Surprisingly, school hasn't gotten in the way of my updating but I have spent a ridiculous amount of time sorting out all the hullaballoo and I have to say, I'm very proud of this story and I hope everyone enjoys the several last chapters because, in my opinion, it'll be…somewhat intense—as intense as my writing ability will allow me—and in the words of Kevin Hart (don't know him? Look him up!), "It's about to go down." Please, enjoy.

33. Options

The very second Shikamaru sat down at the breakfast table to enjoy the lovely morning with his friends, he realized it was his morning to wash the dishes. Her mother wouldn't be happy to see a pile of dirty dishes in the sink and it make the snowball bigger, she probably caught wind about him and Ino….

With little explanation, maybe a "I have to go, guys" and a "Ino, I'll see you at the hospital around one!" Shikamaru bounded out the door and flew down the flight of stairs. He considered jumping out the window but he knew he'd have two troublesome women that would gladly chew off his ears.

Shikamaru tried to ignore the quizzical glances he attracted as he sprinted down the road in Naruto's garb which happened to be too tight and too short for his rather tallish and a bit wider physique, so he must have looked like his clothes had a fight with the laundry or a grown man still wanted to fit in his little boy clothes. How troublesome, Shikamaru thought, cursing Ino for forgetting to dry his clothes. Naruto's clothes had to suffice until he made it home and survived his mother's murderous rampage.

Why was everything so bothersome this particular morning? He could list his major troubles on one hand but with every problem came with about four or five sub-problems. A problem within a problem, how much more elaborate could problem get?

"Hello?" he called into what seemed an empty, safe house as he slid his sandals off and stepped into the calm, silent abode. "I'm home," he whispered, tiptoeing towards his room.

A frying pan shot towards his face at such a great speed that Shikamaru barely had time to step back and dodge the cooking utensil. It broke ripped through the door's screen and clattered on the cobblestone outside as it skidded to a stop. Flying pans? That meant one thing.

"You little bastard!" a monster shrieked throughout the hallway. Shikamaru cringed at the dreadful sound as if someone ran their nails down a blackboard, making that horrendous screeching sound. Yoshino, his mother, popped out of the kitchen, wielding yet another frying pan in her right hand with a cutting board tucking in her pants. Behind her, Shikaku leaned against the kitchen door frame, drinking his morning beer with a smirk. That ass… "Shikamaru, you're so dead!"

Shikamaru tucked under the frying pan Yoshino chucked at his head, which also broke through the door. He hit the deck and crawled down the hallway towards his room, dodging the miscellaneous items his mother—he was wondered how she could find so many things to throw at him—chucked at him. The ground vibrated his footsteps sprinted down the hall. Looking back, Shikamaru watched his mother rampage down the hall with a wooden cutting board in her grasp.

"You insolent, idiotic idiot!" Yoshino wailed as she made a flying leap to tackle Shikamaru to the ground as he scrambled to his feet. He lost the fight, no matter how much he struggled, his mother say on him and paddled his butt with the cutting board repeatedly. "Bad boy, bad boy!" she growled.

"Mom, I can explain!" Shikamaru rolled onto his back and sat up, causing his mother to roll of him and fall face first onto the floor. "Can you please let me explain?"

Yoshino was usually quick on her feet but in this particular situation, she bounced to her feet as fast as Lee is when he removes those stupid weights from his ankle. "I already know how you get a girl pregnant! I don't need details!" she shouted before connected her fist with his left eye.

"Eh, Yoshino, babe, the neighbors might hear you."

Shikamaru's mother stepped away from him and looked at Shikaku, who involuntary stepped back and held his beer bottle closer to himself, ready to run if Yoshino decided to turn on him. Shikamaru had half the mind to roll his eyes at his father but Yoshino, like all mothers, had eyes on the back of her head.

"Shikaku," Yoshino said in a calm manner. "Ino is pregnant."

"Yes, honey, I know."

"You didn't kill him for that?" Shikamaru wanted to click his tongue and say 'Obviously not, Mother,' but that was too scary.

"I, uh, gave him a stern talking to."

Shikamaru nodded in agreement. "Very stern."

