Author note: This has been on my PC beta-ed and ready to go for a week now. It's hard when you've managed to burn yourself out creatively to convince yourself that what you've written isn't nearly as bad as you think it is. This chapter still feels off... but after six months, it's not a surprise that my rhythm isn't as easy to find as it should be. Apologies for the very long delay, this might not be the best but at least it'll get me back on track.

Ino - Incorrect Perceptions

No matter how much I tried, I just couldn't stop it. When the enormity of our situation set in, I started to cry.

"It's all my fault," I managed, forcing words through the sobs.

Sakura looked over, somewhat horrified as I clung to her shirt. "Ino... It's not your fault entirely. I mean, I wasn't exactly paying attention."

I shook my head vigorously. "It's not just that," I said.

"Ino... please don't shake us..."

I couldn't help it. I don't cry a lot but when I do, it's hard to stop. "It's everything!" I wailed.

Sakura yelped as the net we were caught in moved back and forth. If I wasn't hysterical, I would have probably understood why she was panicking. Twenty feet off the ground, swinging precariously over a pit of spears was terrifying enough. Having the only other occupant in said net shaking it with such force that the rope that held it suspended started to creak...

"Ino... we'll be okay," Sakura tried, putting a hand on my shoulder to calm me down.

"No it won't," I replied. "You all hate me!"

"What? Ino, we don't hate you."

"Yes you do."

After all, I had heard what they thought of me. I hadn't planned on snooping, I was just curious how Sakura's day was going. The ad in the paper had been a work of genius and I heard rumors that Rock Lee had turned over half of Konoha to find her. He was odd but... well, it was better then her constant pining over that traitorous bastard.

I went to her house to casually demand all the details but she had the other girls over. It was their own fault for leaving the window open. We live in a village filled with shinobi. It was almost an invitation to eavesdrop!

"...impossible to deal with. I mean... annoying and meddling."

"Convincing Hokage to send her on a mission isn't going to work."

"We could convince Hokage to give her a genin team,"

"No! Then in a month there'd be Ino and three mini versions of her harassing us."

I didn't cry then. Sure it hurt to hear, but whatever. If they weren't going to appreciate all my hard work trying to make them happy then that was their loss. Honestly, they're all completely hopeless; I don't even know why I bothered to help in the first place. I don't need them.

I had other friends after all. They'd listen to me.

Finding them, though, was not as easy as I thought. Shikamaru was notorious for disappearing for hours and he changed his cloud-watching spot regularly to avoid the steady stream of people who needed him for one reason or another. I don't understand why he can't be more responsible. If he had any ambition or drive he could probably be a jounin already.

"Too troublesome," he always said. "All that means is more work."

In the end, I found him in the Hokage's Tower, coming out of a meeting with the Hokage herself and looking dour as ever. "Shika-kun!" I smiled. "Take your old teammate out for dinner!"

He looked at me as if he was actually considering it. That could only mean that whatever Hokage had told him was bad news. Taking me out was always troublesome. To almost agree without protest...

"Can't. Have a mission," he muttered.

I frowned. It was bad, at least that's what his actions said. "Sure, I bet," I smiled. "You just owe me two dinners when you get back."

He managed to smirk a bit after that. "Che, whatever, woman," he muttered as he started to walk away.

"Are you taking Chouji?"

"Nah, he's all yours."

Well this was most definitely troublesome. Because Shikamaru always took Chouji with him. He took him to go retrieve Sasuke, and that was knowing it was more then likely a suicide mission. This had to be worse. This had to be just walking into a known trap with zero chance of survival. This...

"Honestly, you'd think I just asked him to kill his best friend, not go to Southern Wind Country for a delivery," Tsunade complained, coming out of her office to watch him go. "Not even like there's any real danger that way. It's more like a vacation."

The urge to kill Shikamaru was strong. Lazy, son of a bitch. Only he would think a two week delivery mission was worse then near death fights. I should have wrung his neck but I knew it wouldn't matter. He'd just call me troublesome as he slowly asphyxiated. Jerk.

I decided instead to go find Chouji. Unlike his best friend, Chouji was always reliable when it came to searching for him. If he wasn't at home, he was at the barbecue place. If he wasn't there, then it was the ramen place. If he wasn't there... well Konoha had a finite number of restaurants. Still, I lucked out. Chouji was at home training with his dad.

