Possible

Possible

Chapter Two: Painful

Author's Note: I'm gonna love writing this!

Faster!

Harder!

Stronger!

Ichiro felt the extra boost of power within him and continued unleashing his super-strength punches on every tree he saw. With amazing speed, Ichiro had destroyed over thirty trees in fifteen minutes. He was training his hands, as usual, like how Tsunade had trained him many years before. His fists didn't hurt one bit, though, due to his former sensei's harsh training. Still, he was grateful towards her concern many years back. Without her, he thought, he'd be somewhere else begging on the streets, frail and weak. Upon crushing the last tree for the day, Ichiro grabbed his weights and put them back on his legs. They didn't feel heavy, as the first time he had put them on. He made his way back from the forests towards Konoha, while carrying a few scrolls he had used a few hours earlier. It was in the early hours of the morning, a time where everyone in the village would be sleeping soundly, except for him. It was already part of his every day life to wake up as early as possible to train his fists and jutsu, but also a fair distance away from the village, lest he woke up the whole village.

He walked along the streets silently, staring down at his own feet. He had a strange habit of doing that every time he walked slowly, as if he was so interested in his own feet. Ichiro looked up and noticed that the Yamanaka Flower Shop was already open. He frowned and wondered if it wasn't the Yamanaka family, but a thief. The lights were off, but the door was wide open. He slowly walked inside and looked around. It was pitch black, but he could sense things better than seeing. There was slight movement in the storage room, he sensed. Suddenly, someone crashed into him and he immediately grabbed him by the waist, causing the stranger to drop the box that he was holding. "Hey!" yelled not a man, but the shrill voice of Yamanaka Ino. "Let me go!" Ichiro immediately let go and stumbled backwards, surprised at Ino's strength in pushing him away. She turned on the lights and realized that it was Ichiro. Her face grew dark as she shouted, "What the hell are you doing here, grabbing people like that?!"

"I assumed there was a thief," he said calmly.

Ino scowled. "Maybe it was you that was the thief!" she accused. Ichiro grimaced and said, "I may need some attitude adjustment, but I am definitely not a thief, thank you very much. I'm not the least bit interested in stealing flowers from your shop." Ino glared at him, lost for words. "You're lucky my parents aren't home yet," she hissed. "Get out of here!" Ichiro sighed and left without a word. He realized that he was indeed forming a habit of leaving without a goodbye, let alone a word, but he couldn't be bothered to attempt to change his ways, anyway.

A few hours later, Ichiro soon returned to the streets for some breakfast. After a few minutes of walking around, Ichiro finally decided to stop by Ichiraku's Ramen. As soon as he sat down, the blonde next to him yelled, "Hey, old man, give me the usual!" Ichiro swore he could have gone deaf if the guy was any louder. "Okay, okay," answered the man in the back, "Just don't shout like that, Naruto. You're gonna give me a heart attack one day!" Naruto grinned and looked at Ichiro, who in return, gave him a nod. "Hey… I haven't seen you around before," said Naruto, staring at Ichiro. He looked at Naruto and shrugged. "It's rude to stare, Naruto-kun," he said. "Judging by your attire, I guess I'm your replacement for your friend Sai." Naruto's eyes widened and exclaimed, "Oh! So you're the new guy!" Ichiro scowled softly. He didn't like being called a 'new guy'. He was probably far more experienced than this Naruto could ever be. "Welcome to the team!" said Naruto, extending out his hand. Ichiro took it silently and shook hands with Naruto.

"Hey, old man, one more bowl please!" yelled Naruto again, his voice soon getting on Ichiro's nerves. After the old man emerged from the kitchen with two steaming bowls of ramen, he placed them down in front of Ichiro and Naruto. Ichiro reached for his money, but Naruto was one step ahead of him. "It's my treat today," said Naruto, grinning at Ichiro.

"Thanks, I guess," replied Ichiro, who had started to eat his ramen.

"So, what's your name?" asked Naruto. Ichiro looked at Naruto and realized that he had forgotten to introduce himself, again. "I'm Takahashi Ichiro," he said.

"Oh, nice to meet you, Ichiro!"

