Pink Slumber

Shika x Ino

Prologue

Her heels clicked on the linoleum floor as she walked the cold hall, rubbing at her arms. Pastel, blue eyes trained forward, looking intently at the clock above the desk ahead. It was a little past three in the evening, past visiting hours, but she didn't care. Rounding the corner, the young woman stopped beside of the lone vending machine, digging through her pocket. Since it was past lunch, and she had forgotten to eat, Ino knew that a bag of potato-chips would hit the spot. Well, actually, two bags and a soda.

She watched the two bags of chips twirl around the rings, preparing to drop, and her eyes cast to the drop off. She knitted her brow, sighing heavily.

"Need some help?"

Ino gasped. Her body jerked as she spun around.

"Sakura!" Ino yelped, albeit testy. "Don't sneak up on a person like that!"

The pink haired woman held up her hands and chuckled.

"Sorry, Ino. I didn't mean to scare you," she apologized while bending to get the chips. She handed them oncer and grinned, giving a wink that betrayed the tease which Ino knew was coming. Sakura nibbled her bottom lip as she said, "Wouldn't want to break your water right here in the middle of the hallway."

Ino huffed, ripping open a bag of chips and stuffing one into her mouth. She chewed it and then said, "Can it, Billboard-Brow. How would you like it if people went around poking fun at you while you felt like an overly inflated balloon? You wouldn't like it, and neither do I!"

Rolling her eyes, Sakura crossed her arms.

"Calm down. I was only teasing, and besides," she took the money from her friend and placed it into the machine, pressing a button, "no one's poking fun, Ino. Pregnancy's a beautiful thing."

"You call being fat beautiful?"

Sakura laughed.

"Yes, your fatness is lovely."

Snickering, Ino swallowed her bite of food, sucking the cheese from her index finger. She rolled her eyes. Sakura retrieved the can of soda from the slot and handed it to her. She then crossed her arms once more and furrowed her brow.

Ino didn't fail to miss the change in her friend's eyes. She sighed and crinkled the bag of chips, stuffing the other into her purse. She looked up at the other woman once she was done, and scowled.

"Yes, Sakura, go on and look at me like I'm some pitiful—"

"Shut up," Sakura said softly, facing remaining the same. "Why can't you just talk to someone?" she asked, reaching out to touch Ino's arm. "Why? You don't have to go through this alone."

Ino jerked her arm away and looked down at the floor stubbornly.

Sakura continued.

"I know," she said in her caring voice. "I know what it feels like. Not the pregnancy, of course. . .but feeling like you've lost someone. And I can only imagine the things you're feeling while having to deal with that, plus the baby. Talk to me, Ino. Stop holding everything in. You're not fooling anyone."

Ino licked her chapped lips. She shook her head, jerking her eyes behind Sakura just before snapping them to meet the other woman.

"I don't want to talk about it!" she yelled, voice cracking. Immediately, she held a hand over her mouth, closing her eyes tightly as she realized the hot tears suddenly streaming down her cheeks. She wiped them away hastily and turned from Sakura. "I'm going to see him, okay? Just leave me alone."