A/N: hello all! Second chapter up. I've decide I may do a fourth chapter depending on how chapter 3 goes. Well in anycase, enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
In the office Temari felt her head spinning. She didn't answer Naruto's questions, didn't even know if he was asking questions. From the way Sakura had affected him, she supposed later that he had been silent as she had been. She was thankful, because the note held more than the revelation that she had been seen.
The ribbon had held a meeting time and place, Temari wondered as she read if there had been a similar one she had given Naruto at the beginning of their rendezvous'. At five, when they had gotten off the day before, Temari asked Naruto if he was going to stay that night.
"Yeah. Tsunade-bachan's forms are always the hardest to fill out…" he trailed off as he squinted at a certain form. He threw his hands up and roared. "GODDAMN! Why can't they just look at section 6-N?! Why do I have to write the same fuckin' number three times?!"
"I'll see you tomorrow, Naruto-kun."
Naruto waved and as she closed the door she heard him scream something about 'fucking old men with bad eye sight and small-ass letters.'
She smiled and let a few chuckles escape, but let them drop as she headed out into Konoha, prepared to meet with Yamanaka Ino, the lover of Uzumaki Naruto.
Xxxxxx.xxxxx.xxxxxX
The teashop Temari entered has a very distinct and varied history. It is the first place Kisame and Itachi of Akatsuki stopped after their limited entrance to the village. It was the place Yuhi Kurenai revealed to her lover, Sarutobi Asuma, she was pregnant with his child. The small establishment also was the frequent stopping place of Team Asuma when they were still genin, and where they meet to see each other again.
These meetings are far less frequent than the ones between Ino and Naruto, by the way.
Temari didn't see the blonde she was there to meet, but decided she may be waiting for Temari to sit down. She did so at one of the benches in the open air and ordered a plate of sweet dumplings and some green tea. She had finished the first of her two sets of three round dumplings when the bench creaked with the weight of another person.
As Temari was about to turn to look at the person to see if it was Ino she blacked out.
Temari snapped awake four minutes later and rubbed her eyes. Blinking she felt something in her hand. She looked at her fist, curled around a pencil, and then down at her dango plate. Written in the napkin that had come with them was a message in the same small kanji that had brought her here.
At midnight leave your window open.
Temari wondered lightly how she would know her hotel, and her room. Temari looked down at herself, her clothes were ruffled just as if someone (her own hand) had tried to find something. She then smacked her forehead in a gesture that said, beyond any doubt: of course. She had her room key, which held the Hotel's insignia, in her kimono.
Temari stood, a bit peeved that whoever had come had eaten her other set of dumplings, and went to her hotel to await whoever wanted to speak to her.
Xxxxxx.xxxxx.xxxxxX
Temari had told her self she would stay awake, and of course when we tell ourselves this we fall promptly asleep the second we get any kind of comfortable, and she did. Temari, as a ninja, has trained herself to be a great warrior. And to be a great warrior is to be alert and ready.
Because of this Yamanaka Ino would have lost a good section of her face if she had not been just that much better than Temari. After all, when you have sex with the strongest ninja in the village, it's best you at least be close to his level.
"Hello to you too, Temari-san," she said with just the smallest hint of annoyance.
Temari blinked. She followed the sharp angles of her hidden Kunai, to her hand's much softer curves, to the strong grip of Ino's more dexterous fingers tightly holding her wrist. Ino had dodged the blade and captured her hand as it passed her cheek.
"Sorry," Temari let the kunai slide back into her sleeve and waited for Ino to let her go. When the younger blonde had done so she leaned back and sat in one of those borderline uncomfortable chairs.
Temari herself was sitting in the same chair she had sat in the night before. As the night before she was also next to the window. She noticed it was now lifted, when before it had only been slightly up. Ino had lifted it up and then entered and tried to wake her hostess.
"For someone who wanted me here you don't really know how to show it. Is that how you always act when you're woken up?"
Temari felt herself grow angry, "I didn't invite you. You took over my body using that technique of yours and invited yourself."
Ino smiled slightly, "Who left the window open? Who did so without even knowing about what I wanted to talk about?"
Temari huffed and didn't continue. She was smart enough to let a lost argument die. Ino smiled even more and drew a pack of cigarettes from her shirt. Temari narrowed her eyes, "You smoke?"
