Ino rolled her eyes as her best friend sighed again – for the third time in sixty seconds, and put her arm around her shoulder.

"Will you stop moping, Forehead ? We're the hottest girls in Shushu-ya right now, every guy in here is looking at us !"

"I'm not moping," Sakura lamely replied, obviously lying, "And I don't care about those guys."

Sakura had been looking down at her drink, not saying a word for the better part of the night and Ino was growing tired of it.

"Please tell me this isn't about Sasuke, still." At the pinkette's lack of a reply, Ino groaned loudly. "Damn it Sakura, when will you move on ? We all have ! If something was supposed to happen between you two it would have already !" She knew she was being harsh, but she couldn't take watching her best friend wasting her best years away on a guy that probably won't come back for another three. Again.

Especially when she was in love with said best friend.

"Don't you think I know that ?! I know, ok ?" Ino was taken back by her rival's sudden outburst and Sakura visibly deflated after that, "That's not it."

The blonde kunoichi decided not to push the subject, although she was curious as to what she meant by that's not it. She looked at her with kind eyes and ordered two more sake. I need to come up with something to cheer her up.

After rounding up their friends from their promotion, as well as team Gai and Temari, who was visiting Shikamaru, and Kankuro who came with her in front of her family's flower shop, Ino finally decided to disclose what she had called them here for.

"Alright guys, listen up. Sakura needs our help. She's been kind of depressed lately, I'm sure you can all guess why," she said, looking into each of their eyes, "and we need to do something about it. If it goes on like this, she'll completly shut off from all of us ! It might even start to affect her missions !" Ok, so she knew Sakura wouldn't actually let her personal life affect her missions (not anymore at least) but she needed to worry them.

"Why am I here ?" Kiba suddenly asked.

"Yeah, me too, why am I here ? Aren't you her best friend ? Can't you deal with this on your own ?" Shikamaru added.

Ino scoffed at them. Do they not realize how dire the situation could become ? "Because we all care for Sakura !" she basically yelled.

"We do ?"

Ino narrowed her eyes at the person who dared contradict her. "Who are you again ?" she asked, haughtily.

"Um, I'm Kankuro ? You called me here ?" the puppeteer looked positively confused.

"Right, right. Sakura saved your life once, yeah ? So you owe her !" she stared at him defiantly, daring him to oppose her again. He avoided her gaze. Good boy, she thought.

"Yeah, come on, guys ! Sakura-chan saved all of our lives at least once if you think about it ! We have to do something to help her !" Naruto exclaimed. Ino gave him a bright smile.

The shinobis started talking over each other, having agreed with him, trying to think of ways they could help the pink haired medic nin cheer up.

"Ok, guys, wait, shut up !" All eyes went to Temari, "I don't really know the girl, nor has she ever saved my life, so I don't owe her anything. Have fun without me." she said, as she started her retreat.

"Technically, she did contribute in killing a goddess which saved us all from being stuck in an endless illusion. So she did save your life." Shikamaru noted, clearly just to refute her point, as he looked evidently bored by the whole situation.

Temari stopped in her tracks. She hesitated, then went back to her boyfriend's side.

"I hate it when you make sense." she whispered harshly at him. The spiky haired ninja just shrugged. She'd told this before.

The group started brainstorming again, trying to find anything that sounded remotely like a half-decent idea. After three attempts by Naruto and two by Kiba, all of which resulted in a general eyeroll, Hinata spoke up.

"I've – I've noticed that Sakura liked getting praised, m-maybe we could try to remind her what a great kunoichi she is ?" Hinata blushed as she noticed all the eyes on her.

Tenten shook her head. "No, I don't think a simple boost of her ego is gonna suffice, though I think you gave me a brilliant idea, Hinata !" All eyes then turned to Tenten, expectantly, as they waited for her to explain. "One of us should ask her out ! This way she'll get an ego boost and it'll get her mind off of Sasuke for a while. And she'll see that she had more options than she thought." she finished.

Everyone looked at her, silently.

"What ?" she asked, growing tired of the silent stares.

"That's a horrible idea."

"Do you think sometimes ? Like, before you speak ?"

"That's stupid, Tenten, Sakura would hate going on a pity date."

Tenten pouted at them, vexed that her suggestion was being torn to shreds like that by Kankuro, Temari and Shino. Whatever, it's better than what they could come up with, the fuinjutsu expert bitterly thought.

"I mean, it's not such a bad idea, I'll take one for the team !" Naruto suddenly exclaimed.

