[Sugo & Razz]

[Razz]

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❀ ❀ ❀ Finding someone who didn't necessarily want to be found was easier said than done. Especially when you had literally no idea where to even begin searching. Ino had no leads, hints, or clues as to where Sasuke could be, she just knew she wasn't going back to the village unless it was with him. Maybe it was selfish of her, but honestly, Sasuke couldn't be happy out there alone with the freak Orocimaru. Maybe if she brought Sasuke back, she could help him be happy and show him that even if his biological family was gone, he still had plenty of people back home who loved him and saw him as family. Especially that knucklehead Naruto.

Ino knew that she could, and likely would, get into huge trouble for venturing out on her own like this. In fact, what she was doing was more dangerous than anything, as she likely was also considered a rogue ninja by now having been gone over a month. She didn't tell anyone she was leaving, as they would have stopped her. If she was found by the ANBU, she would be in for a world of serious trouble. If they didn't end up killing her on the spot, she'd be brought back and seen as a traitor. However, if she came back with Sasuke, the punishment might be lighter. That was why Ino knew she couldn't go home. Not without Sasuke.

Most people would be confused about why she was willing to risk so much, and the truth of the matter was that Ino herself wasn't completely sure. She new Sasuke would never love her. He never even acknowledged her existence, but really, Ino didn't blame him for that much. She was more mature now then she was before, and looking back at how she treated Sasuke made her cringe inwardly. She had never truly loved him, either… she never once wanted to actually get to know him on a genuine level. As a kid, she had been more interested in his appearance and cool attitude, but she never really thought much of him beyond that.

She had been shallow and pathetic… and maybe this was her way of trying to make amends?

However… being alone out in the wilderness for a whole month wasn't something Ino was accustomed to. Sure, she knew how to find and catch food, and had brought with her a small pack of survival supplies, but just being alone was, well, depressing. It gave her far too much time to think about home. Choji and Shikamaru were likely really, really upset with her, and it would take a while to earn back their faith. Same went for her dad.

Sighing at the thought, Ino hopped down from the tree she had been using to get an aerial view from and landed lightly in a small puddle as rain poured down from above. She was wearing a tan hooded cloak over her usual attire, which kept her head and upper body dry, but the air was still plenty cold. It stung at the tips of her fingers as well as her nose and ears, but there was still daylight, so she had to keep going.

“I can't think of stuff like that right now,” She reminded herself, shaking her head a little as if the physical movement would rid her of such thoughts before pressing on, trudging through the mud and along the worn out little path through the woods.

Lightening rolled across the sky overhead, momentarily lighting everything up in a pale glow, followed soon after by the distant rumble of thunder.

It was going to be a long day...


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[Sugo]

Thunder rung out in the distant, not too far away but still loud and ominous. Thunder had its way of making sure you knew it was there, sending fear into the hearts of these who where much more weak willed. However, it had no effect on Itachi Uchiha and his companion Kisame. Thunder was a great thing for these two as most of the non-ninja would be inside, hiding from it, it gave them time to move between place to place without any disturbance, or any knowledge that figures in black cloaks with red clouds had passed through these areas. However while thunder wasn't an issue for the two the rain that came with it could be, puddles where forming along the main roads and tree branches would be slippery and painful to travel on, night was also starting to emerge. All these factors made it a wise time to settle down somewhere for the night.

Itachi stood looking down at the wet ground while Kisame, a much larger man stood next to him relishing in the water running down his face. They stood on one of the larger roads that ran through the land of fire as if waiting to decide on what to do, do they keep going until they can find somewhere proper to stay for the night or do they find a cave or something along those lines. "Kisame." Itachi said quietly, his voice emotionless as he spoke, the rain had forced Itachi to wear his robe up as apposed to his preference of wearing it open slightly, all that could be seen of him where his sandels and a small amount of the fabric of his trousers, the rest hidden underneath the black cloak with red clouds, a statement of a piece of clothing. He wore his headband as per usual around his head with a deep cut through the Konoha symbol. His hair was dry however, thanks to the straw hat that he wore atop his head funneling the rain water off of him and onto the ground, Kisame's attire wasn't much different despite for the Kiri symbol he'd sliced through instead. "Traveling during this rain is pointless." Itachi said in the same emotionless tone walking across the wet ground slightly as if testing it, the mud from the path pulling up under his feet making even chakra enhanced steps treacherous.

"We should spend the rest of the day looking for.." he was cut off as Kisame grabbed his shoulder turning him towards something further down the road, a lone figure running at a good pace, a ninja's pace, down the road towards them. "I see." Itachi said, considerate for the fact Kisame interrupted him only because it was relevant that he did, Kisame and Itachi without a shared word both jumped to either side of the road and up into the tree tops, hopefully before the oncoming figure could see them and prepare for them and then waited.

No more than 30 seconds later the figure started to come along to where Itachi and Kisame waited and now it became more apparent of the persons gender, female. It was odd for Ninja to be running around on their own, normally you'd see a team of 3 or 4 depending on what sort of a mission they where on, this was interesting for Itachi in particular, Kisame however was just in the mood for a fight. The large man jumped into the road in front of the unknown girl and the large bundled wrap that was his blade Samehada was pulled from his back, coming down in an all mighty swing towards the female figure. "Samehada is thirsty!" Kisame roared as his black robes with the noticeably strong red clouds fluttered from his movements.

Itachi in the trees on the other side of the road let out a gentle sigh, Kisame would always jump the gun, it would be better if they'd spend a little bit of time looking at the figure now she'd gotten closer to see if she was someone of note or not. Starting a fight with a random shinobi wasn't the best of ideas, attacking some one you didn't even know what they looked like could end you in a fight with a Sannin or an Anbu, and while Anbu wouldn't be much of an issue for these two the Sannin Tsunade (the only viable option due to the figures gender) would be. The woman would dodge the blow easily, Itachi knew that, but he best make his presence known in case they ended up in a hard fight. Itachi landed behind the woman with a silent step, saying nothing, standing about 30 foot behind her just after Kisame began to swing his terrible attack that would get him no where.

 

[Razz]

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❀ ❀ ❀ Admittedly, Ino wasn't as aware as she should have been. It had been at least 40 hours sense she had any real rest, having been relying on chakra pills to keep herself going. It was dangerous, she knew. Chakra pills were known to be addicting, and could cause any number of health problems. However, Ino felt useless stopping and resting every single night. Sasuke was out there somewhere, she just needed the smallest lead! The tiniest hint! Anything at all! And if she spent her time asleep, she may miss it. She felt confident that she knew when she had reached her limit, and as far as she was concerned, that had yet to happen. However, this meant that when the tall, cloaked man dropped down in front of her, Ino noticed it almost too late. He swung down at her, and despite it being a relatively clumsy swing, she very narrowly managed to dive to the side and roll out of the way.

As she dove, she noticed what the man was wearing; a black robe… with blood red clouds.

Immediately, panic set in. The Akatsuki! Blue eyes were wide and her heart caught in her throat, her blood running cold as she quickly remembered an important fact about the Akatsuki. That fact being that they never traveled alone. They came in pairs of two, from what she had been told. Where the other one was, she didn't know, and she wasn't given time to find out because soon her attacker was on the move again. He laughed menacingly as he did so, reminding Ino of a crazed psychopath.

“Tell me, where is the rest of your team?” He cackled as he made a sideways swipe at her, fully aware that ninja from Konoha never went alone on a mission. Again, Ino's movement felt slowed down; like her cloths suddenly weighed a ton. Still, she was able to leap backwards, skidding on her feet in the mud as she landed in a knelt position, panting softly under her breath as she glared at the man.

“Oh? Your movements are slow, girl… it seems your chakra is already near depleted. I guess that means Samehada isn't in for much of a meal. Oh well, let's be done with this.” Slowly, he made his way towards her, word held over his shoulder as he wore that dark grin on his lips. Clearly, he had no idea what Ino was capable of, which gave her an advantage. And she fully intended to use that advantage.

When he was within a foot of her, he lifted his sword, ready to bare down on her.. but before he could, Ino lifted her hand, forming a circular shape with her index fingers and thumbs. Quickly, she aimed this well-practice handsign at Kisame. “Mind transfer jutsu!” She panted out, immediately seizing control of his body just as the sword was mere inches from her head. He froze, then, a look of slight surprise spreading across his features.

“… Eh? What's this?” Kisame chuckled, watching as Ino's body went limp, falling almost lifelessly to the ground. “Well, now.. I can't control my body.” He almost sounded impressed. Ino, on the other hand, was using every ounce of energy she had just to maintain control. And, now that she was in his body, she could clearly see his partner. He stood a few feet behind where her body was located, and thanks to his straw hat and high collar of the cloak, his features were obscured. But she didn't need to see his face to kill him, and she'd use Kisame's own hand to do it.

Suddenly, Kisame lunged at the other Akatsuki member, swinging his massive chakra-draining sword at him wildly.


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[Sugo]

Itachi watched on from the point he stood at, looking out over the two as they preformed their dance of combat, Kisame a uncontrolled beast swinging wildly at a girl whose capabilities he had no idea, and the girl dodged and rolled like a genin. If that was because she was no match for Kisame, or simply that she was very worn down from travel, Itachi didn't know, all he could do was make accurate observations. He activated his sharingan having a look out over the two, Kisame's chakra a monsterous force as always, Ino's weak, wavering, she was clearly in need of some form of rest. She then seemed to be forming handsigns, and Itachi let out a slight chuckle when he saw what she did.

