Ino leaned against the railing of the little roof and sighed, looking out over Konoha with a forlorn expression. The night was beautiful, the moon full and the stars sparkling. It all just looked so perfect.
She wished that it was.
"What, no hot date tonight?" Asked a familiar and warm voice off to her side. Ino smiled wistfully up at the sky as Choji joined her.
"You have to have someone to go on a date." Choji crossed his arms and leaned against the rail with her, looking up at the sky with her.
"No Kiba?" He asked, and she shook her head.
"Nope. That was just some mutual fun until I figured out that I needed a bit more than just fun, something serious. We were stuck in a rut anyways." Choji ignored the little shout of joy that sounded in his heart and instead focused on the girl beside him, the object of his affections and dear friend.
"Oh." She nodded and turned so her butt was resting against the railing, staring off into a distant thought only she could see.
"I've always been that girl who was just the fun one, you know? Sakura was the one you wouldn't mind dating, Hinata was the death-do-us-part kind of girl, and Temari... Well you have to be Shikamaru to want to touch that and expect to come out of it alive. But then here I am, the one that's good for a little fun and a good bang until you move on to something better. But now... I want to be one of the others. I don't want to be the fun one, I want to be the one you date or take home to mom." She turned her head towards Choji and looked at him with a straightforward and direct gaze that battled so drastically with her usual carefree and sassy attitude.
"Why can't I be that girl, Choji?" Choji met her gaze directly.
"You can be." He said, believing it completely. She was a great girl, one he loved and cared for like he did no other, a special person and a special friend. She smiled at him and then went back to looking into the nothingness.
"Everyone's settling down. Naruto and Hinata, Tenten and Neji, Shikamaru and Temari. Hell! Even Sakura and Kakashi! And all of them have kids. They're so happy in their sweet little family bliss bubbles, and then there's me. I'm on the outside, Choji, and it's lonely there."
Choji opened his mouth to say something but she waved him away. "And pretty soon you'll meet some nice girl -don't tell me you won't- and I'll just be... here. I'm stuck in this awful little rut and I don't know how to get out." She tilted her head back and blinked away the tears that were filling her eyes. "It's pathetic. I'm pathetic."
"No. You're not." She turned her head towards him and waited, watching him.
"You're smart and caring and energetic. You never give up on us and you see the best in people and try and hold them up even if they don't do the same for you. You're funny and have a great laugh, and you try and make a joke out of everything just to make other people smile. You've never quit when we needed you, and you're always ready to drop everything and sacrifice it all when we call on you." He paused for a moment, trying to think of something else and finally added, "And you're hot."
Ino laughed a watery and thankful laugh. She pushed off of the railing and turned to Choji, lifting up on her tip-toes to press a kiss on his cheek.
"Thanks, Choji. I can always count on you." And she leaned back just enough to smile up at him. She didn't know if it was the moon or the stars, or even if it was how he had soothingly lifted such an overpowering weight off of her chest, but suddenly she found herself leaning forward and brushing her lips against his. They stayed like that for the barest moment before Ino jerked back, her eyes wide.
"I... I'm... sorry."
"Ino." Choji said, reaching out to catch her, but she jumped back shaking her head.
"Sorry! Just... Sorry." She said, backing away and then leaping from the roof and racing away. Choji watched as she left and shook his head, sighing and leaning back against the railing.
"Stupid girl." He muttered.
"I just... don't know how it happened... Really! I mean, how stupid can I be?" She asked the pink haired woman who was sitting at the kitchen table listening to her.
"Very," She supplied, causing the blonde to turn and glare at her. Sakura merely laughed at the look, in no way intimidated. "Really Ino, you haven't even told me what happened."
"Well, you see-"
"Mama! Look what I did!" The little three year old cried as she dashed into the room, holding up a scribbled drawing proudly. Sakura gasped and took the paper from her daughter.
"Why, it's beautiful! Such the little artist!" She said, picking up the girl and placing her on her lap, smoothing down her white hair as the girl grinned at her mother proudly. Ino took in the happy little family picture and sighed. She wanted something like that so badly.
"I kissed Choji." She muttered, crossing her arms on the table and resting her head on them so that she was speaking into the wood. Sakura paused and smiled brightly down at her daughter.
"Karin honey, why don't you go make another picture for your Aunt Ino." She suggested brightly. The girl's face lit up at the prospect of making another picture and she nodded, slipping off of her mother's lap.
"Okay!" She cried out, dashing out to the living room where she had all of her drawing supplies set up.
Sakura kept the bright smile on her face until her daughter stepped out of the kitchen, then she turned to her best friend with a serious expression and a fire in her eyes. "Details." She demanded. "Now."
And so Ino explained it all, her voice muffled from the table. Sakura nodded when she was done. "Well, I guess it was about time."
"What does that mean?"
"That I expected for you and Choji to get together a long time ago."
"Oh?"
"Yep. It was obvious that you and Kiba weren't going to last, and I'm surprised that you two went on as long as you did." Ino sighed.
"The sex was really good." She turned her head slightly so that she could peek up at Sakura. "But that doesn't explain why you think it's 'about time' for me and Choji to get together." Sakura shrugged.
