I AM SO SORRY. SO SO SO SORRY. You guys must HATE me right now. And if I was you, I would hate me too. It's been two years. Two-fucking-years.
... T^T Thank you guys so much. For everything. I can't believe I even got more than two reviews on the crap that was Late Blooming Rose. It had no plot, no point, it wasn't even crack.
Okay, maybe to couple is crack, but that doesn't matter. Anyways, I'm back, and hopefully I'll stay. My writing style is different, and hopefully a lot better. The plots different too, so no more 'suffocation by hug...'? What was I thinking? Spur of the moment. Yeah, definitely.
So thanks, everyone that's still willing to give this story a chance, and enjoy.
There were times in Ino's life that she couldn't help but feel that she truly hated her best friend Haruno Sakura. Most of those times were over stupid, childish things that made no difference within two years.
Sasuke had turned out gay; She had lost the bet that Shikamaru and Temari weren't going to date; Sakura had been completely wrong when she had denied Kakashi not liking her and vice versa. Little things like that.
Ino had thought that this was going to be one of those 'little things.' Something that would resolve itself within two years, maybe even sooner.
So Ino didn't make a big deal about Sakura asking her to deliver a package. Not too big of a deal anyways. She had agreed, and little did she know that that tiny act of kindness was going to change everything.
"Wait. What?"
"The package is going to Hyuuga main house. You know where it is right?" Sakura cocked her head, voice oozing innocence. Sakura didn't wait for her to answer. "Of course you know where it is. Here's the package. It's due at nine in the morning."
Ino gaped like a fish, for once speechless. "You-… you-…!"
"Yes?" Sakura asked, voice still too perfect.
"You know I hate that family! I refuse!" Ino crossed her arms, taking a step back into her shop. The shop was her safe house. Now if she could just somehow manage to lock her friend outside… Sakura's foot stopped the door from closing.
"You don't hate Hinata! And you already agreed!" Sakura whined. "I already told Shisou that you were delivering it!"
Ino let out a gasp. "You didn't."
"Yes, I did."
Ino's hands twitched as the blonde woman imagined strangling the life out of the pink-haired kunoichi. Sakura caught the movement, and laughed nervously.
"Now, now Ino. Just because you and Neji had a little fall out-"
"It wasn't little!" Ino almost screamed. "We tried to KILL each other!"
"You did not!"
"He had sealed over half of my chakra points by the time you and Naruto showed up! I was holding a kunai to his throat! And that's not considered murderous? Now you want me to go deliver a package to his front door! Are you stupid?" Ino sent glares at all the civilians that were now gaping at her.
"You don't have to talk to him. Or even see him!" Sakura's brow furrowed. Then a wicked smile curled on her face. "Unless you want to see him."
Ino just barely caught the 'psch' of disgust from an old woman walking by through her fury.
She dragged her so called 'childhood friend' inside the shop, red flashing through her vision. "He is the last person I ever want to see. Do you understand me?" she hissed, using her grip on the front of Sakura's shirt to pull her closer.
Sakura shrugged. "Are you sure? That man has a fine piece of ass if I do say so myself-"
"OUT." The shop shook with the force of Ino's voice. Sakura was out in less than a second.
"I'm glad we could have this talk," the pinkette grinned. "Thanks for agreeing to the delivery!"
Fury still lacing through her veins, Ino barely caught the words before Sakura was gone. "Wai- I NEVER AGREED!" she screamed out the door, but there was no reply. The old woman who was still taking her sweet time hobbling down the street sent her another dirty look. Ino barely caught the muttered, "Kids these days…" before she slammed the shop door shut.
It was at this point that Yamanaka Ino truly hated her best friend Haruno Sakura.
"You have to do what tomorrow?"
Half mushed, potato chip-spittle hit Ino in the face, causing her brow to furrow in disgust before she slowly wiped her face with the back of her hand.
She was way too used to this.
"I have to deliver a confidential package for one Hyuuga asshole to the Hyuuga main compound."
