A Dream Destroyed
Ino didn't want to go to the funeral. She didn't want to face the fact that Naruto was dead. Dead. That the annoying, loud, blundering boy she had known for her entire life...was dead. She didn't want to watch as his body was lowered into the ground. She didn't want to watch the villages shed false tears, as they cried for a boy that they had so long shunned.
The only reason Ino was going to the funeral was so that she could watch Sasuke's body burn. He was dead, and with his death, came the end of the Uchiha clan. Ino couldn't say she was sorry. And she couldn't believe that she had obsessed over this boy for so long. That she had grown out her hair for him, trained for him, lost her best friend Sakura for him, had become a medic-nin for him. Almost everything she had done had been for him.
Until she saw the truth. Until Ino realized that the boy she had been so in love with didn't exist. Ino had though she hated Sasuke before he killed Naruto; well, that was nothing compared to what she was feeling now.
It rained the day of the funeral. She couldn't decide if the heavens were crying for Naruto, or if the heavens were releasing their tears so that Sasuke's body would not be burned.
She wore black, and let her hair hang loose. Originally, Ino had planned to stand with Chouji and Shikamaru, but when she saw Sakura standing all alone, trying to hide her tears, Ino's heart broke. Poor Sakura, who stood alone because her teammates were dead, and Kakashi didn't think women were good for anything. So she walked over, and stood next to her former best friend. She allowed Sakura to cry on her shoulder, because that was what friends were for.
Few people were crying for Sasuke. Most of the girls who had been smitten with him once upon a time had realized the truth. Like she had.
The funeral passed in a blur of tears and smoke. She remembered stepping forward to place a flower arrangement on Naruto's chest. He looked so peaceful, Ino's already broken heart seemed to crack even more. She remembered standing over Sasuke's body, and spitting on his face. No one stopped her, and she walked back to her place in line with her head held high.
Naruto's body was lowered into the ground. Sasuke's body was place on a pile of wood, and set fire to. The smoke burned her eyes, but Ino was determined not to cry; was determined not to shed a tear for Sasuke.
Only after the dirt had been smoothed over Naruto's grave, and Sasuke's body was nothing more than a charred lump did Sakura speak. "He...he n-never...got his wish." She said through her tears, her voice cracking.
Ino turned to the pink-haired kunoichi in confusion. "What are you talking about?" She asked Sakura sharply, wondering if the girl is going crazy.
Sakura smiled weakly as more tears slid down her cheeks. "Naruto...he never became Hokage. And...he always said...that he would." And with that, Sakura completely broke down. Wailing, she slid to the ground, and clawed at the dirt, screaming her loss to the cloudy sky.
Everyone kept their distance. Except for Ino. She sat on the ground next to Sakura, with one arm wrapped around the sobbing girl, and watched through hard, dry eyes. Ino watched at Gaara of the Desert bowed to the crudely constructed gravestone. She watched as Sai place a folded piece of paper on the hurriedly smoothed ground. And she watched at Kakashi walked away without a backwards glance.
Later on, Shikamaru would tell Ino that he had heard people calling her a heartless bitch, because she hadn't shed a single tear at the funeral. When her told her this, Ino had only smiled bitterly. She had made a promise to herself. There would be no more tears. Ino was done crying pointless tears. Now was the time to act.
xxx
Ino had always harbored a dislike for Tsunade after the Hokage had refused to train her as a medic-nin. She had been told she wasn't strong enough, and didn't show enough promise. But she had done with people telling her what she could and could not do. Naruto had never let anyone hold him back. Ino now wanted to be the same way.
She'd matched right up to Tsunade, ignoring Shizune's warnings that the Hokage had been drinking rather heavily, trying to drown her grief. Ino wasn't afraid of Tsunade. Not anymore.
"Who's going to be Hokage after you die?" She asked the blond bluntly, slamming the door behind her.
Tsunade winced. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she looked tired. "Kakashi, of course. Now that Naruto is gone..." She trailed off, and blinked rabidly.
"That's a stupid idea." Ino continued, relishing in the fact that she was no longer scared of Tsunade. "You know what he thinks of woman. With him as Hokage, woman will be shoved aside. Kunoichi will become little more than prostitutes. And you know that. You don't want that. None of us do."
Tsunade was silent, and Ino took this as a good sign.
"Several years ago, you told me I wasn't strong enough, and that I wasn't as promising as Sakura. You told me I would never become a medic-nin, and that I should push that thought from my mind." Tsunade glanced down at her hands.
Ino's hands curled into fists, and her voice shook, but she managed to remain calm. "I have always been second best to Sakura. Even though at first I did show more promise. She was nothing, and I was smart. I befriended her, because I felt sorry for her. I made her strong, and I made her brave. Then we ended everything over a boy. A stupid, stupid boy." Ino laughed bitterly. "And then suddenly, she became better. Everything talked about Sakura. She was put on the team with the two strongest ninja; I become the second generation of my father's team. You trained her; Shizune felt sorry for me and took me under her wing. My teacher was killed by the Akatsuki; Sakura has never had to deal with the death of a mentor."
