Standard Disclaimer Apply.
Author's Note: Three final papers, two pre-final exams and a mug of coffee equals this fan fiction. Hope you enjoy. This was inspired by a manga I've read online before. I couldn't really remember the title and creator because the front page wasn't translated to English. Lol.
Tolerable
by Skye-Sama
Nara Shikamaru disliked anything that he considered troublesome.
He may be the smartest student in the entire school, but he was also the laziest. He slept during classes, spent his free time watching the clouds, and never bothered to socialize, saying that it was too troublesome for him.
Elbows propped on his desk and chin cupped with both hands, he watched as the thing that he considered the most troublesome of all come his way.
Long, silky blond tresses that cascaded around her shoulders gracefully.
Eyes that reminded him of the sky that he loved to stare so much.
Smooth alabaster skin and a slim figure with all the right curves.
Not to mention her social status and influence.
Everything about her shouted "Troublesome".
Meet Yamanaka Ino.
The most troublesome woman he had ever known, next to his mother of course. (His mother would always be in his top list.)
The most envied, most admired girl in the school.
His girlfriend.
--
"Shikamaru," she greeted happily. "Your birthday is coming up, and so is mine. Father plans to close down a first-class hotel for my celebration. You have to come, okay?"
"How troublesome," he mumbled complainingly.
He was never sure why he agreed to go out with her in the first place. Dating someone like her never crossed his mind. He wanted someone simple; not too ugly, not too pretty and definitely not too popular. But when she had confessed, he was unable to reject her.
Maybe it was exactly like his best friend told him.
"Rejecting her was too troublesome for you," were the exact words that he had said.
'Maybe Chouji was right after all,' he thought, laying his head on the desk and closing his eyes. 'As he had always been.'
"Hey Shika," she said softly, leaning closer to his face. "Don't forget to come to the rooftop at lunch time. I made your bento extra special today."
He lazily opened one eye. "Hn."
She smiled at him brightly in return.
It was the kind of smile that made his heart stop for a second, then resume beating at twice the usual speed.
It was the kind of smile he couldn't look away from.
It was exactly that smile, which made him unable to ignore her the day that she had confessed; the one smile that made him agree to date her.
That smile…
"So troublesome," he muttered, looking away.
--
"He's late," Ino grumbled, looking at her watch for- was it the fifth time? She lost count. It was already twenty minutes past lunch time and the food she prepared was getting cold.
She stood up and decided to search for him. She went to his classroom but he was not there. She asked several of his friends whom she met on the halls, but they didn't know where he was.
Just when she was about to give up, she saw him in the fields. She was about to call him but she found out that he wasn't alone.
Beside him was Sabaku Temari.
His ex-girlfriend.
The woman she knew she can never replace.
She knew it all along. She was just too darn stubborn to accept the fact.
When he agreed to go out with her, she was very happy. She could finally be closer to him. Every minute they spent together made her very happy. She thought it was enough.
But as time passed by, she started wanting more. Spending time with him wasn't enough. She wanted- no needed- him to like her. For him to look at her the way he looked at the other girl.
She could feel in her heart that she was never the one, but she never stopped hoping.
'One day, he'll like me as much as I like him…' she used to say. But at that very moment, her hope started to falter as reality came crashing down on her.
"You knew about this all along, didn't you?" a voice asked him.
She looked to her side and saw his best friend Chouji.
She hesitated for a few moments before nodding sadly.
"Why won't you stop?" he asked with concern in his eyes.
"I guess it's alright," she stated with a small dejected smile. She watched as Temari said something that made Shikamaru turn beet red; watched as Temari laughed and he looked away in embarrassment.
In the end, she could only watch as the man she likes slowly slipped away from her grasp.
She turned to her back, unable to bear anymore hurt. Her tears were threatening to fall and she didn't know how long she could stop it. "As long as I can stay beside him, it will be alright."
"Ino…" Chouji couldn't say anything more as he watched the girl walk away from the scene. He had grown fond of her and seeing her with that expression pained him somehow.
"Is it really okay, huh Ino?" he whispered sadly.
--
She was outside her classroom talking to a few of her classmates when he found her.
When the bell rang, announcing the end of school for the day, he had expected her to be waiting for him in the hall, like she always did. But he knew it can't be helped. After all, he was the one who was not able to make it to the rooftop for lunch.
He had no intention of ditching her. He was already on his way to meet her when Temari suddenly appeared in front of him. They talked and she had said a few troublesome things to him.
It still bothered him up until that moment.
He saw her excuse herself from the group and approached him.
"Sorry if I didn't make it for lunch," he immediately apologized. "Something came up."
"You mean someone," Ino whispered under her breath but not loud enough for him to hear. She forced a smile. "It's okay. Shall we go then?"
There was something about her smile that made him uneasy, but he ignored it. He nodded.
She was being unusually quiet but he barely noticed. He was deep in thought while they were in the middle of their walk. Temari's words kept haunting him.
"Shikamaru, long time no talk."
"I was actually surprised that you came to my classroom," Ino finally spoke up but he hardly heard what she said. His mind was busy understanding everything that Temari had told him.
She didn't bother checking if he was paying attention either. She was too busy hurting inside.
"You look different. It must be because of her."
"I didn't expect you to come to me after I saw you with her."
"You've grown attached to her, didn't you?"
"You didn't have to apologize. I've always known…"
"I can see it in your eyes."
"If there came a time that you had to choose, it will always be her."
"You always had that bored look whenever she's around."
"It was pretty stupid of me to hope."
"But your eyes would soften as soon as her back is turned."
"Until now, you're still in love with her."
"You've learned to like her, didn't you?"
"That's why…" her voice broke off and she stopped walking. Tears gathered on the corner of her eyes. "I'll stop."
"Have you told her?"
Temari's last words snapped him back to reality. "Ino?"
She was on the other side of the road, her head bowed down. "I'm sorry…"
Her statement made his heart pound in fear. Why was she saying sorry? More importantly, why did she stop walking?
When she looked up, his eyes widened in alarm. Tears were running down her cheeks.
"Wha- Why…?"
"I'm sorry," she repeated, in a much firmer tone this time. A small bitter smile formed her lips. "This is the farthest that I can go."
Have you told her? Temari's question echoed in his mind once more. Have you told her, Shikamaru?
"Farewell, Shikamaru."
He clenched his fist tightly, gritting his teeth in frustration. "Ino, I-"
What he was about to say was cut off when the train passed between them. By the time it had completely left, Ino was nowhere to be found.
Before he could even stop himself, his legs moved according to its accord.
"What a troublesome girl," he muttered crossly a few minutes later. His breathing was heavy as he struggled to catch his breath. "Making me go through all these…"
He had a lot of things he wanted to rant about, but when he saw her- by the river with a lonely expression- all of those vanished in a flash. He slowly walked towards her.
"I finally found you," he said, stopping a few feet away from where she was standing.
"Shikamaru?" she gasped in surprise upon seeing him. "What are you doing here?"
A hand went to his forehead as he sighed in acquiescence. "You're too troublesome…" he started.
Ino looked away in irritation. "You ran all the way here just to tell me that?" There was a sarcastic edge to her voice.
He ignored her remark. "You're way too troublesome," he said again, as if to add salt to the already bleeding wound. "But…"
Her heart slammed against her chest almost painfully as she waited for his next words.
A small, playful smirk curved his lips. "I guess I can tolerate."
--
Fin.