oo3 | in which Ino is actually serious. ...for a short while, at least.

[not_a_porker]

Who: Shikamaru and Ino
Where: The plaza in Espoir a.k.a. Ino's hangout
Style: Either
Status: Closed!

It was a well-known fact that Ino hated waiting. Whether she was waiting for something to arrive on her doorstep or for someone to come meet her somewhere, she couldn't stand to sit around and do nothing; she was, after all, above that kind of

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[not_a_porker]

"The sooner we get to Konoha, the sooner I go tell your mother how rude you are," she said shortly, her scowl not wavering the slightest bit. She was definitely being hard on him, but she certainly wasn't about to apologize for it. He deserved it.

...Well, he kind of deserved it. In the back of her mind, she knew that she was only making a bad situation worse for him; after all, waking up and finding himself in that crazy place? Hearing her tell him that Asuma-sensei was supposed to be dead? It certainly couldn't be easy for him, even if he somehow managed to always roll with the punches and keep his stupid lazy demeanor.

And it was also easy to spot the fact that he was trying to do as she had told him to, although his idea of "asking politely" was anything but her own. He clearly was only attempting it because he wanted information, but it was still a start.

And she did want to get everything out of the way....

She crossed her arms, looking up at him; it was clearly relevant to her interests to answer his stupid questions, although she wasn't about to make it easy for him. "You know what? Fine, but just so you'll stop asking." She kept the same annoyed tone she had used throughout their conversation, never even letting it waver; after all, even though she was essentially agreeing to answer whatever it was he wanted to ask, her pride was still at stake. "But how am I supposed to know what you need to know? I don't know everything that Kakashi-sensei told you."

[still_lazy]

Oddly enough, that was easier than he expected it to be. Then again, if Ino had been as miserable as she claimed to be, he wouldn't doubt that she just wanted to get all his questions answered before she could take the chance to yell and demand things from him. But now that he was given this option, he tried to figure out where to start.

His plan had been to let Ino pick what to tell him first off, considering that this would probably be a lot harder for her than him. She was the one who went through all this tragedy after all, especially considering that one of those tragedies was the death of their squad leader. Should he still let her have that option? Or would it take too long? The way he was beginning to see it, it would be all the easier to just explain what he wanted to know. But she could always take that as more commanding than he would have intended. Well, this was life or death (or so he hoped), so he figured that he might as well take is chances.

"He told me that Asuma-sensei died. He basically just updated me on the deaths, it was pretty depressing to hear. We tried to work out the mechanics behind his death and debated whether or not this is the afterlife. I'd really rather think that it isn't, but his logic is hard to crack," Shikamaru told her as he glanced upwards, recalling his conversation with the Team 7 leader.

Replacing his gaze on her, he moved on with his questions, "So first things first, care to tell me what you know about this place? I'd really rather not believe that it's the afterlife, considering that I don't remember dying."

[OOC: a;ldfjasdf Sorry for the late tag. D:]

[not_a_porker]

She couldn't help it; at the mention of Asuma's death, she looked away briefly, pressing her lips tightly together. She thought that she had gotten over it, really, but there was something about seeing him alive once more that had just brought everything back; knowing that she had to explain all the details was also something that she was not looking forward to. She looked back over at him, her annoyed expression softening just a bit. No, she wasn't looking forward to it at all.

But, thankfully, he started with the easy topic first. She could deal with that.

"...I don't know what this place is," she answered honestly, shrugging her shoulders. It really was amazing how quickly she could go from one emotion to the other; only seconds before she had been speaking in a tone of pure annoyance, but, as she began to answer his question, her tone became much less irritated and much more earnest. Ino knew that there were times when being obnoxious--even when it came to dealing with Shikamaru--was certainly not the best way to act.

"People say it's a 'dream world' or something, though," she continued. "I heard that line thrown around a lot when I first came here; it seems stupid to me, but... it's better than Kakashi-sensei's theory; I mean, I don't remember dying, either, even though Konoha was... under attack just before I arrived here." Despite that bit of information, and despite the fact that a Pein clone had been practically right in front of her, she honestly didn't believe that she was dead; hearing that Shikamaru didn't believe that he was dead, either, only served to reaffirm her belief. Even though he didn't say he knew for sure that they weren't in some... weird afterlife, hearing him voice his doubts was enough for her; she trusted his judgment.

[ooc: Pffffffft, no problem! Also, I can't resist: Are you going to put Shikamaru up for auction? OH GOD IT SOUNDS SO WEIRD.]

