N.O.-S.A.N.C.T.U.A.R.Y. - Hello everyone, thank you for your reviews. Please enjoy this chapter. Read and review, thank you! And as for when the story takes place, I was thinking after the chunnin exams when I first wrote this. I hope this doesn't displease anyone; after all, it is a fanfiction.

I want to thank my great beta-reader -Kristine X3-.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters. But I do own the plot of this story and that is all.

Chapter 8: Bottling Up...

Ino sat in a chair next to the medical bed in which her father laid. She was peeling an apple for him. It had been a few days after she learned of her father's condition. She sighed and continued to peel the apple, putting the skin on a paper towel. Her blue eyes showed sadness as she handed her father the apple.

"Thank you dear." He said as he began to eat the apple, he smiled happily, as if he hadn't a care in the world.

Ino nodded and smiled sadly. She looked down and placed her hands neatly on her lap, her blue eyes trailed away from her father. Every time she looked at him, her eyes began to sting and she could feel tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. She couldn't let them escape; she didn't want to cry anymore. She wanted to be strong, strong for her father, and for herself. She made a promise to herself that she wouldn't cry anymore. And she intended on keeping that promise…

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It was beginning to grow dark outside, after the training session was over, Shikamaru wiped his forehead.

"Well, Ino are you coming? We've been training all day." He said as he yawned.

Ino continued to practice her punches, ignoring Shikamaru.

"…How troublesome…" Shikamaru sighed. "Ino you can stop, training is over."

Ino continued to practice her punches, she looked fully concentrated, and at the same time Shikamaru saw in her eyes…anger.

Chouji looked at Ino. "Uh Ino,"

"I'm still training, I won't stop!" Ino said. Her knuckles began to turn red, and she figured they would probably start bleeding, but she didn't care. It was stress-relieving when she trained, and it made her feel so much better. It was a way for her not to cry, but to just let it all out with punches and kicks.

"But Ino-"

"Would you just go away and leave me alone?" Ino yelled angrily as she began to punch more violently.

Chouji looked at Shikamaru.

"Come on Chouji, once she's fixed like that, our words don't matter anymore." Shikamaru said as he lazily put his hands in his pockets. Soon he and Chouji were gone from the training grounds.

Ino then began to practice her kicks and as she did so, her father entered her mind. The thought of losing him made her kick swifter, harder. She had no mercy on the hanging block of wood. Her blue eyes began to look puffy, and were beginning to sting again, but she wouldn't let the tears fall. Instead, she transferred all of the sadness into anger and took it out on her training. She growled and kicked the block of wood as hard as she could, making it fall. She bent down and breathed heavily; she was starting to get angry. She got up and began to punch the tree, not wanting to stop. Her hands were starting to hurt badly, but she continued punching the tree.

All this anger, all this pain had to come out, no matter who got hurt……
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Sasuke had just finished training with Team 7.

"Bye Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said, smiling brightly. "See you tomorrow!"

"Yeah see you," Naruto said, looking a bit jealous because Sakura never bid him goodbye as she does with Sasuke.

Sasuke grunted and shoves his hands in his pockets. He began to walk home, looking at the sky which was now a dark blue as it was nighttime. A cool breeze blew his raven hair gently as he continued walking. He glanced around him, and saw a figure near a tree. As he walked near the tree, he could see Ino punching the tree. She battle-cried each time she punched the tree; he noted that she sounded rather angry. He then remembered what Sakura had told him and Naruto; that she was going to lose her father. He stared at her, as she punched the tree repeatedly, contemplating on what he should do. He then decided to ignore her, so he continued walking.

But, he then stopped. For some reason she wouldn't leave his mind, it was bothering him that he was going to leave her alone. He sighed and narrowed his eyes. He turned around and walked back to where Ino was….

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Ino continued to punch the tree, her movements were starting to begin to slow down because she was exhausted, but she continued to punch the tree. Her knuckles hurt like hell and they were probably bleeding.

"Hey, you'd better stop that," someone from within the shadows said. Ino figured it was Shikamaru, so she narrowed her eyes and started to punch the tree harder, her anger and ignorance getting the better of her.

"Hey, stop it…"

Suddenly she felt someone grab her arms from behind her. She then turned around and saw Sasuke. Her blue eyes widen a bit, but then she obeyed him and stopped. He held up her hands and looked at her knuckles, which were bleeding. He narrowed his eyes and led her to a bench.

"Sit," He commanded. Unwillingly, Ino sat down, and Sasuke took out some bandages from his equipment pouch. He began to bandage her hands, and Ino watched. Her blue eyes were a bit wide. Sasuke finished bandaging her hands and his onyx eyes stared at her.

"What was that all about?" He asked her.

Ino frowned. "I-I don't know…" She looked away.

Sasuke stared at her for a moment and then looked at the ground. "I heard about your father."

Ino smiled a bit. "Sakura must've told you, huh?" Ino smiled, a smile full of regret and sadness. But, Ino felt her eyes beginning to sting and looked away.

Sasuke looked at Ino's face. Her eyes easily told him that she was exhausted, and she looked as if she were about to cry. He then saw her eyes start to look puffy.

Sasuke stood up, his back to her. "You shouldn't hold it in."

Ino looked up at him, a bit taken back.

"If you need to cry, then just do it," he said, a little harshly. 'yeah, like I should talk…" Sasuke thought to himself.

Ino listened to what Sasuke said. She looked down; He was right, holding it in was making her angry, making her feel worse. She sniffled, and soon she started to weep, harder than ever before. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed. Sasuke stood, hearing her weep. It reminded him of how he cried when he lost his parents. He pondered on what he should do next. He wanted to leave; he was never good in these types of predicaments, but it would eat away at his conscience if he just left her there.

He sat back down on the bench, and immediately Ino clung on to his shirt, fisting the material in her hands and she leaned against him, weeping into his shirt. Sasuke just sat there; He figured the best thing he could do now was to just let her cry. He felt awkward, not usually involved in types of situations like this. He hesitantly wrapped an arm around her sobbing form and patted her back gently. He figured it would be a good way to do something rather than just sitting there.

After a while, her sobbing had finally seized. He adjusted her and looked at her tear-streaked face; she cried herself to sleep. So, what should he do now? He sat there for a moment, and looked at the night sky.

He then got up from the bench, looking back at Ino. He sighed; he couldn't just leave her there. He carefully picked her up bridal style, and started to walk towards her house. He sighed as he continued walking. He felt a movement, and she was snuggling up on his chest. A light blush stained the Uchiha's cheeks and he looked away. Soon he made it to her house, and pulled the keys out of her pocket. He managed to open the door, closing it behind him, and he started to walk upstairs. He opened the door to her room and carefully laid her on the bed. He sighed and draped the blankets on her. He then opened her window and stepped outside it, closing it. He looked at her sleeping form once more before jumping into the trees, heading home…

N.O.-S.A.N.C.T.U.A.R.Y. - And that concludes the eight chapter of 'I'm Not What I Seem to Be.' Please read and review. Thank you. I know Sasuke is hesitant on what to do, but he's never been in that types of situation before you know?