It was that time of the night where everything is so quiet - nothing moves, no one makes a sound - and all you could hear was the occasional snoring of a peacefully sleeping form.

Sakura clung tightly to the blanket, now only partly covering her thin frame due to quite a few roll-arounds and twists she'd taken while dreaming. But now, right now, her sleep was deep and comfortable. The kind of time where you simply don't want to be waken up.

The sound of someone banging on a door jerked her awake. At first she didn't want to believe she was conscious. She rolled over on her tummy and pressed her head firmly into the pillow, intent on falling back to sleep - she wouldn't even remember that incident in the morning. Her body relaxed and her mind went drifting back into the abysses, only to be tore from them by yet another loud bang - on her own apartment door.

She grumbled and tossed around again, not quite believing the guts of whoever it was doing this to her door, at this time of the night. She swore if said person repeated their offense, she'd get up and go reap the guts out of them before going back to sleep. Unphazed. No one would disturb her precious sleep time. Especially at such an ungodly hour.

Another, more hesitant knock was heard, and nearly growling, Sakura resolved herself to the fact that she would indeed have to get up from her bed. Leave the comfy warmth of her sheets. Put her feet on the cold tiled floor and make her way to the door. "I swear, you better have a damned good reason to wake me up!" she nearly shouted as she made her way out of her bedroom, her eyes still closed. She could navigate through her own apartment without looking. And she would recognize whoever was at her door by their voice.

So she stood behind her door, waiting for her nightly visitor's desperate apologies. But they never came. Exasperated, she reached out and turned the door knob a little, before stopping and remembering her door was locked. She grunted and started fumbling around looking for the lock. She released the latch, opened the door and yawned, her eyes still tightly shut. It would be easier to go back to sleep if she didn't open them at all.

With the lack of answer or move from the person on the other side, her brows furrowed and she snarled at them. "What the fuck do you want?"

A quiet whimper caught her attention. But it was not enough to recognize whoever was standing in front of her. She cringed and sighed, then opened up her eyes the slightest bit. Just enough to catch a sight of Ino. Yamanaka Ino. The girl who'd been her rival for nearly ten years now. The woman with who she fought for the attention of a certain Uchiha Sasuke. Now long gone from their lives.

The very last person she wanted to see in the middle of the night.

She squinted, trying to adjust her vision to the contrast of light between the hallway and the darkness of her apartment. Ino was not even looking at her, instead staring into some imprecise nothingness somewhere between herself and never land. Sakura scowled. "What? You were dumped and have nowhere to sleep tonight?" She asked in disdain. Ino had taken up a lifestyle she despised. Hopping boyfriends like you would change underwear, sleeping here and there. Why the beautiful blonde had started doing this, she had no idea - and did not care - because she wasn't her friend anymore. Their bond had been severed many years ago.

Ino didn't answer. Her arms hung loosely to her side, her head was slightly bowed down, as if in shame. Her eyes were puffy from evident crying. Tears were still spilling unchecked down her cheeks. But Ino was quiet. Not sobbing, nor shaking. Sakura's scowl faltered. Seeing Ino like that made her heart ache. Her eyes opened a little bit more - she was awake now.

"What's wrong, Ino?" She asked, her voice which had been nothing but near-yelling up to now was barely above a whisper. Despite herself, she reached out for the blonde girl and squeezed her shoulder in a half-comforting gesture. Ino apparently shivered under the touch, but she remained where she was - silent and sad beyond doubt.

"Ino?" Sakura repeated, taking another step towards the blonde. She could now see the totally desperate look in the eyes of her ex-friend. It was heart wrenching, to see her like this. She raked her brain to try and figure out what in the world could've happened to make her like this. She'd been abused before. Sakura knew because she'd had to take care of Ino in the hospital, more than once. And every time she'd do so, she'd advise her old friend to stop being such a whore. But it had never seemed to affect her this much.

"You know, Ino-pig. I never thought I'd see you end like this." The pink haired medic had said as she was working on a broken rib, trying to contain the swelling and diminish the bruise a tad. The blonde winced in pain, but didn't move or show her discomfort otherwise.

"You wouldn't understand, forehead..."

"The one thing I understand is that this is hurting you."

"So?" The blonde had answered, almost glaring daggers at Sakura. The pink haired girl flinched.

"I'd be better if I wasn't seeing your face in here so often!" She had replied, immediately regretting the way her words had slipped out of her mouth. What she meant and the way it sounded like were two very different things.

"I know how much you despise me Sakura. No need to remind me of it every single time!" Ino had spat out, getting up and storming out of the room. Her healing was not complete, but she was not in danger.

"Wait, that's not what I meant! Ino!" The medic girl was about to follow but stopped herself. She sighed and faced the truth. Ino was no longer the girl she had known years ago.

--

Sakura realized one thing right then. She had no right to tell Ino to stop doing whatever she was. She had done so only to feel better about herself. It was true that, in the deepest end, she still cared about Ino. But she was to blame for breaking what they had. And Ino's life didn't concern her anymore, as if it had ever concerned her at all.

"I should've listened to you..." Ino's strained voice took her out of her inner thoughts. She looked up to see what looked like an apologetic smile on her rival's face.

"I had no right to..." Sakura started, but was cut off when Ino threw herself into her arms.

"You had all the rights to." She said softly, however holding the pink haired girl so tight she was almost choking. Sakura returned the embrace at first hesitantly, but with soon more conviction as the girl started crying on her shoulder.

"C'mon, let's get inside..." She said after a moment, pulling Ino in gently. When she had maneuvered the girl inside, she let go of the blonde with one arm to shut the door, and then took the time to observe how the other girl's face had changed. Even in the near total darkness, she could see Ino had grown older. So much older than she should have been. There were already a few wrinkles around her eyes, probably from too much crying. Her baby blue eyes had taken a darker, shadier tone. They didn't have much life left in them.

She was the one to reinitiate the hug, pulling Ino in close to herself as if she was protecting her own child. She felt so bad, she should've never let her friend do this. She should've never left her in the first place. So many years she could've spent helping Ino like Ino had helped her when she was younger. Things wouldn't have come to this.

"I missed you, Ino. You have no idea." She said softly, now rocking the blonde back and forth slowly. The statement had made it's way out of her mouth without her brain consenting to it, but as they resonated around them, the words sounded truer than anything else Sakura had said in the past few months. They were warmer than any apologies would ever be.

Ino sniffled slightly and nodded against Sakura's shoulder. She knew, she'd missed her friend just as much, if not more. She held onto her tighter, as if holding onto life itself.

"Sakura." Her voice was pleading. She pulled back slightly and swallowed, searching for the pink haired girl's sleepy gaze. Their eyes finally met. "I need help."

Sakura stroked the blonde hair gently, her facial expression caught somewhere in-between annoyance and, dare she admit it, love. Love for her long lost friend. Annoyance at the girl she was now holding – against her will. She'd tried to bring Ino into her room, and had planned to let her sleep in her bed for the night. Just so the girl could decompress, and wake up with a clearer mind. It sure was no use trying to discuss things at this time of the day.

The blonde had refused to let go of her though. Even after she fell asleep, she still had an iron grip on Sakura's arm. Who'd had to resolve herself to spend the rest of the night in the same bed as her rival. A single bed, to top it off. Basically, she had never slept so damn close to someone, ever. And that made her rather uncomfortable, despite the warmth emitting from her bedmate. Unable to find sleep, she had decided to do the only thing she could to keep her mind occupied: soothe the blonde sleeping in her arms.

Dawn came with a pale sunlight and birds singing a happy song near Sakura's bedroom window. The pink haired girl slowly drifted back into the real world, somehow surprised that she'd actually fallen asleep. Squinting to adjust her vision, she took a good look at the girl she was holding, taking notice of every bruises and scratches and wincing at how many she counted, knowing there were probably more under the sparse clothing.

Sparse? Sakura rubbed her fingers over the surface of where her arm was lying, only to realize that her hand was pressed directly against Ino's bare stomach (and held there by the blonde's unrelenting death grip on her arm). Her cheeks now of a deeper red than her hair, she lifted her head on her other – free – arm and examined Ino's sleeping form. The girl had gained weight, her hair was shorter than Sakura remembered it to be. And even in her sleeping state, all cuddled up to her, she didn't look like she felt safe, which was painful to watch.

"Ino…" Sakura whispered the girl's name, the sound of her voice causing her to snuggle in even closer. She sighed and held onto her some more. Today was a day of work, so she couldn't allow herself to lay in bed like this forever. A little more couldn't hurt, and… Work didn't mean she couldn't take care of Ino. On the contrary, it would be a good excuse for checking on her and fixing some of her wounds up.

"Sakura?" Ino asked softly, stirring awake slowly. Her eyes were still shut, but her uneven breathing made it obvious that she wasn't sleeping anymore.

"Yes, I'm here Ino." Not because I whole-heartedly agreed to it, but meh…

"What the fuck am I doing here?" The blonde shouted, her eyes now open wide as she tried to get herself out of Sakura's bed. Sakura let go of her as soon as she felt some resistance, resulting in the blonde falling off the bed and rolling on the ground before she caught herself and plopped back onto her feet. Her stance was unsure, but her face held a look of deep contempt.

Sakura blinked. Now that was unexpected. "In fact, Ino-pig. I have no friggin idea what you're doing here." She retaliated, sitting up on the edge of her bed and holding the other girl's gaze. Ino flinched.

"What do you mean, you don't know? This is your apartment, right?" Ino asked, slightly confused.

"Yep!" Sakura answered almost proudly. Almost. "But you're the one who dropped here in the middle of the night without telling me why or how you ended up like this." She gestured to Ino's minimal outfit and battered body to emphasize her point, and the blonde's stance faltered some more.

"I… I came here of my own will?" She asked, this time completely befuddled. Sakura sighed.

"You're here. You were in a terrible state. I wanted to let you have a good night of sleep in a warm bed so you'd feel better in the morning. So don't you dare blame me for anything." The pinkette said stoically, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Ah yes, thanks again for your eternal pity, forehead." Ino deadpanned, but despite herself, she took a seat next to Sakura. Both girls were silent for a moment, contemplating the slightly worn out floor tiles, for lack of a better point of focus for their eyes.

"I still care about you Ino…" Sakura finally voiced up, then trailed off. Her voice held little power, but so much conviction there was no way her statement could be misinterpreted. For once.

"I know you do… I appreciate it."

"You have a strange way of showing it." Sakura remarked. Ino sighed and looked down.

"I don't think I've done anything right in quite a while." She said sadly, sighing afterwards. She felt Sakura's arm wrap around her waist and shivered at the contact, before adjusting to the warmth. Sakura's touch was gentle and, indeed, caring. Nothing like the men she'd been with. Nothing like the people she met on missions. It was rather comforting, and she instinctively leant her head against Sakura's shoulder.

"I think you've done a good thing last night…" Sakura answered softly, holding the other girl closer to herself. "You came to me and asked for help." She added before Ino could ask what it was that she'd done right.

The tall blonde looked up at her ex friend, eyebrows raised questioningly – in search of a confirmation. No, she didn't remember asking for help – she remembered very little of the past night. But if she'd finally done it, she could now only hope she'd get what she asked for.

"I'll do what I can." Sakura smiled at her, holding the blonde tighter to her as if to prove her words were true. Ino nodded gently and then burrowed her face into the crook of Sakura's neck. She stayed like this for a bit, simply enjoying this position that surprisingly felt nice to her. Then after a while, she pulled back slightly and looked at her friend's face.

"Thank you…"

Ino suddenly wanted to say so many things. So many words. She was looking into Sakura's eyes. Trying to prove that she meant it. She wanted their friendship to have never been destroyed. She wanted their bond to be mended. She wanted to tell her friend how sorry she was that she'd been so bull-headed about everything. She'd been stupid to let Sakura break their friendship over a boy, Sasuke Uchiha, none the less. But Sakura's eyes reflected the exact same apology. So many secrets they should've shared. Pain and hopelessness they'd lived with alone.

Ino felt weak. Sakura had learned to deal with her problems, and she hadn't. She was slowly killing herself everyday, and she wouldn't admit any of it, but her frequent visits at the hospital were probably the only thing keeping her alive these days.

"I'm sorry." Their voices echoed in unison after a minute of silence. They felt lame for wanting to say that out loud – it was so typical, and not so useful. It wouldn't fix anything. But somehow, with so many words floating in their minds, they'd both chosen these ones, which meant so much more. But the meaning was carried on by their eyes rather than their mouths, and that in itself was more of a relief, too. Looks, eyes, these sparks of feelings traveling from blue to green and back. They just couldn't lie, or be misread.

Nervous laughter soon followed. Sakura took this occasion to tear her gaze away from Ino's. "Want breakfast?" She asked, getting up from the bed and unceremoniously removing her nightgown and tossing it in a corner. Ino couldn't help but stare. When had Sakura become so… open? She had no idea how else she could word this out. The sight of her friend's bare back was also quite interesting. The pink haired girl had gotten a tattoo in the back of her left shoulder blade. Some sort of symbol probably meaning something, but Ino had no clue what. She felt like asking, but at the same time didn't want to be caught staring.

By the time the blonde had made up her mind, Sakura was already fully clothed and had sat back besides her. "Y'know. You don't have to eat. But you have to get your butt off of my bed. I need to make it."

"Oh!" Ino answered as she hurried to her feet. She immediately moved out of the way and watched Sakura work on the bed, in some sort of quiet daze. Her head was now pounding, a side effect to all the alcohol she had ingurgitated the night before. And probably numerous other nights too. She shook her head with eyes closed for a moment, not quite believing where she was, now. When she reopened them the one thing she saw was a worried girly face. About an inch away from hers.

She stepped back in surprise, yelping. She couldn't let anyone into her personal space like that. Not without noticing their presence. Was she so preoccupied she couldn't notice Haruno Sakura zooming in on her?

"Are you okay, Ino?"

Ino expected the question, who would've asked anything different in such a situation? It's the precision she wasn't ready for.

"I mean, in general. Not just… here and now, you know?"

Ino sighed and looked down. She had come asking for help – be it with or without her own consent – so it would be stupid lying. It would be so damn idiotic to pretend everything was fine.

"No."

"Want to talk about it?" Oh, she so wanted to. And at the same time, was afraid of what Sakura would think of her. Was afraid of where this subject of conversation would lead. She feared the truth more than the silence.

"No."

Sakura nodded understandingly and smiled faintly. Ino returned the smile and sighed yet again. Noting to herself that she was doing this way too much. "Want breakfast, coffee, eggs, milk, hot chocolate, salad, anything?" Sakura blurted out, intent on getting something out of the blonde before she headed for work.

"No."

"A hug?" Sakura smirked slightly.

"N-…" Ino blinked and then stared at Sakura. Her mind was screaming at her to accept the offer. It couldn't hurt. Yet the little pride she had left wrestled with her. Since when did she have to agree to getting a hug? It was something akin to begging – she couldn't allow herself that, could she?

"I think I'd need one." Sakura added, her smirk faltering ever so slightly. Somehow the pink haired girl had read her mind and reverted the situation, now being the one asking for it. Ino was all too glad to give in to the offer. She took a step to close in the distance between herself and Sakura and wrapped her arms around the girl's slender waist, taking the time to enjoy the soft, friendly contact. It felt so much better than all those lust filled embraces she'd been through.

"I think I'm a lot better now." She whispered, knowing Sakura heard her loud and clear. And she meant it. True, her life was a mess. Truer, she was in a terrible shape. Truestest, a day ago all she wanted to do was die – but now… she felt alive for the first time in forever. The pain was far from gone. But it was easier to bear. Now that she wasn't completely alone anymore.

"You'll be even better after I fix you up." Sakura noted, stroking Ino's bare back with a tiny bit of Chakra on her hands. She knew this kind of healing would only cause temporary pain relief, but she didn't have the time to do a thorough job just yet. Ino once again shivered under the touch. "Am I hurting you?"

