Title: The S stands for...

Genre: Romance

Pairing: ShikaIno

Disclaimer: If i want too much, what is the possibility for me to own them? Let's see... I own Naruto, I own Naruto, I own Naruto, I own Naruto, I own Naruto... Oh, this isn't working... I don't own any part of the Naruto, not even Shika, not even Ino, not even Iruka, not even Kurenai, not even Akamaru, not even the little bug in Shino. T-T

A/N: Hi! This is my first fan-fic so there may be some oocness and faults-you know that kind of things. First of all please forgive me for any wrong stuff I wrote cause beneath the fact that I'm not English I hadn't had the chance to watch the episodes after the fifth.Anyways read & rewiev please :)).

It all started when Ino realized that there is not only one man in the world. There was a man that she wished to be with a lot but now, that they are nearly 20, Ino thought that this will never happen. Not with her any way.

Ino, once talked to Tenten. She often enjoyed her company. Tenten was someone that can understand Ino.

flashback-

"I know how you feel.." Tenten once told to her. "I once, had feelings too. For the one like Sasuke, but much more rude, less caring, more hurtful. Even though he boasts how good his sight is, how is he the best of reading people. He'd been nothing more than a blind for me."

And Ino listened to her, guessing who is the one that Tenten says she once had those feelings but Ino found out that she still had.

"You should tell Neji." Ino suggested.

"What? Tell him what?" Tenten answered as she didn't understand but she was softly blushing as Ino understood who she was talking about..

"Tell him that you still like him.. Maybe he is not that heartless after all."

"I don't know.." Tenten escaped the thought since then.She didn't wanted to know the chances of him loving her back because she knew how would the opposite could be. The humour, the despise, the laugh of his, telling her that her feelings are childish. Tenten did know how he thought of feelings. He hated them, he never allowed feelings to reach him.So she never told him and never let him see clearly.. Not that he tried...

end flashback-

And as Ino thought of this conversation, she smiled at the similarity of her case. But now she had a huge question mark on her head. Ino asked herself a thousand times, 'Is this real?', she wondered how a person could love easily but she realized that one of the two was a dream and the other was the real one she wanted to be with.

She once envied Sakura for the chance of practising with him each day, because she was chosen in the same team with Sasuke. But now, she realized the luck of her own. So what if she wasn't in the team 7? Her team was better anyways.

Ino envied Sakura once, but now Sakura had nothing for Ino to envy. It seems like she couldn't manage to be with him anyway.So why should she bother.

In all those years she lived for one thing and now she laughed at herself for being so naive and so blind. She didn't loved him, she just liked the idea of having him as her boyfriend, winning the race with Sakura, letting all the girls to see that Ino was the one for him. But Ino never wanted that from the bottom of her heart, like she wanted things to happen now.

She used to cry when he rejected her coldly. She ran up to the Hokage monument and sat down to cry, so no one could ever see her tears. But when she got there, a little while after, an image walked next to her and spent the night talking with her. Comforting her, telling her that it will be okay. He was no more than a best friend.Ino remembered those nights perfectly.

flashback-

"How troublesome..." Shikamaru sat next to her sighing loudly. There wasn't any clouds to see, the sky was bright and dressed in lots of stars.

"You're crying again..."

Ino softly continued crying. For a little while, Nara Shikamaru watched her. He hated to see her cry, he knew the reason very well and he hated him too.

"Is it because of him again?"

He asked the question, knowing the answer for this. Ino nodded and tried to find the power to talk but she only gathered to whisper..

"He...he...laughed at me.. He said... I'm being childish...He.. They laughed..."

They were only 16, what could she do when everyone around her laughed at her when he embrassed her with his own laughes. Nothing hurt more than someone you cared a lot laughed at you.Shikamaru put his arms around her neck and holding her closer. She cried on his shoulder and listened to his comforting words.

"It's going to be Ok.."

Shikamaru never lost his patience with her, even though something inside him wanted to yell, 'Stop with the Uchiha already!What is it with him that makes you run after him even after when he made you cry!' but instead of the words he told her that one day he will be sorry for what he did to her and she shouldn't be that sad.

end flashback-

And now, Ino never cried over him.In fact, she never cried this year. Not after her 19'th birthday.

flashback-

"He'll never love you as I do."

