a house on a sea shell

Summary: Five things that never happened to Ino Yamanaka and Shikamaru Nara. OneShot. Temporary places. Guest appearances: the Sand Siblings, the Konoha Twelve, Kakashi.

Warning: AU. Not unsurprising, I hope, since the summary already mentions it.

Set: Story-unrelated

Disclaimer: Standards apply.

Easter 2015.

i. Small Miracles

"What do you see, baby girl?"

She was so seldom quiet and calm that it was almost frightening when she actually was. Inoichi loved his daughter – his star, his little girl, the most precious thing in the world – but sometimes, he did not understand her. Maybe it was because she was a woman, not yet in body and mind, of course, but altogether a different being than man. It was humbling: accepting the fact that even a tiny, five-year-old girl could be such an enigma. To her own father, even more.

Ino had been playing in the park of the Hokage's Tower the entire afternoon. Shikamaru and Chouji had been there, and the three of them – despite Chouji's rather calm nature and Shikamaru's – well, one could only call it laziness – had played quite a lot. It was gratifying, really. As head of Hidden Leaf's Intelligence, Inoichi was a busy man. Combining his job with his daughter was hard on the best days, and yet worth every second of time. Shikaku and Chouza, of course, pitched in whenever necessary: that was what best friends were for, after all. And Yoshino and Akemi loved Ino as if she was their own daughter. Dragging a hand through his hair, Inoichi suppressed a sigh. It was one of the reasons why the Hokage's decisions were so difficult, so intimately unjust.

His two best friends and former team mates had left with their kids a few minutes ago. Chouji had waved, and smiled his huge, kind smile that was so much like his father's. Shikamaru had waved once and left. But instead of accompanying her friends to the main entrance, as she usually did, waving after them with a bright smile for quite some time after they had left, Ino had stayed outside this time. When Inoichi came back for her, she was sitting on the low wall, her legs dangling, and wore an expression that cut his heart. She looked like her mother, painfully so. And so very, very far away. Sometimes Inoichi had the feeling that her body was there, but her mind was not. He did not particularly like it, but he couldn't do anything against it, either. He knew what she felt, she was his daughter, after all. His heart ached.

"What are you seeing, love?" He repeated.

For a long time, Ino said nothing. Then: "It would be nice to live in a house on a sea shell," she said, her voice as far away as her gaze. "One would hear the ocean all the time."

Ino was a lively child. From the day she had learned to walk she had not stood still. There had always been something she had needed to explore, something other she wanted to get to know. Her sunshine-blond hair always tumbled from the ponytail Inoichi pulled it up into every morning. Her bright blue eyes shone with a curiosity that had many parents dread the time when the kids grew older. She came home with the same scraped knees Chouza's and Shikaku's boys had, fell into the same rivers, sat in the same ants' nests. And she was fiercely intelligent, always asking questions, always questioning the answers. Inoichi needed all his patience and endurance to deal with her, and he loved her more than anything.

"Is it a very small house or a very large sea shell?"

"A huuuuuge shell." Ino paused, a bit lost, her gaze still fixed on something Inoichi couldn't see. "Do you think Mommy would like to live in a house like that?"

There was no way to avoid the wave of pain and guilt that hit him whenever he thought of Risa. How she would have loved to see her little girl grow up. How she would bandage Ino's knees, scold her for sneaking out in the rain, feed her home-made cookies when nobody was watching even though Ino had not done what she had been supposed to do. Risa. Risa. How am I supposed to live without you? How did you explain your daughter that she had no mother because she had died at the birth of her only, long-awaited child?

"I am sure she would love it," he said, swallowing painfully. "How does your house look like?"

"It has a red roof and blue windows." Ino thought about it. "And white curtains, just like Shikamaru's house has. And there is a staircase like in the Hokage's Tower. And the kitchen smells like cookies, like at Chouji's."

