EMERGENCY UPDATE: Oh my god I'm SO SORRY That the Chapter ended up coming out looking like that! There must have been an issue with me uploading my formatting, but I fixed it! Thank you Lock On Lockon for letting me know!
AN: And now we enter this new part! Which is going to be... well. After you've seen what I've did so far, I guess you can guess how dark this story can get at times. But I promise that it's all going to work out in the end... no matter how dark it might get... :P.
To put it in perspective, from what I have planned out right now, we've finished Section One. Section Two will probably be a bit shorter or a bit longer than Section One, and we're in that now. After that, there's Section Three which basically is the ending, and then there's Section Four/Epilogue. I'm personally planning on writing a few separate epilogues, but we'll see. By the time I get into Section Three, I might become really busy at school. But for now I'm going to endeavour to get out Chapters as fast as I can.
BTW, I really don't mind if you guys request stuff from me. Like, in this fanfiction? While I wont be able to give you everything you ask for, most of the time I should be able to make it work. Either way, let's begin. This section is going to be mostly Kankuro, Ino and another person. You'll see.
Also, my school's officially over for the summer now, meaning that I'm going to get chapters out at least once a week. I want to get another chapter out this week as well, so look forwards to another chapter on Saturday, Friday or Thursday, depending on my schedule. Once again, thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing!
I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters in this Fanfiction.
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November 10th, 10th year of the Konohagakure-Sunagakure Conflict
Kankuro narrowed his eyes at the tray in front of him, and his lips scowled as soon as he saw what was on it. He stuck one of his hands into the bowl he had been given, and after he had collected enough of the substance on his hands, he lifted it up to his face to get a closer look at what he was handling. It was clumped together, a weird, tough thing, it's appearance being akin to grey oatmeal. After a moment more of inspecting it with his eyes, he slowly lifted it to his nose, and sniffed it. When he smelt nothing out of the usual, the guard who was standing in front of his cell growled.
"Do you honestly think we'd try to poison you?"
Kankuro lowered the food from his face, and then focused his eyes on the man just outside his cell. The other man continued.
"You've been here long enough, and so far there's been nothing wrong with your food. Why do you think we'd try something now-."
"Every time you fed me before today you used bread. Shitty, mouldy bread for lunch. That was the schedule. Now you've changed it to... something-."
"Cornmeal soup."
"...Right. Why the change of menu? And why now?"
There was a small pause. Once it was over, the man in front of him spoke again.
"We always switch up what we feed prisoners every month-."
"The month ended ten days ago."
The guard in front of him slowly raised his brows.
"...We were busy back then. No-."
"There was no change of food this morning."
"Once again, the procedures-"
"And bread is much easier to get than... whatever this is-."
"Just eat it."
Kankuro looked back down to the tray in front of him, still scowling. In his tray, there was a bowl filled midway to the top with the "cornmeal" he had in his hand, a small plate with a spoon on it, and a surprisingly healthy looking apple on top of a napkin. He took a breath, and then looked up, across his cell towards the man who was still standing outside it's bars. When the guard raised his head as well, Kankuro let out a grunt.
"Well? Beat it."
The guard in front of him flinched, before muttering something under his breath, quickly turning and leaving. As he heard the guard's footsteps as he fled towards the door, Kankuro finally relaxed himself, readjusting himself against the wall behind him, and placing his tray beside him, on his right side next to his missing leg. Upon seeing it again, he idly reached a hand forwards, rolling his hands over where it used to be, before taking a breath, and shaking his head.
It had been over two weeks since the incident had happened, and Kankuro was still trying to get himself used to the fact that his leg was gone. It had slowly began to seep into his consciousness, him realizing all of the things that he was having trouble doing. Most notably, he had been nearly immobile while he had been taken captive, barely able to drag himself from corner to corner of his cell, and only being able to stand when his captors came to grab him. He had trouble sitting up when he was on his ass, and switching from sitting against the wall from lying down was a daily chore when it got late. Aside from the lack of mobility, Kankuro also noticed that his guards were definitely taking advantage of the fact that he couldn't stand. From easily being able to carry him to and from interrogation, to sometimes deliberately teasing him by leaving his food just by his cell's bars, and therefore impossible to reach if he didn't crawl towards it. It seemed like he wasn't the only one who's behaviour had changed.
He took a breath, and then changed his mindset. He slowly looked back towards the tray of food that he had been given, and then narrowed his eyes more. Everything about the way that the food had been given to him this afternoon was suspicious, and he had a feeling that there was something... special about this particular new dish. He slowly adjusted himself so that he was sitting up straight against the wall, and then placed the tray onto his lap once again, being careful not to spill the cornmeal. Once it was on his lap, he slowly brought the bowl up to his nose, and gave it a quick sniff.
