I want to thank all the reviewers who are patiently waiting for me to update and for anyone who continues reading this long and drawn out fanfic of mine. Thank you very much. This isn't the end though.

-Kiki.

It was a week later to the day that Ino was finally released. She held on to Shikamaru as he led her away from the hospital. She really didn't notice where it was that they were going, until their feet left the dirt path and they were walking up a grassy hill. Shikamaru sat in the grass and pulled her down next to him. She stared out into empty space.

Shikamaru shifted by her side, his hand squeezing hers.

"I can't pretend to even have the slightest idea of how you feel," He looked up at the clouds,"But I am here Ino and you can tell me anything."

She looked over at him and shook her head. She didn't want to talk or..sign..or whatever. She just wanted to sit there quietly. She watched him watching her with that permanent worried expression he always seemed to be making. She looked down at the grass, and started to pull the long blades out one by one.

Shikamaru watched as she plucked at the blades. Worry knotting up in his chest and constricting his throat like a serpent. He just wanted her to talk. More than anything he just wanted to hear her loud, troublesome voice. He closed his eyes and leaned back, letting go of her hand gently. She didn't look his way and he felt a strange feeling in his gut. He didn't want her to be upset but he didn't know what could make it better.

It seemed as though the very thought of their skin connecting disgusted her, but all he wanted to do right now was hold her. It felt so foreign...this whole situation. How could any of this even be happening? He sighed and leaned back against the big oak tree. He felt bile rising in his throat and he resisted the urge to throw up. He hated to throw up, but it was ironic that his fear and worries always brought a stomachache. He tended to dwell on things and he hated himself for that.

He looked over at her and noticed the tears slowly falling down her cheeks.

Immediately his arms were around her. "shhh." He cooed into her ear, pulling her hair back with his hand and wiping the tears rolling down her face.

Her crying turned into sobbing, hysterical, hiccuping, loud sobbing that clawed at his insides and pulled at his heart strings.

"I know," He whispered. "let it out."

By the time the sun had set she had stopped crying and had started to fall asleep. Shikamaru put his arm around her back and the other under her knees and effortlessly lifted her up. As he walked to the house he looked down at her face, it was dirty and there were tear stains running down her face. He sighed. He would run a bath for her when he got to the apartment.

He felt her stir as the door creaked open, but all she did was snuggle closer to his chest. He smiled and looked at her lovingly before setting her on the couch and walking to the bathroom.

Ino woke to Shikamaru's big, calloused hands tapping her cheeks. She moaned and pushed him away with one hand, and cuddled the pillow on the couch with the other. She heard him chuckle softly as he lifted her up.

"Lazy." He whispered, walking her to the bathroom. She was set on the toilet, and nearly fell over as he let her go for a moment to retrieve a towel.

"Ino wake up!" he said loudly, tapping her face with his palm.

She groaned and looked at him, but didn't respond, so he picked her up and put her in the tub fully clothed.

Ino's eyes popped open as warm water flooded her body. She gasped at the sudden contact and looked up at Shikamaru who was staring at her with a blank expression. He sat down on the toilet and looked at her, reaching out to pull her hair band from her hair.

"Are you going to bathe or do I need to do it for you?" He smiled as he said the last part and Ino groaned."I've done it before and I can do it again if I need to Ino. You haven't bathed in a week and you stink."

Ino glowered up at him, then sighed as she tried to remove her clothing. Her wet clothes were plastered to her body. She growled in frustration.

"Let me help you." He said softly, and she had a feeling he meant more than just removing her wet clothes.

She nodded her head and lifted her arms slightly.

He pulled his old shirt off of her with a bit of difficulty seeing as how it clung to her body, and he almost gasped as he beheld her breasts, and the lack of bra thereof. Her breasts were so perky...he had assumed she was wearing underwear. He turned his head as she looked up at him. He looked at her shorts and briefly wondered if she was wearing any underwear...under his shorts. He felt a surge of heat in his groin but ignored it, thinking of crippled puppies instead. That was always a turn off.

He slid his thumbs under the hem of her shorts and pulled them down to affirm his suspicions. What was she thinking, not wearing any undergarments? Didn't she know she lived in a house with a man? He looked at her face and into her eyes. Her expression was blank as she stared back at him.

He took the rag and poured some of his body wash onto it, but as he rubbed the rag against her pale, soft, beautiful flesh...he looked into her eyes. And so it was to remain until the remainder of the bath, until her hair needed to be washed. He poured his plain, generic, no smell shampoo into his hands and rubbed them together, then applied it to her scalp. He rubbed gently, but firmly and whispered for her to close her eyes tightly.

She complied, relaxing under his tender touch.

Ino moaned as he massaged her scalp, her mind drifting off into oblivion. She thought herself as a strange creature. Who just let their friend see them naked? What kind of girl was she, a girl who went on seduction missions? A girl who made her best friend bathe her because she was too weak to do it herself? She swallowed the lump in her throat, but couldn't stop her chest from jerking up and down. She felt his hands stop caressing her hair and her frown deepened, until she felt his moist lips against her own. A sob wrenched itself from her throat, but she was not sad.

Shikamaru jerked away at the sound of her sob, and he immediately felt disgusting and low. He pulled his wet, soapy hands away from her hair and stood.

"I'm sorry." He suddenly said, backing away from her. "That was wrong of me,"

She opened her eyes and watched as he backed out of the room. Then she sunk down in the bath tub and cried, shutting her eyes tightly so she wouldn't get soap in them.

Shikamaru wiped his head with his shaking hands. He looked at his wrinkled,pruned, wet fingers and frowned. Why did he kiss her? That was completely messed up. She was raped, she had a miscarriage, and he had to go and kiss her. Like she didn't have enough problems right now.

What would she do? Would she leave him now? Would she go back home to her dad? Would she hate him forever now? Would she think he was a disgusting pig?

He rubbed his face and ground his teeth in frustration. He leaned back with his eyes closed and balled his hands into fists. He didn't hear the bathroom door creak open, or her soft footsteps as she carefully padded over to where he sat on the couch.

She stopped in front of his legs and crouched, holding her towel together with one hand, and the other reaching out to cup his cheek, and then she surprised him kissing his lips softly.

"I love you." she whispered hoarsely, her voice barely audible..

so..what do you think huh?