..."
"You can pay me back whenever you can."
"Thanks Choji..but why and how do you have a random secret wallet with you?"
"That's what friends do, plus you never know what life is going to throw at you. I always bring some emergency cash in case of a mugging or what not."
"That's actually pretty smart."
"You aren't the only smart one." He said chuckling. "Besides I want you to be happy. You're my best friend! I'm tried of seeing you rot away in this apartment."
"What are you getting at Choji?"
"Isn't it obvious? " "I know that you like Ino deep down...so don't try to fool me."
What could Shikamaru say? Consciously he knew Ino was a good looking girl, but that was it. They we're friends since they were toddlers. However, he knew that was a lie. He knew that deep down he had always had a soft spot for the blonde kunoichi. He knew he always tried to silently impress her during their days as Team Ten. Whenever it appeared as though they were going to get together, he lashed back desperately. Not because his mind told him women were "troublesome", but the exact opposite. He thought he was never good enough for the beautiful cosmos, he thought that he would either get rejected or that he would drag her down with his qualities.
"Why would she ever like a schmuck like me?" He thought to himself, only to quickly regain control of the thoughts that flooded his mind.
"Look Choji I'm sorry to disappoint you, but this is not a date." He tried to say clearly.
"I have no intentions of wooing Ino and probably vice versa. We are just friends, so can you please drop it buddy?"
Choji had seen this side of Shikamaru before, the side where he pushed away the things he wanted. He could never figure it out... why on earth did his friend do that? Did he think he deserved to be punished by fate for something that he had done? Nevertheless, he knew that this temporary phase his friend was in will pass during his dinner. He chose not to argue with his friend in hopes of calming him down, and to try and ease his nerves.
"Okay fine, I guess your right. It's not a date" He smiled, knowing the inside information "but we still need to pick out decent looking clothes for you, at least."
He knew that Shikamaru- to put it nicely -wasn't the best guy when it came down to appearance.
Choji remembered his birthday dinner last year in which he asked everyone to come in formal attire. Everyone else came and danced in their suits and dresses, and then came Shikamaru. He was the only one dressed in his Jonin unifrom. When he approached Shika to ask him why he wasnt wearing a suit or at least a dress shirt he said, "C'mon Choji, you know that I've never known how to tie a bowtie or found the use in cufflinks. "
Coming back from the present Choji looked at his friend, noticing his indifference. "I imagine you're gonna take her somewhere nice?"
"If you consider Ramen nice, then sure." He shrugged. Trying his best to hide his excitement.
"Well how about this!" Choji exclaimed as he fished around Shikamaru's closet, pulling out a grey sweater, and some black trim fitted jeans.
"That's perfect! "
"Well its far from perfect, but it beats wearing the same Jonin vest everyday."
Shikamaru looked at his casual outfit laid across his bed. "It was perfect" he thought. Since he was a lazy guy he rarely ever changed his clothes, he just splashed cologne on it. He gazed in amazement as he saw what he looked like in a jacket, which he didn't know he owned. He glanced at his pants and immediately saw a problem.
"What a drag, these pants have a big red stain on one of the pant legs!" He complained.
"Crap! It's alright. I'll find you some other pants."
"No, I got to get going in the next five minutes." Shikamaru said as he scanned the area around him. His eyes widened when he found a makeshift answer.
"Cho, pass me my body spray!"
He obliged and handed him the spray. Shikamaru quickly began to spray his pants with the spray from point blank range.
"Umm...you think those white stains are going to fade away."
"Don't worry about it Cho. It has to." He said reassuringly.
He looked at the clock on the microwave, it said it was 6:47 PM.
"Crap! I have to go Choji, her flower store closes at 7!"
"AWWW..YOU ARE GOI..."
"SHUT IT CHOJI! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" He said as he was about to head out, already in a hurry.
"Wait! Don't go look at the news!"
The Weather Report was on and soon the forecasts came up for the night. They both saw what the evening had in store for Shikamaru.
7 pm...expect thunderstorms.
8 pm ..heavy rain
9 pm heavy rain
10 pm heavy rain with chance of lightning
11pm severe thunderstorms.
"SHIT! I GOT TO RUN. CHOJI LOCK THE DOOR TO MY APARTMENT. " Shikamaru said as he ran to Yamanaka Flowers.
He ran through Konoha weaving past strangers, shopkeepers, and the occasional friendly face. He was persperating heavily and slowly becoming a nervous wreck the closer he got. He started to get extremely nervous at the thought of dinner with Ino, and add in the fact that he forgot to bring an umbrella.. it was safe to say he was worried. Soon thereafter he arrived at Yamanakam Flowers and paused to look at his watch. The watch read 6:56 PM. He took a breath of relief as he opened the door, quickly being intoxicated with the sweet and pure aromas of the many flowers they had prepared for purchase. He wasn't spotted when he entered the store. He noticed the cashier was Ino's mother. As quickly as possible he began searching around for the right flowers. Shikamaru never paid any attention when Ino was lecturing him and Choji about what each flower meant, so he just picked up whatever flowers he saw. Roses.
He went to the cashier holding a bouquet of roses. Miss Yamanaka immediately recognized Shikamaru, and she knew why he was there.
"Shika! How are you?
"I'm fine thank you, and how have you been?
"I've just been around the store, teaching my daughter how to properly run a business."
She handed him the flowers and he stepped away from the counter, exposing his pants.
"Ino said she will..." Miss Yamanaka stopped mid-sentence as she noticed and was disturbed by the white stains he had on his pants. She also noticed that he was out of breath (from running but she didn't realize that), flushed, and his hands were sweaty. She was a little shocked at the mental image that came in her head of what Shikamaru did before leaving the house.
