Happy

© an1m3.4sp

Summary:

Chouji POV. Ino ends up pregnant after an undercover mission, and Shikamaru doesn't let her leave him. He protects her, and shows her his love not only to her, but everyone. Ino/Shika Lemon.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

The first time I saw them together was when we turned seventeen, and they walked slowly towards the old Team Ten training grounds. I heard that Ino returned from an extensive mission pregnant, but I hadn't really believed it since the women in the village usually talked badly of her for being attractive.

Her face stared ahead as my best friend, Shikamaru, led her slowly up a grassy hill. I watched from afar, staring at her round belly allowing the horror of it to fully sink in. She had gone on a seduction mission, and it must have gone too far that before she knew it, she was pregnant by the prince she seduced. This happened often amongst our female ninja, but I'd never thought it would happen to Ino, of all people.

She took a seat at the top of the hill, and Shikamaru sat besides her. His arm went around her shoulder and pulled her closer to his body. I found myself looking away momentarily; it embarrassed me to catch my usually stoic best friend showing any sort of emotion. He loved her, I had known from a young age, but how did it suddenly change? Especially in her current condition… She must be at least four months pregnant.

I left them alone to watch the clouds, I was usually the best to talk to in tough situations but this was beyond me. I would have suggested that she aborted, eliminated the bastard child growing in her womb, but seeing how she held her belly tenderly, I knew that was not a solution she would accept. I wanted my friends to be happy, even at the cost of an innocent life. I know, horrible, but in our line of work, death was a constant companion.

The next time I spotted Ino and Shikamaru was in the main streets of Konoha looking more cheerful. She pointed at a delicious candy apple stand, and he slipped his hand into hers to pull her towards it. I stared at their intertwined fingers, again uncomfortable with the amount of intimacy Shikamaru was showing publicly.

"How scandalous, you see that young couple? Yes the blond, and the Hokage's main strategist… She's pregnant because of a whoring mission, and he's still dating her. Poor Shikamaru, he's in love with a tainted woman," I would hear the whispers as they walked down the street together; Ino's smile would slowly disappear and she pulled her hand out of Shikamaru's, ignoring the confused, then pained look he gave her. She could hear the villagers talking, she knew what everyone was saying about their relationship, and looking at Shikamaru's saddened face, I could tell he knew too.

"I want you to leave!" I froze just outside the Yamanaka residence, hearing glass break and other items being thrown around. "Leave! I hate you! Leave me alone," Ino screamed, and the front door flew open as Shikamaru strode out barely able to contain his own fury. He saw me outside, but didn't pause in his fast pace; he tried to look away but I caught a glimpse of his frustration. He was suffering with her.

Ino's loud sobs could easily be heard, closing my eyes and taking a few deep breaths I found the imaginary courage I'd created, and stepped into her parent's house. The floor was full of broken glass and furniture, and a few photo frames had fell to the ground and cracked. I found her in the living room; she was on her knees sobbing over the cushions of her couch. She hadn't even realized I've entered the house.

"Ino?" I asked unsure in what to say, her face looked up tear stained and surprised; instantly I knew what to do. Going to my knees I wrapped my arms around her body and hugged her tightly enough for comfort. Instantly her sobs became uncontrolled, but her tiny hands grabbed onto me so desperately I tightened the embrace. She was suffering, Shikamaru was suffering, and I didn't know what else to do but to hold her tight. My team was falling apart, and I didn't know what else to do to hold the broken pieces together.

"He deserves better, Chouji, he deserves someone better," she cried, "I'm tainted, and he's too good to me. I don't deserve it, I want him to give up on me and find someone better!" She continued to cry and repeat herself, until finally falling asleep or unconscious. Slowly as I could, careful not to wake her I lifted her up slowly, cradling her in my arms easily and laid her in her bed.

Neither of them deserved the situation they were in.

