Hello, everyone! This is my second Naruto fanfiction. I know I haven't continued my first one, but it was getting frustrating not having any idea of how to continue it, so I settled with starting another one. So far, this one is going pretty good. I already have six chapters written in my laptop. I will post them all at once and will probably post the seventh pretty soon. I'll give you lots of reading material because I start my sophomore year in university next Monday and I'll probably have little time to write, thanks to all the work I know they'll give me. I do promise to update, but I will probably won't do it too often. I apologize beforehand. ^_^U

Anyways, I hope you enjoy my story. I tried to correct all the grammar mistakes, but I'm pretty sure ther're a few still out there. Sorry about that! . Okay, here you have it!

I don't own Naruto or his characters. The rest, though, is mine. :)

It was the middle of winter. Snow was slowly falling from the skies, covering the dirt roads of the village in white; pure and cold. A small, feminine figure walked quickly down the main road, a long coat covering her body. She was heading towards the Hokage Tower as fast as she could, the cold freezing her to the bone. As she walked, she left behind the marks of her footsteps on the snow and puffs of mist danced from her mouth, effects of her agitated breaths.

She finally made it, opening the double doors and closing them quickly behind. Her hand pulled back the hood of her coat and took off the black beanie hat, revealing her medium length cotton candy colored hair.

"Sakura, you made it!"

The pink haired girl turned at the sound of her name and came face to face with Shizune. The woman was waiting for her by the long staircase that led to the Hokage's office.

"Yeah. The storm isn't too strong yet so I managed." She said. "Is Lady Tsunade in her office?"

"Yes, she's waiting for you now."

Sakura smiled and followed Shizune to the Hokage's office. She had been called by an ANBU this morning to meet with Tsunade that night. 'A mission, probably.' she thought as she came face to face with the office doors and went inside. The first thing she noticed was the long cascade of blond hair standing right in front of her.

"Pig."

The blond turned around, her light blue eyes landing on her longtime friend and rival. A smile slowly crept to her face.

"Well, if it isn't Forehead Girl! What? No hug for me after I haven't seen you in a century?"

Sakura rolled her eyes before smiling at the woman and giving her a bear hug, using her super human strength, just a little, to show her friend how much she had missed her.

"S-sakur-a, I c-can't breathe-e!"

"Oh! Sorry, Ino."

The blond was still gasping for air when someone cleared their throat behind them. They immediately turned to face their village leader. Tsunade was looking at them with an amused expression in her eyes.

"I'm guessing this was a good choice for a two-man cell."

The women exchanged a look before turning to the Hokage. The older woman just shook her head before handing the two identical scrolls.

"There have been some problems on the village of Senkyou (enchanted land) in the northern mountains. There was a plague recently that wiped out most of the village's population. Investigations are already in progress. The hospital lost many of its personnel and they have requested our help since the village is in conflict with some nomads on the mountain trails and there have been many casualties."

The women nodded while quickly scanning the scrolls.

"Your mission is to go to Senkyou and help out in the local hospital as much as you can. There is also a group of civilians that have expressed to me their desire to help, but have no experience in the medical field whatsoever. You must also train them in the least time possible until they are able to fend for themselves in the hospital."

"How long will this mission take?" Ino asked.

"I will send another squad to aid in the investigation of the attacks. You will stay in Senkyou until the nomads are dealt with. We cannot risk leaving the hospital vulnerable until they are stopped. You will leave tomorrow at sunrise, understood?"

The two kunoichi nodded; their scrolls already safe inside their coats. Tsunade looked from one to the other and smiled warmly.

"You are two of my best medics. I know you will not let me down." She took a last look at Sakura. "You are dismissed."

"Hai!"

They disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Sakura, you seem distracted."

The Haruno snapped out of her daze and turned her attention to her blond friend.

"Oh, it's… it's nothing."

She could feel Ino's penetrating gaze at the side of her face when she turned to face the snowy road again. Sakura had agreed to accompany her friend to her apartment since it was on the same direction as her own, just further apart.

Ino chuckled after a few seconds to which Sakura glared at her from under her bangs.

"Forehead… you may be good at many things, but you've always been one heck of a bad liar." She stopped walking and crossed her arms over her chest, indicating she would not move further until she got an answer.

Sakura looked down, her hands turning into fists, so tight her knuckles turned white in a matter of seconds. Ino frowned and placed a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder, showing her support for whatever that was bothering her.

"You know you can trust me, right?"

"I know."

Ino sighed. She knew something was wrong. Sakura had never been the kind to go out a lot, but recently she hadn't even seen her. Nobody knew what was happening; she had been avoiding everybody, period. She had been very surprised when she had seen her enter the Hokage office for the mission briefing. Not even in the hospital had she seen her friend in the last weeks, even though she knew Sakura hadn't missed one day. That woman was a workaholic.

"Sakura… what's wrong? You've been avoiding everyone. We're your friends, we just want to hel-"

"Ryou cheated on me."

The silence that followed Sakura's words was thick, almost as thick as the snow they stood on. Ino had been left speechless. Her eyes searched her friend's face for anything that told her that this was just a bad joke and she was lying. She didn't.

"W-what?" was all she could whisper out.

