A seventeen-year-old Shikamaru lay in a field behind his house. He gazed at the soft fluffy pieces of fluff that floated across the blue sky. Shikamaru almost envied them, having nothing to do but float around freely. A soft wind blew through as he nibbled on the end of a piece of grass. It was about this time when the sun was just starting to drop, the time when a blaring purple menace would rip through the field to disturb him. After a few minutes, he sat up on his elbows, he glanced around bored. He saw nothing, which was strange, the shadow user pondered. It was normally this time she would come and drag him out of there. Slowly, he lay back down and closed his eyes.

'She's late,' he decided. Placing his arms behind his head. 'I'll just have a nap until she comes.' It was strange, but as hard as the shadow user tried, he could not sleep. Sighing in defeat, he got to his feet and started walking back towards the flower shop, which she could usually be found at. He stepped through the door and found her behind the counter, talking to a man before he stepped out with a bouquet of flowers. Ino turned her attention to Shikamaru as he entered, her personality and wardrobe hadn't changed much from when they were kids, but her hair was now longer, and the two seemed to have created a mutual respect for each other. Ino's eyes then turned to some flowers when she noticed him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "I heard Temari's in town." There was a slight bitterness in her voice. He looked at her questionably, for years Ino had always hated Temari. Shikamaru didn't know why, for some reason he didn't want to find out.

He shrugged, leaning on the counter. "I didn't notice…"

"You didn't answer my question," she replied bitterly.

He jabbed his thumb in the direction of the clock. "It's six thirty, you're usually around at five to get me up, but you never showed up." Her back was to him, as a smile tugged on her lips.

"So you were waiting for me?"

"Not really, it's just a tradition that's happened," he looked back up at her and noticed they were very close, he could feel her breath on his lips and it made him sweat. She was using her Dance of the forbidden lovers, where she would get too close to an enemy to make them to uncomfortable to fight. It always worked on Shikamaru, and Ino seemed to use it o him often to watch him squirm. She placed her hand up against his, his hand was larger then hers, she smiled and locked her fingers with his.

"I promise you, I will always be there for you," her fingers then fell from his and she moved away from him. Making them both feel a bit better. "Anyway, you've got a mission to prepare for tomorrow don't you?' Shikamaru sighed, letting out a breath he had been holding.

"Don't remind me," he muttered. She smiled and turned back to watering some lowers.

"I think you should get those done. Going on a mission without the proper paperwork is quite bad." She said, not looking at him. He looked at her oddly, she was acting strange, even for Ino. He could do nothing but nod and stepped towards the door.

"Well, see you," he said.

"Shika?" Ino asked.

"Yeah?" Shikamaru answered, turning to look at her, she bit her lip and looked away.

"See you tomorrow." Shikamaru sighed.

"Yeah."

The next day Chouji, Ino and Shikamaru stood by the gate. Shikamaru yawned as Ino walked up to meet them.

"Have a bad night?" Chouji asked, counting how many bags of chips he had left.

"Didn't sleep well," Shikamaru muttered as Ino arrived.

"Are we going?" she asked. Shikamaru nodded and the three of them set out on their mission, Ino was leading as Chouji and Shikamaru stood in the back. They had to steal some scrolls from a man who stole it from a city in rock country. He was hiding on the outskirts of the sound/leaf border. Ino walked with a scuffle, but stayed ahead of the two boys. Shikamaru was watching her closely, his eyes unreadable.

"What's up with you?' Chouji whispered.

"You should ask Ino, she acts so strange whenever you bring up Temari," he mumbled. Chouji smiled and opened another bag of chips.

"For an IQ of 200, your really dumb," Chouji chuckled and walked ahead of his friend. Shikamaru watched him closely, the answer was staring him in the face, but he refused to believe it.

It was easy taking the scrolls back; the hard part was getting away from his ninja. They were from cloud and didn't leave them alone. Finally, they stopped and decided to fight. There were five, Ino took on two, Shikamaru took on two, and Chouji took on one. Ino took down the first one with her taijustu she then went on the defensive, finding that the other ninja was much more powerful. Chouji seemed to be winning his fight, while Shikamaru you couldn't tell which side was succeeding.

Shikamaru then noticed his opponents were replaced with doppelgangers; it was so swift, normally, no one would have noticed it. He glanced over at Ino, and noticed she was holding off four on her own. She got kicked to the stomach and flew back, her back cracking on a tree as she fell to the ground, clutching her stomach. His eyes went wide s they swarmed around her. Multiplying doppelgangers held Chouji back. He ran at the four cloud nins, slamming a kick into one's back and punched another to the face. They turned into logs as Shikamaru bent next to Ino.

"Are you alright?"

"You…" Ino muttered before Shikamaru got a roundhouse kick to the face. Shikamaru growled as one of the cloud nin's held several needles in his hands, he turned his eyes to Ino. They must have found out she had the scroll. Time seemed to slow down as the needles were hurled at Ino, she tried to move but found she couldn't. Shikamaru got to his feet and ran towards her. He stood in front of her, each needle slamming into his back; he could feel every individual needle. He dropped to his knees in front of Ino, her eyes wide in shock. Why didn't he use something to stop him instead of taking the shot? What was he trying to prove? Shikamaru looked up at her, a trickle of blood down the side of his face.

"Are you alright?" he asked, Ino's pale blue eyes shook with horror.

"Why?" she whispered.

"Heh," was all he could answer before he slumped to the ground.

Ino paced in the hallway of the Konoha hospital. The mission had been a success. But Shikamaru had been poisoned, and the doctors weren't sure if he would live. They called in Tsuande to help, and she was working with him now. Ino pulled out a scroll that they had acquired on the mission. She slammed it angrily on the ground, causing it to rebound and roll away.

"It's all because of that damn scroll!" she yelled. Chouji looked up from his bag of chips.

"Calm down Ino, he's going to be fine," he reassured.

"But we wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for that scroll!" she then sat down on a chair rubbing her temples. "I'm just…worried."

Chouji nodded. "I know," silence engulfed them as the door opened and Tsuande stepped out. She sighed and sat down across from Ino. Both eyes watching her as she opened her own.

"He's going to make it, but it'll be a rough night," a wave of relief washed over Ino, her eyes watered but shook them away. "You can see him now." Tsuande added. Ino bounded to her feet and walked inside, Shikamaru was unconscious on a bed, hooked up to a few machines. Tsuande walked in behind them, as Ino slumped to his bedside. She held his hand, locking her fingers with his, just like they did back in the flower shop. Chouji stood behind her, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"You should stay with him," Tsuande said. "It'll be better for him, I'll inform the nurses." Ino nodded, still holding his hand. Tsuande stepped out, as Ino got to her feet and ran a cloth under water and placed it over his forehead. She stayed with him for several hours, changing his cloth every once in a while. She held his hand, watching him, Chouji left after a while, and the hospital soon went dark.

"Ino…?" Her head was on the bed next to him, her eyes closed, her fingers locked. Slowly she looked up at him, his eyes were opened slightly, dazed.

"Shikamaru…?' she asked in stun. He smiled slightly.

"In the flesh," tears overwhelmed her, but she blinked them away. "Why are you still here?" he asked, his voice raspy.

"I will always be there for you," she reminded him. "The real question is, why did you take that hit?"

Once again, he let out a "heh" he closed his eyes for a moment before looking at her. "Your always there for me, so I'll always be there for you." Tears filled her eyes and she started sobbing on his shoulder.

"Thank you, Shikamaru…"