A/N: Here's another chapter before the weekend. I hope you don't think Shikamaru's out of character; remember that he's a teenager and goes through all the awkwardness that time of life can yield. However, since he's so intelligent, he's even more painfully aware of himself than a normal person, and that invites even more trouble. Hopefully I've still kept him Shikamaru, though. He'll grow up more in chapters to come. Please enjoy, and let me know what you think, if you're so inclined.

Shikamaru slid into the booth across from Chouji, surprised to find food waiting for him. His friend was already eating, watching him with his brown eyes, noodles sliding into his mouth. Shikamaru tried to smile a little at the other boy, but the confusion of the night of the festival still hung over him.

"Hey," Chouji said, swallowing his noodles. "How's it going?"

"Okay," Shikamaru said. "Thanks for ordering for me."

"You always get the same thing, so it's not difficult. It's one time I'm sorta glad it's too much trouble for you to change things up."

"Yeah, I guess," Shikamaru replied, opening his napkin and preparing his chopsticks. "So, you mentioned you wanted to talk about something?"

A grin split Chouji's face. "Yeah. Thanks for coming."

"You offered to buy me lunch. Of course I came," Shikamaru said with a smirk. Chouji chuckled, wiping his mouth. "But you know I would have come anyway. I'm curious as to what happened that could get you so worked up."

"I know you'd meet me, regardless. That's why you're my best friend."

Shikamaru pushed around the udon in his bowl. "So? What's up?"

Chouji's cheeks turned a shade of crimson and he smiled, his eyes glazing over slightly. "I think I have a girlfriend!"

The chopsticks started to slide from Shikamaru's hand and he caught them again just before they hit the table. "Woah. The festival went that well for you?" he asked with a slight curvature of the corner of his mouth.

"Last night was the best night of my life," Chouji confided.

"So what happened?"

"I walked Naomi home, and as we were standing at the door, she was looking at me with this strange expression on her face, and so I leaned closer. She didn't seem to mind, so I leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. Man, she grabbed the back of my head and just started making out. We're going to go to the park this evening."

Shikamaru stared at his friend, mouth open in shock. Sure, he knew that Chouji was a great guy, but Naomi was gorgeous. Well, Chouji deserved her. He'd been ostracized for so long that it was really nice to see something happen to him that most people would envy. Shikamaru glanced around the restaurant, making sure no one was listening in on their conversation. It wouldn't do to be overheard talking about girls. Chouji was the only teenage boy he knew that would call another guy friend to recap his date the night before. Huh, maybe that was one of the reasons Naomi seemed to like Chouji so much. He was a "sensitive" guy. "Congrats," he said with a small smile.

"Oh yeah, it's great," Chouji beamed. "She's really wonderful. I can't believe she likes me!"

"Why not? You're a talented guy."

Chouji's brow furrowed slightly. "Uh, okay, but I'm so, uh, husky…"

Shikamaru waved a hand. "Whatever. Some girls like the big boys. Very few people in this village are as strong as the Akimichi clan. That probably turns her on."

The grin returned to Chouji's face. "Cool."

"Yeah. Good job."

Chouji spent a few minutes wolfing down food as Shikamaru slowly consumed his udon. "So," the larger boy finally asked, "How was your date?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. He didn't want to talk about his "date." Guys didn't talk about their feelings, or their dates. "It was okay," he replied, stirring the broth of his meal. Silence hung between them for a few moments. "I think I'm going to take the jounin exam."

The chopsticks in Chouji's hand clattered to the floor. The boy's eyes were wide and his jaw was slack. "What?" he said loudly. "The jounin exam?"

"Hey," Shikamaru said sharply. "Keep it down."

"Sorry," Chouji whispered. "What made you change your mind?"

"I'm tired of doing jounin work without getting paid jounin rates," he explained. "It's just too troublesome."

"Wow, Ino will be so happy to hear! Asuma, too."

Shikamaru shrugged as if it didn't matter to him. "Oh? Why would Ino care?"

Chouji sighed. "She talks about it all the time. 'Shikamaru's better than all the other chuunins. He should take the exam.' And so on."