Ino sniffed and slapped the pack against her palm. With her ninja strength and speed she had done the requirement in slightly more than a second. "Yes. I picked it up from Shikamaru."
"How does Naruto like it?" Temari asked.
Ino lifted one of them to her lips and lit it. After taking a few puffs she took it out of her mouth and sent a long puff out the window. "He hates it. I can't smoke for almost a day if I want to kiss him."
"Why?" Ino tapped her stomach. "Oh…" Temari recalled Naruto had smelled Sakura in the restaurant before he had seen her.
There was silence.
"Well?" Ino asked.
"What?" Temari had zoned out, almost fallen asleep again.
"Aren't you going to ask about it?"
"Yes…that is why I let you in right?" Temari replied with her own question a small, wary smile on her lips. More silence, this time Temari was thinking. "What is that place? I know it's a garden…but it's more isn't it?"
Ino let a plume of smoke escape the small part in her full lips. Her eyes, a sky blue to Naruto's ocean, flashed with the tiny illumination granted from the cig. "Yes," she whispered, the smoke coming from her mouth giving the added sound of a hiss. "That Garden…" she sighed, almost as if she was the name of her lover and not a place, "is the most beautiful and the most terrible place in the world.
"It is where he," Naruto, "lets out everything they," she threw her head in an angry gesture to the village outside, "did to him. All his rage, hatred, and despair. All of it. He made that place, or the simple beginnings of it in any case, nearly eight years ago. And still he has those emotions." She reached her hand out the window and tapped the ash away. "Anything else?"
Temari opened her mouth, and then closed it. "What…what happened?"
Ino smiled. She knew what Temari had not said. What she not asked. What happened that made Naruto hate Sakura. That made him love you. What happened that made you find the Garden. Why did Naruto let you in?
Ino put out her cig in the ashtray, Temari noticed it had a filter, and took a second. "I found it, the Garden, because I'm a nosey bitch. I wanted to know why Naruto, of all people, needed such beautiful flower seedlings. What I found, was something even more beautiful."
Temari grew silent as Ino began the first of what would be several glimpses into the past. And such, time rewound to a fateful day over six years ago, to the day Yamanaka Ino found a great many secrets.
Some of which, changed her life completely.
Xxxxxx.xxxxx.xxxxxX
Six years ago…Yamanaka Flower shop…
Ino was, as always, wishing she was eligible for ANBU status. Because if she was eligible to be an ANBU, she would be working like a dog, doing unneeded physical and mental training to be adapted to become a powerful killing machine.
Instead of sitting in her parent's shop, reading the same issue of Kunoichi Kast Monthly. The magazine, made by ninja females hired out by each country, was one of Ino's favorites. Mainly for the clothing, which was also battle-appropriate; mainly for the fact even with their extensive sexual tip section, no mention of it is put on the cover.
In fact the first time she had bought one, as a young girl of twelve, she had been reading happily until she realized she was learning how to properly deep throat.
That was a day she wrote about in her journal.
But today, the middle of the month, she was reading the sections she normally skimped over in her initial read once it arrives on the second of every month, there is nothing new.
And nothing to do.
She sighed. It would have been bearable if it was wedding season and she had both bouquets and/or bridal wreaths to do. But it isn't.
She looked up at the door, which hadn't opened since she had walked out after opening them herself to see if anyone was there for the early run. Nothing.
Wait, a shape.
The doors slid open and a man in a dark brown uniform walked in, a medium parcel in his arms. Ino tilted her head in confusion. They didn't have any shipments of flowers due. She turned and looked at the schedule on a clipboard her mother had hanging beside the stockroom door.
Not a single bud due until next month. "Who is that for?" she asked a bit incredulously.
"Well, for you. Ain't it?" the mailman asked setting the box down in front of her counter.
"No."
"Oh…well no one else has asked for any order this big besides your parents. So I…we…"
"Decided to just give it to us when someone might need these flowers?" Ino asked, letting her anger out. She was bored, tired, and now this idiot had decided just because they owned a flower shop that any flower order was immediately, theirs.
He flustered and shifted the box with his foot. "Well…uh we…"
Ino snapped her arm and pointed to the door, "Oh shut up and get out. I'll watch it. Just be sure to tell the person you screwed over that you sent it to a place where they'll be taken care of!"
