Authors Note: Sorry this one is a little late. I've been trying to do weekly, but honestly, I've got a lot going on. I am super stoked for you guys to read this chapter though, I'm pretty happy with it. As always, enjoy!

*Also the Grease reference is from the second movie, just cause the scene lined up too damn good to leave it out.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters

"Naruto, good to see you too." The blonde haired boy grinned toothily as he stopped next to Shikamaru. He was almost as tall as him now, but still somehow looked the same as he had ten years ago. His over optimistic attitude and devilish side must keep him young, Shikamaru thought to himself with a small smile. Not that he had changed much himself except for the narrowing of his face and probably a several bags under his eyes.

"Did you remember to eat before? You know it's bad to buy groceries on an empty stomach." Naruto skipped through the automatic double doors with Shikamaru strolling in lazily at his heels. As if on queue, his stomach grumbled loudly as he opened his mouth to speak. Naruto just laughed and shrugged.

"Whatever, I'm too lazy to have to carry back any more than I need anyways." He stopped in front of the first row of fruit and watched Naruto pick up a couple different pineapples and sniff them enthusiastically. He shrugged and put one in his cart and turned to shikamaru with the other. As he opened his mouth to offer it to him he started giggling. Shikamaru frowned and cocked an eyebrow at him. Naruto raised the pineapple so it was next to his face and burst into full fledged laughter. Shikamaru suddenly realized what he was doing and felt heat rising to his face.

"Quit it you moron." He snatched the pineapple out of his hand and put it in his cart. They walked slowly through the produce then up and down the aisles while Naruto got Shikamaru caught up on what was going on at school. Shikamaru mentioned his promotion and was forced to give a short, and very edited version of the story to him. When he was done they were standing in the frozen foods, which was also the last aisle.

"Your boss sounds like he's crazy! I mean congrats on the promotion but watch your back. I don't trust guys like that." Shikamaru nodded as he opened a glass door to grab popsicles.

"I was thinking the same thing."

After they checked out, Shikamaru flagged them down a cab and went back to his apartment. He put his groceries away and made a space for Naruto to keep his while they hung out awhile longer. Naruto was sprawled on the floor in front of the window watching the city grow darker above as tendrils of yellow light reached up from the streets below. Shikamaru stood against the back of his couch and checked his phone. There was a couple messages from Ino asking him if he was coming by and one from his mom checking in on him. He responded then plugged the thing in before it could die of neglect.

"Shikamaru, let's go to the liquor store before it closes. I want some stuff for the week, you know?"

"With the habits of you and Kiba, might be more like for the weekend."

"Hey! You're one to talk! You can drink us all under the table, if I remember that correctly." Naruto scratched his head because he didn't actually remember at all. Although he had not been the first to pass out, Shikamaru was definitely the only one who made it through the night and somehow ended up getting home without vomiting.

"Heh yeah, let's not talk about it." He paused and glanced at the time on his stove. "Let's go then, there's one a couple blocks away." Naruto jumped up and practically ran to the door, slipped on his shoes and burst into the hallway.

"I'll race you down!" He started stretching like he was getting ready for the olympics while Shikamaru lazily pulled on his vans.

"Tsk, I'll take the elevator then, see if you can beat that on the stairs." Naruto nodded wildly and opened the doors to the stairs as he waited for the elevator doors to ding. As soon as it did he took off at a dead sprint. Shikamaru chuckled lightly as he took the easy way down. What a guy.

Despite the head start, 8 floors was really no match for Naruto. Shikamaru only waited for about 15 seconds before he burst out of the stairwell, red in the face and breathing heavily. He made eye contact with Shikamaru and gave him a look of defeat.

"Not bad though, you were only a few seconds behind." At that Naruto beamed at him and took a deep breath to regain his composure. He ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up stylishly and straightened his shirt. Shikamaru began to lead them down the street when Naruto's eyes lit up.

