Hello Lovelies! ^_^
First of all, sorry for my little absence… I have a new job and it's really demanding. This might affect my up-date a little, but I'll try to keep up. I'm really sorry. But for now, I have a new chapter for you guys and I hope you'll enjoy it!
Can't wait for your reviews! ^_-
Love you all xxxx
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Chapter 12 – The last day awake
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The next morning
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The sun had just rise and Ino was silently writing a report comfortably installed at the table in the chambers' unit. The night had been anything but relaxing for the two ninjas who were under her supervision. Despite the shot of antipsychotic, both seemed to have hallucinations anyway. Kiba had just awaked for the fourteenth time and was once again glaring at something invisible in a corner of his room. As for Sakura, she had rolled in her bed most of the night. No need to ask to know that both were tired as hell. Finishing her report, the blond-haired girl was about to open the lights to awake them when she spotted the empty bed of the pink-haired girl. Surprised, Ino ran toward the lights' panel and open the lights before running toward the empty chamber. Worried, the blond turned around and was about to give the alarm when two round green eyes bored holes into hers, five inches from her.
"HAAAAA!" yelled the blond as she backed away and almost fell backward.
"HAAA!" shriek in surprise the used-to-be pink-haired girl, while her right hand was placed over her heart.
"What the hell is going on?" asked Kiba as he clumsily walked out of his room, alarmed.
"Sakura! What the hell do you think you're doing?" half shouted Ino while she was stabilizing her position.
"Jeez, calm down Pig! And since when going to the toilet has become a crime?" replied with anger the young Haruno.
"Oh!" stated the blond in realization.
"Godammit Ino." growled the boy as he let himself fall on the doorframe.
"Sorry. I'm kind of stressed lately." apologized Ino while letting go of her breath.
"So are we." said Kiba with a frown.
As an awkward silence installed itself among them, Ino couldn't help but feel bad. Kiba and Sakura's expressions were so dark that it was hard to sound happy. They were probably thinking about their up-coming coma. As the pink-haired girl was about to walk back in her chamber, the blond tried to change the subject.
"So… Hummm… Are you guys hungry? I mean, I can bring you your breakfast while you go showered. In two hours, visitors will be allowed. There will probably have a lot of them, since…"
"Hummm… Great idea! I supposed..." interrupted the used-to-be brown-haired boy as he took hold of a bag.
"Hn… Why not?" added Sakura.
"Jeez Sakura… You're starting to sound like Sasuke." said the Yamanaka girl with a scowl.
"I know. It's a bad habit isn't it?" replied the used-to-be pink-haired girl with a dark smirk.
Leaving the blond-haired girl speechless behind, Sakura enter her chamber and grabbed her personal objects before leaving toward the showers with Kiba in tow. After a few minutes of walking, the used-to-be brown-haired boy grabbed her arm and forced her to turn around.
"What?" asked in an annoyed tone the Haruno girl.
"I know how you feel right now…" said the young man with a knowing smile.
"No shit Sherlock…" replied Sakura while rolling her eyes.
"Sakura…" warned Kiba.
"Sorry. What are you trying to say?" apologized the girl as she played with a lose trend on her medical gown.
"Don't be too rough with Ino… She's trying her best. It's not easy for her either." spoke the Inuzuka.
"I know, I'm not doing it on purpose…" confessed the girl with apologizing eyes.
"I know." said Kiba with a small smile.
"I'll try to be nicer." explained Sakura.
"Thank you." thanked the boy with a smirk.
"I'm not doing it for you, Kiba." added the girl with a frown.
"Ha, ha! Right."
"So, did you saw him again?" asked the girl
"Yes, but it was weird. It's like he couldn't approach me… He was staring at me from afar and calling my name, but that's all." answered the boy as he rubbed his tired eyes.
"Yeah! It was the same thing for me. Maybe it's the antipsychotic." suggested the girl as both resumed their walk.
"Probably." replied Kiba.
"Well, let's hope that this last day won't be to rough then." said the pink-haired girl while reaching their destination.
"Yes."
