Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Closer ❯ Chapter 16

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

The silence was so thick in the holding cell Ino felt like she could breathe it in. Sasuke had long ago fallen asleep on her bed much to the protest of Kabuto. When she had seen the boyish white haired man, he was standing next to a silent Orochimaru. Ino was never one to fidget, but under their intense stares, fear trickled down her neck like cold fingers.

Rei was silently sitting on his bed, lips pursed with his back straight. She had never seen him so expressionless. Since their first meeting, he had always had a carefree smile on his lips or a playful glint in his eyes, like being one of Orochimaru's prisoners was nothing to worry about. Sasuke had told the pair that he would be sleeping in the holding cell. Ino had to watch with mute awe as he turned his back on them and fell on her bed with a sigh. He opened his eyes and stared at her in a dazed sleepiness, motioning her to sit next to him. She was still in a semi-state of astonishment over that kiss they shared earlier. When she had first stared wordlessly into his glowing red eyes, her heart lurched in delight. She couldn't move and the only thing that ran through her mind was he's here, he's here.

Everything around her faded into nothingness. She instantly forgot about the bodies that lay at her feet, she blocked out the smell of blood that permeated the air. She forgot about Rei and focused only on Sasuke, only on his hands on her face and his lips pressed against hers. Only his smell mattered, only his body heat and how eagerly she matched his kiss mattered.

When he had motioned her, she didn't move from her spot. She couldn't move, she was scared to. She tried not to show it much, trying to keep her blank expression on her face as Orochimaru and Kabuto stared her down. She wanted to say something to them, to ask how long they were planning on standing there, or how long they were planning on keeping her and Rei prisoner. But her jaw was shut tight, her body unmoving.

"Leave us. I'm tired." Sasuke told the two with a sigh.

Orochimaru just smiled a little. "Of course Sasuke. We have a lot of work to do in the morning. Make sure you meet Kabuto in the springs to finish your treatment."

Sasuke gave a soft grunt in acknowledgment. Orochimaru gave her one last, long look before he turned and left followed by a surprised looking Kabuto. Ino hurried and closed the door, leaning her forehead on it while taking a deep breath to get her bearings. There was some relief with those two gone, but now there was the following awkwardness she was feeling with Sasuke laying comfortably on her bed and Rei staring silently at them with his almond shaped green eyes. What to do, what to do? For so long she had dreamt about this moment of reunion, but now that it was here she didn't know what to feel, how to act, or what to say.

"Ino…"

"You should get some sleep." Ino interrupted with a soft murmur, closing her eyes and gathering a steady breath before turning to Sasuke. "You look really tired. We'll talk in the morning." She said easily enough. He studied her from under heavy lids before turning to his side and instantly falling asleep. Ino kneeled beside her bed, watching him sleep, memorizing his features.

"He still looks the same." She finally said, breaking the prolonged silence. Her slender index finger gently stroked his bows. "His eyes are the same." His boyish face had matured well into adolescence, and from looking at his bare torso, so did his body. How many hours did it take him to sculpt his arms or his abs? He was still slender, but he was a lot taller; maybe as tall as Shikamaru.

Rei let out a troubled sigh, bring Ino's attention from Sasuke to her cellmate. He had flopped back on his bed with one of his long legs hanging carelessly off the side. "Should have remembered the stories about you and the Uchiha."

Ino settled herself on the ground, next to the bed. "Stories? What stories?"

Rei gave her one of his smirks that eased the tension from her shoulders. "You know the ones. Everyone kept a close eye on him since the massacre so of course people gossiped about how much time you guys spent together. What a surprising reunion. Fate really."

Fate. She wished it was like that. It sounded much more romantic than training and getting purposely caught. She was like a fake prisoner, a prisoner still, but a fake one. What would Rei think if he knew the truth? She hated to think of what Sasuke would think. Still, she thought looking over her right shoulder at his back, she felt much like she did when they were thirteen back in Leaf. Even if it was just for this moment, she felt happy and complete. It was a comforting thought that lolled her into slumber.

Early, very early in the morning, Ino felt someone shake her from her sleep. Her head jerked up from her chest and she looked around in the darkness, becoming alert.

"Sleep up here." Sasuke's voice was raspy with sleep.

