Mission Impossible: Housewife

By KawaiPanda

Chapter Twenty-One

A GaaIno Love Story

"Are you sure about this honey?" My mother asked for the umpteenth time in the last hour. It wasn't yet time to meet up with Kenta, I still had a couple of hours, and I still had to see Tsunade about my foot. And bring up the whole chakra ordeal with her. Then it would be time for the date.

After I told mom and dad about my decision to go on the date with him, they didn't speak much for the rest of the night. I could barely make out their arguing later when they thought I was asleep, but I got the gist of it. Mom didn't want me to go, and daddy didn't mind.

The fact that Mom and dad didn't do much arguing had me thinking on my decision well into the night.

I had feeling for the man I married. I'm not going to lie about that. But the fact of the matter is, I can't carry his child, and that was the sole reason why they chose me to marry him. To produce an heir. What use was I in the marriage, and it was a political one, if I couldn't produce an heir?

With a sigh, I looked away from my reflection and replied, "Yes mom, I'm sure."

"But what about Gaara-sama?" I was about finished getting ready for the date, but I didn't know where he was taking me, so I wore a casual, fitted shirt that matched the blue of my eyes and a flowing black skirt that brushed my knees.

"What about him?" I asked, securing my earrings.

"Isn't this... I don't know, cheating?" She seemed to be grabbing at anything she could to dissuade me. It wasn't working. I wasn't going to go back on my word. I needed to get over Gaara and our failure of a marriage and how would I do so if I just waited around, twiddling my thumbs? In order for me to move past him, I had to see others. This was the first step of many.

"No. It's not." At least, I don't think so. I hope not. I wasn't entirely sure. I mean, I had left him…. But the divorce wasn't final.

"It's not too late to back out." I gave her a glare, finally fed up with her trying to dissuade me from my decision.

"I'm not going to back out of this. If Gaara wanted me, he would have come after me. I guess having a child was high on his priority list." Mom sighed, coming to stand behind me and touched my shoulder.

"Ino..."

Our eyes met in the reflection of the mirror. "It's true, mom. If it didn't matter, he would have come for me, he would have taken me back, and he didn't." I took a deep breath, shakey as it was, and turned around, careful of my foot, and gave my mother a kiss on the cheek. "I want to move on momma. I have to."

She nodded mutely and handed me my purse from the bed.

Giving her a smile, I left, knowing she was against this. It didn't take me too long to get to the hospital. This time, the nurse stationed at the desk didn't stop me as I headed down the hall to Tsunade's office.

The older blonde was napping, her feet crossed and up on the desk as she leaned back in the chair. I cleared my throat and she was awake instantly.

"Tsunade-sama."

"Ino, you're a bit early." She yawned, standing up. She bent briefly to pull out a file from her desk.

"Sorry, I wanted to get this over with."

She nodded in understanding before heading out the door. "It's no problem. Just follow me."

When we reached an empty examination room, she motioned for me to sit. I did. She glanced through the file, which I knew was mine, and asked, "How are we doing today Ino?"

"I'm fine, thank you Tsunade-sama." While I hadn't been here for the changing in Kage's, I still had great respect for this woman. After all, she had been my teacher for a brief period. I hadn't been as into medical practice as Sakura was, but I did learn a thing or two from her.

"You're dressed up fancy for a doctors visit," she remarked as she skimmed through the file.

"Actually, I'm doing something afterwards," I replied nonchalantly.

"Date?" She asked, jokingly.

"Actually, yes. I'm going on a date," I informed her.

She looked up from the chart. "W-What?"

"I didn't stutter. Someone asked me out."

"But -"

"Gaara is going to find someone who will love him and bare him children, and I am going to move on with my life." I glared at her, daring her to say otherwise. She took the hint and changed the subject rather quickly.

"So, how'd you break it?" She asked, cutting the cast open with a chakra scaplel. She was careful not to nick my skin and pulled it apart. I resisted the urge to stretch my toes, nearly shuddering when she began examing the foot with her chakra and began healing it with no comment.

"I kicked a tree." I said after a moment of strained silence.

"It should have done more damage to the tree than your foot."

"I thought so too." She pulled back, and the soothing pressence of her chakra was gone. Hesitating, I moved my toes, and found to my relief that the injury was healed. "My chakra isn't working."

That got her interest quick. She looked up from the chart and whistled lowly. "Really now?" I nodded.

"I was walking on water when it began to flicker. And then I couldn't use it at all."

"Hmm." She came to stand before me. "Lift your shirt."

I did as she ordered, and watched, tense, as she examined me for pregnancy. I knew for a fact that's what she was searching for, because it was the obvious conclusion. But it couldn't be what it was…. it just couldn't.

She leaned back and gave me some space. "Well, you're not pregnant."

"Oh." I knew it... refusing to allow my heart to break, I swallowed back the tears.

She must have heard the disappointment in my voice because she was hovering over me immediately. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." I steeled myself against the pain and gave her a weak smile that didn't quite reach my eyes.

"Well, since it's not a baby, I'll need to examine you to see what could be the problem." I nodded in confirmation and she began searching for what could be messing with my chakra. After about ten minutes, she drew back, looking pleased with herself.

"Well?"

