-1To Live is So Much Harder…
Chapter 10
Ino took a deep breath and willed her heart to stop racing as she stepped through the portal into deep, vast darkness before her. She had never seen anything so black, so forbidding. Of all the minds that she had invaded in the past, Naruto's mind was the one that frightened her the most.
"Alright girl, get a grip!" she admonished herself as she shook the stiffness from her limbs. With a massive force of will, Ino urged her legs to carry her forward into the void. Once she got going, maintaining her pace became easier and easier.
The blonde kunoichi made her way blindly down the pathway, a strange crunching noise resounding through the dark with every step she took. Gradually, her eyes began to become adjusted to the dark, allowing her to discover that there was actually a pale, very pale, light emanating from somewhere in the dark beyond. Ino kept walking and walking until she lost all sense of time as the light slowly, yet steadily, grew brighter and brighter. Noticing a strange glinting coming from the floor, Ino glanced down and realized that the floor was covered in small, broken crystals. She now knew that this was the where the crunching sound was coming from, and observed that the closer she got to the pale light, the more crystals there were. The young Yamanaka knew that there was something strange about the whole scene before her, but she just couldn't put her finger on it.
It wasn't until she finally made it to the source of the light that she understood what was so very wrong. Laying upon the ground before her were huge chunks of fractured crystal. It was the saddest sight Ino had ever seen, for this was the mind of Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze. What should have been a perfectly faceted jewel before her was now a ruined mess, with shards of his mind scattered to the Four Winds.
"Oh my god! This is the Starlight Path!" Ino gasped as she glanced upward and realized exactly what had been so wrong. There were no stars, the sky was a total curtain of black. Normally, the path to a person's mind was lit up like the night sky, as stars created a gorgeous scene for a mind-walker to take in. The stars were actually memory and thoughts that detach from the central gem and take their places in the fabric of the subject's mind. These are the memories and thoughts that come to someone from out of the blue, the ones that would suddenly just leap up and say 'Hey, don't you remember when…' or 'I wonder what that person is doing right now…'
Ino felt sick to her stomach when the enormity of what had happened hit her. She felt like crying when she realized that she was literally walking on his mind, stomping upon his memories. Stifling a sob, the blonde began to carefully pick her way through the jumble of shards that littered the floor until she reached the resting place of the largest fragment. It rested upon a stone pedestal that sprang from the floor below. Reaching out, she softly caressed the fractured lump of crystal and realized that it was the state that Naruto's mind was currently in, that of a very small child.
"He's such a cute baby," Ino said softly to no one in particular as she gazed about, looking for another shard that would fit amongst the voids in the mother stone. Noticing one particularly dark piece that seemed like it would fit, Ino picked it up and was suddenly bombarded by a rather intense memory…
"…please, can I have something to eat, ma'am? I'm hungry," cried a little five year old Naruto as he stood in front of the woman who ran the orphanage he had lived in since before he could remember.
"Where in hell is the dinner we just gave you?" the woman shrilled, her eyes burning holes into the dirty little boy that stood before her.
"I…I didn't get any. You gave it all to the other kids," he pouted, his chest hurting as badly as his grumbling stomach. Without warning, the woman backhanded Naruto and sent him sprawling onto the floor, great sobs escaping his lips.
"You fucking lying bastard! You just want to eat it all so nobody else can eat! What else can you expect from a demon?" the woman spat, her face turning red from rage.
"I'm not lying!" Naruto wailed as he tried to pick himself up from the floor. Furious, his tormentor stomped over to him and kicked him in his stomach, sending him flying against the nearest wall.
"You know what? I've had it with you, you fucking demon! I don't give a shit what the Hokage said, get out! Get the hell out of my orphanage! Nobody wants you! You're just a fucking waste of space!!" she bellowed as she snatched Naruto up by his hair and dragged him to the front door before violently throwing him out into the street. He quickly picked himself up and walked back up the steps and tried to get back inside. "Just what do you think you're doing, demon?"
"I…I just wanna get my foxy," the little blonde-haired boy sobbed as he nursed the arm he had landed on. His little stuffed fox was a present from the Hokage on his last birthday, and he couldn't sleep at night without it. Sneering at Naruto, the woman kicked him in the chest and sent him sprawling down the steps once more.
"You don't deserve anything, you little brat!" she spat, " Come here ever again and I will make sure that you will die like you should have done on the day you were born!" With that final vicious verbal assault, the scary woman slammed the door in the crying child's face…
Ino gasped as the memory faded, tears pouring like great rivers down her face. Sniffling and shaking her head, she reached over and placed the horrid stone into it's place. The two stones merged once more as countless tiny shards and specks of dust flew forward and merged as well.
"I swear, if I ever see that bitch, I'm gonna kill her!" the blonde kunoichi snarled as she picked up another piece, this one glowing brightly as the memory flowed out and into Ino….
