I don't own Naruto in this story either…sigh…
Good Morning, Nara's!
Destinations:
Shikamaru: Meet squad at 8:00. First report to Hokage at 7:15. Leave at 7:00.
Yuri and Asuma: school at 7:30. Leave at 7:20
Ino: In bed…she wishes.
Rose: …she's two. She doesn't have to go anywhere.
……………………………………………………………………….
Ino's alarm went off at exactly five forty-five a.m. BRRRING!!!!
"Uhhhhhhh…." She reached out a hand from the tangle of sheets and pillows and smacked it with the effective preciseness of a repeated process. Silence.
Five minutes later. BRRRING!!!
"Uhhhhh!" Ino's hand lifted and smacked the alarm again, this time harder. Silence.
Five minutes later. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIINNNGGGGGG!!!!!!!
Ino reached out a hand to karate chop it into oblivion.
"I-no! Do NOT hit it! I don't want to spend fifteen bucks on another one!" Shikamaru's muffled voice came from underneath a fluffy pillow. Ino's hand changed direction and went to smack him on the head. But Shika was expecting this, ergo said pillow.
Ino groaned, but slowly rose from the bed. She stretched, then got up and slowly shuffled into the bathroom. Her husband's snores followed her in. She looked at herself in the mirror.
"Uhhhhhhh." She threw her long blond hair into a messy ponytail, splashed water on her face, then shuffled downstairs, throwing a thin robe over her summer night gown. The time was now six o'clock.
Rubbing her eyes and grumbling, Ino made her way into the kitchen. She pushed the "On" button on the coffee maker, then sat at the table, waiting. After about a minute, she slid down until her head lay on the table, cradled in her arms. I'll just rest my head a minute. No big deal……..
Ino awoke to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. She picked her head up, eyes closed, relishing in that beautiful smell. Walking to the counter, empty mug in hand, the clock above the stove caught her attention.
7:03
"WHAT?!" Ino yelled. She couldn't have slept for almost a whole hour, could she?! She slammed her mug down on the counter and ran upstairs. "SHIKAMARU! SHIKAMARU, WAKE UP!"
Shikamaru lay on a grassy hill, eyes closed, a slight breeze ruffling his hair. He sighed a deeply contented sigh. He was so relaxed, so peaceful. He opened his eyes to look at the clouds. The white, fluffy leviathans rolled slowly across the vast, blue sea above.
'That one looks like a kunai. That one looks like a bowl of ramen. That one…oh no.'
One huge cloud had broken free of the pack and was now rumbling slowly towards him. It was turning a purplish color and small crackles of lightning were dancing across its surface.
"Shikamaru….." the rumbling thunder seemed to be rumbling his name. "Shikamaru….."
"What the…" Shikamaru sat up, staring incredulously at the purple cloud. The surface was changing shape, morphing to look like, like… "Ino?"
The cloud, now a perfect resemblance of Shikamaru's wife, was now right in front of him and the thunder was louder then ever.
"Shikamaru!"
The jonin backed up against the tree.
"Shikamaru, wake up!!"
"What?"
"SHIKAMARU, WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"SHIKAMARU, WAKE UP YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Shikamaru was yanked out of his peaceful dream world by a pillow smashing down onto his head. He awoke with a start and sat up, ninja senses tingling.
"What the-."
"SHIKAMARU I OVERSELPT AND WE'RE RUNNING REALLY LATE AND YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO LEAVE THREE MINUTES AGO AND YOU'RE GONNA BE LATE TO MEET THE HOKAGE SO YOU'VE GOTTA GET UP NOW!"
Ino stopped, gasping in air. Shikamaru stared at her for a second, not moving and looking a little frightened. After regaining control of her breathing, she looked at him sitting there.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WHY AREN'T YOU PANICING DIDN'T YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I JUST SAID!?"
"Um…no."
"WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!? I OVERSLEPT AND NOW YOU'RE LATE TO SEE THE HOKAGE!!!!"
