Author's Note: Hello everyone! I just want to say thank you to all of you who read, reviewed, added-to-favorite my story. I really appreciated everyone's comments and suggestions. Here's chapter two. Hopefully you will enjoy it as much as you did for chapter one.

Chapter 2: Something's Wrong

Shikamaru felt troubled, troubled, very troubled.

"Why does the shower have to be broken at a time like this?" He turned his head slightly toward her direction and took a quick gaze at the blonde, whose arm was linked loosely around his, because she needed to drag him out of the house. He sighed, "Troublesome woman."

Ino ignored his comment and quickened her pace, "Hurry up, Shikamaru!" her ponytail swung back and forth; sometimes, hitting Shikamaru's shoulder, or worse, hitting him on the face. "If we don't hurry, they might be all sold–" She halted in front of the store and read the sign hanging by the entrance, "– Closed? Why is it closed?" she shrieked loudly – threatening to break Shikamaru's eardrums – and smacked her hand against the glass door, "Why!"

"What do you expect?" He yawned, tucking his hands into his pockets, "It's so darn early in the morning. Why wouldn't be it closed…"

She turned around and pouted, "Then how am I going to shower now?"

He eyed her for a minute. She does look sweaty. Strands of her hair were matted onto her forehead and neck; her shirt was matted against her figure as well. "Maybe a cold drink will do. Let's go to Ichiraku for breakfast. We will come back later after eating, okay?"

Ino nodded obediently.

"Let's go," Shikamaru turned around while Ino tagged closely behind him. Their walk to Ichiraku was in complete silence. Neither of them wanted to speak. It wasn't like they had anything to talk about anyway. It had been years since they'd seen each other – both of them had been busy taking missions, separately.

Among the silence, Ino would, once a while, steal a look or two at the Jonin. He had changed so much over the years. He was way taller and looked way stronger than he used to be. "I bet he does a lot of training and is assigned to a lot of top missions…" she sighed and looked down at her feet as she continued to walk. 'I wonder how he thinks of me now. Am I still the troublesome, bossy Ino? I bet I still am, in his eyes.' She thought bitterly and sighed at her own thought.

Being as observant as he was, Shikamaru was aware of how often she sighed and mumbled under her breath. But he wasn't about to tell the blonde that he'd noticed. Instead, he stopped abruptly, which made the kunoichi behind him collided to his back.

"What was that for, Shikamaru?" she rubbed her nose and narrowed her eyes at the ninja.

"Nothing," he turned and stared at her. She was at least three four inches shorter than he was. He could see the top of her head clearly without tip-toeing. Realizing how close they were standing, Shikamaru took a step backward and cleared his throat uncomfortably, "We're here."

"Oh," Ino looked past his shoulder and just noticed the booth. "What are we standing here for then? Let's go!" She walked past him, accidentally brushing her shoulder against his, "We don't have the whole day! We need to head back to fix the shower after!"

Shikamaru sighed in defeat.

The two ninjas greeted the owner politely and sat on the stools. They both ordered a bowl of shoyu ramen and waited patiently for their meals, in silence again. He eyed Ino from the corner of his eye, a troubled, disturbed expression was written all over her face. But he wasn't about to ask her what's wrong. It was too troublesome… "What is it? Is there something you want to talk to me about?" His mouth betrayed him. Thanks, rebellious mouth.

She looked at him in surprise, "Why would I have something to talk to you about, Shikamaru?"

He jaws dropped and was going to defend himself, but nothing came out. Oh great, I look stupid. He let out a groan and placed his elbow on the counter, resting his chin in his palm, "Never mind. You're just being awfully quiet, that's all." His gaze shifted away from her and onto the busy chef instead.

They were quiet for a complete second before Ino suddenly spoke up, "Actually, I do have something to ask you."

He turned to her lazily.

Their gazes met but Ino quickly bowed her head, "I am just wondering–" she stuttered, "–Am I still bossy and annoying?"

She raised her head up and stared at him seriously. Instantly, Shikamaru realized how red her cheeks were, and he was startled. It was his first time seeing this side of her. "Hm…" he scratched the back of his head, trying to find the right words to say, "to be honest, you are n–"

"What are you two doing here?" Naruto interrupted Shikamaru. Both of them turned their heads to where the blonde hair boy was standing. Ino narrowed her eyes at him, cursing him bitterly for interrupting, whereas Shikamaru… well, let say he was relieved to have an interruption. Naruto grinned brightly innocently, "I'm sorry. I didn't ruin anything, did I?"

"Not really…" Shikamaru shrugged.

