I'm ever so ever so dorry about the delayed upload. I really do apologise, there has been some family commitments I've had to make so I do apologise so much. This chapter probably isn't as long as the others previous but it does start to kick off a little more here. So hopefully it's a bit more interesting as we coninue with Ino's struggle to get stronger and worthwhile! I hope this chapter makes sense, luckily my boyfriend's Dad is a doctor so I got advise from him. It should all be correct.
I do not own Naruto all comments and opinions expressed in this are my own unrelated to the anime or manga.
Ino was about to find out what Leader-Sama's wishes were, and really she would rather have not.
Ino was rooted to the spot, the contents of her stomach were moving around again and her palms had turned sweaty. Did these people have no idea that she wasn't the medical ninja they assumed she was? Katsumi turned on her small platformed heels and walked down the corridor, with a tiny pang Ino thought of Sakura's similar platformed boots and how she'd helped Ino walk in them. Her thoughts were interrupted as Deidara gave her a slight nudge and she followed the older Kunoichi down the dimly lit corridor. To her relief, at least Kisame remained behind.
"Leader-Sama has decided that our ranks are falling too far too thin." The soft voice of the female filled the air, adding an aura of eerie calmness. "In order to combat this, we successfully retrieved Deidara, we will be helping Hidan return to normal and we will be inducting you into the Akatsuki for reasons that still remain unclear to most of us."
Ino stayed very silent as she tried to compute this information in her head. There was no viable reason at all for her to join Akatsuki, she was too weak.
Deidara thought otherwise, outwardly her personality shone confidence and pluckiness and courage, when in reality she he could see she had trouble grasping a hold of situations and have no faith in herself. She was perfect for Akatsuki and their quest for the ninetails. She was defenceless, pliable and mouldable, with the right propaganda she would be extremely useful and with the right training she would be strong. Trust was a very powerful thing, and used well could result in the course of a battle turning in the opposite direction. Whatever Leader-Sama's ideals, he had thought it through very carefully.
Everything had come together very nicely, albeit the coincidence surrounding it. He just very much hoped they wouldn't partner him with Hidan as he'd wind up blowing him up himself, and he really didn't feel like babysitting a Kunoichi either. He wouldn't admit it, but he was quite looking forward to getting back to working with Tobi. Deep inside himself, the thought of looking forward to getting back to Tobi made him want to strangle something.
Deidara was quite happy with the Akatsuki hideout, despite the fact that they very rarely spent much time in it, once you arrived back at the hidden entrances far into the cavern, the living area was well furnished and comfortable. There were separate rooms for each member depending on who was there and thankfully more than one shower. Evil he may be, stinky he was not.
The young Blonde girl looked very uncomfortable as he peered at her form. She was shivering and her palms were sweaty, he could tell she was suffering from anxiety. He scoffed to himself, perhaps there wasn't any hope for her.
He wanted to have no interest in why Leader-Sama had decided to resurrect Hidan, induct Ino or trace his own whereabouts; but the Kunoichi did interest him. He had been the one to find her and take her hostage, he felt that made her his property and he wanted to be the one to decide her fate, and that he would fight for if necessary.
The room Katsumi was leading them to was Akatsuki's medical room, it was rarely used for anything major, most members of Akatsuki either died or completed their missions flawlessly. He grimaced, apart from when he lost his arms. Still with Kakuzu's life threads they were as good as new, even if Kakuzu was now dead. It was the cleanest room in the entire hideout and despite herself Ino looked around interestedly as she entered. There were instruments she had never been allowed to use before, herbs and medicines in different vials and on one wall, there were several jars filled with things that were disgusting to look at and probably very illegal. She turned her head back to the centre of the room where a small operating table was.
"Deidara tip Hidan onto it." Katsumi instructed.
Ino shivered and put her hand up to her mouth again, the smell wouldn't be quite so concentrated but still it would stink never the less. Deidara scoffed as he walked past her. "Pathetic." He muttered.
Katsumi raised an eyebrow and folded her arms, keeping her gaze on the table. "If you concentrate your chakra correctly in your nose you can dumb your senses to smell nothing. I would try that if you cannot take the smell." The comment was neither snide nor bullying. It surprised Ino that Katsumi seemed capable of acting polite, when most other members of Akatsuki seemed to know only hatred.
She stared silently at the older woman in slight awe. She wasn't really sure how to base an opinion on her as she seemed very complex. The woman simply shrugged as she noticed Ino did not move to implicate the advise she had given her. "Try it if you have good control of your chakra." She coaxed, before adding questioningly "I would have thought a medic ninja would know of this. Your teacher must be incredibly poor or have little faith in you."
