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All due credit belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Credit for this written piece belongs to yours truly.

the easy answer to an easy question
: Sincerely. Yvette

. . .

"Ino," he said to her one day. "Why are you so troublesome?"

Birds screeched past them, above the highlighted sun. Their steps dragged casually against the path, and Ino took a moment to glance nonchalantly at her hands ( which she had previously sparred with), nitpicking at the newfound scars scattered over her porcelain skin. She turned to him, raising a brow as she gave a pout—due to either the flawed marks on her skin or because of his question—and shrugged.

"Who said I was troublesome?"

"I did."

When she looked away, he shoved his hands into his pockets, now taking his own time to look at the sky instead. He counted the few clouds flowing against the sky, mindlessly wishing that he were atop of them; but then he remembered that his body would simply leave a mark in the cottony surface, rather than keep him supported in bliss.

"Well, if you're the one who thinks that, shouldn't you also be the one who knows why?"

"No."

He heard a scoff, and he sensed that she was glancing over her scars again. It wasn't until they had killed a mile through the silence of mere zori against faded paths that Ino spoke out again, this time sounding curious rather than bored.

"What makes you say that I'm troublesome?"

This, Shikamaru concluded, was the best question Ino had ever asked.

I

. . .

The first day he met her was the day his father brought him along with him to the Yamanaka Flower Shop. He may have already known her since their birthdays were only a day apart, and since their fathers were the best of friends, though the first time he would have been able to distinguish who or what she was, was that day.

At first, Shikamaru had questioned whether the little flower shop was in reality where they lived. His father knew that he was a clever boy, though he was still only four. It seemed like a stretch if you could eat and sleep in such a small cranny, especially when most of which was surrounded in merchandise and plants. He later found out that they lived upstairs, and this was when it made sense to him.

He remembers stepping into the store that summer, trailing behind Shikaku as he observed his surroundings. Then he heard her. His head snapped towards a loud giggle, and his eyes met with a pair of ice.

She was petite and cute, with big eyes of an icy blue. He didn't like her already. She looked bold – something which he wasn't. He didn't like bold.
And then he heard two fathers boom in laughter, greeting each other with a thick handshake. One called out to her.

"Go on, Ino. Go on and say hi."

She ran up to him, smiling at him with her hands behind her back.

Shikamaru stepped away, cringing when her voice spoke out to him.

"I'm Ino!"

He didn't like her one bit – not since the first day he remembers meeting her.

She was bold.

This was troublesome.

M

. . .

Once he and Ino had been enrolled in the Ninja Academy, he made sure to steer away from her, especially when he realized that they were in the same class. While he wound up as 'the kid who sleeps through lectures,' she wound up as a well-liked student.

Their years went by, and the day they were assigned their cells was the day he grew to really dislike her.

Akimichi Choji.

Yamanaka Ino.

Nara Shikamaru.

The three decided to take their lunch break together, but rather, Ino was the one who decided for them. She had dragged them along with her and eventually stood before them after they had finished eating.

Shikamaru kept his distance from her, watching as she smiled brightly with her hands on her hips.

"Listen up!" she had said, her voice booming with confidence. "From this day on, I will be the leader of Team Ten, got it? There's no way I'm letting you, the kid who does nothing but eat, or you, the bum who never takes charge, lead our squad!"

Surprisingly, Shikamaru decided to reply to her.

"What makes you think we want a loudmouth leading our squad?"

He soon regret this decision when her eyes turned their attention onto him, with her still smiling.

"You think you'd do a better job? Take the spot from me if you can!"

He looked away, mumbling 'troublesome'. Ino smiled wider at this.

"It's decided then!"

Later that day, Shikamaru concluded that he wasn't going to enjoy his years as a genin.

She was too assertive.

This was troublesome.

P

. . .

Though she was their self-proclaimed leader, Ino was always the final one to arrive when they had a mission to set off to.

Shikamaru found this ridiculous, especially since he was generally the one who was late ( mainly because he didn't care most of the time ). Knowing that Asuma would have their heads if all three were not present when he arrived, Shikamaru trudged his way down to the Yamanaka Flower Shop one day in particular.

Inoichi lead him upstairs, pointing towards her room that morning.

When Shikamaru peeked through the door crack, he remembers groaning after seeing her before her mirror. He widened the view by pushing the door further, catching Ino's attention when he spoke out to her.

"Is this what you do every morning that you're late?"

