He he.... I'm feeling quite studious with the amount of writing I've been doing. Lets see how long that lasts huh? Anyway, since I never paid much attention in Chemistry I've been depending on Wikipedia and knowledgable relatives for information regarding rust. Never thought it was interesting until know. But maybe that's just because it's a killer virus all of a sudden. Oh! By the way, thankyou to everyone who has been leaving reviews! It's going to my head, and is giving me a kinda floaty feeling. My love goes out to you!

"Hisao wants these scrolls. He obviously would do anything to get them. His attacks had no structure or planning behind them, he simply attacked. By taking Ino, he probably plans to use her as a bargaining chip. The scrolls in exchange for her. From what we have seen of him so far it is unlikely he will have really thought out his plan." Shika said slowly.

Catching onto the idea Chouji added, "So his disorganisation will be on our side."

Shika shook his head, "Not necessarily. He might panic if he sees things not going his way and kill Ino."

Chouji muttered a harsh word under his breath.

"Also," Shika continued, "He is under the false impression that Shinobi's are allowed ransoms."

Chouji's eyes widened, and his hands balled into fists.

Seeing his friend's expression, Shika reassured him, "Just an observation. We will have to retrieve Ino either by stealth or by force. I don't like the idea of succumbing to blackmail anyway."

Chouji nodded.

"We should track them down and find Ino before Hisao tries anything. My biggest concern is that our techniques have little effect on him. I'd like to know why."

……………………………………………….

Ino shuddered as she imagined the rust coursing through her body. No wonder Hisao was so ill. What would something like this do to a person's body? How much of herself would the rust claim? Would its hunger be satisfied by her blood, or would it spread and consume her entirely, leaving nothing but a pile of dry red dust as a reminder of the girl it had destroyed?

"You don't look like you can save yourself, let alone me. What can you do?" Ino asked.

Hisao nodded to Takeo, who collected the objects Ino had flung across the room.

"It's true I cannot get rid of it, but that's why I need the scrolls. I can keep the rust at bay, and for now that's all that stands between you and an extremely painful death."

Well that didn't sound pleasant.

Takeo came closer and knelt down on the floor, setting the tray on his lap. Ino knelt down in front of him, holding out the scratch.

Unwrapping the steel dagger, Takeo held it over Ino's outstretched arm. Every instinct in her was telling her to get away from the weapon, but she stayed strong and did not move. The blade hovered over her skin, and she grit her teeth. However, the boy did not pierce her skin. Instead he let the dagger linger just above the wound. Her wound began to itch and then sting slightly, until it split right open.

Ino watched in horror as a stream of rust burst from the open gash, floating in a thin dusty line towards the steel. She could feel it moving through her now, greedily surging towards the offering of metal. And it was agonizing. Like sand paper in her veins, thousands and thousands of infinitesimal metallic shards exiting her body. Tiny bruises appeared along her arm where blood vessels had burst. Ino bit her lip to stop herself from crying out. When the dagger was completely covered in rust, Takeo wrapped it once more in fabric and placed it back on the tray.

"How often does this need to be done?" asked Ino when she was sure her voice would not reveal her pain.

Hisao who had been watching silently until this point replied, "Twice a day, sometimes more. My son and I always carry with us a piece of metal just in case-anything with iron in it will work. Zinc is much better but it is harder to find."

Takeo unwrapped the second object. It was a ceramic bowl, inside was a silvery powder. As soon as it was exposed, her skin began to sting again.

"Whenever I find an old piece of galvanised tin, I scrape the coating off. Zinc is the ideal sacrificial anode," the boy said shyly, taking Ino's hand in his, leading it towards the bowl.

The process repeated again, but worse if that was possible. The rust snaked even faster through her, eager to reach the silver powder. Takeo let go of Ino, and placed his palms against the side of the bowl, his hands glowing softly illuminating his pale face strangely in the dim light. Ino recognised this instantly as a medical-nin healing technique. However, Takeo was using it on the zinc powder. The rust clung to the zinc, as the chakra mixed it together- fortifying the metal enough to slow down the corrosion process, while still allowing the rust access. How strange that zinc which should be the easiest thing for the rust to devour, was now- thanks to the chakra infusion- quite hard. Almost as though the rust had been tricked….. but that would mean it had a consciousness. Ino did not want to think about it.

"So. You will retrieve the scrolls for me," said Hisao.

Ino blinked. "I will not," she replied firmly.

Hisao raised his eyebrows. "Without them you will die. The pain you felt then is only the beginning. The rust will invade your nervous system, causing sporadic twitches in your muscles- barely controllable and intensely agonising. It will give you incredible speed and agility, but you will only ever be a puppet. You will eventually fall apart. The rust wants to live you see, and will avoid its fuel being compromised."

By fuel, Ino knew he meant her body. That was a sickening thought.

"If the rust wants to live so badly, then why hasn't it stopped you from stealing the scrolls?" Ino asked curiously.

"It has no intelligence. It does not think or if it does, then no more than how a virus might think. It knows when it is under attack, and it knows when fuel is close."

Takeo wrapped the ceramic bowl and picked up the tray, leaving the room.

"Your son. He was trained as a ninja?" asked Ino, moving the topic away from her impending doom, of which Hisao seemed so fond of explaining.

A glimmer of pride shone in his eyes. "No. My boy taught himself."

"Oh."

Hisao narrowed his eyes as Ino rose to her feet.

"Maybe you would face your own death, but what of my son? Would you knowingly let him die?"

Ino lowered her eyes. No, she did not want Takeo to die. But she certainly would not let her honour as a ninja be sullied by turning traitor either. And although she felt sorry for this man, she knew he would kill others- her friends- for his own needs. Unforgivable. She would find a way to help Takeo, but never under the terms of this man.

She said nothing.

"I see. Then stay here in pain until you change your mind. You will have no help from me or my son until you agree to obtain the scrolls."

Angrily, Hisao left the room- the door slamming behind him. Still weak after the removal of the rust, Ino watched him leave as she leaned her head wearily against the wall. Her arm trembled at her side.

I was just thinking to myself: Does anyone find my layout confusing? Should I put my author comments in bold or something to make it obviously distinguishable from the story? If nobody minds, I'll just leave it like it is, but don't stay silent if it bugs you!