Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed so far! I'm writing without a beta reader so you guys are my editors and critics. That said, please let me know what you think. The second chapter is here, and things are getting worse for Konoha...
Disclaimer: My birthday's coming so if anyone wants to give me the rights to Naruto, go right ahead. Until then, I have nothing.
All In the Mind
"Don't tell me how life is, because I don't really want to know. Don't tell me how this game ends, we'll just see how it goes." –'Going Down in Flames.' -3 Doors Down
Ino had never had a panic attack before.
True, she was known for her temper tantrums, random bursts of misplaced emotion, and unrequited crushes, but when it came to dealing with panic and fear she was actually very balanced. She might not have nerves of steel like Tenten or the quiet reserve of Hinata but, as far as kunoichis went, she was fairly levelheaded.
This may have been why she was having a hard time identifying the suffocating feeling that gripped her chest.
She had a good excuse however. Being dragged out of bed by a team of ANBU was not good for anyone's nerves, especially not when you were told that you had exactly two minutes to get up and dressed, questions would be answered later, and put that hairbrush down now!
Compounded by the fact that she was now sitting in the ICU section of Konoha's hospital, facing the reality that she may, very shortly, become the one and only Yamanaka left in Konoha, it was all a bit much to take.
According to the ANBU in the badger mask, currently standing to her right, her parents and Aburame Shibi had returned from a spying mission to Kumogakure in Lightning Country extremely worse for the wear. From eavesdropping on the various conversations taking place in the treatment rooms Ino had gathered that by the time they reached the gates Aburame Shibi and her father had been locked in a life or death battle with each other. The idea confused and frightened her. The father she knew would never attack a teammate.
Two experienced jounin on the same team turning on each other? It didn't make sense.
Ino had no idea what the status of her mother was, she hadn't been allowed to see either of her parents and badger mask was being less than chatty.
Upon arrival she'd seen team seven's former teacher, Hatake Kakashi deep in conversation with Tsunade, Shizune trailing them from room to room. Sakura had also been running around carrying various equipment, but she'd been in too much of a hurry for Ino to flag her down. Asides from these four, Ino hadn't seen any other familiar faces.
Feeling isolated and more than a little anxious, she stood, badger mask mirroring her. "Are you going to follow me wherever I go?"
"Orders from the Hokage are to keep you under close surveillance." He replied. "You are not to leave the hospital."
What was that supposed to mean? "I'm not going to do anything!" Ino protested, "I'm not a criminal, neither are my parents for that matter…"
"Your loyalty is not being questioned." He told her, the mask effectively leaching each statement of emotion. "This is a typified Class A crisis situation. The Hokage may require the use of your jutsus. As a person of interest, you are not allowed to leave until the crisis is resolved."
"Oh." The Hokage needed her jutsus? How desperate was this situation exactly? Ino had a healthy amount of pride, but she wasn't trying to fool herself. She was considered a capable, maybe even exceptional chuunin, but nothing more.
If she was the Hokage's last hope they were in deep trouble.
"I'm just going to get a drink of water." She told badger mask. "The drinking fountain is just around the corner, I'll be right back."
"Fine. I'll check on you in five minutes."
"Oh jeez thanks." Ino rolled her eyes, "I'll be sure to postpone my escape attempt until then." Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she moved quickly around the corner.
Keeping up the flippant attitude was costing her. Ino noted how her hands shook as she pushed the lever on the fountain. What was going on? Her parents were no fools, neither was Aburame Shibi, how had they fallen into a trap of this scale? What kind of trap was it? Why would Lightning Country have such dangerous defenses? What in the world had they been doing in Lightning Country in the first place?
Were her parents going to recover?
"Yamanaka Ino." A deep voice brought her out of her reverie.
"Huh?" Startled, Ino looked straight into a pair of dark sunglasses. "Shino! I…how are you? I heard you got hurt."
He shook his head. "I'm sorry about your parents."
"Don't apologize idiot, you're the one who saved them after all." She eyed the wheelchair he currently inhabited. "I heard your father's bugs drained most of your chakra."
"It takes a lot of energy to control another person's insects." Shino cleared his throat uneasily. "On behalf of the Aburame clan I apologize for the attack."
"Don't be stupid." The floor tiles were much easier to face than his mirrored glasses. "They're all under some kind of genjutsu or something."
"Hn."
She and Shino could only be considered acquaintances at the most. Despite being enrolled in the same classes since preschool, there had never been much interaction between the two. Simply put, she was social, he was not.
