Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Ino, Shikamaru, or even anything remotely related. Alas, I must express my love for Kishimoto-sensei's work in the form of fanfiction...
"Dinner?" Ino stopped at the door, examining her father questioningly. "What do you mean, dinner?"
Inoichi folded his arms, regarding his daughter with a mix of skepticism and amusement.
"Don't tell me you've forgotten already. It's traditional, in any head family wedding of the Akimichi's, for the Nara's to host a dinner a week before. And I, for one, do not want to be the one to take the brunt of Yoshino's ire if we show up late."
Ino's mouth closed into a delicate "oh" of realization. In the midst of the tumult of this afternoon, dinner had completely slipped her mind. Grabbing her bags from where she had dropped them by the door, she dashed past her father, calling over her shoulder as she rushed up the stairs: "Be ready in just a few minutes!"
Tossing her bags haphazardly on the bed, she rummaged through her closet with an expert eye.
"No… not that one… no, no, no… ah!" She finally closed her fingers around the one she wanted, pulling it off the hanger and out the door into her bathroom. She changed as quickly as possible and pulled her hair out of the messy ponytail it had been in all day, running a brush through it in a vain attempt to get out a few of the snares. Normally, she kept her hair perfectly maintained, but in her rush to meet Sakura for lunch, she had barely even given it consideration.
"Ino, we need to be leaving now!" Her father's voice rumbled up the stairs and Ino moved even more quickly to put herself together.
"Coming!" Throwing the brush aside, she didn't even bother to tie her hair back, letting it float out around her shoulders as she rushed down the hallway. As she passed the front room, she grabbed a bouquet of daisies tied with a ribbon from the top of the end table. She had prepared it earlier to sell in the shop, but with no other gift for the hostess, this would have to do.
"Ready?" Inoichi gave his daughter an amused grin, gesturing to the door.
"Sorry." Ino scrunched her nose as she followed her father out the door. Inoichi locked the door behind them and they set out down the road toward the Nara residence.
"But honestly, Daddy," Ino continued as they walked, "you can't expect me to be ready so quickly."
"Of course…" she thought, muttering to herself, "…not like I have anyone to impress."
"What was that?" Inoichi looked at his daughter out of the corner of his eye.
"I said I couldn't even find the right dress!" Ino corrected, frowning decidedly at her father. "You men, you just don't understand how difficult it can be to figure out what to wear for functions like this."
Inoichi raised his eyebrows, but decided it was better just to say nothing. After having had this argument with his wife multiple times, he certainly knew better than to get into it with his daughter.
As if she had been inside his head, Ino abruptly changed the subject. "Wasn't Mom supposed to come?"
Inoichi shrugged. "Your mother was feeling a little under the weather and didn't want to risk getting anyone sick right before the wedding. You know how she is."
As they traveled, their conversation wandered to other subjects, and Ino found herself genuinely laughing and smiling. It seemed to be a unique quality of her father's; he had an uncanny way of being able to put her at ease, no matter what the situation.
It was particularly strange in this situation… she might as well be walking into the metaphorical lion's den after what had happened this afternoon.
They reached the Nara residence far sooner than Ino anticipated. She straightened out her dress as her father knocked on the door, running her fingers through the last few knots in her hair in an attempt to smooth it out.
"Hello, Inoichi, come in!"
Yoshino beamed at the two of them, ushering them through the door.
Ino stopped at the door, holding the daisies out for Mrs. Nara. "We brought these, if you'd like to decorate with them. I'm not sure if you like daisies, but I thought they would be festive."
The older woman beamed, resting a hand on Ino's shoulder as they surveyed the room. "I'm sure I can find a place to put them! What a sweet thought! And Ino, dear, you're looking lovely as usual. I'm sure Shikamaru will be delighted that you're here. You haven't been around much lately, and I'm sure he missed seeing you."
Apparently he hadn't mentioned their little encounter today. That stung more than it should, Ino considered reluctantly. But, perhaps it was all for the best.
"Thank you, Mrs. Nara. The house looks lovely and whatever you're cooking smells wonderful. Is there anything I can do to help prepare?"
Yoshino thought for a moment, smiling down at the flowers in her hand, but she finally just shook her head. "I don't think so, dear."
She paused, her eyes lighting up for a moment. "Actually…"
Yoshino scanned the room, her hawk eyes finally lighting on what she was looking for. "Aha! There he is. If you'd really like to help, Shikamaru's outside setting up the lanterns."
She lowered her voice, leaning in toward Ino conspiratorially. "He's the only one in the house who knows how to light them properly, but he doesn't have a clue how to place them. Poor child… he inherited his father's decorating skill, I'm afraid."
Ino stifled a giggle. "Yes, ma'am. I'll go and help, if you'd like me to."
Yoshino nodded satisfactorily. "Thank you, dear. And don't be afraid to tell him off. That boy needs a firm hand to keep him in line!"
"Yes, ma'am."
Ino wound her way through the room, squeezing past the various Akimichi relatives who were congregated around the central room. She hadn't seen Choji on her way in, though; normally, she would have been able to find him lurking around the kitchen, but since his engagement, he'd dropped about 10 pounds from sheer nervousness. She couldn't remember a time when he had been so nervous, but it was almost endearing in a way.
Ino slid the back door open, shutting it behind her as she stepped carefully onto the grounds of the Nara estate. Most of the land they owned was open countryside or spacious woods; the former was the ideal setting for an outdoor evening party.
When she first spotted him, Shikamaru's back was turned to her; he was crouched on one of the lower branches of one of the trees nearest the house, looping a string of lanterns securely around the branch.
