My Sunshine

A Stranger In A Strange Land - Ino

Thanking Mizuka for accompanying her, Ino opened the front door to their home, still crying as she shut the door and trudged toward the bedroom. However, she was immediately stopped in the living room by her husband, holding their sleeping son on the couch.

"Ino?"

He stood up, still holding Inojin. She walked toward him instead, letting him envelop her with his free arm as Inojin was propped up, his face in the crook of Sai's neck.

"Ino..."

He turned and placed Inojin on the couch gently so he could hold her with both arms.

"What's wrong, Beautiful? What happened?"

"That woman that Iruka Sensei found in the forest? She's really messed up. Sai, the scars on her arms look as if she was shackled for a very long time. She has bite marks on her hands and arms as if she had tried to chew herself free. And then... and then...."

She broke down completely, holding onto his shirt and sobbing into the soft fabric as her husband cradled her.

"It's okay; she's in the best place she can be, and that's under your care. No one will care for her better than you and Lady Z."

"I went into her psyche, Sai. I did it so she wouldn't have to keep reliving her nightmare. The past 16 years of her hellish life... The things I saw were terrible. No person should have to live through those things. No one..."

This all hit too close to home. Watching the woman in her abused state; it reminded her of the day she retrieved Sai from his own psyche. And their wedding night, when she watched his emotionally exhausted body as he laid in her arms. This woman was broken, just like Sai was broken when they first met, but possibly even worse. But, unlike Sai, she had no one. She was a stranger in a strange land. Who would hurt another person so severely? Who thinks they have the right to alter another person's life so horrendously?

"Ino... Ino... come back to me...."

She looked up at Sai, who looked concerned. He squeezed her tightly.

"I know you feel things very deeply. You have such a caring heart. That woman will be okay, and a lot of that is because of you. You're doing all you can do right now, which is intervene and heal her body. Without you, without Iruka, without Lady Z, she would undoubtedly be dead and we would have had to bury her in an unmarked grave. Whatever her past was would have become her entire story. Now, she has the chance to change her legacy, thanks to all of you. The world has retained one more beautiful soul, even if her body is damaged. It's what's inside that counts."

Sai poked her chest gently and lovingly, making her crack a smile. He then gently wiped her tears away with his sleeve.

"Don;t feel sad for her, Ino. She doesn't need your pity. Be happy that she's safe in the village, and she'll have a second chance at life. It's never too late to start over."

She hugged him tightly, holding him. Sai, of all people, knew that there was always time for a second chance. He had gone from an emotionally suppressed, unfeeling Root member, nameless and alone in the world to a wonderful husband and father, and the patriarch of the Yamanaka clan. He was also one of the most feeling, living, empathetic people she had ever had the pleasure to know. And, in this moment, she realized that this woman would be fine, somehow. Because she has a chance in Konoha.

"Come on, let's get Inojin into his crib and we can lay down and talk some more, Beautiful."

He turned and picked their son up, cradling him against his chest.

"Can you believe he's so big? Time is flying by..."

"Don't remind me; I don't need to cry anymore tonight..."

She kissed the top of Inojin's blonde hair before his father carried him down the hallway to the nursery. She couldn;t help but grin at her two boys as they disappeared into the nursery. Walking to the bedroom, Sai reemerged a moment later from cracking the nursery door, stepping into the bedroom himself. He pushed her to the bed and crawled on top of her, kissing her slowly. His kiss still gave her life. He whispered in her ear.

"I know you can do it, Ino. You never gave up on me; don't give up on her."

"Never."