A/N: There will be cursing in this chapter, so you've been warned. Hope you guys like the update!

Anyway, on with the story. Don't forget to review! Love it, hate it, whatever. :)

Mission Impossible: The Path to Motherhood

By KawaiPanda

Chapter Two

A GaaIno Love Story

The walk from the academy to the tower just allowed me to stew, the boiling point was near and when it reached that line, all hell was going to break loose. Angry Ino was brutal, regardless of who the victim was. The fact that Gaara was my husband wasn't going to deter me. It didn't even cross my mind that he was the Kazekage either. It didn't matter. All that mattered was that this backstabbing wasn't something I was going to take laying down.

I wasn't stopped or even greeted once people saw the look on my face, in fear of having it directed at them.

"What the fuck is this?" I demanded, bursting into his office.

He looked up abruptly at my voice. "Excuse me?"

Slamming the crumpled up scroll onto his already full desk, I repeated through clenched teeth, "What. The. Fuck. Is. This. Gaara."

He looked at the scroll for a moment, before setting it back down where I'd placed it and sighed. "You're being terminated."

"Why?" I crossed my arms. Oh, I knew why. Of course I knew. I wasn't stupid. I just wanted to hear him say it.

"You cannot teach while in your condition," he replied, looking back down at his paperwork.

"My condition," I repeated, lifting a brow.

He sighed, and replied, "You're pregnant."

"So?" Because apparently in Suna, being pregnant made you an invalid or something.

"You cannot teach while you're carrying."

I nodded with my lips curled up in disgust at the blatant ignorance he displayed, "Uh huh..." before asking, "And why the hell not?"

"It's not safe," was his reply as he signed the paper he was finished going over. I had the urge to just shove all of the damned papers off of his desk and onto the floor. I was so, so tempted. I knew he would probably get really irritated with me too, and he still hadn't hired another secretary since Matsuri...

"It's not safe? How is it not safe?" I asked, eyeballing the ominous stack of papers he had yet gone through compared to those that he had.

"You'll be in too much danger."

I sighed, and my arms dropped to my sides. "I don't see how."

He set the pen down and looked at me then, his face an unreadable mask as he addressed me, "Ino, we've already had problems before with you just being my wife, now that you're carrying my child, you've got a target on your back."

"I'll be fine," I murmured in a soothing tone. Surely there was something I could do to convince him to change his mind.

He shook his head, his shaggy red hair brushing his forehead from the motion. "It's not up to you. I've already spoken over it with the council, and we all agreed it would be best-"

My heart froze as I murmured, "You spoke to the council?"

"...Yes."

Of course he had. Of course he'd talked with them when he found out I was carrying. For some reason, the action seemed traitorous to me, and I had to choke down my feelings of betrayal before I was smothered.

"Oh, Kami. For fucks sake, Gaara!" I ran a hand through my hair as I glared at him. "You really couldn't have come and talked to me about this first?"

"I..." He looked away.

From the looks of it, I knew I was about to get even more mad at him. The fact that he couldn't even look at me, it just shouted trouble. "You what?"

After a moment, he finally replied, "...There will also be more men assigned to protect you."

I knew it. I knew it! Ever since the whole debacle with Matsuri, I'd had men tailing me twenty-four seven. My personal Anbu, courtesy of being the wife of the Kazekage who'd had people trying to kill her. I never really addressed it with Gaara back then, but he knew that I knew. If I didn't, then my training had been all for naught. There presence was barely there, but when you had the training I had, you should be able to notice the presence of three men following you.

"Great. Just fucking great." I was about to give in to the destructive urge coursing through me.

He finally looked at me. "I do not understand your anger."

I laughed. "You don't understand? Of course you don't understand! You're not the one who's going to be cooped up in that empty mansion for months on end, unable to do a damned thing without having someone stalking your ass constantly!"

He stood, coming around the desk as I panted, his hand touching my shoulder. "Maybe you should calm down."

Flinching away from his touch, I bit out, "Maybe you should go fuck yourself!"

"Ino-"

I shook my head violently. "No. Just leave me alone."

"We'll talk about this at home."

Home. Was the mansion really my home, even now after these few months... it sure didn't feel that way. In fact, rather than any feelings of safety or acceptance were long gone, since before everything happened. Gaara was gone most of the time, stuck in the office because he refused to hire another secretary so it was usually just me in that large building. Temari and Shikamaru had their own lives so even when they were in Suna, they rarely came over except maybe for dinner whenever it struck them, that was about it.

"Home? That shit hole certainly isn't my home."

"Don't..." He frowned, and I could see he was resisting the urge to touch me from the clenched fists at his sides. "Just calm yourself Ino."

Eyes narrowed, I replied, "Don't tell me what to do, Gaara. I'm so sick of following everyone else's orders." And I truly was. My whole life, I abided by the rules or orders of others. I just wanted to do something for me for once, or at least make decisions without having to care about how they would affect everyone else. Gaara probably wouldn't understand, I mean he was a Kage for Kami's sake! He was the one who issued commands and had hundreds, if not thousands, of ninja at his beck and call.

"..."

As the silence was drawn out, I found my anger waning, leaving me naught but tired and drained until I was suddenly attacked by a wave of homesickness. I wanted my mother and father, I wanted to be engulfed in the forest, surrounded by the colorful flowers of my family's shop... to see my friends, who have surely forgotten my by now.

I wanted to feel like I wasn't a stranger in my own home!

Every day, I was forced to live in this bland, lonely world. All there was for miles in every direction were sand dunes. And the heat was becoming unbearable, no relief in sight from the cloudless sky. I wanted out of this Kami forsaken desert!

Giving Gaara a solemn look, I whispered, "I want to go back to Konoha."

He didn't even hesitate with his response. "No. That is out of the question."

Narrowing my eyes, I replied, "I'm going back."

"You will not leave this country, let alone this village, Ino," he informed me. The tone had me an unabashed anger pulsing through me once more, stronger than before.

Glaring, I replied, "You think you can stop me? I've done it before."

His own eyes narrowed in response. "Do not make threats you will not be able to follow through with."

"It's no threat. That's a fucking promise."

We stood still, analyzing one another for a long time before he spoke, "There's nothing further to discuss." Turning his back on me, he returned to his seat behind the desk and continued, "I will see you this evening. Dismissed."

I bristled at the combination of his tone and the sheer nerve that... man had at ordering me to leave like he just did. Without another word to the man, I turned on my heel before I ended up attacking him and causing a Kami damned war.

The walk to the mansion was a short one, and the moment the door was shut behind me, I walked into the kitchen opened the cabinet. Without a seconds hesitation, I grabbed a stack full of plates and set them on the counter before taking the top one and hurling it at the wall as hard as I could, the resulting sound of the glass shattering helped cool my temper, so it was followed by one after another until the stack was gone and all that was left was an empty counter and a pile broken glass on the floor. Panting, I adjusted my clothing and walked past the pile without even bothering to sweep it up. Let Him do it. Asshole.

I would just buy some tomorrow. Right now, I had something more pressing to attend to.

Clearing my throat as I reached the bedroom I shared with a certain red head who was not on my good side for an undisclosed amount of time, I called out, "Hello?" My voice echoed, and doubt plagued me... but I knew they were there. My safety wasn't something Gaara would joke about, so, crossing my arms, I tried again, "Come on out, I know you're there."

"..." The were an almost audible silence in response.

I sighed. "Please?" After another moment of hesitation, a ninja appeared in front of me. "Thank you."

"Yes, M'lady?"

Crossing my arms with a smile that didn't quite reach my eyes, I replied, "I need your help with something."