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Forgotten Events

Event 29: Fan (Saiyuiki crossover)

"Can I see that fan?" The second his sister asked the question, Kankuro sensed trouble well on its way.

Sanzo didn't expect the request, it was just a paper fan, special to him, though he would never admit it, but just a paper fan none the less, or so he thought. The curiosity in her voice made him wonder if there was more to that fan than he thought. "Fine," he handed her the fan, if only to see what she would do with it.

"Temari," Kankuro gave a half whine, but didn't state the reason for his compliant, they should have stayed away from those strangers at the inn, they had no business with them.

"On your guard Kankuro!" Temari swung the fan towards her brother unaware of its true power.

Kankuro was quick to dodge as a wave of wind chakra flew past him and into the wall behind him. The wall and torn down by the concentrated wind chakra. Silence suddenly invaded the inn until Sanzo broke it with a somewhat indifferent sounding, "why did you do that?"

Temari seemed to jump out of her trance at hearing the question, "I didn't mean it! I didn't know this fan was so powerful, it didn't do that when he hit the boy with it, I just like fans and was curious," Temari rambled.

Goku pouted, "please don't teach Sanzo how to do that."

End of Event 29

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Event 30: Age Transfer (InoxShikamaru)

They stood before the Third Hokage after completing their mission. The combination of Team Kakashi with Team Asuma was very successful, however even if the criminal was now in jail, the after effects of his rare jutsu still remained. "I'm sure it will wear off," Sarutobi concluded.

Kakashi, Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, Asuma, Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji nodded simultaneously. The jutsu was a way to reduce the number of opponents that were able to fight and in some cases weaken those who still remained. Although depending on the situation, those who remained able to fight could become stronger instead. The criminal found out the hard way after his jutsu backfired, making Sasuke Uchiha even stronger than before.

The rare jutsu transferred years of age from one person to another. Both Sakura and Chouji were knocked out early in the fight and were not caught by the jutsu. Kakashi and Asuma knew their remaining students could handle the situation so they didn't interfere, but they did protect those two. As a result the jutsu aimed for the two genin hit their senseis instead. In a combo attack, Ino and Shikamaru were caught by the jutsu and then Sasuke and Naruto. However, taking away years from Naruto to give them to Sasuke proved to be a mistake as the grown up Sasuke was even stronger.

Now they stood there feeling the aftereffects of their mission. Although the jutsu did not affect their minds at all, their physical appearance had changed. Naruto looked like he was a mere three years of age while Sasuke appeared to be in his twenties. Sakura and Chouji were normal. Kakashi was four years old and a much older Asuma stood in a corner looking upset to have turned so old so quickly. Ino now also in her twenties, a couple of years older than Sasuke, was holding Shikamaru, who was only a few months old.

"We'll be back to normal tomorrow?" Kakashi's voice was high pitched and child-like.

"Yes, I'm certain that you will," the Third Hokage assured. "For now just try to carry on with your normal daily activities." He paused and looked at Kakashi's clothes. They were obviously too big for him. "I'm sure Konohamaru won't mind if you borrow some clothes for today." Sarutobi sounded amused by the entire situation. Kakashi simply remained quiet and took it like a ninja.

Since Asuma, although older, was still able to work normally, continuing the day's normal activities wasn't too hard for him. Sakura and Chouji were assigned to tag along and help him with his work. Asuma knew very well the Hokage was calling him old, as if he should talk, but he didn't protest to having help.

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After the meeting was over and both little Kakashi and Naruto had borrowed some clothes from Konohamaru, which were still a bit big but better than what they were wearing before, they headed to Kakashi's apartment to get some clothes for Sasuke. He was much taller now and Kakashi's clothes should fit him. As they walked, Sasuke stared at the floor in embarrassment. His shorts were shorter than he would normally wear and his shirt was not long enough to cover his stomach, plus his clothes were very tight. He could feel the odd stares he was getting.

