Chapter 2: Sticky Situations

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Gaara didn't know whether to be frightened, amused, or indignant. The blonde girl was staring him down as though he were a little boy, caught red-handed with a cookie before dinner. Absolutely ridiculous, really, he was the son of a powerful mob boss, but for some reason his father didn't seem quite as frightening as this little shadow.

"Well?!"

Gaara regained control of his senses, and scowled at her, "I was under the impression that this building was unoccupied."

The blonde girl rested her hands on her hips, unimpressed and unyielding, "Well it is, and let me warn you, you hooligan, if I catch you marring my beautiful dance studio again, I will personally shave that red hair of yours, blend it into a milkshake and force feed it to you through your arm."

Aside from the fact she sounded completely and utterly insane and he had not the slightest clue as to what she was talking about, Gaara was moderately impressed with her creativity.

"What are you talking about?"

It seemed he had said the wrong thing, because she practically swelled up with rage. Wordlessly she grabbed his arm and dragged him to a wall by the stairs. Fuck you was spray painted onto the plaster in large red block letters. The entire wall was a mural of expletives and juvenile graffiti.

"Remember now, asshole?" she snarled.

"I didn't do this."

"Oh really?" her voice was sarcastic, and bitter.

"Really."

She seemed taken aback by his deadpanned voice, and eyed him suspiciously.

"Really?" she wasn't quite so bitter now, merely curious.

"Really." he repeated, unemotional and nonchalant.

"So you're not a hooligan?" she was still a bit suspicious but she was on the verge of retracting her vicious female cat claws.

"I am, but not for this childish display."

Pink tights let her arms fall to her side, tilted her head to study him, "Then what on earth are you doing here?"

Gaara didn't answer her, but returned to the satchel he had left in the middle of the room. Ino frowned at what she considered a lack of manners.

"I'm a runaway."

He took one look at the death trap entrance, and turned to her, "Is there any other way out of here?"

Ino shook her head, and squirmed as she felt a twinge of guilt, "Why did you run away?"

Gaara was studying the window, trying to figure out how he was going to get out without killing himself.

"None of your business."

She frowned, "You know if you have a good enough reason I might let you stay."

The alleged runaway peered at her out of the corner of his sea green eyes and shrugged, obviously seeing she wasn't much of a threat, "My mother is dead, my brother was shot yesterday, my no good sister ran away with her boyfriend two weeks ago, and all I'm left with is my asshole father who wants me to take over the family business."

Ino's eyes widened, "Man, sucks to be you."

Gaara nodded, "I agree."

They were silent. Gaara continued to study the broken window, while Ino seemed to be internally debating what to do with this new character in her life.

On the one hand, this was her dance studio, never mind the for rent sign. It was her sanctuary and her haven. It was the only place she could truly dance openly and freely. The thought of someone else occupying it drove her into a fit of resentment.

On the other hand, she couldn't just ignore the poor guy. She was the type of person who couldn't just look away, couldn't just sit back and do nothing. He had nowhere to go, and he was just trying to make do with the only abandoned building in Konoha. She couldn't very well leave him in the streets.

She sighed, such was the life of a compassionate girl.

"You can have the attic. "

He tore his gaze away from the window to stare at her. His face betrayed no expression, but there was the subtlest hint of surprise. He had not expected any type of welcome, or any sort of sympathy. Pink tights marched over to him, and held a finger up to his face threateningly.

"But if I find out you've been lying, I will castrate you and feed your remains to Inuzuka's giant dog."

He wondered vaguely what he was getting himself into, but found himself following her into the adjacent room and up a short flight of stairs, into what appeared to be a former storage area, an attic of sorts.

"You can stay here if you promise not to bother me when I'm practicing," Ino instructed, eyeing the storage space imperiously, as though she was providing him with the presidential suite, "I've got a huge dance practical exam coming up in a few days and I can't have you disturbing me."

Gaara had already begun to settle in, arranging the few belongings he had in an attempt to make the space a little more comfortable.

Ino paused at the top of the staircase, watching him attempt to get relaxed on the dusty, wooden floor,

"Do you have money for food?"

"Not much."

"Do you have a pillow? sheets? It gets cold here at night."

