hehe…. sorry for the delay, but heyyy to make you guys even more disappointed in me, no fanservice in this chapter~ even though there wasn't much in any of the chapters... but heyyy subplot!

Sorryyyy again~

Hopppe you enjoy this chapter and review please, rage feedback works too! D: :DD

Sorry for typos and/or mistakes

(btw this chapter is pretty short )

.:Step One:.

Ino POV

I was tired, but my mind wouldn't let me go to sleep, nor the tears that rolled down my face. We were all in our separate cars, driving back from the Uchiha's property through the mountain, without Naruto. Only a handful of us came, Hinata and Tenten were too busy with family affairs and wasn't able to make it. Temari had errands to run for her mom. It was a mystery, how they could pass by a chance to see Naruto, though, I guess we all expected that we would bring him back home with us.

We were so damn pathetic… It's stupid really, what had gotten in our heads? The only person who had actually made a point was Neji and Minato. What made us think that we could bring the blond back with us so easily. The tears continued to roll down my face and my arms that were securely wrapped around my abdomen, trying to make a futile attempt to hold myself back from trembling.

Kiba sat next to my left, looking out the window as Akamaru howled in the back seat of the car. Shikamaru was silent on my right, his elbow propped up on the door.

It was stupid, really….

At the moment, I thought everything was stupid. I thought it was stupid how the moon shined upon Kiba's face, and how Shikamaru was so calm. But it was stupid, how their facade got through me so easily. Shikamaru isn't that dense and heartless, we all know that deep inside he is not taking this all too lightly. And the handful of us definitely know that Kiba is not happy about the Uchiha. I was just holding myself back, from turning around and reaching over to shut Akamaru up, his loud howling getting to my head and making me irritated more than I am already.

Everything I knew, and everything I loved and cared for, and everything that was around….

Was stupid… and an eyesore.

It had been two days since we had last seen Naruto with Uchiha Sasuke. The more I thought into it during the day, the more I realized the shimmer in the Uzumaki's eyes…

I stayed cooped up in my room, not wanting to be disturbed by my annoying and nagging dad. The doors were locked, the blankets were thrown over me as I lied underneath them in the comfortable warmth.

The sun.. I miss it.

The sea.. I miss that too.

That smile… I miss that most.

Then, a few hours ago, I had realized that Naruto was in the same situation as Sakura. Who could've forgotten, that Naruto was the Hokage's son? Well apparently me. Naruto was born with everyone's eyes staring at his back. But he never had those happy smiles and stares directed at him, like Sakura… unlike her it seemed as though the whole village was disturbed by the blond's presence…

It was strange, the village hating the Fourth Hokage's son, who is supposed to be the successor. Sakura had practically everyone's eyes on her. It was her beautiful pale eyes that caught them all, and I envied her.

I envy her now more than ever before, to know that Naruto loved her, loves her still, maybe, makes my heart wrench, because I know I'll never be Sakura… and I certainly won't ever be Sasuke..

It's going to take a long while to get over Naruto… perhaps I won't ever get over him.. I might end up like a lovesick, broken hearted women that will never experience the feeling of being cherished… or having a family.

'Cause all I wanted.. was Naruto.

"Shit." I cursed, throwing the pillow that was closest to the wall," I hate my life.."

I lied in silence for the next few moments, the thoughts in my head disappeared for those few moments of bliss.. as my mind was about to drift off to sleep, and as I drifted, my mind was blank, and my body was weak-

"Ino!" my eyes snapped open, glaring up at the wall above me as my eyes averted over to the door, seeing the shadow of my dad's feet at the bottom. I cursed inwardly again turned my back away from the door. "Ino! You've been locked up in there for forever, come out and have lunch with your father." I didn't answer.

I wanted him to go away, I wanted everyone to go away, all I wanted was a few hours of relaxation and bliss…. I wanted to sleep.

"Ino!"

"I don't want lunch!" I snapped, throwing another pillow at the door, thumping once when it hit the wood, and twice when it fell to the floor.

