"Ew. Like I would ever use beige. That color is just so dull, like dirt-colored. Nope. I only use baby blue envelopes, they match my eyes."
Ino batted her eyelashes in front of her pupil-less "baby" blue eyes. Asuma and Kagami were not too far away playing the game of Shogi that Tsunade had suggested. Shikamaru had warned his team mates that they were not to get close enough to watch the game, should Kagami decide to change tactics due to the number of spectators. He wanted her to battle Asuma in her natural environment. He and Chouji were waiting patiently with an impatient Ino, once the game was finished the group of five would be going on a picnic.
But that confirmed it. She'd received mail from someone outside of his team.
It was almost no time at all before Asuma and Kagami rejoined the group, Asuma blushing lightly and shaking his head.
"You must have really taught her well Shikamaru. I didn't stand a chance."
The result wasn't surprising. If she really had the strategic mind to pull of that kind of stuff, she probably would have known that the entire situation was a setup. Even someone like Ino, with no mind for anything but the present, probably could've figured it out. So the group proceeded to the picnic (which was really a very stupid and unnecessarily complicated idea in Shikamaru's mind) without further incident.
They ate while exchanging idle talk, nothing important or interesting, allowing Shikamaru's mind to wander. Most of his free time these days was spent thinking about Kagami. He would have given almost anything to be rid of this mission, to let someone else follow her around, take care of her, deal with the embarrassment.
He cast a glance in her direction, shading his eyes to avoid the sun's harsh glare. She was giggling with Ino again, looking so at ease and comfortable that it made his skin itch. She was dangerous, he was sure of it. But despite his hand, something was shining in his eye irritatingly. Something shiny that was hanging around Kagami's neck. It looked like a silver chain, the kind that usually sported pendants. But this chain was very bright, it looked more like platinum than silver, and whatever was hanging on it was impossible to see. It was such a long chain that it went past her shirt, probably hanging somewhere near the middle of her rib cage.
"Shikamaru! Don't be such a pervert!"
Ino shrieked with rage, misjudging the meaning of his stare, and punched him unnecessarily hard over the head. Kagami giggled, blushing cutely, and casting her eyes down in a very demure way.
"Sheesh. Wasn't even looking there."
He fibbed, deciding to just lie down and forget about looking at anyone.
But he couldn't help cursing Ino's huge mouth. Not only did he look like a pervert, but the girl would now know that he's noticed the jewelry. Chances would be that she wouldn't chance wearing it in public again, making it a thousand times harder to figure out what it was. He guessed that whatever it was, it was probably what had been sent to her in the mail, the small bump in the envelope. It could hang on a chain, which meant that it had a loop somewhere on it. And it had to be made of a substance that as hard enough that it wouldn't break from constant wear. And something that would stand out in a bad way if seen casually in her house or else there wouldn't be a need to keep it on her person and hide it. But something that she wasn't comfortable leaving behind, where someone that was snooping in her apartment could find it.
Obviously, it couldn't be left casually in her apartment because she couldn't leave any proper protection for it. Any protective jutsu, anything that might keep even an academy level student out of it, would immediately mark her as a ninja, crumbling her elaborate presented identity.
But that description fit a lot of different things. Anything really.
Or it could be a pendant, something that had fallen into her shirt by accident. She did seem to accessorize quite a bit, like most women. And if that was the case, he would feel like an utter idiot.
"Can we go to the library?"
The girl asked, a pout on her face, her eyes wide and watery.
"What for?"
He grunted, wondering just how much longer she was going to ask him to escort her everywhere in town. He knew by now that she could find her way around town. She'd found her way around perfectly fine when she'd run off to Ino's and the post office that one day, but she persisted in dragging him everywhere.
"Well, there's not a ton to do in this town if you're not a ninja. So, I get bored. If I have a couple books that would at least help me when I'm sitting around at home."
He consented, even though his body and brain were about to tear in two from all the stress. For such an uneventful mission, his mind had never hurt this much. He had constant headaches whether he was with her or not, his every waking moments was spent analyzing even her smallest movement. He'd thought that this whole thing would have been over a long time ago. Either she would turn out to be a spy or not, and they'd give her the according punishment or not.
He as very, very tired of dealing with this stupid situation. Everything had double meanings, everything was mysterious, everything was a strain on his mind. Everything was constantly changing, and he could barely keep up.
So he waited patiently in a chair while she ran off, prancing between the aisles. Occasionally she'd remove a book, flip through it too quickly to read any of the words and put it back where it came from. Then she'd dance off to the next one, her movements unusually happy and rhythmic, like her feet were following some song in her head. Not that that was unusual for girls. They did weird stuff like that all the time.
"Nara-san! Looooook!"
He groaned a little, looking up slowly to force his brain to deal with whatever trivial thing she'd start spouting in several seconds.
An open book was shoved in his face. It was too close for him to read anything, or decipher whatever the pictures were of.
"There's this animal to the west that people call 'The king of beasts.' Even though the male is the one that's the head of their 'pride,' its the females that do the hunting!"
She took the book back, eyes darting quickly from line to line over the pages. He read the title of the book: "Amazing Animals." It looked like a children's book.