I took a seat besides her bed, and the bedroom door opened. Shikamaru looked inside the room, glancing from me to Ino's sleeping form and remaining there. "You can go home; I'll stay with her… Thank you for comforting her," he grunted looking away from me, and moving into the room.

I stood and walked around him to the bedroom door, I stopped when I pulled the door knob and looked back, "She said you deserve better... But I think you both deserve to be happy…" I paused, noticing that his shoulders were quivering slightly. "You deserve each other." I walked out and closed the door before his knees hit the ground and he muffled his cries on her mattress. He didn't want my comfort like Ino; Shikamaru only needed a word of support.

"Hey Chouji, I knew you would be here," I jumped slightly, having been deep in thought over a grill in my favorite BBQ restaurant. Ino smiled down at me, her hands behind her back as she sniffed the air over the cooking meat. "Mind if we join you?" she asked, pointing over to Shikamaru, who smirked.

I was surprised. I hadn't expected to see them in this place of all places, especially after their last fight. "Sure, take a seat. I've ordered enough for ten," I grinned, pointing at the space before me. She squealed more like her old self and slid into the seat, Shikamaru followed suit. "You guys remembered Asuma's birthday," I commented smiling lightly, Team Ten used to eat at this BBQ place all the time together after all.

"We knew we would find you here," Shikamaru nodded calling over the waitress to order drinks.

"Isn't this the usual amount we use to order before?" Ino acknowledged with bright eyes, licking her lips and placing her napkin across her lap. I could see her baby bump more; she was already five months pregnant.

I nodded, glancing at Shikamaru who had a troubled expression.

"Why would you order the same amount alone? You couldn't have known we would come by," Shikamaru said, raising an eyebrow.

I grinned embarrassed, "You know I can eat. Plus it's in memory of Asuma; I wanted to do the closest dinner as possible even though I thought you two wouldn't be able to come." Spotting their saddened expression I quickly changed the subject, "Enough of that, let's celebrate, like old times!"

I attacked the meat instantly, surprisingly competing with Ino for the last pieces of meat. We laughed so hard, we made the whole restaurant look our way. That's when an elegant woman stopped near our table, she wore a beautiful kimono and covered her mouth with her hand as she spoke to another woman in a near by table.

"You see the blond woman? Yes, she's pregnant with a bastard child! Yet she manipulated the Leaf's main strategist to stay with her, poor man. He deserves so much better," they whispered to each other, and more eyes turned in our direction. "Yes, apparently she fornicated with a man that was her target on a seduction mission," I peeked at Ino and saw her lip trembling, and her eyes downcast. Unbelievable rage gripped me; she was pregnant because of a undercover mission in the Fire country's royal chambers! Her child was royalty in his own right! She completed her mission to protect Konoha; she did her job like every ninja in this village for the people of KONOHA!

Shikamaru's hand came down and slammed on top of the table, the women talking jumped shocked. I looked up waiting for him to say something, but Ino's trembling hand lay across his fist on the table stopping him from lashing out. His face was pained and his shoulders were trembling with the effort to control his rage. Ino asked him to endure it, he was her boyfriend and future husband; he had to listen to her but I, as her friend, did not!

"Women like you really should begin to learn your place in this society," I spoke coolly, loud enough for the whole restaurant, which was already listening, to hear. I turned to the women with a disgusted look, "Ino Yamanaka is a Konoha ninja. She served this village loyally and used her mind and body to gather information for us. She saved us from war, she saved us from undercover plots, she did everything for us; yet you, who probably has never worked a day in your life or done a good deed even with your spare time… You who waste your time gossiping and spreading disrespectful rumors are the only useless manipulator in this room. Learn your place wench, and respect those who protect you." No one made a sound, they all just stared as I turned back to the frying grill and noticing the same look of shock on both Ino's and Shikamaru's faces.

