AN: So I'll admit it, I have a bit of writers block with Heirs but I'm working through it. It's a three day weekend for me so I'm giving that story some extra extra time and even managed to get a babysitter for a day (just one day) for my kid! Hope you enjoy this chapter for Entwined! Kisses! :MUH:

::Chapter 2::

In a war anything could happen…Ino heard Shikamaru voice ring in her head the day they knew that their Ino-Shika-Cho team would be split up. The first thing she felt was surprise which followed closely by fear. She had never been away from her team in such serious conditions before. Sure they had their personal missions. They were Chuunin after all and their leadership abilities were needed with a genin teams. But serious A and S missions kept them together. They were the best team in her opinion. Their teamwork was unparallel…why would they want to separate them?

It was because Shikamaru were long range ninja and Choji was his eternal partner in battle. Their unit was also the link that supported the Intel Unit in the front lines. They acted as a shield too. Because of her cursed mark and her Yamanaka abilities she was placed in the Special-Range Battle Unit with Shino, Kiba and Hana. Choji had asked about her unit when they found out about it and Shikamaru explained that in battle, depending on the situation, some units will find themselves in a good position and sometime they won't. When they were in a disadvantage, they had to bring her unit in that specialized in secret ninjutsu.

They were the wild cards. Ino looked around the encampment and didn't know what kind of powers her unit had. They were from all over, equally represented, and equally connected.

It had been hard adjusting to being on guard, always ready for a fight. War was hard. Harder than she ever thought. It wasn't so much skill that made it a hard battle, but the numbers. Sometimes, in the midst of smashing a white Zetsu in the face she felt her chest tighten in despair, wondering how there could be so many and if they ever really died? She could never really tell in their eyes. They looked dead to begin with. Zombies.

No one has fallen in their unit yet but she wasn't going to always think that. She shared a tent with three other girls but never got to know them other than their names because they were always different ones. They chatted idly about polite topics, making sure not to get in to heated and touchy subjects. They had to be a cohesive unit.

"Three weeks." She muttered to herself and if felt like they weren't doing enough. She snuggled into her sleeping bag and sighed in exhaustion. Her body ached and she found herself getting tired easier these days. She contributed it to the four to five hours they got to rest each night and the weather. It was spring but winter wasn't willing to move on just yet. When she was alone with her thoughts, she found herself feeling alone. Loneliness stuck to her insides like black ice. She couldn't send or receive any messages from Reiko, Sasuke or Itachi. By now, they should be almost healed from the eye transplant. She rubbed her face on her small pillow and sighed again. She shouldn't think of them, she had too much to do tomorrow and needed to get to sleep without heart ache.

XOXO

The building was shaking and bubbles rose up in her tank and she sluiced to the side. Eyes wide, she saw a wall to the room crack and then there was a resounding crash that made her water vibrate with its sound. Chunks of the tables, chairs and electronic gadgets smashed into her glass pillar. Cracks spidered from the impact and she floated back away from it in fear. The clay ceiling fell in and some of it hit the top of her cage. She was going to get smashed! She could hear yelling and more explosions. One of the cracks split open and then another. Water spurted out. The top of her pillar screeched and the hose to her oxygen mask kinked. Panicked she fumbled with the metal and rubber device over her mouth and nose but it didn't budge. Her breath was running out and black dots swam in her vision. Weakly she yanked at the mask but her chest was tight and there was loud roaring in her ears. So this is how it ends huh?

If she could have cried she would have…

XOXO

An urgent message came when her unit was assembling closer to the main battle. She had been snacking on some winterberries and beef jerky when Shikaku's soft voice filtered into her head. In an instant she was grabbing her gear and heading to Muilfun's tent. Before she even opened her mouth to tell him he was nodding.

"Go."

It took a good hour and something minutes before she caught sight of them waiting for her on a craggy plateau of grass and rocks. She picked up her pace until she was sprinting, tears of happiness and relief were barely being restrained.

"Shikamaru! Choji!" She called out. They welcomed her with open arms.

Shikamaru was the first to pull away. Though his expression was serious she could see the sparkle of warmth swimming in the depths of his soulful brown eyes. "You ready to do this?"

She flushed in happiness and nodded in determination. "Let go!"

As they ran, Shikaku spoke into their minds, his voice soft but urgent. "Listen! Shikamaru, Choji Ino…I'm using Inoichi's jutsu to communicate directly with my thoughts. Listen carefully to what I have to say."

On their way there, Shikaku filled them in on the history of the Gold and Silver Brothers of Hidden Cloud. Long ago, the brothers were eaten by the nine tails but didn't die. The brothers had started eating the insides of the nine tails stomach and now they were infused with its demon chakra. He told them that the Kohaku no Johei was the only thing strong enough to seal the Gold Brother, Kinkaku, while he was in the Fox's demon cloak. She could feel that raw, angry chakra pulse its way to her and knew that the others fighting him were in danger. If he's anything like Naruto in that cloak, she thought, not willing to think on it just yet.

"Reinforcements will be there before us, but we can't let them engage him head on or many of them will be lost." Shikamaru told them. Standard Ino-Shika-Cho formation was going to be used.

