A/N & a brief disclaimage: A lot of people wanted some more of the holiday fun, so I decided to add a chapter. I thought it up yesterday morning and thought it'd be cute. This chapter is dedicated to Shikamaru and Ino! Yay!

I also don't own the song "For You I Will (Confidence)" by Teddy Geiger. I thought up this scene while listening to that song and it's one of the cheesiest I have. So jingle on, my good friends!


.:a holiday add on:.
-four-

"Would you look at that? Kiba has found the sound system."

Ino was leaning on the staircase railing, watching as the chaos around her calmed down compared to what it had been a few minutes ago. It did help that Neji and Tenten had left the house to do who knows what, but perhaps the fact that she had stopped running around also helped.

"Should we be worried?" Shikamaru asked in a very unworried voice. He was sitting on the stairs next to her, chin in cupped hand and very bored. The pillow fighting had been fun, but now he wasn't in the mood. Chasing Ino around the house was too much work.

"Maybe," Ino replied absent-mindedly, watching as Kiba fiddled with the stereo's dials and knobs. Static came on over the speakers, but after some more fiddling, a barely audible tune came on over the radio. A triumphant smile spread across Kiba's face and he yanked the volume knob to full blast. Ino nearly toppled over onto Shikamaru as guitar chords thundered through the house.

What an idiot. Does he want all of us to go deaf? Shikamaru sighed and jammed his hands over his ears, getting up and watching as Ino wobbled unsteadily on the stairs. She soon covered her ears as well, turning to him with a face that said, "What an idiot! Does he want all of us to go deaf?!"

"I'm going outside," Shikamaru mouthed to Ino. She screwed up her face in a classic, "What?" expression.

"I'm going outside!" he tried again. No luck. She shook her head and looked dumbfounded. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and gave up, going down the stairs anyway and heading for the door. He wondered what the neighbors thought of this ruckus. They probably weren't too fond of it, he guessed accurately.

Wondering the streets in a world underneath it all
Nothing seems to be
Nothing tastes as sweet as what I can't have

When he opened the door, there was a blast of cold winter air that almost drove him back into the house. He shivered, goose bumps forming on his bare arms. But it was either deafening music or freezing cold.

He chose the freezing cold.

He stepped out of Sakura's house and took a deep breath, rubbing his arms rapidly to try and get warmer. Just as the door was about to swing shut behind him, deadening the loud guitar and vocals, Ino plunged through the door.

Looks like I'm not going to have peace after all, Shikamaru thought, sighing at his own tragic luck. But he wasn't so sure that her coming out to join him was such a tragic thing. Lately…he didn't know what was going on with him. Whenever Ino came around…

Was it nerves? Probably not. Shikamaru didn't recall ever feeling nervous in his entire life…not admittedly, at least.

Was it fear? Yes. No, in actuality, he had to say it wasn't. Ino was bossy enough, but she wasn't scary.

Was it hormones?

Now that was an interesting idea he had never explored before…

Until now.

Like you and the way that you're twisting your hair 'round your finger
Tonight I'm not afraid to tell you
What I feel about you

"What do you think you are doing? You didn't tell me you were going to ditch the party."

Shikamaru scowled. "I tried to tell you but you didn't get it."

"Oh, so that's what you were trying to say…"

"And I didn't ditch the party. I ditched the music."

"Yeah, Kiba went a bit overboard with that," Ino said, sitting down on the freezing step leading to Sakura's door. "I like the song that's playing though."

"Cheesefest," Shikamaru scoffed, dismissing it scornfully.

Ino made an indignant noise. "Well, excuse me, but I like it."

"That's because you don't know what true music is. You only listen to the crappy, commercialized, plastic stuff."

Ino raised an eyebrow. "Plastic music?"

