Note.

Originally intended to be a Hidan/Ino...but then Kakuzu stole the scene.

Unsurprisingly, but kind of obnoxious, if you ask me.

Set immediately after Hidan and Kakuzu's 'death'.

"I'm tired, Shikamaru." said Ino, pitching her voice to sound groggy as if she had just woken up. "And I don't think I can go with you. Sorry." She held the phone against her ear, hoping he would fall for it.

"…Geez, that's too bad." Shikamaru finally spoke, his breath choppy and rugged as if he was in the middle of a marathon. Ino suspected it was from cigarette smoke. "I guess I'll have to find someone else."

"Okay." Ino replied, unsure of what else to say. "Sorry about this."

"No, it's fine." Shikamaru answered her lazily. "I shouldn't have asked you so last minute anyways. It's troublesome, but don't worry about it."

Ino nodded at the phone. "…Y-yeah…"

"Ino?"

Ino's eyes widened. "Yes?" Her voice was high-pitched and full of guilt. She mentally slapped herself.

"…You're alright, yeah?"

Ino nearly sighed in relief. "…Yeah, Shikamaru. I'm fine." She nodded a few more times because she had a horrible suspicion that he could see her and then hung up and collapsed on the bed. It was too hard trying to pull one over on the lazy boy genius. She could recount the various times that she and Chouji had tried to and failed in the past.

Hopefully this time's different…She thought.

Normally, Ino wouldn't hesitate to help out Shikamaru by attending one of his family's dinners or fighting off a pack of angry nin. But tonight, she just wanted to be alone.

Most people figured that Ino Yamanaka was an extrovert, and she couldn't blame them. On most occasions, she was loud, opinionated, and loudly opinionated. She could always be caught standing up for a friend or speaking up for herself.

But, if you asked her, Ino would say she was more of an ambivert. She didn't entirely rely on others' company and nor did she have an aversion to being alone. On some nights, it was necessary.

This was one of those nights.

She hoped Shikamaru wouldn't find out though. He had her pegged as a loud-mouth girly girl and she wasn't sure if he could see her as anything else. If he knew that some of that sass was just to cover up her own insecurities, well, she wasn't sure what he would say or if it would affect their relationship as a team and as friends.

Or maybe he already knew. She could never tell when it came to him.

In some ways, he was just an utter mystery.

At any rate, the time was soon approaching five o'clock, and Ino didn't plan on spending the night moping around her house, so she headed to her closet, pulled out last year's stylish autumn coat, zipped it up over her ninja gear and walked outside.

It was unlikely she would run into anyone she knew where she was going. Still, to be safe, Ino stuffed her pocket with a ski mask. One never knew when Lee might decide to initiate an impromptu youth thing, or when Akamaru would feel like taking Kiba out for a walk. It was good to be prudent.

Humming a random tune, Ino made a left turn and went downhill into the less savory portion of the neighborhood. This part of Konoha was mostly composed of civilian thugs and the occasional rogue nin.

It was funny, to Ino, how someone as pretty as her could find intrigue in something so corrupt and filthy. She supposed it had something to do with how horrifying the sights were sometimes, that she could be distracted, for even a moment, from thinking about her job and its dangers.

Take a look at those stray bums and impoverished hobos and she could forget about being a ninja.

Sneak a glance at the crying children nursed by their obese and illiterate foster mother and she could forget about Asuma's death.

Shake her head and smile pitifully at the prostitutes that lined the streets and she could forget that maybe, someday soon, another one of the people important to her could fall and never recover.

Look up at that profound, boundless night sky and she could pretend that she was someone else, someone who had peace and calm and never needed to worry about everything until everything eventually lapsed due to natural circumstance. In other words, died of old age instead of homicide.

"Umm…"

Ino glanced up sharply at the sound and then immediately relaxed when she saw the dirt covered child standing in front of her and holding his palm up. She gently pressed a coin into his hand and smiled.

"Be good." She said, feeling strange maternal instincts. "Don't get into trouble."

The boy looked up at her, grinned cheekily, and then ran off. Ino rolled her eyes. They were all the same weren't they? Boys.

She continued along down the street, confident with the knowledge that she could probably take on and defeat any criminal foolish enough to attempt to mug her. She wasn't the best kunoichi in the village (that title could be grudgingly passed to Sakura) but she was definitely stronger than any civilian.

This was partly why she decided that she could afford to wander further into the center of the slums. It was still around six o'clock and home was sounding more and more boring with each step she took.

There was something picturesque about the scene that lay before her: grim buildings with graffiti caked on all sides, the grainy, sand-like quality of the ground, and the trees that seemed to howl and whistle with the wind.

About three blocks down, however, the scene changed into rows of stores that resembled the slightly classier part of Konoha that Ino had grown up in. Ino eyed the change warily since she had never been to this part of town before. She had mainly been out for a stroll but she hadn't planned on shopping.

All the same, Ino couldn't help but be amused and a bit incredulous when she saw a shop with a sign that read: Endearments for Your Sweetheart. It seemed highly out of place in comparison to the rest of the surrounding area, with its glam rock decorations and over-the-top neon pink sign. It was a sight that could be seem garish and tasteless to some (Neji, Tenten) and bold and enticing to others (Naruto, Chouji).

To Ino, it seemed like a place to stop and warm up from the night air.

