Author's Note: This chapter has been replaced due to some typographical errors. I would like to thank LostsoulofRegret, munky5, and The Dude Of Doom for pointing it out. I would like to send my humble apologies to all my readers for not being able to triple-check this episode. I'm in desperate need of sleep when I was trying to finish this yesterday. Nevertheless, thank you for patronizing this story. Read, Enjoy and Review.

Sincerely yours,

~Ino Ishii

Ino had braced herself for just about anything to happen during their meeting with Sasori. But what she hadn't anticipated was that things would get interesting before they even reached Perfect Match.

She stared in the side mirror, her heart rate automatically kicking up a few notches.

"You see it?" she asked Naruto.

"Yes." He continued to drive, but like her, he was keeping an eye on the rearview mirror. "A black BMW."

"That's the one." At the moment, it was three cars back, but it'd stayed close enough behind them since they left the parking lot of the apartment. "Did you happen to notice it when we hot back from the headquarters?"

"No, you?"

She shook her long platinum blonde locks. And if it'd been there, Ino almost certainly would have seen it.

And that's exactly the sort of flag that she'd been looking for.

If the sniper was truly suspicious of them, then in all likelihood he or she would try to follow them.

And perhaps even try to kill them again.

"I cant read the license." Ino informed the spiky blonde male.

"Me neither."

"Do you think it's Sasori?" Ino asked.

"Possible." Naruto replied. After all he had called the man an hour ago and had asked him to meet them at Perfect Match, so it wasn't so much of a coincidence that they'd arrive at the same time.

But this just didn't feel like a coincidence.

Ino squinted against the sun as she tried to get a glimpse of the driver of the said vehicle instead of the plates. And just like before, the late morning sun was a serious hindrance. It glinted off the other car's windshield, making it impossible for Ino to see who was following them.

"The windows are bullet resistant," Naruto reminded her. "We'll park and stay put to see what our stalker does."

It was a good plan, if the sit and wait didn't take too long. They still needed to work on contacting Karin, and that wouldn't happen if they had to play games with their stalker.

Naruto pulled into a parking space directly in front of the agency. The spots are normally filled with cars are now practically empty. The closed sign on the door likely had a lot to do with that, and the fact that there'd been a recent shooting in the area.

The BMW by passed them and parked behind one of the few vehicles at the end of the block.

Ino tried to see through the sunny glare, but she could only make out a shadowy figure. She slid her hand over her weapon. And waited.

Mercy. And the waiting was the hardest part.

A stir of movement to her right caused her to glance in that direction. Sasori opened the front door and motioned for them to come in.

"Well, whoever was watching us, it's not Sasori," she mumbled. That only left Karin, Kabuto and Dr. Tomoyama. Of course it also left any sicko they might not have considered. Some other client or rejected lover with an attitude problem.

Still, Ino didn't think they were off the mark with their short list of suspects. It was more than likely one of those four. She just didn't know how to go about proving which one.

Sasori motioned again. This time, it wasn't so friendly. It was definitely a hurry-up signal. But Ino was fairly sure that no matter how frantic the man's signals got Naruto wouldn't let either of them step out of the car with that sedan lurking about.

With a squeal of tires, the BMW backed up just enough so it could circle around to a side street, and it sped away.

"Should we pursue?" she asked her partner.

"No, let's stick with the plan, if it follows us when we come out, we'll try to run the plates to see who's interested in what we're doing."

She smiled at Sasori and held up her index finger in a one-minute gesture. The man ducked back inside. That didn't mean, however, that he wouldn't be spying on them from the window.

"This'll be a quick in and out," Naruto said, going over the rules. "We tell Sasori about the wedding being set for tomorrow and see if he'll give us Karin's number under the guise of us inviting her to the ceremony. And that's it. Those two things and we get out of here."

While he checked his weapon, Ino stared at the building that housed Perfect Match. But not just the building. The alley up the street where someone had tried to gun them down.

Yes. She definitely understood Naruto's insistence of a quick in and out. Looking at that spot made her arm ache, and it didn't do much for the rest of her, either.

"What if Sasori wont tell us how to get in touch with Karin?" she asked.

He shrugged. "The rules still apply here."

