Authoress' Note: Wow…I'm so sorry I took so long…but I had hardly any inspiration as of late…and I left off with a cliffhanger! That was awfully cruel of me…well, to make it up to you guys, I'm going to make this chapter extra long…just this once…

Quote of the Chapter: The process of taking one step forward begins with not running away.

Disclaimer: Are you sure I can't buy this on Ebay?


Chapter 8

It was quiet.

Snow still fell softly, drifting through the trees and sparkling as the early morning sunlight shone through them. The powdery substance blanketed all major sound, and the only noise to be heard were the gentle thrum of footfalls that occasionally permeated the crisp air.

Ino lifted her chin and glanced up towards the forest canopy overhead. The pale morning light had barely penetrated through the thick, snow-covered branches. Feeling the bite of the morning chill, Ino once again tucked her head down low, close to her breast. She narrowed her eyes against the wind and continued leaping from branch to branch, keeping in step with her sensei.

Sorano had said nothing in the time that they had been traveling, and the duo had started out around dawn. The cloud kunoichi was alert and apprehensive as she darted through the bare foliage of the forest, trying to make as little sound as possible. Her apprentice followed diligently behind, careful not to leave a trail.

Personally, Ino had no idea what was going on. The sky was shaded a light purple when Sorano woke her up and ordered her to pack for departure, and not long after, they had braved the dim silence of the darkened forest. Not feeling the need to disturb and therefore provoke her highly skilled sensei at an early hour, Ino had let conversation drop in favor of keeping a sharp eye out for danger.

Nearly an hour later, Sorano slowed to a stop and paused on the branch of a great barren maple before turning to the young Yamanaka with a look of approval. "We'll rest here a little, and then we will continue on our mission."

Ino nodded, a look of curiosity on her delicate features, "Our mission, Sorano-sama?"

The purple-haired kunoichi leaned against the smooth tree bark and took a small swig from her water canteen. She carefully wiped her mouth with her thumb and peered through the maze of branches before them.

"Kano came to visit last night. He had found some information that I find disturbing…so we're going to eliminate a threat."

Silence followed the bold, yet somewhat casual words. Sorano turned to look Ino dead in the eye. "This will be your first mission, Ino. I will accompany you this time because it is important, but for most other missions I appoint you, I expect you to do them independently and without difficulty. Handle all with the utmost care."

"Yes, Sensei" Ino replied with a serious look set on her features, but inside she was beaming. She would prove to Sorano-sensei just how responsible she could be. The cloud kunoichi watched her pupil for a few moments before returning her gaze to the forest ahead.

A couple of minutes later, they returned to making their way through the dense foliage. The snow on the trees caused the branches to become slightly slippery, and so Ino ensured her footing with a little chakra distribution. Once she became used to the tactic, she set it into routine and let her mind focus on other things…mainly the mission at hand.

Sorano-sensei said that they would be eliminating a threat…in other words, this would most likely be an assassination operation.

Ino gulped; in the time that she had been a ninja, no one had ever actually died by her hand. Of course she knew that as a shinobi, fighting and killing was inevitable, but that didn't mean that she really wanted to kill anyone. She didn't think of herself as a murderer…but if worse came to worse, she would fight for her life and do whatever necessary in order to ensure that. Satisfied with her mind's conclusion, Ino took a deep breath and switched to another matter.

Was she ready for this?

Ino bit her lower lip in thought. She had been training with Sorano for about a month now, and within that time she had learned a great deal. She had better chakra control, and her combat skills were becoming finely tuned; she was faster, leaner, and more flexible. She was slowly but surely getting stronger, for she could begin to see her muscle becoming defined and more pronounced. Her sensei kept her on her toes, teaching her to become more aware and to think quickly in the midst of battle. All this and previous experience gave Ino the confidence to believe that she was indeed ready for this mission. A strong smirk set itself onto her features and she looked ahead with anticipation, her eyes blazing with confidence.

