Chapter 6: Bingo Book

One Year. It had been one year since Naruto heard about his sensei's death, Pervy Sage. And one year the Akatsuki had gone free without feeling the repercussions of their actions. And Sasuke…was still out there. His whereabouts…the Hokage hopeful did not know, but he is ready to bring him back…

"Ino, what information do you exactly need?"

"Do you think if I knew that, I wouldn't have found it already?" The kunoichi who could shatter minds retorted back. She was becoming frustrated and the last thing she needed was Shikamaru's questioning.

After persuading (though Shikamaru muttered blackmailing under his breath) her exasperated teammate into letting her into village files, the duo managed to completely fill the Chunnin's desk with classified files. The collection of active mercenaries turned out to be larger than Ino had suspected. Again, her sensei must've known this and left her to do the dirty work, knowing she would struggle with finding the exact person. Sadists…

"What did he look like again?" Ino asked lowly; more to herself than anyone else.

"Who?" Shikamaru asked, catching Ino's question.

"The guy we captured, on our last mission together," She stated, hoping he that he would have remembered.

That particular mission was something Team Eight should have done, since their specialized skills are used for retrievals. However, they were all away on separate missions, especially Hinata, who was working painstakingly on improving her skills.

Team Ten happened to be available and due to the circumstances with their training, this was one of the first missions they've had together in a long time, ever since their sensei's passing.

"He had a gaunt face, like he'd been on the run and didn't eat. Brown hair," Shikamaru continued, "With beady eyes, a goatee." He recollected his features exactly.

Ino smiled considerably; leave it to Shikamaru to use his photographic memory when it counted.

"Help me try to find someone who looks like that," she said, already shuffling through the files. She thought she heard an almost diminutive sounding 'Troublesome…" in the background, but her comrade began his own search for the man they last captured.

"Lazy…" She said with a smirk, a bit louder than necessary, as she continued to look.

Shikamaru would've retorted back to her comment, had it been in his nature. However, dealing with a blond was like dealing with his mother; you must proceed with caution.

Tsunade wanted, no, needed a drink. However, she had a dilemma; she could not raise the jug to her lips.

Jiraiya lied…He didn't come back and the look on Naruto's face that day was too much to think about. As much as she would've wanted to use the elixir in her hand to drown out the pain, she couldn't. It reminded her too much of that promise he made, the sake on her tongue. Now, it was a year later, a year had gone by with Konoha basking in its ignorance for what was about to happen.

The Godaime walked over to her large window overlooking the village, sake jug still in hand. Any thoughts of stepping down and letting another into her position were gone now. Beyond the Hokage Memorial Mountain, something was coming; she could feel it. And as foolish a gambler she was, she wouldn't be foolish enough to name someone else as Hokage now. She wouldn't gamble with her Village's life.

She resolutely sighed and put the sake back in her collection. As tempting as the hazy numbness was, she needed clarity and focus.

As for Akatsuki, she'd face them head on, regardless of the consequences. The only problem was…how could she tell Naruto that Sasuke had joined forces with the missing nin? Sasuke joining forces with the Akatsuki, could only mean war…

Morino Ibiki…was less than considerably pleased at the moment. Leaning against the sizeable doorframe that separated the Village from the Land roads, his partner was late.

'Damn woman…if she doesn't come early, she arrives late…'

Angling his head toward the ground, he couldn't help, but be surprised when Mitarashi Anko literally shot up from the ground, one fist pumped in the air as landed, giving herself a quick spin, her trench coat sweeping behind her, to alleviate the dirt on her.

"Anko Mitarashi arriving! At your service!" The exclamation was garnished with a mock salute.

'Kami, give me strength…' The thirty-one year old thought dryly. Perhaps he should've stayed with his new trainee, it would've actually been fun to rile the young Yamanaka. 'Maybe it's karma.' This new thought proved to be truer than anything else. Still, he was far used to the twenty-five year old's antics by now.

"So," the wily kunoichi started, "Have fun messing with Ino's head?"

He didn't even dignify that question with an answer; he never answered stupid questions.

"No wait, don't answer that, I know you did!" She proclaimed instantly, knowingly jabbing him in the chest with her finger.

He simply rolled his eyes and sighed. One day, he would figure out how she always knew to push his buttons…right now, they were on a mission.

