Ino was very worried. She ran as fast as she possibly could to find her comrades. But the problem was she did not know where to look. After they got separated, Ino's mind on where to go has been blank. She was just running randomly.

Ino: Where the heck am I supposed to look? Where do I go? I don't think I am able to stop Itachi. What am I going to do? *tears*

While Ino was thinking she suddenly saw a bird fly over her head.

Ino: It would be nice if I knew how to use a bird to send messages. Wait a minute! I have an idea.

Ino ran towards the bird. She was waiting for it to land. She didn't want it to fly away. When it did land she moved a little closer. She jumped and grabbed the bird.

Ino: Yes, this bird is perfect.

She then hypnotized the bird by rubbing its belly. It fell asleep so it was easy to walk away with it. A few minutes later, Ino was looking for a safe spot to make her idea into reality. She found a cave that looked very similar to the cave she was in with Itachi. But it wasn't the exact same one. She was out of the storm crazed land now. So she didn't have to worry about that. She gently put the bird down on the ground.

Ino: Alright, it seems safe enough. Here we go. "Mind Transfer Jutsu!"

Ino's body fell to the ground and the bird got up and flew away. It seems that her soul was suddenly inside the bird. The bird flew high enough to see almost everything. It kept flying until it spotted something. It saw Shikamaru and them.

Ino: There they are! Good, Itachi doesn't seem to be there yet.

It wasn't there yet but he was on his way. Ino saw him out of the corner of her eye.

Ino: Oh, no this is bad. I have to hurry back. Release!

Ino was back into her body and immediately started running as fast as she could towards her group.

Ino: No, Itachi. Don't do this to me.

8888

Everyone was quiet since they stopped looking for Ino. Especially Shikamaru. It was Hinata who finally spoke up.

Hinata: "Um, Shikamaru...?"

Shikamaru: "Please, don't talk to me Hinata."

Hinata: "Okay."

There was an awkward silence between Hinata and Shikamaru now. She knew how much he loved Ino. All she wanted to do was to make him feel better. He wasn't the only one who missed Ino. Everyone else did too. Hinata felt as if she lost her best friend. Then, there was a cool breeze. Not an ordinary breeze but an awkward breeze. Hinata felt someone in that breeze. And Kiba smelt something familiar.

Hinata: "Shikamaru."

Shikamaru: "I thought I told you to-"

Hinata: "I understand that, I know how you must feel right now but please tell me you sense that too."

Shikamaru cleared his mind for a minute to understand what Hinata was talking about.

Guy: "What's going on?"

Lee: "This doesn't feel right."

Everyone was getting worried. They did not know what to think. Except for Shino. He looked down at his hand and saw that the bug that was to search for Ino was crawling all over his hand.

Shino: "Uh, oh. This isn't good."

Shikamaru: "Looks like we got a visitor. An Akatsuki visitor."

Everyone was looking face to face into the sharingan eyes of Itachi Uchiha. But only Shino, Hinata, and Kiba knew who he was. They knew that he was the one who took Ino.

Shino: "It's him."

Shikamaru: "You know who this guy is Shino?"

Shino: "Not personally but I know he is part of the Uchiha clan. I'm sure you all knew that. But also, he was the one who took Ino."

Shikamaru: "What?"

Guy: *gasp*

Lee: "So he's the one."

Kiba: "No doubt about it. I can still smell Ino's scent on his cloak."

Hinata: "It's definitely him."

Shikamaru: "So you're the one."

Itachi: "..."

Shikamaru: "Well, aren't you going to say something? You came here for a reason, right?"

Itachi: "I do not want to speak. If you wish to kill me, then try."

Shikamaru: "Just answer my questions. Did you take Ino?"

Itachi: "Yes I did."

Shikamaru: "Where is she now?"

Itachi: "That I do not know?"

Shikamaru: "Does that mean she's alive?"

Itachi: "Perhaps. She was hurt pretty bad. All I know is that I took her out of her misery."

