No Need for Love

C h a p t e r 24 - A Friend's Trust

A few days have past since our return from the Land of Waves. Since then, I've been doing all I can to recover my full strength. Sasuke's physical condition is back to normal and the same goes for Naruto. Luckily no one had to deal with permanent injuries. Though Kakashi Sensei is still resting due to the overuse of his sharingan. This is the main reason as to why we haven't taken any more assignments.

In the mean time I can focus on training, while figuring out what the hell I'm going to do knowing my father's plan against the Leaf. The fact remains that keeping this information to myself won't do any good. Hopefully his advice will help me find a way to avoid this nightmare. I'll have to tell him in private. I can't risk anyone else finding out about this. The risk will always remain knowing there's a chance Muta could somehow find out as well.

If that happens then I'll really be screwed. Unfortunately, it's something I have to do. I honestly have no other choice. Especially since waiting around won't help. I can't sit back and let something bad happen knowing there was something I could've done to avoid it.

With my mind finally made up, I leave the comfort of my home in order to find a good meeting place. Coming across the training field, I find Asuma's team working...well, not really. Ino seems to be ranting to Choji about something, but he's not even listening to her. He looks to be more interested in the bag of potato chips he's eating.

'Hmph...not even surprised.'

Searching farther along, I see Shikamaru lying underneath the shade of a tree. He's the same as always. The first to notice me is Choji. His gaze leaves the snack within his hands and onto me.

"Hey (Name)." Choji greets me while waving his stained fingers.

"Hi Choji." I reply back with a smile.

My sudden appearance catches Ino's attention, causing her to greet me as well. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Nothing really, I was just out for a walk until I saw you guys." I tell her. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing as of right now, we're just waiting for Asuma sensei so we can start our training." She tells me.

"Oh ok, guess that explains why he's not here. I'll see you guys later, I'm going to say hi to Shikamaru."

They both say goodbye as I begin to walk away. Getting closer I notice Shikamaru's eyes are closed.

'He's not sleeping is he?!'

My audible footsteps cause his eyes to open and look in my direction as I approach him.

"So your not asleep?" I say with a false sense of shock on my voice.

He smirks at my comment before telling me "That's not all I'm good for you know."

"Really? I would've never guessed." I laugh while taking a seat next to him. "Long time no see, how've you been?" I ask.

"I'm fine, the same as always. what about you? I'm sure being on the same team as Naruto and Sasuke isn't easy."

Well, it wasn't at first, they'd always bicker over every single thing, and they still do to be honest. But I can see they're closer now, even if they won't admit it. As for me personally, I'm doing ok but things could be better." I say lowering my voice towards the end.

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asks, giving me a concerned look.

"That's actually what I came to talk to you about. I need your help Shikamaru."

"What is it?"

His eyes become slightly wider, and I can tell that his full attention is on me right now.

"I can't tell you at the moment, but meet me back here after dark. Make sure no one knows you're coming to meet me. No one can find out, it's extremely important. Can I trust you Shikamaru?" I finish, looking straight into his eyes.

"Yeah of course but, is it that serious?"

"I wouldn't desperately ask for your help unless it was serious." I say getting up. Looking back at him, I say one more thing before I leave. "Be sure to avoid suspicion and make sure you're not being followed."

After those words leave my mouth, I walk out of the training field and head home. Now, I just have to wait. Hopefully everything goes according to plan...