"…You called for me, old man?" a seven year old Naruto asked as he stood before the desk of the Third Hokage. Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled as he watched the hyperactive son of Minato Namikaze fidget under the hand of the ANBU operative that had been sent to retrieve him. "If it's about how Farmer Kubo's sheep all turned blue, I didn't do it, I wasn't there, and you can't prove it!"
"Watch your mouth, brat!" the ANBU hissed as he pulled out a kunai and poised to strike the blonde down before a glare from the Hokage stopped him. With a quick wave of his hand, Sarutobi dismissed the ANBU before addressing Naruto.
"No, no, Naruto, it hasn't anything to do with that," the Hokage chuckled as he threw a few photos onto the desk before the boy, "However, this is a ninja village, so trust me: we have proof! Heh!" He watched as Naruto's shoulders slumped.
"Okay, so ya got me! What do I have to do?" Naruto grumbled as he crossed his arms and stared at the floor. Sarutobi's laughter quickly drew his eyes back upward.
"We'll get to that later! So tell me, Naruto, what is the one thing you want most in the world?" Naruto's eyes got big as his smile split his face. He looked the Hokage straight in the eye and didn't hesitate a second before answering.
"I want to be the greatest Hokage ever!" the blonde yelped as he punched his fist into the air, emphasizing his point. "Believe it!"
"That is all well and good, Naruto, but what do you have to do to become Hokage?" the old man asked, a twinkle in his eye as he watched the gears turn in the young boy's head.
"You have to be a ninja! You have to be the best!" Naruto barked as his eyes locked onto Sarutobi's.
"That's right, Naruto! Very good! So tell me, how would you like to go to school and learn how to become a ninja?" Sarutobi wasn't ready for it when Naruto vaulted over his desk and wrapped his arms around his neck in a massive hug…
"Huh! I always wondered how he got into the Academy," Ino mused as she placed the glowing fragment into it's rightful place, watching the shards and dust attach to it and sealing it up. So she continued her task, picking through the chunks of crystal, finding the ones that properly fit the ever-growing mind-gem. As she picked them up and properly placed them, Naruto's good memories and darkest moments continued to play within her mind…
…you're the Demon that attacked Konoha twelve years ago! You're the Kyuubi no Kitsune!!…
…Congratulations, Naruto! You graduate!…
…No, I won't go out with you! Who would want to go out with an idiot like you?!…
…Hey, Naruto? Would you like to go out sometime? I know this nice little restaurant…
…You fucking Demon! Why don't you just die!"…
…Thank you! You saved us!…
…A loser like you will never become a Chunin, let alone Hokage!…
…Damn, Naruto! I swear, you are the strongest person I've ever known! And now you're a Sage? Damn!…
…You can't even make a decent clone, loser!…
…I'm telling you, Naruto really learned the Rasengan faster than anyone else has even dreamed of…
…You're a joke, Uzumaki! It's your destiny to lose to me…
…I believe in you, Naruto…
Ino did every thing she could to keep her mind on the business at hand, namely rebuilding her friend's shattered mind. The memories, however, were extremely powerful, just like the person they belonged to. They threatened to overwhelm the blonde kunoichi as she slowly pieced Naruto's mind back together. Some of the memories hurt her greatly, and she swore to herself that she would make as many of the people involved pay dearly for how badly they had hurt Naruto. She was getting a handle on her emotions, until she came to several shards that seemed more powerful than the rest. One, in particular, glowed so bright that she could scarcely look at it. One huge piece continued to flash between blackest pitch and brightest day, but the darkness was slowly beginning to win. The third piece was clear as glass, neither glowing nor darkening. This piece was an enigma for the mind-walker, so she chose the largest piece, hoping that it would help speed things along. As she touched it, her mind was violently slammed by the memories enclosed within…
"…I love you, Sakura! Will you marry me?" Naruto asked on bended knee as he looked up at his girlfriend, as tears glistened in her eyes. It was the anniversary of their first date, and he and Sakura had grown extremely close over the past year. She was there for him when he discovered who his parents were, and held him as tears of sorrow over the loss of parents he never knew washed over him. They held each other as nightmares of the day Pein attacked and the loss of so many people attacked them at the most unexpected times. They healed each other's wounds like only best friends and lovers could.
"Oh my god! Really?" Sakura squeaked as she saw the ring held out in Naruto's hand. She recognized it as his mother's wedding band. She watched Naruto smile and nod his head, letting her know that he wasn't joking.
"YES!" she chirped as Naruto placed the ring on her finger and then stood up and wrapped his fiancée up in a huge hug. It was there, on top of the carved head of his father that Naruto's heart learned what it truly meant to be happy…,
"Sakura was so happy the next day," Ino whispered as her memories of Naruto's and Sakura's engagement flooded her mind, "I had never seen either one of them so happy before, even before Sasuke's defection!"
