Chapter published on April 2017
Chapter Edited on Mon. April 5, 2021
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
While C, Ino, and the nurse were heading to the hospital, the nurse couldn't help but look at Ino. He didn't know who she was and why she was with C. It's not like he's jealous of her since he's gay, it was more like he was curious about her. In fact, for the first time in a few days, he – the nurse, was the first ever male specimen from Kumogakure to not display any affection nor admiration towards the blonde kunoichi. He couldn't help but notice that she had a hidden leaf headband on the side of her outfit.
"What are you looking at?" C questioned the male nurse as he noticed the him staring at Ino.
"Oh, it's nothing! You didn't introduce me to this fine kunoichi here C-san and I couldn't help myself! " the nurse said trying to not sound offensive in front of Ino. After all, it was his first time meeting her and meeting a hidden leaf ninja for the first time in his life. He didn't want to mess up and get on her bad side. He had an image to protect.
"Ino, this is Shinji. Shinji, this is Ino" C said as he casually introduced Ino to Shinji
"Hi, it's nice to meet you Shinji!" Ino said and gave a warm but bright smile displaying her near perfect teeth to Shinji.
"It's nice to meet you too! Not mean to be rude, are you from Konoha? Shinji asked.
"You're quite observant but I give credits to you, Shinji. And yes, I am from Konoha" Ino responded back.
"Hm, so why are you here in Kumogakure?" Shinji asked.
"Shinji, that's enough" C said firmly as he knew that Shinji is typically a nosey person.
"Oh, Sorry C-sama and sorry to you too Ino-san, I didn't mean to be nosey" Shinji quickly apologized.
"Huh? You weren't being nosey at all! You 're curious and that's totally fine. As long as you don't ask anything personal and offensive then you're good! And C, you shouldn't have cut him off like that, that was really rude of you" Ino said and scolded C.
"Well I'm sorry for not doing my job of protecting you" C half-heartedly said.
"Protecting me ?… he was protecting me.?. ..that's sweet of him…oh my gosh, Ino, snap out of it!" Inner Ino said to herself
"Protecting me? I don't recall being told that" Ino scoffed.
"Of course you weren't. You're not supposed to know. You 'know being Raikage-sama's body guard is harder than it looks. I do numerous jobs under his orders that you don't know" C said
"Wow, someone is in a cranky mood " Ino mumbled
"I agree with you Ino-san" Shinji whispered to Ino.
Flashback
"Before you leave, C and Darui, there's also another thing I need you to do " Raikage said.
"What is it? " C asked curiously.
"Make sure to protect Ino Yamanaka. We can't afford her to get hurt, both mentally and physically. We cannot afford any distraction and this mission needs to be executed smoothly with no problems. The Yamanaka's skills are crucial and we need her to stay focused and stable. She has a major role in this important mission. Do you understand?" Raikage demanded.
"Yes, sir!" Both C and Darui said
End of flashback
"Well, why do I need you to protect me though, I have Shikamaru and Chouji by my side" Ino said back
"Huh, I would like to see Shikamaru do that. He wasn't fast enough to catch your fall from earlier " C said to himself
"Whatever, I'm just trying to do my job and obey Raikage-sama's orders" C said.
"Ino-san is very vocal" Shinji said and complimented ino.
"Oh, Shinji" Ino said
"Yes?"Shinji said
"To answer your question, I am here for Raikage-sama" Ino said
"Ah I see " Shinji said.
"An answer expected from a jounin" Shinji said to himself and nodded in admiration of Ino.
Of course, being a Shinobi has its fair share of rules. One of the biggest and most important rule is to never tell anyone besides your comrades about your mission and the purpose of it.
Shortly after, the trio arrived at the hospital. Although the hospital wasn't busy, there were still quite a bit of people.
"Oh C-sama, thank god you're here!" The nurse at the receptionist said as she noticed C.
"What's going on and what are the details?" C said with a serious look on his face.
" A patient was rushed to the hospital and he appears to be under excruciating pain. From his charts it looks like his vitals are in shock. We found out that there's an unknown poison in his system and we can't seem to make an antidote. On top of that, he's under genjutsu. We need you to reverse the genjutsu to treat him as much as possible" The nurse nervously said.
