I would have to say that this was the most difficult chapter for me to write so far.

My Microsoft Word program almost ruined my concentration when I started it up. It always gives these random tips on how to use it.

This time it gave me this one: 'You can hurt yourself if you run with scissors.'

...

Really?! I didn't know that. XD

Anyways.

Hanari-chan: I swear I could almost hear you saying that, though I have no idea what you sound like. XD

Skye-Sama: Yeah, haha, there's a lot of OOC-ness with Gaara here. So I put a note in the summary of the story. But you know. ^-^ I love this pairing too!!

Gaara'sbutterfly: Haha, shocker, no? Well read on. =D

inoblueyes2: Awww!!! Yeah, same goes for you too! Read on! Thanks for the suggestion!!

I believe that's everyone.

Thanks for reading and reviewing you guys!

And thanks to those who just read, too!!!

Thanks a billion for 300 hits and 104 visitors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't own Naruto!

Chapter 9: Reunion

"Ino!"

'That voice…'

She opened her eyes, revealing a place she didn't know. Everything was black, simply an empty nothingness. From behind her, she felt a sudden warmness in the cold atmosphere; coming from the same direction as the voice.

She turned.

Her eyes went wide.

She couldn't believe what she saw, barely comprehending it.

But there they stood, in perfect condition, grinning at her.

"Sh-Shikamaru! Ch-Chouji! Asuma-Sensei!" She cried, running towards her comrades, flinging her arms around them in a tight embrace.

Then everything felt right again.

So, she was dead.

And she couldn't have been happier.

She was reunited with her team mates; for good, this time.

Team 10 was whole again.

She pulled back after a long time, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Y-you guys look great!"

Shikamaru smiled weirdly. "Thanks. That fight was quite troublesome. But we're alright now."

"I-I'm so sorry I couldn't save you guys… " She murmured, smiling sadly. The guilt rose within her, the pain almost unbearable as she remembered their cold skin. A tremor rolled down her spine. She felt Shikamaru take her hand, Chouji taking the other as Asuma-Sensei closed the circle.

"You can't change fate, Ino." Shikamaru told her softly.

"F-fate? Was it r-really meant to be like this?" Ino questioned, feeling the tears spill over again as she lowered her gaze.

"Unfortunately." Chouji answered solemnly, squeezing her hand.

"But not all of us will die, Ino." Asuma-Sensei assured her, a slight, curious smile upon his face.

Ino looked up, hope in her eyes. "D-do some of the other ninjas make it?"

They all nodded simultaneously.

"Then there is some hope left for Konoha, even if it is just a flicker." Ino whispered, smiling slightly.

"Hey, Ino." She looked over at Chouji, tilting her head slightly. "Yeah?"

"Thanks for taking care of our bodies after we… died…" Chouji said carefully, his voice soft.

"Yeah, thanks for that, Ino. I know it took a lot out of you; must have been troublesome." Shikamaru added.

Ino forced a smile, shaking her head. "It was nothing. Anything for you guys. You know I love all three of you, right?" She told them, giving each of them a peck on the cheek, even her Sensei. She watched them all break out into smiles, Shikamaru and Chouji looking almost embarrassed.

"We love you too, Ino."

"That's good to know." She replied, smiling at Asuma-Sensei.

She paused for a second, a thought edging in the back of her mind.

"Asuma-Sensei?"

"Yes, Ino?"

"You said that some of us will live through this. Who are they?"

He frowned, pursing his lips. "I can't be exact in my predictions, so I'm not exactly sure myself."

"Do you know of at least one that has a good chance?" She pressed, curiosity burning through.

"Yes."

Silence.

"Who, then?"

Asuma-Sensei just smiled at her, patting her hand.

"I'll show you."

* * * *

She didn't remember falling, but somehow, she was on the ground. What happened? Where did Shikamaru, Chouji, and Asuma-Sensei go? She slowly opened her eyes, blinking slowly as she tried to clear the fog. Oh, she felt so numb. She saw something off to the side. Her eyes wandered over, seeing something black and thin. Was that a kunai?

She blinked some more, her vision clearing just enough to confirm her prediction. She stared at it. No, scratch that. She glared at it, trying to piece together what had just occurred. Her beloved team mates were by her side just a moment ago, her dead along with them. Why was she here? Was she reliving her death?

She slowly was able to pick up her other arm, trembling as it neared the kunai. Then she grasped it, inhaling sharply as the pain exploded; like someone wrenching her shoulder from her body. Even after she let go, it continued on, like a wild fire devouring a dried up forest during a drought. Unstoppable as the flames licked at her skin. Finally she was able to focus her dull blue eyes on it, confused. The kunai had been dug into her shoulder, just barely missing her jugular. But something didn't quite fit… Why would a simple kunai hurt like this? It made no sense to her.

She reached for it again, clasping her fingers around it before yanking it out, dropping it next to her. The pain had lessened after it was removed, now a sharp, piercing ache. Then she waited. Waited for the replay of her final breath leaving her body.

But she was still breathing, sharp and shallow, but still breathing.

What was going on?

Her vision finally had cleared to a point of seeing detail, her eyes on the sky above her. She flinched as a raindrop hit her forehead, blinking a few more times as they started to fall, slowly and softly.

Then she heard it.

She hadn't realized that there was no sound until now.

It came on gradually, starting with the softest sounds.

First: the sound of heavy breathing, like someone had just got done with a work out.