…Naruto and Sasuke stumbled back toward the village that the Uchiha had left several years before in his long quest for power and to avenge his clan. As they drew closer, the massive gates of the village slowly swung open, revealing a gathering crowd of ninja and civilians alike. They all wondered if Naruto had finally fulfilled his promise to his wife and brought their errant teammate back. Slowly, the two shinobi crossed over the threshold and waved to everyone before collapsing in a rather large heap.
"Sasuke!" Sakura Namikaze yelled as she rushed over to the Uchiha's side and began to run a diagnostic jutsu on his to determine his injuries. Within the span of a second or two, she charged her limbs with chakra and carried the missing-nin toward the hospital. Naruto looked on incredulously before passing out from exhaustion.
"Naruto! Wake up!" Tsunade bellowed as she tried to rouse the Toad Sage. She couldn't believe that Sakura had left her husband here while taking the traitor to the hospital, but she trusted her apprentice's judgment as she herself picked up the Sage and carried him to the hospital…,
"Wow, I can't believe she did that!" Ino gasped as she saw the momentary look of hurt flash across Naruto's eyes before he passed out. She and her team had been on the other side of Konoha when the two shinobi had returned from their battles.
"…Naruto, we've had this discussion before, and I still think it's inappropriate, especially considering the date," Sakura admonished as she put the finishing touches to the chocolate cake she had spent all day preparing. Naruto looked hurt as he continued to plead his case.
"But Sakura, I'm not asking for much, you know? Just a cake and maybe a few of our friends over," Naruto asked as he watched his wife lovingly add decorations to the cake before her. Sakura just shook her head and turned back toward her husband of the past several years and looked him straight in the eye.
"Look, baby, I know your birthday is October tenth, but that is the anniversary of the Kyuubi's attack. I don't think it's in good taste to have a birthday party on the same day as the Festival. Come on, Naruto, don't be selfish!" his wife scolded as she reached up and grabbed the lid to the cake carrier and placed it over the top of the cake she had just finished. Naruto gritted his teeth and looked down at the ground. "Now, be dressed and ready to go when I get back, okay?"
"Aw, come on, Sakura! You know how much I hate going to the festival! All the looks I get, all the names I'm called, all the weapons I have to dodge! It sucks!" the blonde growled. He normally stayed home or hid on the Hokage Monument whenever the Festival rolled round.
"Look, I look forward to going to the festival every year! Everyone has a good time and it's the only time of the year I get to let my hair down! Just get ready and I'll be back in a little while!" Sakura barked as she picked up the cake carrier and began to head toward the front door.
"Where are you going?" Naruto asked as he walked over and gave his wife a kiss on her cheek as she turned her head from the kiss.
"I'm going to visit Sasuke and bring him this cake to cheer him up!" she replied happily as she stepped out the door and turned back to her husband, waving good-bye. Naruto looked hurt.
"Wait a second, you can't even spend time with me on my birthday?" Naruto asked as he felt a lump form in his throat. He didn't ask for much, and he doted on her hand and foot, remembering all the little things and important dates. But his birthday was always crappy, and he really wanted his wife with him like in years past.
"Naruto, don't be selfish! I'll make it up to you, baby! I promise…"
"Yeah, I remember that night, too," Ino muttered. She hadn't seen either one of her friends at the festival and had wanted to wish Naruto a happy birthday. She first went to their house and realized that nobody was home, so she then knew where Naruto would be. After discovering her fellow blonde at the top of the Hokage monument, she walked up and surprised him with a small chocolate cake she had picked up for him and gave him a small kiss on the cheek, wishing him a happy birthday. She later learned that he had waited at his home for several hours for his wife to arrive before going to his favorite spot. Sakura didn't show back up at home until well after midnight.
"…Naruto, stop! I love him! Please don't kill him!! He's my baby's father!!!…"
"…I'm setting you free, Sakura, I'm setting you free…"
"That fucking bitch!" Ino snarled as she placed the fragment in it's place and watched the largest amount of small pieces yet gather and reconnect to their parent. Her heart hurt with Naruto's pain, her chest felt like it was wanting to cave in. She had been upset with Sakura before, and extremely disappointed in her friend, but now she was beginning to verge on hate. All the little slights to her husband over the years was bad enough, but to finally betray him like she had after all the love he gave her was more than anyone could bear. Ino felt like sitting down on the floor and repeating what her friend had done. Unbeknownst to her, a little of her chakra had started to seep down into the seal on her belly. "I'm gonna make her pay!"
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"I wonder what's going on with Blondie in there?" Kyuubi rumbled as his head snapped up and looked back toward the void in which the mind-walker had stepped into. He felt the seal beginning to stir, and began to swish one tail back and forth as he worried about Ino.
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"Okay, only two pieces left," Ino muttered as she wiped the sweat from her brow. The mental exertion she was experiencing, as well as the emotional toll the memories were taking on her, had her on her last legs. After sitting and resting for a few minutes, she decided to save the clear gem for last and picked up the one that was glowing like a star. Her eyes widened to the size of plates and her mouth dropped open when the memory played before her.
