A/N:

I'm spending a week somewhere else, luckily my hotel has internet, I don't think I'll be writing much though, I'll try!

Hope you enjoy this chapter; I've got a rough idea to whereas Sasuke is to go…but, this is a flash back chapter.

I would love you all if you gave me a new anime to watch, I hate waiting for new episodes so please, a finished one.

Why a new anime, because I'm getting bored waiting for Naruto, Bleach, One Piece and Air Gear manga to come out. Those are my four favorite animes; in ever, plus Inuyasha as the name for tells, anyways….a chapter right…

Dedicated to: The word Bamboozle (1)

Chapter 9: Bamboozled

I always wondered if your life actually flashed before your eyes before you died, maybe that's what I was experiencing. It seemed as if my body wanted me to know the mistakes I made, after this all or make me remember something. It started when I became new to the Anbu of course, because the picture always seemed to land back there.

"Congratulations, you've made Anbu" "Thank you, Tsunade" "You deserve it Ino, What is this, your fifth try?" "I think so…" "Anyways, back to business from now on, you will be referred to as mouse" "Mouse?" "I think it suits you" "Okay…" "Remember, it's against the law to ask for identities" "So now what?" "You will walk out of this office exit the west wing of the building and walk 5 km to the Northwest. Use the hand signs; Dragon, Snake, Rabbit, Monkey and Ram do the same hand signs backwards after you get in. Tell the front desk you're Mouse, when you get to your platoon or even in the halls, be ready for a surprise."

"What kind of surprise?" "Call it, a welcoming party" "Oh no…" "Put on your mask, Mouse when you get there ask for a chameleon." "Okay, Tsunade" "He is your sempai, I expect you to listen to him; also, don't try to recognize people's chakra as you've felt by the test, your chakra's changed, so has theirs. The only name I am allowed to give you is your captains…" "Who is?" "Well…it was Maito Gai-" "Oh no…" "I said, was Yamanaka were testing to see whose replacing him, but for now, it's Gai" "What Platoon number?" "16, Infiltration and Spy" "That's understandable" "Dismissed, and Mouse, be careful"

I wonder what gambling game Tsunade won to guess that I would need help in the near future. It was still hard to believe I hadn't got used to their chakras in over a half year. I was a medic though too, medics had to change the type of healing chakra to get the best results. So I had to check every person chakra to see what kind it was and get use to it to an extent that when it went in, it didn't get attacked by the person's immune system and not get accepted. It was a hard process, that's why I told Tsunade I didn't want to be in the medical platoon. I still had a knack to pick up the element of a person's chakra though; I myself am a Lightning, Earth user.

Since I had worked in the hospital before trying for Anbu and while, I had no idea who was in my squad when I got there the first day. The bad thing was I couldn't ask, either and there was also the 2 weeks with the new recruits that made me remember them. The people in my platoon were small blips on my monitor, the biggest one was the mystery man though and I remembered he had been water, air type. The same as both Neji and Naruto, the two who hadn't answered I remember now of all times and quite clearly to boot.

"Now that I'm the new captain, I want us all to know each other so…if you please, take off your masks. See each other for the first time; I'll go first even, even though you know me as Cheetah, I'm actually named Shinji Tochigi. I came from battle platoon 13, and I am 35 years old, nice to meet you all…"

I was surprised that this guy was apart of battle platoon 13, the best of them all it was a wonder as to why he left. The job was too stressing for him, probably, with all the death tolls that it put on him and the guilt. It was funny as hell when no one answered him though, and I laughed until I noticed the death glare that made me freeze to the spot. I squared my jaw widened my stance and slipped off my mask and faced the rest of them.

"Even though you know me as mouse, my name's-" "Ino is that you?" "Yeah, what he said Ino Yamanaka, like the Yamanaka heir and I'm 27… wait, how do you know who I am?" "I'm Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki" "Forehead's teammate!?" he finally takes off his mask, "Oh… and I'm 27 too, my dream is to-" "BECOME HOKAGE, MY YOUTHFUL FRIEND!" Another mask off, "My name is Rock-lee and I believe in the power of youth like my sensei and I'm 28 years young my friends!" "To think we all got on the same platoon, Neji Hyuuga, 28 as well" taking off his mask as he speaks.

