There was a handwritten sign on the door of Yamanaka Flowers:
Closed for lunch. Back soon x
Sakura and Ino were having one of their regular lunch dates. Now that they were both so busy with their studies and missions, not to mention their day jobs, the pair of old friends had to make a real effort to make time for each other, squeezing conversations into the cracks of their lives. They went to a tea room down the road from Ino's florist and shared a small plate of dumplings with a pot of aromatic tea.
Sakura didn't have much news – it felt like nothing interesting ever happened to her anymore, now that she had a steady job at the hospital and was in a secure relationship with Shikamaru – but she enjoyed listening to the stories that her friend had to tell. Ino was dating, and Sakura was living vicariously through her friend's adventures. She loved to hear about Ino's strange taste in men and her first dates going wrong. Ino would get very excited about a guy for a while, then wouldn't remember his name the next week.
"I don't know where I'm going wrong," Ino told her friend, dipping a fresh gyoza into chilli sauce. "Every time I think it's going well, they turn out to be a creep."
Sakura sipped her tea. "Didn't it go well with that guy from the Hidden Mist last week? I thought you liked him?"
"He was alright," she shrugged. "But he had clammy hands and he was a terrible kisser."
"Did you sleep with him?"
"No! If he has no rhythm making out, he's not gonna be any good in bed." Ino sighed. "I'm sick of the disappointment. What I wouldn't give for just one satisfying night to keep me going."
Sakura was grateful that she didn't share her friend's problems. Dating sounded like fun, but a lot of work. She felt lucky to be satisfied in her own relationship. "You should have a go on Shikamaru. He's good."
Ino spluttered on her tea. "Ew! Don't say that – he's like a brother to me."
"If you're sure. Your loss." She helped herself to another dumpling.
"Anyway, you don't even know if he's really that good. You have no one to compare him to."
It was true – she had never been brave enough to chase after the kind of experiences that Ino did. She had only ever been with Shikamaru. "Maybe that's why it works so well - I have him trained just how I like him. You don't get to teach them what you like when it's casual."
"So now you're bored of him and trying to palm him off on me instead?"
"Not at all," Sakura protested. "He'd still be mine. You could try him, but I'd be there too."
"I always knew you were secretly into girls, Sakura."
Ino didn't think much of the conversation at first. Not until she next saw Shikamaru and remembered what Sakura had said. She had known him for so long… it had been strange enough when he and Sakura first got together - Ino struggled to see him as a sexual being at all. Not when she still saw him as the same mopey, lazy kid she went to the academy with, before Team Ten was even formed. But she guessed he wasn't that kid anymore. All of them had grown up so much since then. And apparently Shikamaru had grown up into a lover. But Sakura couldn't have been serious with her offer, could she?
Shikamaru and his girlfriend both still lived in their respective family homes. They got on well with each other's families, but it wasn't always an ideal situation when they wanted to be alone. To solve the problem of privacy, the couple spent a lot of time in the Nara's summer house – a cabin by the forest behind their main compound, with a large porch and just enough room inside for the two of them to relax together without risk of interruption.
She was sat on the porch now, waiting for him to finish making hot chocolate over the fire out front. They were mostly hidden from the main house by trees, with a view through an open, grassy area of woodland before the grounds condensed into thick forest. He gave the chocolate a final stir and poured it into two cups, then passed one of them to her and sat by her side, putting an arm over her shoulder.
"Shikamaru?" she began. The chocolate was sweet on her tongue. "Do you ever think about… other women?"
A ripple of nerves immediately flowed through Shikamaru. This felt like a trap. "Do I not make you feel secure in our relationship, Sakura?" He spoke carefully. "You know I don't want anyone else, don't you?"
"Oh no, I didn't mean that at all! I meant… inviting other women to join us."
This wasn't a conversation he ever anticipated happening. He had been on the wrong end of Sakura's temper before. He would have to tread carefully.
"Have you?" He asked her.
"Maybe."
"So… are you asking me for an open relationship?"
Sakura took a deep breath. She was avoiding looking at him directly in the eye, instead looking out into the forest as she warmed her hands around her cup of hot chocolate. "Not exactly. Just maybe a one time thing, maybe an arrangement. I've never been with another girl before. I thought you'd like to be there if that could happen."
"That's a very big question, Sakura. I have enough trouble handling you, I think two at once might kill me," he joked. "And it's not like you'd find anyone to agree to it."