This was a memory she could not intrude on for some reason, all she could do was watch from the outside. She felt some of the emotion involved, but her own emotions were going haywire right now, so perhaps it was for the best. Before her was a scene one would expect out of one of Naruto's novels, as she watched a pale, dark-haired beauty laying beneath the nude form of the blonde Toad Sage. Tears of pain and ecstasy poured from the eyes of the beautiful girl as she wrapped her legs around Naruto, drawing him deeper into her body, her arms locked around his neck as she matched her lover's rhythm.
"Oh my god," Ino gasped as she watched the scene play out before her eyes. She had always assumed that Naruto and Sakura both were virgins when they got together, but this memory plainly showed that he was not. She continued to watch, wondering who the girl was. She looked familiar, but she wasn't able to figure out who it was until the girls pale lavender eyes opened and she heard a soft, melodic voice call out.
"I love you, Naruto!" she screamed as her body shook from a very intense release.
"I love you too, Hinata!" Naruto whispered as his own body shook from his release. The two lovers collapsed together on the bed and snuggled up to one another as Ino watched, feeling her own heart breaking. A surge of chakra flowed to her seal.
"You rang?" a little chibi fox asked as it popped into existence beside Ino. The startled blonde jumped slightly at it sudden presence as she turned her head and looked at it. It was about a foot tall, red, and had nine little puffy tails waving behind it.
"Kyuubi?" she asked, her mind not quite ready to make the connection. A small frown covered it's face as it looked at Ino like she was an idiot.
"Well, who else do you think would be in our favorite knucklehead's mind?" Kyuubi asked sarcastically as he turned his attention to the scene before them, His eyes bugged out as he watched Naruto and Hinata cover themselves with his red battle-cloak before they began to engage in their intimate activities again. "Damn, Blondie! I didn't think you were a pervert!"
"Uh…uh…," stuttered Ino as her eyes became riveted on the couple that were holding onto one another tightly, "It's not that, I don't get off on that kinda crap! But this…this…is beautiful! You can see the love! This isn't just fucking! It's not just meaningless sex!" The fox just rolled it's eyes.
"Please! It's just two monkeys copulating," Kyuubi snorted as he watched Naruto bite Hinata's neck, causing the pale Hyuga to gasp in ecstasy as her back arched upward, drawing her lover even closer. "Although, I will admit, she was very beautiful, and she did help heal his heart after all the death he had seen on the day of Pein's attack. I think he helped her as well. Her heart was badly broken at all the kin she had lost."
"But…but…if he did that for her to help heal her…to make her feel better," Ino said sadly as she bit her lip and turned away from the memory, her eyes glistening with tears, "Then…uh *sniff*…why didn't he…uh…*sniff*…I mean…*sniff*…" For once, the Kyuubi's heart went out to someone else besides his jailor.
"Look, Blondie," the fox began, his cute little eyes expressing understanding and sympathy, "He wasn't married at the time when he healed the Hyuga. Hell, he wasn't even dating the banshee yet! In fact, I always suspected that the only reason the Haruno ever asked Naruto out in the first place was because she got a whiff of what happened and was scared that her back-up was going to be taken. I can't prove it, and his love for her tainted my perceptions as well."
"He told her that he loved her," Ino sniffed as she began to watch the young couple again from the corner of her eye. She cringed when she heard Hinata cry out Naruto's name again. The young blonde's chest was heaving as she felt like she had been betrayed. She couldn't reconcile the emotions that were running through her. "I guess that means what he told…"
"The kit loves a lot of people, mind-walker," Chibi-Kyuubi replied, trying not to get sick. Without Naruto's influence, he was beginning to revert back to his evil self, but a small part of him was fighting back. The notion of 'love' wasn't as sickening as once it was, but it was still close. "Have you ever known him to lie to anyone, especially about something as important as love? From what I gather about you mortals, there are several different types of love."
"Yeah," murmured Ino as she contemplated what the fox was saying, "love of family, love of home, love of a spouse, love of good food, love of…"
"A friend," Kyuubi finished as they watched the rest of the memory. The two of them watched as Hinata and Naruto had a long talk the next day, before they embraced one another and parted ways. The smile of both of their faces was unmistakable. "He loves his friends so much that he is willing to lay his life down for them. Is this not something that he would do for someone to help them out? He had nothing tying him to anyone else. If, however, he had done something like this when he was married, then he would have betrayed his wife and ended up hurting her and anyone else involved."
"And we know that Naruto would never purposely hurt anyone if he could help it…OH SHIT! That means…" she exclaimed as her eyes fly open wide as the sudden truth about her Hyuga friend struck her. "She always said that…"
"Shush," Kyuubi ordered quietly as he watched Ino's surprise grow by leaps and bounds, "The kit knows nothing of that! If the Hyuga hasn't told him, there is a reason for it! She obviously didn't wish to harm him!"
