First, I'd like to say lovely job, Pyrobee, for practically hittin' the nail on the head with what Temari had to do with Ino!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
How long had she been out for? It felt like forever. Her whole body ached, like she had been running for days on end. Her throat was incredibly dry, and her stomach alerted her to the fact that she hadn't eaten for a rather long time. Upon further inspection, she found that her clothes had been ripped in some places, since she could feel the cold air strongly on those parts of her body.
Wait. She could feel the sharp bite of cold metal around her ankle and on her back.
Groaning softly, she forced her eyes open, though barely, and regarded her prison silently. It was rather small, dirty, wet, and empty. It seemed just like the sort of cell back in Konoha that was designed to hold bandits that were going to be interrogated. Only this one seemed...colder, sort of like it had a more horrifying feel to it. Like things had happened inside of it that had Sakura both wondering what could have happened as well as not really wanting to know.
"Finally awake, girlie?"
Sakura lifted her head just enough to see one of the two people standing guard over her peering through the bars to look at her, a cruel smirk on his face. She summoned up enough will power to glare at him for a few moments before tilting her head back down, staring at the metal thing around her ankle. Whatever it was, it was affecting her greatly.
"Oi, Leaf ninja, 'bout time ya' woke up," The other guard grunted. "Don't bother tryin' ta escape. We got ya' fixed so's ya' won't be gatherin' no chakra."
Sakura closed her eyes. That's why she felt so weak and empty. Where was Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi-sensei? Surely they had been captured as well? She let another groan arise from her when she felt more dull aching, particularily in her back.
"Wha-...What did you do...to me...?" Sakura struggled to speak, but managed to force those words out after a few moments of silent shaking. She grunted and moved away from the wall that she was leaning against, remaining like that for another few moments before turning herself around so that her back was facing the guards.
The first guard laughed, throwing his head back. "I'd be more concerned for what we're going to be doing to you," He told her, as if he was hoping to get some sort of horrified reaction from her.
The pinkette opened her eyes a crack, just enough to see the disturbingly large red streak on the wall that she had been leaning against. She couldn't help but whimper, the knowledge that she had a wound big enough to make that mark on her back being a little too much to handle at one time.
This only amused the first guard even more, since he laughed once again. "Hope you said your goodbyes to those other Leaf shinobi, girlie. Won't be seein' them again. Matter of fact, I'd be surprised if you saw any of your friends again!"
Sakura's eyes snapped open at that. What if she really never did see any of her friends again?
She'd never share another laugh with Naruto, or see her biggest crush, Sasuke, again. How would everyone take it when they realized she wasn't coming back? Tsunade, knowing her and how attached she had become to the pinkette over the few years she had trained Sakura, would probably send out search party after search party to find her. Kakashi-sensei would most-likely be on every team he could.
Naruto...he was like a brother to her. This would take it's toll on him as well. Maybe even Sasuke would miss her, even the slightest bit. Then there was Lee. As much as he creeped her out most of the time, she considered him a rather good friend of her's.
...Of course, there was Ino. When she thought of the blonde, Sakura couldn't help but remember how she had been avoiding her for the longest time. Had she done something wrong? Normally they were throwing insults at each other and competing constantly for Sasuke's attention. What had happened to that?
The pinkette knew that Ino wasn't the type of girl to just ignore a rival of sorts, especially when that rival is calling her names as attempts to get the blonde to even acknowledge her. That was what she had done, but it hadn't seemed to work. Now it was too late. She'd never see her childhood friend again. She wouldn't have a chance to find out what was wrong, or perhaps try to fix their broken friendship.
She knew shinobi weren't supposed to cry, but she couldn't help it. Sakura ducked her head down and closed her eyes, biting her bottom lip to force back a broken sob.
Ino sighed boredly, a front for what she was really feeling. It was a rather bad thing to feel aroused at the moment, after all, especially when Sakura would be able to notice it as soon as she lost her forced bored look. It was all the pinkette's fault, though. Sakura was still looking over her injuries, touching her ribs and sensitive scar lightly. It didnt help that her shirt was laying on the ground, leaving her upper body covered only by a bra.
The sand kunoichi that had arrived earlier was sitting on a chair that was across from the couch that Ino was laying on, her right leg crossed over her left one and her arms crossed over her chest. She had an impatient yet bored look on her face, sighing what seemed like every ten seconds.
