AN: After reading so much fanfics about a lot of different anime and novels, I couldn't resist writing about ShixIno. They played major roles in the anime but had enough blurry character detail left for us fanfic writers (Ha! I'm one of you now. Yay!) to mess around with. I tried to stick to character as close as possible and this fic happened during the Naruto II arc but no promises on the other historical details from the manga.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. I am merely one among a legion of others feverishly tracking the progress of the story of Naruto and creating fanfics of said story as a humble offering to the great Masashi Kishimoto,not that he'd even deign to acknowledge said offer.

Ino took one last look at her reflection. "Perfect." Smiling, with a flip of her long blonde hair, Ino headed out of her apartment with new resolve. It had only been a week ago when she got into an intense arguement with Shikamaru that ended with a dare neither of them could back down from.

Flashback:

"Shikamaru!"

Lazily cracking one eye open, Shikamaru looked up from his position in the grass to find Ino glaring at him from above.

"Oi," Shikamaru returned to his dozing.

"Hey! I'm trying to talk to you here." Ino sat down next him and poked him on his side.

He sighed, "I can still hear you even with my eyes closed, Ino. What is it?"

"Why aren't you training with Chouji and me anymore?"

This time, Shikamaru opened both his eyes and stared at the sky. After a long moment he answered, "I'm a jounin now, Ino. I have to lead people when I'm assigned on missions. Missions that are usually B rank to S rank. I have to undergo training that you or Chouji aren't yet ready for."

"Huh. I know that Shika. But even after you made jounin and trained with the other jounin, the three of us still managed to train together. Why did you suddenly stop coming?" Ino had her arms crossed over her chest and was looking pointedly at Shikamaru. "And I can tell you right now that Chouji knows why but won't tell me. That makes me think that you're deliberately keeping something from me."

Ino was right, thought Shikamaru. The three of them have always been close and their bond had grown stronger after Asuma-sensei passed away. He was telling Ino the truth when he said his training took up much of his time and that the responsibility of his position was weighing on him.

She had a point though. These concerns never prevented him from continuing his training with the two of them. It's just that, lately he's been feeling...strange whenever he was sparring with Ino. Bothered by the restless feelings he felt around her, he decided to fix the problem by limiting their meetings as much as possible until he could figure out what it was that got his insides churning whenever he was near the blonde. When he'd told Chouji this, his best friend just stared at him intently for a second and said cryptically that it was about time he did something about it.

Shikamaru looked at the girl beside him. Already, his gut was starting to churn, "It's not a big deal, Ino. I just need some time alone to think some things through."

"Fine," she huffed. "I'm still going to need to train and until you figure out whatever it is that's keeping you occupied now, I guess I'll be training with Hyuga Neji instead."

He sat up, "Eh? What happened to Chouji?"

"He requested leave from the Godaime. In two days time he and his family will be leaving for Suna to visit a cousin who's getting married to one of the Suna nin and since you're too busy to be bothered I'll have to go along with the Godaime and train with Neji for the next three weeks." Ino looked at Shikamaru accusingly.

"Why Neji?" he asked.

"The Kage thought it would be a good experiment for us both to see how our techniques will work against each other. Besides, Neji doesn't get to go on a lot of missions right now because he's training for the jounin exam," Ino perked up. "Hmmm..Neji is very good-looking. Atleast, training with him will be a pleasant change after training with you guys. Ha!" she gazed laughingly at him to see his reaction.

The Hokage didn't know that the three still continued their training together until recently and so must have decided that this was the only solution for Ino while Chouji was away. The Hokage had yet to find another shinobi to replace Shikamaru which made the Godaime's actions logical, but this did not stop him from feeling irritated at the thought of the Hyuga genius training with Ino.

Forcefully tamping down the feeling, he shrugged, "Neji can use the extra exercise. Not that it would be too strenuous for him. With his Byakugan, you'll be the one who'll be put through their paces."

"What do you mean by that?"

He looked over at Ino and observed her gearing herself up for a tirade.

"I happen to be getting really good with my technique and I've even started trying out a couple of new jutsu! Just because you haven't trained with us lately, doesn't mean Chouji and I have slacked off! I'm not lazy like you, you know! I can't believe you'd say something so overbearingly arroga-"

Shikamaru stood up and started walking away, "Baka," he paused and looked behind him at Ino, "I know you don't slack off. I'm saying that training with Neji will hone your skills faster than if you'd train with me. As you said, I'm lazy so I don't normally put my all when fighting with you. Heh. You might even finally beat me in a sparring match." He smirked at the idea.