Ino had looked at him as she wound her hair into a neat bun, tying it with a ribbon and then untying it. Her porcelain strands fluttered over her back, and she turned to him.

"Should I leave my hair down?" she said, making Shikamaru deadpan.

He grabbed onto her wrist, pulling her with him out the door.

"H—hey! My things! I need to grab my bag!"

Shikamaru groaned for the third time that morning and he struggled against the urge to face palm.

She was narcissistic.

This was troublesome.

O

. . .

Their sets of missions were shaky; Shikamaru wasn't very fond of fighting, but Ino, on the other hand, was. He agreed that she wasn't the best of fighters, but she fought with spirit.

She used her flexibility to her advantage, coiling away from offenders with ease. She cartwheeled around the field, sprang high into the air, and wound up behind enemies in record time. She always fought with a smile, too.

"I'm not going to lose!" she would say, as they sparred.

During one particular sparring session, a session in which Asuma had forced him to fight against her, he immediately wanted to forfeit. She stood before him, cracking her knuckles with the smile he hated to look at.

"You better not wimp out!" she yelled out to him.

She was confident. Too confident.

This was troublesome.

S

. . .

As their missions grew progressive and dangerous, Shikamaru's actions grew more plentiful – whether he liked it or not.

Ino, being the leader of the team, thought that it was her duty to spring forward as savior.

She would receive several blows from enemies, and she would fight even when anyone could assume that her wounds stung with every move by just glancing at her. She blocked as many hits as she could manage, and she would not allow Shikamaru or Choji to be hit without her consent. She would not hesitate to play decoy, and she would use her mind-transfer jutsu even when her chakra was at a dangerous level.

Shikamaru would catch her body, screaming out to her angrily.

"Ino, don't be stupid! Release your jutsu before you get yourself killed!"

And even then, she would not release.

When she would finally be back in her own body, Shikamaru would stare at her with grit teeth and a pulse pounding so thickly that he could feel the blood soaring through his veins.

This woman would be the death of him.

She was too brave.

This was troublesome.

S

. . .

As much as he hated rushing, Shikamaru knew not to keep Ino waiting. She had a short level of patience, and a second too long was all it took for her to explode.

He had learned this when Choji had gone to the restroom one day at lunch. Thus, Asuma told Shikamaru to layer the following plate of meat onto the grill. As he took the pair of chopsticks, as well as the plate of meat, he began laying out one slice at a time.

Ino responded two slices later by snatching both items from Shikamaru, quickly throwing each slab onto the grill.

"God, don't you ever do anything fast?"

Shikamaru only sighed.

She was impatient.

This was troublesome.

I

. . .

Shikamaru hated being caught lounging around by Ino. Especially during watch duty.

"Shikamaru! What do you think you're doing – sleeping on the job! We could be ambushed!"

She would pull at his arm, waking him unpleasantly. Her voice would scream down at him, and he would wince up at her with bleary eyes. Slowly, he would rise, stretching himself out as she continued ranting into his ear.

"Honestly! Do you think that watching the campground with your eyes closed will keep us safe?"

"Right, right," he would say, nodding, as he would look away. "You're right."

"Damn straight!" By this point, she would be furious. "Now get your lazy ass up and watch over the campground like you're supposed to!"

Just as he would think that she'd finally stop, her voice would grow angrier.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

"Yeah, yeah. Would you quit screaming? I heard you the first time . . ."

She was a nag.

This was troublesome.

B

. . .

The day she had been promoted to the rank of chuunin, he wouldn't hear the end of it.

She was battered and scarred, tired and sweaty—though somehow all that would generally matter to her was of no matter. Instead, she sprang up with a clenched fist and a powerful bellow. She waved up at him and Choji, who cheered for her, though not nearly as loud.

Later that afternoon, Asuma treated them to barbeque, and Ino walked between them, brimming with happiness. Asuma made sure to give her a hearty pat on the back; Choji promised to make her whatever she asked for; and when she turned to Shikamaru, smiling too brightly for him to handle, he smiled meekly and glanced to the side.

"Congrats", he said, and he was immediately cut off with an ear-shattering Thank you! and tackle. He pried her away from him, wincing at her bone-crushing embrace.

She was incredibly loud.

This was troublesome.

L

. . .

During their dinner at Yakiniku one evening, Shikamaru thought that Ino was trying to get them killed.

