HEY!!! Uhh... Since I'm not getting a lot of reviews lately I was bored so I wrote this. NO THIS IS NOT A SIDE STORY. Characters a bit OOC but hey their older and angry/grief stricken/ captured/ scared... ; P plus I just thought, Hey I want to make a story about this! ...So here it is!

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Shikamaru sat at a tea shop playing Shougi with himself, going over the news he was hearing.

'Sakura had been brutally murdered by a rapist... boring... Naruto asked Hinata's hand in marriage now that he is aspiring to be Hokage... even boringer... is that a word?... who gives a fuck...'

Shikamaru started to listen more as the gossipers entered the tea shop. They sat down a few seats away. Now why would Shikamaru listen to gossip? Easy, he was too lazy to read the newspaper.

"That Uchiha has a new target," one of the gossipers said nonchalantly.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Since Sasuke killed his brother he went after every girl he could think of. Yet again he was a little surprised. He thought Sasuke would stop after going for Hinata while Naruto and her were on a date. He snickered; Sasuke was hospitalized for a lost testicle after that incident. They found it in his small intestine.

Shikamaru continued to listen.

"It's Ino Yamanaka," the gossiper continued.

Shikamaru froze. Anger took over his senses as he suddenly got up and began to run towards the Uchiha estate.

'No one is going to hurt her!', but as he stopped short, 'w-why the hell should I care? She can finally see what an ass that damn Uchiha is; a lesson she should have learned when he came back. She didn't even care what he had done. She ran up to him with all the others. While I was half dying from the fight with Orochimaru to get him back.'

He glared at the ground as a familiar memory crossed his mind.

Flashback

Shikamaru limped into the village refusing help from anyone as he was in a bitter mood. Orochimaru had escaped while he was distracted. But at least he had brought back that damn pompous ass with the rest of the ANBU.

'Damn Sasuke it's that traitor's fault Kyushigaru (A/N- it means to regret or to resent) is dead...' he fumed even more as he looked back.

Sasuke was flirting with one of his subordinates.

"JUTEKI (A/N- it means subordinate... I have no imagination with names...) PAY ATTENTION!!" Shikamaru yelled wearily as he was very tired.

Juteki blushed in embarrassment and hurried ahead of Sasuke leaving him alone.

They soon entered the gates and almost the whole village was there and chanting one name. No, not the team leaders' name as is customary after coming home from an 'S' classed mission.

It was Sasuke they were all chanting. Shikamaru just shrugged. They didn't matter anyway. His mother and father were coming to meet him; along with them were Chouji, and Asuma.

'Where's Ino?' he sighed and just frowned, 'probably in that damn crowd trying to get Sasuke to acknowledge her.'

He glared at the Uchiha, but he relaxed as his friends and family surrounded him. But there was a slight twinge of pain in his chest... where the heart was and suddenly he was crumpling to the floor. A few screams were heard, but then, nothing.

End Flashback

"She didn't even visit me in the damn hospital, why the hell should I care about her if she doesn't even care about me," Shikamaru muttered to himself turning and walking back towards his apartment.

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Right as Shikamaru was about to enter his apartment, Chouji walked by.

"Yo Shikamaru, c'mere," Chouji requested.

Shikamaru just sighed and muttered troublesome as he turned and walked towards his chip-loving friend.

"Ino landed a mission with niwatori futomomo (A/N- literally chicken ass) hair, it was a regular seek and destroy mission at the border of Fire and Sasuke just came back without her. He says she was captured and he was outnumb..." Chouji stopped short.

Shikamaru was gone.

"Where'd he go?" asked Chouji confused.

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Shikamaru was in one word, PISSED! He was racing towards the Hokage tower where he knew Sasuke was going to be. He charged through the lobby ignoring the pleas from the secretary at the desk. He slammed open the door and immediately flew at Sasuke who sat looking bored. He began throwing blows at his head. And was seemingly focused on bashing his face in.

Random things were coming from his mouth as he was pummeling the Uchiha like, "HOW COME YOU DIDN'T HELP HER! YOU'RE A SPINELESS BASTARD! I SHOULD HAVE LEFT YOU TO DIE INSTEAD OF GONE AFTER YOU! MAYBE THEN LIFE WOULD BE BETTER IN KOHONA! ALL YOU ARE IS AN IDIOT! HECK YOU'VE HURT PEOPLE HERE! NOT ONLY THAT! YOU'RE A FUCKING TRAITOR TO KOHONA!"

The others in the room, Tsunade, Naruto, Jiraiya, and Hinata were so shocked they couldn't even move. Not once in their lives had they seen a Nara lose their calm. What added to their shock more was the fact that the first one they had seen lose their calm was the laziest guy in the village.

