The blonde kunoichi slid out of her tent stealthily, for two reasons.
One.
So she wouldn't wake up Asuma, who was currently sleeping inside of her tent.
Two.
So the Uchiha she was following would not hear her as she trailed him into the forest.
Actually, it was suprising that he hadn't detected her presance yet. He was a far better shinobi than she, so the current situation suprised her.
Suddenly, he came to a stop on a high branch, where the moon shown through the branches. In the pale moonlight, she could make out his facial features clearly as he looked to his left. There was no question as to the reason she had swooned over him in her younger days. His was still as handsome as ever. The thing that struck her most was the crimson glint to his eyes.
Sharingan.
The heavens must have been on her side, for he did not see her, and seconds later he was darting through the trees again.
And then he stopped again.
Her eyes widened as a tall figure approached him, a dark robe with crimson clouds on it trailing after him. "Little brother, Why have you come? Are you looking for a fight?"
"No... I... " His words were spoken too softly, and this was all she could make out. "...Wife... coming.
"Why? Can't you do it yourself?" The tall man asked cruelly.
"I would get caught." Sasuke said louder. "This is all I ask."
"She's been slowing down your progress, so as you wish."
Ino's heart pounded. They had to be talking about Sakura. What was going on? Whatever it was, it was going to happen whenever her friend came to the border.
And then, her eyes looked back to the pair, and she saw the tall man, obviously Itachi, looking directly at her. His crimson eyes were gazing directly into her own, and Ino caught her breath catching in her throat.
And then, in a blink of an eye he was gone.
XXXXXXXXX
As she unzipped the flap to her tent, she was suprised to see that Asuma was sitting up, smoking one of his cigarrettes.
"Where were you?" He asked, he had obviously been worried.
"A walk." She said, collapsing onto the sleeping bag beside him.
"Ino. If you were walking, you wouldn't be breathing heavy."
"I ran a little bit."
"Ino..."
"Fine." So as they sat there, Ino spilled her guts about what she'd seen. Then, after a lot of debating, she told heim about what had been going on in the Uchiha home lately too.
"Hmm..."
Silence.
"Well, I think that it would be wise to tell Sakura to be on her guard when she comes out here, but I don't think you should tell her why. I'm going to speak with Tsunade about getting Kakashi to be one of the people on her team, and let her know that Itachi is... or was in the area." Asuma explained with a tired sigh.
"Isn't Itachi his brother?" Ino asked, her mind was in total confusion.
Asuma nodded.
"Well, doesn't he like... want to kill him?"
Asuma nodded again.
"Well, then why are they working together?"
"I don't know. The only way you can see into the mind of a rat, is if you are one."
"You're definately not a rat..." She said, climbing onto his lap. She wanted, no she needed to be in his arms. She couldn't imagine how she could have chased after Sasuke so long, without realizing he was so... "Do you think they're going to get away with whatever they're planning?"
"Not if Kakashi has anything to say about it. He wouldn't let anything happen to her, he adores her." He said, hugging her tightly. He knew how close Ino and Sakura were, they were like sisters. If anything happened to Sakura, it would also hurt Ino, and then there would be hell to pay.
"Like you adore me?" She asked, nuzzling into the curve of his neck. She could remember the day that her friend had married Sasuke clearly. She could remember detecting a sort of... sad aura around the older man. She'd only shrugged it off as him feeling old. But the way Asuma had said that...
