Title: Voices
Genre: Romance/Angst
Pairing: InoSaku, with implied one-sided SasuSaku and SasuIno
Summary: Ino pays Sakura a visit after Sasuke's betrayal.
Warnings: Shoujo-ai, which means there will be girls kissing each other in this fanfic. Please don't read if you don't like the sound of that. Spoilers if you haven't read up to manga chapter 182 and/or seen up to anime episode 110.
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto-sensei. I'm not called Masashi Kishimoto. Therefore, I do not own Naruto.
Voices
While Naruto was on his mission to retrieve Sasuke with Shikamaru and three other genins, Sakura shut herself inside her room, sitting on her bed and gazing at the framed photograph that was sitting next to her clock on her bedside table. Her eyes absorbed the black hair and eyes, and the blue shirt. She felt helpless and weak. Inside her mind, the events of the previous night kept playing repeatedly, like a movie. But it wasn't any normal movie, because people usually loved movies. She hated this one, hated how her head spun and her nose turned a sharp sour whenever she heard Sasuke's last words to her.
"Sakura... Thank you."
His voice echoed inside her throbbing head, ghostly and unreal. She grasped her bedsheet, willing for tears to come out. Sometimes, she thought, everything feels better after crying. The pain of her headache increased tenfold after a while, but her eyes remained dry. She always cried so easily. Why couldn't she cry now? There was nothing but agony, a feeling which ached through her whole body, almost physical.
"You really are annoying."
She was certain that she had actually heard his voice with her own ears at that moment, and not just imagined it in her mind. They were so real, so harsh and unforgiving, sounding exactly the same as it had. "Sasuke..." she whispered, and there was a catch in her throat. She blinked. No tears came.
"I love you with all my heart!"
Her voice, this time, unnaturally high-pitched, sounding so childish and naive. You stupid girl, she chided herself. No wonder Sasuke hates you. She laughed, bitterly.
Suddenly there came a knock on her bedroom door, shattering her own world and breaking through to her consciousness. The door opened a tiny crack. "Sakura?" came her mother's questioning voice.
"Yes, mum. What is it?" she asked, with the brightest tone she could manage without choking.
"Your friend's here," her mum replied.
"Who?" Sakura half-gasped, not expecting a visitor at all.
"Ino," was the simple answer. Hearing that, Sakura dashed out and ran to the front door, muttering a hurried thanks to her mother. She stared at the blonde girl in front of her, and swallowed uneasily.
"Hi, Sakura!" Ino greeted her cheerily.
Sakura frowned. "I thought you were on a mission or something," she said.
Ino nodded. "I was, but I just came back." She grinned at Sakura. "Shouldn't you be happy that a friend's come to visit you?" She swayed, blinking her big blue eyes at the unresponsive girl. "Hmm?"
Sakura looked at her friend, biting her lip worriedly. "Have you heard --?" The words rushed out of her mouth, but Ino cut her off.
"Yes, I have." The blonde's cheerful expression did not change. "I heard that Sasuke ran away and betrayed our village. I also heard that you were present when he left. In fact, you were the only one there. Is that true?"
"... Yes," Sakura said slowly.
"I can't believe it!" Ino cried, and for a moment, Sakura thought she was referring to Sasuke's betrayal, but the blonde's next words changed her mind, "I wasn't there when he most needed me! I bet if I had been there, I would have successfully convinced him to stay. Unlike you, who only has a useless big forehead and nothing else."
The pink-haired girl could only stare. "Wha... What?" she said weakly. She couldn't understand Ino's reaction. It wasn't what she would have expected of her friend, who loved Sasuke liked she did. The blonde noticed the confusion and the obvious sadness in her friend's green eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sakura's mother looking at the two of them suspiciously, and decided they needed more privacy. She grabbed Sakura's arm and dragged her into her bedroom, closing the door behind her. "Let's talk here, inside. Tell me about last night."
