Ino had gathered fresh, new flowers in a pretty bouquet, not quite thinking about what she was doing until she was done. The result was nice, she thought, and took note of the arrangement for later uses for customers of the flower shop, but something was off. Wait, I am offering flowers to Sakura? She stood still for a minute, staring at the flowers in disbelief – the sun slowly setting in the background; it was getting late. A rather surprised voice jerked her out of her thinking and as soon as she recognized it she hid the bouquet in her back, hoping to not be questioned about it. “Ino? What are you doing here so late?” She smiled at Sakura, taking a step closer to the worn out girl. “I came to see you, miss avoidy.” She simply said, winking at the same time. “I haven’t been avoiding you!” Sakura replied, defensive. “I just haven’t had the time to do anything besides training and sleeping.” Ino chuckled. “Yep, that’s avoidy in my book.” She shifted uncomfortably, the bouquet in her hand slowly slipping from her grip as her hand turned moist. What’s getting to me tonight? Ino wondered as she renewed her grip on the bundle of flowers, hoping the move went unnoticed by Sakura. “What’s that in your back?”
She suddenly blushed, unable to utter a word, staring Sakura up and down as if she would find something to say in her clothes. Think Yamanaka, think… “Uh, that’s nothing, really.” Smooth, that’ll make her even more curious. “Flowers?” Sakura asked, an eyebrow raised. Ino smiled sheepishly as her body presented Sakura the flowers without her own consent. Shit. She kicked herself mentally for being so stupid. “For me?” was Sakura’s incredulous reply. If she hadn’t been freaked out by waking up next to Ino that morning a few weeks ago, that would definitely do the trick. “I uh… I wanted to give them to Naruto, but he left so… I just re-arranged them and thought about you… and yeah. For you. You deserve them for working so hard.” To the blonde’s surprise, Sakura took the flowers and shifted her gaze between them and Ino for a moment. “They’re beautiful.” She finally said, a smile forming on her lips. Ino smiled back, wondering if the pink haired kunoichi really meant it, or just wanted to sound nice to avoid any arguing. “Thank you.” Sakura added, suddenly realizing just how much she had neglected her friend the past few weeks. But training obliged, right?
“What are you doing tonight?” Ino asked, expecting an answer like “Training.” And getting it just as she thought she would. She shook her head slightly. “Oh no, no training tonight.” Sakura’s eyes widened. “B-but I have to.” She said half-heartedly. The prospect of taking a night off was appealing, but she remembered why she was doing the training, and knew if she let down any bit she would regret it. “No, you don’t. You have to rest a bit, otherwise you’ll die of exhaustion, Sakura.” Ino’s voice carried a very concerned tone, like that day when she had walked out of Tsunade’s office. She was about to get Sakura into yet another of these girly-mushy talks and she couldn’t afford it. “I’m fine.” She said, her voice betraying her, just as much as her sore and darkened eyes, and the twitch in her arms from malaxing so much chakra. “Do I look like I’m blind?” Ino replied, watching Sakura drop her hands to her sides, the bouquet nearly slipping out of the girl’s grip before she caught it in an impressive show of lightning reflexes. The girl then bowed her head in shame, and Ino couldn’t resist to take a step forward to put both her hands on the shivering shoulders in a comforting gesture. “You’re coming with me, like it or not. First we’ll get you showered and into clean clothes.” She pointed at her friend’s battered outfit. “Then we eat a nice warm meal.” She smiled and squeezed the shoulders under her palms slightly as Sakura’s features softened into a sort of submission. “And then you and me have to speak about something.” At these words, Sakura shot her head to the right, averting her gaze from her friend’s eyes and her whole being started protesting again. “No.” she simply whispered, still not looking at Ino, barely allowing the hands to stay where they were. “Tss.” Ino scowled, walking yet a step closer to Sakura, using her current head’s position at her advantage by putting her lips close to the girl’s ear before whispering. “You don’t even know what I want to talk about.” And that’s when the images that had crossed her mind that morning, due to her mother’s teasing, came back to her mind. She quickly took a step back, blinking once as if to chase the memory out of her mind, instantly letting go of her friend’s shoulders.
Sakura whimpered. She didn’t know how the sound had escaped her throat, nor why, but the horrified look on Ino’s face, although it had lasted just a second, told her it wasn’t a welcome sound at the moment. What’s wrong with me today? They had thought in unison, however totally oblivious to that fact. A flash of light passing by dismissed the thoughts instantly. What in the world was going wrong this time?
