Be sure to reread Fouth Wish pt 2 again because I totally revamped it!!

Fourth Wish Pt. III

Emerald eyes glared down upon a pair of clueless tawny ones.

Shikamaru could only open his mouth in shock as the girl jutted her lower lip in displeasure, giving him a distasteful sneer. Raising her arm she pointed her finger at him accusingly.

"You…you jerkface! I can't believe you would do such a thing to her!" she practically screamed as angry tears began forming in the corners of her eyes. The boy standing beside her sighed before analyzing Shikamaru from behind his dark shades. He turned his attention back to his partner.

"Sakura…" he addressed the girl softly.

The so-called Sakura girl immediately held her hand up to silent his interruption.

"Don't stop me Shino!" she argued icily. Shino didn't even have time to part his lips before she began her accusations again.

She turned her burning gaze back to Shikamaru.

"You--! This is why I hate you humans! Especially human MEN-- always taking advantage of women and doing whatever you please! It's sickening!"

Silence.

Shino let out a hollowed cough.

"Sakura…"

Shikamaru could only stare….

…again…

It amazed him how passerbyers could just ignore them completely. He was pretty sure these things didn't happen every day. Here he was, getting punched in the face by some weird pink haired chick and not even a single person had the care in the world to at least stop and witness it!

The jerks…

Fortunately, he had enough sense in him to realize that this wasn't the place to ponder so he tuned his ears back to reality.

"You're lucky there's a LAW for hurting humans or I would've killed your ass by now!"

He heard Shino give another sigh.

"…Sakura…"

But the girl continued…

"And If I ever see you get near Ino again I swear to kami-sama that I will kick your scrawny ass to kingdom come you hear me?!"

"Sakura…"

The pinkette paused, finally taking notice of the partner behind her.

She eyed Shino wearily.

"What?"

"The magic--"

Before the boy could even finish his sentence, both he and his female companion vanished in a poof of smoke, leaving Ino's body free falling towards the concrete ground. Acting on instinct Shikamaru lunged forward, wrapping his arms around the girl protectively as they crash landed against the sidewalk.

Wincing from the impact Shikamaru sighed in relief once he realized Ino was unharmed. With a painful grunt he collapsed his head against the floor, raking his hand through his hair in deep thought. He closed his eyes and for a moment just wanted to forget the situation he had gotten himself into.

Damn this troublesome girl…he thought breathlessly.

Coughing at the large amount of smoke left by the two strangers, Shikamaru shifted Ino in his arms so her head was positioned comfortably against the crook of his neck.

He swatted at the smoke in a poor attempt to disperse it.

"What the hell just happened…?"

Shikamaru sat up and decided not to think too much on the matter. It'd only lead to more revelations and confusion. And that was a big no no in his book.

With another go at the smoke he stood and prepared to move once again.

"Shino! Why didn't you say so sooner?! Damnit! You good for nothing…"

"Why? Because you wouldn't let me say anything"

"Stop being so sarcastic all the time!"

"Stop being sarcastic? I'm not"

"There you go again!"

"Again? I've always spoken this way Sakura…"

"Ohhhh shut up!"

Shikamaru could only stare.

Stare.

At the two five-inched versions of the people he had just encountered three seconds ago. Or at least, he was positive it was the same two people he had just encountered. The girl had the same distinctive pink hair except she was no longer wearing the simple tank and jeans as before. Instead, she wore a red short sleeve, off shoulder sundress with dark brown high heeled boots. The boy with the shades was dressed in a dark green jacket coupled with tan slacks. He also had on a long black scarf that covered the lower part of his face. Shikamaru noticed that on the back of the boy's jacket a design somewhat familiar to fairy wings was inscribed in silver.

Being the smarty he was, Shikamaru couldn't help but come up with one logical explanation for all of this. And hallucination was sadly not the answer here.

His hand came up to massage his temples in hopes of getting rid of his oncoming headache.

"I seriously don't need this…" he concluded after a moment of thinking. Like hell was he just going to allow himself to get involved with more magical freaks! The girl in his arms was more then enough…

Tearing his gaze away from the duo, he quickly lifted Ino in his arms and stalked off towards the direction of the hospital, ignoring the mini sized people-like creatures. Shikamaru didn't care if they were figments of his imagination or actual living breathing things. He didn't want to take the risk. His life had already turned a complete 180 just from meeting her.

And Shikamaru wasn't stupid. He obviously didn't want to stick around to find out what else could happen to his life after meeting her 'friends' (it was obvious they were acquaintances as far as he knew).

