Title: Everything Will Be Alright
Rating: T. Just to be safe.
Summary: Death may come, but it cannot separate true loves forever.
WARNINGS: yuri, character death(s), general sadness.
//Authors Notes//
Well, this chapter was up sooner than I had expected, about a week earlier than I had originally expected. Also, you should check back to the introduction every now and then, because I post updates to the stories I have on the list. Whatever, be happy. This chapters video is "Black and White" - Static X.
Just to let you know, everything will be alright.
---
It was Shikamaru that delivered the news.
Sakura immediately knew something horrible had happened when he showed up on her doorstep in tears. Shika never cried. After ushering him in and calming him, Sakura was able to get a straight sentence out of him.
"They're dead, Sakura." He sobbed. "Ino and Choji, they're both dead!"
Sakura was unwilling to believe him. She raged and stormed at him for pulling such a cruel joke, then he showed her.
First, Chojis headband.
Sakura knew it was Chojis because there was a mustard stain on the beautiful navy blue cloth. But now, it was stained with blood.
Second, and most devastating of all, Inos torn and bloodied shirt. The lovely lavender fabric was torn, slashed, and covered in dirt.
Sakura ripped the shirt from his hands and stared at it horrified. She sank to her knees with a sob. She fell forward on to the floor, clinging to Inos shirt as if her life depended on it, and let loose a howl of anguish and sorrow.
I never got to tell her that I loved her Sakura thought sadly.
---
Shikamaru delivered the eulogy at the funeral. But he was escorted away from the podium barely halfway thought by Asuma, because he was sobbing so uncontrollably.
As everyone filed past the coffins to pay their last respects, Sakura couldn't help but reach out and clasp Inos cold hand in her own. She looked beautiful, even in death. Her pale face was framed by a halo of wild golden hair that pooled beneath her head.
"I'll miss you, Pig." Sakura whispered, tears filling her eyes. Her shoulders trembled as she stifled a sob.
She watched sadly as the coffins closed, forever sealing their occupants inside. Members of the Yamanaka and Akamichi clans came forth as pole bearers to deliver the caskets to their final resting place outside in the cemetery.
The weather was at odds with the somber occasion. The sun was shining brightly, with not a cloud in the sky. Sakura had prayed for rain, anything to mask her tears, but she was not so lucky. Kakashi and Naruto stood to either side of her. Sasuke was nowhere to be found.
The Akamichi and Yamanaka family plots were located next to each other, and when that terrible day arrived, the Nara family plot would be there with them.
A team in this life and the next.
---
Ino awoke in a place that was familiar, yet strange. She was in Sakuras room, that was the familiar part. But what was strange about it was that she was looking down on the room because she was floating near the ceiling.
She then realize that she wasn't alone in the room. Sakura was sitting on the edge of her bed holding...something close to her chest. Ino willed her semi-transparent body down away from the ceiling and towards the bed. Ino alighted silently on the carpet and took a closer look at Sakura. Her usually pretty face was streaked with tears and her verdant eyes were red. At this close proximity, Ino recognized what Sakura was cradling in her arms. It was Inos still torn and blood-stained shirt, but that wasn't all. Wrapped up in the shirt like a new born baby was a small, stuffed rabbit.
Memories came flooding back to Ino, she recalled buying that stuffed rabbit for Sakura on her eighth birthday with her own saved up pocket money. Usa-chan was what Sakura had called it, Little Rabbit.
Suddenly, Sakuras tears redoubled. She rocked back and forth, holding Usa-chan closer.
"Why Ino?" Sakura whispered to herself. "Why did you leave me, Ino?" Ino felt her stomach vanish and her heart soar.
"She really did love me."
Ino had always had suspicions, ever since Sakura so willingly kissed her when dared by TenTen. Ever since that moment, Ino never wanted to leave Sakura. When ever Ino would sleep over, they would often share Sakuras bed, it was wide enough to allow them both plenty of room. However, when Ino was certain that Sakura was in a deep sleep, she would curl up next to her and carefully wrap her arms around the other girl. Those moments usually occurred late at night or early in the morning before everyone else was awake.
Ino loved those unspoken moments of silent and one-sided intimacy. To lie so close to Sakura and pretend, for a moment, that it was okay to gently run her hands up and down the pink haired girls body. These times were never longer than a few moments, but to Ino they felt like hours.
Now, as Ino stood before the weeping Sakura, she wanted to do that again, but to comfort her.
Automatically, without thinking, Ino reached out a hand to brush Sakuras tears away, only to feel sadness as her hand passed right through her.
