Since I am officially "old" enough to take those pills used for nutrition…I have to take them, cause my dad forces me too…Really, the only reason I don't like to a swallow those things is because I think that they are way to big to swallow…(just call me a wimp)…My dad says that it's either up to me whether or not I chew them or swallow them and of course you know which one that I picked…chewing…I mean, It's easier than just drinking water and taking the pill, right? The point is that the reason why you swallow the pill is so you can't taste it and since I chewed it…you can't even imagine how disgusting the taste is…it really gave mea bad aftertaste a few minutes later and it lasted like that until morning…ew…I have to take two kinds of those pills…one that taste like fish…don't ask what it is made out of…and an ordinary vitamin (ever heard of CENTURY?)…Just the other day, I was walking in the hallway when my dad called out to me to see if I took my vitamins. "Uh…no…" and I just stood there, my dad right behind me. Then he said, "Go downstairs and take it now." I just stood there, without moving and groaned. I really didn't want to take it as you can see… "Go down and take them." After that, I did move and I ran to the room next to me and closed the door, as I tried to escape from my dad…and after that, he left me alone and I didn't have to take them! YAY!

--P.S. That room that I ran into is the room that I'm in right now…typing up my stories and all…yeah and after that, I was on the computer typing….:D

Disclaimer: I don't own this series...
"INO!" Inoichi yelled from down below, his voice playing back in her head as she continued to lie on her bed, partially awake, "INO!"

Ino didn't reply, grumbling as she covered her ears with a pillow that her head was currently on.

"INO!" Her dad repeated again, his voice tone beginning to form a screech in his voice.

In annoyance, Ino jolted from her bed, angrily throwing her pillow over toward the wall. On the edge of her bed, she thumped her feet on the ground, her feet trying to locate her sleepers as she moaned. "...what that hell does he want?" Yawning tiredly, she grabbed hold of the knob on her door and twisted it lightly, her dad's voice reverberating in the hallway as he called out again.

"Damn it, Ino! Get up!" He shouted, his voice showing a bit of strictness.

Ino stuck her lips out, blowing air upward to hit the bangs covering her eyes. "I'm coming!" God dad, just be more patient...it's still early morning... Placing her hand on the railing of the stairway, she stopped in the middle of the stairs, sighing deeply to find her dad staring up at her with two men behind him, both their attention elsewhere. "What dad?"

Inoichi chuckled. "Heh, so you're awake now?"

"What does it look like to you?" She retorted sarcastically, crossing her arms. She squinted her eyes closely, trying to adjust her vision sharper to see who were the two men behind her dad. Both men had black hair that was pulled up in a high ponytail, wore a green vest with a black undershirt and black pants. Hey...they look familiar...especially the shorter one... "Um...dad...who are those people behind you anyway?" Ino finally asked, the strangers looking her way after her statement. "OH MY GOD!"

Inoichi shook his head in astonishment, with a powerful frown. "What is so surprising anyway? It's just Shikaku and his kid, Shikamaru."

Ino's heart skipped a beat as she didn't bother to take her eyes off of Shikamaru. Right then, Ino was finally awake, her eyes and thoughts stuck at the sight of him.

"Ino, it's rude to stare..." Her dad reminded her, shaking Ino off her hypnotism. "If you're asking why they're here, it's that me and Shikaku are going to be gone for a few days and Shikamaru is going to stay here for the time when we are away."

Ino's mind had wanted herself to faint at his explanation, but she refused, regaining her control as she gripped the railing. "But dad..." She began to argue, even though she had thought of this moment as a gift from heaven. "You're saying that Shikamaru and I have to stay here all by ourselves without anyone here for a few days?"

Inoichi raised an eyebrow, as he wondered why this was such a large issue for his daughter. "There's nothing wrong with that." Looking over to Shikaku, he gave a grin and smiled back at him, leaving Ino and Shikamaru full of curiousity. Inoichi went back at staring at his daughter in all seriousness. "He's a friend of yours, anyway. So a girl and boy staying together who are close friends isn't anything criminal."

Shikamaru growled, poking his dad with his elbow. "Is this some kind of conspiracy for me to get a girlfriend, dad?"

Shikaku glared at him. "You think that this was planned out for that objective? We really need to go somewhere and since your mom and her mom aren't here either, you'll stay with her so you two can have each other's company."

"The hell witih that." Shikamaru fought back, rolling his eyes. He looked at Ino who eyed him eagerly. "There's no way I'm gonna stay alone with this bitcher for a few days, dad."

"I thought you liked those type of girls."

