Clouds



Shikamaru sighed. He'd been sitting there all mornin, but the clouds just didn't seem great. It was troublsome just thinking up reasons why, so he gave up on him.

"Here you are, lazy-ass!'

Ah, shit. Another troublesome woman... just when am I gonna watch the cloud in peace? wait... I thought I thought that clouds where boring... Awh, what a drag...

"Hey Ino." He said.

she seemd to lessen her grin, for reasons Shikamaru didn't get. Her eyes shifted, which was never a good sign. How did He knew that? Well, He had been watching Ino for some time now... But even with his 200 IQ, he didn't knew why. damned hormones...

"Hey Ino? that's all you Have to say? don't you remember what day it is?" she asked with a point of annoyance.

Oh shit. Her birthday. god... If I piss her off, I'll be picking up my teeth by the end of the day... Ok, Shika... think... what to do now? oh wait... got it.

"yep... I do, and if it is ok with you, I'd like to take you shopping." He said lazily.

Ino's grin widened even more... Oh got... there went poor Shika's savings...

"Shikamaru, that's wonderful! come on, I'm not leaving you until the end of the day!!!"

"How troublesome..."

He got up^, and why he did that he dosn,t know, offered INo his arm. She took it and he felt a slight blush rising to his face. Both of them went back to konoha and into the local market.

"oh, shika, that blouse looks soooo cute!!!" she pointed to a small vest with the Kanji for "flower" on it.

Shika bought it and she put it on in a local dressing cabin. He blushed when he saw she had left the top buttons open, revealing a little bit of cleavage.

"How do I look, Shika?" She asked, with those emerald eyes he couldn't resist anymore.

"huh... beatiful...as always." he managed to say wqithout stutering. dammit, why was he acting like that? it isn't like he hadn't shopped with Ino before! Maybe it was the fact she sought his attention more often, now that the Uchiha was gone.

The day quickly ended and they went back to the Yamanaka flower shop.

"H-hey, shika... wanna watch the sunset?" She answered as they walked in. she was blushing and she stuttered.

Wait, Shikamaru thought. Does she want to be with me? or am I just a replacement? How troublesome can women get?

"Yeah, sure." he said with less enthousiasm as before at his thoughts.

Ino walked up to the roof first. Shika came then, and noticed How her hair shone in the last rays of the sun. they both sat there.

Shika started the conversation when he saw a samll shudder get to ino.

"Ino, are you cold?" He inquired.

"ah? no... it's not... it's nothing." She said, avoiding his gaze.

Yup, as I thought, she is still thinking about the Uchiha boy... well, I should try cheering her up.

"Ino... If there is something on your mind, tell me. I won,t tell chouji." He asked with a soft voice.

"I am just worried... about sasuke. Ah... no... You must think I'm selfish, don,t you? you took the day for me and here I am, talking about him..."

She had started crying. Damn, Shika didn't know what to do... but now the shuriken was unsheated, and he must throw it...

"Ino... Am I a friend, someone you love, or a replacement for Sasuke to your eyes?" He asked.

she was shocked. normally, shika wouldn,t have bothered about such things. unless... unless he loved her!

"no!!! I forgot about Sasuke in that way... I'm just worried... but shika... now that you ask the question... I view you as... huh, well..."

shika put a finger on her lip and she looked up to see him smiling. He leant forward and kissed her lovingly. they both laid down in each others arms.

"Happy birthday, Ino..." he whispered as they both fell asleep at the thought of a beatiful future.

end.


ok! that was a fluffy oneshot! chappie two will be yaoi!!! as fr the pairing... hehehehehe... we'll just see!

Ramen

Sakura sighed as she glanced at the unfinished bowl of ramen before her. She didn't know why she ate at Ichiraku's... she was on a diet and she wasn't even hungry.

"Sakura, you want some more?" ayame said from behind the counter.

"no, I'll be ok." she said with a surpridingly realistic fake smile. it wasn't the only one she had to proiduce since Sasuke was gone...

No, she didn't have feelings for the Uchiha anymore. It was more like a treason to their friendship. they where all chuunins, and she rarely saw Naruto, except from the occasional visits to the hospital after tough missions.

"Oi!!! Ichiraku! give me a big portion of pork-miso Ramen!!!" a voice boomed behind her.

The pink haired woman turned to the Kyuubi vessel, and put on one of her fake smiles... again.

"Good evening, Naruto." she said.

"Ne, Sakura-chan! nice to see you here. say, you don't usually come here, don't you?"he said with his trademark Uzumaki grin.

sakura considered the wild ninja that sat beside her. He had quit the orange jumpsuit for a black T-shirt with a swirl(uzumaki) on it. He wore the traditional chuunin vest unbottened and green cargo pants hung to his waist. Even without the jumpsuit, his whisker marks and happy atitude was always there. She felt her apetite returning when she saw his smile.

"Same thing here, Ayame." She said.

They chatted about various things awaiting their orders. when the bowls came, Sakura was surprised to see Naruto pursuing the conversation instead of diving headfirst in the hot Ramen.

"so, how are things going as a Medic-nin?" He asked.

"oh, it's cool. I'm glad I can use my abilities to help out, but I still have a long way to go to be at Tsunade-sama's level." she said.

She dug into her Ramen and focused on her chopsticks.


Naruto watched her as she hit her bowl after she finished talking about Tdunade. He had trouble concentrating on his food, and couldn't help but look at her tongue as it laped noodles of her chopsticks... 'no! Baka! she likes Sasuke, get it? Aaaarg... why am I acting this way? when I did that around Sakura-chan when we where young, I was joking! why am I feeling this?" Naruto Thoughtfully pondered.


"Naruto?" she asked.

"huh? what is it, Sakura-chan? Something on your mind?"

"well... it's about Sasuke." she whispered.

Since Sasuke had become a missing-nin, it was taboo to speak of him. Naruto felt his stomach constrict at the inner vision of the Raven-haired boy.

"Even since he left, I've been feeling... depressed. I can't seem to progress on training, and if it wasn't for your arrival, I would have gotten home without swallowing anything. I just... I don't know what to do." she shed tears upon the last sentence.

"Sakura..." he said.

He put an hand under her chin and lifted it up.

"I know about the pain, I feel it too. This is why I promised to bring him back, even if I have to die trying... Sakura, if you ever need a crutch on which to rest... I vow to be there." he smiled at the end.

She looked at him with tearful eyes, unable to think, unable to speak, unable to live longer without the warmth of an embrace, She leant forward and wept all of the past grief into his welcoming and strong arms.

About an hour later, they walked in the dark, lantern-lit streets of the Village hidden in the Leaves. Sakura no longer cried, she smiled. She thought she was stupid for all those times she had treated Naruto as a nuisance.

"say, Naruto..." she said.

"Yes, Sakura-chan?" he answered innocently.

"does that wound on your leg... I don't think it's fully healed... care to pass by the clinic?" she asked with a faint hint of slyness in her sparkling emerald eyes.

Naruto just nodded and smiled like a kid caught in a prank. He knew the said wound was completely fine, and that she only had the keys to the clinic, closed at this hour.

This night was definitely full of promises.

END(of chptr)