Sakura P.O.V.
Sakura had been cleaning up her apartment when she'd received the text from Mizuki. Quickly she'd thrown down the plate she was washing and run to find her shoes. When she was about two blocks from Mizuki's house she caught sight of a certain blonde, knuckle-headed ninja.
"Naruto!" she called.
He turned and, upon seeing who it was, smiled and stopped to wait for her to catch up. When she was next to him they began walking.
"I wonder what Mizuki found." Naruto said.
"Me too. Hopefully it's something useful." Sakura said.
"They're doing their best, given the circumstances." Naruto gently reminded his friend. "Ino was their friend too. It can't be easy trying to find out what happened."
Sakura's shoulders slumped. "I know. I just wish there was something I could do."
Naruto put a hand under her chin and tilted it up, forcing her to look into his deep blue eyes. "There is. You have to support them. They took this on by themselves. It's dangerous, you know. They don't know what they might run into."
Sakura turned away from Naruto. "No one asked them to take it on alone."
Naruto sighed, but said no more. Finally they reached Mizuki's building. They took the steps up to her second-floor apartment. Kira was just arriving.
"Hey Kira." Naruto said. Kira smiled at him, but the smile disappeared when she and Sakura met eyes. Kira held the door open for them as she went in.
They found they were the last ones there. Mizuki was standing next to Hinata across from the couch, which held Shikamaru, Choji, and Lee; Tenten and Neji sat on the love seat, while Shino stood next to it; Kiba sat on the floor, legs stretched out in front of him. Kira took a seat next to Kiba. Sakura sat on the arm of the couch, and Naruto leaned on the wall next to her.
"So what did you find?" Lee asked.
"Well, we found a key at her apartment, but it didn't fit anything there." Mizuki started. "So Hinata took it to a keymaker-"
"It was Neji's idea." Hinata cut it, gesturing to her cousin.
"And the keymaker said it fit a mailbox in some of the new apartment complexes on the south side of the village." Mizuki continued, motioning for Hinata to continue.
"S-so we went there-"
"Wait," Naruto interrupted. "You two went to the south side? Alone?"
Hinata got a look in her eyes that Sakura hadn't seen before. She actually looked kind of...aggravated.
"Yes, Naruto, we did. W-we aren't kids, you know. We can handle o-ourselves just fine."
She says with her oh-so intimidating stutter, Inner Sakura thought.
Shut up, Sakura said, hushing her Inner.
"Anyways," Mizuki said before Naruto could open his mouth again, "We went and found the mailbox it belonged to. When we opened it..."
"We found this." Hinata pulled out a small brown package, able to fit in the palm of her hand.
Tenten spoke up. "What is it?"
"We don't know. We were waiting for all of you to be here before we opened it." Mizuki said.
The room was dead quiet. Sakura felt her anger bubbling up. Who made Mizuki and Hinata the only two that were allowed to find out what happened? They weren't the only ones who cared about her. She decided to speak up. "Who made you two the leaders of this whole thing?"
All eyes turned to her. "Excuse me?" Mizuki said, folding her arms across her chest.
"I'm just saying. You two are going around finding everything out, not letting anyone else help, acting like you were the only ones who cared about Ino."
"I'll say this once, so I suggest you shut your mouth and listen," Mizuki hissed, her eyes slits. Sakura paled. Everyone knew about Mizuki's famous temper. She'd just successfully turned it onto herself. "We don't think for a minute that we were the only ones who cared about her. Do you realize the severity of what we're doing? She killed herself. There won't be an investigation, we all know that. If anyone else finds outwhat we're doing, do you realize the immense amount of trouble we'd be in? It's hard enough keeping suspicion off of the two of us; do you realize how hard it would be to cover up for twelve of us?" Mizuki's voice was raising slightly. "Next time you think about opening your mouth and saying something about what we're doing, don't. We're sacrificing a lot. We need you guys to cover for us and make sure no one finds out. If you can't do that without causing drama, then I suggest you get out now. If you think you can handle it, stay where you are."
Dang. Sakura had forgotten how it felt to be on the other side of Mizuki's anger; it wasn't pleasant. She stayed seated, but said nothing. After a moment of silence, Kira spoke up. "So. Who's gonna open up this package?"
