Disclaimer: This fanfiction and image used for the cover is merely written for the enjoyment of the author and readers and is in no way associated with the creators or producers of Naruto, no copyright infringement is intended.

Hi readers! Hopefully, you're enjoying the story as much as I am so far :)

I think this story will now be coming towards a close as I am running out of ideas but if you have any for this story I'd gladly hear them please feel free to leave a review or message me if you have some ideas that could potentially continue the story!

Thanks and happy reading!


Shikamaru never showed much emotion, he didn't like to run around telling everyone about his life, he didn't like to spend a lot of time wallowing in sadness either, but for tonight as he lay alone on his favorite hill for the first time in a while he thought maybe it was time he let himself.

He had been lying to himself every minute of every day for the past sixteen years. The love of his life wants Temari no Sabaku, it was Ino Yamanaka.

He remembered when he had come to that conclusion, sighing he tilted his head looking at the setting sun.

That felt like a lifetime ago… He was six when he fell for her. Now, of course, all he knew was that she was troublesome but he cared about her. A lot. He had started having these weird feelings whenever she would smile at him or hug him. He may have been just the tender age of six but his genius mind was already hard at work and by the time they became genin he had realized that just maybe he had a tiny crush on his first friend. His feelings hadn't gone away in all that time either but had grown stronger. By his first week on team ten his feelings had only become even more apparent when he had to come in closer contact with her, the first time he held her body during training he felt this overwhelming protectiveness.

Great just another thing to add to the long list of troublesome things Ino makes me feel… and with that he had his conclusion. He, Shikamaru Nara was in love with loud, bossy, Ino Yamanaka.

Years went by with him continuing to love her from the shadows. He thought he had no chance, why would such a beautiful, popular girl like her want a boring, lazy guy like him? But he was wrong, so wrong. She loved him too.

He had been walking home from the Hokage tower. Turning the corner he paused surprised, Ino was stumbling down the street obviously drunk. Probably came from the party at Naruto's. He could hear the faint sounds of music from a few streets over. It was Sakura's birthday and Naruto had decided to throw a party, he had been invited but had been sent on a mission a few days prior and had just got back.

"Ino," He couldn't very well leave her there… Ino was not weak but her house was still a few streets away, besides he was going that way being her neighbor and all.

"Shi, Shika. Your back!" Nearly tripping over her own feet she reached for him, moving quickly he looped his arm around her trying to stabilize her. "I missed youu. You wan. Want to know a secret?" Looking down at her his heart thumped in his chest. Her big blue eyes were staring straight at him her hair falling out of its usual ponytail. She looked like a mess but that never did matter to him.

"I'm in love with you!" That froze him on the spot, she loved him? No, she was just drunk. She probably didn't even know what she was saying. Trying his best to keep his feelings in check he shifted her so he could carry her home.

That night he didn't sleep. No matter how much he tried to reason with himself he couldn't brush off her words. She loved him! The logical part of his brain knew she probably didn't actually mean it but she had given him hope…

They hadn't spoken about it, she seemed to be avoiding him. She'd smile and wave but then take off always saying she was needed to the shop or the hospital. She remembered… he didn't think she'd have any memory of that night but she did…

Then it happened. He had been laying in his usual spot on the grassy hill when she found him. She just came and sat beside him without speaking a word. He waited, she would talk when she was ready she always did in the end.

"About the other night… I'm sorry." Sitting up he looked at her, why on earth would she be apologizing?

"Um I just, I wanted to say that it's true… What I said. I love you Shika and I get it if," So it was true! He had never felt more excited in his life.

"Sh, Ino I'm going to cut you off there, no need for that. I uh," Feeling sheepish all of a sudden he looked down. "I feel the same, I mean I. I love you too."

The best days of his life started that day. They were together in secret for a while, it was nice to just keep it to themselves for a while. Surprisingly, it had been a unanimous decision from both parties, but then they decided not to keep it a secret. Choza had found out and he was happy for them, that they were happy but then he broke them the worst news of their life. They couldn't be together, they were to be the next clan heads and the Ino-Shika-Cho must continue into the next generation. It was their duty… They fought and fought but the rule had been in place for decades, there was nothing they could do.

It was no secret that his marriage ended up far from perfect. He knew there wasn't much love in their house, he kept to himself most of the time and his wife missed her home. It was full of flaws and it had been from the start. He just tried to deny them, turn a blind eye and kept believing everything would work out. It never would though, not with the love and effort it was lacking. It wasn't that his wife wasn't necessarily happy he guessed, she had made many friends over the years and she had built herself a new home in Konoha but she still missed Sana and she knew. It was plain as day to him how much she actually knew. She had never actually breathed a word about it but her actions told him all he needed to know.

She knew that he cared about her, loved her even but he had never been in love with her. She was trying to find her own happiness and so she split her time more, traveling back and forth to Sana more frequently now that she Shikadai was older and spent more time out of the house, just like she was right now.

Thus leaving his son without a mother a large portion of the time to a father who kept to himself and hardly around. He was a mess, he turned out to be an awful father and an even worse husband.

No. He could have been better, he just had the wrong partner, the wrong spouse, the wrong woman, the wrong story and the wrong ending.

The classics are always better anyways...