Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Consequence ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

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

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, etc., of Naruto. This story is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit.

Summary: Captured by Akatsuki, Ino’s forced to pretend to cooperate with the criminal organization. Surrounded by nut jobs, how’s a girl to keep her sanity? Much less her convictions...

Consequence

A/N: This story came from the “What if…?” idea of Team 10’s fight with Akatsuki. I should warn of spoilers for Shippuden and the manga, as well as Hidan’s mouth, which is so fun to write, and rather deliberate ambiguity. =)

Chapter One

“What’s up with her?”

Holding her stomach, curling around the pain, Ino choked back sobs as the nausea rose, threatening to swamp over her determination. Someone negligently toed her in the shoulder. She curled into a tighter ball, trying to make herself disappear, and wished this nightmare would do the same.

“Don’t worry about her.”

“Fuck you, Kakuzu,” the other said, crouching down beside her. She felt a hand gently feather through her hair, tighten its hold and harshly yank her head up by a hard grip on the base of her ponytail. She held back a yelp of pain, tears springing to her tightly closed eyes. The man laughed. “Pretty little bitch. Jashin-sama would love a taste of that. Some dessert after the main course.”

The main course. *Shikamaru...no, please, not him, too...*

“Leave her be,” the first monster said in a flat, disinterested voice. “You’ve already fed your stupid god for today.”

“Aw, Kakuzu,” the other whined, but let her drop. She heard the scrape and clang of him picking up his wicked, triple-bladed scythe. “You're no fucking fun.”

“Shut up, Hidan.” There was a grunt of pain.

“Ha! Looks like you’re having a little trouble, Kakuzu. Hearts not settling in so well, eh?”

“I said, shut up. Ungh---” His breath hissed. It was nothing like the screams of agony Chouji and Kakashi-sensei had given when the monster known as Kakuzu ripped their beating hearts right out of their chests, stealing them for his own use.

“You look fucking half-dead.” Hidan seemed to take amusement at his partner’s expense.

“And you’re covered in blood,” the other grunted in exasperation.

“Oh, your concern touches me, Kakuzu. Truly. But none of it’s mine.” Hidan laughed and Ino trembled, forcing back the violent shaking by will alone. The tears rose inside her throat, and she clamped her lips shut on a scream. Damn them, she wouldn’t let them hear it. The rage and pain and loss seethed through her, and her hands tightened into fists, which sent the agony running through her overstrained nerves again. This time, she couldn’t fight the nausea that rose, and barely managed to turn her head so she wouldn’t choke on her own vomit as she weakly retched into the dirt.


“Now, that’s just fucking gross.”

“Chakra poisoning,” Kakuzu indifferently explained as he gingerly settled the black cloak over his rippling back with a wince. The raw wounds would take some time to heal, even with the two hearts he had taken to replace the two he had lost. “There’s another team approaching---I can feel their chakra. Come on, let’s go. Don't forget the girl.”

“What? You’re a stupid shit if you think I’m touching that.” Hidan spat.

“Don’t make me angry, you ungrateful bastard, or I just might forget how to reattach your stupid head the next time somebody decides to lop it off.”

“Aw, Kakuzu, you don’t have to be so mean.” Hidan managed to put enough whiny sarcasm in his acidic taunt that it made the ugly missing-nin’s eyes glow.

"Fine,” Hidan huffed, “I'll go get the bitch.”


His impatient mutters came closer, and Ino’s brain screamed at her to run! Swaying up on her hands, she tried to get up and sprawled over as the pain of overloaded nerves screamed through her body, leaving her shaking and dry-heaving as she curled back into a ball. The tears leaked out of her eyes even as she screamed at herself for the weakness of them.

*Must...run...must...get away...damn it...oh, God...Chouji! Shikamaru! You damn Akatsuki bastards...first Asuma-sensei, now them...damn it, what do you want with me? Come on, Ino, get off your butt and move!*

Gritting her teeth, she lurched up to her elbows and blindly started crawling, every nerve on fire. Spasms ripped across her body, contorting the muscles into rigid lines even as she forced them to obey her. *Must…*

“Heh! That won’t get you very far, bitch.” She felt a fist wrap around her trailing ponytail and she was jerked back on her knees. She shuddered at the handsome face leering down at her, his purple eyes lit with cruel amusement.

