Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
A/N:Thank you Becca, for being my Beta. And thank you Shubaltz Crazist and Lives-In-2D for being moral support and faithful reviewers. I hope you all like it as much as you say you do. Here is an extra long chapter. It doesn't feature Kankuro, but don't worry. He's in the next one... maybe. Sand Village does have its own problems you know. Kankuro can't always be in Leaf Village. Garra does need him to do stuff.
Enjoy! :D

[EDIT] It has come to my attention that the origianal chapter 7 was too frangemented so I split it up into two chapters. What was originally going to be chapter 8 is now chapter 9.


The mission wasn't going well at all. Ino had woken up the night after the party with a terrible headache, probably from stress, which still lingered. She had gone straight from her house, after she kicked out her father, to the Hokage's office to get this mission. It was a simple C rank, or at least it was supposed to be. She was to go with a group of Genin and their leader to rice country and escort the three visiting ninja back to their country. The foreign ninja were fun and amused the kids. She had befriended them, but at the last minute they turned on her team. One kid was killed, the other two were struggling to stay alive and their Jounin leader was trying to be everywhere at once.

Ino dodged behind a rock, deflecting kunai. What made things worse was, when she tried to help and get closer the enemy simply pushed her back. One of the kids darted to her side and she focused healing chakra to her hands.

The kid almost reminded her of a mix between her and Choji. Rosy cheeks, a lust for food, and a kind smile mixed with a thin body and a loud boisterous voice. Ino and him had really bonded, though right now she couldn't remember his name, perhaps it was for the best.

She had known that at any point a teammate could die. But it had never hit her quite hit her until Choji almost died in the hospital. She had been so concerned with her looks and catching Sasuke that she never realized how much her team had meant to her, how much she loved them.

Shikamaru had been her first friend and her first love. He was one day older then her and a hundreds times smarter, thus envied him for it, but she couldn't deny that he had swept her off her feet. Their fathers were hoping to unite the two families and had almost succeeded.

"Shika! Shika!" Ino was five and it was Shikamaru's birthday. He had fled to his backyard to escape the party, but she refused to be left behind.

"What is it you troublesome girl?" He glanced over his shoulder as his short haired stalker followed him.

"Shika! Wait!" She tripped over a tree root and squeaked. Dirt was flung up into the air by the impact. Ino sat up and looked at her hands. They were scraped and her new purple pants had holes in the knees. Tears began to build up in her eyes. They fell at a fast rate, but she refused to make more of a sound then a whimper every now and then.

Shikamaru walked over sighing, "Stupid girl. How are you going to be a ninja if you can't even take a fall. Ha! How are you gonna be a ninja if you can't even catch up with me?"

Ino looked up her lips trembling. "Its all your fault Shikamaru! If you had waited like I asked then this wouldn't have happened!" She yelled at him startling the deer nearby, causing them to panic and stampede away.

Ino gasped and Shikamaru flung himself over her. She hugged her knees, squeezing her eyes closed tight. "Shika..." She whispered.

His breath was warm on her ear as he whispered, "Its okay Ino. I wont let them hurt you." It was then her love for him bloomed from brother-sister love into something else.

The ground ceased to shake and they could hear Inoichi calling out for them. Ino looked up at Shikamaru with questions burning in her eyes. He looked down at her, in return, and place a gentle kiss on her nose. A gasp escaped through her lips. They heard both of the clans calling out for their heirs. Ino blinked and straightened, "Its okay Daddy! Shikaku-san! We're okay!"

Inoichi and Shikaku landed in front of them. Shikamaru had moved to lean against a tree, even as a child he was lazy and bored all the time. Inoichi picked up Ino, "Are you sure, Princess? You're not hurt?"

Ino looked at her hands and said, "I tripped, then yelled at Shikamaru because he wasn't waiting for me. But he made it all better by making sure the deer didn't hurt us. I'm okay Daddy. Really!"

Inoichi shook his head then said, "Well you're lucky that Shikamaru is your knight in shining armor. I don't know what I would do if my little girl got hurt." He turned to Shikamaru and gave a small bow. "I am very much indebted to you."

Shikamaru thought a minute then said, "Good. Then you can get her Highness out of my sight." Inoichi's jaw dropped and Shikaku laughed good naturedly. Her father took it to mean Shikamaru didn't like Ino at all, but she knew better.

Inoichi turned to leave and she mouthed, "Happy birthday, Shika."

Shikamaru smiled at her and she felt her heart melt. To hide the oncoming blush, she buried her face in her fathers neck. She was clumsy only around Shikamaru.

Ino's parents watched as the relationship between Shikamaru and Ino prospered until it was impossible to separate them. They talked on the phone and when he was having family problems she always snuck out to the park and met him there. They would talk for hours, cuddled up with each other in a blanket, and stare at the stars.

She was certain he loved her too. At least, he did until they started academy. They grew farther apart, not by choice, but because of the different training. One day, when an older kid was kicking dirt up in her face and pulling her hair, which had grown out to shoulder length, he didn't help her. No one did. He turned his head away to look at a butterfly on the tree trunk, afraid to get hurt. When her knight didn't come and rescue her, her heart turned cold, almost to stone.

Letting our a furious scream, she had fought like a mad woman to get the kid off her. After he backed off, she still refused to let him off the hook. She kicked and punched, showing off the skills she had been honing since that fall on Shikamaru's 6th birthday. It was her turn to be the tormentor and she was until he cried for mercy. She had been tempted to keep on beating him, but she didn't want to look like the bully. So instead she held out her hand to help him up.

