Author's note: Well, well. I'm sure most of you are thinking, "Finally, she updated!" Ah… gomen, gomen. I know I took really long with the next chapter especially after last chapter's cliffhanger. But hey, the next chapter is up so don't be too mad with me, okay: P

So please, enjoy this chappie and tell me what you think. Reviews and constructive criticism welcomed.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I can't even draw to save my life!

It was a beautiful sunny day in the Hidden Village of the Leaf and everyone was enjoying the warm weather. It was a welcomed respite from the rain that had pounded the village for the past week. Young children were running around, playing pretend as the adults strolled down the streets basking in the warmth of the sun.

Yes, everyone was enjoying themselves. Everyone except Ino.

Walking down a crowded street, the blonde could see people gesturing and whispering at her from out of the corner of her eye.

She sighed heavily.

Ever since that day, the Ino found that she couldn't go shopping or to eat ramen with Chouji without people staring at her and pointing blatantly in her direction.

A little boy walking down the street in her direction stopped to look up at her with wide brown eyes. He blinked wildly when his eyes fell on Ino's face, then a mischievous grin spread across his cherubic features as he recognized the woman before him. Tugging on his mother's skirt, he declared in a not so inconspicuous manner,

"Mummy, it's that lady!"

Immediately, the mortified woman had shushed her son and apologized profusely to an equally mortified Ino. Dragging him down the street, she twisted his ear rather painfully and berated him for being so rude. The little boy yelped in protest and this scene caused quite a few people to look in Ino's direction. If they hadn't been looking already.

Ino could feel her face burning with embarrassment and she was certain that if she had a mirror now, she could see that her cheeks were crimson. Picking up her pace, the young woman hurriedly made her way to the flower shop her family owned. Hopefully, no one else would recognize her.

'Dammit.' Ino cursed inwardly as she walked down the crowded street, her gaze on the ground. She couldn't hold her head up for she didn't want to look at other people carefully trying not to look at her.

And it was all because of a certain dark-haired jounin that she was in this current situation.

'Damn him, damn him, damn him!' Heaping curses on him, Ino shook her head in disdain as she recalled the incident that occurred two weeks ago.

Shikamaru was about to leave on a highly dangerous mission and he had asked her to come send him off. She was a little edgy when he refused to tell her the details of the task he had to undertake for this always meant that it was something too dangerous to discuss with her. However, she had to remind herself that Shikamaru was a master strategist and his IQ was unrivalled in the village, so he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. Ino mentally berated herself for doubting him.

'What am I worried about? Besides, he's the number one at running away.' Ino had thought and she banished all worries from her mind.

But then Chouji had told her unsettling rumours on how missions such as these almost always meant that someone would not return home safely.

The same night, she couldn't sleep, haunted by dreams of the shadow master drenched in blood.

She had woken up in a cold sweat and her heart was racing. Clutching at her chest, Ino felt like someone was twisting a knife deep in her chest. That feeling always came when he wasn't by her side. Like that time when he was sent on an espionage mission in the Sound or when he came home injured from the expedition in the Sand.

Sleep was fitful, food was bland and thoughts were muddied when he was away.

But she hadn't gone to send him off. Hadn't seen him one last time. Just when he was going on a mission to end all missions. Ino had overslept due to the nightmares that plagued her but she had been certain that she had made it when she saw him standing by the gate. The jounin uniform, black ponytail and trademark lazy slouch.

It was a mistake.

It had been someone else, and she had collapsed in tears in front of everyone, clutching the necklace tightly to her chest.

Those words struck a chord deep within her core and after she had calmed down enough, she still wasn't entirely sure he had written it. It wasn't Shikamaru to be sensitive or to remember whatever she had said, nor was he the type to write beautiful poetry. But the letter proved otherwise.

Yet the words troubled her.

'I am yours. Now and forever.'

What had he meant by that?

Searching her mind, she couldn't find a believable reason behind his actions. When they had been talking under the willow tree in the field, she had been telling him about the things she wanted in life. And there was nothing more she wanted than to be loved by someone who could love her in return. Ino was certain she would find that man someday. After Neji and Sasuke though, that confidence had been shattered.