"It was just a virus. Most likely, you could have picked up from being exposed to the elements on your journey here. It wasn't contagious, thankfully, and I already burned it out of your system, but it will take a couple of days for your chakra to return to normal," she explained, jotting some notes down into my file.

I nodded and slid off of the examination table. "Thank you Tsunade-sama."

"You're welcome." I walked past her, stopping when she placed her hand on my shoulder. "... Be careful."

XxXxXxX

"Are you ready?" Kenta asked, smirking. I hadn't been waiting long when he finally made it. I didn't like to be kept waiting, and I sure as hell didn't like the stares all of these people were giving me. I haven't been in this area often, so I was a little uneasy about meeting Kenta here.

I scrunched up my nose at him, before settling on a smile. "As I'll ever be." I fell into place beside him as we walked in the direction he came from. "So where are you taking me anyway?"

"You'll see." We didn't speak again for a while as we headed for wherever he wanted to take me.

I wondered how this date would turn out. I didn't have many with Gaara, and we didn't really go anywhere to truly consider them dates…. It was more like, a necessity really. I guess I thought of them as dates so it wouldn't feel like I was grasping at straws as I struggled to get to know the man I was marrying.

"A penny for your thoughts?" He asked, interrupting my thoughts.

"Hm?" I glanced at him, murmuring, "Oh, I was just thinking."

"What about?"

"... Things." I shook my head. "Nothing important."

"Oh."

"Where are we?" It wasn't like I couldn't fight him off if he tried to do anything stupid... but the thought of being alone with Kenta was kind of nerve wrecking. After all, this was a date. And it wasn't with Gaara. It felt wrong on so many levels, but I had to suck it up. After all, I did agree to one date, and I knew if he felt like I wasn't giving him a fair shot, he wouldn't leave me alone.

"Deep in the civilian sector of Konoha," he answered.

I blinked. That's a random place to be. "Why?"

"Because it's where our date will be taking place." Okay... I lifted my brow at him, but said nothing as we walked through the park and he led me down a path that many wouldn't have noticed. After about a ten minute walk, we broke through to a clearing, overtop a rolling hill. On top of it was a single cherry blossom tree. The overall effect was beautiful and I told him so as we approached the tree.

"Wow... This is beautiful Kenta."

He smirked, pleased with my remark. "Not as beautiful as you."

I blushed, looking away and asked, "How did you know this was here?" Under the low hanging branches was a blanket, a basket off to the side. I tucked my skirt around my legs as I sat down, Kenta beside me.

"I grew up in the area. When I was a child, I would often come here to practice."

"So you're from a civilian family?" I inquired, finally looking at him.

"Yeah. Mom was a homemaker, taking care of me and my sister, and dad's a baker. We didn't have much, but it paid the bills." He laid back, his arms pillowing his head. It kind of reminded me of Shikamaru. I frowned.

"Why'd you become a ninja?" He tensed up a moment before relaxing again.

"I wanted to be able to protect those around me."

"Did... did you lose someone?" I don't know why I asked him that. I knew it was invasive, but I wanted to know.

"My older brother. He died when someone broke into our family bakery and tried to rob the store. He was closing up and wasn't one to just hand over the money."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm fine. It was years ago." He sat up abruptly and pulled the basket into his lap. "Are you hungry?"

Kinda. I nodded. "Thanks." He handed me a small container filled with food and a fork. After he had his own, we both said grace and dug in. At the first bite, I nearly shuddered with delight. It was delicious. "This is amazing! Did you make this yourself?"

"Yep." He answered taking another bite.

I ate another bite, and after swallowing, I asked, "How'd you learn?"

"My father." I nodded. It made sense.

"You could totally open a restaurant. You would get my business!" I gave him a big smile, finishing my meal.

He laughed and gave me a small smile. "Thanks."

I handed him my empty container and he set them both into the basket. When he leaned forward, I knew he was going to kiss me. I wasn't going to stop him either.

It was like slow motion for me, and my eyes roamed his face. His face was... nice. Not too thin, and not too round. He wasn't pale, but he wasn't dark either. His eyes were a dark grey, and though darkened right now as he prepared to brush his lips against mine, were actually quite pretty. His lips, I found the moment of contact, were... nice. They weren't overly wet, and his kiss wasn't sloppy, but it wasn't demanding either. He was willing to take what I was only willing to give.

His hand brushed my cheek before settling in my hair. My eyes fluttered shut, and briefly the image of a certain red haired Kazekage popped into my mind, and I found myself kissed him back.

"G-Gaara."

XxXxXxX

Suna: Gaara's Office

"Gaara-sama, I was wondering -" She never waited for his response before barging into his office and it was beginning to piss him off.

Without even waiting to hear her question, the red head responded, "No." If it had been something official, she would have called him by his title.

"But-" He heard the hurt in her voice, but he didn't care. She wasn't the blonde woman he was married to. The blonde who had left him, and was trying to divorce him—which wasn't going to happen.

"Matsuri, I'm not interested, okay?"

"B-b-but..."

"Just..." With a sigh, he looked up from his paperwork, the paperwork that would allow him to leave Suna and convince his wife to come back to him. The paperwork that seemed to keep suspiciously pilling up. Looking into the eyes of his old student, he made a request. "Please, leave me alone."