"Naruto, my friend, do not feel like you have to, you already saved the world. Let me do this. For her own good." Lee said, ulterior motives dripping out of his words.

"Wait guys, Tenten's terrible suggestion gave me an actual brilliant idea !" Ino started, and Tenten pouted even harder at her choice of words. "And Hinata is right, Sakura does like getting praised !"

"So what are you proposing ?" Choji asked.

Ino smiled at him mischievously and explained her plan.

"Ino what did you do ?" Sakura yelled as she barged in the Yamanakas' flower shop. "Why did Kiba and Shino just hit on me out of the blue ? And with very bad pick up lines that i just know came from your brain !"

Ino's eyebrow twitched imperceptibly. She knew she should've let them come up with lines of their own but Shino was uncreative and Kiba's lines were…

She shuddered at the thought of them.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Maybe they were just trying to compliment you." The blonde haired ninja replied coolly, but her rival clearly didn't believe her.

"Remember when you said you weren't going to interfere with my love life again ?"

"Did I ? Doesn't sound like me at all"

Two nights ago, at Shushu-ya

"Ino, stop it !" Sakura was slurring her words, drunk off her mind. "Promise me you won't force your way into being my wingwoman ! Last time was embarrassing enough !"

"Fiiiiine, I won't interfere with your love life again !" Ino complied, also drunk off her mind.

"You know, I might have said something along these lines." The Yamanaka heir avoided looking into her friend's eyes after the small confession, "But it doesn't matter ! I'm telling you I had nothing to do with this ! Anyway… what did they say ?" she asked, faking innocence.

"Oh god, it was so awkward…"

Sakura was swaying on Naruto's favorite swing, taking her lunch break from the hospital when she sensed a chakra signature she was familiar with.

Without turning around, she greeted Shino, only he didn't respond to her 'hello'.

He approched her until he was standing in front of her, looked down to meet her eyesight and told her with a serious voice, "I can make my insects regulate my body temperature, but not even they can do anything about the fire you ignite in me."

Sakura looked at him, too stunned to answer.

After a moment, Shino looked away from her shocked gaze.

"I- I'm sorry." Right after he uttered those words, he made a quick exit, leaving the pink haired kunoichi even more confused than before.

"Wait, he stuttered ?" Ino asked, bemused. "And then he just left after he said that ?" Damn it, Shino ! I was proud of that one !

"Yes ! Then right after he left, Kiba came up to me…"

Sakura sat there, her mind reeling trying to comprehend why Shino, a boy that she wasn't really close to, had hit on her with a line so corny. Surely it had to be a prank. No, that wasn't his style, maybe he just lost a bet ?

She saw Kiba and Akamaru from afar, running towards her, "Yeah, that must be it. He must have lost a bet to Kiba." she said to herself.

"Hey Sakura !" the Inuzuka greeted her.

"Hey Kiba. Hey Akamaru." the dog barked at her happily.

"I came here to tell you something." he said, with a seductive smirk on his lips.

"Oh ? What is it ?"

He walked closer to her and wrapped his left hand around one of the swing's rope. He leaned down a little an told her, "When I'm around you, my animal instincts kick in, and I just wanna dry hump your face until it caves in."

If Sakura had been drinking water at that instant she might have spit it all in the young boy's face.

"What ?! Shannaro !" was the last thing Kiba heard before Sakura knocked him out.

"He did not say that !" Ino was dumbfounded. She had specifically asked Kiba not to use that line. She had a prepared a cute line about him being loyal like a dog to Sakura. And that idiot had ignored her for this ?!

"The worst part is that I had to heal him after I punched the life out of him !" Sakura said as she clenched her fist.

Ok, so Ino's plan wasn't going as well as she hoped it would. But that was just Shino and Kiba, that just meant that the worst was already behind. Or so she hoped.

Sakura approched Hinata's bed in the emergency room before another medic could. She tried to do that everytime one of her friend ended up in the hospital. She greeted her, took in the state of her legs and sighed in relief at the sight of her superficial injuries. She then examined her more thoroughly.

"Looks like it's just a few cuts, some light bruising and a twisted ankle so it's not gonna take long !" she reassured Hinata.

At the unusual lack of a response from her usually very polite friend, Sakura lifted her gaze from Hinata's legs to her face with a raised brow. Hinata's cheeks were flushed and she looked like she had something to say.

"Everything alright ? Did you also hit your head ?" the pinkette asked, concerned, about to look for signs of a concussion.

"No ! No. I'm – I'm fine." the Hyuuga replied timidly.