There was nothing out of the ordinary. Simply, the plate smelled dry and flavourless, the same as everything else he had been given while in captivity. He then placed the bowl back onto his lap, and moved his hands for his spoon-
Wait. There might be something else wrong.
He slowly placed his spoon down once again, and this time when he brought the bowl up to his face, he extended a pinky finger to the substance. After a moment of preparing himself, he entered the digit into the substance, removed it, and placed it into a side of his mouth, avoiding his tongue. When nothing happened, he allowed his tongue to make contact with the substance...
And then he immediately spat it out.
The liquid ended up on his chin and on his shirt, and so he quickly moved to wipe his slowly stubbling chin, and he took off his shirt. In the same motion, he quickly threw the tray across his cell, and back towards the bars in which it had came. And after a moment of flying through the air, the bowl of cornmeal spilt, the apple softened against the floor, and the spoon made a loud and unpleasant sound. All the while Kankuro quickly began to wipe his tongue. He didn't need anymore time to figure out what the cornmeal was. Or rather, what had been in the cornmeal.
The stuff had contained traces of Sun Weed. A rare herb in the desert, but a common one in the forest. Characterized by a slight, hot taste.
The herb was commonly used in poison.
Kankuro had previously suspected that they would eventually attempt to poison him. It was inevitable, really. They all knew that he was tight lipped, like all Sand Shinobi, he would rather die than give away anything to the enemy. While Ino did have the ability to peer into his mind, there was the chance that his attempts at repelling her were successful, and even if she was able to peer within his head, it would take her a long time to find the memories worth viewing. It would have been much faster and much cheaper to have him under some truth serum, and instead of them having to beat the truth out of him, he'd just tell them freely.
Kankuro finished wiping his tongue, and then spat onto the ground next to him. That wasn't going to happen.
He had to commend whoever had prepared his afternoon meal, however. Whatever they had put in the cornmeal had nearly completely hidden the sun weed's taste. Only a ninja experienced with poisons would have been able to detect it. Only a ninja like him.
He slowly allowed himself to slouch against the wall, and then looked at hte rest of the scene within his cell. He found himself smirking in jest as he watched the cornmeal he had thrown dry up into the ground beneath it. There goes my lunch, I guess, he thought, before slowly placing his hands onto his abdomen. Another thing he had learned to get used to was the fact that there was nothing to do while one was captured. There was a small, barred window above where he sat, but he couldn't stand to reach it, nor could see see out of it clearly. He hadn't been given any provisions other than food during his stay either, no books, no games and definitely nothing that could have been turned into a weapon. There was absolutely nothing for him to do between his interrogation sessions, and it seemed that he was entering one of those periods.
He took a deep sigh, and his mind decided to wander for a while, with idle thoughts and nagging feelings. One thing he knew he had to do was get out of wherever he was, and he needed to do it as soon as possible. His apparent "death" had been a dramatic one, and there was no doubt that Gaara was likely suffering from the idea that he had left his brother to perish. Then, there was the issue of his own family at home, and what they were going through, for no reason other than a great misunderstanding. He had to see his Shiori again, to make sure that she was fine, and he had to make sure that he was there for Okuni, to give her a father that he always wanted to have. He had to continue to work to end the war. He had to protect his village.
And he and Gaara needed to come to terms with the fact...
Kankuro suddenly balled his fist, and then threw it against the ground he sat on.
Not thinking about that today... please.
He took a breath, and then his eyes travelled above him, looking at the light that was coming in from his little makeshift window. He couldn't stand, let alone run or walk, but the fact that he had a window in his room reminded him of an avenue of escape. The bars didn't look too tough, and therefore the only major issue that would prevent him from at least trying to escape in this way would be his own inability to stand. He sighed, and then looked back towards the bars in front of him...
Just in time to watch Ino Yamanaka walk in.
He grit his teeth, but nevertheless stayed calm, and let himself slouch more against the wall behind him. It was important that he remained cool, calm and hard to read. He knew this. But it was likely that she knew this as well.
He watched as she walked towards his cell bars. Her steps were light, as per usual, but on this day in particular, her face seemed rather... bored. And as per usual, she was alone.
She glanced over to him and looked him over for a few moments, before her eyes slowly traced the trail of liquid towards the bars of his cell, and witnessed the mess he had made. Then, she shrugged.
"I guess that means you figured it out then," she muttered. Her voice was soft, but he could still hear her clearly.
"How'd you detect it?"
"I'm the Head of Sunagakure's Puppet Core." And I'm married to the Head Poison's Specialist. He nearly spoke aloud his thoughts, before remembering where he was, and who he was with. His eyes looked directly into hers, and he took a breath.
"...Your guard wasn't a very good liar, you know."
"Well, he was a rookie after all." Ino leaned back, and then took a breath.
"... You know why I'm here."
Kankuro slowly frowned, and then sat himself up slowly.
"Another interrogation."
Ino nodded.
"Unless you feel like telling us-"
"Fuck off."
