The first sign of Narutos awakening was a slight fluttering of his eyelids. With a groan, he opened one of his eyes and after he had adjusted saw to the light, saw his blonde girlfriend sigh in relief before briefly turning away from him. "Sakura! He's waking up!", she called out and a moment later, Sakura entered his vision as well.

Slowly, Naruto regained consciousness and his speech, too. "Ino-chan! Sakura-chan! What's wrong, you don't look too good.", he noticed that Ino had a bit of dried blood trickling from her mouth while Sakura just looked like she had been stomped over by an elephant or some other big animal.

He himself felt a dull pain in his stomach, but he paid no mind to it. After all, if Ino and Sakura got hurt, it didn't matter how hurt he was, he would protect them no matter what.

But other than physical wounds, he also noticed that Sakuras hair was cut. It used to nearly reach her ass, but now it was only reaching down to her shoulders. "Sakura-chan? What happened to your hair? Why're you crying? Was it Sasuke-teme again? I'm gonna beat the crap outta that guy!", he yelled as he jumped up.

Only then did he noticed that both girls were crying. Of course, Naruto only assumed something bad had happened to them. "Where is that guy anyway? And that creepy Grass ninja? And what about Haku-chan?", he asked, frantically looking around.

And while he didn't spot either the Grass ninja or Haku, he saw Kiba and Shikamaru who stood over a sitting Sasuke. That surprised him. How long had he been out that they were here now? "Shikamaru! Kiba! What are you doing here?!", he exclaimed.

Shikamaru looked up to see Naruto being up on his feet again. Sasuke was still on the ground, rubbing his forehead for some reason. The Nara boy however just sighed, as he usually did when something was 'troublesome'. "We came to find Sasuke after he got lost. Seems like we arrived just in time, too.", he said with a nod towards Sasuke, an act that somewhat puzzled Naruto.

He saw Kiba offering Sasuke a hand and pulling him up to stand. "Come on, we need to head to the tower!", Kiba grunted as he supported Sasuke to stand up.

"Huh? Don't tell me... you already have both scrolls?", Naruto gawked at his friend.

Confirming his suspicion, Shikamaru pulled out two different scrolls. "While we waited for Sasuke to come back, we stumbled across a team from Kusagakure. Fortunately, they had the Earth Scroll, so now we have both of them and can head to the tower.", he explained.

"I see... ", Naruto said. That reminded him... they had lost their scroll, right?

He was pulled out of his thoughts by his friend. "Oi, we're taking Sasuke with us. Sorry for the bother he caused you.", Kiba yelled over to him as he and Sasuke holding onto him jumped into the forest, but not before Sasuke glared at him and Naruto returned that glare right back at him.

Still, he was glad to see that at least his other friends were not out to kill them. "See ya later, Shikamaru! Kiba!", he waved his friends off.

"Naruto, one last thing... don't try to fight that redhead from Sunagakure. Believe me, you don't want to face him.", Shikamaru told him, with an expression Naruto hadn't seen on him before. He was being dead serious here. So, all Naruto could do was nod. Satisfied with his apparent understanding, Shikamaru also left to follow Kiba and Sasuke.

Now, he and the girls were alone again. As he turned around, Ino and Sakura were wiping away their tears of relief, which still perplexed Naruto somewhat. So he just had to ask. "W-what happened while I was out?", he inquired.

Silence laid over the clearing after both Naruto and Sasuke had been taken out and their attacker had vanished. The three girls were somewhat stunned by the rapid series of events, but Haku was the first who moved again. And she did not move to attack Ino or Sakura, but she headed right towards the trees, as if there was nothing of interest here anymore. "Hey, wait! You're leaving?", Ino asked Haku.

The girl just shrugged her shoulders. "Well, there'd be no fun in killing Naruto-kun now.", she explained. "Besides, I should better get back to my team and see to it that we get another scroll, or else we won't get to the next stage.". Haku started to leave again, but once more, Ino held her back.

"Why did you make Naruto your mark? Answer me that!", the blonde yelled, aggravated that this girl was taking this whole mess so lightly.

Haku merely turned to look at Ino over her shoulder. "Because you denied you loved him. And because I figured he had no one, like me, it wouldn't affect anybody if I killed him. I suppose I was wrong though.", she responded.

Ino gasped. So it was her fault for being dishonest?

"Still, now I want Naruto to be my mark even more.", Haku added and smiled to herself. And with that said, she disappeared into the thick forest again.

