Past Wounds... ~Ino only!~

[Haruno Sakura]

"And... there, finished."

Sakura sighed and cut the extra thread with a small pair of scissors. She had just completed the last surgery of the day. It was a young girl, a genin, who had taken a pretty hard fall down a rough cliff during her last mission. The result? Her right femur broke in a compound fracture, which required pins to be put in. It was a fairly gruesome wound, though nothing too difficult to fix. The little ninja would be back on her feet in no time.

“Good job today, girls!”

A medical ninja said over her shoulder as she and one other wheeled the unconscious girl out of the operating room and to her hospital bed. Sakura nodded and removed her bloody gloves and the surgical mask from her face,

“Thanks, you too!”

She replied with a smile. Another successful operation complete! Sakura thought with a smile. It had been a long day of non-stop surgeries in the stuffy, little room and under the boiling hot medical lamps. Though, Sakura didn’t mind. She enjoyed her new-found profession in the medical trade. Performing the surgeries made her feel useful to the village and less like the burden she use to be three years ago. Sakura placed her gloves on the little table beside her, and then turned to look up at the remaining figure in the room. She smiled,

“Thanks for your help today, Ino! You did great on that last surgery.”

Sakura walked over to the little window overlooking the rest of Konoha. She pulled up the windowsill and sighed as a gust of cool air filled the room. Her eyes remained on the beautiful sight of her home, with the sun setting just over the surrounding forest and the cheerful voices of people living their lives down below. She turned back to look at her friend and fellow medical ninja.

“Well, these scalpels aren’t going to clean themselves. Let’s wash them up and then head out for a cup of tea or something…”

She said with a smile and walked over to the little table. Blood stained tools laid neatly on pieces of absorbent cloth, the sight of which would have grossed her out a few years ago. Now, older and more experienced, Sakura no longer felt queasy at open wounds or fresh blood, instead handling the situation with ease like her sensei. Without a second thought she grabbed the tray that the utensils were in and carried them over to the sinks. She picked up a scalpel and began washing it under the warm running water with a little soap. As she cleaned it a usual thought popped into her mind. The tool reminded her of a certain medical ninja who fought using similar scalpels… Kabuto. Of course, thinking of Kabuto makes me think of Orochimaru, which inevitably makes me think of… him. Sasuke. A day never went by when she didn’t think of him, wondering how he is, …if he’s even alive…? No! No, don’t think like that, Sakura. He is alive… I can feel it.
Sakura bit hard down on her lower lip, hoping the pain would keep such thoughts at bay. The attempt was inevitable though, his face still flashed in her mind’s eye. Oh, Sasuke… you gave me a wound that may never heal, the night you left the village… The thought rang through her mind. She stopped her cleaning, the scalpel still in hand, her mind else where.

Sasuke, I promised… Naruto promised… we will bring you home.

[Yamanaka Ino]

When the last thread was snipped off, the atmosphere of the room instantly relaxed. All of the girls mopped their sweaty brows, careful not to get any blood onto their foreheads. Everyone was fatigued from the long day, but satisfied with the overall outcome of the day. The medical lamp was switched off and the battleship gray walls of the operating room no longer wore their bright glares; the walls returned to their dull, but comforting state. Ino sighed. The girls filed out of the room, congratulating each other on how well the surgery went.

Removing her gloves and setting them on the table beside Sakura's, Ino rubbed at her wrists. Her wrists had rings of red welts from wearing the gloves for such a long period of time. As she rubbed at the ridges, she felt the ping of relief she always felt after such a successful day. It looked like the young genin wouldn’t have too much pain if she took her medicine every few hours. Ino knew from when the genin was first admitted that she wouldn’t be out for too long but would require to a take a very bitter concoction by mouth to relieve her pain.

“Thanks for your help today, Ino! You did great on that last surgery.” Ino grinned,” Thanks! She took a pretty bad fall, didn’t she?” Ino asked rhetorically. It felt more than natural to be exchanging compliments about repairing injured femurs to Ino. This is where I’m needed, Ino happily thought, finally pleased that she was no longer deemed useless. She heard Sakura gather up the bloodstained tools. They clanged noisily as she set them beside the sink. “Well, these scalpels aren’t going to clean themselves. Let’s wash them up and then head out for a cup of tea or something…” Sakura suggested.

