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Consequence	By : YoukaiFate Category: Naruto > General Views: 1902 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, fandom, etc., of Naruto. This story is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, etc., of Naruto. This story is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit.
Consequence
A/N: This is a hasty edit, but I wanted to get this chapter out before the New Year. I wanted to thank everyone for their reviews, especially Jan Lee, whose own writing always inspires (you totally made a KibaXIno fan out of me) and who had me completely revising the whole concept of this story. =P
Chapter Five
It was just her luck to meet Hidan sauntering down the hall as Itachi escorted her back inside the underground base. Itachi nodded courteously, but the Jashinite only sneered. His amethyst eyes slid past the tall Uchiha to glare at Ino. Wrapped inside her icy anger, the kunoichi swept past with her chin held high, pointedly ignoring the stupid jerk until he taunted, "Looks like you just fucking got your ass kicked, bitch."
Rounding on him with a curled fist, Ino snarled when Hidan easily caught her wrist. He only grinned when her blue eyes narrowed, throwing his grey head back to laugh at her furious expression. His scornful laughter abruptly died when Ino pressed the sharp kunai hidden in her free palm along the inside of his thigh.
"That’s Princess Bitch to you, ass hole."
Incredulous, Hidan stared down at her as Itachi admonished sharply, "Ino."
Tossing her head so that her long ponytail flipped over her shoulder, Ino jerked her wrist free from Hidan’s loosened grip and slipped the kunai back inside her pouch. Ignoring Itachi’s brooding look and Hidan’s slow smile, the kunoichi strode down the hall. "I’m going to take a bath. And I’m sealing the door. Don’t try to stop me."
Itachi said nothing. Hidan’s silver brows rose, and Ino pointedly slammed the door shut on both of them. Leaning against it, she wearily dropped her head against the jam and let her shoulders slump. Damn all of them! They couldn’t just leave her alone, not even for one damn minute! Her hand curled against the door above her, tightening into a fist as Ino grit her teeth. Well, this time at least, she was going to make them. Pulling herself upright, Ino snatched a simple paper seal from her weapons pouch and slapped it across the thick wood, half on the door and half on the frame. "Katsu."
She relaxed as chakra glowed across the inked characters, turning them navy in the ghostly blue light before dying. The seal wasn’t powerful enough to really stop anyone, but it would give them a good shock for their pains, and it did her good to use even that small bit of defiance. Let ’em wait while she took a good long soak to ease the bruises on her body. It wasn’t as if she had asked for any of this, damn it!
Pulling off her sweaty rags, Ino slipped inside the tub, hissing as the steamy water stung the deeper scratches across her skin. It was uncomfortable at first, but she deliberately forced herself to relax, even as her mind spun in too many directions. She ruthlessly pushed her anger aside to focus on the mundane task of healing the deeper burns along her shoulder and thigh, scowling at the ugly bruise that blossomed along the inside of her other thigh and the outside of her right arm, by her elbow. She hadn’t asked for those either, damn it, and she couldn’t do much for the bruising besides heal the deeper tissues underneath. They turned a dark purple, sign that she had hastened the process, if not healed them completely. That would have to do for now.
Picking up the cheap soap, Ino scrubbed until her skin grew red, hoping to rid the taint of Itachi. Damn him, anyways! What right did he have to play with her like that? Sadistic creep. What the hell was her father thinking? There was no way she could trust a malicious, arrogant, sadistic, spinny-eyed bastard like him!
Her hand tightened on the soap, almost squeezing it in two. Staring down at her whitened knuckles, Ino deliberately breathed in and out. She had to be ruthlessly honest with herself. She wasn’t strong enough---yet---to do anything about her anger, and sulking like a child over facts she couldn’t change---yet!---wasn’t going to do anything but needlessly waste her time and energy. Two could play the manipulation game, and even if the Hokage---through her father---had all but told her that she was to be Itachi’s unwilling ally on this horrible mission, then she could at least use the Akatsuki for her own benefit, and train enough so that she wasn’t so weak and stupid.
Ino’s expression hardened, and she suddenly grew irritated with the steamy water. Pulling herself out, she took a quick shower, viciously using the last of the conditioner---let that arrogant jerk, Hidan, get tangles---and toweled herself dry, wrapping the pathetic excuse for a towel up over her wet hair to get the heavy weight off her neck. Dragging another robe off the wall and not caring whose the hell it was, Ino gathered her dirty clothes up under one arm and unsealed the door.
The hall was deserted. Remembering her own clothes were still in the washer, Ino made a side-trip to the laundry room to change them over. Dumping her ugly make-do outfit into the wash, she ignored the small mountain of dirty clothes lying on top. Let Akatsuki wash their own crap, damn it. Even if Deidara had said it was her job. She paused, fist tightening.
She went back and added more clothes to the washer.