Smiling wryly at the odd décor, she swung open the door. It jingled slightly due to the golden tin bells that were taped to it.

"Hey!" Ino called cautiously. "Anyone in here?" She looked around the shop, and upon seeing it empty, began to regret coming in. She might have been a chunin and all but she was also a lone teenage girl walking into a strange suspicious store.

There was silence for awhile as Ino stared at the various merchandise including fake snow globes (they didn't even snow), paper cards (with weird sayings like, "I'll cut you a new one!"), stacks of knock-off stuffed animals (with the eyes glued on the wrong places), and plates of plastic food (made of wax and other strange things). All in all, Ino didn't feel like buying any of them.

She turned to leave, a bit repulsed and rather alarmed, when something bright caught her eye. She twisted around to look at it and was pleased to see it was a necklace. It was made out of smooth metal and held only one charm; a symbol of a circle with an upside-down triangle in it. Captivated, Ino mindlessly let her finger trace the symbol, feeling the point where the metal curved inwards and was carved to a point.

"Don't touch that." called a voice, rough and smooth. It seemed hoarse, like the person desperately needed a glass of water, but it also had a reedy tone as if the person hadn't finished going through puberty yet.

Ino looked up, annoyed. "You're late." She told the man at the counter, hiding her surprise. She hadn't heard him appear, so that either meant her skills were getting shabby or the person had skills of his own. She stared at his odd appearance; he had a cloth that covered the top and sides of his head, tan brown skin, green eyes that were black everywhere else, and a mask that covered the bottom half of his face, including part of his nose. In short, he looked like a foreign janitor. In hindsight, she shrugged. Poor people had strange appearances. It really shouldn't have been a surprise.

The janitor raised his eyebrows, which were black and thin. "I don't remember setting a deadline." He said and Ino involuntarily shuddered. His voice seemed creepier the more he spoke.

"Well," said Ino, trying to regain some composure, "you weren't at the counter when I arrived."

The janitor seemed to sneer now, in mock amusement. "My apologies, woman. It is so difficult for me to find time to greet people who come at any given time while there are invoices and payments that I must attend to."

Ino grasped the stand where the necklace laid for balance. His voice was just too unsettling. And there something familiar in the way he spoke, as well. It gave her a headache just wondering about it. "Anyways," She changed the subject, "why shouldn't I touch this?" She pointed at the necklace.

The man glared at her, with his soulless green and black eyes. "You just can't."

"But that's not a reason!" Ino protested. "You put it here, right? So sell it to me!" She felt like arguing with him, spurring him on, anything to solve this impossible mystery in front of her.

The janitor continued to stare at her. "You are sure?"

Ino nodded vehemently. "Yes!"

"But I told you not to touch it." He interrupted her.

"But I want to buy it!" Ino insisted.

The man seemed to frown, or so she thought—it was really hard to see behind the mask—but, nevertheless walked out of the counter and to the necklace stand. "This?" He asked again.

Ino nearly rolled her eyes but then stopped herself. It didn't seem safe to give him attitude. "Yes."

Without another word, the foreigner picked up the necklace (apparently he was allowed to touch it) and stepped over the counter. Ino heard the click of various buttons and then a sound—ping!—emit from the register.

"Payment." The man held his hand out impatiently.

Ino felt her coat pockets in alarm, hoping she hadn't forgotten her wallet. She was seriously regretting giving that kid that coin before…

The man tapped his foot. "Hurry up."

Ino shot him an irritated look. She was a paying customer; how could he be so rude? "Here." She said, finally forking over a few bills. She felt relieved she hadn't forgotten her wallet for some reason, as if her life would be in danger if she had. Somehow, I wouldn't put it past him…She thought warily. He looked quite menacing, especially with his green-black eyes.

The man accepted them.

"Change?" Ino asked.

The janitor glanced at her as if she were stupid. "There is none."

Ino's eyes widened in disbelief. "But that was—my whole salary—hey!"

The evil cheapskate conniving money-stealing con artist bastard merely glanced at her casually and tossed her the necklace. "Here. You can touch it now."

The next day…

"Hey Ino." Shikamaru called, fixing his eyes on her. "You alright? You're not tired anymore, are you?"

Ino blinked at him, and then remembering her act, forced a chuckle and a grin. "Y-yeah…I'm fine. How was your family thingy?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "It was okay. I had to bring Naruto because no one else was available, but…my dad didn't mind."

Ino's grin turned sheepish. "And your mom?"

Shikamaru frowned. "…It's best not to mention it."

Ino nodded understandingly.

Shikamaru then paused. "Hey, what's that you're wearing?"

Ino stared confusingly at Shikamaru. "Huh? Oh this?" She panicked for a moment, realizing she couldn't say she left home, because that would look suspicious. Great job, Ino, for actually wearing the stupid thing! She thought, angry at herself. "It's, uh, something I found on the ground."

Shikamaru looked at her, and then formed a circle with his hands. "On the ground…" He muttered to himself.

"Uh..Shikamaru, are you alright?" Ino was confused.

Shikamaru snapped his fingers. "You…wouldn't have happened over that Akatsuki guy's burial site, would you?"

Ino shook her head slowly. "No…"

"Then how do you explain this?" Shikamaru pointed at the necklace.

Ino scratched her head. "What?"

"Ino, that's the Akatsuki guy's necklace." Shikamaru told her.

Ino screamed.