L.
Light after Dark
Chapter 36
Naruto shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned on the hood of his car, Sasuke stood opposite him staring up into the dark sky, watching as the white snowflakes danced to the ground, completely unaffected by any of the tragic events that took place. "I don't want to go back to Kakashi-Sempai." Naruto muttered, his breath coming in puffs in front of him.
Sasuke breathed deeply, watching as it puffed out in front of him before he answered. "Then don't. Leave it for the morning." He slowly directed his gaze down to his friend who looked absolutely dejected. "He doesn't need to know right this minute. Go home, sleep, take a bath, have a drink."
Blue eyes rolled and he shook his head, scattering the pile of snow that had gathered atop his head. "I'm not like you Sasuke; I can't just go to sleep or drink it away." He snorted. "Though I wish I could…how do I tell Sempai that I just sent Sakura away to-to a mental hospital? How do I look him in the face?"
"Then write him a letter; that way you won't have to look at him."
Naruto looked up to make a snide comment, then stopped himself; rethinking the idea. "You know…I just might."
A calm, depressing silence came over them before Sasuke growled and stomped his feet. "How long are we going to stay here? Everyone's already left." He glared around at the darkness then looked over at his car fondly.
"Let's go; your right."
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Shikamaru walked through the front door, toed off his shoes and sank down into the nearest chair. After a few minutes of silence, he heard movement from the hall and cracked one eye open to see Ino fussing around with a bag of coffee. "Hi." She greeted absently then waltz into the kitchen.
He snorted a hello and closed his eyes again. After a few seconds, he heard the familiar sounds of coffee being made followed by Ino's light footsteps into the room. "Tough day?" She asked, sitting down on the couch opposite him.
"You can say that again." He mumbled, keeping his eyes closed.
"Want to talk about it?"
"Making coffee?"
"Yup."
"Good…I need it." He sighed and rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes. "Ino…they closed down the hospital."
Silence.
"What?"
He groaned and sat up only to hand his hand and stare down at the flooring. "Today-Tsunade has been arrested. Shizune doesn't have the official paper work to take over running the hospital and Hiroshima had already taken the patents."
"Oh my," She stood up only to walk over and kneel down in front of him. "I'm so sorry to hear that." She placed a warm hand on one of his. "Really I am."
He nodded and looked into her crystal clear eyes. "I'm fine Ino…this is a good thing."
She raised one perfectly groomed blonde eyebrow at him.
"I wanted to leave working there, now I have no choice." He let out a wry chuckle and covered her one hand with two of his.
"Shikamaru what are you going to do now?" She asked sharply, not liking the sardonic look on his face.
"I," He tapped her knuckles with his eyebrows raised. "Am going to apply to work for the police."
Silence.
He looked up into her made up face to see her staring at him with a look of mock yet astonishment. "Police? You're going to be a policeman?"
Shikamaru sighed and shrugged. "Or detective. The point is I have options Ino-I have the work experience for it as well as the credibility."
She looked at him for a few seconds before smiling. "You really aren't worried?"
"No." He smiled down at her, slightly relieved. "I really am not." And then he leaned down and kissed her, his slightly chapped lips pressing against her soft, plump mouth; he lightly ran his tongue along her bottom lip before pulling back and smiling. "How about the cup of coffee?"
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Naruto kicked off his shoes as soon as he entered his front door, ripped off his jacket and made his way into the kitchen. There he opened his liquor cabinet and grabbed a full bottle of Johnny Walker Black and a glass. He placed the glass on the counter, opened the bottle and poured himself a half glass of whiskey and downed it, cringing as it burned the back of his throat and settled into the pit of his stomach.
After a few seconds, he peered around him, taking in the dark shadows of the late night dancing all around him; he sighed and grabbed the bottle and glass then made his way into the living room where he settled behind a desk in a corner. He placed the glass beside him and filled it up, sure to screw back on the top of the bottle in case it tipped over.