They'd gone on several missions together since their graduation, most notably that in which they'd cleaned up several of Orochimaru's minions and a sea monster, but they'd never been close. In fact, Ino snuck a peak at Shino's profile, what had just occurred could probably be considered their longest conversation on record.
Aburame Shino was a mystery to her, neither a stranger, nor a friend. Ino watched as another group of medic nins rushed past them in the hallway. Wasn't it strange that here, during one of the biggest crises in her young life, she was stuck with Shino?
"I overheard the Hokage and Hatake talking." Shino said suddenly. "They were debating using you to enter your father's mind."
This was news to her. "Shintenshin?" She asked. "But that means…"
"They may not come out of their current condition." Shortly after arrival at the hospital Inoichi had entered a comatose state similar to his wife's. The only one of the three who remained conscious was Shibi, but his frenzy was such that only select ANBU and medic nin were being allowed in and out of his room.
So she really was the last hope. The harried activity around Ino seemed to fade just a bit as she came to terms with just how dire the situation was. For her to use shintenshin on a seasoned mind user like her father was a risky plan. On the best of days his mind would be a maze of traps and dead ends. Now that he had retreated into a coma, one of the most dangerous mental states, invading his mind could be potentially suicidal. Wrapping her arms around her torso Ino shivered, wishing that Shikamaru, or even Chouji, was here to offer some words of encouragement.
"Your five minutes are up." Badger mask was standing in front of her, Hatake Kakashi at his side.
Ino had never felt so alone in her life.
"Ino." Kakashi's visible eye met her two directly. "Could you come with me please?"
"Sure." Ino wet dry lips with her tongue. "I don't have much of a choice do I?" She felt Shino's stare, but didn't acknowledge it. "Lead the way."
Midnight found Nara Shikamaru at a bar. Not drinking mind you, he didn't really see the point in alcohol. Consuming a poisonous substance simply so you could enjoy a few hours of dizzy headed relaxation wasn't worth the trouble that came after. There were much easier ways to relax in his opinion.
No, Shikamaru was at a bar because of the woman who had dragged him there.
Temari did not share the Nara's viewpoint on drinking and had insisted, demanded actually, that he lead her and Kankuro to just such a place in order to unwind after days of traveling on the hot sandy roads of Suna. Shikamaru hadn't put up much of a fight, it would be futile. The battlefield aside, there were very few situations which he found necessary to dominate with his preferences.
Now though, Shikamaru was tired and ready to call it quits, he'd only arrived back that morning and hadn't even checked in with his mother yet. The delay to do so would cause plenty of unnecessary drama until he explained his role as host to the sand nin, after which he'd probably get off with a comparatively mild talking-to. From his experience, the two sand nin usually became overly hostile after five rounds. They were currently on their fourth and Shikamaru was preparing to intervene when Chouji entered the dusty establishment.
Chouji rarely frequented such places after the kitchens closed, Shikamaru raised an arm to catch the boy's attention. "Chouji!" Chouji approached their table and Shikamaru took in his friend's drawn appearance. "What's wrong?" He asked. "You look…"
Chouji interrupted him. "It's Ino."
Shikamaru's heart temporarily froze. Ino? She hadn't been on a mission had she? He'd checked her deployment status before he'd left and hadn't seen anything serious on the roster, but he'd been gone at least a month and a half. Was she injured? Or was it worse? Chouji wouldn't come find him at this hour of the night without a good reason. Shikamaru closed his eyes.
Not now, not after Asuma…
"She's okay." Chouji hastily corrected his mistake and Shikamaru's lungs re-inflated. "It's not that, Shikamaru, sorry. It's her parents."
"Her parents?" To Shikamaru's knowledge, Yamanaka Inoichi and Kaoru were both active jounin, but rarely, if ever, took joint assignments. Surely there hadn't been two separate accidents?
"Sakura called me." Chouji elaborated, "Said she couldn't get through to you. Both of the Yamanakas are in the hospital, along with Aburame Shibi. Word on the street says there was a fight involving the three of them at the north gate this evening, Tsunade herself had to be called in."
"A fight?" Temari had been listening in on their conversation. "Between your own jounin?"
Chouji nodded at the sand kunoichi. "They were returning from a mission to Lightning Country. Tsunade has asked everyone with information on the area to report to her immediately."
"Lightning Country?" Kankuro scoffed into his drink. "Load of weaklings in that area, you must have your story mixed up. Lightning Country's a joke."
"Where's Ino?" Shikamaru stood. "Temari, Kankuro, I'll have to meet you tomorrow."
"Ah go on." Kankuro slung an arm around his sister's shoulders, Temari was looking dangerously tipsy. "Go see what's up with that blonde teammate of yours."
