YAMANAKA INO ❝山中いの❞ (verdure) wrote in last_stretch,
@ 2009-08-16 22:16:00

Current mood:	chipper
Entry tags:	closed log, ino, shikamaru

[ closed | on-going ] the light of our armistice day.
Who: Ino, Shikamaru
When: August 15th, afternoon
Where: Shikamaru's place
What: Ino burns down her apartment. The only solution? Take over Shikamaru's instead.
Rating/Warnings: No? Unfortunately. :(

This was bad.

Ino sat in her car, drumming her fingers against the steering wheel in time to the music, wondering just how the hell she was going to get herself out of this one. Her apartment was, effectively, closed for three months--at least. Who knew with construction companies? She couldn't go to her parents; they were too far away. She couldn't go to any of her friends' places; as she scanned through all the people she knew in her mind, she realized that she couldn't trust any of them.

At least, not as much as she could trust--

Well, that left Shikamaru, then.

With new found purpose, she took off for Shikamaru's apartment building, winding through the familiar route, parking in the five minute zone without a second thought.

Slinging her purse over her shoulder--all the suitcases and boxes in her car would come later--she strode up to the door, pressing the buzzer down. Again. Again. Longer this time. And once more, just to get her point across.

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haecceity
2009-08-17 07:12 am UTC (link)

Who the hell was it this time? Shikamaru grunted from the comfort of his bed, throwing one of his pillows at the ground as if that would suddenly make the noise go away. In the frequency and inconsideration that the person was pushing the buzzer, he had an idea of who it was that was calling for his attention at such an inopportune time.

That made him even more wary of opening the door, and instead, he placed a pillow over his head as he rolled to the side, trying to fall back to sleep.

It took him ten minutes to realize that he'd been woken up for good, and in a foul mood, he slid ever so slowly to the side of the bed, his feet touching the floor. It was summer, but the floor was still cold—enough to wake him up completely, because despite his reputation of being a constant sleeper, he was a light sleeper. Meaning he hadn't gotten an undisturbed, full night's worth of rest for as long as he could remember.

He slowly walked towards the front door and opened it, still in his green gym shorts and a grey t-shirt. Unlocking the door, he caught a glimpse of blonde hair and a displeased face that he was all too familiar with, and upon confirming her identity within a span of a second, he closed the door in her face.

(But he didn't lock it.)

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verdure
2009-08-17 07:30 am UTC (link)

Even with her finger on the doorbell almost the entire time, it still took Shikamaru close to ten minutes to answer. Ino could remember that, the first time she came to visit, she'd given up after about two minutes, called his phone, heard it ring through the door, then went right back to holding her finger down on the buzzer.

Now, she didn't even bother to check if he was there. He was. She just needed to be persistent.

When he finally opened the door, she smiled radiantly, all too prepared to sell this. "Shikamaru!"

Then he shut it in her face.

(But he didn't lock it.)

Ino took that as a favorable sign, swinging the door open herself, still smiling. Sadly, she was used to getting the cold shoulder from Shikamaru, especially if he was in a bad mood--which, apparently, he was right now--but that only meant she would have to work him a little harder.

No problem.

Without hesitation, she swept into the apartment like she owned it, flinging her purse down on the couch, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.

"So! What's up?"

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haecceity
2009-08-17 07:39 am UTC (link)

Waving a hand over his shoulder, he moved to the couch and plopped down in a comfortable position, closing his eyes and crossing his arms. Standard procedure. Reaching out for the bottle of water that he figured Ino would go grab because it just happened to be the last bottle of water in the fridge, he waited quietly, trying to tune out her voice.

Maybe if he ignored her hard enough, she'd go away. Probably not. But it was worth the effort, however little it was.

Ino always had an odd habit of barging into his life when he was at his worst—whether from sleeping, from stress, or anything else in general—but she was always good at what she was selling. Even if he saw right through her, it's not like he completely hated her entire presence. No, there was something about Ino that made him ignore her faulty timing, albeit grudgingly.

Regardless, he wouldn't skirt around the issue, as usual.

"What do you want."

Still waiting for the bottle of water.

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verdure
2009-08-17 07:53 am UTC (link)

She paused at the sound of his voice, hesitating--but she never had a problem with exploiting Shikamaru before, did she? She definitely wasn't about to start now, not when he was her only option left besides Chouji. It didn't matter how exhausted he sounded; this was her hour of need. What else were friends for?

Wordlessly, she handed over the water--after taking a drink, because she was thirsty--then moved to stand in front of him, arms folded across her chest.

"I..." Even though she tried to tell herself that it wasn't her fault, that her landlord was crazy and it must've been faulty wirework or something, she still felt slightly guilty. A little. Whether it was from destroying her place or imposing on Shikamaru like this, she wasn't sure.

Either way, it would pass. She bit her lip, steeling herself.

"Ikindofburnedmyapartmentdown."

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haecceity
2009-08-17 10:00 am UTC (link)

With Ino, there was always a catch. It was a game Shikamaru had long gotten accustomed to since he was young, and in a way, he wasn't going to expect much more from her other than demands, demands, demands.

Finally taking the drink into his hand, he took in a big gulp and looked like he was thinking—this was something that didn't need much thought or consideration, because regardless of how he felt about this sudden intrusion upon his privacy, she was a friend. Who was he to turn down a friend—much less a childhood friend? He lowered his head a bit, before looking up to Ino with a look of indifference.

The usual.

"Okay."

He stared at her.

Condescendingly.

You know—the worst type of look to give Ino.

That look.

Yeah.

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verdure
2009-08-17 06:50 pm UTC (link)

She almost smacked him for the look he gave her--instead, she bristled, because hitting Shikamaru at this point would probably be a bad way to win him over. After all, it wasn't like she was going to be here for a fay days, a week, a couple weeks. Three. Months. That was a hefty amount of time. And as much as she really didn't want to spend them with Shikamaru, she really had no choice.

"Anyway!" she trilled, a little stiffly, before shrugging and putting her hands on her hips. An aggressive posture, rather than a defensive one. "My landlord kicked me out for a few months while they fix everything up, so I'm staying here for a bit!"

It wasn't a question. There was no room for argument.

With that, she turned on her heel, spinning around to inspect her new home.

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haecceity
2009-08-26 07:48 am UTC (link)

He watched Ino's movements with careful consideration, before half-shutting his eyes, sliding down on the couch in one fluid motion. Yes, this would be a pain in the ass to deal with, but as much as he hated to admit it, Ino was still one of his close friends, much less a childhood friend. His parents took care of her just as if she was their own child, and vice versa. That was something he couldn't just ignore.

She was also his responsibility, being the oldest of the group at least in terms of mentality. That was how things were before, even if he didn't show his concern half the time.

In the end, it was much easier to take care of others under the guise of not caring. Shikamaru figured it out by instinct.

Taking a box of cigarette out of his pocket, he lit one up and took a drag, looking at nothing in particular.

"Four... three... two... one..."

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