Log; Complete

[medic-assistant.livejournal.com]

When; Sept. 29th
Rating; PG-13
Characters; Shizune {medic_assistant} & Chouji {heavierthanlife}
Summary; Chouji comes to talk to Shizune about what traspired between himself, Ino, and Shikamaru.
Log;
Shizune idly paced through the apartment, straightening a lamp that had been knocked over during the course of the day by either Tenten or Kabuto. She gave a sigh, crouching down to pick up some coloring pages she'd laid out for the several children that had been in and out of the apartment at the behest of the two children in her care. Now that was a frustrating experience. Goodness knows Tenten was just as good with weapons at the age, and Kabuto was running around on that damnable computer telling everyone he came across details... intimate details... about their lives. Which... she would have to kill him for that later. But what was currently worrying her was Chouji. She didn't know what was going on... but it had her worried nonetheless. She had spoken with him before while healing his legs, but... she didn't know. But she was listening for a knock.

It had been a stressful last few days for Akimichi Chouji, to say the very least. He had been taken against his will [twice, if you want to get technical], legs broken, left behind, and now, the girl he had finally made a connection with was giving him the cold (and not mention vague) shoulder. Thank God for Shizune. She'd been there for his the first time he was feeling down, and now that trouble had reared its ugly head again, she had graciously volunteered her time. Sucking in deeply, Chouji knocked on the door...

Shizune looked up, hurrying to the door and dropping the gathered toys and such things in a corner on the way. She looked through the peephole just in case, you never could tell with her neighbors, and opened it to be greeted by Chouji's worried face. "Chouji, come in, come in..." She opened the door wider, glancing down the halls on instinct, making sure it was clear.

"Thank you, Shizune" Chouji intoned, holding out a plate of cookie before him. "It's, um, well, it's for all you've done since you got here. I really appreciate it. I'm sure Shika and Ino-cha--" there was a pause, and he continued "--Ino do to."

"Thank you, Chouji... I'm not letting Kabuto or Tenten have any, they're hyper enough already..." She threw a glance behind her, hardly able to believe she'd gotten them both down for a while for "naptime". She closed the door behind him, catching the change in honorifics he was using. "Chouji..." She didn't know why she'd been giving a lot of love advice lately, first Hinata, now this... but... "Is this about Ino?"

His mouth scrunched up a little in the corner as his eyes cast downward. "...Yeah." He walked into the apartment a little further, past the resting TenTen and Kabuto, searching for a place to sit. "She's acting awfully strange today. I mean, I realize it's a curse day and all, but..."

"... I see..." She motioned to the couch, taking a seat in the chair opposite it, setting the cookies down on the table between the two pieces of furniture. She might let them have some, if they were good later. Though Kabuto would be grounded. For a long, long, time. Pushing that issue from her mind, she searched Chouji's face. "Your legs healed alright?" She asked, trying to put him at ease.

The rotund boy smiled a little, and nodded. "They are, thank you! Between you and Hinata, I'm almost as good as new." It was true. Other than a little tightness in his thigh, the breaks were as good as new, and he owed it all to the medical-nin. Reluctant to continue on about his girl problems, he decided to try and change the subject again. "About what Kabuto had said earlier..."

"Ah... ehiii~" Shizune's gaze traveled to the sleeping child, that idea of him was disconcerting. Her eyes looked over the ceiling, then back to Chouji. "I guess secret time is over." She idly brushed a strand of hair from her face, looking a little awkward. "Ask away. No use hiding anything now..."

Chouji shot a hand up to stop her. "Nonononono! I, uh, I told you I wasn't gonna ask, and I won't. Besides, I... think I figured it out." He ws blushing a little, but still smiling. I hope she's not upset about me finding out...

"I suppose with what he was saying you couldn't really interpret it any other way..." Shizune was valiantly fighting off a blush. She was a grown woman, for goodness sake. "I think a few others know, anyway... Anko knows... and I'm sure Tenten does, I just think she doesn't want me to know she knows..." She gave a small sigh. "... I'm more worried about Orochimaru knowing... to tell the truth..."

Chouji nodded slightly. "I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate that... do you think he already knows, or are you afraid of him finding out?"

"... I'm afraid I don't know... whether he knows or not." She looked over to Kabuto, well, the child Kabuto, and smiled softly as he rolled over in his sleep, clutching at the blanket she'd draped over him. "... He said he'd protect me..." She murmured. "But what can he do, really? Against Orochimaru... what can any of us do?"

His eyes fell again, as he mumbled out a dissidant 'yeah'. "B-but I guess it's not something we have to worry about right now, ne? I mean, you said you hadn't heard anything about him..."

"... But enough about my love life." Shizune gave a small laugh, a bit of a nervous one, really. "What did you want to speak to me about, exactly?"
"Well... it's about Ino. She's been acting really... wierd, I guess. I mean, even las--" Chouji caught himself, and tightened every muscle in his body to keep from shooting his hand to cover his mouth.

"... las-?" Shizune gently prodded, trying to get to the heart of the matter.

Chouji eked out a nervous, blushing 'last night', before turning quickly to avoid eye contact.

"Ah... last night..." Shizune averted her head for a moment, coughing a little into one hand. "... You and Ino...?" She left the question open.

"We... um... Next door to TenTen's... yeah." He was blushing now, his face as red as a beet, his eyes looking straight down.

