I haven't written Naruto often enough I now realize. :P

Enjoy! ^_^

-X-

The motor groaned, muffled, and Ino licked her lips, her own thoughts racing. All the rage suffocating her was seeping out the rolled down windows, snapping out in gushes of air. She almost wished for it back. The road ahead of them was paved in dusty asphalt, a straight line, while her mind was twisting, twirling in all directions. Where was she going without all the rage she had accumulated inside? Ino glanced at the white face of the man next to her. His blond hair hung close to his skull, flattened by the wind. His big blue eyes flickered between the road, the cacti by the road, her hidden face, her bag still pressed against his side, so he would feel the muzzle of the gun inside.

And he still would not stop talking.

"Is it money?" He again shouted above the wind, glancing over at her quickly before turning back to the road. "Do you want money? I may have like a hundred bucks. I know it's not much, but I don't think we could find an ATM nearby. My shoes may be worth thirty of so. So, a 130$ and we can call it even?"

"Shut up!" Ino hardened her voice.

At the same time, his stomach growled, and they both froze as if the gun had gone off. As if she had never been in control. Tiredly, Ino slowly withdrew the bag from his side, closing her eyes and resting her head back against the headrest. She panted.

"This is a disaster."

"I know! I stole the car, and now it's doubly stolen, I guess." He nervously chuckled to himself, his hands relaxing around the wheel. "Can you point your gun away?"

"YOU'RE A CAR THIEF?" Her body jerked forward, her bag falling from her seat. She froze, watching as everything spilled from her bag. Snapping out of her reverie, she lurched forward, but he had already seen everything. Abruptly, he hit the brakes and she bumped her head on the glove department. She yelped while he turned toward her, his eyes flashing, part-amused, part-surprised. The dust and sand hung in the surrounding air, rolling thickly inside the car, as oppressive as the silence between them.

"Wait a minute... This is a hairdryer, not a gun." He said lowly, stunned, as he turned off the ignition.

-X-

Hold my light

by Clementive

-X-

Naruto flung the car open, muttering to himself in fast overlapping words she didn't understand. Shakily, she opened her own door. He didn't look dangerous, but if he had stolen a car... She shook her hair loose, her hand still on the car door. His orange shirt faded in the blinding desert around them. Frowning, she looked down at the sand snaking into her sandals.

"A disaster," she muttered again to herself.

They were on the side of the road, nothing in sight, except sand, the sun and hard red rocks breaking the flatness of the scenery in the distance.

"So... I guess we need get rid of our phones and the car." He gestured, agitated, alternating between pacing in front of the bumper and bouncing into place. "Shit! There were cameras at the gas station. They now think you're a dangerous criminal... And they think I'm a victim! The cops will come and find out I've stolen Sasuke's car." His speech flow increased, high-pitched and broken.

"You need to calm down, you criminal genius." She snapped with sarcasm. She bent down to retrieve her makeup pouch and hairdryer from the floor of the car. Impatiently, she stuffed everything back in her "Unlike you, I'm not a criminal mastermind. You're the one who thought a gun had a muzzle of over 5 centimetres diameter. This is all on you. I'm leaving."

She pushed back her hood, wrinkling her nose.

"What?" He blinked rapidly, stepping in front of her to block her path. "Where are you going?"

"To the next village." She replied simply, skirting around him.

"Look, I can give you a lift to the next village."

She shook her head, looking up, looking down, and it all lied broken, twisted within her reach. Despair. Guilt. Loneliness. Nothing had worked out like she had planned. Her wedding, her meeting with the blond man. She pushed her sunglasses up her nose, squirting. The sun shone high and hot, the air dry and aggressive still against her pale skin, but she had no choice.

"I'm not getting caught up in your stealing car business." She replied icily. "Or whatever that is." She gestured with her hands as if he would invoke something, anything, that would mean she didn't need to be alone anymore.

She kicked at the reddish sand with each step she took.

"I have a map! You don't have a map!" He shouted after her, waving a crumbled map in his hand.

"I'll just follow the road! God, look at that, I'm also a genius," She rolled her eyes, readjusting the purse on her shoulder in an impatient motion.

"On my map, it says the next village is 60 kilometres from here!"

She stopped, cursing under breath. Breathing through her nose to calm down, she spun on her heels. His body was slightly bent forward, coy, and he kept wriggling his eyebrows until she stood near him again.

"Are you a murderer?"

"No. Are you?" He challenged. She looked at him up and down, then shrugged.

"If a police officer stops us, I'll say you kidnap me," She said it lowly in a threatening tone, but he remained unfazed. He simply smiled.

"Alright! My treat!" He laughed, rubbing his hands together, and he jogged back to the car. "I'm sooo hungry... I can't even begin to describe it. I'm glad we don't have to ditch the car or our phones. And that you know... you're not a criminal. I'm Naruto, by the way." He opened the door for her, and she startled, overwhelmed by his proximity, his presence, his warmth.

