Here's the next chapter. Enjoy

Ino wasn't quite sure why, she was giving in so soon, but she couldn't handle it if he was that far away. She loved him more, than her pride. There was a small bit of doubt in her mind that he told Temari false information, but there was still a bit of hope. And as long as there was a bit, she was determined to check it out. But the blond wished with all her heart that Kankuro was telling the truth, because that meant there was still a chance for them. She was willing to listen if there was a chance for their happiness.

It was taking way too long to get there, but then Ino supposed it was the civilian traffic. I just got to make it!

The blond Kuniochi stopped directly at the gate, looking as far as the eye could see. However, there was no sign of Kankuro. It was as if he have vanished from the face of the earth. She glanced all around, hoping against hope that something inside his chest told him to stay one moment longer. She searched for his face in the crowd, and even looked for that darned puppet, he always had strapped to his back. She kept looking for him, knowing he would be wearing his face paint, and hooded cloak.

The other day, after they had eaten, he had gone back to her house to get his stuff. She had urged him, to stay in one of the guest room but he refused, saying that his sister would kill him if she found out. Ino had teased, that Temari didn't trust him around girls, and he had just laughed. With that in mind, Kankuro had left Ino pouting as he went to find a room in one of Konoha's Inns.

Ino even jumped a few times, to see over some of the taller people, however there was absolutely no sign of the Puppet Master.

"Kankuro! Kankuro!" Ino called out, blond hair swishing from side to side. She yelled a bit louder, "KANKURO!! WHERE ARE YOU!?"

People stopped to stare at the blond girl, and dismissed her. It seemed all blond ninjas were loud. After all there was that orange clad Naruto and the female Hokage, Tsunade. They ignored her and went about their business.

"I'm sorry! I should have believed you!" the blond girl shouted above the daily crowd noise. Their ears perked up at that juicy bit of information and started to whisper.

But Ino never did pay any attention to the them. Did he really leave her behind? She thought he was much more stubborn and persistent than that. But by the looks of things he was long gone. And with her rotten luck, probably wouldn't be back for quite some time.

She felt shameful and miserable all at the same time, and she voiced her thoughts quietly to her, "Way to go, Ino. You ruined the best thing in your life."

Her blue eyes pale and lonely, Ino stared up into the sky which were not even sympathetic enough to match her dark mood. The youngest Yamanaka couldn't even cry to express her mood, so she hung her head and walked back into the crowded streets of Konoha.

Whispers spread all around Konoha about what had just happened and it eventually came back to Sakura who was slightly in shock. Nothing like this had ever happened before, unless you counted the Sasuke betrayal which the pink-haired Kuniochi didn't. This was way too much drama. But to help Ino in the only way she could think of, was to go talk with her and give her some advise again. Especially since Sakura had already been through something similar to this type of situation before. But if it would help, Sakura would search for Ino. . .

"Why is everyone so stubborn?" Sakura asked out loud, refusing to add herself to the long list in her mind: Kakashi, who succeeded escaping from the hospital, every time he was admitted; despite Sakura's numerous efforts to keep him there. Lee, who never gave up and always self-punished himself when he failed at something. Sasuke, who had been so intent on destroying his own brother, that he betrayed the village. Naruto, well that one was obvious. Neji, Kiba, Hinata; basically most of Konoha was stubborn like that but in a way it was a good thing. It showed how proud they were and how no matter what, they would never give up.

Sakura smiled, her green eyes lighting up as she thought of her strange oddities of a family. Family of ninja; she like that phrase because it showed such promise.

"Here I come, Ino," Sakura said, walking toward where the gossip had all began. How did people get into situations like this? She grinned again and kept on walking onward.

"I can't believe she left me. I can' t believe I have to fend for myself," Shikamaru complained, before lazily speculating if that made him seem like a wimp. He shrugged and kept moving in the shadows. Staying hidden was vital if he wanted to survive an ambush. Temari had asked him if he could spend one day without him, while she went to see how Ino was doing. He could, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

Today was a perfect day to spend on cloud-watching, but he had to go meet up with Naruto. He sighed, and whispered his favorite phrase, " How troublesome."

If something bad happened to him, he would blame Temari. . . No, wait, he should blame Naruto for going along with Ino and Sakura with that prank of theirs. Stiffening, he watched the newly arrived observer and stayed completely still. He wasn't sure the girl had seen him, but he wasn't going to move just in case. The figure came closer and by the looks of things, she had noticed him. He slightly moved back a few steps and groaned at the turn of events.

Thanks for reading.