Chapter 2

"I'm tired. Can we take a rest by this stream? It's too hot out here to do anything more," Ino whined. Shikamaru stopped and looked back at her. Ino did look tired. Her shoulders sagged with the weight of her pack and her dress was soaked with sweat. He glanced at the sun and saw that it was about 4:00pm. Six hours of walking had started to take a toll on his feet as well. He dropped his pack and sighed.

"Yeah, this is probably far enough. Asuma didn't say how far West we had to go."

He sat down on the ground and slipped off his sandals.

"Go over there and keep your back turned away. I need to cool off," Ino commanded, pointing to a clump of trees away from the stream. "Don't let me catch you peeking," she warned, giving him a look.

"Like I would want to look...." He mumbled to himself, dragging his stuff away, complying with her orders.

He sat down, back facing Ino, and rested his head on his knees. He could hear her splashing in the water. It was hot. A nice dip in the stream would feel good, he thought.

Half and hour later, Ino trotted over to him. "Okay I'm done."

"Good, my turn."

"I won't look."

"I don't care if you look or not." Shikamaru said has he headed for the cool water.

Ino pulled out a mirror and began fixing her hair. Shikamaru's reflection caught her eye. She watched as he peeled off his mesh shirt, revealing his smooth back muscles. He looks stronger, she thought. She watched him stretch then kneel down to cup some water in his hands and splash it over his face. Has he been training in his spare time? That seems very unlike him. Lost in thought she was startled to see him staring at her in the mirror. Embarrassed she put the mirror down and turned her head away.

Shikamaru grinned, " You couldn't help yourself, could you?"

"I wasn't looking...." She protested.

"Whatever." He shrugged. "We should probably set up camp."

Ino watched as he unpacked a tent and began setting it up. She rummaged through her things looking for some lotion and a nail file.

In no time the tent was up. Shikamaru grabbed his stuff and tossed it into the tent.

"Ugh!!" Ino got up and marched over to the tent pulled his stuff back out, dumping it on the ground. "I will be sleeping in here....ALONE."

"Oh...yeah," he replied sheepishly. "I forgot that I only brought one tent."

He looked around. "Uhh..we probably need some firewood to start a fire, but don't bother I can get it."

"No, I'll go get some," Ino jumped up. "I'm not completely helpless."

"But, we'll need a lot. It could be heavy."

Ino shot him a look. "I can do it. I'm not weak like Sakura you know."

He shrugged and crossed his arms. Ino stomped off into the woods, only to return five minutes later lugging a huge log. Shikamaru's eyes opened in surprise. Geez, no need to strain yourself over firewood, he thought to himself. She took a few more steps toward him before the log slipped out of her hands and she fell to the ground. He jumped up to try and catch her, but she ended up scraping her knee on the log.

"OOWWWW!!!"

"That was too big for you to carry, Ino." She glared at him, tears forming in her eyes.

"I was just trying to be helpful," she mumbled through clenched teeth.

"I know, I know," he glanced down at her knee. Blood began to surface around the scrape. He bent down to examine her knee, "Let's see how bad it is." She clutched her leg in pain.

"Wait here." He got up and went into the woods, returning momentarily with a plant root.

He poured water on a cloth and gently cleaned her wound. She watched in astonishment at his careful movements. He crushed the root in his palm and made a paste which he spread on the scrape then wrapped a clean bandage around her leg. Tying it off, he leaned down and kissed her knee. She blushed, shocked at his unexpected action. He looked up at her and blushed too.

"It's...uhh...it's something my mom used to do whenever I got hurt." He looked away, unable to believe what he just did. "Sorry, it was like a reflex....." he trailed off.

"Thank you, Shikamaru," she said quietly.

"Sure." He rubbed the back of his head. "You hungry?" he said holding up a pack of ramen.

"Sure," she smiled warmly at him, causing him to blush again.