Yamanaka Ino; 4 Years Later

Age 16

-My Shy Boyfriend-

I sat in a waiting room waiting for the arrival of the Hokage. I had put my name in to be nominated for the jounin exam and now I was only waiting to see if I qualified.

Sasuke sat next to me.

No doubt he had put his name in too and was waiting for the same thing. But he refused to tell me if he had or not.

I knew that he had, I just wanted to hear him say it.

"Come on, Sasuke…" I pushed him playfully. "Tell me…did you ask to enter the Jounin exam?"

He shook his head at me and acted as though there was no more say in the matter. I decided not to push it any further because that's when the door opened. The Hokage was finally going to tell us her choices!

I crossed my fingers just as the Hokage walked out.

However, the Hokage didn't walk out alone.

She was followed by the person who was about as FAR from being the Hokage as possible.

And that was Shikamaru.

The Hokage sat down in a chair and gestured to Shikamaru as he opened up a folded piece of paper.

"The following jounins have been selected to have a try at joining the ranks of special jounin or ANBU." Doesn't apply to me. Doesn't matter. I just wanted to hear the important parts. The parts about people I know.

"…Nara Shikamaru…"

Did Shikamaru put his own name in there? I bet he did.

That's the only explanation to why he was ranked so highly. All of his connections.

Then came the important part!

"The following chuunins have been selected to have a try at joining the ranks of the jounin." He read off some names I didn't know, and then got to some names I did know. "Hyuuga Neji. Aburame Shino."

At least they were people I knew…

I waited and just when I thought Shikamaru was going to read my name and then give me a big thumbs up, he folded the paper up. He didn't even read SASUKE'S name!

"Thank you. If you have not been chosen to compete in the upcoming exams, then don't be discouraged because you have plenty of chances to succeed. And, just because you have been nominated, doesn't mean that you are a new rank."

I hung my head low. I was disappointed. But I guess it wasn't the end of the world.

"You are all dismissed!" the Hokage said casually.

I looked up at Sasuke who was definitely angry. His fists were clenched and he looked as though he were trying not to scream.

Not that he would anyway.

I decided to try and cheer him up.

"Oh, too bad!" I said with a slight laugh. "I put my name in. Oh well!"

Maybe I just won't bring up the fact that I know he put his own name in as well.

We walked outside pretty silently. I didn't really know what to say. The air was really thick.

"How about that Shikamaru?" I said, trying to break the ice. "Pretty cheesy of him to read his own name, don't you think?"

"I don't think he knew it would be there." Sasuke said thoughtfully.

"Maybe." I said. I didn't really care. Shikamaru can do what he wants. I reached my hand out and grabbed his. "So, what should we do for the rest of the day? Train? Go dancing? Both?"

Sasuke looked overwhelmed for a minute.

Maybe I suggested too many things.

It doesn't really matter though. I suggested training and that's what he'd pick.

I don't really feel like training though.

"I don't know…I'd kinda like to train…" he said predictably.

"You ALWAYS want to train!" I told him. "Let's do something else for once."

"I'm not in the mood to go dancing." Sasuke said. As if he ever is. But I felt like bringing it up anyway. In the off chance that he'd say yes.

"Oh, okay." I said looking up in the air to think. Gets my brain flowing. If… brains…flowed that is.

Suddenly, I heard Chouji running and panting so I turned around and faced him.

"Chouji!" I greeted him. I hadn't seen him for a while. "What's up? Where are you running off to?"

"Oh, hey Ino!" he said to me. "Did you get nominated?"

Blah…

"No, not this time." I said with a shrug. Then I thought of the person Chouji probably cared more about. "But guess who did?"

"Shikamaru?" Chouji asked like an excited puppy.

"Yeah!" I told him with a smile. "Sasuke doesn't think he knew it was coming."

I gave Sasuke another little push and grabbed his arm in a loose hug.

"That's funny!" said Chouji. "I was just on my way to see him! I'll make sure to congratulate him!"

"Try not to embarrass him!" I yelled after him. Knowing Shikamaru, he'd be embarrassed anyway.

I began thinking about some more things Sasuke and I could do. What have we done in the past?

Dancing? Training?

No. We've done all that too recently.

What haven't we done for a while?

I suddenly thought back to the days of the academy. Not recent days in the academy but EARLY days in the academy. When me and Sasuke were pretty good friends. We played together all the time. He even drew me a picture of us together which I found a little while ago.

