Reviewers;

Duh Bomb: My heart is cold, but is growing bold, in everything I do, it is all for you. You do not see it yet, but you will once we have met, and when we do, you will believe you will know that you love me too. The Fatal flaws are like the seven carnal sins, but focus on both sides of things.

St3rfire: I like how you speak directly to the characters, though I am not the kind of writer to have them talk back to you (Shhh Sakura, don't be so loud) as for naruto, he will come back into play soon enough.

PinkFox245: I usually have a few tabs of stories open as well, and don't worry you. naruto will be seen soon.

7th Demon of Razgriz: Not being able to see those and situations around you? That would fit in with Gluttony I suppose, or Sloth.

Czar Joseph: I wanted the bandits to look stupid, preying on the wrong girl and dying for it. Dark Sakura just couldn't help but love the sight of their blood.

AN: hey everyone! So I figure that my fatal flaw is fear, being that I am comfortable where I am, and afraid to change in my ways because of what may happen. I hope you like this chapter. I felt like it was nice for this portion of the story.

Chapter 25: To be Cared For

'AAAAWWWWW!' Sakura groaned inside her mind, moving through the thought as raging light battered away at her closed eyes, forcing her out of her desperately needed sleep. She just wanted to cuddle into this heavenly cloud around her and drift off into an endless sleep where she could swirl around a light that she would never reach but always circle, in her endless regret of what she had done in her short span of life.

But as the light seeped deeper into her skin, Sakura groaned and tried to move the light away, but she couldn't. A layer of leathery straps were wrapped along her wrists, keeping her in place, and Sakura groaned as her throat was dry, and her wound still hurt. All of these things she felt through her sense of touch, and she didn't understand why she was strapped down at all.

Sakura finally opened her now ice blue eyes, looking around herself as she noticed that she was laying on a table in the center of a room, away from any walls, but the table was fixed with plush fur over the top, as her fingers barely scraped across them. Sakura turned her head slightly to her right and saw the wooden door entrance open and saw a blond girl with her back to her, crushing up some herbs in the next room and smiled as the girl swayed her hips slightly, her hair swishing as it always did when she was focused on a task.

'Ino…How did she find me so quickly? Ho-' "Ah!"Sakura thought as she tried to sit up and let up a yelp as she remembered her wound and the pain that surged through her body. Sakura whimpered as she stayed upright, her body thrashing around as Ino swirled around, and ran over to her, and in a quick doctoral manner, gently grabbed her shoulders, concern clearly in her eyes, and slowly coaxed Sakura back down to the table.

"Shhh..Shhh…it's okay…you're in a safe place…no one is going to hurt you."

"Mnnnn…" Sakura bit her lip to keep herself from crying out. The wound had caused her so much damage. If she was at home, her soldiers would have taken the sword out and she could have healed herself right away, but she had waited. A look at Ino and she knew what was wrong.

"I(Gulp)…IIII…." Sakura tried to speak, but her throat was sooo dry! And yet as her head touched the table, Ino leaned forward, and forced Sakura's mouth open. Well, she didn't force anything, as Sakura was too weak to stop her. She felt so frail at the moment. Ino nodded to herself and walked away. Sakura couldn't help but be scared. What if Ino didn't come back? She could be a bad healer!

But as Ino came back, Sakura sighed at herself for doubting her old friend for even a minute. In Ino's hand was a pitcher and a glass of clear water. Ino placed the pitcher on the desk at Sakura's feet, also restrained to the sides of the bed, and moved to the wall next to Sakura's head, something she had failed to realize until now that her head rested against that she was next to it.

"Here." Ino spoke and cupped the back of Sakura's head and slowly brought it up to the edge of the glass and dipped the water inside her mouth. Sakura swallowed as much as she could, and felt like a little girl, when she was sick and her mother took care of her. :There you go. Better."

Sakura gurgled the last swallow of water before speaking. "Yeah…can I have any more?"

Ino frowned and shook her head. "Not for another hour. I'm honestly surprised you're up after only an hour after surgery. You must have a strong heart."

"S-surgery?"

For your wound."

"Oh...W-Where am I?"

"You're in my home."

"Y-your home?"

"Yes. I found you heading the wrong direction, and led you here. You were seriously hurt."

"T-the sword-…I-"

"I got it out after you passed out. But…I still have to get in there to stitch up your lung. It got cut up a bit."

Sakura looked down at her nude form, covered only by a thin white blanket, and then she saw it, a slow trail of red that moved to the side of the bed and into a glass jar of her own blood.

"Am I going to die?"

"I won't let that happen." Ino assured her and peeled back the sheet to where Sakura saw her wound closed up with flimsy stitches. "I'll get you something to deal with the pain, okay?" Sakura nodded as Ino turned to leave.

