"Girls don't get mad ~
They ge n."
Sakura blinked at the screen, unable to comprehend what she was seeing for a moment. While it was true that the blonde was often demanding and bossy, it was extremely rare to hear (or see, in this case) her name being used when her friend wanted her to do something. Usually it was "Forehead" or something like that. That meant that whatever this "emergency" was, it was serious business.
[SENT] Sakura: Alright, alright. Keep your panties on, Piggy, I'm coming. I'll be there in like five minutes, okay?She pushed the chair back and stood, stretching as she did so. Until the screen of her cell phone had lit up, she'd been slowly plowing her way through her piles of homework, so she couldn't say that she didn't welcome the interruption. Even though she took her studies very seriously, Sakura wasn't exactly all work and no play, as her best friend, Yamanaka Ino, often accused her of. There was only so much schoolwork even a bookworm like her could take before they started to get bored ~
It wasn't far from her house to the Yamanaka's, so she decided to walk. She left a note for her parents, who were currently out doing Kami knows what, and grabbed her house keys before setting off. The five minutes it took to get to her destination was actually extremely refreshing. Sakura enjoyed walking, and the day was absolutely perfect, so she was almost sorry when she arrived at her friend's house. Almost.
The pinkette was far too curious to be be completely sorry right now.
Before she could even lift her hand to knock on the door, it was wrenched open and a slender arm shot out, grasping her around the forearm and pulling her inside. If she hadn't recognized the arm as Ino's, she might have screamed and let her fists fly. As it was, she only stared at her frazzled blonde friendly, taking in her current state of dishevelment silently.
"What the hell, Ino? You can't just go grabbing people like that and ~" Sakura began testily, not so much angered as she was worried. After all, she wasn't use to seeing the Yamanaka like this.
"He slept with her."
Oh. Oh. Oh.
~ * — || The Situation || — * ~
Sakura forced Ino to go get a shower, stating that she refused to talk to her until she looked less like an actual pig and more like a human. That seemed to give her back some of her fire, and she quickly rushed off to do just that. While Ino was in the shower, Sakura made a pot of coffee, telling herself that just on cup couldn't hurt.
She ended up going through five by the time the blonde had gotten out of the shower and told her the whole story.
When Ino had first began seeing her recent (soon to be ex, Sakura amended darkly) boyfriend about ten months ago, they had seemed like the perfect couple. Even though Hidan was a little bit older than them and a bit…coarse, they just seemed to fit together, and Ino appeared to be happier than ever. Sakura hadn't really known much up the older boy except that he occasionally hung out with Sasuke's older brother. She was a bit uncomfortable around Hidan, but she had been determined to put that behind her since he made the blonde happy. That was the most important thing, after all ~
Everything seemed perfect for a time. That is until Hidan's ex-girlfriend moved back to Konoha. The older woman wasn't too fond of the young blonde that her former boyfriend/best friend was currently dating, and she didn't even bother trying to hide that fact. Ino and Sakura had been well aware of it from the moment Hidan had introduced the two of them to her. She had a habit of referring to them as the "teeny-boppers" when none of the others were listening in and Hidan was conveniently distracted, and often teased him about having to "babysit" the dear little "Hime" and her friends.
The fact that Hidan never reprimanded her for her actions was what made it even worse.
Things had gotten rockier recently when Hidan had begun to spend more time with his so-called "best friend" and less and less with Ino. Sakura had tried to tell Ino before that she didn't think they were simply "hanging out and watching movies", but Ino hadn't wanted to hear it. The pinkette now knew that perhaps she should have been a bit more insistent, but Ino's happiness was a bit more important than trying to force her suspicions onto her and causing unnecessary problems. It would be totally wrong to say "I told you so," but Sakura knew that it didn't need to be said.
After Ino finally finished illustrating how she'd been wanting to surprise Hidan for Valentine's Day and how she'd attempted to sneak into his apartment when she thought he'd be out only to find that she was the one that was in for a great shock, she took a deep breath in the silence that had descended upon them and said quietly, "I don't know what I'm suppose to do, Sakura. It's just that…I thought that maybe he could be the one, ya know? He's not anyone's idea of perfect, but he was damn close. And then that…asshole goes and ruins it by screwing that stupid bitch."
