Principle of Nature
Chapter 11
Recovery

(little to no editing has been done, sorrynotsorry)

xXx

Gaara,

Ino is safe. She was returned to us by an ally, and is getting out of the hospital tomorrow morning. As for Sakura, she's coping. Already, she's back on duty, saving lives. Because of her, your Kami will live to see another day. Are you keeping a tally yet? :)

Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do about your other nin… For that, I am truly sorry. Kumo-san is well and looking after Kami-san. Asuma's team got there in time to save them, at least. A group should be arriving within a day of this note with the bodies for burial.

I appreciate all your help with this, and will be there in return always.

-Naruto

Gaara sighed. Of course, he'd already heard about the deaths, from one of Kumo's apprentices. The boy had been quite distraught over the loss of life, and Gaara gave him the rest of that day off.

He was relieved about Yamanaka, though if asked, he wouldn't be able to explain it. She was a strangely soothing presence, and he had not relished the thought of her demise. Not that it mattered, considering the travesty of the technique trade. He never would have thought Meza a traitor, but he had been. A fucking traitor, ruining every one of his plans.

With a soft growl, Gaara got up, sweeping out of the room. He needed some stress relief. Immediately.

xXx

Kankuro closed the door of his office behind him, sealing it against eavesdroppers and spies. Not that there was anything of the sort in the Playhouse, but he was a shinobi.

With a flare of chakra, he released the seal on the scroll in his hands and tossed it to the floor. It morphed into an image of his second in command.

Red lips were pressed into a thin line as dark eyes surveyed him. "Master Crow. Kami is fine. He will live and his seals are intact. It is safe." Kankuro breathed a sigh of relief. She continued with a grim smile. "As you surmised, the Hokage has agreed to allow us to build. Supplies are plentiful here, and a location has been decided and investigated. Kami will remain in the village after he is well, with me, to make arrangements."

"He's awoken?" he asked, brow arched.

"Yes, he has awoken. Contact the Grass Troupe in two weeks time for a team to be implanted. Kumo out." The woman's image blinked out, and the scroll burned up to a crisp.

Kankuro sighed and sat by his desk. This was good news, news that would please Rain Dancer, as well as Raiki and Mender. His fellow troupe masters had long been wanting to expand to Fire Country, and Kami really did need room to grow. He would make a great troupe master himself.

For now, his plans were going well, though he was sad that Gaara had lost good nin. His brother was likely quite annoyed by that, and Kankuro didn't blame him. It was hard, losing soldiers, harder on the Kazekage than most. His brother truly cared for the shinobi of Suna.

Unfortunately, that was the risk of their line of work. You lost some, you won some. Sometimes you were lucky, gods permitting. Most times, you could only do damage control.

Frowning, he rubbed his neck and stretched his arms, then blinked. Even here, far beneath the city with nearly two miles distance between them, he could feel the insistent call of the Kazekage. Oh dear. Somebody's pissed. Bad news? he wondered, releasing the seals on his office. He closed the door behind him and replaced them, then started for the exit, wondering if he'd need to calm his brother down.

He didn't feel distressed, so that was something at least. It meant no one was in immediate danger from outside sources. Now, whether someone was in danger from Gaara was an entirely too real possibility. Not that his brother would intentionally harm anyone...

That was the problem, unfortunately, so with grim determination, Kankuro hastened to investigate.

xXx

Ino was half asleep, in the middle of the night, when the window at the end of her bed slid up. Of course, she recognized his chakra immediately, and inwardly cringed.

However, she barely caught a glimpse of his profile in the moonlight: messed up brown hair, clan markings dark slashes on tan skin. Then, before he'd even made it off the windowsill, three figures appeared and promptly had him pinned to the floor.

Ino bolted upright in her hospital bed, eyes blowing wide. "No! Don't hurt him! It's Kiba!"

The ANBU trio paused, before the tall one in the Raven mask sighed. "Inuzuka, what are you doing here?"

The downed male grunted from under the pressure of the Sparrow ANBU's knee. "They won't let me see her. I wanted to make sure she really was okay."

Ino sighed and got out of the bed carefully. "It's okay, Sparrow-san. Please let him go?" Sparrow glanced at her, then looked at Raven. Raven nodded, so Sparrow got up and stepped back. Ino knelt next to her friend as he sat up with a scowl. She put a hand on his shoulder. "You're okay. Kiba, come out, please."

