-1Okay, now I'm an even biggerer hypocrite, and my mind is seriously dieing…but for all of you people who are starting to hate me for never updating, well…here you go…I'll try to be more punctual about updates in the future, but it's going to be hard since I'm grounded and all…oh well. NejixIno's are not going to write themselves, and we SERIOUSLY need more! So…read and enjoyz, and if you don't, then tell me what was wrong with in it a review or something(or you could help my inferiority complex by saying what was right about it lol) On to the random adventures of Bastard-kun and Ino!(Italics thoughts)

-(insert chappie title here)-

Neji's impulsiveness caught Ino off guard. Sure, she saw that they have been getting along better now, but even with Ino's ability to read people's minds and predict their next movements, she didn't see it coming…they haven't even been on truce for all that long…so why on earth was the white-eyed Hyuga clan prodigy starting to take interest in her? Not that she was complaining of course. She returned Neji's kiss, but was wondering the whole time what brought about his sudden change of attitude towards her. Finally her lungs felt like they were about to burst, so she pulled away, taking a few deep breaths. He smiled at her, no, not a smirk, but a genuine smile(which is pretty rare), an she smiled back, but then winced.

Her arm with the seal on it felt like it was on fire. Ever since this black chakra came into her body, she wasn't able to perform medical jutsu on herself, only others…he lowered her back onto the tree branch, and Ino's vision blacked out for a few seconds, but was shortly followed with another one of those migraines she has been receiving lately. She leaned against Neji for support while her head was spinning.

"Are you okay?"

"I think the seal is trying to take over the rest of my body now…you know what…why don't you take over this shift, and I'll see you back at camp." She smiled weakly at him, kissed him on the cheek, and started heading back towards the where they were staying the night.

Neji frowned. "Oh no you don't. Knowing you, you're probably going to pass out somewhere, leaving you prone to attack."

"Okay, I'm weak, but I'm not THAT weak! Not everyone can be as strong as you, you know." Ino grumbled.

Neji picked her up again. "When someone offers to do something nice for you, the proper words are 'Thank you.' or in this case, 'Thank you Neji for your undying kindess' followed with another kiss." He was smirking again.

Ino poked him in the shoulder. "So that's your angle, huh? You know what, you've completely changed. Why are you helping me so much?"

"Because all of my life, I have watched the people I care about most be taken away from me, and I'm not about to let that happen to you."

Ino was silent for a moment. "What if I promised to get into situations where I can get killed less?"

"Hmph. We'll see."

-Off in some distance-

"I think I'm going to be sick just from watching those two."

"Calm down, Hagaki. This is all part of the plan."

"What plan? You never told me of any plan!"

"Dude, shut up already. You're not the only one that Orochimaru-sama needs for his master plan."

"Can you please tell me the damn plan already?!"

"Impatient, are we not? I'm only ten and you act less mature than I do."

"Fuyu!"

"Okay, fine. Orochimaru has lost a considerable amount of Sound nin lately, and he wants you to follow him. My clan, the Souzuteki, have allied with Orochimaru for his quest for power under one condition. That Kuroi-sama, the matriarch of the clan would finally reunite with her daughter…who just happens to be Ino-sama…oh, and Orochimaru wants Neji to follow him as well…so it's convenient that these two care so much about each other, because if we kidnapped one of them, the other would surely come after them."

"I guess that makes sense, but why NEJI?!"

Fuyu carefully considered his choice of words. "He can't find out that Orochimaru wants Neji as a container after he takes care of Sasuke…otherwise he'll become resentful and keep on asking me why Orochimaru doesn't want him."

"Well, Hagaki, Orochimaru thought you would be happier if you could finally get your revenge on your cousin."

"Oh, that's great!"

"Ignorant fool…" Fuyu sighed. "Do you get it now?"

"Yes, and I can't wait."

-Back at camp-

Ino was bursting with joy as she snuck back into the tent she shared with Hinata. As she entered, she noticed that Hinata was awake, sitting on her sleeping bag, with a small smile on her face. Ino raised an eyebrow.

