[OP: "Pale White Horse" -- The Oh Hellos]

For once, the plan went about as expected, at least at first.

Shine, Wally, Bakugo, Kankuro, and Tenten, with Sai, made their way to the outside as Karin directed them.

Wally managed to dig their way out fast enough, with some help from Bakugo's explosions.

They didn't care if anyone saw them. Bakugo said he wasn't afraid of the danged bandits.

And no one did see them, or, if they did, they never tried to stop them.

They met the girls, with their captive, and Jugo and Lee, just as they got to the Kage house.

"Well...that was fast," Ino said when she saw them.

"Bakugo!" Camie ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck. "Did you miss me?"

"H-ll no," Bakugo said, but he couldn't hide a smile. "It was nice and quiet without you."

"But you hate nice and quiet, right?" Camie said, with doe eyes.

Bakugo shrugged.

"You're not really gonna be mean to me after I got captured, are you?" Camie said.

"Just a little bit," Bakugo said, hugging her back finally.

"Aww..." Zokei said.

They cast her a look.

"Uh...nevermind." She looked away.

"Be easy on her," Camie said. "She just got engaged. It was totes romantic. Bakugo, if we get engaged, can we do it in a jail? Because, like, I think I'd like to tell that story."

"Don't get ahead of yourself!" Bakugo was mortified.

"It was just a hypothetical," Camie said, kissing him.

"That's so cute," Wally told Shine. "Man, kids are adorable."

"Okay, Dad," Shine replied maddeningly.

"Hello, Tenten," Lee said cheerfully. "We captured a prisoner."

"I can see that." Tenten was surprised. "Who is this?"

"Zokei," Jugo said. "She's kind of on our side, but only if we win."

"I've played that game before," Kankuro said. "But I guess it's better than nothing."

"Are you all right?" Sai asked Ino.

Ino turned red at him asking her. "Uh...fine. Nothing really happened."

"Oh, she was awesome." Camie let go of Bakugo with one arm and leaned on him with the other like he was a railing (which he didn't mind as much as he would have said he did). "We, like, girl bossed it. We escaped. It was so smooth. The bandits are total jokers. No offense, Z."

"Z?" Zokei said.

"I remember you," Wally said suddenly. "You're the one who sunk me in the mud...or was that your boyfriend?"

"Both of us," Zokei said nervously. "I hope you're not still mad about that."

"Nah, it's not the first time," Wally said. "But on the record, only my fiancee is allowed to hold me that tightly in the future."

"I hope so," Shine said. "And that was a terrible joke."

"I was trying to think of what would match quicksand, and I couldn't think of anything," Wally said.

"But we were so cool," Camie told Bakugo. "I was, like, psyching out the mean lady. And Ino went into a guy's head and found out how to get outside the jail, and then we cut them a sweet deal. I was like Momo, for crying out loud. And I just said the word 'hypothetically'. I think you smart peeps are rubbing off on me."

"Cool, did you find out anything about Tsuchikage?" Kankuro said. "I guess we have to find him."

"No, Zokei didn't know," Ino said. "Well, you can just tell them." Looking at the woman.

"I don't know if he's alive or not," Zokei said. "But I do know the Kage house is...well, you can see for yourself--it's staked out."

So it was. They ran around the corner and saw that it had guards.

"I've got the guards," Wally said. "I'll get them off you--you go find him. I'm not really that excited about talking to that guy after it all. Shine, I know you'll be able to handle it."

"Okay," Shine said. "Go easy on those poor bandits. They won't know what hit them."

"I'll be okay," Wally said.

"Lee, stay out here and watch his back," Shine said. "You're fast, maybe the fastest next to him, so you should do well out here. But don't fight them. The poison won't affect him, and it will affect you, so only make contact if you have to."

"All right, Miss Likstar!" Lee liked Shine just fine, though he barely knew her, and was fine with doing whatever she said.

"Zokei, you can go with us or stay here, but we can't let you leave," Shine said. "You understand."

"I'd rather you didn't, actually," Zokei said. "You seem much kinder than the boss will be to me if he finds out I led you here."

"Jugo, if you could have the birds keep an eye on the streets," Shine said. "And...do you speak squirrel or groundhog or something like that?"

She said that like it was a real question, to Zokei's astonishment.

"I can," Jugo said. "Sort of, but birds are the easiest."

"Well, if you can find some bird that digs holes and ask them to keep an eye out for anything under us if they can, I'd be obliged," Shine said.

"It's good to have you here to be in charge again," Jugo said. 