"The one who got defeated at the chuunin exams, right?" Temari slanted a glance at Shikamaru. "The one from the waterfall."
"Her name is Ino." Chouji corrected her, but Shikamaru steered him away before it could become a confrontation.
"Leave it, they're drunk." He muttered, turning back to the two sand nin he waved. "I'll meet up with you tomorrow."
"You better." Kankuro turned to order another round as they left.
"So where is she?" Shikamaru asked again as they took to the night.
"I'm not sure." Chouji admitted. "I went to her house after Sakura called me but she wasn't there. The neighbors said a group of ANBU had been and gone about thirty minutes before."
"ANBU?" Even a single ANBU sent to deliver a death notice was rare, so for several of them to collect a chuunin… "Inoichi and Kaoru aren't suspected of illegal activity are they?" The thought was absurd, the Yamanaka clan was Konoha born and bred, had been for generations.
"I don't think so." They leaped over the rooftops. "Sakura said both were in the ICU, high security corridor."
The reached the hospital in under five minutes, speeding past the doctors and nurses on the lower levels, arriving at the desk to the ICU in record time.
"The ICU is currently off limits to visitors." A jounin stood behind the desk, his gaze hard. "State your names and ranks."
Shikamaru took in the chaotic scene unfolding behind the man. He could count, off hand, at least seven medic nins rushing between three rooms. ANBU stood at every corner, masks in place. He strained for a glimpse of familiar blond hair but couldn't spot Ino.
"Never mind that!" Both boys turned to find Sakura standing behind them. Flanked by Shizune, her arms piled high with papers, she nodded the jounin aside. "I asked them to come, these two are with me."
"Fine." The boys fell into step with Sakura as they were waved past.
"Thank goodness you two got here, I was just about to call again…"
"What're those?" Chouji eyed the papers in her arms.
"Toxicology reports for the Yamanakas and Aburame, we just got them back from the lab." Shizune answered. "The results are disturbing to say the least."
"How so?" Shikamaru was still scanning the area for any glimpse of Ino, with no luck. Where was she?
"All three came back with irregular levels of testosterone." Shizune replied, "And according to their brain scans, the lobe area responsible for aggression is severely swollen, to the point of causing possible brain trauma. Yamanaka Kaoru is the worst of the three, unless we can reduce the brain swelling in the affected region other areas may start to suffer."
"A poison?" If that was the cause, how had it been administered? And how long had it taken for it to have a noticeable affect? Shikamaru's brain raced, to affect hormone levels like that…
"We're not sure."
"Where is Ino?" Chouji was also searching for their teammate. "Sakura didn't you say she was here?"
"I saw her in the hallway a while ago." Sakura frowned, "Hang on, I'll check." Leaving her papers with Shizune she hurried over to the group gathered around one of the treatment rooms. Within moments, she was back with worry lines on her forehead, an ANBU in tow.
"What is it?" Chouji and Shikamaru exchanged a look.
"Yamanaka Ino has been summoned to the room of Yamanaka Inoichi." The ANBU said. "She is currently accompanied by Hatake Kakashi and the Hokage."
"You're kidding." Chouji looked at the man incredulously. "What in the world would they want with Ino? Bring her out here, Shikamaru and I want to…"
"Yamanaka Ino is following the direct orders of the Hokage to use shintenshin no jutsu on her father." All three of them gaped at the man. "Due to their unresponsiveness, we were left with no other way to retrieve information about the failed mission to Lightning Country."
"Ino is performing shintenshin no jutsu on a man who's in a coma?" From years of practicing with Ino, Shikamaru was well aware of the dangers of the technique and knew that what had just been said posed a huge risk to the kunoichi. "Who thought this was necessary?"
"Orders of the Hokage." The ANBU repeated.
"We're going in to see her." Shikamaru stepped forward, Chouji matching him stride for stride. Ignoring the ANBU, he turned to their former classmate. "Sakura, get us in there, I need to talk to Tsunade."
The door to the first examination room swung open and they faced Tsunade herself. "Nara, Akimichi, Haruno." She didn't sound at all surprised to see them. "You're here about your friend?"
They nodded. Walking forward Shikamaru could see into the room. Inoichi lay in the central bed, every sort of monitor imaginable attached to his body. Next to him, on a smaller cot lay Ino, eyes closed, body limp. Hatake Kakashi stood at her side, arms folded.
"She's started shintenshin." Shikamaru observed. So much for convincing Tsunade to wait. "How long has she been out?"
"15 minutes." The Hokage moved to let them past. "We're afraid we might be losing her in his mind."