Shikamaru breathed in a large amount of air. "That's you, dad."

Ino watched the two of them argue, a smile creeping up on the corners of her mouth. "Is he going to stay here starting today?"

Inoichi nodded and picked up Shikamaru's luggage. "Place this in your room, Ino."

Ino rubbed her ears and hid the hair covering her ears behind it. "Come again, dad?"

"Put it in your room, Ino." He repeated, his voice rising loud enough her to hear clearly.

Ino gasped, taking away that luggage away from her dad. "But dad! Where am I going to sleep then?"

"What are you talking about? You're not going anywhere. You two are staying in the same room."

Shikamaru gulped, shaking his head in appallation. "There's no doubt that this is a conspiracy..."

Shikaku looked at his son and pushed him forward to the stairway, forcing him to go up to his new room. "Go on and stop complaining."

"Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you guys anyway?" Shikamaru asked them, having a bothersome feeling that they weren't going to give him a truthful answer.

They both ignored him and walked toward the front door. "Have fun!" The grown men said in unison, the frontdoor slamming a huge echo throughout the house.

Shikamaru looked at Ino with a face full of questions. "What did they mean by that?"

Ino blushed and took her eye contact off of his. "Nevermind that." Without any trouble, she easily carried the bag of luggage to the top of the stairs and settled it down in her room. "You didn't bring much clothes in this, did you?"

Shikamaru gazed up in his room, making Ino think that he ignored her question. "Ithink I lost some of my clothing in the Hyuuga's place."

Ino tugged the edge of her blanket and flapped it out, allowing it to straighten itself out of all the crumples and flattened it with her hands when it touched the bed. "So this is like your second sleepover in a row then, huh?" Suddenly she shook, her mind replaying that answer he gave out to her. "...you lost some of your clothing in the Hyuuga's place? What do you mean by that?"

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows as a sign of confusion."What are you saying? I lost my clothes in the Hyuuga's place. Take those words and think about them for a moment..."

Ino had a face of consternation. "How could you have lost your clothes there?"

"..Oh...me and the guys were playing strip poker." He said calmly, Ino having the opposite expression.

"HUH?" Ino murmured, tucking the hair in front of her ears behind them.

Shikamaru shook his head. "We were playing strip poker." He repeated, tired of himself saying the same things over and over again.

That moment, Ino walked backwards toward a corner and remained in shock. "A-are you guys gay or something?"

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU GIRLS CALLING US GAY?" Shikamaru shouted furiously. "...even your friends were calling us that as well..."

"But that's seriously wrong! Guys don't strip in front of guys!" Ino screamed in horror.

Shikamaru let out a large amount of his breath. "Get it through your head, we're not gay!"

Ino stood there, surprised. "...you guys are like...half gay then?"

Shikamaru's eyebrows rose up in anger. "Dammit! Girls like you are so annoying! It was just a game...that's all that it was..."

"Oh..." Was all the Ino had replied for her answer. "Hungry? I'll make breakfast." Ino randomly changed the topic and headed out the door, back downstairs to the kitchen.

Shikamaru stared out the door as if he was stunned. "Damn it dad, you and you're stupid ideas..."

" Bye Ten, Sakura! I'll see you later today, okay?" Hinata waved a hand at her friends as she greeted them off in front of the doorsteps of her home.

Sakura waved a hand at her, stopping her tracks as she scurried over back to Hinata. "You know that you're gonna do that thing today, right?" She reassured, making her friend's face thump red.

"B-but it's not like I have to do it!" She fought back, hoping that Sakura would give up her urging.

"Hinata, you do realize that it's a must, right?" Tenten clarified, walking back to her friends. "You have to do it, today."

Hinata's legs shook unsteadily. "Why not tomorrow or any other day?"

"Cause if you don't..." Tenten hissed, her voice lowering down. "I'll rip your head off..." She threatened, punching Hinata on the arm, to show that she had somewhat meant it.

Hinata gulped, her legs becoming more unstable.

In anger and irritation, Sakura punched Tenten on the arm. "Ten, don't actually kill her, okay?"

Tenten whined childishly as she rubbed her hands on the spot that Sakura had struck. "Fine, in other words...it's better to do things right away then later..."

Sakura glared at her. "You're just saying that so he's all yours, right?"

Tenten scoffed. "Damn right. No one's taking him from me!" She spat, walking off ahead.

Sakura put her hand on Hinata's arm as her legs ceased movement. "You know, I think that it's for the best anyway. Meet us by the park an hour earlier, okay? You already said to him that you'd meet him by Ichiraku Ramen so...by being an hour early, me and Ten can get ready for your guy's little date. See you!" Sakura ran off with Tenten and walked away from Hinata's sight.

