Chapter 14: Different Lives

Previously on "The Many Tribulations Of A Flower..."

Ino wasn't startled with Sai's actions, he obviously saw her as a sister or something, "..It's ok." she sighed, leaping off his desk, "...I'm use to getting rejected. See you later, Sai." she called out not even acknowledging Shikamaru's prescience. Nor him or Naruto's. They were not even alive to her. Harsh, yes. Did she give a damn, no. Approaching her teacher, she interrupted, "Itachi, I don't have a partner...help me out."

The man nodded her way, slowly removing himself from the group of three, "Are the friends you have any of help?" he asked. The blonde shook her head and uttered a shy no. Glancing around the room, he spotted out that everyone had partners, "...Well Ino, there's only one thing left to do."

"...And what is that?"

"One of the assistance's. One of them to be your partner, they're actually here for more bigger reasons than that but I'm sure they have the time." he answered while patting on the group's shoulder, "..They're all related. Temari here, is the oldest and the brightest, but I don't think you'll be good partners with her seeing as you both have the same 'leadership' attitude." She gave Ino a cocky smile that she didn't sit right with at all. Good thinking, Itachi. Moving down the line he stated, "Kankuro is the second oldest and the loudest. You don't get along with Kiba that much so you wont be able to handle him."

"Hey!" The painted man called out, "...I thought you were the nice Uchiha!"

Itachi smirked, "I am. Now, this is Gaara, of the desert to be precise. He and you should go well together, for reasons that I will not explain." he pointed to the red haired man. Light green eyes ran her way, giving the blonde a scary feeling in her gut. His eyes, his hair, his expression, all creeped her out.

Ino gulped, "...You mean...the Gaara that was all...like...um..."

"He's not the same." Itachi answered, "He's now Kazekage and tamed."

"I'm not a dog." The man called out. The rasp in his voice made the girl jump and shake, "...You're Ino Yamanaka, right?"

"...Um, yes. But...I don't think you have the time to wo-"

"I'll do it." Gaara answered, "We're here to help out Konoha, are now new 'friends."

"Friends?" Ino questioned, "...I thought we were at war. Wha-"

"You are. But..not with us."

He really had a rude habit of cutting her off all the time. But on a serious note, she thought that Konoha was at war with everyone. What was going on? And what was the war about? Why hadn't no one told the minors about these things. They had a right to know, "...Ok, then..Um, what book are we doing a report on?"

"The Tales Of Cindy Hum'" Itachi answered while giving her the book, "It's about friendship just to let you know. Read all of it tonight, alright?"

"Tonight?" Ino questioned, "...How are we going to be able to read the entire book in time, knowing that he's going to have to go home or leave out the village."

"Ino..." Itachi sighed, "..He's just going to have to stay over our place. It's that simple."

Ino gave Itachi a weirded out look. How was a total stranger going to just stay over her now place. Especially...Gaara. The weird, evil, murderer Gaara, "...Um, well the bell's about to ring so I'll see you there, arigato?" she looked at the man who kept his light eyes on her the whole way through. He simply nodded and left out the room even before the bell rang. Weird... "...See you then, Itachi!" Ino called out before she left out as well.

-2:35-

Still feeling awkward, Ino walked down the sidewalk, trying to hurry up and get back to Itachi's place. Class just ended and her now sudden partner was no where to be found. He was not even present in any of her other classes, he must have just been helping out Itachi. Walking home by herself was nothing new, sometimes Sakura would accompany her but the emerald eyed girl decided to go along with Naruto. Ain't that a bitch? Her best female friend was bailing on her just to walk home a trader, like he was some kind of kid. Just what was her plan anyway? Did she know that Hinata had a crush on the spiky haired man? She must have, Hinata made it so obvious. Pushing that aside, the blonde made it home in a matter of minutes. Fifteen to be exact. To her surprise, the door was already open. She stepped inside the place, looking around. There, Sasuke was sitting on the couch, apparently watching Tv. But he wasn't alone. Not that faraway was the red haired man, standing up by the stairway.

Ino felt out of place, it was so quiet and weird. When she closed the door shut, the four eyes went straight on her. Damn, she was trying to stay quiet. Waving frantically she sprung out a shaky, "...Hey guys."

