Warning a LOT of shika hiden spoilers.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, it's characters nor any other related themes. Large portions of this chapter are from Shikamaru Hiden translated by cacatuasulphureacitrinocristata (so honestly 60% of the writing is basically hers), only difference being that it is Ino centric.

XXX

Ino gasped as if she had just been pulled out from under water. Her lungs were still burning and her body seemed desperate for more oxygen- she struggled to take deeper breaths as her vision focused in on Choji and Sakura hovering over her.

She made it.

She realized she was in a sitting position and across from her lay a motionless body. Her eyes widened at the sight as she felt her heart plummet- Sai hadn't regained consciousness.

Why isn't he up yet?

"How'd it go Ino?"

She heard Choji ask but felt too drained to answer, her sights were still on the pale boy on the ground.

Sai, please wake up.

His head was close to her knees and without paying attention to her surroundings she placed her hands on the ground and leaned in. Her face hovered above his, her long hair forming a curtain of privacy as it fell past her.

His angular pale face seemed to be carved of marble, the dark hair mussed and longer than she remembered. She could faintly make out Sakura and Choji's voices in the background but all she could focus on was the man lying motionless in front of her.

Wake up already!

Why won't you wake up?

I still have things to say to you…

…and fight with you about…

Wake up…

She felt her vision start to blur as tears welled up.

Please….

Don't just lie there.

Her shoulders started to tremble as she felt the tears start to brim over her lids.

Wake up Sai.

Don't leave me already.

She blinked and tears threatening to spill finally dripped onto his cheek… and he stirred.

Slowly his eyes opened and she saw her grief stricken face reflected clearly in their dark depths.

Before she noticed who had reached out first, they had clasped their hands together.

He stared at her face as if this was the first time he was properly seeing her, his free hand trembled as it reached up hesitantly wiped a stray tear from the corner of her eye before falling back awkwardly.

He looked worried and somewhat guilty; his dark eyes bearing into her own blue ones. Ino could tell he was thinking about their fight back in Suna, it wasn't difficult to decipher considering it was on her mind too.

At that moment it was as if there was an unspoken conversation between them, both felt the need to clear the air.

"Sai..." She started.

At the sound of his name from her, his eyes widened ever so slightly, as if shocked that his name would grace her lips.

"You…" Sai dazedly murmured as he squeezed her hand, almost as if he was afraid of her letting go, "You were…"

His voice was like a gentle caress, so soft and warm it made her insides squirm. It had been so long since he had spoken to her, she was painfully aware of how much she had missed it.

And suddenly she realized she didn't care about the events in Suna at all. The only thing that mattered was that Sai was okay, that Sai was back.

"You can stop worrying already." Tears had started falling freely from Ino's eyes, no longer out of grief but out of sheer relief and joy that he was back.

"Thank you… miss Beautiful." He seemed to understand the underlying implication and relief flooded his features as well- he seemed to have expected a different reaction.

"Idiot…"

He squeezed her hand again and broke into a genuine smile, Ino couldn't help but smile back.

XXX

Sai lost consciousness again shortly afterwards, the fingers of his right hand still entwined with hers. She sighed in relief as she noticed the steady rise and fall of his chest, he was clearly just exhausted.

Suddenly she heard a loud crash and looked up, it was chaos all around her.

It took a second for her to remember that she was still in the middle of the huge fight that had broken out when the Suna forces stormed Gengo's fortress. Choji took down three more cloaked men as Sakura hit the ground with enough force to bring a pillar crashing down. She blinked as the gravity of the situation finally sunk in and she leapt to her feet.

"Finally." Temari closed her war fan, she had been keeping Gengo's men from attacking Ino and Sai.

Sakura rolled her eyes as she jumped backwards. "Took your time with that reunion."

"Shut up Forehead!" Ino fought down a blush and shook her head, "We have to get to Shika! He's gone after Gengo alone!"