Sasuke though was practically trying not to shit himself. Shadows were converging on him and Shikamaru's face had grown darker as he continued to shout.

OK think about that one movie where that kid can't be put into shadows or that killing thingy comes and during the middle part where that one guy wants to kill him and the shadows are slowly creeping towards him. Now picture yourself as that child. Also make the person trying to kill you a powerful ninja person whom controls the shadows and has many point sharp thingies in a pouch on his leg. Now think how scared Sasuke must be at this moment.

Finally, after watching Sasuke being beat up by Shikamaru, Naruto recovered from his shock and ran forward to try and calm Shikamaru. Slowly the other three followed suit. And before you knew it, (-cough, cough-10 minutes later-cough, cough-) they managed to stop Shikamaru from killing Sasuke.

Sasuke shirked back to the chair farthest away from Shikamaru still scared of him. Shikamaru though had regained his calm and just sat down.

"I want the permission to go save Ino," He said in a simple tone.

Tsunade thought for a moment and then nodded, "You are the best choice anyway. You were the one who stole us the buildings' blueprints."

Shikamaru tensed, "If it was that fort you should have sent me in the first place then this would never had happened!"

Tsunade glared at him and said with venom, "You were on leave do you not remember?"

Shikamaru's eyes widened and he cursed at himself, "Sorry," he muttered.

Tsunade nodded, "I'll send you. But the moment you need help send up a flare."

Shikamaru nodded, and got up sending one last glare in Sasuke as he left to pack equipment and to leave.

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Shikamaru left in the dead of night moving quickly and stealthily through the trees. His eyes filled with tears but at the same time with pure determination and he was clutching a bouquet of flowers.

ANOTHER FLASHBACK YAY!!!

Shikamaru was getting some sleeping lilacs at the Yamanaka's shop before he left, just in case he would need them for the mission. He was placing them in one of his biggest pouches so they would not get crushed when Inoshi pulled him aside.

"Get my daughter back," he said almost pleading, "I will do almost anything, please just get her back."

Shikamaru was a little surprised, but he nodded, "Don't worry, I'll get her back."

Inoshi looked wearily at him, "Are you feeling better then a month ago?"

Shikamaru nodded bitterness rising in him for that was when Ino did not come to visit.

"Why?" Shikamaru asked masking his feelings.

Inoshi went behind a counter and took out a get better bouquet that looked like it had been especially cared for and tossed it at him. Shikamaru caught it tentatively and looked at Inoshi confused.

Inoshi sighed and looked at Shikamaru, "You know I really dislike you."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow in confusion, "What did I do?"

Inoshi sighed and smiled bitterly, "You took my little girl's love from me."

Shikamaru froze, "What? I thought she was stuck up on the Uchiha," he said the last part bitterly.

Inoshi laughed sadly and just shook his head, "Read the card with the flowers."

Then he went towards the back of the store leaving Shikamaru really confused. He looked at the flowers and took the card and read it.

It said:

You're my shadow, I always see you but it never seems I would be able to catch you.

So I didn't try, I was so very stupid. I woke up late when I was going to meet you.

I was running there when I saw them rush you by in the stretcher. I was very worried.

I tried to go see you but I got nervous. I thought you would be angry.

So I sent you this every word is true, even if I just realized it:

Love is thinking about you all day and all night no matter how hard I try to stop and convince myself otherwise but not succeed at all
Love is every morning I wake up and you're the first face that pops in my mind and the last face before I fall asleep
Love is the tickles that I get in my tummy every time I see your face in my head and the special red my face turns just for you.
Love is the warmth and protection I felt the first time I saw you and every time you would send a smile at me.
Love is the best feeling I could ever have and it is one I reserve only for you
You have the key to my heart, maybe you haven't realized it
Your the only one to come in, I swear
Someday, my shadow, you'll find the way!
I Love You Shikamaru.

Ino

Shikamaru's breath caught in his throat. Inoshi came back out.

"You read it huh?" He asked.

Shikamaru could only nod. Inoshi smiled bitterly again.

"She was to afraid even to go leave it at the hospital," Inoshi stated

"She was afraid you would be mad, or not accept her."

Shikamaru's head took in all this information and one thing stood out. He had been angry at her when she had only overslept, and he had led her to think he would be angry over that. It was his fault. He muttered good bye and ran out of the shop into the envelope of the darkness of night. Tears streaming down his face clutching the flowers for dear life.

'I'm going to find you Ino.'

End Flashback.

He made it to the fort and for strength and courage he looked down at the flowers. He noticed the different types and tried to recall each meaning.