Sasuke suddenly cut the Tv off and headed her way, "Blondie, your home...early. What, Sakura didn't come with you this time?"

"No." Ino answered, "..It seems like everyone, all my friends don't really want to be around me. Like, today none of them wanted to be my partner so-"

"You got stuck with me." Gaara cut her off abruptly. He still stayed in his pose, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.

Ino tried her best to stay calm. His everything just made her want to scream...and not in pleasure, in freight, "...Yea, but its not like it's unfortunate that I got partnered up with you. You, you just, uhm, never mind."

Sasuke looked between the two, frowning. His roommate seemed to be disturbed by something. It must have been Gaara, his former associate, "...So, Gaara, you like playing Kazekage?"

The man glared at the Uchiha, "..Playing...as if I play..."

"Um, ok then." Ino smiled, "We should really try to get this done, we only have tonight. Oh and Gaara here is staying over tonight." she tried to whisper to Sasuke, she would had gotten away with it if it not had been for his loudmouth.

"Staying?" he blurted out, "...Where's he sleeping?"

"...Anywhere but...no where near you."

"Fine by me." Sasuke grunted, "...Sleep with Blondie for all I care."

"Sasuke!" she yelled, pounding on the kitchen table she was now standing by, "...He can sleep anywhere he wants. Treat guest with respect." Like she was one to talk, she basically talked about the guy mentally, "..Sorry Gaara, I got treated the same way when I first arrived."

"No problem, I'm use to the Uchiha's ridiculous ways." he stated.

"...Hn."

Ino smirked. Wow, he was so blunt. She loved it, "Well then, Shall we get to work?" she asked elegantly while walking towards him. He once again didn't respond but nodded, following her into her now room. Sasuke stayed downstairs, still fuming, "...Sit anywhere you li-"

Ino stopped once she saw him already on her bed, just staring into space. Joining him she sighed out an, "..Ok. Well, do you want to read or should I?"

"Together." he answered while taking the book from her hands, "Then, we can both give our opinions on the paper that is due." The ruby haired man immediately began reading the book. Ino admired his determined attitude, when something needed to be done, he did it. And not complain like other people would.

For a while, she gazed at him, carefully monitoring the way he read the lines of the book, the way his eyed moved, side to side. His lips stayed in it's place, not syncing the words in any way. It was calming, "...Right. So, do you want me to start reading with you now, then we each give our different opinions and mix it together in the paper...is that what you're trying to say?"

Turning the page he murmured out a low, "Exactly."

Ino chuckled, scooting closer to him, "..Well, I don't think I can read as fast as you do-"

"Keep up." he ordered, "...Don't get distracted by the talking and just read. It's your final grade not mine...keep that in mind, Ino."

Ino silently gasped, looking at his Christmas green eyes. She hadn't really seen him as mean as far as she can tell, he was more just...blunt. Like she had mentioned to herself before. She could handle blunt, "..Alright. Just, turn back to the first page, I didn't read that." she was surprised she could finish an entire sentence without him cutting her off. Like demanded, the man did as he was told and waited for the woman to be done. Analzying her every motion while doing so. When she read...she mouthed out the words and blinked frantically. How people do things explained the persons personality. From her actions, she was a squirmy girl...

-5:34- Library

Temari stomped her feet in the open chair, leaning her elbow on her thigh with a dangerous smirk crossing her face, "...Long time no see, Shikamaru. I remembered when you were still walking around with the blue eyed girl and fat guy. Now you're hanging around drag queens...really?"

The man look up from his book, sighing when he saw who it was, "...Temari...what do you want?" Sai had unfortunately left earlier and told him to inform him on the book later. He supposedly had something important to do. Pft, yeah, right. Important like going home to sleep or draw some more.

The blonde chuckled, " What's the matter? Not happy to see mama...what a shame. As "troublesome" as it may be, I'm happy to see you. How are you doing?"

"Fine."

She then frowned, seeing as how he didn't want to be bothered with her. Well, that wasn't unnatural but he actually showed it this time, " So, how's you and Ino doing in paradise? Got some kids expected on the way?" she playfully asked while taking a seat next to him. They were so close...they must have had about two or three.