ooOOOoo

Ino’s growling stomach forced her to go looking for the kitchens after she went back to her so-called quarters to comb out her hair and swipe a hair-tie from Deidara. She assumed it was Deidara’s, since Tobi’s hair was too short to tie up. Neither were there for her to ask, and Ino was grateful for the reprieve. She would have preferred to stay in the room waiting for her clothes to dry, but her empty belly had other ideas.
Taking into consideration that the bathroom lay as far away as possible from the bedroom, she decided to hike in the opposite direction and go for the last door first. Aha! Pay dirt! Shaking her head, Ino scanned what appeared to be an eat-in kitchen, although the room was too large for the use it was put to. It could have housed a lot more tables than the plain picnic-table assembly that stood by its lonesome in the center, although a little closer to the open, three-sided kitchen area.
The kitchen was an odd mix of old rustic and modern make-do. An impressive fireplace big enough to roast an ox stood blackened with soot, a modern stove with a broken burner and two missing knobs inside of it. Counters had been cut straight from the stone, a deep basin with an impressive pile of dirty dishes heaped up, around, and spilling over its sides. Eying the pile with a sour look, Ino was relieved to see a modern faucet hidden behind the food-caked pile. At least she wouldn’t have to hand-pump the water up from the old spout. Ignoring the mess, she grinned at the fridge. Leave it to the cheap-ass Akatsuki to have an olive-green refrigerator that had gone out of style long before her parents had even started dating. The motor rattled and Ino wondered if the door would fall off if she opened it too quickly.
It didn’t, which was a relief. It also appeared the rubber-lining worked, for it hid the putrid stench that rose when she opened the door. Wrinkling her nose, Ino plucked an opened milk carton and held it out as far as she could. The contents thumped, rather than sloshed, and she nearly gagged at the thought of what was growing inside there. Forcibly shoving aside pots and pans and sticky-bottomed cups, she unplugged the drain and poured it down, sluicing the last of the white sludge with liberal amounts of water.
*Ew. Ew. EW!* She shuddered, throwing the carton into a metal trashcan with a broken handle on its bent lid that Akatsuki had probably swiped from somebody’s curb.
Eying the fridge, Ino wondered if she was really hungry enough for a second try. Her stomach growled, and she sighed.
Back she went, this time hauling the trash can with her. A plethora of jars and dishes and tupperware hit the metal can with dull thuds and distinct clangs. She wasn’t even going to try and wash any of those. Not when they looked like green jello, and there was no lettuce in sight. Gross! Was that a block of cheese or some new form of compressed algae? And since when did orange juice look brown? Ino didn’t even bother trying to wash that down the sink. And what the hell was that red-brown splash across the bottom shelf? Ugh. She didn’t even want to know.
Opening the freezer, which was so caked with ice there was barely any room, Ino eyed the dead fish who stared back at her, mouth open in perpetual surprise. That was just...beyond words.
Slamming the freezer door shut, Ino went looking for something canned and hopefully not expired. Shoving the door on the far side of the kitchen open, she blinked as the bare bulb came on, highlighting a pantry stocked like a bomb shelter. Crates stood on the floor, cans, jars, and boxes mixed indiscriminately along the shelves. The ones at the back were covered in a thick layer of dust, and Ino shuddered as she saw a spider scurry away from the light. Man, she hated spiders.
Shrugging, she plucked the nearest soup can off the shelf, and turned it upside down to scan the date. Although chicken and stars wasn’t her favorite, whatever. At least it was still edible. Flipping off the light and closing the door, she hunted down a bowl and rusty can-opener. The microwave smelled like burnt popcorn and had a yellow tinge to the inside that made Ino shudder, but she was hungry enough not to care. She’d nuke it hot enough to boil any bad bacteria off, right?
She found a sorry excuse for a dirty dishtowel to use as an oven-mitt and hauled the steaming bowl over to the picnic table. Sitting down, Ino got a splinter in her ass from the cheap wooden bench. Yeow! Digging it out was awkward, and that was, of course, when Tobi appeared.
Popping his head around the door, he stared at her in surprise. Or what she assumed was surprise, since she couldn’t see anything behind the damn pumpkin he hid his face behind.
"Hime-sama?" He scuttled inside as Ino dropped her hem, face on fire. Stalking back to the trash can, she flicked the stupid splinter away and slammed the lid down.
"It’s nothing," she said, and used the raggedy dish towel to cushion her seat and spare her any more embarrassment. Tucking her knees under her primly, Ino picked up her (not too dirty) spoon and played with the soup for distraction, waiting for it to cool enough for her to eat.
"Oooh....chicken and stars!" Tobi clapped his hands. "Tobi loves chicken and stars! Can I have some, Hime-sama, please?"
Putting her spoon down, Ino looked at him. Really looked at him. He couldn’t be for real, he just couldn’t.
"Pretty please?" he beseeched her, hands now clasped in front of him, all but trembling with eagerness.
He was completely insane. Not that that was anything new in this nuthouse.
"Pretty, pretty please with sugar on top?"
"All right." Ino grudgingly gave in. "Just stop with the pleas, please."
