I have finally updated after five months. Life caught up with me and now I have college classes again. But I'm trying to be diligent with my stories. Hopefully, it won't take me so long to update. Enjoy and thank you for your patience.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does.

After their first date, Ino and Shikamaru have spent a lot of time together the past few days. Whenever they weren't busy with their own agendas and training, they find time to spend together either just cloud watching or star-gazing. And in that span of time they had at least gone on two more dates. While they didn't outright exclaim the nature of their relationship to their friends, they were content with how things were. Ocasionally, they would hold hands under the table if they were having lunch with their best friends, Chouji and Sakura.

Ino could pretty much say that she has been happy with her boyfriend. They grew closer to the point where they try to see each other every other day for no special reason. It had made her forget her own worries about her missing teammate. That is until she was called into Tsunade's office along with Naruto. Tsunade was in her office with Jiraiya and Shizune.

Naruto was the first to ask, "So, Tsunade-obaa-chan, why did you call me and Ino here?"

She didn't answer right away but then she replied, "I called you two here because there has been news spreading."

She paused before continuing, "Orochimaru…is dead."

This news shocked them both immensely; they had never expected something like that.

She added, "And it seems that the one to kill him was Sasuke Uchiha."

Ino was overwhelmed; her own teammate killed an S-class missing nin and he didn't become a vessel for Orochimaru after all.

Naruto exclaimed, "Woah, I knew he wouldn't let let himself be Orochimaru's vessel."

He paused before asking apprehensively, "Then, would Sasuke return to the village?"

Tsunade and Jiraiya were silent but then Jiraiya answered, "I don't think so."

Naruto noticeably flinched but then remained calm. He asked, "He's still after Itachi, right?"

Ino glanced over at him as she also came to that conclusion.

Jiraiya confirmed his question, "Sasuke is still possessed by his desire for revenge. He intends to approach the Akatsuki in order to kill Itachi."

Naruto cursed, "Damn it!"

Naruto then calmed down a bit before exclaiming, "Then we should get going. Operation: 'Track Akatsuki' is still ongoing isn't it?"

Tsunade answered, "Yes."

Naruto continued, "If we hunt down Itachi first, we'll definitely run into Sasuke eventually. So our target is Itachi Uchiha."

Tsunade mused, "We target Itachi, a member of the Akatsuki who has the highest chance of leading us to Sasuke… I can see the logic in that."

Ino inputted, "If we're able to take just one of the Akatsuki into custody, Ibiki-san can get information about Itachi out of him."

"I've already issued an order to all teams to capture and transport them here." Tsunade replied.

"That will probably be very difficult…" a voice said.

They turned towards the door and Naruto mumurred, "Kakashi-Sensei…"

Kakashi added, "We won't be able to make them talk so easily. Even those we've already encountered were far too dangerous and we couldn't even think about bringing them into custody."

Naruto interrupted, "Then what can we do?"

"Well, until we come across Itachi, I don't think we have any choice but to be very patient and search." Kakashi answered. Naruto grit his teeth while Ino looked a bit anxious.

Jiraiya then spoke up, "Pursue Itachi in order to meet up with Sasuke, huh? Say we find Itachi, what next?"

After a pause, Kakashi answered, "About that… I have an idea. Can you spare me some time?"

After that conversation, they were dimissed and Ino had gone to wandering around aimlessly, lost in thought.

She couldn't help but wonder, "Finding Iatchi…that will be difficult to do. And also…"

She recalled when she had encountered Sasuke and that he was able to forcibly eject her out of his mind.

"If Sasuke was able to do that… what chance would I… or any of us have against Itachi?" She looked down in worry when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and found Shikamaru standing behind her.

"Shikamaru, hi…" Ino greeted him half-heartedly.

He looked at her in concern before asking, "Did something happen, Ino?"

