The next chapter awaits! Enjoy.
Ino sat in her hospital bed bored out of her mind.
The fashion magazine her dad left had already been read four times, and if she had to look at another awful color-combo it suggested she would scream. Ino threw it away and laid back down.
She had been awake for a while, which sucked. Ino wasn't used to waking up before the sun, but after the events of last night it was like her body no longer found comfort in the rest. She had an idea though on why, as a good part of her thought she wouldn't have opened her eyes again after the last time she closed them.
It scared her.
She could have died last night.
One of her hands drifted to her stomach, touching her slightly tender skin. Her stab wounds were healed, but whenever she shifted the phantom pain of the kunai remained.
When Sakura took her chip out she didn't think the incidents would have much impact on her life. She wasn't the main character of whatever 'story' those creepy things were following, why would they follow her around? She was a nobody, but if they needed a blonde-haired blue-eyed protagonist she would of made a better one than Naruto. At least, that's what she thought before last night.
Ino touched her hair as she contemplated. In the end she was wrong, and she paid the price for it. Now she was alone, and the only person she could talk to about it was out of the village.
She didn't know how long she laid there staring at nothing, but when she heard the hospital door slide open and finally noticed the sun rays peeking through the blinds, it had to have been a while. Ino turned her head to the door and saw Shikamaru poking his head in. After seeing she was awake he stepped inside. He stopped a couple of feet away from the bed and looked at her.
"Choji will be here in a little bit, he stopped to get you ice cream."
Her lips turned upward, some ice cream would make her day better.
"He is the thoughtful one out of you two."
"Troublesome girl." Shikamaru put his hands in his pockets and sighed. "What happened last night?"
Ino opened her mouth before closing it, leaving her to sit in silence.
How much did she want to tell him? There were parts of the events last night that she was still processing herself, did she want to put in effort explaining something he could forget? Why did he still remember now? Ino had no idea how this all worked, and the lack of information was unsettling.
Her eyes drifted to the shogi board sitting folded on her side table, a stack of cards leaning against its side. Her father must of brought it at some point during the night, along with the magazines, and most likely had plans to play a game with her when he visited later.
Ino looked blankly at the items before an idea popped into her mind.
This was going to pain her more than the stab wound itself ever would, but she still asked the question and pointed at the board.
"Do you.. want to play?" She forced out.
Shikamaru made a face before stepping closer and placing a hand on her forehead.
"Are you sick?"
Ino pushed it off.
"Just because I don't play with you doesn't mean I never play."
He still looked at her like she was crazy, but his thoughts didn't stop his body from eagerly grabbing the board, pulling up a chair, and setting everything up.
Ino sat up and started before he could say a word, moving a piece in an opening her dad taught her. He had the best success against Shikamaru's dad with this, and Ino could use all the help she could get.
A few moves in she spoke.
"Have you noticed anything...weird about Konoha? Things that don't really make sense but seem obvious?"
"Besides you sitting down and playing Shogi with me?"
Ino glared.
"Like people forgetting your name after introducing yourself, or acting differently than you remember, things like that."
"No."
She sighed.
"I knew it."
More clicks were made on the board.
She couldn't tell him, not yet.
Ino knew Shikamaru, and anything she said in her current state he would attribute to trauma. He would call her 'troublesome' and look into it, but he would never see that someone else was pulling the strings. One could only use the pieces they knew existed, after all. No, she had to give him something tangible, something that he could see right in front of him to get him on her side. Ino focused down on the board, this was just what she needed.
The game went on for a little bit, with Ino holding out longer than she thought she would, but in the end she lost.
Still, her plan wasn't over yet.
"Can we discuss the game?"
He eyed her strangely.
"Yes..."
"Great! Is there anyway I could have won?"
"For you?"
Shikamaru rubbed his chin, before reversing the pieces back to an earlier spot in the game. He tapped on one.
"Here. If you moved this piece to this spot, I would have thought you were going to attack here. In reality you would have moved it here."
Ino paid close attention, questioning him for the better part of the hour as pieces shifted on the board, until she thought she understood.
"If I really played like that would I have beaten you?"
He was silent for a moment.
"Yeah, since it would have been you doing it."
Ino flicked a piece at him, feeling insulted at his comment.
Stupid boy, he would never get a girlfriend acting like that.
A voice broke the silence.
"Ice cream?"
Recognizing it, Ino turned towards Choji and smiled, holding out her hands to accept her gift. She was happy Choji was here, there was only so much Shikamaru she could take at a time.
"How long were you sitting here?" Ino didn't notice when he came in.
"Awhile, but you two were focused and I didn't want to interrupt." He said, already on his fourth ice cream.
Ino ate her mint ice cream, and felt the stares of her teammates on her face. She sighed, knowing they wanted the truth out of her, and Ino had to give them something in an effort to hopefully get their memories erased. So, in the end she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.
"It was Danzo."
If the creepy dude was related to Sakura's previous attack, why couldn't he be related to hers too?
The two shared a look, but dropped the topic at her silence, knowing that Ino would only speak on her own terms. The three chatted for a while before the boys left. Once the door slid shut Ino was laying back down, hands together in a sign.
She had a memory to review.
But before she let herself sink into her mind, she had to address a troubling thought.
Would she still be at the hospital tomorrow? Her wound was healed, there was no reason to hold her. If she complained enough maybe they would let her stay...
But what if they didn't?
Ino shook her head, she would find a way. Even if it meant her wound had to be 'reopened'.
.
"Inserting... processing complete. Data has been archived."
The system announcement chimed with it's eightieth message, and it wasn't the first time El'kek wished for a mute button. He picked up another crystal memory drive and inserted it into the next slot, the announcement once again ringing out.
