"Maki! Come inside and finish your lunch right now, young lady!" I called out the open window. It was a day just like yesterday. Everything looked the same, but the mood was entirely shifted. As drunk as we adults were, we hadn't forgotten what Sakura had said.

"Coming Mommy!" Maki called, tossing her baby doll to Dani and sprinting into our house. She heaved herself up onto the chair, and sat on her knees. I put her half-eaten sandwich and chips back in in front of her and she gave me a blinding smile. I smoothed her hair down, my mind completely distracted with thoughts of Sakura… and Sasuke.

"Done!" Maki announced proudly, snapping me out of my daze. I looked down and saw that she had, in fact, finished her lunch and I let her go back outside. I watched Maki grab Dani's hand and the girls ran over to play with Kai and Kitsu. I saw Maki pull Juun over to join them as well. I saw Hinata smile at her son then go back to her book. I saw TenTen and Neji's shadows behind their blinds, dancing to the radio together. Neji was such a romantic…

But I didn't see Sakura. And I didn't see her the next day either. And the day after, everything changed.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Finally Sakura made an appearance outside on her porch and I all but sprinted over before she could hole up back inside.

"Sakura!" I panted, running up to her. Sakura's jade eyes widened and I couldn't help but notice the fear in them.

"Hey, Ino." She said casually. I forced a grin onto my face and sat in my normal seat next to her.

"Sakura, I really wanted to talk to you about what you said the other night." I was speaking slowly, trying not to startle her. "What you said… about Sasuke."

"I'm sorry Ino, I can't remember…" Sakura wouldn't look me in the eye.

"I'm not kidding Sakura! If he's messing with you, I need you to let me know. I don't want you letting him get to you like you did when we were teenagers."

"I'm almost thirty Ino, I can take care of myself!" Sakura shouted, getting right in my face. Completely caught off guard, I fell backwards out of my chair and skinned my elbow on the ground. Sakura stood up immediately and covered her mouth with her hand.

"Oh God, Ino. I-I'm so sorry!" Sakura gave me her hand which I reluctantly took, rubbing my sore butt and arm. As soon as I was standing Sakura quickly let go of my hand and disappeared into her house. I cursed silently under my breath and headed home.

"Be back before dinner." I told Maki as I passed, forcing myself to sound chipper. Maki eyed my skinned elbow but didn't say anything.

That's my girl…. I thought.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

I rubbed my hair dry with a towel after my hot shower and threw on jeans and a T-shirt. I put on a locket from my father, Inoichi, and went downstairs to finish dinner. I could hear children still laughing outside and I shut the window tightly, not in the mood to listen to them at the moment. I threw some spaghetti in a pot of water and sat down at the kitchen table, cradling my head in my hands. I must've fallen asleep because the next thing I knew a soft kiss was placed on the nape of my neck. I sat up groggily and Shikamaru smiled gently down at me.

"Troublesome, I guess I'll order some pizza?" Shikamaru offered. I laughed when I looked over at the stove and realized that I hadn't even turned the fire on. My noodles had been sitting in cold water.

That was when I felt the piece of paper in my hand.

"What's this, a love letter?" I teased Shikamaru. But he just gave me a funny look.

"I was about to ask you the same thing." He said. I frowned and turned the paper over.

Mommy and Daddy,

I'm having a sleepover with my friend tonight.

Love, Maki

P.S. You forgot to boil the water.

I was instantly panicked but before I could react Shikamaru's hands were on my shoulders and he told me he would call Sakura. I nodded numbly because it was all I could do as I read and reread the note.

"Ino, honey, she's not at Sakura's." Shikamaru called to me urgently. I just nodded my head. I already knew. In Maki's letter she had originally spelled friend, 'freind'. But someone else had corrected it for her. An adult had crossed it out and rewritten it in neat, simple cursive.

My baby girl had been kidnapped.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

TenTen's arms were around my shoulders and Hinata was dabbing away my silent tears with a tissue. We had been sitting here like this, not saying a word, for the past half hour. We were just listening to the men in the kitchen shouting. Neji was the police chief, but everyone knew Shikamaru outsmarted him, even if my husband was a corporate man. Naruto himself wasn't the brightest, but had his own good ideas that were being input quite loudly.

"Just go down to the station and test the damn paper!" Shikamaru's voice could be heard. Then Neji's low rumbling that I couldn't make out. Shikamaru's voice got low as well and I just stopped trying to hear them. All I could hear now was Maki's laughter, ringing in my ears. I closed my eyes and tried to shut everyone out and focus on my daughter's voice.

"Ino, baby, we're going down to the station." Shikamaru called to me. I didn't even open my eyes.

"I think she's fallen asleep." Hinata told him in a hushed voice. I still didn't stir.

"Poor girl, cried herself right to sleep." TenTen murmured, mostly so only the two of us could hear.

"Don't worry, we're gonna find out who did this, believe it!" Naruto said confidently. The 'believe it' at the end of every sentence was a bad habit he picked up when we were kids, but Hinata loved it. Right then, with all the determination in his voice, I kind of loved it, too.

"Don't bother." I said quietly, unable to keep what I knew to myself anymore.

"Oh, Ino. You're awake." Hinata said, surprised. I just lifted my head off of her shoulder and wiped the dried tears off my cheeks. Everyone was looking at me and I lost my voice for a second. But when I heard Maki's laugh again, I got my confidence back.

"I know who took her." My words were met with uncomfortable silence. They didn't believe me. The men didn't think there was possibly anything I could know that they didn't.

"We're just gonna test it to be safe." Shikamaru told me gently. I waved him away and stood up facing Neji.

"It was Sasuke Uchiha."