Intervention; noun--interposition or interference of one state in the affairs of another

--Intervened—

"Ino, have you seen Tayuya?"

The blonde shook her head, "She ran off during fifth. I haven't seen her since then."

I frowned—where was she?

I was considering stopping by Kakashi's to see if that glasses-wearing freak had gotten his hands on her when the girl emerged from the building, eyes fixed on the ground.

My heart leaped into my throat. "Tayuya? What happened; what's wrong?"

She was paler than usual and… were those the clothes she had worn to school? No, I doubted that. When had she changed?

"Take me home." Her voice was a mere croak as though she was fighting back an outburst and I quickly moved to open her door. It wasn't until I had spirited her upstairs and into the apartment, seated her and prepared her a mug of tea that her colour started returning.

I sat next to her, and rested a hand on her knee, waiting patiently for her to explain what had shaken her so badly.

"I killed them, Ko," she sighed at last, hands tightening around the container until her knuckles went white.

"Killed who?"

She shut her eyes, shuddering. "The kids. Kabuto sent me and Kimimaro to some apartment to kill that lady and she had two kids. I kept telling Kimimaro to leave 'em be 'cause they wouldn't be a problem and he kept saying that they were liabilities and then Four-eyes made me kill them myself—"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on," I interrupted, stopping her frantic monologue. "Kill what lady? You mean the one Kabuto told you to take out?" She nodded. "Why'd you even go?"

Suddenly, she was across the room, eyes wide, shards of the mug on the floor. "Fuck…!"

Frowning slightly, I rose and took a step towards her, reaching out. "Tayuya, wh—"

"I shouldn't be here."

"… Where else would you be?"

She shook her head, retreating until her back hit the wall. If I had been confused before, now I was completely lost. "He can hurt you through me. If I keep hanging around…" She scowled. "No. There's no way in Hell I'm letting him get to you. I'd die first."

Die first? My chest constricted at the thought. "Tayuya, calm down and explain to me what's going on."

She hesitated.

"Please?"

She sighed.

"So you're telling me he's threatening me and everyone close to you to make sure you follow his orders?"

It wasn't so unbelievable. Hell, it sounded like something Orochimaru would pull…

Wordlessly, Tayuya nodded. She kept fidgeting as though she was going to bolt at any moment; I hooked a finger under her chin and forced her eyes to meet mine, ceasing any movement. "You have to get out of this, obviously. Any ideas?"

"Yeah," she growled. "Stay away from you until I can think of something."

"That's hardly a solid plan." Why was the thought of her being away from me so painful?

'Oh, this again?'

She was glaring. "It's all I've got."

I met her gaze steadily. "Not good enough, Uta. Try again."

"Whaddya mean it isn't good enough?" Her tone was incredulous. "I'm trying to protect you, Ko!"

'You should listen to her. She has more sense than you, it would seem.'

"I don't need to be protected, thus that goal isn't worth losing my girlfriend for an undetermined amount of time."

There, I'd said it. I didn't want her to go…

She blinked, expression softening. "Ko…"

I shifted closer to her, burying my face in the hollow of her throat. "I just…"

I didn't finish my sentence,—couldn't—but she seemed to understand, hesitating before wrapping her arms around my waist.

"I'm scared, Anko," she admitted quietly. "I don't want to lose any of the others and I certainly don't want to lose you."

That made two of us.

The next morning was… awkward.

Tayuya remained uncharacteristically silent through her morning rituals and disappeared shortly after with a curt 'later', leaving me to an empty apartment.

Though I desperately wanted to know where exactly she was going, I knew she wouldn't tell me.

I did know that, wherever she was headed, Kabuto would be there.

"Hey, Anko!" Did Ino have to knock so hard? "Get your ass off of Tayuya and come answer your door!"

"Babe, you can't intrude," came Temari's amused voice. "I happen to know a hot blonde that goes ballistic if she gets interrupted in the middle of… important business."

She snorted. "Yeah, well, you can't go answering the phone in the middle of fingering me."

"It was my dad calling in like he does every week to check on me, what did you want me to do?"

"Ignore him and use your mouth to—"

I yanked the door open before the two could do any more damage—damn these paper thin walls!—to the neighbors; Ino flashed me a charming smile and flounced past me while Temari nodded in greeting, eyes glittering with amusement as she followed her girlfriend.

"May I help you?" I asked, sarcasm dripping from my words.

Ino sniffed. "Hey… It doesn't smell like sex in here. Is Tayuya gone?"

I didn't let how disturbed I was at her deduction and how she came to it show. "Yeah. She went out and I was trying to sleep."

"In the middle of the day?" Temari asked incredulously. "It's Saturday!"