He knew what it was the second that she formed the hand signs, it was after all - a Konoha Jutsu. Kisame's blade stopped dead and the girl dropped to the floor her lip lifeless body laying in the rain as her hood fell down revealing the long blonde hair, pale skin and closed eyes. She seemed peaceful as if she was asleep. Kisame charged Itachi and Itachi didn't even flinch, didn't even move a muscle as the blade cut through air and a flurry of crows flew off into the distance.

Before he'd jumped down into the road after Kisame's foolhardy attack Itachi had formed himself one of his infamous crow clones, sending it down in lieu of himself as he moved into a position further down the road while the two where in combat. Itachi wouldn't have been so foolish as to put himself into the line of fire of an enemy who he didn't know, didn't know what they where capable of, especially in a situation where he could send a clone in its place. That was Kisame's forte, not his. The crows cawed and with a flutter of their wings they where all gone into the dark raining sky, the pitter patterr of rain the only noise audible to all in the area as the mind controlled Kisame stood, and Ino's body still lay limp.

Itachi dropped silent from the tree behind the controlled Kisame and next to the limp body of the woman they'd attacked. Not a sound came from Itachi as he landed gracefully. He leaned down, checking the head band on the ninja, unsurprisingly - Konoha. He then gripped the collar of the limp body and lifted it up in front of him looking over towards the back of the mind controlled Kisame, who seemed a little bit more frantic after he, or she even had realized Itachi had duped them. "This body, is the one that belongs to you." Itachi said his voice soft, but emotionless never the less as he held up Ino's lifeless body, the weight of it nothing significant and he held it there with ease. "Return to it, or I will make you return to it." Itachi said with a slight hint of annoyance, not annoyance at Ino, more at Kisame for putting them in a position where Ino was even able to gain any ground.

Itachi was fairly confident of his position in this small skirmish, he held all the cards as far as he was concerned. He knew the mind transfer jutsu, it was a powerful jutsu but it came with one glaring huge draw back and was the very reason why it was to be used with a team and not on your own - your body would go completely limp, as this woman's had. This left the user very vulnerable, even against a weaker opponent Itachi would have never been able to get a ninja's body in such a weak position, holding it off the ground like he owned it. She'd made one significant mistake, she'd come on her own, had she had her team this would have been another story, it would be Itachi vs her team and Kisame - a fight Itachi might actually struggle with. This however, was childs play, it was check mate even if she didn't know it, Kisame could never beat Itachi and Itachi was ruthless if he needed to he would engulf Kisame in black flame to make him stop his attacks, the woman was low on chakra, and Kisame was the beast without a tail it would be mere moments before Kisame broke out on his own.

 

[Razz]

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❀ ❀ ❀ Truth be told, Kisame could have broken free at any given moment. His chakra was immense, far greater than any regular ninja, let alone some little girl who appeared to be surviving off of chakra pills. He wouldn't even break a sweat while freeing himself from the jutsu, but he decided to toy with her a little. Let her think she had the upper hand, when really, she was the one being played. Kisame knew Itachi well enough to know that the man he was attacking was merely a clone of the real man. This, however, only became evident to Ino when the sword connected with Itachi's shoulder only for the sword to tear through him as though he were a cloud of mist. Mist that soon transformed into a murder of squawking and cawing crows.

'Damn it!' Ino thought to herself, body going tense and jaw setting tightly as she realized she had just fallen for one of the oldest tricks in the book. She should have known it was a clone. What kind of Akatsuki member would leave himself wide open to attack? And now they knew her game. Just as she was realizing this, Ino heard a voice from behind.. near where her body lay, lifeless and open to attack. Kisame just cackled again, lightly enjoying all of this. Slowly, feeling nothing but dread now, she turned to glance over towards where Itachi was holding her limp body inches from the muddy ground as if it weighed nothing. Demanding that she return to her body, or else he would somehow make her.

“Oohh.. better do what he says.” Kisame teased, feigning a scared tone before laughing again. Ino was ignoring Kisame though, and simply stared at Itachi, slowly realizing who he was. Itachi Uchiha. Just as panic was really starting to set in, though, Kisame decided enough was enough and, with the blink of an eye, sent Ino packing back to her own body.

Because she hadn't been expecting it, Ino was left dazed for a good few moments after transferring back to her own body. Her muscles twitches a little and eyes blinked open, staring up at the dark, cloudy sky with a slightly distant look clouding her vision as she adjusted to being back in her own skin.

Kisame, on the other hand, was already perfectly accustomed to having his body back. He put his sword back across his back and cocked his head to the side, grinning down at the pale girl's face as she started to come to. “Well, Itachi? We're gonna kill her, right?” He asked as if it was already a known fact, when in reality, it was up to Itachi. Kisame couldn't care less what they did with her. She had an interesting ability, and it was a shame for it to go to waste, but she was the enemy. So it wasn't like it could be helped, right?

“I-.. Itachi Uchiha,” Ino growled, weakly lifting her hand to grasp his wrist as he held her off of the ground by her collar still. Anger had intertwined into her exhausted voice, blue eyes straining to glare into his own expressionless orbs as she grit her teeth and narrowed her eyes. “You.. [you're the reason Sasuke left. If it wasn't for you, he could be happy right now! Home, with people that actually care about him..!”

“Oh. She knows who you are.. then again, I guess every ninja from the leaf knows of you by now, huh?” Kisame jested, growing more interested in all of this. Why was she out here alone? And why did she sound so heart broken when she talked about that runt, Sasuke? Well, not like it made any difference to him.


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[Sugo]

Itachi's expression changed naught, he still looked on at the girl without a care in the world as she looked over her shoulder back at him, grasping at his hand as if trying to break herself free. "I do not care, about Sasuke Uchiha." Itachi said in his same blunt tone before he stood the girl up on her feet, gripped her right wrist lifting it up and turning her around. Her hair was starting to get wet now that he hood had been left down, and her face was covered in loose rain water, he reached for around her neck where he found her broach holding the cloak to her, he removed it, letting the cloak fall to the ground leaving her standing in her normal attire. Rain splashed against the purple fabric and bare skin that had now been brought bare to the world, Itachi had his reasons, which he soon showed as he reached for near her waist removing two pouches and throwing both to Kisame - ninja tools. He wasn't going to leave her with weapons on her that was for sure, he then let go of her arm, letting her stand in front of him helpless.

He slid an arm from his robe sleeve and reached for his own tool pouches, his hand appearing again at the end of the sleeve with a spool of fishing wire normally used for setting traps, he turned the girl around to face away from him gripping her arms and pulling her hands behind her where he formed bounds for her hands, tying them tightly with the fishing wire the cold rain water splashing over her bare skin. It was a freezing day, cold and wet and he was forcing this girl to stand without her warm cloak without a care in the world. He pushed a hand into her back forcing her to move forward, leaving her cloak on the ground treading over it as he walked behind her, pushing her, goading her like an animal in the direction he wanted her to go.

Kisame simply let out a short huff, an a bit of a chuckle as he started to march at point, walking with Ino behind him and Itachi behind her, he didn't bother asking why Itachi was keeping the girl but there was probably a good reason. "There is a cave south of here, by a lagoon on the coast, we can wait out the rain there." Kisame said back to Itachi as they marched, new companion in tow, arms bound behind her back as she was ignored like she wasn't even there and forced to march. "Very well." Itachi said, same calm demeanor in the tone of his voice and his facial expression. There where a few uses he had for the girl, bait being one of them. Bait for Naruto or Sasuke, he could test his brother once more or get his target into a position he wanted him in, all he needed to do was let Konoha know he had her - not too hard. Or he could use any information she has about Sasuke's location to find him and test his worth, the girl most be around the same age as Sasuke to care so much about what Itachi had done to insight hatred in Sasuke, 17? 18? Sasuke would be now, Itachi thought to himself 4 years the younger of Itachi.

The rain seemed to pour more, and the thunder strike harder and louder as they made their way towards the coast, towards the cave that Kisame had mentioned, Kisame knew his way around coast lines especially in the land of fire or the land of water. The side of the road where becoming less populated with trees as they got closer to the coast, the dense forest becoming less thick and worse of a hiding spot if one would be able to escape, not that she could hide from Itachi. If he wanted to find her her chakra signature would stick out like a sore thumb to Itachi's sharingan, she wouldn't run away, she wouldn't dare try. At least Itachi thought that much, the poor girl must be terrified, bound and forced to match with two S-Rank rogue-nin, truly a terrible fate.

 

[Razz]

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❀ ❀ ❀ Ino found herself withdrawing a little at the coldness of Itachi's voice as he flatly mentioned that he didn't care about Sasuke. His own brother and only living relative. The again, he was the reason that Sasuke was his only surviving relative. He killed everyone else. She had to remind herself of this, causing her expression to harden ever so slightly as she glared to the side. Against her will, she was forced to stand and turn, and soon found her cloak being removed. Her eyes widened at this and her heart skipped a beat before hammering nervously at the inside of her ribcage. “H-hey! What the hell are you doing?!” Ino growled, puffing up a little as he entirety of her body was now soaked, the cold rain so frozen that it stung against her shoulders face, and any other exposed bit of flesh.

He answered her question with action rather than words though as he simply undid her pouches and handed them off to his inhuman partner. One of the pockets was partially unzipped, and from that small opening, three small black bean-looking objects fell to the ground and sank into the mud. They were her chakra pills.. the very last of what she had. In any other situation she would have been irritated to have lost them, but right now, her mind was elsewhere. She was more worried about where they were planning to take her and what they were going to do with her. Obviously, they weren't going to let her just walk away alive. The guy with the sword had been ready to kill her two minutes ago, but something had changed that.

