A/N: Back again, after a forever ago. Vacation was amazing, though I feel perfectly OK being back in my old house, without ratty cousins and what not. Let's just say, it was a loud and exciting week.

Now, here's the next chapter. I'm no longer going to include the full summery, because I feel as if the way I'm writing this, its no longer relevant. I'll have to come up with a new summary, though its pretty damn close. But with a lot more mystery now.

Contains Yaoi and pairings: SasuNaru, NejiGaara, ItaDei, ShikaIno, and KakaIru

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. Nope. Nada. Nothing. Not a zip. -pause- And I never will. WAH! -tears-

Chapter Seventeen

"Why must I do this?"

Ino was whining as Naruto dragged her to his newfound ramen shop, Ichiraku.

"Because, Ino-chan, you promised! Magazine, remember?"

Ino cursed under her breath, "I wish I didn't."

He just laughed as he pushed open the glass door to a cozy aroma-filled diner. There were tall stools around a high wooden table, with a gruff-looking man behind it spooning noodles and soup from a metal pot.

A chime sounded softly as the two blonde's stepped in, signaling the man into a wide smile as he welcomed them. There were a few other people eating around the table, but a fair amount of seats were open. Naruto excitingly stumbled into a chair, while letting Ino fall into hers as he let go of her arm.

The owner quickly wiped his rough hands against his dirty apron as they sat down.

"Hello," He gave a shut-eye smile, "Welcome to Ichiraku's. What would you like to order?"

Naruto was staring starry-eyed at an array of pictures of the different types of ramen taped around the backboard. The man smiled at how enthusiastic the boy was and handed him a laminated menu. The blond happily accepted and began to finger through the dishes offered by the shop. Ino slumped low in her seat, not wanting the greasy smell of ramen to overtake her perfume.

In about a minute of debating, Naruto finally handed Ino the menu while ordering his own.

"I'll have miso ramen…Uh, three bowls…wait—make that four…or maybe five—six. Yah, six. Or wait, no, maybe seven. Yes, seven bowls of miso ramen, please, Owner-san."

Ino almost laughed at the surprised look on the old man's face. But being the lady she was, she snorted instead. In every ramen restaurant that ever had the misfortune of housing Naruto for an evening always had the same expression. Always the deer-in-headlights look that bore the question: Is he serious?

He looked at her with comically wide eyes before turning back to Naruto, who had a completely straight face on. As if with robotic arms, he turned on the running stove, making the already-hot water bubble to the surface. Upon awakening, he quickly wiped a wet cloth around the soup that splashed over as he added in the straw noodles.

Ino quickly added in neatly, placing the menu on the surface of the table.

"And I'd like some pork ramen please…only two bowls though, don't want to lose the figure, you know," She winked at the man as she said so. He just looked alarmed as he set out the ingredients for their ramen. Just then the door chimed again and two familiar figures stepped in.

Naruto gave no notice as he continued to salivate while watching the cooking ramen. But Ino, who found no interest in such arts of cooking, immediately recognized the two prominent men:

Neji Hyuuga and Shikamaru Nara.

Unless her eyes were misleading her, it had to be them. She blinked several times as if to clear such an absurd hallucination, but the image stayed in place. The Neji Hyuuga and Shikamaru Nara in a little ramen shop like this? Ridiculous. It seemed so below them. But yet here they were, right there, in person.

Shikamaru and Neji took no notice at the sudden lack of conversation between the individuals seated in the tiny restaurant. Instead, they seemed in deep conversation with each other. Ino took notice, though not drawing attention to herself.

Perhaps she should warn Naruto? Nah, on second thought, he would probably destroy whatever secretive ideals were being passed between them. Naruto would not notice if not told—that Ino was completely positive of. Once his line of sight connected to any sort of ramen, he lost all concentration. Really, it was a rather good thing that no enemy they ever faced at a taste for ramen.

Ino was curious—as she always was, and decided to use the number one skill learned in all her training: Eavesdropping.

Before anything could happen though, the owner had finished cooking the noodles and was adding the finishing touches to Naruto's miso ramen. She also noticed that he had only made two servings, not the seven the blond had asked for. Shrugging inwardly, Ino just smirked at the man who obviously had not believed in Naruto's appetite. Too bad, he'd learn the hard way—just as she had.

