A/N: I was too dumb and stupid to realize that I am not allowed to type responses as part of my story anymore! Thanks Iyakon Sobek for telling me that, or else aki-child might be put on reader-black list XD! Anyhow, i will try to reply and thank everyone who reviewed the previous chappie! But omg, the page doesn't feel right without typing out the names and replies! Aw man! Oh wells! Wish you all will love this chapter! EnjoY!

Chapter 7: Always been Afraid

When I was young, I was afraid. Even now, I am still afraid.

I am afraid of thunder and lightning.

"Shikamaru!" The girl squealed again of the sudden roar of thunder.

The boy turned away and winced at the pain as her grip around his arm tightened and the digging of her fingernails deepened. This is so troublesome... He looked at her frightening form and smacked himself mentally on the forehead. This is so my fault... He stared at the huge screen in front of him and blinked helplessly. But it's just a movie...

"Ino," He called out her name without looking at her, "want some popcorns?"

She opened her eyes and stared at the side of his face, "no thank you," then, she screamed, which meant a harder squeeze applied to his arm. Shikamaru sighed as he chucked the popcorns into his mouth. There's no doubt about it.

I am sure I made a horrible decision and today is going to be a troublesome day for me...

"You are a really troublesome woman, Ino," Shikamaru tucked his hands into his pocket and teased, "you were screaming like crazy when it was only thundering in the movie." He had already pulled his sleeves down to cover the scratches she gave him. She loved to blame herself. He looked at her and chuckled, "I wonder what will you do when it is thundering in real life."

"Shut up, Shikamaru!" Ino smacked him on the arm and pushed him away from her, "I am scared of thunder and lightning. I thought you knew that!"

Troublesome... "I didn't know you are this silly, Ino." She pouted and her cheeks puffed up like a little child. He chuckled quietly at the sight and shook his head. But very cute, at the same time...

"Shikamaru!" Suddenly, she tucked him on the sleeves. When she knew she had his attention, she blushed, "Want to go to the Ichiraku for lunch?" she placed her hands onto her stomach and stuck her tongue out, embarrassed, "I am hungry and my tummy is growling..."

He stared at her pink cheeks and smiled slightly, "It will be my treat then."

Ino looked at him and grinned brightly, "Let's go then!" But happy times didn't always last for long. With a sudden mist of cloud appearing before the running girl, she bumped right into the smoke and fell onto the ground. Ino groaned at the pain and rubbed the shot of the pain, "it hurts."

"You all right?" Shikamaru squatted beside her while staring at the cloud of smoke. After he gave Ino a helping hand and supported her up, he questioned the still-smoking cloud, "Neji, what is it now?"

"Shikamaru," The Hyuuga remained calmly on his feet and announced, "The Hokage is calling for you."

The shadow boy turned away and pushed the order aside, "I am sorry. I am busy right now."

"But Tsunade-sama is really needing you at the moment, Shikamaru," Neji switched his gaze from the boy to the girl beside him. The shinobi raised an eyebrow and stated the fact, "I am sure Yamanaka Ino wouldn't mind you leaving her alone for this afternoon, right?"

Ino looked at Neji then to Shikamaru. She gave him a push on the arm, "Since Hokage-sama is calling for you, you should go with Neji." She smiled weakly, "I will be fine on my own."

Shikamaru then gave her a light pat on the shoulder, "I am sorry, Ino." He dug his hand into his pocket and handed the house key to her, "I promise I will have lunch with you another day."

"Hurry up and go," she held the keys into her palms and smiled, "or else both you and Neji will be in trouble!" With a slight nod with his head, both of the jounins disappeared into a poof of smoke. As soon as they did, the smile faded away from Ino's face. She headed into Ichiraku alone. She sat on one of the stools and smiled at the old man.

"May I please have one seafood ramen, please?"

Come on, Ino...get a smile onto your stupid face! She tried but the smile didn't last long. Mentally, she sighed. Unconsciously, she stared at the pairs that were eating ramen in Ichiraku. It was not that she was jealous at the couples or anything. It was just that she didn't like to look like a loner. Maybe I am... she sighed again and tried to think happily.

Think about it, Ino. Shikamaru left because he has an important mission in hand.

That's right, a very important mission.

"How in the heaven is this an important mission, Hokage-sama?" Shikamaru slammed his fist onto the table. Veins popped out of his head and his face was flushed red. A jounin is assigned to such a stupid mission? This doesn't make sense at all!

"Shikamaru..." Neji reminded the shadow boy that he was talking to a Hokage, the leader of Konoha, "This is Tsunade-sama you are talking with..."

