Apologies for this fic. It's good, don't get me wrong but you might hate me by the end. I kind of hate myself but I needed to get this out before I went on vacation. Things have been hectic and I don't know when I'll get chapter 7 done. Hate me if you must. I deserve it.

There is nothing quite as surreal as looking at your own grave. Choji thought, staring at the stone tablet, where his name used to reside. Of course, the Hokage had sent ninjas out to look for them but…after a week of searching there was no chance they were alive.

How irritating it must have been, Choji thought sadly, when I showed up.

There certainly was a shock when a man who was supposed to be dead showed up five miles outside of the village walls, half starved with little or no recollection of how he got there. Of course, there had been a feast in celebration of his return but for the first time in his life, Choji Akimichi didn't feel like eating.

He tried to commit suicide a week later.

The note was only a few words long; It should have been me.

That was the same day he was put into therapy and the same day he'd met Ayume.

"I thought I'd find you here." Choji heard her voice but didn't look up as she slid her hand into his, "You okay?"

"Yeah." He sighed, "No… I don't know."

She said nothing but moved closer to him, her presence comforting every inch of his sorrow. Comforting but not erasing.

"I had another dream last night."

"The same one?"

The dreams, though they had become less frequent lately, had plagued Choji since he returned to Konoha. They were all essentially the same, he was dying. He was drowning in his own blood in the cell in Kobe 59. The blood flowing from his mouth, nostrils and various other body parts filled the room like an aquarium. Choji kept swimming and swimming to the surface but the cruel red liquid would not let him escape. The worst part was that he was not alone in the cell. The bodies of Ino and Shikamaru, broken and badly beaten flouted beside his floundering body.

He nodded and squeezed her hand.

Ayume Sanaguchi was not a ninja. She was a doctor, a psychiatrist in training, and the one person Choji'd allowed back into his heart. It wasn't that prison had made him cold and callous to humanity, in fact it had given him empathy, but the people Choji cared about had a habit of-

They're not dead. Choji remind himself harshly, They can't be dead.

The people Choji cared about had a habit of leaving him. So letting a woman into his life which, at that time, he had wanted to end, was out of the question. Fortunately for Choji, Ayume wasn't the type to take no for an answer.

She was a big woman with dark red hair and a kind smile. Ayume was the only one who would believe him, that Shikamaru and Ino were alive. Even their parents…even their parents acted as though they were dead. Choji still didn't know why Ino was not released with him. He was certain Shikamaru had said "You and Ino…" but the memories of that time were so hazy. It was that crazy medicine the sound gave him; it contained amnesia pills so he couldn't lead Konoha back to Kobe.

"How long has it been?" Ayume asked sadly.

"A year and a half since I came back." He sighed, "They're not dead. I'd know if they were."

She nodded, "I know."

"They'll have to take the names off when they get back." Choji smiled slightly. The families needed closure, Tsunade had said when Choji demanded that the names be removed from the stone as soon as he was healthy enough to shout. They needed to grieve.

"For WHAT?!?" Choji had shouted, "They're not DEAD!"

But he'd never been good at arguing or persuading so the names stayed and to this day Nara Shikamaru and Ino Yamanaka starred back at him in cold hard print.

"Yes." She agreed, "And then we can…"

The sentence remained unfinished. Choji knew what she'd meant to say. After Ino and Shikamaru returned, they could get married. God knew Choji wanted to. He loved her…he owed her his life but… if his friends couldn't be there. It wouldn't count with out Ino running around, ordering people about and making sure everything was perfect and Shikamaru muttering "Troublesome" as he grabbed a quick cigarette before the ceremony. Ayume understood that but…she hated to wait.

"You know I love you, right?" Choji turned to her, "I just-"

"I know." She smiled at him, "I love you too."

Training is an essential part of being a ninja. Your body must be a well oiled machine, capable of almost any task. The day you do not train is the day the machine breaks down and you stop being a ninja.

Who ever said that…Ino thought, Never had to train tied to a bed.

Training with out use of her arms, legs or really her entire body, was not easy but that was the task Ino had set herself. It reminded her of the day that Asuma-sensei had taught them to meditate. Ino, who hated silence almost as much as she hated Sakura Haruno, hated it. You had to sit utterly still and focus your chakra in the center of your body. Choji's stomach had started to grumble almost immediately and she knew he wasn't focusing on anything but lunch. Shikamaru…well, of course he would succeed masterfully. Although Asuma did take points off when the boy genius fell asleep.

Shikamaru…She thought, hoping he could hear her, You don't have to protect me anymore. I'm getting out of here…and I'll get you and Choji out too. Just you wait.

For almost a year and a half, sometimes in felt like longer, Ino had done nothing but meditate, training from her bed. It wasn't easy either, with Sasuke draining her Chakra every couple of days. That's what Ino called it in her head, it was essentially the same thing. He did more than rape her, over and over again, he stole a part of her being, her chakra and a little bit of who she was left her when he'd finished. But Ino's memories, of her parents, of Choji and Asuma-sensei and most importantly of Shikamaru, Ino's memories could rebuild the damage, replacing whatever part of her Sasuke stole with something stronger. Something she could use to save them.

