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Ino was determined. Leave it to that sneaky Sakura to figure out a way to corner Sasuke and come within a hair of actually kissing him! They’d barely been teammates even a day! For Heaven’s sake, why was life being so unfair to Ino recently?
Of course, in spite of Sakura’s exultant bragging, Ino knew her rival had really been hoping to be Sasuke’s first kiss. Practically every girl in the class had. Leave it to that freak Naruto to have ruined it for them all. However, now that this particular race had been rendered moot, a new challenge had almost immediately sprung up between them. Ino was convinced that it was only a matter of time before Sakura finally succeeded in kissing Sasuke. Therefore, Ino would at least make sure that she was the better kisser…
But in order to do that, she would have to practice. On someone. An unworthy boy who wasn’t Uchiha Sasuke. Sadly, that meant it would never be the first kiss she’d always imagined having, but… desperate times called for desperate measures.
And, as Ino finally spotted her chosen target (who was predictably lazing away underneath a large shade tree), she couldn’t imagine getting much more desperate than this.
“Nara Shikamaru! I need to ask you something!” hollered Ino, storming up to her new teammate.
“Our first team meeting with Asuma isn’t until tomorrow morning, if that’s what you wanted to know,” muttered Shikamaru without opening his eyes. “As if either of us can hardly wait for it.”
“That’s not it,” snapped Ino. “I need to ask you to do something for me.”
“Geez, Ino, and why should I do anything for you?” he asked mulishly.
“Because like it or not I’m your new teammate, and I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t necessary!”
Shikamaru heaved a great sigh. He knew it was useless to argue; Ino would never leave him alone until she got what she wanted. It was very annoying.
“Okay, fine… what do you want?” he said grumpily as he sat up to stretch.
There was a moment of silence. Warily, Shikamaru turned to look at Ino. To his surprise, her face had gone pink.
“I… I want you to kiss me, Shikamaru.”
“You want me to what?!?”
Shikamaru had leapt to his feet without realizing it. He took a step backwards, feeling a mad urge to run away – but then Ino reached forward and seized his arm. Unexpectedly, the brush of her skin against his sent an electric jolt racing through his body. Stunned, Shikamaru stood motionless as Ino began to argue with him.
“Look, don’t ask me to explain why – the reasons aren’t really important anyway. It’s just… I’m going to be an awesome kisser, Shikamaru. I need to be!”
Shikamaru frowned. He had a very good idea why Ino wanted such an absurd thing, and he didn’t relish the idea of serving as a practice dummy for Uchiha’s benefit. He pulled himself free from her grasp.
“Sorry, Ino. Go find someone else to ‘practice’ with.”
“Someone else?” murmured Ino, flabbergasted. Was he actually rejecting her? Why was that so… unacceptable? Discomfort fled as anger took root. “Hey, wait a minute, Shikamaru!”
“Don’t be stupid. Kissing isn’t something you should practice on just anyone.”
“You idiot! Of course I can’t do this with just anyone! Why do you think I came to you?”
Shikamaru abruptly halted. He swung around to stare at Ino, who he noticed was likewise looking extremely confused by her own words.
“What do you mean by that?” he asked quietly.
“I… I don’t mean anything… I mean…” Ino gulped uncertainly. All the anger she had been feeling a second before had vanished; now she was acutely embarrassed. How had this situation gotten away from her? “It’s just… we’ve known each other forever, haven’t we? I know you’re not like the other boys in our class. You’re… I don’t know… just different.”
In spite of himself, Shikamaru felt a wry smile inch across his face. How very like Ino, to say such a backhanded compliment. Was that supposed to make him feel better?
“Be that as it may, Ino, I don’t think we should –.”
Ino abruptly drew close, grabbing hold of Shikamaru’s arm again. For the second time, a jolt rushed through him, thoroughly scattering his thoughts. Blast it, couldn’t Ino feel it too?
“Please, Shikamaru… please do this for me.”
Inadvertently, he glanced down at her mouth. Her lips were pink and moist, and parted slightly… in anticipation? Shikamaru wondered if the tingling he was feeling was likely due to his brain frying; nothing was making sense anymore. Unthinkingly, he leaned forward slightly… and then it was Ino who was trembling.
“What… what was that?”
Was she finally feeling it, too? Shikamaru had to wonder: Ino looked so vulnerable now; not her usual proud, demanding self. Perhaps it was this that broke down his last feeble reserve. Magnetically, his lips were drawn to hers.
That mysterious field of electricity between them burst forth with a vengeance. It was fire. And lightning. And glorious, golden silence that filled every pore. There was nothing in the world but him, and her, and the irresistible force pouring through their mouths, binding them together. Shikamaru found himself wishing irrationally that it could go on forever. Were first kisses always like this?
Then with a panicked shove, he felt Ino pushing herself away. She quickly backed up against the tree and was staring at him, one hand pressed against her mouth, which was still open in small ‘oh’ of shock. Her face was flushed and her chest was heaving, and Shikamaru was surprised to find that he was breathing just as hard.
“I… I… don’t… I can’t…” whispered Ino as she ran a finger tentatively across her lips, still staring at Shikamaru.
“You can’t… what?” murmured Shikamaru hollowly, his mouth oddly dry.
Ino cradled her arms around herself, as if warding off a sudden chill, and then she seemed to gather herself.
“I’m sorry, but you were right, Shikamaru. This isn’t something one should practice on just anyone.”
Turning her back on him, Ino suddenly broke into a run. As she rounded a nearby fence, Shikamaru heard her voice drifting back to him.
“It… it never happened!”
He stood there mutely, a flood of strange feelings eating away at him. Jamming his hands in his pants pockets, Shikamaru finally started to trudge off home.
“Girls… are such an annoying pain,” he muttered darkly.