"N-No!" Ino hastily said when she felt the hands withdrawing from her skin. Sakura gave her a quizzical look, which only served to deepen the blush that had crawled up on Ino's features. Much to her dismay. "I... I'm just not used to... I..." Ino couldn't word it. She paused and bit her lower lip, conscious of her blush and the way her body was reacting to the warmth. Her mind told her to get away as quick as possible. He body wanted nothing more but to stay in this embrace forever. "I feel safe around you." She finally said, as if to convince herself. And it worked since her muscles and nerves significantly relaxed afterwards. "I'm usually expecting the... worse, you know?"

Sakura nodded and smiled sincerely, bringing her right hand up to lift Ino's chin a little. "I never meant to hurt you, Ino."

"Me neither..." the blonde replied quietly, holding on to Sakura's gaze.

Sakura held it for a matter of seconds, before she nearly crashed her forehead into Ino's. But not quite, because it didn't hurt neither of the girls.

"I'm here, now..." Sakura said, bringing her other hand up to Ino's face to hold it, almost protectively. "I won't let you go ever again."

--

Breakfast had been a matter of minutes. Sakura had lent clean, decent clothes to Ino and had dragged the blonde to the hospital, promising to take a look at her wounds when she'd have a bit of free time. And the morning had been without any spare moment for the pink haired girl, who worked her butt off treating various kinds of disease and wounds, and sometimes having to deal with cases which shouldn't have found themselves on an hospital bed at all.

"Err Ayako. I think miss Himura is fine. The pain is all... in her head, y'know?" She made a gesture with her hand near her head and the nurse called Ayako nodded in understanding before scribbling a few notes on a pad she was holding. "Ain't nothing I can do for her." Sakura added before flying off to the room where her next patient awaited her. Ino following her like a good old dog.

She was caught completely off guard when Sakura came reeling back through the door and scrambled into her, causing both girls to completely lose balance and end up sprawled on the floor over each other, Sakura's notepad clanging to the floor somewhere a few paces from them. Ino was the first one to recover. "Gosh Sakura, what the hell did you..." she trailed off when she managed to get out of under her friend and saw the look of disbelief on her face. "Yo, forehead, did you see a ghost?" She asked, getting back on her feet and offering Sakura a sure hand to lift herself up, which Sakura took mechanically.

"Uchiha..."

At first Ino didn't want to believe Sakura had uttered that name. She was almost a hundred percent sure that she had misheard.

"Yeah, I despise Gucci bags as well… but…"

Sakura shook her head vigorously, her eyes still holding that expression of blank disbelief. "Sasuke… Uchiha."

Ino had known, but somehow, Sakura uttering the full name made the realization hit her like a ton of bricks. Yep, the Uchiha, the sole survivor of his clan, the man who'd only wanted revenge, the guy who both girls had had a crush on and lost to much to… was back.

"You can't be serious, Sakura." Ino said hesitantly, taking a step forward in order to peak into the room. Her fears were confirmed. It was her turn to inch backwards until she collided into Sakura. The pink haired girl prevented her from stumbling backwards anymore and held her by the waist a moment, as if recovering her courage in the embrace.

"It's him, no doubt." She finally voiced, letting go of Ino. A sigh escaped her lips as she took a glance at her recently recovered notepad, shuffling through the pages until she found what she was looking for. "How did Tsunade forget to mention this to me?" She asked herself out loud, shaking her head slightly at the prospect of having to deal with Sasuke. About seven years after he'd ran away from Konoha. How the hell had he managed to get back in without being locked up, though?

"Oh, Sakura, you got here sooner than I thought you would!" Shizune's hurried voice resonated from around the corner. The brunette traveled the distance between her and the room on some sort of speed boost, positioning herself between the door and Sakura, a sheepish smile gracing her features. She noted Ino's presence at the corner of her eye. "Hi, Ino." She said softly, a tiny bit of apprehension tugging at the corner of her lips. Sakura gave her a rapid glare before trying to push her way through the door.

"You're late on warning me. So, now that the shock's passed, I'm on a tight schedule today, Shizune. Let me take care of him." Shizune held the pink haired girl out of the room nearly effortlessly, getting a chance to note how Ino's face fell and raising an eyebrow at that behavior. Ino noticed the look and turned her head away, a slight blush creeping up her face.

"Hold it, Haruno." Shizune said sternly, causing Sakura to relent in her attempts to get past the older medical nin. Sakura made a point in sighing exasperatedly as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Why?" She asked, rivaling with Shizune's seriousness.

"Because I know what kind of admiration you have for him and I don't quite think you're ready to treat him right now."

Sakura nearly choked at hearing the words coming out from Shizune's mouth.

"A-Admiration?!" She gaped at Tsunade's assistant, not believing what she'd just heard. The brunette frowned slightly but only took a second to regain a normal composure. Sakura coughed. "You've got the wrong Sakura, Shizune-sama…"

Shizune raised her eyebrows questioningly, along with Ino. Sakura felt herself shrink under their gazes. "The Sakura from seven years ago was infatuated with him… I'm not." Despite herself, Sakura sounded a lot less convinced than she wanted to be, and she cringed at that realization. She saw Ino's face wrinkling up in thought and frowned. What was her friend thinking about now?

"Is that why you haven't been with anyone since he left?" The brunette asked, raising her eyebrows in question. At Sakura's lack of response she immediately added. "You're so shocked he's back you can't even lie properly…"

Then Shizune picked the pad out of Sakura's hands and found Sasuke's file before shoving it back into the pinkette's hands forcefully. "Keep to your duty, I'll take care of him. Tsunade'll explain later, when she comes back from that meeting." And on that note Shizune was in the room, and the door was sealed shut in front of Sakura's nose.

After blinking a couple times, Sakura took a step back from the door and shook her head. She then became aware of the utterly dumbfounded look on Ino's face. "Wha? Ino-pig? Whatcha staring at?"

"You…" Ino took a step forward, only now realizing that she was a tiny bit taller than Sakura. She looked into the girl's eyes in search for any hints of lying. "You haven't been with… anyone at all?"

Sakura sighed and rolled her eyes. "I've been too busy with the hospital and everything to even care about dating anyone."

Ino didn't buy it. "Forehead." She said, poking said part of the body of the girl standing in front of her. "I haven't forgotten all about our childhood. You can't honestly have given up on that charming prince dream of yours."

A shadow seemed to pass over Sakura's eyes, making them a shade darker. "Actually, Ino, I might have." She said seriously. The blonde hesitated before pushing her finger deeper into Sakura's forehead.

"I. Don't. Believe. You." She said, poking with every word. Sakura finally got annoyed and took a step back, shaking the finger off of her head angrily.

"I fail to see how you would understand any of my feelings, anyway. All you've been doing since Sasuke left is sleeping around with the first guy you stumbled on every single night." Sakura spat, glaring daggers at the blonde. It infuriated her so much that Ino, of all people, would try to tell her how lame her love life was.

Ino recoiled slightly, not expecting such an outburst coming from Sakura. The words stung like needles, but somewhere deep within she knew she deserved them. And it was her turn to realize that she, indeed, didn't have the right to say anything about Sakura's life. Nor did she even deserve a place next to the pink haired girl. She'd just blasted her only chance at making amends by being her stupid, superficial self. Once again.

Sakura had already walked off toward the next room when Ino had finally decided to try and hold her back. Say she was sorry. Anything just to get another smile from her friend.

For a minute she stood where she was, her right arm outstretched towards the hospital aisle in which Sakura had disappeared. Then her body gradually started crumpling down against the wall behind her, until she was sitting against it, her head slumped in her knees and her fingers tangled in her own hair. She started crying, sobbing uncontrollably.

When Shizune finally got out of the room where Sasuke Uchiha was, she found a lump of blonde hair mostly covering the sleeping form of Yamanaka Ino. At first she'd wanted to leave her right there, but something nagged at her heart and she decided to attempt to help Sakura's ex friend.

"Hey, Ino…" She whispered softly while bending over the still shaking form. She gently placed her hand on the girl's shoulder and watched for a reaction. She was still surprised when Ino recoiled and slapped the hand away, her eyes snapping open and her head shooting up.

"Don't touch me!" She spat, an angry scowl forming on her face, not quite covering up the look of pure fear that seemed printed into her features.

Shizune blinked and then shushed Ino. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you…" She observed the girl who was still sitting in a ball against the wall and frowned. "Ino, are you…?"

"Don't say it." Ino whispered, her expression turning to one of resignation. "Just don't say it…" she repeated for herself before wrapping her arms around her knees.

"Do you know who…?" Shizune began asking before Ino shot her a death glare.

"It doesn't matter." Ino said softly, turning her head away from Shizune. "Sakura was the only person who still cared for me and I just ruined it… No one will miss me." She added in a grim tone.

Shizune rubbed her temples pensively. "I don't remember Yamanaka Ino being a girl who gives up that easily." She finally let out, earning herself a questioning glance from the blonde she was trying to comfort. She smiled. "Sure, you're not as bull-headed as Sakura, but you are still beautiful and I know whatever you've done wrong, you didn't really mean it. Just go and apologize and…"

"I just did that yesterday, and this morning! What can my apologies mean if I hurt her right off after promising I wouldn't do it again?"

Shizune shook her head softly and looked back at Ino. "Sasuke, relationships, these are subjects Sakura gets really touchy about. It's not your fault." She said sympathetically. Then her eyes lit up. "Look, I'll schedule you in her afternoon run. You do need a bit of healing, and it'll give you an occasion to say sorry again."

Ino looked up almost hopefully, and Shizune smiled at her. "C'mon, Yamanaka. Get up and dry your tears."

Ino smiled rather defiantly at Shizune, but nonetheless agreed and proceeded to get up from the floor, then she wiped at her eyes nonchalantly, letting her unused arm hang loosely at her side. Shizune sighed inaudibly and gestured for Ino to follow her, leading the way to Sakura's office.

--

"Oh no, you can't see Sasuke. You used to admire him too much you're not going to be able to do your job." Sakura imitated Shizune out loud as she made her way into her office for lunch break. She was still upset with the Uchiha incident, although she wasn't sure if it was because she wanted to see him, or if it was Shizune's attitude towards her that annoyed her the most.

She made a beeline towards her chair, quite intent on dropping in it and relaxing for at least five minutes before she even proceeded to eating her lunch. She was so absorbed she nearly sat directly on Ino, who in only warning squeaked when she felt Sakura brushing her skirt against her legs.

"What in the world?" Sakura shouted, stumbling over her desk and spilling the glass of water Ino had brought for her, and unfortunately, herself. Ino cringed and instantly got up, yet not knowing what all she could do to help Sakura she just flailed around.

"I'm so sorry. I… I wanted to say I'm sorry… Brought you a glass of water… I just wanted to apologize…" She started babbling, virtually shrinking under Sakura's death stare.

The pink haired girl suddenly had the urge to yell at Ino to get out of her office, and her life for good. Distractions were not good for the life she led, and thanks to the blonde, one of these 'distraction' would cost her a whole lunch break hour just to go get a dry shirt.

But Ino's desperate expression prevented her from doing so. After all, it had started on a good intention, and if she would've been more careful herself, this wouldn't have happened. Sakura marveled at how she managed to keep her calm without too much of a sweat with Ino. She was so edgy and easy to piss off. Usually.

"I… I'll go and get you a clean, dry shirt while you eat?" Ino proposed lamely. She knew the only way that would happen would be if Sakura dared let her borrow her keys. Or if she accepted to borrow some of her own clothes – since she was wearing Sakura's she found it as a fair trade off.

Sakura eyed her strangely, the water slowly dripping down on the floor. Fortunately enough, no important papers had been touched, so it really was just Sakura and the top of the desk being wet.

"I'll just use one of the spare uniforms we have here…" She let out, sighing. She then looked around and frowned. "I'll go get changed, go get a towel to clean up this mess, please?"

Ino nodded and zoomed out of the office, sighing in relief that Sakura wasn't too mad at her. She went hunting for someone working in the hospital and found a nurse who indicated with a frown where the clean towels were kept.

By the time she made it back to Sakura's office, the pink haired girl had changed into a way too big white uniform top and she was slumped into her chair, eyes shut. Ino smiled at the sight. The girl was almost asleep and looked exhausted, but that made her just… so cute. Yes, cute. There was no other word to describe it.

She silently wiped the top of Sakura's desk, making sure to be extra careful as to not make any noise or throw anything off the wooden surface. Sakura slightly lifted an eyelid and observed the blonde work curiously. She was as considerate and attentive as she remembered, if not more, and it was relatively entertaining to watch her clean up. She couldn't hold in a giggle when Ino put the last touch to her work and smiled to herself.

"I thought you were sleeping, forehead." Ino said mockingly, giving Sakura an half-annoyed smile. Sakura finished opening her eyes and mirrored the smile.

"Until you started making such a ruckus!"

Ino rolled her eyes and threw the towel at her friend. "As if I was noisy, you were just busy staring at my beauty!"

Sakura snickered and put the towel aside. "Your beauty? Don't make me laugh Ino."

Ino was about to formulate a comeback when she froze in her track. "Are you suggesting that I'm ugly?" She asked defensively. Sakura rolled her eyes and got up from her chair, walking over to the blonde.

"I never said that." She said softly, and then without a warning she reached up and ruffled Ino's hair a bit. "I was making that remark at the staring at me part."

"Hey, you could've turned gay, for all I know." Ino shrugged. This would explain why she hasn't been with anyone since Sasuke left… she then thought to herself, glad she hadn't voiced that thought out. Shizune had been right though, Sakura wasn't as mad as she thought she'd be.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at Ino. "Even if I was, there's no way I would be eyeing you out." She uttered, without thinking. Ino frowned and, as she tried to fix her hair, her face fell.

"Why not?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Because." Sakura smirked and traced the line along Ino's jaw mock-seductively. Ino gulped, this had a bigger effect on her than she'd admit. She was still curious about the end of Sakura's answer and that kept her focused enough to stare. "You're my best friend for life. Checking you out would be just… plain wrong."

Ino's eyes literally sparkled at hearing Sakura call them best friends. Even after ten years… And what she'd said… "I'm so sorry about earlier…" She finally voiced out, her smile faltering a little. Sakura smiled at her.

"I'm sorry for storming off on you. It's true that you picked on a touchy subject, but I really overreacted."

"No you didn't. I had no ri…"

"Ino." Sakura put her finger on the blonde's lips to silence her. She looked deep in the blue orbs in front of her and eventually sighed softly. Ino just looked at her curiously, with a slight frown on her forehead.

"I let Sasuke take away from me the best thing I ever had. I was an idiot. I am an idiot. I was so afraid that, after he'd left, if I tried to be your friend again, you'd feel used or something like that.. That you wouldn't forgive me… Now I see that I was stupid. I still cared about you Ino! Can you imagine how bad it made me feel to see you all battered like that, every few days?"

Ino nodded and smiled bitterly. "Forehead, my visits here were the only highlights in my own life. At least here, I knew I couldn't be rejected…" She trailed off, sighing.

"We are so dumb…" Silence.

"Indeed." More quietness.

"So, we're friends, right?" Sakura looked at Ino almost pleadingly. Ino smiled brightly at her.

"For better or worse, 'til death comes between us." (1)

Sakura giggled and took a step closer to Ino, wrapping her arms around the girl in a lose hug. "Nice, now we're married!" She exclaimed, and Ino grinned.

"No wait, you still haven't kissed the bride!" She said mockingly. Little did she expect Sakura to press her lips against hers and peck her lightly. Ino's eyes grew wide, until she saw the mischievous grin on Sakura's face.

"I did now!" She laughed whole-heartedly, and Ino joined in, happy that she had an excuse to hide her blush. They hugged tight for a matter of seconds, and then Sakura pulled back and looked at the clock.

"Now that we're fine with this, I need to hurry and finish eating. Work, you know?" She said sadly. Ino grinned at her brightly, which confused the pink haired girl.

