11-16-06

11:13am

one-shot turned too long fic, couples- Shikamaru/Ino, Neji/Tenten, some Naruto/Hinata and Sakura/Sasuke and a smash of Kakashi/Anko

Summary- Tenten is being stalked and finally takes the chance to ask for Neji's help in the matter, as Kakashi's current volume of Icha Icha Paradise has gone missing and he's come to the conclusion it's been stolen. And Naruto and Hinata have just announced their engagement while Sakura and Sasuke are trying to help each other muddle through life, all the while there's a plot to push Ino and Shikamaru closer together. Life could only be less clear...

Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

xoxo

Title-Hidden Leaves

Chapter 1

By-Moon Prynces

xoxo

Ino stood up abruptly, listening for the all too familiar sound. And in slow motion, as it smoothly reached her ears, a wide smile spread across her face and she hurriedly ran to the front door. Flinging it open she turned and shoved her hand into the mailbox to pull out the envelopes.

The mailman, who was only a few feet away, smiled to himself as it wasn't unusual to see Ino getting so happy over receiving mail. Although her mood was sometimes brought down because the only thing she got were bills or junk mail.

However this time her excitement and efforts to rip the mailbox off the wall of her house to get to the goodies paid off because she spotted a beautifully decorated envelope on the very top. And in the corner, the return name and address were from Naruto.

She almost bumped into the closed door on her way back inside because she was so distracted. But once she was safely inside she started to...

"Wonder what's going on..." She murmured to herself, turning the unopened envelope over to check both sides and trying to come up with an explanation for the special looking package. "It has to be for a special occasion or something." Ino walked past a table in the living room and dropped the rest of the mail on it carelessly.

Now she held the envelope in both hands preciously. Her eyes suddenly widened. "It really must be something big if Naruto of all people is sending out a letter like this."

And finally after prolonging the process she ferociously ripped open the white paper and a small card, looking just as fancy as the envelope fluttered to the floor.

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"You are coming, right?" Sakura prodded.

He sighed to himself. How in the world does someone ranked as a jounin, meaning himself, find himself conversing with a medic-nin? Not to say he was better than her, but their professions were so far apart that it seemed impossible to be in this position.

Shikamaru glanced at the pink-hair girl on his left. "Yeah, sure." He shrugged.

This only caused her to jump up and squeal. "This is gonna be so great! Just like old times! The nine rookies together! And Lee's team will probably be there too! And Kakashi-sensei! It's been so long since there was a party or something like this!" She gushed, mostly to herself, as Shikamaru was sulking and wishing she'd leave.

He opened his mouth anyway. "So when is this again?"

Sakura suddenly turned to him with a strange look. "Didn't you get the invitation?" She questioned.

He shrugged again. "I don't know."

And then he found himself on the receiving end of a rather severe beating. The jounin discovered he was on the floor, instead of the stool at the ramen stand, listening as Sakura ranted while stomping away angrily.

"Why don't you ever check your mail Shikamaru?!" She shouted, not bothering to turn around.

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It had been quite a few years since their chuunin exam, and Konoha had changed in many ways. Sasuke had returned to the village, to the protest of many, but was eagerly taken back in by his former teammates, Sakura and Naruto. Both of whom, along with their friends from Team ten, eight and Team Gai had grown up and into the many roles they currently occupied, which included being among the ranks of chuunin, jounin, members of Anbu, and medic-nin.

And because of the work they all were involved in it was rare that they all got to see each other so often anymore, even with trying to retain close personal relations with everyone.

So it was appreciated that Naruto was having a gathering of some sort. Well, appreciated by many but not quite everyone...

"This has got to be a joke. How would any of us find time to go to this ridiculous party or whatever it is?" The Hyuuga prodigy complained, resting his cheek in his palm and sitting calmly at a desk. He glanced up at his former teammate and one of his best friends (although hard to admit it may be), Tenten.

They were currently lounging around in an office building, supposedly finished with filling out reports from their latest missions. Lounging seemed to be the word for Neji, but he noticed how Tenten stood up abruptly and walked over to a filing cabinet and began looking through the drawers frantically. He raised an eyebrow, wondering why she was acting so strange. She hadn't been like that before their lunch break, when they disagreed on the choice of food and separated.

She turned around and he saw the apprehensive look in her eyes and worried expression etched in her face.

"What's up with you?" He asked, in a very unconcerned voice.

"Nothing." She said lightly.

He stared some more, wondering what she could possibly be so worked up over. "Did you lose something?"

Tenten jumped at the question. 'Just my sanity.' She thought silently, and looked up to see Neji staring at her hard as she took a seat at her own desk. If she were completely over the edge of that cliff, she'd probably swear he could read her mind at that moment. "No, haven't lost anything." She said again, using that lighter-than-butter voice of hers.

Finally giving up, he shrugged to himself. Then picked up the card on his desk and looked it over critically. "So are you going to Naruto's dinner party?"

She brightened, suddenly worlds away from the previous problem. "Of course! I wouldn't miss a chance to meet up with everyone! I hardly get to see Sakura and the rest of the girls anymore!" She said, looking very excited and child-like.

Neji smiled at her attitude. He leaned back in his chair and gently put the card back down. "Yeah, I guess it wouldn't hurt if I came along too."

"Good. Because I was going to drag you along anyway." Tenten stated with an assured nod to herself. He looked up, amused. "You may be under the impression that slaving over your job is 'professional' but I say it's not human. You are going to come out. You are going to that party. And you are going to have a good time." She said again, looking very determined.

Neji just shook his head at her silliness, not minding her assertive nature. He was just too fond of the weapons kunoichi.

"Only for you, Tenten." He muttered to himself.

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Now, to say that Kakashi Hatake was an overly-relaxed person was just going soft on him. To say he was damn lazy most of the time, was a little closer to the truth. But calling him a pervert was all-too appropriate, and one only had to notice the Icha Icha Paradise book, ever present in his hand to call him such.

But unfortunately for him, this bright and cheerfully sunny day, he couldn't seem to locate his current volume of his favorite book.

He suddenly found himself the center of attention among the large groups of people passing by, although he could care less. It was because he was searching every conceivable place on his person where he could have stashed the book. He was very certain he had walked out of his house that morning with said book in hand, so where could it possibly be now?

The jounin sharingan-user stopped and sighed, using an index finger to scratch his forehead thoughtfully. His bored expression remained but underneath he could only wonder what had happened to his beloved book. How could he get through another excruciating day in this world without it?

And since he hadn't finished that volume, there was no way he could move on to the next one. He was basically stuck.

He began walking down the street, stuffing his now useless hands into his pockets and came to the conclusion that someone must have stolen it.

xoxo

It was getting late, and as realized by most of Konoha, Naruto's invitations had been sent out even later. Most people had received it only a day before the date of his gathering. And some, just that very day.

It didn't seem to matter though, as most were excited to attend a social gathering no matter if they had just gotten back from a tiring mission or didn't have the time to pick out an acceptable outfit.

Ino was one of these people. She had gone through her closet at least three times, and it was already six. Only an hour left.

She groaned, sliding to the floor. "What am I gonna do?" She asked herself, looking lost in her bedroom. "Maybe I can call Sakura and..." But the idea was quickly wiped from her mind.

The young medic-nin was probably having too much trouble just dealing with Sasuke to help her, even if she tried to make it seem otherwise. Luckily, or maybe unluckily, Sakura had been the one to take Sasuke into her home, seeing as there was no where for him to stay when he returned. And it was a good thing she lived on her own now or her parents would've flipped at the very idea.

In fact, most of them lived on their own now. With the exception of Lee who would forever be rooming with his mentor and idol, Gai-sensei, and Neji and Hinata who still lived in the Hyuuga clan mansion, and perhaps Chouji who might never leave home because he couldn't resist his mother's cooking.

