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

Summery

ONE SHOT – The question is what do you get for the person that already has everything? Ino knows, she's just not sure how to give it to him. (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: Sorry for the lateness of this guys, but my laptop is still acting up and on top of that the Internet connection for the whole house went down. It sucks cus this time I made sure I had this thing written in plenty of time.

Muse: With some help from me would you believe it. The one time I nice to her and the world decide to screw us over.

Dedi: Well it just goes to prove what Lamb is always saying, she doesn't need sex life fucks her over enough. Well this fic is dedicated to, like I even need to say it's the birthday boy himself, Uchiha Sasuke.

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!

The way your eyes say more than you when we're talking,
It's the little things that make me love you so,
Those little things you do that make me love you,
They're all I need to make my dreams come true,
And you know what tears me all to pieces,
Is the way you tell me that you love me too,

Just a Little Thing

"Anything here that catches your eye?" Pink haired Haruno Sakura asked her blonde friend as they inspected the items displayed on the small market stall.

"No..." the girl in question said turning her head and surveying the bustling market place.

Konohagakure no Sato was never a quite place, even on the most downcast and gloomy days there were always people out and about. Always getting on with their business and sticking their noses into everyone else's. But on market day the place was a swarm of humanity, like an over turned beehive people darted here and there through the crowed streets. The air was filled was a thousand different aromas and there were so many brightly painted stalls that the eyes were overwhelmed.

And then of course there was the noise. It would have been painful and enough to make even the most entrapped person run in fear of burst eardrums if it weren't for the face that everyone sounded so happy. It was all cries of laughter, jokes and calls of delighted greeting. And any ninja walking through was bound to be grabbed half a dozen or so times and bombard with questions about how missions had gone and how wounded colleges were doing.

The Hidden Leaf was a shinobi village, but more than that it was a village that was proud of their shinobi. Which meant that they didn't get special treatment, they were treated just like everyone else and were there for always part of the gossip mill. Yamanaka Ino for one liked it like that, she knew that visiting ninja were often both shocked and disgruntled by the lack of respect, but most Leaf ninja like the way that they were treated by the general population. It made them feel normal.

"Hmm?" The mind walker turned back to her friend aware that she had been talking but not having been paying attention. "What was that?"

"I said," The cherry blossom sighed indulgently. "I know he's hell to buy things for but there must be something he wants."

"Yeah, there must be." Ino agreed half-heartedly before starting off through the market stalls Sakura trailing behind her.

The he in question was one Uchiha Sasuke, who was less than twenty-four hours away from celebrating his twenty-first birthday. The party was all arranged, food and drink organised and invites all sent out. The only thing left was the task of finding the right present. As Sakura said there must be something that he, the man who seemed to have everything, wanted, it was just a question of finding out what it was. And Ino for one had no clue. Well, that wasn't strictly true, the blonde admitted to her self as she browsed through a display of kunai, there was one thing she knew that Sasuke wanted more than anything else in the world it was just a question of....

"Hey, Ino-pig," The girl in question jumped slightly when Sakura placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you Ok? You just seem kinda out of it. You're not ill or anything?"

"No, I'm fine." Ino flashed her worried friend a bright smile. "I'm just getting annoyed with this whole present thing. Uchiha can be such a pain in the ass. What?"

The last was accompanied by a raised eyebrow when the medic-nin gave an unladylike snort of laughter. "Nothing. It's just before it was always Sasuke-kun this and Sasuke-kun that, but ever since you got together it's just been Uchiha is a pain."

"Yeah, well he is." The blonde folded her arms across her chest and pouted.

"You're just as bad as Naruto, any day now I'm expecting you to start calling him Teme." Sakura said, brushing a stray cotton candy pink strand of hair out of her as she started to walk off.

"Don't tempt me." Ino sniffed, trying and failing to sound indignant which only caused her friend to smile all the more widely. "I'm amazed I've lasted as long as this."

"Almost three years." The medic said in and off hand manor, only the other night Naruto had gone off into a long dialogue about how he'd never thought 'that Teme' could have a relationship that lasted three weeks never mind three years.

"What!?" The young woman abruptly came to a halt, her eyes stating fixedly at the back of the rosette's head, as she tried to come to terms with the sudden revelation.

"Didn't you realise?" Sakura's voice was kind as she turned back to the other kunoichi, but she hurriedly stepped back to her friend and slipped and arm around her when she saw how pale the blonde had become.

"No, I guess I didn't know it had been that long." Her voice was quite and a little scared. How could it be that they had been together for so long, Ino didn't know, the time had just slipped past with her noticing and she wasn't really sure how to react. "Are you okay about that?"

"You know something? I really am." The emerald-eyed female's smile was both warm and contented. "Sasuke's yours, has been for a long time and nothing I could do would ever change that. Besides Naruto and I are happy together, we fit together were as Sasuke and me... we're good as friends and team-mates but we could never be anything else, unlike the two of you. You're the one for him, you know that?"