Naruto was as carefree as always, in fact, he looked happy. Kakashi's expression was no different from the past. He had even borrowed a scarf from Konohamaru to cover half his face, since even the usual cover he wore was too big. Upon arriving at Kakashi's apartment, Sasuke dashed in and made a bee line for the closet. A few minutes later, he was dressed like Kakashi, with half his face covered as well. He even tilted his head band to the side to cover his left eye. "Very funny," little Kakashi commented and Naruto laughed cheerfully.

Sasuke had decided that maybe just that once it was best to follow Naruto's example and take this in a humorous way. He would be back to his normal self by the next morning and he was happy to know that his power would continue to increase as he grew. "Sasuke! Sasuke!" The little Naruto squealed. "Carry me Sasuke!" He lifted his little arms while Sasuke stood there blinking and staring. "Carry me!" Little Naruto repeated.

Sasuke glanced at Kakashi with a puzzled look. "I though his mind wouldn't be affected. Why is he acting like he really is three years old?"

"I don't know..." Little Kakashi admitted. It was obvious he did know, but he would rather let Naruto explain it himself.

Naruto got a sad look in his chibi face. "I'm still the same Naruto, it's just that when I was little I didn't have a family. Before Iruka-sensei started to hang out with me I was always alone. I want to know what it's like to be three and have someone to pick me up and carry me. Pwease!"

"No," Sasuke exited Kakashi's apartment with a sad Naruto following.

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Anko, who had heard about their little predicament, was curious to see Kakashi as a child again. She spotted Sasuke and stopped frozen in her tracks. "Ita," she paused, "Sasuke?" He didn't look happy with what she was about to say. "Look at you, you certainly grew up. Oh look at little Naruto and Kakashi!" Anko sounded cheerful although she knew she made a mistake almost calling Sasuke Itachi.

"You think I look like him don't you?" Sasuke was raging mad.

"Calm down Sasuke," Kakashi was holding on to his leg to keep Sasuke from running off to track down and kill Itachi right away. Naruto thought it was a game and held on to Sasuke's other leg, expecting to get a ride.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Anko voiced.

Sasuke punched a wall in anger, leaving a hole where his fist hit it, then stomped back to Kakashi's apartment while the little sensei complained about property damage. "I'm not going out in public like this. By the time I grow old enough to look like him, he'll already be dead."

There was a moment of eerie silence broken by Naruto's hyperness. "Let's play a game and then you can carry me!"

Sasuke was feeling so frustrated with Anko's accidental insult that he would avoid mirrors all day. "Fine," he picked up little Naruto and held him as if he was a bag of groceries or another random lifeless object. Not that Naruto complained, he was happy that Sasuke had picked him up.

"Me too," Kakashi requested.

Sasuke stared at him, "Kakashi-sensei?"

"My legs are short and I don't feel like walking today. Think of this as training," the silver haired chibi insisted. Sighing hopelessly, Sasuke picked up his little sensei and prepared to endure a day of babysitting.

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Ino had gone to her house to change into clothes that weren't so small. Her skirt was much shorter than she intended it to be and she feared that Jiraiya or some other pervert would pop out of nowhere and make a comment about what she was wearing that would embarrass her. Her only choice was to borrow from her mother. Once that was done, she headed to Shikamaru's house to inform his parents about what happened and ask if she could baby-sit little Shikamaru, he was just so adorable.

"Really, are you sure it's not too much trouble?" Shikamaru's mother asked.

"Not at all, I'll be happy to baby-sit Shika-chan until he's back to normal," Ino happily exclaimed. Shikamaru looked upset. He had the body of a baby, but his mind remained the same, yet Ino appeared to ignore that fact.

"In that case, thank you for offering to take care of him." She pinched her son's little cheek. "You be a good boy for Ino, I'll see you tomorrow." Shikamaru had a look of pure desperation.

