A DIFFERENT GENEALOGY
ACT I: SCENE XII
~ THE PROMISE OF A LIFETIME ~
"I understand the idea sir, but I don't believe convincing Sasuke to kill his team-mate will that simple" Sakon stated, worry in his tone.
"That's what these are for" Kabuto replied holding up a scroll.
"And they are…?" Tayuya asked, squinting at the scroll.
"Some concoctions of mine; they are keyed to the cursed seal of heaven on Sasuke, and will forcibly draw out the Kyuubi's power when Naruto's chakra is drained" Kabuto began.
The attentive looks told him the four understood and he continued.
" The last one will induce a… hypnotism I suppose you could call it; the Konoha mentality will make certain those two be more worried of the other than the reasons they have been left in the first place. Naruto will be pulled towards Sasuke in that state and Sasuke will be drawn to her in much the same manner, thanks to these drugs."
Kabuto smiled a sickly smug smile.
"Even forced, if Sasuke kills her the effect will be the same when he realises what he has done" he finished, handing the scroll to Kidomaru.
"That's amazing and all, but how can the Kyuubi be controlled that easily?" Jirobo asked.
Orochimaru chuckled lightly from his bed as Kabuto pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"The Kyuubi is fused into Naruto's very DNA. It was a simple matter to obtain some from her living quarters during the panic of the invasion; after that, the Kyuubi manifests in a les controlled manner of the cursed seal, and I have ample experience with those don't I?" Kabuto smiled.
Naruto watched the sound ninja disappear with horror etched onto her features scraping frantically at the edges of the tags sticking to her wrists; it was awkward, as she could not see them but she had to get away from the ominous chakra behind her.
There was no doubt it was Sasuke now; she had to get away before he presumably woke up. Those drugs must have something to do with whatever the creep intended, and she could already feel them beginning to work. Her concentration slipped at moments, distracted by scents, smells, noises, and a sickening draw towards the menacing chakra beyond her vision. One tag was pulled off, tearing some skin from the forced removal, but she pressed on.
The desire for blood ripped through her, a roaring in her mind that blotted all other interference told her the Kyuubi's chakra was beginning to flow through her chakra coils instead of her own, and she hurried her pace. God how many of these damn tags were there? If she didn't get them of quickly, it would be-
Too late.
There was a loud crashing noise behind her, a blast of chakra, and smoke infiltrated her nostrils, smothering all the other scents she had been picking up, including the smell of her own fear.
When he woke up, the first thing he noted was the unatural grey of his hands fading back to its usual pale peach colour. Second was the area, the valley of the end. Directly on the border! The third thing was the frantic shorthaired form of Naruto, tearing into restraint seals on her wrists, and that identical ones were gluing themselves to her ankles.
"Naruto!"
Not caring of the consequences, he pulled to his feet and darted the fifty or so meters to where she had been left on the rock head of Madara Uchiha. He tore off the seals, pushing his chakra in enough to short-circuit the fragile workings to avoid skin tearing. After removing the ones on her ankles, he forced her eyes to meet his, and examine her for any injuries.
There was torn skin on her wrist from her own attempts to remove the tags, and the metallic scent and red tinge on her scruffy short hair told him she had an injury on her head - likely, she had been knocked out. There were multiple red spots on her neck, and one on her arm…
He didn't know what those were, but they didn't seem serious. Relief flooded him and he crashed into her, forcing the air form her lungs by the momentum. All that was playing through his mind was relief at her apparent moderate unarm. She was still, clearly surprised or relieved, or shocked by the sudden display of affection, before she hesitantly wrapped her arm around his neck and returned the sentiments.
Contact with Sasuke, despite her fears, dulled the craving that had been growing as he drew closer, and Naruto hesitantly returned the hug. Something else began to build with the contact: the feel of his skin on that of her arms, the scent of his hair, the raspy breath all stirred her blood.
She needed, wanted, craved something; common sense told her that this was the work of all the drugs she had been unwillingly administered, but knowing and doing were different things. It was so strong, far too strong. Her head screamed to run as the biting red chakra began to stir in her chakra coils once again. She ignored it, placing her hands either side of his face; his eyes always looked black, but upon close inspection they were more of a black-blue colour, she could see the navy hints in them; opposite to the deep red of his Sharingan.
She'd never given his eyes so much note before, but there was an unreadable quality discernible in them. Fascination drew her to press her lips on his with force - it made the burning in her blood fierce, and it demanded to be fed.
When he pressed back, tongue grazing over her lips, she couldn't withhold anymore and pushed him back onto the limestone. His hands grazed her sides and the pure want choked her as she pressed with an animalistic ferocity to his lips; it still wasn't enough, nowhere near enough. He tried to flip their position, but a burst of strength shot through her courtesy of the fire-blood, and it failed. Her lips trailed, trailing and lightly gnawing at his neck until they grazed the black tomoe on his left shoulder.
'Oh no..'
She stalled the loss of her control long enough to hoarsely mutter one word before the fire clouded her mind and her vision: "Run!"
Sasuke stared at her for a few moments before the black disfiguring marks spread over his skin of their own accord, forcing a blank look into his eyes. He was vaguely aware of the Kyuubi chakra spreading into Naruto's visage, but for some reason, he didn't care; all he cared about was having her blood on his hands.
With a snarl and a roar, they lunged.
Ino pushed off the branches of the trees with force. She had lost track of that stupid white-headed freak! His speed had upped almost instantly, and now he was nowhere in sight; it seemed like the snake creep had been giving his minions lessons on the Konoha clans too, since she couldn't feel his consciousness at all, much like the companion she had left to Shino and Neji.