"I'm well aware of that—"

"Intervention!" Ino announced. I flinched at the word, having already been subjected to a few. "Get your pretty ass dressed—we're hitting the stores, and then the clubs."

"Ugh… Again?"

I received a stern look from Ino and a smirk from Temari. Knowing the combination was deadly, I held up my hands in surrender. "Fine, fine."

Cue triumphant smirks from the blonde couple.

"I don't see why I couldn't drive my car," I grumbled.

"You'd escape," Temari said from the driver's seat.

Ino turned in the passenger seat and, though her body was in the way, I could tell her hand was resting on Temari's thigh. "Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride," she chirped, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

I just released a long-suffered sigh.

We drove in silence for a little while—two minutes—a record!—and I would have been completely content with doing so for the entire trip. Unfortunately, Ino was in the car…

As she switched on the radio and cranked up the volume, Temari, a veteran when dealing with her girlfriend's habits, put the top down, unleashing Wow! I Can Get Sexual Too by Say Anything on the unsuspecting citizens of Konoha.

If I die and go to Hell real soon…

"C'mon, Ko, sing along!" Ino laughed.

It would appear to me as this room

This song brought back memories of one of the couple's previous interventions. They had taken me to Akimichi's (my first and definitely not last time there) along with Kiba and Naruto.

Somehow (don't drink, kids!), they had managed to convince me to participate in karaoke. The rest was history…

And for eternity I'd lay in bed

"I don't think so."

In my boxers, half stoned, with a pillow under my head

They both shared a look and I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me feel wary.

I'd be chatting on the interweb

Maggots prey upon the living dead

"If you prefer, you could do it on stage tonight…"

I shot her a glare to which she grinned.

I had no interest in the things she said

"Fuck you, Ino."

On the phone everyday—

I'll permanently hit the hay…

Even so, I joined them for the chorus:

I called her on the phone and she touched herself

She touched herself

She touched herself…!

I called her on the phone and she touched herself

I laughed myself to sleep…

Ino and Temari burst into giggles—well, Temari's laugh couldn't really be called a giggle due to its pitch—and I couldn't help but join them.

By the time the song reached its conclusion (and us our destination), I was feeling a little better about Tayuya's sudden change in demeanor.

Not that I had any time to think: Ino was grabbing me by the arm and dragging me towards the line of stores that made up The Pier.

"Ino, why exactly are we here of all places to go shopping? I thought you said we were going clubbing."

"We are."

I waited for her to elaborate. She didn't. "Ok… So why are we here? You know, The Pier? Where they sell shit for fun in the sun?"

"Patience, my child, and you shall learn," was her cryptic response.

I glanced back at Temari for guidance only to find that the blonde was a few feet behind us, leaning against her car, hands in her pockets. She raised a hand to wave when she saw me look back and, somehow, I knew she was wishing me luck.

How comforting.

We went passed a few vendors (the smell of food made my stomach rumble and I suddenly remembered that I hadn't eaten since breakfast), a bait-and-tackle shop, and a swimsuit shop before Ino darted into a narrow passageway created by two souvenir shops.

And I mean narrow. As in: who the Hell in their right mind would want to squeeze their way through such a small space? Only Ino.

Maybe this is my chance to escape…

Ino shot me a stern look as though reading my mind. "C'mon. Almost there."

With another long-suffered sigh, I turned sideways and inched my way after the blonde.

The passage widened as we went along, allowing us enough room so that we no longer had to inch our way forward. At the end of it was a store—a plain white building with darkened windows—I had never seen before, though the sand and palm trees around it said that we were still on (or near) the beach.

"I found this place a while back," Ino was saying thoughtfully. "Shika sells everything."

"'Shika'?"

She was approaching the entrance. "Shikamaru. Tema doesn't like him because we used to date."

The inside of the establishment was dim, a chandelier with candles in place of light bulbs acting as the sole source of illumination. It was bigger inside than it seemed outside, a breeze drifting through the open windows and stirring up the potent scent of sandalwood.

"Ino." From out of nowhere a tall man with dark hair pulled into a spiky ponytail appeared. "I thought I heard your mouth." His impassive gaze slid to me. "And you've brought a friend."

"Shikamaru, meet Anko. Anko, this is Shikamaru."

I nodded curtly and he sighed. "I imagine you're here to pick up your order?"

"Yup."

Another sigh. "Wait here."

The brunette disappeared into a doorway behind a semi-circular desk and remerged a moment later, an opaque bag—the kind dress clothes from fancy stores come in—in hand. "Here."

Ino actually squealed, snatching her "order". "Thanks, Shika! I owe you big time!"

"Yeah, yeah." He waved dismissively. "Just don't visit again for a while and we'll call it even."

I expected her to take offense (or at least pretend to), but she merely grinned. "Will do. Later!"

"How long have you been planning this?" I asked, tone flat, as we returned to the car.

