Sorry for the long awaited update, work has kept me busy so I had been writing this chapter little by little nearly all August long but now here it is.

Chapter 11: A Place To Recover

It felt like an eternity to reach their destination. Naruto was out front, jumping through trees of Konoha Forest as fast as he could while carrying Ino. Shikamaru was behind him trying to keep up and poor Choji, he was nearly getting left behind. The only thing on Naruto's mind was getting to that waterfall they had come across while trying to locate Ino. It would be the safest place to camp as they licked their wounds and prepare themselves for another journey to Nami no Kuni, although Naruto was starting to realize they couldn't stay in one place very long.

"Hey Naruto, do you mind if you slowed down a bit?" asked Shikamaru. "Poor Choji is going to have a heart attack if we don't take a break or something."

Naruto looked back and Shikamaru could tell Naruto was annoyed by the suggestion of taking a break.

"Ok, I'll slow but we can't stop," Naruto replied.

Naruto slowed his pace and it allowed Choji to catch up. Shikamaru could here his friend's rapid breathing and if they continued any further, Choji was probably going to pass out from exhaustion.

"Finally, we're here," Naruto said.

Shikamaru looked to find the hill they had found. A stream of water flowed down the side of the hill to a river bed below. They climbed up the hill to a natural pool of water that was being fed by a strong, flowing waterfall that came down from a cliff. Surrounding the cliff and water pool was the lushes part of Konoha Forest with large, green leaved trees.

"Check to see if there is a cave behind that waterfall," Naruto said, looking at Shikamaru.

Shikamaru nodded and walked along the ground that was a mixture of dirt and rocks that surrounded the water pool. Choji decided to just stay put and sat down on the ground to try and catch his breath. Choji swore he had to have lost a couple of pounds with that trip.

"We're in luck, there is a cave here!" Shikamaru yelled, walking out from behind the waterfall.

Naruto let out a breath of relief, they would have some protection until they were all rested and ready to go. Naruto, who was still carrying Ino, walked toward the waterfall. He turned to Choji.

"You coming?"

"I'm just going to stay right here for a while," Choji said.

Naruto shrugged and walked towards the waterfall. Once he reached the waterfall, he turned to walk behind it to find a nice opening to a cave. He walked inside and noticed just how lucky they got. They walked into a very nice, open area that already had unlit torches alongside the cave wall. Oh shit, nobody in the group knew any fire ninjutsu.

Shikamaru took out a lighter he kept that had belonged to Asuma. He decided to keep it as a momento after he was killed by Hidan. Shikamaru began lighting the torches to give light to the dark cave.

"Shikamaru when you're done with lighting those torches, can you take his backpack off of me?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru nodded. He stopped lighting the torches and just walked to Naruto. He grabbed Naruto's backpack and helped him take it off.

"Where do you want it?" asked Shikamaru.

"Just place it on the ground right here," Naruto said.

Shikamaru did what Naruto asked and then returned to lighting the torches. Naruto gently placed Ino on the ground, laying her head on his backpack. He took one good long look at her and turned to leave the cave.

"Where are you going?" asked Shikamaru.

"I'm going to look around to see if there is anyway Walkers can find their way up here," replied Naruto.

"Why?"

"Since we're going to be here for at least a few days, I don't want anything like what happened back in that cave near Tanzaku Town to happen again," Naruto answered.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Shikamaru added. "Once Choji gets in here, I'll have him look after Ino while I explore deeper in the cave, I want to see where it leads."

"Sounds good," Naruto said and walked towards the front of the cave.

"Man my legs are still killing me," Choji complained as he walked into the cave.

Choji's eyes had to adjust to the darkness of the cave until he saw a glow. He walked into the large area of the cave where the torches along the cave wall were lit and he found his friend sitting down.

"It's about time, you've been resting outside for hours it seemed like," Shikamaru said.

"I'm sorry, it's just..."

"You don't need to explain, just stay here with Ino for a while. I'm going to see where this cave leads to," interrupted Shikamaru.

"Um, okay."

Choji walked over to Ino and sat beside her and Shikamaru stood up and grabbed one of the torches near him and headed deeper into the cave. Shikamaru continued through the cave realized it was curving into another direction. Once the curve straightened out, he could see sunlight coming through near the end. As he got closer, the sunlight got brighter. Before he knew it, Shikamaru was about to step off the edge. The cave had led him to a steep drop off. They were safe from Walkers getting in through the back of the cave. Maybe they would just stay here instead of traveling to Nami no Kuni like Naruto wanted.

Shikamaru walked back and he realized the cave wasn't that long as he entered the lit room in what seemed like just a few minutes.

"Oh hey Shikamaru, that was awfully quick, everything okay?" asked Choji.

"Everything is fine, the cave isn't very long," Shikamaru replied.

"So what's in the cave?" Choji asked.

