Ino pushed breakfast around on her plate, staring distantly at the blank kitchen wall. The house was quiet, not even the cacophonous chirps of birdsong from the open window drifting in to break the silence. Her father and mother weren't awake yet; that wasn't unusual for a weekend, but it didn't make the house feel any less empty.
Having the house virtually to herself left Ino alone with her thoughts, which was always a dangerous proposition, particularly considering the events that had transpired less than twenty-four hours ago.
He had complimented her. He had actually complimented her: stood there, right outside her front door and grinned at her and told her to be quiet and complimented her. And then he was gone just as mysteriously, leaving her hanging on the same thread from which she had been suspended for weeks and no less sure of where they stood.
If only he had just reacted differently back then! She thought fiercely. If he had said something, but no, the stoic genius remains ever inscrutable.
Though, there were moments …
"Oi, Ino, pay attention for Kami's sake!" Shikamaru grimaced in pain, struggling weakly to shift his knee away from her.
Ino wasn't about to stand for that. Despite his determination to get away, she kept a firm hold on his knee, pinning his calf to the ground. "If you'd stop struggling, it wouldn't hurt nearly as much, baka. Now hold still! I have to set it."
Shikamaru's eyes went wide for a moment, then narrowed back to small slits. "Ino, you—"
His protest was interrupted by the sharp crack of bone being reset.
Shikamaru's face went sheet-white, but he gave no cry of pain.
"Better?" Ino sat back and crossed her arms, drumming her fingers impatiently against her bicep. The smile of challenge on her face was met by a reluctant scowl.
"Che."
"Thought so."
"Troublesome." Shikamaru attempted to move again. "Well, if you're done—"
"Not so fast." Ino held her hands out over the injured leg and gradually the area around it began to glow with a chakra exchange.
"This won't heal it completely," Ino intoned quietly. "But I need to at least make sure the chakra connections are strong if you're determined to be walking on it right after it's been set."
After a few moments, she withdrew her hands, standing to inspect it as the chakra flow faded.
"There. Now you can go do whatever you please and completely disregard my advice. But you can find yourself another medical-nin to take care of it when you undo everything I did to heal it."
Shikamaru lifted himself gingerly, testing the leg. When he took a step forward, it held his weight; if she hadn't known better, Ino would have sworn she saw a look of surprise cross his face.
"Yeah, yeah. As if I'd do something as troublesome as all that."
"You think I'm kidding? Just try to come crawling back to me, see where it gets you. And you know what I'll say at your funeral? 'I told that baka a hundred times to stay off that leg, but the genius knew too much—"
"I'll see you later, Ino." He mumbled something after that, but by that time, he was turned away and Ino couldn't quite catch it, though it sounded suspiciously like "meddlesome woman."
She huffed, turning away from him. Mostly it was out of sheer frustration, but a small part of her just simply didn't want to see her teammate walking into what could be a death-sentence. At least… that was what she told herself.
"Nara-san! Yamanaka-san!"
Both of them turned as a breathless young shinobi ran toward them, his round face red with exertion.
"They sent me to find you right away! Naruto-kun succeeded! Uchiha Madara is dead."
Ino blinked, unsure if she had just heard that correctly.
Seeing twin looks of disbelief on their faces, the boy continued, holding out a scroll addressed to Shikamaru in his father's script.
"There's the official report, if you don't believe me." He grinned as he dropped it into Shikamaru's waiting hand.
"The war is over."
A grunt from the hallway served as notice that her father had just entered the kitchen. Ino buried the memories again, watching as he shuffled over to the cabinet above the sink.
"Good morning, daddy."
After yesterday, Ino couldn't be sure how he would react. Her father was not much of a morning person regardless, particularly when he had gone to bed irritable.
Surprisingly though, he patted her head gently as he set his teacup on the table. "Good morning, Ino dear."
Ino set down her fork, no longer even making the pretense of trying to eat.
"Daddy, I'm s—"
"Ino, I should—"
They both stopped and Inoichi was the first to crack a smile.
"My stubborn daughter can't even let her old man get a word in edgewise, eh?" He took a seat at the table, folding his hands around the empty cup.
Ino smiled mischievously. "Only because she takes after her pig-headed father."
The rest of their breakfast was consumed in silence, but Ino knew that all that was necessary had already been said. When she left an hour later for the Akimichi's to pick up the list to finalize the floral arrangements, her step was considerably lighter than it had been the previous night.
"The tulips are all arranged and the rest will be here by Thursday evening. They have to be kept cool, but not too cold…" Ino scanned over the list in front of her, checking off each of the orders. After picking up the list, she'd brought it back to the shop and now she found herself hovering like an insect around in circles, checking blossoms, monitoring water… everything would have to be perfect.
She paused at the last arrangement; she had almost walked by it without noticing, but after taking a second glance, something was certainly amiss.
