olah!
I own absolutely nothing. enjoy!
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There was something wrong in the air, a certain feeling that sent her nerves tingling and warned her of something to come. Her pink hair blew in the breeze as she walked along the forest, twisting and curling around her head as she meandered along. The path she was walking was a supremely familiar one to her, and she didn't even have to think about it as she walked.
It was about the time of sunset, but the tall trees covered the view that would have certainly been magnificent. It didn't interest her one bit though; she had never really been one to watch that kind of things. She could recognize beauty when she happened to see it, but it certainly didn't matter much to her.
She viewed beauty as the way a person's body flowed as they fought, the way ideas and thoughts formed to create something important and new, useful. She liked the beauty of words most of all, and she had learned that appearances were the most deceiving of things. They were something that could blind you to other things of more importance, but words didn't hide their meaning.
Words couldn't be trusted all the time though, she knew, but appearances to her were far more deceiving.
She had abandoned the strong obsession with looks that had ruled her younger years, those of others and herself. Trying to always look her best had stopped mattering to her a long time ago, and for a while now she had taken to disregarding her appearance almost completely. It only mattered to her that she looked presentable at least.
It was for the best though, since it allowed her to discard what had stopped her from doing the best she could to with her training and life, and it allowed her to experience a freedom she found to be delicious. She saw people in a new light, saw people she had totally disregarded to be some of the most wonderfully shining people she was sure she'd ever meet.
Time and experiences past had made her wiser and harden, had made her grow up far more fast then people like her parents would of like, but she didn't mind. She rather liked the person she had turned out to be.
She reached a small creek and sat at the edge, watching as the water flowed around the rocks and then into the earth.
This was her place of the comfort, a place that to her was hidden away from everything else in the world. It was its own world in a way.
She'd come here when the world was starting to get too much for her, when past issues and her mind seemed to be too much. She couldn't help it though, her mind was one of her greatest strengths, and it was constantly moving, with or without her permission.
Sometimes she wished that she could just turn her back on everything that had ever happened to her, but that wasn't the kind of person she was.
Today hadn't been great for her. She had visited the memorial stone to pay tribute to the people gone, and for some reason it had seemed to affect more than usual. She had thought that she had finally been able to handle the fact that they had gone missing awhile ago, but sometimes it just seemed to hit her harder than other days.
Sometimes she had thought it best to just avoid the memorial stone, among other things, since it only served to remind her of the things that hurt, but she knew that would only be her avoiding the painful things in her life.
Avoiding it wouldn't help her in any way to heal; even though she had the example of her ex genin sensei to prove the fact that always facing the pain didn't always heal them. She owed it to them though, and even when she'd be desperate to ignore the wounds and the pain their absence caused, she would never dare to ever forget them and the importance they had held in her life.
Grass crunched underfoot as someone came towards her, and she knew who it was without looking since only one other person knew about this place.
She fell on her back and closed her eyes, relaxing on the soft grass. A shadow came over her and she let one eye slide upon in acknowledgement of the other person's presence, and she shouldn't have been surprised at all that she had came to get her.
Ino's long ponytail slid over her shoulder and dangled above her face, and she was bending over slightly to get a better look at Sakura.
"Being all moody again Forehead," Ino asked, smirking slightly as Sakura's face crinkled to the old nickname.
"Like your one to talk, Ms. Mood Swings," Sakura shot back tiredly.
Ino's eyes softened and she turned her head away for a moment, bangs hiding her face before she brought it back to look down at Sakura. "I came to get you," she said softly, "and thought you might enjoy spending the rest of the day relaxing at home."
Sakura sat back up, and blinked as a pale hand was dropped before her face. Sakura grasped Ino's hand and let her pull her up beside her, and she smiled up at her before letting out a whispered thanks.
Ino laced her fingers with Sakura's, and grasped her arm with her other hand, pressing close against her.
Having Ino near her, and showing how much she cared for her did make her feel much better, and she knew that she was really lucky to have her in her life.
The past was something she had to learn to get past, if not for her than for Ino. She deserved it, and much more.