"Yeah, lowkey, I'm fine alone and all, but I missed you," Camie said. "Things go smoother with you here, Shine."

"That's really sweet," Shine said. "And they'd better. I know it's been one day, but I'm sick of this bandit thing already. Once you've seen it once, you've seen it a 100 times."

"You've defeated bandits before?" Zokei said

"I have a close friend who's a bandit, and another who was a crime ring boss (which is like bandits for the city)," Shine said. "And they never posed me any trouble. I find bandits underwhelming as opponents, but there's so many of them it's still hard to stop them."

Zokei stared at her in astonishment.

"I think we were right to be afraid of you," she said.

"Nonsense," Shine said. "You're just smart to be afraid of me." With a wink at Wally.

"You know, the confident, scary woman was never my type before I met her," Wally said to Lee, who didn't really get it. "But it's just so dang cute, you know, once you get used to it."

"I don't exactly understand." Lee didn't.

Shine led the others into the Kage house.

Wally sprang into action and took the guards out before they even got to the door.

Lee took a position where he could watch him.

Jugo stayed with Zokei, but he called a bunch of animals to him and began to ask them things.

Zokei found it weird and tried not to listen too hard.

"So what are we doing exactly?" Ino asked.

"Miss Likstar wants to talk to Onoki, if he's...alive," Sai said, with an odd look. "And, if he's not, to whoever is going to be in charge. I suppose it's part of her plan. Also we have to find the boss of the bandits, and since he didn't appear to be anywhere else we've looked, he might be here."

"Okay..." Ino said.

They walked in the door of the house and saw  there were a few more ninja inside the lobby-like area.

They hadn't heard Wally knock the others out, he was too quick and silent about it.

They got up when they saw them come in.

Shine, who was out of patience, held out her sword.

"I'll make this simple," she said. "All of you had better not try anything. If you alert your boss about us, you can imagine yourself swimming a long way downriver from here."

She knew the river wasn't poisoned anymore, but they didn't, and they must have known it was the source because they paled.

"It's her," one said. "The sorceress."

"Oh, shut up, pansy," Bakugo called. "One move from any of you and I'll kill you all."

They flinched.

"Bakugo, stay on them," Shine said, primly. "Only hurt them if they try to run or attack you. Sai, be sure he has a watch on him, in case they try a sneak attack."

"Be calm, Bae," Camie said. "They're just bandits, after all. You don't wanna hurt them too much."

Bakugo grinned.

The bandits were pretty cowed by that.

"That was too easy," Ino said while they ran towards the stairs.

"Sure it was," Shine said. "But don't worry, it'll be harder before it's done. We'll just see if we can at least avoid the fight before we find them."

Her eyes lit up. "Onoki is here after all. I hardly could see him before... Usually I can... Maybe he's clouded from me."

"Because of magic?" Camie asked.

"It's more likely because he sent us anyway," Shine said. "I've never had that happen to me, but it's quite plausible that would also cause me problems connecting. But we're close enough now, and I guess it's not completely blocked."

She paused. "But then, the Bible does say 'rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.' Maybe there's a connection there after all."

Scary to think about.

There were still more bandits on the top floor. They had their weapons out.

"I thought you were outside the Village," they said.

"Surprise," Camie said cheerfully.

"Do we fight those ones?" Tenten asked.

"Go ahead," Shine said. "Take their weapons, but don't touch the blades."

Tenten pulled gloves out of her bag. "No problem."

"Why didn't you mention having those before?" Kankuro asked.

"I don't think it mattered before," Tenten shrugged.

The bandits were hesitating to attack, but when Tenten threw a shuriken at them, they jumped into action.

It was really too easy.

These ones were a lot more skilled, but they weren't at all ready for Camie.

She blew mist, and it rose up around their feet and then burst into loud explosions and then into monstrous shapes that would have scared most people.

They all jumped back, not realizing in time that it was just an illusion.

Kankuro caught one in his puppet.

Tenten threw a chain around another.

Sai sent binding snakes around the 3rd.

Ino mind-attacked the last one, and then Shine hit them with her sword as she walked by.

"Hah, I'm on fire!" Camie said.

"Stop kissing your own boots, Camie," Kankuro said, letting the person out of the puppet and knocking them out. "All of us are just doing our jobs."

"Bro, you got to learn to like yourself for being cool," Camie said. "It makes the job more fun." She kicked one person who was struggling against the chains.

"I feel Iike we were more worried about this than we needed to be," Tenten said.

