Disclaimer: I do not own any naruto characters! =)

Ino slowly opened her eyes, blinking a few times at the unfamiliar ceiling. This wasn't her room so where was she? She winced, feeling a slight pulsing pain on her right arm. It took her a few minutes to remember everything…

"You're finally awake." Smiled Sakura, who had been sitting next to her the whole time. "Let me get you a glass of water, your throat must feel dry." She stood up and grabbed a cup of water while ino tried to lift herself up without hurting her arm. "Be careful, I'm afraid that the stitches will open up if you do any rough movement. Luckily, the bullet didn't pierce your arm or it would've been more than just stitches." She handed her the cup and sat next to her. "I'm glad you're safe now."

the blonde nodded, taking a sip of water. "Sorry for worrying you." She looked around the room, hoping to see the lazy black haired man but to her disappointment he wasn't in the room.

"Don't worry, I sent him home to take a shower. He wanted to stay here with you until you woke up though." She added, knowing the blonde haired girl was probably thinking he didn't care about what happened to her. They both stayed silent for a while. Neither one of them knowing what to say.

"Asuma died," whispered ino, looking down at the bedsheet. The awful feeling of grief taking over her again. "No, they killed him and we don't even know why."

Sakura had already been informed by the other doctors that Asuma had passed away before even arriving at the hospital. There wasn't anything else they could do, unfortunately (he didn't even have a chance of survival) she thought sadly. The bullets had hit critical spots in his body. It was a big shock to everyone that he didn't die the moment the bullet went near his chest. "Did you see who the culprit was?"

The blonde shook her head. "The guy was covered with a black mask so I couldn't see any features on his face." she closed her eyes, trying her best not to cry. "Asuma was a good man. He didn't deserve to die, so why?"

Sakura rubbed her back gently and hugged her. It broke her heart seeing her like this. She knew Ino had seen Asuma as a father figure and now he was gone from her life just like her biological parents years ago. In times like these she didn't know what to do to cheer someone up. She herself wished someone would make her feel better whenever she felt sad.

Ino wiped the tears from her eyes and held onto Sakura's shoulder like a child seeking comfort from her mother. "Thanks for being here with me. I know you're busy."

The pink haired girl smiled, "of course , I'll always be here for you because you're my sister, the only family I have."

Ino smiled sadly, looking down at the scars on her wrist. "It's a shame that we had to grow up without the love of our parents, hu? living in that orphanage was a living hell. But I made it through without harming myself because you were there." She gently rubbed the faded scars on her wrists back and forth, wishing they would disappear so she wouldn't be reminded that she almost took her life away years ago.

The pink haired girl sat next to the blonde, placing a comforting hand on top of hers. Many people didn't know about their past. It was full of sad and painful memories. " I have to admit our childhood wasn't the best but I would have chosen the orphanage 100 times over than staying with our drug addict parents." She hugged her body as if protecting herself from all the trauma they had put her through. "I will always regret not being able to stop you those times you inflicted harm on yourself, I'm sorry."

Ino looked up at the pink haired girl, her eyebrows drawn together. "It wasn't your fault! I just felt that if I was gone then maybe our parents would have been relieved and would treat you better once they realized there was one less burden on their shoulder."

Sakura frowned upon hearing how ino's thought process was back then. To think she wanted to take her life away just so she would be treated better… "Maybe they didn't want you or me but I needed you!" Her eyes filled up with tears causing the blonde haired girl to feel guilty."If you would have died I would've been all alone and sad. you were the only person that kept me moving forward. because you were alive I was able to get through all the torture they put us through. So please don't ever do something like that again."

Ino nodded her lips quivering and her puffy eyes closed tightly as she gave Sakura a tight hug. "I won't,'' she assured the pink haired medic. The last thing she wanted was for Sakura to remember the past they tried so desperately to forget.

"Hey forehead girl? Can you give me some tissues? I think I left some snot on your shoulder."

Sakura looked at her in disbelief not even wanting to look at her coat. "gross ino!" She stood up to get her sister some tissues.

"Hey, in my defense you're the one who made me cry." She took the tissues that she handed her and blew her nose.

Sakura sighed. "you just ruined a beautiful moment of sister bonding."

Ino looked at her with a tissue stuck in her nose. "don't worry, I'm sure there's gonna be a lot more."

The medic smiled, glad that the blonde was her usual self again. "Yeah, you're right." She leaned back to stretch her back. "Hey, stay here and rest for a little bit. I have to make a quick phone call."

"It's not like I can go anywhere." she heard the blonde mumble. She laughed at her sarcasm and closed the door behind her as she dialed shikamaru's phone number.

