Hi! Here we go! Another chapter for The Prettiest Girl! 3 things I should tell you before you read this fic : I do not own Naruto , I'm so sorry for any grammatical mistake, AND thank you so much for the reviews; each of it made my day just better and better!
At last, Enjoy!
A faint click was heard at the window as he hopped into the room. Ino was lounging on her sofa reading a book. She looked surprised when he jumped in, but not angry. She was always happy to have him as a visitor.
"Wow, I was just thinking of going over to your room. I can't sleep," She mused as he took a seat on her bed.
"Get off the bed, you're dirty. I just changed the sheet." Her tone went strict at the view. Nara Shikamaru made a low growl before falling himself to the floor. A soft thump heard and Ino resumed her reading; satisfied that her bed was safe from any dirt his friend might pick up outside.
"So, what bring you here?" She hummed and lowered her book to get a better look at him. Shikamaru looked at her eyes and it was full of anticipation. He wanted to be angry with her; why didn't she tell him about the mission? Didn't she trust him enough? They had known each other even before they could remember and yet, and yet …
"You looked hurt." She commented suddenly. Yes. He was hurt. Very.
"You, and your guessing game." He snorted instead. Ino pouted.
"I'm sorry for trying to care about you." She said, offended at his comment. Shikamaru sighed; he didn't know why he was here himself. He needed to see her as soon as Sai told him about her mission, he wanted to question her why but he (and along with everyone in that table) had sworn in the name of Konoha that he's not going to tell anyone about what he had just heard. Not even Ino.
"I bet she's waiting for someone to make her fell head over heels before she's 18." Sai had said, eager and enthusiastic.
Sai was not interested on Ino, definitely. He was egging them on to date Ino, and Shikamaru was not sure that it was the best for her. He had cursed fate before as to why things like this would even happen. All he wanted was a normal life with a normal mission and a frequent eat out and then someday, he'd figure things out and gathered enough guts to confess to her. She being out of his hands forever in seven months was not in his life plan, and he didn't like it. It's too troublesome.
"You're brooding." She was next to him when she broke his train of thoughts.
"What is it, Shika? You're worrying me."
"How's Genma?" He asked suddenly. Ino let out an exasperated sigh.
"You're here to pick a fight, I see. And I thought we are going to have a good long nostalgia about the past until I fell asleep and you tuck me into the bed."
"Find a better person to date and I won't nag." He said. "God, I hate nagging, it's yours."
"Stop saying like I'm in a relationship with him. It's just a casual date over coffee."
Shikamaru didn't have any response to that. He couldn't possibly tell her that he had secretly watching them during their dates. Yes, he watched all the giggling, the brushing hands, the holding hands, AND the goodbye kiss. It was not, in any way, casual.
"Are you jealous, Shika?" She teased him, and he grunted in dismay.
"I'm worried. If something bad happened to you, I'd get dragged. It's too troublesome."
Yes, he's jealous. Shiranui Genma was not exactly the man he'd be happy to see alongside with Ino. No other man was, either. Everybody suddenly got too much flaws when it came to Ino.
"But you love to get dragged!" Shikamaru made another grunt in disapproval. Ino gave him a smile before asking him another question.
"How's Temari?" She asked back playfully.
"She's fine."
"Make a move, brother. She's not going to wait around for a lazy ass like you for that long. There are lots of handsome and hot Suna guys out there who are more than willing to be the in-laws of the Kazekage."
"Be it then."
"Confident, eh?" Ino giggled. "You're starting to pick up on me."
"It's just one casual mission, Ino. It's not like we're dating every week like a certain someone I know." He rolled his eyes sarcastically to her. Ino shrugged her shoulder.
"And you're in the same division with her during the war."
"It's not like I have the freedom to choose!" He said, frustrated. He and Temari was indeed a close friend, she saved his life. But that is all there is to it. They worked well together and Temari didn't seem to have the time for swooning over boys – unlike Ino who commented every slightly good looking guy who went past their ways- amidst her business as the Kazekage's sister and consultant.
"It's okay, Shika, you have to embrace love. Youth doesn't last forever." Ino laid her head on his shoulder. Shikamaru winced at her words. Her youth ended in less than 7 months and then all those times when Ino was so eager on finding love made sense. She was just trying to enjoy love during youth as much as possible. Shikamaru hated to admit it, but he pitied her, and it made him wanted to protect her. "And now I'm started to get sleepy. You have that effect on me." She muffled her face to his shoulder.