Ino watched for a moment with interest as he tried and failed to hang it a proper length away from the previous strand.
"It needs to be about two inches from the right." Ino noted, folding her arms as she stood back to judge the distance.
Shikamaru looked up at her, his face a mask of annoyance and frustration. "Would you like to come and do this instead?"
Ino backed up and narrowed her eyes. "I was just offering advice. Sorry. I'll go back and tell your mother you didn't want my help."
With that, she spun on her heel back toward the house.
"Whoa, whoa, wait." Ino waited for the thump as Shikamaru landed on the ground below the tree. "Don't go telling my mother that I sent you off. She'll just give me an earful after the party and then I won't hear the end of it, especially if I don't put those lanterns up properly."
Ino paused, drumming her fingers against her arm. "If you don't want me to help, I'll go find something else to do. I won't tell your mother."
Ino waited for a few moments for a response. She couldn't see if Shikamaru was moving, but the light from the lantern began to wave back and forth gently, so she assumed he was adjusting it again. He continued to give no response.
Ino couldn't help but chide herself for being so naïve. After that little display of anger from her this afternoon, she couldn't really expect him to be warm and welcoming.
Like Shikamaru was ever warm and welcoming…
"Are you gonna help me or not?" Ino turned to find Shikamaru back up in the tree, holding the end of the rope. "Can you loop this over to the other side?"
Ino walked over to the tree, starting a bit as the end of the rope fell into her hands. She looked at it for a moment, then stared back up at Shikamaru skeptically.
"Shikamaru… I'm in a dress. And you expect me to be climbing trees?"
Shikamaru looked at her plaintively, as though she had just asked him why trees grew up toward the sky instead of down.
"It's never stopped you before."
Grudgingly, Ino had to admit that much was true. Even when she had been younger, she couldn't resist a challenge, dress or no dress. Holding her skirt against her side with one hand, she concentrated chakra to her feet and walked up to the branch opposite the one Shikamaru currently rested on. Balancing carefully, she pulled the string of lanterns across between the two branches, adjusting it so it was even with the string above it.
Satisfied with her work, she sat delicately on the branch smirking over at Shikamaru.
"And that is how you hang lanterns."
Shikamaru jumped back down from his perch and backed up to look at the arrangement. He frowned, which Ino took to mean she had done her job –or rather, his job— well.
"Ha." She folded her arms smugly, waving one finger at the display. "You know it's just like your mother said, your decorative—"
A strong gust of wind chose that moment to thrust its way through the branches, rattling them like mere leaves in the face of an oncoming storm.
Ino put a hand out to balance herself, but she missed the support of the trunk by a few inches and she could feel herself tipping off balance. Before she could even begin to recover her equilibrium, she had tumbled over backward and was plunging toward the ground at an alarming rate. She pushed chakra to the edge of her hands and feet, bracing herself for the sudden impact with the ground…
…but it never came.
Two strong arms seemed to materialize beneath her, one around her back and the other supporting her knees. Still, the force of Ino's chakra release made her savior stumble backwards a step.
Ino herself was still off balance, so in order to steady herself from tipping over backwards and start tumbling right back to the ground, Ino was forced to wrap her arm around his shoulders.
At that moment, she suddenly became very aware of the fact that he was holding her.
For a split second, nothing moved. Her sea-green eyes, still wide with the shock of falling, stared unguarded into his, dark as ebony. They were inscrutable as ever, but beneath his formal clothes, where her side pressed into his chest, she could feel his heart pounding in the same frantic rhythm as her own.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, glancing at her appraisingly. "You know, putting up lanterns is enough of a pain without having to catch women who let themselves fall out of trees."
Once again realizing that she was still in his arms, Ino struggled to get back on solid ground, putting a bit of distance between the two of them.
Too much, too close.
"I would have caught myself without your interference, thank you very much!" She muttered, smoothing the wrinkles out of her dress and trying to breathe deeply to calm her fluttering pulse.
"I know." Shikamaru replied, rotating his arms at the elbow with a slight grimace. "The force of that just about shook the bones out of my arms."
Ino couldn't reply, words lost to her effort to retain her composure. She hadn't been that close to him in weeks… if she were to be perfectly honest, she hadn't even spoken so much as two words to him since then, not including this afternoon's little fiasco.
But then again, their last encounter in the war had put some considerable distance between them.
"Ino." Shikamaru's voice had become serious all of a sudden, and it was enough to draw her attention away from her thoughts.
"Yes?"
Ino crossed her arms around her waist, hugging them tighter around her as she watched him. His dark eyes scanned over her face, scrutinizing every detail and processing it.
"I think we need to talk abo—"
"Shikamaru! Ino! We're about to start dinner."
"Coming, Mother!" Shikamaru called back; he sighed and put his hands in his pockets, turning to stroll back toward the house. He looked back over his shoulder at Ino when she didn't move to follow.
"You'd better come. Mom likes you, but she won't for much longer if you're late for dinner."
Ino nodded slowly and followed at a distance, completely numb to anything except the feel over the wind over her skin.
The first time he'd attempted to talk in weeks, and it happens at the least opportune moment. Ino suppressed an inward sigh and plastered a smile on her face.
For now, it will just have to wait.
A/N: A little fluff there, I think. And a bit of a hint about the situation that put Ino into this state of distress... Next scene, the dinner! Hope you all enjoyed. As usual, I thank you for reading/reviewing/favoriting/alerting and all those other lovely things. Leave your thoughts, if you would be so kind.