Shikamaru Nara hates going on missions without his best friend, Chouji Akimichi. The large man lightens the mood and makes Shikamaru laugh. Additionally, he's a comforting and reassuring presence when things go wrong, and he contributes a lot. Not having him there bothers Shikamaru greatly as he treks through the land of snow with his other teammate, Ino Yamanaka, by his side.
Another reason he hates not having Chouji on missions? Because, more often than not, when Chouji isn't there, Shikamaru ends up being paired with exclusively Ino- who he is embarrassingly, stupidly in love with while she is none the wiser and insists on chasing after guys like Sasuke who want nothing to do with her. Just as his father predicted, Shikamaru has fallen in love with a stubborn, headstrong, beautiful woman.
Shikamaru wishes his father had been wrong.
Of course, Chouji just had to come down with the stomach bug that's been going around right before they were about to leave. Shikamaru and Ino managed to complete the mission by themselves, but with Asuma dead and without Chouji there to act as a familiar buffer between the two of them, things are... Awkward.
Shikamaru feels uncomfortable... And a little sick, too. Part of him thinks he must've caught the bug if his current nausea and hot head are anything to go by. Even with the snow falling on them, he's burning hot.
"Shika, are you good?" Ino suddenly asks. Shikamaru glances over at her. They're walking side by side, and much to his dismay, Ino is somehow even more beautiful than she was yesterday. The hood of her winter cloak is down and revealing her long, blond hair. Her cheeks and the tip of her nose are dyed red from the cold. Long, blond lashes adorn her baby blue eyes, and said lashes are littered in the snowflakes that continue to fall from the sky. Shikamaru's heart throbs. "Hey, did you hear me?"
"Oh," Shikamaru says. He tries his best to swallow his nausea to no avail. "I'm fine, don't worry about it. Just tired."
"If you say so..." Ino trails off, clearly not convinced but also not wanting to press him any further.
Shikamaru lets out a sigh of relief, only to find himself dropping to the ground and vomiting into the snow after a few more seconds of walking. Ino immediately kneels by his side and puts a hand on his back, her expression laced with concern.
Shikamaru can't stand it. He can't stand how beautiful she is, can't stand how smart she is, can't stand how caring she is. Admiring and loving someone so strongly makes him want to fly into the sun and get burnt into a fucking crisp. Alas, he doesn't have the ability to fly, so he's stuck on the ground with Ino rubbing his back as he pukes his guts out.
"Shikamaru! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," He lies through gritted teeth.
"You're puking, and you're burning up," Ino frowns upon putting a hand on Shikamaru's forehead to check his temperature. "You don't look fine!"
"Get off my back, would you?" Both because he doesn't want Ino to baby him and because there's nothing left in his stomach for him to get rid of, Shikamaru wipes his mouth on the back of his hand, stands up, and continues walking. "I said I'm fine."
"Jeez, what's up with you? You've been really on edge these last few days," Ino presses as she follows after him. "Is it because you're not feeling good?"
"Do I really need to tell you again?" Shikamaru snaps, to which Ino blinks in surprise. He feels somewhat guilty, but at the same time, she can't be allowed to figure out the truth. It'll ruin their friendship and everything else that their team has worked so hard to build. "I said I'm fine, Ino, drop it."
"Shika, you're clearly unwell!" Ino grabs Shikamaru by the shoulder and forces him to stop in place. "You need to rest."
"I hate to pull rank on you, but I'm the one in charge here in case you've forgotten, Ino," Shikamaru argues back and pushes Ino's hands away from him. "And we need to make it back to the village as soon as possible to give the mission report to Lady Tsunade."
At that, Ino jabs a finger into his chest and glares up at him.
"You know, for as lazy as you are, you-"
"I know, I know," Shikamaru steps out of Ino's way and walks off to continue their trek, only for Ino to stand in front of him again. "I don't wanna hear it."
"Shikamaru," Ino threatens, a warning tone to her voice. "Don't make me take care of you by force. You know I will!"
She's in his face, her nose almost pressing against his nose. Shikamaru can count her individual eyelashes and see the breaths that come out of her mouth fog up when they're exposed to the cold air. More than anything, he wants to just lean in and kiss her already, but he doesn't. Instead, he dodges her and storms off to a more heavily forested area a few feet away.
"God, you're stubborn," Shikamaru complains with a roll of his eyes. "Fine. Set up camp and we can rest here. Then, when I'm feeling better, we can continue enroute back to the village."
"Finally!" Ino cheers as she puts their tent- that they've been having to share, alone- together and starts up a fire for them to boil some of their rations over. "See, was that so hard?"
"Harder than you'd think..."
