LF Forever
I DO NOT OWN NARUTO...
"Ino!" they called, besides Sakura, she just remained quiet.
All of them, including the boys decided to go to Ino's house to celebrate her birthday. So naturally, their already having a racket discussion at the moment.
"Troublesome woman" muttered Shikamaru, leaning beside the door.
"Ino c'mon open the door girl!" Tenten shouted.
"Tenten you'll wake up the neighbors" Neji said to his girlfriend
"Why don't w-we try to knock instead o-of shouting" Hinata suggested
"Hinata-chan's right!" said Naruto then banged at the door.
"Naruto, Hinata said 'knock' not break the door, baka" Kiba said.
"Arf, arf!" Akamaru barked in agrement.
"Even you Akamaru!?" Naruto whinned. Then apologize to Hinata while rubbing his head.
"I-its okay Naruto-kun" the timid girl answer, poking her two index finger together
Sakura just remained quiet beside Sasuke, who was comforting a nervous Sakura by wrapping a protective arm around her waist.
"What if she..." Sakura asked but was cut off by Sasuke
"Sak, don't think of the 'what ifs'... your only making yourself more uncomfortable" Sasuke said and gave her a small but comforting smile.
Tenten kept calling Ino's name, and Naruto kept knocking (banging) at the door. A few seconds later they heard a 'just a minute' reply then the door opened, revealing a newly awaken Ino in her pajamas... of course.
"Tanjoubi Omedetou!" they said, fully wakening the dozing Yamanaka at her doorstep
"I thought you guys didn't remember?!" she said while wiping her eyes with unshed tears.
"Why wouldn't we?" Tenten said and then they laughed, if Ino only knew that Sakura was bugging all of them everyday for the past two weeks for Ino's birthday celebration... she looked at Sakura meaningfully Sakura only smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.
Sakura looked at Ino. She looked very happy today... I'm so glad...
They had a fight almost a month ago. It happened on the last day of their finals... And she knows that it's only a total misunderstanding but...
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"All of you cannot get the last part of your examination unless that someone apologize in front of our class for what he did!" Tsunade sensei said with a sound of finality in her voice.
One of our classmate made a very big mistake in pranking our teacher.
"So until that someone apologize to me and to the whole class, of course its his fault if all of you failed right?" she said in an innocent voice "No one can get the exam. No examination means no grades, no grades means you all failed, and when you fail...you will all stay here with me again until next year..." she said in a mocking tone
"And before I forgot," she continued " all of your other subject teachers are expecting your papers at exactly 6pm...and mind you all... the clock is ticking" all of us remained quiet.
I decided to pass a message to Tenten since she is the nearest one to me, its already quarter to four, we can't finish our examination if we didn't take it now, and i can't get Ino's attention so that we can talk about my plan since she's so busy looking at her newly painted nails. And i think we can do this even without everyone's help, no need to bother everyone.
"Ten...Tenten..." Sakura called Tenten "We need to talk to sensei its already late..."
"What!? You know that she's like a dragon when she's angry!" she kept shaking her head then after a few seconds looked at me with a grin plastered on her face "...and since you're the closest to her, you talk to her..." she said grinning at me, but behind that grinning face i can still see the worry in her eyes.
"But..."
"No buts Sakura. Besides it's your idea..."
" ok fine! whatever! But you need to go with me. Can't face the dragon alone you know" then we both chuckled
"Ready?" Tenten asked
"No..."
"Oh, Sakura c'mon" then she dragged to the fron to talk to Tsunade
So we talked to tsunade sensei to give us all exam but she didn't obliged she said...
"You two are the only students who are brave enough to talk to me to give you all exams, so you two are the only ones that will get it"
"But sensei-" whe tried to reason out with her but she didn't hear our protest instead...
"Sakura, Tenten, do you really think that I'm not going to give you all the exams? I'm just testing all of you... You two are just the first to realize that. As a person you all need to acknowledge your mistakes, you need to admit it, apologize, forgive then forget and then move on...And i already know who did this" she gestured herself which is full of chalk dust then smiled at us "Now here's the test papers, answer it quickly, i'll just give the others tomorrow" she said then smiled at the two of us.
"Arigato sensei" we said in unison.
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"Sakura" Sasuke called, that made me snap out of my trance
"You're thinking of it again" he said
"Gomen, its just that... i can't help but think about that when I..." she trailed off
"Its okay," he smiled at me understandingly "lets go inside?" he asked. Then i realized that we were the only ones left outside!