Yeah, I know, I'm the most shallow person in the world. I like pretty boys and nice clothes and I'm too busy with my hair to care about anything else. Tack on a few more stereotypes about blondes, there's nothing I haven't heard. So it will most likely come as a shock that not only do I like watching Chouji and his dad fight, I actually find it beautiful.

They stood in the center of a ring and then suddenly it was like two mountains colliding against one another, jostling back and forth and shifting the ground beneath them. Must people think they're just pushing each other but it's a lot more complex then that. There's strategy in every shift of balance, ever turn of the foot. If you're not watching closely, you're missing everything.

Chouji's getting better but his dad is still the best. And two minutes later, Chouji got pushed out of the ring, stumbling back before catching his balance. Chouza laughed and hit his son strongly on the back. Chouji looked ready to go another round but his father pointed over to me. I gave a small wave and Chouji came over.

"Hey, Ino," he said, trying to catch his breath. "Did you need something?"

I smiled. "Dinner."

He perked up slightly. "Guess Shikamaru already left on his mission then."

"Lazy idiot made it sound like death itself was meeting him," I frowned.

Chouji smiled. "Two weeks of travel is pretty much death to Shikamaru."

I laughed and took his arm as we wandered towards the center of town. I let him pick the restaurant, knowing he already had someplace in mind. Korean barbecue it was and I didn't mind. I was finished eating before Chouji had started on his third course. We traded stories about Shikamaru's laziness and our various misadventures over the years.

"This is why I like eating with you," I managed between giggles.

"Because I'll pay?" he asked.

"No. It's because we're friends. And it's fun to share stories with friends."

"I see," Chouji replied, taking a few bites. "You had a fight with your girl friends, didn't you?"

I frowned. "No. They just don't like me any more."

"For no reason?"

I flustered. "Of course. I didn't do anything."

"Except meddle."

I looked over at him innocently eating his food. "I don't... meddle. I help."

He nodded. "Like you tried to help with my hair when we were fourteen."

"That was not my fault! They packaged the dye wrong. Like I knew it would turn your hair purple instead of black." I looked away and crossed my legs, tapping the one in the air. "I don't meddle."

"No," Chouji replied. "But your help can be a bit... um... overwhelming sometimes."

I pouted at him, trying to win him over to my side. "Do you really think so?"

He was impervious to my attempts by now. "Yes. You try to help but you want everything to work right away. You need to be patient."

"I can be patient... it's just... they're all so impossible. They never listen to me even though I'm right and now they're talking about me behind my back and saying mean things and..."

"Ino," Chouji interrupted. "How do you know they were saying things about you?"

"I..." I trailed off.

"You eavesdropped on them, probably heard a few things they said and made your own conclusions." I looked away from him. "Did you try asking them directly?"

Well no, obviously not. Why would I? I don't care what they think about me. I just wanted a friend to listen to me whine about it, possibly have a shoulder to cry on. But Chouji never played the pity game with me. He actually tried to help most of the time.

"You should talk to them," he said, finishing his last plate. "It's stupid to lose friendship based on rumors." He left enough money on the table to cover us both and left me to stew alone. I hated that he was right, that he didn't just bend to my will like other people and let me have my way. By the time I left the restaurant myself I knew I was going to actually follow his advice.

It was hard to schedule a group talk though. Sakura came with a mission and we were off, heading to Rain Country for a recon mission. It was a favor to Suna who had reported activity on the border but had few shinobi to send. I'm not a fan of Rain because of... well, the rain. Three days into the mission and I was pretty sure that even my bones were drenched.

"Anything, Hinata?" Sakura asked, pulling the poncho down to cover her face. I would have said something about the size of her forehead causing problems but I was sulking. It wasn't lost on the other girls but it was their own fault. Let them fester in my bad mood too.

Hinata frowned and didn't answer right away. Everyone's attention turned to her, the veins on the side of her eyes seeming to strain under her efforts. "The rain," she whispered. "It's not... right."

I tried to see what she was talking about but all I saw was rain. I looked over at Sakura and she shook her head. She didn't see anything either.

"Move!" Tenten suddenly yelled, unsheathing her katana with one hand and pushing Hinata to the side with the other. There was a distinct clang and the senbon ricocheted off her blade into a tree trunk.