Yoshino turned and glared at him. "Shut up." To Shikaku, she said, "You do realize that a stern talking to isn't going to make him realize that he got Ino pregnant? Babies aren't things you can return to the store because you don't want it anymore." Yoshino turned to Shikamaru again. "Please explain what in the hell you were thinking!"

"I, uh, wasn't thinking." He wasn't think when he decided to volunteer to play Mr. Daddy for Ino. If he had thought about it a bit longer, he wouldn't be in this current situation.

"Shikamaru, I am so disappointed. They call you the genius but this genius can't even remember to practice safe sex. When your father and I were dating, we—"

"I understand!" Shikamaru interrupted. He didn't want to hear his parents' sex stories from the olden days so early in the morning—scratch that, he never wanted to hear those stories, period. "It won't happen again, promise."

"I'll make sure it never happens again."

Shikamaru and Shikaku held their breaths, wondering what exactly Yoshino had in mind. "I swear you will be put under house arrest until the day you die or when you find a decent girl that you're willing to spend the rest of your life with, but I doubt the latter will ever happen." Shikamaru flinched at the comment but it's called tough love for a reason, he guessed. "By the way, I want to see Ino before she gives birth. It'll be a shame not seeing her and her cute baby bump," she squealed, magically transforming into regular, sane Mother.

Shikamaru sighed in utter relief. "Don't worry about it, Mom."

"Thank you, Deary. You're lucky you knocked up Ino instead that Temari girl. If that had happened, we would have some serious problems, Shikamaru. Mainly because I never liked her—she was so…aggressive."

Ino tugged at the shirt that threatened to crawl up her expanded belly, giving by passers a peek at her stretched skin which in her and Sakura's opinions was the most uncomfortable thing they've ever seen in their young lives. She growled as children walking with their parents slowed down to gawk at her baby belly. If she wasn't so slow in her current state, she'd chase them down, asking if they want to look at her that way again. Quite frankly, the looks were starting to piss her off and the damn shirt wasn't helping anything.

Shikamaru was ten minutes late. He promised they'd meet at the hospital at one o'clock to go drop off the scrapbooks and form an adoption plan. Funny how he was the one all for it and now he's the one late to his own stinking party.

The thought of Shikamaru left Ino in a state of awe and confoundedness. Ino believe it to be unexpected that he suddenly cared for the baby and her—maybe not her but the baby no doubt. However, she considered it odd that he was interested in the baby when she refused to give any specifics such as, say, the real father. Nonetheless, he had concern for the baby. Maybe an epiphany hit him in the past several days where he thought showing up at her door in the middle of a storm or schedule adoptions parties he was currently late to was a fantastic idea to support her. Whatever the reason, Ino kind of liked it. If he was there the whole time, maybe she would have enjoyed this pregnancy a little bit more.

Sighing, she glanced at the bin of scrapbook resting on the bench—Lordy, that thing took everything Ino had to haul it from her apartment to this bench. Shikamaru and Ino had a tough time deciding what couples were capable of raising…their baby. In the end, which ended with bruises on Shikamaru and painful kicks from Junior, they picked four potential couples—none of which were clowns or strippers.

"Sorry I'm late," an exhausted voice said as it gasped for air between each word. Shikamaru collapsed on the bench, bumping his elbow into the bin. He groaned and inspected his elbow for any bleeding. Ino smiled and sat on the other side of the scrapbook bin as Shikamaru leaned back and sighed. Ino laughed when she spotted the black eye Shikamaru sported around his left eye, possibly he had a run in with her father again and this time, his father did a little damage or maybe his mother heard the news of him and Ino.

"It's about time you came," Ino teased. "I'll give you a second to catch your breath. Running from Death can be hard, I understand."

"I'm assuming Death is my mother."

"Very smart, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru smiled and flicked a strand of hair that somehow found its way between Ino's lips. He exhaled a sharp breath and looked at her with a mix of amusement in his coal eyes. "I was wondering if you wanted to go out to dinner tonight," he said, catching Ino off guard. He sat up and smirked at her expression. "It's my treat," he bargained, uncharacteristically wiggling his eyebrows at her.

When in the forsaken world did Shikamaru become so charming and willing to treat her to dinner? Back in the day, she had to have Asuma force him to pay for dinner. He had to be smoking something to become so…well, sweet.

