"Why do you guys always show up late?" Lady Tsunade questioned with an irritated frown. I bowed my head in the disappointment.
"Sorry, we stopped for lunch on our way." Shikamaru muttered and she nodded slightly.
"Anyways, has Gaara informed you guys of the status of your mission?" She asked and the rest looked confused. Oh shit, he forgot.
"Forgive me, Lady Hokage, I had forgotten to mention to them of the changes." He apologized and it was a different tone in his voice. This was respect, and power. Suddenly I was reminded that we were in presence of another Kage. A very powerful one. How I seem to forget, really surprises me.
"It's alright, Gaara-sama." She spoke then addressed the rest of us. "As you know, your mission was only to last a week. With further changes, our medics from Snow country are three days behind. We cannot do anything until they have arrived. This has pushed your mission to another week. Your pay will be extended as usual."
Choji, Shikamaru, and I nodded before walking towards her desk to grab our new mission scrolls.
Tsunade cleared her throat to gather our attention.
"Also, the medics have arrived from Suna today and so has the guard assigned to the Kazekage and his siblings on the mission." Tsunade glanced towards the corner of the room and I looked over.
I smiled at the familiar faces of the medics and they gave me a quick smile as well. Seeing as they took my advice, the younger medics were brought to learn the new techniques along with… him. A vein popped as I stared at the same asshole from Suna. Zureko…
"Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino, may I introduce you to Dr. Zureko-sama, the head medic of Suna. Along with him, are Hamaki Tobi, Niratu Beto, and Shizoka Takara, their medics in training." I raised an eyebrow when I noticed the girl. Seems they have listened to me after all.
"And their guard, Nakano Zanto." I looked over and took in the guard. He had brown hair and matching brown eyes. He was much older, around the age of my father. His hair covered one eye and had a spiky mass to it. He wore standard sand shinobi uniform. He bowed at Gaara and Gaara nodded. Why did this man look familiar?
"Now then, Team Ten will show Zureko-san, the medics, and Nakano-san where they will be staying. Your apartments are close to our hospital so walking distance won't be long. Shikamaru, your scroll contains their address and room numbers. You are dismissed."
"Hai." We spoke in unison and turned to exit. I frowned at the thought of having to walk with that asshole again. Fucking Zureko and suddenly it dawned on me. This guard, the whole point of this mission is to fool the guard. The council trusted in him so my guess is he is one hard headed sexist. They all seem to be.
"How were your travels?" Gaara asked the new group to join us.
"Well, Kazekage-sama." Zureko anwsered him.
"We should have made this trip together, Kazekage." Zanto spoke and I raised an eyebrow. Did Gaara leave early?
"My apologies. I wanted to leave earlier than discussed." Gaara responded and he instinctively walked closer to me. In that note, I took his hand in mine and his fingers intertwined with mine. He had a strong hold on my hand. It was possessive and I couldn't help but smile. I liked it.
"I'm interested to see Konoha's hospital and what it contains." Zureko stated and I raised an eyebrow.
"Konoha has the latest updates on techniques as we are constantly working on it. Lady Tsunade is a highly treasured medic and is constantly working with our staff. She has trained Haruno Sakura, and Yamanaka Ino on her techniques to pass on." Shikamaru responded. Good, I wouldn't have been as nice.
"We have extensive books in our medical library on medicines, herbs, and techniques. I advise looking at some while you are here." I acknowledged and I didn't hear a word back from Zureko.
"Yamanaka-san?" I heard a girl spoke and I looked back at her.
"Ino is fine." I restated and she nodded quickly.
"Ino… was it hard to learn the techniques?" She asked and I smiled at her.
"Takara, correct?" I asked and she nodded. "It requires a lot of chakra control. You have to be careful and know when to use more and less chakra. You are working with muscles, tissues, and bones and some require more strength than others. Once you have basic chakra control down, it's best to read up and practice on it."
"Are you going to be part of training?" One of the boys spoke up. I believe his name was Beto.
"Uh, no." I responded. "I am taking part of another mission."
"How long have you and the Kazekage been together?" Takara asked and I looked at Gaara to answer.
"Yamanaka-san and I have kept in touch after she left Suna. She agreed we were more than friends through letters. We made it publicly official when I arrived. She wouldn't agree unless I asked in person." He responded and looked towards me. I smiled but I felt a giant shit bomb drop in me. Shikamaru and Choji are going to be pissed as shit. Now this is a "secret" I kept from them that we didn't discuss. I know he said it because of the guard. The guard would have thought it was suspicious if we just started when he got back. I could feel a tension from their direction but I didn't look over there.