"Look at your schedule carefully, Sakura. You have your honeymoon planned this afternoon."

"Wha?" The pink haired girl raised her eyebrows questioningly, before Ino pointed to the pad that was neatly tucked in between numerous files. She picked it up and looked at the single sheet of paper sitting on top, under the clip.

"You have the afternoon off to take care of me." Ino chimed in, cheerfully. Sakura looked up from her pad and to Ino, surprise written all over her face. An afternoon off? She hadn't gotten that in forever.

"You... you convinced Shizune to let me off?"

Ino grinned and took the pad off of Sakura's hands, putting it down on the desk unceremoniously. "She proposed to put me on your patient list, and I used my charms to make it so I would be your only patient for the afternoon."

Sakura gaped at first, before chuckling, causing Ino to raise an eyebrow at her. "You mean, you balled on her and cried until she decided to give in?"

With guilt written all over her face, Ino looked down and wriggled her hands together. "Um, yes..."

"Awwww..." Sakura stepped forward and hugged Ino once more. "Thank you." She said as she let go, smirking as she noticed her friend was blushing.

"Thank you Sakura. I wouldn't have made it without you." Ino was serious, but Sakura scoffed.

"Please, Ino. Someone as smart and beautiful as you..." Sakura began, but decided to stop when she saw the way the blonde was looking at her. "H-How... How'd you... you know... Why did you?" She failed to find the words to formulate her question properly. And she knew it would be hard for Ino to open up to her about it this quickly.

"It's a long story..." Ino evaded the question, hoping Sakura wouldn't press on. She wasn't ready to talk about it just yet. She relaxed when she saw Sakura nod, albeit the nod was partly sad. "I just... don't feel like talking about it. Yet." She added, hoping it would soften the blow, knowing how much not being trusted could hurt.

"Alright." Sakura smiled and sat in her chair, resting her head for a moment. Ino simply watched her and giggled. "What's so funny, Ino-pig?"

"The uniform... makes you look all... cute. I don't know." Ino offered honestly. Suddenly self-conscious, Sakura looked down at herself and cringed.

"Yea. I lost a lot of weight... None of the clothes here fit me much anymore. Plus I think I picked a male uniform."

"That's totally the kind of thing you'd do." Ino smirked. Sakura just shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"The clothes you're wearing are too big for me too. I'm surprised you're the one who's gained weight..."

Ino shifted her gaze to the side and suddenly found the patterns on the floor quite interesting. "So you noticed too, huh?"

Sakura slumped farther into her chair and sighed softly. "If I didn't know you better... err scratch that." She stopped when Ino gave her some weird glare. The expression was wrongly placed.

"Please don't finish that thought." Ino pleaded to her after a moment of silence. Sakura looked at her in apparent disbelief.

"You..." She shot up from her chair and nearly leaped over her desk to reach Ino before the blonde tried to run away. But Ino had no intention to go anywhere. "I can't believe... I mean... Who?" She looked into Ino's eyes and hesitantly put her hand on the blonde's belly, wanting to make sure she wasn't dreaming or something.

Ino fought the urge to push Sakura back and instead let her verify her assumption. Once again she marveled at how safe she felt around Sakura, and how she could let her into her personal space so easily. She looked down at Sakura's chakra glowing hand on her stomach and bit her lower lip in defeat.

"You're... pregnant."

The silence fell and both girls just looked at each other indefinitely. Sakura's hand was still pressed against her belly and Ino found it comforting, even if for the moment it felt like a mountain separated both girls.

"I don't know who the father is..." She finally admitted, tears starting to crawl out of the corner of her eyes. She held back a sob, but couldn't hold it much more and nearly crumpled into Sakura's arms. Crying, wailing, and losing any sort of self control.

"Shhh, it's fine Ino. You're not alone anymore." Sakura tried to soothe her friend, rubbing the girl's back gently and without thinking she placed a small kiss on the side of Ino's head. She froze when she heard Ino's breath hitch at the gesture, and frowned when the girl's sobbing started back, harder than before.

Holding Ino's weight soon became more of a challenge than a comforting gesture as the girl didn't hold herself on her legs anymore. Sakura had no choice but to descend to the floor before switching her hold of Ino so she was cuddled to her side, with her head resting on her shoulder. Sakura's fingers gently threaded in Ino's blonde locks.

"Ino... calm down please." She pleaded, squeezing her friend tighter to herself. She was on the verge of tears too, but couldn't allow herself to break down when Ino needed her. "It's gonna be fine, I promise." She added, leaning her head against Ino's. That seemed to work as Ino's sobbing receded a little.

"That's it, shhh. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere, 'kay?"

Ino sniffled and clung tightly to Sakura - as if letting go meant the death of her. "Thank you." She whispered before she relaxed some more. Sakura smiled faintly and gave a more vigorous rub to her arm.

"Anytime Ino." She relaxed as well. All she wanted to do was to fall asleep right there, this day had been way too full of surprises already. And she dreaded the explanation of Sasuke's return.

"You're not going to drop me for Sasuke again, right?" Ino asked, snuggling deeper into the crook of Sakura's neck. Sakura's eyes went wide.

"No." Her voice left no doubt. There was no way she'd ditch Ino - her best friend, she mentally added to clarify - again for a dick like him.

"I thought he was your undying love?" Ino pulled her head back to look at Sakura's face, her words an attempt at lightening the situation.

"Emphasis on was." Sakura said, with barely any trace of emotion in her voice. Ino concluded that she wasn't lying, and pressed on, glad that the focus of conversation wasn't on her anymore.

"So who's the new lucky heart?"

"You." Sakura didn't think before answering, but it was true in a way. There was no one else in her life. She didn't want to deal with relationships. Ino was to become her main priority from now on.

"Yeah right, I know we're now married and all but... Isn't there a guy... Or. No. You couldn't really be gay?"

Ino's question caused Sakura to laugh nervously. She honestly didn't know the answer to this question. She hadn't considered it, nor even gave it a thought before the blonde suggested it earlier. "I just meant that you are the most important person in my life now." She said, for the sake of clarity. "Plus, you're the one suggesting all these things that makes us sound like lesbian lovers. I'm merely playing along."

Ino giggled and smiled at Sakura. "You're a terrible liar. I hope you know that."

Sakura took on a mock-hurt expression and glared at Ino. "I am so not lying."

"Oh yes you are!"

There was a pause and Sakura blinked before frowning slightly. "About what am I lying, anyway?" Ino simply smirked at her, but remained quiet.

"Gee Yamanaka if you're going to play games with me I'll play back!"

Ino raised an eyebrow at Sakura's response and eased herself out of her grasp, intent on getting up from the cold floor. But Sakura held her arm and prevented her from doing so just yet. "What, forehead? You want to play a game of truth or dare?" She asked with a smirk, getting her arm yanked down to make her completely sit back.

The pink haired girl was serious however, and something about her expression gave Ino the chills. "I'll tell you what you want to know, but in exchange you need to explain something."

Ino's expression mirrored Sakura's at those words. She knew what was coming, and what kind of question Sakura would ask her. And she was still not ready. "I'll pass."

Sakura on her side hadn't been expecting Ino to refuse the offer. She released her grip on her friend's wrist and looked at her directly. "You'll have to talk about it eventually, Ino."

"Oh, I know. I want to talk about it, so bad, you can't imagine." Ino answered, returning her friend's gaze. She was almost solemn as she spoke. "I just don't want to... break this. I want to spend the afternoon with you. Catch up. Be happy for once. Not mope around and bring you down with me the first chance I get." She paused, making sure Sakura was assimilating the information right, and thinking about her own words twice before saying something stupid.

Sakura was attentive, ready to hear the rest. So Ino obliged. "We're friends again, but there's this river between us. We're slowly crossing it, building a bridge. But if I try to jump over to your side now, I risk falling into the deep waters. I've been drowning for so long Sakura. I just want to enjoy a bit of sure-footing before I take a dive again. I just need a bit of time, without being reminded that I'll need to go back down there and fight my fears again every so often. Can you give me that, Sakura-chan?"

"O-Of course Ino." Sakura said softly, tentatively grabbing Ino's hand. When she felt no resistance she entwined their fingers a bit. "Take all the time you need. I'll be there when you're ready."

Ino just stared at their linked hands for a moment and nodded absently. Then she grinned.

"Well Sakura, if you're not entirely gay, I am pretty sure you're at least bi!"

Sakura scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Can't say you're not enjoying this, are you?"

Ino's grin grew into a smirk, before she attempted to mimic her friend. "I'm merely playing along." The act earned her some playful batting on the shoulder and another eye roll from Sakura.

"I see your ability to change the tone of a conversation still hasn't gotten rusty." Sakura's remark made Ino grin some more.

"It's one of my many skills."

"Yeah right. If one of your skill includes gulping down hot ramen at Ichiraku, I'm taking you out of here." Sakura offered while getting up. Ino smiled brightly and followed suit.

"Of course. Ramen eating is one of my specialty! I'm just not as good as Naruto."

Sakura chuckled and picked up her stuff from a table in the corner. "Nobody can beat Naruto."

--

Ino stretched and popped her back a bit, trying to get comfortable sitting on one of those high chairs at the ramen bar. Sakura was leaning onto the counter, staring into immensity as she waited for her order.

"'Sup Saku?" Ino waved her hand in front of the pink haired girl's eyes in an attempt to get her friend's attention. Sakura merely batted the hand away.

"I'm thinking." Sakura mumbled into her hand. Ino frowned.

"About what?" She pressed on, now kind of worried. Sakura's mood had drastically shifted when they'd entered Ichiraku's.

"Things." Was the pinkette's evasive response. Ino sighed and decided to drop it for the moment, instead mirroring her friend's stance. She gave Sakura a sheepish smile when she got some sort of annoyed glare from the other girl.

"Hey, I'm trying to have a cheery mood here, and you're ruining it with your brooding. This was your idea you could at least enjoy it a tad?" Ino whined, resisting the urge to poke Sakura's forehead. Instead she put her hand on the other girl's shoulder and looked her in the eye. Sakura just looked away, causing Ino to emit a low annoyed growl. "Forehead, you just told me you'd be nice and let me adjust and help me live again, and here you're moping on me and won't even tell me what's going on. Think that's fair?"

"Sorry..." Two bowls were placed in front of the girls before Sakura could finish what she was about to say. Ino eyed the bowl with appetite, she had been unable to eat breakfast, and hadn't had anything to eat the day before either. She sighed and gave Sakura's shoulder a comforting squeeze before cracking her chopsticks and starting to eat. Sakura did not even protest, and proceeded to eating as well.

They ate in near silence, but for some reason, Ino felt comfortable in this kind of quietness, with Sakura by her side. The loud noise of the places she used to hang out at resonated in her mind, still. Yelling, shouting over music, fights. Violence. She was glad that this once she was away from all this, and with someone that respected her. The shop was almost desert, due to the usual lunch hour being far past when they had finally made their way there. They were away from the crowd and pretty much by themselves, and even Sakura found some comfort in the situation.

"I didn't think I'd have so many Naruto-feelings by coming here." Sakura voiced out between two bites. Ino frowned at that, not quite understanding what that meant. She swallowed a lump of noodles and stared at her friend, waiting for her to finish her next bite.

"He left for a mission, two months ago. Still hasn't come back. I'm just... worried."

"What kind of mission?" Ino inquired, glancing at her bowl and realizing all she had left was broth. Sakura waited for her to look up, her face crumpled in an expression close to fear.

"He was after... Sasuke. Again" She let out in an apprehensive way, twirling her chopsticks between her fingers absently. Ino's eyes grew wide.

"So, by logical thinking, he should be back..." Ino attempted, understanding how that could worry Sakura. The pink haired girl must've been dying at the thought of knowing what happened to him, or rather, not knowing. Sakura nodded sadly and pushed her bowl towards Ino.

"Here, you can have the rest, I'm not really hungry."

"So that's why you were so upset when you saw Sasuke..." Ino explained to herself out loud, ignoring the bowl in front of her and instead leaning to the side to give Sakura a simple hug. Stools being what they are, she temporarily lost balance in the gesture and had to back flip in mid air so she wouldn't end up collapsing to the floor in a loud thump.

Her abused body held onto the adrenaline rush and the landing wasn't too catastrophic. But the pain in her ribs and neck from the effort caused her knees to buckle afterwards, her face falling right into Sakura's lap as her arms grasped onto her so she wouldn't finish crumbling down.

"Good grief Ino are you alright?" Sakura asked, getting off from the stool and kneeling next to the blonde as soon as she could move. She was down just in time to catch Ino's limp head and prevent it from snapping backwards as the girl lost consciousness. Without even considering the situation, Sakura picked the girl up bridal style and began running back to the hospital. She hastily shouted an apology at the girl behind the counter for not paying her meal too, not wanting to have the police after her because of the emergency.

She kicked open the heavy doors of the entrance to the main part of the hospital, only stopping when she found herself in front of the main office. "I need an empty room, quick!"

The girl behind the counter eyed her curiously, her response seemingly taking forever to come. "Sakura-san? Aren't you off this afternoon?"

Sakura let out an exasperated sigh and bent over the counter to look the girl directly in the eye. "I was. But I need to treat her. NOW!"

Dumbstruck by the vehemence in Sakura's voice, the girl almost whimpered as she looked through the register hastily - too hastily, which actually did all the contrary of what Sakura wanted, slowing her down. The pink haired girl subconsciously began tapping her foot before she could get a room number out of the apprentice sitting behind the counter. The girl would be scared of her from now on, but it didn't really matter.

"R-Room 121, to your right." The small girl said fearfully, pointing to the right aisle ahead of her, before realizing Sakura was already walking really fast in that direction. "Thank you!" She heard from a distance, when Sakura had remembered to be polite. Well at least she'd gotten thanked for trying, the girl thought as she sat back and sighed in relief.

Sakura hadn't lost time once in the room and laid Ino on the bed, checking her vitals first and making sure nothing was broken. After the quick examination she was able to figure Ino had a concussion - probably from the shock of flopping on her feet from so low. Ninja reflexes with a body that hadn't been trained in a while was a bad combination, and she made a point to note that in her mind to remind Ino about it when she'd wake up.

She then made sure no hemorrhage would form around Ino's brain from the shock and proceeded to do the healing she'd failed to do until now. So many bruises, scratches, wounds. But what held her attention the most was the badly treated gash in Ino's lower back, which she had failed to notice the night before despite the little clothing the blonde wore.

"Ino... What have you done to yourself?" She wondered out loud, not expecting an answer.

"I was an idiot." Ino's voice was raunchy, but it wasn't unrecognizable. The blonde was lying on her stomach, pretty much naked save from her underwear, the late afternoon's sun warming her skin where Sakura's touch hadn't done so not so long ago. Sakura stared at her like she was some sort of alien.

"I was partly awake when you started undressing me." She added tentatively, trying to lessen the shock of her speaking on Sakura. The pink haired girl shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"I bet you..." She was cut off as Ino pushed herself up a tad to take a look at her face. Blinking as her vision adjusted.

"... enjoyed every second of it." She finished with a smirk, before falling back to the bed, a little dizzy.

"Concussion, Yamanaka. Stay down please." Sakura stated seriously, failing to see the smile forming on Ino's lips. She didn't know why, but Sakura calling her by her last name felt... refreshing.

"I couldn't help it." She said, honestly. Oh, but Sakura would interpret that all wrong.

"One day together and you're already addicted to me, pig?" Sakura asked gingerly, applying some pressure on the wound she was still taking care of while she spoke. Ino whimpered, her voice now clearer, closer to what she usually sounded like. But her tone was scared, rather than playful.

"I had to make sure it wasn't some pervert molesting me." Sakura frowned, rubbing attentively at the skin where a scar was forming, yet looking at Ino's face from the corner of her eye.

