I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

Friends Forever

"Just one more shot."

Shikamaru shook his head, and took the bottle from Ino's hands. He knew when enough was enough. Besides, he knew Ino when she had hangovers; not very pleasant or quaint.

"You've got too much to drink, Ino. Besides, you've got a mission tomorrow."

"Et tu, Shika?"

"I'm on your team," Shikamaru shook his head. "Okay, enough's enough."

Ino smiled, though in a surly sort of fashion. She aimed for the bottle, and collapsed onto the table. Still smiling, though grumpily, she hid her head in her arms and tried to whisper, failing and talking loudly instead.

"You're gay, aren't you?"

Shikamaru grunted. "We've talked about this before Ino."

"Yeah, and you've bustled about the...greenery. The bushes."

It was yet another setup where Ino was slightly under the influence of alcohol. Weirdly enough, all it took was two shots of the weakest alcohol Shikamaru could muster at the restaurant. Ino thought it was strong stuff everytime. Why else would it be labelled, "Make you Red".?

Shikamaru cut at his calamari and swallowed a bit, before responding, "I just haven't found the right woman."

"What about what's-her-face, Hinata?"

"You know she's liked Naruto for years, Ino."

"Sakura?"

"Sasuke."

"Tenten?"

"Neji."

Ino got up from her arms, pulled her plate towards her, picked up her chopsticks, and stabbed at her fried carrots, dipping them in mustard. She smiled as she finally didn't miss and hadn't dipped them off the plate, much like most times.

"And me, Nara Shikamaru?

Shikamaru had known his answer all the time. "Simple. You're a vegetarian. That and a bad cook." He could've replied that he had no chance with her, since to her, he knew he was a mere friend. But, he didn't want to make it any more awkward.

With her fried carrots in her mouth, Ino pouted, chewing quickly, swallowing, and drawling, "I thought you forgot about the poisoned berries."

"Sure wish I could've."

"I swear, you never forget anything," Ino aimed her hand for her napkin, and grabbed her purse instead. At a second attempt, she got her napkin, and daintily wiped her mouth.

Shikamaru placed his elbows on the table, and clasped his hands, sort of more relaxed since the bottle was out of Ino's sight. "Yamanaka Ino, I remember you pined for Sasuke. What changed -that-?"

"Simple," Ino replied, letting Shikamaru stay silent in aim for a long-winded answer. "He's gay."

Having expected something else, Shikamaru raised a brow. "How so?"

Ino winked, and mouthed a name.

Shikamaru shook his head and sighed. "Women. You think the lot of us are all rainbow-flashing, stuck in a closet, byountehs."

"What'd you say?" Ino leaned in, hearing an unfamiliar word.

"Just a word I picked up at the Cloud Country. It means perverts, pretty much."

"Like hentai, ah?"

"In a bag."

Ino pursed her lips, then replied, "It's just that those who seem gay seem hard to get at first."

Hard to get. Shikamaru pondered suddenly why he was on her list of those who were, well, gay.

"You've had too much to drink," Shikamaru said, then sipped his glass of water. The calamari was a bit too salty for his liking.

"I have yet to drink, Nara...Shika..." Ino yawned. "Though, I think I'd wish for a nap."

Shikamaru smiled, and called the waiter.

The waiter, who looked strangely like ShoeIshi Kishimoto, infamous author of the Hentai Chronicles of Konoha shook his head. "Tab again?"

"Yeah. Oh, and how is your play going?"

"Not too well. The producers want more hentai scenes. They keep mistaking me for ShoeIshi for some reason...Anyhow, I can't figure why, since most play-viewers are females."

Ino raised her purse, which she thought was her glass, and noted, "Woman's secret: We're more perverted than you think."

"That and they tend to drag their boyfriends to the plays."

Smiling, and seeming to take a mental note, the waiter shrugged, and went to the register.

Shikamaru excused himself from his chair, and walked over to Ino's side. "C'mon. I'll escort you home."

"Of course. You know, my parents think you and I are a couple."

Shrugging, as he took an arm over his shoulder and lifted Ino from her chair, Shikamaru responded, "We're just friends."

"Like you and Chouji?"

Shikamaru cringed at the thought. The memory of a lost friend pained him internally. "No. You're a female, Ino. We're male and female friends."

"The differerence?"

"Watch When Sally Met Harry."

"I thought I was the one who convinced you to see it."

