Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

Summery

ONE SHOT – Years spent wanting and searching only to find that that which you needed most was in front of you all along. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

Lamb: (sighs) Another child of my over active, insane mind. I'm going through a phase of over analysing their relationship and I'm not sure why, but hey, at least it keeps me quite.

Muse: And me in the loony bin a.k.a. inside her head.

Dedi: Well at least it never rains in here. This fic is dedicated to beautifulgeek11, as today it her birthday and also cus her SasuIno fics rock!! So beautifulgeek11, this is for you.

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

Muse: On with the fic!

I'm losing my mind dreaming about you,
Still as you sleep by my side,
Kiss me awake, whisper good morning,
Say what you said one more time,
'cos I need to know is this love?
Tell me I've found you,
Is this love?
Say that you'll always keep holding on,

The Other Half of Me

They lay in bed together, two bodies curled together, limbs entwined amide the tangled and twisted sheets. The soft moonlight pooling over them through the window, the only source of light in the room, edging everything it touched with silver gilt. But it was enough for Sasuke. Enough for him to see every detail of her face, the way her fair blonde hair flowed round her bare shoulders, the small glint of light in her eyes as she stared sleepily at him. Her breath was still rough, coming heavily, and there was the faintest hint of a smile on her slightly parted lips.

It was her first time but not his. And yet with her it had felt new and different as if it was something he was experiencing for the first time. It had been so perfect, so very unexpected as well. And the fact that it had happened here... The Uchiha compound of all places, it should have seemed macabre but it had just felt so completely right. Right that this place that had seen so much death and destruction had born whiteness to the culmination of the love that they shared.

It had been over ten years since he had been back to his family home. Not since the night his brother had massacred the entire clan. But when she, when Ino asked if he would mind showing her somehow he couldn't refuse. After all she was the only one who really understood what he had been through. Others might think they did, but any empathy they tried to feel was just hollow.

Ino alone knew what he had had to endure, she had seen his suffering and felt his pain. On that night when she had found him raging and screaming, she had begged him to tell her what was wrong but he had refused telling her there was no way she could understand. When she raised her hands to his eye level, her fingers forming a sign he knew all to well, her head had tilted slightly to the side as she watched him. Then show me?

Dumbly he had nodded, and as he felt the Yamanaka slip inside his mind he could not help but marvel at what the mind walker was willing to put her self through just for him. Only after when she had raised her face to meet his, when tears spilled from vivid sapphire eyes, when she had whispered softly that she now understood, did he fear what her reaction might have been. In witnessing that scene she had discovered many things about him and as he had sat holding her he realised how lucky he was that she had not run away and just how afraid he was of losing her. But he needn't have worried.

Her eyes were completely closed now; she had fallen asleep secure and happy in the safety of his arms. They had been dating for some time, nearly a year now. Many people had frowned upon their relationship. But neither of them had taken any notice, what it was that they shared was beyond the understanding of many so there was no point in trying to explain.

Ino was the only person he truly loved, and to lose her, it felt like he would lose everything. He had been wary of going out with her at first, in fact they had both been very unsure of starting anything. They hadn't started out as a couple; just, every now and then, they'd hook up whenever when ever any of their friends had a party. Neither knew exactly what was going on between them; they just knew that there was an attraction, a strange, unexplainable attraction that they couldn't resist.

She had been the first to admit her feelings, though, even as she confessed them, she hadn't been entirely sure what she felt. The schoolgirl crush she had once had on him had long since faded, but she was unable to put into words what had replaced it. All she had known was that she felt more than something that could just be satisfied with a purely physical relationship, that making out from time to time was not enough.

He had been scared at first, not something that Sasuke, last of the mighty Uchiha clan, found easy to admit and avoided her as best as he could for at least the next few days. Relationships had never ended well for him, everyone he have ever loved always seemed to be taken from him and he didn't want to put the vivacious and bubbly blonde in a position where she'd get hurt. But he had found it impossible to stay away from her for long, there was just something in Ino's very personality that drew him to her like a moth to a flame. But right from the start he had vowed that he would never let anything happen to her.

Their relationship was a strange one; they fought more than most couples. But their fights seemed to only strengthen their relationship. After each argument, they'd come back to each other, needing each other, understanding each other more. He'd found out, that underneath her tough appearance, she was fragile, oh so fragile, and deeply in need of someone to be her strength, her support. And he had taken the place gladly. He had been there when she needed a shoulder to cry on, someone to scream at, and someone to love. She cried so easily; he had been very surprised about that. Love and compassion were the very essence of her being and even though she tried hard to hide it, the pain of those she cared about effected her deeply.

But now here they lay. They hadn't planned to go all the way. When he had imagined their first time together it had never once crossed his mind that it could happen in this place. In his mind it had always been a beautiful, romantic and above all an expected affair. Not this spontaneous explosion, this display of feeling that had taken them both so unawares. He had moved, taken Ino's hand in his, lean over and pressed a lingering kiss to an eagerly waiting mouth. They had meant it to go no further than that but it was too much to try and control. There was the look and the touch. A shiver running through her body and he was suddenly consumed by the knowledge of what was to come.

Sasuke didn't regret it though; he never felt better in his life, knowing she was there, that she loved him. For even if she had not been telling him so for a long time, he would have known. They had made love, of that he was sure, there was no other way to describe what they had shared. And just a few weeks ago, she had confided to him that she could never sleep with anyone unless she loved them. Just that thought, that knowledge made the ex avenger feel like he could burst with happiness.

But, he knew that one-day, it would end. At any moment, either of them could be snatched away. Life was all too fleeting, and that of a ninja was far more so. Death was their trade and sooner or later it would come to claim one of them, and so would end the last happiness he had found. Looking down at her sleeping face pleasure mixed with dread filled him, for surly this feeling, what they shared, was too intense to last, so bright that it had to burn its self out. For how could it last?

But for now at least they were together, and they were complete. Lying in the warmth of Ino's arms he had found a sense of wholeness he hadn't know he was lacking until he found it. Almost as if at long last he had found the part of him self that was missing. All the other girls that had come and gone through out his life all paled into insignificance when compared with the golden flower curled at his side. They had all come wanting something that he couldn't give, they wanted him to want them and he just didn't know how. Until now. His need for Ino brunt was a ferocious heat that was only match by her need for him.

Sasuke leaned over to her, and kissed her softly. "Don't leave me," he whispered, stroking her cheek. "Please. Whatever you do, don't ever leave me."

Lamb: Well there you have it! (hugs) Happy birthday bubs!

Muse: I think I'm drowning in sap.

Dedi: We hope you liked your prezzy beautifulgeek11.

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big luv see ya

Lamanth