Ino awoke to bright lights and the smell of cleanliness. She hadn't opened her eyes yet, but by the way the light was burning through her retinas, she knew she was in the place she usually was: the hospital. Except…she didn't have any patients, did she?
"She's awake, Tsunade-sama," a nervous voice said.
Ino opened her eyes and blinked a few times until Tsunade's large chest and blonde hair came into view. She was leaning over her, looking somewhat concerned. "How do you feel, Ino?"
Groaning, she struggled to sit up. There was a stabbing pain in her head. "Pretty lousy," Ino replied truthfully. Her voice was somewhat hoarse. "Why am I here?"
There was a pregnant pause, as though Tsunade was debating whether to tell her the truth or not. Ino didn't see why there was such an issue… "You were…knocked out. By a…lightning-based jutsu. While healing."
"Was I on a mission?" Ino asked. Her memories were hazy, not quite wanting to come to the surface yet.
Tsunade looked down. "Yes."
"Did it…succeed in spite of my mistake?"
"…no. It wasn't your fault."
"What was my mission?"
Tsunade turned her head, tight-lipped. "You should rest. It's good that you're okay." She got up and started to walk out of the room.
"Tsunade-sama!" Ino cried as sharply as she could. "I think I have a right to know, with all due respect! Whose lightning-based jutsu? Who was I healing?!"
Tsunade stopped, her back still to Ino. "The technique was Sasuke Uchiha's." She continued to walk away, leaving Ino alone and reeling.
--
Ino, still in her medical gown, burst out to the reception desk, yelling at the poor soul sitting behind it. "Where is Rock Lee?! Tell me now!"
"M—ma'am," the boy stuttered, "Y—you should b-be resting…"
"Screw that! Tell me, in which room is Rock Lee?! And while you're at it, tell me the date!"
"Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to return to your room, you're disturbing other patients." Sure enough, everybody in the lobby was staring at the blonde girl in the skimpy gown.
A doctor came at her with a syringe, no doubt filled with a sedative. Ino knocked him away. "Listen, if you don't tell me right now I will kick your ass so badly you won't be able to sit for a week! I have to know!"
More doctors, rushing around. Ino punched each one, keeping them at bay, breaking syringes when possible.
"I—I'm calling security!" said the frightened boy.
"Just tell me what I want to know!" Ino pleaded. The boy seemed to take pity on her for a moment and searched through some files.
"Ma'am, there is no patient currently under our care named Rock Lee," he scowled. "The last time he was here was three days ago. And it is the third of April."
Ino was so shocked that she finally let a doctor stab her. Through her darkening mind, she thought, April third?! When we arrived at Orochimaru's base, it was the thirty-first of March. I was out for three days. It also means… Lee was released the day he arrived… and then Ino could no longer make sense of anything as she collapsed and slept.
--
The next time Ino woke, the doctors told her, somewhat grudgingly (okay, so she had broken one of their arms. What was the big deal?!) that she was to be released today, the fourth of April. If she experienced any dizziness, fatigue, head pains, or—
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I work here too, you know. Can I go now?" Ino groused.
The main doctor harrumphed and signed the release form.
The first thing Ino did was sprint to Tsunade's office in the hokage's building. She burst in without knocking. Tsunade looked up sharply and glared.
"Have you ever heard of knocking, Ino?! By the way, your behavior in the hospital was unacceptable. I had to cover your ass so they wouldn't diagnose you with psychosis."
"It's not my fault they wouldn't tell me anything," Ino grumbled. Then she grew completely serious. "What happened during the mission? Why aren't Sasuke and Sakura back with us?"
"You were knocked out by Sasuke's Chidori Nagashi. Towards the middle of it all, Naruto started going Kyuubi. Sasuke did…something. I don't know how, but he managed to suppress it. Naruto collapsed, and he was out for the count. Kakashi got exhausted; he had to resort to his new mangekyou sharingan and was able to injure Sasuke to the point where Sakura"—Tsunade's fists clenched—"had to heal him. In the end, Orochimaru used his arms"—the fist tightened—"to teleport them out of that base. Kakashi sent word to us with Pakkun. You were out for three days. Kakashi told me Sakura"—this time Tsunade practically flinched—"did something to you with her chakra, so that you stayed out longer. Either way, Naruto and Kakashi are beating themselves up but fine."
"Where's Rock Lee?"