While Ino gritted her teeth at that, Sakura let her head hang in shame. It was her own stupidity that had caused her team to lose their scroll, she blamed herself for getting them all into this situation. The weight of her actions now only began to hit her and the pinkette began to sob. "Ino... I'm sorry. It's all my fault.", she apologized under sobs.

Instinctively, Ino pulled her friend into a comforting hug as Sakura went into a fullblown crying fit. "Don't worry about it, Sakura. At least we're safe now.", Ino tried to calm her friend down.

Getting comforted by her friend did calm down Sakura quickly, but she was still sobbing in Inos arms after a few minutes. Ino couldn't bear to see her friend so down, so she did her best to cheer her up. "Come on, don't be so down. Now it's our turn to look after Naruto-kun. And Sasuke-kun too, I guess.", she said with a glance towards the knocked out Uchiha.

As each of the girls picked up one of the boys, they searched for a fitting hiding place. They found it in the shape of a huge tree that was partly rooted out and thus offered some shelter. Here, the girls put the boys down and tried to . Both Sasuke and Naruto were sweating, but whereas Narutos sweat was warm, Sasuke was stonecold. However, they were still breathing normally, even though Sasukes breath tended to hitch a bit. The girls decided that the best course of action was to just watch over them until they got better, even if it meant waiting out for the whole duration of the exam.

The sky was not easy to see from underneath the trees, but soon, it got colder and the girls figured that it was already night. Still, they didn't chose to sleep just yet. They sat in front of their hideout, holding guard while using the chance to chat a little bit. But as they spoke in whispers as to not give away their location even more, Sakura noticed she became more and more distracted as she kept looking at Inos lips as the girl talked.

Her encounter with Kurenai had initiated a spark in Sakura, and now she realized what it was. She did not just like boys. No, she also liked Ino. She had liked her for the longest time, but ever since their rivalry had started, she had forgotten all about it. Only now, that they did not need to quarrel about Sasuke had she begun to remember her feelings. And with Kurenai-sensei pushing her in the right direction, she had arrived at this realization.

Before she knew it, Sakura had already lunged forward and captured Inos lips in a kiss, a kiss full of longing and need. Sakura was confused by her own actions just as soon as she felt Inos soft mouth on hers and she was about to pull back and apologize profusely for the kiss, when Ino started responding to her kiss, not letting her pull away.

Ino was just as confused as Sakura, but both girls, after todays events, needed someone to comfort them. After the stress of the day, they relished in their surprising kiss, both feeling relieved and happier than they thought they could be. As they finally seperated, they whispered each others names, both surprised at this turn of events, but not in a bad way.

"Wow, I guess we should leave you guys alone for a bit. Then again, why not, go right ahead and don't mind us."

Sakura eeped in surprise as she found that they were not at all alone and in fact had an audience. Three sets of eyes stared at them. It was a team from Otogakure, and across the meadow from Ino and Sakura stood two guys, one with wild hair and the other with bandages covering most of his face and a girl with long black hair.

"What do you want?", Ino asked icily. She wondered if those were the same Sound-nin that had trashed Naruto yesterday, and judging from their looks and Narutos description, they were.

"We just want to see Sasuke dead. If you're smart, you stay out of our way, you little hussies!", the mummy ninja warned them.

The girls looked at each other for a moment, as if to contemplate. However, their decision was made quickly. "In your dreams!", Sakura shouted right back at him.

"Yeah, like we'd hand over a comrade to the likes of you!", Ino agreed with her friend. Their hearts were one. Even if Sasuke had attacked them like this, they were still comrades and they were all ninja of Konoha. They wouldn't betray them like this.

"Right, then don't say we didn't warn you!", the Sound-nin answered as they too got ready for battle.

Ino was quick to act and began forming handseals. Sakura recognized the handseal Ino ended up in. It was the handseal of the Yamanaka clan. So Ino was about to use her Shintenshin no Jutsu to enter one of the bodies of their enemies. But that was too dangerous. What if she missed? "Ino, don't!", she called out to her friend. Regardless of whether or not it suceeded, this would be just too much of a risk here.

But Ino just looked at her friend, confidence in her eyes. Her eyes had that glare that told Sakura 'Leave it to me, I got this'. "Don't worry, Sakura. I have an idea.", she told her friend and completed her jutsu. "Shintenshin no Jutsu!"