Hinata sighed deeply, as she did her best to slow down her heartbeat's pace.

(Flashback)

"Um...Sakura...Ten..." Hinata quietly stated, lying on her bed in the pitch black room of hers. She waited several seconds, her thoughts convincing her that both of them were already asleep.

"What is it, Hinata?" Sakura drowsily asked, covering her eyes with her hand. Sitting up from her sleeping bag, she looked toward the direction of Hinata's bed, even though the darkness had clouded her sight.

Hinata suddenly became silent, as though she didn't hear a thing. "...uh...I have something to tell you...but promise you won't tell anyone, okay?"

"Hinata...please be quiet..." Tenten sleepily remarked, turning her back to the other side. "I'm really tired right now...I need to sleep..."

Hinata ignored her statement and continued saying what her mind had forced her to proclaim. "I think...I think that I like...Neji..."

Tenten sat up abruptly and turned on the light, her hair frizzed up from lying in bed. "Did you say something?" She said dangerously. "Do you like your cousin! My God, Hinata! What's wrong with you?"

Hinata gulped, looking down at her fingertips to find her hands quivering slightly. "I know...it's stupid. But--"

Sakura burst out in laughter. "What's stupid'll be your children, Hinata!" She resumed laughing uncontrollably, her face turning red fom excitement.

Tenten and Hinata stared at her strangely not exactly understanding her joke, forcing Sakura to stop her laughing. "...you know...people that have kids with blood-relatives usually have stupid children..."

Tenten growled from within herself and stomped over to Hinata. "There's no way incest is ever gonna happen to your family, got that?" She shouted, her words, echoing throughout the entire room. "Especially with Neji...he's mine!"

"What's incest?" Hinata innocently asked, scratching her head in confusion.

"It's when you and your relatives go to the same bedroom and 'things' happen." Sakura briefly justified, giggling to herself.

Hinata shrieked as she coveredher mouth to lower down the volume."I'm sorry! But I can't help it when I like someone!" Hinata explained, Tenten shocked as ever.

"You have Naruto!" Tenten stared at her angrily. "One is all that you need."

Sakura lied down back in her sleeping bag and watched the two have their quarrel. Placing her hands behind her head, she rolled her eyes. "Why don't you just take him out on a date tomorrow, Hinata?"

Tenten and Hinata stared at her way. "WHAT?" They screamed in unison.

"Have you gone mental too, Sakura?" Tenten inquired, rushing over to her other friend and shook her desperately. "Hinata shouldn't go out and have a date with her cousin! That's just disgusting..."

Sakura removed the hands off her shoulders and crossed her arms, as she tried to justify her explanation. "I'm guessing that Hinata likes him only as a crush, right Hinata?"

Hinata sat in her bed, motionless. "I don't really know."

"So..." Sakura continued, sounding matter-o-factly. "If she were to go on a date with him, she'll be able to see whether or not she feels that strong about Neji. If she just thinks of him as a crush, then it's no big deal but if she finds out that she likes him for real...now, that a big issue..."

Tenten moved her arms behind her back as she crossed her fingers. "I hope to God, that it's just a crush Hinata...because realizing that you love your cousin too much isn't something that happens..." Tenten grabbed her hair and tugged on it a little. "Ugh...I don't even want to imagine what you guys would do if you..."did it"."

"Ten, don't even think about that..." Sakura told her friend, turning off the light.

Hinata looked down on her blanket and ran her hand along it. "I hope that it's just a crush..."

(End Flashback)

So..." Ino gently started to say. "Did you miss me?" Taking a sip of tea, her hands held it around, feeling the warmth surround every corner of her palms.

Shikamaru took a bite out of his toast as he sat sideways, only half of his face being shown to her. Looking at Ino with the corner of his eye, he grunted. "What's there to miss?"

Ino glumly scrutinized him, pouring her cup of tea at his face. "What the hell do you mean by that? Didn't you miss me at all? Did you even think of me?" Ino joyfully watched Shikamaru jolt upward out of his seat and wiped off the burning tea off his face.

"Damn it! Why'd you do that for?" Shikamaru inquired, infuriated. Grabbing a napkin on the table, he rubbed off the remaining liquid on his face, his face still stinging from the burn.

Ino whisked her finger from side-to-side as the legs of her chair screeched against the floor. Walking over to him, she poured a vase of cold water on top of his head. "Does that feel better now?" She taunted, slamming the empty water vase on the table. "Well...at least you can say that you took a shower already..."

