Naruto 1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me

(You know, when I was typing that disclaimer, I kept typing 'dies' instead of 'does.' Hmmm, subconscious omen, maybe? lol...)

So, here it is! My latest pet progect - SHIKA SHIKA SHIKA! I've decided to take a slightly different look at their relationship this time- I've always only ever written about them getting together or not but I kinda wanted to explore what would happen AFTER they got together. After all, what's the fun if everything was smooth sailing, eh?

But yeah, wanted to dedicate this little fic to **mI.ShOE**. You'vebeen such an awesome and supportive reviewer and I'm so happy that you enjoy mystories cuz I've always adored yours!

Anyways, hope you're all having a great summer holzso far and please enjoy!

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**Wanting**

Chapter 1

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"Do you want that piece, Shikamaru?"

Chouji nodded at the last chicken wing lying on the grill, looking at his old friend hopefully. The Nara shook his head.

"Nah, go ahead."

"Thanks."

Cheerfully gobbling down the remainder of their meal, Chouji took one final swig of tea and slumped back in his seat, patting his filled stomach in satisfaction.

"This is a really great place. Even better than that noodle shop we went to last time."

"Hn."

The boy glanced up at the Jounin sitting across from him, whose head was propped up on one hand as he leaned limply against the table. Shikamaru grunting and muttering was something he was well used to but there was something different about this grunt. Something was disturbing the Nara.

"Hey, Shikamaru?"

"Huh?"

"So, what's up with you lately? You're always so busy that we haven't been able to spend much time together like before."

Shikamaru shrugged, eyes half-lidded as he gazed absently out into the street. It was a hot summer's afternoon, the streets relatively quiet as most people tried to stay indoors to avoid the mid-day heat. A young boy scampered past the barbeque shop, laughing and yelling as he was chased by a little girl.

"Yeah, the Hokage's been keeping me busy the past couple of months. Mendokuse, I knew I didn't want to become a Jounin."

"But you're good at it though. Even if Ino hadn't convinced you to try out for the Jounin exam last year, you probably would have done it sooner or later."

"Better later than sooner. Che, if she hadn't been nagging at me every single moment, I would be at home sleeping right now instead of needing to catch a late lunch because the mission debriefing ran too long."

By now, his tone held a distinct, irritable tone. Eyeing his friend's furrowed brow, Chouji tried a different tack.

"Where is Ino, anyways? Doesn't she know you're back?"

If the boy had thought this would cheer him up, he was unfortunately mistaken. In fact, the crease in Shikamaru's forehead merely deepened until he looked as though he was almost scowling.

"Dunno. Haven't seen her."

Chouji's eyes widened in surprise.

"Really? I saw her yesterday when I was at Kin-san's fruit stall and she said she was going to be there to greet you when you came back today."

At that, Shikamaru's head raised. Standing abruptly, he pulled out some coins from his pouch and placed it on the table.

"I've gotta go, Chouji. Sorry about that. See you later, okay?"

"Sure, thanks for lunch, Shikamaru. I'm glad that you're back."

"Yeah."

Lifting a hand in farewell, Shikamaru walked out of the door, blinking at bit at the sudden onslaught of sunlight.

"Maa, mendokuse."

Leaping on to a nearby rooftop, he made his way towards the far west gate at which he had arrived a few hours ago. A quick survey and an inquiry with the guards informed him that Yamanaka Ino had indeed been here about an hour ago. Nodding, he made his way back towards the centre of the village, this time heading towards her house. Ino had moved out of her parents' home at roughly the same time as he had, although both had found places in different apartment complexes. He figured she was probably back home by now, ready to kick his ass for making her go all the way to the west gate for no reason.

To his surprise however, no one answered the door when he knocked, nor could he sense her chakra signature anywhere nearby. Frowning, Shikamaru leaned against the plaster hallway rail, scanning his mind for the most likely place she would be.

He had been a little disappointed when she had been nowhere in sight when he wearily made his way along the trail and back into Konoha. Alright, make that more than a little disappointed and more hurt than he would admit to himself. As usual, his ability to think logically had shut down whenever the matter concerned the bossy, blonde kunoichi and he had completely failed to consider that her absence was because he had returned ahead of schedule.

Annoyed at himself and the situation in general, Shikamaru headed back home almost unconsciously, the muscles in his body screaming for respite. Grunting a greeting at people he knew as he passed them, the boy stretched, loosening up the tension in his back. It had been a long two weeks and he had been eager to come home, not least because he had missed a certain someone.

A certain someone who was currently parked on the steps of his building, idly twirling a flower between her fingers.

"Ino?"

At the sound of his voice, Ino looked up. There he was, standing right in front of her on the road. A surprised expression was on his face, which quickly faded into its usual look of mild indifference.

"What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?"

Jumping up, the girl stalked over to him, glaring up into his face. He peered down at her, hands tucked inside his pockets. Jabbing a finger into his vest, Ino let loose the worry that had been fermenting inside of her for the past hour.

"What I'm _doing_ here is waiting for your sorry ass to get home so I can beat the crap out of you!"

"Eh, you really shouldn't swear, Ino."

Screeching, she whacked him on the arm, noting his pained wince with righteous self-satisfaction.

"Don't tell me what to do, you inconsiderate jerk! Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting here for you? Who was it that said they were going to be back by noon today, huh?"

Rubbing his abused arm ruefully, Shikamaru skirted around her with a single, fluid motion and headed up towards his apartment. Mouth dropping in indignation at his apparent dismissal of her, Ino stomped after him, all the while demanding an explanation.

"The mission went better than expected. I made it back ahead of schedule."

"I know that! The guards told me after I'd been standing there like an idiot for more than an hour."

Unlocking his door, he stumbled inside gratefully, kicking off his sandals before collapsing on his dull, tan sofa. Ino slammed the door behind her, making her way past his small kitchen and into his equally small living room. Shikamaru was sprawled on his back, the very picture of utter exhaustion. Crossing her arms, she stood at one end of the sofa and gave his leg a sharp kick.

"Stop pretending to ignore me, Shikamaru!"

Groaning, the shinobi shifted his leg out of the way, draping an arm heavily over his eyes. Ino grimaced, taking in the various cuts on his arms and the overall grunginess of his appearance. Sighing in resignation, she located the medical kit in the bathroom, knelt down next to him and dabbed some ointment on the angry-looking gash along the forearm covering his face. Shikamaru's head tilted to look at her.

"Thought you were mad at me."

"I am. Don't think you're off the hook yet."

The corner of his mouth crooked in the faintest smile, which he wisely hid. Ino could feel him watching her as she wound a roll of bandages around the cut and it unnerved her somewhat.

"So, I thought you said the mission went well. What happened here?"

Shrugging, Shikamaru examined his bandaged arm, muttering his thanks as she started on another wound on his other elbow.

"Got hit by a shurikan one of the Wind guards threw at me. And that one's from a dart I didn't see. It's no big deal."

"'No big deal.'"

Scowling down at him, Ino finished up on his arm and waited expectantly.

"Anymore?"

Shaking his head in response, Shikamaru watched as she stood up and headed back towards the bathroom, medical kit in hand. Her voice carried down the hallway.

"Well, you should be more careful next time. What if the dart had been poisoned or something? Then what would you do?"

Deciding that there was no real way for him to reply and that it would probably be easiest for him to just agree with her, the boy made a sound of acquiescence, which Ino managed to catch as she came back out. Although his eyes were closed, Shikamaru could feel her standing there uncertainly, most likely with a frown on her face.

_Probably trying to decide whether to continue yelling at me or finish it up tomorrow. Please let it be tomorrow. _

There was the sound of her footsteps and then a light bundle landed on his chest. Cracking open one eye, he found it to be a thin blanket. Gathering his remaining strength to crane his head up, Shikamaru could just barely see her putting her sandals back on.

"Get some sleep. You look like crap."

And with that parting shot, Ino left. Flopping back down, Shikamaru spread the blanket over himself, never mind that it was actually too hot to sleep with one. Fingering the cotton fabric thoughtfully, he fell asleep.

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**A/N: Ahhh, really getting back into the ShikaIno mindset. It's surprisingly different from NejiIno, at least the way I picture them lol. I dunno, maybe cuz there's so much more history between Shika and Ino and thus, so much more opportunity for exploring that _something_ that seems to be lurking between them. lol...**

**Yeps, I hope to get the next chp up in a week or two. Thanks for reading and please do review!**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me

Sorry it's been a while since my last update. Coughing like crazy + car crash + bruised ribs + started fulltime summer job no time to sleep, let alone sit down and write. So it's been sorta crazy lately. Still, things seem to be settling down ok lately, despite the fact that it's now...oh, 1:30 in the morning, I haven't taken a shower yet _and_ I have to have up at 7 tomorrow morning. But whine-fest aside, it's great to get going on this fic again -thanks so much for all your encouragement during this time andENJOY!

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Chapter 2

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Ino eyed her target critically before winding back and slamming a chakra-laden leg against it. The solid wooden post splintered, long fissures radiating out from the point of impact to split cleanly in half. Flexing her leg muscles carefully, she spun up into the air and scissored four separate shuriken into the marked trees. One of them landed slightly off-centre.

"Keep your wrist tight and your body coiled. Make sure you see all of your targets before you twist your head."

The command was blunt and direct. Landing gracefully on her feet, Ino brushed at the long strands of hair that had escaped from her ponytail. Nodding shortly at her sparring partner in acknowledgement, she repeated the attack, careful to heed his advice.

This time, all four weapons pierced the wood dead centre.

"Let's take a break, Neji. My shoulder's a little sore."

The Hyuuga nodded. Plopping down on the grass, Ino stretched fully, gingerly rolling said shoulder against the dull ache that had been bugging her since this morning. Neji folded himself down next to her, glancing over briefly.

"Injury?"

"Nah. Probably just slept badly."

Smiling over at him ruefully, she yawned. The day was drawing to a close, the heady summer air still and warm. It had been a long day and the training had been tough, as it always was whenever she trained with Hyuuga Neji.

"Turn around."

"Hmm?"

Shooting him a questioning look, Ino nevertheless obeyed, turning her back to him. There was a warmth and then a familiar tingling sensation as his chakra flowed into her muscles, patiently loosening up the tightness there. Everyone's chakra had a distinct feel to it, enabling others to identify its owner even from a distance. Neji's was steady and thick, carrying an almost tangible 'blue' feeling that hinted at a centre of cool steel. It was comforting in its own way.

"Thanks, Neji. You didn't have to do that, you know."

"Hn."

Returning to his usual, slightly distant position a foot or so away from her, the Hyuuga closed his eyes. Ino watched him quietly as he slipped into a meditative state, a passing breeze ruffling the shiny, bound river of dark cocoa resting on his back. His hair was even longer than before, his face older and sharper but no less beautiful than when he was thirteen. A slight lift of his eyebrows indicated that he was aware that she was watching him but other than that, he made no sign of glaring back at her from under his eyelids using his Byakugan or that he even really annoyed.

Snorting in amusement, Ino turned away and propped up her head against her legs. It was oddly unexpected when she thought about it. Back when they were all genins, she would never have predicted that she and Hyuuga Neji would eventually form a solid friendship of any sort, let alone one in which they were close enough to train or even just relax together. Indeed, their friendship had caught almost everyone by surprise, not least of all the Godaime, who had quickly taken advantage of the development by placing the two of them on a number of missions together.

A butterfly flitted past her, alighting momentarily on a nearby bluebell flower before taking flight again. Eyes twinkling in sudden mischievousness, Ino reached over to pluck the flower, twirling it admiringly between her fingers before slipping it deftly into the ponytail of the shinobi sitting motionlessly next to her.

She had always been a little envious of that hair.

"Neji. Hey, Neji. Let's go."

His eyes opened to fix her with that famed white gaze.

"It's still early."

"So that means there's more time to eat. We'll train tomorrow; I'm tired today!"

Frowning slightly, he remained sitting as she got up and paced around him energetically.

"You don't look tired."

"That's because of my natural good looks. Come on, let's go to Ichiraku. Your treat."

Finally giving in, Neji stood up too, giving her one of his patented smirks, this one speaking of mild indulgence. Really, the guy had a whole catalogue of them.

"Well, since you've already volunteered my services…"

Laughing openly, Ino strolled across the training field, knowing that he was following along behind her. She waved at a couple of chuunins as they passed them, pouting slightly when their hellos quickly turned into awed, wide-eyed stares as they noticed the shinobi she was with.

_Stupid Neji. Always stealing my thunder._

Glaring up at him in mock irritation as he fell into step beside her, Ino was met with another smirk. This time, it was one of satisfied nonchalance.

"Egotistical show-off."

"Hn."

As they made their way into the still relatively empty ramen stand, Ino had to admit that he made a rather impressive sight. Not only was he undeniably gorgeous, he was also widely praised as possibly the most talented Hyuuga ever in the long and illustrious history of their clan. The fledging fame of his youth had only increased exponentially over the years and now the Captain of Konoha's special forces ANBU team was as feared as he was respected.

Placing her order with the smiling old man, Ino didn't realize she was staring at him until the shinobi gave a low cough.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking."

"About?"

He was obviously in a good mood today. Maybe it was because it was the first time in a long time that the two of them had had a chance to really just relax and train together. His duties often took him away for weeks at a time and the expected success rate for each one was something neither of them talked about.

"About you."

"Oh?"

This time, he shot her an amused look. Poking at her steaming bowl of ramen, Ino wrinkled her nose at him.

"Not like that, you idiot! I would have thought you'd be sick of having another fan-girl pining over you."

He shrugged indifferently.

"They're a waste of time."

"Ha, some prince charming you turned out to be. I wish Sakura could see you now – then maybe she'd get off my case about having an affair with you."

Ino chuckled as his opaque eyes widened incredulously at her words. Glaring at her, he merely shook his head and started eating, the ends of his hiatae dangling just above the counter.

She had not been joking though. The pink-haired kunoichi had teased Ino about her friendship with Neji on more than one occasion. She had often warned her that Shikamaru would be jealous that his girlfriend was spending so much time with another male, especially one as powerful and attractive as Hyuuga Neji. Usually Ino would just brush her off, often poking fun at Sakura in return that she should be worrying about her own guy instead of someone else's. But in reality, her friend's words bothered her a great deal more than she let on.

Just not in the way Sakura had intended.

Ino could still remember the day when all of this had started as clearly as if it was yesterday.

It had been nearly a year ago, when the sky had been oppressively overcast with one of Konoha's frequent summer thundershowers. She had just returned from another mission, one of her longer ones that had lasted well over a month.

Making her way down the steps of the Hokage's Tower after their debriefing, Ino had tugged impatiently at her dusty chuunin vest, grimacing at the dirt and various cuts decorating her body. Waving goodbye to her teammates, she had headed home, intent on taking a nice long bath and maybe sleeping in for the next week or so.

The humidity in the air was uncomfortably heavy and it wasn't long before the first drops of rain gave way to an angry torrent that drenched her inside out in no time at all. Cursing, Ino had leapt up onto the wet-slicked rooftops to avoid the crowd rushing to get shelter. Carefully redistributing the chakra in her feet to prevent herself from slipping and breaking her neck, if it wasn't for force of habit, she would have almost missed the sight of a lone figure lying stretched out underneath a familiar pine tree on a low hill not far from their regular training field.

Scowling in irritation, she had changed directions and headed towards the hill, the passing wind chilling her to the bones as the rain obscured her vision.

"Shikamaru? Is that you?"

At her yell, the figure had sat up rather abruptly. Surprised dark brown eyes met hers as she ran up and stood there staring down at him in disbelief.

"Ino?"

"Yeah, what? You'd forgotten who I was or something? What's with the look?"

"Huh? What?"

Sighing in frustration at his apparent lapse in brainpower, she had pulled him up by the arm and started dragging his unresisting butt back home. Scolding him the entire way for just sitting out there in the rain, she had not bothered to turn around.

"What were you doing out there anyways? Don't tell me you were just too lazy to get up and go home!"

He had muttered something that had suspiciously sounded like it included the word 'mendokuse.' Shaking her head, she had stopped when they finally reached his apartment. Releasing his arm, she had grimaced at his bedraggled appearance.

"Go and get changed. You're going to catch a cold and then who do you think is going to have to look after you?"

"…You."

Ino had stopped in her tracks at the softly mumbled word. Turning slowly to stare at him, her brilliant blue eyes had met and held his, unable to look away from the unexpected glimmer in his darkening ones.

"What?"

"I was watching the clouds."

"Yeah…okay?"

A frown had crossed his face at her apparent lack of complete understanding. Rubbing his neck with a large hand, Shikamaru had suddenly reached out and grabbed her. Gasping, Ino had found herself enveloped in a crushing hug, the feel of his arms tightening around her throwing her senses into a bewildering whirlwind of shock.

"Wha…Shi-Shikamaru?"

Even now she could recall the scent of wet grass and something distinctly Shikamaru. Something warm and musky that dried out her mouth and flushed her cheeks at the same time. She had stood there motionlessly in his arms as his voice sounded directly in her ear, the heat from his body seeping through both their wet clothing to seer into her skin. The sound of rain pattered on to the ground just outside the overhang, filling in the brokenness of his jumbled words.

He had been sitting out there in the rain because he missed the sun, he had missed the clouds, he had missed her. He had been waiting for the storm to pass, waiting for the day the sun would come back out. He had been waiting for her to come back.

Ino had stared blindly up the stairway, wet strands of hair plastered to her neck. She heard him swallow and then he had let her go, his eyes not meeting hers as he muttered a goodbye and disappeared up the stairs.

She didn't know how long she stood there, nor could she remember exactly how she had gotten home. All she remembered after that was being stuck in bed for the next few days, nursing a raging headache and a stuffy nose. Shikamaru had shown up at her door the next night, dinner from her mom in one hand and an inscrutable expression on his face.

They had eaten in almost near silence, making small talk that had been both pointless and embarrassed. After crawling back into bed, Ino had gazed at him thoughtfully as he hovered awkwardly at the doorway to her bedroom. She didn't know what it was that had made her do what she did next. Maybe it was the way he kept trying to offer her that rare, crooked smile of his or the way he kept failing and was obviously beating himself up about it. Or maybe it was the way she felt around him.