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Ino had decided to go for a walk. It was quite convenient that Shikamaru's mother still had some old baby clothes stored away. Now in his little deer suit, Shikamaru stared at the clouds as Ino carried him. "Hey Chouji!" The baby looked towards his best friend when he heard Ino greet him.

"Hello Ino. How's it going with little Shikamaru?" Chouji asked.

"It's going well. He's such a cutie pie," Ino tickled little Shikamaru, who refused to lose his frown of annoyance.

"Yeah until you have to change his diaper," Chouji joked.

Ino paled. "Diaper? I knew I was forgetting something! Chouji, since it's obvious you escaped today's work and left Sakura to help Asuma-sensei in his old age, you can hold Shikamaru for me while I get a diaper." Before Chouji could reply, Ino gave him the panicked child and ran off with the speed of a ninja.

Shikamaru looked absolutely horrified. He tried to express his concern to Chouji but he just wouldn't understand. "I guess turning into a baby must be different from turning into a little kid. You really don't remember anything do you?" Shikamaru did remember, mentally he was the same, but nobody acknowledged that fact. "Of course, if you were the same you would be able to speak," Chouji concluded. Shikamaru was trying his best to speak but his throat would only produce baby sounds. Chouji continued to ignore his protests and insisted on feeding him chips. "C'mon little Shikamaru, you have to eat so you grown up to be big and strong like your uncle Chouji!"

"I'm back!" Ino was carrying a bag with the recently purchased diapers. "Okay, these should be more than enough for the time being." She walked to the bench next to the one Chouji sat on and placed her bag there. She pulled out a diaper and took little Shikamaru in her arms.

"Ino! Chouji!" Sakura arrived. "Asuma-sensei said he wasn't old enough to need too much help from us 'youngsters' yet."

"I see, well in that case you can help me with the diaper," Ino requested and Sakura nodded. The pink aired girl was looking for Sasuke, but got sidetracked at the sight of Ino with baby Shikamaru. No one could ignore such a cute baby. Ino on the other hand, had forgotten about Sasuke because she was too busy with baby Shikamaru.

Shikamaru cried out to Chouji, extending his little arms to his best friend. He would rather have Chouji shoving chips into his face than Ino and Sakura putting a diaper on him, this was too much. He screamed and kicked, and poor Sakura's face happed to be in the way on several occasions. "Ow! Ino get him to calm down" Sakura rubbed her aching face which was now adorned with little footprints. Chouji was trying not to choke on his chips laughing at the scene.

"It's okay little Shika-chan. We're just going to put a diaper on you. There, there, don't be frightened," Ino rocked Shikamaru in her arms and hugged him tightly against her chest. His face began to turn a crimson color being held so close by Ino. Noticing the color Ino placed a hand on his forehead, no fever. "Are alright Shika-chan? Have you calmed down now? That's a good boy!" He gave up and resigned himself to the humiliation of wearing a diaper.

"Sakura! Chouji! Ino is that you?" The voice was followed by the barking of a puppy as Kiba approached. "I heard about what happened. Is Shikamaru really a baby? Is this him?"

"Yup, this is little Shika-chan!" The grown up Ino announced.

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As the day passed by, Sasuke was subjected to some new training. "How is this training again?"

"It is training," little Kakashi assured. "This training is quite effective. It will strengthen both your arms and legs." Little Kakashi and little Naruto were riding on Sasuke's back while the Uchiha crawled all around Kakashi's apartment.

"Horsey! Horsey!" Naruto cheered happily.

"Stop kicking me, Naruto. I'm not your horse," Sasuke growled.

"Don't be mean Sasuke, aren't you having fun?" Naruto smiled brightly.

"Shut up and that's Mr. Uchiha to you," Sasuke grumbled as he continued crawling around carrying the two chibis.

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Night soon came and it was the end of a fun yet exhausting day. Little Shikamaru was left in the care of Ino's mother while Ino took a shower. She returned wearing pajamas, borrowed from her mother, and rolled up her sleeves. She took the baby gently in her arms and spoke to her mother. "Mom could you come check the temperature to make sure it's appropriate."

