Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
They had been moving for hours. Their target was getting closer, Ino could feel it. Monotonously, she jumped on new branches, trees passing her in blur. Drops stated to hit her mask, gently sliding down. The strands of her hair became glued to her back, neck and shoulders.
"Not too bad. It'll be more difficult to target us."
She didn't mind rain. It was kind of depressing, but there was also longing, nostalgia in it...some kind of a magic atmosphere. When she was little, she hated rain. She couldn't go out, she couldn't see the sun. Her mum would always read her stories or she would draw- that was the only bright side to those drops falling from the sky. Right now, Ino liked rain. It reminded her of her own life for the past two years. The sun was gone and tiny drops were falling from bright blue eyes, almost all the time.
Suddenly, she heard her teammate's scream, full of surprise and pain. Speeding, she witnessed one of her comrades fall from the tree, leaving a red mark matching his fall. She saw a big group of enemy ninja and, with a battle cry, jumped right in the middle of a battle.
Shurinkens and kunais were flying everywhere, no one knowing which belong to who. The sound ninja were very fast, moving sometimes with the speed of...sound. One moment behind you, the other killing your partner. They were very skilled, using a high ranked jutsu, one after other. Shinobis were dying all around her and she didn't even know if there were any of her comrades left. If there was any hope left. The were coming out of nowhere and had a never ending chakra and weapons. Or, so it seemed to her at this time.
She managed to defend herself quite well, at least till now. Only a few scratches and cuts. She also managed to bring down a few weaker ninja.
"Now, what do we have here?" A loud, arrogant voice asked. In a second Ino turned to face him. He was extremely tall and had enormous muscles. It was obvious that his specialty was taijutsu, though he didn't have that grace Lee possessed.
She prepared to fight him. She knew that it wouldn't be easy, but would rather die trying than run from a battle. She wasn't a scared twelve year old anymore.
She managed to endure a few stronger hits that left big wounds all over her body. Two times she tried to take control of his own. She failed; he was too big.
"Duck!" Lee's voice suddenly echoed through the battle sounds. The next thing she knew, she was being pressed to the ground, a familiar voice yelling "Konoha Wind Strike!" and then the giant was lying flat on the ground with Lee underneath his leg.
"Lee..." She breathed, as she watched him trying unsuccessfully to get the leg of him. Then, his movement stopped. He was clearly unconscious. She managed to crawl to him, with a kunai in her thigh. She was very low on chakra. Her movements weren't as fast and graceful anymore and not many weapons hit their target.
She looked at him, her eyes wide with fear. He was unconscious and the weight of the leg cut his source of oxygen almost completely. She didn't even try to move it. She was too weak to even lift her arms.
Rock Lee was still breathing and that comforted her greatly. She knew that SOMEONE from her team had to be fighting or else she would have been dead by now. And that someone was probably Naruto; she could clearly hear his shouts.
But Lee is the best shinobi with us, except Naruto and he can't do everything; This is not good at all...
"I have no choice..." Slowly, very slowly she reached to her transmitter. The giant's body was covering her from getting more injuries but it wouldn't last long. Especially now that she felt a group of people emanating foreign chakra, coming her way, very quickly.
"Yamanaka Ino here, Konoha please respond!"
"This is Tsunade. What's going on?"
"Hokage-sama! We need back up, now! There're lots of enemies here and even more are coming, we won't-"
"Calling for help, eh, you Leaf cowards?" A ninja, with a terribly scarred face, ripped the machine from her ear. "You don't need help anymore." And before Ino could actually recover from shock and summon her energy to run, he hit her on the back of the head with all his force.
"I think we might take you with us when this is over...you may possess some interesting information..." With those words ringing in her head, Ino fainted, her head falling next to Lee's.
Two years earlier, Ino would have been happy that death was coming to her. Now, she was very afraid of dying...What changed? And why the blackness looked like someone's eyes and soft hair...?
"This is not good..." Tsunade rested her head on her hand. "Not good at all. We don't have free jounins and any lower rank is no use." With a heavy sigh, she buried her face in her hands. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Excuse me, Tsunade."
The Hokage lifted his head to look at the dark haired woman, standing in the entry. "What is it, Shizune?"
"I think I know someone who we could send there." Shizune looked really unsure; as if, just suggesting it was a bad sin.
"Who?" Tsunade found it hard to believe, but listening wouldn't hurt, right?
"Sasuke Uchiha." said Shizune in one quick breath.
"What? He's a traitor! We cannot sent a traitor to-"
"He's thought to be a traitor. But from what we've seen, things seem slightly different, don't they?" Now, Shizune looked more sure of herself.
"Well, yes but...oh, what choice do we have? Bring him in."
"Right away, Hokage-sama."
Tsunade sighed and looked out of the window. Somewhere, far away from here, Konoha ninjas are dying...
She sat thoughtfully until the door opened again, this time a dark haired man entering, followed closely by Shizune.
"Sasuke. I need to know something. If...I decided that you're innocent, and you'd be cleaned from every crime you're accused of, what would you want to do? Remember that I can see a lie, no matter how good at making up stories you are." Tsunade sat, watching him carefully, her back straight.
"...I'd...I'd want to stay here and continue with my life as a Leaf shinobi." Sasuke answered, looking straight into Hokage's eyes. Memories he got with his team, all missions he completed...Sakura, Naruto, Kakashi...all four of them smiling...
"Why?"
This one simple question brought him back from his dream land. He frowned. Why, exactly why did he want it? True, he wanted it to be like it used to but...that wasn't the main reason...
"I want to be with her." Those words, without his knowledge, got outside. How, he would never know.
"So that the predicament will come true?" Now, Tsunade doubled her attention. On this one simple answer...depended the life of many shinobis.
"No, I want to be with her no matter what. Even if she doesn't care and rejects me. I'm still...willing to open my heart for her."
"Big words for someone like you, Uchiha. How did you manage to say them?" Feeling as if a great weight was released from her shoulders, Tsunade allowed herself to smile and close her eyes. A short, spike-haired boy passed through her mind.
"If you spent days in a dark cell, alone, you might find time to think things over too." Now, he was back to normal. He scowled.
"Alright, alright. Here, " The Hokage opened one of her drawers and pulled something from it, "this is your new headband. And this," she threw him a scroll, "is your newest mission."
"So soon? And I don't have to even say sorry?" A little disbelievingly, Sasuke took both things from her.
"Apologizing will come later, I'll...think it over." Tsunade smirked a little, various scenarios coming to her mind, one with Sasuke as a butler, handing her a big breakfast into a queen sized bed, "but now, you should hurry. Ino Yamanaka is on that mission and it seems that she's in mortal troubles." Despite the seriousness of the situation, Tsunade smiled again watching as Uchiha's eyes grow bigger and as he dashed out of the room, knocking Shizune over. Her smile fell as she remembered a certain mission, very similar to this one. A mission when Konoha lost their last strategist.
"Let's hope that this time it'll turn out to be fine."
A/N: Hey, isn't it turning really crappy? It is, right? It's sooo OOC and silly. Ugh, I hate my writing. Oh yea, I have a certain number of reviews I want for this story so I won't update until I get it. So, everyone please update for the sake of the others!
