............................
"What time is it?"
She didn't pause in her reading, simply opting to ignore the question as she scanned the contents of the scroll. There had to be something here, just had to be. Why the hell were important medical scrolls so damn hard to get a hold of in this place!
"Time?"
It could have been the morning, or maybe the afternoon, shit it was probably nighttime but she wouldn't even know. Tossing the useless paper onto the desk Ino sighed loudly while frantically rubbing her face and irritably scratching her hair.
This must have distracted the person in the chair opposite of her because Tio's next sentence was critical.
"When was the last time you bathed? Or even left the room?"
It was a mute inquiry as he had been in her cramped office for almost as long as she had. The desk was simply clean because they had been organizing the paperwork by piles on the floor.
"You should talk; I can see the dandruff from here."
Not bothering to watch as the young chuuin vigorously shook his head in inspection; she pushed herself out of the chair and began her daily pacing through the congested isles on the floor. Absently speaking out loud as Tio turned his chair around to watch her, sadly thinking that this was all too familiar as he sighed also.
"Okay so her condition started deteriorating two week ago but in the last week it has leveled out."
Finally agitated enough, she reached up to yank the hair tie out with a fatal snap, letting the broken string fall amongst the chaos on the floor while her assistant picked up where she left off.
"The specialized solider pills that she has been taking daily help stall whatever is filling in her lungs."
He flinched when she tripped on an abandoned weapons pouch, the fact that she actually stumbled sign enough of how upset she was. So was the vicious kick that sent the poor bag sailing into the wall.
"But the problem is how unstable her chakra system is, what is causing them to close? Dammit, this would be ten times easier if her parents were still around!"
It was frustrating as all holy hell that Ino could not figure out what was killing Kyoko. The only time she left the office was to either go check on the poor little girl whose breathing sounded like she was gurgling a whole lake in her lungs or to the medical library to scrounge for possible clues.
"Arg I'm going to skin that asshole alive and feed strips of his flesh to the damn dogs!"
This was where the conversation got violent, any time when the director was brought up. From the start he had been resisting her and now that fact that he wouldn't allow her or any medics on her team into the classified scroll room that was only a door from his office. She thought at first it was because she was foreign but now Ino was almost sure he was doing it just to spite her.
Despite the fact that Kyoko could die.
"Ino….go ask the Kazekage for permission."
The low rumbling growl was enough to make him sit up straight, his normally kind brown eyes narrowing in sternness as he pointed a finger at the rage trembling blonde. He enjoyed his sempai's company, and felt lucky he was allowed to work under her; she truly was intelligent when it came to medicine.
But boy was she a stubborn boar when she wanted to be.
"You need to go ask him, now. Today. He will grant you permission to most likely anything Ino. Kyoko needs a hundred percent effort from you."
It was surprising that she didn't feel the urge to leap over and rip his throat out, possibly from all the guilt and shame that was flooding through her ragged emotional system.
It wasn't that she was being stubborn necessarily; it was just the thought of what she might do if she were to go talk to the Kazekage. Every time the small red head popped unbidden in her mind, Ino felt her stomach tighten with a rarely used set of nerves.
She had been so completely happy when they had stayed outside for the remainder of the lame party. They hadn't spoken much after a while, drifting into a comfortable silence that was hinged with some kind of electricity that had been burning their entwined fingers.
Ino hadn't wanted to let go and based on the fact that Gaara hadn't she guessed the feeling had been mutual. It kind of freaked her out how much she had worried over what he thought about the whole thing; after all she wasn't even sure what was going on between them.
Still, she had a responsibility to take care of.
Watching as the beyond frazzled looking woman abruptly turned towards him, Tio stared in amazement as she sucked in enough air to puff out her cheeks before violently blowing it back out.
It was surprising that her personality had been granted into such a beautiful body, it just didn't match. Was that part of her appeal?
"Alright, alright, but you're coming with me. Let's go."
He stood up slowly, taking in her appearance with a critical eye. The long glossy locks were absent in the rats nest that occupied the area around her head – having been pulled and scratched for the last week- while the face being surrounded by it was pale from all the sleepless nights. Dark smudges circled her eyes, enough to make her resemble the person they were going to go see.
He didn't even bother taking her outfit into account, the purple clothes wrinkled and stained beyond hope.