"It just curves off to a drop off which is a good thing because it means no Walkers will be getting into this cave," Shikamaru replied.

As the conversation between Shikamaru and Choji died off, they heard Ino begin moaning. Shikamaru started to panic until the girl opened her eyes.

"Sh-Shikamaru?" she questioned, she wasn't sure if he was real.

"Yeah it's me, are you okay?" he asked.

"I think so, but it feels like I was hit in the head with a board," Ino said as she tried to sit up.

"Well, you did," Shikamaru said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. "When we blew up the front door of that cabin you were being held captive in, a piece of debris hit you in the head."

Ino nodded and looked around but didn't see who she was looking for, "Where's Naruto?"

"He went to check the area around this cave to see if any Walkers can get up here," Shikamaru replied. "You're not going to kill him or anything are you?"

"What? No!" Ino yelled. "It was my fault we got seperated."

"What do you mean?" asked Shikamaru as Ino tried to stand up. "Hey, be careful now, you just woke up from being unconcious, you might have had a concussion or something!"

Ino wobbled a bit as she stood up, "I'm fine and I'll tell you about how I ended up with that pervert but I need to see Naruto first."

Shikamaru started to follow Ino to make sure she didn't fall but the girl stopped and turned to him.

"Alone," she said sternly.

Naruto stared at the pool of water. He had checked the area around the waterfall and the cave to see if there was any way Walkers could get to them but he found nothing. The rocky hill was too steep for the Walkers to climb so he concluded this was a good spot to camp as long as they needed to rest and heal.

Naruto took off his backpack and shuffeled through it and realized he only had a handful of scrolls that contained food they had gotten from Tanzaku Town. As for water, at least they were camping out near a seemingly endless supply of it. It looks like he would have to go to Konoha, albeit using his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, and try to scavange for any food.

Naruto sighed because that was such a taunting task back in Tanzaku Town, Kami knew how tretrous it would be on his chakra to do the same exact thing in Konohagakure.

"Naruto?" said a familiar girl's voice from behind him.

Naruto turned around to find Ino up and walking around. A huge weight just fell off his shoulders. Naruto stood there, taking in her image, the girl just ran to him and pummeled him into a bone shattering hug. After the initial shock of Ino being awake wore off, Naruto returned the hug, he was so glad Ino was okay. Naruto then realized his shirt was getting wet, the girl was crying.

"That...that bastard touched me..." she said quietly through her sobbing.

"He won't be touching anyone ever again," Naruto said sternly as he held the girl, letting her cry.

This is why Ino had to see Naruto by herself, she did not want to break down because of her ordeal in front of her teammates.

"What did you do to him?" asked Ino after she finally calmed down and stopped crying.

"Shikamaru had them trapped in his Kagemane no Jutsu and forced them into some Walkers," Naruto replied.

"Wait them? You didn't kill them both did you?" asked Ino.

"Well yeah, they were holding you captive and..."

SLAP

"The younger one was trying to help me escape! I can't believe you did that to him, he was innocent!" Ino yelled as tears began to fall again.

Ino turned and ran down the side of the rocky.

"Ino!" yelled Naruto, "Come back!"

Before Naruto could take off and run after her, Shikamaru placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Yo, what's going on, I heard Ino screaming. Where is she?" Shikamaru asked.

"I told her how you killed those guys from that cabin we rescued her from and she slapped me. She claimed one of them was innocent and was trying to help her and then she stormed off," answered Naruto.

"How troublesome," Shikamaru said. "I'll go talk to her, I know who those guys really were, I'll tell her everything I know."

Naruto nodded and watched Shikamaru walk down the side of the hill.

Ino finally stopped running, she didn't know why she slapped Naruto like she did over some kid she barely knew. She started to believe it was the whole ordeal itself that was getting to her. She acted strong in front of Shikamaru and Choji but found herself breaking in front of Naruto. It was confusing but she didn't mind it because she did feel safe with Naruto.

"Ino?" Shikamaru called out.

"No, don't look!" Ino yelled as she turned away. She didn't want her teammate to see her looking weak and vulnerable.

"Look, I don't know what happened, but whatever it was seems tramatic to you so I understand if you want to cry but slapping Naruto because of something I did? That was a little over the top," said Shikamaru.

"What do you mean?" the girl asked, still not want to face Shikamaru.

"Yes Naruto was the one to call the shot, but it was me that walked them over to the Walkers, so if you need to slap anyone it should be me," Shikamaru said.

Ino didn't say anything and didn't dare face Shikamaru still.

"I knew these guys from the assassination logs we have. Kai and Tai were S-Class Missing-nin from Amegakure where they are wanted for multiple counts of rape and murder. Tai is actually the more aggressive of the two but he'll play the timid, innocent brother and pretend he's going to try to help you and after Kai is finished with raping his victims, Tai will pretend to help you escape but what he does it take you to another secluded location and torture his victim and eventually murders them. Kai rapes and Tai tortures and kills, that's how they operate," explained Shikamaru.

