A/N: finnaly i noe... the 3 rd chappie! i'm so srry it took so long! i feel so bad!!! well enough talk from me, you probably want to get on to the story so here!!!

Chapter 3: Makeover time and Surprising News

His chestnut orbs glanced around his his surroundings. Trudging forward, he heaved a sigh as his hand swung open the door, sending in a gust of wind. A frown fell upon his lips as he took in his surroundings.

It was loud, noisy and especially nowhere Shikamaru would have thought he'd ever have to step foot in.

The mall.

But Sakura had told him specifically exactly where to meet them. Glancing at a map of the shops here, he squinted his eyes at the small printing.

But before he even had time to make out what the map had read, a voice called out to him.

"Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru shoved his hands into the pocket of his caprice and turned around lazily to meet them with a bored expression.

"Hey." Came his smooth, baritone reply.

"Hey Shikamaru, glad you made it!" The pink-haired haired medic smiled as she pushed back the roseate locks falling over her face. "I thought you weren't going to show up!"

Shikamaru just shrugged, nonchalantly as he glanced around him. "So," He started. "...what do you plan on doing?"

Behind Sakura, Tenten stepped out, in her usual ninja attire, her dark chestnut hair pulled up in two buns neatly on both sides of her head. Her chocolate orbs shimmered as a slight smirk played on her lips.

Shikamaru noticed this and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What exactly do you have planned...?" He approached, cautiously.

Tenten just casually shrugged as the smirk on her lips started to widen. "Well, " She started out, slowly. Shikamaru started to have a bad feeling about this. "...We're going to give you a make-over." She finished, the words rolling off her tongue quickly, hoping he wouldn't catch the words.

"T-That's why we're at the mall." A small voice spoke up behind Tenten. Hinata stepped up closer to them, her lavender eyes carefully avoiding their eye contact.

The lazy-chunnin narrowed his eyes and at first, stood processing in their words. Finally, his eyes widened again as he stepped back. "You guys are insane." He stated, after a moment.

Sakura rolled her emerald eyes at the boy as she heard him groan. Stepping towards him, she gripped his arm and pulled him after her, calling after her friends. "C'mon Shikamaru!" The pink-haired konoichi urged.

Shikamaru could've sworn her eyes started to get a mischief glint in them. "...this is for Ino, right?" She finished off, a smile playing on her lips.

Shikamaru suddenly stopped in his tracks as he once again narrowed his eyes defensively. Sakura smirked proudly, obviously knowing she had won.

Sakura continued to urge and lead Shikamaru to follow her and this time, he had actually allowed her to do so. Suddenly, Sakura had stopped in her tracks and turned to Hinata and Tenten, tapping on her chin." Say, Hinata...Tenten; which should we start with first? Hair or wardrobe?"

"M-Maybe we should start with his w-wardrobe first."

"I say hair."

"Hmm…I say wardrobe." The pink-haired medic concluded, thoughtfully. "...Plus it's just up ahead!" She added, for good measure. Tenten furrowed her eyebrows and then nodded, agreeing.

"Fine then! Wardrobe first!" The chestnut-eyed beauty exclaimed, a grin making a way to her lips.

Shikamaru groaned and tapped his shoes to the ground, impatiently. "Let's just get on with this already." He urged them, boredly.

"Okay, then! We're off to find some clothes!"

And they were off...

The lazy chunnin had trudged around the store after Sakura as she piled a variety of tops and shoved them into Shikamaru's arms. Meanwhile, Tenten had gone off on the opposite side of the store, on a search for pants and Hinata was looking for just the right accessories.

30 minutes later…

"Shikamaru!" A shrill voice pierced through the door of the change room. "Come out from the change room! We want to see you first outfit already!" Sakura had called out, impatiently.

Sighing as he unlocked the door to the change room stall, the lazy-nin came out wearing an over-sized black tee and baggy plaid pants that scarcely hung on his hips.

"Wow, Shikamaru, you look nice." Tenten complimented, nodding in approval.

"Of course! I did pick out that outfit!" Sakura stated, conceitedly, as she eyed Shikamaru and smiled in approval, too.

"Alright! On to your second outfit!" Tenten exclaimed, impatiently, as she shoved a pile of clothes into his arms.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered, using his favourite word, as he went back inside to the change room.

When he had come out for what seemed like hours later, he was wearing a dark t-shirt and a faded pair of blue jeans.

"Nice pick, Tenten!" Sakura complimented, as brought her hands up to her mouth and giggled.

A smirk tugged on the brunette's lips as her eyes glinted, obviously proud of herself.

"A-And now for your third outfit..." A small voice spoke as she stepped forward and piled an outfit into Shikamaru's arms.

Heaving a sigh, he trudged himself into the stall and lazily locked the door. "Finally...the last one."

His third outfit consisted of a long-sleeved black tee, a plaid short-sleeved woven shirt, and a pair of dark jeans. When he had lazily pulled himself out, all the girls grinned as their eyes shimmered in approval.

"Wow, Hinata! Awesome choice!" Both konoichi smiled at their friend and ushered Shikamaru to the cash register where they had paid for the clothes.

The lazy chunnin was stuck carrying a loaded shopping bag as Sakura and Tenten had rushed to the next store. Hinata stayed back with Shikamaru, shaking her head at her friends as she watched them go.

When they had caught up to the two girls, Hinata had suggested, "M-Maybe we should go to the hairdresser...B-Before it closes." Everyone had agreed, hurrying to the salon.

As soon as they had entered, Shikamaru was almost knocked over by the stench of chemicals and the overwhelming fumes in the air. When Sakura had seen the look on his face, she rolled her emerald eyes and waved her hands in the air, calling for someone.

