Hi! My laptop is broken so I'm so sorry for the long update. I'm using my father's laptop right now ! This chapter is told from Ino's POV and I couldn't help making her a teeny, teeny little bit Marysue-ish, but that is the whole point of the story, right!

Naruto is not mine, sorry for the grammatical error, and ...

Enjoy!

It had been a long time since Ino had begrudgingly surrendered to the fact that it was not herself who knew 'Yamanaka Ino' the best in the whole world. In fact, there are a lot of people in that list. Inoichi and Chouji knew her better. Her mom knew her much much better. But they were all biased person with their own thoughts and expectation toward her. And that was why she went to the person who knew her best. The unbiased man who can be as neutral as anyone could ever be. It was an airy Saturday morning in Konoha and everybody was still lounging in the comfort of their own home, except for one, pacing blonde who made her way to the corner of the village where the Torture and Investigation Department were built. Maybe it was just Ino, but as soon as she made the turn that led straight to the department, everything went colder. This was her workplace, and yet she never liked the place. Sometimes she just wished that she could be a personal shopper or anything else that didn't involve people dying, screaming, and begging for mercy or sounds of blood spurting everywhere echoing through the room occasionally. It's almost odd that she found herself managing to cling to sanity and not becoming a sadist like some people in the department were. There were a very few people who are already a sadist to begin with though, she believed. The head of the T&I office was of course not an exception to that very few people. Ino took a deep breath as she stopped in front of his office and brought herself to knock the door. A heavy 'enter' soon followed and she let herself into the cold bright room that seems as sterile as those rooms in hospital. Morino Ibiki was sitting behind the white metallic table reading a book with his foot on the table.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite student visiting me on her day off." He greeted her without looking away from the book. Ino sighed as she tried to compose herself in front of Ibiki. The room was much colder than the outside, and Ibiki always had that effect on her; that certain chilling effect.

"Sensei." She greeted him rigidly as she approached his table. Ibiki glanced at her and smirked.

"Take a seat, Ino. Is it about the marriage arrangement?" He asked her and Ino had to curse beneath her breath as she took a seat. Damn he for knowing everything there is to know about her.

"Yes. I was thinking about getting signed for Kumo for the rest of the months I have ... left." She sounded hesitant at her last word and when she dared herself to look at Ibiki, he was preoccupied with the book. Ino sighed, if she hadn't known him better, she'd have thought that he had ignored her.

"So that's it? You are here to say goodbye?" He asked. Ino shifted uncomfortably against her seat.

"I was thinking that maybe I could hear your opinion about it." She said softly.

"You are my student, Ino. You know what I think about it." He said firmly and Ino bit her lip and she hated to say that she had no idea. Morino Ibiki was one mountain she could never climb high enough to see what's on its peak; one sea she could never dive deep enough to see its depth. Other people had been easy, but her master remained shrouded in mystery.

"I don't know, in fact."

"You don't want to know." Ibiki told her as he closed his leather-covered book. "You don't see hard enough, Ino." Ino closed her eyes in annoyance. Give it to Ibiki to say things in code nobody could ever understand and he will not disappoint. What is it that she was she supposed to see? And besides, the conversation would have ended already if he had just given her answer right away.

"I am against it, of course. I was never a supporter of your arranged marriage anyway." Ibiki told her upon seeing her reaction.

"But ..."

"See, you don't want to know." Ibiki told her with a smile Ino came to hate so much. "You only hear what you want to hear."

Ino sighed exasperatedly and for a moment it was an uncomfortable silence in the big, cold room. Ino's mind was busy on weighing about whether she should tell her master the truth or not until she realized that Ibiki would know that she lied anyway.

"Was it because the Uchiha kid?" He broke her train of thoughts and she was taken aback by his spot-on question. How in the hell did he know about the whole incident?

"So it is," He answered his own question upon seeing her reaction and his expression was like he was brewing things in his mind. Ino cursed herself for being so easy to read even though she was this expressive and vulnerable only and only in front of Ibiki and no one else, not even in front of her own father. And in front of Sasuke, that one time.

"How do you know?"

"Little birds whispered to me." Ibiki smirked. Ino huffed in annoyance. It was a waste of a question since it was his job to know everything that happened. And it should be left only at that. Experience told her that she'd better left clueless.

