~*~*~ Chapter 3: Oh, Shit.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto, a vehicle, a respectable line of credit, or food that is not ramen. ;) ~*~*~

flashback

Ino's POV

I poured more chakra into my legs, pushing myself to go faster. I would never get through the two weeks without at least a few supplies, so I was desperate to get back to our apartment to pack.

I slammed through the door, my blonde hair flying everywhere as I sprinted into our bedroom closet. I passed Sai, who was relaxing on the couch, watching….Oprah? …Alrighty then, no time to take a second to think about that.

I started tearing apart our closet, going through what gear I had readily available. I grabbed my larger rucksack, and started filling it with the necessities. A few long sleeved shirts and pants for nighttime, a stick of flint, a lighter, a few packs of emergency food, a lightweight emergency blanket, and several scrolls for my more complicated jutsu. In the side pockets I stuffed several pairs of socks, my water canteen, a compass, a map, some hair ties, and I filled my shuriken holders with as many shuriken as I could fit.

I put my rucksack over my shoulder and almost slammed face-first into Sai. I backed up sputtering, "Sorrysaican'ttalkrightnow," and was desperate to not have to explain the situation to him. I managed to croak out a weak excuse about Tsunade summoning him, and gave him a good hard kiss because damn, I was going to miss that boy.

Sai was adorably befuddled, and I took this as my chance to escape before he stopped me. I was grateful to make an escape, because I knew Sai desperately wanted to keep me out of the ANBU ranks. It was no secret how dangerous the job was, and I knew that he worried endlessly about me getting hurt. He has been extremely protective of his loved ones ever since he started feeling emotion again, and the death of his brother really set that off.

I sprinted back out our front door, and made a bee-line to the outskirts of the village, opting to take a lesser known path out of the village walls. I pumped chakra into my legs the entire time, pushing my body to its limits to get out as fast as possible. If I didn't get as far ahead as possible in these precious seconds, I would be brutally hunted by some of the best shinobi in the world.

After some time, probably two hours or so, I finally burst through a wall of trees into a pockmarked valley, with several caves and boroughs that could easily cover me for a few hours of rest.

I pulled out my map to try to get a general idea of where I was.

"I traveled north-east for most of the trip, and judging by my surroundings and the vegetation around, I should be close to a few rivers. I'll have to check those out in a few hours." Ino mused thoughtfully, chewing on a granola bar that she packed. Her first priority had to be replenishing her chakra reserves. Because she would not be able to defend herself well enough against an ANBU in her current state.

Ino was the first to admit that her offensive taijutsu and ninjutsu were not her strong points, and that her strength truly did lie in stealth and ginjutsu. So be it, Ino would grit her teeth, crawling on hand and knees to the tower if that was what it took to prove herself worthy of her father's legacy.

"Once my chakra reserves are back up, I'll show them what it truly means to be a stealth shinobi." Ino smirked to herself, surprisingly excited for the journey to come.

Thank you for reading and for your lovely reviews.

-unemployed-ninja