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.

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!

Dedi: This chapter is dedicated to Drunkie

Muse: On with the fic!

I can't go,
But I can't stay,
I'm stuck in the middle,
And it's a crazy place,
And now I'm that girl,
I used to talk about,
I'm stuck in the middle,
And I can't get out,

Start to Finish

According to the philosopher Itou Kazuo, chaos is found in greatest abundance wherever order is being sought, it always defeats order, because it is better organised.

The first time she had been called to the Hokage's office after Naruto had been named the Sixth, Ino had decided that the guy had definitely been onto something. And glancing around it was clear to see that his philosophy was still proving as true now as it had been three years back. The blond village leader did employ a clean desk policy, something that Shizune had tried in vain to get the greatest medic-nin in the five great nations to adopt during her time in office, it was just unfortunate that he was also a fan of the messy floor system.

There was not a scrap of paper on the beautifully carved cherry wood desk apart from the slim folder that pertained to the matter under discussion, the floor however looked as if it had been hit by an avalanche of mission reports and old files. Stacks of folders were piled in haphazard towers all over the place, stray notes that Ino supposed had been considered important at one time or another had been stuck to the walls with a combination of pins and sharp weapons. Naruto seemed to be working under the assumption that the really vital things were never written down. The way he saw it if someone had time to spare putting the facts down on paper, rather than spend every moment trying to come up with a solution, it couldn't be as much of a problem as people were trying to make out.

Though it seemed his working theory didn't apply to everything of a paperwork nature. For example there were several discarded lists of potential baby names lying under and around her chair. Half a dozen or so paint charts, Ino recognised Hinata's hand writing on one or two of them, lay like so many fallen leaves on the tilled floor. And from the top of a particularly tall accumulation of discarded information in the corner of the room a small teddy bear surveyed the utter confusion of paperwork.

The Yamanaka sat staring blankly into the middle distance, the voices of the three other people in the room nothing more than a droning background noise to her ears. The two blondes were taking her charge step by step through the mission specs, drilling into him all that he was and was not permitted to do. She didn't need to listen for she had already been briefed some hours earlier, that had been the same time when she had been questioned as to whether or not she could complete this assignment with him as her partner.

It was a simple, seek and destroy mission. Simple for someone with her mastery of the Shintenshin no Jutsu, but alas it also required someone with exceptional sight for the object that they were after, a scroll would be heavily guarded. Ino had carried out many of these types of mission before, mostly with Hyuuga Neji, a handful with his cousin Hinata and even the odd one or two with Kakashi. The memory of those rare few brought a slight smile to her lips, they had been completed quickly and efficiently, but they had celebrated their success as if they had single handily brought down the entire Akatsuki.

But all three were unavailable to accompany her this time round. Neji was on a deep cover mission; he had been away for over a month and was not likely to return for at least another two. Kakashi had recently been given another Genin team, which was eating into his time, and was also busy helping work out ways to improve on Konoha's security. And Hinata was seven months pregnant with the Sixth Hokage's first child, or rather his children, as it had come to light that she was in fact carrying triplets. Something that would have put any kunoichi out of action, but she was taking it excessively easy, as Naruto was so overwrought by the whole thing. There had also been a fare few comments along the lines of the hyperactive ninja having hyperactive swimmers, which hadn't helped matters that much.

So with those three all out of action for various reasons, there was only one person left who fulfilled the mission requirements.

Uchiha Sasuke, oh joy.

Yes, she had agreed to watch over the returned traitor but now to be forced into having his company on a mission as well… Sasuke was nodding his head, to show that he understood what Naruto was telling him, his dark eyes flicking towards Lady Tsunade every time the Sannin spoke. Ok, so forced was quite the right word, she had agreed to his company but only grudgingly and only as it was vital for the successes of her objective. But whatever the reasons, whatever her misgivings, she had agreed as long as cretin concessions were made, by Naruto, by Tsunade and by the Uchiha himself.

True things had become easier in the month since she had stormed out of their training session and gone and sobbed her heart out at her father's graveside. The only thing was while it had become a lost easier to be around Sasuke, the tension that filled her whenever she was forced to be in close proximity to him for any prolonged length of time was steadily increasing. Ino did not want to believe that any of her old feelings for the Uchiha remained but it was getting harder and harder to convince herself. It was true that she would slap his hands away whenever he would casually slip an arm around her waist but she could not pretend that she didn't like the way his fingers felt against her skin.

