A/N: Just wanted to say thanks for all the reviews (including the future ones ;) ) So I have been on a music binge lately and found what has almost become this story's theme, only because it's stuck on repeat while I write anything with Gaara or Ino. Its "Eye Alaska- All Hail the High Sea" check it out, it's good.
Another thing, I know some of you are itching for a good steamy scene between our brassy blonde and lizard. it'll be a while yet, but that doesn't mean there aren't any curl-your-toes moments. Good comes to those who wait, lol =P
Anyway, read and hopefull enjoy.
Oh, and I apologize for any mistakes in here. 1:44 A.M does that. and I was too impatient to wait and re-read it a few more times.
............................
Getting up at the butt crack of dawn was asking too much of her, but remembering the way his eyes had lit up at her confidence had Ino rolling out of her bed.
That attractive jerk.
Hearing the person outside of her door knock again, she trudged to go open it, knowing who was standing outside. It wasn't that hard to guess since she had somewhat been expecting a visit before the match anyway.
Opening the door to reveal a rather too awake Temari, Ino groaned anyway and began to retreat.
"What do you want?"
Knowing the other woman wouldn't take offense to her rude behavior, Ino waved to casually invite her to do whatever she wanted as she walked to the bathroom to get ready.
"Just wanted to chat a bit before you get pummeled by a possible love interest."
Choking on toothpaste, Ino leaned back to glare at the blonde with white spit dripping out of the corner of her mouth that held her toothbrush.
"whuf you jud ay?"
This was not something she wanted to start her day talking about, especially since the subject was still so new and surreal. Had she really touched and kissed Gaara last night? A part of her had hoped it was just exhaustion causing hallucinations.
And who the hell was going to get pummeled?
"Don't try and act ignorant Ino, we can see it in the way you gravitate to him and how he always watches you."
Her face, minus foaming mouth, must have looked alarmed because Temari quickly came over to calm her down. Her slanted teal eyes looking both amused and worried as she touch Ino's shoulder for a second.
"You can talk to me, it's okay…..but you might want to spit that out before you actually choke."
Obliging her suggestion by thoroughly getting rid of the minty paste, Ino took a moment to clear her thoughts as she bent to splash water onto her face. Temari had backed off as soon as she saw that Ino wasn't going to do anything drastic, like shove the toothbrush into her eye or down her throat, and waited for the girl to feel comfortable.
"Gaara..his reactions shouldn't affect me so much."
This was a whisper barely heard over the water, but Temari caught the arrested look on the woman's face before she brought up a towel to pat it dry.
"I must be sick or something, this isn't like me. Putting conflicting feelings like this while on a job."
It hurt to listen to the girl basically say having feelings for her brother was a problem but Temari knew exactly how she felt and hesitated before plunging ahead.
"Yeah, I know how that feels. Having romantic indecisions while on a job, in a foreign village no less."
A big blue eye peered out from the towel, probing the implications behind Temari's words before disappearing again. The short pause of consideration said enough of Ino's restraint on the subject.
She was a firm believer that people in an intimate relationship should have only them in it, and not have interfering neighbors. This didn't mean to say that she didn't have a problem giving recycled advice or even a punch in the kidney when they asked for it, just meant that something private should be private.
Lost in her thoughts while fixing her long hair, Ino almost missed Temari when the woman spoke again.
"We don't live long enough to have time worrying about technicalities."
Pulling her hair with one final tightening tug, Ino turned to walk past her friend towards the weapons pouch that waited on the bed.
"Before she died, my mom always said 'kiss the man you want, kick the man you love, and make sure to never leave angry' of course she usually sucker punched my dad when he pissed her off."
Smiling as she doubled checked the pack; Ino looked up to twinkle at Temari as they headed towards the door.
"So let me go kick some Kazekage ass and then we'll see what happens."
……………………
Her team looked scared. Well, to be fair they didn't look scared shitless, just enough of healthy apprehension at being personally tested by the feared and awed leader that had saved their village.
Ino, personally, didn't see what the big deal was.
