together I yamanaka ino

[ 01 ✩ Cosmos ]

Ino is five, twirling a blooming cosmos flower in her hand and standing bare-footed in the garden when her mother finds her. 

"Ino," she says reproachfully, "what are you doing here? It's your bedtime now, and you don't want to be tired for your first day at the Academy tomorrow, do you?" 

"No, but I wanted to look at some of the flowers, okaa-san." Ino peers at the ground to make sure that there isn't a flower lurking nearby before sitting down, knees drawn up to her chest and sky-blue eyes staring intently at the sunset of the flower she holds.

"Ino," her mother repeats, voice firm as she leans down, pressing a hand to Ino's shoulder, "let's go." 

"Okaa-san, don't you think they're beautiful?" The tiny blonde girl closes her eyes, inhaling the scent of freshly turned earth and the sweet scent of buds, poking their heads up from the earth.

"...beautiful, yes," her mother takes back her hand, kneeling besides Ino's unmoving form, "but beautiful things only last for a short time... they break away with the wind, Ino, and beautiful things... in the end, they will always fade. Always." 

Ino turns her head away from the cosmos flower, expression indignant as she speaks, "beautiful things will be beautiful forever! What's the point of being pretty if you're just going to fade then?" 

"But what does beautiful mean?" Her mother asks and Ino stills, mouth opened in an O shape as she puzzles over the question.

"Well, a cosmos flower is beautiful," Ino says, head tilted as she thinks, "so, a beautiful thing must be something that everyone likes." 

Her mother breaks into a smile, hands shaking as she caresses the petals of a lavender flower, "people likes beautiful things... you're right." She doesn't speak for a long minute, the silence stifling as Ino fidgets under the scrutiny her mother is putting her under.

"Isn't that good, okaa-san?" Ino furrows her brow as her hair is swept up by the wind, blond strands flying out in all directions, "isn't it?"

"... oh Ino," her mother finally speaks, forest-green eyes flecked with blue fountains of pain, "you're beautiful... you're going to be so very beautiful when you grow up." She stretches out a trembling hand, fingertips brushing against Ino's blond tresses, eyes staring into a wall of blue. 

Ino doesn't say anything, lashes sticking close together as she breaths, the slight coldness of April making her bare arms shiver. Birds starting to chirp as their mates fly back home, to where they belong.

(Ino thinks that her mother cried)

"Okaa-san?" Ino lets go of the cosmos flower, small hand tugging her mother's larger one as the duo stand up, stretching their bodies as they walk slowly, her mother sliding the shōji screen open.

"Look, Ino. The cosmos flower is being carried away," Ino looks back, her mother's gentle voice echoing and she sees the kaleidoscope of a flower drift away, the sun setting as wind blows, hues of red and orange exploding throughout the sky.

Her mother leaves after that day.

(And Ino doesn't see her until years later when she is at the age of seventeen, already a seasoned killer and with blood dripping from her hands. 

Her mother sees Ino and cries)

────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────

[A/N]: because Ino deserves more love. I have like eight stories in desperate need of updating on another website, but oh well. I don't own Naruto or the picture above, and I also suck at making covers, so...