It's All an Act
By: Sasha
Rating: PG13 for innuendo and some cursing.
Pairings: ShikaIno, SasuSakuNaru (!! I"m such a hentai...)

** I checked chapter one a while back and it seems as though the entire chapter isn't up. Will reviewers let me know? I didn't want to upload a .txt file because the italics wouldn't be seen. For those who couldn't read the entire first chapter, please go follow the links from my author page for it. I suppose I should post up the URL's of previous chapters at the beginning of new ones for people who couldn't read all of it on ffnet.

Also, people have been telling me the trio is weird. I'm totally not even focusing that much on their relationship. I purposely wrote it so that there was more SasuSaku interaction for all the 'phobes out there. There's nothing graphic, remember, this IS PG13 and there isn't even really shounen-ai... just hinting at it. Keep an open mind people and remember that the main couple is ShikaIno. But thanks for the reviews.

*** and if for some stupid reason ffnet isn't allowing you to read the entire fic here, please visit my author page to find the rest of this chapter.

Chapter 2 – For Once, Ino Comes Up With The Strategy

Summary: So now we know that Naruto is the squealer, what will Ino and Shikamaru do?

Kakashi shared a laugh with Iruka.

"So you're telling me that my students, two who could barely get along, are dating?" the teacher asked. Kakashi nodded. "I heard it all from Gai. He was so happy for those two, but you know how he is," the masked sensei said before using transforming jutsu to become Maito Gai.

"Love is a sparkling triumph!" he said, flashing the good guy thumbs-up. Iruka laughed and Kakashi poofed back to his normal self.

"In any case, I'm happy that they found each other. They've been teammates for a long time now. I'm glad she got over Sasuke. Now if only all the other girls could…" Iruka trailed. Kakashi whipped his copy of Icha Icha Paradise and flipped it open to a dog-eared page. Iruka wrinkled his nose.

"What a bad time to read that garbage. Eh, I have a class to teach. I'll see you later," he said, waving as he exited the room.

Ino's face was burning red for the good part of the morning. Her mother had given her "the talk". She shivered. She never wanted to hear her mother say those words ever again.

"Aw come on! Don't leave me here!" Naruto whined from the bed. Sasuke and Sakura had tied him up and sealed the knots with chakra, forcing him to stay there until they could come up with a way to break the news to either Shikamaru or Ino.

I don't care how cute you are, you're still an idiot, Sasuke thought as he glanced at the blonde boy clad in pajamas and gopher cap.

"Sasuke, I'll go talk to Ino. Why don't you see if you can find Shikamaru?" Sakura suggested. Sasuke hated getting in other people's business.

"Does it really matter now? What's done is done. They'll go crazy when they find out Naruto spread the news. Let's just leave it," he suggested. Sakura sighed.

If only there was a way to prevent Naruto's big mouth…

Shikamaru had fled to the field after his mother gave him a talk. Not exactly "the talk", but her version: 'fool around and make her pregnant and I'll chop your manhood into mincemeat and feed it to you'. Chills ran down his spine. His mom was such a hardass sometimes.

Ino glared at the people who were congratulating her on finding someone. If she found out who spread the rumour…

Just down the hill, Shikamaru was lounging. She gulped. Did he know? Should she pretend to know nothing of it? She didn't know what to do. Instead, she just sucked up her courage and walked down to greet him.

"Afternoon, Shikamaru," she said, plopping herself down next to him. He eyed her warily. Ino exhaled loudly.

"So you know," they both said at the same time. Both of them nodded.

"My mom gave me 'the talk'," she said tiredly. He nodded.

"So did mine. Except hers came in the form of a threat," he added. Ino laughed.

The clouds shifted their positions once more, slowly creeping amidst another beautiful blue sky.

"What should we do?" she asked. Shikamaru toyed with the hem of his shirt.

"We deny it. It isn't the truth afterall," he suggested. Ino's shoulders slumped.

"I already have. Nobody is believing me," she said softly. He nodded. He knew what she meant because it was the same with him.

"We could pretend…" Ino trailed quietly. Shikamaru's eyes widened. Stupid girls and their pride, he thought.

Then it suddenly occurred to him. They could pretend.

"We could. And then we could fake a huge argument and 'break up'" she airquoted "in front of the entire village!"

They both grinned. If they couldn't deny the rumour, they could play along and destroy it.

