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Something was terribly wrong.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t remember what had happened or how she’d come to this place. All she really knew was that she felt like she was suspended in an immense void, struggling under a sense of intense disorientation. Moreover, she was plagued by a feeling of deja vu without really understanding why that should be. If only she could see something...!
Then, just as true panic was threatening to take root, a long-buried memory came to her unbidden...
---the past---
...where ...am ...I?
There was no sound, no motion, and no sensation. Yet somehow she had enough self-awareness to sense that things were not as they should be, and that she seemed to be floating inside an impenetrable gray mist that covered everything. She could not remember her name, or if she even existed before this moment. All she really knew was that she was desperately searching for something. She had to find it, and quickly...
/are you lost, little one?/
A soft, glowing orb the size of a firefly materialized out of the grayness before her. It bobbed around in an enticing manner, and she found herself being drawn to its cold light.
...I ...don’t ...know ...
The words sounded strange and distant, and it was difficult to even think them. Perhaps it was an effect of the mist - everything felt so horribly disconnected.
The firefly light began to weave excitedly.
/ah, poor dear, to not even know that! such a pity, but then... i don’t suppose you know why you are here?/
...looking ...for ...something ... ...can’t ...find ...it ...
The firefly darted in closer, its light shining brighter.
/but surely... what you seek can’t be that important if you don’t remember?/
She felt desperation rising up. For a moment her thoughts became clearer.
...it’s very important!
The firefly shot away, flickering wildly before circling back. Then it began to weave sinuously in an intricate pattern of loops, its light again slowly sharpening.
/peace, child - there’s no need for alarm. be calm, be still.../
Drawn by the light, she watched the hypnotic dance. Her sense of urgency bled away and soon she began to feel even more sluggish than before. It was just so mesmerizing...
/all things lost can be easily found. in fact... would you like me to guide you to this thing you’re seeking?/
...you ...can ... ...help ...me?
The firefly drew in close.
/little one, lost things... are my specialty./
...okay.
In a flash the firelight shot through her. Then everything grew painfully bright and suddenly the gray mist dissipated. She now saw that she was on a grassy hilltop surrounded by wildflowers, underneath a vault of clear blue sky. Yet somehow she felt strangely detached and uninterested in her surroundings. All that she really noticed was that she appeared to be hovering a few feet above the ground...
...who ...is ...that?
There was a girl laying directly beneath her. She was splayed out as if she’d fallen from a height and was staring up with glassy, sightless eyes. She looked like a discarded doll.
/nothing more than an empty shell - pay it no mind. now come with me./
The firelight reappeared, now grown into a large sphere and shimmering with an eerie inner glow. It started to drift upwards. Turning away from the thing on the ground, she also began to rise up slowly...
(...no!)
She stopped.
...did ...you ...hear ...?
/it was nothing. hurry along.../
But inexplicably she looked back down. Something dark was gathering itself around the girl’s body, drawing it close. Though indistinct, it appeared to have a form of its own...
/look away, my dear, and just follow me now./
The feeling of detachment weakened as curiosity piqued her. She wavered for a moment and then dropped lower.
/come away, child, come away./
Heedless of the call, she drew closer until she was hovering just next to the lifeless girl. Something about this seemed so... familiar.
/don’t look at that!/
The strange, shadowy figure’s outline was rapidly growing sharper. She could almost see its features - yes, it had a face! Now it was leaning down towards the girl’s mouth... its breath was warm...
(INO!!!)
There was a stomach-dropping lurch as if she was falling heavily. Then suddenly light and wind poured into her, and her body began to feel whole and solid once more. More senses returned, and Ino realized that she was being shaken roughly. Her mouth fell open in faint protest, but all she could do was suck in a deep, shuddering gasp of air.
“It’s okay now.” She heard Asuma’s calming voice speaking from somewhere overhead. “Put her down, Shikamaru.”
The shaking stopped, and Ino felt herself being carefully laid back against the grass. Drawing in another heavenly breath, she screwed her eyes against the rapidly strengthening sunlight until at last she was able to open them.
Asuma, Choji, and Shikamaru were all watching her closely, various degrees of agitation etched on their faces.
“Wha... what happened?” she mumbled as she pushed herself upright.
“For starters, you jumped the gun and missed your target, Ino,” said Asuma grimly. “And then you took your good time about getting back. Longer than what was normal.”
Choji looked pale. “Geez, that was scary. You wouldn’t respond to anything - we couldn’t even tell if you were breathing!”
“What the heck were you trying to do?” demanded Shikamaru, managing to sound both annoyed and worried. “Why didn’t you wait for me to finish performing the Kagemane no jutsu before you pulled that stunt? When you fell out of the tree I barely caught you in time!”
“I’m sorry - I don’t remember anything that happened before!” Ino cried, feeling utterly bewildered. Had she really tried using the Shintenshin no jutsu that recklessly? Then she blanched as an image of her father sprang to mind. “I just remember... being lost.”
