Sign Me Yours

So starts the revelations. [:

Thank you MeLaiya and Ivy for the reviews.

--

Shikamaru wandered down the streets aimlessly, eyes still wide and mind racing and wondering what in god's name had made him do that. Sure the Hyuuga was nice to look a-- no, he did not just think that.

He squeezed his eyes shut, pausing in his step, and brought a hand up, rubbing the heel of his palm into an eye.

"Troublesome."

"Hmm, what's gotten you so riled up today?" Ino smirked, having seen him long since before she came up to walk beside him. To most people, Shikamaru didn't look like he was riled up, or bothered by something, but Ino knew better. Shikamaru was walking way too quickly for nothing to be up. And Ino was eager to get to know why.

Shikamaru froze for a second before lowering his hand and opening his eyes, sending a withering look at Ino. "What do you want, Ino?" he asked, trying to sound as bored as possible.

He really didn't feel like putting up with her, not when there was so much he needed to sort out now.

...Maybe she could be a welcome distraction instead, but he doubted it.

Grinning at the look he was giving her, Ino was rather used to it, and it only made her even more certain that something was up. And she was definitely going to find out about it, no matter what!

"Nothing," she replied innocently, playing a little with her bangs, smiling sweetly at him, trying to look like she was just a concerned friend. Which she was, but not like that. "Just wondering what got you in such a rush..."

Shikamaru heaved a sigh and glanced away slightly, jaw jutting out in a small pout. "Nothing's 'got me in a rush'," he said, not enjoying the other's scrutinizing one bit.

"Mnhm," Ino clearly didn't believe him, looking at him searchingly. "You just woke up this morning, feeling like going for a brisk walk. Shika... this is you we're talking about!" Ino was amused at her friend's pout. It was rather adorable, though she still didn't know what Neji saw in her best friend. It didn't matter, if he made Shika happy, she wasn't going to question it.

"So, Shika..." she began, completely changing the subject. "What have you been up to lately? I haven't seen you around..." she smiled sweetly once again, making the question sound as casually and innocent as possible.

Shikamaru glanced back at her from the corners of his eyes, looking at her suspiciously. "...I was training earlier," he finally said, giving a safe answer. "Don't you have other people to bother?"

"Nope!" Ino chirped happily, latching onto Shikamaru's arm in a friendly manner. "And you? Training? On your own?" Ino raised an eyebrow. "I'm impressed Shika!" She smirked up at him. Now how to go on about this... she might not be as good a strategist as her friend, but she wasn't stupid either.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, not even bothering on trying to detach her. He learned long ago that the female was like a leech when she wanted to be and nothing short of Sasuke himself asking her out would bring her away.

"No, I trained with Chouji," he said, correcting her.

"Chouji...?" Ino looked puzzled on purpose. "But I've been with Chouji for at least an hour, hanging out at the barbeque..." she replied innocently, knowing she had got him. "And he didn't mention anything about you being so... energetic today," she smiled sweetly.

Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow, not sure whether to believe her or not. Not that it really mattered. "I haven't been training with him this whole time anyway," he said with a small shrug.

"So what did you do after...?" Ino asked rather suggestively, while trying to remain sweet and innocent in her questions.

"Ino..." he paused, giving her a weird look. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were flirting."

"Don't be stupid, Shika."

Giggling slightly, feeling a bit uncomfortable at the thought of flirting with her best friend, she raised an eyebrow at him. She had always been clinging to him since they were little, in a best friend kind of way; she wasn't interested in him like that. "We both know better than that."

"Yeah..." he mumbled, staring at her for a bit longer before looking away again. He was feeling a bit awkward and nervous and he wasn't sure why. There was just so much going on and he still hadn't sorted out anything and it was aggravating him and he couldn't figure out that either.

"Sorry, I just..." he frowned a little, glancing at her again and before he could think he leaned over and pressed a kiss to her mouth.

Eyes widening considerably as Shikamaru leaned over and kissed her. And they weren't just anywhere either, but in the middle of the street! She only thought what the hell?! before, quite forcefully, pushing him away.

"What the hell, Shika? What was that about?" She screeched, not happy with the turn of events, hitting him none too gently on the head in anger. Damn him, he had probably ruined lots of her chances of getting a boyfriend now if everyone thought they were together.

Shikamaru scowled, rubbing the place of impact before he let his hand drop, not caring that his head was throbbing a little. He sighed and shook his head.