“P-Piss off,” she spat, her eyes closing as he shook her violently.

“Now, now, girlie, that wasn’t nice,” the silver-haired man admonished.

“Stop wasting time playing games, Hidan!” Kakuzu growled.

“Fuck this,” Hidan muttered. Ino felt something glance off her temple, like the sudden, sharp stab of a kunai digging right through her skull, and she wondered if this was death even as the indifferent darkness swamped over her.


The carnage lay all around them, testifying to a battle that had raged all over the place.

Sakura flinched at the look in Naruto’s eyes. She laid a gentle hand on his shoulder as he bowed his head, growling hoarsely, “We came too late.”

“There’s nothing you could have done.” Yamato tried to comfort the grieving boy. His eyes were grim as he looked over the bloody field.

“But Kakashi-sensei---” Naruto impatiently ran the back of his hand across his eyes. “Damn it.”

“Naruto…” Sakura pulled the boy into her arms, her pink head bending over the tousled gold as the tears ran down her cheeks. His arms crept around her waist, and they hugged each other tightly, entwined in the raw pain of their mutual loss.

Sai looked on, the lack of emotion in his black eyes haunting. He could not feel their grief, but knew his teammates were hurting, and wished he could do something for it. “Yamato-san?” he asked, troubled.

Yamato sighed, suddenly feeling the burden of his years. He was too much a jounin to let his grief get the better of him. At least---not yet. That would be for later, when he had privacy and the bodies of Team 10 were laid to rest with full funerary honors in the meadow of Konoha. He felt tired, and wondered how he could tell the Fifth Hokage.

Kakashi’s loss would be felt keenly. The copy-ninja was one of the Leaf’s best. And knowing Sakura and Naruto, they would want revenge against the Akatsuki pair that had taken their former teacher from them. He wondered if Tsunade would let them---the Hokage had not been happy when Shikamaru and the rest of Team 10 had insisted on going after Hidan and Kakuzu to avenge the death of their sensei, Sairiotobi Asuma. She’d reluctantly agreed when Kakashi had volunteered to lead the team, and now...now Yamato didn’t know how the kage would react to the news that Team 10 had failed in their mission.

Eying the grieving pair who held each other so desperately, as if they were the only two left in a world devoid of all they had known, Yamato knew nothing good could come of this.


“I don’t know why you had me drag this useless bitch all the way back here,” Hidan complained as he dumped the unconscious blonde on the former Waterfall-nin’s bed. “What possible use could you have for her?”

“Shut your blow-hole, you religious freak,” Kakuzu growled, dropping to the other bed. “You know nothing.”

“Hey! Get your bleeding ass off my bed!” Hidan protested. “You’re getting dirt all over my sheets!”

“Getting along as usual, I see.” The amusement in the mild voice made the Jashin-devotee stiffen. He glared at the emerging green plant as Zetsu coagulated up from the floor. The black half of Leader’s little errand boy hissed, “Like oil and water.”

“You are one creepy bastard, you know that, Zetsu?” Hidan scowled.

The plant-man only smiled, showing jagged teeth. His yellow eyes lit on the girl sprawled across Kakuzu’s bed. “Ah! You brought me dinner?” He licked his lips, the white half of the strange carnivore’s face smirking in delight. “How thoughtful!”

“Fuck you, Zetsu. The girl’s mine,” Hidan growled, quickly inserting himself between the drooling Grass-nin and the bed. Brandishing his scythe, the Jashinite grinned nastily. “I’ve already claimed her for my god.”

“Neither of you bloodthirsty bastards can have her,” Kakuzu snapped, his breath coming harsh as he doffed his cloak. Blood dripped from some of the threads crisscrossing his torso, and his green eyes glinted with malice. “We have a use for her, and Leader will soon agree.”

“What possible use could we have for a weak ass leaflet?” Hidan demanded, the anger in his eyes at Jashin being denied his just due turning the purple depths stormy.