There was a poof of smoke as Akamaru transformed back into himself, and Kiba appeared on the windowsill. Raven didn't look surprised, she noticed.

Running her fingers through Akamaru's thick fur, Ino frowned at her ex. He scowled back, though more at the three ANBU than her. "Why the hell is ANBU here?"

Raven tilted his head, and made a gesture. The other two faded into shadows again. Raven remained for a long moment, staring at Kiba. Then he also turned into so much smoke without a single word.

Kiba snarled in annoyance before hopping to the floor. Akamaru went to his side, and he drew a steadying breath. "You okay, Ino?"

She returned his worry with irritation. "I'm fine. As you've been told, repeatedly, over the last three days, Kiba!"

Stiffening, her ex gave her an unhappy look. "I was worried, Ino!" he protested, crossing his arms. "You went missing, and came back heavily poisoned in the arms of a badly injured S Class nukenin!"

He… had a point. Unfortunately. With a sigh, Ino sat down on the edge of her hospital bed. "I'm sorry you were worried, but that isn't an excuse to screw the rules, or disobey my wishes!"

He looked like she'd slapped him, and she almost wished she could take it back. "Your…? You told them not to let me see you?"

"No, I-!" She stopped, swallowing back the instinctive denial. She thought of Sasuke, of Gaara, of Sakura's baby, dead before it ever had a chance. She couldn't do like Sakura was, pick up the pieces and move on. Couldn't pretend none of it happened.

So instead, she swallowed and drew a breath, rubbing her hands over her face. "Yes. I did. Not in so many words, but I did. I didn't want to see you, to face you."

"What the fuck, Ino?" he whispered, looking hurt. Akamaru whined and leaned against him in support.

Ino lifted her shoulders, and let them fall again. Less a shrug, more a gesture of helplessness. "Come on, Kiba. Since when have we ever really worked out together? We're like oil and water, we don't mix. You can't honestly tell me you don't see it. I know you're not stupid, or oblivious."

Kiba hunched in on himself, hurt shifting to anger. "We'll work it out. We always do."

Groaning, she flopped back on the bed. "That's exactly what I'm talking about, Kiba! Yeah, we work it out! But we also always get there to begin with!"

He shook his head. "I don't understand, Ino, are you…?"

She waved him silent. "You don't need to understand, Kiba. You just need to give me space. And I'm not saying 'until I want to get back together.' I mean, walk out there and don't so much as try to talk to me again, until I have myself sorted out."

For a moment, he gaped, but then he took a step, heartbreak all over his face. "Ino… No, I… I'll do better, I'll protect you, I-"

"Shut up, Kiba!" she snapped, standing with her fists clenched. "It's not about you!" She drew a short, sharp breath. "Not just. It's about… It's me."

"Seriously? 'It's not you, it's me,' that's what you're going with?!" he demanded angrily.

Ino threw up her hands. "Yes! Listen, shut up and listen! I've been getting it all wrong! I've been looking at Sakura, at her fucking fairy tale romance with Itachi, and Naruto getting together with his Hyuuga princess, and I'm sitting here, normal, boring, thinking I can live happily ever after with my own knight in shining armor! But it's all wrong! I'm wrong!"

He tried to interject again, looking lost. "But-"

She spoke over him, knowing if she stopped, she may not be able to continue. "Because a man that was my ally, was our ally, our friend, that grew up with us, tried to kill me, Kiba! He tried to kill Sakura! And a man that's been our enemy saved my life with nothing to gain from it! It's all fucked up and none of it fits in with that wonderful, rosy view of the world I grew up with!" She shook her head, fighting tears. "Don't you understand!? It's time for me to grow up. I can't focus on love, on who I'm going to be with someone! I need to be me without someone!"

Kiba stared at her as the room abruptly fell into silence, warm tears tracking down her cheeks. "...don't I get a choice in this, Ino?" he asked, voice a mere whisper.

She shook her head. "No. Not this time, Kiba. Not in this. Go. Walk out of this room. Leave me alone here. Okay? Just go."

For a moment, she thought he wasn't going to, was going to continue fighting her on the matter until she gave in, like she always did. Then he didn't. He turned, and he walked to the door, pulling it open. Kiba didn't look back, and the door slammed shut behind him.

