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Hindsight's 20/20	By : tealeaf Category: Naruto AU/AR > General Views: 1090 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Disclaimer:
Still don�t own Naruto.

�No� she
said, her voice rough and husky from sleep, as she pushed him back slightly as
he subtly tried to bodily force her back down to the lumpy mattress.

�If I lay
back down, I won�t be able to get up again.� She told him, her hands still
feebly clutching him for support.

He sighed
inaudibly before grasping her hands and helping her to her feet.

She swayed
slightly as a sharp pain shot from her left hip and knee and her leg gave out
beneath her weight.

Her grip on
him tightened as his did the same, pulling her against him and supporting her
weight.

�Take the day
off from school and sleep.� He told her.

�It�s not
just school, I have work too.� She said feebly, her voice still raw.

�I�ll tell
your boss you�re sick.� He countered.

She smiled
slightly, her boss certainly wouldn�t argue with an Akatsuki member.

�But I�m
not sick. You know I hate lying.� She told him, giving him her rare soft look
and smile.

�You will
be if you keep this up.� He answered, not showing any reaction to her softness
if it even affected him at all.

�I�ll cross
that bridge when I come to it.� She told him, her voice starting to smooth out.

She tested
her leg again, carefully setting her weight on the overused and abused limb and
biting her cheek against the wave of pain that shot up from her worn joints.
She straightened and released her grip on him. He scrutinized her again,
holding onto her for a second longer before releasing her with another of
in
inaudible sighs.

�So what
are we doing for training today?� she asked him as he stepped back from her and
turned away.

�Physical therapy.�
He answered flatly.