"If Temari fell in love with you, I bet it's because of your smell. You smell better than anyone else in Konoha, except for Asuma-sensei. He smelled the best in the world." There was a slight pause at the mention of their late Sensei. "Wondering why Inuzuka Hana hadn't hit on you yet…" Shikamaru knew that Ino started to babble when she's getting sleepy and the drill was that he had to lift her to her bed, tucked her in and left. But, given the current situation, he wanted this situation, where Ino was this close to him, when she looked so fragile and so reachable, to last a little longer. Just a little longer.
"Don't sleep on me." There was no response.
"I'll have to tuck you in that way. You're heavy and it's troublesome." He smirked when he said that but Ino didn't hear that. She's already asleep. He patted her head, feeling the silky blonde hair against his hands. She snuggled into him closer.
"Shikamaru, I'm sorry." She whispered. He raised his eyebrows and looked at her, who's still fast asleep.
"For what?" She didn't answer. Shikamaru sighed and he was weighing the idea of sitting still and got to sleep as well because it's good just like that. Doing the drill sounded uncomfortable and troublesome. Ino was going to suffer stiffness all over her body by the morning though. A stiff Ino is not someone who he really wants to deal with; and she's going to blame him. He sighed again; the fighting was not worth it. He was about to stand up when another faint click by the window was heard. Ino was not awoken, maybe because her mind thought that it was just Shikamaru leaving.
"Yo." Hatake Kakashi squatted on the windows. He narrowed his eyes over the sight of them in a position which seems like cuddling.
"I'm sorry for ruining your tender moment." He started. Kakashi was there during the dinner, amongst the men Sai told about the mission. At his voice, Ino woke up and was startled to see the shadow of Kakashi hovering above them.
"Kakashi-sensei! You scared me." Ino said and stood up.
"Does the Hokage call?" She asked in which Kakashi gave a slight nod.
"Yes, for both of you and Akimichi Chouji. Urgent mission she said. I wonder what kind of urgency that got you called on 1 AM in the morning."
"Maybe a lead about the last rebellion movements suddenly came and an important event happened right now," Ino deduced, "Those people only moved when it's already dark."
She then mumbling something like she's going to fix herself for a second and rushed to the bathroom. Shikamaru stood up and put his hands on his pocket. Kakashi must have wanted to make a comment about what he saw earlier and he expected the he'd be hearing that right about now.
"You make your first move quick, Shikamaru." There. His prediction was not wrong at all, ha.
"I'm just visiting her."
"Yeah, yeah. Totally believable. Save me the energy though. I'll get going now." He lifted his hand in a gesture of goodbye and turned into puff of smoke.
Ino came out from the bathroom, looking around for the sign of Kakashi. "He left already?"
"Yeah," Shikamaru answered. Ino let out a deliberately loud sigh.
"He's always so abrupt at comings and goings." She sighed as she looked outside," Let's go, Shika." She jumped out of the window followed closely by Shikamaru. They ran through the roof in silence, Shikamaru's thought couldn't help but wandering around the subject of his previous meeting with Sai and the others earlier that night at the restaurant.
First, there was no denying on how beautiful Ino is. Who could have argued? Shikamaru had witnessed her beauty ever since he could ever remember. He was fond of Ino, in a way that he was not sure himself. It was much more than words like best friend could ever explain, but it's less than terms like love either. Or maybe he was denying it. Ino had had too many men whom she loves and loved her in her life, and adding him to the game would just practically complicate everything. And life itself was already complicated. He had hated the situation very much, he was seriously considering to step back and being a good brother to Ino like Chouji always was, but the thought of everybody else standing next to her as her groom was just so wrong. Naruto and Kiba would easily overshadow her, and only God knows how Ino needs to be the center of the attention. Shino would indulge her too much. Neji and Sasuke would constrain her. Kakashi would … soil her, and so does Genma. In his opinion, he was the only person that could handle her and let her be herself in the process. He knew it, but now that the bet is on and everyone was going to try their best during the only 7 months they have left and just thinking of all the fighting – either it's with her or with his rivals-, he was getting tired just thinking about it.