"Take the Uchiha aside for a second; I heard you are getting along well with Genma." Ibiki told her and Ino looked at him wide-eyed, is there anything she had to tell him? He seems to know everything about her already. All the better, since he could just give her his answer already and, oh wait, he had. She just didn't agree with it. Maybe he's right. Maybe she just didn't want to know.

"Inoichi hated Genma." Ibiki answered his own questions again, taking answers from her face easily. Ino took a deep breath.

"So that's it? There's no good enough man for you within the Leaf?"

"There are plenty, in fact." Ino told him. "They don't like me." Ibiki laughed at her statement.

"Half of Konoha likes you, silly." Ibiki mocked her. "Even Kakashi secretly stashed a picture of you on his wallet."

"So what? He never made it clear to me." She scoffed. She had had enough with this. First, it was Sai and then it was Ibiki. So what if men like her? It was totally understandable for men to be attracted to a woman, and fling like that was totally normal. In the end, they didn't do a thing about it, and that's what counts. No matter how convincing those writing in Sai's notebooks, all Kiba does were smirking at her widely whenever they met each other, and Shino never said a single thing about things even though he had accompanied her shopping a million times more. She didn't even want to talk about Naruto because the last time she saw him, he was still busy swooning over Sakura. Ino didn't want to stay in Konoha over the fact that some men probably liked her while she had the chance to be the wife of the man who was groomed to be the next Raikage AND the mother of the future generation Raikage as well.

Ibiki was right; her father had hated Genma to the core of the world, telling her that he was a sleazy man and everything that Shikamaru had said to her regarding him in their fights. And Sasuke ... Sasuke's for Sakura. That's it. No bargain. That one time had been a little mistake.

"And what about that Uchiha kid?"

"He's for Sakura." Ino said convincingly. This time, Ibiki scoffed.

"Is it one of the girl's games?" He asked, almost in a bored tone.

"Kinda." Ino answered hesitantly and Ibiki shrugged his head in ignorance.

"Then I think the answer's all clear for you."

"What?"

"Go, don't go. It's up to you, princess." He had mocked her when he called her that. "You never want to know my opinion. You only hear what you want to hear."

XXX

"You're dismissed." Tsunade said that to a bunch of genins when Ino entered the room. Tsunade was especially cheerful today and Ino was glad to see that. Tsunade could be incredibly generous when she's on good mood.

"Ino." She greeted her. "What bring you here?" She asked in a pleasant tone. Ino took a step forward and for once in her life, she felt like fiddling her finger.

"It's regarding that." Ino emphasized her last word and at that, Tsunade's face darkened.

"Ah, that." Tsunade said. "Do you want to bail out? It's okay. I heard you're getting along well with Shiranui nowadays." She forced a soft smile that failed miserably and she looked like she was pouting instead. Ino closed her eyes.

Did the whole village know about her affair with Genma? They were not even supposed to be that sensational!

"No, no." Ino said hastily. "In fact, I want to be assigned for a mission in Kumo ... until my birthday." She told her.

Ino swore Tsunade's eyes gleamed for a second before she put her chin on her linked hands.

"Are you sure?" She asked her, and Ino nodded. Ino knew that Tsunade was always the number one, and the only supporter for the arranged marriage. The marriage was very beneficial to Konoha since it means that the future Raikage would have Konoha blood running through his vein, and Ino was a mind walker that could gather information about Kumo for Konoha, just in case things went south. And Sakura was too precious to give away to Kumo, Hinata was the next in line Hyuuga head, and Tenten was ... Tenten. It had to be her. Ino knew this very well but she had made peace with that fact long ago. What could she do anyway? Hating herself to the end of the world? That's so not her.

"Yes. So ..." Ino let her words hung on the air.

"Sure! When do you want to leave?" Tsunade asked her as she started shifted through her paperwork. At that moment, the office was opened and Shizune entered the room.

"Ino! Going for a mission?" Shizune had always been friendly and sisterly toward her. Ino was told that she had talent in medical ninjutsu, but she believed that it was because of Shizune's brilliant and patient teaching that made her so able.