"WHAT?! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT BEFORE!" Shikamaru leapt out of bed and ran to his closet. He grabbed clothes and shoved them on, then he ran to the bathroom. Two seconds later he ran back out, but then went back in almost immediately. Then he ran into the hall, back into the room, all over the place at a speed that could have rivaled an un-weighted Lee.
Ino was temporarily frozen in place. Had she ever seen him move that fast? Ever? She didn't think so. Then she snapped back to reality.
"I'll get you breakfast!" She yelled, and then hurried to the kitchen. As she passed the kids room, she skidded to a halt. I've gotta wake up the kids! She turned around and burst through the door.
"Yuri, Asuma, wake up! You've gotta leave in fifteen minutes!"
She ran back out of the room, but stopped when she heard a cry from the other room. "Mama!"
Rose! Ino turned into the nursery. Rose was standing up in her crib, rattling the bars, yelling, "Mama! Mama! Me out! Me out!"
Ino smiled when she saw her baby. She momentarily forgot about the mad rush for school and work, lost in love for the almost three-year-old. Ino walked up to the crib and picked Rose up, snuggling her close.
"Morning, baby." Ino kissed Rose's soft, blond head.
Rose planted a kiss on her mommy's cheek, wrapping her small arms around Ino's neck. "Mama, me hungy."
"You want breakfast, sweetie?" Ino touched Rose on the nose, causing Rose to giggle. Outside in the hallway, a panicking Shikamaru ran past the door, tugging on his chunin vest.
"Ino!" He called down into the kitchen, "Ino, did you make the coffee?" Shikamaru ran down the stairs, pulling his hair up into a ponytail. Ino, snuggling Rose, walked out of the room and down the stairs as though she didn't have a care in the world. She floated down the stairs and walked gracefully into the kitchen.
"INO, DID YOU MAKE BREAKFAST?!" If Shikamaru had been meeting anyone besides the Hokage, he wouldn't have been panicking. But, since it was, he could not be late. When Shikamaru got now response to his question, he yelled, "INO! INO, WHERE ARE YOU!?"
Shikamaru turned around as Ino waltzed into the kitchen carrying Rose. He froze, an eyebrow twitching. Ino stopped and looked up at him. They stared at each other for a minute. Shikamaru's stomach rumbled.
"I FORGOT TO MAKE BREAKFAST!"
Ino gave a great, shuddering gasp and her eyes bulged. She quickly put Rose in the highchair and began running around the kitchen, grabbing anything edible and thrusting it in Shikamaru's hands. Shikamaru watched as his hands began to fill up. A tomato…a jar of peanut butter…salt shaker…cocktail onions…a whisk.
O-kay…. Shikamaru's eyebrow twitched a little more pronouncedly.
Ino shoved a box of pancake mix into her husband's hands with a decisive sigh. "Alright, that should do it." She wiped her forehead with the back of her arm, panting slightly.
"Uh…" Shikamaru looked at the diverse arrangement of food (and metal) in his hands. "Ino…"
"Have a good day at work! You've got," she looked at the clock, "Four minutes to get to the Hokage's office!"
"FOUR MINUTES!?!" Shikamaru started and ran out of the kitchen, nearly spilling his 'breakfast' on Yuri, but he managed to stop just in time. He kissed her on the head, yelling, "BYE, KIDS!" He slipped on his sandals and hurried out the front door, biting into the tomato as he ran.
Ino sighed, then remembered something. She dashed out the still open door and onto the sidewalk. "HONEY!" She yelled to Shikamaru's retreating figure. "SHIKA, YOU DON'T HAVE TO RUN! YOU CAN JUST PUFF THERE, RIGHT?!!!"
Shikamaru froze, then disappeared in a puff of smoke. Ino, smiling slightly, went back inside to find a surly looking eight-year-old eating a bowl of cereal at the kitchen table.
"What's the matter, Yuri? And where's your brother?" Ino asked.
"Rose took the toy that was in the box," she said, pointing with her spoon at said sister, who was now banging a cheap, plastic figurine against the table, laughing. "And he's still in bed."
