Hi all! Sorry it took me so long to update, I was buried under 6 feet of schoolworks and professors are really trying to kill us. Xp Anyway, you know the drill. Read and please don't forget to review. :)

~Ino Ishii

"Naruto?" Ino whispered.

He glanced at her, and she tipped her head toward the floor. Naruto had no trouble whatsoever spotting the dark pool of blood.

Hell.

Whoever was out there was either putting on a very convincing show with fake blood, or else the man was genuinely dying.

"Call for backup," Naruto reminded her, and he shouted to the person on the other side of the door.

"Who's out there?"

"Kabuto," the man finally answered.

Even though Ino didn't waiver from calling headquarters, Naruto saw the relief flash through her eyes. It wasn't her brothers out there but Yakushi Kabuto. That realization would help her regain her focus.

Thank goodness.

Because Naruto was a hundred percent sure they'd both need all the focus they could get.

"Someone…shot me." Kabuto added. He sounded as if he was getting weaker by the moment.

But the key words were as if because there were a lot of as if's about this situation that could get them killed.

"Backup's on the way," Ino let him know.

Naruto nodded and returned his attention to the pseudo interrogation with his possibly wounded suspect. "Who shot you?"

"I – I don't know. I didn't see who it was, but the bullet was fired from a gun with a silencer. I didn't hear it until I was too late. Please…please let me in."

Oh yeah. Like they were going to do that any time soon. Kabuto was their number one suspect, and this was exactly the kind of trap a guy like him would try to pull.

"I think it might have been Karin who shot me," Kabuto tried again. "I've been following her." He paused for another of those gasps. "And I think she might be the sniper."

"It's funny you mentioned that, I was thinking the same thing about you," Naruto coldly told the other man.

"Not me." And Kabuto repeated it like a mantra. A mantra that got weaker with each word.

Naruto glanced at the pool of blood. It was spreading. If by some miracle Kabuto was telling the truth, he was bleeding out fast.

"Should I call an ambulance?" Ino asked.

He nodded. "But tell them the same thing you told backup. I don't want them to approach the suspect. I want them to wait until they have clearance from either me, you or the backup officers."

"Karin's crazy enough to do this," Kabuto went on, the pitch of his voice wavering wildly. "She has this problem…she, uh, flies off the handle when a man rejects her. She's been stalking Sasori."

Naruto hadn't needed Kabuto to tell him that. "What were you doing here anyway?"

"Watching you and Ino," he readily admitted. "I figured if Karin wasn't the sniper, then maybe it was…the two of you. I wanted to stop anyone else from dying."

"Playing detective could be dangerous," Naruto growled.

He hurried past the door to the other window and peered through the corner of the blinds. There was enough light from the nearby apartment complex for him to see the shadowy figure lying on the small concrete entry just outside the door. The person was curled up in a fetal position – maybe out of fear. Or maybe, Kabuto was trying to conceal a weapon.

"Is he armed?" Ino whispered. She put the phone on the snack bar and aimed both her guns at the door.

Naruto shook his head. "I cant tell."

And that left him with a serious dilemma. If by some miracle, what Kabuto said was the truth, if Karin indeed shot him, then the man needed help. Render assistance, was what Naruto had been taught to do. That was training.

Procedure.

But if this was a trap, then the sniper was the one calling the shots. Literally. Because when the backup or the ambulance arrived in the next couple of minutes, that would put them in the line of fire, as well.

If it comes down to a situation where someone negates the rules, trust Ino, Shikamaru had said.

All in all, it was damn good advice.

"What does your gut instinct say about this?" Naruto asked her in a whisper.

Ino blinked, probably surprised that he'd put this on her shoulders, but he was positive her shoulders could handle it.

She glanced at the blood again. "I don't think Kabuto's the sniper. He wouldn't have gotten this close because he doesn't trust me not to kill him on the spot. My guess is he's the bait. And I think if we open that door, then someone will open fire on us."

Naruto nodded. Everything she said made sense. So he had his answer, and took it one step further.

Moving back to the window and without touching the blinds, he looked out into the parking lot for any sign of the person who'd likely shot Kabuto and was trying to use the man to draw them out.

"See anything?" Ino asked.

"No."

Well, nothing other than at least three dozen cars, all jammed into the space that separated the two multistory apartment buildings. But a car probably wouldn't have given the sniper a good view, since their apartment was on the second floor. No. he or she would want to be higher.

Naruto's gaze combed over the masonry fence located at the back of the parking lot. It was a possibility and would provide an escape since there was an alley by it and then a street just on the other side.

But the angle was all wrong.

It was the same for the street on the left. A bad angle, and it was way too visible. This guy liked to stand back, aim and fire. He liked hiding.

That left the three-story building directly across from them.

It was a good deduction, he soon realized. Because Naruto caught a glint of something. Just a glimmer of movement.

"Get down!" he yelled to Ino and dove for the floor right before the shot came crashing through the window where he'd been standing.

Ino hit the floor, sheltering her face and eyes from the flying glass. Naruto did the same., but in their scramble to get away from the gunfire, they ended on opposite sides of the room.

And worse, the gunfire wasn't a single shot.

Another quickly followed and tore its way through what was left of the glass. And another. Just like the night in the alley and that day at the church, it was a barrage.

"Those shots are too high to have come from Kabuto," Naruto shouted over the blasts.

Ino agreed. That meant she'd been right about him not being the sniper.

For all the good it'd done her.

