Here is the story, Leave The Pieces, originally written by enchanted-nova. Who has graciously allowed me to adopt this story from her and I hope I can do it justice as she had wanted it to be. The first few chapters are originally hers but I have only tweaked it a bit to include what I like. I at least tweaked the first part and the pairings and I'll do the same to the first five chapters. I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me, it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. The original story itself belongs to enchanted-nova. I will only tweak it a bit.
Summary: After the Fourth Shinobi World War, Ino had decided to give up her life as a shinobi. She had seen enough death and bloodshed; no longer wanting to be a part of it. Four years have passed since the war, and Ino is now living a quiet life helping her mother with the flower shop and helping out at the hospital from time to time. She has stopped talking with her previous teammates, but all that is about to change. There has been a line of murders happening across the Fire Region, and Ino's skills as a mind walker are needed in order to capture this villain. Shikamaru tries to remind Ino of the importance of being a shinobi and during their short times together, feelings begin to emerge, however the enemy will do everything to tear them apart.
Pairings: ShikamaruxIno, NarutoxHinata, SasukexSakura, and other minor pairings.
PREFACE
"I want you to talk to her," Ibiki explained as he sat down in his big leather chair. Shikamaru Nara studied the scar-faced interrogator and sighed heavily. He knew that he would regret having lunch with Ibiki. The twenty-one year old genius placed his hands on his hips. "You've always been good at talking to her."
"Ibiki," Shikamaru began, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Ino made up her mind, you can't change that." The pineapple head stared at the leader of the Interrogation Unit. After the war and the loss of her father, Ino Yamanaka had taken a small break from being a shinobi and worked mainly at the hospital and her parent's flower shop. As it was, Shikamaru rarely saw the blonde mind walker. He hadn't even spoken to her in almost a year. It was never intentional, but she had put her shinobi days behind her, making it hard for him to see her. He'd even tried to convince her to reconsider, but she refused.
"I know," Ibiki said, lacing his gloved fingers together. "But you can."
Shikamaru rolled his brown eyes. "I haven't even spoken to Ino in over a year, I mean I might have seen her through a foggy window five months ago, but that's it." The lazy genius shrugged his shoulders and stood patiently, waiting for Ibiki's come back.
"Take this as a mission," Ibiki said with a wave of his hand.
Shikamaru scowled. "Why do you need her so badly? You have many skilled shinobi in the Interrogation Unit." He narrowed his eyes at Ibiki, who leaned back in his chair and huffed.
"That's classified," Ibiki replied.
"Then find someone else to help you, cause I certainly won't," Shikamaru said in the politest way possible. The thing was, Shikamaru wasn't under Ibiki, they were equal level subordinates now. Normally Shikamaru wouldn't refuse, but he also wasn't about to get Ino into something she didn't want to do. He didn't have to talk to her to know she would refuse. The Chief Tactician of the Leaf turned on his heels and went for the door. "I'm sorry, Ibiki."
"There's been a line of murders," Ibiki spoke out just before Shikamaru pulled the door open. He slowly turned to look at Ibiki, who began to rub his temples in frustration. "They've happened all across the Fire Region."
Shikamaru raised a brow. "What does this have to do with Ino?" While the two of them might have not exactly been friends anymore, Shikamaru still did care about her. He would never admit it out loud, but he missed her company from time to time.
"This murderer goes after the same targets," Ibiki explained, causing Shikamaru to furrow his brows. "Young women who are single."
"That's hardly a correlation," Shikamaru pointed out with a shake of his head. "You need more than that."
"It isn't much, but we do have more information. As I said this is classified, and I think Ino would be perfect to lead this investigation," Ibiki paused for a moment, "if we can get her to take on the mission that is."
"You'll need something more conclusive," Shikamaru told Ibiki firmly. "Young women who are single? There are hundreds of young single women who live in the Fire Country."
Ibiki was getting tired of pushing, so he decided he would put an end to the conversation. "Look, just try. That's all I ask."
As you can see the prologue isn't entirely different than before. I hope that whoever had read this story before, I hope can read it again. Thank you.
