Hello to everyone again! I bet you all thought I'd died or something, huh! Nope, still kickin'! UI did have some serious writers-block though. winks at Hlomondodeli Majoribanks

But I'm back now! This is the second-to-last chapter in the series. Actually, I've been writing them as one chapter, but it got a little too long, so i decided to split them! (The other one should be right behind this one though, don't worry!)

Thanks to all of you that reviewed, I really read every one of them, and I encourage you to continue! (It makes me want to keep writing and start new stories!)

Now, on with this fic, remember, I don't own any of the characters, I just mess around with 'em! Don't sue me for anything you don't like!

Slowly, Ino's eyes fluttered open, trying to regain her consciousness. Her head was throbbing; it had been a long time since she had left her body for so long.

She shot up for her position on the ground, despite her headache, remembering the situation at hand. She was surprised to find herself under a bush and had to crawl to get back into the open air. She glanced down at the wound on her arm, wincing at the slight pain.

Her thoughts shot back to Shikamaru and Chouji and she frantically scanned the clearings for them. It didn't take long for her to find them and take off in a wobbly sprint in their direction. Shikamaru was on the ground, apparently unconscious, and Chouji was removing the wrappings from his hands, probably to use them to patch his friend up a bit. Ino stumbled to his side, glancing quickly at her unconscious friend on the ground. Chouji had turned him on his side and was attempting to stop the bleeding of the wounds in his back, when he noticed the blonde at his side.

"Ino! You're back! What happened, did you-"

"Mission accomplished…" She interrupted, beginning to remove her own leg wrappings and replacing them on Shikamaru's wounded arm. She pulled the knot tight, sighing as blood continued to seep through.

"We need to get back to Konoha. He won't make it with just these simple bandages…" Chouji said, standing andbeginning to form seals to enlarge his body. "I don't know how long I can hold out like this, but I'll carry you two back, you keep bandaging him, try and get the bleeding to stop."

Chouji's form increased in size and Ino struggled to lift the still unconscious Shikamaru into his enormous hands, resting his head in her lap as gently as she could.

Chouji staggered back in the direction of the village as Ino continued to administer emergency treatment to Shikamaru's many wounds.

For the briefest of moments, Shikamaru opened his eyes, wincing at the pain, and looked into Ino's tear-filled eyes. She smiled at him before his world faded into darkness again.

They arrived at the gates of Konoha, Chouji collapsing exhaustedly before the guards, not able to continue with his jitsu any longer. Ino, being the only one still fully conscious, assisted in taking the men to the hospital, where they were treated, together, by Sakura. Another medical nin treated her small wounds as she waited outside the emergency treatment room.

It didn't take long for Sakura to emerge, smiling faintly.
"They're both fine, just depleted of a good amount of chakra. Shikamaru had a few broken ribs, which I healed, and they both have a couple cuts and bruises, but nothing serious. They should be fine with a few days rest."
Ino sighed and stood, entering the room and gazing at her two comrades in silence, the only sound being the beeps of their vitals on the machines.
She sat down between the two beds; upon noticing Shikamaru's heavily bandaged torso, she felt a pang of guilt. "I'm sorry guys. This is all my fault, if I hadn't hesitated and hurried back, we could've gotten out of there faster…" A tear squeezed from her eye as two of Tsunade's assistants entered the room.

"Yamanaka Ino?" She nodded in response, quickly wiping the escaped tear from her cheek.

"We are here to request that you report to the Hokage for a mission report as soon as possible."
Ino sighed and stood, signaling her understanding. The three of them departed for the Hokage's office in silence.

"So…what's the report?" Tsunade asked, motioning for her to sit down.
"Mission accomplished, the target has been taken care of. Shikamaru and Chouji were intercepted by some ninja guards and fought. Both of them are in recovery, they just need rest, nothing serious."
"Good. And the client? Niomi? What happened with her?"
Ino's head lowered, hesitating.
"After the mission was completed and I had left her body, I lingered in the room and witnessed her suicide, or the beginnings of it at least."
Tsunade folded her hands on her desk. "I see. I had a feeling that would be the outcome, she had expressed an intent to take her own life to atone for her husband."
Ino began to cry, her tears flowing freely for a moment before she forced them to a stop.
"This has been your first mission of this sort; it's understandable for you to feel remorse or regret. You need to let these emotions out, don't try to hide them; they will tear you apart otherwise. Based on the mission's success, I am going to refer you into the spy unit as you requested. That is, of course, if you still wish it…"
Ino looked back up at the woman before her, nodding determinedly.
"Very well. Congratulations on your successful mission, Ino. I'm giving all three of you a mission reprieve for the time being, until I see fit. Get some rest. You're dismissed."

It was another few days before Shikamaru awoke in the hospital. It took him a few moments to remember what had happened as he looked around his surroundings. Chouji was still beside him, reading a book, until he noticed his friend making glances around the room, his eyes lingering on the bouquet of lilacs on his bedside table. Chouji closed the book and turned to face his friend, a gentle smile spread across his face. "Hey."
"Hey. How long was I out?"
"Well, you passed out on the mission, and we've been in the hospital for four days."
Shikamaru shot up in his bed, wincing at the slight pain it caused all over his body. "Ino! What happened to Ino?" He asked, grasping his shoulder above his healing wounds.
"She's fine, the mission was a success and she made the report. She only had a couple of scrapes and bruises, but otherwise made a complete recovery on the journey back here. She was here only yesterday."