'Bring it on'


Judging from the position of the sun in the sky, Ino estimated that it was close to noon. She sighed, but was careful to do so quietly so that Sorano wouldn't hear. The purple-haired kunoichi had pushed onward with vigor, only stopping occasionally for a quick sip of water and to check location. She would not tolerate complaints, or at least an obvious display of tiredness…after all, she had drilled Ino to endure situations such as this one and keep up sufficient stamina. Ino just had to suck it up and deal with it, or else risk a harsh training exercise that would leave her aching and blistered; therefore, keeping quiet seemed ideal.

Sorano suddenly stopped on a bare branch of an oak and extended her arm in the universal sign for 'halt'. Ino, being only a step behind her, nearly plummeted to the forest floor when she lost her balance, but quickly regained it by veering off at an angle and settling on a branch of another tree close by. Suppressing the grumbling that was eager to spill from her mouth, Ino instead pressed her lips together in a thin line and looked to Sorano for instruction.

The cloud kunoichi was tense as she peered through the openings the branches left available to her line of sight. Ino then noticed the peculiar circumstances of her surroundings. She heard no sign of animal life, and a pungent aroma of smoke gently permeated the crisp air. A moment later, Sorano turned to look at Ino and gave a sharp nod.

The Yamanaka bobbed her head back, indicating that she understood; the threat was directly in front of them. Ino then focused her energy into concealing her presence, which included masking her chakra signature and slightly lowering her heart rate. Lowering the heart rate induced calmer, deeper breaths, which were ideal for focus and sound. Sorano beckoned to her student with a simple hand gesture and the two kunoichi silently slipped into the trees closest to the target.

The threat appeared to be multiple persons, for there was a makeshift camp carefully constructed in a small partial clearing. The ashes of a quelled fire blemished the pure white of the snow-covered ground in the area, and nearby were two small tents. Other than that, the rest of the area was undisturbed and quiet.

Ino kept still and watched in subdued fascination as her sensei pressed her fingers together in several hand signs and softly whispered a foreign jutsu. No sooner had the words left her mouth when her body shuddered and began to alter, changing both shape and color. Within moments, the purple-haired kunoichi's body was nonexistent, and was a mass of shifting cloud and fog.

Ino was unable to take her widened eyes off of her transformed sensei as the cloud quickly moved on its own accord against any wind and drifted towards another tree. The coiling mass of visible particles sifted and glimmered, first human, then cloud as it lingered on another branch before continuing. It made full rotation around the camp, pausing here and there to shift form but for a moment before drifting on. Finally, the haze settled on a maple branch opposite of Ino and slowly began to take form again. The mass solidified and within moments, Sorano was back in her regular form, peering intently at Ino.

The young Yamanaka shut her gaping mouth and forced her concentration back to the mission. The cloud kunoichi gave her student a hand signal; there were four targets within the camp. Ino nodded to relay that she understood, then carefully reached into her weapon pouch at her hip.

The young blonde waited with baited breath while clutching three shuriken in between her knuckles, waiting for Sorano to make her move. It was determined that Sorano would draw the enemy out of hiding and Ino would strike while staying hidden in the trees. If the targets happened to be highly skilled shinobi, which was worst case scenario, both she and Sorano would have to kill in combat. Ino felt the blood pounding in her ears, her heart seemingly making the only sound in the silence.

Then, Sorano moved.

With a whip of her arm, the blur of a dark kunai flashed through the air before slicing through the canvas of one tent and embedding into a dark shape huddled inside. In an instant, projectiles were thrown out of nowhere and aimed towards the offending kunoichi. Sorano just barely formed a substitution jutsu and escaped in time before all the weapons hit their would-be mark. She reappeared at the other side of the clearing with only a scratch marring her jaw. The cloud kunoichi immediately dashed around in a zigzag pattern in evasiveness.

Ino caught her breath as her mind registered what had happened. 'It was all a trick! Decoys are in the tents while the real shinobi are hiding in the forest…so where are they…'

Ino focused her eyesight on her sensei and almost immediately followed the trajectory of a weapon as it missed the target; roughly twenty-three degrees west, behind the oak tree. She trained her eye on the spot while she quickly made three clones and each moved to a different location, one taking her spot. Once she was positioned atop a thin branch of another oak tree, her clone threw the held shuriken at the designated spot.

