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Ino's POV

I was grounded for losing Inoichi and Hitomi. A week, it could have been worse. They were so relieved to have Makoto back that they actually went easy on me.

The minute I got home I snatched the baby up and swung him around, clutching him and sobbing. Inoichi then wrapped his arms around the both of us and tried to calm me down, but it was almost impossible now that I was all started.

My week passed quicker than any other grounding I had. I spent it teaching Makoto. New words, how to walk/stumble, make shapes with his hands. Nine times out of ten I failed but at least it kept me busy.

The day my grounding ended and I was going to meet up with Team Asuma to train, Inoichi called me into the main room.

"Where's Hitomi?" I asked, sitting down beside of him on the sofa

"Took Makoto shopping" Inoichi nodded

"Oh... Something wrong?" I asked slowly

"I should be asking that" Inoichi's eyes narrowed down.

"Huh?" I frowned, he'd lost me.

"... I should be apologising. Something has been wrong with you for a long time but I never noticed it before. It was my fault and I should be saying sorry. Instead I was trying to pretend everything was fine and trying to convince myself that you were just stressed about having a new brother" Inoichi wrapped his arms around me and hugged me close.

"What's wrong, dad?" I blinked up at him.

"No. What's wrong, Ino?" he asked "Something is wrong and it is killing you inside. That is why you acted that way. Please. You can tell me. I am your father."

I stared at him. Maybe now would be the perfect time to admit it all. But what would that help?

It had happened, it was done, it was over. If I told him now I would just have to bring everything rushing back again! And Inoichi wouldn't even be able to do anything about it, he would just end up suffering. Why bring all that on him when it's over... No. I couldn't do that to him. Not now.

"Nothing's wrong" I said shrugging "I mean apart from the usual. Boys. Ninja. Periods." even in a serious subject it was hard not to laugh at the look on Inoichi's face. I wonder what he would have been like if I had not had Hitomi around to explain puberty to me.

"Are you sure?" he said, coughing into his fist uncomfortably.

"Positive" I lied and gave him one of my false but very convincing cheery smiles with wide little girl eyes.

"Alright then" Inoichi said slowly but his eyes were watching me sharply to show he didn't believe me.

"So when are we having Makoto's party?" I asked to lighten the mood

"Soon" he mumbled, he was not going to be distracted so easily, it seemed. But hey, I liked a challenge.

"Can I help in any way?" I asked

"Not really. Actually. You can babysit Makoto" Inoichi nodded, eyes still stuck on me.

"Cool. Can I dress him up too? I have the perfect look in my mind. Plus I always wanted a little gay brother!" I said it so sweetly and calmly that I caught Inoichi off guard once again.

"Um... I think I better... dress him..." Inoichi said slowly, completely forgetting our early conversation.

"Dad. I was joking!" I laughed and kept it up until he joined me.

For once it felt like a normal, perfect day with just me and Inoichi sitting together. It had been far too long since we had a moment like this. After that everything seemed easier. Our conversations grew longer and we remembered old things and remembered not so old things. Spoke about the future and even began to talk about Makoto and Hitomi.

The finally Hitomi walked in the room with Makoto on her hip, she had a small bag on her shoulder and smiled when she saw the two of us laughing.

"Everything better now?" Hitomi giggled.

"Yeah" I grinned before Inoichi could bring his worry back again.

"Good" Hitomi walked over, kissing my forehead and then kissing Inoichi full on the lips.

I played the part of a typical teenager and instantly made vomit and gagging noises behind there back but secretly I honestly didn't mind to much. I disliked that my mother didn't live with us and I hated that my dad had to remarry but I didn't hate Hitomi. How could you hate a woman that was basically your second mother?

Makoto giggled and looked behind Hitomi, waving at me with that silly face on. I smiled and waved back. Why ruin this family over something that happened almost a whole year ago...

No POV

On Makoto's birthday everyone prepared for the party. It wouldn't be very big but a lot of people were invited, including all of Ino's friends and there families as well as Inoichi's friends and Hitomi's. They brought along a few of there children Makoto's age in hopes that he could play with them and make friends at a young age.

Ino was in charge of babysitting, she stayed at home with Makoto while everyone else rushed around to get ready. She helped Makoto learn to play with Tino safely and couldn't help but laugh when Makoto sat, looking confused as Tino dragged him across the floor by his shorts. Then he looked around and squealed in surprise, not realizing Tino was behind him until that very moment.

Meanwhile Inoichi had managed to get a large hall rented. He laid out a table and placed down food for both adults, teens and babys. While Hitomi worked on ballons and banners. A few of there friends were helping but most were not going to come until later on. Sakura offered to help and was the one in charge of getting the small round iced blue cake with a large red number one on it. They had one candle in the very middle and Makoto's name around the edge in red icing. A lot of trouble for someone who couldn't even read but Hitomi wanted it that way.

