4. dance
The first time she asks him, he acts like he doesn't hear her.
"Oh, c'mon, Shika…" Her pudgy fingers, poking at his side, prove less persuasive than the grating whine of her five-year-old voice. Perhaps, he thinks, if he just agrees now, she will let him nap later.
Soon enough, he is up on his feet, and she is coaching him through it, swaying in the imitation of what she has seen others do, her tiny feet stepping with balanced precision. He is slow in his movements, shuffling through the steps with the same lazy approach he takes to everything. Within a few moments, she is exasperated, and with an exaggerated sigh, leaves. She didn't want to dance with him anyway.
Shikamaru is happy enough to return to his nap.
The next time she asks him, she doesn't expect him to answer.
True to form, he shrugs it off as "too troublesome," even if it is her birthday. She punches his arm and calls him an idiot, and hopes her overdramatic display is enough to ward off any suspicions that she might actually be hurt by his refusal.
Besides, they are eleven now, and she is beginning to tire of him anyway. She is blossoming into a beautiful young woman, and she doesn't have time for childhood friends, particularly a lazy, messy-haired layabout. Instead, she thinks about Sasuke, and asking him to dance, and the thought makes her laugh. Wouldn't that show Sakura!
Still, sometimes Ino wishes she was five again, and that a few desperate pleas for a dance would mean something to the idle boy snoring in the grass.
The next time she asks him, it does not start as a dance.
She's known about the injury for the last hour, but she can't bring herself to tell him. Asuma-sensei and Choji have already gone ahead, scouting out the route, leaving the two of them alone. She tries to hide it, but the pace is slowing noticeably. When he sees her wince, he makes her stop.
She is fourteen and headstrong, and she tries to tell him she doesn't need any help, but the leg fails her at exactly the wrong moment. She goes pitching forward, and there he is, catching her, like he always seems to do lately. When he lifts her back to her feet, she is winded, clutching his shoulders for support. When, moments later, she grins and teases him about feeling like they are five years old again, she is surprised to see him hesitate for a moment.
For the first time in years, Shikamaru realizes he wouldn't mind a dance with her.
The first time he asks her, she doesn't hear him.
The wedding of the Hokage to the Hyuuga heir is not something any of them ever expected to be seeing. The event is tinted with a strange sort of melancholy – ghosts are dancing among them. When he leans over and takes her hand, she almost thinks she must have died somewhere back there on the battlefield, because such a thing is more likely than her stoic teammate ever doing something so strange.
It does not feel natural. With his injured knee and her distinct lack of rhythm, they are a spectacle. Almost immediately, she has devolved into giggles and he is complaining, but it doesn't seem to matter. When the song is finished, neither of them moves. Strange as it feels, they will learn soon enough.
After all, in some ways, Ino has been dancing with Shikamaru all her life.
A/N: I'm not even going to pretend I don't really like the way this one turned out, because I do. Hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!
