Hey sorry for the wait. Been uber busy with school. Enjoy this chapter!
The cruiser's siren wailed loudly as it sped down the road with Naruto at the wheel. He bounced slightly and pounded his hands on the steering wheel.
"Gunshots fired! Yes! Finally a shootout with low life gangsters! This is what I signed up for, Sakura!" He cheered. His partner rolled her eyes and shook her head then picked up the radio.
"This is Unit 42 en route to two two four Commerce square, over."
"Copy that, Unit 42, over" The dispatcher replied after a moment.
"Unit 37 also heading over to two two four Commerce square, over" Choji's voice sounded over the air.
"Crap. Shikamaru and Choji are going too? We have to beat them otherwise they'll get all the glory!" Naruto whined. He stepped down on the gas pedal harder and the car zoomed faster down the road.
"We have to get out!" Temari shouted. Kankuro, leaning on Gaara, limped over to her side. "What happened to you?"
"I tripped down the stairs" He replied with a nonchalant shrug. She shook her head the glanced behind him as the rest of the group hurried around the corner.
"How do we get out of here?" Lee asked.
"This way."
Everyone turned around to see the source of the voice. Itachi stood across from them by a door marked "private".
"We haven't got all night" He said impatiently when none of them moved.
"Who are you? And why should we trust you?" Temari demanded.
"Good point, excuse me for wanting to get out of here before the cops show up" He replied. Temari frowned but did not respond. "All you have to know is that I'm a friend of Ino and Sasuke's. They got out already and I'm here to make sure you get out too" Temari still looked skeptical but one glance at her injured brother and the worried faces of her friends told her that they had no other choice.
"Lead the way."
"Dad?" Sasuke repeated. "This is your father?" He studied the man again, this time looking past the gun. Now he noticed the resemblance, the same pale shade of blonde hair, the shape of the eyes and the unique blue color. He looked back at Ino who had the expression of a lost child mixed with a deer in headlights.
"Ino, it's time to come home" Inoichi said calmly. Sasuke unconsciously took a step forward to place himself in between Ino and her father. Ever the cop Inoichi notices the movement and trained his gun on the raven haired man.
"Respectfully sir, she's not going anywhere with you" Sasuke replied.
"So this is the piece of trash that stole my baby" Inoichi spat.
"She left of her own free will."
"I saw the security camera footage, you corrupted her. You turned her against me and took her away."
"No you turned her against you" Sasuke said. Inoichi's face was red with rage.
"I've been waiting for this moment for five years" The older man said. Then he pulled the hammer into place with a menacing click. Sasuke pushed Ino behind him to protect her but she knocked his arm away and put herself directly between the two men.
"Stop it!" She cried. Both pairs of eyes turned to her, one filled with worry the other with anger. She turned to her father sadly. "Dad, I'm sorry I hurt you, but Sasuke's right. You drove me away. I felt I had no other choice because you refused to listen to me."
"That's not true. I heard every word you said, but I had to make the tough decisions as your father. For your own good."
"Locking me in my room was "for my own good"? Putting bars on the windows was "for my own good"? You treated me like a damn china doll! I never had a real life until the day I left. And I am not going back" She said angrily.
"Yes you are. I am your father and you will obey me!" He shouted.
"I'm not a child anymore. I haven't been for a long time" She replied.
"I will drag you back home if I have to. So don't test me young lady."
"If you lay a finger on her I will kill you" Sasuke said threateningly. Inoichi's eyes darted to the young man and narrowed. Ino saw what was about to happen and acted fast. Her father aimed the gun with expertise and quickly pulled the trigger. The bullet left the barrel and headed straight for Sasuke's chest. Ino moved just in time to catch the bullet in the shoulder and save Sasuke's life. The force knocked her to the ground and she grabbed her injured shoulder in pain.
"Ino!" Sasuke shouted and fell to his knees beside her. Inoichi lowered the gun and stared at the scene before him in shock. "Baby, you're ok, you're ok." He glanced over his shoulder at the blonde man and glared angrily.
"Sasuke. We need to go. Now" Ino grunted. He tore his gaze from her father and helped her to her feet. They stumbled away leaving Inoichi staring at the pool of his daughter's blood that had gathered.
"What have I done?" He asked himself once the shock faded. He anxiously stared off into the dark searching for any sign of them. He shook off the fear and tried to reassure himself. "It was a clean shoulder hit, nothing vital. She'll need a hospital and they report gunshot wounds. She'll be fine and I can track her to the hospital" He said calmingly. He put his gun back in the holster on his hip and rushed back to his car.
