Author's Notes: Greetings all! Well here's the next installment of 'Burning Bright' which was, surprisingly, hard for me to write this time around. I was dreading the final scene I think, I truly didn't want to go through with it. Ah well, it was necessary. In answer to jacksparrow589's question, 'musubu' is the Japanese verb 'to bind', thanks for asking! For those of you who wandered over from 'Flowers in the Field', welcome! Please read and review, I eat up reviews like a starving person. Things are getting darker for our Konoha ninja, when they're forced to make tough decisions will they choose what's right? Or what's easy?

Disclaimer: If Naruto was mine it would mean I had even a modicrum of drawing skills, which I don't. My sister got all of those.

That Which is Hidden

"We are in a mess, a danger zone. What will happen next? You never know." – 'Danger Zone' by Gwen Stefani

Shikamaru's six man cell found the invasion force late in the day. As the sun descended over the tall mountain peaks in the west, fires from a large encampment became visible several miles off the well-traveled path they'd been shadowing. Directing each other with furtive hand motions and whispered signals, the shinobi and kunoichi fanned out, gauging the size of the attack group as they got closer.

Shino's bugs located scouts 150 meters out from where they could estimate the bulk of men and weapons were located. Calling a halt, Shikamaru gathered his team in the safety of a large juniper tree, taking advantage of the strong, leafy bows to hide their group.

"Tell me what you know." He ordered them, double checking to make sure everyone had made it back. "I want only facts for now, we can speculate later."

"It's quite a large force." Shino reported, "With at least 50 nin located in the center of the camp, not including scouts in the count."

"There are a minimum of traps set up around the border of the area." Tenten chimed in, "That's to be expected if they plan on leaving the area quickly."

"The camp formation is roughly diamond shaped." Temari cut an outline into the tree bark at their feet. "As Aburame mentioned, the most concentrated force is in the center. I wasn't able to hover long enough to see more than that."

"Good." Shikamaru turned to the girl next to him. "Ino, what were you able to see through the hawk?"

"I can confirm what Shino and Temari reported." Ino tilted her head to one side, "Something to add though, in addition to the expected tent and campfires, they seem to have set up several holding pens. If I had to guess I'd say they were close to 5 meters on a side."

This was news to Shikamaru, could Kumogakure have brought some sort of animal or elemental power? "To hold what?" He asked, directing Ino to add the holding pens to Temari's hewn diagram.

"I don't know." She shook her head. "They were being constructed as I flew over, I didn't have the chance to see them filled." She sketched three small squares in a triangle at the center of their picture of the camp.

Shino further filled the illustration by adding the location of the main tent which, as Shikamaru well knew, was meant to hold Kumogakure's staging area. The tent was located directly in the middle of the camp which, though easily defended, was so mind-bogglingly simple, Shikamaru had to wonder if perhaps they were mocking him. True, they could easily surround the nexus and use sheer man-power to defend those within…

But in this day and age, were there really still those who believed in strength in numbers? Surely someone in Kumogakure would expect him to come after them with a long-range attack squad. Perhaps, armed with the serum, they were confident that they could combat even a distance-based maneuver. Had they set up defenses Tenten had missed? Or…heaven forbid, were they indeed planning on releasing the serum into the air?

This seemed an unlikely possibility. Disregarding the fact that they would have no way of directing the path of the serum accurately once it evaporated, such a technique required instruments that were not present in the camp they were observing. He'd kept an eye out for diffusers and fans of any sort but had seen none. Barring the chance that Kumogakure had gotten their hands on a large group of wind-users, there was no way they would be able to succeed with such a method of distribution.

How, then, were they transporting the serum? And in what way would they use it?

If only Yamanaka Inoichi had had time to tell Ino the way in which he'd been infected before forcing her from his mind… It was worthless wishing for something that obviously couldn't be rectified, Shikamaru turned back to the diagram on the tree.

The holding pens bothered him, because what invasion force traveled with an entity they couldn't control? Kumogakure was not one of the more elite villages to be sure, but even the youngest of shinobi knew that a ninja team was only as strong as its weakest element. To include something that required such primitive means of control into a plan as intricate as an invasion was foolhardy.