We scattered, even though I didn't know what we were running from. But as I moved I suddenly saw what Hinata was talking about. The rain shimmered and was falling awkwardly. A genjutsu!

"Ino!" I heard Sakura's voice cut through the air. "DISPEL!"

I put my hands together and completed the genjutsu the same time she did. The rain shimmered once more and the illusion faded. There were six of them, obviously jounin and sporting the hitae of Hidden Rain. We were definitely outnumbered but I forced myself not to panic. One of them started towards me but he was too slow.

"Shinranshin no Jutsu!"

The man faltered once and then turned on his heel, pulling out a kunai and attacking the guy next to him. So long as I maintained the hand seal he was my puppet.

"Ino, duck!"

I let my knees buckle, not moving my hands at all. I never saw the attacker, I didn't bother to look for him. I just saw four kunai pass over my head, followed by a flash of pink. There was a loud crash, followed by the sound of trees falling. I glanced quickly to my left and saw Sakura returning to a fighting stance after the punch. The enemy nin... well, there were cut-outs of him through at least three trees.

My puppet got knocked out by his opponent and I toppled back, feeling the force of the release hit me. By the time I straightened out the enemy nin was on me. I crossed my forearms and blocked high, catching his arm at the wrist before the kunai could reach me. I turned my arms to the left, trapping his arm between my hands and forcing him to bend. As soon as the kunai was clear of me I struck out with my knee, landing a solid blow in his ribs.

He buckled and I brought my leg back, using instead the leverage I had on his arm to force him to the ground. As soon as he was there, I brought the same leg up again, higher and straight, and slammed it down, landing my heel right into his back. He grunted a curse and I let go, back flipping a few times backwards.

"Sakura! Catch me!" I called out, finishing up the hand seals. "Shintenshin no Jutsu!"

I let go just as I felt Sakura's arms around my waist. There was a rush, a bit of disorientation and then I was looking over at her holding my body. By the time I was settled, I could hear information pouring through the earpiece as the other Rain nin started to react. "Ten more are en route!" I called out, the masculine voice surprising me for a moment.

Sakura nodded once and then her eyes went wide. "Ino! Release!"

I didn't look, just followed what she said and released the jutsu just as I felt something pulling on my back. I opened my eyes back in my own body and saw two of the Rain nin caught up in a whirlwind of blue. Hinata finished spinning and wobbled once as she tried to get her balance. A nin broke through the dense foliage and headed straight towards her.

Two weighted chains appeared from just outside the crater of Kaiten and wrapped themselves around his body. He was jerked back towards the thrower, fighting against the entanglement. He managed to get one arm free by the time Tenten reached him, wooden bo cracking against his skull. A second came at her but she bobbed underneath his high strike, passing the bo from one side to the other behind her back and then hitting him behind the knees. His feet came from under him and he landed on his back, air rushing from his lungs. She twirled the bo once and then brought it down, butt of the staff right in his chest.

"That's six!" I called to them. "Ten more are coming!"

"Regroup!" Sakura yelled.

We started to move back to Hinata and Tenten. "Watch your step!" Hinata cried. But it was too late. The trap triggered and we were thrown into the air. The net hit a tree trunk and the force caused the false ground below us to collapse into a pit of spikes. I cursed, most of it learned from my dad, none of it very ladylike.

Tenten and Hinata had reached us and were trying to determine the best way to get us down. Hinata's Byakugan was still active so she saw them first. Sakura looked for them in the distance. I could see the hesitation in her actions. I could see Tenten hesitate too, looking at Hinata and then us. She and Sakura exchanged a glance and Tenten shook her head. There was no way she and Hinata could stop ten nin by themselves.

"Run for it," Sakura ordered. Hinata started to protest, but Tenten grabbed her with one arm and used her other hand to pull out a scroll. She dropped it on the ground, letting it unfurl as they ran. The ink shimmered once and four birds emerged from the paper, shooting skyward in each cardinal direction. Messenger birds with distress beacons. I could only hope that they found someone in time.

Five went after Hinata and Tenten while they other five came to examine us. I pulled a kunai from my pouch and heard Sakura do the same. We didn't have room to breathe, let alone fight. But there was no way these jerks were getting anywhere near us.

"My, my," one of them said. "What pretty birdies we've..."