Normally, this technique was too risky, but her advantage was that they didn't know what her jutsu was. Instead, they stood there befuddled as Ino suddenly collapsed without any obvious reason as to why.

"Wow, she already fainted. Well, can't blame her. Now it's just you, pinky.", the boy with the wild hair said, staring at Sakura like prey.

"Zaku, you ready?", the mummied Ninja asked, taking charge of their attack.

"You betcha!", was the prompt reply from his comrade.

"Kin?", he asked his other teammate. But strangely, he received no reply from the girl next to him. "Kin?", he asked again, this time his voice low as he was getting pissed.

Only then did the black-haired girl look up and strangely, she had a very smug look on her face. She reached into the kunai pouch on her leg and drew a blade, but instead of facing it at Sakura, she twisted it around and held it against her own throat.

It was then that Sakura realized that Inos jutsu had worked. 'Nice, Ino!', she thought as she was certain that this would work now. "Sorry pals, you better get lost or this girl gets it!", Ino bluffed. Every damage the body sustained while she was in it was directly linked to her own, so she couldn't kill herself. But she hoped it would be enough to scare those two off.

To her dread however, the boys only laughed. "Go right ahead. We don't really need that stupid bitch anyway.", Dosu said. "Well, might as well help you!", Zaku yelled as he turned on his comrade.

"What?!"

"What!?"

Both girls screamed in unison as the boy named Zaku opened his palm in their direction. Next thing Ino knew was that the body she was inhabiting was flung against a tree. It was a painful impact and she instantly released her jutsu to return to her own body.

Unfortunately, both Ino and Sakura knew that this would take a few minutes before Ino would be back in her body again. This left Sakura all to herself. She was the only one who could defend her friends now.

"So it's only you now.", Zaku laughed as he approached her.

Sakura put up a valiant fight, but ultimately, she was outnumbered and outclassed and got beaten horribly by the two merciless ninja. It ended with the boy named Zaku grabbing her hair and mocking her, to which she responded by glaring angrily and swiftly cutting off the hair he was holding her with. This didn't accomplish much though, as he kicked her aside again, incapacitating her.

Now, Sakura could only watch as they advanced towards Sasuke and Naruto, but at that moment, a terrifying presence awoke and Sasuke woke up. His body was covered in strange black marks and he exuded an evil chakra, but he made short work of the two sound nin, crippling one of them in the process and scaring the other one off. He left his scroll, a Heaven Scroll, on the ground, begging Sasuke to let him leave as he grabbed his teammate and vanished.

Just as Sakura had thought the danger was over, she saw how Sasuke turned around and glared at her. He advanced slowly towards her and Sakura froze. He still wore that same violent expression he had, that sadistic grin when he had literally dominated the two Otogakure ninja.

He stood over her and again, Sakura feared for her life, but the attack never came. Sasuke froze in place. "What?", he gritted his teeth and turned around. Following his glare, Sakura saw that Shikamaru, holding Sasuke with his Kagemane no Jutsu.

The Nara-boy struggled and sweated as Sasuke began to break out of his jutsu. "Go knock him out, Kiba. I can't hold him much longer!"

"Got it!", the feral boy answered and as he was told, he delivered a swift punch to the paralyzed Uchihas gut, knocking him out. At once, the evil chakra retreated and Ino slowly came to herself again.

And then, a few moments later, Naruto woke up.

After retelling him the events of the night (while carefully omitting Hakus last statement and their kiss), Ino and Sakura sat with Naruto under the outrooted tree.

Naruto was angered at how beaten up Sakura was, but the girls calmed him that they were just smaller bruises and a few shallow cuts, nothing serious or scarring. Still, he swore revenge on those two guys for messing 'his' Ino-chan and Sakura-chan up.

Still, he settled as he realized that it could've been far worse than that. "So we're back to square one, huh?", Naruto asked as he looked at the scroll Sakura held in her hand. They got lucky, now they still had a chance. "Well, what are we gonna do now, Ino?", he asked the blonde.

Ino looked with wide eyes at him before remembering that Kurenai had made her the team leader and she was supposed to act like one. "I'd say we better rest up here first before starting to search for a new scroll tomorrow. We need the rest so we can start from the scratch tomorrow.", she decided, and it was a sound plan that both Naruto and Sakura agreed on.

But there was still one thing left. "Uhh, what are we going to do about her?", Sakura asked, motioning at the unconscious form of a girl near the bushline.

