So here we are again with chapter 3 everyone!

Title: Natsu no kōrinoFuyu Kasai (winter's fire summer's ice)

Standard Disclaimer Applied

{Chapter Three}

I blinked even though my eyes were closed and furred my brows. I was coming around reluctantly. My mind faded in and out like the sun shining between the passing of clouds. Within a few moments all my senses came around and I groaned as noise burst my ear drums like explosives, shocking my mind.

"Sakura!"

Ino. I thought instantly and groaned in pain as the bed moved. I was in pain and it was well…painful. My head hurt like someone took a sledgehammer to and hit me over the head with a piece of lumber...twice. Slowly I opened my eyes and a scream lodge in my throat with the bulging of my eyes and the racing of my heart. Ino was hovering right over me, her nose so close to mine and her eyes wide open staring at me. I gasped in pain and half relief. She scared me half to death.

"Sorry," she muttered with a small smile, "didn't mean to scare you there."

I groaned, "No it's ok," I said my voice so hoarse and throat so dry I coughed. I clasped her hand in mine and squeezed her hand when I was in pain as I tried to sit up.

"Ow!" she whined and I let go her hand with a look of apology.

She rubbed her hand with the other and smiled at me. Ino was my best friend since the day I was in my mother's womb. She was the one person that was always there for me and because of her I was also moving. Something I had always wanted to do; move from this place. I was too near to my mother and it constantly disturbed me. There were too many painful memories here, too much hurt accumulated until it was suffocating me.

Tsunade thought it would be a good thing for me to move too and with their help, we were all moving. Me, Ino, my father and Tsunade were moving to the Konoha. Team effort. It worked out almost too perfectly and I remember promising her that I wouldn't die before I moved that I was going to make sure I moved even if it was for her. I realize now, that was a presumptuous promise for me to have made. This girl right here I would do anything for her. I'd die for her so she could live if the time ever presented itself and she knew it. I loved her so much.

"How long was I out?" I croaked.

"Three and a half days, four if you want to count the day you actually got here." she replied sighing. I noticed she'd chewed her nails and if there was one thing about Ino, she never messed up her manicure without a valid and undeniable cause- she'd been worried sick. "How are you feeling? Are you in pain?"

"I feel fine." I responded breathing deeply.

If I told her I was in pain she'd worry and freak out until her head just snapped off her neck. If someone didn't come check on me after she was gone, I'd just push the red button. Pain killers made me sleep, I'd already been asleep too long I didn't mind being awake for a few hours.

"Are you sure? I could tell the nurses to-"

"I am fine," I repeated to her more firmly.

She looked at me, disbelief plain in her eyes. I ignored it with ease and looked around the place. I was, as almost all the time, connected to a lot of things that beeped, dripped, tinged, made a light oozing sound, monotonous sounds and I glared at the drip and IV needle. I hated them, I even used to hate being here, at any hospital in general but now…well now it wasn't so bad once you got used to it.

"They have been killing me to see you," Ino said.

I looked at her, "who?"

"Those little vermin down in the Pediatric Ward. I went down there to tell them that you might not visit; they almost killed me down there. Can you believe that?" she asked dramatically and I laughed at her.

She smiled and looked nervously at me again, "are you sure you're alright?" she asked hesitantly.

I sighed. "I'm fine, honest." I said with smile. "When does Tsunade say I can come out of here?"

"She says whenever you wake up she'll decide that." she replied and fidgeted. "Sakura…what happened?" she asked quietly.

I could tell she wanted to ask me that the moment she knew I was awake. I was just waiting for it. I had a nasal cannula in which I really found uncomfortable and didn't make talking less of a struggle. I couldn't really remember much, strictly the basics of what I think happened but the feelings that I felt still lingered in me some way. I wish I didn't remember anything at all from that night but the little snippets were already there and I couldn't get rid of them. Oh yes…the feelings lingered still.