She smiled
softly again.

~~~

The day
wore on with Haruno fighting valiantly to stay awake during her classes and
trying just as valiantly to hide her limp from her teammates during training
with Kakashi second period.

She was
pretty sure she fooled Naruto but she had caught Sasuke going easy on her and
Kakashi watching her movements intently. Thankfully they had the tack to not
mention it.

Finally
last period rolled around and she sat at her desk by the window of her art
class. The room was still buzzing with comments about the strange poster that
had been posted on the art board. The main speculation was what had been used
for the splatter marks covering it. At first it was believed to be paint but as
time had gone on, the red had steadily gotten darker and darker as it aged and
dried out. Now many suspected it to be blood. But why would there be blood on
it? The second speculation was of whom the portrait depicted. The rumors
centered on it being a shady character from the city�s underground due to his
sinister look and the blood, but no one knew whom in the underworld and if they
did, they kept it to themselves. Lastly, speculation ran on whom the artist
was. It was generally assumed that it was the same anonymous artist who had
been leaving disturbing and even controversial works of art on the board for
the past three years but no one had figured out their identity yet. No one had
any idea about it and that was how she liked it.

It was one
thing to pour your past, your life, your emotions, your very soul onto a
canvas, it was quite another for other people to know it. There were things
about her that she preferred to keep buried and hidden from the general public.

Such as who
the people who had influenced and shaped her life were.

And so she
decidedly ignored the low buzz of the art room as students chatted away as they
worked, choosing instead to concentrate on her next project. She stared out the
window, her gaze unfocused as she concentrated on the images in her head. Try
as she might, she still couldn�t quite formulate the image she needed. Page
after page in her book were covered in failed sketches. No matter how she
tried, they never looked right. It had been too long since she�d allowed
herself to watch him for them to be right.

She sighed,
finally caving to the inevitable. She needed to look at him. She needed him to
model for her. There was just no way around it. And now was as good a time as
any to bite the bullet.

She stood
from her seat and closed her sketchbook, tucking it under her arm before
grabbing her pencil and eraser and stuffing them in her jeans pocket.

�Going
somewhere Haruno?� her sensei asked her as she rose.

�I just
can�t concentrate. I�m going to go for a walk to clear my head.� She told him
as she walked to the door and left the room, ignoring the curious stares
Naruto, Shikamaru and Chouji sent her.

Once
outside of the classroom, she vis fav favored her left leg. She�d abused the
joints by working two twelve-hour shifts over the weekend and was paying for it
today. The pressure point work Itachi had done on them this morning had helped
for a bit but the effects longlong since worn off.

She hobbled
slowly through the first floor hallways, heading towards the stairs. She passed
by the library and saw Tenten, Lee and Neji working at a table together. She
didn�t know whether to be glad for the opportunity or not. If those three were
in the library, it meant that Kakashi had given his last class of the day free
study time and so wasneacheaching right now. Which meant that she would be able
to catch him alone and ask him to model for her sketch. She was dreading it.

Her already
heavy feet suddenly felt heavier and her steps up the stairs were harder than
they had been when she�d walked them earlier that day. Finally she reached the
second floor and was facing the hall to his classroom. Her heart was pounding.
It had been a very long time since she�d spoken with him alone. Was she
nervous? She took and deep breath and firmed her resolve, then started walking
forward again.

She slowed
as she approached the door. Was that�giggling she heard? She frowned and set
her sketchbook to lean against the lockers by the class door as she crept
closer.

�Hatake-sensei!�
came a disgustingly high voice in a teasing tone from inside the class.
Haruno�s frown deepened even more.

She crept
closer to the not quite shut door and cautiously peaked in through the open
crack. Her frown blackened into a murderous glare as she saw some stupid blonde
bimbo clone of Ino�s climb onto Kakashi�s chair, straddling the obviously not
protesting teacher.

The girl�s
hands reached up to run teasingly along the edge of upraised sweater that hid
his face.

Her vision
went red as she lost control of her body.

The door
was suddenly shoved open violently and the two in the room looked up in
surprise. But her body didn�t stop. She slowly prowled into the room. Kakashi
was saying something but she couldn�t hear him over the blood rushing through
her ears. The girl gave her a terrified look that she relished as she reached
out and grabbed her by her no doubt prized, brittle, bleached tresses and
yanked hard. The girl flew across the room.

Haruno
shook out her hand freeing it from the clinging fistful of blonde hair.

A dark
smirk spread across her lips as she looked at the cowering girl that huddled
weakly at the base of the wall she�d crashed into.

�Run.� Came
her voice in a cold, cruel tone.

The girl
didn�t think twice and scrambled out the door, running as fast as her
over-exposed legs would take her.

Haruno
sneered at her retreating form.

�SAKURA!�
She finally heard Kakashi yell as he grabbed her shoulder.

She
shrugged him off violently and spun to face him.

He�d been
about to say something but froze when he saw the dark look in her eyes. He
recognized that look.

She ran her
eyes slowly, appraisingly, from his head to his feet and back again.

Slowly she
sneered, whether and him or herself, she wasn�t sure.

�Why her?�
she spat at him.

Kakashi
blinked at her, taken aback by the question.

She glared
at him contemptuously before spinning on her heal to leave.

As she did,
her eyes finally noticed the fistful of hair that lay on the ground beside her.
Her vision cleared and her eyes widened slightly. Her breathing quickened as
she looked at it then back to Kakashi. He looked nervous, like he expected her
to explode at any second.

It had
happened again.

She took a
step back.

Kakashi
frowned.

�Sakura?�
he questioned her.

She shook
her head slightly.

�No�� she
said softly as she took another step back.

�Sakura?
Are you all right?� he asked her, taking a step towards her and reaching out to
grasp her shoulder.

�Stop
calling me that� she said in a small, almost scared voice as she scrambled away
from him.

�Sakura� he
said again, frustrated by her reactions.

�No!� she
exclaimed as she raised her hands to grasp her head.

�Sakura?
What�s wrong with you?� he asked her, a little harsher than he�d intended as he
took another step towards her.

�No!� she
cried before tearing out of the classroom. Kakashi tried to follow but she was
already flying down the stairs by the time he reached the hall.

He sighed
and frowned. Then his gaze fell on the forgotten sketchbook leaning against the
lockers.

He picked
it up and opened it, his frown deepening as he flipped through a long series of
morbid drawings only to clear as he came to the recent sketches.

They were
all of him.

~~~

Haruno
plowed through her night shift, for once glad for the mind-numbing work. A mind
numbing was just was she needed. It was Monday night though and so not nearly
as busy as she would have liked it to be.
And so she filled her free moments with giving the shop the cleaning of
an era, scrubbing the tables and counters until they were raw, scouring the
coffee pots until you could finally see through the glass again. She couldn�t
allow herself to stop for a second. If she stopped than she�d remember that
afternoon.

It had been
a long time since she�d slipped like that. She�s thought she fiy hay had it
under control. She�d been wrong.

She
scrubbed the counter harder.

�You can�t
be. Murder stains us forever.� He told her softly.

She looked
up at him, her eyes glowing as held back tears swam in them.

His fingers
reached up and caught the tear that threatened to escape.