How the hell had they managed that anyway? Disguising a person's consciousness was damn impossible! People thought even in their sleep; that was dreaming! To consciously hide it was something unheard of! Her father might have a better inkling as to ho they could have managed it, but she was completely baffled. She felt a spike of chakra to the east - ominous chakra she had felt during the Chunin exams. It had slithered in wisps from the seal on Sasuke's neck. It had been ominous back then, but now…
What on earth had happened to him? That chakra was as bad as the Kyuubi's!
Her feet twisted on one of the branches and she darted towards the sudden spike.
She could feel the drawing closeness of the ominous chakra, and upped her pace once again. She leapt from the trees into a clearing slap in the centre of the forest, racing towards the rocks on the other side of the field. Before she could reach the centre of the grassland, the white haired weirdo made a sudden reappearance, and she grinded to an abrupt halt, swiping two kunai from her holster.
She wasted no time in accosting her blockage, gathering chakra into her fists, almost crushing the kunai they held, and aiming for his temples. He tuned on the ball of his feet, a long white pointed blade appearing seemingly from nowhere as he dodged around her. She whirled and brought the two kunai up in a cross shape to block the stark-white needle that had been aimed at her back.
Gaining a closer look at the white needle, she realised it was one of his bones - probably an arm bone. What kind of freaky bloodline was that? God, and she had thought the Byakugan was a little weird. She didn't like her chances of blocking that bone for long; she needed a technique that would mess it up…
'Ah! That one! It's perfect!' she crowed silently.
She forced her middle index fingers along the edge of the kunai handles, crossing them. A low mutter of 'Shadow Clone Technique' created an exact replica of herself behind him. Before he could whirl to dodge the clone, Ino dropped her kunai, and grasped her chakra enhanced arms and fists onto his wrists. Pushing chakra into her leg muscles gave her some stability against the pressure
"Neural Technique; Polarity Inversion Style!" the clone hissed, an upside-down triangular hand seal aimed at the back of his head, before poofing from existence with chakra use.
Ino smirked at the white-haired sound ninja, feeling smugly victorious. The man was twitching involuntarily, obviously trying to figure out what she had done to him. Ino was not stupid enough to let him now what she had done; let him figure it out himself. It was one of her father's favourite techniques, and unlike many of her family techniques, it did not take up god-awful amounts of chakra when cast. Simply put, it reversed and flipped the mechanics of motor neurons in the brain, neurons responsible for movement of bones and muscle.
If he wanted to lift his left foot, his right hand would slam to the ground.
Even a ninja of his obvious experience would take a while to get around an impediment like that, and if he tried to do too much with his nifty bone work, he could end up spearing himself with his own ribs. It gave her plenty of time to dispose of him before moving on. She gathered her chakra into her fists once more, a proportionately larger amount than she had used previously.
She had to finish him off in one shot; if she didn't, it would be too long a delay. She brought her fist up to his twitching face with a roar, and instantly felt his own bone piercing her skin and the calcium substance in her hand. His hand shot forwards, flat as if using the Hyuuga Jyuuken, and a long point shot from his palm through the right of her lover abdomen.
Ino grunted at the impact, but didn't create a large fuss. She was too surprised by the action to care about the gaping hole in her side; how had it missed him? And how did he even know about the Polarity inversion style? That was a closely guarded section of Yamanaka techniques! Only the head family and the clan elders had access to them!
Orochimaru sharing things was one matter, but knowing about those techniques was quite another!
"How did you dodge it?!" she demanded angrily, pulling her hand from the spokes on his face and taking several leaps backwards.
"I did not doge it; my bloodline stems from manipulation of calcium through chakra; I simply had to take your technique and re-apply my chakra accordingly" he stated.
Ino watched in horror as he forced his bones through his skin, his ribs grotesquely protruding from his chest. Feeling much less confident than she had been, she fumbled around in her front pocket for another vial - a sickly pink colour. She didn't really want to use this, but the injury on her side forced her to it; the weirdo seemed to have sucked the bone from her hands too - she couldn't move her fingers for jack.
Swilling the sickeningly sweet liquid with haste, she pulled out a few shuriken from her pouch, flinging them toward him in search of a weak spot. His bone spread beneath his skin, she could tell from the white shield beneath the skin where her small weapons hit. Before she could pull out another set, a searing pulse shot through her temples. Collapsing to her knees, she felt the wound beginning to close, but her head, god here head! Her father had warned her it was a nasty vial, but this…!
The incapacitation was untimely, and the bone-manipulator took complete advantage of her hinderancing recovery, and sped forward with a jagged blade of bone. She had just finished healing when she looked up to see the white razor speeding towards her. Too late to doge completely, she decided to make the best of it she could; she formed a circular seal over her heart, gathering all her chakra in the highlighted area-
The blow didn't come. A trickle above her head prompted her gaze upwards, and she double-taked upon sight of the sand shield. Whirling around, she gained a view of the redhead that had one tried crushing and suffocating her with the same sand that now protected her.
'…The hell?!'
"Err, as grateful I am that you are saving me, not crushing me, why aren't you crushing me?" she asked.
"Would you rather I crushed you?" he asked raising an eyebrow.
"NO! I meant what are you doing here in Konoha?!" Ino replied quickly, darting out from underneath the sand with unmatchable speed.
"Relax, I was… joking. I don't seem to be very good at it"
Ino stared at him in horror.
"Please don't do that again," she begged.
