A/N: Thanks for all your great reviews!! I'm pleased you all seemed to like the last chapter, and if you don't normally like this pairing, and this story is making you like it anyway, well, I couldn't ask for a better compliment. Thank you to all who take the time to review. I hope these last chapters aren't boring- I know some of you may think it's over, but to me, it's not over until I know how things ended up. Hopefully you will feel the same way and read to the end. Just three more chapters after this. Please enjoy, and review, if you're so inclined.

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Spring came, and with it came Sakura's wedding. Shikamaru was relieved when the day finally arrived, for Ino had been scurrying around their apartment for days, babbling about nothing but weddings. However, she hadn't brought up the word in context to herself, which surprised, relieved, and bothered him all at the same time. Hadn't she thought about marrying him, not even once? It was something he had given quite a bit of thought during the six months they hadlived together. He sat at the table, reading a book on strategy and picking apart its flaws, Ino fluttering around the kitchen. "So what do you think?" she asked, and he twitched, startled, looking at her.

"Excuse me?"

"I want to know what you think."

Sweat beaded at his hairline. Nothing was worse than a pissed-off Ino, nothing. If he said or did the wrong thing…. He understood why his dad was whipped. Ino wasn't nearly as terrifying as his own mother, though, so maybe he got off lucky. "I think that would be just fine," he replied, swallowing, and was rewarded with a grin.

"That's what I told her!" Ino crowed. "She'll make herself sick, worrying about things like that."

Shikamaru let out a long exhalation, his entire body tingling with the adrenaline that had just been released into his bloodstream. Putting down his book, he watched her flit about the kitchen, putting dishes away. It was rare that they had two days in a row off at the same time, and he was surprised to find that he had actually missed being around her. Coming home to their larger apartment, and having her there to boot, was far more satisfying than living alone, even if their new place wasn't palatial by any means. Ino wasn't the peerless housekeeper Temari was, but he found the place to be quite comfortable because of it. He was happy he could eat crackers on the couch and not get a stomachache because he was so worried he'd get crumbs somewhere and be beaten for being a pig. What had really surprised him about living with Ino was that she didn't sweat the small stuff. He thought for sure she'd constantly be exploding over little things he did, or maybe didn't do.Perhaps it wasn't so troublesome sometimes, after all.

Ino passed by him with a cup, making a beeline for the cupboard behind him, and he reached out and snatched her up with a long arm, pulling her into his lap. "Hey," he said, voice husky. "I missed you while you were on your mission."

"I have to put this cup away," she said with a smile, tugging against his arm.

"Hey," he repeated, and plucked the cup from her grasp.

"Shikamaru!" she gasped, scowling. "I need that."

"No, you don't," he replied, standing up with her in his arms. She opened her mouth to protest, but he silenced her with a kiss. Her entire body relaxed, allowing him to carry her to their bedroom without fuss. That, he thought, was the best part about living together.

An hour later he pulled on his pants, glancing back at the bed, where Ino still lay with her hair spread out all around her. Her slender limbs were arranged every which way, her face a mask of contentment as she gazed at him from underneath heavy-lidded eyelids. "I don't know how you can move around afterwards," she murmured. "I just want to go to sleep."

"I thought you needed to stop by the flower shop," he replied, zipping up his flak jacket.

"Oh, it's too troublesome," she said with a smile, and he chuckled.

"Suit yourself. I'm just going to go sit in the park, then."

She sat up, the sheet falling away and baring her lovely chest. There were few things he liked as well as Ino's chest. Not too small, not too big. Well, her thighs were pretty nice too…. "You can't do that!" she cried, startling his thoughts out of the gutter. "The wedding's tomorrow! We have things to do!"

"Then you'd best get out of bed," he said, walking into the kitchen and pouring himself a glass of water.

He heard Ino grumbling in the bedroom, and a couple of minutes later she stalked out into the kitchen, tying her hair back in a bun. "Your hair looks like hell," she growled, grabbing the empty glass out of his hand and helping herself to some water.

"Feh, we're not all perfect like you," he said with a half-smile as she slammed the glass down on the counter. Ino had broken several dishes since she moved in; luckily none of them were thrown at him. Then again, she seemed far more eager to hit him with a fist than hit him with something else. "So are you angry at me, or are you angry about errands?"

She scowled at him, walking to the front door and pulling on her shoes. "Both. I don't feel like running errands, and yet you're not trying to talk me out of it. What good is having a lazy bum for a boyfriend if he won't try to get me to be a lazy bum too?"

