Procrastination
by Yvonne Chung
Author’s note: Hmmmm….
This has got to be a first.. A first Naruto fan fiction for me, that is. I’ve written other
ones before.. Though, I won’t guarantee they’re
worth reading. (Laughs) I don’t suggest that you look into those older
ones. I hope this one is satisfactory though.
~*~
Ino strolled
through the streets of Konoha at a leisurely pace, not really caring for where
her feet led her, not watching where she was walking either. She instantly
regretted her carelessness as she looked up from the ground, rubbing her head.
A groan suddenly grabbing her attention, she sat up and looked at a familiar
boy, who was also sitting up.
“Maybe you should watch where you’re going more, Ino.” Shikamaru frowned and stood
up, offering a hand to Ino. She took his hand and
pulled herself up, patting herself off as she straightened her shirt.
“You should too, at least if you were watching, I wouldn’t
have bumped into you.” She smirked haughtily and crossed her arms, looking
down her nose at the boy who merely shook his head to clear his thoughts.
“Whatever… Anyway, Asuma
told me to look for you and Chouji, we had a new
mission, according to him..” He sighed, staring up
into the sky as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. ‘Just more of a bother
for me..’ Sighing again, he lowered his face and
closed his eyes.
“Well.. Let’s
get looking for Chouji then!” Ino
chirped as she hooked hand around Shikamaru’s arm,
and proceeded to drag him down the street towards Ichiraku.
“I know just the place to find him!”
Shikamaru sighed
yet again, and let the demanding girl drag him around, weaving in and out
of crowds, to finally arrive in front of the shop. He stood at the door, hands
still embedded in his pockets, staring out into the street, waiting for Ino to drag a kicking and struggling Chouji
out of the humble shop, screaming for more ramen. Apparently, the scene that
he had thought up graciously unfolded in front of him as he watched the purple
clad ninja girl struggle with dragging a large boy by the scarf out of the
shop, the latter still sitting and eating at the booth.
“Hey, Chouji. If you come with us now, I promise that Asuma will buy you some more ramen when we get back, aright?
He wants to meet us at Hokage-sama’s place so we
can get our next mission.” He smirked in triumph at the girl as the large
boy suddenly ran out of the ramen shop, causing the sudden loss of tension
in the scarf to throw the girl halfway across the street. “Let’s go.”
“Hmph.”
Ino was furious at Shikamaru
for embarrassing her like that. She was supposed to be the one in control,
not him. For crying out loud, she was the leader of this cell! ‘I’ll show
him…’ She growled out loud, clenching her fist as she followed the boy down
the street. Then seizing the moment, strode out in front of Shikamaru,
and led them back up the street to see the Hokage, “Come on.”
Shikamaru watched
her as he walked through the street. Her once long blonde hair, was, well, no longer long. Every time he noticed the
new hairstyle, he couldn’t help but think. ‘Why was she so loyal to Sasuke? Why would she blow up in my face every time I made
either a snide comment about him, or just.. Well,
commented on him… And now that I think of it.. Why
do I even care?’
“Hurry up, you two, I’m assuming that
Sarutobi sensei isn’t gonna be pleased if we’re any later
than we already are!” He sighed again at the girl’s demand, careless as usual.
Changing his mind, he sped up, not even bothering to throw a look over his
shoulder to check whether the larger boy was hurrying up or not.
“What’s with the rush anyway? It’s not that he’s even gonna
care much if we’re only a bit late.. Either way,
we can always get a mission tomorrow..” He stretched,
then left his arms crossed behind his head as he strolled along after the
speed walking girl. Sniffing the air as he walked past the various food stands,
he paused mid-step as his nose caught a tantalizing smell. He didn’t recognize
it... But it was… attractive non-the-less. ‘I wonder that that is… It smells
like… perfume… But… where is it coming from?’ His eyes shifted around as he
sniffed the air gently, walking a little faster to catch up to the girl a
few meters ahead of him, another waft of the enticing perfume hitting him
as he breathed. ‘It’s coming from in fron- could
it be? Ino smells nice… I never noticed this before… Maybe I should
say something about it? … Nah… I’ll do that later.’ Shikamaru
smiled and stuffed his hands in his pockets as the three walked into the large
building, sighting Asuma lounged against the doorway,
smoking a cigarette as usual.
“… You three are…” Asuma
looked up at a clock hanging just inside the doors, “…late.” Then motioning
to them carelessly, he strode into the large room where Hokage-sama doled
out the missions for ninjas. “Well, come on, waiting around longer isn’t going
to do us any good.”
~*~