"Just stay focused," Kankuro said. "There's sure to be trouble soon enough."

"Both you and Shine are always so encouraging," Tenten complained.

They followed Shine, who had dashed into an entryway to one of the meeting rooms.

She knocked on the door.

They all came up behind her.

"You're knocking now?" they heard Kurotsuchi's voice say from inside. "It doesn't matter how many times you come back, I'm not going to sign--"

She yanked the door open.

Then she stared at them in utter shock.

"Hi," Shine said.

* * *

There was a long pause.

Then Kurotsuchi seemed to get angry.

"I knew it!" she said. "When they said that you helped them take over, I knew it was true. I hope you're here to just kill me now, because I really would prefer that to that horrible plague. Just--"

"Whatever are you talking about?" Shine cut her off.

Kurotsuchi stopped. "You...the plague... You just... They said you started it."

"Oh...well, that's true in a way," Shine said.

"It is?" Ino turned to her in shock.

"But it's not entirely true," Shine said. "It was an accident. The bandit leader took it and made it into a weapon. I wouldn't blame us entirely. But we have been known to make mistakes. And we're trying hard to rectify it and take care of your little pest control problem. Now, are you going to stand there gawking at me, or are you going to tell me where Onoki is?"

"So you can kill him?" Kurotsuchi said.

"What is wrong with her?" Kankuro said. "Can she not hear us?"

"Perhaps be a little easy on her." Shine looked at him. "She's had quite a terrible few weeks, I'd say, and I might be just as paranoid if I was her. Where's your father?"

Kurotsuchi looked at her, and then she looked down. "Father...died of the plague...over a week ago, now."

Silence.

"I'm sorry," Shine said, after a pause. "I didn't know that. I suppose it would have made sense that they'd attack you with it...but you're alive... Clearly they've kept you sequestered here, so they must not have wanted you to die yet."

"They want some of you then," Kankuro said. "What? Control of the Village?"

Kurotsuchi stared at them, but she then seemed to realize it was useless to try to fight telling them.

"Yes, they want me to sign paperwork to make this leader the new Kage," she said. "The counsel is supposed to decide it, but most of them are...dead. And those who aren't are willing to do it if they'll get a cure for the plague because it pains them so."

"But the bandits said that they couldn't cure it," Ino said.

Kurotsuchi bit her lip. "Did they?"

"Unless their leader has lied to them," Shine said. "Which is quite possible, but his own people are dying of it too. It's not a plague, by the way. It's a poison. It corrupts the chakra network."

"It turns it to rock," Ino said. "Or like rock. That was what it felt like to me anyway."

"The chakra network itself?" Kurotsuchi said. She rubbed her chin. "That's why no one's been able to find a cure for it... But how can we cure that? We can't heal chakra."

"We can," Shine said. "Maybe. But we must act quickly. Where is Onoki? Is he also dead?"

"Not yet," Kurotsuchi said. "But it won't be long for him... He took it early, but Lady Tsunade was able to slow it down a bit by using his particle ninjutsu with him. Helped him to get part of it out...only she had to tie off his leg. It's useless now. But it's spreading again, and she hasn't been back here in days. I think they locked her up for something."

"Yes, for calling us," Shine said. "So you can thank her for that later."

She mused. "We might not be able to cure Onoki. He refused our help."

"Isn't that petty?" Kurotsuchi said. "If you came all this way, that is, and you plan to stop the bandits, why stop at Grandfather?"

"It's not pettiness, you impudent young woman." Shine sassed her as if she was far younger than her. "I meant what I said--he may have made it impossible for himself to receive it from us...but Tsunade may manage to help him, with our direction, if we get her. Still, I can try, see if I can at least slow it down some more. Do you have any signs of symptoms?"

"No," Kurotsuchi said. "They rubbed something on my hands and neck... I don't know what it was. But it wards off some of the contamination."

"Doesn't cure it?" Ino asked.

"I tried it on Grandfather, and it didn't seem to do much," Kurotsuchi said. "I don't think so."

"Some things are more preventative than they are cures," Shine told Ino. "Like vitamin C and the common cold. Check her for any signs...but don't touch her chakra."

She looked around. "Onoki must be close."

"He won't want to see you," Kurotsuchi said as Ino began to scan her. "He's cursed all of you nearly every day. He thinks the bandits couldn't have taken over without you starting the plague."

"Did he ever think he was the one who let them out to attack us?" Sai asked innocently.

"Yeah, or do all that other stuff," Kankuro said.

