Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Loner Medical Ninja ❯ Inos In Trouble ( Chapter 7 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
Disclaimer: No I don't own Naruto or the characters. I only own the few OC's I have.
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The rain poured down more than ever and lightning rushed across the skies now and she barely had found her way to Rennik's humble above. She was stunned when she was at it. It was easily larger than the Hyuuga's manor. She came up to the door and after a while of debating with herself she realized she could be homeless or ask him for help. She tapped on the door lightly. A few minutes went by. Oh he must just not have heard it she muttered knocking quite a bit louder. Nothing. She began to cry again and pushed the door bell. Still nothing. She turned and began to leave. When she had gotten a few meters away from the mansion she found herself surrounded by glowing eyes. Soon snarling and barking followed. She found herself surround by a pack of wolves before she knew it. Thats it she announced to herself as she collapsed and cried harder than ever if that was even possible. "JUST FUCKING KILL ME YOU STUPID MUTTS!, she screamed at them. The dogs circled her and the largest closed in.
A familliar voice called from the direction of the mansion. "BUSTER! Is that how we treat guests?" the largest of the wolves whined quite loudly. "I didn't think so now get inside and stay off the furniture so help me god if it gets wet I will have wolf stew and a new blanket." the large wolf whined again but complied to his masters wishes followed by the rest of the pack who shook themselves off at the door before proceding inside. "Ino-chan?" Rennik called rushing over to her. He picked up her bags and helped her up. "Come on. I have a fire going inside and dinners almost done and I absolutely insist you join me least you feel like catching a fever out here." He soothed and they continued into the mansion. "Make youself at home. There is a bath three doors down that hall and on your left. Pistol will show you the way." he motioned to one of the smaller wolves who brushed up against Ino and waited for her to follow him. "I want you to take a nice long bath and by then dinner will be ready. Then you can get some rest and I want you to tell me everything that happened in the morning. Mitsee get our guest a towel and some pajamas please." Another wolf dissapeared as the first guided her into the large bath room. She was astonished. The bath was built to scale with the size of the house. It could easily fit ten people in it and then some. She climbed in and saw a wolf enter some time after she began with a pair of pajamas and a towel. She was completely dumbfounded and had no idea what to make of the situation so she finished soaking in the barth. Dried off wrapping the towel around her head and putting on the oversized pajamas. She opened the door only to almost fall over Pistol when she walked out. The wolf licked her leg and waited for her to follow him to the large dining room with a table that could seat at least sixteen. On one end of the table were two plates with warm food and from the kitchen appeared Rennik with a massive platter of food. He placed it on the floor and she saw the pack converge on it feasting on the meat as if it came from heaven itself. "Jeez guys have some manners we have a guest for christ's sake."
Rennik motioned her to come over and pulled out a chair for her at the very end of the long table. When she seated herself he sat just to her left and began to eat. She took a bite from the meat and thought she had just tasted meat that came from the gods themselves. "Thank you so much Rennik but are you sure your parents are ok with this?"
"Umm don't worry about them they died a long time ago and its just me and the pack up here." he said no hint of sadness anywhere in his voice as if it was just an everyday thing.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it. That was a long time ago." She finished her plate quicker than she could have imagined. Rennik ate about half of his than dumped the rest on the platter with the dogs feasting off it. He dissappeared into the kitchen.
I can't believe this. Why is he always so plain all the time. She left her mind thoughtless before she noticed she could see her breath. She found herself to be shaking uncontrollably. Its so cold. It never gets this cold even for the leaf village. Soon Rennik reappeared from the kitchen and handed her a nice warm cup of cocoa. He was holding a glass of iced tea himself and he took her by the arm and brought her to the living room where there was a massive first place in the middle with a large TV along one wall and extravagent chairs and couches through the room. The coloring of the house was gray and maroon much like everything in it. He sat her down on the couch next to the fire as she drank her cocoa. They sat in silence until she finished. "Thank you sooo much Rennik. For everything. You've done so much for me. More than you even know. You save my life. You inspired me to continue with my training despite having failed the Chunin exams and now you are letting me stay here with you. Your so great and I don't care what everyone thinks about you. You are a very sweet guy." She turned to see what my expression looked like only to find me sleeping. The tea was barely drank so she mustered that he fell asleep a while ago. She noticed the scratches all over his back at last. He must've been training when I came over she assumed standing up. A wolf jumped onto the couch and began licking Rennik's face.
"What the hell do you want Buster. Oh I fell asleep again." He glanced at Ino. "Ino-chan I'm soo sorry you must be quite tired. You can come to bed with me come on." She wasn't sure what she thought of going to bed with another man but she realized how big of a deal it really wasn't. The bed was massive. It was a perfect square which stretched twenty meters in every direction. "Wow" was all she managed to say. Rennik pulled the covers back on one side and motioned for her to lay down. He then proceeded to the other side of the bed and laid down himself. She pulled the covers around her finding a real wolf fur blanket laying in the middle of the bed folded but quite small in comparison to the bed. She grabbed in and wrapped it around her too finding it to be quite warm but she was still freezing.
"Ino-Chan are you still cold?"
"No I'm fine really."
"Ya really? I can hear your teeth chattering from over here and I can see your breath. I know how we can get warmer though." Rennik chuckled. No way Ino thought. Absolutly no way. Did she seriously just hear that. Rennik whistled loudly and she heard the sound of paws peeling out on the floor coming from all directions and before she knew it a load of wolves piled on to the bed around her and Rennik. "Hah you should've seen the look on your face. I'm not a pervert Ino-chan Jeez" She was so much warmer and soon found herself to be drifting into a deep sleep.
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I woke to my personal alarm clock licking me in the face. "Go away Mimi." I groaned and turned over remembering I had training to do and they were probably starving. My thoughts trailed to the night before and I remembered last nights crazy events. I was in the back training room perfecting a technique I was hoping would win the final exam by itself when Pistol bolted out the door and exited the house via one of the numerous dog doors scattered throughout the house. Pistol was basically a personal alarm and security system which meant I had an intruder on the premesis or a guest. Both are few and far between. When I opened my front door I saw a girl though I was unsure of what she screamed I saw the wolves preparing to "take care" of the intruder. I intervened and the girl glanced back. Ino?!?!?! I stood up shaking off the flashback. I glanced across the bed to see her wrapped up in wolves. She looked so precious. I managed to scramble to my feet and procede to get dressed and soak in the bath a little. I prepared breakfast served it to the pack. Sat back in a chair at the far end of the table with some coffee and one of my books explaining some old family secrets and lost myself in it. I never ate breakfast myself. I never really eat in the mornings. I was startled when I noticed Ino had finished her plate. I didn't even know she was even there. I can become quite oblivious to the world when I lose myself to something such as staring ito Ino's eyes. Wow I just caught myself doing that too. Her face went completely red. "Ino-chan. Did you enjoy breakfast?" she nodded and I got up cleared the table and cleaned the few dishes something I took for granted. I had done it since I was five and my uncle left. When I was done I found Ino in the living room and I could tell she was shivering again. It was that entirely cold.... To me..... I remembered what it was immediately. I perfromed a few hand signs releasing the jutsu. "Sorry Ino-chan. I forgot I had it on. I kind of like the cold." I explained as it began to warm up quite quickly. I plopped myself on down on the couch next to Ino who had yet to say anything this morning but that was not gonna stop me from knowing what happened last night.