Shikamaru grabbed her arm strongly, Ino falling forward to him. As their faces were nose-to-nose, he began to speak softly but alsowith a large amount of strictness. "Just what the hell is wrong with you? I didn't do anything to provoke you and now you're doing all of this crap."

He gripped the upper part of her arm harder as he was able tofeelher bonein his grasp,with Ino showing a face of pain as he tightened his hold. Her eyes were glued shut and her teeth bit her lower lip as he strengthened his grasp, the bone in her arm beginning to feel as though it was about to be crushed into pieces. He severed his hand away from her arm, as he continued to view a hurt face from her. As soon as he let go of her, tears were forming out of her eyes, as she looked down at the ground, trying her best to hide away the tears falling down her nose.

Ino swung her head away, rushing over to the stairway as she covered her injured arm with her hand. Stomping from up above the staircase, she ran to her room and banged her door, loud enough that the entire house had shook.

Shikamaru massaged the back of his neck, reviewing everything that had just occured. "I was so close to snapping the bone in her arm if I just tightened it a bit more harder..." He sighed to himself, slowly making his way to the stairs, as he thought of a way to apologize. At her door, he sat with his back against it, finding that it was no use in knocking if she wasn't even going to let him inafter all that. "Hey." His elbow thud on the door, waiting for her to respond. "Hey." This time, he banged his elbow twice, hoping that sometime she would answer him. She didn't reply and continued to let her room be left in silence.

"Hey, Ino...I'm sorry..." He spoke gently, close enough to be whisper.

He rested both his arms on his knees, laying his head back on the door. Taking in a large breath of air, he lowered down his head and thought for a moment of what he would say next.

"...if I hurt you...I really didn't mean to do that...I guess...I was just...overreacting..."

Apparently to him, forming apologizes didn't come to mind as easily as calculating everything else with that intellect of his. He let out a breath of air and then sighed.

"...I'm sorry that I made you cry..." He suddenly reminisced the look of pain she cried out and he brought his head up at the ceiling. "...and I'm sorry that I'm such a jackass..."

From inside, he heard sudden movement and plugged his ear over to the door. "...and if you are actually listening to me to everything that I'm saying..." Aware of the fact that Ino was nearby the door, he grinned. "...I'll be happy to take you anywhere you like to go today...just you and me..."

At that moment, he figured that all those words weren't exactly coming out of his mind, it was as though his those words came outdecided to leftthem out themselves."...and I promise that I'll put on a happy face for you...not that gloomy, uninterested face that I was wear..."

Shikamaru gulped nervously as he felt his face burn up. "...I'm really sorry...for making you sad...after all...we haven't seen each other in two years and you'd probably expect a new and improved me, right?... I guess... you thought that I would be a better person and change from the way I was before...but now...I guess it's still all the same...I'm sorry for the way I am..."

After his apology, he slumped down on the ground and remained quiet for a few more seconds while feeling his body sling back abruptly.

"Shika! You promise you'll take me wherever I want to go today?" Ino sat with knees bent and pushed the door back a bit more, watching Shikamaru's head fall downward on her lap. She cupped her hands on his cheeks and squished them. "You even said so! Just you and me!" She squealed, clapping her hands together with glee.

"What have I done?" Shikamaru mumbled to himself, still lying his head on Ino's lap.

Ino's eyes shrank and she raised a fist in the air, cracking her joints all together. "Did you say something?..."

Shikamaru pushed himself off from his position and crawled back. "No, I was just thinking of something out loud is all." He looked at Ino, who still wore her pajamas and threw a thumb pointing it behind his back. "Go and take a shower now. You'll just be wasting more time for us to go out this way if you don't hurry up."

"So, would this be a date?" Ino asked, clasping her hands together with her eyes glittering with delight.

Shikamaru scoffed. "The hell it isn't."

Ino got to her feet and marched her way over to him, cracking her knuckles and raising her fist to the air. "I didn't catch what you said...say it again..."

Shikamaru immediately panicked and waved his hands in front of his face. "Fine, fine, it is..." He finally said.

Ino smiled brightly, running off to her bedroom and took out her usual clothing to wear--her purple sleeveless turtleneck that showed half of her stomach and a black skirt, that was being overlapped with a longer purple skirt (a/n: outfit in the second part of manga). She then dashed over to the bathroom and shut the door, running the shower water in a hurry.

Shikamaru brought his eyebrows up. "What's with this girl?"

(a/n: This part is a few hours later...)

