Prologue

It all started with one conversation.

The moment Ino stepped through the courtyard entrance of the Nara household was the moment Shikamaru knew something was wrong.

She didn't find much reason to come over. In fact, she had a tendency to avoid the Nara compound. At the risk of sounding paranoid, Shikamaru gave her the benefit of the doubt and convinced himself it was because they had completely different interests, which was partly true. But in actuality, he knew it was because she didn't want to stir up any weird suspicion between their families about their relationship. Everyone expected her to end up with either him or Choji. According to Ino, this was never going to happen.

As she so lovingly proclaimed at the tender age of seven, "The day I marry you is the day the world ends." Then, "Because I'm going to marry Sasuke-kun."

(To which Shikamaru replied, "Right. Can we go get lunch now?")

Ino approached from the distance, stepping onto the hardwood porch while she slipped off her sandals, silently taking a seat next to him.

Shikamaru didn't even have to ask what was wrong; he already knew, "You can't sleep either?"

Tomorrow, they would be walking into a minefield. He would be in charge of the Fourth Division with Gaara, Temari and Choji. She would be in the Fifth Division with Kiba and Shino.

The last time they were separated like this, Asuma died.

Things had been tense since then. Ino spent all her free time in the hospital working on medical ninjutsu. Choji was placed on a lot more missions outside the village with his father. Shikamaru spent the majority of his days in the coding branch, trying to figure out ciphers and puzzles that were far too cryptic and vague for his taste. They were all under a myriad of stress and their reunion time was sparse, if anything, nonexistent.

"…yeah," Ino admitted, "I went to find Choji too but he wasn't home."

Shikamaru shifted uncomfortably, "We haven't seen each other in a while," he pointed out, aware of his painfully awkward attempt at small talk, "how's work at the hospital?"

Ino huffed, rolling her eyes, "Since when did you care about my work at the hospital?"

It was true. He shouldn't have even tried. Shikamaru always thought Ino was placing her efforts in the wrong direction and honing the wrong skills.

After all, she graduated academy with the highest grades, right after Uchiha Sasuke.

Even Shikamaru had to admit that she could've been great, if she wanted.

Sometimes, he didn't really understand. Other times, he didn't really want to understand. But it was different tonight.

He wished things could've been easier.

"Ne, Shikamaru," a small smile formed on her lips as she pulled her leg into her chest, crouched over, "remember when we were little and our biggest worry was who's house we'd go to for dinner?"

He relaxed slightly, feeling his shoulders unwind, "Yeah."

It hadn't been too long ago. Before Ino was smitten with Sasuke, the trio had spent almost every weekend together.

The Nara compound was the place to go for dinner. Shikamaru never considered himself a sycophant but he knew Yoshino's elk was almost the best thing about living in Konoha. It was one of her many specialties that went unnoticed ever since she quit being a shinobi. Ino said it was a hidden gem and should stay that way. She'd been very, very protective.

Then again, they hadn't had dinner at his place in years.

"Growing up is so overrated," Ino continued, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear, "I can't believe I was fooled by all the movies about sex, sake and the whole no parents telling me what to do."

The thing was, Shikamaru understood completely what she meant. For as long as he could remember, all he ever wanted to do was grow up and grow old.

"When we're on missions, we have to take care of ourselves, our teammates and our subjects," she stated tacitly, wrinkling her nose, "—and when you're a medical shinobi, you're literally holding someone's life in your hands. So not what I signed up for."

Shikamaru kicked his legs and stared at the courtyard. A breeze blew through and swept Ino's long blond hair behind her back, revealing the earrings that Asuma gave the day they were all promoted to Chunin.

"Talk about responsibility," she conceded with a sigh, "it makes dinner at your place sound really, really good right about now…"

Shikamaru smirked and stared up at the sky.

Stars blinked.

Everything would change tomorrow. Neither of them wanted to admit it. Both were banking on the opposite party to speak up first about it. Shikamaru knew all too well that some things were better off left unsaid.

But, there were a couple of other things that were just too priceless to leave alone.

He could've kept quiet. It wouldn't be surprising if he did. But he figured this much: they were entering a war. There were no absolutes, and he couldn't say he'd come out of this alive and unscathed. The chances were far worse when he calculated Team 10's probability of survival.

"Why did you cry for him?" And the words he didn't say: Kiba was right. You barely knew Sasuke.

It was the one question that Ino had been avoiding.

Truth was, she probably wasn't really sure why. Shikamaru bet it was because of a conjunction of things: after all, her village had been decimated, along with the people she cared about, her sensei was dead, and she was killing herself trying to catch up with Sakura. Sasuke was probably the tipping point that made her crash.

She'd been disillusioned. Sasuke was her sense of purpose; and she idealized him to perfection.

Ino turned, huffing in annoyance, "Please don't ask me stupid questions."

Shikamaru should have expected something like this. This was Ino after all. Plus, he already knew the answer.

So he knew better than to press on, "Fine."

It'd been a while since they last saw each other. For two people living in the same village, it was alarming to see how little their paths crossed.

The sad thing was—neither of them really noticed until now.

Still, he could read her like a book. Sasuke was one hell of a taboo topic. Shikamaru sighed, feeling painfully responsible for bringing him up in the first place.

"You know," he started, "I was going to end up a mediocre shinobi. Earn a decent salary and marry a regular girl. Not too pretty, but not hideous. After that, I'd have a kid—a girl first, then a boy. I'd retire when my girl was married and when my son was independent. Then I'd play shogi and go everyday for the rest of my life."

Ino pursed her lips and looked inquisitively in Shikamaru's direction. He shifted under her watch and started to fiddle with his fingers, a habit he hadn't kicked up since him and the Konoha rookies returned from their failed mission to retrieve Sasuke.

"That was the kind of life I wanted," he conceded with a defeated sigh, "and then I end up doing my best, which is just…so unlike me."

The blond rolled her eyes, "Please. No one actually thinks their life will turn out like that. You wouldn't have become a shinobi otherwise."

She made a point. If Shikamaru really wanted the easy way out of life, then he surely would have started up a business in medicine. The path was almost carved out for him from the day he was born: the Nara was a clan composed of fantastic healers also known for their uncanny knowledge in herbs. He'd marry, have two kids, let them inherit his business while he retired into old age.

"We haven't seen each other in a while, ne—Shikamaru?" Ino piqued innocently—well, as innocent as Ino could get.

"Yeah," he decided not to beat around the bush, "we've all been pretty busy."

Shikamaru and Ino didn't share many uncomfortable silences, but with all these talks about living and responsibilities, he was really beginning to feel disjointed.

"Hey—Shikamaru?"

He blinked, "What is it?"

Ino smiled sheepishly, "If we both come back alive, let's get married."

Shikamaru blanched, really unsure where the hell this was coming from, "What?"

The smile disappeared from her lips almost too quickly as she creased her brows, turning a blind eye, mock pretentiously, "I'm not going to repeat myself."

"Oh so you guys were here!" Choji stepped through the entryway of the courtyard.

Shikamaru and Ino snapped their gaze over. Ino put on a thousand watt smile and patted the empty space next to her, "You couldn't sleep either, Choji?"

The day I marry you is the day the world ends.

"Nah," he obliged and took a seat, "just knew you two would be awake. Thought you guys could use some company."

Let's get married.

Shikamaru smirked because he already knew.

This would become one conversation that neither of them would ever acknowledge.