Until We All Fall Down Chapter 12, Pristine, a naruto fanfic

Until We All Fall Down

XxMookinexX

I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, I only wish I did. Any and all unrecognisable characters and situations belong solely to me and are not to be touched without permission. I am not making any money off of this and I write with the soul purpose to entertain.

This story takes place when our characters are 18/19 and takes account of everything up to chapter 337 of the manga. Written in Ino's POV.

Special thanks to Cheese Maiden, Katar, tomboy-girl21 and Kawaii-Gaara-Chan who all reviewed last chapter. THANKIES!! Here are your individual boxes of fudge-y goodness! YAY! We're back to traditional Millies Cookies for whoever reviews this chapter.

The time frame jumps around a bit so pay attention to what happens when, yeah? Also the first scene is sort of deliberately disjointed 'cos she's all confused.

– Chapter Twelve –

Pristine

THE NEXT DAY

The world's been split in two and there's lightning in the sky.

The walls were white and there was blood beside me on the pillow.

I blinked and groaned – straining to move when tired muscles stubbornly remained asleep, leaving me no option but to stare blankly at the ceiling.

I wonder what happened.

Something stirred out of the range of my vision and I knew I would be tensing if I could. But I relaxed, recognising the startlingly bright red hair and aquamarine eyes… and somehow I knew that Kotaio was dead.

Memory stirred within the depths of my mind but everything remained unclear and clouded.

Gaara looked so tired… his eyes were red-rimmed like he'd been crying which proves that I have gone delusional. I'd have to be delusional to imagine such a thing.

"How are you feeling?"

The words seemed almost tentative, as if he was reaching through the dark for something that might not be really there. Surely I'm not so insubstantial?

But I'm feeling pretty thin.

I'm so exhausted. The expression bone-weary doesn't even begin to cover it.

I wonder what happened.

"Tired," I whispered, and my voice seemed like a stranger to my ears. How long have I been asleep? How long have I been lying here?

He smiled, which broke my heart since it seems like he hasn't in so long. Maybe I'm over-reacting? Maybe this is a dream.

How I wish I knew what happened.

ON THAT DAY

This day I heard his lover's lips force me to say goodbye.

The battle passed like a dream.

I awoke to the sound of drumming – at least that's what it sounded like at the time. When my eyed drifted open I saw them running at one another and my addled brain tried in vain to connect the dots.

There was a clash of steel.

I wondered why he wasn't using his sand.

Then I realised there was a grainy substance surrounding me, protecting me, as if to comfort me. I scowled. He really shouldn't handicap himself so.

"You're awake."

I nodded before I realised the voice was talking to me. I recognised the voice… Temari? And yet it was impossible for me to draw my gaze away from them as I fought.

"I was told it would be safe to move you when you were awake. We need to go. You know you're only hurting Gaara whilst you're here."

I nodded, and allowed her to catch my elbow and drag me side-ways, even though I was still riveted on the battle. I wanted to call out to him. I wanted to wish him luck. But somehow I knew I would only distract him. This was something I could tell he wished to fight alone.

"Ino, hurry up. We don't have much time. Gaara needs to know he can fight all-out."

That caught my attention, my head revolved to find her eyes.

"What?"

"For some reason, don't ask me why, he's holding back. I think that's partly to do with you…" she explained. "I don't think he wants to kill in front of the one he loves."

I stared at her – too shocked to be surprised. Too numb to be too shocked. So surprised that I was numb.

Try explaining that to one who's sober.

"I notice you don't deny it," she said in a controlled tone of voice. I gulped and realised she sounded quite severe. Almost upset…

"Where's Shika?" I queried. "And Chouji. Do they know?"

She stiffened and I noted with dawning apprehension that she looked rather ruffled and there were tear stains on her cheeks.

"Temari," I whispered. "What happened to Shikamaru?"

