Konohagakure no Sato, Saturday Afternoon (Fandom Time) / Feb. 15th (Konoha Time)

[intraspective]

Really, it had been a month and a half now and Ino had to admit that she was—feeling better. Between her father teaching Zack (and water walking had proved to be quite a hilarious thing to watch) and her father teaching her, she was feeling useful and busy without it being anything too taxing.

She hadn’t seen either of her previous teammates, which stung, but Ino stomped down firmly on that as she disentangled her mind from her father’s and ignored his look. It wasn’t the first time she’d avoided… whatever it was he’d wanted to talk about.

And she doubted it would be the last.

“That’s enough for now,” he said, after a moment. “How about you go and get some air?”

It was phrased as a suggestion, but Ino was well used to her father’s orders. With a quick kiss to his cheek, she left the room, went down the long, dark hall and out into the sunshine. It was a lovely day—February, already, which made her head hurt if she thought too hard about the days and how they related to Fandom—but, Ino thought, as she leaned against the balcony and pulled out her phone, hitting speed dial, maybe all that time had been what she’d needed.

And, across universes, her phone call reached…

[For ze raspberried one. Mwahaha. NFB.]

Comments

[puppy_fair]

"Right." Zack nodded, limping the few paces to his Buster Sword and grabbing it in his good hand. He could barely lift it, he couldn't hope to get it on his back at this point, and he'd probably collapse under the weight of it if he did. But he'd drag it out of there with him if it came to that.

He wasn't leaving Angeal behind.

"Lead on," he said, pocketing one potion so that he could down the other. He'd drink that one too, once they were moving. He was expecting the going to be a little rough, but he didn't have time to linger and wrestle with the stupid cap.

[intraspective]

She watched him for a second, then two, then forced herself to turn and start moving.

It wasn't the pace she'd have liked to take--a full out run over the ground--but it was as fast as she thought Zack could handle.

Because he wouldn't leave Angeal behind and she wouldn't leave him behind.

[puppy_fair]

This was as fast as Zack could handle. At least without risking further injury. But, Zack noted, seeing how anxious Ino looked, it was entirely possible that he was damned either way, and 'further injury' could amount to far worse by lingering than it would by pushing himself too hard.

He was unscrewing the next potion with his bad arm and his teeth. And picking up his pace in spite of how much his body was protesting to doing so. A fast walk. Still not fast enough for what he wanted, either. But better than the limp, which he'd get back to in spades once they were somewhere safer than in the middle of a smoking hole in the ground.

[intraspective]

A fast walk was better than nothing, she repeated over and over to herself, as she picked their pace through what had been Konoha only an hour? Two? ago.

Tears blurred her vision and she shook them away. The oppressive feeling of chakra was growing, slithering around her senses like a poisonous veil and it only added urgency to her steps.

Whatever had happened here... it wasn't over yet.

There was a... mound of earth rising, a ball of dirt and rubble and trees being lifted into the air and Ino wondered what could possibly be doing that, what sort of technique was it, when the ground shook as an inhuman scream ripped through the air and a monster appeared, on top of where the Hokage Monument had been.

"Kyuubi no Kitsune," she said, voice small and terrified, and eyes larger than they'd ever been as she stared.

[puppy_fair]

".... That's not good," Zack suggested, staring up at the creature before deciding, to hell with how much he could hurt himself, he was shouldering his sword, grabbing Ino by the wrist, and hitting the wreckage at a run.

... While all the while biting back the nagging thought that he could totally take that thing on. Running was too much for him right now. He wasn't in any state to right.

[intraspective]

It was a childhood story come to life in the form of a nightmare. Everyone knew how the Kyuubi had wrecked their home once before, when she'd been less than a month old. Seeing it, in the wreckage of Konoha... Ino ran, her wrist held firmly by Zack, and she was doing her best to keep up, not stumble, no matter how much the shock got to her.

"It... It..." There were no words to describe it, Ino clamped her mouth shut and continued to run. They'd hide with the remnants of Konoha until it was safe to go home.