Birds of a Feather
Chapter Two: Matchmaker
Istoria

Sakura quickly ran through the halls of the ninja academy. It had taken the remainder of the morning to convince the nurses she was fine now. A ruptured eardrum had been healed by Tsunade at the scene and a few cuts were not enough to keep her out of active duty.

Tracking down the rest of her team had been difficult. All of the jounin were assigned to searching Konoha and the surrounding area for suspects. Most of the chuunin were trying to piece the Hokage's tower back together which left the genin to deal with the academy and the students within.

Sakura peeked into the classrooms, trying to find Naruto and Sasuke. It was a wasted effort since five seconds after she arrived, a door at the far end exploded into a fireball. Clutching her fists tightly, she stormed down the hall and sure enough, there were teammates, demonstrating their skills to a squealing group of children.

"If you think that's cool, wait till you see my Sexy No Jutsu!" Naruto yelled.

"NARUTO!" Sakura yelled, stopping him in the middle of completing the hand sign.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto said happily. Sasuke looked up, watching her cross the room.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

Naruto frowned a bit. "Sasuke and I were just showing them the techniques we know."

"And you thought Sexy No Jutsu was a good one for academy children?" she yelled. Sasuke smirked as Naruto cowered. Sakura just rolled her eyes and looked at the teacher's table, seeing the lesson plan there. "Everyone, open up your scroll and start reading about basic chakra control. We'll test you on it by the end of class."

The students moaned and severely muttered about the mean big forehead sensei but a sharp look from her shut them up quickly. Once her attention was off them, she turned back to glaring at Naruto.

"But Sasuke started it!"

"Don't blame Sasuke-kun!" Sakura hissed. "I know that he would be more responsible then that."

Sasuke, for his part, was enjoying the fact that in Sakura's eyes he was perfect. This once, anyway. Most of the time it just annoyed him but the way Naruto was squirming was just priceless.

Sakura finally relented and turned her attention back to the class. They quickly moved their eyes back to the scroll but it was obvious they weren't really concentrating. Sakura couldn't blame them. All the excitement of the morning was making it hard to keep them in line. She could see them shifting in their seats, exchanging notes, and snickering.

"Look," she whispered to her teammates, "I give these kids about two hours before we've lost complete control of them."

"How do you mean?" Naruto asked. A moment later a crumpled piece of paper hit him on the side of the head. He looked up but the class acted innocent. He frowned and turned back to Sakura. "What's your plan?"

"Pass the ball!!" Sakura screamed at one of her kids. The little boy jumped and passed it to a teammate who quickly scored. Sakura jumped up with joy and looked across the field. "Take that Ino-PIG!" Next to her Naruto was yelling off similar insults.

"This was a good idea," Hinata's soft voice whispered behind her.

"Thanks Hinata," Sakura smiled. "I figured that bringing them outside would work better."

Hinata nodded silently and watched as the academy class continued to play soccer. They had divided them into two teams, her and Sakura's class playing against Ino's and Neji's with Shino acting as a referee. With frequent substitutions and the loud rivalry between Sakura and Ino, the kids were actually enjoying themselves. And if luck stayed with them, by the time lunch rolled around they should be exhausted enough to spend the afternoon just sitting around.

"SUBSTITUTION!" Ino yelled and pushed Chouji onto the field and towards the goal. He quickly settled between the posts and performed several hand seals, transforming into his meat tank form.

"What the..." Sakura started.

"NO FAIR!!" Naruto screamed. "Sakura-chan, substitute me in!"

"Like you could do anything useful," Sasuke retorted.

"Substitution!" Sakura called and quickly pushed both of them as she waved over a couple of the children attackers to the sidelines. "Both of you, get past Chouji!"

Her teammates quickly ran to the field, waiting for Shino to signal the restart of the game. Next to her, Kiba was demanding he be placed in as well but the whistle rang and the game started up again before she could reply.

It was unclear who was cheering louder at the point, the genin or their students. The entire field fell silent as Naruto drove the ball towards the goal and blasted it right towards Chouji.

Sakura covered her eyes, already very aware of what would happen. The ball bounced off Chouji and ricocheted back at Naruto, nailing him in the head and sending him back several feet. There was a collective groan in the crowd followed by Shino's whistle blow to stop play to give Naruto a chance to recover.