"Why didn't you...Nevermind. Let's go" she dragged him inside, the guys are all in the living room watching some action movie, and you can hear the girls chatting in the kitchen.
"Gotta go..." Sakura said to Sasuke, quickly tiptoed and gave him a peck on the lips, and as quickly as she did it she ran to the kitchen grinning.
The girls already started to prepare the ingridients for the white spaghetti, it was one of Ino's favorite dish, she stopped at her track when she heard Ino asked...
"How did you guys know that i love white spaghetti?"
"Its a little secret of ours..." she heard Tenten replied
She remembered when she and Ino once ate at a resturant, she can't help but laugh at her. It was after one outing and when she and Ino have a little 'bonding together' and when she saw that it was available on the menu, she ordered five plates of white spaghetti, imagine?! Five plates?!
After that Ino kept complaining about being so full and having stomach ache. It was one of their good times she really can't forget and...she missed it.
"Mou, Tennie-chan... Say it..."
"The truth Ino is, all of this..." she gestured around "was all planned by-" Sakura picked that time to be known by the three girls.
"Ehherm! Um Tenten, I think you should now boil the pasta?"
"Ugh, I-i think so too, Ummm Ino I think you should go upstairs and make yourself a little bit more presentable" Tenten ushered the girl
"Oh!" she looked down at herself, remembering that she was still in her sleepware, then grinned sheepishly and made a run upstaires. But stopped abruptly when she heard Sakura spoke.
"Tenten..."
"I know, we swear that we will never tell that... and i'm sorry... I just want to help"
"I know that. Just please, don't...try to tell her, okay? She had to figure it out herself... If she truly cherish our time together, she will realize it"
"B-but you know Sakura-chan, Ino-chan can sometimes be a little dense" she heard Hinata said
"Dense? I'm not dense. And what's that thing that i had to figure out myself?" she whispered to herself.
"Anyway, we have to get moving, Tenten can you pass the..." Ino dashed upstairs to clean up, but the girls' conversation is still bugging her.
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Later that afternoon, class are already dismissed, Sakura and Tenten heard words throwing at them like 'traitors' 'all for one, one for all minus 2' they are a total of 30 students in their classroom.
"Sakura-chan, Tenten-chan they..." Hinata trailed off, not knowing what the right words to say, so not to hurt these two girls' feelings.
"We already know..." Sakura whispered, tears brimming at her eyes.
"Are you angry at us, Hinata?" Tenten asked all of a sudden.
"No! Why would i be? We're friends,whatever the both of you did, we have to hear your sides first, then understand the situation before we judge...right?"
"Arigato Hinata-chan, but have you seen Ino?" Sakura asked, eyes scanning the classroom, searching for her blonde friend. But instead she saw Naruto smiling at them. That smile means a lot of thing, and Sakura already know what those things are...
"It means I forgive both of you...
Don't cry, we'll always be at you side...
Smile and we'll face them all together "
"Sakura-chan!"
"Arigato, Naruto!"
"Just don't worry about it Sakura-chan, we can overcome it all! I should punch Zaku for pranking Tsunade-baa-chan, and causing this..." Naruto for the first time seems lost for words of advice
"...misunderstanding?" she offered
"YES!"
"I just hope that we get through this" she said then her phone beeped
"Um, Guys I've got to go"
As she goes down the building, she saw Sasuke waiting for her. He, Neji, and Shikamaru are a year ahead to all of them. As soon as she saw him, she quickly ran to him and gave him a quick kiss.
"How was your day?" he asked. Wrapping his right arm around her waist.
"Not that good..."
"Why?" he asked.
"We had a little misunderstanding...I'll tell you about it later" she smiled a little.
He nodded in approval "C'mon, its already getting dark" he said, then pulled her hand gently.
As they were nearing the school gates, Sakura saw Ino. She quickly loosen her grasp on Sasuke's hand and ran to her.
"Ino!" she called. "I'm so glad i saw you... Are you...mad...at me?" she asked anxiously
But Ino only looked at her for a few seconds, her eyes held no emotion, then the most unexpected reaction happened...Ino walked away.
At that very moment, she just didn't know what to do. She know what that look meant. She's angry at her. Her bestfriend was angry at her... Of all people, why her? She thought that she will be the one to understand her... them... Because they are friends.
