A/N: Hey everybody. Sorry for the long wait. Well, here's the next chapter, finally.
Dedicated: To my bestest friends, I love them.
"Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked. Of course she didn't have feelings for him anymore, but calling him 'Sasuke-kun' was a habit that was hard to break.
He didn't answer.
"Mother! Father!" He repeated once again, but he sounded afraid.
"What's going on here?" Ino asked.
She still didn't get an answer.
---
The jounins leapt through the trees. They had to hurry if they'd be able to help at all. Genin against S class missing nin was not a fair match to say the least.
As they drew nearer, they were able to make out chakra signatures. Leaping faster, they were able to see the ninja in the clearing ahead.
"Ino?" Asuma said, seeing her body lying on the ground. From the distance, he couldn't tell if she was in jutsu or…dead. He picked up his speed. He wasn't the only one though, Kurenai did also, seeing her own team in the clearing ahead.
Asuma was the first in the clearing. He landed beside Kiba.
"What's going on?" Asuma asked Kiba, gesturing to Ino's body.
"Ino's inside of Itachi," Kiba said, looking up at the missing nin. Asuma looked up at the black haired teenager as well.
"Itachi," Kurenai said in a low, dangerous voice.
"Where's Naruto?" Kakashi asked, looking around the clearing for the obnoxious blonde. Shino pointed at the next clearing over.
"He's over there fighting the blue skinned man, with Hinata," Shino said. Kakashi nodded.
"Gai and I'll go over to help Naruto and Hinata, you two stay here," Kakashi said, leaping away. Gai followed close after him.
---
Naruto kicked the sword up in the air.
This is my chance, Hinata thought. I can't mess this up, it might be my only chance.
She leapt forward, activating her byugukan. With arms outstretched, she cut off one chakra point.
Kisame, without his sword, threw a punch at the quiet, blue haired girl. But the punch was intercepted by Naruto.
Hinata squealed in surprise as Naruto went flying.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata cried out. She raced over to where he landed.
His blonde hair was a mess, twigs and leaves where mixed along the tangles. Blood dripped from his mouth and a gash on his forehead. His arms, legs, and stomach were all torn up from Kisame's sword.
Hinata couldn't believe that she had let him get this hurt. Hadn't she promised that she would do anything she could to keep him safe?
I let you down, Naruto-kun, Hinata thought sadly.
---
Kiba reached down to touch Ino's cheek. It was still warm. A good sign.
He gently eased his arms underneath her, and eased her into a more comfortable position.
---
Ino's mouth fell open in horror as she watched Itachi kill his own parents, in front of Sasuke.
This was horrible. How could Itachi be so evil? She watched as Sasuke was forced to watch the death of all his clan members.
No wonder Sasuke was so quiet and reserved. No one had understood him. No one understood why he was like he was. No one had truly known him.
Ino extended a hand out, walking towards the poor tormented boy. She gently brought it down on his head, surprised that she could touch him. She half expected her hand to go through him.
She ran her hand across his dark hair, it was soft under her fingers, and wished that she could have comforted him. She wished she had known.
"Sasuke-kun," Ino said sadly.
---
"How long has Ino been inside of him?" Asuma asked, a worried look on his face.
"I don't know, she was like this when we got there," Kiba answered, looking worried as well.
"Why would she stay in Itachi's body for so long?" Asuma questioned aloud, his brow furrowing.
"I don't know…I think she's stuck," Kiba said, looking perplexed.
"Stuck?" Kurenai echoed.
"Itachi is a genius. It's possible he could have trapped her in his mind," Asuma said, contemplating this.
"CAN WE STOP STANDING AROUND WHEN INO'S STUCK IN THIS GUY! LET'S DO SOMETHING!" Kiba exploded. Asuma's eyebrows rose in surprise at Kiba's outburst. Kurenai's didn't, however, for she was used to this and knew that Kiba was really attached to Ino.
"Ok, Kiba," Kurenai said, pulling out a kunai. Asuma pulled out his weapon.
"Kiba, aren't these flowers just lovely? They just arrived today, imported from the waterfall country, you know Odori's home." Ino asked, holding up a bouquet for him to see.
"Yeah, they are, not as lovely as you though," Kiba said, never missing the chance to compliment his girlfriend. She smiled.
"They're not as lovely as you either," Ino replied. She put the flowers in a vase, "Wait here a second, I'm going to close up the shop."
Kiba nodded and waited for the blonde haired, blue eyed beauty to come back. When she did, he grabbed her hand -lacing his fingers with hers- and led her out of the shop. Only pausing to let Ino flip the sign from 'open' to 'closed'.
"Ino, I think if anything ever happens to you, I'll die," Kiba said. Ino looked at him surprised.
"What do you mean?" Ino asked.
"I mean, that'll I'll die before I let anything or anyone hurt you," Kiba said, determined. Ino smiled softly, walking closer to him so she could rest her head on his shoulder.
"I can't let anything happen to her," Kiba said, pulling out a solider pill. He tossed it to his dog companion, Akamaru, who caught it in his mouth.
---
"Hinata. Naruto," Kakashi said, landing beside Hinata.
"Kakashi-sensei, Gai-sensei," Hinata acknowledged.
"What happened?" Kakashi asked, staying by Hinata and Naruto, while Gai turned to face the blue skinned man.
They were talking, but Kakashi paid no attention to him.
"W-we were fighting t-the guy over there, b-but he was too s-strong for us. I thought that if I could s-stop his chakra f-flow that we could at l-least have a chance of s-surviving," Hinata said, timidly.
"It didn't work?" Kakashi assumed aloud.
"I was able to cut off o-one chakra p-point. But then he tried t-to hit me, and N-Naruto-kun jumped in the w-way," Hinata said, nodding sadly. Kakashi put a hand on the girl's shoulder.
"It's ok Hinata, you did your best. That's all that counts," Kakashi said, his comforting smile reaching his one exposed eye. If it hadn't been for that, Hinata wouldn't have even known that he had smiled, since he covered most of his face with a mask.