"If it's your treat, I guess I'll go." She couldn't argue with her black hole of a stomach…. "I have to warn you, I am eating for two so I'll give you the rest of the day to rethink and back out of his deal, starting now."

Shikamaru chuckled which confused Ino to all hell and back. Maybe that punch to the face knocked a few things around in the genius's noggin. "Ino, it's fine—seriously."

"All right." Ino shrugged. "Anyway, I told Ruka that I'd be over before two, so if we leave now, we'll be there by two and no sooner, so hurry, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru grabbed the bin and propped it against his hip as they walked down Main Street. Ino wanted to hide her bulging stomach as she looked around and caught several people taking double takes at them as well as whispering to one another. She recognize some shinobi she used to work with, and the fact that they stared at her until she passed didn't help the fact that she wanted to shrink in a corner and die. Really, she wished she could push everything into her and suck it in but sadly, that wasn't a reasonable option. Looking up at Shikamaru, he appeared as if he didn't notice the stares. Ino snorted at the obliviousness that man possessed.

The remained in silence for the rest of the walk to the adoption center mainly for the reason that Ino just wanted to shrink and hide in a corner but hiding behind Shikamaru sufficed and also because Shikamaru didn't make any eye contact with her despite her efforts of looking up at him, waving a hand in his face, and trying to catch his attention to say that he was about to walk into a pole or that he needed to turn left. Her teammate was so entranced in his own mind that she had to drag him around like a doll.

"Shikamaru," Ino hollered, jamming an elbow into his side. Shikamaru scowled at her, rubbing his aching side with a puppy dog pout. "We're here," she said, beckoning to the small building off to their left.

"Hello, Ino!" Takai Ruka greeted excitedly as she and Shikamaru entered the cramp building. Ino smiled and wave, but Ruka's attention quickly shifted from her to Shikamaru, eyeing him with a suspicious brow. "So, is that the father?" the agent asked as she continued to scrutinize him with a disgusting look. Ino, as funny as it was to hear her call Shikamaru 'that', stepped into her view of him.

"Yes, he is and we're back together, very happy couple—see." Ino grabbed Shikamaru's hand and intertwined their fingers together, swinging their arms back and forth. She pulled her fake smile as she nervously peeked up to see Shikamaru's expression. He cocked an eyebrow and smirked at her, clearly amused.

"Did you two get back to together?" Ruka asked with fake pleasantry.

"Yes and no," Ino answered, ignoring Shikamaru's soft, "Huh?" Ino squeezed his hand and leaned into him. "Well, you see, he was on a mission when I came in to visit last. It isn't said aloud but we 'break up' when he's on extensive missions such as his last," Ino lied, picking words off the top of her head and prayed that they made sense.

"Right," the agent muttered, still glaring at Shikamaru. "Come back to my office and we'll set up your adoption plan." Good grief, Ino though warily as they followed her into the office. Shikamaru unlaced his fingers from Ino's and let them slip from each other as Ino squeezed between the desk and the chair farthest from the door. As they seated, Ino linked her arm with Shikamaru's.

Ruka eyed the two of them which made Ino think twice about the gesture but she just blinked at the agent, acting oblivious to the scrutiny. Ruka cleared her throat and grabbed a pen from her desk drawer. "I have a couple questions for you, Ino. The first one is, well, what are the parents you are considering?"

Shikamaru pulled out the four scrapbooks they set apart from the rest of the books. Ruka set them on the corner of her desk before marking something on a sheet of paper. Ino leaned forward but her stomach refused to let her any further than how she was. She could hear Shikamaru snickering to her right, so she merely kicked his foot with the side of hers.

"After the adoptions papers are signed, do you want any visitations such as a monthly visitations or yearly?"

Did she wanted to see this baby after birth? Did she want to see her child she gave up and see how well his life is without her? Did she want to see the remind of… "No, thank you."

"Ino, what—"

"No," she repeated, interrupting Shikamaru. She heard Shikamaru hiss at her answer, so she unwrapped their arms and leaned away from the brooding young man. Ruka didn't see this for she was scrawling something down on the paper before her.

"Would you like pictures and/or letters sent to you?"

"No."

"Okay, and now what time would you like to meet the couples?"