Not exactly the answer she wanted to hear. "I swear I'm going to needlepoint that on a pillow."

"No detours, Ino. No shortcuts." That was as much of an order as it was a warning, and void of sarcasm or humor. "This isn't time to try to bring down a killer. We've got a plan set in motion to do that."

"Okay, okay. It just makes me crazy to think of this piece of slime walking around free while we've got two people dead and two more seriously injured."

"I know, and we'll get the person responsible."

That soothed her a little, but not nearly enough. Even though her brain told her the shootings weren't her fault, there was still the sickening feeling that she should have been able to stop it. People were hurt because she'd failed. No words, even those coming from Naruto, could ease that.

Worse, that dread spread to other areas.

She caught his arm when he started to open the door. Unfortunately, she hadn't really thought beyond that.

Well, she had, but Ino hadn't quite figured out how to convey the things she was feeling.

"Let me just blurt this out because I don't think I can make it sound palatable. You wont take any unnecessary risks, right?"

He angled his head to stare at her. "What's this all about?"

"I've already said it wont make sense. There's just this…fear. There. I've said it. I'm afraid. But not for me, for you. And that's so stupid 'cause you're a cop."

Naruto did something with his mouth, not really a gape but his version of it. "You're worried about me?"

Disgusted with herself, she nodded. She would never believe anyone who old her that sex didn't change things between a man and a woman. Except she'd had sex with other men, and it hadn't changed things. Not like this, anyway.

Nothing had ever changed things like this.

He slid his arm around her and pulled her to him.

"I can take care of myself, Ino. You can take care of yourself. And when all else fails, we both make great backups."

"It's that fail part that's giving me some trouble here. It cant happen, okay?"

He nodded. "Anything else before we go in there?"

Oh.

She knew what he was getting at. His meeting with the chief. It was a bit of unfinished business that would have to remain unfinished a little longer.

"Nothing else." Ino took a deep breath. "Let's do this."

She made yet another mental check of her weapons and communicator as they stepped from the car. Naruto parked close enough so they only had a few steps before they made it to the door. Moving straight into their lovers' pose, they latched on to each other.

"Mr. Namikaze and Ms. Asakawa," Sasori greeted opening the door and motioning for them to come in. "I was surprised to get your call. I figured all our clients had been scared off by the latest shooting."

"Oh?" And that was all Naruto said. All in all, it was a good leading question.

"You haven't heard?" Sasori shook his head. "It's been all over the news. There was another couple injured last night by this so-called Wedding Sniper. Unfortunately, they were former clients."

Naruto nodded. Ino mumbled something about how horrible it was. She certainly didn't have to fake that part.

Sasori went to the cooler tucked away in the corner and helped himself to not one but two cups of water. While he was there, he pressed some of the buttons on a wall pad, and music began to play. A heavy, sensual sax that didn't exactly mesh with the adrenaline surging through her.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to make this visit quick," Sasori continued. "The security guard that I hired part-time couldn't come in today. He's sick. So I'd rather not stay around here too long."

"We wont keep you. We just wanted to invite you to the wedding." Naruto produced a mock invitation from his pocket. "It's tomorrow. That's short notice, we know, but we'd love for you to be there to celebrate with us."

"And not just you," Ino added, making sure she sounded happy and not suspicious. "We want Yakushi Kabuto and all the other nice people we've met here to come, as well." She snapped her fingers. "Including Hisagi Karin. Although I'm not sure if you know, but Naruto and she chatted."

Sasori's smile faded, and he gripped the invitation with far more force than necessary.

"She was so friendly," Naruto added when Sasori didn't say anything. "But I don't know how to get in touch with her. I thought maybe you'd give her number so we could call her?"

"Sorry. I'm not allowed to give out that kind of information. Tell you what though – if I see Karin I'll tell her. And I'll make sure Kabuto gets the word, too. This might be just what we need to lighten the mood around here." He said as he studied the invitation.

"You're not worried that this sniper would visit your wedding ceremony, too? Right? I mean, because of these other shootings."

It was on the tip of Ino's tongue to lie, but the door behind them flew open. Only because she saw Naruto reach for his gun, she forced herself not to go for hers.

Not immediately anyway.

