A/N: Hello everyone! So this is my little oneshot, drabble collection of ShikaIno-ness! Welcome, welcome all. Since I didn't get any ideas from people (cry) I got an idea and decided to write the first one. Wee! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one, which I hope is the first of many good ShikaIno tidbits. c:

All you need is a drinking contest, according to me. So, let's see if it works!

...A Drinking Contest...

"We can't play Mahjongg with three people, Choji. Don't be ridiculous." That simple statement was enough to make a seventeen year old Choji look like someone had just informed him his parents were dead. Dejected, he stopped trying to organize the pile of ivory white tiles before him and drooped.

This made Ino look at Shikamaru with a highly irritated glare. Look what you just did! "Don't listen to him, Cho. Of course we can play with three people. It'll be much easier and it won't be the same, but it'll still be fun." She watched her friend and teammate steadily, hoping to soothe him into happiness but his expression changed very little. She sighed huffily. That's right, she forgot. Shikamaru was this one's idol.

"It won't be fun," said Shikamaru flatly, staring resolutely up at the ceiling. Fun was what they were trying to create tonight. They were at Choji's parents' house since Choji had the house all to himself. He wanted some company and they all decided that it was high time they all hung out together since they haven't done that in ages. So here they were. Well, actually according to Shikamaru, Ino had imposed her presence on them, but every story has two sides.

"Well then, frowny face, you come up with something to do," Ino challenged, sliding a glance at the lazy one from the corner of her eye. She leaned all the way back into her chair at the kitchen table and felt the hard wood digging into her back.

"We could play shoji…" Shikamaru muttered.

"…and that we can't play with three people either. Good one, frowny." Ino watched as Choji now started to shovel the Mahjongg pieces into their little plastic container that resembled a miniature briefcase, except it was blue. And plastic.

"So what did you come up with? A makeover session?" Shikamaru finally looked down, meeting Ino's eyes. Ino shot him a withering glance.

"Guys, stop it…" Choji started, not wanting those two to get into another argument. It was what they did best, but he would rather his parents come home to a house intact than one in shambles.

"Hmm…" Ino's eyes roved over the entirety of Choji's kitchen. Why a kitchen would give her inspiration for something they could do she didn't quite know, but it was the only thing available without having to move. She saw a bowl of fruit, the fridge, the wood cabinets, the sink, a dishtowel, a bottle of wine, a box of crackers, three bags of chips…oh, a bottle of wine. "I got it."

Choji and Shikamaru both looked at her, Choji expectant and Shikamaru slightly surprised. Ino turned to look at both of them, her eyes glittering with triumph and mischief.

"Let's have a drinking contest."

"A what?" Shikamaru spluttered. Choji's eyes widened but other than that, he seemed to be actually giving it some thought.

Ino ignored Shikamaru and turned instead to her other teammate, who was still contemplating the prospect. "Choji, do you have any alcohol in here that you know your parents won't miss?"

"Uh…the sake?"

Ino smiled. "Perfect."

"Wait, wait, wait, hold on!" Shikamaru finally was getting serious. He leaned forward and stared at Ino in incredulity. "A drinking contest?"

"I believe that is what I said, correct," said Ino calmly, a look of haughtiness spreading over her face. "Problem?"

"Here's a problem. We're underage."

That's when Choji made up his mind. He pushed himself up from the kitchen table and walked over to the cabinets. He opened one and started rifling through it, looking for sake. Shikamaru turned to watch him in amazement.

"We are," Ino conceded. "But Choji and I are also not cowards, so we'll be fine. You, on the other hand…" She tilted her head and pretended to look skeptical. Shikamaru scowled.

"I can drink…" he started, and trailed off when Choji came back to the table, bearing a large bottle of sake and three cups. He set them onto the table and passed out the cups, placing one in front of Ino, one in front of a still scowling Shikamaru, and one in front of himself. Then he sat down.

"Apparently, Choji has decided you are joining us, no matter what," Ino informed Shikamaru. Choji beamed at both of them and nodded.

"So how's this going to work?" he then asked, tapping his ceramic cup impatiently.