Leaving the boy, Sakura entered her side of the showers and installed herself in one booth, before closing and locking the door. The showers room wasn't really the most inviting unit of the hospital. Its old white-rusty tiling and black metallic booths weren't exactly the most appealing. Placing her personal effects on a little counter, the pink-haired girl slowly stripped from her medical blue gown, socks and underwear. Then, she opened the water and turned it to scorching hot. She was so cold lately. While the shower heat up, Sakura looked at her skin and sigh in despair. Her skin was peeling everywhere and a bunch of died skin were already covering the ground. It was about time she took the medical gown off. Entering the shower, Sakura moaned in pure pleasure. The contact of water on her skin was pure bliss. After letting the feeling soothe her a little more, the girl began to scrub and wash her body. As she plunged her head under the water, a whisper surprised her. The man was near. She knew it. She could feel it.
"Sa-sa-ku-ra!" whispered the male voice in sickening sweet tone.
Ignoring the voice, Sakura focused on her shower and finished to wash herself. She wasn't really impressed by the man anymore. After she had to hear him call her name all night, she realised that he wasn't really aggressive anymore. Closing the shower, the pink-haired girl pushed the shower curtain a little and tweaked the counter in search for her towel. Once she grabbed it, Sakura brought it in the shower and dried her hair and body before rolling it around her body. Once she was ready, the Haruno girl threw the curtain open and almost had a heart attack. The man in the dark kimono was two inches from her face. Afraid, Sakura backed away a little, but due to her wet feet, she lost her footing and fell backward in the shower. Her head hit harshly the tiles and she immediately lost consciousness as her blood started to pool out of her head wound.
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Half an hour later
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Placing the two plates on the table, Ino added two set of utensils and poured two glass of orange juice. Since the hospital meals weren't the most exciting meals and since this was the last day of consciousness for her friends, the blond-haired girl decided to prepare them a little surprise. A glass of orange juice made by her mother, a delicious breakfast and a beautiful bouquet of white lilies freshly picked from her personal garden. With a soft smile on her face, Ino went to a faucet in the bathroom and filled a vase with water. Gently placing the flowers in it, Ino went back to the table and put the vase in the middle of it.
"Perfect." said the blond-haired girl as she looked at her table with a satisfied smile.
"Wow!" whispered a male voice behind her.
Surprised, Ino turned around when two arms snake their way around her waist and made her twirled around.
"What's that for?" inquired Kiba while kissing the girl's neck.
"It's for your last day. I thought I could give you a little helper." said the blond whith a soft smile.
"How considerate! Thank you beauty!" replied the boy while kissing her neck once again.
"You're welcomed." spoke the Yamanaka girl, leaning a little more against the boy.
"This looks good for once." added Kiba as he looked at the table with a huge smirk.
"Hey, it's been a while you're gone! Have you seen Sakura?" suddenly asked the blond as she untangled herself from her boyfriend.
"She's not here?" inquired in disbelief the Inuzuka boy.
"No, I thought she was still in the shower." said Ino, now worried.
"I took my time, but maybe she did just the same. And God knows you girl take time to get prepared." said the boy with a reassuring smile.
"You're probably right. Well, you can start to eat, she'll joined later." spoke Ino with her most dazzling smile.
"Yes!" shouted the boy in pure happiness as he jumped in a seat.
Time passed, but there was still no news of the girl. After half an hour, Ino was starting to worry. It wasn't normal. As she was about to leave for the showers, a panicking nurse entered the unit.
"MS YAMANAKA! MS YAMANAKA!" yelled the woman as she ran toward Ino.
"What is it?" asked the blond-haired girl as she met her halfway.
"It's Miss Sakura!" explained the girl as she tried to catch her breath.
"What happened?" inquired Ino with worries.
"I don't know, but there's black blood everywhere in the shower." answered the girl.
"And you entered without any protection?" asked the blond-haired girl with round eyes.
"I-I didn't know she was in that state… Am I risking something?" inquired the nurse, panicked.
"Go get yourself decontaminated immediately! I'll get you Kouki." said Ino in a authoritarian voice.
"O-Okay!" replied the girl as she ran up-stair.
Running toward a cabinet, Ino grab an overall and dressed herself with it, before running toward the showers with a medical kit. As she was about to push open the door, Ino put her gloves and mask on and entered the room. The nurse wasn't lying; there was a lot of blood.
In fact, a pool of blood was surrounding the booth. Slowly, the blond-haired girl advanced toward the booth and tried to push open the door. Seeing that it was locked, Ino bend to her knees and crawled under the door to get to Sakura. Once inside, the blond-haired girl stood up and unlocked the door before pushing the shower's curtain away and kneeling near the pink-haired girl.