He yelped at her outburst and bowed and then left. All in a matter of seconds.
Ino huffed and put her balled fists on her hips, and glared at the box. She went around to the other side of her counter and lifted it to examine the address and name.
There was none. It had been either ripped off in delivery or in the checking process the Chunin in charge of incoming mail did. They had seen the flowers and sent them to her shop just because. It filled her heart with joy that the common man's information from abroad was controlled by people with the ability to barely add two and two and get three point nine.
She did see that the sender information had been left intact. Ichigo Hana Growers? These are high end. Specially bred. Someone spent a pretty penny. Of course…not that pretty a penny…Ino thought.
She knew that Ichigo Hana Flowers had special deals on bulk packages. One or two flowers or seedlings had to be packed so delicately that it was far less expensive to order ten or fifteen. As she saw now.
Intrigued she decided to open the box and peer inside. If they were seedlings they would need a light spritzing of water. And sunlight…she added in her head.
She did so and opened the box, cutting it with a swift chakra scalpel. As she looked inside she saw each little seedling was encased in plastic. Clear plastic on the top, framing the small leaves and stems, black plastic around the roots and soil within them.
She removed them, three layers of four seedlings each, and set them on a rare open space on the bench in the storeroom. On the bottom was a list of the plants, what they were, how to care for them and help them grow, and finally the return form, incase the plants were damaged or did not take root.
Ino's eyes widened as she saw the name of the plants. She traced it with her fingernail, a bright green, much like the plants themselves, and whispered it. "Ice Dragon's Breath…" she sighed. She had heard of the flowers, rare ones that could live in any temperature if they had enough water.
In the winter they ate at the ice that met the ground, their roots growing to reach any water underground if the ice didn't melt, or if there was no rain or in a desert. They were indeed the dragons of the flower world. The flowers, which were big and fluffy looking, would grow in tiny clumps then become massive bursts of color that ranged from deep almost transparent blue, to a vibrant shade of purple.
Each section of flowers, four of each, had a different color. Those on top were blue. The middle ones were purple, and the bottom ones had a reddish tint. She sighed a little wondering who would want such flowers around. With these colors after one or two generations there would be a great collection of color.
I wonder if the person who bought these will let me have one. It would only take two of each color for a small garden. And I'm sure one wouldn't hurt…
"Uh…Hello?" a tentative voice called from the front.
Ino stood up straight gasping. She whirled and looked at the open storeroom door. Ino's face, the look of a child who had been sneaking chocolate just minutes before dinner, dulled into one of aggravation. Why him of all people to interrupt her now?
"Na…ru…to…" she growled. She hit him hard on the head.
"OW! WHAT THE FUCK?!" he screamed as he held the forming bump. "Why did you do that?!" he hissed.
"Because you came back here uninvited! See that sign!" she grumbled pointing at the sign just under the door's window. Naruto turned his head and looked at it, still angry. "Employee's only!" she cried.
"Well sorry for trying to find someone! I come here to get something of mine and see the box is open, but empty and see this door is just open a crack! It's not like you were na…" he stopped as he saw what Ino was blocking from view with her body. "Why did you take them out?" he asked. The childish humor in his voice and face, coming from mostly the fact he was used to being hit by the blonde girl, left in a flash.
"What do you care?" Ino asked, a little more than unnerved by the fact Naruto's eyes seemed to glow.
Naruto sighed and let his arms fall to his sides. "Because they're mine Ino," he said flatly.
"W-what?" she stuttered. She couldn't believe he had just said that. Her mouth hitched a little on one side. Soon she was smiling, full blown in fact, and before she could stop herself she was laughing. "YOURS!" she screamed when she had taken a breath. She had pointed at him.
Through her flurry of laughter, and her teary eyes, she noticed Naruto was not laughing. He also was not even looking a bit happy. She stopped slowly. A bit of fear (Fear? There's no way I can be scared of Naruto) crept into her heart, stifling her guffaws until they evened out to slight, singleton laughs that had neither humor nor form.
"Are you finished?" he asked coldly. She gulped, with her eyes a bit bigger than normal, biting her lip. "I guess you are," he walked up to her and ticked his head to the side. She moved at once, allowing him to gather the three sets of four seedlings. He took them to the front and put them into the box, closing the flaps.
