Hellooo again.
Welcome to my eighth chapter.
I really enjoyed writing this one!!
Everytime I read it, hee.
Well, I'm not telling you what will happen.

BTW, not sure if anyone knew this, but the italics are the characters thinking. ANY italics, except in the context of talking. Sometimes I don't do, "Gawsh, these people are nuts," Shalen thought. I'll normally just do, "Hn. I can't believe it. So how are you today?" Just thought I'd let you know. xDD

Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to mwah (moi), sadly. Darn, I really thought I was Masashi Kishimoto-san. Ahh, another day, I guess. Another day. Sorano's mine though. xDD

Chapter Eight

At the Bath House

Sorano took the bubble and hid it in a safe place because she knew if she brought it near the bath house, it would draw all of the water from the tubs and no one would be able to relax. Meanwhile, Shikamaru, Naruto, Konohamaru, and Udon went to relax in the male baths.

"Naruto, what do you think I should do?" Shikamaru asked.

"About what, dattebayo?" Naruto asked, confused.

"About Sorano and Ino?"

"Well, how long have you known Ino?"

"All of my life."

"And Sorano?"

"Since I was thirteen."

"Which one do you love more?" Udon said after his prolonged silence.

Shikamaru was shocked to hear Udon's voice. "Sorano," he said with no hesitation.

All of them, except Shikamaru, smirked in hearing his quick, but blunt answer. "Figures," they all said simultaneously.

"What do you guys mean?"

"Well, for starters, she's..uhm..mmm..prettier?" Konohamaru tried to explain.

"And she has a great personality that copes with everyone, dattebayo!" Naruto summed up for Konohamaru.

"So, what should I do then?" Shikamaru asked, still not knowing what to do.

"Uhm..break up with Ino, smart one," Udon said, sarcasticly.

"I don't want to ruin the relationship between Ino and me. She is one of my best friends. But how do I let Ino down easily?"

"Just tell her that you want to go seperate ways in that relationship but you would still like to be friends with her. Or something similar to that," Udon advised.

"Wow, Naruto, Konohamaru. Udon gives way better advice than you guys."

As they finished talking, Sorano headed back to the bath house. She went to the the tubs wanting total relaxtion and to be free of stress for at least thirty minutes. She was very distracted with thoughts running all through her mind. She entered the changing rooms and stripped herself of all her clothes and walked out to the baths. She looked at the bath and saw four familiar faces. Shikamaru, Naruto, Konohamaru, and Udon were staring at her along with all the other men there.

"Uh..hey guys," Sorano said, trying to play it off.

All the guys, except Shikamaru, Naruto, Konohamaru, and Udon began to swarm around Sorano, swooning as she started to flaunt and flirt. "Hm..wonder if I can make Shika jealous? I mean, I might as well make the most of it while I can."

Shikamaru started to get a bit steamed. He sat up and intently watched them all. Naruto and Konohamaru started to get up to join the other guys in talking to Sorano.

"Where are you guys going?" Shikamaru asked, a little irritated at this point.

"Uh..uh.." Naruto and Konohamaru hesitated.

"To tell her to go back to the girl baths, dattebayo?" Naruto questioningly answered.

Shikamaru smirked them off. "Whatever."

Naruto and Konohamaru walked over to the crowd surrounding Sorano. Naruto snuck behind her and whispered in her ear, "Sorano, Shikamaru's getting a little jealous over there."

Sorano turned her head to look at Naruto's big, blue eyes. "Good. I hope he is jealous." She turned back around to continue flirt with the other guys.

"Why, dattebayo?"

"Because.." Sorano couldn't think of why she wanted to make Shikamaru jealous. "I-I really don't know." From being perfectly poised and beautiful, she slumped her back and felt guilty. "God, I feel like a slut." She looked down and saw nothing on her, except for her bandages that were wrapped around her legs up to her waist and she couldn't take them off because she didn't want to put anyone in danger. She honestly thought that this was the female baths before she walked in. She lifted her head up quickly and called out, "Hey, guys! It's time for me to go..I'll see you later," and then winked. She walked quickly towards the changing room and began putting on a robe. She grabbed her clothes and was about to walk out, until someone grabbed her by the arm.

"What was that all about?" There was Shikamaru, staring intently at her with a hint of green in his eyes.

"Oh, crap. I was hoping he wasn't gonna come after me." She looked down at the ground. "What'd you think it was?" She said in a low voice.