Ino's cheeks heated up and she quickly covered that up with a little yawn. "It's okay—"

"Don't argue." Ino raised a brow, turning to him with a hint of a smile in her eyes.

"Are you telling me what to do?" She murmured haughtily, turning herself more fully to the side of the bed. His dark eyes were sparkling in the dark and his hair was mussed perfectly.

"Just a little." He arched a brow. "Are you really going to sleep like that the rest of the night? Don't be difficult."

Ino looked quickly across the room at an unmoving Rei before making up her fuzzy mind and crawling beside him in the warm bed. "Stay on your side." She ordered, turning on her side. Sasuke snorted softly and turned the other way so that their backs touched. Ino flushed, and smothered that butterflies swarming madly in her tummy. Being so close to him, she wondered if she would ever fall back asleep.

Eventually, she did. When she woke up, he was gone but she remembered Orochimaru saying something about a treatment in a spring. She was alone in the cell which was suspicious to her. Where was Rei? A knock at her door made her jump a little and she stood, scooping up a kunai by the bed to be safe. The heavy door opened slowly and she saw the mousy brown hair of Yasuo. She warily watched him push the door open wide. His tall, skinny body blocked the morning sunlight that filtered through the small slit windows of the concrete hallway.

He was older than her by about five or six years. When he smirked, that stoic face of his beamed with character. Even if it was obnoxious mean spirited character. With what happened yesterday, Ino was kinda surprised that Yasuo was here. She shouldn't be so surprised, she supposed. Mintobi and Yasuo didn't look to have a particular close relationship. The way Mintobi came after her about the other guy's death said that the departed two were close. She couldn't blame him for wanting her dead. If Shikamaru or Choji had died, she would have acted the same way.

"What do you want?" She finally said, putting a hand to her hip. Yasuo moved to the side of the doorway.

"Everyone is waiting for you Princess." He sneered. She raised a brow. "For breakfast." He told her. Her hand dropped off her hip.

"Everyone?" She echoed. Even she heard the unsure tone in her voice.

"Even your buddy Rei is there. You shouldn't keep Lord Orochimaru waiting."

There was a bitter taste that stung the back on her throat at the thought of keeping Orochimaru placid. She straightened her shoulders and left the room, keeping her fear and uncertainty at bay. It would do her no good if they ruled her actions. Anko had said that in Orochimaru's presence, she had to keep everything she was feeling or thinking, caged deep inside of her. Orochimaru was very talented at reading people, at playing them. She had to be blank, she would be blank.

Yasuo led her down the hallway, into the court yard, past the guard quarters, into another place. One she hadn't seen since her small stay here. It was like a mini palace for a Lord. The wood was carved and arched with thick beams painted red. The sliding doors had beautifully painted cranes. The floors were slick with polish. Ino took off her sandals respectively and entered a dining room. It was a bright place that made her want to relax. It would be the end of her if she did. Kabuto and Rei stood from their chairs when she entered. Orochimaru stayed in his chair at the head of the table, elegantly dressed in white robes with a silk black over-robe with stitched ivory snakes. She had seen pictures of him before this mission. The handsome, warrior looking young blonde man watching her was not the same face. His eyes were the same though, Ino thought, defiantly locking eyes with him. The eyes of a madman.

"Good morning. I hope our accommodations proved to grant you a restful sleep." He said, motioning a nameless servant to him. His tea was poured and after a small sip, he motioned her to sit in an empty seat next to a silent Rei. She obediently sat, though she took her dear sweet time doing so. She and Rei shared a glance. The air around him was nervous, but his cool expression never left his face. He was good.

A herd of servants entered as soon as her butt hit the cushioned dining chair and plates of breakfast foods came from the kitchen. She didn't have much of an appetite, but eating made her busy and filled in the silence at the table. Sasuke entered not long afterwards, pausing in his stride when he saw her and Rei at the table.

"Hungry Sasuke?" Orochimaru motioned to an empty chair across from her, next to Kabuto. Ino watched him take his seat with a guarded expression. Not against Orochimaru, but against Kabuto's cryptic expression as he and Orochimaru exchanged a brief look. Sasuke busied himself with his meal and Ino studied him over the rim of her warm tea cup. He met her eyes and for the briefest of moments, she felt the world slip away and spin around them. The warmth she felt when she had first saw him last night ignited again, making her insides quiver. He was here and she realized, with a sudden crash of emotion, that she had missed him so very very much. The late night walks that they took in silence, just standing close to one another in quiet understanding. The little smiles she would coach out of him. She was happy…more happy than she had been in a long time. Even if she was among Kabuto and Orochimaru, Sasuke's presence out shone both of them. No matter what happened, she was glad she went though with this mission because…she was finally able to see the person she never stopped loving.