Ino narrowed her eyes now as well. After a week with him in captivity, she had already given up on teaching him any manners making him act with any iota of respect. But at the end of the day, it didn't matter.
She snapped her fingers, and the door behind her opened again, this time a par of shinobi walked through. After more than two weeks in captivity, Kankuro didn't resist when they picked him up.
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This time, when Ino entered Kankuro's mind, she was placed directly into a memory.
She hadn't had to go through the buffering area that was his mental puppet shop, nor did she have to encounter the puppet that spoke to her the previous times she had been in his mind. Instead, she had simply arrived in the middle of a forest, in what seemed to be the middle of the night. Near the only source of light in the area, a small campfire.
She stood for a few more moments, as the scene around her began to slowly solidify and come into clear view. In front of her, the campfire quickly gained tenants, as three figures slowly began to clear. First was Kankuro, wearing his regular shinobi uniform, complete with his hood and his purple painted face. Across from him, sitting on the other side of the fire was a kunoichi. Her hair slowly revealed itself to be black, tied down into a single ponytail that went down her back, her one visible eye was revealed to be a dark grey colour. Her other eye, and much of the right side of her face, was covered with dark brown bandages, some parts being wet, to imply that she had been freshly wrapped in them. Like Kankuro, she was wearing a Jonin vest, giving away her rank and importance. Unlike Kankuro, she was leaning quite heavily against a long, horizontal log behind her, and her tanned skin was sickly and weak.
Finally, sitting in between them on one side of the fire was another shinobi. This one had black hair as well, but his was short, there were no scars on his body, and his eyes were a dark blue. Unlike the other two, he slouched over, revealing that he was likely taller than the two of them there, and he wore a darker tone of brown on his Jonin uniform. Unlike Kankuro, his face was clear, and there was clearly a small stubble beginning to form around his mouth and chin. There was also a long, black cloth that he had tied around his left arm.
The group of three was quiet for a few more moments, as Ino began to take some more notes of the area around them. They were in a wooded area, implying that they were somewhere in the Land of Fire. No snow meant that it wasn't likely winter, and none of their dress made any reference to fall. They had packed light, and the fact that there was only three of them implied that it was meant to be a quick, informal mission.
Finally, the memory in front of her finished coming into view, and after another moment she heard the man with the black hair speak quickly.
"... Do we want to eat 'em today, or tomorrow?"
Ino looked towards Kankuro see that his eyes were almost completely focused on the woman on the other side of the fire. She wasn't looking at him, and instead down and into the fire, almost as if she was in a trance.
"...Well?"
The black haired man repeated himself. Ino watched as Kankuro continued to study the woman's features, and the other woman continued to look into the small inferno in front of them. Finally, she heard and saw the black haired man made a sudden, loud snap with his fingers, and both Kankuro and the other woman looked towards him, both of them in a daze.
The man waved his hands in front of him. His face implied that he was slightly annoyed, but his voice denoted everything but that.
"Lord Kankuro, did you hear me?"
Calling him a lord. Must be his subordinate.
Kankuro nodded, then he shifted from his position in the fire. Ino watched as he reached into his bag beside him, recognizing it as the same sack that she had seen him store his puppet scrolls away in, multiple times during the war. She could hear multiple things be pushed around, before she saw him grasp for something. When he returned his hand, he held up three small food pills.
He frowned then, and looked from the woman who sat on the other side of the fire, to the man who was with him. When he spoke, it was obvious that his voice was tired.
"...We should save these," he said. "The area around us has a lot of food in it. You know, deer, rabbits, that sort of thing. We don't know when we'll be in another area that's as abundant as this." He paused, and then turned to the woman on the other side of the fire again.
"Besides, you probably need some real food, don't you?"
The woman sitting across from him was notably upset by this. Her face immediately turned into a hard scowl when she replied to Kankuro.
"I'll be... fine," she muttered. From her voice, it was obvious that she wasn't well. Ino looked over her to see that she was also balancing herself beside a rock on the other side of her.
"Finding food just for my sake... that's just be a waste of time. I can wait for tomorrow night-."
"No, you can't," Kankuro said definitively. Ino could hear the concern in his voice hidden just behind his firmness. He then took a breath, and looked forwards, into the fire as she had been doing earlier.
"...It'd be a different thing if you weren't-."
"Boss, my wounds aren't that bad-."
"They're bad enough that you look like this now," he snapped. "Don't argue with me." Idly, he reached beside him to toss a piece of wood into the fire, and then took a breath.
"And tomorrow we're heading towards the border. We wont have that much time for sleeping when we get there, nor will we have any time to hunt. It's better that we get something now before we get too far into dangerous territory."
"Agreed." The man with the black hair said, nodding. He too threw something else into the fire, before he slowly leaned himself up, and stood up. Ino's predictions had been right. This man was very tall.
"I guess... three rabbits or one deer, right?"
