Disclaimer: Naruto still isn't mine.
Heaven
-
Ino took a glance at Shikamaru, whose eyes were fixed on the sky as they sat carefully at the roots of a tree. They didn't have much, and they needed two scrolls. Worriedly, she glanced at Choji, who stared blankly into space. Shikamaru had a plan. He needed a plan. Carefully, she poked him in the side. He blinked, and turned to her.
"Shika-!" She started, but he cut her off.
"I have a plan."
Choji snapped back to earth, and Ino grinned. Shikamaru knew what he was doing. They'd get through this. The Nara stood. Ino followed quickly, putting out a long-fingered hand to help up Choji. Team Ten carefully picked their way through the brush, following a silent Shikamaru.
"Shi-?" Ino started, but he reached back to cover her mouth, putting a finger to his taunt lips and motioned her and Choji forward. The three emerged at the side of a well beaten path.
A team of what appeared to be Cloud ninja could be spotted down the path.
-
Recognizing the realization in Ino and Choji's eyes, Shikamaru quietly lead them back into the bushes. They waited with bated breath, as the careful footsteps drew closer. "Okay," Shikamaru hissed, "Ino, you get the kunoichi, Choji, you take the one on the left." The pair nodded, and they began to stand.
Ino was the first to lunge from the bushes, her hands already in formation. "Mind Transfer Jutsu!" She shrieked, and Shikamaru was there to catch her body as it fell to the dirt path.
"I'm in!" The voice of the female ninja confirmed. Ino-Cloud ninja grinned. Shikamaru sighed. She hadn't exactly done the smartest thing- what if she'd missed? - but she was fine.
An angry shriek brought Shikamaru back to earth as one of the Cloud ninja rushed at him, a kunai in each of his hands. Shikamaru hiked his shoulders, grabbing the cold hand of Ino's body, and jumped from the ninja's path and into a nearby tree. Below, he heard Choji's body slam into the other ninja. Laying Ino's body out on the tree branch, Shikamaru leaped from the tree, landing on the other Cloud ninja. Choji's enemy was up again, and Shikamaru's friend had out a kunai. The Ino-Cloud ninja was gone, and he knew she had leaped into the tree to search the stolen body for a scroll, any scroll.
This was too easy.
Shikamaru swept his eyes across the field. Choji seemed to have the other male shinobi in check, and Ino had the kunoichi. There had to be a catch. There had to be something coming. It had to be harder then jumping on some obnoxiously yelling Cloud ninja. It had to be tougher then this.
"Shikamaru!"
The Cloud ninja threw Shikamaru off him like a bucking horse, sending the Leaf shinobi flying into a tree. He fell to the ground, and saw black.
-
"Shika?" Ino-Cloud ninja leaped from her tree-it was eerie, anyway, to stand beside her own body. Shikamaru had been flung into a tree, and Ino could've sworn she'd heard something snap. If his back was broken, if his spinal cord was screwed, if he was dead, then she would murder the Cloud ninja. She would tear out their insides. She took a deep breath as Choji moved to fight both Cloud nin at once, a worried look in his eyes as he cut of any path to the fallen Shikamaru and Ino.
"Shika?" Ino hissed, grabbing his wrist, clasping tightly, straining for a pulse.
It came.
She let out a breath, and nodded quickly to Choji, who sighed and blocked an attack from the smaller of the male shinobi. Ino stood quickly. Her kuniochi didn't have the scroll, so one of the others did. Shikamaru was out of commission, and it was his plan in the first place. Didn't anything ever go right for them? Ino thought bitterly, standing a drawing a kunai from the stolen body's stash.
"One move and your teammate's dead."
It was an old trick, but perhaps these people were not as smart as the Sound ninja had been- or not nearly as heartless. Those Sound shinobi…. Ino grew cold just thinking about them. They had been willing to let her kill their teammate! She cast a quick glance at the fallen Shikamaru and winded Choji. She could never stand by as they died.
The sound of weapons as they clattered to the ground reached Ino's ears.
-
Choji let out a shaking breath. "Okay," Ino's voice commanded. "Now hand over the scroll, and the three of us will leave you unharmed."
The Cloud ninja were more then willing. The Heaven scroll was soon grasped in Choji's outstretched hands. Ino nodded curtly, and Choji tucked it into his bag, stepping back to pick up him fallen friend, before leaping into the trees, finding Ino's uninhabited body. However, the call of "Release," soon reached his ears, and Ino sat up, rubbing her head. Quietly, he set Shikamaru down and sat beside Ino, letting his legs dangle down. She let out a breath, and laid her head on her teammate's shoulder.