"So?" Shikamaru turned and faced the Hyuuga, "I doubt that you think this is an important mission too, right?" This is just so crazy! Shikamaru sighed deeply to calm himself down.

Neji then bowed at the Hokage, "Please excuse him, Hokage-sama, Shikamaru was just having a really bad day."

"I wasn't having a bad day, Neji!" The shadow boy let the anger took over his manner again, "It was just that-"

"It was just that you missed a date with Yamanaka, right?" Neji finished the sentence for him.

Tsunade sat on the chair and smirked when she heard the news, "If you were busy, Shikamaru. You may leave," she took a sip of the green tea in front of her and smiled, "I am sure having lunch with Ino would be more interesting than playing chess with a bunch of elderly people."

Shikamaru turned away and remained silent.

"But I am sure Ino won't be too happy if she hears that you abandon the mission for her, right?" An evil spark escaped from her staring eyes. Shikamaru stared at Tsunade unwillingly. I got you, genius! The woman leaned back onto her seat and asked again, "are you going to accept this mission or not?"

Shikamaru swallowed everything, including his anger, and nodded his head, "I am on it, Tsunade-sama." Women are so troublesome, especially old women...

Ino unlocked the door and stepped into the house. Empty and quiet. She threw the keys onto the coffee table as she sat herself onto the comfortable sofa. Hope that I won't be eating dinner alone, too, tonight. She stared at the clock. 5:39pm. She sighed again.

But almost immediately, she shook the unhappy thought away. She was going to prepare dinner for the both of them. She wouldn't want Shikamaru to be hungry after completing a mission, right? Besides, if she didn't start making the meal now, she wouldn't be having dinner at the usual dinnertime.

Grabbing ingredients and other uncooked foods from the fridge, she started chopping the carrots and boiling the water.

At the same time, it started to rain.

Under the same rainy and cloudy sky, Shikamaru was playing chess with dozens old people. This is really troublesome. "I win again, Hakashi-san," Shikamaru sighed deeply as he claimed his victory against the same opponent he was playing with for the past two hours.

"This is no fair!" The Hakashi old man stood up from the spot and pointed at Shikamaru with his walking stick, "you cheated, my young fellow!"

"No, I didn't," Shikamaru sighed. And this is like the twenty-fifth time that I am telling him this. The boy stretched his muscles, "It's just the matter of skill and brain."

"Are you saying I am dumb, my boy?" The old man yelled at him while Shikamaru leaned backward at his words. Similarly, this is the twenty-fifth time that he is yelling at me with this same question. The old man was furious when he planted his butt onto the chair again, "this round doesn't count! I want a rematch!"

"Hakashi-san, others want a chance to play too," Shikamaru looked at him helplessly, "you can't be selfish and reserve this seat forever."

"I will not leave this spot until I prove you-" then, the old man noticed that the boy wasn't paying attention anymore, "Are you even listening to-" he noticed at he was giving his full attention to the rain. The man kept his cool and kept an eye on the thinking boy, "forgot to close the window, boy?"

"No, it's just..." Shikamaru turned back to the man and gave him a weak smile, "it feels like that the weather is going to turn bad soon..."

"I am scared of thunder and lightning," Ino pouted.

"Worrying about someone?" Hakashi smirked, causing wrinkles to escape from his old face.

Shikamaru looked up at the man and blushed ever so slightly, "It's just that my-" Then, he saw lightning in the corner of his eyes. Quickly, he changed the topic, "How about I will drop by again some other night? I have to go-"

The thunder roared. Shoot! The boy looked at the sky above and sighed.

"I will certainly escort you all back to the place first," Shikamaru stood up from the seat and looked at the elders, "Please allow me to-"

"I am not letting you go that easily!" Hakashi stubbornly crossed his arms and closed his eyes, "your mission is not finished here, Shikamaru-kun."

"Hakashi-san, can't you just be a little bit more considerate?" The shadow boy placed his hands onto his hips and tilted his head to the side, "It is raining, it is thundering and it is cold. If you insist to stay here to play, your companions will suffer the cold along with you."

"But you were told to play chess with us, right?" The old man yelled in his I-am-the-boss-here tone at the boy, "I dismiss you from the mission and not you deciding when you are going to be dismissed!"

It rained harder and the thunder roared louder. This is so troublesome... Shikamaru spoke in his serious tone, "Hakashi-san, if you don't-"

"Dinner's ready!" In a distance, a female voice called out. Shikamaru recognized the voice quickly and let out a relieved sigh. Everyone looked in the direction where the voice came from. In the darkness, they saw a pink hair girl running towards the group, "dinner's ready! Why don't all of us have a warm and delicious dinner in the place?"

"Sakura," Shikamaru noted her presence. Thanks a lot, my friend.