"Unknown poison ? Hm, we should call Sakura Haruno then" Shinji suggested.
"There's no need to " Ino said.
"What do you mean that we don't need to contact Haruno-san, Ino-san?" Shinji said.
"She's busy at the moment. Remember, she's the department head now. It's not so easy to get her out of Konoha" C answered.
"You're right C-san" Shinji said with a concern look on his face.
"Let me do the operation, I'm also a medic-nin" Ino asked.
"Is she actually C-san?" Shinji nudged C.
"Show me what you got Yamanaka" C teasingly said.
"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure you're going to be amazed at what I'm capable of" Ino said as she boasted about herself.
"Good, don't mess up like you did a few hours ago then " C said and reminded Ino of her notorious mistake from earlier
"Yeah Yeah, where is the room?" Ino said
"It's this way, we need to hurry" Shinji said and lead the direction.
"Can I see his charts?" C said as he, Ino, and Shinji reached the patient's room
"So far we've ran some tests and we found out that there's an abnormal amount of poison in his system that we need to get rid of. But before that, we need to get rid of the genjutsu… which is why we called you C-san since you're genjutsu is far from exceptional" Shinji said
"Alright, I'm going to need you guys to step aside and Ino," C said
"Hm?" Ino turned her head to C.
"Stay by my side, I'm going to need you if something unexpected happens" C demanded.
"Don't worry, I'll fix whatever you mess up on " Ino said and teased.
" She likes to tease C doesn't she? I like her already" Shinji said to himself as he observed the duo.
As everyone in the room steps away from the patient, C performs the hand signs for his genjutsu. He places two fingers on the patient's head and releases the genjutsu in a matter of seconds.
"Huh, you're not too shabby " Ino commented
"Concentrate yamanaka, it's your turn now " C said not wanting her to mess up during the operation.
"Yeah yeah, I don't need you to tell me " Ino said and fixes her pony tail since it was loose.
Unbeknownst to her, C was caught off guard and gazed at her side profile. Unconsciously, he was admiring her beauty and tenacity. Shinji sees this and smirks at the scene.
"Huh, so C likes her…. Interesting " Shinji said in his head
Ino places her ears beside the patient's chest and checks his eyes. She notices that his heart beat is irregular and his organs are deteriorating due to the poison. She has to get rid of the poison out of the body some way. As she tries to come up a solution to do so, she remembers the time when Sakura mentioned that she used the delicate illness extraction technique in Suna.
" We need to get the poison out of the system as soon as possible before his organs fail even more. I'm going to use the delicate illness technique and I will need the following things to make it work , you guys better be quick to get all these stuff since he doesn't have much time left! " Ino demanded.
Ino tells the nurses the materials and ingredients needed for the technique and they quickly get it, leaving ino , c and shinji, alone in the room.
" I heard of that technique … will it work ?" C asked
"Well considering it has a 90% success rate, you tell me " Ino responded back with a tease.
"I want to be her " Shinji said to himself
Within a minute, the nurses return back with the materials prepared in medicinal fluid
"Ino- sama, here it is mixed and prepared" the nurses said
" Good, I will need some of you to hold on to him since it can get messy and painful for the patient. The patient will move since it is a painful process. You guys will need to restrain him "
" Yes ma'am! " everyone said.
Ino puts her hand in the mixture, and as she concentrates on her chakra , she lifts it up and the fluid is attached to her hand like a bubble.
"Whoa " the nurses said as they were impressed with Ino's skills.
Using a chakra scalpel, ino uses it to make an incision. She then pushes the medicinal fluid through the incision with the use of her chakra. The fluid then pulls out the poison out of the body and she repeats the process.
During the process, Shinji sees that C had his eyes focused on Ino for the whole time.
After a few hours, almost all of the poison is extracted leaving the patient in a more stable condition.
"Alright, he should be fine for now, all we need to do now is to find the antidote. I'm going to need the poison extracted out of the fluid so I can use it to create an antidote " Ino commanded.
"Yes ma'am! " and the nurses get right to the job.
