A/N: This is a fic based on a series of ten prompts over at the 10_what_ifs community on livejournal. The theme set I'm using is Spaceship. So, if you've figured it out, this is going to be an AU fic. The particular prompt for this chapter is 7. Weapons. This chapter was too monstrous, so I split it up into two parts.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Can We Use Your Alley, Ma'am?

She had been in the rooms for hours. At least, it felt like hours. She didn't have any way to tell time, so she wasn't sure. She had tried the door a hundred times, but it was locked. She had taken to pacing in the face of such a dismal reality.

She was still thinking about ways to escape, but the ideas were desperate and flimsy at best. It was better than the alternatives. Like wondering what Deidara was going to do with her. She hadn't liked how he had mentioned selling her to terrorists who wanted to send a message... No, that wasn't a good line of thinking. Neither was thinking about Kisame.

Kisame... the very thought of that bastard had her blood boiling. She understood that he wasn't the most charming or caring person in the universe, but she had trusted him! Trusted him to keep her safe on this trip and get her back on the ship. She knew that they were being held at gunpoint, but couldn't he have come up with something better than giving in?

What was going to happen when Kisame went back to the ship without her? Would they notice immediately? Would they care? She knew Haku would, at least, Ino hoped so. But was that enough? Clearly no one else would. Zabuza hated her, and Sasuke didn't care for her much either. Itachi, maybe but who knew. She was sure he wouldn't be rampant to orchestrate her rescue.

She distantly heard a roll of thunder, it slightly reverberated through her whole body. Guess Kisame was right about that storm.

Outside noises invaded Ino's thoughts. It sounded like a conversation broken up with static. She crept closer to the door, her ears straining. She could barely make it out, but it sounded like the thug guarding her door was on a two way radio.

"- disturbance in -all units - copy?"

"Copy," she heard the guard say, and then she listened as he walked away. She didn't know why he had left, just that there was no one in the hall! This was a perfect opportunity!

If only she could figure out a way to escape.

If I had a bobby pin or something like that, then I could pick the lock, but I don't. Fuck I'm stuck here!

Then a light bulb of an idea came to mind. Duh, just kick the door down!

She counted to thirty, hoping that the guard would be out of hearing distance, before she struck. It only took two tries to get the door busted open. She peeked her head out the door, hoping no one heard the door being kicked down. No one had come running yet, but she didn't want to chance it. She closed the door behind her, not that it was going to hide her escape much. The doorjamb was splintered all to hell.

She crept down the hall as fast and as quietly as she could. She headed in the opposite direction of where the guards had dragged her down. She knew what was the other way – Deidara and his posse. She had no hope in hell of getting past anybody in that room, let alone past the thugs that'd be waiting at the entrance in the bar. If Deidara was smart, then he would have a secondary exit, or three. And as luck would have it, she did find what she was looking for. A stairwell, and it was going both up and down.

She headed up, keeping close to the wall again. Though, if someone came down the stairs there wasn't anywhere to hide. She had to go up all the way to finally find a door. She thanked her lucky stars that her luck was still holding up; the door was unlocked.

She snuck out the stairwell, closing it softly behind her. She wasn't sure where she was, but she knew that she above ground again. She could see pale grey light leaking from the edges of tightly shuttered windows. The space was hot, cloistered and smelled awfully rank. There were also awkwardly familiar sounds further down the hall. Moans worthy of crappy triple x movies could be heard.

Great, of all the places I landed up in it has to be a bloody brothel! This is a day that's definitely going to have my grandfather rolling in his Coalition military-issued coffin.

Despite her dangerous and dire situation a blush was swept across her cheeks. Okay, I can't think about how awkward this is; I need to get out.

Hearing thumping noises that indicated someone was running up the stairs behind her made that decision all that more important. She started towards a heavy bureau along the wall – maybe if she dragged it she could block the doorway. Panic made her bypass that situation. No, that'll take too long. I need to hide or get out.

With that thought firmly in mind she raced down the hallway and into the catacombs of halls and bedrooms that branched off them. She ducked into the first unoccupied room she found. The cheap beads hanging in the door jangled and caught in her hair, making her panicked heart beat faster. The only thing in the room was a mattress and some sheets.

And a window.

She had to tug open the shutters because they had rusted shut, but what she saw wasn't good. She was three stories off the ground. She was probably on the top floor on the tavern. It'd be too risky to try and climb down, she'd probably fall and break her neck. That and just looking down was giving her vertigo. She hated heights.