Immediately, she ruled out the possibility of them wanting her around because of her mind transfer jutsu. It was handy, yes, but nothing worth sparring her life over and keeping her around. The only other thing she could think of was the fact that she was from the leaf, because as far as she knew, they hadn't known where she was from until after Kisame attacked her. So it was the only thing she could think of.

“Watch it!” Ino snarled as the stone-faced Itachi tied her arms behind her back with fishing wire. It was very fine wire, but sturdy, already threatening to cut into her pale, soft arms should she put up a struggle against them. Then, as if she were some kind of cattle, the stoic man began to push her along. Forcing her to walk like a prisoner between the two much taller men. And what choice did she have? That stunt had completely drained what little energy she had left, and now she was freezing cold, unable to stop the way her body started to shiver, which only burned more energy.

As she marched, she couldn't help but think of how Shikamaru would be scolding her right now for being such an idiot. And, for once in her life, she would agree with him on that…

Ino frowned softly by the time they came to the coast, the sound of crashing waves and gust of frozen wind meeting the trio as they came to the clearing. Maybe for Itachi and Kisame, the frozen blast of air was nothing. They were dressed warmly. Ino, however, was soaked to the bone, and the cold air all but stole the air right from her lungs. Gasping painfully, she staggered a little at the air kissed her bare skin. The hand at her back roughly reminded her how to move again, though, forcing her to fall back into place behind Kisame. Well.. if nothing else, he was a decent wind blocker, what with how much taller larger than her he was.

After what felt like forever, they came across the cave. It was dark and cold, but much preferable to the wind and rain beating down on her.

Contently, Kisame move to seat himself against the wall near the mouth of the cave, grinning at Ino with those shark-like teeth of his as he did so. He was at home in such cold, wet weather. If Itachi was chilly he could start a fire.. however, their poor little captive was totally at Itachi's mercy. She was clearly frozen, shivering and trembling, her skin covered in goosebumps. Also, and more amusingly to Kisame, Ino's hardened nipples could be seen straining against the fabric of her tight-fitting purple crop top. “My, it's quite chilly, isn't it?” He teased, enjoying the way she broke from Itachi's hand to glare at him as she moved to the opposite wall to sit as well, adjusting so her knees blocked her chest.


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[Sugo]

Itachi stood at the mouth of the cave and looked as Kisame sat down, laughing at the girls unfortunate situation as she slumped against the wall covering herself obviously with her legs. Itachi pulled a few branches from one of the tree's growing oddly from the gave entrance then looked to Kisame who sat down in the cave. "I don't know why you are sat down Kisame, it is your turn for first watch." Itachi said in his normal tone as Kisame looked at him for a brief moment as if to say 'really?' then begrudgingly stood up and left the cave jumping off into the distance to scout out the area he would be watching. Itachi then entered the cave, whose only two occupants were himself and the blonde girl. The cave was very good at one thing, that was for sure, tunneling the cold wind from the outside through the tunnel and down out of a few small gaps in the back of it, the tunnel was very far from warm and that was all the more worse from the cold and wet companion joining Itachi. He looked down at her with a slight sense of pity, poor thing, wrong place at the wrong time was certainly what had happened to her.

Itachi moved further into the cave, looking around slightly before turning around and moving towards Ino, who sat against the wall knees up to cover her body. He reached down for her pale goose bump covered bare arm and lifted her by it, getting a look at the pointed tips against the purple fabric that had given Kisame a laugh, he then guided her down further into the cave and then moved her to the left into a slight opening in the cave wall that move her out of the way of the rushing winds coming from the coast that would likely have frozen her to death. This jut off to the main cave was only small, its height was enough that Ino could stand comfortable but Itachi would struggle and Kisame wouldn't stand a chance, and it was about 10 foot deep and wide enough for four people to be stood up and pressed against each other. Itachi didn't force her to sit down, he moved into the opening after pushing her into and dropped the sticks he'd gathered earlier, leaning down an arm disappearing into his robes again then reappearing with flint as he started a small fire in the opening sitting down against the cold wet stone of the cave floor. While this area was still very much cold and wouldn't provide either of the two with much comfort it would save Ino from the rushes of wind.

Itachi looked up at the girl finally taking a chance to take a solid look over her. He wasn't surprised she was so cold, a small purple skirt parted at the front showed her undershorts and the fish netting that sat under it, as well as the equally small purple crop top that left her arms and tummy completely bare to the elements, her body was drenched covered in the thick water from the rain her hair equally soaked and sticking to her face due to the water that covered her entire body, and then the most glaringly obvious but frankly embarrassing feature that was on her chest, the erection of her nipples caused by the cold, Itachi looked away with a slight bit of respect looking towards the wall on the other side of the small opening. "You may sit down." he said pointing further into the opening. "On this side of me." he wanted her deeper in the cave than he was, that way any attempt to escape would be practically null and impossible "and you will also tell me your name." he said in a firm tone, he wasn't asking, he was demanding, and failure to comply wouldn't be something a captive would want when it came to keeping their captors happy. "I already know your family name so feel free to glaze over that." he said again, this would maybe make her feel more inclined to speak, he knew her family, he knew who they where and he was dangerous, very dangerous, the type of person you didn't want to be holding a grudge against your family because of you, that was for sure.

 

[Razz]

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❀ ❀ ❀ If Hell really did exist, Ino felt as tho this was similar to what it felt like. The air gushing through the cave was so bitter cold that Ino couldn't even bring herself to keep her eyes open, as they kept drying out and stinging painfully as a result. She shifted, aiming her back towards the entrance to the cave instead to try and block her face, but that didn't do much to help thanks to how wet she was. Maybe Itachi wasn't going to kill her, but at this rate, hypothermia would. If Itachi hadn't of taken her cloak off, then she'd be much better off right now. Speaking of Itachi, Ino gasped and jumped a little when she felt his large hand wrap around her slender, cold arm and drag her up to her feet. She winced as he did so, as it put momentary pressure on the fishing wire around her arms, but once she was on her feet the pressure subsided and she was able to reluctantly tag along. If he was taking her somewhere warmer, she had no qualms.

And, to her relief, that appeared to be the case. Sighing though chattering teeth, Ino didn't need to be told to step as far into the small crevice as possible to escape the icy ocean wind. It was considerably warmer in the crevice even without a fire; the wind blowing right on by, creating a high-pitch whistling sound, but that was bearable compared to being on the brink of freezing to death. Ino didn't think Itachi was doing any of this for her; he was probably cold and wanted to sit by a fire, and he didn't want to risk her getting away so he brought her along. Or maybe he realized it would be pointless to capture her and then let her die. Either way, when he made the fire, she was all too eager to inch towards it and try and absorb some heat. She did want to escape, but in her condition and in this weather? Yeah, right.

She figured her best bet was to get dry, build up energy, wait out the storm, and then she could try and make her escape.

All thoughts came to a grinding halt when, out of the blue, Itachi gave her permission to sit down. She puffed up a little, blue eyes glaring irritatedly down at the man as he himself settled closer to the mouth of the little crevice. “Yeah, thanks, I was waiting for you permission..” She murmured sarcastically, slowly settling herself down near the fore towards the most inner wall of the crevice where it was warmest. Mind you it was still plenty cold, but not cold enough to potentially kill her. Especially with the warmth of the fire.

She was just setting closer to the fire when he decided to tell her that she would tell him her name. Now, if he had asked politely for it, she still would have resisted telling him. But him flat out demanding it REALLY made her want to refuse! Just as she was gritting her teeth and turning her head away, ready to flat out deny him the information her desired, he so casually mentioned he already knew her family name. And there was no denying the underlying threat in that tidbit of info.

If she didn't comply, her family's safety was at stake.

She stiffened at this, narrowed eyes glaring weakly into the growing flames as they flickered and danced to life. And, for a sort moment, she was quiet, before finally succumbing.

“..I-.. Ino...” The girl murmured reluctantly, her heart sinking a little as she realized that by getting herself caught she had possibly put more lives than her own on the line.

“… What are you after? W-.. we have no business together. I want nothing to do with you, and I seriously doubt you need something from me. So why am I here right now?”


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[Sugo]

The wind howled through the cave to their side, occasionally gusts would come in and blow over the fire making the flames shake, the gusts fire down to the end of the small crevice where Ino sat. It wasn't too bad of a freezing chill however due to the fact that the wind picked up some of the heat of the fire before it hit into her making it easier for her skin to withstand, but it mattered very little as the cold was still very much present and very much unbearable against skin, something that Ino was showing a lot of. Itachi looked over to the chattering shivering girl as she spoke, looking at her with his black eyes a staple of Sharingan capable eyes to show very little colour other than the blood red when the sharingan was activated. When she asked her question he turned to face away from her looking towards the wall on the other side of the small crevice, not responding to her question for the time being.

A few moments of seeming silence lasted, while it wasn't entirely silent due to the loud wind flying down the tunnel, however no words where exchanged. "Be happy I didn't kill you. Don't worry about what I have planned for you." he said softly standing up moving through the crevice towards her he stood over top of her, looking down at her sitting on the floor, weak, tired and low on chakra. Itachi removed his straw hat, dropping it down next to her then pulling the akatsuki robe over top of his head, revealing his clothing, a simple blue pair of pants and a short sleeved blue shirt with a mesh v-neck. He held the robe over his shoulder as he pulled a kunai from his ninja tool pouch spinning it around his finger before leaning down towards her. It wasn't entirely obvious what he was doing, all that was noticeable was that he had just pulled a kunai and was leaning in towards her, however he knew he would get next to no aggressive reaction it would be very hard for her to start a fight with someone who clearly out matches her with her hands bound behind her back.

