"I think I might have found something," she heard Naruto announce from the other room.

Ino leaned back a little so she could glance at him through the bedroom door. For security reasons, they had turned off most of the lights, but it wasn't difficult to see Naruto working on his laptop at the tiny kitchen table in the equally tiny kitchen. There were no windows in that particular area so he was using the dim light over the stove to read through the latest background info on their suspects.

"Hisuko Sasori's long time fiancée broke up with him last month. A bad break up. Very messy." Naruto went on. He positioned one of the other kitchen chairs in front of him and propped up his feet.

"And according to his very chatty personal trainer, he's been psychiatric care since he was a teenager. He suffers from manic-depression coupled with something called radical impulsive tendencies."

"What the heck was the last part?" She opened the suitcase her friend Chouji had packed for her and plundered through it for something she could wear to bed. Hopefully, it'd be something that covered a lot of skin because the apartment only had one small bedroom. The sleeping bag in one corner let her know that she'd be sharing that limited space with Naruto.

Ino took a deep, steadying breath.

"Beats me. Maybe it means Sasori's just an irrational ticked-off killer, as opposed to all those other non ticked-off rational killers we deal with every day," Naruto said.

"Yeah, that'd be a nice change huh?" she joked.

Ino studied the garments and realized she'd gotten her something to cover a lot of skin wish. There was an enormous pair of cartoon superhero pj's, no makeup whatsoever, only a toothbrush for toiletries, jeans and a T-shirt. Her underwear choices were limited to cotton and were the worst ones possible Chouji could have found in her lingerie drawer. If that's where he indeed got them. they looked like Salvation Army rejects. She frowned.

"I just hope that Chouji isn't playing a trick on me by picking this wardrobe…I'll kill him if he does," Ino murmured. Surely, having Chouji as a teammate and accomplice was a blessing. Most likely he sticks on her side, whether the assignment has been legally approved or not. But sometimes it has its hitches. Just like this one. He just doesn't care whether Ino would look like a clown in this mission or not.

"I don't need to flatter him anyway," Ino pushed the thought aside that she was subliminally trying to impress her boss by her choice of sleepwear.

With her limited choices, she opted for the pj's that were dotted with caped and winged crusaders. Ino stepped deeper into the dark bedroom, keeping the door open a crack between them so she could still hear Naruto's ongoing summary of the new reports.

"I think some of the dots are starting to connect," he continued. "Get this – Sasori's shrink is a guy by the name of Dr. Tomoyama Kenji. Ring any bells?"

The moment the name registered, Ino hurriedly put on the pj's and walked back to the doorway.

"He has courted Sakura for three months after her first break up with Sasuke. She thought that it was now over for her and Sasuke and decided to give Tomoyama a chance, but then…" Ino trailed off as Naruto continued for her.

"But then, Sasuke realized that he's making a big mistake so he tried to win back Sakura for the second time. Sakura dumped him immediately before even acknowledging his efforts. A year later, they were engaged and was about to walk the aisle but were murdered." Naruto finished.

Now that was an interesting connection. Their prime suspect, Hiruko Sasori, was in therapy with Sakura's former admirer.

"Coincidence?" she suggested.

"Maybe," Naruto tossed her a glance. And did a double take before he shook his head. "But because he's an 'almost' ex of your besfriend, he's a suspect. I'll have someone question Dr. Tomoyama tomorrow. Too bad I cant do it myself, but I cant risk blowing our cover."

"It might be a risk no matter who does the questioning, especially since he'll just roadblock us with doctor-patient confidentiality. He might even lawyer up. Wouldn't it be a better idea just to have him followed?"

"Then I wouldn't be able to get his reaction when he's asked about his connection to Sasori."

True. And maybe it was worth the risk just to shake things up a little. It might make the sniper think twice about launching another attack over the weekend.

"What exactly are you wearing?" Naruto asked.

She glanced down at the pajamas and shrugged. "I think it belongs in the sleepwear category that my friend Chouji has packed for me."

That seemed to be the only explanation Naruto required. He minimized Sasori's file on the computer screen and clicked on to the next one.

While she waited for it to load, she glanced at Naruto's attire. He still wore the clothes he'd had on for the icebreaker. Well, minus the jacket. His hair was no longer that perfect, however. Probably because he had a habit of scratching his head and running his hand through it while in deep thought.

Despite of that, Ino found her boss very fashionable and equally sexy which sadly for her was the greatest turn-on of all.

"Hisagi Karin," Naruto read aloud.

Good back to business. It was exactly where her mind needed to be. "Anything new on her?" she asked.

"You mean other than the fact that she managed to shake the backup officers who were following her, and now no one knows where she is?" Naruto instantly replied.

"Yes other than that," Ino grumbled.

