Disclaimer - I own nothing.
A/N: 31st fic. 3rd Naruto fic. Takes place in Naruto right after the Leaf's Operation "Return the favor", is fulfilled. If you still have no idea what I'm talking about then, in the anime - I don't think it occurred in the manga - Gaara's sole pupil had been kidnapped from a couple of people who wanted to get their grubby hands on the Shukaku.
Summary: After feeling completely useless due to the fact that everyone had done something but her, Ino racks her brain in order to figure out what she could do to become more useful.
Flames aren't welcomed, reviews and constructive criticism are extremely appreciated.
It was nighttime in Konoha, and nothing could be heard but pure silence. The streets were clear, nearly majority of the inhabitants were in their homes, enjoying the comfort of their warm beds, preparing for whatever it was they had planned for the next day. The moon was shinning brightly, illuminating the village, and the sky was filled with clouds, leaving only a few stars visible and, of course, the moon. If one wasn't familiar with the village Hidden in the Leaves, then one wouldn't possibly be able to grasp just how full the streets and pathways actually were in the day time due to how empty it appeared.
The wind was still, almost as if the wind itself was non-existent, and though a few street lamps were on, they dimmed in comparison to the moon...
Ino stared up at the ceiling of her bedroom, her blonde eyebrows knitted together as her thoughts ran a mile a minute.
She should have been a sleep by now, not studying the interior of her bedroom. It was past one in the morning, and she was convinced that she was the only one awake at this time of hour. But no matter how much the blonde tried, she just couldn't, not when she had so many things occupying her mind at the moment. In fact, her mind had been occupied the whole day, ever since she, along with Sakura, Shikamaru, Naruto, Lee, Hinata, Neji, Kiba, and Choji, returned from their mission of helping their allies, Temari, Gaara, and Kankuro, from the Sand Village.
Everyone had done something to help, everyone except her. Even Sakura had done something, and when she, Shikamaru, and Temari were going up against Kujaku, she felt like the third wheel. Quite frankly, she didn't even feel as if she belonged. It was evident that Temari and Shikamaru were perfectly capable of defeating Kujaku on their own - which they did. All she did was watch from afar, and when she did attempt to help out in some way - any way possible - by using her Mind Transfer jutsu, she was easily knocked out of the way.
She was pretty certain that Kujaku didn't even view her as a threat, since she paid her no mind at all, only focusing on Shikamaru and Temari. Ino released a sigh, closing her eyes in the process. She had never felt so useless in her entire life. Granted, she had her Yamanaka Clan Techniques, some skill in taijutsu, and skill in Sensory Perception, but after sitting on the sidelines and watching Temari and Shikamaru fight together, she realized that it wasn't enough.
She probably sounded a little ungrateful - after all, she did posses some skill and she should be proud of the skills she did contain - but she merely wanted to be more useful. After all, who wouldn't want to improve after everyone played a major role, while you did nothing but watch? Though, she hated to admit it, she wasn't even needed for this mission. And she knew for a fact that if Sakura didn't have medical ninjutsu, she most likely wouldn't have been much of a help either.
Or could she really state that?
When she and Sakura fought at the Chunin exams they were on par with each other, and ever since Sakura insulted her about how she always obsessed with her appearance, she made an actual attempt to better herself - though, not because Sakura said so, but because she refused to be behind the pink-haired girl in any way... But had she not improved at all? And how much had Sakura improved? Ino was already aware that she was a medical-nin, but surely, she had to have improve on her taijutsu as well as other areas, right?
The blonde-haired girl sighed yet again. Was there anything - anything at all - that she could do to become even a little more useful? She was no good at genjutsu, so that was already out of the question. She supposed she could improve her taijutsu, her sensei wouldn't mind helping her out...But would that be enough? Asuma-sensei had already been training her, along with the rest of Team Asuma, in taijutsu on just about a daily basis. And although, she was already certain that she'd improve even more over time, she didn't want to wait. She wanted to take action immediately. Besides who knew when the next time would come when they'd get assigned another mission? With that said, there just had to be something she could to help her teammates and comrades out if she wasn't able to do much in battle...
Ino suddenly sat up, her eyes widened in realization. If Sakura became a medical-nin, then couldn't she become one as well? After all, even if she couldn't protect her teammates or do much in the mist of battle, she could always heal them. She could just ask Sakura to ask Lady Tsunade to take on her on as an second apprentice. Plus, she'd always be needed due to the fact that a mission could change ranks at any time if something was to occur, and due to the fact a ninja's safety wasn't always guaranteed, so it'd be good to have a medical-nin on the squad just on case.
She didn't have to worry about whether or not she could pull becoming a medical-nin off because she was already certain that she could. After all, anything Sakura did, she could do better.
Ino smirked, regaining the confidence she lost in result of her uselessness in the earlier mission. Now that she had something in mind, all that she had left to do now was talk to Sakura - which meant attempting to be polite, or the pink-haired girl might refuse - and then go for it.
From this point on, Sakura, I will no longer be behind you, we'll be neck and neck.
A/N: I honestly wasn't sure if I was suppose to capitalize taijutsu and genjutsu, so if you see any errors let me know, please. I'd also like your thoughts on whether or not you thought Ino was out of character.