He leaned in, close to her, one knee on the ground in between her legs as his head went past hers pulling her head into his shoulder as he reached down her back with his Kunai cutting through the fishing line that bound her hands and releasing them from their holds. His cheek brushed against hers as he moved back from her and he reached down to the same arm he'd previously pulled her off the ground by and stood her up, taking the thick warm akatsuki cloak from his shoulder and pulling it over her head. It was large for her, the robe that practically covered itachi did cover Ino, down to covering over her feet. It fit on her shoulders fine and the arm holes could be occupied by her if she chose to without too much issue. The feeling of warmth from the thick robe was immediate, cleansing away goosebumps on skin, the collar held up high to cover her lips and nose due to her lower height that Itachi, her embarrassingly erect nipples now hidden under the robe. Itachi sat back down against the wall where he'd previously sat, the konoha girl stood at the end of the crevice in an akatsuki robe, a piece of clothing most probably never expected to find themselves in. "Get some rest, pushing your self on chakra pills will kill you." he said in a calm tone.

Itachi truly did care, especially when it came to the people of Konoha, he did what he did for the people of Konoha, there was no way he would kill one of them who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Especially a young and innocent girl around Sasuke's age. He couldn't bring himself to kill Sasuke, so why would he bring himself to kill Ino? Sasuke's classmate - as far as he could tell. He looked over to the girl standing in the thick robe her rather appealing body now hidden by the robe, he didn't mind too much however it had provided a nice amount of eye candy for him during the walk behind her. "That's a command." he said quietly finding her eyes to give her the dreaded sense of fear that Itachi had over people before he turned to a small book that he'd pulled out of his pocket and began to read it, expecting her to do as he had told her to without much resistance.

 

[Razz]

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❀ ❀ ❀ Ino withdrew a little when he simply told her to be glad he hadn't killed her, gulping dryly and glaring weakly off to the side until she noticed him stand. Her eyes went wide then as she quickly looked up to him, her heart again picking up it's pace and her frozen hands curling into numb fists as she tried to figure out what he was doing. Had she struck a nerve with her questions? Maybe she had pressed her luck. Either way, the panic was clear across her face as he approached her, doing her best to force a glare onto her face as he towered over her. “H-hey! Wh.. what a-are you doing..?” She stammered, failing miserably at looking even remotely intimidating. She even tried to scuffle and wiggle back a little, but froze entirely when he pulled out the kunai.

The girl let out a small squeak when, suddenly, he was dropping down onto his knee, his leg wedged between her legs, causing her face to warm up and glow a soft pink as he suddenly leaned forward, causing her face to press into his shoulder. He was so much larger than her, his warmth completely encompassing her for the moment. He would undoubtedly feel the way her soft breasts pressed against his torso as he leaned over her, same as she could feel his firm muscles tensing and twitching as he moved around, cutting the fishing wire and freeing her arms.

That wasn't the end of it, though, as she soon found his cheek dusting lightly against her own in a way that was almost sensual. You know, if their situation was any different than this. Her breath caught in her throat momentarily and, with a bit of a stagger, the freezing young woman got to her feet as he grabbed her arm again and pulled her to do so.

She was totally confused now, her brow furrowed as she watched him step back and remove his cloak. Then, unexpectedly, he actually swung the thick material around and slung it over her much smaller figure. It was heavier then she had expected, made of a dense material that sealed in his body heat, which immediately washed over her skin and began to sink into her frozen core. She couldn't help the small, relieved huff that escaped her as this happened, keeping her arms inside the coat itself rather then slipping the into the sleeves, as it was warmer that way. She felt like melting as his heat warmed her up, but his comment about the pills being dangerous if relied on to heavily had her puffing up a little.

“I know that; and I wasn't pushing myself. I know my limits.” She bluffed openly, wanting to glare at him only to retreat a little at the cold, empty look he gave her upon commanding that she get some rest.

She growled a little, but slowly lowered herself to the ground again, this time laying herself down with her back to the fire, her arm under her head as a pillow as she curled up within his cloak. She really WAS pretty exhausted… no way could she escape like this. This was her excuse for doing as he said.

It honesty wasn't long at all though until the girl was fast asleep. She had been far more tired than she had realized, and now that the icy wind wasn't biting at her wet clothing, she succumbed to her dire need for some shuteye.



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[Sugo]

Itachi flicked a page over and looked over towards the girl. She sat there in a bundle of black fabric too large for herself and she was already out like a light. The presence of mind that no one else was around made it impossible for him and he couldn't help but allow a little smile to slip out of him as he turned back to the book flicking through it. She was completely asleep, which showed how truly exhausted she was to fall asleep so easily when she was with an enemy. An hour or so passed before Itachi's partner returned to the cave. Walking down the slope his sandals clicking against the stone before he turned towards the crevice which he couldn't even fit in due to his side. "Avoiding the wind, Itachi?" he said softly with a grin looking down over Itachi, not in his robes and then to the far side of the fire lit crevice at the sleeping blonde girl bundled in his robe. "You are too kind to leaf shinobi, Itachi." Kisame hissed almost in disapproval. Itachi stood walking towards Kisame and dropping himself out of the small crevice. "Being nice is a point that you might want to acquire some time in your life Kisame." Itachi said sullenly before starting to walk towards the entrance to the cave, Kisame taking a seat on the edge of the Crevice, he couldn't fit inside it. Under any other circumstance Itachi would give Kisame a warning not to touch the girl or feel his wrath, however Itachi had intentionally put the girl at the end of the Crevice knowing for a fact that Kisame would not fit in there no matter how hard he tried.

Just as Itachi was about to leave the cave to go out on watch Kisame chirped up. "It's cold out there Itachi, even for me." an eyebrow rose on the shark like mans face. "You sure you can do watch without your robe." Itachi let out a slight audible chuckle before not even responding and jumping off out into the darkness, the rain splashing loudly against the rocks as he did. Kisame had already set up the route for watch, as he'd done the first watch, the hardest of them. There was no nearby towns to be wary of, or nearby scouting bases of villages, so it was a fairly easy scouting mission to make sure that no ninja where approaching him. Itachi jumped from branch to branch on the course of arrows set up by Kisame in the tree bark, looking around, occasionally activating his sharingan to look for chakra signatures, nada. He jumped and jumped, it was quite a good bit of exercise this route that Kisame had set up, something much easier for him to do than the smaller framed Itachi. Itachi landed on one of the tree branches marked with a circle and an arrow below sitting down at this designated wait point and pulling out the book again. A bingo book, a book full of ninja that are enemies to their states, feature prominently in the book was himself. He would spend his time reading the bingo book from time to time, getting to know what the insert said about him. His pictures sat there, three pictures of his profile and his face with a description underneath.

'Uchiha Itachi, wanted for the extermination of the Uchiha clan. Prize 200,000,000 Yen.' a hefty bounty, one of the biggest in the whole book. ' Uchiha Itachi is a prominent user of the sharingan, he is know to have unlocked the sharigan's ultimate potential and because of that he has access to deadly genjutsu and ninjutsu that only sharingan users have.' following that section there were inserts from shinobi that had faced Itachi about what to expect against him, sometimes new ones would pop up when he summoned the bingo book, the one that made him chuckle the most was an entry from the Sannin Jiraiya himself, stating about Itachi's ability to produce 'Black Flame that would burn until it's target was no more.' amaterasu as it was actually called. Itachi chuckled slightly to himself before jumping up and moving on his way.

Not long after that Itachi arrived back at the cave that the group where using and walked his way down to the entrance of the crevice, Kisame opening his eyes from the half sleep that he was in and standing up to swap places with Itachi, heading back out to do his route. Itachi slipped himself into the crevice and looked over towards Ino, she still slept soundly there which allowed him to crack a smile and let out a slight sigh of relief. He moved his way into the Crevice postioning himself on the other side of the fire a meter or so from the sleeping Ino and closed his own eyes to get a little bit of sleep himself.

Itachi and Kisame did as they always did, tagging in and out to follow the scouting route to make sure no danger was to come of them, if any danger was to happen, Itachi or Kisame where more than capable enough of dealing with it on their own. It only happens a few times, but when it does whoever encounters the enemy almost always massacres them, a few times they had provided a challenge. The sun was cracking down the cave and Itachi opened his eyes from the little bit of sleep he was getting on the final rotation and stood up cracking his neck slightly before looking down to the bundle of black with the pale blonde head sticking out of the top. He knelt down on one knee in front of her and shook her shoulder coldly saying. "Get up." snuffing out the fire behind him with a bit of dirt.

 

[Razz]

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❀ ❀ ❀ Ino slept like a rock throughout the entirety of the night, shifting a little to roll onto her back or other side, but not once reawakening. She only began to stir when she felt a hand on her shoulder, giving her a light shake, coupled with a flat voice telling her to get up. Her brow knitted together and she groaned, fingers curling around the red inside of the cloak as she instinctively pulled her shoulder away from whoever it was that was shaking her. For a moment, she completely forgot where she was and what was going on, having been in such a deep sleep. When her blue eyes squinted open, though, and she was greeted by the blurry outline of none other than Itachi looming over her, she felt both dread and annoyance.