Kurotsuchi shook her head. "My grandfather is a stubborn man...but now he's my only family, and I'm his only family. If you can save him...I'll do anything you ask of me."

"Good," Shine said. "Because I must ask someone of you now. It's imperative that your people know we're here to help. They may well attack us if they see us. The bandits have only a few hundred men, we think, but, with your own shinobi they would be a bigger problem. They could cause confusion."

"And we know how easily you all get confused," Kankuro said.

"That's enough, Kankuro," Shine said in her mom tone. "The time to gloat is later or never. And I have some thoughts about your attack on Leaf Village, if you want to stir up old wounds."

Tenten giggled a little.

Kankuro frowned. "Fine, but still, you make a valid point. They could attack us."

"I can try to tell them, but I haven't been allowed to leave," Kurotsuchi said.

"With us you can," Shine said.  "And one more thing...give us permission to help you."

"What?" Kurotsuchi said.

"Think of it as on the Tsuchikage's behalf," Shine said. "And because we have grace to show mercy. But it would help me a lot if you also asked us to, remove any of the strings attached to this mess."

"I need to ask you? I mean, if you're here, we have no choice," Kurotsuchi said.

"Oh, there is always a choice," Shine said. "Well, this is like someone who won't move when you tell them a volcano is about to erupt in their area."

Kurotsuchi didn't care for that comparison.

"Fine, I'm asking you to help us," she said. "If you can... Is Lord Gaara with you?"

"Let's not answer that while there could be someone tapping the wall," Shine said. 

Kurotsuchi nodded.

"She's clean," Ino said, lowering her hand. "In fact, it's strange that they kept her alive for so long. I--ah!" Suddenly, she made a sharp cry and grabbed her side.

"Ino!" Camie cried.

Ino's eyebrows went up, and then she held her hand over her own side and gasped.

"I don't understand..." she said. "I never touched anyone."

Shine touched her, and her eyes glowed.

"Oh..." she said. "Sweetie...you'd went into someone who was infected. Did your chakra touch his in any way?"

Ino suddenly covered her mouth. "Oh no... That could..."

"It's touching it..." Tenten said, a little spooked.

"But I didn't feel anything till now," Ino said, paling.

"Maybe it works slower this way," Shine said. "You probably picked up a little bit of it. You were in his mind, but you did connect to his body... Sorry, it's a risk of sharing people's pain--you can share their curses too."

"Whoa, that's spooky," Camie said, looking scared. "Can we fix her?"

Shine knit her brows. "Well, I may be able to do something. But, Ino, it may hurt."

"Just do it!" Ino was freaking out.

Shine held up her sword.

"Best to find it now while it's still small," she said.

She swung her sword at the infected area.

Ino felt as if fire passed through her and shook her to her core.

And she felt a little sick also and then faint.

Then, finally, as if a huge chunk of her body just ripped away from itself.

Which didn't actually happen. What did happen was that Shine and Camie both saw with their special sight that a big mass of infected chakra just came out of Ino's network, looking like what rock would look like if it was somehow rotten and putrid.

Camie gagged. "Ew...that was inside her?"

"This is poison cursing if I ever saw it," Shine said. "Using objects. Classic. Not unusual for shinobi. Begone, hellspawn."

She sliced it apart and stomped on it, with her sword under her foot, till it disappeared.

No one else had seen it, but Ino nearly fell over.

Sai caught her. "Is she okay?" he said with evident concern.

"She will be," Shine said. "It can be a shock sometimes to pull this stuff out, but she'll be okay. It seems the threat is in the mind and body... Your chakra is different than ours. With us, removing a curse might not have hurt at all, might even have felt good, but for you, it's so interconnected, you shinobi have it harder...and she used her soul to get it. That probably doesn't help. Ino, you bonded with it."

"I did..." Ino said, sounding dizzy.

"Yes." Shine took her hand to make her point. "When you go into someone's soul, you bond with them. Sometimes that bond can be good--you can share their burdens and help them heal. But you must always ward yourself first so that you don't pick up their baggage. It's a thing intercessors in my world deal with all the time. Maybe you shouldn't go into someone's mind without doing that first. It doesn't take a lot of words, just make sure it's done. It was foolish of you to risk it, but I know you didn't mean to. You do appear more resistant to it now, thankfully. Maybe you could have expelled that yourself, but it would have hurt, and it's better to have someone else help you with things like that.

She let go. "But you'll be okay, just might feel weak for a while. And if that's what it was like for you...why, someone could die of shock if I do it to them... This complicates things."

