A/N Yes this first chapter is short, but no worries, the next ones will be longer. This one is mainly here so you have an idea as to what's going on. Just to get the story rolling. I will update as soon as I can.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto is the maker and owner of Naruto.
I groaned and rolled over, the thin sheet of the bed crinkling beneath me. I couldn't sleep, not knowing he was out there. I looked out my window now. I could have sworn there was a shape there. But... it was gone now.
xXx
"Mom, I'm heading out!" I yelled as I made my way down the brown stairs, the same low creak coming from the fifth stair down.
"Be careful, Ino. The rogue ninja are still out there!" My mom's voice was sweet and concerned. I smiled slightly before my face contorted in annoyance.
"Ugh. I know Mom! I am a trained Kunoichi after all, I can take care of myself." Plus I had Shikamaru and Choji, my old teammates. We had graduated now, after all. No longer genin. My thoughts trailed off when I started thinking about my mom's worries, I stopped by the door, my hand resting on the doorknob. There were some rogue ninja, members of the Akatsuki, sighted just outside of the village. I wonder what they were after, and could only think of one thing. The Kyuubi. Naruto, the child who carried the Nine tailed fox.
The Akatsuki were a dangerous group of rogue ninja, who had all abandoned their villages. They usually had a robe that had red clouds on it, and they wore their headband, a slash through their village's symbol.
I shook my head as if that could clear my thoughts, and turned the doorknob, stepping out. The light hit my face, making me temporarily blind, that's why I jumped when the hand touched my shoulder.
"Troublesome girl," he mumbled under his breath and then looked at me more closely,"What has you so jumpy?"
"I'm not jumpy!" I snapped at him. I really wasn't jumpy, it's just that I had been thinking about the Akatsuki and the figure that was outside of my window. What could it have been? Was it one of them?
"Hey, Shikamaru, do you think the Akatsuki would.." I shook my head, embarrassed about my question. Of course they wouldn't be after me. I was just a flower shop girl. A regular Kunoichi, a female ninja. I wasn't important enough to be a target. "Never mind," I mumbled.
Shikamaru looked the same as ever, his dark hair pulled into his signature pony tail. His brown eyes looked lazy, like him. He was a genius, yet he was too lazy to pass a simple test.
He only sighed and spoke, his voice, as always, no more than a mumble. "You're such a pain in the ass, y`know- Hey!" He jumped back as my foot flied at him.
"What were you going to say? Anyways, why are you even here? I thought you'd be lazing under a tree somewhere." I smiled sweetly and glared at him. It's true, he spent most of his time lying in a field and staring at the sky. Watching clouds. I didn't really get it, they were just clouds. Boring, I thought.
"Nothing, nothing. Eh.. I would be.." He walked forward a few steps before he paused and turned around, looking at me. "and I have a reason for coming here. Lady Tsunade requested the old team 10 to come to her office immediately."
My eyes widened slightly at the news. "Ah..Yes. Well, let's get going then." We walked like normal, me in front. him dragging behind like the lazy ass he is. "Come on you bum! The hokage requested us! We don't want to be late!"
I don't know how my thoughts turned to this, maybe since I was talking about Lady Tsunade, I thought of Sakura, witch lead to me thinking about Sasuke. The only reason I had been 'interested' in him was because Sakura,my pink haired best friend, had ruined our friendship over him. I couldn't just forgive her. So I had made up my mind to hurt her too, to win. How childish. Our friendship ruined over a boy. How could she do that to me? After I helped her bloom into the flower she is.
Sure, Sasuke was gorgeous, and more than that, he was the last surviving member of his family. Besides Itachi, his elder brother and member of the Akatsuki. How could someone murder all of their family, and clan like Itachi had? It was so brutal and bloody. Absolutely horrid.
My thoughts once again trailed on to Sasuke. Why did he run away from the village? I didn't know much of the details, just what I heard from Naruto.
Ah.. Naruto. He had matured a lot, and believe it or not, I had grown to respect him. Maybe even lean on him some. He has saved this village many times. Even saved my team. To believe the blonde haired idiot could grow so much. He was, if anything, stubborn. More stubborn than me, and that was something.
I sighed at my thoughts, they were moving to quickly. I couldn't stay concentrated on one thing. Not right now, with so much happening.
xXx
I opened the doors into the blonde Hokage's office, walking in and bowing slightly. Choji, my other old teammate, was already there. His hand was clenched around a bag of chips, his knuckles turning a dim white. His small eyes looked stunned. Lady Hokage must have told him something. The expression didn't fit him. It was odd, my usually cheery and always eating teammate looked worried.