Uzumaki Naruto pondered how to solve Sakura's present problem. He knew that she wasn't acting like herself and subconsciously, it took his mind off his missing teammate far away from Konoha. It also took his mind off of Jiraiya-sensei…

He needed something to occupy his mind and maybe cheering up his teammate would help him too.

'Hmmm, what would cheer up Sakura-chan?' The rambunctious sixteen year old contemplated as he cupped his chin with his hand in a fashion where he appeared to be thinking really hard. Girls…liked…things that were pretty, right? And shiny. And sweet!

Then, as if a proverbial light bulb appeared above his temple and lit up, Naruto got an idea. He wasn't sure if it was completely on his own or the fact that he saw a father and son walking past him with double popsicles in hand.

Whatever it was, he was thankful for the thought, who knows how long he would've sat on that bench otherwise.

"What's this?" The blond kunoichi looked over at her team leader for an answer.

Shikamaru glanced over to the documented list Ino was referring to before attempting to take it away from her grasp. "It's a classified list, you can't look at it."

"And why not?" Ino causally skimming it's contents as she flipped the bound pages.

He sighed and frowned, "It's the Bingo Book."

She took her eyes away from the pages and raised a skeptical eyebrow, "It's not as big as I thought it would be."

"It's organized that way." He said almost distractedly as he continued to look at mercenary files.

They went back into a comfortable silence until Ino noticed something she saw a page back. "Shikamaru…why are you in here?"

"I'm a strategist in the most powerful village out of the Five Great Ninja Villages, Ino." He said in an unfazed tone that suggested what he had just said explained everything.

She frowned at his blunt response, "I already knew that…" She muttered all too loudly. He rolled his eyes without her knowledge.

Silence once again crept into the room until Shikamaru broke it with his next statement.

"I think I'm going to do the Jounin Exam."

His face was the epitome of calm and his nonchalant way of saying it caught her off guard. He idly held up a document of another known mercenary as she gaped at him like a fish out of water.

"What?" She breathed out barely as she processed this new information, the task at hand momentarily escaping her mind's grasp. "I thought that doing something like that would be too troublesome..." This new ambition coming from him of all people was something that was long overdue, but almost unsettling.

He ironically laughed lowly as he replied, "I've been putting it off far too long and if I want to be ready, I might as well start now."

This statement caught her attention further, "Ready? Ready for what, Shikamaru?" She inquired, the Bingo Book list forgotten in her hand.

He smirked in her direction. "Ready to teach my apprentice."

He began looking through the files again as she gave him a knowing smile. "So when did you willingly want to be around another 'troublesome' woman?"

He snorted, "Troublesome women always surround me, I figure if I just accept it, maybe it won't happen as often."

Ino held her stomach as she began to laugh. Only Shikamaru would come to a conclusion like that and the stoic tone he used when saying it only made it more amusing.

He sighed at the futility of it, "I know, I know, fat chance." He muttered when her laughter reached its crescendo.

"Shikamaru..." She giggled as she attempted to reach a serious tone of voice, "Does Kurenai know?"

"Of course she does." He responded coolly.

"So, Kemurni's the only reason?" She asked lowly, so low she thought he didn't hear her. He diverted his attention from the papers to her eyes as she waited.

"No, she isn't the only reason," He sighed.

Kemurni Sarutobi is Kurenai Yuhi's one year old daughter, also known as another troublesome girl in Nara Shikamaru's life, especially now since she's started walking. Even though Chouji and Ino teased him about being at the little girl's whim, he accepted it, knowing that the little onyx eyed brunette would be his protégé one day.

"Then why-"

"It's time to grow up, Ino." He cut in before his female teammate could state her question. "If I'm going to be a cool sensei, I have to become a Jounin. I want to be just as cool as Asuma was, for her and myself."

Ino regarded him before responding. "Shikamaru, I don't think you'll be as cool as Asuma-sensei..."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and scoffed as he frowned. 'Tch, Ino always has to cut someone down, doesn't she?'

Unexpectantly, she dropped the Bingo Book list from her hands to lean over and hug him, resting her head in the crook of his neck."...I think you'll be even cooler."

Shikamaru sat stiff as her arms wrapped around his neck for the second time that day. Even though he felt his face heating up, he smirked at her unpredictability. He almost forgot Ino's talent for raising someone up as well. He wrapped his arms around her waist, slightly stroking her long flaxen locks as he gave in to her embrace.

"Thanks Ino."

