Okay! My first actual ShikaTema story. (Let's see if I can do it!) This isn't like TAGAMT because there actually is one consistent arc. I really am trying.

***Competition: Also, I will put a quote from a song that either inspired the story/chapter or something I was just listening to while I wrote it. If anyone can guess the song (and I hope you guys are honest enough to not scam it by googling the lyrics or something) then write me (PM or on tumblr) and whomever does this first will win a prize! Idk what yet, but write me and tell me what you want. okey dokey? Like christmas!

Okay, and don't forget to review!

Part One: Kind Hearts Don't Grab Any Glory

Chapter I: The Importance of Remembrance

When you're getting to the end of a hard day

And you're thinking it's a long way home

"Excuse me?" she snapped in an incredibly familiar way, crossing her arms over her chest. "Are you not paying attention?"

He shook his head.

"I've heard every word you've said," he muttered, when in truth, he hadn't heard a damn thing since the second she opened her mouth. His attention, though certainly focused on her, was concentrated in a much different area than whatever the fuck she was talking about. Wait, what was she talking about?

He knew the matter must be vaguely important. He was, after all, at a mission briefing. And it wasn't just any mission; it was specifically a foreign-ANBU-and-Konoha-jonin joint mission, which said less about the importance of the mission itself and more about the diplomatic relations this mission was supposed to represent. It also meant that Shikamaru, as the leader/representative/whatever the fuck Tsuande wanted him to be for Konoha, it was his job to carry out this mission successfully, which, he knew, was a lot easier when he actually knew what he was doing.

But fuck.

The matter at hand seemed much more important than a goddamn mission he hadn't even signed up for in the first place.

So, he continued to ignore her speaking, instead focusing all his intelligence into one common goal: had he ever slept with her?

It sure as hell looked like it. Shikamaru, though seemingly so stoic against the female wiles, had a thing for hips. And he knew, he just knew, that he'd seen those ones before.

It wasn't like he had one night stands often. There was a phase during his later teens -last year, really- when he'd slept with more women than he cared to remember. In general, it was pretty much a self-proclaimed rule that he would take a lover for no more than a few weeks. It was simply easier. But within those, he hadn't had many.

And it wasn't like he used women. He was drawn to the ones that were virtually the same as him.

They were both enraptured with the sex for a bit, and then, when it had lost its electricity (which always happened eventually), the two parted ways.

It had worked pretty well. He had the occasional girlfriend through it, and then, more recently, he'd gone with more girlfriends and with less lovers. He actually did have a girlfriend right now, a pretty girl named Asiwa, but that had nothing to do with the matter at hand.

What was important, was the fact that he definitely knew this girl in front of him, and he was pretty sure that the way he knew her wasn't very amicable.

Now, thinking about it, she did seem to have a problem with him. People don't just snap at other people (people didn't just snap at the jonin commander of Konoha), even if they were Sunagakure ANBU.

But what woman had a grudge against him?

Maybe he was fooling himself...

But he wasn't. There was something there. The more he watched her, those long legs, wide hips, curved waist, god, those breasts. He had definitely seen those breasts before. She was sporting more cleavage than seemed necessary. And that mass of choppy blonde hair pulled back into one messy ponytail with her bangs hanging precariously over her ANBU mask- he knew her.

But for the life of him, he couldn't place how.

"How does that sound, Sir?"

The sound passed through his ears, just touching upon his conscious before he continued eyeing her hips. Really, it was those hips.

The room had become relatively silent. Suddenly glancing up, he realized that all eyes were directed on him. Struggling to remember what she'd said, he nodded. "That sounds fine."

"Good." She said sharply. "Hideki here will show you to your rooms."

"Right," Shikamaru said, turning around with his team, which, per usual consisted of Choji and Ino, "and excuse me..."

The girl, whom was currently exiting the room they were in at the Sand's ANBU headquarters, didn't turn around. "My name is Kiyoe."

Kiyoe... no, it wasn't her real name. He was positive he didn't know any 'Kiyoes'.

"Kiyoe," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets and giving her a look that expressed his seriousness. "I'm not 'Sir', just call me Nara, I'm used to answering to that."

She nodded, still facing the door. "Of course."

Then she exited it quickly, obviously in a hurry to get out.

Choji gave a loud exhale. "Well," he said, "that's new."

"What a bitch," Ino agreed, cocking her head. "She had no reason to snap like that."

