A/N: Sorry for the late update! Ideas for this chapter had been shifting back and forth! and sorry! This chapter is kind of short too! But, short doesn't mean it's no good, right? ENJOY!

Chapter 12: Caught!

Ino was in an oversized t-shirt and a pair of jean shorts. Her hands were hidden under those rubber gloves she put on earlier. Yes, she was gardening. Standing up and letting out a small groan, she raised her arms into the air and stretched. What a beautiful morning. Then, she eyed one of the newly bloomed lilies in the corner of her eyes. And what a beautiful flower. Taking off her gloves, her bare finger gently landed on the petals of the flowers. They feel so soft. "Just like how his skin felt under my fingers..." Oh my god.

Ino smacked her cheeks and shook her head as if the memories could be shaken out of her mind. "What was I thinking!" she mumbled softly, still covering her flushed cheeks with her hands, "Stop thinking! Stop thinking!" She smacked her head hard when her mind was still lingering on how gentle his touch was and how sweet his lips were.

She thought her mind was already off from last night, but she couldn't help but smiled when she was telling herself not to think about it. She flipped her long ponytail over her shoulder and squatted onto the grass. The smell of grass would remind her so much about him. It reminded her how their tangled bodies danced in each other's, how their heavy breathings seemed to be the only noises in the quiet night, how protected and safe she would within his arms.

Ino ran her hands through her soft hair and stood up with her hands on her hips, "Just stop that, Ino!" You are making yourself look like a pervert! Gathering her gardening equipment into a metal box, she proceeded back into her house. She just wanted to make sure that Shikamaru was awake. He needed to wake up soon. Or, maybe she just wanted to see him again.

The Yamanaka girl stopped by the doorstep and dug for her key. Then, she felt a sudden chill coming from her back. She felt human presences behind her. Quickly she turned around. The metal box automatically fell from her grip when her eyes caught who were behind her. She gasped in surprise and winced as if something hit her, "Mom, Dad! You two are back early!"

"How is my baby doing?" Inoichi gave Ino a tight embrace before letting her go. Ino stood stunned instead of feeling happy that her parents were back from their business trip. Of course, currently, there is a man in my room.

"I am fine. Uh-" Ino picked up the fallen box and purposely stood in front of the door to block the entrance. "I...uh- Just stay out of the house for five minutes! I need to make sure that the whole place is clean and tidy! No peeking, okay?" With that, she stormed into her house and locked the doors.

Now what am I going to do! Correction. What are we going to do! Ino threw the metal box out of her hand. She yelled on top of her lungs as she ran upstairs, "Shikamaru!" Swinging her bedroom door opened with a thud, she rushed over to the side of the bed where the boy was still sleeping. Ino touched his arm and shook him, "Shikamaru! Wake up! We have a problem!"

Shikamaru pushed her hand away and buried his face deep into the pillow, "don't worry, I will do the laundry later, okay?"

"This isn't just the simple and normal laundry I am talking about!" Ino sat on the soft mattress, still desperately trying to wake the lazy shinobi up from his dreams, "Shikamaru, please wake up!"

The boy still held the warm blanket tight, "All right, I will do the dishes too. How's that?" He yawned lazily and, once again, relaxed his whole body.

"Shikamaru, I will do the laundry and the dishes! All you do is wake up, please?" The girl pulled his arm. "Please just wake up. I need you to wake up."

And then again, he escaped from her grip, "I will wake up when breakfast is ready-"

"Shikamaru-!"

"Ino baby." Her dad. Oh no! Ino bit her fingers and screamed inside her head. What am I going to do? The blonde hair girl took a one last look at Shikamaru's sleeping figure before she pulled the blanket over his head and sat before the body, hoping that her parents wouldn't see him here. When that was done, the door was slowly opened. "Ino, what are you doing in your bedroom?"

The girl tucked her hair behind her ear, "I just forgot to- uh- fold the blanket!"

"It's all right, dear! Your daddy bought you a lot of things on the trip," her mom entered her room and slowly approached her, "go downstairs and take a look!"

"No, mom!" Ino stood up, pushing her mom back to the door, "I can clean after myself! I am a big-"

"What's with all these noises and stupid blanket?" Shikamaru pushed the blanket away from his face as he rose up from the bed into a sitting position. His eyes were still close and his hair was in a messy ponytail. "Ino, didn't I say-"

A loud scream.

Shikamaru shot his eyes opened and his expression completely frozen at the sight. Just when did they- The boy waved his hands in front of his face and stumbled on his words, "Mrs. Yamanaka, I can explain. Your daughter and I didn't do anything! No! I mean we did- Wait, no. I mean we didn't-"

Cutting him short again, Ino ran back to the bedside and shoved the blanket into his mouth.

"Ino baby, why is Shikamaru sleeping in your bed, with no shirt on?" She could see that her dad almost, almost, got a heart attack.

And all Ino could manage at this moment was giving her parents a crooked laugh.

- - - - -

"Shikamaru, if next time that happens, you have to wake up when I tell you to," Ino turned her head slightly so she could look at the boy's face. Then, she sighed. As much as she wanted to yell at him for not waking up and putting back his shirt on when he was supposed to, she had no energy to scream and yell anymore after the lecture her parents gave to the two of them.

