I just want to apologize for the wait.

Just a few notes:

There's two more chapters to come! At first I wanted this to be a one shot, but it was getting long, so I figured I'd write it in a 3-4 part story to make it easier on me.

In this chapter, each break is supposed to progress the story by a week or two each time.

Thank you for the amazing support so far, please enjoy!


Two weeks had passed since Ino had moved back to her hometown and she was settling back in quite nicely. From seven am to six pm she would be working with Shikamaru on their marketing project at Uchiha Corp, then go home, have dinner with her dad and spend some time with him, then she would call Sakura and they would talk until Sasuke came home and started to get –ahem- frisky. She would then do some research for work before going off to bed and repeating the cycle the next work day. So far she had spent her weekends catching up with old friends and listening to Sakura's aunt Tsunade's stories about her youth and teasing her about it.

And that would bring Ino to where she was now – stuck in an office with Shikamaru at 8 in the morning on a Wednesday. Shikamaru was currently analyzing the car they had to promote while Ino was groaning with her head on the desk.

"You know Ino, perhaps the day would go by quicker for you if you maybe helped me with this instead of complaining." Shikamaru dragged out as he swiftly wrote. Ino lifted her head to look up at him and send him a glare.

"If it wasn't so early and I had some tea, I would be working and my work would be so much better than whatever you're doing right now!" She snapped at him, her eyes still in narrow slits as she willed his ponytail to spontaneously combust. "Besides, I should be allowed to complain sometimes, you yourself complain 23 hours and 14 minutes of the day."

"Weren't you supposed to be some kind of high and mighty marketing genius?" He questioned with a cocked eyebrow as he stopped writing and turned to look at her. He smirked as a light blush adorned her cheeks under his gaze and as she pouted and turned her head away. "Troublesome woman," he sighed "If you work until lunch break, then we'll go out to eat, hm? You can drink all the tea you want then. My treat, I guess." As soon as the offer was laid out, a blur of purple and blonde whizzed past his vision and the next thing he knew Ino was sitting right beside him and apparently deeply involved with his data.

He sighed and put his hands on the back of his head before looking back at the woman and letting a small smile grace his lips at her predictability. The only reason he looked away was when a voice broke them out of their tranquil setting.

"How's it going in here?" Sasuke's voice, enlaced with authority, boomed into the room as he entered to check their progress.

"Just fine, Sasu- I mean, Mr. Uchiha" Ino responded, not looking up from the work as she began to scribble some notes down in her own notebook. Sasuke nodded at her, although she did not see it, before turning his gaze to Shikamaru.

"Nara, just because you are a friend does not mean that you get to slack off and let Yamanaka do all the work. Get to it." Sasuke demanded, and Shikamaru could have sworn he heard 'lazy ass' muttered under the Uchiha's breath.

"Isn't he just the worst, Mr. Uchiha? Here I am, little old me, working away while he just sits there and stares at whatever he's been looking at as if he's cloud gazing." Ino teased, finally looking up. 'Cloud gazing sounds good right about now' Shikamaru thought to himself as he ignored the mini-lecture from Sasuke, which Ino took way too much pleasure in joining in on.

"You should really help me with this work, Shika." Ino smirked teasingly. At this time, Sasuke decided to leave, but not before scolding him once more. "I should just, I don't know, call home or give you detention or something like the teachers always did whenever you'd get caught sleeping in class all throughout high school and elementary school." She grinned and poked his side as she spoke. He just let out a sigh and smiled, before encouraging them to get back to work.

"I hope you know you're taking me somewhere good for lunch. I'm feeling like barbeque today." Ino stated with a smile and wink before returning to writing. 'Troublesome woman' is all that crossed Shikamaru's mind as he jumped into his work, and since Ino was so indulged in her work, she didn't see the faint blush that crept up his face.


Every day that passed, Ino and Shikamaru's relationship progressed. They effortlessly fell back into old routine with each other, where they would walk home together after work, Shikamaru bringing Ino a hot cup of green tea with honey every morning, Ino stealing Shikamaru's hair ties whenever she was in too much of a rush to put her hair up before she reached work so Shikamaru would have to live with his hair down that day. Since she saw him with his hair down, Ino would purposely not put her hair up most mornings, just so that she could steal the hair tie that gives Shikamaru his trademark pineapple head, and see him with his hair down all day. He never even thought to bring an extra one.