"Come on guys, he's not much of a boogeyman."
In fact, he was nothing like a boogey at all though definitely a man. Even after hearing and witnessing some of his more psychotic moments in the Chuuin exam, and later hearing about his transformation Ino thought he still looked impressive.
A feat considering he hadn't grown much taller.
The armor that had been cleverly disguised beneath his usual Kaze robes was now snug over the crimson fighting gear he had donned. The huge gourd strapped securely on while he took the common cross armed pose across the field of them.
She had no doubt that he could hear what they were saying; the small smirk she could barely make out was enough to let her know she was right.
"Ino! Be respectful to the Kazekage!"
Grimacing she turned to take in how they really were holding up. It was interesting to see her students outside of medic's uniforms.
Tio looked composed if not entirely calm, his hands at an odd angle while casually resting behind his back. He had shown up wearing tight loose fitting capris, something she mentally filed away for later teasing, some material over his chest that she could only describe as some kind of jerkin.
Kira was wearing something that surprisingly reminded her of Sai, except it was a nasty color to match the sand. Ick. His weapon looked like a wicked sickle on a long chain and she hoped he knew how to actually use it.
Risa, who had shown up only minutes after she had, was in a slitted skirt that would have hung around her upper thighs if it was being constantly pulled down. Her tank wasn't much to protect either and the only thing stopping everybody from getting a peek at some under view of her breasts were the black wrappings that went just that far. Ino wasn't quite sure what her weapon was, hadn't bothered reading up on them, but the black wraps around her thighs might have something to do with some sort of daggers or kunai.
She frankly didn't have a lot of hope for the young girl, her attitude from the last mission still leaving a bitter taste in Ino's mouth whenever she thought of it.
Still, she believed in redemption; and teamwork would never be successful if she didn't give them all a chance.
Maybe Risa's weapon was ultimate sex appeal? It might work, on someone else.
Turning back she smiled sweetly at Gaara. Raising her voice loud enough so it carried to him.
"Please, right now all Gaara is, is our opponent. You can't beat him if you keep hold of that respect, instead my sweet dumplings, make him earn it."
And before anyone to speak she added with a tilt of her head.
"Right strawberry?"
The gasps of horror didn't conceal the chuckle from Temari; the girl knew what Ino was doing. Her grin didn't falter though, because really this wasn't going to be an actual fight. Her mere presence was a sure sign of that; if she were to be killed there would be hell to pay. Even if it was an accident.
Ah, sweet foreign immunity.
What this was is a test of their team combined, in case they really were in need of a guard.
She was the only Jouuin and he was the only Kazekage, the rest were green chuuin who spent more time in the hospital than experiencing the real world of ninja. They would probably use whatever they needed but obviously she and Gaara were going to have to curb their jutsu's.
Knowing this really didn't stop her from feeling irritated though, he was goading her and by all means Ino was going to return the favor.
Which was why he didn't give into her blatant undermining, just crossed his arms over his chest and looked grave. The fun was about to start.
"Then you don't mind coming at me than. Go!"
........................
The next few seconds after the start was a bit, anticlimactic to say the least. Ino had simply kept that same silly looking smile on her face while her chuuin had nervously shifted behind her. She had known they wouldn't make the first move, and Gaara had implied that he wasn't so that left it all up to her.
Ino liked doing things at her own pace, which was the cause of her casually taking a few steps backward until she was at the back of her team. They didn't seem to appreciate what appeared to be a retreat but then she didn't care less.
Leaning forward, eyes locked with green ones, she slung an arm over Tio's shoulders. He tensed but didn't make a move to remove himself from her sudden intimate embrace. A show of trust that had her inwardly warm up to the young man.
She didn't miss how Risa's expression grew increasingly ugly with dislike and jealously.
Brushing her lips against his earlobe, Ino didn't miss the way Gaara's eyes narrowed at her from across the field. He's body leaning toward them while not taking a step. Yet.
"Play along, and I hope to god you know how to use those efficiently."
His shoulder twitched back to nudge her in affirmation.