That way, if it were some legitimate visitor, it wouldn't totally blow their cover for both of them to draw. One gun, they could justify.

Maybe. If it want for Naruto's superb cop reflexes.

Instead, Ino kept her attention firmly on Sasori in case he planned to use this as some kind of diversion and try to kill them.

But the platinum blonde wasn't expecting Sasori's expression when he saw who it was.

The one who stepped in was no other than Dr. Tomoyama Kenji. The physician, too, was kind of surprised.

No widening of his eyes. But he did stop. He glanced at the gun. Naruto. And then her. And then at Sasori.

"What's going on here?" he demanded. "Is this some kind of robbery?"

Naruto didn't exactly relax, nor did he lower his gun. "No robbery."

And now, it was obviously time for damage control.

"We're a little shaken." Ino's voice quivered slightly, which although the unplanned contributed to the proof that the shaken part wasn't all façade. She caught Naruto's wrist and lowered his hand, and his weapon, to his side. "It's the shootings."

Tomoyama nodded. "I heard. In fact, the cops came by to see me this morning." He fired a glare at Sasori.

"They asked for an alibi. Can you believe that? They wanted me to provide an alibi. I live alone for goodness's sake. Am I supposed to have friends sleep over just so I wont be accused of some crime?"

"I think they're questioning everyone associated with Perfect Match." Ino provided. "Naruto and I had to go in this morning, as well."

Tomoyama glanced at her again, but this time it didn't stay at a glance. He combed his gaze over her from head to toe. "Excuse me, do I know you?"

Fuck.

That was not what she wanted to hear right now.

Yamanaka Ino wasn't so sure if her late pink-haired best friend had shown Tomoyama a picture of hers when they were still getting to know each other.

Beside her, she also felt Naruto's arm stiffen. He was no doubt thinking the same thing she was. That Tomoyama might recognize her as Sakura's best friend.

If so, they're in serious trouble.

Forcing herself to remain calm, Ino pretended to study his face.

"Maybe we've met. I've been here a couple of times. Infact, my fiancé and I met right here at Perfect Match." For good measure she thrust out her hand so he could see the engagement ring.

"Very nice," he said without even looking at it.

"We're here to invite Sasori to the wedding." Naruto explained. "And Hisagi Karin, of course."

At first, she was surprised that Naruto included the woman's name, but she soon realized it was a smart thing to do.

Tomoyama's mouth eased into a sarcastic smile. "Trust me, you wouldn't want to invite Karin. She's not exactly wedding guest material."

"You know her?" Naruto asked.

But the answer didn't come from Tomoyama, but from Sasori after he had shared a glance with his doctor. "We both know her. I'm afraid Karin sometimes has trouble distinguishing reality from fantasy. She's no longer a client here. That's the main reason I had security here the night of the icebreaker. Karin has a tendency to show up uninvited."

"She seemed nice enough when I spoke to her," Naruto insisted. "And I told her I'd invite her to the wedding. I'd really like to get in touch with her."

There was a long silence, and Ino didn't even try to fill it in with useless chitchat. Something unspoken passed between Sasori and Tomoyama.

"I'll get the number for you," Sasori announced.

He turned and went down the hall, presumably to his office. Ino didn't take any chances. She positioned herself so that Naruto would be able to return fire if the man came back not with an address but with a gun.

Tomoyama picked up a pen and a sheet of note paper from the receptionist's desk. He wrote something down and then handed the paper to Naruto.

"That's Karin's cellphone number. I doubt Sasori has it. And don't worry, I'm not violating any doctor-patient confidentiality since I've never seen Karin professionally. The truth is, we met here one evening and exchanged numbers. It didn't work out between us but she continues to call dozens of times each day."

Naruto stuffed the piece of paper into his pocket. "Thanks."

"I'm not doing you any favors," Tomoyama insisted.

"The truth is I'm hoping that if the two of you offer Karin friendship, it'll be a more positive direction for her."

"And maybe she'll stop calling you?" Naruto tossed back.

A little flash of anger danced through the doctor's eyes before he smiled. "That, too."

Sasori returned and handed Naruto a piece of paper as well, but when Ino glanced at the number, she realized it wasn't the same on Tomoyama had given them.