"Did she wake up already?" He asked.

"Yes, a few minutes ago…hey, I have a big favor to ask of you. Could you drop her off at home and take care of her for the night? I have a surgery to perform in a few hours and I won't be able to make it home tonight. I don't want her to be alone after what happened today." She could hear him shuffling around, probably getting ready to come pick the blonde up.

"Yeah, I'll be right over." He responded, the sound of car keys jingling in the distance.

She smiled, "thanks shikamaru, be careful on your way here." She ended the call and sighed, hopefully those two could comfort each other a bit. "Why do good people suffer the most? She asked no one in particular.

"I think everyone asks themselves the same question at least once in their lifetime." said Shizune, walking up to the surprised girl. "I wanted to ask you if you have seen Tsunade? She didn't come yesterday or today and she won't pick up her phone either. I'm getting kind of worried it's not like her to not answer her phone no matter who calls. I wonder where in the world she could be.. Her eyes suddenly widened and her face paled, y-you don't think she-"

Sakura looked at her worriedly. "She what? Do you think she went somewhere dangerous?"

The black haired girl covered her face with the clipboard that was in her hand and peeked at Sakura. "Well, lady Tsunade once told me when she was drunk that one day she would go missing for a night to join a strip club and earn tons of money. She said it was one of her long time dreams."

Sakura blinked once, twice "she what?" She asked, making sure she had heard right.

Shizune blushed and covered her face again. "don't make me repeat it! It's embarrassing! To think she would have such thoughts in her head. Maybe Jiraiya is being a bad influence."

Sakura didn't seem fazed at all. Tsunade was a very… carefree person; she would spend most of her free time at a bar drinking to her heart's content. But too want to work at a strip club when she's already working as a doctor. Did she want to lose her reputation? "she's out of her mind."

Shizune couldn't agree more. "That's exactly what I think!"

Sakura put a hand on her forehead and sighed (I think I'm catching a headache already) "don't worry, we can go look for her after we finish the surgery. She's probably at that bar she always frequents. If we don't find her there, then we'll make a visit to Jiraiya."

The underground tunnel seemed endless. A group of six policemen were sent on a dangerous mission to capture a bunch of drug dealers that had been listed on the bingo book for the most wanted criminals. A bald man in his thirties with two scars on his face and deep black intimidating eyes was in charge of the mission. He was known for being one of the best interrogators in Konoha. Just one look at him caused anyone to cower in fear and spill out the truth. He lifted up two fingers, signaling for his partners to come closer once the coast was clear. "Alright, listen up cuz I'll only say this once," he whispered to everyone as low as possible. "Sasuke, Naruto and Kiba, you will go through tunnel one and the rest will go with me through the second one. Any questions?" Everyone shook their heads except sasuke. "Let's go then, if any of you run into trouble you know the signal." They each went their separate ways as silently as they could into the barley lit tunnels.

"Man, I can't see shit down here," whispered Kiba who had tripped on several rocks down the tunnel. He was a bit upset that he wasn't able to take care of his dog Akamaru who had injured his paw during yesterday's investigation. Ibiki had called him in since shikamaru couldn't make it today and suigetsu was really sick or so he claimed to be.

Naruto looked over his shoulder. "Kiba, be quiet, what if somebody hears you?!" The brown haired man kicked a pebble just to irritate the blonde even more. He couldn't see his face but he knew he was mad once he heard him grip his gun even tighter.

Kiba grinned. "Alright, alright I'll stop now." He somehow felt a little better knowing he wasn't the only one feeling upset right now.

Sasuke, who was the one in front, was gritting his teeth, irritated . He just had to be paired up with these two idiots who couldn't keep their mouths shut even in these types of situations. (If we get caught I'll make sure to shoot both of them myself.) He thought angrily. Up ahead, he could see a small flicker of light and he instinctively backed up against the tunnel wall, his teammates doing the same. He looked over at Naruto and Kiba and they nodded as soon as the light became brighter and brighter.

"I fucking hate walking through these endless tunnels!" Whined a very thin man in his late 20s. He held a lit torch in front of him and squinted his eyes to try to figure his way out since his eyesight wasn't all that great. He stumbled on a rock and cursed, kicking it as hard as he could. A loud thumping noise resounded throughout the tunnel and he quickly turned around, the sound of his heart beating a little faster. He sighed, seeing as a rock had fallen from the ceiling. "It was just a rock." He placed a hand on his chest, trying to slow down his breathing. That's right, there was no one who knew about this cave except for those doing the trade. "There's nothing to worry about"' he reassured himself. He turned around only to see a smiling face right in front of him. He let out the biggest scream of his life, startling even the three men that had been hiding in the dark.

