Possible

Possible

Chapter Four: Feelings

Author's Note:

Thoughts

"Demon"

"Speech"

It had already been five days since they had started traveling.

"Ino," mumbled Ichiro absently as he slept, while tossing and turning. Ino looked at him quietly, wondering if it was only a nightmare, or was it really Ichiro calling out for her. She felt like whispering back a reply, but suddenly, Ichiro opened his eyes and sat bolt upright. His eyes scanned the surroundings and fell upon Ino. Silently, he smiled weakly at the blonde and lay back down. "Was it a nightmare?" she suddenly asked, breaking the silence. Ichiro didn't answer, but Ino already knew what it was anyway. "You don't have to worry too much about me," said Ino with a warm smile on her face. "I can take care of myself and you as well." Ichiro looked her in the eyes and forced another smile on his face. "I know," he said quietly. "I don't worry too much about these nightmares anyway," he lied through his teeth. In reality, Ichiro had a tendency of dreaming of strange scenarios, which unfortunately, had come true sooner or later. He feared for Ino's life, like he had never done before. Ichiro never cared for any other person other than Tsunade, but the appearance of this kunoichi changed him inside out. "It's almost morning, shall we make a move?" she suggested. Ichiro looked up at the sky and realized that it was almost dawn, so he sat up again and nodded. "Okay, let's pack up."

It took them a while to pack up, as Ichiro had probably figured that he talked in his sleep, and in one way or another, led Ino to guessing that he had a nightmare about her. "Did I talk in my sleep?" he asked, somehow almost childishly in fact. Ino stopped packing and turned to him. Their faces were inches away from a kiss, but Ino extended her hand to his face and lightly caressed it and merely replied soothingly, "You really don't have to worry. Everyone mumbles in their sleep. And everyone has nightmares once in a while, right?" Ichiro felt slight reassurance, for his fear of his nightmare coming to life was growing rapidly. He instantly felt much more attached and obliged to protect Ino more than he had ever protected anyone else in his entire life. "I won't let these… nightmares become real," he suddenly added, in a sort of trance-like state. Ino looked up at him again and asked, "Real?" Ichiro frowned and looked away. "It was nothing; just a nightmare, right?" Ichiro muttered, not sure whether it was for Ino or himself to hear. Ino, being slightly clueless, shrugged, and continued packing up. They had already started to travel when the sun came out. Ichiro and Ino stopped by a nearby village to restock up on supplies for the remainder of the journey.

"How long is the Rain Country from here?" asked Ino, directing the question to the shopkeeper rather than Ichiro. She had felt distinctively that Ichiro wanted to avoid any other conversation with her from that morning onwards, perhaps showing his embarrassment for worrying over a meaningless nightmare.

Then again, Ichiro had never looked so scared in his life. "Rain Country eh, I don't know why you wanna go there, but it's only another two days away if you keep going on without resting halfway. If you include the rest, though, it'll take four," replied the shopkeeper. Ino gave him a grateful smile and said, "Thank you," before moving out with Ichiro again. They could already see the dark clouds in the distance, but from here, they were only a light shade of grey. Ichiro knew better, though. Once they approached the Rain Village, the clouds won't be as grey as before. They'd be either dark grey, or completely black. It was a depressing sight to behold, recalled Ichiro.

The walk lasted quite a while before the two encountered trouble along the route. Three bandits jumped out, holding kunai in their hands. They were from the Rain Village, but Ichiro was sure the Akatsuki never knew of their presence. They were probably three useless thugs who rob travelers. "Hand over your valuables, or else it's your life!" growled one of the bandits, being the leader. Ichiro assumed that they thought that he and Ino were only travelers, because of the lack of equipment.

All this while, Ichiro had only carried one kunai on him. The rest of his weapons were his fists. "I'd prefer if you get out of our way," hissed Ichiro. "I hate wasting time on you bandits." Ino could only watch as the three bandits charged towards Ichiro. He fought with much energy and in a matter of minutes; he had already taken out one of the bandits. The bandit leader spotted Ino and decided to use her against him. He jumped towards Ino and was about the grab her before Ichiro's clone appeared and knocked him aside. "Suiron no Jutsu!" yelled Ichiro, trapping both bandits in a water prison. The two bandits disappeared, leaving logs behind as their replacement. They appeared behind Ino and grabbed her. "They're shinobi from Konoha," said one of the two. Ichiro glared angrily at the bandits, who were both holding a kunai to Ino's neck. Her hands were forced behind her, putting her in a tight spot, as she could not use the Replacement Technique. "I don't care whether they're shinobi from Konoha or the Hokage himself!"

