Author's Note: Hello! Here is another of my Ino/Choji fanfics. I absolutely love this pairing!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I just own my story's plot.
Enjoy!
Ino headed towards the Konoha gates.
One step, two step, three...
"Where do you think you're going?"
"You can't stop me Lady Tsunade."
"If you walk out that gate, you'll be putting the mission in jeopardy."
Ino continued onward.
"I'm going to bring him home."
Lady Tsunade sighed.
"He knew the risks when he took this mission. He accepted this on behalf of his village."
Ino abruptly turned. "What's the point of being a shinobi of this village if you can't even live to see it grow? People die for the village, but I would rather live for it!"
"I've already sent a rescue team!"
Ino sliced her hand through the air.
"Still. People who break the rules are scum, but people who leave their friends behind are worse than scum."
"Ino."
"Choji left on the mission extremely sick. Did you know that?"
She pointed out the Konoha gates.
"He's out there sick, injured, and in pain. And probably alone."
She clenched her fists. "I refuse to wait here, twiddling my thumbs."
"How do you even know if he's the one injured or alone?"
Ino placed her hand on her heart. "I just feel it! I feel it here. It's..."
Her voice cracked. "It's...broken. And I refuse to be brokenhearted when I can save the man I love. If it were Dan out there, what would you do?"
Lady Tsunade glared.
"Don't expect something from me that you wouldn't do yourself, Lady Tsunade."
"What do you think you can do that the rescue team can't?"
Ino looked her in the eyes. "He is one of my red strings of fate."
Lady Tsunade's eyes grew wide. "What?"
"Each person is connected to a group of people by the red string. They are bound by fate. The string can tangle, cross, extend or shorten, but it can never be broken. You've heard of it, I'm sure."
"Well, yes. But it's a myth and we can't even see the red strings. How do you know he's one of yours?"
There was a pause.
Ino quietly answered,"I can see it."
Lady Tsunade exploded, "That's impossible!"
Ino shook her head. "My family's jutsu involves the brain, the psyche, our mental capacities, but there's another part that most don't know about. Especially since only a few people can do it and it's from my mother's lineage."
"Your...your mother's side?"
"Yes. My mother couldn't see the red strings, but my great grandfather could. I met him once, when I was a little girl. He told me the story about how he met my great grandmother. He told me how there are red strings around our pinkies. These red strings attach us to the people we love, who are or will be a constant part of our life. His red strings of fate connected him to his sensei, his shinobi team mates, and my great great grandmother. I didnt believe him at first. But then all of a sudden, I could see the red strings on his pinkies. I was in awe. He pointed to one red string in particular and told me to hold onto it because we were going to follow the string to see where it led to. We followed the string out of the yard and towards the shops in the center of town. We walked for about 10 min and then we stopped. I saw my great great grandmother walking our way with a huge smile. And there was a red string wrapped around her pinky that was connected to my great great grandfather."
Lady Tsunade's eyes widened.
"The red string connects us to the most important people in our lives, family and friends. But it also connects a person to their soulmate. I wasn't able to see the red strings of fate again until I turned 19. I guess you could say it's my mothers family's kekai genkai. Not only can we see our red strings of fate, but we can see other peoples as well. I've seen your red strings of fate."
Lady Tsunade sputtered. "You...you can?"
Ino nodded. "You're connected to Naruto. Is that a surprise to you?"
Lady Tsunade looked away in contemplation.
"The select few that could see the red strings of fate were brilliant matchmakers. Somehow they knew from the strings which one was the lover, but unfortunately I don't have that particular gift. I can see the strings, but I didn't know who was my soulmate. I'm connected to Sakura, Choji, Shikamaru, and Asuma. There was no way my soulmate was Asuma or Sakura. It was either Shikamaru or Choji. I was grossed out at first. These two were like my brothers, but one of them was my lover? No way! But I realized that it couldn't be Shikamaru. Anyone could see that he and Temari are perfect for each other. Plus, I saw their red strings of fate, they're attached to each other. It was obvious that those two were lovers. But that only left Choji."
Ino looked away. "How could that be? I've never viewed Choji in a romantic light before. So I tried to ignore it."
Lady Tsunade was in shock. "You tried to ignore it?"
"Yes."
"But according to the myth, if you ignore it, it becomes harder to avoid. You can't escape fate."
"The red string of fate is tricky. The more I tried to distance myself from Choji, he seemed to be wherever I went. I took the long route to my flower shop and Choji was there. I went to Ichiraku's to avoid the BBQ restaurant because it's his favorite place to eat and he was at Ichiraku's. I tried to go see Sakura at the hospital and he was there helping out. I tried everything! I even went on a date, but Choji was there too! I have never felt so horrible before. But it didn't make any sense to me. Why would I feel horrible when I wasn't even remotely interested in Choji? He took one look at me and left. That look...he looked disappointed."
Ino looked up at the moon. "That night, I left my date and climbed up the tallest tree I could find. I needed answers. Answers that I didn't have. So I meditated."
"And?"
"I went back in time, in my memories of when I first met Choji. I followed all those memories to the present."
Ino laughed. "I was a complete idiot. Weird as it was, I fell in love with Choji with the help of those memories. The next day, I stopped running from him. I noticed all his little quirks, his laugh, his smile, his kindness. I noticed it all."
Lady Tsunade sighed.
"Do you know what happens when someone who is a part of your red strings of fate dies?"
Silence.
"The red string stops being red. It lightens into pink, then white, and then it turns black. When it reaches black, the person is dead."
Ino paused. "Choji's string is pink."
Lady Tsunade gasped.
"His string is lightening as we speak. It's only a matter of minutes before it turns white. We don't have much time. How many medics did you send?"
"One."
"Just as I thought. You sent one medic and two shinobi to battle. That's not enough. I bet the others are injured just as badly. I'm assuming that their medic on their team is critically injured and out of chakra. Choji and the other must also be running low on chakra. They'll need another medic and fast. You've probably sent them in unknown territory as well. Your rescue team knows the general area of where he would be, but I can find him faster than them due to the string."
Lady Tsunade smirked. "You've changed."
Ino nodded. "If you've been around Shikamaru for a long time, you tend to start thinking like him. I've increased my skill in medicine, taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu. I've surpassed my father in our family's jutsu and I've branched off from my family's teachings to create my own. I've excelled so much to the point that the Anbu have watching me. But you already know all of this."
Ino looked out the gates. "I'm bringing him home. There's nothing you can do to stop me."
Three shinobi came forward.
Ino's eyes widened. "Shikamaru, Naruto, Sakura."
Lady Tsunade nodded. "I knew you would have done something like this sooner or later."
Ino stood in awe. "Thank you Lady Tsunade."
Shikamaru stepped forward. "Let's bring him home."
Turning their backs to Lady Tsunade, all four walked out of the Konoha gates.
With a gush of wind and flying leafs, they were gone.
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