all hopes of a quick and painless escape evaporate
all hopes of a quick and painless escape evaporate
ino/sakura. pg. 1109.
She should have known -- it's not the first time -- but she can never stop hoping, bubbles in her chest longing to float to the sky.
i.
She still thinks in terms of when, not if, twisting her hands to pretend she's not afraid. There's always the possibility, of course, but it can't happen, not when all of her hopes are resting on his return.
The table begs to be set for two. She bites her lips and sits at her place instead. Smooth wood held between fingertips is familiar, normal.
Normal. She throws the chopsticks across the room in a sudden burst of violence, clattering to the floor.
A blink: the room is silent, sticks still held in her fingers. Her other hand is clenched so tightly that blood drips through her fist, plinking onto the table.
She heaves a breath, closes her eyes. Who is she kidding?
---
ii.
Not Ino, that's for certain. Creased forehead, pursed lips; it's somewhere between rage and understanding, the spectrum fluctuating too widely to pinpoint. She wants to scream, tear those pink strands from pale skin and watch them fall again.
(They're spiraling downward, waiting for the bottom. Gravity is stronger than usual; it discriminates in no discernible pattern.)
Quit moping, forehead-girl, she teases, high laughter more like a cackle.
Downcast eyes: the forced smile stabs deeper than guilt.
---
iii.
The blond boy (a man now, she forces herself to remember) returns with a shrug and empty hands. He doesn't stay around long enough to talk. It's hard, when both of them are trying to ignore his tears.
She should have known -- it's not the first time -- but she can never stop hoping, bubbles in her chest longing to float to the sky.
She is denied that acceptance, but the question of "Why?" never enters her thoughts. Not resentment or confusion. Just nothing welling up from her soul.
I'm sorry, Naruto, is what she wants to call out after his retreating form. I know you love him more than me.
---
iv.
Sakura throws herself into her work, exhausted after sleepless days and tearless nights. She sees Naruto far too often, healing his battle-scars and biting her lip to keep from asking how they happened.
Ino knows -- she can see.
Her head isn't bowed; no titles in this conversation. When Can't you see she needs this? floats to silence, both Tsunade and Ino know it's the closest she'll come to begging.
A slight nod, that's all it takes before she's flying out the door, a guardian spirit rushing to find the one she needs to protect.
The walls holding her friend together are paper thin, but Ino will use her own arms to keep Sakura from punching through.
If she breaks, Ino's whole world will collapse.
---
v.
The village is her home, a place she will always be able to come back to. Its arms are outstretched, ready to hold her forever.
Everyone knows that.
More importantly, though, it's the place where Sasuke will return (she still refuses to think in ifs and maybes, clinging to the dark boy like a lifeline). Where else would he go?
When he needs to come home, she needs to be there.
It's a vigil, waiting for the return of the dead through night and day. Candles held to a face dry of any tears guide the lost to the light. In the meantime, she saves lives. It would have been the perfect plan: optimal and practical.
A hand clasps around her wrist, dragging her outside the town's borders, and it's a few fuzzy moments before she realizes what's happening. She can't seem to summon enough strength to pull away.
---
vi.
They're walking, steps awkward and out-of-time, dancing warily around the sort of talk they both know she needs to avoid.
Ino slips and points back to the village.
He'll still be able to find you.
Sakura stumbles -- brushes off a helpful hand, nonchalant, teeth chattering.
He'll come back and he'll look for you, or else wait just like you did. So you don't have to worry. A smile, then, bright with eyes squinched closed. This time Sakura takes the hand.
She knows it's far from mended, but Ino sees they've stalled the degeneration of her heart. Odd, though, how Sakura the medicnin never notices her own body's breakdown.
Ino teases her again and only gets a tiny smile. It's the best she could ever be given, because from here it looks genuine. And that's enough.
---
vii.
Late at night, she tries to sleep, thoughts of Sasuke plaguing her mind. Memories, sharp and biting, never seem to let go.
Go to sleep already, grumbles the other side of the inn's bed. Sakura's legs swing over onto the floor, bare feet padding softly to the open window.
She instantly feels colder.
Thousands of sparks of light are frozen in the sky, kept immovable by time and the wishes of naive children. She was one of those, once.
Under her breath she recites constellations, lessons memorized and now repeated to pause the film playing in her brain -- to help her forget all those wishes she made when she was younger. Her whisper becomes a chant until she's screaming star-names out into the sky, the speckled blackness mocking her with echoes and then, suddenly:
Silence.
She only now notices the tears trudging regretfully down her cheeks for the first time in years. Her first sob is loud, uncontrolled, and it breaks her in half. Support disappears somewhere around her abdomen and she collapses, crumpled.
Ino is there to catch her before she falls.
---
viii.
I'm here, she whispers into Sakura's shoulder. I'm here and I'm not leaving.
Don't leave, is the response that Ino almost doesn't hear.
---
ix.
She feels clean like summer rain, warm skin steaming cool water. Separated from the world with nothing to do but move, one foot in front of the other, thighs aching with the effort and hand sweating a little from holding Ino's.
The tiny village they visit is overjoyed to have Sakura care for their sick. And Sakura is glad for her "bodyguard" to keep her safe from rambunctious, healthy children.
She does what she loves because she loves it. The smiles from the blonde girl are all the payment she needs.
The walk back to Konoha seems half the distance.
---
x.
Her house is less empty with Ino in it, filling every space with her dominating personality.