"Quite a predicament you're in Ino…and Rei was it?" Orochimaru began after their last course of food was placed in front of them. A bowl of fresh cut fruits.

"Why are you doing this?" Rei pushed his bowl away. "Feeding us our last meal before you plan to kill us? Or do you want us to be full and happy before you decided to use us as lab rats?" Ino watched Rei angrily stand from his chair. Orochimaru raised his hand and Rei was shoved back down by an invisible force. Ino sat up straighter. Chakra sizzled around her. Powerful, dark and raw chakra and she instantly put up her guard. Her sensor skills hummed in warning. This was the power Sasuke would gain?

"Normally, you would be right. But Miss Yamanaka's presence has made me reconsider." Orochimaru gazed down the table at her, his green eyes glittering. "Sasuke's interests are my interests."

That comment made her feel sick and Lady Tsunade's words came rushing back to her. An Immortality Jutsu. Orochimaru's soul looking at her through Sasuke's eyes…It has been two years, Ino thought. Two years and the time when he is able to use the Immortality jutsu again was coming soon.

Ino summoned her courage, pushing her troubling thoughts to the side. "What are you going to do?"

"Yes. What are you going to do?" Sasuke asked in a voice made of ice.

"Kabuto and I were discussing it, but first, Ino, what are you planning to do?"

Ino gave a quick look at Sasuke, before returning her attention back to the question. "Plan?" She asked lightly, almost hinting at innocence. "I plan on escaping. I plan on returning to Leaf Village."

Orochimaru's lips quirked and he turned to Sasuke. "And what do you plan on doing? Will you try and stop her?"

Sasuke leaned back in his chair, a comfortable look settling on his face. He looked across the table to her, a familiar smirk turning the corners of his lips up. "Escape? There is no escape from here. Why would I stop something that is impossible to do?"

"Many have tried Miss Yamanaka. Tried and failed. Despite your skill, you will fair no better." Kabuto chimed in and then carelessly popped a grape in his mouth. Ino's temper flared, fueled by her pride but she kept it under firm control with a skill that Ibiki painstakingly instilled within her.

"Am I being underestimated?" She smiled, eyes dancing with the challenge. It made Sasuke's smirk a little warmer when she leaned in to the table. "Really?" She cocked a sassy brow.

"Not underestimated Miss Yamanaka. Merely warned." Orochimaru mused, running a slender finger over the rim of his tea cup. "I'm curious on how you will attempt the impossible. Fate…such a mysterious thing." The last of his statement seemed like a personal musing on his part. "We'll have to keep a close eye on you during your stay."

"Stay? What do you mean stay?" Rei finally barged into the conversation. He was still held in place by Orochimaru's jutsu. "You're not keeping us with these prisoners?"

"Not prisoners. Special guests." Kabuto corrected.

Sasuke snorted and then stood, finally deciding that breakfast was over. "Come with me Ino." He looked at Orochimaru. "And don't kill him."

She hesitated for just a second before standing. She brushed her bangs from her eyes, giving a little apologetic look to Rei before joining Sasuke outside the breakfast area. With no one spying on them, he took her hand and pulled her to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist. "It's useless to argue with them. I was telling the truth. There is no escape."

"Sasuke, I can't stay here. Do you know what you're asking me to do?" She muttered against his crisp white shirt. "I'm scared of them." She whispered truthfully.

The day passed slowly after that with Sasuke going off with Orochimaru. She and Rei were allowed out of their cell for the rest of the day under Yasuo's watchful eye. When night fell, Sasuke returned to the cell and they slept together like they did the first night with their backs touching, but somehow during the night, her head ended up resting in the crook of his shoulder, and their legs intertwined. She slept better than she did the first night.

The next day Ino awoke and again she and Rei were treated to a hearty breakfast. It was at the table, with Kabuto and Sasuke looking on that Orochimaru told her what she had anticipated. He was taking her along. She and Rei.