Which left two possibilities: Either the Cloud nin were fools and could be treated as such, or they had yet another trick up their sleeve. One which could play out in an undoubtedly deadly manner. It was best not to underestimate them, by using such a simple set-up, Shikamaru had to assume they were hoping to hide something much more complicated. Unfortunately for him, he hadn't yet figured out what.

"Sakura, do you have anything to add?"

The medic nin brushed short pink hair back out of her eyes, nodding. "In surveying the landscape you can see they've set up with one side of the camp bordering the river that runs through this valley, right about here." She dragged a kunai along the outer edge of their rapidly expanding diagram. "I assume this is merely for the purpose of gathering water and supplying a natural defense, but it's worth noting."

"Hmm." Camping along rivers was not unusual by any means. It made the camp easier to find, certainly, but as they'd already observed, Kumogakure didn't seem particularly worried about concealing their presence. This bothered him.

Had they been meant to find the Cloud nin all along?

"What game are you playing?" He muttered. Knowing that everyone's eyes were fixed on him, he looked back towards the enemy camp. Instantly, the tiny hairs on the back of his neck prickled. Something had changed in the camp while they'd deliberated. Frowning, he leaped up to the tree canopy, the other five following him.

"What is it?" Ino asked, she and Sakura shared the same tree branch, each scanning the tree tops for what had upset Shikamaru. "What do you see?"

Tenten was the first to spot what had prompted Shikamaru's uneasiness. "The fires are out." She said, sucking in a breath. "That means…"

"Those weren't cooking fires." Temari finished for her. "Damn it."

The thin smoke trails that had led them to the site in the first place were already extinguished. This made no sense, since darkness covered the appearance of smoke, making it safer to light and maintain a fire. For the Cloud nin to extinguish their campfires at the very time of day when it would be safe to keep them meant only one thing:

The smoke had been meant to signal someone else.

"A secondary force?" Shino guessed, "Meant to rendezvous with this one at a point closer to Konoha?"

"No." The evidence was beginning to mirror just what he and Morino Ibiki had suspected. "We would have seen a response of some sort, but these were the only smoke trails in the sky. Did anyone else see another set of smoke signals?"

Negative responses all around, there could be no doubt then.

They had to move, and quickly.

"Shino, Ino, come with me now. Tenten I want you ready to deploy in the next twenty minutes." Tenten nodded, disappearing into the leaves as the rest of them descended to the ground. "Temari, Sakura, keep your eyes on the sky and the scouts. Let me know the instant anything happens."

They scattered. Mind racing, Shikamaru led Shino and Ino deeper into the forest, planning out the orders he would give them. He would be sending them to Kumogakure now, rather than tomorrow morning as he had planned. At this point he was sure that the answers to why Kumogakure was launching this attack lay in the distant village. The person in charge of this invasion was not housed in the tent pitched on the campground just beyond him. No, the real power behind this offensive was hidden in the Cloud village. Briefly, he considered going with them before dismissing the idea all-together. As the leader he needed to be at the front lines with the majority of his team.

He had to trust Shino and Ino to complete this part of the mission alone.

"You will leave for Kumogakure immediately." Shikamaru told them, "If you travel fast you should arrive on the outskirts in five hours or so."

"What are we looking for?" Shino's sunglasses caught the dying rays of the sun and reflected them back into the sky. "Can you give us an idea of what to expect?"

"The men or women masterminding this attack will be somewhere in that village." Shikamaru watched as both of them rifled through their packs, discarding unnecessary items and double checking essentials. "Use extreme caution, I don't want either of you to be seen."

"Who do you believe is behind this?" Shino asked. "I'd like to know, even if it's just a theory."

A burst of laughter from the direction of the camp made them all jump. "Watch for any nin or layman we've suspected in having dealings with the Akatsuki in the past." Shikamaru scanned the surrounding area warily. "I have a hunch that this whole operation is not to counteract the Akatsuki, but, in fact, to strengthen them."

