A/N: I revamped this story that's why I suddenly took it down. So I'm re-posting it with a different take on the central plot, I removed the angst part because 'angst' is not my forte. He-he-he

Disclaimer: The usual…author do not own Naruto blah-blah-blah-blah

Warning: Rated M, Yuri/Shoujo-ai, does not follow Naruto-Shippuden but characters takes on the Shippuden's characteristic, so slight AU.

Summary: A blonde ninja promised Sakura to take Sasuke back and it's not Naruto. Feelings will be realized, friendship will be compromised. InoxSakura

NO NEED FOR SASUKE

Part 1

The medical ward was buzzing with activity, not because there were lots of patients who need medical attention or there were a group of ninjas who come back injured or dying.

The chaos was brought about by three ninjas. Two were being treated for minor wounds but one was now being taken to the intensive care after an emergency operation, the kunoichi has lost a lot of blood after going after one of the two ninjas that were being treated at the emergency room.

Tsunade-sama, otherwise known as the Godaime found multiple cracked ribs, one missing floating rib, and a blunt trauma to the kunoichi's liver. The great Medical ninja/Hokage of the hidden leaf village sighed in relief when she found no damage to the kunoichi's spleen but her relief was short lived when during an intensive full body arterial scan, a large clot was found to have formed at the posterior cerebral artery that affects the succeeding branches. A minor clot was seen at a branch of the basilar artery and that prompt the med-nin to put the kunoichi inside ICU and be hooked to a respirator.

The fifth Hokage was standing at the foot of the bed and was looking at the machine working beside the patient as it tried to feed Yamanaka Ino the needed oxygen so that her body will continue to function despite her unconsciousness.

"She sustained grave injuries," Tsunade's thoughts were interrupted by her assistant Shizune, "I don't want to think of the time we came for her…I thought she was dead." She added

"How are Naruto and Sasuke?" Tsunade asked her assistant

"They are both sleeping, but I gave Uchiha a higher dose of sedative/hypnotics." Shizune replied

Silence

"Why?" Tsunade blurted out of nowhere

"Why what?"

"Why did Yamanaka went after Sasuke? Why bother getting him back when Naruto himself gave up on him a long time ago." The fifth Hokage asked

Silence

"I won't offer the answer that Yamanaka is still after the Uchiha." Shizune said

The blonde haired Hokage shook her head, "This is so confusing. She took a mission by herself…and none from her team mates knew about her leaving." She closed her eyes, "I reprimanded the two jounins who were stationed at the gate last night but there's no sense in doing it anymore…in my opinion because Ino already got out… and look at her now?"

"Perhaps Asuma-kun could enlighten us about what really happened."

"He has no idea, I asked him already."

"So we'll just let it go?"

Silence

"What's done is done, we can't turn back time…but having Sasuke here in Konoha might post a threat to Ino again, I don't know what brought Sasuke to hurt Ino to the point of killing her but if we knew what really happened, as to why Ino went after Uchiha, then we might prevent this from happening again." Tsunade explained

Silence once again

"Nara…Shikamaru Nara and Akamichi Chouji could help…they might have an idea." Shizune offered

"I asked them earlier, that damn Nara just turned his back on me while that Akamichi-boy decided to bite his tongue." Tsunade said frowning

"I do believe they knew something if they risked doing that to you." Shizune said

That made the Hokage grin, "Well…those two wants to play…then I'll play with them."

Shizune looked at her sensei in bewilderment, "You're scaring me Tsunade-sama."

The Hokage turned to face Shizune, "Good…if I'm scaring you then I'm doing just the right thing!" she said before walking pass her student, she stopped midway, "I want a 24 hour surveillance on Yamanaka's status and Uchiha's as well."

"I'll work on it."

Tsunade just nods her head without looking at her older apprentice then walked out of the ICU leaving the raven haired woman alone.

XXX

"I need to tell you something Sakura." Ino was outside Sakura's apartment wearing her usual purple ninja uniform, she was drunk and it was obvious from the way she stands.

Sakura sighed and opened her door wide, "Okay…you're drunk Ino-"

"I'm not drunk!" the blonde kunoichi said loudly

"Yeah and I can smell the alcohol from here!" Sakura said irritated, "Look Ino…you woke me up at 1 in the morning when you know that I have work in the hospital at 6, so you better get in and tell me what it is so that I could…"

"I LOVE YOU SAKURA!" Ino shouted stopping the pink haired woman's rant

Silence

"You're drunk Ino…go home!" Sakura replied after calming her self from her trance

"I TOLD YOU I'M NOT DRUNK! Yeah…I drink some vodka but I'm not drunk, I know what I'm doing and saying and I do love you."