In a movement that both graceful and playful she danced away from Tio with a light giggle. With a few twirls that sent her to Risa, who looked like she liked to fight her instead of the Kazekage, Ino made sure not to show the watching predator her back.
Sliding her fingers up the girl's bare side in a blatantly sensual gesture she finally broke eye contact in order to catch the glaring eyes, letting a bit of steel leak into her whimsical gaze.
"Save the rival shit for later little bitch, this is not the time. Get your act together."
And then, in a movement that was subtle, she flung a few shuriken towards Gaara.
.............................
Temari watched Ino's little byplay with raised eyebrows and bemusement. She should have known that the Konoha kunoichi wouldn't use the same kind of game that all other ninja prefer to use. It was obvious from the sidelines that everything was a perfected line and advancement to some grander and possible twisted scheme.
Mind games, something that people tended to remember and yet forget when Ino was around.
What was unsettling was how easily Gaara and the other three were falling for it. Her baby brother had watched the sexuality pass at Tio with shoulders tense that had nothing to do with the training session. Or how the other girl was falling into whatever traps Ino was making for her.
"I think she might have forgotten that it was about teamwork and not complete field domination."
Not bothering to look away as sand easily deflected the weapons thrown, Temari leaned on the end of her fan, letting Baki get comfortable.
"It's not just Gaara she has to prove herself too, and besides she's too manipulative. There's more than one battle going on here."
She knew he wouldn't answer that, it had been years since their awkward relationship fell into anything resemble normalcy. Years for Baki to accept that Temari knew and disliked that he was a sexist pig and for Temari to give in to the fact that Baki wasn't going to change his ways.
They understood each other and the time being with an unstable Gaara was enough to help them, along with Kankuro, to grow close as a team. He was the closest thing to family that they ever had.
"…She's a bit of a sex kitten, I'm not sure I approve of the Kazekage's growing interest in her."
...............................
He was on the offensive, and it was irritating. If he didn't attack then Ino would have to alter her plans and unlike Shikamaru she did not like to change them.
His eyes haven't left hers, and had they been alone Ino was sure the gaze he was a giving her would have sent a different message. Right now, it was just frustrating. He knew what he was doing when he told them to come at him, that sneaky bastard.
"Kira, Risa, rush from the sides. Tio will go frontal."
The latter two didn't seem thrilled but nodded all the same. She noticed that Risa had finally drawn two deadly pointed short swords, where she had gotten them was a mystery but the steady handle she had on them was enough. At least the girl wouldn't accidently stab herself.
At her small hand motion they disappeared from around her leaving behind a small cloud of sand. Their silence would have been impressive if Ino hadn't choked on the gritty sand that she inhaled. That was a definite disadvantage.
Still…if she planned it right..
If they had any hesitation before about attacking their leader it didn't show as they launched their first official attack. The end of Kira's sickle was spinning with increasing speeding, he having decided to use the ball end instead of the curved blade. His good-natured face closed of any expression as he slid to a stop several feet away- the movement not jarring the smooth throw of the chain.
It was almost sad when Gaara blinked, sand rising up to casually brushing aside the weapon.
Ino was sure they had practice these moves, as if they had come up with the combo before. This thought was only reinforced when Risa surpassed Tio. Her stance was nothing fancy, the muscles bunching in her arms as she crossed her weapons in an x that would easily decapitate anything that was unfortunate to get in the way. This time the red head simply leapt back out of the way, Ino saw brief hand signs before a medium sand wave appeared to knock the sand kunoichi back.
To her credit, Risa only stumbled a little bit when she landed.
Just as Ino thought, watching detached as Tio went towards Gaara, the results of sand was drawing up a large sand cloud. Glancing over at Temari and Baki, she waved brightly at their raised eyebrows.
Sprinting forward into the settling dust, Ino didn't bother to draw a kunai as she called out.
"Tio, stop!"
The brown aired medic paused mid-attack, his direction changing so that he landed by Ino. The other two came up slower, their pride a bit bruised but otherwise okay.