Ino looked at the mess of a room and sighed. "Maybe once more and I'll find the perfect thing. There has to be a combination I haven't worn yet." She said to herself, back to the task of troubling herself with what to wear.

xoxo

Maybe she had overdone it just a bit, because Ino found herself, although looking wonderful in a halter top and her favorite jeans, late. She was currently throwing herself out the door while trying to put on her heels at the same time, her purse wildly slung over a shoulder and the invitation in her mouth.

It really wasn't the getting ready that took her so long, mostly the stressing over it for no real reason at all. But after realizing the fix she put herself in, the blonde vowed to stop being so childish. Maybe it was time she grew up.

"Nice look, going an award this year?" She heard someone say mockingly.

Ino had just swung the door shut with one hand while holding her shoes in the other and only had the chance to look up for a second before falling over from her unbalanced posture and slightly bent over position.

"Hey Shikamaru." She greeted, still managing to sound cheerful, in a heap on the floor.

He chuckled at her before offering a hand to help her up. "I guess you're on your way to Naruto's thing, right?" He asked. She only gave a nod and grabbed onto his arm to help her put her shoes on. "We're both late aren't we?" He asked again.

Ino nodded again, and after fixing her shoes in the right places, let go of him and stood up straight to give a real answer. "Yup. Nice of you to drop by, but why are you late?" She questioned with a curious look as they began walking.

He shrugged. "I was doing something and it took longer than I thought it would." Shikamaru replied evasively, his glance going anywhere but her.

She smiled slyly. "What could that have been then? Making out with your current girlfriend? Or even doing something more?" Ino pretended to gasp in surprise. "Shikamaru I'm surprised at you! I thought you were one to wait until marriage! Or at least take it slow!"

Shikamaru sighed at the silly stories she was coming up with to amuse herself. "I was taking a nap, okay?"

Too late though, because Ino was busy laughing to herself uncontrollably.

He finally made an annoyed face. "Could you stop already? People are staring." He tried.

Ino looked at him with a grin. "What are you talking about? It's turning dark! Everyone's inside eating supper or hanging out somewhere! There's no one around!" She spread her arms out to the empty streets.

"That's 'cuz you scared them off." He muttered, waiting for the kick he'd get for his comment.

xoxo

Naruto looked positively beaming as he hugged Hinata, who was blushing, closer to him. Although he definitely did not miss the look Neji was shooting him from where he sat on a chair next to Tenten. The older Hyuuga crossed his arms angrily.

"What's he holding her for anyway?" He asked grumpily.

Tenten had no idea how to calm him down. "What's wrong with it?" She questioned, obviously confused. "Would you rather be holding her instead?"

Neji turned slightly red at the unintentional insinuation. "Not like that Tenten! I'm not jealous of him!" He took a few breaths before continuing. "It's just... look at him! He's being so... so..." He struggled for the right word.

"Possessive?" She guessed, looking very amused at the situation. She looked up to see Naruto and Hinata in the same cozy position, talking to Sakura and Kurenai.

"Exactly!" He exploded, the rage evident on his face.

"Just like you're being right now?" Tenten asked with a cheeky smile, awaiting his reaction.

The Hyuuga paused in his stupid tirade to blink and stare at her blankly. "What?"

Meanwhile, everyone who had already arrived were enjoying themselves. Except for the question of why Naruto had decided to have this get together in the first place. It was pretty strange, considering that first, it was not being held at the ramen shop, his favorite place and instead they were all inside a big restaurant that was hosting this party. Two, he and Hinata had been inseparable all night and people were starting to wonder when they had started going out or maybe the party was to celebrate that they had finally gotten together. And three, it was Naruto. Since when did Naruto plan and throw parties?

"What's going on here?" Was the first question out of Sakura's mouth when she had come across Naruto and Hinata clinging to each other.

He just grinned widely and put his arm (not the one holding Hinata) behind is head sheepishly. "Hey Sakura! It's been like a month since we've seen you!"

Sakura twitched. We?

Hinata, who had blossomed from her former self smiled. "We're glad you could make it Sakura. Is Sasuke here with you?" She questioned, her voice still sounding small and timid.

The pink-haired girl backed off a little. "No, he really didn't seem to want to come. I gave up trying to convince him. He still doesn't seem very in touch with Konoha anymore. I wish I could say he was still getting over all the things he's been through but it's been two years." She sighed.

And then was surprised when she felt Hinata move away from Naruto and enveloped her in an embrace. "It's okay. I'm sure Sasuke will be fine." She tried to comfort. She moved back a little to smile kindly at Sakura.

Which happened to be when Kurenai came walking up to the three. Naruto smiled politely, not being that close with the older woman.

"Hinata-chan." She smiled in greeting.

The said girl moved to give another hug, this time to her former sensei. "Kurenai-sensei!" Her shy demeanor broken by the arrival.

As their conversation diverged away from the previous topic, Sakura took this moment to give Naruto, whose face seemed permanently stuck in a grin, a hard, long look.

Finally she commented. "You seem happy, Naruto." She stated softly, catching as he glanced at Hinata.

He looked up to see her smile and worried eyes. "Thanks." He replied gratefully. And when she was about to turn away and leave he went on. "And don't worry so much about Sasuke. I'm sure he'll be okay."

Sakura looked back to the blonde in front of her, marveling at how much he'd grown up.

"I'm sure you and Sasuke are gonna be okay." He said again, giving her a reassuring nod and smile.

Their sappy moment was interrupted by a pair bursting through the doors, looking very wet.

"Who told the stupid clouds to rain today anyway?" Ino asked angrily, holding her arms out and going over the damage that had been done to her person.

"How troublesome." Shikamaru commented, pushing some of his wet hair away from his face.

Chouji, upon seeing the rest of the old team ten, swiftly walked over to them and smiled. "What took you guys so long? Got caught by the rain doing something in particular?" His eyes twinkled at the implication.

Shikamaru and Ino glanced at each other disinterestedly. Then simultaneously muttered, "Yeah right."

Naruto looked around at the people assembled. He spotted Kiba and Akamaru by the buffet table, sampling the food and making faces at what they thought tasted bad. Shino was sitting at a table, observing the gathering. Ino and Shikamaru were still standing in their soaking clothes by the door, as Sakura went to get them towels to dry off. Chouji was also still there conversing with them.

Lee and Gai-sensei were at the bar, and Naruto suspected that the combination of them plus alcohol was not something anyone needed to witness and mentally noted to get them away from there soon. Tenten was sitting at another table with Neji, who was currently giving him a death glare.

Naruto sweatdropped and waved awkwardly at him. He looked back to Hinata who was still having a very animated conversation with Kurenai. He smiled to himself.

Then remembered that Sasuke wasn't there, and wouldn't be coming at all. And despite his efforts to be happy, he was disappointed hearing how Sakura had talked about his condition.

It was expected that Sasuke would never be fully accepted back into Konoha and that he would never be the same person but being around Sakura and Naruto a lot, they thought, might help him. But he'd hardly made any progress and rarely spoke or left his current residence.

Then Naruto spotted someone sulking in the darkest corner of the room. He walked over silently before tapping the older man on the shoulder.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei!" He said with a grin.

The man winced slightly at the loud tone of Naruto's voice. "Hello Naruto." His voice and expression back to looking unperturbed. "So, do you mind if I ask what was your reason for tonight's festivities?" He looked around nonchalantly.