Of course, whenever this did happen, Shikamaru would always squirm as Ino took out his hair tie from his hair and let it down. Her hand always lingered in his hair a little too long for his comfort. This would evict the reaction that Ino wanted from him and she would take it further by mentioning something flattering about the smell or the texture of his hair, causing him even more embarrassment and discomfort.

"You're so weird, Ino." He would murmur flustered, and that would cause Ino to grin in response.

"I thought I was troublesome?" She questioned, grin still plastered on her face.

"That too."


"Slide over Shikamaru!" Screeched Ino as she shoved the man into the booth of the restaurant, then proceeded gracefully to take a seat beside him. She smoothed out the crinkles in her skirt before looking across the table and shooting a friendly smile towards Choji and his wife. Ignoring the groan coming from the man next to her, she decided to start conversation as she contemplated her order.

"So, Ayame, what do you do?" The blonde woman asked as she put down the menu, deciding on plain rice and yakitori with green tea to drink, and turning her attention on the lovely brunette woman sitting across the table.

"Well, Choji and I are planning to open up a restaurant together. The construction is already in progress, but in the meantime I'm working as a chef at my father's restaurant. He's quite sad to see me go, but gave us his blessing anyway." Ayame spoke with a smile. A waiter arrived to take their orders, momentarily halting their conversation.

"That sounds wonderful. Well Choji has excellent taste and not only for women," Ino began, causing Ayame to blush with her teasing, "But I'm sure that the restaurant will be a success. You can count on me being a regular!" Ino grinned cheekily, before throwing her arm over Shikamaru's shoulder. "You can bet Shika will be there too!"

"Woman, do you have no sense of personal boundaries?" Shikamaru grunted, rubbing his sore arm that was injured when he was thrust into the booth. Of course Shikamaru didn't actually mind Ino's touches, she was a very touchy-feely person and he had grown used to it over the years, but he was a tad bit grumpy after being carelessly tossed like a pair of old sneakers.

"Mm, I thought you knew that years ago, Shika. Don't tell me you're losing your memory already, I thought you were supposed to be a genius?" Ino jabbed as she removed her arm that was slung over the man's shoulders and instead poked his forehead.

"When will you leave that genius stuff alone? It takes too much effort, I'd rather act like I know nothing so people won't bother me," He stated as his hand shot up to grab hers. "Stop poking me dammit."

"You need to stop being so damn lazy Shikamaru," Ino barked, not removing her hand from his and hoping that he wouldn't either. His hand was smooth and brought warmth to her, not to mention much bigger than her dainty little hand. She felt like a young school girl as she tried to fight the inevitable blush that was attempting to colour her pale cheeks.

"And you need to stop causing me so much trouble Ino," Shikamaru retorted as he let go of Ino's hand and leaned back against the seat he was in.

"You're ridiculous Shikamaru, you're the troublesome one. I don't know why you're always complaining about me," Ino huffed and crossed her arms in front of her, turning her head away from Shikamaru. She'd never tell anyone, well maybe Sakura, but she felt a twang of disappointment when he let go of her hand.

Shikamaru was about to reply but was interrupted by Choji. "You two argue like an old married couple," Choji laughed, only to be on the receiving end of a death glare from Ino and a groan from Shikamaru who was too lazy to glare at his friend. Ayame, seeing the potential danger, jumped in to take the heat off her husband.

"So Ino, Choji tells me that you work at Uchiha Corp!" The brunette jumped in, successfully detouring the anger. It also helped that the waiter had arrived with their food and they paused to say a prayer before eating.

"Yeah, I'm a part of the Marketing division. I'm currently working on a project with this lug over here," Ino stated, her thumb jerked in the direction of Shikamaru.

"Yeah and so far, I'm the one doing most of the work. It's a drag," Shikamaru jumped in, sipping his tea as Ino glared at him for his comment.

"Yeah right! Half the time you're asleep before two!" Ino retorted, "Besides, quality matters more than quanitity,"

"I can't deny that your work is rather impressive…" Shikamaru uttered quietly, blushing slightly at the immense beam Ino gave him.

"Took you long enough to acknowledge me," She stated, "Anyways, I'm going to the restroom. Be right back!" Ino hopped out of the booth and walked in the direction of the restrooms.

"So, Shikamaru," Choji began, grabbing the other man's attention, "You and Ino have gotten pretty close, huh?" He asked with a devious smile, clearly indicating towards something.

"Yeah, I mean first they were fighting like they've been married for decades and then Shikamaru gives Ino a compliment that lights up her whole face!" Ayame threw in.

"You're reading too much into this," Shikamaru began with a sigh, "She's just a friend, we've always acted this way towards each other, it's just how it is," He said rubbing his head.