Shikamaru took a moment to let everything sink in before he made a move to get out of the bed. Chouji raised his hands in an attempt to stop him, "Whoa, wait a minute! You're not in any condition to be moving yet, Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru stumbled out of the bed and towards the door, his vision blurring as blood rushed to his head at his sudden movements. It didn't take long for him to collapse onto the floor, soon to be scooped up and forced back into the hospital bed by a passing nurse.
"Dammit, I need to talk to Ino! What happened on the mission? Did she tell you anything?"

"She's fine, I'm telling you. She just doesn't want to talk about the mission to anyone, she avoids the subject. She says she wants to wait until you're awake. I didn't want to push her. She should be coming back later today, I suggest you sleep until then. Maybe you'll be able to leave by the end of the day or tomorrow."

Shikamaru sighed and laid back into the pillow, trying to relax.
"Something must've happened, she'd have no other reason not to tell us."
"We won't know until she does decide to tell us, it might just take some time."
Shikamaru settled back into his bed, drifting back to sleep.

"…Yeah."

As Chouji predicted, Ino stopped by again that afternoon, just a few hours before the sun had set. She entered carrying another large bouquet of flowers; daffodils this time, she set them on the table between the two beds. The sound of her and Chouji's muffled voices woke Shikamaru from his sleep, Chouji was right, he felt a thousand times better!
"I-Ino?"
"Shikamaru! Chouji was just telling me that you'd woken up!" he said gleefully, rising from her seat between them and hugging him gently.
"How are you feeling?" She asked, returning to her chair.
"Fine, considering there were a couple holes in my back."
Ino laughed at his sarcasm.
"Well, you seem to be doing much better."

They chatted about random things for a while, the weather, the latest gossip and Ino's boredom with the flower shop, until Shikamaru finally got the courage to ask…"So…What happened with the mission? Did everything go okay?"
Ino's face lost it's former color and her smile faded. "It was accomplished, that's all." She mumbled, her gaze focused on the floor.
"I know that, but tell us what happened. We weren't there, you know." Shikamaru said, sitting up in his bed with a serious expression on his face.

"We just want to know what happened and if there's anything you need to talk about, Ino." Chouji said, trying to sound consoling.
"N-nothing else happened, I just…did it."
"And Niomi-san? Did she stay behind?"
Ino fought back a tear and choked out a single word.

"Yes..."

"Well, what else happened, that guy didn't try to do anything to you, did he?" Shikamaru continued to pry, his face dark.

Ino shot out of her seat, her fists clenched at her side. "I should be getting home now, dinner should be ready soon. I'll see you guys soon. The receptionist said they're going to release you tomorrow, maybe. Feel better."
She bolted out the door, a step shy of a run and left both men speechless in their beds.

"Nice. Way to be considerate. I told you she didn't want to talk about it."
"Something happened while she was in Niomi's body. He did something to her. I have to know what." Shikamaru said, clenching his fists around his blanket tightly.

The next day, it was raining furiously, streets were beginning to overflow and the water seemed to be attacking the panes of Shikamaru's window, disturbing his concentration on the shougi game he was playing with CHouji for most of the morning. (Or at least that's what he blamed it on, we all know he was thinking about Ino!)

Around mid-afternoon, a nurse came in and announced their release from the hospital. Cleaned clothes, a last dose of medicine and soldier pills were given to them, and both men headed down the long corridor towards the exit.
"You going to go see her?" Chouji asked as they walked down the corridor.
"It's troublesome, but I should. I wasn't exactly sweet yesterday, and I don't want her mad at me, that's even more troublesome."

Chouji smirked, "Yes, it wouldn't help your situation any either." Chouji smirked as they neared the door.
They both sighed, watching the rain drizzle down before departing in separate directions for their destinations, waving.

'She'd probably be either at home or at the shop...'

He thought as he hurried towards the Yamanaka residence, the slightly closer destination. When he reached it, he took a moment to smooth his damp clothes down and slick back a stray hair or two, realizing too late that it made no difference.
He knocked and Mr. Yamanaka answered the door promptly.

"Nara-junior! I heard you were in the hospital, you look pretty good, considering."
"Yeah, is Ino here?"
"Ino? Nope, she's at the shop with her mom today. You should talk to her though, my poor baby has been very quiet since you guys returned. Something seems to be bothering her. She should be happy, being recommended for the spy unit and all."

Shikamaru hardly paid attention and began to make his way back out into the rain, muttering and quick 'Thanks' and 'Bye, Mr. Yamanaka.'

He quickened his pace now, getting annoyed at the damp state he was in, he reached the flower shop in a matter of minutes, the little bell tingling as he entered.
However, instead of Ino sitting at the desk, Mrs. Yamanaka stood, tallying numbers into a book.
Shikamaru sighed, "Is Ino here?"
"Oh, hello Shikamaru, dear. No, I'm afraid not. She said she needed to go home, that she didn't feel like working today, she left about two hours ago. Did you try the house?"
He nodded.
"That's strange, she should be home by now. I hope she's alright, she'd catch a cold out in this rain."
Shikamaru turned to leave once again. "Don't worry, I'll find her, Mrs. Yamanaka."
"Thank you Shikamaru, dear."

He stood outside the shop for a moment, under the protective tent outside the door, thinking. 'Dammit, where else could she have gone?'
He thought and thought, finally deciding on one final place to go. He headed off for their old training spot, knowing that it was where Ino usually went when she was frustrated.

Dammit, he was really starting to get wet now.

Sorry everyone, that's the end of this chapter, but the other one is already done and will be uploaded tonight! Hope you can wait that much longer after my lack of updating!

Review! PLEEEEEEEEEEEEASE! 19 just isn't enought for me!