Magnus: Here is another chapter, this time I'll show the first steps for certain fan girl to evolve and be something better, hope you like this chapter, for the next one will be the aperture for the wave arc, enjoy!, and remember, Read and Review!
Disclaimer: We don't own Naruto, as well as anything you believe is being mentioned in this fanfic, Reiko Zonbolt belongs to Kage Bijuu, and the other OCs belongs to me
Chapter 22
Restoration
Shino, in spite of how insane he has become with his team in the last months, was usually stoic and calculating, a sharp mind with cold blood, but right now, he was so distressed, that even his Queen was unable to regulate his cardiac rhythm at his current predicament, and the fact that the body of the naked girl he was carrying was losing heat made it worst
"Don't die on me!, don't die on me!, don't die on me!...", Shino kept repeating this mantra to the girl on his arms, it was hard for him to understand why was him so stressed on this, yet he pushed all thought aside in order to focus on getting this girl to a place to attend her injury
"ANKISETH-SAMA!!!", Shino shouted as he reached the Uzumaki's apartment, and was greeted by the always smiling Ankiseth
"Quickly, take her inside, there is no time to lose!", Ankiseth said in a rater calm manner, but Shino didn't paid attention, he just went inside, where the young and pretty girl will be saved
Meanwhile...
Sakura was sitting on a bench on Konoha's main square, she was hugging her knees to her chest, and she was sobbing in a very depressed way, her mother told her that she wasn't the one to blame, that they had no right to treat her that way, but she knew better, she has passed the last hours thinking hard about her life, and she has reached some harsh conclusions
"If I wasn't gawking at Sasuke-kun for that much time, I could have trained harder and would have turn into a better kunoichi...", Sakura muttered to herself, relizing her lack of training
'And you could have shined enough to be noticed, CHA!', Inner Sakura added, usually Sakura will tell her to shut up, but this time she felt encouraged to continue
"Maybe Sasuke-kun would have noticed me if I were stronger...", Sakura muttered a little more resolved than before
'Sasuke-kun?, what about Edward-sama?, didn't you see that Katon?!', Inner Sakura asked, and Sakura gasped at the memory
"Yeah... he was a raging inferno, Sasuke looked like a cake candle...", Sakura conceded, and Sasuke lost a little ground on her eyes
'And what about Lee?, with all those big, hard, strong and sweaty sexy muscles?', Inner Sakura continued her attack
"Quite unlike Sasuke, who does not train his muscles in order to favor his katon and family style, which aren't that awesome now...", Sakura once again agreed
'And then we have Naruto, who is all classy and sophisticate, and very well mannered', Inner Sakura attacked now, and a sad smile formed on Sakura's lips
"Unlike Sasuke, who only gives bored stares and grunts to anyone who is nice to him...", Sakura added, Sasuke was becoming even less on her eyes now
'Then we have Matsukaze, isn't that bad boy look somehow alluring?', Inner Sakura asked playfully, knowing that that was the strongest point of the last Uchiha
"And he has all that manly bravado to back it up...", Sakura replied, not adding Sasuke on her answer
'But we don't have to look so far, Shino is quite attractive too, in a mysterious way, not to mention that he has tried to befriend you a few times', Inner Sakura unleashed the final blow, and Sakura snaped
"And I have been such a bitch, a weakling, an idiot and a coward, all in behalf of someone that will never look at me in any way or form...", Sakura replied, more tears coming from her eyes, but she no longer sobbed
'What are you going to do now girl?', Inner Sakura asked, already knowing the answer
"I... I... I'M GOING TO CHANGE!, I'M GOING TO GROW!, I'LL BECOME STRONGER!", Sakura shouted, startled more than one bystander, yet most ignored her due to her pink hair, that give her away as a Haruno, crazy by nature
'THEN GO FOR IT, CHA!!!', Inner Sakura encouraged her even more, and Sakura ran in the direction of her sensei, she wanted to become stronger to be looked as a worthy kunoichi, but she no longer wanted Sasuke to look at her, she just hoped that it wasn't too late to ask forgiveness and start something new
At the flower shop...
It was her day off, yet, whenever she had free time, Ino worked at her family flower shop, not because she had to, but because she wanted to, it was her element, being surrounded of all the beauty of the lively flowers, their relaxing scent, and yet, she sighed
"All the work I put on it, and he didn't noticed...", Ino felt slightly depressed, she made a special perfume to try to get the attention of the last Uchiha, in a last attempt to save her crush for him, a crush that was slowly fading away due to the frequent compliments of certain well versed genin
"I guess Shikamaru is right, I should change my priorities...", Ino said to herself, and as if summoned by her subconscious, the door of her shop opened, letting a certain blind shinobi enter
"Hi, can I help you?", Ino politely asked, while weaving to the customer, it took a few seconds for her to realize that he wasn't able to see her movement, yet, she restrained herself from apologizing
"Certainly, Ino-san, I'm searching for a unique flower that I must have in my little garden, and I hope you'll be to help me to find it", Naraku stated, his voice almost singing
"I'll gladly help, how does this unique flower looks like?", Ino asked cheerfully
"I'm afraid I can't help you there, for obvious reasons", Naraku replied, and then Ino noticed what the obvious reason was
"OH! SORRY, SORRY, I'M SO SORRY, I DIDN'T MEAN TO...", Ino panicked, in her entire life she intended to insult or harassing anyone in a level as just now she felt she did, and yet, she got silenced
"Don't worry about it, is pretty common for people to forget about my poor eyesight", Naraku reassured her, throwing a joke to make his point
"I... I s... er... I understand", Ino replied, obviously avoiding certain word
"Anyway, the only thing I know about this unique flower, is it's scent", Naraku stated, and that picked Ino's interest
"Oh!, Ok!, try to describe it, and I'll do my best to get you your special flower!", Ino cheered, she loved to be useful, and Naraku smiled at this
"Thank you, Ino-san, first of all, I know you have it in this shop, for I can smell it, is a delicate aroma, it shows a great living force, and it's yet so delicate and sweet, is like lavender, but much more soft, like roses, but much more seducing, passionate as a lily, sophisticated as a tulip, and yet tenderly as a carnation, is like being caressed by the finest of the silks...", Naraku described it with a dreamy voice, unfortunately, he wasn't able to notice the blush on Ino's face, which darkened with each word he said, and by the end of his dreamy speech, Ino fainted, and Naraku got startled by the loud thud
"Ino-san?, did something fell?, are you ok?, Ino?", Naraku asked, but got no reply, while Ino couldn't help but to be awed on her unconscious state, for this boy was talking about her, and her new perfume
Uzumaki's apartment, one hour later...