And Shikamaru was always that source of comfort.

He had listened carefully as she griped about not getting what she wanted and about losing what she had cherished. But Ino never told him when she and Neji ended their relationship or why they had done so. She just complained incessantly to him, not realizing that Shikamaru was completely entranced by her words and that he had committed every single one to memory. Such was his devotion to her.

Until today, Ino didn't know why she had reacted the way she did when she had read the letter. A small voice in the far recesses in her mind reminded her that there was only one man in the world that she had ever shed tears for. She wondered why.

She hadn't cried for Neji when he had left for the same mission as Shikamaru did, neither did she cry for Sasuke when he deserted the village.

Yamanaka Ino wasn't the type to cry. She was a tough, headstrong woman yet the only times the hard exterior crumbled to reveal the easily shattered interior was when Shikamaru was near.

The lithe woman sighed again.

'What have you done to me, you lazy bastard?'

Turning into a smaller street, the fair blonde hadn't been watching where she was going and promptly crashed into another woman. The impact had sent both women sprawling to the ground.

"Why don't you watch where you are going?" An annoyed voice declared.

Ino looked up to see a woman with large, warm brown eyes and her long hair were tied up in two buns that rested on both sides of her head.

"Ah! I'm so sorry Tenten."

Ino leapt up and immediately reached a hand out to help the weapons mistress on her feet and the other woman reached out gratefully.

"Ino? I didn't expect it to be you."

Her voice and face were softer now that she recognized Ino.

"I'm so sorry."

The blonde gave a sheepish laugh and reached to rub the back of her neck just like a certain someone always did when he was nervous. Anyone who knew Tenten would know that her perfect aim came from her observant eyes, and the ANBU didn't miss the flustered woman's behaviour. She smiled to herself.

"It's okay."

"Do you want to come by my flower shop for a cup of tea? It's the least I could do after knocking you over like that." Ino offered, still grinning in embarrassment.

Tilting her head in thought, Tenten brushed the dirt off her clothes.

"I guess that's okay. I have no where to rush to."

The two friends walked in silence towards the Yamanaka flower store. Motioning for Tenten to sit by the counter, Ino poured a cup of soothing tea for the other woman, who accepted it gratefully.

"So, how have you been Tenten?"

"I'm fine, been a little busy but things have been going well. What about you?"

Setting the cup down after taking a small sip, Tenten reached out to place a hand on Ino's.

"Me? I'm fine." Ino answered hastily and the burning feeling in her cheeks returned. Though she didn't know why.

'Maybe it's because you aren't?' The small voice was back. Ino imagined herself swatting it with her hands.

Tenten cocked an eyebrow.

"Really? But you seem a little distracted, Ino. It doesn't seem like you to walk around bumping into other people."

A mischievous smile played on her luscious lips. After all, Tenten was a very observant woman and no one could ever accuse her of being a ditz.

"Oh, I… I have been a little preoccupied lately." The blonde stammered.

"Preoccupied?" She queried, a look of interest on her face.

"Yeah." The blue-eyed woman shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"With what?"

Pressing on, Tenten narrowed her eyes as she carefully watched the other woman's nervous behaviour. It was very out of character for Ino to be as untalkative as she was today and the rumours that were abound served to help Tenten pinpoint what was troubling the blonde jounin.

"Erm… Some things."

Tenten threw her head back and laughed.

"I see. Something eh? Or is it someone! That lazy bastard must be quite something huh?"

"W… What? I think you have been mistaken, Tenten." Taken back by the other woman's response, Ino stumbled on her words.

She pushed herself away from the table and grabbed Tenten's still steaming cup, eager for an excuse to divert the conversation away from Shikamaru.

"Your cup's almost empty. I'll refill it!"

But as she strode towards the kettle in the other side of the room, Tenten reached out to grab her wrist firmly. Tugging Ino towards her chair again, the brunette leaned forward on her elbows to look Ino in the eyes. It was time to face the truth.