I've never been the confrontational type, and I've never been disrespectful to any woman. I've always been the peaceful guy, but I had had enough with the level of disrespect shown in Ino's direction. She had suffered enough, and no one in this village had a right to judge her. I could see the insulted women ready to open their mouths and strike back, but I beat them too it. Sending them a chilly glare, "If you are uncomfortable with the truth, I suggest you leave. Because everyone else here, knows better than to insult Konoha's elite protectors." Their mouth shut with a snap, and indeed the other villagers in the restaurant were sending them disapproving looks. They were gone in a flash from the humiliation.

"You shouldn't have let them say anything from the beginning," I was still angry, Ino should have never let them begin whispering about her to begin. She should have cut the rumors at the root and defended herself so no one would think they had a right to talk to a Konoha ninja in that fashion. Since she allowed it once, they took it upon themselves to continue. Ino knew it would happen, she's the one who taught me to stand up for myself more. She even taught Sakura Haruno as kids. "You understand right?" I asked angrily, slapping down more meat on the grill and removing the cooked meat with my chop sticks. I placed the cooked meat on Ino's plate, and waited for the next batch, glaring at the food.

"Yes," she whispered, I looked up surprised as her small voice. She had a small smile, yet tears ran down her face slowly and she held onto Shikamaru's hand.

"No one deserved to be treated like that," I continued, unable to stop talking.

"You're right," she nodded.

"If there is ever a next time, which I doubt; you better defend yourself or let Shikamaru do it," I turned the meat, ignoring the tears. This was a normal conversation and everything was alright. I would protect them, because Team Ten was finally together again and I would defend them from anyone. I would be loud and proud like Ino, and strong and sharp like Shikamaru.

"Okay," her smile was bigger, and she wiped her tears. Everything way okay, Ino hadn't wanted Shikamaru to defend her then because it would only make it look as if she'd asked him to and that would only worsen their situation. She hadn't said anything herself because there was a part of her that thought she didn't deserve him and thought they were right. But hearing me defend her, seeing me go completely out of my usual pleasant personality let her see that she was wrong and everyone in the village that talked disrespectfully about her was wrong too.

We enjoyed ourselves tremendously like old days, and I began to relax in their presence. Lately, I've been worried that something worse would happen and hurt out team again, but looking at their smiling faces I let my guard down and enjoyed the rest of the night.

I walked the dark streets of Konoha with Shikamaru, he joked about the Hokage's meeting and how it had been pointless for us to go since the only ones that attended were chunnin level ninjas. I guess the Hokage had wanted us to supervise, which according to Shikamaru shouldn't have been necessary since they are not children and we are not babysitters.

We walked to Ino's house, she had invited me to eat dinner with her and Shikamaru since her parent's were out of town. I sighed glad that things had cooled down and the whispers had completely stopped. Now it was said that I was a cool guy, and more women were interested. After loosing the chubby look, I grew to be exactly Asuma's shape, which according to Ino was 'hot.' Either way, I wasn't complaining.

We walked calmly, unsuspecting. Everything would be fine; I'd relaxed and convinced myself that we would be happy again… I was wrong.

The chips I had been holding in my hands fell to the ground. Flames and smoke could be seen so suddenly in the horizon, and screams filled the air. Shikamaru was already at a distance ahead before I snapped out of my disbelief, I ran behind him towards the place of the fire. Hoping, really praying to whatever gods ruled this world; that they weren't coming from Ino's house. But like everything I feared, it came true.

Shikamaru charged into the burning house without hesitation, breaking the door open and disappearing into the toxic smoke. I ran after him, coughing and calling out their names. The walls were lapsing and it was only a matter of time before the whole house would crash upon us. I could hear Shikamaru on the second floor, his footsteps rushed forward before there was a crash and someone fell on the ground.

Then a dark body rushed down the stairs, colliding into me and throwing us both to the ground entangled. Shocked and disoriented I looked up at a masked ninja without a village sign. My instincts kicked in instantly, I grabbed him wrestling for dominance and succeeding. He was the one who caused the fire, who might have hurt Ino and I wouldn't let him escape. I hit him enough times to make him go motionless in pain, he hadn't lost consciousness yet, but he was close; he could still talk.