If Ino had concentrated with all her might, she would see a slightly sheepish twitch of his blank mouth.
"Go; your team-mates need you help do they not?" the redheaded boy asked in his ever monotonous tone.
"What about you? That guy is no pushover!" Ino protested.
"I will deal with him - I am in far better condition than you are at any rate. Go." he stressed to the blonde girl.
Ino gave him an inquisitive look; he was completely different to the boy who had tried to crush her. That had to be concern in his voice, but just weeks ago he hadn't cared if he stood in a rain of blood. She grinned her thanks before heading towards the range of craggy rocks. The bone-freak spat the bones from the tips of his fingers in retaliation.
A wall of sand was almost penetrated but the bullets of calcium, but held firm, and Ino quickly darted past him and onto the rocks.
"Thanks sand boy!" she yelled back to the redhead.
"M-Mum? The hell you doing here?" the triangle-cheeked boy asked groggily.
"Kiba! Kiba! Hang in there okay?! Inochi is patching your side up until the medics can get you back to Konoha! Don't you fucking dare die because of that sound bastard!" Tsume yelled with harsh concern for her son as her old ANBU companion focused on patching up the boy's chest wounds until the medic team arrived.
She had her own medical skills, but she was no field-medic and given that the injured party was her son, she wasn't going to risk a fatal mistake; Inochi was the better field medic, so she would entrust Kiba's life to him.
She couldn't believe he was in such a state; what kind of ninja's did they make in that village of Orochimaru's?! She had seen the corpse of that Oto ninja inside the Suna boy's puppet, and she was thoroughly disgusted. That disgusting snake was responsible for all of this, and he was still angling his claws towards to Naruto and Sasuke. Not just Kiba, but Choji too had been in horrible shape when they had come across him; the medics had instantly rushed him back to Konoha, and now they were waiting on another team to arrive for Kiba. Shikamaru had been luck that Sand girl arrived when she did; he suffered nothing more than a deliberately snapped finger.
As for Shino and Neji, they had yet to find them; Kakashi had left Itachi with one of his summonings before leaving with Choji, but Pakkun's nose was not quite that of an Inuzuka. As much as she wanted to go back to Konoha, she knew her skills would be needed.
Moreover, more importantly, there had been barley a hint of team seven. Concern was building rapidly in her gut; she could not begin to think what Itachi was going through. To her, the two Genin were simply children of her old friends, but to Itachi they really were family. Even if he had not truly been aware of it for some time, Naruto had always been part of the family to him.
She was distracted by the arrival of the medics and Kakashi; focus back to her task, she concentrated on sniffing out Naruto's real trail with her companion hound.
Kabuto stared at the two unconscious Genin slumped together with a frown on his face.
Naruto certainly looked dead, but the faint colour of life remained in her cheeks despite the Chidori that had been forced through her lung (not that there was any sign of such a thing now). Sasuke looked as pale as always; there was a blast of flesh and bone missing from his shoulder, where the cursed seal had once been.
It was a naïve attempt to remove it - the skin would just grow back with the seal and all, it was in Sasuke's DNA now - but he had to applaud both their attempts to avoid casting a fatal blow on the other. He had been certain they would have been under the influence of his biological mechanics, but when Naruto had broke out of the enforced mentality, the link he had made on Sasuke had reflected back on the boy.
They had managed to avoid death by mere inches.
He could feel two ninja approaching, one very close but slow, and one quickly gaining pace. His assumptions were proven correct when the Yamanaka girl stumbled from the edge of the rocky outcrop on the other side of the waterfall. He picked up Sasuke's prone form, gave the horrified girl a farewell smirk before disappearing in a slick flicker with her team-mate.
Ino watched the traitorous medic disappear with Sasuke, a sick smirk on his face, in unmitigated horror.
'NO! No! No! No! No!'
Denial desperately flooded her mind, countered by the stark fact in front of her in the drizzle. She took a step from her current statuesque position towards the edge of the waterfall with effort - the effects of the boost juice and the healer were taking their effect now. She had used so much chakra just getting here, pushing to her leg muscles to enhance her speed after her half battle with white-hair.
Where was Naruto? She couldn't see her anywhere through the thick drizzle, and she couldn't feel her consciousness thanks to her own mental state either. She had to find Naruto if nothing else though… Knowing she would regret it, but not caring, she focused her chakra and pushed it outward in a wide arc.
A short pulse crackled through her temples, the rear of her mind burning in pain. She fell to the stone of statue-head, clutching her head. The pain was awful, she could barley remember why she was here in the first place…damn it, she had to find… find… She felt blackness consuming her and a voice calling her name before she hit the surprisingly soft rock. Before she submitted to it, she caught Itachi's familiar silhouette, and managed to croak out a few last words.
"T-The Lake! S-She's by t-the lake!" she gasped, shuddering involuntary.
The side effect were taking too long, god couldn't she just collapse already?
Inoro had completely conked out!
"Ino, what happened to you? Where are they?!" Itachi asked - Ino could not distinguish the worry form the panic.
"T-The Lake!!" she growled, hissing and moving her hand involuntarily towards her head.
Her head felt full of… She did not know what. Opening her eyes was a task even in the dim light, and every drop of rain was another sharp blade of pressure to her. Her head was going to burst! Why had she made that stupid drink? Why had she taken the healing enhancer too? The mental stress from the first one was enough by itself-
Itachi paled at the scream that burst from Ino and the frantic clawing at her scalp. It was over as quickly as it started and she fell limp in his arms. Suppressing the strange terror that threatened to swallow him, he carefully laid her down, before following her last words and jumping down the side of the statue to its feet. Looking around he could sense traces of malignant chakra, two traces. He recognised one from the curse mark on his brother's shoulder, and one from the demon sealed inside his sister. Her could not see a trace of either, but Ino would not waste the last words she spoke (temporarily last words) by sending him on a wild goose chase.