She had never managed to figure out what it was.

"Okay."

His head had lifted sharply at that, his eyes meeting her for perhaps the first time that night.

"What?"

Ino had smiled, a shy, self-deprecating lift of the lips that had surprised even herself. He had held her gaze for a long moment, until that wary mask of indifference slowly eased into a genuine, relieved smile. He had made his way over to the side of her bed and sat down next to her. And somehow, that had been that.

"Ino?"

"Huh?"

She looked up in surprise. Neji was staring at her, an empty bowl in front of him. Shaking herself free from the memories, Ino laughed weakly and peered down at her now cold ramen.

"Sorry. Daydreaming."

"Obviously. A shinobi should be aware of his surroundings at all times."

"Yeah, you can be such a nag sometimes, Neji-_kun_."

"Hn."

His grunt reminded her of him. Actually, a lot about Neji reminded her of Shikamaru. The way he didn't seem to care about everything and everyone around him when in fact, he valued those important to him more than his own life. And the way he usually answered with monosyllabic grunts and general indifference, although both knew that he would eventually give in to her demands after putting up the necessary amount of resistance.

Maybe that was why they got along so well. His presence comforted her when Shikamaru was gone on missions, which was often, and the Hyuuga had responded to her as the transferred sense of familiarity made her relaxed and comfortable around him.

"Do you want another bowl?"

"No, it's okay. I wasn't really hungry anyways."

Arching his eyebrow at her, he graciously refrained from mentioning that it was her idea to come to Ichiraku in the first place and placed some coins on the counter. Ducking back out into the dimming sunlight, the two shinobi strolled companionably down the street towards Ino's home.

"Nara's mission ended yesterday, didn't it? How is he?"

Shrugging, Ino didn't miss the shrewd sideways glance he slanted her.

"He's fine. The mission went well."

"Oh?"

Nudging an elbow sharply in his side, she glared up at him in barely concealed warning. He wasn't even fazed.

"You want to say something, Neji?"

"No. Did you?"

Those eyes of his saw just a bit too much sometimes.

Huffing indignantly, Ino flipped her ponytail over her shoulder, her annoyance melting away into merry glee when she recalled the little trick she had played on the stoic Hyuuga prodigy. Surreptitiously slowing down a few steps, she snuck a peek at the dark ponytail swaying against his back.

_Yep, still there. Take that, Hyuuga!_

Hiding a grin, she fluttered her long eyelashes at him innocently, more than amused at the immediate wariness that crossed his face.

"Actually, there's so much I wanted to say, Neji-kun. Why don't you take a walk with me around the village for a while?"

"…No."

Pouting adorably, she sidled up to him, ignoring the curious looks other villagers threw at the pair of them. He kept on walking, a tic twitching the corner of his eye when she let out a deliberately loud giggle that she knew would grate on his nerves.

"Aww, come on, Neji-kun! It's such a nice day and we haven't talked in such a long time. I've missed the way you always spout such lovely poetry to me. Remember that time by the stream when you said that my hair reminded you of the rising sun, so glorious and golden that it put your own boring, black hair to shame?"

Ino choked on a mixed laugh and wince when he trod firmly on her foot. She just couldn't resist that last jab.

"And don't worry about stepping on my foot! I know that being around me makes you nervous and clumsy sometimes. Oh, Neji-sama! Neji-sam…"

"Ino."

The low voice came from behind her. Whirling around, Ino snapped her mouth shut. A tall, lean body detached itself from a nearby building, coming to stop a few feet away from the two of them.

"Nara."

"Neji."

The two males nodded agreeably at each other, both wearing vaguely identical expressions of disinterest. Neji glanced down at Ino, who was still standing close to him.

"Training tomorrow night at 6. Don't be late."

"What? Why at night? You know I hate having to crawl home and take a bath when all I want to do is go to sleep!"

He smirked at her exasperated scowl.

"That's for before. You'd better be there, Ino or it's going to be night training for a week."

Sticking out her tongue at him childishly, she blinked as a tiny sprig of bluebells was thrust into her hand. Self-satisfaction was practically oozing from every pore as he continued on his way, motioning farewell to Shikamaru, who was standing there silently.

Flicking the flowers away petulantly, Ino stalked down the street veering off to the right. There was a pause and footsteps followed behind her.

"What do you want, Shikamaru?"

"Came to see you."

"Yeah? Well, you saw me. Happy?"

She was not really mad anymore. But Ino was stubborn.

"Hn."

Groaning, she turned to face him. His spiky hair was even more unruly today, his clothes even more rumpled than usual. Ino resisted the urge to fuss over him.

"If you're just going grunt at me, you don't need to bother. I just spent the last five hours trying to interpret Neji's grunts; I really don't have to energy to do it with you too."

It may have been a passing cloud but the look he threw her unnerved her for a second. It was gone almost immediately though and Ino pushed it aside as wishful thinking. He scratched his head lazily, eyes averted.

"Well, I just realized I forgot to say sorry yesterday."

Understanding dawned on her and Ino had to hide a smile.

"Sorry for what?"

Giving a long-suffering sigh, the Jounin took a step towards her.

"Sorry for not telling you that I came back early and for making you wait."

"And?"

Shikamaru looked imploringly up at the sky as if asking for strength. Or for lightening to just come down and fry him alive right now.

"And for being a lazy-ass jerk who doesn't appreciate how lucky he has it. Mendokuse."

Crossing her arms over her chest, she held out just a bit longer before launching herself at him, laughing. Throwing her arms around his neck, Ino snuggled shamelessly into his chest, relishing the feel of his strong arms wrapped securely around her waist.

He sighed, his breath warm on her neck.

"So, not mad anymore?"

She shucked him lightly on the shoulder.

"You got off easy this time, mister. Don't let it happen again."

"Yeah, yeah."

Massaging the back of her neck briefly, Shikamaru slowly pulled away and steered her back into walking.

"So you were training with Neji today?"

"Uh huh. He just got back a few days ago too so today was the first time he could get away."

"I could have trained with you, you know."

This time it was Ino who yawned. Even though Neji had fixed her sore shoulder, the rest of her body was now clamouring for rest.

"That's okay. I know you're busy. Besides, Neji's a good teacher…when he's not chewing me out, anyways."

"Hn."

They reached her place. Glancing up at him, Ino hesitated.

"Did you eat yet? I could make you something."

He wisely refrained from making any comments about the state of her cooking.

"Sure. Thanks."

And just like that, the two of them headed up the stairs together.

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**A/N: Yeps, I couldn't resist adding Neji into this story. I guess I'm still a bit attached to the idea of NejiIno but DON'T WORRY! This is definitely a ShikaIno fic but Neji is just there as an important part of the plot. **

**Anyways, thanks for reading and please do review. I had wanted to include something specific in this chapter but it turned out the way it did so I'll just expand more on Shika and Ino's history together a bit more in the next chp. **


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me

Ahh haa! I just found out this week about an Anime Convention coming in July near us. It'll be the first time I've ever attending something like that but I'm actually pretty excited! My friend was joking about how I'm on the search for my inner nerd but in defense of all anime watchers out there, since when does this qualify as nerdy? In fact, I should have told him that if he wanted to stop beinga nerd, he should stop carrying around EMERGENCY paperclips in his pockets.

I mean, really...lol

Oh yeah, and please note that this is rated M.

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Chapter 3

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"Here."

Handing him a glass of water, Ino rummaged around the compact kitchen, pulling out various plates and food items as she went. Shikamaru made his way towards the table, gingerly sidestepping a collapsed stack of scrolls along the way. Random pieces of clothing littered the surprisingly sparsely decorated living room, scattered throughout with vases of fresh flowers.

"Geez, when was the last time you cleaned up in here, Ino?"

"Hey, it's not like your place is any better! I was busy, okay?"

Idly perusing the row of picture frames decorating a nearby shelf, Shikamaru picked up one that caught his eye. It was a picture of the three of them together after Ino and Chouji had passed their chuunin exams. Ino was smack in the middle, proudly wearing her regulation green vest while Asuma had a brawny arm slung over his and Chouji's shoulders. He was wearing his usual bored expression; Shikamaru could still remember Ino squawking at him to hurry up and get in the picture, her brilliant blue eyes alive with excitement and happiness.

A small smile curved the corner of his lips and he set the photo back down, looking at some of the others with interest. There was a photo of Ino and Sakura back when they were just starting the shinobi academy, the infamous red ribbon visible amidst Sakura's pink locks. Next to it was a more recent picture of the two friends during the xxx festival, both dressed in brightly coloured yukatas and sporting identical grins.

"Shikamaru! Are noodles okay? I don't really have anything else unless you want an apple or something."

"Yeah, yeah, that's fine."

Shaking his head in affectionate resignation at her having offered to cook for him when in fact, she didn't have any food in the house, Shikamaru's eyes landed on one particular photo displayed in a simple wooden frame. It was a picture of him, fast asleep outdoors on the grass, dressed in a simple black shirt. A single purple orchid was loosely clasped in his hand, the other pillowed underneath his head.

"Ta da! Food's ready!"

Turning at the sound of her cheerful voice behind him, Shikamaru sat down obediently. Muttering his thanks, he began chewing slowly, well enough accustomed to Ino's cooking that he knew that he should approach with some degree of caution. Fortunately, it tasted alright, if a little bland and undercooked, but since he was not a particularly picky eater, it was good enough for him.

"When'd you take that picture?"

"Huh? What picture?"

Only half-concentrating on the conversation, Ino wandered into her bedroom, impatiently searching for her usual tank top and pajamas as she dumped her weapons pouch on the dresser.

His voice traveled down the hallway, indulgent and mildly amused.

"The one out here of me sleeping. What, do you go around taking pictures of people when they're unconscious? That's kind of creepy, Ino."

"It's not creepy!"

Unwinding her arm bindings, the girl took the time to shoot him a glare from where she was, never mind the fact that he couldn't possibly see it.

"You fell asleep while you were cloud-watching again, remember? Midori-chan was walking by and just happened to have her camera with her so I got her to take a photo of you while she was at it. It's no big deal. Besides, I think it's cute."

That last part came out quietly, almost to herself. When he didn't answer, Ino poked her head out and gestured to catch his attention.

"I'm going to wash up, okay? You going to stay for a while?"

"Eh."

Taking his half-shrug as a yes, she grabbed her clothes and headed into the bathroom. Foregoing her usual soak in the tub, Ino jumped into the shower. The sudden blast of cold almost made her scream and it was a while before the ensuing hot water calmed down her goosebumped flesh.

Scrubbing her face tiredly, Ino let her mind drift back to her previous thoughts.

It was true; no matter what happened or what teasing insinuations everyone made about her and Neji, Shikamaru never seemed to mind. He either shrugged or yawned depending on whether he had managed to sneak in a nap that day yet. And although the other girls kept going on about how lucky she was that Shikamaru trusted her so much, Ino had a nagging suspicion that it was something else.

Something like he simply didn't care.

Didn't care that people were basically saying, albeit jokingly, that their relationship was going down the drain. Didn't care that his ego and Ino's faithfulness was brought into play. Didn't care that there might even be the slightest possibility that someone else might actually be interested in taking her away from him.

Sighing, the girl stepped out of the shower and stood there in the swirling steam, absently drying herself off. The overhead light flickered, reminding her that it was probably time to head to the stores and buy some supplies.

A knock sounded through the quiet.

"Eh, Ino. You nearly finished? 'Cuz I sort of need to use the bathroom."

"Yeah, I'm almost done. Just need to get dressed."

Cleared off a part of the mirror, Ino stared critically at her foggy reflection for a long moment.

Her figure was slim and fit, her area of expertise in information espionage rather than direct combat blessing her with virtually no scars, a rare feat among shinobis in general. Freeing her hair from its tie, she ran her fingers through the thick gold carefully, watching as the bathroom light rippled over the loose waves. She was glad that she had eventually decided to grow it back out again. One of the rare displays of public affection Shikamaru ever deigned to show her was to curl his fingers in the ends of her ponytail, his touch gentle and almost unconsciously done at the most unexpected times.

Once, when they had been out with the rest of the gang, he had surprised everyone around them by doing just that. Ino had been lying down on her stomach, chatting with Sakura and Hinata while Shikamaru had been on her other side, nodding lazily as Naruto went on and on about his newest move.

A light brush against her side had had her pausing to turn and peer up at him questioningly. Instead of answering though, he had simply lifted her long ponytail to spill across his lap as he sat stretched out and propped up on one arm. He never looked down at her as his fingers weaved along the silky strands, sometimes stopping to caress them between his thumb, other times just brushing through it.

Kiba had chortled and joked about him being whipped, but Shikamaru had merely shrugged, his ministrations never faltering. Soon enough, the Inuzuka had grown tired of teasing someone who could not even be bothered to respond and had started up yet another bragging competition with Naruto. For her part, Sakura had shot her an amused look but Ino ignored her.

Shikamaru had seemed content so she had been too.

"Ino?"

"Oh, right. Sorry, just give me a minute!"

She could hear him grumbling on the other side of the door as she quickly pulled on her clothes. Giving him a completely unrepentant smile as she opened the door, Ino prodded him in the shoulder when he tried to move past her and into the steamy bathroom.

"Hey, at least I warmed it up for you. You should thank me so stop complaining."

"Che."

Slanting her a look, Shikamaru closed the door behind him. Ino hesitated momentarily.

"Hey, Shikamaru?"

A questioning grunt came in response.

"You want to stay here tonight? It's late and I figured I'd be nice and offer so you wouldn't need to walk all the way home. Besides, you were gone on that mission and I kinda…"

The words halted when the door opened again and Ino found herself staring into an unreadable dark gaze.

"Kinda what?"

"Um…kinda wanted…oh, you know, I kinda thought you'd want as much rest as possible."

Gratefully moving away to climb into bed, Ino silently congratulated herself on her brilliant save. It even made sense!

Cracking open the window to let some air in, Ino felt the mattress dip as another body settled itself down beside her.

"Sure, thanks."

Shooting him a quick smile, she hopped out to flick off the lights and then slipped back in under the covers. She could barely make out his features in the darkness, the familiar yawn coming from the other side of the bed the only indication that he had not immediately fallen asleep as usual.

"Goodnight, Shika."

He was lying on his back, one arm crooked underneath his head. She caught the gleam of his eyes as he turned slightly to face her.

"'Night, Ino."

The husky murmur triggered a series of recollections, their images and sounds as covertly memorable as a well-worn book. She could practically feel him inside her again, the hot, repetitive tugs setting up that pulsing throb between her legs. Ino's mouth suddenly went dry and she had to lick her lips nervously.

The last time they had made love had been well over several months now. It had been here, in this very bed, as their tangled bodies had moved in conjunction with the sound of rain pouring outside. His open mouth licking the sweat from the nape of her neck and his hands gripping both her breasts as he took her relentlessly from behind, all of these memories combined to send her heart racing and her blood pounding.

"Shikamaru?"

Her shaky whisper was met with a sharp indrawn breath. Given the way he immediately turned on to his side and reached out for her, it was possible that the shinobi had been thinking of the exact same things.

Shyly inching closer, Ino pressed her lips against his, her touch as light and fleeting as the whisper of butterfly wings. Thickly lashed blue eyes held half-lidded dark ones, the brush of his breath tickling her skin. Calloused fingers stroked her cheek tenderly, drawing her closer as he leaned forwards to kiss her.

The silky sweep of his tongue was languorous, tasting and tracing the recesses of her mouth as if he had all the time in the world. It always started off like this, slow and patient as one would expect from someone like Shikamaru. And then it would change. Passionate and eager, his hunger for her had always astonished her the few times they had been together. Ino could remember the fervent kisses he placed on her skin, hot and almost bruising even as his hands roamed wonderingly over her naked body.

The mere memory adding flame to fire, Ino curled her hands in his shirt, smiling a little as his arms automatically tightened around her in response. The movement, however, had her wincing when it pressed down against a painful bruise on her right side.

Shikamaru immediately pulled back.

"What's wrong?"

Ino shifted in his arms, a reassuring smile rising to her lips.

"It's nothing; I must have taken a hit harder than I thought. Stupid Neji always goes full-out."

His hand skimmed lightly over her side, expertly checking her expression for anything indicating more serious injuries.

"You should get that looked at tomorrow. He might have closed off a tenketsu point and forgot to open it up for you again."

"Nah, I took a look at it in the bathroom and it doesn't look serious. Besides, Neji used his healing jutsu on me after we finished up and he would have noticed if there had been any blocked chakra flow. Damn, I knew I should have gotten him to give me a once-over; his chakra feels unbelievable."

"Oh, yeah?"

A rustle sounded as the cool night air rushed in under the sheets. Ino blinked in surprise as Shikamaru untangled himself smoothly, sliding back into his previous position.

"Shikamaru?"

His voice floated over to her from the other side of the bed, even and quiet.

"You guys are training again tomorrow, right? You should get some sleep."

"Hmm? Oh, right. Yeah, you're right. Goodnight."

"'Night."

Somewhat confused, Ino rolled on to her side and stared out the window. A starless night sky greeted her back, her pale cream curtains fluttering slightly in the breeze. Her body was still tingling from his touch, clamouring for more of the closeness it was being so abruptly denied. Sighing, she gingerly rubbed her aching ribs.

As far as she could tell, she had not done anything wrong. Okay, she had flinched while they were making out; but, so what? It wasn't like she hadn't explained to him right away that it was merely because her side was sore from training. Reasonable _and _honest. What was his problem?

_Maybe he's just not that interested. I mean, it's not like Shikamaru has ever really seemed interested in you that anyways. At least not enough to voluntarily initiate anything in the whole time you've been together. _

A frown creased her forehead. It was true, _she_ was always the one who made the first move and all he ever did was reciprocate. Admittedly, he never pushed her away or seemed annoyed by her constant displays of affection, but in general, Shikamaru never really acted any different towards her than before. Or compared to anyone else for that matter. He treated Sakura and Hinata, or Naruto and Lee, with the same vaguely bored indifference as he did his own girlfriend.

_Actually, does he even _want _to be with me? Or am I just another cloud or something that he one day decided would suit him better to have hanging around rather than not?_

The thought was depressing. However, the worst thing was that that more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed to be true.