"How?" Ino asked, she tightened her ponytail, adjusted the netting at her elbows. "Why would Akatsuki hide behind Kumogakure?"

"I think they're after Naruto's kyuubi." Shino and Ino moved to stand side-by-side, considering his words. "Past attempts at direct kidnapping have failed, they need a different approach, in this case the corresponding fall of Konoha would only be a plus."

"Should we take them out?" Ino asked, a fierce smile creasing her lips. "If we assassinate the head of operations, the whole plant withers at the root."

He vacillated on answering the question. To assassinate the leader would, as Ino had stated, solve the larger problem. However, assassinations were wrought with danger, and if they failed the results could be disastrous. "Only if the opportunity is there." He said finally. "Do not, I repeat, do not go looking for a way in if there isn't one, Ino. You and Shino are there to gather information and bring it back to me, not risk death."

"Fine." Despite her affirmative answer, he couldn't be sure she intended to comply.

"Shino, you call the shots." He told the quieter of the two. "Ino, follow his orders, if you don't, I'll hear about it eventually."

"Okay! No need to beat it to death." Ino rolled her eyes. "We'll succeed where our parents failed Shikamaru, you can count on that."

"Right." A slightly sick feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. How could he be sure he wasn't repeating the Hokage's mistake? Ino was correct, he had formed the same team Tsunade had to spy on Kumogakure, albeit one generation younger. Shikamaru had reasoned that Shino and Ino were more informed than their parents had been upon entering the village and therefore could steer well clear of past mistakes. There weren't many other options available to him in forming an effective espionage team. The children of the Aburame and Yamanaka clans were the obvious choice.

He could only pray this reasoning was correct.

"We're leaving now." Shino turned, Ino at his side. "You have the packet I gave you?"

"In my pocket." Shikamaru patted the small paper bundle he'd secured on his upper vest. It contained a scent that could be tracked by Shino's insects. Should anything go terribly wrong with the spy team Shino could, as a last resort, send his insects to find Shikamaru and relay any message he was unable to bring in person.

Hopefully that wouldn't be necessary. Shikamaru shifted his weight from one foot to the other as they walked away. Ino's ponytail swung jauntily, her steps light and confident, the stride almost as familiar to Shikamaru as his own. The two Konoha nin were vanishing into the woods and before Shikamaru could stop himself, he called out to the girl.

"Ino!"

"Yeah?" She threw him a questioning glance over one shoulder. "Miss me already?"

"Good luck." He told her. Mindful of her scorn at Neji's worry for Tenten, he left the rest unsaid. His words seemed to have the desired effect, because she smiled back at him.

"We won't need it." She told him with a wink, "But…thanks, you too."

Shikamaru stood there until Ino's blond hair was swallowed up by the encroaching darkness.

Tenten was able to silence the two scouts patrolling the southern border of the camp easily. Man was a resilient creature, true, but in Tenten's experience there were very few individuals capable of withstanding a kunai to the throat. The two hapless scouts that stood between her and the main camp were no exceptions.

Moving stealthily from branch to branch, Tenten triple checked her scrolls and primary weapons. There was no room for mistake at this point. It was up to her to identify, target, and eliminate the carrier or carriers of the serum. Creeping closer, she could hear the muffled murmur of conversations, the dulled footsteps of those accustomed to moving silently. The sight was familiar to her, in her expeditions with Team Gai she'd seen countless other setups of this sort. Each and every one had fallen to her metal, and often not quietly. Until the moment her twin dragons roared into the night though, this camp would cloak itself in the quiet of stealth. After that, all bets were off.

Tenten didn't anticipate too many surprises from this evening. Those participating in surprise missions hardly ever expected to be surprised themselves. Hugging the shadows, Tenten moved forward.

The wild screaming from the center of the camp caught her completely off-guard.