"Ino-chan what happened?" she glanced up.
"We couldn't afford living here anymore. They left me here thinking I was gonna stay at Sakura's. I had no where to go so I..." She began to cry uncontrollably. I cradled her in my arms. I never knew what it was like to lose parents. I barely knew my dad at all before he went off to die at the claws of the Kyuubi. She buried her face into my neck and continued crying until she had nothing.
"Ino-chan you can stay here as long as you want. I dried your luggage and its in the bedroom hanging in the closet. Don't hesitate to ask me for anything. The house can be quite large so if you can't find me just say my name to one of the wolves they will know where to find me." She got to her feet.
"How many rooms are in this place?"
"Twenty-three. Which is a real shame because I only use seven of them while the others collect dust." I chuckled. "Those rooms would be this one, the kitchen, the dining room, the bedroom, the library, the training room, and the garden room."
Ino smiled at me before making her way to the bedroom. Ino-chan I'm so sorry. I will never be able to understand your pain. I will not let anything happen to you if it should cost me my life. This I promise.....
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She tallied up her gear and left the manor porceeding to where her team had officially agreed to meet. When she got there Shikamaru and Chouji had already started. She was terribly late. She completely misjudged the distance from the manor. Asuma understood completely remembering what had happened to Ino just the night before. Training was kind of harsh today but after they all went out to eat at Chouji's favorite barbeque restraunt. They all pitched in and bought their dinner. Ino explained to everyone about what had happened the previous night and how Rennik let her stay at his house. She didn't stop there though. Just becuase shes Ino she decided to brag a little about the size of the house and that he cooked and he had all these pretty wolves. Typical Ino. Regardless everyone was really happy she had somewhere to go. When they were about to leave Asuma took Ino off to the side.
"Look Ino I know you are going through a hard time and must miss your parents but. You really need to work on your skills. For the past few weeks you have been slowly falling behind your team." Asuma explained shifting his cigarette to the other side of his mouth. He was right though. She had been falling behind. She was very mad at herself since she had failed the chunin exams too. She began on her long walk home. It seemed so right... Home... She liked the thought of being able to call it home. It seemed to excite her though she couldn't place her finger on why. Before she knew it she was at the manor. She opened the door quietly wondering what I could be doing. The largest of the wolves Buster came up and brushed against her. Buster nuzzled his face into her hands until she petted him. She smiled.
"Hey boy. Where is Rennik at?" she asked as she messed up the fur on the wolf's head. Buster gave Ino a big sloppy lick across the face before guiding her down the long hall to the very end. He scratched at the last door. "Good boy" She said rubbing behind his ears before entering the door. She was speechless. The room was much larger than she suspected. It was more like a courtyard. About a fourth of the room was fenced off but on the other side of the fence was a large ammount of flowers, herbs, and vegetables. Next to the garden was a black smithing area. Katanas, broad swords, kunai, naginata, spear, long swords, rapiers, a few axes, and quite the assortment of more exotic weapons such as razor fans, morningstars, and flails. It was a very complete blacksmithing area. the remianing half of the room was surrounded in metal plates. The battleground she assumed. In the middle stood the man she seeked. He was wielding dual broad swords and was parrying kunai flying at him through holes in the walls. The whole courtyard was domed off with a thin metal mesh material. Rennik had changed stances and began picking up kunai and flinging them at targets with one hand hitting bullseyes' and knocking the targets with one hand while the other still held a broad sword and remained deflecting kunai.
Ino had figured I would have been hungry when I was done and it was lunch time so she made her way to the kitchen to begin cooking up something for lunch. She found some deer meat and rice. She cooked up the lunch in large proportions like Rennik had and fed the wolves. She then set up the table and waited for me to come in. From down the hall she heard Rennik yell quite loudly. "FUCK!" She waited for a sec before she went to see what happened. Rennik appeared from the training room and met with her mid hall.
"Oh, Hey Ino-chan. I'm sorry I hadn't noticed you got back" Rennik explained with a slight limp as they continued on towards the dining area.
"Its ok I just got done making lunch for us anyhow." Ino was happy when she saw his eyes light up like the Fourth of July.
"How did your training go anyway?" Rennik questioned seating himself at the table and digging in.
"I guess it went ok. Asuma says I need a lot of work. He decided to increase training to weekends as well." she reluctantly admitted. "How about you? I heard you yell."
"Oh right. Ya I bobbed when I should've weaved. Anyway I ended up with a kunai stuck in my thigh. I healed it up mostly I just decided I was cooked long enough for the day." Rennik finished his lunch off and raised an eyebrow to Ino. "Hey Ino-chan. You think Asuma would mind if I tagged along with you guys today. I could really use the shinobi to shinobi training and my sensei and team mates are gone this week."
"No, Asuma would be fine with it. Especially if it will motivate Shikamaru and Chouji to actually try for once." She sighed. "You must be so stressed about the final exam coming up huh?"
"You have no idea. Anyway I look at it it's going to suck. I mean its the real cream of the crop. Even shinobi people would just brush aside as easy I have looked into and know its still gonna suck. I mean on one side you have Shikamaru. He worries me the most. He might have low chakra abilities but if he puts his mind to something theres a great chance you won't last much longer. I figure if I can keep pressure on him he'll crack. Then you got those sand-nin. The blondie I can handle. I just need to avoid that fan like its the plague. The sand-nin with the face paint scares me too. I still have yet to figure out what that thing is he carries on his back. Then theres the red-head. Gaara of the Desert. I have read in some books and heard rumors. I have concluded he holds the demon Shukaku inside of him and that could be problematic in my well being. I have yet to perfect my move that could crack his sand barrier but I have yet to test it. You have Neji Hyuuga. He is good but I can out class him with my own speed. Shino should be a simpleton to take down. I have develpoed a jutsu that counters his bugs easily. I've always wanted to test my metal against Sasuke's sharingan. The one I worry about the most however is Naruto. I am positive he will blow everyone away come the final exam. At any rate I need to put my whole into it and hopefully walk away a chunin." She caught him subconciously rubbing behind Buster's ear. They had talked about their experience in the chunin exams so far and about their time at the academy.