At the stalling, Gaara merely tilted his head at Ino in a questioning way, something that she waved an airy hand at while speaking.
"Team regroup, I'm sure you understand Kazekage."
His frown was enough for her.
Turning away, purposefully putting her back at risk as she faced her team, Ino speak quickly in a whisper. After she was done she waited for their nods of understanding before facing the scowling man. It wasn't going to be very smooth or even remotely cool looking but she'd take what she could.
It was getting hotter out and Ino was hungry.
"Ready, Go!"
.........................
Temari ignoring the heat beating down on her as her narrowed eyes watched the four ninja seemly disappear from the small circled they had just formed. Flickering towards her brother, she waited for another round of obvious attacks.
She knew Ino was testing the boundary, that is, what any Jouuin did before actually getting down to business. Well, most anyway, there were a few that just went head first and their advantage was sheer tenacity if not intelligence.
The auburn haired girl was at the side of her brother as the black haired boy appeared on the other side. They did a bunch of slowing down maneuvers that weren't really necessary, causing two large clouds of dust to kick up around her brother.
"Weak, of course he'll be able to simply step back out of it."
She nodded absently, carefully watching as Tio appeared behind Gaara, his legs sweeping forward in a slide that sent sand up into the air. Temari caught a briefly annoyed look on Gaara's face as he was surrounded by –
"Oh!"
As the dust slowly settled back onto the ground, Temari anxiously started forward, hoping that she was wrong. Baki followed her with a frown on his face but she didn't bother asking him if he understood or not.
"Ino!"
The blonde's body was stiff as a board inches from her brothers, her brow dripping with sweat as her hands firmly held the seal. Wide eyes were squinting from the sun but they didn't break contact from the disbelieving jade ones. Ino's jaw was clenched shut, her lips thin lines as she concentrated.
Temari was shocked to see perspiration standing out on his face too.
Risa's voice was full of rude astonishment, coming close from her left as they stared at the two in front of them.
"She was serious! I didn't think she would actually be able to do it! "
The soft voice of, what was his name? Kira was just as shocked.
"Ino-sempai did say she could kill without touching an opponent."
Temari didn't hear anything from Tio, but jumped a bit when Ino groaned. It was an accidental glance down that caught the twitch of Gaara's hands when Ino suddenly dropped her hands and fell to her knees.
Tio was suddenly there, his hands brushing dirt away as he tried to peer into her bow head. A gesture that surprised even Ino as the blonde looked up to, not meet her assistant, but to look up at Gaara with an unfathomable look.
"What did you do?"
Baki's quiet question was what broke the silence and Temari mentally shook herself as she took in the look in her brother's eyes and the way Ino was indulgently letting Tio fuss over her, the Kunoichi's eyes were still carefully blank but an almost thoughtful expression was on her face.
The sand kunoichi didn't forget to notice the death glare that the other woman was sending her Konoha's friend, and it was obvious that even though she was preoccupied, Ino hadn't missed it either.
Suddenly rather grumpy at all the underlying currents, Temari frowned at her friend.
"You play with too many fires."
Ino finally broke her gaze with Gaara to give Temari an impish grin.
"Probably. Anyway, I just used a jutsu that lets me kind of take hold of the body. I used the disorientation of the sand to get in range."
Ino knew she was being vague but some family secrets were not meant for any outside ears, not even her Hokage. Besides, she was positive that Gaara didn't want his defeat to be rubbed in his face. That victory could be saved for later.
Easily brushing away Tio's fluttering hands; she was going to have to do something about her young man's ignorance about another female teammate, Ino stood up. Smiling at Gaara, she cast a quick glance at Temari.
"After all, wasn't this little drill just so the Kazekage could see if we could handle ourselves in case of an attack? I think we succeeded in that."
She grinned with pleasure as the others clearly caught the 'that was just a show, not the real deal' that her tone gave. It was just too much fun, really, except for the sand that was making her head itch.
Gaara frowned at her, his being disgruntled at actually being caught off guard evident on his face as he took in her state.
"No guards then. Dismissed."