"What?" A man she had never met before with thick eyebrows and a strong jawline exclaimed.

"We have to help him, y'know!" A young girl with a slightly rounded face responded with a serious nod.

"Who are these two?" Ino quirked a brow and ducked as a few wayward shuriken whizzed past.

"Soku and Rou. Nara's companions for the mission." Temari stated curtly, "Now hurry we can't waste more time."

"What about Sai?" Ino cast a look downwards; there was no way she could leave him here defenseless.

"Gaara can make sure nothing happens to him." Temari frowned clearly impatient at this point, as if on cue a sand shield encased Sai's form.

Gaara? As in the Kazekage?

Ino didn't bother hiding her surprise. Temari had brought the Kazekage along to rescue Shikamaru?!

She watched the red haired former jinchuruki easily take down a group of five with his chakra laden sand.

Woah, seriously Shika better grow a pair and ask Temari out by the end of this ordeal or she was personally going to make Shikamaru's life troublesome.

Choji had rejoined their ranks and cracked his knuckles, "I think we can go help Shika now, the Suna forces can handle these guys fine… oh hey Ino."

Ino smiled sheepishly, clearly embarrassed that everyone had been waiting for her, "He's on the top floor, it's just his and Gengo's chakra signatures up there."

XXX

"It's locked." Temari hissed at the large crude looking iron door obstructing their path.

They had climbed up the almost dizzying spiraling flights of stairs only to be stopped now by the imposing structure.

"Out of the way." Choji frowned he moved past Ino and Temari, grabbing seam between the iron plates, he pulled.

At first it seemed futile but within seconds Choji's face contorted in effort and the grinding sound of metal against metal filled the air.

Through the ever widening crack between the plates Ino could only see darkness, she closed her eyes and used her sensor skills to pinpoint Shikamaru's chakra signature.

"He's just up ahead!" Ino confirmed and at her words Choji gave one final grunt before exerting a herculean amount of force and taking the door clean off its hinges.

They burst through immediately.

"Are you okay, Shikamaru?!" Choji yelled as he caught sight of his best friend's back.

Shikamaru stood facing Gengo whose long sword glinted even in the darkness. Ino saw blood, lots of it. One side of Shikamaru's face was completely covered in red.

First Sai. Now Shikamaru?

She felt the rage coil inside her, Gengo had solidified his position near the top of her shit list.

Suddenly he called out to her.

"Prepare your jutsu Ino!" The shadow-bender didn't take his eyes off his opponent as he made a seemingly random gesture with his hands.

Ino grinned, Shikamaru had a plan.

She had worked with Shikamaru and Choji so many times she knew all their signals like she knew the back of her hand. She exchanged a look with Choji, he had caught the signal too. Team 10's teamwork was borderline telepathic sometimes.

"Got it." The blonde brushed the hair out of her face, and prepared her hand signs her eyes calculating the angle so that her aim would be flawless.

She sensed Temari and the others tense up rearing to strike, she wanted to tell them not to worry- but Shikamaru saved her the effort.

"Until I give my signal, nobody should make any move to get involved." Shikamaru said as he used his hand to wipe the blood off his face.

From what Ino could make out the blood dripping from his forehead was obscuring his vision. He reached inside his vest to retrieve his Konoha forehead protector and tied it firmly around his forehead. He wasn't really worried about how effective it'd be in stopping the bleeding though.

"Aren't you acting so composed?" Gengo snarled, swinging his longsword overhead with bloodshot eyes. "Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru's fingers moved in a quick handseal.

His shadow started extending from his feet, heading towards Gengo.

"I'm not such a fool as to be caught in your petty tricks," Gengo said, leaping away before Shikamaru's shadow could reach his feet.

Gengo landed and lunged at Shikamaru without pause, his sword flashing out to slash at him.

The blade went right through him, slicing him clean in half.

But then his flesh lost its colour, turning black, and then disappearing.