"Don't jump at me for asking this..." She began, starting to massage Ino's back and smiling when she appeared to relax under her touch. "But you sound like you're scared of these people you used to spend the night with. Why were you even doing it?"

Ino brought her right hand up to her head and rubbed at her temple, thinking about the correct answer to this question. She was still afraid of what Sakura would think of her if she heard it.

"I... There was this mission we had to do, I was to seduce this guy... Shika had ditched me the week before, for no apparent reason. He just said things didn't click. And yes, they didn't. But I just wasn't ready to accept being alone."

Sakura put her hand over Ino's until the girl let it drop to her side and then began massaging her head for her, still listening intently on what Ino had to say.

"The guy, he was so handsome. And I got what I needed from him. But I found myself drinking, and wanting more. And well, he wanted it, too. And I won't lie forehead, it was a great night." Ino closed her eyes and tried to put together the fragments of memory she had of that time a few years back. "I felt wanted, and appreciated. And that was not something I was used to, not anymore. Not since I'd been your friend and we'd shared everything."

"So you started seeking it out..." Sakura finished for Ino, letting her hands roam over the girl's neck.

"And for a while it was just great. No attachment, no troubles. I used and was used and that was fine with me. Then..." Ino shivered at the simple memory of what had happened. Sakura frowned and covered her with a bed sheet up to her waist. Not sure why she was doing it - the weather was pretty warm.

"I stumbled on that one beast." Ino's voice broke as she recalled everything in the tiniest details, despite herself. She shook even more and Sakura grabbed her hand gently in what she wanted to be a comforting gesture. Ino squeezed her hand hard before continuing. "He was into masochism and pain, spanking... And he'd put drugs in my drinks. I was too wasted to even run away, and that's how I ended up in the hospital for the first time."

"Wait, that wasn't due to the mission?" Sakura recalled seeing Ino nearly crawling into her office, begging to be checked by her. The reasons had seemed correct enough. At the time she was the only female medic on guard, and Ino's body showed signs of rape.

"It happened during the mission... I just never told anyone I had sought the man out before he raped me..." Ino admitted guiltily. She expected Sakura to let go of her in shock, anger, or something, but the fact was that she was holding onto the pinkette's hand way too tight for her to do anything but stare at her after the confession.

"I felt dirty after that. And useless... I mean, I was useless. Shika and Cho would carry on most of our missions on their own, and I'd be left sleeping during the day, sitting at the bar during the night. And even after that guy raped me... I didn't drop that bad habit." Ino sighed and buried her head into her pillow for a moment before she lifted it again. "I should have listened to you." Her eyes were humid, tears threatened to spill. Sakura gulped and ran the fingers of her free hand through the blonde locks, a deep look of understanding on her face.

"At one point..." Ino was struggling to choke back her tears, but she had to finish her story. She just had to let it all out. "I started being more reluctant to sleeping with them. And most of them... they didn't appreciate it. The more hurt I was, the more I saw you, the less I wanted it. When I realized that... I was pregnant... I had been taken out of duty by Tsunade, I'd lost all my friends, and I had nothing left." She sniffed, trying her best not to sob but failing at it. "I got drunk... And I was planning to just go... and dump myself down the Hokage mountains..." Tears now fell freely from her eyes and Sakura sat on the bed, lifting the blonde gently and turning her around to hug her tight. She was crying too.

"Then I woke up, in a bed, next to you..." Ino wrapped her arms around Sakura and hugged back tighter. Her head was spinning, but she didn't know if it was from the crying, the sudden elevation and her concussion, or because everything was on the table now, and she could finally start the healing process.

"I was so stupid to not realize that..." She sniffled again and Sakura began stroking her back knowingly. She felt like such an idiot too. "... you were always there, so close yet so far. But you were there."

"And I'll always be." Sakura's soft voice soothed Ino and allowed her to relax. She kissed the top of Ino's head and held her close to herself, letting her own tears flow freely now. "Don't you ever doubt that." She added shakily, hoping these simple words would fix all the mistakes she'd made. In truth, it wouldn't. But it was a beginning.

"Trust me! I never meant to run without you, I swear!" A loud, enigmatic voice resonated from behind her. She whirled around and saw a blonde beauty looking at her, with pleading eyes. Her face was innocent, but her hand held a bloody kunai.

"I didn't want to do this!" The girl continued, taking a step forward. Sakura instantly got on guard.

"Please! There's got to be another way!"

"Sakura?"

The room was darker than Ino remembered. For a second she wondered how long she'd slept. Her head was still aching, and she was slightly nauseous. She wiggled around some, her narrowed eyes directing her gaze towards the sleeping form of Sakura, who she was still cuddled up with.

"You think I'll believe the bitch who murdered my best friend?" Sakura kept speaking in her sleep. It took Ino a while to realize it wasn't real speaking, but she had already replied.

"I didn't murder anyone!" She said defensively. Sakura's eyes shot open and her arm grappled onto Ino's neck, squeezing tight. Ino instantly choked, the lack of blood to her brain causing her to go incredibly dizzy. She knew she'd fall unconscious before she died, but the fact was that she didn't want to die.

"Sa... ku... I... breathe!" She stated calmly, despite the burning in her lungs and the very little air that could make its way through her throat. Sakura's eyes grew wider and she immediately let go.

"Oh my god Ino I'm so sorry!" Ino winced and brought her hands up to her throat to rub at the marks left by Sakura's iron grasp. She'd been lucky that the girl hadn't been fully awake, because otherwise it would've been the death of her.

"It's fine, forehead. I've seen worse." She choked in discomfort, coughing after her sentence. But when Sakura attempted to hug her she shrieked and sat back, farther away. Out of reach. "Don't touch me!"

Hurt made its way onto Sakura's face. She hadn't planned this. She never wanted to hurt Ino. She wanted all the opposite, in fact. Was the Ino of her dream getting back to her for not trusting her? "I-I'm sorry..." She repeated sadly, throwing the sheets off of her and getting off the bed. She somehow knew that offering Ino to heal her wouldn't work right now. So she resolved herself to getting out of the room and leaving the blonde alone. She was about to tell Ino she'd be back in the morning when the blonde's normal voice rang out in the nearly empty, darkened room.

"What the hell was that about?"

Without thinking, Sakura just recalled her dream. "You killed Naruto."

Ino coughed some more, in disbelief. "I what?!"

"In my dream…" Sakura offered the correction. But she was unable to look at Ino. She'd almost killed her because of a dream. She'd nearly put an end to the life of the girl who'd just told her she was the last bit of her lifeline.

Smooth.

"But… why'd you…?" Ino's voice held concern, but still sounded a tad angry. Sakura lowered her head into her palms and sighed.

"I'm sorry…" Was all she could muster before sobs overtook her body. Her back was turned to Ino and she tried to hide the fact that she was crying, but the blonde saw right through it.

"Sakura…" She reached out, hoping to be able to grasp her friend's arm, but Sakura shook it away.

"I need… some time alone, Ino." She didn't know why, but she waited just a second before leaving, taking the chance to look at Ino from the corner of her eye. She saw confusion on the girl's face, but no trace of anger or fear remained. That gave her the courage to turn around and face the other girl before she left. "I'll come and check on you in the morning."

She started to walk towards the door when she heard Ino calling her name. Not quite trusting herself to really leave if she turned back, she didn't look back nor stop. Instead walking right through the door. Ino stared at it for a moment and then whimpered. She didn’t really understand what had just happened, but she suddenly felt a pang of hurt at being abandoned like that by her friend. After being attacked. By her. Things sure were simpler when she did not care about anything anymore.

Her stomach growling shook her out of her daze. She was hungry, yet the simple thought of getting up sent waves of pain to her brain. She pondered just calling for a nurse and asking for food. After all, she was a patient, she deserved at least some service, even if it wasn't from Sakura.

She was just about to press on the button on the side of her bed when the door of her room opened slowly, in time revealing the silhouette of the Fifth Hokage. She stayed in the doorway a moment, eyeing Ino suspiciously before speaking up. "Sakura isn't here." She stated rather than asked, barely paying attention to the blonde in the room.

"Um Tsunade-sama?" Ino figured she'd ask anyone. She was hungry. The woman eyed her curiously but listened to the incoming request. "Can I… have something to eat?"

--

'Not thinking. Stop thinking about her. Stop thinking about what you just did. Run, just run. Forget it. I did not just attempt to kill my best friend in my sleep. I never made up with Ino. She isn't real. This is just a dream... Argh STOP THINKING!!'

'You know, for someone not thinking, your mind is racing pretty hard...'

'I'm not thinking... Just jumping, running. Putting my feet in front of another. I love Ino. I'm running. Training. Under adrenaline, my body feels light as a feather and my mind is blank!

Sakura side kicked at a tree to propell herself into the trail that led up the mountains. She had no idea where she was headed, not like she cared. She just wanted to get there as quickly as possible. She just wanted to forget what had happened for a moment to be able to relax and put her ideas back in place in a quiet, peaceful state of mind. Not the confused and broken ramble she currently was in.

'Slow down you're gonna get us hurt!'

'Not thinking... not thinking... I'm not...'

Her pace was psychedelic. Never in her life had she ran that fast. It felt incredible. The wind on her skin, the pale starlight coming from the sky, the grass wooshing under her shoes. This was what she'd wanted since she'd left Ino's room. Her breathing came in guttural and slow motion compared to how fast the landscape was running beside her. Her head was spinning with the boost of energy.

She never saw the spiky blond who was walking slowly, thinking deeply. Doing the total opposite of what she was attempting. She didn't even feel his body until she found herself lying on top of him, after knocking the wind out of his lungs.

"Oof, Sakura-chan..." He looked up at his friend as he took a few ragged breaths, his pensive face slowly shifting into his usual trademark goofy grin. But even that grin seemed fake under the moonlight.

Sakura stared right back at him. How had she not ran into him before that? And then it all came back to her. "Ino..."

Naruto's ears perked and he looked around as if there was an enemy hiding nearby. Sakura realized what she'd just said and picked herself up off him. "I mean, hi, Naruto-kun!" She said with a sheepish smile, offering her hand to the boy, who took it and lifted himself up next to her. His expression was slightly concerned, but his face was normal - he didn't even look hurt at all. Sakura threw herself in his arms. "I'm so glad you're back!"

The boy chuckled and hugged back, smiling. "Well of course, Sakura-chan. I promised I'd bring Sasuke back." He pulled back and grinned once more, striking a 'good guy' pose. "I never go back on my promises!" He then stood there, waiting for Sakura's delayed reaction to these news. After each second that passed, his features fell some more, until he couldn't take it anymore. Sakura wasn't even staring at him. "He's back!" He stated half-heartedly. He sure had expected a more cheery reaction, even if Sakura had started telling him to drop it in the past two years.

"I know." Sakura said softly, feeling almost guilty that she'd found out before Naruto could tell her.

"Ah, so Tsunade told you?" He answered sheepishly, reaching behind his neck to scratch an imaginary itch. Sakura shook her head and looked up at the sky a bit.

"No I kind off… stumbled into him during my morning run."

"Oh…" Naruto looked like he was sorry. But he soon got a little more cheery and threw his arm around Sakura's shoulders. They both started walking towards the top of the cliff. "So, what's up?" He asked almost knowingly. Of course her saying Ino's name first thing when seeing him would be a dead giveaway. Sakura sighed and internally smiled at how the boy had always been able to read through her.

"Bah, the usual, really. Lots of people get hurt with stupid things. People come and go…" She trailed off, knowing Naruto would ask about the most recent events if she didn't give any specifications. If he wanted to know, that is.

"I heard you sorta made up with Ino. I thought you 'hated that bitch'?" He asked, cocking his head to the side while looking into her eyes. Sakura couldn't help but smile at his expression.

"I hate her lifestyle. Who wouldn't?" She asked, raising her eyebrows. Naruto answered her silent question with an approving grunt. "That never meant that I hated her. She still is my best friend from so long ago, after all."

Naruto gave her a knowing smile. "You know what? Sasuke said the same thing to me." He said, nearly beaming. Sakura giggled at his attitude and ruffled up his hair. "Yeah but you're not falling in love with him."

Silence fell. They both stopped walking. Naruto eyed Sakura curiously, his mouth slightly agape, and a tiny sparkle lit in the corner of his eye. If the situation hadn't been so awkward, Sakura would've nagged at him wiping some imaginary drool off his face.

'I didn't really just say that out loud.' Sakura gasped and covered her mouth, her eyes wide and her expression some sort of mix between fear and giddiness. Naruto was staring at her. And staring some more.

Then all of a sudden, out of absolutely nowhere, came a loud burst of laughing. With the look that had been on Naruto's face a second ago, Sakura had a hard time believing it was him laughing that way. Really, he had been in too many fights with Sasuke and his head was affected. 'Scratch that, Naruto has always been slightly bonkers.'

"Now that explains… haha hahaaaa… soooo many things!" He bent in two and tried to control his laughter, the strength of it making a few tears sparkle at the corner of his eyes. Sakura took a step back and looked at him as if he was crazy.

"So many things like what?" She finally asked when the boy's fits of giggle seemed to have calmed down. He looked up at her and grinned seductively.

"Mainly why you've been resisting my charms up until now."

"Baka!" Sakura hit him upside the head as he stuck his tongue out at her. That was enough to send him into another fit of laughter. Sakura laughed along with him this time, lightening up a tad. "I can't believe I just blurted that out…"

She was serious again, and Naruto's laughter subsided almost immediately. He put his hand on her shoulder and smiled brightly. "I'm happy you told me, though." He said sincerely. Sakura nodded and walked into his arms, pressing her face against his chest.

"I just told myself." She whispered. Naruto giggled at that.

"So what about that 'I never want to be in love again' thing you were going for?" He asked her while wrapping his arms around her thin frame. Sakura cuddled into the warmth.

"Well I just tried to kill her in my sleep, so I doubt I even have to worry about that." She answered in a slightly hysterical tone. And before Naruto could make something out of the words she added, in hopes she'd make him forget about what she'd just said: "And stop quoting me, will ya?"

Naruto however ignored the last part of what Sakura said, and stared at her in disbelief.

"You did what?" He pulled back slightly to get a clear view of Sakura's face to see if, for any reason, she'd be making fun of him. The girl was fidgeting with his shirt nervously, looking at him sadly.

"I woke up from a nightmare and was holding her in my arms. And in the dream she'd… killed you. And I just lunged at her and nearly choked her to death…"

"Don't tell me that you ran out on her too?" He asked knowingly. But Sakura didn't want to know why he knew that was bad. She blushed a little.

"That's pretty much what I was doing when I ran into you…" She admitted, and he rolled his eyes at how cute Sakura was when she was like this.

"And you call me a baka…" He let out for himself, in mock-annoyance. He pushed himself away from Sakura and looked at her with a smirk on his face. "Sakura-chan, I'll help you fix that."

Sakura's eyes lit up at that offer. Forget how or why he wanted to do this. With Naruto, anything was possible. "I might need to make myself look like you though." He said sheepishly. Sakura hit him upside the head again for good old time's sake.

"I'm sure you have other, less embarrassing ideas in mind." She said with authority. He just rubbed the back of his head and grinned at her.

"Of course. Leave it to Uzumaki Naruto to fix this up!" He nearly shouted, pumping his fist in the air. Some old lady's voice came from somewhere under them shouting about wanting to sleep, and he laughed guiltily at that. "So, where can I find her?"

Sakura sighed and rolled her eyes at his antics. He had matured, he had grown oh so handsome, but in the end he was still the good old Naruto. "She's in the hospital, room 121. Tell the girl at the office that you have clearance from Haruno, she should let you through… Or use the henge no jutsu and look like me if you really need to. But not to talk to Ino!"

Naruto smiled and he gave Sakura's shoulder a squeeze. "Of course, I'm not that stupid." He emphasized on the 'that' the way Sakura had pointed on the 'really' in her sentence, preparing himself from another hit. But Sakura merely laughed at his silliness. "Oh yeah, Tsunade wants to see you. As soon as possible. 'Tell her to wake me up if she has to.' She said."