Ino peeked over at Shikamaru who glared down at his clenched fists that rested in is lap. She looked at Ruka who stared at her expectantly, her pen ready to write down Ino's answer. Ino nudged Shikamaru in the ribs, gaining his attention. "How about after you send the genin into the Forest of Death?"

"Sure, I guess that's fine."

"When is that, Shikamaru?" Ino pried.

"Next Wednesday, around 5:00 PM."

Ino smiled at the adoption agent who stared at the couple with wide eyes, making Ino snort in amusement. She suddenly snapped out of the trance and wrote down the details. "Wednesday at 5:00, after…the Forest of Death." Ino suppressed a giggle hearing the shaking in the agent's voice. "Location?"

"Let's say…the library."

"Excellent. I'll notify the parents and I hope you two have a great day."

Shikamaru was the first to stand up, marching out of the building before Ino even boosted herself out of the chair. Ino waddled as fast as she could while trying to catch up to Shikamaru. "Shikamaru, could you please wait?" she cried as she hustled down the street until she was an arm's length from Shikamaru. "Can you not hear me, you dope? Slow the hell down!"

Shikamaru stopped until Ino caught up with him and only then did he begin to walk at her pace.

"What's wrong with you?" Ino tugged on Shikamaru's wrist to stop him. "God, it's like you're the pregnant one. Is there something wrong?"

Shikamaru looked at her with bemusement. Ino didn't notice the people bumping into them—she didn't notice anyone except for the harsh stare Shikamaru gave her. He suddenly took her hand away from his wrist and rubbed her wrist with his thumb. "Ino," he began in such a quiet voice that Ino leaned in to listen, "There's nothing wrong with keeping the baby. I'm not saying this for my benefit but for yours. A baby would be great for you."

Ino ripped her wrist away and marched forward. Shikamaru easily caught up with her in two, long strides which frustrated her even more. He caught her wrist and stopped her, stepping in front of her to keep Ino from storming off. "Tell me you don't have some sort of connection to him," he challenged. "Tell me you really don't want to see him grow up."

"Shikamaru, I understand what you are saying, but love can only go so far. We'll talk about this over dinner, Shikamaru," Ino finalized, stepping around him. "I'll walk myself home if that's all right. I'll see you tonight."

The village genius sighed, rubbing the back of his neck in agitation. "I'll be over at 6," he called to her. He really needs to shut his mouth sometimes.

Ino trailed a finger across her stomach, chuckling when her baby nudged her as she poked his foot. She felt him doing somersaults and stretching inside her. At times it was uncomfortable considering that he sometimes stuck a foot in her ribs or pushed down on her bladder, but it was a calming feeling for her, knowing that he was alive and active. Days where he was calm and rather relaxed made her worry because she was used to feeling uncomfortable and found it normal to have a pair of feet kicking in her ribs.

"What do you want to do tonight?" she heard Sakura whisper. Ino glanced over at the couple that leaned over the kitchen counter, making googily eyes at each other. Frankly, it made Ino sick, sicker than when she went through that morning sickness phase. However, it was rare that they spent time to enjoy each other's embrace and kiss each other in such teasingly ways that it almost turned on Ino who was just an innocent bystander but hey, she heard that a woman's libido skyrockets when they're pregnant.

"Can you please stop with a smoochy smoochy crap?" Ino complained. "Whatever dirty things you say, Junior will hear it…and I'm just feeling uncomfortable right now."

"Sorry, Ino." Naruto grinned at her. She rolled her eyes.

She stared at her stomach which seemed so close that she could lean over a kiss it but knowing her limitations, she would just stay in the position she was in that moment.

Ino peeked over at Sakura and Naruto again, feeling jealous that time. After a certain experience seven and a half months ago, Ino believed that she'd never be able to let someone really come close to her like that, letting someone kiss her, touch her. Holding Shikamaru's hand often times sends a panicked plunge in her stomach like she just threw her body off a cliff and was plummeting into an unknown abyss.

How would she react if they kissed, just a small peck on the lips?

No, no, no. Ino shook her head. Shikamaru and Ino weren't like that. They weren't dating. They weren't together. Between Shikamaru and Ino, they were friends, teammates, or a young man helping out a young woman. To everyone else in the village who knew about Ino, Shikamaru and Ino were together, dating, and a young man who fathered this young woman's baby.