"Substitution!" Ino and Kiba screamed. Sakura was about to protest but at seeing Ino's side empty out onto the field, she quickly grabbed Hinata's hand and pulled her in.

"Sa...Sakura!" Hinata protested.

"Just stand in the goal," Sakura replied, quickly ushering children to the side. "Kiba and I'll protect it too."

"Don't worry Hinata!" Kiba smiled, flashing a toothy grin. "We won't let anything... HEY!"

Kiba whirled and quickly took off after Rock Lee, trying to catch him before he got any further.

"Watch me, Sakura!" Rock Lee sang out happily and passed the ball, arcing it up into the air towards Neji. Midway there, Sasuke managed to leap up and get a head on it.

"Good job, Sasuke-kun!" Ino and Sakura sang out simultaneously.

"Ino-pig! He's on my team!!"

"Doesn't mean I can't cheer for him, forehead-girl!"

"Ino! Ball!!" Tenten called out as she passed the ball to the blonde. Ino quickly snapped back into reality and managed to stop the ball before it sailed out. She quickly got it under control and started edging towards the other goal.

Sakura took off, heading towards Ino as fast as she could. Suddenly Rock Lee caught up to her, blocking her and jumping around to keep her in place.

"AH! Lee-san!!" she protested trying to get free of his trap.

Naruto headed towards Ino, summoning several of his clones to tackle. But Ino quickly kicked the ball away just before they collided. Neji was the recipient and he moved quickly, bypassing Kiba's defense almost instantly before kicking the ball at the goal.

Sakura's cringed as she saw the ball hurtling towards Hinata. Her idea had been that no one would kick the ball too hard at the sweet and shy girl. Of course, she had neglected to realize that her hot blooded, borderline homicidal cousin was on the other team.

There was a large smacking noise and Sakura cracked open an eye. There was Hinata, still standing, her Byakugan activated and the ball nestled in her arms. She looked shocked at the fact that she was still alive. Kiba and Naruto were yelling as they arrived next to her and celebrated.

Sakura smiled and was about to join them when she noticed a figure that the edge of the field, long black jacket billowing slightly in the wind. She saw Sasuke near her, looking at the same thing she was. He turned to face her and she motioned that she had to leave. He frowned but nodded none the less.

Naruto and Kiba were still celebrating, alternating between making fun of Neji to congratulating Hinata, who had turned a deep red by now. Shino blew the whistle a few times and the game resumed. But by then Sakura had already left with Ibiki.
"The rest of my workers were reassigned," Ibiki said as they descended down the stairs. It was the first words he had spoken but Sakura had had a feeling that was the reason he had collected her. So she smiled, trying not to regret being taken away from her friends.

"What do you need me to do?" she asked, skipping down the steps to keep up with his long stride.

He turned into his office and motioned to the pile of scrolls that were sprawled across his desk and slowly pouring onto the floor. He was talking but Sakura was a little afraid to hear exactly what he needed her to do.

"You're good at organizing things like this so I want you to find any reference to the Tengu clan and make notes," Ibiki was saying.

Sakura blinked. "The Tengu clan?"

Ibiki paused. "The woman who died today was from there."

"You think they're involved?"

Ibiki took in a deep breath and looked at her. "I hope not."

Before she could ask what he meant, he walked out the door. Sakura let out a sigh and turned to the task at hand. She reached out and tugged on a scroll only to have the entire pile collapse and bury her feet.
"It was tied!" Ino yelled.

"Feh, we won fair and square," Naruto said.

"That's only because you're counting points from when the kids were playing," she yelled back.

"Man, she's loud," Kiba said, scratching behind his ears.

Chouji stopped munching long enough to shoot off a response. "You don't know the half of it." He paused and when he was sure she wasn't paying attention. "Sometimes, I wish we'd gotten Hinata instead, all quiet and..."

He didn't finish his statement as Ino's head whipped around and her eyes glared at him. He looked a bit sheepish and quickly went back to munching.

"So you're paying for the ramen right?" Naruto asked, bringing the conversation to the important matter they had been discussing.

"We would be," Ino snapped, "if you had won. But we were tied. So no one pays for the other team."

Naruto began to whine and behind him Sasuke sighed, turning to Chouji. "Hinata or Shino," he added.