As Choji stacked a variety of meat slices onto the grill, Ino called out to him as she swallowed a bite. She leaned forward, eyeing him as he glanced up at her, curious as to why she would interrupt him.

"Oi," she said. "Choji."

"Hm?" he had replied.

"You're a chuunin now, aren't you? It's time for you to trim down that weight!"

"Hm?"

Asuma stopped chewing, and Shikamaru had flinched his stare up at her.

"You heard me! I'm tired of seeing you lug yourself around like a fatass!"

"Fatass!"

"Starting tomorrow, we're going out to train like there's no tomorrow, got it?"

And just as Choji gave her a menacing glare, standing from his seat with a growl, her hand shot out towards him and grabbed onto his collar. Both Asuma and Shikamaru prepared for the worst when she held him close in front of her.

"Listen to me here, big boy. I want to see all of that weight turned into muscle by the end of the year." She bore her eyes into his, and surprisingly Choji remained still. "Eat all you want after that, but your added weight better be muscle."

Her grip was released, and she sat back onto her cushion.

Shikamaru released the breath he hadn't known he was holding, and Asuma cleared his throat, now swallowing what he had previously been chewing.

She was scary.

This was troublesome.

E

. . .

When she and Shikamaru began helping Choji train ( just as she had ordered ), Shikamaru remembers listening to her constant screams of support, her cheers, and her praise.

She made sure to take breaks when Choji looked about ready to pass out, and she even offered to treat them to lunch ( to which they had refused because neither thought it was polite to allow a woman to pay ).

All throughout their months of rigorous training, she stayed by Choji's side and pushed him to try his hardest. When he begged her to call it a day, she refused and even threatened him. Though she still offered praise when they would record his new speed and strength records, as well as the clear difference in his form.

By the end of the year, Ino stood before Choji, patting his shoulder enthusiastically.

"Good job, Choji! Kick everyone who calls you fat to the curb!" She then gave his arm a punch. "This here is nothing but muscle now, so be proud of yourself!"

Shikamaru watched with a small smile, nodding at Choji as well.

That day, after Ino had panicked when Choji was brought to tears ( tears of joy, of course ), Shikamaru had concluded that Ino was fit for being a leader.

She was supportive.

This could be troublesome.

W

. . .

The week Asuma had passed away, all of Team Ten had grown solemn.

Shikamaru remembers walking around aimlessly as he clenched onto Asuma's lighter in his pants pocket. While he was taking the death hard, every time he would pass by the Yamanaka Flower Shop, he would always see a very pale, dim Ino.

Her usual, confident smile was no longer alive; her eyes were a dull blue; and her voice was set at normal tone.

He decided to invite her on a walk, and he spoke out to her no matter how awkward this was to him. She would talk back with short answers and a mildly bowed head. This troubled him.

When he lit a cigarette, taking a tough drag and exhaling the familiar scent of chemicals, he remembers hearing her voice strain into a whimper. She walked behind him for the rest of the day, hiding her grief.

She was sensitive behind her usual character.

This was troublesome.

O

. . .

Ino was not the only one caught in grief.

The night Shikamaru's thoughts chose to pool into tears and rage, Ino had stayed by his side. She returned the favor by gently offering to take a walk in the desolate paths, even if it was past the hours of midnight.

She spoke out to him, brows furrowed but with a small, unusual smile.

"He wouldn't want you to be like this," she said to him.

They eventually stopped by a nearby bench, and she sat beside him, listening to his painful sobs. He remembers her hands ghosting their way around him, pulling him into her arms when he kept wiping violently at his tears.

"It's okay to cry," she said through her own tears, he later realized.

He remembers his grief spilling through each tear that night.

She was kind.

This was troublesome.

M

. . .

As they coped with the death of Asuma, after Shikamaru had avenged his death, Ino stepped forward as a true leader.

When called onto missions, no longer was she the last one to arrive at the entrance gate. Rather, she made sure to march over to the Nara residence early in the morning, pounding her first against the door. Yoshino, being the first and only awake at the residence, would greet and welcome her warmly.

Shikamaru would have a rude awakening soon after when his door would slam against its adjacent wall, and when Mochi would hiss and scatter into the hall.

"Wake up! It's time to get ready for our mission!"

Despite their refusals, Ino would go against the wills of Shikamaru and even Choji when she would treat them for dinner at Yakiniku. She would, however, allow them to take turns paying to keep it fair.

"Only because we're a team," she'd say.