�You need
to learn to look through the stains.� He told her before standing.

�Where are
you going?� she asked him as she dropped her rag and stood as well.
>

�Home.� He
said simply, heading out before she could think of a response.

Leaving her
alone in her dark and dirty apartment.

~~~

She
couldn�t remember the last time she�d woken up alone. She lay half awake, half
asleep, lying on her side with her arm stretched across the empty space of her
bed. She was cold.

The sun was
slowly rising, breaking through her stained windows. She didn�t get up yet. She
didn�t feel like it.

She didn�t
know how long she lay there, dazed.

There was a
pounding on her door.

�Ready to
go?� Naruto asked her.

�Of
course.� She responded as she pulled her bandana across her forehead and
secured it behind her head, hiding her scar.

�When and
where is the sparring?� she asked in general, walking past the guys and heading
towards the door.

�All
afternoon and in the field beside the school.� Kakashi answered her, taking his
behavior cues from her.

�Lunch must
be finishing up right about now�� she said as she looked out the now open door
at the high placement of the sun.
Sasuke
looked at his watch and grunted assertively. Haruno rolled her eyes at his
response.
<
<
�All the
more reason to get back then. I�m in the mood to kick someone�s ass anyway.�
She muttered nonchalantly as she stepped through the door.

�Alright
Haruno-chan! Me too! Kinda sucks that its Chouji and Shika we�re gonna beat up though.�
Naruto said boisterously as he caught up wher her and grasped her around the
shoulders as they walked towards the car.

�But at
least I can beat some sense into that damn Yamanaka he phe process!� she
responded, warming up to the idea.

Naruto grinned.

Kakashi and
Sasuke both fought down their glares.

~~~

�Damn�This
is so troublesome�� Shikamaru complained as he stared across the football field
at Team 7 doing their warm up. He himself was loafing under a tree.

Chouji, who
was also loafing with him, nodded his agreement.

�I think
Haruno and Naruto will go pretty easy on us but that new kid scares me�� he
admitted.

Shikamaru
agreed wholeheartedly.

�Oh would
you two worms stop complaining! We�ve gone over the plan countless times! All
we have to do is trap one of them and hold them hostage and we�ll win. It�ll be
a sinch, all three of them are too dense to see think with strategy anyway!�
Ino yapped at them.

The boys
winced at her voice; it was just so grating.

�Alright
teams, lets get this started.� Kakashi said reluctantly as he moved towards the
center of the field.

The two
teams stood at their respective goal pos
�Well�I�d
say the rules�but there aren�t any really. It�s pretty much just a
free-for-all-beating-fest�so go nuts. When someone says I quit, stop hitting
them and let them leave. tea team left standing wins. And we reserve the right
to stop the fight whenever we see fit.� He told them in his trademark, lazy
way.

Asuma-sensei,
team 8�s trainer and math teacher, coughed slightly. When put that way, the
exercise seemed really pointless. When Gai had explained it to him, it had
seemed much more worthwhile�maybe it had been the flash cards�

He took a
long drag on his cigarette, half grateful for the excuse to be outside which allowed
him to feed his nicotine addiction.

With a
reluctant sigh, he pulled the stick away from his lips and flicked it to the
ground.

The second
it hit they sprang.

Haruno
disappeared from the field. Knowing that Shikamaru was a master of tactics, they
had decided in training that the best way to gain an advantage would be to
watch how the other team worked and devise and break their strategy. She just
happened to be the best suited for the job, which was why she was the one doing
it.

Sasuke had
gone straight for Ino, he seemed to judge her as the weakest seeing as her
special techniques were dependent on aid from her companions.

Naruto had
gone after Chouji, deciding that his jumbo jutsus would be easier to conquer
than Shikamaru�s shadows.
&nb![en![endif]>
Shikamaru
was biding his time, much like herself. pan>

Ino was
playing purely defensive, she knew because she�d fought the girl often over the
past several years. She was leading Sasuke backwards.

She saw a
shift in the shadows. Ino was luring him into Shikamaru�s range.

Haruno let
fly a quick senbon needle, landing it in the shadows right before Sasuke�s
feet. He read their agreed upon symbol and jumped back just before Shikamaru�s
shadow could latch onto him. She could hear Ino�s curse from across the field.

Good she
was angry; she�d start to act impulsively.

Haruno
switched her attention back to Naruto. Chouji was chasing him around using his
meat tank technique. Naruto was laughing; he was goading him on. Good, that
meant Naruto was leading the combat and as she watched, Naruto lead Chouji
further and further away from Shikamaru and Ino.

