Rivals, Friends and Lovers (part 7 of 13)
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A/N: Here is chapter 7. It is the second longest chapter of them all.We are about half way though the story now )
Italic text is when a character is thinking
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The Storm
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The third day for Sakura and Ino began early in the morning, the sunlight again waking Sakura earlier than she would’ve liked. She shivered as she felt the coldness hit her; this had been the coldest night so far since they got here. And from the way her hair and the treetops were blowing, the wind was definitely picking up.
Sakura had not slept well that night. Not only because of the weather but also from guilt...she was so worried that Ino was going to be permanently damaged from her injuries. Ino could have a permanent limp in the future from her damaged knee or she could possibly end up blind from what Ino had told yesterday, that she could barely see anything. If any of these things would happen, Ino would have to quit her life as a ninja… thus ending the Yamanaka family ninja tradition for Ino was the only child for the Yamanaka family.
Her mind always went back to that moment….she could not stop thinking about what had happened yesterday. How Ino had dangled helplessly begging Sakura to not let her fall to her death. How Sakura had managed to save Ino from death and instead wounded her. The guilt…it tore at her from the inside. Her sleeping bag was partially soaked in her sweat. Even if the night had been cold, it had not prevented Sakura from sweating out her guilt.
Slowly she got up, worried for her friend’s sake. Even though she was tired, she crawled out from her sleeping bag over to Ino, placing two fingers on her pale unconscious friend’s neck. Some seconds passed and again she felt what she had felt many times before, Ino’s body pulse. Ino looked to have regained some skin colour during the night and her breathing was now more stable.
A sleeping beauty…that’s what Ino is…Sakura thought, strangely feeling that it warmed her heart thinking like that while stroking Ino’s chin. Her touch caused Ino’s eyes to flutter open, a good sign of Ino recovering.
“Sakura…” Ino whispered and opened up her eyes completely.
“Good morning Ino…” That seemed to be such a stupid thing to say…but it was the only thing Sakura could come up with. Better to say something instead of nothing. “Feeling any better?” She then asked. Ino took a few seconds before answering.
“My entire body still aches… especially my head and chest.” Ino complained while she put a hand on her forehead, feeling the moist bloody bandages.
“I’m sorry to hear that Ino. I really mean it.” Her head drooped, and she stared at the ground, ashamed “How is your breathing? Does it still hurt when you inhale?”
Ino inhaled fairly deeply, wincing as she did so, giving Sakura a weak nod. It felt like she had kunai buried in her chest.
“Yes although my sight is better now.”Ino said. At least some of her injuries had recovered a little.
“Don’t worry Ino you just need to remain still and rest and you will be fine.” Hope surged through Sakura. If Ino really did have internal bleedings and a pierced lung she would have noticed it by now. Seeing that she was alive and feeling a bit better told her that she did not have to worry about that. Still, she had to be careful or it could get worse.
“Bummer…”Ino said with a disappointed tone and semi-angry face.
“Excuse me?”Sakura asked with a frown.
“It’s just…I was really looking forward to do all this for what we are here to do…and now look at me, crippled and sick.” Ino explained and gestured with her hand to her wounded areas.
“Hey come on Ino… we can still work on it.”Sakura tried her best to cheer her friend up.
“Come on…Sakura. I can barely move on my own”
“Relax Ino. I will take care of you. Remember that we only need to change camping place every night? I will help you walk and I will make sure that we do not have to walk so far.”
“Hmm…guess you are right” Ino sighed and then a growling sound from her stomach reminded her of something“Have you made any breakfast?”
“No not yet. I just woke up as well.” Sakura said, shaking her head.
“I feel so damn hungry. I can’t even remember the last time I ate something.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it,” Sakura assured Ino, feeling just as hungry as Ino did.
Sakura went inside her backpack and started taking out some items and food and started to prepare breakfast for both of them. After a couple of moments the smell of cooked meat and rice with plenty of spices reached Ino’s nostrils. Her mouth watered and her stomach growled hungrily. She could not wait anymore and tried to move out from her sleeping bag, however something very effectively stopped her.
While Sakura was about to serve the breakfast she heard a female yelling in pain from behind. Quickly she turned around and sighed deeply. Ino had tried to get out of her sleeping bag. She held both her hands on top of her broken ribs while groaning heavily in pain
“Son of a bitch it hurts!” Ino spat out angrily frustrated.
“What the hell did you expect? Your wounds won’t heal that quickly over one night silly.”Sakura sighed again. She expected Ino to be a little smarter than that.
