Destiny | Sakura Haruno

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It was when Sakura was walking around the village with her mother, getting groceries, that it had happened. She had just been crouching in the dirt, drawing stick figures that definitely were not her team...or friends. Definitely not. So what if one of them had duck butt hair, and another had whiskers on their cheeks, with another having a headband covering one side of a poorly shaped circle?

...

Okay, maybe she was reminiscing, but is it really a crime to miss someone so much, that you feel like you just need to see them, even if they are horribly drawn stick figures?

She thinks not.

So, it was when Sakura was drawing and her mother was arguing with the poor vendor for a discount, which she was winning by the way, but that vendor was definitively doing well standing their ground and not folding immediately after seeing her mother's death glare, that a shadow had fallen over Sakura.

Sakura hadn't noticed it at first, seeing as she was preoccupied with mourning over her stick figures, but she eventually had to wonder why the heat of the sun on her back was not there anymore, but instead replaced by a refreshing coolness. It was definitely not a cloudy day this morning when she had woken up to the sun shining smack dab in her face.

So, she turned around, only to be faced with a small child. Who had blond hair. Platinum blond hair.

The small girl with striking pale blue eyes looked curiously down at her. Sakura meanwhile looked like she had just seen a ghost.

"What are you drawing there?"

Her voice was slightly higher pitched, evident in the way that you knew a child was speaking. It was also loud, which was not surprising given who this person was.

Sakura stared.

The girl fidgeted slightly under the weight of those green eyes practically boring a hole into her, before she seemed to come back to herself and glared. Her ice blue eyes narrowed as she placed a small, dainty hand on her hip. Her short blond hair swayed in the slight breeze that seemed to come between them at that moment.

Sakura couldn't believe who she was seeing. Her childhood best friend, her once bitter rival, was standing right in front of her.

Ino...

_____

"You know you're my favorite, right?"

"I better be." She laughed. It was a breathy and loose sound. It floated in the air suspended between them, intertwining with the grief that was suffocating the wind that brushed through their hair.

Sakura smiled, eyes crinkling at the corners. She gazed fondly at the girl beside her, at one of the few people she could still fight for.

Could still give her life for.

Ino looked like death. Her hair was matted down with blood and guts, and her eyes were dull, not unlike a frozen over lake in the winter. Her eyes were supposed to be an ocean, swimming with life, not death.

It hurt Sakura to see her friend slowly die inside. But she would take that any day than seeing her die at all.

"Sakura... we're going to survive this...right?" Ino chuckled as her eyes swelled up with tears that should never have to fall. That should never be there in the first place.

This all should have never happened in the first place.

Sakura wiped the one that fell, the droplet of water already marking a line across skin covered with ash and dust. She zeroed in on her best friend's eyes, they looked unfocused, lost in memories that were splattered with blood and dipped in grief. Sakura took her hands into her own, cradling them gently, as her own glowed a faint toxic green. The contact and sudden warmth grounded Ino as she looked up at her only friend.

Sakura closed her eyes, as she brought her forehead against Ino's knocking against it gently, as her chakra made a path throughout her friend's body. It helped ground Sakura, it comforted her knowing that a friend of hers was left, was still breathing. To some, it may feel invasive, but to Sakura's friends it was comforting in these days of war, and Sakura was forever thankful for this one outlet.

It was when her chakra made one full route, that she had begun to sing.

_____

"-you okay?"

Sakura startled with a gasp, gaze rapidly refocusing back onto her friend. Her pupils were dilated, her fingers were dug into the dirt, and she was mildly shaking, only noticeable if you were intently focused on her. Which is why it was a surprise when Ino suddenly crouched down, and placed her hands on her shoulders. Her blue eyes were determined and hard as she stared this unknown girl with bright cotton candy hair in the eyes.

"It is June 6th, and it is the year XXX, we are in the middle of Konoha in the shopping district."

Despite the girl's steady voice, Sakura could feel her hands shaking as they roughly pressed onto her shoulders. She could feel her breathing start to slow down, and the once blurry vision of her friend start to focus. Sakura wanted to question how Ino even knew what to do when someone was having a panic attack, let alone the signs of an incoming one.

As if she could hear her thoughts, she said, "My mom sometimes says this to my dad, when his breathing also starts to get a bit shaky, and his eyes unfocus. It was really confusing the first couple of times, until I asked." Ino smiled, and wasn't that just amazing to see again?

Sakura swallowed through her dry throat, as her own hands caked with dirt lightly touched the ones planted on her shoulders. She didn't dare touch the pretty dress Ino was wearing in fear of dirtying it.

"I'm Haruno Sakura." Because what better time to make a friend with someone than after you just had that someone witness you have a panic attack? Especially if that specific someone just helped you with that panic attack?

Ino's smile widened, showing gummy teeth. Does that even make sense? Is it okay to call someone's teeth gummy?

"I'm Ino Yamanaka, and you're my friend now."

Sakura blinked, because that was easier than expected. Then again, this was Ino we were talking to, extroverted, not afraid to get what she wants Ino.

And for the first time since she came into this unbroken world, Sakura laughed a true laugh.

Oh, how I missed you, Ino.