"But with everything that has happened, don't you think he should know?" Ino asked, but was dismayed when the fox shook his head.
"Think about it, Blondie! If he was to find out now, after so long, how would he feel? What do you think he would do? Would she really want that?" Kyuubi gently wrapped a few tails around Ino and helped to guide her toward the mind gem, Ino quickly shook her head and then set the miniature star in it's proper place. It quickly sealed itself and drew all the corresponding shards to it like moths to a flame. Turning around, they both looked to the remaining piece that had yet to be mated to the mother stone.
"So," Ino sighed as she stared at the clear crystal that lay before her feet. She made absolutely no move to pick it up.
"So," Kyuubi echoed before looking up at the young lady beside him. "Do you wish for me to stay?" Ino shook her head, her ponytail flying behind her.
"No, that's alright," replied the blonde as she willed herself to kneel down and look into the depths of the shard. "I think I know what, or who, this section deals with, but why would it be so clear? There is no darkness, nor any light."
"Purity," the fox barked as he walked back toward the doorway, "purity of thought, purity of memory, purity of heart. Everything there is pure in one sense or another. The Hyuga memory had special attachments, very special ones at that, thus it shone like a sun. The ones dealing with our…his mate were once like that, but darkness is quickly taking it over, it seems. Whatever you do, be careful with that! It's the last pure part of his mind, and I….hope…that something special can be attached as well!" With that, the fox vanished into the darkness. Taking a deep breath, Ino picked up the stone and allowed the memories fill her and merge with her own…
…Ino sat on top of the Hokage monument, her knees drawn up to her chest as she buried her head in her arms, trying so very hard to stop the pain and to hold off the cruel world that seemed to do nothing but hurt her. She sniffled as the sobs continued to ring out from her throat, her body heaving with the utter raw pain that she felt. Her entire world had just collapsed, and she felt as if there was nothing left for her.
Steeling her resolve, she slowly reached into the weapons pouch that hung from her shapely hip, not caring as all the lethal instruments spilled upon the cold stone, just so long as a certain kunai fell into her palm. Feeling the familiar weight in her slender hand, she smiled grimly. This was her favorite kunai, one that her sensei, Asuma, had given to her on her birthday just prior to his death. It was perfectly balanced for throwing, and took and retained a razor's edge with little effort. It was colored purple, which had always baffled Ino as to how someone could color the steel without paints, which would chip off. This, however, was deeply ingrained in the steel, as was the inscription that he had engraved into it.
"I'm sorry, sensei, I've failed you," she whispered sadly as her tears poured out and filled in the sunken letters. They said 'Never give up', which Ino had taken to heart ever since Asuma's death. That is, until this night. Looking out onto the scene of the Village Hidden in the Leaves as nighttime brought out the warm lights of the homes and the sounds of happy couples that walked along the serene streets, Ino swallowed past the lump that had formed in her throat and swiftly flashed the tip of the honed blade across the wrist of her other arm.
"It's okay, it'll be over soon," she whimpered as she felt her lifeblood slowly seep from the neat cut on her wrist. She mentally cursed herself, the cut wasn't as deep as it really needed to be. She was bleeding out, but much slower than she had planned. Her survival instinct must have had one last gasp, preventing her from properly doing her job.
"God damn it, I can't do anything right," she sobbed as she looked at the cut as her kunai fell and clattered on the stone. Her tears began to fall once more as she silently said good-bye to her friends. "I'm sorry everyone, but I couldn't take it any more…Sakura, Hinata, Shika, Choji, Kiba…Naruto…"
"Ino?" a familiar voice called out from behind her. Her head snapped around at the sound of her fellow blonde's voice as she watched the Toad Sage of Konoha walk out from the tree line, heading in her direction.
"Nar…Naruto?" she gasped as she watched him come closer and closer. Her heart sank at the sight of him, he was definitely not someone she wanted to see right now. The look on his face was one of confusion and concern.
"Are you okay? I thought I heard crying and I can smell blood!" Naruto said as he closed in on her sitting form. She looked longingly at the tall blonde, knowing that deep inside, she was extremely jealous of her best friend.
"Yeah, I'm okay, Naruto," Ino lied as she quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and face, not realizing that she had used the wrong hand and had left a huge bloody streak across her face. Naruto's eyes grew huge as concern and panic for his friend began to set in his heart.
"Oh shit! Ino, what happened to you?" he barked as he moved to her side and fell to his knees faster than she could blink. He quickly but gently grabbed her wrist and began to examine the damage. She gulped at the touch of his hand.
"Oh, this? It's nothing, really! I just kinda…scratched myself!" she explained quickly, trying to wave off the incident to get him to leave her alone. Naruto, being the extremely stubborn knucklehead he was, refused to budge.
