A/N:

Oh. My. Gosh. You guys I am soooo sorry for the long wait! This fic totally got away from me and I got caught up on other projects and just… ugh. But on the bright side, I'm still alive! (knock on wood?)

As always, thanks so much to the awesome reviewers who have stuck by the story even when I've been really bad at updating. And the people who message me and kick my butt into gear ;) I just want you to know that even though updates may be very slow, I'm sticking with this baby to the end!

So, about this chapter. Uhh, it gets a little grim. Just a heads-up! I don't think it's too terrible but it went a little darker than I usually go.

Anyway, I hope that this chapter was worth the outrageous wait, you guys. Forgive me! And please enjoy!

Shino had been injured before, and this was by no means his first brush with death.

But that didn't stop him from feeling terrified—more afraid than he could ever remember being. His vision was completely blacked out and his body was totally numb. He had been only slightly aware of his body being dragged somewhere and dropped roughly. His head was swimming, and he didn't know if it was the poison or a concussion.

Worst of all, he couldn't feel his kikkai. He'd been numbed before, by the cold or by anesthetic, but even then he'd still been able to feel his constant companions. He hadn't gone a day in his life without feeling the low, steady rhythm of his bloodline limit, and suddenly losing the sensation was shocking and unpleasant.

His sense of sight and touch were gone, but he did have one thing left: sound.

Tenten's voice filtered through the kikkai that was perched on her collar, echoing and bouncing around in his head, offering hope in the darkness. He could hear her speaking to Suki, could feel her heart speed up as she learned the truth about the hotel manager. It was frustrating to be unable to move or speak, but it was a small comfort that she was still alive.

Coldness crept through his every limb and her voice began to fade. He struggled to hear her, realizing that he was beginning to lose his connection with his kikkai. He couldn't feel them, he couldn't see through them, and now he couldn't hear through them. He knew that panicking wouldn't help him in a time like this but rational thought was becoming more and more impossible.

"Shino, are you there?" a faint whisper echoed, and he clung to the sound of her voice. She was coming for him!

Tenten, get out of here! He wished desperately for way to send her a message, something to tell her to cut her losses and run. Although he had faith in her abilities, she didn't know what she was up against. He didn't want her to get poisoned—the thought made him sick. He imagined her in the same position as he was, pale and cold and lying on the floor like a heap of trash, losing her senses one by one…

A wild fear flared up in his chest and he tried to move, but it was no use. He was blind and stiff, and his muscles wouldn't obey the commands of his brain. The cold continued to spread through his arms, legs, fingers and toes.

"Shino? Can you hear me? Where are you?"

Those were the last words he heard before losing consciousness.

.

...

.

Suki, looking pale and fearful, went down the stairs first. Tenten followed, never loosening her grip on her weapon, keeping her eyes ahead and preparing herself for what was down in the basement. She knew she had to be ready for the worst, although she desperately hoped that Shino was still hanging in there.

The secret compartment underneath the office was spacious and ornately decorated, just like the rest of the hotel. Rather than a dark, dank basement, it was more like a small apartment where the hotel manager lived. It took no time at all for Tenten to locate Shino, who was lying in a heap on the floor. Her first instinct was to run over to him and see if he was alright, but Jin's presence stopped her.

He stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed with a wide smile. "Well, isn't this a turn of events," he said, black eyes flickering from her to Suki. "I didn't think you would betray me, Suki."

"It's not a betrayal," she said quickly, her voice wavering. "She's not here to hurt us, I swear—"

"She certainly appears so," he said, staring pointedly at the kunai that she held in her hands.

"She's here to help," Suki said. "She's from Konoha. When we didn't come back, Kazekage-sama sent help for us. It's good news, Satoshi!" she pleaded. Jin's eyebrow quirked at the use of his given name. Tenten stared at him, a knot of dread forming in her stomach—there was something off about him, the way he moved, his aura…

She shook off her fear. She had a job to do. "I'm part of your recovery team, Satoshi," she said, purposely saying his real name in an attempt to bring him back to his senses. "That man lying there is my partner."

Jin narrowed his eyes, and Tenten could feel Suki backing away. "So you admit that you came here, to my hotel, under false pretenses," he said darkly, taking one step toward her. There was something uncomprehending in his eyes, like he hadn't really heard her words or understood their meaning. "Suki may be naïve, but I'm not foolish enough to believe another word."