"Let her go, now," snarled Ichiro, with a voice that was even deadlier than anyone else Ino had ever heard. The bandit leader smiled and said, "I don't think so." Ino suddenly lifted her left foot backwards with such force that it kicked directly between the bandit leader's legs. He yelped out in pain and immediately let go of her. Ichiro advanced towards the leader and grabbed him by the neck. The brunette punched him with a fist that felt like it was made of steel and he immediately got knocked out cold. Turning around, the remaining bandit spotted the anger in his eyes and immediately ran away, knowing better than to mess with such a strong shinobi. He looked at Ino and asked, "Are you okay?"

She rubbed her arms and said, "Yeah. I'm fine." They knew that it was the only conversation they had since that morning, but couldn't find anything else to talk about. Ino didn't know why she even touched his face, if that even was the problem. Maybe he didn't like people touching him that much, she thought to herself. Wait, it wasn't even that much! Sensing that Ichiro was keeping quiet because of himself made Ino feel a little less worried. "Hey," she suddenly said. Ichiro blinked in surprise. Did she just start a conversation? "Yeah?" he muttered.

"Are you still going on about that nightmare of yours?" asked Ino.

Ichiro didn't want to tell her, but there was no hiding from this kunoichi. "Well… maybe," he said, slightly unsure.

"You're not telling me something," she said. "Spill it out." It was more of a command than a demand. Ichiro sighed and looked down at his feet again. "I don't know," said Ichiro, scratching his head. "I really have no idea." Ino tilted her head to one side and probed further. "It must be something. You were totally white this morning," she said, moving closer towards him. "No," he said. "I-It's not."

"Stop lying to me," she said, stopping in her tracks. Ichiro stopped too, and looked away from her, as though he had just said a very wrong thing. "Okay, fine, if you insist," he said, staring icily at Ino. "My nightmares aren't just nightmares. They're glimpses – visions, rather – into the future. It will happen, one way or another, however hard I try." Ino stared blankly at Ichiro before asking, "Ichiro… what was it about?"

He looked at her straight in the eyes for a moment, before answering. She could tell he was scared. "You die in this mission," Ichiro said. He immediately continued walking. Ino didn't say anything, but a million thoughts were invading her head as she continued walking as well. Die? I'm going to die in this mission? Is he lying? Maybe it was just him being too worried. But he said they were visions into the future. Surely it can't be as accurate as Shion's? Ino looked at Ichiro, whose expression had softened into a sort of gentle sadness. I can't believe I'm going to die. A few more hours and Yamanaka Ino's gone from the face of the earth. Wait! Stop thinking like that! You're a shinobi, and a shinobi never dies THAT easily!

Inside Ichiro's head, he was debating with himself over and over again.

She's not going to die.

"But you had the vision; and your visions always come true," said something inside of him. It had been with him for almost all his life.

She can't die now. I won't let her.

"Stop being naïve. Even a shinobi as skilled as you should know that there is nothing that can be done," it growled.

I promised I'd protect her.

"You promised no one that, you only told the Godaime that you would," it said.

Ookami, please…

The connection broke off, and Ichiro found himself being blocked by Ino. "Is it true?" she asked quietly. Ichiro frowned. "Yes," he replied almost too quietly. Ino sighed. "If what you said will come true… which I'm not sure of," she said, looking up at him, "I can never be too worried… or careful." Ichiro raised his eyebrows and murmured, "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing," she said. "Let's keep moving, shall we?"

Ichiro nodded, but figured that she had something to say to him about his nightmares or visions, rather.

A/N: I have revealed that Ichiro is a Jinchuuriki, with a demon wolf (English for Ookami) inside him. He calls it Ookami, although it has another name though. (In reality, I can't think of one :D) Read and review please!