(A/N: Just a short story idea that came to me a little while ago. It's about five chapters long. I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!)
Hearts Grow
When her eyes opened abruptly, Ino found herself feeling dizzy. The world around her spun in different directions as she pushed herself up. Judging from the odd smell and the silent environment, Ino guessed she was in a hospital. What she was doing there......was a different story. How did she get there? The blonde haired kunoichi blinked when she saw movement next to her. She turned her head and for the first time noticed that there was someone else in the room. But, it was the person that shocked Ino.
What was Temari of the Sand doing here? Why was she even allowed to set foot in the village? Didn't they attack Konoha just awhile ago? Did the alliance between the two villages already reform? As the world seemed to spin even more, Ino inhaled deeply and tried to calm her nerves.
"You're awake?" asked a deep female voice. Ino nearly jumped out of her skin and looked at Temari again. Her blue eyes were staring directly at her head. A deep look of concern and pity was present on the older kunoichi's face. For the first time, Ino realized that Temari looked different. Her features were more mature, older and somewhat a lot more wise. Her blue eyes were piercing and her aura was somewhat warmer and more motherly instead of the normal cold and menacing. Her outfit was also a lot more decent, a long, black short-sleeved kimono like dress tied with a red sash, covered most of her womanly curves and made her look authentic. Temari has changed. But.....you can't change overnight, can you?
"Um......y-yes?" Ino half-asked. Did she just stutter? The Ino Yamanaka stuttered! Something was seriously wrong here and it was heavily scaring the blonde kunoichi. Temari smiled warmly and tucked a strand of her loose blonde hair behind her ear. Ino's eyes widened. Temari looked so beautiful with her hair undone – so sophisticated and all grown-up.
"You don't know me, do you?" Temari suddenly asked, causing the Konoha kunoichi to frown.
"Well.....um, I did meet you at the Chunin exams...." Ino choked. Temari let out a deep and somewhat annoyed sigh. This wasn't good.
"Stay put, I'll get the doctor," Temari said gently as she stood up and walked out the wooden door. Ino stared at the door for a few seconds and then turned her gaze to the room. She hasn't even properly looked at it yet. It didn't look like the Konoha hospital rooms. It was oddly different. The walls were brown and it looked like she was inside a dome like building. The interior was a lot different – everything was organized into drawers and wooden racks against the walls. It was neat and clean; something the Konoha hospital sometimes lacked due the lack of staff members. Although quite a lot, most nurses were to lazy to actually try and clean the place properly.
A few minutes later the wooden door creaked open and Temari returned with a young man following after her. He didn't dress like one of the doctors at the Konoha hospital and Ino didn't recognize him either; and she knew most of the doctors there. The Sunagakure headband on his forehead confirmed that she defiantly wasn't in Konoha anymore.
"Ah, Lady Ino," the doctor smiled warmly as he stood next to her. She blinked. Lady Ino?
"Hello?" Ino said almost hesitantly. The doctor nodded and turned to Temari.
"Seems like she has no idea who I am either," the doctor confirmed, "looks like a case of Amnesia."
Wait. Amnesia? What?
Ino looked at the doctor and then Temari, it was almost as if the two were having a conversation just by looking at each other. Ino hated being left out of conversations like this – especially when it was about her.
"I'll run a check-up," the doctor stated, "can you report to Kazekage-sama?"
Temari nodded and left the room. Ino wished that Temari wouldn't leave her with this strange doctor that she doesn't know but it was too late to call out to her now. The doctor smiled gently and reassured Ino that everything was going to be fine.
Everything wasn't fine though.
The doctor ran quite a few tests. He even tested her eyes which confused her because her vision was 20/20. But she didn't dare question him; she already felt too intimidated by him. She was now sitting on one of the chairs in her room while the doctor checked things off on a clipboard.
"I'm just going to ask a few questions now, almost done, Lady Ino," the doctor stated. Ino nodded.
"Does your head feel like it's going to explode?" the doctor asked. Now that the doctor mentioned it, her head was aching and throbbing. It was a terrible headache and she has never encountered such pain before. She nodded slowly and the doctor ticked something off on the clipboard.
"When was the last time you........had sex?" the doctor asked. Ino's eyes widened and she looked at the doctor as if he was insane.
"Sex? But doctor I'm.....I'm fourteen!" Ino objected. The doctor cleared his throat and pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. The white jumpsuit he wore made him look like a dork.
"That's the age you remember," the doctor explained, "Lady Ino, you're 27 years old."
Did the world just freeze over? Did she just hear him right? Maybe her ears are ringing.....or his mouth is acting on its own. She wasn't 27! That's impossible!
"No, I'm not!" Ino objected. The doctor sighed.
"I believe.....you don't remember the last time you had sexual intercourse?"
Ino nodded vigorously. Heck, she hasn't even had sex yet! This is just a dream. A really bad dream.
"Hm.....we'll have to do a urine test too, then," the doctor stated more to himself than to Ino. Annoyed Ino stomped off to the bathroom to pee into the bloody plastic container and hand it to the doctor. She so wasn't enjoying this. There is no way in hell she has had sex. No way!
When Ino neared the door of her room she heard voices. Curious to hear what they were talking about, Ino pressed her ear against the door.
"Kazekage-sama! You didn't have to come all the way!" the doctor exclaimed. Some shuffling was heard and then Ino heard Temari chuckle lightly.
"I told him not to worry, but when it comes to her, he turns into this old worry-wart," Temari giggled. Ino heard a third person -presumably the Kazekage- groan. Silence fell in the room.
"Where is she?" asked a very familiar voice. Ino could have sworn she has heard it before but she couldn't pinpoint where. It was defiantly the voice of the Kazekage......but why was it so familiar?