The two quickly get settled with the tent set up, their rations cooked, and their sleeping bags laid out- side by side, uncomfortably close in the small confines of that stupid tent- and dressed down into weather-appropriate sleepwear. Shikamaru is afraid that, if he dares to eat, it'll make him throw up even more, so he doesn't despite Ino's nagging. He lies on top of his sleeping bag instead of under it because of how bad his fever starts to get.
"Here," Ino says as she crawls into the tent and places a washcloth doused in cold water over Shikamaru's forehead. She kneels beside where he lays, looking like an angel. Shikamaru turns his head away. He hates that, since the mission is over, one of them doesn't have to keep watch anymore. They just have to sleep next to each other like it isn't weird. With Chouji there, it wouldn't be weird, but with just the two of them, it definitely is. He can't stand it. "Try to get some rest now, alright?"
"Yeah... Alright."
~
When Ino and Shikamaru return from the mission, Shikamaru feels better- one, because he's not sick anymore, and two, because he'll get a break from Ino for a bit. The first thing he does is go to visit Chouji, who has apparently recovered from his illness as well. The other teen's parents aren't home, so the two of them sit on Chouji's bed together, sharing a bag of chips as they talk candidly about everything that's happened since they last saw each other.
The first sign there is of a lull in conversation, though, Shikamaru takes the opportunity to vent.
"Chouji," Shikamaru starts.
"Yeah?"
"I'm in love with Ino."
"...Yeah?" Chouji hums between bites of his snack and tilts his head, then shrugs. "I probably could've guessed. You don't hide it very well. I mean, most people can't get a read on you, so it's not apparent to everyone, but it has been to me for a good amount of time."
"Glad to know I'm that obvious about it," Shikamaru scoffs.
"Why are you bringing it up now? Haven't you felt this way for a while?"
"Yes, but the problem is that I don't know what to do about it."
"Well, Shika, you're the strategist in the group. Surely you've got some sort of idea! ...Right?"
"Not really. I'm a battle strategist, not a... Love strategist," Shikamaru awkwardly says, and it's true. He was never interested in romance when he was younger, and after his promotion to Chunin- and then to Jonin- he's been so busy that he hardly has the time to think about it. "I've never even been on a date before."
"Well, buddy, I'm in the same boat as you, so I'm not gonna be much help," Chouji admits. "But why not just tell her?"
"Because things will change," Shikamaru answers after thinking about it for a moment. "Whether she rejects my feelings or accepts them, things will be different for the rest of our lives... And we won't be able to go back to the way things were before. Once you cross that line, there's no pretending that it never happened, and I don't know if I'm ready for that sort of change."
"Dramatic take... Is change such a terrible thing to you?"
"We've been going through a lot of that lately," Shikamaru answers in reference to the conflicts with the Akatsuki, Asuma's death, Kurenai's pregnancy, and everything else that's happened since Naruto's return to Konoha.
"Things could always be worse. I think... It's better to tell her, even if it changes things. With everything going on right now, any of us could die at any time."
"So you're saying I should tell her because it's better to not have any regrets on the off chance that one of us dies soon? Isn't that a little dark?"
"Maybe, but it's also realistic," Chouji counters.
It's quiet for a moment, but then, Shikamaru hears noise- and voices... Familiar voices; Chouza, Inoichi, and Shikaku, all in the kitchen chatting away.
"I guess I should-" Shikamaru pauses, realizing just how thin the walls are. If he can hear all of their parents chatting away just one room over... They must be able to hear Shikamaru and Chouji, too. "Wait, I thought you said your parents weren't home?"
"Huh?" Chouji stops mid-chew to listen to the noise, then lets out a nervous laugh. "Oh, I guess dad must've come in a bit ago! I didn't hear him."
"Oh, God... How long have they been here? Do you think they heard us?"
"Probably," Chouji shrugs again. "Want the last one?"
"Sure, I guess."
So, Shikamaru takes the last chip and eats it before nervously slipping out of Chouji's room. When he walks out to the kitchen, which he has to cross through to make it to the front door. Shikaku, Inoichi, and Chouza are all there. They go silent upon Shikamaru's entrance and look at the ravenette as if they're all struggling not to burst out into laughter.
"Please tell me you didn't just..." Shikamaru cautiously starts, unsure of what to say.
"We did," Shikaku answers with a chuckle.
"Wow, okay, uh-"
"Not that we didn't already know, but if you're going to ask my daughter out, at least take her to dinner, will you?" Inoichi demands. It's a better reaction than Shikamaru could've expected- he knows the head of the Yamanaka clan has high expectations for his daughter, so he was partially expecting to have the shit beat out of him (or tortured out of him considering the man's profession). This awkward, unsolicited advice is a much better alternative. "And buy her flowers!"