"Only since yesterday! I'm amazed Shika got the stuff so quickly."

"What's this about Shikamaru?" Temari asked, indicating that we were indeed within her range of hearing. Her tone held the slightest of edges to which Ino grinned.

"He totally came through for us! Wait until you see what I ordered."

So Temari wasn't in on this? Unusual.

Ino planted a chaste kiss on the sandy-blonde's lips as she slid into the car. "C'mon, it's already three o'clock—we're going to be late."

For what? I couldn't help but wonder, getting into the vehicle myself.

"So. What's up between you and your girl?"

We had just dropped Ino off at some beauty salon across town. Which meant it was Temari's turn. See, the two always worked the same: Ino would reel me into some convoluted scheme and Temari would be the psychologist.

As usual, I had no desire to speak to her…

… Ok, that was a lie. I did want to talk. I just… couldn't find the words; I wasn't used to talking about my problems to other people.

Not exactly healthy, I know.

I shrugged and Temari heaved a sigh. "C'mon, Anko, you were doing so well. Now look at you: as moody as you were before. You can't tell me that nothing's up."

I arched an eyebrow at the word 'moody', but didn't comment.

"Alright… Let's try a different approach." I watched warily as the sandy blonde swerved to the left, abruptly changing lanes and cutting off an SUV.

"… What are you doing?"

Calmly, Temari stuck her hand out the window, middle finger up, in response to the honking horn of the larger vehicle. "You'll see."

We screeched to a halt outside of the gym—the very same one Tayuya and I usually went to—and Temari got out, gesturing for me to do the same. Then, without checking to see if I was following, she went inside.

It was deserted, I found, and the woman at the front desk only waved me in the direction that Temari had gone. The joys of being a Kaze.

The girl was fast: by the time I caught up to her, she was vaulting over the ropes that surrounded the boxing ring's perimeter.

"C'mon." She slid easily into a fighting stance as I watched, surprised. I knew Temari could fight (she had mentioned taking martial arts classes at one point), but I had never seen her in action. "Let's spar."

What brought this on? Nonetheless, I kicked off my shoes and stepped onto the canvas, assuming my own stance.

We stood, frozen, for what felt like ages.

The infinitesimal narrowing of sea-toned eyes was the only warning I got before I had to step back to avoid a fist to the gut and use my forearm to deflect a kick to the head. Then, the younger girl was a blur of fists and feet, forcing me onto the defensive.

Her ferocity shocked me. To the point that it took my heel hitting one of the posts the ropes were tied to remind me that I needed to fight back. Ducking and rolling, I came up, knocked aside the fist that was coming at me and returned the favour; Temari sidestepped it easily, but it threw off her tempo.

"What's on your mind?" She wasn't even breathing hard.

"Tayuya…" For some reason, with my hands and feet busy, my mind racing a mile a minute to figure out the best way to dispatch my 'enemy', I felt more talkative. "Tayuya's been acting a little—" I flipped backwards to avoid a powerful roundhouse. "—off."

"In what way?"

Finally I had found my groove, driving the sandy-blonde backwards with a series of hard blows. I had to remind myself that I wasn't trying to hurt her. "She's just been quiet—withdrawn."

"Kind of like you?" We grappled for a moment before I managed to break away, creating distance between us with neat little leaps. "Yeah, I've noticed. Anything happen between you two?"

I couldn't exactly tell her everything. "Conflicting opinions, I guess." I grunted as the girl's elbow nearly clipped me. "But nothing that would…"

Temari seemed to understand despite the fact that I had trailed off, nodding sympathetically even as she evaded a flurry of kicks.

The girl was really good.

"This is your first fight, right?"

"Yeah."

"It's going to be rough no matter what it's about. My advice?" She grinned. "Agree to whatever she says even if she's wrong. If that doesn't work, the make-up sex is always great."

And, just like that, she caught my foot, twisting so that the force of my blow was sent through my body. I hit the canvas with a 'thump'.

The fuck? I eyed Temari warily as she offered a hand to help me up. "Where'd you learn to fight like that, Tema?"

I hadn't been giving it my all, but still…!

"Oh… around," she said, her gesture as vague as her words.

Where exactly is 'around'? I wanted to ask, but the girl's phone chose that moment to go off.

She flipped it open. "Yeah, Babe?" She listened for a moment. "Mhmm. We're at the gym." More talking from Ino which caused the sandy-blonde to laugh. "Seriously? Ok, we'll see you in a bit. Uh-huh. I'll tell her." Her expression softened. "I love you too."

For some unidentifiable reason, the change in expression and words made my chest constrict.

--End Chapter--

Meh… Another set-up chapter. Though I don't like these, the next chappie shall be better, I promise you. More action and whatnot =)