"Sure," Ino's mother replied. At first Shikamaru was confused by the request, then Ino carried him to the bathroom following her mother, who touched the water in the bathtub and nodded in approval. "The temperature is fine. Be careful with him."

"I will," Ino replied and Shikamaru was filled with fear. She was going to give him a bath.

As she left the bathroom trusting her daughter to be able to handle this by herself, Ino's mother sighed happily. "This is just too cute. Maybe someday you'll marry Shikamaru and you'll be doing this for your own child."

Both Ino and Shikamaru's faces turned red. "Mom don't say things like that."

"Didn't you say you were starting to like him even more than the Uchiha boy?" Ino's mother reminded.

Ino nodded. "Yeah but he doesn't know that yet." For the following time, Shikamaru was too shocked by is discovery to notice Ino taking off his baby clothes and putting him in the tub. When he did notice, he squirmed and splashed around energetically, trying to escape the embarrassing situation. "For someone who's so lazy you certainly had a lot of energy as a baby."

Once Ino emerged from the bathroom with a very clean little Shikamaru, her father asked. "Ino, where are you going to put the baby to sleep?"

"I thought I could just keep him in my room. That way I can be there in case he needs anything at night," Ino answered.

Her father took a moment to think about it then nodded. "Alright, make sure he doesn't fall off the bed or anything." He was only a baby so there really was no problem.

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Ino placed several pillows on one side of her bed and climbed in on the other side with Shika-chan in the middle. "Maybe it would be good if I did marry Shikamaru and had a little Shika-chan in the future... good night!" She gave him a kiss on the forehead and turned off the lights.

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When the next morning came, Shikamaru and Ino were at their normal ages again. When Ino woke up she was surprised to find Shikamaru sound asleep next to her, but quickly remembered the previous day and stopped herself from yelling in surprise. She thought it was best to leave quietly and change out of the pajamas which were too big for her now. Shikamaru's baby clothes were torn to pieces by his growing body, but apparently he didn't notice and continued sleeping.

After Ino was changed into her normal clothes, she returned to wake Shikamaru. "Shika-chan... I mean Shikamaru, wake up!" Shikamaru lazily opened his eyes and saw Ino. He remembered that he was not in his room. "You don't remember anything, right? I thought that would happen."

Shikamaru could clearly remember the events that occurred when he was a baby, but he decided it was best to pretend he didn't remember. "How did I get here? The last thing I remember is going on that mission."

Ino quickly narrated the story of the previous day, bringing a red color to both their faces on some parts. Of course, she skipped the part about saying it would be good to marry him in the future. "That's the entire story."

"That was... surprising," Shikamaru commented.

"Yeah, here are some clothes. I'll leave you to change now." Ino left her room.

Shikamaru stared at the closed door where Ino had left. "What a day..."

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Sasuke woke up to see an unfamiliar ceiling. The memories of the previous day came rushing back into his mind and he ran to find a mirror. Hs looked like his young self again and Kakashi's clothes were too big for him.

"Ow, you stepped on me!" Came Naruto's complaint when Sasuke jumped out of bed. They had moved their 'training session' to Naruto's apartment because he wanted to play with some old toys and relive the childhood he didn't have before. Sasuke had completely forgotten that Naruto's sleeping bag was next to the bed. The Uchiha was so tired from his training that Naruto had mercy on him and let him take the bed.

On the other side there was Kakashi's sleeping bag. Sasuke in his big clothes and Naruto in his chokingly small clothes stared at him. He was currently inside the sleeping bag with a few torn pieces of fabric on his shoulders. Konohamaru's small clothes could only stretch so far. The two boys couldn't help it but to point at their sensei and laugh hysterically. "I'll be heading back to my apartment now." Kakashi hoped away in the sleeping bag.

