Ways to Blame Yourself

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto franchise.

My Note: Here is the fourth chapter and I hope you enjoy it. I would of course like to thank my beta reader, Magneat-o, for doing the wonderful stuff. Don't forget to review and criticism is greatly welcome.

Saturday, 17th November, 2012 – 10:40 am – Konoha Hospital, Room 110

"Sasuke…?" Ino piped up from the doorway. It took a moment for the Uchiha to recognise her voice due to the extreme lack of its usual flare and peppiness that it usually contained. "What are you doing?"

"Ino," Sasuke stated bitterly, not turning around to meet her at first. He smiled and withdrew his finger from the life support machine. "What an interesting surprise."

He turned, almost spinning on the spot as he met the girl full on. His smile had already vanished and had been replaced by his usual apathetic composure. The atmosphere that filled the room slowly emanated a thick sickening feeling that disgusted Ino. It had only taken a moment between the two for Ino to feel ill down to her very core.

As Sasuke finally laid eyes on Ino, he was surprised at her rather unkempt appearance. The girl's light blonde hair had been pulled into a quick and untidy ponytail with numerous stray hairs sticking out at the sides. Her eyes were red and swollen and her makeup was smudged against her sickly pale skin. She didn't look well in the least and Sasuke even noted that she had already managed to gain a few pounds from stress eating.

"You don't look well," Sasuke stated bluntly. She ducked her head and narrowed her focus onto the cracks in the floor tiles. "Even Kiba looks better than you and he blames himself for Naruto… Even Naruto looks better than you and we all know what happened to him yesterday."

"I-I know Sasuke… I saw…" Ino trailed off, shaking her head in an attempt to rid the scene from her memory. "We all saw."

"We did… Didn't we," Sasuke sighed. "It was quite the show."

"I feel sick."

"Can't imagine why," Sasuke said as Ino turned and closed door. "It was quite some trouble you caused yesterday."

Ino stopped as the door slid to a shut, gritting her teeth in frustration as she stared into the grains of the wooden door. She had planned to visit Naruto early in the morning and wait until Sasuke undoubtedly arrived to visit but soon realised that the others would all be coming along as well. The last thing she needed was to be confronted by Kiba after what she had asked him so instead she just waited at home until eventually she decided that it was time to visit. Having been texted by Sakura already, she knew it was easy to get her down to the car park in case Sasuke was in the room and, as luck would have it, he was… alone expect for the unconscious presence of Naruto Uzumaki.

"You shouldn't stay long, Ino," Sasuke smiled at the blonde's back. "Kiba could be back any second and I'm sure the two of you have quite a lot to talk about."

"I'm not an idiot, Sasuke…" Ino muttered as she pulled away from the doorframe and spun to face the Uchiha. "I may be popular and I may be pretty-"

"Not at the moment," Sasuke murmured but was ignored.

"My family may not be as rich as yours, Sasuke, and even though I didn't make the gymnastics team like Sakura or I lost the vote for class president, it doesn't make me an idiot! So don't speak to me like one," Ino half shouted, half ranted at the Uchiha who looked quite taken aback. "This thing with Naruto and with how he ended up here, in the hospital bed, comatose… It isn't completely my fault. There were a lot of factors that day and you know it. This was as much my fault as it was yours…"

"Oh? Aren't you confident," Sasuke almost laughed into the girls face. "You think one little speech about your confidence and you can get away with what you did?"

"What I did? What about what you did!?"

"I'm sorry, what…?"

"You… You're the one who texted me… if you hadn't asked me, then I…" Ino explained slowly, pausing as she tried to explain herself. "If you had never asked me to then I never would have tried to ask Kiba about his feelings for Naruto."

"Oh, yes right… that…"

"That?" Ino asked with a desperate tone. "Sasuke… we were the reason that-"

"No, Ino… Kiba was the reason that Naruto jumped from the school rooftop. He was overly harsh and enraged… Besides who could know what happened after the two of them ran off."

"But after what I asked Kiba…" Ino started. "After what you asked me to ask him… Kiba would never have gotten so angry if it wasn't for us. We have to tell the others… We have to tell Kiba, at least."

"Oh yes, Ino. I suppose Kiba would just love to hear why exactly you decided to ask him," Sasuke mused openly, stepping forward to Ino. "I'm guessing you've already broken up with Sai."

"I have, but…" Ino trailed off as something sounded unusual to her. "Accident?"

