This chapter was like pulling teeth. It took a while, and I apologize for that, but it's out! The ideas for upcoming chapters are coming to me faster and smoothly, so hopefully, there will be faster updates.
21. Seventeen
Ino crossed off the days on her calendar with a red pen as she counted backwards from the day's date and ending on the day Hidan whisked her away on the night she thought would be nothing but a charming conversation. The ball point stabbed through the paper the longer Ino held the pen on the exact date it happened. She stared at the tiny number in the corner of the tiny box that resembled a day in a calendar.
She was seventeen weeks pregnant. It's been seventeen weeks since that night. When Ino started working again, she was sixteen weeks. All her missions have been C and D ranked, keeping Ino fairly close to the village. That week, her sixteenth week pregnant and first week back in Konoha, she struggled to adjust to the shinobi life and being mindful of her actions since others, possibly ANBU, lurked in the shadows, waiting for her to take a wrong step so they could take her in—she didn't know where they (Ino didn't know who they were exactly) would take her, but wherever that may be, it must be a horrible place. When Ino returned to Konoha, she stood at fifteen weeks. Now that she thought about it, it's been about two weeks since she's seen Shikamaru. After coming home, she couldn't find Shikamaru, who was undoubtedly busy nowadays.
Until questioning—this would happen around her twentieth week—Ino needed to watch her own actions. By then, she couldn't keep her precious secret a secret. She'd be noticeable bigger than she is now, and everyone would be able to tell she was pregnant…and not fat. After days of feuding with herself, Ino decided to open up. She'd tell Tsunade about that night, about Hidan, and the monstrosity growing inside her. Tsunade had no say in what happened to the latter. In the end, Ino determined the fate of it. No one else but Ino.
Ino threw the pen on the counter and averted her attention to the snack cupboard, wondering if Sakura kept sweet goodies in there. She's been craving peanut butter cookies since the moment she woke up that morning, and thankfully, Sakura also loved peanut butter cookies and kept a secret stash on the top shelf.
Ino barely fit in her clothes nowadays with her ever-growing stomach. She could tell her stomach grew by the number of stretch marks that started to emerge. Every time she found a new stretch mark, Ino wanted to throw herself out of the window or punch herself really, really hard. Ino hid her baby bump with baggy sweatshirts that belonged to past boyfriends and hookups that forgot their clothes at her place. She knew the sweatshirts would come in handy one day…. What really depressed Ino was the inability to fit in her pants anymore, making Ino resort to buying maternity leggings, which fit her hips perfectly and stretched over her baby bump. As embarrassing as it was, she walked around Konoha looking like she just woke up and walked straight out the door. On some days, Ino didn't mind. Usually, she wandered around Konoha's forests, picking up herbs or digging a hole for a tree as a mission, so no one really saw her dressed as a hobo.
"Ino, what are we having for dinner?" Sakura asked, walking out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel wrapped around her naked body. "I'm in the mood for some nood—are you eating my cookies?"
Ino shoved her fourth cookie into her mouth and turned to face her roommate with cheeks full of peanut butter cookies. "No," Ino muffled. She swallowed the cookies as Sakura stomped over and took the jar of cookies out of her hand. "You wanted noodles? We can do that!" Ino said, scrambling for a subject change.
"You ate my cookies."
"Well, dinner is on you and Naruto, though. I have a late night!"
"Why?"
"I have an escort mission tonight." Finally, Tsunade allowed her to leave the village, but under certain conditions which she didn't reveal to Ino yet…. She needed to escort an eight-year-old girl to the tourist village about six hours away.
"That's a downer," Sakura said, plopping half a cookie into her mouth before leaving the kitchen to get dressed. "I was looking forward to having a meal with you and Naruto again. We haven't been able to eat together since you started working again." Sakura suddenly turned around to look at Ino. Ino covered her stomach with her arm, hiding the bump poking against her sweatshirt.
Ino wasn't worried about Sakura dumping her on the streets if she found out Ino was pregnant. She wouldn't throw Ino's belongings out the window and tell her to leave. Worst case scenario: Sakura would be disappointed, or she would be surprised with a day or two of the cold shoulder treatment. Sakura's reaction wouldn't compare to the wrath Ino would face when her parents found out….
She couldn't exactly say when she needed (or wanted for that matter) to tell her parents. If only there was a way to pause time and stay frozen in time forever or at least until the child grew up and left, so then no one would know about her pregnancy. That sounded like a solid plan. Now, if only should come conjure a jutsu that allowed her to freeze time limitlessly.
"Do you need anything from the store?" Ino asked, slipping past Sakura and heading towards the door, suddenly eager to walk around and do something exciting before she started working. She also needed to buy shampoo.
"Shampoo."
"Right," Ino mumbled. She slipped on her comfiest shoes and squeezed through the door, locking it behind her.