The boy refused her hand. She didn't know who he was, but he didn't come to academy after that. Rumor said he was thrown out. She liked that rumor and she liked the reputation she was getting. So she nursed it, watching in glee as it got bigger. Shikamaru disappeared from her radar, only showing up on special occasions. It got lonely. She didn't have another friend until Sakura.

She had truly just wanted the mean bully to leave Sakura alone because the bully was just too annoying. But that was the stem from which her relationship with Sakura grew. They became best friends quickly and Ino helped Sakura the best she could.

Ino was trying to explain the theory behind Genjutsu when Sakura said, "Ino? Why do the other girls giggle when they look at the boys?"

A smile appeared onto her face, "Thats because they have crushes on them."

"Whats a crush?"

"Silly, Its when a girl decides that they like a boy." Ino replied.

"Do you have a crush on anyone Ino?"

Ino thought a minute. Dare she say she had a crush on Shika? No, she loved Shikamaru. It wasn't the same. "No."

"Oh... If you did who would it be?"

"What?"

Sakura grinned at her. The timidness was slowly disappearing thanks to Ino's continous efforts. "Well... who do you think is cutest?"

"Oh... well why didn't you say so in the first place? Hmm... well... Kiba is okay looking but the cutest one is Sasuke."

"Why?"

Ino looked up to the sky thinking, oblivious to Shikamaru listening in on their conversation. "Well, he... he just is. He is cute. I can't much explain it more then that. Why all this talk about boys, Sakura?"

Sakura blushed and said, "I... I just wanted to know what you thought."

Ino looked at her strangley, "Okay. That's weird, Sakura! We don't have time to think about boys! We are gonna be ninja!" She threw a fist in the air which accentuated her joyful yelp. Glory was just within her reach she could feel it! She looked at Sakura. She was a bud still, but a little love and tender care would transform her friend into a beautiful flower. Even more beautiful then a Cosmo flower. It wasn't a joke when she had said it, thats what she truly thought. While Sakura bloomed, she would stand right beside her and help fend off the pests.

Sakura just smiled weakly before making an excuse to go home. Ino shook her head lovingly. "My pretty little Sakura."

"The life of a ninja will destroy her prettiness." Shikamaru was leaning against a tree.

Ino spun in surprise. It took her a few moments to figure out who it was. "No, it won't." Ino refused to believe that. She stuck out her chin saying, "Haven't you heard, dead bodies underneath a cherry tree stains its blooms and makes it more beautiful."

Shikamaru closed his eyes then said, "Yes, but then you have to worry about whether or not the tree will rot."

"Just don't stick a poisoned body underneath it."

Shikamaru glared, "But it can't be helped most times. The day will come when you put too many dead bodies under the tree and Sakura will wilt and die. The only thing left being a dead tree, a shell, to mark her passing."

Ino shook her head in denial, "No. Sakura is stronger then that! And I will be there to help her!"

"What if she pushes you away? You can't always be there for her Ino. They never put more then one Kunoichi on a team and you will be with me and Choji. Team Shika-Ino-Cho, just like our fathers."

Ino glared, "Sakura is my best friend! She would never do that!" Then she turned and ran all the way home.

Even though Shikamaru warned her, she was still surprised when a year or two later Sakura pushed her away and denounced their friendship. Ino didn't care about Sasuke. He was cute, that was it! Why let him ruin their friendship? She didn't want to be Sakura's rival! But she looked into Sakura's eyes and realized it was the only way her fragile little bud would grow to become strong enough to withstand the poison of killing. It was the only way she could help her beloved friend to bloom. So she agreed.

They heard Sasuke loved long hair. So Sakura and Ino grew out their hair, but Ino didn't like it. She put it in a low ponytail, but then it got to long, in her way. So she put it in a high ponytail. Sakura kept it down to spite her.

Sakura was always more obsessed even though Ino prided herself on being head of his fan club. It wasn't until they got into Iruka's class that Ino really started to get into the game. She began to eat less and study less. She became louder, trying to get Sasuke's attention. For her it had never been a constest to get Sasuke, but to outshine Sakura. Soon she lost sight of her true purpose and began to become the pest she had promised to help Sakura fight against. Shikamaru wanted nothing to do with her now, but she sat with him anyway, wanting with all her soul for him to love her.

Ino's mind came back to the battle quickly. Peaking over the rock she saw the Jounin losing strength. These ninja were obviously S level if they beat her team down so easily. The woman -did she say her name was Sushina?- was obviously the leader.

Ino began to think quickly and muttered, "Kami, Shika... what a time to ditch me." The kid looked at her -Jinkinimi or something like that- his face asked if she was crazy. She closed her eyes briefly to concentrate. "Hey kid. Think you can watch my body? Maybe I can fix this."

The kid -she had to find a better nickname for him- nodded with a spark of curiosity in his eyes. Ino grinned and the boy gasped, "Yamanaka Jutsus!"

She nodded and stood up aiming her Mind Transfer Jutsu at Sushina and left her body just as Jink -yes that was a adequate nickname- screamed in agony. Ino fell to her knees, her head lolling down. A dark shadow passed over her and its owner, a man, said, "Bag her up. Burn the others."

"Yes sir!"