Today was the day. For a year and a half, Ino had practiced the mind body switch technique without hand signals. As of yet, she still couldn't tell if she had mastered it but- there were times when she felt… beyond herself, like she was floating somewhere, undetected by humanity. Ino assumed that was what it was like to use the mind body switch technique without a body to switch into.

Now if that bitch would only come. Ino thought, glaring to the door. Ginna was late today. Ino hoped the girl would "forget" to feed her, as she occasionally did. But Sasuke had raped her again the night before so she was almost guaranteed a visit.

At last the heavy metal door clinked open and Ino prepared her mind. She had nothing left to lose. It was now or never.

"Pig whore." Ginna said calmly as she entered, "What did I tell you about touching Lord Sasuke?"

Ino said nothing but concentrated, repeating her mantra over and over in her head.

Shikamaru… Shikamaru…

Ginna's blade ripped down the buttons of her shirt. She had kept her promise, for every time Sasuke raped her a small cut was made around her right breast. There was almost a full circle now, it had gotten so bad that even Sasuke was noticing. He said it ruined the aesthetic value.

"Another cut, then." Ginna said and Ino knew it was the time to act.

Mind Body Switch!

Ginna started and knife fell from her hands. It worked. Ino felt like dancing for joy in her new, free body but she knew she didn't have the time. She'd improved greatly from her chunin exam days but still, she could only hold on to some one else's body for fifteen minutes at most. Quickly she set to work, finding a small silver key in one of Ginna's pockets and unlocking the restrains keeping her own body down. After she lifted her battered and bruised body from the bed, Ino sighed.

Only a few seconds left. She thought as she lay down on the bed and began to fasten Ginna's ankles to the bed. Only one arm was fastened down before she had to…

Release! And Ino was back in her own body, lying bruised on the floor. She felt exhausted but she was free. Her body was ridged and her joints ached from over a year of forced inactivity. There were a few minutes of silence as she tried to move and Ginna's mind wrapped around what had happened.

"Damn!" She swore horribly, "I'll kill you for this, Pig Whore! I'll kill you!"

"Oh shut up." Ino sighed, "I'm trying to move my arms here."

Her right was mobile now and she massaged her wrists. The pain in her legs was dull and Ino wondered, through Ginna's shouted threats, how long it would take before she could move them. Wiggle your big toe. She told her self, Baby steps, Ino. Wiggle your big toe.

After a long while, Ino managed to stand but she was still shaky and had to use the wall for support. She felt incredibly dizzy, standing for the first time in over a year, but the sight of her former tormenter helpless, prostrate before her, gave her strength.

"Shut up." She said, smiling down at Ginna, "This is karma, bitch, though it isn't half of what you deserve. Where's your knife?"

"DON'T YOU DARE!!!" Ginna screamed in terror, "LORD SASUKE WILL KILL YOU, PIG! DON'T YOU DARE!"

"I've got an entirely different bone to pick with Sasuke." Ino said, seeing the knife had fallen to the floor when she took control of Ginna, "Don't worry, I'm not gonna cut you. I actually kind of pity of if you'll believe that. Not enough to let you go though. Sorry."

She retrieved the knife and looked at Ginna's body, "Any other weapons on you?" She asked, "Kunai knives, shukrin stars?"

"Go to hell."

"Exactly what I'd say." Ino said, grabbing Ginna's free hand and securing it to the bed, "Now, I believe you have some information for me. Pay attention 'cause I'm only gonna ask once; Where's Shikamaru and where's Choji?"

"I won't help you, whore!" Ginna spat.

"Hey, Ginna, remember how I said I would cut you?" Ino asked sweetly, "And I also said I'd only ask where my friends are once? Well, I am damn happy to break both promises unless you tell me…right now. Where are they?"

Ginna was silent for a few seconds weighing her options. Finally her eyes narrowed in anger and she spat the words out, "North wing, Cell Block E, Pig!"

"Cell Block E." Ino repeated, "Thanks, Bitch. Well, you make yourself comfortable, hunh? Somebody'll come along. Sooner or later. I'm outtie!"

She waved at Ginna curses as she limped out of the open door. The silver key she had placed in her pocket and the knife Ino carried low at her side, the way sensei had taught her. Her entire body ached and Ino moved at a snails pace, leaning heavily against the wall. She wanted desperately to rest but…every moment she was idle was another chance one of the guards would catch her. And she could not risk that now.

Cell Block E. She glanced up reading the signs carved violently into the wall, I'm coming Shikamaru…wait for me.

This was about as far from solitary confinement as you could get. There weren't cells so much as one long hall with bars creating a small path in the middle. The room was filled with prisoners, unshaven, stink ridden men mainly.

This won't be easy. Ino managed to take a deep, albeit unsteady breath before they noticed her.

It started as a low murmur, here and there.

"Hey, look at that!"

"It's a woman!"

"No, shit it's a woman, Dumbass!"

"She's not one of Orochimaru's or Sasuke's is she?"

