I Do Not Own Naruto
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After the Fourth Great Shinobi War the injured were dispersed throughout the Shinobi Allied Forces for care and treatment of psychological traumas and the physical wounds sustained in battle. Shinobi were taken to the village which would suit the needs of their injuries. Many of the critically injured and dying were taken to the Leaf for treatment; among them were:
-Jinchūriki; Uzumai Naruto
-Jinchūriki; Killer B
-Hatake Kakashi
-Raikage; A
-Mizukage; Mei
-Kazekage; Gaara
-Hokage; Tsunade
-Nara Shikamaru
-Temari
-Sai
-Yamanaka Ino
-Akimichi Chōji
And the renowned criminal and rogue-nin:
-Uchiha Sasuke
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Chapter 1
Ino woke up with a dull ache in her soul as she turned her head and looked around the hospital room she had woken up in. Turning her head she found herself looking at the inky black eyes that always had her heart stuttering a bit as she stared at him.
"Hello," he said softly, she smiled a bit at his sweet answer as she looked back at the ceiling. She had lost her father, and she was so terrified she'd never made him proud of her. After all, she was his daughter, and she hadn't really been spectacular at being a kunoichi. She wasn't Tsunade's star pupil, she wasn't the best with the Yamanaka secret family jutsu and she wasn't anything really special. Her breath hitched as she closed her eyes and tried to steady herself as she lay there.
"Do you need me to get Sakura, Beautiful?" he asked, her eyes flew open then as she looked over to Sai. He'd always sent her heart fluttering and stuttering, and all sorts of other nonsense that had her losing her typical confidence faltering. The strangest part in her mind, was he was the most socially challenged man on the face of the planet, and he had her stumbling, tripping and shy.
"No, I'm good, she's probably busy anyways," Ino smiled.
"No, Ugly is just guarding the traitor," Sai informed her. Ino's head snapped over to him as she stared at his description of Sakura, and of who she was protecting.
"You mean Sakura's taking care of Sasuke?" Ino asked as she slowly sat up. However, her stabbing pain in her side had her hissing in pain as she grabbed her broken ribs. Fuck! She forgot how much broken ribs hurt!
"Yes, but Ugly is guarding the traitor as well, she sent someone flying from the hospital the other day," Sai informed her with a smile as he lay there.
"Really?"
"Yes, she sent a Cloud-nin flying from the hospital with a punch," he said in his cheery tone which had her snickering, she winced then groaned as she fell back against the pillows. This sucked, she hated broken ribs!
"That's Sakura," she decided. "How about you, Sai? How are you holding up?"
"Three broken ribs, a concussion, two fractured vertebra, a broken arm, and a five fractured bones in my hand, a fractured tibia, and broken femur," he answered her as they lay there.
"Ow," she moaned, she was lucky and only had broken ribs, that she could feel.
"They have given me wonderful medication and care, I do not feel it," he said cheerful. She smiled at him as she sat there hugging her ribs.
"Hmm, they need to give me those drugs," she mused.
"I can ask a medic who is still up to get you the medication," he answered her. She turned to smile at him in amusement as they lay there in the hospital.
"No, that's alright, Sai, I'm good," she assured him as she gingerly rubbed her ribs.
"Alright, Ugly said to tell her when you woke up," he said.
"You can call her Sakura," she pointed out in laughter as she lay there as she winced, hugged her ribs again, and then curled on her good side then.
"Yes, but nicknames are for bonding between teammates," Sai insisted. She snickered again as she hugged her ribs then.
"Yes, but I don't think Sakura likes being called 'Ugly'," Ino mused.
"Hm… she has never seemed to mind," Sai said seriously. She smiled as she noticed the serious way he started pondering this.
"Really, Sai? Really? She slugs you all the time you call her that?" she turned her head, she smiled at Naruto leaning on the frame of the door holding his IV as he grinned.
"Ugly would've told me if she minded, Dickless," Sai insisted.
"Hey Naruto," she smiled.
"I Am Not Dickless!" Naruto roared as he hobbled in to the crowded room and took a seat then. "Hey Ino," Naruto smiled.
"Where's Sakura?" Ino asked.
"She's guarding Sasuke, he's unconscious before you ask," Naruto said and she frowned.
"Is anyone with her?" Ino softly inquired. If she was dealing with Sasuke, Ino didn't want Sakura to be alone.
"No," Naruto tilted his head as he thought this over. She slowly got up, wincing at every move as she grabbed the IV she was hooked up to.
"Naruto, you can have my bed for the time being, what floor is Sasuke on?" Ino asked, she noticed the other broken Leaf shinobi here as she got to her feet then. Carefully she walked out, her ribs were singing in pain with every step she took.
"Top floor, northwest corner, she won't move," Naruto informed Ino.
"Of course she won't, Sakura's the second most stubborn person ever born," Ino pointed out as she slowly made her way to the door.
"Who's the first?" Sai asked her.
"The moron she happens to be in love with!" Ino snapped as she hobbled through the hospital which was over flowing with the injured from this war. The civilian doctors hurried about with the shinobi medics, however, she only noticed that her pink friend was nowhere to be seen as she made her way through the moaning, the pained, and the dying to the elevator. Hitting the button to go up she waited for the elevator and fought her tears back by sheer will power as she waited for the elevator. She could hold herself together for the moment. She could hold herself up.
Once the elevator was there she got in and went to the top floor to hunt up her pink friend. Slowly she made her way up to the top floor, when the elevator dinged she was greeted with one very crossed looking pinkette.
"If you're coming for him I swear!" she started then blinked.