The table looks better, she notices, when it's set for two.
sakuraxino pigxforehead
ino/sakura. pg. 1109.
She should have known -- it's not the first time -- but she can never stop hoping, bubbles in her chest longing to float to the sky.
i.
She still thinks in terms of when, not if, twisting her hands to pretend she's not afraid. There's always the possibility, of course, but it can't happen, not when all of her hopes are resting on his return.
The table begs to be set for two. She bites her lips and sits at her place instead. Smooth wood held between fingertips is familiar, normal.
Normal. She throws the chopsticks across the room in a sudden burst of violence, clattering to the floor.
A blink: the room is silent, sticks still held in her fingers. Her other hand is clenched so tightly that blood drips through her fist, plinking onto the table.
She heaves a breath, closes her eyes. Who is she kidding?
---
ii.
Not Ino, that's for certain. Creased forehead, pursed lips; it's somewhere between rage and understanding, the spectrum fluctuating too widely to pinpoint. She wants to scream, tear those pink strands from pale skin and watch them fall again.
(They're spiraling downward, waiting for the bottom. Gravity is stronger than usual; it discriminates in no discernible pattern.)
Quit moping, forehead-girl, she teases, high laughter more like a cackle.
Downcast eyes: the forced smile stabs deeper than guilt.
---
iii.
The blond boy (a man now, she forces herself to remember) returns with a shrug and empty hands. He doesn't stay around long enough to talk. It's hard, when both of them are trying to ignore his tears.
She should have known -- it's not the first time -- but she can never stop hoping, bubbles in her chest longing to float to the sky.
She is denied that acceptance, but the question of "Why?" never enters her thoughts. Not resentment or confusion. Just nothing welling up from her soul.
I'm sorry, Naruto, is what she wants to call out after his retreating form. I know you love him more than me.
---
iv.
Sakura throws herself into her work, exhausted after sleepless days and tearless nights. She sees Naruto far too often, healing his battle-scars and biting her lip to keep from asking how they happened.
Ino knows -- she can see.
Her head isn't bowed; no titles in this conversation. When Can't you see she needs this? floats to silence, both Tsunade and Ino know it's the closest she'll come to begging.
A slight nod, that's all it takes before she's flying out the door, a guardian spirit rushing to find the one she needs to protect.
The walls holding her friend together are paper thin, but Ino will use her own arms to keep Sakura from punching through.
If she breaks, Ino's whole world will collapse.
---
v.
The village is her home, a place she will always be able to come back to. Its arms are outstretched, ready to hold her forever.
Everyone knows that.
More importantly, though, it's the place where Sasuke will return (she still refuses to think in ifs and maybes, clinging to the dark boy like a lifeline). Where else would he go?
When he needs to come home, she needs to be there.
It's a vigil, waiting for the return of the dead through night and day. Candles held to a face dry of any tears guide the lost to the light. In the meantime, she saves lives. It would have been the perfect plan: optimal and practical.
A hand clasps around her wrist, dragging her outside the town's borders, and it's a few fuzzy moments before she realizes what's happening. She can't seem to summon enough strength to pull away.
---
vi.
They're walking, steps awkward and out-of-time, dancing warily around the sort of talk they both know she needs to avoid.
Ino slips and points back to the village.
He'll still be able to find you.
Sakura stumbles -- brushes off a helpful hand, nonchalant, teeth chattering.
He'll come back and he'll look for you, or else wait just like you did. So you don't have to worry. A smile, then, bright with eyes squinched closed. This time Sakura takes the hand.
She knows it's far from mended, but Ino sees they've stalled the degeneration of her heart. Odd, though, how Sakura the medicnin never notices her own body's breakdown.
Ino teases her again and only gets a tiny smile. It's the best she could ever be given, because from here it looks genuine. And that's enough.
---
vii.
Late at night, she tries to sleep, thoughts of Sasuke plaguing her mind. Memories, sharp and biting, never seem to let go.
Go to sleep already, grumbles the other side of the inn's bed. Sakura's legs swing over onto the floor, bare feet padding softly to the open window.
She instantly feels colder.
Thousands of sparks of light are frozen in the sky, kept immovable by time and the wishes of naive children. She was one of those, once.
Under her breath she recites constellations, lessons memorized and now repeated to pause the film playing in her brain -- to help her forget all those wishes she made when she was younger. Her whisper becomes a chant until she's screaming star-names out into the sky, the speckled blackness mocking her with echoes and then, suddenly:
Silence.
She only now notices the tears trudging regretfully down her cheeks for the first time in years. Her first sob is loud, uncontrolled, and it breaks her in half. Support disappears somewhere around her abdomen and she collapses, crumpled.
Ino is there to catch her before she falls.
---
viii.
I'm here, she whispers into Sakura's shoulder. I'm here and I'm not leaving.
Don't leave, is the response that Ino almost doesn't hear.
---
ix.
She feels clean like summer rain, warm skin steaming cool water. Separated from the world with nothing to do but move, one foot in front of the other, thighs aching with the effort and hand sweating a little from holding Ino's.
The tiny village they visit is overjoyed to have Sakura care for their sick. And Sakura is glad for her "bodyguard" to keep her safe from rambunctious, healthy children.
She does what she loves because she loves it. The smiles from the blonde girl are all the payment she needs.
The walk back to Konoha seems half the distance.
---
x.
Her house is less empty with Ino in it, filling every space with her dominating personality.
The table looks better, she notices, when it's set for two.
sakuraxino pigxforehead