She picked up the vase to inspect it. The roses were in good condition, just on the peak of flawlessness. Everything around them seemed to complement the roses nicely, but…
Aha. She identified the source of the problem, pulling out a small cluster of white flowers near the base of the arrangement.
Rhododendron? If her mother had been at the shop this morning, she would have questioned her instead, but as it was, Ino was at a loss. No one in the shop would ever put rhododendron in a bouquet like this. To think that someone would…
"—just got here, in fact. I told him I didn't need to leave this early, but I would swear that he made me go just to get me out of his hair. Yeesh. You'd think he thought I was his mother, not his sister—"
The vase slipped in Ino's hands. She caught it before it could spill to the floor, but it set her off balance and she slammed into the side of the table, rattling the window terribly.
That voice…
A voice from outside abruptly stopped, then echoed into the shop. "Is everything okay? It sounded like an explosive tag just went off in there."
Ino steadied herself, setting the vase back on the table and brushing off her apron. She shook her head.
It couldn't be.
"Hello?"
A spiky, dirty-blonde head poked around the doorway. The woman to whom it belonged grinned almost wickedly when she saw Ino.
"Should've known it'd be you. Long time no see, Yamanaka."
Ino found herself at a loss for words. And here she had been thinking things might be on a turn for the better.
But instead, fate had decided to play with her head one more time.
The visitor who now stood in her doorway was none other than Temari of the Sand.
"How could he? How could he march around here and act like that and insult me and compliment me and then expect me to be okay with this?"
Sakura held up her hands, attempting to corral her friend into a chair or, at the very least, make her stop pacing and yelling at such an alarming rate.
"Ino, what's wrong? I can't understand half of what you're saying."
"I can't believe him. I simply cannot believe… I thought there was some hope! His mother said he was through with her and he hadn't been on a diplomatic mission in weeks, but there she was, marching right through my door, as I'm covered in dirt and sweat and probably looked like a complete slob!"
"Ino!" Sakura grabbed ahold of the hysterical blonde's shoulders, shoving her down into a chair. The sudden force was at least enough to stop Ino's ranting. When she looked up at Sakura, her eyes were brimming with tears.
"I'm such an idiot, Sakura."
Sakura pulled a chair up close to Ino's, holding out a handkerchief to her friend. The sheer use of her actual name rather than "billboard brow" was a cause for concern.
"You're not an idiot. Start from the beginning and tell me what happened."
Ino blew her nose loudly and inhaled shakily, ending in a hiccough that verged on being a sob. "I don't even know where to begin…"
She looked down at the handkerchief in her hands pathetically. She couldn't even summon up the courage to look her best friend in the eye as the words escaped her mouth.
"Sakura, I think I'm in love with him."
Sakura's expression went abruptly from concern to confusion. "In love with who, Ino? You don't mean—"
Suddenly, her jaw went slack.
"Oh, Ino… you don't mean…"
Ino gave a watery giggle, shaking her head sadly. "I told you, I'm an idiot. Especially with him. Though I suppose that shouldn't come as a surprise…"
"Ino, why didn't you tell me?" Sakura's voice rose slightly and Ino could have sworn that she heard the wood of the armrest on which Sakura's hand was resting crack just a tiny bit as Sakura curled her fingers around it. "When did this happen?"
"I'm—I'm not really sure, exactly." She sniffled, rubbing at her eyes with the heels of her palms and completely disregarding the handkerchief. "I didn't realize until—until—"
"Until?" Sakura prompted insistently.
Ino took a deep breath. She supposed it was about time that she recounted to Sakura the part of the memory that she hadn't been able – couldn't have allowed herself – to finish previously.
"W-what?" Ino, who was never at a loss for words, found herself stumbling.
The messenger just grinned and ran off, shouting to some of his comrades further along.
Shikamaru's expression was unreadable as ever as his dark eyes scanned over the page in his hands. When the letter dropped to his side, however, he looked up at Ino with a skeptical, wry grin that bordered on the edge of joy.
"The kid wasn't lying. My father sent this to confirm it. That baka Naruto finished him off… the war is over."
By the time he finished, Ino had recovered from her shock and her whole visage glowed as she broke out into a radiant smile.
"Shikamaru… we did it… The Allied Shinobi Forces won!" Ino laughed like a schoolgirl, delighting in the feel of laughter bubbling up in her throat.
Completely forgetting her teammate's injured leg, she threw her arms around him in delight. The force from her sudden outburst was enough to send him sprawling backwards; he was forced to spin her to keep from doing just that, but he didn't let go of her even as he regained his balance.
"Troublesome woman." He muttered, letting out a soft derisive snort. "Aren't you the one who told me not to strain my leg? Then you do something troublesome like trying to tackle me."
Ino didn't even bother to reprimand him; she could see in his eyes that the remonstration was only half-hearted anyway. She couldn't resist giving him a roguish smile.