"How about…" Ino started, looking around the kitchen for inspiration again.

"How about we see how much we really know about each other," Shikamaru cut in. Ino was ready to nail him with another glare when he interrupted, but she stopped halfway in the process to think about his proposal.

"Hey, I like that." Choji stopped tapping his cup, showing his approval. "So is it like, each of us guess something about the other person and if you get it wrong, you gotta drink?"

"Something like that, more or less, yeah."

"Awesome!" Choji said, looking thrilled. "Okay, I'll go first. I'm going to go with Shikamaru…"

"But you know loads about Shikamaru, Choji. You two have been best friends for forever," Ino complained.

Choji winked at her. "I know. That's why I choose him. Because I'm terrible at holding alcohol." He turned back to Shikamaru. "Sooo, what do you want me to guess about you?"

"Favorite kind of chip?"

"Barbeque, same as mine," Choji answered without hesitation and the sake lay undisturbed. Ino was baffled. If Shikamaru had asked her the same thing, she wouldn't have known where to start guessing. "Ino, your turn."

"I…uh…oh, me?" she stuttered, still trying to fathom how close those two were. "Okay, uh I guess I'll do you Choji."

"'Kay. What was my favorite stuffed animal when I was little?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Ino was furious at having to be the first to drink. She was at least hoping it'd be Choji, Shikamaru being the best case scenario. She looked at Shikamaru for help, but he just smiled at her. "That's completely unfair! Give me a hint."

"Guess," Choji said.

"That is not a hint," Ino fumed. Finally, she sighed and thought really hard, or at least pretended to, massaging her temples with her fingers. Really she was just trying to remember what Choji's favorite animal was. And she didn't know that either. "Uh, a…bear?"

"Nice try. But it was a panda. You were close."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Wow, how did I know I was going to get that one wrong?" Choji poured out the first sake of the game and Ino downed it all in one gulp. Ino was confident. Even if she got all the answers wrong to the questions, she was excellent at holding a lot of alcohol. It was probably thanks to her father that she had this little known skill.

"Okay, Shikamaru. Your turn." Choji turned expectantly to his friend and Ino did too, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand. Shikamaru looked at Ino in turn, waiting.

"Huh, okay, let's see. Favorite…flower."

Shikamaru screwed up his face and Ino knew she had him. He had never paid attention to this kind of stuff so he couldn't possibly know. Choji, on the other hand, had gotten her a large bouquet of her favorites every year for her birthday so he knew very well. And as expected, Ino saw his face light up in excitement now as her other teammate was scratching his head, looking dumbfounded.

"Uh, the daisy?"

"No way!" Before Ino could speak, Choji did and broke out into a chuckle. "That's way too common and simple for Ino. It's the sunflower."

"Oh," said Shikamaru.

"Drink up," Ino said with a smile, pouring a cup of sake for him herself. She watched as he threw it all back at once as well. So, this would be an interesting game. Apparently he could hold some alcohol too.

They went around again. This time Choji got Ino's favorite stuffed animal wrong and he had to drink a cup of sake. He didn't throw it back like Ino and Shikamaru did. He sipped it like a gentleman, but managed to drink it all without stopping. Ino got Shikamaru's favorite weapon wrong. And Shikamaru got Choji's favorite kind of sandwich right.

"Ino, you're losing," Choji pointed out, his eyes already starting to blur.

Ino laughed and leaned back in her chair again. "Don't you worry about me, sweetheart. Just make sure you don't pass out." Her eyes were sparkling again.

Around and around they went. The seventh or eighth time around, Choji called it quits and went to go lay for a bit on the couch in the living room. He'd gotten most Shikamaru favorites right, missing only one or two, but missed almost all Ino favorites. And he was already thoroughly tipsy. As he tottered away, Shikamaru and Ino looked at each other and almost immediately they both adopted smirks.

"Looks like it's just you and me," Shikamaru said, stating the obvious.

"And soon it'll be just me," Ino countered. Shikamaru's eyebrows raised.

"Bring it," he said.

"Okay," said Ino. "What's my favorite ice cream?"