"Aren't you upset?" Sakura questioned, ignoring her friend's request.
"Yes, of course I am," Ino answered, in an exasperated tone. "Everyone in the village is."
"No, I mean... I mean, you should be more upset than everyone else, right?" Unless I'm the only one in the whole village who's stupid enough to cry over him leaving.
Ino looked at her friend, her expression suddenly much more serious. "Yes, Sakura. I am," she stated with a soft sigh.
"You don't look it," Sakura pointed out.
The other girl rolled her eyes. "That's 'cause I'm not a crybaby like you are." Sakura gave her a half-hearted glare, and she immediately sobered up again. "Shinobis are supposed to hide their feelings." She paused, and saw a sad, guilty smile. "Come on, tell me what happened."
Sakura hesitated, but in the end she gave in. Perhaps it would help to share her pain with someone else. So she started telling Ino exactly what happened. Every single word Sasuke had said was etched deeply into her mind, as she had been thinking about them over and over again that day, for goodness knew how many times. It was an easy job to retell them. Ino was a good listener; had always been, throughout their childhood. She listened patiently to Sakura's hoarse voice, never interrupting. Sakura felt a strange relief spreading through her once she had finished the tale.
Ino gave her a supportive smile, even though her own heart was aching. "Naruto will get Sasuke back. Don't worry. And once Sasuke comes back, we'll have a competition to see who can get a date with him before the other or something. Sounds good?"
Sakura didn't reply. She was looking into Ino's blue eyes with a sort of daze. "Hello, Sakura?" The girl jerked.
"Er... I'm sorry!" She seemed slightly flustered. "I didn't quite catch what you said."
Ino looked frustratedly at her. "Stop being so dreamy. Come back into reality. Sasuke will come back. I'm sure."
"Yeah." Sakura tried to smile at her friend, but failed miserably. "Thanks." Then, she leaned in and pressed her lips onto the blonde's. Ino's eyes widened in shock, and with a jolt, Sakura realized what she was doing and pulled away, terribly embarrassed and even frightened.
"I'm so sorry," she said frantically, "I didn't mean to do it. I... I just -- " She never finished what she said, because she felt a tight warmth on her lips -- Ino was kissing her back. She wanted to pull back so badly, because everything felt wrong and uncomfortable. But she was frozen. Frozen even as heat surged through her body and a prying tongue delved into her mouth. It was terrifying. Terrifying and wet and bizarre, and her heart could have stopped beating, or it could have beaten faster than ever before. The sensation gripped her, and her mind screamed. Screamed for her to let go now, to run away, to slap Ino and yell at her for doing such ridiculous things, but she did none of these. Instead, she sat there, completely numb and passive to her friend's (friend?) passionate kissing.
When Ino finally released her, both of their cheeks were flushed a dark red, and two hands clasped together. Neither said a word. The silence hung in the room, save for the rough and uneven breathing from the two girls. It seemed to last forever.
Ino was the first to speak, her voice shaking, "We still love Sasuke, right?"
It took a long time for Sakura to answer. "Yes." Her voice, too, was unsteady.
The silence fell again. But this time, it was interrupted by Sakura. In a bolder voice, she ventured, "Um... We're still friends, right?"
"Yes," Ino said hotly, trying to wipe out all traces of doubt from her voice. "We are." She stopped here, glancing at Sakura's uncertain features. "Just friends. Definitely just friends."
With that, Ino untangled her hand from Sakura's, rose from the bed, and left the flat.
The End
A/N: This is my first Naruto shoujo-ai fic, and thus, of course, also my first InoSaku fic. I've written a few shoujo-ai fanfics in another fandom before, but that was a while ago. I wasn't quite sure about writing this at first, but I searched this fandom for an InoSaku fic and found few. I thought this pairing definitely needs more love, so I decided to write. I don't know if I will write more of this pairing in the future. I do quite like it, though. I'll see. Please read & review!