Ino raised a fist, hand clenched tight. "I started off as the best, but then I was shoved aside. But that made me strong. Sakura and Sasuke were very similar; always feeling bad for themselves, always pretending to never be good enough so people would compliment them on how strong they had become. Always the best. Always, always, always!" Ino took a deep breath. "I don't want to speak badly of Sakura. She is my best friend."
"What is your point Ino?" Tsunade asked tiredly. "I don't have time to deal with the ramblings of an angsty teenager."
Ino's eyes flashed. "You know Naruto wanted to become Hokage after you died. So if Sakura and Sasuke were alike, then so were Naruto and I. Always pushed aside; people never thought we could do it. Second best, but always wanting people to see us for what we truly are. No one ever did. Because we were pushed aside, we became strong."
A single tear slid down Ino's cheek, and she ignored it. "I cannot claim to have known Naruto as well as I would have liked. But I know that we had a similar dream. He died without getting to realize his. Naruto Uzumaki never became Hokage." She shook her head, shoulders shaking. She would not cry. "But I will."
Tsunade looked at Ino, at the blond girl she once ignored. Perhaps she had been hasty. Perhaps she had ignored this warrior because she was too eager for history to repeat itself. There had been no Ino in her story. If there had been, would things have been different?
Sakura will never be the same, and Tsunade knows that. She will still be strong, yes, but the deaths of her teammates has destroyed her. Sakura is done fighting; she is just a shell of what she used to be. But the same cannot be said for Ino. The blond konuichi is ready to fight, ready to defend, ready to do whatever is needed of her. Sakura's time is over. Ino's time is just beginning.
Tsunade nodded. "You are right Ino." Ino's head jerked up. "I was too hasty. Kakashi would not have been the best choice. He was a good choice, but not the best choice. Still, I had no other options. Until now." She smiled, but the smile seemed forced. "You want to honor Naruto. I can respect that."
"You can respect that, but the question is will you train me?" Ino asked sharply.
Tsunade hesitated. The silence seemed to stretch on and on. "I made the mistake of not training you once before." Tsunade said finally. "I won't make that mistake again."
Ino looked shocked, but then slowly Maybe...maybe she will get a chance to rise out of the shadows. "Thank you Hokage."
xxx
Twenty years had passed since that fateful day. Tsunade, the last of the legendary Sannin, had long since passed away. Sakura, once the brightest and most promising, had slipped into the shadows. Instead of fighting out on the front lines, she now taught all the young girls what they needed to know before they headed off to the Academy. Hinata had become Captian of the ANBU. Tenten had taken Anko's place as a proctor in the chuunin exam.
The woman and girls of Konoha had flourished. They were no longer shunned as they once were, having been previously deemed unequal to their male partners.
One woman could be held responsible, and one woman alone. She has passed all sorts of laws, and has trained more konuichi that she cares to count. 'Woman are equal' is her most famous quote.
Konoha had seem many giant animals in it's time. Snakes, toads, slugs and foxes were just naming a few. But never pigs. Never until now.
She had been teased when she was younger. "Pig!" They had called her, using her name as an insult. No one tried that anymore. She had taken their cruel jokes, and turned it into a namesake.
Hokage Ino overlooks her domain, Tonton standing at her side. No one knows how or why Tonton has lived this long; by all calculations, she should be dead. But Tonton is still alive and kicking. On her deathbed, Tsunade entrusted Tonton to Ino. After all, it fits.
Everyone says pig like a bad thing. But according to the zodiac, pigs are models of sincerity, purity, tolerance, and honor. Pigs are the people everyone admires most. Pigs are born to give, to yield and to serve. Ino is proud to be a pig.
The wind tugs on her blond hair, and the white flaps of her Hokage hat. She wishes Naruto could see this. See what Konoha has become. See what the Konoha woman have become. He, more than any other shinobi she ever knew, respected kunoichi for what they were.
Ino is strong, stronger than Sakura. When Sakura gave up, Ino kept fighting. They are friends now, even though the roles are switched. Everything thought Sakura would become something big, and Ino would fade away, forgotten. They were wrong.
Ino bears no grudges against her best friend. She just wished the pink-haired woman could have been stronger.
But if Sakura had been stronger, then Ino wouldn't be here. And if Ino wasn't here, then Naruto's dream would go unremembered. So maybe everything was okay. Ino was here, and she was strong. Naruto was remembered. Sasuke was dead. Konoha was safe.
"Naruto. I'm sorry you had to die. But I think you'll understand why I did this," Ino says, speaking aloud, even though the wind tears her words away. "For you see, the day your dream was destroyed, mine began."