I know I shouldn't really be putting new things on my plater, but I started this fanfic like a year ago. My secondary OTP is InoXGaara, which started even before fanfiction with those old flash animations where the characters sang popular songs. One of the more famous ones had Ino singing this hardcore- metal type song and Gaara falling for her, and I agreed they were a nice couple. And fanficers like yuugiri only increased this OTP in my eyes, and then Kishimoto ruins it with InoSai. Yeah, so, we are ignoring that and going with this, which happens in the aftermath of chapter 699. This is a pet project, and won't affect my main schedule. This is a side project, but one I hope you really 's go.

…..

Ino Yamanaka was not the type of girl who would pick up smoking on a whim.

In Team 8, the smoking had been left to their sensei, Asuma Sarutobi, and then the lazy ass, Shikamaru Nara. Ino had never seen the appeal in smoking, and thought it was a disgusting one that could hurt you as a shinobi. All of the medical classes from the Godiame Hokage, Tsunade, had taught her about the effects smoking could have on your lungs and the rest of your body. Destroying your lungs, your teeth, and even your brain, tobacco and nicotine were a terrible combination. She had swore after that three hour lesson that she would never touch those death sticks that would hurt her career as a shinobi.

Then again, being a fan girl hurts your career as a shinobi, but that didn't stop her from being a major Sasuke fan girl for the first part of her career. So here she was, cigarette hanging off her lips, looking both in and out of place.

She found herself alone in the aftermath of their victory, and that was exactly what she wanted. Well, not exactly. To tell the truth, she would rather be in the comfort of her friends and allies. But anybody who had seen her since the fighting ended would just keep asking her the same stupid questions. 'How are you doing?' or 'Are you all right?' and 'How are you handling your loss?' or telling her, 'Sorry about your father.' or 'Your dad was a good man.' The answers to the questions were obvious. Of course she fucking wasn't alright. Her father was just blown to bits by some monster half a continent away, and she swore she had fucking heard it coming. Of course she wasn't going to be okay. She also just fought in a god damn war, had to coordinate things so everyone didn't fucking die, and was so goddamn exhausted she couldn't even sleep. She wasn't exactly handling it well. Her dad died and she probably was forced to listen to his last moments. But they don't want to hear the truth, they just think they are supposed to say that and hear some standard response from her and move on and try to suppress their emotions.

Her clan members weren't helping the matter either with their condolences, as they tried to compliment her father, making him into a goddamn saint just because he had died. But he wasn't. He was a terrible husband to her mother, since they always fought and rarely seemed happy with each other. He was a shitty cook that always burnt the fish and made the broth lukewarm and would ask her stupid questions like if she was dating her best male friends in Shikamaru and Choji. He was bad at comforting her with her problems, and was lazy in doing the housework that he said he would do.

Dear Kami, she wished he was with her right now.

She almost broke down yet again, but quickly composed herself and took a drag from the cigarette she had gotten from Shikamaru. He knew she didn't want to hear anything about her father, but instead told her about how smoking calmed him down. The look in his eyes convinced her better than anything else. She had taken her past enemy, and a match as well, and wandered off by herself in the wasteland their foe had created. She always thought it was difficult to get the hang of smoking at first, but she was apparently a natural at it.

She got to thinking again, and realized how pointless this war was. Some lunatic from her great grandfather's generation wanted to make the world into his perfect twisted image and killed hundreds of shinobis, thousands honestly, to only fail in the end and get himself destroyed. And apparently there was some other villain that he had resurrected that had destroyed him and could manipulate reality that only got defeated because Naruto and Sasuke, who was a good guy all of a sudden in the middle of this, got the power to seal her because they spoke to the person who discovered chakra, the Rikudo Sennin. At least, according to Sakura.

Then there was the odd meta-thinking about how this might be their perfect reality and that guy Madara had won and how convenient it was for Naruto and Sasuke to apparently have gotten that power boost right when they needed it and were destined to-she was stopping her train of thought. Thinking about it would either get her angry, paranoid, and confused. She hadn't even got to fight between Naruto and Sasuke out of nowhere and how they both had lost an arm. She instead focused on how her job would be easier from then on. This peace between the major hidden villages and most of the minor ones would make everything less complicated. Sure, there would still be missions with missing nins and guarding merchants and killing civilian criminals, but there would be less worrying about pissing off a village and having a blood feud from occurring.

