Chapter 12

"Ino," Deidara's gentle voice whispered in her ear, instantly waking her. "Iiiiiinnnnoooo," her lover called as she feigned innocence. Moaning something incoherent, Ino rolled away from him, a smile playing at her lips. "Ino-Ai," Deidara whined, resting a hand on her hip whilst burying his head in her neck. "Ai, wake up, un."

"Nngh," Ino moaned, pretending to not be fully awake, "Leave me alone, Dei, I'm sleeping!"

"Oh really?" Deidara asked playfully, gently pushing her hip back and propping himself up on it, looking down on her with playful eyes. "Funny, you spoke pretty clearly for someone who was just woken up, un..."

Ino smiled, sitting upright and covering herself with their blanket. "You have your clothes on already..." she mused, studying his covered chest. "No fair."

Deidara smiled with her, explaining, "I've been up for a while, un. A couple of hours, I think. At first, I was just watching you sleep, un. Then I got dressed, and you were still sleeping. I tried to wake you up, but you were in a coma or something, un." They laughed at that. "You're such a heavy sleeper, Ai."

"Gomen," she murmured, yawning. "You give me reason to sleep."

Deidara laughed at that. "Oh, and I'm still not yours yet. We haven't sparred, un."

"We just had sex last night," Ino answered flatly.

"No, no," Deidara replied with a large smile, shaking his head, "last night I raped you, un. Nope, no sex at all. No love, un."

"You can't - " She began, but was stopped when Deidara shouted,

"No love!" He covered his ears and stood, turning his back to her.

"And now you're frenching your ears!" Ino shouted, getting out of bed and putting her clothes on.

Deidara shouted incoherently, blocking her out. "No love, no love, no love!" He shouted, prancing around the room. He looked back to her for a second, finding her to be dressed, and removed his hands from his ears, using his left to take hers. "C'mon," he urged, pulling her towards the door, "It's time, un!" He seemed excited as they walked down the hallway.

"Time for what?" Ino asked him, curious.

"Time for me to kick your butt in battle," he answered with a sly grin.

Ino rolled her eyes. "Like that'll ever happen!" she retorted, pulling her hand back. "Hmph. Don't get your hopes up. You'll fail even worse."

A door opened directly in front of them, causing the two blondes to crash into it and fall to the ground. "Why do we always do that?!" Ino wailed as Deidara helped her up.

"It's because we're blonde, Hoshi." Naruto's voice called from behind the door as he stuck his head out from behind it. "I always do the same thing, dattebayo."

"Ohiyo, Naruto," Ino managed as she rubbed her bruised forehead. "Do you need something?"

Naruto shook his head. "No. Pein-sama said I could walk around as long as I had an escort. And then I heard you guys coming down the hall, so I figured you wouldn't mind if I walked with you..."

"I'm gonna go spar with Deidara," Ino answered, jabbing her lover in the ribs lightly, "and prove how strong I've gotten while he was gone! Wanna come watch?"

"Hai!"

Nodding, the three of them walked further down the hall. They ran into Sasori next. "Sasori-dana!" Deidara called, waving.

"Is it time yet?" The redhead asked in an annoyed tone. "I'm tired of waiting."

"Yup, we're going there now, un."

Sasori nodded and followed them down the hall. "I'm putting money on Ino," he told them.

"Nani?!" Deidara shouted, looking over at his Danna in surprise. "You're betting against me, Danna?!"

Naruto laughed. "I know Ino best here, and I know she'll win." He put his hands behind his head like he always used to.

Ino blushed as a surge of pride ran through her. They exited the lair through a door and walked into a field. To their left was a small forest, the rest completely stripped of everything it bore. Sitting on the branches of the trees were the rest of the Akatsuki, even Zetsu. "Finally!" Hidan shouted. "We were waiting for a fucking hour!"

"It wasn't that long, baka." Kakuzu admonished.

