Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

Most obviously, things in italics are flashbacks. Have fun!

"She doesn't belong to you. She's mine…" His words rung in her head as she nursed her fiancés bloody lip and nose with the Shōsen Jutsu. It only hit her once the familiar green glow showed up that she wasn't sure if it would even work on a non-ninja. But she had to finish now; it took a lot of chakra control to just stop.

Only when she was finished and had relaxed with Tim in her arms did she realize that the rest of room had gone silent to watch the two men's exchange. But when Ino looked up, they all returned to their affairs, pretending they hadn't witnessed the brawl. Ino sighed heavily and pressed her hand to her forehead, pushing back her long bangs. Tim was slightly knocked out from the jutsu. He was probably twice her size, so it was useless to try to move him too far. She did, however, manage to pick him up onto a bar stool. When she let him go, he collapsed over the bar. Ino took a seat next to him where Shikamaru had been sitting. His lingering aroma of cigarette smoke and wild grass which was once an intoxicating comfort to Ino now disgusted her.

"She belongs to me." She scoffed as his words echoed once more. Yamanaka Ino belongs to no one. As if it were a real interaction with the lazy man, she defiantly crossed her arms and huffed. She looked over at Tim who was still comatose over the laminated wood. The blonde beauty suddenly felt exhausted and rested her head in the crook of her arm, letting the other stretch out. Before her arm could reach its full extent, she felt a cool glass obstruction. Lifting her head, she found just another empty shot glass. The length of the bar was full of them. Nothing unusual there, she thought, until she caught the glimmer of silver resting in the bottom of the clear glass. She pulled it to her and scooped out the silver band. She was about to turn it over to the bar tender in case someone had lost it when her eyes caught some carvings on the inside. Holding it to the light, she read, "koi to seki to wa kakusarenu." No, it couldn't be, she thought. That was the inscription Shikamaru and she had put on their wedding bands. It was Shikamaru's ring. Why had he brought it, she thought? The fact that he still had it was hardly surprising; Ino still had her rings in a dusty old box at the back of her armoire, but why would he bring it out? To return it after all these years? That didn't make any sense. She cupped it in her palm and stared at it. Upon closer inspection, she saw that the outside had tiny lacerations all over it. She compared it to the similar little marks on the ring Tim had given to her. It meant…No it couldn't be…It meant that… Shikamaru wore the ring on missions… An eerie chill ran down her spine and she had to drop the ring on the bar, not being able to think until it had stopped spinning. Why would Shikamaru still wear his wedding ring on missions? And if he wore it on missions, he most certainly wore it all other times. Shikamaru was too lazy to take it on and off just when he was working. It wasn't possible he still cared for her…was it? Her heart suddenly hurt at the prospect and she had to clutch the bar stool to keep from fainting off the back of it. Once she had regained her stability, she crashed back on top of the bar again. Her blonde hair fanned around her as she tried desperately to block out all the light in the room. When the darkness finally came, it was replaced by Shikamaru. He was sitting in Ino's apartment, studying a shogi board by himself. Ino saw herself walk in wearing an evening gown.

"Aren't you ready, Shika-kun?" Ino sang, trying to hide her annoyance with her husband. He didn't even look up as he lazily said, "Hn?" Ino huffed, "The Konoha Jonin Conference? Your dad is a Jonin; we have to at least make an appearance."

Shikamaru now looked up to his wife, "Of course. I'm ready." He stood up in that same old sports jacket and dark jeans.

"You're honestly wearing that?" Ino crossed her arms and raised a perfectly trimmed eye brow. Shikamaru walked past her to grab his keys. "Yeah," he nonchalantly stated, "Let's go." Ino grabbed his arm before he could get out the door. "Oh, no, you don't," she said, "You're going to make your father look bad. Now go change."

Shikamaru pulled his arm out of her grip, "It's what I'm wearing, not my dad. It won't matter to him."

She growled, "You just don't understand; it's a social thing, Shikamaru."

He sighed and pulled out a pack of cigarettes; Ino knew it was to calm him down. He was either scared or angry, and most likely not the former. He knew Ino hated his smoking and he had tried to quit, but he still needed a little nicotine to take the edge off every now and then. Ino wasn't in the mood for it tonight, however. They were going to be late if he didn't change now.

"You know I hate that, Shikamaru. You don't understand how it's killing you!"

Shikamaru sneered and lit the cigarette, "Hm, I guess that's another thing I don't understand." He could feel her anger rising, "Dammit, Shikamaru! Just put out the fucking cigarette! We have to go!"