I shuddered as I thought about it. "Uh," I began and cleared the sudden sob in my throat. I really didn't want to talk about it but I was going to tell her anyways. "I can't remember much. I don't know how I got there, I don't even know why maybe he we got into a fight? I…I don't know." I croaked out to her and with a shaking hand I ran my finger through my overly long pink locks, the needles injected making the movement uncomfortable.

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Ino said, her blue eyes leaking sincerity. "I shouldn't have even asked."

"It's fine, I probably should tell you, you deserve to know anyway." My throat got tight suddenly and I forced back the sobs, pushing them away. "I remember it being dark and… wet. It was cold too, like I was in some deep cave. Somewhere far away and I was panicking. I was…I was…" I broke off and placed my head in my hands as the sobs broke free.

She was in the chair next to the bed and then she was sitting on the bed next to me. Her hands wrapped around me tightly, "hey it's ok," she whispered.

I wanted to believe her words but I just couldn't because it wasn't ok. Nothing was ok anymore; nothing had been ok for years on end. This was just one more of those things that wasn't ok, would never be ok, but saying that it was going to be ok was the only thing you could do.

That's what my life was like, false "oks" and false "it's going to be alright" all the time. They weren't true but with a life like mine there was nothing that could be done and words of comfort were the only things left. Before when all this just started it didn't seem fake; the words comforted me and they were my refuge and hope but now they didn't have much meaning to them and they didn't brighten the hope that was so dim it camouflaged into the darkness in which I was slowly sinking.

"Ino he buried me alive! How can that be ok?" I asked.

I was shaking and I swore it was the trauma setting in. I felt crazy; I felt as if suddenly I was going insane, as if everything was pressing down on me, like I was trapped in a cage that just kept getting smaller and smaller suffocating me. Claustrophobia began to creep upon me. The room seemed to have gotten so much smaller than it had been a few moments ago. I beat it back down with force; I wasn't in the ground anymore and I was just panicking. This wasn't a cramp space. I would be fine, just had to breathe.

That's right…breathe Sakura breathe… my inner said to me in a calm voice. I wiped my eyes before I continued, "I remember being wet after that. Afraid…I was so scared. I felt like I was going to die."

Ino was a talker, my best friend yes, but a talker nonetheless. While I cried my eyes out and told her the rest of what little I remember, such as seeing some shadow she was silent through it all. I'm sure it wasn't a shadow, it had to be a person but all I remember was seeing a silhouette. When I was finished I broke down again and this time she cried with me. She knew it was hard for me and my heart felt so heavy like an unwanted presence.

I didn't know what to do. If they got rid of him I would go to an orphanage, life would…I didn't even know. I could stay at Ino's but I always had to go back home some time, even if it was for an hour to grab my things and that's all he would need. That hour is all it would take. I was scared out of my skin, I was scared to get up and walk down the street for fear he'd just grab me and beat me into another coma for doing nothing. I didn't do anything, I never did anything except exist and that was always enough for him. This summer was my breaking point; I didn't think I could take anymore.

"Ino," I sobbed as I grabbed her expensive blouse, "I don't want to go back home. I just can't…anymore…I don't…" I didn't even know how to formulate the words.

"Shh," she cooed, "I told you it was going to be alright. I told you this time things were going to be different." She said as she pulled away from me and wiped her eyes.

She picked up her Versacewhateverbranditwas blue leather purse and pulled out two napkins. She gave one to me and I responded with a sniff and took it. She used another one to wipe her face. She then took out a carry-on hand mirror that was pink, her mascara, some lips gloss, eye shadow and some foundation powder. I didn't know how she made all that hold in the small clutch purse, really I didn't. Then, I swear on my life, in absolute silence as if this was not the most conceited thing ever, right then and there Ino fixed her makeup. She closed the mirror and placed everything back inside and looked at me.

"Yeah," she said continuing as if she had not stopped. "Everything is going to be different. I didn't want to bring this up and surprise you and then it didn't happen but I guess I should tell you now."

I raised an eyebrow at her. Ino's surprises were not always the smartest things in the world…she was more in the moment than I was and I feared what she might have to surprise me right now. I couldn't handle anything too big right now. "What?"