If someone told Ino that one day she will hear those words, she would laugh and go away laughing. And will laugh whenever she see 'someone'. But as she stood in front of the monument, her tears dried on her softly blushed cheeks, she didn't laughed.She didn't smile. She was shocked.

The conversation started when Ino ran away from her own birthday party, seeing Sasuke had the nerves to bring another girl to her party. 'HER' party, of all the people. She ran away and started to cry in her usual spot, when Shikamaru watched her run and followed her.

"He..." After Ino saw him coming-she guessed that he would, he always did.-

"How could he do this? Did he do this to hurt me? Why Shika?"

Shikamaru didn't said a word, he just watched her crying and yelling, he didn't walked next to her standing figure but instead he watched.

"What did I do to him?"

He watched her, like he watched her all those years. Shikamaru had his limits too.He watched her laugh, he watched her excited, he watched her fight, he watched her swear, he watched her eat.. And now he was watching her falling on the ground. He wanted to hold her, hug her, telling her that 'everythings gonna be fine' once more. But he couldn't. He couldn't catch her as she fall when he catched her thousands of times in his mind.

Ino looked up at him.. Why was Shika, her best-friend, hadn't even said a word.. Tears once again fell from her sky blue eyes and ran through her cheeks.

"Why, Shika?" She whispered.

Shikamaru sighed and turned his back to walk away. He couldn't stand her tears, he couldn't control his feelings when she cried.

"He's not going to love you, you know. He never wished for you to love him too. Even if he loves you one day, Ino.. He'll never love you as I do."

Ino listened to his soft words and watched him walk away. And she cried, for realizing what she did to him instead of what Sasuke did to her. Ino always told Shikamaru her feelings but never ever listened to him once. And now, he told her he loved her. Ino stood at the monument, she stood in front of the monument, her tears dried on her softly blushed cheeks, she didn't laughed, she didn't smiled but instead she spent the night there ,shocked. Having no tears left for her to cry anymore...

End flashback.-

One year, Ino thought,'One year and not even once neither I had brought up the subject nor he. One year, I never cried. One year I haven't visited the monument. And Shikamaru and I never been more than friends and now I..'

As she thought, she sat at the picnic table near the lake. She visited this place often when she had no trainings. Sometimes Choji came with her too but never Shikamaru. Shikamaru, not even once, come with her to the place.

Shikamaru never go with her because he was afraid of the feelings strike back at him once more. He always obstain from staying alone with her because he knew sooner or later she would ask... Or maybe he would answer it without any question.But he knew, sooner or later, the conversation would be done.

Ino sat as she softly thought of her best-friend. She was drawing stuff on a paper such as a huge -'S' heart 'I' - She recently did that when she sunk in thoughts, without noticing. And when she did, she laughed at herself of her unthoughtful actions. She never questionized herself of who the 'S' defined. She, knew thought.. The 'S' standed for...

Her eyes nearly popped out from their holes as she spotted the same figure who approached her at the monument. So he came... Her eyes drawen back to the paper and she blushed like crazy. Afraid of him to understand. She couldn't hide the paper though, he saw it before she did and felt the anger waking up inside him. But he didn't let her see that and so he sat opposite of her while his eyes set themselves to the water.

"Hi..." Ino started. She got rid of the paper before he sat down and she thought he didn't see, she hoped actually..

"Hey." Shikamaru answered her. "How have you been?"

"Umm..fine, I guess..You?"

"Same.."

Shikamaru waited for a complain that never came. Usually, after the normal conversations, if they were alone, Ino started to talk about what the stupid Uchiha did to her. That he didn't looked back, that he laughed, that he sighed, that he rolled his eyes...Shikamaru hated every action he did.

"I heard...Um, you had a new friend..Um..What was her name?" Ino pretended like she didn't know, how couldn't she; the name screamed inside her head with huge letters.

"Kaoru."