Sighing again, he followed her out the door.
.........................
It was not nerves that had her hands rubbing rapidly up and down the top of her thighs. It was not apprehension that was making her destroy her lower lip in between her teeth as she stopped in front of the large circular doors.
No, no, no!
Looking at the guard, Ino didn't bother trying to place a smile on her face, leaving the grim expression there to make a bigger impression.
"I need to speak to the Kazekage."
Tio's shuffling from behind made her want to stomp on his toes in uncalled for irritation but the reassurance of his presence was enough to stop her from being unreasonable. Really, she was in sore need of a vacation. Tsunade had better give her the fattiest bonus.
"He's busy."
The guard didn't like her; it was obvious in the way he had shifted closer to the center of the door and stared at her with dislike. It usually didn't bother Ino but the way he was staring so intensely and her current mood made it worse.
Deliberately stepping close she stared at him, equally eye to eye, and spoke slowly and low in order to get her underlying threat across. She might not be home grown but she deserved respect. She was sent to help them for god's sake!
"Look, I don't give a rat's ass if he is, go in and tell him that itty bitty Ino is going to come in whether his pissy guard likes it or not. Yeah?"
The dislike went to contempt real fast before he slipped through the doors, slamming it harshly on her face. Feeling slightly better, Ino turned back to grin at an exasperated Tio. They had been working too much together for him to be surprised at her hackle raising tactics.
So instead of chewing her out he simply raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Feel better?"
Her chuckle was much lighter. It was amazing how being a bitch helped reduce stress sometimes.
The doors opened wide – the shinobi standing in front of her to give her a full scary looking scowl. It was probably meant to intimidate her, she only smiled wider as her eyes automatically slid past angry black ones in search of the gleaming pair of emerald.
His eyebrows lifted, as if he was amazed she was still standing outside. Biting her smile, Ino patted the stiff guard's shoulder as she walked around his rather big form.
"Thanks pal, appreciate it!"
Tio simply followed, trying not to give the shaking shinobi a sympathetic look as he closed the door behind him.
Ino bounded forwards, easily hopping up onto the cluttered the desk with a small thud and scattering of paper. The man sitting behind only response was to sit back to be able to look at her without craning his neck back.
Her smiled turned a bit soft as they stared at each other. It hadn't been on purpose that they haven't seen each other since he walked her back from the party, but it felt as if they had. Looking at him now, eyes tired but sharp with that shaggy childlike rustic hair and straight posture, Ino felt the nerves melt settle for a moment as she realized that she had missed him.
Who would have thought that once-sand-demon Gaara would be a comfort?
"He hates me ya'know?"
It was funny how he could simply continue to stare at her in that direct way, it made her toes curl and pride rear at the same time. That gaze could be intense when he wanted it to be but she instinctively held it as long as she could. Not sure why, maybe it was a female pride, she didn't like to lose.
"I wonder why?"
Smiling, she widened her eyes while raising her hands in a clueless gesture that didn't fool anyone. Watching some of the tension leave his shoulders Ino swung her legs back and forth while looking around the office for a moment. It was the first time she really came into it, and the first time she was able to get a good glimpse of the interiors.
Taking in the sparse decorations she frowned a little.
"Gee Gaara; you need to spruce this place up, it kind of sucks."
Tio's snort of outrage earned him a grin from the blonde before she turned back to see Gaara eying somewhere around the top of her head. This reminding her of her current disheveled state and fought a blush of mortification.
Seeing the mild quirk of his lips she dropped the smile and jumped off the desk.
"Nice..hair."
Why was it always her hair? Did he have a personal attachment to it or something? Almost glaring when his bright eyes met hers, Ino grumpily crossed her arms. Foul mood restored.
"Well I haven't been able to go home for the past two weeks 'cause your hospital director won't let me or any of my team into the authorized scrolls."
Eyes that had been wandering over her body – was he even aware of how he was looking at her? – snapped to back to Ino's face after she spoke. The gaze sharpened as he looked between her and Tio who had moved up to stand close to her as she had talked.
Glancing at the only person she truly trusted in the hospital, Ino raised her brows when she saw the expression on his face as he looked towards Gaara. She must not have been the only one to have seen how Gaara had looked at her.
