Thank you everyone for all the lovely reviews! It looks like some of you are developing theories about what's going on based on some of the hints that I've dropped in previous chapters...

Now here's some nice ShikaIno goodness.

The Endgame

In chess, the endgame is the stage of the game when there are few pieces left on the board. The endgame tends to have different characteristics from the middlegame, and the players have correspondingly different strategic concerns. In particular, pawns become more important as endgames often revolve around attempting to promote a pawn. The king, which has to be protected in the middlegame owing to the threat of checkmate, becomes a strong piece in the endgame. It can be brought to the center of the board and be a useful attacking piece.** Wikipedia

Chapter Twenty

"The knight is renowned for, among other things, its suitability as a blockader ... Because its strength lies in short-range operations it is not uncomfortable standing in a single spot for long periods, as the Bishop is." - Samuel Reshevsky

Interlude

Shikamaru answered the knock on the door. His father was out on another planning mission about the war and his mother was with Choji's mother, helping to prepare supplies for the Allied Shinobi Forces. Troublesome, who had come to bother him this afternoon?

He was surprised to see Ino standing on his bottom step. She was wearing a blue tank top and a white skirt that fluttered around her knees in the light breeze.

"Good, you're home," said Ino walking past him, into his house. "Are your mom or dad home?"

"No, why?"

When she didn't answer, he followed her into the kitchen. She poured two glasses of water from the tap and handed one to him. His long fingers wrapped around it.

"We got put in different divisions," she said simply.

"I know," he answered.

"You're in the Fourth Division with Choji and I'm in the Fifth Division with Kiba and Shino," she continued.

He took a sip from the glass she handed him. "Not really a time to get nervous, Ino. We're supposed to be deployed tomorrow. We're joining with our divisions and then heading to the front."

Ino looked down at her hands. Her blonde bang slid across her face, hiding her eyes from his scrutiny. "I know."

He put down his glass and stood in front of her, putting his hand on her shoulder. He was just as nervous as she, but he faked a smile. Smoothing back the blonde bang behind her ear, he looked into both of her too blue eyes and said, "Everything'll be fine. My dad's great at thinking strategies and your dad's great at relaying them. We're as well prepared as we could hope for."

Ino put down her glass on the counter next to his. "Shika," she began, before looking to the side and blushing. "Can I kiss you?"

"What?" he gaped. Was this a trick? "Is that you, Naruto? That's not a very funny joke."

The blonde girl rolled her eyes and hit him over the head. "You and I both know Naruto's headed off to do his bijuu training. It's not a trick. I should have known you'd take it like this."

She stepped around him and would have bolted out of the house if he hadn't grabbed her arm. "Wait," he said.

Willing and pliant in his grasp, she let him pull her into his arms. Releasing his tight grip on her upper arms, he slid his hands down her beautiful body to rest on her lower back. It felt like coming home, having her in his arms. They fit together like puzzle pieces.

She rested her hands on his chest and titled her head up towards him, stretching and bending like a flower towards the sun. He moved one hand to her cheek and looked down at her intently, hoping to burn the image into the back of his eyelids. She parted her lips and closed her eyes, waiting for him. He smoothed a hand across her cheek before kissing her softly on the lips.

She returned his kiss eagerly, her tongue traced the seam of his lips, begging entrance. She slid her hands up his chest to wrap around his neck, pressing her body in closer to his. She deepened the kiss, slipping her tongue into his mouth to dance with his. He could feel every exquisite inch of her body pressed tightly against his.

She backed him against the countertop and kissed him thoroughly. She was really good at this. He slid his hands up her back, not sure what he was allowed to touch.

She pulled back from him after several minutes, her breathing unsteady. "I didn't want to go to war without doing that."

"That makes two of us," he said, resting his forehead against hers.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and settled her head on his chest. "Would you want to…" she began.

He blinked down at her curiously. Was she asking what he hoped she was asking? This had to be a dream. The Ino he knew didn't act like this in real life. "Want to what?" he pressed.

She leaned up towards his ear and whispered, "I don't want to go to war with any regrets."

They stumbled up to his room, stopping on just about every stair to share kisses. Eventually losing patience, Shikamaru picked her up bridal style and carried her up the stairs. She laughed, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and laying kisses on his mouth and face as they went to his bedroom.

"Kami, I'm so glad my parents are out," he said.

Ino's giggle turned into a squeak as he dropped her on his futon still lying on the ground. Thank Kami he'd been too lazy to roll it up this morning.

He pounced on her.

"I waited to make sure Aunt Yoshino was out before I came over," Ino explained with a grin.

He slipped his hands under the tight blue tank top and caressed the skin of her flat belly. Sliding the shirt over her head, he sat back to looked down at her. She was a seductive picture with her innocent white skirt puffed out around her knees and that sexy red and black lace bra.