"Hey Sakura," she smiled weakly. "Heard you could use some company."
"Hey Ino, you shouldn't be up, come on," she said as she guided her towards the bench then.
"How are you doing Sakura?" Ino asked softly.
"How is Ugly doing?" Sai asked the moment Naruto took a seat on Ino's bed.
"Sakura's holding up." Naruto answered grimly.
"What happened to your arm, Dickless?" Sai asked. Naruto scowled at him but didn't fight him on the nickname. Sai wondered why that was, but he didn't dwell too much on it as he waited for Naruto to speak.
"War, Sasuke lost his too so we're even!" Naruto smiled foxishly, Sai just sighed. That wasn't a good answer, mostly because even he could figure out what it meant. Naruto and Sasuke had obviously had a fight, and it had obviously ended up with Naruto losing his arm, and from what Naruto was saying, Sasuke had also lost his arm. He wasn't too certain that was something to be smiling about though.
"What did you two do?" he asked him.
"Nothing really, just hashed out a few things, and the teme apologized! I'm the best!" Naruto declared childishly as he sat there grinning. Sai didn't say anything to this because he didn't think Sakura was too happy about that. She was probably furious with Sasuke and Naruto for having tried to kill each other. She had every right to be pissed at those two, he knew it but he couldn't find it in him to be angry with Naruto. After all, Naruto was like his brother, Shin, and it always made him feel accepted. Even for his blunders. However, he was worried about Ugly.
Though she hid it well, he knew she did, he had spent a lot of time analyzing and deciphering the mysteries of Haruno Sakura and knew just how much the traitor and dickless meant to her. The perv and creepy eyes also meant a lot to her, but he knew she valued the traitor and dickless the most. She also valued him, like a brother, and had even been helping him with people since she had found him in the library reading about human interactions. But she must be in a lot of pain right now, her family had tried to kill each other.
"And Ugly is alright with this?" Sai inquired.
"Uh… she hasn't hit me yet so… yes?" Naruto didn't sound too certain about this however Sai was not going to press the matter. He'd bug Sakura about it later.
"Who won the war?" Sai asked then.
"We did! But you should know this, or did that blow to your head take out your memories with your manners?" Naruto asked flatly. Sai smiled pleasantly then.
"At least I have manners," he pointed out flatly which had Naruto's jaw dropping as they sat there and then Naruto started yelling at him all sorts of obscenities.
"I leave you two alone for fifteen minutes and you're at each other's throats!" a voice sliced through Naruto's shouting and he looked to Ino who was walking into the room perfectly alright. She looked more annoyed than anything as she stalked over to Naruto. "Sakura wasn't kidding to keep you two separate, Naruto, Sakura's asking for you by the way, and Sai, I'm here with you until you're healed. She said she'd be by when Kakashi relieved her to come fix a few of your bones, you'll need surgery to fix your hand, it's worse than just fractures; she's been examining your x-rays and preparing to do that. However, I'm to fix your leg while I'm up. She just healed my ribs."
Beautiful chattered away nervously as she walked to him. He noticed how much easier the blonde was moving as Naruto left him.
"What did Ugly want with Dickless?" Sai asked once Naruto was gone.
"Nothing, but she said to use that as an excuse to separate you two," she answered. "Now, hold still, I'm going to try to fix your leg and I don't have much chakra right now."
"Please, do not trouble yourself," he insisted. His leg was fine, the pain killers the nurses and medics had him on had him feeling lighter than a cloud and as high as a kite, he was quite content at this moment as he sat there smiling. However, the pale pupil-"less eyes of the Yamanaka glared back at him balefully which had him panicking a bit and wondering if he should hit the button Ugly had left him to call for help should he need it. Beautiful had the same mean look in her eyes that Ugly also got just before he was punched and laying on the ground in an immense amount of pain.
"Do you doubt my skills as a medic?" she demanded in a sharp tone which had his hazy mind snapping to attention. Though he didn't doubt that the Yamanaka woman was strong he did not think her as strong as Ugly, but he would still prefer to avoid being struck than not. He was in enough pain as it was, and if it weren't for the 'happy drugs' he was on then he'd probably be a ball of blubbering pain.
"N-no, Beautiful, I did not want you to waste your chakra on me if you didn't need to use it," he stammered earnestly. It was truthfully his reason for insisting she not bother with aiding him. Ugly would pummel him to a bloody pulp if her best friend collapsed after having aided him in healing.
"Well, I'm doing this so shut up Sai," Ino said firmly.
"Yes ma'am," he squeaked out, but he watched her closely as she placed her cool slim fingers on the skin of his elevated leg and he felt her chakra spread over his leg as she gently started prodding in him. He did not react as he watched her focus, it was when he saw her waver that he slowly reached out and touched her before she could collapse. Ino stumbled a step from his hand then tripped to sit on the bed before she fell onto her side and sighed.
"Fricking useless!" she hissed.
"Thank you Beautiful," he said when he looked at his once throbbing leg and it felt… normal again. "I feel much better, but you shouldn't tax yourself," he said with a smile.
She stared at him, then she smiled slightly as she fell asleep. He just looked around the full hospital room of the moaning and pained, and wished his writing hand wasn't broken because he desperately wanted to paint. Painting or drawing would sooth his nerves, it always had.
I have other 'Until the Day I...' stories with entwined events and over lapping time lines they are:
-Until the Day I Act [Shikamaru & Temari]
-Until the Day I Die [Sasuke & Sakura]
-Until the Day I Happen [Chōji & Karui]
-Until the Day I Love [Naruto & Hinata]
That's all for now folks!
Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)