A/N: Thank you all for the reviews and continued support. Also thank you for the patience! I would like to give a fair warning now: I will be heading back home in a few more weeks. When I do get back, the chapters may take a bit of time to come out. I have it all planned so when I get some free time I will definitely write and I will absolutely finish this story. Just please continue to support me.
Preface: Legal drinking age in Japan is 20.
Today on Love Conquers All: Separation can make people do some pretty irrational things, like party and get drunk to drown your loneliness. That isn't a problem so long as you don't do it too much, and you can trust the company that you are with…
Year 2 of 4, October 10th
Shikamaru's eyebrow twitched dangerously next to the throbbing vein in his forehead. The sound of his phone vibrating incessantly on his desk, in his cramped, claustrophobia-inducing room, was the source of his agitation. On top of that, the fact that he hadn't slept well in weeks, he had a mid-term test coming up before the Christmas holiday, he hadn't gotten laid in months, and many, many other things that he didn't feel like thinking about at the time.
The cause of his buzzing phone happened to be his current girlfriend/future wife, who didn't understand why he couldn't just take a quick break and talk to her. She also didn't understand that if he stopped to talk to her, she would most likely talk for hours and tempt him, taking his mind away from the task that it need to be focused on…
Another persistent buzz vibrated on the surface of his desk before Shikamaru finally gave in. He threw his pencil against the nearest wall and growled loudly, forgetting all about the fact that Neji was in the room opposite his.
'I swear to god; if this is her being a brat and begging me for attention I am going to silence this fucking thing!' he thought, his mentality bordering on crazed.
Unlocking his screen, his frenzied, bloodshot eyes scanned the message with growing irritation.
Shika! What are you up to?! I'm bored! I wanna play!
With his mind made up, he silenced the phone entirely, refusing to answer her message. If he answered her, it would only make things worse!
Shikamaru tossed his cell over his shoulder, knowing it would land on the mattress directly behind him. He didn't need this distraction right now. He needed to study! With a resolute frown, he framed his face between his hands and buried his nose back within the boring pages of his text book.
Ino scowled darky at her phone, furious at the lack of response from her lover. He had been giving her inconsistent, short responses all day long and she was becoming irate. She was his girlfriend! How dare he ignore her?! She knew that he was studying, but that didn't mean he couldn't take five minutes to talk to her when she was feeling as lonely as she currently was! She missed him and she just wanted to hear the sound of his voice, that was all…
She began to pout, feeling depressed and lonely without her best friend and lover with her. Maybe she was about to be on her period or something, but she couldn't help the way her heart ached and she felt like crying every other minute!
She peeked at her phone for what felt like the thousandth time that afternoon and glared at the object as if it were the source of her depression. In all honesty, it was a substantial part of the issue. The other problem was that Shikamaru wasn't answering her!
"Ugh!" she screeched, gaining the attention of her mother.
"Ino!" Mai shouted, fed up with her daughter's attitude, "If you make one more outburst I'm going to kick you out on the street!"
Ino seethed furiously, her face flushing darkly in embarrassment and anger. This was it! This would be the last time she looked at her phone. If he hadn't responded, she would not look at it again for the rest of the night and she was going to ignore him the next time he texted her back!
With a sense of weariness, she peeked at her phone again to see no response…
With her mind set, Ino stood abruptly and began to riffle through her closet in search of a suitable outfit to wear for a night on the town. If he wasn't going to entertain her then she damn well was going to find something or someone who would!
Sakura didn't know how she got dragged into Ino's pity-party, but she somehow managed. The irritable blond insisted on doing nothing but talking about how much of a jerk Shikamaru was while they sat in the food court of the local mall, enjoying some DQ smoothies. She rolled her green eyes at her latest commentary before spying a group of their friends from high school.
"Hey!" Sakura shouted out, cutting off Ino's tirade, "Naruto!" she was desperate, at that point, to distract the blond and get her out of her irritating rut.