"Yeah." She said softly as she eyed Tsunade, wishing that she didn't tell Shizune anything. Shizune and Sakura had been the exact opposite of Tsunade; they were the number one opposition for the arranged marriage to the point of desperately matchmaking Ino with some random guys. That one time when Ino was approached by Genma in the flower shop, she was suspicious that it was probably Shizune's doing (which apparently was not hers, but that just goes to show the length of what Shizune will do). Tsunade, on the other hand, was of course oblivious that a set of meaningful eyes was looking at her.

"She decided that she's going to Kumo until her birthday." She told Shizune.

"WHAT?" Shizune yelled in shock. Ino gave her a guilty smile as she approached her.

"What are you thinking, Ino? You shouldn't ... rush into things like that!" She told her, she grabbed her wrist with a look of concern.

"Why?" Shizune asked her demandingly.

It's because I don't want to see Sasuke ever again so that he won't be able to shake my resolve and make me end up betraying my best friend, her mind screamed.

"It's about time I get to know Darui-san better if I am going to marry him." Ino answered stiffly and Shizune looked at her in horror.

"Don't be such a drama queen, Shizune." Tsunade told her in a half laugh. "Darui is a good soldier, Ino." She told her.

"Yes, I believe." Ino answered. She had spent some time with Darui before during his visit to Konoha to meet her father and her visit to Kumo to meet the Raikage and he looked like a little bit more diligent version of Shikamaru. But that is all there is to it, she spent much more time with C talking about medical things. C had that effect on making people feel much smarter when they talked to him and Ino loved that.

"So, when do you want to leave?" Tsunade asked lightly as she already filled half of the new mission paperwork.

"This afternoon?" Ino tried and she knew that this is when things get hard. It was not like she was in an emergency and Tsunade never liked a sudden mission.

"Are you crazy, Ino?" Shizune asked her in horror as she yanked her hands.

"I'm ... Today is the best time for me to leave. My father is away on a mission and I've sorted it out with my mother. She says OK."

"What? You are just going to leave without saying goodbye?"

Oh God, she wished Shizune stopped. The guilt was too overwhelming and she didn't need to be reminded about it. It's better and always better if she left before her father's back. She had to tell him about her mission request and then he'd throw tantrums all over the village, getting drunk and made everyone's day worse and in the end she'd pity him and stayed. She didn't want that.

"Even I have to say that it is very sudden, Ino." Tsunade gave her a look of concern.

"I know." Ino said, looking away from her piercing gaze.

"But well, I can see your point." Tsunade looked at the paperwork hesitantly.

"Tonight, you can leave tonight." Tsunade told her. "Is that good enough for you?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"What is this lunacy?" Shizune roared in frustration. "Think straight, Ino." She eyed her desperately.

"Don't worry about her, Ino." Tsunade told Ino with a smirk. "She's just jealous you got married first. Now you're dismissed."

"Very well, Hokage-sama."

With that, Ino left the room while ignoring Shizune's call for her. She sighed as she walked down the street. She had packed for her things last night; her room was practically empty now. She was thinking about telling Shikamaru and Chouji about her confidential mission but Ino was not ready for some more drama. Not after what happened yesterday. She was a drama queen alright, but yesterday's drama had skyrocketed through anything she could handle. Something that involved her long life friendship and her long live love was simply too much for her. In the end, she decided to have an early brunch at a small cafe at the Tea District. The weather was warm and nice so she decided to eat outside. She noticed that there's nobody she knew at the cafe so after ordering her food she pulled out her unfinished novel.

The so-called graphic novel that Kakashi had lent to her.

"Morning, beautiful." A familiar voice greeted her and as she lowered her book, she noticed her favorite senbon picker. She beamed at him. After all the drama, a relaxed, detached time with Genma was exactly what she needs.

Genma had that ability to make her feel calmer and more confident when he's around. He made her forgot that she indeed had a marriage arrangement with someone else faraway. He was that kind of person and he appeared in front of her, now. Talk about timing, she thought as she watched him took a seat.

"Do we have a date?" Ino asked playfully in a teasing tone and Genma grinned back.

"Do we have to? It's just an innocent brunch." Genma flashed her his charming smile while ordering foods to the waiter. Ino almost melted at his smile. This man is charming! This man is gorgeous! Ino liked him, a lot!

