Okay, I just have a couple of things to say before going on to the story. First off, thank you everyone who reviewed. And second, please check the update date before saying "please update soon" or anything like that. It's a bit annoying to read a review asking me to "update soon" less than a day after I put up a new chapter. And third, this chapter's title is the name of a song. If you can tell me who the song is by, I'll mention you in the next chapter. Only the first person to get it right, though.

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Chapter 4:

Who Needs Sleep?

Shikamaru groaned as he opened his eyes, trying to remember where he was, and why his head hurt so much. He soon remembered as he tried to stand and promptly collapsed again as the world started spinning. Stupid hangovers.

It was almost a month since he had asked Ino out, and ever since then he had been sneaking into a bar a night, under the disguise of Henge no Jutsu. It wouldn't do for him to get caught, since he was trying to drink away his problems, not add more to them. Of course, waking with a hangover every morning was a problem. Especially since, like today, he didn't always wake up at home.

Groaning, he tried standing up again, bracing himself against the building next to him, and started walking towards the road. He grimaced when he saw the sign of the building he was using as a crutch. Great, I didn't even manage to make it away from the bar this time.

Another problem was that he was rapidly running out of money, due to how much he was spending on sake. He hoped that the Hokage would have a mission to send him on, since he'd have to cut seriously back on his spending if he was forced to live on just his small salary. Normally he'd just ask his parents for money, but in this case he didn't want them to find out, since what he was doing was technically illegal.

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At Sakura's house

Sakura groaned as she slid out of bed, feeling exhausted. For almost a month now she'd been having trouble sleeping. No one seemed to notice, though, which was a good thing. She didn't think she could handle explaining why to anyone. After all, she'd always treated Naruto poorly, up until recently, and it would be a bit awkward to tell someone she wished that she was his girlfriend, instead of Ino.

Slowly, she got dressed, then headed to the kitchen, where she was greeted by a smiling Ino. "Good morning, Sakura-chan!" Sakura, too tired to say anything, just nodded and sat down at the table. Ino just shrugged and went back to fixing breakfast, humming. Sakura frowned slightly, trying to figure out why Ino was so happy. Mentally, she kicked herself when she remembered why. Ino had had a date with Naruto last night, and it obviously had gone well. Though she knew it was cold of her, she really hoped that the date would fail. If their date had failed, one of them might start to get tired of the other, then, eventually, Sakura would have a shot at Naruto. Like that would ever happen, though. Naruto and Ino were too close to let just a single ruined date mess up their relationship. Maybe a whole string of bad dates, but not just one.

Sakura was pulled out of her musing as Ino set a plate of eggs in front of her before taking a seat across from her with another plate of eggs. After eating in silence for a while, Sakura forced herself to speak. "So, Ino-chan, how was your date last night?"

Ino seemed to radiate with happiness at the thought of her date. "It was wonderful! Naruto-kun took me to that really fancy restaurant across town, you know, The Shinobi Way. I have no idea where he got the money for it, but he did somehow, and it was wonderful. Though I don't understand why people kept glaring at us. Well, Naruto-kun mostly, but me too. I mean, I know not many people like him, but I thought that was because of all the pranks he pulled, and he hasn't done anything in a long time."

Suddenly, Sakura stood up, knocking her plate to the floor in her haste, tears streaming down her cheeks. "It isn't fair! Why do you have a boyfriend when I don't even have a shot at the person I love?" Her voice was choked and straining as she spoke and slowly sank to her knees, holding her head in her hands.

Ino frowned and stood up, walked around the table, and knelt next to Sakura, drawing her into a hug. "Shh, it's okay. Sasuke will come to his senses sooner or later and return, apologize or something, and get taken off the missing nin list." Her frown deepened as Sakura stiffened in her arms, shaking her head. "N-no. Not Sasuke. H-he tried to kill me. I don't ever want to see him again." Sakura cried even harder as she spoke, but still refused to hug Ino back. After all, she was the one who kept her from having a shot at the person she loved. "Who then?" Ino asked calmly as she slowly released Sakura. It was obvious that Sakura didn't want to be comforted right now.

Sakura glared at Ino as she stood up and began to leave the room. "I can't tell you." Ino shook her head as she stood up as well. "What, is it Naruto-kun or something?" She laughed as she spoke, knowing that her question was completely absurd. She soon stopped as Sakura froze in the doorway. "No, it can't be Naruto-kun." Sakura still didn't answer, or even move. "No! Naruto-kun is mine! Stay away from him!" Slowly Sakura looked over her shoulder, her face showing a haunted expression. "I told you I didn't have a shot at the person I loved." She then left the room, intending to go soak for a while, leaving a very surprised and stunned Ino in the kitchen.