[still_lazy]

Noting her reaction to when he mentioned Asuma's death, he took it that of all the subjects he planned to cover, that one would probably be the most difficult. They could save it for another day... but that was only if it was absolutely necessary. He was more curious than anyone about that, although it wasn't really on the need-to-know list. What was most important was that they figure out where they were, and how to get back to Konoha. But if Asuma really was going to die... he had to find out how to prevent it before he went back. He could also probably ask Kakashi. Though for now, he had to gather enough answers to please everyone, and Ino was his best source of information at that point.

... Although there were a lot of holes in her explanation. She knew less than he expected, but at least it was a start. He got the name of the place and the phrase "dream world". But how far could he get from that? He noticed she mentioned that Konoha was under attack, so he would ask about that next. For now, his mind tried to figure out how everything could possibly connect.

He glanced up at the sky, seeing if he could catch a glimpse of that floating castle. Did that have to do with anything? There was the fact that there wasn't anything holding it up. As far as he was aware, chakra couldn't be use to manage that type of feat. It was impossible. And anything was possible in a dream... but there was also the belief that anything was possible in the afterlife. Kakashi's logic would be hard to crack until he got more information than that. But for this world to be called the dream world... There had to be some relation.

"Any idea why it's called a dream world, Ino? I'm guessing that dreams would have to be incoporated in the makings of this place somehow. Are there any inconsistencies? For example, if Asuma-sensei had died before, wouldn't he have been here before you? But that'd just have us arrive back to time differences..." he asked, turning to her. He answered a few of his own questions, musing it aloud so she could have at least a slight inkling of what he was thinking. There were few ways that he could prove that this wasn't the afterlife. People came to the afterlife after they had died, obviously, but they were seeking for a way to return to Konoha.

... And then he had it. If this was the afterlife, they couldn't get back to Konoha at all. So the major question to ask was not how they got there, it was how and if they could get back. Turning to Ino, he asked her another question, it was clear that he had an idea, "Wait, Ino. Tell me first, do you know if anyone has left this place? Not just taking a walk out of the city or anything, have they been able to flat-out leave the world?"

[OOC: ♥~ And ffft, Shikamaru and his tl;dr. 8| Haha, I've been thinking about it! Should I? (He'd have to be conned into it, or something. Get him to sign up while he's half-asleep).]

[not_a_porker]

She was fully aware that her information was, well... sorely disappointing. However, she was truly giving him all she had to offer; when she had arrived, the only information that she had been given by anyone was that she had found herself in a so-called "dream world", that there was no escape, and that the thing she had in her hand was called a "Dreamberry". Aside from those important pieces that she had collected, no one else had told her anything, and, although she had truly tried, she hadn't been able to find out any other information.

Still, she was honestly trying her hardest to answer his questions as best as she could, and to provide details to back everything up/

"...Has anyone left?" she repeated slowly, looking away once more as she tried to think of anyone that she had heard of who had managed to escape. There wasn't anyone coming to--

She quickly turned back up to him, a somewhat excited expression on her face; he was apparently onto something, after all. Maybe her bit of news could help him. "There was! Tamaki-san said that his friend left... jeez, what was her name... it was something really boring...." She pursed her lips, remaining quiet for a moment as she glanced up at the sky. "...Haruhi, I think? That was it."

[ooc: Y SO SMART, SHIKAMARU. It's whatever you want to do, bb! But... oh God, Ino would bid on him just to make his life even more miserable, lmfao. "Oh Shi~ka~ma~ru~, I think you should go organize my closet~! But hurry up, because as soon as you're done we're going shopping, which means that you get to carry everything home, and then my house needs to be cleaned, and blah blah blah...."]

[still_lazy]

... Leave it to Ino to add a few more questions while answering one. But nonetheless, that was something that he was looking for. The idea that people could leave would probably be more vital than he expected though. Although there was another question there, where do they leave to? From what it seemed, this Haruhi girl didn't die from anything. At least, not from the way that Ino worded it. But she just... left. So there were a few chances there. Haruhi either went back to her world, or went to another dimension.

But at least he had a lead there, it was something that he would definitely had to ask about. Considering how long Ino took with that one, she probably wouldn't have an answer to his next. If someone had arrived there twice... that wouldn't make sense unless this wasn't the afterlife. Yeah... so he'd have to ask around about that too. That pretty much finished most of his questions about Somarium for now, so he moved onto the next subject that Ino mentioned.

Nodding to himself as he solved that part, he started off on his next search for information, "So you mentioned that Konoha was under attack? I heard about that only vaguely from Kakashi. I'm assuming it was from the Akatsuki?" As far as he was aware, there weren't really many villages planning another attack on Konoha. He had been planning the Chuunin Exams with Temari before he had been taken, but there was always a chance that another attack would take place right after that.... again.

