Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Neither does anyone with whom I am affiliated. But you could probably figure that one out without my assistance...
Sakura's eyes were shining; she gestured vividly as she talked, entirely ignoring the tea in front of her. At one point, she almost knocked the cup over, causing Ino to scramble to keep it from cascading off the table. Sakura just carried on, however, oblivious to the almost-accident.
"So, when do you think he's planning to ask you?" Ino interjected, making Sakura pause for the first time in their conversation. Ino took a sip of her tea, smiling slightly at her friend over the rim of the cup.
Sakura opened her mouth to reply, but then closed it again, her hands closing tightly around her own cup of tea. Her face went from pure excitement to worry within seconds.
"He's on an A-rank mission right now. He's been gone for two weeks and he's supposed to be back in two days, but… I don't really know if that's accurate or not."
Ino tried to hide the small frown that settled over her features. She hadn't intended to make Sakura worry with that question.
"Sakura, this is Naruto we're talking about." Ino said laughingly, taking a nervous sip of her tea. "Don't worry. He may be an idiot at times, but he knows what he's doing. He can take care of himself."
Seeing the worry in Sakura's face begin to ease, Ino continued. "And before you know it, he's going to be back here, sweeping you off your feet."
Sakura's cheeks turned slightly pink and her features relaxed again. "I guess you're right."
"Of course I am!" Ino grinned confidently. "But in the meantime, we have to find you something to wear on your next date. When he comes back, he won't even know what hit him."
Sakura laughed, looking down at her somewhat bedraggled hospital uniform. "I suppose this isn't very impressive, is it?"
Ino was silent, letting her look of skepticism answer the question for her.
The teahouse was relatively quiet for a Friday afternoon. Most days, it was packed around this time with people who had just finished their shift at the hospital, but there had been few patients in the last week or so; consequently, the hospital needed far fewer people on every shift.
Today, only three tables were filled. Sakura and Ino sat at a table near the window in the front of the building. A young couple occupied a booth in the back corner of the room. Probably too lost in one another's eyes to even realize where they are, Ino thought morosely. The last table was taken up by two old men who were more concerned with their game of Shogi than the cups of tea in front of them.
Ino watched for the last table for a moment. Both men sat with their hands folded in front of them, staring intensely at the board. She couldn't tell whose turn it was, or even who was winning. Ino had never been very good at Shogi; she had once tried to get Shikamaru to explain it to her, but he was too lazy to bother or perhaps he had been busy running errands for the Hokage... she didn't really remember anymore. She had even asked Asuma-sensei to teach her at one point, but he must have forgotten, because he had never gotten around to it.
After watching the men sit motionless for a few more moments, Ino turned away. What did it matter if she didn't know how to play a stupid game like Shogi anyway? Not like it would ever do her any good.
"Ino?" Sakura set her cup down in front of her, her face once again concerned. "Is everything okay? You look upset."
"Hmm?" Ino quickly pushed away the resentment which had apparently made its way onto her face, adopting a look of confusion instead. "Oh, I was just thinking about how miserable the state of my closet is right now. I don't think I have anything at all that I would even consider wearing to Choji's wedding."
Ino's redirection of the conversation was apparently successful. "Oh, I'd almost forgotten about that! I'm not sure if I have anything either. We'll look for something when we shop."
Ino nodded. "That's what I was thinking. I'd hate to embarrass Choji on the most important day of his life."
Sakura chuckled a little. "Have you met his fiancée yet? I don't know much about her."
"Only once," Ino shrugged; the girl had been pretty, but very quiet, so she couldn't form much of an opinion. More importantly though, Choji had seemed to be head over heels for her. "Her name is Mai. She seems nice enough and Choji… well, he's being his typical self. When I met her for the first time, he was so nervous he could barely get her name out right."
Ino smiled softly, clearly recalling the memory of her bumbling teammate as he stumbled over his words, only to blush profusely when his fiancée laid a reassuring hand on his arm. She wasn't sure she had ever seen him so happy. "I think he's really in love with her."
Sakura returned her smile. "So, are you ready to go? Knowing how picky you are, Ino-pig, we'll spend all day looking for the perfect dress just to come back to the first store we looked at."