"My goodness… Sakura…" whispered the blond-haired girl as she pushed a few strands of black hair away.
Hurriedly, she scanned the girl's body to asses the damages. She had an important skull fracture and her blood levels were low. Not wasting anymore time, Ino took a syringe out of her medical kit and gave a shot of antibiotic that was allowing blood cells to regenerate to the girl before healing the huge wound on the pink-haired girl's head. After a few minutes, Sakura was as good as new. Slowly, the Yamanaka girl shook awake her friend and waited for her to regain her focus.
"I-Ino?" asked the Haruno girl as she blinked her eyes.
"Hi honey! How do you feel?" inquired Ino with a small smile.
"A bit dizzy…" answered Sakura as she tried to sit.
"Yeah, your blood levels aren't back to normal yet." explained the blond as she helped her friend to sit.
"What the hell happened? Why are you dressed like this?" asked again the used-to-be pink-haired girl.
"You fell in the shower and hit your head badly. Look there's still blood all around you." answered Ino as she pointed at the bloody floor.
"Gosh… I can't remember a thing." said Sakura with a frown.
"Well, let's just wash you again and get you out of here okay? We'll see about what happened later." explained the Yamanaka girl as she stood up
"Right."
Softly, Ino took hold of her friend's hand and helped her get up. She then took the towel off of her body and held her while she opened the shower and washed away the blood on her and on the ground.
"Damn, your skin is really getting translucent." stated Ino as she looked at the girl's body.
"Yeah, I know. Now stop staring." replied Sakura with a glare as she tried to hide herself from the scrutinizing gaze of her friend.
"Sorry. Let's get you dressed." said the blond-haired girl with a small laugh.
"Hn." grunted Sakura as she grabbed her towel.
Once the girl was back in a fresh new blue medical gown, Ino took her arm and helped her walked toward the chamber's unit. This was going to be a long day.
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One hour later
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Pushing the door of the chamber's unit open, Sasuke made his way inside the room and was surprised by the lack of noise. Normally, at this hour, the room was filled with people and workers. Reaching the main table, the Uchiha was welcomed by a stressful Ino, who was not really paying attention at what she was doing. In fact, despite her attempts at classifying some papers she was more or less mixing them more. Sighing at her lack of focus, the dark-haired boy gently pushed her arm.
"Wha-What?" asked Ino in surprised as she almost dropped the papers she was holding.
"Hn." grunted the Uchiha with a small smirk.
"Oh it's you!" replied the blond-haired girl in a disappointed tone.
"What does that mean?" inquired Sasuke with a frown.
"Nothing… Sorry, it's just… Haaa… You see…" begin to mumbled the girl.
"Focus." said the dark-haired boy in an authoritarian tone.
"I'm worried for Sakura." said Ino as she looked at the boy with a sad expression.
"How come?" asked Sasuke, suddenly interested.
"Well, since yesterday, she's a bit down and today I found her in the shower bleeding to no end!" answered the blond-haired medic.
"What?" asked the Uchiha in disbelief.
"She fell in the shower… I tried to ask her what happened. At first, she didn't remember and then she didn't want to talk about it. Since that, it's like she's not really there… Her mind is on something else. Look." explained Ino as she pointed a finger toward the Haruno girl.
Turning in the direction pointed by the blond, Sasuke searched for his team-mate and found her standing in front of an occupied chamber with a sad expression.
"You want me to try?" asked the Uchiha.
"Yes. Maybe she'll open up to you." answered the Yamanaka girl with a relieve smile.
"I doubt it. You're her best friend after all." replied Sasuke with a soft sigh.
"I don't think I am anymore…" confessed Ino with a sad expression.
"Why are you saying this?" inquired the boy.
"She hates me. It's pretty obvious. Kiba said that she's just in a bad mood, but I'm sure it's worst than that." explained the blond-haired girl.
"Ino. You should trust Kiba's opinion." said Sasuke while rolling his eyes.
"Huh!"
Slowly, the dark-haired boy left the girl behind and walked toward the pink-and-black-haired girl. Once he reached her, Sasuke took place next to her and looked at the same chamber as her. Immediately, he knew who the person inside the creature's body was. It was that young girl, Nya. Sakura really had a hard time when the girl transformed. Maybe she was still feeling guilty or maybe she was anxious for tonight. Everyone knew her coma would come soon and by the symptoms she had, it would surely be today. Glancing at her face, Sasuke felt terribly helpless. She looked so troubled.