He left and even though the doors opened and closed on a pneumatic system with almost no noise, the sliding sound they made seemed much harsher than normal.
What…what just happened?…Ino asked herself. She exited the storeroom and saw Naruto's form walking with the box until he teleported or sped off so she could not follow.
Xxxxxx.xxxxx.xxxxxX
Six years ago…Yamanaka Household…Yamanaka Ino's room…
Later that night…
Ino sat in her bed, stretched out with her arms behind her head acting as a second layer to her pillow. She remembered the look on his face when he had asked her 'If she was finished.' It was frightening.
Asuma had taught her the difference kinds of anger people could feel. There was the minor anger, which bubbled to the top, that she and Sakura were known for wielding. And then there was the anger Naruto was known for. That dreadful power that left him in the grip of something greater than himself.
She shuddered.
He…he hated me in that moment…she thought. For some reason she knew Naruto had hated her. When she had laughed at him. But how could she? She had laughed at Naruto hundreds of times before. Most of those times when he was…when he was…
When he was trying to strand on his own…
She turned her body and buried her face in the crook of her bent arms. What is this? Is this regret? Why do I feel like I've done something wrong?
Ino didn't know. She didn't know at all. What she did know was that the Naruto she saw, changed. She would no longer see him for what others did. She would see that anger, that hatred.
And she would see it for a very, very long time.
Xxxxxx.xxxxx.xxxxxX
Present day…
Temari remained silent. "What…what does that have to do with…?" she trailed off.
"Why is it that Suna ninja are so calm and composed one minute, but find something they have an interest in and boom they can't sit still for a second," Ino whispered, not really asking a question.
Temari flushed a little, "You didn't answer my question and I asked it first."
"I told you that to give you some background. So you can understand why I followed him. When I first saw that Garden…that place between heaven and hell…"
Her eyes grew misty and she began to tell again.
Xxxxxx.xxxxx.xxxxxX
Five Years ago…Haruno Household…
It was the roof of Sakura's parent's home. Ino was with her best friend, as their rivalry had stilled somewhat (for the moment), and they were watching the moon. Neither of them knew just why they had chosen to. It was a boring activity for two young women such as them.
But neither of them had anything to do or anyone else to do it with. The moon also helped them think out their thoughts. Sakura was thinking about a certain raven-haired criminal going through an intense medical and rehabilitation exam.
Ino well, her thoughts were not, absolutely not, centered around Naruto…
…Exactly.
She was thinking of the Ice Dragon Breaths he had bought. She had wanted to see them, mostly in an attempt to try and apologize, but she had failed, miserably at every turn. Naruto either ignored her or acted as he always had. No one seemed to notice how Ino was brushed off almost as soon as she came within ten feet of the blonde.
He did it so subtly Ino herself didn't even realize it. Well, until he had told her flatly he didn't want her following him anymore. That day she had been walking in his wake, behind him, and had noticed the looks he got from the villagers and older ninja they saw. When Naruto had walked into an alley, she had followed him without thinking. If she had been watching his back, instead of her own feet, she would not have slammed into him and fallen back. He had helped her up and told her his message: Stop following me around Ino. It's getting annoying and I have a lot more important things to think about. You won't get what you're looking for from me.
"I'm going to bed. You might not want to stay here all night Ino-chan," Sakura said absent mindedly as she rose and left.
Ino waved to her and stood herself and leapt over a few buildings on her way home. She was thinking about Naruto when she landed on one building, and landed hard. The shingle she had intended to be her stepping-stone to the next rooftop, but it slipped and Ino fell, face first, into the top of Inuzuka Hana's Veterinary office.
God…dammit…she grunted as she tried to right herself. She checked her ankle, it was twisted but the process for healing it was so simple she had begun to do it without a thought.
She finished healing and stood to test it. The leg was healed, but the fall and the instant chakra use made her dizzy. She leaned against Hana's small water tower and sat down to rest for a few seconds.
Someone landed on the other side. Ino froze and heard someone shifting their feet and hands. She let her body fall to the side and looked under the tower, through the mess of pipes, and saw a pair of tan hands. They were smooth, which made her mind run through the number of smooth handed ninja.
When an orange sleeve poked its head she knew who it was. "Coulda sworn…" he sniffed a little. "Ugh. It's starting to hurt," he grunted. He took off again and Ino saw Naruto land a few rooftops away.