"Oh Forehead don't look like the world is going to explode," she said with a laugh, "I was talking to Tsunade and she did me a favor, for you of course. She did some research, well a whole massive research, like haunt your family tree down to the bone kind of research, like… the illegal only reserved for government workers kind of research until she swore her eyes were going to start bleeding and it turns out that you have an aunt that lives right in Konoha with her family. She's not like close relative or anything more like your second or third cousins' sister's like- basically she's a very distant relative in the nook of your family tree. Almost like she got married to your mothers' second cousin or some shit like that I don't know the details. The point is she knew you all once upon a time and maybe met your mom once or twice in this lifetime yeah? She said that she'd love to have you to come and live with her, she has more than enough space and I talked to your worthless father-"

"You talked to my dad!?" I asked rasped incredulously.

"Well I had to Forehead I didn't want to and I'd have preferred not to talk to him but I was the bestfriend on a mission, I had to do what I had to do. I got him to agree to let you stay with them said he doesn't want you living with him anyways and FYI I wanted to slap him in the face for saying that but I didn't because that would have really sucked in my plan and it might not have happened." Ino took huge gulp of air before continuing. "So now when we actually move you won't be living with him at all. Yes he's still moving, the bastard has to, you know more about that part than I do, but now you don't have to move on the other side of Konoha while I live on the other side because your relatives lives on my side and not too far from my house that I am going to move into might I add and we can go to the same school. Okay so maybe I didn't totally do this for you, I did it for me too because I love you and I want you around when we move to some new scary town. It's perfect, you won't even have to see your father and yes there is more. The hospital there is one of the biggest and most advanced in all of Japan. You know Tsunade was being relocated to Juno hospital you know but now she doesn't even have to turn down Konohagakure Hospital's request to have her back there so now she can move to the best on and be close to you! And I haven't gotten this part really worked out yet but I promise you –this girl- is going to make it happen. I was thinking that maybe after a year with them we could have them file for custody of you so you could stay with them and this way your Father has no power of you and you both can live like you don't know each other. That part isn't settled yet, but I was thinking of maybe giving that a shot if the beginning of my plan works out perfectly like it should. It's like a perfect plan, flawless just like Ino Yamanaka the person who came up with it! It just works out!" she gushed out with happiness.

I just gaped at her. She really could be a mouthful.

"There is just one problem," I said.

"What? There is no problem," she replied looking at her nails.

"Of course there is." I replied. "I can't go into their home and live. They don't know me Ino and I don't know them. I'd probably be imposing. What if she doesn't even like me? People rarely ever like me."

"If she thought so she wouldn't have been smiling so much and asked me when we would be moving; when I told her we would be cutting it pretty close to the start of the new semester she asked if you couldn't move sooner but you know we have to finish up everything here, Tsunade has a lot to finish up and she can't have you move without her then something happens and people who aren't aware of your situation go and try something and it ends up making you just that much worse."

"She's just being nice." I objected. "She couldn't have outright said no like that, that's impolite."

"Well you'd be mean by refusing her if she was serious." Ino contradicted stubbornly. "Is that what you want?"

"What? No I don't want that, but-"

"There's nothing to 'but'," she interrupted annoyed, "you don't want to be mean you'd rather die before you do that and I'm sure she could use another youngster in the house she only has one daughter anyway. I'm sure the girl is nice enough; you'll get along fine so you're moving in with her. Sakura really, I worked my ass off to get you out of that fucking house –clearly not soon enough because look where you've ended up- but you're not going to turn it down I won't let you. End of story."

I bit my lip. I didn't know these people, they didn't know me. I didn't even know this woman's name. As if moving to a completely new town wasn't enough, a completely new home with even more strangers was pushing it for me. The chances of them liking me were probably slim, depending on who they were and how they were. That was important when moving in with someone, if they didn't like me it would make everything so much more inconvenient with all that tension, ill-will and all that sort of thing. I'd simply be creating an unwanted environment in their own home. How would all my finances even go? Would I end up dumping all that one them too? If I moved in with them, there wouldn't be any monthly contributions to the home from any of my parents; my father already wanted nothing to do with me so all my finances would end up falling on them. How was that fair to them? It really wasn't. I had medical issues up to my neck even, I didn't want to be a burden I couldn't dump that responsibility on someone else- a stranger no less. That wasn't right.