Inoichi, Shikaku and Chouza had been inseparable when they were kids, just like Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji were now. Together, they had attended the Academy, had graduated and been selected into the same genin team. They had made it chuunin on the second try – because, as Inoichi liked to remind his friends and would forever tell – Shikaku had been too lazy to care for passing the first time. They had been there when Shikaku had lost his father, had caught him, urged him on and shouted at him when he let himself go. They had survived the war and had settled down and married. It had been his friends who had helped Inoichi continue to function after his wife had died, of course. And they were older now, adults. Inoichi knew that some partings were irreversible, and some were mere distances that could be bridged again. He had no doubts they wouldn't break apart. Still, the new mission orders from the Hokage seemed cruel and Inoichi desperately wished he could change them. But he couldn't.

Inoichi stepped towards his daughter and lifted her up, and the little girl pressed her cheek against his and hid her face in the crook of his neck.

"I don't want Shika to leave, too."

"I know, love. I know." With a heart as heavy as the world, Inoichi held his daughter and turned around to walk towards their house. "Shikamaru's daddy has to go to a place far away, and he has to leave, too. I wouldn't leave you alone if I had to leave, you know that, right?"

Ino nodded, her little arms tightening around his neck.

Inoichi didn't say anything else. There was nothing he could say, nothing that would make it better. The world just wasn't fair. Ino fell asleep as he carried her home. When Inoichi reached their house, her little face was wet with tears, but when Shikaku and his family left Hidden Leaf, she waved at the departing family.

And smiled.

ii. Lessons in Humility

Kakashi sighed.

Curse the Hokage for having forced him into this. Curse Obito for making sure he actually signed the papers. And curse Rin, once and for all, for smiling brightly and waving after him, Have fun! Kakashi didn't care for children. He'd been an annoying kid, he knew, arrogant and exhausting. His arrogance had almost had him lose his team, and he'd only realized it far too late. One kid was alright, he supposed. But three of them? Possibly as arrogant, annoying and aggravating as he had been? He had no desire to deal with that, no matter how charming Rin thought the kids nowadays were. Rin thought everyone charming. Rin thought that a hungry, lethal grass bear protecting its cubs was charming.

"You are late, Hatake-san."

The teacher was vaguely familiar, with brown, long hair and a scar across the bridge of his nose, and managed to look annoyed despite the pleasant smile on his face. Kakashi mumbled an answer and let his eyes wander through the room. There were only three kids remaining in the room and at their sight he suppressed a sigh. Hyuuga Neji, the son of the Hyuuga branch-house clan head. Naruto, of course, he wasn't sure whether he was supposed to be relieved or angry – and a blonde girl that seemed indifferent to both of them. Yamanaka Ino, his memory supplied. The old man could have warned him that he was about to get the most dysfunctional team of the last five graduate years: no matter what Rin said and how much he loved Naruto, there was no way this would work. Hyuuga Neji? He'd just as well taken the last Uchiha. Of course he'd read the files: the boy made the Nagano in winter look like a pleasant, warm bathtub. And a Yamanaka mind-bender. The girl seemed a regular – well, what was the name for it? A bitch, he guessed. Well, at least with her he wouldn't have to deal with what Asuma quite possibly was dealing with right now: as of today, his colleague was training Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Inuzuka Kiba.

"Let's get to know each other," Kakashi suggested, half an hour later, and looked at his future team. "Tell me something about yourself. What do you like, what do you dislike, what are your dreams? I know, Naruto," he added at the kid's look. "For your new teammates' sake, okay?"

Of course Naruto took this as the signal to go first. "I really like Ramen!" His voice was nothing like Minato-sensei's. Fact was, if he hadn't had those sea-blue eyes and blond hair, he wouldn't look like Kakashi's deceased jounin sensei at all. "And I hate… Sasuke-idiot, I guess. And people who eat my Ramen. And I'm gonna be Hokage one day!"

"There's nothing I particularly like." Neji was as cold as Kakashi would have guessed. "I hate birds. And my dreams do not concern you in the slightest."

