Day 39
"Bye, Shikamaru!" Ino waved from her front door as her new boyfriend drove away from the apartment. Another school day had passed by without a hitch. He would have come in for a while before leaving, but Ino had noticed when they pulled up that her father's silver Mustang was parked in his usual parking space. It wouldn't be the best of ideas for Shikamaru to stay along more than he needed to.
She opened the door and stepped inside, slipping off her thong sandals and throwing her bag onto the ground beside them. Homework was light today, she had managed to finish it all during Web Mastering. The weekend was completely free now of unwanted school reminders.
"I don't want to do this to her, you know."
"I'm sure she'll be just fine with it. It's hardly a big deal at all."
What's going on? Ino thought, tip-toeing her way over to the swinging door that led to the kitchen. She stood beside it, on the side that hinged the door in place, and listened in. She never did care about eavesdropping, anyway. Conversations were meant to be heard, right? No matter who by!
"It's just not a very… comfortable idea."
"It's the only sensible choice there is. I know it's hard, but it's going to be this way for good, someday. Might as well prepare her for it, anyway."
Prepare? What? …we're not… moving already… are we?
"I don't know…" Inoichi could be heard sighing.
"It'll be all right."
What'll be all right? Spit it out! Ino clenched her fist, restraining herself from bashing it into the wall beside her. She wanted to know what was going on. Wasn't it too early to move, anyway? This was the way she had always learned of it; standing by the door, eavesdropping, learning that she would be moving away days before her parents actually gathered the strength to tell it to her face. They had never figured it out before.
Growling, Ino's patience finally ran out. She kicked the swinging door open, slamming it into the wall as she stepped through, "What's going on!?"
"Ino!" Her mother called, surprised, "I didn't hear you come in."
"I just got home. Now tell me, what's going on!?"
"Ah, you heard…" Inoichi sighed, then pulled out a chair beside him. Ino's chair. "Sit down, dear, we'll tell you."
Ino frowned and relaxed her clenched fists, making her way over to the table. She calmly sat down in the wooden chair, placed her hands feebly onto her lap and looked up at her father with curious eyes.
"How do I put this…"
Just say it, she lowered her eyes, disappointed, we're moving.
"You're mother and I," he began, "Are leaving this weekend on a short trip."
Ino's eyes immediately darted back to his face and she furrowed her brow, "Whatchoo talking 'bout, dad?"
He laughed, "Chouza Akimichi is the head chef at a five star hotel about an hour away from here. His boss rewarded him with a free weekend's stay at the hotel for him, his wife, and some of his friends. He's invited your mom and I, along with the Naras. We leave tonight, and return late Sunday."
"It's a casino hotel, as well, that's why he's not bringing Choji or allowing you or Shikamaru to come," her mother added, "So we've been discussing what the three of you would be doing about where to stay for the weekend. The decision we came to was that the three of you would stay together at Shikamaru's house until we returned."
"Which I am against!" Inoichi crossed his arms and harrumphed, "Ino alone with two teenage boys!? Preposterous!"
"But they're my friends," Ino sweat-dropped, "It would be okay, wouldn't it?"
"I don't want you around that… that lazy boy! You two will get intimate!"
"Daddy, I assure you we'll behave."
"I don't like it!"
"We don't have any other choice anyway, and it's only for the weekend." Her mother argued, "All three of them need a place to stay, and they're old enough to take care of themselves. It'll be okay to leave them together for the weekend. Ino, go pack your bags. We'll drop you off there in a few hours."
"Oh… Kay…" Ino nodded and excused herself from the table. Her father was still fuming when she left. She ran to her room, shut the door, and pulled out her suitcase, laughing all the while. The weekend alone with Shikamaru? Excellent! This weekend was surely going to be interesting.
It was the perfect weekend for her to not have any homework.
A couple hours later, full of speed-packing and a few disagreements between father and daughter (over what Ino was packing. Inoichi didn't agree with some of the things she packed, even though they would pass for school appropriate, and didn't see why she needed so much underwear), Ino stood at the Nara's front door with a large suitcase and her parents behind her. Inoichi was mumbling something distasteful under his breath, and doing so caused him to receive warning glances from his wife. He soon let his mumbles die away as the doorknob squeaked and the door creaked open.
"Come on in," Yoshino Nara smiled, ushering the small family of three into the house, "Just a moment, we're getting ready." She beamed at them before turning her head and glaring at her husband, "Shikato!? Have you got those suitcases ready yet"
"Ahhh, hold on. Troublesome woman." The older Nara male groaned, tugging two suitcases down the stairway. Shikamaru followed behind him. "Here, all ready."