As she asked this, Sasuke stepped forward once again which caused the pair to be only a hairsbreadth from each other. Ino attempted to step back from the Uchiha but realised she was already up against the door. His lips pressed against hers and as he attempted to deepen the kiss, Sasuke instead found that Ino attempted to push him off. He pulled back from the kiss, smiling smugly as he brought a hand up to her face and gently caressed her cheek whilst keeping that smug expression.

As Ino felt Sasuke's warm breath against her skin she found herself remembering all those nights where she had imagined situations such as these. Every time Sai had snuck into her room from the window so that they could share the night together, he was unaware that Ino was spending the night with memories and imageries of the younger of the two Uchiha brothers. But now that it was actually happening to her, now that Sasuke had kissed her and was caressing her skin… she felt sick. It wasn't right and she couldn't believe that she had left Sai for this. That she had asked Kiba that question for this.

"Get off me," Ino said weakly as she pressed her hands against Sasuke's chest.

"What's with the change of heart?" Sasuke asked cruelly as he held Ino's face, his grip beginning to tighten and sting a little.

"Sasuke! Get off me!" Ino shouted. She pushed hard against his chest and found it too easy to push him away. She fell forward with the Uchiha but both managed to catch themselves before they hit the floor.

Ino turned away without a word and found herself holding onto the wall before she looked over at the door she had fallen away from. As she began to walk towards the room's exit, Sasuke's arm shot out and hit the wall, right between Ino and the door. Ino looked at Sasuke with a mixture of fear and concern a moment before she saw something flicker in his eyes. His other arm hit the wall on the opposite side of her head, holding her in place as his face drew closer to hers.

"Sasuke… stop it…" Ino warned, feeling slightly afraid of the Uchiha's advances. She had never seen him like this though she didn't believe that anyone had ever seen any Uchiha like this.

"You… do not get to tell me what to do…" Sasuke growled much like Kiba would have.

Suddenly the room's door slammed open and the pair turned just in time as a hand moved through the opening, grabbing Sasuke by the wrist before pulling him to the side. Sasuke skidded to a stop in front of the door and smacked the hand from his wrist. The raven haired student looked up at the doorway to find himself looking into the deep, black eyes of Sai, staring back at him with a smile stretched across his face. Sakura and Hinata stood behind the smiling student, Sakura looking as if she was ready to beat Sasuke while Hinata was trembling with a mixture of shock and fear.

"Do not touch Ino," Sai ordered harshly, his eyes betraying his smile.

Saturday, 17th November, 2012 – 10:30 am – Hospital Car Park

Footsteps against the hard hospital floor rung out through the hallways as two students hurried down the multiple corridors. Sakura was taking the lead with Hinata attempting to keep up with the taller girls much faster pace and longer stride. Soon Sakura had reached one of the floor's elevators and before Hinata could catch up, she had already pushed the button to go down.

"S-Sakura," Hinata called out from down the hall, the echoing allowing Sakura to hear her from so far away. "W-Wait for me."

"Sorry, Hinata," Sakura apologised sincerely as the other girl arrived at the elevator. "I just… I just really need to talk to Ino."

"She was acting unusual…" she whispered. "She made Kiba so mad…"

"Well, you fixed that," Sakura replied casually as she mimed punching the air right as the elevator opened. The pair of girls were surprised as the doors slid open and Sakura's fist floated mid-air, right in front of a middle aged woman in smart casual clothes and glasses alone in the elevator. Both girls blushed in embarrassment as the woman stared at them both in surprise.

"Getting on?" The woman asked in an amused tone.

Hinata nodded and hopped into the elevator, tugging on Sakura who still remained frozen in place. Sakura broke out of her shocked daze and hurried into the elevator, not looking up at the older woman. The pinkette went to push the button for the underground parking lot but stopped herself as she saw the lady had pushed it before they had gotten on.

As the doors closed, the woman turned to the pair and offered a hand.

"I'm Tsunade Senju… well, Doctor Senju," the blonde woman greeted as she shook hands with the students, Sakura and then Hinata. "Are you visiting someone?"

"Y-Yes," Sakura answered for both girls. "Naruto Uzumaki. He's in room 110…"

"H-He's comatose," Hinata piped up but shrunk back slightly when Doctor Senju looked over to her.

"Oh yes, I remember. I was the doctor in charge of his surgery," Doctor Senju stated with a slightly proud smile. "He should be fine in the long run."

"S-Should be?" Hinata stammered out.

"What do you mean by 'long run', Doctor Senju?" Sakura questioned sternly, surprising the Doctor in her change of tone.

