Stolen Property

Chapter 1

Summary: Supposed to be arranged marriage led to estrangement between Shikamaru and Ino. But one mission made the marriage seemed real when they were to act as married couple to infiltrate the enemy's territory. Would they able to act up despite their estrangement?

A/N: Okay, so this is my Naruto fanfic. And Shikamaru/Ino is my favorite ship and I really find them cute. No offence for those shipping ShikaTema. I'm open to literary criticisms and it will improve a lot of things in my writing. However, flames are not welcomed when it comes to pairings, story, etc.

Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine. Period.

~o~

Ino was pissed. She was certainly having her rage. Her sudden rampage unfortunately timed when Inoichi was home and her poor daddy became her anger venting punching bag. Inoichi just remained quiet. He knew how to push her buttons but definitely not when it was her time of the month. No matter how much Inoichi spoiled her, her mood would only get better if she would see him. By him she meant was none other than her lazy, good for nothing team mate slash childhood friend slash best friend, Nara Shikamaru.

Honestly speaking, it was him who triggered her already spoilt mood. Seeing him again with that Suna blonde chick would make her inner boiled with anger and added jealousy into the highest boiling point ever stated by men. Yes, she must admit, by all means, she would un-proudly say that she was in love with him. Ino sighed as she plopped on her bed, lying on her stomach. She was having her dysmenorrhea and it felt like her insides were riding on a roller coaster in which she couldn't take. She was trying her luck by passing by to Shikamaru's place because she knew that it was his day-off after his mission with other jounins. She missed him, so much that she badly wanted to take just a simple glimpse of him who was having a rare day off in spite of being groped under the pain of women wonders. But instead of welcoming the joy of seeing Shikamaru alone, she was abruptly welcomed by his company. It's not that she hated Temari. Don't get her wrong, she was in fact, jealous of her closeness to Shikamaru. And knowing Shikamaru, he sporadically let himself get close to a woman because in his mind, he dubbed all of woman species, including her, actually, mostly her as troublesome creatures.

She rolled on her bed uncomfortably, slightly ignoring the wrenching pain that was coursing through her entire being. She just wanted to be with Shikamaru, but why was he so hard to reach? Was this karma for denying her feelings to him for so long? She let out a frustrated sigh as she switched her position on the bed – which was lying on her back. She stared at the ceiling for almost like an eternity while pondering all the things that had happened between her and Shikamaru and how things could be changed if that didn't happen. Since that day, their friendship became strained. It was hard to pull it back to where it used to be. Team 10 was never the same again. Though Chouji and Asuma-sensei were always there for her, when it came to Shikamaru, it was hard to act normal. They used to be the best of friends but now, it's as if they didn't know each other. And before she knew it, they were drifting apart. And it hurt.

~o~

Shikamaru's eyes couldn't deceive him. He was entirely sure that he caught of glimpse of Ino. With her purple ninja outfit and overflowing blond hair, he was sure the he indeed saw her. It seemed that when it come to her presence, his entire being was being overly sensitive. It wouldn't surprise him why she hadn't approached nor talked to him. A lot of things had happened and before he knew it, both of them were drifting apart. It was hard for him to lose his other best friend, aside from Chouji, that was. He was accustomed to Ino's presence since they were toddlers. The three of them, he, Chouji and Ino were inseparable since birth given that their fathers were best of friends. He knew that for him, though he dubbed Ino as a troublesome woman, she was and would always be a special person for him. He made that promise to himself since they were little kids having pure innocence of the shinobi world. It was that day that he saw her crying along the street, alone and with a scraped knee. But then what had go wrong? Ah, yes, it was his entire fault. It was his fault that Ino now saw him as a stranger. He failed to protect her, not from physically inflicted pain but deep, emotional pain.

Don't get him wrong; he didn't have any feelings for her. He only thought of her as a sister that he'd never had that why he had this urge to protect her from any harm at all cost. His supposed to be concern for her turned out to be a catastrophe wherein their friendship was at stake. He had regretted saying those things to her in order for her to understand that it's not supposed to happen. Life had something for them but Ino, refused to listen to him and before he knew it, she was in tears. Tears that he had no right to wipe away since he was the prime cause of it.