[ooc: HE GOT IT FROM HIS DADDY. ... fffft. brb, replying to Tamaki's post. XD INO. FIND A WAY TO SIGN HIM UP AND THEN BID ON HIM.]

[not_a_porker]

"...Yeah," she said after a momentary pause, reaching up to push her bangs out of her eyes. "It was definitely Akatsuki." She was caught off guard by his question, if only because she had been expecting more inquiries about the place that they were stuck in... more questions that she couldn't answer, to be perfectly honest. Therefore, she was slightly happy that he had asked a question that she could actually answer, even if that question was about an unpleasant subject.

"Pein led the attack himself," she continued, thinking back to where everything began. "He was after Naruto. Daddy and I... we were working with Shizune-san, to try and figure out everything we could about Pein's clones; we managed to figure out how Pein controls his clones before one of them came and...."

Death was a part of every shinobi's life; they had to learn to deal with it, to get over it. However, there had been something terribly shocking about seeing Shizune's very soul ripped out of her body; she couldn't help but to pause once more, mentally kicking herself for doing so. "...He killed Shizune-san," she forced herself to say. "One of his clones. After that, there was some sort of... explosion; I don't know what, exactly, it was, and I don't know how everyone else is, because afterwards... that's when I woke up here. In this stupid place."

The last few words came out sounding almost... bitter. She couldn't help it; the fact that she was where she was, safe, while her father and her friends were still in danger, had been troubling her for quite a while. She knew--she knew--that they were all safe; they were, after all, amazing shinobi who could hold their own, and she knew that Katsuyu was still with each and every one of them. However, there was always that chance that something had gone wrong... that she hadn't been there to help them when they needed her....

[ooc: SHE'LL JUST. YELL AT HIM UNTIL HE DOES IT LMFAO. OH JEEZ THIS WILL BE AMAZING GO SIGN HIM UP.]

[still_lazy]

He listened to all this, turning his sights elsewhere. ... Pein? He hated not knowing who that was. Apparently they had gathered more information on the Akatsuki while he had been away. But considering that from what he recalled, the number of members was unknown. Although from this explanation, this Pein character was considerably powerful. Then again, that was a given for every Akatsuki member.

But hearing that Shizune was taken down... That shook him a bit. How many more of their ninja would they lose? Obviously, it was a given that something like that was bound to happen. But to think that someone he knew would be gone in an instant, it was difficult to think. What was Chouji doing when this happened? And if his theory about his time differences was accurate, what was he doing during all this? If Ino was working with her father, it was understandable that he and Chouji would have seen it to be suitable to leave her. And yet... what if it was Ino that had been killed?

It was how his mind worked, considering every scenario, even if it could be viewed as rather pointless to most. As that thought crossed his mind, his thoughts began to cloud for a bit before he convinced himself that it didn't happen. After all, Ino was standing with him right then. No matter how annoying he found her to be at times, she was still his teammate. After that short time of consideration, he looked back to her, calm once more.

"I'm not exactly ecstatic to be here either, Ino. Besides, considering that you didn't seem particularly shocked to see me or make it seem like ages the last we'd seen each other, I probably returned back to Konoha. ... Or someone is acting in my place, I'm not sure," he mused aloud. Somehow he'd managed to stray off topic from making an awkward attept to console her to again contemplating some more scenarios. "Anyway, I doubt you really disappeared from the face of the planet. We'll get back anyway, if I have anything to say about it." Something about hearing his village being attacked sparked something, making him more determined than ever.

[ooc: THE DEED HAS BEEN DONE... ALSO, LMAO AT THE DREAMS INO HAS TO HAVE.]

[not_a_porker]

She watched him carefully, searching his face for any hints as to what he may have been thinking. She didn't understand how his mind worked in the way that it did--it was, in fact, almost impressive, although she'd sure as hell never tell him that--, and she could never seem to follow his train of thought; it seemed as if she was always left watching him carefully, trying to read into even the smallest move.

It was while she watched him that she realized that, if he was from the point in time he claimed to be from, the name "Pein" more than likely meant nothing to him. She hadn't meant to let it slip without giving him a proper explanation, but... she was so used to dealing with an informed, caught up Shikamaru that it had just made sense....

However, before she could correct her mistake, he was speaking again. She was tempted to snap back at him for the first part of his statement--like he had any room to talk about being pleased to be in some strange place, Mr. I-just-arrived-here-from-a-safe-and-happy-time--but the rest of his words effectively killed that desire. She couldn't help but to feel a sense of relief; the chance was slim to none, but if he was confident that he could find a way out--if the lazy-ass was determined to find a way out--then everything would be fine.

