They were walking together, sun streaming down unfiltered to bathe them in a golden glow. As always, she was several paces behind, allowing him to lead them into the blinding sun that shone low on the horizon.

She cringed and shifted over so that his shadow fell over her, blocking the painful glare. Unfortunately in doing so also hid the dusty path in front of them from her veiw. It was frustrating, not being able to see where they were going, but it was either that or the unbearable glow. Ino debated whether to brave the burning sunlight or stay in the blissfully cool shade.

She looked up at the straight plain of his back, and suddenly felt reassured. Although she was blind he'd guide her well, he always did.

The moment she made the decision to trust him, the long dry grass on either side of the trail morphed into the soft lawns of a well-tended neighbourhood. Ino's eyes widened and she stared at the passing scenery. High wooden fences lined the brown road, decorated occasionally with illegible graffiti, an occasional poster, or a patch of untended weeds.

She wanted to stop to see what was written, but Kabuto didn't appear willing to let her. When she paused beside a colourful ad, he continued forward, taking the security of his shadow with him. She hurried to keep up, looking back over her shoulder in irritation.

Then the fencing abruptly ended. The wood paneling turned sharply and continued on in both directions as far as the eye could see. Forming a narrow alley with the fence were featureless gray buildings, boarded up and empty. Building after building passed by at a leisurely pace, each appearing the same as its neighbours. But something seemed off to her, and then she realized that nothing was casting shadows.

Even the alleyways were entirely lit by the sun, despite how low in the sky it was. Not even Ino was creating shade. She frowned in confusion. It appeared that Kabuto was the only thing that this unnaturally bright light couldn't pass through.

So distracted was Ino by this baffling phenomena, that she nearly missed the shop. The brightly coloured store looked so out of place amide the monotone buildings around it. Her eyes filled with tears as she took in the slightly cracked yellow paint and terra cotta shingles. Somebody had pulled the displays out and loaded them with lush flowers that perfumed the air with their exotic scent. The stained wooden doors were thrown wide-open, inviting passer-byes into the bright shop's interior.

The Yamanaka family-run flower shop that had stood in the Konohagakure market until it had been destroyed along with the rest of the village during Pein's attack, more than half a year ago.

Ino could see the counter where her mother wrapped and tied the flowers into gorgeous bouquets was unattended but the door to the back room was partially ajar, and she imagined that she caught a glimpse of somebody moving around inside.

Her heart leaped in her chest and tears filled her eyes. Could be her father or her mother? The last time she'd seen mom had been in the refugee camp set up for the survivors the day her team was scent out to fight. Now, months later, the thought of feeling her arms around her again was enough to send tears spilling down her cheeks.

Or even if it wasn't one of her parents, it had to be one of the employees. Perhaps aunty Bara or one or her many cousins. After so long, home was right there.

But Kabuto just kept moving away, his even strides not faltering once. Ino called out to him, telling him to stop, just to wait a moment while she took a look inside. He could come too, and meet her family. Suddenly the thought of Kabuto in her family's shop, chatting with her parents, although outrageous, appealed to her greatly. They'd understand, she was sure, once she explained to them that he wasn't all bad.

But Kabuto ignored her and kept on his slow path. Ino shouted louder, alarm rising in her chest as his long shadow started to slide away. She scuttled forward a few inches, yelling curses at him to just wait. Stretching her hand out, she tried to catch hold of his cloak, only to have the fabric slip through her grasping fingers.

This was horrible, Kabuto was completely unresponsive, and as she shuffled at the edge of his retreating shadow, home was getting farther and farther away. Her head spun and it felt like she was about to pass out from the stress, until she made up her mind, tearing her eyes from the man in front of her she leapt away and dashed toward the glowing shop front.

As soon as she stepped into the light of the sun, the full heat smashed into her full force, sending her sprawling into the dust. Her skin burned with dry energy, as she heaved herself toward the mahogany doorframe. Every movement felt ten times as strenuous as it should have, it felt like she hadn't slept in weeks. Her mouth had not moisture left, as she lifted her hand to her face, she saw that her skin had broken into blisters, crimson blood leaking through the angry skin and dripping down to be sucked into the dry earth without leaving so much as a stain.

Shaking, she collapsed onto her face, her mouth filling with ash. She managed to open on eye and squint back along the heat-radiating road.

