Complicated Love
Chapter Eleven
From the day she had been recruited into the Akatsuki, flower arrangements had been the least of Ino's concerns.
She had made peace with it, the days where she would mindlessly wrap bouquets or color code inventory supplies during a slow shift were long gone. There would be no more cuts to heal on her fingers after a long day of removing thorns from roses, and her ears were no longer trained to listen for the cheerful ring the bells on the shop doors made, announcing the arrival of a customer.
But here she was, seated at a table covered in plants. It almost felt like home.
With a slight twist.
The most prominent flowers decorating the table's surface she recognized as White Snakeroot. A bundle of them sat at the center of the wooden table, their coarse stems and wispy, starch colored tips unmistakable. She was careful not to touch the other species. The five petaled flower was a shade of blush, and despite their sweet, inviting smell, the Yamanaka knew how misleading the beautiful flowers blonde said nothing but continued to observe quietly, knowing that Pein was watching for a reaction. Among others included Foxglove, Wolf's Bane, and Gelsemium. Only a trained eye would be able to detect these and know to steer clear of them.
"So... Tell us what you know." Pein's eyes looked up expectantly.
Ino stared at the hologram of the Akatsuki leader whose image flickered back and forth continuously. This was by far the weirdest thing she had experienced. The general outline of his body was visible, but the only feature she was able to see clearly were his lilac pupils. Spaces where his hair and shoulders should have been glinted every now and then as they caught light at a certain angle, only then turning a shade of iridescence. Other than that, he seemed to blend right in with the wall.
"These are all poisonous." Ino stated plainly, resting her eyes on the bundles of flowers. "Most people will die instantly if they accidentally ingest Snakeroot or Oleander stems, and the Oleanders have to be handled with gloves at all times. If not, they can allow toxins to enter through skin lesions and cuts. Same as Foxglove."
"And the Gelsemium?"
"It can cause temporary paralysis."
"Told you she knew her stuff." Deidara muttered to the hologram who hummed happily.
"I was thinking that we could extract the toxins from certain flowers and plants to lace weapons with. These weren't particularly difficult to find, and if they are as deadly as you say, I think we will benefit greatly from their use."
"You want me to cultivate a poison using these?" The blonde looked at the iridescent form.
"Well, you are a medic, aren't you, Ino? Being well versed in plants and the human anatomy go hand in hand, and I see no reason why we shouldn't put your skills to use." Pein smiled, or so she thought, judging by the way his eyes crinkled.
"If it proves to be successful, which I don't know why it wouldn't, we could look to expand its use among the rest of the members. Say, Deidara could fuse it with his clay and when he causes an explosion, the damage would be almost tenfold once the poison in the air hits the lungs."
This Akatsuki leader truly is an evil genius. Ino thought, a chill passing through her body.
Using poison as a weapon would eliminate the need for her to constantly rely on a distraction point and opening for mind transfer. When she had gone on missions in the past, this proved to be the most difficult, which was why she resorted to other forms of attack. As long as she had a few needles discreetly hidden underneath her clothes, it would be smooth sailing. Concocting the substance along with a paired antidote was a different story though.
Pein had been right in saying that he would help refine her skills if she joined the Akatsuki. However, this wasn't the route that she imagined things would take.
In all her years of working in the flowershop's greenhouse, she had come to appreciate the diversity of flower species Konoha had to offer. It always brought joy and satisfaction seeing the happy smiles of customers receive their orders, so it was natural for her to associate flowers with positive meaning.
I don't know how similar this will be to arranging flowers, maybe nothing at all. I've never dabbled in poisons but I can see how this is a slippery slope as far as my morals are concerned.
Maybe she could find a way to make this dark activity enjoyable. The plants sitting in front of her had different modes to attack the body, with the right method of delivery and precision, they could close up chakra points. She assumed that the Akatsuki leader had prior knowledge of these poisonous plants, the average person could easily mix up Oleanders and Hibiscus. How he managed to collect all these and get them to the lodge they were staying in was a mystery to her. After this, she would have to find a way to carefully remove them so as to not accidentally catch traces of pollen on her skin or clothes.