"Right," Kankuro said. "But... watch yourself out there. Especially if you're going to be hunting deer."
The tall man looked down at Kankuro, and one of his eyebrows raised.
"...Deer aren't all that dangerous-."
"... Goro, we both know damn well which clan that lives around here owns deer."
After a moment of thinking, the taller man's eyes widened, before he nodded and quickly checked his belt for his kunai and shuriken. Kankuro continued.
"If you don't show up in an hour-."
"I'll show up in an hour, boss," he said. His irritation from earlier was beginning to show. "Hour and ten' at the latest."
Kankuro nodded, before watching as Goro jumped up into the trees above them, and rush off silently. Now, he and the other woman on the other side of the fire were all alone, the only thing with them being Ino's prying eyes, and the crackling of the fire in front of them. Kankuro's eyes slowly left the fire, and turned up to look at her.
Ino looked towards her as well, to see that she was staring at him clearly now as well, her one visible eye staring into his brown ones. A few moments passed as their eyes stared into one another's, and Ino began to make her own predictions about who the woman was. Finally, the woman spoke again, her voice still weak.
"... You're wasting his time, you know that."
"I'm not."
"You are. You and Goro don't need food. Even I can wait-."
"You might be able to wait. I'm not going to risk your life on a might."
The woman across from him took a quick breath in, and then slowly shook her head.
"...The mission's more important, sir-."
"It's just a simple push-back mission. This mission's not important enough for casualties."
Ino leaned herself against a tree, and her eyes narrowed at the conversation. To her, it began to feel as if she had entered yet another useless memory. Except for the first memory she had entered, the past few weeks with Kankuro had yielded her useless information. And this memory was shaping up to be another useless one. It was a waste of chakra and time for her, and time was something that she was rapidly running out of time for.
The other woman on the other side of fire frowned, and then took another breath in. Her breathes were getting weaker and weaker, something that Ino could hear from her time as a medical ninja, but something that Kankuro wasn't picking up on, from what she could see. Kankuro's hard eye softened on his female companion, and he then took a breath himself.
"...How you feeling now?"
"... F-Fine. Just a bit... tired, sir."
"I told you before, you don't need to keep calling me sir anymore. You're almost the same rank as me in the core. Cut it out."
"... Alright then... Kankuro..."
Kankuro then looked over her body once more, and Ino followed his eyes. Upon closer inspection, she could see a few bandages on her right arm, right under her Jonin vest. It seemed that her wounds were worse than she had been able to see from where she was standing. Kankuro's eyes then ventured back into the woman's.
"... You... fought well today, you know..." He muttered. Ino's eyes raised at the compliment, just before the woman who was with him nodded, and allowed herself to smile.
"Thanks... you were great too."
"Thanks." Kankuro's voice trailed off, before it returned.
"...Definitely my second, right?"
"...Damn right..."
"... Threw his head right off..."
The final remark by Kankuro had an added tinge of sadness, something that Ino hadn't witnessed him do in over ten years. The woman on the other side of the fire seemed to notice this sadness, and her one visible eye lit up.
"...I did... Well. At least... it's done... right?"
"Right."
"...Can't wait until I get... back..."
Kankuro raised a brow. Ino noticed that, except for a few blinks, his eyes had been trained on her the entire conversation.
"Hm? Why?"
"...You're... not looking forwards to going home...?"
"Sorta. I have a lot of work to do when I get back... but then they did open up another bar back home. You know... in the Red Light District?"
"Yeah, 'heard about that. Although... I don't really frequent that area... of home that often, for obvious reasons."
Ino saw Kankuro's cheeks flush a slight colour of red.
"No no no no no, that's not why I'm in the district a lot! It's for the gin, the rum, the beer. That place has the best bars in town, you know. Not just the best.. well you know."
Ino could hear the other woman make a satisfied grunt, she not being convinced in the slightest, before Kankuro continued again.
"To be honest, I was planning on taking the entire team there when we got back. It's been a while since we've done something like that, anyways. But of course, you recovering is the top priority-."
"I'll be... fine... Kankuro."
Kankuro took a breath, and then nodded.
"Just make sure of that..."
"I will... it's not... my first fight, you know..."
Kankuro leaned back, and Ino continued to watch the two. It was clear that this memory was a mostly useless one, but she began to idly wonder why Kankuro even bothered to remember it. It wasn't very interesting thus far. Unless, of course, if the woman in the memory was about to die. Then she could possibly see why Kankuro would bother remembering it at all.
Kankuro continued to stare at her, and then continued to make idle conversation with the woman.
"... You know... I've never asked you this but... who's the one who makes your puppets?"
"Hm?"
"... They were the reason you were so... well they're the reason why you're like this. Your technique was good, but..."
There was a sigh from her lips.
"... I... I know. I don't... I don't actually... I've never actually checked who the designer was... but they're made out of ironwood... isn't that a good thing?"