"Hey this was just a tracking mission right ? You're usually so careful, how did you hurt yourself like that ?" Sakura was intrigued at her friend's weirder than regular behavior.

"It, um, didn't happen during the mission actually, it happened when I f-fell for y-you." As the shy kunoichi said this, she got increasingly more red until the color of her face matched Sakura's outfit.

"Wait, what ?" Sakura blinked a few times at Hinata, then a realization seemed to have hit her as her eyes widened, "Hinata… Did you hurt yourself on purpose just to use this line ?" Sakura asked, praying to god her friend would deny it.

"Um, uh, I mean – um, I – you know," they looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds, then Hinata just sighed and said yes.

The rest of the treatment was awkwardly silent.

Seriously what was it with team 8 today ? Sakura thought as she walked home from the hospital. She was suddenly stopped in her tracks by a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to find that hand belonged to Choji.

"Oh, hey ! Were you calling my name ? I'm sorry i was lost in my thoughts." she smiled apologetically.

"No, I just saw you from over there," Choji pointed to a bench nearby, "and I ran up to you !" he finished with a smile.

"Oh ? Was there something you needed to tell me ?" she asked him.

"Yes. I just wanted you to know that of all snacks, you were the sweetest !" he told her, with a bright smile.

Sakura's eyes widened at his words, then softened as she laughed. She didn't know what was everyone's deal today, what with randomly hitting on her like that, but Choji's words were the best she received.

"Thank you," she laughed, "you're pretty sweet yourself."

She might as well just enjoy the attention. She leaned in a kissed him on the cheek. He chuckled a little, blushing slightly at the contact.

They both walked away with smiles on their faces.

As she was nearing her home, she felt someone jump out of the shadows to tackle her, but she quickly grabbed the approching figure and threw them on the ground. She looked down and gasped in surprise.

"Kankuro ?" What was he doing in Konoha ?

"Hey there. Nice view by the way." he winked, looking up her skirt, even though she had shorts underneath.

A vein appeared on her forehead.

"What were you thinking ?" she hissed at him. He didn't even try to get up, making himself comfortable on the floor.

"Just how much I'd love for you to throw me like that again. Maybe on a bed ?" Oh. So he knew I'd catch him. Sakura tried not to blush at the not-subtle-at-all innuendo and failed miserably.

So she did the only thing she could think of to save face.

"Shannaro !"

The pinkette finally reached her house but frowned when she sensed another chakra signature. She couldn't deny that she was enjoying this little game her friends were playing but she was also tired and just wanted to go to bed.

"Good evening, my cherry blossom queen !" a cheery voice exclaimed.

The kunoichi sighed, then turned around to face her friend with a smile she hoped didn't look fake.

"Hi, Lee."

"I wrote you a poem. Would you like to hear it ?" he asked with hopeful eyes.

She chuckled a bit. Of course he'd go so overboard.She was pretty sure the game was just supposed to be pick up lines, but she gave him a nod anyways.

"Great ! I memorised it ! Alright, here goes." he coughed a few times for good measure. "Roses are red, violets are blue, your hair is pink, and here's some flowers for you !" he finished, fishing out a bouquet of sakuras from his green suit.

Sakura raised a brow and stared at the flowers. She took them reluctantly. That was it ? That was the whole poem ?

Ok, it was pretty cute. She smiled at the taijutsu expert and kissed him on the cheek, which made him squeak. She chuckled at his reaction.

"Thank you, Lee." she said, before entering her home. She walked into the living room and, to tell her parents she'd skip dinner and head straight to bed when she saw a third figure.

Goddamnit !

She could not escape it.

In front of her, sitting at the table in her living room, were her parents and Tenten, chatting idly.

"Honey ! Your friend came by to see you, isn't she adorable ?"

Tenten pulled out the chair next to her for Sakura to sit on. "We were waiting for you to start eating, I'm staying for dinner !" Great.

Time passed and it was actually kinda nice. They were having a good time, talking about anything and everything, when the topic changed to the war. Then to ninjas. And finally to ninja tools. Now that she thought about it, Tenten was the one leading the conversation.

"My favorite will always be the good ol' kunai. I'm a simple man !" Sakura's father said.

"It's a classic !" Tenten agreed. "I don't really have a favorite, but I actually like to invent and make my own ninja tools."

"Really ?" her mother looked pleasantly surprised.

"Yes. All sorts of tools actually. I sort of consider them like my toys, you know ?" Tenten said, smirking.

Somehow, the way Tenten had said that made Sakura very uncomfortable.