“Good morning to you, to,” She mumbled, voice thick with sleep as she slowly sat upright and let out a small yawn, moving to stretch her arms only to realize she was still wrapped in the oversized cloak. Blinking, she glanced down at the red and black attire, remembering how she got it in the first place and then looking back to Itachi. She had never seen him, or any Akatsuki member for that matter, without the cloak on. In a sense, she kind of forgot they HAD bodies, as she always associated them with their cloaks. So it was really weird to look at Itachi and see him as a regular person for once. And, now that she wasn't scared out of her mind and more than half zoned out with exhaustion, she could definitely see the resemblance in Sasuke and his older brother.

For a moment, it hurt to think about Sasuke. She frowned, biting the inside of her cheek and taking in the man's features while thinking about his younger brother. What would it be like if Iachi had never done what he had..? If he and Sasuke both lived happily in the village?

She was quick to remember that the reason that wasn't a reality, though, was none other than the man staring so coldly at her, expecting her to get up. Her expression flickered, then. Her frown tugged into a slight sneer and her eyes narrowed, and, quickly, she was shoving herself to her feet and pulling the cloak free to shove it into the elder Uchiha brother's arms.

“I think I deserve some kind of explanation,” Ino started, smoothing out her still slightly damp clothing while glaring boldly into Itachi's emotionless gaze. “You said I should just be glad you didn't kill me, but that isn't even close to an acceptable explanation as to why you two ambushed me! I have more important things to do than sit around with you and shark man.” She made sure to keep a few feet between herself and him at all times.

Last night, she had been sluggish and barely awake. However, right now, she had 100x the energy. She felt confident she could get away, if given the chance to do so. Growling a little, she cast a quick glance outside the crevice. As far as she could tell, Kisame was still gone. Which meant it was just her and Itachi, giving her, hopefully, a better chance at defending herself if it came to it.



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[Sugo]

Ino's shove of the robe into his arms didn't come as much of a surprise and didn't even weaken his strong stance as he threw the robe over his head sliding one arm in a sleeve the other zipping the robe down slightly and hanging out of the front. "You have no right to an explanation." Itachi said coldly turning and dropping out of the small gap in the cave. "Come or I'll have shark man eat you." He said with a hint of joke on his voice as he teased her walking to the front of the cave, she was expected to follow and he doubted she wouldn't. If she failed to she would be forced to follow anyway.

Itachi stepped out into the sunlight of the cloudy day looking around and at Kisame who stood next to the cave. Both stood in their akatsuki robes as Ino joined them at the front of the cave be it by one of them going back or her own free will Itachi looked around. "I will take point, Ms. Yamanaka will be behind me and yourself behind her Kisame. We are moving faster today." He said looking around as then jumping off onto a nearby branch and taking off.

Kisame reached out and pushed a large hand against her small female frame pushing her in the direction Itachi went. "Go." Kisame said to her in his own cold way as he waited for her to start following Itachi, the pressure from Kisame and lack of Itachi to call Kisame off if she ignored him would be something she couldn't just blank, basically, Kisame wasn't giving her a choice.

They jumped from tree to tree through the land of fire. Itachi was fast and agile in this manner, jumping like he was one with the air around him, living up to his legacy as the strongest a strong clan had seen in a century. Kisame was a bit different, a bit more Brutish in his landings as he followed her forcing her onwards.

They'd been going for about an hour know when suddenly Itachi stopped in front lurching backwards his shoulder crashing into Ino, knocking the wind out of her as he hit her quite hard. He turned in the air to face her before reaching forward and pulling her into his body. There was a loud crash and a loud boom as the trees in front of them started to fall down after the explosion of the bomb tags. Itachi had triggered a trap and immediately jumped backwards to avoid it, hitting hard into Ino.

Splinters flew around them as the two hovered for a split second mid-air. Ears where ringing from the explosion and before they started plummeting towards the ground Itachi could be heard shouting one thing. "Three to the left" Ino and Itachi then succumbed to gravity, plummeting towards the ground at high speed.

The air rustled around his robes with wind resistance as he fell towards the ground. He grabbed onto Ino's shoulder, a few splinters that found the skin on his face causing slight discomfort, and turned so he was falling back first towards the ground. A few moments later they hit, Itachi's back causing first contact. A loud thud as they landed and the air was kicked from the disorientated Itachi as he spluttered, a look of pain on his normally static face. He'd forced Ino above him and taken most of the fall for her. He now lay in the recently wet mud, the kunoichi atop him as he tried to cure his dizziness from the explosion and fall. The sound of Kisame's sword against kunai noticeable off in the distance.

 

[Razz]

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❀ ❀ ❀ “Hey, jerk!” Ino grumbled when Itachi denied her any kind of information again, simply turning and dropping from the crevice while making what she assumed to be a joke. She puffed up and pouted a little, reluctantly following him out of the gap. “He.. he doesn't really eat people though, right??” Her question was answered with silent as Itachi simply made his way for the entrance to the cave. He didn't even look back, clearly expecting her to follow him. She could have turned and tried to escape through the back of the cave… but his confidence that she would follow made it obvious that he knew she had no option, so even if she tried to escape, she would just be caught.

Huffing, she rolled her eyes and begrudgingly followed after him, only to cringe a little when she rounded the corner outside the cave and found Kisame standing there. She glared nervously up at him a moment before tearing her gaze off in the direction Itachi suddenly had launched himself in. Sheesh! Why was he even in a rush? She would know, if he would only share some sort of information with her. She wasn't really given much time to weigh her options, either, because Kisame was soon shoving her after Itachi. And, not wanting to find out if he REALLY ate people, the kunoichi had no choice but to take off after the Uchiha.

She definitely couldn't keep up with him, but at least was more light-weight than Kisame and was able to keep a small distance ahead of him. All the while she bitterly followed Itachi, wondering how the heck she was going to get out of this situation.

It was only a little while later, while she was lost in thought, that things changed. She glanced up to see Itachi suddenly launching himself backwards, but by then, she had already launched herself forward, so the impact was inevitable. She didn't even have time to brace herself and ended up with the air being knocked right out of her with a light 'oof!', eyes going wide as, suddenly, explosions went off in front of them. Her vision of the explosion though as quickly blocked by black and red when Itachi grabbed her and pulled her against him, shielding her from the debris. Her arms were wrapped around around her gut, where his shoulder had hit her, and her body leaned slightly into his chest as she gasped in a lungful of air.

Then, before she even knew what had happened, Itachi was yelling something out and they were falling to the ground. Ino closed her eyes tight and tensed up, prepared for impact, but.. Itachi took the blow. She listened as the air left his body, blue eyes squinting open to peek up at Itachi's face, which was scrunched in pain. That impact definitely had to be painful..

She sat upright, ears still ringing from the explosion, but otherwise unscathed. “H-hey..! What the heck is going on??” She asked softly, moving off of Itachi to sit beside him only to gasp when she heard the sound of something flying through the air towards her. She didn't have her weapons, or anything to defend herself hanks to Itachi, so the best she could manage was to crawl over him and use her own body to block his vital areas as a kunai flew just past them and stuck into a nearby tree. Attached to it.. a paper bomb tag. It wasn't a large or extremely potent bomb, but was strong enough to lightly singe the exposed skin of the small of Ino's back and arms, earning a small cry from the girl, but she held her position over Itachi regardless.

“Ino Yamanaka,” A stoic, muffled voice from behind her called out, causing the girl to quickly turn around and take a defensive stand from where she sat squatted beside Itachi. However, when she saw it was a member of the ANBU, her heart skipped a beat and eyes widened. Why was the ANBU here…?

“You are now classified as a rogue nin for leaving the village, and will be returned to Konoha, alive or otherwise. Surrender peacefully, and step aside so Itachi Uchiha can be dealt with. If you intervene, you will be killed. This is your only warning.” His voice was flat and merciless.

Ino could only stare at the masked ninja, her shock slowly shifting to anger. Lady Tsunade would really do as far as to classify her as rogue..? Nervously, her eyes narrowed and she held her ground. She couldn't do mind transfer, because that would leave her totally helpless and open to attack. The best she could do was clamber to her feet and ball her hands into fists, glaring at the ANBU, but not budging. She didn't know why, but just moving and letting Itachi be attacked while he was down felt wrong. He had just saved her life, after all.

“So be it.” The ANBU stated simply before lunging at Ino, kunai in hand. Gulping nervously, Ino lunged forward as well, meeting the ANBU halfway and blocking the black with her left arm, creating a gash in her flesh but allowing her an opening to slam her knee into the man's gut.

As Itachi regained himself Ino did her best to keep the ANBU at bay, getting cut up in the process.



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[Sugo]

Itachi shook his head as he started to sit up, the landing has rattled him that was for sure but he was tough enough to not get taken out by a simple fall. He heard the noise of the fighting just inches away from him, and then looked up to see Ino's bleeding arm as she fought a Konoha ANBU. 'Konoha ANBU are after her?' Itachi thought to himself still slightly dazed. 'That makes that plan a dud.' It was then he noticed her fighting to defend him and decided to intervene, the his eye shot red, the tomoe of his sharingan quickly forming into one shuriken like shape. His eye then began to bleed.

In the blink of an eye the ANBU in front of Ino shot up in black flame, the flames charring against his body as he screamed in pain falling backwards, Amaterasu engulfing him. Itachi stood behind Ino moving towards her, blood dripped down from Itachi's eye and the man burned in black flame as Itachi placed one hand on Ino's arm turning her to face her looking at the gash.

Itachi silently pulled gauze from his belt, wrapping the wound on her arm tightly before looking back to the man. His charred remains sat there, the black flame dying out. Itachi had dealt with an ANBU like he was a mere genin, a true show of power. "Are you okay." Itachi said looking down at the Ino her blonde hair sticking to her damp skin.

