On any other day, the fact that Shikamaru was currently touching Ino's thigh might be sensual. On previous days, it had been. His mind had briefly conjured up memories of other times when he had touched Ino's thigh, but he quickly banished those distracting thoughts from his mind. There was nothing sensual about this. Ino lay on the forest floor with her arms over her head, gripping the grass as a hiss escaped her. On any other day, this would have meant something entirely different to him.
"Sorry." Shikamaru flinched away from her skin. He was hanging onto his calm composure like a lifeline. He had to stay calm. He had to.
Hesitantly his hands went back to her thigh. He tried to ignore the whimpers of pain as he forced the needle through her skin again. He tried to, but he couldn't. The noises she made would haunt him forever, but if he lost her because he couldn't do something as simple as close a wound, he would never be able to forgive himself.
Shikamaru was painfully aware of her irregular breathing. It hitched every time he forced the needle through her skin, and stopped until it came out the other end. His heart skipped a beat when her breathing didn't resume as it normally did.
"Breathe, Ino." He was thankful that her breathing came back, even if it was shallow. "You can't hold your breath. Almost done."
He tried his best to ignore the sheer amount of blood. At first, he had hoped that most of it wasn't hers, but after examining her injuries he couldn't even entertain the hope. He had to rethink exactly how strong this girl was. Anyone else wouldn't be conscious, and even though she was clutching the grass around her to keep her there, she was awake. She must have sensed how important it was to keep her eyes open - she was delusional, but even in a delusional state she had a firm fix on Shikamaru's emotions. Panic and fear wasn't something he showed every day, but he couldn't banish the emotions from his usually stoic face.
His attention was brought back to the task at hand when his fingers slipped and the needle fell from his hand. It hung by the string down the inside of her leg - there wasn't much medical string left, but it would have to be enough to stop the bleeding. The bleeding. Shikamaru wiped his hands off on his jacket before he could continue. The blood covered her waist and dripped down her leg to form a pool. Splatter covered her cheeks and forehead, and there were large smears over her eyes and mouth where she had tried to clear some of it away. On multiple occasions he had to stop what he was doing to wipe his fingers clean on his jacket to keep his grip on the needle stable.
"Almost done." He pushed the needle through her skin again. "Breath, Ino. We're almost done."
Her breath came out in a raspy cough, causing Shikamaru to flinch as he finished stitching the wound up. He took off his jacket, ignoring the cold air that his mesh shirt did nothing to fight off, and wrapped the sleeve tightly around her thigh.
He finished the knot a little too forcefully. "Sorry." When Shikamaru's hands finally left her skin, Ino's grip on the grass finally loosened. Shikamaru fell onto the bloodied grass beside her and propped his head up on his hand. He watched as she breathed in an out, and found himself breathing along with her. It was shallow, but repetitious.
The emotionless look on her face suddenly gave way to a smile. It was nowhere near as bright as her smiles usually were, but it was as contagious as always.
"Why are you smiling?" Shikamaru asked after a few minutes passed by of Ino merely smiling up at the sky.
She shrugged, her exhausted blue eyes turning to him. "I look like a mess, huh?"
Shikamaru's smile widened a little bit. "You're alive. I don't care how you look."
Ino snorted. "But admit it," she turned her head with some effort to look at Shikamaru. "I look like I just went through a tornado."
"Maybe a small one." Ino laughed and lifted her arm. Shikamaru watched in both amusement and worry as she weakly punched his chest. "What was that for?"
"You never tell a girl she looks bad."
Shikamaru chuckled. "I never said you look bad. Your hairs a mess-" Ino shot him a glare, "-and your makeup is messed up-" he came to the conclusion that he needs to either wrap up what he was trying to say or die by her hand before he could say it, "but you still look pretty."
Ino stared at him for a second, and he wondered if she heard him. "That's really sweet," she whispered. A whole new kind of panic came over Shikamaru when he realized that she was about to cry.
She must have sensed his sudden panic because she laughed and wiped her eyes. "Don't worry, I'm not going to start crying on you." He let out a breath of relief. "When can we start heading back home?"
"Tomorrow. We need to stay here tonight - traveling through this forest at night will be more dangerous than it's worth." Ino nodded and started to slowly shift her body closer to Shikamaru's. He watched and waited until her side was against his before she slowly turned on her side, adjusting the jacket tied to her thigh so that it draped over her bare legs.
"What are you doing?" The position of Ino curling into his side wasn't completely unfamiliar, but any form of affection was normally off-limits while on a mission.
She ignored the uncomfortable tone in his voice and rested her head on his chest. "You volunteered us for this mission, so your punishment is being my pillow."
Shikamaru groaned. "You're so troublesome."
"You're comfortable," she commented after a moment of silence.
Shikamaru used the arm that wasn't currently wrapped around Ino's shoulders to cushion his head from the ground. For a second he felt like watching the clouds, even though he could barely see them against the nearly-black sky. Instead, he shut his eyes and focused on the girl that had once been just a troublesome teammate to him. He listened to Ino's breathing, matching it as it slowed while she fell asleep.
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Chapter notes: Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own the rights to Naruto.
Author's Note: This is merely a one-shot. If you'd like to see more, you can give me an idea about a follow-up fic. Otherwise nothing else will be added. However, that doesn't mean I don't want to know what you think about it. :) There's a hint of romance, but I don't think it merits a romantic pairing.
Beta: enapets21 (from FanFiction . net)