The blade, only seconds away from slicing her in half, glimmered in the sun and all of a sudden her vision of someone covered in all black stood in front of the blade. The blade struck it and ended up being stuck in the wooden puppet. The bandit hurried furiously to pull it out, but it was obvious he was having a hard time of it.

"Crow!" Ino smiled as tears ran down her face, she searched for Kankuro but didn't see him. But she knew he was there and she sobbed with relief. She couldn't stop crying, even though she kept at it. She was so happy to be alive, but was even more happy that Kankuro came back for her.

The bandit was confused and he narrowed his eyes but he kept yanking at his blade, "A Puppeteer? How quaint."

Ino smiled as Kankuro appeared out of nowhere. Kankuro retorted with a smart remark and she wanted so much to run over to him and hug and kiss him. But she didn't think she would make it over there. She felt faint already and she knew he had better end this battle fast. She leaned against the tree and slid to the ground to rest herself. But she wasn't out yet. She boosted the rest of her energy and reached for a Kunai. She didn't have enough chakra for type of jutsu, so she tried her best to stop twitching as she aimed her kunai. The bandit pulled his sword out of the puppet, and backed away a few inches or so.

Kankuro was expertly cornering the bandit, his golden brown eyes filled with utter hatred to the guy. He was going to kill this guy. He would have taken his time on the killing, but with the way that Ino looked, he feared the only way to keep her alive was to finish him off quick. She looked so beautiful, but he knew that if she died, he would never forgive himself. He wouldn't be able to live without her. With a jerk, he had a sudden realization. He loved her. With all his heart and soul. Kankuro focused his attack and struck with the blades inside of Crow and killed the main bandit. Kankuro grinned, and noted that Ino had also thrown a blade at the bandit. The other bandit who was still completely exhausted didn't have enough energy to attack, but he tried his best to scoot away. Kankuro ignored the other one and looked toward Ino.

He rushed over to her side, and knew things were grim. He yanked her into his arms as carefully as possible, in order to not disturb the wounds any further. Kankuro brown eyes softened at the way her eyes shined with joy. His strong arms cradling her, Kankuro walked toward Konoha. With every step, pain jolted Ino, but she avoided mentioning the fact. She was just glad she was in his arms. She snuggled closer, and wrapped her arms around his neck and breathed in his scent. She leaned her head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat.

"Hey, Kankuro? I'm sorry for not believing you. I was just so jealous," Ino whispered, barely able to keep her voice loud enough, " I just reacted, because-"

She pulled her head away and coughed up blood, and Kankuro picked up the pace as worry kept digging at his skull. Ino tried to speak more but Kankuro stopped her.

"Don't speak right now. You need all the strength that you can," Kankuro ordered Ino, worried out of his mind for her.

Her eyes flashed with anger at his interruption, and Ino responded with a sharp retort but softened her voice at the end, "I'm trying to tell you something important, you perverted dolt! I love you, Kankuro. I really do, and I just want to be with you."

"You just had to pick the moment when time is against us. I'll have to kiss you for that confession later. Right now I got to get you to the village," Kankuro sighed regretfully, "I can't believe you went solo! But I love you even when you're acting crazy."

Ino started to cry, and he panicked. Quickly he asked her, "Are you okay, Ino? Is the pain getting worse?"

"No, Kankuro, I'm crying because I'm so happy."

Ino glanced at him, and smiled at his bewilderment. He chuckled a bit and looked toward the gates of the village, "Let's get a medic to look at you." Sakura, after finishing her errand for Tsunade, waited at the entrance. When they came closer, Sakura rushed toward the couple.

"Get some more medics over here pronto!" Sakura ordered as her hand started to glow with chakra. She pressed down on the heaviest of wounds, to stop the bleeding somewhat and motioned for Kankuro to lay Ino down on to the stretcher as the other medics hurried closer. Gently Kankuro easing Ino down on to the cloth. Ino slowly pulled her head away from his neck before she settled herself more comfortably on him.

"Good thing you came back in time," Sakura said seriously thinking about how close to death Ino was, "otherwise-"

She paused, and sighed as she glanced at Ino, who was trying hard not to faint, "Let's hurry it up!"

The stretcher moved quickly to the Medical center, with Kankuro following closely behind. Sakura kept throwing orders around, and Kankuro hoped with all his heart that Ino would be okay. He didn't know how he'd survive without her. Kankuro thought about how he should have never had left her.

Sakura glanced back at Kankuro, and saw that he was hurting with guilt. She gave him a small smile and Kankuro replied with a half-smile. Sakura kept her eyes on Ino's condition and hoped that Shikamaru and Temari were doing better with their relationship.