Author's Note: I've been toying with this for a while but I decided to finally post it. It's a bit on the short side but it is supposed to be since I was trying to follow a set word limit.
Special Notes: Icarus (for the people who don't know or remember) is the person in Greek mythology who flew too close to the sun and his wings made of wax melted sending him crashing into the sea.
Summary: She was the sun; and he, the moon. And the two could never meet. ShikaIno. Complete.
Words: 500 words
Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. If it was, we would see more ShikaIno moments.
The Sun and the Moon
She was like the sun: bright, vibrant, loud Wherever she went and whatever she did, people took notice. Her very nature commanded the attention of those around her. Like the sun, people would look at her for long periods of time yet never notice a thing. They would see the big picture (beautiful but bossy) and miss all the important details that made her special, unique, and undeniably Ino.
He noticed though. He saw how her bossiness was a front for nervousness. How her obsession with being beautiful stemmed from fear. How friendship would forever be her biggest priority. He noticed these things and more.
He knew that when she was with other people, silence made her feel uncomfortable; yet when she was home alone, she preferred absolute peace and quiet. He knew that her favorite flowers were tulips and that it meant perfect love. He even knew that Ino never truly loved the Uchiha.
But he knew one thing even more important than that. He knew Icarus' lesson that flying too close to the sun would only bring pain.
He was like the moon: constant, solitary, quiet. He didn't need to go around bragging about himself, people (or at least the people who truly mattered) could see his potential. Yet, his unassuming nature caused many to overlook and disregard him. Like the moon, people may stare at him for some time, but they would then ignore him for other things like the stars. They were too distracted to fully observe the moon's beauty and would miss its significance just as most people would recognize Shikamaru as a genius but ignore him for the other geniuses such as Sasuke and Neji.
She realized the difference. She saw that although all three were "geniuses" only Shikamaru would use his gift in order to help his team and not just for himself. Yes, he did use his gift to avoid wasting energy but he also did it to ensure that the rest of his team would return home safely. But there was more to him than that.
She knew that just because he remained silent didn't mean he wasn't listening or paying attention; in fact, most times it meant he was cataloguing the information in his brain so he could retrieve it later at a moment's notice. She knew that not only was cloud watching his favorite hobby, but it was his favorite because that was the one thing his dad would do with him when he was younger. She even knew that he knew that she had never loved Sasuke.
But she also knew something else. She knew that no matter how songs or movies romanticized it, it was futile to ever try to lasso or control the moon. It was too great a thing to ever be held down by one person or one purpose.
And so, the sun and the moon continued to follow each other as day and night for year after year after year, never to meet.
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Tell you what, I'll trade ya a review for a sequel.
Solar Eclipse –potential sequel - The sun and moon never share the same sky. Except for that one night when they form an eclipse with splendor too grand for onlookers to behold.