"Scratched yourself?" he mimicked, his eyebrows rising into his hairline as his eyes fell upon the sight of the kunai that Ino had dropped. He noticed it was covered in blood, her own from the smell of it. "Oh Ino…you didn't, did you?"
"I…I….I," the kunoichi stuttered as she turned her head to keep from looking into the bright blue eyes of her friend. She was beginning to get woozy from the blood loss as she finally turned to face Naruto. She saw the worry and sadness in his eyes. She slowly nodded her head as she felt the world begin to spin.
"Why," asked the Toad Sage as he reached out and inspected the damage to her wrist. Ino tried to pull her wrist back, but she quickly realized that she didn't have the strength to complete her action. She had done a better job than she had thought she had done.
"You…you wouldn't understand," she muttered as she felt the dizziness try to take over her world. Naruto quickly reached out and placed his free hand on her cheek and turned her to face him, his bright blues totally dominating her pale blues. His heart broke when he saw the pain that resided within the beautiful kunoichi.
"Try me," he replied softly as he felt Ino nuzzled her cheek into the palm of his hand. She whimpered when he moved his hand back down toward her wrist, for she had been enjoying the warmth.
"It…it's Hiro," she whispered as the tears began to flow down her cheeks once more. Ino tried to swallow past the lump in her throat, but instead a small sob escaped, one that she had tried to keep her friend from hearing. "He…he broke up with me! After all the crap I went through to make him happy! I did everything to please him! Do you know how much that hurts? Hell, I even gave him…he took…oh god!"
"Shh, it's okay, Ino," Naruto soothed as the young kunoichi fell apart in front of his eyes. His heart went out to her as he reached out and took her in his arms, offering what little comfort he could, stroking her recently shorn hair and her back as she poured great torrents of tears upon his shoulder. He could feel the waves of pain that erupted from his friend, one who usually appeared so headstrong and self-assured but now was a broken mess. He had never liked Kurenai's cousin, Hiro Yuhi. The arrogant jerk thought he was God's gift to the world, and strutted around as such. Naruto had heard the rumors of how he like to treat women, and had seen for himself how he seemed to enjoy tearing Ino down to her very foundations. Anger grew within his chest as the thought of Hiro hurting Ino tore through his mind. He had to fight to control his breathing so that he could help Ino.
"NO! It's not alright, Naruto!" Ino wailed into his shoulder before pulling back some and looking him in the eye. Her short blonde hair was a mess and her eyes were all red and puffy, tear tracks marring her perfect skin. Naruto could see nothing of the headstrong friend of his in the body before him. "You don't understand! I gave myself to him tonight! He kept after me for weeks to let him in my pants, and….and tonight he….he told me that if I loved him that I would sleep with him! And you know what, I did love him, so I did! I spread my legs for him! It hurt! It hurt so bad! But….but I did it to show him I loved him! Do you know what he did afterward? Do you know what he said?"
"What happened, Ino?" Naruto asked gently as he held onto her damaged wrist. The poor distraught kunoichi didn't even notice that he was slowly healing her wound, so engulfed in her own pain and misery as she was. He looked at her with deep caring and compassion in his eyes, which seemed to calm her just a bit, but not much.
"He broke up with me afterward! The sorry son-of-a-bitch told me that getting fucked was all I was good for! He said that a sorry fat-ass like me was never meant to be in a serious relationship! Can you believe that? He pretty much told me that all I was good for was to be a whore!" she bawled as Naruto pulled her back into a hug again and gently rocked the broken girl in his arms.
"Don't you dare believe him, you hear me? Ino, you are a wonderful and very beautiful woman, and any guy would be extremely lucky to have you loving him! Don't let the ravings of some egotistical jerk get you down, okay?" Naruto said as he continued to soothe his hurting friend. Ino continued to cry, but he felt her nod her head a little.
"It's just not right, you know? I mean, I worked my ass off and dieted like crazy, and still I was too fat! I'm not good enough to be in a relationship with, but I'm good enough to screw? Oh God, I feel so damn dirty! I'm just a filthy whore!" Naruto reached up and grabbed her by her shoulders and forced her back once more, his bright blue eyes boring deep into her pale ones.
"Listen here! Don't you ever say anything like that again, do you understand? You are not a whore! You're not filthy! You're damn sure not fat, if anything, you're too damn thin! And all because of that stupid bastard! You are a very beautiful and very strong woman, Ino Yamanaka! Now, you need to reach deep down and pull out that strength that I know you have! Hold you head up high! Don't let that bastard win! Don't let him see you like this or he will win! He'll think that he can swoop down into your life again and do to you what he did to you tonight anytime that he wants!" Ino's sobs slowed and eventually stopped as her jaw dropped at the Toad Sage's tirade. Slowly she nodded her head as she stayed locked into his gaze.
