Konohagakure no Sato, Saturday Afternoon (Fandom Time) / Feb. 15th (Konoha Time)

[intraspective]

Really, it had been a month and a half now and Ino had to admit that she was—feeling better. Between her father teaching Zack (and water walking had proved to be quite a hilarious thing to watch) and her father teaching her, she was feeling useful and busy without it being anything too taxing.

She hadn’t seen either of her previous teammates, which stung, but Ino stomped down firmly on that as she disentangled her mind from her father’s and ignored his look. It wasn’t the first time she’d avoided… whatever it was he’d wanted to talk about.

And she doubted it would be the last.

“That’s enough for now,” he said, after a moment. “How about you go and get some air?”

It was phrased as a suggestion, but Ino was well used to her father’s orders. With a quick kiss to his cheek, she left the room, went down the long, dark hall and out into the sunshine. It was a lovely day—February, already, which made her head hurt if she thought too hard about the days and how they related to Fandom—but, Ino thought, as she leaned against the balcony and pulled out her phone, hitting speed dial, maybe all that time had been what she’d needed.

And, across universes, her phone call reached…

[For ze raspberried one. Mwahaha. NFB.]

Comments

[raspberryturk]

So much to pack, so little friggin' time. Did Reno want to bring his black socks to Edge, or his grey on--

Oh, hey. His phone was ringing, and it was a ringtone that he'd been keeping an ear out for since their spar gone wrong on Wednesday. Reno forgot his sock woes for the time being, flipped open his PHS, and flopped down for a seat on the edge of his bed.

"Yo!"

... Yep. Just 'yo.' It wouldn't be Reno if he bothered with more than that when answering the phone, really.

[intraspective]

"Just 'yo', zoto?" she said, laughter in her voice. A far cry from the girl of a month and a half ago, truly.

[raspberryturk]

Oh, hey, that sounded way better than Reno had been expecting!

"What, did you want a Merry Christmas outta me? Ain't my holday, Rookie," Reno informed her, laughing and shaking his head a little. "Unless you count eggnog, zoto. I'll celebrate weird Earth holidays for the eggnog."

Preferably with a large amount of rum in it. Reno would still be Reno, after all. Especially when left to his own devices.

[intraspective]

"But I'm not on Earth," she replied with a snicker. "Wishin' me the best for a holiday like that ain't going to do me much good."

[puppy_fair]

It had started as a lurch in his guts.

Zack had been helping Ino's mother in the flower shop, idly gabbling about his and that while sweeping the floor, occasionally moving a potted plant out of the way and making a point to announce the name while he was doing so, deliberately showing off what he'd picked up over the last couple of months in Konoha. See? He was totally catching on.

But something hadn't seemed right, quite out of nowhere. Something he'd caught from the corner of his eye, perhaps, which had his hand moving unconsciously toward the weapon at his back. Nothing. Silence. He willed himself to relax again, just in time for the world to rock him almost clear off his feet.

Bits of the ceiling cracked, fragments falling down toward them, and Zack moved to Mui's side without so much as thinking about it. Action, reaction. SOLDIER didn't often have time to think. What he knew was that there was something bad, and he was alone with Ino's mom.

The rest would sort itself out as they went. Right?

[thought-seeker.livejournal.com]

Around them, throughout the village, alarms were wailing, crying, adding to the general cacophony of disaster and destruction and Mui's reaction to it was very controlled panic.

Her greatest blessing was that the shop had been empty. Her greatest worry was for her husband and daughter who were quite out of her reach.

It was her and Zack, Ino's man. The one Ino had given her heart away to. Which made him, Mui realized, as she locked the register down with practised movements and clung to the counter as the building shook viciously, made him her responsibility in a peculiar way.

"We're being invaded," she said, her panic squashed down and her voice coming out slightly dispassionate. "That's what the alarms mean. We need to get out of here."

[puppy_fair]

"We..." Zack looked, for a moment, genuinely confused at that statement. Invasions meant evacuations, sure, but evacuations were for other people. Were for civilians. His job was to... To find the enemy, and...

And...

A little piece of his brain so helpfully reminded him that while he was quite familiar with the layout of Konoha by now, he was, by their standards, still a civilian. Still an outsider. And he had Ino's mother with him.

No. No, he couldn't go hunting down whoever was attacking. He had to make certain that Mui got out of this alive. Though her tone... it chilled him a little. Sent a shiver along the back of his neck. There was a strength in that voice that he'd only heard once before, and the woman that he'd heard it from, calm and confident in the face of certain death, wasn't around anymore. She'd invited that end.

Mui was not Angeal's mother.

"Where do we go?"

