Ino was fuming. She stomped away from Kiba's house and in the direction of the home she shared with Shikamaru. She still couldn't believe the audacity of Konoha's canine player. That animal had put her in his bed! Did he even consider the fact that she had a husband? He was such a pig! She muttered about a million curses under her breath as she walked down the street, her hands were curled into fists and the dark vibes she was giving off was enough to make the passersby shrink away in fear.
After she had given herself some time to catch her breath and calm herself, she paused for a moment in the street. She pulled her ponytail until it draped over her shoulder. She brought the end up to her nose and sniffed it. His cologne clung desperately to her golden mane and she smiled at the familiar smell.
Last night was nice, she thought dreamily. She replayed as much of last night in her head as she could, although most of the night's events were lost somewhere in the haze of her drunken stupor. Still, she managed to gather up bits and pieces of her memories and one thing that stuck out most was the sound of Kiba's surprisingly charming singing voice.
"I could be him…" The words echoed in Ino's ears and she combed her fingers through her hair absentmindedly. Had he picked that song on purpose? Did it mean something like hers had?
She gulped. Do I want it to?
She blushed, remembering how she had felt Kiba's arms wrap around her and the warmth of his chest. It had felt surprisingly pleasant. It was the first intimate physical contact she had had in months, and waking up in his bed had been refreshing in a way. Everything had smelled like him and, even though she had woken up alone, she didn't feel alone.
She gazed up into the sky, a bird passed overhead. She tried to tell herself she was angry with Kiba, that he was a perverted douche who had tried to take advantage of her. Ino sighed and began walking again, much more calmly this time, lost in thought. Truth be told, Kiba had made her the happiest she had been in a while, and that scared her. This made her angry with herself. She was married. She wasn't supposed to enjoy the bar, or being carried, or waking up in another man's bed.
What would your mother say?
Ino frowned and winced when she felt a strange, painful itch developing somewhere in her cleavage. She hurried into an alleyway and stuck her hand down the front of her shirt, digging in between her boobs and searching for whatever was poking her. Her finger grazed something that felt like flimsy paper. She wrenched it out of her shirt and saw that it was a crumpled up napkin.
Carefully, Ino unfolded it and straightened it out until it mostly resembled its former self. She saw that there was something scrawled across the napkin, she squinted her eyes to read it in the shadows of the alley:
Ino,
Poker will never be the same without you! Hit me up sometime, beautiful!
-Aito
At the bottom of the napkin, Aito had scrawled his phone number.
Ino gawked at the napkin for a moment before slowly breaking out into a smile, which then evolved into flat out laughter. She held her hand over her mouth to mask her giggles but soon gave up and let the laughing fit take over.
Maybe Kiba really does know a thing or two about this love stuff, she thought as she continued her walk home, laughing hysterically along the way. Or maybe he knows a thing or two about me.
Ino had the song from last night stuck in her head. She danced around the living room, clad in only her underwear, humming along to the song in her head. She only opened her mouth to belt out "anklebiters!" every so often.
The noise woke up Shikamaru, who stepped out of their bedroom, his face covered in red marks from where he had lay on his pillow. He yawned and stretched, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. As he began to wake up, he noticed the half-naked, dancing woman in his living room. He watched her for a moment, admiring the curves of her body and the way her ponytail twirled behind her like a streamer.
It took him a moment to realize that this was completely out of character, not to mention just plain weird. "Ino, what are you-"
"Cleaning," Ino replied cheerfully. She bounced passed him and began sweeping, humming to her heart's content.
Shikamaru continued to stare at her as though she had just grown a tail and a third eye. "In your underwear?"
"I had to do laundry. Besides," Ino giggled playfully, winking and wiggling her rump in his direction. "I didn't think you'd mind."
He blushed and looked away quickly. He began to walk away and head towards the kitchen when Ino tugged on his hand, holding him in place long enough for her to plant a kiss on his reddening cheek.
"Good morning, handsome."
Shikamaru gulped and pulled his hand away gently. He rubbed at his neck awkwardly. "Uhm…thanks. Good morning to you too."
Ino beamed at him, turning on her heel, and returning to her chores. Shikamaru watched her carefully, in case she had something else up her sleeve. When he was satisfied that she had lost interest in him, he walked into the dining room and took a seat at the empty table. He scanned over the table top, confused. "Where's breakfast?"
Ino didn't even hesitate. "I already made mine, but there's some toast or cereal if you want to make something."
Shikamaru just stared at her. Not that he minded making his own breakfast, but Ino had always cooked something up for him since they had been married without him even asking. What was going on with her?
"What a drag," he acted like breakfast would be so time consuming. He shuffled over to the fridge, prepared to forage for food. He paused abruptly when he saw a crumpled napkin hung up on the refrigerator. He read I silently to himself before peeling it off of the fridge and walking over to Ino.
"Who is Aito?" Shikamaru demanded, holding the napkin up to her face.
Ino rolled her eyes and shook her head, laughing as she continued to sweep. "Please, Shikamaru, don't get all worked up. He's my poker buddy. I had so much fun last night. I thought I'd like to go out again sometime."