Was it going to be worth it?
Was Ino the one for him? The question made him remember one of his conversations with her when he hung out with her on the flower shop. Spending most of his lifetime alongside with a florist made him knew a thing or two about the flower arrangement too. Ino would sometimes ignore the rules and just add flowers that weren't supposed to be there. Shikamaru ignored that almost all the time but the one time he asked, her answers had been jolly.
"You won't believe that that person was the one that inspired me in this kind of department." She giggled. "Well, he said that sometimes, just because it's the right one, doesn't mean it's the answer," She had hummed happily, smiling widely at the memory of that person telling her exactly that. It had made Shikamaru curious.
"Who's 'he'?" Shikamaru had asked, noticing that big blue and small purple indeed looked great together.
"Ibiki-san." She giggled. "That man is practically teaching me flower arrangement! Can't you believe it?"
As the conversation was replayed again in his mind, another part of his mind thought that he's pretty sure he's the right one for her. But was he the answer? Was he her answer? Was she his answer? What if all this desire to win her heart was just because of his pity? His anxiety was temporarily halted at the feeling of another familiar chakra presence next to him. Chouji. He smirked. Chouji always had the natural ability to put everyone's mind into calmness AND Ino was the mind master among the three of them. She was only good at putting everyone's mind into chaos it seems. He smiled at his thought once again; she'd punch him to the next year if she had heard what he had just thought.
"What might be happening at this hour that needed the three of us?" Chouji asked as soon as he's within their ear reach, his breath a little bit rugged; signing that he hadn't had a proper warming up. Ino and Shikamaru hadn't had the time to answer when Chouji continued.
"Is it the rebellion movement?" He asked again.
"I think so too," Ino commented. "I swore I'll castrate them one by one for disturbing my sleep."
They finally managed to the Hokage tower and immediately reported to the office. Tsunade was waiting there, chin on her linked hands, and her complexion was serious.
"Thank you for your immediate response. We were supposed to have guests at the first thing in the morning but they arrived a little bit early. I want you to fetch them immediately at the Wind Forest. They should wait you on the fourth tree from the east. Bring them back to the village, and immediately report here once again."
Questions ran amok at everyone's mind.
"Yes, milady." They said in unison the same thing nevertheless; basic shinobi rules: never question the mission's purpose.
"You're dismissed." They jumped out into the air once again, and started to run toward the Wind Forest. Shikamaru was the first to complain, as usual.
"Man, all the energy just for a fetch? Tsunade-sama sure knows how to be troublesome."
Ino, who usually would just shake her head at her friend's extreme laziness, apparently agreed on his statement.
"Why us? Why doesn't she send some lesser genin instead? Wind Forest is not even that far and that dangerous." Ino joined the complaining bunch.
"Maybe the guest needs our ability in order to pass through here. Maybe there were some important mission they need to relay," Chouji eyed Ino, "Besides, there are bandits and rogue ninja everywhere, you know. Let's stay positive."
They went through the thickness of Konoha Forest and Hills and the situation was clear and quiet. There were bandits, but they were not even on the move. Shikamaru was speculating again while Chouji was trying to make Ino let him -and if possible the rest of them- to have supper after they went home, in which Ino responded by starting to give him a long lecture of the 5 basic principles of dieting. Shikamaru still couldn't find any exact answer during his speculation by that time. It could be the daimyo in a secret business with Konoha, it could be an informant. It could be anyone. Hence, when they stopped at the fourth tree from the east direction in the Wind Forest, Shikamaru had had no expectation. Seconds later, there were two people jumped down in front of them and his stomach felt like turned upside down. The first person was a fair-skinned blonde with a stoic complexion even when he's smiling. The second was a blonde as well, noticeably having more muscular body, looked friendlier and with darker skin.
It was none other than C and Darui who were standing in front of them.
"Konohagakure shinobi, fancy meeting you here,"
He then understood why it had to be them.
XXX
"Why would a Kage needs a bodyguard?" Chouji started his topic as they went through the thickness of the forest very early in the morning. "A Kage is the strongest in the village. A daimyo needed bodyguard, but a kage …? I don't get it." He added. C and Darui looked at each other.