Tobi laughed at the rhyme, and danced and cavorted like a simpleton as she hauled a second can from the pantry, blew dust off a bowl, nuked it hot and slapped it on the table. Lifting his mask just the barest amount possible, Tobi blew on it as she peered curiously at him, wondering what he looked like under there. But she was distracted as Hidan slammed the door open, stalking inside to glare at them.
"Hidan-san!" Tobi greeted, waving his spoon in delight.
"Chicken and stars? You fucking gotta be kidding me."
Ino deliberately spooned up a serving, pointedly ignoring him.
"Soup good!" Tobi ingeniously exclaimed.
Muttering under his breath, Hidan stalked to the fridge and yanked it open. Staring at the empty shelves, he demanded, "What the hell? What happened to all the fucking beer?"
"Oops." Ino pretended chagrin, though her eyes glittered maliciously as she pointed to the trash can. "My bad."
"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" Slamming the door closed, Hidan snarled and bitched all the way to the pantry to haul out a six-pack and another can of soup. Ino hid her smirk behind her spoon as Hidan glared at the microwave, opening a can of cheap beer and blindly tossing the tab over his shoulder. It pinged right inside the trash can, bouncing off the metal side as he impatiently sucked the beer down and crushed the empty can before his soup had even finished cooking.
Hauling the rest of the six-pack with him, the Jashinite made a great deal of noise settling himself as far as possible on the other side of the table away from them. Snicking another beer open, Hidan slurped his soup and glared when Tobi started chattering about nothing in particular as he played with his soup and Ino ate hers quietly.
It seemed Akatsuki had a flare for dramatic entrances, for the next to arrive was a thoroughly pissed off Deidara. Ino’s eyes widened as he slammed the door open, stalking past them without a word. Fresh from a shower, he wore only a faded pair of sweatpants and a towel draped around his neck. Although the chiseled lines of his arms and chest were enough to draw any girl’s attention, it wasn’t that which had caught Ino’s eye, but the wild frizzball his hair had become.
"Somebody used up all the conditioner, un," he growled ominously, the look in his blue eyes murderous.
Hidan sniggered as Ino blushed, avoiding the blond man’s gaze. He really did have a scary Glare of Death.
"Ooooh, Hime-sama! Naughty-naughty!" Tobi waved a finger at her and then laughed hysterically.
Ino jerked her chin up. "Somebody needs to go buy more. And not some cheap crap from the dollar store this time!"
Hidan suddenly brightened as an Idea abruptly occurred to him. "You know, I wonder if old stringy-butt will fork over the cash if Miss Bitch were to ask him. By Jashin, it just might work!" Hopeful avarice flared in the purple eyes, and he suddenly propped his chin on his hand, his smile silky. "Look, you, girl---"
"The name’s Ino," she growled.
"Whatever. Look, princess, there’s all kinds of crap a girl needs, right? To make herself all pretty and shit? Like, I dunno, curlers and green face-goo. That kind of shit. And Kakuzu’s supposed to be your mentor, right? And his tight ass holds the purse-strings. But maybe if you were to bat those long eyelashes at him a few times, you could get the fucking tightwad to loosen ’em up a bit. And there’s a few things I could use…"
"Like hair gel?" Ino asked brightly. Deidara snickered at the sarcasm, reaching for a can of beer and making a face as he took a warm sip. He stared down at the table, brows knitting.
"Chicken and stars? It’s what’s for dinner? What the hell, un?"
Ino felt a headache coming on as, right on cue, Tobi exclaimed, "Soup good, senpai!"

ooOOOoo

"I am not sharing a bed with you."
Tobi was right. The girl had an impressive Glare of Death. Though it was ruined by the silky white-gold hair curling softly around her face and the heightened pink tinge to her cheeks.
Propping a hip against the side of the desk, Deidara folded his arms and smirked. "Either that, or Tobi."
"Ooh, ooh! Pick me, Hime-sama, pick me!" Tobi frantically waved his hand for attention. Ino stared at him in horror as the tall man picked up his pillow and hugged it tight in gleeful contemplation.
"Your choice, princess."
Deidara grinned as she whipped around and stomped over to his bed. She’d already tried arguing about making a bed on the floor, and he’d shot that down with the lie that Tobi had to go to the bathroom---a lot---during the night. He owed Tobi; the idiot had actually backed him up on it, even nodding solemnly as the girl scowled.
She laid down---stiff as a board and pointedly facing the wall. She even stole his blanket and pillow, wrapping herself up like a sausage. Amused, Deidara shook his head as Tobi’s shoulders slumped in disappointment. Hauling his blanket over his head, the idiot mumbled to himself as Deidara turned off the light, casting the room in darkness.