She felt someone wiping her cheeks, then she realize that she was crying and Sasuke was the one wiping her tears. She looked up at him.
"S-sa...suke" she bit her lip to keep herself from crying, but she just can't take all of this. When Sasuke wrapped his arms around her, she can't control the flow of tears that seems like to fall down her cheeks endlessly. She buried her face in his chest, while he gently cupped her face, so he can look at her.
"Sakura..." she tried to avoid his gaze "Look at me..." he lifted her chin, so that she can't avoid his gaze. "Its gonna be alright"
"But Sasuke... This is serious, this is the first time that she looked at me like... Like i'm nothing..." she trailed off. New tears beginning to bloom in her eyes. "And its like... I don't know her at all..."
"It'll be alright, don't worry..." he assured her.
"But.."
"No buts Sakura" he said firmly. "Now, let me get you home... You need to rest..."
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"Sakura-chan daijoubu?" Hinata asked Sakura.
"Ahmm...are you saying something Hinata-chan, i'm sorry, i'm just... Thinking of something..."
"I'm pretty sure you are thinking of something sad or awful" Hinata said, looking at Sakura with a worried face.
"How... Did you guess?" am i that readable? She asked herself
"Because you'recrying.." Hinata stated.
Sakura quickly wipe her face with the back of her hand, to find it wet with tears. It's true. She didn't even felt it, if Hinata didn't tell her about it, she wouln't even realize it.
"oh! I-its nothing, i just remembered... something..."
"You still remember that time?"
"Uhmm...yes, i don't know. I just can't help myself..." she smiled bitterly. Then continue where she left off.
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The next day Sakura told to Tenten, about what happened, about Ino, being mad at them. So Tenten decided to talk to Ino.
Ino said that she's not mad anymore. Means she really did get mad at them, and it really hurt Sakura that, when the time that she really need a friend, Ino would abandon her.
That day, the two of them, Sakura and Tenten, received tons of apologies from their classmates for judging them both immediately. But the person, Sakura was waiting to approach her... never did...
"Sakura, talk to her..." Tenten was bugging her about talking to Ino. Ino said that she can't apologize to Sakura personally, because she have a very huge pride. That is the only thing Sakura wished, for Ino to learn to accept her mistake... And the worse part is... She can't...
"Tenten. How many times do I have to tell you that i'm only going to talk to her if she apologize to me in person. I have feelings too you know." Sakura said, a finality in her voice. "This time, i wouldn't be the first one to approach her, she have to loosen up a little bit. And if I'm really that important to her, she would choose me and our friendship instead of her ...her 'prideful ego'!
Days have passed and they still didn't talk to each other. Many says that she needed to do something about it, because... She was the one that is more affected by their situation...But even though they are currently having an FQ or "Friends Quarrel" which is nearing to a permanent quarrel. Sakura still planned a surprise birthday party for her. It's her long time promise to her, and to herself...
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"Guys, the food's ready!" Tenten shouted. Thankfully Mr. and Mrs. Yamanaka decided to go out so that they can have the whole house, for that day. "Guys, c'mon... Ino! Get down , you've already been there for one and a half hours!
"Tenten, lower down your voice, Shikamaru...go upstairs and get your troublesome girlfriend...Oi! Shikamaru!"
"Fine, i'm going, i'm going..." Shikamaru said then sluggishly proceed upstairs. "Troublesome woman...why can't she just go down herself..." Shikamaru kept muttering things about Ino being so troublesome, until he reached Ino's door.
"Ino, the foods are ready, aren't you finished yet?" Shikamaru asked through the door, but he didn't get any reply, Shikamaru being Shikamaru, he opened the door and found Ino lying there staring at the ceiling. "Ino, everybody is waiting downstairs-"
"What is she doing here..." she whispered "I thought that she's mad at me?" She asked, Shikamaru didn't know if she's talking to him, or just herself. He sat at the edge of her bed. "You know Ino, she's not really mad at you, she's just a hurt that you doubt her, about her loyalty to your friendship..."
"How'd you know?" she asked, looking at her boyfriend, tears clearly visible in her eyes.
"She said so herself, and besides Sakura is as readable as you are..." Shikamaru said looking at her straight into the eyes "You should apologize to her, she's hurting, every passing day that you ignored her...it increases the pain that she felt"
"I am hurting too you know..." she looked away
"That's why you need to aplogize to her, because I know that you are both hurting... Ino, you're my girlfriend eventhough its too troublesome to admit. I know when you're happy, when something is bothering you, when you're sad, when you're frustrated, and when you're hurting. I care for you, even though you're always troublesome" Ino threw a pillow at him, pouting but happy about what he just said.