Finally, he spotted a patch of orange on a splash of damp grey pebbles, and darted over the water. He could feel the traces of Kabuto's chakra even as he drew closer and knew it could only mean one thing; Naruto had not managed to stop Sasuke from being taken. He didn't know how they had ended up trying to kill each other, as was obvious from the state of her clothing, but he couldn't imagine it being of their own accord.
Carefully picking up Naruto's limp form, he hoisted her onto his back, and travelled back over the lack and up the statue once again. Inochi and Kakashi were waiting for him atop the statue, Ino's father hovering his green-covered hands over Ino's temples with a horrified frown on his face.
"Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.
Itachi silence answered his question for him
Naruto bleared back to reality as Itachi darted into the hospital. She heard fussing noises, worries from the other Genin, Tsunade and… Was that Jiraiya shouting? Someone carried her - who was it? The smell was familiar somehow, why? She did not receive an answer before she fell to the lure of sleep and anaesthetic.
When she woke up again, she was in a hospital bed. Her skin and bones burned in a horribly familiar manner; she had used the Kyuubi chakra! She had used the Kyuubi against Sasuke! Was he alright? Was he here? Her throat screamed every time she tried to speak - she needed water. God, she needed water! Her movement stirred the form slumped in the chair beside her bed to alertness.
"Naruto! Thank god!" Itachi blurted, with far more emotion on his face than she had ever seen.
He looked worn, as if he had not slept properly in days. Ignoring the scorch of her bones at the movement, she reached towards the water jug and glass on the bedside table. Itachi almost dropped the glass in his haste to pour the water, and the attempt at laughter lit another fire in her throat, soon quenched by the liquid.
She slumped back into the pillows, exhausted by the mere act off drinking.
"He's gone isn't he?" she asked, voice already drying up.
Sasuke would have been there too, despite doctor orders, if they had succeeded.
Itachi should have been fussing over Ino instead; he was taking Sasuke place she knew.
"Ino almost got there, but Kabuto was quicker" Itachi relied reluctantly.
"What happened Naruto?" he asked after some time.
"Kabuto's fucking drugs is what happened!" she rasped, glancing at the water glass again.
She needed the water but sitting up for it again was far too much for her body to handle.
Itachi fumbled around for a while before the pillows were stacked up behind her; vertical enough to swallow properly, but not so much to cause unnecessary stress. She went on to explain the attack in her apartment and the eventual awakening at the valley. She hesitated for a long moment before asking a question that had been bothering her since the ordeal: "is there a second level to the Sharingan?"
"Yes, but how do you know about that? It's a fairly grim matter to be discussing," he asked with distaste in his voice.
"He… That Oto ninja said Orochimaru wanted Sasuke's Sharingan to 'reach its full potential' before he was taken over. Those drugs, they forced us to fight each other somehow… I don't know how, but they did…" she replied quietly.
Itachi's lips thinned. Before he could make any further comments, there was a knock at the window, and the girl's mentor greeted them through the open window.
"I see you're finally awake; Tsunade'll be over the moon, so watch out for them weapons of hers" he joked, though Naruto honestly found his joke to be more of a warning.
She'd almost been suffocated by the woman the last time shed received a hug from her (she still couldn't believe her boobs were real).
"That's not my main reason for stopping by though; I thought I'd share a piece of good news with the two of you" he grinned, gaining to raised-eyebrow responses (it was one of the few similarities she had with Itachi).
"What is it?" Naruto asked quickly, suddenly feeling the desperate need for joviality.
"Orochimaru was forced to use another body before Sasuke was taken; he can't do the transfer again for at the very least another three years" he informed them seriously, letting the meaning of his words sink in.
Naruto would have smothered his wrinkling cheeks with kisses in gratitude had she been able to move without tearing her muscles or cracking her bones (she was certain that was what happened each time she moved). They may not have stopped Orochimaru, but they had thrown a very large definite wrench in his plans. Three years! Three years to get Sasuke back! Training would definitely be required but…
She would get there, she would get Sasuke back, and while she would get rid of that snake while she was at it! It was a silent promise, not only to Sasuke and the snake, but also to herself. Nobody touched her family and got away with it; besides, name or not she was an Uchiha wasn't she? She could hardly let her family name be insulted by ignoring his actions! But before all that…
"Oi. Old Perv, I'm going to ask you a question and I want a straight answer alright; I'm in no mood for this whacked up 'protection' crap, you get me?" she started, giving the old man a pointed look.
He gave her, along with her brother, a gaze that spoke of curious confusion as he nodded in reply.
"Is the fourth Hokage my father?"
Itachi fell out of his chair as quickly as Jiraiya fell off the windowsill.
"…I guess that answers that question then" she grumbled.
"How do you know that?" Jiraiya hissed in shock, trying to keep his surprise at low decibels.
"You remember when I woke up from that Sharingan illusion thingy?" she asked, gaining two nods.
"Well, he was talking to me… it was blurry though and I forgot some of it, so I wasn't sure. Kept my mouth shut in case I was wrong, y'know? But I had dream too…"
She turned to Itachi with a sad smile.
"I saw mum; I look nothing like her right? Sasuke does, but I don't… It was right after I'd been born, my Sharingan had activated…"
She frowned in confusion at her own words.