The pork ramen she had ordered herself was also pushed in front of her, the rising steam fogging her vision slightly. The soup looked hot and greasy as were the slimy noodles swirled in the bowl expertly. Naruto had already thanked the man and cracked open his chopsticks. In about three seconds—make that two…and NOW, Naruto was stuffing his face with ramen. Yup, that's one bowl: done. Now onto the second and…

Ok, Ino did not pride herself in watching her foster sibling eat. On the contrary, it made her rather sick. Glancing back at the elderly owner in front of them, she could tell his mouth was about a millimeter from hanging open. Yes, that was two empty bowls that once held heaping piles of ramen…yes, he ate them both…and yes, he was asking for more. And damn, she had to pay for them all.

Groaning, she started on her own bowl of ramen. Picking up a bit of pork with her chopsticks, she blew lightly on the meat before putting the sizzling piece into her mouth.

By the time she finally lifted her head in recollection, the two famous members had already seated and ordered their ramen. Tilting her head at the slightest angle; her dangly, aqua earring contrasting against her golden hair, the low tones were soon caught in her ear.

"—you sure? That is an awful lot to be based off of. The Harunos should be more careful. If such a slip were to be mentioned to the public, their medical ratings would go down significantly."

It was Neji who had spoken. His light tone smoothly glided across her ear like a graceful touch of silk. His voice was neutral as not to draw attention to those watching them.

Shikamaru slumped a little in his seat, his usual stiff posture relaxed as he was out of his uptight stature. Their noodles had yet to arrive, so he was bent-set on feeling lethargic for the time being. Being straight-backed all the time took its toll on you.

Neji, on the other hand was less likely to relax his pose. Being raised as a Hyuuga included being an immaculate statue all the damn time.

"It is all very troublesome—I can tell you that much. My mother's been nagging me extra about their rates, as if it has anything to do with me."

"Hn, that's rather odd, don't you think? But being from an opposite branch, I wouldn't think what's happening in the medical branch of the system would matter much in the overall scheme of things."

Shikamaru thumbed over an indent in the surface of the table as he thought.

"No. I think it's actually the latter. If medical rates had anything to do with what's happening at the Sabaku's, I should hope Gaara would be informed. He would have told us if anything were being changed—or lack of, therefor."

Neji gave no sign of change in his facial features. Instead, he spun a bit of brown hair from his shoulder as he reasoned.

"Really? Gaara…he is a very secretive individual himself. He does not say what does not need to be said. I do not think we should base any suspicions off him."

"All Sabaku's are secretive. It's in their nature, Neji. Take his older sister, Temari for example," He raised a finger as if to illustrate, "She is taking all extremist levels of schooling, but I have not heard once what she is planning to major in. All her classes are somewhat physical, yet I never knew her to be interested in any sort of medical field concerning physical health or injuries."

"Perhaps she is training to be an athlete?"

At this, Neji and Shikamaru both scoffed. As if that could be a possibility. Or rather a sort of shame on their household if it were true. All higher scholars knew that anything that was paid lower than a lawyer was out of limits for any famous household or company such as the Sabaku Enterprise.

Shikamaru ran a finger through his spiky ponytail, slicked with collective hair gel.

"Anyways, that is a warranted idea—when we're all dead in our graves." He raised his eyes to the ceiling as he blew out of his mouth. "You know what this is? Troublesome, that's what."

Neji gave an amused smirk.

"Of course, Shika. Everything's troublesome to you."

Two bowls of steaming ramen were placed in front of the talking men, interrupting what seemed like an odd sort of banter. Needless to say, the old man was rather unnerved. First, a skinny, blond kid who consumed more ramen than an average barge; now the two most prominent heirs in the entire region was sitting in his dingy little hut of a restaurant, talking up a storm. He ought to die now—being he was both satisfied and amazed beyond relief.

Shikamaru cracked his chopsticks in two and started on his noodles. The Hyuuga fixed his hair into a loose pony, as not to get the greasy food stuck in it on accident.

Ino relaxed her slightly awkward position as she chewed on her cooling noodles thoughtfully. So, there was something going on between Sakura's agency and Gaara Sabaku's? That was odd, but useful perhaps. She knew that the pink-haired girl's agency specified in medical uses and purposes. They also owned a sufficient amount of hospitals in various locations. Yes, Ino had done her research. For once.

As for the Sabaku Enterprise—well, that was something she had not inquired that sort of information. Though it was common knowledge for all readers of Hot-Check Weekly that Gaara Sabaku's agency focused on weapons for infiltration and armed fighting. From the typical knives and swords, all the way down to rings that cut through steel at a press of a button; The Sabaku Enterprise and Industrial Force Unit held them all. They actually supplied the military with more than 75 percent of their average weapon usage. In fact, they supplied members from even outside of their own region—all the way to the borders of the Waterfall Villages or the Hidden Rock. They were just that powerful. That was what sustained all the top ambassadors of the regions. Power. Riches. Money. Stability. All that wonderful stuff—outlined in bold on numerous pages of magazines; too many for Ino to even count.

