A/N: FYI- I will be switching the listing of this story for now back and forth between Ino/Chouji and Ino/Kankuro (using FanFiction spellings here versus the ones I prefer)
My Beta told me she's hit a point in her college career where it's too difficult to count on her doing this anymore. I gave her this immediately after posting the previous chapter. So since she didn't review it over the holiday break, here I am posting this with out her correction. My Beta also reminded me that part of this would have been my seventh chapter in my underdeveloped version of this. She read parts of this way back, when I was first feeling my way through this. Wow, how the story as a whole has evolved...
Attack in the Market
It was almost afternoon on what was turning out to be a pleasantly warm day for late February. Ino was walking along holding hands with Ryokou as they maneuvered through the market. She was supposed to be meeting up with Shikamaru and Temari, but she wanted to pick up a snack for Ryo on the way. In a way it was good that her daughter was now happily munching on taiyaki because all the girl wanted to know was; 'Is Uncle Chouji going to be back today?' It almost gave her a little chance to escape her own distracted thoughts about him as they hurried along to their destination. Why didn't I go with you?
She hadn't planned on bringing Ryokou along, but she felt couldn't leave her back at the shop. She worried that her child would only tire out Inoichi. To try to make up for her slower travel she took what she believed would be a less crowded side street. Hope they won't be mad at me for being a little late, she thought. Then suddenly out of the corner of her eye she caught the glint of light off something metallic.
Several yards ahead, about twenty feet up on the brick wall was a mysterious shinobi. She caught the soft hiss of his voice as he said, "Goodbye girlie," and let the senbon in his hands fly. Ino snatched Ryokou, wrapping her body protectively around her daughter as she did her best to dodge the attack. In spite of her actions she got brushed by one of the needles across her own left arm.
In an instant, he came down in front of Ino, she could see his honey-gold hair visible around his hitai-ate, Is that Suna's sign on it? Suddenly, more senbon flashed into his hands. Ino tried to use her possession jutsu but her body didn't respond right. Poisoned, her head swam.
"Look at those eyes, you must be the whelp's mother," he sneered, "well, that's a bonus." Suddenly, the man froze in mid-movement. Ino could just make out the shadow that held him.
"Uncle Shika!" Ryokou called out, happy to see another familiar face in this moment of crisis.
"What have we here?" Temari appeared next to the stranger, she examined his face, taking in the brown eyes and amber hair, "Chidoku Shun," she almost gasped, but regained control to turn her gaze to an icy one, "when did Suna's shinobi start attacking those of Konoha? Is this something personal?"
"He seems familiar, who is he?" Shikamaru asked from where he was holding down the shadow possession.
"He's the younger brother of Kankurou's wife," Temari turned back to Shun. "So, why are you here?"
"To kill her," he hissed, "for Shiori."
Temari looked at him, lip curling back with disgust. Then Ino collapsed behind her. Temari immediately turned her attention and went down to the ground beside her. Her breathing seems even, Temari had never gone much beyond basic first aid in any medical training. She looked up, "Easy, Ryokou." she added to the child, as she double checked her friend. Two injuries in one family in four days…
Shun started to spout off again, "Does she even know who she is, the little fool? Living here…"
"Shika, bow!" Temari called as she lunged toward the man.
"…when her father is the…"
Immediately Shikamaru and therefore Shun bowed, Temari sent a devastating upper cut into his jaw to shut him up. She shook her hand out after the impact and went to check on Ino again.
"I'm glad I released as soon as I began the bow. That would have put me down too." Her husband came up to her side, his expression showing appreciation of his desert beauty's right handed prowess, "How's Ino doing?"
"The poison seems to be a mid-level one," Temari replied "Good thing it only clipped her arm."
"I'll take her." Shikamaru gently picked Ino up just as a few of the watch appeared. He headed swiftly off to the medical center.
Temari took charge of the rest of the situation with ease while holding Ryokou's hand with her left. "Your Mama will be all right, Uncle Shika's got her. Ryokou, you're coming along with me, we've got a report to make, like good kunoichi."