Tsunade gazed at her for a very long time, and Ino had a feeling she already knew the answer. She stepped back in horror. "No," she said quietly. But Tsunade nodded.
"Ino, you did the correct thing, the only thing you could have done. The amputation was successful, and the infection didn't spread from that arm. However, there was another infection in his foot which all of us caught too late. It spread, and…well, that combined with the blood loss…
"You'll find him in the morgue."
--
Ino never did like the color black. In fact, she detested it. It was so lifeless. She thought that to honor the dead, people should wear many colors, to show that…well…she didn't know what it would show. But black was too depressing, and it didn't honor the dead person's memory.
However, she had conformed to society for once and pulled on a long black skirt and tank top. But the bandages, invisible under her skirt, were green, purple, and yellow. Just to be a little rebellious.
As she laid a flower on the gravestone, the best one she could find, and walked away, Ino stayed silent. She had never liked Bushy-Brow. He looked creepy, was a complete dork, and just plain weird. But he was a loyal friend who never, ever gave up, and that was something to value. While Ino had stood on the sidelines, Lee had acted, doing his best to bring back his crush and rival. He didn't deserve death. Ino was the pathetic one who couldn't make a decision. If she had acted quicker, maybe Lee would still be alive. The thought wrenched her heart, and tears started running down her cheeks. It was all she could do to stay silent. "I'm sorry," she whispered, then went and took her place by Shikamaru, Chouji and Asuma.
She didn't know what she'd do if she lost them. She couldn't even handle the thought. Yes, Asuma annoyed her to hell with his smoking, Chouji with his gluttony, and Shikamaru with his laziness. She liked to think they needed her to keep them in line, but who was she kidding? She could barely keep herself in line. But these people had formed who she was, had helped her get over Sasuke, had helped her gain the courage to find Sakura. They were as much family as her father, who had taught her how to walk in minds.
Ino couldn't bear to look at Gai, who had dropped to his knees in front of Lee's grave and started sobbing with abandon.
--
"Rock Lee of the Leaf is dead," Orochimaru said with a sickly smile as Sakura and Sasuke stood in front of him. He carefully watched Sakura's expression. There was no visible change in the dark. "That's what I've heard from my spies, at any rate. However, Naruto and Kakashi are perfectly fine. I suppose I shouldn't have assumed you were powerful enough to hurt them. There's still a lot of training you have to do."
Sakura's fists clenched and Sasuke let out a "hn" of dismay.
"Well then, now that you are both here…" Orochimaru purred, "I have a mission for you."
Sasuke said suspiciously, "Mission? You've never given us missions before."
"You are still sound nin, both of you. Sound nin go on missions. Besides… this is a mission I would only trust four people to do: Kabuto and myself, or you two. And since Kabuto is…preoccupied…"
"What are we to do?"
"Your missions start out as separate. Sakura, you will infiltrate Akatsuki and retrieve a ring that I left there during my time serving with them. Sasuke, you will infiltrate Sand and get a similar ring that once belonged to the second Kazekage. I hear they have a new one, by the way, an acquaintance of yours… Sabaku Gaara, no?"
"…"
"Anyway, you will then rendezvous in Kumo, where you will capture the one known as Killer Bee. He is a Jinchuuriki. If you can't, kill him. The Akatsuki has its eyes on him. However, you two will not be able to defeat him alone. You will need the assistance of another Jinchuuriki. If I remember correctly, you are quite familiar with…two. Gaara and your old friend, Naruto-kun. Either way, you will need to use a Jinchuuriki to fight the Jinchuuriki."
Sakura tensed.
"Is there a problem, Sakura-chan?"
"No," Sakura said stiffly. "But I do not know where Akatasuki's lair is."
"Well then, you'll just have to find them, won't you?"
Sasuke reasoned, "It would make more sense for us to do the opposite missions. It's not yet known in Suna that Sakura has left Konoha, and I'm more apt at finding Akatsuki since I've dealt with them before."
"As if I will let you anywhere near Itachi Uchiha," Orochimaru cackled. "This is how I want it, and this is how it will be done. Here are the scrolls with the details. You leave the day after tomorrow."
--
Sakura banged on her wall.
No answer.
BANG.
No answer.
BANG.
No—"What do you want? You can come and go as you please, there's no seal. Orochimaru never put one on in this base."
"I want to talk to you. Get closer to the wall or come into my room."
Sasuke reluctantly inched closer to the wall.
"Let's switch our missions anyway. I feel like going to sand, and I have no idea how to find Akatsuki."