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I woke up abruptly. I got up and immediately had deja-vu hit me. Just like yesterday morning. This I could get used to. I ran over the pages of the book flipping through pages like crazy. It was just how I had come to read after a while. You read in every spare moment instead of hanging out with people you get the ability to read six hundred page stories in a few hours. I looked up to once again catch Ino finishing her breakfast in silence. There was something about her. She seemed so closed to me. Like she knew how I felt about her. Did she? Maybe she already loved someone and thought if I knew I would kick her out? At any rate she isn't the bossy Yamanaka Ino that I know but she was still Ino and I still loved her. We gathered our weapons pouches and we left for the "usual place" Ino had put it. The walk was short we talked most of the way. I swapped some of my stories about my time with the Tamaki's and our wacky sensei. She went on about how Chouji never stopped thinking about food and Shikamaru's "how troublesome" out look on life. We had shown up before Shikamaru but we were still late. He was right behind us shrugging and muttering something about how troublesome it was for me to be there. Asuma had indeed been glad I would be joining them that day just as Ino predicted. Asuma called Chouji out first having the genin give a superb show of his talents and then ridiculed his student for the superb lack there of. He brought out Shikamaru next who feigned being weak to throw my perceptions of him amiss and I played into it purposely. He either knew it or thought I was an idiot. Ino was called out next and Asuma began sparring with her. I knew her skills all too well from the fight with Sakura during the preliminaries. I had however learned of a family trait in a dusty old book left in my dad's desk drawer. It explained the family traits behind our eyes. The reason that during the day they burned like the sun and during the night the sun turned into a moon. He had always felt the urge to scream at the moon when it was full along with his wolves. The book explained the urge in detail. It was a trait like that of the Hyuuga's Byakugan and the Uchiha's Sharingan. Our blood limit caused something else though. When used our eyes would zone in and be able to track incredible speeds and calculate distances and air speed velocities to the point I could tell where a falling star would land or if it would. It was required becuase the rest of the bodies sense were heightened to that of a wolves. The speed of the body would increase dramatically and strength would increase slightly. I had tested it only once before and was astounded by it.
I activated my blood limit called Howlingan by my dad due to the users inability to resist howling at a full moon if the it was activated during one. I watched intently as I followed the kunoichi's movements taking note every little flaw that was made and already calculating the adjustments required to fix it. The short spar ended with a bad calcutlation on both Asuma's and Ino's part. It was a very heavy hit not meant by the jounin but I already was on my feet and and caught the beautiful Ino before any harm could come of it. It must have startled everyone because no one had even seen me get up to catch her. I let her down and checked where the blow had landed. The was no damage she was just shaken a little.
"Ino I'm sorry that was my fault" Asuma began to explain shifting the everlasting cigarette to the other side of his mouth. A little habit he did when he was nervous.
Ino shrugged "No harm no foul but if it happens again I will soo tell Gai about it." Asuma definately looked irritated. Any flaw Gai heard about was going to be heard about by everyone for a month. Ino flopped herself on the ground bringing her knees to her chest and burrying her face in them as she tried to hide her embarrasment of lasting the lowest ammount of time out of all her team mates.
"Ino-chan I see what you did wrong." She looked up at me eyes looking for answers. "Your skills lie largely in ranged combat. Its not a bad thing though. You make it a bad thing by trying to stay prolonged in a hand to hand fight. Not only that but your Tai-jutsu technique is flawless. You just need to be quick. Very quick. Catch your enemy by surprise give him a hard thump then back off and barrage him with ranged attacks. I can help you work on your speed no problem. Anyway what it comes down to largely is being light on the feet. You try to grip when you should be pushing off and moving again"
Her sensei had walked up and just stared in astonishment. "That's quite an eye you have there. I couldn't pin point where she was going wrong yet even." He wasn't the only one however. Chouji was mocking Shikamaru who was already trying to strategize a way to beat my eyes. I could tell from his hands.
I looked at Asuma and nodded, "It runs in the family"
"Which family" The jounin questioned but soon sighed when he realized I wasn't dignifying him with an answer. "Alright then who wants a weapons spar. You are all lacking in weapons training and it has been nagging at me lately."
No one responded and I loved weapons and was actually hoping for this and had prepared before hand. "Which weapons Asuma-sensei?"
"Any weapon of your choice. I shall be using brass knuckles."
"I see" I began walking to the surprise I had prepared.
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I can't believe it. GAH! Why hadn't I thought about it sooner. I had been so intent on perfecting my technique I had completely over looked where my skills lied and why can't I seem to.... There is that long blanket he took with them this morning. I didn't question him on what it was but now I am most curious. Rennik sat on his knees and unrolled the blanket before him. In it was a very intricately designed katana sheath. The sheath was astounding. I have never seen anything like it. Come to think of it. I don't know and shinobi who even use katanas though I know Genma has a thing for them. I began indulging my curiosity of the sheath further completely speechless as to its beauty. It was a white sheath with grey wolves all over it. It had black lettering mirroring itself on both sided of the sheath the the language was something foreign. Where there would normally be a strap was shiny a shiny golden chainmail tie which Rennik had neatly but firmly tied around his waste. He then proceeded into the clearing where my sensei awaited and stood about 10 meters acrossed from him before unsheathing the blade only furthering my breathlessness. It was a long black blade. Metal I have never seen before. Silver runes engraved into the blade itself ran along its length. The hilt of the blade was white with a golden trim. On the end of the handle was a highly detailed wolf face stretching away from the direction the blade pointed. The mouth of the grey wolf was open revealing ruby fangs within. The face was covered in real wolf fur. Even Chouji and Shikamaru found themselves staring at it.
"That's quite an impressive blade." Asuma chuckled. "I knew you had something but damn. I didn't think you'd make me look bad."
"Oh this. Just an old family relic I thought I would let out storage." The two had dropped into fighting stances. I have seen Genma and some civilians use katanas before but they held it close to the waist and the blade extended towards the enemy at an angle. Rennik however held it above his head blade facing upwards and the tip of the blade pointing at Asuma. Asuma was in his traditional boxing stance. The two had begun to fight. Asuma launched furious attacks whikle Rennik moved with grace dodging and blocking each attack.
