A/N: thank you everyone for review the previous chapter! Guess it flamed a lot of people of adding that gross picture into people's mind, eh? Anyways, hopefully this chapter won't be as depressing as the last one. Please enjoy!
Chapter 10: Broken
What is this? The potato chip fell onto the concrete floor, shattered into pieces. Ino bit her lower lips and turned away. She couldn't bear to watch. At this moment, she finally understood how wrong she was to think that he loved her in the same way she was. She always thought their friendship could develop into something better, more wonderful. She thought they could love. I was stupid to think this way. She didn't realize how much the tears had swelled up in her eyes until a drop of sad tear fell from her blinking eyes.
"Ino?" Chouji tilted his head a little to meet with her face. She was crying. The fat boy placed his gentle hand on her shoulder, trying to make her look at him. But his touch didn't work at all. He felt helpless. Just like most of the guys, he hated to see girls crying too. He started to think the possibilities that made Ino cried. She never cried. "Ino, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing," she wiped the tears away with the back of her hand, "it's nothing." she repeated the words, shaking her head. She was acting, pretending to be strong. However, the falling tears betrayed her. No matter how much time she wiped the tears away or held the tears from falling, it didn't help. Tears weren't just something that could stop within a second.
"Ino..."
"Let's go, Chouji," Ino grabbed his hand and turned around, exiting from the heartbreaking scene. Maybe she wasn't meant to be there at all; maybe she wasn't meant to take a walk; maybe she wasn't meant to miss him or anything after her departure.
Maybe she wasn't meant to love him at all.
However, the fat boy decided not to follow her but to ask her a simple question, "You like Shikamaru, don't you?" He stood there, looking at Ino seriously. At the same time, he realized how she released his hand from hers and bowed down her head. So you do.
"I- I don't know what you- you are talking about," Ino, still standing at the spot with her back facing the boy, lied, "Shikamaru and I- he and I- are just friends, Chouji." She turned around with a weak smile hanging on her pale face. That fake smile was soon replaced by a frown. "We are..."
"...in love." Chouji finished her sentence for her, assuming that was what she wanted to tell him.
Ino stared at the concrete floor with the corner of her blue eyes, "Chouji, we are not," she choked on her tears, "we are not in love," she wiped the tears away again and tucked her blonde hair behind her ear. The girl sobbed quietly and added, "It's just me. I am the one who wants love, not him." Tears streamed down her cheeks as her nose and eyes became redder than before, "It's just about me."
Instead of leading the crying girl a handkerchief or tissue, Chouji quietly spoke, "leave this to me, Ino." With that, the fat boy walked towards the direction where Shikamaru and the woman were standing. Leave this job to me, Ino. I am going to... He squeezed his hands into fists after throwing the bag of chips onto the floor.
- - -
Here's all you have to know about men and women: women are crazy, men are stupid.
And the main reason women are crazy is that men are stupid.
Women are crazy and troublesome beasts. Shikamaru froze at his spot and kept his eyes opened when her lips touched his. Men are stupid and idiotic creatures. He was surprised. He didn't blush, didn't react and didn't even move an inch when she kissed him. He just stood there, hoping that she would end this one-sided kiss soon, hoping that she would understand something that he never told her about. I never liked you, Temari.
The woman, on the other hand, didn't care about his reaction at all. She wanted to kiss him; she longed to touch his lips. She placed her hands onto his cheeks, allowing her emotion to take control. He couldn't blame her; she was half drunk after all. His lips were soft and sweet. It was all wonderful except that there was something missing, love. Shikamaru, why? Temari leaned herself onto his form and pressed her lips onto his deeper. Still, he wasn't responding. He was just standing there as if he wasn't involved at all. She pushed away and stared at him, looking hurt, "why?"
"I don't think this is the right thing to do," Shikamaru stood there, showing no emotion, and looked at her gently, "I am-"
"Shut up! I am asking you a question here!" She yelled at him, "why can't you just like me?"
Shikamaru blinked twice before turning away, avoiding to look into her watery green eyes. He chose to stare at the noisy street instead, "Shinobi should never show their emotions to anyone because when they do, those feelings might become a threat to-"
"Lies!" Tears swelled up in the woman's eyes, "Not even you can follow this rule! Why are you giving me a lecture now?" Shikamaru sighed deeply and raised his head to stare at the starry night. Temari fell into silence for few minutes before she wiped her falling tears away, "Why? What is that something that I am missing? Why can't you like me when you can put your heart and soul into that blonde hair girl?" she placed a hand onto his cheek and made him look at him, "I am an average looking woman. I am strong and independent. I thought I am the kind of girl you would like, not her!"
