Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I just don't!

A/N: My story written for the annual Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month). It's my first time in participating in it, so yeah. Hope you like the story!

Warning: There's a spoilers if you haven't read chapter 328. You've probably been spoiled to it already, but if you haven't, I don't want to spoil it for you.

Published November 3, 2006

Chapter 1 - One Too Many

"Wanna go out tonight?" A blonde kunoichi asked with a smile. She was expecting a definite yes.

"No." The pineapple headed boy spoke plainly and coldly.

"But why not?! It's a perfect day for a date!" The blonde said with emphasis on 'date'.

"I said no. It's too troublesome." He crossed his arms and closed his eyes gently.

"You always say that! Come on! I want to go out!"

"Then you go out. I'm staying in here." Shikamaru put his hands behind his head and relaxed on his chair. "You're a nag." He bluntly said.

"Ugh! Shikamaru! That's it! You're not worth all this…trouble!" The flaxen haired girl shouted. She couldn't think of any more fit word. "Hmph!" She crossed her arms and stomped her feet until she was out of the door. She slammed the door hard enough for a couple of picture frames on Shikamaru's desk to fall off.

'One down, a million more fangirls to go.' He thought in his head as the blonde intern left. 'I get an office in the Hokage's building and this is what I get? A hundred interns a day asking for a date with me.' He sighed as he got off of his chair to pick up the fallen picture frames. 'How troublesome. If the photos come out of their frame, Chouji will have to put them back in their frames.' He thought as he picked up one of the frames. He sighed again at a depressing sight. The first picture he picked up had Asuma and himself in it. Shikamaru couldn't help but let out another sigh. 'Still miss him too much.' Shikamaru sat down on the floor. He might as well keep looking at the pictures and reminisce.

First he looked at the picture of Asuma and himself. It was in a silver frame with curled vine embroidery. Asuma had a wide grin on his face while Shikamaru had his arms crossed and his signature bored look on his face. Shikamaru stared at the photo for many moments. Then he closed his eyes and put it down. 'Next.' He thought as he moved his hand around to find the closest picture frame to bring back memories. The frame he touched first was silver plastic and had four small square frames with Shikamaru in each one. The top left square had his best friend, Chouji in it. Chouji was standing next to Shikamaru and smiling sincerely. Shikamaru had his hands in his pockets with almost a smile on his face, but not quite there yet. The photo on the right of it had Naruto in it. 'Naruto…' Naruto was grinning as wide as ever with his arm leaning on Shikamaru's shoulder. Shikamaru had his arms crossed again with that same bored look, this time he was also irritated. Diagonal from that photo was himself with Kiba. Again, Shikamaru had his same pose. Kiba looked just like Naruto with a wide grin, leaning on Shikamaru's shoulder. 'What's up with them putting their elbow on my shoulder? I'm not that tall.' Shikamaru thought wondered his ever-so-troublesome brain. He finally came to a conclusion that it would be too troublesome to think of an answer. Who could truly understand Kiba and Naruto anyways? Shikamaru sighed once again and picked up the last picture frame that had fallen down. Shikamaru couldn't help but have another heavy sigh. The pictures in the frame were halfway out. Shikamaru was too lazy to try to put them in, so he decided to look at the pictures and leave the pushing in of the pictures to an intern or something. The frame was kind of odd. It was in the shape of two hearts connected together. The left side had Ino in it and the right side had Temari in it. 'Nani (what)?' Shikamaru asked himself. Another sigh left Shikamaru's mouth. 'Chouji…' Shikamaru concluded easily. 'I didn't even know I had a frame like this.' Then a thought hit him like…a bowling ball dropping on your pinky toe. 'How did Chouji get a picture of Ino and Temari? Sure Ino maybe, but Temari?' One after another, puzzling questions entered Shikamaru's head. 'Where did he take this picture?' Shikamaru looked at the background, a fake plain-colored background you see in studios or when you take school pictures. 'Being a 'Special' really makes you miss out on a lot of things.' He turned the frame over and saw that the back of Ino's and Temari's picture had writing on it.

Shikamaru took out Ino's picture from the frame and read the back. It was indeed Ino's handwriting, in blue ink.

