"What's with you today?" Shikamaru asked once Chouji had turned the corner. He knew his chances of cracking the titanium wall that was Ino, would be higher if they were alone. She was a firm believer in privacy and she took that to extreme lengths. Shikamaru could list on all ten of his fingers times where Ino had kept her personal issues completely to herself. It was a very troublesome fact about her. It was also troublesome because he was absolutely certain something was bugging her so he couldn't turn a blind eye.

"Come on Shikamaru it's your birthday so quit worrying about me." His girlfriend replied back. Ino ruffled the tips of his ponytail with a knowing smile. His worry was always very well hidden to her when they were children; when she tripped or fell, when she and Sakura had a fight, when Sasuke ignored her, when she missed a day of school, when she'd receive lower than an A on tests, when she'd forget her lunch for a week, when she'd injure herself in sports, when she'd cry in the middle of the street, when she received less than chivalrous looks from men, and so many more occasions Ino had thought he had been oblivious too. But he was very far from it. He always made sure she wouldn't have to worry about herself afterwards. She had just never realized how much he actually cared about her. All his gestures had seemed out of curtesy at the time and his apathetic attitude didn't help either.

Ino was more inclined to worry about his well being whenever even the slightest change was seen in him. He often called her his second mother. Although he never participated in the stupid and dangerous acts like his other peers his aloof nature had a habit of catching up to him. One time he hadn't bothered to look both ways when crossing the street on their walk to school when a car made a sharp turn and would've plowed him over had Ino not been faster. Her grip on his waist after she had jerked him back to the sidewalk remained long after the car had sped after. Shikamaru with his "whatever" attitude thought it was no big deal and attempted to go across the street again. By then Ino's hands had clutched his arm in a near circulation cutting grip until she assured him he was one hundred percent alright. She even made him take off his shoes to prove they hadn't been run over, something Shikamaru grumbled about the rest of the walk. Ino had only lightly loosened her grip on him.

She was at his house everyday for two whole weeks when he had sprained his ankle during one of their winter breaks. He had later admitted to milking up the injury to get sympathy from his parents as well as from her. His little plan worked perfectly since he spent those two weeks in his bed only getting up to clean and dress himself and use the bathroom. Ino hadn't even bothered to get him to use his crutches and instead brought over movies and books for him. All the movies were ones that suited his preferences and were usually terribly unentertaining for her. Still the wince on his lips, albeit actually false, made her so damn worried about the guy that she didn't mind enduring his activities as long as that meant she could take care of him. She even brought his shogi board up onto his bed so they could play everyday even though he showed her no mercy.

When she found out some of the bullies that she warded away from Chouji had decided to make her other best friend their new victim during freshman year. Shikamaru acted indifferent to their taunts at first. But when their mocks about his extrrodinary intelligence in the hallway to their walk home, Ino noticed his growing tenseness. The bullies kept a pace just slower than theirs' to shout insults at the brunette. Apparently they had forgotten that the girl that had shoved their leader into a locker previously was the same girl beside their target. She wanted to do the same to them but Shikamaru kept an iron grip on her at all times so physical violence wasn't an option. Shikamaru said it was better to not respond to them. That didn't keep Ino from snapping an insult at them once in awhile, no one harassed her best friends. It made her blood burn whenever an insult was hurled at them, unless it was one of her lighthearted ones. Ino could tell that they had gotten to him at least a little bit because his already reserved self had become especially closed off. So she went behind his back and completely shattered their reputations. Having control of other people's social standings was a perk of popularity after all.

"So something is bothering you after all." Shikamaru grumbled after her cheerful response.

"Well yes, but it's nothing-." Ino rebuked. Their baby decided to give one solid kick to her uterus at that moment. Her grunt of pain drowned out the rest of her sentence of reassurance. She was beginning to wonder if the baby was just as persistent as Shikamaru. She prayed that he wasn't.

'Listen kid, you're going to be stuck with me for eighteen years so you better get yourself on my good side right now' Ino warned in her thoughts.

"What I was saying was you should just relax and think about yourself today. After all today is the only day I'll ever let you do this." The blonde continued after shooting a glare at her belly.

Ino had decided he could worry about her the other three hundred and sixty four days of the year but there was one day that he could not. Ino would not allow him to worry about her until it made him sick on his own birthday.

"I'd feel more relaxed if you'd just tell me what's wrong." Shikamaru smirked. Maybe if he twisted her words against her she'd fess up. The plan had worked for him before.

She was aware he was onto her and if he kept pestering her about it, something that seemed very likely, she'd probably give in.

"Chouji's going to come back soon." Ino stated as a shield. Shikamaru rarely made him confide in him if others were around. He respected her privacy.

"Hey Chouji you get next pick of the movie. Get something from my room or my mom's!" Shikamaru shouted to his best friend. The bedrooms were on the second floor of his house and he knew Chouji would take ages to pick a movie. He smirked at how much bonus time he got to drill the blonde.

"Awesome!" His plump friend cheered when he entered the main room. He handed Shikamaru the soda he had requested and hurried up the stairway.

"Hey! That wasn't fair." Ino pouted and folded her arms over her chest. She hated when his genius mind activated so quickly. It never gave her time to respond.

