Kankuro was not pleased with the situation. In fact, he was barely managing to keep his temper down. Sighing he quickly rapped loudly on the door hoping the person inside had the answers he needed.

"What do you want?" a irritated blond ninja questioned tapping her foot and glaring at Kankuro. He looked familiar somehow, but wasn't sure why. But something about his face kept telling her something.

"Since I know you have the information I need, I thought I'd stop by," Kankuro answered with a smirk as he eyed the anger in Yamanaka Ino's electric blue eyes.

Kankuro scoffed not even remotely afraid. After all, he had dealt with far worse by having Gaara as a brother when he still had that killer intent.

Ino calmed herself, but her fierce anger was still evident even if her eyes had softened because of his subtle compliment. She tossed her pale blond hair backwards and opened the door with a swiftness to let him in. As the Sand Ninja found his way to a nice comfy chair and leaned back, Ino finally realized why he was so familiar looking.

"You're Temari's brother Kankuro!" gasped Ino crossing her arms and allowing her eyes to narrow with a watchful gaze as she thought of her options and wondered if she should kick him out or get some answers, "Why are you here? Is it because you recently heard Shikamaru's her boyfriend?"

"What?" growled Kankuro, his eyes darkening , " So it worked after all. If he hurts Temari, I'm gonna beat him into a bloody pulp!"

Startled at the deadly fury in his face, Ino's rage erupted," You will not! Shika's mine and I will crush you with a sixteen hit combo if you even think about doing something like that!"

Ino doubled up her fist and at the exact moment she was about to hit, Kankuro caught her by her wrist and held her immobile as he chuckled. Ino flushed with embarrassment that her anger made her forget exactly who she was dealing with. She unclenched her fist and his grip loosened around her wrists.

"If you tell me precisely what's been going on around here, I'll tell you some of the stuff I know that might be interesting for you," Kankuro suggested with a easy smirk that matched the humor in his golden brown eyes.

Ino pulled at her hands and slyly Kankuro let them slide against his own and he slowly let go inch by inch until she was free. She backed up with a glare directed at him with her sharp blue eyes and attempted to perform her signature move, the Mind Transfer Jutsu. But it failed and Ino looked at her hands as they began to move on their own. Her gaze shot up to Kankuro's hands and noted that Kankuro was pulling on chakra strings that were securely attached to hers and led to his.

"Now, what's your answer?" Kankuro asked maneuvering the strings with the fingers with movements that only as a master puppeteer could use. He smirked in a conceited manner. It made Ino boil inside and she snapped.

"You're such a jerk," Ino retorted as she looked upon his smug smile. She felt like slapping him, but in this condition she doubted she would even get close.

"I'll take that as a yes," Kankuro grinned with rightfully earned confidence as he settled back into his chair. Things were turning out fine, so far and he was loving every minute. He even didn't mind he was with a energetic spark who could easily turn into a large roasting flames. Oh yeah, things were getting interesting.

"Uh. You're gonna regret messing with me, Kankuro. You can bet on it," she snarled almost spitting like a cat with its fur raised on edge, "You're gonna get it."

" I expect it, and hopefully it will be quite a challenge," he noted stretching his long muscled legs out, "Now what's this about Shikamaru being Temari's boyfriend?"

"If you tell me what worked out," Ino demanded remembering what he had mentioned when she had been to furious to ask the question, "Now how about it?"

"You drive a hard bargain, but basically Gaara and your Hokage have been digging into matchmaking my sister. Instantly what you reported was that Shikamaru was her boyfriend, so explain," Kankuro narrowed his eyes as she sighed heavily.

"At first, Temari was his bodyguard until she changed her postion to girlfriend," Ino informed shaking her blond head sadly, her blue eyes glistening with tears. She blinked them back and looked at the guy who sat in front of her. It was unusual that he had his face paint off but in a way it was a good thing. Why, she didn't know.

"What does that mean to you? It wasn't as if the Shadow manipulater was anything more than a teammate," Kankuro reasoned wondering if there was away to make her see sense. He stared at her, noting that her long slim legs rested gracefully side by side. Quickly Kankuro moved his eyes upward to her face and listened to what she had to say. Hopefully Ino had not detected his wandering eyes.

" I love him," Ino argued rather weakly. She felt like he was accusing her of being superficial when he eyed her with scornful eyes, "And he belongs to me."

"Just because you got tired of Sasuke rejecting you?" Kankuro asked doubtfully as he narrowed his eyes with suspicion, "Are you sure you love him? Or is he a suitable replacement that will take the edge off the many years of waiting for Sasuke?"

"I don't know, okay!" Ino snapped, casting her eyes to the floor and sniffling, "Maybe I'm just kidding myself."

Soft tears fell from her eyes and dripped onto the floor in a slow drizzle. But without notice, a rough hand settled on her cheek and a callused thumb wiped away the tears from one eye. She settled her eyes upward into the dark deep brown eyes that shown concern.

"There's no need to cry, Ino," Kankuro soothed rubbing the rest of the tears from her other eye. Ino pulled away from his comfort and he raised his hands in a defensive way, " Hey, can't blame a man for trying."

Ino eyed his clothes distastefully, seeing as they were wet and dripping. Before she could stop herself she ordered him, "You need to get out of those clothes."

"You can't wait to see me out of them? And here I thought I was the talented flirt," Kankuro teased laughing loudly with his deep low voice.

Blushing a fiery red, Ino retorted promptly, "Your mind's that of a pervert,"

"I don't know to count that as a nasty insult or a nice compliment," Kankuro chuckled as he scratched at the back of his head as if he was confused.

Ino glared at him and rose swiftly to her seat to her bedroom and came out carrying a small package with a purple ribbon attached to it. It was one of those gifts she had chosen for Sasuke long ago. Strangely she never had picked up enough courage to give it, even if she was brave enough to hug him when he was least expecting it. She shook her head and dumped the bundle into his arms.

"Here's some clothes, and the bathroom is to the right in the hallway," informed Ino as he grinned and headed off toward the bathroom to change into something more suitable. She didn't have to wait long before Kankuro had finished.

When a powerfully built guy walked out wearing black jeans and a white t-shirt matched with a leather black jacket, Ino was astonished. The dark jeans were pulled tight over his long legs in a comfortable way and his arms looked even stronger and way more muscular. Ino stared in disbelief as she took in his deep russet brown hair and dark brown eyes that spoke of humor yet serious at the same time. He was hot and she didn't know what to even say about it.

"I hope you don't mind, but I rewrapped Crow's bandages. And unluckily I have no more Kabuki face paint," Kankuro said casually pulling at the tightness in his new outfit, "I'll return these when my clothes are dry."

"NO! I mean you can keep them," she hastily corrected herself thinking that maybe her luck was changing even if only by a little bit. . . Kankuro just looked at her in bewilderment and wondered if he would ever completely understand the female mind. . .