I'm sort of basing this off a fic I found about Ino and Shikamaru. It's called 'We could be in Love" by Mistixa and it's cute.

1/16/08 So, yeah, I'm updating. B-Corvus Corvidae-M basically kicked me off my ass and reminded me that works like this are never truly finished. I always wanted to rewrite it but no one would give me feedback just, "It's cute," "It's good" or whatever. Well, not complete rewrite, just fixing up my errs and stuff. So, here I am.

A Replacement?

Shikamaru reflected, eyebrows quirked slightly, gazing upward at his beloved clouds. When had he changed his mind? Ino was always there. Always the same. Now why did he think of her differently? He didn't know why but all of a sudden he felt like growling when she started flirting with Sasuke. He felt another rumble from his chest at the thought. Flirting with Sasuke like normal. She had been like that ever since he got back. Of course, Ino flirted with almost everyone but the Uchiha in particular got her attention; It didn't matter that his attention was focused more at Sakura more than Ino.

Ino stared blankly at her ceiling, eyes slightly glazed over. Was it just her imagination or could she see Shikamaru in her ceiling? Violently she shook her head. It couldn't be. She didn't like Shikamaru like that. She closed her eyes as if that would help keep Shikamaru out of her head. She liked Sasuke. Only Sasuke. Even though he had betrayed their whole village. Shikamaru would never do that. She always had to ask before he left on missions, "Shikamaru, you will come back right?" to which he always answered, "I'm not Sasuke."

Shikamaru contemplated, his forehead kneading further. He supposed he was still his lazy pineapple haired self. She wouldn't like someone like him. He was too boring for her. She needed someone exciting who would talk to her about her day and act interested when she went off about her new ideas. (He snorted to himself thinking about the dumb fads that lasted about a month.) He wore his ninja outfit whenever possible, never changed it. There was no point right? It was never known when he might need his stuff for a mission or just any other project. He didn't feel right without his vest over his chest or his shuriken strapped to his leg. He was proud of his accomplishments even if he didn't feel like bragging. Lately though, Ino had been bugging him to leave off the vest. Troublesome girl.

Ino smiled a happy self satisfied smile to herself. Shikamaru had changed. Not a lot, but a little. He would let her play with his hair. Something he had never let her do before, no matter how often she had begged. And he talked to her. Sometimes. Well, he talked to her more than Forehead. That was sort of an accomplishment! And he never talked to any of the town-girls however much they giggled at him. A longer slow grin spread across her mouth with satisfaction.

Shikamaru saw Ino's face in the clouds. It'd been happening more and more often as the days passed. He just put it off to the fact he saw her on a regular basis ignoring the fact he never saw Chouji or Asuma-sensei in the sky. Closing his eyes in an attempt to clear his brain, he breathed deeply. The deep clean smell of grass filled his nose along with another scent. What was it? It was flowers… it reminded him of Ino. Why was she on his mind so much?

Ino couldn't stand it. She got up and walked to her mirror. Staring at her reflection she studied herself. She always preened and said she was 'oh so pretty' but really, who was she to judge something like that. Her features were symmetrical, her hair wasn't hideous and she didn't have acne problems but did that really make her beautiful? Maybe it was better to be average than extraordinarily beautiful anyway. She wondered what Shikamaru would say. Not, of course, that she wanted his opinion.

Shikamaru had to admit it to himself. He couldn't lie to himself after all. He liked Ino. A lot. Somehow it had just happened. It wasn't her body, though her curves were gorgeous. It wasn't her mind, though it was witty and had a way of getting into yours. It wasn't her personality, though when she wanted to be Ino could be the sweetest person ever. Then what was it? Just her pure Ino-ness. He loved her for just being herself. Wait, love? Where had that come from?

Ino strolled down the street. Unaware of where her feet took her, mind lost in thought. She had to admit to herself, Shikamaru had become an awfully nice piece of eye candy. She had convinced him lately to ditch the vest and just keep his fishnet shirt and a regular shirt when he was just walking around town. She had noticed lots of other girls eyeing him and appreciating what they saw too. He would probably try dating one of them eventually she thought sadly. They were normal unlike her. She was ninja, that made her unique immediately. He wouldn't want all the other worries that came with dating a ninja. After all, not many people want to marry a person who faces death at every turn. Marry? She meant date. Obviously.