Narrowing her eyes, Ino made up her mind.

She was not going to be this clingy, desperate fan-girl who needed to throw herself at her own boyfriend in order to even get him to pay her the slightest bit of attention. She was Yamanaka Ino, for cheap's sake! She had guys falling over themselves in order to catch her eye, shinobi and villager alike! It was humiliating, even insulting, for Shikamaru to think that she was going to be content to act like his stupid shadow and follow him around like a lap dog begging for whatever scraps of affection he could be bothered to throw her.

If he wanted her, then he would have to get off his lazy butt and show it.

Ino was so busy working herself into a frenzy of self-righteous fury that it was a long time before she managed to fall asleep. As it was, she did not notice that the usual, low rumbling breaths of sleep were equally absent from beside her.

-

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**A/N: Finally got the time to get writing on this again. I'd started it but believe me, it took _forever_ just to fill in those last few paragraphs I keep skipping over just to get my main ideas out. **

**Hmm, yeah, I realize that this story has much more of an everyday life sort of feel to it. I want to create a reality sort of, like actually ground the characters and the storyline in a world that doesn't just include falling in love, fighting enemies etc. That being said, it's a huge worry of mine that in doing so, the story may end up moving too slowly or acutally be a bit tedious at times. So if that happens, please PLEASE do not hesitate to point it out and I'll try to fix it!**

**So, thanks for reading and please do review! I'll try to update within two weeks at the latest every time, ok?**


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me

WAAAHH! I know it's been a long time since I last updated so many MANY apologies and thanks to all of you who were so supportive and patient with my laziness. I'm so tired right now it's not even funny but hopefully this chapter turns out to be okay. I'll try my best not to be so horribly late for the next chapter, ok? So please enjoy!

Oh, and I just have to give a huge shout-out to _Samurai Champloo _and _Ouran High School_. I've recently become totally and completely hooked on to these two animes and have been trying to go through all the episodes like a crazy person. Kyouya, Hikaru, Mugen … (swoons) …

-

* * *

Chapter 4

* * *

"Maaa…"

Grimacing, Shikamaru groaned and buried his face deeper into the pillow. The warm ray of sunlight peeking through the fluttering curtains danced impishly over the back of his neck, accompanied by the persistently cheerful chirping of a nearby bird.

"Ehhh…"

Another sleepy groan sounded from the long lump on the bed as the shinobi tried to shut out the various signs of a busy morning. Flinging out his right arm, a strong tanned hand sought out the soft bundle he unconsciously expected to be settled next to him. The crease in his forehead deepened when nothing but empty air greeted his lazy search. Cracking open one dark eye marginally, he peered over at the already cold side of the bed with an expression of mild surprise.

Ino was anything but an early riser. In fact, he had often complained about her nagging him to wake up earlier when she was the one who kept insisting on needing her beauty sleep. The oddity of her having voluntarily gotten up on a day when she didn't have a mission proved to be a more successful wake-up call to Shikamaru than anything else.

"Ino?"

Twisting his head around to squint blearily around the room, Shikamaru reluctantly untangled himself from the bedsheets bunched up around his legs. The bird outside the window chirped loudly again, mocking him in the ensuing silence.

"Ino? Mendokuse…"

The boy swung his legs over the side of the bed, taking a moment to scratch the back of his head. As he blinked the last vestiges of sleep from his eyes, memories of last night flooded back into his mind like an unbidden tsunami.

He could still feel her in his arms, warm and pliant, the soft sounds of her breath whispering over his skin as he sipped his fill from her lips. Lips that were infinitely smooth and full, tasting like sunshine and apples, an addictive drug that he had most willingly fallen victim to from the first moment he had been granted access.

The hand on the bed clenched slightly as he remembered how her voice had floated through the bathroom door beforehand, asking him if he wanted to spend the night with her.

"_Besides, you were gone on that mission and I kinda…"_

He had stiffened immediately, barely noticing the hesitant hope shining back from the face in the foggy mirror. A million scenarios had run through his mind in that split second as she stumbled on through her invitation, every single one of them more explicit than the last before he ruthlessly quashed that particular stream of thought in order to answer her with some modicum of complacency.

A weary sigh escaped his lips as his mind quickly sped through the rest of his memories. Nothing had turned out as he had hoped; if anything, it had produced a surge of emotions strong enough that Shikamaru had only barely restrained himself from actually snapping at Ino.

"_Neji used his healing jutsu on me after we finished up … his chakra feels incredible."_

His lips thinned momentarily before Shikamaru heaved another sigh, this time pushing himself to his feet and heading out into the hallway. He tried again.

"Ino?"

The sound of a chair scraping on the floor met his query.

Ino was in the process of tossing a banana peel in the garbage as Shikamaru leaned against the side of the counter.

"Hey."

"Hey."

She barely turned as she brushed past him, already dressed in her usual training outfit. The clean smell of soap wafted up to him in her wake, making him wonder if she had woken up long enough to take another shower.

"You're up early."

"Hmm."

An indifferent sound was all the response he got. Shikamaru frowned slightly when Ino paused in the foyer to slip on her sandals. She was acting weird.

"So, you have something to do today?"

"Yeah, I'm meeting the girls."

Tossing her long ponytail over her shoulder, Ino straightened and met him squarely in the eye for the first time that morning. He was all lean muscle, long and relaxed amidst the plain white surroundings.

"There's some fruit on the table and milk in the fridge. Just help yourself and don't forget to lock the door behind you when you leave."

The door shut before Shikamaru had the chance to reply. As he stared confusedly at the space she had previously occupied, the quiet drip-drip of the tap broke through the silence. Walking over to push it shut, his eyes narrowed as he followed her suggestion and bit thoughtfully into an apple.

Ino was blunt and direct, the type of personality given more to immediate expression than hidden thought. If she was happy, she blossomed; if she was sad, she cried; and if she was angry, she exploded. True, she was sneaky and resourceful, traits that served her well as a kunoichi and had probably saved her life more than once. But in no way was Ino underhanded or cruel. If she was upset about something, then she would let him know, and very loudly too.

Sending the rest of his apple in the same direction as her banana peel, Shikamaru stretched out his limbs as his mind worked furiously, yawning openly as several joints popped. Ino would always complain whenever he did that around her, yammering on about how it sounded gross.

No matter how hard he thought, he couldn't figure out what had happened between last night and this morning. Unless he had unknowingly done something to her in his sleep Shikamaru was pretty sure he was in the clear this time. Actually, she had seemed okay when they finally fell asleep while he was the one who had been frustrated and irritated.

Shaking his head in resignation, Shikamaru strode back down towards the bathroom.

_Damn, I wonder if she still kept my toothbrush here?_

**-o-O-o-**

"Another plate of manjuu please, Gatsuiyi-san!"

"Hai!"

On cue, a small plate of the specially roasted buns appeared on the table. The plump older lady smiled on proudly as Ino attacked her sixth skewer with ferocity a bag of chips usually received from Chouji , barely wincing as the hot sweet filling squirted into her mouth. The girls, on the other hand, exchanged telling glances.

"Umm, Ino-chan?"

"Mphmf?"

Hinata squirmed slightly in her seat, unsure of how to approach the rather personal topic of Ino's sudden and disturbing change in eating habits. She chewed on her lower lip for a moment before trying again.

"Umm, Ino-chan, maybe you should slow down. It's not healthy…"

"Whardu mean ish nat healfee?"

"Gah, Ino! Close your mouth for cheap's sake!"

Flinging a napkin in the blonde's face in exasperation, Sakura snagged the one Ino's hand was reaching out towards and proceeded to bite into it daintily. Swallowing, Ino scowled at her and chucked the napkin right back at its owner.

"Shut up, forehead! Like you're that much politer than me. We all know you're really just a nose-picking ogre with fuzzy pink hair."

Both Hinata and Tenten winced as Sakura's high-pitched shriek filled the small, and mercifully empty, shop. That was soon followed by a spit-fire exchange of old insults and name-calling, all of which were relatively familiar to the other girls by now.

"Here. Drink up."

Shoving a steaming cup of tea in both their hands, the older kunoichi fixed them both with a no-nonsense look, to which they replied with huffy acquiescence.

Tapping the edge of her own cup with a long finger, Tenten pursed her lips in curiosity.

"What to tell us what's up, Ino-chan?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Feigning ignorance, the girl in question flipped a finished skewer in the air, catching it half-heartedly as it spun its way back down. A determined kick on the shin had her hissing over into Sakura's grinning face.

"Stop pretending, Ino-pig. You only stuff yourself whenever you're stressed out and by the looks of the way you've been mashing food down your throat all morning, it's probably something big. So spill."

Grumbling, Ino's sour mood ever since she had woken up this morning simply mounted when her old friend managed to evade her return kick. Shoving the half-empty plate away, she mused inwardly, heedless of her companion's expectant gazes.

She had woken up this morning to the smell of fresh grass and warm male. The scent had been instinctively pleasing and she had burrowed deeper into the warmth that seemed to be wrapped around her. Ino had just begun to doze off again until the prickle of consciousness in her mind reminded her that the gentle rumbling sensation under her cheek was hardly usual of her pillow.

Forcing her heavy eyes to open, she had been met with the sight of smooth, tan flesh. She had been pressed up close to Shikamaru, his arms loosely enfolding her and his legs entangled with hers. The soft, steady sounds of his breathing rustled the strands of hair by her face as he slept on. Ino had simply lay there for a long while, content to draw faint patterns on his arm in the soft darkness of her bedroom.

She didn't often wake up before him. Rarer still was the occurrence of her waking up before him while they were together like this. She had recalled the last time they had fallen asleep under his favourite pine tree up on the hill where he usually lazed about staring at the clouds. Ino had been awakened by the feel of something tickling her nose that refused to be ignored. The sun was behind him and veiled his face in shadows but she had felt him staring at her, the offending weapon, a single daisy, dangling teasingly from his fingers.

Ino had wrinkled her nose at him, ready to fuss that it was embarrassing for a guy to just stare at a girl like that and not say anything, when he had surprised her by slipping said daisy behind her ear. Chucking her lightly on the chin, he had given her that rare smile and pulled her to her feet, her hand held securely in his own larger one as he led them both back home.

A smile had touched her lips at the memory as Ino lay there silently. Perversely however, it almost immediately strengthened her resolve from the night before. It was silly of her to lie there mooning over such tiny, insignificant gestures.

It wasn't good enough.

And so she had extricated herself from his hold, and none too gently at that, and stalked into the bathroom, her eyes narrowing when the sleeping shinobi simply released a quiet snore and rolled over.

"Oi. Ino."

"Eh?"

Large blue eyes blinked at the hand waving in front of her face. Sakura raised a skeptical eyebrow, concerned enough by now to actually let it show in her voice.

"What's going on, Ino? It can't be that bad, right?"

"It's nothing. Really. Just feeling a bit antsy; it's been ages since I had a mission and you know how I hate being cooped up."

"Come on, we…"

A rather obvious elbow in the ribs cut off the rest of her sentence. Tenten smiled kindly, clearly having discerned from Ino's expression that she was not ready to talk about whatever it was yet.

"In that case, why don't we go loosen up? It's better than sitting around all day long."

"Yeah! I need to work off all this food anyways."

Grateful for the change in subject, Ino bounced to her feet, literally dragging an unresisting Hinata out of the shop in her enthusiasm.

She chattered away loudly as the small group headed through the village towards the stream. They often came here to relax when it was just the four of them, the swaying blossom trees heavy with snowy white flowers that scattered and danced into the rustling water below in the aftermath of their sparring. Other shinobi rarely intruded; preferring the vast open space of the numerous training spots instead. In fact, Neji himself had once remarked that it was 'misleading' to train in an area that painted such an idealized picture of the death and destruction that was a shinobi's life.

That was exactly what she wanted right now. An escape from reality, however delusional.

"You ready?"

Ino smiled as the glint of metal shone directly into her eyes.

"Always."

And with that, Tenten came at her at full speed, the force of her attacks stinging Ino's hand as the hilt of her kunai dug into her palm. The sound of 'Byakuygan' nearby signaled the start of Sakura's spar with Hinata.

"Can't you do better than that, Ten-chan?"

Laughing, she spun around, concentrating enough chakra in her leg to slice the corner of the older girl's cheongsam as she leaped out of the way. Tenten crooked her a smile before hurling a variety of weapons towards her, all spinning and catching the light such that Ino was momentarily blinded.

In the split second that it took to shift her head, a bruising kick swiped her legs out from under her. She hit the ground hard, barely having time to adjust her body so that she didn't land on her forearm and crush it.

Tenten stood over her, grinning and offering her a hand.

"Yeah, dirty trick, I know. Here."

Accepting defeat with a wry smirk, the blonde loosened up her shoulder joint, wincing as an experimental roll pulled at the dull ache in her side.

_Damn, still hurts. I must have gotten hit harder than I thought._

"No problem; you won fair and square. Hey, have you lost yet, forehead?"

A huge crash sounded right in the middle of her question. As the dust cleared, they could see Sakura standing amidst a scattered pile of rocks, the remnants of what used to be a rock of a rather larger size. Hinata was a few metres away, the faint glow of chakra emanating from her entire body. As far as Ino could tell, not a single scratch was on the Hyuuga, even though both girls were breathing quickly.

"It's obvious you're losing, forehead! Your freaky elephant powers aren't going to work against Jyukken."

Scowling, Sakura nevertheless turned to face Ino after shooting Hinata an encouraging smile.

"Whatever, Ino-pig. Let's have at it then."

"Don't blame me if you lose twice in one day."

Picking up her speed, Ino started running in a circle around her friend, closely watching as Sakura's eyes flickered after her. A sharp clang filled the air as one of the shuriken Ino threw was deftly deflected; more and more followed as the whirlwind continued.

The familiar sound of blade on blade carried through the air, catching the attention of one particular shinobi who was, by now, aimlessly strolling around Konoha on a rare day off.

Shikamaru paused, mildly interested in seeing exactly who it was that had so much energy to be training on such a peaceful day. He figured it was probably Lee and Gai-sensei, the two of them practically poster-boys, or perhaps poster _boy _and freaky old man, for unnecessary hard work.

He was met with the sight of four very different and much less gag-inducing faces.

Folding his arms behind his head, he surveyed the scene further down the hill below him, yawning occasionally in the warm weather. The pair with Tenten and Hinata were fighting seriously, both concentrating hard on what they were doing and exchanging little to no words at all. The other pair were yelling any number of admirably creative taunts at each other, their mouths working almost as hard as the rest of their bodies.

The Jounin sighed as his attention focused on Ino, taking advantage of the opportunity to evaluate her skills. Ever since he had been promoted, his missions rarely solely involved his old genin group and given the fact that Ino preferred to train with certain _other _people, it had actually be quite a while since Shikamaru had been able to watch her in action.

To his eyes, what he saw was satisfactory. Her speed and strength had improved; her chakra control always having been above average given her family specialty in ninjutsu. If anything, he thought she needed work on inventing a greater variety of attacks rather simply than relying on her innate cunning to get her out of troublesome situations. It bothered him that such a fundamental error had not already been spotted and rectified.

Hyuuga Neji should have pointed it out a long time ago. What the hell was he teaching her during training then?

A particularly loud and annoying screech had him wincing in automatic self-preservation.

"Ha! I knew you'd fall for that!"

Glancing back up again, a warning bell went off in his head as he spotted Sakura winding back her arm in preparation for a good, solid punch. Unfortunately for Ino, she was still halfway through a somersault in the air and would not be able to avoid it.

A punch, Shikamaru saw, would most likely land in Ino's side with the intention to knock the wind out of her.

Her right side.

The whoosh of swift footsteps sounded off to her right. Ino looked up to see a large hand clasped firmly around Sakura's wrist. The hand belonged to Shikamaru, who had darted to stand in front of her so swiftly that it had caught all of them off-guard.

"Shikamaru-kun?"

"She's sore on the right-hand side. Watch what you're doing."

The almost sharp tone in his voice was even more surprising. Tenten frowned while Hinata sucked in a quiet gasp as Shikamaru let go of Sakura, turning his back on her as he moved towards the girl standing stiffly behind him. If he saw the other kunoichi gingerly rub her wrist with a frown, he gave no indication of caring.

"Hey, you okay?"

A gentle hand touched her elbow but Ino shook it off abruptly, her eyes narrowing.

"I'm fine! Don't talk about me like I'm not here, Shikamaru! I can take care of myself just fine without you."

This time, the uneasy looks were switched to Ino as she glared up into the startled face gazing down at her. Something flitted over the warm concern on his face but all was quickly wiped away into a closed off expression.

Shikamaru straightened, taking a casual step back. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he scrutinized her silently, his eyes dark and unreadable. Ino stared right back at him, her own hands unthinkingly clenching and unclenching by her sides.

His voice was quiet and steady.

"You should still get it looked at. I'll come with you to the hospi…"

"Forget this! I'm going home!"

Stalking past him in long, angry strides, Ino hooked an arm through Sakura's and proceeding in yanking her down the path. Her brilliant blonde hair shimmered in the sunlight, in stark contrast to the darker colouring of the boy standing there staring after her.

"Sor-sorry, Shikamaru-kun. See you later."

Bowing in embarrassment for both the general situation and Ino's departure, Hinata hurried after the others. Tenten, on the other hand, remained there motionlessly, her eyes shrewdly assessing the boy in front of her.

Nara Shikamaru was both complex and simple. Complex in his strategies and simple in his needs. His battle tactics and his planning processes, the kunoichi had no illusions about being able to understand but his needs, she thought she had a fairly good grasp on. The young Jounin was as famous throughout the countries for his lazy, uninterested personality as he was for his mental abilities. Some joked that all you had to do was give him a piece of grass to lie down on and he would be content to never move a muscle.

But Tenten had seen it.

Had seen the overwhelming roar of emotions that had surfaced for that split second before he managed to shield it under his usual expression of general boredom. There was hurt and longing, swimming in a vast, unknown sea of confusion when Ino had knocked his hand away. Had rejected his help and him.

Standing here now, watching him try to cover it up and bury it deep within the growing mound of self-doubt, her kind heart could hardly bear it.

"Shikamaru-kun?"

"Huh?"

He turned to face her but Tenten suspected that she was not the one he saw.

