Chapter Six

"The psychological effects of having to hold a prospectless position for what might seem an infinite amount of time does nothing to aid the defender's concentration." - Michael Stean

Interlude

Shikamaru stood on the hill beside her, gazing down at the immense destruction wrought on the Allied Shinobi Headquarters by the Bijuu bomb. The place was a huge disaster. It had been a week since the end of the war and their fathers' deaths, but the place still smoked from the bomb.

Ino looked up at him. "I can't sense anything at all, it's so quiet."

From behind them, the ninjas from the Hidden Cloud, Darui and C, commented, "We knew it would be like this."

Shikamaru put his arm around Ino's shoulders and pulled her in closer to him. He sent an annoyed glance their way and said, "I doesn't make it any easier, though, does it?"

C looked at Ino for a moment before saying, "I'm sorry if what I said was insensitive. Your fathers' bodies are down there and our comrade Mabui's body as well."

The group from the Hidden Mist was close behind them. Mei Terumi herself had decided to go with their party. Her advisor and friend Ao had died in the destruction of Allied Shinobi Headquarters. Shiranui Genma stood beside her on the hill. "Ao was such a crotchety shinobi," she said breaking the silence, "always complaining about youth these days being soft. He would reminisce about the good old days during the Bloody Mist, even though he and I knew they weren't good. With his Byakugan eye, he had been the one to uncover Madara's treachery. We overthrew the Yondaime together and it was Ao who recommended me to the daimyo for the position of Godaime Mizukage. He was a grumpy old bastard, but I'm going to miss him. Losing him is like losing my right arm."

Darui put his hands in his pockets and looked out towards the destruction. "Rebuilding is going to be challenging for the Hidden Cloud. We lost both our Raikage and his assistant. Mabui might have seemed like nothing but a pretty face, but she was really the one running the Hidden Cloud from beside A. The Raikage hated all that administrative stuff. They were a funny team: him snapping about not wanting to sign another thrice damned form and her coolly glaring him down, holding a pen, and daring him to do otherwise. I'm going to miss both of them."

C smiled at the memory. He glanced Ino's way before adding, "She was a true kunoichi – softer than silk, but harder than steel."

Mei Terumi smiled. "Well said. Ao died a true shinobi. Somehow I have trouble imagining him dying in a bed of old age. He would say it wasn't dignified and wasn't the way they used to do things in the good old days."

Ino blinked a couple times, trying to keep the tears from falling from her watery eyes. "I know that I should be proud of my father for dying so bravely, but I wish…I wish it didn't have to be this way."

Shikamaru squeezed her arm lightly and she leaned her head against his shoulder, her blonde mane falling like a river over his shoulder. "I'm grateful for your father, Ino. Without him, I wouldn't have been able to speak with my dad one last time before his death. Your clan's bloodline gave me a precious gift."

Mei Terumi nodded in agreement. "Yamanaka Inoichi was an incredible man. After he transmitted Nara Shikaku's strategy, he transmitted the last words of all the shinobi who died at Headquarters to their friends and relatives. When I was lying on that barren plain bleeding out, I was able to share in Ao's final moments and for that I'm truly grateful."

Genma said, "Inoichi would have been very proud of the kunoichi that you've become, Ino."

Ino looked down at her hands, watching hot tears drip on them. She cleared her throat and said, "Well let's go find them then."

Haruno Sakura

Sakura knocked on the door to Yamanaka flowers. When there was no reply, she wandered in. The CLOSED sign was in the window, but the door was unlocked. Ino would be heading off the academy soon and Sakura was going to volunteer to help her out at the shop in the morning before she needed to head over to help Kakashi at the Hokage Building.

Sakura blinked at the sound of retching coming from the backroom. She ran over to the bathroom and found Ino leaning over the toilet throwing up. "Are you alright?" wondered Sakura. "We can find another sub if you're not feeling well."

Ino coughed and sat back. Rising unsteadily, she smoothed back her hair and filled a cup in the sink to rinse out her mouth. She turned to Sakura and said, "I'll be fine in a second. I was just feeling a little nauseous this morning. It'll pass soon enough. I don't want to let Choji down."

Sakura shook her head and said, "I'm calling for a new sub, Ino. You're white as a ghost. You shouldn't have to go teach the students today."

Ino leaned against the sink and sighed. "I probably just caught something from Choji's kids the other day. I'll be alright in no time."

Sakura put her hands on her hips. "You look like you have the flu. I'm going to send a message to Iruka to find someone else and then you are going to lie back in bed and I'm going to get you some crackers and tonic water. Doctor's orders."

"Okay," Ino complied meekly.

Sakura sat down at the front desk and picked up a pen and jotted a note to Kakashi and Iruka. She summoned a slug and asked it to deliver a message. As she watched it slither away out of the shop, she sighed awkwardly. The message would take forever to reach them. Slugs were wonderful healers, but they weren't great messengers. She Shunshin-ed over to the Academy and explained the situation to Iruka. She thanked him for the trouble before flickering over to the Hokage Building.

