AN: I know it's short, but it's what you get. At least I'm updating, right?
I know I said there was going to be torture in this one, and I have to apologize, I didn't live up to that at all as I'd pictured. If it's any consolation, I'm probably more upset than you are - I was really looking forward to torturing Sasuke, he totally deserves it. Instead he got to level the playing field with Ino a bit. Stupid characters taking control of MY story!
All well. I hope you enjoy it!
Oh, and I don't usually dedicate my chapters or stories to anyone, but this one is for Lamanth. She wrote a story not too long ago that really helped me get back into the right mind frame to right this. If I recall correctly, it was called All The Fleeting Moments and the chapter was "Pain." She's a wonderful reviewer too. Anyway, thank-you Lamanth.
Chapter 4:
Breathing heavily, Ino glared at the silent man before. Why wouldn't he break? She'd tried everything she could think of. Aiming a desperate kick to his rib cage she stared at Sasuke, who refused to even flinch. She'd been at this for a month and Sasuke only seemed to grow more sullen. Nothing in her extensive training had prepared her for this eventuality.
Grabbing a bamboo shoot from her belt she brutally jabbed it under his finger nail, expertly digging it in to maximize his pain. Nothing. A big, fat lot of nothing. Training under Ibiki had increased her patience drastically, but she was certain that even her stoic mentor would be exasperated with her current prisoner.
Turning she stalked out of the cell.
Ino was at a loss, she'd beaten him half to death, broken bones, and shoved bamboo up under his finger nails. Sasuke hadn't even flinched – it was unheard of! She'd even dragged Neji in and had him use his byakugan to find and strike his weak points. Sasuke had collapsed at that and a small whimper had escaped his lips, but that was all. He had revealed nothing.
Fine then, her patience was wearing thin. If he wouldn't do this the easy way she'd enter his mind and rip it out of him. Tsunade couldn't get mad at her if his mind was still to fragile to take it, she'd tried every other trick in the book, and quite a few that weren't.
"Good morning Sasuke," Ino said in her usual cheery voice as she entered his cell the following morning. "Today I thought we'd try something a little different."
He raised his head and looked at her levelly, just like he always did.Forming the hand sign and mentally speaking the trigger she launched her consciousness into the air.
She arrived in his mind just in time to watch her body collapse and crumple to the ground. To her shock (and amusement) Sasuke jumped up from the chair in alarm. Binding him had proved futile so she'd given up.
"Ino?" he said, gently shaking her. He was actually concerned! She could see his thoughts clearly. And he was talking!
Not wanting to give this abnormal occurrence any more thought she quickly took possession of his mind and dove into his memories. First she went back to when he'd killed Orochimaru, then Itachi. She sensed no ulteriour motives, and knew that he had returned of his own free will. Continuing through their first meetings and seeing everything from his perspective, Ino was alarmed to discover that he'd thought she still liked him. Heh, no wonder he'd been so shocked when she'd revealed the true nature of their present relationship.
She drew back in alarm from the memories of being tortured. So much pain... not just physical either. An intense emotional suffering was doubly as brutal to her in her present form. And over riding it all a strange sense of...self-satisfaction?
Suddenly walls were slammed down and she felt her consciousness dumped unceremoniously back into her own body.
"Stay out, please," Sasuke said almost mildly. But his eyes were burning with an emotion she couldn't place.
"How?" Ino asked. No one had been able to kick her out before...it was unheard of! Block parts of their mind from her, yes, if they were very strong, but actually force her consciousness away?
"You don't think Orochimaru only taught me how to fight physically do you?" Sasuke said calmly. "He's always had great respect for the Yamanaka clan. It's one of the main reasons he feared Konoha so much and wanted to destroy it. The mind, he believed, can far exceed the body. So it only makes sense he developed methods to repel your attacks."
"B-but," Ino stuttered, more scared than she'd cared to admit. The infallibility of her mental attacks was the one thing she depended on above all else. Physically she was dangerous, but there were many more dangerous. The mind though, that was her realm. The knowledge that the one edge she'd thought she had over Sasuke was completely worthless terrified her.
"You know, he was quite interested in you in particular. I believe he had some plans for you after he took over my body. He was aware of your attraction to me, you see. Of course, a weak body such as yours would never do for his vessel, but if he could get you in other ways...well I sometimes think he might have planned to have you as his consort in the end," Sasuke said, watching her reaction with interest. He'd been silent for long enough. It was...interesting...to watch her reactions to his words now. Even more interesting when he took into consideration that he spoke nothing but the truth.