Ino frowned darkly at being interrupted before turning her gaze in the direction her pink-haired counterpart waved. She found herself smiling at the group as they gathered around the table she and Sakura occupied.
"Hey, Sakura! Ino!" Naruto greeted before pulling up a chair to the table that sat two, "What're you guys up to?"
"Oh, not much," Sakura grinned, "Being held against my will and tortured."
Ino pouted angrily, turning her gaze away to regard the other members of the group, "Hey, Choji!" she smiled, handing the remainder of her milkshake over to the heavyset man who was eyeing it like it was his long lost love.
"Thanks, Ino!" he cheered, sitting down at the table across from the two women.
"How have you been, Hinata?" Ino asked amicably, not having seen the lavender eyed girl since graduation.
"Oh, I'm doing well. How have you been, Ino?" she responded politely, accepting a chair at Choji's table after an encouraging wave from the blond female.
"Where's Shikamaru?" Kiba asked bluntly, sitting beside Hinata with little hesitation.
Ino just scowled again, choosing to ignore that question.
"Isn't he off at college?"
Ino could feel a chill run up her spine at the silken timbre of her previous boyfriend, Sai. The pale, dark eyed man brought up a chair to sit perpendicular to Ino and across from Naruto. She swallowed thickly, attempting to wrangle the butterflies fluttering in her belly while he rested his chin on the bridge of his hands and smiled at her sweetly.
Ino still thought Sai was an attractive man, but she wouldn't ever dream about going out with him again. She had her soulmate, but that didn't stop her from feeling nervous around an attractive member of the opposite sex. After all, he had said he would never have let her go if he had fallen in love with her and that was a very romantic thing to say.
"Yes, he is," Ino responded in answer to his earlier question.
"Does that mean you're on the market again?" his grin was alluring and caused Ino to blush profusely.
"Nope!" she squeaked out, leaning back in her chair, away from Sai's studious gaze.
"That's a shame," he murmured with a slight frown.
Ino decided to ignore his comments, choosing to engage Naruto in conversation, "What're all of you up to anyways?"
"Hinata's looking for an outfit or something to wear tonight," he answered with a sweet grin to the dark haired girl who proceeded to blush heatedly and stare down at her fingers.
"What's tonight?" Sakura asked before Ino could.
"We're going bar hopping," Sai chose to answer, drawing Ino's attention back to him, "It's Naruto's twentieth birthday and we want to see what he's like when he's shit-faced."
Ino grinned wickedly at the other blond, noticing his nervous expression, "I wonder what he would be like? I mean, he already has no brain-mouth filter. Would it be worse if he were drunk?"
"Can we tag along?" Sakura asked sweetly, leaning into Naruto in an attempt to get him to agree by putting him under her wiles.
He blushed heatedly. Unable to vocalize his answer, he simply nodded.
"Ino!" Sakura shouted in a reprimanding way, "Put that phone down and have a good time!"
Ino wilted slightly at the order. No matter how much she tried, she just couldn't detach herself from Shikamaru like he was obviously able to do with her. She just sent him a message letting him know she was at a bar with friends in a last dich attempt to get him to acknowledge her for the day.
She wanted to make sure he knew she wouldn't sit around pinning for him forever! She was a strong, independent woman of legal drinking age and she was going to have a blast with her friends and help celebrate Naruto's twentieth birthday with the rest of them!
The hyper blond had, unfortunately, managed to pick the seediest place around with the loudest DJ, apparently having heard of it from Kakashi-Sensei when they were in high school. This place spoke a lot about the older man's character. It told her that he didn't give a shit where he drank so long as the bill at the end of the night was cheap!
It was Ino's lucky night though, as it was lady's night and drinks were completely free! All that the bartender asked for was a tip based off of their various skills. With a tilt of her head, as if to say 'Shikamaru who' she gestured to the bartender, gaining his attention immediately.
"I want a fuzzy navel!" she demanded while slamming her open palm down on the bar animatedly, receiving a grin of amusement from the bartender.