She was about to sneak out to try and find another exit – there had to be another way down aside from the stairs she went up - when she realized what she was hearing; heavy bootsteps that were methodically checking every room, much to the aghast of some the patrons. Her heart was racing, and made her body jitter with every quickened beat. She tried to gauge how far away the guard was, and she figured it was too close. The beads of the room next to her own were jostled and tinkled.

Shiiiiiiiiit.

The window was her only option now.

She was across the room and hopping over the sill in two seconds. She shut the shutters as tightly as possible behind her. She had to crawl on her hands and knees, keeping her eyes on the roof, as she made her way along the ridge of it. She got shaky if she was five feet off the ground. She was way, way, higher than five feet. There was also a bit of a crowd milling across the street. She really didn't want to be spotted. Though, the milling crowd seemed to be distracted by something that appeared to be on fire if the smoke was any clue.

Probably why that guard left... wonder what happened. Oh well, can't worry about it now. Need to find a way down.

As she crawled she was hoping to find an access ladder or fire escape. That she could probably climb down without having a complete meltdown. No such luck. The only thing going from the roof to the ground was a drain pipe on the opposite end of the building as the crowd. It led down to a quiet, deserted alleyway.

She didn't like the idea of climbing down a drainpipe – it sounded like something right out of the movies. There was also no way her fear of heights was going to even let half way down that thing. She'd probably have a heart attack and fall off and then die painfully. She was going to have to try another way down.

A bang like a gunshot almost made her skitter off the edge in surprise. Ino's racing heart almost stopped completely at what she saw. Someone was investigating the roof; the bang had come from the shutter opening. Later, if someone was to ask her what the guy had looked like, she wouldn't have been able to say squat. Describe the huge gun on his hip that she would be able to, in vivid detail.

She needed to get off that roof, now, before the guy turned around. And that was only a matter of seconds. And unless she grew wings in the next thirty seconds she was stuck on the roof; she had to go down that damn drain pipe.

As fast as could she wiggled off the roof, trying not to make a sound. She did her best to grip the pipe with her booted feet, and tried to slide down far enough so she could safely grab the pipe with her hands. She still had her elbows on the roof when the guy finally turned around. In a panic, Ino let go the roof and grabbed the pipe. There was a terrifying moment where she thought she was going to fall backwards when she felt her feet slip a little. But then her fingers curled around the pipe, and she wasn't falling anymore.

She was off the roof now, but she wasn't sure if that guy with the gun on the roof had seen her. She tried to calm her breathing and her heart, in a vain hope that she could hear what was happening. She counted to thirty three times and nothing happened. She counted to thirty another two times before she finally peeked her head over the edge of the roof.

The guy was gone.

Ino slumped against the drainpipe, her chest heaving with gasps. She felt so tired with relief. She wondered if she could sneak back up onto the roof and back into the building. She could find another exit that way. She seriously contemplated before she rationalized with herself. Deidara's people were looking for her – that meant that the exits would be watched. It would be only a matter of time before they realized she wasn't in the building. Then they would search outside. She needed to be gone by that point, not clinging to the wall.

With caution she shimmied down the drainpipe. She half slid, half climbed, and was wholly petrified. The muscles in her arms were shaking so bad that she was terrified that she'd lose her grip on the pipe. Her breath was hissing between her teeth. She felt tears prick and blur her vision as the ungodly terror filled her, but she forced herself down inch by inch.

Halfway down she was thanking whoever decided that it would be a good idea to make the medical officers do the same fitness training like everyone else. If her drill instructors hadn't been such assholes, Ino was sure she would have lost her grip on the pipe early on. As it was, she almost was at risk from losing her grip; she could feel the bile rising in the back of her throat as her vision start to spin and blur.

Maybe that's why didn't realize that the piece of pipe she was one was shakier than it should have been.

Until it broke away from the wall.

She screamed as she felt herself hang in the air, and then smack into the ground seconds later, the piece of pipe clattering next to her.

"Holy shit," Ino hissed in horror. She had just fell about ten feet! "Holy, fucking shit," she reiterated.

Ino slowly scrambled up onto her feet, hissing at the bruises she could feel forming. Thankfully, she had landed feet first, but her legs had collapsed under her, and she had crashed onto her side pretty hard. She had nasty scrapes on her hands, and her pants were torn and bloody. She was sure she saw gravel and dirt in the scrapes on her legs. This just added to the total misery of her day.