"Ino, please, don't make me repeat-"

"No, dammit, no! I get it, I heard it, and I'm not deaf!" she immediately regretted exploding like that. Sakura was looking at her with an empty look and on the verge of tears. "Oh, Sakura, come here."

She cried. It was all she could do now, cry. She felt Ino's arms tighten around her shaking and sobbing frame. It was the first time she talked about this with anyone. She had been holding it inside for a month, since the moment she saw her boyfriend, Ryou, coming home late, drunk, with a black haired woman latched onto his arm. She had been shocked but had managed to hide her chakra and saw how he pulled the girl into the bedroom, their bedroom, and locked the door. She had run out of the apartment and had spent the night in her office in the hospital.

When she came back in the morning the woman was already gone and Ryou was making breakfast, as if nothing had happened. She had told him she had been called for an emergency at the hospital and he had bought it. He had acted normal after that day. She tried to convince herself that it had never happened, that he had been drunk and it had been a mistake; but everything had shattered one week after, when she had seen him at a local café, kissing the woman. Her heart was broken, "Again." She ironically thought. So, she started avoiding everyone, sacred that they would find out. One day, she had finally found the courage to demand an explanation from Ryou. They had argued, but everything ended with them nude on the living room carpet, an arm wrapped possessively around her.

She had thought it was over, until the first episode was repeated. This time, she didn't run. An argument, worse than any before, took place and the last thing she remembers was the door banging close as Ryou grabbed the woman's arm and stormed out.

"I haven't seen him ever since."

The two friends were quiet for a while. It was a good kind of quiet, though, the one that meant no words were needed between them. Sakura was grateful for this. She wasn't sure if she could stand any sort of comment from anybody right now.

Suddenly, Ino let go of her and broke the silence.

"Tell you what. We're going back to my apartment and we'll have that nice, big bucket of chocolate ice cream I've been saving since the last time you stayed over. I hope it's still good, though."

Sakura let out a halfhearted laugh and wiped her tears with the back of her sleeve.

"Ino, we're in the middle of winter. It's freezing."

"So? You can't say no to chocolate ice cream. What are you, a man?"

"Bitch."

"Aaaand Sakura Haruno's back, ladies and gentlemen!" Ino shouted as she hugged her friend and messed up her hair in a friendly manner while the pinkette tried to pry her hands off her. She knew Sakura was still feeling the aftermath of her confession, but she would make sure to make her happy, at least for tonight. Once the mission started tomorrow, they would be completely focused on it and it would leave no space for her friend's two-timing scumbag.

"Let's go."

Sakura nodded and they made their way to Ino's apartment.

"Sakura! Sak- oh! There you are."

Sakura looked back to see Ino leaning on the doorway of the bedroom. She was currently sitting on the bed, a photo frame held in her hands.

"What's that?" The blond asked as she made her way to her friend and sat beside her as she also looked at the photo. A small, sad smile crept into her face as she examined the image.

She remembered that day as if it had been yesterday. It had been a warm autumn morning. The whole ground underneath the big tree on her parents' backyard was covered in yellow, brown and red leaves. And right there, lying on the ground, were Sakura and Ino. The photo had been taken five years ago, making them both sixteen. They were both grinning at the camera, their hair a mess of blonde and pink with leaves in between.

Sakura had come over with Naruto and Shikamaru to help clean out the leaves, which were becoming a problem. While they were working, Sakura had tried to hit Naruto for something stupid he had said and had tripped and fallen head first into the pile of leaves. As Ino was laughing her ass off, the pink haired girl had pulled her down too and soon they were all laughing. Ino's mother had walked in on them at that moment with a tray holding some glasses with lemonade, and decided they looked "so cute", so she had ran back inside, bringing the camera with her when she came out.

"Remember how we could barely stand after that, because we were all laughing so hard?" Ino said as Sakura handed her the photo.

"Yeah, even Shikamaru seemed entertained."

There was a small pause.

"It was the first time."

Sakura turned her attention to Ino and gave her a confused look. Ino had her eyes glued to the frame. She held it with one hand while she ran her fingers gently over the glass surface with the other.

"What do you mean?"

Ino looked up at her and smiled.

"It was the first time I saw you so happy since he left."

Sakura's eyes widened for a moment before going back to normal. She hugged her body with her arms and let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. Her face turned to the white ceiling as her eyes got lost on the blankness.

"It's been so long, I don't think… I even remember… what it was like."

"What was like?"

"Everything." Sakura said in a tone that signaled the conversation was over. She let herself fall on backwards on the bed. Ino soon followed suit and they stayed like that, lying down and looking at the ceiling, enjoying each other's company.

"Where's Shikamaru?" Sakura asked after a while, feeling herself falling slowly into sleep's arms.

"He's on a mission. He'll be back in a few days."

Sakura turned her head. "Then, you won't be here to greet him."

Ino chuckled, as if she had just remembered something, but didn't voice it out loud. "He can manage without me, I'm sure."

Sakura turned her head back to keep looking at the ceiling.

"Ino."

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

Ino looked at her and smiled. "It's nothing."

Sleep started to slowly settle in on the two kunoichi. It wasn't long before the tWo were far gone, but not before Sakura voiced something she just remembered.

"Ino."

"Mmm?"

There was a pause.

"We forgot the ice cream."

Ino sighed. "Crap." And she closed her eyes again as Sakura let out a weak giggle.