Satisfied, Yoshino smiled and turned back to the Yamanakas, who were unfazed by her sudden mood swing, "The Akimichis are waiting in the living room. We're all traveling in their van, it's easier that way."
"Excellent! Inoichi, would you mind moving out suitcases to their van?" Mrs. Yamanaka sweetly asked her husband. The male Yamanaka didn't move a muscle.
"I'm not moving from this spot."
"Go out there and move the suitcases! Now!" She nearly roared. Out of fear of his wife's rage, Inoichi nodded and ran out to the car.
"Well, you're here!" Chouza Akimichi said with a hearty laugh as he approached the threshold. "We can leave, then."
"Hold on, now, Inoichi is moving our bags."
"NO!" Inoichi yelled, panting, as he ran back to the doorway, "I'm done. They're moved."
"Then it's time to-"
"NO!" Inoichi roared again, holding up both hands, "Where are those two…" he looked from Shikato to Chouza, "You sons better be careful this weekend, in matters concerning my daughter!"
"Oh lord, Inoichi, calm down." Shikato rolled his eyes and sighed, "You were like this when they were newborns, too. Nothings going to happen to your precious daughter, all right? They're all well behaved."
Shikamaru, standing beside his father, wondered if anyone realized that Ino and he were standing there right in the middle of the conversation.
"Yeah, well…" Inoichi straightened himself and crossed his arms, "I have a few matters to discuss."
"Oh my, look at the time!" Mrs. Yamanaka clapped her hands and grabbed her husband's arm, "We'll be late, time to go!"
"What do you mean late!? It's a hotel!"
"Let's go, honey!" She tugged him out of the house, ignoring his roars for freedom and to straighten things out with Ino's two weekend roommates. The Akimichis and Naras followed their lead and waved goodbye to the three teenagers and left the house as well. Moments later, when everything and everyone was packed into the van, it roared to life and drove away.
"Well," Shikamaru finally spoke as the van was out of sight, "That's finally over. I was afraid your father would positively kill me."
"He almost did…" Ino nodded, also watching the horizon to make sure her father wouldn't end up jumping out of the van and running back. "Yeah… hey! Where's Choji?"
"Kitchen," he answered, and Ino immediately nodded again. Shikamaru closed the door and turned to Ino, "Well, guess I'll show you two your rooms now. Choji!"
"Yeah?" The plump boy popped his head out of the kitchen, a bag of chips in hand, "What?"
"Come here, man." Shikamaru motioned him over. Choji obeyed, joining the two at the foot of the staircase, "All right, one of you stays in my parents' master bedroom, and the other gets the guest room. You can rock-paper-scissors it, I guess."
Ino and Choji exchanged glances, and Choji shrugged, "No need to rock-paper-scissors anything. Let Ino have the master bedroom, she'll enjoy it more."
Ino smiled and didn't argue, "All right! Where is it? I want to put this bag away."
"Upstairs, first door on your left." Shikamaru pointed. She nodded and tugged her suitcase away.
"Hellooooo." Ino cheered, plopping down onto the couch beside Shikamaru, who was comfortably sitting in the corner of it with his feet propped up on the coffee table, flipping channels on the television. She leaned her head onto his shoulder and hugged his arm, "What are you watching?"
"Mmm…" he mumbled, "Nothing in particular."
"Pick a show already, Shikamaru." Choji said from the lounge chair beside them, making his presence known, "You've been flipping for ten minutes."
"I'm not watching cooking, Choji. You'll go and tear apart my kitchen again."
"I don't care what you watch! You won't stop flipping!"
"Give me that." Ino growled, swiftly nabbing the remote from Shikamaru's hands and flipped channels herself. She quickly saw a program she recognized and liked, and shoved the remote behind her back to signify that she had made a decision, and it wasn't being changed. Shikamaru sighed.
"Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? Please."
"CANADA! IT'S CANADA!" Choji roared at the television.
"It's this or watching you flip channels, Shika. I choose this. I'm sure Choji does, too." Choji paid no mind to Ino's comment, because he was currently cheering loudly that he had gotten the question right.
"All right, all right! Next question!" Choji grinned from the chair, staring at the television eagerly, "What disease did Jonas Salk find the cure for?"
"Polio." Shikamaru said instantly. Choji agreed and started yelling the word at the television absentmindly. ("What do you mean you need to use a cheat!? The answer is easy!")