"I don't know," Shikamaru said, grinning inwardly as she wrenched open the door, although his expression was as sour as ever.

He followed Ino to pick up her kimono, carried the packages that contained their wedding gifts, and ended up at the flower shop. Ino's demeanor lightened quite a bit when she entered the shop, immediately immersed in the flowers. He strolled behind her as she went out back and began to wander through the beds. One of his favorite things to do was lie on one of the stone benches and watch the clouds while Ino did the weeding, planting, and harvesting. They stayed there a couple hours, went home, finished up a few more things, and went to bed.

Ino was up the next morning at the crack of dawn, Shikamaru moaning and groping around her empty side of the futon. He hated it when she left him in bed by himself. It wasn't as much fun to laze about without her under the covers with him, but he supposed he was spoiled. "What're you doing?" he groaned, leaning on the doorway of the bathroom. Ino was already showered and was fussing with her hair.

"The rehearsal's this morning, remember?"

"Oh, right."

"Bum," he heard her mutter as he climbed in the shower, but her tone was affectionate, as was the quick pat she gave his rear. He dressed and joined her in the kitchen, wolfing down a biscuit as she rinsed out a cup and put it in the rack to dry. "Ready?" she asked.

"I don't know why I even have to go," he complained, following her out of the house.

"Because Lee's your teammate, that's why," she informed him. Eventually she realized he was lagging behind, and she grabbed his hand and began to tow him along.

"But it's going to be troublesome," he protested, tugging on her arm to get her to slow down.

"I swear, you're like a big child sometimes," she muttered.

"It'll be good practice, then," he sighed, and promptly shut his mouth as she tossed him a quizzical look over her shoulder. Shikamaru was pretty certain he was going to ask her to marry him, but he wasn't sure when. Of course, he hadn't dared voice any of those thoughts to Ino.

"Good practice for what?"

"Having children," he replied, and she blushed, looking straight ahead, making an insolent smile spread across his face.

They eventually arrived in the cherry orchard, where Sakura and Lee would be wed the next day. The trees were so covered in blossoms it looked like snow, and he had to admit that Sakura looked lovely in her sundress as she greeted them. He always wondered how girls could wear such revealing clothing and not freeze to death. "You look lovely!" Ino said, and Sakura, who was obviously jittery, babbled back. Shikamaru completely tuned them out, not wanting to overhear "girl talk" in the least. Seeing Neji, he wandered over.

"Hey," he drawled, the Hyuuga's head snapping around. Neji always seemed to be glaring at people. Shikamaru wondered if it was just the color of the eyes, but Hinata never looked like she was glaring.

"Hello," Neji said, fidgeting.

An awkward silence stretched between them. "Um, so how's Lee?"

Neji merely pointed, and Shikamaru followed his gesture to see Lee flitting between trees, knees trembling. Gai appeared out of nowhere and held open his arms, and Lee immediately broke into tears, clutching his old sensei.

"Oh," Shikamaru muttered. "Gotcha."

"And I had to be on a team with that," Neji snorted.

The tone of his voice was cold, but Shikamaru detected a slight smile playing at the corners of Neji's mouth. "You obviously miss it," he replied. "Where's TenTen?"

"She begged off."

"Lucky. Oh well. Only for the ones you love…"

"But she was on our team, too, and she's still on Lee's team," Neji pointed out. "I just think she doesn't like weddings."

Shikamaru nodded, folding his arms across his chest. TenTen and Neji's wedding had been very hush-hush, and she really didn't seem to like girly things. "Oh well. She's coming tomorrow, right?"

"I hope so," Neji said, and Shikamaru could tell that Neji couldn't stomach the thought of attending alone. "Otherwise Gai might try to 'cheer' me up."

"Heh," Shikamaru commented, and was saved from trying to come up with more awkward small-talk by Ino in full-blown harpy mode.

"Neji, get over here!" she screeched. "We want to start, but Lee's shaking too bad."

"Sakura, my love, I won't mess this up!" Lee wailed, fists clenched.

"Oh, hell," Neji swore, stalking over to them. Shikamaru was left to stand in the back with Gai as the priest directed the bride and groom on what they would do the next afternoon. Luckily, Gai was so involved with watching the proceedings that he never once tried to speak to Shikamaru. The young man wondered if he could get away with using a shadow jutsu to leave. He figured Ino would notice eventually, though, and he didn't want their first big fight to be over Sakura's wedding. Of course, he didn't want there to ever be a big fight, period.

