Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

Summery

Sometimes in life you have to see things right through to the bitter end, even if you wish you didn't. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

Well sorry for the amazingly long delay but my net's been down since before the start of the month so I haven't been able to update, read or anything else so as you can imagine I've been a little bit testy. Also I've kicked the voices out of this story since all their bitching was getting on my nerves.

So thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, favourited and all the rest. Here is the next chapter. Enjoy.

I got a problem an' I don't know what to do about it,
Even if I did, I don't know if I would quit but I doubt it,

I'm taken by the thought of it,
And I know this much is true,
Baby, you have become my addiction,
I'm so strung out on you,

Start to Finish

Ino sighed as she looked around the small two-bedroom house, painted in neutral shades of white and cream, the house that was to be her home for the next six months at least. Her stuff, packed in two cases and a rucksack, had been dumped in the first bedroom, the larger of the two, and she now lay sprawled on top of the sofa in the living room. As a child she had dreamed of finding her self in situations like this, playing house with the boy she had idolised for more years than she could count. But now that she was actually having to live through the scenario Ino was finding it left a lot to be desired and was just wishing that she could go back to her own room, in her own home.

It had been almost two weeks since she had first walked into that cell, had that first conversation with the returned traitor. And now here she was preparing to spend the short-term future living with him. If she had not been as strong as she had made herself Ino felt she could have broken down and wept at the unfairness of it all. Every time she had spoken with the Uchiha he had been just as open and up front with her as he had been that first time. But just as he had done then he had continued to hint, more and more openly, that one of the many reasons he had come back had been her. She did not want to believe it, but he was leaving her little choice.

Many different people had questioned Sasuke many times over the past twelve days, and all had come to the same conclusion that he really was telling the truth. He wasn't the start of an invasion, he had returned because he had wanted to. She hated him so much for all the pain and damage he had caused, and Ino was a good hater it was one of the things she prided herself on. No one could hold a grudge like she could and what he had done was unforgivable. But even as she loathed him, Ino could not completely blind herself to the fact that, in spite of all that he had done, some part of her continued to care for him. But to care for a traitor was almost as bad as being one in her mind and it only served to increase her hatred of him.

The thing about trust was that once it had been lost was a very hard thing to regain, and so while Sasuke had been granted his freedom it had come at a cost. He would be kept on a very short lead, and that lead was Yamanaka Ino, though she thought of herself as more of a choke chain. Her job was a simple one; it was basically to be a glorified baby-sitter so wherever the Uchiha went she would go too and vice-versa. On paper it was an assignment that anyone of jounin rank working at Konoha's ANBU Torture and Interrogation Force could have done. But in reality…

Naruto had asked her if she could do this, knowing full well what would be expected of her should anything go wrong. It was a position that felt similar to walking on a high wire, you had to keep you balance, keep control, otherwise everything would fall apart. They wanted Sasuke guarded by someone who would stop him if the need arose, but wouldn't use the slightest excuse to take him out.

The village was filled with those who would either be too soft, Haruno Sakura, or those who would be too hard, almost every other member of the original Konoha Twelve. Tenten had gone as far as to say if every Ino wanted time to herself then she, Konoha's best weapons expert, would be only too happy to take him for an hour or two. Moving targets were so much more fun to practice with she had explained.

Almost. The blonde sighed once more and rolled onto her stomach. Naruto, or Hokage-sama, as she was still trying, and failing, to make herself think of him, wanted to trust in his friend but knew that to blindly do so would not be a wise move. Especially for someone in a position such as his. He trusted her, knew her and knew that she was one of the few people who would be able to curb her impulse to snap Sasuke's traitorous little neck. So for the love and respect that she held for Naruto, against her better judgement, Ino had agreed to his request.

And so while everyone else seemed either to hate the last Uchiha or were at least just feigning indifference to his return, she was stuck playing watchdog.

XXXXXXXXXX

By the time she had signed the last form that would effectively release the Uchiha into her care it was well past midday and Ino felt she would die if she were confronted with one more piece of paper. The amount of red tape that had to cut through was unbelievable, and by the time she was done signing her name Ino's right hand was cramped and achy. But the worst thing in her opinion was that she was having to go through all this for a person she wouldn't, given the choice, have spat on if they were on fire.

The blonde kunoichi stepped out of the ANBU building, into the warm sunshine and stretched luxuriously like a cat. Then tensed when she felt his arms wined around her waist and his head rest lightly on her shoulder. Ino was reminded irresistibly of the time she had jumped on him at the start of the Chuunin exam; her attention then had been as welcome as his was now.

Sasuke chuckled in the back of his throat as he nuzzled the young woman's neck; he could almost feel the hatred that rolled in waves through her body. It was only her immense self-control that was keeping Ino from clawing out his eyes right then and there, and Sasuke wondered just how far he would be able to push her. Everybody had a braking point, the Yamanaka would be no exception, and it would just be a question of what he would have to do to find it.

"You've authorisation to kill me?" He knew that she had, but still wanted to hear it from her mouth. Sasuke tightened his hold on Ino's lithe body, if she would say it then the odds were that the blonde would have no problem in carrying out the order.

"Any time, for any reason." She responded, thinking that if it had been anyone else who had been holding her the embrace would be one the she could have happily enjoyed. Pity that the strong arms belonged to a slimy little snake.

"Why don't you just do it, then?" Sasuke queried softly, his chin resting on the warm support of her shoulder. "What is it they say? 'Hell hath no fury...'"

"Sasuke, Sasuke." Ino said sadly, her tone pitying as she stepped away from him and began walking away. "You were never that good.

"I never had any complaints, and I don't object to you finding out first hand if you want." The way the blonde went ridged at his casual statement told Sasuke that he'd hit a nerve. Though whether her reaction was caused by his mention of previous partners or his insinuation that she could be next in line he wasn't completely sure. "Hmm, I don't for see any long romantic walks in our future then."