Just thinking about it was weird for Ino. She guessed for everyone else it was sudden; Ino and Shikamaru never liked each other that way. She knew people thought they were just friends. What did her friends think? Choji, Asuma? Lee—goodness, she could only imagine Lee's reaction. Kiba, Hinata, and Shino?

Above everyone else, what did Shikamaru think of this situation?

"Hey, Ino, Shikamaru's here!" Naruto announced for the door. Ino turned to Shikamaru waiting outside in his usual black long sleeved shirt and sweatpants. So, Ino guessed, they aren't going to some place fancy. Ino took a glimpse down at her outfit, a purple blouse that made her baby bump look smaller and her favorite maternity leggings. Thank goodness they weren't.

Sakura waved at Ino from the kitchen. Ino wiggled her fingers at her roommate as she closed and locked the door behind her.

"So what do you have in mind?" Ino interrogated only half-jokingly. The other half really wanted to know what exactly Shikamaru had in store for tonight. Never, ever has Shikamaru treated Ino to dinner or anyone else for that matter, so Ino was dying to know how much creativity he stored in his scholarly mind.

"I guarantee you will be surprised," Shikamaru answered in a matter-of-fact attitude. Shikamaru almost smelled like confidence as he strutted down the hallway in unusual positivity.

"Whatever. I know you like the back of my hand, Shikamaru. Let me guess. Are we going to Asuma's place for dinner?"

Shikamaru looked insulted; his strut stopped as her question took him aback in astonishment. "You expect me to bring you to Asuma's to eat his awful cooking? No, Ino, that would be considered torture if you ask me."

Ino stuck her tongue out at him. "I was just kidding, but it's good to know you wouldn't bring a date there. Really you should never bring anyone there if Asuma is expected to cook."

"So, we're on a date now?" Shikamaru joked.

Ino's steps faltered but he didn't notice, thank goodness. "Well, no, but how you ask and just the circumstance—"

"I was just kidding." He glanced at Ino from the corner of his eye and smiled at her, one of those crooked smiles. Ino shook her head at the young man's ridiculousness.

As they left the apartment complex, Shikamaru took an immediate left rather than a right where the restaurants, the stores, and basically everything that Konoha had to offer were. Ino trailed behind him, glaring at the back of his head and wishing that her child didn't suck up her chakra, enabling her from using her Mind Transfer on Shikamaru. She just wanted to know what he had up his sleeve. "Okay, I'm surprised," she admitted. "What's going on?"

"You're surprised?" he chuckled. "Come on, Ino, we haven't even gotten there yet."

"Shikamaru," Ino said firmly, "everything delicious and great is in the other direction. We're going into the neighborhood, to the woods. You're leading me into the forest so you can kill me, huh?" Ino wrinkled her nose at the question, even regretting saying such things. Ino could feel herself drifting away from Shikamaru, creating minimum distance between him and her.

"You're gonna have to trust me, Ino."

The walked out past the neighborhood, to the outskirts of the village where little was except for a few markets here and there and where only a handful of people lived. Just so happens, they were in Shikamaru's neighborhood.

"Dinner with the family? I didn't think about that one."

Shikamaru shook his head. "Wrong again."

"We're obviously going to your house and your parents live there, so how can I be wrong?"

"When did you get the 'I'm-always-right' attitude?"

"Since I really want to know what you have planned."

"I forgot you were really nosy."

Shikamaru lead Ino up the cobblestone pathway that led up to his home. Ino spent most of her life at the Nara household, for team bonding, for original Ino-Shika-Cho bonding time and they're parents decided to drag their kids along, and Shikamaru's mom was a damn good cook.

"Close your eyes," Shikamaru instructed once they took their shoes off and were inside.

"What?"

"Trust me, all right?"

"Are you sure you're not going to kill me?"

"I have no reason to, Ino." He smiled before placing his hands over Ino's eyes. Ino placed a hand on each of his and held onto them as he guided her through the house. Ino tried to imagine the layout of the house, remember where all the rooms were in order to solve where exactly they were going.

She listened to their footsteps and Shikamaru's even breathing against the top of her head. "Keep your eyes closed," he said before releasing a hand to slide open a door. "Watch out for this step," he whispered in her ear. Ino stuck her foot out to feel for the ground. She jolted forward as her foot slipped past the step.

