AN: I was looking back at my reviews for this story and I realized something. UnOrthodox was right. I had let the ShikaIno thing die. It had not only died but it ceased to exist. So I decided to make this interlude to tie up this loose end.

Disclaimer: I own no copyrighted material.

The Price of a Dream – Interlude

By Nine Tailed Vixen

Shikamaru couldn't look at Ino. Here she was crying and he couldn't even look at her, what kind of man was he? A coward. That's what.

Shikamaru thought back to the day everything changed. He was just laying there staring at the sky when all of a sudden he thought about Ino. He wasn't even sure what caused it just that once he thought about her he couldn't even stop. Wherever he looked he saw something that reminded him of her. The dusk sky made him think of her eyes. The grass made him think of the picnics that they went on with their parents when they were children. Even a tree made him think of when he fell from one and Ino was at his house everyday nursing him back to health. He never realized how much it had meant to him. They were only children after all but now that he was older he saw the significance of everything that they had been together for.

And then she grabbed Sasuke. It was just like any other day. There was no difference between this day and any other day before where Ino grabbed Sasuke. Except this time it hurt. Shikamaru was completely blindsided by the pain of seeing Ino on Sasuke's arm. He had ever in the world thought himself to be jealous but then again he never thought that he'd fall for a woman like Ino.

Shikamaru was many things and lazy and smart described him to a t. He wouldn't be bothered by such troublesome things as denial. He knew that he loved her. He also knew that she would never be his. Even as Sasuke turned his attention to boys instead of girls, Ino would just look for another handsome genius. She deserved a handsome genius.

Shikamaru shook his head and thought about that time at the restaurant. Even now he couldn't believe how he had pushed her. Now that was low. She was just so close to him. He couldn't breathe. If they had stayed like that then surely he would have died. What he did was in self-defense. Shikamaru snorted. Even just thinking that was lame. After he had run out Chouji found him with his head to a tree on the other side of town. He was shaking his head at Shikamaru.

"What's Ino done, now?" Chouji had asked.

The words had let Shikamaru's mouth before he could stop himself. "She's completely ensnared me."

Beloved, wise Chouji said nothing. There was nothing to say.

Shikamaru snuck a look at the sobbing Ino sitting beside him. He longed to hold her but it wasn't allowed. If he held her he knew that she'd hug him close and it would seem that she'd never let him go. She would accept his love and take it as friendship. She would kiss him on the cheek and thank him. But she'd never know how his cheek would burn where her lips left her brand. She'd never know how her scent would haunt him in his bed at night.

Shikamaru closed his eyes and put his arms around her.

He wasn't wrong.

AN: In case any one didn't realize this was not a happy ending. Why? You ask. I eventually plan on making a separate ShikaIno fiction.