At the same time, Ino wasn't all that wrong either. I didn't want to go back home and she'd found a way to make sure I didn't have to. How could I turn that down, when it was about my safety? Where else could I possibly stay if not with these people? Ino's parents were nice enough but they were hardly ever around with how much they travelled and while they didn't mind having me around, the questions that would arrive if I was there too long were questions I didn't want to answer. Her father was a lawyer and he'd want to get involved which would cause more mess than there already was. Not to mention now was the worst possible time for me to even consider moving in with Ino, what with her mother opening up a new flower shop and expanding it in Konoha was a huge stepping stone for them. Everyone would be busy and they would need months to get their house and lives in order after the big move, to have them be forced to factor in another person would be way too much to ask.

"Oh would you stop fretting and just be happy?" Ino said as she stared at me. "This is good, you know this is good. They want you there, she wants to see you. Sakura come on!" she urged me.

I sighed. What other choice did I really have? They were already expecting to have me. I could always stay to myself, out of the way and earn my keep. Right? I just didn't want to-

"It's better than living with your dad." She whispered. "You don't want to go back and I made sure that you don't have to. That's what matters. Worrying won't change anything and if a problem comes up with them, then we'll fix it together but at least you won't be there. Living with your aunt or whatever has to be better than living with your dad right?"

I looked away, uneasy. "Yeah. You're right." I said finally.

She beamed and hugged me tightly I had to moan in pain. "Yes!" she squealed. "Oh Sakura! We can go to concerts, we can shop on their hip strips together, we can go clubbing, to more parties! We can go to the beach! It'll be so much fun! Just think about it! Konoha is the here and now all year round, they have the hottest trends, clothes, jewelry, parties, people! They have the world's largest band living there! Going to school! Sakura we'd both be going to the same school! I can just see it now!" she gushed, pure red hearts suddenly filling her eyes.

"We will?" I asked lamely.

"Yes! The Sharingan goes to Konohagakure High, the school of the schools! Can you believe that!? We're going to be seeing the Sharingan in person! All of them! Like I'm sure they're not at school every day or whatever but OMG! I think I might faint just thinking about it!" Her cheeks were already flushed tomato red.

I looked at her like she was talking in a different language to me. While Ino and I were best friends, we didn't really share the same interests per se. She was far more flamboyant and introverted than I could ever even hope to be. We were, for the most part as opposite as they came.

"Sharingan?" I asked. Ino's favorite band or boy group or whatever, changed relatively every eight or so hours so even if I tried, it was not an easy task to keep up. "Remind me who they are again,"

"Forehead you're just so lame when it comes to all this," she said as she hit her forehead. "You don't even know a song by them?"

"Uh…no and no I've never heard of them. If I have I don't remember, you talk about so many artist at a time it's hard to keep track of them all." I replied.

"Sakura you need to listen to music more,"

"I do listen to music," I defended, "well whenever I have time which isn't very often. You know this,"

"Exactly. They haven't been around for more than like two years from what I know and I reckon that I know quite a bit, which is why you….ugh!" she groaned frustrated. "I have to at least play you a song and show you a picture of these guys."

"It's ok," I said. "Just refresh my memory with a few key words." I said to her as I shifted on the hospital bed which hurt so bad I had to bite the inside of my lip to not say anything.

"They're the hottest guy band on the entire planet." She began when she was in fan girl mode about some guy and I knew that Ino's idea of Key Words would take roughly an hour of gushing and ranting.

I smiled. She'd always been the most concrete thing in my life all these years. It was still amazing to have her around.

Well there you have it guys, another chapter finished. If you have anything you want to say to me privately just PM me. Please review this chapter and let me know what you think and I hope you had a good time reading it.

Much Love,

D.V