Knowing she can't lie to him, she answered, "It's about Sasuke…"

Shikamaru frowned but then asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Ino agreed silently by nodding her head an soon they were at Shikamaru's favorite cloud-watching spot on the roof. They sat down and then Shikamaru waited patiently for her to start. Soon, she explained the whole ordeal with Sasuke and how he was able to kill Orochimaru of all people and that they are planning to search for Itachi before Sasuke finds him.

"And now we're on stand-by until we can go pursue Itachi," Ino finished her story.

Shikamaru furrowed his brow in deep thought and then voiced them, "So to get to Sasuke, you all plan to catch Itachi, an S-class missing nin, with superior Sharingan powers that had caused Kakashi-sensei to be bed-ridden for two weeks at most and his target is most likely Naruto since he failed to obtain him three years ago…"

Ino knows he just pointing out the facts of the matter, not completely shooting down the plan. Then he opened his eyes, looked at her and then spoke again, "Does Kakashi have an idea on who to take?"

"He's working on it right now and I just have to wait for them to call me to get going," Ino answered.

Shikamaru sighed and she immediately realized what he wanted to do; she aked, "Did you want to be a part of this mission?"

Shikamaru looked over at her again; shocked that she saw right through him and then he groaned, "Troublesome woman, how did you know?"

Ino laughed amusedly and then answered in a teasing manner, "You should know by now that I can know what you are thinking, Shika."

He rolled his eyes but he admitted, "Okay, I want to go not because of finding Sasuke, but…"

He paused before continuing, "But to protect Naruto…and especially you."

Ino smiled wryly and then gently held his hand, replying, "Shikamaru, that is very noble and sweet of you. But you know that as shinobi, we can't conduct a mission because of our feelings for each other…"

He mumbled, "I know that…" He squeezed her hand in return, "But still…"

Ino smiled and then leaned in to kiss his cheek. At that, he cracked a smile and gazed at her again.

Ino assured him, "I'll be fine, Shikamaru, I promise."

"Okay…" Shikamaru mumbled, and then he cupped her cheek before leaning in to kiss her; she met him halfway.

Ino noticed that he was still himself in public; calm and reserved, but when they were alone like this, he gained an affectionate side; showing it only to her. She didn't mind that; she enjoyed these moments with him.

They broke away from the sweet kiss and smiled at each other before she leaned her head against his shoulder and sat in comfortable silence.

Later, it began to rain, and just outside the gate…

Tsunade commented, "I see, you've put a lot of thought into it, Kakashi."

Two teams were assembled together, Team Kakashi and Team Kurenai, with Yamato acting as leader for Team Kakashi and Kakashi replacing Kurenai.

Kakashi replied, "I thought that two teams working together would be ideal. If our targets are few in number, namely one or two, having more than three squads will make us too easy to detect as well as interfere with the chain of command. And it will end up hindering our mobility."

Jiraiya inputted, "Restraining the enemy requires much more technique than mere killing. In coordinating the squads, it would be wise to choose members who are accustomed to working together."

Tsunade added, "Well, this is the best plan for now."

Kakashi bowed his head and then he said, "Thank you. We're about ready to set out but I don't like this weather."

As Ino listened, she subconsciously felt someone else's chakra. So she turned towards the chakra and then she saw Shikamaru who had hidden himself from sight. Shikamaru waved at her and then seemed to say "be careful" through the look in is eyes.

Ino smiled softly at him and then waved back while nodding her head.

Naruto exclaimed, "Alright! Let's go!"

Then Kiba amusedly commented, "The rain is perfect for cooling off someone so fired up."

And then Tsunade proclaimed, "I'm issuing the order for the mission to locate and detain Itachi Uchiha! All of you be extremely cautious and carry out your duties!"

All of them replied, "Right!" And then they set off to carry out their mission: Capture Itachi Uchiha.

I hope that if you all are ShikaIno fans that you liked my little tweeks to it. Please feel free to leave a review and hope you enjoyed it.