"Why can't more guys be like you, Naruto?" she asked softly, not noticing the blush that lit up Naruto's cheeks. She slowly leaned back and wiped the tears from her face, noticing that the slice on her wrist was completely healed. She looked at her wrist incredulously and then back at her friend, who grinned his silly grin and scratched the back of his head. She was so jealous of Sakura right now.
"You wouldn't want someone like me, Ino! I'm a messy, ramen-loving knucklehead! Trust me, there are much better guys out there than me! I just know that there is someone out there for you, believe it!" Ino snorted as he said that, not believing that she had just heard him say his catch phrase from back when they were kids. It had been so since she had heard that.
"Easy for you to say, Naruto! You have someone at home waiting for you to get back!" Ino replied as she got up and walked back toward the edge of the Hokage Monument, her arms crossed under her breasts. She stared out over the silent village as the crush of loneliness began to fall upon her heart. "I have…nobody."
"That's bullshit, Ino! You have your family and your friends! You have Choji and Shikamaru! They're your best friends! You have Sakura and…INO!" barked Naruto as he moved faster than the speed of thought and caught the young woman as she began to collapse, the emotional drain and blood loss getting to her. He slowly spun her around and held her against his chest, he was ready to launch the two of them into the air and toward the Konoha Hospital until he felt her stir and look up at him.
"And you, Naruto? Do I have you, too?" she asked sadly as she felt herself get lost in his bright blues. She knew it was wrong, but she was beginning to feel something for her blonde friend.
"Of course you do, Ino. You have me, too," he replied gently as he gave a soft kiss on her forehead, causing what little blood she had left rush to her cheeks. "I love you."
Ino couldn't believe what she had just heard. Naruto Namikaze, her good friend and husband to one of her best friends, had just told her that he loved her. Her thoughts crashed all around her as she saw him lean forward to kiss her forehead again, but instead, Ino pulled herself up on her tiptoes and planted her lips upon his, causing Naruto's eyes to go wide as Ino lost herself in the kiss. After a second or so, Naruto closed his eyes and kissed her back, causing Ino's knees to go weak as she drank in his scent and taste. After what seemed like forever for the kunoichi, the two finally broke the kiss as she sighed softly and relaxed in his arms.
"Ino…" Naruto began before she slowly lifted one finger and placed it on his lips, effectively silencing him.
"No, it's okay! I'm sorry, I just had to…I needed to know what it felt like to be truly loved, I'm sorry…," she whispered before her eyes rolled back into her head as she passed out in his arms. Stunned and worried for his friend, he quickly scooped her up in his arms and leapt off the Monument and made his way to the hospital as quickly as he could…
…."I felt like such an idiot the next day," Ino whispered as Naruto's memories of her continued to flood her mind. She walked over to the mother gem and slowly placed the pure stone within it's matrix. "I should have known he meant he loved me as a friend. I felt so scared that the kiss had screwed up our friendship, but he never let on about it anyone. He never even told anyone of my suicide attempt. He never treated me any different, we were never uncomfortable around each other. It was our secret."
"That's just the way the kit is," Chibi-Kyuubi replied as he reappeared next to the blonde once more. "He would never do anything to hurt a friend, nor would he ever embarrass someone about something like that. He knew you needed that kiss and the comfort it provided, so he didn't mind."
"If he was single, and I had asked him to make love to me…" Ino mused innocently, causing the Fox to smile.
"He would have in a heartbeat, and he would have showed you the way a real man properly treats a woman!" Kyuubi replied, enjoying the blush on Ino's cheeks.
"Did he ever think of the kiss after that, Foxy?" Ino asked with a smirk on her face, wondering what the demon would tell her. He just continued to grin his foxy grin.
"Sometimes, but in other times, like in his dreams…well, let's just say that some of them were hotter than hell!" Kyuubi barked as he watched her face light up like a red Christmas bulb. "Did you ever find out what happened to that bastard, Hiro?"
"No, nobody ever said anything about him after a while," she replied as she watched the gem heal itself then throw bright sparklers across the black velvet of the mindscape. The Starlight Path brightened once more as the stars began to take their proper places within his mind. Ino stared in wonder at the beauty before her eyes.
"Well, Blondie, let's just say…it wasn't pretty! The Kit can get downright vicious when he needs to be!" laughed the Fox as he wrapped his tails around the young Yamanaka and guided her back toward the entrance of the Path, "Now, come on! Let's get out of this stinking place and back to my nice cozy sewer! I don't think I can take much more of this!"
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Ino stepped out of the doorway and back into the Kyuubi's cage, and as she did so, she noticed that the Chibi-Kyuubi that had been in there with her transformed back into one of the Kyuubi's tails. Shaking her head, she followed the tail back over to where the Demon Fox sat conversing with someone she recognized immediately.
"Naruto!" she screamed as she ran toward her friend and launched herself into his arms. Naruto chuckled as he held onto the happy blonde.