Naruto followed her motion and he really did only notice now that there was really a girl laying on the forest floor there. "Her comrades left her just here, probably to die or something...", Ino commented.

Carefully, Naruto approached the unconscious female before turning her around gently so he could see her face. He gasped. "That's... that's the girl I saw the day before this exam started. The sound kunoichi.", Naruto told his team.

"Ah, I see... the one who was trying to run away.", Ino remarked, recalling the story Naruto had told them. She looked down at the girl. It seemed she got hit a lot worse than the damage Ino had sustained suggested. Maybe she even had some broken bones or worse, internal injuries. Either that or she was a long sleeper.

"Yeah, that's the one.", he confirmed it. It was definitely her. He still could remember the defeated look in her face as she walked past him in that alley.

"But Naruto, she really did attack us.", Sakura objected. "It didn't seem like she disliked being here with her team.", she told him, and it was true. Kin had seemed rather hostile.

Ino on her part, although she was disgusted at the Sound-nin for not only attacking her teammate but also leaving her, was opposed to giving her any second chances. "Yeah! They must've put up a show back then! For all I care, we should leave her here!", Ino huffed.

Naruto thought about all his teammates were saying. "Ino-chan, Sakura-chan, this girl wasn't anything like that when I first saw her.", Naruto said thinking it over. "If anything, she didn't want anything to do with her team, but now all of a sudden she's working together with them, even though she knows what they have planned?". Naruto shook his head. "I can't believe she would go along with this!".

"But Naruto-kun!", Sakura said worriedly as she looked at the sound Kunoichi. As if reading her mind, Naruto interupted her. "We'll see whats going on Sakura-chan. If it turns out that she attacked us freely, then we can decide what to do about it then. Besides that we have to stay here for the night anyway, we don't need her body giving our position away, do we?"

Seeing the logic behind the thinking, Ino sighed, reluctantly nodding her head. "Fine Naruto-kun, we'll do this for now. BUT! If she so much as moves a finger against us, I'm not going to give her a third chance.", Ino huffed as she helped Naruto start to carry the Kunoichi into the makeshift dwelling.

Sakura still seemed unsure about allowing the girl close to them. Nonetheless, she shortly joined the rest of the team and soon they were huddled around a small fire.

Naruto would occasionally look over at the sound girl, having consented to Ino's decision to tieing her up to prevent her from escaping or attacking them when she came to. Naruto kept thinking back to the scared girl he had tried to save a few nights prior and the apparent willing conspirator that had tried to attack Ino and Sakura. It just didn't fit no matter how he tried to reason it.

Naruto had volunteered to stay with Sakura to guard Kin while Ino made a short trip outside to gather some more wood for the fire, knowing it was going to be a long night and they needed to stock up on as much as they could so they didn't have to later. Naruto and Sakura were silent silent as they sat around the comforting warmth of the flames.

"Naruto-kun...", Sakura said quietly, getting his attention as she stared at him from across the fire. "I... I wanted to say... thank you... you know for... saving me.", Sakura said shyly. Naruto couldn't help but notice a blush working its way onto her face, making Naruto smile a bit. "Sakura-chan, you don't have to thank me. I won't leave my friends behind even if I was ordered to!", Naruto said, rubbing his neck a bit.

Sakura smiled as Naruto said that. "I know you won't, Naruto. That's what makes you special.", Sakura said as she giggled. "You know, I always thought Sasuke would save me in something like that, but instead it was you.", Sakura said as she scooted a bit closer to Naruto.

"Well yeah...", Naruto said, wondering what Sakura was getting at as she kept moving ever closer, an inch at a time. "Naruto-kun I... I have something to tell you ... something important.", Sakura said as she was almost rubbing shoulders with her blond teammate. Naruto had to swallow a lump in his throat at how Sakura was acting to him. "Uh... what's that, Sakura-chan?", Naruto asked nervously as Sakura leaned close.

All of a sudden, a slight moan was heard, making Sakura jump in surprise with a small eep. Both leaf Genin looking to see the sound Kunoichi starting to stir as she moved around against the ropes. "Oh... what... what's going on?", Kin asked as she opened her eyes before becoming aware of where she was and that she was restrained.

"What! Why am I tied up?", the raven haired girl asked in alarm before seeing the two next to her and screaming as she scooted backwards as far as she could, away from them. "Who are you two? What's going on?", Kin asked with fear in her eyes. "So you're finally awake, huh?", a new voice said as Kin stared to see Ino standing there with a large bundle of wood in her hands.