Shikamaru glanced up at her, his brown eyes showing no emotion, "Kids? We didn't even have a decent conversation because of that ridiculous argument we had."

"Argument, eh?" she asked, still smirking, "...So, there's trouble in paradise...what was the argument about?"

"As if you actually care." he spat back at her.

She sighed, "...You're right, I don't. But I love to here drama when it doesn't concern me, so spill it out spiky."

The man closed his book, realizing that he wasn't going to get any reading done now that she was here, "We...me, Naruto and Hinata, caused her to get kicked out by her father, Inoichi. And now she lives with our teacher, Itachi."

"Woah!" she called out with a stopping hand, "You got the blue eyed girl kicked out? Really? I didn't think you had it in you. And...Naruto and Hinata... Hinata, oh wow. I thought she was the nicest girl on the planet, what the hell convinced her to do something like that?"

The conversation with the pony-tailed haired woman only got him feeling more guilty, "...I'm thinking you came here to talk, not judge or make me feel even worse." he slouched over in his seat, showing off his signature lazy look.

"I'm sorry, Shikamaru. But hey, I think Ino should just get over it and you all should just go back to being one weird family again. Go have your fun while you can, you know..."

Shikamaru nodded but declined. He knew once you made the blonde mad, she was never going to forgive you. Not even after you apologized. She was just stubborn, like her late mother, "..Yea, I agree."

"If she is still bitching over this, she isn't ready for the real world. Where nobody gives a rats ass about your feelings...somebodies gotta slap some sense into that girl, seriously." Temari remarked with anger, "I have nothing against her but from this situation, I can tell she is so caught up in herself. She got kicked out, get over it! It's not like somebody stabbed her in her ba-"

"What a drag." Shikamaru worded, "Can you express you opinions without talking about my Yūjin?

"Friend?" she questioned, getting up from her seat, "Someone who turns her back on her friends because they are trying to help her, is anything but a friend. She's gone on with her life, happy and healthy. And you and your gang are sulking, am I right?" the look on his face answered her question. Indenial and melancholy, " Right... So, I'll be going then. Try to get over her, you don't need her Shikamaru. You need someone who's mature...I think you know who that is." she smiled.

The brown orbed man watched her walk out of her room, attitude and all. Her loudness annoyed him, it always had. But, the older woman made sense. There he was, in the library still thinking about how Ino hadn't said anything to him and completely ignored him earlier. She seemed a little happy, it's not like she had to live with a complete stranger. She knew Itachi and everyone knew he was kind. Reopening his book he began to read once again, "..Maybe Temari's right. I need to stop feeling guilty and get over Ino. She and I are no longer best friends."

-8:10-

Sweats drops ran down her flawless cheek, all the way to her neck. She panted as she stood back on her feet, trying to keep her balance, "...I-Im s-sorry, I-I didn't mean to l-lose once a-again, father." she apologized through heavy breathing. This had been going on for hours now. She was so tired but she couldn't give up.

A smaller version of Hinata brushed her hair to the side and narrowed her eyes, "Well, if you stop apologizing to me and just fight maybe you won't lose, duh!"

Hinata widened her eyes, her little sister was so rude, "I'm s-, I m-mean, I-I don't want to f-fight you, you're my little sister."

"Forget about that!" Hanabi shouted, she stood back in her fighting pose, "You have to beat me, you're eighteen now!"

The clear eyed girl held back her tears, ".. I don't think I-I can b-beat you, I- I don't have it i-in me-"

"She's a child, Hinata!" Hiashi screamed after listening to the two babbling, "If you can't beat her, you won't be able to beat anyone else! Do you know that Konoha's in war, huh! Do you? Well it doesn't matter because you would get killed by these ninja. And I won't even attend your damn funeral if you can't do this! So, do it before I fight you!"

Holding her heart she cried out, "O-Of course dad…alright." Slowly, the woman stood in her position, waiting for her opponent to attack. She didn't want to fight her little sister but had no choice. She knew that her father was going to punish her if she didn't. Seeing that she was coming by her, she dodged her hit and swiftly tripped the girl, "Are you ok, little sister?"