At first, she didn't even realize that she was still in his arms, but after a few moments, it became readily apparent. In her elation, she wasn't sure what came over her. Even recalling it later, the details of precisely what happened were fuzzy at best, but she was absolutely certain of the result.
She kissed him.
She pulled his head down to meet her own and pressed her lips hard against his, letting out all the fear and euphoria and relief that had been bottled up inside her in that one embrace. She didn't even form thoughts; she only knew instinctively that it felt absolutely and perfectly right for his lips to be moving over hers as her arms wrapped firmly around his neck, pulling him as close to her as he could possibly be. She could practically feel his heart beating in synchronization with her own and she could almost swear that she felt him smile into the kiss.
And then rationality hit.
"You what?" Sakura's eyes were wide as saucers, and this time Ino was certain she could see the cracks where the wood was splintering under Sakura's grip.
"It was stupid and driven purely by emotion and I want to say that it didn't mean anything but…" Ino paused, bringing her fingers up to touch her bottom lip. "… it did. I've dated a few guys…"
To say Sakura's look was skeptical was an understatement.
Ino wrinkled her nose, amending the statement. "I've dated quite a few guys, and I've kissed my fair share of them, but Sakura…"
Ino shook her head disbelievingly. It was on the tip of her tongue: the feeling that she had been too afraid to voice for weeks now, the one that sat like a weight in the pit of her stomach, the one she had tried so hard to mask but which seemed to always be shining straight out of her eyes.
"… none of them were one bit like that. Just from that kiss, I realized that there is only one person I ever want to share that with, one person I could spend the rest of my life with and I'd be perfectly happy, no matter how lazy or intelligent or troublesome he may be."
Sakura released her grip on the armrest slowly, resting her hands in her lap and looking at Ino with an expression Ino rarely saw. It was something like wonder.
"Ino, you need to tell him."
"I can't." Ino drew her legs up into the chair and fresh sobs bubbled their way to the surface. "That's what I was trying to tell you. After it happened, we've just kind of pretended that it didn't. I won't bring it up, because I'm too afraid he'll reject me, and he… well, I don't know what he's thinking. I thought, just maybe, because of things he did recently that he might…"
Ino clenched her hand into a fist, slamming it down onto the armrest. "But then today… I found out that she's here."
"She?"
"Temari." Ino practically spat the name. "His mother was talking the other day about how she'd thought for a while that he was interested in Temari, but then she told me that he seemed to have given up on that."
"But of course, just to prove me wrong, that Sand tramp comes waltzing into my flower shop of all places this morning, saying how long it's been since we last talked and asking me if I've seen him."
Sakura frowned. "Maybe it's not what you think, Ino. She could just be here on business, or maybe Choji invited her to the wedding! If Mrs. Nara said he wasn't interested in her anymore, I wouldn't doubt one bit that she knows what she's talking about."
Ino didn't reply, unclenching her hand slowly. She used the handkerchief to swipe at her eyes a few more times, but the tears were slowing. She glanced up at the clock.
"Don't you have a mid-morning shift at the hospital today?"
Sakura looked over her shoulder, springing out of the chair when her eyes focused on the time.
"Oh Kami. I'm gonna be late. I'm so sorry, Ino." Sakura ran to the back of her apartment, grabbed her bag and rushed to the door, pausing before she threw it open.
"Are you gonna be okay, Ino?"
Ino glanced down at her hands. Would she be okay?
Producing a weak smile, she nodded and stood, brushing away the last few remnants of tears as she followed Sakura out the door. It wouldn't do anyone any good for her to look like a mess.
"I'll be fine. See you later, forehead." She added the small gibe, hoping it would reassure her friend.
Sakura gave her a look that was not entirely convinced, but she smiled nonetheless. "Catch ya later, Ino-pig."
Ino kept her eyes on the ground as she walked home, just in case the tears resurfaced.
Unsurprisingly, walking in such a manner almost caused her to barrel straight into someone. She opened her mouth to apologize, but the other person spoke first.
"Ino, if it wasn't so troublesome, I'd think I should be worrying about how often you seem to be almost running into things."
Just the sound of his voice made her stomach flip and she found that she couldn't bring herself look at him.
Instead, she took the coward's way out. "And why would you ever want to do something so troublesome? Well, you can do us both a favor and just not bother to worry. Goodbye, Shikamaru."
The words dripped like acid from her tongue, and she regretted them as soon as they escaped her mouth, but she refused to turn back and apologize.
Ino doubled her pace towards home, leaving a bewildered genius in her wake.
A/N: So... good, bad, otherwise? This was originally going to be two separate chapters, but they were too short to separate. I hope it doesn't impede the flow too much. I'm feeling rather inspired recently, though my writing ability seems to be flying out the window at random intervals. BUT I have a good scene coming up, so I'm going to try to update again this week. And, of course, reviews are adored, my readers are wonderful, the sky is blue. These are facts of life. :) Hope you all enjoy!