"Don't be flattered." Orochimaru told Rei who gave just a small pause in his eating to acknowledge what the snake sannin said. He looked like he anticipated it as well. Orochimaru then turned to her. "While you're with us you won't be just an idle guest." He said in a light, but serious tone.

"Tell me Ino, how much medical training have you had?" Ino turned to Kabuto. She didn't dare look to Sasuke first. The things she knew about the former Leaf ninja made her wary and on guard. He was a master manipulator, very skilled according to Lady Tsunade and Kakashi. They told her at the rate he was going, he would eventually surpass Orochimaru's genius. Anko said that she had to be strong and fearless when dealing with him. True, while Sasuke was around she would be protected but Kabuto was protected as well. Under Orochimaru's watchful teaching, Kabuto would be the most dangerous. That was why she didn't look at Sasuke first. She had to show Kabuto that she was not afraid. Wary, but not afraid.

She shrugged. "Basic training. Enough for emergency treatments in the field." She was nowhere as good as Sakura but despite that Lady Tsunade said that she had enough control over her chakra to be a medic nin. She was adamant about her training and so was Sakura. With her training with Ibiki and Anko, both the Hokage and Sakura understood that she couldn't have complete training. Ino was grateful that they worked with her as much as they could.

"Kabuto is well versed in the Medical Arts. I trained him and he will train you." Orochimaru told her with a small satisfied smile. "Sasuke's training is getting more intense and dangerous. He will need more than just Kabuto and I to help him heal, wouldn't you agree?"

Ino stiffened for an instant before relaxing her shoulders and turning to Sasuke who was watching the exchange quietly with no readable expression on his face. But she knew that he was all for the proposal. To keep her out of trouble? Maybe. To keep her from spending her day working on her escape plan? More than maybe. But she didn't think too much on these terms. She would never forget that this was a mission. An S rank mission. Kabuto would teach her and she would learn. She would learn his techniques, Orochimaru's techniques. In doing so she would be able to tell Lady Tsunade just how powerful they were. The men at the table, save for Rei, were underestimating her. They didn't think she would be able to escape. But they didn't know that Sakura would come for her, that Naruto would come for her. They would find her, she didn't doubt it.

"Do I have much of a choice?" She asked them, but then smiled deviously and turned to Kabuto. "Teach me if you wish." Her challenge sparked in the air. Kabuto smirked right back, undaunted by her. Orochimaru chuckled as she and Kabuto almost glared at one another.

"This will work out just fine, eh Sasuke?" He stood, motioning Sasuke to follow. "We must squeeze some training in today and let Miss Yamanaka and her friend pack for the journey. Kabuto, see that they both have clean clothes. Prepare for the day. We will see you tonight for dinner." Orochimaru merrily waved them off and disappeared behind a dark door. Sasuke came around the table and trailed his hand across her shoulders and back.

"Take care of her Kabuto." He said quietly before he too left.

"I know a warning when I hear one." Kabuto mused. Ino watched him stand and dig into his pockets. He pulled two familiar charms from his pocket and slid them across the table to her. "Beautiful work Ino. It's only right that I return them to you."

Ino's smirk faded. "What happened to Giro and Shoji?"

Kabuto grinned madly. "Don't worry about them. You'll see them sooner or later." Light flashed across the lenses of his glasses and Ino suppressed a shiver. The white haired young man summoned someone with a finger. "Yasuo, please escort our guest to the showers and have a change of clothes for them. Until we leave I'm placing them under your care. Treat them nicely." He began walking away, ignoring Rei loud snort and Ino's burning gaze. "I'm going to leave a book in your room Ino. Make sure you read it thoroughly."

The mousy haired Sound nin came from the shadows, dressed formally in Sound nin ninja garb of purple pants and purple butt bow with a tight black mesh shirt molded to his taunt frame. He looked dangerous and casual at the same time. For some reason, Yasuo didn't invoke fear or disgust from her. Sure they butted heads once or twice, but he was someone she was finding hard to dislike. She didn't trust him one bit, but she wasn't very threatened by him either.

"Do you know what you got yourself into?" He mused. In the light, she noticed his eyes were stormy grey. "I almost feel sorry for you."

"Aww." Ino touched her chest. "Yasuo you big teddy bear."