They would have it in the middle of the day, that way they would have no fear of Makoto falling asleep before it ended.

It was casual but at the same time they did want people looking there best. Hitomi suggested Ino wear her dress that she wore on New Years Eve but Ino just remembered that she lost her brother in that dress and quickly said no. In the end she picked out her own clothes from her already filled wardrobe.

As the time came Ino helped Inoichi pick out the best clothes for Makoto, (only after she assured she would not dress him as a drag queen or anything similar), and he came out in a cute little blue T-shirt with blue jeans, all so tiny on his little body. They gave him a baseball hat and some trainers to match. Ino helped brush some of his blond hair flat before putting the hat on and glapped her hands when Makoto began to half walk, half parade around the room.

Then Ino went upstairs and changed into a disco type shirt, it stopped just above her bellow button and only had one sleeve that reached down to her wrist, the other side was completely bare. It was her natural purple colour and she wore a short purple skirt to match, she pulled on a plain pair of shoes and left her hair in its natural pony tail with the large clump falling down in front of her face.

"Lovely as always" Inoichi chuckled

"Wish I could say the same for you" Hitomi sighed, looking at Inoichi in his scruffy casual clothes, consisting of jeans and a white shirt with his ninja vest over the top "What happened to that lovely set of clothes I brought you"

"I'm holding a baby, who will have cake in his hand. Trust me, you don't want neat at this party" he grinned

Hitomi was dressed in the exact same dress she wore to the New Years dance. She looked very pretty and smiled with that pretty face as well.

"Are we going?" Ino called when the two momentarily began to gaze at one another.

"Of course!" Hitomi giggled, she gave Tino's head a little pat before turning to the door. Ino picked Makoto up and followed her with Inoichi bringing up the rear.

Ino hadn't thought much of the rape, but she still thought of it. This was the day it happened. And they were celebrating? No... They didn't know. She wouldn't let what happened ruin Makoto's day. It was his day, the only time when it would be all about him. It wouldn't be fair to ruin it by putting that awful reminder on everyone for the rest of his life.

But it was still hard. Walking down the street, even in daylight, just knowing that this was the day it happened had Ino jumping at every little movement someone made. She cling to Makoto tightly and shied away from people's touches. The sooner they got to the party the sooner she could forget about it and lose herself in the joy of her brother turning One... She hoped.

As they arrived they saw everyone was there. Shizuka immediately came over and hugged both Ino and Makoto, she smiled at the baby and he giggled up at.

When Sakura came over Ino felt tense. After locking her up Sakura hadn't come back, but she didn't look angry. She smiled and wished Makoto a happy birthday before smiling at Ino. Ino gave a shy and small smile back, she hoped it said hello but she also hoped it said sorry.

After a moment, Inoichi took Makoto to let Ino socialize with her friends and stop people coming up to her to wish Makoto a happy birthday. It did feel weird being approached by so many strangers.

"Come on, let's get something to eat" Sakura offered, looking at both Ino and Shizuka.

Ino nodded, Shizuka just followed. Ino wondered if this meant that Shizuka and Sakura could become friends too. It would be nice if the three of them could get close.

Ino froze when she saw someone entered. Five people, she didn't recognise three of them, but two just happened to be the drunken men that had attacked her. They only came in to wish Makoto a happy birthday, then they left, but it was still enough.

"I... I want to be alone... Just... Please..." Ino turned and walked off. She knew both Sakura and Shizuka were watching her but she didn't care. She couldn't face anyone until she had got her breath under control again.

It didn't take long before she found the bathroom. Sitting down in one of the stalls she curled into a ball until she was sure she wouldn't start to cry. She fluhed the chain for anyone that might be listening and stepped out to wash her hands. She was glad she had no make up on. Then she could splash water on her face without fear.

"Take a deep breath" Ino told herself "You can get through it, you can get through this night. Once you are done you'll be able to get through any night. Just breath"

She done as she told herself and breathed several deep breaths. Then, plastering on a bright cheerful smile for her brother. She turned to join Sakura and Shizuka again.

Ino's POV

They were at the table, picking up chips and nibbling on the end. Awkward around one another as Sakura tried to make conversation but Shizuka just shrugged, nodded or shook her head.

"Sorry!" I grinned, stepping in between them and grabbing a large crisp. I bit it in half before turning and watching the crowd "Had to use the little ladies room"

Sakura rose an eyebrow at me and Shizuka frowned, cocking her head. Neither believed me but as long as neither openly questioned me, I did not car. Smiling I shrugged like a silly little blond idiot and turned to have some more crisps. The more I had the longer my mouth would be busy and the less chance I would get to talk.

"You know this party is going to be all baby, right?" Sakura suddenly giggled.