Well, I'm gonna muster every ounce of confidence I have
And cannonball into the water
I'm gonna muster every ounce of confidence I have
For you I will
For you I will

Shikamaru sighed again and sat down next to her. "Not literally. I mean, it's completely geared toward the masses. It's just like any other song in its genre. Nothing new and nothing unique. Completely predictable."

"Geez, well I'm sorry I mentioned it," Ino said, crossing her arms over her chest and looking out at the snowy street.

Forgive me if I st-stutter
From all of the clutter in my head

She started to sing to the song softly, which was the last thing Shikamaru wanted. He had left the house to escape the music. But her voice was pure and her singing was nice, not all off key like some other girls that thought they could sing, but really couldn't. He leaned his head back against the closed door and gazed upward. Then he started thinking about his problem all over again, listening to the words of the song and…

'Cause I could fall asleep in those eyes
Like a water bed
Do I seem familiar?
I've crossed you in hallways a thousand times

Infatuation was not something that Shikamaru was foreign with. He had never experienced it before, exactly, but his father had tried explaining it once. Obviously he had done a terrible job ("Shikamaru, if you ever are with a girl and feel all sweaty and nervous, so nervous that you might just die, do not panic…"), but it had gotten the point across.

Shikamaru watched as his breath trailed upward into the air. He had tried to escape the music for more than just its extreme volume or its cheesiness. He had tried to muffle his ears to the words of the song. Those words were ones that he really should take into consideration, but he just really didn't want to.

Too much damn work. And how do you know that she won't freak out and run away, huh, tough guy? She's an attractive girl with probably a line of guys at her door. You're nothing special at all compared to Sasuke, or some other emo freak with just a pretty face…

"Hey look!" Ino suddenly exclaimed, her face starting to tilt upward. "It's starting to snow!"

Then, Shikamaru panicked.

No more camouflage
I want to be exposed
And not be afraid to fall

"Don't look up!" he yelled at her. She froze and turned to look at him. When she did, she saw a more perturbed Shikamaru than she ever had before in her life.

"What's wrong?" she asked, a little bit curious and a little bit concerned for his sanity.

Oh, way to go, genius. Now she's going to be suspicious. "Nothing's wrong," Shikamaru amended stupidly, giving her a weak smile.

Ino's eyebrows raised a little in confusion. "Then why can't I look up?"

"Because…"

"Because…?"

"Because I say so." Shikamaru could have stabbed himself with a kunai. For someone with an IQ off the charts, he certainly was challenged when it came to dealing with girls.

"Because you say so? Because you say so?" Ino laughed as she got up and looked down at him with a defiant smile. "Well, I'm definitely going to look up now." She started to swing her face upward again, her blonde hair jumping at the sudden movement.

"NO!" Shikamaru yelled as instinct took over.

Well, I'm gonna muster every ounce of confidence I have
And cannonball into the water
I'm gonna muster every ounce of confidence I have
For you I will
You always want what you can't have
But I've got to try
I'm gonna muster every ounce of confidence I have
For you I will

Suddenly Ino froze, and not of her own free will either. Something felt very wrong with her body. She tried to move her head and failed. She tried to lift her arm and failed. She tried to twitch her finger and failed. Then she realized something.

"Shikamaru, did you…?"

It took Shikamaru a moment to actually realize what happened. One moment he was sitting on the concrete and the next he was standing next to Ino, his shadow attached to hers and preventing her from moving. When she started to speak, he finally caught up with his actions.

Uh-oh. I'm so dead. He turned slowly to face her and she turned slowly to face him. Her eyes were wide as they gazed at his face. His face was the essence of regret and apology.

For you I will
For you I will
For you

"You did!" she whispered, her shock apparent in her face. Her eyes then narrowed in anger. "Shikamaru, you used your shadow possession on me! How could you?" Ino tried valiantly to move her arm to punch him, but, of course, she couldn't.

"I'm sorry?" Shikamaru tried, watching as she stood in immobile rage.

"What's secret is so important that it required the use of your jutsu?" she hissed, glaring at him.