"There is no way that bitch will give birth to that heir… She's dead," he spat with satisfaction, making my body go completely still. The hesitation I usually felt when trying to capture an enemy alive disappeared. I half screamed as I slammed my fist into his body, wailing my most powerful attacks.

"Chouji," a broken voice called me back to sanity, I turned half crazed eyes to Shikamaru who had a busted lips and unconscious Ino in his arms. I moved away from the bloody mess below me, disbelief and fear gripped me as I took a step towards my best friends. The enemy grunted still alive, but he wouldn't be for long. "She won't die from this; take her to the hospital for me… I want to finish up here," he gave me her unconscious body and turned to the smirking ninja.

"She's going to need you to be there when she wakes up," I notice the blood stain coming from her stomach and going through the back, she'd been stabbed purposely in the womb. He knew the child would not survive; Ino would be devastated. I needed to make sure Shikamaru would not spend too much time here before following me to the hospital, he couldn't die in this collapsing house and leave Ino when she'd need him the most.

"I'll be there before then," he walked towards the enemy, and I hurried out of the house just in time to hear the piercing war cry of rage; closely followed by screams of torture. I had seen it in his eyes, I had gone half crazy but Shikamaru went beyond and the only way to bring him back was revenge. Slow hateful revenge.

"There is no heartbeat," Sakura sighed heavily, closing her eyes as she concentrated to stay strong. "It's gone, and she's lost so much blood… We're giving her blood, and closed the wound but I'm afraid that when she wakes up we have to induce her labor to remove the fetus…" I listened blankly; she would experience labor and leave without a child in her arms. All that emotional and physical pain to return to a burned home empty handed…

"Has Shikamaru arrived?" she asked softly, looking around the hall. We had stepped outside since Ino was resting in the room.

"No… Not yet-" I stopped talking as I spotted Shikamaru running down the halls, blood splattered across his body; drops of blood still dripped from his face; fresh. I stared in shock, I couldn't even bring myself to speak before he went passed me and entered Ino's room without speaking.

I pushed open the door slightly, peeking inside to make sure he was composed and at least give him the news. But I froze when I found Ino awake, her eyes stared up at the ceiling; dry. My mouth went dry; she had had to have heard Sakura and I talking.

"It died…" was all she said to Shikamaru who sat beside her, keeping himself still so as not to touch her yet. "I couldn't protect it, and it died…" her expression was breaking, slowly her hand reached out for him. His hand snapped to hers, grabbing her almost as desperately as she had needed and was instantly besides her; keeping her tight in his embrace. That's when the first piercing cry came, I closed my eyes frozen on the spot, trying to stop my own tears as they rolled down; this was too much.

I felt a push from behind, and turned to see Sakura crying. She motioned for me to go inside too, whispering a broken "She needs you too."

Ino cried harder, her other hand looking lonely on the opposite side of her body as Shikamaru held her left hand with a hand around her shoulder. I was at her side instantly, taking a seat facing the wall and placing my hand over hers. My back faced Shikamaru and Ino could only see the side of my face; I didn't want to intrude in their grief but I wanted to be here for them. So this was all I could do. And as Ino's hand grasped around mine and Shikamaru's hand gripped my shoulder for support; I instantly knew I've done the right thing. I wasn't with them from the beginning so I never grew attached to the child in her womb, but Shikamaru did.

"It'll be okay…" Shikamaru cried, his voice broken. "It wasn't the right time, yet," we were all crying… "The gods took him for a reason, but when the time is right… We'll bring him back together." I listened to Shikamaru's reassurance, 'him' he had said. It had been a boy… That made me cry even more for them.

Together like this, I just knew. They will be able to start over, and it will all be okay in time. They needed a lot of time to heal.

In the end, Shikamaru and Ino decided to leave. They gathered their belongings and left the village behind to find a new temporary home. I sat on the highest building watching over them as they walked towards the main gate. I decided not to see them off at the front gate because I knew they would ask me to come with them, and my fate was not intertwined like theirs were.