"WHAT?!?" Ino stomped out into the hallway and yelled, "ASUMA, YOU HAVE TO LEAVE IN SEVEN MINUTES! YOU GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!"
She waited for a response. Nothing. "ASUMA, GET UP!" Nothing again. "DON'T MAKE ME COME UP THERE!" Ino slammed her foot on the bottom step.
"I'M UP I'M UP I'M UP!" There was a thud as Asuma fell out of bed. He came bolting out the door and hurried down the stairs.
Ino followed him into the kitchen, then set to work making their lunches.
Hm…she thought as she made the sandwiches. I wonder what happened to the peanut butter?
The twins finished eating and ran upstairs to get dressed. A minute later, two voices echoed down from the second floor.
"MOM, HAVE YOU SEEN MY BROWN PANTS?!?"
"MOM, WHERE'S MY BLUE T-SHIRT?!?"
"NO WAY, SHE'S FINDING MY PANTS FIRST!"
"SAYS WHO?!?"
"ME!"
"WHY SHOULD SHE FIND YOURS FIRST?! MY SHIRT'S JUST AS IMPORTANT!"
"NO IT'S NOT! EVERYONE KNOWS GIRLS CLOTHES ARE BETTER THAN BOYS'!!!!"
"THEY'RE NOT BETTER, GIRLS JUST CARE ABOUT THEM MORE!!"
"THAT MAY BE, BUT THEY'RE STILL BETTER!!"
"WILL YOU TWO STOP YELLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"BUT MOM, HE STARTED IT!"
"NO I DIDN'T!"
"YES, YOU DID!"
"NO!"
"YES!"
"NOOOO!"
"YESSSSS!"
"I DON'T CARE WHO STARTED IT BUT I PROMISE THAT THE NEXT PERSON WHO YELLS WILL BE DOING THE DISHES UNTIL THEY ARE FORTY-FIVE YEARS OLD!!!!"
Silence.
Ino sighed contentedly, putting aside the kids' finished lunches.
"Mama!" Ino turned around. "Mama, 'till hungy!"
"Oh, my baby, I'm so sorry!" Ino stepped over and hugged Rose in the highchair. "I'll make you breakfast right now."
A few minutes later…7:21
"Yuri, Asuma, you're going to be late!" Ino stood in the kitchen, feeding Rose her breakfast, only half of which was on the plate. The other half was spread over the chair, the table, Rose's bib, and Ino's face and nightgown. Rose was having a blast, but Ino's patience was gone. "KIDS, YOU ARE GOING TO BE LATE!!!"
A series of clumps, bumps, and shrieks were heard from the hallway as the twins half ran half fell down the stairs. They opened the door and were half way out when…
"DON'T FORGET YOUR LUNCHES!!!"
Asuma and Yuri changed direction and ran into the kitchen. They grabbed their lunches and bolted. As Yuri's dark ponytail disappeared out the door, Ino yelled,
"HAVE A GOOD DAY AT SCHOOL!"
She turned back to Rose, just in time to receive a face full of egg. Ino's face got very red. Rose laughed merrily, banging her spoon on the table. Ino held her anger for a second, but then let it go with a sigh and slumped down in her chair. Within seconds, she was fast asleep. And she never even had her cup of coffee.
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Wow, I am SO sorry for the wait. The combination of school, a one-shot, writer's bloc, and ending your first epic just made it impossible for me to update. I am very very sorry and I thank you all for sticking with this.
I had so much fun writing this chapter, once I got into it, and I hope that you all had fun reading it. I promise that someday, the missing family will come. I just can't manage to get them in.
Anyway, thanks to those who reviewed, and to those of you who haven't reviewed, could you please try and get into the habit? It's not that hard. All it takes is a couple clicks of the mouse, a couple words like, 'good chapter' or 'that was cute', and that's all! And then, after you review, I'll reply to it! It's amazing that so simple an act can bring such happiness to a person.
Thanks again, and I'll update as soon as I can.
Thank you to purpleface14, who, back in chapter four, noticed that Nemar's name is actually Ramen spelled backwards! Good job!