"I'm fine."

Awkward silence ensued before she shrugged and made her way back down the stairs. Trying to get back into focus after the unusual turn her night had taken, she warmed up a bit before throwing herself whole-heartedly into her dance. The mirrors were no good in their forlorn, shattered state but the effect was her dancing blurred and distorted as she spun and leaped into the air, landing gracefully and pausing for effect. She would stand perfectly still before suddenly bursting into the air, lifting her leg an unholy 180 degrees.

Gaara found he was unable to sleep, if not for the insomnia than for the racket blondie was making downstairs. Irritated and inquisitive, Gaara quietly made his way to top of the stairs; carefully avoiding the susceptible looking parts of the floor. He crept down the stairs and spotted her dance.

She was graceful and passionate when she danced; spinning and twirling like nobody's business. He thought it a miracle that she didn't fall through one of the many holes in the floor of the studio.

She danced with her eyes closed at times, like she was sleep dancing. It occurred to him that she had asked all the questions, and that it didn't make much sense, dancing in the middle of the night. He didn't really care, as long as he had a place to stay.

He began to doze off while watching her, almost subconsciously. When she did catch sight of him, watching her in the mirror, he was on the verge of sleep.

"Why are you watching me?"

He created a pillow out of his right arm, and managed to bury his head into that arm, "You're a good dancer."

Ino, who had been ready to hit him, couldn't help but smile at the involuntary compliment.

"Why thank you."

He was already asleep, and Ino vowed that she'd get the poor guy a blanket at the very least. It was just sad, really, when a person had to resort to sleeping on the stairs. He looked almost pathetic.

OOO

The next day, the lack of sleep took a toll on her attention span, and she couldn't keep her eyes open in many of her classes. She was desperate for a nap, but she knew that she needed to practice. It was enough to drive her to tears really; she was so desperate for a bit of sleep.

When she finally did step out of her last class of the day Neji was waiting for her and he didn't look too happy. She mentally groaned, she couldn't deal with their rocky relationship right now. Sitting through those classes, she'd realized with a panic that she just wasn't ready and the exam was so very important to her. The competition was fierce and if she wanted to graduate and become part of an acceptable troupe she had to finish at the top of her class.

Neji grabbed her arm when she went to walk past him, and pulled her to a corner, where they could argue in private.

"Who shoved a stick up your ass?!" Ino snapped, cranky and stressed out.

Neji, however, was in no mood to humor her, "You're dad called me."

Uh Oh

"What about?" she was scowling at him.

"He says that you haven't been coming home at night, and he wants to know if you've been with me."

She'd never seen Neji so angry. It was a calm sort of fury, only visible because she knew him so well.

"Who are you seeing at night, Ino?"

His voice shook, betraying him. He was hurt, angry. She couldn't believe it. He thought she was cheating on him.

"Neji I'm not seeing anyone!" She cried out, defending herself.

"Then where are you going all night, Ino, enlighten me," He was so completely livid, "I suppose you dance all night too?"

His voice was sarcastic, dismissive, and bitter.

"I do, I do dance all night. I'm fucking practicing Neji!" she was shouting at him.

He took a step closer to her and for a wild second she thought he was going to kiss her. Instead his face contorted in anger, finally dropping his impassive façade he shouted back at her, "You've got to be kidding me. That's what you came up with?"

She couldn't believe this was happening. He didn't trust her, not only was he scornful and imperious and arrogant, but he had no faith in her character, "I don't need to defend myself to you, I'm going to go practice."

With that she turned on her heal, and marched the two blocks to the dance studio. In her anger she had forgotten to bring Gaara a blanket and pillow.

Upon entering the dance studio, she finally allowed herself to cry. Sinking to the ground, she wrapped her arms around her knees and sobbed. Under ordinary circumstances she might have been able to hold her poise but the stress was really getting to her. The dance exam, and the lack of sleep, and her stupid, retarded no-good, selfish boyfriend all managed to break her.

Gaara, who had been reading in the attic, had ventured down the stairs, aroused by the disturbance. When he saw pink tights, now wearing purple, and crying her heart out, his eyes widened slightly and he slowly made his way back up the stairs, hoping with every fiber of his being that she wouldn't hear him and he could pretend as though nothing had happened.

