Written for Day 13 of Sakura Month: Red Lipstick
Sakura fluffed her hair up a little more, not pausing to look in the mirror - sometimes she missed her long hair, but keeping it short made life so much easier, particularly when she was in and out of the hospital and donning full mission gear on a regular basis. She reached for the door, then paused and twisted to look back. "Ready, Ino?" she called.
Ino came into view, sending her long ponytail cascading back over her shoulder with a graceful flick of her fingers and tilt of her head. She smiled and smoothed down her skirt, nodding. "I am," she said leadingly, making Sakura stop again, "but you know," Ino caught Sakura by the elbow and pulled her back, "that is really just not your colour, honey."
Sakura's brows rose. "What?" She glanced down at herself - her vest was left in the closet for the night, and she was wearing a dress in her signature red, much the same as those she had been wearing for years - certainly if Ino had been possessed of any objection to it she would have voiced it long ago. She raised her eyes again to meet Ino's.
Ino was smirking. Sakura eyed her suspiciously, and the expression only grew. She stepped closer, dropping her hand from Sakura's elbow to wrap around her hip. "That is definitely not your colour," she cupped Sakura's cheek, thumb brushing back and forth near her mouth, "red is my colour."
"Excuse me?" Sakura said pointedly, leaning back a little at the shoulders and prodding Ino, though not quite pushing her away.
"You're," Ino cleared her throat, "wearing my lipstick." she said with a throaty laugh.
Sakura froze, then laughed a little herself, though there was also a bit of warmth rising to her cheeks. "I think that dreadful mistake in colour scheme is more your fault than mine, if we're casting blame." she accused teasingly.
Ino gave a snooty huff, belied by her widening - if sly - smile. "I can't believe you, trying to blame everything on me . . . how mean you are." She pouted meaningfully, drawing Sakura a little closer to her, away from the door.
"We're going to be late." Sakura pointed out, though she tucked one arm around Ino's slender waist under her coat all the same, hardly fighting to get away. They had already been running a bit late - Sakura had been caught up approving a new roster at the hospital and Ino with something classified in Torture and Interrogation, then they'd gotten distracted briefly, and Ino had taken a little longer to primp. . .
"Fashionably late." Ino said, drawing Sakura up across that last little stretch that separated their heights.
Sakura opened her mouth to say no such thing but before she could get the words out Ino was kissing her again, warm and soft and thoroughly consuming. Sakura hummed with pleasure and reached up, Ino's long bangs falling across her knuckles as she cupped her lover's face and responded eagerly.
Ino purred with satisfaction, sucking Sakura's lower lip between her own and coaxing her into a more passionate response. Sakura's fingers tightened, curling into the fabric of Ino's dress, and she growled a little as she bit lightly at Ino's mouth, making her jump and shiver, body swaying a little closer. She didn't back down at all, delving into Sakura's mouth with a playful curl of her tongue.
Sakura shivered and pushed back against her lover, leaning up a bit more for a better angle. Ino broke the kiss with a nudge of her nose across Sakura's. "Besides," she said, still close enough her lips brushed Sakura's own, "you know they'll just assume we were held late at work. Which we were." She grinned smugly and slid one hand to the nape of Sakura's neck as she kissed her again, quick and hot.
It took Sakura a few long moments to regain her senses enough to break away. "And that," she said breathlessly as she pulled roughly away from Ino's thoroughly distracting kisses, "will hardly help the situation."
"I was trying to help?" Ino questioned with an innocent flutter of her lashes.
"You usually are, when you point out a flaw." Sakura said dryly, reaching up to run her fingertips over her slightly tingling lips. "And you are currently not helping. Unless your goal is to kiss away all of your lipstick . . . from both of us," she said with some amusement, "in which case we will be far more than fashionably late."
Even assuming their kisses didn't lead to anything more, which was . . . unlikely, with Ino in such a mood as she seemed to be now. Sakura's self-restraint was not that good. She hesitated for a moment, thinking of going out with their friends like this - staying home might very well be more enjoyable. But they were meeting the others for karaoke, and Sakura missed them - between work and missions it had been months since all of their group had managed to get together - and whatever she thought now, Ino would be tetchy over it later if they bailed with no notice anyway.
Ino made a sulky little noise and pouted at her, and Sakura gave her a warm smile and another, lighter kiss. "Hang on." she said, bending to snatch a tissue and scrubbing a bit of the lipstick off her face. "Do I pass muster?" she asked, glancing up playfully.
Ino sniffed, a smile tugging at her lips. "Gorgeous as ever." she said, caressing Sakura's face. Then she pulled her lipstick out to reapply it even as she followed Sakura out the door. They took to the rooftops to shave a little time off their lateness.
They made it to the karaoke parlour within a few minutes, which still left them late, but probably well within what their friends would write off as standard work-related issues for one or both of them. Good enough, Sakura thought - though it also wouldn't have been the first night they spent deflecting teasing for being a little too late.
"Hey, Sakura-chan, you don't usually wear red lipstick!" Naruto called almost as soon as they stepped inside, and Sakura froze.
Since when had Naruto noticed . . . well, much of anything that wasn't blatantly obvious, honestly, but her makeup? Sakura narrowed her eyes at him. Naruto, really?
"See?" Ino said, stepping up to her side and wrapping an arm around her. "I told her; Sakura, you're beautiful but red is just not your colour. Stick to pinks. They're your signature look!"
Sakura hissed a threat she only half-meant at her lover and slipped into the booth, reaching for a napkin to rub her mouth again.
Naruto opened his mouth but before he could say anything else Hinata deftly interjected to ask which of them wanted to go first, as they had missed most of the first round.