Chapter 13: Ino-chan
(Alternatively, When the Hell Did My Life Get So Weird?)
Author's Note: I'm sorry this is out so late, well for me it is. Between helping my sister with her children, getting sick, and then a massive cleaning spree, I just had no energy or inspiration to write. I'm still tired as hell, but my mind won't me rest. So here I am.
On another note – Time skips.
(Shikamaru's POV)
The almost eight-years-old Shikamaru winces at the overly loud squeals and shrieks of the children around him. Naru, on the other hand, is looking about himself with wide-eyed glee. They are finally entering entering the Academy and Shikamaru wants nothing more than to crawl into a hole and hide from all the crowding people(he has never liked crowds). His father and mother carefully and skillfully leads them through until they reach Chōza-san and Inoichi-san. There is a blonde-haired little girl beside the tall blond, but Shikamaru ignores her in favor of greeting Chōji.
"Yo, Chōji," he lifts his hand to wave at his friend lazily.
"Shikamaru! Are you excited?" Chōji asks with a grin.
Shikamaru gives him a flat look. "There are way too many people here for me to want to do anything other than hide in a tree."
Chōji just laughs and says, "You're so anti-social."
"Mm, yep, that's me."
"Well, with an attitude like that you'll never get any friends," the blonde girl states as if it is an obvious matter-of-fact.
Shikamaru frowns at her then flicks his eyes up at Inoichi with a narrow-eyed look. The man laughs nervously as he scratches the back of his head. "Ahaha… Sweetie, Shikamaru-kun is a firm believer in having a few good and loyal friends that he can trust with anything. He isn't the kind of guy who cares for being popular."
"Besides," Shikamaru says when Inoichi falls silent. He continues, "I already have Naru and Chōji. Why should I want anyone else when I have them?"
His mother just rolls her eyes as she bends down to look at the girl, "Ino-chan, Shikamaru is very mature for his age. He very often acts more like an old man than a child. You'll just have to get used to his quirks since you might be sharing a class."
The newly named Ino wrinkles her nose. "Why would any kid want to act like an old person?"
Shikamaru sighs and says, "Because I do, that's why. I like the way I am and I don't see why I should have to change myself to make other people happy. Especially if I already have people who like me just the way I am."
Ino stares at him for a moment before she grins, "I get it! You're shy! Don't worry, I'll be your friend too, even if you are weird!
Chōji and Naru both snicker at him(and so as the adults, Shikamaru notes sourly) as Ino reaches over and grabs his hand. She smiles at the other boys as well. "We'll all be friends, okay? No matter what happens!"
(Shikamaru is both a little freaked out and touched by the little girl's touchy feely nature and seemingly accepting attitude. At the same time, he is also saddened. He closes his eyes and remembers Zack, bright and happy(if a little dark from what had happened to him in the labs) like this girl is and...'We're friends, right?'.)
He opens his eyes and looks her straight in the eyes, "Yeah, okay. Just don't expect me to do anything weird or girly. My hair may be long, but that doesn't mean I want it any different than it is now."
Indeed, his hair is long. His hair is already to his shoulder blades while still being in a ponytail. Ino pouts as she eyes it. "But it's so long and pretty! How on earth did you get it that long?!"
Shikamaru turns his head to give his parents a hard look. "I didn't let them near my hair with any sort of sharp implement."
His parents sigh in unison(he knows that they are remembering how difficult it was just to convince him to let his mother trim the split ends off of his hair because they had once mentioned cutting it. Shikamaru had glared death at them that day and had locked himself in his room until they had promised not to cut his hair). Inoichi and Chōza laugh at his parents teasingly.
"That's one stubborn boy you two have," Inoichi says. He continues, "how are you coping with such a troublesome kid?"
Shikamaru's father grumbles, "Mendokuse..."
The left corner of Shikamaru's mouth turns up slightly at his and his father's catchphrase. It's not something too obvious, but Ino suddenly starts beaming at him and he gives her a slightly confused look.
"You should smile more," she states. Then, "you're actually pretty cute when you smile!"
Shikamaru goes wide-eyed and angles away from her in a skittish cat-like way as a dusty rose color starts to crawl across his nose and cheeks(She had teased him like that, always doing whatever it took to draw him out of his shell). Behind him, his brother and best friend collapse together in a fit of giggles and the adults are laughing uproariously(Inoichi is oddly subdued, however, and Shikamaru briefly wonders why). As it is, Shikamaru is more than a little freaked out now and Ino is still smiling at him, but now there is a teasing edge to it, as if she has just now noticed how he has been affected by her comment.
"Aw!" She coos at him and Shikamaru angles away a little more, this time leaning away as well as he continues to stare at the blonde. She nods, mostly to herself, before saying, "Yep, definitely cute. You have this serious and mature, but shy thing going on that a lot of girls are going to fall for if you're not careful!"
Shikamaru looks away from her with a deeply uncomfortable look on his face. "Can we stop talking about this? I'm not interested in anything like that."
Ino rolls her eyes. "Oh, right. I forgot boys think girls have cooties."
Shikamaru turns his head sharply and tilts it as he looks at her. "What…? I…have no idea what you just said."
Naru laughs and says, "Shika-nii doesn't really care about playground talk, Ino-chan. By the way, I'm Naruto. I guess you already know Chōji?"
"Hi Naruto! And yeah, I know Chōji. We see each other at our birthday parties and Clan gatherings. But I've never seen the two of you there before?"