SLAP

Ino reeled back from the slap but she stood her ground, she swayed a little causing the pink haired woman to gasp but stopped herself from doing something else

"Wha…"

"Do you still love me Ino? Has the alcohol suddenly left your brain to straighten it out?" Sakura asked after giving Ino the hardest slap the blonde had ever received

"I told you I'm not drunk…you could just say no or just say you don't share the same feeling Sakura-ch…Sakura and I'll understand." Ino said sadly before turning her back to the pink haired woman and walked away slowly. A hand on her aching cheek

"Ino…wait…" Sakura's words didn't reach the blonde kunoichi's ears.

Ino went on…walking away from her

That was the last time she talked to Ino. That was the last time she saw Ino smile. Now…she's not even sure if she'll be seeing Ino alive…

Why can't I see Ino right now? Why can't I assist Tsunade-sama? Why doesn't anyone told me about her leaving Konoha? Why? She asked herself as tears flows from her eyes

Her thought was interrupted by a hand on her shoulder, "Sakura-chan?" it was Hinata, the Hyuuga princess. She too decided to camp in the hospital to look after Naruto who was still sleeping inside his room, "I think Sasuke-kun is alright, you don't have to cry he was just sedated."

Sakura smiled, looked at Hinata and shook her head, "I'm not crying about Sasuke. I have no reason to cry over him." Sakura said after wiping her tears

"Then Naruto is a strong man, he has Kyuubi inside him and he'll heal sooner." Hinata offered again

Sakura bowed down and shook her head, "I…Hinata…" Sakura looked up, her green orbs meeting the gray/white orbs of the Hyuuga princess, "I…I'm not losing Ino right?"

Silence

"I think Tsunade-sama is the best medical ninja to have come to Konoha. She'll save Ino."

Sakura nodded then the tears starts flowing once again, "I was yelling at her the last time I saw her…she was drunk…" Sakura shook her head, "No she said she wasn't drunk but I didn't believe her. I yelled at her and hurt her!"

"Sakura-chan…" Hinata stroke the other woman's back

"And now…why did she do it? Did Ino think I cared about Sasuke like before? What if she can't make it? What will I do?" Sakura kept her woe coming while Hinata let Sakura cry on her shoulders

Silence

"No one knows why Ino-chan did what she did, no one knows what's inside her head so there's no answer for us Sakura-chan." Hinata said breaking the silence

"She has no parents…her father is on a mission and Tsunade-sama did say that it might took him a year to complete that mission or perhaps more, Ino has no mother, aside from Chouji and Shikamaru, Ino has no one." Sakura said to no one, she was just saying things to herself…to keep herself from falling apart

"She has you, Ino-chan can count on me and I'm sure Tenten-chan is willing to help." The princess replied

Sakura lifted her face from being buried on Hinata's shoulder and looked at the calm woman, "You think Ino will accept my help?"

Hinata smiled, "You said it yourself, she said she loves you so what's there to worry about? She'll accept anything from you because she loved you."

Silence

"I know because I'll do the same thing with Naruto-kun." The Hyuuga princess added

"I turned her down…"

"That won't matter."

Sakura shifted her attention to the door separating them from the two ninja, "You have no idea Hinata, because Naruto didn't turn you down…"

The gray eyed princess chuckled, "That's because I never get to tell Naruto-kun what I'm feeling and that's because Naruto-kun is always nice."

Sakura joined Hinata in chuckling, "I look like a crazy fool…crying earlier and now here I am chuckling with you."

Hinata shook her head while smiling, "Laughter sooths stress, that's what my father always tell us. Ironic ne?"

Silence

"Maybe…you're right, Ino will accept my help…I'll help her until she recovers." Sakura smiled, "Ino is a very strong woman, she was my idol when I was young…I got stronger because of her, contrary to what everyone knows." She said sadly

Hinata looked at Sakura, "So it wasn't because of Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun?" the pink haired woman shook her head no, "I see…so what are you going to do about Sasuke?"

