Rivals, Friends and Lovers (part 6 of 13)
Back to Part 5
AN: I apologize if you think this chapter is a little stiff and boring but I guarantee you that the next one will be very interesting. I feel slightly disappointed for receiving so few chapters for chapter 5 when I even had that cliff hanger in the end :/
Italic text is when a character is thinking.
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Forgive me
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On the hill above the waterfall, Sakura stood by the edge, looking at the lifeless body of her friend Ino. She saw no movements or heard no sounds from Ino that could tell if she was alive.
"INO!!"
Seeing Ino sprawled on the ground and not moving, Sakura ignored the pain in her aching arm and rushed to her fallen friend. Kneeling down, she shook Ino's body with her healthy arm, yelling her name hysterically without getting any response back.
Is she dead? Did...did I kill her?
Sakura's heart was pounding so hard and fast inside her chest that it felt like it was going to burst through her ribs. Gulping, she carefully flipped Ino over onto her back to examine her body better for any wounds. Scanning Ino's body, she gasped as she saw a medium sized wound on Ino's forehead oozing out blood in a slow steady pace. From the looks of it, Ino's head had hit a rock badly when she had landed. A rock near her head was stained with drops of blood on it. Fortunately, Ino's skull still looked to be intact so there didn't seem to be any physical damages to her brain.
Nervously, Sakura put a shaking finger on Ino's throat and waited a few seconds until she felt what was she was praying for, a pulse telling her that Ino was still alive. Sakura let out a huge sigh of relief, but now worried about how badly wounded Ino actually was.
She lifted Ino's limp upper body up carefully, just in case she did have internal damage, and held her in her arms. It was an odd feeling for Sakura, for she had never held Ino before like this, and especially not in her current state of unconsciousness.
"Ino can you hear meshe asked worriedly, breathing nervously. There was nothing but silence coming from the still form of Ino.
"Come on, you need to wake up!"Sakura insisted, gently shaking Ino. Still no response in return.
"Ino please!" her voice growing a bit hysterical. Finally, Ino's eyes fluttered before they opened up slowly.
"Sakura... where..." Ino whispered. Her voice sounded very tired and exhausted as if she was half sleeping. Sakura felt hope flood inside her friend awakened.
"We're still on top of the waterfall, you knocked yourself out cold." Sakura said. Her head pounding painfully, Ino put her hand on her aching head, feeling something wet.
"My...my head hurts..." Ino said weakly, looking at her fingers and seeing they were covered in blood.
"Try not to talk too much Ino," Sakura warned. "Does it hurt anywhere else?"
"My entire... body ache...my knee...and its hurts...when I inhale"
Sakura looked at Ino's right knee. The cloth was ripped open and stained with fresh red blood. Inspecting it, it did not look to be broken although it could be fractured.
"Your knee seems to be ok to me. Do you feel anything is broken, like can you move your arms and legs? Sakura asked. Ino moved all her limbs a bit to try them out.
"I can...still move" Still feeling weak, Ino's eyes widened a bit when she realized something.
Am I...resting in Sakura's arms?
"Sakura, please...help me sit up." Ino asked, pushing the thought out of her head. Sakura tried to lift Ino's upper body up to a sitting position instead but as soon as she tried, Ino yelled and writhed in pain, her hand shooting to her chest. If she had more energy she would've been screaming it out. Sakura jumped a little from the chock and guilt, her heartbeat speeding up again.
"Oh my god I'm so sorry!" Sakura apologized, holding Ino in place to prevent her from moving. "Where does it hurt?"
"My...left...ribcage..." Ino grimaced and grunted in pain.
Sakura wanted to pinpoint the area of Ino's pain so that she could figure out better what to do. Carefully she pressed her finger gently against Ino's lower left ribcage.
"Here?" Sakura asked, watching Ino carefully. Ino didn't answer, so she slid her fingers upwards to the middle of the ribcage, this time she got results. Ino winced, moaning softly from the pain.
Sakura really felt bad for what she was causing Ino but she had no choice.
This is not good at all. Many of her ribs are broken and she said it hurts when she inhales. Is it possible that her lung have been pierced? If that's true and if she has internal bleeding in her chest, Ino can drown in her own blood...
With that horrifying thought, Sakura paled, almost starting to panic inside but she did not show it and quickly calmed herself down.