How can he jump that far?…she asked herself. When he landed she watched him wince slightly before carrying on. A bit worried Ino decided to follow him.
Sakura hadn't said anything about Naruto being hurt or in the hospital, and in truth she didn't talk much about Naruto at all anymore, so Ino had no way of knowing if he had just left the hospital like he usually does.
Xxxxxx.xxxxx.xxxxxX
Same night…
As Ino followed him she noticed he was running towards the wall of the village. Her brow furrowed as she saw he was not stopping. He quickly leapt at it, stuck with chakra, then hurried up and over. Ino had been farther back to keep from being seen, but now hurried to catch up to him.
As she cleared the walking path of the walls she saw a blur of orange and Naruto was gone. She huffed. She couldn't have lost him already could she?
Yes…a rare part of Ino spoke up…What made you think you could catch him anyway? He's as good as Sasuke, or better. You can't even match Shikamaru when he's still lazy.
Ino snorted and leapt down as she heard the approaching footsteps of a guard. She landed softly, much better than her previous landing that started this she thought with a little grin, and took off into the forest.
After running but fifteen minutes she came to a road. Blinking she realized it was one of the secret roads only used by ninja. The only reason she was able to detail it as a road was the markings hidden in tree limbs and leaves that directed whoever came along that Konoha was south.
She decided to follow it, albeit away from the eyes of anyone who may be traveling the road. By her own reasoning this was most likely the way Naruto had chosen. She wondered a little if he had taken up a mission and was leaving late, but she remembered he was wearing only the clothes on his back.
Ino had run for about thirty minutes thinking on and off as to why Naruto had gone this way when she abruptly stopped. Anyone following her would think she had been hit by some sort of invisible attack the way she was totally inanimate.
She was at the tiny opening the trees that would lead to the Garden.
At first her legs would not move. At first her mind would not think. But slowly, her functions returned to her control and she walked toward it. The border of the Garden and the forest was like that which may divide Heaven and Hell. The forest was dark and blocked the light of the moon, but that same light seemed to divert from the forest and converge in the Garden's clearing. She stopped, a step short of entering and solidified her resolve. With a quick burst of force from her mind she was inside the Garden.
Ino gasped. He breath was stolen by the plants and they seemed to actually rise to look at her. Each one was illuminated by the moon. Each one a stunning jewel in a gigantic natural and beautiful setting. She looked at the soil, which was black as darkness, and shifted it with her feet. A rich earthy aroma greeted her for it.
"My god," she whispered, "It's so beautiful."
She examined each flower, swiftly as she did not know who would be coming here, until she came to a small cluster. Her breath left her once more. This time it was replaced by that of a dragon. The twelve seedlings Naruto had bought barely a year ago were in full bloom.
She could scarcely believe they were the same flowers. They had grown into a small section of the garden, combining their natural colors into great explosions of color. There was a small set, three or four plants, which had tremendous red blossoms that slowly changed from purple to blue on the way down to the soil.
Ino reached out her hand. She subtly stroked one of the large palm sized petals and sighed a little.
"Who the hell are you!?" an angry voice growled. Ino gasped as she was pulled from her feet and tossed to the ground, skidding in the dirt to land at a big tree trunk.
She screamed when two strong arms crashed into the bark behind her head. "STOP! IT'S ME! INO!"
Naruto's face appeared to her cringing eyes and he grabbed her shoulders. "What. Are. You. Doing. Here," he hissed through clenched teeth.
"I…I followed you!" she cried, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. She was scared. Naruto never, never, would have thrown her like that if they were in the village. She was afraid he would actually hurt her this time.
He backed away and stood over her as she held her arms up in defense. "Get out of here. Never come back." His voice stern, angry and heated. Ino squirmed and quickly dashed to the entryway. She turned just enough to see Naruto's back was to her. "Ino." She stopped dead and shivered, he had never said her name with such…disdain.
Was Naruto even capable of that?...she thought faintly.
"Go. I never want to see you here again." She stood still, taking a wayward step back. "And if you tell anyone in the village about this place. I will kill you."
With that Ino ran like hell was on her heels.
Xxxxxx.xxxxx.xxxxxX
Present day…
Temari gulped. She wondered how Ino felt remembering that day. It had obviously been hard for her to admit how plainly foolish she had been to enter such a place so innocently. "What…what happened then?"