"He intercepted Gaara at the gate," she murmured. "Only it wasn't Gaara, you see…"

Suddenly we were walking briskly down a corridor towards the medical block.

"It's just a poison needle and the medics said he'd be okay… but… they seemed to be in trouble when I left. Matsuri said I should try to get you out of there. She said she knew her master… said she thought he loved you. She knows him best, you know… It's a little annoying. I always thought that if Gaara did develop some secret relationship I would be the first to figure it out – or he would tell me, but I doubt that he would do that straight away. It's not his style… Gaara likes keeping things to himself. At least for a while. But Matsuri knows best, or some such thing. Maybe because she used to adore him. She used to watch his every move. She was obsessed. It's funny… I'm making such a big deal out of this… and all the time… Ino, I think Shika might be dying."

I stared at her as she bit through her bottom lip, blood trickling down her chin.

"Take me to him," I ordered resolutely. I may be drugged out of my mind and feel like I'm about to collapse at any minute but I refuse to be the sort of person to let down a friend.

Besides, I think Temari needs him to be conscious right now. He's like… her Gaara – in the way that Gaara is to me, I mean. The groundwork by which she lives by. A foundation that keeps her steady and helps her grow.

"Temari," I muttered as she led me down endless corridors towards him. "The mind has a funny way of not allowing you to dwell on the absolute worst thing you want to know about right now. When you die you watch the ceiling. When you fall you watch the skies and the horizon. Distraction is the best way to avoid pain."

She glanced at me, hard and sharp, just once over her shoulder, as if to ask me what's your point?

"I don't think any the less of you for that."

She stared at me with incomprehension. Then the briefest smile crossed her face.

When Temari smiles, it is not gentle. The smile is very scary – all teeth and attitude as if to ask the observer how she's done. Even so, the action is so her… so very Temari, that it's made me more glad than I remember being for a long while now. Since there's kindness in her eyes… and Temari for all her attitude is one of the warmest people that I know. She just hates to lose, that's all… and she'd kill herself if she lost Shika when he's the one she likes to prove herself to.

I hurried forwards alone to face redemption. Mine, or Temari's, or his, I'll never know.

"Watch Gaara for me, Temari. Make sure he knows… I trust him to do what is right."

I told her that and walked away, even though I knew I was unsteady on my feet. I stumbled a bit and the waves of dizziness hampered my progress but, of all the people, Matsuri came up beside me, slinging one of my arms around her neck whilst hooking one of her arms round my waist and helping to propel me along to my destination.

"You okay?" she asked, carefully keeping her eyes on the road ahead. Her tone was nonchalant, but I knew she must hold at least some deep-seated resentment towards me. After all, in her eyes I stole her love.

"I will be," I replied, imitating her. Now was not the time for resolutions. "Temari says he'll be okay. I said I'd take a look at Shika. Then I need to rest."

She glared at me, even as she dragged me along.

"Don't you think you're over-doing it? We have perfectly qualified medic-nins of our own. You're still a foreigner even if Gaara-sama does like you. Who are you to make such demands?"

I blushed. That's right… she doesn't know yet.

"I'm not returning to Konoha," I admitted, desperately trying to look straight ahead. I experienced one of the most tense and invigorating moments of my life.

"You've sired his child?" she asked at last, and the voice was less cold than I'd imagined. I nodded.

"That's why I feel that I should rest. It's annoying… I don't want to. But I have to think for more than just myself these days. I promised Temari I'd see to Shika, and am only doing so on her request. If all is well I won't have to do anything. If it isn't… but I'm sure that all is well. Then I'll sleep this off… thank you for helping me. It must be tiresome. I'd hate me in your shoes. But I really didn't want to be a burden."

We continued on, and yet another, hopefully the final, door came into sight.

"You're not so bad…" she said at last, although her words were little more than a whisper. "I always knew, you know, that it wouldn't be me… There are a lot of worse candidates it could have been. At least you're sensible. At least you'll think of him. At least you'll stay with him for more than power or money."