Ino collapsed onto the edge of the bed again, and didn't even try to stifle her tears. She cried, loud and long and hard, because that was the worst thing in the world that she'd ever had to do. And she hated herself for it.

xXx

Sakura was checking his vitals when the Suna nin came violently out of his coma. She felt the snap of chakra strings connecting to her flesh, hooking and holding. He was gasping, his eyes wide and darting.

Sakura's heart went out to him, but she stayed still and silent as he took in the room. Until, that was, something began to rattle and click amongst his things. "What… the hell… is that?"

Blue eyes, a shade darker than Ino's, blinked at her. "... She's Maya. Where am I?"

"Konoha. Who - or what - is Maya?"

"My best friend. Where's Kumo-san?"

"Probably flirting inappropriately with Kaka-sensei." His pack shifted on its own and rattled again. "What the fuck is it?"

Offering her a smile, faintly reminiscent of Sai, he tilted his head. "She's a puppet, of course. Oh, who are you?"

Of course, he says. She sighed. Keeping a weather eye on his pack and its dubious contents, she broke his chakra strings away. "I'm Haruno Sakura, Chief Superintendent for the Konoha Hospital. Kami-san, ccan you tell e what you remember?"

The young man - so startlingly young - blinked slowly and seemed to think about it. "Ah… Ino-san, is she safe?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes. She was released this morning. She's fine." Sakura hesitated, and then gave him the best smile she could manage around the ever-present weight of loss. "Thank you, Kami-san, for risking your life to save her."

"Oh." He looked a little lost for a moment. "You're welcome, Haruno-sama."

"Just Sakura please," she responded. "Can I give you a check over? I need to make sure everything's still okay with your wounds."

Kami nodded. "Yes, Sakura-sama. Just please be careful of the seals."

Snorting, Sakura stepped up next to him, but paused when she heard the door open. Kumo-san stepped in, long hair down for once and cascading down her shoulders in an inky waterfall of blackness. Normally red painted lips were white, and not quirking into a smile as she often did, but that may have been due to the thick mass of paint on her face. A backdrop of black, overlaid by white outlining her skull. A single blue tear touched the corner of her eye.

Kami stiffened. "How many?"

"Only we remain," Kumo-san replied somberly.

Something seemed to pass between the two puppeteers, before all expression drained from Kami's face. "Sakura-sama, may i please speak with Kumo-sama alone?"

Sakura quirked a brow. "After I finish my examination, I can give you ten minutes. That's it."

He blinked. "I-"

"Or I can knock your ass out and deal with Gaara's bitching later," she interrupted, annoyed.

Kumo's fan mande its appearance, and she began to wave it. "Ohoho.."

"Oh. ..of course, Sakura-sama. Ten minutes is fine," Kami amended hastily.

That's what she thought. "Good boy."

xXx

"Kami!" Ino leapt forward and scooped up his hands, tears pricking at her eyes. As soon as she'd heard her friend was awake and cognizant, she'd rushed over. It took some heavy guilt trips and a spent favor to visit out of hours, but she knew it was worth it the moment she saw his face. He wore the Mask of Grief, like Kumo did, so he'd obviously heard about his team. Clearly, he needed a reason to feel good about himself.

Kami squeezed her hands back in greeting and spoke carefully to avoid creasing the paint. "Ino-san. It's good to see you."

"Just Ino. Can I hug you? I've been so worried!" she said softly, giving him a tiny smile.

He blinked slowly, but that was the only sign of his surprise. "I… alright."

Immediately, she slid her arms around his neck, relieved he was alive despite everything. If it wasn't for him, she very well may have died. She owed him so much, and she was so glad he was going to be okay.

"I-Ino-sa- er, Ino, you're crying on my shoulder," Kami said awkwardly after a moment.

She sniffled in response and reluctantly pulled back. "Sorry. I'm just so happy you're recovering."

Blue eyes widened as he looked up at her. "Oh. … thank you."

He was so much like Sai sometimes, she thought with a smile. "So Sakura says you're going to be staying here for a while?" she asked, dragging a chair over to sit next to his bed.

Kami nodded, visibly relieved to be moving on with another route of conversation. It was adorable. "Yes. The Kage want to attempt to continue the exchange, so I am going to stay to replace Meza."

Smiling at him, Ino thought that was just like Naruto and Gaara-sama. Both of them, so determinedly optimistic. "That's great to hear. I'll enjoy seeing more of you."

He made an indistinct noise of agreement, but was considering her curiously. "You are not going back?"