"Look," Doctor Senju sighed as she turned to the pair. The elevator came to a stop and the elevator doors slid open. "I really shouldn't be telling you this but… while the emergency surgery on Mr Uzumaki was successful… it may be quite some time until he actually wakes up."

"Oh…" both girls groaned sadly. They had thought they would have the hyperactive blonde back with them a lot sooner than the long run. At the sound of heels against concrete, Sakura and Hinata looked up to see that Doctor Senju had stepped out of the elevator and was heading towards her car.

"Why is it going to take him so long?" Sakura asked as she followed the Doctor. "Is it that bad?"

"Well…" Docter Senju started as she stopped and faced Sakura, Hinata having stayed behind at the doors of the elevator. "His injuries weren't as severe as one would think and his body is healing up extremely well, but… it's just a matter of whether or not he wants to wake up. It's his decision now."

"I… I see. Well, thank you for your hard work, Doctor Senju," Sakura smiled as she formally bowed to the doctor who gave a short and quick bow back before she turned away and resumed walking to her car.

"It was no problem, but if you excuse me, I was out drinking with friends last night after the surgery and I left some files in my car," Doctor Senju replied casually and Sakura gave a slight confused nod before returning to Hinata.

"C'mon Hinata, we better find Ino," Sakura sighed and Hinata gave a nod as she followed the pinkette.

They walked through the parking lot, out of sight of the elevator and Doctor Senju and would have continued forward if Hinata hadn't grabbed a hold of Sakura's shirt, stopping the pair of them. Sakura turned to Hinata who simply pointed down one of the other roads where she managed to spot a figure sitting on the hood of a car. Despite it easily being noticeable that this figure was certainly not Ino, Sakura and Hinata both recognised the figure due to the unusual contrast of pale white skin and raven black hair.

"S-Sai?" Hinata called out when the two girls grew closer to the male. "Is that you?"

When the boy failed to answer and remained staring down at the groud, Sakura called out instead. "Sai? Sai?!"

The boy's head snapped up, shocking the two girls while he wiped away something from his face. He turned to look at the pair with his usual smile, but both girls noticed the stains of the tears that had previously marred his face.

"Sakura, Hinata, I didn't see you there," Sai greeted, his tone sickly pleasant.

"Are you… Are you okay, Sai?" Sakura asked. She and Hinata had never seen Sai in such a condition, it was doubtful that anyone had seen him with anything except a smile which was surprising if one knew his personal background. But then again over half the group had trouble with their families that they had shared with the others at one time or another… They still remembered the night where Sasuke admitted his trouble after a few underage drinks that had been supplied by some of their older friends.

"Oh, I'm fine Sakura, thank you for asking," Sai smiled as he hopped down from the car hood. "I was just caught off guard."

"S-Sorry," Hinata apologised yet again. "W-We didn't mean to st-startle you."

"No Hinata, it wasn't you two who caught me by surprise…" Sai trailed off as he walked over to the pair and continued past them. "Ino broke up with me. Just now, before you two got here."

Sakura and Hinata exchanged a quick look. Hinata, of course, felt sorry for her friend. On the other hand Sakura was surprised by the actual lack of surprise she felt by this sudden change.

She and Ino had been close for many years and as best friends, they had fallen into the habit of telling each other next to everything. For example, Ino had informed Sakura a number of times that, as a boyfriend, Sai excited her on multiple levels that she had never experienced with any of the other boys she had relationships with but nevertheless he was still a guy who was just for fun. Ino enjoyed the way that her parents didn't approve of their relationship and the pair had made it a habit for Sai to sneak out of his home and to spend the night at Ino's without their guardians' knowledge.

"Sai, where is Ino now?" Sakura asked him as she caught up with his pace.

"She… She texted us earlier…" Hinata explained as she hurried her own pace, falling slightly behind.

"Ino left after she… broke the news to me," Sai informed as his smile flickered slightly. "She went straight off to the elevator and left me back there with my car."

"So, she just wanted me out of the room?" Sakura asked openly, stopping in her steps.

"B-But that m-means she's up there with S-Sasuke…" Hinata stammered as she stopped as well.

Sai halted in his pace and the two girls watched him as he paused completely, not a single muscle moving. In a blink he was moving again, running flat out for the elevator with Sakura and Hinata trying to keep up.

My other Note: There we have it.

I hope you liked it and if you could spare some time for a review that would be cool. Also feel free to message with any questions and there is also a poll for my next story.