Ino stood beside Sakura and took the wet scalpel from her. She was careful not to slice open her fingers. Ino was well-aware from previous experiences that that kind of wound took ages to stop bleeding. She took the tattered old rag and slid it down the scalpel’s metal surface. Ino set down next to the sink. “Tea sounds great,” Ino was thoroughly exhausted. It was a good kind of exhaustion, though.

Sakura and Ino monotonously continued their routine in silence, too tired for small talk. A hot cup of tea would fix that. Ino’s eyes fixed on Sakura’s hand. Dainty, but perfect for tedious work like surgery. Although Ino could easily diagnose someone’s profession by their hands, everything about Sakura suggested her expertise in the medical field. Ino was conscious that Sakura had developed more than anyone from their genin days. Ino felt envious, but not the same kind of rage she would have felt in the past. This felt more like a reason for her to improve even more then she had. Ino realized long ago that Sakura was a colossal influence to her maturity; both of them were to each other. Ino knew her own background with botany at least gave her an advantage in that area. Still, Sakura never failed to raise her standards.

Ino glanced at her long-time rival and took note of her teeth sinking into her bottom lip. Ino quickly returned to wiping the scalpels but realized that Sakura was too heavily submerged in her thought to notice, anyway. Ino finished up the last pair of scissors, and set them neatly on the tray. She unlocked the cabinet and replaced the tray back onto their designated shelf. Ino removed an empty bottle out of the cupboard. “Someone must have put this in here by accident,” she said musingly. “It was probably the new girl. Oh, well.” Ino tossed the bottle into the bin, for it to be cleaned out later and reused.

Ino’s tight grin dissolved. She touched Sakura’s shoulder. It was obvious that she was thinking of Sasuke… Ino could not think of many days where either of them hadn’t. She couldn’t resist the concerns from creeping into her head. That was one of the best parts of performing surgical treatment; there was never a second to spare to these overwhelming thoughts. Ino grabbed Sakura’s hand, hoping to distract the both of them.
“Come on, I’m dying for something to drink right now.” Ino considered racing her for old time’s sake, but the pain the thought brought her told her otherwise. Leave it to Sasuke to transform innocent notions into tenderness. She knew that as much as they all tried to divert themselves, there was only one thing that could heal all of these wounds. This operation would take more than a few hours underneath a hot-lamp’s searing glare… it might even take them a lifetime.

[Haruno Sakura]

((Sorry this is rather short, I'm having writer's block... plus I havn't role played in a few months. Once I get back into the swing of things, my posts will be much longer! ))

Sakura looked up into Ino's gentle blue eyes. She knew just who had been on her mind, of course. It was hard to believe that just a few years ago, they were fighting over Sasuke's heart. They ha been friends before, but once they met Sasuke, everything fell apart. For years the two of them attempted to get him to fall in love with one of them, but it only proved to annoy him. Looking back now, it seemed so childish...
The thought made her smile. Life back then seemed so... simple. They were just genin in their squads, fulfilling their daily missions, and trying to get along. Now, everything was different. Everyone had grown up, they were no longer kids. Most of them were chunnin, some even jounin. Missions were dangerous, some of their fellow ninja never came back. But, I guess that's the kind of life you sign up for when you become a ninja. There's always a risk in every mission, always the chance that you may never return..
Sakura sighed and looked down at her hand in Ino's. And yet, through all the pain, friendship can blossom... She smiled softly. It was good to see that they were back to being friends, even if they were still a bit competitive sometimes. She looked back up at Ino, her smile grew,

"I miss him... a lot. Though, at least I know that I'm not alone. We will bring him back."

She said, her voice growing in strength. Sakura, Naruto, everyone had promised to bring him back to the village, and they would no matter how long it took. Everyone had suffered to much to try and save him already to just let him die at the hands of Orochimaru. No, they would bring him back no matter what.
Feeling better, she released her hand gently from Ino's grasp. Sakura walked over to the open window, and let her eyes gaze over her village, her home, as night crept over the horizon. The scene was beautiful and solemn, but it filled her with strength.

"We will."

Sakura whispered. She let the gentle summer breeze whisk the words away, as if it was carrying them to Sasuke. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she closed the window. The cool breeze that had been blowing through the operating room came to a sudden and unfortunate stop. The temperature in the room instantly rose a few degrees.

"Yeah... let's go before we either die of heat stroke or dehydration!"

