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

Comments

[still_lazy]

It didn't take that long for him to arrive, at least, not as long as it could've. He would've taken a more leisurely pace if he was going to meet anyone other than Ino. Because anyone other than Ino would have a better sense of patience and wouldn't resort to yelling every time something didn't go their way. And Shikamaru really knew better than to irk the Yamanaka heiress, he'd learned along the years when to keep his mouth shut and when to walk at a faster pace

[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

[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,

[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

[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

[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

[not_a_porker]

"...I only saw Pein," she said, trying to keep her tone frosty and distant... and failing miserably as she spent more time concentrating on what she said and less time concentrating on how she said it. "We heard the general report that Akatsuki was attacking, but the only member of Akatsuki I saw was Pein. ...His clones, I mean. I only saw his clones