"We got one, Cho," She said with a grin, looking up at him. He nodded, careful not to hit her on the forehead with his chin. "You think Shika's okay?"
"M'fine."
Choji grinned and turned to see his old friend opening his eyes with an annoyed groan. The other boy grinned and patted Choji on the shoulder, leaning forward to confirm to a nervous Ino that, no, he was not paralyzed, no, he was not faking, and no, this had not been part of his plan.
But an uncharacteristic gleam in Shikamaru's eye made Choji think otherwise.
-
Team Ten spent the night in a tree.
Ino had never slept in a tree- neither had Choji or Shikamaru, to her knowledge- but their was some thing magical about laying her head on Choji's stomach as he slept against the trunk, and there was something safe about feeling the brush of Shikamaru's hair against her bare shins, and there was something in Asuma's pack of cigarettes as it pressed into her thigh that made her think that maybe this was what heaven was like, sleeping in a tree with the corners of a cigarette box pressing into her flesh and her head rising and falling with each of someone else's breath and someone else's hair tickling her bare skin and leaves in her hair and bark poking into her at every point.
But something in knowing Choji and Shikamaru were there and something in knowing that there was only one more scroll that made Ino sure of it.
-
Shikamaru was the first to wake yet again- it was becoming a habit of his, one he'd have to break as soon as he left this infernal place. Quietly, he sat up, watching carefully to make sure he didn't disturb Choji and Ino, and stood, climbing up to the next branch. He sat there, letting his feet dangle down, nearly brushing the very tip of Choji's head.
They still needed another scroll, and this was the last day. This was some seriously tough stuff.
They really needed help. Or a miracle. They couldn't do this alone. Quietly, he reached into his pocket and drew out the packet of cigarettes Asuma had given them. He closed his eyes.
The silence, the clean air, it was getting to him. It was odd to realize, but without the incessant chattering of Ino and quiet breath of Choji and the scent of smoke, he just couldn't work. His knuckles grew white as he clasped the box. This was so troublesome! Why was he doing this? Why was he working so hard for this? Why couldn't he just give up?
Before these questions popped into his head, he knew the answer, and it lay below him, steadily breathing, unaware of these treasonous thoughts and it lay in the cigarette box left hand.
He sighed, his eyes rising to look at the leaves above him. He had a lot of planning to do.
-
Kurenai let a breath out, and Azuma knew what had happened. Quietly, he looked up to see her face in her hands. Her team was in, and they were okay.
Gai's knuckles grew whiter on the chair arm next to him, and beside him Kakashi reached over to pat Kurenai on the back. "Congrats."
Asuma didn't want to congratulate her. He took a deep breath. He wanted to see Shikamaru and Choji and Ino walk through those doors in one piece. He wanted Iruka to tell them that they'd passed. Damnit, he wanted to be fine so he could smoke another cigarette!
-
Ino yawned, sitting up. Choji still slept, but… "Shi-?"
"Up here," Came the quick reply, and her blue eyes looked up to glimpse the very bottom of Shikamaru's feet. She stood shakily, swinging her arms up to leap upon the branch and take a spot at Shikamaru's side.
"So… Got a plan?" Ino asked, a certain musical quality in her voice as she let out her long blonde hair, shaking it out and running her fingers through it in an attempt to tame it in all its unkemptness. No answer came.
"Ino? Shika?"
"We're up here, Cho!" Ino called, retying her hair. Their other teammate leaped upon the branch, his hands already clasping a bag of chips. Ino waved to their teammate, who sat on Shikamaru's other side. The other boy still was silent, his hands in a familiar formation. Ino idly swung her legs back and forth. "Shika?" She finally asked.
"Hey, Ino?"
"Yeah?"
"Would you shut up? I do actually have to think; I can't pull a plan out of my ass, okay?" The words seemed harsh, but his voice was the same as usual- quiet and bored. Ino raised her hands in a mock surrender.
"Okay, okay! Sheesh, chill out," The blonde said with a roll of her blue eyes. Choji chuckled- the roles seem reversed at the moment. Ino shot him a glare. "Cho! Sh-!"
A crashing in the brush beneath silenced her.
-
Shikamaru slowly opened one eye. "Troublesome…"
"What do you think it is?" Choji's voice was nervous, which seemed to be becoming his permanent voice at the moment. Shikamaru shrugged.
"Who knows? Stay quiet, maybe it'll go away," Shikamaru whispered back.
"Go away? What the hell are you thinking, Shika?" Ino hissed, her voice growing louder than either of the boys.