"Oh I forgot to mention but something awesome happened yesterday!" Shikamaru was pretty sure they had different ideas of awesome but nodded slightly in acknowledgement before Naruto continued. "So I was leaving my class yesterday afternoon and these two girls were waiting for me in the hallway. They stopped me and handed me a note, like the old-school ones we used to write to each other back in grade school. Oh my god Shikamaru do you know what it was?!" Naruto was bouncing as they turned a corner. Shikamaru looked at him and laughed.

"No idea, but I'm guessing it wasn't a death threat."

"Nope! It was a profession of LOVE!" Shikamaru raised his eyebrows and stifled a laugh.

"Okay so was it from one of those girls who gave it to you?"

"That's the crazy thing. It's apparently from someone I know, but not very well."

"Do you have it? Maybe we can figure out who's handwriting it is." Naruto fished around in his pocket for a second before pulling out a small, folded piece of paper. It looked as if it had been opened and refolded at least a dozen times by how soft and crinkled the paper had become. Shikamaru carefully opened it and held it closer under the light of the shop they were passing by. The handwriting was definitely female, but the letters were small and carefully jotted down in plain blue ink, almost as if the pen had barely grazed the page. Small doodles of a heart and what looked like flowers on ivy sprawled along the edge of the page. Shikamaru read the note and realized this was not a confession of love. It was more like a page ripped out of a someones diary. "Naruto, I'm not sure you were supposed to see this."

"Yeah that's kinda what I thought too, which is why I-" He gulped and fought back a blush. "I wanted to ask you what I should do. I'm obviously excited that someone who can write so beautifully would crush on me, but how embarrassed would she be if she found out I had this?" Shikamaru folded up the note carefully and gave it back to Naruto. He clutched it gently to his chest like a baby bird with a broken wing. "I can't fuck up my one chance at happiness!"

"Don't be so dramatic, besides, I don't recognize the handwriting so it's not someone in our close group. If you can find out who it is then I would talk to her privately and give it back. Just don't, whatever you do. DO NOT let Kiba see that shit." Naruto nodded and slipped the note back into his pocket. "Or Ino for that matter." Shikamaru added as an afterthought.

"Speaking of Ino, I heard she tried to corner her RA and almost got her ass handed to her."

"What!" Shikamaru stopped in his tracks. Naruto stopped a couple steps ahead and turned back to face his friend.

"Yeah she apparently tried to ask if you guys were screwing and the girl.. Tera?"

"Temari."

"Yeah! Temari, she apparently had her pinned against the wall in some kind of choke and told her to mind her own business and that you guys were 'definitely not' fucking. I'm surprised Ino didn't tell you." Shikamaru slapped a hand to his forehead and groaned loudly. What an idiot Ino could be. Temari was obviously a stronger and much more aggressive person that her. With a sigh he rubbed his palms against his temples.

"Yeah, I got locked out last weekend and crashed in her extra room. I didn't even think that anyone would have known since it was so late when I got there, and so early when I left."

"Well you know what they say.." 'Nothing good ever happens after midnight' They said in unison. Naruto shrugged with a grin and turned into the liquor store they had been standing in front of for several minutes. Shikamaru had Naruto follow him to the expensive whiskey in the back where they also kept the vintage wines. Shikamaru and Naruto read a couple labels before Shikamaru spotted the one he wanted. It was a Japanese Hibiki his father had loved, and Shikamaru remembered the smell which made him think oh home. Naruto raised an eyebrow at the price then remembered the earlier talk of Shikamaru's promotion. The two of them each carried a case of beer to the front and paid for their stuff. About ten steps into the walk home Shikamaru regretted the case. It wasn't that it was heavy or he was weak, it was just so damn annoying to be holding something while trying to walk and talk. Naruto skipped happily beside him chatting as if the beer weighed nothing.

"Shikamaru you're breaking a sweat! You'll have to start hitting the gym or office work is going to turn you to mush."

"Yeah, yeah." Shikamaru grumbled but managed to make it the rest of the way back with little complaint. As they entered the apartment, Shikamaru jumped and almost dropped his alcohol when Ino popped up from the couch and fell over, almost landing on her face.

"Hey guys, whatsup?" She smiled and waved from the awkward position she had fallen into.