Shikamaru opened his eyes and sat up. He could smell that flower scent stronger now. "Ino?" his surprise sounded in his voice. Ino was wandering up the hill. He saw sunlight reflecting off her long glossy blonde tresses. She swayed slightly as if listening to a song in her mind.

"Huh?" Ino seemed to snap out of a daze. She stopped and refocused on a familiar face. Surprise quickly filled her look then a bit of shyness. Her head tilted down a fraction and refused eye contact. "Shikamaru?"

"What are you doing?" Shikamaru smirked a bit at her attempt to hide her embarrassment. Didn't she know that by this time he knew all her mannerisms? It was kind of cute though.

"Oh um…" Ino blushed. "Nothing much." She lay next to him on her stomach and stretched cat like. Laying her head on her arms she faced him, anxiously. "Do you think I'm… pretty?" she asked quietly.

"What?" he turned to stare at her. His eyebrows raised all the way and for once his face held no calculations. He was completely thrown off by the un-Ino-like question.

"You heard me." Ino blushed harder at his incredulous expression and faced her head the other direction.

"Why are you asking me this?" Shikamaru had taken control over his facial features by this point. He schooled his expression and went into psychiatrist mode. He sat up taking his thinking position with his hands in their familiar square.

"Because- oh never mind." Ino still refused to look at him. She stared fixedly at a tree before watching ladybug fly and even glancing skyward to see a pineapple floating that suspiciously resembled Shikamaru's head.

An awkward silence fell. Ino chewed her lip as she despaired him ever talking again much less answering her question. She had no idea what possessed her to ask in the first place. It had just been the first thing she had thought of.

"No." Shikamaru broke the quiet.

Ino's eyes went damp as she tried to look for another bug to concentrate on. She looked while trying to keep her face emotionless. Breathe regularly, she told herself. No crying in front of Shikamaru.

"You're beautiful."

Ino started slightly. Turning on her back she glanced shyly at him. He had reclined to his back and his eyes were closed. He looked so peaceful. His mouth had a lopsided edge to it, slightly upwards, suggesting at a smile, but not quite there.

"Do you think I'm average?" Ino asked with bated breath, daring to hope.

Another silence ensued before "No."

Ino sighed sadly, her gaze left his face and traveled back upwards toward the blue blue sky.

"You're extraordinary and deserve it." A slight pause then, "Why are you asking me all this anyway? When has my opinion mattered?"

"Your opinion has always mattered Shikamaru." Ino replied quietly.

"What about 'Sasuke-kun'? I should be worried. You're talking like you… like me or something. I don't want to be a replacement for Sasuke." Shikamaru said in a mocking voice trying to mask his real feelings. His mouth twisted as he said this, knowing that's what he really wanted.

"Like I said, your opinion has always mattered. Don't you remember when we were still in school? I said, 'Shika, you can't have an average life cuz you're super super smart. I know you're really smart so don't hide it. You're smarter than Daddy and that's a whole lot smarter. You're smarter than Iuka-sensei. Ne, what about me, Shika? Am I average?' And you said… you said…" Ino's voice had mimicked her own younger tones, sounding childish but faltering at the end of the memory.

"And I said, 'If you like Sasuke, then you're just like all the other girls. Then you're average.'" Shikamaru supplied remembering the memory as well.

"Yeah… You've never been and will never be a replacement for Sasuke because… Sasuke was a replacement for you."

Shikamaru's eyes shot open. "What?!" Ino had taken his pose, hands cradling her cranium with closed eyes. There was slight tears on her lashes although her voice hadn't quavered at all. As the shock wore off, he just admired her. Silently he moved so he was crouching over her without touching her at all. As his shadow covered her face, Ino's eyes opened looking for the relief from the sunshine, leaving her gazing straight into Shikamaru's face. "Is that true?" he whispered softly. His eyes locked with hers, feelings intense on both sides.

"Yes." Ino's eyes were watering slightly. "I always wanted to tell you but I thought you might notice me finally if I went along with the Sasuke insanity and…" Ino started to ramble nervously, not sure what was going to happen. Her eyes started to flicker from Shikamaru's face to the sky to the ground and back again.

"Ino, shut up." And Shikamaru, in an uncharacteristic move, didn't plan ahead, didn't look at all the possibilities before him, and just kissed the girl he loved.