Restoration Book 3/3: Sakura's Fate

Chapter 11

Once I'd recuperated enough to travel outside the hospital, Ino and I decided to visit our homes while still in Suna.

"Do you think Daddy's gonna be there?"

Sai cut me off before I could respond to his girlfriend, "Hold up; you still call your father "Daddy"?"

Blue eyes turned icy as they narrowed, "Say something about it. I dare you." He raised his hands in defense with eyes wide, signaling that the subject had been dropped.

"I don't think anyone's gonna be home at either of our places. They were in Konoha trying to save us, last I heard."

Ino sighed, sounding forlorn, but didn't comment further.

As suspected, my best friend's house was deserted when we arrived. A nostalgic feeling swept over me when she led us into her bedroom. Pale blue and white bedsheets, the massive hand-crafted vanity, and especially the cork board covered in photos that hung behind her desk all took me back to before I'd encountered true danger.

"I'm gonna change and grab some clothes. Can you write a letter for me? Put the compound's address in there."

Nodding absently, I wandered to her desk, intending to do just that, only to be distracted by the giant photo display on the wall before my fingers could grasp a pencil. It was like a timeline of the three of us growing up: Ino, Karin, and me. Sure, some photos had our other friends in them, like Okami, but they were incredibly outnumbered.

There was the photo from my third birthday party, where everyone from my daycare had been invited, and no one showed up except for Ino. We've been best friends ever since, as have our parents. One of the photos was taken on our first day of middle school. We looked awkward and irritated because our parents embarrassed us by taking photos outside the entrance. A slight grin pulled at my lips as I recalled Ino complaining loudly because her crush saw it happen. Even back then, she was boy-crazy.

Not wanting to get too off-task, I tore my eyes away and flipped through a notebook to tear out a page before grabbing a pen. Clicking it, I touched it to the paper, only for my eyes to travel back up to the photos.

Some were taken in school, at one of our houses, and even at the notorious parties Ino would force me to attend. A few photos didn't even have Ino, like Karin and I's graduation. As mentioned, I graduated a year early with my sister's class. Gnawing grief immobilized me for days after her death, and it began bubbling in my chest at the thought of Karin. I forced my eyes away in an attempt to keep a firm grasp on my composure. Not thinking about her has been challenging, but I can't let it take over now.

The following photo was of me standing in front of Iyashi University, the college in Konoha where Hinata's father used to work. I never met the man because I was a first-year at the time, and none of his classes were entry-level, but I recall catching a glimpse of him in the busy hallways once or twice.

In the photo, my suitcases sat at my sides, and I was grinning with my fingers up in peace signs. It was a rather zoomed-out photo because Ino was going through a phase where she was interested in photography and said it was a better composition. You can imagine how upset her parents were when she decided to give up on it right after they bought her a costly camera.

Something in the photo suddenly caught my eye, and I dropped the pen, leaning forward for a closer look. Is that...? "Sasuke!" I took the pin from the photo and tore it off the board, eyes wide.

The bedroom door opened quickly as the man hurried in, ready to fight an enemy or rush to my side if I felt weak.

I held the photo up and pointed, "Look at this."