A Different Life

Chapter 13: Let The Tug Of War Begin

IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE: I updated Chapter 11 guys. You should read it if you still haven't. :)

Ino once again walked the all too familiar road to Naruto's apartment. She had been contemplating on what to do ever since the truth was layed out infront of her and whispered closely to her ear. She couldn't sleep well last night and just thoughts about all the information about Sakura.

"Sasori is planning to sacrifice himself for Sakura's life. A life for a life, as Sai said." Tsunde's voice echoed in her head. She can't bear to see Sakura so devastated and broken over the death of her brother. She can already have an image of Sasori as a brother based on what Tsunade told them. She squished her eyes shut as images of a broken Sakura flooded her mind. No, I won't let that happen. That is why we have to do this no matter what the consequence, she reminded herself.

A few feet away, she saw Hinata standing contemplating on whether to go inside or not. She could clearly see her hesitating and fiddling with her fingers.

Hinata looked worriedly at the apartment infront of her. She knows Naruto is in a tough situation right now, knowing it is about Sakura. She sighed inwardly. All these years, she's been taking care of that grave believing Naruto's most precious person lies there, all her feelings she let out infront of that grave. Then she finds out no one was there all along. Just Sakura's-

"Hinata." A new voice entered her train of thought, startling her. "Ino?"

"What are you doing here?" Hinata asked, her meek voice the same as always. "We have the same reason, Hinata." Ino sternly said. Hinata found it so different for Ino to act this way. So stern and serious. But then again, this is Sakura we are talking about. 

Neji trained alone in their backyard, hitting targets a little too harshly that cracks showed from where he imprresively hit his target without wasting any effort at all. He had been thinking about everything Tsunade said all night. He should have known. The day he saw Sakura's supposed dead body, there was something different about but he couldn't point it out. He should have known Tsunade was covering up Sasori's tracks and he should have known that it wasn't a real body. He hit another target straight into the center as it made a crack.

TenTen was watching Neji as she twirled her kunai into her finger with her knees propped up and her other arm hanging on it. She wasn't really focused on Neji though. She had so much more things in mind. One look at her and you would clearly see she's deep in thought. She was still contemplating on whether to join the secret retrieval team for Sakura until now. She feels like it's a lost cause and things could always go wrong. Every mission could be your last. Especially this one. Facing the Akatsuki, betraying your own village in a way. Oh the possibilities of never returning back to her precious village. She wasn't being selfish. It just wasn't for her life that she doesn't want to join the retrieval team, it's because of the village. That mission may be a trap and their Hokage may not know it. It would be endangering the lives of her teammates. A suicidal mission... All for Sakura. What is she to them?, she asked herself, narrowing her eyes. There was a pang of annoyance, guilt and jealousy bugging at the side of her heart. 

Annoyance because Sakura is putting them in all sorts of trouble where the most possible outcome is their deaths. The loss of such great lives, which is something common to shinobis but still, losing her life over Sakura? That's too much. She had always pictured herself, if she can't live up as long as nature allowed her, dying in a battle field from protecting her village or just something much more worth it. Something much more heroic.

Guilt because she knows she's being selfish in a way. She's declining to join the retrieval team because she doesn't want to die in a not so heroic and courageous way. Selfish because she doesn't want Neji to meet Sakura again, because she knows... Thinking about this made her all more remorseful and filled with such guilt.