I can't describe how much I appreciate everyone! Chapter 26 received the most reviews, and it makes me feel happy and jittery inside. I virtually hug you all, and once again say I appreciate everyone that reads this story.

27. Letters

Hi everyone (namely Minako, Sachiko, and Jin),

I hope that everything is fine and dandy in Kumogakure. Hope the weather is great, customers are treating everyone with respect, and that everyone is in wonderful health. I do mean everyone, kind of.

Being back in Konohagakure is surreal, like I shouldn't be here. I've been here a little over a month, and it's still strange seeing my roommate, Sakura (she's awesome; everyone has to meet her someday!). Just being in the same room with all my friends is weird and a little awkward because all they want to know is how my mission went. I feel like they shouldn't be here with me, like they should be somewhere else, or I should be somewhere else. You know how that is, right?

I miss everyone. Again, I hope everyone is doing well (even Takao, no matter how much we hate each other). Minako, you best be staying out of trouble and staying safe. I hope my job that I handed over to you is going well, and that no one has caught you yet. Sachiko, I know you're keeping Minako behaved. When you get to the chance, can you send me that recipe for those chocolate chip cookies you baked that one day? With the cinnamon sprinkled in it? You know what I'm talking about right? Sakura's boyfriend would love those.

Anyway, before I close this letter, there's a last bit of news. I wish I could be face-to-face with you all, but because we're two countries apart, I guess I have to write it down. I think Sachiko was really the only one that noticed since she did sneak a surprise in my backpack, but anyway, I'm pregnant….

Ino leaned back and reread her letter to her friends back in the Lightning country. Everything she wrote sounded fake, forced like she was writing a mission report. She didn't want to do it, but Ino felt obligated to let her friends know that she was doing well, give them an update on her life in Konoha. In return, she hoped for a letter back, a brief summary of everyone's lives. Really, Ino wanted to know if the ANBU still kept surveillance, or did the Raikage pull them out as soon as she stepped out of the country? The last thing she wanted was Hidan attacking her ex co-workers.

A week ago, she sent a letter, but the mail carrier recently sent her a notice informing Ino that her letter could not be sent. Thus, Ino sat at her dining table, conjuring a last minute letter to send before the outgoing mail was picked up.

Ino fidgeted in her seat at the dining table, grimacing at the sharp pangs that shot up her back and other nameless places. The whole day she felt queasy with horrible headaches and being unable to eat. Ino slouched and gazed at the ceiling, but that was short lived when the ceiling began to slowly spin. Closing her eyes, Ino sat up straight and bowed her head, focusing on the blurry words of her letter.

Being five months pregnant definitely took a toll on Ino's once durable, healthy body. She couldn't stand up right because the weight of the baby stressed her lower back too much, and she couldn't walk for a long period of time because then, her back and her feet started aching. The fact she couldn't walk two steps without a shortness of breath seemed ridiculous to Ino—she was a kunoichi for crying out loud! It was even more ridiculous that getting in and out of bed was the worst workout of all time. Ino ran fifty laps around the whole village, did push-ups until the sun rose and set, but everything Asuma put her through didn't compare to what Ino felt after trying to get out of bed, the painful soreness and the endless moment of trying to catch her breath. This had to be worse than any punishment Tsunade could think of, which was probably why Tsunade didn't give her a penalty after Ino spilled her guts. Being pregnant was good enough.

Ino jumped out of her seat when repeated, hurried knocks—no, something along the lines of smacking—erupted from the door. Her visitor pounded against the poor door, almost bringing it off its hinges. "Ino," a frightened voice yelped from the other side of the door, "hurry up! God, hurry up!" If Ino wasn't going crazy, the voice sounded like Shikamaru, but Ino couldn't picture the lazy, carefree boy as someone who would come pounding her door of its hinges, nor would he shout at the top of his lungs at eleven in the evening….

The second Ino unlocked the door, Shikamaru burst into her apartment. Ino stepped back as the door flew straight for her face, barely dodging it as she felt the gust of air blow her hair away from her face. Ino had seen it all—Shikamaru frightened like a scared child that claimed monsters were under his bed, and she heard him scream like a little girl-not exactly, but she'll say he did.

"Hello, Shikamaru," she greeted with a sigh. Ino stepped over his legs and poked her head into the hallway, wondering if his noise woke up her neighbors. No one stood outside, asking what the ruckus was, so Ino stepped back into her flat and quietly closed the door. "Do you know what time it is? People are sleeping," she lectured with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face.

She stood there, waiting for Shikamaru to answer, but he didn't respond. Her teammate rolled onto his back and gawked at the ceiling as he caught his breath. What was with him? Did something scare him that bad? Shikamaru didn't look at Ino until she nudged his foot with her own. "Hi," he sighed with terrified eyes.

"What are you doing here? It's late."

Shikamaru bounced to his feet and weakly smiled at Ino as if he didn't burst through her door seconds ago. He reached past her and locked the door before sauntering over to the dining table and taking his regular seat. "I'm keeping a tradition," he said as he tapped the seat next to him, telling Ino to sit down. "I miss this."