It also didn't help that he had taken to strolling casually through her dreams on a nightly bases, and while technically that wasn't Sasuke's fault Ino was still blaming him for it. Yes, ninja were trained to be able to go without sleep for up to three days if needed. But if it wasn't needed, which it most defiantly was not at the moment, then the mind walker was the kind of person who liked her full eight hours thank you very much. But increasingly she was finding that at night image of her charge would come to haunt her and she'd fall into dreams through which Sasuke stalked with a jungle grace. In the mornings she would wake, dazed and confused with the dreams hanging heavily around her, dreams of skilful lips and knowing hands.

And then to top it all off she would have to face the object of those dreams over the kitchen table ever morning. All that in its self was bad enough, but there was always an escape rout should Ino really need it. She could always palm Sasuke off on someone else for a few hours, nor harm no foul, even if the male in question didn't always agree. Or she could even just vanish into the garden just long enough to get her head back together. But on this mission there would be no respite, no reprieve, they would be stuck together the whole time.

Briefly Ino had considered asking to do the mission solo, but had thought better of it in the end. It was possible, if the user was proficient enough, to use the Yamanaka Clan Jutsu and send your mind into the body of another person while remaining in control of your own body. But it was a highly dangerous and risky thing to do. The user needed a will of tampered steal, for if concentration was lost for even the briefest of moments then it was possible to lose the connection to both bodies. It would leave the soul free-wheeling through time and space, unable to find its way back. Ino for one thought that death was preferable. Which was why she only used the technique when she really had no other choice.

Of course performing the Shintenshin in the normal way did come with its own set of risks, the most dangerous being that the body of the ninja in question was left open and vulnerable to attack. Which was why it was inadvisable to perform it in situations when there was no one who would be able to guard the abandoned body. Ino just wasn't very happy that this time she would have to leave her empty body in the tender care of Sasuke. She knew in her heart that he would not dare do anything harmful to her, but who knew what he might do to pay her back for those times she had left him alone with Sakura.

It almost made the risk of loosing her soul seem like the better option. But since both she and Sasuke would have to undergo a full physical before they set off, Tsunade would know upon their return if she had beaten him up for taking liberties with her body. Ino sighed; she'd just have to make sure that the raven-haired male knew exactly where he stood. Preferably close enough to keep her safe, but far enough away to keep him from doing anything she would make him live to regret.

XXXXXXXXXX

"So you and I, working alone?" Sasuke said as soon as the door closed behind them and quickly fell into step beside Ino wondering if the scolding would be worth it if he slipped his arm around her waist.

"It's easier to see through you that way." The kunoichi stated simply, inferring that not only did she know him better than he'd probably like, but that if it came to it she could always slip inside his head and see just what he was up to.

"I'm beginning to get the feeling that you don't completely trust me." He said, raising one dark brow at her his mouth lifting up slightly at the corners.

"Let's get one thing clear first, I don't trust you. So, no jutsu, no money, no weapons of any kind. And if I get so much as a hint that you're about to activate your Sharingan without my say so," Ino smiled evilly, and reaching up flicked one of the bangs that fell framing his face. "I'll leave you thinking you're a six-year-old girl… and then get Sakura to braid your hair."

"You wouldn't?" It was a rhetorical question, for the onyx eyed male would have been prepared to bet just about anything, except a night in the company of a certain pink-haired kunoichi, that the mind walker would do just as she promised.

"I'll even get her to play dress up with you," And again the slightly sly, somewhat evil smirk played around her mouth, it was a looked that Sasuke was forced to admit looked sexy as hell. "Though she'd probably like undress better."

"Fine. Fine. But talk about taking the fun out of life!" He huffed, wrapping his arm around her and pulling the blonde tightly to his side.

She snarled irritably and slapped his hand away. And then with a toss of her head began to stalk down the corridor, trying to pretend that she didn't know that Sasuke, who was now walking behind her, had his eyes fixed on her ass. Typical male.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next day saw Ino in a small privet room in Konoha's hospital with the former Hokage undergoing the standard medical exam that where possible was given to any ninja partaking in an undercover mission. Or at least it was meant to be, but due to the high number of missions and the low number of medics it was normally only done where the shinobi in question would be going into deep cover of any length of time. This time however it was happening because it was one of the conditions the Yamanaka had insisted upon.

Perhaps she was just letting her paranoia get the better of her but at least this way she would be able to match up all her cuts and scraps to ones that she had gained on the mission and the ones she had had before hand. And if just by chance anything was found to be out of the ordinary then she would personally over see Sasuke's castration.

