Author's Note: I really have nothing to say… stuff sucks…

Pairings (which I forgot to add last time): ShikaxIno…

It's been one week since you looked at me


Cocked your head to the side and said "I'm angry"


Five days since you laughed at me saying

"Get that together come back and see me"

Chapter … 13. –sigh-

"So the last plan was pulled off with success?"

Deidara answered his Leader tiredly, resting his head on a hand. Last night had been taxing, for the most part. All that trouble, being nice and kind and all that shit, and he'd still gone home alone?

Well, at least the others hadn't got any…. He would never have lived that down.

"I did it well, yeah."

"You left nothing behind? Nothing at all to suggest it was you that did it?" the man grilled. "Did you clean up the equipment that you used? Make it look like just an accident?"

Trust him to be thorough…. Trust him to not trust me to be thorough.

"As much as I could under the circumstances," the blond replied, narrowing his eyes at a young man halfway down the long table the whole of the Akatsuki base. The black-haired nuisance, better known as Tobi, was drumming his fingers restlessly on the grey surface, and half the people present were still suffering from an unwanted hangover from the night before.

"Under the circumstances?"

"Blowing up a car rarely looks like a mistake. Plus; people usually swarm all over it before I have a chance to get rid of everything."

"I cut the brakes though," Sasori said calmly. "If you did your job right, it could easily be identified as a tragic side effect of a car accident."

"I did my job just fine," the blond snarled at his partner. "I saw the crash myself. Very tragic - it looked good. I wasn't first on the scene, but I was third or fourth. The others tried to get those agents out, and I got rid of all that I could."

"Did anyone survive?"

Deidara laughed, a sound bordering on the insane. Sasori's face was slack with a contented smirk.

"They were blown to bits."

"It may be worth our time, hanging around Konoha," a woman's voice said softly. The men she controlled all turned towards the head of the table, straining their eyes in the dark to try and see her. Konan's blue hair was just visible in the dimness. Her partner's eyes glinted as they shifted towards her.

"… Maybe it will."

-------------------

I am never, ever, drinking again.

It felt like the whole world was out to get Ino that morning. It was a Saturday, and she was as pissed off as she'd be mid-week - when she'd been through crap and still had crap to go.

That morning she had started off trying to look professional - donning a white blouse and deep cut black vest – then had given up halfway, and just thrown on a pair of jeans to go with it. Her favourite pair of sunglasses, she decided, would not leave her face at all that day. Not until she was safe in her apartment, away from everyone else. It was lucky she had the day off. She just had some things to drop off to…

…

…

To Neji.

I can be mature about this. He was completely smashed when I stuffed him inside that limo and sent him away. I doubt he even remembers any of it.

So, all she needed to do was pretend like nothing happened. Nothing at all. That way it was up to him to decide what the next course of action would be.

She clapped a hand to her aching head.

Why, oh why did she drink? It always ended up in chaos.

At least this time it was just her playboy high boss, who probably didn't give a shit about it anyway – which was good, really. And this time she was single. That was always a plus. Besides, even if she'd shown interest in other people, city life rarely supported monogamy. Exclusive dating was… uncommon. There were no strings attached, until you actually received the title 'girlfriend'.

But really, kissing other men when she insisted she was harping after one in particular sort of seemed kind of…

Urgh. My head hurts too much to think about this. I just liked the attention, is all… I didn't… Fuck, I don't care! Get in, get out. The less anyone sees of me like this the better.

She walked as softly as she could – moving quickly jolted knives through her head – through the front door, and the ran, physically ran away from everyone's favourite overenthusiastic security guard roaring 'good mornings' and coffee orders as he sprinted to the shop across the road. She collapsed on the floor of the elevator, moaning complaints and gripping her head like it was going to explode.

A shaking hand reached upwards and smashed the number 12 on the floor layout, and Ino withdrew back into her corner.

--------------

"What the hell are you doing?"

It may have seemed impossible, but Miss Yamanaka curled up even tighter into a ball than she had before. She didn't want to look up and meet the face of Kiba under any circumstances. He was probably going to eat her. Eat her with those big, oversized canines of his. Rip her apart and use her fingernails for toothpicks. He probably hated her like nothing else.

She didn't answer him.

"Right. Whatever."

There was a tense silence in the elevator, and the pleasant music playing in the background made them both cringe.