Apparently he thought it was funny that she ordered such a ridiculous sounding drink with such a serious, impassioned expression, "Coming right up," he agreed, gathering together the appropriate mixture.
"And keep 'em comin'!" she added, receiving a cheer of approval from Sakura and Kiba.
Three drinks later, feeling buzzed and tipsy, Ino made her way to the bathroom, leaning heavily on Hinata who was one of the designated drivers. The lavender eyed girl was being very patient with her and Ino appreciated her kindness greatly.
"I don't know what we'd do without you, Hinata," Ino praised, attempting to redistribute her weight to put less pressure on the other girl, tipping precariously in the process.
"Whoa!" Hinata floundered, grasping Ino around the waist and settling her back against her side, "It's no problem," she assured meekly, a sweet blush passing over her cheek, "I'm just glad I get to celebrate Naruto's birthday with him."
"You love that boy sooooo much!" Ino practically shouted when they entered into the ladies room, "You should totally just tell him already!"
Hinata just squeaked in response and ushered her into the nearest stall with toilet paper. Ino blinked sluggishly before taking care of business, dragging her cell phone out of her dress pocket to send Shikamaru another nasty message while she finished.
There were two screens and Ino didn't know which one to focus on. The room around her began to spin before she mashed a few buttons and pressed at the send button four times. The icon of a PO Box came up with a little envelope sliding inside of it to symbolize the message was finally sent.
"Are you alright in there, Ino?" Hinata's meek voice came from the other end of the door.
"Oh, yeah!"
Finishing up, Ino stumbled to her feet and out the stall to wash her hands, not realizing she accidentally dialed Shikamaru's phone when she slipped her cell back into her pocket. Now freshened up, the pair made their way back out into the bar.
"Ino!" Sakura cheered, just as tipsy as her blond frienemy, "Let's play a game of pool!"
"Ok! I want Choji on my team!" she insisted, sidling up to the husky man's side with a pleading expression.
"Alright, alright," he assuaged with a grin, gathering together the scattered balls to rack them.
"Fine, then I get Hinata!" Sakura insisted loudly, flustering the timid girl.
"I'm not very good, Sakura," she insisted.
"I don't care! I want you on my team," the pink haired girl insisted, taping the butt of her pool stick on the ground in a demanding manner, "You don't wanna be my team mate?" she coaxed deceptively, attempting to guilt the younger girl.
Hinata floundered confusedly, feeling a tinge of guilt before accepting the pool cue that Ino handed to her.
"We need more to drink!" Sakura insisted, noticing Sai heading to the bar in response to her demands.
"Yes, we need more booze!" Ino concurred, gaining the attention of half of the bar.
It was really a shame when two of the women were drunker than the birthday boy. It wasn't for lack of trying. Kiba had been handing the hyper blond drink after drink only to practically knock him out cold under the influence of the substance. Apparently, Naruto became the exact opposite once intoxicated. He was no longer hyper, but sedated to the point where he was comatose.
After racking the balls, Choji broke, sending several stripes into random pockets. With this, Ino cheered and lined herself up next to a simple shot. Before she was able to take it, she felt her cue unsettled and a cold glass pressed to the back of her neck. She squeaked out in surprise and turned to notice a mischievous grin.
"Sai!" she chided with a loud giggle before leaning her hip against the pool table, inadvertently ending the call made to Shikamaru, and accepting the fruity drink.
"I aim to please," the pale man beamed, handing over the beverage.
Ino had had more than enough at this point, but she wasn't quite in her right mind to stop. Four drinks wasn't too much; she could handle it! Sakura grinned at Sai when he handed her a drink as well. There was no one there who would hurt them. Ino was surrounded by friends and people that she could rely on and she wanted to forget how lonely being away from Shikamaru made her. It would serve him right if something bad did happen to her! This is what he got for ignoring her and making her feel the way she did!