" Well you didn't mess up this time. Good job , Yamanaka" C said
"Just call me Ino, I'm not used to people addressing me as Yamanaka , C " Ino said
"I didn't know that you're exceptional at medical jutsu too Ino" Shinji said
"Aha, well I – " ino said but was interrupted by Shinji
"She's actually one of the finest medical nin in konoha and was trained under Tsunade along with Sakura " Ibiki interrupted
"Ibiki- san, why are you here?... Raikage-sama too? " Ino was surprised to see Ibiki and the Raikage.
"Ah, makes sense " Shinji said.
" I'm impressed Yamanaka " Raikage praised Ino.
"Ah, thank you so much Raikage-sama, I didn't know you guys would be here " Ino said
"Well, we heard that you were in the operating room and figured to check it out since it's something we don't normally see. Also, both Raikage-sama and I wanted to see it too " Ibiki said
"Ah.. I see " Ino said
"Ino – sama , the poison is ready for you "One of the nurses said
" Alright, I'll be there in a few " Ino said
"You should rest up Yamanaka. You must be tired from the operation " Raikage said and walks away.
"Yes Raikage -sama and have a nice day "Ino said
"Good job Ino " Ibiki said and patted Ino's back and walks away too with the Raikage.
"Thanks, ibiki-sama " ino said.
"Well, I should make the antidote now. Shinji, take me to the room they said " Ino said
"yes ma'am " Shinji said
"Don't call me ma'am " Ino said
" Yes , Ino " Shinji corrected himself
"Now that's what I like to hear " Ino said
Before Shinji guides Ino to the room, he asks C a question.
"What are you going to do now that the operation is over C-sama ?" Shinji asked
"I think I'm going to walk around " C said
"Alright , see ya C-sama "Shinji said
"Hm" and both Ino and Shinji head to the room.
"She's always full of surprises " C said in his head and chucked.
A few more hours pass by and Ino was able to find the antidote and cured the patient. As she walks out of the hospital with shinji, she is surprised as she sees C sitting on the benches.
"Huh, you're still here? Were u waiting for me ? " Ino questioned and teased C at the same time.
" I'm following Raikage-sama's orders " C said
"Right " ino said
" I thought he was actually waiting for me… ugh, why am I even thinking about this " Ino said in her head.
" And, I also –" C said but was interrupted by a group of young medic-nins
" Oh my gosh, she's there !" A bunch of young medic nins shrieked causing Ino , C, and Shinji to divert their attention to the group.
"Oh, hi there and you guys are …?" Ino said and didn't know what was going on. She was not used to being the center of attention
"We heard that a konoha medic nin was in the hospital and did an amazing operation today and we couldn't help but wonder who and it was you! We're actually big fans of both you and Sakura and we aspire to be like you. We were wondering if we can get your autograph?" The youngins said.
"Oh wow, I didn't know I have fans but thank you soo much and of course you can! " Ino was flustered and gave them her autograph.
Ino chats with them till their supervisor demanded them to be back in the building.
"Well I should be going, my shift is over " Shinji said and departs from them.
"Alright, it was nice meeting you Shinji " Ino said
"Bye Shinji " C said
Shinji leaves them and heads home leaving just C and Ino.
"Oh yeah, so what were you going to say earlier ?" Ino asked with curiosity.
"I was told to inform you that you have another interrogation session in an hour " C said
"Alright so I have an hour to spare. Hm, what to do … do u have any suggestion C? " Ino asked
"There's a festival going around a few blocks from here "C said
"Great! That sounds fun! Let's go " Ino said
Both C and ino walk to the festival and as they arrive there, they see store venders selling delicious snacks and food, kids running around and playing games.
"Anyone who scores 5 points gets to choose anything from our prize section " A game vendor owner said loudly
"Sir, you look like someone that needs some fun in their life , wanna try the game? If you win , u get to choose anything you like " the owner said to C.
"Sorry, not interested"C firmly said as he declined the offer.
"Not interested? C'mon C, this is a festival, have some fun!" Ino said
"Like I said ino, I don't play these foolish games" C said
"Foolish games? The hell …" Ino said
"C'mon sir, don't you want to impress your date with this fine lady" The owner said to C as he raised his eyebrow.