"Well," Ino started as she sat on the couch, lifting her feet onto the coffee table, "how about we have a new tradition? We sit here and talk while you rub my feet."

Ino grinned when Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "That's disgusting. Why would I rub your feet?"

"Because they hurt," she whined, wiggling her toes which received a disgusted grimace from Shikamaru. Ino almost laughed. "Plus, I'm too big to rub them myself," she added, glaring at Shikamaru. She reached for her feet, but her stomach stopped her just as her fingertips grazed against her sole. Shooting Shikamaru a begging glance, she tried to rub her feet once more to inflict guilt and sympathy on the young man.

Ino smiled to herself when she heard Shikamaru sigh in defeat. Ino watched him with victorious grin on her face, which he avoided looking at. He raised her feet from the table, and then sat down, placing her feet in his lap. At first, Ino sighed at his menstruations against her heels, but as he moved to her arch, Ino fell back in the couch, slouching into the cushions as she bit a knuckle as a pleasant pain shot up her leg.

Shikamaru smirked at her fidgets, knees buckling, mumbled groaning, and biting the corner of pillows. "Your dad chased me down today," he finally said, eyes focused on Ino's sore feet.

"That explains why you broke my door down," Ino mumbled, groaning when his thumb grazed over a knot. "Why?"

"For 'messing with the wrong daddy.' You told him I was the father, didn't you?" Shikamaru accused, frowning. Ino flashed a guilty smile and nodded, but he didn't notice, too busy glowering at her feet. "You said that was a bad idea, Ino!"

"And? I said it was a bad idea, but I never said I refused to tell my parents you were the father. I warned you, didn't I?"

"Usually when someone says something is a bad idea, they tend not to do it."

"You're blaming me for this? I did say my dad would try to maim you," Ino reminded, pushing her foot against his stomach which earned a wince from Shikamaru, but in retaliation, he dug a nail into her foot. "Ow, you're pressing too hard."

"Ow, you're kicking me in the stomach," he fired back, so Ino pulled her foot back into his lap and continued slouching with a defeated frown on her face. Shikamaru flashed his victory smile and returned to messaging her foot with a lighter pressure. "So, Temari is in town."

Ino rolled her eyes and slouched farther into the cushions. "Awesome," she said sarcastically. "When's the wedding?" Shikamaru had his flings and one-week wonders, and Ino didn't have problems with any of the girls, sometimes they became friends—in fact Ino was still friends with one or two of the girls. However, when it came to Temari, Ino couldn't stand her. Since Ino laid eyes on her during the Chunin exams, Ino hated her disgusting face. For years, Ino begged Shikamaru to cut it off with her, go for someone better than her-anyone would be better than that rat faced bitch, really.

"She's not that bad," Shikamaru defended.

"She punched me in the face, Shikamaru. She does that to your teammate, your best girl-space-friend, and you're still gaga for her? I feel like you were waiting for it to happen. You wanted her to punch me in the face!"

"Definitely, Ino," Shikamaru sarcastically countered, rolling his eyes. "As you already know, I have to work with her. We plan the Chunin exams."

"You have to work with her, not sex her up. Those are two completely different things, and if Tsunade found out you two were sleeping together, she'd freak and say something about being professional. I demand you pick a new partner."

"That's up to Tsunade."

"According to our lie, you're technically cheating."

"That's below the belt."

"That's not the only thing that's below the belt. Temari would know."

For the past week, she's lived in paradise now. She saw Shikamaru's face every day and heard his voice, his laugh and felt his arms around her, his lips against her own. However, he's been distant. Whenever she looked at him, he looked detached with a distant stare in his eyes as if he thought about another matter, far beyond the moment they were in. What surprised her most was how work oriented he was, wanting to work rather than play. His excuse was, "The faster we get this done, the more time we have to ourselves." It wasn't like him. He liked procrastination, being lazy, being with her.

Today, Shikamaru told her to meet him at the Jounin's lounge because he had errands to run for his mother that morning, so she couldn't meet him at his house. Again, something that was uncharacteristic. He waited till last minute to run errands, unable to waste day time with her. What happened to him? She remembered him sending a letter about spending a few months in Kumogakure to search for a missing teammate. Did he change because of that mission?

She recalled that Ino went missing. Temari scowled at the thought of his blonde teammate. Ever since she spilled her drink on Temari, Temari couldn't stand that outgoing, loud mouth bitch. She never noticed her before, but since that day, the thought of Ino made Temari want to punch the closest person. If only Shikamaru could pick his teammates.

On her way to the lounge, Temari passed Shizune, a woman she knew through Tsunade. The dark haired woman stopped and smiled, waving at her. "Good morning, Temari, it's a nice surprise to see you here. I didn't know you were in town." Shizune looked on edge with lips pressed tight in a hard line, and her eyes didn't make contact with Temari's, they looked past her, down the staircase Temari just came up.

"Yeah, I've been here for the past week. Have you seen Shikamaru here? I'm supposed to meet him here."

Shizune inhaled a sharp breath at the mention of Shikamaru. "Uh, no," she said hastily, suddenly on the move. She was at the staircase by the time she said, "You're free to wait in the lounge, and if I see him, I'll tell him to hurry up—bye!"

