I hate hangovers, Shikamaru thought groggily. I'm a genius, I should be a bit smarter than this.
At least the bed was comfortable. Though it wasn't his own bed.
He raised his head, moving his arm and feeling something silky shifting beneath his skin. He blinked and realized that there was silky blond hair trapped beneath his arm. And then he knew where this was heading.
Ino was lying next to him, her cheek pressed against the mattress, one hand resting near her face and the other arm framing the outside of her head with her hand buried underneath the pillow. Her hair was fanned out around her and some of it was trapped underneath his arm.
He stared at her, taking in her peacefully sleeping expression. It was so unusually quiet. It looked like there was an interesting hickey on the crook of her neck, almost hidden by her hair. And there was no sign of clothes, from the smooth expanse of her back that was available for viewing. Though there were some quite fascinating red grooves against the outside of her shoulders.
He shifted slightly and could feel warm sheets against his bare skin.
Then he felt annoyed. He finally had sex with Ino and he couldn't remember it.
Stupid alcohol.
The clock read nine. There was really no reason for him to be awake yet. Maybe he should just go back to sleep.
But there was a very beautiful and naked girl lying next to him in bed. It beat cloud-gazing.
And even Shikamaru wasn't that lazy.
Ino shifted slightly in her sleep and Shikamaru's eyes were magically drawn to where her chest was pressed against the mattress. He wished that her breasts were a bit more visible, but it was certainly more than he ever saw otherwise. She shifted again, pressing against the bed to rise slightly, stretching her spine for a moment, and turned to face the other direction and she pressed back against him.
This was a great and precarious place to be.
It was precarious because they were both naked, but no longer drunk. And one of the best and worst aspects- it was Ino.
She was gorgeous and knew it. Even down to the way that she moved, though that was something he wasn't sure that she even noticed anymore. And this whole thing started in the stupidest way too.
"Take care of my body, Shikamaru."
There was only so much a thirteen-year-old boy could take of holding onto or guarding a beautiful girl, before he started getting a bit crazy. And then it had turned torturous to use his shadow technique against her, because the very idea of making her body do things felt so inappropriate and was such a turn-on.
Stupid Ino with her stupid body.
And then there was her personality. Her personality which ranged from really friendly and sincerely caring to mean, impatient, and kind of annoying. And she'd always end up yelling insulting questions at him that made Asuma snicker.
"Why won't you let me fight more?"
"Why don't you ever really fight against me?"
"I'm not weak!"
Even Choji had bugged him about that for awhile, complaining about how Shikamaru seemed to have no trouble letting him get hurt and why was it that Ino got all the special treatment.
And then there was Asuma laughing in the background, his eyes bright with amusement.
Asuma must have told Kurenai about it because she'd get a stupid sort of grin when she saw him if Ino was anywhere nearby. Which in turn made Shikamaru feel that it was absolutely necessary for him to throw a biting insult at Ino that would quickly enrage her and they'd get locked in a vicious fight.