She took another drag from her cigarette and looked up at the moon that was the center of the lunatic's fantasy. It seemed very bright, like a midnight sun. There was probably something really poetic in that statement, but she didn't care enough to figure it out. She was just wishing at this point that her body would let her sleep. She rested her hand of the rock she was sitting on, created no doubt by one of the shockwaves of the battle. Her senses were still hardwired that something major was about to occur, even though the danger had passed. It was probably latching onto the vibes that still exited from the spirit of that Tobi/Obito masked guy who had died on their side and had given his power to Kakashi. Again, according to Sakura. Either that, or she needed a nice soft pillow. Probably the latter.

She suddenly decided to herself that her teammates were lucky. She don't know why her mind went there, but her exhausted brain was just all over the place, so it didn't matter. But they were. Each had someone that could comfort them at this moment. Though she truly did feel for Chouza, the poor man. He had been tied to the hip with them for over twenty years, but was totally helpless as they perished miles away. At least he had his son to help him through this period. Shikamaru might have lost his dad, but he had Temari to help him. Temari was… something to him. Something Ino could never be, and wasn't interested in being. She was woman enough to admit her jealousy, she wish she had something like that with someone. It would be sometime before they acknowledge this something, but her woman senses knew it was there.

At that moment, she realized that the rock she was resting on felt odd. It felt more…gritty, more sandy, more moving. She suddenly felt the presence of a non-hostile presence behind her, so she swung her neck around to see Gaara Subaku, the Kazekage, standing stone-faced behind her, arms crossed. She pushed herself up off the rock, taking the cigarette out of her mouth and bowing in front of him. "Hello, Kazekage."

She waited for him to respond to her, but all he did was continue walking until he came to a rock pile next to hers, sitting down. She noticed he was without his gourd. She didn't know the man that well, that was more Shikamaru's thing. She knew he was calm and collected, a changed man from the beast she had seen all those years ago. She waited for him to say something, but he remained silent for about a minute. Seeing that he was not looking for conversation, she decided to take another drag from the cigarette. She realized that it was almost all ash on the ground, so she knew she had to make it count..

Gaara took a glance over to her, something she noticed out of the corner in the eye. "I did not realize you smoked, Yamanaka." He said in a surprised tone.

She shifted all her attention towards him and slowly blew out the smoke. "I don't. Unless this one gets me addicted, I bummed it off Shikamaru since he said these things help him get calm. Considering what it takes to get him riled, I guess these must work wonders."

Gaara internalized these comments before nodding. "I see. You are trying to relieve your tensions that were built up during the recent combat."

Ino shook her head. "Maybe a little, but it is more from all the sympathy everyone is showing me."

Gaara cocked his head. He had not expected that answer. "Sympathy? That is stressing you out?" He took a moment to think, remembering some of the update the Kages had heard from the woman before him. The shinobi headquarters had been destroyed by the Juubi, which had among those stationed Inoichi Yamanaka and Shikaku Nara. "Why would people feeling sorry for your father's death stress you out so?"

Ino tapped the ash off her cigarette. The Kazekage seemed like someone she could talk to without all the bullshit attached. That was one thing she had noticed in previous interactions with him, but it was a blessing at the moment. She needed catharsis. "Because everyone is feeling sorry for me. Listening to dozens of people say the same damn things to me, it gets to me." She shook her head, secretly glad that someone was allowing her to vent on them. "I'm not that stressed, it's more that I'm pissed. If one more person apologizes about my father to me, they are going to be missing a few teeth. They all sound so insincere." She let out a giant sigh. "They sound like it is their job to say it."

Gaara listened to what she said before gathering his thoughts. "It is considered common courtesy. As well, they have just been through a war." Ino realized that was very true, but she didn't have time to respond as he continued. "You know, Yamanaka, I think I may understand how you feel. If the rest of Suna discovers how I had to fight my reincarnated father, they may react in a similar manner."

Ino turned to him. "But from what Shikamaru told me, Temari said he was an asshole who tried to kill you all the time. No offense." She bluntly told him, before taking another drag. Talking with Gaara wasn't so bad, she told herself. He was a lot smarter than she thought he would be, and a lot more human.

"While he did try to kill me, it is an automatic response to feel sympathy when one comes into conflict with one's parents. They would feel sorry I had to suffer that endeavor, not that I had to fight him." Gaara wisely explained.

Ino eyed him. "That sounds like an advanced psychological analysis. So is the Kazekage interested in that sort of thing?" She blew out the smoke. Definitely smart. She wondered if he had read it, or had been taught it in becoming Kazekage.