Ino closed her mouth and didn’t say anything, grunting in pain instead before going back to her sleeping bag. Sakura collected some food and put it on a plate, moving over to sit besides Ino who did not like what was going on.
“What are you doing?” Ino raised an eyebrow in confusion.
“It’s too painful for you to sit up and eat by yourself,” Sakura explained. Ino’s face snapped and now understood what Sakura wanted to do.
“There is no way I will let you feed me!”She spat out.
“Fair enough. Then I will let you rest and watch as I eat then,” Sakura said with a small smile.
Ino hesitated for a couple of seconds. Her gaze went everywhere as she struggled with what to do. A small sudden wave of pain in the ribs and another growling sound in her stomach finally made her decide.
“Fine!”Ino growled silently with evil looking eyes.
Sakura’s smile widened and she pulled out a pair of chopsticks. She then grabbed a piece of the meat, holding it out for Ino to eat.
“And if you ever do… UGH!”Ino pointed with her finger threateningly before she shuddered as a stronger wave of pain soared through her body.
“Damn…this…pain. Remind me to always carry pain killers next time I go out like this!”
“At least you will live. Now come on and eat before it gets cold.”Sakura offered Ino the meat again with a smile.“Open wide!”
Again Ino grunted before hastily taking the piece of meat in her mouth. Normally she wouldn’t consider this good eating but in her case she’d never tasted anything so good before. Eagerly she chewed and swallowed it.
“Feels like I have never eaten before in my life!”Ino tone was now sounding a bit more positive.
Some moments later, Ino felt stuffed and delighted. Life now felt pretty good… except for those broken ribs and stinging pain in the head of course. She sighed and carefully leaned herself backwards.
“You are a good cook Sakura…much better than me.” She complimented Sakura, who had just started to feed herself.
After breakfast, Sakura moved back over towards Ino to examine her wounds again and check for any infections.
“Ino this might sound weird…please… take off your jacket and shirt.”Sakura asked calmly.
“Excuse me??”Ino frowned heavily and really looked surprised
“Take of your shirt and jacket.”She said again.
“Why the hell should I do that?”Ino spluttered indignantly.
“I want to look at your wounds again”
“That’s not needed Sakura. It hurts like hell but that’s about it.”
“Come on. It’s not such a big deal. Just raise your shirt so I can take a look at your ribs.”
Ino broke the eye contact with Sakura and looked down hesitantly. She took of her thin jacket. With her fingers she then started to slowly unbutton her green shirt before hesitantly lifting it off. Sakura’s eyes widened a bit and she blushed slightly, as she got a very good look on Ino’s very well shaped attractive body. The only thing covering Ino now was a flimsy black bra…the exposure making both of them blush a bit more heavily.
Wow… I can understand why so many boys want Ino. Her breasts… how the hell does she make them look…so big… her body so perfect?
Seeing her chest made Sakura remember how she had called Ino silicon-Pig once in jealousy of Ino having a sexier body than her.
Ino’s upper body did not look completely perfect at the moment, however. There were some small bruises here and there but it was her wound on her left ribcage that took the prize. A large part of Ino’s skin on her left ribcage was discoloured in red, blue, and purple and was looking very swollen. It was not a pretty sight.
She was still looking away, carefully avoiding Sakura’s gaze as she examined Ino’s wounded yet beautiful body. Cautiously, Sakura reached out with her hand, carefully touched and stroked the damaged area with her fingertips. Ino’s body reacted immediately, goose bumps turning up as Ino shivered under her touch. Was all that a just a reflex or was it that Ino was nervous for Sakura touching her like that? Through the skin Sakura was feeling Ino’s heart beat rapidly and she heard her taking small and short breaths.
“Hey Ino are you nervous for something?” Sakura asked curiously. She had to admit that she felt nervous herself.
Immediately Ino bit her lip and turned her head to Sakura, still not looking her in the eyes. Trying to act normal, Ino put up a fake smile. A very slim red tone spread across her face.
“No I’m fine. I…uh… am just freezing a bit and it still hurts you know.”
As usual it was no problem for Sakura to tell that Ino was lying big time. After a few more moments of inspection, Sakura concluded the examination, satisfied that everything was being to heal normally.
“Ino this does not look good. No doubt about it, you have broken a lot of ribs and it has become swollen.”
“What can we do about it Sakura” The blonde asked, still looking away and avoiding eye contact.
“The same as before. You need to rest and move as little as possible or the broken ribs can hurt your organs, especially the lungs and heart.”
“Damn, Just as I expected.” Ino hit the ground with her hand in disappointment “Guess there won’t be much sight seeing for me. I never even got a good look on that waterfall.”