She made her way around him to the fridge. Ah, she had much better luck there than her suitcase. It was stocked with fruits, sweets and other snacks, but what immediately caught her eye was the six bottles of her favorite sake. It must have been Chouji's peace offering for the botched fashion choices.

"Other than the knack of disappearing," Naruto said glancing over the report, "We don't really have much. we already knew she was a frequent customer as the Perfect Match and that the dead groom had been one of her fairly recent dream matches.

Ino opened a bottle of sake and took a long sip. "Which means nothing, of course. I had over a dozen dream matches so heaven knows how many she's had over the past year."

There. She'd been trying to figure out a way to dismiss the fact that Naruto had been her number one match. Not that it was important, but it'd been one of those little nagging thoughts in the back of her mind.

When he didn't respond, Ino glanced at him. No double take this time. Naruto was staring at her. Well, he was staring at her bottle of sake anyway.

"Want one?" she asked, lifting the bottle. "It's the good stuff. My favorite. I'll have to thank Chouji for buying it." She told him.

"Actually, I asked him to pick it up when he wanted to know what to bring over." He casually replied.

Ino had already reached for the fridge, but that brought her hand to a stop. She forced herself not to stop for too long so it wouldn't appear she was shocked by that revelation.

"Well then, I owe you the thanks instead." She took out a bottle from the fridge, handed it to him and left it at that.

Naruto closed down the files and started in on his beer. It was obviously his favorite as well.

"Agreeing to go into that back office with Sasori wasn't a safe idea," he let her know.

Oh, that. She hadn't thought for a minute that he'd forget it.

"No, but it was a smart one. Come on, you were on the verge of following him, but I just got around to saying it first." She explained.

He didn't agree, or disagree. Naruto sat there, staring into space while slowly sliding his fingers through the moisture on the longneck bottle.

Fuck.

Even that made her body think of erotic things that it shouldn't be thinking about.

"Talk to me about Shikamaru," she said to give her body something else to contemplate. "About this so-called investigation that the chief ordered regarding preferential treatment."

"That got Naruto's attention off blank space. He looked at her again. "Is this the part where you tell me to back off and leave your friend alone?"

"Something like that. He's had a rough time recently." She retorted.

He nodded. "Yeah. I heard. Im sorry about his wife's death."

"His wife's murder," Ino quickly corrected. "She was murdered last year while she's off-duty. The case has been practically cold. There are no arrests, and no leads. Shikamaru has to live with that every single moment of his life. Any idea what that does to a good cop, to know he cant solve his own wife's murder?"

Another nod came from the spiky blonde male.

"By nodding, I guess you mean to imply that you understand, but there's no way you could. Temari was like a sister to me. She's a good friend. A loving wife, and a doting mother." Ino went on. There was a lot more emotion in her voice than she wanted. But then, she never thought to discuss this objectively.

"Shikamaru loved her, and it rips his heart to shreds to know that her killer is still out there somewhere."

"Im sorry." Came Naruto's reply. It probably would have been easier for him to turn his attention back to the condensation on his sake bottle, or anywhere else for that matter, but he didn't. Naruto kept his gaze firmly on her. "Do you honestly think that I'd believe there's a preferential treatment just because it's an allegation?"

She opened her mouth. Closed it. And frowned. And silently cursed him. It was a dirty-pool kind of question, one that diffused the indignation she'd planned to hang on to a little longer. It was a good barrier against his manly effects on her.

"Shikamaru is lucky to have you and Chouji," Naruto said, getting up from his chair. "And you're lucky to have them too. I can see that the three of you treat each other as family."

She couldn't help it. She smiled. But she suppressed it as quickly as possible. "Does that mean Chouji had this same chat with you?"

"Twice." He simply answered.

Ino had to suppress a smile again. "I'll bet those were interesting conversations, especially your rank is above his. But let me make this clear to you, if you hurt Shika, I'll make you pay."

Naruto appeared to suppress his own smile this time. "Like I said, he's lucky to have you." He tipped his head toward the windows in the living room. "Don't stand in here too long."

Because someone might already be watching them. if the killer hadn't already scoped them out, then he or she would be doing it very soon. It was best not to be in his direct line of fire when that happened.

He glanced at his watch. "It's almost midnight. We've got an early morning ahead of us."

"Should we turn off the lights?" she asked, going into the bedroom ahead of him. She placed her slide holster on the nightstand next to her badge, primary weapon and the communicator that she'd already turned off. Then Ino stepped into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

"No. we should look…active," Naruto responded. "That way it'll convince the killer that we're on our way to becoming a bride and groom."

"Too bad I don't have a pair of those blow-up dolls we could parade past the window every now and then." She paused, and was thankful she wasn't in the same room with him so he could see the blush rise on her cheeks. "I'm so sorry I said that."

He chuckled softly. An incredibly sexy male sound that made her want to pound her head against the wall.

This was going to be such a long week.

