Here is Ino's side of the story for her birthday. I apologize again since I wanted to publish both parts on the right date.

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

It was supposed to be a simple spy mission that would last up to eight months but due to some circumstances, it lasted up to a year. She was frustrated that she couldn't get home until the target was interrogated and killed. The suspect she was spying on was the leader of a small band of ninjas who oppose the peaceful negotiations of the five nations and most of them are from small villages. She had to infiltrate their group by posing as a ninja who had the same ambition to oppose the five nations, to get on their good side and she had come with two other ninjas to play along with the ruse. When she had worked under the leader for a few months she had gained the trust of the leader but some were suspicious of her but they didn't dare question their boss so they had to trust her and her two teammates. All the while as she worked, she and her teammates would look for an opportunity to ambush the leader. But he was always heavily guarded; so she and her teammates couldn't find an opening.

Eventually, they had resorted to silent killing; killing every last ninja who was opposing the five nations. There weren't many of them, counting their leader; there were just 13 of them. So her teammates had killed the less important ones and they captured the ones who had known information and then killed them.

Until finally they interrogated the leader but he wouldn't talk so she had to search his mind as well as she did the others. So all the information had been gathered and it was comprised into three scrolls for Naruto to look into.

Then they were finally able to go home and it had been a long year and she knows it's been a year because she had celebrated her birthday with her husband on his birthday before she left. They were still a few hours away from Konoha and it's late afternoon, but she knew that Shikamaru will be worried since she had already taken so long. And she doesn't want to make him wait any longer, even if she is physically and mentally exhausted from this mission, she will get home to him and their two beautiful children.

Right now they are taking a break in a clearing surrounded by trees and she was looking up into the sky to watch the clouds that her husband loves to watch so much. When she looked at one cloud; she could have sworn she saw her husband's face in it. She really did miss him and she wanted nothing more than to get home to him quickly, to feel his strong embrace, to smell his unique scent of pine trees and grass and to even hear his voice say "troublesome" again.

"It's his birthday today, isn't it?" a voice had snapped her out of her thoughts.

She turned to Team 7's former sensei who had accompanied her on the mission while he was reading one of his Icha Icha books, sitting up against a tree. While he may not have the Sharingan anymore, he was always the same Kakashi with his mask and all.

Ino smiled and replied, "Yes, it is. I feel bad that I couldn't find a present for him. I feel even worse that I couldn't be there when my children turned four."

Kakashi then replied, "I'm sure that seeing you safe and alive will be all that he wants. Despite being a man who doesn't show his feelings, he is able to be read by everyone if they look deep enough. When he was at the gates to see you off, he had this worried look in his eyes but he still believes in you."

He smiled at her or rather his eye smile anyway and she smiled back at him knowing that he was right.

Then Ino's other partner for the mission, Aoba, broke the silence, "Well, if we want to get you back to see your husband Ino, then I suggest we continue on our way."

Ino nodded and then dusted her outfit off and they gathered their supplies and then went on their way back home. It took them a few hours and before they knew it they could see the gates of Konoha in the distance and since she was excited, Ino ran the rest of the way. Kakashi and Aoba caught up to her to greet Kotetsu and Izumo at the gates.

"Well, since you already have the information written on the scrolls Ino, we'll take them to Naruto and you go on home to surprise Shikamaru," Kakashi told Ino as he smiled.

Ino's eyes shone brightly as she smiled at him and said as she left, "Thanks Kakashi-sensei, you're the best!"

Kakashi waved her off and then he and Aoba went on to Naruto's office knowing that he must still be there since the lights were still on from the outside.

He knocked on the door and he heard Naruto say, "Come in."

"Hello, Naruto-sama." Kakashi said in a form of respect.

Naruto looked up from his paper work and then smiled at him as he said, "Kakashi-sensei, you don't have to call me that, I'm still me. But it's good to see you and you too Aoba."

Kakashi chuckled and replied, "I'll still call you Naruto-sama because it is only proper if there are others around but if you insist. We have the information from the opposing group and I know that you may not approve of it but we had killed the followers as well as the leader."

Naruto sighed and then said, "Well I said it was up to you what to do when you found them and at least extract information from the leader without hurting the followers unless they are as ruthless as their leader; which I assume is the case here."

Kakashi nodded as he placed the scrolls containing the information and explained, "Here is the information that we had extracted from the leader and other important followers who were close to him."

Naruto nodded and said, "Good job."

