Wound-Filled Hands: Ch. 5

Ino leaned away.  “Please, don’t do that, Gaara.”

Sasuke stood.  “Athrun, can you give me a hand with my worksheet for history class?  I wasn’t paying attention today.”

There hadn’t been homework in history, but she saw the opportunity.  “Of course.  See you later, guys.”

The two walked briskly out of the cafeteria and Ino released an unconsciously-held deep breath.  “Thanks, Sasuke.  I owe you one.”

Chapter 5

Naruto stepped out of the shower to find Sasuke leaning against the wall.  “Can I talk to you?”

“I actually was going to talk to you later,” he spoke to himself, “But this actually works better for me.”

“Did you notice how quiet Athrun was at dinner?”

He nodded.  “Something isn’t right about that new guy.  I don’t believe them.  Athrun wouldn’t go for someone like that, and he was really happy when you gave him a reason to leave.”

“He was almost acting… like I used to around Itachi before he admitted to the hospital,” Sasuke commented.  “Do you think he’s a batterer?”

Naruto shrugged.  “I don’t know.  Athrun was crying after talking to him alone.”  He dried his ears carefully as he thought.  “Do you think I should confront him?”

Sasuke shook his head.  “He probably doesn’t want to talk about it.”

“You’re probably right,” he sighed.  “I’ll just keep an eye on him for now.  Thanks, Sasuke.”  Naruto left the showers and returned to his room.

Ino sat on her bed, face in her knees with her arms wrapped around her chest-tucked legs.  He sat down next to her.  “Hey, are you going to be okay?”

She lifted her head and nodded.  Taking a deep breath, she said, “I just need to make that call at the dance.”  Ino tilted her head to let it rest on Naruto’s shoulder.

He encased her in his arms.  “If you don’t want Gaara around, you can tell me and I’ll tell him to buzz off.”

Ino shook her head quickly.  “No, don’t say anything to him.  I’m not worried about him, really.”

“Fine,” he surrendered, “You should sleep, though.  The dance is in two days.”  Naruto moved to stand, but Ino grabbed his arm.

“No, please stay,” she pleaded.

Watching her carefully a moment, he settled back to his place beside her.  “What?” he asked.

“I just want to talk.  Please?”

“About what?”

“Like… about why did you get into fights at your old schools?”

He shrugged.  “Bullies picked on me and my friends so I had enough.  Usually, they started the fight.”

“I see,” she replied.

The two talked for a while and fatigue piled on until Ino was forced to lie down and she pulled Naruto with.  Her face buried in his chest and her arms rested around his waist like her own personal teddy bear.  He noticed her arms felt cold, so he wrapped his arms around them, pressing one of his hands gently between her shoulder blades.  The other hand stroked her hair lightly from the side so it wouldn’t fall in her face.

They continued to mumble sleepily so that anyone else might believe they were talking in their sleep.  Ino almost was, unaware of half of the conversation.  She snuggled closer to feel his comfortable body heat.  “I’m so glad you’re alive,” she mumbled with a smile.

He was slightly more aware of the conversation than she was.  “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“’Cause he’s crazy,” she whispered, falling into sleep.

“Who?”

A low hum rumbled in her throat sleepily.  Her fingers tangled in his shirt.  “Gaara,” her lips formed soundlessly.

“Didn’t you used to date him?”

“Mm-mm,” she hummed.

She didn’t answer anymore questions after that, lost in slumber.  Naruto soon followed.  The following morning, Naruto woke early when Ino began to wiggle around slightly.

His fingers stroked her hair out of her face as it tried to obstruct his view of her.  He estimated breakfast would be open in an hour at six.  Nothing he did helped him go back to sleep, so he tried to sit up.  The slightest movement caused Ino’s eyes to open.

“Naruto,” she asked sleepily, “where are you going?”

He settled a little more comfortably.  “Nowhere,” he whispered, “How did you sleep?”

“Good,” Ino replied, “What time is it?”

“I think it’s about five,” he answered.

Taking a deep breath with closed eyes, she opened them to ask, “So, where do we go from here?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean.”

Naruto scanned her face carefully.  “I don’t want you to be scared.”

“You don’t scare me,” she assured.

He kissed her forehead.  “I don’t want you to leave.”

“I won’t.”

Naruto touched his lips to hers gently.