She didn't move though, and neither did he as the other paused awkwardly before starting away. Temari gave the blonde a significant look before towing the older shinobi away. Ino had given the girl a grin before turning back to face the Kazekage.
This time it wasn't her that spoke first.
"You knew from the start didn't you?"
It was more of an accusation than anything else, his eyes narrowing at her when she widened her eyes innocently. She couldn't fully banish the smile on her lips, try as she might.
"Uh, I have no idea what you're talking about sir."
The smile grew bigger as his eyes went smaller. It should have been disconcerting, how her body seemed to have moved closer to his without a conscious thought but Ino was too caught up in the banter to really let any nerves ruin the moment.
She watched as he opened his mouth to say something before closing it with a steady glance around. Ino didn't bother checking the area, putting her irrational trust in the man in front of her. If he wouldn't even mock battle with her in fear of hurting her then Ino was pretty damn sure he wouldn't now.
When he met her gaze again, he has assumed that neutral expression that she beginning to distastefully associate with 'Kazekage business.'
"They are too many people watching huh?"
His nod was curt, sending her smile into a pout as he took half a step back. She resisted the impulse to follow.
"And here I am, finally getting you a little riled up and some jerks go and spoil my fun."
His brow rose a little at her whine but Ino sighed before turning away from him. It had been a long day and if she stood around with an empty stomach for much longer she was going to melt right into the ground.
The thought of a fresh blueberry muffin rose in her mind, and Ino's mouth watered in response. Ah, if only Konoha would ship a case of those!
"I'll…stop by later."
She paused, turning around to look at him with a deviant glint in her eye. He was probably thinking of everything that was going on around Kyoko, and that discussing the theories would be a good idea.
Oh, she knew she shouldn't tease him so, but, well she was bad.
"Was that…a proposition Kazekage?"
It was only after she spoke the words that Ino felt a jolt; it was almost as if she wanted it to be. Damn, she must be coming down with some illness or was this after effects of adrenaline from a small stupid training fight?
Before she could even blink Gaara's overly warm body was pressed close to hers, his head bent a little so that his nose brushed along the delicate outline of her ear. She shivered at the way his breathe blew across the sensitive lobe. Her hands won the fight to stay at her sides but Ino couldn't stop her neck from tilting so that he had access to the responsive skin there.
Their bodies weren't touching, but Ino was hyperaware of how his mouth was hovering millimeters from her skin and part of her fiercely wanted him to close the distance. An unexpected eager noise escaped her mouth, and Ino found her weak willed hands gripping the ends of his armor shirt.
It was only then that she realized he had stilled, his breathing just as uneven as hers.
Oh my, little red riding hood could be just as scary as the bad wolf.
"Kazekage."
Just like that, the rough voice broke away the painful awareness that had been teetering on some edge. Ino wasn't sure if she wanted to gut the man or hug him for the interruption. She wasn't even sure what she would have done if he hadn't come along to break their, whatever it was. Kiss him, climb his frame, or punched him for turning her on by just breathing on her.
Gaara hadn't moved, and she wondered if it was to withhold any suspicious the man might make about them. His voice, despite his momentary loss of oxygen, was cool and even. She felt a pang of envy at it.
"Yes?"
Feeling a bit light headed, Ino was blaming the lack of food and not Gaara, she stepped back to turn and give the rather pale shinobi a friendly smile. His thin lips wobbled before he turned to bow to Gaara, who hadn't moved though his eyes closed briefly in what Ino assumed was to regain some control.
"Baki asks for your presence, he says there are some pressing issues."
Ah, Ino heard a lie when it was spoken, and glancing at Gaara she was sure he had too. The pressing issues were probably them being alone more than necessary. Meeting his eyes, her stomach tightened at the rather intense hungry gaze he gave her, and began backing up.
It was the knowledge that he probably had no clue as to what he looked like or how it was affecting her was the only thing that gave her courage to drop the teasing smile and stare at him intently.
"Meet me at my office."
Not bothering to wait for his reply, Ino turned and fled.