Their parents sigh again and the older Nara male says, "Shikamaru isn't comfortable in crowds and Naru follows him everywhere, so they never go anywhere with a lot of people unless they have to. Like right now."
"Oooh, okay. But seriously, you don't think girls have cooties?" Ino gives him a piercing look.
"I don't even know what you're talking about," Shikamaru grouses. He continues with a scowl, "I'm just not comfortable with people saying things like that to me. It's just that, that sort of stuff always makes me want to crawl into a hole and hide, okay."
(She may have liked to tease, but she never took it too far, always knowing when to stop. None of the others had ever teased him that way because they knew he disliked it and that it made him severely stressed. He knows that it is meant as a compliment, but he's never been comfortable with people complimenting his looks(he remembers skin covered with scars(hidden away under clothes and gloves and the flat looks that made people look away) and pain and never wanting to be touched because more often than not being touched set something dangerous off in his brain).)
Ino tilts her head to look at him and she must see the truth of what he says because she finally nods, saying, "Okay, I won't do it anymore, but there are girls out there who won't care if you're comfortable or not with them."
(Ino's POV – two weeks later)
Shikamaru may not be the most handsome boy in class, not in the classical sense at least, but he has a very mature and mysterious way about him that appeals to girls and they like to watch him like they do the most popular boy in class, Uchiha Sasuke. He has these narrow dark brown eyes that are often half-lidded, making him look sleepy or bored, but sometimes his eyes will slip open, looking more black than brown, and a thin eyebrow will reach for his jagged hairline. It is moments like these that she(and other girls) looks for because in those moments she can tell that he is serious and focused and sometimes a little pissed(or maybe a lot). His face still has its baby fat, but Ino can definitely say that, when his face thins out, he will have very nice features. Those high cheek bones will give him a rather aristocratic appearance one day.
His long, silky black hair is a big factor too. Most boys don't have hair that long and certainly not that well taken care of. Shikamaru, however, doesn't seem to care about his hair except for when anyone who tries to touch his ponytail. When that happens, he ducks away and turns to glare at the offender. A good portion of those who try are other boys trying to make fun of him. The person in question will always back off with a pale face. Ino likes to imagine that she hears him growling during these moments.
Another thing that appeals to the girls in her class is his attitude. He's helpful and polite, if a bit distant, and somewhat laid back. He never says anything nasty to anyone. Unless they target Naruto, Chōji or bullies anyone where he can see it, that is. Then he turns into something darker, something dangerous. His normally bored and sleepy look will change at the drop of a coin. His eyes will become dark, glinting sharply, his thin brows will draw down and knit together in a scowl, his mouth will flatten into a thin, clearly displeased, line, and his voice will lower until it almost rumbles in the air.
Most importantly, though, is the fact that most boys think girls have cooties and like to pull hair and make fun of them. Shikamaru, on the other hand, just gives girls looks that say 'I am very confused by you and I don't know how to deal with your weirdness' when confronted by them. He ignores their antics for the most part. And… That might actually be why a good portion of the girls in her class giggle and bat their eyelashes at him. The worst part is that he doesn't even realize what he's doing or that he would have over half the girls in class eating out of the palm of his hand if he so much as looked at them with interest.
Nara Shikamaru is a decidedly odd boy, Ino thinks.
(Shikamaru's POV)
He doesn't know why he ever expressed an interest in coming to the Academy. Oh, wait… That's right… He wants to be a Shinobi and the only way to do that is if he attends the Academy. Shikamaru sighs as he stares out the window and up at the sky. He's already fended off two nasty verbal attacks on Choji and six for poor Naru. Ino often helps him and, for the most part, people have started to leave them alone. He doesn't know why people give Naru such a hard time, but he's determined to find out. He's also going to get severely pissed and snap one of these days if the instructor doesn't start acting more professionally.
As the teacher starts to yell at Naru for no reason he thinks that today might be that day. Shikamaru leans back in his seat and says in a soft and dangerous tone that is only just loud enough to be heard, "I'd stop yelling at him if I were you."
The man turns his head to glare at him, but Shikamaru continues before he can open his mouth. His voice is still dangerously soft. "After all, Naruto and I are the sons of the Nara Clan head who just so happens to be the Jōnin Commander and he does have the ear of the Hokage. I wonder what would happen if I told him that you are deliberately sabotaging our education. You see, our tou-san listens to our concerns and he never turns us away if we tell him we have a problem. So I highly doubt he'd dismiss my claims of sabotage as childish revenge against a teacher because they wouldn't be false claims."
Shikamaru looks at the teacher through lowered lashes, as if bored with the whole ordeal already, but his eyes are sharp with intent. He senses Ino's shift forward as she watches on with interest and he can tell that the rest of the class is watching as well. They are curious to see what will happen next. He allows a tiny, yet smug, smirk to appear on his lips and says in a calm tone, "You are actively sabotaging this class by constantly interrupting your own lecture to yell at my brother for no reason. You quote the textbook out of context. You deliberately ask questions that only the smartest people in this class would know only by studying. Worse yet, you keep giving Naruto homework and tests that aren't part of this class' curriculum.
"So, please, enlighten me as to why I shouldn't go straight to my tou-san's office right now."
Author's Notes # 2: Things are going to pick up a bit after this and there will be a few more time skips until they reach graduation day. There is a poll on my profile about whether Mizuki stays or goes before their graduation. So go check it out and vote, okay.