The rehearsal lasted a grueling two hours, since Lee kept breaking down into tears every five minutes and had to be consoled by a reluctant Neji, and Sakura kept almost passing out. Gai finally intervened, punching Lee in the stomach. "I wanted to hit you in your beautiful face, but you must be unmarked for your wedding!" Gai declared. "Lee, you must be strong for your bride! See how she trembles with nerves? How can she be confident if you are a coward?"

"Oh, you're so right! Gai-sensei!" Lee wailed, and they embraced, tears running down their face. Neji looked like he wanted to cry, too, but for a different reason. Shikamaru wondered for a moment if Neji was going to go ANBU on their asses. However, Gai's pep talk seemed to set Lee straight, because the last fifteen minutes of the rehearsal were perfectly normal.

Ino trotted over the second it was done, beaming. "So how was I?" she asked, trailing a finger down the side of her neck.

He actually hated it when he was trying to be cute. "Eh, you were all right. Gai was the sexy one, though."

Ino's eyes bugged out of her head, and just as she wound up a punch he held up his hands. "No, no, I was kidding!" he protested. Ino lowered her fist, but she kept scowling at him.

"Fine," she growled, and he found her real attitude to be so much more attractive that he impulsively wrapped his arms around her and quickly kissed her.

The smile she gave him was genuine. "So can we go now?" he asked.

Ino glanced back at Sakura. "Actually, can I ask a favor?"

Shikamaru put his hands in his pockets. "You're going to anyway," he mumbled, and, sure enough, her words plowed right over the top of his.

"Can Lee stay with you tonight?"

"What? Why?"

"So I can stay with Sakura. She doesn't want to see Lee before the wedding. Tradition, you know."

"And that means I don't get to spend the night with my own girlfriend? That's absolutely crap-tacular," he grumbled.

"Oh, come on. It's just for one night. Please?"

He narrowed his eyes, looking down at her with his sourest expression. It was then he understood what being "whipped" meant—it meant that you loved a person so much that you'd do anything to make them happy, even if you didn't like it. So much for his goal of not being whipped. "Fine. You owe me."

Her brow furrowed. She had learned not to like repaying his kindnesses, which was one good way to get her to ask less of him. "What do you want?"

"Tomorrow night. You. Strawberries. Whipped cream. You do the math."

Ino's mouth hung open, her eyes wide. "Wh-what? What am I supposed to-"

"I was kidding," he interrupted.

That earned him a slap on the arm. "Jerk," she growled. "Fine, I'll do whatever you want."

"Okay, go tell Sakura," he sighed, surprised when she suddenly went up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek.

"You're the best," she said with a wink, and scurried away.

Lee immediately came bounding over. "So I guess I'm staying with you tonight!" he said, grinning.

"Yeah. We should get a stripper. It's your last night as a single man, after all."

Lee blinked. "Oh no, I could never do that to my darling Sakura! Women are precious and should be admired as people, not objects!"

"I was kidding," Shikamaru groaned, rubbing his temples. Couldn't anyone take a joke today? Of course, he did a lot of rubbing of temples when he was around Lee, period.

"Oh, okay." Lee glanced around. "Where would you find strippers?"

"Kakashi knows," Shikamaru said.

"Whatever Kakashi knows, I know!" Gai announced, appearing out of nowhere. It gave Shikamaru fear-shivers.

"Okay, where do we get a stripper?" Shikamaru drawled, and Gai immediately blushed and trotted away. He glanced over at where the girls were talking, and suddenly both heads swiveled toward him, eyes squinty.

"You better not get Lee a stripper!" Ino screeched, and then went back to her conversation with Sakura as if nothing had happened.

"C-creepy," Lee said, staring.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Ino's like that. Our kids are screwed."

Lee shot him a glance, and Shikamaru mentally kicked himself. What was with him and being all family-oriented lately? Maybe he was just getting old. "Say goodbye to Sakura," he told Lee. "It's the last time you'll see her before she's your wife."

Lee did as he was told, then the two men hit the town. By eight-thirty p.m. Shikamaru was wasted, leaning on Naruto for support. Naruto, however, was also pretty trashed. Lee was unconscious, Neji dragging him down the street by his ankles, Kiba weaving behind them as Chouji herded them all down the street. "Hey, Shino!" Naruto slurred, waving, and promptly passed out, Shikamaru tumbling down on top of him.