"With you two blushing so much, it certainly did not seem like you're just friends," Ayame stated with a smile as she sipped her drink.

"She is just a friend, okay? She's a third of Ino-Shika-Cho, our families have been friends for generations, do you know how strange that'd be if I liked her? It'd ruin our families' friendships. Then the Ino and Shika bond would become stronger and Cho would be left behind," Another sigh escaped his lips, "Besides, I have a girlfriend, remember? Temari?" Shikamaru then wondered if she and Ino had met, considering Ino had lived in Suna for a while.

"Weren't you in love with her back in high school?" Choji pointed out, earning him a slap in the forehead with a piece of chicken. Shikamaru's face was red, either with embarrassment or anger that Choji would dare bring up that time.

"I thought I told you not to mention that time again?!" He hissed and received a surrendering look from Choji.

"Okay, okay, I won't push this anymore!" Choji wiped off the sauce from his forehead with a napkin as he squinted. "I don't get why you make such a big deal out of it though"

"I don't want to be reminded of when I was too chicken to tell her and besides, she was infatuated with that creepy Sai," Shikamaru said. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Ino heading back for the table and motioned for the two to cease the conversation. Once she reached the table, she slid back beside Shikamaru and smiled at the other three.

"So, what were you talking about?" She asked but received a harmonious nothing, and decided to resume her original plan of getting to know Ayame.

"So, Ayame," She began, wanting to get the woman's attention, "Are you and Choji planning for a baby anytime soon?" This sudden, out of the blue question received three different response; Ayame turned bright red, Choji choked on his food, and Shikamaru smirked triumphantly.


"You have a nice apartment, Shika," Ino stated as she looked around from her current seat in the living room. There was a television in the corner, a small mahogany coffee table in the middle and two cream coloured couches against the wall. Shikamaru walked into the room holding a glass bottle of beer in one hand and a glass of wine in the other, offering Ino the wine. After taking it she knocked it against his drink in a toast and took a sip.

"It's not too bad, I guess. Enough for me," He shrugged, taking a long swig of his drink as he plopped down next to Ino on the couch.

"So…" Ino dragged, earning a questioning look from Shikamaru.

"So?" He questioned.

"I don't know what to talk about…" She sheepishly said, before taking another sip of wine. Shikamaru began to think about a subject topic as he inspected Ino's face. A blush was spread across her cheeks, this time however, it was from the alcohol. He wondered what her limit was when it came to alcohol. He had a pretty decent threshold, although he didn't like to drink too often. He took a drink as his mind started to wander, and happened upon the memory of the restaurant a few weeks ago, and how Choji and Ayame were interrogating him about his old feelings for Ino. Suddenly he became curious about the only aspect of her life he hadn't known too much detail about.

"What happened between you and Sai?" He asked, noticing her stiffen at the mention of his name. All her movements slowed, and the hand holding the wine glass to her lips began to tremble. He scooted closer to her, took her glass and put both their drinks on the coffee table before turning and placing an arm over her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her.

"We're…best friends, right? I'm curious as to why you suddenly moved back after you oh-so-willingly dropped your life here and followed him to Suna," He stated in his usual lazy tone, but his voice was much lower and he spoke smoothly, as if to put her at ease.

"We were doing fine up until a year before the break up, we had our fights but that was when the big issues came to be," Ino began slowly, taking deep breaths to calm her along the way, "And then the topic of marriage came up. Knowing Sai, he'd never go for it, he was way too aloof. He didn't really know what he wanted and had a hard time dealing with his emotions. We were in the company of one of his acquaintances from art class when they questioned us about tying the knot," She said, the next part came out alongside a laugh, "She even said I was getting old,"

"I don't think you're old Ino," Shikamaru chuckled.

"Anyways, it was floating around my mind for the next few days, I thought considering we had been together for almost nine years at that time, longer than some marriages these days. So I thought why not and brought the topic up. Of course, he said he didn't see the point in it considering we were living together and had been in a relationship for so long, why would we need to get married to validate the relationship." Shikamaru nodded along to her story to show her that he was listening and processing the information.

