Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.
Rated: MA for language and sexual themes.

Chapter 1

Ino laughed as the lady in the movie, obviously a man dressed in drag, offered to help the girl become beautiful—he wasn't a very attractive woman himself. (1) Temari observed that Ino's laughter was a bit harsh, but it was certainly fitting for the beautiful blonde and she had grown to love her laugh. Her laugh filled and expanded within the room, touching everything.

"Oh," Ino laughed, "that was gross."

"Wait, what?" Temari asked, realizing she wasn't really paying attention to what was happening on the screen.

"Did you not see that guy with his finger up his nose that whole time?" Ino asked, still trying to shake off her laughter, but failing quite terribly at the simple task. Temari just smiled at the joyful girl and shook her head. She watched with fond eyes, admiring Ino more and more as they spent time together.

Catching the look in Temari's eye, Ino blushed. She knew the other woman had been developing some feelings for her and she didn't quite know what to do. Temari was certainly attractive; the mere intensity of her forest green eyes was enough to make her lose her breath. She had a powerfully overwhelming presence and a frank attitude; there was nothing that seemed to scare her. A party animal like her would do anything, and that's why Ino wasn't surprised when Temari leant forward to kiss her.

When Ino leant backwards to prevent it from happening, Temari's expression relayed a passive confusion instead of hurt. She exhaled slowly, her warmth spreading across Ino's chin and lips sensually. Ino pulled away further from Temari and the other blonde's eyebrow shot up, silently questioning.

"Too soon?" she asked, while offering a curious hand gesture.

"I… um, no. Not too soon… I have a girlfriend."

"Wait, what? When did that happen?"

"Forever ago… I can't believe you didn't know…" Ino looked a bit offended and Temari brushed some sandy blonde hair out of her eyes.

"You never said anything about a girlfriend!"

"Well, I have one, so there," Ino huffed, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Are you sure you're not just playing hard to get," Temari suggested, winking at Ino.

"Really Temari," Ino giggled, tucking a lock of pale blonde hair behind her ear.

"Well who is it? Was it that cute brunette you were dancing with at the club last week?"

"What? I don't even remember that night," Ino laughed. "I was so fucked up…"

Temari regarded her closely, catching the last half of that which she had mumbled to herself and forcing back a laugh. Yeah, Ino had gotten wasted that night, she remembered quite well.

"Well who is it then? Do I know her?"

"It's Sakura, silly."

"Wait… you mean your creepy, anti-social roommate who's sitting outside by herself in the dark?"

"Oh come on, she's not creepy, she just likes to keep to herself," Ino defended, taking offense for Sakura who was indeed sitting outside, listening to her iPod. She often downloaded her reading assignments for her class and she'd listen to them when she had the time. She claimed she liked the fresh air and the darkness was easy on her eyes and head. Prone to frequent headaches, Ino had no objections to something that kept her girlfriend healthy.

In an appalled manner Temari exclaimed, "Sakura? Seriously? But you two are so wrong for each other."

At first, when Temari met Sakura (through Ino, of course) she thought she'd be fun and outgoing like her roommate—what else was she to expect from a girl with pink hair. Sakura turned out to be a big disappointment. The girl was always busy and she seemed annoyed to even see Temari around the apartment. She never went out and was always doing work. After being condescendingly rejected by Sakura when she asked her if she wanted to join Ino and herself at the club, Temari had decided she didn't really like the girl. She was nothing like Ino.

"We love each other," Ino said, shrugging.

"But she's so… empty and cold… and boring," Temari just couldn't believe it. Nothing could convince her. She got nothing but bad vibes from Sakura—she didn't like her one bit, and it wasn't as if she hadn't tried to be friends with her.

"I like her, so there. Either we can keep watching this movie, or you can leave," the evidence of insult was the only thing detectable in Ino's voice. How dare Temari talk about Sakura that way? She didn't know Sakura very well, nor did she understand Sakura very well. That's just how she was, but she was kind to Ino, and she truly did love her.

"I think… I think I'll leave. Sorry for imposing," Temari said before standing up. She put on her jacket and left the living room of the apartment through the front door. There she passed Sakura who was sitting on the steps listening to her iPod in the darkness—the only illumination around was the dim yellow tinted light outside of their apartment and their neighbor's apartment that only seemed good for attracting pathetic moths.

"Goodnight," she heard Sakura say very softly, with a lethargic wave in her direction. Temari was too annoyed with Sakura, and the situation she had found herself in, to even be polite and wave a farewell back to the girl.

Tired emerald eyes watched the girl make her way down the steps and she had to wonder what exactly had occurred inside of her apartment for Temari to leave a mere hour after arriving with Ino. She was always suspicious of the girl, but nothing strange seemed to be occurring, so she left it alone. She felt as if the girl wanted to stake some sort of claim on Ino, but Sakura had faith in her relationship with Ino. She had nothing but faith in the girl. Maybe they didn't have the same interests, but that didn't make them incompatible.

She contently stared out into the darkness of the night, slightly chilly from the night air, but enjoying the feel of it against her skin nonetheless. Ino joined her moments after, looking a bit bummed out and thoughtful. The blonde wrapped an arm around her waist and rested her head against her shoulder, comfortable in Sakura's silence and physical warmth.

