A/N: I'm bound and determined to finish this story. Enjoy!

Chapter Five: Return Home

She sank beneath the surface of Suigetsu's thoughts, moderating her presence from one of threat to one of pleasantness. In the dark tunnels of his mind, she navigated cool rivers of memories from his childhood. She brushed against sweet and bitter emotions, peppered with hot spots of violence and rage and murder. Still further she explored into a section of his mind that could not be physically or knowingly accessed. His subconscious hibernated there. To Ino, it was a fascinating array of causes and effects that explained his attitudes, emotions, and how he perceived the world, all connected with pulsating lines as thin and intricate as a spider web.

Child-Suigetsu greeted her. He said nothing but held out his hand for her to take. She had already opened up lost memories of his mother to him. How best to tell his subconscious to house a friendly attitude toward Konoha? A tangible emblem of some kind would suit her purposes. She smiled and reached into her pocket for her Leaf hitai-ate.

I have a gift for you, she told child-Suigetsu, showing him the Leaf symbol. The metal flashed in the light. You've been a good boy and you deserve a reward.

Those large violet eyes widened. He had not received many gifts in his life. With gentle fingers, she tied the hitai-ate around his forehead. Child-Suigetsu touched it, a look of reverence and awe on his small features. Then she took his face in her hands and kissed the Leaf symbol.

It suits you. Now, I want you to remember these words: A green leaf hovering in spring sunshine. Say them.

She had him repeat the phrase three times. When you hear those words, you are friends with all Leaf shinobi and will do no harm to any civilians in Konoha.

Before she left, she used the appropriate hand signs to mold her chakra to secure the Leaf forehead protector in connection to the phrase in Suigetsu's subconscious. It should stick for at least as long as they got to Konoha. When she released her Mind-Body Switch, Suigetsu should behave himself once those words were spoken to him. She surfaced once again. Kiba and Akamaru had waited for her; Karin had not stirred since her defeat.

"Well?" Kiba asked.

"You'll say, 'A green leaf hovering in spring sunshine'," she told him. "That should activate the hypnosis jutsu."

"A green leaf hovering in spring sunshine," he repeated to himself. "You want me to stand back or something?"

"Actually, that might be a good idea. Hide Karin and my body behind that big tree with Akamaru standing guard. You'll stand behind Suigetsu within speaking distance. You'll see his body slacken as I release the jutsu then you speak the words. As long as you don't provoke him, he shouldn't attack."

Kiba nodded his understanding. They took up their positions, and Ino released her hold over Suigetsu. She woke up next to a massive white mountain with heaving flanks. On her other side was Karin. Ino stood, checked herself over, and brushed at her clothes. Then she peered around the tree trunk. Kiba and Suigetsu stood face to face, Kiba with a dubious expression on his features.

"How'd it work?" she asked, coming out to greet them. "Suigetsu, how're you feeling?"

"I'm…fine, I think," he said. He scratched his head and seemed dazed. "Where's Karin?"

Ino glanced at Kiba. Then she jerked her chin to the tree. "Why don't you come over and check on her?"

Kiba's eyes narrowed, but he had read the subtext. He followed after Suigetsu, leaving Ino alone. She breathed, slow and deep, sucking the oxygen to the bottom of her lungs. Focus. Control. Her chakra tingled under her skin as she gathered it to power the series of hand seals. The long range telepathic jutsu allowed her to fly out- -to stretch her mind great distances with a massive quantity of chakra and precise control, traveling the well-worn pathways their family's blood and training had tread in their minds.

There they were. In her relief, tears nettled the back of her eyes. She connected with several kindred chakra signatures that flared up to help her focus her chakra. She didn't speak in words. Since they were family, they would understand images and associated emotions, which were easier to convey than words. She felt their acceptance of her information and the gentle touches they used to soothe her strain. Then she shrank back into herself to safely release the jutsu.

She collapsed to her knees; the exhaustion was immense, and her stomach folded in on itself. Sweat dripped into her eyes and ran along her throat. Just a moment to rest, she told herself. One minute to get myself together. The night darkened further and she fell into nothingness.

"Shit, Ino, wake up! Dammit, you can't do this! Wake up!"

She opened her eyes. Kiba's face, an inch from hers, startled her. She could discern the yellow encircling the pupil in an otherwise brown iris. Those red clan marks framed a scowl; he was ashen. He had her cradled in his arms and currently, he squeezed the life out of her. When he worried, he was a different person.

"I'm okay. Kiba, I'm okay," she told him.

"You are absolutely not okay," he replied and his anger smoldered through his skin- -she did not need her perception to pick it up. In the palm of his hand, he offered her a marble-sized pill.

"Chew this."

"It's not…mmphf!" In her weakened state, she did not have the strength to resist him popping the pill in her mouth. He glared at her until she chewed and swallowed it. Even before she finished consuming it, it stimulated her chakra and constitution so that the exhaustion drained away. "Bleh. You don't happen to have some water?"

"Yeah, I know. Tastes awful," said Kiba. He lifted her to standing. "Feeling better?"

"I think I'll make it," she replied with a smile. "Thanks."

"You weren't out for very long. I've been dealing with Karin. She's awake and she's loud."

"Good," said Ino. "I'd love to talk to her."

"What're you planning in that mind of yours?" Kiba asked. He smoothed a stray lock of her hair between two fingers. "Something amazing, I assume."

"I am pretty amazing," she said. And this new side of him interested her. "Just let me do all the talking."

"You got it, Ino-girl."

At that moment, Karin screamed, "You traitor! Suigetsu, why are you helping them? I'll have Sasuke kill you!"

