Choking, hanging, throat slitting. There is something so definitive about death by any of these manners. You cut the mind off from the body.

Mist's kills, her attacks, even her schemes and plots were fixated on the throat. It was OCD almost, it seemed it was an insatiable desire. It had to have been born from something traumatic, Shikamaru remembered Ino having mentioned something about OCDs coming from traumatic experiences. She had said that they were manifested in an attempt to feel in control.

There was something that lingered in Mists past that made her cling to this idea of control. Weather she was an assassin or a vigilante or some kind of serial killer. He needed to find out more of her origins and he had to start somewhere. That stormy look in her eyes told him there was something more to her story. Something before she started killing.

The restaurant was crowded, just like they liked it. With all the clanking of dishes, shuffling of feet and buzz of conversation Ino and Shikamaru could have a semi private conversations without worrying about being over heard.

They had sat like this many times over the past years. They'd have dinner before one of them was going on a long mission or coming back or if they had a long day, which was becoming a more frequent occurrence, with how busy Tsunade kept them. They would sit on opposite sides of the booth sometimes without enough time to say all they needed and sometimes with too much time, but they were always good meetings. They had a poignant nostalgia about them that Shikamaru couldn't quite pin down.

Today was different though, the noise of the restaurant didn't seem to be as loud and Shikamaru turned to see if anyone was looking at them before turning back to Ino.

"Ino, I need you to do something for me."

"Haven't I done enough for you Shika?" Ino replied with a cheeky grin on her face that made it seem like she was back to normal.

"I need you to remember what you saw in Mist's mind."

Her grin slowly slide down into an obvious frown.

"I told you in Tsunade's office. All I saw was darkness with flashing images. Nothing I could piece together."

"I know but you said you saw a village." Shikamaru watched her roll her eyes and he reached his hands across the table to rest on her forearm in a nonverbal plea. "Just close your eyes and tell me what you saw; the shape of the houses the color of the sky, anything would help."

"Okay" she said sighing and reluctantly closing her eyes.

She had a knack for recalling memories easily. It had to have something to do with her mind jutsu.

"Red clay. The ground is mostly red clay with small patches of grass. Small houses made of wood." Her eyelids twitched and her face tightened. She must be recalling some of the emotions Mist had forced on her. "The houses are on fire. I see people running around. There's so much motion. None of them have headbands but most of them are wearing browns or greens. Its night time and there's fog everywhere and then there was smoke…everywhere… and the smell of fire. It feels like it's mine… like it's my memory."

Ino's breaths became heavier and her body quivered. Shikamaru could see the distress on her face and he squeezed her arm, reassuring her he was with her. She opened her eyes quickly; they were glossy with the beginnings of tears.

"It's just full of pain Shikamaru. That's all I could see in this girl. I know she must have used it as a defense mechanism to keep me out, but it was all I could feel. She's so angry and full of…"

"Revenge." Shikamaru said and Ino looked up at him. "I think she's hunting these people down. I think they're all connected somehow, I just don't have enough information, but she clearly suffered a great trauma. Maybe these killings are some kind of atonement, or what did she say, retribution. We need to look at records. We need to find out where this all started."

"Shikamaru we're not on the case anymore." She sounded pleading, but her face looked sternly at him.

She didn't know Shikamaru as someone that went out of his way to look for trouble or disobey his commands, but she knew him as someone who couldn't leave a problem unsolved, which put her in this situation of having to keep him in check.

She lowered her voice and set him with a firm look "Shika this is in the ANBU's hands, we can't do anything. Let it go."

"Okay, okay." He finally said after a long deadly glare from her. "Let's just eat."

They picked up their chopsticks and began eating the food that had been brought to them but Shikamaru had no plan to comply with Ino's wishes. He was uneasy with the fact that she wasn't going to fight for this with him, but he wasn't going to give up. For some reason it felt important.