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Gai, who happened to be passing by when Kakashi was on his way to his apartment, saw him jumping around wearing a sleeping bag. With a 'nice guy' pose of determination, he ran to find his favorite student Rock Lee. In a matter of minutes, Gai and Lee could be seen hopping laps around the Hidden Leaf village inside sleeping bags. "Whatever secret training you're doing Kakashi, I can do it too!"

End of Event 30

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Event 31: Troublesome (InoxShikamaru, NarutoxHinata)

The sunlight reached into the young man's room, creating shadows that he could easily control had he felt like it. The alarm clock sounded its annoying melody, signaling the start of another day. 'How troublesome,' Shikamaru thought. He wanted to lift his arm, pick up the annoying alarm clock and throw it against a wall. He could imagine its high pitched song becoming silence as its pieces scattered all over the floor, but that would be troublesome and furthermore pointless.

He had to get up, he knew it but it was just so troublesome. It was just another pointless day so maybe he would stay in bed and sleep in all day long. It was just another pointless day of watching Chouji eating chips and listening to Ino talk about Sasuke. She did it less often now than years ago, yet somehow it bothered him more now than it did then, not that he blamed Sasuke for his annoyance, he blamed Ino for being so troublesome.

It was as if the barrier of indifference around Shikamaru disappeared like a shadow with no light at Ino's presence. He couldn't pint point when exactly it started being like that, but it was. Maybe the process had been so slow and natural he didn't even notice. Then again, she always cheered for him for as long as he could remember. Although she wasn't happy with her team when they were first assigned to work together, and she made that fact quite clear, they had come to get along very well and were always supportive of one another.

Tired of listening to his alarm clock, Shikamaru sat up and pressed the little button on top of the terrible invention of doom and insanity. He got up, took a pointless shower and ate a troublesome breakfast. It was so very troublesome to distribute the syrup evenly on the pancakes to get that delicious yet pointless taste. The food would be food regardless of how it tasted, but he had to admit, he preferred it when it tasted good. Then he headed off to meet his teammates.

He was the last one to arrive, but he was still on time, so neither Ino nor Chouji commented on the less than early arrival. The three ninjas waited for their mission to be assigned along with other teams.

"I'm going to be the greatest hokage, believe it!" A blond young man proudly declared. Now it sounded a little more believable than it had a few years ago. A pink haired young woman shook her head and rolled her green eyes. Catching her expression, the blond young man directed his blue gaze at her. "Don't you believe it, Sakura?"

She took a moment to choose the right words for her answer and spoke with full honesty. "It's not that I don't believe it, Naruto. I'll admit you have come a long way. It's just that..." She paused, her soft tone of voice changed to nearly a scream of annoyance. "You don't have to remind us every five minutes!"

Naruto quickly placed his hands over his ringing ears. "You didn't have to yell at me!"

"I wasn't yelling!" Sakura raised the volume of her voice.

"That's enough you two. You're acting like little kids!" A handsome young man with dark hair and eyes scolded them.

"Naruto," Hinata spoke softly. "I think you would make a great hokage."

Naruto smiled and put an arm around her. "Thank you Hinata. I know I can always count on you. You don't need to be so shy you know." Hinata nodded. "It's okay, I think it's cute." He gave her a kiss. The only time he had heard her speak up was probably when she confessed her feelings to him.

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Keeping such strong feelings bottled up inside was not only troublesome but also pointless since eventually they would get out. One day Hinata was watching Naruto train and he noticed her presence. "Hinata? Why don't you come out? I could use a little help with my training if you're not busy."

"You want me to help?" Hinata asked softly.

"Yes, you're a great ninja!" Naruto was always smiling, always cheerful. That was one of the things she liked about him, how he always found the bright side to any situation and never gave up.

"Thank you," Hinata was blushing a little and looking at the ground as she often did when Naruto was around.

