Naruto woke up to the clicking and puffing of the equipment around him. He felt weak, weaker than he had in a
long time.
He had wondered where he was. Somewhere like a hospital… What happened?
His mind clicked as he remembered falling and then passing out.
Right, he thought. But where am I now? Something happened, I know it, it's not good, what was it?
Another click. Shikamaru flashed across his mind and so did the basement. Something felt wrong.
He got away, Naruto thought, his insides churning with anger. He got away. I didn't make it in time. I passed out
too soon, and the shadow replication didn't get into the building. I can feel it. Shikamaru's still out there,
somewhere. Ino's in danger… Ino can't go back…
"INO!" Naruto yelled as he sat up, the equipment following him. The breathing tube snapped and fell off. A
nurse came rushing into the room. She was elderly and had a motherly look on her face.
"Oh," She said, surprised. "Naruto-sama, you're awake!"
"Ino! Where is she? Is she alright? What happened? Did she…"
The nurse pointed to Naruto's left, and he turned to see Ino, sleeping peacefully. He sighed as he laid back
down, the nurse helping him.
"So she's alright? Has she woken up yet? What day is it? What time is it?"
"Yes, Ino-sama's alright. You've only been here for four hours young man, and you'll be staying here for much
longer if you don't relax. You used up all your chakra."
"All my…?" Naruto asked, his face puzzled. "I can't've used up all my chakra."
But you did, a voice whispered darkly in the back of Naruto's mind. All of yours, at least. It seems you've lost
your ability to use mine. Not that I mind, the voice smiled evilly.
What? Naruto thought. That doesn't make any sense.
Yes it does, the voice said, purring contently. And good old Kyuubi won't be there to help you when you do it
again. The girl will die anyways, so what if it's a little early? How about saving yourself?.
Naruto froze. Shut up, he growled. Shut up.
The voice stopped, and Naruto came back to reality.
"… And you might have to stay here for a few days. As for Ino-sama, she'll have problems walking for the next
couple of months," The nurse said, bustling around the room, checking on Ino, and then replacing the breathing
tube on Naruto.
"You need sleep," The nurse said, walking back over to Naruto after giving Ino water. "You need to rest well,
and then you'll be fine."
Naruto nodded. He laid down slowly, his head pounding from a sudden head rush.
Something was wrong…
He shook his head. He was safe, Ino was safe… Were his nerves just rattled perhaps? No, something was
definitely wrong. It worried him.
He closed his ocean blue eyes, and thought hard. Something was missing, but what was it? For once in his life,
he wished he were Neji, or (He shuddered) Sasuke, someone who could see through these things.
Shikamaru, I swear I'll make you pay, he thought. A small voice in the back of his head added: Yeah! Believe it!
"Naruto-kun?" A small, weak voice came from his left. He opened his eyes, and saw Ino staring sleepily at him.
"Yes? Are you alright?" He asked, looking scared as well as worried.
"I'm fine. What's the matter?" She asked, her eyes full of concern. "You look apprehensive."
"I… Um… It's nothing," He said, looking away. Man! He growled to himself. He couldn't stop it. "Ino, I think
Shikamaru… No, I know Shikamaru got away. I accidentally let him get away. I can feel something wrong, and
I could almost swear that he's in this hospital. He's going to come after me. I don't want to put you in danger. I
can't get you out of this room without drawing attention to the fact that he's after you. It'll bring questions, and
that will get you in trouble. What I need to do is prove that Shikamaru is guilty without him getting to the police
first and telling them that you're the one who killed those people," He quickly choked. "I mean, he'll lie and say
you killed those people, when really he did. He admitted it to me before in the house."
Ino looked openmouthed at Naruto.
He turned back, looking at the ceiling, trying to think hard…
Everything went black. Naruto thought he had past out, but, no, he couldn't have, he wouldn't be panicking right
now…
"Naruto-kun!" Ino's voice yelped. He heard a loud crash as something fell over.
"Ino!" Naruto yelled, trying to get up.
He felt himself get pushed back into the pillows as a voice practically sang in his ear, "I've come to kill you."
"Oof!" He was winded as something heavy collided with his stomach. Gasping for breath, Naruto grabbed the
persons hair, and threw them against the wall. He knew it was successful as he heard a crunch, and a gasp of
pain.
"Naruto!" Ino called again, from somewhere from behind him. He spun around, and called out to Ino, finally
colliding with her.
The clouds covering the full moon were suddenly blown away and the room was illuminated, an elderly nurse
laying sprawled at the foot of the wall. Naruto felt himself freeze up, his whole body just seemed to stop. He
didn't throw Shikamaru against the wall, he had thrown the nurse…
He ran forwards, and tried to awaken the nurse by gently shaking her. He eyes snapped open, and went to grab
Naruto's neck, but he was too quick…
"Nice try Shikamaru," He chuckled softly, into the nurse's ear.