"A shadow clone?!" Gengo snarled.

Behind him, Shikamaru was approaching with a kunai in his hand and slashed towards the back of Gengo's neck.

With lightning fast reflexes Gengo dodged, he shifted his body, bending his knees and swung his sword horizontally right through Shikamaru's abdomen.

But this Shikamaru also lost his colour and turned into a shadow before disappearing.

Another shadow clone.

Ino didn't even try to hide her smirk, if Gengo thought he could outsmart Shika, he had another thing coming.

"You impudent little…" Gengo snarled as another shadow clone dissipated.

"Preparations complete!" Ino called out as she gathered the required chakra.

"Alright." That was her cue.

She stood quite a distance away from Gengo, she narrowed her eyes and brought both her arms up, palms spread out. Her thumb and index fingers were brought together to make a triangle-like formation, and she was looking directly at Gengo.

"Ninpou, shintenshin no jutsu."

Gengo instantly leapt to the side, escaping Ino's trajectory. Seeing him evade her, Ino smiled to herself.

Wrong move assh*le.

And she shifted her palms, just slightly, to head for her real target: Shikamaru.

Honestly it was so easy for her to pinpoint the real Shikamaru it made Gengo falling for the shadow clones all the more funny.

Shikamaru's body stiffened as Ino entered his mind.

The Yamanaka clan's techniques were incredibly versatile. Other than gaining complete control over a person and entering their hearts and minds it had one other very useful ability that made Yamanakas perfect for intelligence and reconnaissance related missions- information sharing. Shikamaru knew this obviously and had taken full advantage of it.

Ino knew exactly what she was looking for and where to find it, she had been in Shika and Cho's minds enough times that it felt like an extension of her own sometimes.

The jutsu lasted for only an instant. In the time where one could take one breath in, and maybe let another out, the jutsu had already broken.

The plan that Shika had carefully laid out in his head had been transmitted to Ino, he wanted her to transmit it to Rou and Soku. Shikamaru had decided that he was going to bring down the scumbag with Rou and Soku. The three of them would do it together.

"Rou, Soku," Ino called out to the two the instant she broke the jutsu and used her mind to connect to theirs to fill them in instantly.

"Let's go!" Shikamaru called out to the two.

Rou and Soku nodded.

Shikamaru ran towards Gengo, while Rou and Soku ran to opposite ends of the room, stopping then they faced each other from their parallel places.

"Whatever you do, it's useless." Gengo said.

"Oh come on now." Shikamaru said. "This is the last fight we'll have. Might as well enjoy it."

Kunai and longsword clashed in mid-air. Shikamaru was pushed back from the force of Gengo's longsword, tumbling to the floor.

Gengo's sword came after him, slashing across his chest.

Ino felt Temari tense up at her side, and immediately nudged the Suna nin, "Don't worry. Just watch."

The sword went right through Shikamaru … but fortunately it was just another shadow clone.

Ino smiled as Temari visibly relaxed and nodded. Sakura stole a glance at Choji and noticing his nod sighed in relief as well.

"How long do you intend to keep playing games?!" Gengo snarled, practically foaming at the mouth.

Shikamaru attacked Gengo from above, aiming at his head. Gengo swung at him with his sword.

It was another clone.

Then another.

And another.

In fact after 20, Ino lost count how many shadow clones Gengo had sliced through, each time getting more and more enraged.

Had the situation been any different Ino would be on the floor laughing but that seemed incredibly inappropriate- and so she watched trying her best to mimic the rapt attention on everyone's face but honestly Shikamaru was just toying with the guy and dragging it out.

Ino's eyes fell on the real Shikamaru and noting his position fought down her grin. It was going to be over in a matter of minutes.

Gengo was frustrated beyond description. His body showing signs of fatigue and anger in equal parts. His sword had sliced Shikamaru in half countless times. But no matter how he sliced and swung and raged, every single time Shikamaru was just another clone, disappearing from sight as soon as he was injured.