Shikamaru yawned widely, cracking his jaw in the process. After silencing his phone, the remainder of his afternoon into the evening had been blissfully uneventful. He managed to accomplish a good deal of work and was feeling rather self-satisfied. Now that he no longer had anything to keep himself busy, Shikamaru chose to hunt down his phone.
Upon unlocking the screen, his eyes widened. Nine text messages, four missed calls and three voicemails! Shikamaru sighed out in exasperation and flopped back onto his bed. This was more than a little excessive…
Shika! Why aren't you answering my messages?
I know you're probably busy but I just wanna talk for a minute…
Jerk!
Answer me please…
I miss you…
Fine be like that! See if I care!
I'm going out.
At the bar drinking with friends!
kjesrkjjhdf
'That would be the sound of her getting shit faced…' Shikamaru sighed heavily, erasing the messages and the phone call alerts.
With a minimal amount of hesitation, he punched in his passcode to listen to the voicemails. This was going to be fun…
The first message was more than a little unexpected…
"Shika," it began with a needy moan, stirring him up and infuriating him at the same time.
'She is such a fucking tease!'
"I miss you…" she pouted, a soft hitch in her tone that made him think she was doing something very inappropriate on the other end of the line, "Please," cut off by a soft satisfied sigh, "Call me…"
How could she do this?! Seven words and she had him shuddering! A horny mass of barley twenty years old and he craved her so badly!
If the first message was a wet dream in the making the second message was an absolute boner-killer.
"Go fuck yourself! I'm going out! Don't bother trying to call me back!"
Shikamaru rolled his eyes heavenward and deleted that message instantly. She could be such a brat sometimes! The third message was a butt dial, he was sure of it, and it made him uneasy. He listened intently, hearing the sound of Ino's obviously slurred, garbled speech. He recognized Sakura's familiar voice and even Choji's. The area that she was in seemed crowded with multiple voices and loud throbbing music playing in the background. It didn't seem so bad… She was with Choji and Shikamaru trusted the heavyset guy with his life. As long as she was with him, she would be alright. On the verge of deleting the message before its end, Shikamaru's blood ran cold when he heard Ino call out a particular name before a loud bout of ridiculous girly giggling from her and Sakura.
"Sai!" he heard her call out distinctly.
She wouldn't…
Before he could hear any further implications, the message got cut off, leaving Shikamaru fidgeting in a cold sweat. His heart was clenching tightly in his chest at the smallest possibility that she was with SAI! She wouldn't do that to him would she?! No, he trusted her beyond anyone else, but he surly wouldn't put it past the pale man to force her into and inebriated state of mind so he could…
Shikamaru didn't even finish his thought, grabbing up his wallet and jacket, he hurried out the door, not caring that he wouldn't even manage to arrive back home until three in the morning.
Ino had consumed seven fruity drinks over the course of six and a half hours and was nursing her eighth over at Sakura's house. Her mood had gone from 'fuck the world, I wanna party' to 'woe is me, I'm pathetic' in no time flat.
The pink haired girl's parents were conveniently absent that night, leaving half of the occupants of Naruto's birthday bash to the after party. Unfortunately, the birthday boy hadn't made it from the bar. After realizing his ploy to see what the hyper blond would act like under the influence came to a monotonous conclusion, Kiba sobered up and took Hinata and Naruto home for the evening, leaving Sakura, Choji, Ino and Sai to continue the festivities.
Currently, Ino was moping outside on Sakura's front porch, regaling Choji with stories about Shikamaru that he already knew and some inappropriate ones that he didn't want to know. The poor girl wasn't even able to sit up straight. She was slouched against Choji, talking far too loudly and broke out into short fits of tears every now and again.
Choji just smiled and nodded most of the time, concerned for the wellbeing of his best friend's girl. She hadn't done anything wrong that evening. She had simply had a little too much to drink, but Choji wasn't so trusting of a certain someone to leave Ino defenseless with only Sakura to protect her. He didn't personally have anything against Sai. He just didn't want to risk leaving Ino alone with a guy that she used to date. This same guy had shown continued signs of interest in her through the majority of the evening. Anyway, Choji believed it was better to be safe than sorry.