"How did it do that?" she asked.
"W-when a bloodline bearer is born, the bloodline activates after some time, usually a few days after birth. It does not matter which one; it is a common trait they all share. It happens once the baby's chakra stabilizes; you must have felt safe to activate it that early. Sasuke took at least three or four days if I remember right…," he explained, dazed buy the revelation.
Naruto smiled again, staring at the sheets of the bed - wringing them with her hands.
"I really thought it was just a dream again - I mean, this is the guy who stuck a fucking demon in my gut!" she explained her voice rising in pitch, her fists scrunching into the sheets, dangerously close to tearing the fabric.
"so I ignored it, but I dreamt the whole damn sealing again last night when they had me knocked out; I couldn't see any of the faces - just lots of blue and yellow - but I could… I could hear everything he said!" her voice near caught in her throat but she squashed it down.
She didn't want to deal with these strange new emotions; Sasuke was gone, she was pretty certain someone else was injured - she hadn't seen Ino at all, and the blonde would normally be poking at her side - impatient for her to wake up), Fugaku was gone, the old man, Konoha was in ruins. She did not want to deal with it!
Before Itachi and Jiraiya could voice their suspicious concern, she turned the conversation around.
"Where's Ino?" she asked quickly, using a voice that dared them to bring up the previous topic
"…she's not woken up yet; she used some sort of Yamanaka brain booster and regenerative boost; Inochi is still working on her mind as we speak, and the bone of her foot is in pretty bad shape." Itachi replied after a momentary pause.
He did not bother to sugar-coat the damage they had received on the rescue mission; not only would Naruto be livid had she found out he had lied, she was not to be babied. He could tell that she wouldn't allow that anymore; true he and Sasuke had never gone easy on her during practice, but they had found their own ways of trying to keep her out of trouble since she was a child.
She had been his sister long before her Sharingan manifested, and he had treated her as such; she had gotten into a lot of fights with Neji before he graduated the Academey, and Sasuke was always there to drag her home for medical aid when she got in 'too far' for their comfort. In the same way, he'd kept everything his father had told him from her - believing his father's mentality that she was still too young.
Naruto had never been too young, not since she had stubbornly stuck with Sasuke even after finding out they were related, before she found out about Kyuubi, before she got her headband. She had been old enough for things she should not have been long before she was skipped a grade and placed in Sasuke's class at the Academey.
They had looked out for her, offering comfort and support when needed - though that job was predominantly Sasuke's - and she had been fine with it; it was a break from things. She didn't want anymore breaks - she didn't want any more comfort; she wanted to stand without it like she had always been striving to do (she had always been independent). There was a long silence before she asked another question.
"Who else?"
"Kiba has a wound on his stomach, Neji is still in surgery - there was a hole drilled through his shoulder, Shino is suffering from chakra poisoning, and Choji is also still in surgery; I believe that to be thanks to use of the Akimichi triple threat" he regurgitated with a slight clinical attitude.
Naruto frowned to herself, soaking all this in.
"Oh, and Shikamaru has a broken finger" he added, remembering the smallest wound of the ghastly collection.
She still didn't say anything, not until her eyes widened for a moment, seemingly remembering something.
"Pass me my shuriken pouch," she instructed.
The beige pouch was handed to her and she dug around inside it until she pulled out a square vial of blue… it looked like jelly, with a piece of paper. She handed both of them to Itachi with a serious gaze on her face.
"Give those to Ino's dad; Inoro gave them to me before the Chunin exams. He said something about Ino making a suicide juice, and that I was supposed to use it on her according to those instructions if she ever used it. He seemed really adamant about it, so make sure he gets them," she instructed.
Itachi nodded once and silently left the room with the items. In his absence, Jiraiya brought up a different topic, a more serious one that concerned her demonic parasite.
"Orochimaru has joined a group of ninja called Akatsuki; I don't know what their goals are, but I know one thing and it's not good. They are searching for the tailed beasts, hunting them if you will. In three years, they'll be coming after you," he informed her with a serious note in his voice.
Naruto groaned. Fantastic; she was wild game now! What did she have, feathers or something? Was she one of those bloody pheasant that the civilians liked to hunt? Or maybe a rabbit? Why was something already promising to hamper her efforts to find Sasuke when she hadn't even started yet?! Even if Orochimaru was part of the hunting party, she was certain he wouldn't be willing to share Sasuke's location with her (this was assuming she got past the hunters of course).
She shook her head, ignoring the burning and dizziness it gave her, and slapped her hands to her cheeks. Her palms and cheeks stung far more than usual, but it woke her from he slow downward spiral. Of course she would get past them, it would take some serious training first, but she was never opposed to training and she had more than enough motivation for it!
"I want you to train me Ol' Froggie. I'll tear out those demon-hunters or whatever the are, and drag Sasuke's location from Orochimaru even if I have to use my teeth, then I'm certain Ino would love to practice her interrogation techniques on something other than mice for once. I'll bring Sasuke back and rip the ball off that bastard for messing with us, but I need help to do it," she stated seriously, focusing her eyes on the man.
He gave her a contemplative look before grinning.
"That's the spirit!"
Behind her grin, she made a solemn vow to herself
'I swear to the gods, I'll get you back home Sasuke; Orochimaru doesn't have a clue who he's just pissed off! Three years, that's all I need. After three years are up, I'm coning after you! I'll never stop looking for you… I swear on my life I'll bring you back!'