Surprisingly, Kiba stood. "I will." Hinata handed it over to him. He set it carefully on Mizuki's coffee table and pulled the thin white string keeping it closed. The brown paper fell off. Inside was a small plastic bag full of something white. Kiba carefully picked it up and gasped. It was...
"Is that cocaine?" Kira asked, eyes wide.
Sure enough, it was. No one seemed to know how to react to this new information.
Sakura was shocked. What was Ino doing with drugs? Whether she was buying, selling, transporting, or even-Kami forbid-using, it didn't matter to Sakura. What mattered was her best friend was involved with drugs somehow. Sakura hadn't had any clue that Ino could have had something to do with cocaine.
Ino, she thought sadly, who were you?
Shikamaru P.O.V.
No one seemed to know what to say. With this new knowledge, everything Shikamaru had ever thought about Ino was flipped around.
"I think it would be best for all of us to go home and get some rest." Neji finally said. "We can meet back up later and figure out what to do next."
No one opposed. One by one the Konoha Twelve filed out of Mizuki's apartment. Shikamaru couldn't help but notice Kiba stalled and glanced at Mizuki before he left, as if he wanted to say something but decided against it. Finally it was just Shikamaru and Mizuki. She sighed heavily before plopping down next to him and putting her head on his shoulder.
"Sometimes I wonder if I can do this." Mizuki said after a minute, her voice barely more than a whisper. Shikamaru tilted his head towards her, waiting for her to continue like he knew he would. "I have no idea what I'm going to find out. I'm honestly scared of what I'll find."
Shikamaru put his arm around her shoulders. Sometimes he was astounded that such a strong kunoichi as Mizuki could be so small. "How are things with you and Temari?" Mizuki asked suddenly, changing the subject. To most it would've seemed almost rude, but Shikamaru knew Mizuki better than that. He knew she didn't want to show her fear to anyone, even her closest friends.
"I don't know." Shikamaru admitted. "She's back, but I don't...I don't know if I can let myself lean on her just yet."
"She knows what it feels like, you know. And she wouldn't have come all this way if she didn't really and truly love you." Mizuki gently reminded him.
Damn, Shikamaru thought, I hate when she's right. "What do I do?"
Mizuki turned to face him. "Go see her. She's staying at the Blue Mansion, in the last room on the left on the third floor."
Shikamaru smiled a bit. Mizuki had it all planned out, as usual. "And if she doesn't want to see me? I blew her off earlier..."
Mizuki put her hands on Shikamaru's shoulders. "She loves you. She knows you're hurting. She's not gonna take it personally."
Shikamaru sighed. "Ok. I'll go."
"Good." Mizuki smiled. She hugged her friend tight. "Now get going." She said when she let go.
Shikamaru bolted out of her apartment. The Blue Mansion was only six blocks away. He made it in about three and a half minutes. As he ran through the front door, the lady behind the desk cried, "Sir! You can't run in here!"
"Sorry lady," he said as he found the stairs. Three flights of stairs later, he was staring down a carpeted hallway. Last door on the left, he thought. Before he knew it he was there, pounding on a blue-painted door.
"If this is housekeeping somebody already-" Temari said, throwing the door open. "-was here. Shikamaru."
God, she was beautiful. Her hair was down, something he rarely saw, and she was wearing a large tee shirt, nothing else.
"I'm sorry." he said. "I shouldn't have pushed you away like that."
"It's okay, I-" Temari started to say, but Shikamaru cut her off.
"No, it's not. Just listen. You came all this way to be there for me and I pushed you away. That wasn't fair. You deserve better than that. I'm sorry. I don't know why I ran away from you. It just...it hurts so much. And I know you know how it feels." Shikamaru said. He wasn't really sure where he was going with what he was saying, but words kept pouring out. "Will you...will you still be here for me? Even after I was a jerk?"
Temari smiled softly and took Shikamaru's hand and pulled him far enough into her room that she could shut the door, giving the two some privacy. "Of course I will, Shikamaru."
"I love you." The words tumbled out of Shikamaru's mouth gently, surprising both of them. As he said them, though, he found that they were the most honest three words he'd ever spoken.
"What?" Temari asked softly, eyes wide.
Shikamaru smiled, repeating himself with more confidence. "I love you, Temari. More than anything."