Drawing her knees up while the others watched, Ino curled into a ball as a tremor of horror raced through her blood. It was one of the many hidden risks underlying all her family’s mind manipulation arts, and Inoichi had been very stern in his warnings to her: it was inherently dangerous for the spirit to wander free of the body. “This separation is unnatural; the soul needs its anchor,” he’d explained. “If when using the Shintenshin no jutsu the spirit misses its target, there is a chance, though remote, that the spirit may be unable to find its anchor. And if that happens, Ino... only death follows.”
She had been extremely lucky.
“Lost?” murmured Shikamaru, his voice sounding funny. “Does that really happen?”
Ino nodded, feeling sick to her stomach. “Sometimes.”
“But... couldn’t you see anything?” wondered Choji nervously. “I mean, you never seemed to have a problem coming back before.”
“I don’t know why it happened this time,” Ino said truthfully, still stunned and confused that she had apparently done something so rash. “But I guess that when I missed my target, I just kept on wandering aimlessly - I couldn’t find my way back. And everything felt so disconnected, so shrouded and dream-like...” She closed her eyes with a shudder. “It was awful - like being a ghost.”
“Do you remember anything else?” pressed Shikamaru, his brows furrowing in concern.
It was his way, she knew, to collect any information he could about an unknown situation so as to be better prepared the next time. Feeling unexpectedly touched, Ino mussed over her odd recollection. Another shiver passed through her. She had a vague memory of talking to someone the entire time - but that was absurd. It had to have been a fear-induced hallucination. And that wasn’t the only weird thing that had happened...
“I saw myself sleeping on the ground but for some reason I couldn’t get back inside. And then... it was so strange... I saw something like the shadow of a person wrap around me and lift me up. Then I heard someone cry out my name and I felt...” Ino broke off suddenly, making a shocking connection. She threw a startled look at Shikamaru, feeling strangely nervous. “Hey! Did... did you kiss me, Shikamaru?”
There was an uncomfortable moment as the other three boggled back at her.
“What?” Shikamaru finally sputtered, staring blankly back at Ino. Then his face turned red and he hastily backed away from her. “What are you talking about?”
“I don’t know!” said Ino defensively, feeling her cheeks heat uncomfortably as Asuma and Choji exchanged amused glances. “But that’s how I woke up - I heard you call out my name and then you... Well, it just really felt like someone kissed me!”
The tension broke as Asuma and Choji began to laugh. Ino could tell her face was burning, but she was too proud to say anything else. And it didn’t help that Shikamaru was eyeing her warily and looking extremely put out.
“You read too many fairy tales, Ino,” he muttered.
---the present---
Oh, yes. She remembered this place now.
Right on cue, a ball of light was forming out of the mist in front of her. It was not the small, sprightly firefly of the past, however - now it was a massive, inky globe that resembled a burning coal. It glowered at her with an ugly orange hue.
/hello, little girl. are you lost again?/
Angry defiance welled up inside her.
I’m not a little girl anymore. And I’m not lost.
To prove her point, she thought about her father’s training and concentrated on focusing her errant conscience. Immediately the grayness dispersed, and Ino found herself once more on the large, grassy hilltop covered with wildflowers. She was hovering a few feet above the ground again... and there just below lay her unmoving body.
/ooo, self-awareness. it won’t help you./
Ino laughed.
I’m not the same weak girl I was the first time I ran into you.
The burning orb shimmered. It seemed like it was laughing at her in turn.
/nor i, child. look down./
With a start, Ino realized that her body was rapidly being sucked beneath the grass as if sinking in water. In a second it was gone, the ground swiftly returning to its undisturbed state.
/mind-walker, do you really believe you can get past me?/
For a moment the air around her dimmed to gray and swirled as Ino thought she would panic. But no - she would not forget her father’s training. What she needed now was her anchor...
Calming herself, the grassy hill came back into focus. Ino sank down until she came to rest on the patch of ground that had swallowed her body.
/what foolishness is this? do you really think you’ll get your anchor back that way?/
Ignoring the fiery orb floating just above her, Ino tried forgetting that she had no form of her own and instead imagined herself laying back on the grass. It was difficult at first, but soon she believed she had achieved it - the flowers now surrounded her, the sky shone brightly above, and from below... yes!
She looked back up at the orb.
Guess I’ll be going now.
The ball of light shot in closer, hovering like an angry wasp. Then it flared bright red, erupting in impotent fury.
/impossible! how...?/
Ino smiled serenely as the darkness welled up around her and wrapped her in tight.
I’ll let you in on a secret - that wasn’t my real anchor.
-----
Consciousness returned slowly, but it did not matter. Ino knew that she was finally back in the safest place she had ever known, held securely within his arms...
“...Did you kiss me this time, Shikamaru?” she murmured drowsily, waiting for her senses to fully recover. She felt herself being pulled closer and heard a soft chuckle.
“Whatever it takes to bring you home... I’ll do it.”