"Moving on," Hatafuri broke between them, "get into your places, Ino, Deidara. Naruto-kun and Sasori, join the rest of us here." Nodding, her two friends jumped away, and Deidara took his place across the field. "Now, the rules," Hatafuri began, his voice louder than it should have been for someone so far away from her, "Deidara, no flying. For the first round, I want the both of you to use taijutsu. I want to see what Itachi has taught Ino, and how well she has adapted to it. And don't go easy on each other. Ino, you're a medic nin, so don't worry about Deidara's health if you hurt him. Aside from that, Konan is also skilled in the medical area. There is little to no chance that you will manage to kill Deidara." The other Akatsuki snickered at this, which made anger bubble in Ino's stomach. "Round two will be ninjutsu, three genjutsu."

"So it's two out of three," Ino guessed, using the same genjutsu Hatafuri was to make her voice seem louder.

"Exactly," he replied. "There are two ways to win: Either completely disable Deidara somehow, or he concedes. He wins the same way. There is no time limit. Even though the first round is taijutsu, the both of you are allowed to use any jutsu that will aid you. There is no jutsu you cannot use, only that genjutsu should be for the third round." He paused, and there was a tense silence between everyone. "You may begin." He instructed.

At that, the tension grew. Taking a deep breath, Ino ran towards her love, not holding back. He dodged her first attack easily, and so she continued to throw Chakra-enhanced punches, murmuring, "Only one hit..."

Deidara dodged every one of them, as fluidly as water. "And what happens when you can't land one, un?" He challenged, causing her to grind her teeth and throw even harder attacks.

He made to jump over her head as she threw her fist back for another attack, but she didn't give him the chance to land. Grabbing one of his feet as he jumped overhead, she pulled him down again, around, and threw him. He flew back, towards the trees, and would've gotten critically wounded had he not maneuvered through the air to land on his feet. Sliding back, gently lying his right hand on the ground to steady himself as he slid, Deidara called, "Sending me flying is a bad idea, Ai." as he ran forward again. "I'm too used to falling for that to work, un." He pulled his fist back for a punch. Ino waited for it and grabbed it once it came too close to her face, smirking as she replied,

"You're pretty good at taijutsu for someone who's a ninjutsu type."

"Un," Deidara answered with a smile as he used his other hand to impale a kunai into her ribcage. Ino tried to stop it, but he still managed to press it in pretty far.

Ino coughed up blood as she murmured, "Teme."

Deidara smiled and whispered, "I know I didn't hit anything vital." He was right; he had hit just underneath her left lung. Her only problem was that her breathing would be complicated, which would make fighting harder. He disappeared in a puff of smoke, then, and Ino took the opportunity to rip the kunai out of her, quickly healing the wounded area. She coughed as her lung healed, the blood that had leaked into it leaving again. She wouldn't be able to heal it completely, but she had healed it enough to continue on.

Bearing the kunai in her right hand, Ino looked around for her love. Left? No. Right? No. Behind? She spun around slowly, but he wasn't there. Turning around again, she looked upwards. Nothing there, either. That leaves below! Ino thought as she put as much Chakra into her left hand as possible before spreading her legs for a better stance as she punched the ground with all the force she had.

The ground rumbled loudly and broke apart in deep depressions. Deidara was forced out of his hiding spot, his eyes wide with amazement as he sat a few yards away. "DeiDei-kun," Ino sang. "I found you."

"Ko," she heard Deidara murmur in amusement as he held his hand up in the sign of Chakra. "Katsu!" he shouted, and she knew something bomb-related would be coming her way.

There was nothing coming directly from Deidara, so Ino jumped into the air, spinning around and kicking outwards. As she predicted, her foot made contact with one of his bombs, kicking it away from her as it exploded off to the side. "You're underestimating me, Dei." She said as she turned to face him again. He was gone.

It was a diversion, she thought as she looked around for signs of her artistic opponent. So where is he now? She looked around, but there was no sign of him.

Turning around, Ino had to use the kunai in her left hand quickly to stop several kunai speeding towards her. Each of Deidara's weapons fell to the ground, Ino having defended herself perfectly. She threw her weapon at him, then, and quickly picked up his, throwing those as well.

