Chapter 4- Love and Desperation
"Ino! Hey, Ino! Wake up!"
Slowly, Ino opens her eyes and blinks, "Is… Is that you, my love?"
"Huh! Oh no… I'm Shikamaru, not Choji!"
Suddenly, Ino sits up and grabs Shikamaru by the shirt, "It is not Choji who I like, Shikamaru! There is no way!" Then, she began shaking him back and forth.
"AAAAAAAH! OKAY! I GET IT! IT'S NOT CHOJI! JUST STOP SHAKING MEEEEE!"
Ino continued shaking him, "No! No! Noooooo! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THINKING THAT IT'S CHOJI I'VE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH! NOOOOOOOO!"
"OKAY! I'M SORRY! PLEASE STOP SHAKING MEEEEEE! I'M GETTING REALLY DIZZY AND THIS FEVER COULD GET WORSE!"
So, Ino stopped shaking him, thinking she might actually kill Shikamaru by just shaking him. Since Shikamaru was still very dizzy, he accidentally pulls Ino's top, knocking down the both of them down to the floor. Then, Ino accidentally moves her face forward, making her lips touch Shikamaru's. (Awww…)
Suddenly, there's a big hole on the door… BANG!
Once again, Shikaku comes into the room with the video camera…
"AHA! I FINALLY CAUGHT THE TWO OF YOU IN YOUR MOST TENDER MOMENT!"
Quickly, Ino removes her lips from Shikamaru's, looks away and blushes hard…
"Ino… Are you okay? I'm so sorry! I was dizzy and I accidentally pulled you down with me..."
Ino couldn't say anything.
"Ino? Ino, please. I'll do anything! Please don't get mad at me!"
Ino was still silent.
Shikamaru was starting to look desperate. He sighed and looked at Ino with his sad, worried eyes… "Oh, Ino."
From behind them, Shikaku utters to himself, "And here, we have my son, Shikamaru, apologizing to Ino for accidentally knocking her down to the floor with him, making their lips have physical contact…"
"Dad, could you please quit it? Leave me alone!"
With that, Shikaku realized that Shikamaru can handle this situation…
"Okay. Sure, son."
Then, he closed the door (with the BIG HOLE in the middle!) and left the two alone.
Finally, they were alone in peace… The day was starting to end. The setting sun's glow was clearly seen from Shikamaru's window, with the pink sky's color reflecting down on them. As silently as possible, Shikamaru slowly crept over to Ino and sighed.
"Ino… I, I'm sorry… about what happened."
Ino still couldn't utter a single word. She was still silent, and was still looking away. Shikamaru moved in front of her, but she just looked away again. Shikamaru's heart was slowly sinking… This is terrible, he thought. He couldn't imagine losing a friend like Ino…
"Please, Ino…"
Finally, Ino replied, but sounded a bit angry. She turned to him, blushing…
"Give me a good reason why I should forgive you, Shikamaru…"
Shikamaru looked at her, annoyed…
"Ino, what is wrong with you? I suppose if Sasuke was the one whoaccidentally kissed you, you wouldn't be acting this way, right?"
Ino remained silent. Shikamaru continued, "…you want a good reason on why you should forgive me, am I correct? Well…
…I could name more than just one reason, if you like…
First: It was just a kiss! It was an accident and I didn't mean to knock you down like that and, well, accidentally kiss you as well… If I did it on purpose to abuse you in any way, then, it'll be okay for you not to forgive me.
Second: It's not my fault I thought it was Choji you liked. You wouldn't tell me who it is, so the least I could do is guess."
Then, Ino replied, "And so? If I want to keep it a secret, that's the way it should be! Nobody has the right to force me to do something I don't want to do… And Why are you so interested in knowing who it is, anyway?"
Then, Shikamaru continued…
"Third: We're good friends. We've been together for almost our whole lives. I have my own life, and you do, too… Look, I know your personal life is something I shouldn't be messing with, but… Your life, Ino… I just… I just…
…I just wanted to be part of it."
This astounded Ino. She looked at him, surprised.
Shikamaru continued with his speech, "Ino. We're both growing up. True loves, crushes, these things are normal in human life… But it's just starting to worry me…"
"What is?" Ino asked.
"…once you've found your true love, you'd probably forget all about me and all the fun times we shared together as teammates and friends… I also want to help you with your problems. I know this doesn't sound much like the Shikamaru you know, but…"
"…don't worry, Shikamaru. I'll never forget you. I can't! You've done a lot for me. We've been together for a very long time! I can never forget the times we shared together…"
"…nah, you're just saying that. Later on, in the later years, who knows. You probably wouldn't even know my name anymore."
These words struck Ino. She slapped Shikamaru on the cheek and cried, "You… You're stupid! You idiot! Don't say things like that!"
Shikamaru looked at her and said, "Tch. And why not?"
Ino was starting to get pissed-off… She pulled the collar of Shikamaru's shirt and moved her face forward to speak to him…
"Because," she began, "I would never ever forget about you… and Choji."
"Prove it," Shikamaru smirked, "Small talk isn't enough to convince me…"
Suddenly, Ino ran out of answers to Shikamaru's queries. She loosened her fist and let go of the boy who was speaking to her…
"See? You can't even prove what you said… You're pathetic."
Ino's world crumbled to dust… She couldn't think of anything else to say. Her heart felt as if thorns had surrounded it… Ouch.
Ino stood up and walked towards the door…
"I'll come back tomorrow to watch you." Was all she said. Then, she left, crying.
Shikamaru felt the same… He forgot to say, Fourth: Ino, I'm in love with you. He soon, too, began crying tears of misery and desperation. He fell on his knees, weeping and mourning.
"Shikamaru, you're the pathetic one!" he told himself, "I couldn't even tell Ino about how I feel about her… I was overreacting, wasn't I?...
…I'm stupid.
…because of me, I could lose her forever…
I'M SUCH AN IDIOT!"
Then, he continued sobbing.
Meanwhile…
Ino had finally arrived home, still sobbing about her big fight with Shikamaru.
"I'm such a fool…" She muttered. Then, ran upstairs to her room.
"Oh, Shikamaru," she cried, "If only I had told you about my feelings for you when I had the chance, none of this would've ever happened… You never would've gotten that anxious… I'm so stupid!" She mourned and she mourned…