Shikamaru spread a map out on his desk of the Nine Lands. He marked small red dots on the places where all four victims had been killed. He marked down in black where he and Ino had captured Mist. Then he circled a large area on the northeastern boarder of Fire Country. It was the only area he knew there to be red clay along with an abundance of trees. The houses were made of wood and in the case of any village, their buildings are made of what they have a lot of, so Shikamaru assumed the village Ino saw was in a heavily wooded area.

The fog was a more broad description, it could have been caused by a rainy season, but he was inclined to think that it was indicative of the presence of a lake or river near the village, most small villages were built near some source of water. His eyes were searching the map for signs of blue when he heard a knock on his door.

Shikamaru quickly rolled the map up and shoved it in a drawer before inviting whomever it was in.

"Ino. What did you need?" She closed the door silently behind her and stepped closer to Shikamaru's desk.

"I think they're terminating Mist."

Shikamaru didn't let it show but he was slightly surprised by this quick verdict.

"I obviously wasn't told, but I've been hearing rumors from the guards that they'll be moving her and I can only assume that it's the ANBU's best way to cover up an assassination."

"When?" he asked.

"Sometime this week I assume. I saw them bringing her into one of their interrogation rooms this morning, so either they got something from her or they didn't get enough from her. What do you want to do Shika?" She asked using his childhood name made him look at her.

She had the same beseeching look she always used to wear, that denoted her faithfulness and respect to him. The stressful tension he held in is shoulders eased a little and he could feel his mind slow and reorganize again. She was with him and as much as he thought he didn't need her, having her there always felt better.

"I thought we weren't doing anything about this Ino." He said cocking one eyebrow at her and lightening the air with a playful tease.

"I don't know. I was thinking about it all night. I can't let you do this on your own." Ino shook her head.

Shikamaru could tell she was still conflicted about it. Her body language was uneasy, and she kept glancing from the door to the window, like she was being watched or was preparing for an escape. He didn't share her uneasiness but tried to suppress the slight jolt he felt of anticipation and something akin to excitement.

He pulled out the map from his top desk drawer and laid it out in front of Ino, showing her what he had concluded so far.

"What you saw was obviously a fire, which should be somewhere in the Konoha records as long as it was in Fire Country. I've narrowed it down to somewhere in this area." He pointed to the circle. "It may have been in one of the villages that Konoha protects, seeing as no one in your vision had village headbands. We just need a way into the Records House."

"One of us needs to be assigned to another mission." Ino said hastily. "It's the only way it won't look suspicious if we check into the Records House."

Shikamaru looked up at her and smirked. She was more brilliant than anyone gave her credit for.

"I can do it. Tsunade knows I like getting away, but she never gives me anything longer than a week." Ino spoke quickly again.

"I'm just confused. Do you think this fire has something to do with why she's killing? I mean even if her victims had anything to do with it, that won't absolve her. She's still taken four lives." Ino said settling down on the edge of his desk with her arms crossed. "We could be chasing down ghosts."

Shikamaru lowered his gaze trying to place where his drive to know more was coming from. Maybe it was the look in Mist's eyes, a look with such furry, he needed to know where it was born. Or maybe it was just another puzzle for him to solve. Maybe it was for peace of mind.

"Ino, we need to know." He looked back up at her, a poignant expression in his eyes. "The ANBU is not going to look far enough. She's a threat to the village and they eliminate threats."

"Okay." Ino said simply in agreement.

"Alright." He said with a calming breath "The fire might not reveal anything as to why she's killing, but I think it's a good place to start. It was a strong enough memory for her to do whatever she did to share it with you. And if we find the fire, we find the village and possibly a ledger that we can get names from. It's a good place to start… well it's the only place to start for now."

Ino nodded in understanding as he spoke, but she had a worried look in her eyes that her concentrated expression could not conceal even though she was trying very hard to seem composed about this. She could sense him trying to read her and quickly averted her eyes to the map.

He reassured himself that she was with him though, like she always had been, weather she understood or not, she would follow him. And he hoped for her sake that he was doing the right thing.