Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. If I did, I bet you'd want to kill me right now. But I don't. You might want to kill me anyway after reading this story though.

My first Shika/Ino. If you don't like the pairing, don't read, and don't flame. Or read, and have an open mind. If you still hate it, flame away.

The Point of Dreams

There's no point in having dreams. Seriously, all they do is get crushed. For instance, take Shikamaru. All he wanted to do was marry a nice, average girl. He wanted nice, average children. In retrospect, he should have known nothing in his life would ever turn out average. He was a Chounin before anyone else his age, and has an IQ over 200. Right, real average.

So ok, the average life didn't work out so well. But an average wife, that shouldn't be so hard, should it? There are plenty of pretty civilian women around. Regrettably, Shikamaru didn't even take into account his heart. Stupid organ.

He wasn't even sure when it happened. It just did. One day, he woke up, and saw Ino at training. He had been absolutely mesmerised by the way she moved, her long blonde hair, and even he voice. She had almost lost it (her voice, her wonderful, melodic voice) that day yelling at him to "stop staring already".

It was a few years (or months), (or days), before the pinapple headed ninja realised that it wasn't teenage hormones at work, and that the feelings were not going away. It took a bit longer to realise that really, he didn't mind if they stayed (forever, and ever, and ever) as long as Ino felt the same. Exactly one year later, he discovered that she did feel the same way, and had for much longer. She was surprisingly untroublesome about it. He just kissed her, and when he pulled away, she smiled at him. Just smiled, but it was enough.

When they were 21, they had gotten married. When told of the news, Sakura and Chouji had merely rolled their eyes and said "Finally."

So here they are now. Five years, and two children later.

"Shikamaru! Are you still in bed?" Ino, his wonderful, nagging wife asked.

"Yes." he replied, too impatient to elaborate. "Come in here with me."

She appeared in the doorway, looking frazzled. "I can't. I have to get to work and…."
She trailed off as he gave his sexy smirk. "Oh fine."

Shikamaru held her tightly. "I love you." he whispered in her ear.

"I love you too." She said back. "But you better make it worth me missing work for."

Shikamaru had no fear of her being disappointed as he kissed her, feeling her respond immediately to his touch.

There was a point to dreams, even the ones that don't come true. For the dreams that are replaced with new dreams, the point is to remind you how lucky you are. Dreams can be replaced, but the people in your life will never come again if you let them go.

The ending was pathetic. I'm sorry. Please review. This is my first Shika/Ino, so I'm not sure how it was. Please let me know.