Before Ino even got a chance to speak something somewhat miraculous happened. Water gushed from the trees around them, filling the area in a deep ocean of water. Itachi's eyes shot wide, Kisame's jutsu, so fast. He grabbed onto Ino and pulled her against his breast, water pooling way above their heads so fast. Itachi kicked against the water swimming up with the girl, the water rose and rose until it finally stopped, 5 foot above the tree tops. Itachi broke the surface and using his chakra pushed himself to stand on the surface still holding Ino. When he was confident she was paying attention he let go of her letting her stand on the water on her own.

He looked around under the water, the lake that had just appeared in the basin near the ocean, looking for Kisame he was the origin of all of this water, but who must he be fighting to have caused this much so fast? Itachi looked over to Ino's confused face, her clothes tight to her from the cold water, her hair stuck lightly across we face. "It's Kisame. His blade has merged with him and created this ocean to give him the upper hand, but to have absorbed this much chakra?" Itachi said still scanning the water, looking for Kisame and his opponent. It was then that he spotted them.

Kisame had taken to his shark fairly quickly in this fight, his jinchuriki opponent had given Samehada plenty of chakra to feast on, floating before him in the water was an ANBU and the nine tailed jinchuriki, Naruto. Kisame could handle this fight easily, and he knew it, with so much water surrounding him he was invincible. "1000 feeding sharks" Kisame yelled as sharks made from his chakra began to erupt in the water, the whole lake of water he'd created shaking viscously from their arrival.

The water underneath Itachi rumbled, Kisame was taking water from it to aid his Jutsu. Waves started appearing on the surface and it wasn't long before the water became too hard to stand on and Itachi's balance was faltering. He held his hand out to Ino and looked over to the blonde, her clothing soaked and the same cold nipples showing once again. "Take my hand, we have to get off Kisame's water bubble. We'll head back for the.." The water erupted around them, washing them both under and towards the sea that Kisame's bubble connected to...

Itachi coughed and spluttered as he came two, the last thing he remembered was the vicious waters of Kisame's bubble pulling him under. He lay on soft sand after having been washed onto a beach nearby his mind was fuzzy, damn Kisame and his unpredictable bubble of water. He sat up on the beach suddenly remembering he was pulled under alongside another, she could be miles down the beach by now. He looked around and shouted out her name, his vision still slightly blurry from his illness and Ameratasu.

 

[Razz]

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xxxxx [ooc: I decided to say that Asuma is still alive. Hope that's not a big deal!] “Ino! Wake up!” A hushed, raspy voice from overhead called down to her, the hand on her shoulder shaking her roughly until, finally, she began to stir. Groaning, she squinted and blinked until her vision had cleared up enough for her to see whoever it was that was calling down to her. And it was the last person she had expected to see all the way out here. “N.. Naruto…?” The girl mumbled, momentary confusion coming over her as she took in his appearance. He was a little pale, blood smeared across his cheek, and presumably he had other wounds beneath his clothing considering she could vaguely remember seeing him fighting Kisame. But that was before she blacked out, and there really was no telling how long ago that was. Regardless, she doubted Naruto had killed Kisame. That guy was a monster, and even with the nine tails, Naruto couldn't kill him. Shrugging all that aside, though, Ino let out a relieved sigh and quickly sat upright to lock her arms around Naruto's neck, pulling the surprised boy into a tight hug. “It's so good to see a familiar face!” She blurted, biting back tears as her body shuttered. The past few weeks alone had been rough, and she never thought she'd get to see any of her friends again. Especially after that encounter with the ANBU earlier. Speaking of the ANBU.. she shuttered when, suddenly, she recalled what Itachi had done to the one she had been fighting. She could still smell the poor guy's charred remains, and it made her queasy… Naruto flushed a little, not sure what to do when Ino suddenly hugged him. After a short moment, though, he smiled at her obvious relief and hugged her back. “… C'mon, then. Let's go back home, then you can see Sakura-chan, and Shikamaru, and Choji.. even Asuma-senei! They've all been worried sick about you, you know?” As the boy spoke he got to his feet, pulling Ino along with him. She faltered at his words, though, frowning up at him as she drew back and shook her head lightly. “Naruto, you're such an idiot..” Her words were soft, sad, even. “… you of all people should know that I can't go back. Not yet.” And maybe not ever, after today. Naruto, however, didn't understand. He gave her a light glare, his brow narrowed in confusion as he held his hands out in an expressive manner. “Why? Because you want to save Sasuke..? Believe me, I get it. You love him… but, Ino… is that any reason to leave Konoha and join up with the Akatasuki!?” Naruto's question left Ino's head spinning. What was he talking about..? Was that what everyone back home believed? Or maybe it was just dumb luck. She had defended Itachi earlier, after all, when she had clearly had the chance to flee… so she couldn't blame them for thinking she had joined the Akatsuki. Regardless, she made the split decision to go with it. If the entire village thought she had joined the most powerful criminal organization, maybe they'd think twice about hounding her so brutally? Technically, she would be more wanted than before. She would probably never be welcomed back home, and that was a pretty tough pill to swallow, but she had hopes that this could all be cleared up. They would be looking for her within the Akatsuki, not alone, like she fully intended to be. Okay so maybe it wasn't the kind of decision Shikamaru would make, but she was going with what she had. “… It's true, Naruto. I love Sasuke, so much so that I've decided to join the Akatsuki to find him.” She lied blatantly, putting on the best act she had ever managed to pull off. It was all a lie, though. She knew now that what she felt for Sasuke wasn't love, and she had zero intent on joining the Aktasuki. But Naruto was soaking it all up, and that was what mattered. As long as he relayed all of this back to the village and everyone else believed it, too, then that would be what mattered. “But, Ino… what about your family, and all of your friends, huh?!” Naruto growled, stepping forward to grab Ino by the scruff of her short purple crop top and pulling her in so their faces were mere inches apart. Blue eyes clashed, Ino holding that stern expression and Naruto's own expression becoming fierce. “You claim to love Sasuke, but why go so far when he's not once returned those feelings? You think he'll love you if you go after him? Is that it?!” Naruto snarled, tightening his hold on Ino, but she didn't respond. Instead, she lifted her hands and swiftly preformed a few well-practiced hand seals. Naruto realized what she was doing too late, and in seconds, the mind transfer was complete. Her own body lay limp on the beach, while she now controlled Naruto. She knew Kisame was still after him. If she could just get his body closer to Konoha, then-- “There you are,” A cackling voice rang out from the treeline, and out came Kisame. Crap, Ino thought anxiously to herself. If Kisame created that weird water sphere again, her body would be helpless and she'd drown. Likewise, if Kisame killed Naruto, she would die, too. But if she released her hold on Naruto he'd just charge head-long at Kisame and get himself killed in a fight! Her only option was to flee… and hope her body was alright while she took Naruto to safety. Assuming she could outrun Kisame. Still, she had to try, and try she did. Turning, she dove into the forest and, without looking back, took off. Hopefully she'd run into some ANBU, so she could release Naruto's body and hope they were smart enough to get Naruto away from the Akatsuki...

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[Sugo]

Itachi couldn't make out even a blur that could be considered Ino. His eyes where not giving him much of a length of vision any way. He could barely make out the shape of his own hand in front of his face from the combination of his illness and the use of his Dojutsu. Mucky marks sat around his right cheek and under his right eye where the blood from Amaterasu had been washed off of him by Kisame's water leaving only the stain of his own blood. His Sharingan was no longer active, but due to the use of a significant dojutsu he was now left with fuzzy vision, as his eyes had been fading away for the longest of time. He placed a hand in the sand and knelt up, coughing into his palm as he did, blood pooling in the palm before he shook his hand to splatter his own blood over the sand around him. He looked up to the sun, eyes closed as he knelt in the sand only the sound of the ocean and the birds to keep him company. He knelt there for what felt like 10 minutes, until one of his crows in a beat of its own wings landed next to him. His eyes open, his vision better after his moment of solitude and rest. He looked to the raven, getting some information from it, he stood quickly, but not sure footed and turned. He turned looking down the beach to where he saw the huge figure of Kisame walking towards him, carrying the limp lifeless body of Ino towards him.

Kisame looked over the two Konoha shinobi, the Uzumaki child had a wealth of Chakra, chakra that Samehada had loved devouring, he'd very easily been able to bring himself to his merged state with his blade with the amount of Chakra Naruto had provided it. Samehada now dragged in the sand behind him. The Uzumaki child ran, and Kisame looked towards him with a grin. He was half tempted to follow him, and slaughter him, however he wasn't his target. Itachi would be angry if he was to bring in the Kyubi and not Itachi. So Kisame watched as the boy dove into the forest and began to flee. He moved towards the lifeless body of the girl who lay there in the sand her hair flayed out in it. Her hair was a fairly dark blonde, but the sand was a fairly dark yellow. It was almost quite hard to pick out her strands of hair in and among the sand as she lay there. Kisame approached, moving towards the girl who lay motionless and looked down at her from above her, blocking out the sun.