"Oh no, we can have long walks. I'll just be keeping you on a very short lead." There was nothing warm or friendly about the smile that crossed Ino's face when she looked at him. Her grin was about as funny as the one that was normally seen moving very fast towards drowning men. The one that has the fin on top.

"Oh come now Yamanaka-san," Sasuke almost sighed at the loathing that flashed in her eyes when he addressed her in such an overly formal way. Ok not formal but not familiar either. "You make me feel like a wild animal."

"Trust me," She said, wondering if the innuendo had been deliberate or if she was just being over sensitive and scanning his every word for a hidden meaning. "The feeling's mutual."

"As in you'd love to indulge you wild side and rip my throat out?" He hadn't meant that to come out as a question, but even to his own ears that was how it had sounded.

"Funny, seems like maybe you do know me after all." Her tone was ice and her back to the dark haired male so she failed to see the way that, just for a moment, something the might be called pain flashed through onyx eyes.

XXXXXXXXXX

One week later found Sasuke sitting on the kitchen table eating a bowl of cereal and reflecting that as a whole he just didn't get the female sex and out of all of them Yamanaka Ino was the most hard to understand of them all. She chose that moment to enter the kitchen. Ino cast a disparaging glance at the male sitting on the tabletop clad only in a pair of black boxer shorts, moved to the unit poured her self a cup of coffee and left again without a single word. Sasuke sighed and shook his head; he just didn't know what she wanted him to do.

If anything over the few days that they had lived together, the blonde had grown more distant and aloof. No matter what he did, his actions got no response from the kunoichi except for disdain and withering sarcasm. He had tried being open and friendly, an act that had fallen flat. As had being cold and aloof and being flirtatious with her had been a none starter. In a last desperate attempt to preserve his sanity Sasuke had tried just ignoring her, but the act that had come so easily in his youth now proved to be impossible.

It was a fact that the last Uchiha found disturbing to say the least. All his life he had found it easy to shut out people, but now the blonde, who was making it clear she wanted as little to do with him as possible, was always foremost in his thoughts. As an objective onlooker he could say that the Yamanaka was one of the most ascetically pleasing kunoichi to ever come from Konohagakure. But his current situation was leading him more and more to believe that he could not really be called 'objective' with anything connected with Ino.

The worst thing was, apart from Ino's obvious dislike of him, was that he didn't understand why he was feeling the way he was or even what it was that he was feeling. It was almost as if he felt that he wouldn't ever be fully excepted back into the village until Ino excepted him. But just what he meant by 'except him' Sasuke wasn't sure. All he knew was that something like icy fire filled his gut every time those frozen blue orbs fixed on him, pure loathing glittering in their depths.

Angrily the raven-haired male slammed his empty bowl down on the table beside him, hissing when a little of the leftover milk splashed onto his hand as well was the tabletop. Sasuke swore savagely, over the years emotions had become foreign to him, known yet hard to understand. Like familiarly words written in a strange tongue. Rage and greed, he knew both of them well as he did lust, whether it was for power or a person or anything else that he had wanted. He could brake a person's spirit, use his will to completely dominate whom so ever he chose until they could not think or feel beyond what it was he wished of them.

But with the Yamanaka everything was different. Sasuke wasn't lusting after her and the idea of forcing her to bend to his will was one that he found unpalatable. Somewhere along the line his vague idea about getting into her pants had evolved into her letting him get inside her head. He wanted Ino to willingly give her self to him and was confused as to why he should want such a thing; after all she was just a girl. Just a girl like thousands of others out there so why was it so important that she accept him back into her life?

Emotional attachments were not something he wanted Sasuke told him self, he didn't need bonds with those around him. It had been one of the reasons why he had left so many years ago. During his incarceration he had been interrogated by many different people, and after that first encounter with Ino he had been open and up front with all of them about everything they had asked. Well almost everything. Most people had excepted his reasons for leaving, that he wanted power and revenge, and that Orochimaru could give him the former so that he would be able to go after the later.

Only once had he been asked for more and it was the only time that he had lied to Ino. She seemed to think that there was more to his leaving than he claimed and of course she had been right, but when he had denied it she had backed off. Though Sasuke was sure that she hadn't believed him. But he had been loathed to tell her the remainder of the truth, since the other reason he had for leaving was one that he could hardly acknowledge himself.

He had been growing too close to his team-mates. Liking and trusting them, almost, though it sacred him still to think of it, loving them. They had started to fill the hollow of emptiness that had filled him ever since his family had been taken from him. And though Sasuke had not built up close relationships with any other members of the Rookie Nine, or relationship period, he still cared about them for they too were all shinobi of The Leaf. It was the reason he had not shoved Ino off of him all those years ago when she jumped on his back as the start of the Chuunin exam. It was the reason the fear and rage had torn through him in the forest of death when he saw Sakura covered in blood sprawled on the forest floor and the blonde mind walking lying unconscious in the Nara's arms.

And it was the reason that he had run so long and so far from all of them; because he was starting to care too much. Emotions were a weakness that would not, could not, be tolerated. It was one of the first lessons that they taught in the academy after all, that a ninja need to harden their heart and not let personal feelings get in the way of doing what they knew they must. So he had run, and in doing so had severed so many of the bonds that had formed between him and those that had cared for and respected him.

And now after all those years of separation he was back, to try and rebuild that which he had so carelessly broken. But the important thing to remember, for him to remember, was that he was a Uchiha and giving up was not something he could do. It just wasn't in his nature. Even in a situation as seemingly as impossible as this. Because it seemed that he might have more success in building a stairway to heaven than ever again reconnecting with Yamanaka Ino.

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big love and inspiration

Lamanth