Lee and TenTen were walking down the street when they ran into Sakura and Sasuke.

"Good afternoon," the boy with the rather expressive eyebrows greeted. Sakura smiled.

"Good afternoon, Lee-kun!" she exclaimed. Lee's heart sped up. She had never been this nice to him. But his heart soon dropped to his stomach when he saw Sakura's fingers interwoven with Sasuke's.

"You guys hear about Shikamaru and Ino?" TenTen asked. Both of them nodded.

"News sure travels fast," Lee said. They all agreed.

"Anyway, we're heading over to visit Tsunade-sama and see if there's any missions to be done," Sakura said.

"Ne, Sakura-chan?" Lee called. She cocked her head to the side in question.

"Where's Naruto-kun?" he asked. Both Sasuke and Sakura stifled laughter.

"He's at home, learning a lesson," Sasuke supplied, tossing a wave as he and Sakura made their way over to the hokage's.

"This is insane!!!" Naruto yelled. From where he was tied up were polaroids of rather interesting sexual acts taken months ago. He was frustrated and he wanted to do what was in the pictures… but he couldn't.

"You need to be taught a lesson," Sakura had said before giving him a kiss and sauntering out of the room with Sasuke.

"DAMMIT!" Naruto cursed.

"So, how will this work?" Ino asked, tying some blades of grass together. Shikamaru rubbed his chin slowly.

"Well we can't just go out into the open and lovey-dovey and clingy. Just add things in here and there, like we could be walking side by side and then I could casually take your hand into mine. Subtle stuff like that. Otherwise it wouldn't be believeable," he said. Ino nodded.

"Sounds good. If I find out who spread this rumor…" she said.

"I'll kill them for you," he concluded, standing up. He offered a hand to her. "Come on. I guess we better make our entrance," he said tiredly. Ino grinned a little and slipped her hand into his. It felt odd, but she figured that she better get used to it. They'd out-smart the little creep who spread lies.

"Lee, I know you still like Sakura. It hurts to see her with him, doesn't it?" TenTen asked softly. Lee shook his head.

"I'm happy if she's happy!" he said, flashing her two thumbs-up. TenTen exhaled loudly, but smiled. Rock Lee, he'd never be one to let rejection get him down.

Shikamaru looked around. There was nobody to be seen. He sighed, exhaling relief as he beckoned Ino to follow him. It was strangely quiet in town. Where was everyone?

Chouji came around the corner, stuffing chips into his mouth. There were his two teammates.

"Long time no see," he greeted. Shikamaru lifted a hand in greeting, Ino smiled.

"Where is everyone?" Ino asked the boy with potato chips. He shrugged.

"I have no idea. People are still in the stores, if you're worried about that," he said. Ino shook her head.

It was too quiet.

Kiba, Hinata, Shino, Neji, TenTen and Lee were all cramped around the corner, sneaking peeks at Chouji talking to Shikamaru and Ino.

"Dammit," Neji cursed. They all looked at him. "Kiba, close your mouth. Dog breath," he said, turning his head upwards. Kiba's cheeks reddened.

The others tried not to snicker too loudly.

"Aw, when are they going to do something?" TenTen asked. The boys rolled their eyes. Girls and their delusions of love…

Shikamaru placed a hand in his pocket.

"In any case, we better get going. Coming with me or not?" he asked Ino. She looked at him and then at Chouji. The Akimichi boy waved her along.

"Go. I'm going to Sojouno-san's store to get a drink to go with my snack. See you guys around," he said, watching the two walk away, spaced rather far apart. His eyes narrowed. Maybe he was the only one, but it didn't look like those two were going out.

Lee barreled forwards.

"So? Anything?" he asked Chouji. The bigger boy shook his head.

"I think you all saw it for yourselves. I don't know what they're doing, but I didn't see anything there," he said, popping another chip into his mouth.

Shikamaru stopped. He knew they were all spying on him and Ino. Right from the moment he stepped into town square, the eerie quietness gave it away. Note to self: never take any of them on missions. They'll screw up, he thought.

"Told you they were spying," he said. Ino shrugged. What else could she say?

"Tomorrow. We turn it up a notch," she said, staring out into the city square, watching the six of them talking amongst themselves.

A.N. Turn it up a notch, eh? Haha, I'm having fun writing this. Thanks to those who reviewed. Orochimaru is pleased.