12. Unwanted Hero
"Are you sure you want to take this mission alone?" Tsunade's eyes averted from the mission scroll to Ino's enthusiastic eyes. Her blue eyes nearly popped from their sockets as Tsunade reluctantly handed over the scroll. "Having a partner for this mission will increase the success rate, and it'll also make the job easier."
Ino unrolled the delicate paper and read the mission description with nervous exhilaration. It was her turn to be successful in a solo mission. Shikamaru and Choji went on their first solo mission years ago, and Asuma goes on his own all the time. This mission was hers and hers only.
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Then, good luck, Ino Yamanaka. I hope your mission goes well."
"You really shouldn't have come." Shikamaru tore his face away from Ino's helping hand. Ino, with much applied force, grabbed Shikamaru's chin and pulled his bruised face in her direction. She sighed as she examined the ugly discoloration forming along his jawline. "Really, you shouldn't have snuck into my room." Ignoring the pained hiss from her teammate, she pressed the cold compress against his pale skin.
Shikamaru gripped her wrist and pulled her hand away from his face. Ino bit her threats as she eyed the hand that wrapped around her wrist. "I don't need any ice," he grunted, taking the icepack away from Ino and tossing it into the sink.
"You're just upset that I beat you up, you baby. Stop trying to be a man and rub some damn ice on your face." Ino shook off his hand and retrieved the icepack from the sink, then handed it to Shikamaru, who, much to her approval, disgruntledly pressed the compress against his cheek.
Ino sat on a stool and leaned against the counter, watching her teammate spit out blood. According to him, he bit his tongue when she punched him in the face and after announcing said news, he proceeded to spit blood on her carpet. Sachiko might have a heart attack when she sees the blood…. Shikamaru grimaced at the blood he spit into the sink, reminding Ino how much he hated the sight of blood.
"How's everyone back in Konoha?" she asked, picking at the corner of an old newspaper. "It's been a while since I've received any letters from anyone."
Shikamaru gave one last spit before sitting across from her. "It's been a month since I've seen anyone."
"It beats being gone for three."
"Sakura and Naruto are still dating."
"That's not surprising." Gossiping with Shikamaru was like gossiping with her mother, who seemed to be the last person in the village to hear the juicy gossip. However, when the juicy gossip reached her, it wasn't gossip anymore—it was old, freaking news. Ino always felt bad when her mother would barge into her room or suddenly call her with "exciting news", and it turned out Ino heard the news months ago.
"Kurenai is due in a month or two."
"Already?"
Shikamaru nodded. "Asuma is hysterical. I think it's the lack of cigarettes getting to him. The last time I checked, he's down to half a pack."
When they first became a team, Asuma went through three cartons of cigarettes a day, lighting a cigarette every five minutes and finishing one within two. Once he started dating Kurenai, he limited himself to two, and after constant pestering from Ino—she told him smoking wasn't attractive and could possibly be the reason why Kurenai dumped him in the future—he cut down to a pack a day.
"I hope he doesn't smoke around the kid."
"Asuma is more responsible than that."
"I know."
Ino had to admit: she missed being around her close friends. With Minako and Sachiko, she had to keep her personal items guarded, unable to share her past and her life back in Konoha with them. Speaking with Shikamaru made her more homesick.
"Is there anything else going on?" Ino asked, trying to ignore the hollow feeling in her chest.
"There's a rumor going around about Hinata and Kiba being an item, but according to Kiba, they're nothing like that. Hinata is still hung up about Naruto, which is a shame for her since he's with Sakura…."
Ino sighed, knowing that drama all too well. When she went to lunch with Hinata and Sakura, a persistent tension lingered in the air even though Hinata established there were no grudges held against Sakura for dating Naruto. Sakura felt horrible for dating Naruto sometimes because of her friend's extreme crush, and she claimed herself to be a "boy stealing daughter of a whore". Ino waved her off and advised her to enjoy her time with Naruto. Hinata will find her special person eventually.
Ino inwardly hoped for the rumor to be true, so Hinata could be happy. "People can date someone and still like another. Naruto is just a childhood crush of hers—just can't help but feel drawn to him still. Kiba, however, could be something more serious to her, you know?"
"Or maybe you're just reading too much into this rumor?"
She shrugged. "I'm just saying."
Shikamaru smiled at her and shrugged back. He leaned forward and closed his eyes with his chin resting in the palm of his hand. She never noticed how tired Shikamaru looked until he closed his eyes, eyelashes tickling the dark bags hanging under his eyes.
Back home, Shikamaru wandered the streets when he couldn't sleep, probably because he thought too much at night. Usually around two in the morning, he'd knock at her apartment door. She opened the door always, but not without spurting death threats and insults towards Shikamaru, who calmly sauntered into her apartment without a comment towards her moodiness. Every time he came to visit her at night, they sat at the kitchen table, talking. Ino rambled about various topics, but when she made Shikamaru talk, he usually gabbed about his battle strategies he conjured up before a long mission, or his daily worries. He really did think about too much….