What made Gaara Sabaku special from the other high heirs was that he was actually an orphan. He had a brother and a sister, but no parents or extended family. Or at least, they weren't living any longer. Even though he was the youngest, he was the brightest in their trio so he was already the head of his company. Moreover, he was still young, a year younger than all the rest of his friends—and the rest of his classmates, except per say Naruto. But beginning as a child genius, the redhead had already succeeded to make his business boom, creating a fruitful life for himself and his siblings.

The Hyuuga INC, on the other hand handled law and justice. Hyuugas made up 8 out of 9 Supreme Court justices because they were just that talented. They held a high sense of integrity and walked with seniority. All Hyuuga children were trained to become lawyers—whether they were part of the main branch or not. However, the main branch members received extra training in order for them to succeed above their side branch members. Because Neji was probably the smartest in all his similar aged relatives, he was named heir even though he was a branch member. Certain paparazzi say that he even takes the same lessons as a main member would.

The Nara Association handled computer and technology software. Nara's were praised for their elaborate minds and abilities to solve technical problems in less time than a normal agent. They only hired people like themselves with quick minds as well as nimble fingers—so their group was rather small, but efficient nonetheless. Quality over quantity was true to its end in their circumstance.

And of course, the Uchiha Corporation was perhaps the most famous of all the different companies. What was such a company? It had the largest active police force with over two hundred different locations and ten thousand working men. Their main building located in Konoha held the most effective investigation and research labs in all the other countries. The documents held were sacred and scarce because they were the only copies ever made. The Uchiha Corporation housed many workers, paying them all handsomely.

Ino nibbled on her chopstick thoughtfully as her thoughts continued to wander. In a way, the four companies seemed to be hand in hand with each other. They helped supply and work so that the other could blossom. The newest software from the Nara's could be used in the investigation and research labs of the Uchiha Corporations. Weapons from the Sabaku Enterprise supplied police with new materials. They also could work with the Nara Association to produce a brand-new weapon infused with different lens and cameras with ideas that only the Nara's could think of. The Hyuuga's could infuse that any justice needed within any form of information in the Uchiha's documents could be used against an enemy in court.

More or less, they all benefited the Uchiha Corporations the most. Ino smiled; they were after all the most powerful branch.

"Ino? Inooooo…earth to Ino! Ino, snap out of it! Lookie there, a flying bowl of ramen—wait, no, I mean literally—LOOK OUT! INO! DUCK!"

That shout made Ino duck immediately, knowing that when Naruto told you to duck; evidence usually backed him up. True to his word, a flying bowl of ramen full to the brim splattered in the backboard behind her. It was far away enough that she only got a few drops on her arm. Her hair had escaped the greasy mess, thank fucking god. Her long hair was hard enough to wash as it was.

Flipping back to see who had thrown it, she only saw a horrified Naruto.

"Who would throw such perfectly good, completely delicious ramen away? Any baka, that's for sure! I mean, look at all the good soup and soft noodles splattered against the wall. It's such a waste. I could have eaten that. Hell, I could have eaten ten times that."

Naruto looked completely forlorn as he spoke, as if talking about a dead friend. Ino, feeling rather awkward, though not too much since Naruto was always like this when ramen was spilled, just patted his shoulder. He sniffed a little.

"Poor, poor ramen…my baby, I'm so sorry—"

"Naruto?"

A familiarly suave voice cut Naruto's little rant and startling both blondes. Naruto looked up after being cut off.

"Neji?"

The charming face of Neji Hyuuga held a fake smile as he replied.

"Ah, Naruto—I thought it was you."

"Right," A new voice laced with sarcasm cut in, "After I spotted him first and then told you."

Neji smiled wider as Shikamaru's face appeared next to him. Naruto seemed frozen with a disbelieving mask on his face.

"Shikamaru, Neji, how nice of it to see you," Ino spoke quickly to avoid an awkward silence that would soon prevail. Though she had never held a decent conversation with them before, that didn't stop her from talking as if she had. They were famous after all—it's not every day a teenage girl [Especially one who was secretly in the number one stalked gang of the entire universe] got to meet two famed, handsome men on the same day. And definitely less likely to hold a decent conversation with them.

And, Ino added in her list of thoughts, how the hell did they know Naruto?