Caught at a blindspot, Shikamaru smiled. "Yeah. Didn't like it, but it carried a message."

"That women and men can never be just friends?"

Having counted to twenty out of slight annoyance, which sped by in Shikamaru's sort of mind, he replied, "That some are meant to stay friends."

"You slept through the movie."

"Was it noticeable?" Shikamaru feigned ignorance.

"You've got the concepts all wrong."

Carrying Ino outside the restaurant, and slinging her purse over his neck, Shikamaru grunted. "It's a chick flick. Love is bound to happen in those sorts of things."

"It relates completely to real life, Nara Shikamaru," Ino grunted back, and yawned. "Friends become couples. It's bound to happen in real life."

"Rock and Sakura?"

"Exception. That's a one-sided love."

"Like you and Sasuke?"

"Exception. He's gay."

Shikamaru sighed. Here we go again.

They walked lazily a few more blocks, through a few roads, in silence.

Ino then asked, "Are you?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because." Shikamaru had at least 50 reasons, including the fact that he wanted kids, but refused to reveal any further.

"Well, then," Ino leaned and tried whispering into Shikamaru's ear, which turned out to be more like a shout. "What about me?"

Shikamaru grunted. "I don't like being deaf, Yamanaka Ino. That and you'd wake the neighbors."

"Egh. Better reason?"

"Simple. You're a vegetarian. That and you're a bad cook."

With an annoyed pout, Ino thought a moment, then clipped Shikamaru's nose. "Egh. I could've sworn I heard that before, Shikamaru. Better reason?"

"You're unattainable." Shikamaru cursed slightly, after realizing what he blurted.

The words seemed to register in Ino's mind, inflaming millions, well, under the influence, hundreds of thoughts. "What'd you say?"

"Nothing."

"Shikamaru, you can lie to anyone, but me."

The said person responded in silence as they walked further down the road.

"Why am I unattainable?"

The look on Shikamaru's face softened. "You know, I always dreamed of being married. Just not to someone like you."

Ino scowled. "Egh. Then why is being unattainable on your list of why I'm not worthy of you?"

"You're worthy of anyone."

"But why not you?"

"I always wanted someone that wasn't too beautiful or a hag."

"Then I'm perfect."

"Look in a mirror."

Thinking to herself, Ino's eyes washed over with tears. "I didn't know I was that ugly."

With a curse, Shikamaru shook his head. Sasuke's multiple rejections seemed to have brainwashed the girl.

"You're the most beautiful girl I know, Ino."

"Liar!" Ino took her arm from Shikamaru's shoulders and stumbled, trying to run ahead, and instead bumping into a streetlight.

"Ow!" Ino stopped, and looked down, wiping her tears, failing at trying to gracefully.

Going to Ino's side, Shikamaru gently took Ino's arm, put it over his shoulders, and noted, "You know I can't lie to you, Yamanaka Ino."

"What am I to you, Shikamaru?" Ino looked towards Shikamaru as they walked further down the road.

"A friend."

"Egh. I can't accept that."

"You're under the influence of alcohol. Don't end up regretting what you've said or done the next day, Ino."

"I can't accept that. I like you, Shikamaru."

"As a friend."

Ino retorted, "As more than a friend."

"Tomorrow, you'll wake, and regret what you've said."

The two stopped as they found themselves in front of Ino's house.

Shikamaru knew Ino's parents would invite him in worry for an explanation why she was out drinking, yet again.

He reached for the gate's doorbell, when suddenly, a hand grabbed his.

"No I won't Shikamaru. I'm not drunk, you know."

"Don't say anymore," Shikamaru said, looking aggravated. "Don't regret what you've said or done."

"I swear, Nara Shikamaru, that I..."

Shikamaru rang the gate doorbell quickly, cutting her off. He replied to Ino's mother's "Who is it?" and Ino's sudden silence, with "Ino's friend."

-The next morning-

Ino yawned, waking up, and sighed. That had been the 4th time she'd told Shikamaru the same thing, and it had always been in front of her home, and in the same circumstances.

Life just blocked the right moments.

Ino cursed. "Friends forever..."

-

Author's note:

Another brief fiction!

ShoeIshi Kishimoto is an evil incarnation that occasionally pops up in my fictions. Don't be alarmed. I'll only make him a Gary Stu, what, 99% of the time?

{dodges projectiles}

Sorry if you didn't like it. Flames go here ---Review

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