A/N: Here's another update, obviously. Hope you enjoy the chapter! Sorry to those of you that think that Shikamaru's out of character. Remember, he's growing up, and he is going to change throughout the course of the story. Hormones do terrible things to people, after all. Also, Temari will be showing up in the next few chapters, so please stay tuned. Thanks to those of you who reviewed, and if you feel inclined to review again or for the first time, it's always appreciated.

Shikamaru rustled his paycheck in his pocket, meandering homeward for the first time in several weeks. The last mission had gone quite successfully; his teammates had been very excited to hear that he was going to take the exam. At least he had some guys on his team at present. With his luck he'd probably get paired up with all girls. Again. Always with girls. It was so annoying.

He was almost home when he ran into Naruto and Hinata, strolling down the street in the opposite direction. They were standing very closely to one another but not touching, Hinata's cheeks stained red and Naruto glancing about nervously every once in a while. Naruto caught sight of him and waved, and Hinata turned her head as well. She said a few words to Naruto and walked over, the blonde following her. "Hi, Shikamaru," she said softly but without hesitation.

"Hi guys," he replied, not stopping his progress home.

The other two fell in step with him. "I was wondering if we could train together sometime," she asked him.

He clenched his teeth. Great, now he had to train with a girl, too. Oh well, at least Hinata wasn't as awful as most teenage girls. He still didn't like girls much, which made him resent the fact that he was attracted to them all the more. Still, even though it would be a pain, it couldn't hurt to train for the exam. "Yeah, all right. Just come find me when you're ready."

"Okay," Hinata said. "Thank you very much!" She seemed about to say more, then lowered her eyes and slowed her pace. Naruto sighed and elbowed her gently in the ribs. "O-oh, and would you be on my team when we take the exam? If we get to choose?"

Shikamaru groaned inwardly once more. "Sure thing, Hinata." Annoyed, he decided to strike back. He wasn't sure why, but he had been feeling rather cranky and petty as of late. "Hey Naruto, aren't you scared I'm going to take your girlfriend away from you by spending so much time with her?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Naruto said. "She's just my best friend."

Hinata's facial expression fell and she looked at the ground. "I'm happy to be your friend, Naruto," she added softly.

Something in his stomach fell and he realized how he had hurt the sweet, gentle girl. Cursing himself, he took a deep breath. "Well, Naruto, sometimes best friends are also the best people to fall in love with. You know, Hinata's liked you for years."

Hinata's face instantly turned crimson and she looked at the ground, mouth moving but not emitting any sound. She looked pained, her arms wrapping tightly around herself and her shoulders hunching forward. Naruto looked stunned, as if someone had hit him in the back of the head with a brick. It was almost like he was unconscious with his eyes open. "What?" he finally said, his eyes sliding over to the girl. "Hey, Hinata, is that true?"

"You guys have been hanging out constantly for weeks and you seriously had no clue?" Shikamaru asked, rolling his eyes. "She couldn't have been making it more obvious."

Naruto scratched his head. "Hey, Hinata," he said gently, but she merely turned her back to him. "Hinata, is Shikamaru telling the truth? I want to hear it from you."

Shikamaru walked away, feeling bad that he had embarrassed Hinata and hoping he had done the right thing. The girl's feelings for Naruto had been obvious for years, and he thought it was finally time she did something about it, especially before she took the exam. Being a ninja was a dangerous thing; as a result, the people that wanted relationships had to form them early, for there was no telling how long a ninja's life would last. Shikamaru was lazy, it was true, but he also believed in getting things done before he died.

"Y-yes, Naruto-kun," he heard Hinata say behind him, her voice surprisingly firm. "I have liked you for a very long time."

"Wow!" Naruto exclaimed, their voices getting more faint as he walked away. "Well, I think you're really pretty, and I like you, too. Do you want to go on a date?"

"N-Naruto-kun!" she squealed, and he couldn't resist turning around. He saw what he had expected to see: Hinata's arms thrown around Naruto, her body mashed against his. Naruto had a dopey grin on his face, and Shikamaru felt that he had done the right thing. Might as well give Hinata a reason to like him, if they were going to take the exam together, he figured.