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I sat next to Ino. I watched her tense up every time a strike almost hit the katana wielder. I heard her breathing stop and a gasp escape her mouth everytime Asuma connected a blow. I've never seen her like this. She's always so bossy and always puts up the "I'm a cold deadly devil" front. She had changed a little over the last few days though. Her front was down a lot more often. I've always thought of her as a little sister to me. It always has to be when I just figure her out too. How troublesome. Not only that but the man she gasps for is a deadly fighter and a likely opponent in the coming exam. I sighed audibly. "What a drag." Ino glanced at me.
"What is it this time Nara?", Ino questioned with a slightly bossy shove.
"Ino I thought we could get some barbeque after training tonight."
"Sure can Rennik tag along too?"
"Umm I was hoping we could talk privately." Ino had leaped to her feet after watching the fight end due to a large combination of blows landed by Asuma.
"That will conclude our training for the day. You all did good. Ino I want you to train with Rennik for the next few days. He seems to know his speed quite well and can help you with it a lot more than I"
"Sure think Asuma-sensei" Ino said before running over to Rennik who was scrambling back to his feet. He is quick. I will have to try hard to catch his speed with my shadows. How troublesome. I had hardly noticed Ino standing in front of me as I stared up at the clouds.
"Well are we going to go or what Nara" Ino punched me in the arm snapping me out of my day-dream. We walked in silence to the resraunt and I was laggin behind her like I usually do staring at the clouds slowly creeping across the sky. We got to the restruants and seated ourselves at the usualy booth. We ordered our usual food and waited for it. "Nara what did you want to talk about anyway?"
"Well. See. Ino I always kind of saw you as a sister. I guess I never really had the urge to mention it before. I think with your parents moving away and you acting strange that I wanted you to know you can talk to me that's all." That went better than I thought it would.
"Nara what do you mean sister? I haven't been acting strangely either. Your so full of it Nara."
"How troublesome. You just haven't been your usual self and its kind of been bothering me and I wanted you to know you can talk to me."
"Nara I think thats the least laziest thing you've ever said or done to me ever." Ino stated eyes feeling with joy. "There is actually something that has been bugging me. You see I'm not usually at a loss for words ever but... Rennik.. He was there for me when I needed him.The way he always adds chan to the end of my name. He looks at me in a way no one had before. I feel so different when I am around him and I'm sure it because I love him but... That brings me back to the begging. I am at a loss for words and I can't tell him how I feel. It's been taking up most of my thoughts too and I SWEAR Nara if you tell anyone you will never see a cloud again!"
"Do you have to call me Nara all the time?" So I was right she does love him."I think you should just tell him how you feel. It will make you feel a lot better and at least you will know how he feels."
"Thanks... I suppose your right and since this helped me a lot I guess it wouldn't be too much trouble to just call you Niisan." Niisan I liked the sound of that. We finished our dinner talking about the exams and I explained what my strategies were that I was using against everyone. After our dinner I walked Ino to her new home and said my farewell to her. My thoughts trailed back to what was said at dinner. If he hurts Ino I will make him pay for it.
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When I came in all the lights were off and the wolves were already sleeping scattered throughout the house. I quickly slipped into some pajamas and laid in the comfy bed and began to drift off while my thoughts wandered to my newly found brother. I never new Shikamaru was capable of that kind of seriousness. Tomorrow. Yes I'll tell Rennik how I feel tomorrow.
I woke to the smell of eggs. I realized I was served breakfast in bed.
"Upsy daisy Ino-chan. Your training with me begins today." I finished my breakfast and threw on my ninja gear before heading towards the training ground where Rennik sat and appeared to be meditating. This was not the case as she got closer she noticed yet another book in his hand.
"Jeez Rennik. Your as bad as Kakashi but at least its not naughty books." He laughed at this.
"I know I know. I'm terrible but I can't kick the habit ya know? Anyway lets gets started. The key thing to keeping up your momentum is never let your full foot hit the ground for traction. You need to stay on your toes and keep moving like I said yesterday."
He ran me through the motions and I began to practice. As I increased he began throwing kunai at me to dodge and kept increasing the difficulty of the maneuver until I had gotten completely exhausted and lay on my back.
"You did good today Ino-Chan." I hadn't realized how much time has actually passed. We skipped right through lunch and the sun had already set. I looked to Rennik who was picking up stuff around the arena. I feel like telling him so much.
I smelled something. I opened my eyes. Oh how could I have been so stupid. I must've fallen asleep. Gosh. He prolly thinks I'm such a wimp. Something brushed against my cheek, tenderly and caring. I looked down a little and there he was cleaning my face and serving me dinner. I wanted desperately to tell him. To do something ANYTHING. I was over exherted and couldn't even move. He fed me my dinner. It was so surreal. It feels like heaven. "Ino-chan get some more rest. We'll pick up training tomorrow morning." He ran his hand through my hair and left the room with the dishes. I couldn't stay awake anymore. It was like this for the next week. I trained harder than ever so I wouldn't have to tell him. I'm soo stupid. He walked into the room and over to her.
"Ino-chan. I need to work on my abilities now and. Well I've done all I can for you. You did good. Real good and I'm proud of you." He stroked my hair before leaving the room. The next day I was beside myself. I ran to the training room. He wasn't there. I found a note. "I decided to train with the Tamakis. Help yourself to anything you need and good luck with your training I'm sure you'll take everybody by surprise." I decided to meet up with my team kicking myself the whole way there. GOD! How could I be so stupid. My team had already started training. Shikamaru came over to me with a look of concern on his face. Am I that transparent?
"Ino whats bothering you?"
"Nothing" Everything.
"Ino I know somethings wrong. Did he do something to you?"
"Nothing happened alright!" I just wish it did.
"Look you can tell me. I don't like to see you hurting like this."
"I SAID I WAS FINE!" Since when does anyone care this much. I started crying and ran to home. I had calmed myself down over the next couple of days. Rennik never came home. A small part of me was so happy but most of me was empty. I felt so hallow. She felt so bad leaving Shikamaru like that.
There was a knock on the door. It was crazy but I ran to it. I quickly threw the door open and found what I wanted. Almost. Rennik was carried by the brothers.
"Hey Ino!" Haru exclaimed. "Rennik told us a lot about you. He kind of over trained and should rest the next few days to gather energy for the exam. So if you wouldn't mind could you take care of his for us?"
"Ya sure" I stepped aside allowing Haru to lay Rennik in his bed before leaving her. I cared for him over the next few days. He ate a little but slept for most of it. He was ready for the exam though.
