Chapter 4

Possibilities ran through Shikamaru's mind at the words he heard. Ino needed his help, she needed a connection to get a job, it seemed. She needed him. Maybe not the way that he wanted, but she was willingly asking him for help and he would help here out while helping himself.

He wouldn't make it easy though. Teasing her was just in his blood and it satisfied him to no end to be the one to make her express such intense emotions. There actually wasn't much that he wouldn't do to see her make a face. There were a few that he had been yearning to make her express upon seeing her again after so many years.

Ino found herself regretting the query almost immediately as a full blown smirk came across his dark features. Leave it to Shikamaru to taunt her about her unfortunate circumstances. Not expecting a serious answer from him, she turned to make a hasty retreat back into the bustling great room. She would shield herself away from his scrutiny with the presence of her friends and then head back home with her proverbial tale tucked between her legs to scrounge up whatever money should could.

"How bad is it?" she could hear him calling to her, and found herself stopping as that was not the response she had expected to hear.

"How bad is what? How bad is to eat my words and swallow my pride and ask the likes of you for help?" she retorted bitterly, "It's like swallowing acid!" with that she whirled on him, and set her most hateful glare upon him.

Seemingly un-phased by her tirade, Shikamaru raised a petulant eyebrow at her, "No, how bad is your debt Drama Queen?"

His words were like getting douse with cold water, rousing her from her sleep. She found herself unable to come up with a decent retort so she answered back honestly, "I have college loans to pay back…and rent due…" only after the words came out of her mouth did she immediately regret how weak she sounded.

"Well that's easy enough," Shikamaru conceded in an aloof manner.

Ino could feel her ire rising again and made to turn back around and make good on her attempt at escape until she heard, "I have a job for you."

She halted mid-turn and regarded him out of the corner of her eye, not wanting to let on that she was as interested as she really was. What kind of job could he possibly have for her?

Seeming to take her pause and silence as an incentive to continue he did just that, "I'll pay you to be my girlfriend until the end of January."

The words sank in and Ino had to close her eyes as she began to tremble. Taking a deep steadying breath, she mentally counted to ten before opening them once more. After another second of silence she realized that ten wasn't a high enough number to count to!

She found her form moving of its own volition as she came to stand no more than a foot away from him. Her expression was so muddled with the emotions that she was experiencing. She knew Shikamaru must have been unsure of her reaction. Her heart was hammering rapidly in her chest as her ears burned an angry red color.

"I am not joking Shikamaru!" She screamed, not caring as to who could hear her.

She was so overwhelmed with anger and frustration and desperation and for this man to stand before her and tease her was the point where it all just became too much. She wanted to hit him, she wanted to push him and get out her anger someway somehow, because by now she was certain that keeping it bottled up inside like she had been was absolutely doing more harm than good.

Shikamaru had enough sense of self-preservation to take one step back. His expression was that of unease as he held up his hands in an assuaging manner. "Ino, when have you ever known me to joke?" he cajoled.

Trembling and once again on the verge of tears, Ino gathered her wits about her and brushed by him to stand in front of the glowing fireplace once again. True he teased her and messed with her relentlessly, but he was not an individual prone to comedic acts.

'No he just likes to torment people,' Ino thought bitterly.

"Listen," Shikamaru began, "I am a business man. I do what is good for my business so I can reach my goals. My current goal is to retire filthy rich at thirty-five and do nothing for the rest of my life."

Ino snorted at the fact that that sounded like something Shikamaru would say. He really hadn't changed one bit in the past ten years.

Not deterred by her sound of derision, he continued, "As a business man I need to appeal to my clients' sense of trust and comfort. Most business men don't like to do business with a man that doesn't have a wife..." he trailed off at that.

At his pause, Ino turned around to look at him, "You're serious…?"

"That is what I said," Shikamaru responded flippantly.

"Let me get this straight," Ino began, turning to face him, the light of the fireplace hiding her features in silhouette, "you want me to pose as your girlfriend so you can attract clients?"