"Oh come on, Ino. Stop avoiding it. It's a well-known fact that you two have the hots for each other."

"But… I…"

"You guys just kept denying it, that's all. Though after that incident, I'm sure it's confirmed now. Admit it, Ino, you love Shikamaru."

"I… I… No, I don't!" She denied vehemently but it was to no avail.

"Please! Do you expect me to believe that? You have been avoiding it for years. Hinata and I used to watch you guys and we just couldn't understand what was taking you guys too long."

"No… that's not it. I have always seen him as a teammate."

"Exactly, Ino. You have always seen him as a teammate. And it scares you to think of him as something more, that's why you ignore all the messages he's been trying to send you. It scares you that if you love him, things won't be the same as before and that if things don't work out, you can't go back to the way things were then."

Ino stared at Tenten wide eyed, not knowing what to say.

'Scared? Me?' She thought bewilderedly, her brows furrowed with confusion.

The weapons mistress seemed to know what was on her mind.

"Yes, scared. He knows you best, am I right in saying that Ino? He knows almost everything about you except what's in your mind. That is the only thing you retain control of. Letting go means baring your soul to him and that makes you feel vulnerable. That's why you can't bring yourself to tell him. You are afraid to lose control because you're Yamanaka Ino."

Ino could only bite her lip as she realized that Tenten knew her innermost feelings better that she did. Were her feelings for Shikamaru obvious to everyone but her? Sadly, the young woman hung her head, not knowing what to say. Her long white blonde hair flowed forward to cover her face and Tenten saw tears glisten in her cornflower blue eyes.

The weapons mistress threw back her head and laughed again, but not unkindly. Shifting forward to place another comforting hand on Ino's, she smiled knowingly and drew the other woman into a hug.

"If you let fear hold you back, you'll lose him forever. He's already made the first step, Ino. Step out and meet him."

With that, Tenten released her hold on Ino and with a kind smile, walked out the door and disappeared into the crowd, leaving the blonde to ponder on her words.

"Shika…" She whispered hoarsely, the tears already running down her cheeks. "You better come home."

Sakura blasted a crater seven feet wide and two feet deep in the forest ground just as the seven men appeared and the gaping hole had caused some trees to sway. The men on the trees had leapt away to safety but one reacted too slowly and fell into the crater, his neck snapped in half by a falling branch.

"Hmm… You are indeed worthy to be called a student of the Godaime Hokage." The leader of the group had commented, shaking his head as he surveyed the broken body of his teammate.

Sakura's green eyes widened in disbelief.

The man laughed at her reaction, seemingly knowing what her shocked expression meant.

"You are probably wondering how we know." An evil grin spread across his face.

But Shikamaru already knew. He had thought of all the days they had spent observing the enemies' movements and couldn't remember a time that they had not been on full alert. Except one.

"The first night. You knew from the beginning that we were here and you let us continue on our mission to get more information on us." He replied with gritted teeth, anger consuming him, making his entire body tense.

The enemy threw his head back and laughed throatily.

"Ah, as expected of Konoha's brilliant young strategist, Nara Shikamaru. I shouldn't be surprised that you figured that out, after all your extraordinary intelligence is well known."

"What do you want with us?" Neji spat.

The Rock ninja turned his head slightly to regard the silver-eyed man, the deadly smile still on his face.

"And you must be the talented prodigy of the Hyuuga family, Neji-san. Your eyes, I must say are exemplary, to be able to observe our patrols from such a far distance. However, you should have used them then you would have been able to see us. It was a mistake on your part."

Neji frowned.

'No, it was a mistake on my part.' Shikamaru reflected bitterly.

The longhaired man had wanted to activate his penetrative sight on the trip home but Shikamaru had told him to converse his chakra so they could return home faster. He had been so blinded to his desire to see Ino again that he made a decision that brought them face-to-face with seven enemies.

Again, the enemy shifted his weight and turned his scarred face again, only to face Shino this time.

