Section 14: Two Kids, Two Confessions

Ino rakes at the ground, trying to hold herself in place screaming, "No! Stop Choji! Not now!" Choji has her leg in his arm, and is dragging her in the direction of Shikamaru's house.

"Why not tell him now?" he said, releasing her.

She stood up and dusted herself off. She looked at him angrily waving her fist, "...because I don't want to tell him how I feel!!"

"...Tell who, how you feel?" Both Choji and Ino peer over to where the question came from. They see Shikamaru standing there with a puzzled look on his face.

Ino lashes back in fear, "AHHH!" She started waving her hands around with her eyes closed and sweat running down her forehead, "No one! No one! I'm just talking about... uh..."

Shikamaru just closes his eyes and sighs, "...it's ok, never mind." He starts walking away, with his eye twitching in emotional leaking. "Forget this crap. It'd never happen anyways. She was probably going to try with that Sasuke again anyways. My confessions mean nothing when he's brought into the picture." Ino looks back at the departing Shikamaru with a teary look of concern.

"Wait... don't go..." She clinched her fit trying to force the words out. "WAIT!"

Shikamaru opened his eyes, slightly surprised. He turned back around with a questionable face. "What now..."

She jogged up to him thinking, "What the hell are you doing! You don't know what to say to him! Are you crazy?!" She kept approaching him anyways, until her feet became tangled from her lack of focus. She fell forward, and found herself landing into Shikamaru's shocked arms.

The two locked eyes for a short moment, then both turned away from each other nervously. Both were blushed and sweating profusely from that little moment, while Choji sat in the background.

He leaned against a wall, and looked thoroughly entertained as he ate his bag of trail mix. "Oh, this is good stuff... It's fun to see those two reeling from each other." He though, smiling with food lodged in his mouth.

Shikamaru remained silent, scratching the area behind his head and under his ponytail nervously. "C'mon Shikamaru, this never happens to you. You always know what to do! Humph... girls really are a man's weakness... I see now, dad."

"Shikamaru..." Ino murmured lightly. Shikamaru turned around curiously. "I... I really like you..." she forced out, with her eyes teary and closed in fear.

Shikamaru's face went blank with shock, "You... do?" He looked at her palely, "Crap, I feel so damn weak now. I can hardly stand up! This is crazy!"

"I'm sorry... for always talking about Sasuke all the time and always making you feel badly when I defend him..."

He regained his typical Shikamaru self and said, "Well why don't you go and tell him how you feel then, and not me."

She got teary-eyed, "...because..."

He looked at her a little heartlessly and told her snidely, "Because what? I thought you were in love with him? Well?"

"I LOVE YOU... I love you... that's..." Ino collapsed to the ground sobbing, "...why." She broke out crying while she knelt on the ground in front of Shikamaru. He looked down and felt a stabbing pain in his chest.

"What'd you do to her? Why is she crying so much? Why don't you do something?" Shikamaru froze up for a moment in hesitation. "...and why the hell does my chest hurt so much, I feel so damn... terrible." When he regained himself, he knelt down to Ino at eye level. "I'm... sorry. I didn't mean to be so harsh."

Ino looked up at Shikamaru with the leftover tears still in her eyes. "You don't hate me still?" He looked at her slightly confused.

"I... never... hated you. Phew, you're one terrible liar."

She lashed out, "You always hated me, don't lie." As more tears rolled from her eyes, "Everyone has always found me annoying, even my own friends!"

Shikamaru's eyes looked compassionate at first, but then bent downward in an irritated fashion. "Damn' it, do girls ever listen to what anyone says? Or do they like to whine and not give a man a chance to speak?" Shikamaru lashed his finger back towards himself, "How about you give me a chance and... LISTEN to me!"

Ino retreated slightly from Shikamaru and his spite. "S...sorry."

Closing his eyes and sighing, he remained silent without a word. "Girls are too much. This really sucks that I..." looking towards Ino's awaiting eyes,"happen to like this one." He sighs again despondently. "I guess it's inevitable."

Ino blinks rapidly and confused, "...huh? What is?"

Shikamaru tilts his head to the side with his eyes shut, "What I'm going to tell you." He opens his eyes, and locks them with Ino's. She stares back blankly, without moving much. A small smirk manifests onto Shikamaru's face, as he lifted up his arm to his right.

He reached forward giving her a small and harmless push, "I like you, Ino. You know that?"

Ino looks back, slightly confused. "...what do you mean by that...? Please... be what I hope."

"Damn it, you idiot. Why'd you have to go and tell her? Should have kept your mouth shut." Sweat began to rise from the skin all over his face, and his complexion became reddened. "Well, you're one of the few girls I can tolerate... I guess."

She slumped down in disappointment, "Figured it was something like that..."

Choji jumped up between them with a huge smile on his face. Holding up his pinky, "Are you guys this yet!?" Shikamaru glares at Choji without turning his head and huffs in annoyance. Without saying a word, he walks down the street with his hands crossed.

Ino stomps on the ground in irritation. "Damn it! What happened...? Why didn't things work out...?"