With a shriek of glee, Ino threw herself onto the large wrapped bundle on top of the bed. The instant she landed, a slew of curses rose up from the writhing bundle beneath the girl, and it thrashed about until she was forced onto the floor, landing solidly on her butt.

Undeterred, Ino stood up again, giggling, and jumped back onto the bed, peeling away the layers of blanket surrounding her target.

"Shika! Shika, Shika, Shika!" she chorused, smiling brightly, her eyes sparkling. "Shika! It's ten in the morning! Why aren't you awake?" she demanded, knowing fully well now much Shikamaru hated mornings.

The bundled groaned from beneath her. She succeeded in freeing his head from the copious amount of blanket he was wrapped in, and brought her face close to his.

"I just heard the news!" Ino continued to croon, her loud voice causing the boy to grimace in pain. "I'm so excited! Aren't you excited? This is so great!"

"…go away, Ino," Shikamaru mumbled as he dug his face deeper into his mattress.

"Shikamaru!"

"Shut up, Ino."

"Shika!" she admonished him, sitting back and pulling a face.

A sigh. "What do you want, woman?" he asked, lifting his head from his blankets and squinting in the harsh sunlight.

Ino bounced on his bed, squeeling. "Ooooh, Shika! You're going to be a big brother! Isn't that amazing? And I, of course, will be the big sister!"

"Ugh, is that all? I already knew like three weeks ago."

"You did?"

"Why else would my mother be overly emotional and even more troublesome? Ow!" He rubbed his head where Ino had slapped him.

"Shika! How can you say such a thing about your mother! It's such a beautiful time for her! She's creating a human being!"

"Which means for the next six months, it'll be hell for me. Ouch! Stop hitting me, woman!" Grunting, Shikamaru dived back into the safety of his blankets and attempted to fall asleep.

Ino huffed in annoyance, then a thought came to her. Giving a devious grin, she tugged at Shikamaru's blankets, pulling them out from under him. When she had tugged enough out, she scrambled underneath them and came face-to-face with the sleeping boy. His eyes were closed, but his furrowed brows let her know he was annoyed with her. She snuggled closer to him.

"Shika," she whispered, keeping her voice soft. "Shika!"

"What?!" he snapped back, his eyes flying open just to narrow at her.

"What do you think our kids will look like?"

Shikamaru paled at the thought. Kids? They were only sixteen, for goodness' sake!

Ino didn't seem to have noticed. "I know you want a girl and a boy, but I think I want three kids. Maybe four." She giggled, completely lost in her own world. "And they'll have beautiful blonde hair and sky blue eyes just like their wonderful mother, and they'll love flowers, and they'll be geniuses at mind jutsus and—"

"Aren't you forgetting about me?" Shikamaru huffed.

"What?"

"I'll have some influence over their appearance and personalities as well."

Ino scrunched up her face. "Oh, yeah," she sighed, as if suddenly remembering. "I guess the boy will probably like playing with shadows and being lazy all the time."

"Try not to sound too disappointed, Ino."

"Ugh! Aren't you just a little bit excited about having kids?"

"Well, if you're so impatient, we can get started right now." Shikamaru gave her a feral grin, and reached out for her arm.

Ino's eyes widened at Shikamaru's insinuation, and gave a small cry of surprise when he grasped her arm, tugging her closer to him. "Shika!" She flushed bright red when he pulled her into his arms, pressing them close together. Still in shock, Ino neither fought back nor moved forward, unable to discern if Shikamaru was serious or not. Thankfully, after snuggling her close to him, Shikamaru merely rested his forehead against hers and sighed, closing his eyes in contentment.

Her anger flared, and Ino slapped him on the arm. "Shikamaru! Don't ever do that again!"

Shikamaru groaned in pain, and wrapped his arms around Ino's to hinder her movement. "Yeah, yeah, troublesome woman."

Unable to suppress her budding smile, Ino ducked her head underneath Shikamaru's chin and wiggled closer to him. She pressed a palm against his chest, and allowed her eyes to close, knowing they had a while before children were even a serious issue.

"Shikamaru! Wake up! It's ten-thirty! You need to go feed the deer!"

"Ughhhh…"

"Shikamaru! If you don't wake up right now, I will—what in the world is going on here?!"

"Ack! Mom, no, it's not what you think!"

"Nara Shikamaru! What do you think you're doing?! Oh, wait until your father hears about this. And you, young lady! You should know better!"

"Yoshino! No, no, it's not—I mean, we weren't doing anything!"

"Ino! Get up this minute, I am taking you home now."

"Oh, no, please, my dad's at home and he'll be furious!"

"I'm already expecting one child! I don't need another one to worry about!"

"Yoshino, please!"

"Mom, don't—"

"Oh, I knew this would happen one day. Did your father believe me? Of course not! And now look what's happened! Kids these days."