Author's Notes: This story is meant for Japanese New Year (despite the fact it's a little late), Oshogatsu. This specific fiction takes place in between the three year change.

Chapter 1

Nara Shikamaru's Point of View and Story

Igh. It's Oshogatsu. Damn. Now everyone will be parading outside stuffing their mouths with food and doing festive things. What's even worse is that it lasts for almost a week. Whoopdedoo. So it's a new year. Meh. Then a bunch of adults come up to you and give you money and wish you good luck. I think I'm a little too old for that. I really don't believe in all that superstition. Well, it is a part of my culture, but I just don't feel like getting up to celebrate what is just another day in the year to me. That's kind of a bad thing to say but I just want to play Shougi. Or lie down somewhere and just watch the clouds. But the clouds are all hindered by the stupid festivities hanging everywhere. A waste of paper, if you ask me, along with all the post cards my mom is coaxing me to send. I'm just honestly too tired to pick up a pencil and write. And on Oshogatsu, it's all noisy outside, so lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling, or trying to sleep becomes bothersome. But then I have to go anyway since I have to watch out for people's safety. The food is pretty good but I'm not much of an eater. I'll just sit around somewhere, doing nothing… well, might as well go now. It's not like I can see the clouds very well at night. I'm going to get dragged anyway. My mother thinks its time I got of my lazy behind to "mingle" with people. She doesn't want her son to end up dying single. I should save the trouble of my mom yelling at me and giving me an earful. Not to mention Tsunade and her constant nagging. She nagged at me this morning to go to the night festival just to look out for all of the citizens of Konoha's safety. I knew it was needed. I just didn't feel like doing it. Akatsuki sucks I swear. They keep making me have to get up and do stuff. First I had to go fetch Sasuke and get my index finger broken while dealing with that annoying flute girl, my entire platoon wrapped entirely in bandages, and now this. Ugh. I don't get these people who crave world domination and excessive power. Oh well. It's almost night time. I'd better go before my mother comes out to yell at me to leave.

"Find your father while you're at it!" she yells at me, while washing the dishes, preparing for the festival.

"Fine," I grumble back.

The festival was like any other boring one to me. The people who are enjoying the festival obviously don't take the time to ponder how much it takes to get ready for these things, and the people who prepared for it obviously wasted some energy just to impress. People chowing on food here. Chattering over there. Kids running around playing games and screaming as if no one will hear. I had to sit at my post and just be on the look out. Kind of a crummy job if you ask me. But I'm trying not to doze off since the people who sleep on the job are usually the cause of calamities. So I'd better stay awake. I got really agitated having to stand so I sat against the wooden post I was asked to stay by. Somehow, I should make use of this troublesome time. I pulled a kunai out of my side holster. I just played some lousy little game of checking how strong my two fingers were physically able to let it dwindle between, as it would come useful to me whenever I'm combat. If I ever go, that is. Well, I am going off nowadays since I am obligated to. I flipped the kunai with my two fingers into the air and let it spiral.

"Shikamaru!" someone yelled into my ear.

"Huh!"

The kunai went directly into the middle of my two knuckles, the index and middle finger. It was not deep. And it would have really sucked if it went through the back of my hand. But it stung like hell. Some blood came out, but no big deal. I squinted a little bit. All ninjas should be used to pain. But it's annoying. I pulled it out. It turns out Ino distracted me. And she was wearing a lavender kimono. Her figure captured my attention, but I'm not the type to gawk at females. They always scream, plus it's not really sincere to do that in the first place. I don't want a slap across the head either.

"Shikamaru, why are you hurting yourself?" she asks me.

I looked up at her with a frown as she was the direct cause of why there was this annoying pain in my right hand, but she wasn't at fault.

"I didn't, it was an accident," I muttered quietly.

"Yes, I'm sure it was," she said with a touch of sarcasm. She pulled something out of her sleeve.

"Here's a ribbon I have. It's not a bandage but you should make use of it," she said, shoving the mauve ribbon into my face. She looked away and looked into the luminary distance. She must have been thinking of Sasuke. Honestly, why does Sasuke attract every female? There's obviously none left for the rest of us guys since the females are all flocking around him. He doesn't like any of them, but when will the girls look elsewhere? They're awfully persistent to pursue someone who hasn't even batted an eyelash at them for the last several many years. The blood was flowing a bit so I wrapped Ino's ribbon around my hand.