"They're really really smart and strong! They set up traps for their prey, and they can camouflage themselves because their fur blends in with their surroundings."
He nodded, rolling his eyes. Why she was telling him this, he had no idea. She was acting like a toddler, getting excited about nothing that anyone else cared about. Like a shiny rock they found in the street, or the feather of some bird that had fallen to the ground.
"They remind me of ninjas! Working in teams, being all sneaky and using the different abilities of the group to hunt!"
"That's great."
She snapped the book shut, hiding it behind her back suddenly. He was startled by the snap, and looked up at her properly. She was watching him closely, in a manner that made him blush again. And that smile was back, that feral smile that made his spine shiver unconsciously.
"Do you know what that animal is, Nara-san?"
He froze. He hadn't really been paying attention. His mind scrambled, trying to remember her words.
"You weren't paying attention were you?"
She asked, her tone aloof but chastising. He felt his chest clench almost painfully.
"Well then, I suppose I'll have to tell you. Though really, it would have been so much more fun if you'd been able to guess."
He waited. The anticipation was obviously intentional. She was milking the moment for all she could.
"It's called a lion."
He gasped, and immediately regretted it. His entire body had been seized in a spasm, a twitch, a paroxysm. Could she hear his heart beating, suddenly so fervently and like a timed bomb?
"What kind of seals?"
The Hokage sighed, shaking her head and pressing her fingers against her temples.
"I can't say. The one behind her forehead reads 'The Virgin' while the one on the back side of her skull reads 'The Lion.'"
But she was grinning now, her eyes looking completely innocent. None of the intensity from before remained. She looked like that toddler, blameless and happy.
"I'm ready to go home now Nara-san."
She didn't check out a single book.
He had barely been able to even stand up, his body was still shaking.
What the hell was she playing at? Should he just attack her? Did she think she'd survive the night without being captured, imprisoned, and possibly killed? Why had she said that? It was like revealing your poker hand before anyone had bet.
Could he escape walking her home? Could he just make up an excuse to get away, to get to the Hokage? Would she kill him before he had a chance? He had no idea what she could do, besides the fact that she was wickedly fast. Faster than he was. Which meant he couldn't outrun her, and that he probably couldn't perform a jutsu before she could kill him. So he'd have to hope that this was all just a terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible coincidence.
They left the library, while he tried to avoid heart attack.
"Nara-san, calm down."
He stared at her, incredulous.
"What are you playing at?"
She bit her lip, looking thoughtful for a few moments. The whole look was there: furrowed eyebrows, small frown, the finger tapping her chin.
"I really can't say."
She finally responded, sounding surprisingly honest.
"But let's continue to our best, shall we Nara-san?"
She winked, before skipping off into the night, once again doing that strange dancing step.
"As much as I hate to say it, we really cant do anything but wait."
"What?"
He was dumbfounded, again. Was Tsunade drunk? How was it a possible option to let her go on prancing around their village freely? Hadnt she revealed that she knew they were on to her? That she was one step ahead?
"See, Shikamaru, although your descriptions of the recent incidents to help to confirm our suspicions, she's really pushed us into a position where we have no concrete evidence. Paranoia isn't a reason to arrest a potentially innocent citizen. So she's wearing jewelry? You have earrings on right now. She said something about lions? It was in a children's book. She let a jar of honey drop? I'm sure she's not the only clumsy girl in the city. She got mail? Even if it wasn't from Ino, it easily could have been junk mail. She's heard of the Akatsuki, and Sasori? If she originates from the Sand Village, that wouldn't be anything peculiar. In fact, I think most ninja nations have heard of the Akatsuki, they have a member from almost every nation as far as we can tell. She beat you at Shogi? Well, then you just sound like a sore loser."
It was the most troublesome thing he'd heard in his entire life. Could this disastrous mission get any worse? Don't answer that. With his luck, he'd die long before his time of a sudden heart attack.
"Really, if she's doing it on purpose, it's a genius plan. She's outwitting you easily. You need to step up your game. Forget that she's a pretty girl, forget that she might not know who she is. You're being too soft, too nice. Be a little meaner, don't let her trick you into feeling bad about it."
And of course, the Hokage was right. He'd been watching her, but he hadn't really done anything in retaliation. And the entire time, he'd been feeling a little guilty. If she really was a victim of amnesia, then he'd have been totally suspicious and distasteful toward her for no reason. But he couldn't do that anymore. He'd have to tuck away whatever sympathy he felt, and treat this like a battle, the way he should have in the first place.
You want to go to the results. I know you do. Don't try to fool yourself, it's inevitable.
This is a pretty color, yeah? I usually use totally random letters and numbers for the 6 character code when I change the font color. This one came out very nicely, I think.
I also think this story is kinda obvious. When I'm writing I feel like everything is just SOOOOOO predictable, and everyone already knows whats going on. But I got a huge slew of Shikamaru loving messages, which made me update faster. Usually this story doesn't get a huge response, so it goes more slowly. But not this time ^^
So, if you want to message and rate that would be cool, because it makes me write this story faster. Cool. Thank you <3. Pixel hearts for everyone.