It seemed to be a solid promise - her demonic parasite was none too enthralled with the idea of death after all. Her life was as long as he could keep healing her injuries, and she had a quiet confidence that would be for quite a while yet.
When Sasuke awoke, it was to a dimly lit room, and bed restraints.
Otogakure.
He tried summoning up some chakra, not feeling any harm in trying at least, but was unsurprisingly disappointed. A glance around the room told him it was a medical room of some sort - plenty of drugs and odd pickled things. Urgh. There were several drips connected to his arm; he sorely wished to pull the damn things out but the restraints were stronger than he was.
He could tell form the weak lethargia in his body that he had been out of reality for a while, longer than just a few days but he couldn't very well guess by how much that was. He didn't particularly want to know; he wanted to get out, and failing that, he could still fell the suicide pellet lodged in his tooth - one carried by all ninjas in accordance with the law.
He'd really rather be dead than let himself turn into that snake bastard; Naruto probably wouldn't like it, Ino or Itachi too for that matter, but they would understand, he was certain Naruto at least would do the same thing if it was her in his position. She'd probably do it right in front of them, laughing at them as she wen-
All right, what were all these gloomy thoughts floating around in his head for? He was never this much of a pessimist, and Naruto didn't even translate the meaning of suicide to her brain. Like hell he was going to lay down and die! He was going to serve himself some barbecued snake, then throw it to the birds before heading back to Konoha with a beetle - it would be a nice present for Naruto to vent on for forcing her into he Kyuubi state, forcing her into fighting him…
The door opened and two silhouettes stood in the pale-lit doorway.
"So good to see you awake Sasuke; I was worried when you didn't turn up as I had planned, so I sent a little welcoming party to help you find your way. I hope they were too much trouble for you" Orochimaru slithered, a disgustingly patronisingly smug oily smile on his face.
Sasuke managed to find enough spit in his dry mouth to fire onto the man's cheek with a splat.
"Shove it," he snarled at the man.
Instead of being offended, and giving the lethal reaction that would befall most others, the man laughed. It was a horrible laugh, filled with malicious humour, twisted to a degree far higher than Ibiki could ever hope to achieve. The coarse slithering sound echoed round the room for a few moments before he fixed his gaze on him.
Sasuke did not shudder; he was above it after all this now.
"Now, now, Sasuke, there's no need for that sort of behaviour. Did your mother never tell you it's rude to spit at people?"
"You know fucking well she didn't; what do you want?" he spat at the man viciously.
"Your delay has caused a few setbacks for me; you'll be remaining here for a few years"
Sasuke took that to mean he had been forced to find another body.
Good; that gave him some time to plot his escape. No doubt, there were measures to prevent it already in place.
"You'll keep up your training of course; I can't have my vessel in poor condition can I? And I do so hate having to catch up after moving bodies…"
The man was still talking? Urgh. Couldn't he just go away already? He was making him feel ill with just the slithery quality of his voice; he really was nothing but a giant snake from head to foot. That was sick, just plain wrong. His thoughts were considering biting down on that suicide pellet again…
"Please try to behave yourself during your stay; I would want to scar that pretty face of yours would I?"
Something slithered down the side of his cheek, and Sasuke very nearly wretched. The man was fucking touching him! That was sickening! He should have paid more attention. He aimed another glob of spit at the man, succeeding in catching his eye this time as he glared at the creepy ninja.
"Keep your hands off me you freak!" he hissed at his kidnapper.
The man obliged, chuckling as he left the room. Kabuto was left behind to check his health and his fake cheer was only slightly less unnerving and repulsive than his leader had been. At least, he hoped that's all they were… Kabuto seemed to have an unhealthy admiration for the man; no, he would not even think about that! That was a thousand times worse than anything Ibiki could come up with.
Maybe he could suggest it to Ino when he escaped; the ultimate torture technique.
Kabuto left the room - another ninja saying something about a boy from mist being ready for 'the procedure', much to his visible disgust - and he was left alone to contemplate the series of events that had lead to his capture. He worried about his team-mates; he had still been partially aware of his surroundings when Kabuto had arrived, and he'd been left with images of Ino's god-awful exhaustion and his unconscious girlfriend as a parting gift.
He was certain they would be taken care of though, and that gave him enough relief to think of his own escape. He wouldn't be able to do it on his own he knew even with the smidgen of data he had without inspecting his prison. He was certain he could find at least one like-minded individual to help him…
Orochimaru was his though; he would share with Naruto and Ino but no-one else.
'One day… I'll be strong enough to kill you, you snake freak! And when I do, you'll be wishing you never set eyes on the Sharingan in the first place! Moreover, you'll wish you had never touched one hair on Naruto's head! I'll kill you, you fucking bastard, I kill you for messing with us like this, that's a promise!'
When Ino awoke, she was aware of a splitting headache, one very sore and heavy-feeling left foot, and discovered moving her fingers sent loud stabs of pain through the bones of her hand. Apparently her Brain Boost Juice and her stubbornness had left some rather painful side effects. There were a couple of nasty sore spots on either side of her too.
The second thing she was aware of was the two people seated by her hospital (if the clinical smell was anything to go by) bedside; one was her father, who was giving her something between a worried and enraged frown, and the other was the slumbering form of Itachi.
"Ino Yamanaka, you have some serious explaining to do young lady!" her father growled in a dangerous tone, though the effect was somewhat nullified by the crushing hug he gave her, careful to avoid her damaged hands.
