"He's across the street now," Said Sakura, glancing behind Ino's shoulder from their seated position in their regular booth, in their favorite small restaurant.
Ino groaned as she ducked low, using the booth for cover. She had been avoiding him for two weeks straight now, ever since their return from Suna. He was her best friend (besides Sakura), and she had gone there to see him get married. Of course she hadn't planned on being in the wedding, or apart of any ceremony, but when she was roped into it, she ended up belly dancing in front of the whole foreign village—only for it to end up looking like she stole the groom right in front of everyone. Ino's faced flushed as she remembered the kiss Shikamaru had brushed to her abdomen.
"He's gone now," Sakura broke Ino from her previous thoughts and she sat up, stealing a glance out the window, just to be safe.
"You can't avoid him forever," Hummed her rosette haired friend. "You're going to get a mission eventually."
Ino narrowed her eyes and practically hissed at her friend from across the table, "You have no idea what it's like to be embarrassed in front of a whole village of strangers!"
Sakura only chuckled, which increased Ino's anger. "And then to have to run from his fiancée like that."
Sakura sighed, "I wish I had been there to see it."
Ino glared in response.
"What?—I had to get most of the juicy details from Naruto."
Ino's eyes wandered down to the table, staring at her half empty cup. "Too many things were happening at once, I didn't know how to react."
Sakura now stirred her spoon in her teacup, "Clearly, otherwise I doubt you would have let her get a hit on you."
Ino felt her head pulsate at the memory of the attack, "I was too shocked, its not like it was my fault. She's the stupid-wench who asked me to do the stupid traditional belly dance!" Ino huffed. "How was I supposed to know he was going to grab me like that and…And…"
"Kiss you?" Sakura finished her challenging words for her.
A blush crept across Ino's face again and she turned her head and stuck her nose in the air. She reached for a strand of her pale blond hair and wrapped it around her fingers, avoiding her friend's gaze. "Whatever." She replied. "He was supposed to be getting married."
"Oh Ino-pig," Sakura tilted her head and laughed lightly, "You are so blind, you could never be a Hyuga."
Ino sat there, trying to decipher Sakura's words, while she continued to laugh at her. Finally, Sakura's laughing minimized, "He's been in love with you for years."
Ino felt her mouth drop open, "What?" She couldn't comprehend this. "Chouji was, but-"
Sakura smiled, "That's why he never said anything."
Ino felt like a rush of hot air was floating to her head as she blinked in confusion. "No, you're mistaken…"
Sakura smirked, "Anyone with eyes could see it, maybe that's why Chouji finally got over you."
Her best friend was in love with her?
"But Temari…?"
Sakura leaned back further from the table, "I'm sure he respected and cared for her. He probably knew she cared for him in return, and they got along, were similar, so if anything it was just probably more convenient to get married from there."
"You're wrong," Ino frowned and stood up from the table. If they continued to have this conversation, her avoiding Shikamaru was pointless. She didn't want to talk about this. It was hard enough evading her parent's questions about the event and stopping her father from going over to the Nara house.