Deidara was able to dodge most of them, but one hit him, impaling itself into his shoulder. He winced and held it, causing Ino's heart to wrench in guilt. But she pushed it down, thinking to herself, I can heal him later, I can heal him later...

She had distracted herself, and so didn't sense Deidara's clone coming up from behind as it held her tightly, its right arm around her neck as it pointed a kunai at her with its left. "What are you going to do now, Ai?" The clone whispered in her ear, taunting her failure.

"I'm going to break free, of course." She murmured before biting down on the clone's right arm as hard as she could. It wailed in pain before turning back into stone, breaking to the ground.

Once free, Ino looked around again, finding no signs of Deidara, yet again. "Ah, what an evasive nin you are..." she taunted aloud, hoping to earn some sort of sign as to where he was hiding.

From somewhere above her, Deidara came falling down, his fist pulled back for a punch. Ino grabbed the oppressive hand, and her own scolded her for it - Deidara's weight was more than she had expected, and so her hands were paying the price. They screamed out in pain, but Ino did not make their screams known. She would not give Deidara that satisfaction. Keeping a tight hold of his hand, she threw him away from her again, even though she knew it wouldn't bring any damage to him.

Deidara accepted the throw, maneuvering in the air as he did before. He took out a string of kunai and threw them all at her at once.

Time to impress Itachi-kun, she thought as she dodged every one whilst completing the seal for one of his fire jutsus. Once complete, she murmured its name and put her fingers together, pressing them against her lips. Quickly, she blew out, and a large fireball emerged, blowing at Deidara. There was no way he could avoid it.

When she ran out of breath and the fire disappeared, Ino squinted her eyes, focusing on Deidara's previous position. All she could see was the charred area, with a hole where he had disappeared into. Where did he...?

Before she could complete her thought, Deidara jumped up from the ground, his fist craned upward, aiming to hit Ino's jaw.

He was successful. Ino hadn't been ready for this, and so when he came up, she was unable to change it. He hit her square in the jaw, causing her head to fly upwards with the impact from underneath. She felt bones crunch as she fell back - gravity having taken her back - and skid back, ripping the skin on her back as she did so. Everywhere was hurting now - she had no time to heal anything.

Groaning at the pain, Ino forced herself into a standing position. Deidara was coming at her again, running forwards. She fell into a fighting stance, fully prepared for his attack. He threw a fist at her, and she caught it with her left hand, using the other to punch his jaw. She smirked. "There's nothing better than payback, is there, Dei?"

He spit out a tooth as he gripped her hair tightly with his free hand. "And now what will you do, un?"

She took being so close to him as an advantage and kissed him gently before mercilessly kneeing him between his legs, as hard as she could manage. Deidara cried out through gritted teeth, throwing his head back and shouting, "That really hurt!"

When she felt something crawling up the back of her neck, she quickly pushed Deidara away and attempted to brush the thing away.

But it was too late; Deidara's explosive spider crawled onto her shoulder and exploded, sending her to the ground. White stars clouded her vision, and she feared that to be the end.

No, she thought as she forced herself onto her feet again, I will not lose this way. There's still two more rounds to go! I can't loose on the very first one! Breathing heavily, she made the seal for her Shintensin no Jutsu and aimed it at Deidara. It wasn't the last thing she had up her sleeve; if Deidara was thinking that as he saw the seal aimed at him, he was seriously wrong. And he would seriously fail.

Knowing the jutsu's schematics, Deidara quickly jumped away and into the air. Ino followed after him, forgetting the seal.

Deidara was a pretty high jumper - Ino had to add Chakra into her feet in order to get as high as he was. But once she was there, she punched him in the face, forcing him back as he fell onto the ground without any of his normal grace. Calling on a few Kage Bunshin, Ino used them to hold a corner of him down - now on the ground - as she fell in his middle. "This is going to hurt," she whispered as she pulled her fist back and added as much Chakra as possible. "A lot. But I won't apologize." She threw her fist down on his right arm, then again on his left. He cried out in the agony of having both bones in his arms shattered, wrenching underneath her for freedom.

"I give up!" He shouted, unable to keep himself still.