"What about Ino?"
"Ino?" he spluttered. "Don't say that, she's like a sister to me."
Sakura put a hand on his thigh and squeezed. "Just think about it."
Shikamaru knew better than to go against Sakura's wishes and when she asked him to think about her proposition, he dutifully – day and night - thought of nothing else. It had never occurred to him to look at other women since he'd been with her but now that he had permission, it was a like a whole other aspect of his own sexuality had been ignited. The world felt full of possibility: adventures waiting to be had, women waiting to be experienced. Even how he viewed Sakura was different. She told him she had been nervous that telling him about her fantasies would make him distance himself from her or lose respect for her. But the reality was quite the opposite – she had never been more attractive to him. They could be going about their day and he'd suddenly be reminded about her secret urges and would want to take her then and there. When they were alone together, it turned him on to know that there were so many sexual experiences for them yet to enjoy, and that she was eager to explore. Even the Hokage had noticed that his head wasn't in the game, asking him what on earth could be so distracting from his duties.
The only hurdle was Ino. He had spent so much of his life not really seeing his female squadmate as a woman, and suddenly he had no idea how he had been so blind to her long legs and slim waist and hair long enough to wrap around his fist. While he knew that Sakura and Ino were very close and physically comfortable with each other, he couldn't believe that she might agree to be with him. Would it not be awkward? Could it change things between them forever?
He didn't know how she had done it, but somehow Sakura had convinced Ino to come on a date with the two of them. She had explained it to him as a no-pressure deal: "if it's weird then we all go home and never speak of it again. If it's hot then we can see where the night goes. And never speak of it again. Full discretion." But when it came to the crunch, Shikamaru was still a little reserved to the idea. He still didn't believe that Ino might actually be attracted to him, or that Sakura wouldn't scold both of them with jealousy if she was.
Once they were into the evening though, it felt good. They went for barbecue and the atmosphere was healthy. The three of them all knew each other so well that conversation flowed easily. I felt like they were just out as friends.
That was until Sakura began to break the contact barrier with Ino. Just her hand on her thigh at first. Then tucking her hair behind her ear. They were small signals that anyone else looking in wouldn't have picked up on. But for the four of them (Shikamaru, Sakura, Ino, and the elephant in the room) it meant the start of something.
When Sakura went to the bathroom, Shikamaru took the opportunity to see how Ino really felt about the whole thing.
"So, how did you end up getting roped into this?" He asked her. She was playing with her hair, running the length of it between her fingers.
"Sakura can be very persuasive."
Shikamaru laughed. "Don't I know it. So what do you think?"
Ino looked him up and down, narrowing her eyes a little. She wasn't quite smiling, but there was intrigue in her expression. "I'm not sure yet."
Could that have been a hint for him to back off and give her more time to think? Or a challenge for him to convince her? Shikamaru had always been able to think ten steps ahead in combat but dealing with women wasn't so simple. He knew what move he wanted to make… But this was no game of shogi. The risks were greater but so too, possibly, were the rewards. It wouldn't be behind Sakura's back – this whole thing had been her idea. And wasn't the whole point of coming out tonight to find out how physically comfortable with each other they were? There was something that he and Ino needed to try, just the two of them.
"Can I kiss you, Ino?"
His heart skipped a beat for a moment when she didn't react and he wondered if he might have gone too far. But after thinking about it for a moment, her eyes flicking to his mouth and back to his eye contact, her face broke into a small smile and she nodded slowly.
"I guess that's a good place to start."
He looked around to make sure no one was spying on their booth, then sat beside her, his hip against hers. Their faces hung close together briefly, tasting each other's breath. Shikamaru pushed forwards first, his lips meeting hers slowly and softly at the same moment his hand lifted to brush her jawline. She smelled different to Sakura. Her skin felt different, her tongue moved differently, and his head swam with the possibility of what else he might learn about this kunoichi very soon.
When their faces finally parted, Ino was smiling.
"Yes," she said.
"Yes, what?"
"I think this could be a lot of fun."
Author's Note:
Thanks so much to justsomenobody for working on this idea with me! This will be another two-part smut fic because hey, I'm a tease. Not everyone is going to like this situationship, but Sakura, Shikamaru, and Ino are about to have a great time together so just roll with it.
Cinder x