"Are you kidding me!?" Naruto whined. He stood in the lobby of the Sound Wave Technologies building. It was filled with uniformed officers and crime scene techs who were bustling about collecting evidence. "We got here as fast as we could and we still didn't see any action!" His partner rolled her eyes. "Sakura, I wanted to be in a shootout so badly!"
"I know Naruto. I know" She patted him on the shoulder.
"Sir, we've got three deceased and four injured" One of the officers reported to Shikamaru.
"Man, I hope their all bad guys" Shikamaru said.
"It appears that one of the deceased is Orochimaru" The officer added.
"Really? Man we've been trying to nail him on a lot of nasty stuff. I guess whoever did this deserves a thank you note" He dismissed the officer and turned to his partner. "I guess there's not much else we can do here now. Wanna go get some coffee?"
"Yeah, and donuts" Choji added.
"Can you be any more stereotypical, buddy?"
Choji shook his head with a grin. The four detectives walked out towards the street where their cars were parked. Waiting by the cruiser was someone Shikamaru hadn't seen for a long time.
"Mr. Yamanaka?" He asked.
"Evening, Detective Nara" Inoichi replied pleasantly.
"What are you doing here? At a crime scene? In Crimson City? In the middle of the night?" The younger man asked.
"Just taking a stroll. I saw the update you added to Ino's file so I decided to pay a visit to your fair city."
"I thought you retired from police work" Shikamaru frowned.
"True, I was forcibly retired by the Chief, but I retained my access to the database and I check her file daily" He explained.
"So how can I help you?" He asked. Inoichi smiled.
"I was hoping you'd let me peruse your hospital records for recent GSW's."
"How recent?"
"So you're Sasuke's older brother? And you helped get Ino out of police custody, and us get out of Sound Wave. And you work for Red Cloud?" Temari repeated.
"Yes. That is all true" Itachi said. He was sitting in a large armchair in the living room of the house. Kiba was passed out on the window seat, Shino was silently seated on the couch next to Temari, Lee was sitting cross legged on the floor and Kankuro was lying on the other couch while Gaara wrapped his twisted ankle with medical wrap.
Suddenly Lee burst out in tears causing everyone to stare.
"What's wrong with him?" Itachi asked. In response Temari simply shrugged.
"You are such an amazing brother!" Lee sobbed. "I wish you were my big brother too!"
Before he could figure out how to reply Itachi's phone rang. He saw the caller ID and jumped up.
"Excuse me for a moment" He said politely then slipped into the hall. "Sasuke? Are you two all right?" He said into the phone.
"Yeah, we, we're ok. Or we will be. Got a car and we're driving to some friends of ours a few hours away" Sasuke replied breathlessly.
"Are you sure you're ok? You sound upset" The older Uchiha asked.
"Uh, Ino's hurt. But she's going to be ok" He paused and Itachi could faintly hear Ino speaking. "Yeah, I'll ask. She wants to know if you got everyone out."
"Yeah, they're all home safe and sound."
"Good. Thank you for everything you've done for us, Itachi."
"That's what brothers do for each other. Now get somewhere safe and I'll call you when it's ok to return."
"All right. Goodbye" Sasuke said. There was a click as the call was disconnected then Itachi put his phone away. He walked back into the living room.
"They're safe. So with that, thank you for your hospitality and if you need any help in the future here is my card" He handed the card to Temari.
"Thank you for helping us. We owe you big time" She replied. Itachi waved her off.
"No you don't, my little brother does" Itachi said with a grin.
"Sasuke, you're speeding" Ino said. She sat in the passenger seat holding a bloody towel against her wound. Sasuke didn't respond and the car didn't slow. "You need to slow down, we can't get pulled over" He still didn't slow down. "Sasuke!" She shouted. He glanced over at her then took his foot off the gas pedal allowing the car to slow to a legal speed.
Silence once again fell in the car as they rolled down the road. She knew why he was acting like this, she would feel the same if their positions were switched.
"Stop blaming yourself" She said.
"I have every right to blame myself. It's my fault" He replied stiffly.
"No it isn't. You didn't push me in front of the bullet."
"No but I'm the reason you stepped in the line of fire."
She frowned and stared at him, his face illuminated by the light of the dashboard, highlighting his brooding brow and grimace.
"You can't always protect me" She explained calmly.
"I know. And that pisses me off" He answered. She chuckled then winced at the spike of pain from moving her shoulder. "Don't worry, we're almost there."