Those words came out slightly more strained that he'd wanted them to. He could get Ino's mother to wherever was safe. And he'd do it fast. And then... Then he'd have to find Ino. He could only hope that she was evacuating, too.

But he couldn't imagine that she would be.

[thought-seeker.livejournal.com]

She was already moving, a small pack being pulled out from under the till, that held clothing, rations, water, and being slung over her shoulders. Every family had them.

"We're in area 43," she said, making her way to the door, keys in hand. "Section 112. Path 17."

None of which would make sense to him, and Mui smiled, very faintly over her shoulder at him as she opened the door. "Follow me."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

All good things came to an end.

It was something to remember, something that was impossible to ignore when the day had started off peaceful, with in the garden, sitting by the koi pond, her shadow unobtrusively behind her and Yei racing after a butterfly with all the demented energy only a kitten could possess.

A good day, in that she’s managed to get through Hanabi’s training with only minimal of fuss, and then her sister had wanted to come and visit the garden with her but her sensei had come calling… Hinata smiled faintly.

Then the sky began to crackle and she turned her head up, Byakugan activating at need as the jutsu shields around the village buckled. Buckled and—broke. Hinata was on her feet then, scooping Yei up into her arms, and when she turned and realized her shadow was staring at her for orders, swallowed hard.

She’d been doing a good job at forgetting that her father was out of the village on business. Now, during this, she was the eldest Hyuuga daughter. Her Clan was her duty to protect. As the ground shook and an explosion kicked up dust and fire across the village, Hinata shut away the part of her that quailed and stepped forward.

“We’ll begin evacuating all Hyuuga who are not on active duty.” That took care of the civilians, of the Academy children, of the babes in arms, of those on sick leave, those who’d retired…

Her shadow stared at her. Was he startled by the note of steel in her voice? Hinata didn’t care as she brushed by him, Yei tucked into her jacket.

“There’s no time to waste.”

She didn’t know, yet, how true that would prove to be.

[intraspective]

The world was broken and shattered and Ino was staring at the shards of the building she'd been training in not that long ago. Other than a few bruises, a few scrapes, she was fine.

Her father was fine.

He hadn't been, but she'd fixed him, and Ino was absolutely not thinking of the few heart-stopping moments there'd been where she'd thought that all her skill and all of her Potions weren't going to keep him with her.

Now, he was crouched next to her, uniform in a sorry state and looking pale but alive and Ino blinked hard at that. He was alive, that was good enough. She closed her eyes, leaning against him as he set their minds up through the chaos searching for other shinobi of Konoha.

And seeing if they could track the enemy. They were safe enough here, for the moment, no one would look for the living in the destruction.

[puppy_fair]

Zack had argued. Zack had argued and reasoned and gods knew that Zack had even come to yelling in order to get back outside once he and the others had reached the monument. In the end, Ino's mother had informed him in no uncertain terms that Ino would be not best pleased if he were to die, and then had made him put on one of the vests that there were so many of, throughout Konoha. Easily recognizable to the Shinobi of the village, she'd explained. Less likely to cause any problems with people he didn't want to run afoul of.

Zack had slipped it on without complaint, nodded, and made his way back outside, making use of his second-last Phoenix Down as a precaution as he went. Now if anything did strike him down, at least it wouldn't stick.

Screaming Ino's name and unafraid now to occasionally take to what was left of the rooftops as he backtracked, Zack was taking Konoha at a run. And no solid structure with any sort of height was safe from him using what Inoichi had taught him to help him get through the chaos around him.

[intraspective]

Zack was screaming and Ino didn't hear him. She didn't hear much, truth be told, being occupied with handling what her father passed to her. Her voice cracking out orders to other shinobi whose names and faces she wouldn't even be able to recall. The orders were in her voice, but they were her father's as he began directing the shinobi in their area, his mind and hers letting him see where the most vulnerable areas were.

Ino handled the words and saw what was going on but heard nothing. Right now, right here, she was an extension of her father, nothing more.

[puppy_fair]

It was taking every last inch of Zack's self-control to keep from slipping into Combat Mode. Now and again, he would have to make use of his sword, or his Materia, throwing out a Curaga here or a Blizzaga there... But no DMW. No risking Limit Breaks or Summons that would do more harm to this village than good. No drawing attention to himself with a glowing yellow feather lingering overhead. The yelling was doing more than enough of that, already.

He called her name again, took a few ragged breaths (so much smoke. Reminiscent of Midgar, now) and pushed onwards.

Willed himself not to panic. Not to quit.

He was starting to doubt that he'd ever be able to find her when he finally spotted that familiar shock of blonde hair. And when he did, he hit that rubble at a run that made men on Haste look slow.

"Ino!"