"I mean my biggest concern is that I haven't had much experience handling these. We would also have to conduct trials on how fast it takes for the toxins to enter into the bloodstream and how adverse the effects are." After all, these were just plants. It would require a sizable amount for a healthy, average person to actually die from accidental exposure.
"That's what the prisoners in the base are for."
"Oh."
-x-
The morning they had met Soro, a clay bird was sent back to the base, notifying the leader that the first part of the assignment had been completed. Ino and Deidara then sat wondering who the fire haired man would choose to aid them in the capture of the One Tailed host.
As he fastened his mechanical eye on, Deidara complained about how it would most likely be Itachi and Kisame. Tobi and Zetsu were off in a different village, Kakuzu was tending to internal matters, and Pein didn't want Hidan going off alone. Those two usually worked together on missions that involved killing and collecting money, which made them an unlikely choice.
They were told that their reinforcements would arrive today no later than sunset. Deidara, who had been expecting Itachi, and Ino, who had been expecting Tobi, were surprised to see a familiar bundle of cornflower hair waiting for them just at the edge of Sunagakure.
She was dressed in a tan overcoat and loose fitting pants, a refreshing change to the dark tones they were used to seeing. The peach colored polish had disappeared from her nails, and her once amber eyes were now a dark umber.
"Konan-san!" The former Amegakure nin held a finger to her lips, shooting both blondes a warning look as she walked towards them. Now that they were closer, Ino noticed that the woman's locks seemed to flicker back and forth between its normal blue shade and a dark navy.
"This is an interesting turn of events, un. Does this mean we get to use a transformation jutsu as well?"
"Nagato sent me to help out both of you in the One Tails capture." Konan spoke in a low voice. "But the three of us travelling together are bound to raise suspicions, especially if there are other nin nearby who can sense our presence." She pointed to a dome shaped building in the distance which was what they presumed to be a visitor's inn.
"That's where I'm staying. All of our briefings will take place there. I trust both of you have already met Soro?" Ino and Deidara nodded silently.
"Perfect, everything is right on schedule then." She motioned for the two of them to follow.
-x-
Ino was presented with two options, neither of which she was particularly fond of.
Wiping Gaara's memories clean would make him just an empty shell of his former self. On the other hand, the other method wasn't exactly foolproof. She had a good grasp on genjutsu, but altering memories was something the blonde had only heard of as a practice done by professionals like her father. Of course, Ino was not the least bit surprised that the idea came from Pein himself, once again.
"Think about it Ino, what is the most important part of a person?" Konan had asked her. The blue eyed girl had said nothing, averting her eyes to the floor.
Their psyche.
She knew this. From the moment she had mastered the ability of the Mind Transfer Jutsu, reading people's thoughts was all she did. It was fun at first, messing with Choji and Shikamaru, who quickly grew annoyed, and with random strangers she would pass on the street. But the older she got, Ino began to realize her clan's abilities left her emotionally stunted. Forming relationships organically was something she found ridiculously difficult in her early teen years. Every now and then, she still had to resist the urge to poke around in people's heads.
Like Naruto, Gaara had had a terrible childhood and gone through so much before he had been able to stand forth as Kazekage. If Ino was to delve into his mind and force him to relive memories, that even she herself might not be ready to see.
"If we can find a way to pull into Gaara's mind and make him relive his darkest memories, it can trigger him into a state of distress which makes the capture less of a bother for all of us."
First time might be shocking, the second time a little less. It would just have to be the thought process she conditioned herself to. Though she hadn't been present for the capture of the Two Tails, the extraction process had been disturbing and stripped away the last ounce of humanity from the poor host. She knew what was to be expected this time around.
