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The Promise of a Leaf by Krokador

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Chapter 2 – Still Frame

It had been a long wait, but the rescue party had finally come back, seriously hurt but alive, much to both Ino and Sakura’s relief. They had spent most of that time idling together, not really sure they had the strength nor the will to talk. Especially Sakura. So when Ino had come running to tell her they were back, her mood suddenly went way up in hopes to find Sasuke. Only to come crashing down when she saw Naruto in that hospital room… alone.

That’s when she remembered the time passed with Ino, and everything that had happened since she had joined Team 7. She knew she couldn’t go weeping about it again, that if she wanted to stop the people she loved from leaving her, and getting hurt, that she had to do something of her own. It’s with a renewed resolve that she went seeing Tsunade to ask for her to be her sempai. Naruto was going to train to get strong? Well she would train more, and get stronger. Oh, it was a nice optimistic thought, but little did she know how hard that training would be.

Ino was waiting for her in front of Tsunade’s office, a worried look deforming her almost perfect, smooth and beautiful features. Beautiful? Why not attractive while I’m at it? This whole hope and wait situation’s got me way too tired, this is Ino-pig we’re talking about! Sakura thought as she smiled faintly to her, acknowledging her presence – something she wasn’t used to do anymore. “You ok, Sakura-chan?” Ino asked, her voice full of concern. Decidedly, this is a very weird turn of events. Sakura tried to wave it away, shifting the topic onto Ino’s situation in an attempt to not lose her composure. “Huh yeah, how’s Chouji?” At least it looks like she already knows about Sasuke, I won’t have to break her the news… The pink haired kunoichi almost felt relieved at that thought. Ino looked down, much to Sakura’s surprise, her friend wasn’t doing all that well herself. “I couldn’t see him, but his father told me he was going to be alright.” The blonde girl smiled faintly, hesitating. “Then I saw Naruto and he told about, well… He said he was worried about you, that you had sounded far too quiet, and he wanted to know what you were planning.”

It took a moment for Sakura to fully register the fact that Naruto, out of all people, was worried about her. Especially after she had done her best not to cry. Ino mistook the look of disbelief on her face for amazement and chuckled, rolling her eyes slightly. “Yeah, that’s like, such a change for a brat like him!” She had failed to notice the clenched fist at Sakura’s side, so the tone her voice held when she spoke next surprised her. It was a mix of anguish, pain and acceptation, something quite indescribable actually. “So, no matter how strong I’ll decide to become, I’ll always have others worried about me, huh?” Ino frowned and looked her friend straight in the eyes. “Well of course, dummy. That’s ‘cause we care about you.”

Her fist loosened suddenly, her vision suddenly blurry with unshed tears that threatened to spill freely, and her lips absently mouthed the word “we” as she began to realize she was being stupid. Sakura slowly brought her hand to her chest, still under the gaze of Ino, as if that movement alone meant everything she felt at that moment. “Arigato” was all that escaped her lips however, as she felt the hollow syllables fall unto the silence and threatened to break it with sobs the next minute. A very subtle blush crept on Ino’s cheeks as she reached behind her head to scratch an inexistent itch in the back of her neck, all the while showing a sheepish grin. “You’re welcome.” Ino finally said as she dropped her arm to her side and shifted her gaze back to Sakura. Argh, since when to I feel that way for just telling her that I care? “So what’s your secret plan to become stronger?” she quickly added, hoping to just let the feeling go. “You’re not going to declare us rivals again, right?” A tiny bit of fear danced in her guts at the simple thought of loosing her best friend again, and she hoped it wouldn’t happen. “Oh, no-no!” Sakura hurried, afraid that her friend would want that, not trusting herself to go by herself without her closest friend once more. It was over after all, they had nothing left to fight over, and it was better that way. The doubts receded when she saw the curious glare Ino was giving her, and she decided to answer. “Starting tomorrow, I’ll be training with Tsunade-sama.”

Ino’s jaw dropped. She had expected that Sakura would’ve come up with something radical, sure, but that was far beyond what she had imagined her friend would get into. “You? A medic Nin?” She just couldn’t believe it. “And why not?” was Sakura’s heated reply, outraged by the apparent lack of trust in her ability her friend had in her. “I have perfect chakra control, and I’m one of the smartest kid of our promotion. I fit the profile perfectly!” she said with confidence. “I don’t doubt your skills.” Ino deadpanned, crossing her arms over her chest. She charged back with a hurtful truth however. “I’m just wondering if you’ve got what it takes there.” She pointed at her friend’s chest, briefly uncrossing her arms to do so, poking right where her heart would be. “Or rather, if you can control it enough to handle that kind of training – or that way of the ninja.” She crossed her arms back, but her face was soft. She looked a lot more concerned than accusing, even though inside she was burning with jealousy from learning that her friend would study under the Hokage herself. She would have learned that one day or another, anyway. It’s better she knows herself before anyway. Plus, if I keep boasting her skills, billboard-brow will grow a bigger head than now…

