Belong

Part 6: Beautiful

It's been days since she's been gone and he was starting to feel like his life was going back to normal. But was it NOT normal when she was here? It was a mission after all, sure it didn't involve him going outside the village but it was still a mission. It's  his life as a Shinobi, missions. For some reason it didn't feel like that with her as his mission. Now that he thinks about it, there was something about her being around, he just didn't really notice it back then. Probably because he was too occupied complaining about what a pain his mission was.

But anyway, he was back to setting alarms now, back to getting used to living alone, he always liked it though. No need to wake up early than he's used to, no need to prepare breakfast for anybody except himself, no need to deal with somebody as short tempered as Temari all day. He really felt that his life was back to normal

A knock on the door stopped him from what he was doing.

"Ino?" He questioned

"Hey" The blonde chirped "Can I come in?" She half asked

"Sure. Come in" He let her inside "I was just making lunch, want some?" He offered

"Yeah, sure, I could eat"

A minute later, Shikamaru put a bowl of food in front of Ino and another for himself from across the table

"So how've you been?" Ino asks

"Just fine."

Ino looked around, the place was tidy and everything was where it should be. It still amazed her how neat and clean Shikamaru is judging by how unmotivated he is to do things. When she found out Shikamaru was moving out of her parent's, she was worried wherever he was moving to would be a mess and probably a safety hazard.

"You looking for something?" Shikamaru asks,

"Not really. Just that for someone like you, you're really tidy and organised"

"Its nice and tidy I see. I honestly was expecting a mess everywhere"

He giggled.

"What's funny?"

"You're not the first to say that" He confesses

"Really? Well, I'm not that surprised"

"I hate digging through stuff to find what I need. It's a drag"

"So who else said it?" Ino asks in between her giggling

"Temari. She lived with me for a few days, remember?"

"Yeah... She's... I mean why was that? Why couldn't you have her book into a hotel or something?" Ino asks in between the chews. She finally swallowed "Did you want to save money or something?"

"Not even close. Everything was full" He says with his usual grin on his face

"Really? So you offered her your place?"

"Well, yeah! Couldn't have her sleeping on the streets"

"Well, you always were a gentleman"

"Thanks"

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Ino teases

"What? ... Temari?... Yeah, she is. Why?

Ino(POV)

I know he'll kill me if I start playing matchmaker but well, it's how I am. And I gotta say, him and Temari make the perfect couple, so perfect one would say they're actually made for each other. They would both kill me if they heard me say things like this about them especially Temari, she's usually known for her destructive mood.

Like in the Chunin Exams, she had a nasty mouth, and she'd pop anytime and she hated being provoked but I could tell she was a nice girl who brought positive energy everywhere she went. She was only trying to strike fear into her opponents which she did and she was crazy powerful. The way she defeated Tenten was unbelievable.

Now it's a kind of hard to read her.

"So you like her?" I tease

"Huh? Of course not" I can tell he's a little offended and uncomfortable. It's always kind of amusing

"I don't know.. You did just say she's beautiful"

"I was only answering your question. That doesn't mean I like her" He's so defensive

"Okay. Relax, I was only teasing" I say with a smirk

Narrator(POV)

Soon Ino left as it was time to leave. The next day arrived and Team Asuma and Sakura were immediately summoned by the Fifth Hokage, Lady Tsunade first thing in the morning. When the team arrived, Lady Tsunade and Shizune filled them in on their next mission. They were to go to the Village Hidden in the Trees. A small village in the forest and that's closest to the Leaf. Kakashi and Naruto were going to be out of commission for a little while because of their last mission hence Team Kakashi couldn't  be dispatched instead. Sakura was the only one who didn't sustain major injuries as a result she recovered quickly.

"Sakura, you'll be going to the Hidden Tree village to help heal the people who're sick. The leader of village sent us a letter asking assistance in medicine and medical ninja. The village is also attacked by Shinobi who take advantage of their situation to steal from them. That's where you and you're Team comes in, Asuma. You'll be security for the duration of the mission"

"Will we be enough?" Asuma asks

"The village leader also explains that he asked for assistance from the Sand which is why I'm not dispatching a lot of Shinobi."

"I see. We'll leave immediately then.

>>>>>

"Well, Sakura. Welcome to Team Asuma" Ino says

"Thanks, Ino" Sakura responded in a low tone

"Worried about Naruto and Kakashi sensei?"

"Yeah"

"How're they doing?" Choji asks

"Kakashi sensei is awake but he still needs to stay in  the hospital. Naruto..." Sakura stops in mid-sentence

"He hasn't woken up yet, has he?" Shikamaru half asks

"... Yeah"

"Sakura. I know you're worried about your team but you're required to be on your 100% for the sake of the mission,... The people you'll be attending. You think you can do that?"

"..."

"Sakura?" Ino calls

"Yeah, I can do it!." Sakura states firmly