Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten Events ❯ Chapter 3

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Forgotten Events: Memory III

Event 21: Sound Ninja's Day Off

For being it the Sound Village, it was rather silent, save for the quiet sounds of a teenager whistling while he cleaned a strange machine. Kabuto took a step back and admired his work. The green and black contraption was spotless, just the way he liked it. He picked up the cleaning supplies and bucket, and tidied up, putting each item away where it belonged, it bother him when things were not organized.

"What the hack is that?" It bothered him even more when people didn't mind their own business. Tayuya stood before his precious machine, staring at it as if it was a rare bug.

"This is mine," Kabuto made sure to establish ownership over the machine, hinting that she was not allowed to touch it.

"That doesn't explain what the fudge it is," Tayuya once again stated her question.

Shaking his head hopelessly, Kabuto replied, "it's a jeep."

Tayuya blinked in obvious confusion, "and a jeep would be?"

"A type of car," before she asked what a car was, Kabuto explained "a car is something you ride in."

Tayuya raised an eyebrow. "There are no horses here."

"It doesn't require horses to move, it runs on gas," Kabuto did not like Tayuya's expression, it was filled with curiosity and determination.

"Let's see it work then," the orange haired girl hopped in the back of the jeep and stood with an impatient look, waiting for Kabuto to activate it.

"Fine, but only once around the hideout," the silver haired young man sat behind the wheel and retrieved a small silver key from his pocket, with a musical note keychain attached. After inserting the key in the ignition, he turned it and like magic, the motor started emitting a purr-like sound and the jeep softly vibrated. "Hold on to something."

"Why?" Tayuya's question was soon answered when Kabuto stepped on the gas as an amused grin appeared in his face. Tayuya fell in a sitting position on the back of the jeep and with a few colorful words, she once again hopped to her feet.

The jeep moved through the tunnels with amazing speed, finally reaching the surface. The wind, the speed, it was all heaven for Tayuya. It ended too soon, when Kabuto stopped once again at the entrance to the tunnels. "That was twice around the hideout, time to get off."

"I want to use it!" Tayuya nearly squealed in a very uncharacteristic way.

"You don't know how to drive, besides, I need it," Kabuto knew, he simply knew, from the second Tayuya found his jeep, that his trip would be ruined.

"Don't be so fudging greedy, there's enough room in this thing for four people, so we can both ride it," Tayuya insisted.

Kabuto sighed, his afternoon was ruined, or maybe not? "I'm not going to spend the afternoon driving around the hideout. I was planning to go the next town while Orochimaru is distracted."

"What's up with him anyway? He's been locked in his room for days and won't let anyone in," Tayuya asked.

"Why would you want to try to go in there?" Kabuto had a suspicious smirk.

Tayuya glared at him, "none of your fudging business!"

"If you must know, it's because one of his snake's eggs hatched and he doesn't want us to see him baby talking to the little snakes and playing with them like a child," Kabuto revealed.

Tayuya looked surprised and in disbelief, "seriously?"

Kabuto nodded and she burst out laughing. "You didn't hear it from me!" It was bad enough that Orochimaru had insisted that Kabuto stayed until the 'birth' ended, just in case his precious pet snake needed a doctor.

"Wait till Kin hears about this!" Tayuya was still in uncontrollable laughter.

"Fine, make fun of him, just don't say I told you anything," Kabuto reminded. Orochimaru would kill him if he knew. Kabuto gently pressed the gas pedal again, driving slowly down the tunnels. "I'm going to get ready to go to the next town. I can't go there looking like a ninja."

"Can't you just use a transformation jutsu to blend in?" Tayuya asked.

"That's not how civilians do it, the experience wouldn't be the same," Kabuto reached the underground garage area once again and got off the jeep. He made sure to take the key with him.

"When are you leaving?" Tayuya inquired.

"In about fifteen minutes," Kabuto realized only after he had said it, that it probably wasn't a good idea.

"Good, I'll get Kin, don't leave without us or else!" After stating her threat, Tayuya ran off, ignoring Kabuto's protests.

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Tayuya found Kin training with her teammates Dosu and Zaku. "Kin, take a break, I have to tell you something."

Tayuya sounded like she was up to something and Kin was curious. "What is it?"

"Come over here," Tayuya called.

Curious to know what was gong on, Kin followed, until Dosu and Zaku complained. "Hey, quit taking breaks when it's not break time!"

"Mind your own business, Dosu!" Kin retorted.

"Yeah, don't be nosy about girl talk," Tayuya's attempt to keep Dosu and Zaku out of it, ultimately resulted in failure, as she was not the kind of to like girl talk and they knew it.

Dosu and Zaku decided to pretend they didn't notice something was going on and follow the girls later. "Girl talk? I don't want to hear it, it may be creepy," Zaku covered his ears.

Kin glared at him and left with Tayuya. Once out of earshot, she asked, "what's really going on?"

"Kabuto has a strange machine that moves by itself with gas," Tayuya revealed.

Kin blinked, "a machine, what does it look like?"

"It's green and black, it has seats, a wheel and pedals to control it. Kabuto also used a key to activate it. I've never seen such a thing before in my entire life. He said it was called a jeep and it moves really fast. You just have to see for yourself what it's like to ride on that thing!" Tayuya clearly liked the jeep.

Kin's eyes lit up, if Tayuya was actually exited about the ride, then it must have been really good. "I want to try it!"

"Kabuto is leaving in a few minutes to the next town. I'm going to change into something less ninja looking. He plans to go to town as a civilian." Though using a jutsu to change her appearance would be more practical, Tayuya decided to play along and change her clothes.

"This will be so much fun!" Kin rushed to her room to change.

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Several minutes later, Tayuya knocked on Kin's door. The orange haired girl was wearing black pants and an orange tank top that matched her hair, which was now in a ponytail. "Hey Kin, you ready yet?"

"Almost, come in," Kin's voice came from inside the room.

Tayuya entered the room to find her friend putting on makeup. "What the hack are you doing?"

"I'm putting on make up, if we're going into town as civilians then it kind of fits." Kin finished up her makeup with bright red lipstick that matched the red highlights in her black hair.

"You even dyed your hair?" Tayuya inquired.

"It's instant temporary dye, you just brush it on," Kin admired herself in the mirror one more time. She was wearing a black strapless top, red leather pants and black boots.

"C'mon let's go," Tayuya rushed, but Kin was quick to stand in her way.

"You're not going like that are you?" Kin asked, even though she knew the answer.

"What the fudge is wrong with going like this?" Tayuya didn't like dressing up.

"At least change the sneakers," Kin crossed her arms and refused to move from her position at the door.

"What's wrong with my sneakers?" Tayuya happened to like those old beat up sneakers.

"If you must wear sneakers fine, but use mine." Finally moving away from the door, Kin searched in her closet for a pair of black sneakers. "Here you go."

"Fine, if it'll make you shut up." Once Tayuya was done changing her sneakers, she looked up to find Kin staring at her with a very evil expression. In her hand she held lipstick. "No fudging way!"

