"Shikamaru, pay attention!!"

Ino was eight years old and already in a prime state of bossiness. The Yamanakas, the Naras, and the Akimichis, all being such good friends, had arranged for a play-date for Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji. Unfortunately for the two boys 'play-date' equated to 'listening-and-doing-whatever-Ino-says.'

Ino had decided to dedicate this play-date to teaching Shikamaru and Chouji about the meanings of flowers. Chouji, being as meekly polite as he was at eight years old, was sitting cross-legged in front of Ino, hands clasped together and laid in his lap. Shikamaru on the other hand, was lying on his back across the room.

"Right now, Shikamaru!" Ino was none too pleased by her other student, who was doing his best to ignore everything she was saying.

The young boy flopped over on to his stomach and gave her a half-lidded look. "Why do I have to listen to you anyway?" He drawled.

Ino stood up, hand on her hips, and stamped her foot firmly on the ground, pouting in the way that little girls do when they don't get their way. "Because our parents put me in charge! Now stop being a lazy ass and get over here!!"

The young boy was so taken aback by her anger that he just sighed and trudged over to the flowers that Ino had laid out on a blanket in front of her. "That's not such appropriate language." Shikamaru scolded, though he really didn't mean it.

"I hear my parents use that word all the time. I'm plenty mature to be using it! Now pay attention!" Ino sat down and pointed at Shikamaru warningly before gesturing to the flowers she had laid out. "This is a honeysuckle. It represents affection, mostly. And this is an iris which can mean a lot of things like hope, faith, valor, or wisdom. And here's some baby's breath, which is mostly an accent flower—"

Shikamaru leaned to his right and whispered to Chouji, "Is she really expecting us to remember all of this?"

Chouji's face went red; he was actually actively paying attention to Ino's lesson. Girls liked flowers, right? And if he ever wanted to get a girl it would help if he knew what flowers to give her. "Um…"

"Oh man, this is so troublesome." Shikamaru had abandoned any attempt to pay attention to Ino and flopped down on to his back.

Ino looked visibly livid, but rather than raining her anger down on him she simply took a deep breath, picked up the last flower she had laid out and strode over to him. "Here." She said, dropping it on to his chest.

"Ow-!" Shikamaru glanced down to see a red rose plopped on his stomach. One of the thorns had taken the liberty of poking at his sternum uncomfortably. He picked it up, twirling it between his fingers. "…What's this for?"

Ino rolled her eyes, as if the answer was obvious. "Well you're going to need it. Let's face it Shikamaru, you're awful with girls. I couldn't think of a single person who would ever in a million years want to date you, so I think you need all the help you can get. A single red rose in full bloom is the simplest way of telling someone 'I love you'. It's basically the equivalent of giving your heart to someone! Totally romantic."

He still wasn't getting it, she could tell. "So, one day when you actually fall in love with some girl, give that to her. And then when you get married and you're super happy you'd better thank me!" With that, Ino frowned, kicked Shikamaru in the side and huffed off.

"… Bitch." Shikamaru mumbled, dropping the rose and clutching his side. Chouji looked on in silence; never had he seen two people who were quite so perfect for each as just then.

Thirteen years later, Shikamaru pulled that same rose out of his jacket pocket. For some reason he couldn't explain at the time, he had brought the flower home and pressed it gently between two large books, forever preserving it. After such a long time it was, admittedly, worn down and brittle, but Shikamaru handled it with gentle hands.

Leaning down, he gingerly placed the rose on top of the mound of dirt in front of Ino's grave.

It had always belonged to her anyway.


prompt was: death.