His words were cut off by the sound of a massive explosion. He put his hand to his ear piece and nodded to the others. They took off after Hinata and Tenten as well.

We waited, listening for any sounds of battle. But the hours wore on and day started to become night. No one came back to us, neither friend nor foe. I was ticked at first, mostly because we fell for such an easy trap. But then I started to worry. What if something had happened to Tenten or Hinata? What if they were never coming back? And I never got to ask them why they were talking about me? Or talk about anything at all. That's when I started to cry, because it was my fault.

"Ino," Sakura begged. "We don't hate you, I promise you."

"I heard you talking about me," I sniffled, wiping my eyes with my sleeve.

"What? When?"

"Everyone was over at your house and..."

"Oh, oh," Sakura said softly. "Ino... it's not at all what you think. You see... um... I was upset with you for that stupid ad. And I lost my temper a bit but... well, we were talking about it and I guess..."

"We know you are just trying to help."

I twisted and Sakura yelped, hanging onto me as the net twisted in the air. "Hinata!" I called happily, looking down at her. "You're okay!" Hinata nodded once with a smile. "Where's Tenten?"

"Hobbling behind her," came the familiar voice. She came into view, leaning against a black clad ninja. He had a hood on, with two cat like ears at the top. A few steps behind them a tall blond followed sporting four perfectly symmetric pig tails and carrying a large fan.

"Kankuro! Temari!" Sakura cried happily. "Oh, I can not tell you how good it is to see you two!"

Temari looked up at them and shook her head. "Honestly. You Konoha nin always get yourselves in the worst situations."

"Yeah, lucky we saw your birdie on the way back home," Kankuro called up.

"I had them," Tenten snapped.

"Sure you did, gimpy," he replied. "Was that before or after you were swinging at them from the ground."

"Just hold still!" Temari interrupted, opening up her fan.

"Wait! Temari, don't..."

Sakura's voice was lost as Temari swung the fan. The air hit the net and pushed us away from the pit, straining the top rope until it broke. We fell to the ground and I got trapped under Sakura.

"Off," I ordered.

"I'm stuck," Sakura retorted.

"Stop feeling me up!" I yelled as she struggled to get free.

"I'm not feeling you up!"

"Then get your hand off my ass!"

"I can't! It's so damn big it's everywhere!"

"What did you just say to me, forehead?!?"

"Shouldn't you... help them?" Hinata squeaked.

"No, I'm good," Kankuro smiled, watching us struggle in the net. "Just wishing I had a video camera."

"AH! I'm going to kill you when I get out there!"

I don't really know which one of us said that. I think it was both. Needless to say, we both went after Kankuro the second we were free. He pushed himself behind Tenten who hopped around helplessly on one leg.

"OW!" Tenten cried. "Dammit! Stop fidgeting and help me stand!"

"Yeah, be a gentlemen and stand still," I snapped, cracking my knuckles.

"A gentlemen?" Temari snorted. "You're barking up the wrong tree."

"You wound me, dear sister," Kankuro said. He wrapped an arm around Tenten and hoisted her over his shoulder, keeping her off the ground so he could defend himself against us.

Eventually reason won out, though I think the fact that Tenten had aimed a kunai at a vital part of his anatomy certainly sped things along. Sakura examined her foot and frowned.

"It's definitely broken," she said.

"We'll go back to Suna," Temari stated. "There are probably more reinforcements on the way."

No one debated getting out of here. In fact the only debate was between Kankuro and Tenten over the method of carrying her back to the village. He believed over the shoulder was just fine. She believed he'd end up getting stabbed in the back repeatedly if he tried. In the end she opted for a piggy back, trying not to look too indignant.

We got the rest of the details of the fight after that. Tenten had laid enough traps as they retreated to slow down the rest of the nin and distract them from us. But they got surrounded quickly after that and Hinata had gone through several more Kaiten before she was out of chakra. Tenten had done her best to fend them off while protecting her weakened partner. She had miscalculated on a kick, not realizing the man she was attacking had strengthened his forearms with a chakra shield.

"Shattered the foot on impact," Tenten noted grimly.

"Then we showed up," Kankuro continued. "Last second heroes again."

"Please, Hinata and I had taken most of them out by then."

"Ano... she is right," Hinata said firmly. I looked ahead and saw the gates of Sunagakure appear on the horizon.

"Che," Temari scoffed. "You may not have left a lot but it was enough to need our help."

