Nghh I should be in bed right now cuz I have a cold but I wanted to finish this…
I only do this for you guys!(smile)
hmm the characters are about 14-15ish
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto.
So Predictable
"I don't believe you Ino-pig" Haruno Sakura objected, crossing her arms as she stood in front of the counter in the Yamanaka flower shop.
"What? That Asuma-sensei bought flowers for Kurenai-sensei?" Ino looked up at the pink haired kunoichi while arranging a flower bouquet for a customer. She took a pair of scissors and cut off a part of the rose stem in her hand.
"No!" She rolled her eyes as she took the rose from Ino's hand, placing it into the vase. She stepped back to examine the bouquet.
"I don't believe that you always know what Shikamaru is doing" The girl constinued as she took the scissors from Ino's hands and snipped off a few leaves. the blonde girl glanced at her for just a second before she looked back at their creation.
"What's not to believe? He's so predictable!" The young Yamanaka spoke as she tied a red ribbon around the glass vase.
"I can even tell you what his daily routine is everyday" She added as she shrugged. She picked up the vase to store in the back for later.
"What? That's impossible! You can't possibly know that unless you actually spend every waking minute with him!" Sakura protested as she cupped her chin in her palms, leaning on the counter.
"Trust me forehead, I've known Shikamaru way longer than you and besides, he ALWAYS does the same thing over and over again every single day" Ino peeked out from the storage room, rolling her sky blue eyes.
"I mean…can't YOU probably give a good guess about where Naruto is at the moment? You're on the same team after all" Ino spoke, still in the storage room. Sakura frowned and tapped her chin thoughtfully.
"Sure…if I was STALKING him!" Sakura said dryly as she played with her hair, twisting it with her finger.
"It's not a matter of stalking him or not" The mind controller frowned as she placed the vase on an empty shelf.
"Like….I bet he's probably eating ramen right now" She exclaimed as she walked out of the storage room, taking off her apron.
"Well I guess…because he's ALWAYS eating ramen!" Sakura frowned back as she watched Ino move around the store.
"But there's also a possibility that he's NOT eating too" Sakura added as she jumped up to sit on the counter. Ino shook her head. Sakura would never understand.
As Ino finished watering the last of the plants, she swatted Sakura off the counter and made her way to the greenhouse where her mother was.
"Mom! I'm going out to eat lunch with Sakura!" Ino called through the vast room. Her mother called a quick "alright honey" from somewhere on the other side of the large room. Ino made her way back into the shop and saw Sakura waiting for her in the front.
"I still don't believe you…" Sakura mumbled as she held the door open for Ino.
Ino sighed and rolled her eyes again.
"Fine! I'll prove it!" Ino said as she looked at the blue sky filled with clouds.
"Right now, Shikamaru is lying in his favorite grassy spot near the training grounds" The blonde spoke with confidence. Sakura's eyes narrowed in disbelief.
"Fine…let's go see if he actually IS there!" She shouted as she dragged Ino off to the training grounds.
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"Shikamaru!" A shrill girly voice called out disturbing the boy's peaceful slumber. Nara Shikamaru opened an eye to see Ino and Sakura running towards him. The lazy genius inwardly sighed, couldn't he have a peaceful day without troublesome women to interrupt him??
"What?" He lazily shouted, knowing that the girls were too far away to hear him if he were to use his normal tone.
"You see!" Ino spun around to face her friend. Sakura tried her best not to gape at the pure coincidence of Shikamaru ACTUALLY being there.
"That was just a fluke!" Sakura muttered as she crossed her arms, walking away.
"Ah! Hey! Wait forehead girl!" Ino called as she ran after the medic nin.
Shikamaru watched as the two girls grew smaller in the distance.
"What was THAT about?" He asked no one in particular as he lied back down, watching the clouds drift by.
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Sakura stared at Ino as she ate her salad calmly in front of her. She looked down at her own meal, poking the tomatoes repeatedly with her fork.
"You know if you keep frowning like that you'll get wrinkles…." Ino stated as she pointed her fork at her friend. Sakura glared at her in return.
"Are you still upset about me being right??" Ino asked as she brought her glass of water up to her lips. She almost smirked as the medic nin frowned even more.
"Since when have you and Shikamaru been so close anyways?" Sakura repelled Ino's question with her own.
Ino blinked at the gibberish that spewed from the girls mouth.