Eventually, Shikamaru would fall asleep on her dining table in the same position with his chin resting in his palm and his head cocked to the side.
"Ino," he whispered with his eyes still closed. "Answer this one for me."
"What?"
"Have you ever met the Raikage?"
"No?"
"Well, when you do, make sure you have a handshake in mind."
The next morning, Minako woke up earlier than usual and managed to beat everyone to the breakfast table, which was incredibly rare. She did her morning routine of dressing, brushing her teeth, and tying her frizzy hair that closely resembled a bird's nest into a bun at the top of her head. She promised she'd wash her hair after lunch.
Trying not to wake up her roommate, who was a grouchy pants early in the morning, Minako tiptoed past Mai's bed.
The floorboards creaked while Minako shuffled her tired feet down the hallway, past Ino's room where Minako heard the regular whimpers coming from Ino, who suffered from her nightly nightmares. She shuffled past Takao's room, which, for the most part remained, silent on the other side.
Little light came through the single window at the end of the hall. The skyscraper blocked the sun from getting through that window, giving a feel of the time being midnight rather than seven in the morning.
Minako softly hummed her own tune as she hopped down the squeaky stairs and into the kitchen. Minako stopped dead in her tracks. She circled the man who rested on the island counter, trying to look at his face but his arms encased his face. Minako crouched down and looked up. Black, coal eyes stared back at her.
"Holy!" Minako sprung back, but of course, she didn't spring back without kicking over the stool the stranger sat on, causing the poor man to crash to the cold floor.
"Ow," he grumbled, rolling onto his stomach as he held his elbow to his chest. Minako sympathized for a second—hitting the funny bone isn't all that fun…. She sat there, watching the man abruptly stop rolling on the ground and take in his surroundings. "Where am I?" he asked. She watched him sit up and didn't move an inch when his eyes zeroed in on her. "Oh, I must've fallen asleep."
"You're Ino's friend, aren't you? Shikamaru, right?"
"Who are you?"
"Minako. What are you doing here?"
"I was talking to Ino last night, and I guess I fell asleep," he said as he shook out the tingles in his arm. "Don't worry, I'll leave right now."
Minako held up a hand. "It's all right. You can stay. I want to see Ino's reaction when she sees—what happened to your face?"
"She beat me up."
"Oh….Well, what would you like for breakfast?" Minako jumped up and started to dig through the cupboards. "I can make cereal and…that's it, so what will it be?"
Shikamaru set his fallen stool upright and climbed on top. Minako set two bowls on the counter top and held up the different breakfast cereals the cupboards had to offer.
"I'll have whatever you have," Minako said as she held up an orange cereal box with a cartoon cartoon grinning on the front of it; Shikamaru declined, shaking his head. He smiled when she mumbled, "Good choice," then held up a healthy looking choice with dried fruits and granola.
"That's fine if you're all right with it."
"Yeah, it's cool. This is my cereal anyway." Minako flipped the box around to show her name written all over the back of the box.
They ate in silence. Minako managed to sneak in quick glances of the stranger eating in front of her. He appeared to be older than she was, but that really didn't say much considering people thought she looked about sixteen. No one believed her when she said she was twenty-three. He was Ino's friend, so maybe that meant he was around her age—nineteen or twenty.
Did he love Ino enough to make the journey to Cloud in order to convince her into going back? When Minako ran away from Konoha, no one came to retrieve her. She wrote a letter to her adopted parents once, but she never received a reply from them. If she were Ino, she'd go back with Shikamaru in a heartbeat.
Maybe Ino came to Kumo because they had a horrible break up, so she ran away to get away from him. Funny, though, Ino didn't seem like the type to be attracted to the gloomy, pessimistic looking men with long hair.
"Are you two dating?"
Shikamaru almost choked on the spoonful of cereal he shoved into his mouth. He stared at Minako with a crazy stare as he slowly chewed his breakfast and swallowed. "Are we dating? No."
"Then you must be good friends."
"I supposed."
"Cause if you weren't good friends, you wouldn't be here right now, huh?"
Shikamaru played with the milk, dipping the spoon into the milk, raising it, then tipping the milk back into the bowl. He remained quiet for a minute. Minako seconded guessed her accusation. Maybe they weren't friends after all. Then, why was he freaking here?
"We're best friends. Or, we were until now, I think. She kinda hates my guts for showing up."
"I would too if I wanted to be left alone."
"Well, it's a very complicated situation."
"I understand."
Shikamaru raised a brow at her. "You do?"
"Yeah, sure. I know the whole story."