"…..Hokage-sama is demanding a meeting with the council of Suna because it seems that Suna's economy is turning upside down because there are many obstacles delivering goods, especially the perishables from here to there….." His thoughts were interrupted when Temari's articulation went on and on and Shikamaru didn't care a bit. He glanced at the Suna blonde kunoichi with his ever-present hebetude façade. He knew that the Godaime Hokage would find a most advantageous solution towards the concern between the two allies given that Suna had been their most trusted ally.

But damn.

Instead of lazing around, doing his favorite hobby – cloud watching, he was stuck with Temari. Troublesome. He thought. He knew he was Temari's most favored person in Konoha and thus, Tsunade made use of the fact that he was here now, when he was supposed to take pleasure in his somewhat short-lived day-off that Tsunade had promised after his gruesome mission with Asuma, Chouji and Kakashi. He was showing Temari around Konoha with nothing knew to show. He was, after all, his tour guide years before after Suna and Konoha had been made as allies.

He sighed as he settled both of his hands on his pockets. He knew that this wasn't going to end, unless he put a denouement to it. "Do you want to eat?" He asked, not bothering to look at her.

Temari's perfect brow raised, "Excuse me?"

Troublesome. I don't like repeating myself. He mused. "I said, 'do you want to eat'? I'm a bit hungry, you see…"

"Oh, all right. But can we go to your house instead? I love your Mom's food!" Temari said gleefully. She had been complaining to him that Kankuro's cooking wasn't delectable at all and she couldn't cook for herself either so in Suna, she and her siblings were always eating out so when in Konoha, she was dying to have some homemade food, which was his mother's cooking. Right. Ever since the incident with Ino, his mother had not been in her very best mood whenever he would bring Temari over to their house for lunch or dinner. He knew his Mom was getting this idea of him being together with Temari. But she got it all wrong. He had no desire to have himself another troublesome woman to pester him all his life. He had enough.

He had to think of a better solution from stopping her to insist on eating in his house. He had to think fast because they were approaching their house. Think, Shikamaru. He was about to open his mouth when he saw that Chouji was approaching them.

"Hey, Shikamaru!" His Brobdingnagian best friend approached them fast and a sly smile appeared on Shikamaru's face. Nice timing, Chouji!

"Hey." He greeted back. Chouji then smiled at Temari who smiled back.

"I was looking all over for you! I am meaning to ask you to eat with me at the yakiniku bar because Mom got me three eat all you can tickets. Ino declined – " His ears perked up when he heard Ino's name. It had been a while since he saw her, well, except for a quick glimpse earlier. But anyway, seeing her wholly would make a difference.

"….so I am thinking if you could accompany me today? I'm a bit hungry, you know. And Temari can join us since I have an extra ticket." Chouji ended his long speech. He would be forever grateful with his best friend. Not only he was helping him to divert Temari's attention from even thinking of eating in their house but also, he was offering both of them free lunch. As an act of hospitality, he was always paying for their food whenever he and Temari would eat out so sometimes, he had no choice but to bring Temari to their house for free food. Though the air was suffocating given the presence of his mother there and her usual dagger-sending glares to him was always getting on his nerves. He was thankful enough that his mother was always cheerful whenever Temari was around. And his mom, as an ex-kunoichi knew better than to destroy an alliance between Suna and Konoha with just a mere act of indifference towards the person who she thought he was having a thing.

"I think that's a better idea. What can you say, Temari? Mom's a bit busy with chores today and I haven't notified her that you'll be coming so I doubt if she has anything prepared."

"Well, it's fine with me." Temari agreed, and he was quite thankful that his explanation made sense to her though he just sew it all up.

Chouji handed them the tickets and beamed, "What are you waiting for? Let's go! I'm starving!" Then, he started walking towards the yakiniku restaurant

"You're always hungry, Chouji." He chuckled lightly before following his friend with Temari walking by his side. As they were walking, his thoughts drifted to his blonde teammate and ex-best friend. If things were only the same as before, it would be Ino who would be walking by his side and not Temari, complaining how Chouji was affecting her diet by dragging them into the yakiniku restaurant and how Chouji's stomach would seem as an endless pit and so on and so forth. He greatly missed those times. Ino was so near and yet so far. She's just here, in the same village as him, walking the same street as him but he couldn't get close to her, to patch things up between them. And that lead him into thinking, would things between them could still be fixed?

~o~

A/N: So what do you think? This is a trial chapter. It depends on the feedback I get. Review please. Thank you :)