Sakura sighed. What did she need to see Tsunade for now that she'd spoken with Naruto, and seen he was fine? She could care less about what Sasuke was up to. All she wanted to do was to go slump into her bed and sleep until this whole mess was fixed. "I will…" She finally agreed reluctantly. Naruto gave her shoulder another quick squeeze and kissed her cheek.

"Well then, good night Sakura-chan. I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"Ha! Of course. I'll treat you to ramen at lunch." She knew that had hit a sensible spot and grinned despite her tiredness.

"Alright, I'll be there!"

--

Tsunade was sitting at her office like she'd always do at night, sipping on her bottle of sake as she watched over Konoha dreamily. The paper work was scrambled all over her desk, and the only light in the room came from a small candle next to a pile of old books.

The door was open, but Sakura still stopped in the doorway to knock at the wall. Tsunade didn't even jump in surprise, she merely lifted a hand and motioned for Sakura to come in.

"Hey, Tsunade-sama." She said, taking the chair on the side opposite to Tsunade around her desk. The Fifth Hokage turned back from the bay window and looked at her with a smile. That usually was bad news.

"Sakura." She began, before a yawn interrupted her. This had been a long, tiring day. Sakura looked at her questioningly, hoping this would be over quick. The yawn ended up being contagious however, and that delayed both parties into starting the conversation. "You certainly know that Naruto brought Sasuke back by now."

The pink haired girl nodded. Would everyone keep reminding her of that?

"I was in a meeting with the council all morning trying to decide what we'll do with him. He won't be unconscious forever and something's gotta be done. A missing nin cannot be allowed back in a village just like that."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I happen to know that."

Tsunade took another sip of sake. "I just wanted to make sure. It was agreed upon the council that, since he came back of his own will, we would give him a chance at making amends."

Sakura frowned. That easily? Or had it even been easy? Judging by the worn out look on Tsunade's face, she assumed it was not. Why had she tried so hard to get permissions for Sasuke?

"Someone will have to keep a watch on him thought." She should've seen that coming. Tsunade wanted her to watch over Sasuke? Shizune must've been mad at the Hokage when heard the news.

"I designed Ino to do it, since she currently can't go on any missions." What?!

"I know she's currently in an hospital bed with a concussion. I told her around a meal, which you had forgotten to provide her, by the way." Sakura blinked and slapped her forehead. How could she leave Ino without food? She felt really stupid. 'Wait… she said Ino would keep an eye on Sasuke?!'

"So, I trust you can keep an eye on these two once in a while too, right?" Sakura heard the question loud and clear. She was not going to let Sasuke win Ino… 'To think a few years ago it would've been the opposite. Times change…'

"Of course, Tsunade-sama. Everything will be fine." Tsunade smiled at her, happy that this was over with and that Sakura hadn't overly reacted to the announcement.

"Well alright, you're dismissed. Go sleep, you got work in the morning."

--

Ino had fallen in some sort of shallow slumber. She could feel the room, but she couldn't see it. Her head was too heavy to be awake. Her eyelids were knotted shut. She wanted to sleep, dream even, if that was still possible for her. Yet she still had a consciousness of what was around her.

She still jumped when the door to her room was slowly inched open. Her eyes opened just a tad, enough to see who was in her room. Of all the people…

"N-Naruto?" Her voice was groggy, and she cleared her throat almost instantly as she eyed the man who looked like he was really sorry.

"I didn't want to wake you up…" He said sincerely. Then realized how silly that was. "I mean, I wanted to see you but…"

Ino raised an eyebrow. Why, why in the world would Naruto want to talk to her? Then it hit her like a kunai in the chest – literally. Because her heart started aching at the thought of Sakura sending him. She was still curious about what he had to say, although she somewhat dreaded it at the same time. "It's okay, I wasn't really sleeping. I'm kind of restless…" She admitted, sitting up slightly in her bed.

Naruto made a 'Can I sit?' motion towards the edge of the bed, seeing the lack of chair in the room. Ino nodded at him and he took a seat unceremoniously. "I think you know why I'm here." He said, crossing his arms and leaning back a bit to get a better view of the sunny blonde in front of her. The expression on his face was protective, and Ino smiled faintly at that.

"Yeah, I have a good idea. It's got something to do with Sakura." Ino replied without a second thought.

"Not really." Naruto admitted. Now that piqued Ino's curiosity some more. If he wasn't coming for Sakura then what? "Sasuke, he agreed to come back to Konoha."

Ino rolled her eyes, big news. "Yeah I know that, so?"

Naruto cringed, he hadn't expected Ino to know as well. Or actually, he should've known, since he'd seen both girls together in the morning. And Tsunade had told him about how Ino would be guarding the Uchiha when he got out of the hospital. Well, that wasn't affecting his plan too much.

"He said that he wanted to marry Sakura and revive his clan. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to anger him. Plus he was in a pretty bad state, I didn't want him to snap or something. But I really don't want that to happen."

Ino's eye twitched. She felt some sort of anger bubbling up in her chest. "How can that prick seriously think Sakura waited for him that long?!" She burst out, immediately regretting it since it caused an intense pounding in her head. Naruto shrugged and put on his childish pout face. "I don't know, but if I can't have Sakura, I don't want him to have her… He's my friend, sure. But I won't let him steal the love of my life!"

Ino shook her head at that. That was Naruto at his best, there was no doubt. "So what do I have to do with this anyway?" She asked, mimicking the stance Naruto was in, complete with the childish pout. Naruto smirked internally – his plan was working.

"I just… Since you're all friendly with Sakura again, and in charge of him, could you keep an eye on her? She's kind of unstable these days, and although I wouldn't take advantage of that to get to her, I'm sure Sasuke will. It would look a little less suspicious that out of all people you'd protect her, and that way I wouldn't make Sasuke angry."

Ino blinked. Uzumaki Naruto was asking her to watch over Sakura because she had troubles with her feelings? Like, what the hell was that supposed to mean? "Naruto?" She asked, waving her hand in front of his eyes. The man blinked. "Do you realize who you're talking to?"

Naruto took on a stern expression and stared at Ino. "Yes, you're Sakura's best friend."

Ino chuckled and pointed to the marks around her neck. "I somehow doubt that." Naruto rolled his eyes at her.

"Like I said, she's rather unstable these days. I kind of regret leaving for two months, while she needed me so much. She had a hard time letting me go." He paused. This part wasn't a lie, but he needed to keep a veil on the truth until Sakura herself decided to talk about it. "She needs to be able to allow people close to her again. You seem to have done a good job at it until now."

"Right, until I somehow crawled into her dream and killed you there." Ino's voice drooped with hurt and had a hint of sarcasm.

"I know! She's having difficulty allowing people close to her. You broke into her barrier so easily that she's worried. Or a part of her is. Just give her some time to adjust, and forgive her, please?"

Ino could not resist the puppy dog eyes Naruto gave her with his request. He was cute, and he was trying to do his best for his friend. So she agreed. "Yeah, I'll do it. I wasn't angry with her to begin with. I just couldn't tell her before she ran off."

Naruto grinned at her and scratched his whiskers in triumph – but Ino was oblivious to the significance of that motion. "That's the problem with women. They always run away when you want to tell them something!" He said, winking at Ino as he got up and pushed himself away from the bed. If Ino could've moved without the striking pain in her head, she'd gotten up after him and hit him upside the head.

"By the way." He added before walking out of the room, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he looked back at Ino. "Don't you dare fall in love with her too. I have enough rivals as is."

Ino laughed at that idea. Sure, she was playful and enjoyed her friend's presence next to hers, but falling in love with her? Like that was ever going to happen. "Don't worry Naruto!" She said, a faint smile on her face. The boy saluted and headed out with a reassured look. Ino's smile faltered.

"I can't fall in love with her, I already am…" She muttered to herself.

Sakura stood in the doorway of Ino's room, a plate in one hand, fidgeting with her shorts with her other. The room was sparsely lit by the hesitant daylight of a cloudy sky. And Ino slept, snoring peacefully. Sakura was reluctant to tear her out of such a peaceful respite, but the breakfast she'd prepared would be cold if she waited, and she couldn't afford to be late for work, either.

"Hey, Ino…" She said softly, putting her hand on the girl's shoulder. Ino's forehead crumpled into a frown and she tried to withdraw from the touch, but was relatively pinned down by the hand. Her eyes snapped open.

"Oh, Sakura, it's only you…" She said, before letting out a long and loud yawn, stretching her arms above her head. Sakura watched her and giggled.

"Slept well?"

"Heck yes. These pain killers Tsunade gave me totally knocked me down." Ino replied, smiling up at Sakura. The marks on her neck were now almost fully healed, barely any trace of what had happened the day before remained.

"You hungry?" Sakura asked as she lowered the plate down in front of Ino's face. The blonde smelled the food happily and nodded.

"That doesn't look like hospital food at all." Ino remarked as she sat up to take the plate on her knees, taking a good bite at an egg. "Doesn't taste like it, either…" She added while still chewing on her food. Sakura tucked a strand of hair that threatened to fall in Ino's plate behind her ear and smiled. "It's not."

Ino stared at her with wide eyes, nearly choking on her food. "You mean, you can cook, Sakura?" The pink haired girl rolled her eyes.

"What does it look like?" Sakura asked in an indignated tone. Ino giggled a bit.

"Ha, I just never pictured you like the… cooking type of person at all. But thank you, it is much appreciated." She said, taking another bite. Sakura smiled at her sadly.

"I'm glad you're enjoying. I have to go work. And I invited Naruto to ramen for lunch sooo… I can come and…"

"It's fine forehead. I'll see you tonight when your shift is done. I'm still sleepy, anyway." Ino watched as Sakura nodded and hesitated to leave. She was kind of expecting another apology for last night's events. But when Sakura walked to her and put a soft kiss on her forehead, the surprise crawled up her cheek leaving a hot trail of red on her skin.

"I'm sorry, pig." Sakura said, smirking at the effect she had on Ino. There was nothing wrong with having some fun. They'd both been joking around that way the previous day anyway. It had nothing to do with the fact that she wanted to do that for more than just getting Ino to blush and stutter. "I will do everything I can so what happened yesterday doesn't happen again. So nobody ever hurts you again."

Ino nodded at her and brushed her fingers against Sakura's cheek while she was still within reach. "Thank you." Her eyes were fixated on Sakura's, her hand was still on her cheek, and for a moment they didn't move.

'Lean in and kiss her!'

'Are you nuts? I don't want to freak her out!'

'Don't you think yesterday's kiss would've done the job already?!'

'That was playful teasing…'

'Well then in the worst case, just pretend!'

"Sakura, are you alright?" Ino's face twisted in concern in front of hers. Sakura blinked but stayed in her mesmerized trance, her soul captured in the deep blue of Ino's eyes. These eyes had gotten their color back a bit. There was still a hint of fear behind them, but it was slowly being suppressed by an emotion that Sakura couldn't place.

Ino's lips lightly grazed hers when she finally realized what was happening. She didn't linger nor let Sakura kiss back, it was the kind of chaste kiss that leaves your lips tingling, and this feeling of peace in your heart. It was soft and undemanding. A promise of eternal love whether or not the feeling was mutual. Sakura's breath caught in her throat as she kept staring at Ino.

The blonde seemingly started shaking. In all her life, she'd never put that much emotion into a kiss. She felt wide open and vulnerable, and Sakura's lack of response to it was almost unbearable.

"I-I'm gonna be late…" Sakura said softly, her voice shaking from indecision. Ino wasn't playing, so there was nothing else holding her back. Why, why couldn't she just kiss back and get it over with? She wanted Ino to know she felt the same. She still had a chance. The blonde was still looking at her, the fear in her eyes seemingly growing with each passing seconds.

Ino had almost lost hope when Sakura leant into her and kissed her. It was a clumsy kiss, but it was filled with so many raw emotions that nothing had ever felt so good to her. Sakura's lips were soft, and tasted sweet. She wasn't trying to swallow her, the kiss wasn't sloppy. She was just kissing her, in the simplest meaning of the word. And they both hoped that they could stay like that forever.

Sakura's breathing was uneven when she broke the kiss, placing her hand on the side of Ino's neck and rubbing her fingers against the skin gently. Ino slowly opened her eyes and looked at the pink haired girl in front of her. The indescribable feeling she felt earlier was stronger than ever. And a smile graced her lips.

--

"Inoooo-chan!" The loud voice of a hyper and joyful Naruto, maybe too hyper even, woke her up. She looked around a few times, not quite believing that she had been asleep. A quick check to her bedside table proved that the breakfast had never existed.

Her smile faltered. That had been a dream… She almost felt like crying. "What do you want Naruto?" She asked, turning over to the side, her back facing the boy. Naruto plopped down at her feet and watched her intently. "What?" Ino asked again, now slightly irritated.

"Sakura was called in for an emergency reeaaallly early this morning." He drawled on, his face showing that he'd been waken up by her at that time of the day, too. "She asked me to come check on you in her place."

Ino sighed and gave him a faint smile.

"You look disappointed a bit…" Naruto asked, frowning. Ino sighed and rubbed her forehead. The feel of the imaginary kiss still lingered there.

"I… " She was about to tell him about her dream, and then remembered what he'd said the day before. "No nothing, I just had one of those comfy dreams. You know?"

"Hell yeah!" The blonde man replied to her with a knowing smile. "Well I'm sorry for waking you up then. Oh yeah, if your head's better, you can leave anytime. Sakura's taking me to ramen for lunch, so if you want to join in you're welcome!"

'Ramen? Lunch? I foresaw the future in my dream? Wow!' Ino tried her best to shake the deception away from her mind. She had at least an invitation for lunch. And there was another person in this world that still cared about her – even if it was probably for Sakura that Naruto was doing all this. "Yeah, I'll try to be there."

Naruto grinned at her and jumped back on his feet, intent on leaving, but then he turned back realizing he'd forgot about something. "Oh yeah, I think you'll have to bring Sasuke, too."

And on that note he walked out. Ino sighed and snuggled into her sheets some more, and sleep soon claimed her again. She never realized that she wasn't hungry despite not having any breakfast.

--

"So?" A worried pink haired girl asked Naruto as he walked out of Ino's room. The blonde boy appeared contemplative for a moment before he gave Sakura a reassuring smile. "She seems to think it was a dream." Then his expression darkened.

"Now why the hell did you make me do that?" He asked, a tad angry. "You had what you wanted! She loves you back! What else do you need!"

"I'm just not ready, Naruto…" Sakura said in a low, guilty voice. She looked down at her shuffling feet as she walked to the room of her next patient. Naruto stayed where he was, a stern look on his face.

"There's no way you'll ever get ready by constantly running away!" He nearly shouted at her before she opened the door. Sakura looked back at him with a sorry smile on her face.

"I know, Naruto."

--

This had to be the weirdest thing ever. Ino was standing in front of Sasuke's room, waiting for the guy to 'get properly dressed'. As if his taste in clothes had ever been good at all. Let alone proper. She eventually started pacing nervously. "We're going to be late, Uchiha!" She shouted through the door. The answer was an annoyed sigh.

"Just go without me, I don't care!" He shouted back, struggling with his hair. Why did it never look right since he'd gotten back in Konoha?

"I would if I could!" Ino whined back leaning against door frame and crossing her arms.

"As if you could do anything…" The door opened to reveal Sasuke in all his charms and attributes: simple dark clothes with the Uchiha clan symbol on them, spiky, black hair, cold eyes and an arrogant smirk. Ino's eye twitched. He was handsome, he did not strike her admiration as much as it had in the past. The only thing that had really changed in his style was the clean cut goatee he had. But that made him look weird, so it was annoying more than anything. "… if I decided to turn against you all." He finished, taking a few nonchalant steps toward the end of the corridor. His right leg visibly causing him a lot of pain. "C'mon, let's get this ramen party started so it ends quick."