Neji gave her a very brief glance, taking in her reflective hair and clear blue eyes. Obviously not too impressed, he gave a soft scoff as he turned back to Naruto—who he thought was the more beautiful blond. The other brunette's steady eyes rested on the female blond, his thoughts appreciatively reeling over her looks. As he once said before, not bad on the legs. Not bad at all.

Recovering from his own shock, Naruto had regained his speed for talking, which popped up even more during awkward moments. The young blond liked nothing more than to avoid awkward pauses—as he made it his life commitment to fill each minute of air with noise. Of course, this did not include moments of stealth as the cover of Kyuubi. Life commitments were not held in a series of life or death.

But this was not a life or death situation, so Naruto felt it alright to talk like a parrot that never shut up. In a ramen shop and at his sister's side, he felt very at ease despite the definite air of high formality seated face to face with him.

"Hey Ino, did you meet these guys yet? This is Neji Hyuuga and Shikamaru Nara. I, uh, I mean this is my sister—Ino. Ino's my, uh foster sister so we don't really look alike. Actually, our entire family is adopted and—"

"Alright Naruto, stop with your life story. I think they're about to fall asleep, quite frankly." Ino scolded playfully, as Neji looked as awake as a lark. Shikamaru, on the other hand…well, he was always tired wasn't he?

Shikamaru decided to intervene at this point. Turning to Ino, he raised his eyebrows in interest. The Hyuuga stayed silent, though wore an amused smirk as he cast Naruto with an endearing look. Ino took in the oddity and stowed it away in the back of her mind.

"I see, so you are Ino, ah, Uzumaki?"

Ino chirped in laughter, "No, since we're only siblings through adoption, we don't share the same last name. Mine's Yamanaka, Ino Yamanaka in full. Pleased to meet you Shikamaru," She turned to the Hyuuga who only slid his eyes over, "And you too, Neji, of course."

Neji nodded, his lips creased in a straight line—not unlike how he usually was in public. It seemed as if he was only at ease around his friends or Naruto alone. The spiky, pineapple head, as Ino liked to call him in her mind, looked unsurprisingly at her.

"Of course, as I guessed—different family, different last names."

Ino's expression grew cold, but only briefly before lighting up again.

"We are family, Naruto and I. Maiden names and blood relations mean nothing to us."

Her tone held simplicity, though underlined with steel. Naruto sat next to her, finally silent; though he had begun to fidget with his fingers. The following silence maddened him, as his sister could tell. Quickly, she moved to change that.

"So," She started in a forced calm voice, "I've seen you in very few of my classes. Are both of you seniors?"

Surprising most of them [Shikamaru looked bored as ever]; Neji was the one who replied. His tone was remarkably light for one who housed such a stony expression.

"Yes, we—including Gaara and Sasuke who are not present as of this moment, we're all seniors. And I am to assume you two are as well?"

"Yes, scholarship through the Hidden Leaf Networks. You see, we both come from Suna, where our last home was." At this, she felt a pinch above her right knee that was hidden under the table. A brief glance at her opposite brother told her she had spoken too much. Don't give away any more than you need to, Ino. Remember our status. Remember our background.

A twitch of the finger was noticed by Naruto who translated the gesture as an apology. She gave a rueful smile in which he returned.

Neither man seemed to notice the odd exchange. Though, Shikamaru's eyes did narrow a little when she cut off to concisely. Consciously weaving her fingers through her pony, she continued without a stutter.

"Change happens, you know? But, I like it here in Konoha. Not as dry and…just plain sandy like Suna. I like the greenness. Yes, it's good for my pores too, all this fresh moisture."

Naruto snorted in relief as well as covering for the awkward exchange. "And this, you guys, is my sister. Vain as always, she is."

"I am not vain!"

"Yah, sure you're not, Ino-chan." Naruto's voice was teasing, lingering on the border of laughter.

Ino crossed her arms across her chest, huffing without embarrassment.

"I'm not! Hello, I'm a fucking girl. Not a gross, disgusting boy like you!"

"I'm not disgusting or gross. I'm perfectly clean and—"

"Except when you eat ramen. The way you do it makes me want to barf!"

"Well then, DON'T LOOK. It's not tough stuff."

"Like I don't already do that. But stuffing my ears would look absolutely ridiculous yet your slurping completely wipes out my appetite!"

Neji almost smiled again. Sharing a glance with Shikamaru, he could tell they were thinking the same thoughts.

Yes, they were definitely siblings, blood-related or not.

Truffles from CA for the first reviewer, yes?

God...being an authoress is such a love/hate relationship, isn't it? Wait...don't answer that. LOL.