Nihao everyone! You know what sucks more than 15-hour plane rides? Beta hunting. Seriously. Hours spent searching through long lists of names, weeding out people by looking at Beta profiles, user profiles, stories submitted, and stories favorited. It's a lengthy process. I finally found one who agreed to be my Beta! Woo! I would like to introduce gaarsaku4ever who Beta'd this piece and will (hopefully) continue to Beta my upcoming pieces. Round of applause!
Oh, and by the way, if you have never watched the Japanese movie "Box," do so because it is fabulous.
Another btw: Chinese dramas are addicting.
Shikamaru could feel a headache coming on, and he just knew it was going to be a nasty one, too. One of those where every light is like a bright spotlight shining into his eyes, and where each noise sounded like they were entering his ear through a tunnel. The kind of headache where, if he made even the slightest movement, his temple would start to painfully constrict and pound.
Alcohol would have been the most probable suspect, if he hadn't drank only water because he didn't like dealing with the toil of hangovers. Puking and headaches, they just weren't his thing. Irony, he mused. The people at the celebration were also not the problem. He had learned through many years of boring teachers, pestering parents, and annoying teammates just how to block people out. The buzz of conversation from about a thousand of Hinata and Kiba's closest friends and family (mostly family; the Hyuuga clan had a lot of offshoots) barely even grazed his consciousness. All voices were muted, except for those of his table. One, in particular, he was able to pinpoint was the cause of his suffering.
"-would have never thought him to be straight." Shikamaru had managed to block out his girlfriend's voice for a few blissful seconds of quiet, but the words came screaming right back at him. "I mean, seriously," continued Ino, "green spandex jumpsuits? Naruto was bad enough as a kid, but Lee just took it to a whole new level. And that hair! Those teeth! That creepy man-crush on Guy! We all thought he was playing for the other team, no matter how many declarations of love he made to Sakura, but she apparently heard that some street vendor saw him making out with a girl in some alleyway. Can you even believe it? I wonder who it was. I guess Tenten would be the obvious choice, but I always thought she and Neji had a bit of a thing going on. What if this chick's as crazy as Lee? I don't think Konoha could deal with one more 'Greenbeast' like him and Guy running around." She had a glass of champagne grasped in her manicured hand, drinking just enough to get slightly tipsy, but nowhere near enough to become wasted. Ino's drinking philosophy was to drink for enjoyment, but not to get blindingly drunk. Being the fool was not on her to-do list.
In her clutches lay Chouji, who was being forced to listen to her ramble. He had made the unfortunate choice to go to the dessert table only moments before Sakura left her seat to dance with her husband. Suddenly friendless, Ino had slipped into Chouji's unoccupied seat, right next to Shikamaru, and tried to continue the stream of gossip that she and Sakura had shared. He chose to ignore her mundane chatter, reminding her of their now week-long disagreement over something neither of them remembered, but had caused each to take oaths of silence towards the other. Sakura had been a willing participant in the hating-one's-significant-other decision. Sasuke decided to accept a month-long mission right at the moment where she was at her horniest, most fretful, and least able to discriminate against any type of food. Though he had made it back in time for the wedding, she had decided to punish him by forcing him into exile and replacing him with Ino, going so far as to have the blonde sit in the seat marked with his name card. Sasuke was forced to sit on Sakura's other side, thereby displacing Chouji to Ino's assigned seat.
Shikamaru had been fine with his best friend filling the space between his estranged girlfriend and him, but then the Uchiha ruined everything with some sort of strawberry/gravy combination and an invitation to slow dance, whispered seductively close to the ear. Sakura had melted and Ino had been left without a pair of willing ears to listen to her ramble. When she spotted Chouji coming back towards the table, her eyes had lit up in glee. For once, Shikamaru couldn't think up a single solution to rescue his friend once the predator had cornered her prey. Chouji was officially a dead man.
Shikamaru watched as his best friend was forced to nod in feigned appreciation of Ino's subject of conversation. Chouji's dessert lay barely touched on the ornate Chinese dish. Giving one's full attention, whether fake or real, to Ino allowed very little eating time. He had been able to get a forkful in whenever Ino took a large chunk out of her current bread roll, but those were few and far between. Plus, Chouji was never able to acquire Shikamaru's skill of blatantly ignoring people, especially their blonde teammate. Chouji was a naturally kind person. Cruelty had never been a strong point, especially with Ino, who could shatter his façade in seconds.
Every few minutes, Ino would stretch her hand towards the middle of the table, and acting as a centerpiece was a basket full of dinner rolls, a common sight at any formal get-together. Citing that she needed to lose weight, Ino had used the bread as a replacement for her appetizer, meat dish, and dessert. She had been the cause of two refills of the basket, and would soon cause a third. Butter wasn't used, as it was only excess fat. Ino had also refused to shove the roll into her mouth to eat. Instead, she chose to pluck dainty, little pieces off and eat the bread bit by bit. Shikamaru observed her eat, and without meaning to, his eyes strayed to her opposite hand, the one holding her drink.
