Far beyond the truth
Chapter 1
"What are you doing here Ino?" The voice of a young child echoed in the five year old girl's head.
"M-my flower..." She said wiping her twinkly fallen tears on her little cheek, "it died."
The boy stared down at his crying friend sitting on the ground of one of the darkest alleys.
It was raining.
He could feel the drops of the gentle drizzle on his childish face.
"It's okay Ino, I can get you another one!" He cheered. His smile was as big as his sparkly eyes, "Now c'mon, you'll get sick if you stay here!"
He offered her his hand outside the umbrella he was holding. Apparently a storm was on its way.
She took it softly as she stood up leaving a big soaked spot on her pants, her eyes widened as she felt the wetness on her legs.
"Ooo, your mom will get mad." The boy pointed where she was looking at with raised eyebrows. He predicted tears coming out of his friend's eyes." It's okay, we'll dry it off at my house!" He shouted before giving them the chance to slide down her cheeks as the girl nodded in approval.
"Uh…Shikamaru," The cute blonde hesitated,"..can I have a rose too?"
"Then I think I need more money…" Shikamaru complained with a hint of laughter.
"So is that a yes?"
The crash of the raindrops on the window's glass was the single sound heard echoing in the outsized room. The moonless skies soon became a dwelling for blinding lightening and flaming silky strings of thunder. It was then when Ino, a beautiful sixteen year old girl, awakened from what seemed to be an endless dream. There was nothing to be heard of her other than her rapid nonstop breath.
She sat up from her sleeping position studying her situation.
"What a dream." She murmured to no one but herself, tying up her long straight hair leaving some of it covering the right half of her face which seemed to be dancing in the air. She took her time examining the place.
It was nothing but a normal wooden storage. Boxes were scattered all over the dusty ligneous floor making it even more difficult to see. On her left was a small table which she never noticed until the glow of the lightning shone in front of her. The papers were spread on it with a perfect way to turn it into a messy counter's table, although the knife scratches on its edges made it far away from being done by such person. Her theory was confirmed when she saw crimson dots on chairs, dressers and shelves.
"What happened in here?"
Few hours passed by quickly, taking with them precious seconds that got lost with the wintry winds which whistled along the arid branches of the maple trees spread outside.
The young female couldn't help but to shiver. She didn't know if it was for the cold or the fear. Every time she tried to remember what got her into this torturing room, a spinning feeling surrounded her head as she placed her hand on top of it hoping the pain would fade away.
Her legs were frozen in the same spot they were hours ago, she could see the scars on them bordered with a nice taste of blood making it more suitable for a fine kunoichi.
She tried to stand up, with shaky legs, but she fell on the ground…again…
All what she was able to do was to stare. Painfully stare. Not because of her intense ache; she was trained to hold on with her terrible feelings of hurt for a long time, but the thing she couldn't handle was waiting all these endless hours, for someone to respond to her screams which no one seemed to care enough to act on, or maybe they were just stolen away by the cold freezing wind.
The girl caught a glimpse of something moving above her.
An ordinary light bulb.
The glass sphere was swinging loosely up there, as if it were trying to hypnotize her.
It almost succeeded.
"C'mon Ino! It's this way!" The boy ran pointing at a turn.
"Shikamaru! Wait for me!" The little blonde whined, trying to keep up with her friend.
The rain stopped. It was all clear in spite of some thick clouds still ready for any sudden reaction.
"You better hurry or I'll leave you behind." Shikamaru teased, still going as far as he could.
"Shikamaru please! Don't leave me!" she kept yelling.
The kid stopped to hold his breath to see how far he was from the petite.
He looked around in hope of spotting her, but the roads were totally foggy and deserted preventing him to see.
"Ino?"
He took few steps back, in search of his lost friend, with a worried look slowly forming on his face.
Two shiny sea colored pearls twinkled at the end of the path.
He ran to where his little five year old feet could take him, expectantly to see his missing friend.
He put an end to his maniac pursue when he saw these twinkly pearls breaking into little pieces. He looked down to see what his little actions have done.
The girl had burst into tears, crying her eyes out as she was sitting on the ground, hands on her knee.
"I-I was…j-just trying…t-to follow you..." The girl wept between sobs.
"There there," The boy comforted with a gentle pat on her shoulder, "…I have the perfect way to solve this!"
The girl gasped as she woke up snapping her eyes open. Her huff rebounded in all the abandoned room. She looked around the desolate place in search of anything new that had happened while she was asleep. All what she was able to do was hoping.
Same boxes, same table, same papers, same cha— wait, she thought narrowing her eyes, where's that chair? I can swear there was a blood stained chair in here somewhere.
Her eyebrows twitched, she looked over most of the room and nothing else had changed.
Was it just another dream? The blonde assumed. She was confused and baffled more than ever, although the look on her face was a proof enough of her entire bewilderment of the whole situation.
Squeak…
The girl was too scared to turn around. It was not the kind of fright for her life or wellbeing, but rather the worry or the alarm that accompanied the noise indicating she was no longer alone. She sensed the sound coming from the single place she hadn't looked at. It was just too dark to see what was in the small area behind the scattered boxes. Her heart almost skipped a beat, as her breath was going faster eager to know the meaning of this whole thing.