Sakura let out another whimper, a scared one this time, as a kunai found it’s way to her throat in less time than she could manage to react. The fine point of the weapon pressed against her skin sent a cold shiver through her body, just as her mind raced to understand who in the world would manage to get into Konoha and attack her in the open like that. “Put that down, Izlude.” A voice came from behind her, calm and commanding. Ino had froze in place, her own inability to even detect the presence of their assailants eating at her as she braced herself for an all-out attack, already planning the demise of the men – because they could only be men judging by their scent, that had attacked her and Sakura. The one apparently named Izlude smirked, but didn’t let go of Sakura one bit, and the voice repeated itself. “Put. That. Down. Izlude.” The man sighed and let go of Sakura as two other figures walked out of the shadows. In the dark, the carvings on their headbands – that none of them wore on their forehead – was faded out by the reflection of the night lights on them, but they weren’t from Konoha.
The one named Izlude was pretty short, and apparently really slim too, despite the fact he wore a large, dark hooded cape, held around his shoulders by a forehead protector plate. He didn’t seem to be wearing much underneath the cape, except for two oversized gauntlets, tight shorts and a belt that hung around his waist diagonally, holding what seemed like a weird blade in his back, the strange shape of it showing through the thick material of his over-garment. Under his hood he wore some eye protection device, and a hint of silver hair glistened in the moonlight, giving him a very gloomy appearance. He stood to one side of the one who had talked, as the other one smirked at them. He wore a large bandana which held back bright yellow shaggy hair, sharp canines showing through his lips as an evil look crossed his face. He sported a very small vest over his naked and well toned chest, his forehead protector pinned on top of his left shoulder. A long plated glove covered his right arm up to the elbow, and he also wore baggy pants very low on his waist, of a color just as flashy as his own hair. In his back was the evidence of a heavy hammer, holding there by his sheer chakra it seemed.
The last one was different, his face showing no sign of emotion, neither evil or good. His presence somehow felt like Sasuke’s, he wasn’t tall nor small, and his nose was crinkled in a sort of superior look. He had a laid back stance, a dark sports jacket with long striped sleeves open to reveal yet another very muscled chest, wore straight light shorts, his headband wrapped around his right thigh, his’ being the only one that clearly showed their village’s insignia: something that looked like the head of an eagle. His air was particularly spiked – and dark, and he had two glowing blue triangles side to side drawn under his left eye. But the most particular feature of the guy was his glacial blue eyes, that were directed on Sakura. “I am sorry for the trouble.” He said, his voice hollow and untrusting.
Ino had moved closer to Sakura, the pink haired girl still shaken by how close she had gotten to being killed, just like that, in the middle of her own village. “What are you guys doing here at this time? The chuunin exam is only in a month from now!” she said, louder than she had intended. These guys didn’t look like genins, but then again, who knew. It was the only reason she could see for them being allowed to enter Konoha in such troubled times. “Um, right.” The middle guy said thoughtfully, as the one on the right took a step forward. “None of ye’ business ma’am!” The one named Izlude simply grunted in approval, completing the trio’s very weird portrait. “Oh but it is our business, this is our village and as Konoha shinobis, our duty is to protect it from intruders.” Came a familiar voice from behind the two girls. Shikamaru walked out of the shadows as if on cue, his usual bored expression plastered on his face. Asuma followed him a few steps behind – the owner of the voice, his chakra blade in hand and purposefully glowing. And to Ino’s surprise, a fairly well looking Chouji – she guessed by the fact he was holding a bag of chips and munching at them – appeared not far behind them. “So now you’ll have to answer our questions, otherwise you’ll be arrested right away.”
“Sure.” Came the group leader’s reply, as he took a step forward. “But release the Kagemane No Jutsu first.” Shikamaru’s eyes grew wide as he realized that even if he now held the two other ninja’s, the middle one seemed totally immune to his manipulation technique. Asuma waved at him as if to say “do it” and he broke it, instantly re-analyzing the situation in his mind. This wasn’t looking good. “Who are you?” team ten’s sensei asked, not letting his guard down one second. Izlude turned to his team leader, flashing the kunai in the leaf ninja’s direction before the other one shook his head. “We are a genin team from the village of the Hawk. The one on my left.” He pointed to the small cloaked guy. “Is Izlude Asasenkou. (1) And to my right is Hanmaru (2) Dasane.” The mention of these names made Asuma frown, much to the dismay of his team members, and Sakura. “I thought the Hawk village disappeared, years ago.” The last one that remained unnamed nodded once. “I am Iketetsomaru Ematai.” That was enough surprise for Asuma to drop his cigarette from his mouth, his jaw hanging low as he tried to regain his composure. “The Ematai?” Shikamaru asked, glancing at his sensei sideways. “Pff, ye didn’t think that blasting tha’ huge hole in Takamura (3) would kill us all, nayh?” Dasane said, holding his hand up in dismissal of the fun thoughts that seemed to cross his mind. The other three ninjas frowned, neither of them had any knowledge of these events.
