The Bug Queen

The Replacement Team - Ino

Ino could barely stand up when they arrived at the Sunagakure Hot Spring Inn.  This trip was quickly becoming more exhausting than she anticipated.  But she was determined to act normally.  She just wanted everything to feel normal again.  But Shikamaru wordlessly stood behind her, is if ready to catch her if she fainted-

Kiba, Shino, Hana, and all of their dogs walked into the Hot Spring lobby as they were checking in.

"Hey, are you guys the team we're supposed to meet?"

"Yeah, Kakashi said that we were supposed to take over some escort trip, to come and watch- er-"

Kiba stopped as he looked over at Ino uncomfortably. He let his voice trail off. He didn't mean to say that, and she knew she looked particularly sick after the train ride. She had thrown up in a trash can in the bathroom and had messed up her hair and makeup.  All of the water she was able to keep down was gone.

But Ino also knew what Kiba's words meant: Kakashi had sent another team to stay for the duration and escort her home for the same reason that Sakura didn't want her to go in the first place. Ino was too weak to be going and Shikamaru probably threw such a fuss that Kakashi dispatched another team to escort her. A team that he knew could take over once she got to Suna.

Hana spoke more gently, this time to Shikamaru and Temari.

"Kakashi said to enjoy your time in Suna together. We will be absorbing Ino into our team for the remained of her mission."

Ino wanted to cry; Shikamaru looked as frazzled as Kiba.

"But-"

Hana shrugged as if she didn't know what was happening, but Ino knew damn well that she was most likely the one pulling the strings since she was fucking the Hokage. Hana and Kakashi had been together for a while.  And Shino, as always, remained quiet under his hooded jacket. Always a quiet enigma.

"Thanks."

She mumbled her thanks, but Ino felt like a pariah. This was embarrassing. She turned away so no one could see her crying as she headed back to her room. She could feel all of their eyes on her as she walked as fast as she could, which wasn't very fast.

Being a kunoichi was one thing she was really proud of, even though she really hadn't been on actual active duty for a couple of years. And not much at all since the end of the war. She was thankful that Kakashi had found a reason for her to be helpful: Suna needed a barrier team review, and she was the best candidate for the job.

She reached her room and unlocked it shakily, opening the door and shutting it before falling onto the bed.

She didn't want to do this anymore. She was lonely and she was tired. Her body was tired. She was emotionally dead. She hadn't anticipated this trip being so exhausting...

But Kakashi did. That's probably why he assigned her a different team, even though she had planned to stay alone. Even though Shikamaru fussed about that, too.

But now, she had been absorbed into a different team, and she wasn't sure how she felt about any of it.

She laid down and closed her eyes. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

"Who is it?"

It cracked open.

"It's Hana. Would you mind if I stayed with you? I heard you have an extra bed. Please don't make me stay with the boys any longer. It's been a long couple of weeks."

Ino sat up, wiping her eyes. She was quickly realizing that even with Hana's team, this trip wasn't designed for her to be alone.

"Yeah. Come in."

Of course, Hana had the triplets with her, three ninja dogs that Ino couldn't remember the names of. All three of them jumped up onto the beds, two on the empty one and one on Ino's. Hana reprimanded them.

"Get down-"

"No, it's okay."

Ino petted the dog's soft fur. The one with the eye patch was the one who jumped on her bed. He curled up around her and she quickly realized that he was trying to comfort her. She watched Hana smile out of the corner of her eye.

She laid back against the gray dog's fluffy fur and closed her eyes. It felt nice to lay against something alive. Maybe she'd get a dog when she returned home-

"I'm heading down to the hot spring. Do you want to come along?"

She hadn't eaten all day; probably not a good idea. Not like she had been to the hot spring in two years anyway.

"No thanks. I'm just going to take a nap."

She closed her eyes and listened to Hana leave and the door shut before drifting off, as restless as usual...

A little while later, a wet nose was poking her cheek.

"Huh?"

Her head hurt; she had waited too long to try and eat. She was so tired of living like this. The dog that was poking her with its muzzle had a wrapped sticky bun in its mouth. He dropped it on her chest. 

 Even the dog knows I'm not well, she thought.