"But you love me even if i'm troublesome right?"
"Actually, that's what i love about you..." then something snapped in Shikamaru's head
Sakura's gonna kill me for this he thought
"Ino, i'll tell you something, but promise me..." Shikamaru shook his head, like he's trying to erase something "No swear to me, that you will not tell anybody that i'm the one who told you this, alright?" Ino nodded "Sakura planned all of this."
"What did you say?"
"She was the one who planned all of this. Who do you think is responsible for knowing that your favorite food is white spaghetti, who do you think planned that the only shirts we have to wear today is violet? Do you really think that Sasuke and Neji, the two most stoic men here in Konoha would actually wear violet?"
"Why not?"
"C'mon Ino, If not for You, i will not even wear this shirt" he gestured to himself.
That's when realization got to her...
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"oh Forehead-girl, thish ish shoooo... Yummy" Ino said white stuffing her mouth with mouth carbonara.
"Eat slowly..." Sakura said while laughing at the girl in front of her.
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"Sakuraaaaa! Look... " Ino said while showing her another purple shirt "Isn't it cute?"
"Ino, you already have, hundreds of these..." she said inspectioning the shirt
"But... It's purple..."
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"Ino, what do you want for your birthday?" Sakura asked her best friend, beside her
"Oh, i want it to be surprise, and i want us to be complete, all of us... That's all"
"How was it gonna be surprise if you just said it yourself, and it's very rare for us to be all free at the very same time..."
"Well..."
"'Well...' What?" she asked
"You're asking me what i want, and i'm not really expecting it to come true... But i would really be happy, if it comes true..." she said while smiling at her best friend thoughtfully.
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"Crap! Ino, don't cry... I told you that so that you can understand her feelings... Not to make you cry..."
Downstairs Sakura and the others were sitting on the couch and Sakura, was currently on the verge of tears.
"I-I'm... I shouldn't have come. I... I only ruined the party... She didn't want me here..." she sniffed and looked to seize her tears to fall. Sakura decided that she should leave, she looked up at Sasuke beside her "You s-should stay, Sasuke-kun, i'll just wait for you at your apartment" she got up and walked out of the house.
On her way to the apartment, she really can't stop the flow of tears. She remembered how fun it has been to be with Ino on their last school field trip, how they tease each other about their own boyfriends... She miss everything... She miss her.
Sakura was nearing the apartment when someone grab her by the arm and all of the sudden she can only see baby blue eyes filled with tears looking straightly at her own green orbs which is also filled with tears...
"GOMEN!" Ino said and tackled her into a very tight hug, at that moment Sakura didn't care if she die of suffocation, or end up with broken ribs... "I'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry..." Ino chanted like a mantra.
"Hush..." she whispered, and returned the hug with the same warmth "One is already enough... And i'm sorry too..." after a short while "I missed you pig... I missed you forehead" they said in unison, they both laugh.
" Eherm..." someone faked cough, and they look behind them to see all of the others standing there smiling at the both of them.
"Can we all join the group hug?" Tenten asked, smiling enthusiasticaly.
"yeah, can we? Can we?" Naruto asked, beside him a tomato red Hinata.
"Arf..." Akamaru barked in agreement
"Sure" Ino answered
"But what will we do about those three?" Sakura asked, pointing at Sasuke, Neji, and Shikamaru who are now heading back to the Yamanaka residence.
"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura said in a innocent voice
"Hyuuga, Nara, you two thinking what i'm thinking?" Sasuke asked, the two nodded. Knowing what those girls can do to them if they catch up on them.
"Ne...ji...-kun.." Tenten said emphasizing the syllables
"Ready when you are Uchiha" Neji said, not looking at her girlfriend
"Shika-kun..." Ino said sweetly
"RUN!" Shikamaru shouted, and the three of them ran for their lives.
/Owari\\
A/N: soooo, i hope you like it. This is based on a real life story. Oh! and it's dedicated to my all friends in LF. i was just so happy that the real life Sakura and Ino did have a chance to get back to the way they were before...Like the story... And thanks to DATC for editing this fic...
And also, Fuji, i hope you still remember your promise to me, about the sitting arrangement. And promises are not supposed to be made to be broken...