A/N: I told you I’m not on a roll!!! Anyways, I would like to thank MistiqueFour for proof reading the first two chapters, but as it is, the author is noted for her laziness in editing her work so the errors are still there. Hehehe. Okay I’m on to Chapter 3, I’m not sure though how many chapters will this story take so just bear with me.
The mass last chapter again was derived from the anime Tenchi Muyo. To all who have read this story thank you very much.
Unedited
BOUND
Chapter 3
Blue eyes were revealed and said eyes tracked down the people surrounding it. A smile formed on Ino’s face when she saw Sakura at her head, waving a paper fan at her. Shikamaru and Chouji were looking at her worriedly.
“Okay everyone, give Ino some air!” Tsunade said loudly and the people around the blonde kunoichi dispersed except for Sakura who still has Ino’s head on her lap.
Sakura gave Ino her most kind smile, “How do you feel?”
The blonde woman smirked at the worry-filled face of her once best friend, “First you got angry at Sasuke for threatening me, now you held my head on your lap and then asked me how I feel…be careful, I might think you do care Sakura.” She said in her usual teasing voice.
Sakura frowned and in her anger hurriedly stood up and letting Ino’s head dropped on the floor with a soft ‘thud’. “That’s what I get for trying to help you!”
“Itai!” Ino groaned while her right hand massaged that part of her head that hit the floor, “Hey that’s uncalled for FOREHEAD!”
“Hmph!” Sakura harrumphed and crossed her arms on her chest.
Naruto, Shikamaru and Sai looked on with mirth on their faces, “You know you two acts like Shizune-san and Tsunade-Obaasan!” Naruto said while he tried hard to contain the giggling fit inside him.
“OI!” Ino and Sakura
“I agree with Naruto,” Shikamaru, “Do you need help standing up Ino?” he asked smiling at his team mate and friend.
Ino shook her head no and pulled herself up, she then faced the Hokage “So I have to wait four weeks before I do that pregnant thingy?”
The blonde Sannin smiled, “Yes, just to be sure. We could do it in 10 days but there’s a high probability of having a false negative result if a test is done in that short time after inoculation, so to be sure let’s wait 4 weeks.
XXX
(1 week after the revelation)
Sakura was making her rounds in the hospital. Well she was doing it as Tsunade-sama’s apprentice. The blonde Hokage called her and asked her to do her rounds since she have a plan on taking Shizune somewhere fun. It seemed Konoha’s leader pissed off Shizune again and she needs to do something to alleviate the younger woman’s anger. Sakura don’t like it but she thought it’s better than being stuck in the office on her own.
Since the event one week ago, the pink haired kunoichi couldn’t stop thinking about Ino. Okay so she haven’t stopped thinking about the blonde haired ninja, but this was different…this time she was thinking of Ino more and more, it’s like she saw the blonde woman’s face everywhere she look, and what’s most disturbing is her thinking of Ino in a ‘different kind’ of way. Just like now…
Sakura closed her eyes and saw Ino standing in front of her garden of flowers. The blond kunoichi is trimming her rose bushes, she was wearing her usual clothes but this time, the clothes were looser and Sakura could see her protruding belly. She then saw herself walking behind the blonde woman as if stalking then she wrapped her arms around Ino’s pregnant belly…
And Sakura gasped before opening her eyes, what the heck is happening to me?
“Sakura?” The pink haired ninja looked back to see Shikamaru stepping closer to her
“Shika what a pleasant surprise!” Sakura greeted and turned around to face the young Nara. “What brings you here?”
Shikamaru sighed and slumps his shoulders, “My father told me to get something from Hokage-sama but I can’t find her anywhere.” He then frowned, “I was calling you for about 5 minutes and you weren’t answering.” He looked contrite, “Is there any problem? I thought for a moment you were spacing out while making your rounds.”
Ah…well yeah I was, but you don’t have to know that! With blushing face Sakura smiled, “Ah no, I was just studying this special case…” she said showing Shikamaru the patient file she was holding.
Shikamaru looked at it and grin, “Oh yeah…special case.” He shook his head, “So did you found out something new about the common cold?”
Sakura’s eyes widened and her face grew redder, “Ah…hehe, yeah I was actually on to that!” Sakura smiled, “So you looking for Tsunade-sama?” jeez…when did I get too obvious?
“Yeah that’s what I said. So where is she?”
“Well you came here at the wrong time. I’m actually doing Tsunade-sama’s rounds since she went out with Shizune. Do you want me to pass a message to her?”