My eyes focused on the village leaders trembling hands. "Tsunade-Same what is it? What's wrong?"
"It's about Naruto..." Come to think of it, I hadn't seen him around for a couple of days now. Not since that conversation. That very odd conversation. I looked at the slightly scratched floor and blinked into the memory of the not so distant past.
xXx
"Aye, Ino! Wait up!" I sighed and skirted to a halt, waiting for the other blonde to catch up with me.
"Yes Naruto. What is it?" I turned around to glare at him, but stumbled back a step, surprised by his expression. I looked around for danger at once, it was instinct. No attacker. Nothing but the random walking of villagers, and running of children. I loosened my stance and waved at him to hurry.
He stopped right in front of me, crouching down, his hands on his knees, catching his breath. "H - Have you heard of the Akatsuki?" Naruto looked bad, he was dripping sweat, a cut that I hadn't seen on his cheek was bleeding lightly, and his breathing was rough.
I nodded once, telling him I had, and telling him to continue. "They're here! They're outside. I need you to tell grandma Tsunade! I'm going out there after them! They might know about Sasuke!." Then he turned and ran off, my hand was raised slightly towards him, as if to stop him.
The rain started falling then, staining the ground in dark little circles.
xXx
I gasped out of the memory, my eyes wide. "No.." He had sounded so excited. When I went and told Tsunade she said she was sending back up after him. I never thought that- My thoughts were cut off by Shikamaru's voice, now urgent.
"They got Naruto." His voice made the sentence into a statement rather than a question. I never understood Shikamaru's and Naruto's unlikely friendship. Naruto annoyed Shikamaru, yet he saved us time after time. He and Shikamaru just kind of became friends, I didn't even know when.
The concern in Shikamaru's voice was unmistakable, but what surprised me more was the pain, only more intensified by the silence in the light brown room. I don't know what caused it, maybe it was him knowing what this would cause the village. Likely. Or maybe it was his own fear of what could happen to Naruto, causing the pain in his voice. I think so.
I leaned forward, toward Shikamaru. I wanted to comfort him. I blinked and straightened myself. Why did I want to comfort him? 'Because he's your best friend.' I told my self, though there was something inside of me that sensed a false note in my attempt to convince myself.
It was Choji's voice I heard now. I was frozen, not even able to turn and look at his face; My eyes were on Shikamaru. "What can we do?" Choji sounded concerned too, but I knew that the concern was for the same reasons as me. He heard Shikamaru's pain, also. Him and Choji were very close, and because if the Akatsuki had Naruto... they had the Kyuubi.
That's when I felt the air shift, and gravity's pull on me. I couldn't stop myself from falling, I was too deep in thought. In realization of what this meant. My body hit something, but I didn't care, I was thinking.
I wasn't stupid, I was one of the top graduates at the academy, right behind Sasuke. I would have been behind Shikamaru, if he tried. I knew what this meant for our village, I knew what it meant for my family; My dad, my mom.. I knew what it meant for my friends; Choji. Sakura, who had betrayed me, yet I still cared for her. Lee. Neji. TenTen. Hinata. Shikamaru.. Shikamaru!
I gasped and realized that I had missed something. I hadn't hit the floor. No this was too soft, much too soft. My hands reached out and explored whatever was holding me up. They searched, looking for any clue as to what had caught me. My eyes widened when I came across a stiff pony tail, and I jumped back.
"Shikamaru. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.." I trailed off. My cheeks were burning. Blush. Ew, why was I blushing? I shouldn't be. He had only caught me. It was from the embarrassment of falling, I told myself.
"Troublesome woman, quit apologizing. You were falling, so I caught you. No big deal." His hand was behind his head, no hint of blush on his cheeks.
"Shut up, jerk." I turned towards Tsunade, stubbornly and took a deep breath, calming myself. "Tsunade-Sama.."
The work atmosphere was immediately back and we spoke together: "What do we do?"
My voice, determined. Choji's voice, slightly anticipating. Shikamaru's voice, still concerned. Team ShikaInoCho was back. We would make Asuma-Sensei, our dead Sensei, proud. He would see us from wherever he was now.
It was on!
Review please. Constructive Criticism is welcome.