Ino was speechless. Sakura-chan in love with Naruto-kun? How can that be possible? She's always treated him like dirt. I mean, I used to treat him rudely, but nothing compared to what Sakura did to him. Shaking her head in a futile attempt to clear it, she cleaned up what was left of breakfast and headed out of the house to find Naruto. More than anything right now, she needed to be held by him, needed to be reassured that she wouldn't lose him to Sakura.

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In the streets of Konoha

Naruto frowned as he saw Shikamaru walking along rather tipsily, wondering what was wrong. When he approached Shikamaru to ask, Naruto gasped as he realized that Shikamaru was drunk. Hurriedly, he caught up with Shikamaru and tapped him on the shoulder. "Uh, Shikamaru? You okay?"

At Naruto's touch, Shikamaru whirled around, startled. He had been lost in his own, mostly incoherent, thoughts, most of which centered on taking Ino from Naruto, some even centered on killing him. Scowling as he saw who was in front of him, he pulled out a kunai and lunged at Naruto, slashing wildly. Naruto gasped and leapt back, just barely avoiding the knife that Shikamaru so carelessly wielded. He didn't know what Shikamaru thought he was doing, but he knew he had to defend himself. No one else was around, so he couldn't call for help. Gritting his teeth, Naruto charged at Shikamaru.

After several minutes, the fight was still going on. Thankfully, Shikamaru seemed to have forgotten that he could use Kage Mane; otherwise Naruto probably would be unconscious or dead by now. Both boys were covered in cuts and bruises as they separated for what felt like the millionth time. Normally, Naruto could have dispatched Shikamaru in an instant, but he didn't want to seriously harm him, since he was apparently drunk, and the aforementioned drunkenness added too much unpredictability to Shikamaru's motions.

Intent on ending the fight, Naruto charged in once more, forming a rasengan as he did so. Ducking under Shikamaru's guard, he slammed the ball of wind into Shikamaru's gut, blasting him into the building behind him, and knocking him out. Naruto then walked over to Shikamaru and bent over to pick him up. He didn't get that far. Halfway down, Naruto stiffened, and collapsed. He groaned as he realized that Shikamaru's kunai had been poisoned. Last thing he saw before blacking out was a masked ANBU bending over him.

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In the Hokage's office

Tsunade sighed as she read over the report once more. Apparently Shikamaru, who had somehow managed to get himself drunk, she'd have to check on how later, had attacked Naruto using a poisoned kunai. Naruto had fought back, clearly unwilling to hurt his friend, and ended up knocking him out before falling prey to the toxin that had entered his body through the many small cuts he had sustained during the fight. All of that was hard enough to believe on its own. But throw in the fact that the ANBU member who had witnessed the events hadn't done anything about them until after the fight was over and the whole situation became downright impossible. Except that it wasn't impossible. It had really happened.

Judging from the state Naruto had been in when she had been called in to work on him, Shikamaru had fully intended on killing him. The poison on the recovered kunai and in Naruto's system was lethal on a level that Tsunade didn't like to think about. In fact, the poison was so strong that she had banned it as one of her first acts as Hokage. How Shikamaru had managed to get a hold of it was another thing she'd have to find out from him later.

Sighing again, she signed the document for Shikamaru's arrest and handed it to the captain of the police squad that had been awaiting her decision. The captain bowed deeply, as did the other members of the squad, then left. They'd wait until Shikamaru recovered from his injuries enough to travel, and then take him to the prison.

Tsunade was about to stand up when a member of the ANBU came in through the window and handed her a document before disappearing. Upon reading the contents, she almost screamed in frustration. She didn't need this, not on top of everything else.

The ANBU squad sent after Uchiha Sasuke had been found in a pile just outside Konoha, dead. On each of their foreheads was a mark in the shape of a sharingan eye, and each had two small puncture wounds on their necks. Bite marks. It appeared that Sasuke had indeed gone to Orochimaru.

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At the hospital

Ino hadn't believed it at first when she was told what had happened. And she kept not believing it up until she saw Naruto's still form lying in a hospital bed. How could her best friend have attacked her boyfriend? It made no sense! Sure, Shikamaru had been jealous of Naruto at first, since he had wanted to date her, but he had gotten over that, hadn't he? And he wouldn't have done something this stupid just for something like that. Would he?

Choking back a sob, she flung her arms around Naruto's body and began to cry, her face pressed into his chest. How could he be in a coma? Naruto was stronger than this! He just had to wake up, he just had to!

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And I have decided to be evil again, and cut off the story at such a dramatic point. Of course, I'm just doing this because I feel it is a good place to break off the chapter, not because I like torturing you guys. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed the longest chapter yet!

Coming Up in Chapter 5: Let Her Cry

Naruto wakes up to find his chest and shirt completely soaked, thanks to a sobbing Ino. Ino moves out of Sakura's house, unable to take the tension between her and Sakura, due to her being Naruto's girlfriend, and Sakura wishing that she was his girlfriend. And finally, Naruto is kidnapped, causing everyone who knows Naruto to panic, especially Ino and Sakura.