Who Am I?

Chapter 28: Headaches

Ino wasn't sure she was ready to hear what Sai had to tell her, but the logical part of her knew that she needed to hear everything that was happening. At the moment, she was going with her gut, and her gut was telling her to trust Sai. She'd listened to enough medical lingo from Sakura to know that while her memories were fuzzy and disjointed, her natural reactions to things were her best bet.

"Yeah... I'll do my best to try and remember from what you tell me." Ino reached up and rubbed her temples, running a hand through her too-short hair. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had it this short.

"Okay." Sai took a deep breath before he began to explain, going slowly backwards. He told her about the attack at Sakura's house, how she'd asked for his help to get some boxes. He left out their spat; the last thing he wanted to do was try and explain that too quickly. Going that direction was what had set her off in the first place. Ino struggled to wrap her head around exactly what was happening, though parts of it made sense. If she was a prosecutor, no, the District Attorney, that meant she was a high-profile target. She would've put a lot of people away, and there would be a lot of people unhappy about that. She'd dreamt of getting that far, but it was baffling to think she had.

"Okay, so... Where is Sakura, then?" That particular question was nagging at her. Sakura would have been here if she could; if she couldn't, then it had to be very serious. Sakura would have dropped everything–studying, exams, assignments, classes, the like if her best friend was in the hospital, and Ino would have done the same.

Sai sighed. "That's... the difficult part. In the course of our investigation, things turned... dark. Something big is going on here, Ino, something bigger than what we were expecting. They got caught in the middle, and..." Sai wished he had an answer for her, but he didn't. They hadn't been found, which meant they were likely alive... or they were dead somewhere they weren't going to be found.

"And what?" Ino demanded. What was Sai getting at? Caught in the middle? And who was 'they'? Was Sakura with someone? Groaning, Ino put a hand on the side of her head; it was starting to hurt trying to think all of these things through.

"Hey, don't push yourself," Sai coaxed, reaching to rub her shoulder gently. "Sakura and Detective Uchiha went on the run. I don't know where they are, and that's for the better. Right now... I'm trusting that they're okay and that not hearing from them or not hearing anything about their whereabouts means they're doing an excellent job of hiding. That's what we need right now: for them to be safe and hidden." Ino was mildly relieved to hear that, although she was saddened that her best friend had been caught up in such a massive conspiracy.

"So... why did she go on the run with Detective Uchiha?" That was the other part that had her puzzled. It was a name she recognized, but she couldn't remember anything more than that.

"They are... in a romantic relationship," Sai confirmed. Ino's eyes widened at that news. Sakura, in a romantic relationship? Damn, that was a surprise. Her friend was sweet, but she wasn't the most outgoing person, especially in the romance department. From Ino's perspective, she was the queen of self-sabotage by being too shy and too self-conscious. Uchiha must have done something grand if he managed to get her out of her shell enough to commit to something. Nevertheless, Ino knew if Sakura had committed like that, it meant she was happy and genuinely in love. Sakura didn't do that kind of thing half-assed.

"Wow. That's... unexpected." She was still processing it. "Well... as long as she's happy, and as long as he looks after her, that's all that matters." Somehow she knew she could trust Uchiha, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Just as she was processing what questions to ask next, there was a knock at the door, and a woman Ino recognized: Dr. Tsunade Senju, one of the doctors Sakura was studying under. More accurately, Sakura had been helping her with a research project as part of her education.