Title: To my Friend

Characters: Ino, Sakura

Pairings: SasuSaku I guess

This is dedicated to my friends we'' be together forever! It's told from Ino's point of view.

Oh, I don't own Naruto, like that comes as a surprise…

To my Friend

It was a rare sight…

She was crying alone in the snow. Her rosy shaded hair plastered to her face with specks of white scattered throughout. Her leaf village headband was clutched tightly in her right fist as she shook with misery.

There was only one time I had ever seen her like this. It was when we first met. Ever since then she had always seemed…so happy-go-lucky? She had a tough demeanor and a big heart (and forehead)

But today it was almost as if I was looking at a girl from a parallel universe. Yes…Sakura Haruno was in tears.

And it was no question as to why. It was the reason that everyone knew would one day be the reason for her crying. A raven haired boy named…

Sasuke Uchiha

I was leaning in to see if there was another clue has to what that boy had done this time. Was it an insult? Another girl? Did he hit her? But as I leaned inwards a branch I must have stepped snapped beneath the cold powder of the winter, because Sakura jumped in confusion and spun around hopefully. Black eyeliner ran in two twin streams down her pale face, tinted with pink from the cold.

Since when did Sakura wear make-up?

But when she saw it was just me, she turned her head back to the ground and I could faintly hear her whisper…

"Oh…"

I almost wanted to put my hands on my hips and yell at her for the rudeness in her voice. Why was a friend less important than some stupid guy who may not like her anyway? But I held back, biting my lower lip and slowly picking up a snowball. I sculpted the snow beneath my hands, into a lumpy sphere of snow before chucking it with my ninja-strong arms.

The snowball hit her right arm, making her drop her headband. She sniffed then said, "Ino…Why-"

"Hey Billboard Brow, you've been out here all night. You got an affinity for cold weather?" I snickered, folding my arms across my chest and leaning onto my left leg. Sakura pouted, turning away from me.

"Ino…"

She NEVER uses my real name.

"Ino, you know that's not why I'm out here," She pouted again, turning away form me…again. This time she sat in the snow. I uncrossed my arms and balanced out my weight and sat down beside her. She wrapped her arms around her knees, hugging them tightly to her chest.

"What did Sasuke do to you this time?" I started.

No response

"What. Did. Sasuke. Do. To. You?" I said again with more force.

She patted the snow beside her, finally speaking up, "I bet you think I deserve this, don't you?"

"I'm not sure." I said, more aggressively then I should have, "What happened?"

"This time it was my fault." She said, her voice muffled form speaking into her arm, "I walked out on him."

I raised an eyebrow at the paradox which she had just spoken. She LOVED Sasuke. Why would she just walk out on him?

"He didn't come after me. Maybe that's a good thing…" Self pity laced into her words.

"Why did you walk out on him?" I asked suspiciously.

"I realized that for so long, we had been fighting over him the way he fights Orochimaru."

I shook my head, "I don't think we were that bad. And neither of us are like Orochimaru." I shuddered at the name of that creeper.

"But you loved him too, didn't you?" She said, looking up from her little shelter.

I shook my head again. My neck was getting tired from the number of times I was doing that, "Well, no, not really." I stifled a laugh, "You get some pretty lame ideas in that head of yours Billboard Brow."

Sakura's cherry blossom cheeks puffed out in annoyance, "How many times do you plan on calling me that?"

"Till you grow into your forehead size!" I laughed, feeling triumphant.

A small smile found its way to Sakura's face. Immediately, she looked more grownup and pretty…in her own…pink haired, large forehead kind of way. She had wiped the eyeliner from her face and her eyes glistened with the remaining tears that had stopped falling. Her green eyes contradicted the blue shaded snow beneath her from the night sky. She was almost as pretty as I was. And I don't use that term often.

"But…" she smiled, "I'd rather have you as a friend then Sasuke as a boyfriend ya'know?"

I burst out laughing, "Don't be so like Hinata! This isn't the self-centered, self-promoting Billboard Brow I know!"

"Well…" She raised and eyebrow.

"I don't CARE if Sasuke likes you more than he likes me." A slight discomfort found its way into my chest, aking my heart feel a little heavey, "I think I learned that a long time ago so I have nothing left to care about." I stood up, "But if he won't even come out to see what's wrong with you, then he's not worth it."

"But that's hard…" She whispered.

"Well ya'know, he may still come for you." I tried to say something comforting.

She chuckled half-heartedly.

"Well, you know how Sasuke is. It takes a word from Naruto and a threat form Orochimaru to make him do anything." I said bitter sweetly

Sakura thought of another scenario, "What if he never comes?"

I slapped my forehead, "How many of these do you have in your head??" I replied through gritted teeth.

"Hey!" She clenched her fists.

"Then he is so in for a world of pain that even Gaara couldn't cause!" I pounded my fist into my hand as a gesture of my strength.

"You mean it Ino Pig?" She laughed. Finally she called me by my….I hate to say it…REAL name.

"Yeah, and one of these days, Sasuke will dump you and I can say 'I told you so'...The hurt him bad!"

Sakura jabbed me with her elbow, smiling, "What makes you think he'll break up with me? You may be looking at the next Sakura Uchiha!" Her eyes grew into two gigantic hearts.

The Sakura I knew and was strongly annoyed by at times was back. We both burst out laughing. Our hysterics rang into the winter sky; it could probably be heard for miles and miles across the hidden leaf village, into the sound village. At last both of us were so out of breath that we had to sir back down, holding our guts.

"Ino pig, your laugh sucks!" Sakura chortled.

"Not as much as yours!" I laughed trying to imitate how she had snorted. A spark of rivalry burst between us as we each gave off our competitive expression, that we use when there is something to compete for.

Silence followed. Both of were waiting for the next one to say something. Sakura, after the awkward silence, finally began to speak up, "Ino P-"

"Sakura" The emotionless voice of Sasuke came from a few feet in front of us. In all our conversation, neither of us had realized he had come.

"Sasuke…" Sakura blushed. He held his hand out to the ground for her to take. Accepting the gesture, she got up, her hand clutching his tightly.

"It's cold." He said simply, "You'll get sick."

The two of them began to walk back inside. I could hear Sakura explaining why she had run off. I was sort of worried about what he would say to her, until he put his arm around her. Then I knew…they were both alright.

She smiled back at me over her shoulder, muttering a small thank you and giving me the thumbs up. I shrugged, and nodded. Still seeing them together was kind of awkward, but that was something I would have to work out myself.

I picked up her headband form the snow and dusted it off. The metal symbol of the Hidden Leaf Village glistened in the moonlight. I looked up at the crescent moon, knowing that I had a friend. A real friend. A bond stronger than one any trifle could break down. The feeling wrapped me in security. I may not have Sasuke, but I had something worth bragging about…a real friend.

At last, I decided to go inside to the party we had been at...I needed to find myself a new 'Sasuke.'

Oh! I think I saw Shikamaru go inside and he looked AWESOME tonight!

Finished!

Well what did you all think? This is my first Naruto fic and I haven't seen much of the show, but I like Ino and Skaura's friendship It's really cool. Well you know the drill…I like reviews…