"Because. And," She said, holding up a hand before Ino could protest. "I'm not going to elaborate on that. Yet. Talk to Choji, figure stuff out, and then come back here and give me an update." Ino nodded and got up, stopped by a determined and excited three year old.
"Aunt Ino! Here!" She cried, holding up her latest drawing and present. Ino took the present and gasped theatrically, taking in the squiggles and lines that she supposed were two stick figures.
"Why, it's great Karin-chan! I love it!" The girl nodded.
"I drew you and uncle Choji kissin'!" She declared proudly, causing Sakura to be thrown into a fit of uncontrollable laughter and making Ino blush.
"Good job kid." She finally choked out.
Ino looked towards her door as if it were some indescribably disgusting and vile monster, hoping that what she had just heard had been something she had imagined and not real. She didn't know what she'd do if it were real. Hide maybe?
The doorbell rang again, denying her any delusions or dreams of escape.
She took a breath and grabbed the doorknob, bracing herself for who she knew was on the other side of the door. She opened it and gestured for him to come in, playing with the tie to her short silk kimono robe, not wanting to meet his eyes at the moment.
"Ino," She jumped when he said her name, her eyes shifting guiltily to look at him.
"Yes Choji?"
"We need to talk." She nodded and gestured for him to take a seat on the couch. She tugged the towel off of her head, damp blonde tangles falling around her body and ending just below her butt. Ino twisted the towel in her hands as she began to pace back and forth in front of her friend, unsure of what to say or do now that he was here.
"I don't know why I kissed you. Maybe it was the mood I was in or how nice you were being or maybe it was because of the full moon. I don't know, but I do know I never thought about kissing you before. I mean, you're sort of like my brother! It's like kissing Shikamaru, which is gross and weird -not that that kiss was gross and weird! It wasn't! It was nice and sweet and... tasted like potato chips, which wasn't actually all that bad. I'm not really saying this like I'm supposed to, am I? I mean, I was planning this all out in my head but it really isn't coming out the way I want it to. But I guess the point is that I've never thought about kissing you before, though now that's the only thing I can think about. Which is weird because you're supposed to be like my brother and if I thought of you like I was supposed to this would be beyond weird, but I guess I'm not really thinking of you like I should be, which is good. But maybe it's bad? I don't know." She paused and looked around the room, shoving one of her hands through her hair. "Is it getting hot in here?"
"Ino." She paused and looked at him, wondering if her meaningless and rambling one sided conversation had made even one lick of sense.
"I," He started, his face as serious as she had ever seen it. "Have had feelings for you for a long time. I don't know when they started, all I know is that one day I woke up and your laugh just seemed to make everything better. You're this... light, and every time I see you something inside of me burns and tells me that you're the one person that I've been searching for. I didn't want to stop being your friend by telling you all this because you've needed a friend more than anything these past months. But now I know that I can only go forward, even if it means having to lose you."
Ino found that she suddenly couldn't breathe. She thought about how weird this was supposed to be, after all, Choji was one of her best friends. She shouldn't be feeling like this for her best friend! She knew it wouldn't work, it couldn't work.
Really, she should just stop all of this now.
"O-Okay." Was what she said instead, causing Choji to blink at her.
"Okay?" He asked puzzled. She bit her lip.
"Yeah... Maybe? I don't know." She sighed and flopped onto the couch next to him. "I just... don't know. I mean... You're... and I'm... Okay." She said again, finding the resolve she needed to have her straightening up and looking him in the eye.
"Ino?" He questioned, freezing when the kunoichi grabbed his shirt and pulled him down to her so that they were kissing.
It was a searching kiss, one where the both of them acted as if what was slowly building between them would break. One of his hands gently went up to cup her face, the other going to her throat, his thumb lightly brushing over her pulse, and Ino wondered when his hands had gotten so big and... strong. She held onto his shirt tightly, tilting her head just a bit and it all just seemed to slide into place. She leaned back and looked at him and said once again, "Okay."
His lips twitched. "Is that all you're going to say?"
She shook her head and took a breath. "That was... good. And I might not be all that used to the idea but the more and more I think about it the more I think that I like the idea." She saw him start to smile and she held up a finger. "A few things first though. I'm not going to sleep with you after the first few dates. You're different than the other guys I've been with, and I don't want what we have to be ruined by us sleeping together too soon." He opened and closed his mouth, shocked by how fast the whole conversation was going.
"I want us to still be friends if this doesn't work out. You're important to me and if I feel like this thing is headed into territory we can't go through and come out still friends, I'll end it. And no extra girls for you. I'm it until we end it, got it?" He smiled and nodded.
"Okay."
My first InoCho!
Might be my last. I'm just not really feeling the juices flow with this couple, sort of like Kathy just took a nap half way through.
Oh well, it's not bad, just not my best.
OH! And I just got my first follow! After just like three weeks! AHHH! So, my adorable follower, I wrote this just for you:
I wrote this for you
Yes, I wrote you a Haiku
Bananas are great.
Stupid, I know, but it's just for you my darling! I love you!
I love all of you! Bananas for all! Huzzah! Hurrah! Pineapples!