"Really?" Ino asked as she sat upright in surprise.

"No," another copy of his voice hissed in her ear as he punched the back of her head.

Stars blinded her, and before she knew what was happening, Deidara had her in a death-grip. This was only a shadow clone, but it was still impossible to escape his grasp. He had cruelly twisted her arm around and threw her to the ground, so that if she moved even an inch, she was in searing pain.

She was about to lose an arm.

Grinding her teeth in pain, Ino twisted herself around so that Deidara was on her front - breaking her left arm in the process. She ignored the searing pain of heat as she threw her right arm up, collecting as much Chakra as possible to it and punching him in the stomach. The clone broke into a collection of stones, and Ino jumped to her feet. She walked over to where her own clones were holding Deidara down and looked down on him. Her breathing was heavy and uneasy from the pain; she couldn't exactly tell which Deidara was the real one.

Ino opened her mouth to say something, but a wave of nausea and pain overtook her before she could, causing her to turn around and spill her stomach's contents. Unable to control her Chakra, her Kage Bunshin disappeared in puffs of smoke, and Deidara was free.

He forced himself upright, using only the muscles in his abdomen to do so. "You broke my arms, un!" he wailed, looking to either of them in turn.

"I can...heal them...later," Ino panted, wiping away access vomit from around her mouth as she turned to face him. "Looks like I...won." She grunted in pain, closing her eyes and falling to her knees. "Are you okay?" she murmured, forcing her eyes open again to look over at her love.

"I'm fine," he grunted, "Konan-san knows how to heal broken bones instantly."

"Good," she agreed with a nod. "Hatafuri-san?" she called.

"Come over here, you two, and get cleaned up," Hatafuri answered.

Ino helped Deidara to his feet with her unbroken hand, and the two of them jumped over to the trees.

They were greeted by Naruto, Sasori, Konan, and Hatafuri. The rest of the Akatsuki sat a little further away, waiting for the next round. "You did great, Ino-hoshi!" Naruto called, softly patting her back. "That looks painful," he commented on her broken left arm.

She managed a nod.

Konan and Pein approached them, Konan dealing with Ino's broken left arm first. Pein spoke as she worked, "I have come to the conclusion that Ino has won the first round."

"Yes!" Both Naruto and Sasori cheered. "Hidan," Sasori continued, "you owe me five bucks."

Hidan swore loudly, answering, "She'll loose the next two, Jashin-damnit!"

"Not likely!" Ino shouted back as Konan finished with her arm and turned her attention on Deidara. Ino healed the rest of her minor wounds, including the burn mark from where Deidara had set his bomb off on her. He had an angry expression behind the pained one on his face. "Upset you lost, Dei?"

"I don't understand," he murmured, then to Hatafuri, "How did I loose, un?"

"Ino was able to successfully disable you. How much more could you have done without your arms?"

Deidara growled in defeat and looked away from everyone, to the ground.

"Can I fight Ino-hoshi, Pein-sama?" Naruto asked politely.

"Aren't you a taijutsu type?" Hatafuri replied.

Naruto shrugged. "I don't think Deidara-kun would want to lose twice in a row."

Deidara growled at the stab to his ego, but said nothing. Konan was still busy with his arms.

"No," Sasori interjected, causing Ino to look over at him. "I'll spar with her." He used the strength of his neck to whip his bangs back away from his face. "Both Deidara and myself were gone for a month - I want to see how much she has learned first-hand, as well."

Ino froze, thinking. Sasori was a puppeteer - and he had hundreds of puppets. How would she herself beat three hundred puppets single-handedly?

Sasori answered her thought. "I'll use Hiruko, and then one other puppet if you manage to destroy him. If you can destroy both puppets successfully, you'll win. However, if I can land one scratch on you from either of my two puppets, I win." He rested his right arm on that hip. "Think you're up to the challenge?"

"Hmph!" Ino scoffed as she looked away a little. "If you don't think I can handle that, then you're seriously underestimating me! Of course I'll spar with you." She folded her newly-healed arms and looked at him away.