Ino walked away from me. She looked around. There wasn't much to do. Only her parents wished her luck and gave her some money. Feh. Big deal. She got money all the time running the flower shop for her parents, I see her receiving money. I could tell she missed Sasuke and there wasn't anything she could do to get him back. She used to whine to me about him, saying she didn't even know where the heck he was anymore. The news of him betraying Leaf was very shocking to her. She knew he was quite aloof and introverted. Not even nice at that. But she didn't think he would turn his back on his own country.

"Sasuke-kun…" she looked like she was thinking, quite like her former best friend, Haruno Sakura.

There was a beverage vendor several feet away from her. There were two people waiting in the side for their drink to be served. She walked up behind the two customers.

"May I have some juice, please?" I heard her ask loudly to the vendor.

"Yeah, sure," the vendor said and handed a can to her. Ino gave the change, drank a bit of her beverage and walked off.

When will this stupid festival be over? I don't want to be sitting here looking lazy, as I already am as it is. I sat there, thinking of strategies for a good ten minutes. Just then Ino tripped over me. She didn't get up.

"Ino!" I said.

She didn't even budge.

"Ino!" I said again.

This time she only groaned while lying sideways on the ground.

"Are you okay?" I asked again.

A can fell out of her right hand. I picked it up and sniffed it. It smelled like orange soda, and it was in a typical large container. I smelled it again. It had the touches of alcohol. It wasn't sake because no one would mix soda and alcohol. I recognize the stench of sake anyway; my dad drinks a lot with his buddies when I have to go fetch him. Ino's too young to be drinking anything of that sort. Heck, even I can't drink yet. I couldn't just leave her lying on the ground. Especially on a night like this. I picked her up and put her on my back. It was my duty as a Chuunin to look out for the wellbeing of others. I could smell her breath from behind me. I looked at the can again. "What kind of sick street vendor would give a young girl some alcohol? And how did she get this?" I thought.

"God, you have the lowest toleration in the world," I mumbled to her while her hair was all over the back of my neck. I put the can in my pocket; it was bulging and kept slipping out; I occasionally had to push it back in.

It was hard to distinguish which side vendor gave her the drink since every single one of them sold drinks, and the majority of them were similar. I should have paid attention to where Ino bought this from. The vendor possibly could not be intoxicated since that's very bad for business fronts.

"This girl is beginning to get heavy," I thought. I looked for her parents, as they most likely would have done the floral arrangements for this festival, but I found them at a dining table; they turned out to be drunk also.

"Inoshi," I said, with Ino on still on my back as I approached him, trying to give a small bow but it was hard to not fall to the floor with Ino on my back.

"Oh, look! It's my lovely daughter! When did you dye your hair black?" Inoshi slurred with a glass of sake in his hand while touching my face with his food-crusted fingers. I don't think he even saw Ino on my back at all.

"Ugh, forget it," I said walking back outside, slightly slumped over.

"Blargh, why does everyone have to be drunk tonight?" I thought.

What luck. The one day I need something and all the adults are tipsy. Okay, that was an exaggeration, but the ones I need to contact. I might as well drag her home. I went, but when I got to her house, it was all locked up. I couldn't just dump her on the porch and leave her to sleep on the cold ground all night. Where am I supposed to take this girl? She's really getting weighty. Geez, I hate this holiday. Everyone's not available when you really need something. Naruto and the others were at some table, eating and just having a good time. I mean, it is a time to celebrate. Sooner or later I would get yelled at by Tsunade for not staying at my post like I was told to, so I walked back there. It was getting heavy to carry her, so I set her on the ground carefully so she wouldn't bang against some foreign objects lying around.