"Do you have any idea what state your mind was in? I spent thirteen hours trying to repair the damage before the rescue-gel your brother gave to Naruto reached my hands! Thirteen hours Ino! I doubt you'll be able to use any techniques for half a year! What on earth were you thinking when you made that tonic?!" he growled calmly, trying not to intimidate her too much; she had just woken up.
"Well, its not finished yet! Besides, it's only supposed to be a last resort thing…" she protested lamely.
"And that healing vial?" he added equally displeased.
"I didn't have a choice; that bone freak drilled right through me! I had to do something or… I was falling behind! I had to catch up with them!" she didn't notice her voice rising in pitch.
Her father sighed in resignation.
"I know Ino, and I understand; I've just been worried sick, you've been out for three months!"
"T-Three Months?!" Ino gawped.
"And I'm not the only one; you'd think his siblings would be more than enough for him to worry about, but he's been visiting you almost everyday" her father grumbled somewhat petulantly, waving towards Itachi's still-armour clad form in one of the other chairs.
Ino blushed, feeling a little guilty for blowing up the way she had; she had worried Itachi that much? (Her fathers mention of his siblings didn't surprise her, she had seen his name as a witness on Naruto's birth certificate) That was stupid! He had more than enough to be worrying about, Sasuke and Naruto for instance!
"I'm sorry dad" she apologized in a calmer tone.
"Just focus on getting better, and please don't go digging around in the records room again; poor Mrs Haruno was rather confused after that little spell you put on her for some time" he grinned.
Ino blushed.
"Ino! You shouldn't be walking around just yet!" Itachi protested, following the hobbling blonde girl up the steps to the Hokage's office with a frown on his face.
"I just want to talk to Tsunade-Sama for a few minuets Itachi! I'll go right back once I've finished, god you can carry make it'll make you feel better!" Ino replied, pulling herself forward on her crutches.
'Not to mention how much it'd make me feel better…'
Itachi sighed and followed her up the stairs, offering assistance if needed. He could easily do as the girl had just stated and take her back by force, but she was unusually adamant on seeing their new leader, even for Ino. Ever since she'd learned of Naruto's departure with Jiraiya she'd been slightly off, and he suspected her insistence was linked to that. He was also certain any interference would come back to haunt him.
His worries were however proven to be well justified when Ino's foot slipped moment before reaching the landing. He quickly reached out and pulled her into him, the force sending him crashing into the wall with some force; he didn't mind really; better an achy shoulder than Ino sustaining more injuries than required.
"T-Thanks!" Ino stammered, her mind turning to something reminiscent of jelly and scarlet staining her cheeks as she regained her crutches; she made her way up the final few steps with a burning face, doing her best not to look her companion in the eye.
"Ino? Is that you? You look… What are you doing here?" a familiar voice asked.
Ino looked up to see the original third member of team 10 standing in front of Shizune's desk with an armload of scrolls and documents. Sakura had shorter hair now, and the symbol of the cipher department was stitched onto the black sweater she wore with a beige apron and her green-black shorts.
"Sakura? I haven't seen you since graduation! What happened? Inoro got put with Choji and Shikamaru all of a sudden!" Ino replied greeting her old classmate with an awkward hug, squashing the scrolls her old friend was carrying.
"We were given a C-Rank; it went up to B though, and I got on the wrong side of a Kusa ninja. He stuffed some sort of poison in me, and I can't do much more than a basic transformation now. I'm in rehab now that Tsunade-Sama has returned, but I'll never be able to perform the big stuff; there was a code that I deciphered on the mission though, and the third Hokage assigned me to the cipher department before the invasion," Sakura explained, gesturing to the logo on her back with one thumb.
"He said letting my brain laze around would be a waste and assigned me to one of the heads; she's really nice, but she's a bit of a ditz sometimes" Sakura smiled sheepishly, rebalancing her books.
"I… heard what happed to Sasuke Ino, and I really hope things turn out for you guys; I'll see you later! I have to take these up to Shiho-Sempai! Bye Piggy!" Sakura hurried the last part of here sentence, adding the affectingly derogatory nickname for old-times sake before turning away and dashing down the hall.
"You too billboard-head!" Ino called after her, grinning; it was good to see the girl after so long, and to know that she was doing okay. She had been worried about her for a while. Though not as close as she and Naruto were, she had been a good friend since they were younger. It had been the announcement of Naruto's Sharingan that had driven it from her mind.
Focusing back on her task, she hobbled towards the door; Shizune was not at her desk, so Ino surmised she was either in Tsunade-Sama's office, ore off doing business elsewhere. She raised a hand to knock on the door of the village-leader's office, only for it to be stopped by Itachi's, who used his other hand to knock instead.
"Your hands are still healing Ino; you shouldn't damage them any more than you already have by messing with those crutches" he stated plainly, clearing her confusion.
After a yell of permission to enter the room, Itachi opened the door for her, and she hobbled in to the centre of the room. The blonde woman behind the desk frowned, but had a curious look in her eyes. A brief glance to Itachi was all other action she showed before speaking:
"You are supposed to be in the hospital aren't you? What was so urgent you had to sneak out to see me?" she asked, not harshly, but not exactly approving either.
"I wanted to ask you a favour," Ino explained, shifting her balance on the crutches.
"Oh? And what might that be?" the woman asked, curiosity aroused.
Ino took a deep breath, before fixing her pale cobalt blue eyes on the Hokage's hazel ones.
"Please take me on as your apprentice Tsunade-Sama!" she said loudly, gaze not leaving that of her Hokage's; she could feel Itachi's surprise somehow, and forced herself not to laugh at his expense.