But she was almost passing out with relief from being on solid ground. No one seemed to have noticed her yet, a scream probably went unnoticed is this ghetto of a town; so she crouched in the dark alley her drainpipe had lead to, trying to think and to catch her breath. She had to get somewhere safe to send out a message. But she didn't have any money, and her ID cards were back on the Courtesan. She didn't know who she should get in contact with either. The Courtesan was probably closest but then, it was a member of that ship that had gotten her into this mess, so clearly they couldn't be trusted. That left getting a message to a Coalition base, which would be able to wire her to a close Coalition ship. Help could be days or weeks away.

Maybe if I get a hold of my parents they can wire me some money and I can buy passage on the first ship off planet? Ino contemplated as she snuck down the alley which opened up to the street, using the wall to support herself. Her legs were jelly from all the adrenaline. She headed left, away from the tavern. She was mostly ignored. She probably fit better in this rugged down now that she was a complete mess.

She dogged down the street, trying to figure out a safe place when she got grabbed into the darkness of an alley a couple blocks down. A hand clamped on her mouth and on her arm, fingers digging painfully into her scrapes, as she was dragged away from anyone that might help.

I'm fucking sick of this! She tried to tear the hand away from her mouth, and changed tactics when that failed. She railed her elbow into her attacker's gut, and slammed her heel into his instep. That had made him almost yelp in pain. The hand on her mouth was removed and she tried to shake his grip off her arm by twisting, but he hung on. She used her elbows and her knees to try and get him to shake loose, and from the grunts he made she knew that some of her hits made contact.

"Fuck, woman," a familiar voice hissed, "will you settle the fuck down?"

"Kisame?" She whispered, ceasing her wild attacks.

He spun her around, his hands cupping her face. She was sure there was something akin to relief in his yellow eyes. "Yeah, it's me. Okay, listen, here's what we're gonna do..."

She didn't let him finish. She just took a step back and clocked him hard in the face. His head snapped back in a fulfilling way, and there was definitely going to be a bruise tomorrow. She would have laughed in any other situation at the surprised look on his face. Instead she just felt sick satisfaction.

"No, you listen," she growled, her breathe hissing between her teeth, "You're going to stay the fuck away from me. If you have any decency you'll give me enough cash to catch a shuttle heading off planet. I'm sure you can afford it, seeing as you practically just sold me off."

There was a look of desperation in his eyes. "Look, I'm sorry, I can explain everything but not right now..."

"You're SORRY?" She yelled. "Well, you can stick your SORRY RIGHT UP YOUR-"

Kisame clamped his hand on her mouth again, and had her pinned to the wall before she could finish. "Shhhhhhh," he whispered, his eyes darting up and down the alley, "We can't attract attention, Ino. I know you're mad, furious probably, and you should be. I didn't want to leave, okay, but he would have shot us both, do you understand? Now, the Courtesan is still waiting for us, and we need to get off planet. Okay? Now I'm going to remove my hand, alright?"

She glared at him, her blue eyes trying to communicate all her rage and hurt, but she nodded her head to indicate she would be quiet.

He removed his hand cautiously before he continued, "Alright, now we need to get to the docks before they get swarmed with Deidara's goons, otherwise we'll never get off the planet. We need to take the back route, so just stick close by me so we don't get separated."

"How do I know you're not leading me right back to your good buddy Deidara? You've already given me up once, why not twice? After all, I'm just Coalition, right? Scum under your feet?" She kept her voice low with difficulty. She wanted to scream, kick punch and bite. She wanted to hurt him as much as he had hurt her.

He rubbed his hands up and down in her arms, she might have found it comforting from anyone else. He tried to look her in the eyes but she turned her head away, resolutely staring to her left. "We don't have time for this, Ino, we need to move."

She kept looking away, her arms crossed defensively across her chest.

She heard his sigh. "You have to understand, I only did what I had to. He would have shot us both, and then we would have both been dead. I only did what was safest for everybody."

"You left me," she hissed.

There were pleading notes in his voice, but then she wasn't sure. Kisame and pleading didn't belong in the same sentence. "I know, and you have no how hard that was. If I could do anything to take it back... And I was coming back to get you out. I wouldn't have left without you. I was-"

"Liar. You want to help me?" she whispered, cutting him off, "You get me back on the ship, and then drop me off at the closet Coalition base. Consider it my resignation."

"Ino, if you resign..."

She knew what he was hinting at. It wouldn't look good on her report. It could seriously damage her career.