The Nara boy waved his hand, “Nah, I’d rather face Hokage-sama and tell her what my dad wants,” he smiled, “Will you send me a text message once the Hokage return?”
“Sure no problem Shika,” Sakura said smiling. Then something came to her mind, “Ah Shika…”
“Hm?”
“If it’s not too much to ask, how is Ino?”
The shadow user grinned at Sakura, just as I thought…you do care for Ino. That Ino won’t believe me…well it’s her loss, “Oh I think she’s fine, I pass by her house earlier before coming here and she asked me to buy her a bottle of peanut butter.”
Sakura frowned, “Peanut butter? I thought she hate that thing?”
“Well Ino was just being her troublesome self!” Shikamaru said before shrugging his shoulders, “She asked Chouji to buy her a bottle yesterday and now she wants me to buy her one, weird.”
What does Ino do with them? Spread them on everything? Sakura mused, “Well then,” she looked at Shikamaru, “I’ll send you a message once Tsunade-sama comes back.”
“That would be great Sakura.” He said and turned to leave but stopped mid way and looked back at Sakura, “Do you want me to pass a message to Ino?” he asked grinning.
What? Me give Ino a message? Hell…well…yeah…ah I mean no! Sakura shook her head in disgust which to Shikamaru means ‘no’
“Okay then Sakura, I better leave and buy that peanut butter if I don’t want to incur Ino’s wrath.” He smiled and waved his hand to Sakura before leaving the hospital premise in his usual ‘tiresome’ stride.
Jeez, what the hell is happening to me?
XXX
(2 weeks after the revelation)
Ino was sitting by the counter of their flower shop. Her chin rests on one propped arm and the other hand was busy shuffling a magazine. Three days ago, Ino went to see the Hokage to ask for a mission because she was bored, to her disappointment, the Hokage told her that to be safe, she will not be given any mission until after they know if she is pregnant or not. So here she was at their flower shop waiting for prospective customers and melting her brains out.
Then there’s the sudden craving for peanut butter which she usually hate, craving…jeez I’m starting to hate the word… Ino thought. The blonde kunoichi’s mind was far away and not into the magazine she was ‘reading’. She was doing the shuffling for like 20 minutes when the door to their shop opened, the bell ringing signaling her that a customer did come in.
“Hello how may I help…” Ino’s eyes narrowed, “Sakura! What do you want?!” she asked a bit angry.
Sakura smiled and raised one hand to her symbolizing ‘she’d come in peace’, “I…just want to…well…”
“Well?” Ino asked suspiciously
“Well…you do sell flowers right?” Sakura said nervously, why the hell am I nervous? It’s not as if I’m here to kiss her! Oh Kami! Where the hell did that come from?!
“Yeeeaahhhh…soooo…?”
Sakura sighed and stepped closer. She removed her covered hand to show Ino that she has a bottle of peanut butter with her then put the said bottle on the counter in front of Ino. The blonde ninja on the other hand looked at the offered peanut butter with longing in her eyes which didn’t go unnoticed by Sakura.
“Well I asked Shika last week about you and he told me you were like crazy with peanut butter now, I thought…well…”
Ino smiled at Sakura, “You bought this for me?” she asked overwhelmed,
“Yeah, unless you don’t like it…”
Ino snatched the bottle from the pink haired woman, “Of course I like it!” she said then she hurriedly opened it, “And wow, you bought the most expensive one!”
“Well…”
“Oh! Wait here, I’ll get spoons…” she said standing then looked at Sakura with a frown, “Don’t you dare start without me!” she said before turning to get spoons, “And look out for the shop for me!” Ino shouted
“NO PROBLEM!” Sakura said shaking her head with a smile pasted on her face, “Whew…” The pink haired ninja wiped an imaginary sweat on her forehead, “That went well, hehe!” she said to herself then she looked around. Her eyes focused on one flower arrangement that actually has different colors of roses in it, she stepped closer to it and admired the beauty.
“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Ino said as she entered the shop room bearing with her 2 spoons, “I made that.” She said with pride in her voice.
“It is beautiful…” Sakura turned around to face a smiling Ino, just like you…Christ! Well the hell does these thoughts come from?! “So, there really are roses in different colors? I only know of two.” Sakura said smiling, she stepped closer to the counter where Ino was now seated once more.
“Oh, they’re hybrids. My mom liked tinkering on her flowers, and she was good with it.” Ino said eyeing the opened bottle of peanut butter, “I hope to inherit that from my mom.” She said before finally digging in, “Come on Sakura, this butter is good!” she said with her mouth still full. Her right cheek still bulging from the spoon being left there.