"I meant," Choji corrected, "that she is very familiar."

"You too?" Shikamaru asked. "Maybe I didn't sleep with her..."

"You slept with her?" Ino demanded.

"That's pretty pitiful," Choji commented, "you should remember her."

"I know," Shikamaru said. And he was right, he'd had a fair share of partners for the past five years, and he'd never forgotten one. Not because everyone was important, most were actually relatively unimportant, but he was smart, and he remembered every one. So what was it about that girl? "You don't know her, Ino?"

The girl shook her head. "I know most of the ANBU that hang around the Kazekage's office, but that's only a small portion of them."

"She seems quick," Choji commented. "Kankuro said that Gaara specifically chose her for this, so she must have been hanging around there sometimes."

Ino shrugged, "maybe she's just new."

Shikamaru agreed, but he didn't say anything.

The knock on the door broke the silence. A man in ANBU attire walked in, but he wasn't wearing his mask. "Hideki?" Shikamaru guessed. The man nodded.

"Follow me."

They picked their sacks off the floor and threw them over their shoulders, following the man named Hideki out. Suna was hot this time of year, the sun making Shikamaru break out in sweat beneath his flak jacket. The streets were busy, vendors running around. It was obviously summer here and most likely the beginning of the harvest season. He hadn't been to Suna in three or four years now, but it didn't seem like much had changed.

Ino, whom had lived in Suna for two years, was more comfortable with the place, maneuvering around almost as quickly as she did in the Leaf.

Actually, Shikamaru and his team were all on the mission specifically because Ino had lived here. It'd been her mission first: bring a man convicted of serial rape and the occasional murder to Suna to stand trial.

When she had moved to Suna, it had been because Kankuro and her were getting pretty serious. On request, Tsuande had contracted Ino out to Gaara for a while. It was then when he'd assigned her her first S-rank, which had been only because no one else was suited for the job as well as she was.

It was one of those missions people like Ino could do expertly- beautiful young women with bodies that had been molded by someone with a hatred towards men and all other women. Ones that could kill quickly and heal even faster. Suna, though quite known for their feirce and beautiful kuniochi, lacked in the medicinal area of war. After Chiyo had died, none had been able to rise the position of expert warrior and medic-nin.

As a rising star, Konoha had Sakura. But Suna had nobody. And Ino, though nowhere near Sakura in a few of those categories, was an excellent to Suna.

And so, Gaara had sent her out.

And the man, Mizuno, had assaulted her. But, by what had appeared to be only by a hair, she had caught him with help of her backup.

And then, a few months later, he escaped.

He had sexually molested the Puppet-Master of Sunagakure's, the brother of the Kazekage's,girlfriend.

And then Suna had (though it was obviously accidentally) let him escape.

Now, almost a year later, the Sand's recon team had finally found a solid location on him. And, per Gaara's request, Ino was called back for assistance, after all, she was the only one to have such first-hand knowledge of the man and still be alive.

She had accepted, of course. And Shikamaru and Choji had been sent along, completely willing, to babysit her. Though, on the pretense that Shikamaru was actually supposed to be doing something tactical. But that wasn't important. He was here for Ino. And to kill the bastard that hurt her.

In the meantime, they had arrived in Suna a day later than scheduled, and subsequently, Gaara was out of town and Kankuro, whom appeared to be the temporary replacement, was put in charge. But, being relatively under briefed in the mission, had had to have Kiyoe, the only ANBU who seemed qualified enough and was readily available, to get them set up.

Kankuro had welcomed Shikamaru and his team with a pat on the back, and, as always seemed to be Ino's case, a full body scan (although, Kankuro did get some leeway on this, Shikamaru figured.) Before sending them off to Kiyoe. Now, Kankuro was no where in sight and this Hideki fellow was leading three reasonable knowledgeable people through a city they all pretty much knew.

But Shikamaru didn't mind. He hadn't been to Suna often, a few times over the years. More often when he was fifteen and was the ambassador (he thought that one kid from the academy may have taken over the position now, but he wasn't sure), in which case he had stayed at the embassy every two months. But after that, when he'd stopped by for missions or vacation, he'd stayed a variety of places: hotels, Kankuro and Ino's, even Gaara's once.

But he had never stayed on this side of town- the nice side of town.

Kankuro was going out of his way. Or maybe it was Gaara. He didn't really know.