"Hmmm, I guess to make sure that the Kage was not suffering from ridiculous death?" Darui's answer was not very sure.
"It's like protecting something that could easily crush us off to the bones." Chouji elaborated his points. The conversation mainly went on around Chouji, C and Darui and it surprisingly went well. Chouji had managed to save the torturous silence that had been going ever since they left the forest. Ino, the most talkative one of the bunch, hadn't talked at all ever since they exchanged greetings and Shikamaru was lost in his world of thinking. As soon as they reached the gate, they rushed to the Hokage office with the Kumogakure ninjas. The three of them were quickly dismissed and were told to be back at the Hokage office first thing in the morning and after a nod of goodbye to each to other, they left. The air of early morning in Konoha couldn't be any colder than that morning as they walked in silence.
"Ino, are you okay? You look pale." Chouji asked Ino, concerned.
"Yeah, it's just a little bit cold." Ino smiled at his caring companion. Chouji was always the sweetest and kindest guy in the world. Chouji instinctively held her hand and shivered.
"Gee, Ino. Your hands are freezing." He looked around. "And I don't have a jacket or something that could warm you. Shika, do you have some?" He nudged Shikamaru's hand.
"I don't bring any." Shikamaru answered, eyeing Ino.
"It's okay, Chouji," She said, giving Chouji a squeeze in the hand before pulling her hands away. "We've already arrived at my house anyway." She said.
"I'll accompany you." Chouji volunteered in which Ino immediately refused.
"No, no. Thank you, Chouji. I felt sleepy already. Bye, you two. See you tomorrow. Don't be late." She said in a hasty tone as she went inside her room from her window. Chouji looked at Shikamaruwith genuine anxiety and astonishment.
"Hormones." Shikamaru told Chouji. That had always been the best explanation for every unusual thing Ino did that neither Chouji nor Shikamaru understood. This time though, Shikamaru felt like he might just have understood Ino's behavior.
Shikamaru and Chouji chatted some more, mostly talking about Chouji dilemma whether to have supper or not because he was hungry at the moment but Ino had told him no. Shikamaru had been in the neutral side and told him just do whatever suited him best.
Shikamaru and Chouji eventually parted ways and he proceeded to his room; Shikamaru had to sneak so discreetly as to not waking up his mom which definitely will start throwing tantrums at finding his son coming home at 3 and he thought that it was going to be too troublesome to explain about the mission. The night went by and morning came. He woke up early and he managed to go downstairs to find her mother was still busy cooking breakfast and her father was barely awake, he was switching the channel of the TV randomly. He was obviously not watching them; he just did that in order not to fall asleep again and angered Yoshino.
"Shikamaru?" Her mother noticed his awakening and smiled happily. He waking up early was an event worth celebrating, indeed.
"A messenger came early in the morning." She told him. "He said that your report to the Hokage was to be postponed until afternoon."
Shikamaru raised his eyebrows and scratched his head. Oh, how he wanted to go upstairs and resumed his sleep. He still felt groggy and all, but his mother would definitely scolded him to the end of the world for that. He ended up having breakfast with his parents; he told them his mission during the night, his father told him what he thought about Kumo and his mother had disagreed with his father; they always had to disagree at everything. It was a conversation with light topics until that topic was brought.
"So, how's Ino? I haven't met her for such a long time now." Shikaku asked Shikamaru who narrowed his eyes in dismay. His mother and Chouji's mother loved Ino like she was the daughter they never had. It's mostly because she spent a lot of time in her childhood at either Chouji's or Shikamaru's house when her mother was busy tending the flower shop and her father was on a mission. While the thought of marrying Chouji to her was temporarily turned to ash because Chouji is currently seriously dating the ramen shop owner's daughter, Ayame, Yoshino hadn't lost hope yet. His father asking him the question would just incite her mother much more in that area.
"I met her the other day when I was shopping for groceries," Her mother told him, "She bought too much of those diet cookies."
"She always thought she needed to lose 5 or 6 more pounds to be just the perfect weight." Shikamaru told her mother who poured him a cup of tea.
"Yes, when I told her to stop buying those cookies though, she actually threw all those cookies away from her trolley." Yoshino sighed happily at the memory, "You should learn more from her, Shikamaru. She listened to me and respected me all the time."