Sakura smiled at her, “You do like peanut butter!” she said not getting the spoon to get some.
“Well, I don’t really, I’m not sure though, I suddenly woke up one day craving for it and then it became my favorite, I almost can’t eat anything without it.” Ino said.
“Oh so it became like Mayonnaise to Natsuki huh? (1)” Sakura said, teasing evident in her eyes.
Ino pouted, “Mou…”
Sakura burst into a fit of laughter, “Now you pout and whine like her!”
Ino can’t help herself but laugh with Sakura, “No, actually I was riding your trip.” She said smirking, “But was I bad? I mean me copying her?”
Sakura whose laughing subsided a little shook her head no, “You just make it more lady like.”
Ino smiled, “I’m glad you find me a lady.”
Sakura stopped laughing all together and looked at Ino, “You are, no doubt about that.”
“You mean I’m more of a lady than Hinata?” the blonde asked smiling,
“Now you’re way over your head!” Sakura replied and waited for Ino’s temper to defuse but she was surprised to see Ino just smiling at her,
“You’re right, no one can beat Hinata on that department, Hanabi(?) is not even this close,” Ino said while she make her thumb and pointing finger meet half way.
Sakura just nodded.
Silence
“Thank you Sakura.”
The pink haired woman’s brow rose up, “What for?”
“Aside from the peanut butter which you are not eating with me, for coming here and making me laugh. I really need some break from this boredom.” Ino said honestly.
Sakura just smiled and before she could even raise her spoon to get some peanut butter, her mobile phone beeped. She took it out and opened her text message, “Ooopps,” she said looking at Ino, “That was Shizune, she said there was an accident near the hospital and there were 7 people who got hurt, got to go.” She said her face apologetic.
“Hey,” Ino waved a hand at Sakura, “You’re needed there so go, no hard feelings, besides you get me this,” she said showing the peanut butter to Sakura, “What else a girl like me could ask for?” ending her statement with a sweet smile.
Which Sakura returned
Silence
“So will this happen again?” Ino asked
“What will happen again?”
“You…coming here…you know?” Ino suddenly got a red tint on her face.
Sakura smiled, “Oh definitely!” she said stepping away from the counter, “Bye Ino!” she said before turning around and running out of the shop.
That went well… Ino thought and smiled as she returned to devouring her ‘special treat’ from Sakura, if I didn’t know Sakura, I’ll think she really cares about me.
XXX
(Monday, 3 weeks after the revelation)
Ino was surprised to see Kiba entering their shop.
“So are you here to buy Hinata a bouquet of flowers?” she asked smiling
Kiba remained at a distance from her, Akamaru remained outside. He shook his head no and took a deep breath before replying, “No, I’m not here to buy anything. I want to talk to you.”
Ino might be blonde, but she’s not stupid so she have a little idea as to what’s the talk is all about. “So you want me to stop using you to pretend?” she asked.
Kiba once again shook his head.
Ino’s eyes widened, “What?”
The dog ninja stepped closer to the counter and rests an arm on it, “Look Ino, I know that 50-50 chance of you being pregnant is still big but still there is the possibility that you could be pregnant.”
The blonde kunoichi nodded her head slowly, trying to see where Kiba was going with his reasoning.
“And you being pregnant has a bigger chance than me being with Hinata,”
“Soooo?”
“If…if you like…I mean, I know it’s hard to raise a child alone so if…if you like…I mean…I…I could…you know, I could be your baby’s daddy.”
It didn’t sink at first but when it did, Ino’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped.
“I know I’m not Sasuke, but I also know that you’ve gotten over him a long time ago…so if you’ll give me a chance, I know I can be a good father to your baby.”
XXX
(Tuesday, 3 weeks after the revelation)
Ino went out of their shop to buy her favorite peanut butter since she run out of it. Sakura did come by three times the last week and supplied her with the same expensive brand of peanut butter, but as it is, she run out of it. So she was in her own little world where she was actually shopping ‘groceries’ with Sakura and Sakura buying everything she likes when she was met by Chouji.
“Hi Ino.”
Ino almost laughed to see Chouji wearing his best. He was done in new denim jeans instead of his long shorts, he was wearing a checkered polo, though his hair was still done the same. He was wearing a moccasin shoes over black socks. He was holding a bouquet of flowers which Ino suspects he bought from their neighboring flower shop, “Hi Chouji, what’s with the get up? So you finally found a girl to woo?”
Chouji smiled and Ino got the shocked of her life when he hand the bouquet to her.
“For me?”
“Yes.”