Shikamaru could feel nervousness start to bubble in his stomach. He realized that it was now or never. Tell her how he felt now or just let her live on in ignorance forever. And have her get together with someone like Sasuke.

That last part caused him to frown. He didn't like that idea much.

Shikamaru smiled then, which caused Ino to become more puzzled. He only smiled like that when he was very confident, but just a minute ago he had looked like an unstable psychopath. "I'll let you look up," he said, and tilted his head upward. Ino's head did too and she finally saw…

…a sprig of mistletoe.

If I could dim the lights in the mall
And create a mood, yeah, I would

"Huh," was the only comment she made. Shikamaru let both their heads down back to where they were. Ino had an odd little smile playing over her lips. "So that little bit of fungi was causing you to display uncharacteristic Shikamaru panic?"

Shikamaru frowned. "Uh…"

"Well, now I'll know what to wave in your face when you get too lazy or too egotistical," she joked. Shikamaru scowled. This wasn't unfolding exactly how he had imagined it would.

Ino realized after a couple seconds that she was forcing laughter to prevent an awkward silence. She let her fake laughs die away and just gazed into Shikamaru's eyes, because, well, that was the only thing he was letting her do. She saw seriousness there and it slowly dawned on her that this wasn't funny to him.

What is he thinking right now, I wonder? He should have scooted away from me minutes ago, as soon as he saw the mistletoe. But he stayed. And he isn't shrugging it off with some witty comment now. He's just…standing here, controlling my shadow.

While Ino tried to process the moment, Shikamaru was trying to make himself say something, anything. But he was choking up. Nothing was coming out.

Shout out your name so it echoes in every room
Yeah

"Since when did you start taking petty Christmas traditions seriously?" Ino teased half-heartedly, trying to break the persistent silence.

"Since now," Shikamaru said automatically. He was glad for the talking, as it gave him time to rack his brain.

"I guess the better question is, why are you taking this seriously?"

She got him there. Damn it. I have to tell her. Right now. I have no time to formulate a plan…man, what a drag.

"I…" Just say something, you moron. ANYTHING. SAY ANYTHING. "I wouldn't be doing this for any other girl."

"What?"

"I mean, I probably would have moved away from…that by now."

"Okay…"

"I wouldn't have stuck around here for so long." Shikamaru was failing miserably and he was painfully aware of it.

And Ino was smiling wide, amused at her stuttering teammate. "So what does that mean?"

Shikamaru couldn't take it anymore. It was just too much pressure. "What do you mean, what does that mean? You know what that means! God, women are so troublesome!"

Ino started to laugh.

Well, that's what I'd do
That's what I'd do
To get through to you, yeah
I'm gonna muster every ounce of confidence I have
And cannonball into the water

Shikamaru was irritated now. He was regretting getting himself into his whole stupid business. She could live her whole life in ignorance, for all he cared now. She could marry stupid Sasuke. Shikamaru would make sure not to go to the wedding…

"I know what you mean, Shikamaru," Ino finally said, her laughter dying down. Shikamaru looked at her and saw that her eyes were twinkling with amusement. "You like me."

Shikamaru scowled at her.

"Us girls sometimes just want to hear you say it…as actual proof, you know," she continued. "It makes us feel more secure, almost as if you saying it makes it more true than you implying it. I don't know, just a little pet peeve we have, I guess. Like you and cheesy music."

At the mention of cheesy music, the words of the song seemed to smother Shikamaru's head. It was still going. Hadn't it been more than three or four minutes by now? Shouldn't it have been over? Or was this just an extra long version of the song? Damn Kiba…

"I like you too, you know," Ino suddenly said, her cheeks turning a slight pink.

I'm gonna muster every ounce of confidence I have
For you I will

Shikamaru blinked, confused. "But…but what about Sasuke?" He couldn't help but put a little bitterness into that guy's name.