"I'll be leaving soon, this will be the last meal you have with me for a few weeks…"

"I said I don't want lunch!" I yelled through the room, my voice loud and cranky. After I few moments of silence, I heard the footsteps walk away from the door and down the hallway.

I was annoyed, irritated, and guilty…

'Maybe I went too far...' I thought to myself.

For as long as I could remember, I had only lived with my dad. After I was born, my mom left my father and I for another man, and made a new family.

I hated her.

More than I hate myself now.

My father never said bad things about my mom, only because he still loved her, probably. My mom and dad got married without the kidnapping crap, which meant my mom loved my dad for who he was…

What a liar.

What a bitch.

She came and visited us every year with her new husband.. and her two new daughters. But she stopped visiting when I turned thirteen, and I lashed out on her.

I was never nice to her when she visited, from when I was eight I had started acting like that towards her.

Because I hated her… and I still do…

She would always buy my father and I gifts, that she probably bought from the gift shop on the border of the town. She'd give them to me, and I would throw it away in the trash when I got to my room, but my father kept them…

But when I was thirteen, something snapped within me, something I never thought I would ever do. I saw it, my mom and her new husband in the guest room when their two daughters, only two years younger than I was, were watching t.v. in the living room downstairs.

They were in their guest room, the one my dad specifically saved only for her whenever she visited.

It disgusted me, how they would do that sinful deed, under my home, under my father's roof. It wasn't anything over the line, but it pissed me off to no end. It was sexual foreplay. Nipping here and there, and kissing, and making out, and touching.

I swung the door opened, catching both of them off guard, and screamed at her.

"Why are you still here!?"

"Get out of our home! You left us, I don't want you here!"

"You hurt my dad, and for that,

I hate you!"

After that, the next day… I woke up early morning to find my dad and the woman I hated most, peck each other on the cheeks before she and her family, went in their car, and drove off.

I haven't seen them since.

That room now has been vacant. My dad didn't scold me for saying those things to his ex, because he knew I despised her, loathed her.

I sat up, and stared at the picture on my desk of my dad and I when I was younger. As I sat there, on my bed, my eyes never looking away from the picture, I heard the door open downstairs, the ringing of keys, and then the door closing shut.

And my dad left for a business trip…

I should've been used to it, whenever my dad went on a long trip, I would always have Naruto or Sakura by my side…

But now… they're both gone…

When I thought sleeping would do the trick, and relax me a bit from my thoughts, it didn't. I dreamt about Naruto.. and about Sakura. I dreamt about the days we used to be together, and hang out after school, and those times when Naruto would flirt with Sakura without even knowing it, and Sakura would just slap him in the face. I dreamt about how Sakura and I would fight, one of them was about the time I used too much of her nail polish, and she got mad. All of those happy times and moments, and in one second they all faded away. In a flash, Sakura's angry face that stared at you amusingly, turned gray. The sound of Naruto's laughter vanished… and as its replacement, the sound of sobs and sniffles, and the sound of begging came. I looked around, and I saw Sakura's dead body lying in the casket, Naruto and I kneeled next to each other as we looked down at her. I noticed, that I was looking at my own back, trembling as I held my tears back. Then, the back I was staring at disappeared, and I stared at my own face. The face smiled menacingly, and it deformed, turning into another face as everything turned black around me. The face stared at me, the piercing blue eyes, that I couldn't believe were mine.

And I screamed, and woke up to my loud panting. I was panicking, my eyes averted to every inch of the room before I realized it was all just a dream.

I sat up again, my breathing evening and my heartbeats slowed. I wiped the sweat off my forehead with my clothed arm.

"I need some fresh air…" I stood up slowly and walked over to the mirror. My hair was all messy, and my face was pale, the light mascara I applied earlier today rubbed onto my face, and I groaned.

I walked over to the closet and grabbed a towel before leaving the room and going to the bathroom.

I took a long a hearty shower, making sure every shiver I felt left, and never came back before leaving the tub and changing into clean clothes. I washed my face, making sure all the blood came flowing back to it, and that the mascara mark would wash off. I undid the towel wrap, letting my hair cascade down my back as I grabbed for the blow dryer and threw the towel in the dirty laundry basket.