Ichiro stared solemnly out the window of his apartment room, looking down at all of the villagers walking in all directions, doing their grocery shopping. Needless to say, Ichiro was bored to death. Until Team Kakashi's next assignment, he practically had nothing to do here. As he scanned the crowd silently, he spotted a familiar blonde kunoichi, who looked up at him from her flower shop down below. They didn't wave or anything; there was just a strange, undisturbed look on her face. She looked as if she wanted to say something to him, but nothing came out from her lips. Ichiro gave a soft 'hn' before returning to his bed. Ino sighed and returned to work. "What has Sakura seen in that guy?" she mumbled to herself. Before long, Sakura appeared and stopped by the Yamanaka Flower Shop. "Hey Ino," she said. "How's it going with Ichiro?"

"There's nothing going on between us, and besides, you like him," said Ino flatly. "He's a jerk, though. I wonder why you even like him. I'm guessing it's his looks, isn't it?" Sakura shrugged and said, "Look, you can't deny that he does have charm in an odd manner. But he's like Sasuke, right? He's as good as Sasuke, so I can't expect any dating with that guy." Ino scoffed loudly and asked, "So you're still up for Sasuke?"

"As always," said Sakura proudly. Ino smiled and shook her head. It's been so long since Sasuke was in Konoha. Ino's feelings for the Uchiha disappeared when he left Konoha. Amazingly, Sakura still liked Sasuke, even though he may be on the other side of the world by now, searching for power to kill his older brother, Uchiha Itachi. "So, have you been speaking to Ichiro lately?" asked Sakura curiously. "Why the sudden question?" questioned Ino, staring at her pink-haired comrade. Sakura shrugged and walked around the flower shop for a while before saying, "I think you two make a cute couple." Ino could have fainted from hearing that. "Haruno Sakura, I swear to God… I'll never ever set my eyes on him, ever! He's such a jerk, like Sai and Sasuke joined together!" she spat, feeling annoyed at the thought of Takahashi Ichiro.

Sakura smiled at her friend's words and said, "Hate gradually becomes love, Ino. You won't know."

"Whatever," said Ino, "he'll probably get a girlfriend easily with his looks."

"Oh," said Sakura, deciding to leave the conversation at that point. "Okay, I'll be going now. I'm going to be late for Tsunade's training if I hang around any longer. Bye." With that, Sakura left the flower shop. Ino sat at the counter and sighed to herself. Business has been poor lately; it was as if no one was interested in buying flowers anymore. Ino wished that there was a mission for Shikamaru, Chouji and herself to take. Unfortunately, Shikamaru and Chouji were chosen to guard an important figure for a period of three months; Ino wasn't selected because she had other assignments to handle from Tsunade, and they would return during winter, so she was practically alone for the next three months. She looked around the flower shop and grimaced at its emptiness. With a sigh, Ino decided to take a break, as she predicted that there wouldn't be any customers until the next Valentine's Day. She strutted out of the flower shop and locked the door to it. Ino went around Konoha leisurely, while window shopping. "Hey, Ino!" yelled Naruto from behind her. He ran up to her and grinned. "Did you meet the new guy yet? I think his name was Ichiro!"

She sighed. Why does he always appear one way or another? "Yeah, I did," she replied with a smug look on her face. Naruto chuckled and said, "You know, he reminds me of Sai and Sasuke." Ino couldn't help but to smile a little at that. "Yeah, he does," she muttered, while Naruto continued droning on about the similarities between Ichiro, Sai and Sasuke. As soon as he finished, Naruto finally said, "Don't you agree?"

Ino laughed and said, "Okay, I can't say no to all that. But you know… he can be a jerk most of the time."

"Which reminds us of Sasuke!" said Naruto with a wide smile on his face. Ino knew that reminding Naruto or Sakura about Sasuke would hurt them deeply, since it has been so long since he left, but she had never seen the two of them talking about Sasuke so easily when it came to Ichiro. Perhaps the guy would make a difference somehow, even if he was a total idiot sometimes. "Oh, the memories," she said jokingly. "I wouldn't be surprised if he left anytime soon." Naruto's face suddenly grew serious. "You're not serious, are you?" he asked curiously, like a small child that didn't believe his parent, but tried to confirm what his parent had just said. Ino shrugged.

"I don't believe so. He's part of Konoha."