Sighing, Sakura pushed a stray strand of hair out of her face impatiently, before replying softly, " Yeah, I know. I'm really sorry, Ino. I just wish that I knew what to say ~ "
The blonde sighed, her shoulders slumping as she silently accepted the condolences, even though it was obvious to the pinkette that she'd been hoping her friend would have something to offer her other than a weak "I'm sorry." It made her feel bad, and she wracked her brain for something that might cheer her up, when suddenly a strange look crossed Ino's face. She looked…determined. Sakura was surprised; while her rival/best friend appeared to have a strong, impenetrable force field placed around her the many that didn't know, she was very aware of the fact that the other girl was actually rather vulnerable. If anything, she'd thought that recent events would cause her to sink into a depression until she finally realized that it wasn't worth it and she needed to move on.
"Sakura, call Sasuke. I have an idea."
~ * — || The Plan || — * ~
Though Sakura wasn't aware at first of what exactly the blonde was planning, she figured it had to be pretty epic if she was going so far as to involve Sasuke and Shikamaru, who she texted while the pinkette was on the phone with the younger of the Uchiha brothers. Ino had simply told her to ask if it would be okay if they came over in a little bit, and to find out if his older brother was there. Sasuke, of course, was more than a little suspicious about anything that involved his two former fangirls invading his house and bugging his beloved aniki, though she seemed to be willing to compromise after Sakura told him that Shikamaru would be there as well. After she hung up with Sasuke, she turned to Ino and eyed her curiously.
"So, what's this big idea of yours, Ino, and how exactly does it involve Shikamaru and Itachi-san?"
The blonde flipped her ponytail over her shoulder and a slow smile began to cross her face as she answered her slyly, "Well, I was thinking…I don't want to be one of those pathetic girls that mope around for the rest of their lives and wind up becoming cat ladies just 'cause one asshole had to go and screw up their first real relationship…"
At that she paused and gave Sakura a significant look (thus causing her to roll her eyes and level her with an intense glare that had the blonde smirking immediately), before continuing, "So, I figured that since he believes he can do something like this and get away with it…I can, too."
Sakura stared at her, a little alarmed, and couldn't help but to blurt out, "Ino, you're not thinking about…?!"
"Of course not, Forehead. Don't be so gross," Ino dismissed the implications of her own words and Sakura's reaction to them with a flick of her wrist, adding, "I'm not going to stoop to his level. So, no, I'm not going to be hooking up with the first person that crosses my path. Besides, that would defeat the purpose of calling Shikamaru to Sasuke and Itachi-san's house."
Her response caused Sakura to think. Really think. She'd been wondering why Ino would want to put three geniuses under one roof herself, and now her thought process was kicked into high gear. The "classic" reactions a girlfriend might exhibit in finding out that their loving boyfriend had cheated on them would be: sobbing hysterically into a bucket of ice cream, looking for therebound / serial dating, or…
A light sparked in Sakura's sharp gaze, causing the smirk on the blonde's face to take on a razor-like quality.
"Come, Forehead. We've got some work to do ~ "
The next thirty or so minutes found Ino and Sakura sitting in the Yamanaka's kitchen, head's bent over the table as they cooked up the details to make the blonde's "idea" into a reality. It didn't take much for the pinkette to realize exactly why her friend had felt the need to call in the cavalry to help them pull this off: even though she felt confident enough in their plans, she knew that having Shikamaru and Itachi-san (if he would comply, of course) check over their work to get a "outside point of view" would be for the best. And, of course, they would need more than two people to actually launch their intended course of action.
When the time Ino had specified was approaching, the two friends collected their work and exchanged satisfied smirks, before heading out the door and jumping into Ino's Nissan LEAF (which was brand spanking new and expensive to boot, as the blonde cheerfully reminded the pinkette.) They found themselves to be considerably more lighthearted than they perhaps should be, given the circumstances, and each secretly wondered the exact reason that their current plans gave them such a thrill. Sakura attempted to push these thoughts out of her mind by texting Naruto to tell him that he better stay away from Sasuke's place for a little bit, unless he wanted to deal with an hysterical girl crying all over him. His quick response promising to stay far away amused her, and she found herself walking up to the Uchiha manor with a small smile curving her lips upward.