From Ino's experience, every person's mind was organized slightly differently. Shikamaru's resembled a large field, Chouji's a forest, Asuma's had been a shogi board, Sakura's was, surprisingly enough, a dark void. Her own resembled a scrap book, each memory sorted and labeled, pages constantly flipping back and forth. Each mind had strengths and pitfalls, traps as well as easily traversed corridors, some were stronger, others more vulnerable.
The business of the Yamanakas was to break each and every kind.
Her father's mind was undoubtedly the most dangerous she'd ever been in. A seasoned mind user, his thoughts were hidden by a labyrinth, complete with horrid creatures and traps. Ino had been fighting her way through the twisted passages for some time now and was beginning to lose chakra control.
She was also getting inordinately pissed off.
"Damn it Dad, couldn't you have one weak point?" She muttered, side stepping around a clinging vine of some sort. "It's me for heaven's sake! I'm here to help you."
She had to be careful, she knew, one wrong step here and she might not make it back. She was also hoping to avoid incurring any injuries from her encounters with Inoichi's mental creations. Any injuries or contact inflicted on her mental form could be very easily carried back to her physical form during the transfer. Ino wanted to avoid that.
Finally, she found what she was looking for. A small part of the hedge that surrounded her glimmered, its appearance shifting ever so slightly. Moving quickly, mental lapses were rare for her father, Ino delivered a hard, chakra-enhanced kick to the shimmering spot. "Come on Dad." She pleaded.
The world around her shattered.
Shards of broken scenery flew past and Ino crouched to shield herself. Fragmented memories hurt. Peeking through the swiftly re-animating landscape she found her father, standing far to her left, the hedge around him already rebuilding itself.
"Dad!" She sprinted towards him, ignoring the cuts peppering themselves across her arms. "Dad, wait! It's me!"
"Ino?" Inoichi froze, fingers halted in the middle of a seal sequence. "What are you doing here?!" He grabbed her as she reached him, anger etched onto his face. "What's one of the first lessons you learned with shintenshin? Never enter a comatose person's mind!"
"The Hokage told me to." Ino pulled free, somewhere between anger and hysteria. "You and mom are both unconscious Dad! Aburame Shibi has gone crazy, no one can go anywhere near him! What's going on? A genjutsu? Is it Lightning Country?"
"Damn it." Inoichi covered his face with his hands, "Forget about all that for right now Ino, we have to get you out of here. I can maybe counteract the serum for a moment or two, but that's all you'll have to perform the release seal…"
"What serum Dad?" Ino was frightened, but not about to give up. "I cannot and will not leave until you give me some answers. Is Konoha in danger? What is Lightning Country up to?"
Inoichi, despite being a frantic father, was at heart a shinobi and no matter how much he wanted to protect his little girl from his own mind, he saw the wisdom in her words. "Ino, listen carefully because I only have time to go through it once."
"Right." Ino could see something dark creeping towards them in her peripheral vision, what was that? The shadow was deftly maneuvering its way around every barrier her father was erecting, was this one of his own traps? Ignoring it for the moment, she focused on what he was saying.
"Tell Tsunade that reports of a gathering of power in Kumogakure are not exaggerated, there is a significant threat. Lightning Country is gearing up for an invasion of Konoha."
"An invasion?" Lightning Country hadn't made any power grabs since the incident with the Hyuuga clan more than a decade ago. To Ino's knowledge, the area had never been classified as anything more than a non-threat. "Why?"
"They're hoping to expand their power spear into this part of the continent." He told her, "They need our wood and farming lands, among other things. Shibi and I discussed the possibility that it may be a move to counteract the growth of the Akatsuki, but there's no definitive proof. Our estimates place the earliest day of invasion as three days from now."
"Three days?" Ino's mind whirled around the idea. "That's hardly enough time…" The dark area in Inoichi's mind was creeping closer. "Dad, what is that?"
"That's the most important part." Inoichi started forward, "Walk with me Ino."
They hurried away, the darkness followed.
"Kumogakure has a competent group of nin, but nothing that poses a real threat to Konoha, or anywhere else for that matter." Inoichi pushed his daughter forward, up a small rise. "To balance out their weakness they've developed a new weapon, which is what your mother, Shibi, and I encountered."
He was pulling her by the hand, almost at a run now. "What is it?" Ino gasped as huge patches of hedge were swallowed up behind them. "Is this genjutsu? If it is, how can I see it?"