"Something wrong Miss Yamanaka? " a smiling Shikamaru said. Not realizing that she had, spotted his stained pants.
"I...I...I'll just..go jack...um wha...I mean fetch Ino. " She said as she scurried away.
"Okay I'll just wait outside the store." He said still smiling cluelessly.
Soon thereafter Ino emerged from the store to find him standing by a wall of a local shoe store, which was situated right next door.
"It looks like you were happy to see me." She said giggling with a little blush
"Of course..why wouldn't I be! You are one of my closet friends. Here, I made sure to not disappoint you." He said handing her the roses.
"Thank you Shikamaru! * she hugged him tight, as his hand slipped up her upper back. As Ino wore a blue top with a black mini skirt and had pulled her hair back.
"What I meant was...well have you seen your pants"? She giggled.
"What do you mean?" He said looking down on them, and he quickly realized why people were giving him strange faces. He blushed out of embarrassment.
"So what's on the agenda for tonight?" She asked.
"I thought i would make it up to you by treating you to some ramen." He said.
"Sounds fun."
He offered her to wrap her arm around his elbow as they began their stroll to Market District. Shikamaru may be a lot of things, and being a gentleman was one of them. As they strolled down each block they began to ask about eachothers personal lives and how their mothers were handling life without their husbands. It was a suffering, a suffering they shared together.
They arrived at the ramen stand fairl quick, to Shikamaru time seemed to have flown by.
"Here you go." He said, pulling out Ino's chair and tucking her in.
They both began chatting about their respective lives. Talking about Choji and Sakura. They soon ordered and while they waited he noticed something. He noticed that her eyes were a hybrid of colors, or they at least appeared to be. They were blue during the day, however in a dark setting he noticed that they had a light shade of green depending on where the light hit. He thought he was gazing in a sea of beauty, as the tides of innocence kept washing him further and further away, making him more lost in them.
"Remember how hard I had to yell at you and Choji for you guys to get your act together? " she said smirking.
"Yeah, well clearly you forgot all the times I had to bail you out of horrible situations." He said laughing af the thought, it seemed so long ago..
"Well if it wasn't for my pushing you wouldn't have become the shinobi that you are today." She said playfully while sticking her tounge out.
Something inside him suddenly clicked- Shikamaru's mind processed her last statement, and immediately came out a flashback of 3 and a half years ago as he was talking to his dad;
"Why did you pick mom? She's always nagging at you."
"Son, I picked your mother because she always brought out the best within me and challenges me to be a better man every day."
His mind rushed back to reality. He emerged from his flashback with a growing smile, and looked at Ino.
"I hope this doesn't sound out of line, but you look beautiful tonight, and I'm glad I'm spending tonight with you.
Ino blushed really hard, surprised at Shikamaru's kind words.
"Thank you." She said softly, lowering her head so he wouldn't see the smile that overcame her face.
The two sat there admiring each other in silence. When Shikamaru asked for the check he was surprised to be treated to a slice of sticky rice cake, on the house.
"Compliments of the owner, and we hope you both have a goodnight." The waiter said winking, and pointing at the person who was leaning against the counter. The owner of the restaurant was a bald, old man who sported a walker. Shikamaru made eye contact with the old man, who first pointed at Ino, then to his stained pants, and gave him a thumbs up.
"Did we just get..."
"Yeah we got free dessert because of my jizz pants." Shikamaru said, embarrassed.
Ino laughed hysterically on the walk home, laughing at he embarrassment it brought to him. After ma short walk they soon arrived back to Yamanaka Flowers
Ino looked up at the sky, admiring the stars before turning to him.
"Thank you for taking me out tonight Shikamaru, I really enjoyed it." She said smiling and quickly pecked him on the cheek.
She began to pull her keys out of her purse as she was unlocking the door to the store.
Shikamaru began to walk away, tonight had gone great for his agenda, whatever it was, for he was still unsure about his feelings for Ino. He wanted to see her again, but his doubts were controlling him like a puppet. With sudden resolve he pushed those doubts aside and turned around quickly, hoping Ino hadn't entered yet.
"Hey Ino...uuh if you want.. we uhh" -He scratched the back of his head- "can do this some other time. If you're free of course."
"Well weren't we going to meet up next Saturday for our Team Ten dinner with Choji?"
"Yeah..yeah...that works out." He walked away a little saddened, that is until he turned aroun again.
"I meant just the two of us." He said with his feet planted firmly facing her.
Ino was halfway through her door.
"What did you say Shika? I'm sorry I couldn't hear." She really did hear him but wanted to see if he actually meant it.
"I said I meant for just the two of us." He said with confidence, which was actually used as a defense mechanism that prepared him for rejection.
Ino blushed and smiled. "Sure, I'm free on Wednesday for the night."
"Perfect sounds like a...date."
"Yeah, sounds like one." Her smile grew bigger. "Goodnight Shika." She walked into the dark store.
"Goodnight."
Shikamaru began walking back to his apartment. He looked at his watch, it said 11 PM.
"Hmmph forecast said thunderstorms. Looks like I had nothing to worry about." He said to himself smiling.
A/N: I would first like to thank of course the readers, for helping me and motivating me to write. I would like to thank the followers of the story so far. Finally I would like to thank my new amd first beta editor. She's probably the best ShikaIno writer currently. Thank you, the scarlet letters. Remember to R/R! Feel free to message me any story ideas or recommendations.