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Rev iew PLEASE
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The rain poured down more than ever and lightning rushed across the skies now and she barely had found her way to Rennik's humble above. She was stunned when she was at it. It was easily larger than the Hyuuga's manor. She came up to the door and after a while of debating with herself she realized she could be homeless or ask him for help. She tapped on the door lightly. A few minutes went by. Oh he must just not have heard it she muttered knocking quite a bit louder. Nothing. She began to cry again and pushed the door bell. Still nothing. She turned and began to leave. When she had gotten a few meters away from the mansion she found herself surrounded by glowing eyes. Soon snarling and barking followed. She found herself surround by a pack of wolves before she knew it. Thats it she announced to herself as she collapsed and cried harder than ever if that was even possible. "JUST FUCKING KILL ME YOU STUPID MUTTS!, she screamed at them. The dogs circled her and the largest closed in.
A familliar voice called from the direction of the mansion. "BUSTER! Is that how we treat guests?" the largest of the wolves whined quite loudly. "I didn't think so now get inside and stay off the furniture so help me god if it gets wet I will have wolf stew and a new blanket." the large wolf whined again but complied to his masters wishes followed by the rest of the pack who shook themselves off at the door before proceding inside. "Ino-chan?" Rennik called rushing over to her. He picked up her bags and helped her up. "Come on. I have a fire going inside and dinners almost done and I absolutely insist you join me least you feel like catching a fever out here." He soothed and they continued into the mansion. "Make youself at home. There is a bath three doors down that hall and on your left. Pistol will show you the way." he motioned to one of the smaller wolves who brushed up against Ino and waited for her to follow him. "I want you to take a nice long bath and by then dinner will be ready. Then you can get some rest and I want you to tell me everything that happened in the morning. Mitsee get our guest a towel and some pajamas please." Another wolf dissapeared as the first guided her into the large bath room. She was astonished. The bath was built to scale with the size of the house. It could easily fit ten people in it and then some. She climbed in and saw a wolf enter some time after she began with a pair of pajamas and a towel. She was completely dumbfounded and had no idea what to make of the situation so she finished soaking in the barth. Dried off wrapping the towel around her head and putting on the oversized pajamas. She opened the door only to almost fall over Pistol when she walked out. The wolf licked her leg and waited for her to follow him to the large dining room with a table that could seat at least sixteen. On one end of the table were two plates with warm food and from the kitchen appeared Rennik with a massive platter of food. He placed it on the floor and she saw the pack converge on it feasting on the meat as if it came from heaven itself. "Jeez guys have some manners we have a guest for christ's sake."
Rennik motioned her to come over and pulled out a chair for her at the very end of the long table. When she seated herself he sat just to her left and began to eat. She took a bite from the meat and thought she had just tasted meat that came from the gods themselves. "Thank you so much Rennik but are you sure your parents are ok with this?"
"Umm don't worry about them they died a long time ago and its just me and the pack up here." he said no hint of sadness anywhere in his voice as if it was just an everyday thing.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it. That was a long time ago." She finished her plate quicker than she could have imagined. Rennik ate about half of his than dumped the rest on the platter with the dogs feasting off it. He dissappeared into the kitchen.
I can't believe this. Why is he always so plain all the time. She left her mind thoughtless before she noticed she could see her breath. She found herself to be shaking uncontrollably. Its so cold. It never gets this cold even for the leaf village. Soon Rennik reappeared from the kitchen and handed her a nice warm cup of cocoa. He was holding a glass of iced tea himself and he took her by the arm and brought her to the living room where there was a massive first place in the middle with a large TV along one wall and extravagent chairs and couches through the room. The coloring of the house was gray and maroon much like everything in it. He sat her down on the couch next to the fire as she drank her cocoa. They sat in silence until she finished. "Thank you sooo much Rennik. For everything. You've done so much for me. More than you even know. You save my life. You inspired me to continue with my training despite having failed the Chunin exams and now you are letting me stay here with you. Your so great and I don't care what everyone thinks about you. You are a very sweet guy." She turned to see what my expression looked like only to find me sleeping. The tea was barely drank so she mustered that he fell asleep a while ago. She noticed the scratches all over his back at last. He must've been training when I came over she assumed standing up. A wolf jumped onto the couch and began licking Rennik's face.
"What the hell do you want Buster. Oh I fell asleep again." He glanced at Ino. "Ino-chan I'm soo sorry you must be quite tired. You can come to bed with me come on." She wasn't sure what she thought of going to bed with another man but she realized how big of a deal it really wasn't. The bed was massive. It was a perfect square which stretched twenty meters in every direction. "Wow" was all she managed to say. Rennik pulled the covers back on one side and motioned for her to lay down. He then proceeded to the other side of the bed and laid down himself. She pulled the covers around her finding a real wolf fur blanket laying in the middle of the bed folded but quite small in comparison to the bed. She grabbed in and wrapped it around her too finding it to be quite warm but she was still freezing.
"Ino-Chan are you still cold?"
"No I'm fine really."
"Ya really? I can hear your teeth chattering from over here and I can see your breath. I know how we can get warmer though." Rennik chuckled. No way Ino thought. Absolutly no way. Did she seriously just hear that. Rennik whistled loudly and she heard the sound of paws peeling out on the floor coming from all directions and before she knew it a load of wolves piled on to the bed around her and Rennik. "Hah you should've seen the look on your face. I'm not a pervert Ino-chan Jeez" She was so much warmer and soon found herself to be drifting into a deep sleep.
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I woke to my personal alarm clock licking me in the face. "Go away Mimi." I groaned and turned over remembering I had training to do and they were probably starving. My thoughts trailed to the night before and I remembered last nights crazy events. I was in the back training room perfecting a technique I was hoping would win the final exam by itself when Pistol bolted out the door and exited the house via one of the numerous dog doors scattered throughout the house. Pistol was basically a personal alarm and security system which meant I had an intruder on the premesis or a guest. Both are few and far between. When I opened my front door I saw a girl though I was unsure of what she screamed I saw the wolves preparing to "take care" of the intruder. I intervened and the girl glanced back. Ino?!?!?! I stood up shaking off the flashback. I glanced across the bed to see her wrapped up in wolves. She looked so precious. I managed to scramble to my feet and procede to get dressed and soak in the bath a little. I prepared breakfast served it to the pack. Sat back in a chair at the far end of the table with some coffee and one of my books explaining some old family secrets and lost myself in it. I never ate breakfast myself. I never really eat in the mornings. I was startled when I noticed Ino had finished her plate. I didn't even know she was even there. I can become quite oblivious to the world when I lose myself to something such as staring ito Ino's eyes. Wow I just caught myself doing that too. Her face went completely red. "Ino-chan. Did you enjoy breakfast?" she nodded and I got up cleared the table and cleaned the few dishes something I took for granted. I had done it since I was five and my uncle left. When I was done I found Ino in the living room and I could tell she was shivering again. It was that entirely cold.... To me..... I remembered what it was immediately. I perfromed a few hand signs releasing the jutsu. "Sorry Ino-chan. I forgot I had it on. I kind of like the cold." I explained as it began to warm up quite quickly. I plopped myself on down on the couch next to Ino who had yet to say anything this morning but that was not gonna stop me from knowing what happened last night.
