Three Months (A Naruto Fanfic)

Troublesome

Ino was straightening Temari's robes as the Sand kunoichi kept batting her hands away. "Leave me alone, you have your own part in this to get ready for."

Both blondes eyed each other nervously. Could they trust each other? When it came to Shikamaru, were they really on the same page? Temari took a deep breath. Basically, what it came down to was that even if Ino betrayed her and ended up with Nara, she could live with that. He'd proven himself to be a two-timing bastard. So what did she care? Besides, she could always come back later and kill them both.

Ino's mind was running parallel to the Sand kunoichi's as she tweaked the line of the other girl's robe once more. "Remember. Stall, flirt, and stall some more. Go to the bathroom when you get the signal. Right?"

Temari swallowed nervously, then flashed a cocky grin. "I've faced down two S-ranked missions this year, so this is nothing in comparison." Yeah right.

Sakura looked around nervously, beckoning to the two blondes to hurry it up. "Come on, it's a good thing Shikamaru is too lazy to get up and leave just because his date is late. He's still there. But hurry up, I've got to get moving on my part in this too, ya know!"

"Right!" Temari said, straightening up, her eyes flashing with anticipation. "Part one, coming right up!" She nodded to the other two girls, then marched into the restaurant.

Ino sighed. "Think she can do it?"

"I'm more worried about your part in this." Sakura admitted ruefully, looking over at her long-time friend and some-times rival. "You have to work fast."

"I know, I know!" Ino groused, frowning deeply. "You need to hurry too, you may have the hardest part in this. Think he'll come?"

Sakura shrugged. "I'll find out soon enough!"

o.o.o.o.o

Akamichi Chouji headed home almost in a daze. He couldn't stop grinning.

"Ossu!" A voice yelling at him finally caught Chouji's attention. Blinking, he turned to see Kiba and Shino leaning against a fence with Akamaru cleaning himself at their feet. "You look happy." Kiba called to him.

"Hey there." Chouji walked over to the duo, his grin showing no signs of diminishing. "What gives? Hey, I thought you were meeting with Kurenai about a mission?"

Kiba nodded, grimacing. "Yeah, but before we could finish planning how to infiltrate the target's house, it burned down. Crisped. Got the message about it a few moments ago. Kurenai and the Hokage are going over how this changes the mission parameters while they assigned Hinata to look through some old records and see if this guy has property anywhere else he might head toward. Then we're all heading out to check to see if this fire was natural or not."

Shino nodded, but remained silent.

Chouji smiled at the young Aburame heir. "Thought you wouldn't be back for a few days. Does this mean you'll be heading out with your teammates?"

The bug-ninja sighed and shook his head. "No."

Kiba laughed, and elbowed a disgruntled Shino. "What he means is he got a real simple cut, and now is under orders to stay home and rest for a few days."

Chouji raised an eyebrow at this. Simple cuts didn't sideline ninja of their abilities. There had to be more to the story.

Shino stepped out of the way of Kiba's elbows and shook his head. "I was in a swamp area when it happened. Infection. Nothing major."

Kiba grinned and shook his head. "Listen at the stoic! Nothing major he says, you should see his leg, Chouji. Red and swollen all the way up past the knee. He actually limps! Oh, hey listen. We're going out to eat before I get called back to the Hokage tower. You want to come?"