"We'll camp here for the night!" The ANBU leader shouted to his team as they began setting about various tasks. Eventually, one of them had a fire going, which blessedly pushed away the evening chill.

Aiko slumped in front of the blazing flames and closed her eyes, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them close to her body. She didn't know what it was she should have been feeling—anxious maybe? Afraid? Determined? All she felt was numb. Over five years she and Sasuke had been on the road, but a small part of her had always believed that she would never go back. There was no reason for her to go back. If anything at all, she just missed Naruto—a lot—but he was the only solid chain that tethered her to the Hidden Leaf. She cared about the people she had grown up around, sure, but it wasn't the same. Running away had always been her blessing she couldn't admit she needed.

Sasuke sat down next to Aiko and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into him. "Are you okay?" It wasn't so much a question about her wellbeing as it was a question on wether she really wanted to go through with this. He knew the turmoil Aiko's emotions warred inside her, even if she couldn't feel them, but he would never doubt her. If she really—truly—wanted this, he would support her.

"I wonder what's going to happen when we get back," Aiko replied distantly as she set her chin on the tops of her knees.

"Does it matter?" Sasuke asked softly, "No matter what obstacles come your way, you always pull through." There was no hesitation in his voice as he spoke, and when Aiko looked over at her companion, she saw that he really believed every word he was saying. "I'm not worried," he finished, looking into the blue depths of her eyes that swirled with orange from the fire.

"What if no one believes me?" Aiko whispered, feeling a heavy sadness threaten to blanket her.

"No need to worry about that!" The ANBU leader said cheerfully as he trodden over to the duo.

Aiko turned to face the masked man, confusion twisting her features, "What?"

"We need your full cooperation, however," the leader went on, ignoring Aiko's question, "This will only work at its best if you are completely open. Normally, we break a target before doing this, but I have an inkling that you'll work with us."

"Break a target?"

A new ANBU walked over this time, one who hadn't yet spoken to Aiko, "The technique works best when all mental and physical barriers have been torn down." Their voice was soft, melodic, and feminine. "I usually only do this during interrogations—after I've tortured the target to lower all their defenses."

Aiko's eyes widened and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sasuke inching his hand towards his sword.

"As long as you don't fight me, the process will be painless,"The ANBU woman explained. "Your instinct will be to throw up your own mental barriers—don't."

The red head felt her breathing become shallow as she took in this information. There was a certain danger in the woman's voice, a very plain threat in her words. They would get whatever information they were looking for whether Aiko wanted them to or not. But this was good, she surmised. She wanted the truth to be known; if this would help her achieve that, so be it.

"What do I need to do?" Aiko asked, though cautiously.

The ANBU woman walked over to the red head and crouched on one knee in front of her. "Just relax," she said as she put the palm of her hand on Aiko's forehead.

There was a brief moment of silence before Aiko closed her eyes and felt a strange wiggling in her mind. The woman was right, her instinct was to fight it, but Aiko forced herself to remain open and calm. At first, she felt as though she was drifting. Far, far away from the little campsite, out into a vast nothingness. Her senses left her; Aiko could no longer smell the burning wood or hear its crackle as flames consumed it. Eventually, she couldn't even feel her body anymore, nor could she open her eyes. She was nothing but her mind now. Any minuscule barriers she might have left standing crumbled away.

Defenseless.

"Did your family abuse you?" The ANBU woman—their Wolf—asked carefully. She had to make sure she kept her questions under ten words, and she would only have the opportunity to ask Aiko three question before she would have to break the connection.

Immediately, an image poured into the connected minds. Both Aiko and the ANBU woman saw the cruelty of the Okumura family. That first image was of a day Aiko could never forget. The day her mother had been talking with the Hokage, when she had discovered Aiko and Naruto talking outside of the Uchiha Compound—when she had told everything to her husband, Karasu, and he had beaten Aiko and thrown her in the Temple. She had been locked in there the longest, on that occasion.

Three days.

By the time Aiko's parents came for her, she was dangerously dehydrated, starving, and had soiled herself multiple times as there had been nowhere for her to go. Her shame had crushed her that day, but she couldn't remember caring about it at the time as she had downed several glasses of water and gladly at the stale bread, cheese, and cold vegetables her family had given her with vigor. Her entire family had mocked her, scolded her, and then locked her in her room afterwards. Aiko had cried until her eyes were swollen and red and there was nothing left, then she slept dreamlessly and woke the next day with a pounding headache.

"Did you murder your family members in self-defense?"

Involuntarily, an image popped into Aiko's mind as she shared it with the ANBU. That day on the rocky mountaintop—Atsushi laughing at her, confident that she wouldn't be any trouble to him and his men. Then, Aiko slaughtering the lot of them, tearing them to ribbons—cutting off Atsushi's head...

"Have you ever manipulated the people of Konoha?"

The only images that revived themselves from the depths of Aiko's subconscious were those of instances she lied to her family to get away, or to protect herself. Instances when she fabricated stories just to sate the bloodlust she knew her family always had towards her. They didn't always need to know the truth. And what they didn't know they couldn't use against Aiko.

Carefully, the ANBU broke the link and pulled away. The red head felt her senses crash back into her and she sneezed at the powerful odor of the smoke from the campfire.

The ANBU Wolf said nothing as she lead the leader away and spoke with him privately.

Aiko hoped it was enough.