LazerWulf: I think I'm going to abandon the whole interactive soundtrack idea. It didn't seem to catch on like I thought it would. That, and it's hard going through 5 CDs of songs to find the right track for a certain part. I've already edited i f you're just starting to read this and have no clue what I'm talking about, don't worry. It was nothing big.

The Festival of Roses
Chapter 2: The Plot

--

Day 1
0400 Hours

The sun had not risen yet, but several shadows were racing throughout town. These were the kunoichi members of ANBU, on a mission to deliver the tags to all the females in Konohagakure. One such figure went by the alias "Nanoko".

Nanoko and her fellow female ANBU had each been given a stack of tags, each one inscribed with the name of the one to whom they were to deliver it. Nanoko was particularly excited about the festival. This was her chance to get "Ryu" to confront his feelings for her. It was obvious that Ryu liked her, but he was too shy to ever approach her. She had first noticed Ryu when he had joined her squad. Ever since then she noticed that he always seemed to be around. Not like he was a stalker, but like a high school boy with a crush he was too afraid to act upon. She wasn't sure if she liked him back, but she was willing to give it a shot.

"HAGANETON: YOKOKI NO SOKUBAKU!" (Steel Release: Bars of Restraint)

By the time Nanoko heard the attack, it was too late. Three steel bars materialized from the ground and wrapped around her body, immobilizing her. As she struggled to get free, she felt the bars warm up, and her energy start to fall.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. My Yokoki no Sokubaku are draining your chakra. The more you strain, the more they drain."

Nanoko turned her head to see a figure hiding in the shadows. Judging by the voice, she figured it was female.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"Those things are unimportant, as your chakra level should be getting to the point where you can no longer maintain consciousness."

"You'll never get... away... with... this..."

As Nanoko lost consciousness, she could vaguely hear the woman chuckling.

"We shall see, my dear. We shall see."

--

0600 Hours

On the other end of town, two figures hid in the shadows outside the home of Yuuhei Kurenai. They had been waiting long enough to see one of the ANBU kunoichi deliver her package and leave. Now, as dawn was breaking in the east, their patience was wearing thin.

"Tell me again why we can't just steal it."

"Because each tag is coded to the chakra of the one it's assigned to. It was designed to prevent someone stealing the tag, or someone using a proxy to do the tagging for her. She has to be the one to put it on him. Now, quiet. I hear something."

Sure enough, as the second figure finished speaking, Kurenai came to the door to retrieve her tag.

"Are you sure this is going to work, Ino?"

"It's one of Shikamaru's plans, Kiba, what do you think? If he's in position, this thing should go off without a hitch. Just bring my body to the rendezvous point."

That said, Ino placed her thumbs, index and middle fingers together in a box-type hand seal and aimed for the unsuspecting Kurenai.

"SHINTENSHIN NO JUTSU!" (Mind Transfer Technique)

Kurenai had no idea what hit her as Ino's consciousness took over her body. Ino had to move quickly. The house of Sarutobi Asuma was quite a distance, and she could only sustain the technique for a limited time.

--

0630 Hours

Tsunade awoke to the sound of banging.

"Tsunade-sama, wake up! There is something you need to be informed of."

"Can't it wait, Shizune? It's too early for any Hokage-ing."

"One of the ANBU delivery girls was found unconscious, and all her tags are missing."

This grabbed the Hokage's attention. She hopped out of bed, threw on a robe, and opened the door to let her assistant in.

"What?"

"She was found just outside the forest, with three steel bars wrapped around her body, which seem to have drained her chakra."

"Will she be okay?"

"She'll need some time to recuperate, but she'll survive. I doubt her attacker wanted her dead."

"What about her attacker? Does she remember anything?"

"Unfortunately, no. She doesn't even remember getting captured. Apparently the loss of chakra wiped her short term memory. We don't know who could have done it or how, but the why seems apparent."

"The tags."

"It would seem so. I have already created new tags to replace the stolen ones, but I fear that the person who stole them may try to tamper with them."

"I see. Keep me apprised."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama."

--

0700 Hours

At the Korean Bar-B-Que where Team 8 usually meets, Ino, Kiba, and Shikamaru were discussing the success of their plan.

"So the tag didn't work at first?"

