"You know, you are drinking an awful lot tonight, Shikamaru."
His friend stared over his shoulder – the darker-haired man waved at the bartender. "Another cup of scotch, on the rocks."
"Don't ignore me." Akimichi Chouji raised an eyebrow, putting a firm, large hand on his shoulder in concern.
Shikamaru gently pushed his hand away. "Let me be, Chouji." He emptied the cup before him, slamming it onto the bar.
"Is it about Ino?" Chouji held his cup in hand and swirled.
Through the glass, he saw his friend – as if a heavy weight was placed on his back. Shikamaru said nothing and downed another cup, signaling the bartender to repeat his order.
Shikamaru stared at the empty glass – the memories of the night before floated amidst his messy trail of thought …
She was slumping against the wall; next to her was a few beer bottles.
Her long platinum ponytail remained in place, her sky blue eyes darting to and fro. A tiny, drunk smile hanging on her face with her glossed lip.
Ino was never a good drinker – her limit was much less than what she thought she could drink.
But a few beers would not be able to knock the Bush Clover out - he knew that all too well.
"You were not drunk," he said, staring down at her.
"I am a little tipsy," she replied in somewhat stirred words. "Can still make conversation." She raised an 'okay' sign with her fingers, giggling.
"Let's get you home," he crouched down and slung her arm over his shoulder, helping her up. "You are a mess."
"Wait, I need to use the bathroom," she pointed her perfectly manicured finger at his door. "Besides, I need to talk to you."
He sighed, and opened the door to his apartment.
Escorting her to the bathroom, he gently shut the door as she walked inside.
He fished a packet of cigarettes out of his pocket, and lit a cigarette.
Ino emerged from the washroom and slumped onto the spot next to him as he blew the first puff of cigarette smoke out of his mouth.
"You wanted to talk to me?" Shikamaru arched an eyebrow.
"You are no fun when you're sober, Shikamaru."
"I can't be drunk all the time." He sighed. "Well, I wish I could, but no I can't."
She giggled a little and then sighed"Yeah." Ino leaned onto his shoulder, he did not flinch. "You know, I saw Sasuke today."
"Sasuke, huh?"
Sasuke was that someone Ino has always loved.
For a long time, Shikamaru wanted to be Sasuke. Simply because Sasuke was the one Ino loved, and he wanted to be that someone.
No one was at Sasuke's level, to Ino, he was the Prince in shining armour.
She even fell apart with her best friend Sakura over the guy.
And of course she was heart broken when Sasuke left the country without a word for further studies.
"So he came back from Oto?"
"Yeah. I heard that he was working freelance now." Ino looked saddened, staring at the far corner of his living room.
All this time, she had been waiting for him.
In some way, he had copied from her - both of them waiting for someone who would never truly be theirs.
Shikamaru felt sorry for her - just as he felt sorry for himself.
"So you are going to go after him?"
"Of course I would, I am sure that he is the one." Blunt determination laced her voice.
"What about that pale-face guy?"
"You mean Sai? We flirted, please. That's all." Ino smiled with a wave of dismissal, something was strange – her eyelids fluttered more than they should, her voice shook a little.
They remained silent for a while. Shikamaru breathed another mouthful of smoke.
The mint-scented smog emerged from his nostrils and gaps of his mouth.
"You have been waiting all these years haven't you, Shikamaru?"
Shikamaru extinguished his cigarette after inhaling from the white rod, and sighed deeply.
The last puff of smoke escaped his lips.
"I have." There was no anger, no sadness. He was just putting the truth to her face.
He did wait for her - all those years in high school and college.
"Won't you hate me for all that wait?" Ino frowned as she stared at Shikamaru.
"I tried, but I couldn't." He sighed. "It is impossible to hate someone you care for."
"Damn it Shikamaru, why can't I just love you?" Ino sat up and rubbed her forehead.
"Tch, if you could you would have done it already." He was surprised by himself – a few months ago he would not be able to say something like that – instead he would have said "go ahead and try, I don't care if you fail, just love me." – something like that.
"If only things aren't as troublesome as that." Shikamaru sighed again. Another blonde came into his mind - the sassier, curvier one, her hands on her hips, lips slightly pouting, glaring at him with emerald like eyes...
"Ha." She said, slumping back onto the couch.
Shikamaru smiled, he knew, after all these years, that look on her face.
"You are torn between Sasuke and Sai, the other guy." It was not a question, but a statement.
He looked into her bright blue eyes, waiting for an answer.
Those glassy looking eyes pondered, a rim of transparent tears began to well at the edges of Ino's eyes.
She raised her head and breathed deeply. "Nope, I am not going to ruin my mascara." Then her perplexed expression burst into a laugh.
"I don't want to make the wrong choice."
"I mean you can't be wrong, if you like Sai, go ahead."