"Well, I hope you did use some form of birth control." The medical profession kicked in and she tried to remain... professional about the entire thing. "... If not I have something you need to give Ino. Today."

"No, but... I haven't seen her today. She ran off last night... at midnight. D-do you think it was a curse?"

"It... might have been." Shizune conceded, crossing and recrossing her legs. "But, it might have been something else." She felt a little awkward about this whole thing, but it was better he talk about it, better she give him advice, though she didn't have the most conventional love-life either. "She might have needed some time to think... to think about what you two did."

Chouji's eyes fell again, locking on a stain one of the children that had been running rampant of the apartment had probably left. "Well, yeah. But she told me it was right, and she knew it was right. The most right thing she had ever done... and now... she's run off." Under his breath, hoping his 'counselor' would not hear, he added one small phrase. "Three of us did."

"Well, you never know, she might just have-" Shizune paused. "... what did you just say, Chouji?"

Chouji blushed an even darker red while he squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. He tried to dodge Shizune's half-shocked expression, but to no avail. Silently praying that Kabuto or TenTen would wake up, Chouji muttered again, "Three of us did."

"..." Shizune blinked slowly. Then again, just to be sure. She suddenly sagged in her seat, tipping her head back towards the ceiling, one hand over her face to hide her own embarrassment. "... Shikamaru?" She asked around her fingers, voice quiet.

Chouji still couldn't really believe that he was talking about this, much less that it actually happened. "Y-yeah... how'd you guess?" Chouji asked, adding a nervous laugh to the end of his comment.

"... I just figured." Shizune took a few deep breaths, composing herself. This was... awkward. "Um... so... Ino went off on her own... how's Shikamaru, um... coping?"

Chouji shrugged a little, slightly relieved that the conversation was shifting, even in the sligthtest. "He, um... I think he feels the same way I do. Mostly sad Ino is gone."

"You both love her?" Shizune slowly asked, one hand still slightly obscuring her embarrassment, finding it easier to look at the ceiling or the sleeping children. She's given advice to Hinata, about love, but... a threesome? Goodness... she'd definitely never dealt with that before.

Chouji froze a bit. That... that wasn't something that had crossed his mind at all. "I-I don't think so... she's our teammate, and..." His voiced wandered with his thoughts for a moment. "He'd say something to me if he did, right?"

"Well... let's start with you. Do you love her? Or did you just like... the sexual aspect?" Shizune tried to remember her kunoichi classes and the way her teacher had spoken about sexual encounters. She never did like that class...

Chouji's eyes widened, as he extended his arms, as if to stop the thought. "NO, thats not it at all!" He struggled to think of how to state the way he felt, each idea coming to a dead end, until ... "I've liked her for a long time, shiune! And... everything seemed to be going well in this city... she even went on a date with me! But now..."

"You’re worried she'll be scared off by the... sexual encounter?" She finished for him, glad at least that this wasn't going to turn out to be some hormonal rage one-night stand sort of thing. "And... you worry about what Shikamaru feels?"

"...yeah. He's my best friend." Chouji's face grew somber, as one possibilty set in... he and his best friend both loved the same girl...

"You don't... want to compete with him for Ino's affections." Shizune finally managed to look Chouji in the eyes again, trying to think of this as a healer, as a medical professional, and as a grown woman. "He hasn't said anything about her?"

He shook his head, answering in the negative to both of her questions. He didn't want, and knew he couldn't compete with Shika. It wasn't fair, and it wasn't right. And as for the other question... "N-no... he always said she was troublesome. Just like Temari, and all those other girls."

"... Troublesome." Shizune murmured, Shikamaru's trademark phrase. "Maybe... he doesn't want to compete with you either...?" Shizune had always been a firm believer in the fact that boys complained most bitterly about the girls they liked.

Chouji scratched the back of his head. "I... He wouldn't do that. He's never been the type to do that. ...I hope not, anyways." He looked around, then back at Shizune, his eyes catching hers. "Then what should I do?" The deperation in his eyes was clear. He'd never been in a situation like this, caught between [quite literally] the girl he pined for the and the best friend he'd never abandon. He needed the more experienced persons advice..

Shizune leaned forward a little in her chair, taking a moment before speaking. "Chouji... all I can say is... you need to tell Ino how you feel. Tell Shikamaru how you feel about Ino. And ask Shikamaru how he feels. Ino, too." She shook her head slowly. "This is something you, uh, three need to work out between yourselves... and being honest is the only thing that will do it."

Chouji sighed. He knew thats what she was going to say, and really, it's kind of what he wanted to hear. "...Thank you, Shizune-sama. You're... I don't know where any of us would be if you weren't here." Chouji stood up, getting ready to leave the couch.

"Oh, Chouji... before you go." Shizune stood and crept over to the kitchen, stepping over the sleeping children gingerly and rummaging softly in a cupboard, returning with a packet of herbs, pressing it into Chouji's hands. "Give this to Ino when she comes back, okay?"

Chouji nodded, smiling gently, not even bothering to ask what it was. It didn't matter, either. He trusted her, and trusted her judgement. Sliding the packet into his pocket, he turned around one last time, smiling wider than he had the whole time he had been there. "Shizune?"

"Yes?" She smiled a little back.

"Kabuto's in the cookies."