"C'mon it's not going to kill you!" Kin insisted.

"I'll kill you if you try it!" Tayuya threatened with obvious intentions of carrying out her threat, should Kin push her luck.

Fortunately the dark haired girl was smarter than that. "How about eye shadow then, just a bit?"

"What does it matter?" Tayuya had always been rather tomboyish, not caring about girly things like makeup. In fact Orochimaru was probably more interested in makeup than her.

"We both need to look our best because we may find some cute guys in town. Think about it, it's our chance to hang out with guys who don't look like mummies, barrels, bugs or freaks." Kin included Dosu in the mummy category, with Jirobo most likely being the barrel, Kidomaru and the others were classified as freaks. "Will you be brave and let me put make up on you? You can think of it as camouflage to blend in with the civilian crowd."

"This better be worth it and it better wash off fast later," Tayuya looked like she was being cruelly tortured when Kin put the smallest amount of make up on her. "Alright that's enough; let's go before Kabuto leaves without us. I gave him the 'or else' threat and I'm going to have to think of what to make of it if he does leave without us. Orochimaru won't want me to kill his doctor, so the obvious revenge is ruled out."

"What's up with Orochimaru these days anyway? Does he have a cold again?" Kin asked as the two girls headed to meet Kabuto.

"You know he's a total baby when he catches a cold, it's so pitiful it's embarrassing, but no, that's not it this time. Kabuto told me and don't tell him I told you, one of Orochimaru's pet snakes had babies and he's playing with them," Tayuya revealed.

Kin laughed, "Oro's a daddy!"

Tayuya burst out laughing, Kin could come up with a few funny things to say every now and then, which is why they were friends, despite their obvious differences in personality. "Oh, man, if he heard you saying that! Actually, I think he's a granddaddy."

"You know what? I think he would be more offended to be called old than to be called the father of a snake," Kin commented.

"I agree," Tayuya nodded.

Finally the two girls made it the area of the hideout where Kabuto was waiting. On their way, they picked up some extra shadows. They were fully aware that they were being followed, but didn't make any effort to stop them. Not just Dosu and Zaku but also Kidomaru, Jirobo, Sakon, and therefore Ukon, and even Kimimaro were following them curiously. The girls didn't often dress up like that.

"Do you realize someone is following you?" Kabuto was wearing jeans and a tshirt, no ninja headband. He looked at the girls' clothing. "You two didn't have to get all dressed up for me, but I appreciate the thought."

"Shut the fudge up. Of course we know we're being followed. Who cares? That jeep thing can out run them anyway," Tayuya answered.

"I see, it's the thrill of the chase, except the fun part is being chanced and knowing we can't be caught. It does sound like fun." Kabuto hopped in the driver's seat while Tayuya and Kin argued over who would ride in the front.

"Don't take us so lightly," Kidomaru jumped out of hiding and the others followed.

"What is that machine of yours?" Sakon inquired.

"It's called a jeep and it's a type of car, cars are very rare, they move without being pulled by horses, they run on gas," Kabuto caused the others to blink in confusion and stare with curiosity.

"That thing really moves? I want to try it!" Zaku exclaimed.

His voice was followed by a chorus of "me too!"

"No, no! I only invited the girls, well actually, they invited themselves, but that's not the point," Kabuto argued.

"Tayuya and Kin, leaving your own teammates behind to go with Kabuto, how terrible!" Sakon exaggerated the drama.

"It must be the silver hair, girls love it." That little comment earned Kabuto a double death glare from Tayuya and Kin, followed by both girls undoing his ponytail and messing up his hair. "Stop that!"

"Forget your stupid hair I want to use the jeep. Don't be so selfish four eyes," Kidomaru paused and realized something. "Hey, where's your extra pair of eyes today?"

"Contact lenses" Kabuto replied.

"Isn't it more convenient to wear them all the time?" Sakon asked.

Kabuto shrugged, "I like my glasses."

"Forget that, I want to try out that jeep thing," Jirobo insisted.

"Oh, dear I hope you're not thinking of asking for a ride," Kabuto exaggerated his worry.

"Why is that?" Jirobo asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Dosu and the others laughed, until Jirobo caught on and attempted to punch Dosu. Dosu dodged, narrowly avoiding the attack, but Jirobo couldn't stop on time and accidentally hit Sakon instead.

"Hey fatso, why did you do that?" Sakon retuned the punch, making Jirobo stumble backwards and step on Zaku's foot in the process.

"Shiny!" Zaku yelled while hopping on one foot. "You'll pay for that!" Zaku attempted to hit Jirobo, but he got out of the way and Kidomaru was caught by the attack. A chaotic battle began.

"Now's our chance!" Kabuto started the jeep and got ready to leave. Kin and Tayuya hopped in the back of the jeep to avoid being left behind.

They zoomed past the fight and the fighters realized that the machine called jeep really was as fast as they heard. In the blink of an eye, all they saw was the ying-yang painted on the extra tire's cover in the back of the jeep, becoming a dot at the end of the tunnel. "Come back here!" They all yelled at once and engaged pursuit to no avail.

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It wasn't until Kabuto, Tayuya and Kin were outside the hideout and had lost sight of their pursuers, that a cough caught their attention. Sitting next to Kabuto, unnoticed until then, was Kimimaro. "Hello," Kimimaro casually greeted.

"When did you get here?" Kabuto had been so focused on his driving, he didn't even notice. The girls were too busy enjoying the ride and making fun of their teammates until they were left out of sight, that they didn't notice Kimimaro either.

"I sat down here while everyone was arguing. It seems I'm quite easily forgotten and ignored," Kimimaro sounded sad.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to ignore you," Kin said.

"We were just distracted," Tayuya added.

"Oh, that's great, now you're being nice to him?" Kabuto's hair was starting to get on his nerves now that it was out of its usual ponytail and the wind kept throwing it in his face.

"Jealous?" Kimimaro smiled.

"Shut up," Kabuto growled.

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Kabuto, Kimimaro, Tayuya and Kin reached the next town a lot faster than they possibly could have on foot, even by ninja standards. "We're here already?" Kin was amazed.

Kabuto nodded, "I really don't know why cars are so rare, if only people would see how useful they are and make more."

"They would be too easy to track," Tayuya pointed at the tire tracks that marked their path in the arid grassless ground.

"Yeah, there's that," Kabuto admitted. "They wouldn't work so well for ninja and it would be inconvenient in heavy vegetation, but still," at a lower speed Kabuto entered the main street of the town. "At least because cars are so rare, it's easy to find a parking spot."

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After parking the roofless jeep, the four sound ninja were off in different directions in the mall, leaving Kimimaro by himself. I'm not sure what I should do here," he shrugged and figured his first action should be to find a place to sit down before he started feeling dizzy. "Being sick sucks," Kimimaro found a bench in the mall and sat down.

