HEY GUYS AND GIRLS. IF YOU ARE CONFUSED THEN I THINK I FIGURED IT OUT. EVERY TIME I SKIP TO A DIFFERENT TIME THEN I WILL STICK TO THAT TIME UNTIL I SAY OTHERWISE. I WILL BE SWITCHING BETWEEN THE PAST AND THE PRESENT. IT'S ACTUALLY FUN THAT WAY. HOPE YOU GUYS UNDERSTAND.

HAPPY READING:)

"The food is delicious." Shikaku said that night as they sat by the dining table enjoying the meal Yui prepared for them.

"Definitely." Shikamaru agreed. "Looks like you have competition mom."

"I don't mind. Yui can cook for us every night if you guys like. It would mean less work for me." Yoshino replied.

"Your husband and son seems to be rubbing their laziness off onto you Mrs Nara." Yui jokingly told her.

"Living with them so long has turned me into one of them it seems." Yoshino agreed as the two females let out a laugh.

"Shikamaru has been working hard these past few weeks though. He seems to have turned over a new leaf." Shikaku pointed out.

"If I am getting married then it's time that I start maturing." Shikamaru stated while his parents looked at each other. Instead of smiling and being proud of their son, the Nara parents had a blank look on their faces and looked like they were having some sort of a telepathic conversation.

"I heard that the Kazekage and his genin will be arriving tomorrow." Shikaku said breaking eye contact with his wife.

"I invited all the Kage to come a couple of days before the exams start so that their genin can acclimatise to their new surroundings ensuring that they perform at their best during the exam." Shikamaru explained.

"That's pretty good thinking." Yui commented.

"That's kind of our clan's speciality." Shikamaru proudly replied.

"Looks like they skipped that gene with you." Yui shot back as she smirked.

"Troublesome woman." Shikamaru said as a smiled played on his lips as he looked at Yui sitting opposite him.

"Shikamaru, are you sure that it's safe for the Kage to come to the village given the recent raids outside the village last week?" Shikaku asked him.

"No one is stupid enough to take on one of the Kage and I have arranged some security for the Kage and their entourage. They will reach the village safely." Shikamaru ensured his father.

"What about the security during the exams?" Yui asked him. "I'm sure that the Kage leaving their village for extended periods of time can't be safe for the village."

"The exams will last for a maximum of one week. I'm sure that the Kage have made the necessary arrangements for the safety of their villages during that time." Shikamaru informed them. "As for security during the exams, all ninja that aren't on any missions will be assigned to different points around the village. No one will be able to enter the village without being spotted. I have arranged with the Hyuga's and Inuzuka's to do regular security sweeps in the village during the exams and the representatives of each village will provide personal provide security to their village's genin. Everyone inside the village will be safe. I don't know about the security outside the village though. How is that going dad?"

"Because of the raids outside the village, Lady Tsunade has ordered that we move all our information from the rest of our bases to the northern one. It will be easier to protect one base than three. They will start moving the one furthest from the northern base first." Shikaku informed them.

"How's the security going to be around those bases though? It's not like you can protect all the remaining bases while moving the information." Shikamaru stated.

"That was my concern as well but we can't do anything about it. When we start tomorrow then the other bases will each only have four ninja protecting them. The only thing we can do is hope that they don't get attacked really. You can't plan for everything." Shikaku said but Shikamaru noticed the anger and frustration in their tone.

"You're doing your best. You've informed Lady Tsunade about the risk so if she wants to go ahead with the plan then you've done your best." Shikamaru told him.

"You always do your best honey." Yoshino told her husband then grabbed his hand and gave it a kiss. Shikamaru noticed it and immediately thought it was strange. His parents never showed any sort of affection around him. They hardly showed a softer side around him yet here they were showing a romantic side in front of him and Yui.
"Enough talk about work. How about talking about the wedding ceremony?" Yoshino suggested.

"I actually wanted to hear more about the wedding ceremony." Yui agreed.

"Before we talk about it, there's something I need to do first." Shikamaru said as he stood up.

"What are you doing Shikamaru?" Yoshino asked her son while he walked around the table until he reached Yui.

"I know we didn't finish our discussion earlier but I took the initiative." Shikamaru told the girl as she turned in her seat to face him. He immediately got on one knee then took out a ring from his pocket and held it in front of Yui. Her eyes immediately lit up as she put her hands in front of her mouth in surprise.
"Will you marry me?" Shikamaru asked her. She immediately nodded her head in agreement as tears made their way down her cheek.

"Yes." Yui happily said as Shikamaru took her left hand and placed the ring on her finger. Shikamaru stood up as she stood up as well then kissed her. He was truly happy and he could tell that she was too.

"Looks like you get to rule over me for the rest of my life." Shikamaru told her as their foreheads rested against each others.

"I love you." Yui confidently told him.

"I love you." Shikamaru nervously replied then kissed her again.

"Come on guys, stop now." Yoshino told them causing the two young ninja to stop but still hold onto each other.

"We're happy for you guys but you don't see my wife and I kissing each other like that in front of you." Shikamaru added.

"Sorry about that." Shikamaru apologised then kissed Yui's forehead before sitting down on the chair next to hers.

"Where were we?" Yoshino asked then continued their discussion.

***Present Day***

"So that was how your father planted the false information." the Raikage concluded. "Pretty clever."

"He's manipulative like that. I guess I was like his shadow and he was controlling me perfectly." Shikamaru stated.

"I want to know something though; did you love her?" the Mizukage asked him.

"At that moment I did. I don't know how much of her ability I was affected by but if she could make me fall in love with her in about three weeks then she is truly a master." Shikamaru answered her. "Can I ask you a question now?"

"Please do." the Mizukage asked him.

"How long has Sasuke been working for you?" Shikamaru asked.

SASUKE? WHAT THE F*** DOES SASUKE HAVE TO DO WITH THIS? HELL, HE HASN'T EVEN BEEN MENTIONED IN THE STORY SINCE SAKURA AND SHIKAMARU SPENT THE NIGHT TOGETHER AND SHE CRIED IN HIS ARMS. SHIKAMARU AND YUI GETTING MARRIED WAS KIND OF CUTE THOUGH. STILL DON'T LIKE SHIKAMARU'S PARENTS. HOPE YOU GUYS ARE UNDERSTANDING THE STORY SO FAR. UNTIL NEXT TIME.