Ino had finally boarded her in Italy. It had been another horrid work trip. The people had been rude and she had gotten a sun burn. It had been a disaster.

Ino too felt like a disaster. At the age of almost 40 she still worked in a fashion magazine. Her boss had forwarded her information about a position in another magazine, House and Home Cleaning.

Ino did not clean. Not the least. Ino had a maid and couldn't remember the last time she did dishes. It had been years that's all Ino could remember. That and the fact that it had been wet and soapy.

Ino hadn't been wet and soapy in years. She had an eight year daughter waiting for her at home.

Ino had also been single the last eight years.

Ino hadn't had sex the last eight years.

Ino couldn't believe that her boss Kisame had tipped her off about a position in another magazine. He hadn't fired her but he might just have. The magazine wanted to portray an unison young and free spirited life.

Ino was everything but young and free spirited.

Ino was the girl who liked to stay at home drinking tea and looking up fabric trends. Ino didn't care much for youth culture or breaking boundaries.

Ino couldn't wait to be back on the ground and for the guy who had hit on her too look away. Creep.

Shikamaru looked down on his ticket. It read 34B. There was a blue haired woman in his seat. "Shut up shit faced uniformist, I'm not moving unless you physically bend down and pick me up. Do that and I'll stab you."

Shikamaru watch the flight attendant rush over to him. "Calm down and we'll get this sorted out Sir. Just calm down."

Shikamaru was perfectly calm. It was the woman who had threatened to stab him. Shikamaru had simply pointed out that the woman was sitting in his assigned seat.

Shikamaru was lead to the front. He looked at all the discomforted faces around the aisles. They were all mushed together. Some had masks over their eyes and some had those silly neck cushions. Weren't their necks strong enough to hold their heads?

Shikamaru was shortly on the other side of the curtain. He was no longer in "cattle class." This was certainly first class. The air was cleaner. The seats more specious. The guests calmer. The women prettier too.

Shikamaru was appointed a seat next to a blonde. Her tresses were long and lush. She was clad in a grey pencil shirt with matching blazer. Her shirt was white with a collar of course and her stilettoes red. She had already picked up her Macbook from her hand luggage and was ready to work through their flight.

Shikamaru noticed that she had written "How to dress for a date when you don't do dates" on a new document. She didn't look like she didn't go on dates. She was beyond pretty.

Shikamaru had always had a thing for elder woman. They were so much more experienced. Older women knew what they wanted and would accept neither more nor anything less.

Shikamaru loved how their bodies were so different from girls his age. Girls at his university had never excited him. They were bland only interested in keeping their bodies fit and lean. Elder women changed. They were different from fully clad to naked and you never knew what you got.

Shikamaru didn't have a shot on an aged first class passenger.

Ino pulled her mask off only to see that the seat next to her had been taken. Taken by a man, if he could be called such, in his early twenties. He was clad in cargo pants, maroon and yellow striped polo shirt, his hair long and brown gathered in a ponytail and it looked like he was trying to grow a beard. Try was key.

Ino didn't pay further notice to the many. He was obviously bumped up from coach unless he was ironically poorly clad like many of the trust fond brats from New York.

Ino didn't like either. They annoyed and often bored her.

Ino quickly closed her newly started article and opened one that was nearly finished: "He's just not into your style and how to deal with it."

Ino would admit that what she did didn't earn her any Pulitzer prices. It wasn't high journalism. It was her job and she loved it. She had been working for the company almost twenty years certainly all her grown years.

Ino couldn't imagine working any other places. She would do whatever she needed to keep her job. She would double her workload.

Ino would never accept defeat. She would rather retire early than to move to another magazine. It was as good as her magazine. She wouldn't give it up because she was 40 and boring. Her work was always highly updated and just now.

Ino had the money to retire. She didn't have the will to retire. It was too early and she still had so much to give. She was their top author and they should appreciate that. She wasn't old.

Ino wondered what the stranger was looking at her for.

Shikamaru caught the eye of the woman he was ogling and smiled. She didn't smile back at him. She seemed to be in a rather foul mood.

Shikamaru was having a great day. He had gotten to the airport in time. He would admit that he was irresponsible and often late. It was something he hoped he would grow out off in time.

Shikamaru had been in Italy studying. He was an Italian major. Completely worthless degree he had been told but it had landed him a trip to Rome and a first class seat next to this lady.

Shikamaru knew she would continue to treat him like air. That didn't mean that he could enjoy the view. He wasn't sitting next to the window but he was still pretty pleased with what he saw.

Shikamaru was about to introduce himself when he heard the voice of the flight attendant over the intercom. It was the regular drill. Fasten seatbelts and put trays up and so on. He was first class and probably would survive any accident. Right?

Shikamaru certainly wasn't scared of flying it had been one of his hobbies as a child. Studying aero plains and how they worked. He knew everything there was to know.

Shikamaru was a bright kid. That's why he shouldn't have been studying language many meant. It was still his passion. Who cared if he could have been a doctor and cure cancer. He could translate the news article when some doctor finally cured cancer.

Shikamaru heard the lady next to him sigh and slap her mask back on.

Shikamaru gripped his seat as they were taking off. He would certainly miss Rome. It had been an amazing city to visit and live in for three months. He dreaded going back to his boring, straight and cold home country.

Shikamaru wanted to speak to the lady next to him. Make his trip more fun and time to pass faster. She seemed intent on getting some rest. With her blindfold still on she placed her MacBook on her lap and started tapping away on what to do when your boyfriend didn't like your clothes. Shikamaru wanted to know who did that on a flight trip.

Ino wanted to get a headstart on her week. She had several deadline to meet and she would certainly be jetlagged from her trip. That always hated making her hate work missions like these.

Ino had tried to get away from it. Hand it to the younger girl in the office. The one that was always on her case or dancing on the tables at the office.

Ino couldn't understand why they thought of her as fun she was horrid. She hardly ever did her work leaving the secretaries to cover for her. They were more than happy to do so because she was pretty, free spirited, funny and young.

Ino didn't have much to bring to the table except experience when it came to Sakura.

Ino sighed when she felt the plane start trembling. She ripped her masked off and put her computer away. She could see lightening outside her window and promptly shut it.

Ino was afraid of flying.

Ino tightly clutched her seat. The white leather beneath her finger screamed to be put free from the grasp of her claws.

Ino tried to breath normally but she couldn't. She tried to watch the people around her. They too looked worried. Her heart was beating wild. More than it had when she had met the father of her child. Her child who would now become motherless.

Ino screamed when the trembling intensified and the lights blinked. The captain came over the intercom and told everyone to stay in their seat with their seatbelts fastened. They were in the middle of a storm and the worst was yet to come.

Ino let go off the leather which would never recover and grabbed the hand of the younger stranger next to her.

I wanted to try something new and gave this an hour. It was supposed to be a one shot. I just couldn't limit to that when I first started writing.

I will not start every block with Shikamaru or Ino in the chapters to come. I'm in the mood for trying something new.

This is a piece I want to finish, how fast and how often I will update will depend on feedback.

Thank you for reading.

EMG