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Kin had somehow dragged Tayuya to a clothing store, where the orange haired girl was extremely bored. "Do you even have money to pay for this? If we steal it, it'll blow our civilian cover."

"We'll just look at the clothes for now and think about how to get them later. It'll be fun to try them on!" The way Kin said it like she actually meant it frightened Tayuya. "What's wrong, you look like you saw a ghost?"

"Kin, seriously if shiny like this is your idea of fun, you're one very deprived girl," Tayuya shook her head hopelessly.

"I should have known you wouldn't like shopping," Kin pouted.

"Let's get out of here before I blow our cover by going on a killing spree. There are too many preps around here and over there, emos. Who puts the emo clothes next to the prep clothes?" Tayuya walked out of the store.

"Where are you going?" Kin followed.

"This is boring, there's nothing to do in this town." The place was a mall and a few houses around it, as if people wanted to stay close to the mall all the time. It made Tayuya sick.

"Hey, isn't that Kimimaro over there?" Kin noticed the familiar looking boy sitting on a bench staring into a fountain.

"Yeah, looks like he's as bored as we are," Tayuya observed.

"Speak for yourself, I was having fun," Kin pouted and crossed her arms. Why did she leave the store anyway? Then again, it's not like she had any money and she didn't want to blow her cover by stealing.

"Hello," Kimimaro greeted them. "Are you here to rest too?"

"Seriously, being sick must suck, resting all the time," Tayuya couldn't stand it if it was her.

"It's not so bad," though he was saying that, Kimimaro gave them the saddest look possible.

"Come with us, we'll go somewhere we can all enjoy," Kin invited.

"Sounds like fun, where are we going?" Kimimaro asked.

The girls scanned the area for a possible destination. "There!" Tayuya pointed at the food court area, specifically at the ice-cream stand.

"Great idea," Kin agreed.

"I could use some ice-cream but I don't have money. I'm suspicious enough as it is because I didn't have time to dress as a civilian before we left. I don't want to blow your cover," Kimimaro voiced.

"It's okay, I don't have enough money for clothes, but I think I have enough for ice-cream," Kin assured.

"Yeah me too, c'mon we'll invite you," Tayuya insisted. Kimimaro smiled, though he would never admit it, the liked getting attention.

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Sometime later, after eating their ice-cream, the three sound ninja wondered around the mall completely broke. "Orochimaru gives us such a small allowance," Kin commented.

"Small? There's the understatement of the whole fudging century, A little more and we'll be paying him to work," Tayuya dramatized.

"We totally need to get more money out of him, this sucks," Kin pouted.

"Hack yeah," Tayuya agreed. The entire time Kimimaro quietly walked between the two girls, with his arms around their waists, supposedly so he wouldn't feel dizzy and fall.

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A little later, they spotted Kabuto carrying several bags. "How's the shopping going? We'll be visiting the beach hideout next week, so I wanted to get some supplies."

"The beach hideout?" Kin squealed. "Why didn't you say so before? I need to buy something to wear, or rather steal it since I have no money."

"Didn't you buy a bikini last month when you dragged me all over the fudging store?" Tayuya reminded her.

"Yes, but if we're staying for a week I'll need more than one. What are you going to wear? You didn't buy anything that day?" Kin reminded.

"Shorts and a tank top," Tayuya sounded uninterested.

"You're not going to get a tan like that," Kin pointed out.

"I don't care about getting a tan," Tayuya replied.

Kabuto was getting impatient. "If you would be so kind to look this way, ladies," Kabuto proudly help up a credit card, Orochimaru's credit card. The two girls immediately let go of Kimimaro and attempted to take the card from Kabuto. "Not so fast! Let's all go to the store and I'll decide how much you each get to spend. Kimimaro you're looking kind of pale. Why don't you rest on that bench over there and watch the bags for us while we go buy some things."

As Kabuto and left, linking arms with Tayuya and Kin, Kimimaro glared at him and grumbled, "cheater, using that card to get all the attention." Kimimaro sat on the bench and continuously kicked Kabuto's purchases, with a sharp bone sticking out of his toe.

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Kabuto, Tayuya and Kin arrived at a store with all sorts of beach related supplies. It took a while for Kin to decide on what tanning lotion she wanted, since she kept changing her mind, until Kabuto, being a doctor and becoming bored of all the waiting, gave her his opinion on which one was better for her skin. Moments later, Kin was happily bouncing about in the bathing suit section, while Tayuya was just about ready to die of boredom. By the time Kin decided what she wanted and actually convinced Tayuya to get something new wear at the beach, the girls had lost track of Kabuto, or rather Kin had left him behind in her mad shopping dash, to which she dragged Tayuya.

After a quick search they spotted Kabuto examining some surf boards. "You surf?" Tayuya asked.

"Not really, but I want to try it, besides Orochimaru's birthday is soon so I better get him something," Kabuto mused. "By the way thanks for ditching me back there."

"We didn't ditch you, you were just being slow. What's that about Orochimaru's birthday?" Kin inquired.

"Remember last year when Orochimaru kept asking if we had something to tell him and no one knew why?" Kabuto reminded.

"Yeah, then he made us run laps around the hideout without rest for three days straight, except Kimimaro who had to run for a week." Tayuya's memory of the occasion was followed by a stream of colorful words, remembering how much her feet ached afterwards.

"I think that's what finally pushed his health over the edge," Kin commented.

"Probably, later I figured out that Orochimaru was expecting us to tell him 'happy birthday'. Kimimaro was worse off because he actually remembered the occasion and gave Orochimaru a knitting set. You know how he can get a bit sensitive about being old," Kabuto explained.

"So you're getting him a surf board?" Tayuya inquired. Kabuto nodded and the girls burst out laughing at the image of Orochimaru, looking absolutely ridiculous while trying to surf.

"If we don't get him a gift that makes him feel young, he'll ruin our week at the beach hideout," at Kabuto's words of warning, both girls fell silent.

"Right, then let's get him the surf board," Kin nodded.

Tayuya also agreed, "let' tell him it's from all of us."

"We'll also need to get a cake for that day and party hats," Kabuto mused. "We might as well get the hats and decorations and hide them, that way we only need to get the cake later."

"Party hats?" Tayuya was in disbelief.

"And decorations?" Kin added.

"What is he five?" Tayuya caught sight of someone approaching.

"A childish atmosphere will make him feel younger," Kabuto explained. Kin and Tayuya discreetly tried to point out that there was a certain someone behind him, while at the same time trying to hold back laughter. "Remember, do not ask him how old he is and if he says he's in his twenties, pretend you believe him." Finally catching the hint, Kabuto turned around and came face to face with a pair of golden snake-like eyes. "Orochimaru!"