He became very aware of the inner pocket of his suit jacket. For resting inside was a box, very small, but seemingly weighing more than he had ever carried. Inside the box, nestled in a velvet holder, was the product of a large chunk from his last pay. Ino and he had ventured into a jewelry store to look at her father's anniversary gift to her mother. While in the shop, Ino had wandered over to the display case of engagement rings. Shikamaru made a mental note of the one she had been looking at in concealed fascination. It had sat in his room ever since, but never came out before he had slipped it into his jacket as an afterthought. The atmosphere between him and his girlfriend had been too thick to even consider taking it out before then.
He watched her fingers gently hold the glass, watching as she adjusted her grip every so often. When she did, her finger pads left tiny trails in the dewy condensation. He traced her ring finger with his eyes, from the white nail tip to the elliptical bump of her knuckle. A new mission started in a week, and while he was gone, she might get assigned to leave also. After that, their schedule would be too hectic to see one another for very long. Plus, they may not have made up by the time of his departure. Shikamaru hated the stress of apologizing to her, so he usually just let the distance between them solve their disagreements. Ino was too proud to apologize either, but a point would come where she trekked up to his cloud-watching spot and nestled into the crook of his arm. It was then they would then both know that the argument was over.
Crumbs remained on Ino's plate, the only evidence of her snack, and within a few minutes, she would reach for another. Only one more roll lay at the bottom of the basket, not visible from her viewpoint. Shikamaru reached into his pocket and grasped the box, and with calculated precision, he tossed the cube into the basket. He knew his aim was true. He saw Chouji's eyes flit over to the basket, then to Shikamaru in confusion. Ino was too busy in her conversation to notice.
A moment or so later, Shikamaru noticed her muscle twitch. As if in slow motion, Ino's arm unfolded. Her hand crept over the edge of the basket and disappeared. Without meaning to, Shikamaru realized he had been holding his breath and silently reprimanded himself well releasing a great gust of air. Ino's hand tightened. Shikamaru could hear himself breathing loudly. Ino's words died off mid-sentence. Chouji worriedly looked between the two, and Shikamaru wished each breath he took wasn't earth-shatteringly loud.
Ino turned to face the table, slowly setting her champagne down and lifting her hand out of the basket. Her gaze locked on the box, only breaking to toss a quick glance at Shikamaru in wonder. Her free hand came up and opened the velvet case; the lid creaking in protest. Inside the box, silver twisted around itself in an endless, weaving band. Four pale petals jutted out from the top of the vine and enveloped a small, shimmering diamond. A shaking hand came up to cover the lower half of her face. On her other side Chouji sat, a smile plastered on his face. Quickly recovering herself, Ino lowered her hand and turned to Shikamaru. He could see the smile that stretched her lips and his spirits were lifted instantly. She opened her mouth to speak.
"Holy shit, Ino! Is that an engagement ring?" Shikamaru winced as his senses were assaulted with the jovial presence of Naruto. From his overly enthusiastic greeting to his vibrantly orange suit to his apparent bath in cologne, the blond was not someone Shikamaru had the patience to withstand at the moment.
Before Ino had a chance to kindly tell Naruto to "Get lost," he snatched the box from her hands, raised it in the air, and turned to the dance floor. Sucking in every bit of air his lungs could afford, Naruto looked, spotted his target, and yelled at the top of his voice, "Hey Sakura! You didn't tell me Ino was engaged!"
Shikamaru never realized that one person's voice could be heard above the chatter of a hundred different people and a string quartet, nor that such a crowd could become so instantly silent. But leave it to Naruto to prove him wrong. The entire room had turned to face them. Shikamaru glanced up at the main table and saw that Kiba was looking absolutely livid. Down below, the pink-haired woman dragging her husband in their direction looked like she might just carry out Naruto's death sentence, whether ordered by the groom or not.
Sakura never broke her stride as she grabbed Naruto by the collar, snatched the ring from his hands, deposited it in Ino's palm, told her that they would be "discussing this later," and led her group out of the premises. Shikamaru heard her muttering something containing the words "pregnant," "already have a kid," and "time-out."
Ino, previously mortified, began to giggle. She plucked the ring from its resting place, pushed it onto her finger, and invited the boys to join her in a three-way toast. The silence of the crowd had once again been replaced by the din of small talk and music. "Here's to the entire village finding out about my acceptance before my boyfriend!" she gleefully proclaimed, and Shikamaru raised his glass and clanked it against the other two. He decided that this particular headache had been fully and pleasantly dealt with.
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