"Um... Okay, I guess," Shikamaru nods in agreement, to which all three laugh at him. "Thanks for the advice?"
"You're welcome."
With that, Shikamaru leaves, both relieved and confused.
Days pass. After a while of debating between not saying anything at all and just letting the cat out of the bag, Shikamaru decided on the latter, as he figures someone else will let it slip if he doesn't do it first. He reminds himself that the worst she can do is say no and act weird about it for the rest of their lives.
Yeah... Not too bad, right?
The ravenette makes his way to Ino and her family's flower shop, knowing that Ino is working the register and should be getting off any minute now. He enters the building to see Ino at the counter, seemingly writing down that day's orders. Upon noticing Shikamaru's presence, Ino sets her pen down and walks out from behind the register to come up and talk to him.
"Shika, what brings you here? You need something?"
"Do you maybe want to go to dinner tonight?" He asks, averting his eyes. He feels like his face is on fire as Ino stares back at him. "I was thinking we could grab Korean barbecue."
"Oh, sure! Chouji will be happy about that," Ino happily answers, to which Shikamaru can't help but wince.
"Uh, actually, it'll just be the two of us... If you don't mind."
"Really? What's got Chouji so busy that he can't come?"
"He's... Hanging out with his dad," Shikamaru quickly lies, knowing that Chouji will cover for him if asked about it- and also too embarrassed to explain upfront that he wants this to be a date.
"Huh... That sucks," Ino answers, then shrugs and walks back to the register. "Anyway, yeah, I can come. I'm actually about to trade out with mom, so just give me a couple minutes and we can go if you're ready."
Shikamaru swallows, then nods.
"Sure."
~
So, Shikamaru and Ino walk to the local barbecue restaurant, side by side. Normally, Chouji would be between them, but this time he's not. Months ago, Asuma would've been there, too, walking on the outside of the group to 'protect' them from anyone on the street and urging them to walk on the sidewalk as if they were children. Shikamaru finds himself tearing up thinking about that, but he quickly blinks the tears away before Ino can notice and glances over at her to make sure she hasn't. Thankfully, she's still talking about her day at work- something about a customer who got mad that she wouldn't take a pile of counterfeit money as payment for an expensive order of flowers.
"And it was so clearly fake! I mean, the color was off, the print was blurry, and the texture was all wrong- you'd have to be an idiot not to see it," Ino rants, her normally pale cheeks cherry red. It seems like she's getting amped up retelling the story, and Shikamaru can't help but smile at how cute it is. "It was pretty insulting, especially when the guy had the gall to act like I was the idiot for thinking it was fake. He must've been from out of town or something because he had no idea that I'm a ninja based on how he tried to snatch one of the bouquets out of my hand like a jackass and make a run from it. I mean, seriously? Who robs a flower shop for anything but the money in the register?"
"I don't know, you'd be pretty surprised at how stupid people can be sometimes, especially when they're from out of town. They just can't get away with shit here that they can in the civilian sectors of The Land of Fire. You know how different it is the further out we go from here," Shikamaru pitches back in reference to the travel they've done to civilian villages and cities during some of their missions. "But what happened to the guy, anyway?"
"What do you think happened? I took the bouquet back and dragged him to the correctional facility."
"Huh... Not surprised, but I doubt they'll keep him there if he's a civilian. Those guys would rip him to shreds."
"Yeah, tell me about it," Ino laughs, and with that, they fall into a comfortable silence for the rest of the walk.
Shikamaru can't help but sigh. He stares at Ino, who continues walking next to him. She's seemingly unaware of how he's practically staring holes into her hands. He wants to reach out and hold one but fears that he'd either get punched in the face or receive a simple 'ew, no'. He actually isn't sure which would be worse. For all he knows, it could be both.
It's odd because while Shikamaru is much closer to Ino than he would usually be, he isn't satisfied with it. He wants to be closer, and the more he thinks about it, the more tense he becomes. Part of him regrets asking her to dinner in the first place. How's he supposed to tell her the truth? On the flip side, how is he supposed to sit and eat with her for the next hour without absolutely losing his mind? What if he screws it up- or what if he does everything right and she still rejects him?
By the time they walk into the restaurant and get a table, Shikamaru is practically boiling over with anxiety. His Jonin vest and the blue shirt underneath it feel a little too tight, there's sweat forming on his hairline and forehead, and his chest hurts. Ino sits across from him at the table they're given and after a few moments pass, Shikamaru realizes she's staring at him very intently.
"What is it, Ino? Did I do something?"