"Zanto, er, san." I quickly corrected, "You look familiar. Did we meet back in Suna?" I asked and I looked over my shoulder at him. I felt Gaara's hand tense in mine.
"Yamanaka-san-"
"Ino." I corrected him and he gave a brief nod.
"Ino… You know my sons, Zenma and Zuko." He stated and my eyes widened. I stopped to look back at him.
"You're their father? How are they? How's Zenma's arm?" I asked, wondering how the two had come along since I've seen them.
"Fine, his arm has healed completely." He said very briefly. I felt an off tone about him and I looked away with an "oh." I have a feeling he's not a big fan of me due to his sons defying the Kazekage cause of me. Time to step up your A game, Ino.
"Well, I'm very happy to hear." I responded with a soothing tone. He only grunted.
"Zenma and Zuko work in Interrogation and occasionally some duties around the tower." Gaara stated and I looked over.
"I guess, no more foreigners, huh?" I asked with a small smile on my lips.
"No, especially if that is you." He responded by giving me a one eyed stare. But I saw the small twitch of the corner of his lips. I hit him with my elbow as a tease. He only stared at me with some false glare I was supposed to be afraid of. Instead, I laughed.
"You're more talkative today." I stated matter of fact like, as I watched the passing buildings.
He shrugged his shoulders in response and I hit his arm. He looked at me and I tried to glare at him but I couldn't help smile. Damn it. That handsome face of his.
"He's not different from any other day," I heard Temari mumble and I shot a quick look at her. I looked back forward, causing my ponytail to harshly whip back. The end of my hair hit Gaara's back.
"Well usually he's quiet around us." I responded with a bit of irritation.
"Maybe because he doesn't have anything to say to you." She responded and immediately Kankuro responded.
"Temari." He stated in a scowling tone.
"He can be shy sometimes," she quickly stated. Probably since the guard was still with us.
"Seems someone doesn't want to share our brother," Kankuro teased to lighten the situation.
"Yeah, Ino doesn't like sharing either," Choji commented with a small laugh. "Unless it's food. She'll share plenty of that. Which is the best kind of sharing!"
I smiled at Choji's comment and gave a small laugh.
"Remember when she had eaten since that one mission Shikamaru? She was gone for like what… three days?" Choji looked over and Shikamaru shook his head.
"She hadn't eaten during the whole mission due to not having time, and as soon as she gets back, she takes us to lunch." Shikamaru stated, a smirk taking over his mouth.
"Where she proceeds to let us eat first, and then starts pushing her food on us." Choji laughs.
"And begins with this whole, you should always keep yourself fed and look after yourself. How do you plan to fight for this country if you are not fed." Shikamaru shook his head. "The damn woman could learn from herself."
"Hey! They ran out of meat and had to go grab some. It was going to take like 10 minutes!" I exclaimed and then looked at Gaara. "So I wanted them to eat my plate until they brought more. I wasn't just going to eat in front of them! That's so rude."
"It was stupid of you not to eat during the whole mission in the first place," Shikamaru stated and I felt a vein pop. I looked back at him angrily.
"Shit happened, and eating wasn't in the mix. We already discussed this, Shika!" I barked then I quickly turned with a "hmph".
"Troublesome," I heard him mutter and I gave a giant smile.
"Cause if I wasn't, you wouldn't be hanging out with me!" I said triumphantly before looking back ahead.
I looked over at Gaara and he stared ahead. His facial expression was neutral, but his body was tense next to mine. He doesn't like this topic. Shit.
"Getting Gaara to eat, was the hardest." Kankuro mumbled. "He stays locked up in the damn office all day, he forgets to come out and be a person again."
"Yeah, if I or Matsuri didn't bring him lunch, he would go days without eating." Temari muttered with irritation lacing in her usual smooth voice.
Matsuri, the brown haired girl that drooled over him. Of course, she's bringing him food. I felt myself sink into a mood known as jealousy. I quickly snapped out of it as an evil smile came over me. I won, I have him right here in my arms. Plus, if he was interested he would have done something by now. It was the same as me and… Sasuke.
"That was one great benefit to having Ino around, she always made sure he was fed. And vice versa." Kankuro stated.
"Hey! We had our family dinners." Temari growled and Kankuro snorted.
"Your cooking sucks." He retorted and I could see her vein pop in her head. I bit back a laugh.
"I think it's good." Gaara finally spoke and I looked up at him.
"Half the time, you and I threw it out when she wasn't looking!" Kankuro said accusingly. At that, I knew immediately what Choji was going to say.
"You threw out food?!" He said his face full of the shock that someone could do something so inhumane.
"Choji, trust me on this one. Not even your stomach would want this food." Kankuro acknowledged him but Choji just wasn't having it.