“Ahm…not that I don’t like this, but why are you giving me this?” Ino asked worriedly then she looked around to see if Shikamaru was spying on them. “Did Shikamaru bully you to doing this?”
Chouji shook his head no, “He doesn’t know I’m here.”
“Oh…so why?” she asked again sighing in relief.
“You’ll have that pregnancy test next week right?’ he asked smiling.
“Yes, and so?” It seemed the phrase has been her favorite lately.
“Ammm, well there’s a 50 percent chance that you could be pregnant right?” He smiled when Ino nodded her head, “I don’t want you to think that I’m taking advantage of our friendship, but my father said that it is hard to raise a child on his own, you know how my mom died when I was little, so I thought if my dad had a hard time doing it, so will you. So I decided I should help you out and be your baby’s daddy!” he said his smile never leaving his face.
Okay, that was creepy…but I’ll give Chouji credit for not bumbling like Kiba does…Oh and what the hell is happening with these two? They really think I can’t raise this baby on my own! And the hell! I’m not even sure if I’m pregnant! Ino smiled at Chouji, “Chouji, look it’s not that I don’t appreciate your gesture…”
Yeah…go Ino…
XXX
(Wednesday, 3 weeks after the revelation)
Sai and Naruto were practicing together when Sai suddenly stopped that cause Naruto to almost knock the other ninja over.
“What the hell Sai! You should not stop like that! I almost knock you out!” Naruto shouted but stopped when he saw Sai’s serious facial expression. Well much serious than he was used to. “Hey what’s the problem.”
“I just suddenly remember something.” He said.
“What did you remember?” Naruto asked frowning, “Is that so important you have to disturb our oh so great training?”
Sai nodded his head, “I forgot about Kiba and Chouji asking Ino to let them be her baby’s father.”
“Oh that…so?”
“They were turned down, maybe because they weren’t that Sasuke guy.”
Naruto think hard, “Yeah maybe that’s her reason.” Naruto cringed when for the first time he saw Sai smiled at him, “What was that creepy smile for?”
“Well, you and Sakura always say that I remind you of Sasuke right?” Naruto nodded his head in assent, “And Kiba and Chouji were right, it’s hard to raise a baby alone.”
“Oi, we’re not even sure if Ino is really pregnant with Sasuke’s baby!” Naruto chirped.
“Well but still, 50 percent is a big chance, so what if Ino really is pregnant? Maybe I should try convincing her that I could be a good father to her baby.”
Naruto’s jaw slackened, “You?”
Sai nodded his head, “Yes me.”
Naruto recovered and just shook his head. He knew Sai by now, if he has his mind on something, he’ll pursue with it. The heck…maybe Sai could be the answer to Ino’s problem. She even declined her own boyfriend…maybe, despite her saying she got over Sasuke, still inside she’s hoping to still be with him. Naruto shrugged his shoulder.
XXX
(Thursday, 3 weeks after the revelation)
Ten-ten, Neji and Lee were training. After their last move, Gai told them to take a break and the three sat under a tree near their training ground. Lee took out an onigiri from his bento and intently looked into it.
Ten-ten noticed, “What’s bugging you Lee?”
The thick browed ninja looked at Ten-ten, “Do you think Ino’s result will be positive?”
“There’s 50-50 chance that she is, why asked?” Ten-ten said before biting to her own food.
“Well…” Lee swallowed the food in his mouth before continuing, “You heard about Kiba, Chouji and Sai offering their help by being the baby’s daddy right?”
Neji looked at Lee suspiciously, “So what? They were turned down and you think you could be the best candidate?”
Lee looked at Neji, “Why not? I’m single and good looking and good with martial arts, I could be Ino’s baby’s father and I could protect them.”
Ten-ten shook her head, “Well the others could protect them too, besides aren’t you pursuing Sakura?”
Lee looked at Ten-ten, “Oh…well I’m sure Sakura will understand. Besides if it was Sakura who is pregnant, then there’s no problem with me being the father!” he said smiling.
“As if!” Ten-ten muttered
Lee stood up, “I’ll cut on training today, I have to talk to Sakura about it so that there’ll be no hard feelings between us.”
Ten-ten and Neji was about to reply about Sakura having no feelings for him but he zoomed his way out of the training ground.
Neji looked at Ten-ten, “What do you think we should when this double blow on his face and ego?”
Ten-ten smiled, “Perhaps we should warn Gai-sensei.”
-End Chapter 3-
A/N: Okay I have chapter 4 planned out in my head.
So…I’m a Mai HiMe lover, sue me!