The Leaf kunoichi could feel the situation spiraling out of control, and fast. She took a glance at Shino, who was still lying unmoving on the floor. "What did you do to him?" she asked, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible. He took another step toward her, his grin growing wider.

"He's dying," he told her, a hint of sick glee in his voice. "Two liars came to take what belongs to me. One is already gone, and the other…" he extended one long finger toward her, "is soon to be on her way."

He was absolutely crazy, she realized. Tenten was done listening. "Not one step further," she warned, brandishing her weapon out in front of her.

"Please don't," Suki said, and Tenten couldn't be sure who she was talking to. "Please, Jin. We don't have to do this! We can at least let them leave—"

"Shut up, fool," he snapped, his voice sounding strange and deep. He moved toward Suki, gliding with an eerie, unnatural grace. "Haven't you already done enough?"

"I'm warning you, step back," Tenten said. Before, she had already kind of hated Jin for hurting Shino and being an all-around creep, and the way he was talking to his own teammate didn't endear him to her one bit. Tension was wound up tight inside her body, muscles tense and ready for a fight.

"Giving me orders in my own home," he said. His face changed from menacing to smiling in a matter of seconds, and she felt a chill run down her spine. "My, my, kunoichi-san. If you're really here to help us, why are you threatening me?"

"You don't really need me to answer that, do you?" She took another glance at Shino. He was still in the same position on the floor and he hadn't moved an inch. Was he even breathing?

"Your partner was a worthy opponent," Jin said, ignoring her. "I saw that he had a unique bloodline limit, too. It's too bad that it didn't help him in the end."

"What did you do?" she questioned, preparing herself for the inevitable. She knew that he was going to attack; it was just a matter of when.

"Poison," he answered simply. "A powerful blend of my own creation. There's nothing else like it."

"Is there an antidote?" she asked, although she had a feeling that even if there was he wouldn't be giving it to her.

"Of course not," he laughed. "Once you make your mind up to kill someone, you don't give them a way out, now, do you?"

Shino's body suddenly convulsed and Tenten's gaze snapped over to him. "He's seizing," Suki muttered.

She felt sick as she watched him shudder, a soft, low groan escaping his lips. It looked like black beads were falling out of his clothes—what in the world? And she suddenly realized that the beads were actually his kikkai, dying and rolling out of his pores in clumps.

"Shino," she murmured, voice quivering. He was still alive but in terrible condition. She'd never seen him injured, and she had no idea what she would be able to do for him once she was done with Jin. She knew some basic medical techniques, but this… this was far out of her league.

"You'd do well to forget about him and worry about yourself," Jin said, and she focused her attention on him once again. Now was the time to act, and not despair over Shino quite yet. Once she got the chance, she would help him and they would leave.

Without another word, she flung three senbon and one kunai toward her enemy. He dodged easily, as she expected, and with ease she retrieved several more weapons from the hidden places in her yukata.

"Don't let him touch you!" Suki warned, quickly ducking out of the line of fire. Although Tenten didn't acknowledge the other woman out loud, she was pretty sure she understood—the poison must have been passed through touch rather than by the breaking of skin. It would explain how Shino had somehow gotten poisoned even though there were no visible wounds on his body.

She attacked the man before her in her usual manner: she let a scroll loose and threw every weapon she could at him in a ploy to keep him away. But Jin seemed determined to fight with her close-range, ducking through her showers of gleaming senbon and shuriken in an attempt to gain ground. The room was too small, which also gave her another disadvantage; how was she supposed to keep her distance in these conditions?

She glanced desperately toward Suki, who had moved to check on Shino. She tore her eyes away to focus on her opponent, wishing she could pay more attention to her injured teammate. She didn't trust Suki, and she could only hope that she was doing everything she could to revive Shino while she fought the creep that'd poisoned him in the first place.

Jin was quick and clever, and even the few weapons that she managed to hit him with didn't seem to slow him down. She couldn't tell if he was having some kind of adrenaline rush or if he simply didn't feel pain—he showed no physical reaction to the senbon that were sticking out of his arms and shoulders.

