Chapter 1

The first thing that Shikamaru could remember about Ino was the day that he pushed her and learned what chivalry was.

At the tender age of four, there really wasn't much that Shikamaru thought about outside the realm of what he wanted. He was a quiet little boy and he hadn't ever really been denied much in his young life. Not to say that he was spoiled, but he hadn't yet run across a situation where someone told him the word 'no'.

So it came as a complete surprise to him that his neighbor Ino said that very word to him that day at pre-school.

"No!" she shouted while she continued to ride around on his Big Wheel Tricycle.

Shikamaru pouted cutely before taking action. He moved to stand in her path and was nearly run over before he pushed her off without so much as a word. Once the irritation was off of his trike he got on and went about his business even as he heard Ino crying loudly.

"Ino, what's the matter," came the voice of the pre-school teacher Kurenai.

Shikamaru took little notice when the dark haired woman lifted Ino up onto her feet and brushed off the little girl's skirt. He continued riding around the blacktop with an uninterested look on his face even as Ino pointed over to him accusingly.

"Shikamaru pushed me off the trike!" she shouted while she whipped at her tear stained cheeks and glowered hatefully at the dark haired boy.

Kurenai glanced over at Shikamaru and glared, moving to approach him a moment later.

'Uh-oh!' he thought before he turned the tricycle and rode in the opposite direction of the pre-school teacher as quickly as he could.

"You get back here right now, Nara Shikamaru!" she shouted, lengthening her stride to catch up to the retreating boy.

Shikamaru found himself sighing in defeat when Kurenai grabbed the back of the trike and halted his escape effectively. He glanced up at her with disinterest as she gestured to the building that was the office and education center of the pre-school.

"Timeout, now!" she ordered and, when she wasn't heeded immediately, she snatched him up by his arm and dragged him inside.

Once positioned on his knees, with his nose in the nearest corner, Shikamaru slouched, pressing his forehead against the wall and grumbled out, "I didn't do anything…"

"Straighten up and don't sit on your feet, Shikamaru. You're being punished for pushing Ino," Kurenai snapped, "her knees are all scrapped up thanks to you."

"Whatever," Shikamaru grumbled back quietly, straighten up only slightly as he was ordered.

Shaking her head disappointedly, Kurenai left to continue supervising the children outside. Before exiting the door she called back to Shikamaru, "I'll give you fifteen minutes to think about what you did."

"I didn't do anything," he repeated after the door closed and slouched forward once again while sitting on his feet.

"That's what you get!"

Shikamaru turned to look over his shoulder at Ino as she stuck her tongue out at him rudely. She had been taken aside by Tsunade to get patched up and was now sporting cute little pink flower band aids in several places on both of her knees.

"Whatever," Shikamaru mumbled again while Ino pouted over at him cutely.

"You know what?!" she asked loudly glaring at the back of his head as he continued to ignore her, "I'm gonna tell your mom!"

Shikamaru stiffened back up quickly before he looked back over his shoulder at Ino with a sense of panic, "Please don't!"

"Nope!" Ino taunted, "I'm tellin'!"

Even after his timeout ended, Shikamaru could feel his stomach turning nervously at the idea that Ino was going to tell his mother about the mean thing that he did.

"What's this I hear about you pushing Ino, Shikamaru?!" Yoshino shouted when she snatched him up by the back of his shirt and dragged his small, struggling body through the front door.

He hadn't even walked fully into the house before he heard his mother screaming at him. With a sense of dread, he had attempted to flee upstairs, but was yanked up and was now being hauled into the living room where his father was waiting with a blasé look on his face.

He took after his father much of the time and resembled him a great deal. The older man's nonchalant, bored nature had apparently rubbed off on Shikamaru a little too much for his mother's liking.

"Tell your father what you did!" Yoshino snapped.

"Why? He doesn't care," Shikamaru talked back smartly and winced after his mother slapped him upside the head with a seething glare, "fine, I pushed Ino off my trike."

Shikaku glanced up at Yoshino with an unaccommodating expression and she sighed out loudly in exasperation, "You don't push girls, Shikamaru!" she shouted, "It's not chivalrous!"

"Chivalrous?" Shikamaru asked, his infliction bored and uncaring.

"Yes, chivalrous!" Yoshino snapped, not knowing what to do about her errant son. She desperately hoped against hope that this was just a phase he was going through, "When I read you bedtime stories about knights fighting dragons and protecting princesses, they're being chivalrous! Don't you want to be like a knight, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru shrugged, "I guess."

"Well, then treat Ino better! She is your princess and you need to protect her! And if she wants to ride on your tricycle you let her!" Yoshino ordered sharply, hoping that Shikamaru would listen to her just this once.

"Fine, geeze!" Shikamaru sighed out.

Yoshino could feel her irritation grow as she growled out at her son, "Now go up to your room and no TV or videogames for the night!"

"Aww, come on, mom!" Shikamaru whined out, only receiving a finger pointed in the direction of his room in response.