Naruto then asked, "Where is Ino?"

Kakashi smiled and then answered, "I sent her home to see Shikamaru and surprise him."

Naruto smiled and then turned in his chair and thought, "Oh, he'll be surprised all right."

"Were there others here earlier today?" Aoba asked.

Naruto answered, "We had a surprise party for Shikamaru's birthday today. We all did it to cheer him up a bit since he had missed Ino this past year. He'll be happy to see her again that's for sure."

Kakashi and Aoba nodded their heads in agreement.

With Ino,

She was outside of their house and she thought that she didn't want to alert him by knocking on the door so she went to their bedroom window and slowly opened it and she let herself in. When suddenly she felt Shikamaru pulling her down on their bed and then hold her in an arm lock.

Obviously, he couldn't tell it was her since he demanded her, "Who are you and what do you want?"

Ino smiled and then answered him, "Is that any way to greet your wife who has finally come home?"

She heard him let out a gasp and then he released her so she could let herself up and turned around to face him. He had a shocked look on his face as she smiled at her husband and she'll never be able to say just how much she missed him.

"Ino…?" Shikamaru asked in disbelief.

Ino smiled and answered, "Yes, it's me silly. I'm so sorry that I arrived home so late and I…"

But she cut off when she felt him pull her into tight hug and he whispered into her ear, "I don't care if you're late, Ino, I'm only relieved to see you home safe and alive."

Ino felt him trembling as he held her and she couldn't help but smile at how much he cares about her and then she hugged him too.

Then she whispered to him, "By the way, Shika, Happy Birthday."

She heard him reply, "Thanks Ino."

She felt him pull away for a moment and she looked up at him as he tilted her chin up and they closed the gap between them and they shared a soft kiss. Then it turned passionate quickly as he bit her lip and she moaned from how she missed his kisses the most when she was away and how he is so dominant that it leaves her breathless. Then they pulled away from each other and were breathing heavily.

Shikamaru brought his forehead to touch hers and she sighed in contentment and gazed into his chocolate eyes she adored as he whispered to her, "I missed you so much Ino, I didn't know whether or not if you were alright or if something went wrong. And I…"

Ino smiled and then brought her finger to shush him and she replied, "Shika, I missed you too. I wanted to get home to you and our children so badly that I did whatever I could to get home. Because as long as I know that you are waiting for me to come home, I'll do whatever I can to see you and our children again."

She watched him smile and he replied, "I'll always wait for you Ino, as long you come home to me."

Ino's heart warmed up to his sincerity and she embraced him tightly, happy to be in his arms again.

The she heard him say, "It's midnight, Happy Birthday, Ino."

She replied guiltily, "Thanks, though I feel bad for not getting you a present as I came home. Is there anything you want?"

Then she shivered as his hands started to roam her body and he huskily answered, "Oh, there is something but would it be the same thing that you would want for your birthday?"

She felt his hand glide under her shirt and caressed her skin, making her skin heat up and she smirked, knowing what he wants.

She answers, "Actually, it would, but wouldn't we wake up the kids?"

"Naruto and Hinata took them to their house so they could spend the night; we have the house to ourselves," Shikamaru explained. "Besides…"

Then she felt him push her down on their bed and she had excitedly gasped as he brought his lips to her neck and she was enjoying every bit of his ministrations as he trailed kisses on her neck to her cheek.

Then she looked up into his eyes as he said, "What I especially missed most was being with you like this, and making love to you. So will you let me?"

Ino snaked her hands up to his hair tie and pulled it out, letting his hair loose for her to grip and then she brought him down to her lips as she seductively whispered, "By all means, make love to me, Shika." Then she gripped his head and brought him closer as they hungrily kissed each other and they gave into the long deprived pleasure they both missed.

A few hours later at six in the morning, the dawn had peeked out from the horizon and she blinked her eyes open and watched as her husband slept, with his arms wrapped around her naked body, keeping her close to him. She thought back as he kept her up most of the night and did a number of naughty things with her that made her blush, but she couldn't help but love it. She observed his face and smiled sadly as she saw the dark circles under his eyes; she caressed his cheek and kissed his forehead. And then she snuggled closer to him and then drifted back to sleep as she thought, "I'm home with Shika and it is the best birthday present ever."

That is my story for both of their birthdays and I hoped that you enjoyed them. Please feel free to leave a review if you'd like. If you would like, please feel free to read my other story from ShikaIno month last year titled, Birthday Surprise.