"Orochimaru will know."
"But—"
"Sakura, he'll know."
"Hmph." There was a silence. "Fine then, can you tell me how to find them?"
Sasuke sighed. He just wanted to sleep. "Their cloaks are red and black. I imagine you should find and follow them."
"It could take a really long time for me to find them."
"They're going after Jinchuuriki. Think."
"So you're saying if I find a Jinchuuriki, I'll find Akatsuki?"
"Hn."
"But which one? They'll probably go after the lowest level ones first, right?"
"Aa."
"Therefore, they'll probably go after Gaara. The one-tails."
"Hn."
"Which means I'll be in Suna too."
"Hn."
"Which means I might accidentally uncover the ring while you track Gaara and accidentally stumble upon Akatsuki, after which we will use Gaara to do the dirty work with the Hachibi."
"Hn."
"Does that mean 'sounds good, Sakura, whatever you say' or 'you're a complete moron and here's why?'"
"…"
"Say something."
"…"
And then Sakura's fist slammed right through the paper-thin wall and grabbed Sasuke's arm. As the dust cleared, Sakura tore the hole open. Sasuke was so shocked he forgot to pull away his arm. "Look, bastard," Sakura was saying, "We have to work together. Surely if you could work with Naruto you can work with me." Sasuke went rigid. They hadn't spoken of Naruto or Konoha at all. It was a sort of silent agreement. There were painful memories for both of them—they'd both had second thoughts about leaving, and mentioning their friend, their greatest reason not to leave, just confused them. They were here. That was all that mattered. "So talk to me, Sasuke."
"I just did."
Sakura snorted. "Bullshit! I meant something more than single syllable words and maybe something more than two measly sentences and "hn"s! We're on the same side, believe it or not. We're both being trained by Orochimaru. We can help each other."
Sasuke angrily shook off her hand. "I told Naruto this, and I'll say the same thing to you. I have to break bonds. I can't gain them. We can work as allies, but nothing more. Shinobi are tools—"
"Wh"—Sakura spluttered—"You thought I was coming on to you? Idiot! I just thought maybe we could cover each other's weaknesses. There's no bond required. For example, I could mention that you time your genjutsu badly. Hell, we could spar sometimes."
"Spar?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "You consider yourself to be at my level?"
"Sasuke, by sparring with you I would learn, so that I could be. Of course you'll beat me to crap the first few times. It doesn't matter. I have a high pain register after the curse seal." There was another touchy subject: the curse seal. Did she remember how she'd been thrown out? Something told Sasuke she did. Still, her words made him angry.
"You will never be. You don't know the pain that solitude brings. You—"
"Give me a break, Sasuke! My being here proves that I know solitude. Do you think it was easy for me to leave my village behind? It may have been for you since you'd already lost everything, but I had it all for longer than you did—and I had to tear myself away now! So don't give me that shit! You know nothing about me! I have a goal too."
"Why, then?" Sasuke had wanted to know ever since she'd arrived. "Why the hell are you here? Why did you have to come and interrupt?!"
"That's none of your business," Sakura snarled. "My point is, get the hell off your high horse. Orochimaru said it himself: you're not that strong. Let me help you, and help me in return. We can cooperate, Sasuke, we are ninja."
Sasuke wasn't quite sure what to say. So he sneered, "What happened to 'Uchiha-san'?"
"Oh, go to hell." Sakura withdrew back into her own room.
Sasuke didn't want to admit she was right: he really knew nothing about her, not anymore. She wasn't the same girl he had known. After a while, Sasuke relented and said, "Sakura."
"What?"
"We'll spar tomorrow."
He could just hear Sakura grinning in satisfaction. "Get your rest now, Sasuke. You're going to need it."
Another silence.
"Sakura."
"Yes, Sasuke."
"Can you pull the hole in the wall shut?"
"Nawh. I think I like it this way. If you snore I'll just punch you."
Sasuke rolled over and slept, and was very, very careful not to snore.
I meant to upload this days ago, but I had a blackout from the snowstorm and stuff, so no internet. Oh well, at least I had time to revise. Also, having to kill Lee killed me, but I felt like I had to. It'll be important for Ino's character development. I also have a lot of future scenes written. Anyway, yay for brief almost SasuSaku fluff? By the way, thanks for all the reviews guys! It really fuels me on! Thanks to everyone who favorites and alerts too, but would it kill ya to drop me a line? :D