A/N:
Gawd, I really loved writing this one!
Just imagining it ^^'

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Disclaimer:
«I do not own any of the following pictures, music, characters or the original universe. I only own the story itself the main character and to the idea.»
Thanks a lot to Lightning Bee for betaing on this story.

Chapter 04 - A taste of Christmas

"And then we will need the flour to-" The young Yamanaka girl turned and looked around her kitchen. "Guys?" Her eyes caught the movement of a shadow. Placing the pink backing bowl she'd been holding on the bench, she wiped her hands in silence while heading towards the door opening. As she reached it, she took a last breath, before walking through and into the living room.

It was as she'd feared. The two boys were standing, looking at the bottled ship on the shelf. Ino sighed. Her father had tested out all kinds of hobbies during his midlife crisis, and his newest fascination was making bottled ships.

"You guys promised to help, remember?" Ino said, making the boys jump in surprise.

"Well, I-" The lazy genius opened his mouth and started, but before he could say anything more, his female comrade cornered him.

"Great, so go over there and help me crack the eggs." She pointed at the kitchen bench that she had just left. Turning back, she looked to find that the chubby boy was nowhere to be seen. "And where is Chouji?"

"I-" Shikamaru began

A sound reached her ears and she spun around to see her other teammate holding a yellow baking bowl in his hands.

"Chouji…" The girls voice was alarmingly calm - something her 'victim' failed to notice, but his friend recognized it with horror.

"Chouji, you should-"

"What is it? I'm right here." Chouji he noticed Ino's face, and immediately dropped the bowl down on the bench. "Hi, Ino."

"Ah! What's wrong with you guys? Every time, I swear, every single time!" She sent both boys a glare that made them take a few steps back. "I don't know why I even bother. I mean, it's not like you guys help me out or anything. I guess I should just drop the whole thing, I mean, it's not like you seem interested in it."

"But I just wanted a taste and-"

"And then you ate the whole thing." Ino finished dryly.

"But it just tasted so good."

"Well, yes, and they would have tasted even better if they had been taken out of the oven. But I guess we'll never know now, will we?"

The boys looked away in shame. Even though they didn't like to admit it, they knew that Ino did more for them than she probably did for most others. It had been her idea that the three of them would go over to her house after training to try out some new recipes. The Yamanaka-family had always made sure their Christmas treats were more than tasty, and Ino had wanted to try some of them out on her teammates.

"Anyway," The girl mumbled. "I have to get the laundry..." She removed her apron and hung on its place before walking to the laundry room.

As she got the clothing out of the machine, Ino was surprised that she wasn't really angered or surprised by the boys doings. It wasn't like they acted differently than normal. Rather the opposite. They were doing exactly what they used to. Could she blame them for that? No, Ino realized. She couldn't expect them to change - even though it would have been nice if they all could help each other in preparing the holidays…

Ino let out a sigh. She would have to apologize to them. She had been the one to overreact. Closing the door behind her, she headed for the kitchen.

"You think this is how to do it, Chouji?"

"Yes. That is what my mom does… I think."

Ino raised a brow. What could they be doing? She entered through the door opening and blinked in surprise at the sight that met her.

"Um… What are you doing?"

"We? Can't you see that? And here I thought you were familiar with the kitchen routines and rules." Shikamaru spread his arms to the side, showing off what he was wearing. "This is an apron. You use it so you don't get strains while preparing food."

Ino could do nothing but look stupidly at them. What were they up to this time?

"Ah, oh!"

There was a big cloud of white as the bag of flour slid through the Akimichi's hands.

"Chouji!" Shikamaru exclaimed, looked at Ino, waiting for a round of scolding.

"You're hopeless, you know that?" Ino said, letting out a little laugh, surprising both of the boys with the response. Heading over to the hooks on the wall, she got down her apron again and grabbed the dustpan and the broom, handling it to her friend.

"Here, sweep it up, and we'll try again, okay?" She smiled at them and both boys responded by nodding. Ino kept smiling to herself. Her boys might be a handful of times, but there was no arguing that they both had good and gentle hearts. That is why, she thought, that is why I probably could forgive them whatever happened.

A/N:
Please leave a review with your thoughts, okay?
it will help me write better in the future^^

And then I guess I'll see you guys again tomorrow^^

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