"Ino, what did I tell you about giving me a heads up and not scaring the shit out of me!" Ino shrugged and picked herself up off the floor pointing at his phone plugged into the wall. "I tried." Naruto stepped in and put his beer up on the counter before greeting Ino with a big hug. Shikamaru heard his toilet flush from the other room and shot a questioning look at Ino. Before she could answer, Sakura's unmistakable pink hair came through the doorway.

"Hey! Welcome home. I heard you were making us all dinner?" Shikamaru groaned and forcefully stopped himself from slamming his head onto the kitchen counter.

"Whatever. What do you guys want?" Naruto turned with big watery eyes and loudly asked for ramen with drool already leaking from his mouth. "Dude, no. Eat some real food for once." Naruto began to protest but Ino patted him on the shoulder and walked to the fridge to see what was there.

"Hey can you make your famous fajita spread? Looks like you've got most of the stuff for it here." Shikamaru was actually a great cook, but was usually too lazy to whip anything up for himself. Ino and Choji were probably the only two who really knew how killer he was in the kitchen.

"I'm missing the pita bread though."

"No worries! Sakura, Naruto, would you two make a run to the convenience store for some pita bread?" Sakura nodded with a smile. Shikamaru got Naruto's attention and pointed to his pocket then at Sakura, signalling him to ask her about the note. Naruto looked at him with a blank expression for several seconds before it clicked and he gave him a sly nod. Ino pointed out the small store from the view of the window and sent them on their way. Shikamaru was pulling out ingredients as she closed the door and dragged a chair over so she could sit and chat.

"I heard about Temari." Ino twisted her mouth and looked down without response. She let the quiet drag on for a few seconds before speaking up.

"Well it's not like you ever tell me anything. I wasn't expecting her to be so..." She trailed off searching for the right word.

"Pissed off? Yeah that happens when you make assumptions. By the way, thanks for locking me out."

"So you didn't sleep with her then."

"No. Her second room is unoccupied so I crashed there instead of the hallway." Ino was oddly quiet behind him. He turned and glanced at her over his shoulder. She had that look she got when she was planning something dramatic. Shikamaru faced her and shook his knife in her direction. "Don't you dare get any ideas."

"Geez Shikamaru don't point that thing at me! And I'm not. It's just, she's clearly into you, so I'd say go for it." Shikamaru choked on his spit and put his knife down.

"I think you're crazy. That woman is terrifying and abrasive and far too troublesome for a guy like me. I just want the simple life, and right now that does not include a girlfriend."

"Whatever, but like Sakura said, don't miss your chance. She's hot and believe me, you're not the only one who's noticed." Shikamaru started chopping his veggies again and chose to ignore her comment, even though it made his heart skip a beat. He chased the thought of Temari from his head. He really didn't have the energy for that right now.

"So what's going on with that T.A. I haven't heard about him in awhile." Ino jumped for the bait and launched into a story, letting Shikamaru off the hook and distracting him from the girl who was probably going to kick his ass again Sunday.

"He's soooo sweet, and so hard to get! He's the artsy, bad boy type, and you know how I get around those kind of guys." Shikamaru rolled his eyes but had to laugh a little. He was glad Ino wasn't fawning over Sasuke anymore. Ino would have just gotten her heart broken by someone like him. Ino kept on about how they had been left alone and the sexual tension was driving her insane. Shikamaru half listened, half concentrated on not chopping off a finger. As he set slivers of chicken in the oven to bake he tossed his veggies into a pan to fry them. Ino finished her story and pulled out her speaker from her bag and plugged in at the kitchen counter.

"Any requests?" She was already opening up her music app, waiting for him to suggest something.

"Put on some 90s for me." He instantly thought of the song he had heard Temari humming in tune with him the previous weekend. "Sublime?" Ino laughed high and sweet.