The picture that made me fall in love with him.

Had I really kept it all this time?

I bet he forgot about that picture.

"Hm…" I said out loud to get his attention. "I just thought of what we can do."

"What?" he asked, completely unsuspecting.

"Follow me!" I said, pulling him toward my house. We weren't that far away so it's not like I had to pull him far.

My father was pretty strict about me dating until I was at least eighteen so I had to keep my relationship with Sasuke a secret until then. I hadn't told Sasuke about that yet…I'd tell him when the time was right. Maybe when I was eighteen.

We had to sneak in my bedroom.

"This way!" I said, jumping up into a tree with ninja-like skill. I then jumped into my bedroom window, beckoning for Sasuke to follow.

Of course, it's not like he was graceful about it.

"Shh!" I told him.

He only looked at me innocently. He's so handsome when he acts all innocent. Actually, he's handsome all the time.

But…what was I doing again?

Oh right, the picture.

"Sasuke, I've been wanting to show you this ever since I first fell in love with you after the disaster happened to your clan." I said as I sat on my bed.

Sasuke didn't answer at first. Then he put a hand on his head and felt around for a chair.

"I have to sit down…" he said. His face looked a little pale. Maybe I brought back bad memories!

"Sasuke, are you all right?" I asked him, getting up and going over to make sure he was all right. "I'm sorry I brought up your family. But you really have to see this!"

"I can't…" he said. I did bring up bad memories. But this would cheer him up.

I reached under my bed and pulled the picture out.

I held it up for him to see.

"Look, Sasuke."

He kept his face turned away.

"Sasuke…look."

He opened his eyes and looked at the picture. It was crudely drawn but only because he was young.

He took the picture from me and examined it closely.

"You drew that our first day of school." I told him, giving him the history of it all. "And you gave it to me."

"Is this supposed to be me?" he asked me. As if the Uchiha fan didn't give it away. I nodded with a smile.

He continued looking at it carefully.

"A picture of us." He concluded finally. He looked at me a little skeptically. "You kept it all this time?"

I felt a little embarrassed. But it was too special for me to throw it away. There were so many things about it.

"Yeah…" I said. "It's been a secret. I've always had it. I look at it all the time. I always wondered why you didn't put my last name there either. I know it's because my name is long and hard to spell for someone your age… but I also like to think that you mentally gave me the name 'Uchiha' even at that age."

I hadn't started thinking about that last part until recently. But maybe it's foreshadowing.

"Ino…really." He said slowly. "That's highly unlikely."

"I know." I said as I sat down next to him. This'll mean more later. Maybe I showed it to him too early. "But I can dream, can't I?"

"I guess." He said.

Such a guy.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps!

My father!

"Quick!" I said to Sasuke. "Hide!"

"Hide?" he asked me.

Too slow! I quickly shoved him underneath my bed.

I leapt on top of my bed and tried to act as though I had been there all that time. I hoped Sasuke wouldn't make any noise.

My father opened the door and looked around suspiciously as if I was up to no good. Even though I was.

"Ino, I didn't see you come in." said my father.

"Oh really?" I lied, scratching my head. "I did."

"Well obviously." He said. "Your mother's making dinner. What do you want to have?"

It doesn't matter. Leave.

"Anything's fine." I said. "I'm not that hungry."

"All right then." Said my dad as he left. Fathers always come in at the worst time.

I looked under my bed to see Sasuke covering his mouth after a sneeze.

"Hey!" I greeted him.

"What was that all about?" he asked me. I felt kind of guilty that I never told him.

"I haven't told my parents about you yet." I told him.

I waited for him to crawl out but apparently, he needed to be reminded.

"You going to sit under there all day?" I asked him jokingly.

"Guess not." He said, getting out from under my bed. I kneeled on my bed and he stood next to me.

"I have to go downstairs now." I told him as I grabbed both of his hands.

"I gathered." He said. He never talks much. I played with his hands a bit.

"Sasuke, you're so shy." I admitted to him.

"I've never…been called that before." He told me. Liar. He then started blushing. He was so cute.

"See? You're blushing." I couldn't help it anymore. I gave him a much-deserved kiss for the face he was making. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll be there." He told me.

He makes me so happy.

He went over to my windowsill and jumped to the ground. I waved to him out my window but I don't think he was looking. Just as I turned to go have dinner, I noticed the picture still sitting on my bed.

Maybe I need to get that framed…