The blonde grinned. "Just wait a bit more, you'll find out soon. So how have you been anyway? I bet you miss team seven more than any of us! We were the only reason you got out of bed in the morning... even though you were always late." Before Naruto knew it, his topic of conversation had gone down another road entirely and he was furrowing his brows at the memories of Kakashi's pathetic excuses. "And you always had your book with you!" He said again, and blinked realizing what was missing. "Uh... Kakashi-sensei, I don't know if you noticed..." He leaned in to whisper while his former sensei gave the same bored look. "But you don't have your favorite book out. Are you okay?"

Kakashi wanted to slap his own head. Of all the things to bring up, it had to be the touchiest subject at the moment. He only nodded, shoving his hands further into his pockets. "I realized Naruto. Nothing's wrong."

Just then Hinata came traipsing up to the two of them. "Naruto, I think it's time we actually got things started." Came her soft voice.

He couldn't help the smile that passed over his face and the same thing happened to her. Naruto turned to his sensei. "I'll talk to you later Kakashi-sensei!"

The two slowly linked hands as they made their way over to the center of the room, noticing as everyone's gaze traveled with them.

"Hey, everyone can we have your attention for a few minutes?" Naruto started off. Although curiosity strung high in the air, there was still a lot of chatter going around. An annoyed look crossed his face. "If you don't shut up you won't know the reason why you're here!" He shouted again.

His eyes held a room full of his and Hinata's closest friends, mentors and acquaintances. Now that he had captured everyone's attention his smile slid back into place.

He took in the sight carefully, trying to remember every detail. It was true that through growing up and ascending the ranks, along with taking in the missions they were assigned they all hardly had time to see each other.

Hinata nudged him out of his thoughts. He glanced at her, and then remembered what he was going to say.

Sakura laughed a little, commenting how it was just like Naruto to space off in his own world. Shikamaru muttered something and got elbowed by Ino. Neji's look was enough to send anyone to an early grave, but Naruto pointedly ignored it.

The room felt eerily quiet, but he gulped and trudged on. "Well... I doubt any of you know this, but Hinata and I have been going out for a while."

Ino's jaw dropped. "No way! Under our noses the whole time and I didn't realize?"

Sakura smiled. "I think we kind of suspected it Naruto, with the way you two were glued to each other all night."

On the other hand, some people didn't take it so well.

"What?!" Neji stood up abruptly and walked over. He was halted however by Lee and Gai-sensei swooping in.

"It's so good to see two young hearts so full of love! Don't look so upset Neji!" Gai said, blocking his path.

"That's right! We should be so happy that they've found each other." Lee said, looking a little tipsy. He then let his eyes quickly dart over to Tenten for Neji to see, and then winked. Or at least he tried to wink, but only ended up with something between that and a blink.

Hinata and Naruto looked at each other after seeing the soon-to-be disaster.

She cleared her throat and the voices went down and ears perked up to hear her.

"Naruto and I are engaged." She said, her smile enough to light up the entire restaurant.

Once again Ino gaped. "An engagement party?!" She then swooped in the give them both a heart-filled hug. "Why didn't you guys say so? We would've been able to dress appropriately and congratulate you-" She was cut off however, along with the chattering among Team Gai as the door opened slowly.

Sakura, who had also been about to congratulate and hug both Hinata and Naruto looked up to see... the one thing she almost dreaded...

Sasuke looked up at the people gathered in the room and inwardly cringed. He spotted Sakura and immediately started walking over to her. Naruto watched as well, wondering what happened to him staying at home.

The pink-haired girl looked worried. "Is something wrong? I thought you were staying home today." She asked anxiously.

He only shook his head, an obvious sign of his discomfort with the large crowd of people.

After a moment, things slowly eased back to normal and almost everyone had gone up to congratulate Naruto and Hinata on their engagement, giving hugs and proud looks.

Neji was still at the table, being restrained by Lee and Gai-sensei. Tenten was trying to calm him down.

"Stop making a scene!" She whispered furiously, her voice not sounding angry at all. "Calm down! You can talk with them later!" She tried again.

"They're only freaking eighteen years old! What could they possibly know about relationships and marriage?!" He argued.

"Apparently, a lot more than you." And just like that Tenten silenced him with a sentence and a look.

Ino, Sakura and Kurenai were all gathered around Hinata and Naruto after most people had already spoken to them and decided to proceed to the meal.

"I can't believe this is actually happening." Sakura said in a daze, taking a small sip of what she thought was some kind of juice, which would later turn out to actually be wine. "Naruto and Hinata are getting married."

Ino smiled at them. "I'm so happy for you two! You should definitely have my family's shop do the flower arrangements!"

"It's so nice to see you've grown up into a beautiful, sensible woman Hinata." Kurenai complimented. Then winked to her. "I knew it wouldn't be long before you got a hold of Naruto."

Hinata smiled, wondering how her sensei could be so strong after losing Asuma. She wondered how she would ever go on if something happened to Naruto and turned to look at him. He noticed this and gave her a reassuring grin. Ino 'aw'ed at the little looks they shared.

The blonde girl suddenly snickered. "This is so great! Now all we have to do is wait for Sakura and Sasuke to finally get together." She grinned to herself.

Sakura found this less amusing than the rest of the group, most of which laughed. "Oh yeah? What about you Ino?" She shot back. "We already know how many guys are lined up for a date with you and how many you've already been on. So when are you finally going to get into a real relationship and stop being so picky?"

Ino paled at the thought. "W-what?"

Hinata joined in. "Yes Ino, when do you think you'll be getting married? You must have a boyfriend already, who wouldn't want to go out with you?" Her small smile was enough to hide her laughter.

The four of them looked expectantly at Ino.

Her cheeks suddenly turned red. "Who said I need to get married anyway?" Her wide eyes flickered around. She shifted uneasily. "That's it! I don't need to get married! So I'm not going to. Ever. I can just be with a guy can't I?" She squeaked out.

Sakura smiled lightly at her friend's embarrassed state. She glanced back at Sasuke who sat by himself, staring down at his hands on the table. Naruto caught her and nodded before whispering something in his fiancée's ear and walking to the table.

Unluckily for Naruto he was taken by surprise when someone stepped in front of his path. He looked up into the shrewd eyes of Neji Hyuuga.

"I don't approve of you and Hinata getting married." He stated. Then caught the glare his entire team sent his way. "So soon." He added, for his own safety.

Naruto scratched his cheek, looking uncertain. "Uh... yeah. Sorry about that! I was meaning to ask you and Hinata's dad first, but then we got so caught up in something and then I just found myself blurting out the words."

Neji twitched, wondering what exactly they could have been 'so caught up in'. At seeing the older Hyuuga's mind working in that direction Naruto threw his hands up to his defense. "No, not anything like that! It was a mission and-"

"You had better take care of her Naruto." He said quietly, making his threat hit home. He smiled triumphantly at the priceless look on the blonde's face. Neji awkwardly gave Naruto a pat on the shoulder before quickly retracting his hand like it had been burned.

Both suddenly noticed as another dark-haired boy approached them silently. Sasuke stood before them both, his bangs hiding his eyes.

He looked up with a neutral expression, trying to comprehend what was going on around him. Naruto? And marriage? Had be heard right?

He finally turned to his former teammate and nodded his head in greeting. Naruto was suddenly serious and nodded back as well. Neji took the opportunity to watch the exchange.

"I think we should talk." Sasuke said, causing Naruto to freeze in shock.

'Oh great, am I gonna get grief from everyone today?' He thought to himself.

"Later though. When we're alone." The Uchiha went on.

Naruto nodded and Neji made his way over to give Hinata a hug and warning.

The rest of the night turned out better than Hinata and Naruto had expected. And basically, their expectations were somewhere between having the restaurant explode due to Neji's rage or the happiness coming off in waves from themselves.

Shikamaru sighed to himself, watching as Chouji came back with another plate of food. "Hey, aren't you full yet?" He questioned his best friend.