Second: the sound of feet shuffling around, sometimes picking up to a run then stopping suddenly, then running again.

The third sound was more difficult to describe. Almost like the sound of water crashing up against the sand on the beach, yet, it didn't quite sound like water. It sounded like something entirely different, like sand crashing up against… sand? Impossible. She saw movement on her other side.

She slowly turned towards it, pulling herself up with all the strength she had, then immediately regretted it as her head spun. She clutched her forehead with one hand, her other hand clutching the grass beneath her. It felt like the world had tilted to the side, trying to pull her with it as the center of gravity changed.

All she could do was sit there for a few more moments, her spinning world slowly stopping. Looking back up, she saw two figures, both moving too quickly for her to pick out much detail. She watched, confused as something else followed their movements, something much larger and faster. There were also two of them, both running into each other over and over again. The sound slowly rose, making her cringe just to hear it scrape together.

She breathed slowly, pulling the air in, pushing it back out. Another breath. Why was she still breathing? Was it out of pure habit? She held her breath, her eyes going wide as her lungs began to ache. She let herself resume breathing, feeling the pain from her lungs subside. This didn't make sense.

Wasn't she dead?

Her head pounded furiously as she looked back over at the two figures, her vision more clear now as she focused in on only one of them. Her breath caught in her throat as she recognized the blood-red hair, the long auburn trench coat that swung behind him as he jumped to the side. She barely made out the Japanese character of 'Love' on his forehead.

Gaara.

She swallowed dryly, looking to his opponent. He also had hair very similar to Gaara's. No, more like, exactly like Gaara's. She bit the inside of her lip. She hadn't ever met someone with hair like Gaara's. Not as brilliant as his. Was he the one who had saved her? Some random ninja that happened to come across her just in time to save her life? She didn't know what to think as she studied the rest of him, her brow furrowing as she took in the rest of his features.

Realization hit her just then, her heart thudding loudly in her chest.

Gaara's opponent didn't just look like him.

He was him.

How was that possible?

She gasped, staring dumbfounded at the battling two, the sand from each gourd colliding ferociously against each other, blocking each attempt at an attack. She could only watch the battle, unable to do anything. She doubted she could stand at that moment anyways. Even if she did interfere, what if she attacked the wrong one? She settled for trying to figure it out, watching them battle.

Wracking her mind for an answer, she could only come up with one thing, the only thing close enough to a logical explanation: a henge. Yet, even if it were true, how could he be able to control his sand as well? The henge goes back to being a simple Academy jutsu. Had a more advanced stage been discovered?

Her racing heart almost stopped when she saw one of them look at her, if only for a second, then turned back to his battle. Only he was a fraction of a second too late, giving the other one just enough time to hit him with his sand. He flew back, crashing into a tree, snapping it in half and falling to the ground with it.

The standing Gaara took a few steps toward her. "Are you alright?" He asked quickly, his voice a careful whisper. Her mouth slowly opened, unsure of what to say. But before she could answer, he was wrenched back, sand quickly ensnaring his feet and arms as it lifted him into the air, sand covering the rest of his body. Ino's eyes darted to where the other Gaara stood, already gotten up, his hand outstretched, fingers curled. It all looked so strange to her. He mouthed something too quiet for her to hear as he clamped his hand shut, performing his Desert Funeral.

It took everything she had to get herself breathing again as she tried to get a hold of herself. She looked down at her hands, raggedly pulling in a short breath, her body trembling violently. As she began blowing it out, she heard quick footsteps, coming straight towards her. Impulsively, her head would have jerked up to not lose precious seconds of being off guard. But this time, she decided it was best she move slowly, knowing that any sudden movements right now would make the center of gravity move again.

She raised her arms in front of her in defense, not bothering to take the kunai she had pulled out of her shoulder. Wouldn't have done much use, even if she did try to use it; her equilibrium was too out of whack. She closed her eyes, only to open them again when the footsteps stopped.

"I-Ino…"

She slowly looked up to his face, recent memories of his crazed look flashing behind her eyes. Her teeth tore at the inside of her lip again. He took another few steps towards her, and Ino leaned back, cringing.

"Ino… It's me. I swear to you." He told her, his voice soft, almost shaky.

"P-prove it." She demanded, though her voice was barely a whisper.

He closed the distance between them with three steps, kneeling down beside her as she leaned away from him, her arms still up. She felt his hand close around one of hers, and she was shocked to find that it was gentle. Her eyes widened as he brought it up to his neck, hooking both their fingers around his collar. Tears formed as his hand closed around hers.

"G-Gaara…" She choked, the tears streaming freely down her face, a half smile on her face. "I-it's you…" She whispered, falling into his chest. His familiar arms encircled her, gently bringing her closer.

Gaara was silent for a long time, clutching the woman tightly.

Clutching the woman he almost lost.

He struggled for words until he finally choked out:

"You're alive…"

The battle scene was really difficult to write, so I made it short. I hope it makes sense. XDAs for the henge, I believe that's right... Only being able to take on the form of another, not the abilities. Am I correct?

If not, should I edit or leave it like it is?

But yeah, sorry if it's sad. I don't know if it's sad to you, but I cried after Shikamaru mentioned fate.

(I don't know if it's actually sad, or if I was really tired, because it was 5 in the morning when I wrote this.)

Well, please review on this chapter! Tell me what you think!

Sorry if it's short!

Thanks to all my readers!!!