"What? Oh… no, Sakura needs me," she said with a sad laugh and a shrug. "Besides, I have… things I need to work out for myself."

"Ah. Of course." His gaze shifted toward the door.

She followed his focus, turning her head, and a half heartbeat later, there was a light knock. Sakura stepped in, and looked faintly exasperated when she spotted Ino. "It's 8 at night, Ino. Visiting hours were over two hours ago."

Ino winced. "I just wanted to check on him, forehead, don't be such a stickler."

"He needs his rest, Ino Pig," Sakura shot back, brow twitching.

The nickname never failed to annoy her. "Tch. He's fine!"

"He is not, he's exhausted. I wouldn't even be letting him have that crap on his face if he hadn't gone over my head with it!" her best friend snapped, clearly frustrated.

She was in a foul mood today, Ino noticed, and she knew exactly why. Sobering, the blonde sighed. "It's the Mask of Grief, Sakura," she said softly. "He's mourning. It's a puppeteer thing."

Sakura frowned at her, and then sighed. "...I know. He explained it earlier. Look, Ino-"

"I know, I know. He needs his rest," Ino spoke up over her. She got to her feet and turned to smile at Kami. "I'll be by tomorrow, okay? During visiting hours," she shot Sakura a faint grin, and got rolled eyes in response, "So the hardass here doesn't bitch some more. Get some sleep, okay, Kami?"

He nodded. "Alright. Good night, Ino. Sleep well, yourself."

She'd try. "I will!" Waving, she turned and walked over to Sakura, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You know where to find me, huh?"

Drawing a deep breath, her best friend nodded and gave her a wan smile. "Y-yeah… I know. You should… come over tomorrow night. We'll have a sleep over."

"Only if Itachi's shirtless!" Ino chirped in response, and laughed when Sakura rolled her eyes again.

"I'm not letting you oggle my fiance! Get out of here," the pinkette snapped, shoving her playfully out of the room. "And go find Naruto! Apparently he's got some mail for you!"

Mail? Ino opened her mouth to ask, but Sakura snapped the door shut between them. She huffed. "Hardass," she grumbled, but nonetheless headed out of the hospital.

It took her ten minutes to get to the tower, walking. One of the on-duty guards smiled and waved, she let out a rush of breath and darted forward to hug him. "Kotetsu!"

Kotetsu hugged her back with a grin. "Weren't you released this morning?"

"Yeah, and my dad nagged me all day, wouldn't let me leave the house until I had every meal he could force down my throat with him." She grinned back, and turned towards the door. "I'll see you later, kay?"

"Sure thing, Ino-chan." He wiggled his fingers in salutation as she stepped inside the tower.

The receptionist glanced up, then went back to whatever it was she was doing - doodling? - after recognizing the blonde. Ino heaved a sigh as she hit the elevators, taking them upstairs. At the top, she nearly walked right into Shizune upon stepping out. "Aaah! Shizu-sempai!" she squealed excitedly, and promptly hugged the older woman.

Shizune beamed and hugged her back. "Ino-chan! It's great to see you out of the hospital finally. I'd heard you'd been released, but I've been busy with the Hokage and Tsunade-sama all day. We've been in meetings near constantly since… er, we returned."

So since Ino was saved. Good to know. Ino gave her one last squeeze and stepped back. "Is he busy right now? I heard he had some mail for me, which is weird, since he's not the mailman?"

Shrugging at the implied question, Shizune smiled. "He's in there with Sai-kun and Tsunade-sama, but I don't think they're in the middle of a meeting precisely. I was just heading out to get some food."

"Oh, don't let me keep you then, Sempai," Ino said, promptly hopping out of the way. She smiled at her once-teacher. "I'll see you around?"

"Likely, yes. Take care, Ino-chan… It really is good to see you up and about." Shizune gave her a fond smile, patted her shoulder, and stepped into the elevator.

Once the doors swished closed, Ino took a breath and turned to find Izumo quirking a brow at her. "Hi!"

"You're energetic," he replied dryly. "Go right in. Just knock first. And tell our dear Hokage to empty his trash bin?"

She grinned. "Consider your message already delivered. Thanks, Izumo-kun." She waved at him and headed to the door of Naruto's office, knocking before stepping in at the call to enter.

Naruto gave her a bright smile, then blinked when she basically tackled Sai in a hug. "Hey!"

Sai blinked too, and gave her one of his fake smiles. "Ino-chan, it's good to see you. That's what I'm supposed to say, yes?"