“You’re an atavistic fool, Hidan,” Kakuzu growled in disgust.

“He has a valid question,” Zetsu pointed out. The white half of his split face smiled. “What use could we have for her? Her chakra’s pathetic.”

“She’s drained.” Kakuzu waved that aside as insignificant. “But if either of you selfish bastards would actually think past your own hunger-pangs, then you would see what benefit she could be to our organization.” He scowled at the blank look on Hidan’s face. “Your ADD is irritating, Hidan. Do you not remember? She’s a medic-nin.”

“So?” Hidan sneered. “You getting soft in your old age, Kakuzu? You need an assistant?”

“I may,” the former Falls-nin grudgingly admitted. Planting a hand to his chest, he grimaced. “Getting used to these new hearts will take some time, and having a chakra-healer will certainly speed up the process. We don’t have time to waste right now, if we are to carry out our prime objective.”

“And what’s that? Leader hasn’t exactly been all that forthcoming.” Hidan spat.

"That’s on a need-to-know basis,” Zetsu said sharply, his other half taunting, “And you don’t need to know.”

“Fuck you---”

“Shut it, Hidan.” Kakuzu growled.

“You think I’m going to let an overgrown weed like him talk to me like that?” Hidan shouted, brandishing his scythe. “Jashin-sama doesn’t take kindly to his disciples being insulted!”

“Stow the Jashin shit, monk-boy.” Kakuzu's green eyes heated. The wide shoulders twitched, and he grimaced again. “Besides, Leader will have other uses for this girl.”

“Explain, Kakuzu,” Zetsu ordered, adding, “And I will go and tell him, hmmm?”

“Fucking errand-boy,” Hidan couldn’t resist muttering as he carefully leaned his scythe against the wall. The other Akatsuki members ignored him.

“She is a Yamanaka. Inoichi’s only daughter, if I remember the dossier right.” Kakuzu’s breath came harshly. He closed his eyes as he explained mildly, “Yamanaka Inoichi has a price of 10 million ryou on his head---”

“You and your fucking bounties. Dirty money-grubber,” Hidan groused under his breath.

“The girl, like her father, has the Yamanaka kekkai genkai, which is mind jutsu. Telepathy.”

“How pathetic. What use could that be to us?” Hidan demanded impatiently, crossing his arms and glaring at his erstwhile partner.

“You really are a thick-headed idiot,” Kakuzu growled even as Zetsu nodded in understanding, his sharp teeth flashing in a grin.

“Ah. I see, now.” His other half added, “We are seeking new recruits.”

“We are?” Hidan blinked. Akatsuki had carefully kept their numbers at ten for as far as he knew.

“Leader wants to build an army,” Zetsu explained. “It's just another part of our ultimate goal. That, and collecting the jinchuuriki.” His white half couldn’t resist adding maliciously, “You really don’t know much, do you, Hidan?”

“Fuck you, dipshit,” Hidan absently replied.

Closing his eyes, Kakuzu let out an impatient growl.

“And just how the fuck do you think you’ll be able to recruit this stupid bitch to our cause, anyway?” Hidan demanded. “She’ll hardly be willing to help those who just killed her entire team. Didn’t think of that, did you, you dumb fucks?”

"That will not be our problem,” Kakuzu answered even as Hidan laughed at the obvious flaw in the near-immortal’s stupid idea.

“Ah.” A smile flickered over Zetsu’s lips, twisting up on one side as the black half of his split face added, “You’ll want me to go fetch Itachi, then.”

“That would be helpful,” Kakuzu grunted as he eased his big frame down on the bed.

“What, you think one little leaflet’s broken loyalty can sway another’s?” Hidan rolled his eyes.

“Your head must have fallen too hard the last time it got chopped off, priest.” Kakuzu didn’t bother looking over to see how the Jashinite took that barb.

“Blow me, you bleeding bastard,” Hidan snapped back. “And get your bloody ass off my bed!”

“Can’t.” Kakuzu closed his eyes, his breath quickly evening out into sleep. He even snored, the ass.

