"So how is teaching?" Temari asked as they leaned against the solid balustrade and looked over the silent town.

Shikamaru exhaled heavily. "I think Iruka should be given the Shinobi of the Year award. I had no idea how much crap he had to put up with."

"The students are that troublesome?"

"Nah, the parents."

The nights in Suna were colder than those in Konoha. Shikamaru shrugged out of his jacket and placed it around Temari's shoulders. She pulled it tight about her.

Shikamaru looked up into the starry sky. "So what do you plan to do now?"

"I don't really know," admitted the kunoichi. "Gaara is relieved of the monster's influence, Kankurou is becoming more mature – thank the lords – and the chuunin exams don't really need my help now that the system is designed and set up. I could return to the field as ANBU or retrieval, but… I'm at a loss, really."

They regarded the quiet scenery about them. Neither wished to break the contemplative mood.

"D'you realize we hardly insult each other anymore, Nara?"

"Yeah. But then we're dating each other, so there really isn't a need to call names, is there?"

Temari grinned. "I dunno, I kinda liked our sniping at each other."

Shikamaru snorted. "We could always resume sniping when we get married."

When. Not if. Temari took down a mental note. "Any suggestions on what I can do after tonight?"

"Come to Konoha?" Shikamaru was still looking at some far-off point of interest.

Temari gazed at him steadily. "As what, Nara?"

"You know what." He returned the look with a lazy smile. "It'd save me the hassle of having to wait for your visits. And the hassle of my having to visit you all the way out here."

"So that's your marriage proposal?" Temari sighed. "You haven't even told Gaara and your own parents about us, Nara. Who knows about our relationship, really?"

"Chouji, Kiba – thanks to you – and, well, Asuma. Before the…" his voice trailed off. A year and a half already, and it still hurt inside. Temari reached over for his hand. "And since... he... knew, Kurenai probably knows too."

"I've informed Kankurou and Gaara myself, actually. All that remains is for you to state your intentions formally. Thus saving you some 'hassle'," said Temari. She suddenly frowned. "I'm not sure how your mother would react though. You're only sixteen."

"And of age. If she meets the woman who motivated her lazy son, she'd be ecstatic," grinned Shikamaru. "I guess I should tell Ino as well, since she's my teammate. I don't know… I've no idea how she'd take the news."

"Why don't we find out?"

-------

Ino stood in the doorway leading to the balcony. Her long hair flowed down her back and gleamed silver in the light. Shikamaru and Temari both looked at her, like deer caught in headlights. Shikamaru stepped in front of Temari.

Ino found it infuriating. So she needs to be shielded from me?

"Hey, Ino," said Temari, moving up to stand beside Shikamaru. She needed no shielding.

"Good evening, Temari-san." Temari's eyebrow twitched. Ino then ignored her and directed her full attention on her teammate. "Tell me what, exactly, Shika-kun?"

She's using my childhood nickname. Man, this is gonna be troublesome. Shikamaru, to his credit, didn't flinch. "Ino, Temari and I are getting engaged."

"She's from Suna. And she's the Kazekage's sister."

"I'm aware of the facts, thank you. And since she's right here, you might try talking to us both."

"I'm talking to you, teammate. She has nothing to do with this." Ino hadn't looked at Temari since the first hostile greeting.

Shikamaru bit back a retort. Temari said in a low voice, "I'll leave. You two talk it out."

"You sure about this?"

Temari smiled, and made to remove the jacket. Shikamaru shook his head and nodded at the door. She kept it on. As Temari walked past Ino, both girls exchanged a split-second look of poisonous understanding.

He's mine. You will not touch me and mine.

----

Shikamaru leaned against the railing again. "What do you want, Ino?"

"Why her, Shikamaru?" demanded Ino. "There aren't enough girls in Konoha?"

"You know that's not what you're angry about." Shikamaru's tone was unruffled and he had a sardonic smile on his face. "Why not try being honest with yourself for once?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

The tall jounin regarded Ino steadily. "I'm talking about the reason for your need to meddle in my private affairs."

"Asuma-sensei -"

"-is dead. Don't you dare use him as an excuse." The smile was gone. Shikamaru straightened.