"I understand." Choji said when Shikaku filled them in with the plan.

"So we're going to take care of this monster Kinkaku who killed the Second Hokage!" Shikamaru gruffed with a thoughtful look. "Troublesome."

"I feel a little scared." Choji said quietly, worry creasing his sweaty face and Ino rolled her eyes. Danger was her forte!

"Hey you guys! Don't chicken out on me!" She reprimanded.

"Legends become exaggerated over time." Shikaku's voice soothed the boys. "And when a legend is surpassed, new legends are born. They may have the power of the nine tails, but we have the power of the Ino-Shika-Cho bond. The Ino-Shika-Cho bond ranks in the top two ninjutsu legends. Be confident!"

Ino smirked and a look of pride and camaraderie passed between all three of them. Take if from their Dads to still coddle them even in battle. Love and compassion so pure and powerful brightly outshone their trepidation and she felt her cursed seal throb on her arm in response.

In the distance, she saw the smoke and heard the battle cries of war. She followed close behind Shikamaru and made their way to the barren cliffs. They dropped down to the water. A few of the ninja there cleared away for them.

"Sorry we're late." She said staring hard at the man shrouded in the angry red cloak of the nine tails. She knew what to expect when she heard about it but the sight still gave her shivers. Even Shikamaru and Choji were a bit taken back.

A cheer rose up from the outnumbered alliance and she suddenly felt pressure to perform flawlessly in front of them. Some of them were disappointed that they weren't the original Ino-Shika-Cho team but hey, you can't impress everyone. She ignored them.

Shikamaru and Choji flushed though. "Hey hey, do you get the feeling that there's a lot of hope riding on us?" Shikamaru muttered uncomfortably, brown eyes shifting to the crowed.

"Kinda makes me nervous." Choji agreed, looking hesitantly at Kinkaku silently seething at the arriving reinforcements of the First and Fourth Company.

"Then it'll be shameful if I don't live up to their expectations." She said arrogantly, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "A new legend will be born here." She told her boys. "So let's just do it and show them all!"

Confidence surged back into them and Shikamaru smirked right back at her. "I know."

"Uh-huh!" Choji grunted, shifting into ready position.

"Everyone cover them!" A yell from Cloud's Darui jolted everyone in battle to charge up. A storm of raining kunai pelted Kinkaku and they took their chance and got into position under the cover of smoke and fire.

"As if you can bring me down!" Roared Kinkaku and gave Choji an opportunity to track him through the smoke.

"Human Boulder!" Choji smashed into Kinkaku with a Shikamaru's shadow jutsu attached to his heel. It caught onto the pseudo-jinchuriki before Choji was propelled into the air.

Kinkaku was frozen into place. "Shadow possession complete!" Shikamaru said and Ino positioned herself behind him and closed her eyes to gather her chakra. She needed to make her transfer strong and precise and that was going to take a little time but she was sure Shikamaru could hold up against him. Kinkaku finally broke free and sent an angry red tail sailing right at her teammate's face. She wrangled his mind into control, taking advantage of his confusion at her intrusion.

"Nice timing Ino." Shikamaru breathed in relief and caught her falling body before she hit the water.

"Mind Transfer jutsu complete!" She called out in Kinkaku's growling voice and saw Dariu open the Kohaku no Johei jar and call out Kinkaku's name. She responded and soon the powerful pseudo jinchuriki was sliding against the water. The pull of the jar was stronger than Kinkaku's resistance even though he put up a huge fight.

"Come back Ino!" Shikamaru called out and she released her jutsu just into time before she too was sucked into that jar and sealed. Shikamaru shook her. "Ino." And she grimaced and opened her eyes. They both looked into the water and saw Choji shakily emerge and make his way to them. He coughed and she placed a healing hand on his back to help him expel the remaining water from his throat.

"For being scared, you did pretty good Choji." She teased, patting his back hard as he finished coughing.

"I feel like I lost a ton of weight from all that cold sweat." He said weakly, water dripping from his thick brown hair and down his cheeks.

Shikamaru gave a chuckle. "That was just a feeling. You look fine, the same as always."

"It went exactly as planned." Shikaku's voice echoed warmly in their heads and they all smiled.

Shikamaru sighed and straightened out. "Let's go Ino, Choji!" He said and Ino felt warmth spread through her chest. She liked it when Shikamaru did his leader thing. He's different from before, she thought. He didn't want to do anything that required him to move or exude effort, but in this war I can see how much he's grown into himself. His confidence is giving me butterflies…

"Already?" Choji whined and Ino sighed.

"Come on, stand up." She said and with a tired huff, he did. Together, they made their way back to the rocky coast only to stop dead in their tracks. Ino's breath seized and her eyes widened.

"Th-That's…!" Choji choked out. So this is what her father was talking about when he said the enemy was bringing people back from the dead.

Kakazu…

"Long time no see you Ino-Shika-Cho brats." He said with a writhing rick ninja in his grasp. He looked grey and deadly. Those icky black string stitches were throbbing and pulsing on his body. His hair fell onto his bare shoulders and his eerie green eyes glowed with sinister chakra.