He sipped at his drink as he sifted though the desk, looking for a black piece of paper. After he located both a paper and pen, he set to work writing a letter to Kakashi.
For the first few minutes, he just sat there staring down at the black paper drinking; then finally the words came to him:
Kakashi-Sempai,
By now you're probably wondering what happened to Sakura and me. Well Sakura. To be honest, you won't be happy with the answer; but I'm going to be honest. Sasuke and I took her to Tsunade's hospital to be evaluated. Shizune did the evaluation. The results are that she is, in short, crazy.
While we were there, an investigation was being done on Tsunade. They found her unfit to be in charge of the hospital and had to close it down. A representative of Hiroshima was there ready to take all of the patents to their hospital.
It was done.
Sasuke and I thought it best we admit Sakura to a hospital; and since Shizune was going to go ahead to the new hospital for a while; she was able to pull some strings and get Sakura a spot.
We took it.
Sakura is now at Hiroshima's Hospital for the Mentally Ill.
She is under the care of a capable doctor.
I will not disclose any further information because one-you may try to go and take her out, two-I was not told much to begin with.
I hope you can forgive Sasuke and me. We did what we thought was best.
You may not see it this way at the moment, but in time, hopefully you will.
Sincerely,
Naruto
There were several stains on the paper and the ink was smudged, and it smelled strongly of whiskey; but it was a letter that explained everything nonetheless; and that was the point.
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The next morning, Sakura woke to the sound of someone opening her door. She sat up, confused and looked around, taking in the white walls, white bed sheets and finally, white clothing. She wore a standard white shirt and pants with her pink hair loose and tangled; her hands were bound in soft padding to prevent any movement.
"Ah, you're up." She looked up to see Kabuto standing there smiling down at her. "Good morning Sakura." He knelt down beside her bed. "How are you feeling?"
She glared at him and shifted away from him only to find that she couldn't move. Upon closer inspection she realized that she was strapped down to the bed from the hips down.
"Yes yes. You are restrained." He smiled up at her as though her were complementing her eyes. "How about I fill you in? I fear that you have no recollection of anything?"
Slowly, she nodded.
He hummed for a second, thinking over something's before nodding to himself.
"Actually, why don't you tell me what you remember?"
A tense silence built between them before Sakura relented. "My name is Sakura Haruno. You took me from my friends yesterday." She glared at him. "Where's Gaara?"
"Oh wonderful!" He clapped and beamed. "Your memory isn't too bad. I didn't think you would remember more than that-Genma did hit you pretty hard there." He chuckled to himself. "Yes yes you were taken along with the other patents. You are now in Hiroshima; we had to restrain you because you were thrashing about wildly and almost hurt yourself." He stood up, still smiling. "And that's it. There hasn't been much going on since then. Now, why don't you relax? A nurse will be in soon enough with your breakfast." He moved to leave then turned back, still smiling. "And Gaara is fine. If you cooperate-the both of you-you two can be together soon enough. But first things first we must get you to a healthy spot." He waged a knowing finger at her then left.
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Naruto dropped the letter off at Kakashi's house on his way to work the following day; he didn't stay long, only long enough to slip the letter into the post box and jump back into his car. He was fighting a horrible headache and a slight case of nausea due to his happy hour last night but it was not going to keep him from the only distraction he had left; teaching the little children. He would grin and bear his pain until it subsided.
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Pein had the American driver drop the group off directly on the runway in front of the chartered plane. After scoping out the area, he had everyone out of the limo and onto the plane, leaving the attendants to see to the luggage. "Thank you." He gruffly thanked the American driver and slipped him a hefty tip.
"Mr. Han Sato! Thank you so much!" He grinned happily and watched until Pein got onto the plane and the door shut behind him.
"Han?" Konan called over to him and motioned to the seat beside her. "Might I ask if you've set everything up?"