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

The one good thing, Hinata thought, was that they’d gotten their non-combatants out. Not just Hyuuga Clan, but all of those in their area, sweeping them up with the efficiency of manner and steely determination that their Clan was known for.

It was solely the person who led them that left people surprised.

Hinata worked as hard as any, her Byakugan active and enabling her to keep up with the others, spotting civilians who'd lost their minds and were hiding rather than properly evacuating. It might get them in trouble, after, the doors that Hinata ordered broken down in a firm, but soft voice, as she went about saving the lives of those who'd not save themselves. But that was a small consideration.

Property damage, after all, could be repaid. Lives could not be given back once lost. Hinata gauged her orders accordingly and the Hyuuga moved with her words.

It was absolutely terrifying. Standing on the edge, caught between the heiress and herself, and not allowed to waver even once for fear that her fear would infect the others and bring it all crashing down around their ears. Things had to keep moving, things couldn't wait, there was no time to be scared and yet every particle of her was.

And that changed nothing.

Orders still had to be given, people still needed to evacuate and people kept looking at her for guidance when she felt like she had none to give. Hinata stuck to common sense. Stuck to what was obvious--get the people out; drag them if they wouldn't come on their own. Whatever was coming was bad and the village was in desperate disarray. There would be no help coming if they messed up.

That, at least, she knew better than to tell her people, for they were her people, however unlikely a leader she may have been for them. Telling them that would lead to panic, needlessly so. Better to lie with a steady voice and far-seeing eyes and say that things were fine in this area and they could do it all themselves and it was best to let the aide go to more desperate quarters.

And, in believing, in that faith, Hinata was quietly pleased under the terror of she was going to screw this up more than anything, to see that people were moving, people were believing and people were getting it done. Street after street the village was emptying out. She could do nothing for the streets further away and yet steadily, they were emptying out at least one major area of the village. Children moving, eyes wide and with trembling lips, parents with grim determination and pale worry etched in equal amounts over their faces. There was, for all of the confusion, less sound than there might have been.

Konohagakure no Sato was a village that knew about war very well. This might have been war, this might not have been, they had no way of telling yet--either way, it was an attack and, as an attack, it was being treated, now, in peace exactly the same way it would have been in war.

People moved. People left and fled to the shelters built to survive anything.

Then the world exploded around them and she bowed her head, wrapping her hands around her midsection to protect Yei before remembering that she'd given Yei to another girl, a tiny Hyuuga child with hair still in the tufted pony tails of infants, and asked her to keep the keep safe. The woman's nurse had promised.

And that, Hinata thought, closing her eyes and seeing everything anyway as she crouched low, protected by two others of her Clan, was all they could do. Promise to survive and do their best.

And rise from the ashes.

[intraspective]

If asked, after it all, Ino would never be able to say how much time had passed from the initial attack to Zack finding them, to her father deciding that they'd done enough in this area and that orders were, Hokage-sama's orders, were to move.

Afterwards, she'd think, that had it not been for Hokage-sama's orders, that she'd have died.

The previous explosions were like nothing that hit them in a world of fire and rage and furious chakra that swept through the village, obliterating everything in its path as she and her father ran because there was nothing to do but run as the world exploded behind them in a mass of destruction that left Konoha little more than a crater in the ground. Only a few homes on the fringes surviving. The Hokage Monument destroyed but, and Ino knew she wasn't the only one that hoped fervently, that the civilians who'd made it far underground there were still alive.

All of that came later, though. Thought went out the window as the ground shook and the ground screamed and that was joined by thousands of other screams and Ino couldn't see Zack.

Her screaming then, as her father tugged her along, got shriller. Zack had been back there, helping with civilians.

[puppy_fair]

Zack hadn't seen it coming.

Once he'd found Ino, he'd been given his mission. Once he'd been given his mission, the entire world began and ended with assisting in any way possible with the evacuation. He'd been back and forth to the monument a few times, using his sword to tear away at rubble blocking the path, every now and again going so far as to risk a few seconds of Combat Mode to tap into a few of his more physical Materia. Assault Twister, he'd learned, was excellent for clearing a path quickly, without resorting to fire.

He'd managed a few trips to the Monument and back again, had used more Potions than he'd anticipated, leaving him practically empty-handed, but didn't mind in the least. Potions were easy enough to replace. Human lives weren't.

He was on his way back into Konoha when the explosion had hit, levelling buildings, throwing debris and stragglers about like confetti thrown into the wind. For a split moment, he found himself wondering if the gods themselves were attacking, to be able to strike with a force like this.

And then everything had gone black.

It might have been moments, a matter of seconds or minutes, or perhaps even hours before he finally stirred, every square inch of him feeling exactly like he'd been through hell and was unfortunate enough to wake up somewhere in the aftermath. He couldn't take stock of his injuries. Not with his head spinning the way it was.

