Unfinished Business Fic Meme
I am the kind of person who always has a ton of unfinished fic projects. Some are fairly new, some -- not so much. Every once in a while I go through my fic folder, and try to finish some WIPs that got abandoned somewhere on the way. Now seems to be the time to do this again, but I have tons of trouble mustering up any fandom motivation. I thought
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This is for a meme from about two months ago, haha.
It ended within a sterile white hospital corridor, the sharpness of antiseptic pervading every scent, indistinct conversations hovering just beyond hearing and washing over her without leaving a mark.
Cold seeped through the back of her dress, where she slouched against plastered walls. Sakura did not move. She had been waiting in just this position, legs curled beneath her without a hint of courtesy, for the past hour.
Someone dropped bonelessly on the chair to her right. "Oh god. I'm dying."
Her stomach plummetted like a rock. It took a moment for her to identify the joke for what it was. "Are you all right?"
Ino crossed her legs. She clasped her hands in her lap, worrying at the edge of her violet skirt.
"I'm fine," Ino said, with the slightest emphasis on I'm. She stared straight ahead at the posters splashed on the other side of the corridor (Are you keeping your teeth clean? a feline summon demanded, canines unnervingly white), gaze glassy and unmoving.
Sakura sucked her lower lip between her teeth. "How are Shikamaru and Chouji doing?"
Ino raised her pinky and index finger and wriggled them a few centimetres from Sakura's face. Sakura's eyes crossed as she tried to focus on it. She was vaguely aware that a passing nurse had turned to stare, though he did not break his stride.
There was no anger in Ino's voice. "Shikamaru's gone home. He'll be back tomorrow. Chouji's," she stretched out her other arm to point down the corridor, where the air had felt stiffled with rigidly controlled chakra, "hanging on." She let her pause lengthen, watching Sakura's reaction -- whatever it was.
The bitterness of guilt flooded Sakura's tongue and clamped like steel around her heart.
"Um," said Sakura.
--
"Are you coming with me?" Ino asked, at last. She rose from her chair with habitual grace, and extended a hand in Sakura's direction. Ino was a better person than Sakura ever would be.
If the passing orderlies allowed it, she would wait for hours more, until her remaining team mate had been wheeled out of the emergency room.
"In a few minutes," said Sakura.
Ino's eyes met hers. Ino's team mate was barely hanging on, but so was Sakura's.
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