"Just where the hell is Hinata, anyway? She's already 15 minutes late." Tenten stomped a foot on the ground, fussing over the issue.

Sakura stared up to the sky and sighed lightly. "Just wait a bit more."

"Sakura! Ten!" A gentle voice called out from behind them, footsteps pounding against the ground.

"Finally you came. " Exasperated, she snatched Hinata's wrist and dragged her over to the tree that her and Sakura were staying under.

Sakura moved into the ill-formed circle that they formed and rested her hand on her forehead. "Okay, here's what you're gonna do..."

"So where do you want to go?" Shikamaru inquired, drooping his hands down into his pants pockets and kept his facial expression, in sheer boredom. He frowned as soon as Ino looked at him with a face filled with enthusiasm.

"Hey," She poked him on the cheek, grabbing his attention directly toward her. She gave him an upside-down smileas he looked at her, with no interest. "You promised me that you'd actually have a different expresstion other than that usual frown of yours."

"Stop hallucinating. I never said that." Shikamaru said, his hand on his head as he sighed heavily.

Ino growled, at that moment, contemned at the sight of him. "Liar. You promised me when you were apologizing to me."

"You must've been hearing things." He hastely replied.

Ino'e eyes were tiny slits as she tried to appease her tension. "...even if you claim that you didn't say that, just pull up a smile for me."

He contravened her insistence and with melancholy, deepened his frown. "Why do I have to smile especially for you?"

"You told me it would just be the two of us and that you would change the mood of yours. It wouldn't be any fun when one of us isn't in a good mood." Ino hugged his arm and he attempted to back away but to no avail.

"What do you think that you're doing?" He questioned, wiping her arm off of his.

"Oh c'mon! Please just smile..." She flirted, batting her eyes with delight. "Only for me."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and shook his arm for her to fly off. "I'm not in the mood."

"If you don't want to smile, I guess... I'll have to force you
then." Ino slumped her back down as she tugged him on his arm a little bit harder than she gripped his arm before and threw him downward unto the ground, with her hands attached to his wrists.

"W-what are y-you doing?" His voice shook in fear as he waited for her to respond.

Ino slyly flew her eyes off to the side and shyly replied. "It's just something that'll make you smile is all..."

Shikamaru became paranoid and did his best to bring himself up but was just pulled back down from Ino. "Why the hell would you want to do that in front of everyone?"

Ino elevated her eyebrow up. "There's nothing wrong with that. Now hold still..."

"INO! Don't think of doing 'that' in front of everyone! We're in public!" Shikamaru's words sped through his mouth as he felt himself sweatdrop on the upper part of his forehead.

"Just shut up for few...it won't take long..." She climbed over him and raised her hands off his wrists as she placed them on his chest.

"Ino!..." He stated insecurely, his heart thumping rapidly. He gulped, knowing that there was no point in resisting the temptation. Slowly, he contemplated her movements as she reached out for the sides of his body and slid her hands down against them.

Ino burst out laughing as she watched him react. "I knew it! I knew that you had a weak spot on the sides of your body!"

"Ino!" Shikamaru laughed out, clutching the sides of his stomach as she resumed tickling him. "S-stop i-it! D-damn it! T-that's not funny!"

In satisfication, Ino stood on her feet and dusted off her hands as she continued to chuckle at him. "I told you that I was going to make you smile! I did it!" She praised herself, joyfully clapping at what she had done. Turning her back around, she stuck a hand on her hip and tilted her head a few turns to look at him. "...by the way...what was wrong with doing something like that in public, anyway?"

Shikamaru blushed dark red as he jumped on his feet as he scratched the back of his neck. "Well...uh..."

Ino sighed, turning her back as she gently tilted her head in a few turns to see a partial amount of his face. "Let's go somewhere already." She said, a hand resting on the side of her hip.

Shikamaru looked away as he felt his stomach gurgle and hung his arms over it. "Let's go somewhere to eat. It's already lunchtime and I'm hungry too." Hesitantly walking up to her, he reluctantly grabbed her wrist and dragged her feet forward. "Besides, you should go and eat something right now as well. During breakfast, you barely ate anything...at that rate, you be as skinny as a skeleton if you insist on doing that damned diet that you keep on doing."

Ino blushed slightly as she caught sight of his hand on her wrist and inched her body toward his. "Is there anything wrong with me on a diet?"

"Have you ever thoroughly looked at yourself in the mirror? You look as though you're anorexic." Shikamaru proclaimed, shaking his head in astonishment.

"Aw...you care!"

"What the hell are you rambling about? Why the hell would I care for someone like you? You annoy me to death!"