Shikamaru's eyes widened in protest. He was the less obedient of the two? He WAS the one who taught Ino about how to act around his mother! Besides, knowing Ino, she'd just probably buy all those cookies later when Yoshino was not around. Shikaku saw his son's changed expression and kicked his shin, he gave him a signal that he better not say anything about Yoshino's previous statement or else he'll incite his mother's anger.
"I'm sorry, mother." Shikamaru said, defeated. Yoshino was satisfied at his son's obedience and collected their plates and disappeared to the kitchen.
"So, when will you ask her out?" Shikaku asked as soon as he was sure that his wife couldn't listen to their conversation. Shikamaru frowned.
"Dad, our relationship is not like that." Shikamaru sighed, drinking his cup of tea.
"You want your relationship to be like that." His father pointed correctly.
"And when are you suddenly becoming so interested with my relationship?" Shikamaru asked, annoyed at his suddenly nosy father.
"I saw Shiranui going out with her the other day and Inoichi hadn't made a comment about it." He told his son. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at the mention of Genma's name.
"He said that her daughter was free to date anyone she wants." He continued. "It wasn't normal, you know. Inoichi would normally go berserk and protective at the sight of her daughter with anyone else." Shikaku said, musing at the memory of the previous events.
"So, maybe somehow Shiranui managed to get Inoichi's permission, which means you," Shikaku pointed at Shikamaru. "Who had had crush with her ever since forever,"
"I don't have …" Shikamaru protested.
"Are going to lose against Shiranui Genma." Shikamaru sighed in annoyance. Why couldn't he understand that a lifetime of friendship was at risk here?
"I know you're partners and all, Shikamaru." It's almost like his father read his mind. Shikamaru looked at his father with irritated eyes. He didn't want any love lesson from him out of all people.
"I got up and fell and got up and fell again to have your mother's hands." Shikaku said.
"Dad, I don't think that I'd need …"
"It's indeed a drag to win a woman's heart." Shikaku ignored his son's words. "But for once in your life, get up and put your best effort for the woman you love."
"I promise you it's worth it."
Shikamaru froze at his father's last sentence and he'd rather die a slow torturous death than to admit it; but at the moment, he was actually convinced as to what to do now.
"I'm going out to watch clouds." He muttered and he went out of the house.
That was the least way he could say, "Thank you, I understand, Dad."
XXX
Shikamaru was walking through the business of the Konoha Street to the Hokage tower when an enthusiastic voice called him. He stopped only to see his blonde friend and his team enthusiastically waving at him. Next to them was team 8, it seems like they had joint training today.
"Oi." Shikamaru greeted them in his usual lazy manner. They had just met last night, but it seems like he hadn't met them for days. So many things had happened after the dinner.
"Yo, Shikamaru! Where are you up to?" Naruto asked him enthusiastically.
"I have to report to Hokage tower in the afternoon," He checked his watch, "And right now is noon. Tsunade-sama hated it when we're late. Going to wait with a tea from the café near the tower until it's time." He felt tired already when he explained that.
"Oooh, is Ino going to report too? Tell my greetings to her," Kiba chimed in excitedly, he flashed Shikamaru his wolfish grin afterwards. Shikamaru mentally rolled his eyes but he nodded.
"I'll tell her." He said; sardonic.
"What's your mission, Shikamaru-kun?" This time, it was Kurenai who was asking him the question.
"Was it the rebellion?" Sakura asked, a look of concerned was on her pretty face.
"I'm praying it's not the rebellion. It's going to be a big mess and I'd hate to stitch you all up and worry over all of you." Her words were harsh; but Shikamaru knew her well enough that she was genuinely concerned.
"Don't worry Sakura, we were just …"
"Oh guys, are you having a party without me?" A loud familiar voice was heard and the moment they looked to see the owner of the voice, everybody tensed.
"Hi everybody!" Ino greeted them. It was not Ino that makes them tense, it was the muscular man who was slouching next to her. She was walking with Darui. There was C too, but Shikamaru honestly had to say that he didn't see him at the first second.
"Going on a mission with the Kumo shinobi." He managed to finish his sentence though. How could she be with them? His mind asked that question, and he was pretty sure everyone else did too.
"Oh, Hi Darui-san, C-san. We've met." Sakura said sheepishly to them. They exchanged some formal greetings.