Ino smiled and brushed her thumb over the scars on his cheek.  “The cafeteria should be opening soon.  We should get dressed.”

~~~

“Decided who you’re taking to the dance tomorrow?” Chouji asked.

“I think I’ll just pick up a girl there,” Deidara said, eating the last bit of his sandwich.

Sasuke answered, “I’m not going with anybody.”

“What about you guys?” Chouji asked Naruto, Ino, and Gaara.

Ino stayed quiet while the others stared expectantly.  Naruto replied, “I think I’ll just mingle.”

“Yeah, same here,” Ino added.

“I don’t like dances,” Gaara said.

Setting down her empty bottle of pop, Ino notified, “I’m going to bed.  I’ll check on Starburst-boy before I take a shower, Deidara.”

She walked back to the rooms and scolded Tobi briefly for eating Starbursts before proceeding to shower.  Once she returned to her room, Naruto closed the door behind her.  He spun her around and her arms strung around his neck.

He kissed her neck.  “Did I scare you?”

“Nope,” she said proudly, “I told you that you don’t scare me.”

He noticed her wince.  “Then what was that?”

“Nothing; my neck is just a little sore.”

“From what?” he asked just before he saw the bruises from Gaara.  “How did you get those?”

“Rough tackle from Tobi?”

Naruto stared her down.  “Really,” he said, “Tell me.”

“Can we just drop it?  Please?  I’m tired.”

He sighed.  “Fine, for now, but you’re telling me eventually.”  Turning around, he climbed beneath his bed covers.

Ino crept into her own bed with an inward sigh of relief.  The thought of telling him about Gaara rolled around in her head persistently, despite her constant squashing.  She sighed.  “Hey, Naruto?”

There was no answer, so she sat up and said his name again.  He was sound asleep and appeared to have been so for a long time.  Looking at the clock, she realized it had been an hour since they crawled into bed.

Naruto stirred in his sleep when he felt a warm pressure applying itself to his bed.  His eyes opened a fraction.  “Ino?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” she muttered in explanation.

He shuffled over in his bed to create more space for her entry.  “Good-night,” he mumbled.

Ino wasn’t sure of when she had fallen asleep, only that she was awakened by the sound of two knocks, a pause, and then a third knock.

Her mind debated ignoring it while she slid out of Naruto’s arms carefully and to the door.  Gaara waited outside, fully dressed in normal day clothes and expectant.

“Follow me,” he commanded quietly.  The redhead strode down the hall and down the stairs with her not far behind.

Tobi slept soundlessly on the couch with a bag of Starbursts resting on his stomach.  Ino subtly kicked the couch lightly in an attempt to wake him as they passed.  He didn’t stir an inch, but his hand gripped the candy bag slightly tighter.

‘Dammit, Tobi, wake up,’ Ino begged soundlessly, ‘You have to get Chouji or Naruto!’

She followed Gaara out of the dorms and the cold night air began to bite vengefully at her sleepy skin as they made their way across the empty campus.

***

Naruto woke to find himself alone in the room, Ino nowhere to be seen.  He climbed out of bed and out into the hallway, checking the bathroom: it was empty.  Next, he checked the showers to find one of them occupied, but he didn’t check who it was.

Walking to the lobby, he kicked Tobi’s couch.  “Hey, how long has Athrun been in the shower?”

“Sasuke’s been in the shower, not Athrun,” he whined irritably.

“Then where’s Athrun?”

“He went somewhere with Gaara and kicked my couch.  Let me sleep!”

“Where did they go?”

“I don’t know,” Tobi grumbled irritably with the desire to sleep, “Probably boyfriend stuff.”

Naruto huffed and turned for the stairs when the previous night’s sleepy conversation kicked him in the stomach.  ‘‘I’m so glad you’re alive…  ‘Cause he’s crazy…’’

“Tobi, did you see which direction they went?”

***

Gaara twitched as he watched his older brother talk to Ino.  It was very difficult for him to be so nonviolent for so long, turning him into a ticking time bomb.  “Kankurou, hurry up.  I’m losing my patience,” he said dully with sharp undertones.

Kankurou held Ino painfully hard against the wall by her upper arms.  “Cool it, Gaara,” he snapped impatiently.

Ino squirmed, but the grip was painful.  “Let go!”

His attention glided back to her direction.  “You’re not pointing any fingers at me, even if I have to break all of your fingers.”  He was speaking figuratively, of course, but Kankurou would actually break her fingers if he felt the need for it.

“Fine,” she lied, “No charges.”

“And I want to see the kid,” he said, continuing to lay out his demands.

“Over my dead body,” she spat without thinking.

He pulled her from the wall a moment just to slam her back against it again.  “New answer,” he growled.

She clawed at his arms.  “Go to hell.”

Another hand shot out and gripped her neck.  Gaara barked, “I’ve had enough of this!  I told you to let me handle this from the beginning, so now we’re doing it my way!”

“Dammit, Gaara, back off,” Kankurou hissed.

Ino gasped for air when Gaara gripped tighter so his nails dug into her already-bruised flesh.  Her feet kicked, but always either missed their targets or hit too lightly to be effective.  “Let go; I can’t breathe,” she choked.

Her hands couldn’t reach Gaara’s to try to lessen the force because of his brother’s.  She couldn’t let them near Riku, not even if it was a lie.  The thought was bone-crunching.

Kankurou’s body shifted as he tried to elbow his brother to push him away.  “Stop it; you’ll kill her,” he commanded.

Something slammed into Gaara and Kankurou, sending the redhead to the ground and Kankurou staggering, regaining his grip on Ino quickly.  She couldn’t see anything but spots, but loud punches were echoing around them as she tried to catch her breath.

