Author's Notes: No, I don't own Naruto or any characters contained within this story (the exception being any and all of my own creation). This story is AU after Chapter 365 or so of the manga, and more or less neglects the anime-only filler that occurs before Naruto Shippuden begins. Some passages I may edit after more of the canonical plot is revealed, but it won't have much affect on the main storyline. If there are any special alerts that I need to make, I'll post them in my bio; otherwise, expect Chapter 1 up by August 19 (possibly earlier, if I receive such support). ShikaIno (among others). If you enjoy this fic (or even if you don't, but have positive criticism for me), please review! Thanks for reading!

Downcast eyes were all that greeted the first gray sheets of winter rain that stained the stones with moisture. It was an unwelcome hallmark of the bottom of the year. In the park, leisurely games of shogi were called off, and children were ushered by their wrists back home. Bubbling puddles sprouted inside ditches, filling and overflowing beneath the feet of the unappreciative community that had looked forward to a comparatively warm, sunny day, but were now subject to the limitless ammunition of Mother Nature. Winter had befallen Konoha. How troublesome.

The stampede of retreating park-goers sidestepped a lone boy remaining seated on the grass, raking the spongy earth with his fingertips. His sour face was covered by a sheet of dripping moisture, as were the clothes plastered tightly against his body. Nara Shikamaru cursed his luck. Although now a busy chuunin at fourteen, he still found entire days to stare into the sky and watch the clouds; this was supposed to be one of those days. It was his last, too. Tomorrow he was off on a mission, and he wasn't sure when he would be back. Even as team captain, he was never told assignment details until the last minute. He knew it was to be a particularly difficult case, however, so maybe the inclement weather was really a godsend; Shikamaru hated to admit that he had important things to do today.

His old Team 10 no longer consisted of a four-man cell of teacher and students. A year after Shikamaru had become a chuunin, Chouji and Ino had followed suit, along with most of the Konoha 12 (although their members now numbered ten, as Sasuke had ran off and Naruto was out training). Asuma-sensei had treated the three of them to dinner the next night as their last outing as a fully assembled team, before pulling them aside to tell them they would now be made captains of their own four-man cells, as were all newly-appointed chuunin. When they met their new partners the next day, Shikamaru was surprised to see that we was taking charge over much more experienced shinobi than he was. Within only six months, he had helped the team establish an impressive mission completion record, even bringing down an S-rank missing-nin in minutes. It was this record that convinced the Godaime Hokage to keep their team intact in a time when most shinobi were placed in specialty squads created for each mission. This was especially true for the two jounin placed under Shikamaru's guidance. At first, they were put off by the difference in age and rank between themselves and their captain, but their minds were quickly changed the first time Shikamaru took charge during a battle on an A-rank escort mission to Kusagakure. It was true that he still had a ways to go in terms of physical strength and battle power, but his mental prowess was already known far beyond the gates of Konoha.

"Hey! Shikamaru!" The boy cringed at the voice that jarred him from his thoughts. He didn't want to turn around to find its source, because he already knew who it was, and the unpleasant feeling of his wet clothing against his body prohibited his movement in lieu of greater discomfort. He soon found that he didn't need to look anyway. A pair of annoyed blue eyes appeared to his side, chastising him soundlessly, asking him a thousand nagging questions without uttering a single word. Sometimes Shikamaru hated those eyes. Or rather, he hated what he knew would inevitably follow them.

"What the hell are you doing out here in the rain, Shikamaru? You'll catch a cold if you stay out here too long." Others may have found her concern flattering, even if it was little more than nagging, but Shikamaru felt that he knew better. "It's a good thing I found you out here. Is it too much work to even get out of the rain? I swear, sometimes…"

Shikamaru grunted. "Ino, I'm sure you have more important things to do than yell at me. Don't you have to fill out a debriefing form for your last mission?" Chouji and Shikamaru had gone out for lunch earlier, where they had caught up on a lot of things that they missed during the month they didn't see each other; among those discussed where the other two members of the former Team 10, whom they hadn't seen in an equally long time. Shikamaru hated to admit that it was a disappointment not to have talked to them. He and Ino may have argued from time to time, but they were still a team. If no longer superficially, then in spirit.