"Where have you been, Ino?" Kiba asked; there was no longer the wide boyish grin in his face.
"T&I department." She smiled, "These guys need to see my dad."
"There are some remains of information from the war we need to know about," The way C said it was very convincing but Shikamaru was pretty sure everyone started to make assumptions in their own head the second Ino said that Darui needed to see Inoichi; save for Hinata who seems clueless about this.
"So, Darui-san. I heard you're doing splendid as the general during the war." Kakashi started the topic in a way that Shikamaru knew all the way too well that it was bait. Darui seemed to know this as well because he only scratched his head with deadpan look.
"Yeah, not the one who defeated Uchiha Obito or the one who defeated Uchiha Madara; but I'm doing okay." He said in a tone that elaborated his name more: dull. He left them no space for argument though; he implicitly told them that he knew that they were the bunch who was the hero of the war and unless they wanted to shamelessly brag their own achievement, they wouldn't be able to say anything about that. But of course, Naruto was anything but not shameless.
"Of course you're not, Sasuke and I was the one who killed Madara." He said proudly. Shikamaru rolled his eyes. He should have expected it from him.
"You two were the one who delivered the last blow." Sakura corrected him, obviously feeling embarrassed at her teammate's shamelessness.
"Yeah. I saw you two did that while I'm only standing still from the top of one of the hill. Sorry I can't do anything." He said.
"Please, Darui-san, you're too humble." Ino chuckled much to everyone's dismay.
"Shouldn't we get going? The Hokage is waiting for us." C said as he checked his watch impatiently. "I heard that she didn't have a good temper."
"It's too early; we're not expected until another hour." Shikamaru checked his watch too. Ino looked at him with a sorry look. She always looked at him like that when she hid something from him. Usually, at that kind of time – when she hid something he already knew from him-, he'd only feel proud because he felt like he had outsmarted her. This time, it was just plain pain.
"Oh, don't worry. You are indeed required to report an hour from now; but there's something else we need to report regarding the information from earlier." Ino said and patted his shoulder. There, another hint that she was hiding something.
"See you then." Shikamaru said. The three nodded and waved their goodbye. Shikamaru bet that if Sakura, Kurenai and Hinata were not there, the boys will be too busy talking about what they just saw.
"We should go training too, we've wasted enough time." Kakashi told his team. His word was like snapping them out of a trance as they watched the three figures dispersed with the crowd.
"Race you to the training ground!" Kiba slapped Naruto's shoulder suddenly and hopped onto his dog as he disappeared within seconds with Shino running next to the fang boy with his bugs under him.
"Hey! That wasn't fair!" Naruto jumped up the roof and disappeared as well.
"Gee, when will you guys grow up?" Sakura sighed as she followed them along with Kurenai.
"P … Please don't leave me." Hinata said as she jumped away too.
Shikamaru already turned around and was about to continue his walk when something stopped him. It was Sasuke's comment.
"You weren't thinking of hitting on Ino, right, Shikamaru?" He had asked in a tone that sounded like he was underestimating the shadow user. Shikamaru took a deep breath and turn around.
"Why are you interested?" He said with an irritated face, he couldn't say that talking to Sasuke was his hobby; something about him still pissed him off even until now.
"Oh, I'm just wondering how Chouji would feel about all that." He smirked. Shikamaru bet all his fingers AND toes that Sasuke didn't really care about how Chouji would feel. Making sure he was the one that delivered the last punch, Sasuke left following his friends.
Kakashi watched the younger boy while reading his porn novel.
"Sasuke was just being Sasuke like that, don't let it affect you." Kakashi said as he pocketed his book. Shikamaru let out a sigh. "Yeah, I know." He said.
"He was not wrong either, though. You might want to consider your chubby companion's feeling if you and Ino were together." Kakashi said, and before Shikamaru could respond, he had left in a puff of smoke.
"Ass," He cursed.
XXX
When Shikamaru reported to the Hokage tower an hour later, he was put on a mission to Kumo along with Chouji and Ino. They were to leave that very evening and preparation for mission was to be immediately done. His head was in the clouds most of the briefing from Hokage and when he checked back into reality, he was opening the door of his house while his mother was busy sweeping the floor. He exchanged greetings with her and went straight to his room.
