Here's the third chapter, I hope you like it. :)

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"Did you just say Dad?!" Shikamaru instantly stood up, almost paralyzed by the shock of who it was.

He stumbled in drunkly, and slurred his filthy language; that part Shikamaru wasn't suprised at.

"You stupid bitch. You tried to fuckin' run away from me, tried to fuckin' run away from your own father, you should be ashamed. You did exactly what your fucking mom did, you left. Your fuckin' whore ass has probably been sleepin' around with everyone, you worthless piece of shit!" He limped toward her, and gripped her neck, as she cried out and tears spilled from her eyes.

"You're not so bad now are you bitch? There's nowhere to go now!" His slurred words were hard to make out.

In an instant Shikamaru had knocked her father to the ground with one punch. The adrenaline boost made him unstoppable as he wailed punches and kicks at him. Ino's father could barely fight Shikamaru off, as he tried to stand up. He grabbed him by the shoulders and thrust him into a glass cabinet sitting across the room, and Ino screamed at the shattering sound of pain. Ino acted on instinct and ran over to the phone, dialing 911.

"This is 911, what is your emergency?" A woman's voice answered.

"Yes, I live with my friend, and my father intruded in, drunk, and" She was cut off by a punch to the back, and the voice on the other end heard her cry of disraught.

"Hello!? Ma'am!? We'll have officers sent right out!" Ino felt just a bit emotionally relieved, as she heard the information. Her physical status wasn't as well treated though, after another blow to her back, she fell and passed out, the only thing she could remember was Shikamaru running after her father in an anger rushed rage.

She awoke in Shikamaru's arms, sitting in the back of an ambulance that was parked on the front lawn. Her vision was blurred just a bit as she saw a peramedic walk up to them.

"Ok, Shikamaru, your wounds are worse than Ino's, but it's not bad enough for emergency treatment. You should be fine if you change the bandages often, and clean out the wounds where we removed the glass particles."

"Anything serious with Ino?"

"I don't think so, it really just looks like she has some bad bruises on her body, which will have to heal on their own, I'm sure that she'll be fine. You two can go back inside whenever you feel is fine." The doctor smiled at him and walked away. Ino heard a relieved sigh escape Shikamaru's lungs as he stood up, and walked towards the house. She noticed that he limped a bit as he carried her.

"...Shikamaru?.." He looked down at her, and grinned.

"So you're awake? Thank God, I was starting to worry." He hugged her close, and Ino blushed.

"What happened?" His mouth dropped just a tad.

"Well, shortly after you called 911, I had to hold down your father untill they got there, which wasn't far off. They took him away, and they said that they were almost positive that he would serve time." Ino started crying again.

"Thank you, Shika." She looked up at him with sleepy eyes, and he put his finger to her lips.

"Shh, we'll talk tomorrow, you need to rest." She fell asleep in his arms as he carried her to bed.

When Ino awoke, she noticed that the window wasn't as bright as it usually was. The sky was shrouded by clouds, and rain poured from the sky.

'An ugly day after an ugly night.' She thought this to herself and almost laughed.

She stood up, and she noticed that it didn't hurt that bad, the bruises must've already started to heal. She walked out into the living room after cleaning herself up, and saw Shikamaru sitting on the couch. He had his shirt off, which brought heat to her face, and he was trying to bandage up some of his wounds. He had part of the medical tape around his arm, and part of it in his mouth, trying to tie it, but had no luck.

"Damn it."

"You want some help?" He jerked his head towards her and smiled.

"Yeah, if you don't mind. How are you feeling?"

"I don't mind at all." She smiled back at him. "I'm feeling ok, the bruises really don't hurt that bad." She walked over and sat down beside him on the couch. He turned his back to her so she could get better access to the wounds. She untied all of his old bandages and threw them to the floor. She took out the antibiotic cream, and rubbed it on the wounds, and she could feel him relax right under her fingers. After she had rebandaged all of his wounds, she wrapped her arms around his torso and rested her head on his upper back, closing her eyes.

She loved being around Shikamaru, Shika was her nickname for him. He didn't seem to mind, so she kept calling him it. But it seemed like he didn't let anyone else call him that, that made her feel special. She basked in the feel of her face pressed to the skin of his muscular back. They were such good friends, and Ino enjoyed that, but she had always hoped for more though. She had fallen in love with him. She had fallen in love with him long ago. Shortly after they first met, when they were kids. It was just a crush back then, but it had turned into something more. But she didn't know how Shikamaru felt, so she didn't risk the friendship, she didn't know what she would do if she lost any kind of relationship with him. She loved him. She loved everything about him. His laziness, his smarts, his sometimes smart aleck attitude. His kindness, and... his body. She blushed to herself as she thought about it.

"Thanks." His speech broke her from her daze.

"No problem... Shika?"

"Yeah?"

"You don't always have to stand up for me if you don't want to." She sounded almost sad.

"But I do want to."

"But what if something dangerous happens, and you could die? Would you still want to do it then?"

"Yes." He said it stern and surely.

"But..."

"What brought all of this up?" He asked. She pulled away from him and sat beside him.

"I was thinking..."

"What?"

"I was thinking that, what if one day, you stand up for me, and you end up dead? Then you would be dead because of me."

"Don't worry about things like that."

"But... I just do..."

"Just don't, ok?" He stood up and walked into the kitchen to get something to drink. He turned to see her on the edge of tears.

"Why are you crying?"

"I just... worry so much about you." She stood up and leaned against the door frame that led into the kitchen. He gave her a half-angry look.

"You worry about me? Can you even possibly imagine how much I worry about you?!" He turned towards her and walked up to her.

"Well maybe you shouldn't worry so much!" She yelled.

"Why in the hell are you being so damn difficult!?" She stared into his eyes with teary ones, and then walked over to the front door and opened it.

"I need to leave for a little while." She looked down.

"What is your problem!? I don't see why you're acting so wierd!" She turned around and stared him in the eyes. She choked back more tears.

"Damn it Shika! It's because I LOVE YOU!" She let the tears fall and she turned and ran out the door.

Shikamaru fell to his knees in shock.

"She loves me?" He whispered it to himself.

Ino ran as fast as she could through the rain, her hair and her clothes slowly getting soaked. She ran, looking for a place to get her mind off of him. But the place she was running to would just remind her all the more of him.

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I know that this chapter moved a little fast, sorry. :( I hope you liked it though.