"Right all this seems fine." Tsunade said ticking off something on the clipboard she held before tossing it down on top of one of the cupboards as she began pealing off her latex gloves.

"Should be, you're the one who gave me my last medical and," Ino unconsciously rubbed her arm at the pain of memory. "You're also the one who gave me my last set of booster jabs."

"Yes, I did. Didn't I." The smirk that crossed the amber eyed woman's face was almost pure evil, she could be sadistic when the time for vaccinations came round as both Ino and Sakura had learnt to their pain and cost and the Sannis's enjoyment. "Now any chance you might be pregnant?"

Both of them knew that she wasn't. Ino because her sex life was currently non-existent and Tsunade because she was one of the best medics ever, so skilled that she could detect a pregnancy a little under a month after conception. Both of them knew, and both of them knew why the older woman was asking.

"As you already know, no. None at all." The mind walker only just managed to stop herself from adding that chance would be a fine thing but it was almost as if Tsunade could read her mind.

"Really? How long since you got any?" And just like that the greatest medic that The Leaf had ever seen became a nosy woman who wanted all the juicy information about the sex life of her one time student. Ino knew which side of the other blonde she preferred to deal with and sadly waved goodbye to it as it disappeared over her one time sensei's internal event horizon.

"Ugh." The young blonde bit the inside of her lip but knew there was no way to get out of the interrogation with her dignity intact all she could do was suck it up and get it over with. Bracing herself for the ordeal to come she answered, all be it reluctantly. "Two months give or take a day."

"Hmm, what's wrong? Sasuke can't get it up?" Her amber eyes were alight with a combination of mischief and malice that would have seemed funny to Ino if it had been directed at anyone other than herself.

"I don't know and I don't care!" Her eyes were like chips of ice, and Tsunade was reminded irresistibly of the quote about the woman who protested too much. "I have not and will not sleep with the Uchiha traitor."

"If it's not your little traitor that's giving it to you then who is it?" The look that crossed the kunoichi's face at the insinuation that Sasuke was in some way hers could have curdled milk at fifty paces.

"None of your business." Ino sniffed folding her arms cross her chest as she pointedly looked away from the older blonde. "And I'll have you know he's not my anything, except a pain in my ass."

"Well that would –" The other began, giving Ino a smug knowing look.

"No! I did not mean it like that!" The young woman growled her light blue eyes darkening as she fought to keep a hold on her temper. "Ugh! It always comes down to sex with you. Well he isn't getting any from me and I'm not tell you who I'm getting it from so you may as well just drop it."

It was an irritating fact that since Tsunade and Jiraiya had finally become an item the former had started sticking her nose into the privet lives of those closest to her and especially her students, of which she still counted Ino.

"You know you were much easier to interrogate when you were my apprentice and not Ibiki's." Ino just grinned at the reproachful tone. The only reason it had been easier was that Ino could no longer be threatened with the prospect to emptying bedpans for a week if she didn't spill all of her gossip.

"Life's a bitch. Just like me and that's one thing I didn't learn from Ibiki." If the subtle jib that the busty blonde was a bitch didn't go over Tsunade's head she certainly acted as if it had, but she had always preferred her own whit to anyone else's.

"He wants you, you know." Just like a dog, or possible a bitch, with a bone she refused to drop the subject of the sex Sasuke and Ino were not having.

"What! Ibiki!" Ino scrunched up her nose in disgust and gave a theatrical shudder. As a mentor and teacher Morino Ibiki was one of the best, but as a lover… she shuddered again, no thank-you.

"No you twit and I thought Naruto was our token dumb blonde." She ignored the face that Ino pulled at the comment far too used to how childish her one time student's behaviour could be at times. "I was talking about Sasuke, he wants you."

"So people keep saying." Ino dead panned and rolled her eyes but her heart wasn't really in it.

"So who else has been telling you what I've known since the moment he got back?" The medic pushed, trying to get as much information out of the arctic blonde as she could.

In the past few weeks Ino had almost lost count of how many people had told her the exact same thing. Kakashi had repeated it several times as had Hinata. Kiba had also told her once, while Shika just glared at Sasuke and muttered troublesome which amounted to the same thing. And visiting from Suna, Temari had greeted her with a cheerful "So has the horny little traitor managed to jump your bones yet?"

"This is another thing that comes under the category of none of your damn business." The blue eyed young woman sniffed; it seemed her privet life was anything but privet and everyone was ready to tell her just what it was, or rather who, she could be doing.

"Ahh the jealous lover." Tsunade said with a smirk, unaware of how right and yet still very wrong she was with her well-calculated guess. Lover, yes. Jealous, no.

