Chapter Three
Shikamaru Nara was in fact one of the laziest Jounin's that Ino had ever known. Actually once she really thought about it, not that she would admit to thinking about the lazy bum, Shikamaru Nara was possibly the laziest person she will ever meet. This simple fact had bothered her since the two had been placed on a team together when they were twelve. She was also slightly surprised that she hadn't permanently lost her voice with all the screaming she used to do, and still does on some occasions. Ino Yamanaka figured it was for one of two reasons. One, Shikamaru simply liked to aggravate her until she had a nervous breakdown or developed an ulcer. Or two, Shikamaru just simply enjoyed hearing her scream until her face was blue and she passed out from lack from air. If she were the betting type though, she would have placed her life savings on the first option.
Ino would never let anyone know this, not even her estranged best friend Sakura Haruno, but at times like this Ino was the taken over by a demon, a demon that was more commonly known as Jealousy. She would silently stalk her ex-teammate whenever SHE came to town, following them from a distance, or just making up excuses to be in the same place at the same time. Ino figured she was pretty sneaky to come up with some of the stuff she did. For one no one, except one person, had figured out what she was doing. That one person being her other ex-teammate, Choji Akimichi, but Ino knew he would never say anything to anyone for fear that the temperamental blonde would turn her anger toward him. And Choji would be the first to admit that he ex-teammate scared him.
The blonde found her self in another situation that she wished would just stop happening. SHE had showed up that morning with her younger brother. Ino briefly wondered if the other blonde girl's outfit could get any shorter, before she had to zip out of site of the blonde Jounin and her Kazekage brother. Ino cursed slightly and pretended to look through a flower arrangement magazine as they pasted by her. Her heart skipped a beat slightly, hoping beyond hope that Shikamaru wasn't in town. Hoping he was away on some insane mission and wouldn't be back until this horrid weekend was over. Ino felt her heart almost completely stop when the blonde girl she was currently wishing every untimely bloody and gory death she could think of on called out.
"Hey Cry-Baby!" Ino dropped the magazine she was looking through and poked her head around the corner of the shop just in time to see the blonde wrap her arms around Shikamaru. Ino saw red, bright blood red, namely the other blonde's blood. A snort came from over her shoulder and she focused her evil death glare towards the snort. But the glare fell from her face in a second and she straightened up before bowing low to the red headed man.
"Kazekage-sama, how good to see you. I hope your trip here was well." The red head looked to Ino with a know-it-all gaze she was used to seeing on Sakura and Shikamaru before the red-head walked away from her, not even uttering a word to her. Ino was glad for this and took that moment to glance back over to where the other blonde and her ex-teammate were. They were gone. Ino felt her left eye twitching before she stomped the ground with her right foot and crossed her arms over her chest.
"DAMN IT ALL." Choji jumped backwards and dropped the hamburger he was about to shove in his mouth as he walked up behind Ino. She was twitching slightly so he decided not to spend time mopping over his lost lunch. He placed a hand gently on her shoulder and jumped back when she whirled around and punched him in his stomach. He doubled over holding his stomach as Ino turned and marched off in the direction she figured the other blonde girl and Shikamaru had gone. Choji fell to his knees still holding his stomach and winced slightly, rubbing over the spot where Ino's fist had made impact.
"I guess it'd be a safe bet to say that Temeri and Gaara have finally arrived." He nodded slightly to the voice that came from behind him, and was soon helped to his feet but the pink haired girl who was none other than Sakura Haruno. The pink haired beauty helped to dust off the dirt on Choji's outfit before placing a green glowing hand onto the boy's stomach. Choji smiled slightly as the pain that had been there a moment before was gone. He nodded a quick thank you to Sakura before he turned to head back to the hamburger stand to get another burger. Sakura stopped him though, "Choji, does Ino have feelings for Shikamaru?"
Choji felt Sakura's hand clench onto his upper arm tightly and was very happy that he had all the extra fat to help ease the pain she was causing him. That still didn't help the loud gasp that escaped him and the wide-eyed look he gave to Sakura. Normally when asked about Ino's feelings for their ex-teammate Choji escaped quickly. But this time there was no escape. Sakura had him by the arm and was, releasing him?
Choji stared at the pink haired, now smirking girl, with confusion written all over his face. Sakura patted Choji's head and started walking off towards the hamburger shack that was up the street.
"This will definitely make the weekend more interesting." She turned back to look at Choji who was still blinking and staring at Sakura with confusion. She sighed and motioned for him to follow her. "Come on Choji, I'll treat you to a new hamburger, and get the money from Ino when I see her later on." That snapped Choji out of his stupor and he raced after Sakura. Not even the slighted bit concerned that once Sakura confronted Ino about her feelings for Shikamaru that said the blonde would surely castrate him.
Ino had found them mere seconds after she had left Choji. The blonde bimbo had her arm wrapped around Shikamaru's shoulder while his arm rested lazily across her back, his hand on his hip. Ino's face felt hot and she could feel tears in her eyes, she couldn't let this go on. The flirting and the hugs were one thing, but intimate touches such as hands on hips and fingering in loose hair, Ino's brain stopped working in that instant. Shikamaru's hair was loose. He never ever wore it loose, no matter how many times Ino had insisted that he let it loose cause it looked better, he left it up in that nasty pony tail.