"It's the principle of the matter, it's not about validity. Marriage symbolizes something sacred, pure and ever-lasting. He then questioned my faithfulness, asking if this marriage proposition was used to compensate for something that I've done, that I'd cheated and wanted to marry him to ensure that he'd still be with me despite being unfaithful. I don't know where he came up with that because it doesn't make any sense," Ino laughed, "So for the next two months we'd dance around the subject, and if it ever came up, we'd get into a huge fight. Sakura came to visit after that, and the two of us went down to the beach for a week, just to relax,"

"After an amazing week with my best friend, just forgetting the world, we came back to my apartment to find Sai in bed with two other women. I was devastated," Ino's voice began to waver, and Shikamaru gave her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder, "Sakura was furious, I think she broke six of his bones that night," Ino laughed at the memory of a half-naked Sai fly throughout the apartment as he was being attacked by a small, pink-haired 25 year old Sakura.

"After that, Sakura took me to a hotel and extended her stay for a week and a half, and helped me find an apartment. Well, Sasuke did really, that Uchiha has connections everywhere," The blonde rubbed her chin as if she was thinking what occurred next, "After that nothing interesting really happened, I finished my last year of school with Sai pestering me and Sakura taking the occasional trip to see me. That's all there is to it," Ino finished.

"He's an ass, Ino. You're better off without him," Shikamaru said softly as he tugged Ino towards him in a one-armed embrace.

"You don't have to tell me that, I know," Ino laughed. She didn't know whether it was the alcohol getting to her, or the body heat, but the head radiating off of Shikamaru felt very inviting. She looked up at him to see his eyes closed, his cheeks slightly flushed and his lips parted as he breathed. She felt a desire to kiss him. After the past month she felt closer to him than ever, not to mention an attraction she had never imagined she'd feel for her old friend. He was always just the lazy genius Shikamaru, but now he was so much more than that, he was grown up. Mature. Less awkward, more experienced.

The more time she spent around him, which was quite a lot, the more the attraction grew. Now sitting here with the mood just right, both of them being slightly intoxicated as well, all equaled the perfect opportunity to move their relationship up a step. She focused on his lips and wet her own as the desire grew. 'What the hell, go for it.' She thought to herself as her eyelids slowly drooped and her face rose. She could feel his hot breath on her face. Once her lips touched his, her eyes shut tightly. At first there was no movement on his part, this discouraged her and she was about to break the kiss and apologize, but apparently Shikamaru had a different plan as he suddenly deepened the kiss as his arms wrapped around her completely.

Their lips were locked for less than a minute when the doorbell rang. They slowly recoiled from the kiss, their eyes on each other the whole time. Shikamaru steadied his breath quickly and went to open the door, while Ino was left to calm her heart rate down.

"Hey there genius" A woman's voice, coming from the direction that Shikamaru went, filled Ino's ears. Her eyes widened and her heart raced. 'Who is that?'

"Temari!" Silence passed for a moment, "Hey, I missed you. I didn't know you'd be coming today," She heard Shikamaru say. A pang ran through her heart in jealousy. 'They seem to know each other well enough,' She thought to herself as she reached over the table and took a swig of her wine again to preoccupy herself.

"Yeah well Gaara and Kankuro went away for a few weeks, so I thought I'd come visit you. Hopped on the first plane here," The voice known as 'Temari' said, "Is someone here?"

"Oh! Yeah, come, let me introduce you," Shikamaru said. Ino could hear their footsteps approach. She quickly finished off the wine and put the glass back down. She leaned back into the couch and awaited their arrival.

"Ino," Shikamaru called as they entered the room. Ino immediately scanned the girl, noting that she was very pretty, "this is Temari…my girlfriend. Temari, this is Ino, my best friend who recently moved back to Konoha," He introduced, Temari nodding and taking note. 'Ouch…friend'

"Nice to meet you, Ino" Temari dragged out, Ino nodded at her.

"Likewise, Temari," Ino said as she stood up and turned to face Shikamaru, "Well, I should get going, you two probably want to have some alone time," Ino quickly spit out and grabbed her coat.

"Why don't you stay? I've heard a lot about you," Temari offered as she took a seat on the couch.

"Maybe some other time," Ino replied, "I promised I'd help Sakura plan some things for her wedding anyway, you two have a nice night," She stated as she headed to exit.

"Ino, wait –" Shikamaru's attempt to stop her was futile, as it only fueled her to quicken her pace.

"See you at work!" She weakly called from the door before closing it. She made it barely three feet away from the house before the tears started to fall.

'I'm such an idiot.'


So, the thing is that I'm preparing for an audition for University coming up in two weeks, so I won't have much time to write. As soon as that is over with, I'll have more free time and finish the story quickly. I really don't like putting things on hold, as I'd prefer to update weekly, that just can't happen right now, so I'd like to apologize. Thank you for reading this and I hope you'll stick with this story until the end!