"What? Where'd that come from?" Ino lifted a brow as she took a sip of her water.
"Oh come on Ino-pig! You have got to be close to Shikamaru if you always know what he's doing!" Sakura banged her fist on the table and Ino just wiped her mouth daintily with her napkin in response.
"Ughh just drop it okay Sakura! Why does it bother you so much anyways?" Ino asked as she was beginning to lose her own patience.
"No! I will not 'drop it'!" Sakura half yelled. Ino sighed.
"Fine! I've made my decision!" Sakura stated triumphantly as she pumped her fist in the air, disregarding the many stares her way.
"Huh?" Ino questioned confusedly as she set her fork down.
"We'll tail Shikamaru all day and see if your predictions are right!" Sakura laughed as she began to eat her food happily, obviously pleased with her brilliant idea.
"What?!" Ino took the chance to throw her composed self out the window of the restaurant. Sakura hummed a tune to herself as she began to finish up her salad.
"You have got to be kidding me! I'm not going to follow Shikamaru around all day! I have things to do!" Ino intercepted as she banged her fist angrily on the cloth covered table. Sakura ignored her and continued to finish up her lunch.
"FOREHEAD!" Ino shouted at her, finally getting her attention.
"What?!" Sakura yelled back angrily, for her meal was being disturbed.
"I'm not going to do it!" Ino folded her arms in front of her chest. She slapped a few bills on the table and began to walk away. Sakura hurriedly finished her meal and thanked the waiter before following Ino out of the small restaurant.
"Inooooo!" She yelled out to the blonde, finally catching up to her.
"Fine…if you don't do it, it must mean that you're scared your predictions will be wrong" Sakura shrugged as she turned around to go on her merry way. Ino paused and turned around slowly. She watched Sakura's fading back amongst the crowd.
She clenched her fists fiercely as she began to follow Sakura. How dare billboard brow girl call her, Ino Yamanaka a chicken!
Sakura inwardly high-fived herself as she heard Ino calling her name from behind her. Luckily Ino's rivalry towards her was too high for her to realize that Sakura had just baited her. Oh well….
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"Okay…It's been at least two hours since we last saw Shikamaru….so where is he now?" Sakura asked as she and Ino walked along the busy streets of Konoha. Ino gave her a look and looked up at the sky again.
"Mmm probably still where we left him…" Ino concluded tapping her chin thoughtfully, keeping her eyes on the road.
"What?" Sakura exclaimed, disbelieving her still. Ino shrugged.
"I'm serious…if you don't believe me then lets check…" Ino said as the two girls began to walk back to the fields.
And to Sakura's surprise, Ino was once again right…
"See…I told you so…" Ino said in a mocking voice as she and Sakura observed Shikamaru from atop a tree located in the forest next to the lazy chunin's gazing spot. Sakura mumbled something incoherent and she looked back at Shikamaru as he stood up to stretch and then began to walk back up the hill.
"Ah! Hey..he's leaving!" Sakura tapped Ino on the shoulder to get the blondes attention back at her teammates. Ino's eyes settled on Shikamaru and she yawned.
"About time…he's probably going to grab a bite to eat at Ichirakus" Ino swiftly jumped off the branch and landed soundlessly on the ground with Sakura following after. The two girls began to tail Shikamaru from a distance so he wouldn't notice.
"I still don't see why we have to do this…" Ino stretched her arms lazily in the air.
"Why can't you just believe me when I say that Shikamaru is so predictable?" Ino watched Shikamaru's pineapple hairstyle bob up and down as he walked the streets of Konoha.
"Because I won't believe the fact that you say you know him so well when in fact I never see you two conversing with each other in public!" Sakura argued as she made sure to stay a safe distance behind Shikamaru. Ino raised a brow skyward.
"What are you—oh forget it…I don't feel like arguing right now…" Ino sighed as they once again silently followed the lazy chunin.
The two girls stopped when they finally saw Shikamaru enter Ichiraku Ramen. Ino smiled, giving Sakura another mocking grin and an "I told you so". Sakura wagged her finger at Ino saying that that was just another lucky guess and the two decided to sit in a café a few stores away until Shikamaru finished his meal...
Ino yawned in her seat as she began to drift off to dreamland. Her head began to droop slightly to the side and she had a hard time focusing her eyes on the Ichiraku ramen stand.