He shrugged, which Ino felt looked weird with him. "After Naruto helped me recover, I realized I lacked social experience and understandings. Therefore, I spent some months between missions reading up on psychology. My inability to sleep gave me extra time to learn as much as I could in a span of a few months. While one would not consider me a 'normal' person, I am not as awkward or abnormal as one would normally be with such a key developmental period being experienced under a fit of insanity."

Ino was impressed by his drive and gave him a smile. "A regular genius, huh? Have you ever played Shikamaru in shogi? You might stand a great chance in beating him."

Gaara could not help but smirk. "I have. I defeated him the first time we played. He defeated me the next game, and we haven't determined who was better. Temari was quite jealous of my accomplishment. They have played dozens of times, according to her, and she always loses badly." He took a momentary break, and asked Ino, "Yamanaka, do you believe that my sister and Shikamaru have feelings for one another. They deny it, but…"

"Oh, they totally do." Ino interrupted him. "Even Naruto can see it. And if Naruto can see the tension, then there is something going on between them. But from I can tell, it will only start if Temari lowers her standards to dating someone of lower rank, or Shikamaru reluctantly becomes a jonin. Figuring with this war, I'm guessing it is the latter."

Gaara began to nod. "He is most worthy of jonin status. However, I do worry about the logistics of a cross-village relationship with two highly skilled operatives."

Ino had to process that for a moment. "You mean like it being long distance, or do you mean about stuff like which village a child would belong too?"

"Both," Gaara told her, "even as allies, such questions will be difficult to navigate if they come to fruition."

Ino thought about what he said for a moment, and then began to shake her head. "You know what? I came out to the middle of nowhere to relax, so let's drop the subject. And I don't know much about village politics, so I will sound dumb talking to an expert like you. So how about we sit down, and look at the stars. If you don't mind, Kazekage." She was quick to add to her rather blunt outburst.

Gaara simply nodded. "I came out here looking for a moment of solace as well. Star-gazing seems like a suitable pastime." Gaara then laid down on his rock pile and looked to the sky. Ino looked towards him, then the cigarette, and then up to the sky. After smushing the cigarette on the side of the rock and tossing the butt away from her, she followed suit.

The stars were shining brightly that night despite the full moon, and Ino began to trace random constellations out of the star clusters, muttering to herself whenever she picked one out.

"Those look like a snake."

"Those kinda look like a turtle."

"They kind of looks like a bag of chips. " A quick chuckle. "Star flavored."

"There is a cat's face in the north quadrant." Ino sat up from the unexpected words from Gaara. She hadn't realized he had heard her muttering

"A cat's face?" She asked, beginning to search the sky for it. "Where?"

He sat up slightly, resting on his elbows, and beckoned Ino to his rock. "I will show you from here." Ino listened to him as she was quickly next to him on his rock.

Gaara pointed to the sky. "Those 3 stars", as he pointed to a misshapen circle in the sky, "those make up its face while those two above are the tips of its ears." He pointed to them very precisely, and Ino saw them immediately "And finally, those three stars parallel to the left of its face and two stars on its right are his whiskers. All in all, a cat's face." He finished before lying back down.

Ino was impressed. "I never would have seen that." She turned to Gaara before flashing him a smile. "You are really good at this."

Gaara didn't have a reaction to that comment. "I only began because I heard you."

Ino blushed slightly in embarrassment. "I apologize, Kazekage. I didn't mean to interrupt your relaxation."

Gaara shook his head slightly. "My mind does not do well when it wonders. Something to keep it grounded is welcomed."

Ino looked at him, but couldn't find what was the right response. So instead, she laid next to him on the rock, which had ample room for them both, and began to look to the sky again.

"You know, if I had to redo the whole cocoon thing, I think I would rather dream of doing stuff like this." Ino confessed during the silent star-gazing.

Gaara cocked an eyebrow, but did not turn towards her. "What was your perfect reality, if you do not mind me asking, Yamanaka?"

Ino shook her head. "It was nice, don't get me wrong, but it was so hectic. I was the queen bee in my world, with the guys I find good-looking falling all over my feet and my team listening to every word I say. God, saying that out loud makes me seem so shallow." She face-palmed internally at the realization.

"It sounds to me like in your world, you wanted control over your life, something that no one could blame you for." Gaara analyzed casually.