"What?" Shikamaru lifted her head by her chin to made her look at him.

"Why would you even care?" she jerked her head from his hand.

"Ugh..what do I say? I can't say that I do care because I know she'll get mixed signals from me. This is such a pain." Shikamaru crossed his arms across his sparkling, muscular chest. "You're the one trying to make me jealous."

"WHAT? Me trying to make you jealous?" Sorano said with a nervous laugh.

The nervousness showed. "Yeah, with your laugh, I can see right through your act."

Sorano hung her head. "The only reason I came in here was because I.." Sorano started a mumble. "Thought this was the female baths."

"Hm? What did you say? I didn't quite hear you." Apparently Shikamaru was gonna torture her.

"I said I thought this was the girl baths," she said a little louder.

Shikamaru chuckled, "You're a bit off, don't you think?"

"You're the one who made me come in here!"

"Me? How did I make you go to the wrong baths?"

"Because I was thinking about you!" Sorano panted a little. "Did I just say that out loud? Crap."

The two stared at each other arousingly. "No. I can't. I can't give in. Aw, who am I kidding? I really can't do this." Shikamaru gave up. He runned his open mouth against hers and breathed into it.

Sorano closed her eyes and remembered Ino. "Shikamaru, what about your girlfriend?"

"Hm? Oh. I know."

Sorano stopped Shikamaru's actions. "Shikamaru, I don't want to help you hurt her." Sorano didn't want an innocent girl to get hurt for something she desired. Its bad enough for one person to be hurt. Let alone two. She would just have to wait for Shikamaru. She just hoped that he was really worth waiting for.

"Sorano, you're right. I don't know what I was thinking."

"Let's go back to the room and talk. Okay?"

"Okay." Shikamaru picked up his clothes and they walked back to the hotel room together quietly (don't worry, Shikamaru has a towel on. he's not walking around nakedlol).

"So, how long have you and your girlfriend been going out?" Sorano asked while sitting down on one of the cots on the floor.

"Well, probably about four years," Shikamaru replied, shutting the door and then continued, "After a year, I realized you weren't coming back. And I got lonely."

"I don't blame you. I did too. Its just that no one wanted to ever go out with me. But I don't blame them either."

"I would. I mean, who wouldn't want to go out with you?"

"Every guy in the Hidden Sand Village, I guess. Except Gaara. But I could never say yes to him. It was way too weird."

"I see your point. But I still don't understand why guys would never want to go out with you."

"Here, think of it this way. There's this girl, right? Well she's cute and a ninja. Great, right? Well what if she can't stay in one place at a time but you don't like change. Or this girl never has any money. What if she tries to mooch off of me? Or she doesn't have any money for me to take. A little clearer now?"

"I see now. Well what about Gaara then?"

"Gaara is my friend. He knew I would never do anything like that because he knew me. And I am a lot like him."

"Oh. Okay. So why are your clothes such bright colors?"

Sorano looked at the pile of clothes in the corner of the room consisting of a tornado of purple and orange. "I..I really don't know. I've always had those colors in my wardrobe. I don't know why, but they have."

"Interesting." Shikamaru looked down at Sorano's bandaged legs. "I've always wondered why your legs have been bandaged like that. They have never been unbandaged."

Sorano sighed. Was she really going to reveal this to him? "Well, Shikamaru, remember when I told you about my parents?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, the chakra that formed around me burned and cut my legs," she said while beginning to unwrap her right leg at the bottom. "And now, I have these open cuts that will never heal. But don't get too close or they'll spit out burning chakra."

Shikamaru looked at the oozing cuts and wondered how bad they hurt. "They look like they are very painful."

"Well, I guess they are. I really don't remember because I've had them for a very long time."

Shikamaru winced at the sight of just her calf. It was completely covered with chakra-spitting ulcers. Just then, there was a bump at the door.

Ino began walking towards the town, anticipating the sight of her boyfriend's face. "I hope I do this right. I don't want to hurt him. But he will end up getting hurt, I suppose. But he'll move on eventually. Now Chouji and I can be together without worry. Well, technically he doesn't know it yet, but he will soon. Once I get back to Konoha, I will break up with Shikamaru. Now, I need to find a place to rest for the night." Ino headed towards the first bath house she saw. She registered in and got her room number. "253? I'm gonna go put my stuff up and then go relax in the tubs." Ino walked up the stairs and to the hallway where her room was. "Here we are." Ino opened the door and looked around. There was her cot, a table, and two people on the floor.