"Hinata, can I ask you something?" He moved a little closer, hoping she would look up from the ground. He took a moment to look at the ground, it was just regular green grass. He looked at her shoes and at his, wondering if he had stepped on something, but his shoes were just as any other shinobi's shoes after training for a while.

"Yes Naruto?" As she spoke those words, not once did she take her eyes off the ground.

"Look at me Hinata," he requested. Hinata slowly lifted her head. He was only a few inches away. "You don't have to stay if you don't want to. If you don't like to be around me I'll understand, just please tell me why."

She paused, looking a little surprised. Was that what he thought was going on? "Naruto, I..."

"You hardly talk to me. I know you're very nice but why do you avoid me? It doesn't sound like something you would do without a reason. I thought I smelled bad or something, but I took a bath before starting my training and I used plenty of deodorant. The deodorant said it was for hard working shonobis, expensive too. Is it helping?" Naruto asked.

Hinata couldn't help it but to laugh. His sense of humor was something else she liked about him. "Naruto, you don't smell bad."

"I don't?" Laughter was easily contagious for him.

"Really, you smell just fine," Hinata felt the shyness return to her after it had disappeared for a few seconds.

"It's nice to see you smiling and laughing like that. You look really cute." Hinata blushed. "There's no need to be shy, okay? I'd like to talk to you more often," Naruto smiled.

"Naruto, I..." She took a deep breath, it was now or never. "I really like you!" Hinata nearly yelled.

Naruto blinked as if it took a moment, a long moment, for him to understand what she meant. Was that the reason why she was being so shy? All that because she liked him? He smiled from ear to ear. "I like you too Hinata!" Naruto and Hinata could often be seen together after that afternoon. He had always been outgoing and a little loud, while she was shy and quiet, but it was alright because they complemented each other.

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That had been quite the show. The two shinobis were feeling the harshness of the persistent summer sun but they didn't stop their training. Taking off their shirts would probably make the possibility of sun burn worse, but it would be a little more comfortable to feel the soft summer breeze on their skin. It was a very nice show indeed. Hinata had been watching, hidden up in a tree. There were girls on the trees and in the bushes, all around. Anyone who visited the Leaf Village that day would wonder where all the young women went, because they could not be found in the stores or recreational areas of the village. They were all watching the show.

"Ino, this is pointless," Shikamaru was hiding in some bushes. Ino was watching the battle between Naruto and Sasuke. Shikamaru wasn't even sure why she insisted on dragged him there. "Ino!"

"Shh! Not now," Ino didn't take her eyes off Sasuke.

"I'm leaving," Shikamaru attempted to get up, but Ino grabbed his arm.

"If you move now they'll discover my position," Ino explained.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "I'm certain that with all the squeals they must know by now they're surrounded by girls. I'm not going to sit here wasting my time. Why don't you find your friend Sakura so the two of you can have a fangirl moment together."

"Oh shut up and sit down," Ino insisted.

Shikamaru wasn't sure why in the world she dragged him there when the news got out of the little afternoon training session between Sasuke and Naruto. In fact, he wasn't sure why in the world he let her drag him there. Other than Sasuke and Naruto, he was probably the only man there. He could imagine what people would say. He had already received a few odd looks from random girls hiding near by. "Ino..."

"Shh!" Ino wrapped her arms around him to keep him sitting still. "Just be quiet, okay? If you leave you'll give away my position. Just for a little longer Shika. Then we'll go meet Chouji like we planned. He'll understand if we're a little late." Suddenly Shikamaru didn't mind the pointless waste of time that was being there anymore. He didn't care about the odd stares and weirded out glances he would be getting the next day. Being that close to Ino wasn't so bad, it felt good. How troublesome, it was pointless and so troublesome. Shikamaru found a lot of things to be troublesome, but Ino was the most troublesome of all.

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"Do you have any idea how expensive that deodorant was?" Naruto pouted. "Well Mr. I'm too cool to smile more than once a week, it was very expensive!"