Turning herself forwards again; she wandered idly if the Kazekage was prone to blatantly checking out all who came through. Was it a power play, to put fear or intimidate? Or maybe it was something else with her.
"You are not Suna, it's reasonable to not allow foreigners into such areas."
Tio was surprised when the blonde actually stuck her tongue out and blew a small raspberry when the village leader spoke. He couldn't imagine, even with her rather rambunctious personality, that Ino felt comfortable enough to do such a thing in such a presence, but then again he remembered catching some gossip on how the two were becoming close.
He wasn't sure if that irritated him or not.
"Plllllll-ease, that's a bunch of bull Gaara. I know I might not be but my medics? They are definitely lizards."
The odd term was taken in stride by the Kazekage as Tio stepped back a foot to look back between them. It was strange but the way the tall slender blonde was casually leaning over the desk while the redhead was sitting back in his chair, their eyes rarely leaving the others as they bantered; it felt as if he was intruding on some private discussion.
"Why do you need permission?"
Ino stared at him in shock before slowly standing straight. This brought Tio back to her side from wherever he went, and in response Gaara reacted by narrowing his eyes and straightening up in his chair. Did he not really know?
"Kazekage, we have been sending you reports, have you not being getting them?"
It was the first time Tio spoke, but she didn't mind as she continued to watch the man in front of her. This was an odd feeling beginning to tingle in the back of her mind but Ino wasn't sure what the cause was.
His voice was low as his leaned forward and it panged her to see the coldness seeping back into his eyes.
"What reports?"
Feeling exhausted, Ino dropped of pretenses of play, showing both men her ability to become serious when the time called for it. She was a kunoichi, and from experience in working alongside Sakura for the Hokage, she knew that some mistakes could be fatal.
Stalling either from speaking with a raised hand, something that had Gaara raising his eyebrows again, Ino looked at him hard for a moment before closing her eyes.
After a moment she opened them, a twisted scowl on her full lips.
"When I get back I want a freakin' raise!"
That wasn't what they expected and Tio agitatedly nudged her with his elbow.
"Ino, focus, reports."
Turning her less than attractive expression on him, she threw a light punch towards his chest which his swatted away with a loose palm. Neither noticed how the byplay brought a different frown to the watching man's face.
"I know stupid! If you would focus for a minute, you would understand why I did that!"
This caught his attention and he paused for a moment to concentrate before shrugging. Gaara simply caught Ino's eyes before speaking in the same chilling quiet tone.
"I'll deal with him later, tell me about the reports."
Taking a deep breath, she ignored the emotions that rose at the command. That was something she would examine later. Still, she wasn't one to be bossed around easily; sitting back on the edge of the desk she ran a tired hand through her hair before answering.
"Your date's health began to drop dangerously two weeks ago. Liquid began filling her lungs and her chakra points were shutting down completely, both are obviously life threatening. When we abstracted some of the liquid from her lungs, it turned out to be some strange clear stuff, haven't been able to properly place it yet."
Ino paused for a minute to collect the rest of what she wanted to say.
"I'm not as good with pharmaceuticals as Sakura, she's even better than Tsunade at the stuff, and I don't have the Nara's knowledge. Luckily Tio and I were able to create something akin to a solider pill that, for some reason, stopped anymore filling of her lungs. "
Gaara saw the conflict of failure and success on her face; the memory of her explaining why she didn't like working on kids echoing in his head as her voice grew rough.
"The chakra though, I don't get that at all. It's a vital balancing point for the body, so why is a child's system self-destructing? The thing is that some opened up after they shut down, that shouldn't happen."
She fell silent, encasing the office in a dark pause as each person took time to sort out their thoughts. Gaara carefully took in each piece of information she gave him, his eyes watching her as she sighed heavily, slouching on his desk. It was unusually to have such a close connection with someone; of course he had those with his brother, sister, Matsuri, and even a bit with Baki.
With Ino though, he felt as if it was something more. Whatever the meant.
"What else?"
Tio watched as Ino lifted her head up to give the Kazekage an expression that appeared to be torn between uneasiness and affection. Both were unnerving to the Chuuin, he was starting to believe that maybe the rumors weren't as far off as he had thought. Affection, towards someone who had once carried a demon?
"I have.." her stormy eyes darted around before she slowly smiled, "..busy tonight?"
