Ino didn't know when exactly this whole fiasco stopped being about Sasuke. It was probably quite early on, perhaps even before she'd first attempted to probe Kabuto's mind. As a matter of fact, she hadn't even thought about the guy in weeks! She'd originally set out for the sole purpose of finding him, and in the end she'd gotten tangled up in a completely unrelated adventure.

Or so she'd thought until she saw him standing in the clearing not twenty feet away.

She was already being painstakingly careful not to alert them to her presence, but now she stopped breathing lest they notice her crouched in the bushes. So far, it seemed she'd succeeded. The four dimly lit figures remained absorbed in their conversation. Or rather, three of them did. Sasuke wasn't participating much, as far as she could tell. He stood a little apart, arms limply at his sides and glowered at the ground.Or at least, she assumed he'd be looking at the ground, if there weren't white bandages obscuring his eyes.

He looked…so different and yet…so very much the same. The inky black hair was longer and shaggier, it fell in front of his bandaged face. He'd grown a good foot in the two and a half years since she'd last seen him, and broadened out, although it appeared that he'd recently lost a great deal of weight in a short amount of time, and he was paler than ever. The loose gray cloak he wore was stained and shabby looking. In summary, he looked much less impressive than her mind had been painting him as in his absence. He looked sad and defeated, and so very small next to his companions.

In particular the masked one, standing closest to him. He was not a massive man, but the way he held himself and something about the aura he projected made all the others shrink into the background, relatively insignificant. Not one inch of his skin or hair was visible, the blank holes of his mask revealed nothing.

He was also the only one of the group Ino didn't recognize. The third man, or at least he looked like a man, she new to be one of the few surviving members of the Akatsuki. The one that she'd always thought looked like a plant, the plant that eats flies. He was talking more animatedly than the others, gesturing widely with one hand, his voice raising and falling and changing tone.

Those three were standing in a loose circle, Ino noticed from her position, which was not unusual for a cliché moonlit rendezvous, but rather than looking like a huddle in which they were just talking, they seemed to be strategically placed in a ring around the fourth person. Kabuto didn't seem worried though, from his place in the middle of the group he was calmly listening to what the plant-man was saying.

It had been five nights since Ino had collapsed in Kabuto's arms due to the mysterious mass on her brain. Since then, she'd completely recovered her strength, and so far there were no signs of any relapse. But her good health had come at a price; she now owed a life-debt to the man she was supposed to hand over to his death. She'd been struggling with the guilt for the past few days, but had pushed it into the back of her mind for tonight she needed to concentrate.

She'd pretended to turn in early, claiming to still feel tired in order to make Kabuto let his guard down. No reason to suspect his ill companion of trickery now was there? When he got up and left their camp shortly after sun-down, she'd simply followed silently behind him, and he'd lead her right to the location of his 'things' that needed taking care of.

She'd never expected to see Sasuke there as well. It seemed that all of Konoha's most-wanted were in cahoots. This was very interesting news indeed. Well, that was about all that was interesting, they seemed to be just standing there and talking. She couldn't even hear what they were talking about from here, she needed to get closer. Taking a deep -but silent- breath she started to circle the clearing in order to find a better vantage point. She had her eyes glued to the four figures in front of her the entire time.

The arms that wrapped around her then were a complete shock. Although the hand clamping down on her mouth was useless for she had suppressed her instinct to scream anyway. No use alerting the men in the clearing, they wouldn't help someone who'd been spying on them.

She would have done the obvious and bit down on the fingers, but by them the person's other arm had wrapped around her body, pinning her arms and effectively disabling her. The faint smell of rotting vegetables tickled her nose as the figure whispered in her ear "well well well, a little peeping girl, caught in the act. This is quite the surprise."

Ino heart plummeted as she was half-shoved, half-dragged forward out of the cover of the brush. This was the worst-case scenario undoubtedly. There was no chance of her getting out of this alive. Light-headed with fear, she watched as the figures turned to look at her. Her eyes flicked to Kabuto's to meet his stunned expression. She quickly looked elsewhere. Why did she have to feel this guilt?

The plant-like Akatsuki member leered crookedly at her. "Looky what I found!" He shouted exuberantly. "A little pest hiding in the bushes!" From behind her, her captor grunted in annoyence. "What should I do with her?" The plant-man strode forward to meet them. When he drew even, her walked behind them and disappeared from Ino's sight.