She punched him in the arm, delighting in his faint wince, and turned to Naruto. "Sakura said something about mail?"

Grinning, Naruto pulled out a scroll with a broken seal, wiggling his brows at her. "Apparently someone made an impression on my best friend," he teased her, even as she took it.

His best friend? Curiously, she peeked inside, and blinked in surprise to see it was signed by the Kazekage. "Oh. Uhm. Thank you for passing this on," she said, feeling heat creeping up her neck at his suggestive grin. "I'll just go read this! At home!"

Naruto laughed as she waved at the smirking Tsunade in the corner and hastened out of the room. As she pulled his door closed, she heard Sai asking, "Is there something strange about their relationship?" She may actually knock him into next week, but right now, she needed to read Gaara's letter.

xXx

When Ino got back to her apartment, there was a note taped to her door. She frowned and pulled it off, unlocking her door. She didn't open it until she'd closed and locked the door behind her. It was from Kiba.

Ino, I've been thinking about what you said. It sucks, it hurts, and I think it's bullshit. But… I'll respect your want for distance. I know a lot has happened to you lately. Just know that, despite everything, I do care about you. I want you to understand that I'm here, should you want me. It's not much, maybe not even what you need, but it's what I've got. So until you want to talk to me again, this is it. I'll stay away, barring any future missions we may have together.

I love you,

Kiba.

She drew a deep breath and let it out in a rush, feeling tears prickling at the corner of her eyes. No, she wasn't going to cry. She was going to go and make some tea, and accept the note at face value.

Sniffling and fighting to get her emotions under control, despite the ache in her chest, she breathed deep again, then moved to go make some tea. There was a package on her kitchen counter, with a note from Choji.

I made sure all your food was taken care of while you were gone! Here's something to tide you over tonight, from our favorite restaurant. Don't be a stranger, Ino-chan. Shikamaru's being a pain about getting to see you first, so come down to the shop at some point! Miss you,

Cho.

Grinning, she opened the luke-warm container and peeked inside. Sure enough, the take away box contained beef hotpot leftovers. She was amused to note it wasn't entirely full, and put it away in the fridge.

Ino shook her head and checked her cupboards. The shelf items were mostly untouched, though her condiments were decimated. All she had left was soy sauce and an unopened jar of mayonnaise.

She set some water to boil for tea and pulled a stool over to sit down and finally read the Kazekage's letter. However, for a moment, she just stared at the curled paper of the scroll. Why would he write to her? It was no big secret he wrote back and forth with Naruto, but that was Naruto. She was… well, she'd spent some time with him out of work hours. Maybe he was just starved for friends?

Maybe you need to be realistic and stop secretly wishing this is a love letter, she thought scoldingly. She huffed out a short breath and unrolled it.

Yamanaka-san,

I am writing to ask after your health. How do you feel? Naruto thought it was best I ask you myself, but clearly I can't do so in person right now. I hope this letter finds you fully recovered, or at least getting there.

Kankuro also wishes you well. He seems to think you would have a better idea of how Kami's doing than Naruto and the medical professionals, so he wants you to write him about Kami.

Yamanaka-san, I wanted to apologize personally for everything you went through. I understand it was not my fault that you were captured, or harmed, but the situation could have been avoided had I sent an escort back with your team. I am sorry. If you wish, you may write to me at any time, but I will understand if you do not want to. Still, I hope to hear from you soon.

-Gaara

Ino chewed on her lip, absently reaching over to turn off the burner when the pot started to whistle. That was... a lot more subtext than she'd been expecting from Kazekage-sama. He felt guilty that she'd gotten hurt on his watch. Responsible. For her.

How was she supposed to feel about that?

xXx

I'M SORRY IT'S BEEN LITERAL YEARS I'M SO SORRY I'VE BEEN BUSY ADULTING! But, um, here you go? I have been posting stuff on my Ao3 account under the same name, though, so be sure to swing over there occasionally.

To update you guys on current plans, I will be updating ongoing stories on this site, but I won't be posting anything new. All my new stuff will go up on Ao3 and my blog, vaguelyhopeless. Wordpress. Com (remove the spaces obvy). I hope you guys will head on over there!

I AM NOT ABANDONING ANY STORY. Especially not this one! Ino's story for this world still needs to be told! So review, comment, etc. Let me know how you feel about this chapter!

-Lost