A/N: I do not own Naruto.
Warning: mentions of seduction missions for information and to be impregnated. Brief mention of sex, nothing explicit.
Darker Konoha, AU where Danzo reigns as the Rokudaime.
Ino is best friends with Sakura again, and looks on as Sakura gets an apprenticeship to Tsunade, one of the three Legendary Sannin. She snickers, thinking her best friend's temper matches with that of Tsunade's.
She pushes herself to get better. She needs to become stronger in order to protect Sakura. Because what if the Forest of Death situation happens all over again except this time Ino is powerless and can only look on as her best friend gets killed right there, eight meters in front of her? Ino can't afford to let that happen. So she begs her father for extra training in the clan jutsu, studies toxicology a little more, and, most importantly, learns how to seduce men and women alike.
(Her greatest fear is that one day Sakura will be sent on a seduction mission. Ino doubts that the Godaime's apprentice would be sent on one, but that doesn't ease her fear. The loss of Sakura's innocence would be the worst thing that could happen to Ino. She will not allow it to happen, even if some of that innocence has been stolen by the traitor, Sasuke.)
She goes to Shikamaru, the only one she thinks might understand her. Her eyes are teary. She pleads with him to let her practice on him - so that she will be prepared when she undertakes her first seduction mission. (And so that her first time isn't with a target.) And he does understand.
She approaches the Godaime, hands shaking to accept the mission scroll. The lady shoots her a sympathetic look, but with the desperate need for money due to the Suna-Oto invasion, she does not do a thing to stop the young girl.
Her first mission is rocky. The next is smoother. And each time she undertakes a mission, she gets better and better.
Ino now performs perfectly.
She relaxes around her team, feels the most at ease with them. They've known each other for ages, after all. And with Sakura, she feels her shields and mask shoot up. She ignores the fact that hanging around Sakura produces a sense of shame and dirtiness. She pretends those feelings don't exist. She does it to protect Sakura from her harsh reality, she insists to herself.
And now they're older. Tsunade is no longer the Hokage, Danzo having replaced her in the aftermath of Pein's destruction. She hears along the grapevine that he sends clanless kunoichi out on "scouting missions," only for them to return home pregnant. She prays.
She lounges on Sakura's couch, waiting for her to return from her meeting with Danzo. When Sakura arrives home, she is teary-eyed and red-faced. Ino knows. She wants to cry, too. So she does, weeping as she gathers her in her arms, and holds on tightly.
She knows that Sakura has seen nobody since Sasuke's defection. She also knows that losing your virginity to a man - no, your mission - is a horrible thing. She asks Sakura if it is okay for Ino to lie with her that night, or if Sakura would prefer someone else. Sakura clutches at her desperately, and that's that. Ino could never imagine that her first time with Sakura to be in these circumstances.
It is bittersweet.
She watches the love of her life set out of the village to be impregnated by a bloodline holder. All for the village's hope to thrive.
She curses the village, then, rages at the unfairness of it all. "Why not me?" she asks herself. But the answer is clear. She is the Yamanaka clan heir. Of course she will not be made to have a bastard child.
She helps Sakura raise the child. She is with her whenever possible, and when she's not, she gets Hinata or Tenten to look after Sakura. She's with her when she breaks down, has flashbacks to that fateful mission. Ino consoles her and rubs her back, kisses her forehead. When the child - a baby boy - finally speaks, he calls Ino "Mama," and Sakura "Mommy." Sakura tries to get him to call Ino "Auntie," but it never works out. Secretly, Ino is glad.
Even more secretly, she wishes that Sakura would stop trying to persuade the boy. And one day, she does. She just looks at him fondly, then at Ino. She embraces Ino and murmurs her thanks against Ino's neck. Ino just tugs her as close as possible and whispers sincerely, "Anytime, Forehead."