"I'm glad you see it that way!" exclaimed Naruto. "I think we've earned another interesting friend."

The more Ino thought about it, the more she seemed to agree with Naruto. Her anger directed towards Ichiro seemed to fade gradually, the more the energetic blonde spoke about him. Ino didn't seem to think of him as someone who needed attitude adjustment anymore; she saw someone who was like Sasuke, and someone that had his reasons for almost everything. Just like any other perfect man, she thought happily to herself. Suddenly, realization dawned upon her. Wait a minute. Did I just call him perfect? Ino shook the thought off and shuddered. Until she sees his good side, she won't lose control of her feelings THAT easily.

That night, Ichiro spent time at the bridge, where he had his first fight with Ino. First fight, huh? I recall myself being one who discards these moments with ease. This definitely isn't me, he mused with clarity to himself, but she's quite the charmer, I guess. He looked down at the river and down at his own reflection. What the water reflected wasn't what any other normal person would see. Other people would see themselves staring back at themselves, but Ichiro saw someone with a serious problem. He knew Ino was right; that he was a jerk and a total asshole, but nobody understood his reasons for being so. The torture he went through when he was a young boy was just unbearable to recall. Ichiro became distant towards other people, and usually provoked them to keep them away from him, just to protect them and to prevent them from getting hurt because of him. As a kid, Ichiro had seen much violence. That was when Tsunade 'adopted' him as her apprentice and trained him to defend himself. Ichiro took her seriously, and she was probably the only person he ever cared about.

Ino found him at the bridge and unknowingly invaded his mirage of thoughts. "Hey, stranger," she said, stopping next to him. Ichiro looked up from the river beneath them and turned his head towards her. He remained silent, but gave her an understanding nod which meant 'hello'. Ino furrowed her brows. "What's with you and keeping so quiet?" she asked. "If I were you, I couldn't stand this kind of solitude." Ichiro looked at her again and sighed. "What is it with you and being so friendly all of a sudden?" he retorted, not sure of whether he was trying to force her away or wanting to speak to her more. He just felt different around this girl. "I don't know. It's called being human," she replied cheekily. Ichiro noticed the change in her attitude and took it lightly. "Whatever," he replied flatly.

"So tell me more about yourself."

"What happened to the fierce kunoichi who almost beat me up this morning?" teased Ichiro, slightly surprised that he even knew how to tease someone. Ino shrugged and said, "Gone."

Ichiro's expression remained empty as ever as he said, "Well, I'm Takahashi Ichiro, and I'm your new comrade."

Ino couldn't help but to giggle at his reply. "You're so blunt." The corner of Ichiro's lips twitched in annoyance. He never knew anyone who had the courage to say that to a fearsome shinobi as him. "Right, you have a point, being that sharp," Ichiro said, glancing at Ino, hoping to see another peculiar reaction. She smiled at him and ran her hand through her own long hair and asked, "So… what's wrong?"

"Huh?" he said in bewilderment.

"What's with the cold front all this while?" she continued, desperately hoping Ichiro had a perfectly good reason. Ichiro shrugged and said, "Life." Ino frowned and tried to guess, "Something bad from the past?" Ichiro couldn't resist nodding. He scolded himself inside his head for his own foolishness. Don't let her in on your life, he told himself. It's a nuisance. Ino's face changed from a disappointed one to an understanding one. Was that sympathy Ichiro saw in her eyes? Or was sarcasm in her eyes, making fun of him for going through what he had seven years ago? "I wouldn't want to probe any further if I were you," he warned. Ino's bright blue eyes stared right into his, and before Ichiro knew it, he realized that he was turning slightly pink. Thanks to the night time, Ino didn't notice a thing. "Oh, alright then," she said.

There was a long pause before Ino suddenly let the question escape from her lips.

"Was it painful?"

Ichiro knew what she meant. She wanted to know if his past was painful.

He nodded, and replied, "Haunting, even." Ino nodded slowly. "Oh," was all she could say. "I guess that explains everything." Ichiro looked back down at his own reflection and said, "Yeah, guess so. You could say that."

A/N: Chapter two, finished! So now I'm like publishing two chapters at one time. But I have exams coming up, so I don't know if I'll update as regularly as this one. Enjoy! Read and review!