The brown haired girl's lip quivered for the briefest second, but when her Aunt Temari's eyes locked on hers…and then added the reminder of what a good kunoichi does Ryokou felt a sudden resolve to try to make her mama proud of her. Her gaze flicked to follow the path Uncle Shika was taking her mother on.
"That's a brave girl, Ryokou," Temari said softly knowing how much excitement the child had been through in recent days. She then turned her attention to the guards, explaining what had happened without revealing the reasons for the attack to them. They walked along as the men carried Shun's unconscious body to the Hokage.
Sakura was on duty when Shikamaru brought Ino in. So in short order the nature of the poison was identified and cleared out.
"I'm amazed by this venom" Sakura said "It only brushed her skin, not even drawing blood and she's almost out of it. I'd hate to see what this would have been like if it actually made contact with her bloodstream."
"Well according to Temari the assassin's family specializes in poisons." Shikamaru told her "Supposedly they can even use their blood as a toxin. I wouldn't be surprised if the 'cleanup crew' gather all the senbon for you to analyze later."
Ino looked up at him with slightly glazed eyes, "So I got real lucky, huh." She was still groggy but not too bad for the experience.
"Ino, we're going to have to do something since Ryo's secret is apparently out in Suna." Shika regarded her, his eyes intense as they held hers. Ino shook her head at him a hint of desperation in her eyes. "No, it's time, Ino."
"Okay, I assume you're talking about Ryokou's father." Sakura was definitely curious.
"Well, let me put it this way," he turned to look at the pink haired woman, "when Ryokou calls me uncle, it's true, by marriage."
"Kankurou," Sakura looked at Ino, this was a piece of information her friend had held from her for many years, "impressive secret." It was in a way a relief to finally learn it. It certainly explains a lot about Ino's caution on the subject.
"More important is the fact that he's the Kazekage." Shikamaru continued, "It appears that his wife discovered about Ryokou, and she sent her own brother to kill her."
"I think he was after me," Ino said weakly.
"No, he specifically said you were a bonus in his attack. He almost laughed at Ryokou when he realized she didn't know who her father is." He looked at Ino "Don't worry, Temari knocked him out before he could finish the reveal in front of her."
"Since it didn't take us too long here, I'll bet they've barely started with the interrogation." Sakura frowned "I know Tsunade-sama had a pretty busy agenda today, but an attack from another village would be considered an emergency, and be acted on as soon as it could be set up discretely. Let me see if I can accompany you…Ino's going to be shaky for a while."
"I just hope there weren't too many people that saw the Suna emblem when they brought him in." Shika said, then turned once more to his teammate. "Well Ino, you ready to get moving again, they'll certainly want to talk to you. Besides, you can bet Temari didn't get a chance to drop off Ryokou, so she's probably up there, anxious to see you."
Chouji was on the last leg of the journey home after his mission. He turned his attention to Chiba Hikaichi, his wife Mayomi, and eight year old son, Hajime. They rode in a wagon while the hefty shinobi walked along side, of course Hikaichi was no small man himself, The Chiba really aren't bad people when you think about it, he smiled. They even treated me for dinner that final night in Takarako town, anything I wanted, knowing full well the way we Akimichi eat. It was a pleasant way to end my servitude, and probably a sign that they thought I did a good job. The gates of Konohagakure were just up ahead; I wouldn't be surprised if they have a couple of the family retainers waiting to get them and the wagon home as soon as they get through the gates.
Now that the assignment was nearly complete the main thought in his head was reporting in to the Hokage so he could get back to what he really wanted to do: spend time with Ino. I want to pick up where we left off the night Inoichi was injured, and see where things go from there. Especially after she sees what I've got for her. His hand drifted to the pocket which held the item that made his trip truly worthwhile. His heart feeling even lighter as the gates came into view.
Sure enough, there were several of the Chiba family's servants awaiting Hikaichi's return. With polite formality, he bade farewell to his charges and turned his attention to the attendants on gate duty: it turned out to be Kotetsu and Izumo. He realized that Izumo whispered something to his partner with a concerned expression. The bandaged face shinobi then whispered something back to the other; all the while both were keeping an eye on Chouji.
"What's going on?" He approached the two of them, suspecting that there might be something going on that they didn't want the Chiba to hear.