Groping for the blanket, Deidara gave it a good yank. Ino yelped as she rolled free, right into his arms. "Only one, yeah. Gotta share, un," he whispered into her silky hair as she made a gurgling noise in protest, going stiff as a piece of wood as his bulk and the narrowness of the twin mattress forced them closer together. The wall came in handy to keep her plastered against him. Wrapping himself securely around her, Deidara indulgently nuzzled the side of her neck, and idly thought that this more than made up for frizzy hair.

ooOOOoo

Considering Itachi’s rather snarky remarks about her being an Akatsuki whore, Ino was acutely disgruntled by the way she woke up sprawled across Deidara. Especially with Tobi looking at her so avidly from barely six inches away as he knelt beside the bed, head propped up on his crossed arms and tilted to the side like an inquisitive bird’s. Deidara mumbled petulantly in his sleep even as Ino blinked blearily over at the pumpkin. Something stiff bumped her inner thigh as the artist shifted slightly beneath her.
Ino’s eyes bulged as knowledge swept over her with the hot fire of embarrassment. Tobi fell over on the floor with mad peals of delight as she shot out of the bed and across the room.
"What the hell...?" Deidara sat up, fisting sleep from his eyes and looking like a frazzled cat as he blinked owlishly, staring down at an insanely cackling Tobi rolling around on the floor and a mortified Ino by the door.
"Gotta pee," she muttered the first thing that would keep the nin from following and fled to the bathroom. Splashing cold water over her face, Ino stared at herself in the mirror and wondered despairingly just what the hell was wrong with her. Maybe Itachi was right.
As if! She hadn’t asked for any of this, damn it. So she wouldn’t beat herself up for finding herself in situations she couldn’t help and had no damn control over. She wouldn’t! And old Stiff Ass Uchiha could take that and shove it up his---
The rap on the door wasn’t unexpected, but the tentative, "Hime-sama?" was. Scowling, Ino opened the door.
"What!"
"Um, Tobi sorry, very sorry, Hime-sama. He’d like to make up for spooking you." He suddenly dropped the apologetic air to quiver in excitement. "By going shopping!"
"Huh?"
Okay, so that wasn’t the most brilliant response, but it took several more of those before Ino finally understood that somehow, some way, Tobi had gotten permission to take her shopping in what amounted to the local village. And, incredibly, they were going alone, without any of the others to help or hinder what amounted to a major supply run. Tobi produced a big purse that clinked promisingly and a long list in various sprawled requests (or demands, in Hidan’s case.) It took Ino two minutes flat to don her now-dried purple uniform and tie her hair up in its usual ponytail. The thought of having clean underwear to wear was almost as heady as getting her hands on some decent HBA. She even took the ugly, plain black cloak Tobi brought her with a minimum of resignation, so eager was she to escape this dump and get back among decent people.
"Promise, Hime-sama?" Tobi whispered, suddenly serious as they paused in front of the hidden exit. "Promise Tobi you will be good?"
The plea was so odd Ino turned to look at him, brows furrowed in surprise. Though the thought had occurred to her, even if she’d made promises to the contrary.
Tobi clasped his hands in front of him, his trembling not from excitement, but from fear. "Tobi scared, Hime-sama. They hurt Tobi if he messes up. They hurt Tobi bad."
That last was said with such choking emphasis, Ino couldn’t help but feel sorry for the strange man standing so earnestly beside her. It had never occurred to her that maybe someone else in this organized nuthouse was being held against their will. She wondered what hold Akatsuki had on the poor man, and her expression softened. "I promise," she said quietly. "I won’t get you into trouble, Tobi-san."
"Thank you, Hime-sama! Tobi thanks you so much!" Ino was suddenly enveloped in a hug that threatened to crack her ribs in two. She felt faintly sick as she was whirled around and around in Tobi’s overwhelming gratitude. She almost regretted her altruism when he finally put her down and patted her on the head, calling her a good girl.
But Tobi wasn’t so bad, really, even if he still made her gut twist with uneasiness. Maybe it was because he seemed so...childlike. Innocent, almost, even though there were other times, when he said something off-hand and malicious, that were just so creepy. The way he skipped and cavorted alongside her, chattering about anything that popped into his head---including several stinging remarks about how she’d sprawled all over Deidara that morning, or how she had nice boobs, and could run really fast, especially when Deidara’s bombs were chasing her---well, that left Ino’s mind in such turmoil that she only realized that they had come to the edge of the village when Tobi finally shut up.
Hito was a strange mix of the practical and the dubious. There were too many bars and pawn shops, too many seedy characters and "houses of ill repute," as Sakura would facetiously say. Ino stared at them in frank curiosity, but no women in lascivious undress lounged across the narrow balconies so early in the morning. In fact, there weren’t too many people about. The few who were kept to themselves, carefully averting their eyes and giving them a wide berth, as if afraid of the goofy man at her side. Perhaps it was the distinctive cloud pattern on his cloak. Living this close to an Akatsuki base, the villagers probably knew full well what that cloak signified. There must be some sort of arrangement with the criminal organization, however, for no one in Konoha had ever heard a whisper about the base or its whereabouts. That spoke of a trust Ino found suspicious.