The girl looked like she was having the same doubts about their compatibility as Kakashi had had for the past hour. "I like flowers," she said. "And I think people dwell on what they hate far too much." Naruto cocked his head. Kakashi could see the gears turn, and thought he detected a grin on the boy's face. "I want to protect this village, as my father and my grandfather have done before me."

Neji snorted in disdain.

"We'll be great together!" Naruto exclaimed, enthusiastically. "I have a good feeling. Right, Kakashi?"

"You should call me Sensei now, Naruto," Kakashi told his adoptive son, smiling despite himself.

Naruto grinned up at him brightly. "Yes, Sensei."

What do you see, Kakashi? His dead teacher's voice echoed through his head eerily, carrying the mixture of weariness, patience and affection he had already associated with him when Kakashi himself had been a snot-nosed brat ready to annoy the jou-nin that had been assigned to train him. The youngest genin and the youngest jounin in the history of Hidden Leaf: what a pair they had made. And then Obito had joined the team, and Rin. And somehow they had grown into a unit so tightly-knit that Kakashi felt incomplete when they weren't near. He'd never be able to follow Minato-sensei's example, he knew. And how would he, with an arrogant genius, a loud-mouthed trouble-maker and a withdrawn princess in his team? He could just hope they'd grow on each other, like Obito and Rin had grown on him…

So you see yourself in them, and you can see their potential. Minato-sensei's voice sounded approving. You will train them well. I know it.

That was the moment the smoke bomb Naruto had snagged from somewhere and was showing his new team mates went off, and the entire platform they sat on was immediately covered in thick, cough-inducing fog.

A gesture, and the smoke cleared away. The three genin sat next to each other, calm as they pleased. Neji smirked. Naruto grinned. Ino smiled.

Kakashi sighed. What in the name of all Five Continents had he signed up for.

iii. Sand and Forest

"Troublesome," Shikamaru murmured and pulled the hood deeper into his face. Next to him, Temari, Kankurou and Gaara had stopped as well, glancing at the wall of trees that had risen in front of them.

"So that's a forest," Temari said, matter-of-factly. There was awe in her voice.

Kankurou and Gaara didn't say anything, but some of the younger genin whispered to each other animatedly, eyeing the thick underbrush and the dark-green leaves of the trees. Shikamaru saw no need for awe.

"Nothing special."

"You," Temari said and elbowed him in the ribs, "Have already seen that many trees before, so you don't get to say anything."

Her eyes twinkled dangerously and wisely, Shikamaru shut his mouth again.

He should have felt something, he guessed. After all, it wasn't often that one returned to a place one had been born in after almost ten years of absence. But fact was that he had spent more of his life in Hidden Sand than in Hidden Leaf, and that most of his memories came from Sand. He hadn't missed Leaf, though he knew his parents had. But as ambassadors to Konoha-gakure, they had willingly left their birth village and travelled to the Wind Country to serve their home country.

"Gods of the desert," Kankurou suddenly said, his eyes shrinking as he focused on something in the distance. "What is that?"

Gaara's sand shifted, forming a line that, as Shikamaru knew, could grow into a protective wall within seconds. They exchanged a look. Since Gaara had been an outcast in his own home village and Shikamaru a stranger, they had somehow become friends. Or, something close to friends. Shikamaru didn't really need people around him, and Gaara didn't want people around him, and they had suited each other just fine. Now, both of them strained their eyes to see what was moving towards them at high speed, making one hell of a racket in the process.

First into view came an animal – the ugliest animal Shikamaru had ever seen in his life, and that was saying a lot, seeing he came from a desert village. It was closely followed by a host of blonds leaping, running and jumping after the animal, each single one of them wearing a hideously orange jumper, a blue headband and a shit-eating grin. Apparently, he was enjoying the chase, and his – clones? – were motivating each other, yelling and screaming.