"Stay away from me!" Ino warned in a trembling voice as she stood up from the ground, having finally recovered from the recoil of being forced out of his mind. She bolted out the door and slammed it shut behind her, drawing a deep breath as she tried to steady herself.
Sasuke was more deranged than she'd thought. She still remembered the feeling of self-satisfaction that outweighed even the pain he'd felt during their torture sessions. He seemed to think he was winning something – but what?
And of course the last little scenario. He was obviously trying to get to her, and he'd shown her that her greatest weapon was almost worthless against him. What exactly was he playing at?"
Ino was still leaning against the wall trying to calm herself down when she heard her name called. Turning in dread she saw the last person she wanted to see right now. Her friend Sakura.
"Hey Ino, what's up? I haven't seen you in ages so I thought I'd drop by here and see you..." her voice trailed off when she caught the cornered look on Ino's face.
"What the hell are you doing here Sakura? How did you get in?" Ino demanded, fear morphing instinctively to anger.
Sakura looked taken aback. "I just told your guard that you were expecting me. What's up with you?"
"You can't be down here right now! And I can't talk to you right now. Get out!"
"Seriously Ino, calm down. What's the matter with you? Is that anyway to treat your friend, sheesh. It's not like I'm going to go peaking around in your cells looking for top-secret prisoners..." she trailed off as Ino froze in fear.
"Sakura, if you do not exit the premises immediately I will have no choice but to use force and speak to Tsunade-sama about this breach in protocol."
More than a little shocked at her friends tone and the nervousness apparent on the blonde's face Sakura nodded her head in acquiescence and retreated.
Ino immediately felt guilty for the way she was treating her friend, but terror at her friend discovering what was going on urged her to get Sakura outside now.
She'd make it up to her later, right now she had to speak to Tsunade-sama.
"Come in," Tsunade said, glad to have an excuse to avoid more paperwork. She was even more glad when she saw that it was Ino. Had the girl finally made some progress?
"How goes the interrogation?" Tsunade queried.
"I'm not sure," Ino confessed. "I think I've done all I can."
"What do you know?" Tsunade demanded. If Sasuke really had returned he could be a great asset to her village.
"I was forced to use the shintenshin – I tried physical torture for a month and I got nothing. I know it was a risk, considering his mental state, but I think it was worth it..."
Tsunade merely nodded at the younger blonde to continue.
"It's not a trap, he honestly wants to come back-"
Tsunade refrained from jumping out of her seat in joy. "Excellent, good work Ino. We can remove him from the interrogation cells and begin his rehabilitation into Konoha immediately."
"No!" Ino protested.
Tsunade frowned. "I understand you dislike the boy Ino, but he can be a valuable tool for us. I thought you of all people would understand that."
"There's more!" the kunoichi explained. "He's not – his mind is a mess. He actually enjoyed the torture sessions. He got some sort of self-satisfaction out of them. And I still don't know why he came back."
"Then get back in his head," Tsunade ordered.
"I can't. He – he kicked me out," Ino said shamefacedly, eyes downcast.
Tsunade looked at the girl before her in shock. That was unheard of. The most anyone had ever been able to do was block their mind. Sakura had almost hurt Ino during the girls' first chunin exam, but Ino mental skills had increased dramatically since that time. Nothing like that had happened since.
"You've tried everything else?" the Hokage asked.
"Yes, everything," Ino said, nodding fervently.
"Even seduction?" she questioned, acting on the same hunch that had caused her to send Ino in instead of calling Ibiki back.
"Well, no," Ino sputtered. "He's Sasuke Uchiha, the emotionless ice block. It didn't fit his profile."
Seduction in interrogation terminology basically just meant persuading in a more gentle manner, whatever that may be. It entailed anything from simply being nice to the prisoner to pretending to fall in love with him and 'running away,' even bedding the man if necessary. Anything it took to find out what Konoha needed to know.
"He's not a little boy anymore," Tsunade said, mild amusement lacing her tone. "And you're not a little girl either. You might find things are a bit different now." Tsunade was of the opinion that no man could resist a woman's charms, if she knew how to ensnare them, and she had the utmost faith in Ino in that regard. "Let's go," the Hokage said, standing up from behind her cluttered desk and leading Ino back to the younger blonde's domain. "This I have to see."
Well, did you like it? Hate it? Disappointed? Happy? Let me know (review)!