What are you thinking, doing the things you do?
Ino sighed. Shikamaru wasn't at his favorite place, like the past twenty eight days. Recently, Shikamaru stopped watching the clouds with her. Well, technically, he didn't know Ino was (most of the time) watching him as he watched the clouds.
It had all started when she followed him one day after their training. He wasn't focusing on their training. Well, they actually did the same thing on every training session.
Ino fell, Shikamaru caught her, and Chouji rolled.
And then he ran off to his favorite spot, which was here. Ino couldn't help but follow, and ever since that day, she knew that whenever something bad happened (or something good), Shikamaru alwayswent to that place. If it was about an argument with his mom (they happened a lot), or if it was one day before a long mission (like when he was supposed to be gone for a couple of months, he came to this place the day before) or the day before his mission with Asuma.
His last mission with Asuma.
And, after that day, their days together (well, he had no idea that she knew that he was here. He thought that she was in her house, doing girl stuff) abruptly stopped.
It was the day when Asuma died.
Yes, Ino missed Asuma a lot. And, yes, she knew that Shikamaru was closer to Asuma than Ino, but he was still both their sensei. And, yes, she knew that Shikamaru blamed himself for Asuma's death but still, did he really have to stop watching clouds for that? Because, these were his clouds we're talking about. He. Loves. Them. It helped him to think, after all.
And, it's his favorite thing to do; everyoneknows that.
Because, after all, clouds are so carefree, and fluffy. Not to mention, they were always silent. They weren't talking, shouting or nagging at Shikamaru, like she always did. Ino's maybe -sort of- good mood disappeared.
Maybe that's why he likes them, a part of Ino thought, as the blonde sighed again. Ino directed her gaze to the sky again. It was starting to get cold on nights like these, and the sky was turning dark blue. Most of the clouds had disappeared, and instead of fluffy, white clouds, there was now small stars shining on the sky.
Yamanaka Ino loved stargazing. It relaxed her. They were so pretty, so shiny and so... so perfect. They were invisible in daylight, but as soon the sky became dark, they started to shine, one by one. Just by looking at the stars, she felt at ease.
She gazed at the stars whenever she had time to, which is, in fact, not that often. These days, she was busy with her family's flower shop. She had to do EVERYTHING, from taking care of their customers to taking care of their flowers. At the beginning, she was furious. Why her? She had other important things to do, like...
Like what?
The truth is that Ino wasn't the type that trained on the afternoons, and read books about shinobi techniques until the moon raised. No, no, Ino was more like... making lists how to make Sasuke fall in love with her, and to make sure that she had clothes to wear the next day.
Well, that was indeed true, at least when she was twelve. Now, she's fifteen, and so much smarter than she was back when she was twelve. Her heart betrayed her brains back then, and she was in love with a traitor, a boy that left the village for two and a half years ago.
She met Haruno Sakura the same day, and she was heartbroken, and determined to prove everyone (especially the boy that broke her heart) that she could be stronger. And that this time, she wouldn't just watch them. She would help them.
And how you and I could be every dream come true.
Ino was surprised. A part of her was surprised by Sakura's behavior, but another part of her was surprised by her feelings. Sakura's feelings.
