Chapter 11

A/n I don't own anything; sorry I've been unable to work on this. However I'm hopeful to continue it, stay tuned.

Not everything was different; Ino wasn't entirely right, there were plenty of things that were the same. However, the relationship they once had; that had changed drastically. Sakura released a breath; the proximity of the blonde caused her heart to pound loudly in her ears. "Ino, I—" her words were cut off from Ino pressing her finger against Sakura's lips.

"No," she said quietly— and the two knew that whatever Sakura said would change them even more. Ino stood, and canted her head towards the door. "Let's go watch TV," she offered with a slight smile. Sakura just stood; her arms falling limply to her side as she held back the words she was tempted to share. A confession that explained why her palms moistened and her words faltered in Ino's presence.

Sakura followed Ino out of the room, her thoughts falling into a spiral. It took every bit of military bearing for her to keep the fluttering in her stomach from exposing its contents. She glanced down at the bandage on her hand— not even a tiny bit of blood crept through the dressing. She glanced at Ino out of the corner of her eye— 'Nurse Yamanaka, she would've made a good nurse.' A soft smile crosses her features at the thought.

0o0

The days after that were normal; as normal as having your married friend staying with you while her husband was away could be. There were laughs, food, wine and binge watching TV. Naruto joined them plenty of times too, and the three got along pretty swimmingly, mostly because Sakura had a partner in ganging up on Naruto.

The worst part was when Ino received a phone call; the chilling voice muffled against Ino's ear was enough to anger Sakura but she tried not to show it. Instead she watched as Ino left, the blonde's shoulders slumped as if the weight of the world was placed on her shoulders. Sakura had turned on Naruto, eyes hardened as she demanded what he knew. He just shook his head.

"Sakura," he said softly. "Ask Ino yourself." He said, shaking his head. The veteran frowned; she didn't dare ask, out of fear that her suspicions were right. Sai wasn't good for Ino— but that didn't mean Sakura was.

0o0

Two weeks passed; no word from the blonde woman. Sakura debated on just going to her home, but her own insecurities kept her away from Ino's home. Instead, she scoured the logs; making sure that there were no other calls to go to the Yamanaka Residence. Each day, Sakura let out a breath of relief and continued about her work.

Sakura came to work frequently with fear that she'd find out that Ino had made another attempt; but she'd temporarily forgotten that this town was the town she grew up in. There would be other familiar people that she would come across as an EMT. It made the job that much harder.

Kakashi was fast— impressively so. He looked bored the entire time he maneuvered the ambulance through the traffic that was building at the scene of a car accident. As soon as they got through they could see the fire department attempting to cut someone from the car. Both Sakura and Kakashi scrambled out of the rig and hurried towards the scene.

The car was— at one time— well taken care of, it's crumpled exterior gleamed. Sakura briefly wondered if it was freshly washed. It didn't take long to assess the scene; two vehicles, the driver of the other one looked shaken. Sakura could see a first responder handling them. Kakashi and herself focused on the one still stuck within the car.

"We need the jaws," one of the responders told her.

"Not before we stabilize the spine;" the words tumbled from her mouth but her eyes widened when she saw a tuft of reddish hair— chubby cheeks, bigger build. It was only then that she recognized the decal on the back bumper, the local BBQ joint.

Her eyes flick back to the bloodied body haphazardly tossed inside the vehicle; Choji.

Sakura sits at the edge of the cafeteria; her food untouched. Dried tear tracks prominent on her cheeks. A shadow crosses across her and she glances up at the large boy. She recognizes him, he was always picked last in gym— usually right after her.

"Are you gonna eat that?"

He plops down across from her with an exasperated sigh. Choji was his name; Sakura can't remember if she'd ever spoken to him before. He was friends with Shikamaru— who was friends with Ino. They should've spoken to each other before this point, but like a Venn Diagram, the only thing they had in common was Ino and Shikamaru.

Sakura pushes the tray of food forward; the larger teenage boy takes it as if this was the first offering of food in a month. He mutters his thanks through his first bite. After he'd polished off her meal he finally looks at her; his cheeks rosy and so large that his eyes disappeared when he smiled. His face was kind, which was a breath of fresh air for Sakura.

His cheeks were not rosy anymore; and his jaw was slack which meant his eyes— had they been open— were visible.

"You use to be friends with Ino yeah?" He asked while reaching for her drink. Sakura casually slid the beverage out of his reach.

"Use to, yeah." She said averting her gaze to the table; her thumbnail finding a nick in the fake wood as she idly scratched at it. Her gaze flicked over to the young woman in question just as she tossed her hair over her shoulder. A blush crept up her cheeks and she looked back at Choji.

"Ino is so nice," Choji mused as he took another bite. "Hard to believe you two were best friends." Sakura's heart panged painfully as she looked at him, but he seemed completely oblivious to the hurt his statement caused. She let out a soft sigh.

"Sometimes people change," their eyes caught for a moment and Choji gave a sad smile before looking back over his shoulder to look at Ino. Unbeknownst to Sakura, Choji and Ino shared a brief exchange with their eyes. Only for Ino to look away sadly.

Choji looked back at Sakura with a slight smile; "high school is the number one cause of not having a good time." He jokes holding a finger up. Sakura does smile at this.

"I'm beginning to think life's full of things that aren't a good time."

It didn't take long to pull Choji from the mangled car, they went through their protocols and did everything they could— but when they gave the reins to the emergency room staff, Sakura already knew.

Choji was gone.