Pein sat beside her but looked around to see that everyone had already chosen their seats and were happily chatting with one another, glaring bloodily out the window, or muttering snide comments at one another. "Yes. Everything is set up overseas." He mumbled towards her, his head bent down to her ear. "As soon as we land everything will be fine and we can resume as normal."
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Kakashi stared down at the alcohol laced letter in his hand, stunned. After a few seconds, he crumpled it up and threw it across the room. "DAMNIT!" He cursed; glaring at any and everything. Suddenly, a thought went off in his head. 'Maybe they were right?' But as quickly as that thought came, it went.
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Later that day, around lunch time Sasuke showed up in Naruto's class bearing a sandwich and soda. "Here." He tossed the items onto Naruto's desk and looked around the empty class room. "Where are they?"
"At art." Naruto answered, opening the sandwich with one eyebrow raised. "Thanks?"
"No problem." Sasuke hopped up onto the counter and looked outside. "I take it you wrote the letter and have it to him?"
Blue eyes looked up at his friend and down at his sandwich. "Yeah…dropped it off this morning."
"Figured as much."
Awkward silence.
"I guess she was too traumatized by her father to ever really move on." Naruto whispered, slowly opening the soda and taking a sip.
"I suppose so." Sasuke agreed.
"We were stupid to think she could lead a normal life. We should have known the second she killed Sasori." The spiky blonde hung his head.
Sasuke simply shrugged. "She never was normal…they were right to lock her up….we were right." He corrected. "Maybe in time, with the right care she will get better." He resumed looking back out the window. "She never did heal. She never took the time to heal. It was always one thing after the other…maybe now she could finally learn who she really is and find happiness."
"Like we did?" Naruto looked up at his friend, a small smile resting on his face.
"Yeah…I have an investigator looking into the case." Sasuke smirked. "It's only a matter of time until I find Itachi."
"And then?"
"And then…we talk."
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That evening, Shikamaru decided it was time to propose to Ino. He carefully constructed a half lie about a late evening meal with exciting news; he persuaded her to dress semi-formally as opposed to formal and had her ready and out the door at six o'clock on the dot.
"Will you please tell me what restaurant we're going to?" She asked yet again as he escorted her to his car.
"For that last time Ino no. Now please stop asking questions." He sighed and pulled a blindfold out of his pocket. He then tied the black tie around Ino's head, careful not to get any of the hair caught in the knot. Carefully, he guided her to his waiting car and helped her into the passenger seat, his hand moving to the top of her head so she wouldn't hit the roof. Quickly, after she tucked her long, stocking clad legs into the car he reached over and buckled her seatbelt. "Is all this really necessary Shikamaru?" She sighed when he accidently brushed against her shoulder when he moved to shut the door.
"Yes Ino. It is." He mumbled to himself as he jogged around, careful not to slip on the ice and sat in the driver's side. "Okay it won't be long alright?" He stuck the key in the ignition and started the car and turned on the music to soothe Ino who was now tapping her forefinger on the seat.
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Shikamaru pulled over at the side of the road, in front of the cemetery behind Kiba's car. "Wait here a minute Ino?" He pulled the keys out of the ignition and looked over at her, his hand resting on the door. "Please don't remove the blindfold." And then he stepped out of the car and quickly dashed up to Kiba's car and knocked on the driver's glass.
After a few seconds, Kiba opened the driver's door with a huge grin glued to his face. "Nervous?" He asked and handed Shikamaru a small white box.
"Of course." The pineapple haired male glanced back at his car to see Ino restlessly tapping her forefinger against her cheek but the blindfold was still covering her eyes. "I don't need this." He opened the white box to revel a black ring casing and stuck it in his pocket and handed the white box back to Kiba. "Go ahead of us? It'll take some time to get Ino there." He took a deep breath to soothe his nerves.
Kiba grinned and ducked inside his car to grab a Cannon camera then kicked his door shut. "Relax man. Its gunna go great!" With that said he darted off though the cemeteries front gates and up through the snow covered path.