"AGH! Who are you people?!" Ino said without realizing who these familiar faces were.

The male of the two looked back at her. "Ino?" he said.

"N-neji? What are you doing here? And Nozomi?" Ino remembered the new shinobi of Konoha, Nozomi, who had long, curly hair that reached her waist, that was pulled back into a half pony-tail. Her hair cascaded down and framed her pretty face perfectly. Ino had always been a bit jealous of her.

"Hi, Ino..what are you doing here?" Nozomi said, ignoring Ino's question.

"I asked you first."

"Uhm.. Neji-san and I were on a mission. And we stopped here for some rest."

"Looked like you stopped here for something freaky," Ino said in a mumble.

"Hm?"

"Never mind. But, I thought this was my room." Ino looked back at the number on the door. 153. "Oh, I'm sorry for interrrupting you guys." Ino winked at them.

Ino turned out of the room and went back to the stairs.

Knock knock. Shikamaru went to the door and opened it.

It was one of the workers. "Hello, sir. Do you need any extra blankets or pillows?"

"No, thank you," Shikamaru replied bluntly. He closed the door and looked back at Sorano, who was now wrapping her leg back up. He looked down and noticed that he only had a towel around him. "If Ino were to walk in right now, she wouldn't think this was innocent."

Sorano stood up walked towards Shikamaru. She was so tempted to wrap her arms around him and tell him that she loved him. "You know what? I'm gonna do it. I wouldn't care if his girlfriend came in at the exact same time. I am going to do it."

Ino walked down the hallway.

"Hello, miss," the worker greeted.

"Hello," Ino replied back.

Ino continued walking. "249, 250, 251, 252...where is 253?" Ino turned around to see if the worker was still there. He wasn't. She went to 252 to see if the resident could direct her to 253. She knocked on the door.

Sorano creeped up on Shikamaru. She lightly stroked his arm. His loud, but silent thoughts were interrupted by Sorano's hands grazing his abdomen. She hugged him from the side. He was surprised, seeing as she wanted him to be faithful to Ino. He cradled her in his arms, wishing it would last forever.

"I love you, Shikamaru," Sorano finally expressed her feelings. A weight dropped onto her back. "What is he going to say? Will he reject it? What about his girlfriend? God, am I really this dumb? Why did I do that? Now I know I'm going to regret that."

"Sorano, I love you too. But you know I don't want to be unfaithful to Ino."

"I know, I know. But I just want you close to me," Sorano squeezed him a little more and pulled him into a full hug. She loved the feeling of her head on his muscular chest. Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Shikamaru, not thinking, for once, said, "Come in. It's open."

Ino noticed a familiar voice behind the door. She cracked open the door and peeked in. There was a girl hugging.."Shikamaru!!"

"Ino?" Shikamaru and Sorano let go of each other. He knew that this would happen to only him.

"Shikamaru, are you cheating on me? With this.." Ino walked over to Sorano and pinched her robe. "Trash?"

"Ino, she isn't trash. She's a really nice person. Someone nicer than you will ever be. And why am I sticking up for Sorano when Ino is my girlfriend?"

"Well, Shikamaru, if you really feel that way towards me, why don't we just break up? Seeing as you're already in love with someone else." Ino gave Sorano a dirty look.

"Look, Ibo, or whatever your name is, it wasn't Shikamaru's fault. It was mine, ignoring that he had a girlfriend," Sorano cut in, never-minding the look.

"Shut up, Saruru. You'll make me lose reason to break up with him. This is making an easy breakup hard. I don't care. I thought you were bigger than that Shikamaru. I guess not." Ino started to walk out of the room.

"By the way, don't ever think about coming back. I'm pretty sure that trash won't be of any use." Ino headed out of the room and went to hers.

Sorano hung her head in shame. "I'm sorry, Shikamaru."

"Don't be. She's finally gone. Now we can be together at last." Shikamaru walked towards her and grabbed her hands and held them firmly. "Finally." Shikamaru pulled Sorano into a full hug, him towering over her.

"Finally," Sorano repeated happily.

The end.
No more story.
Haha, just kidding.
I'm going to continue it.
Well, depends if you review or not.
xPP

Until next time.