"Please, whatever you do, don't hurt me! Don't take me back there!", Kin begged, nearly hysterical as Naruto looked at her curiously. "We're not going to hurt you, and what do you mean, 'don't take you back'?," Naruto asked as Kin stared at him. "You... you mean you're not from Otogakure?", Kin asked hesitantly. "Last I checked...", Naruto said tapping his headband with the leaf insignia on it.

As if suddenly realizing something, Kin stared at Naruto. "You're the ninja that tried to save me.", Kin whispered, making Naruto grin. "So you do remember me. See guys, I told you something was strange.", Naruto said as Ino frowned. "Maybe but, she seemed really into working with her team when they attacked us.", Ino commented, making Kin look at her. "Zaku and Dosu? I don't want to see those two ever again!", she protested.

That statement made Team seven stare at Kin as she explained. "I never liked those two! All they did was blame me for their failures and complain, and then we get called in for an important mission only to find out one of us is going to die! Those bastards chose me to be the lucky one!", Kin said through clenched teeth. "Then why did you go back with them if you could have gotten away?", Sakura asked confusedly.

"I hate to admit it, but the leader of the sound makes sure all of us are easy to control, some more then others.", Kin said, looking down as Sakura realized something. "Wait, you mean genjutsu?", Sakura asked, their teacher drilling them on that subject constantly since she specialized in it. "Try more like brain washing! When I got taken back, they were waiting to make sure I listened this time!", Kin growled.

"Well, that explains that question.", Naruto said as Ino stared at him. "You can't be serious Naruto! You believe her?", Ino asked like he was crazy before Naruto nodded. "We're ninja, Ino. Is it that hard to believe there is someone out there who can control minds when Hinata can see through walls and you can enter minds?", Naruto asked as Ino thought about it a moment before sighing. "Fine, you have me there. But what are we going to do about her?"

Looking at the kunoichi Naruto grinned. "Well, I have an idea!", Naruto said before looking at his team. "I bet since we have a new teammate here to help us, we can surprise a team and take their scroll easier. Or if you two are up to it, we go pay those two bastards a visit. They can't advance without a third member because of the rules, but that doesn't mean that was their only scroll."

His two teammates stared at him in part surprise, part shock. "Naruto, how can you just include this girl in our plans? She's an enemy!", Sakura said as Naruto shook his head. "She doesn't want to go back to her team and where is she going to go if we leave her here?", Naruto asked, getting thoughtful looks from Ino and Sakura. Sighing a bit Naruto added "Look, it's late. We can decide this in the morning, okay? Besides, unless Kin wants to tell us more about her village, we're not going to get much done tonight.".

"I'm not saying anything else until I can guarantee I won't be attacked for talking about it!", Kin said, looking away in a huff from Team 7. Naruto sighed, as his friend Shikamaru would say, another troublesome woman.

Getting nods from both of his teammates after deciding that they would do that for now, Naruto went over to a corner of the shelter and laid down. He missed the looks his teammates gave Kin that silently told her if she did anything funny, she wouldn't have long to enjoy it. Feeling a bit tired still from whatever that grass ninja did to him, Naruto shut his eyes, hoping to get a few winks before they had to move.

It didn't take long for Naruto to sleep tightly. Kin too had closed her eyes and seemed asleep, but Ino and Sakura were still wary and remained awake a bit longer. So, they sat around the small fire for a little bit, warming themselves.

They didn't spoke a word, which greatly distressed Sakura. She still hadn't forgotten about how she had impulsively kissed her friend. Among the many things that happened today and that were still bothering here, this was right next to Naruto saving her. She was so confused about her own behavior. Why did she do that? She had to admit, she liked Ino, but before that, she never even had thought about her like this...

Ino, what did she think about it? She had kissed back, but had that been real or just her wishful thinking? Maybe she didn't talk about it because she just wanted to forget it? But Sakura did not want things to become awkward between her and Ino again, so she sadly decided to apologize. "Umm, Ino... about before... I'm sorry.", she whispered, finally breaking the silence.

Though fatigued, it took Ino just a moment to figure out that Sakura was talking about their kiss earlier. "Huh? Oh, don't be. It was... nice.", she admitted, blushing a bit. Before today, she hadn't really given much thought, if any, to the idea of being attracted to a girl. Or, anyone for that matter, aside from Naruto, but this was a change.