He sighed again and put out the cigarette on the box. He then made his way towards the door. "Alright then, let's go," he said once more.

"No you're not wearing that!"

Shikamaru stopped and turned around, "I can wear whatever I want. Now do you want to be there on time or not?"

"You're so annoying, Shikamaru! Sometimes I don't even know why I married you!"

As much as that hurt him, he didn't let her see it. "That's a great question. You were much better off with that Sai character. I guess you always did like them callous."

Ino's eyes narrowed at that statement. Bringing up past boyfriends was a low blow for Ino, but she could go lower, "And what was it Temari said? Too inexperienced? I guess she likes them mature: too bad for you."

"Oh but look who decided to marry the immature guy…" Shikamaru didn't know why he was picking this fight. He guessed he was just sick of her pulling off such bullshit with him.

"I don't know what I was thinking." Shikamaru left her apartment after those final words.

Ino watched him walk out her door almost in slow motion and saw for the first time what had really walked out: the best thing to ever happen to her.

She rubbed her temples as a sudden headache had come on and she squeezed her eyes shut tight. Instead of being greeted by blackness, she saw Shikamaru again: a more youthful Shikamaru, before he started losing sleep. She recognized his surroundings immediately as her parents flower shop where she worked as a teenager and young adult. Shikamaru had a sheepish grin on his face and he was rubbing the back of his neck. Then she saw herself, around age 19. She was holding roses.

"They still have the thorns, silly. I could get hurt." Ino said, giggling lightly. His smile made the butterflies in her stomach do somersaults; a biting comment was the only thing to help calm her down. She was just setting them in a vase when something metal fell from one of the leaves and bounced on the tile floor. She heard Shikamaru curse in frustration as she bent down to pick up the object. It was a silver ring with a small diamond in the middle. She flicked her eyes up at Shikamaru to catch him finish up an eye roll.

"What is this, Shika?" She didn't wait for an answer as she inspected the ring. On the inside was an inscription.

"Koi to seki to wa kakusaren…Love conquers all…" Her eyes widened as she realized what was happening. She looked up to see Shikamaru had moved closer. He pulled the ring from her grip and held her hand out.

"No matter what…I want to know that you're all mine. Any thorns that come between us, I need to know that you'll be willing to get to the roses with me…" His voice was shaking and Ino could tell that he had practiced this, which somehow made it sweeter. She felt her eyes well up and a few moments later, tears burned her cheeks. She watched intently as Shikamaru's rough trembling hands slipped the ring down her finger. He then put his fingers under her chin and lifted her face to meet his.

"Ino…I love you…" She didn't have to answer, nor did she have time to, for along with her tears, he kissed away her words.

Ino lifted her head and squinted her eyes at the artificial light. The same eyes that had made those blissful tears just two years ago now poured out bitter, angry, miserable tears…over the same man.

How the hell does he do this to her?

Tim had finally come to after about half an hour and Ino paid for his taxi as he was still a little groggy. She had taken off her heels as soon as she made it into her building. Her feet ached, but not near as much as her heart and her head. Her whole body was swimming in thought and emotion over her experience in the bar. She had no idea why he was still stirring these feelings inside of her. She had long ago decided she was over him. But was she just lying to herself?

She had finally reached her apartment door; she fished through her purse for her key and her fingers instead felt magnetically pulled to the silver ring. She still wasn't exactly sure what had made her take it when she left the bar. Many times on the way home she had stopped at a trashcan in the sidewalk with the ring clutched in her palm. But each and every time, she ended up placing it back in her bag. As dirty and wrong as she felt while carrying it, she would have felt dirtier throwing it out. She had told herself many times that her marriage to Shikamaru was a complete waste of two years, but she knew deep down that it wasn't all bad. And she knew for a fact that Shikamaru had spent the last of his money on those rings. (She smiled against her own will at the memory of his face when she told him that the bride's family pays for the wedding.) She finally found her key and unsteadily wobbled into her dark apartment.

She felt his presence before she saw it. She could tell he was trying hard to suppress his chakra, but not hard enough.

She didn't even turn on the lights as she broke the void with her voice, "Shikamaru?"

Dun-dun-DUN! What will happen now? This came out a little longer than I wanted, but oh well! And I wrote this so much faster than I thought I would! You know why? Because I love you guys, that's why!

Lemon next chapter: maybe yes, maybe no!

I will cry if I don't get reviews. So go on, my friends. Tell me what you think. It'll be our little secret…

(Okay no more creepiness; next chapter up soon, I hope.)