"Come on, let's go." Sakura smiled sweetly as she led one man, or woman, after another. Then, when most of the elders went back into their rooms, Sakura walked to Hakashi, who was still sitting at the same spot as before. The girl patted him on the shoulder, "Hakashi-san, why aren't you going in for dinner? It's getting cold."

"I want to play chess," the old man turned away from Sakura but looked at Shikamaru, "I want to defeat him."

Old people can sometimes be really really childish and immature, eh? Shikamaru sighed, tucking his hands into his pocket.

Sakura stared at the stubborn old man and leaned in closer to him. She whispered something in his ear that Shikamaru couldn't hear. When her mouth left the man's ear, she smiled, "You used to be one of these men too, weren't you?" Hakashi looked away and nodded his head dumbly.

He got out of the seat.

"Let's go then," Sakura held onto his arm and led him into the sheltered place. At the same time, the girl looked over her shoulder and gave Shikamaru a tiny wink. What is going on here? The boy looked as confused as ever, standing like an idiot and looking at the leaving pair.

But, everything was clear when the old man turned back and looked at the boy, "I am sorry, Shikamaru-kun," he spoke in a apologetic tone as well as a smirk, "I didn't know your girlfriend is waiting for you to go home for dinner."

A girlfriend? "Wait, I don't-"

"Come on, Shikamaru." Sakura giggled, "She is waiting."

A pale shades of pink appeared onto his cheeks as he felt his face heated up. Whatever... With that, he turned around and started running towards his house, where the girl was waiting.

As if Shikamaru was afraid of getting soaked by the falling rain, he ran like mad with his greatest speed. The ground was slippery and the street was dim. Thanks to his ninja ability, he was about to see in the dark and also run on a wet surface without slipping. Every inch of his muscle was desperately asking him to stop running. He wouldn't listen. He knew that if he stopped, the girl, Yes, Ino, would be...

He made a sharp turn as he arrived at his house. He dug into his pocket for the set of keys. Oh shoot! I gave it to her this afternoon! So, he decided to knock on the door instead, "Ino, open the door!" His muscles was worked up and tensed. His face was flushed and sweat poured entirely from his forehead. He took a deep breathe, "Ino, open the door!"

What a dumb kid you are, Shikamaru! Why would she open the door when she is trying to shut the thunder away from her ears! He cursed under his breath. But he thought of another routine to get into the house. That's right. The window. The bathroom window was usually opened.

As expected, it was. He managed to fit his huge body into the small window without breaking the glass or himself. Troublesome. He took off his shoes and his wet vest once he got in. Without even turning the lights on, he ran out of the bathroom, "Ino, where are you!"

When he entered the bedroom, he swore that he had whimpering from somewhere, "Ino, are you here?" When he was about to reach for the light switch and light up the room, he tripped on something and fell onto the floor. Oh my nose! He rubbed his nose and stared at the object that he tripped on.

Ino...

"Ino, are you okay?" He crawled to where he spotted her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and whispered, "It's okay...It's going to be over soon..."

"Shikamaru..." she balled herself up into his embrace and held onto his arm, "Where have you been? I am so-AH!" the thunder roared again.

"It's okay, Ino," He patted her head and placed a hand onto her back, "I am here now...It's okay..." He extended his arm to the bed, pulling the blanket off the bed. With a quick movement, he covered the blanket over their heads, making the area around them dark.

"Shikamaru?" The girl raised her head up from the nape of his neck and stared at the darkened surrounding and looked at him.

"Now, there's no lightning anymore," he gave her a warm smile.

Ino blushed slightly as his ever-so-gentle tone as she nodded her head with a small smile on, "but the thunder..."

Without letting her finish the whole sentence, he pulled her close into his arm until he felt her head resting on his chest, "A long time ago, there was a little sheep living on the mountain by itself..."

The girl giggled in her mind. Telling me story to block the growling thunder, eh? "It has no family or friends, but it manages to-"

She closed her eyes and listened both his story and his beating heart. Their surrounding was so warm partly because they were inside the blanket and secondary, their body heats were radiating through one another.

Unconsciously, her arms found their ways to link together around his waist. She could tell that he was startled by the touch for a split second but he was professional enough to keep telling her the story. Ino smiled as she leaned in closer to him. It feels so warm and safe with you here...

She wrapped her arms around him tighter and let out a peaceful sigh, "Shikamaru, I think I..."

I think I am falling in love with you.

End of Chapter 7

A/N: haha! how is it, eh? lolx. feel too happy and sweet for the both of them! Anyways, hope you all liked this chappie! and I will try to update as soon as possible! Thanks for reading!