Down a set of stairs, through a set of double doors, an apprentice worked side-by-side with her sensei, using their chakra to repair any bruises and fractured bones their 'patient' had obtained from his retrieval. It was one of the rare times Sakura worked along with her mentor nowadays.

"Tsunade-sama, is it true?" Sakura asked in a whisper as she used the Mystical Palm Technique on the man's torso.

Tsunade didn't look up from where she was originally directing her vision to, nor ask what Sakura meant. She already knew. She could feel her student's eyes on her as she waited for an answer.

"Yes, I'm afraid it is." She said resolutely.

"So then…what happens now?" Sakura continued looking at her sensei.

"We prepare for what he may do. You, Naruto, and Sai continue to get him back, unless…"

Sakura closed her eyes and sighed, "No, Tsunade-sama. We haven't given up; we're going to get him back at all costs. If we cannot do that, then we'll stop him."

Tsunade sighed after her student and then smiled wearily, "I'm glad to hear that." She said as her glowing hands infused chakra into their prisoner's skin.

"So, what's the game plan boss?"

He raised his brow line in skeptism, "You didn't read the mission report?"

"Of course I read the mission report! I just want you to recite it for me…" She ended with a sly smile on her face, grinning from ear to ear. He fought the urge to roll his eyes and kept his impassive mask.

"It's been reported…that Uchiha Mandara's alive." He stated, as he kept looking forward, Anko falling in step.

She raised both her eyebrows and whistled, "And here I thought the Village Elders were old!"

He ignored her crude comment and continued, "They've covered most of their tracks, all except one.

"Which is?" She said half teasingly, half meaning her question.

"They didn't count on the Village Elders for one…"

Anko briefly grimaced; she never liked the old woman, Koharu, what a sourpuss, or the decrepit man, Homura, what a stiff! She respected them, but never liked them. Ibiki observed this silently in mild amusement.

"Lady Tsunade had you interrogate them, didn't she?" She asked in a more reserved tone that she rarely displayed.

"Not in so many words, more like prodding them along." He smirked and gave her a sideways glance.

She raised an eyebrow, "Then that was a Hell-of-a-stick. Hey Ibiki, did you happen to leave it stuck up their a-"

A flash of what appeared to be a lightening strike came close to the Tokubetsu pair from Ibiki's peripheral vision and he pushed Anko out of the way before she could finish her question.

Anko raised her head after being slammed down to the ground face first, "What the Hell was that for Ibiki?!" She craned her head to see his shinobi sandals and trailed up to see he was already standing in an assumed fighting stance, whereas she was still sprawled on the ground. She got up quickly to join his side.

Accompanied with a kunai in hand, Anko yelled out to the ambusher, "Who are you and what business do you have here?"

"I already know who he is…" Ibiki stated murderously through gritted teeth.

She took her eyes of the attacker to look at Ibiki's face. He scarred face was indented in a scowl and his eyes slitted dangerously, reminding Anko subconsciously of her summoned snakes. "You do?" She asked firmly returning her focus back to man in front of her.

"How could I forget the man who tortured me and left me for dead? Aoi Rokusho…"

The amethyst blade held at the man's side, pulsed with electricity at its master's name. The man grinned maliciously, baring his white teeth under his shrouded eyes. He chuckled with disdain.

"I'm glad that after all this time, you remember me, Morino Ibiki. Now I know I've left my mark…"

'Ni' is one version of 'red' and 'kemuri' means 'smoke', both for Kurenai and Asuma respectively. I honestly believe that Kurenai will have a boy, but for this story's purposes, I made her have a little girl. That's the power of fanfiction for you. There's a long running joke about Shikamaru's experiences with 'troublesome' women and I thought it would be funny to add ANOTHER one, who'll be his student. Hehe, I LOVE torturing him.

On another note, I know it wasn't an eventful chapter, but I DID add some Shika x Ino in it…hope it wasn't TOO bad.

sad little monkey- Yeah, I'm sure she'll catch up soon, maybe even teach him a thing or two, you never know…I do of course XD! And their relationship wouldn't be as fun to read (or write) if you didn't add the different dynamics to their relationship. Hope you like this chapter!

Hydroxyacelunodosetrase- That feeling definitely sucks, but it happens from time to time. Thanks for the encouragement though, it really helped, especially with my focus towards the story. And oh yeah, the spelling error…heeeheee…I blame spell check, I SWEAR it was NOT there on Word…Hinata Piñata…lol! Thanks for telling me!

Sparks in the sky…

DAC