Title: Little, Troublesome, Love Story

Disclaimer: These characters are from Naruto, which is copyrighted by Masashi Kishimoto and all those Japanese companies that own/produce it.

Summary: Little story about Shikamaru and Ino's relationship a few years in the future. Ino helps take care of Shika after the death of his father.

Author's Note: "Love is a piano dropped from a fourth story window, and you were in the wrong place at the wrong time." - Ani Difranco - I think this quote helped to inspire me to write about another of my favorite Naruto pairings, Ino and Shikamaru. Hope you enjoy it.

Chapter One

Shikamaru almost did not have enough willpower to finish setting up the chess table for a game. It was his favorite past time, wasting the hottest of summer days entranced in a quiet game of chess or go. His lethargic nature was the first challenge to overcome, in doing so perhaps he would complete the setup of the game. The second challenge was to size up his opponent, hopefully a worthy adversary, through subtle questioning and carefully hidden scrutiny.

The open patio looked out onto the Nara's backyard, a well-kept, clean lawn with a pleasant waterfall that dripped into a bamboo shoot and back into the gathering pool at the base of the fall. It was the perfect setting for his battle of intelligence and strategic know-how.

He did not like playing against the same opponent more than once… unless the other player could best him or trick him during the course of the game. Asuma had tricked him a few times, back when Shikamaru had been about 12 years old. Later, Asuma promised new challenges and thus brought along the sharingan ninja to test Shikamaru's strategy. Kakashi had caught him off guard and nearly won the game of chess.

Naruto had never shown him anything remotely interesting. But Naruto amused him, so usually they pit aside the chess set for a more appropriate game of Clue. Of course, Naruto would always have to be Colonel Mustard, while Shikamaru opted for the more respectable Professor Plum. It was the way of the world.

Having mustered up the energy to place one king piece in its rightful place on the board, Shikamaru sighed and glanced up at the bright blue sky. I should just take a nap… This is troublesome.

At that moment, a loud knocking at the front door brought him down from the cloud spotted sky back to the ground. A woman's voice called form the front yard, "SHIKAMARU! If you don't answer this door, I'll break a window and let myself in! And if I have to do that… oooooh dang! I'll give you a new meaning for 'troublesome'!"

Troublesome girl… he sighed inwardly, heaving himself to his feet as slowly as his male ego would allow without being so slow as to warrant Ino sufficient reason to go through with her threats. "I'm coming. Calm down already. You're bothering the neighbors."

Eventually he reached the door and opened it to reveal a very irritated, very blonde girl, who stood tapping her foot impatiently. "Took you long enough. What were you DOING in there? Wait, don't tell me. I'll probably be happier not knowing."

"You're so loud," he grumbled, taking a step back from the door to let her enter. "It was unlocked you know. You could have just barged in. Save me the trouble of answering the door."

"Please! As if I'm that rude," she snapped, throwing the basket of miscellaneous goods into his arms as she brushed passed him and into the house. "Dad sent me over to help you out. You know, make sure you're eating right and keeping the house in order."

On her way through the living room, she stopped in front of the small photograph of Shikamaru's father sitting in its frame between two candles on top of a tidy altar. "Hey there, old man Nara. Don't worry, I'm here to make sure your son is okay."

She bowed slightly before continuing passed the altar into the kitchen. Shikamaru muttered something under his breath but followed her closely, almost bumping into her when she stopped abruptly in the door frame. Confused as to her sudden halt, he glanced around her to see what the source of her reaction was. "Ino? What's the matter?"

Shakily, she took a step forward, fists clenched at her sides. "You're asking me… what's the matter?" She thrust a finger toward the piles and mounds of dirty dishes and trash left over from attempts at cooking. "LOOK at that mess! Can't you do anything yourself?! I cleaned all that up last time I was over! And that was a week ago! How could you make such a horrible mess in a week?"

"What mess?" he asked, yawning and scratching at the back of his head. She lapsed into stupefied silence, which he took for an invitation to speak. "Hey, Ino… stay over today? I'm so hungry. I haven't had a decent meal since you came over last."

"What have you been eating then?"

"Well… Chouji's been bringing me fast food. You know, chips and stuff he keeps in…" Shikamaru paused to consider how to end this sentence, but was stumped. "Do you know where Chouji keeps all those bags of chips?"

A look of horror crossed Ino's face as she realized what he was asking. "Oh, dear God… tell me you're joking. You didn't actually EAT those chips, did you? There's no way your stomach can handle the crap Chouji eats! Who knows where he's been storing that stuff! You probably have a tape-worm the size of my fist in your stomach by now!"

"Really?" Shikamaru pondered this. "So you'll stay?"

"I'm going to have to. These dishes won't wash themselves, and apparently you won't either. Get a towel, you're drying the damn things."

"Towel? They're all dirty."

She stared at him for a moment then smacked her forehead. "Of course they are! You probably didn't any laundry either."

"It's too much work. I figure the clothes will eventually get so dirty that they'll evolve beyond dirty. Maybe they'll become self-cleaning, you know… like hair."

This was too much. She grabbed him by the ponytail and bent him down to examine his scalp. "HAIR?! Please tell me you've been bathing yourself!"

Snickering at her obvious disgust and concern, he backed away from her painful grip. "I'm joking. At least about the hair. The towels are all dirty, but I'm not."

Frowning at him, Ino crossed her arms. "I don't care. Find something to dry the dishes with. I'll be damned if I'm going to clean all your dishes AND dry them by myself."

"Yes, boss," he muttered, walking down the hall toward the linen closet.

Rolling up her sleeves, Ino turned to the graveyard of battered dishes and knew, deep down, that there was a sink somewhere underneath it all. She just didn't know whether or not she would be able to find it in time.