A/N: It's finally Ino and Shikamaru's turn! I hope Shikamaru isn't OOC, but I tried my best! Enjoy!

A Sweet Surprise

Ino Yamanaka groaned as she hung up the phone. Sakura was too busy, of course. It was probably more like too busy getting it on with Sasuke Uchiha. She was plain sick and tired of all these couples, couples, couples!

First there was Hinata and Naruto. They'd been together for a little over two years. Sure, she couldn't really envy Hinata's choice of partner, but at least he showed that he cared, not matter how idiotic. And now they'd just come back from their honeymoon. Ah, newlywed bliss. She felt like gagging.

Then there was Sasuke and Sakura. Never in a million years had she thoughtSasuke would fall for Sakura! Never in a million years had she thought Sasuke was capable of falling for anyone, period. But he did.

And most recently was Neji and TenTen. Sure, she was happy that TenTen wasn't alone anymore, but did they really have to be so public? She'd never penned Neji as one for public displays of affection, but again, she'd been wrong. Just yesterday she had caught the two of them making out in an alleyway. To think, the high-class, proper Neji Hyuga making out in an alley! And TenTen used to be so innocent...

Sure, she had Shika, but did he really count as anything? He was so lazy he could hardly be considered a boyfriend at all. She was sure even the cold, stoic Sasuke Uchiha made more of an effort. At least they had sex. The reason she had such a big libido was because she couldn't really remember the last time she and Shika had 'done the dirty.' Any normal male would jump at the chance to perform intercourse, but no, not Shika. It was too much work for him. She didn't know how much more of this she could take!

But when it came down to it, she didn't want to leave him. She loved him. And she knew he loved her, he just needed to work on showing it more. Good luck with that! Getting Shika to do anything for anyone else was next to impossible! No, it was impossible!

Ino sighed. It was their anniversary tomorrow. She hoped she'd be spending the day with Shika, but who knew. He might just sleep it away…that is if he even remembered.

000

Ino woke up at nine a.m. sharp. Shika might not give a crap about a one year anniversary, but hell, she did! And she was going to see him whether he wanted to see her or not!

She took her time getting ready, making sure she looked hot. Shika never really noticed, but at least she got the comfort of other guys noticing. Then she knew she wasn't entirely undesirable.

When she was about to walk out the front door, the phone rang. It was Sakura.

"Hey, what you up to today?"

"It's my anniversary, remember?"

"Really! Wow, I can't wait until Sasuke and I have ours!"

Ino rolled her eyes. Again with the great and wonderful Sasuke Uchiha.

"Yeah, that'll be great."

"So what are you and Shikamaru doing?"

Time to start lying.

"Oh, we're just going to spend the day together and then he's going to take me out to this really fancy restaurant…well, that's if we end up going, if you know what I mean."

She heard Sakura laugh on the other end. "Ino, you sex fiend! Nothing can slow you down!"

Yeah, if only you knew, honey.

"Well, you know me!"

"I better let you go then."

"Yeah, the sooner I get laid the better for everyone."

Yeah, right.

Sakura giggled. "You're unbelievable. See you around, Pig."

"Bye, Forehead."

Ino hung up with a sigh and walked out the door. Not everyone was so lucky as to have a gorgeous boyfriend like Sasuke who actually liked having sex.

She hadn't been walking five minutes before she wanted to throw up. Was it just her, or was it Public Display of Affection Day?

These people seriously need to take this crap somewhere private!

Sure, if Shika was that kind of person she'd be happy to walk around holding hands, kiss now and then…but no, he didn't like that. He thought it was weird. There was seriously something wrong if he thought it was weird to kiss his girlfriend!

She finally waded through the horror of PDA and arrived at Shika's house. She hated how her Dad wouldn't let her live with him. He said not until they were married. Yeah, good luck with that one. Shika marrying was like the sun shining throughout the night. It wouldn't happen. It was too much of a drag.

"Shika, I'm coming in!"

He didn't answer, so she used her key to open the door and stepped inside. He was asleep, of course.

She groaned and kicked him off the couch.

Hasn't he ever heard of a bed? You know, those thing people have sex in!

He woke up and looked around slowly. "Oh, hey Ino."

Oh, hey Ino? That was all she got for their anniversary? Oh, hey Ino? Whatever happened to 'I love you'? Hm? She couldn't remember the last time he'd said that!

She glared daggers. "Oh, hey Shika. What's up?"

He blinked a couple of times and looked up at her dumbly. "I was sleeping."

Ino clenched her teeth. "Oh, really? Wow, I didn't notice that. I thought you were dead or something. My mistake."

Shika stood up and stumbled to the kitchen. "What's up with you? Are you PMS-ing or something? What a drag."