"Well, at least someone is happy to see me," he chuckled as he held the young blonde tight, causing Ino's heart to begin to race. After all she had seen and been through, she felt so much closer to her friend.
"God, I thought I lost you!" she murmured as she held onto Naruto with a vise-like hug. Naruto continued to chuckle as he reached up and stroked her hair.
"I'm just glad you're okay! Nobody else should have seen and felt all that! It was bad enough when the furball here forced your father to endure it!" Naruto replied as he shot a glare at the Kyuubi. Said fox merely shrugged it's shoulders as it stood up and began to walk back toward the darkest corner of it's cage.
"You really scared the hell outta me, you know?" she admonished softly as she leaned back and looked deep into his eyes. Sadness and concern flooded his normally bright blue orbs.
"I know, and I'm really sorry," he apologized as he bent forward just like that night several years back and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. Before Ino could protest at the location of the kiss, Naruto smiled and stepped back out of the hug and waved at her. "I'll see you soon, Tigger!"
"Huh? What do you mean…" but before the blonde kunoichi could finish her sentence, her world went dark as she was expelled from Naruto's mind…
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…"Oww," Ino muttered as she picked herself off of the floor where her body had fallen after she had used her family's mind jutsu on Naruto. She had managed to bruise one of her elbows, twisted a knee, and gave herself a nice sized lump on the side of her head for her troubles. It took a minute or two for the disorientation of the jutsu to wear off as she stumbled over to the chair she had become quite familiar with over the weeks since Naruto had been assigned to the room. Suddenly, the images she had absorbed from Naruto's mind came flooding back with a vengeance, causing her eyes to widen as the horrors she had experienced tore at her heart. Leaping to her feet, she grabbed on to the side rail of Naruto's bed with a grip that would have made Tsunade proud. After a few moments, she regained control of her heartbeat and breathing as she gazed upon the still visage of the Toad Sage.
"Oh God, what did they do to you, baby?" she asked softly as she reached out and stroked his whiskered cheek. Her hand jerked back in reflex as a strange purring sound emanated from his chest. "Naruto?"
"Ino…," a hoarse voice rasped softly as bright blue eyes cracked open just the tiniest amount. Ino's face brightened as the first smile she had smiled in weeks crept upon her pale face. Her friend was waking up.
"Naruto!!" she squealed as she bent over the bed and gave him a huge hug, as well as an unintentional free-show. However, in the state he was currently in, he didn't notice. Much.
"Yeah, it's me, Ino," he croaked as he struggled to breath under the crush of her embrace. "Who else would it be?" This caused to the young kunoichi to stand back up and glance down at her friend, noticing that he was trying his best to smile back at her.
"Lord, you had me so worried!" she exclaimed as she walked over to a nearby table and poured him a small glass of water to help relax his voice and soothe his throat. As she stepped back toward the side of his bed, she noticed that he was looking at her strangely. "What?"
"You look like crap," he muttered as he watched her jaw drop to the floor. Sure, she knew that her hair was stringy and unkempt, she knew she was pale and had dark circles around her eyes. She knew that she had tear stains on her cheeks and that she was wearing her least attractive clothes, which happened to be the sweats that Naruto had given her so long ago. Then, she remembered that she was talking to Naruto Namikaze, and smirked when she saw the foxy grin of his slowly spread across his face.
"And just who's fault is that, asshole?" she shot back as she crossed her arms under her breasts, making sure to hold his glass of water to the side just to where he could see it. "Besides, you look like you were hit by a shit-truck!"
"That's it, blame the guy in the hospital bed," he joked hoarsely before he began to cough. Ino quickly rushed back over to his side and helped him sit up some to take a few small sips of water. Afterward, he settled back down and looked up to see fresh tears in her eyes. "Hey, no tears now, okay? A beautiful woman like you should never have to cry, especially over some stupid bastard like me! Got it?"
"Jerk," she replied playfully as she hit him softly on the arm before she reached up to wipe away the tears that had formed over her concern for her friend. She was sure a few happy tears were thrown in with the mix, for good measure. She smiled when she hear him chuckle softly. It was then that a small commotion was heard outside the door. Ino quickly stood up from sitting on Naruto's bed when she first saw Iruka walk in, followed closely by Sasuke and Sakura. Ino saw red, literally.
"YOU BITCH!!!" she screamed, causing the all three newcomers to jump in surprise as Ino reached behind her and pulled a certain purple kunai free from it's holster in the small of her back…
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A/N: I know, I know, I'm still a rat-bastard! Heh! I'm sorry it's taken me a while to get this new chapter out, but this was a difficult one to put together. It touched on several themes that had to be handled carefully, and I wanted to make it as tasteful as possible. Plus, I've been working on the newest chapters of 'Father' and 'Music of the Night' at the same time as this. I hope to get the next chapter of 'Father' out sometime this weekend. Let me know whatcha think! Later!- Lord Talon