A/N: I have fallen in love with this pairing. It makes the most sense to my mind. See, their dads are best friends, they've known each other since they were babies, and they make a sweet couple.
OK, best reason is because they make a sweet couple. And I'm totally hooked on them.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, any characters or places in here. I only own the plot.

~O~
RING!

Ino looked up bored from the magazine she had been reading, and stared with wide eyes. "What…?" she started, trailing off as she looked at the newest customer.

The lazy chuunin shrugged. "Don't ask," he muttered, as he walked around the flower shop with a bored yet confused look. His hands were shoved deep inside his pockets and his eyebrows slightly raised as he stared at the many brightly-coloured flowers.

"Shikamaru? What…are you doing?" she asked, half in awe and half disbelieving as she stared at her team mate. "I mean…wow. What are you doing here?"

He raised his head in her direction and stared at her, as though she had just asked something stupid. "I want to buy a flower. This is a flower shop, isn't it?" he rolled his eyes.

Ino dropped the magazine and stood next to him. "Yes…but who is it for?" A voice at the back of her head started to scream incessantly, telling her to shut up and that she already knew who it was for.

"A troublesome woman," he mumbled, a slight flush spreading across his cheeks.

Ino's mind swirled around as she stared at the male in front of her. Her head seemed empty; she was weightless as she felt a crushing sense of disappointment filling her. "Oh…" she said, staring at the ground. "Well…who is she?"

"Someone," Shikamaru said absently, stroking a petal of an yellow flower. He glanced up and shook his head. "Ino…don't start."

She had her arms crossed across her chest, a look of steely determination in her eyes as she half-glared at him. "Who is she? No, wait, let me guess, it's Temari, isn't it?" The stupid sand princess, she added mentally.

The chuunin allowed a ghost of a smile to pass his features, before going back to stroking the flower. "I'll tell you if you give me the best flower to give to someone you love."

Ino ogled him for a moment, then ran to the back of the shop, and came out with a purple flower, and shoved it into his chest. Something flashed in her eyes that looked suspiciously liked tears, but Shikamaru shrugged it off. Ino didn't cry. "So, it's Temari?"

"No, it's not her."

"Right. So…it's not her," she spat out the word. "Then…Hinata?"

"No."

"Tenten?"

"No."

"Oh…no…it's Billboard Brow, isn't it? Why? Out of everyone there is, why Forehead? Shika-"

"It's not her, either. Relax. Are you sure this is the best one?" he asked, frowning at it.

"It is. Are you sure it's not Billboard Brow?" she whined, her arms folded.

"No. It's none of them."

There was an awkward silence as Shikamaru stared at the flower, turning it over and over in his hands, whilst Ino stood still, eyes still glistening with unwept tears, and hands balled into fists. "Shika?"

"What?" he asked, looking at her.

"W…who is it?" she asked, stuttering for the first time in her life.

"I don't think she'll want me, though," he said almost sadly, fingering the petal of the flower gently. "Or that she'd reject me for somebody better."

Ino stared at him, then grabbed his shoulders and staring into his eyes. She had never realised how dark and intense his eyes were before this. "If that girl is stupid enough to think that, then she is obviously not looking properly or she doesn't know the real you. You're funny, a genius, confident in yourself, downright handsome, even if you are a lazy ass most of the time. But, apart from that minor flaw, which isn't even technically a flaw, then you're everything…everything that a girl could want. And if that girl rejects you, then she is obviously stupid stupid stupid STUPID!" Ino yelled, shaking him slightly.

A small smile cracked across his face, as he took her open palm, and pressed the flower into in, closing her fingers around it. He smiled and quickly kissed her forehead. "Thank you," he whispered, before leaving.

Ino stared at the flower in her hand then touched her forehead with a smile.

She'd find him later.
~O~O~

A/N: Done. Yay for Shika and Ino.
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