Summary: Glued hand in hand. Unable to be torn apart.

Note: Well, a long time ago in a land far away (otherwise known as last year, nowhere near Germany where I should have been) I received an email from my cousin Super-Sweet. It was full of downright begging and pleading. Wanting childishly for me to write her this little Uzumaki and Yamanaka thing. So maybe this can count as it, because I never plan on doing it otherwise. The lesson to learn here is that you should not ask something of a family member you have previously ruined clothes of. Or something like that.

Warning(s): Angst-ish, strange, may cause disease.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

For: Super-Sweet, if barely.

Paper Dolls

Because we are

paper dolls.

(Glued hand in hand, or torn apart.)

Still connected.Still breakable.

Learning to accept that we are tied

together.

"Why?"

Ino had be the only one to dare to question Naruto about her ex-crush, and only then she only did it under the influence of alcohol. She was the only one who didn't know when to hold her tongue, that was probably the reason why the liquor made it easier to ask. The Yamanaka was also very proud and strongly believed that her loyalty to Konoha meant something more than what it seemed like everything else in the world did. She didn't believe in face value, not anymore. It often lied. Naruto seemed to understand. Why did he try to bring back Sasuke? Because Sasuke was more like his brother than his best friend? Because Sakura asked him to do it? Because he didn't like to break promises? He had already proven himself enough times. When he thought about it, everything he had done starting from three years ago to that exact time had been for them. He bit his bottom lip. Her eyes flashed, noticing the gesture. He beamed quickly.

"I suppose it's because I love Sakura, and I want to her to be happy." He finally decided on his answer, after the pause became a little too large. Ino frowned, mulling the idea of his answer over. Maybe she saw something he didn't in the answer. He was pretty sure he was going to find out. Her fingers reached out for the shot in front of her. One more for a little extra courage. What a lie. Drinking only had negative effects, although fairly funny ones sometimes, he had to admit. Either way, she was on her way to being completely plastered, and she wasn't going to give up when she had only just started the game.

"But when he's back, what will you do then? She loves him, and suppose he loves her too?" Ino replied, waving her hand at the barman. Another shot was in front of her in an instant, despite the fact that she was underage. Nobody seemed to follow the alcohol laws in the area. Maybe because they realised like every young shinobi had that they were old enough to kill and die for their country, but not to drink in it. Plus, there was a profit to be made from the kids who were slightly more disturbed. Especially those who used it to help them forget. It was a shady thing, really, not that Ino seemed to care at the rate she was going.

"Accept it." Naruto said, without hesitation. Ino tutted before rounding on him, raising one finger in the air in front of him and wagging it like she was telling off a particularly naughty child. He stared at her, briefly wondering at what time she would give up and how much longer after that she would be under the table, if not in dire need of having her stomach pumped. From what she had downed so far, he guessed that it would not be very long. But then again, he knew little of her tolerance level, so he couldn't really make an accurate prediction to how long the somewhat-conversation would continue. If it could even be called that.

"You stopped going on about being Hokage, your thoughts consumed by finding Sasuke instead. Live for yourself, Naruto." Ino ordered another three shots, which were promptly lined up in front of her. She must have been building a pretty big bar tab up, at that point. He rolled his eyes, gently placing a hand on her lower back and tipping her away from the drinks as carefully as he could manage. She sat straight on the stool, staring at him coldly as he moved the drinks towards himself instead.

"Let me have these, Ino." He told her. She cracked up laughing.

"See. You have every right to be selfish, Naruto. Just like everyone else." With that, Ino promptly collapsed into him. He took the three shots of liquidised sense killers, slung her arm over his shoulder like she was an old friend and stumbled towards the door, all the way ignoring the protests of Kiba who had only just got there and was almost demanding that they had a contest to see who could take the most in a minute. He declined, because his surroundings were already pretty fuzzy and he was already losing his footing. Because he wasn't sure if Ino would appreciate being left in a bar with a bunch of perverted old men and the dog boy who wanted to be near anything pretty with legs, especially in the morning. If Sakura found out, he wasn't sure she would like the fact that he left her best friend to her own devices after a few too many either. So with that in mind, he had hauled Yamanaka Ino to his house and unceremoniously dumped her on his bed.

"You're like a paper doll." She muttered into the sheets at three in the morning, after he gave up trying to sleep on the sofa and simply slumped on to the bed where she lay. It had woken her up, but it didn't seem she felt anything about it. Instead, she had simply moved over a little, allowing him to tangle his limbs with hers like they were five year old innocent children instead of seventeen year old bloodstained adolescents. He didn't find himself minding that. It was comforting, in a way, and he couldn't say he didn't like it. He couldn't exactly turf her out then, he reasoned with himself. Plus, she was warm, and nobody who was that warm could really be as horrible as she seemed to want to make herself look.

