Well, after getting good reviews for my last fic, I tossed some ideas around in my mind and came up with this. It's a semi-sequel to 'Saved By A Flower.' It could be a sequel, it might be completely unrelated, I'll leave that decision to the readers. It's another oneshot, shorter than the last. Hope you like it as much as the last one.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately). That Kishimoto guy does (and kudos to him for creating the series or whatever).
------------------------------------
"Just get out!"
"Like I'd consider staying any longer." He ducked and a loud crash accompanied the flowerpot breaking against the wall.
"Just leave! And don't come back!"
Ino's voice, tinged with despair and sorrow, broke as she watched Naruto's figure disappear into the night. The rain fell softly down and she stared down at the ground, turning her attention to the ripples the rain droplets made in the small puddles. Shaking her head angrily, she turned and slammed the flower shop door behind her and leaned against it, slowly sliding down to the floor. She sniffled as tears rolled down her cheeks, the pale clear droplets falling silently to the floor.
Ino knew that she and Naruto had had their fair share of fights, but they had always made up in a day or two, usually ending up in a close embrace in the flower shop.
But not this time. Ino sighed. In light of all the recent events, it was no surprise at all, really.
Naruto had brought Sasuke back. Orochimaru was dead, his dark legacy completely wiped away. But the cost had been great. Many lives had been lost, including those of Naruto's and Ino's close friends. Neji, Temari, Kiba, and Chouji had all been lost. Jiraiya had also been killed in the final battle with Orochimaru. Ino remembered hearing stories of what had supposedly gone on in that final battle. Naruto had refused to talk about it, only giving the cold, hard facts to Tsunade-sama and the advisors, who released the news to the village.
Sasuke, his curse seal gone and seemingly back to the way he was before he'd left, though far more powerful, was welcomed back into the village. It seemed that Naruto had finally broken through to him after nearly getting himself killed while protecting Sakura. Sasuke finally cracked under the pressure of his closest friends and had turned and attacked Orochimaru.
'But even that wasn't enough apparently. From what I've heard, he used up quite a bit of Kyuubi's power…If not for Yamato-san, he'd be dead. But it seems as though he might have preferred such an ending. Sasuke's been welcomed back with open arms by almost everyone, even Sakura. It's all about their precious last Uchiha. And Naruto's been completely forgotten. Jiraiya was so close to him, so with him dead and Sakura practically stalking Sasuke…'
That had all been a month ago and Naruto was still acting sullen and stubborn towards those who bothered with him. Ino had tried to get him to open up to her.
'I should've known better. He trained as hard as he could for the past three years so he could go save Sasuke. And he was successful in the end, but at such a great cost. And now things have returned to how they were so long ago, back when we were all Genin, albeit there are differences. But he's still being cursed for having Kyuubi sealed inside of him and Sasuke's simply the center of attention again, as though he'd never been a traitor at all. Naruto's lost those closest to him again. And now we're fighting…'
Ino couldn't help but smile through her tears at the memories that flashed through her mind. She had had to be stealthy in collecting the rumors from the villagers since they avoided her too now. After all, she was Kyubbi's mate. Ino let out a short laugh full of pain as she remembered how Naruto had been so concerned for her and her (self) image.
------------------------------
"W-we can't see each other anymore, Ino-chan. I'm not worth becoming 'Kyuubi's mate' in the eyes of the village."
I watched him look away from me, trying to hide the sorrowful frown on his face.
'Geez, what do I have to do, spell it out for him?'
"Just who do you think you are, Naruto-kun? I'm a big girl, ya know. I can make my own decisions."
He looked back at me, clearly astonished. The look of complete shock and amazement in his eyes made me smile and laugh a little.
'Aw, he's so cute when he does that…'
"If I wanna date you, Naruto-kun, then I will. You had that demon fox sealed in you when we started dating and you didn't change when I found out he was there. You're still you and I still wanna go see that movie with you tomorrow night."
"But – but you're so popular and all the villagers hate me – "
'That's it.'
I slapped him, leaving him shocked and speechless for a moment, a moment I easily took advantage of.
"Naruto-kun, if I cared what they think, then do you really think I would've gone out with you in the first place?"
He flinched slightly as I turned towards him again, but this time my intentions were a bit different. I gave him a short kiss.
"I'll see you tomorrow night at eight. You'd better not be late or you'll be wishing I had only slapped you that hard."
------------------------------
Even if she had had the strength, Ino couldn't bring herself to stand up, her limp form sliding down a few more inches. The rain softly fell against the roof. Her tears kept falling.
------------------------------
Naruto wandered aimlessly through the streets of Konoha. Tears threatened to fall down his face but he was determined to hold them back.
'I can't cry. I'm a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf. And if I cry…then how can I let her go?'
Despite the rain being light, Naruto was soaked, as he had been walking for well over half an hour. But he knew that he would continue to walk no matter how wet he got.
'Why? Why is this happening? I brought him back, and this is what I get for it? Everybody is praising him again as though he'd never left, those who loved me no longer here to do so, and fighting with one of the few who still are around to show me such affection. Sure, Sasuke's my friend, but don't I deserve even just a little of that praise?'
Naruto barely understood why they had yelled at each other. She had been asking him questions about what had happened at Orochimaru's lair and he supposed that he had finally had enough of it. He yelled, she yelled, and he left/got kicked out.