I stared at her aghast.

"Gaara would never allow someone like that near him," I said outraged. She looked away quickly, but I caught the flash of a smile on her face and knew that she was desperately trying to keep from laughing. When she'd composed herself she turned back to me.

"It goes without saying, of course, that if you hurt him…"

"Of course," I agreed, nodding as she relinquished her grip on me and pushed open the door. "If such a thing should happen," I said. "You have every right."

I left the sentence unfinished, but I know she knew what I meant.

And then I thought the world went mad for I heard Shika scream. And for one brief moment I wished that I was merely asleep and this nightmare was just a dream I could wake up from if I pinched my skin and really tried. But there are some things you can't get up from… there are some nightmares that are real.

ON THAT NIGHT

Tonight I dreamed of death and sin and wished that fools could fly.

I've never been so diligent in all my work before. I've never forced myself to check and recheck and recheck past the point of sheer exhaustion because it's never been life and death… it has never been so dire.

They missed it! They missed one vital, tiny micrometer of the stuff right by his heart and his heart went into fibrillation before they knew what was happening… the idiots forgot to check, they named him stable…

A stroke – a bloody stroke. No one our age should suffer that. Maybe it's the cigarettes he took up for that bad week… that single week when we revenged our sensei's death.

Of course I performed the by-pass, probably breaking several speed-records in the process. Even so, it did the job – it got him stabilised. Oh thank God, it meant that he was stabilised. Really stabilised this time. Not misdiagnosed.

I would have lynched them if I weren't there and he had died. So help me I would have lynched them – damned myself to hell and back – if they'd stood there and watched as he had died. They would have wondered what was wrong and by the time they thought to check if they had missed anything it would have been too late and they would have been as good as dead.

So I guess it's good that I could be there.

I guess it's good that Temari has the best woman's intuition I've ever come across. Excepting maybe Matsuri.

And it's a good thing Matsuri's as good as her. Else I'm sure I would have passed out on the floor…

THE NEXT DAY

Tomorrow is a distant land for which lady destiny has made me shy.

I dreamed of everything and I dreamed of nothing at all.

I've heard it said that dreams are memories, which we replay to try and make sense of them all – so it's no wonder that they turn out so very strange. It's the effect of trying to interpret life so that it's sane. It can't be done. You'll end up with nonsensical drivel that will only add to the madness – little is done to help you retain what small amount of sanity you have left.

I thought about resolutions and wondered if yesterday was really real. It couldn't be real. I was so convinced that it was false that I forgot everything at first… only Gaara's tired eyes told me what had happened.

There was blood on my pillow when I woke up – Gaara's blood. I healed him as best I could, which was surprisingly well considering the circumstances. Really, Kotaio's potion made me sleep better than I had in ages. A restoring sleep, if a fitful one.

Kotaio was dead. I had no doubt of that. Gaara confirmed that he was but went into no further details. Some small part of me was glad. I don't want to know what he was trying to do. I don't want to think how he planned on killing me. I just don't want to think about it.

And so I won't.

Maybe in my dreams he'll come back to haunt me, but the day is for the living, so there's little point dwelling on what may have been.

We went to visit Shika early this morning. I almost had a heart attack when I went in. Who should be there, of all people, but Sakura. Darling Sakura! My best friend who I haven't seen in so long… and it was only now that I realised how much I'd missed her.

"SAKURA!" I cried and threw my arms around her, forgetting that my entrance would have caused a stir considering Gaara had an arm wrapped around my waist and I had been leaning quite heavily on his shoulder. Still, time to get to that when I get to it.

"Ino!" she returned, with just as much enthusiasm, although she appeared less tired to my eyes. We simply hugged for several moments before she drew back, her expression stern. "What's this I've been hearing about you getting yourself hurt? And you've been healing people too! Whilst in such a state! You need to stop being so responsible, you know? It's not good for you. See, look," she poked my forehead. "You're all pale and pasty. And you have dark circles under your eyes. How much have you been sleeping lately?"