"Uhh…" Shikamaru's face went blank and his smirk vanished. He turned his face back up to the ceiling to see if the answer was there. Ino's smirk widened as she poured him another cup of sake shortly after.

Back and forth they went. With three people, it didn't take very long, but with two people it was like lightning. And neither of them gave in or backed down. Ino didn't look affected at all, but then again, Shikamaru looked just as he always did as well. They were mostly drinking every turn now, because they tried to find the most obscure favorites to have the other guess. Both lost track of how many cups they had drunk and both didn't notice the other getting drunk because both got drunk at the same time.

"What's my favorite color?" Ino asked Shikamaru, in a voice that suggested it was a very insightful question. She swayed slightly in her chair.

"That's an easy one. Purple." Shikamaru's words were coming out slightly slurred.

"Hey. You got one right!" Ino burst into a giggling fit that Shikamaru joined as he reached for the sake bottle anyway and poured himself another cup. Since he was already in the act of pouring he decided to pour Ino another one. "Oh thanks!" she said and threw it back at the same time as he did.

Soon, they stopped guessing each other's favorites and just started pouring each other drinks. Ino poked Shikamaru in the forehead and he protested loudly, getting her back by poking her in the nose. Their words were practically slurred beyond recognition, but they somehow seemed to understand each other. Choji was forgotten, but that was just as well since he had fallen asleep on the couch under the influence of such little alcohol.

When Ino toppled over backward in her chair, they took that as a cue to take their leave. "'Ye Choshji!" they both called over their shoulder as they made a lunge for their swaying coats on the coat rack and grabbed at the swinging doorknob. They stumbled out into the chilly night, leaning on each other and laughing at the street lights they passed. It seemed to be pretty late into the night. All was still and quiet around them and no one was around. They didn't notice this, of course, which meant they also didn't notice their immense amount of luck.

Somehow, they both found themselves in front of Ino's house eventually. "Oh, lookawhere we're are!" said Ino, pointing unsteadily at her own home. No lights showed through the windows. She tried to turn her head to face Shikamaru but ended up trying to turn her whole body and that didn't work out too well either because she ended up tripping in the process. "Oh…"

"Whoa!" Shikamaru exclaimed, at least still having enough instincts to catch her. She fell neatly into his arms, screeching with laughter. He guffawed along with her, not sure he really understood the joke. She grabbed onto his shoulders to steady herself and when she did, she looked up into his face, which was suddenly extremely, inexplicably close.

"Wow…" she breathed, looking up into his dark eyes. He blinked, looking back down at her too, noticing through his haze how her eyes still seemed to sparkle brightly, how her cheeks were flushed prettily, how her lips were spreading into a quirky smile.

Later, they would blame it on the alcohol, but at that moment, they didn't exactly know what it was. But suddenly they both leaned forward and kissed each other, Ino's arms curving around Shikamaru's neck perfectly and his arms fitting snugly around her waist. They stumbled back a few steps as Ino pressed against him, feeling his warmth and the moistness of his mouth. To both of them, it felt incredibly good, and they didn't even know why.

Finally, when they broke apart at the lips, they looked at each other again and then started to laugh. "Yoush tastelike shaske," Ino slurred at him with a watery smile. What she really was trying to say was: You taste like sake.

"Atleastyoudidn't throw up onme," Shikamaru replied, smiling at her as well. They stared at each other, still wrapped securely in each other's arms. Then suddenly, both whipped away in opposite directions and doubled over, splattering the ground beneath them with their lovely vomit.

A/N: So the name of this collection comes from the phrase "all you need is love." The idea is that all Ino and Shikamaru need is a mystery thing to nudge them into falling in love. Yay! So, if you would like to supply a mystery object, here's your chance! Email me or just put it in a review: a word, phrase, object, something you want a character to say, or whatever that I can write a oneshot about. It's kind of like those LJ challenges, except you guys will be coming with the challenge and I'll be doing my best to write them.

So make 'em good! I'm waiting!

And meanwhile, I hoped you liked this one. Until next time...! (Thanks for reading!)