But then, Hito showed no particular economic reason for its existence, past the pawnbrokers and the obvious dens of vice. The whole town seemed to exist for the sole purpose of trade. While they couldn’t get everything on Tobi’s extensive list, there were ready promises of easy procurement within the week. Ino didn’t even want to know what questionable means those merchants had to fulfill their various orders---which ran the gamut from the odd crate of canned peaches, to some rare whiskey, to an eye-boggling amount of toilet paper. Ino started enjoying herself, once Tobi assured her that money was no object. Although even he started to look a little worried as she gleefully strode through the shops, ordering decent linens and expensive products. Getting back at the Akatsuki, if only in the wallet, added a certain zest to the experience.
One that turned positively euphoric as she found a real dress shop, an unexpected bonus in this dump. But the "ladies of the night" had to spend their money somewhere, and the crafty little shopkeep carried everything imaginable in lace and silk and feminine frippery. While nothing was as practical as she could actually use, Ino got an illicit thrill from buying underwear her father would have had a fit over. But the only other store to sell clothing---a general mercantile---didn’t have anything in her size past a few boys t-shirts and sweatpants. While this store had a fluffy pink bathrobe that almost made up for the blue one she’d left at home with the cute yellow ducky on the back. And while she definitely couldn’t use any of those naughty nightgowns, Ino found a pretty yellow strapless number just made for her. The sundress was so light and airy she couldn’t resist doing an impromptu twirl in front of the mirror as she admired herself. Who knew yellow would look so good on her?
Even better than the designer label was the outrageous price tag. *Take that, you jerks!* she thought evilly as she calculated how much that would dig into the odious organization’s bank account.
"Oooh, Hime-sama! Wait until the guys see you all sexy in that get-up!" Tobi ingenuously cooed, and Ino preened, always willing to take a compliment.
But she flushed when the tall man added thoughtfully, head tilted to one side and chin propped on one finger, "Especially Itachi-san. Yes?"
For a moment, Ino stared in the mirror, calculating what reaction the Uchiha might have to the leg-bearing, curve-hugging dress. But then, angry at the direction of her foolish thoughts, Ino scowled. She didn’t give one fig how Itachi---or any of those other lowlifes---saw her. She was stupid to even contemplate for one single second what that cold, asexual bastard thought, or what that crazy bomb-freak found hot. Next, she’d be trying to snag that jerk Hidan, or worse---figuring out a way to tie Kakuzu’s stringy butt in knots.
Never, she vowed, in a million years! Still, in the end, she bought the dress. Only to hurt the Akatsuki’s pocketbook, of course.
*Great. Now I’m lying, even to myself.* Ino shook her head, even as she patted the bag at her side covetously. She did have a certain weakness for pretty things.
Almost as much a weakness as Tobi had for dango. Which he excitedly reminded her, making a beeline for the yatai that sold the tasty treat. Lunch was a short stop for Tobi to make considerable inroads into the stall’s dango supply, gathering up several bags’ worth to take home with him. The sun had finally come out to burn the ever-present humidity into a sauna, and Ino was more than ready to leave. Lugging several bags across several miles back to the underground base through the steamy heat sucked. It took much of the enjoyment out of the morning for her, though Tobi was barely able to see with all the things she’d piled atop him.
He took it well. Better than Shikamaru or Chouji ever had. Less complaining, certainly. The thought brought a sudden pang, and perhaps that was why Ino didn’t see the lightning bolt coming straight for her out of the deepest forest. She barely had any time to drop her bags and dodge it. Adding chakra to her pumping legs, Ino leapt for the nearest tree, shouting out a warning to Tobi and scanning the forest below for who---or what---had attacked them.
*Kakuzu?*
She almost stopped dead in astonishment, but the power building inside the formidable ninja was too blatant to miss. He’d attacked her once before with that powerful seihitsu ninjutsu. Ino didn’t know why he was attacking her now, but from the eerie green glow in his ghoulish gaze, she knew he was in deadly earnest.
"Kakuzu-san!" Tobi squealed, trying to throw himself in front of the man, who radiated cold fury as his chakra built to an ominous cloud around him.
"You’re late," he said flatly, eyes on Ino, who stood panting in the tree above him. Her blue eyes widened at the menacing glint in his. She shied, blindly tossing several kunai in his direction even as the powerful blast hit the sturdy tree beneath her, cracking the thick trunk in half. Ino leapt for the next tree even as a third blast rocked the forest, sending several birds screeching into the air.
She wasn’t stupid enough to stay on Tree Number Two, but was already scrambling along the nearest limb, jumping free just as it swayed and toppled beneath her feet. She twisted, using chakra to extend her leap to the sturdy pine two more away even as she heard Kakuzu’s blind fury blasting through one tree after another. They fell like so many match sticks, the ground shuddering as each towering giant crashed to the earth far below.