She wasn't moving, Kisame grinned slightly. She was a pretty girl, no wonder Itachi was talking a liking to her, telling him not to hurt her, to look after her. Pff, she was a 5 nations shinobi, they should just kill her. Her clothes were soaked, likely from Kisame's jutsu, the mesh that she wore around her knees and elbows where slinking off her body and struggling to stay on. Her purple shorts and purple crop top has thoroughly stuck to her body. Last night when she was gold Kisame had gotten a fairly good look at her perky nipples but now she lay there motionless, her breasts very cleanly outlined by the shrinking fabric that had absorbed so much moisture, a single tip peaking from both. Kisame licked his lips slightly looking down at the girls motionless body. Itachi wouldn't know, and she probably wouldn't wake up and wouldn't know either. His thoughts where interrupted however by the loud shriek of a crow, Kisame looked up into the sky seeing the black bird floating around gracefully above him and scowled - so Itachi would know. The bird began going in the opposite direction than Naruto had, back down the beach. Kisame looked back down at the Konoha girl and tutted, such a shame, it would have been a pleasure to use her. He reached down grabbing the limp blonde and threw her over his shoulder, proceeding down the beach in the direction of the crow.

Itachi moved towards Kisame who carried the girl over his shoulder, his vision coming back to him even greater than before now, he could finally start to see the colour and sharpness of Kisame's figure in more detailed. He approached Kisame and looked at the girl over his shoulder, Itachi reached up, grabbing Ino's lifeless body by the hips and laying her on her back on the beach. "What happened" Itachi questioned Kisame looking up at him and then down at the lifeless Konoha shinobi. "I found her, with the Kyubi Jinchurki standing over her." Itachi looked at Kisame with a quizzical look and then back down to the lifeless Ino. There was noway Naruto had killed her, she also didn't have any external wounds, she could have suffered internal bleeding from being dropped out of Kisame's bubble, but she didn't seem to have any visible bleeding and she was certainly showing a lot of skin, so that ruled out a lot of bruising. The only thing that made sense to Itachi was that she'd consumed too much water while being thrown around in Kisames jutsu.. He slipped his hands onto her lifeless body and pushed them up under her left breast where he pumped against her chest to try and make her spit out any water that she held in her throat. After a few pumps he lent down, squeezing her nose shut and pressing his lips to hers blowing air into her, one hand still under her left breast. The only thing that made sense to Itachi was resuscitation.

The remaining ANBU that hadn't been caught in the fight with Itachi and Ino, and unfortunately burnt to a crisps had been fighting alongside Naruto, he's suffered quite a severe cut across his right thigh from Samehada and was bandaging himself against a tree in the large forest that was damp and wet from Kisame's jutsu. He heard some rustling in the bushes nearby. Fast rustling, too fast to be an animal, the only logical sense was that it was a ninja. The man shouted out, hoping that Naruto had found him. "Naruto, is that you?" the man shouted, biting down on his bottom lip. He'd given away his position, hopefully he'd given it away to Naruto, not the Akatsuki.

 

[Razz]

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xxxxx 'Naruto, is that you?' Ino let out an internal sigh of relief when she heard the voice calling out for Naruto. She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep a hold on Naruto; the further she got from her body the more taxing the mind transfer was to uphold, and Naruto was definitely resisting. Which only made controlling his body that much harder. The only good thing was that she was fairly certain Kisame wasn't after them, otherwise he'd already be on their tail. However… that meant he was alone. With her body. She cringed at the momentary thought before shaking her head and huffing. Itachi had to have been joking when he said he ate people. Right?? Keeping that from her mind as best she could, she followed the voice until she dropped down from a tree and landed a few short feet away from a masked man tending to a wound on his leg. She would have been happy to try and help him herself, but her hold on Naruto was slipping, and besides. Naruto could take care of this himself. She just hoped the idiot would have enough sense to help this guy home opposed to going back after her… That hope in mind, she released the jutsu swiftly, feeling that nauseous, yet familiar, pull of her consciousness being dragged back to her own body. At first, she couldn't focus on anything. Her body was heavy and numb, but there was an added weight just beneath one of her breasts. There was also a pressure against her lips, and for some reason it was hard to breath… Confused, blue eyes fluttered open in a daze. Itachi…? Wait, what.. was he… Her eyes suddenly went wide, and what happened next was on pure instinct. Her head jerked to the side as a snarl escaped her, eyes narrowing dangerously and hand lifting lightening fast to land a sharp slap against Itachi's cheek. In the blink of an eye, Ino was on her feet, arms wrapped around her breasts and eyes glaring holes into not just Itachi, but Kisame as well. Her face was beat red and heart was pounding heavily against her ribcage, making her shake a little as panic and disgust set in. “Wh-what the hell, creeps! Is it normal for you to sexually harass unconscious young women?!” She growled, making sure to take a few broad steps back away from the two men. Could she really be blamed for her reaction to waking up to Itachi feeling her up, and Kisame watching like a total weirdo?? Itachi Uchiha or not, she wasn't gonna sit by and let anyone molest her. Even if he could summon terrifying black flames and burn her alive if her wanted.

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[Sugo]

The slap rang out on the beach and was followed immediately by a chuckle from Kisame. Itachi's head jerked slightly to the side a ride hand print a perfect mirror of Ino's hand, for obvious reasons, sitting on his cheek. He closed his eyes for a moment composing himself before he turned to face the woman, standing up as he'd been knelt next to her. He seemingly ignored her comment and then spoke softly. "You hit harder than one would expect." He said looking over to Ino, the red mark sitting on his face.

It took a moment but it eventually occurred to Itachi what had happened. "Ah." he said quietly. "Mind Transfer Jutsu leaves you unconscious while you inhabit another's body. That makes perfect sense now." He moved towards Ino standing inches from her Kisame having already walked away with a slight chuckle coming from his direction. Itachi looked down at her with concern, it was a look that was shocking almost.. He'd always almost only given a look of discontent, uninterested but now instead he was looking down at her with concern, sincere concern. He slipped a black book out from his pocket. "Do you know what this is?" he asked quietly to her, not expecting a response, he was being quiet as not to gain Kisame's attention.

The book he held was a copy of Konoha's bingo book, all be it an older version. He looked down into her eyes and slipped the book back into his pocket pulling out a scroll which he unraveled slightly and on it was wrote 'Book' with a bit of chakra and a summoning Jutsu another book popped out from smoke. Itachi caught it, the same black cover being present and slipped the scroll back into his pocket. He flicked through the pages a list of criminals wanted by Konoha sitting there prominently, Orochimaru, the snake that he seduced sasuke from the village. Itachi himself, the murderer of the Uchiha clan. All S-Rank Rouge ninja. He then turned to a page and turned the book to face her. There sitting on the page was a picture, a picture of Ino. The picture sat on the bingo book page next a bunch of description factors about her. 'Name: Ino Yamanaka. Gender: F. Age: 19. Height: 162.2cm. Weight: 46KG. Classification: Sensor/Medical-nin. Known Dangerous Techniques: Mind Transfer Jutsu. Nature Type: Earth, secondary unknown.' a huge biography about her just sitting in this page for every bounty hunter to find. The most chilling part however sat at the bottom of the page. 'Ino Yamanaka, B-Class Rouge-ninja. Wanted for desertion. Reward ¥10,000,00'. Itachi's concerned eyes looked down at her. below the reward sat the initials FHK. "Fifth Hokage." Itachi said in a hush tone telling her what it meant.

Itachi closed the book slipping it back into his robe before looking down at her and grabbing her hands and moving them behind her back, the fishing cord wrapping around them once more. "I will protect you. Just don't resist too much. Konoha's ninja mean a lot to me" Itachi said softly the concern removing from his face and the solemn look of discontent returning. Kisame turned around and shouted over to Itachi. "If you're going to steal a kiss do it." Kisame yelled. "Just hurry up." he said with an audible laugh. Itachi's eyes looked in the direction of Kisame and they seemed to say, behind his solemn look, get moving. Itachi didn't move until she did, he simply waited.

 

[Razz]

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xxxxx Ino growled a little at Kisame's chuckled response to her slapping Itachi, her brow twitching a little and arms wrapping even tighter around her chest. It was Itachi's response that got Ino visibly riled, though. She puffed up a little and shot him another solid glare. “Yeah? Well there's more where that came from if you feel like coping any more feels, pervert.” She was on edge as she threatened him, confusion mixing in with her clearly upset expression as she glared holes through Itachi. “… Of course it makes sense. What did you think--.. o-..oh...” She pursed her lips as it dawned on her what he may have really been doing. After all, it had been out of character for him to randomly feel her up. She had been found unconscious on the beach after being swallowed by Kisame's water bubble. He had probably been preforming CPR. Still, she was on edge as Itachi approached her, unable to shake the way his lips head felt pressed against her own. It didn't really count as a kiss, but it was still the closest thing to one she had ever had. Her lips still tingled from the contact, making her feel even more confused, and that, of course, only grew when Itachi stepped up to her and summoned a black book. “A bingo book..?” Ino murmured, relaxing a little as she noticed the odd look of legitimate concern on his face. It was really weird, considering that up until now he had only looked at her coldly. Then again, he HAD bandaged her arm up after the ANBU sliced at her. And he had shielded her from the impact when they fell before… and then last night when he let her use his cloak to stay warm… why did he care enough to do any of those things for her? It didn't add up! He was supposed to be some cold killer..! That was when he flipped the book and revealed the content to her. Her heart sunk into her gut and her eyes went wide, skin becoming pale as she took in the information. “B-but.. the… the bingo book is for criminals, r-right..?” She stammered quietly, feeling somewhat queasy as she read and the re-read the written information. What was truly horrifying was the fact that, at the bottom, there was Lady Tsunade's signature. So it was true. She really was wanted by Konoha now… dead or alive. Her breathing became somewhat shallow and her bottom lip quivered a little, but she quickly shook her head and sucked back any tears that threatened to form in her eyes. None of this made sense to her, but she couldn't start crying. It wouldn't solve anything. “Why are you showing me this..? A-and what do you mean you'll 'protect' me? By tying me up again..?!” She glared at him, but knew resistance was futile. She faltered, but allowed him to again tie her arms behind her back as his expression flickered back to cold and uncaring just in time for Kisame to turn and start yelling for Itachi to hurry it up. She glared at him as he mentioned the kiss thing, but quickly shifted her focus back to Itachi. “If.. If you're going to be lugging me around like this.. I want to find an inn somewhere and take a bath.” She puffed, putting the whole 'bingo book' thing as far back in her mind as she could. She had a feeling she could only talk about it when Kisame wasn't within earshot. “I have sand all over, and I refused to travel smelling like fish. You at least owe me that much if you wont tell me why I have to stick with you pervs like this..” It was true. Ino had sand in places she wouldn't dream of speaking of. Plus she was tired, still feeling the effects of going so long off of chakra pills alone. That and she was really hoping for a chance alone with Itachi to ask all of the questions that were piling up.

