Ino woke up to the warmth of an arm pressed over her shoulders. For a moment, she hoped, but then she opened her eyes.
Messy red hair spilled over her shoulder and arms. Karin had dragged another chair and fallen asleep leaning against Ino. The movement woke Karin up.
The redhead yawned, stretched.
"Morning, Ino-chan."
The sleepy contagion spread to Ino and she couldn't hold a yawn.
Karin started to lean against Ino again, then pulled back.
"You oughta go home."
Ino scowled, but before she could say anything, Karin continued.
"You reek," Karin added, wrinkling her nose. "And there's blood crusted on your shirt."
The budding retort stopped before it started. Ino looked down.
Her clothes were the same from the mission. She had dried blood all over her stomach from the stab wound. She sniffed, then gagged.
"You can come to the apartment if you don't wanna go home," Karin said, hand gently patting Ino's back. "Hinata's clothes should still fit you, or you can get some of mine. There's no bath, though, only a shower."
Ino considered the offer, sorely tempted to accept. "I'll go home," she said instead.
"Want company?"
Ino shook her head. "No, but thank you."
Karin grinned, then hugged Ino again. "You're my friend."
They stayed there for a moment more until Ino couldn't any longer. Now aware of her own unkempt state, she couldn't ignore it. She got up, stretched, looked around the hospital room.
"I'll clean this week," Karin said, also getting up.
Ino nodded. With one last quick jaunt to the bed, she kissed sleeping Hinata's forehead, then left.
It was early in the morning, and the nurses staffing the hospital kept shooting her glances. Maybe it was the blood, or her messy hair. She didn't much care, anyway. Ino took to the highways and went straight home. She landed in front of the shop, strode inside, ignoring the person manning the desk.
Inside her house, she looked at the familiar pictures and furniture and memories of happy days.
Before she could disappear into her bedroom, her mom showed up. Ino tensed, preparing for the confrontation.
"Welcome back, Ino."
"Thank you." There was a beat of silence before Ino spoke again. "I'll take a bath."
Her mother nodded. "Will you stay for breakfast?"
Ino considered, then nodded. She turned and ran to her room, gathering necessities, and then to the bathroom.
A very long time and a crying session later, Ino left and went toward the living room, dressed in familiar purple clothes. She'd ditched the bandages, wearing protectors under shorts, with the purple skirt over it all.
Downstairs, her father was already at the table, drinking tea. He looked up, tired eyes smiling when he saw her.
"Come here, baby." He opened his arms, offering a hug.
Ino didn't resist. She fell into his arms and had to hold back the tears again, feeling his hands on her hair, and the safety of his presence. Thankfully, he said nothing, just held her until she composed herself.
They sat, and her mom served food. It was a terse breakfast, but Ino hoped it wouldn't be a bad one.
"How's Hinata?" Her mother asked.
Ino froze, between picking some of the fish and rice and placing it on her plate. She shrugged. There wasn't much to say. Hinata hadn't woken up yet.
Her mom nodded, and for a moment Ino hoped that was going to be all.
"There's a festival this weekend," her mother said. "It might be nice to see some familiar faces."
Inoichi sighed.
Ino got up, pushed the food away.
"Ino," her mother started.
"Thank you, dad, but I'm not hungry," Ino said, then turned around.
"Will you show up in the afternoon for training?" her father asked.
Ino stopped. "If there's no mission," she said finally.
"Ok, I'll see you later, pumpkin."
"Ino, finish your food, please," her mother said.
Ino ignored it, striding out of the house. It hadn't been the first time her mother tried something along these lines. This was her latest strategy. She knew exactly what her mother meant: boys, distractions. Her mother thought that pushing Ino toward boys would somehow make her forget Hinata.
It grated. Reason Ino barely returned home.
Instead of going back to the hospital, Ino stopped by a street vendor, grabbed a few dumplings, and, still eating, went toward the mission hall. Shikamaru and Choji were already there. Shikamaru had a mission parchment in hand. She landed closer, peeking in and reading the details: D-Rank.