"So, Ino..." Sakura started, a bit uncomfortable with the silence. "When did you and Temari become such close friends?" She questioned, looking up at the blonde's face when Ino scoffed at how she had been acting around them ever since Temari and Ino displayed their friendship.
"On the last mission, if you must know," Ino answered, casting a glance at the now amused-looking expression Temari had on her face. "Girls tend to bond unintentionally when there's only two of them out of four people."
"Yeah, but...Didn't you have Shikamaru?" The pinkette asked, trying to hide her wince when she leaned forward too much. Unfortunately, both Ino and Temari noticed, causing the platinum blonde to sit up with alarm and the sand kunoichi to stand up and casually stroll over.
"What's wrong?" Ino asked before a look of realization crossed her face, followed by a stern expression. "Sakura, you've been obsessing over my injuries all day. What about you? I thought you said they had all been healed?"
Sakura turned her head to look away from Ino, taking a seat on the couch beside the platinum blonde instead of continuing to kneel on the floor. "But I'm not the main concern here, Ino," She pointed out. Despite what she said, she did reluctantly turn around to let Ino lift up the back of her shirt.
"Holy shit, Sakura..." Ino mumbled, eyeing the large injury that ran along the pinkette's back. She reached out and touched it lightly, pulling away with alarm when Sakura winced in pain. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine," Sakura sighed and turned back to Ino, adjusting her shirt again. "Turns out the thing that made that thing on my back had some sort of healing-proof chakra on it or somethin', so it's gonna take a long time to heal. I'm surprised it's not bleeding at the moment." She shrugged and cast a glance at Temari, who was looking sternly at her as if she was about to scold her. And she was.
"Honestly, Haruno, I never would have guessed you to be the stubborn type who doesn't let anyone help. You should have that think wrapped up, at the very least. At least Ino's injuries aren't bleeding. Use your common sense, Pinky!" The sand kunoichi crossed her arms with displeasure, standing tall over the sitting Sakura, which only served to intimidate the pinkette.
Ino smiled gratefully at Temari, who caught it and returned it with a grin. "You have a way with words," She said before turning back to Sakura, a serious expression on her face once again. "But she's right, Sakura. You should at least bandage that up so that if it does start bleeding again, it should stop quicker, or so it won't go through your clothes."
The pinkette shrugged once again, uncomfortable with how they were suddenly talking about her. She never really liked being the center of attention. "I'll wrap it up later."
"I'm going to make sure of that," Ino said, a certain threatening tone added to her words that Sakura didn't fail to notice. "Anyway, we need something else to discuss. Sit, Tem! It always freaks me out when you keep standing over me!" She gestured to the chair that Temari had been sitting in before and continued to look at it until Temari finally grunted and moved back towards it.
Sakura shifted, uncomfortable with the silence that fell over the three girls. "We should go do something," She suggested. She really didn't want to stay cooped up in Ino's apartment on such a nice day, especially when the blonde that lived in the apartment was going to make sure that she took care of he wound on her back. Honestly, I don't need to be fussed over like a child...
Temari immediatly smirked and glanced at Ino, quietly waiting for Ino to get the idea that she knew the blonde was about to get. "Hm, going out and doing something. Maybe looking at things...with money...doesn't that give you any ideas, Ino?" She leaned forward slightly, clasping her hands together and setting them in her lap.
Ino's expression brightened considerably after a moment, a large grin lighting her face. "Shopping!"
"Oh my God, this is all your fault." Sakura groaned at how sore her feet were, trying to maintain a good pace that let her not lose sight of the excited blonde who was sprinting from one window to the next, trying to decide on what she wanted. The pinkette cast a grumpy glare to the sandy blonde haired girl walking beside her. Neither of the two kunoichi who were walking were carrying anything, yet Ino, who was carrying bags in both hands, was still running from one spot to the next.
"She would have gotten the idea sooner or later. I'd much rather not watch her try and think of something to do," Temari commented, waving her hand dismissively. She was fairing considerably better than Sakura was, since her feet had yet to become sore from all the walking they were doing. She did find it odd, though, how even though her and Sakura weren't carrying anything and Ino had shopping bags in both of her hands, the blonde was still running all over the place without seeming the least bit tired.