"There are times you know," Ino started as she slipped off of the bed and headed towards the door. "When I really hate you."

"Funny," She said idly pulling the forms off of her discarded clipboard and slipping them into a folder. "You're not the first person to say that."

"Hang on…" Ino paused in the act of reaching for the door handle and turned back to face Tsunade. "What did you mean when you said that you'd known from the moment he got back?"

"Well you know that state he was in when he was carried, or rather was dragged back, yes? And that he had to be hospitalised for a while?" The jounin nodded, her eyes fixed upon the most powerful in influential kunoichi the land of fire had ever seen. "Yeah, we heal them up just so you lot can brake them down again. Anyway he was in rather a bad way; kept drifting in and out of consciousness… he was almost completely drained of chakra, one of his wounds had become infected and he was running a fever, so as you can imagine he was pretty out of it. But he kept calling out you see, a lot of the time it was for his brother which was understandable. But the rest of the time it was your name he called and that kinda makes you think, doesn't it Ino?"

"Maybe." She conceded as she continued her interrupted journey through the doorway, now if only she could work out what it was that it was meant to make her think she'd be all sorted.

XXXXXXXXXX

"So Sasuke," Tsunade said with an overly sweet smile as the Uchiha took the place that up until five minuets ago that the mind walking kunoichi had been occupying. "I hear tell that you're not getting any from Ino."

Somehow Sasuke managed to keep his jaw from dropping; though looking back he wouldn't be able to remember quite how he had achieved such a feat. The former Hokage was watching him the same way that a cat might watch a mouse hole, she had him right where she wanted him and he had no hope of escaping until she decided to let him go.

"Has anyone ever told you that you are absolutely repellent when you smirk?" She sniggered delightedly.

"And that it's almost impossible to insult you without you taking it as some form of complement?" She sniggered once more and Sasuke prepared himself for what would turn out to be the worst interrogation he would ever have to go.

At least the ANBU had just wanted to know about possible plans for invasion, the blonde Sannin wanted to know about his sex life or lack there of and wouldn't stop until she had all the information that she wanted. And worse still was that he had to undergo a full medical at the same time which meant she had every right to prod and poke and pull at him as much as he liked.

Longingly Sasuke thought back to his happy days under Ibiki's care, at least he had just been happy to abuse him he hadn't felt the need to humiliate him as well.

XXXXXXXXXX

Roughly an hour later Sasuke walked out of the small privet room in which the exam had taken place to see Ino exactly where he had left her still apparently engrossed in the same magazine.

"I hate her." Sasuke finally said when they stepped out into the late afternoon sun and began the short walk to their shared accommodation.

"Join the club." Ino responded in monotone, raising one hand to shield her eyes from the bright glare of the sun.

"Will there be T-shirts?" His tone was still somewhat sullen as he rotated his shoulders, he was sure the blonde had almost dislocated them and had done so deliberately.

"We're having them printed up as we speak." The mind walker said in a neutral tone and somehow managed to keep a straight face.

"How would she feel if someone questioned her on every detail of her sex life?" Sasuke knew how he had felt. Violated was putting it mildly and the worst thing was he couldn't have just told the old bat to get lost not unless he had wanted her to perform a spur of the moment amputation on certain parts of his anatomy.

"We don't need to," Onyx orbs flickered sideways to see the slight smile on the Yamanaka's lips, as if she were enjoying a privet joke. "All we have to do is bide our time and wait."

"For what?" Sasuke questioned as he unlocked the door and then stepped back so that the blue eyed female could enter before he did.

"For Jiraiya-sama's next book." Ino stated it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, which for some people it really was. She, Sakura and Naruto were placing bets on how many walls Tsunade would knock the author through when the book was published.

"I'm not sure if that makes me feel better or just slightly queasy." The Uchiha shook his head while he unconsciously rubbed a hand across his stomach.

"I know the feeling well." And her tone was almost sympathetic as she started up the stairs that would lead her to her bedroom. "Lets pack."

"All right. But really Yamanaka," Sasuke tired and failed to keep his eyes off or her pert backside as she made her was towards the second floor. "His next book…?"

"What?" She said pausing on the staircase and turning to look back at him still standing in the hallway.

"D'you really think he will?" He raised one dark brow at her inky eyes fixed on her face.

"The question is d'you really think the pervy sage wouldn't?" Ino flashed him a bright sunny smile before vanishing up the remainder of the stairs in a blur of pale gold and dark purple.

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

Happy New Year

Big love and inspiration

Lamanth