"The best material's still shit if it isn't used correctly."
"That's the truth..."
She took a breath.
"I can still make do with what I have if I get better."
"That's true... or you can let me make your puppets."
"...Thanks but no thank you. I couldn't afford-."
"I'd do it for free."
Ino saw the other woman's eyes light up.
"...Excuse me-"
"I can't have you walking around with low-grade equipment. Besides, I make puppets all the time. Just tell me what you want, and when we get back I'll get right to work."
"...I can't ask you to do that-."
"Think of it as a gift. Or an early raise. Or some sort of promotion. Whatever floats your boat."
The woman in front of him fell silent once again, before she finally allowed herself to nod. Ino smiled softly at the interaction the two were having. She hadn't seen this side of Kankuro in a long while, and for the most part, had thought it dead.
"...Thanks."
"Your welcome. We're Puppet-nin, we should be looking after each other, after all. An-"
There was a sudden thud that came from behind Kankuro's head. He turned his head, and the other woman in front of him turned his head to see...
Goro hanging upside down from a tree, his body stiff, his eyes wide open, and the cloth that had been wrapped around his arm used to keep him suspended from the tree branch above. There was blood pouring down from his mouth and from his chest, his hands were motionless, and Kankuro couldn't hear him breathe, nor could Ino. And from her medical knowledge, Ino knew that the man was dead.
Kankuro quickly figured it out as well. So did the woman who sat across from him.
"... Shit."
Suddenly, Kankuro watched as multiple kunai and shuriken came towards the woman who sat across from him. While she made an effort to get out of the way, her injuries were clearly too great. Kankuro found himself leaping forwards.
"Shiori! Keep down!"
He landed on her, and the two tumbled for a moment, until he was lying over her. Eyes wide in shock, the other puppeteer froze in terror for a moment, before she looked towards Kankuro, and slowly let her eyes peer upon his back, and then everything behind him. Thankfully, none of the projectiles had hit him, and instead they were stuck in the ground behind them.
But despite Kankuro clearly knowing this, he didn't move, not for a moment. Instead, he stayed situated above Shiori for a while longer, simply staring into her eyes, making sure that nothing behind him could get to her. From what Ino could see, the man was almost in a trance, captivated by her one visible eye. But at the same time, Shiori was as well. She didn't move, she didn't complain. She seemed to be in the same trance that he was in, and for the same amount of time.
There was a long, awkward silence between the two of them. Before they heard another rustle in the bushes, and thus found themselves turning around immediately, Kankuro still hovering over Shiori. Ino watched his movements, before Kankuro suddenly turned his head around, just before he heard...
A loud bark.
A large, white furred dog was running his way. Kankuro immediately stood up, and activated his puppet strings to pull his bag towards him and Shiori. Shiori tried to move herself away from him, so that she could help, but Kankuro held out his other hand.
"Stay behind me," he ordered. His voice had turned harsh once again.
"You're in no position to fight."
By the time Shiori nodded, the large white dog had finally made contact with Kankuro, and leaped onto him. The puppet master held up one of his arms just in time, and the ninja hound ended up biting onto it. Kankuro let out a soft groan, before he shook his bitten arm harshly, and successfully threw the beast off of him. He looked at his arm quickly, seeing the bite marks and the blood, before he quickly reached into the bag that he had pulled over to take out one of his scrolls. The dog recovered, landing on it's feet, before he ran back towards Kankuro again. Before he could do this, Kankuro quickly opened the scroll he had taken out, and unravelled it in front of him.
"Salamander!"
There was a large cloud of smoke that developed around the area suddenly. This didn't stop the ninja hound that was still running towards Kankuro, but the mutt found a different reward greeting him at hte end of his leap. Instead of Kankuro's fleshy arm, he ended up running into a tough, metal object. As the smoke cleared, Ino saw exactly what had happened.
Kankuro had summoned Salamander, one of his oldest and most beloved puppets. From where she was, she could see that he was standing just behind it's massive shield, and beside him he held Shiori's weak form, her entire body fitting nicely beside him and behind the barrier in front of them. Meanwhile, the giant white dog that had attempted to leap towards Kankuro had been recoiled off of the puppet, and now stood snarling at the two of them on the ground, pacing back and forth.
Kankuro took a deep breath, and then looked towards Shiori once again. She was still awake, but clearly shaken and slightly confused. He took a breath, and moved his hands to command the puppet that the two were standing on to rush forwards, aiming to either hit or crush the dog in front of them. The dog, however, moved back twice, quickly being able to evade the puppet in front of him.
Kankuro growled, quickly becoming annoyed and angry. He needed to get the dog away from him, at least long enough for him to get Goro's body, to at least inspect to see if the man was truly dead. However, the mutt in front of him was persistent, and he had to stay close to Shiori to make sure that she didn't fall off the puppet, or get targeted by his enemy. He also had to keep himself up to snuff, because if he got injured, what was left of his team would fail.
