Chapter Eleven--Moment in Time

Ino paused in her task of cleaning Shino's bloodied hand. She glanced up at his face, finding his brown eyes fixed on a point over her shoulder.

"You have so many powerful jutsus...why did you punch Ishiyama?" she asked.

She felt his hand tense beneath hers, the buzzing of his kikai growing subtly louder. The moment of silence stretched until Ino was certain he was not going to answer. Reluctantly, his eyes slid over to meet hers.

"It seemed like the right thing to do at the time-" he cautiously flexed his injured hand, looking down at it as he whispered, "I don't regret it."

The young woman felt her heart flutter at his confession. Was it possible that-? No, after what had happened with Ishiyama, she was determined not to force Shino into a compromising situation. She returned her gaze to his hand and finished cleaning it, then she directed some healing chakra into the wound to close it. Just in case, she wrapped a bandage around his hand, though it was unlikely that the wound would reopen. She rose from the bed and began to pack the cleaning supplies away, while Shino quietly sat and watched her.

"Did you get the information?" he asked.

Ino stilled, head dropping in defeat.

"No...he repelled my jutsu somehow. I couldn't enter his mind," she said.

The dark-haired man showed no outward sign of disappointment, merely nodding.

"We'll have to try something else then," he stated, rising and going over to the bag of supplies he had purchased while Ino rested.

He pulled out a small box and tossed it to his companion. Reflexively, she caught it, then looked to see what it was. She smiled in gratitude at finding a dye remover for her hair.

"Thank you, Shino. I liked the blue at first, but I'm going to be glad to be a blonde again," she said.

After all, it was no use trying to maintain her cover. Ishiyama knew what she was so he would recognize her if she kept the blue hair. Better to go back in as a blonde so that it would at least take some time for him to recognize her.

"I will fix dinner while you shower," Shino said.

She couldn't help the longing glance she sent after him as he went into the tiny kitchen. A man who could cook--Shino's appeal just kept becoming greater the more time she spent with him.

Ino made her own way to the small bathroom, pulling off Shino's shirt, then hesitating. She pressed the material to her nose, inhaling the mixture of spices that was her companion's scent. She wondered if he would miss the shirt should she keep it. Hopefully not, because it might be the only thing she would have to remember him by.

'I've changed,' she realized, 'Have I really...fallen in love with Aburame Shino?'

She was certainly displaying the behavior of the love-struck women she had read about in her romance novels. The young woman set the shirt aside and stepped into the shower, cranking the water to hot. As the cleansing moisture ran over her body, she shook her head.

"You sure know how to pick guys you can never have," she said aloud.

.oOo.oOo.

Shino had just finished setting the last bowl on the table when Ino emerged from her shower. She took a deep breath, then gave him a heart-stopping smile.

"It smells wonderful," she said.

He battled back a blush and said stoically, "It's nothing compared to what we've been eating these past several days."

She sat down across from him, picking up her chopsticks.

"Itadakimasu," she said, digging into the food with relish.

Shino watched her eat for a minute, eyes perversely being drawn to her lips. He jumped when she suddenly set her bowl down and winked at him.

"Aren't you going to eat?" she asked.

"Ah...yes," the bug-user said.

He reached for his chopsticks, but knocked over his bowl of rice as he did so. Blushing, he quickly tried to scoop the tiny grains back into the bowl, intensely aware of Ino's gaze on him.

"I love you," she said.

His head jerked up, brown eyes wide. Had he heard her correctly? She had resumed eating, not looking at him.

"Pardon?" he said.

Her blue eyes met his bewildered gaze and she opened her mouth, then closed it. Her eyes slid away from his, back to her food.

"I love your cooking," she said.

"Oh, thank you," he answered.

So he must have misheard her. He finished scooping the rice back into the bowl, then set it aside. He started to reach for his chopsticks again when Ino suddenly leaned forward. Her hand ran through his bangs, fingertips brushing his forehead. She sat back, opening her palm.

"You had a grain of rice in your hair," she explained.

"Thank you," he repeated, blushing.

Ino simply smiled at him, then set down her chopsticks as she said, "Thank you for the meal, Shino. I'm going to go to bed now."

He nodded, watching her form until the bedroom door shut behind her. He let out a shaky sigh, setting aside his own eating utensils. He found that his appetite was suddenly gone. He stood and took everything back into the kitchen, mechanically cleaning the dishes. When he finished, Shino found his gaze drawn once again to the bedroom door.

He hadn't gotten any pajamas for her.

The thought blazed like a katon jutsu in his head, sending his hormones racing. He needed to get out of the hotel room now. Without a second thought, he turned and all but ran for the door. He did have the presence of mind to place a sealing jutsu on the door, having sealed the windows before he went shopping earlier.