"Where are you hiding, Shikamaru?!" He fumed.

Ino smirked. The real Shikamaru had long disappeared from the front of Gengo's field of vision. He was, in fact standing right behind him- not that Gengo noticed.

"Checkmate." Shikamaru murmured in Gengo's ear.

Gengo snapped his head to stare over his shoulder, the colour draining from his face.

Too late.

Shikamaru's shadow had already slithered out of his feet and linked itself with Gengo's body.

The plan had been executed well, Ino tucked a few stray strands of hair behind her ear, it was genius really. Then again, they did call him the Nara Genius.

His team mates for this mission Rou and Soku had very unique abilities and he had taken advantage of them just as he had hers. She learnt from Shikamaru's mind that Rou, the man with strong jawline and thick brows, can freely manipulate the quality and quantity of chakra; both his own, as well as that of anyone he targets and recognizes. Shikamaru had first made countless shadow clones and then, using Rou's jutsu, given them all the appearance of having a very thick and dense chakra so Gengo would have a hard time telling them apart.

Gengo's mind had naturally started recognising the clones' chakra. And then, after fighting clone after clone, he'd unconsciously started seeking that chakra out, blocking out other senses in favour of that specific chakra signature.

Finally, the real Shikamaru had his chakra's traces erased by Rou's jutsu, and quietly snuck up on Gengo in the background.

Gengo had been attacked from a complete and utter blind spot. Until Shikamaru had locked him in his shadow, the man hadn't had a single clue as to what was going on.

"SHIKAMARU, YOU BAST*RD!" Gengo screamed, turning his head to curse.

"Hinoko." Shikamaru calmly called.

Hinoko was Soku's real name as Ino found out in her short time in Shikamaru's head. Her specialty was chakra needles.

"Aghhhh!" As she gathered her chakra on her index finger, the girl let out a shriek that was almost deafening. "I keep telling not to call me by that name y'knowwwwwwwww!"

Ino quirked a brow as Soku's lightning chakra flew towards Gengo and passed straight through his tongue.

"Ga- gaaah?" Gengo made a dry sound.

"She just severed the chakra flow to your tongue." Shikamaru told him. "From now on, you're stuck in a body that won't let you breathe another word... say bye bye to your brainwashing genjutsu."

This was her favorite part of Shikamaru's plan. Ino smiled, serves him right for preying on the insecurities of other shinobi. Gengo's jutsu only worked through his words, his speeches were laced with chakra that eventually manipulated people's minds.

"Put him in restraints, and accompany him to the Union." Shikamaru's voice was oddly formal as opposed to his usual drawl.

"Understood, sir." Rou nodded, eyes shining with admiration.

Sir?

Choji grinned as he stepped forward, Ino held back a snort.

Shikamaru rubbed his index finger against the bridge of his nose, trying to gloss over his embarrassment.

XXX

After restraining Gengo, Shikamaru and his comrades went down the spiraling stairs to find the battle between Gengo's followers and other shinobi had already finished. It turned out that the moment Soku severed the chakra flow to Gengo's tongue, the genjutsu clouding everyone's minds had cleared up as well, and that'd been a really big help to ending the battle.

Other than several heavily wounded people, almost everyone had walked away from the fight with relatively light injuries. You would think it a miracle that no one had been killed, but it was mostly because the Sunagakure shinobi had faithfully followed Gaara's orders -"Do not kill unless necessary."- when they stormed the hall.

Ino scanned the crowd, her eyes seeking out the former Root who had taken up constant residence in her thoughts… but Shikamaru beat her to it.

"Sai!" Shikamaru called out when he spotted the shinobi sitting amidst the crowd of people, receiving medical aid from another shinobi.

"Shikamaru…" Sai sat upright, looking at him with a blank face.

