Disclaimer: I don't own it

This is like a super quick update from my usual standards. Haha. So tell me what you think, Please READ AND REVIEW! Im not sure how light the next chapter is, but this one is pretty angsty.

So enjoy the angst.

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Chapter 10- The Pain that Makes or Breaks Us

"Is that really…" Naruto did not want to finish his sentence and let his last syllable drift of into the blaringly loud silence that was only broken by a few muffled sobs varying in volume every few moments. He did not want to believe that the people in front of him were truly the people that they were… it just seemed so impossible, it seemed to jar every thought that he had and every notion he had believed in about the social workings of the world.

"Things really are never as simple as they seem are they?" Sasuke mused quietly, knowing the answer better than anyone besides himself could imagine.

Hinata blinked the tears from her eyes and looked at the raven haired boy who sighed so softly that if one had not been paying such rapt attention in every noise that made it self known in the general vicinity, they would have missed it altogether.

"Ino Yamanaka… Sakura Haruno…" Hinata's voice was only a fraction louder than Sasuke's small exhale of breath. From their view on the other side of the window everything was painfully visible.

"My God…" The milky eyed girl breathed as realization set in. Tall, strong, obnoxious, and popular Ino Yamanaka was huddled on the floor with her arms wrapped around herself. Her eyes were full of tears that stained her designer shirt and made her makeup run leaving dark trails down her cheeks. Sakura kneeled beside her and clutched her closer to her person in a tight embrace rubbing comforting circles on her back.

Sasuke momentarily thought to the jumping and squealing fangirls they had been about 8 hours ago… things are truly, truly, truly, never how they seem. They were just a memory from this instant in time and had been distorted into something more tragic. He knew how harshly the confrontation of death could change someone quicker than a blink of an eye.

"I wonder what happened…" Naruto said his eyes wide; unblinking as he fought between staring shamelessly at the scene and tearing his eyes away.

"I know it's not my place… but… what they're going through… is…" Sasuke muttered now inside what Naruto (and Hinata, but mostly Naruto) had dubbed "Sasuke-world." Whenever the Uchiha would cease to respond and adopt a far away look in his eyes, instead of being startled anymore, they just knew he was in his own little world thinking only God knows what. Naruto knew Sasuke wasn't merely being rude when he blatantly ignored him. There was always this strong underlying understanding between them.

"Teme, we can't just do nothing." Those words seemed to bring Sasuke back to Earth as his eyes refocused and he tilted them upwards to meet Naruto's saddened blue ones.

Sasuke thought that was one of the most beautiful things about Naruto, his ability to overlook what others had done to him. No matter how cruel Ino and Sakura could be to him at school, there wasn't a chance in hell that he would just sit there and let them suffer in silence.

Someone was dying that Ino obviously loved very much and both boys, whether they knew it or not, could empathize all too well with that.

Sasuke pushed open the door. After that, 2 things happened.

1. Ino and Sakura both started, jumping in unison obviously shocked. They stared at the three intruders especially the front most one with the raven hair. They were obviously surprised and confused by the looks in their red blotchy eyes and the expressions on their messy faces.

2. Ino launched herself forward dragging Sakura along with her. They slammed into Sasuke fast and hard who stepped back only slightly to balance the sudden oncoming weight. Sakura had the awareness to step away and stroke Ino's hair while the blond clutched at Sasuke for some sort of comfort.

Sasuke knew this was wrong and it might give her the idea he returned her feelings, but he knew if he pushed her away it could shatter her fragile state of mind. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around her shoulders ignoring the signals in his mind that were blaring from the sudden personal and physical contact. By the shocked expressions on his two friends' faces, he knew that that had not been the expected reaction.

Ino began to cry harder and Sakura did too. Yet she did not look the least bit jealous of Ino. Just saddened by her best friend's state.

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After 5 solid minutes of pure agony, Sasuke had managed to guide Ino to the couch located in the hospital room. It was easy to tell the Yamanakas were loaded. The room was actually 3 rooms put together. There was a large sitting room complete with large cushy sofas and an ornate coffee table. The walls were actually a pale red instead of the blinding white people on the international hospital decorating committee seemed so fond of. There was a large bathroom complete with shining marble tiles, full wall mirrors, a bathtub Jacuzzi and a clean toilet as the second room and then another room which seemed to be closed off. There was merely a shut door, but behind that, it was obvious that there was a patient lying in a bed—a patient who was very close to Ino and maybe Sakura too.

The latter had taken Ino back, detaching her from Sasuke's side and gotten her to calm down enough that intelligible phrases could be derived from her with a little effort.

Everyone seemed as if they had left their personalities at the door. Ino who was usually so outspoken and headstrong was now whimpering weakly on Sakura's shoulder. Sakura who was usually mean and Sasuke-fangirling hadn't even asked why they had suddenly shown up, but just smiled and welcomed them in. Hinata was usually so timid, but she was stroking Ino's hair just as softly as Sakura was. Naruto was usually obnoxious, but his bubble nature was quickly sobered by the situation and he had not said a single thing about his pink haired crush's beauty. He merely knelt down beside the couch and looked ready to help when and if he was called upon. But as everyone would agree, if they were in any sort of the right state of mind to, the most surprising was the change that had overcome Uchiha Sasuke. Normally cold and distanced, he was now sitting close to Ino and letting her wet his shirt with her tears.