"Chooooji!" Ino drawled loudly, leaning more heavily against him to make certain he was paying attention to her, "Why wouldn't Shika answer me today?!"
Choji shushed her gently, smiling nervously when she glowered at him with a drunken blush on her cheeks, "I don't know; he probably had a good reason!" he supplied nervously.
"No!" Ino shouted, receiving a shushing motion from the husky man beside her again, "He just wanted to ignore me so he could study!"
Choji continued to smile awkwardly, not really knowing what to say, "Isn't he doing all of this for you though?" he asked in response, taking note of Ino's sudden silence and pensive expression.
Through her drunken haze, Ino realized the truth in Choji's words. He was right. Shikamaru was going to school to help support her in the future. He didn't have to do what he was doing. He didn't have to get a degree so he could get a good paying job to support their future family. He didn't have to torment himself with the continued separation like he was. He could have just stayed with her, wasted his time away, and had no plan for their future at all.
Ino's face crumbled, fat tears gathering at the corners of her eyes as she hiccupped loudly. She didn't have the consciousness to hold them back and belted out a wail of sadness into the silent night.
Everything he did, he did it for her. Each action he took was one closer step to a happy future for them and she couldn't just stop being selfish and needy for once. He was probably suffering just as badly as her. He was probably just as lonely and sad and she wasn't making things any better with her pouting and antics. She was a horrible girlfriend!
"Ino!" Choji whispered imploringly, panicking at her sudden bout of tears, "Calm down; it's alright! I know he cares about you! He would do anything for you!"
That only served to make her cry harder. She felt so awful at that moment. Her heart ached for her lover and her stomach churned ominously…
"What's going on?"
Choji turned to acknowledge Sai when the pale man exited out of the house. His expression was genuinely concerned as he came to kneel behind Ino and rub her back soothingly. The guy really wasn't bad, but Shikamaru surely wouldn't like it if he saw this, Choji was certain.
"She's alright," Choji assured, "She just misses Shikamaru," hopefully his words would put-off the other man.
Undaunted by the statement, Sai continued to rub at Ino's back kindly, ignoring the apprehensive expression Choji sent his way.
Ino's wailing ended abruptly, her stomach continuing to churn. With quick, hasty movements she lunged for the railing framing Sakura's front porch. Lacking any sense of hesitation or concern, she proceeded to empty out her stomach over Mrs. Haruno's rose bushes…
Choji cringed away while Sai ventured forward to hold back her hair as she continued to heave over the bushes.
Ino felt miserable. Her heart ached along with her head, already beginning to feel the start of her inevitable hangover. Not only did she physically feel terrible, but she also felt like an emotional imbecile. Realization dawned on her that Shikamaru was probably upset with her after all of those awful messages she sent him. She would be lucky if he ever wanted to speak with her again, let alone be near her.
Nothing that anyone did would ever make her feel better at that point. All she wanted to do was see Shikamaru and that wouldn't be happening until Christmas. Why did being separated from him have to hurt this much?
Once her stomach was emptied and after having sobered up minimally, Ino began to cry once again, this time more quietly. Her body shook with silent sobs. She missed him so much…
"I can take it from here," an irritated, possessive grumble.
Her mind was playing tricks on her. She could have sworn that she just heard her lover. The hands that rubbed soothingly at her back left her, making Ino feel abandoned. They had comforted her, but they didn't make her feel any better; they didn't make her happy. Only Shikamaru could make her feel happy. Those hands were replaced by a firm grip, urging her to sit up straight so a pair of concerned chocolate brown eyes could gaze into hers.
"Shika?" she whispered softly, covering her mouth with her hand embarrassedly.
Shikamaru breathed out a loud sigh of relief while wrapping Ino in his tight embrace. She was alright, Sai hadn't done anything to her and she was fine, if a little wasted and smelling of puke.