Ino knew that was pretty much the facts in a nutshell, but now she was curious. "If you do not mind me asking, Kazekage, what was your reality of?"

Gaara stopped for a minute, before sitting up. Ino followed suit, but why she didn't know. Slowly his thoughts came to him, and he began to speak. "My dream was a longing for happiness. I had a happy childhood, good friends like Naruto with me all my life, loving parents. All things this world did not give me." He turned to Ino. "I do love this world, and this reality is ultimately better than my dream, but it was…" Gaara pondered for a moment for the word before he finally settled on one. "Nice."

Ino understood exactly what he meant. Even though she was embarassed to talk about, her dream world was quite nice and enjoyable. It was, well, a dream. But knowing what was real, and earning it, was more satisfying. And it wasn't like the dream was forever out of grasp, she told herself. The future could fulfill it, or give you something better that you never imagined. But she didn't tell Gaara all that. Instead, she just agreed with him. "It was, wasn't it."

Remembering what was in her kunai pocket, she fiddled it open and pulled out the two remaining cigarettes she had with her. She hadn't really wanted to use them but... shit, did she really get hooked that quickly? Deciding to leave it be, she offered one to Gaara. "You want one. It is a good stress reliever."

Gaara paused before taking it between two fingers. "I have seen Shikamaru smoke, and was curious as to how they taste.."

"Horrible." Ino informed him, putting hers between her mouth. Between her lips, she continued. "It's horrible, but it gets better fast." She pulled out the matches she had with her and struck it. She lit hers first before moving the flickering flame over to Gaara, seeing if he wanted her to light it.

He put the cigarette in the flame just as it was dying, and paused for a second when he saw it was ready to be smoked. Then, he kept his two finger technique and took a puff, lightly coughing as he exhaled. Ino nodded at the effort, as she took her first drag of cigarette. She carefully grabbed it from him just above his fingers with one hand, and moved his one hand into the more standard smoking technique. She placed his cigarette in the right spot and explained. "It feels a lot more comfortable to hold it like that, at least for me. You looked awkward holding it like that, Kazakage."

He looked at the repositioned smoke in his hands, and gave a small look of agreement. "It does feel more natural, holding it like this. Thank you Yamanaka."

"If you don't mind, Kazekage, could you call me Ino? It is faster to say, and I prefer people I like to call me that anyway." Ino admitted to him. They had only been like this for a short time, but it felt like they had become much less distant than before.

Gaara nodded. "If you do not mind calling me Gaara over Kazekage. We are friendly, and in private discussion. There is no need to be so formal."

Ino thought it over, and agreed. "You're right... Gaara."

"Well thank you, Ino." He responded. With that, they returned to silence as they smoked and looked over the altered landscape.

Ino hated to break up this comfortable silence, but she was curious. "So what made you come out here? I mean, I know you said you wanted to get away, but from what?"

Gaara paused, the cigarette inches from his lips as he was about to take a drag, before letting his hand drop to his side.

"Failing them."

"Failing who?" Ino wasn't sure what he meant.

He turned towards her, and she saw the regretful look on his face. She understood that whomever he failed meant a lot to him. "My shinobi. I know they knew that this was a war, but it was my job to protect them. And I didn't do a good enough job. When we return to Suna in the next few days, I will have to tell my people that I lost hundreds of our shinobi. That dozens of fathers and mothers, of brothers and sister, sons and daughters are gone, because I failed them."

"You know that isn't true. You did as much as you could for everyone out there. Anyone who accused you of failing has obviously never been a shinobi." Ino tried to comfort him. She, hesitantly, began to rub his back with her free hand in a comforting manner. It seemed like the right move. "I bet you know that, too. You... want to feel guilty, even though it doesn't make sense. But you didn't do anything wrong, it was the people who we fought fault."

The look of regret softened. "Perhaps. I feel like I must protect everyone from my village. And it feels like I...could have done more." He let out a sigh, and took a drag.

Ino stopped rubbing back with her free hand and followed suit. She exhaled the smoke and told the truth. "Maybe you could. Maybe you couldn't. But feeling sorry for yourself won't help... shit, this sounds like what someone should be telling me. That it isn't my fault, and I need to get over it sooner rather than later."

Gaara looked toward Ino. "Did you really think it is your fault your father was killed?"