Flashback

"Who's the cutest little baby snake?" Orochimaru was still playing with his new pets. However, the parent snakes were getting annoyed because he kept trying to teach their babies how to play fetch and wouldn't let them take their naps. The two parent snakes nodded at each other and each bit one of Orochimaru's hands. "Ah!" Screaming of the top of his lungs, Orochimaru ran around the hideout waving his arms wildly with the snakes attached. Finally, he managed to get the snakes to let him go and proceeded to search for his local doctor, whom he didn't find. However, the remaining sound ninja were able to provide him with some clues of the medical ninja's whereabouts.

End Flashback

"Who are you talking about Kabuto?" Orochimaru asked. The three young sound ninja stared at him in disbelief. He was wearing torn jeans with way too many holes, a pair of old dirty sneakers and a dark blue tshirt with shiny silvery letters that read 'glasses are sexy'. He was also wearing glasses, except the glass part was missing. "Well? Who are you talking about?"

"Kimimaro, he's feeling the effect of old age," Tayuya blurted out.

"Yeah, that's why he's always resting," Kin aided her.

Kabuto nodded and when the shock sunk in, he asked, "where did you get those clothes and those glasses?"

"I needed a little help with some first aid," Orochimaru showed them the bandages messily tied up around his hands. Sakon was not a medical ninja. "I couldn't find you so I went so see if you were in your room, you weren't there, but the closet door was wide open and I saw some clothes I wanted to borrow. I borrowed your glasses to make truth to what the shirt says, but the glass part made things look funny so I removed it."

"My glasses, my precious glasses!" Kabuto dramatically screamed.

"Your glasses should be the last of your worries. What are you three doing here, running off without permission?" Orochimaru was annoyed.

Kabuto was too depressed to respond, so Kin spoke. "We can't tell because it's a secret." Orochimaru didn't look very convinced yet.

"Yeah, it's a secret for a special occasion, but we can't tell you what it is," Tayuya tried to make Orochimaru catch the hint and it worked.

"I see, well then, I'll go back tot he hideout so that you may all continue with your secret shopping." Orochimaru smiled, looking rather scary, even though it was supposed to be a happy smile because his minions were planning his birthday party. Orochimaru left Tayuya and Kin to deal with the depressed Kabuto. The silver haired young man would have to console himself giving Orochimaru's credit card a good workout.

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Event 22: A Taste of Your Own Medicine

Itachi lay motionless on the ground next to their camp site, while Kisame poked him with a stick. The shark man dropped the stick, bent over and proceeded to poke Itachi with his finger. "Hey, wake up!" No reply came from the comatose Uchiha.

That morning, Kisame had woken up to Itachi's voice singing, "I'm too sexy for Akatsuki, too sexy for Akatsuki, too sexy yeah!" The handsome Uchiha was sitting on a log, having already packed up his tent. He was currently brushing his long black hair. He made faces at the mirror and ran his fingers over the lines on his face. They had bothered him before, but soon he noticed he was too good looking to be affected by such small details so he paid less attention to them these days.

Kisame was thankful that Itachi lost his complex, since he had stopped going into every pharmacy they came across to buy a different brand of facial cream. His self confidence had certainly gone up ever since he accepted the cute little lines as simply part of his face. Unfortunately for Kisame, who had to put up with him, his ego had gone up too. Every morning it was the same thing. Itachi would wake up singing that same song, while he stared at himself in the mirror adoringly and brushed his hair.

That morning had been no different. Kisame got up in a foul mood, feeling somewhat jealous that he looked so ugly compared to Itachi, or compared to most people for that matter. Even so, he brushed it off. At least he wasn't terrified of scratching his nail polish like Itachi was. Oh yes the Uchiha's nails were always perfectly manicured. "Good morning Kisame!" Itachi cheerfully greeted with a smile on his face that he would not show, should an enemy ninja be anywhere near by.

"Morning," Kisame was not feeling too energetic. "I'm going to the river near by to get some water." The shark man left. By the time Kisame returned, he found Itachi knocked out on the ground. It couldn't be the work of thieves because nothing was missing from their camp. It couldn't be fan girls, because otherwise they would have kidnapped Itachi. Who did this was a big mystery to Kisame. Itachi was a strong ninja; he shouldn't be defeated so easily. Furthermore, Kisame found no traces of anyone other than Itachi being in the area during his short absence.

"Ow," Itachi stirred. "Oh..."

"Itachi?" Kisame poked him once more.

"Ouch, stop poking me." With some help from Kisame, Itachi stood up still using his partner for support. "Mirror... evil... Mangekyo Sharingan..." After saying those words, he collapsed back into a coma.

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"Kisame! Kisame!" Itachi wondered around in circles in a clearing in a forest. "Kisame, where did you go?" His partner lay dead on the ground with the sword of Kusanagi stabbed into his heart. A grinning boy with black hair and red eyes stood other him.

Making a hand sign the boy used a transformation jutsu to turn into Kisame. "I'm right here Itachi," the fake Kisame replied. He noticed the older Uchiha was extending his hand as if waiting for Kisame to serve as a guide. His headband was over his eyes instead of on his forehead.

"Don't abandon me like that," Itachi took his hand and they started walking.

"That's right, sometimes I forget you were blinded that time," the fake Kisame searched for information as to how it happened.

"Don't make fun of me," Itachi complained. "I can see I'm just... well... you know what happened with the Sharingan and the mirror."

The fake Kisame, who was really Sasuke in disguised. held back a laugh. "You're afraid of your own eyes?"

"Don't make fun of me! You're not too fond of mirrors either, remember?" Itachi argued.

Sasuke was planning to kill him there and then, but decided that there was another way. On his search to find Itachi and take revenge, he found a place that angered and disturbed him. That place was now his destination.

"Are we near the Akatsuki Headquarters?" Itachi asked. They had been walking for quite some time.

"Almost there." They arrived at the place and Sasuke grinned evilly, looking at the large sign at the door that read 'Itachi Fan Club'. He opened the door and led Itachi inside. "I have a gift for you ladies," Sasuke, disguised as Kisame announced. The squeals of many fan girls were heard.

"Kisame, where are we? What's going on?" Itachi was panicked. Squeals were not a good sign and that many could only make it worse.

"I'm not Kisame," Sasuke spoke in his normal voice, since he had been trying to sound like Kisame before, although he still maintained his disguise. He backed away towards the door, far from the fan girls so he could make a quick escape after revealing his identity. "Farewell, brother!" Sasuke was gone with the speed of a true ninja.

"No!" Itachi screamed. As if on cue, countless fan girls pounced on him. It is said that his terrified screams were heard by Naruto in the Hidden Leaf village, by Gaara in the Hidden Sand village, by Kabuto in the Hidden Sound village and even the Third Hokage, may he rest in peace, had heard.

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Itachi slowly opened his eyes, regaining consciousness. "Kisame!" He screamed when the face of his partner came into focus. "What a terrible thing to wake up to."

Kisame frowned. "What ever happened to thank you for your concern Kisame, I'm sorry I worried you?"

Itachi rubbed his aching head and extended his hand. Kisame noticed he wanted help getting up refused to take it. Sighing hopelessly, Itachi recited Kisame's words as if it was a hastily learnt song, "thank you for your concern Kisame, I'm sorry I worried you."