"Stop right there."

He mentally cursed everything he could think of, but he froze all the same.

She sniffled and raised her head from her knees. Her eyes were bloodshot and her makeup was smeared all over her face. Despite that, she was one of those girls who were exceptionally pretty when they cried. She motioned for him to come closer.

"I need someone to vent to."

The sheer awkwardness of the situation made him want to run back up to his little attic space with his book. Temari was the only girl he'd really had to deal with in his life, and Temari lacked the emotionally weepy aspect that females seemed to possess.

"I really don't want to get involved, I'll just…"

"Get over here."

He couldn't believe this. When had he become a psychologist, or a dog? He maneuvered around the swiss cheese floor, and stood awkwardly in front of her, unsure of what to do.

"Sit down."

He couldn't believe this. He would have been better off sleeping on a bench. Benches lacked drama. He could probably read for as long as he like, and rummage through the garbage when he got hungry. It would have been the simple, carefree life.

"He thinks I'm cheating on him," she sobbed, burying her head back into her knees. He sat in silence, determinedly staring at a hole behind her.

"He's such an insensitive asshole." she wailed.

Gaara had no idea who she was talking about, but he figured she didn't particularly care if he knew the details, as long as he looked like he was listening.

As she babbled on and on about whats-his-jerk-face, he felt himself dozing off again. He dully noted that if she was around his insomnia would never be a problem. She stopped at the growling of his stomach, and her expressive face was immediately guilty.

"Sorry, you must be hungry."

He shrugged. It was unbelievable, how quickly she changed moods.

"I was going to bring you a blanket and a pillow, but because of supreme leader of the bastards I forgot them," she brightened, "there's a market at the corner I'll run down and grab us something to eat."

Gaara protested, he wasn't used to accepting things from others, "That's not necessary."

"Oh hush," Ino waved her hand airly, "I'm hungry too."

With that she waltzed over to the window.

He was left alone, blinking rather stupidly. He was really beginning to think he'd gotten himself into a very sticky situation. When he had decided to run away, he had not accounted for a roommate. It was actually very dangerous. She was a person who knew his whereabouts. He'd have to leave soon, or risk being caught. He'd slip away in the day, when she wasn't around; perhaps leave a thank you note for her hospitality, and head out to who knows where.

Damn, he was in a tight spot. There were no other big towns for miles; he had to save up enough to get a train ticket to Mizu City. He'd have to bide his time, maybe pink tights would lend him money.

Contemplating his situation, he didn't notice Ino pop up in front of him, dropping off a plastic, "I got you fruit."

Gaara blinked at the bag. He wasn't a particular fan of fruit, but he reached into the bag and grabbed an apple. Ino sat cross-legged across from him, a salad resting on her lap.

"You know he was always a jerk." she motioned her plastic spork at him, her mouth full of spinach, "But I can't believe he would sink this low, I can't believe that he doesn't trust me."

Gaara munched thoughtfully on his apple, still thinking of ways to get out of Konoha.

"So I was right."

Gaara paused, and turned to face a tall man, with long dark hair, and pale eyes. Pink tights across from him dropped her spork, her salad falling into the space between them. She jumped to her feet, gaping.

"You bastard, you followed me."

"And for a good reason, you have been cheating me."

Gaara couldn't help but think the guy was a little thick. Now he wasn't too relationship savvy, but he was pretty sure that when a girl cheated on a guy she didn't sit there eating salad while he pretended to listen to her.

Neji had a mixture of triumph and disgust on his face. Ino was flushed in her anger.

"Well how are you going to explain this Ino?"

Before Gaara could explain that he had met Ino yesterday and that he had nothing to do with her, Ino smiled sadistically.

"You're absolutely right Neji, you caught me."

And before Gaara could react or protest, Ino was sitting in his lap, and before his brain could register what the hell was going on she had pressed her lips to his in a deeply intimate kiss. She pressed up to him, throwing her weight against him. He fell back against the floor, completely stunned into submission.

He should have gone running the minute he had caught sight of this menace. It was most certainly, a sticky situation.

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