Ino looked away. "...A bit. If we could have stopped them sooner... but like I was trying to tell you. What happened, happened. We have to live with the facts and move on, cause life doesn't stop for you. Something is on the horizon that we need to be prepared for, whether it is good or bad." She looked towards Gaara, who was giving her a real smile. He obviously liked the inspirational quote she pulled out of her ass. And he looked surprisingly good with a smile on his face.

"You are correct, Ino. I have already used advice like that, in order to move on from my past with Suna when I let Shukaku control over me. I simply need to use it again. And you need to abide to your own advice as well." Gaara wisely proclaimed.

Ino nodded. "Yeah, I guess I do. Thanks, Gaara. Talking with you is so much easier than with other people. You actually listen and think." She gave a short laugh. "Choji only listen, and Shikamaru only thinks. It can be kind of hard to have a great conversation with them."

Gaara nodded. "I agree. It is easy to talk with you as well. You are not afraid to tell me the truth in how you feel."

Ino nodded to that, giving a smile. She took one final puff of her cigarette and threw it on the ground beneath her feet, squashing it with her foot. Gaara took his final drag and followed suit. Both looked at each other, and knew what the other was thinking.

"We've been out here for a while. We should probably get back to camp so people know we didn't run away or something." Ino told him, stretching as she stood up.

Gaara gave a nod. "I agree. I am honestly surprised we have not heard the calls for a rescue team. I was not vocal in my exit from camp, so I suspect they would be worried."

Ino thought about that for a moment, but a reason was clear. "Well, we do have Hyuga's at camp. They probably could spot us even this far out, and know where we are." Her face grimaced for a moment. "I hope it doesn't start rumors. I don't want people to think I tried seducing you, Gaara."

"Do you have such a reputation in Konoha?" He asked, interested as he stood himself up.

She shook her head. "No, but I am really pretty and outgoing, so rumors would start no matter what. I'm sure you are aware of how much people love gossip."

Gaara thought back on a few moments in his recent past in Suna, and nodded. "People do love to gossip when they know nothing on the matter, don't they?"

"Well, I'm not one to talk." Ino said as she slowly began her walk to the camp. "I am known for loving to gossip and listen to gossip. It would be hypocritical to hate it when gossip forms about me."

Gaara followed. "Well, we will see if we get there if people think something happened between us. If they realized we were interacting with each other at all."

Ino agreed. "Yeah, they might only realize it if we do something obvious, like walk into camp with one another." She stopped. "So I will continue and enter back into the camp from the west, while you continue to come in from the South. It was nice speaking to you like this, Gaara. I hope we can talk like this again soon."

"How about the next time you come to my village? We could have dinner in private, so we can talk like this again." Gaara asked her.

Ino blushly slightly. "Gaara, if I didn't know better, I would assume you were asking me on a date."

"I was."

Ino couldn't stop the look of shock that came over here. The Kazekage was asking her on a date? What? "You were! I mean, um, wouldn't it make more sense if it she was from Suna..." Ino stumbled over her words. Not many guys had asked her out, and no one with the stature and out-of-nowhereness of Gaara!

"I wish to go on a date with you, Ino. Not someone from my village. I like talking with you, and I want to get to know you better. And a date with someone as beautiful as you would be an honor, regardless." Gaara complimented her, causing her to fully blush.

"Beautiful! You are quite the smooth talker. And, I mean, the honor would be mine. I mean, you're the Kazekage-" Gaara cut Ino off.

"You make it sound like a fairy tale, where the prince dates the beautiful commoner. This is real life, and we are equals. So, again, I ask if you want to have a date over dinner the next time you are in Suna."

"You are being quite assertive." Ino noted with a lighter tone. She liked this side of him as well. Forceful, but reasonable.

"I once read that relationships are only formed when one takes action. That is all that I am doing." Gaara told her.

Ino only had to think about it for a moment. "It sounds like a great idea. I can't promise how soon I will be able to come to Suna, but when it happens, I hope you'll have a good date in mind." Ino gave him a smile.

"It will probably be a few months, so I'll have time to plan something. Until then, Ino, stay safe." He flashed a smile back and headed in the direction she told him to go.

"Stay safe as well, Gaara! And you better have pudding planned after dinner!" She told him, making sure he knew of her favorite sweet. He didn't turn back, but raised a hand in recognition. She was happy to see that. She hadn't expected to come back from this temporary exile she put herself on happy, but here she was. She still missed her father greatly, and this war sucked, but she looking forward to tomorrow. And a date with a certain handsome red-head. She began making her way in a loop to the western portion of the camp. She wondered if she could keep this a secret until then.