The punishment detail he was assigned at the end of his training was more tedious than he liked. Every day was the same over and over. Same food, same stupid people, and same lack of notification of reassignment. It wasn't the first nor the last time El'kek would curse El'pen and the Council.
Sorry, Captain El'pen.
El'kek chuckled, wondering how the bastard was handling his little 'present' he left for him and the rest of the unit. It was too bad he couldn't get back to his remote station to check in on things, he had to leave it behind in the transfer.
Hopefully the Council took the hint that the world was a loss, especially with the Benu footage circling. The smiled left his face. The situation of the war worried him. Here he was, stuck in some El forsaken building, while countless colonies were being eradicated. They should have pulled him back by now.
What was taking them so long?
El'kek continued to insert memory crystal after memory crystal, when a voice spoke from behind.
"Lieutenant El'kek?"
El'kek paused his movements at the question and turned around. The speaker belonged to a tall man, wearing the black and gray colors of the military police. He wasn't sure what the man was doing here, but El'kek knew it couldn't be good.
"Yes?"
"Lieutenant El'kek you are being arrested and held on the accounts of terrorism against the beings of El, as well as for misuse of your clearance as a controller. All rights previously given to you as an El'os have been revoked."
"I think you have the wrong person, everything I do is for the sake of the El'os." El'kek backed away slowly, angling himself to one of the side doors.
"Like I haven't heard that one before." The man muttered.
"Let me speak with the council, I'm sure this is a misunderstanding."
"Surrender now and excessive force will not be used Lieute– no, Puddle."
El'kek felt his face inflame at the name. He thought he escaped that horrible nickname when he left the Academy, but it seemed his exploits in Wave had already traveled here too.
Should he run?
No it wouldn't be a good idea, not now that his reputation was tarnished. All of the favors that were owed to him couldn't overcome that, so in the end, El'kek stayed still.
"Good choice." The man put a familiar pair of handcuffs on him and gave him a shove.
"Walk."
He complied.
When El'kek saw the contents of the cell he was brought too, there was only one thought going through his mind.
He could not stay there, absolutely not.
His head whipped to the guard escorting him.
"I can't stay in the same cell as a traitor!" El'kek pointed to the woman sitting down in the corner, her red-and-black outfit a sharp contrast to her lavender hair and iris colored skin.
"Doors unlocking."
"You're one of them now, Puddle. Get used to it."
The man shoved him in and left, leaving El'kek alone with that thing.
"Puddle?" The woman snorted.
El'kek barred his teeth but remained silent. He wouldn't waste words on a traitor.
"Ha, who's the useless one now?" The woman spoke in a drawl.
El'kek froze at the phrase and turned.
"You..."
.
"So, this is the pink one?"
Tsunade looked Sakura up and down skeptically. A slight slur in speech revealed her inebriation, making Sakura frown at the lack of manners.
Sakura herself mirrored the motions, and was not impressed with what she saw. Sensei made her leave her hotel room for this? The room she entered was littered with alcohol bottles, clothes were scattered across the floor, and Tsunade herself looked like she just rolled out of bed.
This was the best medic in the world?
Originally Sakura was looking forward to meeting her, but she didn't know she would be like this. It was... disappointing. If this was how Tsunade behaved she might not be that helpful as an ally, but Inner did approve, and though the two of them weren't on the best of terms, her opinion still held weight for Sakura.
She glared up at Kakashi-sensei who only shrugged. From Sensei's nonchalance, this must of been normal behavior for Tsunade. Sakura faced back towards the woman.
"My name is Haruno Sakura, I hear we have a bet?"
"We do, and when I win that wine will be mine, pinky."
Sakura laughed.
"We'll see." Sakura was feeling confident, no way was she loosing to that. There was too much at stake.
Tsunade smirked at her before stumbling to the door. Slamming it open she stepped out, but the door frame couldn't handle the force and it splintered. Tsunade swore but looked back over her shoulder.
"Hurry up, I want to go back to bed. Where's Shizune? Tell her to get the door fixed."
With one last glance between teacher and student, the group left the room.
The location Tsunade stopped at was the back gardens of the hotel. It was unoccupied except for her teammates, who were in the middle of a spar, and the black haired woman from earlier who sat on a bench. She must of been the 'Shizune' Tsunade was talking about. The boys noticed the other half of their team and headed over.
"Sakura-chan! Are you ready to kick this granny's butt?"
"You know it."
"Kids these days..." Tsunade trailed off.
"Since you two made this bet without me, I think it's only fair that I pick what the bet entails." Sakura said, eyes flickering between Tsunade and Naruto.
"Hey Brat, you're the ones who wanted a favor from me, I should get to pick."
Sakura scoffed.
"I heard you offered first and besides, shouldn't the genin get to pick the bet over one of the sannin? Unless of course, you think that I am better than you, and you need a handicap."
Sakura shook her head.
"I understand. As the superior one here, you can pick the bet Tsunade, go ahead. You will need it."
The boys snickered.
Tsunade stamped her foot, and the group felt the ground shake.
"You better respect your elders pinky, pick the bet before I change my mind."
Shizune sighed in the background, and Sakura had to suppress a smirk.
"My pleasure."
Sakura took a moment to relish her her success, but a part of her was upset she won so easily. Sakura slowly walked up to the woman.
'Haruno Sakura, I need your help.'
Sakura flinched in surprise.
'Inner? You... don't sound like Inner at all." The voice may have sounded the same, but the way it spoke wasn't right.
'Because I'm not.'
Ino plans, El'kek remains stubborn, and Sakura is disappointed. Seems like a normal day to me lol.
It took some effort, but I was finally able to get through this chapter. What's even better is that I have an idea on what to do with the next one. No promises on the release date, but when I'm done it will be posted on a Sunday, as usual.
Short note today, talk to you in the next one!
Thanks for reading!