Chouji didn't bother dignifying that question with an answer.

The jounin looked around the room, wondering when would be the right time to leave without making himself seem rude. Although it was indeed an occasion to celebrate over, he was fast becoming bored.

He suddenly glanced up as laughter echoed through the room from a certain group of girls.

"What?" He heard Ino go, looking vexed over something. "What's wrong with that? Nothing. There isn't anything wrong with being single either." She went again.

Shikamaru sighed to himself. He should really warn Ino about opening her mouth. Most of the time stupid things came out.

"I swear, it's too troublesome." Ino said again, not paying attention to what she was saying, thus completely missing the fact that she had just used Shikamaru's favorite word.

Although, he definitely noticed. And then he overheard as she declared that there was no way she'd ever be getting married. Sakura said she was acting like a five-year old and they ended up making faces at each other while Hinata and Kurenai laughed.

After the small confrontation with Naruto, Sasuke left, only pausing long enough to tell Sakura.

There was the sound of a crash and Naruto cursed, having completely forgotten to remove any kind of alcohol from the sights of Gai and Lee. Now it was too late as they both had been dancing frantically and singing something ridiculous, then just happened to trip over each other before the eyes of Tenten and Neji.

Tenten rushed over to help them up and see if they were injured while Neji, who was still seated, just shook his head at the display. After finding nothing out of place, Tenten gave them both a smack on the head.

Shino, who had been very silent, as usual, the entire night looked up as Kakashi casually walked over and took a seat at a table nearby. He could swear he heard the jounin mutter something before observing the room carefully.

Aside from a few oversights (such as there not being enough food), the engagement party went off very well and everyone left feeling excited and thrilled for Naruto and Hinata. There were more talks of marriage among other people, like Ino suggesting Sakura and Sasuke. And Ino's tactless avoidance of the topic of her own marriage proved she was definitely not ready for commitment.

Lee and Gai were taken home by Neji, Tenten and Kakashi (after Sakura begged him for the favor).

And well... things were pretty good in the lives of Konoha's citizens.

xoxo

"Piece of cake." Ino said, grinning to herself.

Shikamaru glanced at her. "Don't get too overconfident. Anything can go wrong. Stay on your guard and be careful. Don't let anything slip past you." He said carefully.

Although everyone liked to think Shikamaru was still the lazy genin-turned-chuunin, he had grown up and matured. Now he was a very responsible jounin who took his missions seriously. And for that he would always be teased by Ino, Chouji, Naruto and even Sakura.

She shot him a grumpy look but resolved to take his advice. Hadn't she talked about growing up and being more mature just a week ago? Right before Naruto and Hinata had announced their engagement... and Ino had denied herself the very idea of getting married.

The blonde sighed to herself, shifting slightly in her crouched position in the tree. Shikamaru was only a few feet away on another tree branch, his eyes observing the area around them and his mind working on a way to get them out of this situation.

Ino had already completed her part, carefully infiltrating the camp and extracting the needed information from a few dopey guys. The only reason Shikamaru was sent with her was because it would be hard for her to get out on her own, surrounded as they were.

She had suggested to just make a run for it; they were obviously faster than any of the guys at the camp and could easily get away. But Shikamaru had shot down the idea and said it would be better to find an opening and take the opportunity to leave undetected.

"Ino!" She blinked and looked up suddenly to find him looking at her and urgently whispering her name to get her attention.

"Huh?"

"Stay alert and stop spacing out! I'm only trying to keep you alive here!" He said, giving her a pointed look.

Two hours later they had only moved a few miles away from their previous location. Ino was mentally counting all the parts of her body that ached. They were now walking along the ground, Shikamaru had confirmed it was safe enough and they wouldn't be spotted even though it wasn't a big gap in distance. This was only after they spent a good while waiting for one of the guys to slip up on his "guard duty".

"Shika, I'm tired." Ino stated, stopping and leaning her hand against a nearby tree for support.

He sighed to himself. "Troublesome." Then looked over her exhausted body. "Fine. But only for half an hour." Ino nodded and let herself plop onto the ground, bracing against the tree trunk. "Figures, when we finally get a chance to escape you cause trouble."

Ino looked up with an annoyed look but the crooked grin on his face proved he was only kidding. She watched as he took a seat on the ground as well, which soon turned into him lying down on the grass. But the trees blocked his view of the sky.

"What're you doing?" Ino finally asked, giving him a strange look. "We aren't in an open field you know."

"I know that." His voice came out irritated. Then, "I know." He said again, this time calmly, almost lazily. Well, as lazy as he would let himself sound on a mission like this.

Ino looked up to where the trees met and crossed over each other, barely letting any sunlight in. "So then what are you doing?" She questioned again.

He closed his eyes and didn't answer her for a while. She tried to wait patiently. And when she thought she would burst out at him, he finally answered. "Pretending."

Ino scoffed. "What does that mean?"

"I'm pretending that I'm back in Konoha, just at my regular cloud watching spot. And there isn't anything blocking my view and it's a nice, clear day." After his explanation it went silent again.

Ino stared at her friend for a moment. Then turned away with an unreadable face. "That's childish." Shikamaru didn't bother answering; he was actually more tired than he let on. She sighed to herself and picked at the grass around her feet. "But I guess we aren't kids anymore huh?" She asked herself. "Already eighteen... and fully trained ninjas who have a lot of responsibilities. And now Naruto and Hinata are getting married. Did you see that coming Shikamaru? You and your IQ of over 200."

His breathing was even and slow, suggesting that he was asleep. But that was impossible, she thought. Ino shook her head and crawled over to him, too tired to get up and walk. She examined his face carefully.

Shikamaru, true, wasn't actually asleep at all. His senses were still sharp and alert, so he heard as his friend made her way over. Then he felt a hard poke at his cheek. He winced slightly.

"Ha, nice try." She gloated. Then nodded to herself. "But I know, you're too tired and lazy to move. Unless it has to do with the mission." She said, mostly to herself as she rolled her eyes.

Ino moved back, sitting with her legs tucked underneath her. She looked around and sighed, obviously getting bored. And just like old times, she would start bothering him until she dragged a conversation from his lips.

"Hey Shikamaru, when do you think you'll be getting married?" She questioned. "Although, that would be kinda difficult without a girl, huh? Not that I'm saying I disapprove of you being with another guy or anything. It's just I wouldn't have thought of you in that way. Shikamaru? Gay? It just doesn't seem to fit you, that's all." She rambled on by herself.

Shikamaru twitched. He wanted to open his eyes and glare at her for making fun of him, but then she'd have what she wanted, a reaction and he wouldn't give her the satisfaction.

"You know, we hardly ever hang out anymore. You, me and Chouji. What would Asuma-sensei say to that?" Ino sighed again, her thoughts heading in a very depressing direction.

The Nara boy sighed too. "Ino, will you just shut up already?" He asked lazily.

She only turned back to glare at him. "I just wanted a pause to rest, not stop talking altogether. You know," Ino moved over to poke him with each word, "We can still have a conversation while taking a break."

He was about to make a sound of acknowledgement, but Ino suddenly found it funny to pull at his hair. He yelped in surprise and sat up quickly, rubbing his scalp.

"What was that for?" He asked irritably.

"What was what for?" She asked innocently.

Shikamaru glared at her. "Just... stay on your side of the forest floor!" He told her.

Ino broke into laughter. "Really, what happened to that infamous IQ of yours?"

He just sat there and stared at her blankly. The blonde stopped laughing to smile at him, before abruptly standing up. She fingered her long hair.

"You know, maybe I should cut my hair again." She said thoughtfully, her back to him as she walked back to her previous resting spot. "You know, get more into the spirit of growing up and all."