Tenten frowned looking over at her. "Fine. Then... then I challenge you to a race!"

"What?" Temari asked. "Are you serious?"

"First one to Suna wins."

"You're insane!"

"Kankuro," she said. He quirked his head back. She whispered something in his ear. He smiled and took off running.

"Hey!" Temari called. "I'm not playing this game! HEY!" She watched them for a second longer before muttering something under her breath and taking off.

I looked confused at Hinata and Sakura. They laughed. "Eternal rivals," Sakura smiled at me.

We got to the gate ten minutes after the sand siblings and Tenten. From the celebration there, Tenten had obviously won though, Temari was trying to argue it wasn't fair since technically Kankuro had won and not her. Before a fight broke out, Sakura pulled Kankuro by the arm, dragging him and Tenten towards the hospital.

"We don't hate you," Hinata reaffirmed, holding on to my hand. I smiled and nodded. I didn't need the full explanation. This was enough.

The hospital got crowded quickly. Apparently, one of the messenger birds had reached Shikamaru's group. They had doubled back and tried to help but we were gone by then. He had, of course, surmised what happened and decided to swing by Suna to check on us.

"Troublesome," he muttered to me. "You should have been more careful."

I smirked at him. "Careful yourself. You almost sound like you care." He frowned.

"Ne, ne, tell us about the fight again!" Naruto cried, jumping next to the bed where Tenten was lying down.

Sakura curled up a fist. "STOP INTERRUPTING!" she yelled, pummeling him on the head once before returning to work on the broken bone.

"Na-naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, kneeling next to the boy as he lay unconscious and mumbling on the ground.

"He'll be fine," Kiba sighed. "His head is pretty thick."

In fact a second later Naruto blinked and looked up at Hinata with a goofy smile. She turned five shades of red and backpedaled, knocking a few of the medical supplies down as she did.

"You didn't have to come to Suna," I continued.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Didn't have a choice. The rest of the team insisted."

"The rest of the team?" I joked.

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. I just didn't want to have to explain to Chouji why we'd have to break in a new kunoichi." I flustered and almost hit him. But he had a slight smile on his face.

"You're a jerk," I replied, turning on my heel and walking out the door. After all, Naruto had recovered enough to start bouncing again and I could see Sakura was about to unleash her fury on him.

I found the last member of Shikamaru's team, which appeared to be doubling as a reunion for the retrieval team, returning with a tray of medical supplies. "Hey Hyuuga," I smiled.

Neji eyed me a bit suspiciously. "Yamanaka," he replied. He came to a stop when I did.

"Worried about your cousin?" I asked.

"She can handle herself."

I didn't buy it, watching as he looked over my shoulder to the room. "Shikamaru said you all insisted on..."

I paused. My head whipped back to him, but he was looking at me. "Wait a minute... you weren't looking at Hinata..." He looked at me evenly. I stepped in front of him and stood on my toes to match his height. I lined up my eyes where his eyes would be and let out a squeak.

It made sense. It suddenly all made sense! Why my carefully constructed attempts and ingenious plans had all failed. All this time, I had just assumed that he was the one thwarting them.

"AH!" I cried, pointing at him. "AH! AH HA! I GET IT!"

"Get what?" he replied, voice low and trying not to draw any more attention to us.

I kept my finger level at his chest. "You're not the problem at all. The stubborn idiot is her!"

"Yamanaka..."

"Oh my God," I said, feeling almost faint. "You're human. You actually... do get attracted to women." He flustered. "Well, woman in this case. I mean... after the chuunin exam I just assumed..."

I looked up at him with a smile and patted his arm. "Don't worry, Hyuuga! Ino Yamanaka is on the case. I'll help Tenten get over whatever hang-ups she has and you two can live happily ever after."

I turned and headed back towards the room. Tenten looked over at me with a quirked eyebrows. I guess I was beaming. I mean, I had a real plan now. I was going to bring those two together, and then nothing would stand in the way of Hinata and Naruto. I was going to be the biggest hero, the savior of all forlorn-ed lovers. I was...

GOING TO KILL HIM.

Kankuro had sashayed into the room and handed the main component of my plan a small bouquet of flowers. He was going to ruin everything!

"HEY!" I yelled. "HANDS OFF THE GIRL, PUPPET BOY."