'Red Chrysanthemums...' he smiled, 'mean I love you... purple Hyacinths,' his smile faded a bit, 'mean please forgive me... Ino... and one last flower... a pink camellia...' he blushed, 'means longing...'

He breathed in deeply and looked on the fort's guards. He smirked, the moon was shining down letting shadows form.

'I got this'

Shikamaru put his hands together into his favorite seals and whispered his jutsu, "Shadow possession jutsu."

Immediately he had control of one of the guards and rammed him into the others. He released the jutsu and smirked. The guards had gotten into a fight, as expected. He slipped right past them easily and continued in without much opposition besides three drunken idiot guards.

He then heard a scream.

'INO!'

He dropped the flowers and began to sprint quickly towards the end of the hall and burst through the door he heard the scream originate from. His eyes widened in anger at what he saw.

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Ino sat tired after a beating she received in the sound ninja's attempt to extract information from her about Kohona and its defenses. The ninja walked towards her at picked her up by her collar.

"I'm gonna kill you if you don't tell me," He growled.

Ino just shook her head weakly, refusing to give in. The man growled and threw her against a wall. She hit and screamed in pain. The man charged at her and began kicking her around. Laughing as he went. Heh, he sealed his own fate for...

...The door burst open revealing a very pissed off Shikamaru.

'He hurt her... HE HURT HER! I'LL KILL HIM!' This is what went through Shikamaru's mind as all the shadows around him seem to be converging.

The shadows inched towards Shikamaru. Slowly inching up his body. It was as if Shikamaru himself was becoming a shadow. His hands began to move in what seemed to be seals but the man wasn't sure. He was too terrified to think.

Finally Shikamaru was cloaked in darkness he was like a silhouette against the surrounding area.

Then in a loud booming voice he yelled out, "KAGE BAKUDAN!"

The shadows jumped from his body and sailed towards the man hitting him. The man let out a yell of pain as the shadows engulfed him. Then there was a bright light and all that was left was a lot of blood.

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Ino just watched in surprise and a bit of fear as Shikamaru killed the man easily; leaving blood spatters where the man once stood. After the attack Shikamaru slumped to the ground, tired from the amount of chakra he had to use. After a minute he caught his breath and walked wearily towards Ino.

She sat up wincing at the pain she felt. She looked up at him and seemed confused at his worried expression. She dismissed it and waited for him to reach her.

When he got to her he knelt down and in a gentle voice asked her, "Are you going to be okay?"

Ino smiled weakly and responded, "I hope so, but I won't if you don't take me back home."

Shikamaru chuckled and carefully picked her up bridal style. She winced a little, slight pain coursing through her but with his gentleness she was saved a lot of pain. Shikamaru began to walk out and as he passed the flowers on the floor Ino gasped.

"You saw the flowers?!" Ino exclaimed worriedly.

Shikamaru just said, "We'll talk about that later we need to go."

He would not touch upon the subject anymore. They got back to Kohona without a hitch and Ino was quickly admitted into a hospital. Her question still unanswered as she was put under by anesthesiologists.

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Three days.

Three days she had been asleep. No one could really blame her. She had multiple rib fractures and a mild concussion. But all those three days a man had stayed by her side watching diligently. He had to be coaxed into eating for he would forget about his own well-being, as he was so worried for Ino.

On this the third day, a certain chicken ass hair came into the hospital room. He immediately ran out with his tail between his legs at the sight of Shikamaru. The latter of which began cracking up. At the noise Ino began to stir.

In a raspy voice she called out to the pineapple haired boy, "Shika..."

Shikamaru turned quickly and his heart leaped, "Ino! You're awake! Do you need anything?"

Ino nodded and croaked, "Water."

Shikamaru immediately jumped up and came back with a cup of fresh water. Ino took it and drank it greedily. The cool liquid soothing her dry throat. Shikamaru smiled at her, happy she was ok.

"Ino?" He called out to her in a quiet voice.

"Yes?" she answered.

Shikamaru sat in the chair he was previously in and took Ino's hand gently.

"I got the flowers and read the card," He announced in the same quiet voice.

Ino froze. She blushed profoundly, but at the same time fear rose up in her.

'What if he is going to reject me?' she thought frightfully.

"I just wanted to say," Ino held her breath as Shikamaru spoke, "... I feel the same way."

Ino's heart leaped. She squealed in happiness and hugged Shikamaru tightly.

Shikamaru smiled and kissed her forehead, "I love you," he muttered.

"I love you too Shika," she whispered.

Ino hugged him closer and joined their lips in a passionate kiss.

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WAHOO!!! I finished it! (Doing cabbage patch) hahahahahahahah!! I made Sasuke a pussy!!! ... buh-bye!