Konoha's streets weren't as busy as Cloud. The streets weren't that type of busy, a busy where people invaded personal bubbles and made Ino feel uncomfortable. Konoha had the type of busy Ino enjoyed. It was a busy that comforted her. She didn't feel alone, and the atmosphere felt almost cheerful and bright, which seemed contagious to anyone who stepped outside for a second. Also, no one rammed into her every two seconds, and everyone respected each other's space and knew how to say, "Excuse me."
As she walked through the alleyways and streets, Ino never knew how many memories the streets held. Within each store and market stand, there was a memory, good and bad. She was attached to the village, and that was something Kumogakure never could obtain. As Ino passed Ichiraku, she remembered Naruto hauling her there when he wanted to ask Sakura out on a date. He may have done it a million times before, but this time, as he confessed how much he really liked Sakura and how much she meant to him, he needed that moment to be special for Sakura, so she helped. It was evident Naruto liked Sakura, but as he spilled his lovesick guts to Ino that night, she realized the feeling ran deeper than a childhood crush.
The streets were less crowded because it was in the middle of the day, when the children were in school, and the adults were hard at work. Some civilians loitered in the market, chatting with the owners and paying little attention to the items they were about to purchase. At the age of eight, she remembered Naruto and the other boys rampaging through the market, creating havoc and pissing off a lot of grownups. Those were the days….
From the corner of her eye, Ino spotted a sign, Forever Books, hanging over a minuscule bookstore that was wedged between a restaurant and a hair salon. She never noticed the store before, and that said something since she walked the same path every day. How did she miss this place?
Ino opened the door, jumping slightly when a bell rang loudly, and crept through the aisles. She tried to avoid the store owner who shuffled through the aisles and organized the books on the shelf. She tried to avoid seeing anyone she knew. Genma sat at a table with his nose buried in a book, which surprised Ino because she never pegged Genma as being the bookworm type of person.
She roamed through the book shelves until she came to her desired section and picked up the first book she found: So, You're Pregnant?
"Pregnancy is a beautiful occurrence. You're bringing life into the world, and hopefully, what you bring has been made out of love."
Right….
"You have a long nine months ahead of you, and most of the time, you'll be uncomfortable with an extreme amount of gas, backaches, and awkward bodily functions you never knew about. You'll begin feeling your baby move around, which may feel uneasy and, at some times, downright annoying, but all the pains will be worth it in the end. Nine months of pain and awkwardness will be worth the years of joy your child will bring."
"Ino?"
Ino snapped the book shut and hid it behind her back as she turned to face the person who (unfairly) snuck up on her. Shikamaru leaned against the shelf with a faint smile on his lips. What was he all smiley about?
"Hi, Shikamaru," Ino breathed, pressing her back against the shelf with the book suspended between her butt and the bookshelf. "How have you been?"
"Busy," he answered in a distant tone as if he were distracted. Ino glanced at Shikamaru and found him staring at her stomach which wasn't hidden under a baggy sweatshirt. Anyone could see her bump behind the old t-shirt she wore. Ino wrapped her arms around her midsection and smiled at Shikamaru when he suddenly looked up at her unexpressive face.
"What are you doing here?"
"I saw you come in from across the street. I just wanted to say hi."
"Hello."
"What are you doing here?"
"I was just about to leave." Ino pushed herself off the shelf and marched past Shikamaru. She felt the book slip from her fingers and drop to the floor.
Ever have those moments where a tragic scene played in slow motion? Ino watched, in slow motion, Shikamaru pick up the book she dropped and flip through the pages. She couldn't stop him from picking up that book as if she were slow to react and unable to move her limbs.
"So, you're pregnant?" For a second, Ino thought Shikamaru asked her, but he only read the title. Shikamaru flipped through the pages again, picking a page and reading for a quick second before looking up at Ino. "Is someone pregnant?" he asked.
Ino shrugged. "I've become curious I guess."
Shikamaru nodded and placed the book in its correct spot which, in that moment, Shikamaru added two and two together. Ino watched Shikamaru's eyes zero in on the lump growing underneath her clothing. "Ino?"
What could Ino do in this situation? Ino faked a sheepish smile. "Surprise."
"I can't believe this is happening to me," Ino mumbled. "Of all the people, Tsunade picked you!"
"I didn't know this was going to happen!" Shikamaru waved his hands in front of him in defense. "I mean, I knew about your mission since Genma was complaining about being your escort."
"Oh, really? What was Genma saying?"
"He didn't want to be a babysitter for an eight-year-old and a hormonal pregnant woman."
"Huh?" Ino whipped around and glared at Shikamaru. She didn't even notice the eight-year-old girl bump into her. "How the hell would he know that I'm pregnant?"