She sat up on the futon and slid over to him, settling down in his lap. He let out a little groan as she wriggled on him. She slid his long sleeve blue shirt over his head and ground down against him with a cheeky grin. Shikamaru clutched onto her hips to try to lift her off him. "Kami, Ino!" he moaned

She laughed and unfolded herself from him. Standing up in front of the futon, she tugged at the zipper on the side of the skirt. The white skirt smoothed down her legs, revealing a matching set of red and black underwear. She walked towards him and he slid his hands around her hips, kissing her flat stomach. His tongue swirled around her naval, making her giggle. "Kami, you're sexy," he muttered.

As he was occupied kissing her stomach and running his hands up and down her legs, she took his hair out of the ponytail and combed her hands through it with a sigh. "Stand up, Shika," she commanded. "I want to kiss you too."

He laughed and stood up, kissing his way up her body to her lips. She let out a little moan and he slipped his tongue into her mouth at the invitation. Her hands slid down the warm skin of his back, enjoying the flexing on his lean muscles. He tugged her hair out of her ponytail, reveling in it as the blonde tresses fell in a river down her back. She had the most beautiful hair.

Her hands went to his chest and she pushed him hard. He stumbled down onto the futon in confusion and disappointment at the kiss ending so abruptly. He looked up at her in bewilderment. She smirked before climbing onto the futon behind him, sliding back into the center.

She beckoned him with half lidded eyes.

Kami, what had he done to deserve such a beautiful, troublesome, charming, infuriating, brave, intelligent, wonderful girl?

He slipped out of his pants before crawling over to her. She spread her legs wide to allow him to settle in between them. He took deep breaths trying to control himself; he couldn't lose it this early.

He slid his hands up the soft skin of her inner thighs to those really sexy lace panties and then up to her bra. Arching backwards, she unclasped her bra and slipped the straps off her shoulders.

"Kami, you're perfect," he said, taking the weight of her breasts in his hands.

He caressed and kneaded them, thumbing the erect nipples. Wanting to take one in his mouth, he kissed down her chest. She slipped her hands into his hair as he swirled his tongue around one of the hard peaks before biting it lightly. Ino let out a wonderful little moan from the back of her throat. She gasped out his name and he felt like a god.

He felt like it was hours before his attention was torn away from her perfect breasts. Her hands, which had been caressing and massaging his shoulders, back, and arms, slid under the elastic of his boxers to grip his shaft.

He bit into her collarbone hard in alarm. She moaned out in surprise at the pain and pleasure. Her hand began sliding up and down his erection, her clever thumb sliding over the tip to wipe away the drop of fluid weeping from it.

He panted into her shoulder, "Kami, Ino. If you keep doing that, I'm not going to be able to control myself."

Her voice was a breathless giggle in his ear. It sent a shiver down his spine. She arched her hips up, brushing against him. "Please, Shika."

He sat back panting like he'd run a race. He slipped off his boxers to let his erection spring free before slipping her sexy red and black panties down her perfect legs to reveal the little blonde thatch of hair and her sex. She spread her legs wider and held out her arms to him.

Kami, he wished he could take a picture and frame it: her body laid bare for him, her arms open in invitation, the pink flush that suffused her body, the way her breasts rose and fell as she took a breath, and that expression in her lust clouded eyes.

He slid on top of her again, aligning their bodies. He breathed heavily, trying to get himself under control so he wouldn't lose it too early.

Ino, the little minx, was impatient. She arched her hips, so the tip of his cock slid until her sex. He gripped her arms tightly and groaned out. "Oh, Kami, Ino. I'm not ready yet."

She bit into his shoulder and wrapped her legs around his hips. "Shikamaru, please!" she groaned.

He panted into her shoulder. "Are you sure you're ready? I heard it was supposed to hurt girls their first time."

Ino panted, wrapping her legs harder around him and arching her hips, trying to impale herself on him. "Oh, Kami. Please! Just do it, Shika! I can't wait any longer! I'm so ready."

He thrust into her and she let out a little scream. He gasped in her ear. "I'm so sorry, are you alright?"

She moaned below him. "Oh, Kami, you feel so good. Please, more! Faster, deeper! Oh, Shika!"

He pulled out before thrusting into her harder. She didn't seem to be in any pain. Her eyes were closed as her bright blonde head thrashed side to side. Her legs tightened around his hips and she let out a keening moan. She arched up into him again. "Faster! Oh, Kami!"

He pounded into her again and again, moaning and groaning at the feeling of her tight and hot walls surrounding his rigid member. After a couple more thrusts, she completely lost it, arching into him and moaning out his name in ecstasy. Her walls shuddered and gripped him tightly as he too spiraled into ecstasy, moaning out her name and collapsing on top of her.