After drying off my hair, I unplugged the wire and left the dryer out on the counter, walking back to my room.

I found myself standing in front of the mirror again after grabbing a comb, brushing through my loose and damp strands of hair before catching them all and tying them in a high ponytail.

I walked over to the closet, grabbing a warm sweater, ignoring the fact that it was the middle of summer and put it on. I grabbed my phone off my bed and my keys off my desk and walked out of the room, closing the door behind me.

I jogged my way down the stairs and made sure to lock every door in the house, closing all the shutters and all the curtains before leaving.

I put the lanyard with my keys dangling off on my neck and walked down the familiar rode to the village district, where at this time, would be full of people and life. Mothers bickering at their kids about behavior, or sales that would skyrocket and catch even more women.

I didn't know if going to a loud place would relax me, or a quiet place. When its rowdy and full of life and colors, it makes me feel alive, but being at a quiet place makes me realize things around me, and that relaxes me as well.

So I thought I would switch, when being in a loud place starts to annoy me, I'll leave and go to the village's elementary school.

Visiting the elementary school always makes me happy, just because being there reminds me of all those memories that I will, and would never forget.

After stalking along the dirt road, my attention got caught in a small pebble, as I kicked it around with every step I took. It fascinated me, well, not the rock, of course. What fascinated me was the fact that I could move this rock, it sounds stupid, I know. But it gives me the feeling of power, I could move this rock here, and there, and it wouldn't go against me. If only I had that power to go up against people….

I continued to kick the rock along the road, my hands in my pockets as I looked down at the piece of the Earth.

"Hey! Young lady, watch out!" I heard a man yell out, I don't know who he was yelling to, but I was too into kicking the rock around to know… he wasn't yelling out to me right? "Young lady! Watch out!"

Okay, it might be me.

I looked over at the man who yelled towards me, he pointed at me, and then ahead of me.

My head quickly turned to see two horses, running… towards me. By the time I looked I realized it was too late, because the two horses were already stampeding ten meters away from me. I closed my eyes and covered my head with my arms, waiting for the impact of the blow.

So this is how I would die huh…. getting run over by cargo horses from another village… But as I waited, I heard the horses neighed and arms wrap around me, and the pain never came… death gave me mercy this time I guess...

I slowly removed my arms away from my head and opened my eyes, to see the two horses in front of another man, who seemed to be calming them down. The cargo was behind the horses, un-scathed and safe.

"You should be more careful," I turned around to see a man, and hatred coursed through my veins as I stared at him.

"You!"

"Me?"

"Sasuke!"

"Excuse me… who did you just call me?" I pointed at the man with fierce eyes, and then my wrath cooled when he said those words…

"What?"

The man smiled stared down at me," You just called me Uchiha Sasuke.. am I correct?"

"Wait…" I observed him more thorough," You're not.. Sasuke?" it came out as a question, because I wasn't really sure… they had the same pale skin.. and the same dark hair and stormy eyes.

"No, I'm afraid you mistaken me for someone else."

"Oh.. sorry!" I apologized.

He shook his head," No harm done."

He looked… really… familiar…

"That was a close call, though."

"Very.." I nodded, my eyes not straying from his face.. he looked so familiar.

"Is there something on my face?"

I stared at him for a few more moments, before his words registered in my mind, and I blushed and looked away from embarrassment," Oh, no! Nothing at all.. you just look… familiar.. that is all."

He smiled again.

Something about that smile put me off.. it scared me, and it kinda irritated me as well.

"So may I ask what you name is?" the man asked of.

"Oh.." I let out," Sure, my name is Yamanaka Ino.."

He nodded his head, the smile that he had on minutes ago still plastered on his face," Nice to meet you, Yamanaka-san, my name is Sai."

My eyes widened, I knew him… I knew him… who was he?! It got my so pissed off! But.. manners.. manners..

"Thank you for before, for saving me I mean."

"Ah, the pleasure was mine, Yamanaka-san,"

"You can call me… Ino, if you'd like."

"Alright then, Ino."

Don't be mad D:

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Next Update: November 24, 2013 Pacific Time