Shikamaru also couldn't forget the huge leap Ino had taken after fully completing her training under Sakura's supervision ( which was much to Ino's despair ). Her self-proclaimed role as savior grew thicker now that she could heal mild to moderate wounds.

"Ino, don't push yourself, you troublesome woman!"

"Shut up! I'll heal myself later! You two come first!"

Many had grown to acknowledge Ino's role, including Shikamaru.

She was responsible.

This was troublesome.

A

. . .

Shikamaru knew that there was one thing that hadn't changed about Ino since the start of their childhood. In fact, it had grown brighter, and she was fully aware of it.

Ino had always been attractive, whether it be a cute little girl or the charming woman she was now.

Accursedly, she tried to use it to her advantage in their earlier years as genin; however, when it proved to bring them hardship rather than ease, she learned her lesson and took a step back.

Now, Shikamaru realized, Ino had begun using her appearance blindly. While she still dressed in a provoking manner sometimes, she still had a certain charm to her when she woke up during their campouts on missions, and when she grew angry.

Naturally-tousled hair was surprisingly attractive and her eyes grew a translucent grey when she was mad.

One thing Shikamaru could not get over was how unsure of herself she was when it came to the summer festival. Ino had come out of her shop doorway, looking down at herself as she scanned the plum-colored patterns of her yukata. Shikamaru, on the other hand, cursed to himself when he felt his cheeks grow too hot for his liking.

"Are you sure that I look okay?" she had asked, looking honestly unsure with herself.

"You look fine," was all that he had managed to choke out. His mind wished to have described her otherwise.

She was beautiful.

This was troublesome.

N

. . .

While it may have been the best question Ino had asked yet, Shikamaru fought through his thoughts as he tried to find the right word to describe her.

While it was common for their walks to fade into silence, he could tell that Ino was allowing her curiosity to eat at her. He shrugged inwardly, however, because such a great question needed a worthy answer.

Thus, he flicked his eyes to the ground as he thought past the sound of a crow, and as he ignored the stare she bore into the side of his head.

She's troublesome for a plentiful set of reasons, he thought. She's been bold since the very day I remember meeting her. That's troublesome. The day we were placed in the same team, she was assertive enough to claim the role of leader. That was troublesome . . .

Shikamaru thought further, now knowing that Ino was growing impatient.

She cares too much about how she looks; even got our asses handed to us a few times when Asuma arrived before we all did. That was troublesome. And she's confident enough to smile through all of her battles, even the ones she loses in. That's very troublesome.

He glanced at Ino, making her flinch, and then looked away.

She's too brave, always going out and nearly killing herself over us. Way too troublesome. Then you can't keep her waiting unless you want your head ripped off. Troublesome. Ugh, and she's such a nag too. God, she's so troublesome . . .

As much as he wanted to, Shikamaru urged himself to keep walking rather than stopping in his tracks to think. This would only provoke her patience further.

She's always so loud too. That's troublesome. And she's scary enough to call Choji a fatass and then threaten him to control his weight. That's very troublesome. She's supportive, I guess, but she forced us through such merciful training. Being too supportive is troublesome . . .

Shikamaru glanced at Ino once more, this time holding his pensive stare longer than expected. This, much to his amusement, caused Ino to look away with a self-conscious blush.

"What is it?"

For someone with such a rough core, she's can be damn sensitive. Very troublesome . . . But she's kind too. That's also troublesome.

He finally looked away, nearly nodding to himself.

She's grown very responsible . . . too responsible. Troublesome.

His thoughts paused, and he looked at her as she walked with her newly tinged cheeks. He smirked, causing them to flame harder.

She's beautiful. That's much too troublesome. . .

Shikamaru silenced his thoughts, glancing up at the sky to take a moment of conclusion. The clouds were growing shadowed as the sun grew orange, and the skies followed through by mirroring its color. Instead of doing what he normally would—counting the stars now becoming visible—Shikamaru simply took in the image before finally ending the silence.

"Well," he began. "That's an easy question."

He fought back a chuckle, knowing that Ino wanted to respond with: Oh yeah? Well why did you take so long to answer then!

"You're troublesome because of one thing. You're impossible."

Ino's jaw dropped, and Shikamaru skillfully dodged her fist. As he ignored her line of strained profanity, he smiled.

There was a better explanation, but he decided not to tell her.

She wasn't ready to know that she was troublesome because he had somehow fallen in love with her.

Impossible would have to do, for now.

. . .

Impossible Woman

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