Ignorance is Bliss

Chapter 2: Morning Visits

The next morning Sakura was lying spread eagled on her bed, staring up hopelessly at her ceiling. Thoughts of last night and that text ran through her mind. She flailed slightly. How could things have gone from ten to zero so quickly? Itachi bloody Uchiha was Sasuke's brother! Thinking of it now, it was pretty clear; Sasuke looked a lot like his older brother.

Despite the fact it was 9am, Sakura's room was dark, her maroon velvet curtains pulled shut to stop any light from invading. Why? Was whoever was up there testing her? What had she done to deserve this? And to top it all off, she was regretting running out of the bar last night. That had been so unfair on Sasuke. Though, she supposed, at least that would have probably put him off her. There was no way he'd want to pursue a girl who basically ditched him. God, that had been so mean!

There was a knock on her door.

"Mmm." She murmured and the door opened to reveal Ino, one of Sakura's roommates, in her pyjamas.

"Hi!" She greeted sunnily. "How're you? I'm hungover as hell, but I had an awesome night last night." She strolled in and dumped herself onto Sakura's bed, lying down next to her and staring up at the ceiling.

"Did you come back here last night?" Sakura asked instead of answering her friend's question. "I didn't hear you come in."

Ino smirked and then turned on her side, curling herself up slightly. "Nooo. I met up with a guy while I was out."

Despite not really being in the mood to indulge her best friend's gossipy antics, Sakura turned her head slightly to look at the other girl. "Oh really? And who was that?"

Ino pulled a face. "I don't remember his name. It was nice though," her eyes flickered back to the ceiling. "He even offered to cook me breakfast,"

"That is nice." Sakura concurred.

"Though he wasn't out of bed when I got up to leave," Ino rolled her eyes good naturedly. "But yeah, sweet. How're you anyway? Feeling better?"

Sakura let out a heavy sigh. "Yes and no." She returned.

Ino grimaced. "That's a point, should I really be this close to you? Could I get an infection?"

"Ino, you're the one who gave me this cold in the first place," Sakura reminded her. She sat up, hugging her knees to her chest and resting her chin on them. "And I'm basically better anyway."

Ino's perfectly plucked eyebrows bunched together and she cocked her head. "Then what's up Forehead?"

Sakura huffed out a sigh. She half didn't want to talk about it. It was a lost cause anyway and Ino couldn't really say anything to help. Sakura couldn't hang out with her ex-boyfriend's little brother. She just couldn't. She'd been crazy about Itachi. And besides, Sasuke probably wouldn't even want to hang out with her ever again, she'd ditched him afterall.

"Oi," Ino poked her lightly. She sat up too, crossing her legs and leaning her elbows on them as she peered at her best friend. "No, seriously Sakura, what's wrong? C'mon, tell me,"

Sakura looked to the side, one of her hands coming down to finger the afghan blanket spread across her bed.

"Is it Itachi?"

Sakura flinched at the boy's name. There was no way she was getting out of this room without telling Ino what had happened. The girl was just too damn perceptive.

"Uh…kinda," she answered vaguely, bringing her gaze up to her ceiling once again. "L…last night I met his little brother."

Ino pouted slightly. "And? So…?"

Sakura closed her eyes for a few moments before bringing her head down to look at the other girl. Her hair fell in front of her face slightly and she moved it back, clutching the strands at her neck.

"Ino, I…I met his little brother last night." She gazed at the other girl meaningfully, willing her to understand what she was saying so she wouldn't have to say it out loud.

Ino's mouth opened into a perfect circle and she blinked once or twice, pretty turquoise eyes wide. Then she pointed down at the bed. "You…? Here?"

"No!" Sakura corrected. "No, no, we didn't…I just…I met him in the laundry room last night and he was so beautiful and nice, and he and I and some of his friends went out to a bar and we kissed, but then his phone went off and the contact was Itachi."

Ino gazed at Sakura for a few moments, running this story through in her head. "You went out last night?" She asked after a few moments, tone accusatory. "You told me you were poorly."