"She is in the restroom, sir," the doctor stated.
"How is she, Koga?" asked Temari. The doctor sighed.
"So far, it looks like the hit really did more than we thought," Koga, the doctor explained.
"Amnesia?" asked the Kazekage. There was silence, so Ino presumed that Koga probably nodded. Silence befell the room.
"How long do you plan on eavesdropping on us, Ino?" asked the Kazekage's voice, causing Koga and Temari to gasp in confusion and Ino to tremble in fear. He.....knew she was there? He sensed her? But....how? Ino gulped, never, ever judge a Kage again! Nervously, Ino opened the door slowly and peeked inside only to find her eyes to bulge out of their sockets and her jaw to drop unto the floor.
There he stood. Tall and powerful. His brick-red hair was messy as usual, his light turquoise eyes were staring intently at her, the red tattoo for "Ai" on his forehead made it quite obvious who he was. And those green robes. The robes of the Kazekage.....it can't be....can it? And when did he get so tall? And handsome. Handsome. That word struck Ino hard. Why....why did she think he was handsome? Wasn't he a monster? One who killed mercilessly?
Ino laughed nervously but the other three didn't laugh with her. They naturally didn't find the situation very amusing. The first one to speak was Gaara.
"Her hair is ruined, I'll kill the man who did this," Gaara hissed. Temari laughed nervously and placed her hand on her younger brother's shoulder.
"Now, now, Gaara, I know you are angry.....but calm down," Temari whispered. Gaara gave her a dirty look and then he turned towards the door. Ino gulped as he came closer and when he stopped right in front of her, she finally realized how much taller than her he was. He was also a lot more masculine than she can remember. But his eyes were what confused her. They weren't looking at her with an intent to kill. No. He was....sad? Worried? Maybe even protective? Ino has never seen Gaara of the Desert look at someone with so much emotion before. And....he defiantly didn't look fourteen years old either. He looked......like an adult.
Ino couldn't help but feel sort of sorry for him. All this time, people have called him a monster and judged him but perhaps....he was a real softie inside? He didn't seem to mind Temari touching him either, earlier. He almost seemed, happy with her beside him.
"Koga," Gaara said without looking back, his gaze was still sternly planted on Ino.
"Yes, Kazekage-sama?" Koga asked. Ino's eyes widened. He really was the Kazekage! But how? When? Why?
"Let me know, when I can take her home," Gaara said gently and then he walked out the door, leaving a confused Ino behind. She stared at the hallway where he once walked.
Wait. Take me home?
"Lady Ino, I know you have had enough surprises for one day but," Koga began as he placed the clipboard on the wooden desk in his office. Ino blinked in confusion as she sipped on the glass of milk a nurse handed to her earlier – she apparently needed a lot of calcium to help her skull to repair that has been damaged somehow.
"What?" Ino asked.
"You're pregnant."
In two seconds, Ino started choking on milk, she then dropped the glass causing it to clatter on the ground and break into million pieces. The milk spilled all over her feet and the blue kimono Temari gave her. Blue eyes frantically looked up at Koga, her eyes searching for answers.
"B-b-but how?" Ino asked. Koga cleared his throat.
"Lady Ino, surely you know how babies are made?"
Ino lowered her wide eyes and stared at her milk soaked feet. Pregnant. Then.....that means she has had sex before. She was sexually active! She wasn't a virgin! But.....who did she give her virginity to? Sasuke? Oh, she surely hoped it was Sasuke.
"I do know, it's just......I'm.....only fourteen?"
Koga sighed and sat down. A very serious expression on his face.
"Like I said before, you are 27 years old," Koga stated, "perhaps, you should look in a mirror?"
Ino nodded slowly as she stood up. She walked to the bathroom in a daze, her wet kimono was clinging unto her legs but she ignored it. The word pregnant swam through her mind. Ino looked down at her belly and gently rested her hand on her belly button. A baby. She was going to be a mother.
Was she ready for this?
Ino did not know, but for now, she needs to find a toilet. And quickly; before all her juices spill.
When Ino flipped her hair back and looked up into the mirror she was shocked at what she saw. She looked different. Her blonde hair has grown long again. It reached her butt now. Ino frowned. She could have sworn she cut it during the Chunin exams while fighting Sakura. Ino lifted her hand and pulled it through her blonde pony tail. Soft. Her hair was so soft and messy. Ino found herself glaring at the mirror – how did her hair get so messy? And why was there a bandage wrapped around her head? Ino gently touched the bandage and winced when a jolt of pain shot through her head. She must have hit her head against something. Ino lowered her hand and shivered in disgust at the dirt and was that blood she had in her hair? Ino tried to ignore the nauseous feeling that hit her. Whatever happened to her, it has ruined her image.
Looking back up into the mirror, Ino was surprised to see just how much she has changed. Her lips, cheek bones and eyes looked different too. She.....was more mature. She looked like an adult. Ino's eyes lowered to her chest and she was shocked to see that they were.....much larger than she could remember. To prove that it wasn't some kind of crazy dream, Ino raised both her arms and gently squeezed her two breasts with her fingers. Ino's eyes widened. They were real. These two mounds of flesh wasn't some kind of trick; or tissues stuffed into her shirt. They were real. Ino stepped backwards, away from the mirror. Images flooded through her head. Images of someone touching her breasts, someone kissing her breasts, someone stroking her breasts and biting her breasts. Wild images that were somehow unclear flashed through her mind of someone giving her pleasure by playing with her breasts. And what really bothered her.....was the fact that she could not see who it was. All she saw was herself and a dark shadow.
Ino collapsed unto the floor and rested her head against the wall. Who was she? For the first time in her life, Ino didn't know.