"It isn't something that you make happen." He stated the obvious.

She glanced back with a look. "I know that." She responded indignantly. "But it feels like... everyone's leaving me behind." Ino whirled around to look at him. "I mean, look at you! You're already a jounin and you're so much more responsible and different than you were five years ago. And I'm pretty much the same. Same hair, same clothes, same attitude."

"But at least you're not still crushing on Sasuke." He pointed out.

She plopped back down on the grass and covered her face. "Don't remind me. I feel dumb just thinking about the way I used to act."

"But you're not like that anymore." He tried again. She moved her hands away. "So you're not the same person you were five years ago either."

And before he realized it, she jumped up and was bounding over to throw herself onto him in a hug. She lifted her head up slightly with a wide smile. "Thanks Shika!"

He blushed at the close contact. Not that he'd never had a girlfriend before or anything. But it was Ino and her position on top of him was very provocative, for the mind of an eighteen year old male.

He grabbed the sides of her torso to move her off, which only succeeded in making her squirm as a strangled laugh came from her lips.

"Don't do that!" Ino complained, trying to hit him.

"You're the one who threw yourself on me! Way to go Ino, great idea." He said sarcastically, still holding onto her and trying to remove her from crushing his body. He could barely breathe.

"I could get off-" She couldn't help the few giggles that escaped. "-if you would just stop touching me!" His hand moved a little, causing her to laugh again. "That tickles!" She tried to control herself, finding it was also becoming difficult for her to breathe as well.

What ensued was more squirming, laughing and less breathing. And then the sound of rustling reached both their ears, causing them both to immediately freeze. They waited a second before Ino rolled herself off and moved into a crouch and Shikamaru sat quickly, narrowed eyes scanning the area.

He glanced at the blonde and nodded, then they both slowly moved to stand up. Ino yelped as something whizzed by her face and she barely moved out of the way in time for the kunai to give her cheek a small slice.

xoxo

"Nice scratch." He commented sarcastically.

She shot a look, touching her cheek lightly. "Nice attitude." Ino said back.

They both trudged their way slowly, almost unwillingly through the gates of Konoha, knowing what the next step was and dreading it. Neither could stand to be near the other at this point. After failing to keep their mission concealed and even getting attacked by the camp of people they had been spying on, Ino and Shikamaru wanted to just go home and either take a shower or head straight to bed.

But the Godaime was waiting. And she wouldn't be happy.

Stepping into the building the two received amused looks, snickers and some people were shaking their head. Shizune was luckily in the room and told them to go right in to see Tsunade.

They both stopped before the door, and glanced at each other. Ino sighed and Shikamaru scratched the untamable itch behind his neck. Then the door opened and they stepped through to greet the Fifth Hokage.

She looked up from trying to read over the scrawled handwriting that was supposedly Naruto's mission report. "Dressed like that it must mean you managed to get work done then, am I right?" She asked with a mocking smile.

Ino began to get nervous, thinking the Godaime's smile meant she knew what had happened.

Other the hand, Shikamaru only nodded his head, a calm look on his face. "We were able to get the required information. Ino infiltrated the camp and she'll fill out the report as soon as we leave." He stated with a bored look.

Ino looked at him apprehensively.

The older woman nodded. "And I take it they never realized what was happening? Everything worked out in our favor?"

"Actually... not quite in our favor." He replied, trying to look elsewhere as if it were no big deal.

Tsunade furrowed her brows. "There were complications? I don't understand. What went wrong? Were you not provided with adequate information for the mission?"

Ino finally decided to explain. "It's my fault really." She said, shaking her head. "We did get the information we needed for the mission and I was able to fool them easily. But," She gave a glance at her friend. "We decided to take a break and got distracted. They must've been patrolling the area and we were caught."

Now the Godaime's eyebrows shot up in disbelief. "This was a Rank C mission." She started, getting ready to throw a tantrum. She stood up slowly from the desk. "Are you saying that a jounin and chuunin, couldn't complete such a simple mission without being caught?"

Ino and Shikamaru now looked at each other and winced before the tirade continued.

xoxo

Ino stared straight ahead, waiting for it to be over. She looked around the room, trying to find a way to amuse herself.

The pink-haired girl let her eyes dart to her friends face. "Now can I ask how this happened? Wasn't it just-" She was abruptly cut off.

"A Rank C mission, yes it was. Why is everyone bringing that up?" Ino asked, quickly becoming irritated.

Sakura grinned. "Because," She said, stressing the word. "It was a Rank C mission."

The blonde glared at her friend, slapping the hand that tried to poke the band-aid on her cheek. "Let's just go get something to eat already."

The other got up from her chair and the two left for a place to eat. It had originally been Sakura's plan to meet up with Hinata and Tenten for lunch, and since Ino had returned from the mission early she joined in as well.

The four girls met up and settled into the seats at a fairly deserted diner to have lunch and squeeze in talks of Hinata's engagement, and their boring lives.

The Hyuuga smiled sheepishly as Sakura continued to congratulate her and wished her so much good luck she thought sparks of happiness might start flying through the air.

Sakura sighed to herself and leaned back as they waited for their food. "I never would've thought that knuckle-head would be married before all of us." She commented.

When no one answered she saw the worried look Tenten was trying to hide and noticed the brooding aura coming off her best friend, sitting right beside her.

She sweatdropped. "So how're you guys doing?" Was her sheepish question.

"Awful." Ino muttered.

"Uh..." Tenten looked up, seemingly caught off guard.

Hinata posed the next question. "Ino are you alright?"

"No. I completely screwed up our mission this morning." She fumed.

Sakura admired her friend. A few years ago, the last thing Ino would do was admit her faults and mistakes.

In an attempt to distract herself, Tenten joined in. "What happened? It was with Shikamaru, wasn't it? What could've possibly gone wrong with a stupid genius there?"

The other three stared at her.

"What?" Tenten blinked innocently.

"Oxymoron." Sakura muttered.

Ino decided to continue. "Yeah, he was there. And all he did was end up being a complete distraction! I could've finished that mission easily without him!" She complained.

Hinata smiled at the words, but tried to conceal it by holding her hand in front of her face and faking a cough. Tenten, who was sitting beside her, gave a quizzical look.

"What exactly were you two doing?" Sakura tried to maintain the confused look without breaking a smile at her unintentional innuendo.

Ino shrugged, her arms still folded from her earlier rant. "Just talking."

Tenten caught on and nodded to Hinata and Sakura. "Mm." She went, putting her face on her hands, elbows on the table.

"I was tired." She said defensively. "I hardly got any sleep last night and I said we should take a break. So we did. He was just lying on the ground and I was sitting against a tree and I guess we weren't paying attention so they snuck up on us and... yeah." She ended lamely.

"That was all?" Hinata asked skeptically. "I didn't think Shikamaru would get so easily distracted." She commented.

Ino went to his defense. "Of course not! He's a jounin! And one of the best too."

"So then what else were you two doing?" Tenten asked, and Sakura stared intently.

She blinked, uncomprehending their motive. "Oh, there was the split second he managed to say something nice to me." Ino said, rolling her eyes at the thought of Shikamaru being sympathetic toward her. "So I jumped up to give him a hug and then he started tickling me-"

Sakura's mouth dropped open. "He sure was being friendly, huh?" Hinata giggled at the joke and Tenten grinned.

Ino's confused look only made it funnier. "Well he didn't do it intentionally. It's not like he was-" She stopped short, the realization dawning on her, but finished anyway. "-feeling me up." The blonde turned to glare at the three accusingly. "Ha-ha." She replied.

"You know, it's too bad you and Shikamaru aren't attracted to each other, you would make a cute couple." Tenten said lightly, busying herself with a napkin.