She sunk to the ground after someone pried Kankurou’s hands form her arms and she heard more punches thrown.  The shuffling and painful blows were deafening until one set stopped.  Looking up, she saw a wet-haired Sasuke kneeling in front of her.

“Are you okay?”

Ino kept focusing on her breathing, each breath feeling like knives sliding down the insides of her neck.  She noted the condensation visible in the air with each exhale thanks to the night’s chill before closing her eyes.  She nodded.  “Gaara…” she panted, “has my phone.”

After a few more breaths, she asked, “Who else is here?”

“Naruto is here,” he replied, moving to the side so she could see him.

Her eyes opened to see he was still fighting Gaara, Kankurou lying unconscious a few feet away.  The redhead’s face was swelling and his nose bled.  Naruto’s left cheek was red and swelling and he was bleeding from the upper lip.  He almost looked like an entirely different person, so full of rage and hatred.

Gaara had given up the fight in spirit, but he continued to attempt throwing punches for just the sake of fighting.  Others would have given up long ago and moved on, so Naruto as an opponent was something new and challenging that he found enjoyable.

“Naruto,” Ino called, “You can stop now.”

His fist froze as it was springing forward for Gaara’s face, the other gripping the front of the losing boy’s shirt.  Naruto’s anger melted like ice cream in a sauna on a hot day and he returned to looking like his normal, kind, caring self.  Dropping his opponent, he caught his breath and growled, “Never touch her ever again, and you can pass that on to the sleeping douche bag when he wakes up.”

Naruto stepped away slowly in case Gaara was up for another round, but the redhead stayed put on the ground and nursed his bleeding nose.  Striding over to Ino and Sasuke, he knelt down to sit on his knees.

“Are you okay?”  His eyes began looking for any signs of injury.  “They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

Her eyes locked with his before washing over his face to overview all of his new injuries from the fight.  When their eyes met again, he watched as hers welled up.  “Naruto,” she choked.

“What?” he asked, full of concern.

Ino lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him, clutching the back of his shirt.  Her face buried in his shoulder, she sobbed, “I’m so happy you’re here.”

Momentarily shell-shocked, his arms slowly closed around her.  “It’s okay,” he soothed.

She shook her head.  “But you and-and-and Riku and Mom and,” she rambled before Naruto hushed her again.

He pressed one hand to the back of her head and neck like he was cradling a baby.  “I’m here,” he comforted.  Naruto looked up at Sasuke.  “And what are you doing here?”

“I heard you talking to Tobi while I was getting out of the shower and I followed you here after I got dressed,” he explained.

“I appreciate it.  Thanks,” Naruto said.

“My mom,” Ino muttered in realization.  She backed up slightly to look Naruto in the eyes.  “I need to call my mom.”

Sasuke stood and walked over to Gaara.  “You, hand over the phone.  Now,” he commanded.

His fingers fumbled for the device before he tossed it to him.  “You’ll have to turn it on.”

He turned on the phone before giving it to Ino.  “Anyone want to tell me what’s going on any time soon?”

“I’ll tell you later, Sasuke,” Naruto promised.

Ino pressed the speed dial for her mother and lifted the phone to her ear.  She was unaware of her trembling arm until Naruto placed a steadying hand over it.

“Mom?  Sorry for waking you up,” she said.  Pausing to let the woman talk, she continued, “I remember who it is.  He’s here at the school and so is his brother.  Their names are Kankurou and Gaara.”

She paused again.  “No, I don’t know their last name.”  Her hand ran over her forehead and through her hair as she took a deep breath.  “Yeah, I’m okay.  A couple of my friends helped me.”

“You probably should,” she sighed, a little more exasperated, “I’ll see you later, then.”

Ino closed the phone and looked up at Naruto.  “She’s calling the police and they’re coming here.”

“Then… that means you’re leaving,” he whispered.

She nodded slowly.  “Yeah, I am,” she sighed.

They walked out of the dark area to be more easily seen and waited until they saw red and blue lights came into their view.  A few cars drove across the campus grass to them and stopped in front of them.  Sasuke pointed to the two brothers.  “They’re over there, officers,” he directed.

After Gaara and Kankurou were safely in handcuffs and sitting in the police cars, Sasuke Naruto, and Ino were escorted back to their dorms to wait for her parents and the headmaster.  With all the commotion, several other students were waking up and stepping out of their rooms to see what was going on.

Ino buried her face in one hand.  “So much for keeping it under wraps…” she muttered.

Naruto’s hand rubbed gently over her back.  “Don’t worry about them; just ignore it.”

An officer walked over.  “Can I talk to you two?”

“Not right now, please?” Naruto replied.

The officer tired to protest, but a woman strikingly similar to Ino walked briskly over with a sleeping five-month old baby in her arms.  “Honey, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she replied as her arms reached out, “Can I have Riku, please?”

“We have to see the headmaster right away.  Let’s go,” she said quickly, almost in a state of panic over the situation at hand.

“But, Mom--”

Her free hand reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling Ino to her feet and out of the building.  Ino stumbled along, trying to keep her eyes on Naruto with her mouth open in a failed attempt to form words.

Naruto stood from the couch, and he believed he’d been doing so since Ino had stood.  His jaw also remained ajar in a failed attempt at speaking.  He closed them before whispering, “Bye… Ino.”