"Hey, what about this C, let's make a bet. If you win, I'll pay for whatever you eat and if I win, then you pay " Ino said
"Deal, so what's the game sir?" C said
"All you have to do sir is to pop the balloons with these kunais. If you're able to pop 3 in a row then you get the chance to pick anything on our stand as your prize" The owner said
"Easy "Ino said.
The game vendor gives both C and ino three kunais each as they proceed to the game.
"Ladies first " C said since he was a gentlemen.
"Thanks but you first, I insist" Ino said
"Alright" C said
As one of Raikage's body guards and a competent kunoichi he is, C was able to pop three balloons all at once with no hesitation. There's a reason why the Raikage chose him to be one of his body gaurds.
"My turn now " Ino said
Ino throws the first two kunais and pops the balloons.
"Wow, you guys are the best I seen today " The owner said as he watches the two in awe of their abilities.
"Thanks.. now I just need to pop one more balloon " Ino said as she concentrates on hitting the balloon with the kunai
As she was about to throw the kunai , a voice interrupted her.
"HEY INO " a familiar voice that belonged to a certain teammate of hers
This caused Ino to miss the target, thus leading her to lose the bet. To be honest, Ino was a bit irritated because she about to win the bet, but a certain someone interrupted her. She turned her head to see who it was and it was Choji, her teammate. Beside him was the lazy genius but one of her best friend, Shikamaru. They were walking towards her with street food from food vendors and a drink.
" I won " C said nonchalantly.
" God dammit Choji! I was a bout to win! Why'd you interrupt me " Ino yelled at Choji
"Win what? " Choji said as he munches on some street food not knowing what Ino's talking about. He was oblivious of the game and the bet
"She's talking about the game she's playing , Choji " Shikamaru said with a drink in his hand.
"Ya, now thanks to you, I have lost a bet to C ! " Ino said with an irritated look on her face.
"stop yelling at Choji Ino, he didn't know that you made a bet with C" Shikamaru reasoned with them.
With nothing else to say back to Shikamaru, Ino sighs in defeat. She sees that Shikamaru have a drink in hand and decided to steal it and sip some of it since she was thirsty. Because of Ino's sudden and quick movement, Shikamaru was shocked for a bit but was able to regain his composure quickly. He also didn't notice that his heart was beating a lot.
"Oi Ino " Shikamaru said slightly irritated at ino for stealing his drink
"What? I'm thirsty Shika . Here, you can have it back " Ino said as she sips more of his drink almost finishing it.
"Mendokusai ( troublesome ) " Shikamaru said as he takes the empty drink from Ino
"You basically drank all of his drink " C said
"Oh well he doesn't mind, right? Shika" Ino said as she wrapped her arms around his right arm and eyed shikamaru with her big blue beautiful eyes that he can't say no to… (although he will deny it to anyone)
Unknown to her, she was right. Shikamaru couldn't say no to her , especially when she eyed him with her big blue eyes. He had a soft spot for Ino that he will never tell her. It was a secret. The only person who knows about this is secret is his best friend, Choji.
"Whatever , it's not like it's the first time this happened" Shikamaru said with a yawn and bends his arms behind his head like usual.
"Here " C said to Ino as he gives her a stuffed boar/pig.
"Huh? You're giving this to me ?" Ino said and was unaware of what C was doing
"I don't collect these things. I know that you females like these types of stuff so I'm giving it to you. It's useless to me anyways" C said
Shikamaru notices C's gesture but doesn't say anything.
"Oh, well thanks C" Ino said. She was quite taken back at his kind gesture since she did not expect him to do that. The butterflies in her stomach appeared again. Ino's cheeks became tinted pink and warm.
"Your cheeks are pink Ino" Choji pointed out
"Oh, I'm just really warm. The weather's pretty warm y'know " Ino said as she tries to reduce the pink in her cheeks by fanning herself
"Right" Choji said and raises his eyebrow at the blonde
"Well why are you guys here ?"Ino asked
"Ibiki said that the next interrogation session is in 15 mins and asked me to get you… we should be heading there now " Shikamaru said
"Let's go then, my chakra is already recharged." Ino said
"You're going too right, C?" Ino asked hoping that C will say yes.
"uh yeah, I'll meet you there. I have some matters to deal with first " C said as he tried to avoid eye contact with her.