"I suppose," Sakura conceeded with a small nod, glancing away from Temari. When she didn't see the platinum blonde skipping quite a ways away from her, she paused. "Hey, where'd Ino go? She was right there a few seconds ago..." She muttered, a slightly worried look crossing her face, though it was quickly replaced by another scowl when Temari starting snickering.
"You aren't really the observant type, are you?" Temari teased the shorter girl, gesturing towards a long, bobbing ponytail of blonde hair making its way towards a shop across from where they were. Shaking her head with amusement, the sand kunoichi followed the eager blonde, casting a glance to her left when she saw the pinkette jog to her side.
"I didn't think she could be that fast is all," Sakura muttered, crossing her arms with a small frown. She carefuly watched Ino, intent on not letting the girl out of her sights, until the Yamanaka disappeared into the shop that she had been happily moving towards. "She has to run out of money soon..." She said hopefully, following Temari into the shop and immediatly clicking her teeth together with displeasure upon noticing that this particular shop was another clothes shop. These ones always took the longest.
"You two are so slow!" Ino cried out from behind a row of clothes, peeking through two shirts to smile at them. "Hey, why haven't you bought anything yet? We've seen so many awesome things!" She moved back towards the counter, where the shop owner was watching her, obviously amused, and set her bags down from the previous stores they had been to. "I'm just gonna keep these here, if ya' don't mind."
Sakura led the way towards the change rooms, standing a few feet in front of the one that Ino had disappeared into with Temari to her right. "She certainly loves to shop," She commented, wondering how she never noticed this before she had been gone for five years. It only made her feel worse when she reminded herself how Temari knew about Ino's love of shopping despite the fact that she didn't even live in Konoha.
"Yeah. Seeing her like this almost makes me forget how she actually is now," Temari sighed, letting a sad frown set on her face. Waving her hand in a sign that she wasn't going to talk any further about that particular subject when Sakura looked at her questioningly, Temari looked up from the ground and at the pinkette. "Go on, ask. I know you've been dieing to know one certain thing ever since you saw Ino and me."
Sakura blushed, embarrassed that she could be read so easily. "Okay, fine. Why are Ino and you so close? I've known her for a much longer time than you have and I've never had her hug me and practically cling onto me like that!" She gestured wildly in the air before stopping herself, realizing that she looked rather silly doing that.
The sandy blonde haired girl raised an eyebrow, smirking down at the pinkette. "You make it sound like you want her to cling to you," She pointed out, chuckling when Sakura simply went a brighter shade of red. "Anyway, the answer is...Well, I can't exactly tell you unless I have Ino's permission. I don't want to screw her life up more than I have," She smiled with amusement. Apparently that was some sort of inside joke between the two blondes.
Sakura sighed wih frustration and marched up to the change room door, banging on it rather loudly. She always did have a rather noticeable temper when she wanted to know something right that moment.
"Shit! Ease up, would ya'?!" Ino raised her voice out of surprise, opening the change room door enough for her to peek out and glare at Sakura. "What do you want? I'm in the middle of trying something on!" She muttered, aware that there were other people in the shop that could hear her if she continued to yell at that level.
"Temari needs your permission to tell me why you two are so close," Sakura huffed. "So give it to her and I'll leave you alone."
"Oh!" Ino laughed, glancing at Temari, then back at Sakura. "Is that all? Yeah, whatever. She really doesn't need it. But I'll advice you, Sakura. You definitely won't look at me the same way if you hear the truth," Ino said, taking on a dramatic tone before promptly shutting the door in the pinkette's face and locking it once again.
Sakura rolled her eyes at the blonde before turning and walking back towards Temari, who was smirking at her. "There's your permission. Now, answer the question," She demanded impatiently, only frowning when Temari shrugged indifferently.
"I'll show you when Ino comes back out of the change room...No, wait. I think it'd be a better idea to wait until we've gone back to the apartment. Don't want to attract any unwanted attention," Temari said, boredly examining her nails while trying to hide a sly smile at how Sakura pouted as soon as she had said that the pinkete would have to wait longer than she had planned.
"God, Ino, hurry up! It's not like you haven't bought a year's worth of clothes already!" Sakura called to the younger girl a few seconds before the change room door swung open, showing an exasperated Ino.