The pain in my chest was normal, and my eyes stung from the dirt in the air. I wiped at the irritating sensation, coming away with water, I ignored it. This was normal, and it was a major reason why I didn't see them off at the main gate.

Ino held onto his arm tightly, walking slowly and keeping her eyes ahead; she needed to get away to recover. Shikamaru was the only one to turn back and look at the village one last time; he spotted me on the highest building and stopped walking to stare. Ino looked up at him confused and worried, then turned and spotted me watching as well. I raised a hand in goodbye, letting them know that I would be here when they got back and that it was okay. I wouldn't leave my village behind, and while they were gone I would work harder to cover for their missions. Shikamaru returned the gesture, but there was much more sadness in both their eyes than I could ever feel. It was my job to keep us together, and the best thing right now was for them to recover while I held up the fort at home. I sighed smiling to myself sadly, Team Ten had forever changed, but we would always have this bond; we would always find a way to happiness no matter how horrible the situation looked.

2 Years Later

"Chouji, there is someone in the front that wants to see you," my wife called as I finished my morning breakfast; I had fallen in love with the daughter of a famous chef and married soon after. We built a small restaurant for her business and it became successful almost instantly, it was amazing how she blossomed.

"Who is it?" I asked pulling on my ninja vest, since I was needed in the Hokage's office for meetings the rest of the day.

"They said they're your friends," she called, getting frustrated, she was currently over a stove in the main kitchen, cooking for the early bird customers.

"You really should let the other employees cook, in your condition you should rest as much as possible," I frowned, walking into the kitchen and removing the spoon from her hand since she had been stirring soup. She glared up at me, but I pulled her into the main house after instructing the extra workers to do their jobs. "You are six months pregnant, you shouldn't be doing so much. Now, let's meet these friends of mine," I smiled knowing she wouldn't fight me. Even if it annoyed her, she loved that I made a point to consider everything she did. She saw everything as romantic, and as her arm wrapped around mine I knew she was happy with me.

"CHOUJI!" I heard a high pitched familiar scream, and jumped in surprise as a woman attacked the opposite side of my wife. I looked down at the blond head of the woman who had thrown her arms around my chest being too short to reach my shoulders.

"W-What's going on here?" I stuttered, seeing my wife's fierce glare, and vice grip.

"You don't remember us anymore?" the blond moved back and a dark haired man stepped forward, looking amused. My mouth fell open as I stared at Ino and Shikamaru, who grinned back at me.

"When did you guys get back?" I asked shocked, Shikamaru now looked happy; he looked refreshed and recovered. Ino looked radiant, and pregnant… "You're pregnant," I said dumbly.

"We just got back and yeah… Shikamaru and I decided to have a child after we married," she blushed, and then noticed my wife. "Who is this?" she asked interested, with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

I actually blushed, holding onto my wife tighter. "This is my wife, Touhru meet my old Team Ten and best friends, Ino Yamanaka and Shikamaru Nara," I introduced them. That's all it took, my wife moved forward and pulled Ino aside talking about their pregnancies and the names and such things women would only think about. I took a seat with Shikamaru and we caught up on the past two years.

Time passed by easily, and I forgot about the meetings with the Hokage in the end. But that was fine, because for the first time I realized that I had been happy with my life for a long time. I was happy and so were they. After going our own ways two years before, we've become different people with better lives, especially knowing that our next generation would still be an Ino-Shika-Cho combo since Ino was carrying twins.

The harder life treats us, the happier we'll be after it's overcome. So we were rewarded, with happiness.

FIN

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Author Notes:

This isn't my style of writing. I might rewrite and post an alternative ending, because I couldn't finish this story all at once. Got me pretty sad for some reason, but hope you enjoy. Thanks for Ray by Another Name for beta-ing and making a good point as to why I should post this story since I wasn't sure if I should.