"Ino!" The pair hissed back at her, their voice growing in volume.
"Ino Yamanaka?"
Shikamaru froze. That voice was so… Ino stood slowly. "Ino-!" He started, but her voice cut him off.
"Tenten?" She asked, leaping out of the tree. Shikamaru swore under his breath. It was probably a trick! Tenten certainly wasn't above betraying them, and he knew what Neji thought of them. Lee… well, Lee probably didn't have any problems with them, but he wanted this more than Shikamaru did for sure. If Shikamaru wanted it as bad as Lee did- which he didn't; he could never imagine wanting something that badly- would he be willing to trick the loser kids?
The answer, he knew, was a resounding yes.
-
"Tenten?" Ino stood before the elder girl, a bright smile on her face. "Hi! How's it going?" She asked cheerfully, tossing her ponytail over her shoulder. Tenten looked a little worse for wear, but then again, so did Ino. Some of her dark hair escaped its confines, a strand hung before her brown eyes. Scratches adorned her skin. Ino placed a hand on her hip, peering over the other girl's shoulder. "Where are Neji and Lee?" She asked curiously. Tenten seemed to be alone.
"Sleeping," She answered shortly. "Where's your team?"
"Hmm? Choji, Shikamaru! Come down here!" Ino hollered up the tree. She heard Shikamaru curse as the pair leaped down. Shikamaru sent her a glare, and then turned his suspicious eyes on Tenten. Choji just gave the older genin a thin smile. Shikamaru groaned about being tired or something, but Ino blocked him out. "So, Tenten! You need something?"
The other girl fingered her pack, blowing at a strand of hair with an awkward look on her face. "Listen…" She said slowly. "I really wanted to thank you for helping out Lee. I-We didn't tell you before. It's really important to us that you did that- even Neji wanted to say something," She added, her voice increasing in rate, "And we didn't, so we felt really bad, so, um, here."
Tenten thrust something at Ino as if she held a ticking time bomb. Ino opened her pale hands. An Earth scroll lay in her open hands.
-
Choji gasped, and heard Ino do the same. "Tenten, we can't-!" Choji started. Ino nodded, holding the scroll out to the other girl. "It's too much, really, we-!"
"Thank you, Tenten," Shikamaru's voice came, placing a hand on the scroll and taking it from Ino. He pocketed the gift, nudging Choji, who jumped.
"Oh, yes! It means a lot to us, thank you!" He said quickly. Ino glared at him. He knew what she was thinking. This was a cowardly thing to do! They couldn't take gifts! He gave her a pained smile.
"Is Neji alright with this?" Shikamaru's voice came again, his eyebrows raised. Tenten's teammate hadn't exactly had the best impression of Team Ten, and he made it known that he did not like them. She smiled lightly.
"Yeah, he's cool with it. He's a very kind person; I'm sorry you couldn't meet the real Neji," She said with a sparkle in her eyes. Team Ten exchanged looks that showed obvious disbelief of this statement, but stayed silent. Ino threw her arms around the older girl.
"Thank you so much, Tenten!" She said brightly. Choji smiled. Ino was proud, but she wasn't stupid. She'd take the scroll. Tenten grinned.
"Hey, Neji, Lee and I couldn't handle being in debt to you guys," She said with a nod. Choji understood how awkward it was for her to being saying these things without Lee and Neji. It was difficult to speak for your team. It was obvious to him that Tenten was desperate to get back to her boys, her team. He gave her a quiet smile, attempting to signify that he understood. He wasn't sure if she understood, but she gave him a slight grin.
"Well, thank you so much, but I'm sure Lee and Neji will be missing you," He said slowly, making sure Ino and Shikamaru had no problem with letting her go back to her team. No one said a word. Tenten smiled gratefully.
"Yeah. Well, thanks for saving Lee. Konha pride!" She yelled back at them, flashing the peace sign as she headed away. Choji grinned, his chubby fingers flashing the sign back.
"Yeah!" He yelled to her, Shikamaru chuckling in the background, and Ino chiming in as he called: "Victory for Konha!"
-
A/N: With a landslide victory for NaruHina and NejiTen, we come to some of the more obscure characters for the voting and some crack!choices. We're going to have two votes going on right now. First, Shizune. Chocies: Kabuto, Nibori(OC), Kiba, Sasuke, and Kankuro. (Oh yes. Look at those crack!pairings.) And, Anko: Kakashi, Gai, Sasuke, Gaara or Iruka. (Yes, I know all of those are crack. Yay.) And if you think I'm getting obscure now, next up are Hana and Hanabi. Hehehe!
Review, damnit!