I never saw a thing. Shikamaru concluded quietly. Not a single thing!

And his mantra had been working too until…

"Hey you! Pineapple boy!"

It's nothing. I hear nothing!

"Don't you dare act like you can't hear me! Hey!"

I don't hear a thing…

"I know you can see me! My faerie dust rubbed off on you when I socked you in the face!!"

Ignore her. Ignore her…

"Oiiii! Hey!"

He was so close!! Just three more steps until he'd turn the corner and be able to make a run for it!

"Do you really think taking Ino to a hospital will help? Your human doctors will be useless!"

Sakura smirked when he stopped dead in his tracks. She had him where she wanted him.

Shikamaru clenched his jaw and mentally cursed. The pink-haired weirdo had a point.

Turning his head slightly he caught the provoking smirk painted across the girl's features and clenched his fists. Minutes passed before Shikamaru finally gave in. The nineteen year old turned and maneuvered his way off the sidewalk, ushering the two faeries to follow. It'd be better to find a place where they could attract less attention. He didn't want people thinking that he was talking to himself. All the weird stares would be too troublesome to deal with.

He stopped once they reached a less crowded area.

"Alright pinky, you have my attention"

The faerie forced a smile despite his rudeness.

"It would be best to take Ino back to your house so we can heal her first. We'll spare the introductions for later" she spat just as coldly.

Shikamaru's eyebrow twitched at her attitude but he backed down nonetheless. She had a point (…again…). This wasn't the time or place to start a glaring contest.

Heaving out a sigh Shikamaru closed his eyes in a futile attempt to calm himself.

"Fine. Follow me…"

He made no attempt to hide his displeasure…

X

O

X

"She should be fine when she wakes up. This has happened before. It's nothing serious" Sakura asserted as she held out her small hands to Ino's forehead. The green glow from her hands disappeared and she lowered herself to stand beside Ino's pillow.

Shikamaru crossed his arms over his chest doubtfully.

"You sure about that?"

Sakura threw him a glare.

Shino sighed from his position beside Shikamaru. He stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Relax. Haruno knows what she's doing"

Despite Shino's reassurance, Shikamaru couldn't help but worry. After all, who in their right mind would trust a person who had just punched him ten minutes ago??

Shikamaru snapped out of his thoughts when the bruise on his cheek began to throb painfully. Speaking of getting punched…He thought bitterly.

He bit back a hiss of pain and touched a hand to his swollen cheek.

"Damnit…" Shikamaru muttered as he felt the large bump left by the crazy faerie. He turned without a word and made his way over to the door.

"I guess I have no choice but to take your word for it. I'll be back to check on her after I put some ice on this" he excused himself crossly, not forgetting to throw Sakura a glare before leaving the room. Sakura returned the glare as the door closed behind him.

She let her gaze linger before turning back to Ino.

"He's different from the others" Shino analyzed aloud, repositioning his sunglasses on his face carefully.

Sakura sighed and flew over to the beds' headboard, taking a seat just above Ino's sleeping form.

"That's true. But we can't mark him as harmless just yet. And even if he was, it doesn't change the reason why we came here"

For a moment Shino remained silent.

"Then I suppose we must bring her back by all means necessary" he concluded calmly.

Sakura nodded. Her eyes reflected with sadness as she watched the sleeping girl.

"It's just--…I just don't want to see her hurt anymore…you know...?" she quietly added, not really expecting an answer from her partner.

A tense stillness filled the room until Shino parted his lips. For a brief moment his gaze flickered to Ino.

"I agree"

X

O

X

Shikamaru sighed, straightening the rectangular glasses that fitted nicely on the bridge of his nose. His eyes wandered away from his laptop screen to stare at the two girls in his living room.

Where did he go wrong in his life to deserve this?

Ino, who was now back to normal (Shikamaru was still having mixed feelings about this), was currently chatting away with a human sized Sakura about how happy she was that the faerie would be staying over for the next couple of days. Before the decision was made final Shikamaru had done his part by interjecting coldly, stating that Ino was fine and he was capable of making sure she would take care of herself from now on. Sakura had responded with a long rant about something or the other and an hour later he found himself agreeing to her demands.

It was then that he had concluded that women, be it human or magical creature, were indeed scary and impractical individuals.

And that he would never again try to win a battle against them.

EVER.