She narrowed her eyes as she stared off into the distance. "Like you care. You're not human, so don't pretend to understand me. A person wouldn't have left me to some crazy criminal. A person would have done something."

It was probably stupid to insult someone who might be able to help her, but she was so damn furious and full of hate that she didn't really care.

Kisame's warm hands dropped off her shoulders. His voice had a hollow quality to it. "Fine. If that's what you want."

"Fine," she echoed.

"Fine," he growled.

They stood like that for a few precious seconds, neither willing to look each other in the eye, before Kisame seemed to snap out of it. "Come on, this way," he said gruffly.

Ino followed him down the alleyway and back onto the street. Kisame had been right – they were taking the back route, through the grungy residential areas. He set a fast pace, and she had trouble keeping up sometimes. It was probably because he was pissed at what she had said (it had been rather insulting) but then so was she. She never had hated anything or anyone like she did for Kisame right now.

They didn't talk at all. Ino just did her best to follow Kisame, who seemed to be avoiding everybody's shadow. But they didn't seem to have any problems. No one seemed to even give them a second glance. The skies were darkening and the streets were clearing as the first droplets of rain started to fall, and the people were closeting themselves away from the impending rain.

They were both were in a hurry, both were pissed off, and they could see the spires of the shipyard half a dozen blocks east. Maybe that's why neither had paid much attention to the guy with the gun until he opened fire.

Bullets ricocheted on the brick walls near them, biting large holes into the brickwork. It was just a warning shot.

"Stay where you are!"

They listened, both of their muscles coiled and ready to move at the first opportunity.

"Now, I think you have something that belongs to us. If you just let me take her, I'll make sure you get to your ship on the docks. Sounds like a fair deal?"

Kisame had a hand on her arm, and Ino's heart froze.

"Don't you dare," she hissed.

"Don't worry, I learn from my mistakes," Kisame said calmly before he drew his gun quick-draw-style and opened fire. The guy took the shots to the chest, falling to the ground in a slump. Another guy further down the street appeared and commenced picking up where his buddy left off. Bullets chewed up the brickwork once more.

Kisame dragged her down a nearby alley. They ran, crouched as the rain of gun fire continued, the bullets biting at their dirt around their feet. They weaved a crazy trail through alleys, trying to lose the gunman. They ducked into a darkened alley to catch their breath. They saw some guys with heavy rifles running around up the street. Apparently their gunman had friends.

"We can't stay here," Kisame had to almost shout. The rain was pounding down, soaking them both.

Ino nodded ready to follow Kisame. He made to get up from his crouched position and fell on his ass onto the wet pavement.

"Fuck," he hissed, his hands clutching at his knee.

"Let me see," she demanded, delicately prying away Kisame's hands. Despite her anger at him, she would always and forever be a medic first, and that pushed away any differences she might have. At first she didn't know what she was seeing – Kisame was wearing black pants, they were in a dark alley, the rain was running into her eyes and the storm was making everything dusk-dark. But when her hands came away bloody she realized that Kisame had been shot. A little below the knee was her guess, but she couldn't really tell. She unbuttoned her white blouse, her fingers cold and fumbling from the rain.

Kisame stopped her, his eyes wide – probably because of the eyeful, she was only wearing a bra underneath. "What are you doing?"

"You're shot and bleeding, you need a bandage. It's not like no one can see what I'm wearing underneath. Hello, I'm soaked and wearing white." She kept unbuttoning her shirt before creating a makeshift bandage with it for his knee. The white cotton didn't take long to darken with blood.

Kisame gave her a once over before he got up on unsteady legs. "This is almost worth getting shot," he mumbled darkly.

His bad knee was seriously hindering their progress. Their speed was a lot slower, with Kisame using the walls as for support. Over the rain, Ino could still make out the gasps of pain. Gunshot wounds were never pleasant, but getting one to the knee must be excruciating. How he wasn't passing out was beyond her. They only made it a few more blocks before Kisame dragged her into another alley.

"This isn't going to work," Kisame shouted over the rain.

Panic was clear in Ino's voice. "What do you mean? Come on, let's keep going. We're not far!"

Kisame shook his head. "We have seven blocks to go, provided we don't have to detour. I won't make it that far, I can't keep up." He dug around in his duster's pocket and pulled out a set of keys.

"You know where the ship is, you can make it there. Get back on the ship and get help. Deidara won't fucking pull shit if Itachi deals with him personally."

The keys to the ship, and to safety, dangled in front of her. It would be so easy to snatch them and walk away. Kisame deserved it.

"Take it already," Kisame growled.