At first all he really noticed, ignoring the pain and trying to at least sit up, was that everything was quiet. A minute later, the haze that he'd fallen into gave way completely into something entirely different. Even half-buried in debris as he was, he could see far enough to realize just what was left of Konoha.

The haze gave way to horror, and he didn't have any breath left with which to scream.

[intraspective]

Though she didn't know it, Ino had screamed enough for the both of them, her throat gone ragged as she'd tried to, to figure out what to do.

What was there to be done? Konoha was gone.

"Search for survivors," her father ordered, voice taut and Ino realized with horror that they had no way of knowing if her mother was alive. She had to have made the shelter of the Monument but the Monument was... no longer there...

She shook and barely realized it. "With your mind," her father said, brusque in his own horror. But the hug he gave her was tight and Ino was desperately grateful for it as she dropped her shields and went searching.

Look for survivors, that was what she was supposed to be doing, but the only person, the first person she had to find was Zack. Otherwise she was just going to scream and scream and scream as her world crumbled even further.

[puppy_fair]

Zack sat.

Zack sat, and he stared at the crater that was once a village that he had been starting to grow comfortable in. Fond of. He was still half-buried, planks and stone and gods only knew what else pinning his legs to the ground. He was one hell of a sight, burned and battered, clothing shredded. The Buster Sword was laying nearby, knocked clear from his back in the blast, but it had served as a shield in the most critical moments, keeping the flying ruins from shredding him open from behind.

He should... should do something. Pick himself up. Search for survivors.

Konoha was populated by normal people. He couldn't imagine most of the people who hadn't made it to cover surviving the blast.

... Where had Ino been?

Zack sat. For all that he knew that he should pick himself up and make himself useful, there didn't seem to be anything left in the world that he could possibly manage.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

LA LA LA INSERT BEST SCENE EVER.

[intraspective]

Days later and Ino was exhausted as she leaned back against a tree, slumping down and closing her eyes. There wasn't anything to be done and yet there was so much to do.

So many people dead.

She was dreadfully, frightfully, lucky that her mother wasn't amongst them. That the civilians who'd made it to shelter had lived. But those who hadn't and the shinobi of the village...

Ino blinked hard. She was tired, that was all. Just... needed a little peace before she got up and found someone else to heal, again. Her potions were long gone and it was just her and her chakra, her magic, to help.

A glance around, the destruction of the village scarcely hidden by the tattered foliage, and Ino bit her lip. She wanted to go home.

[puppy_fair]

After running from the Kyuubi, Zack had turned down any more potions on principle, once he'd seen how many people were so much worse off than he was. His Curaga Materia had been getting one hell of a workout, and his collection of Ethers was nearing rock-bottom, as well.

It was tiring work, surviving.

"Hey," he murmured, making his way to Ino with a tired smile that didn't come near to reaching his eyes. "How are you holding up?"

There was still a slight catch in his step. He'd managed in hurting himself even more in the run, but he'd heal neatly enough without any help. SOLDIER was made for durability, and he had wasted no breath informing any and all healers of that fact when they'd approached him over the last couple of days. There were people who needed it more. Go poke at them.

[intraspective]

Her smile was equally as tired.

"I can't complain," she said, reaching for him. Did he want to sit with her? "But I'm pretty--empty."

In all senses of the word, truly.

[puppy_fair]

"Sitting actually sounds like a pretty awesome idea," Zack admitted, carefully crouching down beside her, sitting, and then wrapping his arms around her. "Empty, not so great. I've got... four Ethers left, I think. Can you make use of them, at all?"

They didn't take care of the worst of the emptiness, but at least they helped with that hollow 'out of magic' feeling that always kind of left him feeling nauseous.

[raspberryturk]

Ino's phone was ringing. Not the one that had been stepped on, no. The other one. The one with the ShinRa logo on it, that Reno himself had given to her.

He had spent a few hours freaking the hell out, with no word, no call, his head spinning too much to let him hit any button beyond 'redial.' All attempts to contact Portalocity for a quick trip to Konoha had been met with apologies, they couldn't book a trip like that on such short notice on Christmas. Fucking Earth holidays.

So, after hours spent yelling and throwing things across the room and blacklisting himself with several Portalocity outlets across the Eastern Seaboard, Reno had decided to do the next best thing. Try the other phone. Now that he'd remembered it was there at all.

[intraspective]

It was a stupid, silly little ringtone that filled the air and Ino blinked as it took a few moments, seconds, for the noise to sink in.

That it was coming from her... phone?

Why would her phone be ringing?

... It had been a very very long few days, yes.

"Ino."

And she wasn't supposed to sound that empty, but at least she'd answered it?