"Hello Sakura." greeted the boy.
"Hi Sasuke." replied Sakura without looking at him.
"What are you doing with Nya?" asked the dark-haired boy.
"I'm watching her. I'm surprised you remember her." answered the girl, still unmoving.
"I do. You impressed me that day." spoke the Uchiha.
"My, my… What's with the compliments today?" asked Sakura as she glanced at him with a teasing smile.
"I'm serious Sakura. You impressed me a lot." insisted the dark-haired boy.
"Hn…" grunted the girl as she looked back at the cell where Nya was.
"Since when do you sound like me?" asked Sasuke with a smirk.
"Too much time spent with you." answered the girl with a playful smile.
"Tch…" replied the boy with a small smile.
"Where's Naruto? I thought he was coming to bring you clothes?" suddenly asked the used-to-be pink-haired girl.
"Yes, he did. He went to see Tsunade up-stair." answered the Uchiha.
"I see." added Sakura not really making eye contact with him.
"You didn't answer my question." spoke the dark-haired boy.
"I know you don't believe me, but now, I understand what she was telling me…" explained Sakura as she let her finger traced a line on the glass.
"I believe in you." interrupted Sasuke with a small frown.
"But I still feel like a fool." replied the Haruno girl as she glanced at him.
"You're not." said the dark-haired boy.
"Sasuke…" whispered the girl as she closed her eyes and let go of a sigh.
"Sakura…" insisted the young man.
"This man is real, even if the only people able to see him are infected." spoke Sakura as she turned toward the dark-haired boy with serious eyes.
"I know." said Sasuke, honestly.
"No, you don't." replied the girl while looking back at her ex-patient.
"I believe in you. If you tell me he exist, then he exist." stated the Uchiha as he turned the girl around to face him.
"I saw him again today. He can't touch me, but he lures me. He took me by surprise and I fell in the shower." confessed the Haruno girl.
"So that's what happened…" said the boy, more to himself than anything else.
Unfortunately, it wasn't what the girl was expecting. Seeing her bothered expression, Sasuke tried to explain himself.
"Sakura… We're worried about you." spoke the young man.
"Yeah, you think I'm crazy and all you want is for me to get into a coma as soon as possible." said Sakura while rolling her eyes.
"No…" begin the Uchiha.
"Never mind." interrupted the girl as she untangled herself from him.
"Sakura…" insisted Sasuke.
"SAKURA! MY KONEKO!" yelled a feminine voice.
Before Sasuke could say anything, a blur of blond burst in front of him and engulfed Sakura in a bear hug. Surprised, Sasuke was about to ask Ino for explanation when he spotted her next to him with Sakura's dad. As usual, her father was looking at him with a deadly aura and his tall posture was far from inviting. No matter what he would do, her father would always despise him and it had been like that since he was paired-up with Sakura in team-7. While Sasuke had to address him as Mr. Haruno, Naruto was regarded as his own son. It was simply unfair.
"Brat." greeted Akihito with a frown.
"Mr. Haruno." greeted back the dark-haired boy.
"Oh my little Sasuke! I didn't see you. How are you sweetie?" asked Sakura's mother as she engulfed the poor boy into an awkward hug.
"I'm fine Miss Haruno and you?" inquired the Uchiha with a small polite smile as the woman release him.
"Oh! Isn't he cute Akihito?" asked Emiko with a dazzling smile as she looked at her husband.
"Hummm…" grunted the man as he frowned deeper.
"Hi dad…" greeted the used-to-be pink-haired girl.
"Sakura, my precious daughter!" yelled the man with a big grin as he engulfed his daughter in a bear hug.
"Ino! My second daughter, how are you?" asked Emiko as she suddenly saw the blond-haired medic.
"I'm fine Emiko. It's nice to see you again." replied Ino with a little wave of her hand.
"You said it, but I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed with both of you." said the woman while she pointed an accusative finger at the two teenagers.
"What? Why?" asked the blond in disbelief.
"It's been so long since you two came home and let's not talk about my little sunshine, this boy is in for a big trouble. Seriously, I miss you…" explained the woman with happiness.