"I'm Ino."

Again, he missed it, how her name echoed, lost, distorted, in her oppressive sadness.

-X-

"I'm sorry about the hairdryer." Ino played with her straw, staring down at the iced tea in front of her as the straw pushed the ice cubes against the glass.

Above their table, an old fan whizzed, blowing toward them only a trickle of hot air. Ino shifted uncomfortably, the spread leather of the red booth sticking to her naked thighs. The heat buzzed around them, but Naruto seemed comfortable, humming to himself.

"Are you kidding? This is the most fun I've had in ages." He rubbed his hands together, as the waitress slid their plates in front them. He wolfed down some fries then reached for the ketchup. Ino paused when he dropped it, watching as he reached down for it, his mouth full, his energy always constant. When he noticed her staring, he smiled sheepishly.

"Except from stealing the car, I assume."

His smile vanished. Naruto winced, scratching at his bicep, then as swiftly, his hands were back to toying with his coffee mug. He then shrugged, glancing up at the old muted television above the bar.

"Yeah... Sasuke won't report it missing. Maybe, in fact. I don't know." He shoved more food in his mouth and the corner of Ino's mouth twitched, half-smile half-exasperation.

"Why wouldn't he?" She picked her hamburger apart. With a knife, she delicately removed the pickles.

"Because I'm the pathetic guy with his car, and he's the bastard with the woman I love."

"I'm sorry."

She watched him, carefully, but he didn't appear sad, just determined.

"Ah, don't be! It isn't your fault. Can I have your pickles?" He interjected pointing at her plate. Stunned, she nodded and he picked at them with his fork, shoving them in his mouth without ceremony. "The bastard disappeared for years, showed up and picked up the pieces exactly where he had left them. She forgave him. Would you forgive your fiancé if he came back?"

He suppressed his tics, his energy, and Ino stood frozen, watching him how he abruptly seemed tortured, agitated, hesitant, almost bouncing out of the booth. She wondered if she looked like him in the last months with Shikamaru because she wanted to be soft-spoken, pleasant, patient. Did her mouth quiver constantly? Did Shikamaru see it and sigh and didn't let her go then? She closed her eyes, overwhelmed by the absence of weight on her chest. Overwhelmed by the emptiness, the freedom, everything muddled down in an indistinct mess. When she opened her eyes again, Naruto's clear stare reached just beyond her, fabricating, feeding her the answer he wanted to hear.

"No." Ino forced the word out. Out of kindness. Out of habit. Out of loneliness. "No, I wouldn't."

"Okayyyy, and if I had destroyed your house? Would I still be the better choice?"

"Oh god..." Ino widened her eyes, hesitating between grabbing her purse and walking out or calling the police. He was insane. She was insane for eating with him in the middle of nowhere.

"Don't worry they're fine!" He added when he noticed her expression, his eyes widened, innocent and childish. "I was just shook when I saw them together, so I kept driving... I destroyed my car in the process, that's why I stole Sasuke's car. Plus, it felt cool to do it."

"You're insane..." She whispered, running a shaking hand on her face.

"Oh, you could help! Please!"

"I don't even understand your story and it's so incredulous that it must be the truth. God," She pressed her hand to her mouth. "I don't even know you, so why would I help you?

"Dunno, do you want to?" Naruto shrugged.

Ino almost laughed, crooked and hollow. She didn't know what she wanted. She didn't know where she was headed. How could she say no? How could she say yes? She had given up everything to be the not-troublesome woman. She had shredded herself, piece by piece, lost herself over and over again. A part of her still answered to the hopeless romance of his story, as dull and numb as the rest of her felt. She didn't want revenge. She didn't want Shikamaru back. She just wanted to feel like her old self once more. Happy, shouting, confident.

She wanted to be found in the pitched-black darkness of her mind.

"Why did you leave the city if you want her back?" She asked finally.

She stayed because he drove away with her when she needed someone the most. Because he wasn't the guy who found, but somehow, she found him. She wanted to say yes, to yell it above the noise in her head, but saying it would be to admit she had nowhere to go. No one missed her.

"Yessss! You said yes, no take backs! Just kidding, I am not kidnapping you." He held up his hands briefly, before swiftly returning to his plate. Ino watched him, expecting to feel irritated by his behaviour, his movements, simply him. Instead, she felt only exhausted.

"So I've a plan, but it involves a rare Sakura flower."

Naruto had leaned in to whisper it like a child sharing a secret and Ino felt dragged out of her shell by his optimism. She felt exposed, cowardly, because he was rushing back toward where he wanted to be, and she was running away. She was spread thin in all directions, but he was still centred, still full of love.

And she envied it all.

"I'll never give up."

His eyes twinkled with resolve and it stabbed her in the heart.

-X-

Reviews are always appreciated! Thank you for reading! ^_^