"It's nothing," I waved off her concern, although I couldn't help but grin at her. I love the way she mothers me. I love it more than life itself right now. It's so familiar… it's so like me… because deep down we always wanted to be each other back then. No wonder we had the same ones we liked…

Which reminds me…

I stepped back from her and looked around the room.

Okay, rather a few more people are here than I'd originally thought. There was Shikamaru (obviously), Temari (who came with him), Chouji (who had recovered enough to visit his friend), Sakura, Sasuke (who presumably came with her) and Naruto himself – although why the Hokage himself should come I do not know.

Gaara went to talk to him, though both looked briefly in my direction to begin with before continuing to converse in quiet whispers.

"Ino," Shika beckoned. "I hear that if it weren't for you I would be dead now."

My eyebrows rose. "Shika, if not for me you'd have been dead long ago, Chouji too, for that matter. Honestly, what will you do without me?"

He blinked and frowned.

"What do you mean what will you do without me? Shouldn't it be what would you do without me? Or are you leaving us."

He was trying to be playful, but my expression suddenly became rigid on my face, raising his concerns.

"Actually," I whispered. "I think I might be."

There was an uncomfortable pause in all the conversations, save for one which was rapidly interrupted when Naruto exploded.

"WHAT?!"

This seemed like as good a distraction as any right now. I can't bear to face all five of their enquiring stares. Naruto was staring wide eyed at Gaara before he became aware of all our gazes on him. He grinned and ran a hand through his hair before looking uneasily at Gaara.

"And you didn't think this worth mentioning last time we spoke?"

Gaara shrugged. "I didn't know then."

Naruto sighed. Then he turned to me. "Hello Ino-chan."

"Uh… hi," I replied, quite confused at how… well… almost formal he was being – for Naruto that is.

"I think we need to talk, don't you?"

"Ah…" I blushed, suddenly realising what he meant. "Yes… um… now?"

He nodded. "Now would probably be best."

I followed him to the door, chewing lightly on my lip. I'd forgotten that technically I need Naruto's permission… unless I plan on deserting – which I don't.

Naruto opened the door and came face to face with Kankurou who blinked in surprise, smiled when he saw me, sort of saluted to Naruto and squeezed past us to get to Gaara. At least I assume it was Gaara he wanted to talk to. With Kankurou who knew?

We found our way to a room that appeared empty and was near enough for us to be roused if there was a commotion of some sort.

"You're pregnant?" Naruto checked, his eyebrows raising into his hair line. "Ino-chan I thought we were friends… I didn't even know you were with Gaara, let alone carrying his children. When did all this," he waved his arms about, "happen?"

I perched on a nearby desk and mused on that for a while.

"It's all been rather hectic really… We've been… together together for little over a week. But it's been building up for a long time now… since we all had ramen together, actually. That was when I started to notice him. Back when… back when Tsunade-sama was still alive. It just… escalated. But," and here I blushed. "I really, really love him, Naruto. It's gotten to the stage where I don't think I could possibly live without seeing him all the time… I worry about him when he's not there, and I've never been happier than when I'm with him. I miss him so much that it physically hurts sometimes when he's not around. I've never felt like this for anybody else. I want to spend the rest of my life with him. Can you understand that?" I asked him. "Will you let me fulfil that wish?"

Naruto blinked, as if bemused.

"I would never stand in your way," he stated. "I love Gaara like a brother… and you're like a sister to me, you know that. I wish for nothing but happiness for the both of you. I know that there is no one who would protect you better, and I know there is no one who would devote themselves to him better… So if you're so certain that you want to be with him – I can hardly stand in your way, now, can I?"

I grinned at him, and laughed when he grinned back at me. He reached out tentatively and touched my face, "You've grown up a lot in such a short time," he marvelled. "You look so different somehow."