"Will you just drop it with the stupid babbling?" suddenly shouted Sakura with an angry expression.
Like a storm, Sakura ran away from the group and got in her chamber, before loudly closing the glass door. Surprised by the sudden commotion, Kiba left his chamber and looked at the group for an explanation. Subtly, Ino made a sign to tell him not to interfere and to wait for her explanations.
"Oooookay! Can someone tell me what happened exactly?" inquired the girl's mother with surprised eyes.
"If you really want to know Emiko, this is all your fault." accused Akihito with a glare.
"What? What have I done idiot?" asked Emiko in anger as she returned her husband glare.
"Oh! Don't worry about her Emiko… She's been like that since yesterday." said Ino with a sad expression.
"What happened?" inquired again the blond-haired woman.
"She started the hallucinations phase and it didn't go smoothly." explained the Yamanaka girl.
"In fact, she feels misunderstood and pretty much alone." added Sasuke.
"What makes you say that Uchiha?" asked Akihito with a suspicious look.
"She doesn't take her situation well and she unleashes her anger on everyone for no reason." answered Ino.
"Personally, I think she didn't do the bereavement of her normal life." stated the Uchiha.
"Emiko…" suddenly said the pink-haired girl's father with a nervous smile.
"Yes honey?" asked the blond woman with suspicion.
"This is a girl thing." stated the man.
"Let me guess… You're afraid of your own daughter?" inquired Emiko with a frown.
"Of course not! It's just that I'm a total idiot when it comes to feelings. How about I go with your little brat here to get Naruto while you sort that out?" suggested Akihito to Sasuke's great surprise as he put a lazy arm around the boy shoulders.
"Why not?" replied the woman while throwing her arms in the air in surrender.
And with that said, Emiko left the group for her daughter's chamber. Softly, the blond-haired woman opened the glass door and entered the room before closing the door behind her. Taking a few seconds to asses her surroundings, the woman carefully advanced toward her daughter and sat next to her on the ground, in the corner, her back to the glass window. Replacing her long skirt smoothly, Emiko glanced at her daughter with worried eyes. Her situation was getting worst. Her skin was more translucent and was crumbling at some place, her used-to-be beautiful pink hair, which was the proud of her mother, was now black and lifeless. Sakura was currently sitting with her legs up and her arms crossed over her knees with her head deeply buried in it. With a soft smile, Emiko let her hand caress her daughter's head in an affectionate manner.
"How about you start with the beginning?" suggested the woman.
"I don't want to." mumbled the Haruno girl under her arms.
"But you'll have to." said Emiko with a soft voice.
"…"
"You know honey, life is not always as we planned it." explained the woman as she placed her hand back in her laps.
"No shit!" replied Sakura with an annoyed expression while glancing at her mother.
"Watch your language!" warned Emiko as she gave a small slap on her daughter left leg.
"…"
"Ino and Sasuke told me about what happened…" spoke Emiko returning to her serious side.
"Those two idiots don't understand a thing." replied the girl with anger.
"They're worried for you…" corrected her mother.
"THEY DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT ME! ALL THAT MATTER TO THEM IS THAT I GET INTO A COMA AS SOON AS POSSIBLE SO THAT THEY WON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO MY SUPPOSED NON SENSE!" yelled the girl as she sat correctly and glare at her mother.
"That's not true honey and you know it. Now tell me what's really troubling you?" asked Emiko totally un-phased by her daughter outburst.
"…"
"Sakura…" insisted the woman.
"Why bother telling you? You won't believe me either." replied Sakura in a calmer tone.
"Give it a try." suggested her mother with a small smile.
"I have a chance to find a cure to this thing that is affecting us… But no one wants to believe me. Even Tsunade don't want to believe me! You see, my patients told me about the same thing. This is not a hallucination… If only they would listen to me, they…" tried to explain the girl, getting frustrated by her situation.
"Sakura. I do believe you. stated Emiko while placing her right hand on her daughter's shoulder.
"…"
"But you have to realise that you are no longer a medic. You are sick." explained the woman.
"You see! That's exactly what I was saying, you don't believe me! No one does!" replied Sakura as she pushed her mother's hand away.
"Sakura?" inquired Emiko.
"…"
"Why is it so important to you that people believe you or not?" continued the blond-haired woman.
