Author's notes: Well here it is the conclusion of this little story. I must warn you though, this chapter could be considered too sentimental, even for me. But for those who like that, I hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 2:
Ino looked at the two of them confused. Even though they were currently apart Ino could tell that they had interrupted something when she spotted them. Temari seemed a little weird, somehow dizzy or unbalanced. There was also a slight blush that she was trying to hide. Shikamaru stood silent with his eyes fixed at her as calm as he always was, that reminded Ino of why she fell for him in the beginning. But his eyes seemed a bit unfocused too. Feelings of worry overcame Ino as she realized the possibility of Shikamaru deceiving her… after all they've gone trough, and so close to the most important day of her life.
After a long silence Ino was able to spit a sentence, or a part of it.
"Shikamaru… what…" Ino could feel the tears closing in as she was almost certain her suspicions were right, the silence gave them away.
"What's the matter Ino?" Shikamaru asked calmly
"What's the matter? I should be asking that!… why are you here… what were you doing with her?… you lied, you said you were going to the academy!" Ino yelled at Shikamaru, as small teardrops streamed down her face.
Shikamaru's eyes regained focus and landed deeply into Ino's.
"I was on my way but I spotted Temari and noticed she was acting strange. I approached her to see what was wrong and realized she was suffering from a high fever. Then you arrived" Shikamaru said calmly
"But why did you move away so quickly?" She yelled on a much lighter voice tone
"To avoid this conversation, I knew you would react like this"
Maybe it was Shikamaru's calm attitude, or the desire to believe he wasn't deceiving her, but she believed him.
"Umm ok… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have jumped into conclusions" said Ino whipping the tears form her face.
"It's ok. I'll take her to the hospital now, I'll meet afterwards" Shikamaru gave her a small smile. The one she loved the most.
"Ok" She replied as the two of them walked away
Left alone now, Ino walked towards branch near by, and took sit. Her eyes lifted up looking at the stars, they seemed to far away, at a distance she couldn't even comprehend, yet she could see them so clearly. They were right there shining so brightly.
"The night has fallen so quickly today" she thought, when a familiar female voice interrupted her wondering.
"Ino" The pink haired girl said with a weak voice "I have to talk to you"
"Talk about what Sakura? Does it have something to do with the wedding?"
"No… well maybe…" Sakura seemed awfully awkward
"What's wrong" Ino asked
"I saw Temari, the girl from the sand earlier today" Sakura's eyes were fixed at the ground "she said she was here for a vacation, but I obviously doubted the answer. A while ago I saw her again walking towards here, she seemed depressed so I followed her. I observed her for a while; she was just lying for a while but then…" Sakura's eyes lifted and fell on Ino's "Shikamaru arrived"
"Yes, he said she was acting strange so when he saw her while going to the academy he checked her" Ino replied
"Actually… I'm pretty sure he was looking for her. They talked for a moment before you arrived" Ino's face had started to lose the calm "I was able to hear the conversation"
"What was it about" Ino asked with a completely expressionless face now.
A silence took over the conversation. Sakura hesitated to answer her, so it couldn't be good.
"Tell me, please" Ino asked again.
"They love each other" Sakura finally said "Shikamaru said he couldn't leave you, he couldn't do that to you but… he loved her" Even though Ino's face remained emotionless tears started streaming down her face "Then they kissed and they moved apart when they heard your voice"
"Thank you Sakura. Could you leave me alone for a while?"
"Ino…" Sakura's voice had a tone of true worry in it
"Please" Ino she requested again
"Ok" Sakura replied walking away from her.
Ino was left alone yet again. She fixed her eyes back at the stars.
-
Shikamaru and Temari walked towards the gates. There had being silence for a while. Words weren't necessary.
"So then… is this it?" she asked breaking the silence
"I wish it wasn't" he replied "But it is"
"Well then. I can take it from here. It was nice to see you again" said Temari with her eyes aimed at the huge gates of Konoha. Their eyes never met, since the kiss in the park.
"Good bye, Temari" he said giving her his back.
"Good bye, Shikamaru" she said as she continued to walk towards the gates.
-
Shikamaru arrived at the park again and saw Ino sitting on a branch; she had a serious expression on her face.
"Ino what's wrong?" He asked calmly sitting next to her
"Shikamaru" She replied, she seemed sad but she was trying to hide it.
"I want to break the commitment" she said
Shikamaru doubted his ears, even though he heard it clearly
"That is the gift I want to give you" Shikamaru was still speechless
"You can go and be with anyone you want now, and be happy"
"But… why…" Shikamaru managed to say those two words.
"I love you. That I can't deny. You filled a huge empty spot in my hearth the time we were together. But for that same reason I couldn't bare to see you living the rest of your life with someone you don't love. Maybe you and I weren't meant to be to begin with" Ino looked at him with a forced smile on her face
"Ino…"
A long silence passed. Shikamaru looked at Ino's face, and could see her inhuman efforts to contain her tears.
"Ino…" Shikamaru said looking deeply into Ino's eyes "Sayonara"
"Sayonara, Shikamaru" she replied holding her fake smile in her face. She saw him run towards the gates, so passionately. Now she could let go and tears started running down her face.
"Good bye" she whispered meanwhile.
-
Shikamaru rushed through the streets of Konoha desperately "I can still catch her, I can still catch her!" he muttered as he hoped he wasn't too late.
He passed the gates and jumped trough the trees as if the rest of his life depended on this moment.
A few minutes passed and he finally saw her. He screamed her name so loud he tough his vocal chords were about to explode.
The blond girl could hear his voice, but she couldn't believe it. She turned her head around doubtful, thinking her mind was playing games with her. But then she was him, chasing her so desperately. She stopped in the moment, and the man chasing her too, after he catch up.
"Why are you here…" She asked "why would you want to make this even harder" Temari said looking away for his face.
"I know I love you… but I'm okay… I've been alone all this time and I've handled it" Shikamaru's moved quickly towards her and his lips sealed hers before she could say anything else.
Moving apart he looked into her eyes and said "I only want to be with you. I'll be with you" Temari couldn't believe this was happening. Maybe this was all an illusion, creating by her mind to achieve her biggest dream.
"But…" she asked
"Don't worry about anything else, we're together now" he held her tight against his chest while tears of happiness started running down her face.
"This is no dream… right?" she asked sobbing
"It's not. We're really together now" he assured her while pushing her apart from his chest.
"Together" she whispered, right before their lips met again finally making her feel it was all worth it since the beginning.
Well there you go I hope you liked it. It's my first ending so I hope it didn't suck too much. See ya.
