Soul Scrolls
Chapter 5
I guess I wasn't quite fashionably late, but I was one of the last guests to arrive anyway. I moved around the crowd with ease, chatting about mundane things, and then moving on to the next group. Honestly, I wasn't really interested in socialising this time around. Instead I had a goal to achieve -- find Shikamaru and apologise for my insensitivity.
"Yo Ino!" I turned around at the familiar voice and smiled sweetly at the birthday boy.
I reached into my bag and handed him his present. "Hope you like it!" I grinned at him, and cheekily pinched his nose. "Happy birthday!"
Rubbing his reddening nose, Choji threw a fake punch at me, and I dodged, laughing good-naturedly.
And stopped, abruptly when I bumped into a lovey-dovey couple. An all-too-familiar couple.
Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura.
"Hello, Ino." Was that a sneer flitting momentarily across her face? Or was that jealousy playing tricks on me? I couldn't tell. Meanwhile, she latched herself onto Sasuke's arm and smiled sweetly at me. Sasuke mumbled a greeting, while avoiding eye contact with me.
I turned around, away from them. Or did they walk away from me? I couldn't tell; the world was spinning around me.
Somehow, I managed to stumble into a chair without breaking anything. The pain of my rejection, previously buried in the depths of my heart, resurfaced with a vengeance. Seeing Sasuke with... with that ugly forehead girl was like peeling off a scab on a wound and then rubbing lots of salt into it.
My chest ached and I clutched at the pain that ate at my heart, my soul, my everything.
"You all right? You look terrible... Shall I send for a doctor?" The familiar, kindly voice of Choji rang out beside me. I looked up into his concerned eyes and shook my head stubbornly. "I'm fine, thanks. Just feeling a little dizzy..." What was meant to sound reassuring came out as a hoarse whisper.
Choji frowned but acceded to my request and offered me a glass of warm water which I accepted gratefully.
Why Sakura? Why her and not me?
The sneer that flitted across Sakura's face replayed again and again in my mind's eye. The initial devastation gradually subsided, and anger swept in to take its place.
The second betrayal. First she betrayed my friendship by returning the ribbon. And then she had to steal Sasuke's heart and caused him to break mine!
I felt like I could burst with resentment right then, but instead I calmed myself down and told myself that I would not spoil Choji's birthday by acting like a brat over my personal matters.
Yet, despite the amiable display I put up, I still boiled within, and instinctively searched for the person I usually shared my woes with -- Shikamaru.
*****
I found him soon enough, near the salad bar, talking to Asuma-sensei. His gaze met mine briefly as he saw me approaching, but averted his eyes before I could call out a greeting.
Anger at Sakura turned to hurt at Shikamaru's cold attitude. Never in my life had I felt this alone before. It would not be fair to Choji if I were to rant to him on his birthday, and Asuma-sensei... Well, he was talking to Shikamaru.
Even though I saw and made small talk with people I knew, like Kiba, Naruto, Neji and Lee, I was simply not as close to them as I was with my teammates. After all, we, as a team, had gone through thick and thin together, laughed at one another's mistakes and ate and gossiped at the same table during mealtimes.
So I hung around the salad bar, slowly filling my bowl with lettuce, chick peas, sauces and whatever else was available, while keeping a sly lookout for my chance to speak to Shikamaru.
"Hey, Ino! Over here!" Asuma-sensei called out and waved at me.
I tried hard not to make my eagerness known as I sauntered over to the duo. "Hi." Shikamaru grunted a reply and looked away.
Asuma-sensei then proceeded to discuss the latest play in town, which he claimed to have watched many years back, when he was around our age. After exhausting his knowledge of the topic about ten minutes later, he looked at his watch and winked at me. "Well, uh, I have to report at headquarters really soon, see you guys around. Oh, and give this to Choji."
He thrust a box with a tiny bow on it, which smelt suspiciously of nicotine and tar, into my hands, and then made haste for the nearest exit.
What a bad influence.
I sighed and stole a glance at Shikamaru, and then for no apparent reason, we burst out into loud guffaws, the tension between the both of us instantaneously.
*****
When the laughter finally subsided, an uncomfortable silence hung between us. I tried to open my mouth that I might apologise to him but somehow, the words would not form on my tongue.
It was quite a while before Shikamaru spoke. "Ino, could I speak to you in private outside?"
Not knowing what else I could do or say, I nodded awkwardly, having a vague idea of what was to come, what he would say and do. These thoughts disturbed me, for I was still not quite ready, not quite recovered from the hurt Sasuke had caused me.
But what else could I do?
Seeing the hesitation in my eyes, Shikamaru gripped my hand firmly and led me outside, in the shade of a maple tree, away from prying eyes.
Even though this sort of scenario occurred often in television dramas, and even though I had prepared myself for this, it still came as a shock when he slammed me roughly against the trunk of the tree, trapping me between him and the tree.
Maple leaves fluttered down in the breeze, having shaken off the boughs of the great tree; stained red by the light of the twilight sun.
My heart jumped wildly in my chest, and I felt my cheeks glow red, not just from the light from the setting sun. Shikamaru moved closer to me, close enough for me to feel the heat radiating from his body, and feel the sharp breaths he took as he drew air into his lungs.
He stared down at me with a gaze that both thrilled and frightened me, and then wrapped his muscular arms around my body. I felt so vulnerable and frail right then, and somehow an inner voice told me that I could trust him to protect me. So I wrapped my arms tentatively around his lean torso, and relished the feeling of being cared for.
When he finally released me from his embrace, I saw that there were tears in his eyes.
"Shikamaru... Oh, I'm so sorry..."
Affected by the change in his mood, tears welled up in my eyes and impulsively I flung my arms around him and sobbed into his shirt.
Very slowly, he reached behind me and gently patted my back soothingly. "Don't cry... I saw what happened... between you and Sakura..." Here he gently pried me off him and held me by my shoulders.
Unsure of what I was to do, I looked down shyly, but he tilted my chin upwards so that I was looking straight into his eyes.
Those eyes...
The ones I used to glare into when we first became teammates...
The very same ones that were always filled with that unbearably complacent look...
The eyes that made him look so bored.
Which were presently filled with such emotion which I simply could not describe.
"Ino... you still have me, you know..." He blushed, his face turning a deep crimson. "Never mind Sasuke... You can come to me anytime when you need help... And I help you even if it is beyond my limits... because..."
He grabbed my hand and squeezed it tight, and as my mind reeled from the shock that Shikamaru could ever utter such... words, he leaned over and shyly planted a kiss on my forehead.
"Because..."
He smiled at me bashfully, unable to go on.
It wasn't that he was crying or anything... It was just because he was Shikamaru that he couldn't (or wouldn't) say those three words that every girl craved to hear.
But that was fine with me; he'd already said so a thousand times with his eyes.
A/n: Whoohoo! Chapter 5 up before CNY, as promised! XD;; Yeah sorry for the long wait; this year's a major exam year for me, so I can't update as often as I would like to, but I'll try my best to write longer chapters without being repetitive =_=;; I really appreciate your support, and keep those reviews coming in ^^;; Love you guys!!
And erm I apologise for the OOC-ness in Sakura and Shikamaru.
As for the next chapter, I hope to post it before my March hols, which means you guys waiting about 1.5 months (Gomen ne!!! ^^;;;)
And in the meantime, Gong Xi Fa Cai and Shen Ti Jian Kang to all you guys who celebrate CNY.
Cheers!