"I... Sorry," he said, not quite looking at her. "I'm just... really confused about something right now."

"See, told you something was bothering you," Ino replied smugly, forgetting she was supposed to be mad at him, but she didn't cling to him again as she had done previously. Not after he had kissed her; ew. It was as if a brother had kissed her, and she had found it pretty revolting. Grabbing his arm, she pulled him along to his house, deciding to have this conversation in his room, not on the street.

"Now, spill!" she turned to glare at him, her hands on her hips once she had locked the door behind them, pushing Shika to sit on his bed.

Shikamaru looked up at her and supposed he shouldn't be as surprised as he was at her actions. He sighed and glanced down to the floor, frowning and rubbing the back of his neck.

"I... think I might be gay."

Ino blinked. And blinked again. Then she sighed and sat down beside him, an amused smile on her lips.

"That's hardly a surprise Shika," she teased softly, trying to make him feel a little more at ease with it. "I'd figured you were at least bi ages ago, nothing wrong with that."

Unless you were Uchiha Sasuke, she thought to herself. If Sasuke turned out gay, she'd definitely have some angry screaming to do.

Shikamaru looked back at her, a waning smile on. "Well, there's... nothing wrong with it," he said. "It doesn't really matter; just... it's not what I expected." There goes that average and unexciting life he'd wanted.

"Well..." Ino thought a bit. "Then find yourself an average guy, and adopt two average kids," she sighed at the thought.

"Won't be much fun though, you know." She looked at him unimpressed. "What's the point of marrying someone average, boring, that you're probably not much interested in anyway?"

Shikamaru let out another sigh and shook his head. "It doesn't really matter, as long as they're not annoying," he said, lips twitching a little into a small smirk.

Of course this wasn't helping his real problem, but at least he knew he had Ino's support for... whatever.

"There are lots of non-average people out there who aren’t annoying," Ino chuckled before giving her best friend a hug. Sure, she wanted to find out about this Neji-affair or whatever it was, but her best friend had just told her he thought he was gay, so of course, she'd encourage him.

Shikamaru smiled and returned the hug, glad that she was fine with it and that she wasn't still mad about the kiss. He felt bad, seeing as it was probably her first, too. He frowned a little again, hoping the he hadn't stolen Neji's first as well, though was almost certain he had.

"So..." Ino giggled, pulling back. "What would your type of guy look like?" she asked, curious, biting her lower lip a little. Who would have thought she'd have this kind of talk with her best friend; ever? It was funny, comical almost, but at the same time, this meant they could be talking about cute guys without her feeling she was embarrassing or bothering him. Too much.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes before giving up half way and just looking at the ceiling. He glancing down at Ino again and shook his head, fighting off a blush. "Just because I might be gay, doesn't mean I'm going to act like a girl, Ino."

"Oh, I know that silly," Ino giggled at the thought of Shikamaru discussing fashion and make-up with her; a ridiculous thought. "But you know, you've got to know some things that attract you more than other things. Besides, if I know what you're looking for, I could help." She grinned at the thought of setting him up with someone on a blind date.

"I... don't know. Not sure," he said, glancing down at his bedspread. Right now, the only one who came to mind was Neji (of course) but... while, yes, the other was quite good looking, the same traits could be found in many others around the village and he didn't find them nearly as attractive. Sasuke for example, though if he said that, he was sure Ino would hit him again.

"Okay, let's eliminate some people then from the list of your possible future boyfriends," she grinned.

"Chouji?" she asked first. Well, despite his chubby-ness, it did make sense. Other than her, he was Shikamaru's best friend, and he had, after all, kissed her.

Shikamaru shook his head, smirking a little. "I'm comfortable with him, but not that comfortable," he said. "Besides, he's one of the straightest guys I know." Of course he didn't mention the crush he'd always had on Ino; that was a secret between best buds.

"Hmm, I guess we can easily exclude Naruto and Kiba," she grinned. Those two were some of the most troublesome ninja she knew, if she were to use Shikamaru's way of describing people. Of course, she was avoiding the one she wanted to ask about to lull Shikamaru into a sense of security before his name was brought up.

"Sasuke?" She asked, before she corrected herself. "No, he'd be too troublesome for you. Besides you'd have to compete with me and all the other girls in the village for him," she grinned. "It'd be troublesome, right?"