Still, now, in the middle of the exam wasn't the best time to discuss things like this. "Let's talk about it after this is over, alright?", she suggested as her hand scooted closer to Sakuras.

Sakuras face lit up with relief and gladly, she took the hand her friend offered her. "Yeah, lets.", she agreed. Like this, the girls sat hand in hand by the fire until they too couldn't stay awake much longer.

Ino was still alert about letting Kin sleep here with them, but it seemed the girl was as worn out as they were and she was already sleeping tightly. And they couldn't spare anyone to stand guard, they were all thoroughly worn out. They all needed their sleep.

Putting out the fire, so as to not invite more unwanted guests during the sleep, the girls huddled next to Naruto, so they could keep each other warm for the night.

The next morning, they awoke to finding Kin still with them, having woken up before them apparently. Strangely though, the girl hadn't even tried to escape, which was even somewhat suspicious to them.

After Naruto woke up too, they a small breakfast consisting of Soldier Pills, which would give them enough energy for the day before contemplating their course of action for the second day.

"Alright Team 7, as we decided yesterday, we'll have to go and look for a team to get another scroll.", Ino outlined their plan. It was simple and the only option they had right now anyway.

"But this is bad. We don't have a tracker like Shino or Kiba in our team. How are we supposed to find another team?", Sakura interjected, concerned about their safety. After all, they could just as well run into a trap.

"Well, if everything fails, we can still stage an ambush, right?", Naruto reminded them of their initial plan.

"But that would have some risks, too.", Sakura said thoughtfully. As her team looked at her, longing for an answer, she elaborated. "For one, they could be too strong for us. And then, what if they don't even have the scroll we need? IF we can even lure a team into an ambush.", she explained her thoughts.

Grudgingly, Naruto and Ino agreed with her. The girl was making valid points. They were in a rather unfortunate situation. How were they supposed to find another team without risking to stumble into an ambush themselves?

The situation seemed hopeless and neither was willing to take the risk of haplessly going exploring after what happened yesterday. Just then, Kin spoke up. "Umm, excuse me, but... I'm a little trained with tracking.", she said meekly.

"Huh?", was the collective response of Team 7.

So, Kin explained a bit. "My village specializes on sound-based attacks, so I am able to hear sounds you might not pick up. It's not much, but...", she told them. And it was true, she had used that ability to cheat in the first part of the exam. Granted, this wasn't a nearly silent room but a huge forest with wildlife, but she figured she would have some success in tracking.

But especially the girls remained unconvinced. "How can we know you don't lead us into a trap?", Ino asked, her eyes narrowed as she glared at the girl. After the dubious story she had told them yesterday, she was just being careful.

Kin raised her empty hands in a gesture that was meant to prove she was harmless. "I-I... I promise you, I won't do that. I owe you guys, so that's the least I can do for you.", she said.

Naruto thought for a moment. She looked and sounded earnest, so... "I say we trust her.", he said.

Ino wanted to sigh and go on about how they just couldn't trust her now, when their third teammember spoke up as well. "Well, she didn't kill us during the night...", Sakura commented. And it was true, too.

Seeing how Sakura was beginning to trust Kin as well, Ino saw that she stood no chance here in this argument. She fumed a bit with frustration, but she had to swallow her own pride if she wanted to lead her team out of this forest. But was trusting the enemy really the safest way for that goal?

Seeing how conflicted she was, Naruto still felt that, if they were to follow Kins suggestion, they would be best off if everyone would support it and trust Kin to a certain degree. "Your call, Ino-chan.", he told his girlfriend, and finally, Ino gave up.

"I get it. It seems like we have little choice. And if Naruto vouches for you, I'll trust you too, Kin.", she surrendered and looked at the Sound-kunoichi who looked relieved and even somewhat happy. "BUT! If I even get the hunch that you're playing us, you're toast!", Ino said sharply.

Aside from still remembering yesterday, Ino did have a rough night. After all, if you're used to sleep in a bed, the forest floor was quite a jump for that, and consequently, Inos mood wasn't the best this morning.

Kin, although cowering a bit in front of a slightly irritated Ino, still decided to make her point clear. "I understand. But please believe me, I'll do whatever you want. You guys saved me after all.", she told her.

Ino nodded. That was good enough for her... for now at least."Alright, then everyone gets ready and we'll get going in five minutes!", Ino ordered so that everyone could still prepare their gear before they left this spot.