“I can’t fucking believe this!” Hidan shouted to an uncaring audience. Zetsu had already dissolved into the floor, his mocking laughter fading as the trailing tips of the strange plant surrounding his head disappeared into the dusty stone. “Where the hell am I now supposed to sleep, damn it?!”


Ino went from sleep to wakefulness with the mere opening of her eyes. She winced, for there was pain to greet her---a dull throb in the back of her skull steadily threading throughout the numb length of her body. It felt as if she had seared her skin all over, but mentally tracing the chakra paths, she could feel no damage. A second later, though, her nerves burned, as if tracing the chakra paths had ignited them.

*Chakra overload,* her mind supplied, her thoughts almost clinically detached from the pain screaming through her heavy limbs. *When a ninja uses or is exposed to too much chakra all at once---*

How?

Oh, yes---she’d been blasted with Kakashi’s lightning jutsu, when Kakuzu’s grip on her throat had tightened a second before the water exploded beneath them. Chouji---Chouji had been thrown clear, but she had been electrified by the blast, and her reflexive shield against it had been a shade too slow. The rest was a blur---Shikamaru interfering, the team separating---Shikamaru to draw Hidan away so that the rest of them could attack Kakuzu, who still had four hearts left. Though Shikamaru had managed to get Hidan to destroy one of those, with a vial of the ugly man’s blood. She had stood by, all but useless as she tried to heal herself as Kakashi had taken on Kakuzu alone. She did not know what had happened to Shikamaru, what had gone wrong. But she had witnessed the bloody end of Kakashi and Chouji, who had deliberately placed himself in front of her, initiating his clan jutsu to defend her. It hadn’t been enough to help him, in the end.

The end...oh, God...her closed eyes tightened as she forced back a cry of despair. That end was written all too clearly on her horrible memories. Disabling the two ninja, Kakuzu had ripped their living hearts out of their chests. The end had not been painless or quick, and when he absorbed them into his own body, his triumphant laughter had made her scream in denial. Throwing herself at him in mindless fury and sorrow, she’d only managed to sink a single kunai into his shoulder before he had struck her with a magnified elemental jutsu that left her broken and defeated on the ground at his feet.

That was when Hidan had returned and she knew that Shikamaru, too, was dead...

*Ohgodohgodohgod. No, I can’t believe it. I don’t want to believe it. First Asuma-sensei, now Shikamaru and Chouji and Kakashi-san. Damn those Akatsuki monsters...*

Something tickled across her raw senses, and Ino’s eyes opened. She stared, unbelieving, into blank eyes and black hair, too familiar for the time that had passed since last she’d seen them. “S-Sasuke?”

“No.”

*Such a cold voice.* She shivered, her thoughts oddly mused as her eyes rove the drawn features. No, this was not Sasuke. But he had the same black eyes, the same features, if a little more drawn and weighted. The same dark hair, although his lay long and flat across his pale brow rather than in errant spikes tousled sexily across the arrogant, flawless features of a marble god. Hair as black as the sins written in blood across his accursed soul, for he had killed every single member of his family and clan except his younger brother before fleeing into the night as a missing-nin and S-class criminal. *Uchiha Itachi.*

Even as she watched, his eyes swirled, the crimson bleeding through as black eddies mixed together into a distinctive pattern. *Sharingan.* She kept staring, fearlessly. Her father had said that one of the rare gifts of their bloodline and unique telepathic jutsu was that they could not be taken in by the Sharingan genjutsu. She smiled, the small triumph bitter in all the empty sorrow inside her heart. Her voice failed; she had to swallow twice before her hoarse whisper came out defiantly, “Don…Don’t waste your time. That w-won’t work on me.”

His lips twisted. It would have been a wry smile on anyone less cold and unaffected than he. The black tomoe in his red eyes continued to spin hypnotically. She defiantly kept her eyes on his, silently daring him to try that stupid trick on her.

“You would do better to listen to what I have to say, Yamanaka Ino.”

She flinched. She didn’t think he would know her birth-name. Although only five years older than Sasuke, who had been her classmate at the Ninja Academy, Itachi had already been an elite ANBU jounin. Jounin had little to do with the Academy, especially ANBU operatives. It was only after graduation and the students became genin that a jounin instructor was put in charge of each team.