"So tell me forehead," Ino said with a sly grin as she cast her best friend turned enemy turned best friend again a sideways glance. "When did you get so grown up?"

"Shut it Pig." Sakura snapped, but there was not heat behind the words and she smiled brightly as she grabbed her friend's arm as the started off down the street once more. "Anyway we still have to find a present for said pain in your ass."

"Don't remind me." The mind walker sighed wearily her smile once more turning into a deep frown.

-------

Several hours later saw the two kunoichi from the original Rookie Nine going their separate ways. Sakura to the hospital as she had swapped shifts to be free for the party the following evening, and Ino to once more wonder through the market in search of that ever illusive perfect gift. The Haruno had given up and settled for a simple sliver chain, which was decorated with the kanji for seven. She said that Sasuke could have the chain along with the collage of Team Seven pictures Naruto was doing and just lump it. Personally Ino thought rather than lumping it Sasuke would love it.

Now if only she could come up with something like that, she thought wistfully. True she did know the one thing that her beloved pain in the ass Uchiha wanted more than anything else in the whole wide world. The blonde could not help but smile lightly at the thought and rub a hand across her stomach, it was just a question how could she tie that in with his birthday present. Or even should she tie it in with his birthday present.

All she had was questions and nothing in the way of answers.

One of the main questions being, how would Sasuke react if she followed through with the plan that had been forming in her mind ever since she had stood with Sakura as she bought the chain. Amid all the gaudy trinkets and elegant pieces of jewellery she had seen one thing that she could possible give to her birthday boy.

The next question was did she have the courage to follow through with such a plan. Ino wasn't really sure if she did, true no one could ever have said that Yamanaka Ino was backwards about coming forwards, and that she really liked nothing better than being centre of attention. But this was different, this wasn't just about her or just about Sasuke, this was more...

Well frankly it was just more, end of story.

"Is there something you wanted child?" Ino looked up at the middle aged woman who was smiling enquiringly at her, the corners of her warm hazel eyes crinkling up slightly in a good-humoured way.

Well that took care of that the blue eyed young woman thought with a mental shrug, her feet had taken matters into their own hands, so to speak, and walked her back to stall in question without her even knowing it. She only hoped that they had made the right discussion because if they hadn't they may end up having to run very quickly.

"Umm, yes." Nibbling in a slightly nervous fashion on her lower lip Ino pointed at the object that had caught her eye the first time she had seen it. "Please, may I have that?"

-------

The twenty-third of July arrived bright and warm, the birds were singing gaily in the Japanese Maple that was situated outside the window of the bedroom that Sasuke and Ino shared.

"Bloody birds!" The dark haired male huffed as he buried his head under the pillow. "It's my birthday why can't they let me sleep in?"

Ino didn't have an answer for him so simply got up and shut the window, which though it didn't shut out the sound completely certainly lessened it considerably. "There now, is that better."

She turned back to the recumbent form of her lover and couldn't help but smile. The big bad ex avenger was nuzzling his pillow like a little kid and had one of the worst cases of bed hair that she had ever seen. There were many adjectives that could, and had been, used to describe one Uchiha Sasuke over the years, but not many people realised that one of them was cute.

"Mmm, have I told you how much I love you lately?" Sasuke questioned rhetorically as he removed the pillow from his head before beckoning the blonde towards him. "Come here."

"I thought you wanted to sleep in?" The mind walker raised a brow as she questioned him, but did walk back to the bed all be it with her hands on her hips and her lips perused.

"I'll sleep later." The master of the Mangekyo Sharingan said as he reached out, and snagging one of Ino's wrists, pulled her down on top of him. "After you've tired me out."

-------

Ino cursed silently as she bolted up the stairs. She cursed herself, Sasuke, just about anyone else she could think of, but mostly Naruto for agreeing to let Lady Tsunade organise the amount of drink for the party. With luck they would only be bathing in sake for the next month or so. And he had the gall to say that she gave blondes a bad name. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black, or even calling it blonde.

Thankful that she had already bathed, the mind walker dashed into the bedroom, if she was lucky and fast she would just possibly manage to change her outfit do her hair and make up and be back down stairs before the first guest arrived. If she was lucky, and that was a big if. Something told Ino, as she ransacked the wardrobe, that luck was going to have a big roll to play during the up coming party. Which was already turning into more of a fiasco the blonde thought as she finally located the kimono she had been after.

It was very classic in its design, yet also formfitting enough to show off her lithe figure and pert bust. The silk was of a deep amethyst purple tone and was unusual in the fact that it was totally plain without even the smallest amount to declarative embroidery. It was hard to pull off bold colours but when complimented by the burnished gold hue of her obi it only served to make the effect more dramatic. She liked to be the main focus of everyone's attention and in this outfit it would be hard to be over looked. Pausing just long enough to apply a touch and make up and fix the cascade of dark purple flowers in her hair, Ino was out of the room just as the first guest knocked on the door.