Heart in her mouth, Ino frantically searched for anything she might use to her advantage even as she raced in a widening arc, hoping to surprise the crazy bastard by circling back behind him. Her mind worked furiously even as her hands did a complicated dance, releasing an elusion jutsu to send various leaves swirling up behind her, covering her position and hopefully spoiling his aim.
Pulling senbon from her weapons pouch, Ino used the churning confusion of the scattered leaves to quickly fold several explosive tags around them. If she could get close enough to Kakuzu, she just might---
A powerful gust of wind swept the swirling curtain of leaves aside, and Ino froze as Kakuzu casually took aim. She jumped---but it was already too late. Pain exploded throughout every part of her body as pure lightning hit her square in the chest. The searing heat was followed by a wave of raw agony as every nerve was razed by fire. Ino ruthlessly pushed the pain aside to focus on gathering her chakra. She had only one chance to save herself, and that was---
Precisely when Kakuzu’s second blast hit her.
Ino screamed, and kept screaming as her body curled into a fetal position around the pain, muscles spasming helplessly as electricity cracked through every single nerve, burning the chakra paths even as she desperately tried to protect her vitals from the worst effects of Kakuzu‘s powerful strike. For a second, the world seemed to stand still as Ino reached for that energy---grasped it, slippery as a snake, and then lost it again as a third Chidori flung her aside like a rag doll. She sobbed, wracked by the utter torture of it, and blindly grabbed for the source of that agony, pushing it up and then out---
And screamed harder as her body exploded, arms and legs flung wide as the blast erupted out of her in crackling lines of raw force, igniting the various trees around her even as the darkness rushed up to suck her underneath its muffling weight.

ooOOOoo

"What the fuck you do that for?"
Hidan wasn’t big on beating around the bush. He glared at his erstwhile partner, who ignored the crumpled body lying face down on the ground to stare back at him.
"She’s a conduit," Kakuzu said, calmly watching as Tobi fell on his knees beside the unconscious girl, tearing at his hair and making an awful racket as he wailed, "Hime-sama! Oh, Hime-sama!"
"A what?" Hidan glared at the impassive Falls-nin.
"A conduit for natural elements, you brainless dolt." Kakuzu scowled at Tobi. "Stop that."
"But, Hime-sama...!"
"She’s fine," Kakuzu growled, and Tobi paused, taken aback. He poked the unconscious girl, who didn’t stir.
Thankful for the sudden reprieve, Hidan glared at Kakuzu as they both started forward. "How do you know she’s a what-the-fuck’s-it’s, a conduit?"
Kakuzu stared down at the girl sprawled at their feet. "That blast was strong. She should have died."
"And...?" Hidan couldn’t keep the impatience out of his voice.
Kakuzu shrugged. "She didn’t."
Hidan stared at the Falls-nin for a few seconds, and then, throwing his head back, burst out laughing. "What a complete ass hole you are, Kakuzu! You didn’t fucking know whether or not she’d survive, did you? You were just trying out your own little experiment."
"So?" Kakuzu stared back at the incredulous Jashinite, hardly put out by the truth.
"Kakuzu-san!" Tobi protested, though he seemed to take a particular delight in the brute’s audacity.
Kakuzu shrugged. "It worked."
Bending down, the big nin negligently picked the girl up and flung her over his wide shoulder before striding back to the base, leaving the other two Akatsuki behind.
"That is one cold ass bastard," Hidan muttered to himself, staring after the ghoulish scarecrow.
"Yep," Tobi agreed, and then giggled.
Hidan stared at the tall beanpole, now doubled-up with mirth as he chanted, "But it worked…!"
Shaking his grey head, Hidan noted sourly as he turned away, "You’re one sick fuck, Tobi."

ooOOOoo

"What the hell, un?"
Deidara sailed in right on cue, ready to lay into the unrepentant Falls-nin, who returned his angry glare with placid indifference.
"Tobi said you just tried to kill Ino for a freaking experiment, yeah!"
"Yeah. So?" Kakuzu returned the terrorist’s snarl with belligerence.
"So, you’re fricking telling me you did it deliberately?" The loathing was surprising, coming from so callous a source. Pein considered the young Stone-nin thoughtfully; a rather surprising development from the normally self-absorbed artist. Feeling the silver eyes on him, Deidara turned, the demand for an explanation burning in his hard gaze.
"Calm yourself, Deidara. Kakuzu only did what he felt necessary---"
"You’re defending him?" Deidara demanded, incredulous.
"Kakuzu has established that Yamanaka is a conduit," Pein said, adding weight to the silent reprimand behind his words. "Although he did so in a rather---expeditious---manner, he has proven beyond a doubt her unique ability."
Hardly pacified, Deidara started to speak, but Pein quickly cut him off.
"Do you know how rare conduits are?" His silver eyes glowed with sudden avarice. "One in a thousand, Deidara-san, have the ability, and most die before they even reach puberty, for they cannot contain the elemental overload they will all eventually suffer. Except, in the Yamanaka’s case, she naturally has perfect elemental balance. No affinity for any single element, and yet no ability to control all the elements---like Kakuzu has trained himself to do. But what most would consider a sad waste of talent allows Ino to not only use her innate kekkai genkai, which requires total concentration, but gives us a powerful weapon in our arsenal."