Shikamaru suddenly noticed that the blonde kunoichi was silent, her lips slightly pursed together. She was staring into the distance, seemingly oblivious to the rain that glued her hair to her face and shoulders. He found himself slightly surprised that she wasn't complaining about what this would do to her image. It was also for this reason that he realized something was wrong.

"Hey," he said, noticing her jump slightly. She turned and cocked her head with a grin. Nice, big fake smile. Subtly different from her other fake smiles. He had grown to notice them well.

"What is it?" She put her hands on her hips and leaned forward with a playful cuteness.

Shikamaru could feel his waterlogged joints locking up as he stood and placed his hands in his pockets. He rocked on his heels, turning to face Ino. "Do you wanna get out of this rain?" he asked, noting the unexpected surprise in her eyes. He added, "We are getting kind of wet out here. Pain in the ass, if you ask me." She stared into his eyes for a long moment, and Shikamaru knew then that something was definitely troubling her. His social skills were far inferior to his tactical genius, but even he could figure out that one of his best friends needed to let something off her chest. After a few seconds, she nodded and followed him.

The rain was beyond pouring buckets at this point, the atmosphere having traded in air for water. Shikamaru mused over how the mud seemed to explode under heaven's constant barrage. He knew that they needed to get out of it as soon as they could, for fear they could both catch a cold, so he turned and led her toward one of the largest trees in the park, which happened to be his favorite to sit under while staring at the clouds. Convenient.

"So?"

Ino tossed him a quizzical look. "So… what?"

"What's wrong?"

Ino whirled around in surprise, which caused Shikamaru to arch an eyebrow. "Wrong? What do you mean? Why do you think something's wrong?"

Women were so difficult, Shikamaru thought, shaking his head. Especially Ino. He began to pace around with his shoulders slouched. "I'm not an idiot, Ino," he said quietly, looking back at her.

"No… No you're not, huh?" She looked away as if into the distance, but anything past the edges of the tree branches were indiscernible in the downpour. This was a softer side of Ino that Shikamaru was less used to. Too bad it apparently took unhappiness to bring it out, he thought. "There's nothing wrong," she repeated. Her voice was little more than a whisper lost in the thundering rain.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Shika." Ino replied forcefully, crossing her arms angrily.

"…Fine." Shikamaru sighed and began to walk away. He fancied himself a nice guy, but knew there weren't many moments when he went out of his way to be there for anybody else. Their troubles were their own, he always said. It was just like Ino to brush him off now, on the off chance that he went against his policy. Figures. He wanted to go home, but he realized that he would probably need to stay here, under the tree and out of the storm.

"It's Mitsurou," she said finally.

"Mitsurou? What about him?" he asked. Mitsurou was a chuunin on Ino's team who was adept at water-element ninjutsu. He reminded Shikamaru of Naruto in a way; spiky-headed and energetic. Overall, he was a good kid, but what had he done to make Ino upset? Did he say something? Ask her on a date when he knew she'd say no?

"He died."

…Oh.

They stood silent for more seconds than Shikamaru could count. His lips hung open as he stared at Ino, her head down and eyes closed. He took a step forward when she looked back up; her face was already so wet from the rain he wouldn't have realized she was crying if she hadn't covered her face with her hand. "I… Ino, I—" He stopped searching for the words to say when he realized she was next to him, resting her head on his chest. He hesitantly wrapped his arms around her and she cried into his shirt. They stood like that for a long time.

- - -

"What do you think, Shika?" Ino was sitting with her legs bunched to her chest, locking her wrists around her knees. Her crying had subsided slightly, but Shikamaru could still see thin trails of tears on her cheeks. The storm was also beginning to settle somewhat. After a brief pout of thunder, the rain was finally letting up, though it was still too wet for the two of their likings.

"About what?" he asked, looking to his side at her.

"You know what I mean."

Shikamaru looked away, not wanting to admit that he didn't. He twiddled a blade of grass between his fingers and leaned backwards, lying on the ground.

"About us," she explained. "About our lives. As shinobi." She buried her face in her arm, but allowed herself a peek through one teary eye at Shikamaru. He rolled over onto his side with an arm under his head, racking his brain for a satisfactory answer.

"It's alright."

Ino huffed and looked away. Apparently the answer was unsatisfactory. Shikamaru gazed downward into the grass. "I meant about how we're supposed to live, you know?" she continued. "The rules we live by every day. We show no emotion. We serve our country, and that's that." He knew where this was going, and it made him feel uncomfortable. He tried not to think about that question so hard, because he knew that if he did, it would stir up too many personal issues in his head.