Ino smirked and chuckled at his statement. "Oh...don't hide away something like that from me..."

He let go of her wrist and stopped walking, making her toalso stop walking. "Hide what?"

"Your true feelings for me."

"What are you talking about? I really hate you."

"Aw..see you're in denial..." Ino blushed, running up to him in open arms and hugged his arm again. "You look so adorable when you're serious."

Shikamaru blushed with a tint of pink rising on his cheekbones. He swayed his arm to release her from him and flicked her head as soon as she was off. "Stop joking with all the crap. Let's go. I'm hungry." He stamped his feet on the ground and moved himself forward, noticing that her footsteps didn't follow him. He spun around, to find that Ino looked at him innocently, only forcing him to throw at her an angry face. "Why are you just standing there? Let's go."

Ino placed her hands behind her back and stared at the ground. "I'll go with you only if you hold my hand."

Shikamaru huffed out a large sigh and lied his hand on his forehead. Walking up to her, he quickly snatched her hand and gripped it, making sure that it was held firm in his grasp. "Fine I will."

Ino covered her mouth with her vacant hand and tightened the hold of her otherhand with his. From behind her shielded mouth, she let out a high-pitched squeal, with a smooth tone of pink spreading all over her face.

Shikamaru poked her on the forehead and grinned at her. "Just so you know, I'm not going to deal with all this bullshit of yours ever again. I think that there's something wrong with you today."

Ino sneered at him and pouted, her fits of giggles shut inside her mouth. "He just doesn't have a damn clue..." She almost silently declared to herself, her face facing the side as his faced the opposite way, their hands still locked in each other's grasp.

"I wonder where he's at?" Hinata asked herself, as she patiently waited beside Ichiraku Ramen, awaiting the arrival of her cousin.

She looked behind her to see Sakura and Tenten behind a tree, yearning to see for themselves if Hinata would successfully execute their plan according to plan. Sakura gave her a thumb up while Tenten glared at her and had her hands circled over her head, pretending to twist it, showing Hinata that if she didn't successfully carry out her objective she was dead. Hinata nervously gulped, her pressure lowering down when she saw Sakura hit Tenten's head and waved at her, reassuring to her that everything will be alright and that Tenten didn't mean what she did at all--even though she really did.

Hinata stuck her hand down in her pocket and took out a lollipop that Tenten had given her earlier and unwrapped the foil, hastily stuffing it in back in her pocket. She plopped the candy into her mouth and had a hand on the stick, enjoying the flavor of the lollipop satisfying her tastebuds. This isactually pretty good...even though it's really sweet...it must have a lot of sugar...While enjoying her time sucking on the candy, a loud feminine voice was heard behind her, her curiosity striking her mind.

"Hey Hinata!" Ino called from a distance behind. "What are you doing standing over there by yourself? Are you waiting for someone?" Ino approached her friend in a fast pace, Shikamaru still attached tohishandbeing held together.

"Hey Ino. Shikamaru." She returned her greetings, removing her candy out of her mouth. Eyeing downwards at the two, her eyes looked as though they were about to pop out when she caught sight of both of them holding hands. "HEY! WHY ARE TWO HOLDING HANDS FOR!" She excitedly questioned, rushing up to them, having their still-unremoved hands in the palms of her hands. "THAT IS SO ROMANTIC! OH, PLEASE LET ME BE A MEMBER OF THE WEDDING THAT YOU'RE GUYS ARE GONNA HAVE SOON! SO...I THINK THAT I WANT TO BE THE FLOWER GIRL! I WANT TO THROW THOSE FLOWERS IN THE BASKETS ON THE PEOPLE'S FACES! IT'LL BE FUN! HOW MANY CHILDREN TO YOU PLAN TO HAVE? PLEASE NAME ONE OF YOUR KIDS NAMES MY NAME! THAT'LL BE SO COOL!" She rushed over to Ino and playfully elbowed her arm. "Hey Ino." She slyly remarked, Ino completely surprised at her. "Just tell me when you and Shikamaru are gonna get hitched. I won't tell!"

"H-Hinata..." Ino began to say.

"Oh my gosh! Don't tell me that you two are planning to get eloped! Don't you two worry! I promise to keep your guy's secret safe!"

"Hinata, are you okay?" Shikamaru asked, releasing his hands off of Ino's hand.

"Yeah." Ino added, crossing her arms in suspicion. "You never act like that. What's wrong with you?"

"Yes!" Tenten proclaimed to herself, pushing her arm back with a closed fist. "This plan is starting to work!"