"Well, then," Sasori replied with a smirk, making to jump away, "I'll meet you down there." He jumped down onto the broken-up field.

Hatafuri nodded. "Sasori will be your next opponent, as you have decided. You may begin any time you're ready."

It was Ino's turn to nod. Then, looking down to Sasori, she followed. "Good luck, Hoshi!" She heard Naruto call.

Not responding, Ino jumped down to the field and prepared herself. Sasori was already concealed within Hiruko's body, waiting for her. Taking a deep breath, Ino readied herself, staring her opponent down. Without time for thought, Sasori attacked, slashing out Hiruko's tail at her. Acting quickly, Ino evaded the attack, jumping onto Hiruko's tail and carefully balancing herself. She could not afford to be wounded by the deadly weaponry so early. One scratch, and she would fail.

She jumped down from Hiruko's tail and arched her fist backwards, gathering as much Chakra to it as possible.

Within Hiruko, Sasori moved with lightning-fast movements Ino hadn't anticipated Hiruko capable of. And so her attack uselessly landed on the ground, breaking it up again.

"Isn't this nostalgic?" Sasori asked as he attacked her with Hiruko's tail.

Ino spun around and kicked it away as she gave herself come space from him and shouted, "Yeah, all we need is an old lady and a pink-haired whore!" She managed the smallest of smiles.

"That could be easily arranged," Sasori answered in a tone that washed ice water over her core. Ino knew, then, exactly which puppet he was planning on using upon Hiruko's defeat.

"That's a good tactic you're thinking of," she commented as she ran forward, a kunai in her mouth as she completed the seal for Kage Bunshin. Two clones appeared on either side of her, and she continued forward, preparing to strike.

It occurred to her, then, that this was the exact same tactic Haruno Sakura had used on her so long ago, at the chunin exams.

"No!" The three clones shouted at once as they jumped into the sky and threw their kunai at Hiruko.

"Ko," Sasori chuckled, reading her thoughts, "You're getting more and more like your worst enemy, aren't you?" He used Hiruko's tail to easily defend himself from the oppressive kunai.

The three Inos twirled gracefully through the air as they fell—something she had learned from Deidara moments before. "You learn fast, Ino." Sasori's voice told her. "Only an hour fighting Deidara and you can twirl through the air almost as excellently as he." Before she was given a chance to think, Sasori attacked her again, this time managing to strike her. But, oddly enough, Hiruko's tail hadn't broken her skin - only bruised her. Without taking time to get herself confused, Ino pushed herself off of the tail, gripping it tightly and using all the strength she had to whirl Hiruko around and throw him. An instant before the puppet and its puppeteer were about to make contact with the far mountain, Hiruko's form disintegrated into sand.

A Suna Bunshin, she thought, getting into a protective stance as she looked around for the enemy. Now, where is he...?

She knew an instant before Hiruko's form appeared out of nowhere and almost landed on her head. Heart racing, Ino quickly rolled out from underneath Hiruko's landing area. Sasori missed her by inches - he actually managed to get some of her hair caught underneath, trapping her.

"Ko," Sasori mocked, tilting Hiruko's head down to look on her. "Looks like you're trapped."

Ino growled in frustration and slowly pulled out one of her last kunai.

"What are you going to do with that?" Sasori sneered, meaning to anger her. "There's no way you could inflict any damage upon Hiruko in that position." He chuckled.

Ignoring him, Ino cut off the strands of her hair stuck underneath him and flew back, throwing it at him. It was her turn to smirk as she quickly completed the seal for her Shintensin no Jutsu, capturing Sasori within her grasp.

Why...won't he...move? She heard Sasori think. Why can't I move?

Within his mind, Ino laughed. Give it up - there's no way you can get out of my Jutsu. I now have complete control over your body. That was when the Kage Bunshin she had secretly called moments before jumped out of hiding and collected as much Chakra as possible into her fist. The clone punched Hiruko's back with incredible force, splitting the shell down the middle. Her clone disappeared and she quickly pulled back from Sasori's thoughts, trying to force her thoughts back into the right place quicker than she was supposed to. Her Shintensin no Jutsu was supposed to be used only as a last resort - it was slow and it took her a while to actually return to her body. And with an opponent like Sasori, the advantage would surely be taken.

