Shikamaru's arms acted as a pillow as he lay on the orange sand staring up into the cloudless desert sky. There are never clouds here. He thought disappointingly to himself. I could never live here…

"Yo," shaken from his own thoughts, Shikamaru sat up and saw Temari in a long black skirt and loose fitting, thin crimson top and Matsuri in a long, teal dress and a scarf over her head approaching. The two women did not look happy – one, Temari, looked pissed, and the other, Matsuri, looked like she would cry at any moment.

"You and Gaara's new girlfriend need to get out of here." Temari stated bluntly, crossing her arms firmly and tapping her shoe. Matsuri's eyes widened and Shikamaru shot his eyebrows up at them and sighed heavily.

"This isn't a picnic for me either, you know," Shikamaru grumbled, "We can't leave until Ino gives a doctor's notice stating Gaara no longer needs treatment…but at this rate…"

"Gaara has other matters aside from his illness, you know!" Temari raged, "There's a conspiracy against him going around and having Ino is just distract-"

"I know!" Shikamaru stood up impatiently and tried to explain, "We have other things to get back to, also." Shikamaru closed his eyes and pictured what it was like before they came to the Sand village: Ino and Shikamaru and their argumentative dynamic and barbecue with Chouji and watching the clouds roll by lying on the grass. He sure missed Konoha, and at first Ino had, too…

"So you're confirming it?" Temari nodded at Matsuri, who nodded back and jotted something down on a clipboard.

"Confirming what?"

"That that girl is just sticking around to hang out with Gaara, that she's actually done with the treatment." Temari wagged her finger a bit then turned to walk away, "In that case, we can report her and have you guys thrown out by force." Bewildered, Shikamaru couldn't muster a response before they got away. He plopped back down to the ground and put a hand to his forehead, Women are such troublesome creatures! All of them!

*Three Days Later*

"Ino!" While shopping for Gaara's groceries at the market, Shikamaru, trying to catch his breath, ran up to Ino and grabbed her arm, "I've been trying to get a hold of you for days! You troubleso-"

"What?! What do you want, Shikamaru? Or should I say, traitor?!" She huffed, and stuck her nose up in the air and tried to escape but Shikamaru trailed her like an attached puppy.

"Ino! I swear I wasn't trying to report you! They tricked me! But it doesn't matter because now we can leave either way. We both don't like it here and-"

"We?! What do you mean we?" Ino turned and faced Shikamaru. They held a cold gaze.

"Are you trying to say you actually want to stay here?" Shikamaru asked quietly. People were starting to stare.

"Maybe. I don't think that concerns you anymore." Ino's words pierced, "I really like Gaara. But it seems no matter what guy I like, you always have something-"

"He got Sakura pregnant." Shikamaru basically vomited the sentence. He hadn't intended for it to spill, but it just fell out of his mouth, leaving both their jaws hanging. Ino turned pale. "I'd heard the rumour for some time now, but I didn't…"

"Shut up. You're pathetic!" Ino barked and her hands shook against the paper bag full of veggies. She turned around so to hide her tears and run away.

"Ino!"

"Don't follow me!" She demanded, and raced towards Gaara's office. Halfway, she even hurled the grocery bag in anger.

"Oh, Ino, back so soo-?" Gaara didn't look up as she stormed into his office and was surprised with two backhands across his face. Shocked, he stood up, his whole face turning pink.

"You thought I wouldn't find out?!" Ino snapped, taking no mercy, getting her hands ready for another blow.

"What on earth?!"

"Sakura! Sakura! My best friend for god's sake! And she didn't even-!" Ino brought her hands to her hair and nearly ripped a chunk out. "She didn't even tell me!"

"Wait…" Gaara went from the color of a firetruck to the color of paper in an instant, "How do you know about-?"

"Sakura-san is here." Matsuri announced, flinging the door open without a single knock. In strolled Sakura, who had deep dark circles around her eyes and walked like a tired penguin. She had on those frilly, flowy pink shirts that hid your stomach. Ino narrowed her eyes at her.

"Hi, sorry I'm late…" Sakura tried to smile, but she was visibly uncomfortable, "Let's go over this quick, shall we?" She sighed. She had been called here to evaluate Ino's progress and determine exactly how much more time was needed.

"You!" Ino roared in Sakura's direction, making the pink-head contort her face into a puzzled look and turn back to Gaara.

"Uh, can I start by seeing the forms?" Sakura cleared her throat, ignoring what she believed to be the usual moody antics of her blonde friend. Wow, Gaara must really have his hands tied with her. I feel a little bad, but in my current state I wouldn't have been very good at doing the job…

"You whore!" Ino shrieked, walking up to Sakura and digging her nails into her shoulder, "If you weren't pregnant, I'd-"

"What?!" Sakura's eyes bulged out and when she couldn't push Ino off, she puked all over her.

Twenty minutes later when Ino and Sakura both had changed and washed up; they met again in Gaara's office, this time, with Shikamaru, Matsuri, Temari, and Kankuro all present.