"Yeah, whatever."

He waited as Chouji got a new pair of chopsticks and commenced eating once more. His own udon was waiting, so he ate for a while until he realized his friend was staring at him "So?" Chouji asked.

"What?"

"How was your date with Ino?"

Shikamaru's permanent frown deepened. "It wasn't a date, Chouji."

The boy's eyebrows raised a bit, but he didn't make further comments. "Well? Did you have a good time?"

"Yeah, we had fun."

"You guys danced together for a long time."

Shikamaru's face heated up, and he scowled into his lap. He could completely recreate the feel of Ino's waist between his hands and the smell of her hair if he thought about it. For some reason, it was sort of painful to think about. "Yeah. She likes to dance."

"And then you walked her home."

"Yeah. And then her boyfriend showed up."

Chouji's face drooped. "Oh."

Shikamaru stabbed an udon noodle with uncharacteristic vehemence. "Yeah."

Awkward silence settled between them, but it faded as they finished their meals. Shikamaru stood up, tossed his napkin on the table, and clapped Chouji on the shoulder. "You have to go?" Chouji asked.

"I should. I promised my mom I'd run some errands for her. I gotta work even on my days off."

"Okay."

"Hey, I'm really happy for you. Have fun with Naomi," Shikamaru said.

Chouji grinned again, his whole face lighting up. "I will. See you later."

"Yup," Shikamaru said, and walked out of the restaurant.

He wandered back home, helped his mother run errands, then set out in the late afternoon for his cloud-watching spot. He sat down in the grass and gazed up at the sky, waiting for the familiar feeling of peace and relaxation take over him. The feeling did not come. Instead, his mind swirled with snippets from the night before. Ino's eyes danced in front of him once again, her lips curving in a smile and her pale throat quivering with laughter. He felt a warm stirring deep in his abdomen and adjusted his trousers, scowling as hard as he could. Dammit, this was exactly why girls were too much trouble. He didn't want to have anything to do with them. It only took him a few minutes to realize that cloud watching was not in his future for that evening, and so he took off to the park to play shougi with some of the retired old ninjas that spent all their time there.

The next day he woke up feeling much the same, going through the motions of routine. He was on his way to give watching the sky another shot when he saw Kiba shoot by him. "Hey!" the boy shouted, his hood thrown back. "Party at Chouji's!"

Shikamaru frowned harder and watched Kiba continue to tear down the street towards the café Chouji's family owned. The Akimichi clan might not have been the most prestigious family in town, but they were definitely one of the wealthier ones. Still, why would Chouji throw a party and not invite him? He immediately suspected that it probably wasn't Chouji starting the party, only paying for it. Sighing, he looked up at the sky. The color still reminded him of Ino's eyes. Well, why shouldn't he go to the party? He still had one more day off, so it might be just fine. Besides, maybe he'd get to see Chouji and Naomi interacting. He was pretty certain the girl's intentions were pure, but he wanted to make sure. Nodding to himself, he followed Kiba's trail towards the Akimichi's café.

Pushing open the door, he realized that the place was absolutely packed with people he knew. Naruto and Kiba were dancing on a table, whooping and screaming, with Lee nearby, cheering them on. Tenten was sitting next to Neji on a bench, occasionally leaning over and whispering things to him that made him smirk and her smile. Shikamaru thought it was probably some sort of scathing social commentary. Tenten was actually a very sweet girl, but Neji, while greatly improved, still enjoyed comments at other people's expense. No doubt Tenten was just doing it to impress him. Shikamaru wondered if she'd ever realize she didn't have to do that to win his affection. Sakura was seated next to Lee, but not too close to him, watching him out of the corner of her eye. Finally he spied Chouji and Naomi seated in a corner booth, another girl sitting with them.

"Hey," Shikamaru said, sliding into the booth next to the girl.

"Hi!" Chouji said, the girls echoing him. Naomi's arm was entwined with his, and he could tell they were holding hands underneath the table.

"Some party," Shikamaru grunted. "You paying?"