"What about that soup, she made the other night?" Gaara muttered and Kankuro shrugged his shoulders.
"The recipe she got from Shikamaru? Yeah it was okay. Much better than her usual cooking." He admitted and I laughed.
"Shikamaru doesn't cook." I acknowledged them. "I usually give him food, and the recipes he asks for."
"I gave her one of your recipes." Shikamaru stated and I looked back. HE did what?
"You did?" I squeaked, suddenly feeling jealousy. She's making my food now?
"Yeah, we made it once when she last visited and she did a good job on it." Shikamaru finished and I looked away.
"Glad my soup makes things better for you guys." I stated and I heard Temari laugh.
"Your soup doesn't do anything. I admit the recipe was very good and easy to follow. Thank you for it. But we have a great time whether we are cooking or not." She replied and I only closed my eyes looking forward.
"You're still welcome." I muttered and we all fell silent. "Thanks Shikamaru for letting me know you were sharing my stuff."
"Sorry, was that a secret I kept from you?" He responded and I winced at the painful remark. If only you knew, Shika.
"No." I muttered.
"We're here." Shikamaru muttered and I looked up at the familiar apartment building. I remember the last Chunin exams and the members from outside villages were staying here. "If you all would like to follow me, I'll show you to your rooms."
Zureko, the young medics, and the guard nodded and I smiled at them.
"We will see you all tomorrow morning," I spoke softly with a smile that only a woman with respect should speak in. "I will come by and give you guys a tour of our hospital since the procedures have been prolonged. You'll have an inside look before the look, if you catch my drift." I winked and gave a small laugh. Only the young medics smiled back. Damn.
"We will see you tomorrow then," Zureko mumbled back a response and I was completely thrown off.
"Oh, great!" I smiled, "Have a good night, guys!"
They mumbled their goodbyes before Shikamaru showed them their rooms. The rest of us, remained out here. In silence.
"You are going to give them a tour tomorrow?" Kankuro said bemused.
"What about it?" I snapped and he raised his arms.
"That will be interesting." He muttered, and I gave him the sexy smirk of Ino Yamanaka.
"I think Zureko is starting to like me, and I'll show him how a real tour is done." I stood with my hands on my hips in triumphant stance.
"That's a great idea!" Choji spoke up and I raised an eyebrow. "Why don't tomorrow, Ino takes that tour early in the morning, then afterwards us guys can go do something and Ino and Temari can hang out?"
"What?" Temari and I spoke in unison and looked towards each other.
"That's not a bad idea!" Kankuro smirked while placing an arm on Choji and Gaara. "After your tour, Ino. Come meet us for lunch, and we'll figure out the plans afterwards. Don't you guys have a hot springs around here?"
"Yeah," I replied.
"We'll have lunch, then head there and from there we split up." Kankuro finished and I contemplated it. A day… with Temari? I looked over at her and she looked away from me.
"Sounds fine to me." She stated and I nodded.
"What does?" Shikamaru asked as he joined us again. Kankuro released his arms from Choji and Gaara and walked up to him.
"After Ino's tour tomorrow, we are splitting up. Guys do their own thing, girls do their own." He stated and Shikamaru shook his head.
"Alright." He mumbled.
"So what should we do now?" Kankuro asked and we all looked at each other. The realization that the day isn't over yet… and we have about a week and a half left of this.
"I want to spend some alone time with Ino," Gaara suddenly spoke up and I raised my eyebrows in shock.
"That's fine," Choji responded. "We'll catch you guys tomorrow. Have fun." He smiled.
"Thanks." I responded with fake enthusiasm.
"I'll be joining you two." I heard a stern voice and looked over to see the guard. Fucking great.
"Not for long," Gaara stated. "I do want some alone time with my girlfriend. We haven't had the chance yet." He walked up beside me and I tensed. For once, I hoped the guard would say "no".
"As you wish, Kazekage-sama," He nodded.
I muttered my goodbyes to the group and we began to walk away. Letting Gaara guide us to wherever he wants to go. Where he was taking us? I had no idea. What we were going to talk about with the guard here? I had no idea. What we were going to talk about when the guard left? Shikamaru? The nap? The new "secret" of our relationship? I began to feel my blood simmering. He keeps throwing me in these holes that I finally over come and climb out of, and I fall back into another one. Why did I have to fall for this sexy Kage?
Hey guys! I am SO sorry that I have been off of here for so long. So much has happened, including me graduating college and I am now ready to come back to this flick. I have finally found back my inspiration to write and I hope I'm not disappointing you guys. A lot is to come, and I think you guys will really like it! Please read and review.
I'll update soon, loves!