'Nobody can get their minds off Sasuke. Even Ino-chan…'
Sure, Sasuke had run off and sided with Orochimaru. He had attempted to break all his bonds with Konoha and his friends. But Naruto had never given up on him and in the end, he was still Sasuke. With the curse seal gone, Sasuke found that his lust for power wasn't nearly strong enough for him to ask for it from people like Orochimaru. For the past month, Naruto hadn't been sulking because of Sasuke, but because of the villagers' reaction to Sasuke.
'Hey, it may be back to the way it was before, me being the evil Kyuubi boy and him being the last remnant of a great tragedy, but at least I've got some good friends this time around.
'But hell, you'd think that maybe just once, just once, they'd all give me a break. Their precious Uchiha prodigy would've come back to kill them if it weren't for me. Heh, I guess old habits really do die hard. After all, they've kept it up for sixteen years. Chances are they don't plan on stopping any time soon. And so now I've pushed the girl who's showed that she cares more than anybody else away. And now I'm standing here, all alone, in the – '
Suddenly, Naruto looked up at the sky. The rain had stopped and the clouds were clearing, revealing a full moon. He put a hand up to his cheek, feeling the soft trails of recent tears that had yet to be washed off his face. Mouth slightly open, Naruto stared up at the moon, soon losing sight of it as her face appeared in his mind, tears welling up in her eyes. A memory began to play in his mind.
------------------------------
"Ino-chan, I figured I'd find you here – what's wrong? Y-you're crying."
"Naruto! I – I…it's nothing. Honestly…"
I watched as she made a hopeless and futile attempt to wipe her tears away, as though I hadn't seen them. I looked down at the floor where she stood over many fallen tears.
'I thought Sakura-san was more hesitant than usual in telling me where she was.' I dismissed the thought, leaving the mystery of how Sakura had known for later.
I kneeled down beside her on the floor of the flower shop, brushing a stray strand of her pale blond hair out of her face. I watched her turn away from me as another tear fell down her cheek, silver in the moonlight. I wiped it away and put my arms around her.
"S-shikamaru-san and Chouji-san…took an A rank mission with Asuma-sensei while I was away…and they don't know if Shikamaru-san will survive – "
'Well that explains how Sakura-san knew about it.' Voicing Shikamaru's condition had caused Ino to completely break down and she was now sobbing hysterically into my chest.
"We've been through so much together and – and – "
"Shh, it's okay." I held her tightly, feeling her silver tears fall onto my shirt. I don't know how long I held her or how long she cried. Eventually the tears stopped. It was just me and her. The next thing I knew, I was groggily opening my eyes to see her face and realized that we had somehow fallen asleep on the floor. I could tell from the absence of sunshine that it'd be a few more hours until dawn. I brought her closer to me and she shifted into the embrace, a small smile gracing that beautiful face of hers being the last image I saw before I fell back into a peaceful and content sleep.
------------------------------
Naruto inhaled sharply as he felt something wet and slippery slide down his cheek. He brought his hand up and touched the silver tear, still staring up at the bright moon.
'I…Ino-chan…'
Turning and running back, Naruto traced his steps back to the shop as fast as humanly possible. Which was quite fast when said human was the container for the most powerful youkai to ever walk the earth. In mere seconds, Naruto stood in front of her shop. But hesitation reentered his mind when he raised his hand to knock on the door.
'But I…have to do this…right? She's become a part of me and…I – '
Naruto's thought process was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the door opening in front of him. A quick gasp brought him back to reality just in time to see Ino's face contort into a mask of anger, trying desperately to hide the tears that were welling up in her eyes once again.
"Ino-chan, I – "
"Save it, Uzumaki." He winced. Her voice was cold and hard.
"Just listen, please." His voice was pleading and weak, betraying the loneliness he felt inside. Ino-chan looked longingly at him, his soaked, yellow hair, the whisker-like marks on his cheeks deeper and longer than they'd been before he'd gone on that mission, his cerulean blue eyes desperate and loving at the same time. And a tear stain running down his left cheek. She turned away, refusing to simply give in to his begging. She began to go back inside, planning on locking herself in the shop and sleeping there. But he grabbed her hand, making her gasp again, her shocked look hidden from him, his closed eyes and tears hidden from her.
"Please don't leave me all alone. If you leave, I'll be alone again. And I…I don't want to be alone again. I…don't want to be alone…ever again."
"Shh," She soothed softly. Then he felt her hand on his face, wiping a tear, silver in the moonlight, off his cheek. He gazed at her and she smiled back. Naruto smiled too. No more tears fell. Pale blue looked into light blue, his arms went around her small waist, her arms went around his shoulders, and they stood in peaceful silence for a minute, holding each other contentedly, before lips fell upon lips, softly caressing each other lovingly.
And the next thing Naruto knew, he was waking up on the floor of the flower shop, her snuggled tightly into his embrace.
------------------------------
Well, hope you all liked it. I'm trying out different emotions here, though I know I could've made the sorrow much deeper, but hey, it's a oneshot and only my second fic. Anyways, based on the reviews I'll hopefully get for this one, I might do a full fic instead of just oneshots. But of course, bad reviews don't encourage authors to write more. I know it wasn't as good as 'Saved By A Flower, but I've never done much with fights and sadness. So please, review with honest thoughts and constructive criticism, and especially no mindless flaming.