"Good, next time we train you can put it to good use. Unless you were trying to knock me out with the smell." Without warning, although Sasuke knew it would happen, Naruto tackled him and the two went rolling down a hill.

"You're mean you know that Sasuke?" Naruto accused after they reached the bottom.

"You're stupid, you know that Naruto?" Maybe Sasuke had spent too much time with Naruto, who had become his best friend, and was becoming a little less serious.

"Hey Sasuke," Naruto spoke while they rested in the cool grass and looked up at the stars. "What are your plans for the future now?" He knew that he planned to face Itachi, but he had already done that.

"I'm going on a trip," Sasuke answered.

"What? You're going away? You can't do that, we're a team!" Naruto complained.

"It's been decided." Clearly Sasuke wasn't going to change his mind. "The Hokage already knows. It's alright for me to leave the village for a little while. I want to travel on my own."

"What about your team?" Naruto complained.

"You'll be fine. It's not like I'll never set foot in the Leaf Village again. I'll come back some day," Sasuke assured.

"Why do I have the feeling that it might take a while?" Naruto still didn't like it.

"Because it might," Sasuke got up. "I have to get up early tomorrow."

As he started to walk away, Naruto stopped him. "You're leaving tomorrow aren't you?" The black haired ninja nodded. "Why? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Sometimes you can have a big mouth and I didn't want anyone else to know. Only the Hokage and Kakashi knew I'm leaving. I don't want to be followed. This is a trip just for me," Sasuke explained.

Naruto nodded, "I can keep a secret you know. I respect that if you want to go on your own, but you still should have told me. I guess I'll see you off bright and early tomorrow."

"You don't have to," Sasuke replied.

"Stop trying to act cool, we're pals now, remember? Oh did I tell you? Hinata said she likes me and she told me I smelled fine. I'm going to go out with her. I've always kind of liked her but she kept avoiding me so I never asked her out," Naruto grinned.

"I'm really happy you found someone who can put up with you Naruto." Naruto childishly stuck out his tongue, causing Sasuke to shake his head hopelessly.

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Sasuke had returned sooner than expected, although sometimes he disappeared for days and no one knew where he went. He and Naruto had become even better friends, which was something that no one could have imagined a few years ago.

After their mission was assigned Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji headed for their destination. They probably wouldn't be back for a few days. They had become stronger and were old enough and experienced enough to go on missions on their own. The stage in their lives where they needed a sensei to guide them was over. Now they trained and improved on their own.

"I hope I packed enough food," Chouji commented as they moved further away from the Leaf Village.

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The mission was easy to accomplish. Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji were on their way back to the Leaf Village when night fell and they decided to make camp. "Ino! Ino!" Ino woke up and immediately noticed that it was raining outside. Luckily their tents were water proof. She opened the zipper to find Shikamaru soaking wet and shivering from the cold. "Can I come in?"

"Um... sure" Ino moved away from the tent's entrance to allow Shikamaru to crawl inside. "What were you doing out there?"

"I left my tent at home. I thought it was pointless to bring it since I could simply sleep outside and setting it up is always so troublesome. It's troublesome to carry something I'm not really going to use," Shikamaru explained.

"And now you wish you had it," Ino laughed. "You can be quite amusing sometimes Shikamaru."

Shikamaru decided not to answer that and instead went straight to the point. "Do you mind if I stay here? Chouji he snores and would keep me awake all night with all that noise. Besides, there's hardly any space for me there with all the food he brought. Carrying to much luggage is so pointless."

Somehow it didn't feel right to leave her teammate, friend and new secret crush out in the cold rain in the middle of the night. "Alright, but you have to get yourself dried off before you get a cold and give me a cold too." Since she knew Shikamaru only carried what was necessary, Ino started to look in her backpack for a towel.