"Those are hormones. The weapon is biological, Kumogakure scientists have developed a poision, a serum of sorts which overloads the body with testosterone, enhancing natural aggressiveness." Inoichi nodded towards the swiftly darkening area around them. "It plays on a person's natural inclination to fight, but overloads their mind at the same time, erasing any logical thought processes that allow them to distinguish friend from enemy. Ino, if they manage to release this in Konoha…"
"Everyone will kill each other."
"It saves them a lot of effort if Konoha wipes itself out." Inoichi elaborated. "They just have to release the serum, wait for it to take effect, then come in with a clean up crew."
She bit her lip, "Is there any way to combat it?"
"Avoidance is the only foolproof way." Inoichi shook his head. "After contact the individual must either retreat into their own mind, like your mother and I, or give in to the hormones like Shibi. I managed to stay partially in control of my mind, long enough to make it back to Konoha at least, but I've had years of experience with mind control Ino. The average shinobi won't stand a chance."
"Will you be okay?" They crested the small hill, father and daughter both watching the destruction of Inoichi's mind take place before them. "Are you and mom going to wake up?"
"Tell Tsunade she needs to start preparing antidotes of some sort. I'm not sure how she'll make them, but she's going to have to balance out or remove the excess testosterone in the system." Inoichi ruffled his daughter's hair affectionately. "The medic nins will smooth this out princess, but your mother and I will stay comatose until they do. It's too big a risk for the rest of you if we wake up."
"You'd attack." Ino said, "Just like Aburame san."
"Time for you to go." The dark was almost upon them. The time had come for her to leave. "Remember everything I told you Ino, it's important Tsunade has the whole story."
"Right." Ino looked around, "Which way am I going?"
Inoichi's face turned stony, preparing for the task ahead. "I will regain consciousness long enough for you to take control of my body. Perform the release seal and leave as fast as you can. I'm exhausted, I'm not capable of holding the hormones back very long, so there's a chance they'll latch on to you."
"And if they do?" Would she wake up and try to slaughter Hatake Kakashi? He'd kill her in a second.
"It's going to hurt, Ino, but it's better if it hurts than if it doesn't, it means you're resisting. Erect a mind wall as fast as you can. You remember what I taught you? Good. Throw that wall up and hold it until they can force some estrogen into you or something." He offered a crooked smile. "Never thought either of my girls would ever need more estrogen..."
"Shut up Dad." She molded her hands into the first seal. "I'm ready."
Thirty minutes had passed since they'd been allowed into the room when Inoichi's eyes flashed open.
Sakura noticed first and was at the man's side instantly. "Yamanaka san? Can you hear me?" His hands were twitching under the blankets. "Tsunade I think he's…"
Shikamaru figured it out first. "That's not Inoichi, it's Ino." He was proven right as the man's body flopped to the side nearest the girl, the hands raised to chest level in a familiar seal.
"Release!" The man's body fell limp.
They all stared down at Ino. There was no immediate change, but Chouji and Shikamaru hadn't been expecting it. "How long does it usually take her to return to her body?" Kakashi asked.
Chouji shrugged, "Anywhere from a few seconds to five minutes. It depends on distance usually."
"Here she comes." Shikamaru announced, having recognized the familiar signs of Ino's reentrance. "It may take her a second to readjust."
It was not a peaceful awakening by any means. Ino screamed before her eyes were even open.
She lurched forward, grabbing the closest person, Shikamaru, her hands digging into the front of his vest. "Tsunade! Kumogakure…it's an invasion…three days! Aaah!" She flailed, but Shikamaru held her arms. "Don't let go! Don't let go of me! Tell Tsunade…ahh my head!"
"She's been affected by the same poison as the others." Tsunade knelt by the girl, "Ino, can you tell me what did this?"
"A poison." Ino was communicating as clearly as she could manage, but all the while her body trembled wildly, forcing Chouji to help Shikamaru hold her steady. "Hormone serum…it's a…testosterone! Tsunade you have to…ahh! Balance it! Balance it out!"
"It checks out with the reports." Shizune confirmed from the doorway. "Shall I send for medics?"
"I'll take care of this. Hold her still." The Hokage knelt next to the three, rolling her sleeves back. "She's more lucid than the others, must have had mild contact with this serum while in her father's mind. That's how it works with the Yamanakas, isn't it? I think I can use my chakra to purge it from her. Just in case, Sakura run and see if we have any estrogen-based injections available. If we don't, make one."
"Yes!" Sakura sprinted from the room.
"Three days!" Ino babbled, "Three days left!"
Tsunade pursed her lips, "Nara, Hatake, Akimichi, I may need to borrow your chakra for this, I've never attempted to extract hormone-based serum before. Let's begin."