He snorted with amusement and glanced at Rei who was lazily sprawled in his chair. He was in a pouty kind of thoughtfulness, no doubt thinking over what had transpired over breakfast. "Are you finished eating?" He asked.

Rei moodily flicked an uneaten slice of orange across the table and stood. "I'm done."

Yasuo escorted them to the showers where Ino ordered him to stand guard as she bathed. He did so with impatient politeness, not wanting to hear her 'screeching' as he called it. After, she pulled on some robes and searched for her clothes. When she didn't find them where she had left them (draped over a wicker chair just outside the showers) she stalked angrily from the steaming room.

"Where are they?" She yelled at Yasuo who was chewing on a toothpick, leaning against the wall.

"Getting washed. You have to wear that until they're done." He said with a shrug, reminiscent of Shikamaru's nonchalant attitude. Ino fumed, pulling the loose dark blue robe closer to her damp body with a pout.

"Do you know how long it will take?"

Yasuo sighed with a roll of his eyes. "Not long. You can chill in the robe until then princess."

Ino glanced down in distaste at the coarse oversized robe. "I guess I can wait." She muttered and left back to her room in search of her brush.

Sasuke was many things, and one of those things was selfish. He would admit freely to himself that he was a selfish bastard. The redheaded ninja named Rei didn't have to tell him, but he did. In the Leaf holding cell, he was quietly sitting on the bed with Ino resting her head on his lap in a peaceful slumber. For some reason, he didn't mind having this intimate moment shared with Ino's cell mate. It was a way of showing the lazy ninja his claim staked on her. Possessiveness, that obsessive feeling was gradually building and Sasuke made no effort to ward it off. He didn't have to.

"I bet you know exactly how we can escape from here, but you're not going to open your mouth about it are you?" Rei looked to be sulking. It was hard for Sasuke to be annoyed with him for some reason. Maybe it was because he knew what type of ninja Rei was. The kind who did their job with ease, who had a cynical, but positive way of looking at things. His capture was just a minor bump in the road. Besides that, he seemed strong and smart.

Sasuke absently leaned back against the headboard not bothering to hide his smirk. "Your point? You think Ino isn't thinking the same thing?"

Rei's green eyes dropped to her sleeping face with as slight sneer pulling at his lips. "Foolish girl." He muttered without much heat before looking back up to Sasuke with a growing glare. "Using whatever means necessary to keep her around can be considered cowardly." He paused at Sasuke's warning look before shrugging, seemingly deciding that he wasn't going to be intimidated by him. It showed Sasuke that the Leaf ninja had courage. "She's hiding behind that logic to."

"That's right. She wants to say with me. Even if it has to be like this." Sasuke glanced down, re-memorizing her peaceful face while she slept. "Even if it's for just for a little while." Because he was thinking the same thing. He couldn't help but think that maybe Orochimaru knew this. But what was the reason? To make him happy? Sasuke mentally snorted. Hardly.

Rei leaned forward, bracing his forearms on his knees with a serious expression flitting across his laid back face. "This is not a simple game of playing house. You know that right?" Again, Rei's keen sense of observation surprised him.

"There are always strings attached when it comes to Orochimaru." Sasuke confirmed softly. He gently lifted Ino's head from his lap and moved her so that she was sleeping more comfortably on the soft mattress of clean linens.

Rei gave into a troubled sigh and straightened his taunt torso. "You are so sure of your skills Uchiha. Will they be enough to out maneuver Orochimaru's plan?"

Sasuke snorted. "That is something you don't need to worry about." He assured him arrogantly. As soon as he uncovered the reason behind Orochimaru's visible interest in Ino, he mentally added. It was making him uncomfortable and a little paranoid, feelings that were foreign to him.

"We're in this together you know? Me and Ino." He said. Sasuke clenched his jaw at the tone. Rei gave a smirk of his own. "I like her. She's…spunky and surprising. I believe her when she says she'll escape."

Sasuke did too. Ino showed skill in her fight with the Sound nin and prisoners. She had something up her sleeve. "And?"

"You'll let us go right?" Rei implored seriously. "Will you stop us?"

Sasuke stared at him in silent contemplation. "I don't know." And he didn't. It was too early to consider it and he wasn't going to waste his time thinking on it. He had his training (which was almost compete…something he wouldn't think on as well), and now…he had Ino back. He wasn't going to think about the future because presently this was a new beginning…