After hearing that, Kisame helped Itachi to his feet. "What happened to you?"

"I accidentally activated the Mangekyo Sharingan while looking in the mirror and had a terrible nightmare. I was afraid of my own eyes so I covered them with my headband. Sasuke came and murdered you with Orochimaru's sword. Then he pretended to be you and led me into a trap full of rabid fan girls and the girls tore me apart fighting over who would keep me and... and... it was scary!" Itachi was near the point of tears. "You don't know what it's like to be fought over for three days even if it was three seconds in real life. In my dream, they tossed me around and poked me and glomped me for three days, until they finally tore me appear by pulling me in different directions and I died. You don't know what it's like to have crazy wild fan girls following you like hunter ninjas!" Itachi was in hysterics. "You don't know what it's like! You don't know how scary it is!" The tears started to escape from his red eyes.

Kisame nearly turned from blue to green with jealousy. He would never know what it was like to have fan girls. Even so, he tried to be supportive and gave Itachi a gentle pat on the back, trying to console the frightened Uchiha. "There, there Itachi, it was just a nightmare."

Itachi hugged Kisame and let himself cry. He didn't care about ninja rule number twenty five anymore, the rule about not showing emotions and not crying. He may be a shinobi but he had no intentions of keeping his emotions bottled up this time. He was scared and mentally scarred and he needed to let it out. After a while, the crying came to an end. "Thanks Kisame, but it would have been better if the nice fan girl who tried to set me free in my dream was the one hugging me. She was the only one who treated me like a person rather than an object of affection to obsess about and they killed her." Itachi sniffled and let go of Kisame. He wrinkled his nose and stressed his point. "Honestly, I really wish she was real and hugging me instead of you."

"Ingrate, I get it, I'm not easy on the eyes," Kisame grumbled, "but your eyes are not easy on anyone."

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Event 23: Troublesome (InoxShikamaru, NarutoxHinata)

The sunlight reached into the young man's room, creating shadows that he could easily control had he felt like it. The alarm clock sounded its annoying melody, signaling the start of another day. 'How troublesome,' Shikamaru thought. He wanted to lift his arm, pick up the annoying alarm clock and throw it against a wall. He could imagine its high pitched song becoming silence as its pieces scattered all over the floor, but that would be troublesome and furthermore pointless.

He had to get up, he knew it but it was just so troublesome. It was just another pointless day so maybe he would stay in bed and sleep in all day long. It was just another pointless day of watching Chouji eating chips and listening to Ino talk about Sasuke. She did it less often now than years ago, yet somehow it bothered him more now than it did then, not that he blamed Sasuke for his annoyance, he blamed Ino for being so troublesome.

It was as if the barrier of indifference around Shikamaru disappeared like a shadow with no light at Ino's presence. He couldn't pint point when exactly it started being like that, but it was. Maybe the process had been so slow and natural he didn't even notice. Then again, she always cheered for him for as long as he could remember. Although she wasn't happy with her team when they were first assigned to work together, and she made that fact quite clear, they had come to get along very well and were always supportive of one another.

Tired of listening to his alarm clock, Shikamaru sat up and pressed the little button on top of the terrible invention of doom and insanity. He got up, took a pointless shower and ate a troublesome breakfast. It was so very troublesome to distribute the syrup evenly on the pancakes to get that delicious yet pointless taste. The food would be food regardless of how it tasted, but he had to admit, he preferred it when it tasted good. Then he headed off to meet his teammates.

He was the last one to arrive, but he was still on time, so neither Ino nor Chouji commented on the less than early arrival. The three ninjas waited for their mission to be assigned along with other teams.

"I'm going to be the greatest hokage, believe it!" A blond young man proudly declared. Now it sounded a little more believable than it had a few years ago. A pink haired young woman shook her head and rolled her green eyes. Catching her expression, the blond young man directed his blue gaze at her. "Don't you believe it, Sakura?"

She took a moment to choose the right words for her answer and spoke with full honesty. "It's not that I don't believe it, Naruto. I'll admit you have come a long way. It's just that..." She paused, her soft tone of voice changed to nearly a scream of annoyance. "You don't have to remind us every five minutes!"

Naruto quickly placed his hands over his ringing ears. "You didn't have to yell at me!"

"I wasn't yelling!" Sakura raised the volume of her voice.

"That's enough you two. You're acting like little kids!" A handsome young man with dark hair and eyes scolded them.

"Naruto," Hinata spoke softly. "I think you would make a great hokage."

Naruto smiled and put an arm around her. "Thank you Hinata. I know I can always count on you. You don't need to be so shy you know." Hinata nodded. "It's okay, I think it's cute." He gave her a kiss. The only time he had heard her speak up was probably when she confessed her feelings to him.

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Keeping such strong feelings bottled up inside was not only troublesome but also pointless since eventually they would get out. One day Hinata was watching Naruto train and he noticed her presence. "Hinata? Why don't you come out? I could use a little help with my training if you're not busy."

"You want me to help?" Hinata asked softly.

"Yes, you're a great ninja!" Naruto was always smiling, always cheerful. That was one of the things she liked about him, how he always found the bright side to any situation and never gave up.

"Thank you," Hinata was blushing a little and looking at the ground as she often did when Naruto was around.

"Hinata, can I ask you something?" He moved a little closer, hoping she would look up from the ground. He took a moment to look at the ground, it was just regular green grass. He looked at her shoes and at his, wondering if he had stepped on something, but his shoes were just as any other shinobi's shoes after training for a while.

"Yes Naruto?" As she spoke those words, not once did she take her eyes off the ground.

"Look at me Hinata," he requested. Hinata slowly lifted her head. He was only a few inches away. "You don't have to stay if you don't want to. If you don't like to be around me I'll understand, just please tell me why."

She paused, looking a little surprised. Was that what he thought was going on? "Naruto, I..."

"You hardly talk to me. I know you're very nice but why do you avoid me? It doesn't sound like something you would do without a reason. I thought I smelled bad or something, but I took a bath before starting my training and I used plenty of deodorant. The deodorant said it was for hard working shonobis, expensive too. Is it helping?" Naruto asked.

Hinata couldn't help it but to laugh. His sense of humor was something else she liked about him. "Naruto, you don't smell bad."

"I don't?" Laughter was easily contagious for him.

"Really, you smell just fine," Hinata felt the shyness return to her after it had disappeared for a few seconds.

"It's nice to see you smiling and laughing like that. You look really cute." Hinata blushed. "There's no need to be shy, okay? I'd like to talk to you more often," Naruto smiled.

"Naruto, I..." She took a deep breath, it was now or never. "I really like you!" Hinata nearly yelled.

Naruto blinked as if it took a moment, a long moment, for him to understand what she meant. Was that the reason why she was being so shy? All that because she liked him? He smiled from ear to ear. "I like you too Hinata!" Naruto and Hinata could often be seen together after that afternoon. He had always been outgoing and a little loud, while she was shy and quiet, but it was alright because they complemented each other.