Chouji's face fell. "I think so, yeah," he grumbled.

"It'll be okay," Naomi said, stroking his arm. "I prepared a lot of food in advance, and I'll help you clean up afterwards."

Shikamaru examined Naomi closely, watching the way her dark green eyes affectionately moved over his friend's face. She was nearly as tall as Chouji was, which was a good thing, in his opinion. Chouji would most likely end up being very tall and would need a woman with substantial height. She also seemed genuinely concerned about him, and happiness filled his heart for his friend. Chouji deserved joy.

"I'll help, too," the girl sitting next to him said, startling him out of his thoughts. Hinata was at his side, smiling gently. She was growing up to be pretty, too, with flawless skin and slim limbs.

"Hi, Hinata," Shikamaru said, wondering if he should apologize for not greeting her earlier, then deciding that it was too much of a pain.

"Hi," she said. "I hear that you're taking the jounin test. I'll be taking it this time, too."

"Whaaaat?" someone shouted from beside him. "Shikamaru's taking the jounin test?"

Shikamaru grimaced and slowly turned to the person standing next to him. Ino was staring down at him, on the arm of a good-looking, muscular guy. "Yeah, I am," Shikamaru replied. "So what?"

"I didn't think you were EVER going to take the exam!" she exclaimed, releasing her boyfriend. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Whatever," he growled.

"Hinata's taking it, too," Chouji offered.

Ino nearly shoved Shikamaru on the floor as she wormed past him to sit next to Hinata. "Oh, that's great!" she squealed, and he sat down at a table nearby, letting the blonde girl twitter away. Ino's boyfriend sat down across from him. Shikamaru felt really skinny and pasty next to the brawny guy, who probably didn't have problems with patchy facial hair.

"So you're Shikamaru, eh?" the guy said, reaching across the table and offering his hand.

Shikamaru clasped it and pumped it once. "Yeah. You must be Toru?"

"Yeah. Thanks for taking Ino to the festival. She had a great time. I'm sorry I couldn't be there."

Shikamaru nodded, trying not to glare at Toru. Dammit, why did Ino's boyfriend have to be a nice guy? It was much more difficult for him to hate nice guys. He really couldn't blame her for dating guys that were nicer, more athletic, and more good-looking than he was. "Well, she's one of my best friends. I'd do anything for her," Shikamaru said before the words really penetrated his brain. Once they did sink in he blushed, worried about how he sounded.

"I hear a lot about you," Toru said. "You have quite a reputation as the jounin who's still a chuunin."

Shikamaru nodded, suddenly cautious. He hadn't needed to wonder if he was the subject of gossip; it was obvious, even to a socially unrefined genius. He did wonder, however, if the young man in front of him was prone to listening to gossip. "Well, I'll be taking the next exam, so hopefully all that garbage will cease."

Toru grinned. His smile and teeth were absolutely perfect. "Don't you hate how people gossip? It never made much sense to me."

Dammit, Toru was not only nice, but he was mature and had similar values to himself. The situation was just getting worse and worse. The guy had to be at least eighteen. Maybe that would be a good reason to dislike him? "Yeah, me, neither," he grunted.

Shikamaru was spared further conversation by a loud crash- Kiba had pushed Naruto off of one of the tables. Naruto jumped up, shouting, and suddenly Shino was there, restraining Kiba as Hinata rushed over. "Wow, pretty rough," Toru commented.

"Can you believe Naruto's a jounin?" Shikamaru sighed.

Toru laughed, the sound warm and rich. He had a deeper voice than Shikamaru in that well-muscled chest. "Hey, fighting skill has nothing to do with personality. But I think I know why Kiba hasn't been allowed to take the test yet by Kurenai-san."

Shit, Shikamaru really liked Toru. Ino would probably marry him. The guy was perfect. "Yeah. Kiba's strong, and he's great on a team, but he needs to learn how to lead first."

"Leading is difficult," Toru said. "I've heard you're good at it."

"Only when I have to be," Shikamaru said, and was rewarded with another warm chuckle.

