Who Am I?

Chapter 14: Supports

After their soak in the hot tub, both girls got comfortable on one of the beds, a bowl of popcorn in between them to share as they turned on a few movies. Comedy was the choice of the night; they both needed the catharsis. After the movie was done, they sat on the bed, Ino with a hand extended as Sakura removed her old nail polish.

"So you'd mentioned you wanted to talk to me about something?" Sakura asked her, drawing the blonde out of her thoughts. Oh, right... that. Ino's face fell as Sakura brought it up, searching for the words she wanted.

"It's the whole... Hagi Yamakichi thing," she began, rubbing her forehead with her free hand. "I just... I don't know how to take it." Sai had helped when it came to things, but not as much as she really needed.

"What do you mean by that? I mean, no one's expecting you to take it well, but... It sounds to me like that's not exactly what you mean." As always, Sakura could tell when something was up. Damn her intuition sometimes.

"It's kind of hard to explain, but... It feels like I don't know who I am anymore. It's like my identity's been stripped away, like the person I thought I was no longer exists because it's all been a lie." Sakura finished with her hand, gesturing for her to hand over the other one.

"That's ridiculous," the pinkette scolded. "Ino, the most that has changed is that you know that you've been lied to your whole life. You're still the same person you've always been, and that's never going to change. You have the chance to be who you want to be now. Do you want to take on Hagi Yamakichi, or do you want to be Ino Yamanaka? That's the only decision you have to make. If you ask me, Ino Yamanaka has a much nicer ring to it." Sakura chuckled. "Otherwise, that doesn't change what you've accomplished. You were what... two when all of that happened? Come on. Who in their right mind will prosecute someone who was two years old when they went missing? Hell, we could put you under a polygraph, and you'd pass with flying colours. I know you. You're my sister in every way except by blood. If anything happens, I will have your back. That much I can promise you."

Sakura's words touched Ino's heart deeply. Her best friend--no, her sister--was the sweetest, most kind person she knew. How could she manage to make things better with her bright presence so easily?

"Thanks, Sakura. I appreciate that. However..." Ino gave her a heavy stare. "I'm not going to let you get away with staying quiet, either. Come on. Tell me what happened with Sasuke. I know you. If you bottle it up, you'll just crumble under the weight of it. You always do." Ino knew what Sakura had been trying to do all day: avoiding the issue was her specialty. She'd hold it all in and stay nothing, shouldering the weight of everyone else's problems before she dared talk about her own.

"I... what is there really to talk about?" Sakura asked, her shoulders dropping. "He just... he said that I didn't understand. He just snapped at me when I was trying to help, and I don't know why. He just left, and he didn't come home, he didn't say anything, he wouldn't answer any messages or calls, so... so I just..." Sakura began to tear up, and Ino watched with agony as the pinkette buried her hands in her face and sobbed.

"I just... I was putting too much pressure on him," she choked out. "With--with all of this new stuff for him, new stuff with us, just... I-I pushed too far, I overstayed my welcome, and we just moved too fast. I screwed it up; I screwed all of it up because I wanted more." The poor pinkette was to the point of sobbing now; Ino could see the guilt and agony in her posture. Oh, she was going to kick Sasuke's ass. She was going to march right up to his front door, kick it down if she had to, and give him the worst verbal lashing he'd ever seen.

But right now... She had her best friend to look after. Reaching her hands forward, she pulled the smaller girl in close, holding her tightly. She'd never seen Sakura this upset. Never in her life. Not even in high school after their little spat. For as kind and gentle as she was, Sakura was a sensitive soul, blaming herself even if the blame fell on others.