"You guys are late!" A Naruto with a scowl greeted them once they reached the ramen bar. They had barely put a foot in the restaurant that Naruto was grabbing them by their shirt and forcefully dragging them to a table in a corner. Ino was the first to notice the absence of the pink haired girl.

"Sakura's even more late than us!" She retorted, pointing to the empty seat in front of her. Naruto sat in front of Sasuke and shook his head. "I told her I would be a little late myself because I wanted this to be a surprise, baka! And you two nearly ruined it!"

Ino's face contorted in anger as she pointed an accusing finger towards Sasuke. "It's Mr. Chicken head's fault if we're late!".

Sasuke stared at the finger and subconsciously replaced his hair. 'Does she really think it looks like a chicken head?'

Naruto looked at Sasuke and chuckled at the picture his mind had formed when he heard the words chicken head. Sasuke got up from his chair and reached over the table to slap the back of his head. "Dobe."

"Sasuke?" Ino turned around to find Sakura staring at their table, her hand held up in front of her mouth as she gasped. Then her blue eyes met green ones and they both looked away from each other, blushing. Naruto watched them with an amused grin. "Surprise Sakura! I invited them too, so we could get together for old time's sake!"

Sakura looked down to her feet and sat in silence. She had expected a quiet break with Naruto. This… was a little too much. "Hey Saku, are you alright?" Ino asked, her friend's attitude was kind of upsetting. She wouldn't look at her straight, at all. No matter how much she'd tried to get her face into her field of view, Sakura would only look away, or at Naruto.

The pink haired girl's gaze met hers for real this time. She looked almost bewildered. 'God, is Sasuke doing this to her?' Ino pondered for a moment before she decided to take the girl apart to make sure she was fine. "Hey um, guys. I need to talk to Saku, in private, y'know so. Miso ramen for me. Sakura?"

The pink haired girl frowned at Ino. No, she did not want to be left one on one with the blonde yet. She was afraid she might slip. "I-I'm not hungry."

Ino got up from her seat and grabbed Sakura's sleeve to force the girl up as well. She faced a little resistance, but she knew Sakura wouldn't start a fight in a restaurant. "Miso for Sakura as well." She said in a fake cheery tone as she left the table. Sasuke gave an inquiring look to Naruto, who shrugged in response. Then when the girls were far enough from them he leaned in and whispered.

"They're both in love with each other. Sakura knows but isn't ready for a relationship. Ino doesn't…"

"Ah." Sasuke leant his elbows on the table and crossed his hands under his chin, watching the two girls walk to the restrooms. "So they're no longer my fangirls." He stated rather than asked, a hint of relief audible in his voice. Naruto rolled his eyes at that remark.

"You were gone for seven years, what else did you expect?"

"Tche. It's not my fault if it took me ten years to kill my brother, because YOU always got in the way…"

Naruto sheepishly reached behind his head to scratch his neck. "Hey, it was worth it! Thanks to him we were able to stop Akatsuki!"

"Yeah right, whatever."

"Oh come on Sasuke. You've got to help me out with this." Naruto pleaded with his friend, earning himself an eye roll. "Please!"

Sasuke sighed and sank his face into his hands. "What am I supposed to do?"

Naruto smirked, which caused Sasuke to inch back a bit and look at him suspiciously. "They both just need a bit of pushing to realize what they could have. So… Just show more interest for Sakura than usual. That's ought to work."

Sasuke seemed to think for a moment and eventually raised his head, flattening his hands against the table. "Why don't we just tell Ino Sakura loves her too and get it over with?"

It was Naruto's turn to get up from his chair and hit Sasuke upside the head. "Teme! That wouldn't help anything at all!"

"Alright, alright! I'll do what I can." Sasuke agreed half-heartedly to Naruto's plan. But he had the feeling that this would get him in trouble.

"Okay, now, you can tell me what's wrong." Ino had her hand on Sakura's shoulder and was looking at her friend in pure concern. Sakura shivered at the thought of having to tell Ino she was in love with her in order to explain what made her so uncomfortable. Ino saw the shaking of her body and instantly wrapped her arms around the pinkette, hugging her gently. "Please Sakura, don't make the same mistake I made." She whispered softly, her lips close to Sakura's ear. Sakura had to use all her remaining self-control to not moan and burst into tears at the same time.

"I can't talk about it in a place like this…" She finally let out, pulling away from the embrace. Ino looked at her and nodded in understanding.

"Tonight then? At my place?" She asked hopefully. Sakura blinked and shot a glance in Sasuke's direction.

"He's under your responsibility, means he has to sleep at your place." Sakura sighed as she said this. She wouldn't have Ino to herself anymore. That was a little upsetting.

"Oh, I can have Naruto babysit him for the night. It shouldn't be a problem. Look at them, they look like they're up to something."

"Just like good old times." Sakura added, noting their apparent complicity. It was hard to believe these two had been apart for about seven years. It was hard to believe her and Ino had been apart for nearly ten.

"Hey! Bring you PJ's and stuff. Let's have a girl's night thingy!" Ino wasn't serious, but Sakura still agreed. "Yeah, I will. And I'll bring a movie too." She was smiling and felt a little better. She had expected things to be awkward with Ino. But in fact, it wasn't. She was just worrying too much.

"Alright, then let's go eat! You'll be fine, right?" Sakura giggled and loosely wrapped her arm around Ino's waist as they started making their way back to the table where Naruto and Sasuke seemed to be having an interesting conversation.

"As long as you're here…"

Ino stopped in her tracks, causing Sakura to nearly lose her balance since she was slightly leaning onto her friend. She looked at her with eyes that meant everything. Sakura regretted saying this. It would only break Ino's heart further if she'd tried to make up an excuse for it.

"What did that mean, Sakura?"

Well there was no use making up any stories. "It just means that life wasn't really nice without you."

"What about Naruto then?" Ino was flattered that Sakura cared this much about her, but it just didn't sound right that the girl would care only about her.

"He's just... never there, you know? Always on missions, and since I'm on duty at the hospital most of the time, I don't get to go with him all that often. And, he's a guy." Sakura offered the explanation to her friend spontaneously. But it was true. Naruto was a guy, and as nice and sweet as he could be, he still couldn't understand everything. That was well played for an excuse.

Ino nodded and then hugged Sakura. "You know, you're really important to me too." She said as she pulled back and resumed dragging Sakura back to their table, where their bowls of ramen were steaming in front of two empty seats.

"Well that took you two long enough." Sasuke complained before slurping some of his noodles. Naruto finished his bite and stared at the two girls.

"Were you two making out or something?"

Both Ino and Sakura started blushing madly, glancing at each other before Sakura turned back to Naruto and hit the back of his head hard enough so his face splashed into his ramen. "Idiot!" She said, huffing as she sat down next to him. Ino imitated her and sat next to Sasuke, who was eyeing her in a very strange way.

"Whatcha looking at, Uchiha?" Sakura asked Sasuke, unnerved by his attitude. Ino seemed uncomfortable and she wouldn't let that pass.

The boy rolled his eyes. "Well I think I can check girls out if I want to, Sakura. Unless you've put your claim on her or something? As far as I know she's single."

Sakura narrowed her eyes slightly, struggling to keep her self control. She was so angered by Sasuke's words that she failed to notice how Naruto was shooting worried glares at his friend and hissing between his teeth. When Ino shot him a glance he immediately attempted to look normal, and natural.

"Well yeah, why not? Ino's mine from now on. You got a problem with that?" She nearly screamed, gathering the attention of most of the other customers on their table.

Sasuke scoffed and glared back at her. "Prove it."

Both Ino and Sakura stared at Sasuke as if he'd come from another planet – which was pretty much the case, since he'd been with Orochimaru for a while. Then Sakura started stuttering her answer. "Err, well, Ino… Why don't y-you, well, tell him?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and glared at them both, a smirk forming at the corner of his lips. Naruto simply slammed his forehead with an open palm.

"Yea I… I'm in love with Sakura." Ino had no idea if Sakura was being serious, or was just trying to save her from Sasuke's intense stare, but whichever way, she wanted out of this situation as quickly as possible. She somehow feared Naruto's reaction to that statement though, but a glance in his direction reassured her. He certainly wasn't mad at her. He even looked hopeful.

Sasuke's smirk grew at that, and he leant back in his chair confidently. "Then why don't you kiss her?" By that time, Naruto had buried his head under his arms in defeat and wasn't paying attention to what was happening around him. So he missed the intense blush that crawled upon both girl's face as they stared at each other, fidgeting.

'Well, might as well play along… Sakura won't be mad at me, she's the one who started this…' Ino thought as she got up from her chair and towards Sakura. She felt the stare of every single customer in the shop on her and started trembling as she got close enough to Sakura. Still, she offered her hand to help the pink haired girl up and wrapped her arms around the girl's waist.

"Relax, Ino…" Sakura whispered to her as she ran her hands up and down the girl's arms, intent on chasing the goose bump that had formed there. "If you don't want to, we'll find another way out of this." She added, brushing a strand of hair behind the blonde's ear. Ino shook her head slightly, just then raising her eyes to meet her friend's gaze. She'd never seen so much understanding in someone's eyes. She could almost make out love, deep down there too, but that was just her silly self imagining things. Sakura couldn't love her back.

On common accord they both started inching closer together, as they figured that, if they were going to give a show, they might as well enjoy it. Sakura pressed her whole body against Ino's and smiled before she gently laid her lips on the blonde's. Ino answered by pulling the other girl closer to herself and kissing back at first softly, but with gradually more pressure as her fingers played in Sakura's lower back.

They were now oblivious to the world around them. This. This was all they'd been looking for, for so long. They pulled back before things got too heated, only now conscious of Sasuke and Naruto staring at them with their jaws hanging open and that tiny bit of drool at the corner of their mouth. Casting a glance at each other, they both smirked and took a step, Sakura towards Naruto, and Ino towards Sasuke, and slapped the boys in the back of the head. Again.

This caused most of the people staring at them to go back to their meals. Except for one of them. "Wow, that was hawt!" A male voice came from the other end of the restaurant, followed by whistling, and barking. Sakura turned back just in time to catch a glimpse of Kiba walking out of the ramen bar with one of his infamous wolfy grin plastered on his face.

"I'll get you for that, Inuzuka!" The pink haired girl yelled, blushing slightly. She then took her seat and ate mechanically for a moment, like the rest of the table. Everyone was too afraid to speak up. It felt like the kiss had muted them all.

"So um… what's his or her name going to be?" Naruto finally asked as he finished his first bowl, motioning for the waiter to bring him another one. Ino frowned realizing the question was directed her way.

"Who, what?" She asked defensively, completely confused by that question. Sakura looked at her and pointed towards her belly almost guiltily, remembering how Ino didn't like to take on the subject. "Oh! The… baby? I-I don't know."

"I'm sure Sakura could tell you the gender right away." Sasuke said disinterestedly, waving it away as if he'd said nothing of importance. Sakura's eyes shifted to the side.

"What?" Ino piped in, a little worked up. "You know its gender already?"

Sakura sighed. How was she supposed to explain her decision? "Well, I just… Isn't it more fun to have the surprise when it's born?" She waited for the approbation and got side glances from everyone. They knew she still had something to say, and that alone made her a tad nervous. "And in case you decide to… abort, well, it's easier if you haven't given it a name or don't know its gender." She said grimly.

Ino's eyes lit up in pure fear at the mention of abortion. It was true that she didn't know who the father was – how much of a bastard it could've been. But it was her baby now, and she could never resolve herself to taking the life of her baby. Not without taking hers at the same time, like she'd planned to do. But that plan had faded away in a past she didn't want to remember now.

"I'm not sure she's ready to be a mother yet…" Sasuke deadpanned, casting another weird glance at Ino, who virtually shrunk under it.

"Well, she's going to get a good taste of what it's like by watching over you in the next few weeks." Naruto kid, literally diving into his second bowl of ramen. The raven haired boy merely glared at him.

Sakura reached over the table and put her hand on Ino's and looked the other girl in the eye once more. The traces of fear were gradually erasing themselves through the joking atmosphere of the table. "I'll be there, and I'll help you with it. Whatever you choose."

Ino took a moment to let the words sink in, and eventually laughed heartily and put her other hand over Sakura's. Humour was a reassuring thing. "You don't have much of a choice, forehead. We're married."

"Yeah, Ino... Um I'll see you tonight? I gotta get back to work." Sakura said, withdrawing a bit of money from her pocket and leaving it on the table, making sure to put the extra for yesterday's meal as well. Ino nodded and leant back in her chair, trying to look relaxed until Sakura faded from sight.

"You two knew everything?!" She asked the two boys as soon as the way was clear. Naruto gave her a cryptic glare in answer. "What?" She defended herself.

"The hell does that mean, 'we're married?'" He asked, a deep look of concentration on his face. Ino shook her head and sighed.

"We were messing around yesterday and something silly came up. It's just... a running gag between us two. Means absolutely nothing."

Naruto didn't look completely convinced. "Tss. To think I did all this hard work and you were already committed to each other."

"Dobe." Was all Sasuke said before excusing himself. Naruto glared at him for a moment and then sighed, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. Ino looked at him curiously.

"What do you mean, 'all this hard work'?" She finally asked, unable to figure that one out.

"Well for starters, this morning wasn't a dream." He stated seriously. When he saw anger rising in the blonde's eyes however he immediately defended his friend. "Sakura had her reasons to... do what she did. Plus nobody forced you to believe it was a dream."

Ino took a moment to think on Naruto's words and started understanding things a little better. "Oh damn, and here I thought Sasuke was making her nervous..."

Naruto laughed nervously at that. "You can't imagine what it took to get him to help me out with this... And he nearly screwed it all up by being so forward."

"So this was all a set-up?" Ino had a hard time believing it. She wanted to choke the boy to death, and at the same time hug him and cover him with gifts in thanks.

"Not all." Naruto made wide motions with his hands to emphasize his statement. "I really only wanted to make both you and Sakura jealous of Sasuke so you'd eventually come to terms with it and admit to each other. Things just got.. out of hands rather quickly." The young man looked a bit disappointed for all but a second before his face lit up with his usual cheery grin. "But now you both know your feelings for each other, so even if my plan kinda failed, it's the outcome that matters!"

Naruto's grin was contagious and caused Ino to smile too. She then looked at the empty seat next to her and blinked dumbly. "Oh damn, I forgot about Sasuke!" She hastily got up from her seat and was about to go after him when Naruto got up as well and grabbed her wrist. A surge of apprehension ran through her body, but Ino managed to look at him as if nothing was wrong - nothing was in fact. It was just her body over-reacting.

"I have a deal for you. Pay for my ramen, I'll take care of Sasuke." Ino narrowed her eyes and glared at Naruto. He could've been a little nicer and not expect her to pay for his lunch, at least that's what she thought until she noticed the grin on his face grow wider. "Hey, can't blame a guy for trying!" He said cheerily, leaning down to finish the remains of his second bowl and then fished in his pocket for his wallet. He took care of taking the right amount out, and then seemed thoughtful for a second. Ino observed him all along.

Naruto dropped the money on the table and then shot some next to Ino's unfinished bowl, before darting out of the store as the female blonde watched him with a mix of gratitude and anger flashing in her eyes. Obviously he'd figured out she was short on money, but his generosity wasn't out of pity. Naruto was just like that, nice. She stared at the money for a while and sighed, sitting back and finishing her meal. Alone. Thinking about Sakura.

'So she felt the same all along. I wonder what made her so insecure. I mean, I should have been the one afraid of another relationship. Even though... No, even with what happened last night, I'd still trust her with my life any given time. I wish she could do the same... Or maybe she just doesn't trust herself...'

--

"Hey Naruto..." Sakura was looking through a pile of VCRs in a box that the he had shoved towards her before flopping down on his bed. He raised an eyebrow at her and waited for the rest of her question. "What kind of movie am I supposed to pick?"

