Funny story for this fic actually. Hehehe See, I was taking Health last semester (year) and I was learning about the whole grief response thing, so I come up with an idea to help me remember the steps for a quiz my teacher was gonna give…I aced it! Hahaha Well, let's see what you guys think about it. Read & Review, but no flames.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Sasuke would have never left and SasuIno fans would love me for making them a couple! xD

Summary: When Sasuke left, Ino was the most affected. SasuIno

--Getting Through It--

When Sasuke left Konoha, everyone thought that Sakura had been the most affected. The Haruno spent weeks crying over the Uchiha. After all, she was the one who saw him last and the one who truly loved him; or so people thought.

For anyone who carefully watched Ino, they would have noticed that she had the most difficulty accepting that Sasuke had left. They would have noticed that she was the one who truly loved Sasuke. And for anyone who really paid attention to Ino's face when people said Sakura was the last person to see the avenger, they'd see that her eyes say she was actually the last one to see him. Not Sakura.

People didn't know that the blonde had witnessed the conversation Sasuke and Sakura had held the night the prodigy decided to leave towards Sound. Ino watched as the pink-haired girl begged the Uchiha to stay. The Yamanaka even saw when Sasuke knocked the Haruno out. Yet, people didn't know that after that, she had stepped out of her hiding spot to talk to the Uchiha. She also pleaded him to stay, even daring to encircle the Uchiha's neck. Sasuke told her he'd be back once he finished his revenge and let Ino hug him close. Then he pulled away, and with one quick look at Ino, Sasuke left the blonde standing in the middle of the lonely street. Ino had felt numb; she couldn't believe he was truly gone.

After that night, Ino wouldn't accept he was gone—despite the fact that she had seen him leave. But as the days went by, the cerulean-eyed girl could not take it any more. Shed constantly cry herself to sleep. When she'd wake up, her pillow would still be wet from the previous night's tears.

Then came the day when the Yamanaka felt anger, such as she had never experienced before. She, too, began to despise Itachi Uchiha. He was the reason Sasuke had left the village. If he would have never killed the Uchiha clan, Sasuke would have still been a Leaf shinobi, a happy person, and maybe even with her.

Ino finally came to realize that the Uchiha was gone, and she tried to get him back. She didn't try to retrieve him as Naruto had, by going on missions, because she knew that would never work. Sasuke was too stubborn. So Ino resorted to praying. She'd beg Kami for the raven-haired boy to come back. If the Kami did manage to bring the obsidian-eyed boy back, she'd train more. Not only that, but she would even eat more and stop making fun of Shikamaru and Chouji. If only he could come back, she's do anything Kami would want.

Sasuke was still not back, and Ino began to feel hopeless. No one knew how she felt, not even Sakura, who supposedly loved Sasuke. Ino would pull away from her teammates, who had become deeply worried about her. She'd eat literally nothing—causing her to loose a significant amount of weight—and she's barely talk to anyone. Ino wouldn't even go shopping. Something seriously had to be done.

Throughout a few weeks, all Ino would think about was the last night she had talked to Sasuke. She'd constantly replay that conversation, but with her using different words. In the end of her dreams, she'd convince Sasuke to stay. However, those were only dreams and not reality.

As Ino replayed that memory in her head, something inside her snapped. She realized that despite whatever she would have said, nothing would have changed Sasuke's mind. He would have left anyways. That was when Ino fully accepted that Sasuke had left.

The thought of Sasuke being gone seemed less painful to Ino now. She had forgotten about one thing: Sasuke had said he'd be back. So for now, Ino would have to wait until he does.

Like it? Ino went through the eight steps of the grieving process. Which are Denial or Numbness, Emotional Release, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Remorse, Acceptance, and Hope. Hahahaha This story seriously helped me on my quiz. lol Don't forget to click that button before you leave! Bye!