A chuckle came from the masked-man "Well done Zetsu, it wouldn't due for some little girl to overhear" He tilted his head to address her, "Sorry deary, this meeting is for adults only. You'll understand if we…remove you."

Squeezing her eyes closed, Ino despaired. There was no way she could fight, every one of them was much more powerful than her, and all of them together, they'd level her in an instant. Oh she should have just stayed with her team, finished their assigned mission and gone home. Poor Shikamaru and Chouji, they'd never find her body, never know what became of their friend. How she missed those boys. To just see them again, to apologize for running off. All for one stupid boy who probably hadn't thought of her once. She felt the cold steel press of a blade against her face.

But then a voice cut through the silence. "Wait! She's with me!"

Opening her eyes. Staring flabbergasted at the man hurrying forward. "Let her go Zetsu, and put the damned cleaver away." Kabuto reached out and laid his hand against the arm keeping her trapped.

Between the two men, Ino looked up at Kabuto in dismay. What was he doing? She'd disobeyed him, broken the thin trust that had formed between them. Surely he should just let them kill her. But his face was fixed in a determined glare, looking over her shoulder at the other man.

Slowly, the arms unwrapped and Ino was shoved forward into Kabuto's chest. "With you?" She sivered at the sound of Sasuke's bitter voice, rough from disuse. "what are you doing with the likes of her?"

Kabuto steadied her before turning to the younger man. "Just what I said, this is my companion." Sasuke scoffed in reply. "Companion" he sneered. "Right."

Ino couldn't take it anymore. As unexpected as this encounter was, she had to at least try. "Sasuke!" She cried, her voice cracking lamely. "Listen to me, I don't know what you're doing with these people, but it's not to late! Come back home! Please, everyone misses you…so much! Think of your team, Sakura and Naruto-"

"HA!" the young man barked sourly. "Those names, your words, they mean nothing to me. Don't waste my time, or I will kill you."

She balked at the raw malice in his voice, but charged on anyway. "They need you back Sasuke, you have no idea how much pain they've been through trying to reach you. They still love you!"

"Kabuto" He said, ignoring Ino. "If you plan on keeping your companion's life, I suggest you remove her from my presence NOW."

Ino looked around wildly, but Kabuto nodded once and firmly nudged her in the direction they'd come. "Remember your promise." The Akatsuki member -Zetsu- said sternly. "We need those four by the end of the week. Don't let us down." Then they melted into the darkness.

It was the last straw. Stumbling through the pitch-black tress through dapples of silvery light, Ino allowed herself to be dragged over knobby roots and grasping undergrowth. Just barely half an hour ago she'd been pumped up, ready to unearth the secrets of Kabuto's devious nighttime going-ons. Now however, she just wanted to curl up and sleep. But there was something she needed to get over with before she'd allow herself to give into the dark spots that were spreading across her vision. She just needed to get the words out.

"Why" she moaned as a branch whipped across her face. "Why why why and again why?"

Kabuto halted and despite the long years of vigorous training, it took all of Ino's reflexes not to run into him. They stood for a moment in silence, until Ino, frowning and blinking blearily at his still figure mumbled unintelligibly "Uhhhhhmmmm...what are you-"

"What do you mean 'why'?" He snapped peevishly. "Why did I speak up? Why didn't I let them kill you? Is that what you're asking?"

"Yes" She hissed, suddenly feeling irrationally angry. "That and more, so much more!" She turned away from him and plunked herself down on a damp old stump. She hung her head in her hands and rubbed at her eyes in exasperation. "Why didn't you kill me? God knows you've had plenty of chances. Why didn't you finish me off that day when you first found me? Or after I tried to escape for the first, second, third time? Why do you keep me around? Is this a game to you, playing with me until you loose interest? I don't GET IT!" She wailed the last words, finally breaking.

She didn't look at him, but she felt his dark glare on her back. She couldn't find it in herself to care. She was done. This whole mess was just so frustrating. Kabuto's inexplicable actions and unpredictable mood swings. One minute he'd seem almost kind, and the next she'd see the warped face of the monster everyone said that he was. She was tired of trying to guess what person he'd be today, and trying to figure out how to best behave as a result.