Shikamaru prepared himself for the mission. Their mission had been vague and he had suspected that it was only an excuse to let Ino meet the Raikage. He went downstairs and briefly told his mother about the mission and after a long lecture about mission safety from his mom, he went out of the house.
He was early so he wanted to go to Chouji's house but when he was two roofs away from his room, he saw that his teammate was still busy preparing the mission. Didn't want to impose, he rerouted to Ino's house instead. Her room had been silent and tidier than usual as he jumped in.
"Ino?" He called out for her. No answer. Had she left for the gate? Ino was a punctual person, but she was never early. With that, he decided that he'd linger a little bit longer and took a book by her night table and read it on her sofa. The book was a romance novel and he put it back the second he opened the four pages and when he did, the door was opened and Ino went in.
"Ah, you're visiting."
"Early and Chouji's busy preparing." He said. Ino nodded.
"I'm almost done preparing." She said as she took her romance novel and stuffed it to her bag.
"It was pretty graphic." He commented. Ino's response was only a soft chuckle. Looking at Ino, Shikamaru suddenly reminded once again of Sasuke's words this afternoon to him. He had spent most of the briefing thinking about it, and yet, he decided that there's no way he could tell Chouji's feeling unless he asked him. But then, he was not sure that Chouji would be that selfish to stand in his way to get Ino just because he'd feel left out.
"Ino."
"What?"
"If Sasuke and Sakura were going out with each other, do you think that Naruto would feel left out?" He asked. Ino stopped her movement and looked at Shikamaru in disbelief.
"Sasuke and Sakura are going out?" She asked; her eyes widened in surprise.
"No, no." Shikamaru said quickly, he didn't want Ino to start throwing tantrums. "It's a what-if situation."
"Oh." Ino said, sounded a little bit relieved. "Seeing Naruto's personality, I don't think that he'd feel like that."
Shikamaru scratched his head. Of course, Naruto would probably just shamelessly try to squeeze in between the two anyway, and Chouji wouldn't do that to Shikamaru. He'd endure and smiled his sweet smile as always. He had to try another analogy.
"What if Hinata and Kiba were together? What will Shino think?" Shikamaru asked.
"Shino'd be okay with his bugs." Ino chuckled.
"I'm serious, Ino."
"He'd be okay. Naruto'd be okay. If Tenten and Lee were going out together, Neji would be okay. And if we were going out together, Chouji'd be okay too." Ino said as she looked Shikamaru at his eyes and he shivered, feeling caught. "They are all a team, Shika. Team doesn't leave each other out." Ino said.
"Or will you?" Ino batted her eyelashes.
"I'm not going out with you." He smirked. Ino laughed.
"Yeah, you're going out with Temari, I know, I know."
"I'm not going out with Temari either." Shikamaru protested. Ino smiled at him.
"Soon, you will." She insisted with a smile. "Let's go, Chouji's here." Ino waved her hand at her friends who was approaching his window.
"I'm not going out with Temari." Shikamaru repeated as he followed her.
"Okaaay?" Ino grinned as they both jumped out of the window.
The mission to Kumo was going well. Ino was already reverting back to her cheerful self and instead to Darui, she seemed closer to C. They chatted about the newest advance in medical technology, and things revolving their side occupation as a medical ninja as they ran through the forest, leaving the other no space to join the conversation –except that one time when they talked about a good balanced diet for ninja, in which Ino eyed Chouji with full of implication- and as the duo started to run out of the topic, that was when C decided to comment on their previous encounter.
"I used to dislike Konoha," He said.
"Sasuke?" Chouji guessed in which C nodded and sighed.
"And Orochimaru, and Madara, and everyone else." He added. "People like that won't survive in our village."
"I'm sorry if our village has mercy." Ino said.
"Mercy is number one don'ts in basic shinobi rule." C snorted.
Just suddenly, all the friendliness Ino and C shared during the first three hours of their trip faded away to nowhere. Chouji and Darui noticed this and quickly took action.
"Different village, different principle. All is good." Darui said.
"Yes, I agree, Darui-san. Our Kage had their own reason and own way of doing things." Chouji said in a rushed tone followed with a forced chuckle. Ino looked away from C in annoyance and started to jump to the back side of the gang, next to Shikamaru.
