Pairing: Shikamaru and Ino

Genre: Romance


Her jutso... his words!

Shikamaru looked at Ino. If one saw her like that, he'd think that she was dead. But Shikamaru knew better…

Ino was performing her family jutso. The one she perfected over the years, her favorite one…

And, as always, Shikamaru was in charge of her body. He was sitting in the ground, looking at the clouds and thinking out loud.

"Geez, this is so troublesome… why do I have to look after your body? Am I that reliable?"

He sighed and shifted her weight to his other arm.

"Ungh… you're getting pretty heavy! Maybe I should just drop you on the floor…" Shikamaru placed Ino on the ground, crossed his arms and turned away.

"There!"

He looked back at her and scratched his head. Then he sighed.

"You're so troublesome…"

He picked her up and held her in his arms.

"You would have my head if I left you on the ground like that."

Shikamaru looked at her and moved a strand of her out of her face.

"Where are you Ino? You should be back already…"

He looked at the direction she was supposed to be and heard nothing…

"You know how I hate when you do this…" he sighed. "Ok, maybe you don't cause I only tell you when you're like this…"

He sighed again and caressed her face with his hand.

"You're so cold… damn it Ino! Would you come back already? I know you love this jutso but I hate it!"

He was now frustrated.

"I can't see where you are! You can be in danger and instead of protecting you, I'm here talking to your body!"

He snickered.

"Which, mind you, it's not a bad one! I know I said you were gaining weight, but you know what? That only makes you more appealing…"

He smiled.

"And since I know you can't hear me, I can add that you've been on my mind for the past years… and it's getting quite hard, you know…"

He lowered his head.

"You spent all those years after that bastard Sasuke, and when you finally got over him, there were millions of guys in your life… how can I compete with that? Tell me damn it!"

Ino opened her eyes. Shikamaru looked at her surprised. Did she hear him? Or had she just came to her senses?

She smiled at him and thanked him for taking care of her body. After briefing him on the details of the information she gathered, she started kicking the floor. Then she looked back at him.

"Shikamaru… you have always been here for me… every time I do my jutso you watch over my body, every time I'm upset you joke your way around to make me feel better… you're always there…"

She leaned closer to him.

"Arigatou Shikamaru."

Their noses were almost touching.

"You know… you don't need to compete… you already won…"

She kissed him lightly and he kissed her back, happy that his prize was her…

23/05/2005