He continued to follow the dog on his puppet, before the dog quickly jumped back a few steps, quickly moving so that Kankuro's reflexes couldn't keep up with him. Kankuro damn well would sure try, however, as he pushed his puppet strings forwards, as far forwards as he could manage, before he heard something sudden come from the bushes on his right side. He turned his head quickly to see a man leaping from the fauna-.
"Surprise, motherfucker!"
Kankuro grit his teeth, and Ino narrowed her eye in confusion.
Kiba? What...?
Kankuro quickly ducked within his puppet, and then raised the hood over him and Shiori, causing Kiba to fly over Kankuro, and land on the other side of him, Shiori and his puppet. Once he did, Kankuro quickly turned his puppet so that it's front shield was facing Kiba, before remembering that the dog was still to his other angle. So, to try and make due with this, he turned himself so that the puppet's great shield was in between the both of them, and then lifted his head, standing up tall.
The look on his face revealed all of hte feeling that he was feeling at hte moment. Fear, anger, embarrassment, shame and confusion. There was so much that he still needed to do, and the situation in front of him clearly wasn't going to be an easy one to get out of. Especially with the fact that his comrade was still mostly out of commission, almost lying down beside him as she was.
And now Kiba Inuzuka had shown up, just to make matters even worse for him.
Ino rushed herself over to be where Kankuro was, so that she could get a closer look at her fellow shinobi. Kiba was crouched over like Akamaru at the moment that she saw him in, and looked and acted quite like his pet, as well. His brown hair he had let grow out long, a long, bushy beard fell from his chin, and his pupils were dilated and wild. He was bearing his fangs for Kankuro to see, and Ino could tell that he was definitely in the fighting mood.
And yet, he still spoke. Ino couldn't tell if this was because of courtesy, or because he wanted to make Kankuro shiver.
"Give it up," he growled. His voice was deep and rough, and as he spoke, he slowly stood himself up like the human he was, but began to pace around Kankuro nevertheless, as if he were prey. "I'll bring you back to Konoha, and you'll be tried along with your friend for murder and all that jazz."
"Fuck no," Kankuro spat. His spit landed on the ground near Salamander's feet. Ino had a feeling that this was going to be a quick conversation. Kiba continued to pace back and forth for a few moments longer, before he paused again, and narrowed his eyes at the man standing in front of him.
"Hey listen," he said again, this time his tone more resembling a snarling mad-man than a dog. "This is the only chance I'm giving you. Either you come to the Hidden Leaf Village quietly, calmly and willingly, or I do to you what I did to your friend over there. Your choice."
Kankuro seemed completely unaffected by his threats. But of course, Ino knew that he had been fighting for most of his life now. Threats like Kiba's probably didn't mean anything to him.
"I said 'Fuck no'. Now go away or come and get me."
Ino found herself feeling a tinge of sadness as she looked into Kiba's eyes, seeing a little bit of regret and pain within them. She sighed as well, but simply watched as Kiba quickly hid the rest of his feelings away once again, spitting onto the ground, before he quickly cracked his knuckles together. Meanwhile on the other side of him, Akamaru began to stir.
"...Fine. If that's how you want your meat then I'm just the fucking chef."
Kiba rushed forwards immediately, and at the same time Akamaru rushed Kankuro from the other side. Kankuro pulled his strings backwards to move his puppet backwards, and then held up his shield high to block Akamaru's advance. Kiba landed on the nose of his puppet, but before he could move forwards to get closer to Kankuro, Kankuro threw a kunai his way, causing him to jump back to avoid it. The puppet master quickly reached into his pack again, taking out another scroll, and throwing it out in front of him.
"Sasori! Come on out now!"
Sasori's wooden body appeared in front of him, and Kankuro quickly attached his other hand to his limbs, now having both of his hands occupied. Beside him, he could see and feel Shiori stir, before he felt her hold onto his leg tightly. He bit his lip at this, before throwing Sasori out in front of him, sending him towards where Kiba was now standing. Kiba of course dodged this, and Kankuro heard another sound from beside him, once again causing him to take his eyes off the man in front of him, and instead towards Akamaru's flying form. He dodged this, and once again the leaping being found itself on the other side of him and Shiori.
He momentarily looked back into his knapsack to see that he had only brought two of his puppets. Her cursed himself quickly and quietly, before he began to think of ways to defeat the man in front of him with his current resources. He didn't get enough time to muse, however, as Kiba rushed forwards once again, and once again his leap was conjoined with Akamaru's. Once again, Kankuro was forced to move back, but this time he could feel the shield in front of him begin to disjoint. He cursed out loud, before he moved his puppet back a few steps once again, and quickly ducked to try and assess the damage.
The joints were always the weakest part of a puppet. And the last attack that Akamaru and Kiba had done to him was making it lose.