Reminded abruptly of the loss of her own team, Ino felt the sorrow threaten to swamp over her. Tears sparkled in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. Refused to show such weakness to such a cold-hearted bastard as Itachi, who was a part of the same criminal organization who had taken her teammates and her sensei from her.

“N-Nothing---” Her voice failed her again, damn it. She grit her teeth against the pain, and snarled it out. “Nothing you say will...will…”

“You are a foolish child.” The scorn in his voice made her flinch, for there was no emotion there, just cold disgust. “You have no idea what you have stumbled into.”

*Not by choice!* she screamed silently. *You think I asked to be brought here, you heartless bastard?* The question of why burned inside her, for it made no sense.

He seemed to guess the direction of her thoughts, for he said flatly, “Akatsuki has a use for you, Ino, and if you want to survive, than it would be in your best interest to serve theirs and pretend, at least, to cooperate.”

She showed her repugnance at the very idea. *He’s as crazy as I always thought! Who, other than a madman, could slaughter their entire clan just on a whim, and show no remorse for what they did, even taunting their poor baby brother with it?* She mindlessly lashed out, hissing sharply, “S-Sasuke will kill you some day---”

“One hopes.” He looked suddenly weary, and Ino’s eyes widened in surprise at his strange words. He gave her a hard look, his red eyes narrowing as the swirling pattern accelerated. His cold, flat voice turned biting. “You have no clue, Ino, what intrigues you have stumbled into. I know I cannot sway you with the Sharingan, but the others do not. If you value your life, than you will let them think that I have succeeded in gaining both your loyalty and unquestioning obedience to Akatsuki.”

“Wh-Why should you care?” she demanded, her breath hitching at the pain that flared through her body. A headache blossomed around her temples, and she felt like she was fighting her way through a thick syrup of dull thoughts.

A pale hand, nails painted dark purple so that they looked like blood-blackened claws to her blurring vision, briefly touched the slashed headband that kept his black hair back. The deep line gouged across the leaf-symbol of Konohagakure seemed stark against the metal. Her vision swam, focusing in and out, making Itachi’s hand blur but the symbol of his rejection of their home village vivid. “You don’t know everything, little Leaf.”

The casual endearment caused a catch in her throat---it was commonly used by the adults of their village for the youngest children. His red eyes seemed to burn into hers as he let his hand fall. His voice was too casual as he suggested, “Why don’t you go and ask your father? You have the Yamanaka telepathy---the distance is not so great if you truly know how to use your kekkai genkai.”

Ino sucked in her breath. How could he know that? It was a family secret---one zealously guarded. But it would be known to a former ANBU captain like Uchiha Itachi. All the family talents were known to the captains, who had the authority to call upon them at need. Itachi had made captain at thirteen---an age when she had barely made chunin. The distracted thought made her head throb, and she tried to keep her mind focused even as her awareness started fading back into darkness.

“You cannot trust my words, Ino-chan, but you can his. Go and ask him, and you just might be surprised…”


Time passed. She wasn’t sure how much, for she hovered between the pain of half-sleep and the dark oblivion of utter exhaustion. Her body healed, but slowly, and she hoarded every scrap of chakra that she could, stealing it from the healing of her body in order to build it up inside her mind. She was not as experienced as her father, and in order to reach out to him---even with the help of his own powerful telepathy to support her once she established the link---she had to use it all at once, in a sudden burst.

It was like drawing the string of a bow back as tight as you could, in order to release the arrow of her thought-sending as far as possible. Between bouts of empty darkness, where she strove with nightmares that faded even as she fought them, she kept drawing that bow back just a little bit further. When next she became aware enough to finally make use of it, she let the thought-arrow fly.

Speeding along in the empty nothingness of what she called the mental world, or mental genjutsu, she desperately sought some glimpse of another whose thoughts were as familiar to her as her own. She had felt the touch of her father’s mind from her earliest memories. He had always been there to support and guide her, and oh God, she could really use that---could really use him---right now.

