A/N: ShikaIno, one-shot. Short and fluffy, just the way I like it. Thank you Ash for beta-ing so wonderfully as usual.
'...' denotes thought.
'A chicken with a lasso...Ino yelling at Chouji...shuriken...Ino yelling at me...' Shikamaru's gaze drifted around the sky as he lay quietly on the lawn just outside the forest. The clouds were floating above him, taking shapes and morphing solely for Shikamaru's amusement.
For some reason unbeknownst to Shikamaru, many of the clouds had an affinity for Ino. He could see only her in the white puffs - and it was irritating him to no end. Ino was nothing but trouble – no, all girls were nothing but trouble. He just went along with whatever she said, as it was too much of a nuisance to try and fight her. Shikamaru sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, hearing her shrill voice in his head.
"I wouldn't want to be in a group with a guy like you."
"Shikamaru, you are so lazy!"
"As long as we're in the same group, you two are going to follow what I say."
"Shikamaru, what are you doing out here? We're supposed to be training!"
Wait. That last one was a lot louder than the others.
Shikamaru opened one of his eyes. Instead of seeing the serene azure of the sky and the calm movement of the clouds, two piercing blue eyes glared at him in annoyance and long blonde hair curtained his face as she leaned over him.
"Ah, Ino. How nice of you to join me."
"Didn't you hear what I said? Asuma wants us to go train now."
"He can wait a little longer. I'm busy."
Ino scoffed and kneeled down on the ground. "Busy staring at the sky? I don't think so. Come on." She grabbed his wrist but as soon as she started to pull, he forcefully pulled back down, causing Ino to fall over his stomach. She shrieked and immediately punched him in the head.
Shikamaru groaned and rubbed the forming bump. "Damn it, Ino, why'd you have to do that?"
Sputtering, Ino blushed. Shikamaru merely smirked and raised his hands and clasped them under his head. Instead of leaving, she laid down next to him.
"What is so interesting about the sky, anyway?"
Shikamaru quickly glanced at her, surprised that she was still there. "The clouds' shapes."
"What about them?"
"You've never named cloud shapes before?"
Ino shook her head, her eyes transfixed on the sky above her. "No."
Shikamaru sighed lightly and pointed skyward. "What does that look like to you?"
Ino squinted. "It looks kind of...like...you."
Shikamaru swallowed. "Yeah, I can see that." He shifted his gaze to another cloud and pointed. "That...looks like you."
"Yeah," Ino breathed.
Shikamaru dropped his hand to his side. His breath caught in his chest when he felt his fingers touch Ino's gently, right next to the soft material of her skirt. His fingers flexed slightly without his control and he silently cursed himself.
Ino's eyes did not stray from the sky. He wondered, panicked, if she even felt his hand next to hers. Their fingers were centimeters away from interlocking. At the rate Shikamaru's fingers were moving, they would be intertwined with Ino's in a matter of seconds.
Then, he felt it. Shikamaru's fingers were not the only ones moving. Ino, with a determined stare at the clouds above her, was moving her fingers ever so slowly to touch Shikamaru's hand. Her fingertips felt hot under his sweaty skin, and he reddened at the thought that Ino could feel his nervousness.
Their palms touched, and each finger locked with another. It was finished and complete. Shikamaru and Ino were holding hands, and neither of them could brush it off as an accident. Neither of them dared to look at each other, or say anything. They merely breathed heavily, their hearts pounding. Shikamaru tried to focus on the clouds, but he could only think of Ino's hand touching his.
"Ino," Shikamaru said finally.
She didn't respond for a moment. "What?" she asked.
"That one," he said, pointing with the hand that was not occupied, "that one looks like us."
And there, directly above them, was a cloud that seemed to mirror the image below it – the two of them, laying in the grass, hands laced.