Sorry it took so long. You wouldn't believe how much homework their was. But anyways, here's the next chapter. It's longer than the last one.
But she was determined to get Tsunade-Sama to agree to let Ino head after Kankuro. He couldn't have gotten very far.
They both entered the Hokage's office; the only thing holding Ino up was the hopeful chance of talking with Kankuro. Sakura knew this was going to be a delicate subject until Kankuro was located.
"Lady Tsunade," greeted Sakura, followed by Ino's clear cut voice.
"What is it?" Tsunade asked moping a bit, that her secret stash had been found out by Shizune. She thought she had hidden it well, but obviously not good enough. She sighed in displeasure and turned her attention to the two girls, " Ino, Sakura. . . What do you want?"
"Um. . Uh. . . Could I be granted permission to chase after Kankuro? He left for Suna and I have to go after him. . ." Ino asked hesitatingly, pushing Sakura forward and motioning with her hands, to explain better.
"She had a small fight with her boyfriend, and she accused him of something that never happened," Sakura explained, "Ino wants to head off after him and apologize."
Tsunade's eyes softened at this admission, thinking on how hopeful young love was. It had been so long since she had Dan with her and she still had a few regrets about the circumstances of Dan's Death. Tsunade snapped out of her thoughts rather quickly and sighed, " Since this is just a quick half-way run to Suna, I'll allow you to go solo. But just be careful. . . There could be bandits on the road."
"Thank you so much, Tsunade-Sama!" Ino bowed a few times, a happy type look on her face. She grinned from ear to ear, almost crying from relief. She rushed out the door, with the others standing at the door watching her.
"Thank goodness," Tsunade murmured, before quickly glancing at Sakura while hiding a greedy look on her face, "By the way Sakura, is there anyway you can get me some Sake? I'll cut down a few hours of your hospital shift,"
"You know you're not supposed to drink!" Sakura scolded, shaking her finger, "Shizune's going to kill you if she finds you with alcohol!"
"Spoilsport. . . You're almost as bad as Shizune, never letting me enjoy myself for a small amount of time before I got to get back to work," grumbled Tsunade picking up her paperwork and grabbing the pencil out of the small wooden pencil holder. She glanced at Sakura pleadingly.
"Oh, all right, but if Shizune catches you," Sakura warned as she headed out of the office. . .
"Yeah, I'll take the blame," Tsunade-Sama agreed, knowing that it was worth the trouble. She rubbed her hands together and chuckled with glee. Sakura just shook her head at her and left without any words.
Meanwhile, Ino was already rushing outside the gates, yelling to the guards that she had permission to leave. . . But not surprisingly, they already knew the situation and barely listened to her excuse, even if it was reasonable. She left with little problems and ran out of the Leaf village with determination.
She leaped upwards and decided to travel by tree, after all wouldn't that be faster? Ino clenched her fist tightly together and kept going, screaming out Kankuro's name every so often. She had to catch up! If not, Ino would never forgive herself.
Way up ahead, Kankuro thought he heard something, but he dismissed as his mind playing tricks on him. It sounded like Ino, but with her stubborness, he doubted she would be coming after him so soon. They were similar like that. He thought about how he would tease her, just so that he would get to set off those tantalizing sparks in her eyes. Ino was beautiful when she was angry, not scary like Temari was when she was furious. Kankuro chuckled slightly, but it soon turned into a bitter laugh.
"What am I doing?" he asked himself, burying his head in his head and yanking at the hairs. But of course not too hard; he didn't want to be bald. . .
He sighed and wondered why he had given up so soon. He had never done something like this with any of his old girlfriends. . So why was he running away? Calculating the answer did no good. The only way to figure it out was to listen to his heart.
"But how exactly do I do that?" Kankuro whispered into the air as he stuck his hands in his pockets. And then it all made sense, but he wished he had found out about it much sooner.
He was running away, because he was afraid, Ino would decide that he wasn't worth the effort. He didn't want to watch as she got over him and declare she never loved him. Kankuro's heart would just break if that happened, and he never wanted to feel that emotional pain. He saw what that did to others and he never wanted himself to be one of those losers who drank away their feelings and sense of loss. They just sat around, trying to drown their sorrows in order to forget that the ones they loved didn't love them back or even remotely care about them. Kankuro flinched at the thought that he would become one of those losers and waste away just like them. Was this what the future held for him? To be one of those drunks who everyone avoided? No. . . He didn't want to feel that way for the rest of his life.
"But what about if she does love me? How will that affect her?" Kankuro asked himself, feeling shame when he realized he was hurting her without even meaning to. He had told his sister that he would never hurt Ino, but by leaving he was contradicting himself. His eyes narrowed and he spun around in thought, "Than I'm going back to her!"
He than looked around sheepishly and muttered to himself, " I got to stop speaking to myself. It sounds like I'm completely alone in the world."
A loud piercing scream from behind him pierced his mind and Kankuro started. He stared at the direction it came from and realized it was Ino's voice.
"Ino!" Kankuro shouted rushing toward the direction and hoping he wasn't too late. She was a Kuniochi but he couldn't help but fear the worst. But he shook his head in denial and promised to her that he would stop anyone from harming her. He substituted the word harming in place of the one word he didn't want to think of. Killing. . .