Well, that was fair. They'd keep her doing boring D-ranks for about a week or two, if the last time was anything to go by.
After completing the mission, Ino returned to the hospital. To her surprise, Karin and Sakura were there. A smile found its way on Ino's face, seeing her friends.
"Ino pig," Sakura taunted.
"Forehead girl," Ino said back. "How's the forehead going?"
Sakura grinned. "Very good, thank you."
She pulled her fringe away, looked at Karin and pointed at her forehead.
Karin blushed a very bright red. She got up, then kissed Sakura's forehead.
"See?" Sakura taunted.
Ino giggled. She wasn't sure what was happening between Sakura, Karin and Rock Lee. Somehow, they were all boyfriends and girlfriends. It got confusing, especially when Karin and Sakura started talking about their boyfriend and then switched to talk about their girlfriend in the same sentence, but they were happy, which was the only thing Ino could hope for.
Rock Lee was on a mission with his team, which was another good news from the past months. Tsunade healed him, and now the boy was even more obsessed with training. Ino didn't understand what those two saw on him. The thoughts of those bushy brows were enough to make Ino shudder, but Rock Lee was a decent enough friend, if on the stranger side of the equation.
Karin and Sakura didn't stay for long. They left hand in hand a few minutes after Ino arrived. Ino looked on longingly at their familiarity, cursing herself for having waited for so long. She knew Hinata had been waiting for her to make the first move. And she'd wasted that time.
That same afternoon, there were many visitors.
The older girl, Hinata's friend, the pretty one with the glasses that worked at the tower, popped by, stayed for a few minutes, then left. Tsunade-sama also showed up again, but that was a normal occurrence. Tsunade visited every day to make sure Hinata was healthy.
It was still strange looking at the girl barely a few years older than her and associate that same girl with the legendary sannin. Ino wasn't sure exactly what had happened.
Tsunade had met Ino alone before they returned to Konoha.
They had agreed to keep the fact that Ino had died a secret, as well as Tsunade's new apparent age. As far as everyone was aware, Ino was just severely injured before Hinata healed her somehow. Tsunade hid her appearance again, walking about like a grown up woman, even if sometimes, she was seen walking about as a teenager.
Most people thought Tsunade had used some jutsu to disguise herself as a teen. It was an open secret: the sannin enjoyed looking younger. But Ino knew better. Hinata had done something to her too. Just like she'd done to Ino.
She thought the afternoon would be calm, but the second last person she wanted to see came to visit her in the hospital.
"Ino-chan," Asuma-sensei said from the door.
Ino scowled, cursing Shikamaru for involving their teacher.
"Follow," the man said, leaving the doorway.
Ino considered not obeying, but something in his voice made her reconsider. She got up, made sure Hinata was comfortable, then followed her sensei through corridors and stairs until they were on the roof.
That wasn't their destination, however.
Asuma took to the highways, leading Ino away from the hospital area and toward a training field.
They landed, Asuma looking about, then giving it an approving nod.
It wasn't anything different from the many training fields around Konoha. A grassy area, a few wooden dummies, a small patch of trees.
Ino wasn't sure what they were doing here.
Asuma put out his cigarette and pulled out his trench knives. There was no lazy smile to greet her. He looked at Ino, who still didn't know what was going on.
"Ready?" Sensei asked.
"What?" Ino blurted out.
Asuma spread his feet apart, hands in front of him. The trench knives crossed in front of his chest.
"I'll count three," Asuma said.
Ino still didn't know what he was going on about.
"Three," Asuma said, then he disappeared.
Ino's eyes widened. It hadn't been a flicker, or any other sort of jutsu. It was pure body strength. She didn't even see the punch. One second he was across the field, the next, her stomach exploded in pain and the world spun. She hit the ground, dirt and grass scrapping her skin.
"You're dead," Asuma said from the same place as before.
Ino groaned, tried to get up.
"Three," he said again.