"Hey! He's finished!" Sakura pointed out again as she stood up abruptly, shaking Ino awake. Ino blinked several times to get her vision back to normal and saw the Nara genius lift the flap up and walk out while saying bye to Naruto, going on to his next destination.
"He's going to Asuma-sensei's to play Shogi..." Ino stated before Sakura could ask her where he was going. Sakura looked at Ino as the blonde yawned again stretching her arms out.
'I think Shikamaru's habits are rubbing off on her…" The Godaime apprentice thought as she and Ino went after the cloud loving boy.
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"I told you so…." Ino whispered in a sing song voice as the two girls peeked over the roof to Asuma's house.
"He does this everyday…you can tell by how Asuma-sensei had the board set up already" Ino chided as she and Sakura jumped off the roof and onto a Sakura tree to rest. Sakura gritted her teeth.
"Like I said…if you know all this, then that must mean you two are close!" Sakura said as she watched Ino pluck a cherry blossom flower and play with it between her fingers.
"Oh please…we are so not close…we mix together like water and oil…" Ino spoke the last part almost hesitantly as she twirled the flower stem between her fingers. Sakura noticed this of course. She began to observe the Yamanaka's face more…was that…
...regret in her eyes?!
Sakura shook her head...nooo it couldn't be! Ino didn't like Shikamaru!
Almost 2 hours had passed by and Ino and Sakura had stayed in a comfortable silence (excluding the occasional whining from Ino)as both stared at the drifting clouds in the sky. Ino looked at Sakura who had drifted off to sleep and smiled at her best friend. She took a small branch of cherry blossoms and lifted it up to her face to inhale the sweet scent.
"Ino…?" A confused voice spoke up, almost causing the mind walker to lose her balance off the branch. She looked down from the tree to see Shikamaru staring back up at her.
"H-Hey there Shikamaru!" Ino laughed nervously as she kicked Sakura awake. The Godaime apprentice glared at Ino, rubbing her now bruised leg before looking down to see what her friend was staring at.
"S-Shikamaru!" Sakura choked out surprised and he lifted his gaze from the blonde to the roseate haired girl.
"Haruno..? What are you two doing here?" He asked as he took his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms, expecting an answer from the two girls.
"W-We were just…." Sakura groped for the right explanation but none came to mind.
"…walking around and we saw this gorgeous tree so we climbed up to have a closer look…" Ino finished lamely. She started to sweat as Shikamaru's gaze seemed to pierce through her.
"Really…" He said quietly as his eyes narrowed. Ino nodded rapidly in response.
To the girls good fortune, Shikamaru's gaze relaxed….
"Well...whatever the reason, don't stay up there too long….you don't want to know how many bugs are infested on that tree…" He shrugged as he began to walk away placing his hands behind his head.
The two girls stared at each other and then back at the tree they were currently in.
Shikamaru gave off a satisfied smirk as he heard Ino and Sakura's high pitched screams echo in the distance.
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"Okay…so where is he going now?" Sakura asked as she and Ino began to follow Shikamaru once again after calming down from their little bug incident.
Ino scratched her arm and glared at Sakura.
"We're still doing this?!" Ino nearly shouted as she surpressed the urge to strangle her friend.
"Of course! Now answer my question!" Sakura laughed maniacally as she swatted Ino on the back. Ino frowned and watched Shikamaru's head bop up and down again. She looked at the sun as it almost began to set in the sky.
"He's going to Chouji's to watch the sunset" Ino reluctantly muttered as she sighed, scratching her head. She took the hair tie out of her hair, putting it into her mouth while gathering her hair into a perfect high ponytail.
"This time I'll prove to you that you're wrong…" Sakura pointed out as she saw Shikamaru turn a corner and the two girls did as well.
"Riiiight…" Ino rolled her eyes and tied her hair in a perfect ponytail.
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"Hey buddy" Shikamaru muttered as Chouji opened the door.
"Shikamaru? You're by yourself?" Chouji questioned confused. Shikamaru raised a questioning brow.
"Yeah…seems like it…" Shikamaru said as he let himself in and Chouji closed the door behind him.
"I told you so…" Ino sang again. Sakura cringed at the girl's voice. She turned around from the streetlight she was currently hiding behind.
"No! They didn't go watch the sunset! So basically you're wrong!" Sakura muttered, trying to turn the odds against Ino.