"What are you so happy about? You've got to go take over the shift when Neji is done in twenty minutes."

"I know. But I couldn't sleep any longer."

"Whatever."

"What took you, Ino?"

Ino blushed and crawled into her sleeping bag. "…My arm started hurting again…that's all…so I was a little late in coming back…"

"Wouldn't you of passed out by now coming back alone."

Ino blushed even more. "You know what, Hinata, just don't question my logic."

Hinata smiled. "Ino, that's my line. I know something happened between you and nii-san…I have Byakugan, remember."

Ino rolled to her other side, away from Hinata. "Oh, dear God, you are turning into Sakura."

"Good night to you too, Ino."

-Next morning-

Ino opened her eyes as the sun came through the opening in the tent, temporarily blinding her. "Ow, my eyes…" She picked herself up, and noticed that Hinata was still sleeping, for once. Hinata normally got up before she did. "She must be tired from trying to stick her nose in my business. When we get back to Konoha, I'm making sure she stays away from Sakura for a few weeks." She shut the tent completely, put on some fresh clothes, and then went back outside. Of course, both of the guys were up, because they always woke before the girls did. However, today, Naruto looked half asleep, and Neji had cuts and bruises everywhere. Ino sat down next to Neji.

"Uhh, are you guys okay…?"

Naruto stared at Ino angrily. "Yeah, Ino. We're both frickin fantastic because we ran into Santa and his elves last night. OF COURSE WE'RE NOT OKAY!!!"

"Ignore Naruto. He probably didn't get enough sleep last night after we ran into Hagaki and Fuyu last night."

"Why did Naruto fight them if he wasn't supposed to do the shift until after Hinata?"

Naruto glared at her. "Because Hinata was tired, so I offered to trade with her, if it's so frickin important to you."

Ino leaned a little closer to Neji. "Well, no need to bite my head off. Do you guys want me to clean your cuts for you?"

Naruto pushed back his sleeve. "Don't bother, I'm clean."

Hinata came out of the tent, squinting at the bright sunlight and rubbing her eyes.

Naruto then fell off of the log he was sitting on. "Ow, the pain is HORRIBLE! Hinata-chaaaaan, do you still have that ointment you gave me at the Chuunin Exams, because it really worked."

"S-sure," Hinata stammered, "I th-think it's in my bag…"

Hinata went off to get it and Naruto grinned.

Ino immediately saw what was going on. "Naruto…I thought a second ago you said you were fine…"

Naruto continued his ramen. "I will be…after Hinata treats me…"

Neji shook his head. "Just don't do anything perverted, Naruto. She is my cousin, and I am supposed to look after her, or Hiashi-sama will have my head."

"Hehe…"

"Naruto, I mean it."

Hinata came out with the ointment. (even though Naruto was fine with the whole Kyuubi 'quick fix' thing) "Oh, Naruto-kun…you have some drool on your face…"

"Heh?" Naruto started wiping his whole face with his hand and finally got off whatever was on his face. "Oh, Hinata-chan, that wasn't drool…that was something else."

Neji and Ino both backed away from Naruto a little. Hinata sweat dropped.

"Uh, are you sure you want me to take care of your cuts, Naruto?"

"Oh, yeah, of course. Don't let a little toad spit get in your way."

Ino dropped her breakfast. "Well, that's just beautiful. So, Neji, how close are we to Ororchimaru's western headquarters?"

"We should get just close enough to it by the end of the day. Then tomorrow, we'll go check things out. Still doubting my leadership skills, Ino?"

Ino flicked his shoulder. "Shut up. I was just pissed at you because you were being an asshole."

"Am I still an asshole?"

"You can work on it a little more."

Naruto and Hinata high-fived each other when they weren't looking. Actually, Naruto gave Hinata a high-five, but he accidentally hit her on the forehead pretty hard, leaving her dazed for a second.