"You must not have told her, Tema, or else she wouldn't be this bitchy," Ino commented, flipping her hair as she walked past the two girls on her way to pick up her bags again, as well as pay for the outfits she had tried on. "Really, Sakura, you can act like such a spoiled brat sometimes."
"Agreed," Temari nodded before Sakura could say anything back at Ino. After a moment, Sakura shot a grateful glance at Temari, realizing that what she was going to say could have had a worse effect on Ino than she would have liked it to have. To this, Temari simply shrugged and followed Ino out the door, taking it upon herself to carry the clothing that Ino had bought from that store.
"Home?" Sakura asked hopefully, her expression changing to that of a sad puppy when she noticed Ino looking in her direction. She had used this 'technique' many times on Ino in the past, though all those times had been back when they were still the best of friends. Now it had been at least ten years since she had last used this weapon of her's.
Ino groaned, rolling her teal eyes once more to hide how she had swooned on the inside over how adorable Sakura was. "Fine," She sighed, changing direction so that she was walking back towards her apartment.
Oh, she's so cute! And she even called my place 'home'! How sweet is that? Crap, I just hope I don't suffer too much for what Tema's gonna tell her...Hopefully she doesn't say anything too extreme or descriptive for my poor Sakura.
"Home again, home again!" Ino twirled once as soon as she reached the living room, grinning happily and collapsing onto the couch that she had forced Sakura to sleep on. "It was so worth spending the whole day shopping! I have so many new outfits that it's not even funny!" She scooted down to the edge of the couch, patting the seat beside her for the first person who got there to sit beside her.
Sakura finally got into the living room, sitting near the middle of the couch with an anxious look on her face. "Okay, we're home, in the privacy of this lovely apartment. Now tell me or show me or whatever you're going to do!"
Ino froze. Oh God, 'show' her? She glanced at Temari, who was making her way steadily over to the two nineteen year olds. Temari, what are you thinking?! She frowned and glared at Temari, who paused in front of her and smiled with amusement. "Telling her would be the best thing to do."
"Whatever," Temari shrugged and took a seat on the other side of Sakura, leaning against the back of the couch lazily. "Pinky, the thing is that Ino and I used to go out. We ended it on good terms, though," Temari closed her eyes, waiting for Sakura's reaction. She did feel sorry for Ino, having to wait anxiously for how the girl who used to be her former best friend would react to the news of her being a lesbian.
"So..." Sakura trailed off, looking with shock at Ino, then Temari, and back again. "Why? I mean, you two have nothing in common!" She frowned and gestured to Temari, seeming to react worse to the news that Ino had dated Temari, of all people, rather than the fact that the Yamanaka preferred girls.
Ino shrugged. "It kinda happened. I mean...we were on the mission and it was just so easy to talk to her...It was like we clicked really quickly, y'know?" She sighed at the fact that she was trying to explain herself to Sakura when she really had no need to do so. "The only other people there were Shika and Neji. Shika's a lazy bastard and is just so hard to talk personally with, and Neji...enough said."
Temari rolled her eyes at the youngest of the three girls, slowly leaning forward again. A slow smirk started to spread across her face, which Ino immediatly caught and glared sternly at her. Temari simply ignored her and looked at Sakura, an accusing look now on her face. "Yeah, that and the fact that you weren't there, if only to protect her. No, you had to go and get yourself caught. Just think for a moment. If you had escaped sooner, you could have asked Tsunade to put you on that mission, and maybe, just maybe, Ino wouldn't be like she is now."
"It wasn't my fault!" Sakura scowled at Temari, recognizing a guilt trip when she heard one. "Well, if you hadn't been slacking off or doing whatever the hell you were, you could have saved Ino before anything happened to her!" She gestured to the blonde, who sighed with irritation.
"Y'know, I'm right here, so you two can stop talking about me like I'm not." Ino rubbed her forehead tiredly, closing her eyes with a depressed expression. That look made Temari frown with regret, as she recognized that look. "Besides, it's my fault anyway. If I had just been stronger..."