"Yeah sure, it's been so long I almost forgot you were into that music. Flash back Friday right?!" She plugged her phone into the dock and turned the music up. Shikamaru smirked and traded out red for green peppers in his pan. Ino started to sing along with Gwen Stefani as a No Doubt track flooded the apartment. Naruto and Sakura came in through the doorway laughing with pop and pita bread in hand. Ino pulled Sakura into the middle of the living room and they danced and sang badly to the chorus of Just a Girl. Naruto tossed the pita on the counter and shoved the pop in fridge. He pulled out two beers and cracked them both open, handing one to Shikamaru before taking a swig of his own. He smiled at Shikamaru as they silently agreed that life was pretty good for the moment.

"Damn Shikamaru! Who knew you could cook!" Naruto slapped a hand happily against his belly after finishing off the last of the veggies. Sakura nodded in agreement leaning back in her chair. Shikamaru shrugged modestly. His mother had forced him to help her cook dinner every night the 6 months before he left for school. She had promised him that the skills would be useful even if he rarely used them. His dad had added in that it would be great for picking up chicks as well, which had earned him a smack from Yoshino. Ino disturbed his happy memory with an exceptionally loud belch.

"Ino!" Sakura shouted in surprise then burst into laughter at Naruto's shocked expression. Shikamaru sighed and muttered 'you're welcome' at her knowing it was her way of saying thanks for the food.

"Ino, Sakura." He waited till they both looked at him. "I cooked this meal and Naruto helped carry it home, so that means you ladies are on dishes duty." Ino rolled her eyes but Sakura just gave a smile and started gathering dishes.

"Honestly that was so good, I'd do dishes for anyone willing to cook like that for me every night." Ino laughed and disagreed. Usually Naruto would have interjected with a claim of being able to cook like a champ in order to impress Sakura, but the love note he found must have really gotten to him if he wasn't still feeling hung up on her. Shikamaru grabbed both him and Naruto another beer and took up residence on the couch. The music was still playing along with the sounds of the girls giggling and cleaning up, and the apartment was warm and smelled slightly spicy from the food. Shikamaru put his arms up behind his head and leaned back letting his eyes close. It had been a pretty long day for him, especially with how much work he had actually done over the past week. He sighed as he thought of the new project they were on and immediately dismissed the thought, promising himself that he wasn't going to think about work at all till sunday. Naruto jumped into conversation with Ino and Sakura and Shikamaru drifted into a light sleep without realizing it. He woke with a jolt as Ino dropped his legs off the couch and squished herself in between Naruto and himself. He blinked and sat upright looking around.

"Hey sleepyhead, wanna go out?" Shikamaru looked at her like she had just asked him to set himself on fire. "Just to the bar, nothing crazy." She put her hands up in surrender, knowing he wouldn't agree to anything more.

"Sure, let me-"

"Change? Perfect! Then we can go." Shikamaru rolled his eyes and stood up from the couch in a stretch. He went into his room and kicked the door closed behind him. He switched his sweat pants for jeans and his tshirt for dark green and white baseball tee. He ducked into his bathroom and brushed his hair quickly, redoing his ponytail since it had become lopsided from napping on the couch. He looked at himself in the mirror and realized it kinda did look like the top of a pineapple sticking out the back of his head. He groaned and pulled the elastic out. He walked back to his bedroom door and called Ino in. She poked her head into the room with a worried expression.

"What's wrong?" Shikamaru frowned and refused to meet her eyes.

"Can you uh- do something with my hair?" Ino threw the door all the way open and squealed in delight!

"Finally! Yes, yes! Sit down on the bed." She pointed to the edge and then ran into his bathroom. Shikamaru figured he'd regret the decision, but he was up for anything at this point. Besides it wasn't like he was going to run into anyone, except maybe Kiba, who would tease him about it. Ino returned from the bathroom with several elastics, a jar of hair gel and some hairspray.

"Is that all mine?" Shikamaru eyed the can of hairspray nervously.

"Yeah. I left it here when you moved in hoping you'd let me have a go at your hair one day. I've been subconsciously driving you to this decision for over a year now!" Shikamaru rolled his eyes and took the can out of her hand.

"Not this shit. Please." Ino shrugged and tossed the can on the floor, letting it roll to the wall and out of the way. She french braided his hair and then made him stand and do a little twirl for her. She shook her head and sat him back down. She undid the braid and pulled his hair into a little bun and made him stand again.

