A/N: Sorry the last chapter was so short. Also, I'm sorry to disappoint those of you who wanted to know how Chouji got hurt. I'm not going to write about it, since it doesn't further my purpose- use your imagination. They're ninjas, after all, and Chouji's a pretty big target for a weapon. I don't have any plans to go over Ino's point of view, either. This is strictly from Shikamaru's point of view. I might do a companion fic that details Ino's thoughts and feelings, but I really doubt I'll ever get to it. I also want to let everyone know that I really like the Shikamaru/Temari pairing. The thing that gets me is that Temari's too driven for Shikamaru- she deserves great things, and their goals in life are completely different. I don't see either of them willing to change their objectives for anything, so I don't see how it can last. But, you'll see I gave it my best shot. Sometimes things don't work out the way we want them to.

Hope you enjoy this chapter. All my chapters are too short, for my tastes...

"Hey!" Naruto cried, waving Shikamaru into the canteen. "Sit over here!"

Shikamaru looked over the group of jounin and sighed. None of the girls were there, which was just fine with him. Naruto was telling a story to Lee while Neji and Shino sat and played a game of shougi. He watched as Naruto waved at him again, then realized he'd never hear the end of it if he didn't join them at least once. "Hey," he said, walking over to the table.

"Hello," Lee replied, but Shino and Neji merely grunted, intent upon their game. Shino was winning, but not by much. Shikamaru winced as Neji made a mistake.

"I heard Chouji is finally in stable condition," Neji muttered. "I'm happy for his wife."

"Yeah," Shikamaru breathed. There was an unspoken emotion in Neji's words, and he wondered for a moment if it had anything to do with the Hyuuga's secret marriage. All the people who had been genin for their first chuunin exam knew that Neji and Tenten had secretly married after the Hyuuga clan had denied them the right. Neji was just biding his time until Hinata took over the family and granted him his wishes. Shikamaru didn't doubt that little Nejis and Tentens would soon follow. He also didn't doubt that Hinata would finally get Naruto to marry her after she took over the family, or vice-versa. They had been serious for years.

"Damn," Neji growled as Shino defeated him.

"My turn," Shikamaru said, taking Hyuuga's place. He watched as Shino placed the pieces. The sounds of Naruto's conversation with Lee faded into the background as his mental processes took over, taking careful note of Shino's moves and planning his own far in advance. Shino was very good, a better player than anyone else he'd come across, but he was still better.

"How's Temari?" Shino asked softly.

Shikamaru raised his eyes, seeing his face reflected in Shino's sunglasses. "Good," he replied.

Shino nodded. "She's a good woman. You're the only one she's ever bothered to stay with. The rest of us were let go rapidly."

Shikamaru's eyes involuntarily opened wide as he realized what Shino was saying. "Er, Temari hates bugs," he said, his morbid curiosity getting the better of him.

"They stay out of the way when I want them to," Shino muttered.

Shikamaru nodded, feeling slightly disgusted, and examined the board, slowly moving his piece. He was surprised he didn't feel the slow burn of jealousy inside him like he had whenever Ino was sporting a new boy on her arm. Whatever it was or wasn't, he wasn't interested in analyzing it. It was too much trouble to think about. Besides, Temari let him know that she wasn't letting him out of her sight anytime soon.

He ended up beating Shino just as Kiba, Tenten, Sakura, and Hinata arrived. "Naomi wants you to visit when you're done with the next mission," Sakura said, narrowly avoiding Lee's enthusiastic embrace. "Not at work!" she hissed to the black-haired man, grabbing his short braid. Although Sakura hadn't been able to work wonders on Lee, she had at least convinced him to grow his hair out. In every other aspect, however, he was still the spitting image of Gai. Shikamaru had once been on a tough mission with Gai. It had been hell. He wasn't sure how Tenten and Neji had survived. Gai was an incredible ninja, though, Shikamaru had to admit that. He had no worries he would come out of the mission alive when Gai was there.

"Yeah, I'll head over as soon as I can," Shikamaru answered the pink-haired kunoichi, who had finally given in and pecked Lee on the cheek. Lee immediately melted and leaned back in his chair with a sigh.

"It's seven," Naruto said, sliding off the table he was perched on. "Time to report."

They all nodded and followed him down the hall. Naruto had become their unspoken leader, mostly because he had saved all of their lives at least once. Time had weighed heavily on him, however. Although he was still as loud as ever, Shikamaru noticed that the sparkle in his eyes was tinged with sadness. He didn't understand how Uzumaki could truly love each and every single person in the village, especially after how he had been treated as a child, but he did. Shikamaru never doubted that Naruto would die to protect him, if necessary, and that knowledge brought out a certain ferocity from within him. He knew that he would probably die to protect Naruto as well, no matter how troublesome it might be. Tsunade knew it, too. She was trying to train Naruto to use his head more often, and once she was finished with him, there wasn't much doubt that Naruto would make a fine Hokage.

Entering the assignment room, the group headed over to the missions desk, each taking their scrolls and forming into their teams. Shikamaru was the last in line, and when he arrived at the desk and gave his name, the shinobi just waved his hand. "No assignment for you."

Shikamaru scowled. It wasn't like he relished going on missions, but it was strange he wasn't given anything. He had noticed the missions he had been on since Chouji's injury were terribly easy and awfully brief, but this was the last straw. "Okay," he breathed. "What's up?"