This still had the desired effect however.
Sakuras tears ceased and she looked around with watery green eyes. She wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand, still holding onto Usa-chan. She stood and crossed the room to the window and looked out and up at the dark, night time sky. Ino followed her and heard Sakura murmuring to herself.
"Ino, wherever you are, I hope you can hear me when I say this but..." She paused and looked down at Usa-chan and began speaking directly to it. "...I loved you. As more than just a friend. I...I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. I wanted to grow old with you. I wanted to laugh and cry with you."
Sakura was crying again, her tears falling thick and fast. Ino wanted to cry, but was unable. Perhaps that was one of the limitations of her new ghostly image. That was probably why she could no longer hear her own heart or feel the need to breathe.
Ino walked up behind Sakura and, as best she could, wrapped her arms around her and rested her head on Sakuras shoulder.
"Please, Sakura, don't cry. Please, stop crying." Ino whispered.
"She has to know. I've got to tell her, somehow." Ino thought desperately. She cast her eyes about the room and they fell upon a pen on the bed side table. After a failed attempt to pick it up, Ino almost gave up.
"No. I'll do it for her. For Sakura." Ino told herself firmly. She focused every synapse in her mind and every cell in her body into picking up that pen. She was rewarded when she grasped the firm plastic. There was a notebook beneath the pen. Ino wrote directly on the cover, hoping Sakura would see it.
As she completed the final pen stroke, Ino felt an odd feeling in her abdomen. It tingled faintly at first, but then it turned into a powerful wrenching that caused her to double over.
"Not yet." Ino hissed through clenched teeth. She turned to Sakura and hobbled towards her. The wrenching became worse, actually lifting her off of her feet. She was almost there, she stretched out a hand, her fingers inches away from Sakuras back. One last wrench sent Ino spiraling through the ceiling.
SAKURA
Sakura spun around and Ino was able to catch one last glimpse of her face. Her eye lashes glittered with tears.
Sakura stared up at her ceiling. She could have sworn she had heard Inos voice, calling out to her. That night she fell asleep with Usa-chan in her arms(the first time in years) and the memory of Inos voice in her head.
---
Sakura awoke the next morning to find Inos note. She sat on the edge of her bed and read it silently with growing amazement.
Sakura
I'm going to miss you. Your smile most of all, you could brighten my day by just smiling at me. I might not be here anymore, but I still want you to smile, maybe you'll brighten someone elses life. I was here with you, I heard you say those things. My only regret in death, is that I wasn't brave enough to tell you how I really felt about you.
I want you to know, I will wait for you. Promise me you won't do anything stupid. You need to live life to its fullest.
I love you, Sakura Haruno, with all my heart. I'll see you at the end of this world and the start of the next. Everything will be alright.
Love, Ino
Sakura cried again.
---
Barely four years later, Sakura never would have guessed she'd be dying at the young age of eighteen. She had ended up on the receiving(and more deadly) end of Sasukes Chidori, punching straight through her stomach. He fled via Amaterasu when Naruto and Kakashi arrived. They knelt down on either side of her to see her off to the next life, knowing there was no chance of saving her.
"Please, don't die Sakura." Naruto sobbed, clasping her hand in both of his. "You can't die." Kakashi was holding her other hand, his head hung in sorrow. Sakura remained silent and just stared at the sky. In all truthfulness, Sakura was eager.
She waited so long to see her again.
Slowly, she felt her spirt begin to leave her body. It reminder her of peeling off a glove. One finger and one limb at a time. Finally, she was free, slowly beginning her ascent. She didn't have to look back to hear Narutos wail of sadness. Sakura floated upward towards the azure sky, past clouds, and into the darkness of space. Stars, planets, and galaxies reflected in her eyes as they flashed by.
At the end of the universe, she stopped in front of a large, golden gate that gave off a radiating warmth and shimmered brightly. The gates parted and a blinding, white light spilled out from within. There was someone there in the light, someone with long, blonde hair and aquamarine eyes. Sakura moved forward to greet her, there was no rush, they had all the time in the world. Sakura wrapped her arms around her. Ino returned the hug.
"See forehead, I told you everything would be alright." She said. Ino tilted Sakuras chin up and lightly pressed their lips together for the first time.
Taking Sakuras hand in her own, Ino turned and led Sakura away, to share eternity with her.
---
Wow, I cried while writing this, but I'm a big softie. Well, it kinda jumped around there a bit, but I thought it was okay. The next chapter, "Sakura" will be posted soon, I'm almost finished writing it. Review are appreciated!!