"No, I made it to Asuma-sensei's house, where Shikamaru had immobilized him with his Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique), but the tag wouldn't attach. I think it might have sensed my chakra within Kurenai-sensei, so in order to get it to stick, I had to dispel my Shintenshin no Jutsu before I could get her back home. According to Shikamaru, the tag reacted immediately after I left the body."

"But Kurenai-sensei must have told him she was being controlled! Our cover is blown!"

"Relax, Kiba, you knew we couldn't keep it a secret. Asuma-sensei knows that the only way to pull that off is with Ino's Shintenshin and my Kagemane. They shouldn't suspect you, though."

"At least, not until now," a gruff voice said.

"Asuma-sensei!" The trio cried out. Sure enough, Asuma and Kurenai were standing over them, Asuma with Kurenai's name branded on his chest.

"What makes you three think you have the right to do something like this?" the cigarette-smoking jounin asked.

"Oh, please," Shikamaru replied. "We all see the way you two look at each other, and you both know neither of you would have taken advantage of this opportunity, so we did it for you."

"What we would or would not have done is not the issue," Kurenai added. "You three crossed a line, and you need to face the consequences. After the festival, you three will have one week of intensive training from Gai-sensei."

"What?" Kiba interjected. "I didn't have anything to do with this!"

"You're an accessory to the crime, and just as guilty," Asuma stated. "No excuses. You three are lucky we're letting you off until after the festival. Now, enjoy your week."

That said, the two jounin teachers turned and walked away, engaging in their own conversation.

"You know, Asuma, I'm kind of glad they did this."

"Oh, really?"

"They were right. I never would have asked you or tagged you on my own."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, now that we're stuck with each other, I wouldn't want to be stuck with anyone else."

"Really?"

"Really."

As they walked off, they passed Sakura, who had spotted Ino from outside and came inside to talk to her.

"Hey, Ino!"

"Hey, Sakura, what's up?"

"You get your tag this morning?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Mm-hmm. Any thought on who you want?"

"No. It's funny," Ino pulled her tag out from her tool pouch and began to fiddle with it. "If Sasuke were here we'd probably both be setting traps, trying to get him, but since he's gone, I have no clue who I want."

At the mention of Sasuke, Sakura went quiet. It took Ino a few seconds before she realized what she had said.

"Oh, god, Sakura, I'm sorry, I didn't mean... It's not your fault. I'm sure there was nothing you could have done."

"Yeah, you're right. I've got to stop blaming myself, but I can't help but miss him."

"We all miss him, but we've just got to move on and hope he'll come back."

"I guess..."

"So," Ino said, trying to change the subject, "are you going to ask Lee-san to the festival, or Naruto?"

"Naruto? Are you crazy? No way would I go with him! He's already tried to steal my tag three times today! But, since you mentioned it, I was planning on asking Lee-san."

"Man, you're lucky. You got two guys going after you. Who do I have?"

"You could always take Naruto..."

"You're kidding, right? I don't want him anymore than you do! I think I'll just go alone."

The blonde kunoichi absent-mindedly put her tag back in her pouch, but didn't seem to notice that it fell out and landed on the seat beside her.

At that moment, Akimichi Chouji chose to enter the Bar-B-Que and came over to join the group.

"Hey, guys! How'd the plan to get Kurenai-sensei and Asuma-sensei together go?" he asked.

"What?!" Kiba exclaimed. "He knew about it, too? How come he's not doing the training?"

"Because we're not going to sell him out," Shikamaru said. "That's not the ninja way."

"Wait, what plan? What training?" Sakura inquired.

"Shikamaru came up with a plan to get Asuma-sensei to go to the festival with Kurenai-sensei," Ino explained. "It worked, but they found out it was us and sentenced us to a week of training with Gai-sensei."

"Yeah, it's such a drag," Shikamaru sighed, "but it was worth it to get those two together."

"Well, anyway, I'm starved! Where's the waitress?" Chouji said as he sat down.

Right next to Ino.

Right on top of her tag.

--

LazerWulf: And thus another chapter is completed. Now we have two new couples officially tagged. AsuKure and ChoIno. I'm not necessarily a ChoIno fan, it's just that after pairing everyone else up, this was the couple I liked the most.

Anyway, next chapter we'll see the rest of the gang, and things start to heat up between a certain two Jounins.

Review!