Ino's blue eyes narrowed, grabbing the keys from his hand. And put it back into his pocket, much to his surprise. Not as surprised, though, when she ducked under his arm and settled some of his weight on her like a crutch.

"What are you doing?"

"Helping you, what does it look like?" She shouted, frustrated.

"Why?"

She brushed her wet hair out of her face, "Because I'm too fucking nice for my own good."

"Anyone tell you that you're one helluva woman, Ino Yamanaka?"

She rolled her eyes at the comment. If Kisame was able to hold onto that weird sense of humour of his then everything was still all well and good.

They trudged at a slower pace, taking the alleyways. There were plenty of close calls, but they hadn't been spotted yet. They were cautious as mice, poking their heads around the corners before making a move. It felt like forever when they finally were just three or four blocks away. The docks were still crowded despite the rain, so if they could get into the growing crowd that they could hear a few blocks over, they would be fine.

Maybe it was because they were so close that Ino got cocky, she didn't double check that the coast was clear before stepping out. She didn't realize the bullet had been shot until it hit the wall in front of her. She had almost lost her nose!

They doubled back they way they came at a run. Well, they tried to run. The best they could manage was a limping gallop, what with Kisame's bum leg. Ino tried to turn right, but Kisame forced her left.

"But we're going away from the shuttle!" she cried.

"Yeah, and that's where more of those types are going to be coming from," Kisame rationalized.

They dodged down another alley before another volley of gunfire was let loose, bullets eating dirt where they had just stood. The dashed down the alley and ran down another one. They could hear shouts behind them, closing in. They needed to hurry, but they couldn't. And there wasn't anywhere to hide. It wasn't like anyone was going to open their doors and offer them refuge. The only other person on the street was a drenched prostitute.

"Over there," Kisame whispered, jerking his head to where the woman was standing, "In that alley."

Ino wanted to point how foolish that was. That alley wasn't any better than any others. Besides the hooker would probably rat them out first chance she got. Ino helped Kisame walk over to the designated alley, shouts in the distance becoming less than distant. The prostitute ignored them, right up until they tried to go into her dead end alley.

"Shove off, ya hear? If you don't fly off I'll-"

Kisame slapped a roll of cash into her hand. That shut the woman up. "For the use of your alley, ma'am. And you'll get the same once we're done."

The shouts were closer, and the hooker looked edgy. "I don't want no trouble, ya hear?"

Kisame made a show of counting out some paper bills before passing them over. The run-down woman seemed to think about it before greed set in and she tucked away the money.

"Carry on, then."

Ino was thoroughly confused. All those thugs had to do was take one look down the alley and spot them.

Kisame shrugged out of his long duster. "Put your up into a bun, it'll hide the length. And put this on."

Ino did as she was told, doing it as quickly as possible. The jacket was warm to her chilled body, and it smelled of leather and of the musky notes of the cologne Kisame was fond of using. She was about to ask what this was going to do, when voices came closer, hailing the lady of the night at the mouth of the alley. That's when Kisame launched his plan.

One second Ino had her feet firmly on the ground the next she had her back slammed into the wall, gasping loudly. Kisame was holding up her, supporting her by gripping under her thighs. She opened her mouth to ask him what the hell he was thinking when his mouth slanted across hers, effectively silencing her.

"Shhh," she felt more than heard whispered against her lips. Kisame moved his face away, burying it into her neck just as a thug came to the mouth of the alley to harass the hooker.

"You see anyone came 'round this way? A pretty blonde and big, blue, ugly bruiser of a guy?"

Ino tensed at the description, and she felt Kisame's breath hitch on her neck. She was shaking, worried that any moment they were going to be found. Given their intimate position, Kisame obviously could feel it. She could hear him whispering softly, Don't worry, it's okay, it's okay like a calming mantra. She moved her hands from his shoulders, circling her arms around his neck into a tight hug. She could really use the comfort, despite who it was from.

"Can't say I have."

The thug wasn't impressed. "Yeah, and who's that down in the alley?"

"One of the girl's off of Fleet street. She got a smart mouth on her, and her pimp made sure she's got less of a mouth on her. She can still suck ya off if ya'd like, but she ain't no sight like the pretties on Fleet street. She's with another customer, but maybe I can help you out. It's cold outside, help keep a girl warm?"

"Sure, girly, if I wanted my dick to rot off. I've know where you been."

"If ya gonna be like that then, you can bloody well shove on, lad. I don't want your business if that's how you treat a lady."