Maybe one of them would pan out.

"Now if you'll excuse us," Tomoyama said, taking Sasori's arm. "Hiruko and I have some things to discuss in private. Good luck with your wedding plans."

Naruto and Ino started for the door, but he stopped as soon as the two men disappeared into the hall.

"You think Tomoyama drives a black BMW?" Ino whispered through the music.

"We'll know soon enough."

He glanced at the corridor on the other side of the room, and she knew what he was thinking. On the pretense of going to the ladies' room, she'd used that corridor to circle around the back of the building so she could get to Sasori's office.

I can pretend to go to the bathroom," Ino suggested. "I might be able to hear what they're discussing."

Naruto obviously thought about it but then shook his head. "It's too risky."

"Not if you wander over toward that hall so you could keep an eye on Sasori's office. That way, you can alert me if they come out. And if they're suspicious , you can just say you're waiting for me to get out of the ladies' room. In the meantime, you can call Karin and check on the vehicles registered to Dr. Tomoyama.

"It's still risky."

"And so is waiting for the sniper to strike again. I'm betting those two know something." She told her spiky blonde partner.

"Yeah." He angled his eyes in her direction. "Just assure me that you can take care of yourself."

Ino smiled. Not from joy. But from the weirdness of the moment. She'd succeeded in winning im over to her impromptu plan, but it didn't exactly leave her feeling victorious.

"Don't worry, I'll be careful. And you do the same. I'll keep my communicator on in case you need me."

Ino gave him one last look, one that she hoped calmed his concerns. But there was nothing calm about what she was feeling.

She drew her weapon, shielding it against her leg and started down U-shaped network of hallways. Thankfully, there weren't any employees or clients lingering around.

But had someone turned up the music? The sensual sound of sax no longer seemed to be sensual. It suddenly seemed loud. Overpowering, actually. Or maybe it was because the beat now matched the heartbeat drumming in her ears.

"Everything okay?" Ino whispered into her communicator.

"They haven't come out." Naruto let her know.

She paused at the final section of the hall that was only about ten yards from Sasori's office and took a quick look around the corner. She caught a glimpse of Naruto at the end of the hall before she ducked back.

"Great," she mumbled under her breath.

Even with the music, she should have heard shouting or even a normal conversation between Sasori and Tomoyama.

Tomoyama had certainly done some shouting the last time he was here. It was Murphy's Law that he wouldn't cooperate in the volume department today.

And that meant that she needed to get closer.

It wasn't an actual sound that alerted her, but something did. Something that sent her spinning to the side.

Everything that followed happened in a blur.

Too fast for her to go on the offensive. The man came out from one of the rooms and rammed his body against hers, slamming her against the concrete wall. Her injured arm hit first, and the pain was immediate and searing that Ino thought she saw stars.

Another body slam.

He threw the full force of his weight right into her. The impact knocked the breath out of her. While she was fighting to pull air into her lungs, Ino got a good look at her attacker's face.

Yakushi Kabuto.

He clamped his hand around the front of her throat. But not to try to choke her, she soon learned. He suddenly ripped the communicator from beneath her collar.

"I knew there was something wrong about you," he snarled. "Who the hell are you?!"

Ino knew she had to act fast. Naruto was no doubt already on his way, and she didn't want him walking in on this, especially since he'd have to go past Sasori and Tomoyama first. This was not the time for a gun battle.

Ignoring the pain in her arm and lungs, Ino brought up her leg, and using so much force as she could marshal, she kneed Kabuto in the groin.

He howled in pain and immediately released the grip he had on her.

And she didn't stop there.

Ino grabbed his forearm and slung him forward so that he was the one against the wall. Face-first. A quick pat down, and she discovered he wasn't armed.

"Ino?" she heard Naruto call out.

But that wasn't all she heard. She heard footsteps coming from the other direction, as well. They were all converging toward her.

She kept her forearm pressed against Kabuto's back and snatched up her gun. That couple of moments must have given him his second wind because he tried to come at her again. He whirled around, his fist ready to bash her right in the face.

"Ino!" Naruto yelled.

She was vaguely aware of Naruto rounding the corner. But just vaguely.