Once the adrenaline wore off she felt the fatigue of blood loss and rested her head against the window and drifted off. As she was fading she thought about where they were going and who they were going to see…
Five Years Ago…
The sun shone brightly as Sasuke and Ino strolled down the sidewalk. They had been in the city for a week picking pockets and squatting in abandoned apartments to get by. And they couldn't have been happier.
"It's so nice out! I can't remember a more beautiful day in my entire life!" Ino said with a happy twirl.
"I know. Finally we're out of the shadows of our fathers. It's nice to see the sun again" Sasuke replied. Ino grabbed his hand and smiled at him.
"So you think we'll find your brother here?" She asked.
"This is as good a place as any to start searching" He said. They continued down the street until they saw a tall dark haired woman on a cell phone. "There's a good mark."
They changed course so Sasuke was able to bump into her.
"I'm sorry" He said genuinely. The woman nodded and they kept moving. As the young couple walked away they didn't notice the woman had stopped and was watching them leave.
As they rounded the corner Sasuke took the wallet he'd snatched from the woman out of his pocket and smiled at Ino.
"What a nice woman. She just bought us dinner" Ino giggled. Sasuke grinned and put his arm around her shoulder.
"Let's treat ourselves tonight. How about sushi?" They laughed happily and continued walking.
"Hold it right there you two!" A cop called from ahead of them. They froze and stared at him as he approached them. "Empty your pockets" He barked.
"We haven't done anything wrong, Officer" Ino said sweetly with her best smile.
"I said empty your pockets."
The smile dropped from her face as Sasuke held out the only thing he had in his pocket, the wallet they just snatched. The cop took it from him and opened it.
"Well this doesn't look like you young man" He said holding the ID that was inside the wallet. Sasuke glared at the officer. Before he could say anything or do something stupid someone else began speaking.
"There you two are!" All three of them turned to see the dark haired woman walking towards them looking relieved. "I sent you out for milk an hour ago! I thought you'd been mugged!" She exclaimed.
"Excuse me Ma'am, do you know these two?" The officer asked.
"Of course I do. That is my cousin and his girlfriend. And that is my wallet, which I gave them so they could buy some milk" She explained coolly. She grabbed the ID from his hand and pointed to her picture. "See? Kurenai Yuhi. That's me." She smiled dazzlingly. The cop looked like he was going to say something else but he swallowed it and smiled politely.
"Have a nice day" He said calmly. Sasuke and Ino stared at the woman in absolute confusion.
"What was that?" Sasuke demanded.
"Hey, show me some respect kid. I just saved your asses" Kurenai snapped.
"Thank you" Ino said. "But we just stole your wallet and you could have turned us in. Why didn't you?"The woman smiled.
"Because you remind me of someone" She said.
"Who?" Sasuke asked.
"Me."
Kurenai brought the couple back to her house and made them both sandwiches.
"I used to be just like you two. My husband and I would pick pockets, snatch purses, pull scams the whole deal" She explained.
"Used to?" Sasuke asked. "What happened?"
"We grew up. Got married, got jobs, that stuff is best left to the young people." She sat down across from them at the table. "How long you been doing this?" She inquired.
"About a week" Ino replied.
"It shows" Kurenai said.
"Are we that bad?" Ino asked. Kurenai shook her head.
"No, you've got some skill but you just need to polish it" She said. Just then the front door opened and a tall man with a beard and a cloud of smoke around him entered the house.
"Hey, are these the whippersnappers you were telling me about, honey?" He asked with a grin.
"Asuma this is Sasuke and Ino. They're the ones who picked my pocket today" She said.
"You two must be lucky cause you picked the right pocket today" Asuma said with a wink.
"So, you're going to help us?" Ino asked. The older couple smiled at each other before responding.
"Yeah, we'll teach you everything we know" Kurenai said.
"I've always wanted an apprentice!" Asuma exclaimed. The younger couple stared at each other happily.
Present Day…
Sasuke pulled the car into the driveway and parked it. He looked over at Ino, who was still sleeping, and gently touched her cheek causing her to stir and moan.
"Hey baby, we're here." He got out of the car and hurried around to her side. "Come on" he said as he opened the door.
"Babe, I'm so tired" she replied drowsily.
"I know, but you gotta get up and come inside with me." He helped her up and supported her as they walked to the front door. He shifted so he could reach up and bang the knocker three times. "Hang in there Ino" He whispered. There was noise from inside then the porch light went on and the door opened to reveal Kurenai in her bathrobe squinting at them.
"Sasuke? Ino? What's going on?" She asked, and then she noticed the blood.
"We need your help again."
Hope you liked it. I want to update faster but school is getting intense. I'll try though. Love ya'll.