"People die every day, Ino. Everyone does. But if we can die for a cause, instead of meaninglessly—"

"How can you say something like that, Shikamaru?" Ino turned her body towards him, landing on her knees. She once again appeared angry with him, he noted with a sigh. "How can you think like that? How can you be so insensitive?"

"Ino…"

"Don't give me that!" she screamed at him. The tears had started flowing again. "Mitsurou was only thirteen! How can a child die for his country?"

Shikamaru stuttered for a second, suddenly unable to answer the girl in front of him who was slowly growing hysterical. He tried anyway. "It happens, you know?"

"Happens?" she sobbed softly. She was sitting on her legs, her hands on her knees. "Not to you, it doesn't. Not to you, Shika." He couldn't answer her, instead rolling back over to stare into the leaves on the tree above. "Mitsurou died because of me," she whispered. "Because of what I did."

They were shinobi, he thought. Trained killers. Shikamaru himself killed people on a regular basis. Tomorrow he would go out to kill some more. But he had never known those whose lives he took away, or allowed those under his watch to die in battle. He almost had once, and he could remember feeling little different than Ino did now. It didn't even matter to him that they had failed the mission; his best friends were hospitalized for weeks because of consistent mistakes made on his part as captain, and since then he vowed to never let his teammates get hurt. He couldn't even imagine what Ino was thinking, knowing someone under her guidance had died.

"So?" she asked. Now it was his turn to look confused. "How do you feel about it?"

Shikamaru closed his eyes. His answer was a speech he heard recited a thousand times, one he had memorized before the first month at the academy was through. All ninja knew it. "A shinobi has no feelings, no attachments," he began. "He—"

Another huff. "I don't care what they taught you, Shika. I know what they taught us. How do you feel?" Ino stood and walked the few steps to where he was lying, taking a seat next to him. He noticed how calm her voice was; it was no longer cracking from her tears, and no longer frantic from hysteria. It was only pure, 100 percent Ino. Shikamaru realized how rare it was that he experienced her true self.

"I…" he began, unsure of where he would finish. "I'm… not sure."

Ino got down on her side facing him, and laid a hand on his arm. He turned his head to face her. Under normal circumstances the act may have been considered intimate, but Shikamaru knew that he was only emotional support. Lucky him to be caught at the park that day.

"It's okay," she said softly, removing her hand and rolling onto her back. "I'm sorry I got mad."

"Don't be."

"I'm sorry for bringing this all up at once."

"Stop apologizing. It's not like you." They both turned their heads to look at each other. Ino's blue eyes were still misty with tears, but she had stopped crying. Without thinking, he reached over and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "It's okay," he assured her. She smiled slightly. It was small, but it wasn't fake.

"Shika?"

"Yeah?"

Ino tilted her head back up to look into the tree branches. "Do you… really think shinobi are just tools?"

This again? Shikamaru let out a breath. "You're so troublesome sometimes, Ino."

"No, I mean it." She looked back into his eyes. "Do you think so?"

There was no way out of this one. It was his turn to look upwards and let out a sigh. "I don't know. It's something I don't think about often." She may not be satisfied with that answer, he thought, but it was the truth. She let out a small "hmm" and followed his gaze into the trees.

"Never?"

"Not often."

"But when you do?"

God, all the questions were such a pain in the ass, but he had no problem answering them for her. "Shinobi are tools, there's no doubt about that anywhere. I'm just not sure I agree with it." Ino nodded slowly. Neither said anything for a few minutes. "What about you?" Shikamaru looked back at her, and was somewhat surprised when she looked away.

"I don't know." He didn't understand how that was a valid response for Ino but not for him, but decided not to press the matter further. "I guess I feel the same way." She turned her face skyward again. "I love Konoha. But I don't want to be sent out to die for its sake."

"It's such a troublesome thing to think about."

Ino suddenly let out a loud laugh, and Shikamaru turned to her, silently questioning her sanity. Ino met his gaze and quieted down. "It's just like you to say that," she smiled. He smiled back slightly.

"Shika?"

"Yeah?" Shikamaru prepared himself for another onslaught of questions.

"Thanks."

He nodded. They laid together until the storm subsided.