She could only gape as Sakura snickered and Hinata nodded in agreement. "What are you talking about? We've known each other forever!" Ino said incredulously, wondering how this stupid idea got in their heads.

Hinata broke in. "But so have Naruto and I." She responded with a small grin.

Ino glared defiantly, thinking that Naruto had obviously rubbed off on her. "You know what I mean! We've been friends for so long! Why would we ever consider dating each other?" She tried again.

"Yea, but..." Ino turned to Sakura, who was putting up a thoughtful face with a finger on her chin. "With the way you said he was acting it seems kinda strange." She shrugged and left it at that.

The girls quieted down as their lunch came. From the looks of it, Sakura, Tenten and Hinata had completely forgotten the previous topic, and their goal was accomplished. Because instead, it seemed to be stuck inside Ino's head.

xoxo

Tenten sighed for the billionth time that day as she headed back to the office that would contain Neji, always back from lunch early.

Unconsciously she began to bite her nails as she walked into the room. 'What I am gonna do if someone finds out?' She thought worriedly.

She walked into the room and right past Neji, who looked up, only to be ignored. His brows furrowed at her action.

'I mean, who would wanna do something like this to me?' She thought hysterically. 'I haven't done any great wrong to anyone lately, have I?' She went again.

Without paying attention her surroundings, the kunoichi pulled out her chair and sat down wearily. Her bizarre thoughts were interrupted by the only other person occupying the room.

"Tenten are you okay?" Neji asked, looking at her.

She jerked up, and suddenly made a sheepish face. "Yeah, just fine. I was just thinking about the lunch I had with Sakura, Ino and Hinata. We really should do that again sometime soon. It'd be a shame if we grew apart after Hinata and Naruto get married." She rambled on, laughing nervously.

An eyebrow twitched at the mention of the upcoming event. "Right." He said, dismissing her strange behavior.

Tenten shook her head and tried to do something productive. She should really try to clear her head. She could be assigned a mission any day, and what would happen if she let this stupid matter distract her on one? Her brain would turn to jelly and she'd fail.

And that was not something she would stand for.

She was so close to becoming a jounin, just as Shikamaru and Neji were. It would be stupid to waste any opportunity thrown her way to prove herself worthy of the position.

Still...

Neji looked up again as Tenten stood up and shot him a brief smile. "Can I borrow that paper shredder?" She questioned, motioning to the object at his feet.

"Sure." He responded, dumbfounded.

He watched as she got up, unplugged the appliance, picked it up and brought it (in his opinion) as far away as possible from him before putting it in the nearest outlet and pulling a very full looking envelope out from a concealed pocket. She proceeded to take out one piece of paper at a time, although he couldn't see what was on them, to look over carefully before slowly sliding it through the metal blades.

It took about half an hour for her to finish and Tenten didn't seem to mind her position on the floor as she completed her task. And when she was finally done, she got up with a content sigh and left the room, muttering something about washing her hands clean.

Quite understandably, he was curious. So when he figured she was down the hallway, Neji got up to open the shredder and peer at the contents.

He found himself picking up something thicker than a normal scrap of paper.

'A picture?' He thought to himself.

Of course, since the paper shredder was very efficient at its job, there were not long strips of easily visible paper, but little diamond shaped pieces of paper.

'Why would she be shredding pictures?' He questioned again.

But seeing as the evidence of whatever it was, was gone, there was nothing left to stare at. Neji put the lid back on and calmly walked back to his desk, trying to figure out if his friend and former teammate was going insane.

A few minutes later, the subject of his thoughts walked back in cheerfully.

"We're still gonna be training with Lee and Gai-sensei tomorrow, right?" She asked, taking her seat.

Neji sighed. "Oh, right." He said grumpily.

"Don't look so down Neji! It's always a chance to improve as a ninja!" She said eagerly, putting her face in her hands, once again with her elbows on the table.

Neji stared at her adorable face. When he did catch himself, he responded. "I don't think there's much I can improve from with those two anymore. They're always distracting us with stupid topics like... food, or being youthful, or being in love!"

Tenten just smiled at him in a way that made the last thing he said stick.

xoxo

Not far away, in a room down the hall, Kakashi Hatake was being briefed on a mission he would go on in a week. As he left the room, there was only one thing on his mind.

He patted the pocket that would usually hold his favorite possession. Of course there was nothing there. He had yet to find it, and catch the person who stole it. It'd been a few days and by now the jounin was sure he couldn't have just lost the book.

He walked until he was outside the building and looked up at the bright sunlight, hands in his pockets. And with his normal, lanky and laid-back posture he stood there for a while, pretending to admire the day.

'Now who around here has a vendetta against me?' He thought to himself. And underneath the always present mask, he smiled stupidly. 'Scratch that, who here has a big vendetta against me and would be courageous enough to steal my book while I was fully awake and standing nearby?'

He tried to narrow it down a bit further. 'Who did I run into that day?' Kakashi looked around and began walking.

'I didn't run into Gai until Naruto's engagement party. Jiraiya is the last person who'd steal it, he's got a billion copies of it everywhere... I'm sure Tsunade and Iruka disapprove of my choice in reading material... but I wasn't anywhere near them these past few days.'

As he kept up pace and managed to nod in greeting to familiar faces, his mind was still working.

'And although Naruto was a troublemaker in his academy days, he's grown out of it. Besides, he's got his engagement with Hinata. I should probably congratulate him it, if only he hadn't distracted me that night.'

Kakashi stopped walking abruptly and looked up. The woman in front of him did the same, and a small smirk appeared on her face.

"Hello Kakashi." She put up a hand in greeting. The upbeat behavior, mesh clothing and one hand holding a stick with three dumplings could only belong to one Mitarashi Anko.

"Hello Anko." He nodded, his voice coming out smooth as if there were no problems in his life at the moment. He walked over to stand in front of her.

"You looked a little distracted, what's wrong? One of your dogs finally ran away?" She questioned, still smirking and waving the hand with her favorite food around.

As she said this, something clicked in his mind. "Didn't I speak to you just a few days ago?" Was his random question.

Anko looked at him strangely. "Well, come to think of it, yes we did." She replied, looking thoughtful, the end of the dumpling stick tapping lightly on her lower lip. "Why? You're sick of me already?" She mocked.

"Hm..." He replied thoughtfully, trying to remember.

"I was with Kurenai. Don't you remember anything? So much for being a great jounin, eh Kakashi?" She nudged him with her elbow in a joking manner.

Kakashi shook his head upon remembering. There wasn't any way Anko or Kurenai could've taken his book. In fact, he distinctly remembered pushing it into his pocket when he spotted the two walking in his direction and began a conversation.

"Ah... thanks for the reminder." He said, and moved to walk away.

Anko tapped his forehead with her free hand. "You look pretty distracted over something. That's not good. It's too easy to be caught off-guard, and who knows where that'll lead you." She ended with a smirk before also walking past him, and resumed eating her snack.

He turned back at her words, watching as she nonchalantly walked away, back to minding her own business and hungrily scarfing down her food.

'Anko wouldn't have...' He cut off his thoughts.

Of course she wouldn't. She really didn't care for his hobbies or for him as a person at all. Maybe she admired his ninja skills and likewise, they were both impressive in battle. But that was all.

The spiky-haired shinobi tucked his hands in his pockets again and turned back to continue his walk.

xoxo

The pink-haired girl sighed slowly as she turned and closed the door softly, hoping to come in unnoticed. She walked in cautiously, looking around the dimly lit rooms. All the curtains were drawn, even though it was still bright outside.

"Sasuke?" Sakura asked lightly, hoping she would hear the usual 'hm' sound and follow it to find it him. Instead it was quiet and still inside the house.