Tsunade considered it; she had not had any intentions of taking on another pupil after Shizune, but Ino had caught her eye early on. When she had come in search of her with Jiraiya (and Sasuke), her description of Naruto's' condition had contained basic medical terminology. Normally that wouldn't t be so impressive, but basic terminology between ninja medics and civilian medics were very different in level. Thanks to her father - another of her old students - she had understood them too.
When her father had taken Ino back to the hospital, she had been appalled by the damage she had taken - the hard coating on her foot had caused more than enough damage, it had been all that kept her standing with the state her bones were in - but also very intrigued. Her fists for example: they were in the same condition her own had been when she first began developing her strength-based techniques.
Even at the basic level it was, using as much in battle as she had been no small feat. She had good chakra control - not the best, but good enough. That tonic of hers was equally interesting; it was far from perfect, as her current state stood testament to, but they were far more than what she would have expected of a Genin. She was shadowed by the raw power of her team-mates, but she had her own spark, and she had more than enough drive. According to Inochi, her injuries had been temporarily healed by the time she arrived at the hospital, and had originally been much worse. She had still pressed on though; she was a diamond in the rough almost.
With patience (and it would be needed; she was exactly as Inochi had been at the same age, and he had shown little to no patience), she could become a formidable ninja; and that was not including the interrogation and mental techniques she would learn from her family archives.
She had a good look in her eyes, one that denied all possibility of loosing or backing-down, and that was something she would need if she were going to endure her training.
"Ino Yamanaka… you are stubborn to the point of idiocy sometimes, but that same stubbornness is what has you standing in this office. You have basic knowledge of medical techniques, and your experimenting - despite unfinished and disastrous to you health - shows boundless potential. Your chakra control is mediocre, but you seem to have grasped the concept behind my strength-based attacks and delivered results with it with only the bare minimum of understanding" Tsunade stated, testing the girl.
She twitched at the first statement but the determination did not leave her eyes.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again; you have spunk. That is something you are going to need if you want to keep up with my lessons. Come by again once you're released from the hospital, and we'll begin" she finished smiling at the girl.
The delight that crossed her face took the form of a grin not too unlike Naruto's, or her fathers.
"Yes Ma'am!" she grinned, raining her hand in salute.
"Then get yourself back the hospital then young lady; I think Itachi's going to collapse from the worry" Tsunade ordered, giving the black-haired Anbu an unsettlingly knowing gaze.
Itachi spluttered indignantly and Ino finally released the laugh she had been holding in.
Deidara felt their chakra before he caught so much of a glimpse of the Akatsuki; to say they had a large amount would be an understatement. Kisame Hoshigaki was instantly recognisable (how could he not? The man was blue! How many people were freaking blue?), but the others not so much.
The orange man with spiky hair was rattling on about the tailed beasts, and Deidara had difficulty trying to look irritated; they were playing right into his hands, but he couldn't let himself seem too eager to join.
"What makes you think I give a crap about the tailed beasts, yeah?" he growled, not giving much of a glance from his clay sculpture.
"What makes you think you have a choice in joining us? Seriously, this brat is my new partner? Can't I just stick with Orochimaru?" a large hulking man, crouched low over the floor complained, glaring at Deidara.
Deidara knew that the Akatsuki wasn't going to be all fun and games, but he didn't like the sound of that one word; they wanted him to partner up with that creep?
This was going to be a long, irritating mission.
Wowza, I can't believe I've finished Part I! I finished something! Well, halfway at least - Part I is done! Huzzah! I feel like celebratory Pocky, but I don't want to go outside; there snow outside, and I don't think the village shop sell Mikado anymore (that what us Brits call Pocky, we only get the chocolate flavour though). If I go, the snow will depress me more than it already is (I'm on the verge of tears here!) and if there is no Pocky… Someone will have to do a damn alcohol intervention.
Finally got around to getting Sakura back in! I never meant to leave her out for so long, but plot took up space! I've already gone over my seven-page typing limit by one and a half pages, but since this is the last chapter I'm letting it slide. Got some more ItaIno in too; its not much, but it's a bit of development for them.
I may decide to post the flashback chapters and Part II as separate stories, so keep an eye out, though I might not. Keep an eye out just in case anyway. The shit will seriously begin to hit the fan! Speaking of shit and fans, is it just me, or are the only girls in Naruto who seem to be able to look after themselves Temari and… no, wait it's just Temari. Come on, even Tsunade got rescued, sure she's and old lady and had no chakra but she's the freaking Hokage!
Let us go over the list: Hinata tried to save Naruto, but bot herself squished py the stick of pain. Naruto saves the day by going Raawwar!Kyuubimode! Karin has tried to be useful, and that chakra thing is undeniably usefull, but what, she gets blasted by Amaterasu and then Chidori? Sasuke was all statstabDie! So Sakura was the one to save her!
Even the Mizukage has her own problems; she let herself be completley dissed during the hokage meeting, despite that awesome melty-steam stuff later on.
Sakura… oh god I pity her. I really do. Every time she tries to be useful, it backfires and she ends up rescued - twice in the span of what three chapteres? And I'm not even including genin and previous moments here! The only woman I've seen who has never been rescued in a shape or form (that plays a major role of some kind) is Temari, and she isn't even from Konoha! She's a minor major charecter! Even Tenten has had her butt saved by Neji once - in the water bubbles - and she dosent even have a family name!
That's messed up. Theres no other way to say it; freaking messed up.
Thoughts appreciated, and hope you liked part I!
Onward m'harties! Onward to Flashbacks! Arr!
Nat.
xxx