Oh, he was in for it now! "No, Shika, I'm just pregnant with your child. Pregnancy tends to make women a little grumpy."

Shika choked on the milk he was drinking. "You…You're pregnant?"

"You say it like it's some kind of disease. And no, I'm not. You actually have to have sex in order to get pregnant. It's not like we've been doing much of that lately. If I was pregnant, it wouldn't be with your child. You may not think I'm so desirable, but I know of other guys who do."

Shika just gaped at her. "What the hell? That was low, Ino."

Ino just glared back. "Oh, believe me, I know." She threw his present on the couch. The present she'd been saving up for months for. "Goodbye, Shika."

000

Tears streamed down Ino's face as she tried her hardest not to think about Shikamaru. It wasn't working.

Why do I have to love him

Life was never fair. Here she was, the sex maniac, stuck with a guy who didn't want it.

Is this all that's left for me? Is this it? What kind of pathetic life do I lead? A mediocre shinobi who works at my parent's shop with a boyfriend that doesn't even remember our anniversary?

Unlike Sakura, she'd always been content leading an average life with an average boyfriend and an average job…but now she wasn't so sure she was right. What if this average life just didn't cut it for her anymore? What then?

000

Damn phone with its damn ringing.

Ino grabbed the phone and pressed the 'talk' button. She'd fallen asleep during one of her chick flicks. She didn't know how long she'd been sleeping for. Too long, most likely. What a crappy anniversary.

"WHAT?"

Silence.

"Uh…it's Shikamaru."

Oh, so he decided to call. How nice.

"What."

"Um…did you want to come over?"

Yes.

"Not really."

"Please."

Damnit, he's so cute!

"Why should I?"

"Because I really want to see you."

Kami, he's so sweet!

"Oh, so now you decide you want to see me."

"Yes. I'm sorry about earlier, Ino. I really am. I just really want to be with you right now."

How am I supposed to resist that?

"Fine, I'll be there soon."

She hung up the phone and stayed staring at it for the next thirty seconds.

Now what?

Now she had to look damn hot.

000

As soon as Ino knocked on the door, Shikamaru opened it. It was all she could do to contain her surprise.

He was dressed up. Reallydressed up. He looked…presentable for once.

Damn, he cleans up nice

"Wow, Ino, you look…amazing." He stated as his eyes trailed over her form. She should damn well look amazing. Her long, blonde hair was curling about her shoulders; she'd spent extra time on her make-up…and her dress. Well, it didn't exactly leave much to the imagination.

"Well, you noticed. For a while there I was beginning to think you started batting for the other team." She was still pissed. He wasn't getting away with forgetting their anniversary just because he said some really sweet things and looked really hot.

"Okay, I think I deserved that."

What the hell? Since when did Shikamaru start taking the blame foranything

Something was seriously wrong with him.

"So, what is this about? Why did you want me to come over?"

"Do I need a reason to want to see my girlfriend?"

She nearly fell over. "Um…what?"

Shikamaru looked down at his feet. "I said…"

"No…no. I heard what you said. But…what?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Yeah…yeah. Just come in already." As she followed him in she heard him mutter "what a drag…"

That's more like him.

But she nearly fell over again when she caught sight of his apartment.

Usually Shikamaru's apartment smelt kind of funny and had various items of clothing strewn across the floor. The dishes were never clean. He didn't sleep in his bed because he forgot where his sheets went and couldn't be bothered buying some more. Ino usually had to pick her way across the mess. But now…

Now the apartment was spotless. Not only was it spotless, there was a little table set up in the living room. It had fancy cutlery on it and rose petals on the table cloth. And candles. In fact, there were candles placed around the whole apartment.

A…a candlelight dinner? You've got to be kidding me!

Ino faced Shikamaru with tears in her eyes. "Shi…Shika?"

One side of his mouth lifted in a smile. "Yeah, pretty fancy, isn't it. I got some of the boys to help clean it up. I said I wanted to do something special for my girl on our anniversary, but I still had to pay them. It was such a drag."

"So…you…you did this…forme?

"Yeah."

Ino grabbed Shikamaru's neck and kissed him until they were both breathless.

"Um…okay…" Shikamaru said through breaths.

Ino couldn't stop smiling. "But…why?"

Shika shrugged and tucked a stray piece of her behind her ear. "Because, it's our one-year anniversary, right? And besides…I love you."

A tear escaped down Ino's cheek before Shikamaru wiped it away. "Shika…I can't believe this! And I thought you didn't care anymore! Kami, I love you!" She said as she wrapped her arms around Shikamaru's neck.

His arms circled around her waist and he kissed her neck.

After a few seconds Ino pulled back and grinned. "You know…I'm going to give you a treat tonight…and I'm going to do all the work!"

End.