But he knew this side of town. And he knew that whatever bed they had in this room would be absolutely decadent. And he really didn't mind that. Although, he wouldn't hide the fact that as Hideki led them past the embassy, he looked at the round building a little longingly. He'd enjoyed it there.

But this bed- he was really excited for this bed.

The leader of this mission was a big burly man named Rentaro. Shikamaru knew the word to describe him perfectly (macho), but he didn't feel like acknowledging that.

That man was though. He was big, well over Shikamaru's six feet. And he was strong, a big body with bulky muscles. He was tan too, dark skin and even darker hair. Much like Kiyoe -who stood beside him- he wore his general ANBU uniform with a personal touch: he went shirtless beneath his gray vest, displaying a good amount of tightly curled, black chest hair.

Ino -whom had known him from her time in Suna- said he was handsome, though in an intimidating sort of way, and had warned Shikamaru to not get on his bad side. Apparently, Rentaro hated all types of sluggishness, which would probably be a problem.

Working with people like Kakashi and Asuma was (or, in Asuma's case, had been) perfect- they were quick in a battle but otherwise relatively lazy people. This Rentaro bloke just sounded troublesome.

But Shikamaru didn't really care. As of now, his biggest issue with Rentaro was putting in the effort of having to look up at him. It was so much easier speaking to people like Ino, who were so short, he could practically hang his head.

He was clever though, this Rentaro man, but Shikamaru was fairly certain that Kiyoe was a bit sharper. He had a feeling that women were more often underestimated in Suna, which he had been told on more than one occasion, but he never figured that that misogynist nature made its way into ANBU as well.

Kiyoe didn't seem to have problem with it though.

"Our last confirmed sighting of Mizuno was at a compound only two weeks away from here," Rentaro was saying, sitting on a chair at the head of an ovular table. In front of him were three large sheets of paper. One displayed what appeared to be a map of the trail they would take, the other a blueprint of the compound he was referencing, and the third a list of names, none of which Shikamaru knew.

"Since his escape, he has assembled a large amount of bodyguards. Here is the list we have of known associates and people confirmed to be traveling alongside him this past month. Of course, there are more and some of these names are probably old by now, but this is the best we have," Rentaro explained to the group of twenty in the room, three jonins and seventeen ANBU.

"Nara," he said, motioning to Shikamaru, "is in charge of planning our attack." He rolled up the drawing of the supposed compound and handed the scroll to Shikamaru. "Here, you have two weeks," he said. Shikamaru just nodded and slipped the wrapped parchment into his pack.

"We will infiltrate the compound and find him. We have the order to kill as many as necessary, but the Kazekage wants Mizuno alive."

Rentaro glanced around at the people around the table. A handful of them, including that damn Kiyoe, were still wearing their masks, but the majority had opted to go without them. They all nodded at Rentaro, and he began rolling up the two remaining scrolls.

"We head out in an hour." He said, and they all stood up and exited the building.

"You think it'll work?" Choji was asking.

Ino shrugged, "he is smarter than Rentaro seems to give him credit for, but I don't know if that's much of an issue..." She thought about it for a moment, eyes lost in a memory neither Shikamaru nor Choji could even attempt to understand. Then, with a smile, she picked up her pace. "Either way, I'm glad you two are here," she said with a laugh, throwing her arms over both her boys. But Shikamaru was in another world, staring at the woman walking in front of him. They were following her and most of their new colleagues through town to the restaurant district for lunch.

And again, like yesterday, and until she'd moved out of his line of sight this morning, his eyes were drawn to those hips.

And she knew it.

She was walking the way a woman walks when she knows someone is watching her: self-conscious and proud at the same time. The walk was pretty distinct in women, although he'd never known what it meant until he was an adult. But he'd seen that walk for years, on Ino sometimes when he'd see other boys leer at her, but more often when he himself was leering at Te-

Oh. Shit.

(He did know those hips.)

Review! I'm not sure how often I'll get the chance to update (I see it being around 15 chapters), so I might be lazy and set a personal review limit: like, 10 reviews! Update! So do review because it really can only help.
P.S. Thanks Cara for reviewing everything I have written and for her purely mean/comical/loving reviews. Thanks to anyone who read and especially those who review because you guys are really my favorite. And my beta is awesome people. (oh, and check out my tumblr for any updates and questions, because I will seriously answer them all! Okay, well not huge spoilers, but I do excerpts and all that.) Oh, and chapters will usually be longer than this, btw.

Reviews are what make the sun shine!

Loves and kisses, LM.