The pink-haired girl grinned teasingly and Ino stuck her tongue out. "Of course I'm ready. Of course, I'm sure we'll spend half the time looking for something big enough to fit over your billboard brow."
The two girls glared at one another for a moment, but Ino found that it was far too hard to keep a straight face. Sakura's mock-seriousness began to slip around the same time as Ino's, and both girls were reduced to a fit of giggles.
"Let's go."
Ino frowned at her reflection in the mirror. Sakura might have been teasing, but her claims did have some grounds. Despite how much she generally loved shopping, she had recently been getting more and more selective in her choices, never finding anything that satisfied her.
Just like the dress she had on now. It was simple, a spring green that made her eyes look twice as bright with a hem that came to just above the knee. The wedding reception would be fairly informal, so it wasn't outside of the dress appropriate, and it fit her well enough, but… Ino sighed. It just wasn't right.
She walked out of the dressing room, spinning around once.
Sakura nodded enthusiastically. "That one is really pretty, Ino! Perfect for a spring wedding too and…"
Sakura paused, her face falling to a look of skepticism and exasperation. "You don't like it, do you?"
Ino grimaced slightly, twisting a bit of the fabric between her fingers. "Well, it's not exactly…"
She stopped herself, smoothing the fabric back into place. What good would qualifying do? "Not really, no. I don't know what it is, there's just something about it…"
"Try the next one. Maybe you'll like it better?" Sakura supplied hopefully.
Ino stepped back into the dressing room, pulling the next dress off the hanger. Hopefully, this would be the one.
It was quite a contrast to the previous one; this dress was lilac with sheer sleeves that flowed around the shoulders. The skirt drifted out from the waist line down to about mid-calf, almost as though it were floating. Small flowering designs lined the sash at the waist, making it pretty without being ostentatious.
Ino smiled slightly despite herself. This one was truly lovely. Perhaps they wouldn't have to spend all day shopping…
"Sakura, I think I may have found—"
Ino stopped at the edge of the doorway. The seat next to Sakura, which had been previously unoccupied, was now filled. Both Sakura and the newcomer looked up at Ino. Sakura's face broke out in a grin immediately.
"If you don't like that one, Ino, you're crazy."
Ino had all but forgotten about the dress.
"Hey, Ino."
Shikamaru waved a hand lazily, his passive expression showing no hint of the thousands of calculations that Ino was sure were running through his head every hour of the day.
It took a few seconds for her brain to even process what to say. An incredulous "What are you doing here?" was the eventual result.
Shikamaru smirked a little, motioning to a dress bag that was lying across the other seat. "Apparently I've become the Hokage's errand boy for today. She was too lazy to go pick up her own dress for Choji's wedding, so she sent me to get it instead."
Sakura's expression was slightly uncertain as she jumped in to help with the explanation. "When Shikamaru saw me here, he stopped to say hello. I told him to stay for a little while… I thought maybe if I could get someone else's opinion you might be convinced to buy at least one of those dresses."
Sakura's explanation at least gave Ino enough time to compose herself. She chuckled a little, moving to the mirror so she could see the dress better.
"I'm not sure that Shikamaru's going to be much help where that's concerned. As long as I've known him, I'm fairly certain that he wouldn't know a dress worth wearing to a wedding from a hole in the ground."
From her vantage point at the mirror, Ino saw Shikamaru frown slightly. She felt a small thrill at having gotten through to him on some level, but it left a bitter taste in her mouth all the same.
The frown didn't last, however. "And by that, she means that no powers in the Five Nations will change Ino's mind about a dress if she doesn't like it."
Sakura giggled. "Isn't that the truth! We've been here for practically an hour and she's gone through at least five dresses that would have been perfectly fine, but someone didn't like them."
Ino spun around, putting her hands on her hips. "You were the one who volunteered to go with me, after all. And besides, I may be picky, but at least I'll look nice at the wedding."
She motioned to the dress she had on, trying to ignore the clenching feeling in her stomach that having Shikamaru's eyes on her gave her. "So, what do you think?"
Sakura's eyes widened for a moment. "You mean you actually like the dress? If you're even considering it, I think it's great."
Ino sighed, turning to face Shikamaru. "And you, since your opinion has apparently been solicited?"