"Yeah…they watch the sunset on Chouji's roof…I've only been there a couple of times though...anyways, the sunset is really gorgeous from his house" Ino pointed out. She smirked as she heard the metal latch on the door to the roof click open and the two girls saw Chouji and Shikamaru walking out.
Shikamaru and Chouji both leaned on the metal railing and stared out to the horizon.
Ino yawned as she began to make her way home.
"Well…today was a waste of time…I'm going home now…oh, and just to prove myself once more….after this, Shikamaru's going straight home" Ino muttered as she walked away from the shocked Sakura.
"Hey! Ino-pig!" Sakura yelled after Ino as she ran after the girl.
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"Now do you believe me…?" Ino asked as she looked at Sakura while applying nail polish to her fingernails. Sakura, who was lying on Ino's bed, grumbled something into her pillow. Ino giggled.
"Ahh I love it when I'm right…!" Ino giggled again as she finished applying the nail polish to her hands.
"I guess that means that you don't have to be close to a person to know what they're doing…" Ino said as she twisted the nail polish bottle shut. She heard Sakura mumbling something eerily familiar to a "shut up".
As Ino stood up to put away the bottles of nail polish, while still blowing on her fingernails, the doorbell suddenly went off sending a sharp ring throughout the house.
Ino and Sakura's heads shot up at the sudden noise and the two looked at each other before both making their way down the stairs to the front door.
"Oh...and just to be clear...I, Yamanaka Ino has proven to you that Shikamaru Nara is so predictable!" Ino grinned as she and Sakura made their way through the hallway.
"Yeah, yeah...put a sock in it..." Sakura grumbled.
The pink haired kunoichi went ahead and decided to open the door since Ino's nails were still in the process of drying.
She proceeded to grab the shiny metal doorknob and pulled the door open slowly.
"Yes? How can we help---SHIKAMARU?!" Sakura sputtered as the chunin stood towering above her. Ino stopped blowing on her nails and looked over her old rivals shoulder.
Indeed, her ears didn't deceive her…it was in fact Shikamaru Nara…
"What are YOU doing here?" Ino scoffed while blinking a mile a minute. Sakura stepped aside to let the shadow user inside.
"What? Did you think I'd be somewhere else?" He questioned innocently. Something about the look in his eyes made Ino back away.
"Umm…no…I'm just…surprised…" Ino said slowly as she found Shikamaru advancing slowly towards her.
It wasn't until a few seconds of backing away when she finally met the wall.
Sakura just stared at the two, her expression a mix of shock and happiness.
Happiness because Ino's prediction had been wrong and that meant she was right.
"Uh-huh…tell me Ino…" Shikamaru said as he lowered his face towards the blonde kunoichis'.
"…what am I going to do now?" He whispered huskily, his face merely centimeters away from hers.
Ino couldn't give anything but a muffled squeak in reply.
Shikamaru's gaze landed on Ino's soft rose colored lips. It didn't help his self control at all when Ino chose that particular moment to bite down on her bottom lip cutely. He looked back into her aquamarine eyes, expecting an answer from her.
"…well?" he questioned.
Before Ino had the time to even mumble an "um", his lips captured hers in a sweet innocent kiss. Ino's eyes closed automatically and it seemed that time had stood still before Shikamaru gently broke the kiss.
She looked at him speechless as her cheeks instantly changed colors.
Shikamaru gave her a smirk and began to walk out the door, passing the still shocked Sakura. He paused in the middle of his retreat and placed his hand on the door frame carefully.
"Oh…and next time you two decide to tail someone…be stealthier and less talkative about it…" He stared at the two girls before smirking at Ino again and finally leaving the house.
Ino found herself rushing up to her doorstep to watch the lazy shinobi leave.
Sakura's eyes slowly darted to the blonde.
"I thought you two weren't close…" She managed to say, still shocked.
Ino said nothing but gave a girlish giggle in response, her eyes still on Shikamaru and her finger lightly tracing her lips.
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Shikamaru calmly walked out of the Yamanaka residence, a rather smug grin spread acrossed his features. He heard Sakura as she tried to snap Ino out of her girlish daydream and he rolled his eyes, chuckling slightly.
Yamanaka Ino was SO predictable...
::owari::
YaY! done!
Yummm! you gotta love an evil Shikamaru!!
I hope you all enjoyed it! I had fun writing this! Sorry for the small bits of OOC-ness!
Lastly, I'm thinking of making a companion one-shot for this fic but it follows Shikamaru instead….what do you think?