"Whoops. Hehe…sorry Hinata-chan…"

-Later in the day-

As they were coming up to the area where they would spend the night, the was a small settlement crossing into the forest.

"Hey Naruto, look up ahead."

"Oh yeah. Another of them, huh? There have been a lot of them lately…wonder if the locals are friendly?"

Ino blinked. "Yeah, I really don't think the people would welcome us with arms wide open exactly. This is where some of Orochimaru's strongest followers in the western area must live. These people have been mislead by him most of their life."

Naruto looked over at her. "Hey, how do you know that?"

Ino shrugged. "Ever since a few days ago, I've been able to read minds almost instantly…except his." She glanced over at Neji with a mock look of anger.

"Sorry, but I prefer to keep things like my thoughts private."

"Doesn't everyone? Oh look, maybe we could find out the exact location of Orochimaru's lair from that guy." Ino walked up to a cranky-looking guy selling melons.

"Ino, you don't know if this guy is a ninja."

"Oh, quit worrying Bastard-kun. Remember, I'm the one who can read minds here!"

"Well, fine, go ahead."

Ino skipped up to the stand. "Hello!"

The guy sneered at her. "Are you going to buy something?"

"If I see anything worth my money." Ino started looking around the stand, but when he wasn't looking, she performed the Ox, Boar, and Ram handsigns so that she can have full and complete access to all of his knowledge on Ororchimaru. She scanned his thoughts through childhood memories, ninja skills, and best ways to market melons, and finally came up with what she needed. But of course, she couldn't resist trying to get a little more out of this opportunity…

-10 minutes later-

"Where's Ino?" Naruto whined. "I'm dieing of boredom!"

Neji gave him a warning glance. Ino walked up to them, happily chattering away with the melon guy, who seemed to be responding to her conversation.

"Hey guys. This person right here is Sanzin, he will help us 'get where we need to go'. Right Sanzin?"

Sanzin nodded dumbly, staring off into some distance. This was a big clue that Ino had him under mind control.

Naruto didn't catch on. "Wow, Ino, how did you get him to help us? I mean since he is a f-" Hinata covered Naruto's mouth with her hand, and motioned for him to keep quiet. Then, realizing what she just did, she quickly blushed, and wiped her hand on her pants. Ino sent a death glare Naruto's way. "So, Sanzin will help us out tomorrow if Naruto doesn't ruin it for us." Another glare. Naruto cringed and started inching towards Hinata for protection.

Neji smirked. "Thank you, we'll see you tomorrow."

Sanzin grinned, nodded, and handed Neji a melon. Neji took it awkwardly. "Erm…thank you…?" He looked over at Ino. She shrugged and mouthed 'Play along.'

Neji just gave the melon to Naruto, which pleased him a lot. "Aw, great! This means I won't have to worry about Neji making us anything!"

Neji was twitching. "Naruto, last time it took all of my self-control not to kill you. This time, however, you can just forget about ever breathing again." His light eyes darkened.

"EEP!" Naruto started defending himself with Shadow Clones to fend off Neji's wrath. It wasn't working. Ino and Hinata stood there. "So, Hinata…"

"Ino, this is terrible! They might hurt each other! Not only that, but their fighting will give us all away!"

Ino smiled a little. "I don't think we need to worry about that." She pointed over to a lady carrying laundry who just walked past as if they weren't even there. She sighed. "I don't think we can stop them. Right now they are beyond our help. So, want to go see if there is a Starbucks?"

"Ino, in a grimy little settlement for Orochimaru's followers, do you really think there will be a Starbucks?"

Ino blinked "…Hehe…too true."

-End of Chappie 6-

Okayz, sorry once again that I haven't updated for a while, but since it is my birthday, I thought that in honor of that, I will finally update. If this sucks more than usual, than it's because it's hard to get back in the swing of things, but the next chappie will be TONS better. Trust me. Well, as birthday prezzies, all of you can review! …Well…please just do it anyways, birthday, or no birthday.