"I was poorly!" Sakura defended, but it was too late, Ino was pouting off to the side now, arms crossed.

"Why don't you ever want to go out with me Forehead, eh?"

Sakura sighed. Ino wasn't really upset about this situation, it was actually a bit of a running joke that Sakura seemed to avoid going out at all costs. In fact, that was why it was so odd that she'd enjoyed herself so much last night. Not that it mattered now, since the situation could never be recreated ever again.

A few moments trickled by.

"Inooo." Sakura eventually whined.

Ino turned to look at her, arms still crossed and a lofty expression now upon her face. "I have deigned to forgive you as I want to know the gossip, but keep in mind you have hurt my young heart deeply and truly."

Sakura fixed the other girl with a fearsome look before sighing. "That's it basically. After seeing the text from Itachi pop up, I kinda, sorta, maybe, ran away?"

"Ran away!?" Ino gazed incredulously at her, her fake moody act dropping immediately.

Sakura winced. "Yeeaahhhhh…" Thinking about it in the light of day was really making the Haruno wish she'd taken a different course of action.

Ino leant forward slightly. "But didn't anyone see you run off?" A smile of amusement suddenly slipped across her features.

Sakura's look became deadpan. "What?" She questioned tiredly, aware that her best friend was about to tease her.

Ino giggled slightly. "Sorry, I've just got this image of this Sasuke guy and all his friends yelling after you and you just sprinting off," she began chuckling louder.

Sakura glowered at her. "It's not that funny." She returned.

Ino began hooting slightly. "I've seen you run Sakura, you look like a wounded antelope," she gasped. "Oh God, Oh God," she wiped a tear from her eye, clutching her stomach. "Is that what happened? Did you sprint out of the place looking like a wounded antelope while a load of people yelled after you?"

Sakura crossed her arms and looked away. "No," she returned. "I have more dignity than that Ino Pig!"

Ino began laughing harder at this and so Sakura reached out and pushed her. The Yamanaka very nearly fell off the bed, but she managed to regain her balance and push the Haruno back.

"Hey!" The pinkette yelped, wobbling, having not been prepared for such a quick retort. She fell off the bed, landing painfully on her back, her legs sticking up in the air.

Ino burst into another round of laughter, gasping and pointing at her. "Yeah, so dignified Forehead!" She cackled.

Sakura pulled a face, staring up at the ceiling, wondering what she'd done to deserve such an evil person as her best friend.

After a few moments of Sakura not moving, Ino crawled over to the other side of the bed and peered down at her, still grinning, apparently finding Sakura's life dilemmas very amusing.

"Ok, so what really happened?" She asked.

Sakura looked up at Ino's upside down form and then glanced to the side, blushing. "I told Sasuke's friends I'd just got my period and then ran out of the bar."

"BWAHAHAHAHA!" Ino was cackling again, falling back onto the bed and grabbing her stomach.

Sakura waited for the laughter to subside again before getting up and heaving herself onto the bed again. Ino let out a few more giggles and Sakura poked her hard in the stomach.

"Some best friend you are, pig." She sniped.

Ino chuckled. "Sakura, if I wasn't your best friend, I wouldn't know that you run like a wounded antelope, and therefore this whole conversation wouldn't be nearly as hilarious as it's turning out to be. Now," she turned to look at her friend properly. "How do you know this Itachi is the Itachi that you Itachi'd with?"

'Itachi'd with'? Seriously? Sakura raised her eyebrows at the other girl and then slumped. "Sasuke looks really like him."

"Could be a coincidence?" Ino reasoned.

"How many guys do you know called Itachi?" Sakura shot back, chin in her hand and her arm resting on her knee.

"Hey, hey," Ino cooed, coming closer and putting her arm around the girl. "Look, stop worrying. Things will work out. Sasuke's probably already seen you run like a wounded antelope, he's not going to want to see you ever again, problem solved, right?"

