Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I am only borrowing the characters

Author: pheonixphire

Genre: Romance/Humor

Rating: K+

Pairings: ShikaIno

Summery: Being honest is always important, especially when Shikamaru asksIno some very important questions.

Honesty

Ino walked down the street. She was headed home after her team's training. She sighed, another day. At least there was her mom's party to look forward too.

She turned a corner to see a head of pink and a head of black. Sakura? Sasuke? She jumped into a nearby tree. She looked at the two, her ex-ex-ex-best friend and her childhood crush. They were kissing. Ino's eyes widened, no, no, NO! How dare she take away MY Sasuke? Ino never thought that Sasuke actually liked Sakura. Ino also never thought that Sakura would beat her to getting Sasuke's affection. She was surprised to feel tears dripping down her face and onto the tree.

She turned, jumped down from the tree, and ran. Soon, she arrived at a large clearing in the woods. Unknown to her, Shikamaru was also there. She sat down at the edge of the clearing. Leaning against a tree, she sobbed, quietly. Shikamaru looked up from his cloud watching and looked around. Soon, he found a huddled, purple figure. Ino? Shikamaru was surprised to see Ino crying. He had never thought Ino would cry. I wonder what happened to her to make her cry like this? It hurt him to see his friend like this. He got up and walked over to where Ino was sitting.

"Ino?" Shikamaru asked.

"Go away," Ino sobbed.

"Ino? Are you okay?" Shikamaru asked again. He sat down next to her, and pulled her into his lap. "Are you okay?"

"Do I look like I'm okay?" she asked, struggling in his grip.

"What happened?" Shikamaru asked, quietly. Ino stopped struggling. She fell limp in his lap.

"I s-saw Sakura a-and Sasuke, together," Ino whispered, quietly. "T-they w-were k-kissing." She calmed down slightly; in her friend's warm hold.

"I understand," Shikamaru said. He stroked Ino's hair. He was truly distressed seeing Ino crying, weak, and vulnerable.

"How would you know?" Ino cried, sitting up suddenly.

"What? What it means to be heartbroken? Shikamaru asked quietly. "I do."

Ino looked up, surprised.

"Do you know how much it hurts? Seeing the one you love chase after someone else?" Shikamaru asked. "Honestly, Ino, why do you like Sasuke so much? Besides because he's "cute"?"

"I-I uh, well, I guess, no, I-I don't know," Ino stuttered. "I don't know why I like him so much. I guess I had a crush on him, but that's over. I only pretended to like him cause Sakura liked him."

"Let me tell you a story," Shikamaru said. "There was a girl, who had a best friend. One day, however, they both realized they liked the same boy. They broke their friendship, just for that one boy. She never knew how much she meant to the other boy and ignored everything he did. She would just continue to chase after the boy that continuously ignored her and called her names. After many years of rivalry, the boy finally ended up with the other girl. The girl was depressed to see her rival with the boy. However, the girl didn't notice the affection her teammate showed her, oblivious to the fact that her teammate was depressed to see his love chase after someone else."

Ino looked at Shikamaru, finally understanding what he meant.

"Oh," she whispered. I am such an idiot. Blindly chasing after Sasuke when I didn't even like him. And, being unaware of the fact that Shikamaru liked me. Maybe even loved me. Unaware of the fact that Shikamaru treated me kindly and Sasuke treated me like nothing. I never noticed. I never knew.

"You never noticed, did you?" Shikamaru asked.

"No," Ino replied. "I'm so sorry, Shikamaru, I didn't know."

"It's okay, Ino," Shikamaru said, "You know now."

Ino smiled and looked at Shikamaru. They lay down and stared at the clouds.

"Hey, that one looks like a heart," Ino said, pointing at the heart shaped cloud.

"Yeah, it does," Shikamaru said.

"No wonder, you watch the clouds," Ino said after a while. "They're so beautiful."

"Yeah, like you," Shikamaru said, quietly. Ino blushed and sat up.

"We'd better get home, Shikamaru," Ino said. "It's getting late. My mom's having a party, you're invited."

"Yeah okay, let's go," Shikamaru responded.

Ino smiled.

"Thanks, Shikamaru," she said, getting up from the grass.

The two ninja walked out of the clearing and headed toward Ino's house.

"Ino?" Shikamaru asked after a few minutes of walking.

"What?" Ino asked.

"D-do you l-like me?" Shikamaru asked, blushing furiously.

"No, Shikamaru," Ino replied truthfully. "I love you."

"Oh," Shikamaru looked away.

"Thank you for everything," Ino started, "for helping me, being kind, encouraging, and still loving me even when I chased after Sasuke."

"Shikamaru looked at her. Ino was looking down. Ino looked up at Shikamaru, she saw love and happiness in his eyes. She smiled.

"I love you, Shikamaru," Ino said. Shikamaru smiled. He's quite cute when he's smiling, she thought. Shikamaru walked over to her and bent down, He kissed her lightly on the cheek. Ino frowned slightly and kissed him, this time on the lips.

"I love you too, Ino."

She smiled and tugged at his arm.

"Hurry up, Shikamaru," she said.

"Why?" Shikamaru asked.

"My mom's party tonight," Ino replied. "Remember?"

"Oh, right," Shikamaru said, following her down the street. "How troublesome." Shikamaru had reverted back to his old self. Ino frowned. She kissed him again.

"I like the other Shikamaru better," she said, pouting. Shikamaru kissed her.

"Too troublesome."

YAY! Another awful oneshot. Ah, well, whatever. I just decided that there aren't enough Shikamaru and Ino stories, so yeah…REVIEW! Thank you. -pheonixphire