Ino stood there, frozen with shock, in the cold night rain, unable to believe what she'd just heard.
"Wh-what did you say, Shikamaru?"
"I said no. I have little interest in romance right now, I'm sorry."
Little by little, Ino regained feeling in her shock-paralyzed limbs. "Oh...oh, well, okay. I'm sorry I bothered you. I-I'll see you around." Ino turned on a dime and walked briskly away.
Shikamaru watched her disappear, then sighed and shut the door.
He returned to his room, where a highly aroused and thoroughly disheveled Temari waited on his bed.
"Mmnh...leave it to that bitch Ino to interrupt us right as I'm about to finish..."
"Sorry about that. She just had something she wanted to ask me."
"Yeah? What was that?"
"...Don't worry about it. It's just us now, my love."
"I...I love you, Shikamaru..."
Shikamaru felt a pang of disgust in his gut as he said it back. He felt as though he was betraying Ino, but what he and Temari had wasn't true love.
So it was still okay, right?
Ino kissed Asagao's brow. "Good night, Asa."
Asa smiled up at her. "Good night, big sis." She rolled onto her side and closed her eyes. Before Ino had even left the room, Asagao was asleep.
Ino quietly shut the door and just leaned against it for a while. Shikamaru had rejected her. No big deal...it hurt, but within a couple days, she would get over it.
She walked into her bedroom, just across the hall. It was relatively simply decorated, with the shutters drawn over the lone window, the only light being provided by an oil lamp by her desk. The futon was set aside, rolled up with sheets piled on top of it. A small shelf which held a small assortment of scrolls and books was anchored to the wall above her desk.
She went to the desk now, opening a drawer that was normally locked and pulling out a worn book.
"Guess I have to put this in here, too..." She opened the book, which was full of memories involving her and Shikamaru.
Flipping through the pages, she paused on the one relating to the days following Asuma's death.
"Yes...he did his best to comfort me, even though he was clearly having troubles himself. And he did everything in his power to keep me out of harm's way..." She flipped back to the beginning. "The day we became cellmates..."
"Oh! Shikamaru, Choji, look! We're in the same cell!" Ino said, pointing at the roster.
"Just like our dads, huh?" Choji grinned.
"Yeah, just like our dads," Shikamaru said, seeming uninterested.
Ino poked him in the arm. "Come on, Shikamaru, get at least a little excited!"
"But what's the point?"
"Well, it'll make me happy if you get excited." Ino didn't expect a reaction there.
She was surprised. "Yeah, you're right. It is kinda cool. Like we're the next generation, right?" Shikamaru smiled a little. "There, how's that?"
She giggled. "Ah, you...well, if you were faking, it was pretty believeable."
"That seems eons away now..." She flipped a few more pages. "Ah? When did..."
A year and a half before, Shikamaru and Ino had gone on a walk in the forest together. Ino got excited when she saw a deer drinking out of a stream.
"Oh, wow! Shikamaru, look!" Ino tugged on his sleeve and pointed at the deer, almost like a child that saw a cool toy in the store window.
"Wow indeed...that's a beautiful specimen, even for a deer." Shikamaru turned to her and smiled faintly. "How happy would you be if you got to pet it?"
"Words can't express. Why, what are you planning?"
"Just stay there and watch." Shikamaru took a few steps forward. "Go ahead and take your shoes off." He held out his hand towards the deer.
Puzzled but intrigued, she did as requested.
The deer lifted its head from the water, whickered once, then slowly walked towards Shikamaru, neck stretched out, nose sniffing.
"Come towards me, but slowly, Ino. Don't scare her."
Ino took slow steps towards Shikamaru's side. The deer reached him first and was sniffing his outstretched hand.
Ino slowly got into place next to him, awed by what she was seeing.
The deer rubbed its forehead against Shikamaru's hand and whickered again.
"She trusts me now. Let's see if she'll trust you." Shikamaru moved Ino in front of him. "Project nothing but calmness and good will. Let her smell you."
Ino took a deep breath to center herself, then closed her eyes. She felt the soft rushes of air break against her skin as the doe sniffed her. After what seemed like an eternity, Ino felt something warm and wet on her cheek. She dared to open an eye to look.
"She's...licking my cheek?"
"It's safe to say that she trusts you, Ino. Reach up, slowly, and stroke her neck."
She did as asked. Soon she was petting the beautiful animal, standing in the middle of a stream.
There were no words to express how happy she had felt on that day. Was that the day she realized that she loved him? Who can remember?
Ino closed the book and replaced it in the drawer. "That's enough of that." She screwed her eyes shut, trying to keep her traitorous tears from leaking out, but she only succeeded in squeezing them out faster. She let herself cry.
What happened to those days, Shikamaru?
What happened to just us?
What happened?
What?