Tio's choked gargle was ignored as Gaara shook his head.
"No."
Ino was suddenly all business, briskly rubbing her hands together while sliding off the desk and heading towards the door with Tio trailing afterward with a confused expression on his face. She paused at the door, looking back to see Gaara still staring at her waiting for her to finish whatever she was scheming.
It was scary how he knew.
"Stop by my place later tonight, it'll be fun."
She pushed open the door – catching the shinobi outside off guard- when Gaara's soft voice reached her ears. Which reddened slightly at what he said.
"Don't forget clothes."
Looking up to see two wide expressions of shock on Tio and the shinobi's face, Ino felt a twinge of embarrassment. They probably thought something, dear god, sexual was going on between them, which made her feel alarmed at such a thought. Shaking off the feelings Ino glanced back to catch the look that passed over Gaara's face.
Oh boy, they were in trouble.
"Just don't forget dinner, and nothing from an animal that shouldn't be eaten."
..............................
Gaara left the Kazekage office late in the evening, having finally dropped whatever he was doing and just leaving. Usually he would just stay until Kankuro or Temari came to yell at him for not getting enough sleep, generally Temari, before he made the pretense of going to bed.
Now, he was walking in the opposite direction of his room, heading towards the guest wings with a bag of food he had picked up. It was bizarre how much he's been down these corridors; heading towards the Konoha Kunoichi's room.
Ino.
Just thinking of the woman brought her image to his mind. From the time she had gotten here to now, the sassy blonde had been full of surprises. It wasn't just her way of handling things, sassy and flirtatious one moment to cold and dangerous the next, it was the way she would just say things how she saw them.
You would think that'd be a bad thing to have as a character attribute, but it seemed to work for her.
She was a friend, even that wasn't hard for him to admit. Her easy acceptance was a sweet tasting change from the almost grudging allowance that came from the council. Ino didn't try and act like she understood his issues. No, the woman just exchanged a little of herself instead, as if to ease the burden of his secrets by sharing her own.
Reaching the door, he knocked once before stepping back to wait.
The main problem was how there seemed to be something always underlying their combined presence.
Gaara was not knowledgeable about women for several reasons. First, obviously, was the fact that most of his life had been sheltered and shunned. Second was Shukaku eating away at him for just as long, leaving nothing but bloodlust towards most humans. Third, it just wasn't something he was around a lot.
He wasn't like Naruto, who had fought against isolating loneliness by being as loud and outgoing as possible. If anything he had done the opposite by becoming reclusive and personably timid.
That didn't mean he was naïve though. Just inexperienced.
The door opened to show him a fully dressed and excited Ino
"Thank the heavens! You are seriously my hero, I'm starving!"
Ino waved him instead before shutting the door. She felt refreshed and bubbly from her bath. Taking the offered bag that held something delicious smelling, she headed towards the small table in the room, letting him trail behind her if he wanted too.
"Feel free to collapse wherever you want, you look like crap by the way, long day?"
She glanced around to see him slowly slip off the gourd that habitually accompanied him almost everywhere before sitting with his back resting against the edge of her bed. He really did look tired. His head was back and eyes closed as she puttered around in the small kitchenette area.
Hunting for something suitable to use as plates, she continued in the easy flow of his comforting silence.
"I bet it is, the paperwork alone would dent anyone's ambition for kage hood."
Giving up the search, Ino took out the boxes of what was the equivalent of take-out and began to set it out for a free-for-all dinner. Hope cooties wasn't a phobia of his.
"They don't mention it till afterwards."
Snorting at his response, she carried the stuff out towards where he was sitting, simply kicking the table until it was in front of him before setting the food down. His eyes opened to watch her suspiciously poke in the boxes with chopsticks before speaking.
"It's safe."
She didn't wait for him to finish before digging in. Juicy noodles filled her mouth with spices, and she closed her eyes and groaned. Picking up more she sang towards her utensils.
"Ah food, it's been so long!"
Ino stuffed her face for a few minutes till Gaara's lack of participation found her attention. Pausing in her binging process, she looked at him in curiosity. He had just been watching her or looking towards the wall since he sat down.
"Aren't you going to eat?"
Watching as his gaze drifted to her, Ino wondered if she should just hold off on talking to him till he got some rest but then that would mean she would have to sleep too. That was something she didn't want to happen right away.