It was kind of small but there was a kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom. And yet no Sasuke in sight. She sighed and sat down on a couch in the living room, not bothering to pull open a curtain.

'It isn't like him to leave the house so often.' She thought, holding her face in her hands, hunched over. 'Where could he have gone?' She worried.

She stressed momentarily, before finally deciding that he was okay enough to just wander around town. Because really, what could possibly happen? And when did she turn into such a worrisome person?

Sakura laid back onto the sofa, settling her whole body and stared up at the ceiling. 'I started worrying when he finally came back.' She decided. 'I started worrying when I took him in.' She went on. 'I started worrying when I saw how different he was, and how sad he looked.'

She sighed again and put the back of her hand on her forehead. She thought of how things had changed for her. She thought of how things were looking up for Naruto and Hinata and how neutral things were Ino and then looked at how down and desperate things seemed for her. And Sasuke, who seemed so introverted.

The girl closed her eyes. 'It's not fair.' She thought.

Although some people, mostly just girls who were still die-hard fans of Sasuke, might beg to differ. Because she lived with him. And she saw him everyday. And they even slept in the same bed.

To the last reason Sakura would probably scoff. There was never anything romantic or intimate about their sleeping, or living arrangements. It was just something that happened.

Mostly because when Sasuke had come back and she had let him live with her, there was only one bed to begin with. And over time she thought about saving up to buy another one, but there was hardly any room for another bed in there. And she already had a queen-sized bed, so to make room she would have to get two twin beds and it just seemed like a waste of money.

The sleeping together thing started as an accident. Naturally, being a gracious hostess she had given Sasuke the bed and taken the sofa for herself. And then one day she came home early and since he wasn't around, decided to take a nap on her own bed for the first time in two weeks.

And she woke up in the morning to see him next to her, not caring about her being there at all. So she found she didn't mind at all either. It's not as if they cuddled or touched each other either, except for accidental brushes.

She smiled bitterly with lids still unopened. 'I guess we've all grown up in some way. I'm no longer crushing on Sasuke as if my life depended on it.' Sakura thought to herself, her body lying motionless on the couch. 'But I still care for him. Just like I care for Naruto. As friends and teammates. Family almost.' Her mind brought Hinata's image up. 'But Naruto will be starting his own family soon.' Her smile turned pleasant.

The kunoichi finally opened her eyes and moved her hand; she turned over, now facing the coffee table. She laid there, thinking.

'I'm not a childish schoolgirl anymore. I'm almost an adult. Eighteen.' She thought, her green eyes blank. 'I have my whole life ahead of me, but it feels like I've been through so much already.'

She had kept her hair short, liking the light airy feeling around her shoulders and the way it looked felt right with her personality. Remembering how she had grown it out just for a guy now seemed like the dumbest idea out there. Even if it was Sasuke.

Besides, he only treated her as a teammate at best. Even now that they lived together he hardly acknowledged her. He hardly acknowledged anyone actually. But she didn't mind so much. She still took care of him. Made them both breakfast and dinner when she could. She had given up trying to initiate conversation or get him to talk about what was wrong. Sakura was smart enough to figure out that he'd tell her, or someone, when he felt he could.

But two years was a long time. And she was tired.

A few more thoughts flew through her head before she dipped into dreamland, still wondering where Sasuke could be.

xoxo

The lazy boy sighed contentedly, lying back on the grass and putting his hands behind his head. His best friend, Chouji, took a seat next to him, resting his arms on his knees and looking around.

"So how was the mission this morning?" Chouji questioned.

Shikamaru closed his eyes. "Bad." Was his only description.

The other boy knew better than to wait for elaboration, so instead went on to asking more questions. "Wasn't that the one with Ino? What happened?"

Once again his answer was short. "Tch, troublesome."

Chouji smiled at the normal behavior from his friend. "Come on, it couldn't have been as bad as the chuunin exam with Ino." He commented jokingly, bringing up memories of their immature and inexperienced days.

The Nara chuckled to himself. "Yeah. But it got messed up over the dumbest thing. Everything would've gone smoothly if she hadn't distracted us both." He finally opened his eyes and stared up at the clouds passing overhead.

"So it was Ino's fault?" He shook his head. "Doesn't sound like her. She grew out of all that stuff."

Shikamaru sighed. "She was complaining about being tired so I said we could rest for a bit. And then she started talking about nonsense." He shrugged. "And then I said something nice so she jumps on me for a hug. Stupid girls." He mumbled.

Chouji watched his friend cautiously. "So then..." He was searching for the right words, peering around carefully. "You guys were busy having an intimate moment?" He grinned to himself upon seeing Shikamaru's eyes widen.

"What?" He asked accusingly. "We weren't having or doing anything." He said firmly, now staring hard at the sky, a frown fixed on his face.

He pretended to shrug off his earlier comment. "So then what'd you do when she hugged you? How'd the mission get messed up?" He added, trying to keep it to a safe area.

"She knocked the wind out of me first of all; I could barely breathe, let alone concentrate on listening for anybody spying on us." Chouji smiled at that, about to ask what that person might be spying on exactly, but caught himself. "And then when I tried to get her off she started laughing!" Shikamaru sounded incredulous. "And I couldn't get her off since she was laughing and I wasn't breathing so... we didn't notice we were surrounded until it was too late."

At this Chouji became worried. "You guys got out okay though, right?"

He nodded. "Just a few scratches. And even though we got the information we needed, they still found out so the mission was kind of a waste." He shrugged then. "At least it's over."

A moment of silence passed between the two. Chouji stared around at the scenery while Shikamaru closed his eyes again and let laziness wash over him. All that talking and mission-failing was tiring.

"So..." Chouji started off lightly. "What's up with you and Ino anyway?" He asked.

Shikamaru grunted. After a few seconds he peeked open an eye curiously. "What?" He asked back.

"You guys seem kinda... I dunno." He shrugged under his friends gaze. "I mean I noticed it at the party when you guys came in together."

Now both eyes were open. "So? That's not unusual. We're friends and whatnot. And I passed by her house because it was on the way. That's all." Then a suspicious look came over his features. "What're you getting at?"

Chouji just shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothin'. Just, you two seem to be getting pretty close lately. You sure there's nothing going on with you two?"

Shikamaru stared at his friend as if he'd suddenly thrown away his life as a ninja.

He smiled. "Don't look so shocked." He said, giving his friend a nudge with his elbow. "I mean Ino's not too bad looking, right? In fact, I bet just about every guy in the village is awaiting a date with her. I wouldn't think any less of you if you admitted to being one of them." Chouji said with a chuckle.

The other boy looked away, not answering. An image of their blonde teammate came to mind. Yeah, she had grown up, no matter what she thought. She was very attractive. She was smart and a skilled kunoichi.

But she was definitely not his type of girl. And they were friends. Just friends.

And he found himself muttering this out loud. "Just friends." Was his half-hearted, slightly sleepy voiced defense.

Chouji grinned. "Yeah, but you never considered how she might look at it. And she was being awfully friendly this morning, wasn't she? You said she jumped on you, right?"

"It was just a hug." Shikamaru mumbled, turning away.

"And then she wouldn't get off? And started laughing?"

"Yeah, well she mumbled something about being ticklish."

He finally just shook his head. "Right, fine then. If that's the way you see it..." Chouji looked around. "Hey, I gotta go. I'll see you later." And got up, waving goodbye to his friend who didn't bother moving.

Shikamaru stared back at the white fluffs of clouds that passed by. He tried to concentrate on clearing his mind but now his own thoughts were nagging him. Traitors.