*Daddy!* she called, and suddenly, unbelievably, he was there, with her, his thoughts blazing across hers with all the warmth of his love. He held her tightly inside the shelter of his “arms” as she sobbed in relief against him.

*Ino---Ino, we were so worried. Are you all right? We did not know what happened to you---*
*Daddy, oh God, Daddy...Shikamaru...Chouji...they’re...they’re...* She couldn’t say it, couldn’t bear to say it. She felt like such a failure.

*We know. I’m so sorry, little bud.*

She cried harder at the nickname, his nickname alone for her, his daughter. He had called her that when she was so young she couldn’t even look over the counter of the family’s flower shop. He’d teasingly tell her that one day she would bloom from a little bud into the most beautiful flower...

*Oh, Daddy!* She spent long moments that seemed all too brief sobbing in the curl of his thoughts, embracing his strength as she surrendered to her weakness. *I’m sorry...I know true shinobi are not supposed to cry...that it reduces the memory of the fallen’s heroic sacrifice...but...but they were my friends, Daddy, my teammates...*

*There is no one else to know, little bud, if you cry. You do not shame them with your tears.* She hugged him tighter, wrapping her thoughts around his and just basking in the comfort and strength of his presence. His thoughts supported hers, and it wasn’t such a drain on her energy to keep the mental link established.

She eventually lost her tears, and just dwelt quietly for a time in his comforting strength. Finally, she broke free enough to admit shamefully, *Daddy---Daddy, they took me with them. The Akatsuki. I could not fight them; I was too weak. I’m so sorry, Daddy.*

*That’s all right, little bud. We know.*

*You do?* A jolt of surprise almost broke the link between them, and she hastily brought her wild thoughts back in line, a little ashamed that she could be so easily distracted.

*Yes, we do. We have---an informant. On the inside.*

She didn’t lose the connection this time, but her astonishment bled through his mental barriers. He chuckled at her surprise, and then sent her a feeling of approval when she deduced in a wondering voice. *Is it---Uchiha Itachi? But---*

*Yes, little bud. The Uchiha still has loyalty for Konoha, no matter if his actions speak otherwise.*

*But---why?* She couldn't believe it, even coming from her father.

*Atonement, perhaps,* Inoichi dismissed it as unimportant. *But you can trust him, little bud. Implicitly. He has our---and thus, your---best interests at heart. You should listen to him, do as he says. For Konoha needs you, little bud, to be strong, and stay---*

*Stay?!* Her mental shriek made him wince and almost broke the connection again. This time her father sent her a reproving thought, and chastened, Ino sent him a much quieter apology.

*Your surprise is understandable, little bud, and under normal circumstances, I would not like to have you in such danger. But Konoha needs you right where you are, helping and serving the Akatsuki. Yes, our most deadly enemies. But we have not had a reliable way in which to keep in contact with the Uchiha, and we could use your unique abilities. As Akatsuki could. The Hokage agrees that this is too good an opportunity to let pass by...*

*But---*

*I know you don’t like it, little bud, but I have to ask you to be strong right now. Remember what you are, a kunoichi of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. We are counting on you, Ino. We are counting on you to do whatever you have to in order to gain the Akatsuki'’s trust. Cooperate with them, even if it seems like it goes against our best interests. Honor the sacrifices of your friends and teachers, and do this for Konoha. Help your enemies, and you help us. Remember that we are counting on you, little bud. We are all counting on you...* His thoughts were slipping away, out of reach, and Ino desperately tried to hang on to a last glimpse of him, but he was suddenly gone, and she was alone.

Mentally hugging her arms tight around herself, she bowed her head and knew that she would do what she must. And then her awareness of the empty plane of the mental genjutsu was melting back into the darkness of true sleep, and she knew no more.


“Did it work?”

“For now.” He looked even more drawn than usual.

“You look like shit.”

He waved that off as negligible.

“They think her dead.”

“It’s best for now. They will know soon enough.”

“They will think she betrayed them, turned traitor. They will not understand.”

“They do not need to understand. This is the best way---the only way---for us right now.”

“For now.”

He looked troubled. The kage smiled, perhaps to reassure him. He wondered if it actually did.