A/N: Many thanks to those who reviewed :) There's a lot more dialogue and it's a bit shorter compared to the first chapter, but I hope it doesn't make a difference in quality. Enjoy!

Ino was walking. She had no idea where she was. She had no idea where she was going. Her head was full of her inner voice yelling at the top of her lungs, making Ino want to stab herself.

"Stupid inner voice. How are you louder than ME?"

As punishment, her inner voice forced her mind to travel back to just a few hours ago.

"I need to know... how much you cost"

Oooooh he doesn't wanna be alone tonight!

"Are you talking about-"

"Yes."

Come on, Ino. Why aren't you being more flirty? Pull yourself together!

"I don't like to talk about my price in public. It tends to make others very jealous."

There ya go!

"It's more than just your price that allows others to be envious."

Whoa! Did HE just sa-

"Then, you'll tell me the cost tonight. In private."

Well, there's no getting out of this now. SMILE, INO!

"Of course. Here's my address."

"Expect me at ten."

Show him your bedroom eyes!

"I'll be waiting."

You sure aren't acting like your usual self, Ino. Look at the way he walks! VERY attractive.

"Shut UP!"

Hmph.

"Ino? Inooooo. Sigh. How troublesome."

Ino shook her beautiful golden head before glancing up and noticing a familiar looking hand waving across her face. With her ocean deep eyes, she looked across the table to notice a pair of lazy black eyes staring right at her. Nara Shikamaru saw his friend come back to the present and lowered his hand with another profound sigh. It took Ino a short while to realize she was in a Korean BBQ restaurant, and clearly wasn't companionless.

"What's up Ino? You've been complet- oops sorry, completely spaced out all night." Akimichi Chouji, who was known for his passion for eating, stated while spitting out some chunks of beef among his words.

Ino turned her head and looked at Chouji, one of her two best friends. A blue cap was placed on top of his chestnut coloured flying hair, as if making an attempt to tame it. As much as this boy loved to eat until he couldn't physically move anymore, she knew he would give up the luxury of eating as much as he could if it was the only way to save Ino's life, not that he would ever have to. She knew she was lucky Chouji was always there to deliver her comfort, lend her a shoulder to let her tears flow on, support her even when she was irrational, and supply her with helpful and logical advice, whenever it was necessary. A genuine smile broke onto Ino's perfect face.

"I'm fine, Cho. Quit worrying and eat your food before I eat it all first!"

"Since when did you finish all your food?" Shikamaru asked with a raised eyebrow. "Or even better, since when did you eat meat at all?"

Ino rolled her eyes at the lazy bum's typical comment and picked up her pair of chopsticks.

"Geez Shika, I was just kidding. And I do so eat meat! Just in moderate portions... unlike Chouji." She threw a wink at Chouji, to ensure he would know she was just teasing and he replied by shoving more meat into his already stuffed mouth.

The young Nara snorted as Ino watched him reach into the pocket of his moss green vest for a light and a pack of cigarettes.

Ugh, gross.

Following the tragic death of Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru's favourite teacher at school, the latter began what Ino considered to be the most disgusting habit known in the universe. Since the exact hour Asuma-sensei passed away, Shikamaru hadn't lived a day without smoking a minimum of seven cigarettes every twenty-four hours. The blonde concluded that her lazy friend thought Asuma-sensei had passed his addiction down to him on purpose.

Shikamaru, the second of Ino's two best friends, was very different from Chouji. To anyone, he defined the word lazy. Ino and Cho weren't just anyone though; they knew him. They could see through his bored eyes and read his mind, all three could do this with one another. It was quite obvious to them that Shika had enough brains to make him the leader of the whole world, if only his laziness didn't take over.

The sluggish boy pulled out a cigarette from the pack, lit the tip with a lighter, took a deep drag, and exhaled, letting a thin trail of smoke escape from his mouth. Now leaning comfortably against the wall beside him, he was about to take another drag when Ino put her chopsticks back down, reached over the table, grabbed the white stick from his mouth, and threw it out the window adjacent Shikamaru's head. Once again, Shikamaru closed his eyes and let out a stressed sigh, then opened them to glare at his annoyingly stubborn friend.

"What a drag. You stopped doing that for so long, Ino." He reached up and scratched the back of his neck, which was covered with his long black hair that wasn't tied up like it normally was. "Why start again now?"

"Because it's gross! Trust me on this, Shika. No girl enjoys kissing a boy who smokes. Trust me."

Nara Shikamaru rolled his eyes and replied, "Of course, you would know."

"And what is that," Ino slammed her hands onto the surface of the table and pushed herself off her seat. "Supposed to mean?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Oh, don't start with me about that now." She lifted her hands, palms facing Shikamaru, creating an invisible wall between them.

He ejected another cigarette and lit it with the built-in BBQ grill in the centre of the restaurant's table and retored, "Then don't start with me and my smoking."

"That is COMPLETELY different! Smoking can KILL you, Shika. It's deathly! Why doesn't your lazyass brain understand that?"

"Quit being a drag, Ino. Your so-called job is dangerous, too. Not to mention even more filthy than my so-called deathly habit." Churlishly, Shikamaru opened his mouth and blew smoke directly into Ino's face.

Ino didn't move an inch. Locked with Shikamaru's beady black eyes, her blue eyes were now a shade of cobalt with the ability to pierce through someone, which only happened when anger seeped inside of her.

"Shikamaru. Don't." Chouji warned. Throughout the debate his food intake had decreased noticeably until he stopped eating completely to interpolate.

"It's okay Chouji. He can do anything he likes." Ino's voice froze Chouji's insides, sounding so different from her regular voice that was always filled with excessive cheerfulness. "And as far as I'm concerned, so can I."

Turning on her heels, she briskly snatched her purse and stormed towards the door. The brief walk to the door now a catwalk, for most of the restaurant were glancing around in an attempt to determine the source of the boisterous argument.

"Ino! Ino!" The Akimichi scrambled to get off his seat, waving his arms. "Wait!"

Once reaching the fresh, crisp, autumn air, the furious Yamanaka shut her eyes tight and took one very deep breath.

Calm down, Ino. Two more deep breaths and you'll be good as new.

Listening to her inner voice as always, she took two more breaths just as deep as the first. As she exhaled her third breath, she opened her eyes, now back to being bright blue, and allowed her signature radiant smile to take control of her face.

Good girl!

Customarily she took a cab home, but tonight she decided an hour of walking would be good for her. It would give her time to think about her ultimately relaxing bath she would take once arriving home.

Yamanaka Ino began her somewhat lengthy trip home when a car horn screamed into her ears, disposing her smile, and bringing in a thought the fight with Shikamaru had gotten rid of: Uchiha Itachi.

"Shit."

A/N: Reviews? Please and thank you. :)