"Ino-chan what happened?" she glanced up.
"We couldn't afford living here anymore. They left me here thinking I was gonna stay at Sakura's. I had no where to go so I..." She began to cry uncontrollably. I cradled her in my arms. I never knew what it was like to lose parents. I barely knew my dad at all before he went off to die at the claws of the Kyuubi. She buried her face into my neck and continued crying until she had nothing.
"Ino-chan you can stay here as long as you want. I dried your luggage and its in the bedroom hanging in the closet. Don't hesitate to ask me for anything. The house can be quite large so if you can't find me just say my name to one of the wolves they will know where to find me." She got to her feet.
"How many rooms are in this place?"
"Twenty-three. Which is a real shame because I only use seven of them while the others collect dust." I chuckled. "Those rooms would be this one, the kitchen, the dining room, the bedroom, the library, the training room, and the garden room."
Ino smiled at me before making her way to the bedroom. Ino-chan I'm so sorry. I will never be able to understand your pain. I will not let anything happen to you if it should cost me my life. This I promise.....
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She tallied up her gear and left the manor porceeding to where her team had officially agreed to meet. When she got there Shikamaru and Chouji had already started. She was terribly late. She completely misjudged the distance from the manor. Asuma understood completely remembering what had happened to Ino just the night before. Training was kind of harsh today but after they all went out to eat at Chouji's favorite barbeque restraunt. They all pitched in and bought their dinner. Ino explained to everyone about what had happened the previous night and how Rennik let her stay at his house. She didn't stop there though. Just becuase shes Ino she decided to brag a little about the size of the house and that he cooked and he had all these pretty wolves. Typical Ino. Regardless everyone was really happy she had somewhere to go. When they were about to leave Asuma took Ino off to the side.
"Look Ino I know you are going through a hard time and must miss your parents but. You really need to work on your skills. For the past few weeks you have been slowly falling behind your team." Asuma explained shifting his cigarette to the other side of his mouth. He was right though. She had been falling behind. She was very mad at herself since she had failed the chunin exams too. She began on her long walk home. It seemed so right... Home... She liked the thought of being able to call it home. It seemed to excite her though she couldn't place her finger on why. Before she knew it she was at the manor. She opened the door quietly wondering what I could be doing. The largest of the wolves Buster came up and brushed against her. Buster nuzzled his face into her hands until she petted him. She smiled.
"Hey boy. Where is Rennik at?" she asked as she messed up the fur on the wolf's head. Buster gave Ino a big sloppy lick across the face before guiding her down the long hall to the very end. He scratched at the last door. "Good boy" She said rubbing behind his ears before entering the door. She was speechless. The room was much larger than she suspected. It was more like a courtyard. About a fourth of the room was fenced off but on the other side of the fence was a large ammount of flowers, herbs, and vegetables. Next to the garden was a black smithing area. Katanas, broad swords, kunai, naginata, spear, long swords, rapiers, a few axes, and quite the assortment of more exotic weapons such as razor fans, morningstars, and flails. It was a very complete blacksmithing area. the remianing half of the room was surrounded in metal plates. The battleground she assumed. In the middle stood the man she seeked. He was wielding dual broad swords and was parrying kunai flying at him through holes in the walls. The whole courtyard was domed off with a thin metal mesh material. Rennik had changed stances and began picking up kunai and flinging them at targets with one hand hitting bullseyes' and knocking the targets with one hand while the other still held a broad sword and remained deflecting kunai.
Ino had figured I would have been hungry when I was done and it was lunch time so she made her way to the kitchen to begin cooking up something for lunch. She found some deer meat and rice. She cooked up the lunch in large proportions like Rennik had and fed the wolves. She then set up the table and waited for me to come in. From down the hall she heard Rennik yell quite loudly. "FUCK!" She waited for a sec before she went to see what happened. Rennik appeared from the training room and met with her mid hall.
"Oh, Hey Ino-chan. I'm sorry I hadn't noticed you got back" Rennik explained with a slight limp as they continued on towards the dining area.
"Its ok I just got done making lunch for us anyhow." Ino was happy when she saw his eyes light up like the Fourth of July.
"How did your training go anyway?" Rennik questioned seating himself at the table and digging in.
"I guess it went ok. Asuma says I need a lot of work. He decided to increase training to weekends as well." she reluctantly admitted. "How about you? I heard you yell."
"Oh right. Ya I bobbed when I should've weaved. Anyway I ended up with a kunai stuck in my thigh. I healed it up mostly I just decided I was cooked long enough for the day." Rennik finished his lunch off and raised an eyebrow to Ino. "Hey Ino-chan. You think Asuma would mind if I tagged along with you guys today. I could really use the shinobi to shinobi training and my sensei and team mates are gone this week."
"No, Asuma would be fine with it. Especially if it will motivate Shikamaru and Chouji to actually try for once." She sighed. "You must be so stressed about the final exam coming up huh?"
"You have no idea. Anyway I look at it it's going to suck. I mean its the real cream of the crop. Even shinobi people would just brush aside as easy I have looked into and know its still gonna suck. I mean on one side you have Shikamaru. He worries me the most. He might have low chakra abilities but if he puts his mind to something theres a great chance you won't last much longer. I figure if I can keep pressure on him he'll crack. Then you got those sand-nin. The blondie I can handle. I just need to avoid that fan like its the plague. The sand-nin with the face paint scares me too. I still have yet to figure out what that thing is he carries on his back. Then theres the red-head. Gaara of the Desert. I have read in some books and heard rumors. I have concluded he holds the demon Shukaku inside of him and that could be problematic in my well being. I have yet to perfect my move that could crack his sand barrier but I have yet to test it. You have Neji Hyuuga. He is good but I can out class him with my own speed. Shino should be a simpleton to take down. I have develpoed a jutsu that counters his bugs easily. I've always wanted to test my metal against Sasuke's sharingan. The one I worry about the most however is Naruto. I am positive he will blow everyone away come the final exam. At any rate I need to put my whole into it and hopefully walk away a chunin." She caught him subconciously rubbing behind Buster's ear. They had talked about their experience in the chunin exams so far and about their time at the academy.