With a quick poof of smoke, Shikamaru sat before him, his leg at an odd angle. "Nice try?" He echoed,
laughing as softly as Naruto.
Naruto felt it as if in slow motion. A terrified scream, the breaking of glass… He spun 'round when the
Shikamaru he was holding disappeared. He stood and ran to the broken window, looking down upon the scene
of Shikamaru holding a struggling Ino in his arms as he made his getaway.
"Why can I never," Naruto climbed onto the window sill. "Catch his stupid tricks?" He quickly thought in his
mind, 'Damn fox, lend me your power, I need it now!'
Nothing happened.
Naruto quickly asked himself, 'Kyuubi, are you mad at me for some reason?'
No answer. No… Anything.
"ARGH!" He yelled as he jumped from the window, slipping on his jacket he had grabbed on the way past. "I'll
get you back, stupid, idiotic, dumb, jack…"
He continued cursing and swearing Shikamaru, Kyuubi, Heaven, Hell and Earth as he gave chase.
He had no clue where Shikamaru was now, but he could faintly hear Ino's screams. Why Shikamaru hadn't
knocked her out by now was beyond Naruto, but he was grateful none-the-least.
"He didn't knock he out because it's a friggin' trap, that's what it is," He growled to himself as he cut through
brush and trees, following Ino's screams.
Finally, they stopped. But Naruto had already caught up with them. A different house sat before him as he
watched Shikamaru and Ino enter. It was the same though; abandoned, dirty and old.
Naruto jumped down from the tree with the agility of a cat, and snuck silently to a small window on the side of
the house. He opened it without so much as a squeak, even though the hinges were rusted beyond repair.
He climbed in, studying his surroundings. He jumped down to the ground, crouching down, and listening hard
for any sound coming from above, behind and beside him. He felt as good as he did when he was using the
damn fox's power.
He heard Ino speaking, her voice high and terrified. "P-Please, d-d-don't, I-I'll d-do anything… P-P-Please…N-
Not t-t-that…"
"Anything?" He heard Shikamaru's amused voice. "Anything, huh?"
Naruto's knuckles cracked, and he felt his nails break his skin as he growled inwardly, thinking of the worst
possible torture for Shikamaru.
He creeped to the door, listening for an opportunity, but not to be too late.
"Damn," He heard Shikamaru's voice curse. Quick footsteps, the door opened to a surprised Naruto, and
Shikamaru drawled, "Won't you come in?"
He's acting like we were having a meeting of some sort, Naruto thought. He walked in, noticing Shikamaru
pointing a knife at Ino, and knowing that if he tried anything, she'd get hurt, or worse…
"Well, Naruto, you just ruined my fun," Shikamaru said lightly. "I was going to experiment with Ino. Make her
feel things she had never felt before," He bend low, and said quietly into Ino's ear, but loud enough for Naruto
to hear. "Both good and bad."
Ino gasped, and Shikamaru smiled. Looking at Naruto, trying to see what he was going to do next.
"Well, come at me," Shikamaru said, pointing the knife at Ino again, this time cutting her on the arm.
Naruto just stood and glared. What was there to do? Attack, and Ino was dead, don't attack and Shikamaru
would…
He shuddered.
"Why don't you come at me?" He asked, thinking hard, trying to buy time.
"Because I'm intelligent. I'm going to wait for your pathetic move," He laughed slightly, looking at Ino, and
moving the knife up to her cheek. He made a quick cut, and she gasped from shock. Blood ran down her skin,
and Shikamaru seemed very happy to see it. "Ahh, I haven't seen blood since that night. I can't wait to taste
more."
Naruto froze at his words, as did Ino, and Shikamaru leaned down to lick Ino's blood away, and she yelped from
pain, swallowing her scream.
"Stop hurting her!" Naruto yelled, taking a step forwards.
"I will if you come at me. I'll stop hurting her, and end her misery," He looked up at Naruto, crouching beside
Ino. "It won't hurt," He assured Ino. "Well, actually, I wouldn't know, I've never been killed."
"Your filthy soul has," Ino spat in Shikamaru's face.
His face contorted with rage, and backhanded her. She fell to the ground, and Naruto helped her up.
Naruto was surprised, and even more so when Shikamaru said, "Take her. I can't have a woman who's not
scared of me."
TRAP! Naruto's mind yelled at him, and Ino and him turned to leave.
He pushed Ino roughly to the ground as several kunai's past his head.
"Here's the deal," Shikamaru said, spinning a kunai as he walked towards the duo. "You can have her, if you
can get away from me. Simple, right?"
Naruto grasped Ino's wrist, and pulled her up and behind him. He removed his jacket, in his black tee-shirt and
jeans, he stood his full height, and glared at Shikamaru.
"I'll get away, and you'll be locked away," He growled, taking out one of the spare kunai's he kept with him at
all times.
"Oh, will I now?" He asked, mockingly, playing with the kunai. He slowly cut each of his fingers, no blood
escaped though. "Are you sure that I will?"
