Loyalty
"Loyalty means nothing unless it has at its heart the absolute principle of self-sacrifice."
Woodrow Wilson
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Spoilers for the NEWEST manga chapters. Turn back if you don't want to be spoiled.
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It was the best and worst moment of her life.
Memories flooded back to her, that one time when Sakura and she had been talking about who would steal their first kiss when they were older. Sakura had blushed and said she had someone in mind, and Ino had boasted that she would kiss an Uchiha one day, making Sakura look up at her sadly.
How ironic it was that she was kissing an Uchiha, but not the one she had planned to. She wondered if Sakura was really in a relationship with Sasuke now that he was obviously back in Konoha.
She was too deep in her thoughts to realize that his hand was running through her hair, that his lips were pressing harder. She put her arms around his neck willingly, closing her eyes.
Suddenly something cold ran in his eyes, and in a second he had hit her head and she crashed to the floor. She gasped, looking up at him. He stood up slowly, eyes burning red.
"You know too much." Came his monotone voice. Ino's eyes widened. Is he serious? She thought with a shiver down her spine. She backed up, wiping blood from her mouth.
"Itachi..." She whispered, shaking. About to make a seal, she was one ahead of him.
"Shintenshin no Jutsu: Inversion!" She shrieked desperately. Her body went stiff, as did Itachi's. He looked at her fiercely, making her actions copy his for both bodies.
"What...do...you...think—" Came both of their voices, although this time Ino's unwillingly.
"Release!" Cried both the bodies, and they fell to the ground. Ino's eyes blinked open a few moments later, seeing as she had more immunity to her own jutsu. Itachi's eyes were closed, his hair covering his face. She looked at him, concerned. He almost looked dead, his pale face displaying a peaceful look, his dark hair lightly covering his eyes. She felt her eyes tear up and she blinked, surprised, angry at her softness. He just tried to kill me. He could have killed me...but before that...
Before she knew it, her eyes had closed and welcomed the darkness.
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Sasuke sat in his empty room, the wind running in through the window, his fists clenched. At the right time...
He pretended like it hadn't stabbed him hard in the side, those words that Naruto had uttered.
They didn't understand, did they?
He had been fighting with himself for weeks, months, years. Would he ever kill Itachi? Would he ever find the happiness he had had before the massacre?
He kept telling himself no. No.
They thought everything was back to normal, didn't they? Or was he assuming too much? These questions were biting him, burning him.
Itachi had ruined him. He had killed a part of him.
A kunai flew out of his hands to hit the wall, cracking the once-proud symbol of the Uchiha clan.
It cracked immediately, and fell back onto his bed, running a hand through his hair.
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Sakura walked back into her small apartment with a sigh. Sure, it was fun to be with Naruto...to see her friends...
After seeing Shikamaru and Chouji everything about that morning had gone downhill. What they had asked...
So, they had seen Ino? What was she like? Was she...okay? Was she...
All the things...
Naruto knew it was hurting her, deep inside. Sure, Ino and she hadn't been the closest of friends towards the end...but somewhere down the line, to see her there, that purity that she used to be, turned into a murderer...
She kept seeing that smirk. That smirk, the eyes closed, blood red staring back at her, outlining the blue that used to be so kind.
It was haunting her.
She had sat there in silence, and Naruto had told Shikamaru in a low voice that it wasn't the right time. No, he'd tell them later. No, they should ask Tenten or Lee. Lee's in the hospital? Tenten got out today? That's good. Is she any better? Yes? Alright. Well, we should go. Sakura-chan, are you ready? Alright. Bye, Shikamaru, Chouji.
The conversation burned her. It hurt even more that she used to do this around Naruto when Sasuke was gone. She knew that he was trying to give her time, and it made her too much aware of the situation.
If there was one thing she knew...
It was that Ino was going to come back.
Whether she liked it or not.
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Naruto sighed and collapsed onto his bed, closing his eyes.
"Damn it, Shikamaru..." He muttered. "I thought you were smarter than that...bringing up something that's hurting Sakura-chan so much..." He said, running a hand through his hair.
He knew it was just like when Sasuke left. Some sort of girl bond, right?
Losing a best friend could be the worst thing in the world. He knew the feeling all too well.
Somehow, some way...Sakura was going to do anything to get her back.
And although he knew she had to, and he couldn't stop her without being a hypocrite, he couldn't let her get hurt.
No...Sakura-chan couldn't get hurt. Naruto sighed, fighting the worry out of his system. He had never been one to worry. Too late to start now.
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Ino's eyes opened sometime later, and she threw herself up, ready just in case. She blinked, her head one massive jumble of thoughts and emotions. Red eyes stared at her from a corner of the room and she glared back. "Going to try to kill me again?" She snarled, letting her anger get the best of her.
There was that smirk again.
"You're too reckless." Was all he said, in a biting tone. She threw a smirk right back to him.
"Hey, I didn't make the first move." She said smoothly, staring down at her nails, feigning innocence. This brought a glower to his face.
"You asked for it." He said slowly. Ino almost laughed out loud. Is he serious? He's out of witty responses. Maybe I have some sort of power over him. Ha. She thought with glee.
"And you were oh-so-happy to oblige." She threw back.
"Are you going to string me along all day?" He asked, narrowing his eyes. Ino grinned.
"Only if I get a reaction." She whispered, getting up and stepping over to him. His body stiffened and she put her arms around his neck. She noticed how cold his skin was, how warm his breath...
In a second his body had flickered to the door. He glared at her.
"You're just doing this because you're lonely. Nothing else. It gets the best of me also. It's best to stop while you're ahead, kunoichi."
And there it was again, that anger. The door closed with a slam, and she widened her eyes.
He was open...and then he would shut off some part of him immediately. She closed her eyes.
Was it true...what he had said? Was she just lonely?
She shrugged it off with a shake of her head proudly. She was an S-class missingnin with enough power to out hundreds of shinobi at a time.
Of course she wasn't lonely.
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A/N: Sorry I haven't updated enough!!! cries Lack of inspiration is a bitch.