"Aburame Shino, of the legendary Aburame clan. Your bugs are excellent, I almost missed them as they went around the Tsuchikage's office collecting information. Forgive me for I accidentally stepped on one."

The bespectacled man flinched at that and launched himself in the air, brandishing a kunai drawn from his holster. Though it may seem strange to some that such a calm man could get so heated just for an insect, but Shikamaru knew that the Aburame clan were very attached to their bugs. Each and every single one. Thus, Shikamaru didn't stop him. Though Shino's actions were rash, the shadow master knew they had no choice but to fight anyways.

Crouching down on the branch he was standing on, the leader jumped to meet Shino's attack in mid-air and metal clashed with metal.

Two of his teammates jumped at Neji, flinging scores of shurikens and kunais at his direction. Instinctively, the tall man dragged one foot on the ground in a circular motion, gaining momentum rapidly and spun his body, as a blue torrent of chakra was unleashed. The weapons halted its' journey for a split second as it connected with Neji's chakra and spun wildly back towards his attackers' direction.

But the two men were fast. In a flurry of hand seals, one had brought up a large amount of earth that shielded them as they landed safely on two feet.

"Kaiten eh?" One of them remarked. "Guess we underestimated you."

"But we won't make the same mistake again." Quipped the other as they rushed towards Neji.

One enemy leapt in front of Sakura, careful not to get too close to the deceptively weak looking kunoichi. Sakura could have sworn that the man was at least seven feet tall.

Suddenly, the huge man dropped to the ground on one knee and slammed one fist on the ground. Rocks the size of Sakura's head began to lift themselves off the forest ground and suspended themselves in mid-air. Her jaw dropped in disbelief.

The enemy chuckled.

"This is my ability, kunoichi." He taunted. "Surprised?"

Lifting his fist off the ground, he flung his arm in her direction and the floating rocks came speeding towards her direction.

Bending her knees slightly, the young woman jumped and dodged as the boulders came flying at her. She could have easily blasted them away with her fists but Sakura remembered that she might need her limited chakra to heal her teammates. One rock caught her on the shoulder and knocked her to the ground. Realizing that she needed to end this fast, the pink haired kunoichi leapt into a tree just as a boulder crashed into the ground where she had been just a moment ago. Her shoulder stung and though the impact hurt, there were no broken bones but a bad scrape. Landing on a tree branch, she jumped onto another tree, just as the enemy followed her with his eyes, all the while sending more earth at her. When she had manoeuvred him into position, she back flipped off the tree and with a swift movement, drove one foot into the trunk of the tree. Splintering in the middle at first, the thick trunk began to break as the impact and it's heavy weight brought it down.

The Rock ninja knew then what Sakura had been aiming for, but before he could leap away to safety, the tree came crashing down on him. The medic landed on her feet just in time to see the tall man crushed to the ground. She smirked. He might have been big and intimidating, but sadly lacking in intelligence.

"Sakura!"

She spun to see Shikamaru throw something towards her and she caught it deftly. The deer herder then turned to face the two enemies that were now closing in on him.

It was explosive talismans, two of them.

Focusing chakra to her feet, Sakura again leapt into the trees.

"Let's see what you can do, shadow master." One enemy growled.

Shikamaru grinned.

"Yes, let's."

A torrent of kunais flew at him, and the shadow master hands formed a hand seal only he knew. Immediately, a black wall rose from the ground and the weapons were embedded in it's inky darkness. Forming another hand seal, Shikamaru gritted his teeth in concentration as the black wall began to take the shape of a large hand. Pulling the kunais from itself, the shadow hand begun to fling the kunais back at Shikamaru's enemies. The two men avoided the airborne weapons effortlessly but did not realize that it was a decoy. As they sidestepped the kunais, their shadows had touched Shikamaru's and two more large hands emerged from the ground to crush the enemies.

They fell to the ground heavily, every bone in their body broken.

Shikamaru collapsed on his knees. The technique that he had created was indeed effective but it was also chakra consuming. Sweat began to bead on his forehead and the jounin knew that he had to finish what he started before he ran out.