"Wow ! That's amazing !" her mother praised. Please don't ask for details, please don't ask for details, plea– "And what sort of tools do you make ?" she continued curiously.

Oh come on !

"Oh, you know. Goes from fight practical, to kitchen practical, to simply for comfort. I would even say for… pleasure?" Tenten why the fuck would you say that ? Sakura started squirming in her seat, she kept her eyes on her plate, trying to focus on her food so as not to blush.

"Pleasure, really ?" her mother asked.

"Yes ! I could show you one day, Sakura ? What do you think ?" she asked her, smirking.

"What a wonderful idea ! Of course she will !" her mom agreed for her.

Mom ! Don't sell me off to that dildo-building psycho !

Sakura woke up the next morning, feeling weirdly relaxed for the first time in a while. She got up off her bed and did her morning routine consisting of showering, putting on clothes, brushing her teeth, then her hair before stepping out of her house.

It was too early for her shift at the hospital, so she wandered around Konoha, looking for Naruto. She couldn't find him at Ichiraku's but she took a seat at the restaurant anyway and ordered something for breakfast.

"I'll have the same thing she's having !" a deep voice behind her said.

After placing her order, Temari sat on the stool next to Sakura.

"Oh, hi ! I should've known you were here too, I saw your brother yesterday." Sakura said, trying to make conversation. She didn't know the sand kunoichi very well and didn't want them to sit in an awkward silence and ignore each other.

"My condolences." the pinkette chuckled at the reply.

"Are you visiting Shikamaru ? You guys are together right ?"

"Yeah. Jealous ?" Sakura's head shot up at that, clearly surprised by the flirtatious answer. Even if she hadn't forgotten about the game everyone seemed to be playing, she wouldn't have expected Temari, of all people, to be a part of it.

They looked at each other for a few seconds, blinking, then both snorted with laughter.

"I did not expect this from you !" Sakura laughed, "Alright, who put you all up to this ? Is it Naruto ? No wait, I know, Kakashi sensei ?"

"Actually, it was Ino. She basically forced us to do it." Temari didn't feel the need to lie to the pinkette, she obviously wasn't stupid enough to be fooled. "But I did promise her I'd try a line on you. So, here goes did it hurt ?"

"When I fell from heaven ? Come on, you can do better than that." Sakura playfully chastised her.

"Actually, I was gonna say when you fell for me." Temari raised a brow defiantly, looking into her eyes intensely.

"… I feel more threatened than flustered actually."

"That's how I flirt." she just said. Alright then. Sakura didn't tell her that Hinata already came up with a similar line, and she had a feeling Temari wouldn't care anyway.

"My turn !" Naruto exclaimed as he took the seat on Sakura's other side, which he pulled closer to hers. She didn't even sense him coming. He faked a yawn, stretched him arms and let one of them fall on his best friend's shoulder. The jinchuriki advanced his head closer to hers and smiled at her.

"They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think beauty is in the eye of whoever is looking at you." he said smoothly and so unlike him.

Sakura blushed slightly. She did not expect Naruto to come up with something like this. She raised a brow at him, an approving look on her face.

"Not bad." Normally she wouldn't think twice before punching him into oblivion just for being in her personal space, but she decided to let it go today.

Their faces were still centimeters apart, and Naruto, with his smile still plastered on his face and his arm still around her, leaned in even closer, almost reaching her lips with his before Sakura put her hand on his face and pushed him away with force.

He shreaked at that. "Sakura-chan ! Not the face !" he whined.

Temari and Sakura laughed while Naruto pouted.

"So, who's left ?" The sand kunoichi asked.

"I don't know, how many people were in on this ?"

"Well there's me, Naruto here, Shikamaru, my brother, Ino of course – it was her idea, the trackers' team, Choji and Tenten. And Lee." she recalled.

"I guess that leaves Shikamaru and Ino."

"Yeah, if Shikamaru even bothers." Naruto mumbled, still miffed by the rejection.

Sakura accepted Naruto's offer to join him at Ichiraku's again during her lunch break later, which surprised him pleasantly considering she had been turning him down for weeks now. He was glad Ino's plan to cheer up their favorite medic nin seemed to be working.

They were talking and laughing with Ichiraku and Ayame when the Nara heir joined them.

"Hey Shikamaru !" Naruto greeted his friend.

"Hey Naruto. Hey Sakura." He sat down on the stool next to Sakura and ordered a bowl of ramen. "So, Temari told me you know about Ino and her little plan to have everyone try pick up lines on you. Do I still need to go through with mine ?" he asked monotonely.

"You do."