Shikamaru stepped forward. "We took the 'Gold.' As for the 'bishop', we know your tricks and how good you are." He said strongly without wavering. "From now on, we're on the offensive."

Kakazu stared down at them without any emotion. "The brat who used shadows." He said, narrowing his eyes. "Your being here means that Hidan has been stopped huh?"

He died before he knew Shikamaru beat Hiden, Ino thought. How much did he remember she wondered?

"Did he get his head chopped off again while he was praying?" He mocked darkly, showing her that he didn't much care for his Akatsuki partner. He glanced at her. "Or does it mean he's not here because he's still alive?"

He was fishing for information, she thought and gritted her teeth. "As if we know anything he's doing while he's rotting away somewhere!" She bit back disdainfully. At that, Kakazu smirked.

"So I don't have a rook anymore." He said with a shrug and brought the struggling Rock nin to his eye level. "And my gold silver were taken and I'm completely on the defensive." He said dismissively and then skewered his hand through the chest of the helpless man. Blood, still warm sprayed down on her team but she didn't make a move to wipe it away. Kakazu grasped the still beating heart of the nin and threw his body off the cliff where it hit the wall and water on its way down. She stared in pity at the lost solider but forced her eyes back to the dead monster that shoved the heart into his chest. She felt his chakra spark to life.

"That's right…"She breathed, shaking her head. "That guy has five hearts, so we have to bring him down five times." She said. And this time, I'm at full strength.

"Yeah, your right." Shikamaru replied.

"Time to finish this game." Kakazu said before he bent over with a loud roar and let loose all five of his heart monsters. His back split open and the monsters sprouted their arms and legs, howling as they assembled themselves. They stood next to him like wraiths, each of their eyes glowing menacingly with elemental power behind their white wooden painted masks.

"By the way, we have gold and silver too. Would you be interested in whom they might be?" He taunted looking to the right. They followed his gaze and saw a man with a long mane of white hair fighting allied nins. Ino squinted. "Dan Kato…Lady Tsunade's lover." Her eyes widened. No…! If Lady Tsunade finds out…

"And…" She snapped her attention to a loud explosion on the next cliff and felt the air woosh out of her lungs. "Asuma Sarutobi."

From the smoke and ash of disintegrated bodies, he stepped out and Ino swallowed hard.

"Asuma Sensei!" Choji cried. Ino shook her head.

"No, it's Shoji." She whispered mournfully. Shoji Eto.

"That guy—" Ino cut Choji off. Kakazu didn't need to know what she did. From the look on Asuma-Shoji's face, he seemed to know what was happening.

"I guess you're not the only ones who took game pieces." Kakazu smirked at their shocked faces. "We have a few others as well. Ironic isn't it?" Then his black wraiths scattered onto the battle field. From behind she saw two Leaf nins jump onto Kakazu's rock platform above them. They cut across his back with their long weapons, making the icky black strings that made up his body spill out like maggots.

"Izumo! Kotetsu!" Ino cried out in surprise and warning. Izumo looked at them.

Help us seal him!" He called out, holding Kakazu in place with special chakra chains. They stepped forward, only to have someone drop in front of them to halt their advance. Ino looked at him with guilt and pity. Oh Shoji…why you?

"Shikamaru, Ino and Choji will take Asuma." Shikaku's voice filtered in once again.

"But that's too harsh!" Izumo breathed eyes wide with surprise. "Asuma was there teacher! You can't do that!"

"They were Asuma's subordinates, the former team 10. They know Asuma better than anyone else. They have the best chance of winning." Shikaku said sternly.

Choji was shaking his head. "But—"

"No complaining! This is war!" Shikaku's voice rang loudly in their heads. "One that must be won!"

Ino understood and she knew this battle was personal for them because he was like Asuma Sensei. But it was on a whole other level for her. She knew she had to put things right. Shoji didn't deserve this, he sacrifice his life for her because he was stuck under her Mind Surrender jutsu and to him…he had loved her. She couldn't let him be used like that and no matter how twisted that love came to be, she wouldn't let anyone take advantage of that feeling. Love was love no matter how it's achieved.

She was the one to lead the boys to him. When he saw her, so many turbulent emotions crossed his face. "Ino…"

Tears pricked her eyes. "Shoji."

He took a step toward her but then stopped. "Please, I don't want to do this! I'm so confused! I can feel his memories mix with my own and it's so hard to—"

"I know." She said softly.

"He thinks you all became fine shinobi. He's so proud of you." Asuma-Shoji said. "When he was dying, he was thinking of you, of his family, of his baby." His eyes took on a wild look. "It hurts us to fight you!"

"I know." Ino said, tears now swimming in her eyes. "Shoji, I never got to thank you for what you gave for me. Without you Asuma sensei—" She choked on a sob.

"Ino—" He raised a hand in longing to touch her.

"You'll never know how grateful I am. How sorry I am that Kabuto did this to you! You deserve peace Shoji, you deserve eternity." Ino said, wiping her tears from her cheek with the sleeve of her green uniform shirt.

"Please Ino…Please…" Shoji begged, raising his hand with a kunai clutched in his fingers. "Show me what you got Ino-Shika-Cho!"