"Ino, have you seen Shikamaru?" A voice suddenly asked. Ino turned her head towards the entrance of the tent where Chouji stood with an umbrella. "Sorry, I didn't know." Chouji quickly apologized, although Ino wasn't sure why. "I woke up for a midnight snack and Shikamaru was gone so I came to ask if you knew what happened. Your tent was unzipped so I didn't know you needed privacy. I'll be going back to my tent now. See you both in the morning. Don't stay up too late, don't forget we'll get a few days off when we get back to the Leaf Village from this mission so there will be plenty of time to rest, eat and do other stuff." Chouji stopped rambling and left, his cheeks were quite red as he hurried away back to his tent.

Ino was a bit confused. "Shikamaru what was Chouji talking," she turned to look at Shikamaru, "about..."

"I don't know," Shikamaru zipped the tent closed. The cold night air on his wet skin wasn't exactly a pleasant feeling.

"Shikamaru, you idiot!" Ino yelled. "Now I understand what Chouji thought."

"You said the wet clothes would make me catch a cold and give you a cold, remember?" Shikamaru voiced.

"Yes, but... I... Oh, never mind" She tossed a towel at him. "Get yourself dried off and I'll talk to Chouji in the morning." In that sleepless night, Sasuke was the last think on Ino's mind. It was a little hard to think of anyone else when there was a handsome towel-clad ninja fast sleep beside her.

It wasn't until morning that Ino fell asleep, rolled over and woke Shikamaru. Why did she have to be so troublesome? Sure her surprised expression the night before was absolutely priceless, but he didn't find it amusing now. She had rolled over on top of him keeping him trapped in place. He could simply stay there until she woke up. It wasn't like he had somewhere to be, but explaining to Ino why he didn't wake her up would be very troublesome. He tried to escape, moving her as gently as possible so she wouldn't wake up. This was so troublesome. Finally, he managed to set her down and fortunately she was still sleeping peacefully. He got dressed and escaped as quietly as possible.

"Good morning Shikamaru," Chouji greeted while he prepared a big breakfast. He caught sight of the red color on the other ninja's face and couldn't help it but to ask. "Did you have fun last night?"

Shikamaru was taken by surprise, having almost forgotten about Chouji's little misunderstanding the night before. "Can we just drop the subject, please?"

Chouji smiled mischievously. "Oh no, I'm not going to let you live this down for a long time. Are such activities even allowed during missions?"

"We weren't doing anything and besides the mission was over anyway. We'll be back at the Leaf Village today," Shikamaru grumbled.

"That is if we get going right after breakfast. Is Ino still sleeping?" Chouji asked.

Shikamaru looked towards her tent. "I'll go wake her up." As he arrived at the tend, Shikamaru noticed that Ino was dreaming. She was talking in her sleep so she must have been dreaming. The most interesting part was that she was saying his name and not Sasuke's as he would expect. "Ino, wake up!" He shook her shoulder until she woke up from her pleasant dream to find him inches away from her. The tent was pretty small after all.

"Shikamaru!" Ino remembered that she was not alone in the tent. He must have gotten dressed while she was still asleep, a pity. Some time ago, her usual dreams of Sasuke had been replaced by dreams of Shikamaru. She didn't think too much of it. It was only natural since they were on the same team and therefore spent more time together.

"It's morning," Shikamaru informed. Why did the situation feel so troublesome?

"Hey lovebirds, are you two going to eat some breakfast? If you don't want it, I'll eat it all," Chouji appeared at the entrance to the tent, which Shikamaru had again left open.

"Chouji," Shikamaru knew he wouldn't give it a rest.

"It is both troublesome and pointless to try to contradict Chouji when he has made up his mind," Ino quoted what Shikamaru had told her some time ago, during another mission.

"I guess you're right," Shikamaru agreed. Just like it happened for Hinata and Naruto, for Ino and Shikamaru, troublesome feelings would eventfully be resolved. After all, it was pointless to try to hide it.

End of Event 31

Disclaimer, I don't own Saiyuki or Naruto.