"Naw, look at her, those ain't guard robes."

They're prisoners. She thought, Prisoners, just like you.

But Sasuke's word echoed clearly in her mind If a female was set loose with the other prisoners, she would have been gang raped with in an hour.

He has every reason to lie. Ino reminded herself but she gripped the knife tighter as she called out.

"I'm looking for Shikamaru Nara from Konoha." She was pleased to find that her voice did not shake when she spoke, "And Choji Akimichi, also from Konoha. Are they here?"

"Naw, baby…" A sweaty, emaciated looking man leaned up against the bars licking his lips, "But I am!"

"Yeah, baby!" Another with a rather prominent hard on joined him, "I been waitin' for ya!"

Cat calls and lewd shouts filled the air and Ino tried to make herself heard above the ruckus, praying that there was at least one decent human being in this pit. "Please! I need to find Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi!"

"I got what you need!"

"Give you some Choji Akimichi."

Ino felt horribly dizzy and the urge to vomit was almost over whelming. Clearly, there was no help to be found in this quarter. She pressed onward, not knowing exactly what lay ahead but some of the bolder ones' hands were reaching out through the bars, grabbing at her legs and she knew she couldn't go back. There was collective out cry when Ino escaped that hall way and breathed a sigh of relief. Then she got a look around. This place was darker, with a sinister air to it. There were no windows on these walls, a few in the last hallway had at least provided light from the outside. The only illumination here was a solitary light bulb swing from a lonely black cord in the center of the room. From its light she could see the bars on either side of her and Ino wondered for a moment who exactly was trapped here. The stench of filth and disease was not so rampant here but it was still painfully apparent that more that ten people pissed in here. It was dead silent and Ino wondered if she weren't actually alone when cold, calloused fingers circled around her ankle.

"Hey." A voice whispered softly in the darkness, "You looking for Shikamaru Nara?"

"Yes." Her fear was momentarily forgotten, "Do you know where he is?"

"Aye." The voice, clearly a males, agreed, "But before I be tellin' ya, you gotta do something for me."

"What?" Ino asked, fearing the answer.

"Open the door."

"I can't."

"You're the Yamanaka, aren't ya?" The voice asked, "I can hear things… through the walls so I know, right? Sanna was supposed to be feeding' you but she's a cold hard bitch, ain't she? So you got the better of her, stole her silver key did ya?"

"Yes." She breathed, scared out of her mind.

"That key opens up every cell in this block." The man said, "Includin' this one. You open the door and I'll tell you where Shikamaru is. Dig?"

It was her only chance. "Let go of me and I will."

"You gotta promise now."

"I promise."

The hand released her and withdrew into the darkness again. Ino fumbled her way to the lock and fitted the small silver key into it. The lock was large and rusty and it took a few minute to clang open. Hoping she would not regret it, Ino allowed the door to swing open in front of her. The room was silent for a few moments and then thousand of hand reached out, grabbing her harshly, pulling her bodily into the dark cell.

In a moment the rest of the lights were on and, blinking, Ino surveyed her predicament. Out of the frying pan, into the fire. She thought grimly, staring into the many leering ghoulish faces that held her down on the hard concrete.

"Get the hell off of me!" She shouted angrily, "Now!"

"Naw, sweet heart." The voice had so easily tricked her now had a face attached, swallow and unshaven, pale as though he'd never seen the sun, "Maybe you could defeat Sanna easy as pie but we ain't psycho little bitches, we're big psycho bastards, dig? Plus, you ain't got enough Chakra to kill a bird."

He's right. Ino thought angrily, God, what have I gotten myself into?

"Where's Shikamaru?" She asked, refusing to let her fear show, "Tell me."

They laughed then. "I don't know who the hell you're talking about!" The pale man grinned, "You're gullible as hell, bitch. Guess you'll know better now."

No… She sucked in her breath, deciding what to do, I came too far to let it go down like this. I won't, if I can help it. Not without a fight!

She shouted then, a battle cry of epic proportions. No chakra but enough anger and bitchitude to get the job done! Ino thought, shaking her would be rapists away, finding her feet and stabbing blindly with Ginna's- Sanna's knife.

"Get the fuck away from me!" She'd stabbed but not enough to cause serious damage and their surprise at her attack was short lived. Hands and grinning faces came out at her and she beat them away, "Where's Shikamaru? Where's Choji?"

"I got your Shikamaru right here!" One shouted, grabbing her wrist. Ino punched him in the face with her free hand but another was there behind her. And another and another and another.

There's too many of them.

"FUCK!" Ino swore, fighting wildly, "Let me go! I'll kill you! I swear to god I'll kill you!"

Shikamaru opened his eyes.

I'M SORRY!!!! I'm a tease, I know it! I'm a literary tease! Oh, I'm sorry to leave you hanging like that! I'm so sorry! I swear, I will TRY to get the next chapter out to you soon. I am getting out of school and will have much more time to do stuff after I get back from my grandparents farm in the country. I'm not exactly sure if they've got access tot he internet but I will walk to the library for this thing. At least I gave you some decent Ino action.