"Come on. Get up. Your papers are all over the floor. Your boss'll get pissed."

She lifted her head slightly to look at his hand, but didn't make a move to take it.

"Where are you going, anyway?" she muttered. "You don't have anything to do with the upper floors."

"One of my dogs is at the vet on the seventh floor. Have you ever even been on the middle levels?"

"Hospitals creep me out."

"Hm," he sighed, sticking his hand back into his heavy jacket's pocket.

The doors opened with a ping, and Kiba stepped out without a backwards glance.

He haaaates meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee….

-------------

Just before she reached the twelfth floor, the elevator stopped on the one below. Ino gathered her papers and files for Neji together, holding them haphazardly and leaving no room to possibly carry anything else.

"Hn! EE-no, c'n you take th's?"

Tenten – also sporting a pair of very expensive sunglasses - was holding papers everywhere possible, including in her elbows, in her hands, trapped between her collarbone and her neck, and in her mouth. She saw Ino's predicament and tipped her head upwards slightly, shoving the papers into the blond woman's mouth.

"Thanks! I really need to rush to a meeting with one of Neji's clients. He's too hung over to go himself. Did you see him last night? Oh my God…"

Ino stepped out as the doors closed on Tenten. She had to give those stupid papers to someone else! It was hardly dignified for her to go traipsing into Neji's office with files in her mouth. She just needed to pass them over to someone else.

There's Sasuke! He'll help me! Stupid asshole. He owes me dammit. He better help me… Ooh! He's got breakfast! Oh, God… Drool. I'm starving.

Huh… He's wearing sunglasses too…

She attempted to call out his name as he spoke to Sakura and left her in a smitten heap while he turned to go back to his office, but, like Tenten, her word's were a bit… messy.

"Sasky! Sasky, c'me he-re. J'st… St'nd st'll 'n' my mouwf…"

Sakura looked ready to kill as Ino sprinted towards him, pushed herself onto her tiptoes and launched herself towards his mouth, shoving roughly forty pages of paper past his lips and jamming it between his teeth.

Oh… he was already… eating… - oh well! He'll manage!

"Ino. Can you come here for a second?"

"Yes, sir!" she called, a little too exuberantly for everyone else on the floor. Even Shikamaru was wearing sunnies. Now, that was a worry.

Sasuke stared at her weirdly as she walked off towards her boss' office. What the fuck was he meant to do with these things now?

-------------

"Sorry, sir, I have to make this quick. I'm meant to hand this stuff into Neji," Ino said brightly, looking more at his ear than any other part of him. If she looked into his eyes while in this kind of mood, strange things would start happening.

"Neji?"

She wasn't looking at the single arched eyebrow, barely able to be seen above the three hundred dollar pair of sunglasses. No way.

"Since when were you on such familiar terms with the Hyuuga?"

As he waited for a reply, Ino was having some internal battle. Some sudden questioning of why she had to keep lying to everyone. Maybe it was because lies take effort to maintain, and crowded your head with badness. And hers was already full of mind-destroying pain.

"… Since he snogged me last night under the mistletoe."

Well. That couldn't have gotten any more direct. Ino laughed madly in her head. The look on his face was priceless! He took off his glasses, as if they were clouding his vision. Dark brown eyes were judgmental… and rimmed completely in red.

"… Why?"

Ino sighed, and removed her glasses too – so much for her earlier promise. Why not be honest? Yes. Let's be honest. She had a lot of people she could possibly fall back on. It would be messy, though, letting Sasuke down. Kiba already hated her, so that was fine. She had a guilty sort of thought about rejecting Sasori – who had been nothing but a gentleman – but he'd get over it, right?

So now comes the crunch time…

What to do? Surely rejection couldn't be any more painful than how her head was feeling right now. That was just ungodly. She'd probably feel better when she had closure on the whole stupid situation anyway. But did he have a girlfriend? Were he and Temari dating exclusively?

Surely not. She'd have known!

Okay, so that would be fine… ish. But what about everyone else? What about how damn awkward it would be around the office?

Who the hell am I kidding? It doesn't get any more tense with him! I smile, he ignores me, Sasuke glares, Sakura cries in a corner, Neji sits back and watches the show, and Tenten laughs at us all!

"… Well…"

"Yes?"

"I kissed Neji because…"

"You were shit-faced?"