Ino had told Shikamaru about what happened with Sai on the group's way down the stairs. Perhaps it was because Sai had been dragged out of the genjutsu with such strong, desperate measures that the shinobi's eyes still looked a little dazed, like some part of him was drifting at sea.

"I'm so sorry." Sai murmured failing to meet Shikamaru's eyes out of shame.

"Don't worry about it." Shikamaru kindly said, squatting down next to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's all behind us."

Ino stood close behind her team mate, and felt a rush of emotion at his words

Sai had attacked Shika, and almost killed Temari- for the shadow bender to forgive Sai so easily even if the former was stuck in a mind altering genjutsu- was no small feat.

Add to that the fact that he had taken up this mission not only to stop Gengo for the sake of the Shinobi world but also to retrieve Sai- the boy who could count his friends in one hand and still have fingers to spare-It was testament to Shikamaru's stellar character and to their own friendship as well- he knew full well of her feelings towards the pale shinobi- all things considered Ino felt truly lucky and proud to have Shikamaru amongst her closest friends.

Underneath the black material of Sai's uniform, Shikamaru could feel the shinobi's shoulders shaking slightly.

Ino too noticed the way his shoulders trembled and stepped closer.

Even if there weren't any tears dripping down his face Ino could tell he was still crying on the inside.

"I'm pathetic." Sai muttered.

"You were in a trance brought on by that guy's words." Shikamaru said. "Even I'd gotten dragged into it. You have nothing to feel ashamed about."

"But…" Sai's eyes were a whirlwind of emotions.

"Don't let it bother you too much. Managing to carry on with a light heart no matter what happens has always been one of your best qualities."

"Thank you, Shikamaru." A single tear slipped out of Sai's right eye, falling down his cheek, he seemed to not notice.

"When we get back to Konoha, take some time off. You've been doing A and S rank missions nonstop since the war. I'll talk to Kakashi-san."

"Thank you…" As Sai said that, Ino appeared to stand by Sai's side, she couldn't bear to watch him suffer any longer.

"Take care of him." Shikamaru said to Ino, getting up to his feet.

Ino gave a deep nod, her eyes looking down at Sai. She kneeled down next to him and took Shikamaru's place.

XXX

Ino reached out and lightly brushed the tears from his cheeks like he had done so many times for her.

"Hey, it's okay. It's over now." She spoke softly as if to a child.

Sai sat very still, his hands in his lap clenched and unclenched uncertainly, "I attacked him… I tried to kill him."

"You were in a genjutsu, he knows that."

"You…donot..understand." He spoke quietly, staring intently at hands clenching and unclenching.

Ino let out her breath in a low whistle, causing him to flinch.

"I like to think of us as friends. We're friends aren't we? Then, make me understand." She demanded with a determined look in her face.

He stopped moving his hands. Her reply seemed unexpected.

"Go on, I won't judge. I promise." Ino sat next to him and smiled kindly, he still refused to look up.

After a moment of silence Ino was starting to lose hope, when suddenly he spoke up.

"It wasn't just the genjutsu…I..believed in Lor- in Gengo's words." He closed his eyes and readied himself to be reprimanded.

She thought back to her moments in Hisao Hyuuga's mind and sighed, "It's hard not to…he did have a point."

Sai turned to face her, eyes widened in surprise.

"Hey don't get me wrong. The guy was a total scumbag…but I won't lie- I could see where he's coming from." Ino pulled at a strand of her hair absently as she frowned, "but even so, it doesn't excuse what he did. He went about it all wrong. It's not okay to do wrong things even if they do seem to be for the right reasons...at least that's how I see it."

"I- You are right." His voice sounded hollow.

She looked up to see Sai staring right at her. Their eyes met for a second before she had to look away due to the intensity in his. She was glad for her long bangs covering half her face as she fought down a deep blush.

"You must hate me then." His voice was low enough to go unheard by anyone other than her, "I truly am pathetic. I never questioned the means to any end as long as it fulfilled the objectives."