A strangled cry cut through the camp as the hidden enemy nin fell out into the open, one throwing star embedded into his throat and the other two piercing his chest. He was still struggling for air as his body writhed upon the ground. A flash of purple, and Sorano had succeeded in slashing his throat as she dashed by.

Ino had no time to congratulate herself on her tactics, for as soon as the enemy shinobi went down, several weapons were projected at the area where Ino's clone was stationed. A faint poof was heard as one of the weapons struck, but Ino's other two clones were already at work in locating and attacking the enemy's positions.

By now most of the enemy ninja had been drawn out. In all, there were originally six shinobi. Sorano had turned and was now engaged in combat with three of them. Ino gripped a kunai and was about to throw it at one of them before a shuriken embedded itself not even four inches away from her face and into the tree. She had been spotted.

'Damn it!' Ino cursed mentally before leaping down from her post and joining her clones in hand to hand combat against the other two enemy nin. Up close, Ino could see that the targets were rugged and dirty, which indicated that they had been traveling for some time. The colors of their garb were stained, but still detectable as light, perhaps white or gray. However, hard as she looked, Ino couldn't find a village headband that would determine who they actually were. Not that it would matter now…if they were trying to kill her, they were most definitely the enemy.

One of the two shinobi struck his fist into one of Ino's clones. It flew back with a yelp as it vanished into smoke. The other clone fell upon him with a roundhouse kick coupled with an uppercut that nearly knocked the shinobi off his feet. Meanwhile, the real Ino struck out her leg in a low kick to her opponent's shin, which resulted in him stumbling to his knees. Ino pulled her fist back with a snarl,

"I'm gonna knock you into next week!"

And with that, she proceeded to do so using her sixteen-hit combo technique. The final blow landed and knocked him unconscious as he slumped to the ground. Panting, Ino regained her stance in time to see her clone poof away as the second of the enemy duo slashed her torso with an oversized kunai.

This burly shinobi was also out of breath; Ino could hear it, as well as see it in his composure. The target looked up and tensed as he regained his focus on Ino. The blonde Yamanaka herself was scratched and scuffed, but her eyes were narrowed and her mouth was set in a grim form of determination. Her battle stance held steady as she faced him, one palm curled into a fist, the other pulling out her treasured dagger.

The enemy nin started to look nervous as he surveyed his situation. His eyes darted back and forth between Ino, who looked fresh and ready to fight, and his other companions, who were quickly being cut down by the purple-haired kunoichi. He watched for a moment as the cloud kunoichi leaned back to avoid a well-aimed punch and used the momentum to swing her leg up and thrust the attacking enemy over her completely, making him face plant into the hard glistening crust of the layer of snow. She then whirled around and chucked several poisonous senbon into his back. The skilled kunoichi didn't spare him another glance as she turned to take on the next target, and eventually the poisoned target became still.

Fear became evident in the eyes of Ino's last target. He glanced at the Yamanaka, took one last look at his fallen comrades, then turned tail and sprinted off through barren trees.

Sorano had glimpsed the shinobi's retreating back, "Don't let him get away!"

"Right!" Ino took off after her target, leaning forward to gain speed in her pursuit. The cold air bit at her face and she narrowed her eyes, keeping track of her opponent by following sunken footsteps in the crusted snow. Her grip on her Epethiate Dagger tightened; soon, she would be able to test her skill with it.

The enemy nin tried in vain to lose her by weaving through the bare tree trunks with countless twists and turns, but the kunoichi was persistent on catching up. Seeing a flash of her target up ahead, Ino quickly retrieved some shuriken from her weapons pouch and threw them in rapid succession. She was disappointed to hear all four miss their mark and hit tree bark instead. She grit her teeth and pushed her legs to go faster. He was not going to get away from her!

All of a sudden the tracks stopped. Ino ground to a halt by shifting her body weight in the opposite direction with one leg reaching out for a foothold, hardened snow splaying everywhere. She straightened and whirled about in a quick 360, using first her eyes and then her ears to try to locate her target.