Her friend’s words had struck a very sensible string, and Sakura’s resolve practically shattered on the spot. She was right. Sure, it was one thing to have to cold-heartedly – or less cold-heartedly – kill an opponent ninja in battle. But it took a whole lot more courage and determination to try and save people’s lives with one’s skills. Watching her friend’s reaction, Ino determined that she may have had gone a bit too hard and decided to encourage her a bit. “But I don’t doubt one second that you’ll succeed. I mean, you’re Sakura Haruno, and so far you’ll never stop amazing me.” She mentally kicked herself for sounding so confident, her attempts at keeping her friend’s head to a normal size being negated by her last words, but the look on Sakura’s face prevented her from regretting it. That look of amazement on her face is worth every second of it. She’s just so cute when you tell her she’s better than even she thinks she is.

An comfortable silence felt on the two girls as they both wondered if they should mention Sasuke at all. The occasional shuffling of paper from Tsunade’s office as well as Sizune’s footsteps could be heard slightly above the noise of their own breaths, and somehow they had come to a quiet mutual agreement to lean back on the wall with their shoulders brushing against each other’s. The closeness didn’t bother them one bit, it was as natural as the chakra that felt through them, how it resonated when they were together. It was just right. “So…” Ino finally broke in, causing Sakura to turn her head towards her in a slightly startled movement. “You and Naruto are not giving up on Sasuke, huh?” Sakura frowned, not as much at the question than at the lack of the use of “kun” in her undying love’s name. Sure, he was gone now, but one day he would come back… Or so she wanted to believe. “What good would I be if I gave up on a friend?” Ino choked slightly as she took in a breath, once again holding her friend’s gaze with her own, as if to look deep inside her soul. “A friend…” she said, putting a disturbing emphasis on that word. “… who, despite all you’ve done for him, all the trust you put in him, left of his own will for the enemy’s camp with no afterthought, and broke your heart while he was at it?”

Sakura, despite her leaning on the wall, recoiled at those words, causing her body to twist and her legs to buckle under her, her butt hitting the ground in a comical thud as she barely managed not to splatter on the floor totally. Ino followed her, sitting against the wall in a much more gracious move, flashing an apologetic smile at the pink haired girl. “I’m sorry Sakura, but I can’t forgive that prick for hurting you, And if he does come back to Konoha, there’ll be one pretty angry Ino Yamanaka waiting for him. Uchiha or not, I’ll find a way to make him pay.” The young kunoichi from team seven tried her best to hold back the tears that once again threatened to fall down her face. She was torn between the renewed care of her lost best friend, and the deep love she still undoubtedly felt for the Uchiha survivor. Ino saw the pain in her friend’s eyes and put her hand on Sakura’s shoulder. “You know, you can let it all go with me. Cry if it makes you feel better.” She tried to comfort the girl now sobbing next to her. The sight alone made her heart tighten, and she nearly flinched as if she had shared Sakura’s pain right then. “I… I love him, Ino.” Sakura managed between growing sobs, before throwing herself in her friend’s arms. Ino held her, occasionally soothing her back, whispering “it’s okay.” and running her fingers through pink, silky and smooth hair. She would’ve been annoyed of all the weeping already, normally. But whenever she was around Sakura, something in her softened, and her usual arrogance left her. It made her feel somehow helpless and safe at the same time. And the simple thought of being able to protect her friend made it all worthwhile.

They both headed to Ino’s place a few minutes later, the blonde promptly inviting her friend to stay over for the night, the pink haired girl accepting without any second thought. It had been a moody sleepover, and in the end Ino had been holding Sakura for quite some time, until she fell asleep. They were in a half-sitting position, not too uncomfortable, but pretty awkward as well. Ino wondered if she could get out of Sakura’s grasp on her without waking the girl up, but the simple sight of those small hands holding onto her clothes told her she wouldn’t get out that easily. And she had finally resigned herself to staying there, watching Sakura’s peaceful – and cute she thought – face until she herself fell asleep.