All Ino had to do was ensure the One Tails was brought back to base. It was no different than a mission. She even had two others helping her. In the past four months living with the Akatsuki, it seemed like the shinobi code had been thrown out the window. She had expected herself to suddenly evolve into a heartless criminal, but these expectations had fallen short. However, these past months had made her even more high strung with emotions than she had ever been.
"I almost forgot that you know the Kazekage, un. He's strong, right?"
Ino thought back to the Chunin exams.
Though she had only been thirteen at the time, she remembered the events as if they had happened yesterday. She had been standing side by side with Sakura, both of them holding their breath. Had anyone else been paired up against the red haired sand user, they might not have survived, facing a possibility of being bedridden for life. It had been almost a year until Lee had been able to return back to normal training.
Shukaku's volatility combined with Gaara's abilities were lethal. Granted, this was only the second tailed host she had been exposed to, but between Sunagakure being forced into evacuation and Konohagakure on the brink of destruction, Soro's scale of comparison was essentially useless. The Yamanaka turned to look at the informant who bowed politely to Konan and them before taking his leave. She had been right in guessing informants were well paid.
The news had taken her by surprise. She hadn't pegged Temari as someone who would move on that fast. Ino felt a bit sorry that part of the plan entailed exploiting Soro's relationship with the Kazekage's sister. And an engagement. In the end, nobody had won. Not her, not Shikamaru, not even Temari. Soro had approached her under the guise of being a merchant. With one of Gaara's closest confidants busy with wedding preparations, that was one less person keeping an eye out for danger. He had left them a sketch of the estate, all entries had been annotated with drops of blue ink. Two guards stood on opposite wings, but any windows were left untouched, making for easy entry.
The Sand Siblings rarely spent time at the estate, with all three of them actively involved in the village's leadership, most of their days were at the administration building a few blocks down. Gaara typically returned home in the evening. There really was no need for guards to be stationed, unless someone was looking to steal money. Important paperwork remained in the administration building.
Ino looked at Konan, who was curiously flipping through a faded yellow booklet. The blonde stiffened as she recognized it as a copy of the Bingo Book. Her hand had stopped at a mostly empty page, and the blonde arched her neck, hoping to catch a glimpse.
Name : Yamanaka Ino
Rank : Jonin (newly promoted)
Village : Konohagakure
Orders : Detain for authorities or bring back to Konohagakure.
Appearance : Blonde hair, blue eyes. Roughly 162 cm tall.
"Konan-san, how did you get your hands on one of these?" The blue haired woman turned around, hand still stuck on the page.
"This? Kakuzu let me borrow it. It seems like there are unofficial copies floating around… He is a bounty hunter, you know."
"Oh that makes sense then."
So that was how the Akatsuki managed to keep their lifestyle afloat. The blonde had only come across the masked member in passing and the couple times she had, he always seemed to be in a rush. There was her answer, he was a bounty hunter.
"No picture, no crime committed. So the entry is just incomplete?" Ino murmured quietly, running her index finger along the words. She continued to stare at the page, taking Konan and Deidara's silence as a yes while she read the same five lines over and over.
A small part of her hurt, but knew it was what she someone who had gone against her village by fighting two fellow teammates and refusing to comply with the Hokage's attempt at a retrieval mission, there was no reason for her to be surprised. Plainly put, it had been an act of defiance and she had to now face the consequences. The same would have applied to any Konoha nin.
If I had resisted more and fought back when I was first kidnapped and brought to the base, would that have changed anything?
Something told her that Konoha's rescue attempt would have remained unsuccessful.
What does this all mean now?
On a large scale, it meant that she had done something terrible for her to be published with a price by her name, but this also meant that whomever read the book and saw her name knew she was not a force to be reckoned with.
She couldn't keep reverting back to her old ways of thinking. Ino Yamanka of Konoha was something she had abandoned the moment she had begrudgingly agreed to help this criminal organization. Although she was still part of a company larger than herself, the difference now was that she had to make choices based on her own survival. It was time to live for herself.
Her thinking was becoming so twisted.
Konan seemed to pick up on this, and quickly took the book back from Ino's hands, shoving it into a pocket of her coat.