The women retired to bed a half hour later with Ino a bit bubbly from the caffeinated beverage she had been drinking while Temari was visiting. Sakura was done with her recorded lesson and was ready for bed. After they both showered and dressed for bed, they slipped beneath the comforter and settled in. Ino tried her best to fall asleep in the darkness, listening to Sakura breathe, but she knew it wasn't possible and wouldn't be possible for a little while longer. She turned to lookt at her girlfriend to check if she was sleeping and was met by a not so surprising sight.

It was dark but Ino could see her clearly, for the streetlight outside had cast a faint orange glow against Sakura's pale face. Her eyes were open, tiredly, faintly there, staring out into the darkness. Ino had observed that Sakura had been doing this every night for the past two weeks… Did she ever fall asleep? It didn't seem like it; the darkness beneath her eyes betrayed any moment of sleep she might've thieved from the night.

This was the worst Ino had ever seen it, Sakura's insomnia and pensiveness. Sakura had always been a very pensive person, and she was incredibly smart and studious as well. She used to stay up late either doing homework, or silently thinking to herself about things, going over information she had gained over the day, she guessed. She didn't really know…

"Was that weird?" Ino thought to herself, concerned about her lover. Was something wrong with her...? Was Sakura unhappy with their relationship? Everyone else seemed to be. It was as if everyone she met thought that they were a strange couple. It didn't make sense to her—she was very happy with Sakura. They hardly ever argued… things were easy and they seemed compatible. What was so strange about them dating?

In fact, when they were younger, they had been the best of friends. Best friends since age five to around age thirteen. It was then that they both had taken a liking to the same boy and had fought over him. He had ruined their friendship… no; they had ruined their own friendship. Ino had genuinely liked him for a while, but not very long. By the time she was willing to admit she had no interest in him whatsoever, Sakura had challenged her and said that she would get him to date her. It was then that they fell out and then they went separate ways for schooling.

It was a huge coincidence that they ran into one another in college. Sakura was studying biology and medicine and she was studying environmental science. A pre-med student and a green scientist—one would think they had nothing in common. Yet, when they met, Sakura was polite and courteous. She was easygoing and they just hit it off well. Sakura asked her if she was available to get a drink later on that night, to catch up, and Ino agreed.

Later that night their past was looked back upon and laughed at. Sakura admitted that she hadn't even liked Sasuke at all, and she was only acting that way because she didn't want him to develop an interest in Ino. She didn't want to lose her best friend and she kind of had a silly crush on Ino too; a case of hero-worship gone wrong.

The two let the alcohol loosen their lips, speaking freely with one another as if nothing had been lost for five years.

Ino asked about Sakura's love life; she asked if she belonged to a special guy.

Sakura explained to her, quite briefly, that she wasn't interested in guys and she'd rather not discuss her sexuality for fear of discomfort. She then turned the question around on Ino and the blonde said she was still playing the field and that she really was beginning to become very skeptical of love. Sakura agreed, mentioning how she didn't have much time for relationships anyways.

The blonde girl couldn't make sense of anything that transpired between them really. It was sudden and very strange, but she developed very strong feelings for Sakura. The emerald-eyed girl seemed to do the same and they began what felt like dating, without the title. Eventually, Sakura asked to make it official and also asked if they could move in together.(2) Ino didn't see a point in them moving in together other than the fact that Sakura couldn't take care of herself even if she wanted to. There was many an occasion that she found herself at Sakura's apartment making dinner for them both. The girl wouldn't eat otherwise—she forgot to eat every now and then because of her working hard to secure the internship required for her to graduate.

Sakura was a very loving person, however, and Ino enjoyed taking care of her. When she moved in, everything seemed pretty perfect. Sakura was willing to go out with her every now and then, if assignments permitted her, and she was a fantastic partner… That was until Ino began to notice a trend in Sakura's temperament. The green eyed girl would have random moments when she'd seem highly irritable or depressed and she'd often have trouble sleeping during those times. At first, they happened once a month, so Ino took it as Sakura just being moody because of menstruation. A little later, however, it began to happen more frequently. Twice a month. Three times a month. And now… now it was all the time, it seemed. Sakura didn't want to do anything. Sakura worked, nonstop now.

Despite this change in temperament, it was obvious Sakura still loved her. It was obvious in the way she looked at Ino, or the way she kissed Ino. The blonde girl would often wake up for class to find flowers next to her on the bed and when Sakura came home from work, she'd often try to muster up enough energy to entertain Ino at night; Ino thought she was a fantastic friend and an even better lover. No one could love her, emotionally and physically, like Sakura did.

With that thought Ino gently took Sakura's hand into her own and the other girl turned her head to gaze at Ino. There was a brief look of pain on Sakura's face, and the blonde wondered very shortly what the girl had been thinking about to cause her that sort of pain. Her thoughts were short lived, however, because Sakura smiled gently at her and brought her fingertips to her lips to kiss. The look of love in Sakura's eyes was irrefutable.

Ino offered Sakura a mischievous smile before pulling herself closer to Sakura to kiss her softly on the lips. It was mere moments before the two women found themselves lost in one another between the sheets.

1- Shaolin Soccer allusion? Yes please.
2- Lesbian stereotype: WE JUST MET. LET'S MOVE IN TOGETHER!
This is what my friends and I call "Lez Speed". Ino and Sakura move at the Speed of Lez. :D (Please, don't even think about getting offended. Just chuckle and use the term yourself.)

AN: Merry Christmas

-E.E.