Izumo met his gaze, keeping his voice low as he spoke, "We were discussing a recent incident we'd just been informed of before you got here. Someone from Suna managed to get in without passing a check point. He was just captured for attacking one of our own in the streets. I think you should know; it appears the intended target was Ino."
His head snapped to face in the direction of her home, but controlled his first impulse of running it to see what had happened, he needed more information. "Do you know if she's all right? Where is she?"
"I can only assume she was taken to the medical center." Kotetsu barely got the words out when the burly ninja went barreling on his way.
Izumo watched for a moment, then snorted to his partner, "Whoa, he's so out of it that he didn't take to the rooftops."
Ino, I'm sorry, I should have been there for you. Or you should have come with me. The fear that something bad could have happened to her while he was away made his thoughts race, causing him to fly through the streets at a frantic pace. He was not known for being the most maneuverable of body types, so several near collisions ensued.
Shun had just been brought back to consciousness when Sakura got them up stairs to the chamber. Temari had a multi-colored bruise across her right hand's knuckles from when she had knocked the prisoner out. Ryokou was probably the only happy person in the room; as soon as they entered she flew into her mother's arms, a broad smile on her face, almost knocking Ino over. Shikamaru barely managed to keep the kunoichi upright in her newly recovered state.
"Thank you for saving us the trouble of finding you later." Tsunade nodded to Ino as they found her a place to sit. Ryokou promptly climbed onto her lap and wrapped her arms around her mother. Ino returned the embrace and rested her head lightly on her daughter's.
Everyone's attention turned to Shun. It was obvious from his defiant expression that knew he was in deep, however, he chose to wait for them to question him.
"On whose orders were you acting?" The Hokage looked at him, "Why did you attack Ino?"
"I have no orders regarding the woman," Shun spat, "I came here to kill the Kazekage's bastard daughter."
That explains a hell of a lot. Tsunade thought No wonder Ino kept it a secret for so long, her with Kankurou, that's one of the most unlikely pairs I've ever run across. Although I did have my suspicions after that Chuunin exam a couple of years back. She looked over to regard Ino; the long haired blonde looked like someone had just crushed the wind out of her. I wonder if it's because he announced the reason for the attack or because Ryokou just heard something Ino thinks she shouldn't know about. She looked at Shikamaru and Temari; they looked unfazed.
"On whose orders were you acting?" she asked the first question again.
"My sister Shiori's." he replied, he looked over at Temari with a venomous glare, "I hope she succeeded where I failed, and the Kazekage and his male line are dead."
"Are you saying that she would kill my brother and her own sons?" Temari asked, shock crossing her face.
"Not would, probably already did." Shun laughed in a dark tone. "She was a top level assassin before she married your brother."
"That's crazy!" Temari tried to jump up, but Shikamaru wrapped his arms around her waist to hold her back. It was clear that she wanted to rip this man's throat out right now.
Ino had started sobbing uncontrollably with her arms around Ryokou.
"Send a message," Tsunade called to Shizune, "maybe it's not too late." Her dark haired assistant hurried from the chamber. The Hokage returned her regard to Shun, who was still laughing, "Take him to a holding cell."
Once the guard had removed the prisoner, the Hokage once again regarded those left in the room with her. Sakura was now trying her best to console Ino and the confused child in her arms. Temari's impotent rage was causing her to shake. Shikamaru seemed at a loss what to do for either his wife or his teammate. She mused on how best to give this assembly a new focus.
"Yamanaka Ryokou, come here!" Tsunade called the child before her. All heads snapped to attention, Ino blankly released her grip on her daughter. The child came approached and respectfully bowed her head to the Hokage. "Do you understand what has happened here?"
"The man who hurt Mama said something about the Kazekage." The child replied. "Is he dead? I seem to remember him, he had a painted face and he's Auntie Temari's brother."
"But do you understand why the man attacked?"
"Not really, but I think Mama's too old to be the Kazekage's daughter."
Ino gasped, hand to her chest with a sudden sense of relief.
"Well then," the Hokage patted the child on the head, "it must have been a case of mistaken identity." She gave a knowing smile to Ino, who looked like she understood the unspoken message: You can tell her on you own terms, but it had better be soon.