"What the heck was up with that?" Shinji asks "You ever hear about the Konoha 12, captain?" Naruto asks "The best group of gennin that the village has come to seen, but, also the most unreliable…" "Uchiha seemed to ruin our image" Neji contemplates "Yeah… apparently their still looking for him; wait 'our' image?" "Were part of the Konoha 12" I note, "I guess I got better then what I expected, you guys will probably have great teamwork." "I feel so overshadowed" Raccoon comments, "Right, who are you three?"

"Yoko Takahashi, 26…next time, I wouldn't pay less attention to me and more towards those weaklings" "What did you say!?" "You heard me" "You want your mind to be goop, because I have the perfect jutsu for it!" "Calm down" Owl commands and we listen "I'm Tsubasa Kinjo, 29" he goes, and it's still as creepy as ever. "I'm Mami, I have no last name because I never knew my parents, but my adoptive parents' last name is Chiba. I'm 22 and the newest recruited into the platoon because I asked for a transfer because-" "Raccoon" we all, except the new captain, groaned.

That was how our platoon actually met each other and I still remember the experience, it seemed like just yesterday it happened. We never heard Mami out enough to learn which platoon she had came from and why she actually transferred. That was probably what my mind was telling me, maybe it had something to do with the story now. If I would have listened figured it out then, and dealt with it I might have not needed all the help I was getting. My body going numb was the only feeling I had though; there was no guilt or sorrow into figuring out all these things.

"Will you marry me?" "S-Sasuke!?" "I'm asking you Ino, leave the village…come live with me and it can be the happily ever after you wanted!" "No Sasuke, I couldn't leave the village…" "Then take the ring" "I can't do that Sasuke, if I wear it-!" "You don't have to wear it, just wear it on the day I come back, to show me you still love me." "I…" "Please…" "Okay, I'll take the ring" "Thank you, Ino you don't know how much this means to me."

That was probably Sasuke's reason for coming back into the village, I realize and before my body went numb through in through, I fought. Against the powerful genjutsu, because I knew Sasuke didn't mean to kill me, he was angry at me for not loving him anymore. How could I though, when he killed my parents and pulled everyone away from me, he could of fell out of love with me like I did with him? I had to do something for him because he taught me who I was in the long run, and who I had wanted to be.

I didn't want to love him anymore, I didn't want to fight with Sakura, and I didn't need to prove myself. I just needed to fight with all my strength for the things I want to protect, like my home, village and friends from all the deaths that had happened in the past I only did one thing, walk away and continue on. Although I was breaking so many ninja rules, I needed to live that included, loving, making connections and showing them to the outside world. So as I broke through that last cloud of doubt I remembered something, from the distant past that was before I became an Anbu.

"Who are you?" "Neji Hyuuga…" "Well Neji, want to play?" "I can't…" "Why not?" "My mom's dead…" "D-dead?"(2)

I cried for a while that day, then I talked with him about what had happened to him, he was the first person that I helped. Sakura, being the last because I didn't like it when she ended our friendship in the end, but Neji taught me the lesson I taught Sakura. Cry for the people who can't, who can't show their emotions, who are too tough to do it. That day, I cried for Neji because, he couldn't and we never spoke again, but I knew I helped him that day.

As I open my eyes, to the familiar mask, that's staring back at me, I reach up and grab the sides of his masked face. I lift the mask off his face, and look at him and he smiles, that goofy smile, and picks me up in his arms.

"Naruto, I can walk myself"

E/n:

Bet you, weren't expecting that, with Naruto, expect the unexpected though! He's supposed to be unpredictable isn't he.

What Happened to Sasuke…you won't know till the next chapter I hope you enjoyed this chapter though.

The flash backs, were really meaningless, this is a bit of a filler along with Ino's near death.

(1) Bamboozle is an actual word, if you watched the episode of Friends where Joey's trying to host a show called Bamboozle you would understand where I got the word.

Bam·boo·zle(bam-boo-zuhl)

Verb, -zled, -zling.

– Verb (used with object)

1. To deceive or get the better of (someone) by trickery, flattery, or the like; humbug; hoodwink (often fol. by into): They bamboozled us into joining the club.

2. To perplex; mystify

- Verb (used without object)

3. To practice trickery, deception, cozenage, or the like

(2) Okay, I know this sounds dumb as crap, but their kids….come on, cut me some slack.

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