Now was her
first opportunity to take Shikamaru out.

She shifter
her eyes to him again but landed on nothingness. Her eyes widened and snapped
around the field trying to find him.

There, a
shift in the shadows of the trees where they ate lunch.

Right where
Naruto was moving. She let her senbon fly but she was a second too late, Naruto
was trapped.

Chouji
abandoned him immediately and rolled towards Ino and Sasuke, who were now
sparring viciously with tai-jutsu, Ino keeping her self too close to Sasuke to
allow his hands the spare moment they needed to form nin-jutsu and gen-jutsu.

�Shit.� She
muttered.

Sasuke was
so caught up with Ino that he didn�t notice Chouji until he was hit. The larger
boy crushed the Uchiha, Ino having performed a kawarimi jutsu with a nearby log
before she too was crushed.

Now Sasuke
was out of commission and Ino was free to use her mind-body-switch.

Haruno
cursed again, she needed to take Ino out but where the hell had she disappeared
to after her kawarimi?

�See Shika!
I told you it would be easy!� her grating voice came from across the field.

{Fuck!
She�s too far from me!} Haruno finally spotted her in the key pose of her mind-body-switch near
the trees where Shikamaru had been when the battle started.

She moved
with the speed of the wind. The last thing Naruto needed was someone inside his
head with access to everything which would be exactly what Ino would have.
endiendif]>
Ino was
smirking in that way that made Haruno�s lip curl as she finalized her jutsu and
projected her spirit towards her target.

Haruno fell
back from the power of the impact.

Naruto
blinked in surprise, as Haruno suddenly appeared five feet in front of him only
to fall down as if she�d been hit.

~~~

It was
black. Who would have expected that stupid blonde�s mind to be black?

Ino
shrugged, dismissing the thought. She had to threaten this body and get this
damn fight over with, finally proving that she was better than damn Haruno
Sakura once and for all. And avoid breaking any more nails than she already had
sparring with that damn sexy ice block Sasuke-kun.

First
things first, she had to open his stupid blue eyes.

She
mentally commanded the eyes to open.

The space remained
pitch black.

Ino frowned
{what the hell�}

�Open your
eyes.� She commanded, now vocally.

Still
nothing happened.

�What the
fuck Uzumaki!� She screamed. �I�m in charge here so do as I damn well say and
open your eyes!� she commanded again.

�Shut the
fuck up Ino.� Came a slow, lazy and definitely feminine voice.

Ino started
and spun around, searching for the source of the voice.

�Who said
that?!� she demanded, trying to hide her sudden fear behher her overbearing
attitude.

�I did.�
Answered the voice. Ino pinpointed it as coming from her left and so she faced
that direction.

�And who
are you?� she questioned impetuously.

�Oh
Ino-chan�I�m disappointed that you don�t remember. Well, I guarantee you that
I�m not that Uzumaki you were cursing a moment ago.� The voice answered, a
vague shape now forming in the distance in front of her.

�What?
But�but I�m in Naruto�s mind!� she argued.

�No doll,
you�re not.� The voice stated. Ino could swear she saw a cigarette butt being
flicked away from the form.

�Then where
am I?� she asked haughtily.

�You�re in
my mind. Or at least, my other half�s mind.� The voice responded, the form
moving closer to her now.

�What the
fuck does that mean?� she demanded, she was starting to get really creeped out.

�Come now
Ino-chan, do you really not recognize me?� the voice asked again.

The form
was moving closer still, and slowly becoming clearer as if it was drawing its
substance from the darkness surrounding them. The figure was distinctly female
though it was the way it moved that gave it away; there were no real curves to
speak off. As she moved closer, Ino started to make oulor.lor. More
specifically, the pink of her shorn hair.

�Ha�Haruno?�
she asked hesitantly, something inside her starting to shake as the other girl
moved closer.

�Not quite
doll�� the voice told her, a vaguely sadistic smirk now visible on her lips.

�Haruno�s
the one on the outside.� She continued.

Her face
was clear now, a bright red burn scar blazed on her exposed forehead. Her pink
hair had been shorn to within an inch of her scalp. Her green eyes burned with
something Ino couldn�t recognize yet. White bandages that flattened what small
distortions her breasts might have made covered her chest. Her dark blue
drawstring pants were tied below her sharp hipbones, allowing the tip of a
large, angry, freshly stitched slash across her abdomen to show. Her feet were
bare, her pants ending just above her ankles. In her left hand she held a long
white coat with flames along the bottom over her shoulder. In her right, she
held a long steel pipe that she was using almost like a cane as she walked
towards the blonde. As she got closer, bloodstains began to mar the steel.

�Figure it
out yet?� the pink haired girl asked again.

�You�re
Haruno!� Ino stated.

The other
girl paused a few steps in front of her and Ino fought against the trembling
that started in her spine.

�And you
used to tell me that it was such a pretty and feminine name too�� the ANBU said
with mock disappointment as she raised her eyes upwards.

�Sa�Sakura-chan?�
Ino stuttered, tripping on the name that she had been banned from uttering.

�Bingo!�
Sakura exclaimed brightly.

�So glad
you finally remembered! What was it that made it so hard? I suppose I don�t
really look the same as I used to, the hospital had to cut off my hair so they
could stitch up the slice on my skull that I got while Father was drunk and
toying with his kunai. And I know this burn would normally have been hidden
from you because of my bangs. And I certainly never showed off my tattoo or my
brand new reason for visiting the hospital�� she rambled with a dangerous
pleasantness as she indicated the cut on her belly.

�But still!
Oh well. No matter really.� She finally said with a shrug.

�Enough
talk, you came here for a fight didn�t you? You came to prove you were better
than me, right?� she pressured, that gleam in her eyes intensifying.

Ino finally
recognized it for bloodlust.

�Tell me
I�m right Ino-chan.� She cajoled her, her voice cold and cruel, her excited
grin warping her face, her eyes narrowing and glowing eerily.

Finally she
snapped beneath her fear and her hands rose to form the seal to release her
jutsu.

Before her
hands could meet completely, Sakura�s steel pipe smashed down on them with a
force Haruno had never used against her, crippling her fingers.

Ino cried
out in sudden pain as she felt the bones snap. She looked down to see splinters
stabbing through her skin, blood flowing from the wounds.

�Leaving so
soon?� Sakura asked her, eyes widened in a fake innocent look.

�Get away
from me�please don�t hurt me�� Ino pleaded as she stumbled backwards.

�Come now
Ino�you wanted to be better than me. Show me that you can be.� Sakura told her,
coldness returned, twisted smirk back in place.

Ino�s eyes
just widened more and Sakura sprung, swinging her pipe in a large arc. Ino
turned away, raising her arms to protect herself from the blow.

The pipe
caught her behind the neck and sent her flying across the space.