Especially ones that possessed strong magical powers unknown to man…

With a slight shudder he turned his gaze toward Shino who was quietly perusing through his collection of books. He shook his head with displeasure. His house was being invaded by fairytale characters!

And he never even liked fairytales to begin with!

From across the living room a pair of sapphire eyes softened. A small giggle escaped Ino's lips as she watched Shikamaru start to bang his forehead against the desk repeatedly.

Ino's fleeting look did not go unnoticed by her friend. Sakura frowned. She noticed from the corner of her eyes that Shino too had also caught the one-sided exchange between the two. Glancing at the stupid human again Sakura clenched her fists.

She cleared her throat, gaining Ino's attention once again.

"Ino" she began quietly.

Shino closed the book in his palm and placed it back on the shelf.

Sakura raised her eyes to the blonde slowly.

"There's something we need to talk to you about…in private" she finished, watching Shino nod his head at the direction of the bedroom.

X

O

X

Ino closed the door to her room gently, letting it click softly behind her.

She smiled at her two friends who were now back in their original sizes.

Sakura had to hide her look of disgust. It was obvious that the human's affect on Ino was strong enough to block her other thoughts. The Ino she had come to known would have already caught on to the graveness of the situation.

"So guys, what is this 'important' thing you wanted to talk to me about?" she inquired curiously. She walked over to her vanity mirror and conjured up a comb using her magic. Humming happily she began to brush her golden tresses as if she hadn't a care in the world.

Sakura gave Shino a look of remorse but decided against backing out now. She cleared her throat in a poor attempt to stall for time. Shino gave her a reassuring nod and the faerie made her way to Ino's side. She quietly landed on Ino's table, fiddling with the hem of her dress with uneasiness.

"Well…" she began slowly.

"…there's actually…a reason why we came to visit you…Ino"

Ino turned when she sensed the traces of faerie magic at work. She watched as Shino placed a barrier around the whole room, preventing any outsider from hearing their conversation.

Ino placed her brush down quietly. She looked from Sakura to Shino.

"And what's that?" she asked with a tone of seriousness.

Sakura matched her gaze and any thoughts of regret she previously contained flooded from her mind. Her green eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth to speak.

"That putrid human…you need to--"

"I asked you for the reason, not for some damn evaluation!" Ino cut off sharply.

Sakura flinched at the coldness in Ino's voice.

"Ino…just hear me out…I'm just trying to--"

"We're here to take you back" Shino's voice cut in abruptly. Sakura turned to give her partner a glare.

"It's no use Haruno. You know she detests it when you stall" he calmly remarked.

Ino glowered at the two.

"Take me back? What do you mean?"

Sakura sighed.

"We were told to take you back with us. Tsunade-sama is worried about your health"

"I'm perfectly fine Sakura! She doesn't need to worry about me!"

Sakura gave her a look.

"You are not fine Ino! You've been blacking out more then usual lately. I'm afraid it's because you've been exposed to the human world for too long…"

Ino looked at her as if she'd gone mad.

"It is not because of that Sakura and you know it! And anyways, I'm not a faerie so I don't have to listen to whatever Tsunade has to say!"

Sakura scowled darkly.

"It is us faeries who populate most of the magical world Ino. In a sense, Tsunade-sama has control over most of the realm" she countered easily.

Ino looked away stubbornly.

"That's a load of crap. I don't know if you two noticed, but we genies tend to listen to no one but our masters" she muttered bitterly.

"The rules say that I have to remain with my master until he has made his five wishes"

Sakura knitted her brows in anger.

"Then why don't you just grant them so you can return home?"

Ino casually flipped her ponytail behind her shoulder.

"Shikamaru hasn't thought of any wishes yet. I'm just waiting for his orders" The genie replied truthfully. She yawned and stood from her seat, heading straight towards the door.

"If that's all you wanted to talk about then I'm leaving now. I'm not going to abandon my duties towards my master…" she concluded crossly.

"…love him---you?"

Ino paused in front of the door, having missed Sakura's question.

"What?"

Shino turned his gaze towards Sakura, having heard her words.

The room remained silent until Ino shook her head.

"I don't have time for this" she explained with annoyance, reaching for the doorknob.

"You love him don't you?"

The genie stopped in her tracks.

Sakura cast her eyes towards the floor.

"That's why you won't come back. You've fallen for that human and you don't want to leave…"

"Haruno…" Shino warned. Sakura was treading on thin ice...

Sakura crossed her arms under her chest.

"Admit it Ino. You've done the unthinkable and fallen in love with him…"

Ino slowly removed her hand from the brass knob. She let out a hollowed chuckle.