Hey, Shika-kun! You probably will never have the time or energy to read this, but if Chouji reads it for you or something, I just wanted to say what a great friend you are. If you're wondering how Chouji took a picture of me, well, it's a long story that would be 'too troublesome' to explain. I'm sorry I had to miss your birthday! I really wanted to be there! Damn, Hokage-sama had to assign me on a mission last minute. Well, I hope you have a wonderful birthday, Shika!

- Ino

There was more writing on the bottom right-hand corner written in red ink. It was very small, but still readable.

P.S. If you do ever happen to read this, I just wanted to ask, would you go out on a date with me?

'Nani (what)?!' Was all Shikamaru could think at the moment. He was clueless, if anything, when it came to girls and love and anything like that. It just wasn't his forte. 'Ino likes me?' 'No, duh!' His inner-self spoke. 'I was just a little surprised she wrote it.' Shikamaru defended against himself. 'Sure…so are you going to say yes, or what?' 'Of course not. She's like my sister, not my girlfriend.' 'Doesn't mean you can't go on a date with her.' 'There's no point of a troublesome date with a troublesome girl if you know there would be nothing more than a friendship. I am not going to lead her on.' 'Don't try to lecture your inner-self!' 'Yeah, yeah.' Shikamaru pause to think. 'This must've been written last year. That was the only year she missed my birthday. I wonder if she even remembers she wrote it.'

Shikamaru put down Ino's picture and placed it halfway into the frame, like it was before. Then he took Temari's picture and read the back of it. It was most definitely her writing, messy and smudged. She was never good with pens. The ink was black, just legible enough for Shikamaru to read without thinking it was troublesome.

Sup, genius? How you've been doing? I've been doing a damn good job as a Jounin. Too bad I had to be a liaison and stuck with you. ;D Sorry I had to miss your birthday. Really! Damn Gaara put me on a mission because Kankuro was "busy". I say he was just lazy like you. I would've gotten you a present but then I thought it would be too troublesome for you to open, so oh well! No present for you! I bet you were wondering how that 'big-boned' friend of yours got me to pose looking ever-so wonderful. Well, long story short, I really have no idea. That guy's just very persuasive.

There was another paragraph in Temari's note. It seemed to be written at a different time, with the same pen, but more legible.

I know you won't be reading this anytime soon, so when you do read this I'd be ready to ask you, do you like me more than a friend? I mean as in a relationship of more than friends, like a girlfriend? I've been hearing too many rumors and had to ask. Either answer you give to me, when you do give it to me, will have deadly consequences! So choose wisely on your punishment!

P.S. Chouji let me read a note from Ino to you. You better say yes to her, or she'll kill you before I can! ;D

- Temari

'Chouji…' Shikamaru shook his head. 'You are truly my best friend.'

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Shikamaru stood up from the floor and put the three picture frames back onto his table. He sat back down in his chair and called up a Jounin assistant (like Shizune).

Two minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Shikamaru lazily said.

The door opened. "Yes, Shikamaru-san. What are your orders?" A rather tall man asked seriously.

"I would like you to send a message to Akimichi Chouji. He is ordered to come into my office immediately." Shikamaru ordered very professionally, sounding like the Hokage.

"Yes, Shikamaru-san." The Jounin turned around and closed the door behind him.

Shikamaru sighed and leaned on his chair more, putting his hands behind his head. 'I wonder how Chouji's doing.' The lazy Chuunin thought as he closed his eyes and drifted off to take a nap.

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There was yet another knock on the door only minutes after Shikamaru dozed off.

"Come in." Shikamaru said as lazily as possible, wiping some drool off of his mouth.

"You ordered me to come, Shikamaru?" An all-around large, 16 year-old walked in.

"Hey Chouji. Another intern asked me out and slammed the door when I said no. Some pictures fell and I wanted you to help put them back in place." Shikamaru explained quickly in one long sentence.

Chouji sighed with a smile. "Shikamaru…how would you ever survive without me?" Chouji joked to Shikamaru.

"I don't think I could." Shikamaru caught the joke and replied.

"Well, are these the frames?" Chouji lifted the three frames that weren't standing up.

"Mm." Shikamaru nodded.

"Okay…" Chouji started to arrange the frames back onto Shikamaru's desk. "Uh, is there anything else?" Chouji asked while rearranging many picture frames on Shikamaru's desk.

"N-Well actually, there is something I wanted to ask."

"Uh-huh."

