Chapter 24: Her Strength
Ino had never been one of the significant ones. She'd never been one of the ninja chosen for an important mission at the last moment. She'd never been anyone's first choice when the Hokage said "take anyone you need." She'd never been one of the heroes, wounded in battle, brought home by the medics, keeping people waiting for hours outside the operating room to see if she was alright. She was always the one waiting. She was the one who got to hear about it all when everyone got back. It wasn't really surprising, despite her strong personal constitution and great confidence, she knew her jutsu weren't all that impressive. She'd been selected for the Golden Army because she was part of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, and a personal friend of the Golden General.
What Ino had was her strength. Her personal strength, her inner strength, the sheer force of mind and will that made her Ino Yamanaka.
So when she saw the mass of gray-clad warriors up in the distance, she knew what she had to do.
"Harbingers!" called Neji, out in front with his byakugan activated, "Lots of them! There's got to be a hundred or more!"
"We don't have time for this!" Shikamaru growled, "It's just a stalling tactic, we can't waste time!"
"Well we can't just go through them!" called Choji, coming up from behind, "We have to . . ."
"I got it."
They all looked at Ino. She dropped down from the trees, atop a small overhang, giving her a vantage point over the sea of gray soldiers.
"Go."
"But Ino . . ." Shikamaru began, the whole procession stopping to watch as the harbingers picked up their weapons.
"I said, go." she repeated.
She and Shikamaru exchanged a long look.
"Come on, we can't waste time." Shikamaru called, breaking eye contact with Ino and starting forward, leaping from branch to branch again. The others didn't question it. They'd all been in this position before.
The jutsu was second nature, as easy as breathing. And all it took, really, was the one thing Ino had in spades. Strength of will.
The only difference being, this time she was using it on a hundred subjects at once.
Using this jutsu on one person was a battle of wills. On a harbinger it was child's play, they had no minds of their own after all. The only real problem was it was never just one, they attacked in numbers. Splitting her focus between five, ten, twenty different possessions or distractions . . . it wasn't easy. It never was. It left her drained, exhausted, and more than once Choji had warned her not to push herself so hard.
This time she would ignore his warnings completely. She would be pushing herself to her limits and beyond.
She knew, this time, she wouldn't survive.
It didn't matter, all that mattered was getting this beast to bite its own head off. One by one the harbingers turned on their comrades, massive infighting breaking out among the lifeless ranks. Several tried to break away, go after Shikamaru and the others. She didn't let them. She cast her mind out through her steady hands, pushing a little piece of her soul into each one, fighting the strange power that controlled them.
They fought.
She pressed.
They struggled.
She held fast.
All that mattered was holding them here, making sure that by the time her chakra was drained to absolute zero and her soul had been siphoned off bit by bit, there would not be a single harbinger to go after her friends.
Then they all turned on her as one.
Ino's knees buckled, giving way beneath her, as the force of her jutsu was directed back at her. A door once opened may be stepped through in either direction. Now the whatever was controlling the harbingers was trying to force its way back into her mind.
"No . . ." she groaned, not really sure who she was speaking to. The pressure was incredible, and increasing every second. She could feel it bearing down on her. There was a sharp pain in her knees as they scraped along the ground, her body being physically repelled.
"Can't . . . no, I . . ." she was gasping for breath. Her teeth were grinding and she felt like her bones must be cracking under the strain. She was fighting just to keep her position, sliding backwards down the hill, and even as she watched, a handful of harbingers began to escape her grasp. Tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn't do it . . . she couldn't . . .
"No . . . I . . . no!"
"Ino-chan!"
Suddenly she stopped moving as a pair of strong hands grasped her shoulders. She felt a sturdy, solid presence behind her, all muscle and strength.
The tears spilled out.
"Choji . . . kun . . ."
She could feel him. With her in every way. He knelt behind her, holding her still, supporting her.
"Ino-chan . . . just focus. I'm here . . . just focus."
"Yes, Choji-kun."
Ino slammed her power into four escaping harbingers. She felt him with her. She forced the gray soldiers to cut each other down. She felt him with her. She forced them in, condensing their ranks, making the platoon smaller and smaller. She felt him with her.
She felt her chakra draining. She felt him with her.
She felt herself slipping away. She felt him with her.
She felt her eyes closing, her heart slowing, her body falling into darkness.
She felt him with her.
Author's Note: There you have it my fellow inochoji fans. The best I can do at a chapter for this highly under appreciated pairing. Thank you and goodnight.
