Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Heart pounding. Mind spinning. Blood rushing. Her legs shook fiercely from underneath her torso. As she walked, her footsteps were unsteady and she felt as if she was about to collapse.
A light summer breeze blew through her long blonde hair. Her head flooded with the memory of what had just happened. She still couldn't believe it. This had to be a nightmare.
"Wake up, Ino, wake up!" she desperately thought. Trying to convince herself to forget, she knew the truth. It did just happen. All of it was real. And now Ino was torn. Torn between love and loyalty, caring and commitment, devotion and dedication. Only a few minutes ago she was fine. It's funny to see what one phrase can do to you.
"Ino, what I am about to confide in you is 100% confidential, do you understand?" the voice of the hokage assertively stated.
"Yes, Hokage Tsunade," Ino spoke confidently with much respect.
"It has come to the village's concern that your husband, Shikamaru Nara, is working under an unknown, outside force. Through his actions, this enemy will harm and potentially destroy our entire village," Tsunade calmly said.
Ino's heart skipped a beat. Could this be true? Was he really a traitor? After all these years, was his "love" just a lie? She stared outside of her window and watched the village people as they carried out their lives so carefree. She noticed the couples with hands intertwined with one another, young children horse-playing and laughing, and mothers pushing around their newborns in a stroller. Leaves from the trees gracefully floated around the cloudless sky until finally reaching the ground. Yes, life was beautiful and full of such wonder. But sometimes life likes to throw things at you when you least expect. It knocks you down and sometimes succeeds in preventing you from getting back up. Ino would know. She has had first hand experience with life's "surprises". And the only person to help her keep going, the person who convinced her to keep pushing through, the person who told her to laugh at life in the face and ignore the pain, was the lazy butt, Shikamaru, himself. He wouldn't, he couldn't, really be as Tsunade says.
The hokage continued, snapping Ino back into reality, "As much as I would hate to admit it, it..." she hesitated, "it comes in our best concern for the village to annihilate Shikamaru."
Tears started to well up in Ino's blue eyes, blurring her vision of the blonde woman in front of her. "N-no. This can't be, this can't be true!" Ino's unconvinced voice shook as she spoke.
"I'm sorry Ino," Tsunade comforted sympathetically, "but the evidence points to him, without a doubt. Now, I must give you your mission." she paused, uncertain of how the young wife might react. "You see, we all know Shikamaru is a strategic genius. He can probably envision our moves before we even know them. So we must strike in way that he would never expect. And that's why I chose you."
"Chose me?" Ino questioned, wiping the tears from her red, swollen eyes.
"Ino, listen to me. You are a strong girl, and a much stronger ninja than you think you are. For the sake of this entire village, you must..." she paused before continuing," you must kill your husband."
As the hokage finished her sentence, the world froze. Outside the window, couples still laughed, children continued playing, and mothers would never stop caring. But in Ino's realm, her reality was crashing down at her feet. Dumbstruck, Ino couldn't speak because of her flooding thoughts.
"I'm sorry, Ino," Tsunade said,"but it must be done. You are the last person he would expect. You also have closest connections to him." The hokage sighed deeply, almost regretfully before she continued, "Finally, you have one week to complete the mission."
Snapping back to reality, Ino let out a deep sigh. He was scheduled to return from a mission tomorrow morning. So starting tomorrow, she would only have one more week with him. Seven days. There was a sharp pain in her heart. But, she knew she had to carry out this mission, no matter how much it hurt. It was against the laws of the shinobi to let emotion affect her. Walking home, a familiar face appeared.
"Hey, Ino-Pig" the pink haired woman called.
Startled, Ino bit her lip as she tried to conceal her sadness. "What do you want, Forehead?"
"Well," her best friend sheepishly said starting to turn pink,"I just wanted to tell you, I found out that I'm pregnant."
"Sakura! That's great news! Congratulations!" Ino said cheerfully.
"Aww, thanks, Ino. Yeah, it was kind of a bit surprising. But as long as Sasuke's happy, then I'm happy," Sakura shrugged. "Hey, Ino, are you okay? Your eyes are watering."
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me, it's just...allergies. Right now, you need to only be concerned about taking care of yourself," Ino assured with a fake smile.
Knowing something was wrong, Sakura knew she wouldn't win in a fight against the stubborn Ino Nara. So she shrugged and said, "Okay, well, if you ever need anything I'm here."
"Forehead, I'm not the one to be concerned about right now. You are the one expecting a child. Go home, rest and take care of yourself."
With a quick nod, the jade eyed girl grinned and the two best friends departed ways. As she continue her path home, Ino couldn't help but to yearn for her husband's return.