Author's Note: The beginning of a long series of Shika/Ino and various character pairing fics which I offer for your consumption. For some I am using prompts from the List Eta over at 30kisses but as this collection expands I'm sure you'll see them begin to wander off into new territory. I gladly accept suggestions, requests, and criticism so review away!

Disclaimer: If Naruto was made mine I would probably die of a heart attack and at the moment I am very much alive. Alas.

Lilac

Shikamaru found Ino after the battle was over. His teammate was crouched at the edge of the weapon scarred clearing, long golden hair half out of it's ponytail, the tips dirty and frayed.

"You alright?" He asked, scanning her for injuries. Blood sprayed across her face worried him until he realized it wasn't hers. "Ino?"

"Fine." She stared blankly off to her right, eyes unfocused. The body lay at her feet, a kunai brutally lodged in the throat. Direct hit to the jugular. Well done.

He turned the corpse over with his foot, studying the markings on the soiled armor. "From Cloud, like the others." He didn't know why he was speaking, surely she knew this by now. She'd killed the man after all. There was no response and though he hadn't been expecting one, he found he couldn't leave her alone.

"Look Ino, the first kill is always the hardest…"

"It's not the body Shikamaru." Her eyes met his briefly before once again drifting away. "It's the flowers."

Until she'd mentioned it, he hadn't even noticed the flowering bushes that completely dominated the grove they'd chosen for the fight. Dripping with white blossoms they ringed the clearing completely, giving off a light, sweet scent, now nearly obliterated by the smell of blood and sweat.

"What are they?" He asked, knowing that, with her experience with flora, these flowers must hold some special significance.

"They're white lilacs." She said softly. Ino stood, her hand reaching out to grasp the nearest cluster. Covered with the blood of her victim, they seemed macabre, deformed.

Though Shikamaru knew that the approaching rain would soon remove all evidence of their struggle, he had to wonder what would become of these blossoms. Surely that much blood would be hard to remove.

"Well?" He considered the girl in front of him. "Enlighten me Ino, what do these flowers mean?"

His question startled her out of her reverie. "They…how do you know?"

"You may be emotional, but you're not morose, Ino. What do white lilacs stand for?"

Ino turned from the flowers completely, stepping over the body to move closer to him. "White lilacs." She said. "White lilacs are for innocence. The innocence of youth."

Shikamaru stared and it began to rain. Ino moved past him, joining up with Chouji and Asuma.

Drops pelted them, washing away the dirt, grime, and fear. Shikamaru knew however, that it wouldn't be enough.

Some things just couldn't be washed away.