Part 4 - Shikamaru and Ino
Part 4 of tsunade's decision


“So.” Ino was the first to speak. “I need to run a few errands, I need a few things. After that I guess we can do whatever you want to do.” She looked at Shikamaru, who seemed not to care either way. “Ok, fine.” He murmured, just enough for Ino to hear. They walked to the new mall down the road.

Ino observed Shikamaru. The way he walked and avoided eye contact. How he brushed by people and sighed at everything he saw. It was obvious that he was a lazy bum. He was different from the other boys though. He could be much worse. At least he didn’t argue with anything she said, at least he never yelled at her or bossed her around, at least he never ignored her, paid good attention even if she was insulting him.

He was even a little, just a bit, cute when he smiled. But he never smiled at her anyways, so that didn’t matter. She once thought she liked him, and that he liked her, but then she saw him talking to Temari. She decided that she just liked him as a friend, no more then that.

His cloudy gray eyes drifted towards hers. She quickly looked away. Later when they arrived at the mall, they shopped for three hours straight. After carrying Ino’s stuff everywhere and watch her skip merrily though the stores, Shikamaru was ready to just flop into the cool grass and watch the graceful clouds.

Ino finally stated that she was finished. They dropped off their stuff in their apartment. Then they headed off to Shikamaru’s cloud watching spot. He lay in the grass and looked to the sky. Ino stood watching over him for about five minutes then asked, “You finished yet?”

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. “No.” He firmly stated. Ino could be a real jerk sometimes, but for some reason he liked hanging out with her. He couldn’t help but be attracted to those confused and irritated blue eyes staring at him, those beautiful pink lips pursed together and that wonderful hair, too. It made him envy the clouds even more.

They floated without a care and avoided work yes, but also didn’t have to deal with Ino. Yet, they could look at her all day, without her noticing or caring. Wait a second, he thought, he had grown a liking to Ino’s additude, and if he was a cloud he was avoid her when she was annoying but he was miss hanging out with her.

Ino looked towards the sky. “What are you thinking?” she asked him as she sat next to him. “Why do you always have to question things? Why can’t you just be quiet?” Shikamaru was surprised at how irritated he sounded. He didn’t mean to snap at her.

“BECAUSE!!!” Ino shouted at him, angry with him, “I wanted to know why you give those stupid clouds more attention then you give me!!!!!” She gasped at what she had said. “I’m sorry I snapped at you...” Shikamaru said. She nodded trying to hide how embarrassed she really was. “Ino, you won’t really understand until you’ve done it before. Go on try it.” He said.

“Ok...” Ino murmured. Why did I say those things? Ino thought. Shikamaru probably thinks I want his attention. She gazed at the sky. The clouds were beautiful things. Ino started to understand Shikamaru’s envy towards clouds. If she were, a cloud Shikamaru would stare at her every chance he got. OMG WHY DO I WANT HIS ATTENTION??? Being a cloud would be weird anyways.

She lay down so her neck wouldn’t cramp and looked at Shikamaru for a split second, to find he was looking at her, smirking. “Like it?” he asked. She nodded as she stared at him. That was the same look she always wanted Sasuke to give her. Maybe he was more than a little cute. NO I don’t like him, behind that smirk is the same old lazy bum!

He kept staring at her. She knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to read her thoughts. “What?” she asked with a smile. “Nothing.” He said looking away, blushing a little. “Look!” She said pointing to the sky, while she inched closer to Shikamaru. “That one looks like Akamaru!”

Shikamaru looked at the sky and then glanced at Ino. “Yeah.” Ino glanced at him, noticing how close they were, their noses were practically touching, she blushed. “You aren’t as bad as I thought.” Ino said.

He had to do something; she was just so beautiful. He leaned closer and paused a moment to watch her face. It was incredibly red, and full of surprise. It made him want to laugh, but there was no backing down now. He kissed her.

What is he doing? Ino thought and pushed him away. “What are you doing?” she screeched. He looked at her and smirked again. They locked eyes and she couldn’t resist.  She pulled him close and kissed him. When they stopped, he said, “You know you’re not that bad either.”