"Sasuke? Oh, Sakura can have him," Ino said dismissively, smiling at Shikamaru. And slowly, he started to smile back.

You always want what you can't have
But I've got to try

Shikamaru's instinct took over again, and he only realized what was happening when his lips touched Ino's cold ones. He could feel her surprise as she drew back a little, but he need not have worried. Soon she was kissing him back and it gave him an even better feeling than when he had been daydreaming about this moment.

Muster every ounce of confidence I have
For you I will

He released her from his shadow possession and as soon as he did, she wrapped her arms around his neck. His hands draped themselves over her waist and the two of them didn't even stop for air. Nothing mattered in that moment. They were so immersed in each other that they didn't even feel the snowflakes brushing their cheeks.

For you I will
For you I will
For you I will…

(surprise)

Tenten felt like she was floating on a sweet cotton candy cloud. Her left hand was in Neji's, their fingers intertwined cozily. She reached up a cold finger to touch her cheek and found that it was burning.

If she got sick from this, it would so be worth it. She gave a shudder of delight.

"You cold?" Neji asked her, stopping in his tracks and pulling her to a stop as well.

"No, of course not," she said. "I'm just happy, that's all."

Neji pulled her in toward him and they kissed again for the second time. It was longer than the first and just as sweet. Tenten felt the same thrill of excitement. She was aware that they were standing in the middle of the street, but she figured that if Neji didn't care, then she shouldn't either.

"Your hand is freezing though," Neji said when they broke apart. "We're almost to Sakura's house. We'll see if she has hot chocolate there."

"Hmm, I love hot chocolate," Tenten said as they started to walk again. Then she remembered what she always had wondered. "Neji, aren't you ever cold? You're not even wearing a jacket." She slid him a sideways glance and saw that he had smiled at the question.

"A family secret, Tenten," he said mysteriously, and she scowled playfully at him.

Then they got to Sakura's house and found a surprise waiting for them at the door.

Tenten tore her eyes from the kissing couple after a few shocked seconds to see that Neji was biting his lip, trying very hard not to laugh out loud. He caught Tenten's eye and could immediately see that his new girlfriend was about to do something very devilish.

"Told you they'd be under the mistletoe!" Tenten stated very loudly. Startled, Ino and Shikamaru disconnected in quite a hurry. Ino was so startled in fact, that she lost her balance and slipped on the icy step. She and Shikamaru went down in a flurry of chaos, much like the episode earlier in the day with the vexing ribbon. Tenten and Neji burst out laughing.

"What can I say?" Tenten joked to Neji as they walked to the door, their path now unobstructed. "History repeats itself." Then Neji opened the door and the two of them nearly landed next to Ino and Shikamaru, the music was still playing so loud.

"What moron turned the volume up so much?" Neji said in a daze as he let the door swing closed again. "Does he want all of us to go deaf?"

"Yes," Tenten, Ino, and Shikamaru all answered at the same time.

Suddenly the door swung open from the inside and Kiba stuck his head out the door. His face was complete confusion as he looked at Ino and Shikamaru, sprawled in the snow at his feet, and Neji and Tenten, holding hands. All of them seemed to have surprised looks on their faces. From what he could not imagine. They looked like a loud noise had just exploded nearby.

"What are you all doing out there? Come in and join the fun!"


A/N: Eh, I'm not too satisfied with the ending, but here it is! An extra chapter! I feel bad leaving Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, and Sasuke out, but I've got no ideas for them. Ayla Silverfang, I almost wanted to use your idea and have the Sand siblings come stumbling in (how funny would that be??), but it seemed like too much work (hehe, Shikamaru moment). Maybe I'll do that later. Because who said you can't have Christmas cheer and spirit after Christmas, eh?

YAY! Thanks for all my reviewers. Sorry for being so misleading about ending the story. Maybe you should keep an eye on this story after all. Hehe...

Until next time!

(-sends more love and gingerbread man cookies-
Happy holidays!)