"Get him, Naruto!"

"Don't let it get away!"

"Don't get in my way, idiot!"

"You are the one blocking me, asshole!"

The stampede thundered past them, reached the poor animal and dissolved into a ball of limbs, fists, heads and screams.

Next came a dark-haired boy with the white eyes of the Hyuuga clan who stopped in a safe distance and eyed the small group of Suna shinobi carefully.

"Who are you? State your intentions."

He spoke as if he had some kind of authority, which Shikamaru strongly doubted. Still, seeing as the boy was wearing a Konoha hitai-ate and they were on Leaf territory, Shikamaru would have conceded to him the respect that was due. Thankfully, he wasn't in charge here. While Baki-sensei stepped forward, he looked around.

The first boy – eye-cancer inducing orange jumpsuit and all – had finally gained the upper hand on the no doubt lethal beast he had been chasing and was making his way towards his comrade, stuffing the animal into a sack unceremoniously and looking entirely aware and too careful for his relaxed posture and friendly face. Shikamaru recognized a shinobi when he saw one and he didn't let the happy-go-lucky face and carefree appearance fool him. But if those two were Konoha genin, then where was the third team member? Carefully, he eyed the trees and the underbrush around them.

A jounin dropped to the ground seemingly out of nowhere, right between the two boys and Baki. The man's forehead protector covered his right eye, but the lines around his other eye crinkled.

"Baki-san."

"Kakashi-san." Shikamaru's teacher greeted the other stiffly. Shikamaru was struck by the similarity between the jounin's and the blond genin's carefree smile. They were too similar to be coincidence. "It's a pleasure to welcome you to Hidden Leaf. I trust your journey went well so far?"

The Hyuuga boy apparently had not learned to mask his watchfulness, or maybe he just didn't care for it. His eyes were as expressionless as his face. But his shoulders were slightly turned towards the other boy in an almost protective – or possessive – gesture, and everything in the taut muscles of his body screamed of mistrust. At the same time, both boys seemed attuned to each other. The way they stood – relaxed, but ready, covering each other and yet giving the other enough room to maneuver – spoke of familiarity and mutual trust. But they stood somewhat apart, as if they didn't dare stand too close to each other. As if they were covering up something–

Shikamaru was watching them so closely that he almost missed the tiny gesture Kakashi made. And then a girl appeared in the space between the two boys. She was smaller than the others, definitely more fragile. Her team mates shifted unconsciously to a stance that seemed almost protective of her, but either way: there was a sudden completeness to them that surprised him. How old were they, anyway? Not older than Gaara and him. The girl lifted her gaze; and blue eyes met Shikamaru's over the expanse between them.

"You know her?" Shikamaru must have stiffened, because Gaara had noticed.

He shrugged. "Don't specially remember."

Temari eyed the girl and snorted. Thankfully, she had the grace to lower her voice, probably only because Kankurou shot her a warning look. "She looks weak. Medic, probably."

Shikamaru had seen enough teams in which the girl took the role of the medic-to-be: useful, but not a real asset in a fight. Gaara was eyeing the team in front of them while Baki-sensei and their leader exchanged information. "Maybe they'll be our opponents during the Trial." His gaze lingered on the blond boy, and something like contempt stole onto his features. "I'd like to fight him."

His voice shifted a nuance, became deeper and rumbling. This time, Temari and Shikamaru exchanged a worried glance.

Kankurou shrugged. "Let's wait and see."

("Yamanaka Ino, Konoha-gakure, versus Nara Shikamaru, Suna-gakure," the juror of the second round announced, and Shikamaru felt vaguely annoyed that of course it would be her. She fought him tooth and claws throughout the entire time, and he only won because he tricked her. She wasn't too bad. She compensated her small stature and lesser strength by attacking fast and moving faster. Of course, her mind-snatching family technique was more or less useless when fighting on her own but she almost managed to get at him before he caught her. A kunai of hers definitely grazed his cheek and left a stinging wound. Temari would mock him for that one. The girl glared at him quietly when she found she couldn't move anymore, and her blue eyes were icy when they bowed to each other. His father had told him to give his best regards to his old friends, he remembered when he watched her exit the arena from the corner of his eyes, limping but trying to hide it.

