Author's Note – The response from the first chapter was quite welcoming, so I decided to pursue this story further. Besides, the Ino/Shino pairing needs a little bit of love. Speaking of which, check out "When You Say You Love Me," another lovely chaptered work in progress featuring the same couple. Give these two shinobi some love, and check it out!
Disclaimer – The Naruto franchise is property of Masashi Kishimoto. This story is not meant to be distributed for profit.
--
I opened my eyes, and squinted uncomfortably at the fluorescent bulbs that shone down at my face from the ceiling. Maybe it was because I had spent more time treating patients than actually being one, but the brightness was unbearable. I tried to shield my vision by bringing a hand up to block my view, but as I did this, I felt a sharp pain run through my arm. I cringed as the sensation spread throughout my body. It wasn't a muscular pain, but a stinging feeling, as if a million bees had punctured me at once. It was difficult to bear at first, but I focused my mind on other things, in an attempt to ignore it.
My thoughts immediately turned to Shino. He, who I once thought as strong, intimidating, and invincible, looked so vulnerable, almost human when I saw him carried into my makeshift operating table. I tried everything that was in my power to help him, but thanks to my inexperience, I injured myself as well, unable to help him further. Did he survive? Was he alright? I couldn't bear the thought of losing him.
I reflected on my thoughts as I remained immobile in my bed. I felt compassion for this person, but it wasn't of a romantic or platonic nature. Strictly professional. As a medic-nin, I care about those I heal. That's all. I felt distrusting of myself as I accepted the logic. All I wanted was to get better, and continue doing what I could to become a better ninja.
Knock knock.
"Oh, Ino-chan's awake." I heard. I vaguely recognized the voice as the door opened, but the squealing that accompanied it was unmistakably my mentor's pig.
"Shizune-sensei!" I voiced out, eyeing her through narrow squints. Damn that light!
"Ino, thank goodness you're okay. I was worried that you had lost too much chakra." "Oink, Oink!"
I weakly smiled. Shizune was genuinely concerned, and I tried my best not to worry her, so I decided then not to mention the kikai, alternatively saying that the stress of the situation, combined with my loss of chakra, was the cause of my injury. Knowing that fatigue had rendered me immobile, she attended to my needs by providing food, drink, and medication to alleviate the physical discomfort of being in a bed for a long time. The pills helped a little bit, but there was a lingering soreness that Shizune wasn't aware of. All the while, I remained concerned for Shino, so I asked her of his condition.
"Oh, your patient is fine. He's resting, and in stable condition." "Oink!"
I sighed with relief.
"But you can't attend to him yet, you're still recovering, yourself. I think I'll go see how he's doing." She turned to the pig. "Let's go, Tonton!"
Tonton squealed in agreement, and they exited the room, leaving me by myself to rest. I felt desperate, unable to go with them to check on him. If only there was some way I could get up from my bed. A tear rolling down my cheek, I prayed to the heavens that I could confirm first-hand that he was indeed ok.
A sudden burst of pain shot through my left arm. The sensation eventually concentrated onto a spot a few inches away from my wrist. I soon felt a tingling of numerous kikai crawling out of my arm, and onto the bed. Collectively, they formed into a small pool of black underneath my arm. Slowly, they crawled down the bed, onto the floor, and left the room through a crack underneath the door. I cringed at the marks they had left, but tried to bear it.
The feeling turned to numbness. Then the images and voices came.
Two nurses. The hallway outside. "Fuku-san, I'll catch up with you later, I left my lunch at the desk."
A nurse and a patient. The room next to mine. "Lee-kun, the next time I see you doing push-ups, I'll strap you down to the bed myself!"
Shizune and Tonton. The hallway. "Tonton, I'm worried about Ino-san. She's hiding something."
Shino. A bed. Sleeping.
There he was. My eyes were closed. I knew I was in my own bed, but somehow, he was right there in front of me. I wanted to reach out and feel his neck for a pulse. Wanted to place my ear on his chest to make sure he was breathing properly. Oh, how I wanted to go through the motions. It wasn't fair.
Shizune enters the room. She puts down Tonton on a chair close to the door. She walks up to the bed. She places a hand on Shino's wrist. "Pulse is normal." She places both her hands on his chest. Her hands glow red, then stop. "Chakra flow normal." She places an ear on his chest. Her head rises up and down with his chest. "Breathing deep, but normal." She turns around, staring, almost as if back at me.
The visions stopped. I only saw the room now, my room. It was silent, except for the gentle humming of the air conditioner by the window. Shortly after, the insects appeared on the bed again, and quickly made their way back inside of my body, entering the same way they came out. It ached, but the mental shock of the visions diluted the feeling.
What just happened?
I felt weak afterwards. I could feel the chakra circulation to my arm slow down slightly, and it felt weaker. I had a difficult time trying to move it, and soon, the numbness spread to my entire body once again. Drained of energy, I passed out again.