Shikamaru allowed his face to wander onto the concrete floor, "You don't know what you are talking about," he bit his lower lip and suggested, "why don't you get a good night sleep and we can discuss this matter tomorrow when you are feeling better and more conscious?"
"I am conscious! I am not drunk, Shikamaru!" The woman yelled at him and tears started to form again, "You know that I like you. You know that I love you." Shikamaru remained silence. "You know I do," then, Temari took this chance to lean in closer to him once again. When she was about to kiss him again, he spoke gently.
"If you think kissing me can make you feel better, I don't mind." Shikamaru tucked his hands into his pocket and added, "but I have to tell you this. No matter how many time you kiss me, you confess to me, you show that you love me, I won't change my feeling towards you." He noticed that the woman stopped her every action, "I can't feel anything from your kiss. I don't know what love is supposed to feel like. I don't know how to pretend that I love you. Your kiss, your tear mean nothing to me."
"Why can't you just-" she spoke in a shaky voice, "can't you just pretend that I am her for one second?"
"I can't and I won't," Shikamaru answered softly, "You can't become her and she can never become you, Temari." He held her arms, steadying her from her shaking form, "I am sure there are a lot of men who are more wonderful than me out there in Konoha or in the Wind country. Maybe-
"Don't touch me!" She slapped his hands away and took few steps backwards, "You don't understand me. You just don't-" Then, she ran away with tears in her eyes. Shikamaru thought about running after her, but decided that wouldn't be the best choice to do at the moment. He sighed and zipped up his jacket. When he raised his head to look into the crowd, he saw Chouji walking toward him with an angry face masking his gentle self.
- - -
"You bastard!" Chouji yelled angrily as he threw his fist onto the face of someone whom he once considered as best friend, best buddy and best comrade. Shikamaru crookedly stumbled few steps backward, hitting his back onto the wall behind him.
"Chouji, what are you-" Shikamaru winced at the impact as he eyes his friend.
"Shut up!" Chouji punched him hard on the face before the poor boy could ask a question.
"What the heck is wrong with you, Chouji?" Shikamaru pushed Chouji away from him and wiped the blood off with the back of his hand. Before Chouji could give him another direct punch, Shikamaru dodged the coming attack, which resulted in his fist hitting into the brick wall. His knuckles started to bleed. Shikamaru stared at the friend's hand and asked, "Are you all right?"
Instead of accepting his caring words, Chouji took the chance and grabbed Shikamaru by the collar, "This question should be from me to you! Are you out of your mind, Shikamaru!" He held him against the wall and asked another similar question, louder this time, "Did you go insane after the mission? I thought-"
"Chouji-"
Then, he punched him hard again, "Why the heck are you kissing Temari, Shikamaru? Why!"
Shikamaru grabbed Chouji on the arms and pushed him away again. The impact caused both of them to fall onto the ground, "I had no choice! It wasn't my fault that we-"
"No choice?" Chouji got up and started punching the shadow boy again, "What do you mean by no choice, Shikamaru?" He rushed to him and held the collar of his jacket again, bringing Shikamaru up from the cold concrete floor. "What do you mean by it wasn't your fault that-"
"Punch me all your want, Chouji," Shikamaru spoke in a serious tone and stared at the fatter boy, "I have nothing to explain to you if you are becoming so troublesome."
"Bastard!" When he was about to fulfill what Shikamaru said, a voice behind them stopped his movement.
"Stop it, Chouji!" Ino stood behind the fighting men with tears in her eyes. The boys looked into her direction, shocked that she was standing there and looking at the all scene. She took a step forward and demanded in a shaky voice, "please stop fighting."
Chouji jerked his hand away from the bleeding boy and stood up. Shikamaru pushed himself up to a sitting position and raised his head to look at the girl. She is crying...but she never does. He sat on the floor, feeling helpless and confused for the first time. Why is she crying?
"Don't let me see you again, Shikamaru," Before Chouji walked away, to Ino, he spoke this bitter demand.
- - -
Shikamaru took off his jacket, throwing it onto the unoccupied sofa. His house didn't feel the same anymore. Every night, there was always this bossy girl rushing downstairs and staring at him whenever he got home late and yelled at him for not managing his time well. I miss you. He stumbled upstairs and opened the door to his own bedroom. He fell onto the soft mattress and sighed deeply. I really do. Suddenly, he winced at the pain.
Troublesome.
He went into the bathroom, wiping off marks of dried blood from the corner from his lips. Why the heck did Chouji start beating me up? As his finger traced to a huge purple bruise, he grunted out in pain. He couldn't even recall how that happened, how Temari and he ended up in a kiss.All he remember was that his comrades and him completed the mission successfully and were all going to celebrate their success in the nearby pub. Since all of them were older than he was, he didn't object. He would just have to bear with the smell of alcohol. That's all.
flashback
"Cheers!" All of them said the word out loud together, clashing their drinks with each other's.