"Uh, your order..."
At that, Shikamaru blinks, then turns to see that a waiter is standing there. The poor man probably asked for his food and drink order god knows how long ago, and Shikamaru was too distracted to notice.
"Oh, shit. Sorry, man," Shikamaru apologizes. He'd thought about trying something new today, but instead opts to order the first thing that comes to mind so he can end this awkward social situation. "I'll just take a water and, uh... The short rib special. Thanks."
"Awesome, thank you," The waiter says and writes Shikamaru's order down, but instead of leaving, he just stands there and clears his throat.
"The menu! Hand him your menu," Ino whisper-yells from across the table.
Shikamaru grabs his menu and goes to hand it to the waiter, only for it to fall on the floor. It takes everything in him not to slam his head into the nearest wall as the waiter retrieves the menu and scurries away from their table.
"Shika, what the hell is wrong with you?" Ino demands and crosses her arms over her chest.
"Huh?" Shikamaru tilts his head in feigned confusion.
Much to his dismay, Ino doesn't buy it for so much as a second. Rather, she shoots a suspicious, accusatory glare in his direction and raises her voice at him.
"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about, you-"
"I'm in love with you," Shikamaru spits, the words tumbling out faster than his brain can process them.
"What?" Ino asks, eyes wide.
Shikamaru debates on trying to take it back- on trying to play it off and lie like he always has, but he knows it won't work- not now, not after he's already told her the truth. So, he decides to be honest.
"I said, I'm in love with you. I have been for a long time," Shikamaru explains. "It's been bothering me more lately, I guess. That's why I've been acting off... And that's also why I asked you to dinner tonight... So I could confess. Chouji wasn't with his dad or anything, I just wanted it to be the two of us."
"...Oh."
"Oh?"
"It's a lot to process!" Ino exclaims. "I didn't think you were capable of feeling anything romantic like that!"
"Ouch," Shikamaru says with a grimace. Right then, the waiter brings their drinks and meat platters to the table. "Thanks."
Shikamaru sips on his water and ignores the plate of ribs he's been given as well as the piping hot table grill that sits between him and Ino. She ignores the food for the time being as well- not that Shikamaru can blame her given the realization she's just had about his feelings.
"No, no, I didn't mean it like that! It's just, well-" Ino continues, seemingly flustered. Shikamaru's heart skips a beat. "I love you, too."
"You don't have to lie to me, Ino. If you don't feel the same way, it's fine," Shikamaru sighs as he tries to put up the most casual act he can muster. In hindsight, he probably should've gone with 'I like you' instead of 'I'm in love with you' to avoid coming on as strong as he did. "We can just pretend this never happened and go back to being friends like we always were-"
"Don't insult me by acting like I don't know how I feel," Ino insists. "I wouldn't have said it if it weren't true."
Shikamaru glances up in disbelief, and to his surprise, finds no sign of dishonesty in Ino's face. She meets his eyes and smiles at him.
"Oh."
"So," Ino starts as she places a piece of the skirt steak she ordered on the grill and watches it sizzle. Shikamaru mimics the action with his own food. "How long have you felt that way?"
"Uh, I dunno... It's been a while though. You?"
"Couple years," Ino shrugs, her cheeks dusted light red. "Sometime after Sasuke went rogue, I stopped and thought about everything... I really evaluated why I liked him in the first place. I mean, he was attractive, but I don't think I liked him. I think I wanted to like him because everyone else did. And even if I did like him, what he did to Naruto and Sakura by leaving- and to the village- tainted that. He really hurt everyone, and that was after years of ignoring me. He didn't owe me anything, sure, but he could've been nicer about it... And I didn't like you back then either but a year or two passed and it sort of just... Hit one day. You may be a lazy bastard, but you've always tried your best to take care of Chouji and I- and everyone else- and there's a lot that I've come to appreciate about you. I... I love you. I really do mean that."
"Well, obviously I feel the same way, so..."
"You know, instead of doing all of this, you could've just asked me on a date," Ino teases. "I would've said yes."
"And how the hell was I supposed to know that?" Shikamaru sneers back. "It's not like you made it obvious or anything."
"And you did?"
"Chouji said I did."
"He knew about all of this and didn't tell me!? Oh, I am so going to get him when we spar tomorrow," Ino huffs.
"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, he knew before I even told him," Shikamaru points out. "Why don't we eat, and then after this, we can go on a normal date? As in one that I'm actually being upfront about the purpose of?"
"Fine, but I get to pick the location this time," Ino agrees with a large grin. "Why don't we head to the shopping center up the street?"
At that, Shikamaru laughs and rolls his eyes.
"Sure thing, Ino."