"Because if they'd believed me; I'd be able to help them find a cure!" answered the young girl.
"My lovely girl…" said Emiko with a soft smile.
"What?" asked Sakura in annoyance.
"You're finally telling me how you feel and I understand it…" answered the woman.
"NO YOU DON'T! NO ONE FUCKING UNDERSTANDS! I'M SO ANGRY, SO SAD! I HATE THIS STUPID LIFE! But I hate myself even more… *sobs* Why does it have to be me? Why can't I take it like Kiba? Why am I feeling like this? Why am I so useless?" explained the Haruno girl as she burst into tears.
"Because you are human Sakura… And you are a beautiful giving person. You have a big heart and you are really self-giving, but you have to stop feeling guilty because you can't help others. You are sick, honey, and you have the right to be sick and helpless. You can also feel mad, sad or angry about this situation. But you certainly have to stop feeling guilty!" spoke her mother while engulfing her girl into her arms.
"It's so hard…" said Sakura while hugging back her mother.
"Hush my little koneko… Hush." whispered Emiko as she kissed her girl's head.
Crying her heart out on her mother's shoulder, Sakura was finally letting go of all the pressure she had put on herself over the years. After a few minutes, the pink-haired girl finally started to calm down and Emiko couldn't help but smile. After all those years of acting though, Sakura was finally showing her weak side and she was glad to see her daughter getting back to her human side. With her ninja training, her situation with Naruto and Sasuke during the fourth ninja war and her constant work in the hospital, Sakura was more or less acting like a machine programmed to do certain things at a certain moment. She had let herself fall to a second plan status, making people more important than her and Emiko was glad that her daughter was finally realising that she is a person too. A person with desires, needs and fears.
"I think you'll have a few apologies to do." said the blond-haired woman.
"Then… I'll start with you." replied Sakura.
"Don't bother my little girl. You know I'll never be mad at you." spoke Emiko with a huge smile.
"But I disappointed you." added the girl with a sad expression.
"No, not at all." concluded her mother.
"I'm sorry anyway." apologized Sakura as she let go of her mother.
"That's okay." replied the blond-haired woman with a satisfied expression.
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On Ino's side
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It's been ten minutes since Ino last heard Sakura's shouts and she was beginning to worry for her and her mother. The pink-haired girl was emotionally instable lately and in spite of the wonderful relation she had with her mother, Ino was afraid that the girl could hurt her mother's feelings. Sakura was really hard with everyone and despite her attempts to understand her, she had no idea what was going on in her head. Sighing in desperation, the blond-haired girl let herself fell in a chair near the main table and lay her head on the cold wood of the table. Sensing her turmoil, Kiba took place next to her and started to caress her hair in a comforting manner.
"What's wrong?" inquired the young man as Ino sat back properly.
"I just don't get it…" answered the blond-haired girl with a defeated expression.
"Sakura?" asked Kiba, quirking an eyebrow.
"Yeah…" replied Ino while leaning on her boyfriend's shoulder.
"Ino… It's not that hard to understand." said the now almost dark-haired boy.
"What do you mean?" asked the Yamanaka girl as she sat back and looked at him in the eye.
"How would you cope if your whole life was to end now?" demanded Kiba.
"…"
"…"
"But… But how come you're not reacting like her?" asked the blond-haired girl in disbelief.
"I did." answered the young man with a little smirk.
"What?" replied the girl.
"But I'm not like her…" added the Inuzuka.
"What do you mean?" tried to understand Ino.
"It's harder for her because she is the one who used to help others. She is used to be the savior and not the one that needed to be safe." explained Kiba with a serious expression.
"I understand what you mean… When Sasuke left the village, Sakura vowed to never be weak again, to never need help." stated the young woman with understanding eyes.
"And now she feels like she's back at the start." added the used-to-be brown-haired boy.
"Gosh… I feel so bad for her now…" spoke Ino as she nervously played with a blond strand of hair.
"Don't worry too much honey." said Kiba while letting his left arm encircled her tiny waist.
Suddenly, the door of the chamber cell opened slowly and Sakura and her mother got out of it.
"Sakura!" immediately greeted Ino as she stood up.
"Ino…" said the used-to-be pink-haired girl with a small smile.
"Come on sweetie…" whispered Emiko while pushing her daughter forward.