"Stop calling me that!" Hanabi screamed, rushing back over in her direction, "Ha!"

Hinata dodged again and softly hit her chest area. She saw as her sister cried out a yelp, "...I'm s-sorry, Hanab-"

"Shut up!" she yelled, getting back on her feet, "Don't apologize or you'll get in trouble!"

"..Right." Watching every moment her sister was making, she waited for her to come back over by her. Her hands and feet were sloppy, usually they were always stern and in it's place. That must have meant she was getting angered by something. Was it her? No it couldn't have been. She narrowed her eyes, knowing what she had to do to end this,"..I'm s-sorry..." she shouted as she pierced Hanabi in her stomach, sending her flying back into her father. Hinata gasped.

Blood rushed out of the young girl's mouth, "...Oh, my, Kami. Y-You beat me... fa-"

"Congratulations!" Hiashi shouted, rushing to Hinata and leaving a hurt Hanabi. He pulled his older daughter into a tight hug, "..You beat your sister...it took a while but you did. You finally put aside your silly emotions and did something that can change your whole life. You were great!"

Hanabi wiped away the salty blood that rushed from her mouth and pouted, "...Father..."

"Hush Hanabi!" he shouted back at the girl, "You lost...go clean yourself up and train."

"S-So, d-does this mean it's o-over?" Hinata asked. She was exhausted and it took her so long just to defeat her younger sister.

"No." he answered, "You bet the weakest now you need to go fight the strongest. But, soon we'll return home. Soon, alright."

Hinata nodded, "Hai, alright." her father took her by the hand and led her out of the dojo area, leaving his other daughter. "W-wait." she ordered, "..Hanabi, come w-with u-"

"No!" Hanabi screamed, "You won fair and square, go have your victory...I'll just be here."

"B-But, Hanabi-"

The girl was still slouched over in the corner, "...I just can't believe you bet your little sister. You...hit one of my...you could have killed me. And...I thought I was your little sister...I can't believe you stooped so low, Hinata." tears began to run down the girl's face but was unseen as Hiashi took Hinata's hand and led her out the room.

-11:03-

Closing up the book, she plopped back down the bed, finishing up her part of the paper. The book took hours to read and her and Gaara had just been finishing up their papers, each giving the say on the book. Like expected, Gaara had been done before she was but he waited for her with a tired look in his eye, "Done!" she shouted making the red head look over at her, "...I'm done..."

"..Finally." he muttered, "Where should I sleep, Ino?"

Holding her paper close she stated, "...Uh, well, you can sleep um..." looking over to the side, she didn't spot out Sasuke, "Well, you can sleep in my bed, ok?" she smiled, "I'm just going to take your paper and mix it together with mine, since you aren't a student anyway..." she headed for the paper but the look in his eye stopped her. He watched her so carefully all the time.

"...Take it." he ordered. She did as she was told and began to read over his, "Where will you sleep?"

Looking over the paper she told, "I'll sleep on the couch, no big deal. I want you to be comfortable..."

"...But I don't need to..."

Ino smirked, "Well sure you do. Everybody should feel comfortable. Plus, I need to wite these papers into one so, go ahead." she go up from the bed and walked over by the door, still reading the well written paper. He was more intelligent then she thought he was. His grammar, his everything was near perfection.

"If you insist-"

"Gaara!" she called out, "May I ask you something?"

He laid on the bed, "...Knock yourself out."

Ino hesitated at first but took a deep breath, " What's Konoha in war for... I mean...because they don't really tell us anything because we are minors. But, I have a right to know, my father's a shinobi in the first place so... can you please tell me?"

It seemed to have caught the red head's eye, "...Konoha is a popular village, with a lot of different clans in the mix. You people have it lucky...you have more land, more freedom, even more fun. Other villages like mine and water do not have the opportunities you have. We are at war even when we're at home. Nothing fun is done because a ninja could burst in anytime, any day."

The blonde frowned, "I'm sorry. I thought that every village had-"

"It's alright." he sighed, "...You should sleep..."

She nodded, "Right." leaving out the open door she stomped down the stairs, "..But first I need to do these papers... boy, am I exhausted." she said to herself, entering the kitchen. Itachi was still not spotted, where was he? She missed her well spoken teacher and now guardian. He must have been really busy.