She thought for a moment about trying to go for help, but ditched the idea quickly. It would take hours to get back, and Ino would be left by herself defenceless, and she had no way of knowing if Ino could survive alone in her condition.
"Ino...how is your breathing?" Sakura kept asking Ino questions to get as much information as possible so she could figure out something to do.
"Good...I guess...hurts when breathing," Ino said softly.
"So you don't feel as if you have something liquid in your throat?" Sakura asked hopefully.
"No...don't think so...why?" Ino asked, raising an eyebrow. She was not as educated in the human body as Sakura so she was not aware of the risks Sakura knew. Sakura choose not to tell Ino yet for there was no need to make her worry.
"I'm just glad to hear that. How is your sight?" Sakura said, relaxing visibly.
"Very blurry and dark...I can barely see you."
Blurry and dark... is it possible that her eyes are damaged too? The wound on her head might have damaged an eye nerve.
The guilt and remorse only became worse for Sakura as she considered the extent of Ino's possible injuries.
"Alright... Ino you have broken at least three ribs and you have had a serious concussion...but it's nothing life threatening if you just rest and take it easy for a while."
"Cant you heal me?" Ino asked, hoping for to get relieved of her pain quickly. Sadly, Sakura shook her head.
"I am sorry. I just started to train on the healing hands technique just a few days before we left. I can barely cure anything with the skills I have now"
Sakura was fortunate though to have gone through the basics of the arts of healing techniques by learning it from Godaime Hokage and Shizune. Despite Sakura's nearly perfect chakra control, healing was a very hard technique to master. Her low chakra capacity did not make things any better.
"Heh...that's just my luck" Ino said, smiling a bit despite her condition. She sighed, feeling very stupid, ashamed even for not listening to Sakura's warning earlier, and acting stupid. "You could...have thrown me a little gentler..." she said, rubbing her aching chest.
"I'm sorry," Sakura apologized, her eyes falling. "I have never tried to feed chakra directly into my muscles like that...and anyways you should be glad that I got you got up instead of letting you fall down."
"Yeah...you saved my life...guess I owe you one." Ino said semi-gratefully.
"Hey I only did what I had to do. You would do the same for me right? Eh Ino?"
"Perhaps" Despite feeling weak, Ino managed a smirk. "If it was I who had to throw you up...your big forehead would have taken the blow... thus saving you" She joked.
"Don't make me regret what I did and throw you back down there!" Sakura said indignantly.
Looks like she did not lose her sense of humour...I guess that's a good sign, Sakura thought, seeing how the blood coming out from the gash was rolling down on Ino's face.
"I need to take care of that wound on your head...I have some bandages in my backpack that will hold."
Opening her backpack, Sakura took out some white bandages. Unravelling them, she began to apply the gauze around Ino's bleeding forehead. The bandages began to turn red from absorbing the blood on her forehead; Sakura had to add another layer for the bleeding to stop.
"There. It should be enough for some time." Sakura said "Ino, I'm sorry to say this...but we need to get you out of here. The wind is picking up and it's not safe to stay here for the night. We need to move out of here to a safer area".
"Ok...I understand" There was nothing else for Ino to do but nod. She wished she could remain there longer to rest for a bit, but this wasn't the situation to argue about that. But she really didn't relish the thought of having to move.
"Now this is going to hurt, try to help me if you can." Sakura instructed Ino as she prepared to lift her up. This really needed to be done as quickly as possible for Ino's sake.
"Ok let's... do it," Ino said, steeling herself to prepare for the inevitable pain.
Sakura put her hands on Ino's shoulders, softly urging her up, as Ino did her best to do so. Immediately the pain stung Ino heavily as she shifted upwards, grunting loudly with pain. Grimacing, Ino placed her hand on her chest, right above her broken ribs. Sakura helped her up a bit more, the pain lessoning enough for Ino to stand it better.
"Damn...it hurts so much!" Ino said, panting from the effort and pain she was feeling.
"You need to hold on a bit more. You think you can walk?" Sakura asked, concerned.
"I don't...have much of...choice do I?" Ino breathed in answer, clutching her side desperately for support. "We...are already standing anyway"
"Yeah, that's true," Sakura said with a heavy sigh. "Let's take it slowly, I'll help support you, let me know if something hurts or is wrong at once, okay Ino?"