Shikamaru: "Why, you!"

Without thinking, Shikamaru ran towards Itachi with hatred in his heart.

Hinata: "Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru: "I'm going to kill you!"

Punch!

Itachi: "Is that all you got? I thought you said you were going to kill me."

Shikamaru backed away. He was very annoyed with Itachi's cockiness.

Shikamaru: "Fine I'll just blow you up into millions of pieces!"

Kiba: "Shikamaru stop!"

Shikamaru: "Shut up! He killed Ino!"

Itachi: "When I said that I took her out of her misery I meant-"

Shikamaru: "I don't want to hear it! I'm going to kill you right now!"

Itachi: Goodbye, Ino.

Shikamaru: "Die!"

Boom! Shikamaru used paper bombs to create that explosion. He was filled with so much anger and hatred, he wasn't thinking straight. He didn't even know what happened till the explosion.

Guy: "Did he die?"

Hinata: "Byakugan! He's still alive. I see his chakara but..."

Shikamaru: "What, Hinata?"

Hinata: "Someone else is there."

Shikamaru: "What?"

Kiba: "It's Ino."

Shikamaru: "No way. It can't be."

As soon as the smoke cleared up, Shikamaru looked closer at the two objects. He couldn't believe his eyes. Ino was standing right in front of him. Staring right at him, scared up from the explosion.

Ino: I almost didn't make it.

Itachi: "Ino? I told you not to follow."

Ino: "I'm stubborn, remember...?"

Ino was getting very weak. She was still recovering from the poisoned scar. And on top of that, she jumped right in the middle of the explosion. Doing that doesn't make the recovery process any better.

Ino: "Are you...okay...Itachi?"

Itachi: "...I'm fine."

Ino: "Good, I'm glad."

Ino smiled then fell to the ground. Her legs were too weak to carry her any longer. And her body was in so much pain that she just couldn't take it.

Itachi: "Ino!"

Shikamaru: "Don't touch her!"

Shikamaru went to attack Itachi again but someone pulled him away. Hinata grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away.

Shikamaru: "What are you doing? He's going to kill her."

Hinata: "If he is going to kill her, then why didn't he do it?"

Shikamaru: "I...I don't know."

Hinata: "Shikamaru, please calm down. You're scaring everyone."

Shikamaru: "But...Ino."

Hinata: "Obviously Ino has some sort of relations with him or else she wouldn't have saved him. Just wait for a minute."

Shikamaru stopped talking for while. He turned to look at everyone else and they seemed to be thinking what Hinata was thinking. Then he turned to Itachi. Itachi looked up at him and unactivated his sharingan. Shikamaru walked over to where Itachi was. He walked very slowly. He wasn't sure what would happen if he charged him again. He stopped about five feet in front of Itachi and just stared at him. Trying to figure out why he was holding Ino the way he was and why she saved him. Then, he spoke.

Shikamaru: "Why isn't she dead?"

Itachi: "..."

Shikamaru: "Answer me."

Itachi: "When I said I put her out of her misery, I meant that I saved her life. I did not want her to die."

Shikamaru: "Alright, I am very grateful for that. But why did you come to us?"

Itachi: "I wanted to die so that way if the Akatsuki leader found out about her, she wouldn't die. I knew you would try to kill me, so that's why."

Shikamaru: "You're...different from others."

Itachi: "I'm not that different. Just something about Ino made me want to save her."

Shikamaru: "And something about you made her want to protect you from the paper bombs."

Shikamaru got closer to Itachi. He bent down slowly till he was face to face with him. He looked down at Ino, tears coming into his eyes.

Shikamaru: "Ino, I'm so sorry for what I did to you. I promise, when we get back to the village I'll take better care of you, okay?"

Ino: "..."

Shikamaru: "Ino...?"

Guy: "Is she...?"

Lee: "Ino."

Kiba: "It can't be."