"That looks like you, but more hip. I think you should keep it." Ino smiled clearly pleased with her minimal amount of work. Shikamaru checked himself out in the mirror and shrugged.

"Looks basically the same, except I look like even more of an asshole."

"Well you are an asshole so it's suiting." She picked up the hair gel menacingly. "Unless you want some of this?"

"Nope, let's go." Ino followed Shikamaru out of the room, shutting off the light behind her. Shikamaru picked up his mostly full beer from the table and cheers'd the one Naruto was holding. "Drink up, we're leaving." Shikamaru promptly downed the can and tossed the empty into his recycling bin. Naruto had to finish his in two tries, but nonetheless emptied the can and tossed it. The group made their way out of the apartment and headed to the elevators.

"You're not gonna lock it?" Sakura asked Shikamaru as he closed the door and immediately walked away.

"He never locks it." Ino shrugged before correcting herself. "Except once when he got shitfaced and didn't tell me he was leaving!" She punched him lightly on the shoulder and Sakura just laughed.

"I guess there's not much to take from the apartment anyways." Sakura added. Naruto swayed as the elevator started it's decent. Sakura groaned and told him not to be an obnoxious drunk in public. He shot her a grin and made no promises.

It was already after 11 when they got to the bar and the place was packed. Fortunately, the hostess immediately recognized Shikamaru and got them a table within minutes of them arriving. They settled into chairs and ordered a pitcher for the boys, and mixed drinks for the girls. Naruto engaged Sakura in a riveting story of Kiba getting kicked out of one of their classes while Ino scooted her chair closer to Shikamaru.

"You look more tired than usual. Are you alright?" Shikamaru watched the waitress place their drinks and wink at him as she walked off.

"Yeah just had a long week at work. It's a bit of a long story so remind me next time we're together and I'll tell you about it." Ino nodded and sipped her drink, leaving pink lipstick marks on the glass. The table chatted for a couple of drinks before Ino practically jumped out of her seat in excitement.

"Let's play a game!" Naruto was on board right away despite not knowing what the game was. "We used to play this back in first year." Shikamaru remembered and tried not to cringe at the stupid shit that had been done because of this damn game.

"Well what is it?"

"It's basically truth or dare, but you only get three truths and if you decide to skip a one you gotta take a shot." Ino was already flagging down the waitress for a round of shots.

"What about if we skip a dare?" Sakura spoke a little slower than usual. She must already be feeling the alcohol, considering she rarely actually drank when they went out.

"You can switch to a truth, but you only get three remember." Sakura made an 'Oh' face and nodded in understanding. "Also, if you lie and someone calls you on it, that's a drink."

"Cool let's do it!" The waitress came back with two shots of tequila for each of them, saying she wasn't technically allowed to bring them any more till the round was gone. Ino passed them out and started them off by asking Sakura 'truth or dare' first. Sakura chose truth, feeling brave that the first question shouldn't be too bad. Luckily Ino went easy on her and asked for an embarrassing story. After Sakura recounted a story about pissing herself of laughter in elementary school, making Ino laugh hysterically remembering the story, she asked Naruto. Naruto picked truth, not feeling drunk enough for a dare yet. She asked him the longest he'd gone without bathing. Naruto laughed and quickly responded with 2 weeks making the girls cry out in disgust.

"What the hell is wrong with you! That's so nasty." Sakura jolted her chair an inch away from him for dramatic effect.

"It was leading up to a camping trip, and then I was camping, and then I realized there were no showers so, yeah." He shrugged and sipped his beer before turning to Shikamaru.

"Truth." Shikamaru said before Naruto could ask. He scratched his head in though for almost a full minute before posing a question.

"Would you ever date Ino?" Sakura smacked him across the back of his head and Naruto tried to dodge a second too late.

"No." He didn't even need to think about it. Ino was a pain in the ass. He loved her like a sister but there was no way in hell he was ever going to date her.

"Rude, you wouldn't have a chance anyways." Ino tossed her hair over her shoulder but didn't really care since she knew exactly what he was going to say.

"Ino, choose."