Ino glanced upwards, past the canopy of tree leaves; the dark night had lightened some. Dawn must be approaching. They would have to get moving soon to meet up with the other search teams and travel back to Konoha before evening. Together, Ino and Kiba walked back to where Karin writhed against her manacles and bucked to try unpinning Akamaru, who used his body to keep her still. Karin was unable even to stand or sit up. Suigetsu stood to the side, watching her with a neutral expression. She shrieked when Ino and Kiba appeared.

With his trademark smirk, Kiba stroked Akamaru's head. "Good boy!"

"Get this beast off me!" Karin screamed again. "He's suffocating me! Suigetsu! Do something!"

"Suigetsu is with us now," Ino said. "Nothing you can say will alter that fact."

There was a second's pause as Karin processed this information. "Release me at once!"

Kiba growled at her. "Then stop struggling."

"Never!"

"Kiba, have Akamaru keep her pinned until she relaxes." She crouched at Karin's head. "We don't want to hurt you. We want to help you."

"You couldn't possibly do anything to help me! Suigetsu, please! Suigetsu!" Karin panted, and after a moment, renewed her screaming. "Snap out of it! They're using you!"

Ino brushed Karin's hair to the side. It had been mussed during her struggle against Akamaru's restraint and from her fight with Kiba. "Suigetsu, please bring me Karin's glasses. They're in your pocket."

Suigetsu reached into his pocket and handed the eyeglasses to Ino. His prompt movement silenced Karin's pleas. Then as Ino placed the eyeglasses on Karin's face, adjusting the earpieces and the bridge so they were comfortable on her face, she said, "You know Sasuke will kill you if he finds out you've been captured. He'll never believe that you didn't betray him."

"N-no," and to Ino's sharp ears, that stutter spoke volumes. "I'll make any promise to him. I'd do anything. I'll tell him I kept my mouth shut. Sasuke would believe me. He knows I'm loyal. I'm loyal."

"I believe that you are, but Sasuke is primed to kill. He's looking for any excuse to walk further into the darkness," she said. She let her own mind slip into Karin's. Karin's mind whirled and scrambled in fear and dread, generating escape plans one instant and eliminating them the next. You're trapped, but I can offer you an escape. "He's cut ties with his childhood friends, with his village, even with his own brother. He cares for nothing except hate. And he will hate you."

As Ino spoke, Karin's struggles subsided, her energy and determination weakening. Ino understood how that felt- -how it seemed like her life had turned upside down and that nothing made sense anymore. It's okay to be confused. It's okay to think the enemy is right. Ino glanced at Kiba. He'd been watching for her cue. At her nod, he gestured to Akamaru, who stood and moved to the side. She didn't jerk or make any movement, so Kiba sat her up to face Ino.

"You can't know that for sure," Karin said. Her determination had dwindled to nothingness. "No one can know that."

"I'm sorry to be so blunt with you," Ino continued, touching Karin's pale cheeks with the pads of her fingers, her presence cool and comforting in Karin's panicked state. She paraded Karin's doubts and fears about Sasuke in the forefront of her mind. "I know in your heart you realize that Sasuke has changed. He's changed and he is doing things that will hurt innocent people. He has to be stopped before he does further damage. He has to be stopped. His hate is too powerful for us to reverse. Even you must realize that."

"I…I don't know," Karin said. Tears spilled out of the corner of those crimson eyes, ran in great drops down her face. Her confusion was apparent to Ino, who monitored the other's emotions, poking and prodding where appropriate. Karin was collapsing under the lie. Now for the final nail in the coffin.

"Why do you think it was Suigetsu who broke you out?" asked Ino. Karin gazed at her, her confusion complete, her emotions further in disarray, as Ino had intended. "Sasuke had nothing to do with your rescue. No one sent Suigetsu. He came for you on his own."

"I…but, Suigetsu hates me," she replied in a feeble attempt to deny what was obvious to Ino. "We've always hated each other."

Ino turned to Suigetsu. He had monitored everything with a calm indifference. "Suigetsu. Tell the truth now."

Suigetsu blinked, as if he woke up from a deep slumber, and swung a ponderous, shy gaze to Karin. His sharp teeth flashed out between his lips. "No one sent me to rescue you, Karin. I did it myself."

The revelation caused Karin to burst into tears. "No. It's not true."

"But I want to be with you wherever you are," Suigetsu said. "Don't you want me with you?"

"It's a trick!" Karin screeched and sobbed harder. "It's a trick."

But Ino helped Karin believe the trick, and as Karin's body shuddered with her grief and terrible realizations, Ino embraced her. Over Karin's shoulder, Ino saw Kiba shake his head- -in disbelief and what she chose to interpret as an appropriate amount of awe. Ino winked at him as she smoothed Karin's hair and shushed her. After a few more minutes, Ino used a handkerchief to wipe away Karin's tears and snot, had Suigetsu come closer to let her drink some water from his supply at his belt. She handed Suigetsu the handkerchief with a low mumur to moisten it and press it against Karin's forehead.

Ino waved Kiba over, and standing apart from Suigetsu and Karin several feet, she said, "We'll give Karin a minute more to get herself together and then we'll head out. Will you be okay to take point?"

Kiba nodded, his hands in his pockets. He seemed to be thinking. Then he said, "You know something?"

"What's that?"

"You're terrifying," he told her. "What you did to them...scary. I never knew you could do something like that."

It was Ino's turn to smirk. She clucked Kiba under his chin with her forefinger. "And don't you forget it."

A/N: So I hope my Ino worship wasn't too overbearing. I love it when characters have those moments where they realize they really didn't understand someone else's power or intelligence. The next, and final, chapter will be an epilogue to tie everything up. Hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you again, dear readers and lurkers!