Yeah, Kaoru.. Ino hated the girl, even thought she was pretty, intelligent and caring and actually being good to Ino. She had red locks falling to her shoulders, and green orbs that was bright as -Ino couldn't think of anything in that time- green orbs. Ofcourse she could say emerald, but she hated the girl so she kept her face simple enough on her memories. She had nice curves- the ones that Ino could die to have such. And she had a smile attach to her face to show off her dimples. It doesn't matter how Ino hated her, she was beautiful.

"Yeah..." Ino looked away.

"Are you two...?" She started the question but Shikamaru looked at her and she stopped what she started.

"What?" he asked. What was Ino, wondering in sudden.

"Are you two, dating or something?" Ino asked, half-upset. Her best-friend, Shikamaru, not a long while after his words of loving her, had met that Kaoru girl and since he never joined her after the trainings, Ino thought he was meeting with the girl and maybe there was more between them. Shikamaru never even asked what Ino feels.. Well, ofcourse, when he said, Ino was still loving Sasuke, but now...She wasn't so sure.

"Why do you care?" Shikamaru asked lazily. Ofcourse, he was just pretending. He didn't liked Kaoru, it was just..Nice to have someone to talk without the conversation about Uchiha. Yet, lately, he had heard Kaoru talking about him once in a while too. He thought he couldn't hate Sasuke more, he was wrong.

And now, Ino was asking if he is dating with Kaoru? He just wanted what is under the questions...Didn't she still loved Sasuke, isn't that the meaning of the letters around the huge heart?

"Why do I care? WHY DO I CARE? SHIKA, WE'VE BEEN LIKE, BEST-FRIENDS AND NOW I CAN'T EVEN TALK TO YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE NEVER HERE!"

"Why would I be Ino, so you could talk more about Sasuke?"

"I'm over Sasuke, you know that!" She hissed dangerously.

"I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING INO, If you're over him, why were you drawing hearts around 'S' and an 'I'. If the I stands for Ino, we both know who the S stands for..."

He turned to leave but he stop when a ray of the sun hit her face and reflected itself from a tear on her face... He stopped to look at her in shock.. What was she crying for?

"Baka.."

He opened his mouth to answer back but he stopped himself to see Ino wasn't done.

"BAKA!" She was a little louder this time..She hadn't cry like a year and now, seeing Shikamaru so...

"You think the S stands for...Sasuke?"

"I know it can't be Sakura." He teased, a little hurt. Why was she crying? He was wrong?

"Baka! Don't you know anyone else?"

Shikamaru thought.. Shino? No, he didn't think so. Ino didn't even talked to him much..

Ino saw him thinking and still not figuring it out.

"Baka!"

"Stop calling me that." Shikamaru snapped back.

"then stop being one."

"What-?"

"The S didn't standed for Sasuke..."

This time, It was Ino's turn to turn her back and walk away.

"The S...stands for..Shikamaru.."

Shikamaru was confused.. But he didn't do Ino's fault.. He ran to catch her from her arm and he turned her to face with him. The blue met with brown when their gaze meet with each other.

"You..love..me?" He asked, holding back the urge of kissing her.

Ino looked away, she never accepted this before..

"You've been there for me for all those years.. When I thought I loved Sasuke. You comforted me, you said everything will be fine. You hold me through the night and... That was why I kept doing this. Because I knew you would be there for me."

Shikamaru kept looking at her, still holding her arm, feeling her body's warmth.

"And when, you told me that.. He would never love me...As you do..I..That's when I realized that... He was nothing more than a dream for me. But...You, Shika..Were not a dream...You...Were real.. And when I know that... It was too late.. Right? Shikamaru?"

"You never cried since then.."

This wasn't a question...

"No.."

He let go of her arm.. Ino sighed and forced herself to smile. But before she could manage it, she saw him leaning to her. In a short while after, they were kissing. Ino felt his warm lips covering hers, his hands cupping her face and his love for her. And Ino answered him with all she got. When they broke the kiss, Ino didn't need power to smile. All she needed to do was to reach and hold his hand...

Sooo what do you think? I thought of it to be one-shot because, well because I don't have a net connection and I have to use the net-cafe's and i found it hard to write chapters and update them regularly. But I will be 'super-super glad' if you review :). Flames are acceptable too

•chibi-nin-Adara