Sakura waited a second, following Ino as she moved back to her other room and started to bring things together, before she slowly twisted herself out of the wrist restraint. Sakura's eyes stayed on Ino's back, as she undid the other restraint before placing one hand along her wound and the other ready to pierce into her body. Sakura waited for a second and breathed in air before plunging her hand inside the wound, breaking the stitches as she whimpered loudly as the pain.

Ino whipped her head around and gasped at the sight of this blonde patient trying to kill herself! "No! NO!" Ino yelled as she raced across the hallway once more and raced to the girl's side, and, with gloves on her hands, tried to peel the girl's hand out of her wound. The girl whimpered before a green light glowed faintly inside the wound and then glowed brighter as it shined past the girl's hand.

Ino's rushing hands paused as the girl's skin cleared up quickly, and her breathing normalized. She had been suffering from internal bleeding. She shouldn't recover this fast, unless… The girl sighed as the green magic died, and Ino quickly and slowly took the girl's now bloody hand out of her gut and shook her head as tears flowed out of her eyes.

"You stupid stupid girl! Five hours I worked on you and now I have to start all over."

Sakura wheezed as Ino pulled her hand out and retied it down. Sakura felt the restraint tight tight against her limbs and sighed sadly. Now, she had to be sent to prison for using her magic in front of Ino. But instead, Ino just sighed and began to walk away.

"Wait!" Sakura pleaded and Ino looked to her in question. "Aren't you going to call the guards or something?" Ino could have changed her mind on magic after these last two years. Magic had killed Sakura in the end after all in the eyes of her people.

But instead, Ino just shook her head. "We'll talk about this later. I can see that you're about to pass out again." Ino turned again, but this time, Sakura's frail fingers gripped her pinky finger in desperation.

"Wait!" Sakura whimpered. She felt so weak…so defenseless. Ino was still the girl that took care of those around her with a pure heart. "P-please…don't leave me." She whispered in a moment of desperation.

Ino sighed and nodded as she sat down on the chair next to the bed. Ino reached over to Sakura's forehead and pushed some stray locks of hair back into place before rubbing her cheek, and soon Sakura was dozing off.

"I'll be right here." Ino affirmed and Sakura's eyes closed. Ino waited a few minutes until Sakura's light breathing stabilized and she was asleep. Ino sighed and stroked her face. This girl was truly something, but Ino could tell as soon as she looked at her.

"Why are you here...Sakura?" Ino asked, as she lowered her head to the table and fell asleep beside her friend.

Sakura's eyes opened for the second time as the sun was setting for the day, and Sakura groaned as her body still felt as weak as ever and yet stronger than before. Sakura sighed back into a comfy pillow and Sakura realized that she was sleeping upright, a giant pillow surrounding her back and head. Sakura sighed into the pillow, letting it soak into her form.

Sakura felt no restraints on her anymore, so she supposed that Ino still hadn't reported her. Thinking of Ino, Sakura felt a pressure on her stomach and saw Ino's body in a way that protected it from Sakura's hands from the position she was in. Sakura smiled as she grabbed a stray lock from Ino's braid and brought it up to her own magical shade.

Ino was still as protective as ever, and now Sakura smiled at the shade of her magically colored hair matched Ino's to a tee. Sakura had always admired Ino's hair, especially when she was younger. She had been fascinated about yellow and golden things, like Ino and Naruto's hair. Pink hair stood out as weird and royal, but blonde Sakura felt was unique and stood out among all others, and unlike other boys and girls who lost it, Ino and Naruto kept their golden looks, and now Sakura matched them, with her golden hair and now blue eyes.

Ino groaned in her sleep and Sakura knew then that she was a terrible friend to Ino, being in her presence, but not telling her who she was. But if she was found out, then Sasuke would chase her here and unlike her own territory of defensive mountains, this forest was great for ambushes and though the Nara had never lost a battle, they had not faced Sasuke's army, in which there were things that…were not human anymore.

Ino's eyes fluttered and Sakura let go of her hair just as Ino's eyes opened to see her awakened face. Ino rubbed her eyes and smacked her lips in a very unladylike way, but Sakura touched her arm and nodded her head.

"Thanks for staying with me."

"I didn't stay the whole time. I had to change the sheets and well…fix your leg."

"My leg?"

"Yeah. It appears that you sprained it on the way here."

"Oh…I guess I didn't realize it happened."

"I'm surprised you were travelling alone."

"I'm okay, Ino-San."

Ino smiled, hoping for Sakura to slip up or just tell her the truth. She was content with Sakura here next to her, and after she had cried into the sheets last night, she was more than fine with Sakura pretending to be another girl. Sakura had a plan didn't she?

"Say, I told you my name, but I never got yours."

"I…um…my name…" Sakura struggled to think before remembering a name she had liked as a child "…Alice…My name is Alice."

"Hmm…Alice. You sure?"

"I hope so…unless I hurt my head too. I always liked the name Alice."

"Alice then. Why were you traveling alone?"

"M-My family has always been traders. We move around precious equipment we find."