"Are you okay?"

"…Eh."

His grunt came with a half-shrug. Sighing inwardly at her friend's thoughtless cruelty, she tried again.

"Ino-chan's just a little wound up today. She didn't mean it."

He met her in the eye. It was a little disconcerting the way those dark brown orbs pierced straight through you; Tenten couldn't recall if she had ever really looked at him dead-on. In some ways, it was not unlike Neji's Byakugan, only Shikamaru's gaze was alight with a veritable storehouse of intelligence.

"Oh?"

His nod was not meant as such.

Lifting an arm in parting, Shikamaru turned and headed in the opposite direction towards the forest.

-

* * *

**A/N: Ahh, that was my first real attempt at writing any sort of fight scene that was longer than a paragraph and didn't involve skipping people's actual movements just to get to the next bit. **

**But yeah, I've actually been working on some of the later chapters that suddenly caught me and were just jostling to be written before this one, hence the super late update. I'm looking forward to posting those cuz they're scenes that I examine and replay in my head until it looks right. **

**But apart from all this future-talk, I'll try to get the next chapter posted within a more reasonable timeframe. Thanks for reading and please do review!**


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me

AIEE! Many many apologies for taking so long to update! I just kept putting it off and putting it off. But thank you so much for all your continued support and messages encouraging me to keep on writing. I really appreciate it!

So, that being said, please enjoy!

-

* * *

Chapter 5

* * *

"And then he said that he'd hid the missive in his jacket the entire time. What a load of crap! I saw him put it in his pack and then I saw it fall out when he was busy flipping and showing off for a couple of kunoichi we met in Wind. Furuka-chan was the one who picked it up and put it back into dog-face's pack at the last minute…"

Naruto looked over at his companion expectantly, pausing to take a much-needed breath as he continued on with his latest rant against his regular teammate-slash-rival.

"Hn."

"Yeah, I know! And when I called him on it, that Kiba had the nerve to say that I must have been hallu…hallu…day-dreaming! So, of course I asked him if he wanted to get his butt kicked right then and there and the jerk starts siccing Akamaru at me without warning! Geez, does he even realize how big he is now? That dog is crazy, I tell you! Look at what he did to my pants!"

Grievously displaying the ripped state of his clothes for inspection, the blond sadly mourned for a split second before immediately pumping his arm in the air in remembered triumph. A few passing villagers glanced at the pair in surprise.

"But I beat them both of course! First I faked to the left, right around the bunch of girls that were standing around just watching, and Akamaru followed. Kiba came at me from above but I managed to call up ten or so Bunshin before he got to me so he ended up with a face-full of fists. Akamaru started barking and biting some of the clones...I've always said that it was sort of unfair for Kiba to have a partner because then it's like two on one…"

"Hn."

"Man, he was…Shikamaru? Hey, are you even listening?"

"Eh?"

A hand waved energetically in front of his face, forcefully drawing his attention to the impatient shinobi beside him. Naruto had stopped walking and was now blinking bright blue eyes at his old friend. Shikamaru shrugged, his regulation vest shifting on his body with the movement.

"Sure, you and Kiba, right?"

Actually, he had only been listening with half an ear, his mind automatically processing whatever necessary information Naruto's constant chatter had produced while the other half of him had been drifting listlessly along the ever-restless currants of late.

"Yeah, but it sure didn't look like it. What's with you these days, Shikamaru? It's like you're a zombie or something. Is Obaa-san really working you that hard? I'll go have a talk with her!"

"Nah, I'm fine."

He waved a hand dismissively in the air and started walking again.

The late morning sun beat down strongly on the two of them as they made their way to the Hokage's Tower. Several people greeted them as they meandered through the village square, their smiling faces kind and familiar as they went about their business as usual. He could feel Naruto's eyes coming back to rest on him from time to time as they continued on in companionable silence. The once-social outcast had changed in the past few years, maturing and advancing in such a degree that even those who knew him best were sometimes taken aback. True, he was still loud, stubborn and annoying childish at times, but there was a sense of calm underneath it all, a certain contemplativeness that bespoke an understanding of the harshness of reality that only shinobi could really grasp.

Actually, Shikamaru found it somewhat intriguing. Almost as if that old Naruto was merely a mask that the new Naruto sometimes donned simply when he found it useful.

But really, how many of them weren't wearing masks?

There was Kiba, shoving his rough and tumble attitude in everyone's face until he thought no one was watching or he was around a certain Hyuuga. Then, he was all fumbling gentleness, a clumsy awkwardness that was endearing and amusing at the same time.

And Sakura. Brazen and loud, not unlike Ino herself. But underneath it all was someone completely different. Someone with a lower innate level of self-esteem and a greater need to prove herself.

_What mask am I wearing?_

Shikamaru shook his head. The effort of thinking about something so abstract was just too troublesome.

Naruto spoke up again as they began ascending the steep stone stairs leading to the Tower's entrance.

"So, how's it going with you, Shikamaru? Anything else besides 'fine'?"

Naruto's voice was quiet and so obviously attempting to be off-handed that the other would have smirked if it hadn't been for the genuine underlying concern.

"Not much. Busy, of course. I just got back from Rain a couple of days ago. Mendokuse."

Absently gesturing to the wad of gauze decorating his left temple, Shikamaru grumbled when Naruto poked at the wound none-too-gently.

"Hey!"

"That bad, huh? What did Ino say when she saw it? I bet she started complaining about protecting your looks or some crap like that, right?"

A muscle jumped in his jaw. Shikamaru shrugged again, lazily swatting away the other boy's inquisitive hand.

"Dunno."

"What do you mean, 'dunno'? Don't tell me that that girl finally stopped yapping all the time!"

Shikamaru sighed, slanting his friend a mildly reproachful look for his description. In return, Naruto shot him a broad, completely unapologetic grin. Shikmaru shook his head, wondering how they had gotten to this topic in the first place.

"I mean, I don't know because I haven't seen her."

At this, Naruto stopped dead in his tracks, surprise clearly written all over his face. Shikamaru kept on walking, not bothering to wait. He could hear his voice travel up as the other boy caught up with him.

"You're kidding, right? You always go to see her whenever you get back! Chouji and I were just saying the other day that Ino is probably the only person you willingly go and see even when you come home all bashed up and dead tired!"

"…Hn."

This time, Naruto did not miss the repressive warning tingeing the grunted response. He walked alongside the other Jounin, his hands crossed behind his head while the other slouched slightly with his hands stuffed in his pockets. Now that he thought about it, Shikamaru had seemed distant lately, even more so than usual when he was day-dreaming about watching his beloved clouds. Actually, if Naruto could put a word on it, it was more than distant. It was almost sullen, the faint frown on his forehead more pronounced and his usual lazy statements shortened to monosyllabic grunts or just plain silence.

Something was wrong.

"Come in."

The loud voice rang through the solid wood door. The two Jounin stepped into the familiar round room, now even more cluttered with various scrolls and documents lying in formidable piles against the faded walls. The Godaime tapped her fingers on the table in annoyance, an expression of utmost exasperation pasted on her beautiful face while Shizune-oneesan smiled warmly at them from beside the stacked table.

"Nara, Naruto! You two are late again! I could make you runs laps with Gai around the village, you know!"

"Aww, come on Obaa-san! We weren't that late! The last time I trained with Gai-sensei, Sakura-chan wouldn't talk to me for a week afterwards!"

"Baka, that's because you kept trying to get her to eat ramen with you at Ichiruki while you still had on that jumpsuit-thing."

Tsunade frowned, as much as at the two Jounin talking in front of her as at the stacks of documents Shizune smilingly pushed towards her.

"That's enough, you two! Naruto, I've got a mission for you. A-class, to the Hidden Village of Stream. Here're the details."

Naruto easily caught the thrown scroll, excitedly skimming over the contents.

"Man, it's been so long since I went on a mission!"

"You just got back from one last week."

Shikamaru yawned, staring dimly over the Godaime's head and out the back window. A crow flapped its way past them.

"And you, Nara. You're free from duty for the next two weeks. That's all."

"Huh?"

He blinked slowly, his eyes coming to focus on the woman staring straight at him. Her blonde hair gleamed in the sunlight. Shikamaru looked away.

"I thought we were swamped with missions lately? I don't mind."

"Really? That'll be your third in as many weeks, Nara."

He shrugged, averting his eyes from her sharp gaze. Naruto draped his arm over the taller boy, peering closely into his expressionless face.

"Three missions in three weeks? What's gotten into you, Shikamaru?"

"Maa, mendokuse. What's with all the questions? Shouldn't you be happy that I want to go on missions?"

"Not if you're doing it when your mind is preoccupied with something else. I also have to consider a shinobi's mental concentration, especially if it's our head tactician."

The Godaime leaned forwards, resting her head on her hands as she continued to stare at him intently. Shikamaru stared back lazily, eyes hooded and shuttered. Naruto looked back and forth between the two of them, face merely curious but eyes serious.

Nobody said anything.

"Naruto, you're dismissed."

"Ehh? But I…"

"You have your orders. Now go find the rest of your team and start briefing them. And don't be late tomorrow morning for set-off!"

Grumbling, the blond swatted the other on the back before stomping out the door. Lifting a hand vaguely in response, Shikamaru yawned again, scratching his head.

"So what's it going to be, Godaime? A-class? S-class?"

"It's going to be no class. Go home and don't report back here until your two weeks are up. That's an order."

"Saaa…"

The frown in his forehead deepened. Looking around for a non-existent couch, Shikamaru ended up sitting on the floor, staring up at the bland ceiling as if he could see the clouds through it. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Tsunade exchange a look with Shizune. Taking that as her cue, the younger kunoichi gave him a kind smile.

"Is something wrong, Shikamaru-kun?"

"Nah, unless there's something wrong with wanting to do my job."

"There is if it's completely out of character!"

Exasperation flashing in her eyes, the Godaime stood and circled over to where her top strategist was currently hunched over in a forlorn little bundle. She poked him in the forehead, pretty much in the same place where Naruto had done so. Shikamaru grimaced but otherwise made no particular reaction. Straightening up, she glared down at him, her fierce expression at odds with the tone of her voice.

"Any reason you're in such a hurry to get away from Konoha, Nara?"

"…s'better than staying here."

His mutter was aimed at the floor. Smirking now, the Fifth Hokage pulled him up by the collar of his vest and set the unresisting Jounin back on his feet.

So he finally admitted it. It was pretty obvious from the first moment the boy had opened his mouth and voluntarily asked to be sent on a mission three weeks ago. If there was one thing that could propel even the laziest Nara out of the entire Nara clan to action, it was trouble in paradise with his beloved girlfriend.

Rounding back behind her desk, Tsunade watched as he stood there with his hands stuffed in his pockets and a weary look on his face. This was no good. Nara Shikamaru was no use to anyone in this state. When all was picture perfect in his life, Shikamaru was sharp, efficient. He chose battle plans that not only completed the mission in the shortest time possible, but also the ones that placed the team in the lowest degree of risk. She understood the reasons well. He didn't want to be parted from Yamanaka Ino nor upset her over his injuries for more than was absolutely necessary.

So whatever it was that had sunk him into such a depression that he actually wanted to get away from her, Konoha needed him to get sorted out. And sorted out fast.

"Well, if that's the case, then you'd better go fix it so that staying at home is better than risking your life out in the field because you're stuck here for the next couple of weeks. No arguments. Dismissed."

Waving a hand imperiously at him, she listened as he grunted, turned and slumped out the door. Grinning up at her faithful companion, Tsunade held out a small cup.

"I did a pretty Hokage-thing there, don't you agree? I think that deserves a toast!"

Smiling right back at her, Shizune shook her head. She pointed at the foot-high pile teetering on the edge of the table.

"Not until you finish going through this pile, Hokage-sama. I'll bring you some sake afterwards if you can do it by lunch. Until then, this should tide you over."

Plunking a steaming cup of tea on the table, Shizune's smile grew wider as a frustrated groan could be heard throughout the entire Tower.

**-o-O-o-**

Kicking a stone along the path, Shikamaru made his way back down the village square. A few acquaintances called out to him, to all of which he responded with a half-hearted gesture or nod.

Now what was he going to do? He had the whole day to kill, not to mention the next fourteen days. Fourteen days meant 392 hours. 392 hours of free time. Well, if you took off the ten or twelve hours a day he intended on spending sleeping, that only really left about 238 hours. So 238 hours of free time in which to eat, nap and worry about Ino.

And Shikamaru really hated to think unless he had to.

Rubbing despondently at a sore spot in his neck, he wandered over to the wooded area. An instructor was there, patiently demonstrating to a bunch of students from the Academy the proper way to hold and throw a shuriken. The chuunin waved energetically when he saw him.

"Shikamaru-senpai! Would you mind coming over here for a minute?"

Shrugging, he complied and found himself facing twenty or so wide-eyed children. Staring back at them indifferently, Shikamaru nodded at the younger shinobi.

"Hey, Doruzo."

"Thanks for coming, senpai. Okay, kids, this is Nara Shikamaru from the Nara clan. As you can see from his uniform, he's one of our Jounin and he also happens to be Konoha's most famous strategist."

The children clapped enthusiastically, hands already waving in the air. Doruzo looked at him hopefully.

Sighing at his suddenly being recruited as a guest instructor, Shikamaru pointed randomly at a chubby boy sitting in the front. He sort of reminded him of Chouji.

"Umm, what's a strat-strategist?"

"It basically means that I'm the one in charge of planning out how Konoha's going to attack. Like who goes where and who's in charge of killing who."

A smattering of gasps met his words. The Jounin blinked incomprehensibly at the reaction until the other shinobi cleared his throat loudly.

"Well, why don't we ask if Shikamaru-senpai here demonstrate some of his skills for us?"

"Eh?"

"Yeah!"

A pretty little girl jumped up, her curly ringlets dancing around her face. Shikamaru eyed her warily.

"I've heard about you! Daddy says the Naras can control people's shadows. Can you do that?"

He rubbed his neck again. Man, this day seemed to be stretching out forever and it just started!

"Sure. Your Daddy said Naras can do it and I'm a Nara, right?"

"Then I want to see it!"

Her friends oohed and aahed as she stood there proudly, her little hands planted on her hips as if challenging him to do his worst. Glancing over at the instructor to see if it was okay, he shrugged and formed the basic hand seals.

"Kagemane no jutsu."

The girl immediately froze, her wide eyes blinking in surprise as he lazily gestured to the ground. A couple of boys cautiously nudged at the dirt where his shadow stretched across to mingle with hers.

"That won't work. She won't be able to move unless I release her."

A wave of awed chatter washed over the group. One of the boys gleefully shouted out.

"So does that mean you can make her do anything you want? Like a real shadow?"

He nodded. This was getting boring.

"Make her jump up and down!"

"No, make her flap her arms like wings and quack like a duck!"

"Stop it!"

His eyebrow raised as one of the girl's friends jumped up to stand protectively in front of the captive.

"Please onii-san, just let her go. She doesn't like it."

The pleading tone in her voice caught him off guard. Focusing his attention, Shikamaru's gaze went over her shoulder to where the bound child was standing. She was staring at him defiantly, her mouth set in a stubborn line even as her clear brown eyes glistened suspiciously.

"_Let me go, Shikamaru! You know I hate it when you use your Kagemane on me!"_

The little girl stumbled as he released her suddenly. Watching as she wordlessly plopped back down in her seat and her friends crowded around her, the Jounin closed his eyes briefly. This was also getting too troublesome.

"Demonstration's over, kids. You should probably stick to shuriken-throwing for now."

A chorus of thank you's and goodbye's came from both the students and the instructor. Trudging deeper into the woods, Shikamaru chose a comfortable-looking piece of grass and sat down, leaning back against the tree trunk.

He felt exhausted beyond words, and it wasn't just from his recent non-stop physical exertion.

"_I'm fine! Don't talk about me like I'm not here, Shikamaru! I can take care of myself just fine without you."_

"Mendokuse."

Tilting his head back, he drifted listlessly inside his own mind as the cool, shaded breeze swept over his upturned face.

It had been three weeks since that day. Three long weeks since he had last talked to Ino. He'd seen her around, of course. Eating with the girls at the dango shop. Training with Neji in one of the training areas. Helping out at the flower shop every so often. He felt like a stalker.

What kind of guy had to sneak around and hide from his own girlfriend just to get a glimpse of her?

_Someone whose girlfriend just so happens to be blinded with rage at him for some completely unknown reason, that's who._

A heavy sigh left his lips. And yet he had been unable to stay away. Even though he knew that she didn't want to see him, even though she'd probably just kick his ass, or worse, ignore him, if he came up to her, Shikamaru had actually physically been unable to stay away from her.

Ever since he had collapsed in a fitful sleep that night, he found himself waking up every day wondering what Ino was doing. Not that he didn't often do that anyways, but somehow, the fact that whatever it was she was doing, she didn't want to be doing with him seemed to have become this irritating, high-pitched voice nagging inside his head.

Actually, the voice sounded a lot like Ino when he thought about it. Which sort of just made it worse because it simply made him more concerned and confused. Ino getting mad at him wasn't really anything new. She had a short temper and he knew it. Everyone knew it. But the thing was, if she blew up, then it also blew over pretty quickly. She had never just shut him out before.

And even with his I.Q. of over 200, Nara Shikamaru could not figure out what the heck had happened between the two of them.

"Maa, this is crazy…"

"If you mean talking to yourself is crazy, then yeah, you're right."

The voice came from above him.

Cracking his eyes openly marginally, Shikamaru stretched as Tenten dropped down from the tree. Landing effortlessly on her feet, she spun three kunai in her hand, smiling down at him.

"I hear you're a busy man lately, Shikamaru-kun."

He shrugged lightly, closing his eyes again.

"Not anymore. The Godaime just put me on two weeks of bed rest, so to speak."

"Why, are you injured?"

There was a dull plunk as the girl hurled a kunai in the tree trunk a few feet above Shikamaru's head. The resting shinobi did not even twitch.

"Nah."

"Hmm."

Another plunk sounded, this time a bit lower down.

"That's good, I guess. You can spend more time with Ino-chan. She'll probably be happy about that."