“Trust me Ino…you will get to see it how much as you want once you get healthy again.”
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The next couple of days passed for the two girls without incident, the time slipping by them faster than they thought. Sakura had ended up going out scouting for a new place to camp every night, then returning to Ino and helping her make her way to the camp she’d set up.
During those nights Sakura found sleep extra hard for her. It was not only the guilt of hurting Ino as it usually was…but more of about Ino herself. Or seeing her half naked body rather, or how she’d touched and stroked her soft skin. Combined with Ino’s lavender perfume, Sakura thought that she actually enjoyed touching Ino and staying that close to her while smelling her perfume.
Without her really realizing it, she had even fantasised about the rest of Ino’s body…what it looked like without that black bra.
Why can't I stop thinking about her? I’m not…like that! I have never been and never will!
Sakura tried to convince herself as best as she could. Turning her head she saw Ino’s beautiful sleeping face. She bit herself in the lip frustration as she felt the familiar feelings she’d gotten now when she looked at Ino closely.
“I’m not like that!” She whispered to herself nervously, before finally falling asleep.
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Even if the time had passed, Ino’s wounds did not seem to get any better. Her head was still suffering from a stinging headache, while the wound on her knee still made her limp very badly. The worst was of course the broken ribs…not a single second passed without her suffering from the intense sharp pain simply breathing caused her.
For every day that passed, Sakura noticed changes in Ino’s behaviour. She was getting more aggressive and it was harder to keep up a conversation with her. She couldn’t blame her of course; having such severe pain 24 hours a day definitely had an effect on Ino’s emotions.
Sakura suffered just as much as Ino, not physically, but emotionally. It was very had for her to just sit back and watch Ino suffer, and have no way to help ease her pain. But not only was her mind filled with worry for Ino, but currently it was also worried about the weather. When they had first started this mission the weather had been sunny and warm. But now…the wind had steadily gotten stronger and colder, it was growing worse by the day.
On the night of the fifth day of their journey, the two girls were fighting their way through the forest, walking on a path during the middle of the night. The wind had indeed gotten extremely strong, making their clothes and hair flap everywhere, in all directions. The trees swayed violently, their leaves flying everywhere. Sakura cursed as she did her best to help Ino stand and walk; the nasty weather not helping in the slightest.
“Damn! I bet Kakashi knew that this storm would show up.” Sakura said, a bit pissed off. This really seemed to fit her Senseis tricks.
“Yeah” Ino agreed “Asuma too. No wonder that they made us do this. They wanted to give us a real challenge.”
“This is only the beginning of it. We might face something far worse soon”
Ino nodded grimly.
“Sakura we have been walking for a long time now. How far away are we from the next place to rest?” Ino’s strength was slowly dropping and she needed to rest as soon as possible.
Sakura waited with her reply. She had gone out walking earlier to scout for the next campsite and had found one…a cave that would give them good protection. However, she was having a hard time finding it again with this weather…
“I found us a cave but it is still a ways away. It will protect us well from this damn storm.” Sakura explained.
She took a look at Ino who was panting and looking tired. Sakura was not sure if Ino had the strength to keep walking much longer.
“Hey…Sakura do you even know where we are going?” Ino was beginning to lose patience and felt herself growing more irritated by the second.
“The truth is…well…no.” Sakura’s voice trailed off as she realized she was unable to hide it anymore.
The answer from Sakura made Ino stop and look at her with a stern look.
“You mean we are LOST?” She exclaimed indignantly.
“I don’t know, maybe a little.” Sakura nodded, biting her lip nervously.
“What the hell Sakura! You went out scouting before and came back and now you can’t find your way back?” Ino raised her voice, almost screaming to be heard over the loud wind.
“But it is very dark now and the storm has blown the path away. I don’t recognize the way any longer!” Sakura had to explain to the angry Ino. It felt like a bad explanation, but it was the truth.
“I told you that you should have gone out earlier. Some ninja you are who gets lost in a forest…” Ino complained and grunted in irritation. The last part of her sentence made Sakura snap!
“Then why don’t you just go out searching for yourself you you…crippled bimbo!”
Sakura had good patience; nevertheless she felt Ino was really starting to annoy her.
Instantly Sakura cringed and slapped herself mentally for saying that. Ino could barely walk on her own and was very upset about it. Ino hated that she had to be nursed and taken care of like a child. Sakura did not even have time to open her mouth and apologize, for Ino was quick to respond.
“Sakura… that was below the belt…” Ino said with a low tone while keeping her gaze on the ground. It was obvious that the comment had upset her and hit a sensitive spot. For a couple of short moments, neither of them exchanged any words with each other for it seemed that every word they said only made things worse and made themselves soar away from each other.