"Dare!" Sakura and Naruto gave a small howl at her bravery and looked intently to Shikamaru.

"Get a girls phone number in the next five minutes without speaking." Naruto dropped his jaw and looked around the bar. Ino finished her drink and put the glass down heavily before standing. She looked around the bar until she spotted her target, a girl around our age sitting at a table with a group of guys. She approached and as she did the girl made eye contact with her. Ino pointed at the girl then at the guys at the table. She made a locking motion with her fingers and the girl shook her head indicating that she was not dating any of the guys at the table. Ino made a 'come here' motion with her fingers and the girl stood like she was being drawn in. She walked up to Ino and smiled at her. Ino reached out ran her fingers down her target's bare shoulder to her forearm. Ino made a phone with her hand and smiled, raising her eyebrows in question. The girl nodded and Ino passed her phone to her and the girl added herself and her name in. Ino must have sent her a text because the girl pulled out her phone and smiled widely. They both retreated to their respective tables, Ino receiving a small round of applause from Sakura and Shikamaru.

"What the hell. How can it be that easy?!" Naruto hung his head in hands and muttered to himself that he was going to die alone.

"Girls are telepathic, we know when another chick is in need." She winked at Naruto who eyed her suspiciously. The game went on for several more rounds and the waitress eventually brought them out another round of shots, and several more drinks that seemed to disapear quickly. Shikamaru was left to one last shot when Naruto asked him a truth about Temari. Ino got far too excited in her drunken stupor so he grabbed the shot and slammed it back. He asked Ino for the name of her T.A. And she responded with "Sigh". Shikamaru squinted at her thinking he might actually be too drunk but she just giggled and repeated.

"Sai! S. A. I." Sakura face palmed and Shikamaru just had to go along with it. When the table came back around to Shikamaru, it was Sakura who asked him truth or dare. Shikamaru glanced down at his three turned over shot glasses and said Dare with a shrug. He had nothing to lose at this point, and it was well into 1am anyways.

"How about a little grease lighting?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and Ino got overly excited again.

"Are you thinking the scene where..?"

"Uh-huh. Let's see if the magic works." Shikamaru glanced nervously between the two conspiring women and looked to Naruto for help. He was eyes closed drooling on the table drunk, with one shot left in front of him. "Shikamaru, I dare you to kiss the next girl that walks through that door." Sakura pointed at the front entrance which remained closed in the few moments the table waited in silence for something to happen. Naruto hiccuped and broke the silence.

"Okay fine. But what if no one else comes in tonight?" Shikamaru regarded the table, thinking that the legs might have been uneven, or maybe he was looking at it from an angle.

"Looks like you're shit outta luck, someone is coming in now." The four of them snapped their heads to give their attention to the entryway. The door swung open letting in cool night air. A woman in ripped denim paired with a ramones shirt and wicked red heels registered before he saw the sandy blonde hair that was chopped and styled messily to her shoulders. Ino almost fell out of her chair her jaw dropped so hard and Naruto slapped a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder.

"I swear if this isn't fate, I dunno what is." Naruto gave Shikamaru the gentle push he needed to stand. Temari scanned the bar and met eyes with a staring Shikamaru. He swallowed hard and summed whatever courage he had and let go of his chair. Temari took two steps slowly forward as Shikamaru walked toward her with a determined look. The corner of her lip turned up as he approached her. He gently slid his hand up into her hair and tilted her head up to meet his. She kept her gaze locked on him until the very last second when he pressed his lips against hers more gentle than he thought he'd be capable of in his current state. She stood stunned for a split second before pressing back into the kiss, forcing his lips to move against hers. Shikamaru drew his arm around her and pulled her into him, deepening the kiss, flicking his tongue into the edge of her mouth. She bit down gently on his bottom lip and released from their embrace. Shikamaru's heart was beating so hard he thought it might jump out of his rib cage. She placed a hand on his chest and gave him an amused look through glossy eyes. She was breathless and the taste of bourbon lingered from where she had bit him.

"Why did you do that?'

"Because I wanted to." Nothing good ever happens after midnight.