What was it going to take to get her back? No one knew for sure, not even him, the guy she clamed stole her heart away. She left without a goodbye to him, with out a goodbye to anyone. She just left a note. A note with so few words, no one understood what the importance of the words were. Even though he didn't know what the words were her still hoped, and wished she'd return soon.
i know rocks turn to sand,
and hearts can change hands.
Ino.
She had been gone for almost two years and he still hadn't gotten over her. Everyone tried to cheer him up, but nothing worked. Even when they finally found his best friend he didn't even smile. His heart was broken, Tsunade had said once. Sakura couldn't even spend time with him. Sasuke couldn't get through to him, and now 21 years later, he's nearing an age where all of his friends are starting families, he still grieves over his loss. She looms in his mind and she won't leave. She will never come home; the lazy genius said once when he was over at his house. He was right; she had gone and restarted her life. She was no longer Ino. The only person that understood her note, after 5 years was her best friend, he understood it all.
She said that things change and that hearts can change who they love. She meant that she didn't love him anymore. He wouldn't accept this though when he was told this. He said she would come home. That she loved him more than anything. That he was her "one". As if that existed for him anymore, he was a wreck and alone. Just staring into his eyes for a few seconds could tell me that.
I was young when he told me the story and even to this day, 10 years later I still remember it. Even as hokage, he still remembers this story and her, and though he has finally moved on, it is his most precious memory.
It was one afternoon in the summer, June 21st to be exact. He had stopped by to visit me for my birthday. I was 10. And even though he put on a smile for me, when I looked at him, there was something in his eyes that told me he was still sad. So I asked him and he sat me down and told me the story of her.
~*~ 10 Years Ago~*~
"Well, Kyoko," Naruto started, sitting on the couch, and pulling his finger through his spiky blonde hair. "I assume Shikamaru has told you about Team Ten right?"
I shook my head, my black hair falling in my eyes. "Yeah he has. Daddy told me just about everything."
Naruto smiled at me. It was like he was hiding something, or thought it was funny how I had said just about everything. I stared at him, waiting for more.
"Well then you know about Ino then. She was never my friend when we were younger. No, we never were that. We were always fighting and it was rare to find us not fighting. To find us getting along was quite a sight to see. Now as we got older though that changed, we were able to bear each other even more and began to become friends. But she was too interested in other guys to even think about me once. And though it didn't bug me at first, after a while it did. We just got along so easily and she didn't seem to notice me at all. I wanted her to be more than a friend for ages.
"Of course at that time I didn't know that she had the same feelings as me. I was too much of a teenager to even realize that what she really felt for me was what I felt with her. I had not fallen in love with her till years later, but in time we came to enjoy each other's company even more, and we went out a few times. We fell in love eventually. I knew I couldn't love anyone but her, yet I didn't realize that until she was gone.
"The night of her twenty-third birthday I was planning on proposing to her. We had been together for two years, everything seemed alright. But she got really sad on her birthday, I had tried to cheer her up, but it never worked. And one night after I had fallen asleep she left me a note and I haven't seen her since.
"The thing is Kyoko even though she has been gone for 11 years, she is still the girl I love, and I couldn't wish for more. Her place in my heart will never change. It was true love. True love, I can't forget it one bit." Naruto smiled at me and I couldn't help but smiled back. I stood up and hugged him around his neck, he hugged me back. "Happy birthday Kyoko." He said setting me down on the ground and petted my head.
"Naruto-san, will she come back?" I asked him, my voice curious and innocent.
Naruto just smiled at this comment. He said nothing, just said goodbye to my mother and father and walked outside off on his own way.
I stared into nothing for a moment until my Uncle Garaa came up and gave me a hug, and then I was transported back into birthday land. But in the back of my mind I still wondered why she never came back.
~* ~Present~*~
Everyone has memories they hold dear to them. Everyone. A person can not change over night. And even though it seemed like Ino did, I know she didn't. Just like Ryu did years back...he never changed his feelings for me, he just set his priorities straight.
I stared out the window of the living room and wrapped my arms around my plump stomach. Ryu would be home from his mission and everything would be how it was supposed to be. Except for the fact that Naruto was still upset, like he's been for years. I wish something would brighten his day.
I wish Ino would come home for him. There had to be a reason she left. There had to be.