Troublesome.)

iv. Temporary Places

"Hold the formation."

Naruto was, as usual, remarkably calm. It had been this – his ability to shift into a calm level-headedness at the right moment – that had made him the unspoken leader among the Konoha chuunin of their generation. Since the day Naruto had pounded him into the ground for hitting Hinata and had shouted at him to wake up, Neji had accepted the fact that his team mate had the far better eyes of the two of them, and that there was so much more to the boy he had first thought was nothing but a prankster and loser. And they say it's the first impression that counts.

One of the cloaked figures stepped forward, a raven on his shoulder. "So we meet again." A familiar voice – aged, perhaps, but familiar. Neji wanted to attack so badly he clenched his fists and locked his jaw. Naruto, Ino, Chouji and Kiba, too, were strung so tightly he could feel their combined tension vibrate through them. They had spent their childhood together, had had the same home. Never – never! – had they dreamed one of their own would betray them. Not like this. Not ever.

"I don't know why you're loyal to him," Naruto said, coldly. "And I don't care anymore. Take those brain-washed jinchuuriki of yours so we can follow you to your base to speak with the bastard that calls himself your leader. We have no time for small talk."

The raven on the cloaked person's shoulder cawed softly, challengingly.

"You didn't think we'd let all five of you talk to him, did you? You can come, Naruto." It didn't seem the messenger was especially happy with that order, either, but he obeyed. "The rest stays."

Five to five, stalemate. The four equally masked and cloaked figures stood, frozen. And then Ino, uncharacteristically, stepped forward. She lifted her hands and suddenly there was movement, a break in the dangerously fragile cease-fire. Every hand went for a weapon or was lifted to form a seal.

"Sakura-"

Sakura moved first, a whirlwind of midnight-black, blood-red and cherry-blossom pink as her hood slipped from her head and she turned to run. Blood-red chakra rose from the other fighters, permeating the air and making it hard to breathe. Neji released the breath he had been holding.

"Naruto! Go!"

And then they were on them, all four of the corrupted bijuu. The Konoha nin scattered. Chouji went for the Hachibi, wordlessly, his lips pressed into a tight line. Kiba and Akamaru barred the Gobi's path as it charged forward, both of them snarling and baring their sharp canines. Ino threw herself upwards, landed on the lower branches of a tree a hundred meters away and focused on the Nibi. And Neji– Neji sprinted towards the Sanbi, his hands already blurring with motion. And then it was dodging attacks and small versions of the Sanbi, moving, shifting, flying, trying to avoid lethal hits, and there was no time for anything else.

"Naruto! Dammit, go! You have to get Sasuke!"

Naruto was fighting the Fivetails, three of his own tails already out. Kiba was furiously trying to gain his attention, but Naruto didn't budge.

Ino's voice, pressed. "We got it, Naruto. I swear, if you don't go after her immediately-"

That seemed to wake him from his trance. With one last, desperate glance, he whirled around and took off into the vast plains around them: following Sakura back to where all of them had known she would lead him, and all of them knew it would end. Towards Sasuke.

And the Konoha nin fought.

Chouji screamed, pain-filled, and Kiba was crawling towards a death-still Akamaru and Neji had no time to check on his friends because he was bleeding from the side of his head and blood was dripping into his eyes. And yet he couldn't help seeing. He watched as Kiba went down one last time, the Gobi tearing into his side like a predator with a victorious howl. He watched as Chouji flattened the Hachibi one last time and did not get up afterwards. He watched Ino on the ground, trying to stand and failing, her hair and her skin and her clothes burnt from the Nibi's fire attacks, blood matting her blonde hair. But the bijuu were as exhausted as they were. And Neji knew he was seeing a victory, but that this victory was none.