Moving ever more cautiously forward, Tenten reached the outer circle of the camp, pausing to determine her course of action. A lone kunoichi was approaching her hiding place and she made her decision quickly. The escalating screaming covered the gasp of surprise which was all the sound Tenten allowed before she killed her opponent with a quick thrust of cold steel. As she slipped into the other girl's clothing, covering the lower half of her face with the dark bandanna the kunoichi had worn, Tenten pursed her lips. The kill had almost been too easy, her victim poorly trained. Without the serum Kumogakure would stand no chance against Konoha.

So why risk an invasion?

Knowing it would be only a matter of time before the body was discovered, Tenten moved rapidly towards the heightening commotion. Her teammates' descriptions of the camp had been accurate and she had no trouble navigating the darkened terrain. There were hardly any shinobi that she could see, where was the larger force Shino had mentioned? Her question was answered as she rounded the main tent, which, she noted as she passed, was empty.

A huge crowd was gathered around the holding pens. Ino had been unable to determine their purpose and Tenten had noted how much this seemed to bother Shikamaru. It was worth investigating. Holding her breath, she slouched her way to the edge of the crowd, drawing no more than a curious glance from her 'fellow' Cloud nin. "Come to see the action?" One asked her. "It's just started."

She limited her response to a noncommittal grunt, having received plenty of lessons on the skill from Neji. It seemed to work, or perhaps whatever was happening in the pens was distracting enough that the nin wasn't about to question her odd behavior. The people standing in front of her shifted and Tenten was presented with a clear view of what was taking place.

Inside the holding pens were people.

Not shinobi, she noted, bile rising in her throat, but villagers, most likely from Kumogakure itself. Men, women, children: all were bound hand and foot, stuffed into the small space between the rails like animals. There were close to one hundred individuals trapped in the pens, by her estimate. If they were, as Tenten suspected, all Kumogakure residents, there would not be many left in the village for Ino and Shino to investigate. The screaming was coming from the pen furthest on her left and moving forward a few steps, Tenten gritted her teeth as the full picture became clear.

Groups of shinobi moved amongst the trapped villagers, syringes in hand. As Tenten watched, a large fellow garbed mostly in fur grabbed a young boy, stabbing the needle into his neck. Almost immediately the youth became rigid, eyes rolling back in his head before refocusing in a look of blind rage. A hoarse, animal yell tore itself from his throat and he bucked against his restraints, rearing back and forth with near super-human strength. The large shinobi moved back immediately, empty syringe held in front of him as if it could provide some sort of protection.

"Limited contact, remember!" A tall kunoichi shouted to her compatriots, as they moved on to new victims. "The rest of you, stay away from the pens!" Her subordinates nodded in understanding, moving cautiously to the adjoining enclosure. Tenten was unsure of why the woman had given that particular order, perhaps the serum could be spread through body fluids? Maybe they were just wary of the violent soldiers they were creating? There was one thing she could be sure of however…

Tenten had found Kumogakure's method of carrying the serum.

The shinobi around her were silent, not jeering or protesting, indeed they seemed almost resigned. What was happening here was unthinkable, to change defenseless, untrained laypeople into mindless fighting machines was barbaric, completely against the good of a villages' economy or continued existence. But that was exactly what was happening and no one was lifting a finger in protest. They all stared, mesmerized by the events unfolding in front of them. Not willing to linger any longer, Tenten backed away from the group and ran for the forest.

She had to tell Shikamaru what was happening. Now.

The dark trees welcomed her as she sprang up into their upper branches. Tearing the covering off of her mouth and nose, Tenten ran for the point where Shikamaru had told her he'd be waiting. They'd arranged for her to report back with what she'd found before acting, but she had never expected bringing the sort of news that now permeated her thoughts. A flash of white canvas against the shadows was all the warning she got before a blast of chakra-enhanced wind ripped through the foliage around her.

Dropping out of the path of Temari's attack quickly, Tenten flung a shuriken in the direction of her attacker, more out of spite than from a need to defend herself. "It's me!" She shouted, fighting hard not to add something more vulgar. Temari's defense was necessary and Tenten understood it, but old grudges died hard and the one she'd harbored since her first chuunin exams was no exception. Tenten deeply resented wind users.

