Summary: Shikamaru returned home from his mission wanting nothing more than to be greeted by a sweet, loving girlfriend and to take a (richly deserved) nap. But, as it turns out, Ino is over at Sakura's house, crying her eyes out. Hey, guess what? ShikaIno.

Pairings: ShikaIno (predominantly), and SakuLee (a pet pairing).

If you don't like these pairings then you'd be something of an idiot if you read this anyway. If you want to flame then I'll go ahead and copy/paste this warning in reply. Please don't be silly.

Unbeta'd.

Dedication: The Laughing Fool.

Disclaimer: Oh good heavens, if only I owned it. Then I could fix certain things...

Surprise!

Chapter Two:

Bad News Travels Fast (Because It's More Interesting)

Shikamaru legitimately wondered if he should be there with Ino. The only thing that kept him there was the fact that he had felt Ino shaking before she'd even gotten to the point of speaking. She at least did him the favor of going into the kitchen where both of her parents were and leaving him in the living room where he wouldn't have to be within their line of vision.

"Hey Daddy, Mom," Ino said and Shikamaru could hear the tremor in her voice.

"Hey baby, it feels like I haven't seen you in quite awhile," Inoichi said, clearly in a good mood, moving closer and dropping a kiss on the top of Ino's head.

The guilt was radiating off Ino with such intensity.

"Um," Ino said nervously and she moved her hand to uncharacteristically fiddle with her hair.

"Yes?" Kayame said and she turned around to face Ino. She'd clearly caught on to something unusual in her tone.

"I, um, I'm pregnant."

All sound ceased.

"You-" Kayame began repeating faintly.

"What?" Inoichi cut her off abruptly. "You're what?"

"I'm pregnant," Ino said in a very small voice. "I'm almost three months along."

"Ino," Kayame said and there was such a deep reprimand in her tone that it made Shikamaru flinch.

"I'm sorry," Ino squeaked, "It was an accident."

Then Inoichi began speaking. "An accident," he repeated, "This was apparently a series of accidents. The first of which was believing that you were half-way ready enough to move out."

There was a painful silence.

"I'm so disappointed in you," Inoichi said. "I don't think that you realize what you've done. You really have no chance anymore of anything that I wanted for you. And now, here you are, eighteen, unmarried, unfinished in your career, and living in an apartment. I'm so disappointed."

"Ino," Kayame said and even her gentle tone was full of reproach, "We talked about these things. And ever since you were a little girl, there have been plans. Your father and I worked so hard to make sure that you would have the opportunities-"

"And you've thrown them all away," Inoichi said flatly.

"I'm sorry," Ino repeated and her voice was incredibly faint.

"Not good enough," Inoichi said.

"I…I don't know what else to say," Ino whispered.

"I think," Inoichi said and his voice was hard, "that what is going to happen now, is that you are going to move back home where your mother and I can start trying to fix this mess that you've gotten into."

Shikamaru stopped breathing.

"Daddy…" Ino began and she sounded perilously close to tears.

"And if I see that boy anywhere near you-"

"Daddy," Ino repeated, even closer to tears.

Kayame moved closer to Ino and started to pull her into a hug. "I know it's not what you want to hear, but maybe you should move back for a little while…"

"I'm not moving back," Ino said and her voice was slightly muffled.

"Like hell you aren't," Inoichi said, "You're moving back today and-"

"I'm not moving back," Ino said, a bit louder. "I know you're disappointed, and I'm sorry. I'm not moving back."

"You're moving back here to live if I have to lock you in to keep you here," Inoichi said.

"I'm eighteen," Ino said faintly, "You can't do that."

"I'm your father. I can."

"These are my problems," Ino said, "I can deal with them. I'll fix it-"

"Fix it!" Inoichi said sharply, "This isn't like a failed test, or an injury on a mission, Ino! This is a child, a responsibility that can't be 'fixed!' You're so young and irresponsible and you're acting like a fool! I thought we raised you better than this-"

"Inoichi," Kayame said in a gentle voice, "Inoichi, calm down a little."

There was a terrible, barely restrained silence.

"Ino," Kayame continued, "I think that you need to leave for a little while."

"Oh no," Inoichi said, "She's not leaving this house-"

"Inoichi, I told you to calm down," Kayame said, gentle voice a bit sterner. "Ino, go home for tonight and we'll talk again once your father and I have had some time to discuss things."

"Alright," Ino choked.

"Just go home and try not to make things any worse," Inoichi said sharply.

Shikamaru had been slouching by the front door, waiting for Ino. She crossed through the living room with her head down and she walked right past him, continuing through the door and down the street at a quick pace, her shoulders held tensely and firmly in place. He followed lightly, a step behind, listening to her tightly controlled breathing, but not speaking. Frankly, he was surprised that he'd made it out of the Yamanaka home uninjured. It made him cringe a bit remembering how Inoichi had referred to him as, 'that boy.'