"Ami!" She had called out, her voice spreading through the whole salon. Everyone turned to look and Shikamaru had to hide in face, feeling paranoid. "Hey, Ami! Over here!"

Shikamaru nudged her softly in the ribs and seethed through his mouth, hastily. "Hey, Sakura, any louder?"

The pink-haired konoichi just shrugged and smiled warmly as a woman that seemed about there age heading over to them.

"Hey there, Sakura! Long time, no see, so, what brings you here?" The tall, slender woman greeted, flipping her long navy blue tresses over her shoulders, sending them to tumble gracefully over her shoulders.

Sakura's emerald eyes seemed to glisten as a grin broke out on her lips, "Well, Ami, see Shikamaru here has a ...problem..." She started out, slowly. Her voice lowered as she leaned closer to the woman, whispering. "Well, he has a little problem and we kind of need your expertise here."

And she continued, "He really loves this girl. You know Ino, who I told you about? And yeah, you can guess the rest."

"Oh, I see." Ami nodded, slowly, seeming to understand the problem. The lazy shinobi's eyes had widened as he heard Sakura's whispered words to Ami, a light rouge made its way to his pale face.

"Here." Ami had turned to have a look at Shikamaru and he started to feel a little self-conscious. Her dark eyes shined in approval as she smiled warmly at him.

"Have a seat here, Shikamaru." Ami said, as she guided Shikamaru to the nearest vacant chair. "So girls, do you have an idea of what you want me to do to his hair?" Ami asked the girls as she observed Shikamaru's hair.

She ran her slender fingers through his chestnut locks.

"Hmm…" They wondered. This was a hard choice to decide.

"O-Oh...I-I think I have an idea." Hinata had stuttered, pushing her two index fingers together, nervously.

"Okay, what is it?" Tenten cocked her head at Hinata. Sakura had also turned her head to face Hinata, too. Suddenly, they were all ears.

"W-Well, m-maybe we could take his hair o-out of his ponytail." The lavender-eyed beauty had suggested a shy smile irking on her lips.

All the girls had tapped their chins, considering the idea and then nodded in approval. "Okay," Tenten said. "Let's do it." She turned to Ami and nodded, sternly.

Suddenly, Sakura's head perked up. "Hmm, we shouldn't cut it since I know how much Ino likes Shikamaru's hair how it is." She stated, pretending to be nonchalant, while eyeing Shikamaru from the corner of her emerald eyes.

The brown-haired shinobi of Team 10 irked his head away, pretending to have not heard the konoichi comment, all the while, trying to hide the pleased look on his face.

Ami whirled Shikamaru's chair around and pulled out his hair-tie, sending a curtain of his chestnut mane to fall gracefully down to reach scarcely above his shoulders.

"Wow, Shikamaru!" Ami had exclaimed. "You look great with your hair down!"

"Yeah, you should wear it down more often. You could even beat Neji's hair!" Tenten stated, smiling at him with awe.

Starting to feel a little self-conscious and annoyed, Shikamaru attempted his avoid their gazes as that light rouge appeared on his face once more.

"Okay, if you guys are here for my expertise, I say you keep his hair down. He looks cute with it down but we'll fix it up a little." Ami had stated, smiling cheekily at him.

"Agreed."

30 Minutes later…

After Ami was done fixing up Shikamaru's hair into a new style, slightly neater than his previous one, she curiously peered over at the three konoichi, lifting up her chin defiantly. "So, girls, if you don't mind me asking: Who's Ino's new boyfriend?"

"Kenji Tanaka."

Suddenly, Ami's dark orbs slightly widened. "Please tell me you're kidding."

"No, I'm not, why?" Sakura had questioned, peering closer to Ami's horrified face, her pink eyebrows colliding together into a concerned frown.

Ami just sighed and her mouth curved into a frown. " Well, he was my boyfriend for a while and I actually thought he was ...'the one'," Ami started, her eyes tearing away from theirs and her two fingers on each hand reached up to do air quotes. "And let's just say I found out he was with another girl...while he was dating me..."

Gasping and unbelieving what they were hearing, Team STH's eyes had widened in despair and concern for their blond friend, worrying for her sake. Clenching his fist under his sleeves, Shikamaru had found himself folding his fists together until his nails dug deep into his skin.

His chestnut orbs had narrowed significantly and something burned inside him. Suddenly, he slammed his fists onto the counter, softly, unwanting to attract attention but all the while, fury boiling inside him.

"So, Kenji could be cheating on Ino right now...?" Sakura had stated aloud, while her jaded eyes narrowed.

"...And I-Ino-chan will get hurt." Hinata had concluded, her lavender eyes, widening and her clenched fists placed over her chest, worriedly.

Tenten had smacked her lips together and stood up, her chocolate orbs unable to hold in her emotions and worry for her friend. "Damn that, Kenji!"

Unclenching his fist, Shikamaru had avoided their gazes and his gaze averted to the ground below him as he told them in a harsh, whispered tone, "You guys have to convince Ino to break up with Kenji."

" I know, Shikamaru." The pink-haired konoichi whispered back, in a low and soft tone. Her eyes had flared up in sympathy." I know."

The lazy shinobi's dark chestnut eyes had looked away, as a sad and soft smile crept onto his face. "I promised I would take care of her. And if there's one thing I'd never stand for," He had whispered, bitterly. "It would be seeing Ino getting her heart broken."

A/N: ok, here ends the 3rd chappie. i noe ppls i may have promised u the 4th chappie now along with this one but u may have to wait a little longer...srry! rite now my beta is fixing it up and the 5th chappie is still in proccess by me so just wait.