Shikamaru nodded in confirmation, "You would essentially be a pawn on my chessboard," he smirked.

Ino took the barb and cast her gaze down to the ground. If a smart man like Shikamaru was having trouble gaining clients it made sense that it wasn't because of something that had to do with his way of thinking or his intelligence. He was shrewd even back in his green years and this fact must have only intensified as he grew older.

Who would have thought that the business world these days was so Victorian? But, thinking about it now, it made sense that was one of the reasons Ino still hadn't been able to strike out on her own business ventures, simply because she was a woman. Men were so sexist without even realizing it half of the time. But in this case she had an advantage. Without her, Shikamaru would struggle in reaching his goal. She wasn't foolish enough to think that he would be struggling much. But without her he would have to work a lot harder to achieve his goal and she knew that was something he did not want to do, even now. In this, she wasn't merely a pawn as he had mentioned, but a queen: a glowing figurehead that supported her king, not only for his good, but for her own as well.

Ino tilted her head up regally at the idea, "More like a queen than a pawn," she corrected.

Shikamaru snorted in ridicule, leveling her with a stern gaze, "How do you figure queenie?" he taunted.

"You need me," Ino found herself snapping back indignantly, gesturing at him with an index finger.

"Ha, don't kid yourself," Shikamaru balked as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Don't kid yourself, Shikamaru," she tossed back, "we both know that you are way too lazy and self-absorbed to actually go looking for a girlfriend let alone pursue one," she felt a glow of confidence as he had no ready comeback for her knowing statement, "I do have one question though,"

Receiving an inquisitive look she asked, "Why only till the end of January?"

At her query, Shikamaru grinned wickedly, "Why do you asked? Afraid you'll miss me once you have to go back to your normal boring life?"

"Just indulge me," she retorted dully, noticing a momentary light sparking somewhere in his dark gaze.

"From late October to mid-January is the high season for business parties. I need to show you off at these events to gain potential clients," he supplied nonchalantly, his eye beginning a slow trek down her form and back up again.

Ino found herself shivering yet again that night and not from lack of heat. The appraising look he gave her body set off a blaze in the pit of her stomach and she mentally withdrew as if burned by this startling revelation.

"You will live with me for the time being," he stated matter-of-factly. At this the blaze inside of her burned brighter, "if anything, maybe I can set you up in an office in my building and you can get some OJT. Who knows, maybe you can gain some potential clients of your own at one of these parties."

At the mention of a foot in the door to a good paying company, Ino became very hopeful, before reality finally set in, "Wait you don't even know how much money I owe," she said dejectedly.

"It doesn't matter, I can pay it," at the dismissive tone, Ino found herself staring in disbelief.

"Well then, if that's the case…" she rolled her eyes, "Where do you even live?" she asked off handedly.

"Suna," was the simply given answer.

"Wait you live three hours south of Konoha?" her expression was one of disbelief

"Yes," another simple answer.

"Hm, that's convenient," all of this seemed too good to be true.

Ino was almost tempted to pinch herself to make sure that she wasn't dreaming. For such an amazing opportunity like this to fall into her lap she believed that her luck had finally turned around. She wasn't going to fool herself though, knowing Shikamaru there were bound to be plenty of awkward moments and more than enough frustration to last her a lifetime…

"So do we have a deal?" she heard his voice make its way past her pondering and noticed a hand stretched out to hers in askance.

What more could she lose by accepting this agreement? She regarded the earlier feelings that he had elicited inside of her with merely a glance and some off-handed words. Would she be able to keep her emotions in check for the next three months and not let him get underneath her skin? If she needed a break from him all she really needed to do was drive back home for a spell. She knew that if she didn't accept that she would be in far worse shape than if she did.

Nodding resolutely, she took the offered hand and noticed it's warmth with a strange sense of foreboding. She looked up at his visage to find an almost predatory glint in his deep eyes and felt an ensuing dread wash over her. She felt like a mouse that had been ensnared by a cat, and now all she could do was struggle while he toyed with her until the inevitable end.

A/N: Please review and tell me what you think! :D