She hadn't gotten far and Kabuto was still tantalizingly close. He'd finally stopped, and was in the motions of turning to face her. She pried her lips apart, ripping skin off in the process. Coppery blood filled her mouth as she tried to form the words to call him back, that it had been a mistake to leave his protection, and if he'd only just help her...

But he just looked down at her, his calm face thrown into tantalizing shadow. He watched her agony silently. She was loosing consciousness, turning to dust.

Ino pulled out of the dream groggily at the feel of water hitting her face. She stared up at the gray sky until a drop of rain hit her directly in the eye, making her hiss and pull the sleeping bag over her head with an exhausted moan.

But the sound of the rain steadily got heavier forcing her to reluctantly roll out and start shoving her things into the pack Kabuto had bought for her in the last town.

Speaking of Kabuto, he was still asleep and bundled up on his side. He'd thrown his heavy cloak on top of his sleeping bag, as the days were getting colder again, even in the south. His face was scrunched up against the splattering drops, and his stuff was going to get soaked if he didn't pack up soon.

Feeling shy due to the events of the night before, Ino didn't go shake him awake like she would've in the past. Instead she chucked one of her sandals at him and with her honed aim hit him square in the face.

He jerked up with a satisfying expression of alarm, and the awkwardness was forgotten as she giggled at his appearance. His silver hair was mussed up and bunched on one side. His face was flushed from sleep and the black T-shirt he slept in wrinkled and hung loosely exposing one of his scaled shoulders. His amber eyes were stretched wide in surprise, and flicked around before settling on her grinning face. His eyes softened and he chuckled quietly along with her.

They set out after a rushed breakfast of travel gruel and some edible green's that she'd collected a few days ago. The sky opened up and the light shower turned into a full-on downpour. Ino trudged on numbly, pathetically attempting to shelter under her pack. It was miserable going, and she was soon splattered in mud and wet through to her underwear.

Because of her restless sleep, full of strangely relevant dreams, she was running on fumes. After only twenty or so minutes, Ino couldn't see how she'd make it until lunch, let alone sundown. Kabuto seemed to realize this, and instead of motoring forward to make good time, he scanned the dim foliage until he spotted a rocky overhang at the bottom of a craggy slope. Taking her arm, he steered her into the shelter where she leaned gratefully against the cool wall.

Outside, the rain was pounding down from the dark-purple thunderheads that swirled above. Wind wailed through the trees, blowing the droplets sideways, transformed into painful projectiles. Ino peeled the wet strands of water-darkened blonde hair off her face and let her ponytail loose, proceeding to wring it out. She hesitated before stripping down to her underwear. Hey, he was a big boy and a medic, and it wasn't like her practical combat-undies showed that much anyway, they were made for comfort, not sex appeal.

On the opposite wall, Kabuto had his bag open and was laying his things out to dry. He too had she some clothes and though he'd left his pants on, his shirt was laying on a rock and Ino wouldn't be a true to herself if she didn't appreciate his compactly muscular body. Ino followed his lead and dumped her few possessions out unceremoniously.

The storm raged for the whole day, and the minutes dragged on with nothing to do. For a while Ino managed to amuse herself by taking peeks at all the items Kabuto had strewn about. She never would have guess that the guy would have so much crap stuffed into that bag of his. Most of it looked like innocent traveling gear; maps of various parts of the world, blankets, extra clothes, not outwardly evil or suspicious at all.

But there were other things, some were just strange, some she didn't even recognize. Medical equipment of course, bandages and disinfecting spray, but also a diverse collection of needles that each seemed ominous in their own right. Other tubes of what she guessed were samples of something or other poked out of a small sack.

However, what interested Ino the most where the scrolls. There were tons of them, rolled open so that they'd dry without smudging the ink. Each one was crammed with tiny characters, so that not a square inch of the paper was left blank. Medical ninjutsu was always more complicated than battle jutstu. Ino itched with curiosity, her fingers twitched with the desire to hold the scrolls.

"If you want to take a look, go right ahead." Huh, apparently she wasn't being as subtle in her peepery as she'd previously thought.

"Pfft, I have no idea what you are you talking about, is that some kinda pick up line ya perv?" Oh yes, the oblivious ditz persona always worked the best for her, and why change what works? Though the events of the previous night did load her words with heavier meaning…

Kabuto rolled his eyes, not fooled for a minute. "Oh, sorry, I thought you'd want to read my medical scrolls, but it appears I was mistaken. I guess I'll just put then away then…"

"Oh really?" She said brightly, scooting over to his side. "Don't mind if I do! You should have just said so." She eagerly reached out and snatched up the closest one.