Ino stood up with hands on her hips, "Alright then. I'll make you eat those words. In three weeks my training with Neji will end. Meet me at our old training ground and I'll show you that no Yamanaka will back down from a challenge from a Nara." A fierce gleam was shining in her eyes. Shikamaru always pushed her buttons. Really, the guy needed to be brought down a peg or two.

He tilted his head and looked off into space, "No. Too troublesome. Ja ne," he continued walking away.

"Stop right there Nara Shikamaru!"

Still facing away he sighed exasperatedly, "What now?"

"Scared I'd beat you?"

"Ino," he started patiently, "Forget what I said. I was just teasing you. Let it go already." He turned to walk away.

"If you beat me," Ino took a deep breath. "I'll be your housekeeper for a month."

That should get his attention. Shikamaru, being the lazy ninja that he is, never paid much attention to cleaning house. His apartment was full of scattered clothes and strewn scrolls. Not to mention the pile of dirty dishes taking up permanent residence in his sink. Typical bachelor's pad.

Shikamaru slowly pivoted. "With home cooked meals in the bargain?" Ever since he moved out of his parents house what he regretted the most was having to make do with instant ramen or take out food since he couldn't cook a decent meal to save his life. Ino's cooking on the other hand...well, it was certainly better than anything he could come up with in the kitchen and the prospect of coming home to a clean apartment and hot home cooked meals definitely had merits.

"Dinners only," Ino rolled her eyes. Negotiating now? She wasn't even that good a cook but if that's what it will take to get him to take her up on her dare, then she'll include the meals in the bargain. She was certain that the new jutsu she mentioned earlier was something that he'd never seen before and she knew if she trained doubly hard with Neji, Shikamaru would be in for an unpleasant shock when the time came for their match.

"Okay, you got yourself a deal," Shikamaru chuckled lazily.

"What do I get if I win?"

That gave him pause, "Tell me, why do you want this match so badly?" He stared at her intensely.

She hesitated. Come to think of it, she got so infuriated with his implications that before she could stop herself the challenge was issued. When he tried to brush her off it spurned her even more to the point that the challenge has turned into a dare of sorts. Maybe it was because she was hurt that he didn't tell her his reason for missing their trainings, and after finding out that he was holding back when sparring and that comment about never being strong enough...The thoughts swirling in her head were too confusing to deal with right now. She just felt this overwhelming desire to prove herself capable. To show Shikamaru that..that..

"...Because I want you to take me seriously!" Ino burst out finally. "Apparently, I'm such a weak nin that I don't even deserve to have your full attention when you're fighting with me." She breathed deeply, not noticing how his eyes automatically glanced down at her chest.

"Ino..." Realizing where he was staring at, he quickly looked away reddening slightly. "I don't think that-"

"Look, whatever. You agreed to the dare. As for what I get, I-I don't care. Make something up that's of equivalent value to what your win will be." Ino shut her eyes for a second. When she opened them, she gave him a smirk, "I will make you eat those words, Shikamaru." With that parting shot, she sauntered away from him.

Shikamaru gazed after her. The tail end of her blonde hair brushed teasingly against her back as she walked. He stood riveted, absently staring at her swaying hips and couldn't help the reluctant admiration he felt for her nervy challenge. For someone obsessed with being thin, when did her chest get so- Shikamaru hastily shook his head free of the thought and groaned. He took out his hand from his pocket and rubbed it against the side of his neck. He finally figured out the reason for his uneasiness around Ino. At seventeen both of them have grown enough to develop the mature bodies of adults. Fighting hand-to-hand combat with Ino made it impossible not to realize this. In fact, he was so aware of it he gets bothered just having her near him. He groaned again. He was attracted to Ino..big time.

If he continues to be this distracted by her, she just might win their impending fight after all. Mendokuse.

Yipeee! First chapter finally done. Gosh! It's already 5:36 in the morning. Reviews are graciously invited, flames and accolades welcome. D I'll update as soon as I figure out what happens next.

The story felt like it had a life of its own. It just developed into this plot by itself, which I think is creepy. Haha! I'm playing different versions of Pachebel's Canon while making this fic. It definitely helped with my writing. Hah! Birds are twittering outside my window and the sky is lightening to a deep shade of purple. It's definitely time for me to catch some zZzzZzz...