The man sighed and kicked his shoes off, casting a glance towards Sasuke who'd been sitting idly on a chair since they'd been home. "You could shoot a samurai movie for Mr. Dead Bored here." He started, earning some sort of glare from Sasuke. Then he sighed. "I somehow don't think you two will be watching a movie tonight though." He offered hesitantly. Sakura shrugged.

"Just in case we're nervous, and all..."

Naruto squinted a bit and thought about it for a minute, while Sakura was still shuffling about in his box. "I think... Pick something funny. Laughing usually helps with releasing the tension you know."

"You would know about that, wouldn't you Naruto?" Sasuke asked, tossing his recently removed shoe in the blonde's face. Naruto dodged easily, catching the piece of equipment before it hit the wall and sending it flying with his own next to the bed.

"Or you can find one of those tissue-box movies and have her crying on your shoulder." Naruto added, at the same time chucking his pillow at Sasuke who was struggling to remove his second shoe.

"Hey dumbass my leg's broken be more careful." Sasuke shouted at him while chucking the pillow back. Naruto simply laughed.

"Gee I haven't been friends with Ino for too long, I don't even remember what type of movie she likes." Sakura was still frantically looking through the box on a quest to find something decent.

"Well I'm sure Naruto could lend you one of the videos from his special collection." Sasuke offered, while throwing his other shoe in Naruto's direction, who simply dodged it to let it land with the rest.

Sakura stared at him dumbfounded. Then the meaning of special collection hit her right in the face and her eyes nearly turned over as she shrunk and blushed furiously. Sasuke smirked, happy with his joke, and Naruto merely rolled his eyes. "I'm sure you'd enjoy a dig in that collection yourself, Sasuke. If it even existed, that is."

Sakura picked up triumphantly some worn out case. "I got what I need!" She shouted happily, walking by Naruto's bed and ruffling the man's hair up teasingly as she headed to the door. Sasuke huffed just before she made her way out waving.

"I bet it’s a chick flick."

Sakura turned around almost immediately, looking thoroughly disgusted. "Eww, booooring." The dark haired man looked almost surprised that he had been wrong.

"Then what is it?"

"Disney movie! I know Ino loves them!" (1) She opened the door and hesitated, eventually turning back again. "By the way Sasuke, you should shave that goatee. Really doesn't fit you."

Sasuke stared at her as if she came from another planet while Sakura walked out. Naruto was kicking and laughing while pointing him. "Chicken head! Bad goatee! Hahaha you've lost your charms Uchiha!"

Sasuke glared at him and looked for something he could toss to Naruto, seeing as he was prohibited the carrying of weapon. He finally settled on removing his shirt and tossing it over Naruto's head, who was too busy laughing to dodge. "Idiot."

--

Ino looked around her mediocre apartment and suddenly regretted inviting Sakura over. They would've been more comfortable in Sakura's. The neighbors would probably be less noisy. And she wouldn't have to revive the pain of bringing guy after guy in there for the past couple years. She slumped onto the dusty couch and sighed wearily. She was lucky after all. She was only pregnant. Her lifestyle had earned AIDS to more women than she could count. "I need to clean this mess…"

And so she had cleaned. Vacuumed. Swiped. Dusted. By the time she was done, it was a new Ino that seemed to shine along with the floors of her living room and kitchen. She'd never really cared with tidying up the place before because it didn't bother her that much. But she remembered how everything was neatly placed in Sakura's place and felt like it would be disrespectful to receive her like that.

And cleaning, although boring, had something revigorating to it. Ino was glad she'd finally gotten to it.

Five thirty came. Sakura should've had the time by now to finish her shift and take a shower. She would probably be around soon. Unless she didn't know where she lived. Ino sat up at that thought. She hadn't given her address to Sakura at all, how was the pink haired girl supposed to find it?

Fifteen minutes later she was starting to get really worried, when the doorbell finally rang. Sighing in relief she got up from her spot on the couch and gave her hair a very last minute rearrangement before opening the door.

"Hey, Sakura! Come in!" She greeted her friend, smiling brightly. Sakura smiled back and shuffled past her and into the apartment, almost dropping the box she was holding as she stumbled on an unexpected step in the doorway.

"Hey, I like this place." She stated, putting the box down on a desk and looking around. The decoration was Ino's, there was no doubt. It reminded her of the little girl's room she'd spent so long in when she was younger.

"You don't have to lie. This place sucks. Neighbour on the right is party twenty-four/seven. One up there walks like he's got two tons feet, one on the left is a drunkard musician... I swear sleeping here is nearly impossible." Ino ranted as she closed the door, eyeing the box curiously. There was a nice smell coming from it.

Sakura giggled and turned back to the blonde. "I mean... I like how you've organized things and stuff. My apartment looks so plain and simple compared to yours. And so... empty.

"Yeah, this place is tiny so... " Ino trailed off, the smell coming from the cardboard box totally enticing her. Sakura remarked it and smiled.

"Pizza. I figured I'd pick us something to eat - I was hungry and didn't feel like waiting for a phone order, that's why I'm a little late." She explained, feeling all giddy at the sight of Ino's smile lighting up as much as it was. She hadn't been sure that was a good idea at first, but now she was really happy she'd taken the time to go.

"Sakura... You're such a... I feel bad!" The blonde shook her head and sighed, and almost instantly Sakura had reached out and grabbed her hand.

"Don't." A simple command, and no other words had to be spoken. Ino nodded and picked up the box and headed for the kitchen.

"What do you want to drink forehead? I got um... water." Ino felt stupid for asking this since she really didn't have much in the fridge. Sakura walked up to her and reached over her to put two cans of soda down on the counter. Ino turned back and looked at her with the same expression she'd given Naruto when he paid for her lunch. She hadn't expected Sakura to still be so damn close to her though, and she had to took a step back, bumping into the counter as a blush crawled up her face.

Sakura was looking at her almost questioningly. She was being stupid, to always fear anything and anyone that got near her. When she would usually not let them close to begin with, if they were any threat to her at all. And Sakura wasn't a threat. "You really didn't have to..." She was cut off by lips delicately pressing against her own, nimble fingers trailing her jaw line softly.

"I said don't." Sakura repeated, her gaze boring straight into Ino's eyes. Her voice had been barely above a whisper, and Ino could only submit to it and nod. The pink haired girl nodded too and took a step back, releasing Ino who went back to serving dinner on plates, and drinks in glasses. Clumsily. Under her friend's stare.

"So, you brought that movie, we could watch that while eating." Ino asked, taking a sip of the soda. She hadn't had any of that thing in forever. But somehow it just wasn't as sweet as Sakura's lips. Her eyes drifted towards them. They hadn't even discussed the matter. Was this even right? Well as if anything in her life had been right up to now.

"Yes! But you have to guess which movie it is!" Sakura said cheerily, picking up the offered plate and glass from Ino's hands and skipping towards the living room. Ino smiled at her friend's antics. 'She must be so damn nervous...'

"Is it the one with that super cool Brock Uchiha guy?" The blonde asked with a grin. Sakura turned to her and rolled her eyes in near despair.

"You know what I think of those hopeless love stunt action movies." Ino nodded and took another sip of her drink as she sat on the couch. She watched Sakura until the girl started staring at her impatiently. "Adam Sandler comedy?" She asked hopefully. God if Sakura had picked a chick flick she would die.

Sakura slapped herself mentally at not listening to Naruto's first advice. But she managed to hide her disappointment and put her food on a coffee table, taking the VCR out of its case and chucking it to Ino. The blonde observed the old and worn out excuse for a VCR case and blinked once, then twice. She couldn't believe it.

"The Lion King?!"

Sakura turned around at the tone in Ino's voice, a little worried. But when she saw how sparkling the blonde's eyes were she was immediately reassured. "Yea, it was your favorite when we were kids, right?"

Ino nodded, too dumbfounded to form words. Sakura had remembered that silly detail. Well she had to admit she hadn't been expecting this, but it wasn't a bad choice of a movie for this kind of night.

--

"Hakuna Matata!" Ino chanted happily. Sakura giggled as she hand dried the last dish and placed it in the cupboard with the rest. Ino was leaning against the counter and watching her stretch upwards to reach the correct emplacement.

"Quit staring, Yamanaka!" The pink haired girl let out on a similar tone when she was fully back on earth. Ino blushed slightly at the remark and nervously wiped her hands on her skirt. Sakura felt a wave of awe pass through her as she noticed just how vulnerable Ino truly was. At times it would get painful to watch, but right then it was just cute. So cute that she couldn't resist walking to the blonde and leaving a peck on her cheek.

"Please say it..." Sakura stopped in he tracks, her face still pretty close to the blonde's. Her brows were furrowed and she looked at the girl in front of her questioningly. The whisper was not just pleading, it was tearing at her heart, tugging at it until it opened up. But Sakura was still lacking the strength to let her defenses down.

"Say what?" Ino looked at her sternly, but didn't push the matter further and instead walked past the girl and back into the living room, where she collapsed on the couch. Sakura blinked and followed her, her brain trying to process what was going on. Or more exactly, trying to convince itself it was not what it thought was going on.

"Why don't you trust me?" Ino was facing away from her, but Sakura could make out the sobs that shook her fragile frame, and hear the pain in her voice. She wanted to trust her! She wanted things to go back to normal. No, she wanted things to be the way they should always have been.

"I love you, Ino."

Ino slowly turned her head in Sakura's direction, sniffling a bit, but not caring to wipe her teary eyes. Sakura looked back at her with all the determination and honesty she could summon in herself, despite the butterflies that started turning into Tasmanian devils inside her stomach. She had opened the flood gates, it was too late to go back now.

"I always have. Sasuke was a replacement crush. Sasuke was an escape route. Falling in love with another girl, it shouldn't have been right, you know?" Sakura took a pause and sat next to Ino, just far enough so the distance between them was easily crossed, but still comfortable. Ino turned her head back in the opposite direction and nodded almost imperceptibly. "When I saw what was happening to you, I felt so bad. Because I could've prevented that. Or I could at least have been there for you. Knock some sense into your head. Something!" She robbed her forehead. Her overly large forehead. The one that had started everything.

"But I just stood to the side and watched things happening. I couldn't invest myself in anything. Or with anyone..." She trailed off, her uneven breathing nearly coming to a stop as she felt her heart constrict at the memories. "I let everyone down. I got Lee killed, because I refused to go out with him. I couldn't do it! Then he left on that S class mission. Never came back." The words were coming out of their own will now. Sakura had no control over what she was saying. The pain had been bottled up for so long that it could only explode in this right moment.

"Father died. Boyfriend, new one, mom's. He was so suspicious. Nice, yeah he looked nice, but he was mad. Insane. I couldn't... I didn't... I should've... I-I wanted to kill him! And and..." Tears now freely fell from Sakura's eyes, and Ino had turned her whole body around by then to hold the girl protectively.

"It's okay Sakura. We have all night, slow down. Take your time." She said softly, pressing her lips to the girl's neck gently to try and soothe her. "I'm right here okay?"

"He was a spy. Turns out he was after me... But he... mom. In front... me..." Sakura started gagging and hiccupping, having difficulty just breathing in and out. Ino rubbed her arms up and down and rocked her slowly. "I killed them both."

Sakura's voice had been stone cold on that last sentence. It was as if the pink haired girl had detached herself from the reality and suddenly had no emotion. Ino slightly withdrew herself and attempted looking into her eyes, only to find the deepest kind of pain she'd ever seen.

"I... kill... No more... love." The sobs had taken over her again. It was the first time she'd admitted to doing it. It had been an accident all right. But she was still responsible. "If I'd... done it sooner. She'd... alive! ALIVE! I..." Ino was crying almost just as hard as Sakura, holding her as close as humanly possible without choking the girl. She felt guilty for not knowing. She felt bad for not being there for her friend. She felt terrible for thinking her situation was bad and that Sakura had just gone through life like it was nothing. She felt so small, so useless, so stupid.

"I'm sorry." Sakura echoed her words in between sobs. They eventually both calmed down after what seemed like hours of crying and rocking back and forth. They ended up falling asleep in each other's arms.

Somewhere in the middle of the night, Ino woke up feeling an unusual level of pressure around her waist. Upon inspection she realized that Sakura was clinging to her. So tight that if it was any tighter, she felt like her spine would break in two. "Sakura?" She whispered, suddenly remembering how it had turned out the last time she'd tried to wake the girl up like that. But she was somehow stuck. She looked around to note how gloomy the apartment looked without any lights on at the dead of the night. The lack of a moon shade in the window made the moody weather look even more depressing.

The world was gray.

The hair in her neck was pink.

And that shoulder was brushing against her breast in a maddening motion when it wasn't crushing it.

"Sa-Sakura, I need to breathe." Ino repeated a little louder, causing the smaller girl to finally stir awake.

"Ino?" The pink haired girl squinted, trying to make out the face of her friend in the darkness.

"Don't kill me!" Sakura's face crumpled at hearing that. She had been comfortable, but Ino wasn't. It was obvious the girl wasn't just joking, her voice still held a bit of fear, and her body had jerked back slightly as soon as her grip had loosened.

"I'm so sorry Ino... It's not gonna happen again. I promise." She wanted to believe it, so bad. She hoped Ino would.

And Ino did, relaxing considerably and even pulling Sakura into another, a bit less tight, hug. "I know. Force of habit." She said, dismissing the issue altogether. Sakura snuggled into her arms and nodded.

"I never wanted to hurt you." She said, closing her eyes and enjoying the closeness. "I was such a fool."

"We both were, Sakura." Ino agreed to her friend's statement and ran her fingers through the pink locks that were tingling at her neck. She felt a surge of strength and love run through her arms, along her fingers, and willingly tried to lend some of it to Sakura. She wanted the girl in her arms to feel safe. Loved.

"I'm glad you were able to finally talk about it. I have a feeling Naruto didn't know half of it." 'And I had to piece it together…'

Sakura shook her head softly and looked up to Ino. The raw emotion from earlier had subsided and only left a bitter taste in the back of her throat. Like there was something else she needed to tell.

"He only knew my mom had died, not that I killed... her." She took a deep breath and forced herself to remain calm, raking her brain for the piece she'd forgotten. That little something that still bothered her. "I never was able to kill anymore after this. Tsunade removed me from any missions where I could have to fight for my life, instead increasing my shifts at the hospital. I'm barely a ninja anymore. Just a medic."

"But you're an awesome one. Instead of taking lives, you save them. I think that fits your personality a lot more." Sakura sighed and tightened her hold onto Ino, the dark around her apparently ready to engulf her. What was it that nagged at the back of her mind like a quiet threat? Something that could launch a sneak attack on her mind at any time, and break her down further. She got a tad angry at not being able to figure it out.

"See, the problem is, I'm not really happy with it." She knew that wasn't all of it, but it was the truth.

"Then what would make you happy, Saku?" The question surprised her. She looked up once more, into Ino's eyes. these blue orbs seemed to glow in the dark, with a will to do anything they could to make her life less of a nightmare. She thought about it, thought very deeply and honestly about it. But right then there was only one thing that came to mind.

"Be with you."

Ino smiled at the cuteness. She felt the sincerity in these words and even though that wasn't the answer she was looking for, it was enough for now. "Alright."

"Come and stay with me." Thinking was usually Sakura's strength. She knew everything, remembered every detail, and had a knack for learning things. Acting on impulse was not her forte, and this request had come without her consent. Wasn't that a little too fast, too early to be asked?

Ino was also taken aback by her friend's request. It came at the right time - she would be thrown out of this apartment sooner or later since she couldn't even pay the rent. But she hadn't expected Sakura to offer it this quick. It didn't sound like it was to help her out though. Her voice sounded pleading rather than authoritive. Sakura needed another presence in her house just as much as she did herself. "I will." She promised in a whisper, putting a kiss on the other girl's forehead and letting her lips linger there.