Still, she couldn't resist throwing in at least one snide comment. She was dealing with Shikamaru, after all.

"Oh, it was definitely you; no one else is as lazy or as annoying."

[ooc: agjhf OH MY LORD I FORGOT ABOUT THOSE. AWKWARD TIMES GET!]

[still_lazy]

.... And there went his sympathy with her. Right out the window, with one comment. She practically managed to kick it out of his frame of mind. But hey, it was Ino. If she could switch her moods that fast, no reason why he couldn't do the same to him or anyone else around her.

But this was what made them teammates, he figured. They argued, they bickered, but they had to admit that they really did depend on each other when the time came for it. Even though that was becoming considerably less frequent as they spent time in different places. Nonetheless, her comment didn't fail to irk him. Who was she to talk about being annoying? He knew to expect an argument eventually. ... Though argument wasn't always the term to use. They could turn into one-sided shouting sessions just as easily.

Either way, Shikamaru sighed and scratched the back of his head. He'd rather avoid a fight if he could but... "Yeah? Well, you're pretty hard to copy too. I don't know any other woman as troublesome or with the same vocal cords."

And before she could retaliate, he moved on to the next subject, "But speaking of clones, you're saying that Pein used them to take down Konoha? Did he do it all by himself? I thought that the Akatsuki worked in pairs." That was a smooth enough transition and a pressing enough question that she hoped it would keep her occupied from noticing his little comment. It probably wouldn't work, but it was worth a shot.

[ooc: VERY MUCH SO. LMAO. AND WE HAVE ASUMA HERE TO TEASE THEM. OH GOD.]

[not_a_porker]

Any other person would have admitted that Shikamaru had a right to make the comment that he did, although they may have admitted it grudgingly; after all, he had been insulted first. Any other person would have realized that there were more important matters to be discussed, as well, and would have focused their attention on answering his new question.

However, Ino was not any other person.

"You have some nerve, you jerk!" she snapped, glaring up at him. There were some things that she could live with; however, he wasn't about to just slide by after he had the gall to insult her. There was, after all, an unspoken rule of their team that everyone had to abide by: Ino could insult anyone she wanted, but no one could insult her. "You just got here, and you're already treading on thin ice!"

Letting out what was perhaps the huffiest huff ever known to man, she turned away from him, haughtily flipping back her ponytail once more. "I mean, I know that no one can copy me, but it's not because I'm troublesome; it's because no one can accurately copy my beauty. Get it right, idiot."

[ooc: ...SHE'S GOING TO DIE, LOL. AFTER SHE KILLS HIM, OF COURSE. XDDD]

[still_lazy]

He had gotten in his comment, now he was about ready to back down. Already he was aware that retaliating to one of Ino's comments wouldn't be the smartest of choices but really, he wasn't in the greatest mood to be insulted when he was looked for questions instead. So he'd gotten a small piece of revenge, and from that, Ino wasn't in the greatest mood.

So now he had little options. Responding to her anger with more bickering wasn't the greatest idea, and would possibly lead to his early death.... or loss of hearing. That idea was immediately crossed out. He could try to get her to calm down, but he'd probably say something wrong and risk poking at her temper even more. And finally, there was the typical Shikamaru thing to do. Accept her insults, pay no mind to them, and move right on with whatever they had to get done.

... Yeah, the last one sounded the best.

He rolled his eyes at her miniature hissy fit, glad that her back was turned to him. "Yeah, yeah," he said in a passive manner, letting her know that she heard him while still keeping his opinion to himself. Commenting on Ino's looks would either inflate her ego or cause her to want to beat him to a bloody pulp. Neither sounded like a good idea to him, besides it just wasn't something he'd do. Making an honest effort to change the subject again, he brought up his question once more, "So... will my question be answered or do I have to make a guess myself?"

[ooc: XDDD LEAVE NO WITNESSES, INO?]

[not_a_porker]

In Ino's mind, a real man--a gentleman--would have at least apologized... and then fell to their knees and begged her forgiveness, all the while praising her beauty. It was the way the world worked, after all. However, she knew that the lazy-ass was certainly never going to do such a thing. They had played this game long enough for her to know exactly what was coming, although she still felt that familiar twinge of annoyance at his almost flippant attitude. Couldn't he be less annoying?

"Like I want to answer anything for you," she said after a short pause, still not turning around to face him; it was her way of punishing him, even though she knew that he could probably care less. She obviously needed to make him do something else; she needed to make him humble himself, just to let him know who was boss.