Shikamaru took a few extra minutes to gather himself before he strode over to the passenger door and opened it. "Alright Ino, you ready?" He reached down to take her hand and help her out of the car; absently he noted she was wearing her black snow boots with the fur lining he bought her.
"I've been ready from the second you put this stupid blindfold on me." She grumbled as her hands shot out to grab his forearms for extra support.
"Just a few more minutes." He helped her up onto the sidewalk and reached back to shut the passenger door and locked the car. "Here, take me arm." He guided her arm to hold on to his right arm and proceeded up that path.
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Soon, they came to where Kiba stood waiting. Before he could utter a word, Shikamaru silenced him with a look and lead Ino to stand in front of her parent's grave. Taking a deep breath, he reached behind her to undo the blindfold. "We're here." He murmured and tossed the blindfold to Kiba who caught it and stuck it in his pant pocket.
"Wher-" She blinked rapidly, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the sudden white glare of the snow.
"Ino." Shikamaru spoke, getting down on one knee as he took her left hand in both of his. "Would you do me the honor of being my wife?" He then slipped one hand in his pocket and pulled out a box and opened it. Tears welled in the blonde's eyes as she gazed at the large diamond ring glinting in the moonlight. It was seated in a black satin pill box with a light purple bow tied elegantly on the top.
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"Oh this is so beautiful Shikamaru…." She whispered, wiping away the tears that gathered on the edge of her long, fake lashes. "How…wh…" Her voice caught in her throat as she gazed at the surreal scene surrounding her. They were in front of her parent's grave, surrounded with freshly fallen snow and the glow of the full moon. Shikamaru was down on one knee and Kiba was off to the side, smiling warmly with a camera in his hand.
"Can I take that as a yes?" Shikamaru asked, his hand wavering and his eyes staring apprehensively up at her. It was then she realized that she hadn't said yes.
"YES!" She threw herself down into his unsuspecting arms and buried her cold nose in his warm neck. "Yes yes yes yes!" She squealed happily.
Shikamaru blinked stupidly for a second before smiling and slowly stood up with Ino still clinging to him. He then swept his fiancé up in his arms and placed a tender kiss on her lips. "Great…" He whispered before kissing her again.
"This is so…magical…" She whispered when she pulled back to gaze at the man in front of her. He was wearing a black tux with a black tie and a white handkerchief tucked into the breast pocket. "How did you ever think of this? It's so…" She was at a loss for words as she looked around at the beautiful graveyard once again, trying to imprint this moment into her brain.
A warm chuckled rumbled in Shikamaru's chest as he pulled her closer. "You can thank Kiba." He whispered into her long blonde hair and kissed her temple.
Shocked blue eyes darted up to his face. "What?"
He nodded and pulled back a bit. "Yeah…I didn't know how exactly to do this and well…thank him. He thought you might like something like this…considering you wanted your parents present and all." At that moment he glanced over at Kiba who was happily snapping away photographs, trying to capture every moment on film.
Ino looked over at Kiba and tilted her head in happy wonder before smiling a warm, loving smile at him. "Thank you Kiba." She stated and beamed when he grinned at took a photo of her.
"No problem. So Shikamaru man when are you going to give the woman her ring?" Kiba wiggled his eyes suggestively at him.
Shikamaru grinned and held the box out for Ino to take. She stared down at the satin box then looked up at him. "Do I have to put it on myself?"
"Of course not." He took the large, diamond ring from its box then took her left ring finger in his hand and slowly slipped it on. "Beautiful." He whispered and leaned his forehead down against her own.
Kiba smiled a pleased smile over at his best friend and soon to be best friend's wife; he took one more photo with their heads bowed together, gazing into each other's eyes with their limbs wrapped around one another before he turned away and looked into the sky. He took in the twinkling of the stars and the white tuffs of snow falling down to the ground, as though blessing the happy couple. He snorted softly to himself and grinned. "Best of luck man." He muttered then quietly left the graveyard.
Light after Dark Light after Dark
L.
There will be an epilogue.
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