Ino nodded. Sakura put her hand around Ino's waist and held her by the belt while Ino reluctantly put her own arm around Sakura's shoulder.
God, I hate this! Ino thought angrily to herself.
A bit unsteadily, the two kunoichi began their journey downwards of the hill. The pair moved slowly, for Ino's wounded knee was giving her quite the limp. Her eyes were half closed as she leaned her head against Sakura's shoulder as if she was sleeping.
Every few moments they had to stop for Ino to catch her breath. At times, Ino noticed her vision getting worse and it got harder to breath, but it seemed to be only temporary and passed after a few moments. She also felt a stinging headache slowly spreading inside in her head. However she did not let Sakura on to know any of this, worrying her right now would be pointless, and they had to concentrate on getting down the hill to a safe place.
While Ino suffered from the pain, Sakura was suffering from guilt. She glanced at Ino with sympathy in her eyes, how she was limping, how she was panting silently in pain, the blood on her head and knee.
It's my entire fault. I am supposed to be one of the best chuunins when it comes to controlling chakra...and yet I hurt her so badly. If Ino gets permanent damage because of this then I will never forgive myself...
"Ino...I forgot to say...I am so sorry for what I did to you." Sakura said in an apologetic tone, her eyes cast downwards to avoid meeting Ino's gaze.
"It's ok...it wasn't your fault. Don't blame... yourself." Ino replied, reassuring Sakura with a weak smile.
But Ino's words did not make Sakura feel any better at all. They continued on down the hill for what seemed like an hour, excluding a lot of time for Ino to rest. Sakura found a good place to camp for the night; it was in the middle of the forest but it had a tiny flat opening with soft soil. There were many thick trees around it that could provide a good protection against the increasingly cold wind.This spot should be good...
Sakura took a look up in the sky, noticing that dusk was approaching quickly. A cold breeze blew past her, leaving her shivering. She took a look at Ino, clearly seeing how she was completely exhausted after the long walk. Ino seemed to be a bit pale in the face, whether from the chill or her wounds Sakura didn't know.
Ino seems to be getting worse...or maybe I am just being paranoid.
"Sakura...please...put...me down...I'm...feeling...so...tired" Ino whispered, almost unable to make out the words. Her head was hanging down and her knees were shaking as they could barely keep her up any longer. Sakura could tell that her energy was completely drained for now.
"Alright I understand." Sakura said softly. "We'll be staying here for the night." Her heart got heavy again with guilt.
Very carefully, Sakura helped Ino lie down with the least amount of pain as possible for her, and then began to prepare for encampment.
She gathered enough wooden sticks, dry grass nearby and put them around a small stone circle to prevent any fire from escaping. Lighting a match she then started the much-needed campfire. Immediately she began to feel safer, comfortable in the warmth, making her relax.
"Finally...I can rest." Sakura said to herself, sighing with relief.
Now that the camp was up and Ino was safe resting it was time for Sakura to satisfy her growling stomach. She ate a small meal quickly, consisting of water from her water bottle, some dried meat that roasted above the campfire, and some tasteless rice. (which tasted much better after adding some BBQ spice) She now did not feel as hungry anymore but her stomach would probably start again in a few hours.
While Sakura was leaning back she glanced at Ino, still feeling very worried about Ino's injuries. She still did not know how bad they were; Ino could have internal bleedings inside her head and chest. What pained Sakura the most was that there were so little she could do for her friend, all she could do was to take care of her and let her rest, but she could not give her the proper medical treatment that she needed.
Sakura's eyelids were starting to feel heavier and she tried to blink it away her sleepiness, which only served to cause her to feel more tired; most likely from the warmth of the fire that caused it. However she refused to go to sleep until she had checked upon Ino one last time. Ino was still looking pale in the face and her breathing was so quiet that made it hard to tell if she was alive.
After putting some more dry wood on the fire, Sakura got into her warm sleeping bag next to Ino and close to the fire.
"Good night Ino...Sleep well...and please get better," She said while she gently stroked Ino's cold cheek with her hand.
Darkness enveloped Sakura as she fell into sleep, nervously praying that her friend would survive through the night...
End of chapter 6
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AN: Again apologize if you think this chapter was a little boring but I guarantee you that the next one will be very interesting.
The second day is over for the girls and so is chapter 6.
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