Some two and a half hours later saw the blonde hiding out in the kitchen as she tried to snatch a moment or two to herself. The party was a huge hit, it was also just plain huge and the constant press of people was starting to effect Ino. There was also the fact that she hadn't yet been able to present Sasuke with his gift. She had intended to do it earlier in the day when it was just the two of them, but what with one thing and another, specificity one thing which Sasuke had insisted on doing in near enough every room in the house, the right time had never appeared.

But now she was running out of time. Everyone else had already given the birthday boy his gifts and as she had predicted he had loved the joint one from Naruto and Sakura. He'd also seemed very pleased, probably too please, with whatever it was that Kiba had given him which, in turn, made Ino very wary. It would only be a matter of time before people started asking where her present was and then....

The blonde shuddered, she really didn't want to think what would happen then. What had seemed like a good idea yesterday when she was walking round the market place with Sakura, now she had a house full of guests seemed like a bad one. A very bad one indeed.

She held the small box tightly in her hands, which was a good thing, as a moment later she was startled as Tenten and Temari seemed to appear from nowhere. They were babbling away about something that Ino couldn't hear because they were both talking simultaneously and equally volubly. But it was apparent, when they each grabbed one of her arms and started dragging her out of the kitchen, that the fact she couldn't understand them didn't bother them in the slightest.

"Hey you," Sasuke called out and deftly freed her from her two abductors as the trio passed him. "I was wondering where you'd got to."

"Nowhere," The blue-eyed female shrugged it off and then rubbed her arms, she was sure she was going to have bruises thanks to that pair of kunoichi. "What was up with those two anyway?"

"Not a clue... Hey what's that!?" The Uchiha suddenly demanded, his dark eyes fixing on the box, which Ino suddenly realised, she was still holding in her hand. "It's my birthday present, isn't it!?

"Uhh, well... ya see..." Ino started but was cut off by the birthday boy's demands

"Oh come on, give it me. I wanna know what you're giving me." Sasuke knew he sounded like an over excited kid but he didn't really care as long as it meant that he got what he wanted. "Anyway as it's for me, that makes it mine which means you have to hand it over.... HAH!"

The last came as in a display of childishness she didn't think he was capable of her dark eyed lover all but snatched the box out of her hands. He shot her a grin more reminiscent of his blond haired team mate as he pulled off the silver ribbon and opened the box with a theatrical flourish.

"Sasuke... I'm sorry." Ino mumbled and bolted from the room.

Sasuke stared after her in astonishment, wondering what would have caused such a reaction in the girl before his eyes drifted back down to her gift. It only took a moment for him to register what he was seeing, and even as elation flooded his entire being he made a mental note to chastise Ino for thinking she had anything to apologies about.

-------

"Ok so tell me what is it already!?" Naruto demanded of the still unresponsive male beside him. He had been standing in the same position, the same dazed look on his face for almost full on a minute and the bewhiskered male was starting to get really pissed off.

Sasuke could only mouth silently as he stared at the small box in his hands. There Ino's gift lay in it's small nest of sky blue silk, the bright sliver gleaming and shining in the light, almost seeming to wink cheekily up at him. He could feel the hot tight ball of exquisite happiness swelling in his chest and the sting in his eyes and tears began to well.

Excited silence spread out through the gathering, flowing from the two male members of team seven like ripples on a pond.

"Oi Teme! If you're not going to tell me than let me see for myself will ya!? Man what the hell's wrong with you?" The blond Jinchūriki growled irritably at his friend's total lack of response and solved the problem by simply snatching at the box. "Fine than if you're really not going to show me then... whoa!"

"Not you too!" Kiba snarled at the dumb struck look that suddenly appeared on Naruto's face. The blonde's jaw dropped and his eyes, which seemed to double in size, looked as if they might fall right out of his head.

But unlike Sasuke, the blond quickly broke out of his daze and pulled the glittering thing out of its box and held it high above his head. On its silver loop the key-ring swung gently too and fro from Naruto's finger shining mirror bright in the light. Confused chattering broke out as the assembled company tried to work out why a key-ring of all things would have such and effect on the normally stoic Uchiha.

"Wait a moment, there's something engraved on it." Hinata's soft voice cut across the growing babble of noise. The heiress was standing next to Kiba, closer to the centre of the drama than the rest, plus you didn't doubt the eyesight of a Hyuuga.

"What?" An unidentifiable voice called out and the rest of the crowed quickly joined in. "What does it say?"

"Oh my..." She turned bright opalescent eyes on Sasuke who nodded his ascent and smiled brightly at her even as tears rolled down his cheeks. "It says.... It says, Daddy."

Lamb: I know this was a very fluffy one and that the ending could probably drown you in sap but I can't be all doom and gloom all the time.

Muse: Even though writing angst is one of the things we like best, second in fact only to us killing of the characters we love.

Dedi: The pair of them are quite insane, but we hope that everyone reading this liked it. Happy Birthday Sasuke!!!

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

Big love and inspiration

Lamanth