'So what? She was just being Ino, and a part of that is her doing random things like giving hugs or bringing up weird conversation topics.' He thought to himself. Finally the subject eased away and he fell asleep in the grass peacefully.

xoxo

The boy, almost an adult, that was missing from his usual residence was currently striding through the streets of Konoha, the sky turning pink as the sun set. He walked forward, arms swinging purposefully as he came to a very familiar spot.

Sasuke paused, memories hitting him full force. He shook his head and moved a flap with his hand before taking a seat at the ramen stand. He waited patiently, resting his arms on the counter and avoiding eye contact. Everybody got the idea and no one bothered him for the time being.

It wasn't too long before a loud, cheerful voice was heard coming closer, greeting just about everyone he saw on his way. The blonde took a seat carelessly next to Sasuke and ordered a bowl of ramen. He made no move or sound to acknowledge his former teammate until a minute had passed.

Naruto put his elbows on the counter and fixed his fingers together, still looking ahead and smiling.

"Hey." He started, finally turning his head a bit.

Sasuke nodded, also replying with a 'hey'.

He started off slow. "So, how's it going?" Naruto asked, eyes turning upwards to stare at the ceiling of the ramen shop.

The dark-haired boy just shrugged slightly. "I'm still here aren't I?" He gave a humorless smile.

Naruto turned back to examine him carefully before turning away. "Sakura says you aren't doing so well." Then he cracked a grin. "But she's so worrisome nowadays. It must be from being a medic-nin and taking care of people so much." He commented.

"Yeah." He replied shortly. Although it never really occurred to him. He really didn't think enough, especially about the person he shared a living space with.

"What? Trying to cover up something? Maybe you tried to make a move on her and it didn't work out?" Naruto nudged him playfully, joking of course.

Sasuke just shook his head at Naruto's teasing, a tiny smile that looked quite real appeared on his face. They watched as Naruto received his bowl of ramen.

And for the first time, he witnessed as Naruto sat there patiently instead of digging right in. The blonde placed his arms on both sides of the bowl, staring into it blankly.

"I feel a little guilty." He started off, glancing at Sasuke. "I promised to meet Hinata-chan for dinner later. I think this will just make me full and I won't be able to enjoy the meal she'll prepare."

The other boy's face shown with surprise at Naruto's thoughtfulness. But he quickly pulled out a smirk. "Since when have you ever managed to get full with just one bowl of ramen?" He questioned mockingly.

Naruto looked up to give him a sheepish look. "Guess you're right." He looked back down at the food for a moment before taking a pair of chopsticks and slowly began to eat. "Nice to know you've still got a sense of humor." He commented, and then paused in eating to pull a face. "Even though I'll never understand it much."

Sasuke's smirk stayed in place and he leaned back a little in his seat. Somehow being around Naruto made him feel like things hadn't changed at all. And yet, he could easily see that Naruto himself had grown.

The blonde looked up to see a reminiscent look on the other's face. "What're you thinking about?" He asked curiously.

Dark hair became more tousled as the owner shook his head. "Just remembering." He caught Naruto's eye. "The stupid missions we used to get sent on by Kakashi."

A grin broke out on Naruto's face. "Like dog-walking. And why was it I always got the difficult one of them?" He questioned rhetorically.

Sasuke chuckled. "No doubt Kakashi has a sense of humor we'll never understand either."

It went quiet a moment before, "Have you spoken to him?" Was the barely heard question.

He just ignored the question and tilted his head upwards, almost as if staring at the ceiling.

A few minutes later Naruto turned fully to face the Uchiha after finishing his ramen. "Look, I'm not gonna go prodding and stuff but if you wanna talk I'm right here. I'm always gonna be here." He waited until Sasuke turned his head to look at the blonde. "Just 'cuz things happened and time passed doesn't mean we aren't friends anymore. It's dumb to think you're alone here." He glared slightly. "In fact, it's dumb to think you're alone anywhere in Konoha." He said, rolling his eyes and remembering the bad tactics Konohamaru used to try and sneak up on him in the past.

Sasuke finally gave out a long suffering sigh. "I just wish things had gone differently." Came his aggravated voice. "Look at the mess I'm in here. I left Orochimaru to come back and barely escaped with my life. Maybe I should've just stayed to die." Naruto glared harder, and he continued upon noticing this. "Look at where I am. No one wants me here. I'm just taking up space and wasting time."

"Well then maybe you should get off your lazy butt and do something!" Was Naruto's forceful reply. Sasuke stared blankly at him. "Come on Sasuke, what am I? The car that constantly has to chase you down the street so you can make it to your destination?" He rolled his eyes. "You're just lucky I've got enough motivation to pass around all the time."

Finally the Uchiha let out a long, heart-filled laugh at Naruto's strange analogy. Naruto smiled at this. The two got up and walked out after Naruto paid for the food.

They each looked up and eagerly took in the sight of night befalling their own little village. Suddenly something snapped inside one of the two.

"Oh shoot! I still need to head over to Hinata's!" Naruto said frantically, grabbing the sides of his head in a comical way. "I gotta go! Sorry about this Sasuke!" He rushed. "We should continue our talk sometime later though." He added before waving goodbye and briskly walking away, and not running like the twelve-year old Naruto would have done.

Sasuke said his goodbye as well, watching his friend leave. He turned around and stuffed his hands in his pockets and began walking back home.

Sakura would be waiting if she had gotten home early. Most likely she'd be worried. But when he would walk through the door she'd only look up at him and sigh in relief and go back to doing something else.

It was a good thing Naruto was so bent on whipping him into a living human being, Sasuke didn't think he could stand himself being this way much longer. It wasn't as if he acted the way he did on purpose now. He just... was unsure of how to proceed with life. How to move forward. Luckily it looked like he would be getting a great big shove soon, by more than one person.

The dark-haired boy looked up as he walked through the almost empty streets. He thought about all the changes he had come to witness. Not just growing as a shinobi and getting stronger, but the people behind the iron will, genius mind or incredible power.

He really hoped he could grow and evolve just as all the people around him had.

xoxo

Don't ask me, my brain has been working overtime on writing and I just couldn't help myself. It was originally just going to be Ino/Shikamaru with small hints of other couples but I got my head organized on paper and wonderful plots and storylines came into mind. Although the characters are strangely out of whack, you all must've guessed by now a theme in here is growing up, change, evolving.

Also, when I got the ideas written down I realized it would be way too long for a one-shot although I could try to fit what would probably come out to be over 20,000 words in all into one chapter. But that would just look too messy and I scrapped that idea.

This "chapter" came out very long no matter how I wanted it to be at least less than 10,000 words. I don't mind though I suppose. I'm excited about this. I won't post until I'm done altogether though. And most likely I'll update the next installment a week after this will be posted.

Thanks for reading, hope you liked it! Criticism and comments are welcome and appreciated. And don't be afraid to just send me a message or email. Although I might not be able to reply.

11-20-06

6:31pm

Okay, I've spent about two/three days contemplating what to do about this. I feel like I have finished this fic but... since through the middle of it things and life started getting in the way it seems to have panned out to something awful. It's not that I'm being pessimistic, beleive me. This story starts out strong for sure... but I guess I got tired and I was down a lot so my off moods affected the way things turned out.

There are five chapters in total and I will update with a new chapter once a week or so, because I believe in giving/getting things in moderation instead of having it all shoved down your throat at once.

And, if you were able to make it through this chapter without falling asleep, I'm impressed. Because the next three chapters are quite long, longer than this one. Hope you enjoyed, though I'm doubtful. Maybe with the extra time I'll be able to change around some things and make it better, though I'm getting too lazy for it... who knows? Ciao.

And also, to check up with what I'm doing, when I will updated something or whatever just check my profile page which I try to update regularly with my going-ons, writing wise.

9-23-07

12:50AM