Deidara sneered, but folded his arms as Pein held up a hand to forestall his next protest.
"Through her, any elemental ninjutsu is magnified ten-fold."
Deidara’s eyes widened, and Pein smiled. With his lazy, indolent attitude and brash arrogance, many forgot how intelligent the passionate artist really was. But Pein’s faith in the terrorist was demonstrated by how quickly Deidara grasped the significance of Ino’s surprising new ability. Her usefulness to the Akatsuki had just tripled. While handy as a telepath for screening the eventual army Pein hoped to build once all the Jinchuuriki were captured---and not discounting her eventual usefulness as a fully-trained jounin---this new ability far outweighed the others.
Magnifying seihitsu ninjutsu, or elemental jutsu, a conduit---while not able to control the power themselves---allowed another to use them to direct the energy in whatever way needed. A three-fold attack like Kakuzu’s Chidori should have killed the kunoichi, and nearly had, as she’d barely deflected it, absorbing half the blast before her instincts could kick in to save her. How the Falls-nin had deduced that that was what the girl was capable of was beyond Pein, but Kakuzu had taken what he felt was a necessary gamble, and Pein---although not partial to the Falls-nin’s methods---would not question the results.
"She needs to learn control," Kakuzu growled, "and stamina. As she is now, she’d only be good for one sizeable attack before she’d burn out in the backlash."
"She already suffered burn out," Diedara reminded waspishly.
"She’ll recover. Eventually." Kakuzu shrugged, hardly concerned, and met Deidara’s loathing with scathing disdain. "You seem to care a little too much about our little bird, Deidara-san."
The honorific was a deliberate provocation, and Pein cleared his throat as the young artist bristled.
"Your reminder of the Yamanaka’s condition reminds me that she will bear close watching over the next twenty-four hours. Regardless of her innate abilities to conduct chakra, Ino’s lack of true control over it and the magnitude of Kakuzu’s elemental attack has left her nerve-centers temporarily overloaded. Until they recover, she will be in some pain." There was a certain smug relish to the Leader’s voice that had Deidara stiffening in silent anger. Those glowing silver eyes missed nothing, including the artist’s revulsion.
"As she is your ward, Deidara-san, I volunteer you for the duty." Pein hid his smile at Deidara’s glare, knowing the arrogant artist did not consider playing nursemaid a mission worthy of his abilities.
Kakuzu pulled out a small jar. Scanning the label, he grunted.
"What’s that, un?" the younger man demanded, scowling.
"Numbs the pain," the Falls-nin said, deliberately adding, "She’ll need it."
His chilling smile sent shivers up even Deidara’s spine. Disgusted with the both of them, Deidara reached for the salve, but Kakuzu held it out of reach. His eyes were flat, green pebbles as he stared down at the artist. "I believe it’s better if I apply the initial treatment."
Deidara stared at him in surprise as the Falls-nin slowly stood, then scowled when the thread-bound man added blandly, "I wouldn’t want you to fuck it up."

ooOOOoo

This time, the pain was intense. Not just a raw burn tingling along the chakra paths of her body, but a searing agony that throbbed in time with her heartbeat, sending waves of nausea throughout her body as she writhed beneath the consuming torture. She wanted to crawl out of her skin, which tingled with such crawling, overly-sensitive sensations even the lightest touch had her silently crying out. No sound emerged, for she tried to choke it back, not truly aware of where she was but knowing somehow she couldn’t, wouldn’t, show such weakness. Tears seeped from beneath her tightly closed lids, an unconscious trickle as she bit her lips until they bled, gritting her teeth to keep the terrible whimpers at bay.
"She looks baaad, Kakuzu-san." A worried lilt made her want to laugh hysterically even as she instinctively flinched away from the hand that touched her shoulder. Even that light touch burned, scorching across her over-sensitive skin.
"Shut up, yeah."
The voices dissolved into the familiar argument as she finally succumbed to the darkness as the pain rose up in too terrible a tide to keep back. The darkness she drowned in was soothing, as was a touch she found unfamiliar. Someone drew circles across her skin, and where they touched, she grew blessedly numb. The throbbing pain of raw nerves withdrew to a dull ache, and she blearily opened her eyes. A dark, hulking shadow crouched over her, his tanned skin dulled to stale coffee in the dim light as he idly lathered her skin. A tall man watched over his shoulder, his gaze intent. His long, blond hair, messily falling from its ponytail, was too dark a gold for her father’s, but again, maybe it was the dim light, which cast long shadows around them.
"Daddy?" she asked in a small, wondering voice, hating the childish plea in it.
"No." The voice was deep, rich, and not the blond man’s, who grimaced.