He'd known Inoichi for as long as he could remember. When he was a child he'd been told that Inoichi was a good friend and that if he ever needed anything at all… Well, that seemed to be done with.

When they reached their home, Ino opened the door, smoothly kicked off her shoes, and went directly into their bedroom. Shikamaru locked the front door, slipped off his shoes and followed her slowly. Ino stood just inside of the bedroom door, staring at the opposing wall with her hand pressed over her mouth. Shikamaru wordlessly pulled her into his arms and it took less than five seconds for her to start sobbing into his chest like a small child. He let her cry for over five minutes before lifting her up and moving them over to the bed where he continued to hold her and she gripped him tightly, her sobs far from subsiding.

"You told them," he said after awhile, "That was the worst of it."

"Wh-what if they make me go b-back?" she cried.

"You already told them that you wouldn't," he said soothingly, "They won't be able to."

Ino sobbed longer. "I disappointed them so much!" she continued crying.

There wasn't much that Shikamaru could say in response to that. He stroked her hair and they just stayed there for a long time. Even when she stopped actually crying she continued to shake and whimper. Ino had never truly disappointed her parents before in her life. She'd always been obedient, exceptionally intelligent, motivated, beautiful, and talented. She was usually beyond reprimand and even when she'd thrown fits or gone through phases of rebellion, she had never done anything that they could truly be disappointed about.

Shikamaru waited patiently throughout all of it. This was the worst that it could get. But he'd known that it would be this bad and, quite frankly, he'd thought that it had actually gone well. He'd been ready for violence and not just against him. He'd been worried that Inoichi might have gotten angry enough to hit Ino in which he would have had to intervene (he knew that Ino would have done nothing to block), and the situation would have quickly disintegrated from there. Beyond that, he'd imagined Inoichi coming in to kill him. Which was still something to watch out for.

But he was completely certain that Ino's parents would forgive her. Especially once there was a little grandchild around, sure to be pretty enough to melt Inoichi's (shockingly) sensitive heart.

It was the evening before Shikamaru finally moved to get up. "Want me get Sakura to come stay with you?" he asked, pausing at the side of the bed.

"Yeah," Ino said in a voice that was no more than a whisper.

"I'll be back in awhile."

Sakura looked surprised to see him. "Hey, what's going on?" she said, glancing behind him, clearly looking for Ino.

"I need you to go hang out with Ino for awhile," he said, hands in his pockets. "It's been a bad day."

Sakura blinked at him. "What? Where are you going?"

"I've got to go talk to my parents," he said with a heavy sigh, "Otherwise I'd be staying there with her."

"What is going on with you two?" Sakura exclaimed. "Ino was over here the other day acting like a psycho and now you're asking me to go baby-sit her? Are you two breaking up or what?"

Shikamaru shifted his weight and looked up at her. "Ino's pregnant," he said bluntly.

Sakura blinked again and then her face completely transformed as a quick 'a-ha!' moment passed over it. "Holy shit, that totally explains it," she said. "Wow, she- wow!" Sakura suddenly gasped, "Her parents are going to kill her-"

"Yeah, that's where we were earlier."

"How'd it go?" Sakura breathed.

"Pretty well, considering. Very badly, though. So would you mind going and keeping her company?"

"Yeah, of course!" Sakura said and then she gasped again, "And now you're going to tell your parents?"

Shikamaru sighed, "I need to tell them before Ino's dad goes charging over to fight my father."

"Is it really that bad?" Sakura asked with wide eyes.

Shikamaru shrugged.

Shikaku figured it out as soon as Shikamaru said, "Hey," which was pretty impressive, even for Shikaku. Yoshino had been shocked and had immediately embarked on a tirade of what a stupid and irresponsible boy he was and how he had ruined Ino's life by trapping her. He'd waited through the outburst patiently. Ino wasn't trapped by any means. If she wanted to leave she'd have plenty of support and was more than an equal to the challenge. But the actual comfort came in knowing that she'd never do it. She didn't want to leave him. Besides, as far as being irresponsible, personal life was the time to do that. Personal and paperwork. Those were the best places for ninjas to mess up.

Yoshino finally had to pause for breath and water. Shikaku asked Shikamaru how far along Ino was and despite his best efforts there was an unmistakable tone of anticipation and excitement. Yoshino rounded on him immediately, raging that he was the reason that their son was messing up so badly and what on earth could she do to try and keep either of them respectable when they were both such losers?

Said losers borne the verbal assault quite well and Yoshino eventually seemed appeased enough (for the moment). She walked away and into the kitchen and Shikaku waited until she was out of sight before speaking in an undertone to Shikamaru, "Did Ino already tell her parents?"