Sakura pinched Tenten on her shoulder. "Ten, what did you give her anyway?"

"What did I give her?" Tenten pointed over to where Hinata stood and looked at Sakura to see if she understood. "I gave her that lollipop. It's supposed to have so much sugar that you'll go insane after one lick of it."

Sakura's concerned expression turned into a wild, surprised one. "Ten, were you trying to make her look bad in front of Neji, on purpose?"

Tenten fanned her face from the heat. "Of course not. I'm her friend. A friend would never do as something as cold-hearted as that." She looked at Sakura who gave her a look filled with a threatening dare."Besides, the only way to stop liking him is to embarass herself in front of him. Making her act way out of character and crazy is how it is done."

Sakura shook her head and let her concentration focus on her three friends infront of them.

"Hinata. Ino. Shikamaru." A voice said from behind approached them. As he finally caught up to them, she stood there, arms crossed and full with uninterest. "Hey." He added unlively.

"Neji!" Hinata ran up to him and hopped off the ground, her entire body being in the arms off her older cousin. She clung unto his neck as he firmly supported her knees and back.

"Hinata, what are you trying to do?" Neji said gloomily.

Both Ino and Shikamaru looked towards the two and stood there in shock.

"Is this really how cousin's interact with each other?" Shikamaru questioned Ino, closely scrutinizing the scene in front of them.

Hinata puckered her lips and swooped them up to his face. "Now pucker up and kiss me, you sexy bad boy." Slowly making her face up to his, in an instant Neji dropped her, Hinata falling down on the ground. "H-hey! I was just joking about that!"

Neji looked at her in annoyance and grumbled as he went to the restuarant with Ino and Shikamaru trailing behind.

In vexation, Hinata placed her lollipop back in her mouth and walked in along with the others, pouting as she crossed her arms.

"Hey Ten. How about we go in a little closer so we can see what's really going on in there." Sakura commented, tugging on her friend's shoulder as he leaned forward to move.

"Sakura!" Tenten removed her hand off hers. "Where else can we hide anyway?"

Sakura blew off the hair covering her forehead as a sign of irritance and once again grabbed Tenten's shoulder as they made their way in front of the doorway of Ichiraku Ramen.

"Neji." Hinata intimately stated to him, hiding her hands underneath her legs.

"What?"

Hinata moved her eyes toward her soup and gazed momentarily at it, her cousin beginning to question why she had brought his name up a second ago. "Will you please feed me?"

Neji dropped his chopsticks in his soup and stared at her. "You have hands don't you? Feed yourself."

Hinata frowned. "But you're supposed to. You're my older cousin and my guardian, you're supposed to help me."

Not wanting to argue any further, he leaned his hands over to grab hold of her chopsticks and scooped up a large amount of noodles as he waited for her to open up her mouth. He grumbled as he did, while Ino eyed every action.

Unknown to Shikamaru, she got positioned her fingers on the coordinated placements to hold the chopsticks and brought a cupful of noodles above the surface of the bowl. "Shikamaru!" She sang brightly, imitating what Neji was doing to Hinata.

"What?" He mumbled unclearly, his words being chewed up with the food being minched in his mouth.

"Open up the tunnel, here's comes the train! Choo! Choo!" Leaning over her the counter, the chopsticks closed in the gap between his mouth and her chopsticks, leaving him in shock as he spat out his food.

"What did you just say?"

Ino sighed as she reluctantly repeated her words again. "Open up the tunnel, here comes the train...Choo! Choo!"

Shikamaru slapped her hand as her chopsticks and the noodles caught in between them fell on the floor. "That's disgusting."

Ino reached over to a cup of chopsticks and broke in half another pair. "Hey, I haven't placed those chopsticks in my mouth yet so just relax. Now open up."

"Open up what?"

"What do you think?"

"There's no way I'm gonna open it up." He hurriedly placed his hands on his pants and leaned his whole body in, his stomach covering a partial amount of his pants. (A/n: apparently, he has a VERY SICK mind).

Watching that his posture changed and that his hands looked as though they appeared on his stomach, she rested her chopsticks back down in the bowl and swung herself to the side as she faced him. "See? If you don't eat, you're going to have a stomachache."

"I would eat better if you weren't to speak to me."

Ino had her hands on her hips as she stuck her lower lip out in front of her upper lip. "What's wrong with me talking?"

Shikamaru sighed as he straightened up his back. "Do you even think about what you say?"

"Course I do. Now open up." She dipped her chopsticks back in the bowl and drew them out, her chopsticks being filled with the noodles in between.

