Shikamaru let out a yawn, as they were walking through the sun-lit village of leaves. Ino walked right beside him, gently clutching Shikamaru’s smooth, pale hand.
Suddenly, a boy who was Ino and Shikamaru’s age appeared, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. His hair was a bold black, and it was shaped like the back of a cockatoo’s head. He wore a pair of white shorts that streched down to his knees. The ninja also wore a blue shirt with the symbol of the Uchiha clan on the back; It looked like a circle split in half, and a rectangle right below it. The top half of the circle was red, and the bottom white. In his hand, he held a lunchbox, with yellow and pink embroidering a picture of the Power Rangers. The boy’s name was Sasuke Uchiha. What the heck…?! Wow… that is one INTERESTING lunchbox he has there… I hope it’s not his….
Sasuke noticed a figure wearing an orange outfit and had spiky blonde hair.
“Hey, it’s Sasgay!” Naruto shouted, and chuckled.
“Baka naruto…” Shikamaru whispered.
It seemed that Naruto noticed Ino and Shikamaru, and he dashed toward them.
“Hey, Ino…” Naruto began, and smiled. “Granny Tsunade wants to see you and Shikamaru!”
“O-okay…” Ino replied, and they left.
After that incident, they finally arrived at Ino’s house. Ino slowly opened the door, and quietly stepped in, with Shikamaru following close behind. A scent of roses filled the air of the dimly-lit house. White couches were placed against the walls of the living room. Through the hallway, Ino and Shikamaru arrived in the kitchen. Her mom was there, chopping onions. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, and Ino ran up to her mom and hugged her tightly.
“It’s okay, mom… I’m home now. I was just at Shikamaru’s house for the night… I’m sorry! I fell asleep.” Ino began, hoping her mother wouldn’t be too mad at her.
“That’s alright, honey…” Her mom began, and Ino breathed a sigh of relief.
“But, why are you crying, then?” Ino inquisitively asked.
“Well, I’m chopping onions.” Her mom said, and began to laugh, along with Shikamaru and Ino.
“Oh, mom, I have to go to the Hokage’s place, so I should get going. I’ll be back later!” Ino shouted, and tugged on Shikamaru’s arm, indicating that he should follow her.
Tsunade sat behind her desk; her blonde pigtails resting on her back.
“Ino, you have a new mission.” Tsunade began, looking extremely serious, but she still seemed uneasy.
“You are to go to Orochimaru’s palace, and find out what Orochimaru is planning to do with Sasuke.” Tsunade told Ino, and sighed.
“I’m going, too.” Shikamaru demanded and glanced at Ino. “I need to protect her.”
“I was going to assign you to this mission, too…” Tsunade replied. “Go. You must hurry and come back. And you have to be extremely careful; this is a deadly mission for a Genin and only one Chuunin. Good luck.”
“Okay!” Ino shouted back as they ran out to Orochimaru’s Mansion.
Soon enough, they arrived at the steps of Orochimaru’s Palace. Shikamaru turned to look at Ino, and saw that she was trembling a little bit, and wrapped his arm around her.
“Shikamaru…” Ino said, and gazed back at Shikamaru’s calm and soothing face.
“It’ll be all right.” Shikamaru said, and smiled at her. “I promise.”
Ino blushed. “I-I’ll be all right…. I won’t forgive Orochimaru for what he did to Sasuke, too!”
Shikamaru sighed. “I can hear you, ya know.”
“Oh… U-uhm… I would do the same thing for you if Orochimaru captured you…”
“Don’t worry about it. But, Ino… you do know that Sasuke went to Orochimaru on his own… right?”
Silence. Ino stared at the ground, and began to walk forward.
“I know.” Ino said back, and they headed inside the dark structure.
Candles were flickering on the walls, creating a dim light; just enough to see where you were stepping. Shikamaru and Ino began to walk up stairs, when suddenly, Shikamaru stopped. Ino stopped for a moment, too, and glanced at Shikamaru. His face was bold, and it seemed as if there was no fear inside of him at all. Ino switched her gaze to right in front of her, which was a bright room. There was a figure in the distance, but that was it.
They could tell that it was Orochimaru, with his long, black hair placed against his back. His yellow snake-like eyes pierced towards Ino, and he gave a big grin.
“Welcome.” Orochimaru said, his voice raspy. In the blink of an eye, Orochimaru appeared behind Ino, and swiftly put his arm around Ino’s neck. He placed his head on her shoulder, and could easily tell that she was shivering with fright. Shikamaru didn’t even have time to attack Orochimaru, when he shoved Shikamaru to the ground. Shikamaru quickly stood back up, and ran towards Ino. Ino, who was completely taken over by fear, only stood as Orochimaru lifted up a small blade. There were faded stains of blood still remaining on the shiny piece of sharpened metal. Orochimaru was aiming it at Ino’s shoulder blade.
To be continued again ^^
R a i n b o w N o o d l e Community Member 
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