"I ran home and hid under my covers like a little girl. I realized that I had seen something Naruto hid from us, and for good reason. What began in the back room of the shop ended in that Garden. I saw Naruto for what he was, something powerful…and dangerous under the right circumstances.
"Can you imagine what it felt like to believe yourself so much higher and greater than someone and then see that they were doing it more for you benefit?" she asked looking into Temari's eyes.
The Suna Blonde nodded warily remembering the first time she saw Gaara's Shukaku form. When all the nightmares of her past and her people's past became real.
"I'm a little ahead of myself though. I obeyed him. I didn't go back for two years. I watched and waited for things to happen with him. We didn't talk. We said things to each other, but there was nothing behind it. I was trying to hide from him. I…I was ashamed. I think that's the best word for it. I was ashamed I didn't see what I saw in that grove before. It all came to a head three years ago…when Sasuke came back…"
Xxxxxx.xxxxx.xxxxxX
Three Years Ago…Late Spring…
Yamanaka Ino sat in the Konoha library and looked sadly at a book on plants she was thinking about taking home. She is not looking at it sadly because she has been unable to go to her family's shop. She is looking at it sadly because it has a very extensive article on Ice Dragon's Breath. After seeing it Ino remembered the sight she had carried from a party Kiba, who had gotten permission from his mother to use the clan house, held the previous year.
There she had seen Naruto and Sakura, sitting together. What had made it so sad for Ino was, Naruto had settled his hand on Sakura's, and she was holding his back. Ino saw the trust between them as if it was some tangible thing. Something like a scarf that intertwined the two of them.
It had been spouted by the local gossipers that the two had gone out and were seeing more of each other. What solidified these speculations for Ino was the blossom in Sakura's hair, just behind her left ear. A young Ice Dragon's Breath, deep red.
Ino had asked to leave and went straight home, ignoring her mother and father who were eating a late supper and laid face down on her bed and sobbed silently into her pillow. She felt betrayed and lost. For some reason she wanted that flower behind her ear. For some reason she wanted to have picked it out.
And the image from before floods her mind. The flowers soaking up both her breath and the light of the moon. The darkened room, in which she had turned on no lights, seemed to fill with that light and the smell of those flowers. She felt her tears and sadness fade as she thought of it.
Go. I never want to see you here again.
And then it was gone, replaced by Naruto's angry face. The face that held all of his anger and hatred. And it was centered on Ino.
She hiccupped, and struggled, but eventually gave in before she cried and sobbed into her pillow for the rest of that night.
As much as she was going to probably do THIS night as well. She knew that Naruto had been seen at a few of the local jewelers. She knew what he was planning to ask Sakura. She knew how much he loved her.
A single tear drop fell and landed on the book. She hastily wiped her eyes and closed the book, leaving it as she dashed out of the building. Her feet took her to the large Hokage Tower, where Sakura was. She sniffled a little and tried to turn, but her legs made her move forward. Part of her had to know.
She had to know if Naruto gave her that blossom or if she had picked it out herself. The answer would most likely break Ino if it was the latter, but crying over a boy who hated your guts wasn't much better.
Well, at least I'm able to admit that I have a thing for him…she thought sarcastically. And so her feet moved toward the front gate and into the tower.
But she never got the chance to ask Sakura, because Sakura was talking to Naruto. She was facing Ino and Naruto was facing her. He was standing with one hand behind his back, Ino saw the little black box and how Naruto was holding it tightly. She moved back, into the shadows created by the main gate and tried her best to conceal her chakra.
She saw how Sakura was looking at Naruto and felt her heart sink. She knew that look. It was the one she would give Ino when they were girls and Sakura was too excited to listen. Ino hoped the girl would understand why Naruto wanted to talk and not…
The noon bang (1) went off loudly and Sakura's head whipped in the direction of the gate. Ino heard her chirp happily something and moved past Naruto who had begun to pull his gift out to show her, and most likely fall to one knee. Ino felt as if she was watching a stain glass portrait of the scene shatter. She saw Naruto's arm fall limply to his side.
Sakura ran past and muttered two words that made Ino feel like ice.
Sasuke's back!
