Game. Set. Match.
Ino moved lightly through the streets of Konoha, more out of habit than any conscious effort. She had finished her mission a day earlier than planned and had decided to push on through the night to get home, anxious to report in and then take the rest of the day off. After alerting the guard at the gate that she was back, Ino had headed directly for her apartment.
Ah, finally, the flower shop. She just had one more block to go. After achieving the rank of Chunin, Ino had finally convinced her parents that it was time to move out of the house. It took another year for that to actually happen, but her parents finally relented on the condition that she find a place close to her family’s home. Three years later, she was still there and though she would never admit it, she was glad that she was within walking distance of her parents’ place. The weekly dinner invite didn’t hurt either. Hey, she thought, you’re never too old to raid the fridge.
Looking at the sky, Ino could barely make out the moon behind the roof of her apartment building. Still at least a good two hours before dawn. Good, that meant that she could take a nice, long shower and then sleep in. As good a reward as any for a mission accomplished.
Inserting her key in the lock, Ino turned the knob and entered her apartment. It was more of duplex really, but with rent control and her father’s connections to the owner (they had been drinking buddies since they were in their early twenties) Ino could afford to live there. Anywhere else, Ino would have only had enough for a modest sized apartment.
Forgoing turning on any lights, since her eyes had already been well-adjusted to the darkness, Ino headed up the stairs, shedding clothing as she went. She’d pick it up later. Entering the bathroom and closing the door, she headed straight for the shower/bath combination and turned on the water. When it had reached a temperature hot enough to scald the skin of lesser mortals and the bathroom had a sufficient amount of steam, Ino gladly took her hair out of its ponytail and entered the shower, hissing as the water immediately turned her skin red. This was going to be great.
Maybe it was because Ino was so tired that her senses were dulled, or maybe it was because she had her head under the shower spray and didn’t seem inclined to move anytime soon. Probably it was because she was mentally singing the latest pop song to hit the charts. It would certainly explain the occasional head banging and hip swaying. Whatever the reason, Ino failed to notice a figure slip into the bathroom unannounced and stand just outside the shower curtain.
Ino, eyes closed, reached for the shampoo bottle sitting on the shelf just below the showerhead. Squeezing some on her hand like she had a thousand times before, she remained blissfully unaware of the figure that was now significantly closer. Stepping back out of the spray to lather her hair, Ino continued to rock on. She took one more step back just to be sure she was completely out of the way of the spray, and that’s when she felt it.
Years of training and missions had taught Ino to be aware of her surroundings. Even tired, stressed, and mentally exhausted, only so much time could pass before she would notice a change in her environment. However, you don’t have to be a ninja to notice there’s another person behind you when they wrap their arms around you and pull you to their chest.
Ino whipped around and realized two things at once. One, she needed to stop singing in the shower (even in her head) and two, that she was staring at a very wet Sakura. A very wet and naked Sakura, who for all the world looked like she belonged there. And then the worst happened; Ino got soap in her eyes.
*********************************************************
12 hours earlier
“Ow, let go.”
“So not going to happen, Ino-Pig.”
“Hey, watch it billboard brow. Just admit defeat and gimme!”
“Never. Get your own firewood, lazy. You can’t steal mine!”
The tug of war continued on, much to their teammates’ annoyance. Team Kakashi had been paired up with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio to bring in a rouge ninja from the Land of Rain. If their intel was correct, they were still a good day and a half away from where they should be confronting their target.
True to its name, the Land of Rain was doing just that, raining; which was why Ino and Sakura were sent out to find firewood before everything became too wet to light. This does not explain why they were fighting, but it does explain why they were there.
To answer that riddle, one would have to delve into their shared history. Once friends and then enemies and then friends again, it didn’t take much to rekindle the flames of their old rivalry. Even when they had both acknowledged that their friendship was more important than a boy who had abandoned his home, certain situations seemed to bring out the more…antagonistic dynamic of their relationship.
“Ino, I’m only going to warn you once. You’d better let go or I’m going to have to have to seriously kick your ass.”
“Hmph. As if you could. Oh well, Sakura,” Ino grinned wickedly, “Since you asked so nicely, I guess I’ll have to.”
“Huh? What, you really mean it?” That was all that Sakura could get out before Ino let go of her end and Sakura, thanks to inertia and her super strength tug, went flying back into a tree.
Ino sauntered over to her and bent down; picking up the piece of wood Sakura had dropped. “Well, look at that. What a great piece of firewood. I think I’ll add that to my pile. Mmm, looks like I have enough wood for now. You better hurry, Sakura, or else all the wood in this forest will be soaked. Don’t you love temperate rainforests? See you back at camp.” With that Ino flounced away carrying her bundle of wood, merely laughing as she suddenly moved her head quickly to the right, avoiding the rock Sakura had thrown at her.
Without turning to look back, Ino kept walking while she called out, “Now, now Sakura. Sticks and stones may break my bones…but you seem to have run out of both.” Gleefully giggling at her victory and parting shot, Ino entered the clearing where everybody else was busy setting up camp.
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Story notes: This is the prequel to "A Game of Chance." I don't own any of the Naruto characters, but I do enjoy messing with them once in a while.
Chapter notes: This just starts things off. I'll try to add chapter 2 soon.
Chapter end notes: Let me know what you think. Please R & R. Warning the rating will go up by chapter 3.