"That's great!" Naruto popped onto the stool next to Shikamaru's and also ordered himself a bowl of ramen. Extra-large. Then, he elbowed the shadow user on the arm sheepishly, "Got yourself a new date already?"

Ino spurted her water out and the color red was slowly climbing its way up to her cheeks again. Shikamaru, on the other hand, was calm and indifferent. He eyed the curious boy lazily, "Just what do you mean 'already', Naruto?"

"You know what I mean, Shikamaru!" He laughed out loud and flashed him a foxy grin, "Didn't you go on a date with Temari a month ago? Don't deny it! I saw it with my own eyes!"

Ino stared at the two young men and chewed on her ramen – yes, their bowls of ramen had arrived a moment ago – bitterly. Although she seemed like she was just minding her own business, but truthfully, she wasn't. Shikamaru choked on his ramen, "I told you, Temari and I were just going to the Hokage's office together. Nothing else!"

Naruto looked at Ino for a split second and back at Shikamaru, "Sure, if that's what you're telling me," he ate his steaming hot ramen hungrily. In the middle of eating, he suddenly added, "It's your treat, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru didn't even bother to argue, he just simply hn-ed in response. He turned his attention back to his female teammate and noticed how she was back to her previous quiet, troubled self, "Hm…Ino, back to where we left off–"

She slammed the pair of chopsticks onto the counter roughly, cutting him short, "Hurry up, Shikamaru. We still have something else to do after." She stood up from the stool and headed for the bathroom. Bitterly, she thought to herself, 'Why am I acting this way? Why does my heart feel… so heavy after hearing what Naruto said?'

Shikamaru just sat there, dumbfounded, "Just what's with women nowadays?"

There was absolutely no conversation going on between Shikamaru and Ino on their way to the store or back to the Nara residence. After fixing the shower, Ino just hopped into the bathtub and slammed the bathroom door in his face. Knowing that there was no point in asking what happened – women were emotional creatures, anyway – he climbed onto the roof of his house and decided to spend his afternoon with the floating clouds.

Troublesome woman. Shikamaru put his arms behind his head and rested on them. He stared blankly at the clouds and the clear blue sky. It looks just like her eyes and her pale skin. He shook his head mentally and rolled to his side. Faintly, he could overhear his mother yelling at his father with a loud voice. Knowing that arguing with a woman meant digging his own grave, Shikaku simply apologized. Shikamaru chuckled sarcastically, "Even the most violent woman is tender to the man she loves, uh?" he rephrased what his father had told him earlier, "I don't see how that classifies as tender, old man…"

He sighed and rolled onto his other side. He heard Ino shutting off the shower and stepping out of the bathtub. "It sounds like she's done." He pushed himself up into a sitting position, but lied back down moments later. "Oh, what's the point? It's not like she'll tell me what's wrong after showering anyway." He mumbled to himself, "I don't want her to slam the door in my face again."

His eyelids felt heavy. Very heavy. He hadn't really had enough sleep from the start. Coming back from a tough mission in midnight and waking up so early and unwillingly in the morning were a torture. After that, he had to go shopping with Ino and fix the shower for her. All these hard work were exhausting – he was worn out.

"Maybe a nap on the roof will be nice," he mumbled before shutting his eyes. The wind was gently caressing his hair and the sun was warming him up from the breeze. The best combination. Rolling onto his back, he emptied his mind and fell asleep quickly under the soothing sun.

He didn't know how long he'd been napping for on the top of the house, but Shikamaru felt someone shaking him awake by the shoulders. He cracked open his eyes tiredly. A blurry figure greeted him, "Ino?" he subconsciously called out her name but was only responded with a low chuckle. He rubbed his eyes to clear his vision. The blurry figure turned into a middle-aged man with black hair, "Ah… old man."

"I didn't mean to disappoint you, son," Shikaku knelt next to him and smiled, "I'll ask Ino to come up to wake you up next time."

"What time is it…" he stretched his sore muscles. The sun was already set and the moon was brightening up the whole sky. "Ah… I slept through the whole afternoon…" It felt too short to be the whole afternoon. He pushed himself up, carefully not to lose his balance. "Hmm... you brought me this?" he noticed a thin orange blanket covering his torso.

Shikaku stared at him for a moment before shaking his head, "I didn't know you are here until now, son."

Shikamaru took the blanket in his arms and was ready to climb back down through the opened window, "Then it must've been mom."

"And you actually think your mom would climb onto the roof and not yell at you for sleeping here?" The older man laughed, "A very intelligent guess, my son."