I woke up to the sound of a familiar voice a few hours later.
"Ino. Ino."
Sakura prodded me again. "Ino! I know you're awake!" She poked me even harder.
"DAMMIT INO-PIG!"
OUCH! I shot out of bed into an upright sitting position, bellowing back at her. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR, FOREHEAD GIRL!?"
"INO-PIG!"
"FOREHEAD GIRL!"
I could imagine that flames erupted somehow. I could explain what happened afterwards, but when a girl gets pissed off, sometimes she can't remember exactly what she does in the heat of the moment. All I know is that it took a few minutes to settle down, and we immediately forgot what it was that we were fighting about.
"Ino. How are you feelin'?"
I noticed the look of concern on her face. She was kind to me, like she always has during the years of our close friendship. I didn't want to tell her about the kikai, but she was the only girl who could see right through me, so it was pointless to lie about it. So I didn't.
"Sakura, how is Shino?"
"Shino-san is fine. He's already walking around, but we're going to keep him a little bit longer. He'll be back home by tonight."
I almost cried out of sheer relief. I was able to hold back my tears, but I kept sputtering the words that I wanted to tell her. I almost sounded like Hinata.
"T-Thank goodness."
Sakura smiled, as she brushed a lock of her pink her back behind her ear. She tied her hair back when she did work in the hospital, leaving a few too many stray strands falling down the side. A lousy fashion statement for sure, it was a plain, unkempt style that begged not to be noticed by anyone, boys in particular. So why did she gain the affections of both Naruto and Lee?
She smiled again, this time revealing her million-dollar teeth, temporarily answering my own question. "I'm glad you're doing better. You did an amazing job with Shino yesterday." Yesterday? "He made a full recovery in record time. Had you studied with me under Tsunade-sama, you would have probably made such amazing progress."
She patted me on the shoulder in approval, then said goodbye as she left the room. I hated how she always looked down on me in regards to my medical ninjutsu skills, but by learning from the Hokage of all people, she had every right to push me to improve. Growing up, I was always a step above her in everything, from school to shinobi skills, even with boys. But the past 3 to 4 years have brought such change to her that I could only be proud of, because we had both pushed each other to such intense lengths.
I yawned, somewhat fatigued overall by the events that had occurred since I first woke up. Knowing that Shino was going to be alright, I was comforted enough to go back to sleep soundly, anxious that tomorrow may bring the possibility of full recovery. I would go to his house, or maybe the training grounds where he always practiced his kunai throwing, or he might still be bedridden, and I wouldn't have to travel very far for that. As my eyelids shut, I meticulously calculated every potential place he could go, based on past experiences, and probabilities.
It was all for naught though, as Shino cautiously stepped into the room.
My eyes opened narrowly into slits, trying to see who it was, but limiting the amount of light that was let in. "Shino? Is that you?"
Through limited vision, I heard a brief chuckle, followed by an audible sight of relief. Shino was not one to laugh, or be anything but serious for that matter, so it shocked me to hear his confirmation.
"Yes. Are you ok?"
I told him with a beaming smile and narrow eyes that I felt good, knowing that my favorite patient was doing well. Even though I was the one in worse condition, I was inwardly adamant that I would use a patronizing tone of voice with my patients, usually an attempt to humor them in order to forget about their poor health condition.
"Good," He said, now standing in front of me as I turned my head up to look at him.
Silence hung sharply in the air. I sighed. "Shino, I need your help-"
"I know. Meet me in front of my house tomorrow morning."
"What do you-"
"You'll be fine by tomorrow. Trust me."
He was about to turn away and leave, but something had been realized in his mind, which stopped him momentarily. He turned back and looked down at me through those scarily tinted lenses.
"How are your eyes?"
Terrible, I thought. But I didn't want to tell him that for some reason. I muttered nonsense to myself instead.
"Here." He removed his glasses, and placed them on my face, adjusting the position of rims so that the bridge rested comfortably on my nose. "Now you know why."
What did he mean by- Oh…
I smiled at him as he walked away. He shut the door behind him, and he was gone. I turned my head the other way to see out the window, beholding a scenic, yet definitive view of the rest of the village. High above, a flock of birds flew towards the sun as it slowly dipped into the horizon. I could see each bird clearly. Even their wings flapped with a hypnotizing unison as they disappeared into the warming red glow of sunset. Mixed with feathers of brilliant dark green, I don't think I've ever seen anything like it.
I fell asleep to the sound of their coos as they softly echoed throughout the village.
--
Author's Note - So there's the second chapter. This will be the approximate length of my chapters from now on, give or take a few. It'll give me a chance to update somewhat regularly as I continue to work my summer job, which rocks so much! I get a corner cubicle, and a sweet window view of the streets below! Err, did I mention this already? If I did, I only mention it again because my job ROCKS!
See ya next week!