Shikamaru gave a snort, shaking his head again. "Ino, you know my opinion on Sasuke," he said. "He's a good shinobi, but that's about it." Just thinking about the Uchiha was giving him a headache, really.

"Hmm, Shino?" Ino asked, this time really curious. The Aburame was kind of mysterious with the way he acted and dressed. It was kind of hot... If you ignored the fact you'd never really seen all of his face, never mind his eyes, and, well, she hated bugs. Hated them a lot. But Shikamaru had never been bothered with bugs, so maybe...

Shikamaru paused for a bit before shaking his head yet again. "No... He's nice enough and I don't really have anything bad to say about him, but I doubt we'd get along like that. He's too much of a recluse like me for anything to come of it."

That meant that team Kurenai, Kakashi and Asuma was out of the question... Ino smirked to herself. It was becoming more and more obvious who Shikamaru liked. Having heard him talk now so... freely about other guys and actually giving it thought, she doubted they were together but she was damn sure they were interested in each other.

"Lee?" she asked, repressing her mirth. While Lee was a nice guy, she just couldn't picture him like... that. Besides, he had Sakura, or was at least starting to get somewhere in courting her, though her pink-haired friend-slash-rival was still resisting.

Shikamaru stared at her for a good long while before just deadpanning, "...Do you want me to kill myself? Because, hell, he's a nice guy but I know if I spend more time than I need to with him, I'll be asking Gaara to 'Sand Coffin' me next time I see him. Hell, I'd look for him and you know I don't do anything I don't have to."

"Gaara then?" Ino asked, finding this very amusing. Shikamaru seemed to have a very selective taste in guys. Oh yeah... next time she wanted to make Shikamaru do something for her that he didn't particularly want, she'd just threaten to set him up with Lee.

Shikamaru sighed and shook his head. "Psychopaths, reformed or not, don't interest me," he said.

"I just don't really like anyone," he added before flopping back on his bed and turning onto his side, back facing the blonde. "I don't need to be dating anyone, you know."

"Sure you don't." Ino smiled sweetly at him. "Doesn't mean it wouldn’t be fun to try, though." She grinned before continuing.

"How about any of the sensei’s?" She asked, giving him an amused smile. "Asuma?"

Shikamaru glanced over his shoulder at her then said, "You're an idiot," before grabbing his pillow and then proceeding to put it over his head to block her out.

Giggling, Ino grabbed the pillow from him.

"Aww, come on, I was joking... Kakashi-san? Iruka-sensei? Gai-san?" She shook with mirth. "Oh god, if you fancy Gai-san, I'll commit hara-kiri," she giggled almost hysterically at the thought.

Shikamaru half-heartedly glared at her before sighing and rolling onto his back, side now close enough to touch Ino's knee.

"If I'm ever going to date someone, they're not going to be close to my dad's age, Ino." Although he had to admit that Kakashi was good looking but just... no.

"Alright then... how about Neji?" Ino let the trap spring, hoping she was going to get a good response, trying to look as innocent as possible, as if it was pure coincidence she was bringing his name up. But this was the name she had wanted to bring up all day; he'd better give her something good to go on.

Shikamaru stared at her for a second before glancing away. "...no," he said, voice more subdued as he rolled over again on his side. "We wouldn't be compatible either." More for the fact that he's probably pissed at me, he thought.

Oh yes, that was a reaction if she ever saw one. However, she was a little worried about his... behavior, almost sounding depressed about it.

"Oh, come on Shika... when did you turn that pessimistic?" she asked, now very worried as she hugged him from behind. Shikamaru just... wasn't a pessimist, not like that. Sure, he sometimes assumed the outcome would be bad, and was negative to most things, but not depressed. He was never negative towards things without trying to calculate other possibilities. "What makes you say that?"

Shikamaru sighed, body closing it on itself a little in subconscious defense. "Nothing, we just wouldn't be," he said, lying through his teeth. "I don't think he could stand having me around anyway," he added with a chuckle, "I just interrupt his training."

"Oh come on Shika,” she repeated. “You've gotten to watch him train several times while he brushed me and Cho off just like that. He's got to be gay. And since he lets you watch, he's got to like you; at least a little bit," she reasoned, now seriously worried about her friend. If Neji had done, or said, something to hurt her friend, she was going to... well, she didn't know what she was going to, but the Hyuuga would pay dearly, so there!

