Chapter 12

                                    

                                          

Ryoutenbin no Oonoki was a short man with a big nose, and as the night wore on, Ino found out that he also had a big mouth, especially with the influence of a bit of alcohol.
After their bath, Ino and Gaara had retreated to their respective rooms – Ino in Gaara's room and Gaara into Ino's, to be specific - to avoid any more unnecessary misunderstandings if anyone ever caught them sneaking into the same room. Once they were dressed and ready, Ino proceeded to the banquet hall escorted by Kankurou who had tried ever so desperately to squeeze out whatever information he could get from her about Haruno Sakura. Ino tried to be as stingy as can be, of course. The moment they had reached the banquet hall, she immediately spotted Naruto and Gaara who were engaged in a conversation about something that concerned Konoha's first-class restaurants. Ino suspected it had everything to do with the promise she had made to Gaara about dinner once everything was over.
Ino was about to join them by the window where they were parked with glasses in their hands – thank God Gaara had dressed properly for the occasion, in the purple dress she had packed along for the trip – when Oonoki appeared out of nowhere and started tugging at her maroon tunic.
And she had been stuck with him ever since. It was not hard to act like Gaara; all she had to do was ignore the old man as he talked and followed her around while he babbled about things that only the real Gaara would know.
When she finally realized she couldn't run away from the Tsuchikage forever, she decided to weave through the mingling ninja and samurai in the banquet hall and parked herself near the beverage counter. She had tried to catch Gaara's eye many times all throughout the evening, but it was either Gaara was preoccupied with someone who would strike a conversation with him, or he was just no where to be found.
She had helped herself to a drink and that was when Oonoki said something that nearly made her choke on her tea.
"You seem different today, Gaara-dono," was what he said.
Ino summoned whatever courage she had and cast the old man the sternest look she could muster. "Different, Tsuchikage-sama?"
Oonoki grinned up at him knowingly. "You look a lot less stiff. Not that that's a bad thing, my boy. You were always tense when it came to gatherings like these."
Ino swallowed hard and shifted her eye on the beverage counter, pretending to be busy with her next drink. "Work does that to me."
"It does that to everyone," Oonoki agreed as he stood on tiptoe and eyed the drinks curiously.
Ino filled her glass with more tea and raised it to her lips, taking a long sip.
Oonoki waggled his eyebrows up at her knowingly. "I guess it's good you finally have a lady-friend to keep you sane. You know how we men need to have a method of release once in a while."
Ino spewed tea all over the beverage counter. Several of the shinobi and samurai standing by the walls who were on guard duty were around Ino in an instant. Ino was coughing violently with her cup in her hand while everyone started crowding around her.
"Check the beverages for poisoning!" one samurai cried as he circled around the crowd with his weapon drawn.
"A medic for the Kazekage!" another one shouted from somewhere to her left.
Oonoki was instantly hovering in front of her, a bit amused. "Now, now. There are no enemies here. He's just choking on his tea, like a little boy would. He is a little boy after all."
Ino glared at the man evilly, still trying to control her coughs.
The commotion ended before it even began. The beverage counter was wheeled off to change all the drinks Ino had showered with her tea. All the while, Oonoki never left Ino's side, once in a while casting her meaningful glances that Ino didn't like.