"A paper doll?" He whispered back, his eyes shut firmly. He felt her nod in confirmation, her head moving the pillow and her hair messing around, then reaching out and tickling his nose softly. He was tempted to brush it away, but it could wait. Only because it smelt nice, he reasoned with himself. Sakura smelled of strawberries all the time because of her shampoo, but she smelt like raspberries and coconut, and he liked it. The odd mix worked together, and sort of suited her in a way he couldn't explain. Not only that, but the scent of flowers lingered around her. He supposed it was because of her shop. Not that he was complaining.

"Your hands are stuck to the hands of others. You can't bear to break the bonds. That's why you're still trying to bring him back, isn't it?" She replied. He buried his face in her hair, and she squealed. He was tired, to tell the truth. Not just because it was late, and he desperately needed sleep. Because he was chasing after something he could never quite catch. But he couldn't tell her that. She'd run and tell Sakura, most likely. That, and he didn't really want to tell her she was actually correct. He couldn't bear to tear his flimsy paper hand from Sasuke's one, because he wanted to believe that they were still connected. He wanted to believe in that moment that every person in the world was like a paper doll. Still holding on. Still tied together. Still accepting that was how it was supposed to be. But he wasn't sure that it was fair. Learning to accept that they were tied together, despite anything, was nearly impossible. Yet he'd done it without thinking, and then this girl had forced herself into his life in a single night and made him realise what exactly he could do. He could do what he wanted. He could be selfish like he deserved to be. He could be free.

"You're one too, Ino." Naruto said, talking into her hair. His warm breath must have been quite discomforting, but she could live with it. He wanted to cling to her smell. It was nice.

"A paper doll?" She queried, sounding quite confused. For someone just as loud (if not louder than) him, she sure was being quiet when she said that. Maybe she already knew, and just couldn't accept it. Couldn't bear to think that she was just as damaged as everyone else, tattered around the edges by life and growing ever so close to being torn. Or maybe he thought of a new thing she hadn't. She had been coloured in. At first yellow, a simple colour for new life. Then pink, because she defended Sakura when Sakura couldn't do it herself and Ino was forever protecting the underdogs. After that came red, the show of rage and love and a simple ribbon he knew Sakura still had kept in one of her drawers. Green was next, a fresh start for Team Ten, the continuation of InoShikaChou and a new start for Ino, still supporting the underdogs with her special brand of tough love for Shikamaru and Chouji. Black came after, the colour of death, the clothes she wore at her teachers funeral. Orange. Orange was his colour, and now, he was sure he was never going to be able to tear away from her either. No matter how hard he tried. They were tied together by the hands that created the paper dolls, and she had noticed something nobody else ever had in an instant. His paper doll, bruised with years of suffering, was beginning to tear. He was falling apart at the seams. He was breaking. From the looks of it, so was she.

"You just need to accept that we're all hand in hand. All connected. Despite anything." He told her firmly. She fell silent, then curved her back a little and buried her head into his chest. The black shirt would probably smell like her too, then. Although that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, he knew that it would give him away if he wore it the next day as being a little too close to her. Which really, their proximity showed. They were a little too close, after just one night of talking. Not just space-wise, either. They had learned about each other. They knew things nobody else did. They were new to each other, and forehead to chest. But that was fine. It didn't bother him in the slightest, because he could tell she wasn't going to hurt him. She was already ripped enough, and she knew doing that to another person was cruel. She couldn't even if she wanted to. A few minutes later, his shirt was sodden with her tears. He just sat there, taking in the silence, and her lack of noise whilst she cried, and then finally he did something he should have done a long time ago. Instead of crying for Sakura, or Sasuke, or Kakashi or even her at that moment. He cried for himself. So he moved his hand close to hers, and carefully took it. Intertwined them from then onwards.

He didn't want it any other way.

"Idiot!"

Sakura screamed loudly, as she began to heal up his wounds in hospital. Tens of paper thin cuts lined his body, if not hundreds. He stared at the sterile white walls, not really listening to her for once. He was more concerned about other things. The woman with the long blonde hair and big blue eyes, her best friend. Sakura should have been seeing to her, checking that she was fine. She had taken quite a beating, and he wasn't sure she had been able to heal herself entirely because she was so concerned with making sure that he stayed safe. She should have known better. He could protect himself. Yet she said he needed to be selfish.