"Playing with you? You think I'm playing?" He groused loudly. "You want to know why you're still alive? Look at me!" He gripped her shoulder and yanked, spinning her until she faced him.

She gaped at his face. His slitted golden eyes were wide open in almost maniacal desperation, his scaly skin pulled tight over his twisted features. A gasp escaped Ino's chest before she could stifle it. His teeth cracked audibly as he gnashed his fangs together, the sharp points gleaming in the moonlight.

His hand was at her throat, fingers dragging her skin, pulling it up along the ridges of her larynx and making it difficult to breathe. The ends of his fingers were gripping her jaw, impeding any attempt to move away. It made her feel claustrophobic though, and his expression was frightening, and she couldn't help grabbing his wrists and trying to twist away.

But his grip was iron and he dug his fingers painfully into her chin. He stared into her eyes, searching wildly, his pupils dilated and twitching. But the anger seemed to drain away, leaving an exhausted frustration.

His grip loosened, but she was no longer trying to slip away. And he didn't remove his hand. He breathed out heavily and pushed his glasses up from where they'd slid nearly to the end of his nose. "Sasuke doesn't get it." He murmured, eyes still glued to her face. " He doesn't know how lucky he is."

Ino's heart leapt into her throat. "W-what?" She gasped. The only thing keeping her from keeling over was the hand on her face. That not only failed to answer her question, which she'd thought was relatively straightforward, but it also brought forth a flood of new confusion.

But she didn't need to prompt him, and the explanation came quickly. "When I left Konoha, not a single person ever asked me to come back."

She was still in his slack grasp. Not frozen or unable to speak, but unwilling. She wanted to hear what he had to say.

"He treats you like shit." Kabuto continued "And yet you keep fighting for him. Others too, I've seen you all do it. Even the ones who claim to have given up on him still look at him with hope in their eyes. He is so loved despite everything. I lived in the village for nearly my whole life and yet no one hopes for my return."

He leaned back on his heels and gazed at her earnestly. "I guess…I wanted to understand. What drives you on, what keeps that flame of hope alive? And I'm a man of observation, so when you walked across my path, I just couldn't help it. But now I know that I never will understand, and I suppose that is why I never earned that for myself."

He was telling the truth, this was no trick. The tone of voice, like a lost little child, and the tragic vision of his sad eyes left no doubt in her mind. He was childlike, just grasping at the air as he struggled through life alone. She felt hot tears well in her eyes.

"Would you?" She asked.

"Would I what?"

"Would you come back…if I asked you to? Would you leave whatever you are doing with those people and come home with me?"

He hadn't expected it, and he actually chuckled in a forced manner. "You know that's impossible." His hand slid farther down to rest on her neck. "I can never go back to that place, I've gone in too deep."

"You don't know for sure." The idea was infectious, searing through her whole being. It was ridiculous, yes, but her imagination was racing ahead of rational thoughts, and she grabbed his arm tightly. "If you give them information, if you stop the others, maybe they'll forgive you! I'll vouch for you to Tsunade-sama, she'll listen! And I might be able to convince the others, they always did like you…before…"

"Before." He whispered. "Before, Ino. I have done so many things that you don't even know about. I'm not even the same man they knew. It would never work. There's no future for me there, there never was."

The tears escaped and trickled down her cheeks. The gold of his eyes followed their slow path. His features crumpled again, and he let out a strangled moan. "No" He croaked, "You can't cry for me, it's not right." But they fell faster now, dripping off her chin to fall in dark spots onto the sleeve of his cloak. "Don't" and he pulled her face forward, his breath ragged against her damp skin.

She shivered as his lips just brushed her cheek, and trailed up along the plain of her face to the sensitive skin underneath her eye. His slender nose trailed along her own, and she felt the roughness of the scales catch on her moist lashes. The sensation was overwhelming and seconds seemed to hang forever before he pulled away.

He stood first, eyes hidden behind the tangle of star-coloured hair. He turned and walked slowly away, on the same route back to their camp, as if nothing had happened. Ino wasn't so steady as she stumbled after him. She spent the remainder of the short journey in a daze, heart just barley returning to it's normal rhythm. But by the time they arrived, she had more or less recovered her calm, and was prepared when he spoke.

"Thanks anyway." He said, voice even and amicable. "Thanks for trying."