He nodded. "We went there this morning."

Shikaku winced. "How's Inoichi?"

"Very angry."

"Did he try to kill you?" Shikaku asked.

"Not yet."

"Be careful. Inoichi can be very… brutally violent and unthinking when it comes to… issues like this."

Shikamaru nodded mechanically.

Shikaku paused. "Is Ino by herself?"

"Nah, Sakura's with her. I'm going to go home now. Have fun dealing with Mom."

Shikaku sighed. "You could have told me before you told her."

Shikamaru stopped to give him a look that conveyed exactly how unconcerned he was with his father's comfort. Shikaku frowned in response, but let him go without saying anything.

"It won't be bad," Shikamaru could hear Sakura saying as he walked into the apartment, "it'll be a cute little baby."

Ino didn't respond. Sakura took another deep breath and continued, "And no matter how bad it is now, your dad is going to love another cute little baby to have in his family. Think about how much he adored playing with and taking care of you!"

It was a nice effort on her part, but it really wasn't the right thing to say. "And I disappointed him in the end," Ino said in a wavering voice.

"This isn't the end," Sakura said, "everyone is going to be happy in the end. You'll see. It's just at a hard part right now."

Shikamaru could see what was left of Sakura cooking something. Sakura was a terrible cook, but Shikamaru was willing to try it. There hadn't really been any chance to eat anything that day, not that he found himself very hungry. He hoped that Sakura had gotten Ino to drink something because she must have been dehydrated beyond reason with all of the crying that had been going on for the last few days.

He managed to choke down a bit of the what looked to be rice, but he couldn't really truly identify it (even after tasting it), and then he went into the bedroom. "How'd it go?" Ino immediately asked.

She looked like a mess, having clearly spent the last few hours crying. Again.

"Not bad," he said with a shrug.

"Is your mom mad at me?" Ino asked in a small voice.

"No. She feels bad for you and she's mad at me."

"She feels bad for me?" Ino repeated.

Sakura nodded wisely. "She's thinks that you're trapping Ino?" she said.

He nodded and flopped down on the bed. "Trapping me?" Ino said. "What the hell does that even mean?"

"That since I've got you pregnant, you won't be able to leave me," Shikamaru said.

"I could leave you," Ino said, "It'd be really easy."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Sakura stood up. "I've got to go. I was supposed to meet Lee an hour ago and he'll wait until I show up."

"Bye," Ino said miserably. "See ya," Shikamaru echoed. He laid back on the pillows and waited while Ino crawled over and laid her head on his chest. "I wish I were dead," she wailed.

"I don't," he said.

Ino sniffed. She was a sucker for him 'being sweet,' as she put it. He didn't do it often, so when he did the potency was even greater. "It'll get better," she said.

He nodded. "Yeah. My mom's already on your side. My dad is acting weird. And your parents will get over it. You know that your mom is working on your dad right now."

Ino shook at the very mention of her father. "He's going to kill you," she said, "and make me the equivalent of a widow."

"I'm pretty good at hiding," Shikamaru said, "and he'll eventually see that it'd be better not to kill me. Besides, he's going to end up talking to my dad first."

"Really?" Ino said.

"Yeah. He's going to go and blame my dad for being a loser and raising me badly and my dad will end up doing his best to get out of it. So, hopefully, he'll end up using most of his rage against my dad instead of me."

"You're kind of mean," Ino said, "Setting up your dad like that."

Shikamaru shrugged. "He raised me badly. He deserves it."

There was a moment of silence.

"You told Sakura that I was pregnant," Ino said, quietly accusatory.

"You are pregnant," Shikamaru said.

"Sakura's a loud-mouth. She's going to tell everyone. So everyone will know by the end of the week," Ino said.

He shrugged. "You're a loudmouth too."

"Maybe I didn't want everyone to know yet!" Ino said.

"Everyone in this apartment already knows from all of that screaming that you did the other night," Shikamaru said, "and you're going to have to tell the missions office very soon so they won't send you on dangerous missions."

Ino groaned into his chest. "I won't be able to go on missions! It's going to be so boring!"

"You're joking," Shikamaru said, "Every time you get assigned a mission, you always complain about having to go."

"I like going on missions. They are interesting."

Good, she was starting to feel better if she was complaining like that.

The next afternoon Kayame showed up at their apartment and told Shikamaru that she needed to speak to Ino alone. He glanced warily past her, vaguely wondering if this was some sort of trap Inoichi was using to get Shikamaru alone. "No, he's at home right now," Kayame said, watching Shikamaru's wandering gaze.

He'd made it barely a block from the apartment when a loud, "Hey!" stopped him.

Choji was across the street, pointing an accusing finger at him with a scowl on his face. Shikamaru waited while Choji quickly crossed the street and then stared at him. "Well," Choji said darkly, "Have you got something to tell me?"