He cursed quietly again, and quickly moved his puppet back a few more times again, before he stood up tall once again, and sent Sasori towards Kiba. The moment that hte puppet was close enough to the man, he could see him quickly duck away, before placing his hands together in a single seal.
"Screw this! Akamaru! Fang over Fang!"
Ino continued to watch the struggle from where she was standing, and yet she still couldn't figure out the relevance of what was playing out in front of her. She watched as Kiba quickly assumed his beastly form, and as Akamaru began to grow . Kankuro placed both of his hands together as well, and knelt into his own puppet, before moving Salamander so that both Kiba and Akamaru were in front of him. He placed his own hands into a seal.
Both Kiba and Akamaru jumped ahead together, and their forms quickly turned in a torrent of unseen grey dust and wind. Kankuro's puppet opened it's massive jaws, and out poured a sudden, large and purple form of gas. It moved fast towards the two spinning drills, but it did nothing to them. Instead, Kankuro's puppet shield ended up taking the force head on, and, just as Kankuro had feared, the shield broke.
The next movements that Kankuro made were fast and fleeting. He had grabbed Shiori and taken her off salamander along with him into the trees just in time, ensuring that she didn't sustain another, potentially deadly hit. He then quickly threw Sasori in front of the two drills, and increased the chakra towards the puppet so that he was chock full of it. Only then was the twin forces of Akamaru and Kiba stopped.
Kankuro quickly returned Salamander to it's scroll, and brought Sasori back up into the trees with him and Shiori, all the while Kiba and Akamaru struggled to get their bearings back. Up there with him, Shiori felt her breath hitch, before Kankuro placed his hand on her neck, feeling for her pulse. Seeing that the excitement was beginning to affect her in a negative way, he slowly and softly moved her to the trunk of the tree, and placed his pack onto her lap to anchor her. Meanwhile, he quickly brought Sasori closer to him, inspecting and looking him over, before nodding to himself. He was still good for a few more bouts before he would have to be put away. He looked down at Kiba and Akamaru, seeing that they were both back on their feet, recovering from the attack they had just preformed.
He turned himself and prepared to jump down, out of the hidden canopy and into the fray below, before he suddenly felt a touch and squeeze to his right arm. Turning his head, he was reminded that Shiori was still awake. Her eyes took a pleading, pathetic look, and she grit her teeth.
"Don't... don't... let me... let me help-."
"No. Stay up here."
"Can't... just... at least some of my poison...s..."
"They'd take too long to apply. Just... sit tight."
There was a pause.
"...Fuc... fuck."
Kankuro sighed, but then after shortly chuckled darkly.
"Yeah. Fuck. "
Before he let himself jump down again, Ino saw him glance again at her, this time his look being short. Finally, he threw Sasori back down to the ground, and jumped down after he did.
Sasori's presence again momentarily started both Akamaru and Kiba, before the two got used to it's presence again. The moment the puppet master's feet met the ground, Kiba shouted for Akamaru to get Kankuro, and therefore the dog attacked. Kankuro was able to throw Sasori into his way, but while Sasori dealt with Akamaru, Kiba used the chance to attack Kankuro from the front. He moved backwards, but Kiba was able to get to him anyways, pouncing like an animal, aiming for his chest. He reached into his belt to take out a kunai, and before Kiba could get to the man with his claws, he was able to parry him away, causing Kiba to be pushed back on a recoil. While he was pushed back, Kankuro lunged forwards with his kunai, aiming to at least main the man in his stomach.
Kiba leaned back, but as Kankuro's head was down, he quickly reached into the man's back, and entered his claws deep into his back. Kankuro let out a loud scream, and then wriggled his fingers to have Sasori push Akamaru back away from his master further, all the while shaking Kiba off of him, and tossing away from him, towards the ground a while away.
Kankuro growled, the pain on his back affecting him a great deal. He recalled Sasori so that he was closer to him, and then gripped the Kunai in his hand to the point where his hands were white. All the while, Ino watched as Shiori watched the ordeal from the tree branches above, her eyes wide with horror, yet also low with shame. Ino could tell just by looking at her how much she longed to go down and help her comrade, but at the same time, still being required to stay hidden and stay out of trouble. Ino heard a sudden yelp from below, and then her eyes left the woman and returned to Kankuro.
Now, the man looked as if he was surely about to lose.
Kiba had attacked him again since she had taken her eyes off of him, and the proof was clear on the man's face. Kankuro's purple paint was beginning to become smudged, one of his sleeves was tattered and ripped, and his other had been taken right off. He was still standing up tall, and Sasori had been returned to him, now hovering in front of him, waiting for further guidance. Meanwhile, both Akamaru and Kiba were getting closer and closer to the man, and all he could do was snarl in defence, and get prepared for when they'd attack again.