I laughed again and hugged him. "You too," I murmured. And it was true. He seemed so much more grown up now. So much more… like the person he always aspired to be. Like the Hokage. He had a wisdom gained through the compassion he'd had all along. A rationality gained by using the listening-skills and empathy he'd always had for others. He'd attained the path he'd always wanted by instinctively drawing on the elements of himself that were required. It's like to be a part you need to act it until you become it – and he doesn't even need to act. He simply is. Like he was always fated to be. At least, that's the way I see it.

We walked back into Shikamaru's sick room and again everyone's eyes swivelled to meet me as I entered.

Oh well, might as well get this over with.

I walked back to Gaara and took his hand, smiling at him. My nervousness lifted slightly as I saw Kankurou smirking at me, somehow he always makes me smile.

"Um," I started turning to face the crowd again. "I have something to tell you all." Fully aware that I was a lovely shade of deep pink by now, I marched relentlessly onwards. "Gaara and I are having a baby."

Stunned silence met my words. Shika, true to form, let his jaw actually drop whereas Sakura looked as if she thought she'd gone insane. Sasuke was endevoring to hold his girlfriend upright whilst not drawing attention to the fact that she was practically about to faint… and Chouji…

He smiled, and there was a lot more warmth in that smile than the last one he'd painted on his face for me to see… this one felt a great deal more real, too.

Kankurou didn't seem at all surprised, his smirk merely broadened into an all out smug grin and Temari after blinking was too busy trying not to laugh at Shika's expression and failing miserably to react.

"I'm not going back to Konoha… well, I'm going back once, to say goodbyes and pick up my things but… I'm staying here overall. Suna's going to be my home now."

The world's been split in two and there's lightning in the sky

This day I heard his lover's lips force me to say goodbye

Tonight I dreamed of death and sin and wished that fools could fly

Tomorrow is a distant land for which lady destiny has made me shy.

So… yeah, I was strangely poetic when I wrote this – I hope you don't mind. Anyways…

Chapter TWELVE – the final chapter! What do you think? Good/Bad/Too abrupt? Just the epilogue to go now. HOW WEIRD IS THAT? I think I'm updating on Friday, not Saturday seeing as I have to be up really early that day, but I really hope I'm gonna get lots of reviews when I get back.

Oh, by the way I used the expression 'But I'm feeling pretty thin' earlier to freak various reviewers who thought she might be having a miscarriage out. I use that expression when I'm hungry and it feels like I haven't eaten for days – mainly 'cos I don't like the idea of someone calling me thin – I'm perverse like that. I happen to like being chubby :P – it makes me feel more comfortable whereas if I was a stick I'd have to bother maintaining it. This way I know I can work it off if I need to but I don't feel any pressure to be anything more or less than I am. But back to my point – I didn't mean to insult anyone with that statement nor did I mean to imply that she'd had a miscarriage. Oh, and the redness around Gaara's eyes I am choosing to believe is stress and lack of sleep. I don't think he cries. It's werid for the ruler of an entire shinobi village to cry. But you can believe what you like of it. It's your perception.

So yeah… I kinda… didn't write a battle scene at all 'cos I couldn't think how to do it. I figure that Ino's more a medic-nin than anything else. I think that's appropriate seeing as she's from Konoha initially and I don't see the shinobi from Suna just letting her switch allegiances to them and carry out their missions. Probably she'll just be a medic-nin for the rest of her time here. That's my view on it. We don't really find out 'cos the point where she resumes a normal job is after the baby is born and I'm not crass enough to end this on a birth or death – sorry but the idea is way too over used. As are marriages, really. But that's my opinion. I've left it rather open ended, save for who is with who in what happens at the end, so you can imagine whatever you like afterwards. I'm probably not going to write a sequel.

Please review people! I love knowing what you think.

Luv ya

XxMookinexX