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[Sugo]

He looked down at her as she spoke, the look of discontent still sitting on his face. "We are far from welcome in Land of Fire inns." he said softly looking down at her. His eyes ran over her body again, taking in the obvious mess she was in. Not only was the purple fabric acting like a second layer of skin with how closely it hugged her body, dusty sand also sat on her pale skin over her arms and thighs. Her hair was a state, strands hanging from the pony tail and it most certainly needed a brush. His eyes only took a cursory glance however, before finally coming back up to her eyes and looking at her. "I will make sure we bunk near a lagoon or natural Hot Spring." he said softly. "However I doubt it will do much for you without a change of clothing." he finally said before moving closer to her.

He had already been close, now he was, eerily close. If there was ever a range that could be called 'kissing distance' this was it. He looked down at the blonde kunoichi before bending slightly and grabbing her around the knees, she was thrown over his shoulder, her light frame easy enough to lift over his shoulder and he moved at a decent pace to catch up with Kisame, Ino thrown over his shoulder. She had been taking too long, Kisame was likely getting restless, besides it would be more believable if Itachi told Kisame that she refused to walk and he had to carry her, right? Itachi caught up with Kisame fast enough and then began to walk alongside him, Ino hanging over his shoulder. Her butt next to his face, the back of her knees being held by his hands and her upper body and head hanging down behind him, her long hair hanging almost down to the back of Itachi's long robe. "I want to find a Lagoon of sorts before tonight." Itachi said calmly to Kisame. "The girl is complaining, and I feel inclined to agree with her." he said before jumping up onto a tree, Ino literally along for the ride as she rode on his shoulder. "Keep up." Itachi said in a teasing manner to Kisame before he started jumping from tree to tree getting a significant head start on Kisame.

He jumped a few trees before finally he began to talk, he was moving fast and the ride was far from comfortable for someone being held the way Ino was, her head banged occasionally against his back but Itachi didn't seem to take notice. "I showed you it. Because you needed to know." Itachi said gently, his voice a lot different to when he spoke with Kisame just moments before. "The ANBU told you you were wanted, it's best for you to know why. Deserter. Similar to me." he said quietly the sound of his sandals against the wood and the rustling of leaves the only noise other than his voice. "and you should be happy you have my protection, and not Kisame's." he said in a sullen voice, almost like he was insulted by what she said earlier. "He would sooner have you tied like this just not with clothes. I have to make it appear like I am restraining you hmm?" he said stopping slightly as he said it before jumping again through the trees. Every other jump an uncomfortable thud as Ino bounced around on his shoulder while he jumped through the trees holding Ino like a captured Feudal lords daughter that he was taking away.

 

[Razz]

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xxxxx Ino shifted where she stood when she felt his eyes rake up and down her figure. She felt pretty self-conscious and vulnerable like this, knowing she was a total wreck, and there was nothing she could do about it at the moment. She supposed a lagoon or natural spring was just as good, but he was right. She needed different clothes. “Well, then, help me find something else to wear. You're the reason I don't have my cloak, after all.” She reminded him, her voice hushed and only growing quieter the closer Itachi moved to where she stood. He was very, very close now.. so close that she could nearly feel his breath against her skin. Confused, she stared up at him, only to suddenly squeal when he lifted her up so unexpectedly. She couldn't really stop him, either. With her arms behind her back, all she could do was brace herself by tensing up as the air was knocked from her by his shoulder pressing into her belly. She caught on to what he was doing, kind of, even if she didn't get why. It was still uncomfortable, though, and a bit embarrassing to be treated like she was some kind of hostage. Well… maybe that part wasn't so inaccurate. Regardless! It was not a comfortable ride with his shoulder wedged into her ribcage, and as a way of getting subtle revenge for the discomfort she shifted to press her knees against his chest. So each time he landed, her knees would press into him and he'd feel as uncomfortable as she did. “But I didn't hurt anyone..” Ino groaned as he explained to her that she was a deserter, like him. “Look- ah! Could you move a little less rough??” She huffed after being interrupted by her body slamming down against him. Before she could continue with what she was going to say, though, he mentioned how Kisame would have her naked by now if it were him protecting her and again her blood went cold and stomach churned. “That's disgusting..!” Ino frowned, shuttering a little at the mere thought. “I-I never said I wasn't grateful to you, ya know!” Came her quick defense as she puffed up and flushed a bright red again. “I just don't get why you would protect me. I think I have the right to be wary..” He was, after all, known for slaughtering his own family. And she was nothing to him, just an unfortunate kunoichi.

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[Sugo]

Itachi slowed a little in his jumping from branch to branch, he'd been going at an extra quick speed to keep ahead of Kisame so they could talk, but since she had requested. He obliged. "The leaf is my home. You are currently the closest thing I have to it." he said nonchalantly before jumping further through the branches. He said nothing more, didn't answer anymore questions she posed and just continued to jump. Ino was left over his shoulder with only his back or a mess of her hair that was hanging down to look at. After what felt like an eternity for Ino, but was only more like two hours Itachi slowed. Coming to a stop in a clearing. Kisame landed behind them about 20 seconds later.

"Was that really necessary?" Kisame hissed as he landed next to Itachi walking around to the front of him looking at him. "Yes." Itachi said without a care for what Kisame had said. Kisame tutted quite audible before looking to Itachi and to Ino's ass that hung next to Itachi's head. "and why have we stopped?" Kisame posed to Itachi. Itachi's answer came quick, but was again a vague and fairly useless answer. "Because you need to lead us now." he said to Kisame. They'd arrived at the border of the land of water, "Keep close to the border of the land of fire, and find a lagoon or natural hot spring." he said again to Kisame who nodded in response. "I know a place." Kisame said walking closer to Itachi and then lifting his hand and striking Ino's ass that hung over Itachi's shoulder. The strike was loud and echo'd throughout the clearing. Kisame chuckled to himself before jumping off into the distance.

Itachi took a deep breath and then his hand gently reached up to her ass, grabbing the waist band of her shorts before pulling her over his shoulder and standing her, he held onto her waist band and her hip to make sure she was standing properly, a hit like that would probably interfere somewhat with her ability to stand. "Sorry.." Itachi said gently, a look of remorse on his face. He couldn't have done anything to stop what had just happened, it's not like he could start a fight with his partner in the Akatsuki without something bad happening to him. "Are you okay?" he said looking to her. "You don't have to walk, I'll carry you the rest of the way of course." he said trying to comfort her.

 

[Razz]

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xxxxx Itachi's words stuck with Ino as he carried her over his shoulder. If he truly cared about the people of the Leaf, then why would he kill his entire family? She wasn't quite brave enough to ask that, though, and for the next two hours was totally silent. Despite the fact that she was so uncomfortable and increasingly light-headed from being essentially dangled upside down the entire time. So, needless to say, she was relived when they came to a stop. It felt like forever had passed, and was ready to stand up and regain herself a little. She figured that maybe after Kisame was done talking and had gone on ahead, Itachi would put her down and-- “Ah!” Blue eyes went wide and a yelp-like gasp escaped her when, out of nowhere, she felt a large, rough hand slap against her ass. And it was far from gentle. It has her knees buckling tight against Itachi's chest, her abdomen tensing over his shoulder in a way he no doubt could feel as she shuttered. She knew immediately that it had been Kisame, based on the chuckle he gave before going on ahead, and that somehow left her feeling all the more violated. Who knew what all Kisame would have done to her by now if it were just him..?? She remained tensed up at Itachi lifted her up and set her down beside him, staggering a little from dizziness that came as a result of being upside down for so long. Immediately after being set down she strained to reach down and rub her stinging rear, but with her hands tied like they were, it was painful to try and reach down. The fishing wire just strained against her delicate flesh, threatening to cut at her if she pulled at it too hard. “Define 'okay',” Ino whimpered, feeling completely an utterly low. “I'm a criminal in my own home now, with a bounty on my head, a-.. and all I wanted to do was bring Sasuke home...!” She finally blurted out as tears began to fall down her cheeks, which were flushed a light pink. She knew that they didn't have time for a lot of discussion with Kisame up ahead, leading the way, but if he were to glance back he'd probably just think she was crying because of what he just did. “And I don't want to be carried anymore! I can use my own legs, j.. just… untie my arms, at least..” She sniffled, fighting to compose herself little. She hadn't really intended to cry like that in front of Itachi, but there was only so much a person like he could take. She had never experienced hardship, so she didn't know how to deal with it all, which frustrated her to the point of tears.

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