He finally arrived home, eager to get the grime off of his body. The mission had been another one of those run-around-in-the-woods-for-days sort of mission, and he had been fantasizing about a shower for at least a week. He hadn't been injured, but he also hadn't been able to get all the crusted blood of his enemies off of him, either. Pushing open the door to his house, he was surprised to find no one home. Happy about his luck, he trudged upstairs and went straight to the bathroom. He showered, pulled his wet hair up in a sloppy ponytail, and wrapped the towel around his waist. Looking in the mirror, he realized that his face was a little scruffy, so he spent a while shaving. Finally satisfied, he shuffled into his room, throwing the door wide.

Jumping back, he saw that there was somebody already in his room. "What in the hell are you doing here?" he snapped, clutching the towel around his hips.

"Oh, Shikamaru!" Ino sobbed, rising from his bed and throwing her arms around his damp shoulders.

He blushed fiercely at the feeling of her bare arms sliding across his naked skin, intensely wishing he was wearing actual clothing. His towel wouldn't hide anything if he got overexcited. Being a teenaged boy was really awful, he decided. He awkwardly put an arm around her, still holding his towel tightly with the other hand. "Hey, hey," he murmured to her, patting her back as he had learned to do years ago. For someone who desperately wanted to be an antisocial hermit, Ino had managed to teach him quite a bit about what a social being was expected to do. She was making him irritatingly functional. "What's the matter?"

"I broke up with Toru!" she wailed.

Shikamaru loathed the sudden, excited pounding of his heart. He especially felt bad because he had genuinely liked Toru. "What happened?" he asked.. He was so used to asking these precise questions in the same order that he almost did it without thinking. It felt more like a ritual he performed with Ino rather than a conversation.

"I dumped him because he was too clingy. He was really nice, but he wanted all of my time, and he wanted to do stuff constantly. He just wanted too much."

He led her back to his bed and sat her down on the edge, sitting awkwardly next to her. His chest and arms seemed scrawnier than ever to him, probably more than they actually were, his limbs gangly now that he was so exposed to her. He put his free hand on his thigh, looking at it so that he wouldn't have to look at her. She reached out and grabbed his hand, holding on to it with a strange ferocity. "I'm sorry, Ino. He seemed like a really nice guy."

"He WAS a really nice guy. Too nice, sometimes. Not interesting enough, you know?" she sniffled, wiping her eyes with her left hand, her right still clutching his.

"Uh, Ino?" he asked.

She looked up at him, light blue eyes wide. The skin around her eyes was slightly puffy, and her cheeks looked red and raw, but other than that, she was still striking. She gripped his hand more tightly and brought it up to her chest. "Yes, Shikamaru?" she whispered.

He glanced at her askance. Was she sparkling? He felt his hand pressed against her bosom and blushed. "Is it okay if I put some clothes on?"

Her eyes lost their sparkle and her fine eyebrows pulled together in a scowl. "Fine," she growled, releasing his hand abruptly. He watched in detached horror as his hand fell into her lap, right in between her legs. The first thing that registered in his head was how warm the space between her thighs was, and the second thing was the blinding pain he felt as she punched him in the face. The blow knocked him off the bed and onto the floor, the towel coming free as he fell. Before he knew it he was facedown, thankfully, on the floor, completely naked.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he shouted, covering the back of his head and neck with his arms, fully expecting blows to rain down upon him. He heard nothing but silence and slowly rotated his torso, wondering what was going on. Ino was still seated on the bed, legs tightly crossed and resolutely looking at the ceiling. Her face was bright red and her lips were pursed. "Uh, hand me my towel?" he asked, and she groped around for it and threw in his direction without once taking her gaze form the ceiling. "Thanks," he said, wrapping it around himself and slowly getting up from the floor. Ino still didn't respond. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm sorry," she squeaked, the blush extending down her neck. She was staring at the ceiling so hard he thought it might crack under her scrutiny.