Temari had to accept that there was nothing they could do except wait for word from Suna. She kept looking at Ino, who had once again slipped into a vacant expression: it troubled her; Did she really care for my brother so much? Couldn't she have talked to me about it just once in all these years?
Chouji waited anxiously outside of the Hokage's complex. After checking the medical center he'd been informed that Ino had been accompanied by Sakura and Shikamaru here. Not even the knowledge that his best friend had been there for Ino, did nothing to alleviate the fears he had since receiving word of the attack. An overactive imagination ran a variety of scenarios which he only made him clutch to the box he had brought back with him as if it wear a talisman to ward off something evil.
After a half an hour of pacing, the woman he'd been waiting on finally emerged. His eyes looked to her waiting for her to acknowledge his presence. When that didn't happen he advanced on the small group consisting of Ino, Ryokou, Shikamaru and Temari. "What did they do to you?" The words seemed thick and unnatural on his tongue as he moved forward to reach out for her.
Ino was trapped in her own world of pain and did not respond.
Ryokou walked along side, looking up at her mother. She'd never seen her in a state like this before. Even 'Uncle Chouji's' presence couldn't shake her concern.
Shikamaru put hand on his friend's shoulder to stop him from coming any closer to the long haired blonde. "It's not the injury, Sakura healed that pretty well." As they walked Ino home he quietly recounted the attack carefully phrasing the details so that Chouji could follow, but Ryokou wouldn't be able to if she overheard. When he got to the part where Shun mentioned that Kankurou might be dead, he saw Chouji glance at Ino and swear under his breath. Shika seemed to understand why Chouji felt that way, every time it seemed he was getting really close to Ino… he could almost read the thoughts his friend was having. 'If I suffered in comparison to the man, I'll never be able to win her against his ghost.'
They got her back home and told her parents about the poisoning, and that the situation was still under investigation. They said nothing about Ryokou and the Kazekage: that was strictly Ino's to explain, when she was ready. Quietly before leaving Temari did promise that she would let Ino know anything the moment she heard from the Hokage's office. Ino understood and nodded half heartedly.
After accompanying Ino home, Chouji had gone back to make his report to the Hokage. Tsunade was not surprised by his indifferent demeanor as he'd talked. She knew that he must have found out about Ino upon his arrival. Later, she checked the arrival times from the gate to when he'd checked in at the offices seeking admission to make his report. It was evident that part of it must have been spent trying to track Ino down and see if she was all right.
Her heart went out to him. It was pretty obvious to anyone who saw them together that there had never been another girl he cared about the way he did Ino. Now everything was stuck in limbo again, for Ino's reaction to the news about the Kazekage indicated a lot of unresolved feelings as well.
At least she finally confirmed who the roadblock in Ino's heart was. She just still couldn't understand why Ino couldn't get around it to accept what was waiting for her here.
Early the next morning Shikamaru came over to see Ino, "They received a message from Suna, the Kazekage is alive and on his way to Konoha to make amends for the inter-village incident."
"Thank you," she looked like she had suddenly remembered how to breathe.
"I would get around to talking to Ryokou if I were you," he hugged her, trying to be supportive. "I think her father is going to tell her if you don't."
"I suppose you're right." She sighed listlessly.
"Less than two days, be ready." Shikamaru took his leave.
Shikamaru's next stop was to see Chouji. He gave him the bad news: the Kazekage was coming to Konoha and since Ryokou's life had been threatened he was surely going to visit with Ino.
"You better decide what you want to do. Remember what happened the last time he came here."
It was like a bad flashback for Chouji. Once again he'd been in the middle of a very special evening with Ino. Then something interrupted it at the last moment. As with the previous time he ended up with a mission that took him away for a few days before he could resolve things with Ino. Once again something came up that shook Ino to her core…
Is there some higher force conspiring against us getting together? Or is it just waiting for the absolute right moment, a perfect moment and it won't settle for anything less? Maybe this was just his way of consoling himself: When it finally happens its going to be spectacular. With a sigh, he looked at their old team picture, then at a picture that had been taken at the latest New Year's Party at Lee and Sakura's house. There was Ryokou sitting between himself and Ino. They looked every bit the perfect family, and until yesterday he'd really been convinced that was where they were heading. He looked at the third item that was on the dresser, and wondered if Shikamaru had noticed; it was a small box that contained a ring. Why now?