"Well, the good news is that she'll be fine!", Ankiseth stated, while dropping a bullet on a tray at the side of the bed, in the bed, the pink haired girl was resting peacefully, her head bandaged, and, to Shino comfort, covered with a blanket
"Are there bad news?", Shino asked concerned
"Well, I doubt she'll be able to tell us anything about herself, the bullet harmed her brain, but I doubt is something serious", Ankiseth replied, with a smile that screamed that there was something unsaid
"Anything I can do?", Shino asked, with all the coolness he was able to muster
"Actually, yes, stay here and watch over her, is quite unlikely that she awakes now, but if she happens to do so, well, it will be better for her to see someone that can assure her that she is safe", Ankiseth replied, and Shino found no fault in that logic
"Understood", Shino stated, and Ankiseth nodded
"Meanwhile, I'll go to prepare the remedy for my child, he really needs it, and I'm grateful that you didn't forgot about that simple task", Ankiseth said, and Shino stiffened, for he truly forgot about the herbs due to the injured girl
"About that...", Shino started, but wasn't allowed to continue
"I know, I know, I'll bring back your reward in a moment", Ankiseth replied, and then turned to leave... with the herbs on his hand, Shino was tempted to ask, but decided to not hurt his sore brain with the lack of logic of the moment, he just decided to take off his sunglasses for a moment, and rub his eyes, for good or ill, the girl decided to open her eyes, and move a little, earning the attention of the bug master, and both locked eyes
"Awake so soon?, how do you feel?", Shino asked, he decided to go for a simple and easy to answer question, instead of interrogating her, the girl blinked at him several times, and then sat, allowing the blanket to fall to her lap, revealing her naked body, Shino decided to focus on her eyes
"Don't try to rise, you need to rest, and I assure you, I'll protect you", Shino stated, while trying to guide the girl back to her pillow
"...Nyuu...", The girl said, or meowed, or something like that
"Did you said something?", Shino asked, believing that his ears played him a prank, the girl smiled to him in an innocent way, making the bug master blush
"NYUU!!!", The girl shouted, and then jumped at him, hugging him and rubbing her cheek on his, in an extremely friendly way
Meanwhile...
Ankiseth took his time to reach the living room, where he spotted his son and his soon-to-be daughter-in-law, making out furiously, he sweetly smiled at them, and then proceeded to deposit the pack of herbs in a special box, then sat in a chair, and waited until the need for air allowed him to speak without interrupting, thing that made him wait at least six minutes
"I'm glad to see that the remedy worked perfectly, it was hurting not to see the two of you loving each other properly", Ankiseth stated, making the couple to look at him, both blushing madly
"I'm glad too, I really missed the lovely attentions of my hime", Naruto replied dazed
"It was so kind of Desmond-san to have brought those herbs so soon, it's almost as if he were collecting them before our arrival", Hinata stated, showing a knowing smile
"I assure you, it was a coincidence, a nice one, but coincidence nonetheless, after all, I just wanted to have some extra herbs just in case", Ankiseth replied, and then left the living room to allow the kids to enjoy themselves with enough privacy
Later that night...
Hiruzen Sarutobi was ready to call it a day, finally he found himself able to get rid of the paperwork, so, he took a moment to relax, and then decided to read a little of his favourite orange book, until a cold feeling made him shiver, as if being watched by a terrible predator
"Hokage-sama, we need to talk", Ankiseth's sweet voice sounded on the office, making Sarutobi's blood run cold as ice, he lowered his book, and stared at the responsible of all his recent nightmares
"What do you need, Ankiseth-san, what can I help you with?", Sarutobi asked with all the politeness he was able to reunite
"I'm afraid you don't understand, I'm here to help you, I'm here to make you an offer you can't refuse", Ankiseth replied, and Sarutobi wished with all his heart that this was just another nightmare
Magnus: Hope you liked it, I know some people expected to see a drunk Lee already, but I'm saving that for the wave arc, I want to say thanks to all the people that are sending ideas for more crossovers on this story, I'll try to add all of them, others I'll use for other fanfics, and just to finish this chapter I only have one thing to say
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!