"Why are you mad at me, Choji?" Shikamaru said tiredly.

"I heard some crazy news from Sakura that I figured I would have heard from you!" Choji said, his expression dark with betrayal.

"You've been listening to gossip from Sakura?" Shikamaru said.

Choji's expression faltered. "Is- is it just gossip then?" he asked.

"What'd you hear?"

"That there was going to be a little Nara running around sometime soon," Choji said.

That filled Shikamaru's head with an interesting visual. "Yeah, that's true," Shikamaru said reluctantly.

Choji sucked in a breath. "You irresponsible idiot!" he exclaimed and shoved Shikamaru with enough force to make him stumble. "Ino's dad is going to kill you!"

Shikamaru glared at Choji, "Hey, how about you be a friend on this one?" he said, "I've got enough lectures."

Choji stopped short, his mouth open but frozen with the words that he was dying to throw at Shikamaru. Finally he shut his mouth and frowned. "You and I are going to go eat some barbeque. Now."

"No, I can't go to any familiar places," Shikamaru said, "We have to go somewhere that we don't usually go."

"Oh, you told Ino's parents already?" Choji said incredulously and then he glanced around a bit nervously. "What the hell are you doing out?"

"Ino's mom is over and she needed me to leave."

"Are you sure that it's not just a trap?" Choji asked, grabbing Shikamaru's arm and dragging him down the street.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me before you told Sakura?" Choji asked, hurt.

Shikamaru watched Choji pick up a kabob and rip through it quickly. He was eating in the fashion that very clearly meant that he was feeling emotional. "Sakura came over to stay with Ino for a little while. She needed to know."

"I could have come over to stay with Ino," Choji said, reaching for another kabob.

"Ino was crying. You hate it when she cries. And you've told me before that you feel useless and don't know what to do when that happens."

"She was crying?" Choji said.

"It was not a pretty scene at her parents' house."

"Holy shit! You were there?" Choji gasped, "Are you suicidal?"

"No. But I couldn't let her go by herself. It was bad."

"Still. You could have told me at least before I heard it from Sakura. I'd have rather heard it from you than from her."

"I didn't realize that she'd work that fast," Shikamaru said, "This was only last night."

"Really?" Choji said in surprise, "Wow. I heard about it this morning."

Shikamaru sighed in exasperation. "She's telling everyone?"

"Well, she was telling Naruto. And I was there."

"Why was she telling Naruto?" Shikamaru said.

"Naruto loves gossip. And they're really close," Choji said.

Shikamaru cringed at the word 'gossip.' He was not happy that his life was 'gossip.' "Who else was there? And what were you doing hanging out with Naruto?"

"I wasn't hanging out with Naruto, we were both just at the missions office."

"She was talking about it at the missions office?" Shikamaru asked alarmed.

Choji nodded. "Yeah. Her team was there getting an assignment. I was turning mine in."

"Her team?" Shikamaru said. "Who was at the desk?"

Choji cringed. "Anko," he said apologetically.

Anko. Who worked with Inoichi. Who was one of the most proficient gossips in all of Konoha. Son-of-a-bitch.

Shikamaru sighed. Well, hopefully things would be better when he went home that evening.

"My father is still mad," Ino said and Shikamaru was relieved to see that she wasn't crying. There was only so much that his nerves could take and they were quickly reaching that limit. "Mom said that you should be careful for at least another week," Ino said.

"You owe me for this," Shikamaru said, sprawling out on the couch.

"I owe you for this?" Ino said and there was a definite coolness to her tone. "I think you've got it backwards. I'm the one that's going to have to get gross and big and uncomfortable while you get to do whatever you want."

"You realize that your father and my mother are going to be furious with me until this is finished with?" Shikamaru returned, "And you're not even three months along. I've got to deal with this for over half of a year."

"So am I!"

"They aren't as angry at you as they are at me," Shikamaru said with a long-suffering sigh that was really more worthy of Ino. "And you're only going to be uncomfortable for three months of it at the most."

"Two people are mad at you, Shikamaru," Ino said, "Two. And everyone is going to be staring at me when I walk around, and they'll all be thinking 'Oh, what a screw-up.'"

Shikamaru felt an uncomfortable prick of guilt as he recalled exactly how many people already knew.

"And I'm not going to be able to have any fun or go on any missions, or wear any new clothing that isn't all big and ugly," Ino ranted.

"Ino," Shikamaru said calmly. "You are three months along. You can still do whatever you want for the next couple of months."

"Not whatever I want," Ino said sulkily, "We have to spend the next week hiding you from Daddy."

Shikamaru felt his eye twitch. "I'm going to bed."

A/N.

Thanks, friends, Romans, and countrywomen and countrymen!

Review please~

-CR