"Hell no! I won't!" He denied strongely, repeating his previous position.

"If you don't eat, then you'll keep having that stomachache."

"Who says that I have a stomachache?"

"Just open up." Ino leaned in closer and Shikamaru leaned back, his body moving toward Neji, who was again feeding Hinata the second time.

"Dammit Hinata. You can feed yourself. I really don't want to feed you." Neji rashly stated, leaving her chopsticks back into the bowl.

Hinata carved in a deep frown and began to plead. "Just one more time. Please?"

With hesitation, he brought back up her chopsticks and picked up noodles from her bowl. Suddenly, as he was about to give her another bite, a heavy force came from behind his back as he continued to feed his younger cousin. In an instant, he fell down on the ground, noticing that the chopsticks that he had was gone out of his grasp.

"Sorry about that, Neji. That damn Ino did it." Shikamaru apologized as he got himself back up to his feet and dusted himself off.

Saying nothing, Neji got to his feet and sat back down, a frustrated Hinata getting his attention.

"Ow! That hurt!" Complained Hinata, who slowly took out the chopsticks that were shoved up in her nose. "Neji! That hurt!"

"Sorry." He replied without feeling and gave her a new pair of chopsticks as she resumed groaning. He laughed as soon as he found her dragging out the noodles out of her nose.

"S-stop laughing!" Hinata demanded as she covered her nose and her face feeling hot. "Uh geez! It looks like I have ultra-sized boogers hanging out from my nose!...it feels slimy too..."

Neji continued laughing as he watched her expression turn into embarrassment and saw her turn her face the other direction as she stared out at the wall. "That hurt..." She said, rubbing her nose as she turned around, to find that he still was laughing hysterically. "You can stop laughing now! All of it's gone!"

Even after saying that, he still continued laughing, forcing Hinata to also laugh with him. She slowly lifted her hand as it covered her mouth, giggles making their way out as she turned red from excitement. I've never seen him smile like that. Much less, this is the first time I've ever seen him laugh...Hinata gently ceased laughing and drew her hand away, appeasing herself back to her normal composure and returned to eating her noodles.

"Ten, I think we should go on ahead now. They're already about to leave." Sakura mentioned, picking herself off from the ground as she leaned her back on the wall of the building.

"Yeah, I know." With the help of Sakura who gave out a hand to her, she hopped to her feet as they walked off toward the park again, knowing that Hinata would meet them there in a few minutes. "So, what do you think Hinata still thinks of Neji?"

Sakura smiled brightly as she had her arms behind her back. "Definately a crush."

Tenten thought a moment and answered her back. "Yeah, I think so too."

"Of course you do. You were wishing that that was what she felt for him from the beginning." Sakura corrected her, both of them beginning to take off walking toward the park.

"Yeah, I know." Tenten placed her hands behind her neck as she walked in a lazy stance. "I'm glad he is only a crush. Cause if he "somehow" started to like her, than you know incest is sure to come."

Sakura held a grossed-out look on her face as she stared at her. "You really think--"

"But," Tenten sighed, looking up into the sky. "...in the end, it was all a one-sided love for Hinata..."

For a moment, the two girls didn't bother to say anything to the other and still walked forward. Feeling a strange awkwardness, Sakura decided to bring out a subject to talk about but was interrupted by Tenten.

"...and..." Tenten paused for a few minutes and continued on with her sentence. "...the same goes for Ino..."

So...what did you guys think of this chapter? Took me days just to try and figure out what is gonna happen in this chapter but I guess it came out alright.

INQUIRES YOU MIGHT WANNA ASK YOURSELF: Could Tenten be right? Does the feelings that she has for Shikamaru a one-sided love? Or could it be he's starting to take in interest with her?

SUMMARY FOR NEXT CHAPPIE:

...uh...I'm gonna have to skip this one...I really don't have any ideas about this one yet...here's what'll I do...I'll ask you guys whatthe next chappie should be...

1. Absolute comedy strange things that happen with the group of friends but then humorous

OR

2. ROMANCE! Chemistry between another character and their love interest

...well...it's up to you guys...cut for now...I'll be thinking of what chappie 4 is gonna be like!

Oh! Was the Shikamaru and Ino part in the beginning of this chappie crappy? Tell me how I can improve with those kind of scenes! In all honesty, this is my first time writing a story on romance like this! So I'm pretty mediocre at it...:(

ANYWAYS! GIVE ME FEEDBACK PEOPLE! REVIEW IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE NEXT PART OF THIS STORY!

SEE YA!

-XiaoyuKaede