Hello my readers!!! Sorry about the delay of getting chapter four up, I've been outta ideas, and really busy. But here it is, so enjoy!!! And in reply to reviews…

jadedXelement: Lol, I like NaruSaku as well, they make such a cute couple. Thank you, hope you like this chapter.

Beany09: Gosh Clarice, I thought you were my friend, lol, jkjk. Its ok, I didn't have "Dream" on my fave list at first.

Champion of Justice: Thank you so much!!!


As everyone congratulated the happy couple Ino followed Sasuke. This didn't go unnoticed by a certain lazy ninja, who turned away, defeat in his eyes.

"Hey Sasuke!" Ino yelled running to catch up with the duck-haired ninja.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked bluntly, not a shred of kindness in his voice.

"Well, um…I just wanted to tell you that Sakura was wrong, I don't think you're a traitor. And well…um, to give you this," Ino blushed as she handed Sasuke a letter, a rewritten version of the note Shikamaru had found.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked, eyeing the envelope warily.

"Just read it later…" Ino's voice trailed off as she ran down the street.

"Whatever…"


That night Ino was in bed, wondering if Sasuke had read the letter, when she heard a slight noise outside her window. Jumping out of bed and grabbing her kunai, she tiptoed to the window.

"Whose there?" Her voice quivering just the tiniest bit.

"It's me…" Sasuke's voice surprised Ino so much she dropped her kunai.

Sasuke entered her room, causing Ino to back up.

Sasuke grabbed her hands and looked in her eyes, "Did you mean it?"

"W-what?" Ino asked, her voice skipping.

"Did you mean what you said in the letter?"

Ino looked up in to Sasuke's eyes, now was her chance. But why did Shikamaru's face pop into her mind? This was crazy, Sasuke, who she had loved for years, was holding her hands. But why couldn't she stop thinking of Shikamaru?

Ino forcibly pushed all thoughts of Shikamaru aside, and answered, "Yes, I meant every word."

Emotion flickered in Sasuke's eyes, almost like sadness, but then vanished as he lowered his head and kissed a very surprised Ino, square on the lips.

The kiss didn't last long, but to Ino it seemed like years. It was her first kiss, but she didn't feel anything. There was no flicker of longing, no fireworks, missed heartbeats, no warmth, there was nothing.

Ino mentally shook her head, clearly away all doubts about the kiss. After all she had been in love with Sasuke since she was little, so that had to count for something, right?

"How was that?" Sasuke asked, giving Ino a grin.

Ino looked up, not meeting Sasuke's eyes, and said, "It was great!"

Sasuke smiled, "Well I should go, it's really late. I'll see you later. Bye!" And after another quick peck, disappeared through the window.

Ino didn't say anything; she just rolled over and went back to bed, although her sleep was riddled with dreams of Sasuke and Shikamaru.


The next day Ino was walking to meet with Asuma, when she ran into Shikamaru.

"Hi Ino, how are you?" Shikamaru asked, looking anywhere but at Ino.

Ino, faced with one of the objects of her dream, blushed bright red and stuttered, "I'm f-fine. And how a-are you, S-Shikamaru?"

Drawn by her stuttering, Shikamaru looked up, and stared at Ino's very red face, "Are you okay Ino? Your red, you don't have a fever or anything, do you?"

Ino just stared at him for a minute, "I have to go!"

Shikamaru stared dumbfounded at Ino's retreating back. He was totally puzzled by the konichi behavior; she never acted like that around him. In fact it reminded him a lot of how he had acted when he had confessed to Ino. Shaking his head, Shikamaru forced his mind to think about more important things, like his upcoming mission.


As Ino walked away from Shikamaru her face became less and less red, at least until she ran into the other object of her dreams.

"Hey Ino…" Sasuke said, looking at Ino thoughtfully, "How did you sleep last night?"

"Terrible!" Ino snapped, and then caught herself horrified as she saw the hurt in Sasuke's eyes, "I mean, I didn't sleep very well. Thanks for asking."

Sasuke was silent for a moment, and Ino thought he might just turn and walk away.

"I'm sorry, I probably kept you up, huh? I had meant to talk to you about your letter in the daytime, but I just couldn't wait."

Ino looked at Sasuke, "Its ok, it's not just your fault I didn't sleep well."

Looking relieved, Sasuke grinned, "Hey Ino, do you want to go do something together?"

Not really, Ino thought, but instead of voicing it out loud, she replied, "Sure, but I can't today, I have stuff to do today."

"What about tomorrow? Are you free tomorrow?"

"Um…yea, I guess," Ino answered, looking kind of uncomfortable.

"Great! See you tomorrow!" And with that, Sasuke walked away.

Ino watched him walk away, wondering what was going on. The broody, mysterious, quiet Sasuke she had always liked was gone, replaced with this nonchalant, vivacious, new Sasuke. It was just plain weird. And what was up with his newfound interest in her, she had always thought he liked Sakura, so why was he asking her out. Then there was Shikamaru liking her, and the fact she couldn't stop thinking about him. Ino shook her head, reality, she decided, was severely screwed up.


Phew!!! The fourth chapter is finally finished, after almost three months of working on it. I finally got out of my writers block, and was able to finish this chapter. Hopefully I will have chapter five up soon, but I don't currently have any ideas for it, but I'll try my best.

And yes, Sasuke has changed a lot since he came back to the village, he's less like the old Sasuke we all know and love and more like a mix of old Sasuke and Naruto.

Hope you liked it, and please review!!!