He got close enough to make a skilled swipe at her with his fist, although he didn't seem surprised when she ducked and weaved under his arm, careful not to touch him with her bare skin. Quickly and carefully, she threw four shuriken at his calves. She grinned in morbid satisfaction as they embedded themselves deep into skin and muscle, but it seemed to have no effect.

Blood was running from his wounds and smearing across the floors as he danced toward her in a dangerous advance. She fought down a surge of terror at the sight—nothing was slowing him down.

She dodged another attack. He wasn't even using weapons at this point, obviously counting on touching her with his lethal poison. She sliced at his hands with a kunai and tossed it aside when it hit its mark—she didn't even want to risk touching whatever it was that had Shino out of commission.

That seemed to finally stop him. He hissed in pain and skidded back, cradling his bloody hands to his chest. "You don't give up easily, do you?" he laughed, his breathing strained. So, he was getting tired. She pulled out more kunai from her hidden scroll.

"What's wrong with you?" she panted, eyes wide as his body shuddered. He'd stopped attacking for the moment, at least, but he was curling in on himself; his chin tucked into his chest, his shoulders hunched. A deep, unearthly groan escaped his throat in gasps. Now seemed to be the time to attack, but something held her back—then she could see it, only barely, in the low light: a dark aura that seemed to surround his body, almost unperceivable to the naked eye. His body unfurled, and she watched in horror as the weapons she'd stuck him with slowly, agonizingly, removed themselves. They dropped to the floor in a clatter, accompanied by splattering blood.

"Nothing can harm me." His voice was ragged, deep, unnatural.

"You have to leave!" Suki's voice barely reached her ears. It took everything she had to stand up, clinging to her kunai with a white-knuckle grip, to face him. She couldn't leave Shino.

"What's wrong with you?" she repeated, her hands shaking. Jin's lips had twisted into a mockery of a smile, teeth gleaming like a wolf's.

"Nothing you would understand, little kunoichi. All you need to know is that you won't leave here alive." He advanced, hands outstretched in such a form that she thought he was going to try to block her chakra points. Terror hung over her like a shroud as she flung her kunai and hit him in the knee. He stumbled, barely, before continuing. Undaunted, she aimed again for the other knee.

"Stop!" Suki hissed, bolting from Shino's side to grasp Tenten's arm.

"Are you crazy?!" Tenten cried, flinching as the kunai fell from Jin's mangled knee onto the floor. She shoved Suki away and threw another before moving away, placing precious distance between herself and her opponent. He wasn't down, but she could see the end of the fight now—he was cracking, covered in blood. This had to end soon.

"Satoshi!" Suki yelled. She had gotten her hands on a stray kunai and was shakily approaching him. Jin's head swiveled in her direction and Tenten launched some senbon into his neck—she didn't have time for whatever speech Suki was getting ready to give.

That was a mistake. The room's temperature dropped by several degrees as he hissed in pain. "Do you know what you're doing?! Who I am?!" he shrieked, words echoing off the walls and freezing her in her place with fear.

Suki, miraculously, seemed unaffected by the outburst. "Satoshi, please! It isn't too late!"

Tenten disagreed, but she certainly wasn't about to say so out loud. She instead took the chance to look again at Shino. He'd stopped convulsing, and was now lying still, surrounded by unmoving kikkai. The sight made her sick.

Suki continued approaching Jin, slow and careful as though she were approaching an injured animal. "Listen. This has all been a huge mistake. This whole mission has cost us too much… we lost Kano. All of this isn't worth losing each other. Let's go home."

"Home," Jin laughed maliciously. "This is home, Suki."

"It's Sachi," she said softly. "Is there anything left of you, Satoshi?"

"Satoshi is gone!" he snapped, hands reaching up to wrench the senbons from his neck. He reached for her—to do what, Tenten wasn't certain. Suki moved in a flash, slamming bodily into Jin and sticking the kunai into his throat.

A loud, gut-wrenching wail rose up from out of him. The lights flickered on and off, and every hair on Tenten's body rose as she tried to crawl toward her teammate. The chaotic seconds seemed to crawl by as she watched Suki and Jin struggle. He staggered, she wrenched the kunai further and tore him apart. He struggled and fought until he lost too much blood to go on, and finally they fell together.