"Fighting over such small things, I thought you've grown up." Shikamaru couldn't help not to comment at Ino who now running next to him. Ino looked at him in annoyance.
"Thanks for backing me defending our village." She barked. Shikamaru decided to halt any more comments before Ino is going to get really mad at him. The forest becoming thicker and suddenly becoming quieter than usual.
"It's odd." Shikamaru spoke out in which Darui and C immediately nodded at his comment. They were a seasoned veteran; their instinct was sharp enough to pick on danger.
"We've been followed for some time now," C noted. Chouji looked at the others.
"Should we confront?" He asked; tense.
"Our objective was to arrive at Kumo at shortest time possible," C said. "Any confrontation was to be avoided."
As soon as he said that, a sound of metal clicking was heard softly as a senbon went directly to Ino in a speed of light. Shikamaru widened his eyes as he instinctively pushed Ino out of the way but his kunai failed to deflect the senbon and it went straight to his arm instead. The formation broke that instant.
"Well, we got eager guest." Darui said as he unsheated his sword. Shikamaru was about to pull the senbon out of his arm when his hand froze. Crap, of course there had been poison on that senbon. Several men jumped down surrounding them.
"Shikamaru!" Ino shouted as he felt himself falling down to the ground.
Crap. Crap. He bet he looked so pathetic. A ninja fell down from a stupid poison in a senbon. When he saw Darui was slashing the man down so easily, he cursed. What a show off.
And then his vision went white.
XXX
When he opened the eyes, he was in an unfamiliar room that smelled like a hospital. It wasn't Konoha and the room was way too luxurious to be a hospital room in a small town. He deduced then that he was already in Kumo. Only then that he noticed a large amount of food in various kind were put on a cupboard across the bed; signaling Chouji's presence there. And then there was a slight movement on his arm and he looked down only to see a pool of familiar silky platinum blonde
hair on his bed. Shikamaru didn't have anything to do about it when Ino sat up immediately and looked at him. Her hair was messy and there was a dark circle underneath her eyes. She tied her hair absent-mindedly before looking at him.
"You're awake!" She gasped and pulled him into a bone-crunching hug. The smell of lavender and milk filled his nose.
"Yeah," Shikamaru said, feeling sore all over the body. "How long have I been out?"
"Four days. I'm so sorry we don't bring the antidote for the poison." She still didn't let go from her hug. Shikamaru awkwardly patted the back of her head.
"I'm so worried." She said as she let go, her eyes were gleaming as she looked at him.
"I won't die over some stupid poison."
"You won't die. If you died before I died, I'll kill some random people and resurrect you with Edo Tensei." She clutched his blanket possessively.
"Ew, Ino. That's creepy." He couldn't help a smirk escaping from his mouth. Ino noticed that and punched him playfully at his arm.
"Don't look so smug." She said.
"So, how are the others?" He asked; even though judging by her reaction, everybody else was fine.
"They're fine, we're lucky to have C-san and Darui-san with us." Ino sighed contentedly. "It was the rebellion movement." She whispered to him. Shikamaru frowned.
"They're pretty active for a movement that is still in development."
"Yeah, so we have to be careful next time AND," She glared at him. "Don't ever do that to me again."
"Doing what?"
"Acting like a hero and taking the senbon for me.." She clutched his hand in a protective way. "I won't be able to live with you died protecting me." She said. "I'm not losing anybody else, Shika. Not after Asuma-sensei." Ino said, eyes still glued at his.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm not planning to die soon," He said, pulling his blanket over his face, avoiding those big blue eyes.
"I love you too much." She said quietly.
There were butterflies in his stomach when Ino said that even though he knew that it wasn't the kind of love he wanted her to have for him.
"You and Chouji were right there just after my father and Asuma-sensei." She continued.
"More than Sasuke?" He teased her from beneath his blanket. She laughed.
"Don't push your luck." He could tell that she was grinning outside.
"Shikamaru!" Chouji's voice was heard as a loud stomping was heard moving into the room. Shikamaru closed his eyes.
Ino loves him. Not in that way YET, but it was enough.
He bet she didn't tell any of his rivals that she loves them.
Finally! This is such a long chapter! Is it too long? Too boring? Too many unnecessary details? Thoughts please? Please review! Refresh me :) :) :)