Shikamaru shrugged and swiftly got back into his room, "I'm not about to start a guess-who game with you," He threw the blanket back onto his bed and started toward the closed door, but his father placed a hand on his shoulder before Shikamaru turned the knob, "Now what, old man?"

"There's only one person left in the house to guess," He grinned sheepishly, "You should know who brought you the blanket."

The younger ninja looked at his father with an unreadable expression, "You know and I know. There's no point of making it obvious, dad." He tried not to think about it or be happy about it. But he told himself that he would need to thank her later tonight.

Dinner was awkward. They ate in silence.

Once a while, there would be a small and quiet talk between the two adults, and maybe with one of the Shikamaru or Ino. However, there would never be a conservation that involved all four of them talking and laughing together. Shikaku sat beside his wife, who was sitting across from Ino. Shikamaru sat beside Ino and across from his father. From time to time, Shikaku would kick his son's foot and stared at him. Then, Shikamaru would turn his gaze to the blonde hair girl. But he'd never tried to initiate a conversation. It was too troublesome.

He sighed softly and took another look at her. How troublesome. She had been acting this way since their breakfast at Ichiraku. He hadn't done anything wrong during the meal, did he? She was eating dinner in a frustrated manner whenever she wasn't talking with the parents.

Shikaku looked back and forth between the two of them and decided to help out, "So who's taking the couch tonight?"

"Him," Ino replied, just as simple as that.

Then, everyone was quiet again.

Apparently, Shikaku wasn't happy with the silence. He kicked his son again. The old man gave him a look of disapproval; Shikamaru sighed. What was he supposed to do anyway? He was never good at consoling a girl or anything. And Ino wasn't the kind to give in so easily. But Shikamaru turned to Ino's direction anyway. Then, he noticed that he was caught staring at her by her. Immediately, he turned his head away from her.

"Come on, son," his father mouthed out the words inaudibly, "man up."

Shikamaru sighed and started lazily, "Hey, Ino–"

Ino stood up from her spot and took her empty bowl with her, I'm getting another bowl of your soup, Yoshino-san. They're delicious." She smiled lightly at the parent and left the dining area toward the kitchen.

As soon as Ino had fully disappeared into the kitchen, the parents nudged him, "Go after her."

"Too troublesome."

Yoshino narrowed her eyes at her lazy son, "Get in there now, Shikamaru! I'm not going to let our Ino stay mad at you forever!"

"Just when and how is she your Ino?" Shikamaru hissed, "You guys can go after her and ask her what's wrong yourself."

"You are going in!" The parents yelled at Shikamaru at the same time, but it was probably too low for Ino, who was in the kitchen, to hear it.

He grunted in defeat and stood up. Troublesome parents and a troublesome woman equal to a very troublesome living environment. He walked toward the kitchen. Inside, Ino was still standing by the stove and scooping soup into her bowl. Shikamaru took a deep breath and closed their distance.

He stood very closely to his former teammate and looked at her from behind. But it seemed like Ino sensed his presence and stepped away. She attempted to walk past him but realized that her only escape route was completely blocked by him. They stood, facing each other, but Ino avoided having a direct eye contact with the young man. Ino felt that everything had gone very still and quiet for a moment. She could hear his and her own breathing.

"What do you want, Shikamaru?"

"I just want to know what went wrong."

"Nothing went wrong."

Then, the doorbell rang.

But the two of them chose to ignore it. They knew the two parents outside would've gotten the door anyway. Shikamaru tucked his hands into his pockets casually and stared at her, "No. What's bothering you? What happened?"

Ino bowed her head down even more and pressed her lips together, refusing to answer his question. Shikamaru sighed inaudibly and lowered his head to her level to meet her eyes. He repeated the question again, but this time, quieter and gentler, "Ino, what's wrong?"

His voice was so soft and gentle; Ino felt a tiny urge to tell him what truly went wrong, but…

"Shikamaru," his mother suddenly interrupted their moment. The two young adults quickly stepped away from each other.

"Yeah?"

Yoshino smiled apologetically, "Temari's at the door." Then she left the scene.

Ino also took this chance to walk past Shikamaru but he grabbed her arm and insisted on an answer, "Can you at least tell me whether it was my fault or not? You've been acting this way since–"

She swung his hand away, which startled him. Ino hissed out the bitter words under her breath, "Your Temari is waiting for you at the door. Didn't you hear that?"

Shikamaru's jaw dropped as he watched the girl walked out of the kitchen, "What was that…"

Was that… jealousy?

End of Chapter 2

Thank you for reading. Hopefully the next chapter will be finished soon. Stay tuned!