She smiled, broader this time, and laughed quietly. Sakura walked over to the wall where the light switch was and turned it off. Turning to Ino, she nodded toward the door,

"So tea... or maybe ramen..."

She mulled over the idea. Suddenly her eyes widened and her head throbbed in anticipation,

"Maybe not ramen actually. The chance that Naruto will be there is ninety-nine out of one hundred and, quite frankly, I don't think I can handle him after such an exhausting day of work. Tea alright with you?"

The last thing Sakura needed was Naruto sitting next to her and talking right up her ear... while chewing ramen at the same time. Sakura shuddered, the shear though made her stomach churn. Besides, she was much more thirsty than hungry, and even if she was hungry the little tea shop on the corner had little pastries they could munch on. Yes, tea will do just nicely... Of course, she would leave the decision up to Ino

[Yamanaka Ino]

Ino’s eyes bored into Sakura’s, silently giving her old time rival sympathy. She felt a little more relieved when Sakura smiled, even if it was a sad one. “I miss him… a lot. Though, at least I know I’m not alone. We will bring him back.” Ino was caught off guard; it was so strange to hear people speak of him, although no one dared say his name out loud. “Yeah…” She couldn’t muster more than word, as she smiled faintly. Ino had no doubt that Sakura and Naruto were doing everything that was physically possible in order to track him down, let alone bring him back into Konoha, just from the way Sakura said the words. As crazy as the idea was, she knew the feeling of wanting something so badly that nothing seemed out of the question, anymore. Ino saw Sakura‘s lips moving, but the words got lost from the sounds of the wind. The wind was blowing gently, but suddenly the soft noise was exaggerated into a roar.

“Yeah... let’s go before we either die of a heat stroke or dehydration!” Ino laughed, and walked over to the window, to shut it before they left. “Agreed.” The light switch clicked off and they shut the door behind them. They didn’t bother locking it, since the main doors at the end of the hallway would be locked, anyway.
“So tea… or maybe ramen…” Sakura mumbled. Ino pushed the doors open and they both slipped out before the heavy door could slam into their shoulders. "Maybe not ramen actually. The chance that Naruto will be there is ninety-nine out of one hundred and, quite frankly, I don't think I can handle him after such an exhausting day of work. Tea alright with you?"
Ino groaned overdramatically; she didn’t mind Naruto as much as she used to, but she was not in the mood to hear “ramen-talk.” This kind of talk consisted of… actually, Ino didn’t think there were many times that she really ever paid attention to what he was saying. Huh. In any case, tea would relax her more than noodles.

“Tea sounds good,” Ino confirmed, quickening her pace. She waved goodbye to the nurse at the front desk and left the hospital. The village was settling down as the sun’s final rays struggled to illuminate the great village. Many of the shops were closing down, but there would probably be a teashop open. They walked for a little bit longer, before Ino stopped at a small, red building. Its roof sunk in a little bit at the sides, but it was probably due to water damage. The sign for the shop was painted an off-red and had the name written in copper. “Let’s go in,” Ino ducked inside (the doorway was too short for her to walk in).

The interior seemed to continue the same red color scheme as the outside. Whoever designed the shop must have really liked red, Ino noticed about ten different shades of reds, existent in the various showpieces around the shop. Ino beckoned Sakura to a low table in the corner. The table was basically a slab of wood upon four blocks. The shop was empty, save for an older man sitting at the other end of the room.
A girl came in with a tray that held two cups and a pot of tea. When she lifted up the cap, steam escaped from the pot. She shakily poured the scorching liquid into the cups, cursing at herself when one of the cups almost overflowed. Ino thought the girl’s arms would collapse under the weight of the pot. When she was finished, she smiled politely and hurried into a back room. "What's with all of the new girls, today?" Ino said, just loud enough for Sakura to hear her.

Ino delicately brought the cup to her lips and sipped at the tea. She ignored that her lips were probably going to get a second-degree burn and savored at the beverage. The delicious tea compensated for the service. Besides, it felt wonderful just to be sitting down.

A woman came in from the back room to switch on a fluorescent light, as the sun was down. Ino didn’t notice how dark the room was before. She could now see that the man at the other table had an unlit cigarette in his mouth and was reading something. She felt her chest tighten up, and shifted her eyes the other way. She gulped down the last of her cup, searing the inside of her throat, reminded of her sensei. So much for distractions.