Chouji laughed through his chips and Kiba smiled at the idea that his teammates were such a hot commodity. A few steps behind, Neji scoffed at the discussion and then tried to ignore the fact that his male teammate was still relating how his defense on Sakura had been an expression of true love in disguise.

"Hey, what's that?" Tenten asked, bring all the conversations to a halt.

In the corner of the market, a large multi-colored tent had been set up. There were a few torches outside to illuminate the way in. A wooden post held an elegant banner that proudly spelled out the business of the occupants.

Suddenly Ino squealed. "A matchmaker!!" She ran up and looked at the sign. "World Famous Matchmaker Mabaroshi is here to help you find your true love. Success rating of 92 percent!"

Naruto eyed the entire scene warily. He stomped towards Ino and grabbed her hand. "Food first, stupid stuff later," he settled on.

"Stupid?" Ino shrieked. "Only an idiot like you would think ramen is more important then finding true love!"

Naruto frowned. "I thought you were all ready in love with your dear 'Sasuke-kun'."

Ino feet slowed a bit as she realized her mistake. Chouji visibly cringed, remember what happened every time Shikamaru had shown her errors in her logic. Ino didn't like being proven wrong.

And sure enough, a second later, she started yelling and Naruto had to run to avoid the blows.
"The Tengu clan has been here a long time," Sakura said when Ibiki resurfaced many hours later. "I guess I can see why you wouldn't want them involved."

Ibiki nodded and took a seat at his now cleared desk. "So what else did you learn?"

Sakura looked at her notes. "Well, they were here either before or right around the time Konoha was founded. They were strong supporters of the first Hokage, a few have even served on the council. They intermarried into a lot of the main Konoha families but for whatever reason they never sought the seat of Hokage themselves."

"You're surprised by that?" Ibiki asked.

"Well, it's like they spent all this time gaining all these allies but there was never really a reason... well maybe until recently."

Ibiki looked up at her, waiting for her to continue. But the look on her face was perplexed as if she didn't know if she should say something or not.

"Why was that?" he asked, hoping it would prompt her to speak.

"There was a big discussion about whether or not to keep the hawks as a primary form of communication for the village. With radio and everything, they've become a bit redundant. The Tengu leader managed to convince them to keep them, mostly due to the fact that there was so much support among the Shinobi. Sandaime dropped the proposal soon after that." Sakura crinkled her nose. "It just seems a bit excessive to garner that much support to just to use it in a situation like that."

"Animal companions are very important to shinobi," Ibiki pointed out.

"I know that," Sakura replied. "But it was like Sandaime was going to banish the hawks from ever being used. It was just a matter of practicality, really. Everyone was using radios for team mission by then anyway. It was more a question of how to communicate across the village."

Ibiki watched her as her face contorted into a few emotions. "You're not satisfied."

Sakura shook her head. "It doesn't... sit right, I guess. I just don't understand why they worked so hard to get themselves all this support if they weren't after the Hokage's seat."

Ibiki nodded. He had had similar feelings himself but hadn't wanted to act on them. "You have a list of all the families allied with Tengu?"

Sakura nodded, handing it to him. The man frowned as he read it over, taking note of a few names on the list he wished were not there.

"Are they going after the Hokage?" Sakura asked softly.

Ibiki looked at her. "I don't know yet. And I don't want to jump to conclusions." He rolled the scroll close and put it in his pocket. "We need to go talk to the Tengu clan."

"We?" Sakura asked.

He nodded. "I wanted you to be up to speed on the situation before we went. I need someone to look for a few things and they're less likely to suspect a genin of snooping."

Sakura nodded firmly. "What do I have to do?"
Ino waved good bye to the rest of the dinner group as they left the Ramen bar. They had mentioned something about a movie but she was following Naruto's advice. Food first, stupid stuff later.

Not that it was stupid at all. Naruto was stupid for pointing out the minor flaw in her words. Obviously she knew Sasuke-kun was for her, she just wanted proof. If a matchmaker with a 92 percent success rating would speak on her behalf, she was a lock for the role of Mrs. Uchiha.

Not that she told anyone where she was going. She knew they might laugh at her but she really felt drawn to the tent. She ignore the little voice inside her head warning her that the matchmaker might not say what she wanted to hear or that something felt very wrong about the whole thing.