The Kazekage's group stopped for a meal and rest just inside Konoha territory. For the first in a long while he wore black, his hand reached down and from a small pouch he pulled out a broken item. Kankurou remembered the events of the previous night that put him on this forced charge ….
---Flashback---
"So you can think about your daughter in Konoha?" His wife stood across from him on the balcony. She had a smile on her face that was, for lack of a better word: dangerous.
"What do you mean, Shiori?" he was shocked. Her words were completely unexpected.
"I found your picture of her, along with some of your sister's letters."
"Broke into my desk is more like it." He stood and glared at her.
"It would have been so much easier if you could have just loved me and me alone, and forgotten about the past." A flick of her hands and the senbon flew. It was an amazing number; he'd never seen a swarm like it.
His body responded from years of practice, he twisted to dodge, flicked whips of chakra at them and used the item in his hand to help block. It broke, but none of the senbon found their mark. He considered it to be as much luck as skill, because it was at short range. A moment later three of his guards descended from their stations around the balcony and surrounded her. She swirled into action catching one of them in the eye with a needle, but the other two managed to restrain her. She stopped struggling immediately. A fourth guard joined the rest and promptly took action on the fallen guard, his blade flicked out removing the damaged eye. The action was probably the fastest way to save from the man from the poison.
"Shinta," Shiori hissed, "you would side against your family."
"I side against you." The medically trained ninja replied, "you are not the head of the Chidoku: My father is." He continued to treat the injured guard in a frantic flurry. Kankurou always knew that he was one of Shiori's cousins. He'd been a loyal member of his guard for years, like most members of the Chidoku clan he shared the amber hair coloring.
"Why did you do this, Shiori?" Kankurou looked at her with a touch of fear; if he'd been in his bedchamber and she'd tried this, the result might have been different, even if her presence there would have put him on his guard. They'd been quietly estranged for months now; she was only still there for her sons. At least that was the agreement.
"You deserve to die: you have a darkness within you which will devour us all. It took Yoake away from me." She looked at him with absolute disgust. "It runs deep in the veins of your line, it is a crueler poison than the one I gave our sons."
"What did you just say?!" Kankurou's face turned to fury.
"I'll attend to your sons, my Kazekage." Shinta leapt to his feet as he'd finished the initial medical treatment on the guard, and was gone in a flash.
Shiori hissed again, her beautiful face distorted by her clenched jaw as she glared briefly at her cousin. Then with a colder regard her head turned to the Kazekage. The guards held her steady as Kankurou strode forward with an equally vicious snarl on his face. Just as he was within arms reach of her, she made a movement that resembled a shrug; it released two blades from her sleeves that cut into the men who restrained her. Their grip was broken, Shiori lunged for Kankurou, "You'll all die: all of your line."
Realizing the sudden change in the situation he readied to move away to keep her uncertain in case she had any more hidden weapons, Hell even a deliberate scratch from her nails might poison me. He knew there was no way he could grab her with his chakra, she was all too aware of those skills of his. In fact he'd trained her how to work against them. I got careless, I don't have anything with me to use against her. Then suddenly he spouted of something that sounded like pure bravado, "I'm sorry to disappoint you Shiori. I've foreseen how I die, you weren't part of it…but she was by my side." He realized as he said it he was referring to the dream he'd had so long ago.
She let out a furious shriek, "Don't mock me!" Her hands tensed like she was making ready of her next move. Unfortunately for her, Osaru, one of the injured guards had just enough strength left in him to do one last lunge to wrap around legs and threw her off balance. Her anger was so focused on Kankurou that it caught her completely off guard. Her head caught the edge of the balcony and her neck made a sickening snap. Another batch of senbon fell from her fingers to the floor. A second wave of guards arrived just seconds later.
"See if anyone here can be saved, she poisoned everything." Kankurou told them, "I have to go to my sons."