"Well...can you get around it?" Kurotsuchi said.

"With things like this," Shine said, "you need a healer and a bondage breaker to work together. The healer repairs the physical strain of breaking the things off. But Ino may not be up to it right now, and I think Momo's gift would suit better anyway. I might be able to stunt Onoki's curse growth, but, as I said, I think I can't stop it without killing him. But better go see for myself. Camie, you're with me. You can see those things well. The rest of you, make sure no one enters this room, all right? Kankuro, you're with us also."

"'Kay," Kankuro was a little scared now.

Tenten was spending the time she had to herself by starting to sort through her weapons again.

Ino felt a little stronger once the wave of sickness had passed.

"Thanks..." she said while pushing herself up. "I think I can stand now..."

Sai helped her straighten. "You took a risk."

"I didn't realize," Ino said. She felt a little weak still. "I was stupid." She put her head in her hands. "I just can't seem to get this down...how to do things differently now. I can't believe that was inside of me." She shuddered.

"I suppose mistakes are normal when you start something," Sai said by way of being comforting. "And it was caught early on. That's good."

"What if that didn't happen?" Ino said. "If I hadn't done that just now, maybe it would have grown for a while, and then in the middle of a fight..."

"Isn't that a little stupid to dwell on?" Tenten asked tersely. "It's over with now. Just let it go."

Ino swallowed. "Right."

She moved. "I felt that man's pain when I went into his mind. It was so horrible... I was glad to get back out, but we left him there. I feel bad for that now. We couldn't have cured him, but I still feel bad."

"Maybe he can be cured," Sai said. "We could find him later."

"I hope it's not too late by then," Ino said weakly.

* * *

Shine and Kankuro knew to expect it to be bad when they found Onoki, but Kankuro might have been less prepared than Shine.

He was in a makeshift bedroom that had seals on it to prevent his leaving, which seemed stronger than Kankuro would have expected from the bandits.

Shine cast them a disdainful glance and then slammed her sword into them, saying something in a low voice.

The seals disappeared.

"You don't like anything like that," Kankuro noted.

"Nope," Shine said.

Kurotsuchi gaped at them, but then she collected herself and opened the door more.

Onoki was lying on a cot-sized bed. He was very grey, nearly as grey as a real stone itself.

He was very still also and barely seemed to have breath.

But worst of all, to Kankuro, was that along some parts of his skin you could see the congealed chakra had made bunches, like a cancer would.

He felt a little ill. Medical drama was not his strong point.

Shine looked a bit sick too, but then she pushed it aside.

"So this is how it is," she said. "The final stage."

"Well, the final stage is more of when they go into full cardiac arrest or their lungs stop moving," Kurotsuchi said firmly. "But this is close, from what I hear. They've kept me in here, but my messengers from our people have reported to me."

She suddenly looked very small and tired. "I've been completely useless, powerless to stop any of this. And I'm the Kage's granddaughter... What kind of person am I? They might expect me to take over the Village one day, but after a failure like this? What can I do?"

Shine had never felt as much sympathy for Kurotsuchi as now, as, frankly, she'd never seen the women emote before.

She put a hand on her arm, making her start.

"Listen," Shine said gently enough, "a leader is bound to fail at times and be taken off guard. It's how you recover from this that matters. Gaara has failed many times to get exactly what he wants, but he's always found a way to keep going. So've I. And sometimes that for the best. Trials can lead to better blessings that the easy route does. If your grandfather loves you, he will understand. And besides, your powerlessness is your greatest asset right now."

"It...is?" Kurotsuchi said blankly.

Kankuro was lost too, but, knowing Shine, it'd be off the wall, whatever she said next.

And it was.

"Yes, the bandits thinking you're pathetic and weak is the best thing that could have happened to you right now," she said.

Kurotsuchi thought she'd gone mad. "And how is that?"

"Simple enough. They didn't bother to infect you because they thought it wouldn't matter," Shine said. "And they're using you because they think you're pliable. Now is your chance to turn that back on them."

"How would I do that?" Kurotsuchi said.

Kankuro began to think that, rather than being as malicious as her grandfather, she was just too stupid to think for herself. Well, that was what Temari had always thought of her.

But Shine didn't lose patience with her.

"Just do as we say," she said. "And when they come back, try to act as helpless as you have so far. Say you will hand over the Village to them and act all meek about it. Then have them take you to where their leader is. I mean to find the weasel if it's the last thing we do here. You can lead me to him. I don't know what he looks like, but I know you."