Nara Shikamaru

Shikamaru stumbled out of the Konoha Council room in a daze, knocking over a vase of red roses on the way out. What the hell had he just done? Ino was going to be pound him into oblivion. He wasn't any better than Koharu. He was forcing Ino into a marriage just as surely as the counsel women would have.

As they spoke of it so coolly, he felt a hot rage well up within him. It was jealousy, pure and simple. Ino would probably be happy with C of Kumogakure. In the little interaction he had seen between the pair, they got on well. He was just her type: beautiful, romantic, and gentle. Shikamaru was just being selfish and possessive and he felt like a jerk.

Even so, he would see it through. He needed to act fast to ensure that his deception wasn't discovered. He had to magically produce a marriage certificate. He would have it dated before the war. Tons of ninjas had gotten married before being deployed; it wouldn't have been unexpected if he and Ino had done the same thing.

How to go about this? He needed to be careful. If the council found out their marriage was just a ruse, both of them could get in serious trouble. No with another nation involved his plan would have to be flawless.

There wouldn't have needed to be too many people present at their fake wedding: just the presider, him, Ino, and a witness. He could ask Choji to be the witness. Choji would sign the form and probably ask a lot of questions and tease, but he would be discrete and defend Shikamaru's lie. The presider would be tricky. It had to be someone who had the proper licenses and who wouldn't squeal. Shikamaru didn't know anyone well enough to trust them to do that. It would have to be someone who had died during or soon after the war. Their death would ensure their silence.

He ran through every conversation he had with Konoha shinobi during the war in his head. Several of them had told him about getting married before the war broke out. There were a number of different presiders in Konoha. He compiled the list of the fourteen men in his head as he walked down the street towards Choji's house. Now with the list of fourteen presiders compiled, he sorted them into those who were alive and those that were dead. Many of the men weren't shinobi, so only four had died during the war or soon after.

One in particular jogged his memory. Kenta had survived the war, to die during an ANBU mission. He was Sasuke's ANBU captain, who had conveniently written a glowing letter of recommendation for Sasuke before his death. Shikamaru was pretty confident the letter was forged; though, it was almost impossible to prove. Sasuke must have mimicked Kenta's handwriting with his Sharingan and he'd done a fine job.

Sasuke would be discrete, unless Shikamaru pissed him off for some reason. He and Shikamaru weren't friendly; their relationship was rocky at best. But Sasuke had more reason to hate the council than he did, so he might go along with Shikamaru's plan. Shikamaru also had something that he could hold over Sasuke, the forged letter of recommendation, to ensure the Uchiha's cooperation. He hated to involve Sasuke in this, but it was the only way to ensure that the forged marriage papers would be flawless.

Interlude

They lay side by side on his futon, staring up at his ceiling as they tried to catch their breaths.

"We didn't use protection," he realized.

"That's alright," she said. "I'm taking something so you don't need to worry about this getting me pregnant."

"Good," he said. He pulled her towards him and she rested her head on his shoulder. "That was…"

"Amazing," agreed Ino. "Was it your first time?"

Shikamaru felt embarrassed. "Yeah. Did I do alright? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Ino kissed him on the lips. "You were wonderful," she answered. "It didn't hurt at all. It was amazing."

"I thought it was supposed to hurt for girls on their first time," he said, caressing her waist.

"You did bite my shoulder pretty hard. That's going to leave a mark," said Ino glancing down at said shoulder where the red marks were still visible.

"This wasn't your first time, was it?" said Shikamaru.

Ino stiffened. "What? Why would you say—"

His hand on her waist tightened and she flinched. He demanded, "Who was he?"

Ino tensed in his arms. "Why does it matter? I'm in your arms after we just made love for the first time and you're quizzing me about this?"

"Are you sending all our other friends off to war like this?" he snarled.

"Why would you say that?" she gasped. Pulling away from him, she snarled, "Is that what you really think of me?"

"How many others have there been, Ino?" he growled.

She sat up and glared down at him. "It was just one other man, okay?"

"What was his name?"

She stood up from the bed with a little scream of anger. She hurried over to pick up her underwear and bra where Shikamaru and tossed them. She glared down at her lover on the futon as she pulled on her panties and clasped on her bra. "I'm not going to stay here to be insulted."

"His name, Ino?" repeated, Shikamaru sitting up.

Her skirt was dangling off a lamp. She grabbed it savagely and zipped it up. "That's none of your business."

"The hell it's my business. I have a right to know."

"You have no right to speak to me this way, Shikamaru," she said, walking towards him. Her blue tank top was at the foot of the bed.

"Who was he?"

She tugged on her top. Whirling around, she snapped, "Why did you have to ruin this for me, Shikamaru? He doesn't matter anymore. He was just someone I used to know, someone beautiful and romantic and gentle. He wouldn't have insulted me like this."

She slammed the door and stomped down the stairs.

"Well I hope you're happy together," Shikamaru said glaring at the door.