"Shit," she mumbled, balancing herself before any serious damaged happened.

"Baby can hear you, Ino," Shikamaru reminded before taking a deep breath. "Okay, ready?"

When Ino first opened her eyes, she saw the miniature waterfall sparking due to the setting sun, a tranquil, roaring beat repeating over and over as the water crashed over the rocks, into a river where the water suddenly slowed into a smooth flow as it journeyed along the bank. Fireflies pranced along the water, following the water's path as it flowed into the dark forest. Bubble gum pinks and vibrant oranges reflected in the water.

Next to the water was a picnic table, recently painted and smoothed by the looks of the glossy wood. Ino looked at Shikamaru who suddenly had a picnic basket slung over his shoulder. He beckoned to the table. "Go on," he urged gently. Ino slid on the bench as Shikamaru readied the table, pulling out marvelous food that Ino only saw at festivals from the basket.

"Mom unconsciously gave me the idea this morning and it's convenient that Mom and Dad went out tonight."

As she watched Shikamaru unpack the food, her lip quivered. Ino bit her lip to suppress the laughter that wanted to explode from her throat. Instead, a snort erupted. Ino giggled through clenched teeth as she continued to keep her amusement down to a minimum.

"What?" Shikamaru asked.

"This is so unexpected, especially from you, Shikamaru. It's nice, I—is that watermelon?"

"Yeah, I think so. Kurenai packed it, so I don't really know what's in it to be honest," he said sheepishly. He handed the container that contained sliced watermelons.

"I've been craving watermelon all day," and then, Ino ripped off the top and grabbed the biggest piece she could find before chomping on it. "So good," she hummed.

Several minutes of silence passed as they ate, chowing down on the sweets before even considering the main dish. Shikamaru let Ino finish off the watermelon, afraid that he would miss a few fingers if he made a move for the fruit. Ino picked at everything, the fish, the sweets, and the fruits all had a little bit missing to each as Ino made a routine to take a bite of everything…after finishing the watermelon, of course.

Ino set down her chopsticks, grabbing Shikamaru's amused attention. "Listen about earlier today…," she began.

"What I said was out of line," Shikamaru said, placing his plate down. "I shouldn't have—"

"It's true, though. I do, you know, love him and I want to see him grow up, but I'm not on paid vacation or whatever you want to call it, Shikamaru. Since I'm out of a job right now and I can't make up my mind about continuing life as a kunoichi, Sakura is paying all my bills. She doesn't say anything about it, but it bothers me. How am I supposed to support a child when I can't even support myself? I wasn't emotionally ready for this, this pregnancy, this stupid hormonal rage.

"With a baby, I won't be able to continue life as a shinobi. I have to buckle down and become a civilian, which is the last thing I want to do when I'm twenty. I mean I guess I could work at the flower shop but it pays very little. I don't think I could find a job that pays as well as being a shinobi, and it's what I love to do. It's selfish, I know.

"You could always become a shinobi, Ino. There are plenty of shinobi that have children. You also have me."

Ino nodded. "I do have you don't I? But, Shikamaru, do you really want to be tide down to this baby and me?"

Shikamaru remained quiet. Ino smiled.

"I've thought about becoming a shinobi, too. However, later on in life, what if I don't come back after a mission? What if you don't come back? I know there are people that would take him in but still, think about those who lost their parents.

Shikamaru, I am selfish." Ino chuckled lightly at herself. "I can't have my cake and eat it, too, right? In the end, it's about if I really am capable of caring of this child and in the end, I decided that I'm not. There's no way in hell that I'm mature enough. This baby is probably more emotionally stable than me. In the end, a child can't raise a child."

It was silent between the two teammates. Shikamaru stared at his food as Ino twiddled her thumbs, wondering what Shikamaru thought about everything now.

"Last thing," Ino continued in a hushed voice. "The father"—she noticed Shikamaru's attention spark, making her more nervous—"wasn't the best man. Actually, he's pretty dangerous. I want to protect my baby and if adoption is the only way, then so be it. If he ever comes to Konoha, looking for me, I know my child is safe from him."

"Why would he be looking for you?"

"Because I lived."

Woo, that's definitely one of the longest updates.
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