Author's note: Ok, well I am going to add some of my favorite couples in this fic, including Ino and Shikamaru. I also approve of Sasuke and Ino, but for this fic it works better. Since I know that at this point Sasuke is more worried about killing his brother than being in love, I will honor that fact. There may also be a little bit of Sakura/Sasuke, but only because for some bizarre reason in this fic Sasuke takes the role of Benjamin Barker VERY seriously. Also, the parts that are like a play are actually from the actual playbook. [yes I'm that obsessed/

Chapter 4- The First Scene [Ino

Shikamaru and Sasuke were the only two, so the rest of the people were able to leave. However, Sasuke's fan girls decided to stay and watch. Ino and Sakura stayed and watched the whole thing in awe. Ino however, started to stray away from watching Sasuke and marveled over Shikamaru. She was surprised at herself. Why did she like Shikamaru better than Sasuke all of a sudden? Was it because he was singing so beautifully? Or was it because she was Joanna?

She didn't know why, but it seemed that Sakura was noticing.

"What?" Ino asked her.

"Nothing, you just seem different… could it be your giving up Sasuke?" Sakura said happily.

"Uh… no! We're still rivals!" Ino said angrily.

The practice was finally over, and they mastered the scene.

"That was really good Sasuke!" Sakura said excitingly.

"Leave me alone!" was all Sasuke said as he walked swiftly home.

"What's wrong with Sasuke?" Sakura wondered out loud.

"Well if you really want to know," Kakashi said out of no where. "He's taking this role very seriously."

"What? Why?" Ino said.

"Because his brother is after Naruto, and if they find out that he's in this play, he might show up to try and take him."

"What?" Shikamaru exclaimed. "That idiot might show up?"

"Yes Shikamaru." Kakashi said seriously. "So he's more interested in 'becoming' Sweeny Todd than girls right now. However, I'm afraid that he might become him seriously. I think we might have to be careful during the scenes where he kills people. We might have to get Konkuro to help by making dummies that we could switch with if he accidentally freaked out."

"Wow… poor Sasuke…" Sakura said sad as she walked away.

Kakashi and Sakura left, leaving Ino and Shikamaru.

"So… our characters…" Shikamaru said randomly. "I'm never gonna get away from you am I?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ino yelled.

"I mean that I'm stuck with you in our squad, and I'm stuck with you in this stupid play. I have to sing to you and everything."

"What's so bad about that?" Ino asked.

"We won't be able to have chemistry like we're supposed to. It won't look believable that we're supposed to be in love… it's such a drag."

"Why do you say that?" Ino asked. "Why do you call everything a drag?"

"I don't know, habit I guess." He said lazily.

Ino sighed. "kiss me."

"What?"

"Kiss me. You want to make this believable. So lets practice our kissing scene."

"What? Are you going crazy?"

"No. I just… I just don't want to disappoint Hokage-sama." Ino said looking away.

"Fine. Lets just do the monologues than. The first time they kiss."

"Alright than."

They both went onto the stage, and started to sing.

" feared you'd never come, That you'd been called away, That you'd been killed, Had the Plague, Where in debtor's jail, Trampled by a horse, Gone to sea again, Arrested by the…" Ino said looking into Shikamaru's eyes. He looked at her strangely, not saying his lines, but than…

"Marry me, marry me miss. You'll marry me on Sunday. Favor me; favor me with your hand. Promise, marry me, marry me, that you'll marry me- enough of this."

Shikamaru pulled Ino close to him, and proceeded to kiss her. Ino got lost in the kiss, and so did Shikamaru. They were no longer acting. They were kissing passionately.

But why? Why were they kissing? Ino was always annoyed at him, and he annoyed with her. What was the deal? After a few minutes, they finally stopped, and pulled away from each other.

"What… what just happened?" Ino said amaised feeling her lips.

"I… I don't know…" Shikamaru said looking as shocked as she was, well maybe not as shocked as she was…

"You're not telling anyone, and if you do, I'll KILL YOU!" Ino said suddenly storming out.

"Why would I want to?" Shikamaru said to himself annoyed. "Women are such a pain…" he said finally walking home.