Terror, icy cold, raced down his spine. "For what?"

"I didn't mean to."

He lost the feeling in his toes. "Didn't mean to what?"

"I won't tell."

His lungs began to ache as he attempted to control his breathing. He couldn't panic. There was no reason to panic, right? "Won't tell?"

"I saw," she muttered.

Shikamaru paled. "Saw what?"

It was almost unbelievable, but she turned an even more intense shade of red.

"Saw what, Ino?" he asked, desperation raking him with icy claws.

"Your butt."

He exhaled with relief, the feeling coming back to his limbs, and quickly went to his chest of drawers to pull out some underwear, followed by a pair of cropped pants. His digits tingled with the easing of adrenaline and his hands shook as he fastened his trousers. "Okay, I'm dressed."

She looked at him tentatively. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to."

"Hey, it was only my butt. No different from any other guy's butt. Besides, you've seen my clothes torn before." He was so relieved that she hadn't seen something else that he barely even registered what he was saying.

"But this was your whole butt."

"Yeah, so? Everyone has a butt."

Her entire face was no longer red, but a faint blush still stained her cheeks. "Well, it was nice."

He began to blush as well and realized he had better do something quick to distract himself. "What, I had a nice butt, or it was nice to see my butt?" he asked with a sly half-smile.

Her embarrassment turned into mock-offense as she raised her hand and whacked him across the bicep. "Shut up!" she cried, but she had a smile on her face.

Going to his closet, he pulled out a shirt and put it on. It was a nice, white, cotton shirt, which he found he favored after his missions were completed. A person wearied of wearing mesh all the time. "Well, I'm sorry you broke up with your boyfriend," he said with a sigh, sitting down next to her once more.

She nodded, rubbing at one of her eyes. Her golden ponytail brushed the back of her neck. "I know. But I get tired of going through guys all the time. I just want to find someone I can really connect with, you know?"

"I know," he replied, locking eyes with her. Her eyes opened wider slightly, and he thought she leaned towards him a little. His heart began to race and quickly looked away. "I mean, that's all anyone wants, probably. You'll find the right guy someday. You're only sixteen."

A strange expression crossed her face and was gone. "So what made you decide to take the jounin exam?" she asked, the last vestiges of her sorrow disappearing.

He shrugged, falling backward on his bed and crossing his arms behind his head. "Got tired of doing more work for less pay," he answered. "I just thought it was time."

"Hinata's taking it, too. I think she'll do really well."

"Yeah, she told me. She asked me to train with her, actually."

Something cold flashed in Ino's eyes for a split second. "Oh, that's nice," she said.

"When will you take the exam?"

She shrugged and rolled over on her stomach so that she could look him in the face. "When Chouji does. He made me promise to wait and take it with him. Probably next year."

"How about Sakura?"

"She wants to take it then, too. Kiba's going to as well."

"Hn," he grunted. "You'll all pass, I know it."

She sighed. "Yeah, I'm not worried." Suddenly she gave a start.

"What?"

"I was supposed to meet Sakura five minutes ago," she said, launching herself from the bed.

He stood as well. "I'll see you out. Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah," she replied, rushing down the stairs before him. They got to the door, he opened it, and she threw her arms around him, squeezing him tight. "Thanks for everything. You're awesome."

"Okay," he replied softly. "No hard feelings about earlier? It was an accident, I swear."

She blushed but smiled at the same time. "I know. See you later!" she cried, and dashed off.

He waved at her, watching her lithe form run down the street. When she was out of sight he sighed and put his hands in his pockets, turning to go inside. Going into the kitchen, he started to make himself a sandwich when something occurred to him. "Wait a minute," he muttered to himself. "How the hell did she get into my house?"

He thought about it for a minute, then decided it didn't matter. She was one of his best friends, after all. If she wanted to spend time with him, he'd take every minute she could spare. Gathering his sandwich, he went back up to his room. He could still watch clouds through the window and enjoy himself for the rest of the afternoon.