"So it is." Temari soared up on her fan, fully on-guard. "Why," she asked, after taking in the weapon mistress' appearance, "are you wearing a Cloud nin uniform?"

"I had to get into the camp." Tenten told her, pulling off the rest of her disguise, she nodded in thanks as the Suna delegate shredded the evidence. "Where's Shikamaru? I really need to talk to him."

"Here." The boy dropped down next to her. Sakura apparently, was out scouting. "You went into the camp. What did you find?"

"Ninja from Kumogakure are injecting the serum into their own villagers." She told him, watching as his eyes narrowed. "I'm not sure how exactly they mean to infect Konoha with it, but that's the way they're transporting it." Speaking rapidly she related the rest of what she had seen, including the Cloud nins' own reactions and attitude towards their captives. "What do you want me to do?" She asked finally.

"Kill the villagers." Temari said at once. "The disguise of the villagers as the vessels would be a brilliant disguise if Tenten hadn't seen them inject it. If the serum is contained in human hosts we can kill them here and be done with it."

"It would have been easy enough to identify those who were infected." Shikamaru disagreed. "We've seen what happened to Aburame Shibi, the symptoms are not easily overlooked. Why inject them now? They have another day's worth of travel time with a force this large in order to reach Konoha. Attack time will be tomorrow night at the earliest."

"They seem to be scared themselves." Tenten added. "As if they want nothing to do with these people, apart from the ones infecting them, they all kept their distance."

"This doesn't add up." Shikamaru stood up to pace, forehead deeply lined. "This is meant to look amateur, but I don't buy it. We're falling into a trap."

"What is it then?" Temari pushed him, "You say these moves are amateur, but that's what Kumogakure is. Up until this point there has never been reason to fear them, they've never had power. So they get their hands on a serum from somewhere and they let it go to their heads. They're making obvious mistakes that we can exploit. I think it's a mistake to over-think this."

Shikamaru shook his head, "There might be a back-up serum supply, or maybe this is what we're meant to see, but this does not feel right. None of those in charge here are planning this invasion, they're taking orders from someone smarter." He swung around to face the direction Shino and Ino had departed in an hour before. "There is someone or something in Kumogakure playing us for fools."

Tenten shifted nervously, unsure of whom to side with in this battle of minds. Her natural inclination was to think along the same lines as Temari, but Shikamaru was rarely wrong. She remembered the ease with which she'd killed the three cloud nin she'd encountered. If these were the ones Kumogakure entrusted the safety of the camp to, the rest of their forces could hardly be very skilled.

"You've sent Aburame and Yamanaka to investigate." Temari pointed out, "They can find out what's going on and report, but right now we don't have enough time to wait to hear back about what they find. If Tenten doesn't go in now, who knows when her next opportunity will be?"

"I need to know more about this serum and how they plan to use it. It almost seems as if they aren't sure how to handle it." Shikamaru's pacing stopped and he speared Tenten with a look. "Tenten, what are your thoughts?"

She was caught off-guard, generally Lee or Neji made the decisions and she went along with them. Not mindlessly of course, Tenten was not stupid, but she was also not prone to plotting out her actions far in advance. This played to her strength of weapon-usage, which largely relied on trusting one's split-second instincts. At times this caught her flat-footed. An observer, Tenten could record and supply the clues, but strategizing on this level was outside of her comfort zone. In this situation, when both of her more logically-minded teammates seemed to be at odds, she was unprepared to offer an opinion. Sorting out her thoughts she took a deep breath.

"I have a good chance of attacking the infected villagers now. They're in a concentrated space, with limited mobility. I'm certain I can hit all of them." She paused, "If, as you say, there is a back-up serum, I think there is a good possibility that they will give away its location after my attack. In the panic it will be the first thing they defend. I can watch for it, and if I'm unable destroy it tonight, I will do so tomorrow before they reach Konoha."

"You must stop the serum from reaching Konoha at all costs." Temari stressed. "Without it, they are just shinobi. Unskilled ones, at that. Strip them of their weapon and it's a simple matter to destroy the men behind it."

