Chasing Blue Sky: Act one, Chapter Two

[Nightambre]

Within These Walls (Sakura)

Characters: Primarily Sakura
Warnings: None
Notes: I finally came up with a title for the entire kit and kaboodle. Um. Yeah, don't mind me. It'll probably be done with that format for subjects from now on. It comes from the song of the same title, by Queensryche, and I think it fits the mood of the kunoichi as they go through the motions here. Anyway, enjoy.

* * * * *

She had ran straight for her room the moment she'd gotten home and had spent the better part of the evening there, ignoring her mother's questions about why she had a faint series of bruises on her cheek. Bruises that looked suspiciously like someone's fingertips. The tears had not stopped once she'd buried her face in her pillow, but in truth, it wasn't the sting on her cheek that had caused them. It was the weight of the other girl's words on her heart that had her in such an uproar.

"That is why I won't forgive him if my precious people don't come back."

Sakura's fingers curled against the softness of the pillow. Wracking sobs again came to her, causing her to choke and hiccup. Why did she have to be so mean? She hated her. She did! But yet, at the same time, she didn't. Sakura sat up and wrapped her arms around the pillow she brought with her. "Stupid Ino-pig," she grumbled, hugging it tightly. "What does she know?"

Just that her entire world went out chasing after someone you care so much for. Sakura winced at her inner voice. Usually it brought her confidence, amusement, and was a channel for her aggression when she couldn't (or wouldn't) display it, but right now, it annoyed her.

She doesn't understand.

She does. You're alone. She's alone.

She's not in love with any of them.

You don't know that.

She's hung up on my Sasuke...

That doesn't mean she's not in love with anyone.

Sakura just ignored her inner voice. How can someone be in love with someone else if they were carrying on a crush/rival with the person you were in love with? Her inner self retorted with a reminder that the rivalry was her doing, but she ignored it. She couldn't even comprehend that the only reason Ino continued her crush with Sasuke was because of her. Well, she could comprehend it, but she didn't want to believe it. It made her seem less like the bad guy here.

So, of course she'd blame it all on Ino. Even though the rift in their friendship was her fault, and even though she tossed the entire attempt at just being with her that morning in her face, she still wanted it to be Ino's fault. And she had spent two years weaving it all in her head on how it was Ino's fault. And as childish as it sounded, Sakura felt she had correctly justified everything by thinking that if Ino hadn't liked Sasuke at all, this never would have happened. Again, it didn't (or wouldn't) dawn on Sakura that Ino liked Sasuke for longer than Sakura did, but she kept it quiet. In fact, Sakura had found out that fact by way of the grape vine of other girls. Not through Ino herself.

Sakura growled to herself and rolled over, buring her face in her pillow and mentally cursing Ino's existance. Thankfully, the swell of anger helped her get over her crying. But the moment disappeared almost as quickly as it came, and Sakura slumped her shoulders as much as she could with how she was laying on her bed. For a moment, she just remained there, but the need of air caused her to lift her head up from the pillow. She frowned a little when she caught sight of the photo had taken just after Kakashi had said they had passed. She sat up and reached over to take it from where it sat on her nightsand, and she just regarded it for a moment. Then, a sigh passed her lips. "Things were so much better then," she murmured, her fingertips moving to touch the photograph of her teammates. "So much simpler." It was just them, and all they had to worry about was their own personal little conflicts.

Setting the picture down again, she rolled to her feet. Releasing a sigh, Sakura closed her eyes and wished away all the terrible feelings she was having. She wondered what got Sasuke to leave. She wondered why Ino acted the way she had done. She wondered what she was going to do next. Where did her loyalties lie, anyway? Ino's words continued to haunt her, really. About how she wouldn't forgive Sasuke if someone got hurt. As if it was all his fault. It wasn't his fault, was it? He had to have been manipulated, or something. Her irrational mind payed absolutely no heed to how he left. She just couldn't believe that he would willingly go to someone like Orochimaru. There had to be something else involved. That bruise... that seal, that had to be doing things to his mind. Since she promised never to tell anyone, and she had already broken it once already, she didn't want to break it again, and let Ino know about it.

Again, another part of the conversation with the other kunoichi played in her mind. The demand that was made of her. Sakura chewed her lip. Can you tell me, with any certainty, that he wouldn't have gone willingly? Sakura wanted to say yes. She wanted to be able to tell Ino that Sasuke never would have done such a thing if he wasn't persuaded to. But something kept stopping her. He did say that he wanted to kill a man when Kakashi had asked them what their goals were. Maybe that fact kept haunting her. Would he have just simply gone to Orochimaru in order to accomplish his goal of killing this person; the person responsible for his clan's massacre?