Kiba, who was behind the man, knocked him out with a single blow to the head. the man's body falling to the ground with a loud thud. The torch in his hand landed a few inches away from him.

Naruto grabbed it and looked angrily at Kiba. "Why did you knock him out! He could have led us to the others."

He snatched the torch from his hands and glared back at him. "Well, maybe if you would've covered his mouth instead of scaring the shit out of him, then maybe I wouldn't have knocked him out!"

Sasuke clenched his teeth at the lack of intelligence of his so-called teammates. He squatted down to see if the man lying on the floor had anything useful on him. He checked his pockets and found a bunch of keys and a wallet that probably contained an ID. He stood up and looked ahead. The yell must have alerted all the others. There were only two possible scenarios: either 1: they heard the scream and went into hiding or 2: they heard the scream and were now looking for them with weapons at hand. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, putting the keys and the wallet in his pocket before running down the dark tunnel. He could hear Kiba and Naruto calling out to him but he had wasted enough time already and those fools would only slow him down.

Kiba looked over at Naruto. "Great, know what are we supposed to do?

Naruto stayed silent, looking down at the path his teammate had gone through. "We really don't work well as a team, do we? We let everyone down and put them in danger."

Kiba gave out a heavy sigh. "Hey, even though we hate each other and don't agree 90% of the time doesn't mean we can't figure things out. Let's go catch up to the running rock" (referring to sasuke) He grabbed the torch and ran deeper into the tunnel.

Tenten and Lee walked silently behind one another, making sure they were at a safe distance from ibiki. They didn't want to accidentally cause him to trip or anything of that sort. And it wasn't like they were scared or anything they just wanted to give the leader his personal space… Of course, Lee had made it into a challenge and was eagerly waiting for her to lose. She rolled her eyes (why did I have to be the only girl on this mission! she cried silently.)

"Hey tenten," whispered lee. Why is the leader's head so shiny? I can see it even in this pitch black tunnel.

Out of all the things he could have talked about…"How am I supposed to know?" She whispered back. Her eyes unconsciously roaming over to ibiki's head. Wow his head is pretty shiny she thought, staring at it a little bit more. "I wonder if he uses shampoo," she said out loud. her eyes widened a bit and she put a hand over her mouth. She looked over at him and gave out a sigh of relief. (Good, He didn't hear me.)

They stayed silent a while longer, feeling more anxious as they went deeper into the tunnel. Ibiki, who was in front, was holding onto his aching stomach. He knew he shouldn't have eaten all those beans knowing how sensitive his stomach was but it was too late to regret his decisions and now he was dealing with the consequences. (I won't be able to hold it in for much longer.)

"Are you alright?" Asked tenten, noticing ibiki was clutching the side of his stomach.

He stopped and turned to look at them. "I'm having a bit of a stomach ache so why don't you guys go up ahead and I'll be there in a minute or two? Lee, you can be the leader until I catch up to you guys."

Lee's eyes lit up in excitement and he wasted no time in moving to the front of the line. "I will not fail you, sir!"

Ibiki looked over his shoulder to glance at him. "I'm sure you won't, now go on ahead."

"Are you sure you're alright? We can call for help if the pain is getting worse." Asked the brunette, noticing his forehead was starting to sweat.

"I'm fine, tenten, I just need a few minutes." He responded through gritted teeth. Why couldn't they just listen and do as they were told?! He hunched over a bit, grabbing at his stomach.

Tenten ran over to check if he was ok. "you should lay down while I call for backup."

"I can't hold it in any longer," he mumbled as his stomach started making weird noises.

Tenten looked confused. "hold what in?" But it didn't take long before she realized what he meant.

A loud fart resounded throughout the cave, the echos sounding endlessly. Lee, who had been behind him, now rested peacefully on the cold hard ground.

Ibiki fell on his knees looking down in shame. His reputation was gone. This embarrassing moment will forever be ingrained in everyone's mind until the day he died.

Tenten covered her nose as the smell of rotten eggs roamed the air. She wanted to laugh and make fun of her leader but the poor man already looked like he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole. "You don't have to be embarrassed, it's nature. It can happen to anyone." She patted his shoulder. "I won't say anything."

He looked up at her, a bit doubtful. "you won't?"

"I didn't see or hear anything. She gave him a small evil smile, one that he failed to see in the darkness of the cave. Everything came with a price of course. "Now, can you stand up and regain your composure? We have a mission to deal with."