Suddenly, a gust of wind greatly blew down between them before they even had a chance to blink, sending Ino and Sakura off balance and causing them to crash to the ground. As Ino’s back hit the ground; she heard a wet cracking sound inside of her chest, followed by an excruciating pain to shoot up through it.
A lengthy piercing scream of pain escaped from Ino, filling Sakura’s ears and sending chills down her spine. Immediately Sakura put her hands on the wet ground and stood up unsteadily, looking down at her friend who was shrieking and writhing in intense pain with her arms around her chest. Sakura quivered heavily, she had never ever heard Ino or any human screaming that much from pain.
“Gghh…Sakura…you…bitch!” Ino spat out angrily with a murderous look in her eyes. For every word she uttered out she had to take a new breath for it had become quite hard to breath. Again Sakura was immediately slammed with guilt.
“Oh my god! Ino I am sorry! It was the wind…it was the wind! I swear I did not mean it…I did not push you!” Sakura stammered almost hysterically. She reached out her hands to help Ino up but she just cursed and slapped her hands away.
“Don’t touch me!” She yelled furiously, grinding her teeth in anger.
“I just wanted to help you get back up on your feet.” Sakura said hesitantly, stepping back a bit.
“I don’t need your help! I don’t need you to feed me or to help me walk! I can and will take care of myself.”
Sakura decided it was best to not answer…Ino’s didn’t really mean what she was saying; it was the pain, and the feeling of helplessness that made Ino act like this. So instead Sakura merely watched as her friend struggled in her attempt at standing up. Ino’s right leg quivered heavily as she got herself up to a standing position, although she was swaying dangerously. Taking a couple of steps forward, she did not get far as the pain in her knee arose to the level where it became too much for her to even lift her leg, as she was forced to just stand there helplessly.
A single tear ran down from her cheek from the pain and her failure. Never before had Ino felt this useless…she was after all a skilled chuunin from the leaf, but now because of some broken ribs, wounded knee and concussion she was crippled and defenceless like a child. Quickly she wiped the tear away for she could not let Sakura see her crying.
Sakura shook her head, feeling pity well up in her chest for Ino.
Ino still can’t walk and her wounds are not getting any better. It’s fortunate that I am here with her or she would surely die. She would not even be able to get any help…it’s a long walk to the village.
“Ino…I know you are in great pain, there is no denying that but you need my help. Please stop being so stubborn and admit to yourself that you are seriously wounded and not strong enough to survive on your own.”
“One day…Sakura… You will be the death of me…”
Sakura was not sure what to say to respond to that remark, but didn’t give it another through as she heard a loud crack. She whipped her head around to see a tall tree give way to the strong wind. In an instant Sakura realised it was beginning to fall towards where Ino was standing. Ino looked up and saw what was happening, unable to do anything other than raising her arms up to protect herself as good as she could; she was far too weak and slow at the moment to even move out of the way.
Just like when Sakura had seen how Ino had fallen down from the waterfall, she moved with lighting speed to grab Ino tightly, moving her swiftly upwards as fast as possibly, not able to worry about her injuries at the moment. She wasn’t fast enough though, as she felt something heavy striking her on the head, almost knocking her senseless.
“You…ok…Ino?” Sakura mumbled weakly. Ino turned around, her eyes widening as she saw Sakura’s face. Her eyes were bloodshot and her face was pale, completely devoid of colour, except for the thick red blood that was running down the side of her face.
“Sakura, you’re hurt!” Ino's words echoed inside Sakura's aching head.
“No…I…”
Sakura could not finish her sentence before everything went black. She fell forward onto the ground and did not move.
Ino stared with an open mouth at Sakura’s still body, which showed no signs of life.
“Dammit…this is not good...” Her mind was simply too tired to show any more serious emotional reactions.
Ino was crippled and barely had the strength to move at all. Sakura was unconscious with a severe head injury. Things couldn’t possibly get worse to Ino, but then they did. Something small, wet and cold landed Ino’s head. Looking up to the dark sky, a couple of more water drops landed on her face and rapidly increased before it started to rain so much that it felt like standing in a cold shower.Sakura and I…we are going to die in this forest…
Ino started to go over what she could do to make sure both her and Sakura would survive through the cold and stormy night, not making any progress.
Things were really not looking good for them…
End of chapter 7
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Oh no! Now Sakura is hurt too! What will happen to the two girls? Wait and find out in chapters 8. How far is Ino willing to go to make sure that both of them will survive through the night?
Onwards to Part 8
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