“Actually.” Asuma said, returning Shikamaru’s glance. “He’s not the one you think of.” The Nara kid raised an eyebrow. “Koroi-su Ematai was my father.” Came Iketetsomaru’s reply, no hint of emotion showing in his voice. “And that old man is as dead as I’m standin’ right her’in yer face!” Dasane had once again taken the right of speech, and his leader nodded to him to let him continue. “We’re here cuz Takamura wants to make allies of Konoha now that them troubles are over. Tis’ why we came early. We request an audience with Hokage-sama as soon’s possible to determine da clauses of our alliance, so everythin’ can be concluded before da chuunin exam takes place.” Asuma frowned, and Iketetsomaru immediately noticed it. “Once again I am sorry about Izlude’s behaviour.” “The kid loves playing a tad too much fer his own good, y’know. He’s bad for diplomatic issues, but he was the only nin capable of doing the travel back and forth from Konoha to Taka in the given delay.” Dasane added, shooting a disapproving glance to the smaller man. The hooded ninja slightly bowed, sighing once more, before uttering, in a surprisingly clear voice. “Sorry.”
Just as he said that, Sakura’s legs suddenly gave out under her as she collapsed, right into Ino’s alert arms. The blond girl thanked the gods for her quick reflexes as she struggled to put her friend into an upright, easier to maintain position, but it was to no use. Sakura was pretty much out of it, here eyes remaining open by pure pride. She wanted to lay down and sleep, right here, right now. And what was happening around her had little importance right then. Especially since she was slumped into these oh-so-comfy and warm arms, her head leaning on her friend’s pretty nice chest, the air she breathed saturated by the smell of Ino’s sweat, probably amplified by the fear of a fight. But then she felt the world slipping away, the bouquet thumping to the ground, and the last thing she heard was her name, coming from a worried Ino, a friend of hers, she thought, feeling safe despite the situation they were in. Then it all went blank.
“Ha, this is the leaf shinobi? A woman that faints at the simple sound of Izzy’s voice, a slacker, a chip-eating glutton, a fashion model and a sugar daddy? Lemme laugh!” Dasane never saw Iketetsomaru’s hand as he slapped the back of his head, hard enough to make him lose his footing for a second. At this right moment, everyone – that was awake – could’ve sworn they had seen Naruto and Sasuke. And that was weird. “Don’t pay much attention to him. He’s an idiot.” There was a silence, then Asuma picked another cigarette out of it’s pack and smiled. “Ino, Shika, bring Sakura home, or somewhere safe. Chouji, go get Tsunade-sama. I’ll wait here with Ike and friends.” Ino was about to protest when Asuma raised his hand dismissively. “I don’t trust them.” She finally said. Her sensei grinned more. “Me neither, but somehow I think they have no intention of hurting anyone now. Else they die trying.” And he was right. The perimeter was now surrounded by members of Anbu. Well it was about time.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shikamaru had had the brilliant idea to control Sakura with his shadow techniques so Ino didn’t have to carry her up to her place. Sakura lived on the other end of the village and that was too much to ask the poor Nara boy. The pink haired kunoichi stirred not too long after Ino sat her down on the couch in the living room, but it took her a while to take in her surroundings and realize what had just happened. Or had happened a long time ago, she wasn’t sure. “Ino?” That startled the blond haired girl who had been busy preparing that nice and warm meal she had been talking about. “Just a minute Sakura!” she said, making sure nothing was going to burn while she was taking the walk to the living room. “Need something?” Sakura stretched and yawned at the same time, then looked at her friend. “How long have I been sleeping?” she asked, afraid of hearing the truth, somehow. “Meh, not even an hour. Dinner’s almost ready, forehead. So be a good little girl and go wash your hands.” Sakura obeyed without a word, much to Ino’s surprise. When had her friend become so submissive anyway? She shrugged it off and went back to her meal preparation, the smell of it slowly filling the house.