"Don't curse in front of the kid!" Shikamaru exclaimed, covering the girl's ears. "And, it was just a rumor going around. You did…gain some weight." Shikamaru flinched when Ino threw him another glare. "I didn't believe it if that makes you feel any better."
"I thought I did such a good job hiding it."
"You can't really hide it."
"Please shut up for Yoko's sake. I'm sure she doesn't want to hear baby talk right now." Ino grabbed the little girl's hand and pulled her away from Shikamaru.
"I like babies. I have a, um, little brother."
"Is that right?" Ino asked in a humdrum manner.
"Yeah, if you and, uh, him want to talk about babies, you can."
"I'd rather not."
Back in the bookstore, Shikamaru stood there in silence and just stared at Ino's stomach as if it contained a monster that would gobble him up. He looked astonished, disgusted, and utterly confused. Ino, being a good friend, almost asked him if he were all right, but he decided to open his stupid mouth and ask, "Did we do anything?"
Ino snatched the book from his hands and slammed it into his face before stomping out of the store and back home. When Shikamaru came knocking at her door, Ino ignored him. When he asked, "Can we talk about this?" Ino replied with opening the door then slamming it back in his face. One time, she heard a nice crunch from his nose hitting the door. Sucks it didn't break….
She didn't come out of her apartment until the clock ticked five o'clock and she needed to go meet her client's daughter, Yoko, at the Hokage's office. Shikamaru followed her to the Hokage's office, and there Tsunade assigned Shikamaru as Ino's escort, to which Ino considering throwing herself out the window.
Since they started on their journey, Ino refused to speak with Shikamaru, who was annoyingly persistent with his questions about her pregnancy. She tried to keep conversation with the younger girl, but Yoko kept her answers short and gave no room for conversation.
They were approximately four hours into their journey. Once they arrived at the village, Ino can relax for the night and if she wanted to, have a conversation with Shikamaru. Until then, she didn't need a conversation about her biggest secret especially around an eight-year-old who doesn't even know where babies came from.
Shikamaru didn't want to believe what Ino accidentally revealed to him. She had to be joking. Then again, all the signs materialized before his eyes as he stared at her stomach. He even realized that she wanted him to kill the kid a few weeks prior to today, when she asked him to punch her in the stomach. Thank goodness Ino stopped him. He wouldn't know what he would do if he found out he killed her baby.
She must have thought it was a mistake if she wanted to rid of the child, but since she stopped him, maybe she wanted to keep it. Shikamaru could only guess what ideas floated around Ino's mind. At this very moment, as they walk through the dark forest of the Fire nation, she could be plotting a scheme to kill Shikamaru so her secret never gets out. Well, doesn't come out yet. She couldn't hide her stomach at six months unless she somehow convinced everyone she stuffed her shirts with a balloon or something.
There were already rumors flying about Ino's odd behaviors. She never left her apartment unless she needed to. Usually, she rarely spent her time at her apartment. She socialized with the people in the market place, or lounge around her favorite coffee shop with her best friends around her. Usually, she wore tight fitted clothing that showed off her curves and a teasing amount of skin, but now, clothing covered her entire body.
Some people say she's gained weight and doesn't want anyone to see it, which is somewhat true since she did gain weight. Some say she has an eating disorder and feels insecure about her body all of a sudden. Then, there were the pregnant rumors.
It was never Shikamaru's style to pry and, for a better lack of word, care for others, but Ino changed during her time in Kumogakure. Something happened to Ino before he came to Kumogakure. Shikamaru never noticed just how different Ino became until she stood before him with a pregnancy book in her hands. When he first met Ino back in Kumogakure, he noticed the physical changes, but he never truly wondered why. He now needed to know.
Shikamaru felt pathetic for now noticing how dramatic Ino's transformation was.
Shikamaru wanted his questions answered, but Ino ignored him. She kept her attention on the child, trying to keep Yoko talking. However, she failed miserably. Yoko was a quiet child. She reminded Shikamaru of Hinata, a shy, soft spoken girl. However, Yoko sported chocolate brown hair and matching eyes, looking like Tenten.
"Hey, Shikamaru, my feet are hurting. Do you think we can stay the night and rest?"
"Wouldn't it be faster if we walked home now?" Shikamaru didn't notice they stood at the gates of the village and the girl's parents grinned at him in thanks and gratitude; he waved at them.
Ino waved at the family as they walked into the village. Once they ventured far from hearing distance, Ino turned to him, glaring. "I'm pregnant, Shikamaru. My feet are killing me. We're stopping."
"You're using your pregnancy as an excuse to rest now?"
"Just in this instance."
"Awesome, Ino."
"You would use it as an excuse if you could get pregnant."
"Does this mean we can talk about this now?"
Ino rolled her eyes and turned around, walking into the village. "The room's on you, so it better be a two bed room with the comfiest beds in the whole Fire Nation!"
This was going to be a long night….
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