We vow to protect Hidden Leaf-

They had been prepared to die, after all, so Naruto could reach Sasuke and stop him from destroying the world. If this was the end, they would bear it. The Sanbi was unable to produce any small clones of itself anymore, but still it was fighting viciously. Neji closed his eyes: Hinata's face danced in front of his closed lids. Ino and Naruto, his teammates, and all his friends. They were the Konoha Ten. The Sanbi roared. Neji always knew he'd die like this: in a fight. We're living in temporary places, Ino's voice whispered in his mind, and Naruto laughed, triumphant. But what we have is forever! His opponent lifted his head, weak but as unwilling to give up as Neji was, and Neji prepared for the last assault…

… It never comes.

"What happened to the rest of you?" Someone bites out. "Are you the Konoha Four now, or what? Pitiful."

"Shut up, Temari," another voice orders. "Fivetails. Kankurou: Eighttails. Shikamaru: Two. Go."

"You get all the fun," the female voice complains again, and then the world shatters back into focus.

The next thing Neji remembers is Chouji being carried on a disk of sand, and Kiba and Akamaru limping along, leaning on each other. And Ino is unconscious and bleeding but a tall, dark-haired shinobi is lifting her effortlessly, staring down at her with a curious expression in his face.

"Anyone of you with some basic medical knowledge?" Sabaku no Gaara asks, and Kiba nods at Ino.

Temari rolls her eyes at no one in particular. "What are we doing here?"

Her brothers ignore her so Neji does not deem it necessary to punch her, woman or not. Fact is, Ino and Chouji are in very critical condition. But while Chouji remains unconscious on their way back Ino wakes up, screaming and trashing, and not even Neji is able to calm her.

"Shit, she's still losing blood!" Temari's voice is harsh. "What's happening? What did the Nibi do?"

Ino screams, weeps. And the dark-haired shinobi – Shikamaru – covers her eyes with one hand and whispers something. She calms almost instantly.

It's… curious.

They're two days away from home, with four badly injured shinobi, and have no message as to how Naruto's encounter with Sasuke is faring. But the entire village was planned as backup for the man who, without any doubt in Neji's mind, will be the next Hokage. Naruto has never failed when he has set his mind to something: Neji's trust in his friend is unshakable. Still, he cannot stop himself from worrying.

And, despite everything, he keeps an eye on Shikamaru.

v. Ocean in the shell

"I told you so. Didn't I tell her so, Neji? Tell her I told her so."

"I told you so," Neji dead-panned, his face without any emotion.

Naruto laughed, delightedly, as if their friend hadn't just made the oldest joke in the universe. Well, Ino thought, it probably was amazing in itself that Neji had made a joke at all. Or had he?

"When you're done gloating, maybe you'll tell me what I am supposed to know?"

Naruto shot her a triumphant look. "Ibiki just nominated you as the next Head of Intelligence."

It wasn't entirely unexpected, Ino thought. And yet. She wondered what her father would say, were he still alive. And smiled.

"Watch out, Five Continents!" Naruto hollered. "Team Eleven coming!"

"You might be the designated Hokage, Fates help us but Tsunade-sama decided," Kakashi said, glancing up from his book. "But we're in a public place. So if the future Anbu captain and the future Head of Intelligence please could put a lock on that guy so the people here might enjoy their Ramen in relative peace that would be nice."

"Oh, and, Ino," Naruto said, his attention already halfway fixed on the steaming bowl of soup in front of him. "Suna is sending an ambassador in three weeks' time." He threw her a mischievous look. "I just thought you should know."

"I already know, Naruto."

"Oh well." He shrugged, but the look remained. "Head of Intelligence and all. I'll leave him to you, then."

Human minds were seldom shallow and often scary.