Suki, or Sachi, sat up until she was kneeling beside him. The henge was undone, and in its wake left a tired-looking brunette kneeling over a tall, scrawny man with a hooked nose. She could now recognize the Satoshi and Sachi they had come to Kurohara to find.

"The poison," Tenten muttered, watching as Sachi shook. The other woman raised her head to look at her.

"I might make it," she said. "I've built up a tolerance over the years. We both did. It hurts, badly, but when you handle it on a regular basis…" In spite of her words, her arms gave out and she fell to her elbows with a painful grunt. "Can you… move me away from him?" she asked, turning her head so not to look at her fallen comrade. Tenten moved, gabbing Sachi by her arms and dragging her to lean up against the wall closest to Shino.

"Your teammate will probably die," Sachi said, shuddering. "I'm sorry. I truly am. If I'd known the Kazekage had sent help…"

Tenten was filled with just as much regret, and would be dealing with more if Shino died. "Was he lying? About the antidote?"

"No. If there was any, it'd be at our workshop in Suna," the other kunoichi replied.

Tenten left her for a moment to place Shino into recovery position. She was relieved to see that he was still breathing, though his pulse was so light that she wasn't sure how long he had left.

"I need to know what happened here," Tenten said. Sachi tore her gaze away from her dead partner to look at her.

"Even I don't know," she said, her voice weak. "When we got here, Satoshi changed. He became obsessed with our covers."

"Jin and Suki?" Tenten asked.

"Yes… It's my fault," she wheezed. "I wanted to see the shrine to the mountain spirits. When we were there, something…" Sachi paused, searching for words. "You wouldn't understand."

Tenten remembered meeting Haru Tendo's mad wife at the shrine, and the strange feeling they'd gotten while there. "I just might," she assured. "What happened next?"

"Satoshi… became Jin. They were the same person," she continued. "You saw it. He forgot who he was. We were supposed to leave after we captured our target, but Satoshi killed him instead. After that, he decided he didn't want to leave."

So they had found the missing-nin. Tenten wanted to know more, but time was short. "What happened to the chunin?"

"Kano," Sachi whispered. That was after… after Satoshi killed the old hotel manager. Kano wanted to leave. He tried to convince me to go with him and Satoshi found out. He…" Big tears rolled down her face. "He killed him. So I kept my head down and did what he said. He wasn't himself anymore. He forgot who he was."

"Why didn't you leave? Send out a radio signal?"

Sachi made a noise that was a cough or a laugh—she wasn't certain. "I know it's stupid. I thought… I wanted to protect him. He's my teammate. I thought I could get through to him eventually. And he seemed to know everything that went on in the hotel. If I sent a message, I'd get caught. And whoever they sent here would get killed." Her eyes slid toward Shino.

Tenten wanted to scream. This was a mess. A mission that had failed in the worst possible way.

"There's still that carriage I told you about," she offered weakly. "They won't take you to Konoha. But they'll get you out."

"What about you?" Tenten asked, although at this point she wasn't sure she could think about it. She could only carry one person out of this room, and she had to choose her own team member. It was a hard decision, but one she was prepared to make.

Sachi's breaths became more ragged. "I think you know what will happen to me."

Tenten rolled Shino into a sitting position, calling upon the strength she'd had to use to keep up with Team Gai. She'd have to figure out how to get him onto her back to carry him, but she knew she could do it.

"I'm sorry, Sachi," she said solemnly.

"Can't say I'm okay with how things turned out, but it's not your fault," the other woman mumbled in reply. Tenten could see her body shutting down, her eyes beginning to droop. "Get out quickly. It'll be easier to escape before they find us…"

That was true, she realized. Once they found Sachi and Satoshi, dead and covered in blood in the manager's apartment, escape would be significantly more difficult. Getting caught up in an investigation would be trouble they didn't need right now.

Tenten moved quickly after that, hating that she had to do it but understanding that she had no choice. She heaved Shino, who was about 170 pounds of dead-weight, onto her back. It was difficult and messy—dead kikkai were everywhere, still pulsing weakly from his body. How he was still alive, she didn't know. It probably had something to do with his bloodline limit, but she couldn't figure it all out right now. She set her jaw and began the long haul up the stairs.

She cleared her mind and pretended that this was some kind of challenge from Lee or Gai-sensei. It was easier than thinking too hard about the fact that she was leaving another kunoichi to die.