Author's note: Thank you all for your patience… and your impatience. ) I appreciate all those reviews. You inspire me to keep writing.

Chapter 10

Sitting alone under the shade of a tall tree on the outskirts of Konoha, Ino was depressed. It had been six months since she returned to Konoha… six months since she'd last seen Gaara. It was a bit of a mystery as to why she was still hung up over him… Why he was the last thought on her mind before she went to sleep every night… Why every time she learned something interesting, she would long to share it with the Kazekage. He was a good friend and even though they were engaged to be married, they had never acted romantically toward each other.

A shadow of a figure crept up from behind her and said the last thing that Ino expected to hear from anyone.

"Marry me".

Ino turned her head to stare incredulously at the man beside her in shock. Was she dreaming? Was this one of those dreams where you knew you were dreaming, and therefore could control everything around you? What were they called…. Lucid dreams?

Does this mean I could make myself fly? She tried… Nope.

Seconds past, but they felt like minutes. Ino realized she had been asked a questions and that he was still standing there… waiting for an answer.

"Ummm…. I'm sorry?" Ino smiled politely, tilting her head slightly to the right to show her confusion. That couldn't have been what he said.

"Marry me".

"…"

"Sasuke, I barely…. We barely… what?" The question was so ridiculous… so utterly random and out of place, she didn't know how to address it.

"I want you to be my wife", Sasuke replied with the same type of smugness he always addressed her with… like he was showing off a fighting technique or something.

"But… What? Why?" As usual, Ino was finding it hard to compile a coherent sentence when speaking to him.

Sasuke looked at her… a little more seriously this time. He took a seat beside her and stared ahead at nothing. "I need to rebuild my clan." His voice was softer.

"Okay…" What he wanted to do was understandable. Sasuke's family had been killed off when he was young and just began training to be a ninja. Since then, he had devoted himself to getting stronger… strong enough to kill his brother who had murdered the Uchiha family. Now that that goal was gone… Sasuke's life mission just… was taken away. What else would he have to live for except rebuild what was taken away. His goals made sense. Why he would want her to be part of it was completely out of the blue. He had never given any indication that he liked her… even as a friend. He always acted as though he were above her and that she was just an annoyance. "Alright… but… why me?"

"You're perfect." The mocking grin came back as if it never left.

Ino blushed angrily. Right… Perfect? Is he purposely mocking me? Ino had always been a little obsessive compulsive about everything. Every strand of hair had to be in place… she spent hours a day training to keep her body toned to perfection… her room had to be neat… but as hard as she tried, she was far from perfect. She knew that better than anyone else. Her thighs would always be just a little to big… her nose just a little too pointy.

"Just think about how powerful our descendents will be. It doesn't take much to see that your mind-controlling jutsu and my sharingan would complement each other perfectly." Sasuke's face remained passive throughout the whole speech, giving away nothing about the state of his emotions.

It would be an interesting combination. The techniques… the ability to mind read along with the ability to read and copy any jutsu… the combination would be incredible.

Ino sighed. Of course. "She" wasn't perfect. "She" didn't even factor into the equation. It was her family bloodline he wanted. It was sexual selection in its purest form. The one factor that solved Darwin's paradoxical peacock's tail problem... If natural selection was the only thing at play in determining species, how was it that the peacock in all its gaudy-too obvious to be hidden from predators-fan-tailed glory could have evolved? The answer, of course, was sexual selection. The females chose to mate the males with the biggest, shiniest feathery blumes because it was an indicator of health. If males could escape unscathed, even though they were so obvious to predators, they must be in great shape. Even though less excessively showy males might have an advantage in escaping from their predators, they weren't able to reproduce because the females didn't want them, and thus… were unable to pass on their un-showy genes.

"And, of course, you are very beautiful," Sasuke continued.

Ino frowned. Of course he would find THAT aspect important. It was classic evolutionary psychology. Men chose women for their beauty… another indicator of health and good genes. Of course, women weren't any better. They all wanted rich, powerful men… Men with a lot of resources who could provide for and ensure the survival of their children. Everyone alive today are descendents of people with that kind of thinking… because people who thought that way had children who were healthy and survived, and who, in turn, grew up to pass that line of thinking to their own children, and so on.

Cautiously, Ino looked into Sasuke's eyes. He returned her look with his own sumg glare… as if he were sure of her answer already. Well, why not? What was she holding out for? Her prince on a white horse? Wasn't this prince just an ideation of this "rich and powerful" man every woman wanted? It was just evolutionary psychology coming into play again. Sasuke was certainly powerful. Rich? Well, the Uchiha clan had left everything to him… Their land… insane amounts of money. What else might hold her back? Gaara? The kagekaze? Her actualized prince? Men like that didn't marry girls like herself. They married princesses, and other political figures… women like the princess she pretended to be. Men like that probably didn't even have a choice in who they wanted for a mate. It was all determined through the will of political alliances and such.

What Sasuke was asking of her…. What he was offering her… It was all very logical. It was to both of their benefit… so while it was ridiculous to ask for her hand… it would be ridiculous not to accept. Why was she hesitating? What was missing? Love?

What a stupid concept…. Love… The freedom to marry for love was a recent phenomenon. It use to be all about the family alliances…. As this marriage would be about… and it would probably work. Despite her not liking Sasuke very much… Despite his dramatic personality… his selfish pursuit of his own goals… Sasuke was a very honourable man. He would look after his family… He would sacrifice himself for them… He would never take another lover behind her back…

So, beyond all common sense… Ino chose rationality. She would accept.

"Sure" Ino forced a smile that never quite reached her eyes. "Why not. Let's get married."

Sasuke looked at her a little wide-eyed… almost as if he were surprised. He parted his lips as if to say something, and then seemed to change his mind. After all the smug certainty, it seemed like he still expected her to reject his offer. He smirked again… eyes twinking.

"Good." With that, he got up and started walking back to the village.