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That had been quite the show. The two shinobis were feeling the harshness of the persistent summer sun but they didn't stop their training. Taking off their shirts would probably make the possibility of sun burn worse, but it would be a little more comfortable to feel the soft summer breeze on their skin. It was a very nice show indeed. Hinata had been watching, hidden up in a tree. There were girls on the trees and in the bushes, all around. Anyone who visited the Leaf Village that day would wonder where all the young women went, because they could not be found in the stores or recreational areas of the village. They were all watching the show.

"Ino, this is pointless," Shikamaru was hiding in some bushes. Ino was watching the battle between Naruto and Sasuke. Shikamaru wasn't even sure why she insisted on dragged him there. "Ino!"

"Shh! Not now," Ino didn't take her eyes off Sasuke.

"I'm leaving," Shikamaru attempted to get up, but Ino grabbed his arm.

"If you move now they'll discover my position," Ino explained.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "I'm certain that with all the squeals they must know by now they're surrounded by girls. I'm not going to sit here wasting my time. Why don't you find your friend Sakura so the two of you can have a fangirl moment together."

"Oh shut up and sit down," Ino insisted.

Shikamaru wasn't sure why in the world she dragged him there when the news got out of the little afternoon training session between Sasuke and Naruto. In fact, he wasn't sure why in the world he let her drag him there. Other than Sasuke and Naruto, he was probably the only man there. He could imagine what people would say. He had already received a few odd looks from random girls hiding near by. "Ino..."

"Shh!" Ino wrapped her arms around him to keep him sitting still. "Just be quiet, okay? If you leave you'll give away my position. Just for a little longer Shika. Then we'll go meet Chouji like we planned. He'll understand if we're a little late." Suddenly Shikamaru didn't mind the pointless waste of time that was being there anymore. He didn't care about the odd stares and weirded out glances he would be getting the next day. Being that close to Ino wasn't so bad, it felt good. How troublesome, it was pointless and so troublesome. Shikamaru found a lot of things to be troublesome, but Ino was the most troublesome of all.

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"Do you have any idea how expensive that deodorant was?" Naruto pouted. "Well Mr. I'm too cool to smile more than once a week, it was very expensive!"

"Good, next time we train you can put it to good use. Unless you were trying to knock me out with the smell." Without warning, although Sasuke knew it would happen, Naruto tackled him and the two went rolling down a hill.

"You're mean you know that Sasuke?" Naruto accused after they reached the bottom.

"You're stupid, you know that Naruto?" Maybe Sasuke had spent too much time with Naruto, who had become his best friend, and was becoming a little less serious.

"Hey Sasuke," Naruto spoke while they rested in the cool grass and looked up at the stars. "What are your plans for the future now?" He knew that he planned to face Itachi, but he had already done that.

"I'm going on a trip," Sasuke answered.

"What? You're going away? You can't do that, we're a team!" Naruto complained.

"It's been decided." Clearly Sasuke wasn't going to change his mind. "The Hokage already knows. It's alright for me to leave the village for a little while. I want to travel on my own."

"What about your team?" Naruto complained.

"You'll be fine. It's not like I'll never set foot in the Leaf Village again. I'll come back some day," Sasuke assured.

"Why do I have the feeling that it might take a while?" Naruto still didn't like it.

"Because it might," Sasuke got up. "I have to get up early tomorrow."

As he started to walk away, Naruto stopped him. "You're leaving tomorrow aren't you?" The black haired ninja nodded. "Why? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Sometimes you can have a big mouth and I didn't want anyone else to know. Only the Hokage and Kakashi knew I'm leaving. I don't want to be followed. This is a trip just for me," Sasuke explained.

Naruto nodded, "I can keep a secret you know. I respect that if you want to go on your own, but you still should have told me. I guess I'll see you off bright and early tomorrow."

"You don't have to," Sasuke replied.

"Stop trying to act cool, we're pals now, remember? Oh did I tell you? Hinata said she likes me and she told me I smelled fine. I'm going to go out with her. I've always kind of liked her but she kept avoiding me so I never asked her out," Naruto grinned.

"I'm really happy you found someone who can put up with you Naruto." Naruto childishly stuck out his tongue, causing Sasuke to shake his head hopelessly.

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Sasuke had returned sooner than expected, although sometimes he disappeared for days and no one knew where he went. He and Naruto had become even better friends, which was something that no one could have imagined a few years ago.

After their mission was assigned Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji headed for their destination. They probably wouldn't be back for a few days. They had become stronger and were old enough and experienced enough to go on missions on their own. The stage in their lives where they needed a sensei to guide them was over. Now they trained and improved on their own.

"I hope I packed enough food," Chouji commented as they moved further away from the Leaf Village.

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The mission was easy to accomplish. Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji were on their way back to the Leaf Village when night fell and they decided to make camp. "Ino! Ino!" Ino woke up and immediately noticed that it was raining outside. Luckily their tents were water proof. She opened the zipper to find Shikamaru soaking wet and shivering from the cold. "Can I come in?"

"Um... sure" Ino moved away from the tent's entrance to allow Shikamaru to crawl inside. "What were you doing out there?"

"I left my tent at home. I thought it was pointless to bring it since I could simply sleep outside and setting it up is always so troublesome. It's troublesome to carry something I'm not really going to use," Shikamaru explained.

"And now you wish you had it," Ino laughed. "You can be quite amusing sometimes Shikamaru."

Shikamaru decided not to answer that and instead went straight to the point. "Do you mind if I stay here? Chouji he snores and would keep me awake all night with all that noise. Besides, there's hardly any space for me there with all the food he brought. Carrying to much luggage is so pointless."

Somehow it didn't feel right to leave her teammate, friend and new secret crush out in the cold rain in the middle of the night. "Alright, but you have to get yourself dried off before you get a cold and give me a cold too." Since she knew Shikamaru only carried what was necessary, Ino started to look in her backpack for a towel.

"Ino, have you seen Shikamaru?" A voice suddenly asked. Ino turned her head towards the entrance of the tent where Chouji stood with an umbrella. "Sorry, I didn't know." Chouji quickly apologized, although Ino wasn't sure why. "I woke up for a midnight snack and Shikamaru was gone so I came to ask if you knew what happened. Your tent was unzipped so I didn't know you needed privacy. I'll be going back to my tent now. See you both in the morning. Don't stay up too late, don't forget we'll get a few days off when we get back to the Leaf Village from this mission so there will be plenty of time to rest, eat and do other stuff." Chouji stopped rambling and left, his cheeks were quite red as he hurried away back to his tent.

Ino was a bit confused. "Shikamaru what was Chouji talking," she turned to look at Shikamaru, "about..."

"I don't know," Shikamaru zipped the tent closed. The cold night air on his wet skin wasn't exactly a pleasant feeling.

"Shikamaru, you idiot!" Ino yelled. "Now I understand what Chouji thought."