Shikamaru nodded at the napkin. "Is this what you were doing last night?"
Ino stopped cleaning and locked eyes with him. He saw the tranquil rivers in her eyes morph into a raging ocean. There was a hurricane going on in those blue orbs. He shrank back slightly. "Yeah. So?"
He didn't know what to say. A normal husband would be mad, right? "Ino, I was worried sick."
Ino felt her heart skip a beat at his confession. She opened her mouth to apologize to her husband, to say she would never go out again. She would wait for him at home so he would never have to worry about her. But something stopped her. She thought of Kiba and all that he had taught her: guys liked girls with their own agendas. Girls who had confidence. She had to be that girl. She had to stand her ground and show Shikamaru that she could have a life outside of him.
She licked her lips. "Don't be worried, Shika. I can take care of myself. I was just out having fun with friends. I figured you wouldn't be home most of the night anyway. Was I right?"
Shikamaru clenched his jaw and looked away from Ino. He handed the napkin back to her and sighed. Ino figured that she had guessed correctly and that he had been out all night. His reaction must have been a sign of his retreat, hoping that she wouldn't press him with more questions.
"Sorry I got worked up," Shikamaru muttered. "I'm…happy for you. I'm glad you had some fun last night."
Ino let a smirk creep onto her face. "Thanks, Shika. I'll definitely do it again sometime soon."
Shikamaru nodded gravely and walked back into the dining room.
Shikamaru sat back down at the dining room table and watched Ino sweep. The way she held herself was different today. He couldn't tell if it was the sun bathing her in light or the way she smiled and sang as she cleaned, but Ino seemed to be radiating with a new aura. She didn't seem like his wife at all right now. The way her hips swayed as she walked, and how her breasts bounced with every jump and twirl of her ridiculous dance, Shikamaru couldn't help but wonder why it was so hard for him to want her. Was he stupid or something?
Ino bent forward to sweep up the dust into the dustpan. As she straightened herself back up, she felt the heat of someone standing behind her. She peeked over her shoulder and saw that it was Shikamaru, pressing himself up against her.
"Shikamaru, what are you doing?"
She felt his arms snake around her waist. A soft moan escaped from her lips as his fingers trailed along her stomach, reaching up to her ribs and sliding under her bra.
"You look really nice this morning, Ino," he mumbled into her neck.
His hands began to knead her breasts and she gasped at the warmth of them. The dustpan in her hand clattered to the floor, scattering dust and grime everywhere.
"Shikamaru, I-"
He tugged roughly on her nipples, causing her to cry out in a mixture of pain and pleasure. Ignoring her cries, Shikamaru carried Ino away from the broom and dustpan and onto the couch.
Is this really working? Ino couldn't believe it! Kiba was right. She gazed up at Shikamaru through her eye lashes and saw that Shikamaru was undressing himself. Are we finally going to make love?
Shikamaru kneeled onto the couch, fully naked. He inched towards her and Ino saw his chest was heaving with each breath he took. Shikamaru grabbed Ino by her hips and twisted her until she was on all fours. He pulled the crotch of her underwear to the side and began lining himself up to her, pushing against her. His member was begging for entry.
"Shikamaru, maybe we could try missionary this time?" Ino offered hopefully. If this was making love, she wanted to look him in the eyes. More than anything, she wanted to feel like he noticed her, all of her, not just her ass.
"We are already in this position. Let's just go, Ino."
Ino rested her head against the arm of the couch and her nails gripped into the fabric. She wasn't even in the mood at this point, but she figured she might as well let him have his fun. She was his wife, after all. She should want him to be happy, right? Married guys needed a loving wife, right?
She winced and bit her lower lip as he slid into her. The friction from the lack of lubrication was making this extremely uncomfortable.
It's fine, Ino said to herself as Shikamaru began to pull out and plunge back into her. It'll naturally get wetter soon, and then I can just wait for him to finish.
As Shikamaru began to pick up the pace, Ino's mind scrambled to distract her.
She thought of Kiba. She felt mildly guilty, but she had lied to him. She did remember telling him she wanted to go home with him. She remembered how he had offered her the option of him taking her home or her coming home with him. He had let her choose. He had worried more about her than himself. Kiba, her newest friend, seemed to just give and give to Ino. And here was her husband, and all he could do was take.
A/N: I like being honest with you guys, so I appreciate that you are always honest with me. I appreciate the constructive criticism and I will take it to heart and focus on making this story better for my readers. I appreciate any and all reviews. I'm sorry if any parts of my story are confusing or out of character, however, I promise that most questions you have will be answered in later chapters. If, by the end of this whole thing, you are left with unanswered questions or wondering "What the hell did I just waste my time reading?" that is my fault and I will apologize. But I promise I will try my best to give you a damn good tale!
Just a quick thank you to those of you who are keeping up with this story, reading and reviewing. And a major thank you to my good friend, ukrexican17, whose stories 50 Shades of Sand and 50 Reasons Why were so well written that they inspired me to start my own stories. If you haven't already, I implore you to go check those stories out. They're amazing.