Shinta was grateful that Yuugure and Mayonaka shared a room: it made it easier to monitor them. He had already determined that Shiori had used her own blood as the poison. This actually gave him a better chance of saving them, but it would also make their ties to his clan, Chidoku, deeper. In fact it was the act that their name came from. There was a ritual they performed on their children, usually when they were a little older but there was no choice in the matter now. He had sent for a pitcher of water and was already administering them doses of his own blood orally, mixed in water, when the Kazekage came in.
"How are they?" Kankurou looked pale. Shinta had never seen him show such obvious weakness before
"They are still in danger, but I believe I can still save them." Shinta was dosing Mayonaka, the younger of the two; this was the one he was more worried about. "I will need you to send for my father and my brother, Shingo, in all haste. I will need their assistance within an hour's time." He finished the dose then went back to Yuugure. He checked the boy's eyes, then his breathing. The older boy shared at least one Chidoku trait in his hair color, to Shinta that alone was a sign in his favor. "We've known each other a long time, how much do you trust me?" He looked up at Kankurou.
"I've never had any reason to doubt your loyalties" Kankurou replied.
"Then here is what I must do to save them. In my clan, around the time a child turns five, we do a ritual poisoning using the poison that runs in our own veins. Although they are younger, I have to do that for your sons now, for as far as I can tell Shiori used her own blood to try to kill them. I think she didn't take into account my possible presence in your guard tonight, so she thought it would be too late when her poison was discovered. However, since I am here, I was able to administer the second dosing from my own blood within the proper time frames. Now, they still need two more doses, again from different members of the clan, and that is why my father and brother must be sent for." He looked back to the listless children. "I trust them as much as I believe you trust me."
Shinta listened as Kankurou stepped out into the hall for just a moment to give a few orders. He returned to the room and asked "How soon will you know?"
"Yuugure seems to be responding already, I'm not as certain about Mayonaka, I'll have to see how he responds to the third dosing."
Kankurou looked over his younger son, it hurt it to see him in this fevered condition. The boy's coloring so closely resembled that of his brother Gaara that sometimes it made his heart ache to look at him because of all the memories it brought up. To this day they still had not found out what had happened to Gaara. Maybe that was the start of it: Is Shiori right, is there a darkness that followed my family? Didn't I say something about that to Ino…? Ino, Ryokou, that's right. Shiori had discovered about Ryokou. Then Shiori's last words came back to him: 'You'll all die: all of your line.' Does that include Ryokou?
He rushed back into the hall and called for a few of his specialists: intelligence gatherers. "I need to know who Shiori was spending time with over the last two weeks, and where their currents whereabouts are."
When the Kazekage had concluded the order, Baki came forward. "I have the latest report about the balcony incident. Lady Shiori is dead from a broken neck. Jiro is dead; Osaru's in critical condition, but Koru, who lost an eye actually looks promising for recovery."
"Depending on the word I get from my intelligence staff I may have to make an emergency trip to Konoha." He looked to his former sensei, "Please select six from my guard to be on standby."
"You think Shiori didn't act alone?" Baki regarded him "Do you think they're after Temari?"
"Although that could be a possibility, Shiori made a more specific threat." Kankurou put his hand on the man's shoulder, "I kept a secret, which she discovered: I have a daughter in Konoha. Do you remember Ino..?"
An hour and a half later Kankurou had his answers. First of all, Mayonaka was showing positive results after the third dosing had been administered; it appeared that both boys would recover and additionally would be considered as full members of their late mother's clan. Fortunately, the head of that clan was Shinta's father, Shuichi, a person whose opinions Kankurou had a moderate respect for. Secondly, the person who Shiori had spent the most time with lately was her brother Shun, who has not been seen in a few days.
Kankurou requested that a message be sent to Konoha: "Have received word that a rogue ninja from Sunagakure may be coming to Konohagakure. I will be coming personally, to retrieve him, alive or dead, and make restitutions to your village."
Then he and the six went on their way.
-End of Flashback-
A/N: Can you say Reunion?
Thanks to Awaii, overlordofnobodies, pattie mayonnaise & shannny2k for their reviews! :) Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up in 2 weeks.