Surprisingly beautiful, leaf-green eyes met hers with calm measure, and she couldn’t help the acute sense of profound disappointment. She didn’t recognize this man. Who was he? Why was he staring at her so intently? And more importantly, "Why am I naked?"
There was no alarm in her voice, just vague curiosity. Somehow, the numbing cream the man was smearing into her skin was numbing her brain, for she floated above such small considerations as modesty.
"How do you feel?" His deep voice was surprisingly hesitant, as if it startled him to even want to ask.
"Sleepy," she murmured truthfully, and his wry chuckle---he had a deep, sexy chuckle---followed her as she slipped beneath the darkness once more.

ooOOOoo

"What did you do to her?"
"Wasn’t me, hmm. Talk to that ass hole, Kakuzu."
"I intend to." The voice was so icy, it made her shiver involuntarily. There was a pause, than a cold command. "Don’t touch her."
"Ha. You’re too late, un."
The other’s sharp response was lost to her, but she wondered what had the man so angry. It was a cold anger, one that festered inside, ruthlessly controlled so that none of the emotion showed on his perfect face. Unlike the angry heat of the other man, the one with the messy blond hair. Emotions that had seemed so far away before were now too close---her mental barriers were down, and she could feel their rising antagonism as they glared at one another. Their words she could not comprehend, but she futilely tried to protest the rising scald of their charged emotions, her mind too sensitive to the overflow after bearing so much already.
She opened her eyes, and saw dark and light. Yin and yang. Midnight and sunlight. She made a sound, and the darkness turned. She recognized those drawn features, those cold eyes. So tired, he was. He had so many burdens. On his soul, and on his shoulders. He felt the weight too keenly, even though it was one he accepted and even welcomed. The question in her eyes made him blink, and a strange expression tightened his features.
"Great going, Itachi. You woke her up, hmm." The bite in the other man’s voice made her glance over at him, and she smiled softly, remembering how he had taken the pain away, soothing something into her bare skin.
Or was that another, whose eyes had reminded her of the first touch of spring in leaves just budding against winter’s withdrawn chill? His touch had been so careful, as if afraid of hurting her. But he was gone, and maybe she was mistaken, for the blond was still here when that other was not, and her memories were clouded. His eyes, blue and intent, dominated recollection, and she wondered how the golden man could keep such turmoil within him. Turmoil she could acutely feel---anger and bitterness, smug pride and distaste, a touching concern he tried to hide and ignore because he found it so completely baffling.
"It’s okay," she tried to reassure him, but she didn’t think he could hear her, for she couldn’t hear herself. Then a touch on her cheek, a light inquiry, and she stared up into blood-red eyes that lightly patterned into hazy kaleidoscopes.
"You would resort to that shit, yeah."
The man with the red eyes ignored him. "Ino," he said, his voice oddly soothing to her fevered brain. "You’re too telepathically sensitive. You need to reset your shields."
She had no clue what he was talking about. "Okay," she said, just to reassure him. He needed so much reassurance. All of them did. She didn’t know why; they seemed so strong to her. How strange...
*Ino,* he said into her mind, and she smiled tremulously, for she knew that touch. Knew it like she knew her father’s.
*Daddy?* she said in surprise, caught by the bemusing thought, and there was a sudden, wry resignation as the image dissolved into that of her father in all his handsome strength. Inoichi was everything to her, she so young and he so big he filled her entire world. She gladly fell into his embrace, and cried as he lightly swept his fingers through her hair. Strange how long it was, though, when normally she kept it so short...
But that thought dissolved away, as she sought reassurance of her own, and huddled inside her father’s strong arms, so lost for a time. Snuggling into his hard chest, she felt safe, protected. She raised her head, and for a brief second, she saw another’s face superimposed over her father’s. She blinked---he seemed so drawn and detached, but there was a strange emotion in his red eyes that she couldn’t read. And he was crying blood, real blood that made tracks down his drawn cheeks, and she touched it in wonder. The blood beaded on the tip of her finger, and she stared at it in surprise.
*But you shouldn’t cry,* she said, troubled, and he smiled sardonically.
*But there is so much to cry about,* was his strange answer. *So much death...*
Yes, death clung to him like the stench of rotting corpses. He could drown in the blood he had spilled for his village, in the destruction of all he had once held dear.
She mutely shook her head, defying the aching emptiness of regret that yawned before him.
*You can’t live in the past...*
*That is the time I always live,* he said, and then suddenly seemed to realize that they were actually having the conversation. He stiffened, and his expression grew cold and almost angry. She didn’t like how abruptly he withdrew, and curled in on herself, away from the rejection that stung so keenly. Their sharing had been so intense; its absence was painful. She cried then, and refused to stop when he lightly shook her shoulder, trying to coax her back around. She deliberately fled from him then, back into her own mind. For a minute, before the numbing darkness of true sleep overtook her, she wondered why it was that her pillow stuck so to her hot cheek, and why it was she suddenly felt so horribly lost and alone...
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