He muttered something under his breath. Shikamaru tilted his head to the right lazily, narrowly avoiding the kunai that was now quivering in the wood mere centimeters from his ear. Out of nowhere, Tenten pulled out three more.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you."

"I _said_, I'm not so sure about that. Mendokuse."

A small smile played about her lips, although it was held an air of compassion rather than cheerfulness. His hair was carelessly tied up and there were dark circles under his eyes. He looked as though he hadn't slept in weeks.

"Is that so? What makes you say that?"

"How about the fact that she refuses to talk to me?"

"Hmm."

Grunting, he contemplated falling asleep here. It was nice and cool and far away from everyone else. But no, on second thought, a lot of people came through the woods in order to get to the training areas and anyways, he figured this particular kunoichi wasn't going to let him just nod off in peace.

He was right.

"I'll tell you what, Shikamaru-kun. You beat me in a fight and I'll give you some feminine advice on what to do about Ino-chan."

He mustered the energy to look at her. Tenten was grinning, already poised in her attack stance as a stray ray of sunlight glinted off the now rather numerous weapons held in her hands. Shikamaru groaned.

"I don't have a choice, do I?"

"Nope. You ready?"

Loosening the kunai out from beside his head, he stood.

"Why is it that I always end up fighting girls?"

She huffed good-naturedly, not at all put out by his grumpy complaints. Flinging a shortened bo at him teasingly, Tenten chuckled when he deflected it nonchalantly. It fell harmlessly in the grass.

"Think of me as a guy then. Let's see, what about as Neji-kun? Would that help?"

"Che."

Tenten somersaulted backwards as the other shinobi launched himself forwards in a rare physical attack. Spinning her arms around, she hurled them in quick succession at Shikamaru, impressed when he smoothly flipped himself on to a tree, hanging there perfectly balanced using his chakra. He paused, giving her the time to land opposite him.

"What? You're not going to attack me? You would just let Neji-kun get away with whatever he wants?"

Something glittered in his eyes.

A crash sounded as the thick branch Tenten had been perched on cracked and smashed into the ground. A giant shadowy hand weaved its way back to its owner, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. She smiled.

It seemed as though it had been a good idea to try and get him to work off some of his bottled up frustration, after all.

Arming herself with a set of katakama, she leapt towards him, intent on engaging him in some close combat. Her progress was stopped short however, and if it wasn't for the self-same shadow hand wrapped around her waist, she would have pitched straight into the ground.

"Yeah, Kagemane works in mid-air too. I guess that means I win, huh?"

Ambling towards her, Shikamaru had the girl placed gently on her feet, releasing her at the same time. Tenten inclined her head, accepting defeat gracefully. She pocketed the various weapons strewn around them, mildly surprised when Shikamaru helped as well.

"Thanks. And thank you for the workout as well. I don't think I've ever had the chance to spar with you before. It was an eye-opener."

"Same here."

Waiting patiently as she shook her limbs loose, Shikamaru blinked slowly when she then turned to leave.

"Well, see you around, Shikamaru-kun. We should do this again sometime."

"Wait."

Tenten paused, hiding a smile at the somewhat disconcerted look on his face. It was sort of cute; he really had it bad.

_Ino-chan, I don't know what happened between the two of you but you'll thank me for this. You'll see._

She feigned forgetfulness.

"Yes?"

"Well, that, uh, what you were going to tell me. What was it?"

"What I was going to tell you? Oh, you mean about Ino-chan?"

"Hn."

Desperately trying to swallow her chuckle at his flushed cheeks, Tenten took pity on the obviously embarrassed Jounin.

"Oh, that! I almost forgot. The solution is simple, really."

She leaned forwards, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. Shikamaru looked at her expectantly.

"Go on a mission with her."

-

* * *

**A/N: Okay, before you grab that pitchfork and get ready to chase me down for not having any Shika/Ino interaction in this chapter, I have to say 'yes, i know!' I had the worst case of mental block and then just figured that I wanted to go with an all-Shika chp just because I haven't spent much time exploring things from his perspective. That's sort of why I deliberately tried to make this chapter feel never-endingly dragging - i wanted to see things through Shika's eyes. **

**So anyways, indulge me this once and I'll definitely get back with the angst-romance thing. And I'll not take so long for the next update too! lol...**

**Yeps, so thanks for reading and please do review!**


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me

I AM SO SO SORRY!!! I know it's been horribly long since I last updated and I can only say how sorry I am for not working on this fic and thank you to all of you for being so patient and encouraging. I've received so many messages and emails urging me to update and all of them have been very kind and understanding. Thank you again and I hope you enjoy this.

BTW, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone! I'm still putting off looking at my exam marks and have spent most of the holidays sleeping, eating and thinking about going to the gym while reading fan fics and watching Death Note. It's a pretty freaking fantastic anime for all of you who haven't watched it yet - VERY clever and twisted.

-

* * *

Chapter 6

* * *

-

Shikamaru blinked slowly, wondering if his hearing had somehow deteriorated in the last five seconds. The girl continued to smile up at him.

"Huh?"

"Go on a mission with her."

"I don't know if I mentioned this but she's kind of pissed at me right now. And Ino doesn't take orders well in that situation."

Tenten neatly sidestepped past him, obviously heading off towards the training field. Her voice was patient.

"I know, but trust me, it'll help."

Peering at her departing back as she waved at him cheerfully, Shikamaru groaned and sat right back down where he had started. So that was her big plan, head off together to fight bad guys with his angry girlfriend like they were one, big, happy save-the-world couple. Just the thought was exhausting. Not to mention the fact that he would basically be sticking Ino in danger, a highly disturbing situation that would probably be compounded by the fact that she tended to get more reckless than usual when she was mad.

_Maybe this is a girl thing. And Tenten's a girl, right?_

He stared as a rather large beetle maneuvered its way over the long shards of grass near his knee. It weaved around crazily, seemingly unaware or uncaring of his presence.

"A bird's going to come down and eat you if you hang out here too long, you know?"

Not surprisingly, the recipient of his laconic observation made no response. Watching it for another long minute, he pushed himself off the ground and slumped back towards the village.

Fine, mission it was then.

**-o-O-o-**

"Let me get this straight, I just told you less than an hour ago that you're officially on a two-week break and you're here asking me for a mission? Again? Were you even listening to me before?"

The Godaime's exasperated voice boomed around the plain room. Shikamaru wondered absently if it was going to continue ringing in his ears like that for the rest of the day. He hoped not.

"Yeah."

"Nara, I swear I'm going to…"

"Tsunade-sama."

Shizune smiled indulgently as the blonde glared at her but nevertheless sat back down in a huff. She pointed at him accusingly.

"I haven't changed my mind if that's what you were going for, Nara."

He scratched his ear. It was itchy.

"You didn't let me finish."

"What do you mean? Then talk faster!"

"Eh?"

This time, Shizune had to pluck the weapon out of the other woman's hands before she could hurl it at him. Tsunade didn't have much patience to start off with and dealing with an obviously grumpy and obtuse Nara Shikamaru twice in one day was just too much to ask.

"You, talk now. Or else I'm changing my mind and reassigning you to help Gai train his team for the next two weeks. I hear one of his kids is scared of heights. Throws up every time he goes up a tree."

They both grimaced.

"I want to go on a mission. And I'm requesting Ino be put on my team."

"What?"

"Ino. Yamanaka Ino."

This time, she did throw a scroll at him. Shikamaru barely yawned as it bounced off his head.

"I _know_ who she is!"

"Yeah? Good."

They stared at each other. The indifferent look on his face started to slip when a broad grin spread across Tsunade's face. She leaned against the desk, her chin resting on her propped up hands. The front of her gown gaped dangerously.

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"Well, you know I can't authorize special requests without a reason. You're going to have to explain yourself; can't bend the rules, you know."

Muttering something under his breath about hypocrisy, Shikamaru stared up at the ceiling. She obviously wasn't going to let him get away with this so easily. His reply was mumbled.

"…spend time…"

"What was that?"

"...mendokuse."

He didn't know if the fact that her grin seemed to stretch even wider boded well for him or not. Scanning the organized mess in front of her, the older woman picked up a hefty missive and tossed it at him. This time, he bothered to reach out and catch it.

"I need this sent to the Sand before the end of the week. Nothing too complicated."

Shikamaru shrugged. It didn't really make a difference to him where they went although he was a little surprised that the Godaime would assign such an easy task to two high-level nin. Of course, the woman probably figured she was being helpful or sneaky or whatever. Apparently Tenten was right; it was a female thing.

"She's on her way right now."

The Jounin blinked and focused on a pair of gleaming brown eyes. She had been talking for a while it seemed.

"Who?"

"Your…teammate. Yamanaka Ino. She's on her way here."

He resisted the urge to fidget although his trademark frown deepened. Tsunade was obviously enjoying his reaction, mild as it was.

"Yeah?"

"Yes."

They stared at each other. He sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets. She really did not need to know that they were suddenly, inexplicably sweaty.

**-o-O-o-**

Ino tapped her fingers idly against the countertop, the sound almost obscenely loud in the relative quiet of the flower shop. The air was still and humid and she was glad that she had an excuse not to train this afternoon.

Sighing, she made another definitive tap and allowed her eyes to flicker towards the window. She didn't really expect him to be here, not when he had not shown up for the past couple of weeks. It irked her that he would not even try to make up with her or, at the very least, try to figure out what had caused her sudden outburst.

Actually, when she pushed past her irritation, it did not surprise her. Shikamaru had never been the type of person who enjoyed conflict or drama. Whenever they got into an argument, which she was honest enough to admit usually involved one-sided yelling on her part, he never ran after her after she finally stomped off. Instead, he preferred to let her cool down and kept his distance until he deemed it most convenient for his own safety to approach her again.

She understood this. She had not appreciated it but she understood that it was just part of who he was and so Ino had waited. She had waited a full week until she realized that this time it was different. This time, he was not simply waiting for it to blow over; he had completely withdrawn.

The proverbial washing of hands complete with 'good riddance.'

A wry expression touched her lips, not lacking in self-reproach.

_So much for forcing him to take initiative, huh? I guess I got my answer, loud and clear._

The air shifted. Frowning, the girl looked up, startled, when the door opened and a vaguely familiar shinobi walked in.

"Yamanaka Ino? The Godaime would like to see you in her office now."

"A mission?"

The messenger nodded briefly in both acknowledgment and goodbye before disappearing back out. Rapidly closing up, Ino took a moment to stretch fully before heading off in effortless leaps. She was more than glad for a change in scenery; she needed something to take her mind off the present and take the edge off her frustration.

Bounding up the stone steps two at a time, she let her mind wander briefly. Sakura had given her an earful that day, berating her for treating Shikamaru like that when all he had done was try to protect her. Temper already running high, Ino had exploded, hissing that she did not need protection like some sort of useless brat and that Sakura should know exactly what she was talking about better than anyone else. She regretted the words the moment they left her lips, the shock and hurt that crossed the other girl's face effectively acting as a cooling pad.

"_I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."_

_Ino sighed, rubbing her temples wearily. The smell of grass had never seemed as overbearing as it did now. There was silence._

"_You don't know what you're talking about, Ino."_

_Sakura turned to face the stream, one hand continuing to rub her wrist while her eyes focused on some point in the distance. A group of children chattered and laughed as they ran past the three kunoichi, their sandals clattering noisily on the pebbles._

"_About what?"_

"_About Shikamaru."_

_An arm was extended to her, the faint red fingerprints already visible on the pale skin. Ino hesitated before returning the small smile offered to her; she was pleased that Sakura did not hold her words against her. _

"_What?"_

_Rolling her eyes, the pink-haired girl waved her arm in front of her face, obviously implying that Ino was stupid for not understanding whatever it was right off the bat._

"_This! It was never about you being weak or he wouldn't have gotten so angry. Right, Hinata-chan?"_

_The other girl nodded and Ino frowned. _

"_Would you just spit it out, Forehead? In case you haven't noticed, I'm not really in the mood to play mind games right now."_

_Slapping her hand against said forehead, Sakura shook her head in exasperation and started walking away. She waved goodbye, glancing back over her shoulder as the sunlight gleamed off those annoying green eyes. _

"_Whatever you're thinking, you're wrong, Ino. Not that I'm surprised. He's Shikamaru. Think about it." _

"Damn Forehead."

Muttering to herself, Ino smoothed out her skirt as she knocked briskly on the thick double-doors. Even if she had been wrong about Shikamaru thinking she was weak, that was not the point.

"Come in."

Opening the door, Ino came face to face with the last person she expected to see.

"Shikamaru?"

"Ino."

She stared at him for a second. He looked drawn and tired, a scowl decorating his face as he stared back at her. His eyes were dark and oddly unreadable. It unnerved her and she wondered what he would do if she hugged him like she normally would as if nothing had happened. Almost unconsciously, she took a step towards him, the warm flash of surprise lighting up his face serving as encouragement.

"Yamanaka."

Straightening sharply, Ino turned to face a shrewdly watching Tsunade. She could feel Shikamaru's eyes resting on her before he followed suit, slouching as per usual.

"You wanted to see me, Godaime?"

The woman took a sip from the cup in front of her, making a face as she glared over at a smiling Shizune.

"Mission to Sungakure. Nara here will fill you in on the details."

It took a heartbeat for the information to sink in.

"I'm going with _him_?"

Her voice rose before she remembered to whom she was talking. She saw Shikamaru move slightly out of the corner of her eye but resisted the urge to turn and look at him. Tsunade's lips thinned.

"Is that a problem?"

Ino was not so stupid as to ignore the warning current underlying that question. Personal issues were not to stand in the way of duty; she knew that as well as anyone without needing to be reminded.

"No, Godaime. Who else is on our team?"

"No one."

Tsunade leaned back in her chair as the other blonde's eyes narrowed, clearly catching on to the ulterior motive of this mission. In fact, she was rather surprised it took her this long.

"I thought three-member teams were standard protocol?"

"Only if necessary. Why, aren't you capable of handling a simple C-class mission with just one partner?"

This time Ino did not even bother suppressing the glare she shot at the Godaime, who merely looked amused. She knew her shinobi and this particular Yamanaka did not like being backed into a corner but she obviously was not going down without a fight. Reckless, but admirable.

"If it's so simple than why are we being sent to do it?"

"Because I said so."

Effectively ending the discussion, Tsunade nodded at the Jounin who was currently staring impassively at a corner of her desk for no apparent reason.

"Nara, you're in charge. You can leave immediately and I expect the both of you to report back here within a week. Dismissed."

Without a backwards glance, Ino strode out the door, adjusting the wrappings on her left arm. She heard familiar footsteps behind her as she walked down the corridor, the cool indoor air serving as a welcome contrast from the outside environment. Neither shinobi said a word as they made their way down the steps, through the street and towards the South-west gate closest to Sungakure.

-

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**A/N: I know this is more of a filler chapter than anything else but before you all come and yell at me for making you wait so long for something so sub-par, rest assured that I have also written half of the next chapter and hopefully it will be more meaty and umm...live up to the M-rating. **

**Anyhow, thanks for reading and please do review. The next chapter should HOPEFULLY be out within the next couple of weeks cuz I'm also working on updating my Harry Potter (give me strength...)**


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me

HAHA!! Got this on posted before I totally slipped back into 'neglecting anything that doesn't have to do with school' mode. I made this one a little longer in hopes of making up for last chapter's filler material. Enjoy!

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* * *

Chapter 7

* * *

"Mission again, Shikamaru?" 

The tone of voice was surprised and vaguely impressed. The Jounin nodded at the guards lounging next to the gate. The missive was securely lodged in his pack as he slowly rotated his arm.

"Yeah."

"That's your fourth one lately. You should tell Tsunade-sama to give you a break."

"Hn."

Giving them a brief wave, Shikamaru turned to the girl standing some meters apart from him. Her eyes were fixed on his, a curious expression on her face. Strangely unsure of himself, he focused on some point near her ear.

"We'll head straight for the Sand just along the main road. That means we should get there before dark tonight, okay?"

She made a general sound of consent. The way she was looking at him was unnerving so he started heading towards the edge of the forest. A rustle behind him signaled that she was following suit.

Leaping up into the trees, the two shinobi increased their speed, falling into a familiar rhythm despite not having worked together for some time. The sun was blocked out by the thick canopy of leaves overhead and Shikamaru found himself suddenly longing for the open sky.

Relaxing as her training took over almost automatically, Ino was free to let her mind wander. Shikamaru shifted just to his right, almost subconsciously adjusting to her presence behind him so that he took the brunt of the wind and made her progress less strenuous. His movements were steady and sure, but lacked a certain fluidity that she would not have noticed if it hadn't been him. Ino frowned as she watched him leap from tree to tree in front of her.

True, she had deliberately avoided him over the past few weeks but that did not mean she had not heard that Shikamaru had been kept busy with missions. That surprised her; usually Tsunade-sama did not make it a habit to pile back-to-back missions on to Konoha's head strategist, preferring instead to utilize his talents in planning rather than direct combat. Ino remembered the unpleasant twist of worry that coursed through her when Neji had mentioned that he had heard most of Shikamaru's missions were A-class ones, well aware of the sharp, pale gaze taking in her reaction.

The words slipped out before she could stop herself, accusing even to her own ears.

"You haven't been sleeping."

Shikamaru turned slightly to glance back at her and she had to resist the urge to bite her lip. Schooling her features into an expression of indifference, she stared back at him challengingly.

The Jounin turned back around.

"I'm okay. You?"

"Never better."

The trees continued to whoosh past them, leaves and bark merging together in a blur of green and brown as they sped on in silence. Ino wanted to say something, anything, even if it was picking a fight with him. True, she had become much more comfortable with silence since they had been together, recognizing that although Shikamaru was used to letting her chatter all day long, he also enjoyed some down time. On the rare occasion, they had just sat down together on the hill, him drifting along with his clouds while she willingly daydreamed next to him. Ino would not say that she regretted her outburst that day; she had made a decision that she believed to be right and acted on it, that was all there was to it. Nevertheless, she was honest enough to admit that she missed him; whether she missed him more than he did her, was something she did not want to analyze.

The hours passed by in relative quiet, the awakening of the woods around them the only sign that the sky was darkening. Ino brushed at her cheek as the air grew increasingly acrid. The forest thinned out and the two of them dropped in sync on to the ground below. Sand spilled over her feet, hot and coarse.

