I'm back! This time with an Ino chapter!
Will be wrapping things up with the next few chapters!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and/or its characters.

Of course she knew.

The day Shikamaru asked her out with that forlorn face of his, she knew. She knew but she didn't care.

She never expected anything more in the first place. The first time he asked her out, she was expecting Shikamaru to say 'April Fools!' even though it's the middle of winter. Because Ino isn't dumb. Because Ino promised that she wouldn't always love what she'll never have. She knew her place. But it wasn't enough for Shikamaru to wreck her once. He just had to do it twice.

She has known him since they were kids. Were in diapers at the same time, learned to walk at almost the same pace. Then they entered the academy at the same time. They were inseparable. Their roads always going the same direction.

But they weren't walking the same path.

"Feeling a little lonely eh, Shikamaru?" She said with a teasing jerk of her elbow to his.

He didn't reply for a bit. It took a whole three seconds before the delayed answer: "no" as if someone pressed pause on Shikamaru.

And so it went on for a while. She looked up at this pineapple-haired man who never saw her past a teammate, a sister. Her arms were wrapped around his but he felt far and cold and unreachable. These were her thoughts; pushed all the way to the back of her head while he refused to look her way.

Ino looked at Shikamaru. She called him. They were walking to the park one lazy afternoon. They had just gotten back from a mission but neither wanted to be alone that evening.

Shikamaru didn't face her. He merely kept looking forward with an unmotivated 'hn' and a short follow up of 'what?'

It's only been two months since Shikamaru started asking for company. But even Ino is surprised he has kept up with it for so long. "Have you told Temari about us?" She asked too gleefully for her own good.

Oops, that came out the wrong way. She thought.

"Does it matter?" Was his disheartened reply. That was Temari's effect on him. Whenever she is mentioned, the resignation in his tone, the depression in his action is mirrored. And she could read him like a book.

"Well," she begins. Of course it does! She wanted to yell at him. She pitied the Suna Ambassadress. Temari left Konoha in such high spirits. She's in Suna right now hoping to see Shikamaru the next time she comes back. So if the question is 'does it matter?' it definitely does.

Now where was she going with this conversation? All her goodwill is crushed by this tiny bit of hope Shikamaru is giving her. For a moment she wanted to think that the reason why Shikamaru is seeking shelter from the rain is because she matters to him. Well, she knew she does matter to him. Just not the way she wants him to. And so even with her good intentions, even with the desire she has to fix things between Temari and Shikamaru, she's falls short of control. She is drawn by the small flicker of light like a moth who is getting a little too close to the fire. Because she is every bit of human as Shikamaru is, every bit of selfish as he is.

"I just want you to clear things up with her." She continued, this time with a little more tact.

"I will when she comes back." Was his response. And she didn't dare say anything after as they sat on the bench by the deserted park.

The first time he broke her heart was when she told him she loved him. They were 15. She wasn't expecting a miracle but she had hoped it wouldn't hurt as much. Of course it did anyway.

The second time he broke her heart was when he asked her out. Because no amount of physical presence replaces the intensity of intangible, unexplainable love which just wasn't there. No matter how close he was, she couldn't help but feel like a world apart from him. His heart always belonged elsewhere. Every lie was salt on her wounds.

And as she watched him leave the village to set things right with Temari, she felt it cut her heart in half once again.

The third time Shikamaru broke her heart was when he left her feeling stupid. Stupid for every moment she actually thought she had a chance. Stupid for every second she spent imagining a future with him beside her.

And yet she is the one in tears, praying for an explanation Shikamaru owed to no one but Temari.

You should've known better. She whispers as she wipes her tears away.

I'm making Shikamaru such a bad person in my fic! But hey! We all make mistakes. What matters is how we set things straight! ^^

Hope you enjoyed!

Do leave a review! I'd love to hear how you like the fic so far and your ideas on how I should end this!
Thank you for reading :D