"You left me no other choice." The genius shrugged and scooted closer to the girl. Ino felt the butterflies in her stomach pound harder. Having him so close was bringing all the nerves she was trying to hide back in a rushing flood.

'I've got to last until midnight. What it's only like eleven hours away right? No problem-yeah right this is going to be hell.'

"Is it about the baby?" He asked. Maybe he could do it twenty questions style and get the answer. Ino shook her head. She really didn't like his new method of elimination.

"Something going on about school?" He questioned. Once again she shook her head.

"Is Sakura getting to you again?" He groaned. Blonde hair was shook.

"Are you and Karin fighting?" He sighed deeply. He was hating how much her head was shaking at him.

"How about stuff with your mom?" He asked desperately. Ino shook her head once more. He felt like he was pulling at strings. He thought his mind would give him better ideas. Ino was saying no to all of them.

"You're not going to guess it." She finally said with a roll of her eyes. 'Feign boredom, this is what Shikamaru does all the time.'

"How are your grades?" He grumbled. He wasn't going to give up that easily. There had to be something he was missing.

"Perfect. What else would they be?"

Shikamaru ignored her comment and began another answer in his signature drawl, "Alright is it-". Ino's lips pressed against his effectively taking the words from his mouth. She took advantage of his surprised gasp to push her tongue through his parted lips. It danced around his mouth and the sensation made all his agitation and confusion fly out of his mind. The taste of her lips was addicting and he was already inroxictaed. He would savor each second of this previous moment. Their passionate kisses had become rare after all.

Ino's hands held his firm cheeks and could feel the heat of his blush radiate onto her palms. He smelled like smokey cedar wood just like always. The scent seemed so much intense with her eyes shut thus cancelling out one of her senses. She wondered if that was why people closed their eyes during kisses. To make the sensation so much more powerful and overwhelming in all the right ways.

His lips were drier due to the colder weather but the moisture from Ino's perfectly balmed lips made their mouths melt together. Shikamaru could feel the soft skin on her fingertips trace the features of his face. First the perimeter of his face, next the slope of his nose, then a light tap to the bottom of his nose, then along eyebrows, then tracing patterns of his cheeks before finally the outline of his lips when she pulled away to catch her breath. It was mesmerizing to him, he made a note to request her to do that more often. Each touch was so precise and delicate like his face was her canvas for a masterpiece of art.

A minuscule voice in the back of his mind was asking why Ino had been so sudden with her move. However when Shikamaru opened his eyes and saw the radiant beauty pulled just slightly away from him, that voice was drowned by his hormones. Her fingertips hadn't even left his face when he pulled her back to him. Once again their lisp melted together in perfect harmony. He knew he hadn't caught his breath properly after that magical and dangerously long lip lock. Ino hadn't either but she offered no resistance. His lips felt so lonely without hers.

Ino had pulled back earlier than Shikamaru would have liked. He would've playfully chided her if her cheeks hadn't been so flushed. He smirked at how adorable she looked trying to catch her breath. Her hands had even flown to her heart and rested on the fabric of her purple blouse. He admitted that he felt rather winded after that. It was like feeling lightheaded get oddly alive and riled up to face anything.

Ino felt exactly the same. Her heartbeat was so fast it was like it was racing an Olympic runner. She wanted this feeling, no she needed this feeling more in her life. She was grateful for her seated position because her legs had never felt so weak before. She knew if they had attempted a round three her body would be completely numb. Shikamaru still had a hungry look in his eyes when she peered over. She craved for the taste of his lips but felt so weak and knew that feeling would only deepen with another sampling. She had to do control herself as did Shikamaru.

To get her point across that she was done her head drooped onto his chest and she curled as much as her body against his. The baby bump made this task a bit difficult but Ino made it work. She had become a master of working around the protrusion, she had just maintained a make out session perfectly fine.

She felt his hand stroking the soft blonde tresses on her head with one hand. His other hand was now resting on her baby bump. The moment was as sweet as honey and Ino wanted to bathe in it.

"We're going to have to work on your stamina once this baby is born. You pulled away first both times." Shikamaru teased with a smirk. Ino blushed darker than she thought humanly possible. Well the moment had been sweet.

"Oh shut up." Ino scoffed and slapped the hand that rested on her belly.

"It's not my fault I have lungs of steel."

"Oh big deal, you can hold your breath underwater for a minute. I haven't been able to exercise as much because someone got me pregnant." Ino shot back and narrowed her eyes up at the brunette.

"It's a minute and twenty seven seconds for your information." He rebuked.

"Whatever. Hey where's Chouji?" Ino asked curiously. Shikamaru looked around the room and sensed no presence of the boy.

"Are you guys done?" Said boy called from the stairway. He had come down to see his best friends in a complete make out session and decided to retreat back up the stairs. The sight was still awkward for his auburn eyes to see.

"Uh yeah, did you find a movie?" Shikamaru answered nervously. He shared a look of embarrassment with his girlfriend before looking back at his other best friend.

"Yep, something nice and comforting after that horrible movie you made me watch. I thought Ino would feel better after watching it too but it looks like you figured what was wrong with her Shikamaru." Chouji nodded and inserted the disc into the player.

Never once had Ino wanted to punch Chouji through a wall more than that moment. She thought she had finally gotten Shikamaru off her back after that lip lock but when she spared a glance at him she realized she was practically going to be interrogated when Chouji left.