Has Shikamaru been this imposing all this while? Incensed, Ino sneered, "I don't need an excuse to see you're letting your penis do the thinking. What do you see in her anyway? Is she great in bed? She's not prettier than me, or slimmer, or sexier. Why her?"

"I love her."

"You love her? You barely know her." Ino tried to still her racing heartbeat. Of all the things she expected to hear, this was not it. Not a simple, direct statement, as emotional as a weather report, and somehow more convincing because of its unwavering flatness.

"I know and I love her flaws, her foibles, her quirks; her irrational need to collect miniature fans from different lands, her inefficient filing system, her tendency to get weepy in sappy movies and her denial afterwards."

"I don't believe it."

"No, what you don't believe is that I would fall for someone other than you. In your mind, you're the only one for me since," he started ticking off on his fingers, "a) we've known each other since forever; b) you're probably the prettiest girl in Konoha that's around my age and c) you think I'm the only adequate substitute for the Sai/Sasuke-shaped hole in your life. Did I miss anything?"

"You don't know what you're talking about." Ino's insides were turning to ice, although she could feel the fire of anger ignite in her as well. "You know nothing."

"Really? Sasuke, your first great 'love' – how well did you know him? Why was it Sakura that saw him last before he left Konoha and not you?" Shikamaru advanced on Ino, who started backing away. "After he left you moved on to Neji. Did you even know Neji was allergic to curry powder? And then, Neji unconquered, you got it on with Sai. How well did you know Sai, Ino? What brand of ink did he use for his drawings? Why did he stay on with Team Seven? How was he as a child? Or were you concerned only with his performance in bed?"

"Shut up. It wasn't like that." Ino was having difficulty breathing. She hadn't known. She hadn't bothered to find out. "We were in love."

"I sure hope so." He did not stop until he was three steps away from his teammate. "I felt sad for you when he died, because we thought you two were bonding well. Until we returned and you started trying to seduce me. Six months of rejection, Ino, why didn't you get it?"

Ino was shaking with barely contained rage. "Who said I was trying to seduce you?"

"The ultra-revealing clothes. The late night visits to my apartment. The not-so-subtle brushes against me and attempted footsie whenever we sit at the barbecue place." Shikamaru almost ended his diatribe but he had to see it through. "Chouji and I were trying to find the most tactful way to not deal with this, but now I see we've been cruel to be kind. You just want to be in love; it didn't matter who the lover is."

Ino was stunned into silence. He had stated baldly everything that her emotions and passions had tried – and failed – to convey to her mind.

"Ino, the only reason I haven't said anything to you was because I didn't want to hurt your feelings," he went on relentlessly, even though Ino was biting her lip. "We know you've had a hard time when Sai died. But you just went – you think we haven't noticed? Chouji and I couldn't acknowledge that you were… gods, the clothes, the makeup, did you think we can't join the dots?"

"All I wanted was for you to notice me, Shikamaru, to see me as a girl." Ino swallowed against the lump in her throat. She felt humiliated and unexpectedly furious. With herself. "Was that so hard to do?"

"All you did was to make both Chouji and I extremely uncomfortable!" He stood and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Those outfits made you look like a whore, Ino!"

"Like Temari doesn't show any?"

"She has nothing to do with this, so we'll keep her out of this conversation right now."

"Oh, protective now. She could be a spy for Suna, she could be using you, Nara Shikamaru! Did your genius mind think about that, huh?"

"She is not a spy. Stop trying to change the subject, Ino. You're humiliating yourself."

"I'm saying this because I care!"

"About what? Losing your quarry to someone else?"

"I LOVE YOU, DAMMIT!"

"As do I," Shikamaru stated softly. Both of them stared at each other. Ino willed him to continue; what Shikamaru said next made Ino wish she'd never bothered. "But only as a sister. You don't really love me, Ino. You just love the idea of being in love."

Ino exhaled shakily. "That's not true. You… how can you just judge me this way?"

Shikamaru saw the hurt flash across her features. "Because I give a damn about the way you're turning out. Ino, you're gonna have to face yourself eventually. Please do it soon."

Ino had to leave. Her eyes were hot and stinging. She tried to form a sentence, failed, turned and left.