Then he put his arms around her waist, pulled her to him, and kissed her. They'd kissed before, sure, but never like they did then. They had never allowed themselves to really feel it before, but the passion was there now. Temari pulled back and looked into her lover's eyes.
"I love you too." she whispered with a small smile.
Shikamaru was filled with a joy he wasn't sure he should be able to feel so soon after the death of a friend, but at that moment he didn't care. He loved her, and she loved him, and screw the shinobi laws that said they shouldn't feel anything. Shikamaru knew what love felt like, and he would never stop wanting to feel like he did in that moment.
Temari kissed him again, lightly, but it fit the moment. Shikamaru didn't try to push it any further, but he didn't really want to. He wanted to keep the beautiful, perfect moment for as long as he could.
Hinata P.O.V.
Another night spent alone. Hinata lay looking up at her ceiling, watching the fan spin around and around and around. Neji had snuck out to spend the night with Tenten (again-and they claimed there was "nothing going on"...yeah right) and Hanabi was at Konahamaru's "studying". Hinata felt very alone.
Suddenly she remembered something Neji had said earlier, something about giving Naruto a chance to explain. Should she? But what if he turned her down and broke her heart...
She sighed and grabbed her phone. May as well see what he had to say.
Hey, she typed, what did you want to talk to me about a few days ago?
She didn't have to wait long for a reply. Her phone buzzed with the message, Can we meet somewhere and talk?
Her heart lept to her throat. Was he just going to humiliate her in public? No, she thought, N-Naruto's too kind to do that. After a minute she replied. When and where?
Ichiraku Ramen in half an hour?
"May as well." Hinata said aloud before sending Meet you there.
She had put on pajamas as soon as she got home from Mizuki's. Deciding that that probably wasn't the best attire for going out in public, she threw on dark jeans and a long-sleeve V-neck light purple shirt. Thankfully she had some slip-on shoes so she wouldn't be late.
Half an hour later Hinata arrived at Ichiraku Ramen, coincidentally at the same time as Naruto.
"Hey," he said, somewhat nervously. "I thought I was gonna be late, I didn't want to keep you waiting."
"A-Actually I thought that I was going to be late." Hinata smiled.
Naruto smiled too. "Come on, I'll pay."
The two went in. Teuchi looked up as they sat down. "Ah, Naruto and Lady Hinata! What can I get for you?"
They placed their orders. As Teuchi prepared their food, Hinata looked at Naruto. "So...what did you want to talk to me about?"
Naruto gulped. "Well, uh, what I wanted to say was, um..." He rubbed the back of his head nervously.
"It's okay if you're going to tell me you aren't interested." Hinata said gently. She hoped her eyes were as good at hiding her dishonesty as her voice was.
Naruto's beautiful blue eyes widened. "No! I mean that...that isn't what I was going to say." He sighed. "I'm blowing this, aren't I?"
Hinata laughed. "Just tell me what you want to say."
"Well...remember when you told me you loved me?" Hinata nodded. "I couldn't stop thinking about it for so long afterwards. You were so willing to sacrifice yourself for me. I never expected anyone to say that they loved me, or be willing to die for me. Then during the war things just kept happening, and I kept thinking and thinking and..."
Naruto stopped, as if trying to figure out what to say. Hinata began to mentally build up her walls, preparing for rejection.
"I think...no, I know that I want to be with you."
Hinata's eyes widened. She clearly hadn't anticipated that. "Wh-What?"
Naruto smiled. "I want to be with you. I know I'm an idiot and I should've done this a long time ago, but will you give me a chance?"
Hinata couldn't believe what she was hearing. Naruto Uzamaki, the boy she'd been in love with forever, was asking her if she would give him a chance?
"Y-Yes." Hinata said.
Naruto nearly jumped out of his seat. "Really? You will?"
"Yes. I will." Hinata said with much more confidence than she had before.
This time Naruto did jump out of his seat. He picked her up and spun her around. When he finally set her down, he was looking deeply into her eyes. She began to blush and looked away.
"Don't." Naruto said, tilting her head back up towards his. "You're so beautiful."
Hinata thought she might die of happiness right then and there.
There's chapter ten! I'll be updating as soon as I can. In the meantime, please review :)