Shikamaru was silent for a long moment. Tenten wondered what it was like inside his mind. She would have to ask Ino sometime. How many thoughts and possibilities must be weighed and debated there? How much extraneous information must be reviewed and thrown aside before he reached his conclusions? With the amount of pressure placed on his every word, how did he determine what was right and what was wrong?

And yet he came through time and time again. Even Neji endorsed Nara's intellect and, simply for that, Tenten would carry out his every order unquestioningly. Shikamaru opened his mouth, having finally come to a decision and she tensed, ready for whatever action he required.

"Kill the villagers." He said, his voice oddly strained. "Temari, you follow behind to monitor the shinobi's reactions."

"Right." Tenten nodded, laying hands on her scrolls. "I'll leave now."

"Whatever else they're planning," She heard Temari remark. "I think you made the right decision."

"I hope so." Shikamaru answered back. Tenten barely caught his next sentence as she faded into the trees, but the words made her heart drop to her toes. "If not, we are in deep trouble."

Shino and Ino reached Kumogakure around midnight, arriving on the outskirts of the village just as the clock tower rang the hour across the darkened rooftops. Shino stopped them in a small stand of trees on the eastern side of the main group of houses, in an area which seemed better shielded against observation from above than others. "I'll have my bugs search the far side of the village and the public buildings." He told her, voice barely above a whisper. "Do you think you can find someone to perform shintenshin on at this hour?"

"I hope so." Ino whispered back. Anyone wandering around such a desolate village at this time would look a bit suspicious. There was nothing for it though, they were working on a time scale and to wait for dawn would make them vulnerable to discovery. From her vantage point in a medium size cypress tree she squinted towards the darkened houses. "Maybe there's someone still awake…"

A sharp cry came from the small house to their right, drifting out an open window and Ino smiled. "There we go." Creeping closer she could hear the crying of a young child, followed by the low admonishing tones of who she assumed was the child's grandmother.

"No crying now Miyuki, you must be quiet or you'll wake the neighbors."

"Mommy! I want my mommy!"

"Mommy's not here right now." Crouched under the open window, Ino heard the old woman sigh. "How about you get yourself a drink of water from the well? That should calm you down."

"O…okay." The sniffles died down somewhat and Ino could hear the child begin to move out of the room. A quick glance confirmed that the family well was located several feet to her right on the border between two back gardens. The child would be coming this way, perfect. Slipping back to Shino where he stood in the trees, she rapidly whispered her plans to him.

"I'll take control of the girl who's going to come out to get a drink. That should work well enough."

"A child?" His sleeves were rolled back and she could see he'd already sent some of his bugs out to begin reconnaissance. "You'll be in a bad position if you have to do any fighting in a body that weak."

"I don't plan on having to." She rolled her shoulders, getting her body ready for an extended period of lying on the ground. "A child's body will be ideal for flitting between houses in the dark, if anyone stops me I'll tell them I was looking for my 'mommy'. From what I heard, the girl is missing her mother, the mom must be out tonight. It's easy enough to come up with an alibi for a kid this young."

"Alright, but be cautious." Shino came to stand behind her. "I'll guard your body until you return."

"Good." Both of them watched as a petite girl walked slowly towards the well Ino had spotted earlier. "I'm going in."

Ino waited until the child turned back from her nighttime drink before launching the justu. "Shintenshin no Jutsu." She muttered, her consciousness floating free of her body.

In a matter of seconds she had arrived in her new form. Children had little or no mental resistance to Yamanaka techniques, making it extremely easy to possess and control them. Little Miyuki was no different, after the initial scare of finding Ino in her mind, she subsided without much fuss. Curling up in a corner, she watched Ino work warily, her tears from earlier drying on her cheeks as she experienced the odd sensation of a stranger sorting through her most private memories.

