There's a very good reason Ino doesn't visit Asuma as much as she used to. Every week, there would be fresh flowers at his grave, rosemary for remembrance, Canterbury Bells for gratitude, marigolds for the grief she still felt.

Nowadays, she ignores the urge to visit her fallen sensei. Instead, she throws flowers onto their old training grounds, wishing she wasn't such a coward.

When she can't help herself, the walk to Asuma's grave is a long one. She tries to force herself to turn away, walk a different path, but the urge to press a wound to feel pain is a strong one, and she finds herself a few feet away from the grave marker with Asuma's name on it. She can't go any closer, because he's there.

He, and his perfect little family.

His little boy is sandwiched between his parents, a hand in each of theirs, and it's such a perfect picture of happiness, Ino only wants to cry. She turns around after a moment, and stalks off to the nearest bar to drown herself away in bad music and cheap alcohol.

She had a mental list of her competition for Shikamaru's affections. It was laughable really, how easily she thought she could snatch him away from all the rest. But she was just an overconfident little girl thinking that a few kunoichi missions made her more grown up than she was in actuality, and she can only pale horribly in comparison to the true woman that Kurenai is.

She slams her empty sake cup down, wrapping her arms around herself and pressing her forehead against the cold surface of the bar counter.

Shikamaru had always liked older women, and it was her luck that she was born one damn day after him.

Author Note: The only other relationship besides ShikaTema that I think troubles me is ShikaKurenai. I find it highly plausible that he'll go after her, Asuma having asked him to take of her and their baby and whatnot, and try to fill in Asuma's shoes. Ino gets jilted in the process, of course. Perhaps I'm just over thinking things, and I may be heavily influenced by a fanfic I read once where Shikamaru tries to seduce Kurenai, but whenever I read about their interaction, I get a bit defensive. Ha. To me, Shikamaru seems like someone who would appreciate a more mature woman, despite my constant shipping of him and Ino. Hope you enjoyed it, on some level.