"Come on, Shikamaru," one of the man who was about the same age as Iruka chuckled, "it wouldn't hurt if you drink a sip or two out of the beer,"
The shadow boy shook his head with a weak smile on, "Don't want to get my lips onto any alcohol until I am legal to do so," He held his glass of orange juice and shrugged, "don't want the Hokaga to find an excuse to fire me from my position, do I?"
"You are thinking a bit too much there, Shikamaru," the other man spoke as he allowed the liquid to reach his throat. He let out a painful look but sighed with joy afterwards. He grinned at the boy, "but maybe this is how you become a jounin, having a smart brain and all."
Shikamaru curved up a weak smile again. He wasn't really in the mood of making jokes or listening to jokes. He never was that type of a person. Then, for almost an hour and a little bit more, all of them were drinking and talking about some stuffs that Shikamaru didn't pay too much attention to. He kept his mouth shut from any conversation. He just thought it wasn't appropriate for him to interrupt or add his words into any adult talk. Never. He kept on drinking his juice and refilling it for the whole hour until someone finally fainted onto the table.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and moved few inches away from the person who banged her head onto the table, Temari. He looked at his other comrades who were still talking and drinking. It was like as if they didn't notice that the woman passed out or something. He cleared his throat and spoke, " I will take her home first." He threw one of her arms over his shoulder. Realizing that other jounins didn't notice what he said, he sighed and got up from his seat, pulling Temari along with him.
It was chilly when the wind blew onto his face. He thought that the woman might get a cold in the cold evening too. Therefore, he decided to take off his jacket for her. When he did, he steadied her against the wall with his arm holding one of her shoulders. As he unzipped his jacket, he felt an arm wrapped around his waist. What the heck? He looked over to his shoulder and noticed how Temari leaned her head onto his back. Troublesome...
He turned around to hold her arms, hoping to get her away from him. He hated intimacy, especially with a woman. When he almost got her completely off of him, he found himself being pinned against the wall by the strong woman. He had to admit. Even though he was the man between both of them, he had a hard time overpowering her strength. She is just strong and harsh. "Uh, Temari, do you mind?"
She shook her head, " I don't."
Shikamaru turned to his side and sighed mentally. A sweat fell from his forehead, "but I do."
"Don't you get it?" Temari raised her head to look at him with her green eyes. She touched his cheek ever so gently and gave him a smile, "I have always wished to have you hold me in your arms in a dark cool evening," she leaned onto his chest and listened to his heartbeat, "it feels so nice."
Almost immediately, Shikamaru withdrawn his hands from her shoulders and threw them to his side. Did she just confess to me? Shikamaru's mind went all confused and scared. That was his first time having someone to confess her love to him in these seventeen years. "Temari, you are talking to the wrong guy here. You shouldn't-"
"Shikamaru," The boy gulped nervously and managed to reply her with a 'yes' in a shaky voice. "I love you." It was then when Shikamaru swore under his breath. He was sure that Temari heard that bitter swear word coming out from his mouth. But she didn't care.
Shikamaru's head was swirling around and around, hoping to dig out a clear way to face this situation. Then, he was suddenly startled when her arms were finding their way to wrap around his neck. Before he could do anything with that, her lips already crushed onto his.
It was then when he started to regain calm. When she kissed him, he swore that he saw a certain girl's smiling face in his head. Ino. He stood there, wondering how nice it would be if Ino were the one who was kissing him and confessing to him. But, dreams didn't always come true. In the corner of his wandering eyes, he saw a pair of familiar couple standing few meters away from him. When he was about to focus his eyes towards the two people, the couple already turned around. Troublesome.
Then, her lips left his and followed by a question, "Why?"
end of flashback
Splashing cold water onto his face, Shikamaru cleared his mind out of all those troublesome moments. At the same time, he finally realized the reason the girl cried and his best friend punched him. He shut down the running water and swore under his breath, "they saw us kissing..." then, he swore again, smacking himself hard on the forehead, "and worse, Ino saw that too."
End of Chapter 10
A/N: this chappie isn't that exciting, was it! It didn't quite follow what I thought I was going to write either. But hey! At least everything is clear up now, at least to the non-related people in the scene. Haha! Hopefully the next chapter will be here soon! Thank you! and oh! thank you for everyone who bear and ignored all the spelling and grammar mistakes i got in this chappie, once again. haha, im not much of a grammar nerd.