Naruto: Ero-ninja

Severing Bonds

Ino watched as Yoshino Nara walked out of the hospital morgue with her son holding her arm supportingly. Her heart went out to the women as upon taking several steps away from the room that contained her husband's body she collapsed to the floor as she sobbed into her hands. Before Ino could run over, as she still felt extremely sluggish from how much chakra she had expended in linking the village, a nurse came jogging up with a wheelchair. Shikamaru helped his mother up into the chair before taking the handles to take her to the lobby. As the chunin pushed his widowed mother to the nearest elevator Ino could see that he was struggling to put on a brave face for her benefit.

Ino fought back a sob herself as she recalled all the gatherings she had attended at the Nara's as the older Ino-Shika-Chou team tried to build the bonds they shared among their children. Turning away she took the stairs as she was confident that the mother and son both wanted sometime to themselves. The blond kunoichi struggled slightly as another bout of lightheadedness came over her which she attributed to her having nearly used up all her chakra. Stepping from the stairwell on the second to last floor she saw injured shinobi and civilians dotting the halls as the rooms were dedicated to the most severely injured.

Ino stepped into the room that had been assigned to her father as she put on a brave face for her the woman sitting in a chair at the end of his bed. Ino paused a moment as she was struck how even with all that was going on her mom still managed to look both regal and beautiful. Her mother noticed she was being watched and turning to see her daughter said, "Ino, I thought I told you to go home. A person should know their limits and from what I've heard you've dangerously pushed passed yours."

"I'm fine mom," Ino said but her body betrayed her as she felt another wave of lightheadedness as it reminded her that she had nearly used up all her chakra in her efforts to keep the village linked in order to combat Pain's Paths.

Ino's mother gave her a concerned look, before sighing in defeat as she said, "You're as stubborn as your father."
Ino stepped further into the room and felt tears threaten to spill upon looking on her dad. Seeing him hooked up to so many machines and the flatness where a leg should be, brought her back to the battle for a moment. She was brought back to the present though as a result of being engulfed in warmth. She was surprised at first until she realized her mother sensing her daughter's sadness had gotten out of her chair to give her child a much needed hug. Ino quickly responded in kind.

Ino's mom pulled back to look at her daughter and caused an embarrassed blush to appear as she said, "Ino, you've blossomed into such a beautiful flower. Now please get some rest. The doctors tell me that thanks to your treatment your father should make a full recovery. A Sand Shinobi even stopped by in order to fit him with a temporary prosthesis when he wakes up. You've done enough, now take some time for you. I'm afraid with how badly the village has been hurt rest will be in short supply."

Before Ino could respond her mom turned her around and pushed her to the door. When her daughter cleared the threshold she gently closed it as a way to make her point. Ino knowing that her father would say that her stubbornness came from her mother, decided to take her advice. Walking away she was surprised that a Suna medic would be willing to fit her father with one of their artificial limbs since she knew the technique was a closely guarded secret of the Sand Village. Although Konoha's medical program far outpaced Suna's, the one category where the opposite held true was in creating artificial limbs for those lost in combat. Granted in the right set of circumstances Konoha medics could reattach a lost appendage, but her father's had been less than ideal and while Konoha did have prosthesis they could fit her dad with. They were rudimentary at best and although a few combat models did exist, how effective they were tended to depend on the nature of the injury. In her father's case due to his losing his leg at mid-thigh it was doubtful he would ever be able to be a shinobi again. A Suna made one however, with the proper training, would perhaps give him back most if not all of his mobility.