Kurotsuchi stared at her.

Kankuro thought that she would refuse, but instead she said, "That's brilliant."

"I know it is," Shine said. "Actually, I think it's pretty basic stuff, but that's the most brilliant way to fool people, generally. So will you?"

"If course I will," Kurotsuchi said. "You can kill him?"

Shine paused. "No, I won't kill him. But you may if you think he deserves it. Once he's caught."

Kurotsuchi didn't know why Shine refused to kill him but took that silver lining. "Well, as long as he's restrained, then."

She seemed a bit more cheerful.

But then Onoki let out a groan.

Kurotsuchi's face fell. "But what about Grandfather?"

Shine passed her sword over him like she was scanning him.

"I'm amazed he's still alive," she said. "I must begrudgingly admit the old man is tough. Well, I don't want him to die, even after all that. It's too wrong this way. I can't do much for him though... Call Ino in here now, Camie."

"Right," Camie said. "I hope she and Sai aren't having a moment I'll have to interrupt."

She went back out.

But Ino and Sai weren't talking right now. Ino was just straightening her hair nervously.

"Shine wants your help," Camie said. "You up to it?"

"I think so, a little," Ino said.

"Then come on." Camie waved at her. "Sai, any news on the downstairs?"

"Nothing. I assume nothing is happening," Sai said.

"I hope that's right," Tenten muttered.

Ino followed Camie to the other room.

Shine had been praying quietly.

Kurotsuchi was nervous.

"I'm thinking we can try something." Shine looked at Ino. "It may work, from you, if Kurotsuchi gives us consent to help her grandfather. She can stand in for him--she's his blood, and that usually works."

"I didn't think you believed in things like that," Kankuro said.

"Not in blood oaths and seals, Kankuro," Shine answered. "But that blood has authority, yes, I must believe in that. That's how we're freed. 'Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.' [Hebrews 9:22] And family members actually can stand in for each other. There's power in family, don't mistake that. Just not the sick, twisted kind of what you're used to, where they pass curses. That's something else."

"I see." Kankuro was actually glad to hear there was a better version of it.

"Go ahead and help him," Kurotsuchi said at once.

"Okay then," Shine said. "Ino, I want you to try infusing him with chakra at the same rate I'm cutting some of that other stuff out. We can't risk enough to take it all out. It looks like it's eaten away nearly half of his extremities, if not more. But, we might slow it down till Tsunade can have the chance to take a look at him. Perhaps I can ask to stop the spread of it. That's about as much as I can vouch for."

"Sounds like a good plan," Ino said. "But I lost a lot of my own just now."

"Ask for more," Shine said. "Try singing one of our songs. That always helps me."

She started to sing lightly, so that it almost sounded strange under the circumstances.

"Sounds legit,"Camie said. "Hey, you should sing that one really old hymn you play for us, too. Like, it's a little weird, but it's also pretty good. The one about the blood."

"What can wash away my sin?" Shine sang. "Nothing but the blood of Jesus."

"That's the one," Camie said.

"What can make me whole again?" Shine went on. "Nothing but the blood of Jesus."

Ino thought that one was one of the songs from their soundtracks.

She put her hands over Onoki.

She'd felt angry at the Stone... She still kind of did, but this...this was too horrible. She knew what that poison felt like. She couldn't consign someone to die that way. She wouldn't be that cruel.

So she turned from her anger and focused on healing.

"Oh, precious is the flow..." the others all were singing.

Ino picked up the tune bit in her head."That makes me white as snow... No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus."

"Nothing can for sin atone," Shine led on, "nothing but the blood of Jesus. Naught of good that I have done..."

They went on through the verses. "This is all my hope and peace...This is all my righteousness," and "now by this I'll overcome...Now by this I'll reach my home."

Ino thought to herself that it was almost odd. Ninja often used blood to make their dark arts--the worst ones, the ones that she wasn't allowed to do by her family and she wouldn't want to if she was allowed.

But blood and seals, all that, they used.

And this faith taught that the blood of one perfect person, and God Himself, was what broke every curse and cleansed every evil, as if it suppressed all the other kinds of blood... It was like authority.

It would sound crazy, but that their own jutsu using it said something about how true it must be. 

Ino was starting to realize that the ninjas messed with things they didn't understand, and that their dark arts were likely the result of that...and she didn't like that part, but she did like the part where they could fix it.

Shine waited till Ino had replaced a certain amount of chakra before she removed part of the infection.

It came out even harder than the rest, and Onoki jerked suddenly, now awake because of the pain.