"Blondie..."

Ino turned her head in shock, "...Yeah?" she couldn't see anything; everything was pitch black and silent.

Coming from the shadows was the raven haired man, "I thought you would have been sleep by now. What got you up so late?" he asked, leaning on the closed door. His hair wasn't messy and his shirt was off, as usual. Did he always walk around without a shirt on, really?

Ino sighed. She was relieved it wasn't some S rank ninja, "Papers got me up late... me and Gaara finally finished."

"Speaking of weird and creepy, where is he?"

Ino smiled. Even he seemed a little frighten by the crimson haired man, "...He's up in my bed."

"What!" he shouted, catching the blonde off guard by the outburst, "What's he doing in my room, does he have a home?"

"No...he's Kazekage of his village and therefore does not have a home in Konohagakure, duh. But calm down, he's a nice guy and smart."

"Whatever." Sasuke grunted, "I'm not sleeping up there, he might try to bury me in sand or something."

Ino narrowed her light blue eyes, "..Really... like he would do something like that. I thought you two knew each other."

"We did. But I never said I liked him..."

"You don't like anyone."

"Hn. True." he responded while walking over by her. He shifted his dark eyes towards the blonde, "...But I don't dislike you..." he said sincerely.

Ino smiled, feeling something in her stomach go off again. She felt as if he meant it, his eyes explained all that he was feeling. Even though he wasn't smiling, his eyes did. After seconds of weird staring, they both shifted their eyes elsewhere, "...Good. At least somebody my age likes being around me...so, you want to help me on this paper thing?"

No. No he didn't, "Sure, Blondie." he sighed, "...Hn. But don't expect this everyday. I...don't really help people."

"No." she gasped sarcastically, "And here I thought that Sasuke Uchiha was so nice and helpful. When I first came here, you greeted me with a big box of chocolates and pudding." she laughed.

Sasuke glared at her lightly, "You're always joking..."

"Yea, I do. Got a problem with it?" she teased leaning in closer on him.

He shook his head and replied, "...Yea, I do." he suddenly pinched the blonde's nose, "...Now talk, Blondie."

Ino frowned the best way she could, heavily breathing out of her nose, "...You suck, Sasuke." her voice sounded like a cartoon character and made the Uchiha slightly smirk.

He let go of her nose and continued to look at her, "...Ino..."

"Yea?"

He cleared his throat, "Um...was your mom like you?"

The blonde's eyelids showed more, "...Yes... she was very funny also. She was the comedian in my family and always had me and my dad smiling."

"She must have been..." he stopped.

Ino took offence right away, "What? Another dumb blonde, obnoxious, what Sasuke, huh!"

"None of those things. Hn, you should get to work now, mornings about to arrive." he stated with a pointed finger.

Ino gasped. If he didn't mean any of those things, what was he trying to say? "Oh, I'm sorry...I thought...well, yeah, I should get back to work..."

The Uchiha moved over closer to her, reading over the paper. He wasn't in college like she was but intelligence just came with the Uchiha package, "Ok, we-"

"And your mom must have been a very caring, beautiful woman." Ino suddenly stated, "...I would had loved her."

The statement made the Uchiha gasp, "...Yea, you would have. Just like I would had loved your mother."

Ino smiled. He would loved her mother? That was a big compliment seeing as how she was just like her mother. Hm, she was starting to get use to the younger Uchiha, "Sasuke, I...I'm glad that I met someone like you. Even though we didn't really get along when I first arrived...you're a good person." she sighed afterwards, that was so hard to say. He returned her with a nod. She could tell he didn't like showing emotion, good. Because she didn't like being all feminine either. But she was glad, every day she spent with the man, brought them closer together. A bond was what they were building.

Hope you enjoyed it, I know I did, xD. Rem. tell me what you think and how do you

like it. Or what I need to improve on. Probs one more chap. before I start to take a

long time to update, becuz of stupid school. So tell me what you wanna see in the next

chap before its to late. And thanx to my new cumber reviewer 'Sasukesbiggestfan' you're awesome!

And of course everyone else that reads and reviews, luvs u and type ya later. ;)