Author's note: The story is based on the idea of conflict (also known as blood) diamonds. There was a movie called Blood Diamonds and I totally recommend that you guys see if it if you haven't yet…I've taken some elements from it, and you know, it was such a great movie that it deserves to be transformed to fit the Naruto world. The story's a little dry right now, but don't worry there'll be more romance and adventure later on. Sorry for the cussing, you'll just have to put up with it, loves [: Oh btw, the pairings are undecided. I just put whichever was most obvious...
"Yo, fucker! Throw me a beer!" It was night time and they had just sacked a village. A large fire spat out gold and orange and loud music was heard in the back. A few straw huts were alit. Men and boys began to drink, partying, gambling, leading the rebel life.
"Going to get wasted again, Ino?" grinned a small boy. He looked to be only twelve. In his arms was a large machine gun.
"Fuck you, Ruki," replied Ino. Laughing, the boy scurried off to one of the gambling tables. "Shikamaru, grab me one."
Shikamaru, holding two bottles of beer, went over to where Ino sat, smoking a cigarette. He threw one at her. "Hidan will be glad. We've secured another pearl area." There was a popping sound as he took off the cap and took a deep swig of the beer.
"I hear Orochimaru's men have been trying to fight off Akatsuki's grounds in the north." She, took, took a deep gulp of the strong drink.
"That means we're going to be losing some laborers." He surveyed the surrounding area. Some of the boys had tied a man to the jeep and were circling around the village. To them, it was just another raiding party.
"I thought we would be getting some today. From what I saw, the village was full of healthy men. They were running fast enough."
"Yeah, well, we'd have more if you didn't shoot them all." Some of the boys were getting rowdy. A fight would break out soon. "Hey, calm down you bastards!" The group dispersed, scowling at him. Shikamaru could see that some of them had gotten their hands on some more drugs.
"The gun's new, I needed to break it in," she rationalized. "'Ey, pass some of that over here!" A small boy trudged over and handed her the needle.
"I want some of that when you're finished." A figure appeared in the shadows to where Shikamaru and Ino were.
"Get your own, Kiba," said Ino, injecting the substance in her arm.
Shikamaru sighed. "Don't you guys ever get tired of that?"
"A man needs drugs to make him stronger," answered Kiba. He looked at the now empty hypodermic needle sadly. "Bitch."
"You just love to acerbate her, don't you?" Shikamaru commented wearily. He shot a glance at Ino, closing her eyes and enjoying the effect of the drug.
"The damn bitch didn't even give me any!" An indignant Kiba scowled at her.
Sighing, Shikamaru said, "If you're lucky, and if Hidan doesn't get her first, you might have some of her tonight."
"Yeah, maybe," said Kiba, distantly. "Ever wonder when we'll get this country out of Orochimaru's grimy hands?"
Shikamaru laughed harshly. "You mean when this forsaken land receives liberation?"
"Quiet down, Shikamaru," hushed Kiba. He wouldn't like to think of what would become of them if they doubted the group's progress.
"I thought you liked this though. All of this chaos, the shooting, the drinking."
There was a moment of pondering before he answered, "Yeah, it's alright."
Ino woke up, wondering who she would wake up to find next to her. Surprisingly, she was alone and fully clothed, still lying on where she injected the substance into her bloodstream the day before. Kiba laid on the chair across from her, his head tilting and bottles of beer littered around him.
"Damn," she muttered, clutching her forehead. Blinking profusely to get her vision to become clear, she noticed a man with white hair skulking around. "Hey! What are you doing here?" She took out her gun and pointed it at him.
The man turned around. "Could you tell me where Hidan-sama is? I've got some business with him. The name's Suigetsu."
"If Hidan-sama wanted to see you, he'd find you. Now get on the ground!" yelled Ino. She kicked at Kiba. "Get your ass up, you bum."
Letting out a big groan, he got up, rubbing at his eyes. "Why the fuck did you wake me up so early, damn woman?"
"There's an intruder." She nodded in Suigetsu's direction.
"I'm not so sure," began Suigetsu, "that Hidan will be so happy that you've killed his number one client." He began to walk off, yelling, "Hidan!"
"Hey! HEY! Get your ass back here!" yelled Ino, running after him. "Damn, help me," she hissed at Kiba. He got out his oversized gun and followed her, but it looked as if she had everything covered to him. Once she caught up, she pressed the gun to Suigetsu's head. "Stop right there, fucker."
Suigetsu heaved a big sigh. He took out a small handgun. Ino stared at it cautiously, but she knew she had the advantage. "If it makes you feel better, there, take it." He held the gun at its mouth, handing it to her. Staring at it, she nodded at Kiba to take it. Kiba grabbed it, throwing it aside. "Now, if you don't mind, I need to have a word with Hidan-sama." He pushed through, still yelling for Hidan.
"Get your ass back here!" she yelled. Kiba gave her a look that asked why the hell she wasn't shooting. Honestly, the man couldn't be in business with Hidan, could he? But if Ino killed one of Hidan's clients, that would also be the end of her. Anyway, she wasn't even sure if Hidan had arrived yet. Catching up with Suigetsu was getting to be a pain in the ass.
"What's all this commotion?" Kiba and Ino stopped, looking apprehensively at the direction of where the voice came from. It was Hidan, staring down at them from inside the village chief's hut.
"Hidan-sama!" exclaimed Suigetsu. "We can finally finish our exchange." He took a bundle of cash from the inside of his pocket.
"This early in the morning?" grumbled Hidan.
"Well, the sooner we do this, the sooner you'll get your new weapons. I hear Kakuzu has all of these new models. It'll make your men ten times more efficient."
"Come in then," said Hidan. He shot a glance at Ino and Kiba. "You two can go."
"But Hidan-sama ," began Ino, "he doesn't look trustworthy and--"
"I have business to do. Go." The two disappeared inside.
"This is it?" asked Suigetsu, looking indignant at the small leather pouch.
"You think I wouldn't like to give you more? That's all I have!" exclaimed Hidan.
"You know, I'm sure Orochimaru's men would gladly pay more for my services. Smuggling pearls aren't an easy job." Suigetsu turned to leave.
Hidan moved forward. "Oh, wait, I think I have some here." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a larger leather pouch. "This is the finest I have, be sure Kakuzu treats me right."
Suigetsu reached out to grab it grinning. "Of course, you can expect nothing less." He opened the pouch and looked at the glimmering pearls, all tear-shaped and a deep blue.
Author's Shiznit: Oh! I've heard about this thing called freerice dot com and it's amazing. Not only does it build your vocab, but for every word you get right, you donate ten grains of rice to a hungry child. Go to the website and play. It sounds boring but actually it's really addicting…the highest I've ever gotten was level 45…aha so go out there and feed some hungry child!