"Is that it?"

Ino peered into the near distance. Surprisingly enough, she had never been to Sungakure despite their re-entry into an alliance with Konoha since Gaara became installed as Kazakage. From here, she could just make out the wall surrounding the village, its form and colour blending well into its surroundings.

"Yeah."

They started off again, the wind stinging as it cooled down for the night. She wondered how these sand shinobi managed around here; she could barely see for all the blinking she was doing in order just to keep the sand out of her eyes. The faint noise grew louder and two guards approached them as they drew near the only visible entrance. Ino glanced past them as Shikamaru spoke. Very few figures were wandering about the streets, the buildings low and plain, virtually indistinguishable from one another apart from the random signs denoting certain shops.

She followed as he gestured to her, well aware of the alert gazes of not only the guards, but villagers and shinobi alike as they passed by. They were a wary people by nature, careful around strangers as they so obviously were. Shikamaru led them to what appeared to be an inn of sorts, its interior as nondescript as its exterior. He was apparently familiar with this place; judging by the relaxed manner in which the woman greeted him at the door, Ino guessed that this was where he and his team usually stayed when they were sent to the Sand.

"Ino?"

She looked over at him. He had a closed expression on his face, looking more even tired than before.

"This okay for tonight?"

"It's fine."

She did not know why he was consulting her; it was not as if she had any other alternatives to offer. A young girl emerged from the dimly lit hallway, smiling and looking at them expectantly. Shikamaru shifted his feet, his eyes once again focused somewhere just near her ear.

"There's uh…I mean, I got us a room."

"A room? As in one? Why?"

Her tone was perhaps harsher than she intended it to be. Ino sighed when he stiffened, suddenly exhausted from all this. She did not want to fight, she just wanted…she wanted…she didn't even know what she wanted anymore.

"Nevermind. It's fine. Let's just go, okay."

Quietly padding after the girl, she slipped into the proffered room. A single futon and table were placed in the centre and the attendant went about unfolding another futon next to it.

Standing up, she indicated an adjoining door leading out to the engawa. Her dusky blue sleeve swung gently with the motion and Ino suddenly became fully aware of the grime and dust coating her body after a day-long journey. She grimaced.

"That will lead to your private hot springs. There are clothes provided for you in the shower area in you so wish."

"You don't have a public hot spring? Mendokuse, that means we have to share."

Shikamaru sighed, rubbing the back of his neck ruefully. As if he really needed this sort of temptation right now. Just the suggestion was sending his heart and imagination into overdrive. He had missed her greatly. The attendant murmured her apologies, bowed low and excused herself from the room. The ensuing silence felt thick, almost sluggish.

Unbuckling his kunai pouch, he glanced over at the kunoichi still standing by the door. He thought she looked like uncertain; it didn't suit her.

"Eh, you can go ahead first if you want. I'll just order us some food."

Stretching out next to the small table, he yawned and picked up the provided menu, effectively affording her what little privacy she had to do as she wished. Ino bit her lip, refusing to give in to the temptation to yell at him for ignoring her.

"_You guys are training again tomorrow, right? You should get some sleep."_

"_I'm fine! Don't talk about me like I'm not here, Shikamaru! I can take care of myself just fine without you."_

"_Whatever you're thinking, you're wrong, Ino. Not that I'm surprised. He's Shikamaru. Think about it." _

Would it be so horrible to try, again? Would it kill her, her and her damnable pride, to accept only that which he was willing to give, even if she wanted more?

Ino did not know. Her voice was almost a whisper.

"Am I so annoying that you can't even stand to share a bath with me?"

The boy looked up, mild surprise written on his face.

"Huh?"

They stared at each other, the few short feet between them seeming fraught with unknown potholes. Ino's arms slowly raised to pull her hair tie free, the curtain of rippling gold falling about her shoulders reflected in the rapidly darkening gleam of his eyes. She turned away sharply, pausing on the threshold of the small washroom with one hand gripping the sliding shoji door.

"You look dirty. You should wash up too."

And with that, she slid the door shut behind her.

Flipping on the light, the girl quickly shed her clothes, rinsed off and grabbed two of the large white towels on the shelf. Winding one of them around her head to keep her hair up and the other around herself, Ino stepped outside. She fanned at the thick swirls of steam that enveloped her, trying to locate where the water was so that she didn't accidentally fall in and crack open her head.

"At least there aren't any of those weirdo monkeys here. Or that perverted Sannin, for that matter."

Still, she clutched her towel just a little bit tighter as she cautiously made her way over the smooth black stones. Pausing at the edge of the water, she gingerly slipped a toe in, wincing at the stinging heat.

"I guess desert springs really are hotter than regular ones."

"Actually they're not. Any sunlight basically just hits the surface of the ground; that water only feels extra hot because your body is already all heated up."

"Ack!"

Shrieking, Ino almost flung her towel, her only weapon, at the smooth voice coming from behind her.

"Shikamaru! You scared me!"

"Huh? Why? Who else would it be?"

"That's not the point!"

Throwing her hands up in exasperation, Ino could just barely make out his tall, lean figure.

"Wait, are you dressed?"

"I have a towel on, if that's what you mean."

"Well, look away while I get in. And no peeking!"

She heard a sigh. Ino could easily imagine the mildly incredulous look on his face.

"There's steam everywhere, Ino. I can barely see what's in front of my face, let alone you."

"Just do it!"

"Okay, okay. Eh, mendokuse."

Obediently, the figure turned away. Ino carefully placed the towel that had been wrapped around her body on a nearby rock and eased herself into the water, sinking in deep enough so that the heat could lap at her tired shoulders.

"Okay, I'm in."

The shuffling sound drew nearer and she could see him as he came towards her, his eyes trained on the far ledge. He held the tray of tea in his hands, which he positioned next to her discarded towel. It was as though nothing had happened, even if the initial faltering in both their voices left the conversation somewhat stilted. She could try and she was. And she knew him well enough to hear the faint current of grateful relief in his voice

"Move over, there's no room."

Sticking out her tongue at him, Ino waded a bit further away, propping up her legs so that she could rest her head on her arms. She turned her head as he slipped in, staring down at the waving, blurry sight of her body under the steaming water. Silence threatened to befall them again and she hastened to fill it.

"It's like 100 degrees in here. I can't believe you want to drink tea."

He shrugged, plopping a wet towel on top of his head.

"I like tea."

Rendered awkward by this seemingly seamless return to normality, Ino breathed in the thick sulphuric smell. She did not know why she expected him to be mad. She had ignored him for weeks and now he was willing to forget it and return to her just like that. She wondered if she would prefer for him to punish her in some way, to prove that she had upset him. A rush of reasons and doubts rushed into her mind, all of which she ruthlessly quashed.

_One last chance, Shikamaru. _

The two of them sat there quietly. The stars were magnificent out here, a glimmering array of lights amidst the wide expanse of black. Ino shivered as the cold night wind ruffled some of the loose blonde hair escaping around her face.

"Where'd you learn all that stuff about the desert anyways?"

The boy was resting against a large stone, staring up at the sky with as much lazy pleasure as he did with clouds.

"Just do. I've been here a few times before and I think someone mentioned it to me."

"Oh, Temari?"

"Yeah."

Small waves swelled out in concentric circles as Ino trailed her hand absently in the water.

"Hmm."

There was a slight movement to her left. Shikamaru settled down beside her, his arm just barely brushing against her own. She tilted her head over to look at him, tucking a wet strand behind her ear. At first, he glanced down at her with that unreadable expression that she hated before transforming gradually into a pensive gaze as they continued to simply stare at each other. Shaking her head clear, Ino pointed up at the sky.

"What do you think about when you watch the clouds?"

He seemed to actually think seriously before he answered her, his low voice as soothing as an old, warm blanket.

"That I want to be a cloud."

"Yeah, I remember you told me that once."

Ino arched her back a bit, trying to loosen up her neck. It had been a while since she had subjected her body to non-stop travel and it was hell on her muscles, her chakra use better suited to ninjutsu manipulation rather than physical stamina.

She started when two strong hands alighted on her shoulders, gently massaging the tension away.

"Shikamaru?"

"You'll feel better in the morning."

It was odd that she could label his touch as apologetic.

Smiling faintly to herself, Ino relaxed, exposing the sweep of her bare upper back to his patient, if old-fashioned, ministrations. It was surprising that Shikamaru would choose to physically knead the knots out when he could have simply run some chakra into her. Murmuring her thanks, she continued their earlier conversation.

"But why a cloud? Because they get to float around freely in the sky, without having to listen to their moms and girlfriends nagging at them?"

"Yeah."

Chuckling, Ino shook her head. Hot water cascaded down her back as he scooped handfuls of it over her. His hands slipped lower, expertly finding and working the knots.

"So why don't you watch the stars too? It's basically the same thing, just more romantic."

"I like the sky during the day time. On a sunny day, the blue and the gold remind me of…it makes me feel better."

His voice dipped lower, hesitating slightly even though he continued his massage. It was those words, so similar to what he had said to her all that time ago. A longing rose up in her, sweet and almost heady. Ino closed her eyes momentarily before twisting around to face him. To his credit, his gaze did not fall immediately to her naked chest, although the way they lingered on her parted mouth caused her breathing to grow consciously shallower.

"It makes you feel better?"

"Yeah. Uh, Ino?"

He was so close, she could feel his body heat even through the intensity of the hot springs. She missed him. She wanted him. Even if it meant throwing her pride to the wind and basically ditching the very same declaration she had made to herself that night in bed right next to him. Ino drew on her own abundant store of confidence, taking courage from the sharp indrawn breath he took.

Leaning forward, she brushed her lips against his.

"And this?"

Shikamaru stared at her, both hands reaching out almost involuntarily before he captured her mouth with his own. He bent over her, his mouth hot and furious. He had missed this, missed _her_, and the overwhelming sense of relief that she was no longer mad at him made him almost lightheaded. Pulling back slightly, he pressed his forehead against hers, his breathing already ragged.

"Better."

He tried to kiss her again but she wrinkled her nose at him teasingly. Her hands caressed the muscles on his arms, lightly tracing one of his old scars.

"Better than cloud-watching?"

"It reminds me of you."

Her amused response was lost as his mouth fused over hers, the tangibly desperate passion behind it literally stealing her breath away. Shikamaru nibbled on her lower lip, sucking it into his mouth as he traced the sensitive inside with his tongue. The hand curled around her nape pulled her forwards, the other sweeping restless circles over her bare back. Moaning as he plunged his tongue into her mouth, twining with her own as he relearned her taste, Ino pressed against him eagerly, desire granting her the boldness to straddle his hips. She skimmed her hands down his bare chest, drawing patterns admiringly over the chiseled grooves of his stomach. He groaned as his muscles jumped under her light touch, his fingers digging almost roughly into her flesh as he jerked her closer.

"Ino..."

Shikamaru's mouth left hers to trail damp, open kisses along her jaw and down her neck. Slipping his hair tie off, Ino ran her hands through his dark hair, staring unseeingly up at the curling spirals of smoke as it dissipated into the night sky. A welcome hardness nudged her between the legs and Ino rocked against it deliberately, nipping his shoulder mischievously when he groaned again, his large hands massaging her bare bottom. She gasped when he pulled her cheeks apart slightly and ground against her.

"You don't find this too troublesome, Shika-kun?"

"Hn."

Pulling back enough to meet her twinkling blue eyes, Shikamaru gave her another hard kiss before pausing, the sound of both their heavy breathing filling the air. They stared at each other, faces mere inches apart. He didn't say anything as he nuzzled her flushed cheeks gently, his hands kneading her hips before gliding slowly up to cup her face adoringly.

"Shikamaru?"

Ino inhaled unsteadily as he trailed his hands down to linger over the smooth expanse of her chest, lightly stroking the slope of her breasts as they bobbed just above the water. Impatient, she tried to wriggle against him but stopped dead when he gave her a lazy, devastating smile.

"Stop doing that."

She huffed, poking him playfully in the shoulder.

"Then stop teasing! You're such a…"

Her words caught in her throat when calloused fingers skimmed over the tips of her breasts, languidly circling and tugging at the hardened nubs as she gasped. Ino tried to kiss him but this time he was the one who avoided her attempts, smirking at the frustrated expression on her face.

"You were saying?"

"I…oh…Shika…"

Moaning as he played with her as he wished, Ino raked her nails down his chest, smirking right back at him when he shuddered. Leaning forward to lick the salty droplets clinging to his skin, she let one hand drift in the water to brush fleetingly over the hot organ pressed against her stomach.

A low hiss escaped his lips, those velvety dark eyes dropping instantly to watch as she traced her fingers over his length, occasionally gripping him fully to squeeze and stroke. He was like supple steel, velvety smooth and searingly hot at the same time. She felt as though he was branding himself on her and welcomed it, hungrily tracing her fingers over the slit at the tip of his organ and spreading the pearly bead that squeezed out there with every slow pump of her hand. His hands paused in their movements as he focused entirely on what she was doing, ragged breaths rolling over her skin repeatedly in time with her quickening movements.

Ino squealed when he suddenly jerked forwards to latch on to her neck, biting down lightly before laving over the mark with his tongue.

"Shikamaru!"

"Having fun, you two?"

Spluttering, Ino immediately slipped off his lap and sunk into the water, one arm crossed over her chest while the other dragged a towel off a nearby rock. Shikamaru, on the other hand, whipped around to face the open door leading back into their room, muscles tensed as he moved to stand in front of her protectively, heedless of his own state of undress or arousal. His chakra spiked dangerously.

"Who is it?"

"Hey, hey, hey! Relax, it's me. You forget what country you're in, Nara? Not that I blame you…"

A painted purple and white face emerged from the white steam fogging the air, grinning suggestively as its owner leaned nonchalantly against the bamboo door frame.

"Kankuro."

Shikamaru relaxed marginally, although the undercurrent of frustrated displeasure was clearly evident in his voice. Wrapping the towel Ino handed him around his waist, he turned back to pull her out of the hot springs, meeting her eyes briefly as he checked to see that she was similarly covered. The hot desire simmering in his eyes matched her own and even as they marched back into the dim coolness of the washroom, his thumb was restlessly stroking her hand.

Ino was more vocal about her irritation.

"Damnit, Kankuro…if you're going to hang around – and it better be for a good reason or else I swear I'm going to make you strip naked and run around Sangakura singing about how much you love spanking Gaara – then go wait in the room! Like hell if I'm going to talk to you wearing nothing but a towel!"

The older shinobi had the temerity to leer at her, waggling his eyebrows so that they looked like two black caterpillars swimming in a purple and white sea.

"Well, you could always talk to me naked. From what I just saw, I'm sure I'd enjoy the view."

"Go wait in the room, Kankuro."

Shikamaru nodded towards the door, idly picking up the sash of the provided haori and snapping it in front of him. If it 'accidentally' smacked Kankuro on the leg, all of them pretended not to notice.

"Fine. Geez…"

Muttering some rather colourful curses, the black-clad shinobi stepped into the darkened room, sliding the door shut behind him with a rueful scrape. That left the two of them in relative darkness, neither of them having bothered to turn on the small overhead light.

"Here."

Ino accepted the basket of clothes he passed to her, turning her back on him to hastily pull on the crisp, dusky blue yukata. She now felt inexplicably shy, unsure of how to face him. She could still feel his hands on her skin, still taste the tea he had been drinking before.

_Get a grip on it, Yamanaka! It's not like you haven't done this before! Not to mention that you've done it with _him_ before in particular. Besides, he's yours – you're supposed to want him. _

A loud yawn sounded from behind her. Shikamaru was scratching his unbound head, eyeing her warily. He looked like he wanted to say something but then changed his mind.

"You ready?"

"Y-yeah."

Following him into the room, Ino frowned at the sight of Kankuro tossing back some of the sake in the mini-fridge.

"You're going to pay for that yourself, you know."

"Cheapskates."

Shikamaru sighed wearily, leaning back against the wall.

"So what are you doing here, Kankuro? We were going to come and see the Kazekage tomorrow morning."

He shrugged.

"Gaara told us to bring you back to the house. Guess he figured it would be easier if you guys were staying with us instead of at this place."

"Eh, that's too troublesome."

"I knew you'd say that, so I brought back up."

Ino chuckled despite herself; apparently, Nara Shikamaru's laziness was as well-known as his genius.

"Back up, puppet-boy? What, you're not strong enough?"

"Laugh it up there, Yamanaka. I was strong enough to unglue you from your man's mouth, remember?"

"Fuck you, kabuki-face!"

"Anytime you want. Although I'm guessing Nara here would have something to say about that…"

"Shikamaru. Yamanaka."

Both of them looked to their right where the door stood ajar. A tall blonde with deep cerulean eyes paused in the doorway before walking towards them, hefting a large fan over her shoulder easily. Ino watched as Shikamaru pushed himself forwards, a barely noticeable smirk curling his lips.

"Temari."

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**A/N: I've been busy reading a fair number of Harry Potter fan fics lately, namely Draco x Hermione for all of you who are familiar with it. Consequently, I've sorta been interested in making my writing style darker and angstier. I've always been a little against that sort of thing cuz I feel like it creates too much realism in a situation where readers (or at least readers like me) just want to chill and drift off a bit with their favourite characters without having to deal too much. Not sure why I'm rambling on like this exactly but anyways, I'll try and see how this goes. A different approach to Shikamaru is something I want to try - rather than just the basic run-of-the-mill lazy genius I've been doing so far. **

**Yeah, so thanks for reading and please do review! Let me know what you think of this proposal, otherwise I might just try it in my other fic.**


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me

Whoa, it's been almost 5 months since I last updated and all I can say is that I am so so sorry!! My exams have been over since last month but I just kept procrastinating whenever it came to writing the next chapter of this story. I've never been a Temari fan and I guess just the idea of having to stick her in there somewhere while still keeping it realistic was bugging the heck out of me. But still, THANK YOU ALL so much for the continued support and encouragement - you are all so amazing to me and I'll try my best to make it worth while.

Anyways, here's the result of me wracking my brains for inspiration after a long hiatus so I hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 8

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"How's it going, Shikamaru? It's been a long time."