"You said the wet clothes would make me catch a cold and give you a cold, remember?" Shikamaru voiced.

"Yes, but... I... Oh, never mind" She tossed a towel at him. "Get yourself dried off and I'll talk to Chouji in the morning." In that sleepless night, Sasuke was the last think on Ino's mind. It was a little hard to think of anyone else when there was a handsome towel-clad ninja fast sleep beside her.

It wasn't until morning that Ino fell asleep, rolled over and woke Shikamaru. Why did she have to be so troublesome? Sure her surprised expression the night before was absolutely priceless, but he didn't find it amusing now. She had rolled over on top of him keeping him trapped in place. He could simply stay there until she woke up. It wasn't like he had somewhere to be, but explaining to Ino why he didn't wake her up would be very troublesome. He tried to escape, moving her as gently as possible so she wouldn't wake up. This was so troublesome. Finally, he managed to set her down and fortunately she was still sleeping peacefully. He got dressed and escaped as quietly as possible.

"Good morning Shikamaru," Chouji greeted while he prepared a big breakfast. He caught sight of the red color on the other ninja's face and couldn't help it but to ask. "Did you have fun last night?"

Shikamaru was taken by surprise, having almost forgotten about Chouji's little misunderstanding the night before. "Can we just drop the subject, please?"

Chouji smiled mischievously. "Oh no, I'm not going to let you live this down for a long time. Are such activities even allowed during missions?"

"We weren't doing anything and besides the mission was over anyway. We'll be back at the Leaf Village today," Shikamaru grumbled.

"That is if we get going right after breakfast. Is Ino still sleeping?" Chouji asked.

Shikamaru looked towards her tent. "I'll go wake her up." As he arrived at the tend, Shikamaru noticed that Ino was dreaming. She was talking in her sleep so she must have been dreaming. The most interesting part was that she was saying his name and not Sasuke's as he would expect. "Ino, wake up!" He shook her shoulder until she woke up from her pleasant dream to find him inches away from her. The tent was pretty small after all.

"Shikamaru!" Ino remembered that she was not alone in the tent. He must have gotten dressed while she was still asleep, a pity. Some time ago, her usual dreams of Sasuke had been replaced by dreams of Shikamaru. She didn't think too much of it. It was only natural since they were on the same team and therefore spent more time together.

"It's morning," Shikamaru informed. Why did the situation feel so troublesome?

"Hey lovebirds, are you two going to eat some breakfast? If you don't want it, I'll eat it all," Chouji appeared at the entrance to the tent, which Shikamaru had again left open.

"Chouji," Shikamaru knew he wouldn't give it a rest.

"It is both troublesome and pointless to try to contradict Chouji when he has made up his mind," Ino quoted what Shikamaru had told her some time ago, during another mission.

"I guess you're right," Shikamaru agreed. Just like it happened for Hinata and Naruto, for Ino and Shikamaru, troublesome feelings would eventfully be resolved. After all, it was pointless to try to hide it.

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Event 24: Shadow Kiss (ShikamaruxIno)

Ino sighed deeply, making a pause in her speech, "that is what I want to feel," she finished. She looked towards Shikamaru, who was obviously not paying attention. Their team was supposed to be training, but Chouji kept complaining of hunger so they took a break.

Shikamaru had sat down on a small hill to watch the clouds. Ino soon joined, sitting beside him even if he had not made any kind of hints that he wanted her company. However, he did not appear to be bothered by her presence either.

She started chatting about that special moment she longed to feel with the kiss of her true love. The conversation began because Valentine's Day was approaching, so love appeared to be a common topic those days. "Shikamaru, are you even listening to me?" There she was, describing her perfect Valentine's kiss and he wasn't paying attention. She crossed her arms and glared daggers at him.

Shikamaru shifted his gaze away from the clouds and in Ino's direction for just a moment. "Why are you telling me this?" Although it didn't look like it, he had been listening, he had heard every word.

Flashback

"I want that moment to be special," Ino had said. "It will be a perfect Valentine's Day kiss. I want to feel as if my body moves on its own being drawn to my true love. We come closer and closer, then slowly, a loving kiss, that's my Valentine's wish. Do you think it'll come true? Do you think he will..." she paused and sighed deeply. The image wasn't too clear in her mind anymore. In the past she could clearly see 'him' as Sasuke, but now the man in her dream had become a mystery. "That is what I want to feel."

End Flashback

Ino wasn't sure she knew the answer to Shikamaru's question. "Because you're my friend," was the first thing that came into her mind. "Friends tell each other things like this." She got up and started walking down the hill. "I'll see if Chouji has finished his snack yet so we can continue training."

Then Shikamaru called her, "Ino."

She turned to face him and suddenly she couldn't move. Her shadow had been captured by his the second she turned around and as he walked forward, so did she. Closer and closer then there was a loving kiss, just like her wish. She could see him clearly now. The man in her dreams was no longer a blur he was Shikamaru.

End of Event 24

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Event 25: Future Plans (ShikamaruxIno)

'I was going to be a so-so ninja and earn an okay salary...'

In the quiet of the night, three ninjas made their way deep into enemy territory. Their mission was to recover a very important scroll with vital information and meet up with their village's other teams. The light of the full moon shining upon the guards made it easy for one of those ninjas to use a jutsu that involved shadows.

Two other ninjas moved forward. Their mission was to get the scroll and leave as quickly as possible. A guard was taken by surprise, making for an easily borrowed disguise. One of the ninja stayed at that point, guardian his teammate. However, she was not really there.

Disguised as one of the enemies, she easily made her way to the deepest room in the fortress. She took the scroll and returned unnoticed. Now back to being herself, the two went to the entrance from which they came and met their teammate, who still held the guards firmly in place. The guards were released from their shadowy prison, but before they could stop them, the three ninjas were gone.

A considerable distance from there, they reunited with the other teams. Each team had accomplished their mission and the four teams went to the second phase. The mission as a whole was successful thanks to the vital information obtained from the scroll. They returned to the Hidden Leaf village as heroes.

'Marry a regular girl who'd be neither a beauty nor a hag...'

Ino stood at the edge of the rooftop. The wind was gently playing with her long blond hair. The sun was setting in the horizon of the Hidden Leaf village, creating a spectacle of bright reds, oranges and yellows.

Shikamaru approached and without turning around, Ino smiled recognizing his presence. He stood beside her and watched the sunset; it was almost as much fun as watching the clouds. He couldn't help it but to be amazed at her beauty and to think she was his fiance.

'Have two kids, first a girl then, after that, a boy...'

The news had come as a surprise to him. The news itself was not so surprising, it was only natural and it was to be expected. What shocked him was a certain detail about the news. Had Ino said she was going to have a baby; Shikamaru would have only been half as surprised as he was. She was not going to have a baby; she was going to have two, twins, a girl and a boy.

'Then I'd retire when my oldest girl got married and my son became independent...'

