There it was again. That subtle narrowing of his brown eyes and clench of his jaw. That cold dismissing glare had returned and she turned it with a small, beguiling smile. Ino did not struggle when he pulled her from the back of the van and slipped a bag over her head. The last thing she saw before the cloth came over her eyes was the slip of desire in his eyes.

She wasn't sure where she was being taken. She heard no sounds of other people and considering the glimpse of the parking garage they were in, it meant she was being taken underground. She wasn't nervous yet though, she was prepared for this. She had planned for this. Her arms were handcuffed behind her back and the rowdy was leading her by the arm.

They went through a few rooms and corridors until finally she was sitting in a wooden, uncomfortable chair. She smiled. Of course they were going to interrogate her. Idiots. Still, she was glad and quite pleased everything was going as planned. She couldn't wait until they got started. She couldn't wait until he had to come in.

She just couldn't wait.

...

When Asuma set her down in the chair in the center of the room and removed the bag from her head, he could have sworn he saw something akin to a satisfaction on her face. It was gone in a moment though, replaced by an unreadable mask.

She looked around, green eyes taking in every detail of the room. Other than one door- titanium she would bet- there were no other entry ways, or more importantly exit ways, from the room. The walls were also made of metal and the room may have been about eight by ten feet. She could spot at least two cameras. They were being watched. Good. That would just speed it up.

"Like what you see?" Asuma asked as he leaned casually against the wall.

She turned her eyes back to him, giving him a brief smile. "It's alright. Camera's are a bit too obvious for my taste, but I'm sure you all do the best you can." She replied, the insult clearly understood despite the sweet tone of her voice.

Asuma ignored the insult, instead nodding and just glanced around the room as well. "Yeah, I'm sure you would be the expert. Being in and out of these things all the time."

She knew it was a goad in order to get her to give an arrogant response, in which he could gain information. She knew the technique well. She was also taught better than that.

Asuma knew his goad wouldn't work, didn't piss him off any less though when she just smiled and inclined her head with an innocent expression on her face.

"I don't know what you mean by that." Ino replied with a slight shrug.

He nodded as if he believed her and shifted his position to fully face her. Her eyes followed his figure briefly and then returned to his face.

"So you must have a lot of criminals in here." She said softly looking at her shoes.

He arched an eyebrow, curious and realized this might lead somewhere beneficial for him. She was intelligent though, he would have to be much more careful than normal.

"What would make you say that?"

She looked up at him as if he asked her what color is the sky. He wondered if that was sincere confusion on her face. Of course, he couldn't be sure, but he would bet it was.

"For one..." she began, slowly as if he wouldn't understand her, "The aroma of the room. Cleaning products, bleach and other hardcore chemicals used to remove blood stains from walls and floors. Since the smell is strong, I'm gonna assume it has to be cleaned often in order to mask the odor." She said as if talking about the weather.

He got a feeling then, something about her was too familiar. Yet, he couldn't be sure, it was too elusive to put his finger on.

"And second?" He prompted and she shifted on the chair with a frown.

"And second... this cheap ass chair you got me strapped too." She informed him, not bothering to make a cutting remark. "I'm sure the ground is more comfortable than this chair happens to be."

That feeling was back again, closer now. It was on the tip of his tongue now. The familiarity of her words and tones... Her expression.

"What if it was just made to be that way? Doesn't make it cheap does it?" He questioned, unable to hide his amusement from her.

Her lips twinged... almost there... she thought, before continuing. "Well no, but the fact that my bindings are scratching its surface does."

She was right. The chair was pretty cheap. The fact was that sometimes the criminals that were being questioned tended to break them in order to escape. Or sometimes the interrogators broke the chairs...on the prisoners. But how would she know that?

"Who are you?"

The frigid tone in his voice had her eyes jerking up to him. She couldn't help but smile at him. Poor man, he probably had no idea what was about to happen here.

"A friend." She goaded, waiting for his reaction. She knew she would get it.

"I don't have criminals for friends." He replied coolly as he lit himself a cigarette and blew smoke at her.

Ah, irritating her would get him nowhere.

"Sure you do." She countered. The smile that told him she wasn't bothered by his smoking. "Everyone is a criminal sooner or later. You just haven't bothered to get past your arrogant assumptions to really look. Have you?"

He chose not to respond, though he could feel his irritation growing at the words of this evading thief before him. "You want to drag?" He offered, holding the cigarette out to her.

She shook her head. "No thank you." She turned it down politely.

"You don't smoke?" He asked incredulously. Most criminals did have a vice they turned to... whether that is alcohol or cigarettes or anything else...

"I was told when as a little girl that I shouldn't smoke." She whispered, an edge of sorrow in her voice. "There would be enough things out to get me in life. I didn't need that too."

Asuma just stared at her. Those words struck him hard and he knew. He knew those words and he knew why she was so familiar to him. For they had been said to him every time he lit up a cigarette.

Just then the door opened letting in a shaft of light, and with it was a man identical to the looks of the thief stepped in. Ino's smile became bitter as saw him and stared up into hard green eyes.

"Hello, Daddy."

So I'm sorry this took a little longer than I expected but at least I got in. Uhm I know this might not be as gritty as you expected but the interrogation is not over. Ino still has to be tortured. This one was just a little warmup and build up to revealing who she is and what she wants.

Wish her good luck. She might need it.

Review for me please!