Ino felt a tiny bit of rage and a tiny bit of disappointment in her. Tsunade had never been a poor teacher; although she still knew in her heart that she favoured Sakura over her. She shamed herself to admit it, but maybe Tsunade didn't have as much hope and expectation in her as she thought. Ino closed her eyes and concentrated her chakra as instructed. The technique revealed was an incredibly simple one, that required; she found out; minimal concentration levels. Sure enough as Hidan's bits were tipped onto the table she could no longer smell anything.
Unfortunately as his head fell Shikamaru's headband fell out of his mouth. He seemed to have some very choice words to say about the matter. "Katsumi you bitch!" He cried. "You sent this idiot to get me!"
"Would you have preferred to have stayed in the hole?" She answered, ignoring him and setting about to work on putting his parts in the right place. "Ino come and help." She stated lifting a part of his leg. "Deidara, I will call you if we need you."
Deidara sesning her words as a dismissal; gave the pair one last look and swiftly departed from the room, leaving them alone with the foul mouthed Jashinist.
Ino was somewhat sickened by the bits of body she had to put together, but was secretly pleased when Katsumi moved Deidara's head rather roughly to the top of the table. He yelled in pain and continued to cuss at them both until, not amused; Katsumi stuffed the headband back into his wailing mouth.
He choked and muttered something incomprehensible and the girl just laughed, "You will not kill either of us when we have repaired you or Leader-Sama will destroy you and plug you back in that hole quicker than your Jashin can smite." She snapped.
Hidan shut up.
"Why are we doing this?" Ino eventually had the courage to ask as she matched up his left hand. "How can I help?"
"I cannot do this alone." Katsumi responded, "It requires too much Chakra, and the operation is too delicate that Kisame is no help. His chakra store is meaningless since he has no medical knowledge."
"I see." Ino answered, there was really little else she could say on the matter.
The curly white haired woman looked up. "You are uncomfortable I can see, but as I promised we will not harm you."
"You overpowered my technique."
"Your technique is weak and untrained." Katsumi answered, "Having medical abilities is a gift; mixed with your clans special technique it could be very powerful. Your teacher obviously feels that it would also be too dangerous to combine the two skills. Pitiful."
"Why pitiful?" Ino asked, as her body seemed to move entirely on its own to put Hidan's body in place.
"Because it would be so dangerous and threatening, obviously she feels that you cannot be trusted."
Ino bit her lip. She didn't like to think of it as such, Tsunade was a good teacher and knew how much she wanted to protect her friends, if it was such a powerful combination, why couldn't she learn how to utilise it? She couldn't understand why Tsunade hadn't told her. She had preferred to teach Ino the same type of techniques she taught Sakura, super strength and healing. Ino couldn't say that she'd had trouble learning, but she knew it didn't feel right somehow. She had felt some guilt at abandoning her own clans special limit, but wanted to become strong, so cast the silly thoughts aside. Her father hadn't been dissapointed, he had told her he was pleased she was taking the initiative, but now it seemed she could do both.
"How do I-?" She began.
"With special training. But only after you've proven yourself." Katsumi stood back. "We're organised, now this is where I need your help."
Ino held her breath, she was being promised something for what seemed like nothing. But helping Hidan? He killed Asuma, it probably meant nothing to anyone but her. "He killed my mentor." Ino blurted out awkwardly.
Katsumi turned to her. "Due to a mission I assume. If revenge is what you seek you cannot act it upon Hidan without my help. It is your decision after all. Rather help me now and kill him later if that is what you wish. My mission is to heal him and I cannot do that without you, if I fail my mission then I must find other means to heal him, who knows what that might entail?"
It was a threat. A subtle threat, but a threat all the same. She could go after Sakura or Tsunade, and torture them to do it. Ino gulped, she nodded, getting stronger would empower her in more ways than one. The pros outweighed the cons, she gave a shuddered outtake of breath and nodded. "How?"
Katsumi lifted her hands to her Akatsuki cloak and removed it, revealing a well toned body from fighting. She went to hang up the cloak and pulled down two medic aprons from a hook. Handing one to Ino she held up her hand to Ino, and from it pushed a bone out from her skin.
Ino recoiled.
"I informed you I am of the Kaguya clan. The last one apparently, since Kimimaro died." She looked slightly downcast but continued none the less. "I'm going to force my own bone marrow into Hidan's, first to reconnect his body and second to speed up and enhance the restoration process of his cells. As you must know the Bone Marrow in larger bones produces the new blood cells for the body from the red marrow."