Shino left the inn behind him, wandering aimlessly down the main street of the town. People brushed past him, most ignoring him though he received a few suggestive glances from single women. The young man didn't even notice the looks for he was immersed in his own thoughts. She had said that she loved him. He was almost certain of it. When he had asked her to repeat herself, she must have lost her nerve and added a word. For an instant, a smile of pure joy lit his face, but he quickly schooled his expression.

After all, this was bad.

So long as Ino had only been superficially interested in him, he could force himself to ignore her flirtatious manner. He could continue to convince himself that she was only playing with him if she hadn't said that. Knowing that she loved him in return though...He grasped for any chance at sanity. She thought she did at least, but she had said that she was in love with Uchiha Sasuke too. There was a chance that was she was mistaking as love was really only another girlish crush.

Someone bumped into him and a sharp pain pierced his shoulder. His kikai buzzed a warning that drugs had been injected into his system, then went oddly silent. He spun his attacker. Silver-blue eyes met his in challenge as the shinobi opposite him freed his chakra, releasing a flood of killing-intent which caused the people on the street around them to recoil from the two.

"Who are you?" Shino demanded.

In response, the man began to form a string of hand seals. The dark-haired Konoha ninja lifted his hands to release his kikai. They buzzed weakly, but remained within his body. His eyes narrowed. Just what had that man injected into him? Never before had he heard of something that could affect the destruction bugs. The ninja finished his final seal.

"Suimin no jutsu," he said.

Shino felt the man's chakra pull at his consciousness, but refused to give into it. Deprived of using his numerous bug techniques, Shino instead drew a kunai. He lunged at the enemy shinobi, who blocked his blow and drove a knee into his abdomen. The lighter man flew back into the building behind him, knocking a dent in the wooden wall. His opponent didn't give him time to recover. He grabbed Shino by the throat and shoved him back into the wall.

As his silver-blue gaze bored into Shino's, he repeated, "Suimin no jutsu."

Against his will, Shino's eyelids drooped as unconsciousness drew him down into darkness. His opponent lifted him effortlessly, tossing him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He headed toward the edge of the ring of people who had stopped to watch the battle. Wide-eyed, they stepped aside to watch him pass on into the night.

.oOo.oOo.

When Shino opened his eyes, he was chained to a cold metal wall. His kikai were humming in distress, their movements still sluggish from whatever drug had been injected into him. The shinobi who had captured him stood before him, arms folded across his chest. His gaze was easily as cool as the wall.

"Now that you are awake..." he stepped closer and raised a hand toward Shino's face.

The dark-haired shinobi tried to pull away, but there was nowhere to go. The enemy nin captured his heard and carefully peeled the colored contacts away from Shino's eyes. He stepped back, a satisfied smirk briefly crossing his face.

"Well, well, I did not think that I would get the heir himself. You have Shibi's eyes," the man said.

Shino's eyes narrowed. It was true that, while all of the Aburame's possessed golden eyes, the majority of the clan had a pale gold gaze. He and his father were the only two with the brilliant color of pure gold.

"Who are you?" Shino asked.

"Aotora, one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. I would assume that your father has never mentioned me," he said.

"No," Shino said shortly.

"The woman...how much does she mean to you?" Aotora asked, changing subjects suddenly.

"She is my comrade," he answered warily.

The swordsman simply nodded, then turned to leave the room. Shino watched him go with his mind whirling. During their fight, he had seen unbridled hatred in the man's icy eyes, but now Aotora seemed oddly polite. What was he planning? He retraced their words, finding nothing but the end odd. He had asked about Ino though he had feigned disinterest at the answer. His eyes suddenly widened.

Last night, Ino had mentioned a man she thought might have been a ninja. She had mentioned his eyes as his most defining feature--a silver-blue that was very distinctive. This man had the same eyes, was in the same general area...and it was not unreasonable to assume he was the same man. That meant he worked for Ishiyama, which meant he was after Ino as well.

Aotora had attacked him in public, leaving plenty of witness to point Ino in the right direction.

The was no doubt that she would come after him.


Ha! Take that you cliched plotline! I replace the typical damsel-in-distress with a knight in distress. :D Next chapter, Ino to the rescue!

Akai-sora: Aotora had already told Ishiyama that she was a ninja, so it wasn't a surprise for him. She was just confirming what the Mist-nin had said.

Ryan-sensei: I'm glad this story is improving your opinions of Ino and Shino! More love for the side characters! n.n

SmallButPowerful: Thanks for the suggestion. I will definitely put a warning at the head of any other chapters I might write with questionable content.

Thank you to Kayamie1224, Chocoholic, Diablo's Heir, Iluvkiba44, Bookworm007, 21me21, Yourtypicalpsycho, SMSI, Krizzlybear, Living in a make-believe world, Altais, xShootingxStarzx and to my anonymous reviewer for your wonderful reviews! Glad you are all enjoying it. Hope you don't hate me too much for this chapter. ;D