"….you're wrong…"

Ino closed her eyes, her back still facing the two faeries.

"I can't- no…I'm not going to fall in love with him. So you don't need to worry about that." she softly added.

Sakura pressed her brows together. Ino must have missed the pleading tone in her voice just then.

"Don't lie to us Ino. This is exactly why we've come for you. If you get involved with that human any longer you'll--!"

"Is that it?!" Ino cut off icily. She turned her body around to glare at her friend.

"Is that the real reason why Tsunade sent you? Just to let me know where I stand? How many centuries do you think I've done this job Sakura?! For god's sake my relationship with him isn't any different then what I had with my other masters! Just because he's a little nicer than the rest of them doesn't give you the right to think that I'd just drop to the ground and kiss his fucking feet!"

Sakura's expression hardened and she flew towards Ino, changing into her human self instantly. The faerie marched up to the blonde and shoved her against the door, pulling on the front of her shirt roughly. She stared into Ino's eyes.

"You're lying Ino-pig! How many centuries do you think I'VE known you? Your relationship with him has progressed too far! You need to forget about granting his wishes and come back with us so your condition doesn't worsen! We're only worried about your health Ino! Why can't you understand?"

Ino pried Sakura's hand off of her and pushed her away.

"No, I do understand! I understand that you two don't know me at all! I am not going to just leave my master's side without fulfilling all of his wishes! What the hell kind of a genie would I be to do that? You know that I hold pride in what I do Sakura, so don't even bother talking me out of it because I've made up my mind!" she angrily concluded, practically ripping the door open in one quick motion.

Shino reluctantly released his magic while Sakura marched after the girl in fury.

"Ino!" she called after the blonde as she exited the room.

Shikamaru looked up from his laptop screen to see the blonde noisily trudging towards him. He examined the angered expression on her face and raised a curious brow. Before he could even ask her what was wrong he felt her hand forcibly pull him out of his seat.

"Hey! What the hell?! Ino!" he managed to call when she started to lead him towards his front door. He could hear Sakura's angry footsteps closing in from behind.

"Just shut up and come with me" she snapped angrily.

And oddly, for some stupid reason Shikamaru found himself obeying his genie. He quickly shut his mouth and let her wordlessly pull him out of his apartment. Shikamaru thought he had heard Sakura calling out to Ino but the voice became muffled after the blonde slammed the front door shut.

Sakura gave a small frustrated scream from the other side of the door and quickly yanked it open.

"Ino-pig!"

Shino raised an inquisitive brow when he saw Sakura stop just in front of the front door. When his partner made no attempt to move he quietly peered over her shoulder.

Ino and that human were nowhere to be found.

X

O

X

Sakura clenched her jaw, flying pass the humans as fast as she could in order to catch up with Ino. Beside her Shino remained his calm self.

"Where the hell could she have gone? Do you think she forced that stupid human to wish them away?" she asked her partner snippily.

Shino fixed his shades calmly.

"That is possible…"

Sakura gritted her teeth, the gears in her head forming a new plan.

"Let's split up Shino, you go left and I go right" she ordered before taking an immediate right. Shino sighed but obliged nonetheless. Without a second thought he turned in the opposite direction of the girl. It was too late to argue anyway.

The faerie let out an annoyed sigh.

"Tsunade-sama should allow me the privilege of changing partners…" he muttered after a moment of thought.

Suddenly, Shino stopped.

The reason being that he realized that some stupid moron had just discarded their gum conveniently onto his back.

Shino remained unnaturally calm and stopped in his flight, landing on the small steps of a nearby pet shop.

"…"

Without as much as a complaint the faerie began to pick off the disgusting thing.

Five tries and twenty minutes later Shino had already done away with most of the stretchy chewing gum. To be honest, he was more worried about what Haruno would do to him if she found him "slacking".

Shino gave a small sigh of relief once he had all of the gum removed. He examined the back of his jacket carefully. With a small nod of acceptance he pulled the jacket over his head. With another soft sigh he fixed his shades, ready to take off once again.

But before he had time to even lift his feet off the concrete ground, he felt a wet sensation coat his entire body, leaving it sticky and well...unpleasant.

A dog bark was heard.

"Eh? Akamaru? What's in your mouth boy?"

Shino had never had such a strong urge to go home until now.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays guys! Thank you so much for all of your support and reviews!

Hopefully I can get Usotsuki out next week since I have no school! ;)