She was able to return to consciousness just in time to dodge one final tail swing from Hiruko. Adding Chakra to her feet, Ino jumped as high into the air as possible and threw some basically-useless kunai down at the now-exposed puppeteer. He dodged them easily, flipping another puppet scroll out of his cloak.

"There's no puppet you have that I can't defeat!" She boasted proudly, landing a few hundred feet away.

"We'll see about that," Sasori answered in a voice that sent shivers down her spine. The tone of his voice gave her a hint as to which puppet he would use. The third Kazekage, perhaps? It was his favorite, after all. The possibilities were endless.

A few intense moments dragged by - Sasori's love for watching his prey wriggle in his grasp - before the scorpion added Chakra to the scroll. It exploded it a burst of purple fog, completely shadowing everything around them. Ino's heart rate increased - she was now completely vulnerable.

The smoke cleared away less than a minute later, and the face Ino stared back at made her turn to the side and vomit. Staring back at her, now in Sasori's complete control, was none other than her old teammate, Naara Shikamaru.

Panting heavily as she propped herself up on her knees, Ino managed, "Y-you killed Shikamaru..." She looked over to Sasori weakly, trying her hardest to look past her old boyfriend.

Sasori shook his head, a maniacal laugh hardening his features. "No. I merely took his body for my own use after he died."

Ino shook her head weakly, standing upright. "No. No! You killed him! You stole his body and - " she cut herself short, not desiring to think of Sasori's 'embalming' techniques. "How could you!?" She shouted, unable to control herself. Slowly, she began backing away. "You...you monster!" Her thoughts were nothing but an angry slush in her head.

"No." Sasori said firmly, sending over his thoughts of the matter. His experience.

"No!" Ino rejected them aloud, blocking them. "I don't believe you and I never will!" She jumped back as Sasori shrugged and twitched his fingers, sending Shikamaru flying towards her.

Ino's eyes widened in horror. She couldn't bring any harm to Shikamaru, even if it was only protection. There was no way.

Shikamaru punched her jaw squarely, sending her flying back. Ino took the attack numbly - she was in shock. She barely felt the pain in her back as she flew along the ground. Her thoughts were reduced to nothing. Nothing at all. How would she be able to survive this?

Weakly, Ino climbed to her feet and stared down Shikamaru as he attacked her again and again. She no longer felt the pain. Tears streamed down her face as she continued to climb back to her feet again and again, never bothering to even protect herself from the blows. No thoughts were being processed in her mind, no adrenaline rushing through her veins.

She had already given up.

Finally, Shikamaru sent one death-blow to her abdomen, sending her flying hundreds of feet back. Ino skid against the ground, giving the smallest of grunts as she eventually came to a stop. A searing green light flashed before her eyes as her head spun. She wanted to puke, to crawl into a corner and never come out again. There was no future for her, not anymore.

That was when she heard Naruto's voice: "C'mon, Ino, you can't loose this way! Not when you were doing so well! What's another puppet, even if it is Shikamaru? It's only a puppet, Hoshi, not him! You can do this! C'mon, get onto your feet and fight back!"

The sobs came unbridled now, audible enough for everyone to hear. "H-Help!" she shouted weakly, managing to lift her head. "I can't do this anymore!" She could hardly see through the tears.

"Danna, stop!" She heard Deidara yell in her defense.

"No," Hatafuri silenced everyone, "she can do this."

H-he really thinks I can do this? Ino heard herself think as she willed her arms and legs into action enough to back away from the approaching-Shikamaru. How could I ever hurt Shikamaru?

You have to. He isn't Shikamaru anymore - he's only a lifeless puppet being controlled by Sasori. Why would you spare Sasori, your opponent? A foreign voice asked her through her thoughts. Only, it wasn't a foreign voice - It was Konan.

K-konan-san? Ino thought weakly, managing to get to her feet. Her Chakra levels were dangerously low; it would all end soon.