"So Tai was just playing on my emotions?" Ino asked.

"If the reports are correct about the two, then yes."

"I need to go apologized to Naruto-kun, then," Ino said. She turned to walk back to the hill, but kept her face hidden from Shikamaru as she walked passed him.

"Choji, where's Naruto?" asked Shikamaru.

"I, uh, well, you see..." Choji stuttered.

"Spit it out man," Shikamaru said impatiently.

"I don't really know, he said he had something he needed to do," replied Choji.

"Damn it," Shikamaru said under his breath.

Shikamaru walked back outside, passing the waterfall and walked over to Ino who was patiently waiting.

"He's not here," Shikamaru said.

Ino turned to Shikamaru, who had cleaned her face from the tears that stained it earlier and looked him in the eye with an angry expression.

"What do you mean he's not here?"

"Choji said that Naruto said he had something to do," replied Shikamaru.

Ino looked away and looked down, "I hope I didn't push him away when I slapped him."

"Don't worry Ino, he'll be back."

Ino stared at the water as she started to worry. Naruto had been gone two hours and he still hadn't returned. What could he possibly be doing that's taking so long?

While Ino stared at the water, Shikamaru and Choji were setting up trip wires that they had attached exploding tags to, all along the halfway point of the hill just in the advent a Walker does manage to climb up the hill. The trap wasn't set to really kill Walkers, it was just being used as a warning so they could come out and dispose of Walkers themselves or if there was too many of them, leave the cave.

Two more hours passed and Naruto still hadn't returned to the camp site. At this point, Shikmaru and Choji had finished setting up their security alarm and went off in search of firewood.

Ino's face lit up when she heard footsteps on rocks as she believed Naruto finally had returned. The happiness in Ino's face drained away when she saw it was just Shikamaru and Choji returning with armful of wood.

The sun was starting to set as Shikamaru got a fire going. He grabbed his backpack and fished around inside until he pulled out a scroll.

"Man, I only have three of these scrolls Naruto sealed food inside left," said Shikamaru.

"Me too, soon we're going to have to find our own food," Choji replied.

"So troublesome," Shikamaru added.

"Not to worry guys, I already took care of it," said Naruto who was walking up behind Choji.

Naruto dropped several scrolls on the ground.

"I only sealed up enough food to last us a couple of weeks, but I'll send more of my Kage Bunshin to get more when that starts to run out."

"Naruto, where did you get this from?" asked Shikamaru.

"I had my Kage Bunshin scavange through Konoha," replied Naruto.

"You do realize that was a very stupid thing for you to do by going off to Konoha by yourself for this, you had Ino worried sick!" scolded Shikamaru.

"I know that, but I figured we needed food since we left most of it behind in that cave by Tanzaku Town," replied Naruto.

"Well I think you should go ease Ino's mind," Shikamaru said. "She went back inside the cave just before you returned."

Naruto walked into the cave to the torch-lit area to find Ino with her head down and knees up to her chest with her arms wrapped around them.

"Hey," he whispered.

The girl immediately raised her head up to find Naruto kneeling before her. In the blink of an eye she was in his arms.

"Don't do that to me!" she yelled. "I was so scared that you died or..."

Ino couldn't finish her sentence as his lips crashed into hers. She let herself go in the kiss as it got more and more passionate then the previous kiss they had shared.

"I love you and thank you for coming to find me," Ino said.

Naruto smiled, "I told you I wouldn't let anything happen to you as I love you too."

"Where did you go anyway?" Ino asked.

"I went back to Konoha and sent in my Kage Bunshin to scavange for food," Naruto replied.

"Why do you insist on doing things like that by yourself?" Ino asked. Naruto could almost hear the worry in her voice.

"I'm the only one in the group that can do it," Naruto explained. "Besides, it's not like I physically go inside myself. I sit in a tree nearby and allow my Bunshin to do all the work."

"Hey you two," Shikamaru called out, "The fish is ready."

Naruto looked at Ino who nodded. He helped Ino to her feet and both walked through the cave, hand in hand. They left the cave and walked over to the fire that was slowly burning out where Shikamaru and Choji had cooked a few fillets of fish.

The three ate in silence, well, to the sound of Choji scarfing down his food. Ino was the last one to finish her food.

"So Ino, how'd you end up captive with Kai and Tai?" asked Shikamaru.

"Do you really want to know that badly? Can't we just drop it?" Ino asked, she didn't want to talk about it, let alone think about her ordeal.

"I know you don't really want to talk about it but I just find it strange that you were right behind me when we escaped Konoha and then all of a sudden you weren't," Naruto said.

Ino sighed, "Fine, I'll explain what happened."