Miyuki's mind was warm and inviting, resembling the tatami room of a house, complete with a long low table and wall hangings. Becoming accustomed to her new, smaller frame, Ino simultaneously sorted through the child's memory, searching for anything that might be of use. Recently, the girl had stored impressions of tall dark men, but, due to her youth, the images were blurred and distorted, not reliable enough to make a positive identification. The most vivid recollections Ino found revolved around Miyuki's mother who, it appeared, had been forcibly taken from the home several days previous, along with the father and two of Miyuki's older siblings. This brought Ino pause. Miyuki was obviously not from a ninja upbringing, her parents were carpenters by trade, but if the child's memories were to be believed, the rest of the family had possibly been abducted by the invasion force.

It didn't make much sense.

Taking a few hesitant steps on short legs, Ino waved towards the trees where she knew Shino watched. "If the grandmother comes looking…" She began, a tad startled by how high her voice was now.

"I'll send her back." Shino nodded once. "Move fast."

"Of course." Ino took off at a trot, noting how her bobbed hair swung jauntily around her ears. She remembered when she'd had just exactly this haircut. It had been years ago, a veritable lifetime before. As always, it was a bit disorienting operating in a new body, but the compliance of the child helped immensely.

The first block of houses she searched yielded nothing. A few barking dogs, definitely, but angry canines were not what she was looking for. The whole town had a deserted feel to it, which made Ino both curious and a tad nervous. For Kumogakure to be this abandoned on the eve of their greatest expedition to date was worrying. And yet there was no sign of foul play to suggest a reason. Aside from Miyuki's memory of the abduction of her family Ino had nothing to work with. Surely the Cloud shinobi hadn't taken the whole village with them…what was the point in that? Wondering how Shino was fairing, Ino turned onto a cul-de-sac of sorts, noting that there were no street lights lining this particular alcove.

Miyuki's mental self exploded with fear. Running forward, the child grabbed onto Ino's sleeve where she perched atop the table. "No! Don't go down there! The bad men will get us!"

"Bad men?" Ino removed the grasping hands, trying to calm the girl. "Then we have to go down there, it's my job." Taking the girl's hand, she pulled her up beside her. "Now tell me, which house are the bad men in?"

"No!" Miyuki buried her head into Ino's side. "No, please…"

"The sooner I get to see the bad men, the sooner you can go back to bed." Ino told her, "Which house are they in, Miyuki?"

"That one." Ino focused her gaze on the house the child indicated. It was nondescript, looking just as abandoned as the others on this street. Moving more carefully, she walked around the structure, thanking the heavens for Miyuki's small form as she tucked herself behind one of the ornamental trees that lined the back garden path.

There were people in the house. Ino watched as a shadowy figure moved past a panel of thinly papered sections, the dragging sound of a sliding partition revealed its path as the person entered an inner room. She couldn't be sure how many of them there were. Initial chakra probes revealed little, but they could be shielding their presence, it was hard to tell at this distance.

It was now or never. Springing forwards, Ino directed Miyuki's small feet up the back steps, through a partially open outer door, and into the hallway beyond. Mentally thankful that the child was barefoot, she snuck down the hallway in the direction she thought the figure had gone. Her guess paid off as masculine voices drifted to her ears in a matter of seconds. Making a mental note to rub it in Shikamaru's face that eavesdropping daily did, indeed, come in handy, Ino snuck forward, barely daring to breathe.

"…according to plan. The Konoha team has found the force."

"The target?"

"Not there, probably still in the village."

"Then order them forward, regardless of what Konoha does."

"But the serum…"

"There are other ways to bring it into play. In the morning tell the Cloud nin to-" The voice abruptly cut off, and Ino froze.

"What? What's the matter?"

"We're being observed." Footsteps sounded suddenly, heading for the door.

Panicking slightly, but confident that her guise as a child would hold up, Ino backpedaled towards the door. In their shared mental space Miyuki was screaming, arms wrapped around Ino, begging her to run. A figure stepped into the hallway and Ino affected a slouched pose, calling easy tears to her eyes. "Please sir, I'm lost and…"

Ino's world went red.

Sheer, utter terror swamped her, though how much of it was hers and how much was Miyuki's was hard to tell. The tatami room the two had been sitting in was gone, replaced by a deep crimson landscape that Ino vaguely recognized as the hills behind the village. Around them large fires raged, the flames licking closer in a matter of seconds. In shock, Ino gaped at the figure approaching them through the smoky chaos.