"Positive!" Naruto smiled menacingly.
"Yeah, you will!" Ino said from Naruto, coming out with a kunai as well. She had taken it from Naruto's
back pocket, and stood in a defensive position. "Believe it!"
Naruto glanced sideways at Ino, smiling slightly.
"Yeah," He said, looking back at Shikamaru, and he smiled as he echoed. "Believe it!"
"Oho!" Shikamaru laughed. "Two against one, is it?"
"Yeah," Ino sneered. "Yeah, it is."
"Actually," Naruto said. "Kage bunshin no Jutsu! Now it's thirty-two against one!"
Thirty Naruto's appeared around Ino and him.
Ino gasped. She quietly said, "I thought you had no chakra left."
"I… Uh…" Naruto stuttered. It was true, hadn't he used up all of his chakra before? How did he have so much
energy, and how was he able to conjure all of these shadow replications? Did Kyuubi finally think of helping
him? No, no he certainly hadn't.
So where did all of this newly-found chakra suddenly appear from?
Ignoring the questions, Naruto quickly told Ino to stay back, and try to escape if she could. Naruto ran towards
Shikamaru as did the shadow replications.
They pounced, and Naruto stabbed Shikamaru in the chest. He turned into an empty crate, smashing on the
ground. Naruto spun around, and one of replications grabbed Shikamaru from behind, holding him firmly.
Naruto took advantage of Shikamaru's disadvantage, and hit a pressure point on his neck, knocking his
unconscious.
The replications disappeared, and Ino squeaked as Naruto fell to the ground.
"NARUTO!" She shrieked. Naruto had fallen to his knees and was having a very hard time breathing. Drawing
each breath was like picking up two tons of metal in each hand at the same time on a black hole.
"Ino…" He gasped. "I'm… Fine… Go… Get… Help… Hurry… I'll keep… Him… Here…"
Ino shook her head. "I can't leave you!"
"Go!" Naruto gasped. "I'll be… Fine… Hurry… Trust me…"
She stood stock still, then nodded. She ran out of the room. Naruto watched her go, and he did his best to
continually hit the spot on Shikamaru's neck so he wouldn't wake up. Naruto had learned that hitting the spot
too many times could lead to an IQ drop. He didn't care.
An hour or so later, the authorities appeared, and Naruto had built up enough chakra to stand up on his own.
Making sure that Shikamaru was locked up was top priority for Naruto at the moment.
As soon as the bar-doors had slammed on the still-unconscious Shikamaru, Naruto and Ino were whisked away
to the hospital to get treated for their current wounds.
As Ino was getting her wound bandaged (Naruto didn't have any physical wounds, so the nurse recommended
him for lots of rest and relaxation) a lawyer walked in the room, and said quickly, and very professionally that
there would be a trail to find Shikamaru guilty within the next week.
A doctor volunteered to drive Naruto and Ino home.
"Actually, could you drive us to the Mente la Creme?" Naruto asked, directing him to the restaurant that Ino and
Naruto had gone to before.
He stopped, and Naruto jumped out, asking for his car from the valet.
"Right away, sir," The valet ran into the parking lot, coming out with Naruto's Ferrari Enzo, just as he had left
it.
Ino and Naruto got in, and he them drove home, slowly.
As soon as he had parked in his garage, he turned to Ino, and said, "I don't think I had any chakra when we were
fighting Shikamaru," He took her hand in his, and looked into her light blue eyes. "I think the power I was
running off was…"
"The fox demon?" Ino asked.
"No," He said quietly. "I needed to save you. The power was my love for you."
!END!
Okay, I'm going to explain a black hole to those who don't know. If you don't, then you were probably like, "What? On a black hole? Doesn't she mean in?" My answer? No, actually, because black holes (From what scientist's have found out) are just stars with such immense gravitational pull it draws everything closest to it, in. They just call them 'black holes' because it's very hard to see some of them. It's like a hole in space. Things don't actually disappear because of a black hole, they just get squished flatter than a pancake… Actually, flatter than a hair, or an atom, I dunno, but REALLY flat. (Sorry to those who believe in parallel Universes. I do too, it's just that I believe in science as well! )
I love science, by the way… ' Yay Einstein!
Parallel Universes ROCK! It's cool, 'cause you have a twin, and they're completely opposite from you, so, I guess they wouldn't be your twin, but, they do share your soul… Yeah… (Obsessive --;)
Okay, sorry if it sucked (Like REALLY bad) I kinda ran out of ideas… Obviously…
(BTW, sorry if I seem like I have two personalities. I'm not a Gemini, actually, I'm an Aquarius. Woohoo! It's my birthday tomorrow! January 27th!)
That was the end, and I know it sucked BAD… I'm sorry! I wanted to finish it quickly, because I started another (And it's MUCH better. Watch for it. I have no clue what to call it though… ANYHOO! Watch for it! I'm proud of the next one!)
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