Artheph's Note: Ahh…original poem time! Actually, I've been writing a number of poems recently…mostly for people's birthday cards. Heh. Crysthur says they're good, so that gives me a lot of encouragement. smiles widelyBut I couldn't leave this poem by itself …without NARUTO-FYING it. Pwahaha. So…here we have a ...poem fic then? Anyway, just some hopefully enjoyable Shikamaru/Ino fluff. Enjoy!

Shikamaru/Ino

I'm crazy mad in love with you.

When Ino realized she had never loved Sasuke, she declared to a busy street in Konoha that Sakura could go suck that clinically depressed's face off, and she wouldn't give a damn.

Let me caress your hands with my lips.

Let me run my fingers through your soft hair.

Let me feel your body against my own.

He knew a door had opened. But Shikamaru's a reaction-type of guy. He waits for other people's offensives and then cautiously reacts. So he let Chouji go through first. But when he asked his best friend how their relationship was going, Chouji replied, "She opened the door for someone else."

Maybe Shikamaru didn't take the hint, despite his inordinate amount of intelligence. Or maybe he didn't want to.

I'm crazy mad in love with you.

And when you said you loved me,

Your lips, your eyes, it was all I saw.

Then one day, she boldly strode up to him with a clear goal set in mind. The way she proudly held her head up high; the way her hips swayed when she fearlessly walked. Oh, he loved her. But when she was about to say those very three words, she faltered. She tried, she really did.

Seeing those tears of failure threatening to fall as she opened her mouth to give it one last shot, he stopped her. It was time, he knew. Her eyes had said it all.

"I love you, too."

Everything else was just a blur.

The feel of her arms, her warm breath, her soft lips, her smooth skin. It was all he remembered after that. But it was enough.

I felt tense, I felt free,

I felt wild, I felt at home.

I'm crazy mad in love with you.

And after you said you loved me,

I'd get feverish at the thought of you.

I'd wanna cry, I'd wanna smile when I'd hear your voice.

My heart, it'd flutter when I read your name.

And whenever he saw her again, he felt like he was hit by this suffocating hold that handicapped his sight, hearing, breathing, and reasoning. In that thick, smoky fog that surrounded him, all he could see were her eyes and all he could hear was her voice.

When he told her about it, he thought she would just laugh it off. Instead, she looked at him, her blue eyes serious, and said she felt the exact same way.

I'm crazy mad in love with you.

And you're crazy mad in love with me too.