"Yeah" I swallowed the rest of the food and forced a laugh "It'll be pretty boring. We can't even have a dance floor in case one the litter runs out in front of us"

"Aren't litters like... cats?" Sakura frowned

"Uh... I dunno. There babies and that's all I care about" I grinned. I probably sounded like some doopy cheerleader or worse, but as long as I didn't sound depressed that was OK with me.

"Ino" Shizuka whispered "Are you OK?"

Evidently it was not OK for Shizuka. The sudden urge to tell her to Butt Out was almost too strong. But instead I just smiled and nodded silently.

"I'm going to talk to Naruto and Sasuke" Sakura said suddenly. She didn't wait for a reply but I heard it in her voice. She was sad, she saw last night and neither of them paid her any attention. I was surprised she didn't hate me. But then maybe she didn't realize who exactly they had been fighting over last night.

Both Naruto and Sasuke were watching them, Naruto smiled when he saw Sakura but Sasuke just ignored her like always. I didn't want to catch either of their eyes so I turned to face Shizuka.

"Thanks for everything" I said suddenly "Looking for Makoto and that, I mean" she probably knew that wasn't all I meant.

"No problem" Shizuka whispered then said in a strange and cold way "Just wish you would grow up a little"

"... Wait what?" I frowned at her.

"You really just don't care about anyone, do you?" Shizuka said

"What are you talking about? Of course I care!" I hissed, looking around to make sure no one was listening.

"Well, obviously you don't" Shizuka looked down, she looked generally miserable "I don't like that I have to be the one to say this. But you're my friend and I hope you want hate me afterwards. But you are being so selfish at the moment" she rose her hand to stop me from interupting her "You are keeping this secret, and your father wants to know but you're shutting them out. You're hurting him, and you're hurting me too. Because you're making me keep a horrible secret and it's really hard" tears were streaming down her cheeks now "You're not telling people things but you avoid them. And you say things you don't mean. I can understand that but they can't because they don't know. So you're just hurting them even more."

"I'm protecting them" I gasped, eyes wide and body shaking even though I was not cold "If I tell them it will just throw there life into... an endless cycle of misery!"

"No. Because once they know they can heal." Shizuka whiped away her tears and sniffed "You have a cut you need to know about it, you need to bandage it or stop the bleeding. Only then will it heal properly. Otherwise it just hurts and hurts." She took a deep breath and stared at me openly "You think you're protecting them, but really you're just delaying the pain and making it more numb than it needs to be. And I don't know if I can just stand and watch anymore."

"What do mean?" I said, scowling at her but I was shaking too much to look threatening.

"I'm going home. Don't bother coming to work at the pet shop. Not until you're ready..." she turned and walked off.

I stared after her and watched her until I couldn't see her any longer. Then I turned and glared down at the table. What did she know? Nothing!

I didn't want to be around Sakura any more. I didn't want to be around any girls. So I went and found Team Asuma. They were standing by the drinks, Asuma was telling Choji about mixing three drinks together to make something delicious and healthy. Shikamaru noticed me first and gave a half hearted wave.

"Missed much?" I asked casually

"Not really, this whole party is such a drag" Shikamaru sighed "I only came because my parents did"

"I agree with you for once" I giggled weakly "I'm bored"

"Can we go over to the food table now!" Choji said suddenly

"Let some other people eat before you, Choji" Asuma chuckled.

"Hay. They're blowing out the candles" Shikamaru pointed.

Everyone turned around and watched.

Inoichi was holding Makoto up as he leaned over to his cake, Hitomi stood beside of him, holding the cake up. They were surrounded by people of all ages. All laughing and smiling. All happy.

It felt like someone had punched me in my stomach. They were all so happy. They were all so cheerful on the day my life was ruined. Do they not care? They don't know but that isn't my fault! Inoichi only just noticed there was something wrong with me. The rest still don't even know! They're still completely oblivious to this intense pain I have ever time I open my eyes to another day.

And they're all smiling.

They're all laughing.

They're all so cheerful and together and I'm alone. Even with my team none of them so much as glance at me anymore. Two boys that are supposedly interested in me and so stupid and my best friend stopped being my friend just because one of those boys. My only other real friend that is the only one that knows just skipped out on me. Claiming I don't care.

I do care!

I do!

But it's so hard to even look at them with a straight face. At first I wanted them to notice by themselves. Then I was embaressed. Then I was ashamed. Then I claimed I was protecting them. Then I claimed I was protecting myself.

I don't even know why I kept quiet anymore.

Just as Makoto and Hitomi (helping him) opened there mouths to blow out the candle, I realized I didn't want to keep quiet any longer. I wanted to let it all out.

So I did.

Leaning right over, I opened my mouth and let out the loudest scream, of my life.