...Bingo.

"But, seeing as how you need the information, and seeing as how we are teammates... well, I might just consider it, Shikamaru. Just this once," she smoothly continued before he could make another smart-ass remark, using the artificially sweet tone she used when she was plotting something particularly unpleasant; turning to look back at him over her shoulder, she flashed him a large, obviously fake smile. Oh, something was definitely coming.

"But only if you apologize~."

[ooc: MY DADDY TAUGHT ME WELL.]

[still_lazy]

It was then that Shikamaru had a revelation. There was no woman in existence, that had probably ever existed, that could get under his skin the way that Ino insisted on doing. She knew very well that this wasn't a time to be messing around and denying him information, and somehow she decided to go through with it anyway.

So now he was faced with a crossroads. Deny her request and have to venture elsewhere for information, or he could always just swallow his pride and do the latter. ... But when did that ever happen? Suddenly he found himself exhausted, maybe he could just go leave for a nap and then find Ino again later. She'd probably have forgotten about her demand by then... probably? Although if she didn't, her following demands would only be so much worse. His choices were limited.

He had one option, though. Pick his words carefully and weave around Ino's demand, and possibly sway her enough that she'll retract her condition. But if not, he'd just have to suck it up and apologize. Then again... this was Shikamaru, and he really didn't want to have to do that.

"Well, I guess I could," he started off, before continuing, "although it's kind of unnecessary to have this middle step. Considering how you've already recognized how I need the information, and how you're obviously the only one that can offer it to me. As far as I know, you remember the most, after all. I was hoping that you'd realize how vital you are to figuring out how to get back to Konoha as is."

[ooc: a;ljfas I'm sorry I fail at tagging. XD;;]

[not_a_porker]

The inverse of Shikamaru's little revelation was true, as well; Ino had met countless annoying people in her life, and she was sure to meet many more, but none of them would ever be able to match Shikamaru. There was something about his ability to wave off every insult she threw his way--as well as his ability to throw equally pleasant comments back her way--that annoyed her to no end. Other people gave in and tried to please her; he usually refused to.

She hated it.

And yet, despite her hatred of his stupid, irksome ways, there would always be that feeling of respect for him; he was, after all, the unsung leader of their team, the brains of it all. He was also her friend; although she used to deny her friendship with her teammates--quite loudly, in fact--no one knew her better than they did, save for her family. It was, she supposed, because of those two facts combined that he was able to know exactly what to say to make her feel a slight twinge of guilt. She knew she was being selfish and unreasonable; even with her ego, she was fully aware of it. It was just his stupid way of switching everything back around--and his clever way of throwing in the fact that she was important--that finally brought it to center stage.

"...You're really helpless, aren't you," she stated flatly, giving him a brief moment to see her fake smile sliding off her face before she turned her back to him once more. She would give in, albeit grudgingly, but that did not mean that all was forgiven, or that she would be friendly. Oh, far from it. "Even if you are a total jerk, and even if you should apologize, I'll just get back at you later. I mean, don't take this the wrong way; you're not off the hook yet, Nara. You're just lucky that I really want to get out of here."

She crossed her arms. "Now hurry up and ask your stupid questions."

[ooc: It's fine, lmfao! /has been gone most of the day]

[still_lazy]

He couldn't help but be remotely relieved that she managed to give in, although to him it was more or less predictable. More so, he was rather content that he managed to persuade her in such a way. Sure, he'd done it before, but he found that it never hurt when he could get Ino to do something that he wanted for once.

And while her promise for revenge remained in his mind, he didn't pay it much notice for now. When dealing with Ino, his actions would always have repurcussion somehow. She would find something to blame him for. But by now, he didn't mind it so much, or at least not as much as he did a couple years prior. It was mainly just yelling and the occasional extra chore to get done. Whatever she came up with, he could probably deal with it. Unless it involved shopping, or money. In that case, he'd ditch and watch clouds.

"Yeah, yeah. You have my gratitude and the rest of that," he said passingly, showing not much interest at all into whatever it was that she was saying. Now that he got her to cooperate, there was no need to watch his words so much. He was probably treading on thin ice, but when he was looking for answers, he didn't see the point in being careful about it. At least, not when it was Ino he was talking to. "My question was about how the attack on Konoha went. Did Pein lead it himself, or did he have a partner? Was it just him and his army of clones?" He also had a remaining question about her own well-being, seeing as she was apparently around when Shizune was killed. But he could show his concern about that later on.

[ooc: XD;; Aha, I just have trouble writing for Shikamaru at times. I'm still sorry, though. I know I'm taking foreeeeveerrrr.]