"Let's call it a day. You and Deidara should head back to the lodge before it gets dark. We'll reconvene in two days' time." Ino nodded numbly, pulling her cloak back on and saying her goodbyes before following Deidara out the door.
-x-
"This is going to be one of the most intense things I've done."
I could potentially die.
"But you've possessed people with this jutsu all the time, un."
"Yes, but this is the host of a tailed beast." She hoped that she wouldn't be forced to use Mind Destruction. It wouldn't make sense to, seeing as Pein wanted them alive for the extraction process. Ino was a bit relieved knowing that she wouldn't have to get her hands dirty as far as killing went.
She found out from Deidara that Pein had a similar ability to those of the Yamanaka clan. While the leader wasn't able to perform mind and body switching techniques, he was able to read minds and simultaneously kill victims if he wished.
This tidbit of information walked right into her hands unintentionally one day when the two of them were discussing other members of the organization. The clay artist was disgruntled about Pein's order to not take action until reinforcements were sent over. Now that Konan had arrived, that had been answered for.
When she asked why Pein never went on hunts for tailed beasts himself, Deidara had simply shrugged.
"Being the youngest member means you get left in the dark alot, un."
"Oh."
"But it does seem like a waste. Hatafuri's rinnegan is impressive. Granted, I've only seen it a couple times but essentially, he's able to control six different bodies that are variations of himself, un."
With abilities like that, it puzzled Ino even more why he would depend on his subordinates to do all the messy work while he waited with open arms for the final product.
"Let me just say this, he chooses his fights carefully."
His mind manipulation abilities must not be that strong, if he had a specific interest in the Yamanka clan jutsu.
Today marked day eight of their stay in Suna. They weren't supposed to wander around outside the lodge or hotsprings in case someone happened to recognize the two of them as Akatsuki members. The two of them had only gone out to get food twice, and both times were instructed to wear straw hats that obscured their faces. The next two days would fly by, and before they knew it, the Akatsuki would be in possession of yet another tailed beast.
Ino found it odd that the leader would suddenly appear to her in hologram when she and Deidara were in the middle of a completely different assignment that was, well, unrelated to the fact.
There weren't any plants or flowers she was familiar with here in the desert. The only one that came to mind was Desert Thorn Apple, but she hadn't seen so much as a shrub in the days they had been here. Even if she did manage to get her hands on the white flowers, carrying them back to base would run the risk of her accidentally poisoning herself and she didn't need Pein to laugh at her stupidity. They wouldn't be ideal though, and it would be an inconvenience to constantly have to trek back to the Sand Village when supply ran low.
Well, it's working. He wanted to get me thinking on the topic of poisons and I'm already looking for the best candidates.
After wrestling with the idea, she had decided that she was more excited than nervous about extracting poison from flowers to use as a possible weapon. It was within her field of expertise, as Pein had reminded her, and this would be an excellent opportunity to expand her knowledge through trial and error.
When she had told the blonde artist that she found Pein's random appearance weird, Deidara wasn't that surprised, saying "That happens a lot, un." He held up his hand, pointing to the ring around his index finger.
"So that's what those are for."
-x-
Her permanent return to Suna had happened faster than she expected.
The engagement was so sudden, Temari wondered why she even agreed to it to begin with. She was still fuming mad, a small part of her was doing it out of spite.
She was sick of trekking back and forth for someone who didn't seem to appreciate her efforts. So when Gaara and Kankuro introduced her to Soro as a potential suitor, the eldest Sand Sibling had wasted no time in jumping onboard. Simply, she was wallpapering over the feelings.
Being back home brought a sense of solace. As she leaned over the balcony of the estate, something flew past her peripheral vision, landing softly on the ground.
With a shrug, Temari reached down to retrieve the object that had fallen to her feet.
It was a paper butterfly.
A/N : Chapter 11 is up! Updates are going to be painfully sluggish from here but I still have plans to finish. Slowly but surely. Thanks for reading!