Sakura pushed the girl as she began laughing again. "Ino, you suck so bad. Anybody ever told you that?"

Ino grinned. "That is the exact opposite of what the guy last night said. 'Ino, you suck so good'."

Sakura gave her a sorrowful look. "You had sex with someone who said 'Ino, you suck so good'?"

Ino itched her head, looking awkward now. "Well when you say it like that it's not gonna sound great."

Sakura quirked an eyebrow, quite glad that the conversation had turned off of her and was now onto Ino.

"Hey," Ino moped. "Don't look at me like tha-" She trailed off when she was interrupted by the unmistakeable sound of their dorm room door being knocked on. "Are you expecting visitors?" She enquired.

Sakura shook her head. "Lee might be?" She offered.

She and Ino shared their room with a third year called Rock Lee and a very quiet boy called Shino, who Sakura had literally never seen out of his room since the first day.

"Lee goes out at 6 to run track, and he's never usually back from the gym until mid afternoon though." Ino reasoned.

Sakura looked thoughtful for a moment before smirking. "Maybe it's Suck So Good? Maybe Suck So Good wants to say 'Morning so good'?"

Ino glowered at her. "That doesn't even make sense." She hissed back.

Sakura continued to smirk back at her, glad she was getting her own back on Ino's teasing from earlier. The door was banged on again and Ino sighed, getting to her feet.

"Maybe it's Neji," she reasoned hopefully.

Neji was a third year student and friend of Lee's that Ino had slept with once and never really got over, unusual when it came to Ino. Sakura felt for her, but Ino had insisted she'd moved on, and tried to display this by having copious amounts of sex with copious amounts of boys.

The Haruno got up off the bed and followed Ino into the living room come kitchen. As she headed for the fridge, Ino headed for the door.

And the person at the door was not Neji Hyuga.

Of course it wasn't Neji Hyuga.

The unmistakeable voices of Naruto and Sasuke sounded almost immediately as the door opened.

"INO! See, I told you Teme! I told you Ino lived with Sakura!"

Sasuke sounded irritated as he replied. "I already knew that Naruto."

Naruto, hidden behind the door, meaning Sakura couldn't see him and, thankfully, neither he or Sasuke could see her, ignored Sasuke's reply and continued speaking to Ino as if Sasuke had never spoken.

"Ino, is Sakura in!? Sasuke needs to talk to her!"

Sakura, concealed out of sight, blazed red. She was on high alert, listening to hear what Sasuke himself had to say about this.

"Dobe," the boy hissed quietly. "I only came along to stop you from embarrassing everybody involved."

Sakura drooped. So maybe it hadn't really affected him at all? Here she'd been worrying that she'd really hurt him and Sasuke didn't even seem remotely bothered.

"Whatever Sasuke," Naruto said blithely, clearly not believing his best friend. "Where's Sakura Ino!? Sasuke wants to talk to her, believe it!"

"Or don't." Sasuke muttered.

Ino, eyes wide, looked over at the kitchen where Sakura was located, before looking back to their two new unexpected guests. The pinkette returned her gaze with a look of horror herself before she began combing her fingers through her messy hair. She glanced down. This was going to be the second time in two days that Sasuke was going to see her looking like a hot ass mess if she didn't do something! She wasn't even wearing a bra for God's sake!

Ino had the good foresight to start stalling, obviously having looked at Sakura and come to the same conclusion the Haruno had: she looked like trash.

"Yeah, yeah, Sakura does live here," the blonde agreed amiably, smiling widely at, Sakura presumed, Sasuke. "I'm Ino by the way."

As Sasuke began introducing himself, Sakura began panicking. She couldn't make a break for her room because then Sasuke would very obviously see her hurtling past the door behind Ino, but this also applied to Ino's room as well as they were both located on the other side of the living room.