She never looked back.
"You sure are a heavy sleeper, un."
The girl remained calm and tranquil. Well…tried at least, she wasn't sure if she should face him or try to run away. After all, he was the one who brought her here in the first place. Or was he? It was the most logical, no, possible explanation. Who else would it be? If he had come to help her he would have immediately woken her up, or taken her out of here. Anything but standing still in the shadows watching her sleep. Quite a disappointment that was apparent on her head hung over her shoulders as she silently fixed her gaze on the ground.
"Great, ya deaf now, un?" The stranger added, still hidden in the dark shadowy corner.
The female's panic was increasing bit by bit. Was she supposed to answer? Or should she stay still? What if he killed her? Although his tone wasn't that much of a threat, it sounded more like a mockery to her. Whatever it was, she knew she had to do the only thing she knew she would regret doing.
She turned her gaze to meet the stranger. All what she could make out was his sitting position on the place she knew he was. His arms were folded on the chair's back making him laying on nothing but air while his legs were meeting the back of the seat in a V position.
"W-what do you w-want from me?" Was all what came out from her cold trembling lips. She placed her hands on top of each other for more warmth.
"Heh…hang on a sec, un."
He stood up from his spot. But what made it odd was his gritting sound as he immediately placed his hands on his stomach; something was wrong for sure. He shook it off and approached her. Now she managed to see.
The stranger had long beautiful silky blond hair with half of it held in a ponytail while the other half was loosen free, and some of it was still lying on his face covering his left bright sky-colored eye which seemed to glitter every time the lightning met the ground.
He started to unbutton what seemed to be a cloak he was wearing, that dark wrap stained with crimson clouds that never lost the young female's sight.
Said one knew what he was doing.
"Th-thanks for your help m-ma'am."
Oh how much she regretted those words.
Just before the kunoichi could feel the affecting heat coming out of that person's clothes he quickly snapped them away from the poor girl's body allowing an extra-chilly breeze to pass by.
"Who are you calling a woman, un?!" Anger was certainly shown in his eyes, "…I'm a freakin' fuckin' guy, un!"
Now that was definitely not expected.
"R-really?!" The girl gasped, clearly in shock. "B-but I thought…I-I mean you look…"
The man's eyes extended considerably. How can anyone dare calling him a girl? What kind of a prideful man would tolerate that, let alone a mad criminal?
"Are you saying I look like a girl?"
His tone gradually gravitated in a threat. Now she was definitely scared. At least at that very moment she was almost sure she was trembling from her fear more than her coldness.
"N-no! W-what I meant was..um…y-you look really nice, in a different way! That's all!"
Way to go…she thought mentally slapping her face.
"Heh...I am Mr. irresistible, ain't I?" He flicked his hair, self-esteem clearly showing in his gesture.
The girl didn't respond, not even a simple move to show her iciness, or even to try to find a drop of warmth in her body, because she knew the heat rising above her face that kept her warm enough was coming from her shyness and her uncontrollable situation. Ah well, at least she was no longer cold.
She looked down at her feet, probably hiding her now-red face. The guy –not understanding her reaction- stood still.
"A-aren't you gonna give it to me?" The girl, whose voice was as trembling as the ground outside, asked, her face still hidden between her crossed legs.
"And I should do this because…?" The blond teased, holding up his dark cloak with one hand and placing the other on his waist, revealing his black tank-top he was wearing underneath.
After hearing his mocking words, Ino's face immediately jumped up in the air, eyes glued on the only person beside her in this abandoned room.
"What…?" She raised her voice, not caring for whatever thing he was probably going to do to her. After all, she was suffering. Perhaps it was better if he ended this right now. However after his next chuckles, she began to doubt that.
"You heard me, un."
The female's eyes widened, the situation didn't please her.
"You want it?"
The girl nodded silently.
"Why don't you get up and get it then, un!?"
The young man held his black cover-up in the air and started swinging it up and down as if he were trying to play with a dog or some sort of animal. But whatever he was doing was only making her more and more furious.
"C'mon! Please!"
Even after her pleading, he didn't stop. His laughter kept chasing her ears and it only intensified her aggravation.
"C'mon it's not funny!" Her voice reverberated in the deserted area, making him stop his movements and fix his gaze right on her eyes, nevertheless he still wore his same smile.
"Actually, it is for me. Besides, I didn't know you can still yell, un, I thought you were too tired to even talk."
She didn't reply.
He was sort of right. How come she was able to shout when she was tired as hell? Just minutes ago she was having trouble staying conscious.
The man sighed.
"You know what; I'll be the mature one here, un."
The female blonde still had her questioning look, mostly the "aren't-you-already-the-mature-one" stare.
As soon as he approached her, and she swore she could feel the hotness within his shroud after this long argue, the man suddenly gritted his teeth and bent down on his knees placing both hands on his stomach squeezing it so hard, and making the chance of having the cloak go down to zero as it fell on the ground with a loud thump that went unnoticed because of the groans that escaped the man's mouth.
What the hell?
Before she could ask any question, the boy collapsed.