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I woke up abruptly. I got up and immediately had deja-vu hit me. Just like yesterday morning. This I could get used to. I ran over the pages of the book flipping through pages like crazy. It was just how I had come to read after a while. You read in every spare moment instead of hanging out with people you get the ability to read six hundred page stories in a few hours. I looked up to once again catch Ino finishing her breakfast in silence. There was something about her. She seemed so closed to me. Like she knew how I felt about her. Did she? Maybe she already loved someone and thought if I knew I would kick her out? At any rate she isn't the bossy Yamanaka Ino that I know but she was still Ino and I still loved her. We gathered our weapons pouches and we left for the "usual place" Ino had put it. The walk was short we talked most of the way. I swapped some of my stories about my time with the Tamaki's and our wacky sensei. She went on about how Chouji never stopped thinking about food and Shikamaru's "how troublesome" out look on life. We had shown up before Shikamaru but we were still late. He was right behind us shrugging and muttering something about how troublesome it was for me to be there. Asuma had indeed been glad I would be joining them that day just as Ino predicted. Asuma called Chouji out first having the genin give a superb show of his talents and then ridiculed his student for the superb lack there of. He brought out Shikamaru next who feigned being weak to throw my perceptions of him amiss and I played into it purposely. He either knew it or thought I was an idiot. Ino was called out next and Asuma began sparring with her. I knew her skills all too well from the fight with Sakura during the preliminaries. I had however learned of a family trait in a dusty old book left in my dad's desk drawer. It explained the family traits behind our eyes. The reason that during the day they burned like the sun and during the night the sun turned into a moon. He had always felt the urge to scream at the moon when it was full along with his wolves. The book explained the urge in detail. It was a trait like that of the Hyuuga's Byakugan and the Uchiha's Sharingan. Our blood limit caused something else though. When used our eyes would zone in and be able to track incredible speeds and calculate distances and air speed velocities to the point I could tell where a falling star would land or if it would. It was required becuase the rest of the bodies sense were heightened to that of a wolves. The speed of the body would increase dramatically and strength would increase slightly. I had tested it only once before and was astounded by it.
I activated my blood limit called Howlingan by my dad due to the users inability to resist howling at a full moon if the it was activated during one. I watched intently as I followed the kunoichi's movements taking note every little flaw that was made and already calculating the adjustments required to fix it. The short spar ended with a bad calcutlation on both Asuma's and Ino's part. It was a very heavy hit not meant by the jounin but I already was on my feet and and caught the beautiful Ino before any harm could come of it. It must have startled everyone because no one had even seen me get up to catch her. I let her down and checked where the blow had landed. The was no damage she was just shaken a little.
"Ino I'm sorry that was my fault" Asuma began to explain shifting the everlasting cigarette to the other side of his mouth. A little habit he did when he was nervous.
Ino shrugged "No harm no foul but if it happens again I will soo tell Gai about it." Asuma definately looked irritated. Any flaw Gai heard about was going to be heard about by everyone for a month. Ino flopped herself on the ground bringing her knees to her chest and burrying her face in them as she tried to hide her embarrasment of lasting the lowest ammount of time out of all her team mates.
"Ino-chan I see what you did wrong." She looked up at me eyes looking for answers. "Your skills lie largely in ranged combat. Its not a bad thing though. You make it a bad thing by trying to stay prolonged in a hand to hand fight. Not only that but your Tai-jutsu technique is flawless. You just need to be quick. Very quick. Catch your enemy by surprise give him a hard thump then back off and barrage him with ranged attacks. I can help you work on your speed no problem. Anyway what it comes down to largely is being light on the feet. You try to grip when you should be pushing off and moving again"
Her sensei had walked up and just stared in astonishment. "That's quite an eye you have there. I couldn't pin point where she was going wrong yet even." He wasn't the only one however. Chouji was mocking Shikamaru who was already trying to strategize a way to beat my eyes. I could tell from his hands.
I looked at Asuma and nodded, "It runs in the family"
"Which family" The jounin questioned but soon sighed when he realized I wasn't dignifying him with an answer. "Alright then who wants a weapons spar. You are all lacking in weapons training and it has been nagging at me lately."
No one responded and I loved weapons and was actually hoping for this and had prepared before hand. "Which weapons Asuma-sensei?"
"Any weapon of your choice. I shall be using brass knuckles."
"I see" I began walking to the surprise I had prepared.
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I can't believe it. GAH! Why hadn't I thought about it sooner. I had been so intent on perfecting my technique I had completely over looked where my skills lied and why can't I seem to.... There is that long blanket he took with them this morning. I didn't question him on what it was but now I am most curious. Rennik sat on his knees and unrolled the blanket before him. In it was a very intricately designed katana sheath. The sheath was astounding. I have never seen anything like it. Come to think of it. I don't know and shinobi who even use katanas though I know Genma has a thing for them. I began indulging my curiosity of the sheath further completely speechless as to its beauty. It was a white sheath with grey wolves all over it. It had black lettering mirroring itself on both sided of the sheath the the language was something foreign. Where there would normally be a strap was shiny a shiny golden chainmail tie which Rennik had neatly but firmly tied around his waste. He then proceeded into the clearing where my sensei awaited and stood about 10 meters acrossed from him before unsheathing the blade only furthering my breathlessness. It was a long black blade. Metal I have never seen before. Silver runes engraved into the blade itself ran along its length. The hilt of the blade was white with a golden trim. On the end of the handle was a highly detailed wolf face stretching away from the direction the blade pointed. The mouth of the grey wolf was open revealing ruby fangs within. The face was covered in real wolf fur. Even Chouji and Shikamaru found themselves staring at it.
"That's quite an impressive blade." Asuma chuckled. "I knew you had something but damn. I didn't think you'd make me look bad."
"Oh this. Just an old family relic I thought I would let out storage." The two had dropped into fighting stances. I have seen Genma and some civilians use katanas before but they held it close to the waist and the blade extended towards the enemy at an angle. Rennik however held it above his head blade facing upwards and the tip of the blade pointing at Asuma. Asuma was in his traditional boxing stance. The two had begun to fight. Asuma launched furious attacks whikle Rennik moved with grace dodging and blocking each attack.