The administrative ninja shrugged. "I have no idea. It just says here it's by Tsunade-sama's orders."

"Is she available?"

The ninja checked his papers. "Not until tomorrow."

Shikamaru rubbed his face. "Okay," he grunted, and stalked away. He could feel his friends watching him, but he didn't feel like responding. They left him alone as he stalked out of the building.

"Never thought that not getting an assignment would actually be more troublesome than working," he grumbled to himself. Tsunade was a good Hokage, but she was secretly a softie. She had been overseeing Chouji's recovery, and the reason she hadn't given him a mission was because she probably wanted him to stick around his friend. Before he knew it, his feet had carried him to the hospital. Might as well use his day off for something good, he supposed, and went inside.

When he arrived at Chouji's room, Naomi was sleeping on a cot, her body cushioned by extra pillows. Despite the attempt to make it more comfortable, he doubted it did any good to ease the pregnant woman. He almost pitied her, but then he remembered that she was a ninja's wife. She knew what could happen to her husband. She had accepted it the moment she married him.

Moving silently so as not to wake them, he sat in the empty chair next to his friend's bed and gripped Chouji's massive hand. The palm dwarfed Shikamaru's. It baffled him that someone he had known when they were so small had grown so large, and that his childhood friend was about to have a child of his own. "You had better wake up," he whispered.

"He will," a soft voice replied, and he looked up to see Naomi's luminous green eyes studying from where she lay in her cot.

Shikamaru smiled slightly. "Hope I didn't disrupt your nap," he said.

"You didn't. The baby's kicking."

"He'll be fine."

Her red lips stretched in a soft smile. "Convince yourself, not me," she murmured.

He raised an eyebrow, berating himself for always underestimating her. Naomi was not an intellectual, but her insight never failed to astound him. Once again he was reminded that she was perfect for his friend.

They sat without conversation, listening to the monitors make soft noises and watching Chouji's mammoth chest move up and down as he breathed. The hours leaked by, but neither of them seemed to care. Shikamaru was too wrapped up in all his memories, which fled his brain as he was startled by the sound of the door latch lifting. Naomi's eyes flickered to the door, but she didn't move to get up. The door swung open and in stepped a young woman, hair bound neatly on top of her head. She wore a cotton camisole and loose cropped pants. Her ears were adorned with the same silver hoops he and Chouji wore. He could still remember the day their parents took them to get their ears pierced together, cementing Ino-Shika-Cho.

"Hello, Ino," Naomi said softly.

Ino's sky-blue eyes flashed when she noticed Shikamaru. "What are you doing here?' she said sharply.

"I wasn't assigned a mission today, so I'm here at the side of my best friend," he replied softly. He meant the remark to be acerbic, but he just didn't have it in him.

"Well, I'm here now, so you can just go."

He supposed he should be happy she was even talking to him. They hadn't spoken in over a year. "I don't intend to leave."

"Then I'll make you," she snapped.

Naomi finally sat up, rubbing her temples. "Please, stop. There's no reason for you two to be arguing."

"I'm not arguing," Shikamaru said. "She's the one getting all bent out of shape."

"And he's the jerk," Ino added.

"What did I do?" he asked. "What are you punishing me for?"

Ino simply turned her head to the side and snorted, instead walking over to Chouji's bedside table and replacing the wilted flowers with the fresh bouquet in her hands. "You're such an ass," she repeated, her shapely brow furrowed with a scowl. "I'm sorry, Naomi. I'll stop by again later."

"Stop this," Naomi snapped, and Ino and Shikamaru both jumped, startled. "Chouji wouldn't appreciate this, and neither do I. You two are both intelligent people and always think things through, except when it comes to one another. I've known you for several years now, and the only people I see you making assumptions about is one another, and they're always incorrect."

"I assume nothing about him," Ino growled. "I know he's a jerk."

"That's what I mean," Naomi said, her voice taking on a pleading tone. "You just assume you know why he's done what he's done, just like he assumes he knows everything about you. I guess that's the danger of being friends your whole lives. You just assume you know one another."

Shikamaru frowned. He hated to say it, but Naomi's words were making a lot of sense. "And?" he asked. "We obviously haven't cared enough to do anything about it."

Naomi shook her head. "No, Chouji thought it was the opposite problem. He thought you both cared too much."

Shikamaru raised his eyes and met Ino's, the first time he had done so in over a year. They were just as clear and blue as he remembered, sharp and soft at the same time. Her face was contorted with swirling emotions, her full lips parted slightly, her whole body tense and poised. "What are we supposed to do about that? Stop being friends?" he snorted. "Bit late for that."

"I think you two should have a nice talk. It's long overdue."

Shikamaru felt his heart begin to beat faster as he stood. He wanted to go with Ino, to talk to her, to look at her. The sight of her, even though she was angry and hateful at the moment, was like cool water in the desert. Speaking of desert, he thought, he had better not buy Ino food. Temari would have his head. "Too much trouble," he muttered, speaking his thoughts aloud, and his chest constricted as he saw pain flash through Ino's eyes.

"If that's the way you feel," she choked, and dashed out of the room.

Shikamaru groaned and smoothed his hair with his left hand, closing his eyes. "What are you waiting for?" Naomi asked.

"She hates me."

"That's why she's on the verge of tears?"

Shikamaru silently cursed her insight. Were all pregnant women pushy like this? "Fine," he grumbled, and followed Ino out the door.