"Is Ino safe?" He asked, as a numb feeling began to overcome him. The blankness of the colour was beginning to hit at him. It was so empty. So plain. So unused and fresh, so very showing of free space and things which had yet to happen. That and her chakra beginning to pour into him when he didn't want it to was making him exceptionally more worried. He wondered if Ino was having the same thing done right then. A thunderous crash brought him back to reality. He saw Chouji racing past the door, knocking over various things in his haste. Shikamaru proceeded a few minutes after him, pausing at the door to his room before pushing it open and answering what Sakura didn't through spite and anger.

"You saved her, Naruto. I can't quite say what I want to, really. I don't know how to put it into words. I could never thank you enough, and I doubt Chouji could either." He said, with an awkward look as he raised a hand to rub the back of his head in sheer embarrassment. He didn't need to say anything more. His first words had given him a feeling of elation that was enough to last a lifetime. She was ok. Ino was fine. She was recovering. That was all he wanted to find out. All he needed to know. He cleared his throat. Sakura frowned, but seemed to understand. She made her way past Shikamaru, slamming the door behind her.

"Does Ino hate me, now she's seen it?" He looked at Shikamaru. The ponytailed man looked stunned. A wide smile spread over his face before he burst into laughter, shaking where he couldn't stop himself. He raised a hand, shaking it side to side. No, no. His gesture read that. But he wasn't sure if he could believe it until he heard the words from his mouth. The other male seemed to get it.

"She doesn't care about demons and that sort of thing. You're still human to her, I should imagine, knowing what she's like. Plus, you took hundreds of hits for her. You'll be her new Sasuke." Shikamaru said. Naruto knew what he was saying. Sasuke had been her Knight in shining armour, her Prince who would ride in on his white horse and save her, although he never actually had. In a way, she had been the one to save him. Through saving Sakura in the first chunin exams they entered and roping Shikamaru and Chouji into helping her, she had protected Sasuke and himself. He'd never thanked her for that. He supposed this was repayment; if saving her, Kakashi and Chouji from that Akatsuki guy didn't count. What a poor choice of words, though. For a genius, he had sure said something stupid.

"I don't want to be her Sasuke." He growled quickly. Shikamaru blinked, then looked down at the floor. A small, sad smile came across his features as he nodded. Naruto stared at the suddenly downcast Nara, wondering why exactly saying that had struck him so deeply. Then he got it. His words just confirmed it.

"I've found that with her, it's rarely possible to be anything else." Shikamaru told him, before turning on foot and leaving the room. Sakura didn't come back, either. Left to his own devices, all he could do was think. Staring at the blank walls, which reminded him of uncoloured space on paper dolls and ridiculous but accurate conversations at silly times of the night and the early morning. He'd noticed something he'd never noticed before, and remembering Ino's words, it was a wonder why he'd never quite clocked on from the beginning. She loves him, and suppose he loves her too? He'd never asked if Ino if she wanted him to come back, because she hated traitors. Or so he had assumed, based on her pride. He'd never asked if she thought anything else about him. What she would do, if that happened.

Most of her life had been coloured over in blue. Over the other shades he felt it was coloured. A deep navy blue, Sasuke's colour. At five, she had claimed to be in love with him. Just like all the other girls. But Ino was different. She always got what she wanted. She was pretty and popular, with good grades and came from a once powerful clan that she would make a name for again. Sasuke had stolen her heart from day one, and she was determined to steal his back. When Sakura said she had a crush on him, she'd gently stepped down until they were ten, when Sakura demanded to know if she liked him too and she hadn't been able to answer because she still wanted to cling to their friendship. Everything between them had been a battle over Sasuke, and up until the day when Sakura was placed on his team, it seemed like Ino would have been the one to win it. Because she had been kind. Because she hadn't chosen to make them rivals. Because it would only be fair that way. Ino hadn't done much wrong.

But somehow, he didn't want it to be that way any longer. He didn't want Sakura for himself. He didn't want Ino to run to Sasuke as soon as he got back. He wanted Sakura to, and for the life of him he couldn't fathom exactly why that was unless it was because his hands had got stuck to hers. Someone had taken glue, and rather than letting them just cling to each other when they wanted to, they had made them stuck together. Although really, he wasn't sure it was what either of them had ever wanted at all. They just wanted friendship, right? Just wanted someone to rely on? Another paper doll, just as flimsy as each other? Just as broken? That was all it was, surely. But now, they couldn't tear themselves apart. They just couldn't. Now he understood why she had cried at what he said. Because they were joined from that sentence onwards, and there was nothing they could do about it.