Except that he was supposed to be a philandering pervert who slept with half of Konoha and be proud of it. Ino totally understood why half of Konoha submitted to him, though.

"So." Ino started as she watched her cup of coffee came.

"So." Genma replied. "I heard you're going on a mission tonight." He said it lightheartedly but Ino had trained far too long under Ibiki not to read between the lines. Of course Genma didn't just appear out of the blue. Of course someone had sent him for her.

"Shizune told you?" Ino asked as her face darkened. Genma laughed as he casually held her hand. His hand was so warm and Ino had to fight the urge to squeeze back.

"Don't be so tense about it. Indeed, Shizune banged on my door and told me everything frantically. But I do want to see you." He caressed her hands. "God, your hand's cold."

"Everything? What is everything?" Ino asked him in disbelief. She was entertaining the idea of dramatically pulled out her hand from his clutch but it was just ... so warm.

"Gibberish." Genma laughed. "She said that I should stop you at all cost from going tonight and maybe should seduce you." There had been an amused glint at his eyes.

"Anything at all cost." He repeated firmly, mimicking Shizune. Ino sighed.

"You're not going to seduce me, are you?" Genma grinned.

"Depends on how you like it." He told her. Ino learned that that phrase was one of Genma's favorites. She liked that too. It is fueled with so much innuendo and gave her power.

That must be why half of Konoha submitted to him.

"I have to go, anyway." Ino told him casually and she might have to thank Shizune later. Genma made fabulous companion.

"Yeah?" Genma said, sipping his tea elegantly. "Is it an important mission? Risk your life on the line?"

"No, not really." Ino said after giving it some thought. "It's just some diplomatic missions."

"Interesting." Genma watched her. "Then why the fuss, I wonder." He hummed as he started to slice his pancake.

"It took a long time." Ino said, trying to be as casual as possible. "5 months! Can't you believe it?" Of course she didn't have to tell him that she was the one asking for that mission. Genma nodded absent-mindedly as he chewed his pancake.

"Kumo?" He asked as he ate some more pancake. Ino tried to be not looking perplexed by his spot-on guess.

"Yes. How do you know?"

"You seem to be involved with Kumo recently." Genma said as he drank his tea. Ino frowned.

"Really?"

"Yeah, that mission to Kumo, that visit from Kumo, everything involved you and no other team. It's easy." He said. Ino nodded. Has it been THAT obvious?

"Yeah, Tsunade-sama especially gave that mission to me." Ino said. Genma looked at her and smiled.

"You'll be 18 by the time you're back, won't you?" He asked. Ino nodded solemnly. And married.

"Ready to be my bride by then?" The question shocked her but she kept her cool.

"Genma!" Ino slapped his hand playfully as she laughed. Genma caught it and looked at her seriously.

"It's not a cheesy pick-up line, Ino." He told her.

"I'm not getting younger and it's about time I settle. I want to be married, and it's to you."

"So sweet." Ino chuckled. She had to wriggle out of this. She had to.

"I'm dead serious, sweetheart." Genma looked at her eyes. Ino gulped.

So much for a relaxed, detached brunch.

Oooh! Will Ino go for the mission? And what did she say about the sudden proposal?

ANYWAY.

I have to ... end it here. Because a) I love cliffhanger. b) I know I'm the author, but I'm not sure who she'll end up with. YET. (thoughts on the review maybe?)

Also, when I mention that Darui is Ino's betrothed, I kinda, blurt his name out of the blue. I mean ... I didn't even do research about him yet. What he's like and all ... but then, I kinda fall in love with him and maybe just maybe ...

But everyone else is so delicious as well ... help me

Please review and I know this is quite a random chapter and ... IT'S GENMA AGAIN FOR GOD SAKE! But I love Genma he's so charming and lovable and charming and lovable and charming and lovable.
(and of course spoiler for the next chapter title. It's going to be titled ... Hyuuga Neji!)

ANYWAY REVIEW!

AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYBODY WHO HAD REVIEWED AND READ AND FAVORITED AND FOLLOWED THIS STORY OF MINE. :'')

Fanficition verse is a magical world to me, really.