Oh god…please don't tell me she still…Ino watched Sakura run by and then turned back to look at Naruto. The blonde demon container had his head down and was shaking. Ino slowly stepped into the courtyard of the tower and bit her lip. "Naruto?"
He stiffened and whirled grinning his huge fake grin. It looked like it was physically hurting him. "Hey Ino!" he said happily.
His voice also sounded cracked.
"Are…" she blushed, "Are you okay Naruto?"
"WHAT?" he called loudly and unexpectedly, "OF COURSE! Sasuke-chan is back! I'm not too happy about it but without him around no one here is worth sparring with!"
Ino frowned. "Naruto. Please, it's okay I know that you-"
He was suddenly a foot from her, leaning down so their noses were almost touching. She screamed and fell back, he had been ten meters away just a second ago.
"You know that I what?!" he hissed. Tears escaped his eyes beyond his control and he wiped them away angrily. "Stop following me!" and he was gone.
Ino stood there, feeling empty.
Xxxxxx.xxxxx.xxxxxX
Same Year…Later that Night…
Ino sat in her bedroom, tired and sad. She had cried all day after she had returned home. Her soul hurt. It hurt because she knew that Naruto hurt but he didn't trust her enough to let her know it. He didn't care about her enough to even think that she wanted to try and help.
Of course maybe he had and come to the same conclusion she was reaching. What help could Yamanaka Ino be to Naruto? He was already training with Tsunade almost exclusively. He was already one of the more sought after men of the village. He already had respect, and power, and focus, and a dream.
And a broken heart…her mind whispered. He hides it. This isn't the first time either. And you know it. You've just been too blind to see it.
Ino propped herself up on her elbows and looked at the wet stains on her pillow. "I'm so stupid…" she sighed. She sat up, and set her hands on her lap. She had a choice. A very painful choice.
She knew she cared about Naruto more than she wanted to allow herself. She also knew he was in pain because the person he cared about had rejected him before he had even tried to reveal his feelings.
And Ino knew where he was going to be.
Her choice had already been made for her.
Xxxxxx.xxxxx.xxxxxX
She ran the same route, along the hidden road, as she did the last time. She was amazed with herself that she remembered, considering that the most vivid part of the memory was the Garden. But it was the sound that made her forget where she was, who she was, that gave her a startling focus to move ahead.
A terrible howl blasted through the night air. It hit her, and shocked her heart. The emotional effect was more influenced by her state than by the noise, but it was a strong factor.
She fell to the ground, she had been running through the canopy of the forest, and shook badly. What…what made that? It…sounded so sad…she thought. On the heels of it…Naruto!
She quickly resumed her travelling, hearing one terrible cacophony after another. With each despairing cry she was willed further on, until she came to it, the Garden.
In its center, under the basking light of the moon sat Naruto. As Temari would later see him, Ino saw him. His back was to her, his head thrown back, the long wild bangs flew about wildly as he screamed in fury and sadness. He held his arms at his sides, his hands clenched painfully tight, enough to puncture his palms and cause blood to pour out of them.
Ino walked as if in a trance toward the Garden. Drawn by the sounds Naruto made not as if they were some wild beast but as if they were the musing of an ancient and profoundly skilled musician.
As soon as her feet entered his sanctum Naruto stopped calling. His movements were faster than wind and in less than half the blink of an eye he was standing before her. In his fury his jacket had come undone and she caught just a glimpse of his toned abs, and a strange mark on them, before the flaps covered him again.
"I told you never to come back here," his voice was hot, yet strong.
"I know," she responded softly. She lowered her eyes.
"So why did you come back?"
She didn't answer.
"Why did you come back Ino?!" his voice became forceful and angry. She winced and he grimaced, more at himself than her.
She looked up at him, and he saw the look in her eyes, not unlike the one in his own. "I…" she steeled herself, "I had a few questions I had to ask you."
Naruto sneered, "And what, dear Yamanaka-sama. Could I?" he put his fingertips on his chest, "Know that you do not? What can dead last possibly know?!" what had started as merely sardonic became scathing and Ino winced at the way he said it.
She hiccupped and bit her lip. "At Kiba's party last year,"
"What?" he made an obnoxious gesture with his ear and hand, "What did you say Yamanaka-sama?! I don't want to mishear you!"