A quiet 'tch' made her gaze turn to her long time teammate and friend Nara Shikamaru. He looked disgruntled, though it was probably from being made to water the flowers. He met her gaze steadily, brown eyes showing boredom and asked, "You mean Hyuuga NejI?"
More chip-spittle hit Ino in the face as Chouji sputtered in shock. "Sakura asked you to do this?" he exclaimed as Ino moved away before she was hit by more half-eaten food.
"Yeah, she did." Ino grabbed a rag from behind the cash register, and started swiping the counter. She ignored a pointed glare sent to her by Shikamaru.
It would not hurt his lazy ass to water some flowers. Really.
"Did you… maybe… do something to her? I mean, you tried to kill each other last time you exchanged words with that guy," Chouji pointed out rather unhelpfully.
"I don't know, Chouji. I thought she would be grateful for eternity at least after I found her her soulmate," Ino murmured confused. Shikamaru seemed to have thought of something she hadn't, for he chuckled. "I can't believe you don't see it." He told her, covering up his lazy snickers with one hand.
"It's not funny!" she practically yelled, turning a furious shade of red. "We hate each other. Hate. The Hyuuga might've blown off what they called 'a simple training exercise' to save face publicly, but that was no training stunt."
"What happened again? I hadn't thought you guys had even known each other before that," Chouji asked, shoving another fistful of potato chips into his mouth.
"We hadn't known each other," she muttered, refusing to meet Shikamaru's piercing stare.
"And you tried to kill him…" It wasn't a question.
"He really, really pisses me off."
"And you him?"
"Yeah…"
"Tch, that's stupid," Shikamaru broke in, dodging as she threw a stray shuriken at his face.
"It was a bad day, okay?"
Ino's pale blue eyes focused intently on the kunai grasped in her hand. Sighing, she continued to polish it, grinning as it cut through the rag. She had made a point to sharpen all of her kunai's before tomorrow, but she was paying special attention to this one.
This one had had the Hyuuga's blood on it.
"That son of a bitch…" She hissed, continuing her vigorous scrubbing.
"Look, how about you just stay to that side of the training field and I stay on this one?" she yelled, blonde hair sweaty. The stuffed dummy torn apart completely in front of her drooped in relief.
Neji's cold eyes watched her impassively, as he stopped his beating of the wooden post. "Or I could just stay here?" he mocked, smirking as the kunoichi ground her teeth together.
"I was here first you asshole! I've been here every day training and you are always here to mess it up!" she exclaimed, throwing up her hands. She was already angry enough with Shikamaru at the moment, she didn't need this crap.
The dummy would've shrank back if it could've. It had been thankful for the man's provided distraction, but now he was only making her angrier.
And her being angrier meant itself being destroyed.
"Yes, but this is obviously the better training field. Maybe you should go train on one more suited for your level."
There was silence.
"You did NOT just insult my skills."
"I believe I just did."
Ino ground her teeth together. "You ass."
"Oh how original, does the writers guild know about you?" Neji laughed. "I am obviously the better ninja. You wouldn't be able to even touch me."
Ino twitched, "Are you trying to provoke me?"
"Of course not," Neji smirked, before resuming his stance. "You're just in a bad mood because someone you loved was taken from you. Jealousy is an ugly emotion… isn't it?"
The dummy shrank back as the girl whirled, the kunai in her hand aimed for it's private parts. It nearly sighed in relief when Ino froze mid-throw at the man's words. "What… are you talking about?"
"I can see it. With my eyes. Your jealousy, and hatred for someone. How pathetic."
"You know nothing!" Ino yelled, furious. She was NOT jealous about Shikamaru and Temari being together. She was happy for them, she was.
"Then why are you so mad? I can see it, everything. Does he know? Does he know that if you were drunk or crazy that you would go for her? Try to kill her?"
"You have no room to talk!" she yelled, so angry she saw red. "Main branch family this, main branch family that! Isn't that a little obsessive? You tried to kill Hinata!"