Ino nodded, She knew this. "There's red and yellow marrow inside of the bone marrow..." She said. Katsumi nodded seemingly impressed with her knowledge as Ino continued. "When you're born it is all red, a portion turns yellow as you become older and turn into an adult."
Katsumi smiled, "Very good. What I need your help with is to produce double the amount of platelets needed for this. Kakuzu would have made this job a lot easier, however I hear your Konoha did away with him as well." Ino said nothing, unsure of whether or not it was sarcasm or anger. "Normally I would have to endure and act out the entire haemostasis process. However once Hidan's body is connected through his bone tissue, his immortality should do the rest. Regrowing bones in my own body is a simple process, transferring them to someone else is difficult."
It was a very intricate process, though it made entire sense to Ino, however there was one question that lingered on her lips she had to ask. "If the Kaguya clan had such a complex and brilliant technique in their hands... why on earth didn't they use it to save themselves?"
"Because they were blood thirsty idiots." Katsumi answered a little angrily and didn't elaborate on the comment. "I need you to concentrate on my cells and flush your chakra into it to give me the energy needed to create double the amount of cells. Let us begin."
Gulping Ino held out her hands and closed her blue eyes. It was the most elaborate thing she'd ever been trusted to do. Nothing she had learnt or read about was so dangerously intricate. But it was invigorating, someone had placed such trust and faith in her to do something so tough, and she was determined not to fail at it. Even if it was for her own pride, she needed the confidence.
"She appears like a rabbit, unsure of herself and wary." Kisame commented dryly as Deidara appeared back in the main room.
"She is unconfident, un." Deidara stated. "It is good for Akatsuki, yeah, she'll believe whatever we tell her, un."
Kisame chuckled, "You have grown attached to her."
"She is my prey, un." Deidara narrowed his eyes.
"It's good to have you back." Kisame stated. "It was too serious and boring without you." Deidara scoffed arrogantly and rolled his eyes, although Kisame could only see the one not hidden. "There have been... some changes, some you will like others you will not." Kisame warned him.
"Such as?" Deidara asked curiously, losing his mock anger and studying Kisame carefully.
"Itachi-San is dead." Kisame commented.
"WHAT!" Deidara blew up. "DEAD, UN? HE WAS MY PREY, YEAH, MINE! WHO KILLED HIM, UN?"
"Sasuke." Kisame replied.
Deidara's rage boiled over the edge, and he screamed demonically in anger. He had never been so furious before. His rival dead, killed by the one who had almost killed him. It was unbelievable. His hands formed angry fists that shook uncontrollably with his hate. "I'll kill him, un." He spat quietly and venomously.
"You can't." Kisame advised calmly. "He is part of Akatsuki now, Sasuke and his three stooges... They are all useless, Orochimaru rejected cast offs." He remarked. "If that little water punk thinks he can get his hands on Samehada he is sourly mistaken."
Deidara growled, "I need to leave."
"Why?" Kisame asked curiously.
"Because if I don't go elsewhere to blow something up, I'll end up destroying this place." Deidara warned, stomping past the fish like man disgustedly.
"Don't go far." Kisame warned him.
Deidara ignored him and left. Kisame chuckled to himself, youngsters had no idea how to curb their anger really. Still maybe he should have been more careful about stirring up trouble. Then again, he thought as a loud explosion erupted from outside, Perhaps not.
Hours it took.
Ino began getting weary after two but Katsumi coaxed her onwards. Eventually the process was complete, and tiredly Katsumi placed a hand on Ino's shoulder. Exhausted, she collapsed to her knees. "You did a very good job." Katsumi said lifting her up under an arm. "I shall have Deidara take you to a room for rest."
Ino nodded numbly, Hidan didn't particularly look that much better, but his bones were connected and her could move slightly, although Katsumi forbade him from doing so without her permission. Katsumi stared at him and carefully took the headband from his mouth. she ripped the silver from the frabric. Discarding the soft material, she sat Ino down and took a Kunai out from her belt. "I'll give this to you." She said slashing the Kunai across the headband and placing the cool metal in Ino's hand. "You're a Missing-Nin now, I hope you get used to it very quickly."
ino clasped the metal tightly as her eyes cloased, and tiredly, she passed out.
Again sorry its so short, and sorry again my Beta is very busy with Uni work and doesn't get much time for proof reading with her dissetation. I could get another but she's actually my real life best friend and I don't like too.
Please review, I won't promise an update soon as I'm so busy but deffinitely before christmas.
Wiggle xxx