"You do?"
Minako nodded. "Yeah. You guys are best friends, right? Well, you want to be more than friends, so you came all the way over here just to show Ino how much you care about her. Am I right?" She knew by the shocked look on Shikamaru's face that she was undoubtedly right. Her soap operas always have the same plot about the man craving to be more than friends, but the woman just can't take a hint.
Shikamaru bit his lip. "Yeah."
"So, how about you come with us to the Spring Festival next week? It'll be a great time to tell her how you really feel."
"Shouldn't Ino know? I don't think she'd want me to go; she hates me right now."
"I want to see Ino's reaction. It'll be fun."
"What'll be fun?" Ino rounded into the kitchen, pausing when she noticed Shikamaru sitting across the island from Minako. "You're still here?"
"You let me fall asleep here," Shikamaru rebutted.
Before Ino could respond, Minako jumped from her seat and turned to the other blonde. "Good morning, sunshine!"
"You look like a cheery ball of sunshine this morning," Chi sarcastically greeted as Ino stomped through the restaurant door. Her co-worker leaned against the cash register, examining her yellow colored fingernails.
Ino didn't know what it was with Chi that pissed her off so much. Could it be her laziness? Ino manned both of their sections while Chi lounged at the cash register, painting her nails bright shades of ugly colors—for example, the disgusting yellow currently on her nails that looked similar to dying grass or the shade of urine. She constantly excused herself from customers when she happened to notice a chip in the paint, or she didn't fancy the color anymore, so she dropped everything to change the paint. Ino didn't know why the boss hasn't fired Chi.
Ino strode past the cash register where Chi snobbishly snorted to herself—probably thinking her sarcastic comment was absolutely hysterical when really, Chi should just drown herself in the sink for saying something so stupid like that; Ino's heard better.
Ino found the employee lounge empty when she arrived. According to the clock, she had about fifteen minutes before her shift started. She sat down on the couch, resting her aching feet after the twenty-minute walk from the Pub.
Grudgingly, because she knew Minako could lose sight of a person who stood about five heads taller than her—totally exaggerated, but he's obviously bigger than Minako—, Ino left Minako in charge of babysitting Shikamaru, who insisted on walking Ino to work, but she knew he just wanted another opportunity in urging Ino to return. She would have none of that!
Ino could only imagine the embarrassing stories Shikamaru could tell Minako and vice versa. Minako was a sucker for the story about Ino being locked in the "haunted" storage room and stranded there as a prank from the whole staff. According to Takao, it's a tradition, and everyone suffered through it. And according to Sachiko, no one made her or Minako do it. Hearing that, Ino went on a violent rampage on the boys.
There were tons of embarrassing stories Shikamaru could tell, but thankfully, majority of them occurred during their training, and he couldn't reveal Ino's true identity.
"Ino!" she heard Chi yell. "There's a customer who needs your assistance!"
Ino glanced at the clock. Five minutes before her shift, but she knew Chi wouldn't tend to the customer, so Ino hopped from the couch and started her work day with her apron already tied to her waist and her notebook filled with orders from previous customers in her hand.
"Hello," she greeted warmly, putting on a fake smile for the customer. "Three? Come this way. My name is Ino, by the way…."
The day dragged on.
Three o'clock ticked by as Ino finished wiping down the tabletop and replaced the dirty utensils with clean ones. The few customers surrounding her chatted about their days and their plans. The cooks laughed hardily at their jokes, and the new girl paced around her section, asking customers if they need anything. Ino definitely preferred the new girl than Chi, who left about two hours ago.
Ino glanced out the window. The streets of Kumogakure weren't as busy as they usually were. People still hustled through the streets, looking like they're late from their break. Teenaged couples stalked the streets with their hands intertwined and smitten gazes.
"Ino!" the new girl called, ripping Ino's attention from the scenery to the clueless brunette girl who circled the soda machine. "What do I do if we're out of ice?"
"I'll be there in a sec," Ino assured, hustling to reset the table now. She took one last peek outside. Lavender eyes met hers. He grinned at her, spiking her heartbeat to irregular heights. Her mind must be playing tricks on her. No one walking past him seemed to notice him standing in the middle of the sidewalk. No one noticed a humongous man taking up the sidewalk…. He couldn't be real.
"Ino!" the girl called, panicky now.
Ino quickly glanced at the girl. She held two pitchers underneath the spouts as the machine refused to stop pouring soda.
"Tsh, first there's no ice, and now it won't stop pouring!" Ino exclaimed, rushing over to the girl to aid her. "How about you just leave the machine to me from now on?"
The younger girl nodded her head enthusiastically. "That's a good idea."
Ino smiled. When the new girl turned her back to Ino, she glanced out the window, and the man was gone.
This will be the last update for a while.