"I'd appreciate it if we could just stick to business this time…" Sakura shifted awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with nearly everyone. She had to borrow one of Matsuri's outfits, and her stomach was poking through it. Ino made a menacing sort of growl – the kind an angry cat makes and they began reviewing the case. After going over the records and examining Gaara, Sakura stood up and sighed as she handed the clipboard over to Gaara, "Could everyone except Gaara leave this room, please?"

Still not making eye contact with anyone in particular, the rest of the group herded awkwardly out of the room. Sakura could still sense them right outside the door, but annoyed, sick, and defeated she just sighed and turned back to the patient.

"I'm really sorry, but…your illness appears to be…incurable." Sakura breathed slowly. She had done this before – delivered bad news to a patient – but it seemed to affect her more now that it happened to what she considered to be somewhat of a friend. She waited for a response but when he didn't give one, she continued, "Now, it's not necessarily terminal, but it is progressive, meaning it will probably get worse over time…" Now there was a heavier tension in the room, "But you should be able to cope and live a pretty normal life…and if you really listen to your doctor you can keep your position as Kazekage, for a few more years at least,"

Gaara looked up at her intensely and spoke quietly but audibly to everyone, "Doctor..? How often…?"

"Live-in," Sakura explained, "You will need a live-in doctor, someone who is willingly to abandon everything else and work simply as your medic. That person will be in charge of your well-being and managing your disease at all times. It will need to be someone loyal and trusted but very well educated in medicine. I will most likely interview potential candidates from the Anbu-"

"What about…Ino..?" Gaara choked, stunning Sakura.

"Ino as in…?" Sakura slowly pointed to the door, and when Gaara nodded, she had to take a seat. "What exactly is going on here?" Sakura narrowed her eyes and leaned forward to look Gaara in the eyes. She knew something had been strange since she was called down, "What is this with Ino? What's such a big deal that your sister reported her for 'possible misconduct'?"

Gaara let his face drop into his open palms, "It wasn't…on purpose…it just happened…"

"What are they saying?" Matsuri, tried to glue her ear tighter to the door. Ino shook her head and started walking away. "Hey, where are you going."

"Back where I came from!" Ino sniffled, causing Matsuri to twinge a bit. She couldn't help but feel happy to hear she was leaving, but she was still worried about Gaara.

"What about Gaara?" Matsuri asked softly.

"Sakura and their love child can stay here and look after him. After all, a kid needs his father!" Ino felt the sting against her tongue as she spoke, and she started to cry, frozen in place.

"W-what?!" Matsuri looked around but Temari and Shikamaru both looked away shamefully, "You…he…you guys…knew?!"

"What? That's a lie!" Kankuro laughed half-heartedly, "He didn't-!"

"You were off in Konoha when she came last year, remember?" Temari pointed out, patting her brother on the shoulder and then walking behind Matsuri and petted her hair in an attempt of comfort. "I knew something was strange but…I didn't really believe any of the rumours until the hokage confided that Sakura wouldn't make it because…"

"So? All this time..!?" Maturi gasped and clasped her hands against her mouth, with tears now falling she slid down to the floor and sobbed.

"Ino…" Shikamaru didn't know what to say. He felt angry at Sakura, now, although he wasn't sure why. He wasn't sure of much at this point. Finally, the door opened and Sakura, with weary eyes called out for Ino and asked her to come in. When she refused, Sakura just groaned deeply and nodded.

"Fine, make sure she comes to see me later…I'm going to rest a bit before leaving…" She said to Shikamaru and then started walking in the opposite direction.

*Later*

Ino was sitting up in her dark room facing the window. The moon and the stars were especially bright here, better for gazing at than in the bustle of Konoha. Despite that, for the first time since before she arrived, she felt a hint of homesickness.

"Stupid," She cursed at herself, "How stupid was I to forget everything…for some stupid player," She missed breaths and lost control of her crying. There seemed to be an insatiable lump in her throat tugging at her. She closed her eyes and thought of Sakura and the image of her protruding belly stuck in her mind. Why hadn't she told her? And why had she acted so casual around Gaara? Did she think no one noticed? That no one knew?

Dak. Dak.

There was a light knocking of the door and then a twist attempting to open it but it was locked.

"Go away!" Ino cried, tossing a thin pale pillow weakly at the door. Determined though, the knocking insisted, until finally, Ino stomped towards it and swung it open. It was Gaara.

Hey everyone~ I added little awkward transitional thingies in this chapter in bold because for some reason, FF hadn't been posting the transitions I was using in other chapters (this happened in my other stories, too) and so it made the reading confusing. I hope this will make things clearer!

Oh, and on a side note, today my cat kept meowing like a little baby (she hardly ever meows, especially at me, unless she wants tuna or something is wrong) and was giving me a hard time to leave for school. Well, I finally left the house and commuted (for one hour on the university bus at 6am) to school and came up to the library to wait for my first class to begin in an hour, when I decide to check my email and find out that class is canceled. Since my second class is also canceled, and my third class doesn't start until about noon, I guess I'm going to be in the library for four or five hours with nothing to do...

Well, at least I got a chapter in right?! Moral of the story: Listen to your cats. They know what's up.

Unlike Matsuri. Hah. (Too soon?)