Shino came over, pushing the sunglasses further up his nose. "What?"

"Hi," Shikamaru said, having difficulty focusing.

"Are you all drunk?" Shino asked. "It's not even nine yet."

"Sorry," Shikamaru said.

"Issa party!" Kiba howled, giggling madly.

"Not all of us are drunk," Chouji protested, but then Neji stumbled on something invisible, dropping Lee, and Chouji shook his head.

"I see only the family man is still standing," Shino observed.

"I'm awake!" Shikamaru announced, trying to stand up and failing. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he was really happy Ino was at Sakura's for the night. The bachelor party had gone too well. They'd had to pool their money to pay for the damage a drunken Lee did to the bar.

"Can you help me get them home?" Chouji asked, trying to pin a weaving Kiba down.

Shino sighed. "I suppose," he said, darting forward and grabbing Kiba by an ear. The young man howled, but Shino paid him no mind. With his free hand, Shino picked up Naruto's wrist and began to drag him down the street, Neji following slowly.

"TenTen's gonna kill 'im," Shikamaru muttered, pointing a finger.

"Yeah, yeah," Chouji muttered, heaving Lee over his shoulder and tucking Shikamaru under an arm, and it was the last thing Shikamaru remembered.

He woke up the next morning flung across his futon, blinking painfully in the early morning sunlight. "Pathetic," he growled, picking himself up. His head was throbbing, and his mouth was parched, but at least he didn't smell bad. How shameful, to get drunk so easily and so early in the night. Stumbling to the bathroom, he freshened up and shuffled into the living room, where Lee was snoring on the couch. "Hey, Lee, get up," he ordered, poking Lee in the ribs.

"Yaaaaah!" Lee screeched, suddenly on his feet in a fighting stance, striking in random directions. Shikamaru yelped and dodged by falling on his rear. Lee looked down at him, squinting. "Oh, sorry," he muttered. "What time is it?"

"Eight," Shikamaru answered.

"Oh noooo," Lee wailed. "Only four hours to get ready!"

"Four hours is plenty." Lee began to pace, but Shikamaru went to the kitchen and got some water. A small envelope was lying on the counter, so he picked it up and opened it. Inside were some of Chouji's patented anti-hangover pills. "Bless you," Shikamaru muttered, and downed half of them. "Hey, Lee, you hung over?"

"Not in the least!" Lee cried, and disappeared into the bathroom. Shikamaru merely shook his head as he heard the shower turn on. Why was he given brains instead of an iron constitution? Stupid people with stupid fast metabolisms. Sighing, he went to pick out his clothes for the wedding.

The wedding itself went perfectly. Ino was breathtaking, which he expected, but Sakura was absolutely stunning. Lee, too, looked wonderful, and they both managed to keep their wits about them during the ceremony. When it came time for them to walk down the aisle, Lee grabbed Sakura and kissed her deeply. The people gathered cheered, and Gai, who was seated next to Kakashi, was screaming the loudest of all. Shikamaru thought that he was probably trying to cheer louder than Kakashi, but Kakashi simply looked happy, his one exposed eye crinkling up in a smile. Tsunade and Kakashi both paid much attention to the young bride, rivaled only by Naruto in their affections.

Lunch was satisfying, and the reception was fun. It wasn't as elaborate as Chouji's, but few families were as prosperous as the Akamichi clan. Still, it was very laid back, and Shikamaru had a good time. Kiba and Moegi were sitting at their table, along with Hinata and Naruto. "We're going to get married as soon as I'm Hokage," Naruto said.

"Father wouldn't let us, otherwise, I don't think," Hinata added. "But he can't overrule a Hokage."

"You should just make him," Kiba said, arm around Moegi. "Moegi's dad doesn't like me either, and my parents don't believe in marriage, but when the time's right, we're just going to do it."

"Er, that wouldn't really work well for us," Hinata said.

"It was bad enough when Neji did it," Naruto added. "He's not even the heir."

Shikamaru and Ino held hands under the table, listening to the other four people. "Shikamaru?" Ino asked softly.

"Yeah?"

"I'm afraid to say this, because I'm worried you'll be upset."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Well, do you… Have you, um, ever thought about, well, getting married? To me, I mean?"

He smiled inwardly. "Don't give up on me, Ino," he said, and squeezed her hand.