Yes, Konan answered. I am not on your side, but I do not enjoy the sight of a fellow kunoichi of the Akatsuki organization being beaten so easily. Take the advice, Ino. Do what you have to in order to survive.

A fresh rush of adrenaline running through her veins, Ino nodded and fell into a protective stance. Konan's speech had inspired her. She could do this! She could beat Shikamaru and be at peace once and for all!

Shikamaru threw out his leg, aiming for her head, and she blocked it with her nearest arm, grabbing the puppet's leg with the other. Through tears, the blonde threw the puppet into the air and jumped up to meet it, adding as much Chakra as she had left to her fist and punching Shikamaru through the face. Sobbing freely, Ino feebly fell to the ground on her knees, holding her face in her hands. She shook violently with the sobs, unable to control herself.

"Hoshi!"

"Ino!" Two voices called in unison, one Naruto and the other Deidara. Both men landed beside her, Deidara on her right and Naruto on her left. Without thinking, Ino turned to Deidara and clung to him needfully, burying her face in his chest and sobbing freely. She spoke incoherently, murmuring something about Shikamaru. Even she didn't know what she was talking about.

"N-ngh, Shikamaru, nnnnn…Please…" Crying, Ino buried her face in Deidara's chest, clinging to him as he guided her to her feet.

"Ssh, Ino, he's not here anymore. Stop crying, un. It's okay." Deidara whispered against her hair as he held her close. His voice was comforting; it reminded her of her love for him, of his love for her, of how he would always be by her side no matter what. Just as he was now.

Deidara rubbed her arms and back as her tears began to slow, making soft shushing sounds and reminding her that it would be alright, that she would be okay. She was okay. She was alive. Her eyes widened as she realized this, and she slowly looked up into his beautiful eyes. They were soft, careful. "Ino-ai?" Deidara asked softly, cupping her face in either of his hands and brushing the tears away with his thumbs.

Ino closed her eyes happily, burying her face in his chest again as she shouted, "I'm alive! And you're alive! An-and I love yooooouuuuu!" She looked up again and kissed him once.

Deidara smiled. "Love you, too, Ai."

"Now, that's over," Sasori said from behind with a tired sigh.

At the sound of his voice, Ino felt an angry surge well within her. Clenching her fists and grinding her teeth together, she spun around to face him. She stared him down for the briefest of moments, shaking with anger, before shouting, "Stupid puppet!" and adding as much Chakra as she had left to her fist before introducing it to his cheek. Sasori went flying back, and Ino held her fist in front of her face, angrily shouting at the redhead in Japanese. "Shan duro!"

"Whoa!" Naruto shouted from behind, grabbing either of her arms and holding her tight. "Enough, Hoshi! Fight's over! You win, dattebayo!" Deidara grabbed her as well, around the waist. She screamed defiantly and wriggled in their grasp, nearly overwhelming the both of them.

"Ino-ai, calm down, un!" Deidara shouted. "He's dead and gone already. And you just confirmed it. Why are you so mad over a body, un?"

"You know already - I cannot feal pain in this body," Sasori told her as he stood and approached. The closer he got, the more she fought Deidara and Naruto's grasp. "Why bother when I can't feel it? The only thing hurt here will be your hand."

Realizing that she was unable to win in this situation, Ino silently stared back at the redhead, panting heavily with bottled-up anger. All was silent for an intense moment before she felt Naruto and Deidara's hold on her relaxing. "You can let me go now," she murmured softly, noting with pleasure the many-parted crack on his cheek. That alone was impetus for her to calm. Ino took a deep breath slowly, counting to ten before she let it out. She was okay; the anger had passed for now.

"Deidara, Ino, Sasori," Pein spoke from behind. The three of them turned to face them, and he continued, "I have decided to cut the next match and assign the three of you a mission. Obviously, Ino is a competent kunoichi. She will remain a member, as I had originally planned. Now, I want - " his line of speech cut off and he finished the rest through their thoughts, the three of you to infiltrate Konoha and take out any and all oppression. I don't care how you do it - just make sure you keep those on our side safe. I expect the three of you to be back within the week. Get all preparations ready and leave as soon as possible.