She awoke the next morning in a laid down position on the couch they had been sitting on together, covered by a blanket which surprisingly still carried Sakura’s scent. But the other girl wasn’t there anymore. Startled by the absence of the other body, Ino stood up in a sharp intake of breath, looking around in panic. “Sakura?” she asked tentatively, wondering if, maybe, waking up in her arms would’ve freaked her friend out. “She left early this morning, said she had training, didn’t want to wake you up.” Ino’s mother said, entering the living room as if on cue. “Oh, yeah. Training…” Ino trailed off, blinking a few times to adjust to the light. Her mother had leant back on the wall and was giving her an inquiring look. Feeling the stare on her, Ino frowned and nearly shouted. “What?” This made her mother chuckle. “I’m glad you two made up.” Ino rolled her eyes, catching the not-so-subtle hint her mother was giving her on her own ways of living. “Oh please mom. I know she’s all smart and nice, and stuff, but it’s not like I’m going to be like her from day to day. Duh!” This only made her mother grin and chuckle more, and that made Ino even more irritated. “What?!?” Ino repeated, crossing her arms in front of her chest in what she wanted to look like a threatening move. Mrs Yamanaka simply pointed at her daughter’s crinkled clothes and messy hair, causing Ino to become self-conscious all of a sudden. “Out of all the friends you have, she’s the only one you’d ever allow yourself to look like that around.” A shadow of indignation crept on Ino’s face as she reacted to her mother’s teasing about her morning looks. But that woman didn’t relent. “And I haven’t seen you sleep so peacefully since you left the ninja academy.” She added. Ino freaked. “You watch me sleep constantly? For Hokage’s sake I’m not five anymore!” Then the whole innuendo hit her and she softened, finally understanding what her mother had been getting at. “Yeah, it’s good to have her back around, I guess.” Feeling that it was safe to talk again, Ino’s mother smirked before adding her final touch to the conversation. “Oh, I shouldn’t tell you that, but Sakura said you weren’t as good as Sasuke-kun last night.” Ino’s eyes turned into black holes and her face’s color shifted to beet red as she finally exploded. “What the fuck?!? Mom! Eww! Yuck! This is sooo disturbing. You’re sick!” she shouted, taking a run up the stairs that led to her room. Just as she was about to turn into her room, she peeked down, and when she saw her mother watching her intently, this enormous grin plastered on her face, she couldn’t help but go back one step and yell louder. “SICK!!” And she then disappeared in her room. Now laughing out loud, her mother had trouble saying what she was supposed to say all along. “Breakfast is ready sweetheart. So come down once you’ve changed!”

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The days that had passed afterwards all felt the same. Sakura would be training hard all day, and just gone home to sleep afterwards. Too tired to even care that her best friend was worried about her. Ino had tried her best to focus during training, first with Asuma alone, until Shikamaru tagged along with them once more. But the whole lack of evolution, in seemingly everything, was weighting down on her, much more than she wanted to admit. She had gone to see Chouji quite a few times, and even him was apparently not getting much better himself. She kept bringing him flowers, and occasionally left a few ones to Naruto, worried that Sakura hadn’t had the time to care about him either, but apparently the pink haired kunoichi visited him nearly every day, to tell him about her progress, or how hard Tsunade was on her. And so she kept informed on her friend through the blond haired Genin, who got better by the hour it seemed. But something was still off, and she could feel it.

Then came the day he had somehow dreaded himself. As Ino walked in the room, he got up from his bed, his eternal orange jumpsuit back on much to Ino’s disappointment. Although she was happy to see him doing better. He had smiled faintly and walked slightly past Ino, before turning back. “I’m glad you came to see me today.” He had nearly whispered, pointing to the flowers Ino still held in her hands. “You’re leaving?” she had simply asked, knowing that it was all too true. “Yeah, the training calls!” His usual grin was back on his face for a moment, before he returned to the gloomier mood he had worn just moments earlier. “Good luck.” Ino had said, not trusting herself to look back at him just yet. Sure, Naruto was loud, obnoxious and totally oblivious to the fact he wasn’t all that fun to hang around. But she had grown accustomed to the strange warmth being around him brought to her. He was a very special person, no doubt about that. He had nodded, the shuffling of his clothes a proof of his acknowledgment. “Please, take care of Sakura-chan while I’m gone.” It was a simple request, but it meant so much at the same time that Ino couldn’t refrain from looking Naruto in the eye. “I will.” He nodded once, holding her gaze solemnly for a split second, and then a victorious grin ate up all the seriousness of his face as he turned to do the infamous “nice guy pose” to Ino, his thumb almost sparkling in the sunlight slipping into the hospital room. “I’ll come back much stronger and with loads of new jutsu to show off! Just you wait!”

And Ino smiled. She thought about Sakura and marvelled at how similar her and Naruto were in the end – always struggling to get stronger, and to be noticed. And as he walked out of the room, she glanced at the flowers in her hand and decided she would come back to take Sakura home that night. They had a lot of catching up to do.

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