From the mirror, she watched Naruto add his two guns and his badge to the nightstand, amking the rather small piece of furniture look even smaller under the arsenal. He had his shirt halfway stripped off before he stopped and snagged her gaze. "I don't have pajamas. If you're the blushing sort, you might want to look away."

Yeah right. She was about a hundred percent certain her eyes had no intention of cooperating with that suggestion. She didn't even fight it. Ino watched his reflection. A not so-cheap thrill. And has the privilege of seeing him toss that shirt aside. At least a dozen muscles flexed in his arms and chest as they responded to the simple gesture.

A simple gesture that caused her mouth to go dry.

Mercy.

She forced herself to finish brushing her teeth and even looked away when his pants came off. Well, briefly looked away. She thanked her lucky stars that he kept on a pair of dark blue boxers.

"Will this temporary housekeeping arrangement cause any personal problems for you?" he asked.

"If that's a subtle way of asking me if I'm involved with anyone, the answer's no." it made her sound like a social leper. Which wasn't really that far off the mark.

"Not even Chouji?" Ino could feel that one of his eyebrows was raised as he brought up Chouji's name.

"No. Not even Chouji. Chouji's a dear friend. He's more like a brother to me. I even invited him to be my roommate. That's how I love him. We're inseparable but not in the way people thought us to be." She clarified.

"Oh, I see. I was just a little curious about the real deal between you two." He confessed.

Rather than remind him that most men weren't turned on by a woman packing a badge and a couple of Glocks, Ino went for levity instead.

"My last boyfriend was a sex therapist who broke up with me because he said I was too aggressive in bed."

She paused a heartbeat before she let their gazes connect again. Yep. The startled look on his face had been worth it.

"It's a joke." She let him know.

Other than a slight sound of amusement, that was his only reaction. So much for levity. When she went into the bedroom, he strolled into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

"Actually, my last boyfriend was an accountant who broke up with me because he said I was too wrapped up in my job," she confessed and climbed into bed. "Hard to make someone feel even remotely important when you're never around. He got fed up and left me for a kindergarten teacher."

Still no response.

"How about you?" she asked.

"No one current." He came out of the bathroom, and she made a point of looking away. She'd already overdosed on his great bod. No need for more.

"The last woman in my life was a kindergarten teacher, who left me for an accountant."

Okay…so that broke the ice that had already been thawing between them. she laughed. Then bit her lip so she wouldn't laugh again.

"Whether that one's a joke or not, let me get something straight. I don't want to like you, Uzumaki." She aimed her finger at him.

He leaned over as if to kiss her goodnight, letting his mouth come very close to hers. Breath met breath. And then he turned off the light. "I agree completely."

She lay there silently cursing him. But not for long. His head had hardly hit the pillow on the floor before the phone rang. Since it was supposed to be her apartment, Ino rolled to the side of the bed and answered it.

"It's me," she heard her friend Chouji say on the other line.

"Chouji, just the man I wanted to talk to."

Naruto must have felt the same because he pressed the speaker function on the phone. Probably because he wanted to hear anything official. But the official part would have to wait.

"Thanks for the expert fucking…I mean, packing job," she tossed at Chouji. "You do know that this'll cost you in slow painful ways you cant even imagine, right?"

"I'm trembling in my Doc Martens," he responded. But the sarcasm wasn't nearly strong enough, and it didn't come close to masking his concern. "I'll drop by in the morning, pretending to deliver breakfast. Anything I can bring you?"

"You mean other than Starbucks and some real clothes?" Ino inquired cautiously, feeling him out.

"Yeah, other than that." He simply answered.

Heck. He was placating her.

Never a good sign.

"What about you Uzumaki? You need anything?" Chouji asked.

Mercy. He'd moved from placating to being nice.

"No thanks." Naruto let him know. "I've got some things in the trunk of my car."

Chouji paused. Never a good sign, either.

"So the plan is for you two to pick up Ino's car in the morning and then not come up for air again until it's time to announce your engagement at Perfect Match on Thursday?"

"Great summary." But Ino had reached her threshold for beating around the bush. "Spill it, Chouji. What's wrong?"

"Im not sure exactly." Yet another hesitation. "Someone's digging through the fake files we created for your covers."

"We expected that," Naruto pointed out. He sat up in his sleeping bag, leaning back against the side of the mattress.

"Yeah, but I didn't expect them to go at this way. It's sloppy. Damn sloppy. And that slop leads right to Sasori. It makes me uncomfortable."

Ino knew exactly how he felt. Sasori might be a killer, but from all accounts he was smart. If the cyber trail led to him, then it was probably because someone wanted them to think Sasori had done it.

Yakushi Kabuto, maybe?

Of course, there was also the angle that by being sloppy, Sasori was giving himself a very convincing out.

"If he's that smart," Ino mumbled. "We're in serious trouble."

"Yeah." Chouji agreed.