It seemed that all the top shinobis in the village had gathered in the hospital that day. Shikamaru paced back and forth, while Chouji commented that he was almost as bad as Naruto when it was Hinata giving birth and that it was so unlike him to do anything except sitting still.

The birth went without any complications for Ino. The twins were born healthy and strong. First the girl, then a few minutes later, the boy.

'After that I'd play Shogi and Go all day long, living a relaxed and easy retired life...'

The Hidden Leaf village shinobi were one of the most well known in the world. The teams from that village, especially the top four teams, were always busy with missions and he, his wife and his best friend, were one of those teams.

'Then I'd go of old age before my wife...'

After the time of frequent missions there followed a time of peace. It was an era when even those top ranked teams could take a break and spend time with their families. To Shikamaru, sitting beside Ino watching the Nara children running around playing with the Uzumaki and Uchiha children, was infinitely more relaxing than watching the clouds, despite the children's vast energy.

'I wanted that kind of life and then I tried to do my best, which is so unlike me...'

"Sometimes doing your best really is worth it..."

End of Event 25

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Event 26: Not Just the Jacket (ShikamaruxIno)

Shikamaru did his best to glare, but the look in his eyes was more of annoyance than anger. Ino and Chouji were making fun of how he looked with his new jacket after he had been promoted to chunin level.

Although he had continuously told them not to laugh while keeping a straight face himself, he couldn't help it but to wonder about Ino's comment that even he didn't look so bad in that jacket. Even if it was not like him at all to care about his appearance, Shikamaru couldn't help it but to feel... curious for lack of better word.

He wanted to know if she was only joking or if maybe she found him remotely handsome. Surprised at his own thoughts, he quickly forced himself to dismiss them, but such thoughts were stubborn and were destined to return later.

It wasn't until a considerable amount of time later that Shikamaru could no longer push the memory of Ino's comment to the back of is mind where he could barely hear it. Instead her voice stubbornly echoed in his every thought. As if on cue, he saw the blond that occupied his thoughts, crossing the bridge ahead.

By his ever precise calculations, Shikamaru determined that if they continued walking at that same speed, taking into account the direction of the wind and any other seemingly insignificant factors that could make a fraction of a difference when properly analyzed with an IQ of 200, he concluded that they would meet at the center of the bridge. Not the exact center, but approximately five inches more towards the south part.

When Ino and Shikamaru came face to face they stopped at the bridge, in the exact positions he had calculated. Ino casually greeted him and started to chat. From what he could gather, she was sent on an errand of some sort. He didn't pay enough attention to her words to know what exactly she was supposed to do, but by the expression on her face, which he studied in detail, he knew it was nothing unusual. She was probably going to buy some groceries or something.

"You always have that look in your eyes when I talk, as if you're listening but you're not," Ino observed.

Shikamaru heard her perfectly, regardless of being lost in thought. The change in her tone of voice indicated that it was time to wake up. "Ino, do you remember when you and Chouji found out about my promotion?"

She was taken by surprise by the question, "yeah?"

"You said that even I didn't look bad in a jacket," Shikamaru was truly in disbelief with himself, asking Ino about such things. He would be surprised if she still remembered that particular detail.

Ino couldn't help it but to smile at the memory. It wasn't really the jacket. It was the recognition Shikamaru had received. He had been promoted to chunin when no one else was. She didn't need the council to tell her he was a great guy. Although she didn't see it right away, now it came to Ino as the most obvious fact. Yet she wondered if anyone other than Chouji, Asuma and herself saw that talent. She was pleasantly surprised that the council saw it too. She sometimes wondered if Shikamaru himself knew how talented he was, it was hard to tell with his lazy attitude towards pretty much everything. "You look good in it."

Shikamaru stayed silent for a moment, as if expecting her to say something else.

At the same time, Ino wondered what he was waiting for and why he asked such an unexpected question. "Shikamaru, you look handsome with or without the jacket."

Shikamaru couldn't help it but to smile back as he felt an inexplicable happiness.

End of Event 26

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Event 27: Lunch (ShikamaruxIno)

Ino followed Shikamaru to their usual restaurant where they often ate with Asuma and Chouji. She was surprised to find that Chouji was not already in their regular table, eating like there's not tomorrow. Asuma was also nowhere to be found. "Chouji's late for lunch?"

"I didn't say this was a meeting with the entire team. I just asked you to come with me," Shikamaru replied.

"If we're not here to meet Asuma and Chouji, then why are we here? Why did you ask me to come?" Ino was a bit confused.

"This is going to be a drag if you don't even know," Shikamaru spoke with a hint of disappointment.

Ino thought about it. Was he asking her out to lunch? Were they on a date? She had agreed to go out to lunch with Shikamaru, just the two of them and she hasn't even noticed. 'Maybe it just means I'm comfortable around him so I agreed naturally,' she smiled.

End of Event 27

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Event 28: Winter Flower (ShikamaruxIno)

Shikamaru made his way into the flower shop to find Ino closing the doors. She smiled as he approached, happy to take a break and have a more pleasant view than the empty store. She waited for him to come in before closing the shop.

Not many flowers bloomed in the winter; save for those planted in the Yamanaka's indoor garden, with carefully measured artificially controlled temperatures. Even so, only so many flowers could be produced and they were quickly purchased at a good price in their season of rarity. Until a new batch grew, the shop would be temporarily closed. Ironically, the winter time was quite profitable because the Yamanaka's shop was the only place where flowers could be found.

"Shika, I'm happy you came to see me, I was so bored!" Ino cheerfully greeted her boyfriend. "I thought you thought it was too troublesome to come visit me at the shop."

"It is troublesome," Shikamaru agreed, "but worth it."

She noticed that he had one hand hidden behind his back and her smile grew with curiosity. "What are you hiding?"

"I brought you something," Shikamaru said.

Ino loved it when he had those little details. Shikamaru was still just as lazy as ever, so thinking that he went out of his way for her, made it all the more special. "What is it?"

"It's a plant."

"A plant? You mean a flower?" Ino didn't know where he could get a flower in the middle of winter.

"It's not exactly a flower, but close. It's not like the flowers in your shop. If you sold these here it would be quite troublesome because I would have to stay here all day and you would get tired of me," Shikamaru explained.

"You know I would never get tired of you," Ino winked. "I'm curious, if this thing will make you stay here all day if I had it in the shop, I'll have to get some."

"No don't, I don't want anyone but me doing something like this," Shikamaru revealed the item he was holding to be mistletoe and put on in Ino's hair. "Now it's on your head all the time so I don't have to go through the trouble of waiting until you walk under it."

End of Event 28

xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox

End of Memory III

Disclaimer, I don't own Naruto. Event 21 was inspired by a conversation with Xinda about the lack of cars in Naruto even if they have other technologies; Kabuto's jeep was looks like Hakuryu from Saiyuki. Disclaimer, I don't own Naruto. Event 25 is based on Chapter 119 of the manga. Event 26 was based on Chapter 172 of the manga.