Sakura did a little jig of panic, looking both ways in alarm before spotting Rock Lee's room, right next to the kitchen counters. Suppressing a yelp of joy, the Haruno, for some reason, parkoured over the counter and landed by Lee's room with a thump, banging her knee painfully against the door. She whipped round to see if Ino was still managing to hold Sasuke and Naruto back and breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the Yamanaka was telling what she and Sakura referred to as her 'Teddy bear vagina story', a story that would never be relevant to any situation but that Ino somehow managed to bring into any situation if a distraction was needed. Sakura had never heard the whole thing as she was literally always the one Ino had to distract people for. All she knew was that it involved a teddy bear and a vagina.

Sakura could hear Naruto complaining that he'd heard the story before, but Ino was steadily surging onwards with it, and if there was one thing Sakura knew definitively about the 'Teddy bear vagina story' it was that Ino would finish it. She always did.

Sakura turned back round and grabbed Lee's door knob, yanking hard. It didn't budge. The girl gazed at it, her eyes huge and then she yanked harder, as if to imply the door was lying to her the first time. It still did not budge. Letting out a silent scream, she released the door knob and looked around.

Her eyes narrowed in on Shino's room. This was the only option. She ran at the door and shoulder barged her way in. Shino turned in surprise to look as she careered into his room, nearly falling straight into an ant's nest he owned.

"Hello Sakura." Shino greeted once Sakura had recovered her balance.

"Shino! Do you have any girl clothes!? Or any clothes at all really!?" Sakura grabbed the boy by his coat and stared at into his sunglasses. Staring back at her was her hideous un-makeup covered face. She let out a moan of horror. "And a mask maybe?"

Shino fell back slightly as she released him and then put his hand under his desk, retrieving a breathing mask, the type builders wore to make sure they didn't breathe in dust.

Sakura stared at it for a few moments and then picked it up. She placed it on her face and then tied it. "Does this look weird?" She asked, her voice slightly muffled by the fabric of the mask.

Shino looked up at her steadily, his expression hidden behind his large jacket, but made even harder to read thanks to the dull lighting of the room. "No." He answered after a short while.

Sakura raised her eyebrows and then glanced around, leaving the mask hanging loosely in her hand. "So, do you have any clothes I could borrow?"

Shino shrugged and pointed at his closet. "Careful of the moth chrysalises in there," he said. "They're almost ready to hatch."

Sakura turned to Shino's wardrobe, feeling a slight swell of disgust at the idea of moths pupating, or whatever they did, in close vicinity to her. She opened the cupboard, risked a glance at the creepy cocoon like structures that were growing in the corner and then yanked a load of clothes out. She picked up a large black shirt that was guaranteed to hide her chest better than the flimsy pyjama top she was wearing now and smiled at Shino.

"Could I please borrow this Shino? I'll wash it and everything."

Shino, who had turned back to his computer to do whatever he was doing, probably ordering bees or something, shrugged and raised a hand to signify he didn't mind.

"Thank you so much!" Sakura squealed then she pulled the black shirt over her top and buttoned it up.

Right. Now it was time.

Dressed as best as she could, Sakura cracked open Shino's door a little. Sasuke and Naruto were now in the living room. Sasuke was sitting down while Ino busied herself making tea, whereas Naruto was squinting around the room suspiciously as if trying to spot Sakura hiding in the rafters or something.

Ok. Now or never. Sakura took a deep breath and then exited Shino's room, closing it quietly behind her.

The three in the room all turned to look at her.

"Oh! Sakura!" Ino exclaimed, flicking a glance at Sasuke as she made her way over to her best friend. "You're done with…with the toilet!"

Sakura's eyes widened and she gave the girl a horrified look. Ino pulled a, 'I didn't know what to say!' look back and then looked over at Sasuke again.

"Cuz…cuz that's the toilet." She pointed at Shino's room.

Sakura's horrified look became more intense.

'Why?' She mouthed at Ino.

Ino shrugged, looking frazzled.

"Tea!" She exclaimed, heading back over to the kitchen and sending an apologetic look at her best friend of her shoulder.