Uchiha Itachi was in Kumogakure.

Shikamaru had suspected that the Akatsuki were behind this plot, had warned her and Shino to be on the lookout for lackeys or subordinates, but Ino doubted that even he could have predicted just who was pulling the strings. This was not a distantly conceived power-grab, this was a direct usurpation of the control of an entire nation. Kumogakure was not in any position to take over Konoha.

Kumogakure had already fallen.

Gasping for breath, trying to force some sort of logical thought into her stunned brain, Ino backed away. Grabbing desperately for Miyuki she tugged the child with her, before realizing that the girl could not be moved. Miyuki was frozen in place, tiny arms and legs turned to stone. Struggling to process this information, Ino met the eyes of the approaching Uchiha, realization dawning on her.

This was Tsukuyomi, there was no doubt about it. From the descriptions of others who'd experienced the effects of Itachi's mangekyo sharingan, Ino was able to identify all the trademark characteristics. But if she was trapped in his genjutsu, then how had she retained her ability to move and think freely? Backing away further, Ino again considered Miyuki's paralyzed form, the truth coming in a rush.

Itachi had not expected two minds in one body, in launching Tsukuyomi he had only captured Miyuki's brain, not Ino's as well. Therefore, though Ino was able to observe all that he did to Miyuki, she was not directly affected. How long would this last though? Taking a guess that Itachi would be unable to create a secondary genjutsu within the current one, Ino met his blood-red gaze as he reached the two of them.

"This is unexpected." His voice was deceptively soft, and she suppressed a shudder at the cold realization of just who she faced. "Two minds in one body. You're a Yamanaka aren't you? I recognize the technique."

"I won't answer your questions." Ino growled back, hoping he didn't notice how hard her legs shook. "What business do you have with Kumogakure? You supplied them the serum didn't you?"

"Definitely a Yamanaka," Itachi mused, a twitch of his finger caused Miyuki to whimper. "You've inherited your father's pointless bravado." Another finger movement and Miyuki screamed, the world around them turning blacker.

"Let her go!" Ino shouted, "She's a child!"

"Which didn't bother you when you appropriated her for your little spy mission, did it?" Itachi's eyes curved upwards slightly. "Reap what you sow Yamanaka, or would you rather I play with you instead?"

Ino almost offered herself in order to save Miyuki the tortures Itachi was inflicting on her, but realized in a cold shiver that to do so would doom them all. In her mind Itachi would find all he needed to know about Konoha's defenses, it would be short work for the Uchiha to drag any answer he needed out of her genjutsu-addled brain. Swallowing hard, Ino made the hardest choice of her entire life.

She had to abandon the child.

"You can't win this encounter, Uchiha." Ino stepped back, fingers coming up to form symbols that were both familiar and foreign to her. "In this girl's mind you have no power over me."

"For now." He allowed. "Believe me Yamanaka, next time we meet you will not be so free to avoid me."

"There won't be a next time." Her fingers flew through the symbols and she knew he watched her. Dog, bird, horse…all were memorized by the sharingan, she had no other choice but to let him see. "I've discovered your presence in Kumogakure, I've heard your plotting. Konoha won't be caught unawares."

"I'll let you think that so you can live with yourself." His finger twitched again. "I'm sure your triumph here will be a great comfort to Miyuki's grandmother when she finds the corpse in the morning."

"You bastard!" Ino cried, "I won't let you touch Konoha!"

"I'm sure you'll try." Itachi nodded to her stilled fingers, which she'd paused to stop them from trembling. "Go on Yamanaka, I want to see how you believe you'll keep me from finding you before you leave town."

One last glance at the trapped child was a mistake, it nearly broke her resolve. Fighting fear and the apprehension that her plan might not work, Ino's fingers twisted into the final seal: tiger. Willing every ounce of chakra in her body into the combination, she shouted it out, surprising even herself with the energy that flowed from her.

"Atama Musubu no Jutsu!"