They were still pinned down. Still in danger. But at least the sniper didn't seem to be shooting at Kabuto. Now that she knew he might be an innocent player in this, she didn't want another bullet hitting him.

"The bedroom!" Naruto yelled.

Ino kept her weapon in her hands, but she threw open the door so that Kabuto could perhaps get inside. He did. Crawling and groaning. And she saw the still-spreading stain of blood on his shoulder and the front of his shirt. No weapon, but even if he'd had one, he was likely too weak to use it.

"The ambulance is on the way," she told Kabuto. "Stay down."

With Naruto yelling for her to hurry, she crawled toward him. Not easily. The bulky dress got in her way. And even after she got into the bedroom, Ino discovered it wasn't much safer than the area they'd just left.

The single window near the head of the bed was taking a pounding as well, and there was glass strewn all over the bedding. She reached over the debris and grabbed their communicators from the night stand. If they got separated during an escape, they'd need them.

Naruto circled an arm around her waist and pushed her into the bathroom. He didn't stop there. He got them into the tiled shower. A temporary safe haven. But only temporary. Only long enough for them to come up with a plan.

The shots continued through the bedroom window and were already gashing holes in the wall. If the sniper kept the firepower pinpointed, then those bullets would eventually come through the tile.

"How about the balcony?" she asked. "It's on the opposite side of the building from those shots."

Naruto's gaze met hers, and she knew it was something he had already considered. And he'd also already dismissed it because of the danger.

"Whoever that sniper is, he or she will kill anyone who tried to help us," Ino pointed out. "The stray shots –"

"There aren't enough stray shots," Naruto insisted.

Somehow, she heard him over the racket and over the pounding of her heartbeat.

He was right.

There weren't many strays. The shots were going through the window with much better than average precision, far more accurate than the gunfire they'd encountered at the church or in the alley. This pattern was more like the first shooting.

The one that had killed Sakura and her groom.

Ino might have taken longer to consider that inconsistency if a bullet hadn't come through the wall and the tile.

Naruto shoved her down with the bits of ceramic and plaster. The deafening noise continued to crash around them.

"We'll go out to the balcony," Naruto instructed. "We'll climb down the fire escape and circle back around to the edge of the building. I might be able to get a good enough look to pick off the sniper."

"You think the sniper's on the rook of that apartment building?" she asked.

"I know he is. I got a glimpse of something before he fired. I'm almost positive he's on the right side of a huge ventilation shaft where no one can see him from the street."

And it would also allow the gunman refuge since it'd take a while for the cops to block off the street. Then, he could probably escape over that fence into the alley. From there he'd simply fade into the city.

Unless they stopped him first.

"What do you want me to do?" Ino asked.

He ducked his head when a shot rammed through another section of the tile. "After we're on the ground, one of us will need to go to the left of the building."

For a distraction. A necessary one. If she had the layout of the roof correct in her mind, the left was the sniper's blindside since he was on the right of the ventilation shaft. That meant one of them had to be the diversion while the other delivered the shot that would hopefully take him out.

"You'll be the diversion," Naruto insisted.

Because it was the safer of the two positions. The sniper would have to leave cover to return fire at the person creating the diversion. But if the shooter didn't do that, if the ploy didn't work, then what would leave the person on the right – Naruto – in the killer's direct line of fire.

Oh, fuck.

It wasn't a scenario she even wanted to consider. Ino would have much preferred to take the more dangerous route herself. In fact, her heart screamed for her to do just that, to protect him at all cost.

But she couldn't.

She couldn't.

Because it wasn't just their lives at stake. Kabuto needed to get medical attention, fast. But she couldn't stop the fear. Nothing could do that. Her hand was trembling when she draped the communicator around his neck and did the same to hers.

Ino pressed her mouth to his. Something brief but hopefully it said a lot more than words, because they didn't have time for long explanations.

"Don't you dare fail," she insisted.

His jaw muscles went to war with each other. "You either."

That was it for goodbyes.

But it was enough.

"When we get outside, hurry," Naruto insisted, swallowing hard. "Use every bit of speed that I know you have because I don't want you out in the open any longer than necessary. Maintain cover and fire a shot or two to get his attention. That's it. Only a shot or two, and only if it's safe."

She nodded. Took a deep breath. And the moment he said, "Let's go," Ino did.

They stayed on the floor, crawling their way to the balcony. There was a pause in the shots. As he'd done at the church, the gunman was probably reloading or trading weapons. Naruto and she used that lapse to their advantage. They went out onto the balcony and climbed over the railing to the fire escape.

"Equipment check," she said into her communicator.

"I hear you," Naruto responded.

The shots started up again. Another barrage. Another attempt to kill whoever got in the way.

Adrenaline was like a knife cutting through her lungs. The thick humid air didn't help, either. But she ran ran, even in the heels and the dress, Ino ran as if her very life depended on it. Because it did. And not just her life, but Naruto's, too. If she blew this diversion, then the sniper would go after him.

That couldn't happen.

She slowed down as she neared the corner and checked her surroundings to make sure the angle of the shots hadn't changed. They hadn't. The sniper was still on the roof, even though she couldn't see him. Not even a glimpse.

And that was what she had to remedy. She needed him or her out in the open for at least a second or two.

"I'm in position," she relayed to Naruto.

"So am i. you go on three. I'll go on four."

"One," they counted in unison.

"Two."

"Three."

Ino pulled her breath, darted out from behind the cover of the building. And fired.

So did the sniper.

Right at her.