Shikamaru glanced at her from the corner of his eye, a minute blush dusting his cheeks. "Maybe, but even if he did before, I doubt he does now."

"Why?" Ino challenged him, spotting the blush covering her normally unfazed friend's cheeks. Well, well, this was certainly something alright. So now she was certain that Shikamaru was definitely interested in the sexy Hyuuga, but for some reason he didn't think he had a chance.

"You know, if he doesn't like you he's stupid," she smiled a bit at him. "And not a genius as they claim."

Shikamaru gave a small smile, grateful to the girl for being a good friend. But it quickly slipped to neutral again and he glanced away. "I'm no genius either," he said.

Ino scoffed at that, if she'd ever heard a bunch of bullshit before, this was it.

"Bullshit!" she replied, softer than she wanted to. "You're clearly the smartest around, even smarter than a few, if not all, the Jounins."

Shikamaru sighed and sat up, extracting himself from her grip. He turned to face her, sitting back against the wall, slumping forward.

"Ino, I... I kissed him," he explained. "And I'm pretty sure he didn't like it."

"You kissed him?" Ino's eyes widened in shock as her friend slumped back against the wall.

"And? What did he do? Did he slap you? Hit you? Shout at you?" she asked skeptically, not quite believing he had done any of that. Except for a small cut on his cheek, Shikamaru looked fine to her.

Shikamaru shook his head. "He didn't do anything. He froze and just stared and..." He shook his head again, this time more to clear his head. "I didn't want to see his real reaction so I left. Then you found me."

"But he didn't push you away like I did," Ino stated, rather satisfied. Now, what guy wouldn't be surprised, shocked, by getting kissed by another guy? Even if you were gay, she assumed that would be pretty rare unless you had a boyfriend-slash-lover or you were very open about it.

"Shika... that's not the worst reaction," she tried reassuring him. Not even she knew what Neji would think about being kissed by another guy. From what Tenten had said, Neji should have liked it, but still, she didn't personally know the Hyuuga, so what did she know?

"...I guess," he said, still doubtful. "But it was still a stupid thing to do on my part." And he really didn't want to be around Neji, afraid that his kunai really wouldn't miss next time he saw him.

"We all do stupid things sometimes," Ino smiled, not liking this depressing part of Shikamaru. She'd rather have him complain about how troublesome everyone else where or something trivial like that.

"Sometimes they pay off, and other times... oh I know!" she clapped her hands together before getting up from bed.

"Come on; let's forget about this for now. I want to bake that cake you like so much with you before your okaa-san returns," she grinned, hauling him off to the kitchen.

Despite all his complaints when she did this, she knew he loved that cake she had in mind; it was a recipe she had gotten from Yoshino herself. The woman was obviously hoping for her to get together with Shikamaru, which wouldn't happen, but she knew Shikamaru loved his mother's cakes. Hopefully this would cheer him up a little.

Shikamaru sighed and gave a small pout, not bothering to resist her. The cake actually sounded like a good idea right now. He wasn't one to eat when down, but sometimes it really did help.

"As long as I don't have to do much," he said, easily falling back into his normal mood again.

"Che," Ino grinned at him, happy to see the old Shikamaru back. "As if I expected that from you. Just help me find the ingredients!"

--

About an hour later, Ino opened the stove to take the cake out, putting it on the counter to cool a bit before she started putting on the icing.

"There," she smiled, satisfied with her and Shikamaru's work.

Shikamaru smirked and reached over, swiping a finger over the cake and gathering some icing. He sucked his finger, knowing that Ino hated when he messed it up before they actually cut the cake.

"Hey!" she cried, slapping his hand lightly, although she was happy to see him act like himself again. She just knew that the cake would help. It always did.

"No touching the cake yet," she huffed before finding a knife to cut it into pieces with.

"Yes, ma'am," he said, teasing, with a chuckle. Of course he wouldn't try anything once she had the knife, even if he knew she wouldn't hurt him. She was creative with threats either way.

Cutting it into pieces, Ino put two pieces of the cake on two plates, handing one of them to Shikamaru.

"There; now you can wipe off all the icing for all I care," she grinned, using a spoon to attack her own piece with.

Shikamaru shook his head, grinning a little. "Now it's no fun," he said, digging into his own piece. He savored the first bite, obviously something he had picked up from his friendship with Chouji.

Grinning to herself, Ino enjoyed the comfortable silence that had settled between them as they ate cake.