"I'm sorry for my bad behaviour with you Ino. I guess I didn't take my disease well and I unleash my anger on you for no reason… Your one of my most precious people, you didn't deserved that." started to apologize Sakura with honest eyes as she grabbed her friend's hands in hers.
"Apologies accepted. I understand you a little more now." replied Ino with a huge smile.
"Seem like I still need my mom to put me back on the right track." said the Haruno girl with a small blush while rolling her eyes.
"Well, I'm glad she's there, 'cause I couldn't live in a world where you wouldn't be my friend anymore…" replied Ino as she engulfed her friend in a hug.
"I'm so proud of you girls." stated Emiko while hugging the poor Kiba.
"Ugh! Too much love…" whispered the young man with a frown.
At the same time, the door of the unit burst open and Sakura's father entered the room sitting on Naruto's back, piggy back style, while hitting him with his belt like a horse, followed by a frowning Sasuke.
"Come on you two idiots, hurry up." said the man with a mad expression.
"Awww don't be mean Mr Haruno! I swear I wasn't trying to trick you into walking in the nurses' lockers room." whined Naruto as he lazily walked toward the table.
"Say all you want kid, I won't change my mind." replied Akihito while crossing his arms over his chest.
"Come on Naruto… What have you done again?" asked Kiba with a huge smirk while Sakura's mother let him go.
"Nothing! I swear." replied Naruto as he put his hands in front of him in a defensive manner.
"Mr Haruno found him and was about to get back here when the Dobe entered the wrong door. Unfortunately, we trusted him with the directions and followed him." explained Sasuke while taking a seat next to the almost dark-haired boy.
"It was a bad idea." said Akihito as he jumped off of the blond-haired boy's back.
"Idiot." mumbled the Uchiha with a smirk.
"What did you say?" inquired the Haruno patriarch while glaring daggers at the young lad.
"Not you Mr. Haruno. I was thinking about Naruto." replied Sasuke, blushing.
"Dad, leave him alone." warned Sakura as she crossed her arms over her chest in an authoritarian voice.
"Oh! Hi little devil! How are you? Feeling better?" inquired the man, waving carefully his hand in front of him.
"Yes. By the way… I want to apologized to all of you. I'm sorry for my bad behaviour with you… You've been awesome with me and I was simply mean with you." said Sakura with a small blush.
"No problem Sakura! Believe it! I still like you!" said Naruto with his cheerful grin.
"Don't worry my little sunshine! There's no way, my little Koneko could get mad at you." said happily the Haruno matriarch completely ignoring the rest of the crew.
"Emiko…" warned Akihito.
"What?" replied the woman with venom.
"How about we spend this last day around a nice meal, hum?" suggested Ino as she shown the picnic basket of Emiko in hopes it would change the mood.
"Great idea! Let's prepare everything!" said Emiko with a huge smile, her mood changing swiftly.
As everyone started to prepare the room for the improvise meal, Naruto approached Sasuke and took place next to him.
"So?" asked the blond-haired boy.
"So what?" replied in an annoyed tone the Uchiha.
"Did something happened?" said again Naruto with a meaningful look.
"What are you implying by this Dobe?" asked again the dark-haired boy.
"Well, with Sakura? Did you talk to her?" specified the Uzumaki with a smirk.
"…"
"Sasuke… Seriously?" stated Naruto in disbelief upon his friend's silence.
"Stop bothering me." growled Sasuke while looking away.
"Time is running out." said the blond with a disappointed look on his face.
"I know." replied the Uchiha in annoyance while looking at the used-to-be pink-haired girl.
"Then do it. Do it now!" announced Naruto, enthusiast.
"No. It's not the best mome…" begin the dark-haired boy, closing his eyes.
"HEY SAKURA! SASUKE WOULD LIKE TO TALK TO YOU!" yelled the jinchuriki as he stood up to get the girl's attention.
"Idiot! Shut your fucking mouth!" replied Sasuke while tackling the other boy on the floor in pure anger.
"What is it Sasuke?" asked Sakura as she joined them.
"Got to go…" announced the blond while standing up and running away.
"Like hell you do…" growled the Uchiha, still on the ground.
"What?" inquired the girl, not being able to hear him.
"Humm… Sakura… Can… Can I talk to you for a minute?" asked the dark-haired boy as he stood up and led the girl away from the group.
"Yes, sure…" answered Sakura with a small smile.
.