He stood up and gave her a short nod. "Right, let's get this over with." Lee had woken up and had been tricked into thinking he had fainted due to the lack of oxygen in the cave. They were about to keep walking when all of a sudden they heard a loud scream and everyone tensed up.

Tenten looked at her teammates, making sure she wasn't hearing things. "Wha- what was that?"

Ibiki frowned, had they been caught? No, they didn't send the signal, so that meant something else must have happened. "Let's keep going." He looked up ahead, a glimmer of light could be seen a few feet away and he could hear the voices of several men. He looked over his shoulder and gave his teammates the signal for combat. (This might get a bit messy) he thought, getting his gun ready.

He looked over at her for the 3rd time, searching for any signs of cuts or bruises that she might have gotten on her pale skin aside from the bullet wound on her arm.

"Shikamaru, I told you I'm fine, so stop worrying." She placed her hand on top of his and gave him a small smile to reassure him. "Let's just try to go to sleep."

He had picked her up from the hospital and took her to his house. They had both been silent the whole way there, neither of them were in the mood to talk after what had happened. He told her to take a shower in his bathroom so that she could wash off all the blood that had stained her clothes and her body. And now she was sitting on his bed wearing an oversized shirt he had given her. The moonlight infiltrated through his window and onto the girl sitting down. Her long blonde hair looked like it was glowing under the light. She looked like an angelic being, a sad one. "Are you hurt anywhere else?" Were the first words that came out of his mouth as he sat on the bed next to her. What an idiot.

He let out a small sigh as he hugged the small figure in his hands as they laid down. She held onto his shirt and sniffled trying her best not to cry. They were both tired and emotionally drained but they couldn't seem to get any sleep. "I'm sorry," he said, clutching the hem of the back of her shirt softly.

She looked up at him, confused, "for what?"

"For not being able to protect you or asuma." He clenched his teeth as hot tears fell from his eyes. Dammit! He didn't want to cry in front of her.

She wiped his tears. "It wasn't your fault, it was the killers. So please don't blame yourself."

Her sparkly blue eyes felt reassuring and the warmth of her body made him feel at ease. That's right, she was still alive, he wanted to protect her. But would he be able to? After what had happened today he wasn't sure anymore. He held her a little tighter, the smell of her hair lulling him to sleep.

The pink haired medic wiped the sweat off her forehead. "That took a bit longer than what I expected." She took her gloves off and threw them in the trash.

"How was the surgery?" Asked Shizune, giving her a cup of coffee to keep her awake.

"It came out great but I'm exhausted now,'' she stretched her body and yawned. "It's almost 11p.m" she said, staring at her watch. "Has Tsunade called you or texted you?"

Shizune shook her head and looked at her phone. "nothing, I'm starting to get more worried now. What if something bad happened? Should we call the police?"

"Hmm..Do you have jiraiya's number? Maybe he knows where she is or where she might be."

The black haired girl shook her head again. "I'm afraid the only one who has his number is tsunade."

She ran her fingers through her pink hair. "Well then, let's take a little visit to his apartment."

He had carried her heavy body over his shoulder and started walking to his home. "woman, what have you been eating?" he heaved, holding her legs. Hopefully, nobody saw this as kidnapping. He didn't want to end up in jail for helping someone out. "I'm glad it's night time," he said, looking around at the empty street. After he arrived he placed her on the bed and sat on the floor, letting out a heavy breath.

"I've never done so much exercise in my life!" He placed his hands on his lap and stared at the blonde haired woman "you haven't aged one bit I see." He looked down at her chest shamelessly "and those are as big as always" he smirked, knowing that if she was awake she would have punched him into another dimension. He stood up and got a blanket to cover her body. "I got to think of how you're gonna repay me for my kindness." He put a hand on the side of his cheek as he walked out of the room.

She could hear a faint voice in the distance. She wanted to open her eyes to see who it was but she couldn't. Her body felt so weak and heavy, but why? She tried to open her eyes again, and this time she succeeded. At first her vision was hazy but then everything cleared up. She sat up, feeling confused. Where was she? "Why can't I remember anything?" Her eyes wandered over at a mirror where she could see her reflection….is-is that me? No, that's not me…. She held onto her head trying to remember anything but it wasn't working. "Why am I here? there was a reason, I'm sure." she mumbled to herself, looking down at her hands. " there was something important that she had to remember but what was it? She dug her nails in the blanket in frustration.

"Well, well, well look who decided to wake up." He leaned on the door frame, giving her a smile.

(This voice) She looked over at the person that stood a few feet away. her eyes widened and her lips parted. "j-jiraya?"

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