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I sat next to Ino. I watched her tense up every time a strike almost hit the katana wielder. I heard her breathing stop and a gasp escape her mouth everytime Asuma connected a blow. I've never seen her like this. She's always so bossy and always puts up the "I'm a cold deadly devil" front. She had changed a little over the last few days though. Her front was down a lot more often. I've always thought of her as a little sister to me. It always has to be when I just figure her out too. How troublesome. Not only that but the man she gasps for is a deadly fighter and a likely opponent in the coming exam. I sighed audibly. "What a drag." Ino glanced at me.
"What is it this time Nara?", Ino questioned with a slightly bossy shove.
"Ino I thought we could get some barbeque after training tonight."
"Sure can Rennik tag along too?"
"Umm I was hoping we could talk privately." Ino had leaped to her feet after watching the fight end due to a large combination of blows landed by Asuma.
"That will conclude our training for the day. You all did good. Ino I want you to train with Rennik for the next few days. He seems to know his speed quite well and can help you with it a lot more than I"
"Sure think Asuma-sensei" Ino said before running over to Rennik who was scrambling back to his feet. He is quick. I will have to try hard to catch his speed with my shadows. How troublesome. I had hardly noticed Ino standing in front of me as I stared up at the clouds.
"Well are we going to go or what Nara" Ino punched me in the arm snapping me out of my day-dream. We walked in silence to the resraunt and I was laggin behind her like I usually do staring at the clouds slowly creeping across the sky. We got to the restruants and seated ourselves at the usualy booth. We ordered our usual food and waited for it. "Nara what did you want to talk about anyway?"
"Well. See. Ino I always kind of saw you as a sister. I guess I never really had the urge to mention it before. I think with your parents moving away and you acting strange that I wanted you to know you can talk to me that's all." That went better than I thought it would.
"Nara what do you mean sister? I haven't been acting strangely either. Your so full of it Nara."
"How troublesome. You just haven't been your usual self and its kind of been bothering me and I wanted you to know you can talk to me."
"Nara I think thats the least laziest thing you've ever said or done to me ever." Ino stated eyes feeling with joy. "There is actually something that has been bugging me. You see I'm not usually at a loss for words ever but... Rennik.. He was there for me when I needed him.The way he always adds chan to the end of my name. He looks at me in a way no one had before. I feel so different when I am around him and I'm sure it because I love him but... That brings me back to the begging. I am at a loss for words and I can't tell him how I feel. It's been taking up most of my thoughts too and I SWEAR Nara if you tell anyone you will never see a cloud again!"
"Do you have to call me Nara all the time?" So I was right she does love him."I think you should just tell him how you feel. It will make you feel a lot better and at least you will know how he feels."
"Thanks... I suppose your right and since this helped me a lot I guess it wouldn't be too much trouble to just call you Niisan." Niisan I liked the sound of that. We finished our dinner talking about the exams and I explained what my strategies were that I was using against everyone. After our dinner I walked Ino to her new home and said my farewell to her. My thoughts trailed back to what was said at dinner. If he hurts Ino I will make him pay for it.
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When I came in all the lights were off and the wolves were already sleeping scattered throughout the house. I quickly slipped into some pajamas and laid in the comfy bed and began to drift off while my thoughts wandered to my newly found brother. I never new Shikamaru was capable of that kind of seriousness. Tomorrow. Yes I'll tell Rennik how I feel tomorrow.
I woke to the smell of eggs. I realized I was served breakfast in bed.
"Upsy daisy Ino-chan. Your training with me begins today." I finished my breakfast and threw on my ninja gear before heading towards the training ground where Rennik sat and appeared to be meditating. This was not the case as she got closer she noticed yet another book in his hand.
"Jeez Rennik. Your as bad as Kakashi but at least its not naughty books." He laughed at this.
"I know I know. I'm terrible but I can't kick the habit ya know? Anyway lets gets started. The key thing to keeping up your momentum is never let your full foot hit the ground for traction. You need to stay on your toes and keep moving like I said yesterday."
He ran me through the motions and I began to practice. As I increased he began throwing kunai at me to dodge and kept increasing the difficulty of the maneuver until I had gotten completely exhausted and lay on my back.
"You did good today Ino-Chan." I hadn't realized how much time has actually passed. We skipped right through lunch and the sun had already set. I looked to Rennik who was picking up stuff around the arena. I feel like telling him so much.
I smelled something. I opened my eyes. Oh how could I have been so stupid. I must've fallen asleep. Gosh. He prolly thinks I'm such a wimp. Something brushed against my cheek, tenderly and caring. I looked down a little and there he was cleaning my face and serving me dinner. I wanted desperately to tell him. To do something ANYTHING. I was over exherted and couldn't even move. He fed me my dinner. It was so surreal. It feels like heaven. "Ino-chan get some more rest. We'll pick up training tomorrow morning." He ran his hand through my hair and left the room with the dishes. I couldn't stay awake anymore. It was like this for the next week. I trained harder than ever so I wouldn't have to tell him. I'm soo stupid. He walked into the room and over to her.
"Ino-chan. I need to work on my abilities now and. Well I've done all I can for you. You did good. Real good and I'm proud of you." He stroked my hair before leaving the room. The next day I was beside myself. I ran to the training room. He wasn't there. I found a note. "I decided to train with the Tamakis. Help yourself to anything you need and good luck with your training I'm sure you'll take everybody by surprise." I decided to meet up with my team kicking myself the whole way there. GOD! How could I be so stupid. My team had already started training. Shikamaru came over to me with a look of concern on his face. Am I that transparent?
"Ino whats bothering you?"
"Nothing" Everything.
"Ino I know somethings wrong. Did he do something to you?"
"Nothing happened alright!" I just wish it did.
"Look you can tell me. I don't like to see you hurting like this."
"I SAID I WAS FINE!" Since when does anyone care this much. I started crying and ran to home. I had calmed myself down over the next couple of days. Rennik never came home. A small part of me was so happy but most of me was empty. I felt so hallow. She felt so bad leaving Shikamaru like that.
There was a knock on the door. It was crazy but I ran to it. I quickly threw the door open and found what I wanted. Almost. Rennik was carried by the brothers.
"Hey Ino!" Haru exclaimed. "Rennik told us a lot about you. He kind of over trained and should rest the next few days to gather energy for the exam. So if you wouldn't mind could you take care of his for us?"
"Ya sure" I stepped aside allowing Haru to lay Rennik in his bed before leaving her. I cared for him over the next few days. He ate a little but slept for most of it. He was ready for the exam though.
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