Footprints no longer marked the ground…so that must mean that he's in the trees. 'But which one!' Ino nearly growled in frustration, her eyes darting here and there. She had to calm down; her heart rate was forcing the sound of its beating into her ears and she couldn't concentrate. Taking a few deep breaths, she carefully examined each and every one of the surrounding trees, which all looked painfully alike…

Except for that one…

Ino's eyes lit up as she noticed that the branch of one tree no longer had a layer of crusted snow on it. Feeling her frustration melting away, the blonde kunoichi let a smirk crawl onto her delicate features as she reached into her weapon pouch with her left hand and withdrew a kunai. Now, if that branch was used as a stepping stone…then the branch that he would be on would be… She looked at the branch directly above it.

'Right there,' and she flung the kunai with all force necessary. It being her left hand, her aim was a little off; she intended for the kunai to stick her opponent's legs, but instead it embedded into the trunk near his head. It didn't really matter anyhow, for the next moment her target had lost his balance and came tumbling down to the earth below.

Ino waited patiently for her opponent to stand up and present himself to her. She wanted this to be a fair fight, and if he was a coward and tried to run away, then nothing would hold her back from slaying a ninja who wouldn't stand and fight for his village. A couple of minutes after he had fallen, the enemy shinobi groaned and slowly wobbled to his feet. He turned to Ino, his face a bloody mess and nearly cut to ribbons because of the snow's crusty surface. He panted heavily for a few moments before letting out a grumble of ironic laughter. Ino frowned at his antics and raised her dagger with one arm, watching him closely for signs of any tricks.

The enemy nin quieted down and spat out a mouthful of blood. His cold grey eyes trained on Ino, boring into her with judgmental spite.

"So this is how it ends, huh?"

Ino said nothing, but gently cocked her head to the side ever so slightly. The man continued on, spittle of blood dripping down his chin and onto the pure white of the snow-covered ground.

"Murdered by a mere girl who couldn't possibly be any older than fourteen," he gave a half-hearted sneer, and Ino could see the gaping holes of missing teeth, "and this is how the world is today."

Ino narrowed her eyes slightly. "I prefer the term "assassinated"," she spoke coldly and quietly. The older ninja gave a bark of laughter,

"Assassin now, eh? It doesn't matter either way, honey. You're still a cold blooded killer" His chilling words bit at Ino's conscience, but she didn't waver.

"Oh yeah? And what does that make you?" she scorned. Her target stared at her with challenging eyes, "I'm just doing my job"

At this, Ino gave a cold, ironic smirk, "So am I"

And with that, Ino tightened her grip on her dagger and rushed at her target. She swung her weapon around in a wide arc and brought it down with a clang near her opponent's shoulder. He had been quick enough to block her attack with his kunai. In one fluid motion, Ino had pivoted her body down and swung her leg out in a sweeping kick, successfully knocking the enemy shinobi off his feet. He managed to catch himself with one arm and shot out his leg, catching Ino in the hip as she was about to return to her fighting stance.

The force of the kick pushed Ino back against a nearby tree, and she caught a grip on the rough bark that was used in pulling herself up and lashing out at her opponent once again. Swing after swing, he met her onslaught every time with his kunai. Ino intentionally paused for a moment, wondering if he would take the bait…

And he did, thrusting out his weapon towards her unguarded stomach. At the last second, Ino chopped her hand down on his grip and clutched the handle of the kunai by squeezing his fingers. She jerked downward, effectively breaking the digits and causing him to drop it. Ino kicked it away as it stuck down into the crusty snow.

Surprised and in pain, the enemy nin tried to jerk away, but not before Ino managed to sweep his torso with a slash of her Epethiate Dagger. Her target staggered back, clutching his side where the cut hit deepest.

Ino knew that she had to finish this now. Gritting her teeth together tightly, the blonde kunoichi gathered up her courage and shoved her dagger through his chest, feeling just a bit sick as she did so. She could hear him…and she could feel him struggling to desperately hang onto life. She could hear the gurgling of blood in his throat. She could feel the shuddering tremors that ran through his dying body. Tears guiltily pricked her eyes as she felt the weight of what she had done sink down onto her shoulders.

With a mournful cry, Ino wrenched her treasured dagger from her target's body and stepped back, taking a deep breath when she realized that she didn't wish to see his face. She quickly took a few steps passed him and stopped, trembling.

Her opponent gave a hacking cough…he wasn't dead yet. But soon…very soon. He won't have to suffer much longer.