Kakashi sat back in his chair and asked, "What do I owe this surprise, Sakura?"

"Ino's not feeling well. Iruka's finding a sub for her."

"Ah, chickening out only after two days. That doesn't seem like her."

"She wasn't faking. I went by to see if I could help out in the flower shop and found her throwing up in the bathroom. She thinks that she caught something from the kiddies."

"A likely story," Kakashi said winking his one visible eye. "I guess operation scare Ino into joining T&I worked."

"I guess so."

"I'll ask Ibiki to stop over and talk with her this week about T&I."

"Okay."

Interlude

She was tired, so tired. The comforting oblivion of sleep offered no respite for her anymore. Whenever she closed her eyes, terrifying memories of people and events she didn't know or understand warred for her attention.

She tried to focus all of her energy into the chakra flowing from her hands and into this shinobi's body and not the frightening memories waiting for her when she closed her eyes.

Paralyzing darkness, born out of the cells of a great man. …but who were you when you were one of thousands, all born from the same seed? Your whole life meaning nothing. You were only born to serve the purpose of a madman.

No, pay attention, Ino! Don't lose focus now. This man's life depends on you. Just a little more chakra, just a little more focus. The external bleeding had ceased, but the internal bleeding hadn't. If you don't stop it soon, he will die. Pay attention!

Crushing darkness, in the moment of triumph borne down by the weight of the very earth above you. Pain… every bone in your body crushed to powder… all the while, a dangerous power awakening inside you allowing you to slip away into nothingness. Pain…your heart breaking just as surely as hers with that boy's hand plunged through her chest. Striving with all your might for a new world, for a world with her in it and just as you are about to taste victory, having it pulled out from under you.

A white cloth dabbed the sweat dripping down her face. She blinked in surprise at the handsome medical ninja from Kumo. His dark eyes smiled kindly at her as he smoothed the cloth over her face. "Alright there, Ino? You look worse than the guy you're supposed to be healing. Do you need a break? I can get someone else to take over."

Ino blinked in surprise. It wouldn't be good to collapse in the middle of a surgery. "That would probably be good, I'm beat. Thanks for checking in, C."

"Not a problem, Ino." The blonde haired Kumo shinobi waved over a medical ninja walking towards them. "Hey, Daisuke, can you rotate with Ino? She needs a lie down."

The other medical ninja dropped the box of syringes that he was carrying onto a table nearby and ran over to stand on the other side of the patient. Daisuke was a brown haired shinobi from Suna with kind dark eyes. He was about Ino's age. He beamed at her before putting his hands over the patient to assess what had been done already.

"I've fixed up most of the internal bleeding," explained Ino. "There are only a few more vessels that need to be closed and then the blood that seeped into his lungs needs to be removed."

"Alright," said the medical ninja, starting to sweat. "Closing blood vessels…"

C chuckled at Daisuke from where he stood next to Ino. "Do you know how to close internal blood vessels?"

The Suna ninja blushed and replied, "No, I haven't learned that yet. I'm not good at locating internal blood vessels. I'm still working to master external bleeding."

C shared an amused smile with Ino before stepping forward. "Don't worry about that then. You can clear out the blood from his lungs with a syringe while I close the vessels. Alright?"

"Yes, sir!" said the other ninja.

C turned to Ino. "And you go take a nap in the break room. Doctor's orders."

Ino rolled her eyes at him before pinching his nose playfully. "Jeez, you're so bossy, C-sempai."

"Off with you then." He winked.

Ino turned and began walking towards the break room at the back of the tent. They had several bunk beds arranged in a closet with some of the medical supplies for the medics to take naps between shifts when necessary.

Devouring darkness, in the belly of the beast, it's chakra like poison searing your skin. But the need, the drive, the will to survive, to do whatever it takes to get out of there. A light, after living centuries in the darkness. How could this be? How could life have been breathed back into you? But here you are again, with your brother. Reunited for only moments before he was taken from you by a man wearing the uniform of your village fighting shoulder to shoulder with your enemies…

Strong arms slipped under her knees and shoulder blades to lift her effortlessly. There was some shuffling and then a voice in her ear. "You look a little unsteady on your feet, Ino."

Ino blinked in surprise, but rested her tired head on C's shoulder. "What happened?"

"It looked like you were sleep walking over to the break room. If you're going to be this tired, you can ask to have your shifts shortened. There's no need for you to push yourself so hard, especially considering that you're still recovering from chakra exhaustion," the Kumo shinobi said.

"You're probably right," Ino sighed. "Is the patient alright then?"

C nodded with a smile. "Yeah, Daisuke's draining the blood from his lungs now. The patient should be fine. You did good work today."

They finally reached the backroom. C ducked under the canvas door and settled Ino on one of the lower bunks. He lingered for a moment after placing her on the bed, gazing down at her with a peculiar expression. He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before wishing her sweet dreams and heading off to see the rest of his patients.