"I see. Where are your parents?" Ino asked, hoping the parent talk would make Sakura falter. Sakura sighed and looked away in real sorrow.

"They disappeared…a long time ago. I never got to say goodbye."

"I'm sorry to hear that. But your parents liked you having magic, right?"

"W-When I was little, a boy didn't like me and so he threw a rock at me. I had a huge gash across my forehead. I was taken inside my home to get it stitched up, but then green sparks sizzled across the room and suddenly my gash was gone."

Ino nodded her head, remembering that Sakura had only told this story to Naruto but he had told it to her a few months ago during one of his heart full breakdowns. Ino grabbed Alice's hands and rubbed them soothingly. Alice sniffled and looked at her. "Ino, why aren't you turning me into the guards?"

Ino smiled and leaned back. "Unlike other cities, the Nara don't care if you have magic or not, just that you don't flaunt it around. Most of my medicine and herbs, I get from those with magic."

"But how do you know so many? Aren't we all evil?"

Ino shook her head and looked away, smiling to herself. "Do you know who I am?"

"Well…no…"

"My name…is Ino Haruno-Yamanaka. I am the retainer to Port Haruno."

"You mean where the witch lives?"

"Lives? No one knows that…if our Queen is alive or not."

"She lives.

"Really? That's great, but you see, she was my best friend, and after I found out, everything made sense. Her Lady's feelings and actions, always misunderstood by those around her. I've come to think that not many witches are evil, but rather they are misunderstood, and so they act out. Magic is more emotional with their passion, and my Lady wanted to be passionate with one man."

"A man?: Sakura blushed. Naruto wasn't a boy anymore. Sakura gulped as she envisioned Naruto with a man's shoulders, a musky scent, and a large-….thingy. Sakura blushed bright red as Ino giggled and nodded.

"Yeah. She was amazing. Most of us believe she is dead, but in our hearts, we know she'll come back to us, to take us back to her lands."

Sakura gulped again, but this time in sadness. Ino couldn't know what she planned to do. She would be misunderstood, just as all witches were and they'd fight back from what she wanted to accomplish. So she decided to move on.

"How long do I need to stay in here?"

"Hmm? Oh another two days or so. What happened exactly?"

"Well, I got lost, and then these men attacked me."

"Did you…" Ino asked as her eyes suggested down stairs.

"No. I suppose there were soldiers nearby, so they left the sword in me to kill me off. I passed out, but then I didn't know where to go, so I came here. This is my first trip to the Nara Woods."

"Well, you've already had much of an adventure, I'd say." Ino smiled and Sakura giggled, before she coughed and Ino slowly helped her with more water. "Now, we need to dress your wounds and get you cleaned up."

Sakura blushed and Ino smiled. She always blushed at this. "Alice, I'm going to give you a sponge bath."

"W-What?" Alice stuttered, grabbing the edges of the blanket and pulling them closer to her body. Ino left and came back with warm water and a large sponge in her hand.

"Drop the blanket please."

"I-I'm fine." Sakura blushed. She didn't feel sweaty at all! "T-this is embarrassing."

"Come on, Alice. I've already been giving you them while you were passed out."

"What?! Y-you touched me?"

Ino smiled and leaned closer. "Yep. I touched you. Every…Single…inch."

Alice gulped, but let the blanket go before Ino pulled it completely off the bed, and slowly began to wash her patient clean. As Ino worked on her lower body, Sakura thought of the first few days after Naruto had been exiled, and then to her parents' death. Ino had washed her just like this, and Sakura's arms had been as useless as they seemed now.

Sakura moaned a bit as Ino glided the sponge across a private area and then Ino pushed Sakura back to the side, leaning straight up as she grazed the sponge over her mounds and back. "You'll look beautiful when you're able to get up again."

"Good."

"Hey, Alice? Are you staying here a bit?"

"Well, I lost most of my merchandise. So yeah, I'll need to start here."

"Well, when you're all better, you're welcome to stay here for a bit. And let's learn more about the other, okay?"

"OkaYYY!" Sakura whimpered as Ino used her soft royal hands to delicately rub Sakura's breasts, as medieval sponges were rougher on the more sensitive areas. Ino smiled.

"And I have a friend that I think you'd enjoy getting to know."

"R-really?"

"Yeah. He loves girls who have blonde hair like yours."

"Then…is he your lover?"

"God no! We had crushes back when we were kids, but he is stuck in love with another and I'm dating my boyfriend Shika, though it's very hush hush."

"Oh."

"Anyways, maybe when you're better, we can go to a local nightclub and I'll show you around the town."

"But Ino-San-"

"Please Alice. I know you well enough now. Ino is fine."

"Okay, but Ino, I don't have any more clothes. You cut off my outfit."

"Don't worry. I have a few dress that men will die for." Ino smiled, and for some reason, Sakura had a tiny suspicion that Ino was trying to get her to sleep with her friend, and her only hope was that it was Naruto.

AN: Review time: Ask me a question and I'll try to answer it.