"Oh, shut up," Temari snapped, glaring at Ino and ignoring the questioning look Sakura was giving her. "We've been through this already with Shika. You had no control over the situation," She looked sternly at Ino when the girl opened her mouth to retort, resisting the urge to smirk victoriously when Ino sighed and accepted defeat.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry," Ino rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, glancing at the digital clock on the table she had by the TV. "Tema, you can sleep in my bed, it's alright with me," Ino told the sand kunoichi, blinking at the incredulous look on Sakura's face.
"What?! Ino, I've known you for a much longer time, yet I still have to sleep on this crappy couch?! Come on!" The pinkette questioned, feeling another pang of jealousy towards Temari like she had earlier, when Ino had practically tackled Temari after seeing the girl. How had Temari become better friends with Ino than she currently was? She had, after all, known Ino since before they were even genin!
"You aren't exactly my friend, Sakura," Ino's eyes suddenly went cold. Does she think she can just break off our friendship like she did so long ago, then expect me to suddenly think of her as a friend? What's worse, she probably only wants to be my friend again so she won't have to sleep on this couch!
Sakura actually flinched as if she had just been hit, a hurt look crossing her face. "Well, I always considered us friends, even if I never showed it..." She muttered sadly, looking down at the ground. She completely missed Ino's cold expression soften for a moment because of how miserable she looked.
"I don't care. The fact remains that you made no attempt to rebuild our ruined friendship until now, and even now it's only because you don't want to sleep on this couch," Ino flicked her hair out of her face, glancing at Temari when the sandy blonde haired girl stood with a look of amusement on her face.
"You two sound like an old bickering couple. I'm gonna go ahead and hit the sack. It's been a long day, and we still have a few more days until we leave with Shika and Neji. See you two tomorrow if one of you doesn't kill the other before then." Temari turned on her heel and moved towards Ino's room, disappearing behind the door after a quick wave over her shoulder.
Sakura shook her head slightly, acknowledging Temari's departure with a small wave of her hand. "Ino...This has been bugging me since...well, since before I was captured. Why were you avoiding me?" She asked, forcing herself to raise her head up again and look Ino in the eyes.
The blonde blinked, a shocked looked crossing her face before a reluctant, depressed one replaced it. "That's nothing to concern yourself over, Sakura."
"Well, I am anyway. You never answered my question."
"Haven't you ever tried to avoid someone before?" Ino narrowed her eyes slightly, wanting to get off this subject as quickly as possible. When Sakura nodded, Ino turned her head to stare at the wall. "People avoid others because they don't want to deal with them, in a sense."
"You didn't want to have to deal with me?" Sakura asked quietly after a short pause, since she had hesitated after deciding that she may not want to know the answer to that. If Ino didn't really want to deal with her, then she shouldn't be at the blonde's home. She'd have to ask Tsunade to get her a place to stay somewhere else, perhaps Naruto's house, since she knew him.
Ino shrugged. "In a sense," She repeated. "But in a way, I was avoiding you because I didn't want to have to deal with half of myself."
They stayed silent for a minute or so, with Ino looking anywhere but at the pinkette and Sakura trying hard to make eye contact with the younger girl. She finally managed to do that since Ino looked at her, startled, when she grasped her hand like she had when Ino had reacted badly to the fact that they were going on a continuation mission.
"Ino, I never want you to feel like you need to avoid me ever again," Sakura told the now slightly shorter girl, smiling gently at the unsure look on the platinum blonde's face. "You're still my best friend, no matter what you think. I'll protect you with my life on the mission when called for and stay by your side at all times..."
"I know, Sakura, but..." Ino glanced away, fighting back a blush she could feel trying to find her face at the contact between their hands. "Shika told me something similar to that before I was taken, so...forgive me if I can't exactly believe that."
Sakura sighed, letting Ino stand up, though she didn't fail to notice how reluctantly Ino did so. "Alright, I understand...You sure you don't want to sleep on the couch with me again, like last night?" She asked timidly.
Ino seemed to consider that offer in her head for a few moments, though shook her head slowly in the end. "No, I'm good. I don't want to end up clinging to you in my sleep like I did last time. Bad habit of mine," She laughed.
The pinkette smiled, this time worrying about how disappointed she felt when Ino declined her offer. The clinging comment wasn't exactly helping her, either, as it brought up memories of what Temari had said earlier that was along the same lines as that.