Temari waved at the departing woman, but Shizune quickly turned around and scrambled up the stairs. She turned around and slowly walked down the dark hallway, wondering why that woman looked so nervous. Did she drink too much coffee? That's what happened to Temari when she drank too much. But, when she mentioned Shikamaru's name, Shizune acted more nervous as if she had a secret about Shikamaru that Temari didn't know.

Temari shook her head. No, that couldn't' be it. She shrugged the thoughts away; she shouldn't care about other's business. All Temari wanted was to see Shikamaru.

From the other side of the door, Temari could hear people talking. "Did you hear about that Ino girl?" Ugh, her name! Of all people to talk about, they had to pick Ino, the last person Temari wanted to hear about. Temari opened the doors and spotted the receptionist whispering to a Jonin who chewed on a senbon. They glanced at her, but continued with their conversation when Temari sat in the farthest corner.

"Yeah," the senbon chewer said, nodding. "I heard she's pregnant. What about it?"

Temari's ears perked. Pregnant? No way.

"Well, I heard the father is the Nara boy. Supposedly, they ran away to Kumogakure because their parents didn't allow their relationship, and they married there. Also, I guess this pregnancy wasn't planned. Shikamaru knocked her up on their 'wedding' night."

WHAT!

"Temari, hey."

The gossipers ceased talking and gawked at Shikamaru, watching him walk over to Temari. Catching sight of the two, he waved at them and greeted, "Anko, Genma, good morning."

"Morning," they mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

Looking at Shikamaru, a carefree smile on his face and calmness in his eyes, she wouldn't have guessed Ino and Shikamaru had a relationship. Ugh, her of all people! Why did it have to be Ino that he decided to marry? Did Ino know about him and Temari?

"Are you ready?" he asked, holding out his hand to help her out of the chair.

Temari stood up without his hand. "Yeah," she said, smiling. "Let's go."

She'll pretend everything is normal for now.

Dearest Ino,

It's about freaking time you sent a letter! I wrote like a hundred letters, but I didn't know your mailing address, so I just wasted a bunch of paper! I was going to shove all my letters into an envelope, but Sachiko told me not to because it'd be a waste of your time…

Everyone, me, Sachiko and Jin mainly, are writing individual letters, so we can give you our own updates!

Anyway, I hope you're doing well. I hope your baby is healthy, too. I always knew you and Shikamaru would come to your senses someday, just not so soon….

A loud crash erupted from downstairs, making Minako place her pen down and peep at the door, wondering if Takao and Konan got into a fight again, or if the customers started fighting, but it was early in the morning. Sachiko could be cooking, but she didn't drop things like Minako did. No one else in the Pub dropped things like she did and no one at the Pub crashed into things like she did.

The floor rumbled under her feet as more clatters and loud crashes deafened her ears. Minako rushed over to the door and swung it open, looking into the hall to see if anyone else came out to see the ruckus. No one.

"Maybe you're willing to give me some information," a voice said from behind her, from her room. She felt a hand gripped the back of her neck and drag her into her room. She saw a foot kick the door closed. The intruder threw Minako onto her bed. Before she could recover from the fall, a sharp blade pressed against her neck. "Where's Yamanaka Ino?"

"Who?" She was under oath to never speak of Ino to anyone ever. "I don't know anyone named Ino," she said frantically as the blade pressed harder against her skin. Warmth trickled down her neck, blood. Minako closed her eyes as pain finally triggered.

"That's fucking bullshit!" the intruder bellowed. "I swear I'll rip your fucking throat out if you don't tell me where Ino is. You'll end up like the rest!"

"You killed…."

"Where the hell is Ino?"

Minako recognized his face. Pale with unusual lavender eyes and light, almost silver, hair. She glanced at the envelope on her desk and hoped he wouldn't see it, but the man followed her eyes. He grinned and walked over to her desk and picked up the letter, reading it.

"You fucking liar," he laughed manically. The stranger picked up the envelope and frowned when he found no address written on the envelope. Minako felt tears swell in her eyes as his eyes slowly averted from the paper to her eyes, burning hate and insanity into her. The blade pressed against her throat once again. "Tell me," he breathed, "where Ino is."

"I don't know where she is."

"Liar!" He leaned in closer until they were nose to nose. Minako closed her eyes as she felt the blade slide from her throat up to the corner of her mouth. It lightly trailed from her lip to her ear, down the side of her neck, and down at the collarbone. "Tell me," he whispered. "Or I'll do to you the same thing I did with Ino that night. You remember that night don't you?"

She remembered. That night when he came to the Pub. He charmed Ino and whisked her away. What happened to Ino that night was a mystery.

"I raped her," he said bluntly. "I sliced her from head to toe, rip her open, left her for dead."

"Konoha. She's in Konoha."

"Good girl," he said. He pulled the knife away from her throat. She watched him open her door. "Oh, by the way, they're alive, just knocked out. I hope you feel good about betraying your friend, you bitch."

Personally, I don't hate Temari. All the bad mouthing was for the sake of the story.
Also, I seem to enjoy the word "bitch" at this moment.
Review, alert, favorite—I like!
Thank you for reading.
Have a good day.