Silence

Sakura has a dark aura on her face when she replied, "He should hope that Ino will be fine cause Kami-sama knows, I might use all my strength to take out all the living day lights inside him."

"Wow…" Hinata shivered slightly, "Remind me not to get on your bad side Sakura-chan."

Silence before soft laughter erupted which was interrupted by the presence of the fifth Hokage

XXX

"What's Ino's condition?" Sakura asked after sitting on the chair in front of the Hokage's table

Tsunade took the cup filled with Sake and drunk all of it before setting her eyes on her younger apprentice, "50-50 at the moment, despite us stabilizing her condition." She replied flatly, "She's got severe beating from Sasuke and most of the hits seemed to land on her head. I'm not sure what that Yamanaka girl was thinking, did she thought that her head was the best part she could use as a shield?" The hokage shook her head in disbelief

"Hokage-sama…please I want to know details." Sakura said almost begging

Brown eyes meet emerald orbs, "I can't tell right now Sakura, there are lots of repercussions for what happened to her, physically she's stabilized, she was hooked in a respirator because of the part that bled and then clotted, we are anticipating a respiratory malfunction because of it, this is the brain we are talking about Sakura, we cannot tell what will happen, we can never be sure."

"Then…"

"The question here Sakura is…will you be there for Ino if she gets out of this alive? Will you be able to carry her weight when the effects of these things show up? Can you stop being a ninja to take care of Ino? Or are you here just like the others who just wanted to know and that's it?"

Silence

"That grave?" Sakura asked

"There's always a miracle." Tsunade said looking intently at her student, "But you'll be a medical nin no matter what, whether you accept this responsibility or not." Tsunade frowned, "I heard you're conversation with the Hyuuga princess, and it seemed that you know that there's no one to take care of Ino here." Sakura nodded in response, "I have no idea what made Ino acted this way, but from the tone you were using, it seems you have an idea…but not so sure yet."

"I…" Sakura said hesitantly

"Look, I'm not going to pressure you into admitting to me what happened because I could see that like me and Shizune, you too were blinded on this matter, but at least you have a basic idea what is happening to Yamanaka that we didn't know so I'm going to wait until you're ready to tell me."

"Arigato Tsunade-sama…"

"Don't thank me yet, you still have a mission for us." Tsunade rested her back on her chair, "I want you to squeeze out why Ino did this. You'll be taking care of her, despite her not saying it Sakura, I know you, you're my student and whether you believe me or not, I have already dug deep into you so I know you'll do everything to take care of Ino. And that's why I'm delegating this task to you, know why Ino come after Sasuke and learn what brought Sasuke into this monstrosity."

Sakura frowned, "It's obvious Tsunade-sama, he chose to be with a monster so what could we expect?"

"Sasuke killed those monsters you said he chooses. Sasuke despite being that strong never entered Konoha to spread darkness, he chose to live alone inside a mountain rather than coming back here…so what brought on this savage act?" Tsunade looked at her student, "I suspect Ino did or said something, so what was it that made Sasuke snapped?"

Silence

The silence was broken by the sound of a chair being pushed back and Sakura standing up, "I better go and see Ino…I…"

"I cleared your name at the ICU, you can always go in…anytime you like just make sure you won't make a scene or mess inside." Tsunade said earning a nod of thanks from Sakura. Soon the pink haired woman left leaving a thinking blond headed hokage

XXX

Ino…please…don't give up, fight Ino…

Sakura-ch…Sakura…

Come on Ino…Im sorry I yelled at you, sorry if I don't believed you but please don't do this to me!

Sakura…I…gomen ne…Sakura…chan

Blinding light

Is this it for me? Mama…mama…

XXX

Sakura's right hand was holding onto Ino's swollen hand, she was leaning forward whispering tings to the sleeping kunoichi, "Ino please hear me out, I'm not going to lose you, I'm not going to let it happen so please Ino…please…don't give up, fight Ino…for your dad, for Shika, for Chouji…for me

Silence except for the sound of the moving respirator

"Come on Ino, if you're doing this because of what happened between us then I'm sorry. I'm sorry I yelled at you, sorry if I don't believed you but please don't do this to me! Ino Yamanaka…onegai!

Beeping sounds was the only response she got

You have to live Ino or I'll never forgive myself…I'm not losing another important person in my life! Not again!

-End Chapter 1-

Next: Ino gets out of her comatose state…so what will happen to her?