"This girl… what has she been doing?" I thought, while looking around carefully. Nothing seemed to be wrong. Well I could be totally wrong about that for all I know. I mean, Leaf is the most powerful ninja country. Someone was bound to get us sooner or later. Ino is definitely not this stupid as to drink something that isn't good for her health. Wouldn't she have noticed the taste the first time around? I don't know women. Always yelling or competing with their friends, crying, giggling, or whatever have you. I'm pretty sure she would/ have asked for water initially. This is kind of idiotic. I don't want to put her on the spot on this, but this has got to be one of the stupidest things she's done. Obviously, sake does not taste like regular drinks or water that's lying around the house, and yet she drinks this entire thing? I don't know. I don't think I want to know. Ino is one of the kunoichi that I feel to be dynamic. I think she has progressed along the way to the untypical. Ugh, this night is passing awfully slowly. Oshogatsu is a time to celebrate, right? I just don't feel in the mood to. Maybe some random person will be walking around with a Shougi board or something? Highly unlikely. Anyway, back to Ino. I don't get why she consumed this stuff. She's not a two year old child, ingesting everything they see. She rolled over. Now she was on me. Great. I sat there on the ground as her head was on my thigh. What was I supposed to do? I could just push her head off and let her drool away. I sighed. Well I guess I'll just let her sit there. I'll look around, do my duty. She rolled around again. She moves an awful lot. Do I have to hold onto her so she won't roll her face into a wooden post? I propped her to sit up but she just fell down on the ground, snoring away. I stood up and asked for a glass of water from one of the vendors. Then I splashed it all over her.

She woke up. I stared at her.

"AHH! What did you do to me?" she shrieked, wiping the water off her face with her sleeves.

"I didn't do anything. You're the one who did something stupid."

"What? I did not!"

"What's this look like?" I asked, pulling the can out of my pocket and holding it in the air.

"A can."

"Yes, very good!" I replied in a crass manner as I threw the damn cup that intoxicated her behind my shoulder. I was about to scold her but then she had a tinge of green on her face. I didn't know whether or not she was going to vomit or scream at me. At this point I took two steps back and I was right, she vomited. Mixture of her dinner and bile lying on the ground in a puddle. It was disgusting. I was lucky it did not touch my shoes, or else it would have touched my toes.

"I think I'd better take you home," I told Ino. She didn't respond back. She was just holding her forehead like she was really feeling ill.

"Can you please?" she said meekly as she tilted down a second time. I caught her similar to when she did her technique, Shintenshin no Jutsu. That was the first time I'd ever heard her say "please."

Obviously she wasn't thinking clearly. She would have hit me by now or stormed off. She would have pounded me the minute I threw water all over her hair. I wondered if Tsunade would be walking by anytime soon to yell at me for leaving my post and that security must be high. I didn't see her anywhere. She must've been gambling or something, I don't care. I picked up Ino and put her on my back for the second time and carried her home. I finally made it there with my aching back and Ino drooling all over my Chuunin vest.

"Hey wake up," I said. I moved my shoulders up and down to try to wake her up.

"Wha—?" she said, half-asleep.

"Do you have the keys to your house?"

"No, I don't," she murmured.

"Where's your dad then? Ask him for the keys."

Ino was sleeping again.

"My god, you are difficult," I grumbled, walking back to my post for the third time and setting her gently on the ground while I sat next to her, looking up at the night sky.

She rolled around like she was a child using a bed for a first time. I sat down on my bottom on the post I was supposed to be at. Ino was a few feet away. According to her, it wouldn't be gentlemen-like to just leave her so I suppose I had to watch her roll around in her own filth. I'm pretty lazy, and I know that but when duty calls, I've got to do my job. And my job for now is to watch Ino and the safety of Konoha.

I began to contemplate, since I very well had nothing else better to do. First off, I looked for the can. I stood up and walked to where I threw it. It apparently landed in the bushes. I grabbed it and sat down next to the lying-on-the-ground Ino. I looked into it. I examined it thoroughly. I took out a kunai and mutilated it completely. There I saw a few small little dregs on the bottom. The can said on it, "orange carbonated soda." Then I picked up one of the little particles lying on the very bottom. I stared at it. I stared at it some more. Since when does orange soda contain parts of hallucinogen toxins? Who in the hell is trying to poison Ino, my team mate? Right after that, a needle was thrown right at the corner of my eye.

"What the hell—!" I gasped with my neck turned, barely missing the needle.

I grabbed the sleeping Ino and looked around. It was time for me to fulfill my duties like Tsunade wanted. Protect Konoha and the civilians.

End Chapter 1.
Onto Chapter 2.