There's no Neji or TenTen in this chapter, but it does advance the story. As always, Naruto is not mine.
Chapter Six
For Ino, today had been unusually stressful. Asuma-sensei had her and Chouji out training all day with some new kid who'd be reassigned to their squad in preparation for the Chuunin exam. She took an immediate dislike to the boy and hadn't even bothered to learn his name. She knew one thing right off the bat though, he was no Shikamaru. He was talented and seemed like a hard worker, but his enthusiasm and opposition to her authority made her miss Shikamaru all the more.
She got cross instantly when she thought of that. "Why would I miss that lazy good-for-nothing baka who's probably at home sleeping while I'm busting my but training all day?"
A few passerbys looked at her strangely, but she continued to carry on her conversation with herself, completely oblivious to their stares.
"He is a lot smarter than the new kid although he likes to pretend that he isn't. Why did they split us up in the first place?"
Why were Ino's thoughts so Shikamaru-centric? Well, it so happened that she was on her way to see him.
Ino clenched her fist. "If he makes just one rude comment about how I look I swear I'll kill him."
Luckily for Shikamaru he was out running an errand for his mother and he spared Ino the trouble of looking for him. She spotted him across the street and waved. "Shikamaru!"
The boy groaned. He had been looking forward to a relaxing evening. Sighing, he crossed the street to where she was standing. "Hi Ino." He said half-heartedly.
"Hi Ino?" She echoed. "Don't you think you could be a little more enthusiastic? I mean, we haven't seen each other in weeks."
"It hasn't been that long."
"What's that supposed to mean?" She glowered at the boy.
"Nothing." He avoided her penetrating stare.
She slipped her hand into his. "We should talk."
"Now?" He tried not to think of how soft her hand felt in his.
"Yes now."
Shikamaru held up the bag of vegetables he was holding in his other hand. "But my Mom needs these for dinner."
"It'll just be for a little while, I promise. Please?"
Arguing with Ino was so troublesome. Most of the time it was best to let her have her own way. And so he did. He allowed himself to be dragged through the streets by the bossy blonde.
The pain finally stopped moving outside a small restaurant with outdoor seating. Ino flopped down in one of the chairs and motioned for him to do the same.
As soon as he made the mistake of sitting down Ino began to let out all of her pent-up feelings.
"Asuma-sensei is as aggravating as always, especially when we go on missions. If he isn't going to help us out then why is he even there?"
Shikamaru signaled the waiter to bring them some water. He might as well get comfortable.
"…And Chouji's so disagreeable when you're not there to put him in his place. All he does is eat and he hardly even tries anymore. It's like he doesn't even care. I hardly know this new guy, but I'm positive I hate him. It's just not fair that they broke up Ino Shika Chou. Why did you have to make Chuunin without us?"
"It's not like I wanted to be a chuunin." He complained.
"And I never get to see Sasuke-kun anymore. How am I supposed to beat Sakura for his love if we never even see each other?"
Shikamaru groaned. "Why are you talking about him?"
Ino suddenly stopped talking. "What?"
"You inconvenienced me by bringing me all the way out here and you're going to talk about some other guy."
"You never said anything before."
"Before I had to see you every day."
"You don't like seeing me every day?" Ino looked like she was almost on the verge of tears.
Shikamaru scratched his head. Why was she doing this to him? "I guess…I miss you sometimes…even when I'm going to sleep. But it hasn't been that long and we don't have to be strangers. I mean…our dads know each other…and we don't live that far apart, so…yeah."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Ino jumped up from his chair and hugged him around the shoulders. "Just make sure you don't get sent away for years and years, otherwise I'll hunt you down and kill you."
"I won't forget that."
At that moment three young men came and sat two tables to their left. Shikamaru would've completely ignored their conversation if one of them hadn't complimented him on his cute girlfriend.
Ino had gotten angry at the older genin's lewd comment and probably would've fought with them had he not been restraining her.
Ino was ranting again, but he wasn't paying attention to her, instead he was trying to eavesdrop on the older genin inconspicuously.
"I just think we should really push our sensei to get us a mission out of Konoha. It's just not safe to be here right now. The jounin are all over the place and I hear that Neji kid is out for blood."
The second boy scoffed at the first. "Quit being so paranoid. No one knows what happened but us. Forget the jounin. We made sure there wouldn't be a shred of evidence for them to find."
The third boy spoke up. "We had our fun and it can't be traced back to us. They're going to give up on the investigation soon."
The second boy drummed his fingers on the table. "Besides, don't forget that Neji is the reason we did this in the first place. You know how stupid we looked? Three big seventeen-year-olds getting their scroll of Heaven stolen by a single thirteen-year-old punk." He kicked the chair his hesitant friend was sitting on to emphasize his point. "And that stupid girl just stood in the tree the whole time, smirking at us. Felt damn good to wipe that smirk off her lips."
"What if we get caught?"
"That's not possible." The second boy said. "The only way we can get caught is if one of us squeals. And whoever's dumb enough to do that won't ever make the same mistake."
Shikamaru swiveled slightly in his seat to get a better look at the boys. The three of them were dressed identically in black pants and shirts, and wore masks and bandages to cover every patch of skin on their bodies. No wonder the jounin were having a hell of a time finding them. Even if TenTen had seen them she'd have nothing to identify these boys by.
"Are you even listening to me?" Ino questioned.
"Shh." He held a finger over his lips.
"What's so interesting about them?"
"I think those are the guys that raped TenTen."
Ino's cerulean eyes widened. "What are we going to do?"
"I'm going to go home and help my Mom make dinner." Shikamaru stood up from the table. "I should walk you home. It's already starting to get dark."
Ino jumped up and hissed at him. "You're not going to stand up to them?"
"I'm not looking for a fight Ino. I'll tell Dad about it when I get home and maybe he can do something."
"I can't believe you just let them hit on me and aren't going to do anything."
Shikamaru stuck his hands in his pockets and began shuffling towards Ino's home. "Why should I care? It's not like I'm your boyfriend or anything."
Ino huffed. "With that attitude, I can see why no girl would go out with you. I bet Sasuke-kun would never…" She trailed off at her friends death glare. "I'm sorry for bringing him up. I guess I forgot."
He rolled his eyes and kept walking. He knew for a fact that he'd never figure out girls, but he wasn't interested in learning about all girls…just Ino. There were so many things about her he didn't get, like why she was so loyal to Sasuke. And even though she was so infatuated with him she never failed to rub in Sakura's face the fact that he was the only one of them to make Chuunin. Then there were the more aggravating habits of hers, like why she insisted on filling every silence with mindless chatter. Even now she was prattling on about something he was sure he wasn't interested in.
"And that Naruto, I swear one of these days I'm going to choke him to death."
Okay, that was sort of interesting. Another thing he noticed was that when she was nervous she talked way too much. Then again, when things were normal she talked too much for his liking. Maybe she talked too much to make up for his lack of interest in talking. Who knew? Of course, it didn't change the fact that he was more than intrigued by her and loved the sound of her voice.
"Shikamaru?" She reached behind her and her fingers brushed against his. "Are you listening?"
"Yeah. You were complaining about squad seven."
She groaned. "You weren't listening at all."
"Sorry." He took a risk and intertwined her fingers with his.
She stopped walking and leaned into his chest. "Are you scared too?"
He avoided answering her question. "You're almost home Ino."
"Oh." She resumed walking, dragging him behind her.
He sighed. "I'll never let anyone hurt you. I swear." He let go of her hand in front of her door. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight." She kissed him on his cheek and disappeared behind her front door.
He smiled and began walking to his house. He would tell his father everything he saw and heard in the morning.