Shino: "..."

Hinata: "Ino..."

8888

Ino: "Where... where am I?"

Nurse: "Ms. Haruno, she woke up!"

Sakura: "Ino! Thank goodness."

Ino was now in the Leaf Village Hospital. She was very injured on the mission so she had to be there ASAP.

Ino: "Sakura? What am I doing here."

Sakura: "You were very injured on the last mission we were on. But don't worry, it's over now. You can rest easy?"

Ino: "Did you find Sasuke?"

Sakura: "...No, we didn't."

Ino: "Oh, okay. Ouch!"

Sakura: "What? What's wrong?"

Ino: "My side hurts."

Sakura: "Oh, it must be that scar."

Ino: "Scar?"

Sakura: "Yeah, you probably don't remember anything. I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't. I'm going to unwrap it so I can put some medicine on it, okay?"

Ino: "Okay."

Sakura went over to the counter in the room to find some scissors. She came back with the scissors and a bottle in her hand. She cut the bandage and unwrapped it.

Sakura: "Oh, I forgot something. I'll be right back."

Ino: "Alright."

As soon as Sakura left, Ino looked at the scar. She did not touch but she was just curious to know what it looks like. She looked very close at it. A small image came into her head but it was so blurry, she couldn't remember. Without thinking, she touched it. It stung a bit so she took her hand away from it.

Ino: It was like fire for a moment. Yeah, fire. Fire? Wait a minute!

FLASHBACK

Itachi: "Ino, whats wrong with the scar?"

Ino: "It's...on...f-fire..."

PRESENT

Ino: "Itachi!"

Sakura: "Is something wrong?"

Ino: "Where is he?"

Sakura: "Who?"

Ino: "Itachi!"

Sakura: "...He, uh, he left. He said he didn't want to put you in danger."

Ino: "But..."

Sakura: "He seems different then the last time I fought him with Kakashi and Naruto. He seems to care about you a lot."

Ino: "I can't take this anymore!"

Ino ran off without even a second warning. She was still injured but she didn't think about the pain. She just ran as fast as she could.

Sakura: "Ino, come back!"

Ino: "No!"

She ran and ran. She wouldn't stop running until she finds Itachi. Some how, she knew where he was without looking for his chakara. She ran straight for the abandoned Uchiha territory. She wasn't suppose to be there but no one has tared it down yet. She knew he would be there. When she got there she started walking towards a little river. She stopped as soon as she saw him.

Ino: "Itachi?"

Itachi: "...Ino? You're okay, that's good."

Ino ran straight towards him. She hugged him and started crying.

Itachi: "Ino, please don't cry."

Ino: "You were going to leave me again. You can't leave without saying goodbye!"

Itachi: "I'm sorry."

Ino: "Itachi, please don't do this to me again. We can work it out. I can protect you from the Akatsuki leader. Just please don't leave."

Itachi: "I hate it when you cry."

Itachi gently grabbed Ino's chin and put his lips against hers.

Itachi: "I'm never going to leave you if it makes you this upset. I promise."

Ino: "Okay."

Itachi knew that he wouldn't be caught now. His partner, Kisame, told the leader that Itachi was dead. So Itachi could not return to the hideout or make contact with any Akatsuki leader. But he decided to tell Ino later. But he knew that the person in the shadows knew what was going on. Shikamaru was watching silently in the shadows. He wanted to make sure Ino was okay. He made a promise to her.

Shikamaru: "So they do have a connection. I'm still gonna keep my promise though. Ino."

He left the scene. If he wanted to take better care of Ino he wasn't going to tell anyone where Itachi was. He wanted to make sure she was happy.

Itachi: "Ino."

Ino: "Yeah?"

Itachi: "...I...I love you."

Ino: "I love you too."

Both Thinking: I love you so much!

Well that's the last chapter. Hope you liked the story! Hopefully I'll write a story about Hinata and Garra next. See ya later(:!