"H-How…how c-can you fight…how can y-you kill, for such a person? Why m-murder for someone like that?"

'Someone like that?' Ino was too distraught to think about it now. Her distress quickly turned to anger.

"Well, how can you? How can you do this to other people as a shinobi?"

Her target was now lying on the cold, sparkling ground, his eyes beginning to glaze over, "I…I fight for my village…I fight for my people…I protect them…"

"As do I," Ino whispered, but she was sure that she was heard. "All of us ninja are the same. We tell ourselves that each night, we are soldiers, we all do it for the greater good…we say that so we feel better about ourselves" Ino finally turned to look at her fallen opponent, sharing their connection by never breaking their gaze, "But in the end, in all truth, we all are cold blooded killers. We still do the killing, and the torturing, and it is our own fault. We all fight for the same cause, and we'll never stop. They say that war can never bring peace, yet that is what we fight for. In retrospect, we will never know peace, until we've had wars. You've fought well, my opponent. You fought for what you believed in, and I fought for mine. This is just how it turned out."

Ino stopped her speech, for tears were openly running down her face. But it was ok, it was worth it, because in the last fleeting moments of her opponent's life, she saw a glimmer of a smile on his face. And then it was done.


It took Ino some time to make her way back to the enemy camp, for the last moments of her first kill kept plaguing her mind. Trying to keep strong for both her sensei and herself, the young Yamanaka held back her tears, although her red eyes said it all.

Sorano was moving the bodies when Ino trudged back into the area. She spared her student a glance before heaving the last body into line with the others.

"Are you alright, Ino?"

The blonde kunoichi knew that her sensei was referring to her physical well being. Of course her mental state was in shambles. "Yes, Sorano-sensei. No major damage done."

The cloud kunoichi gave a solemn nod and straightened up to survey the vicinity, "You remembered to cover your tracks, right?" Again Ino nodded, as her mind unwillingly brought back the memory of her covering the body with snow and filling in both of their footprints.

Sorano sighed at the amount of gore on the scene and quickly left to retrieve fresh snow. Ino looked around at the disturbed earth. Heavy impressions and crimson sweeps marred the beauty of the once pure white snow. Innocence, it seemed, was lost today on both Ino and this region of the forest. There was so much blood…Ino wasn't necessarily afraid of blood, it's just the fact that blood isn't meant to be seen. She was still staring at the cherry-colored life force when Sorano returned and began concealing it. Soon there was a blanket of fresh snow on the entire area, and the bodies buried, covering all the pain, the violence, and the shock.

Once she was finished, the purple-haired kunoichi stood next to her student and lay her hand upon her shoulder. "Time to go back, Ino" Said kunoichi nodded, and they were off, on the trail back to Sorano's hideout.

Ino kept silent for the most part, only speaking when Sorano asked her questions. After crossing a river, the cloud kunoichi eyed her pupil and fell back to travel alongside her.

"I'm going to be fine," Ino stated instantly, assuming that the approaching conversation was about her behavior, "it's just shock…I've never purposefully killed someone before."

Sorano nodded. "Well that's good to hear. I noticed that you used your shadow clones as a key role in your battle tactic. It's such a shame that they hardly last long, hm? A single hit and they're done; useless."

Ino agreed, wondering where this was going.

"Well…" Sorano continued, "If you don't mind a little blood, I can help you make them stronger…" Ino looked at her sensei and tried to give a small smile before turning her attention back to the path in front of her.

No, she didn't mind the blood. Not anymore.


Authoress' Note: There! How was that? My beloved readers, I am so extremely sorry for the 4 month long wait. I didn't mean to put it off for that long, because I had school work, then finals, getting a boyfriend then losing a boyfriend, then trips to go on and summer school to take care of…(cough, yeah, I suck at math) but I tried to extend this chapter for your personal enjoyment. And I hope that you're not too angry…I'll try to make the next update come a lot sooner than this one

Now, in the next chappy, I think it's time to check up on Shikamaru! And what about this mysterious new enemy? All that and more, in chapter 9! Make my day, drop a review! Happy reading and happy writing! Love ya'll lots!

R.M.