"At his party last year. Sakura had a blossom in her hair." Ino pointed at the Ice Dragon's breath behind him, "One of the red ones. Did," she sighed, "did you give it to her or did she pick it out?"
Naruto's eyes widened just a bit and then narrowed. He scoffed and threw his hands in the air. "That's it?! You come here, when I'd already told you not just for that?! And you all call me stupid!"
"That's," she gulped when he turned his gaze on her, "That's not all."
"OH! YOU HAVE MORE!" He held out his hands as if he was going to give her some sort of gift. "THEN PLEASE! Ask away Yamanaka-sama!" he turned from her and faced the flowers his hands on his hips.
She didn't speak.
"Well? What is it?!" he barked.
A deafening silence, and then, almost as a whisper, but infinitely stronger than the first question, "…Why do you hate me?
Naruto's entire body shook. He whirled and looked at her his face one of pure bewilderment. "What?"
"Why do you hate me so much, Naruto?" she was looking to the side with her arms hanging limply at her sides.
He just stared at her. She felt naked, exposed under those bright blue orbs. After nearly an eternity she started to cry again. He wouldn't even give her that much. Sniffing and trying to hold them back, as she would try and keep one shred of dignity in his eyes, she turned away from him.
But his voice called out to her.
"I gave it to her. Sakura has never been here. And. And I don't hate you Ino."
She stopped and wiped her eyes. "Then. Then why have you been so…so cold. Why?"
"Because you trespassed on my soul." Her body moved of its own accord and she was forced to look at him. "This place…I made it from scratch. I put my money, my time, and all of the things I thought I had sealed away in here. In this ground, and these flowers," he motioned with one hand. "This place is my soul. Everything I am."
Ino couldn't believe what she had heard. It was profound. And sad, so sad. "Naruto," he turned his calm, now very old and tired looking, eyes to her, "I'm sorry."
They widened again. He smiled softly, faintly, before she saw a glimmer at the corners of his eyes. Ino felt her heart constrict. "Thank you Ino…thanks…" he wiped them away and put his back to her. "I'd like to be alone now…"
She looked at the ground, and scuffed her shoes in the rich black soil, "alright."
As she made to leave she heard his voice, so soft she barely realized he was talking to her, "You can come back, if you want."
And he heard her say, in the same near whisper, "I think I will…"
Xxxxxx.xxxxx.xxxxxX
The Ino of present day put out her last cigarette. She wiped away some stray tears on her cheeks and took a small breath of air. "So I went back, off and on. Sakura was spending all her time with Sasuke, who at the time needed extensive medical help due to what Orochimaru had put him through. Soon he was back on his feet thanks to her and it wasn't long after that the two of them were set to get married. Naruto was elected to be the next Hokage as soon as Tsunade-sama stepped down.
"And he was fine with it. Until the day she remembered him."
"What do you mean?" Temari asked, now enrapt in the story.
"Sakura brought the invitation directly to Naruto's house. It was an invitation for him to be Sasuke's best man."
Temari winced visibly. "Did he do it?"
Ino closed her eyes, "yes. I nearly backhanded Sakura the second she told me about it. It was the worst day of my life to go to the Garden, and see him like that. He wasn't screaming as he had been you see, he was on the border between hatred and love. He hated them for what they had done to him, left his feelings by the wayside as if they weren't there, and yet he would not do anything to stop that happiness.
"Because that was what he believed was supposed to happen. It was what he knew was going to happen." She opened her eyes and looked into Temari's. "So, the day of the wedding. The Uchiha household redone completely to make way for the big event. I'm behind Sakura as she stands at the alter; Naruto was wearing not only an exceptional tuxedo, but his mask as well. And it falters a bit, but no one notices. Except for me of course.
"He stands that way for the entire ceremony, and then on to the banquet. Everything, no expense spared. I don't see Naruto at all that evening, waiting to see what will happen at his toast. Being the best man and all. But when the time comes Kakashi steps up and says Naruto was called away on urgent business by Tsunade-sama, and this is believable considering only a few of us knew that he didn't want to be there at all, and because Tsunade is notorious for heavy workloads on any occasion."
"But he went to the Garden?" Temari interjected.
"Yes…" she said, her voice misty and far off. "We both did."
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll see if I can finish the third one in a more timely fashion.
Dictionary:
1 (noon bang): A cannon fired at noon in ancient japan to tell time.