"I am not sure how Sai feels though, I mean, what if he does not think the same way I do?"
"How would you know without trying?" Shikamaru shrugged.
"What would you do Shikamaru?" She turned and stared deep into his eyes.
That question stopped him right in the tracks.
Only at that moment he realized he faced the same question.
Ino and Temari.
What if one day Ino suddenly changed her mind and told him that she loved him?
Should he go after Temari?
He knew that Temari liked him, and he liked her.
But what if he missed Ino, and then screwed up with Temari?
What if …
"I will try to get over Sasuke," Ino decided, with a smile on her face. "And I will see how it turns out with Sai."
Shikamaru nodded, standing up. "Let's get you home. You still living at the suburbs?"
Ino nodded with a smile.
"Shikamaru?" Chouji pushed Shikamaru on the shoulder gently.
He shook himself and stared at Chouji's small eyes, welling with concern and worry.
"I screwed up big time, Chouji." Shikamaru attempted to stand up. "How troublesome."
Chouji managed to catch him before he fell onto the floor.
"You are wasted." Chouji glanced at the clock. "And it's only nine."
"Get me home, Chouji." He murmured, before everything turned dark.
"You know Shikamaru?"Ino said, as their car exited the tunnel.
"Huh?"
"Sometimes, you have to stumble on some wrong paths to get to the right one." She muttered. "Sometimes, what you think is wrong, may be the right one after all."
"If you put it that way, I suppose."
Ino said nothing, her eyelids were shut tight as he drove.
Her father thanked him as he passed his daughter straight back into his arms – still in one piece.
"Sorry for that, Shikamaru. Ino is a heap of trouble." Her father, Inoichi apologized.
"No problem, uncle Inoichi," he smiled at the older man. "It's not like I can dump her outside my door and do nothing."
"I mean more than that, I knew what that girl has done to you."
Shikamaru said nothing. His smile faded a little.
"Her love was blunt, and she took advantage of your affection towards her…"
"It is all in the past now." He said softly. "We are still perfectly good friends, no matter what. We grew up together, nothing can replace that."
Inoichi frowned, with an embarrassed smile on his face. "Right."
"If that's all, I would go home now, it's almost 3am in the morning."
"Sure, send my regards to your father, tell him that we would soon meet up."
"No problem, good night."
Shikamaru sighed deeply, lighting a cigarette as he treaded away from the door of the Yamanaka residence.
In the past, he said.
Well, while there was no point indulging in the past – his present was nothing to be fond of.
He thought of driving to Temari's place – but given the fact that she was probably sleeping, he decided against that idea.
He went home instead, falling asleep right after his shower.
And as usual, he overslept.
Only managed to get to the airport so that he could miss the sight of her.
Perhaps it was not meant to be.
Perhaps she was the right person, but it was not the right time.
Perhaps he should let her go.
She sighed deeply as she slumped onto the large caramel coloured sofa.
"You looked tired, and you are not as half as annoying at dinner." Kankuro suggested. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." Temari flashed a tired smile.
His other brother – a smaller, red-haired man stared at her with his turqoise teal eyes. "Something tells me," he began, slowly. "Something happened to you in Konoha."
"Yea, about that." Temari bit her lip. "I don't have to go back that soon, right?"
"You are supposed to go back two weeks from now," Gaara replied. "If you don't want to go, I can send Kankuro."
"That'd be great." Temari smiled at her little brother. "I need to check the files in Suna, and follow up on that new education project."
"Sure thing." Gaara nodded. "I might visit Konoha later myself, want to meet an old friend of mine."
"That blonde guy?" Kankuro arched an eyebrow, shaking his head. "Too loud for my taste."
Gaara nodded. "He is loud."
Temari smiled, something has changed from Gaara's normal cold expression. "He might be loud, but he sure is cheerful and motivational."
A tiny arch appeared on Gaara's face, he raised a hand and touched his tattoo on his forehead – the character 'love' in red ink.
"Right." He said softly. "If that is the case, you could swap places with Kankuro for the time being. I need some help with that education project too."
"Yeah, I need to go hang out somewhere, the desert can be boring sometimes."
"No problem," she gave her brothers a warm smile.
Temari returned to her room, and took the book she bought at the Konoha airport.
She flipped the book open, at the page where she placed a bookmark.
She sat on her bed, her eyes fixated at that sentence.
Sometimes you need to be distanced from things that you wish for – that way you would know whether what you are waiting for is your heart's true desire.
"Let's see if that is true."
She muttered, as she placed the book at her bedside table, trying to find solace in the dark as she closed her eyes.
Author's note:
New chapter! Finally you know what happened between Shikamaru and Ino.
Now, aren't you excited about what would happen to both of them? I am excited too, let's hope I finish the next chapter ASAP.
Meanwhile, enjoy this chapter! Read and review! xoxo
V.S.V