"Good night, Sakura," Ino muttered quietly, still standing in front of the older girl. For a moment, she considered giving Sakura a quick peck on her forehead (Ino had always loved Sakura's slightly larger than normal forehead), but quickly decided against it and settled for giving the girl a quick hug.
"Sweet dreams," Sakura sighed close to her ear, letting the blonde pull away after she had said that. The last thing Ino saw of Sakura before she had gone into her room was the pinkette lounging against the couch, not quite ready to go to sleep yet.
Ino, why can't you get your act together? These feelings of your's, they aren't valid. They won't get you anywhere! If anything, Sakura will only hate you more if she ever finds out! Sure, she may have reacted okay to you being a lesbian, but liking her?! That's a completely different thing!
Ino sighed and looked down at Temari, who had already passed out. The sandy blonde kunoichi was sprawled out across over half of the bed, though Ino still smiled. "It's your fault for ever trying to put Sakura through that guilt trip. You're such a bitch."
Shikamaru slowly glanced beside him at Ino, who he was sitting with, their backs lightly pressed against a tree. She had her head tilted up slightly, looking up at the stars with a sad look on her face. It even made Shikamaru feel sympathy for her. At the moment, Neji was quickly scouting the area with his byakugan, if only to make sure nobody was going to sneak up on them at this moment while they had set up camp for the night, and Temari was warming herself by the fire she had finally managed to make.
"If it makes you feel better," The Nara boy started slowly, trying to carefully pick his words, "Sakura was never actually seen dead. There's still a chance that she's alive and out there, waiting for the perfect chance to escape." He had never been the best person at comforting others, but he cared enough about Ino to not want the blonde to continue to look up longingly into the sky with such a miserable look on her face.
"Shika, you heard what her team said," Ino murmured, letting her head fall to the side so that she could look at Shikamaru with a sad smile on her face. "There's hardly a chance at all that she's alive. It's been three years, four if you count the one that she was supposed to be gone for. Even Naruto, the guy who probably had the most faith in Sakura's abilities, thinks she's dead."
Shikamaru shrugged a shoulder and looked back up at the stars, where Ino had been looking before and had now returned to staring at. "So you don't think that Sakura's good enough to have survived?" He questioned, placed his hands palm-down on either side of him. "Is that it?"
"N-No, I never said that..." Ino stammered, looking surprised for a moment. "Why would you even think for a moment that I think that? Of course she's good enough to have survived!" She even sounded offended for the pinkette, having crossed her arms and scowled.
Immediatly, Shikamaru smirked at Ino. "Then you think she's still alive if you think she's good enough," He pointed out, resulting in Ino blinking with shock for a moment before smiling gratefully at the taller shinobi.
"Thanks, Shikamaru. I really needed that," Ino nodded her head slightly, giving the now embarrased boy a happy little hug. "Do you think this mission'll take long? I kinda want to get Lady Tsunade to send me and maybe two other people on another search party. Maybe we'll actually find her!"
"As troublesome as it may be, I'll go with you if you manage to do that," Shikamaru told his teammate, earning himself another hug. He only went a brighter shade of red when Temari shouted at them to get a room with a sly grin on her face.
"We'll find her, Shika. I know it. Everyone may have lost hope, but not me. Well, not you either. And nobody's gonna make me think otherwise!" Ino pumped her fist into the air, believing that this mission would be as easy as every other one she had gone on like this. Get to their destination, ask around, pretend to be someone she wasn't, get more information, maybe spy a little, then return back to Konoha. Nothing else would ever happen that wasn't on that list of things, and that's now she liked to keep it.
Finally got over my writer's block, but I still don' like this chapter. I don't like any chapters though. I'm very picky with my own stuff, but everyone else seems to like them. I found that confusing and amusing at the same time.
Oh, and as I was writing this, I kept thinking about how I kept making Temari out to seem like a bitch. She is human, I'll have you all know! At some point or another she'll actually show a caring side, I just haven't decided when. Oh, and as I typed that other half thing that Ino said, I couldn't help but think about how sometimes one partner calls their lover their 'other half' or 'better half'. Of course, I somehow found this just the absolute best thing ever so I had to stop and grin for a minute or so.
...I really didn't like the flashbacks. Thought I'd throw that one out there.
- Flower Cynic