"By the way, Shika," Ino poked his stomach, "I'm tempted to clean that room of yours again. Good lord, you mess it up quickly. I didn't think that was possible."
"You cleaned his room before?" Choji laughed, turning his attention away from the program when they went to a commercial (and right before they revealed the answer, too!). "What, did you have to drag him off his lazy ass to help?"
"He slept through it." Ino laughed along with him. Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Except I did wake him up to question his book selection."
"Forget the books, I know he's never cleaned his room in all of his existence. Tell me, did you find anything interesting when you were cleaning up all that crap?"
"Ohmigod!" Ino clasped both hands to her mouth to prevent a fit of giggles, "Yes! I found his pajamas! The light green ones with the little deer printed all over them! And they had footies!" Shikamaru face-palmed, and didn't remove his hand from his face. Choji burst into guffaws of laughter.
"What else, what else!?"
"Ah…" Ino went into deep thought, recollecting the memories of that day, "Let's see…"
"No, no!" Shikamaru groaned, "Let's not see. I'm going to bed."
"Aw, it's so early!" Ino whined, tugging on his arm as he motioned to stand up, "Stay here and watch the game show with us!" She motioned to Choji, who had returned to roaring answers at the television, as the commercials had ended and Jeff Foxworthy had shown back up on the screen, "Please?"
Shikamaru stared down at her pleading face, his eyebrow twitching in an attempt to not be won over by her pouting lips and watery eyes, "….fine," He groaned again, collapsing back onto the couch and crossing his arms. Ino smiled and hugged his arm again, snuggling up to him as much as possible.
"Australia, damnit! Australia!!"
"Shikamaru?"
Shikamaru looked up from the kitchen sink as he rinsed the last of the foamy soap off his rough hands. Ino frowned at him, tugging at the bottom of the large T-Shirt she had decided to wear to bead. She cocked her head to the side and sent him a puzzled glance, "What are you doing still up? I thought you said you were tired."
"Ah, nothing. Troublesome…" He sighed, wiping his hands on the dishtowel hanging on a rack beside the sink. Ino shoved her hands into the pockets of her plaid flannel pants and continued watching him. He scratched his head and made his way to the staircase, "It's not like I'm up that much later than you two, anyway. Choji went to sleep more than a half-hour ago, and you did not long after."
"Well, I never went to sleep. It takes a while for me to get ready for sleep." She noted. Shikamaru looked back at her, questioning why she had said that, then realized what was different about her other than her attire. Her hair was down, still shining despite the dim lighting in the room, and all the make-up had been wiped off her face. She yawned, and followed him up the stairs. "Anyway, my father must be bothering everyone like no other at the hotel right now, probably screaming his head off." She deepened the pitch of her voice in an attempt at mocking him, "Those boys better stay away from my innocent daughter! They better keep their filthy paws off of her!"
"Innocent?" Shikamaru snickered, pausing in upstairs hallway as Ino made the rest of her way up the stairwell. She rolled his eyes at his comment and turned towards the door to the master bedroom.
"Good night," She said, and closed the door behind her.
Shikamaru laughed quietly to himself, and leaned against the wall beside his bedroom door. He thought about the conversation earlier that day, Ah. Maybe I should get her to clean my room again… or not. He pursed his lips at the pajama comment today, Damnit, I knew I should have burned those things once mom brought them home from the store!
"…Shika?"
Shikamaru looked up at Ino, mildly surprised, "What?"
Ino walked across her hall and snaked her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his for a passionate kiss. He responded quickly, hugging her waist tightly and kissing back with equal passion. Moments passed before they finally broke apart and Ino smiled up at him.
"I just wanted my goodnight kiss. Good night, now."
What's this? Huh? What's this? K9 UPDATED…. RELATIVELY QUICKLY. …compared to the last chapter, that is.
Wahaha, you guys totally broke the review barrier last chapter. It received more than twenty reviews by itself! None of my other chapters have done that before! XD Yaaay…
All right. Time for more Ino-Shika-Cho antics for the weekend to be planned.
EVERYTIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING, WAYNE BRADY'S VOICE CRACKS AND HE CAN'T SING, WHICH COMPLETLEY RUINS EVERY SINGING BASED GAME ON WHOSE LINE AND EVERYONE CRIES!
(because the rest of them singers just aren't good enough. XD jk, jk)
SAVE WAYNE BRADY'S VOICE, KIDS.
(also, sorry if you thought the chapter was OOC.)