Ino's breath caught. Back to Konoha, so soon? And what was worse: they would be destroying the place she had once called home and slaughtering most of the people she had called friends. Her heart fluttered in anxiety, but deep in her heart she knew she could do this. She knew she was ready to eliminate her past and continue on with the future.

"Are you alright with that, Ino?" Pein asked her. Her now-teammates looked over to her, a sign of worry in both of their eyes.

A smirk pulled the corner of her mouth. Without hesitating, she answered, "Of course. Let's do it."

"Make preparations to leave as soon as possible." Hatafuri commanded before vanishing. And make sure to bring the Kyuubi back to his room, he added mentally.

The three of them nodded and escorted Naruto to his room.

"Where are you going, Ino-hoshi?" Naruto asked softly as he opened the door to his room. He looked back to her, the look in his eyes revealing that he wasn't expecting the type of answer he was looking for.

"I can't say," she said softly, looking to the ground. "Gomen." She was tearing up now, for some unknown reason.

"Hey," Naruto called softly, bringing her attention back to him. He kissed her hair gently and said, "I'll always remember you, Hoshi. Do you know why I always thought of you as a star?"

"N-no..." she stuttered, hating herself for seeming so weak.

"It's because, like all the other great people we know, you shine. Even at your darkest point in life, you shined above the rest. You've always been so much better than Konoha, even though others blinded themselves by staring at the sun too long and were unable to see your shine. But you were still there, growing brighter everyday. And now people will see your shine as I did."

Somehow managing a laugh, Ino thanked him again and backed off. "Itte keru, Naruto."

Naruto smiled. "See you later, Hoshi."

The three of them passed his room and, surprisingly, Deidara took her hand as they made their way through the base, collecting what they needed. Itachi passed his katana on to her, telling her to use it well. Deidara collected all of the clay he could carry, and Sasori quickly repaired Hiruko. After that, they made their way to the base's exit.

First looking down at their connected hands, then to Deidara's eyes, Ino felt reassured at the depth of their oval blue. "Naruto is right, un." Deidara whispered, his own eyes glistening. "You're a star. You shine in so many ways, un...I saw you through the worst of that darkness myself, and I am going to see through this darkness now. I love you, Ai. I really truly do."

More tears rolled down her cheek and, sniffling, she answered, "You're the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. You saved me from death. I love you, too." One of the most astonishing things was the fact that Sasori did not say a word throughout the confession.

The three of them stepped into the bright sunlight, although their outlooks could never have been bleaker. All three of them knew the danger Konoha posed, but they were helpless in Pein's decision. Slowly and without conscious thought, they made their way through the woods surrounding the area and on towards Konoha.

They agreed to grab a hotel for the night and begin their infiltration of Konoha the following morning. Once inside their suite, the two blondes lay on their shared bed, cuddling up close and simply enjoying one another's scent. They fell asleep in one another's arms without saying a word.


A/n

Translations:

Gomen - Sorry

Hai - Yes/right

Nani - What

Baka - Idiot

Ai - Love

Taijutsu - Close fighting (ie, hand-to-hand combat)

Ninjutsu - Distance fighting (ie, Deidara's bombs)

Genjutsu - Fighting with illusions (ie, Itachi's Sharingan)

Teme - Bastard

Katsu - A word used for concentration

Shintensin no Jutsu - Mind Control Jutsu

Kage Bunshin - Shadow Clone

Hatafuri - Leader

Hoshi - Star

Suna Bunshin - Sand clone

Kunoichi - Female ninja

Shan duro - Damn it (not sure if it's actually spaced or not --')

Kyuubi - 'Nine Tails.' The name for Naruto's tailed beast.

A/n

ZOMFG IT'S FINALLY HERE!! I'm just as happy as you guys are, really ;) I can't believe I finally got it done!! Hopefully I can get the last two chapters typed before I leave for the weekend! Until then, enjoy this long-awaited update. Thanks to all of my fans for waiting so long. I appreciate the paitence! Ciao!