"Alright" Ino said and leaves for the interrogation session with Choji and Shikamaru leaving C all by himself.
While C sees the trio leave for the interrogation session, he walks in the opposite direction as them.
The torture and interrogation unit is the last place a civilian and kunoichi be in. It's like this in all of villages across the nation. The T& I unit is known for their dark, intense, and scary atmosphere where they take in criminals and interrogate their minds to gather information. They'll do whatever it takes to gather information even when they have to use violence or extreme measures. And sometimes, the extreme measures can leave someone dead or not. Afterall, the unit is known to have a strict reputation.
"Where's ino? " V , the chief of the torture and interrogation unit in Kumogakure, said to ibiki
"I'm here " Ino said as she walks into the room.
"let's get started then. Bring him in! " V said and commanded the workers.
The workers bring in the next criminal through the grey concrete doors. The criminal is all chained up except his legs. They then set him in an apparatus where he is unable to move nor escape.
While Ino prepares herself for the interrogation she looks around the place and notices that C's not there, in contrast to what he told her earlier.
"Huh, C's not here ?" Ino asked Darui who was next to the Raikage.
"I don't know. He didn't say anything " Darui responded back to Ino
"Oh.." Ino said leaving an empty feeling in her heart. She was disappointed but didn't know about that herself. She didn't know that the blonde man had this effect on her.
Oh boy, this was not the typical crush Ino usually had. It was developing far more than a crush and she have to stop it before it gets complicated. She was then reminded of what ibiki told her.
Flashback
"Ino, no matter what, you must try your best to not fall for anyone during the mission, especially to any Kumo shinobis. I know this sounds ridiculous but this it to avoid any political conflicts between the cloud village and the leaf village. Do you understand Ino? " Ibiki said
End of flashback
One of the main reasons why Ino was not ready to be in a relationship, especially when she's at the peak of her career, is because she couldn't afford another heart break. The death of both her former sensei and father took a great toll of her. Although she was recognized across the nation for her splendid work during the war, she was deep down broken and depressed. She lost 2 important figures in her life in a span of months. That was when Ino hit rock bottom. It was the darkest time of her life. She couldn't sleep and had multiple break downs. It was to the point that she didn't have any appetitie to the point that she lost a lot of weight and suffered minor hair loss. But, thanks to her friends and colleagues, she was able to pick herself back up stronger than ever. She was promoted to jonin within weeks after the war and began her work at the T& I unit to honor her father. For the first time in a long time , she was happy with her life. Now at the age of 21, she is promoted to the head of the T& I unit, something that her father and former sensei would be really proud of if they were alive. She didn't want to go back to the darkest time of her life and feared that if she fell in love, she'll suffer another heartbreak. Ino was afraid to be in love.
She was starting to develop feelings for C, the stoic, serious, condescending, yet attractive male that managed to catch her attention.
" You ready Yamanaka ?" V asked
"oh.. yes I'm ready ! " Ino said as she regains her composure after being deep in thoughts.
Ino then begins lengthy process of her specialty which is interrogating minds and gathering information.
Meanwhile
C was walking around the town and stopped his tracks when he was near a park. Beside the park was a body of water. There were more people at the park than usual. There were kids with their parents, young shinobis , and couples.
C looks at the scenery and view of the park. He is then reminded that he wanted to go to the interrogation but forced himself not to. Because if he did go, his feelings for ino would develop even more and he didn't want to go through another heart break like his past relationships. However, the truth is, he really wanted to see Ino but because of his fear of another heart break, he chose to skip it.
Also, after he saw the ino's interaction with shikamaru earlier made him not want to develop more feelings for her more. After observing Ino and Shikamaru's relationship for the past few days, he can clearly tell that it wasn't the typical boy girl friendship…. Well at least that's what he thinks. As a guy himself, he could tell that Shikamaru had feelings for her. C is a firm believer that males and females can't be just friends without one of them feeling something extra to the other.
He knew that if he ever got together with ino, their relationship would be complicated. They would also have a long distance relationship. The thought of a long distance relationship did not sit right for him. He was doing this not only for himself, but for Ino too.
Avoiding Ino is the only thing he can do since he thinks it's best for him to not fall in love.