Ino had learned at an early age that loosing oneself in another one's consciousness was dangerous, and that there were minds that could suck one in and never let go again. She had seen so many people, had felt so many close to her own. She'd been so many people's minds sometimes she didn't know who she was. Being a mind reader was like standing in a room full of people shouting at each other and being unable to shut out the voices – Yamanaka clan members with the full gift often went mad before even reaching adulthood. Ino had learned to cope; also because she had Neji, Naruto and Chouji. They grounded her. All of them did – Hinata and Tenten, Kiba, Shino and even Lee.

"Hi."

Talking to Shikamaru, on the other hand, always was like balancing on a thin thread. She couldn't lie, so welcome back was out of question. She couldn't welcome him back into a place he'd never really regarded his home, no matter how much she-

Shikamaru inclined his head, his eyes focusing on her. Seeing through her. This was the fourth time he had come to Leaf as a diplomatic envoy to Suna, not counting the chuunin trials and the short time after the war. The fourth time she had been tasked (Naruto's idea, no doubt) with greeting him and being his guide and she still wasn't sure she liked the feeling he left in her when he looked at her like that.

"We've prepared the same place you stayed in the last time," she offered, weary. He nodded. Ino waited a heartbeat, then continued, "Do you need anything else?"

"No, thank you." His voice was quiet.

"See you tomorrow, then."

Ino fled, and despised herself for it. It wasn't like her to be upset just because a man looked at her like… Like. It wasn't really because of his dark eyes or his lean built or his fine sense of humor that often danced on the verge between sarcasm and humor. It was something else entirely, something Ino could not run from, hadn't been able to since the day he had covered her eyes and whispered to her that everything would be fine: It was the terrible familiarity of Shikamaru's mind and the effect it had on her. It was like the sound of the ocean in a shell: far away, calm and soothing.

(Maybe that was why he loved to just stare at the river for hours without end: every river flows towards the sea.)

Maybe, if they had grown up together, she would have learned to live side by side with him without the constant ache she now felt when he was near. Even more: It was almost unbearable when he wasn't there.

"Ino." A hand wrapped around her wrist. Familiar, strange, like the sound of her name on his lips. Ino shivered involuntarily. "Would you like to grab something to eat?"

"I'm not hungry," she said. "Thanks."

"Are you avoiding me?" His eyes were dark. Every other person's mind would have grown equally shadowed, Shikamaru's remained calm. Sunlight on water.

"Of course not."

"No?" Shikamaru repeated, his eye brows drawn up into his hair line. "So you just happen to run into the other direction when I'm here?"

Ino stared at him scathingly. "I'm busy."

"Not busier than Naruto, and he managed to have lunch with me."

"He's the Hokage. It's his duty to have lunch with you." It was hers, actually, as well.

"Stop avoiding me, Ino, it's troublesome." And there it was again: the soft pressure in the back of her head, the warm, addictive feeling of his sheer nearness.

"Don't mess with my head," she snapped, tearing away her hand. Why were her walls so thin with him around?

Shikamaru smiled: a twitch of his lips, laughter in his eyes. "Shouldn't I be the one saying that?"

The only person – except for Naruto and Neji – who didn't let her acidic words fool or deter him. For that alone, she–

– the moment I tell myself I love him it is already too late.

"I'll pick you up at seven," he said and dropped his hand, and the moment the contact was gone she wished for it again.

"You don't even know where I live."

Another lazy smirk. "Don't underestimate me."

She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Absolutely not."

He moved so quickly she barely was able to trace his pattern: the one second he stood a meter apart from her, the next he was so close she could almost feel his warmth. Ino froze. He whispered something – his exhalation a ghost touch at her ear – and was gone the next second.

Shikamaru's eyes were smiling. "See you later." It was a challenge, a deliberate one.

Ino stood, transfixed, and watched him disappear behind the next corner, torn between a yearning so old she felt helpless and a laugh that threatened to spill out of her.

I know you.

If he wanted a match, he'd get one.