Ino clenched her eyes shut tightly against the surge of emotions that took over. She was on the verge of tears once more when Shikamaru squeezed her so tightly she could hardly breathe. This was the most incredible sensation in the world and she had missed it so much.
"I missed you," she whispered miserably into his ear, sobbing quietly against his shoulder.
"I know," he murmured into her hair, leaning back to kiss her forehead.
"This is so hard," she hiccupped, "I'm sorry; I'll stop being such a brat. I'm sorry; I just miss you so much."
He shushed her quietly, his lips pulling into a smile against her forehead, "I know. I love you."
Ino whimpered softly, clutching the back of Shikamaru's shirt with all of her might. This was what happiness felt like. This was her paradise, being wrapped in the arms of her soul mate. She never wanted it to end.
'Please stay with me,' she thought desperately; even then knowing that she was being an unreasonable brat.
"Please stay with me as long as you can. This is enough. I can bear this. I can do this if it means I get to have you with me for the rest of my life after. Just don't let me go for now, please…"
Shikamaru could feel his throat closing up tightly and grit his jaw against his own tears. Her words were so sweet and utterly sincere. She wanted to be with him forever and was willing to go through all of the pain and loss for as long as it took just to be with him. She loved him just as much as he loved her.
"Ok," he forced out around the lump in his throat, "Let's get you home, alright?" he suggested, "Then we can cuddle," he added in a soft whisper so the other men present weren't able to hear him.
She giggled around her tears, drawing back to look him in the eyes. She sniffled cutely and wanted so desperately to kiss him, but didn't dare. With a silent nod they bid goodbye to their friends and headed off to Shikamaru's rental car. Ino took it in with a sense of trepidation.
"How much is this going to cost us?" she asked, conscious of their savings even half sober.
"Enough," Shikamaru muttered cryptically, giving her a chiding expression before putting the vehicle into drive and making the short trip from Sakura's house to Ino's.
"I'm sorry," Ino apologized sadly before a thought came to her, "How did you know where I was?"
"Choji," Shikamaru answered simply, beginning to feel exhausted from the long trip after his initial anxiety was assuaged.
"Oh," she breathed out, having enough sense to feel embarrassed.
"Next time you wanna get drunk," Shikamaru began, glancing over to her disapprovingly, "Don't!"
Ino winced as if she were a rebuked puppy, pouting over to him with large eyes. She would turn the water-works back on if it would just get him to forgive her and make this whole awful night stop.
"Don't even attempt that," he growled irritably, pulling into Ino's driveway and exiting the car, "You know why I'm pissed," he added after dragging her out of the car and to the front door.
Ino continued to pout cutely, shuffling around in the pockets of her dress for her house key. After several attempts to put the key in the lock and failing miserably, Shikamaru took charge. He shushed her unnecessarily once the door opened and ushered her up to her room as quietly as possible.
So far so good. It was so late in the evening that Shikamaru would be amazed if her parents even woke up. He hurried her along to bed, helping her brush her teeth and through a soothing shower. He was too tired and she was still too tipsy for him to want to take advantage of her. After forcing her to down a couple of Advil and two glasses of water he finally curled up in bed with her. By that time, it was three thirty on Saturday morning.
Shikamaru smile happily as Ino cuddled up to his side, her thigh draped casually across his own in a sign of unconscious possessiveness. In no time at all, she was passed out cold, snoring faintly into Shikamaru's ear.
He shook his head with a bemused smile, pressing his lips to her forehead again while murmuring out into the darkness, "The things I do for you, Ino," before drifting off into sleep himself.
A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed that chapter. I think it expressed the hardships they are going through pretty well. Next chapter will be happier.
Next time on Love Conquers All: It's Christmas and what better time of year than Christmas and New Years to talk about the future. Where are they going to end up living? Will they have a large or a small wedding ceremony? How many babies do they want to have? How many do they think they can handle…?