A feminine voice called out.

"Shikamaru! It's done!"

And the owner of the voice began to run in the opposite direction.

Nodding, the jounin pulled out two more explosive talismans and put them on the ground in front of his sandaled feet. Two long, snake like shadows emerged from the ground, carrying the talismans high in the air and attached them to two different trees.

'Done.' He thought. Turning to see Neji and Shino still in the heat of battle, he too began to run in the opposite direction.

"Shino! Neji! Get out now!" He yelled.

The two men understood and leapt away quickly, leaving behind the three bewildered enemies.

Shikamaru looked behind to see Neji and Shino following behind him closely but they were still too far, and the talismans could not be detonated before the allotted time.

"Kekkai houjin?" The enemy leader wondered aloud.

Sensing danger, the three enemies began to run in the same direction as well.

And they were moving fast.

'Shit.' Shikamaru thought. 'At this rate, they will be out of the trap before the time is up.'

The jounin knew what would happen if they escaped and that wasn't an option they could live with.

'I screwed up and I'll take responsibility.' He thought adamantly.

Stopping in his tracks, he watched as Neji and Shino caught up with him. They looked at him quizzically.

"Go on! I'll catch up." He yelled.

Leaping off the trees just as his teammates passed him with confused looks on their faces, Shikamaru's hands were forming the hand seals before he even landed on the ground. Then suddenly, the three men stopped dead in their tracks, unable to move, unable to take a step forward.

Shikamaru grinned at them again.

"Kage mane no jutsu, success."

"You fool!" The enemy leader spat, the muscles in his jaw clenched as he tried to break free from Shikamaru's technique. But he knew it was a waste of time. "The talismans will explode soon. Let us go or you will die with us!"

"Yeah? So what?" Shrugging his shoulders, Shikamaru asked in mock nonchalance.

"You… You would kill yourself just so the information you acquired could return to Konoha?" He asked in pure disbelief. "You are a fool!"

"A fool, maybe. But a Konoha shinobi nonetheless." The smile disappeared and there was firmness in Shikamaru's usually lazy tone.

"I'm not dying so that the information can return home but I'm dying so that my teammates, my fellow Konoha shinobi and the innocent people of the Earth country won't have to die."

The three men blinked in disbelief. Their arms folded across their chest in forced mimicry of Shikamaru's posture.

"You would sacrifice yourself to save people you do not know?" The leader asked incredulously.

"Yes." Shikamaru answered with conviction. But then he hung his head and a look of sadness washed over his features.

"Besides, it was because of my carelessness that my team are faced with this situation. So why shouldn't I take responsibility for my actions? You Rock shinobi will never understand that."

"Shikamaru! Don't be an idiot! Come back here now!" Neji yelled, rushing forward towards his teammate. Shino and Sakura had also halted in their movement and turned back to aid their team leader.

"Don't move!" He yelled in return. And Neji paused, his silver eyes wide with incredulity. Then, the dark-eyed jounin turned and smiled as he said, "Good bye."

A loud boom rang throughout the forest as a great ball of fire tore through the trees, incinerating all in its path.

Neji, Shino and Sakura ducked behind trees, their arms covering their faces as they felt the hot flames and smoke rushing into their bodies. Broken twigs and small rocks lifted by the impact of the explosion flew through the air, pounding their bodies and leaving them with many a bruises.

When all had passed, they looked down to see four prone forms lying in the middle of the destruction.

"Shikamaru…" Sakura whispered.

Endnote: Whew! That was a long chapter and it was much longer than I intended it to be, so hopefully you enjoyed it. Ino's fear of seeing a close childhood friend as something more and losing a relationship she has had for years for something else was actually drawn from a personal experience. Part of the reason I wrote this story was because I felt I could relate to her.

Okay… I guess that wasn't really needed. blushes

1.) amwong88: This chapter is dedicated to you. Thanks for all the advice and on writing about Ino.

2.) Mini-chobi: About the noodles, where I come from, noodles are mostly pale yellow. I hope you get it now.