Temari returned his smirk with practiced ease, her eyes warming almost imperceptibly as he shrugged in response.

"Yeah. I'm okay, you?"

"Better. Stronger."

"Oh yeah?"

The two shinobi grinned, the sense of comfortable familiarity apparent in their very stance. Ino inclined her head in a more formal greeting, a civil smile gracing her lips.

"Temari-san. It's good to see you again."

The older kunoichi turned her attention to her, nodding briefly.

"Likewise. Was Kankuro being a dick again?"

"Hey! Don't give me that! I _was_ nice in the beginning but since these two were obviously too preoccupied to pay attention to me, I had to …"

Shikamaru yawned, a joint cracking as he stretched languidly. Ino grimaced at the sound.

"Maaa, why don't you guys tell me what's going on? I'm tired."

Temari scoffed, swinging her fan down until it landed on the tatami with a loud thump. She leaned against it, the dim lighting in the room throwing her shadow long across the walls.

"Didn't Kankuro tell you? Gaara wants us to bring you both back to the main house. Hospitality and all that political crap."

"Too troublesome."

This time, Shikamaru moved to scratch his bare chest where the yukata gaped open from the haphazard-way he tied it.

"No more troublesome than you having to go there tomorrow anyways so you might as well come now."

Her logical and dry response seemed to amuse him, like he almost expected it. Which, considering it was Shikamaru, he probably did.

"Yeah, so if it's the same either way, I might as well just stay here now. Paid for the room already too."

Temari rolled her eyes. Picking up her fan, she strode out of the room, her voice traveling down the hallway.

"Good, you're helping our economy then. Shut up and get moving already. We can play this little wit-game of yours tomorrow but you're not the only one who's too damn tired tonight. Kankuro!"

Shrugging, the other Sand nin shoved himself off the wall where he had been lounging and followed his sister out the door. That left the two of them standing there in the open room, one frowning as he surveyed the things he had to pack up while the other blinked at what had just happened.

"Uh, so I guess that means we're leaving, huh?"

His sigh was weary as he bent to pick up his pack.

"Yeah, guess so. You okay with that?"

Making a half-hearted sound of consent, Ino marched back into the washing room to get changed again, this time into a cleaner set of clothes. Given that the Kazekage had personally requested that they join him, it was not like either of them really had a choice. Nodding at Shikamaru as he waited for her at the door, they wandered back outside, the chilly temperature stinging her face as she followed the others quickly down the now empty streets.

The trip there was silent and surprisingly fast. Grateful to be out of the cold at the very least, Ino barely got a glimpse of dark, sparsely decorated rooms and hallways before the siblings had led them upstairs and stopped in front of yet another door. Temari gestured vaguely at the two of them.

"You guys can stay here…unless you want separate rooms?"

An unintelligible grunt was her only reply, to which she simply shrugged, bid her goodnights and disappeared into the shadows. Kankuro took the time to shoot Shikamaru what Ino could only interpret as some male-form of acknowledgement and herself what she had no trouble recognizing as a mocking leer. Flipping him off easily, she let herself into the room, her ponytail swishing behind her as a parting motion.

The room was dark but she did not bother turning on the lights; besides the fact that she did not detect any foreign chakra immediately present, moonlight streamed weakly in through the window and her senses adapted almost immediately to the glowing darkness. A quiet click behind her indicated that Shikamaru had entered and closed the door, the sounds of him discarding his pack and padding about the room providing a soothing rustle as she took a moment to peer out the window.

The building they were in was directly next to a larger one that towered over the rest of the village. She suspected that was Suna's head office, connected, as per practicality and necessity, to the Kazekage's personal residence. Narrowing her eyes, she could just make out the faint shapes of people along the upper terraces of the surrounding village walls, shinobi guards constantly on the lookout over the vast expanse of empty desert she knew was just beyond those borders.

"Come to bed, Ino."

The low murmur was mild, indicating to her that the order, such as it was, was not meant to provoke her.

Ino turned, her eyes meeting his gleaming ones as he lay there in the large bed situated in the middle of the room. A decorative wall scroll and table and chair were the only other pieces of furniture. Instead of answering, she allowed her gaze to roam over his bare chest, his vest and shirt discarded messily on said chair while his sandals were tossed nearby. He watched her as she moved towards the bed, the mattress barely shifting as she climbed in and settled on to her side facing him.

They merely looked at each other for several long minutes, the distance between their bodies just far enough to be deemed polite. She did not know whether he expected her to say something, or even whether or not she wanted to in the first place. Shikamaru reached out a hand and touched her cheek, the caress tender and oddly hesitant. Pleased at his initiative, Ino made a soft sound, relaxing gratefully under his careful ministrations. Her eyelids fluttered shut as he continued to stroke her, the rough pads of his fingertips light as they travelled lingeringly to trace the curve of her jaw and back up to her ear.

"Are you tired?"

"Hmm."

She did not see the bemused smile that lifted the corner of his lips at her affirmative little hum as the hand slide slowly down to tuck the sheets in more securely around her back. The feeling of cool fabric was soon forgotten when Ino found herself being gently tugged forwards towards a warm chest, the naked flesh tingling wherever it met hers. His thumb stroked her back repetitively, his legs tangling unhurriedly with her own until she was completely and utterly encased in a heady cocoon of Shikamaru. She molded herself closer against him, his arms tightening in response while his breath tickled the strands of loose blonde hair as he brushed his lips against her forehead.

"Go to sleep then."

-o-O-o-

"A missive from the Godaime, Kazekage. Please consider this mission completed."

The required words of protocol were spoken as the Nara placed the scroll on Gaara's desk, stepping back to stand beside Ino before he finally gave in and yawned. All this did was earn him an elbow planted none-too-discreetly in the side and a flustered hiss.

"Shikamaru!"

He peered down at her, looking faintly bored as usual but there was no mistaking that faint smirk. Ino was in the middle of debating whether she would be able to get away with whacking him when the red-headed male seated before them suddenly looked up from where he had been reading the missive. She straightened abruptly when those blank green eyes fixed on the two of them.

"Agreed. The supplies you requested will be ready by tomorrow."

Setting aside the scroll, Gaara seemed ready to start in on the other pile stacked neatly on his desk, clearly considering his answer enough of a dismissal to be understood. Given the fact that Shikamaru seemed perfectly content to simply stand there daydreaming all day, Ino took it upon herself to clear her throat delicately, managing to control the unconscious flinch when those eyes bore into hers again.

"Kazekage-sama."

He made no response and she took that to mean that she should continue.

"Was there anything else required of us?"

"No."

The one-word answer stretched out between them but even though his stare gave her the creeps, especially when coupled with the way she thought could almost sense his mild irritation at her continued presence, Ino was nothing if not stubborn. She glared right back at him, her chin tilting up defiantly.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the smirk on Shikamaru's face deepen just the slightest bit.

"Then does that mean we can just walk around Suna today?"

The sand shinobi gave her a look that would have obviously conveyed incredulousness if he had been anyone else. Ino half-expected him to run a hand through that impressive mess of rusty hair and sigh at her.

"Yes. Kankuro will be your guide."

The puppet master peeled himself from his position near the far wall, scratching his hooded head as he matched her grimace for grimace.

"Hey, blondie, don't give me that look. I don't want to play babysitter to a brat like you either."

Huffing, Ino gave the completely disinterested Kazekage a short bow before turning on her heel and striding out the door. She could hear Shikamaru sigh as he followed after her, Kankuro striking up a conversation about a new five-pronged weapon he had discovered during one of his missions. Blinking as she stepped outside the building, Ino stared up at the vast expanse of cloudless blue. The dry scent of sand saturated every breath she took and the harsh glare of sun nearly blinded her for a split second.

A welcome shadow fell over her eyes, allowing her to adjust.

Shikamaru stood in front of her, one arm raised and propped up behind his head as he looked down the street. It was relatively busy but still quiet, with none of the noise and bustle of Konoha.

"Kankuro said he'd bring us to some of their training grounds unless there was anywhere else you'd like to go."

"No, that's fine. Lead the way, kabuki-face."

"Geez, your mouth never stops, does it? Can't you control your woman, Nara?"

Said shinobi merely shrugged while Ino gave in to the somewhat childish desire to stick out her tongue in response, flipping her long ponytail over her shoulder. Snorting, Kankuro strode out ahead, nodding occasionally when greeted by some villagers.

Not surprisingly, the Suna training grounds consisted of more desert, with a series of set wooden posts arranged in an orderly fashion. Several shinobi were already present and Ino watched them run through some complex taijutsu sequences with interest as Kankuro went over to speak with one of them.

"Sand nin really are of higher quality, aren't they?"

Shikamaru looked somewhat startled at her observation, which made Ino inordinately pleased, before his expression eased back into general indifference. He gave her a mildly interested look.

"I guess that's one way of putting it although I probably wouldn't phrase it so blankly, Ino. Because of the inter-country treaty, Sungakure's number of active shinobi is still limited so that means each shinobi they do have has to count for more."

"Quality over quantity then."

She met his contemplative gaze with one of her own. His eyes glimmered with a dark warmth and Ino thought she could detect a soft pride in them.

"Yeah."

"Came to visit?"

Both of them turned to see Temari walking towards them. As she drew closer, they could see a long gash decorating her upper arm, the blood still fresh along the clean cut. Shikamaru tilted his head at her.

"Never thought I'd see the day you'd get hurt."

"Che."

Snorting, she barely even glanced down at her arm.

"You call that an injury? You're even weaker than I thought, Shikamaru."

He merely shrugged again, this time adding in a yawn.

"Maa, you guys need some trees around here. I'm gonna get fried if I just lie in the sun."

"Then don't. Spar with me."

Temari hoisted her fan down and, with a sharp snap, flipped it open. Slamming it into the sand, she spun it easily on its pane, creating a small whirlwind. Shikamaru didn't even pause.

"No way. Mendokuse."

"I think you're just chicken."

Ino stretched, grateful for the sudden breeze that happened to pass through the grounds. Her hair glimmered in the sunlight and she smirked when she caught Kankuro watching her appreciatively. He coughed.

"That's not going to work, Temari-san. Shikamaru doesn't give a damn what anyone calls him. I'll spar with you if you want."

The older kunoichi grinned.

"Sure. No holds barred al…"

"I'll do it."

Shikamaru brushed past Ino, taking a position some feet opposite Temari. If anything, her grin grew.

"Don't expect me to go easy."

"Hn."

And with that, they began. Ino watched in irritation as the two of them did their thing, Temari blasting stinging winds at him while Shikamaru took his time avoiding them. What the hell had just happened there? How could he dismiss her like that?

"Hey, blondie. Better just sit back and enjoy the show."

"The name's Ino, makeup boy"

Moving back to stand beside him and out of harms way, Ino sighed. A number of the other shinobi were already stopping to watch the two Jounin. Kankuro folded his arms over his chest, neatly leaning to the side to avoid a stray shuriken.

"Okay, _Ino_, how's it going?"

She raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. He gestured vaguely.

"Just trying to do the whole hospitality deal. Part of my job; got a problem with that?"

Stifling a groan, Ino nevertheless indulged him. He was right, it was her job as well.

"I'm fine. I've never been here before so thanks for showing us around."

"Oh yeah? You don't go on missions too often?"

"Huh? No, I do, just never to Suna. Tsunade-sama usually sends Naruto or Shikamaru…probably because Naruto's friends with the Kazekage-sama while Shika's friends with Temari-san."

"Doesn't Nara try to drag you along for missions? Seems like the best way to spend time with his woman."

A loud shout came from the pair in front of them as Temari successfully evaded the giant shadowy hand poised above her. Shikamaru looked as bored as ever, not even breaking out in a sweat despite the heat. Ino watched as he hurled a couple of exploding kunai seemingly randomly in Temari's direction.

"Nah, we're usually in different squads."

"Weird…"

Whatever he was about to say was lost when the noise around them suddenly died down. Temari was frozen still, an expression of irritation on her face. The other two moved forwards, peering at the ground and then at Shikamaru in confusion.

"Eh, you develop a new ninjutsu, Nara? I don't see your Kagemane around so how'd you manage to catch Temari?"

Shikamaru nodded and Temari was forced to follow suit.

"Yeah, been practicing so figured this would be a good time to try it out. It's sort of a combination of Kagemane and Kage Nui."

As he spoke, Ino could see the minuscule threads of his shadow emerged from the ground to merge with the shadows of the now suspended particles of blown up exploding note, their scattered maze locking on to Temari from all angles. Temari relaxed as he released his hand seals, offering him an appraising nod before snapping her fan shut again.

"Not bad. I'm amazed that you actually took the time to develop a new jutsu."

"It's no big deal."

He brushed off the grudging praise nonchalantly. The four of them started walking again, with Temari falling into step with Shikamaru as they headed up the group.

They passed through the training grounds at a leisurely pace, with both Sand nin pointing out various places of interest as they came across them. Ino found Kankuro to be a fairly easy person to get along with when he was not deliberately trying to get on her nerves, the two of them occasionally bickering good-naturedly as they always did whenever he came to Konoha on a mission. She could hear the two shinobi in front of them conversing steadily, picking up sparse phrases like 'that's the front Ketsu-san was talking about' or 'no, we only brought in one extra division.'

_It's strange to see Shikamaru getting along so well with someone other than us._

Almost as soon as that thought crossed her mind, Ino frowned at herself. She was being ridiculous, of course; unwarranted jealousy was Sakura's specialty, not hers. She had always known Shikamaru and Temari were on good terms – in fact, Shikamaru was usually the one who was assigned as a guide whenever Temari came to Konoha - and Ino had never begrudged him his friendships with other shinobi, female or not.

It was just…a little unsettling to see the two of them in action close up. Especially given the state of her own relationship with Shikamaru as of late.

The rest of the day was uneventful and almost lazy. They walked, talked and ate at a small, out-of-the-way tea shop when one of their stomachs started complaining. Ino supposed Shikamaru felt like he was in heaven.

As the sky started to darken, Temari offered yet another spar, seemingly eager to take advantage of the chance to try out her skills against some foreign shinobi. This time, Shikamaru agreed outright, gently touching Ino's wrist as he asked Kankuro to take her back to the Kazekage's residence.

"What? No way!"

"It's getting cold. Besides, you should get some sleep – it's a three day journey back at best and who knows how many supplies the Godaime requested. I'll be back soon."

"But…"

The brief brush of his long fingers against her uncovered palm caused Ino to suck in her breath, catching her outraged complaints mid-sentence. Pursing her lips as he prolonged the contact, she nodded once, bidding goodnight to the other blonde, who was watching in silent amusement.

"Fine. Lead the way then, Kankuro-san."

Scoffing, he raised a hand to the other two, turning to walk back with her.

"Kankuro-san? Since when did you become so polite?"

"Since I got tired of trying to find descriptions as silly as your makeup."

"Oh yeah? And here I thought for a moment that you were putting the moves on me in front of your guy in revenge or something."

Tensing, Ino finally let out a resigned chuckle when she caught the teasing look in his eye, the man joining in. Depositing her on her floor, he continued on to where she supposed was his room.

It was still much too early to sleep, despite what Shikamaru had said, so Ino made her way up the stairs, pausing momentarily just inside the final doorway before she stepped out on to the roof. Dusk was falling fast and the wind was especially strong this far up so she was glad for the extra warmth coming from her vest. The nin standing guard along the village border must have been born with skin like leather.

Stepping over to the ledge, she closed her eyes, making no move to prevent the wind to pick up her ponytail and whip it around wildly.

One of their first lessons at the academy had been to become one with nature, to draw strength from it while also using it to their advantage. Chakra was the foundation of a shinobi's power, a gift of nature that could be honed and manipulated for the user's needs. Spending time in mediation was therefore essential, allowing one to become attuned to the power flowing within them and how it interacted with all the elements surrounding them. Neji was a prime example, always reminding her that physical training could only get her so far. In fact, Shikamaru could well have used this excuse for all the time he spent cloud-watching, if he did not find it too troublesome to have to form the words. A shinobi who ignore that advice as so much drivel did so to their own detriment.

A rough crackle of chakra surged from behind her, prickling and cold as it grew in intensity. Ino tensed, flustered and somewhat off-kilter.

"Kazekage-sama!"

The red-head slanted her a disinterested glance, his face as expressionless as ever. There was an awkward pause while Ino deliberated what it was that she was supposed to do in these circumstances. She supposed she was nervous, although that in itself was not quite correct.

"Should I…would you prefer to be alone?"

He didn't say anything, the moonlight gleaming off his pale skin as he stood there motionlessly on the roof. Frowning, Ino made to head back downstairs, brushing some stray strands of hair off her face.

"This is your first time here."

The sound of his voice, toneless yet not, was unexpected and she looked over at him in surprise. He had not turned to face her, directing his comment to the night sky instead. Clear blue eyes regarded him contemplatively for a moment before the girl moved back into her former position, leaning her elbows on the small ledge with a quiet sigh.

"Yes."

They stood there together for an indeterminable amount of time with no further conversation. Her face soft, Ino opened her hand, feeling the chilly desert wind rush through her spread fingers. He was allowing her to become accustomed to his presence and for that, she was grateful.

"Do you come up here often, Kazekage-sama?"

"…yes."

The air felt gritty and she wondered how they washed the blood out of the sand after it had seeped into the ground after every battle that occurred near or within the village.

"Why?"

He seemed to think about that one, his long robes fluttering gently around him.

"I am the Kazekage. This is my village."

Unbidden, a tilt lifted the corner of her mouth. Time passed quickly in the life of a shinobi.

"Good answer."

Focusing on the sight laid out before her, Ino gazed out over the buildings, its tan domes with its scattered dim lights spreading out on all sides from where they were. It was intricate and organized at the same time, blending carefully into the sand hills surrounding the entire village. Other than the soft scrape of sand swirling into various walls, it was silent, a vast earthy stillness reflecting the unchanging openness above.

"It's beautiful."

Her companion barely moved, his eyes fixed passively on the same scene as her.

"But…"

She couldn't hear the sounds of leaves rustling, the birds chirping or the swish of the river. She couldn't smell the flowers, the dampness of dewy grass or the wild tang of the forest. She just wasn't this; she missed the lush, the noisy, the busy.

"…it's not me."