"I'm not hungry."
Nodding without a fuss, she slowed down her pace in order to talk between bites.
"I told you I don't like working with kids."
His gaze sharpened on her, letting her know he was listening despite his weary appearance. It also gave her some sense of comfort in knowing she had his entire attention.
"I..have a theory or two about Kyoko's odd as hell condition but I didn't want to discuss when people were eavesdropping."
The dark look that passed over his face was all she needed to see to know that the guard had been punished for listening in on their earlier conversation. Serves him right too, hmph.
"About her chakra?"
Nodding with noodles hanging out of her mouth, she slurped them loudly before setting her chopsticks down and picking up the tea she had made. It was minty and rare in Suna; she loved it, a small piece of home that she had brought.
"Yes the lungs are weird but probably fixable with time and treatment, though still very serious. The chakra though, that's something I've never seen or even read about. Gaara, I need to see if she has family records."
Blowing into her cup to cool the steam she waited as he thought it over. One thing that could always be said about Gaara was that he did not make hasty decisions.
"For a possibly kekkei genkai?"
Smart cookie too, she nodded with a small smile, taking a sip before replying.
"Yes, what if her chakra was able to close and open upon random? That would be a great advantage if she learned to somehow close a spot about to be hit and pulse the chakra to another spot to double that strength. It's all just theory though, she's had minimal training, so it's hard to tell."
He stared at the wall in front of him before nodding.
"Makes sense, but the reports."
Setting down the cup Ino flopped back to lie on the floor with a frown.
"That's a mystery to me, we've been sending them to you since the whole thing started. So my guess would be someone has been interfering, what I want to know is why."
It didn't settle right with her that someone has been meddling in her affairs, and the fact that they were only stopping her from communicating with the Kazekage was something that had Ino thinking it was about Kyoko.
"Could someone have already thought of the kekkei genkai?"
Twisting her head to look at him, she nodded absently while taking in their positions. It was like she was hanging out with Chouji or Shikamaru instead of the Kazekage of Suna. No, Ino thought, it wasn't quite like that; she had never wanted to move closer to her teammates or run her fingers through their hair.
This was where her thoughts and feeling started getting complicated; did she really want to act on how she felt? Should she listen to the small portion of her mind that was rational?
When he turned his eyes to meet hers, Ino froze before making up her mind. Sitting up she crawled over, pausing only to push the small table out of the way, before kneeling in between his legs. Gaara's eyes had widened when she settled into her new spot but hadn't made any other movement. She wasn't even sure he knew what to do.
Smiling, she held their gaze while slowly stretching out a tentative hand.
"May I? I've always wanted too."
Her sweet tone was enough to make him nervous, but he gamely nodded his head. Soft slender fingers began to run themselves through his hair, soothing and calm as he watched the face close to his relax and soften. He had to resist the urge to let his eyes close.
"We need to guard Kyoko, if someone thinks she had a bloodline limit then she is in danger because a special chakra ability is always valued."
Ino almost jumped when Gaara's hand reached out to lightly grip her hips, pulling her entire body until they were only inches apart. They rested there like feathers as his eyes fluttered a few times before falling shut.
Whew, talk about nerve wracking. Her stomach was doing funny flip-flops while her heart began to race.
"That feels….nice."
The whisper melted her down to the bones. Did it matter if what they were doing was wrong? Right now, being encased between his legs and arms, Ino felt something she had never felt before. Protected.
Bringing up her other hand to sheath itself in his soft hair, Ino trailed her index finger down until it touched the edge of his self made tattoo, making him jump and open his eyes. Staring back, she couldn't find her voice – whispering as if it hurt to speak.
"Does it still hurt?"
Looking into her wide limpid eyes, the blue dark in the evening light, Gaara felt his right hand move from her waist to gently encircle around her wrist, pressing her entire palm against the scar.
Closing his eyes again, his response was just as tight and quiet.
"No, not anymore."
...................................
A/N: *fidget fidget* oh boy oh boy, a first real physical interaction. How was it? Okay? Too out of character (for Gaara ..shit he's hard but fun to write)? In character?
I hope the plot is not confusing -.- I apologize if it is.
You know, I try to space things out but fanfict and my document aren't being very helpful. So sorry for the crampness again. -.-'''