"Huh?" She snapped her head towards his direction, that was totally NOT where she was going when she was talking about Gengo.

She watched Sai slump his shoulders and stare at his hands, they trembled ever so slightly. It really tore her up to look at him like this- he had always seemed so impenetrable, nothing ever phased him- right now however she had never seen anything more vulnerable.

She shifted so that she was now completely facing him and very carefully reached under and lifted his chin so that his eyes met hers. She willed herself to meet his gaze, "Sai…"

He looked away as his features once again reflected his shame at his own actions.

"Sai…look at me… Please?" She coaxed softly, almost pleading as she touched his chin again.

He looked up slowly, still unsure of himself. When his eyes were on level with hers once more, she noticed how his had started to tear up.

"Sai, I don't hate you." She smiled reassuringly, "I- I could never hate you."

She watched as her words sunk in and his face relaxed, however he stopped midway and looked uncertain once more as he choked out, "Even though I've-"

Ino didn't even let him finish as she pulled him against her, his head tucked neatly under her chin as her arms tried to wrap around his shoulders, "Even then."

"B-but.."

"Hush." Ino used one hand to rub his back in soothing circles to calm him down while she used the other to hold him- not that the latter was necessary now that Sai had wrapped his arms around her middle and clung as if for dear life.

"I-I'm sorry." He murmured into her shoulder, "I'm..so so sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" She asked him as she felt him hug her tighter.

"For..everything... For making you sad.. at the hospital…for Suna.. now...everything."

"Idiot…I told you not to worry about that." She chided playfully patting his shoulder.

His breathing had started to even out in her embrace and made a smile tug at her lips. There was something that seemed to click into place, him in her arms…it felt…right.

"Thank you…Ino."

His rare use of her actual name made chest feel pleasantly constricted, "W-what are you thanking me for n-now i-idiot?" She stuttered as she turned red.

Oh God. I'm stuttering again. I thought we were PAST THIS! She hissed at herself mentally.

"For not letting go." Sai's answer made stop her internal rant, he was clearly referring to when she rescued him from the genjutsu right?

She was about to assure him that it was no trouble when he continued, "For being my friend. For…not hating me…I don't ever want you to hate me."

She turned redder if that possible as his words sent her wildly fluttering heart into a frenzy. She felt a gentle warmth spreading through her and sighed- no she most certainly did not hate him.

In fact she was sure if she told him exactly how much she didn't hate him, he'd probably have another breakdown.

She suddenly became hyperaware of how he was practically on her lap and cradled against her chest. Her mouth went dry as his intoxicating and now almost familiar scent of ink and grass drowned her senses. The butterflies in her stomach were going into overdrive.

She tried to reel herself in. Perhaps it would be best at this point for her to stop hugging him.

She looked down and almost laughed at the scene.

Sai had fallen fast asleep.

XXX

A/N:

I kind of sort of loooove the idea of Sai sleeping in Ino's arms. Warms my ickle icy heart.

I wrote this chapter purely inspired by this picture (I have put it up as the new cover image for this story)

I am a bit iffy about this chapter as a large portion is very heavily taken from Shikamaru Hiden although most of the Sai Ino portions have more of my own stuff thrown in. I've really wanted to do a fluff like piece and this is my first attempt do let me know how it was please! Feel free to let me know if there are any plot/character inconsistencies as I did not reread nor proofread.

Also Also…I kinda sorta want to do another shot at a Sai chapter but I don't know if I'll mess it up gaaaah

oh oh and Im thinking of doing a new story as well…with perhaps an OC and Jashin-y things going on …but idk if anyone would be into that sort of thing :e I have the worst case of insecurities with my writing I know but please indulge me with your reviews/PMs anyways haha

As always thank you for reading, lurve yew awl. xoxo

PS: Im travelling to Europe in October so the next update may take a while, however I will finish this story so unless God forbid something happens to me I intend to see it through to the end.