When her eyes started to droop once more from the weariness, she took them away and shook the girl she was holding. "I think the bed would be more comfy for sleeping, what do you think?" But Sakura was already fast asleep once more, clinging tightly to her again. Ino shook her head and summoned enough strength to get up from the couch without being too rough. She even frowned at how light Sakura was. Once in her room she gently lay Sakura down on her bed and let herself drop next to her. She didn't even grab a sheet before exhaustion took over her body.

--

The sound of something banging on the wall tore both girls away from the dreamscape they were traveling in. Their heads jerked up pretty much at the same time, causing their foreheads to crash together with a force rivalizing the strike that had caused so much noise.

"Oww forehead, be careful!" Ino whined, rubbing the affected part of her body in pain. Sakura's ears perked but she did not hear Ino's complain. Instead her gaze fell on the wall at the other end of the bedroom. "Someone's under attack!" She nearly shouted, leaping out of the bed with the grace of a cat and landing on her feet just at the right distance from the wall to perform one of her signature uber powerful punches. Save Ino had lunged onto her arm and was holding it back with all her might.

"Calm down Sakura, it's like that every morning. It won't help if you break down the building." Sakura's fist loosened up a bit, but she didn't drop her fighting stance yet. "You got to be kidding?"

Ino shook her head sadly. "Nope, welcome to my place forehead." She let go of Sakura's arm and watched it drop to the girl's side. She was looking back at her sheepishly.

"Sorry…"

"Don't be. I've had murderous intentions towards them more than once myself." She yawned as she finished her sentence and stretched her arms up above her head. "So, slept well?"

"Very." Sakura answered Ino while turning towards her, reaching up a tad to place a sweet kiss on the blonde's lips. "Thank you." She added with a smile. Ino smiled back.

"T'was the least I could do." Sakura wrapped her arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Ino put her own arms around her neck. And they looked at each other, caught in the moment.

Until the banging on the wall started again. Ino sighed and curled up against Sakura, resting her head on the other girl's shoulder. "I'm so sick of this place."

Sakura trailed her fingers up her friend's back and into her hair, placing a soft kiss on the top of her head. "We're getting you out of here."

--

Ino certainly hadn't expected things to be done so damn quick. Sakura had called up both Naruto and Sasuke, and the trio had moved all of her stuff into Sakura's apartment even before it was time for lunch. And they wouldn't let her move anything even just a tad heavy, because Junior – that's how Naruto had called the baby – needed her in top shape.

She was just sitting there, in the kitchen of Sakura's house, watching them bring everything in, and directing them on where everything was supposed to be placed. Strangely enough, even Sasuke never complained about anything. Ino wondered what Sakura had told the guys.

"Enjoying yourself, Yamanaka?" Sakura came up to her friend and grabbed for a bottle of water that was on the table. She took a sip of it and then picked up a towel that Ino was holding out for her. "Haha, thanks!"

"Don't work yourself too hard Sakura, that's what these guys are here for." She said jokingly. Naruto who was passing by with something rather light for once smiled at her. Thankfully Sasuke did not hear the comment.

"You're right, I'll take a break." Sakura sat down on a chair next to Ino and resisted the urge to just slump down there. There was still stuff to do.

She suddenly felt herself being dragged and turned her head towards Ino who was smiling at her and started to massage her shoulders when she was within reach. "Well I sure could get used to this." She let out in a breath, relaxing under Ino's touch. The blonde smiled and lightly blew in her neck.

"You better get used to it." It was hard to believe that two days ago they'd both been at the very edge and ready to give up on life. Sakura even wondered if this wasn't all just a big prank that life was playing on her. It was just too good to be true.

Ino watched the girl in front of her and sighed inwardly. She looked so frail, despite the muscles she'd gotten from all the training. She was wearing a small tank top and Ino noticed the symbol she'd spotted the other day. Well now was the best time to ask.

"Um, Saku? What's that tattoo on the back of your shoulder?" Sakura tensed up at the question and didn't answer right away. Ino ran her hands down Sakura's bare arms in an attempt to lighten the sudden heaviness of the room. Even Sasuke and Naruto had put down the particularly large piece of furniture they were carrying and were waiting in the doorway for an answer.

"Uh, it's not really important. I want to get it removed, anyway." That was it, the last thing that bothered her. That stupid symbol.

"But, what does it mean?"

Sakura bit her lower lip. She didn't really feel like explaining, especially not in front of the two boys. But Ino's hands had nearly left her shoulder and she didn't want them to, either.

"I received that during a reconnaissance mission, four or five years ago. Had to infiltrate some cult of Fubuki." She knew all the stares she was receiving were pushing her to reveal the secret of that thing. Especially Naruto, who'd been denied the knowledge more than once.

"They relied on their own strength only, wouldn't trust anyone, even inside the cult. The only thing everyone had in common was this mark. It literally means 'No attachment'." She waited for these words to sink in. As expected, Sasuke huffed and resumed his work, muttering something about paying a visit to that cult one day to exterminate them or something. Naruto shook his head and followed suit – he didn't have much of a choice – and said something about thinking about this seriously. He then added that they were probably already all dead or had found friends, which made the two girls giggle.

"Gotta love Naruto." Sakura said, happy that Ino's hands were back to work on her stiff neck.

"So you kept it to symbolize your refusal to ever care or love anyone again?" The blonde asked, just loud enough so Sakura could hear, but neither Naruto nor Sasuke. The two were now busy bickering about some scratch on the table that was now in the middle of the living room, anyway.

"Yet somehow, knucklehead over there always broke through that."

"I think I did too." Ino leaned in and put a kiss on Sakura's cheek, who smiled and leant back some more.

"You completely shattered it."

"Then I think we collided, because my wall has crumbled down as well." She wrapped her arms around Sakura and rested her head on her shoulder, and they stayed like that until Naruto came in yelling like a mad man that this was the last piece. Sakura giggled and looked up at Ino.

"Welcome home."

Waking up next to Sakura was the thing Ino liked the best about her new life. They would always be cuddled together no matter what position they'd started in the night before. The smell of Sakura's shampoo was nice and soothing. Her steady breath in her neck was total bliss. Somehow she'd always wake up earlier than the pink haired girl, and was happy she could spend five or ten minutes just watching her savior sleep.

There was no more violence. Her and Sakura still fought – they'd been rivals for way too long to drop that habit. But it was harmless arguing, and playful poking. They got along better than Ino remembered, too. And neither of them had to step on their own pride or habits. They just magically fit together.

The alarm clock rang next to Sakura's head, who flung her arm over her head and crushed the thing angrily. Ino winced, it was the third the girl broke this week. "Saku, you have work, remember?" She whispered softly, smoothing the girl's hair. Sakura answered with a grunt and snuggled in closer to the blonde.

"I wanna stay with you!" Ino giggled at the childish behavior her friend always had in the morning. She allowed her to stay for a few more minutes, unable to resist it.

Sakura eventually rolled off the bed and stretched. Ino's eyes trailed on her very naked form all along, enjoying every curves as if it was the first time she saw them. She smiled when she saw the tattoo that had replaced the 'no Attach' mark. Two birds and a heart.

She stretched to a sitting position when Sakura started dressing up and rubbed her prominent belly with care.

"How long until I get my baby?" She asked out of curiosity. It felt like forever since the last time she'd seen her tummy flat, and she liked it flat.

"Um…" Sakura put her shirt on and then took a good look at her friend. "I'd say sometime this week, actually."

Ino's eyes grew wide. "Already?!" Yeah, she wanted the baby so bad, but so fast? Wait that wasn't fast. Damn that was all so confusing.

"Yeah, dummy. Nine months, remember?" Ino giggled and threw her legs over the edge of the bed in an attempt at getting up. She only barely managed to throw herself back onto the bed instead of stumbling forward and falling face first on the floor. The whole movement made her dizzy and she didn't really notice Sakura's gawking face until a few seconds later.

"I'm fine Sakura…" She said, frowning at how her friend's face was growing paler by the second.

"I rectify what I said earlier…" Sakura finally let out, immediately turning to the drawers and fishing for clothes for Ino, who's face kept crumpling in concern as she started dressing with the clothes Sakura was tossing to her.

"What did you say earlier?" Ino blinked and then looked down at herself, her eyes growing wide. "Oh shit."

"I think the baby's for today hun."

--

"Like, why can't I help her?! Be with her at least?" Sakura was frantic. Shizune wouldn't even let her in the room where Ino was. Tsunade was in there and sounded panicked, ordering nurses around. "At least tell me what's going on?"

Shizune's impassible facade suddenly fell as she prevented the pink haired girl form entering the room once more. Sakura's face contorted in disbelief at this silent admittance that something was indeed going wrong in there. But it couldn't be! Ino was in perfect health! She'd checked, and made sure of that herself, so many times!

"Just let Tsunade do her job. It'll be alright. You would only disrupt the activity in there. We're pros Sakura. Tsunade knows what she's doing."

Sakura knew Shizune was trying to help both her and Ino. She was just doing her job. But she couldn't hold the rage and anger back. She needed something to lash at. "For god's sake! I'm almost as good as Tsunade herself how can you keep me away from her! She means the world to me let me at least try to do something!"

She was about to just hit Shizune and get past her when both her arms were suddenly jerked back by two pairs of solid hands. Sasuke's face showed that he wasn't happy with the pain of his teammate, and Naruto looked close to tears. "Please calm down, Sakura-chan." His voice had a soothing effect on her, she still didn't understand too well why. But she relaxed a bit and her arms were almost immediately released, in favor of a meaningful hug from Naruto. "It's going to be fine, okay? Tsunade baa-chan is going to save them both."

Naruto wanted to promise, but he knew that was a bit risky. So instead he just tried to smile reassuringly. Sasuke leaned back onto the wall and scratched his beard pensively. He'd gotten used to both girl's bickering about him when they were younger – they still did it on occasions. He would miss that if something was to happen.

"This is so bothersome…" Chouji appeared at the other end of the corridor, dragging Shikamaru along with himself, apparently resolved to go and see what was going on.

"Hey, she's still our teammate, you could show a little concern." The slightly fat ninja pushed onto his friend, sternly looking at him. That's when he noticed Shikamaru was crying silently by his side. "Err, I mean, pull yourself together, Shika."

Sakura sniffled and looked up from Naruto's shoulder. On every side possible, people were coming to see if everything was alright. Some eager to see the baby. Some of them knowing the situation better and displaying grim looks. Inoichi was the first one to walk up to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Ino is strong, she'll pull through." He had a proud smile on his face, and Sakura somehow regretted not pushing Ino into trying to make up with her friends and parents. She sure would now, if the girl made it, that was. The presence of everyone gave her the bit of courage she needed to face it with all her might.

She'd failed to notice that Shizune had gone into the room hurriedly, and was surprised when the brunette came out holding something wrapped in a blanket. Her eyes lit up.

"The baby!" She nearly shouted, leaping in Shizune's direction. The woman bowed her head slightly and offered her the newborn, which Sakura took tenderly, taking a good look at its face. He had the purest emerald eyes she'd ever seen. As if both the ocean blue of Ino's and her own jade eyes had been mixed in together – which was impossible, considering the circumstances. His hair was of a slightly darker blond than his mother, and he had the same angel look that made Ino so cute. She wasn't surprised, she knew it'd be a boy all along. She hoped Ino knew as well.

"It's a boy!" She shouted half-heartedly. The cheers she received were not really happy, but everyone still attempted to get a good look at the kid. Sasuke was the first one to walk to her.

"Can I uh… hold him?" Everyone within hearing range looked up to him, eyes wide in surprise, and a bit of colors crawled up to his usually pale cheeks. Sakura was just as surprised, but nonetheless gave in to his request.

"Sure, here." She handed him the baby, which he took carefully, taking a good look at his face.

"Hey there, cute little buddy." Naruto was watching this with his mouth wide open. Sasuke was showing interest in a baby. That was a first. And moreover, the baby looked happy in his arms.

He nearly jumped when Sasuke handed him the baby, the blush on his face an even deeper shade of red. A grin crawled up on his lips. "Hey Junior! Looky looky I think uncle Uchiha likes you."

Sakura couldn't help giggling as she witnessed Sasuke literally turning beet red. Then she sighed and shot an hopeful glance towards the door to the room where Ino was. 'Look, Ino. Everyone loves the baby. I think I'll make Sasuke the godfather. But… it needs you. I need you. Please make it through.'

"Sakura?" Tsunade was standing in the door frame and looking at her intently. The pink haired girl's heart tightened at seeing her mentor's expression. Her bottom lip trembled as she shot a glance at Naruto, who gave her the most comforting smile he could summon as he held the baby protectively. She then took a deep breath and faced what was to come.

"Is she alright?" Tsunade shook her head slightly, and motionned for the girl to get inside the room. And so she did, jumping slightly when the door was closed behind her. She gulped and looked at the silhouette of her friend, once rival, now lover, laying there in this hospital bed. The faint lighting coming from the window and a bedside table making the whole scene a little gloomy. But the blonde in the bed was breathing, although barely. And her arm was extended upwards, as if she was asking the girl to take it. And hold it tight until the end of time.

"Ino." Sakura's voice was a constricted whisper. She felt like crying, but managed to keep her composure as she grabbed onto that hand and squeezed it lightly. The blonde's eyes flickered open, and she smiled softly despite her condition.

"I love you." A tear ran down Ino's cheek. No, this wasn't a goodbye. At least she hoped so. Sakura let her own tears flow down at that, blurting out something along the lines of "I love you, don't leave me, don't do this, I need you." Ino made an effort to bring her free hand up as well and wipe a few tears off Sakura's face.

"I'll do my best, forehead. I'll fight, to the end. But..."

"No buts!" Sakura commanded. Ino giggled, she loved when Sakura gave her orders.

"If anything was to happen, please promise me something." Sakura nodded, she could do that. Even if she wanted so hard to believe that she wouldn't have to carry it out.

"Be happy." A lump formed in Sakura's throat, she couldn't take it. Ino, the one person that had made it possible for her to be the slightest bit happy, was asking her to be happy if she passed away. "I'll always be there, with you." She added, causing Sakura to sob. It felt so cliché to be saying this, but she meant it.

"Please don't go." Sakura was pleading in between sobs, and Ino couldn't help but cry with her, even though her body was too weak to even shake. She wanted to find the words that would make it all better - but they didn't exist. So instead she lifted her head a bit and kissed Sakura with all the love she had for her. And that was a lot. "I love you, forehead." She repeated, with a smile, before falling asleep.

--

"So that's what happened to mommy? That's why I don't have a little brother or sister?"

Sakura smiled bitterly at the memory, her eyes straying from the flowers she was watering and into the horizon. The sun was setting down and was sending a multitudes of light shards on the plants that covered the shelves of her flower shop. She'd listened to Ino and found what really made her happy. She returned her gaze to the five years old boy standing in front of her and smiled brightly at him. He was so cute, beautiful. And a miniature version of his mother in character. She loved him to bits. "Yes Inokai."

The kid nodded in understanding and then took on himself to help his other mother out with taking care of the plants, when footsteps were heard coming from the front porch. Sakura smiled, knowing who was there.

"Hey kai-chan? Do you want to go play with uncle Uchiha and Saraki?" The little guy's eyes lit up considerably at that offer. Sakura was certain he had a crush on the girl. "Well go on ahead! I'll pick you up in a couple hours okay? Or ask uncle if you can stay the night. I'm sure he won't mind." The kid pumped his fist in the air and took a running start towards the back door, intent on getting there as quickly as he could.

Sakura smiled once more and wiped her hands on her apron before entirely removing it and making her way towards the front door.

"So how'd that mission go?"

Before she'd even had time to see the person she was talking to, sweet lips were pressed against hers in a demanding, loving kiss. It lasted for a long moment, before the owner of these lips pulled away and looked at Sakura, smiling brightly.

"I missed you so much, forehead."