Neither of them wanted to let go.

"I hear you got him."

Ino started, sounding tired and more torn than she had ever been before. He looked at her, his own eyes heavy. It was four in the morning, and she smelt of alcohol more than her normal mix of pleasurable scents. His lips cracked from dehydration as he smiled as best he could at her, feigning happiness. She looked directly at him, trying to smile back and failing miserably. She hadn't had years of practice like he did. It had been a year from their conversation, that day. Not that she probably knew that. It was almost like an odd anniversary of sorts, although they had little to celebrate. They had found one another, but at the cost of losing themselves and becoming a little more torn than they already had been.

"Yeah." Naruto's voice cracked as the reply came out. The single word was enough. She threw her shoes off unceremoniously by his door, then shoved him inside. He hit the used couch with a soft thud, his eyes widening as she collapsed to the cold wooden floor in front of him. Small shivers ran through her body, and she began to shake. Her lip quivered. The tears fell.

"So why don't I want him to be back? Why would I rather he swept Sakura off her feet, so you wouldn't have to love her?" She wondered aloud, not daring to look at him. He slid downwards to join her. Moving one tanned hand beneath her chin, he did something he had wanted to do since he saved her. He tilted her chin upwards so she was looking directly at him, then in an instant, he pressed his lips on hers.

"You don't want to tear away from me." He told her, in between soft kisses and a battle of hands as they clung to each other tightly. Her hands roamed to his hair, grabbing it tightly and then down his back to the black shirt he always wore before she fisted it. He couldn't stop himself, really. His much larger hands moved to her back, wanting to tear the very shirt off. He knew he couldn't. He had to stop himself. If this went any further, that night could be a huge mistake and whatever it was between them would be destroyed. This paper bond between paper dolls could easily be broken. He couldn't live with himself if it did tear, though.

"You can't tear away either." She stated, knowing that it was already a fact. He kissed her more deeply, his tongue tracing her lips and the inside of her mouth in a battle for the truth. Their breaking point had already long been surpassed, but seeing just how much further they could be pushed after that was something new entirely that he had never dared to think about. His skin was burning like he had a fever, and she was smoldering under his fingers. The flimsy paper dolls were beginning to burn up before the very eyes of one another, and he couldn't find a piece of himself, not even logic, that wanted it to just stop. Not then.

"Why didn't you just lie?" Naruto muttered, questioning her easily. She could have said that it was because she was drunk, and she'd stayed there before when she'd just turned up like that. She could have said that she was ecstatic that Sasuke was back, thanked him and pretended that nothing ever happened between them because it was better off that way, seeing as they didn't want to rip each other even more. She could have said anything. But the fact was, Ino chose not to. She chose to accept what they had created, and that perplexed him to no end.

"We're tied together." She replied cryptically. Then it hit him. The feeling she gave him. Maybe she had it too. The little burning sensation in the chest, lips becoming exceptionally dry around the other, the funny stomach feeling. He'd never had it before. He had to wonder, perhaps it was something new. Something he was never quite sure of, laying dormant until he came across the right person. Until he knew her. He pulled away, and grabbed her wrists when she went to grab him again. He stared directly into her eyes, giving a moment of silence between the two loud blonde haired, blue eyed humans.

"You love me." He stated. Her mouth dropped open slightly, her breathing hitched. He supposed it was true. He didn't expect otherwise. But that would explain it. That would explain the feelings between two paper dolls. She loved him, no matter what. Unconditionally. He wasn't Sasuke, he wasn't even Shikamaru or Chouji, but she loved him. She actually loved him. Deep down, somewhere, he knew it was possible. Just maybe. But she was in love with him. Him? He couldn't pretend all that well. He was in love with her too. He didn't even need to say it. She knew. His grip slacked, and he released her.

Because they were paper dolls. Glued hand in hand. Unable to be torn apart. Breakable, but rejecting the sorrow of those thoughts. Connected, although it made things complicated and far from easy. Finally accepting that they were tied together, and possibly, Naruto thought, realising that it was supposed to be that way. Maybe, they were born for each other. Maybe they were made together, cut from the same sheet, so it was supposed to be like this. Or maybe, this was never meant to happen. Maybe she wasn't meant to be his, and both of them were supposed to be torn to shreds from the start. But they had each other, and that was probably all that they ever needed. To find someone like themselves, someone to love. Someone who could teach them about acceptance, no matter what.

Another paper doll.

Yes, I do so happen to be utterly insane. Just possibly. Favouriting and running is disliked. Constructive critisism is wanted.

Reviews are loved. :)