She saw the jounin's brow furrow, and knew she had struck a nerve. Neji dropped into an offensive stance, teeth bared. "Do you think you're the only one here to train for personal reasons? Don't push me, bitch."
"Oh how original," she sneered, also dropping down into the offensive. "You are so going down."
Ino's friend's found them an hour later, blood running down their faces, and weapons poised to kill.
She had been jealous. She realized that now, but that didn't mean she bore any bad blood towards Temari. It had been a two week thing, easy to get over, and now that she had thought back about it, he had said something about personal problems too. Interesting… That was probably the reason he had been so ready to fight.
Legs cramping as she stood, Ino stretched, stowing the sharpened kunai's in her nin pouch.
The room stunk like old people.
Neji's nose wrinkled, imperceptibly before his face became a mask. The elders sat around the table, wrinkled faces drooping as they stared at him.
He didn't like the elders. The younger Hyuuga didn't see the reason for them. It wasn't like they made smart, reliable decisions. It was more like, 'Disaster! We don't know anything about him but we're automatically assume that he's the bad guy and we're gonna kill him!'
They never actually knew whether the person they were persecuting was actually guilty. They were corrupt, and had too much power.
They used that power to make decisions that furthered their gain.
Neji fought the urge to tap his foot irritably. They would be able to hear it, and would automatically take it as a sign of disobedience.
"What do you think of this proposal, Neji-chan?" An old lady with two inch long ears asked him, face solemn.
Neji barely kept his mask from showing the disgust of having such a improper title attached to his name. "I think the exact same thing as last time you asked me for such a service."
"You only got lucky last time, Neji-chan. Your fiance backed out at the last moment because of you're unfortunate mishap with the flower girl."
"Her name is Yamanaka Ino, and she is of no concern here," he hissed, furious at the jounin's mention.
The Elders shifted, muttering amongst themselves, causing Neji to realize his folly. He had let his true emotions show through.
That bitch, causing trouble for me even now. You'd think she was doing this on purpose.
"Actually, Neji" his uncle spoke from the head chair. His eyes were solemn. "She is of every concern here."
Neji took a second to resign himself to a crappy day. "I don't understand, Uncle," he said, wanting to rub his temples. He could feel a headache coming on.
"Of course you don't," a young man around Neji's age spoke from his side.
Neji shot him a glare, immediately recognizing the speaker as Takashi Omoe, one of his more distant cousins. Takashi was a brat in Neji's eyes. The man was only about seven years older then Neji himself. He had never entered the academy to become a ninja, instead he had been taught at home for only the financial reasonings of the Hyuuga clan.
He isn't even supposed to be on the Council, Neji thought, angrily. Omoe's father had died about two years of mysterious circumstances after Takashi's education had been completed, and Takashi had been his only successor.
Neji thought it was a little too convenient.
"Because of your 'mishap' with Yamanaka Ino, no suitable brides will wed you. They do not wish to marry a man who would 'do such to another woman.' In other words-"
"They're afraid of you because you're a ninja. So barbaric, don't you think?" Takashi interrupted, sneering. "That you would do such a thing to such a pretty young lady. You could've killed her!"
She could've killed me, Neji wanted to say, but decided against it. Just the thought jabbed at his already bruised pride. He really hadn't meant to challenge Yamanaka. She had just caught him at a really bad time.
"Anyway," Neji's Uncle cut back across Takashi, glaring at the younger man. "The Yamanaka family are terribly sorry for the influence and have offered their assistance."
"How? They can't help in such matters."
"They can," his uncle said, waving a hand.
"How, pray tell?" Neji questioned, disbelieving. The Yamanaka's were famous for their talent at interrogating enemies, but nothing else. They didn't have money, or anything of worth to give to the Hyuuga.
Neji's Uncle, at seeing Neji's smug look, lifted an eyebrow.
"They have offered their only offspring and daughter Yamanaka Ino in an arranged marriage as payment."
Jesus. It still sucks.
Ah well, at least I'm trying.
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