Chapter 25

"Oi, Ino!"

Ino looked over her shoulder and saw Shikamaru standing on the sidewalk, his lazy and annoyed expression on his face.

"Have you seen Chouji?" he called over to her, his hands lazily in his pockets.

She put a finger to her lips and made a shushing sound, "There's no time for that, come here!"

He raised an inquisitive eyebrow and lazily wandered across the street, "What is it?"

She pointed around the corner to where Sakura was still walking, "See that?"

"What—Sakura?" he asked, his expression unchanging, "What about her?"

"She's been acting very suspiciously lately," Ino replied crossing her arms, "We're going to follow her and find out what she's up to."

"Why should I come along? I don't care about Sakura's doings—I'd much rather go watch the clouds with Chouji," he replied shrugging his shoulders.

A vein appeared on Ino's forehead and she clenched her fist, waving it at him, "That's a lame use of an afternoon!"

He glanced at her impassively, not seeming disturbed by her demonic appearance. "I've got better things to do, Ino."

"Oh no you don't!" she grabbed the back of his shirt as he turned walk away, yanking him back towards her, "You're coming with me!"

She dashed around the corner after Sakura as she disappeared further down the road, a reluctant Shikamaru following after her. Sakura was far enough away that the crowds between them would hide her and Shikamaru easily, and they would not be spotted unless Sakura was expecting someone to be following her. Ino smirked deviously to herself—billboard brow was up to something, and she was going to find out what.

"How troublesome," Shikamaru muttered behind her, clearly not enjoying himself.

They followed Sakura down the street as she continued to walk, they themselves trying not to look suspicious within the crowd yet trying to hide from sight. There were many stores that lined the road, yet Sakura didn't stop at any of them, increasing Ino's suspicions.

"See! She's not shopping at any of the stores!" she hissed to Shikamaru, "She's obviously up to something."

"Maybe she's just out for a walk," he replied grumpily.

"With that bag?" Ino asked incredulously, "There's no way she would take something that heavy for a walk! See how it's digging into her shoulder like that? I wonder what's in it…"

"Probably some books," Shikamaru replied disinterestedly, "Is this really necessary, Ino? Don't you have some work at the pharmacy or flower shop to deal with?"

She scowled at him ignoring his last question, "I'm not letting you go until we get to the bottom of this!"

"Troublesome…"

"Oh! Come on!" Ino retorted, grabbing his arm and hauling him onwards once again, keeping her eyes continually on the back of Sakura's pink head.

Sakura continued to walk along the way, still not having noticed the chuunin and jounin ninja who were following her. Ino smirked again, wondering how on earth Sakura had passed the last chuunin exam that she had taken; it was a wonder within itself that she hadn't even felt their presence yet.

Shikamaru was grumbling again from behind and Ino was about to take a swing at his head when Sakura suddenly turned into the neighborhood that had once been where the Uchiha clan had taken up residence. This was interesting…mourning Sasuke and wearing black, and the day that she stopped wearing black she decided to pay a visit to the old Uchiha neighborhood.

"Did you see that?" Ino squealed quietly to Shikamaru, "Did you see where she just went?"

"Yeah," he replied, not caring much, "What of it?"

"Two days ago I ran into Sakura while she was coming home from the hospital. She was garbed in all black and after a little prying she told me that she was mourning Sasuke," Ino explained hastily as she dragged Shikamaru to the corner of the block, "But suddenly today she's wearing her regular

 clothing again…and then she pays a visit to this neighborhood. Don't you find that a little suspicious?"

Shikamaru raised his head upwards to the sky thoughtfully, and after a moment he shrugged, "That's a bit strange."

"Exactly!" Ino replied, making a fist and pounding it into her other hand, "So, what could our little Sakura be up to?"

"It's none of my business," Shikamaru replied, attempting to leave again, but Ino pulled him back.

"I said before, I'm not letting you go until we get to the bottom of this!" Ino snapped as she hauled him down the street, her gaze fixed on Sakura.

Again, Shikamaru uttered a 'troublesome', but Ino ignored him. Sakura had just disappeared around another corner. Following quietly behind, Ino came up to the edge of the building and looked around carefully. Sakura had stopped, and was now standing in front of an old traditional building that looked like it needed some repairs—clearly it was uninhabited. Ino's interest piqued as Sakura walked up to the old gate that was in front of her, looked around, and then sailed over the side when she thought nobody was looking.

"Isn't that Sasuke's house?" she asked Shikamaru uncertainly, turning to face him.

A trivial frown was on the lazy ninja's brow as he looked at the gate of the Uchiha estate, seeming finally interested in what Sakura was up to, "Yeah."

"Now what could Sakura be looking for in the Uchiha house?" she asked Shikamaru, a twisted smile on her lips, "Let's go find out, shall we?"

She leapt upwards onto the roof of the building they were standing at the corner of, and Shikamaru followed her without complaint, seeming to forget that he wanted to be elsewhere. Jumping from roof to roof, they paused at the last building and peered down into the front garden of the Uchiha Manor over the peak of the shingles. Sakura was walking around to the back of the house, carefully pushing aside some overgrown bushes and walking through in a way that she would come around back unscathed.

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