Instead Ino marched right in, preparing to demand to be seen immediately. The moment she did, she was assaulted with smoke and smells so strong they almost made her eyes water. She stumbled back, trying to search for fresh air but someone blocked her way outside.

"Hello dearie, are you here to see the matchmaker?"

Ino nodded, still trying to clear her head. A few second later, the feeling of suffocation faded and Ino felt calm. The older woman smiled at her, watching her eyes slowly dilate.

"Then come sit by me and we shall talk."

"Can you..." Ino started, pausing as she felt how thick the words felt on her tongue. "Can you help me find..."

"Yes," Mabaroshi said, moving across the floor, a withered hand on Ino's arm. The bells on her belt tinkled melodically and Ino watched them with a smile.

"Tell me about him," Mabaroshi whispered, pulling a chair next to her and sitting down.

Ino nodded seriously. "He's got dark hair. Dark eyes. Intelligent. The best ninja in our group..."

Ino slowly trailed off without realizing it. Mabaroshi smiled. "Then I'll have to see what I can do." She paused. "There's a price."

"I'll get money."

Mabaroshi smiled. "Not money."
Shikamaru let out a long and deep sigh as he walked down the road, finally having been relieved of duty. Being a chuunin truly sucked, he decided, never mind that everyone was so happy and proud of him. It wasn't worth the extra work and responsibility.

Halfway home, he came across a familiar figure walking across the road. He watched as she stumbled a bit, head looking up to the sky.

"Ino?" he called out.

She stopped and looked at him. "Shika-kun?"

His brow furrowed as he walked up to her. "What's wrong?"

She looked at him funny for a moment before shaking her head clear. "Nothing... sorry, I thought..." She paused. "Never mind."

"What are you doing out here?"

She looked at him and shrugged. "I was out the dinner with the gang. Then I had to go home to help mom clean the shop."

"Dinner?" he asked. "But it's almost 10 o'clock at night."

Ino blinked back in surprise. "No it's not."

Shikamaru pulled out his watch and showed it to her. She frowned. "It's broken," she replied while searching for her own watch. Much to her dismay, she saw it read the same time.

"What..." she trailed off.

"Did you fall asleep in the park again?" he asked.

"I don't think so. I was at dinner and then..." Ino paused and tried to remember what she was going to say. "Then I was here."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and grabbed her arm. "You must have fallen asleep. You need to get home before your parents start freaking out."

He led her home and she didn't protest. He shot a few glances over at her, looking for signs of illness or injury but there was nothing. When they reached the door, Inoshi was sitting on the porch, pretending to enjoy the evening rather then look like he was waiting for his daughter. He winked at Shikamaru as he led her inside though the reason behind that was a mystery.

Shikamaru looked down the road towards his house and frowned. It had been a long day, he just wanted to go to sleep. But there was something off about the way Ino had acted and he knew it would bother him to no end. So instead, he turned and walked towards the familiar house near his and Ino's.

Picking a few stones off the ground, he hurtled them towards the window of his friend. It only took a few before the light flickered on and Chouji stumbled to the door, wearing his large night shirt.

"Shikamaru, what the hell's wrong?" he yawned.

"I need to talk to you," Shikamaru said.

Chouji looked at the clock and frowned. Practice was before daybreak tomorrow and Shikamaru knew that. So it must be important. He motioned his friend up while he went back into his room to find something to snack on.

"Thanks," Shikamaru said. "It's about Ino."

"When isn't it," Chouji smiled, settling onto the bed.

"Not like that," Shikamaru sighed. "Look, about tonight... did anything weird happen?"

Chouji paused in his munching. "Weird for our group?"

"Weird for Ino."

Chouji shrugged. "Not really. We took care of the academy kids, went out to dinner and then to a movie after." He paused. "Ino didn't go. She said something about helping her parents with the store. Most of the guys figured she snuck back to the matchmaker."

"The what?" Shikamaru asked.

"I don't know, some weird old tent set up in the market. Had a sign for a matchmaker and you know how Ino is about things like that."

Shikamaru frowned. Ino hadn't mentioned that. It was worth checking out but obviously not tonight. He stood up and straightened his jacket. "Thanks. I'll see you in the morning."

"You're not going to tell me what this is about?" Chouji asked.

Shikamaru paused at the window and shrugged. "It's probably nothing." He jumped out the window and headed home, repeating that last sentiment but not believing it in the slightest.


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