As Shikamaru studied her, Ino could swear that time had frozen. Nothing was divulged by his appraisal, and it infuriated her. If he would just show something, disapproval or otherwise… but that calm exterior drove her insane.
It hadn't always been like this. In times past, she had just passed it off as him being typical Shikamaru, the lazy genius who showed about as much emotion as a tea kettle. It was only recently that she had begun to crave something more than his typical indifference; for him to show some sign of admiration or just simple recognition of her…
"Well, in my opinion, it looks fine, but I wouldn't know a dress from a hole in the ground."
His sardonic smirk was enough to set her over the edge. She wheeled back around, practically stomping into the dressing room.
"Oh, you're no help! Don't you have any more errands to go and run?"
She slammed the door, pressing her back against the wall and covering her face with her hands. She bit her lip to the keep the sobs from coming out, but she couldn't stop the slow, warm tears that began to stream through her hands.
The Nara house was simple and organized, impeccably clean under the iron-fisted authority of Yoshino Nara.
The formidable housewife smiled as she set a tea kettle and two cups on the dining room table.
"Here we are. The finest brew Konoha has to offer. I'll be gone to the market for a little while, but there's more in the kitchen if you'd like it."
Yoshino kissed her husband on the cheek, then shot him an ice-cold warning glare. "And if I come back to find a speck of it on my nice, clean furniture…"
Shikaku smiled wanly. "We'll be careful, dear."
Inoichi held in his laughter until at least thirty seconds after the door closed, then he let it fly full throttle.
"Your wife sure is something, Shikaku."
Shikaku nodded reluctantly. "That she is. But you can't help who you fall in love with."
"True enough…" Inoichi frowned; that statement brought him back to the original reason for his visit. "Well, old friend, I'll get right down to it. Have you noticed your son acting strangely recently?"
Shikaku rubbed at his beard thoughtfully. "Not especially, but I see so little of Shikamaru nowadays that it's often hard to tell. He's always on some errand for the Hokage, and if he's not doing that, he's on a diplomatic mission to Suna. I swear, I sometimes wonder how the boy has time to be as lazy as he is with such a schedule…"
Shikaku's eyes narrowed, and he studied Inoichi with interest. "Why do you ask, Inoichi? It's something with your daughter, isn't it?"
Inoichi nodded, pouring himself a cup of tea. Before he could respond to the question fully, Shikaku's eyes went wide, and his fist slammed down on the table.
"Don't tell me that boy's gone and done something so asinine as to…"
Inoichi laughed at the rare display of emotion from his friend. "No, no. Nothing like that... at least I don't think so. When I was talking with Ino earlier today, she…"
He stopped himself, attempting to act as though he hadn't jumped to the exact same irrational conclusion hours earlier. "Well, I would know if that was the case. I am her father, after all. But no, your son is not about to start the next generation of shinobi."
Shikaku relaxed noticeably. "I didn't think Shikamaru would do something foolhardy, but you can never tell with kids these days. Especially as rarely as I see him.
"Well, if that's not the case, then what's wrong? I haven't seen much of my own son, but I've seen even less of him around your daughter since the end of the war…"
Shikaku stopped, reaching the conclusion before Inoichi had time to supply it to him. "Come to think of it, I've hardly seen her at all. Did something happen? I know it's certainly not a severance in the bonds of Ino-Shika-Cho. Shikamaru's been at the Akimichi's practically more than he's been home, what with the wedding coming up."
"As has Ino." Inoichi agreed. "She's overseeing the floral arrangements, so she's been at the Akimichi's at least once or twice a week."
He shook his head, swirling the cup of tea in his hand. "I don't know what's happened between the two of them, but Kami forgive me if I'm not going to do whatever's within my power to find out what's wrong with my little girl."
A/N: Well, here it is. The product of my blood, sweat and tears, forged from hours of writing without food, water or sleep... okay, so I'm only kidding. :) Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I want to especially thank Wings-chan, sad little monkey, DolceNana, indigo yamanaka, and aki-child for your lovely reviews, as well all of those who have added alerts for this little fic. I appreciate it greatly and I hope you all continue to enjoy my story! Read, leave your thoughts if you would like, and happy reading!
- Senka