He would rather not be in love so he won't suffer another heartbreak.
But, the question is, will he succeed? or will love succeed instead?
A few more hours passed by and the interrogation session is over.
It has been a long day for ino and she was dog tired. She had 2 lengthy interrogation sessions and did an operation at the hospital. After the session, it was already dark out and decided to walk around the village . She sees her lazy teammate looking at the stars at a park. Of course, kumogakure didn't have cloud watching or star gazing spots like konohagakure since they don't have grass but rocks or concrete to lie down with (lmao someone pls educate me) . Shikamaru was sitting on a bench with his arms folded together behind his head.
Ino being her usual self decides interrupt his quiet time.
"SHIKAMARU " Ino yelled in his ears causing to shikamaru to startle and almost fall off of the bench.
" Oh what the fuck Ino ! " Shikamaru said as he suffered a mini heart attack with his hand on his heart
"Miss me ?" Ino said and plops down to the seat next to shikamaru.
" No, I was actually enjoying my alone time" Shikarmu retorted.
" I know you missed me, Shika " ino said teasingly
"Whatever " Shikamaru mumbled
The two looked up and were mesmerized by the stars above them. It appeared that they were closer to the stars and they were able to see little details of them that they were not able to see back in konoha. The stars were twinkling and shining. In other words, they were majestic.
Ino being exhausted from a long day of work , let's out a subtle yawn. She sees that Shikamaru's shoulder was not occupied and looked comfy and so she let her to rest her head on it.
While gazing at the stars, Shikamaru feels a sudden weight on his right shoulder. He turns his head slightly and sees that Ino was resting her head on his shoulder. And, because of her sudden movement, his heart started to beat quickly again and a pink tint appeared on his cheeks. Thank god it was already dark outside otherwise he'll be embarrassed and Ino would tease him for it.
"Oi, what are you doing " Shikamaru said
"Relax Shika. I'm just exhausted and am using your shoulder as your pillow. It's not like this is the first time doing this and, stop saying "oi" Ino said
She was right. This wasn't the first time she rested her head on his shoulder, and the fact that he was feeling this way just recently was bothering him. He was confused with his feelings for Ino.
For someone who has an IQ over 200, Shikamaru did not know much about love, relationships, and females. To be quite frank, Shikarmaru is a total noob in such topics.
The two continue star gazing for a few more minutes to an hour and during that time, Shikamaru reached to a conclusion and realization about his feelings.
He likes Ino. He likes Ino more than a friend. Shikamaru did not expect this to happen. Ino and him endured soo much together. They've been friends since they were babies as they were born a day apart. Shikamaru witnessed Ino's growth and Ino witnessed his growth too. Did he value his friendship with Ino? Of course he does.
But now the question is, will he risk their friendship for love?
To be honest, he's not sure. But, his friendship with Ino is very important to him. He doesn't have definite answer and because of that, it stresses him.
After coming to a conclusion about his feelings, Shikamaru sees that Ino was spacing out.
"What's with that face Ino. Is there something wrong ?" Shikamaru asked with her head still resting on his shoulder.
"Nothing… I'm just wondering why people would lie " Ino said
"Oh, well there's many reasons why people lie. Like for exam —" Shiakamru said but was interrupted by Ino
"What do you think of C, Shika?" Ino cut him off
"what's with the sudden question about him" Shkamaru asked
"just answer my question " Ino said
"I don't know. I don't know much about him so I can't give you a proper answer" Shikamaru responded back
"Oh "Ino said
"But, he doesn't seem like a troublesome person " Shikamaru said as he tries to lighten up her mood.
"Of course you would say that Shika" Ino chuckles at his comment and lightly slaps him arm
Both Ino and Shikamaru then continues gazing at the star. Shikamaru sees that Ino was shivering slightly from the chill night and wraps his arm around her to share his warmth.
Unknown to Shikamaru and Ino, a certain figure looms in the background. He clenches his fist but sighs at the sight of the warm interaction between two village of the leaf shinobis. A confused shinobi leaves the scene.
Authors Note:
April 5, 2021 Update: I plan to update and finish this fanfic but before I upload any new chapters, I'm going to be editing chapters 1-7. Stay tuned and thanks for reading CP!