The thug scoffed before he spat in the woman's direction. He trudged off, skulking in the rain.

Ino felt Kisame breathe a sigh of relief into her neck and relax. The adrenaline was starting wear off again, and it felt she had been running on it for forever. She was tired, and maybe that's why didn't care that Kisame was nuzzled securely into her neck. Or that he was warm and she was freezing from the rain. Or that he smelled nice, and that it was comforting.

"Alright then, where's the other half?"

Ino snapped out of her thoughts, blushing at the awkward situation she was in. Ino felt Kisame huff, his breath tickling the skin. He let her down gently; how he had managed to hold her up for so long with that bad leg she'd never know.

Kisame gave the woman another wad of cash, and Ino shrugged out of the oversized jacket. The black leather duster reached Kisame's knees but it almost hung at her ankles when she wore it.

"Don't bother," Kisame said, "You need it more than I do right now."

Ino settled the jacket once again her shoulders, coming closer to help Kisame. As they left Ino couldn't help but feel paranoid. It was only when they had moved out of earshot that she voiced her concerns. "Won't that woman tell on us?"

Kisame shrugged. "I hope not, I bloody well paid her enough."

Ino couldn't help the snort that escaped her. It wasn't that funny – really.

It was another game of cat and mouse, with the pair of them being the mice. They dodged in around the alleys, sneaking closer to the docks. Finally, they saw the ship just a few yards away from their alleyway vantage point. And no one seemed to be guarding it.

"I don't like this," Kisame muttered.

"You think it's a trap?" Ino asked, her eyes trying to glean any information in the dark.

"Most definitely. They know it's our only way off planet; they have to be keeping an eye on it."

"So what do we do?"

Kisame sighed. "It's not like we've got a choice. We can't stay here. Come on."

"So we're just going to go right up and walk into the trap?" Ino hissed as the edged closer, keeping to the shadows and using other docked ships as cover.

"Like I said, it's not like we got much choice. We can't just sit and wait."

Ino hissed, "I know, but still."

They weren't even ten feet away now from the small shuttle craft by this point and nothing had jumped out and even said 'boo.' Or try to shoot them. They had also run out of cover. It was nothing but open space for the remaining ten feet.

Kisame grumbles something that sounds like a well used expletive. "You still remember how to shoot?"

"Uh, yeah?" Ino replied, cautious.

Kisame passed her a gun; the same one that he had taken from her at Deidara's place. "We're going to run across. Anything moves, shoot it, got it? Don't worry about aiming too much, just shoot."

Ino gulped, the gun heavy in her hand. "Got it." The gun made an echoing click as she turned off the safety.

"On my count, one..."

Ino could feel the rain running between her shoulder blades. Why the hell was a desert planet like Calor raining?

"...two..."

She could feel all the bruises and scrapes from her adventure on the roof. She kind of still wished she was there. At least all she had just to worry about was falling to death; now she had to worry about getting shot. Both were really terrifying options really.

"...three..."

I wondered what would have happened if my grandpa had encouraged me to be a lawyer instead of a doctor? Ino wondered idly as all her muscles tensed.

"GO!"

They were fleeing across the distance, their feet churning the wet ground into mud. Both of them had their guns aimed down, but were looking for something to shoot at. Ino could feel her heartbeat in her ears, and she kept expecting the bang that would be followed by extreme pain.

It was only when they both were panting with adrenaline and safe with their backs pressed to the shuttle ship did they realize no one had aimed fire at them.

"You sure Deidara's smart enough to lay a trap down? I mean seriously, we must be the only people out here."

A serious look was on Kisame's face as he fingers tapped in the pass code to the ship. "It doesn't make sense."

The door popped open, hissing as the pressure locks were released. They didn't dawdle, and the door was closing behind them the instant they were both inside. Kisame sat down at the control panel, the shuttle humming to life under his control. Ino decided to stand a little longer, leaning against the panel and facing the rear exit.

"How long is it gonna take to get up and out of the atmosphere?" Ino asked, closing her eyes. She was exhausted. She wanted to go home and collapse on her bed.

Kisame was still tapping co-ordinates at the control panel, his attention on the work. "Once the engine is up to full power, shouldn't take more than five minutes."

Ino nodded, opening her eyes as she sighed. She rolled her head back, trying to work out the kinks. Her her eyes widened at what she saw.

"KISAME!"

Two gunshots echoed in the shuttle.

A/N: Answer one cliff-hanger and leave you with another! How cruel am I?