"The frame with the hearts, with Ino and Temari in it, what is it?"

"What do you mean 'what is it'? It's a frame shaped in two hearts with Ino and Temari in it." Chouji said simply, like it was really that straightforward.

"Chouji!" Shikamaru stared at Chouji with a 'that's-not-what-I-meant-and-you-know-it.' look.

"Okay, okay. I was just having fun with the pictures. I mean when you give me a bunch of pictures and tell me to put them into the frames it's not my fault that they just happen to fit in the frame perfectly."

"That may be true, but I think I would remember having a picture of Temari." Shikamaru pointed out.

"Are you saying that you like her?"

"No! I'm just saying it would be very hard to get a picture of Temari."

Chouji lowered his head, slouching, and sighed. "Okay…you caught me." He faced Shikamaru and sat in a chair he dragged over from the wall. "You read the back didn't you? Is that why the pictures were half-in-half-out?"

Shikamaru nodded. "Well, actually…no…too troublesome to explain."

Chouji shrugged it off. "Well, right after your birthday party, I decided since Ino wasn't able to make it, I would help her give a gift to you. Ino had been trying to choose a present for you for many months but still didn't know what to get you. Then I thought of the idea of giving you a picture of her when I passed the Academy and they were handing out school pictures. You never had a picture of Ino alone, so I thought it would be a nice present. Ino decided to write on the back of the photo, too, like the students did. And yeah…" Chouji explained like it was just yesterday.

"What about Temari? I have to know how you actually, willingly, got Temari to take a troublesome picture."

Chouji scratched the back of his head. "It was actually pretty easy. In the beginning, I wasn't really sure if I should ask Temari since she was in Suna and would only visit as a liaison or after a mission around here. Luckily, she came back to Konoha a week later. She was going to meet you after meeting with the Hokage…or so she said." Chouji insinuated.

"She doesn't like me that way!" Shikamaru tried to make Chouji and himself believe.

"Yeah, right." Chouji said sarcastically. "Anyways…Temari was walking down the streets of Konoha and saw me. She asked how your party was and we talked a little. Then she told me she didn't get a present for you, so it wasn't so bad that she missed your birthday. I told her about the idea of a school photo kind of thing and she surprisingly agreed." Chouji paused for a couple of seconds. "Oh yeah, and Ino and Temari never met when I took their pictures. Just to let you know."

"Good to know." Shikamaru mumbled.

There was silence for a good minute or so.

"So…" Chouji tried to strike up a conversation.

"So what?"

"So…are you going to accept Ino's date and tell Temari that you like her more than a friend?" Chouji couldn't help but ask. He had been holding it in for almost a year now.

"No." Shikamaru answered simply.

"No?! No to what?" Chouji wanted to know.

"No to both."

"But Shikamaru! Do you know what you're missing out on?!" Chouji really wanted Shikamaru to say yes to at least one of his questions.

"A troublesome date with a troublesome girl and a troublesome relationship with an even more troublesome woman?" Shikamaru stated and asked at the same time.

"No…you're missing your chance to have a relationship with one or two beautiful kunoichis!" Chouji pointed out like it was in plain sight. "Do you know just how many guys would love to be in your shoes right now? Any other guy, even I, would say yes to one of the girls, or even both!"

"Well that's great for you." Shikamaru said, half sarcastically.

"Come on, Shikamaru. Can you really, truly, say that you have never felt anything, anything at all, for Ino and Temari?" Chouji asked seriously.

Shikamaru could only sigh before thinking of his answer. "I guess you're right. I have had a crush on Ino and Temari one time or another."

Chouji grinned. "It's no big deal! Ino and Temari are two of the hottest kunoichis Konoha has ever seen. You're pretty lucky you get to choose between the two."

"No, not really."

"Why not?"

"If I say yes to one, I'll have to say no to the other."

"Oh…" Chouji sighed at Shikamaru's situation. "So, who do you want at your funeral?"

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A/N: These chapters are much shorter than my other FanFiction 'Not a Relaxing Vacation'. I hope you liked it. I seriously could've done better setting the story up. I thought the last line was very funny though. It just popped up. I seriously have no idea what's going to happen next, so if anyone has anything they want to have happen, tell me! I tried to make Ino and Temari as in-character as possible, but it was getting kind of hard, so if they're OOC, gomen (sorry)!