The dark haired shinobi sighed. "Alright. You're beautiful, smart and the most talented kunoichi I know and Sasuke is a fool for taking you for granted." he said, with a bored voice yet a determined look and a slight blush on his cheeks.

Naruto and Sakura froze in their places, both not expecting him to say anything of the sort.

"Um, I don't think you understand the rules…" It was the only thing she could say, she was blushing profusely.

"No I do, but coming up with a clever line was such a drag, I decided I'd just tell you the truth." he explained.

"I… Thank you, Shikamaru. It means a lot." Why did she feel like crying ?

"Don't thank me, thank Ino."

Naruto looked confused at Shikamaru's words but Sakura understood him right away.

Sakura couldn't sleep. She hadn't seen her best friend all day and she felt like she needed to thank her, so she ran out of her house and towards Ino's.

She knocked on the door and waited a few seconds. She felt a familiar chakra signature getting closer until the door opened and Ino leaned against it.

"Hey, Sakura. It's pretty late, is everything ok ?"

"Yes ! I, um, I just suddenly realised I never thanked you."

"Thanked me ? For what ?" Ino looked at her best friend confusingly.

"Well first of all, for bulldozing everyone into cheering me up. I know it was you, and it did me good to know so many people cared…"

But that wasn't enough. Sakura looked at Ino, took her in, her long hair, her kind eyes, her smile. She realised she owed so much to her. A week ago, if someone had asked Sakura about all the people who molded her into the person, the ninja she is today, she would think of Naruto, Kakashi sensei, Sasuke, Lady Tsunade and Grandma Chiyo. But now, she finally saw that without her childhood friendship with the Yamanaka heir, without her encouraging words, her comforting presence and the confidence she helped Sakura gain, she wouldn't have walked the same path she had. She just didn't know how to convey all those feelings into words.

"Oh, Forehead !" the blonde beauty laughed nervously, "It's nothing, I just wanted to see you smile again." she finished with a shy smile on her lips.

"No, Ino, it's not nothing and you know it ! I don't think you realise what you mean to me !" Sakura was starting to get worked up. Ok, calm down, just… tell her how you feel. "I just… It's so you, to act like your gestures of kindness are nothing. They're not nothing. I wouldn't be who or where I am today if it weren't for you. Even after we stopped being friends, you were still the biggest influence in my life." the pinkette was starting to ramble, and her best friend was looking at her with raised brows and flushed cheeks. "I just, I wished you could use your kekkei genkai on me right now so you'd understand what I'm trying to say…" What was I trying to say anymore ?

"You were trying to thank me. I think." Ino said and Sakura realized she must have spoken out loud.

"Right ! Just, thank you. For being you." Sakura finished.

Oh.

Suddenly her mind was all over the place as she thought of the last ten years.

Why had she been pining after Sasuke all these years ? If someone asked Sakura what the perfect partner for her would be like, she'd say he'd have to be kind, talented, cool, good-looking, a good friend, a generous person… She'd describe Ino, basically. So why didn't she ever consider her as the perfect partner for her ? Because she's a girl ? Even Sasuke didn't fit all aspects.

The night she and Ino went to Shushu-ya together, Sakura had already realised that the Sasuke she loved and the real Sasuke were two different people. She knew now she was only in love with the idea she had of him, and that it made her no different than all of his other fangirls. It just hurt to have to let go of those 'feelings', considering the importance they had on her life, her choices and the person she became.

Why did she really end her friendship with Ino ? Why was she so hurt that she liked Sasuke too ?

The two kunoichis were looking into each other's eyes, Ino a little confusingly. Then Sakura's eyes widened at the realization of her own feelings and she blushed profusely. Ino started blushing too at the sight of a red faced Sakura. She coughed to cover it up.

"So, um, I should probably give you my line, right ?" she said with a forced laugh, trying to break the tension that had settled in.

"Actually, I think I wanna try one on you first." Sakura told her, looking away from her best friend's eyes. Come on, be brave !

"Oh, ok. Um, g-go ahead." the blonde ninja stuttered.

"Are you a thief ? 'Cause I think you stole my heart." she finally looked up into Ino's eyes, and they smiled at each other. Then they burst out laughing.

"God, Sakura, that was so lame !" Ino laughed, though her heart was bursting with joy.

"Did it work ?" the pinkette asked sheepishly.

"Sure. Now come in, I need to show you my room." Ino said, a glint in her eyes.

"What ? Why ?" Sakura asked as she was being lead in.

"There's a sale. Clothes are a hundred percent off."