She flinched and pouted. "Well, yeah… but -"

"But what, Ino?" he pressed, crossing his arms and fighting the urge to rub aching eyes. Fuck. His head felt like it was being ripped apart.

"Well…. You'd already left…."

---------------

"Sak'ra. Who're these m'nt t' go to?" the youngest Uchiha asked, bending towards his fawning secretary and tilting his head slightly so that she could read the name at the bottom of the page.

"Do you want to give that to me?" she asked, hoping to get a scene like the one with her blond rival beforehand. She picked up a stack of things. "My hands are full, so…"

"No. J'st t'll me who 't's for."

Sakura's face fell, defeated, and she leant forward to examine the first sheet.

"Shikamaru Nara, sir."

"Right…."

----------------

"I'm sorry…. What?"

For someone who was considered a genius, Shikamaru could be so irritatingly dense.

"You had already left."

She said it slowly, directly, as if speaking to a small – stupid – child. He just stared at her, arms now coming loose from their folded position across his chest to hang limply at his sides. His mouth was open, gobsmacked. She held his gaze, anxious, but trying not to care.

"You kissed Neji, because… I wasn't there… anymore?"

Noooo! He's staring at me weird!

Ino looked at him blankly. There was a slight CRUSHING feeling in her chest.

So. Rejection, huh? How's that working out for you, then?

In Ino's mind, because he had not immediately jumped her after a love confession that had been on the waiting list for some ten months now, it meant he obviously wasn't interested.

"Well. Um. I need to get this stuff… to Neji – Mr. Hyuuga."

He didn't say anything. Still staring.

Ho hum.

She turned to go, noting dramatically the symbolism of what would happen when she closed the door. The door would be closed on their relationship forever. It would separate them completely. He's a lawyer, she's a goddamn secretary. It was never meant to be. The door knew that. But why had it been so cruel? Why did it open so nicely, so well for her when he needed help in his office? Why did it let her in when ultimately, it was just going to slam behind her mercilessly every time she walked away?

Angst!

I hate you, door. I hate you. I've never hated a door. But I hate you. I hate your texture and your height and your weight and the way you move. I hate everything about you. I'll never forgive you. Not ever, and - oh my fucking God I'm talking to a fucking door

As she reached out for the handle, it suddenly opened inwards. There Sasuke stood, notes in his mouth, lunch in his hands.

"It's my turn again, is it?" she asked glumly. His lips quirked slightly, and his head moved towards hers. Instead though, of letting her take the other side of the paper, he made it so she had to grab onto the space right next to the one his mouth was occupying. It resulted in a quick little sideways kiss, not at all unpleasant – if you weren't feeling more crushed than you would under a steamroller.

Oh, Sasuke… Don't even bother giving him that look. He doesn't care anyway. Didn't you know? You're such a dear. I thought that at the start you were working well with my plan. But things didn't turn out the way I wanted. I suppose that was sort of cruel… wasn't it? I deserve this. I get that.

He gave her a wink and returned to his own office.

Ino felt like a dog with a bone. A useless, pained, tired, puffy-eyed bitch that wasn't fit to do anything but carry papers for the alpha male. Why bother? Why bother doing anything? The documents, still slightly damp and tasting like ham and cheese from Sasuke's mouth, hang listlessly between her lips. They were going to drop soon.

Oh… who gives a fuck.

"Are those for me?"

A kind voice. Long-fingered hands reaching for spit-covered (oops) papers. Ino opened her mouth slightly, and let her lazy ass boss start to remove them.

"I dunno. Tenten passed them on."

"Were they in her mouth too?" he asked, looking suspiciously at what he had just taken, and wondering who else had managed to put their spit all over it.

"Yeah."

The stack of paper was still being slid gently from her mouth. Paper cuts on the lip or gums would not be nice. In fact, that would really, really suck.

"Okay… I'm just gonna take this and -"

In one smooth movement, he had thrown the documents on the floor, grabbed a startled Ino around the waist, slammed her on the desk, and proceeded to kiss her senseless.

Five days since I laughed at you and said


"You just did just what I thought you were gonna do"


Three days since the living room


We realized we're both to blame,

But what could we do?

If you don't know the name of this song… I will cut my wrists right here…

I have no quotes. Except for maybe life sucks and then you die… This chapter probably doesnt deserve reviews at all. -forlorn sigh- but thank you for those who helped me beat chapter 4's record... I appreciate it...