Ino devoured that scroll, and two more after it. But as interesting as that was, by the fourth she was getting tired of it. Theory had never been her strong point, that she left up to Sakura. That's why people like her and Kabuto would always be the better healers. They had more patience for the textbook part of the training, while Ino preferred to wing it and learn by experience (much to the dismay of her patients).

Soon she became distracted and settled on watching Kabuto shift through the many pockets of his bag, sorting useful things and throwing away the stuff he didn't think they'd need. "I really should clean this out more often." He muttered, making a face as he pulled what looked like a dried out apple from the deep recesses of the thing.

Ino fidgeted impatiently and slouched down against the wall. She couldn't exactly tell what time it was, as the storm made the sky nearly as dark as night. Finally, she snapped and stuck out her foot in order to shake Kabuto's bare shoulder. He turned his head to regard her quizzically.

"I'm bored, teach me one of your techniques." She said, her surprisingly polite tone of voice conflicting with her bossy choice of words.

He turned his body so that he was fully facing her. "Which one? Are the scrolls not enough?" He put the now empty bag aside.

"I don't mean one from these scrolls, I can tell that you took these from the hospital in Konoha, I recognize Hikki-san's printing." She said, naming the nurse in charge of the hospital's records. "I want to learn one of your own, one that you created."

He raised is eyebrows critically and lean his elbows on his knees. "That's a very serious request Ino." He said evenly, staring her straight in the eyes. "Why would I divulge my secrets to you, an enemy shinobi?"

There was the difficult part, but he didn't sound mad so she decided to push her luck. "Come on, I'm bored to death, and I bet you are too. Who knows how long this weather will last? We could be stuck here for days with nothing to do. Just teach me one, how about the one that you used to heal my head? I've never seen anything like it before, and it looked really useful."

It looked as if he was about to shoot the idea down once again, but he paused and his expression softened. He tapped his chin thoughtfully and continued to stare at her. His unblinking gaze made her all the more aware of their shared state of undress and she fought to keep from flushing. She held eye contact and set her jaw determinably. 'Don't look at his chest, don't look at his wonderfully sculpted chest. Damn men, so gosh darned good looking. Why do the bad-boys always look the best?'

"Fine." He said.

It took her hours to make any visible progress, and even then, the tiny points of light at the tip of each of her fingers were so miniscule that they were more light smudges of colour. The finished project, however, when Kabuto demonstrated again and again patiently at her request, glowed brightly and illuminated the entire cave.

He made it look and sound so easy. If the user managed to concentrate their chakra evenly throughout all ten fingers (or five if they only wanted to use one hand) and correctly push the energy through the tips and outward, forming a mostly invisible layer of pure chakra around each digit, then they would be able to pass through living tissue, parting it like water. The jutsu was constantly healing and reopening the break in the body, over and over while the healer worked. To work, the medic had to have a great deal of control, focus and raw chakra.

Ino had plenty of the latter; it was the first to requirements that she was failing in.

She groaned in despair and released her chakra from her hand and let it flow back to it's natural course. Standing without a word, she walked over the where her now dry possessions lay. She gathered them up and methodically put them away. She felt emotionally and physically drained from the long day, and as the sky had turned black a few hours ago, she decided that it was time to turn in.

Kabuto spoke from behind her. "Don't feel discouraged." She heard the rustle of fabric as he slipped his loose black t-shirt over his head (which was slightly disappointing). "It's a very advanced level technique, you can't expect to get it right away. It's taken me years to perfect it myself."

She contemplated putting her clothes back on too, but then just snuggled into her sleeping bag as is. Peeking out so that only her eyes were uncovered, she looked over at her companion. It appeared that he would not be going to rendezvous with the terrible trio tonight. Hmm, who knew that villainous meetings were weather-permitted only.

"Thanks anyway." She mumbled into her blanket. "It passed the time at least." She pulled the cover all the way over her head, and drifted back into the muddled world of dreams that seemed to make more sense than the waking world these days. Home was where her loved ones were. Where things were more clearly black and white. His shadow slipping away Where her choices weren't so blurred. It had come to a point where she'd dye now, if she weren't with him.

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Twenty reviews! Thanks everybody! I'm glad that this pairing is so well received, although I'm disappointed that this is still the only fic about them ;)

This was kind of a fillerish chapter, and I didn't originally plan for that. But character development and stuff, you know. LMK what you think!