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"Hey, whatcha starin' at?"

Ino gave a little start. She frowned at Chouji, throwing a star at a far-off tree. The two seven year olds weren't hitting it very often. "I wasn't staring."

While Ino's stars fell short, Chouji's went long and wide. "You were too. Staring at Shikamaru."

Shikamaru layed off to the side, sleeping in the sun near the two of them.

"I was not!" She had been, of course. She was thinking that, if Shikamaru didn't start trying, he'd never pass, and then Chouji would fail himself too. If Shikamaru didn't start trying, Academy next year was going to totally suck.She'd mentioned as much before, loudly, and the two just said that if it mattered that much to her, she should just fail too. She'd beaned them both one good.

"Was too." Chouji had gotten out some chips, and the crunch-crunch helped stimulate his mind. "Hey, hey Ino-chan, you don't like Shikamaru, do you?"

"Huh?"

"Because Shikamaru is a really good guy, but I don't think he wants a girlfriend. He'd say 'it's troublesome'."

Ino blinked and considered it. She put one finger to the side of her face while she tried to picture Shikamaru as a boyfriend. Bringing her flowers. Holding hands and having everyone see them.

"No, I don't think he'd be a good boyfriend. The dates would be boring, and he doesn't comb his hair." She sat down near the boy in question, hugging her knees to think about it. "I want a boyfriend who looks nice next to me, with good hair. It's like flowers, you know. I'll be the main flower, and I need something to complement me. Dark hair is good, but Shikamaru slouches."

Chouji nodded, and plopped down on Shikamaru's other side. "You're right. Shikamaru would be a bad boyfriend."

Sitting up and rubbing his eyes, Shikamaru wakes up sullen, taking Chouji's offered chip. "Che'. who wants to be your boy friend anyway?"

"Yeah Ino, who do you like then?"

"I don't know. Who do you think complements me?"

Ino's finger went back to her cheek, and Chouji looked around the practice yard. Shikamaru rolled his eyes, sighing.

"Hyuuga-sempai has black hair. Aburame too." Chouji ran with the idea. "And the Uchiha too."

Ino pursed her lips and ran though the options, screening them as she did with Shikamaru. "Hyuuga's eyes are scary, and Shino always has those bugs crawling on him. Sasuke only plays by himself, though."

"So, you're in love with Sasuke then?"

"I guess. He'd look good next to me, and he's on top in class. I won't need to worry about him failing out." She said this part with a pointed glance at the other two, recieving a big grin and an aggrived sigh in return.

"Those are stupid reasons to pick a boyfriend. Besides you don't even know if that loser Uchiha will even want to be your boyfriend." Shikamaru had lain back again, closing his eyes, so he didn't see the fist that came down on his stomach.

"Lazy, don't call my boyfriend a loser. Besides, I'm cute, I can cook a little, even if I'm not as good as Chouji, and I know about flowers. Why wouldn't a boy want to go out with me?"

"I'd go out with you, Ino, and I can teach you to cook better, if you want."

She smiled, vindicated. "See? Thanks Chouji."

"It doesn't matter that Chouji would go out with you, it matters that Uchiha wouldn't." He put his hand on his face, pressing on his eyes as if explaining was physically taxing. "Guys want different things from girls. I don't care if a girl knows about flowers if she can play shogi, and Chouji cares more about whether she can cook than how cute she is. Uchiha might like ugly fat girls who cook bad and mess up throwing shurikens. He might not want a kunoichi at all."

"Idiot. No guys like ugly fat girls, and the Uchiha are a ninja family. You're just jealous because no girls play shogi."

Shikamaru shrugged as best he could in the grass. Chouji leaned back next to him, munching.

"I better go tell the other girls that I like Sasuke." She stood up, and dusted off her skirt.

As she made her way to the flower field she knew the other girls played in, she glanced back at the two boys laying on the ground. She really hoped they'd get up and practice. SasuInoSaku just didn't sound right.