Ino entered the café, her and Choji's meeting spot, a good 2 hours after their little meeting. Choji was, as always, stuffing his face into some kind of chocolate cake.

"Who the hell was that?" Choji said through the cake.

"Itachi." Ino said plainly, not really wanting to into detail about her sex life.

"Who the hell's that? And what was he doin in your room?" It was becoming clear that Choji wasn't going to let this go, so she had no choice but to explain.

"His name is Uchiha Itachi. He was just um, spending some time with me." She really couldn't think of any other way to put it.

Choji coughed, spitting some of the cake that had been stuffed in his mouth back onto his plate. Gross. "WHAT! As in THEE Uchiha Itachi! The one who killed his entire clan? The S-rank missing-nin? THAT Itachi! And you slept with him!"

Ding ding ding! We have a winner! "You know, he's really not that bad. You just have to give him a chance."

"Ha! Like hell I will! Come on, we're heading back to the village right NOW!" He was dead serious to. Ino knew this because he had abandoned eating his cake. (A very rare occurrence.)

Ino crossed her arms across her chest in a pout. "I'm not leaving. I love him."

Choji's mouth fell open at that one. Luckily he was no longer eating the cake, or this could have been another really gross moment.

Choji seemed at a loss for words. He was opening and closing his mouth, but nothing was coming out. Just gapping at her like she had completely lost her mind. Ino stood firm on this one though. After a minute of silence between them, she just left, and took the trail to the bridge where she had meet Itachi the day before.

She watched the water below the bridge. It was so calming. So peaceful. "You know, you didn't have to do that. You could have just left with him. I would've understood." She didn't have to turn around to identify the owner of the voice.

"I don't want to leave. I want to stay here with you." Itachi came behind her, and wrapped his hands around her waist, resting his head on her shoulder.

"You know you can't do that. You have friends and family waiting for you back at your home. In Konoha." He paused, and she could feel his body tense behind her. "I can't go back to Konoha. I will never be welcome there. But that shouldn't stop you from going back. You're needed there." Ino could tell that these words hurt him a lot, but she couldn't avoid the truth. He couldn't go back to the village. They could never really be together.

She could feel tears pricking at the sides of her eyes, threatening to fall down her cheeks. She leaned back into his embrace, tightening the hold he had around her. She looked down at the water again. It didn't look peaceful anymore. It looked sad, fighting its way to the ocean. A tear escaped her eye, and rolled down her face. Itachi wiped it gently away with his thumb and kissed her on the neck.

"Don't cry." He whispered softly against her neck. "I'm not gone yet."

She turned to face him, cuddling her head into his chest. "Aishiteru." She whispered.

"Aishiteru." He whispered back.

Ino didn't try to hold back her tears, even though he had told her to. They fell freely to her cheeks, and Itachi held her tighter against him, comforting her.

"I want to be with you. I don't want to go back to Konoha." She murmured.

"You can't. We could never be together. As much as we want to, it would never work. You belong in Konoha."

They stood there holding each other for a long time. They probably would have stood there forever if Choji hadn't come along the trail, looking for Ino.

"I should go." Itachi said, pulling away a bit at the sounds of Choji's approaching footsteps.

"I-I know." Itachi kissed her passionately.

"If you ever need me, I'll be there." He gave her another quick peck on the check before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

"Hey Ino! Are you out here?" Choji rounded the corner to find Ino standing alone on the bridge. She wiped the tears from her cheeks, before answering.

"Yeah, I'm here. Come on Choji, let's go home."

Wow, this chapter got kind of mushy. Sorry bout that! (Or is that a good thing? I can't really tell...) This story just seems to kind of be writing itself. Like my fingers just kind of take on a life of their own. It just kind of seemed to flow that way:D Well, I'm really on a roll. 4 Chapters in 2 days! I'm really getting into this! Expect another chapter soon! Please review!