Ino couldn't stop the pain in her chest at those thoughts. The blonde bimbo had gotten Shikamaru to take down his hair and he was even letting her play with it. Ino knew at that moment that she couldn't take it any more. She stepped out from her hiding place, not a very good one but she had been slightly out of it for the past five minutes watching her secret crush being flirted with by bimbo, she then fixed her blue skirt and the tight white top before running a hand through her loose blonde hair. She had even taken the time to curl it this morning knowing that she was suppose to be meeting up with some representatives from the Village Hidden of Rock, and Hidden Village of Cloud. Had she of known that she would be confronting Shikamaru and the blonde bimbo from the Sand today, she would have worn something flirtier, and less professional.
Ino cleared her throat loudly behind the two, making the other blonde jump and Shikamaru turn his head slightly to him. Ino briefly wondered if anyone could make the lazy bum jumpy, but those thoughts flew from her mind when the other blonde wrapped both of her arms around Shikamaru's neck and leaning into him more. This action cause two reactions, the first being that Shikamaru's arms wrapped around the other blonde's waist holding her gently, and the second being that Ino's vision has completely clouded over with the red tint again. Of course the red tint was simply in Ino's head, but never the less it was there.
"Good afternoon Nara-San, I hope I wasn't interrupting anything important. I know that with the Godaime's birthday bath starting tomorrow you have plenty to do." Ino's voice had the same harsh tone and coldness she normally used when Shikamaru was being his utterly lazy self. Shikamaru glanced to the blonde in his arms before moving his head to stare sleepily at Ino. Ino felt her heart skip a beat and had to curl her toes to try to not focus on the blush she knew wanted to appear on her cheeks. The other blonde kept a sickening smirk on her face and a knowing look in her eyes, all the while continuing to twirl pieces of Shikamaru's hair around her forefinger. Ino's blood was reaching a boiling point and she knew she would blow at any minute. She would forever thank whatever God looked down upon her for the truly unemotional voice she heard.
"Nara, you were supposed to be at the Eastern gate close to three hours ago." Ino nearly kissed the stoic voice's owner for the interruption, or her explosion, she wasn't caught hear what to call it but was sure it didn't matter. The older boy held Shikamaru's gaze for a moment before he glanced to Ino and nodded to her, his white icy eyes bearing into hers. She was sure the other could read her mind in that moment and she made a mental note to send him a HUGE arrangement of flowers as a thank you.
As Inner-Ino was praising the long black haired white eyed knight in Jounin clothing, Shikamaru had pushed the blonde that was pressed against him away and pulled his hair back into his pony tail. Even slapping the blonde's hands away when she moved to grab at the tie. Ino of coursed missed this movement, but she didn't miss the pout that crossed the blondes lips and mentally noted that her newly dubbed "knight" would be getting a even bigger than HUGE arrangement.
"I was there when I was suppose to be Hyuuga. It's not my fault that the Nin from the Snow can't be on time. It was just to damn troublesome to wait there for longer than an hour." Ino felt her heart quicken as Shikamaru talked and wondered briefly if she had ever gotten that feeling before. Musing over this she missed the other blonde's whining about how Neji was taking all the fun out of the weekend before it had even started. She snapped back to reality though hearing Shikamaru's next words. "We'll have fun later. I have work now."
Ino's heart sank to her toes, no, past her toes. Her heart had sunk into the ground and was being chewed on by earthworms. She didn't notice the slightly look of discuss that crossed the Hyuuga clan heir, nor did she notice the happy squeal that escaped from the other blonde. All she noticed was how Shikamaru's hand lingered just a little longer on the other blonde's hip before he walked off, shoving his hands into his pockets. The other blonde disappeared in a puff of smoke after shooting a nasty look to the Hyuuga and to Ino, neither of which seemed to care much, Ino because she wasn't paying attention, and Neji because he really didn't care.
"You should go lay down, you look pale for even you." Neji's voice snapped Ino out of her depressing thoughts and she focused her blue eyes onto Neji's concerned white ones. "You don't have to thank me for separating them. He really was supposed to be at the Eastern gate three hours ago. The Godaime is not happy with him, and therefore took it out on me. Ruining Nara's weekend will just serve as a sort of pay back for him getting a desk thrown at me." Neji patted Ino's shoulder slightly before he took disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Ino stayed in that spot for another half an hour before she slowly started to head back towards her flower shop. Her mind was reeling with the things she had just witnessed, her heart still in the ground back were she left it, probably almost completely devoured by the worms by now.
When she passed in front of the Hokage tower though and seen the desk still outside accepting last minute sign ups for the Tournament, her mind came back to the present. She was sure the other blonde would be signing up to fight in the name of the Sand. Ino found her way through the small crowd to the front and smiled down at Iruka who looked up at her with confusion. She picked up the pencil with out a word and quickly wrote her name down for the Birthday Tournament. When she was done she smiled at the still slightly confused and concerned Iruka before walking away with a slight wave. She only had one more thought on the blonde before finally reaching home.
"Temeri, you will regret the day you laid your eyes on MY Shika-Chan."