"Ohh, I hate you, Ino-pig," Sakura grumbled, running her fingers through her hair as if she was suddenly developing a massive headache. Why did she have to do this to her? Stupid, stupid Ino. If it wasn't for that blonde's meddling, then she wouldn't be thinking about things like this.

A knock at her door interrupted her, and she snapped her head up, "What?!" She balked immediately when she realized it was her mother, when she opened the door.

"Sakura," the other woman's voice was firm, warning her against such a tone. Sakura shyed away slightly, then sighed. She was quiet, waiting for her mother to say what she wanted to say. "You have company." Without saying who it was, the older woman turned away, and walked off, leaving Sakura to scramble off her bed and follow her.

What greeted her in the family room surprised her, though, one part of her shouldn't have. Ino stood there, her arms crossed, and her eyes focused on some undetermined point on the ceiling. Ino's presence wasn't surprised her, really, but the fact that the kunoichi from Rock Lee's team was standing with her, did. "Ino," Sakura offered neutrally in greeting, before she turned to the other, "Tenten."

Tenten turned and grinned at Ino. "She didn't forget my name."

"That's because she's a sponge," Ino mumbled before she sighed and looked at Sakura. Sakura could tell that she wanted to make a crack about her forehead, but it never came.

For a moment, the two just regarded each other. Sakura was aware of Tenten shifting next to Ino, perhaps in response to the tension that was likely being felt, but nothing overly explosive happened. "Why are you here?" Oh, sure, that was nice. You know, Sakura, you could stop trying to put your foot in your mouth around this girl. 'Why are you here?', doesn't that sound a little overly defensive, huh? Sakura inwardly grimaced at her inner voice. Stupid thing.

Ino apparently had the same idea as Sakura's inner self, and her eyes narrowed. A moment passed, Ino likely trying to keep her temper in check, before the blonde gave a sigh. "Tenten and I are going to the hospital to visit Rock Lee. He had his surgery, and we figured you would like to come with."

Sakura paused for a moment. Out of all the things she was expecting to have Ino say, that wasn't one of them. For a moment, she just stood there. She glanced at the door, as if whether or not she wanted to go was on the door's surface. But then, she finally sighed. Being torn in what to do, she took the path of least resistance. "I'm not feeling all that well, Ino. I think I'll stay. I'll visit him tomorrow." She offered a polite, but fake (which she saw that Ino recognized immediately) smile, "Thank you, though, for inviting me."

There hadn't been many times in the past that Sakura bore witness to the slow boil of Ino's temper, and have it be ready to be directed at her. But she got such a treat just then. She never thought Ino's eyes could darken so abruptly, particularly the lighter parts towards the center of the eye. Her fists clenched and Sakura prepared to defend herself against whatever verbal onslaught Ino was about to launch when Tenten stepped to the side to place a hand on Ino's shoulder.

"They're probably going to close visiting hours, soon," Tenten offered, her voice steady and calm. Sakura was actually shocked when Ino did take a few breaths to calm herself down. What did Tenten do that no one else could do in the face of such a storm? Sakura didn't get it.

"Fine," Ino's voice still had an edge to it, and she just shook her head. "If you're still up to it, I guess I'll check in with you tomorrow." Without another word, Ino spun around and, after saying farewell to Sakura's mother, practically stormed out of the house. Tenten lingered only long enough to give Sakura a "what can you do?" type shrug, before she followed Ino. Sakura was thankful that Tenten didn't slam the door when she closed it. She was certain that the door couldn't handle another jarring like Ino had given it.

"What was that all about?" Sakura's mother asked, having witnessed the entire thing.

For a moment, Sakura wanted to spill everything, but instead, she sighed, tears stinging her eyes once again at seeing Ino. "Nothing..." she murmured, then took a deep breath. "It's nothing, mom." Without offering anything more, Sakura simply walked up the stairs to her room, to hide herself within its walls once again.

[TimeShifter16]

That was cool, though it took you forever to update! Question; when does Hinata tie into this? She's one of my favorite characters, and I wanna see all four kunoichi appear in a chapter. I'm liking this fic so far, but the wait is killing me; when I saw this chapter and started reading, I didn't recall reading chapter 1! I had to go back and find your other posts to remember what this story is about. Any chance of a quicker update? Don't rush if it ruins the quality though. Great job so far!

[Nightambre]

This chapter was being written in the middle of another fic obligation, and a helluva hard RL time. ^^ Hinata's scheduled to make an appearance next. ^^ Sorry about the pacing!

[TimeShifter16]

Oh well. Yay, Hinata's coming! Now it'll get interesting! Let's see what Ino can gather about Hinata's feelings for a certain blond-haired, blue-eyed, (and because I believe it to be true) son of the Yondaime, dobe! That would be a good read.

[fireblazie]

Heehee, very nice chapter. I'm glad you updated. ^^ Yeah, I agree with TimeShifter, I'm looking forward to Hinata's appearance!