~~~

Boys were stepping out of their rooms left and right to awe in disbelief at the guest.  Ino expected all sorts of cat-calls and crude comments, but there was absolute silence other than the occasional whisper, “What’s she doing here?”

Chouji stepped into stride beside her with a grin.  “You’re about to make his whole month.  You wouldn’t believe how much he’s missed you.”

Her face turned deep red, defying her unchanged expression.  “I know,” she muttered.  ‘Because I’ve missed him just as much.’

He knocked on the familiar door.  “Hey, somebody’s here to see you,” Chouji called.

“Tell Pervy Sage to leave me alone and he’s wasting his time,” Naruto answered.

“It’s not Jiraiya,” he replied.

“Then who is it?” he asked grouchily as he cracked the door open.

He looked thinner and his eyes were dark, like he hadn’t had much sleep, and his jaw dropped as his blue eyes fell on Ino.  The door opened fully.

“Hey,” she greeted.

Naruto saw that she, too, looked thinner than he remembered from when he last saw her, but her eyes were less dark from lack of sleep.  She still looked tired, though.  It had been three months since he last saw her when she had been packing her belongings to leave the school.  “Ino…?”  He rubbed his eyes roughly, just in case.

She ran into him and wrapped her arms around him tightly with joy.  His own arms clasped around her faster than a Venus Fly Trap, and he swung her around in a circle.  “I can’t believe you’re here!” he cheered.

“My dad said I can visit on Saturdays now,” she informed.

“What made him decide that?”

Ino released her grip around him to cup his face in her hands, brushing a thumb over each cheek and palms resting on his soft skin.  “Because I looked worse than you two days ago,” she smiled slightly.

He smiled and crashed his lips up against hers and she kissed him back.  They ignored him as Chouji coughed and retreated, snickering.  They were busy with other things, so the scattered, teasing cat-calls from their friends weren’t heard.

Ino broke free to breathe.  “You need to get something to eat and put some meat on your bones.”  She wanted him to be healthy and start eating more again, like she had to as part of the bargain to see him.

Her face burned up when Deidara commented from behind her, “Interesting choice of words.”

“Deidara!” she shrieked.

The building roared with laughter while Naruto kissed her on the cheek to take her mind off the embarrassment.  He whispered in her ear with a foxy grin, “Tell Deidara he’s just jealous because he looks more like a girl than you with short hair.”