~~~

�Sakura!
Sakura, are you all right?� Kakashi yelled at her as he shook her comatose
body. Naruto was chewing his lip and kneeling beside her also.

Asuma was
beside him doing much of the same in an effort to revive Ino.

Suddenly
blood started to spill from between Ino�s lips.

�What the
hell is going on?� Asuma questioned in an almost awed tone.

No one
could answer.

~~~

Sakura sighed
as she stared down at the blonde girl. She was barely recognizable.

�Really
Ino, you really don�t have any skills after all. I�m so very disappointed.� The
pink haired girl admitted as she looked down at the beaten body at her feet.

Blood was
oozing from her broken jaw, her cut lip, her swelling eye�from the rips on her
limbs. Blood was flowing so freely. The blonde was barely breathing through the
weight of the sticky liquid.

Sakura
crouched down beside her and dipped her fingertips into the blood spilling from
her lips and pooling around her head.

She raised
her fingertips, a few drops fell and splashed onto Ino�s cheek. She winced.
Sakura smirked sadistically.

She ran her
blood-coated fingers along her left cheek, leaving four dark crimson stripes.

�Remember
this Ino. I win. Your life, your blood, is mine to collect whenever I so
choose.� She told her coldly, her face an inscrutable mask now.

�Do you
understand me?� she questioned.

Ino didn�t
react.

�Do you
understand me or do I have to work a little harder to beat it into your skull?�
she grated cruelly.

�I��Ino
gasped then coughed up more blood.

�Nod if you
understand.� Sakura ordered.

It took all
she had, but she managed to nod once.

�Good. Now,
get out of my mind.� She commanded, flaring her battle aura with such intensity
that Ino was expulsed and forced back to her own body.

~~~

Ino shot up
with a gasp, eyide ide as her instinct to flee took over immediately. Asuma
caught her and held onto her as she struggled.

�Let go of
me!� she screamed.
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Hindsight's 20/20