Kiba took another step towards him, and Akamaru followed his master in this regard. Kankuro took steps back, letting him have the floor as he began to think of a way to possibly get out of this situation alive. He was continually backed up, further and further, until Kankuro was nearly up against a tree. When he felt the bark against the back of his shirt, he gulped, and Kiba saw it happen clearly. Ino narrowed her eyes.
She knew that Kankuro couldn't die here. If he did, then he wouldn't have been alive in the present, and she wouldn't be able to view his memory. Something had to happen now. Anything-.
"...For the last time. Give it up."
"For the last time, fuck no."
Kiba growled in response, and Kankuro did the same. Ino could feel the sadness return to Kiba's voice.
".. Do you want to die?"
"... I'm not going to die."
Kiba frowned, and then slowly placed his hands together in a hand-seal.
"Keep telling yourself that. Last chance-."
"For fuck's sake. Give me what you've got and let's get this over with already!"
Kiba would have been taken aback from what Kankuro had said, if Kankuro's words had been rare, or unusual for him to hear at this point. He took a deep breath.
"...So be it, then. Akamaru... Fang over Fang."
Ino cringed. She could see that Kankuro had done the same. Once again, Kiba and Akamaru assumed their forms. Once again, Kiba and Akamaru twisted themselves, and rushed towards Kankuro. But unlike the other times, Kankuro offered no resistance as the two bodies attacked him head on.
Ino looked up into the trees were Shiori was, and saw her eyes wide and fearful. Her mouth opened wide to scream.
"Kank-!"
Before her mouth was immediately covered. She tried to thrash around, but she didn't have to. Moments after she was silenced, her assailant slowly twisted her body around, so that she could see the man who was now staring her directly in the face...
It was Kankuro.
Shiori's eyes widened with a mixture of surprise, anger, and confusion. He simply raised his other hand in front of her, and silenced her thoughts with one of his fingers. He looked into her eye, and then, seeing the uncertainty in her eyes, gave her a light, small and comforting smile.
"...Did you really think I would do something as stupid as that?" He whispered to her. "No... I wouldn't. Not while you're this screwed. What you're seeing below us is simply a... performance."
Shiori nearly rolled her eyes at his description of what was transpiring below. Ino watched as the real Kankuro quickly did a hand seal, and then noted as the Sasori from below disappeared entirely. The real Kankuro placed Sasori's scroll back into the pack in which he had taken him out of, and then slowly, softly and carefully manoeuvred Shiori into his arms, slugging the other pack onto his back. But it was clear that Shiori was the more precious cargo to him, even from Ino's relatively untrained eye.
Below them was a blurry scene. Since Kankuro wasn't focusing on Kiba anymore, the rest of the "fight" wasn't clear. The only thing that was clear, was-.
"...What the hell!? Kankuro!? What the- KANKURO!?"
"That's our cue to leave." Kankuro muttered, and then he began to leap away with Shiori, keeping her cradled in his arms, nice and safe.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Ino followed the memory until she had rejoined the two miles away, with at least an hour passing since Kankuro had "fought" Kiba.
It was an extremely secluded place, and since there was no fire, there was no way of outsiders being able to figure out where in the secluded trees the two were hiding. Ino, however, was able to spot them sitting on another tree-branch, this time with Kankuro looking at, and redressing Shiori's wounds. A the present moment, he was changing her chest and back bandages.
The skin underneath the bandages was a sickly red, but Ino could see that Kankuro didn't particularly care about this. Instead, as he dressed her wounds, he was making sure that she was the one fine, not him. From her position lying back on a tree-trunk, she would occasionally ask him questions, not for answers, but for comfort and distraction. For all but one question, Kankuro answered kindly, softly, and almost jokingly, well aware what she needed to keep her own sanity...
Many peaceful minutes passed of this, before she asked the wrong question.
"...What... what are we going to do about... Goro?" She asked. Kankuro raised a brow at this, but finished taking Shiori's leg wound off-
Ino saw Kankuro freeze suddenly, before he straightened himself up and cleared his throat. When Ino heard the worlds that came out of his mouth next, she could finally begin to see the relevancy of the memory.
"...First... we drink our... assess of... to his memory. All...four of us. Celebrating a great shinobi. Celebrating a brave shinobi..."
Then Kankuro's eyes darkened, and that familiar emotion returned to his voice again.
"...Then on our next mission we kill as many as those bastards as we can to get back what we've lost. We get rid of as many we need... to recover our losses... to make it better. We make sure that his name and death affects Sunagakure's safety, and we ensure this with an iron fist. A bloody one if necessary. And that's... the end of that..."
And the moment Kankuro's voice ended, so did the memory. Leaving Ino with another piece of information, and another reason to feel sick.
Finished this up at 2:35 AM in the morning. Never again lol. Remember to R&R! And thank you all for reading this far. Remember, new chapter on either Thursday, Friday or Saturday this week!