“This looks yummy.” Sakura said watching the plate being placed in front of her by Ino. She smiled and sat across from her, showing a pretty proud smile. “Of course, I made it!” Sakura chuckled and ate. It was good indeed, especially since she had seemed to not eat all that much these past few days. Ino didn’t have that much of an appetite at the moment, and she spent more time watching Sakura than eating. And finally, when she couldn’t bear it anymore, she asked her the question that burned her lips. “Are you okay?” Not that again… Sakura thought, unable to hold back a sigh. It didn’t go unnoticed by Ino. “You shouldn’t work that hard, seriously. You’ll end up killing yourself at it, and you’ll be just as useless as you don’t want to be.” Sakura swallowed a chunk of meat hard, the noise being the last thing they heard for quite a while. They ate silently until Sakura managed to get the words out of her throat. “I’m sorry, Ino.” The blond nearly burst out in laughter. “Is that really all you can say these days Sakura? Sorry and thank you?” The pink haired girl stared at her plate in shame. Please don’t say sorry again. Ino thought. Otherwise I’m going to have to get up and hit you before I hug you tight… “I’ll be more careful.” Ino let out a sigh of relief and smiled at Sakura mischievously. “You better.”
The rest of the meal was eventless, and Ino had leant some clothes to Sakura so she could take a shower and feel clean for once. Then they had sat on Ino’s bed and just talked, about training, about life, the past and the future, and stupid stuff they wouldn’t talk about with anyone else. Something had connected between them, and they could say that now, the bounds that had held them apart were finally really gone. “Didn’t you have something important to tell me earlier?” Sakura asked after a few moments of comfortable silence, after Ino had told her about her mother’s sick jokes. “Oh, yeah.” Ino said, shuddering as she remembered the Taka nins they had met earlier. “Chuunin exam is next month.” Sakura looked at her with a questioning look. “Shika is a chuunin now, and we need teams of three to participate. Chouji should be fully back on his feet by then, but we need a third team member.” Sakura smiled, relieved that the subject was not one that could make her cry. And she had to admit, it was also pretty good for her ego to be asked rather than having to beg her friend for the empty spot. “Who do you think I should ask?” Ino said, trying to sound as serious as she could, noting the face her friend was making. And Sakura believed it for a second. “Me, maybe?” the frustrated girl said, not quite understanding how her friend could be so mean. Ino simply laughed. “Of course, stupid. It was out of the question to ask anyone but you.” She said, poking the tip of her friend’s nose, their face coming inches apart in the motion. For a moment they didn’t move, simply looking at each other as if it was the first time they saw that face from so close – which it probably was, anyway. Then, it seemed like the heat rose constantly, as they slowly blushed, still not quite daring to move. What’s going on? A voice in Sakura’s head said, breaking the atmosphere even before anyone could interrupt it. No, Ino hadn’t heard the voice, but something was all of a sudden amiss, and the magic/spell/curse, whatever it was, broke. They both turned their heads away at the same time, but their bodies still touched and just like this, it started to feel overly uncomfortable. Ino got up nervously, searching for something to say to break the tension, wishing her mother would show up, make a stupid joke, and it would all be forgotten. Not likely to happen. She reminded herself. “You… you wanna go home or you want to stay here? I’ll leave you the bed, I’ll sleep on the couch, I don’t care, you need the rest more than me, anyway. Oh…” Ino remembered what she had told Chouji to mention to Tsunade-sama as he had gone to fetch her. “And no training tomorrow. Tsunade was already told that you weren’t feeling well. I want to be able to find you tomorrow morning. InoSakuCho have to do a preliminary chuunin exam meeting, too.” She smiled, the awkwardness had left her just as it had gotten to her, and she wondered for a moment if anything had happened at all. “Okay.” A now yawning Sakura answered, too tired to even protest.
Ino nodded and was about to leave the room when Sakura called out to her. “Wait.” She turned back, a slight look of annoyance twisting her brows. “Hn?” Sakura thought for a second and decided to drop it, for the moment. “Nah never mind. Good night Ino.” Ino smiled at her and turned back to leave before she whispered back. “Good night, Sakura.”
------------------------------------foot notes----------------------------------
(1) in Japanese, Asasenkou would mean something like “Morning Flash”
(2) Hanmaru, according to an online dictionary would mean “Hammer Guy”
(3) Takamura : Hawk village, according to said translator again. I don’t just make those up!