This time, he turned and the feel of his expressionless green eyes on her was not as unsettling as she had previously imagined. He understood this better than anyone else could have.

"No, it's not."

**-o-O-o-**

The room was dark when he entered.

Giving his face one last, quick rub with the towel around his neck to make sure he was clean, Shikamaru flipped it over the back of the chair and lowered himself onto the bed, wincing as the shifting of fabric made a soft rustling noise. He looked over at the girl sleeping next to him, the spill of pale gold veiling her face from his view. Reaching out, he brushed the hair from her face, gently caressing her cheek as he inched closer. Her skin was smooth and warm, the creamy paleness contrasting beautifully with his tanned hand. Taking a deep breath, he filled his senses with the scent of lilacs, a scent he forever associated with her ever since she had first wrapped her little arms around him in a fierce, affectionate hug when they were children.

Close enough to rest his head on her pillow, Shikamaru allowed himself to trace the outline of her lips, enthralled by the quiet puffs of air that escaped her slightly parted lips. Leaning forward, he pressed a soft kiss on her mouth, his thumb lightly stroking the curve of her jaw. Ino sighed in her sleep, unconsciously snuggling closer to his body.

Smiling slightly at her actions, he trailed his hand down her throat to the dip of her collarbone. Leaving another kiss there, he lingered over the shadowy curve of her breast before finally giving in and gently cupping her in his hand. Carefully making sure that she was still covered by the blankets rather than the chilly night air, Shikamaru kneaded her, his breathing growing shallower as he felt her nipple tighten against his palm. Ino gave a small moan.

A familiar heat spiraled down into his groin, spreading out to infuse his entire body as he hardened almost immediately. Stifling a hushed groan, he pressed into her thigh, almost involuntarily rubbing against her. Tenderly nuzzling his cheek against the slope of her breast, his hand slipped down to brush against her exposed stomach.

"Ino…"

Murmuring, Shikamaru tasted her skin, its warmth and smoothness literally overwhelming his senses. Ino moved slightly, mumbling incoherent words he couldn't catch. Closing his eyes, his mind drifted back to their time together in the hot springs before Kankuro had annoyingly showed up. She had been eager and willing, her body simultaneously luring and demanding his touch. He could still feel her moist warmth stroking his erect member, the sweet recesses of her mouth robbing him of his ability to even remember his own name.

His hips bucked at the memory as Shikamaru choked back another groan.

_Geez, I'm turning into a pervert. What kind of person molests his own girlfriend in her sleep? _

Reluctantly removing his hand, he tucked the blanket back around her and slowly moved back on to his own side, eyes fixed on Ino's face. She was frowning slightly as he left her, rolling on to her side as if to reach out to him.

Sighing, Shikamaru gave her one last, long look before getting to his feet and quietly heading towards the bathroom.

**-o-O-o-**

Ino stirred, eyes fluttering open as she shifted on the bed. From the almost pitch black darkness outside the window and apparently seeping into the room itself, it appeared to be the middle of the night. Rolling over, she blinked at the empty side of the bed that greeted her.

Frowning blearily, she pushed herself to sit up and concentrate. Her relief upon locating his chakra signature nearby was short-lived however. His chakra pattern was irregular and elevated, a sure sign that Shikamaru was in some state of exertion or agitation. And considering his personality, only something important would have had such an effect.

_Shit, have we been attacked? I can't believe I didn't wake up!_

Instantly awake, Ino silently swung her legs around and crept towards the door, back pressed up flat against the wall. Body tensed for action, she made her way down the hall, cursing herself for her slipup. Sure enough, the sound of heavy breathing grew closer as she approached the bathroom. Hands at the ready in familiar seals, she cautiously peered into the room, trying to locate the position of the assailant.

To her shock however, she was met by a completely different sight.

Shikamaru was facing the wall, one hand braced against the tiles as he leaned his forehead against it. The other was mercifully out of sight, although the jerking movements of his arm more than enlightened her as to what he was doing. His breathing was coming out in ragged pants and the muscles in his bare back quivered with each up and down motion.

Gaping mindlessly at him for a few, long moments, Ino spun away, her heart pounding in her chest as she automatically crept back into their bedroom. Burrowing herself into the covers, she tried to process what it was that she had just seen.

It didn't take long.

Ino pressed a hand to her mouth, feeling the rare sting of tears pricking the backs of her eyelids. She fought down a hysterical laugh threatening to claw its way up her throat. One afternoon with Temari and he decided that she wasn't good enough. That he would rather sneak off into the bathroom and take care of himself than turn to his own girlfriend lying right there beside him. It finally all made sense. His general indifference towards her, his lack of interest in being affectionate, all of it made sense. He didn't want her and he never had. It was another kunoichi he had always seen when he looked at her and she was just a substitute who conveniently also had blue eyes and blonde hair.

The heavy cotton blankets suddenly felt suffocating, the entire room mocking her with its bare simplicity. She had been confronted with it tonight, had verbalized what she had realized since stepping foot into this village. She was too demanding, too complicated for someone like Shikamaru. This country, with its vast blankness, its straightforward way of living was a stark reminder that it was Temari, not her, who represented everything Shikamaru had ever really wanted.

Ino had always been somewhat surprised at Shikamaru's easy familiarity with the Sand kunoichi but had put it down to simply being because Temari had happened to save his life before. It was only natural that something like that would forge a friendship of sorts and she had brushed it aside as being nothing more than like the relationship she herself had with Kiba or Naruto or any other shinobi in particular.

_So much for intuition, eh Sakura? Hah, I really got suckered into this one, didn't I?_

A lone tear escaped to forge its way down her cheek. Angrily brushing it away, Ino squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face in her pillow. She was only thankful that he had been too _preoccupied _to detect her own chakra signature. Heaping embarrassment on to insult was the last thing she needed right now.

Stiffening when she heard the faint sound of the tap running, the girl forced herself to relax again, deliberately slowing down her breathing until it was deep and even. Years of training kicked into gear, the specialized physical illusionary techniques she had painstakingly developed over the years serving her well in this case. Quiet footsteps approached and a rustle sounded as Shikamaru slipped into the futon next to hers. There was a yawn and then silence.

The minutes seemed to tick by with the speed of a lame snail until his breathing pattern fell into that of a deep sleep. Shifting on to her side, Ino merely looked at him. She had always been amused at the fact that he still managed to look grumpy even when he was asleep, the frown smoothing out but his overall expression still conveying a rather adorable sulkiness. She could hardly make out his features in the darkness, the glint of his earrings being the only clearly visible objects.

Earrings that the three of them had gotten back when they were all genins as a symbol of their trust for, and in, each other.

"How, Shika?"

Her whisper was barely audible, more like a weak rush of air than actual words. Shikamaru did not stir. Ino wet her lips, turning on to her back to stare up at the dull ceiling. This time when the tears started trickling down to drip on to her pillow, she did not bother to brush them away.

"How could you?"

-

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**A/N: First off, no worries - I definitely plan on finishing this fic so I'll always to updating even if I'm horrible at keeping a tight schedule like I used to. And since this is a story about the many hidden pitfalls and misunderstandings inherent in even the most solid relationships, nevermind one based on two very different personalities like Ino and Shikamaru, I'm super SUPER happy to finally be getting into the meat of things. **

**So yeah, thank you for reading and thanks again for putting up with me and my laziness!! I'll try to update more often during the holidays (seriously!) and please do review.**


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me

Yes, it's been a YEAR since I last updated and all I can say is THANK YOU so so much to everyone who stuck with me and continued to send their support! I really mean that and I'm sincerely grateful for your patience and encouragement.

I haven't written any fan fics during this time and only just started reading them again so this chapter might be a bit short. I've been trying to get back into anime/j-culture mode while writing this - OH, on _that_ note, Absolute Boyfriend, anybody? The live-action j-drama series of this is airing right now and it's...addictive. PLUS PLUS PLUS - the main character is so gorgeous he almost makes me melt all over my computer.

But anyways, please enjoy!

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* * *

Chapter 9

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By now however, Ino was glad that she had never been sent on a mission to Suna for an entirely different reason.

"Damnit!"

An aggravated scream tried to claw its way out of her dry throat. Ino scanned her surroundings; this sadistic nightmare of a terrain blared back at her mockingly, not even having the decency to provide her with some sort of plant or structure on which to lash out her frustration. Endless miles upon miles of plain tan desert greeted her in return, the acrid scent of sand mercilessly stinging her eyes as well as her nose. Not to mention the blasted sun which seemed to be present twenty-four hours a day and ten times as hot as it did in Konoha. Given the amount of supplies the Godaime had requested, the journey back took more than double the time it did coming and her skin felt like coarse sandpaper that had been lit on fire.

Her teammate glanced over at her from his position slumped on a small rock nearby. Shikamaru took a swig of tepid water from his canteen, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"We're almost home, Ino."

His attempt to console her went unchecked; if anything, it seemed to anger her even more. Brilliant blue eyes snapped at him.

"I know that! What do you think I am, stupid?"

He slanted her a wary look before standing again and stretching. The trek was hard on those who did not travel to Suna often; Shikamaru could understand how the relentless sun and heat could quickly change from merely uncomfortable to unbearable. Especially given the fact that this was Yamanaka Ino they were talking about. Although she was not nearly as fussy about staying clean as she had been in her younger years, Ino had the comparative fortune of generally being sent on missions to the Water Country, a veritable paradise of babbling brooks and uncomplicated terrain. A mind unfettered by unnecessary concerns was an essential factor in the success of those who used mind techniques and missions were assigned accordingly.

He stared intently at her for several long heartbeats before sighing. The sound was weary, confused and she hardened her heart to it.

"I thought you weren't mad anymore."

Ino swallowed past the lump in her throat.

"I wasn't."

"…but you are now?"

The silence stretched out between them, thicker and more stifling than any desert air. Hefting the pack on his back once again, Shikamaru wordlessly set off again, pausing only to double check that his teammate was following behind.

As the wind whistled shrilly in his ears, the shinobi allowed his mind to wander back over the past couple of days.

Their departure from Suna had been confusing. Ino had been acting strange ever since she woke up, silently packing her gear and exiting their room before he could even begin to figure out what she was fuming over. And she had remained resolutely quiet throughout the entire morning as well, only offering up the required formalities to Gaara before heading outside to wait for him in the courtyard. Both Temari and Kankuro had lifted an inquiring eyebrow and he had shrugged nonchalantly, preferring not to share the details of his personal life, especially when he had no idea what was going on either.

The silence had dragged on for the better part of the day, until the chilly night air had crept in again, making it feel as though the irritating particles of sand stinging their faces had suddenly morphed into shards of ice. At that point, Shikamaru figured Ino just snapped and he had been forced to bear with her screeches of frustration ever since.

_Well, I guess a complaining Ino is better than a quiet one. At least I know how to respond then._

Not that Shikamaru had not tried to fix the situation. She had seemed fine the day before, cheerfully exchanging barbs with Kankuro while the four of them had wandered through Suna, and he had been pleasantly grateful that Tenten's girl-thing or whatever it was had seemed to work. Her inexplicable switch in mood always unnerved the normally placid jounin like nothing else did and his initial, cautious ventures were met with a disturbingly closed off glare. It had…upset him but from all his years of knowing Ino, Shikamaru knew it was best to just let her get it out of her system. So he had simply focused on getting her back to Konoha as quickly as possible, all the while keeping a watchful eye on her chakra levels so that he could provide her with a brief rest without her having to ask for it.

Sometimes, just sometimes, Shikamaru wondered she even noticed.

Nature provided a grateful distraction from such morose thoughts in the form of a chattering squirrel; Konoha's huge gate loomed ahead, their path home wide and clear. Just behind him, Ino wondered if he was slowing down or she was hurrying up.

"Ino, wh…"

"Let's just report back to the Godaime and then go home, okay? I'm exhausted."

She could feel him staring after her as she dropped down past him, her ponytail swinging through the air as her footsteps sped up. The two guards at the gate lifted a hand in greeting as the pair entered the village.

"Shikamaru, Ino-san! You're back early!"

"Yeah, mission went well!"

She flashed them a brilliant smile as she strode determinedly towards the Hokage's Tower. At that moment, Ino was actually glad that Shikamaru did not try to catch up with her or else he would have caught the way the corner of her lips just barely trembled with the effort.

The debriefing was a blur. Ino had taken note of the Hokage's faint look of disappointment as she stood next to Shikamaru, his voice fading into the background as he muttered short answers to Tsunade's questions. She had hightailed it out of there, ignoring Kiba's teasing wolf-whistle as she strode past him on the way down the tower steps. Her mind was focused on one thing and one thing only:

Putting distance between herself and Shikamaru.

The sun beat down on her once again as she lay there in one of the meadows just beyond the further training grounds, strong but not nearly as forceful as in Suna. The memory of her conversation with Gaara floated up around the girl, his affirmation of her realization rustling the long blades of grass between her fingers. The image of him pleasuring himself was burned into her mind.

_He doesn't want me._

Temari. She was skilled, sharp, sexy. All those fabulous words that started with 's'. Which, coincidentally enough, included Shikamaru.

Ino felt as though she had never hated anyone more.

Ever since that day when their respective parents had introduced their only child to each other, Yamanaka Ino had been the only girl in Nara Shikamaru's life. The only female other than his mother that he had truly accepted; she had become used to it, expected it, secretly reveled in it. Never mind the fact that he constantly referred to her as troublesome or darkly muttered that her nagging/whining/complaining/demanding was the bane of his otherwise peaceful existence. Ino was a permanent fixture, someone who was indisputably instrumental in shaping him into the person he was today, and for that reason, her position in his life should have been irreplaceable.

Turns out though, even your most steadfast convictions can be flipped on its head and then trampled into dust.

That other blonde had somehow managed to worm her way in, her blunt sarcasm and challenging glances effortlessly wringing those half-smirks out of him that Ino had previously believed to belong solely to her, and even then were only sparingly handed out on rare occasions. It was an easy camaraderie that baffled what Ino knew of Shikamaru's personality, a niche the woman had somehow discovered and firmly planted herself in despite the distance between the two villages.

"You're not allowed to."

Her whisper trickled out like filmy oil and dissipated into the wind. Ino wondered randomly if it would now spread throughout all of Konoha, the uncertainty and what she knew was jealousy poisoning the minds of all the villagers until an epidemic was declared and then she herself would be brought before the Godaime and the Council as a traitor who threw the village into social unrest.

Ino scoffed in her head. Now she was just being ridiculous.

"Not allowed to what?"

The richly woven voice had always struck her as oddly melodious for someone like him. She did not bother opening her eyes; besides, all that white was probably blinding in the sunlight.

"Hey, Neji."

"Ino."

There was no soft rustling of fabric settling down beside her and after several long moments, she finally cracked open one eye to peer up at him warily. He was merely looking down at her as she lay there stretched out amidst a riot of overgrown wildflowers, her loosened ponytail glinting before disappearing among the thick rainbow of colours. She met his eyes steadily, a pale hand breaking off a flower and twirling it absently.

"Picturesque, right?"

His contemplative gaze did not change at her sardonic comment even as he acquiesced to the silent request to sit down. He lowered himself gracefully, his posture impeccable even in relaxation.

"Your mission went well?"

"Obviously. I can still do a shitty little C-class mission without screwing it up, you know."

The bitterness in her tone was a little too evident even to her own ears but Ino figured it was too late to try and backtrack now; it went without saying that the Hyuuga had picked it up the moment it left her lips so there was no point trying to pretend that she had not said it.

"I know."

Grimacing, she tossed away her plaything and shut her eyes again. It was odd how it was rarely completely dark even beneath eyelids. Dancing shadows marred what could have soothing and Ino found herself willing them to go away.

"What are you doing here? Actually, how did you even know I was here?"

"I saw you."

"Right, Byakugan. Stupid question."

This time, there was a gentle rustle as the shinobi beside her shifted slightly. Ino sighed, turning her head to face him as she gave up on getting rid of the shadows.

"Were you looking for me?"

"Tell me about your mission."

It was odd to say that pure white could soften but staring up at him, she could only describe it as such. If it had been anybody else, snapping at them would have been her automatic response but in return for the concern he was openly demonstrating, Ino allowed him to see the tiredness creep into her eyes.

The words came out on a whisper, barely audible to herself over the slow pounding of her heartbeat in her head.

"Would you ever settle for second best, Neji?"

He had turned away as she started speaking, his gaze resting on the mountains in the horizon and she was grateful for his sparing her the embarrassment of having someone witness her insecurities, rare as they were.

"No."

"Huh, I didn't think I did either."

A bird flew overhead, lazy in its movements. His response was likewise slow in coming, the Hyuuga contemplating her words as she waited patiently. When he had first accepted her friendship, it was this particular aspect of Yamanaka Ino that had interested him the most. As expected, the blonde was not the type to hesitate in speaking her mind; direct and blunt, she had seemed simple enough to understand. But it had not taken Neji long to realize that, perhaps not surprisingly given her specialty, she had a gift for intertwining the everyday with deeper thoughts. Superficially banal remarks could take on an entirely different meaning with a single, knowing look, yet, in the very next instant, leave you unsure of whether you were simply imagining her mocking laughter in your head when she shrieked about something silly.

Not for the first time, the belief that this kunoichi was almost tailor-made for the ANBU Torture and Interrogation Forces crossed his mind.

"'A shinobi must trust his instincts.'"

His tone was as dry as the manual he quoted. Ino felt a grin rising unbidden to the surface and chucked a handful of flowers at him ruefully. She wondered at how easy it was for him to understand when it seemed as though she was bashing her head against a huge-ass stone cloud when it came to another genius.

"You're kind, Neji."

His smirk said it all.

"Hn."

The sound of laughter washed away any remaining residue in the air. For the moment.

-

* * *

**A/N: Before anyone complains, this is most definitely a Shika-Ino fic so no worries! I just needed someone for Ino to vent to and it sort of works into the plot anyways. **

**I'll see how the ideas form in my head but I'll try to update more frequently in any case. IT WILL NOT BE ANOTHER YEAR BEFORE I UPDATE LOL!!**

**So, as always, thank you for reading and reviewing! Please don't hesitate to tell me if there's anything you don't like cuz after such a long hiatus, I wouldn't be surprised if my writing sucks **


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