Sasuke answered the door almost immediately, as if he'd been lurking behind the door, just waiting for the two girls. He shut the door behind them quietly, and silently walked to the back of the house, where Sakura knew the kitchen to be. The two girls exchanged glances before hurriedly following after him, realizing that he was inviting them further into the place when he paused outside the kitchen door and looked back at them with a raised eyebrow. As they walked into the room, their eyes immediately landed on the rather unusual sight of Nara Shikamaru drinking tea with Uchiha Itachi…rather, Uchiha Itachi drinking tea while Nara Shikamaru sat there looking distinctly uncomfortable, in his own lazy way. It seemed to further Ino's inappropriately cheerful mood, and she began to speak in a loud, jovial voice that caused the two males at the table to start slightly at the unexpected noise.
"Shikamaru, you're here ~ That's great! We can get started then," she declared, before depositing the folder with the papers the two girls had been using to plot out their complicated plans unceremoniously on the table between the two of them.
As they hesitantly began to sort through the loose sheets of paper, Ino began to talk…and talk. She appeared to be very animated now, totally unlike the distraught girl from earlier, to which Sakura was most relieved by. The more the blonde talked, the more the males gathered around the table seemed interested in this impromptu meeting. Sakura, for her part, silently observed their reactions to Ino's story and their resulting ideas. Out of the three of them, Shikamaru's thoughts were the most obvious, as well as the easiest to decipher. He was quite obviously livid; there once was a time when the pinkette had teased her best friend about her relationship with the Nara, but she knew better than anyone just how close the two of them were. They were more like brother and sister than anything, which explained his sudden interest in the part of the plan that outlined what was to be his contribution to their endeavor.
Sasuke's relatively calm and composed facade didn't fool Sakura any. Even though they weren't particularly close by any stretch of the imagination, Ino was his friend, however unwilling of a participant he occasionally was in any situation that seemed as if it might give off that impression. When they had been much younger, both Ino and Sakura had a ridiculously enormous crush on the second son of the Uchiha clan head. It had even caused Sakura to break off their friendship for a time, until eventually she realized that it had been pointless. Once she'd moved on from her childish ideal of what "true love" was, she'd opened her eyes to what was right under her nose the entire time. After she'd began to date his best friend, Sasuke slowly started to come around, and now she felt that it was safe to say that the two of them were friends. Through her, Ino and Sasuke had been able to work through the awkwardness of the past, and now they were just as good of friends and Ino and Sakura…Well, most of the time, anyway.
Sakura didn't know Itachi well enough to be able to see beyond his normal mask, but she quite thought that he, too, seemed a bit invested in the situation. She'd been a bit uncertain about alerting Sasuke's nii-san of their plans; he was sort of Hidan's friend, after all. Ino had convinced her, though, and it seemed that she'd known a bit more about the older Uchiha than the pinkette had thought she did.
"Well?" Ino prompted suddenly, placing her hands on her hips and eyeing all three males through narrowed-eyes that promised a world of suffering (to their pride and their ears more than physically, of course) if they didn't comply to her wishes.
Obviously the unspoken threat wasn't needed. The response was unanimous, and as heartfelt as the three could get. It was go time ~
~ * — || The Result || — * ~
It took exactly a week to implement the entirety of the plan that Ino had initially outlined and Sakura had then aided her in developing. They'd needed some time to gather certain evidence, which was part of the boys' job. This was surprisingly easy to accomplish, however, given Itachi's friendly relationship with Hidan. The pinkette was a little startled by his willingness to comply with their plot, but he'd explained seriously that he simply did not agree with the man's actions and nor could he allow him to get away with his…extracurricular activities, if Ino's claims were to be believed.
No one was particularly surprised when they proved to be one hundred percent true, though Sakura was irritated with Ino for a long time after they'd obtained the necessary proof, if only because she'd known about it and still stayed with the man.
Hidan, it turned out, was involved in a seedy organization that was one part criminal, three parts drug cartel. It certainly explained his unpredictable behavior of late. They turned their evidence into the appropriate authorities, effectively sentencing the man to half a lifetime behind bars. And the fun didn't stop there ~
Sakura and Ino found out that Hidan's not-so "former" girlfriend was hooking up with her manager before, during, and after her work hours. They planted a camera in the office where the majority of this was taking place, with a little help from Sasuke and Shikamaru, and then sent it to the manager's wife. After that, little was required on their part but to sit back and watch the fallout. Perhaps they felt the tiniest bit bad about effectively ending a marriage, but Ino reassured Sakura darkly that it was for the best. Not only were the two fired for their actions, but once the word got out, their reputations were effectively tarnished.
One day a few weeks following the fallout, Ino turned to look at the pinkette with a strange glint in her eye and thanked her. Sakura simply replied, "Any time, Pig. Any time ~"