"It's hard to say which is more efficient: expending only the amount of energy needed to complete a task, then returning to resting inertia, or expending more and getting the job done more quickly, keeping up moving inertia."

"I like the former."

"Nothing wrong with that."

Shikamaru took a deep breath. "I hope you really like Ino. I know she's more than strong enough to take care of herself, but if you hurt her, Chouji and I will have to hunt you down, of course."

Toru smiled. "Of course. I wouldn't expect anything less from friends of Ino's."

Shikamaru scowled. "Yeah." He glanced around, seeing that the situation with Naruto and Kiba was simply dragging more people into the mix. Sakura was trying to pound Naruto while Lee was trying to reason with Kiba. Things only got worse when Hinata got involved. "Excuse me," he said to the other male, casting a glance at where Ino was talking animatedly to Chouji and Naomi. Sauntering over to the group, he made a quick series of seals with his hands. "Kagemane no jutsu," he mumbled, and suddenly all movement in the group ceased. "I'm tired of this crap," Shikamaru announced, and flung his arms wide. So did everyone else in the group. Suddenly he leaned forward, closing his arms around the empty air as if embracing someone. Yowls arose from the group as they all commenced hugging one another, Naruto and Kiba screaming the loudest. "Now let's all be friends, shall we?"

"Shikamaru!" he heard Ino growl behind him. "That wasn't very nice."

"Oh, I thought it was very appropriate," Toru said, putting an arm around her waist.

"Whatever," Shikamaru grunted, releasing the jutsu. Everyone involved toppled to the ground. He stared into Ino's eyes for a long moment, memorizing their color and the way her dark pupils searched his face, then stepped away and moved towards the entrance.

"Thanks for the great party, Chouji," he said, waving to his friend and only meaning his words to be half-sarcastic. Chouji waved back. Nodding, Shikamaru went out the door.

He walked home, paying little attention to his surroundings, and joined his parents for supper. His father had also had the day off, and so the whole family was gathered at the dinner table. It was getting rather late, but his mother put the food on the table, had Shikamaru serve his elders, and they began to eat.

"I'm taking the jounin exam," he announced, and his mother dropped her fork. For a moment he thought she was going to go into screaming mode, for her entire body tensed and her hands curled into fists.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" she cried, beaming. "My baby boy is growing up!"

His father's gaze was hard. "There goes your free time," he muttered.

"What free time? You know they're already sending me on jounin-level missions."

His father nodded. "I know. But you're going to have to train every day from now until the exam, whether you're on a mission or not. You have your mother's brains, but you don't have her stamina."

"And?" Shikamaru asked.

"And so I guess I had better start teaching you everything I know."

Shikamaru smiled slightly. "I knew you were holding out on me, old man."

"That means you had better be home on time when you get back from missions, Shikato," his mother snapped. Father and son sighed simultaneously. Over the years Shikamaru had come to realize that his mother was such a nag because his dad was so incredibly irresponsible. He was pretty much resigned to having a nagging wife as well, not because he was irresponsible or anything (his mother had seen to that), but because he was incorrigibly lazy.

Shikamaru cleared the table as his parents bickered, wondering why they stayed together. He recalled at that moment the passionate noises he sometimes heard at night. As he washed the dishes, he vowed that he and his wife would do more things together than just roll around in the sack.

He could still hear his parents exchanging sharp remarks as he made his way upstairs. He shut the door to the bathroom and showered, wiping the steam off of the mirror. A boy looked back at him with patchy whiskers and wiry hair. His skin was clear but his complexion wasn't particularly great; it was actually sort of pasty, especially considering all the time he spent sleeping in the sun. The eyes were slightly slanted and rather small, the color an unremarkable brown. It wasn't even a dark, rich, chocolate brown, just plain, old, nasty brown. His mouth was twisted slightly, as if he tasted something bad, the semi-full lips seeming pinched. His nose was okay, but nothing special, and the same went for his chin. His body was strong but still boyishly scrawny. The person in front of him looked insolent, lazy, unremarkable, and unlovable. No wonder Ino went for guys like Toru. Sighing, he hung up his towel, turned out the light, and went to bed.