Thankfully, he didn't dive in and pull a knight-in-shining-armor maneuver. He stayed back and let her do her job.

Ino ducked.

Kabuto's attempted jab breezed past her head and in the same motion; she delivered a snap kick to his stomach.

She didn't give him a chance to get a second wind. Recoiling, she pivoted and landed another kicking blow to the back of his legs. Kabuto went down to the floor, hard and gasping for breath.

It took everything inside her not to slam him right back against the wall and read him his rights because that wasn't a smart thing to do. There was still a chance that Naruto and she could keep their cover intact.

If not, then they were in trouble because they were in the same building with three of their four murder suspects.

Doing some light gasping of her own, Ino glanced around to get her bearings. Naruto was on one side, his weapon drawn. Standing on the other side were Dr. Tomoyama and Sasori, in stunned silence.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked. The muscles in his jaw had turned to iron. He looked ready to rip Kabuto from limb to limb.

Ino nodded. "He tried to assault me. He wasn't successful." And after delivering that news to Naruto, she made certain she added a stern look that hopefully would convince him to stay in cover. "Guess all that self-defense training finally came in handy."

"She's got a gun." Kabuto managed to say. He struggled to get to his feet. Staggered. And dropped back to his knees.

Ino angled her body so she could deliver another snap kick if necessary. "Good thing too, huh? A woman never knows when she'll need a gun."

Sasori came closer. "What's going on here?" Maybe the adrenaline was clouding her senses, but Ino couldn't tell if he was concerned for her, or for Kabuto.

"I think she's the sniper!" Kabuto snarled.

Oh, great.

It was either fast thinking on his part to save his butt, or else he genuinely believed that. If it was the latter, it would explain why he'd come after her in the first place. But Ino wasn't about to stake her life on anything that Kabuto said. Even if he wasn't the sniper, the man was slime.

"She's wearing some kind of wire." Kabuto leaned into the wall so he could stand. Not easily. However,

"This?" Ino made a point of showing both Sasori and Tomoyama her communicator when she picked it up from the floor.

"It's not a wire. It's a walkie-talkie. A way for me and Naruto to stay connected when we cant be together. Call me overly devoted, but I like being able to talk with the man I love 24/7."

Naruto gave a confirming nod, and turned back his collar so they could see his communicator, as well.

There were several tense seconds. Several uncomfortable glances between Sasori and Tomoyama before the former finally moved and took Kabuto's arm. "Let's discuss this in my office."

"Wait," Kabuto said, holding his ground. He fired a nasty glare at her. "I she's not the sniper then what the hell was she doing sneaking around back here?"

"I was looking for the bathroom," Ino quickly provided. No glare for her. She made sure she looked upset, which wasn't that difficult considering what had just gone down. Her heart was still racing from the fight.

More tense moments, Naruto walked closer to stand right by her side. Maybe for comfort. Or maybe he just wanted to be in a better position to fire if it came down to that.

"I'm sorry this happened, Ms. Asakawa," Sasori finally said. "I hope you'll accept my apology." And he didn't just say it either. He appeared to be sorry. Of course, that sincerity could have been for all the wrong reasons. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to talk with Kabuto in private. I trust the two of you can see yourselves out."

Yes they could do that, but it meant turning their backs on at least one potential killer. Still, leaving was about the only way to maintain their cover. Naruto obviously felt the same.

He didn't reholster his gun, nor did he take her arm - a move that would have hampered her ability to return fire. However, he did gesture with his head for them to get moving.

Ino complied. But she glanced over her shoulder. And neither of them stopped glancing until they were out of the building and in the car.

Naruto started the engine and drove away. He made it a full block before he slid his arm around her and pulled her to him. The muscles in his body were still rock-hard, and that jaw told her that he was from winning the battle with adrenaline.

"Thanks a lot for not jumping in fists first back there when you saw me with Kabuto."

It seemed as if several times he changed his mind about what to say. "You didn't appear to need me to jump in."

Oh, that cost him. The words were right. So was the sentiment. However, he'd not said it easily. "I didn't, but Shikamaru and Chouji forget that sometimes."

"I can see why," that was all he said for the next couple of seconds. "Just don't expect me to forget it again if Kabuto comes near you."