"Ino, I am not even sure if there's going to be a 'next time'," Shikamaru sighed lazily with a dead look on his face. Actually, both of them carried a dead look on their faces. It would be nice if there were no one else bugging them at this moment. So troublesome. "What can we do now, Ino?"

"What else can we do?" the girl stopped walking and faced him, "We just have to do what my parents told us to."

"But there's no way I can do that," Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck. "I have to ban you two from seeing each other until we think of a perfect solution for this problem!" That was what Inoichi told both of them to do. The boy sighed and tucked his hands into his pockets, "Fine. I guess we have to stick with that."

"Then, I guess this is goodbye," Ino raised a hand in front of her face, attempting to wave. But, her hand just froze at its spot. Hopefully we can still see each other, hopefully. "We have to wait till my parents come up with a solution. Until then, we'll-"

He held her arms and brought her into an embrace. As a cue, she buried her face onto his shoulder and whispered so ever softly and passionately, "I will miss you."

And faintly, she could hear him telling her the very same thing.

- - - - -

Shikamaru wandered in the heart of Konoha after he escorted Ino back to her flower shop. As usual, his hands were tucked deep inside his pockets and wore the same turtleneck shirt, over the net shirt, under his green jounin vest. He raised his head to stare at the clear blue sky. What a troublesome day. He missed her smile, her touch and the softness of her hair already. How could he possibly stop himself from seeing her after all those weeks they lived together? Then, he sighed again.

Although Shikamaru was deep in his thought and deep in his what-to-do-without-Ino situation, he was still a wonderful shinobi. He could still judge when an unknown kunai flow towards him. "Who's there?" he asked with his lazy tone. He was positively sure that his back was facing the attacker. And that was one of the taboos of being a ninja. But who cares?

"It's me," Temari. Shikamaru turned around and noticed not only the woman, but also the luggage on her arms.

"Where are you going?" The shadow user talked towards her but kept his distance, "going back to the sand?"

The woman smiled and bowed her head, "since the mission was done and the Hokage is not requesting me to stay, I guess I should go back," then, she looked at him, "I belong there anyway."

Shikamaru smiled, "right," then, he had nothing else to say.

But, she had a lot of things she wanted to say to him. Too much to say. Suddenly, she dropped her luggage and hugged him, "Shikamaru?"

"Hn?"

"If you like someone, just tell her how you feel. I told someone whom I like how I feel but he just didn't accept my love," She let go of him and picked up her luggage from the ground, "But at least I won't leave myself any regret in the end. Why let others decide your happiness when you can make your own?" She smiled, "I wish you two happy."

He froze at his spot but gave her a weak smile at last, "have a safe trip, Temari." The woman waved her hand as she turned away from him. The boy stood there and watched as her and her two other brothers walked out the gate of Konoha. and thank you.

- - - - -

Ino sat by her table, staring into space. It had been months or years since the day her parents banned her from seeing Shikamaru. Actually, it had only been weeks. The girl held up the mirror and looked at her own reflections. What a terrible look on my face. Ever since that day, Ino wasn't allowed to go anywhere except for her flower shop and on missions. And every time there was a mission, Inoichi would make sure that Shikamaru wasn't on the same team.

She sighed as she reached for the photo album, flipping every single page. Sometimes, she would happen to come across with some Shikamaru pictures. She would smile and remember the wonderful times they've spent with each other. Everything.

"Ino, dinner is ready!" her mom yelled from downstairs.

Ino stood up from the chair and yelled back, "I am coming!" The girl placed the album back onto the shelves and walked downstairs. Their dinner smelled wonderful, but not wonderful enough to make her smile. It's true. She hadn't been smiling ever since that day they separated but she still appreciated her mom's effort on making their meals pretty.

"Time to-" before the family could finish the word, eat, the doorbell rang. Inoichi stood up from the dinner table and to the door. Probably just another mission. That was what Ino thought. That's why she proceeded drinking her bowl of soup. The soup is great. I love the way the tomato, potato and pieces of onions mixed together. Then, Ino almost choked when she heard what her dad said to the visitor.

"What are you doing here, Nara boy?"

Shikamaru. Ino placed the bowl onto the table and wiped her mouth. She rushed to the opened door and a smile brightened her face. When she was about to reach out for him, her dad placed an arm between the teenagers and kept his eyes on the boy, "I thought I told you not to see her until we come up with a solution."

"Mr. Yamanaka, I came up with one." The shadow genius spoke out confidently, "and I didn't come to see her."

The man leaned against the doorframe and asked, "all right, then why did you come here?"

Shikamaru's gaze switched over to Ino as he pulled his hands out of his pockets, "I came here to propose."

Then, Shikamaru got down on one knee and held out the ring he bought for her, "Ino, will you marry me?"

End of Chapter 12

A/N: All right! Let's hope you people will like it! So, what do you all think? and omg! when i was editing it, i just realized that i messed up with the "he, she, him and her" haha! Anyways, I am working on another fiction on Shikamaru and Ino. It's called "Not so Perfectly in Love". Hopefully you people will spend some time reading that one too. Anyhow, the next chapter should be the last one! Please vote here: a funny ending or straight-fluff ending? Thank you for reading! Until next time!