People tended to jump to the conclusion that because he spoke little and when he did, was painfully honest, that he was also heartless. Sasuke understood where they came from, but also knew that he was not. Detached, mentally screwed and impassive, but he was not heartless. Just because he wear his heart on his sleeve didn't mean he didn't have one tucked up inside him… maybe even closer to the surface than people ever realized.

He'd met enough heartless people over the years to know that he was not in the same league as those types of people. When you're surrounded by so much corruption and heartlessness the weakness of the human soul first wants to succumb to the corruption. There were a few who chose to use the pain that comes from coming in contact with those people and use it to fuel their fight against it and become better people than most. Sasuke was like that. He truly cared for the weeping girl next to him and wanted to ease her pain so she would not have to suffer the way he had so many times before.

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"Rika is my younger sister… she's only… she—she's only six years old and was diagnosed with lung cancer. We don't know how she got it but it might have been due to complications du-during her birth. She was always a w-weak child, we never knew it was this bad but there's a lot of smoke and toxins coming fr-from the fac-Actory n-near her school." Ino had calmed down and was trying to explain to them the situation. Her eyes were still unfocused and she looked as if she were telling someone else's story rather then her own. Her voice was void of feeling.

"It's not supposed to happen this way… she's not supposed to die before me when she is so much younger. I've been building up all of these horrible feelings and then suddenly I just let go. I can already feel myself closing up again." Ino's voice was calm and level now and the sight was heartbreaking. "I can just go back to school and pretend that everything is alright as long as I am like this when really, I can't explain to anyone how scared I am and how much this hurts."

Her words were cut off by a sudden silence which seemed to drag on, the only person not aware of it being Ino herself.

Then someone interrupted it—Sasuke, who was just apparently full of surprises that night.

"Ino," She looked up suddenly, her head snapping up so quickly whiplash looked like a possibility. "It's not a crime to not feel, alright. It's not something you should try and hide, it will build up even worse and as time goes by it will keep building up and somewhere down the road from now, maybe it will be years or months, but it will explode from you, all those emotions, and it will be 10 times as worse as it is tonight. "

He took a deep breath, thinking back to what he had learned over the years ignoring his conscious which was currently shouting at him, 'maybe you should PRACTICE what you PREACH.'

"Grief and pain can destroy you before you even know what is happening. It will change and warp you in ways that are irreversible. Right now it's early. You're strong and you can overcome it. Face what hurts the most and yeah, it will hurt like hell right now, but if you work to overcome it, use the pain that you're feeling to try and help it heal, you will be able to move on. If you bottle it up inside you, it will only hurt worse in the long run."

Ino absorbed his words like a sponge hanging onto every breath that he took and every syllable. Somehow, they all had a strong feeling that he was speaking from personal experience… it was obvious enough by the way he acted now.

"And you have people… here, now, everyone in this room, wants to help you. Reality is going to happen, and time will keep moving, there's nothing you can do with it but come to terms with that. Come to terms with the fact that Rika might die. Do anything but lock your emotions away." Sasuke slowly rose into a standing position. Ino's reddened eyes never leaving his form. He carefully reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a small white handkerchief. It looked meticulously folded and pressed, it's edges were decorated with a delicate navy blue embroidery. He placed it in his hand and outstretched it to her.

"Take this, let it out, and wipe your face. When you're ready we'll be here to help you get through this."

The occupants of the room besides the raven had not bothered to say anything and sat in awe of the compassion that Sasuke had been hiding. Every word seemed to be the exact word that Ino needed to hear.

Slowly a small, hesitant smile found its way upon the blond girl's lips making her smudged and tear stained face look much brighter. She reached up and took the handkerchief from Sasuke and dried her eyes.

"Thank you, Sasuke." Her voice was sincere and level. Her eyes were just the same, full of hope and relief of the support she was receiving while at the same time tinged with the pain that could not be so easily dismissed. No longer did they hold the blank and emotionless look that they had tried to adopt before. When she spoke his name she did not squeal or add the high pitched "—kun". Not only was she ready to start trying to accept her sister's fate instead of blocking it off, she was ready to start treating Sasuke and his friends like people than rather some type of idol and as dorks. Her eyes caught Sakura's green ones and the pink haired girl smiled through tears of happiness completely in understanding.

Who knew that he had held that type of compassion?

"Come on, we'll walk you guys home." Sasuke stated.

"Yeah, maybe we could get some ramen! There's a 24-hour place I know." Naruto mentioned as his stomach grumbled suddenly, completely interrupting the atmosphere.

"Uhh… heh…"

Nobody spoke for a moment. Then a soft giggling was heard from Hinata's mouth until it got louder. The other two females in the room looked at the violet haired girl in surprise, having never heard her speak much let alone giggle. Then suddenly Naruto's loud rumbling laugh erupted from his mouth joining in with Hinata. Unable to and definitely not wanting to stop themselves, Ino and Sakura joined in. Their laughs for the first time the trio had ever heard were not squealing and high-pitched, but full of life and real. And the Uchiha? A sincere smile touched his lips and his eyes were brighter than usual.

Yet they still held that closed off look that he had warned Ino of. The one he worked so hard to make sure that she would not one day call her own.

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