Sakura watched her move away and then turned to look at Sasuke, trying her best to return a look of normality to her expression.

"H…hi Sasuke," she greeted. "It's nice to see you again."

"Sakura, hi," the male looked like he was going to say more, but he was unfortunately interrupted.

"SAKURA!"

Sakura had almost forgotten Naruto was there. The Uzumaki surged forwards, pointing his finger into her face. "I don't remember most of last night but what I do remember is at one point you were there and then at another point you weren't, meaning you left without saying goodbye! WHY!?"

Sakura brought her hands up in a placating gesture, flicking a worried glance Sasuke's way. "I…I'm sorry Naruto."

"We're sorry for just barging in first thing in the morning," Sasuke spoke up. "I tried to tell Naruto that you wouldn't want us here, but the loser never listens."

Sakura tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, Shino's large shirt covering her wrists. "No, no…" she trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

"Hey!" Naruto leant down, peering at Sakura's shirt cuffs, his eyes narrowed so tightly they appeared to be shut. "Why're you wearing a boy's shirt?" A moment trickled by and then his eyes widened an almost comically huge amount. He turned to look at Sasuke.

The other boy was obviously thinking the same thing as his best friend as his gaze was also fixed on what Sakura was wearing, his eyebrows furrowed. "Do you…do you have a boyfriend?" He asked.

"What?" Sakura was genuinely confused for a few moments before she glanced down at what she was wearing in realisation. "Oh, no! No! This is just Shino's!"

Sasuke peered at her curiously. "And Shino is…who? A guy?"

Naruto gaped at Sakura, his eyes full of accusation.

"Well, he's not a guy guy." Sakura said, and Ino nodded in agreement behind Sasuke, huffing slightly.

"WHY'D YOU JUST COME OUT OF HIS ROOM THEN!?" Naruto jumped to his friend's defence, pointing viciously at Shino's door.

Sasuke brought a hand up to scratch the back of his neck. "Maybe I should lea-" He turned.

"No!" Sakura interrupted, her voice high. She reached out and grabbed Sasuke's hand. Shockwaves of heat rushed through her. Sasuke turned to look at her, his eyes both surprised and intense. Sakura watched as his fringe flew into place, framing his beautiful pale face. He was so gorgeous. Sakura's eyes trailed up from where her small dainty hands clutched Sasuke's large slender one. She followed the curve of his forearm, reaching up to his toned biceps- "Wait, did you think I was shagging Shino?" The absurdity of what was just being implied suddenly hit Sakura.

Ino began cackling immediately at this question. Sakura soon began laughing too, trying to stifle it but failing. Sasuke glanced around at them both, very obviously confused. Naruto, too, was confused, but he began slowly laughing too, his laughter increasing in pitch and tone until he was guffawing along with the two roommates.

"Am I missing something?" Sasuke questioned.

Sakura couldn't answer. She bent over, letting go of his hand, embracing the laughter. Ino was near wetting herself it seemed, clutching her knees together as she held onto the counter and laughed. It also became obvious that Shino was laughing too, from inside his room.

Sasuke remained silent as the roommates, and his friend, hooted and hollered, eventually moving to speak as Sakura began recovering.

"I just…I wasn't sure why you left last night and then when I came in here and Ino was obviously trying to distract me, I just presumed that maybe you had a boyfriend or something similar you didn't want me to know about," Sasuke shrugged and then pouted off to the side, a slight blush staining his cheeks, obviously not used to not being in on the joke.

Ino began laughing again with more fury. "Shino! Shino being Sakura's boyfriend!" She gasped. "Oh this is too much comedy for such an early morning!"

Sakura giggled a little too, but she had recovered by now. She peered up at Sasuke.

"I don't have a boyfriend. I don't have anything like that," she promised, her voice serious.

Ino, sensing the change in tone, looked over at Naruto. "Oi, Naruto," she beckoned him.

The boy looked over at her. "What?" He asked loudly. "I'm a little busy over here Yamanaka."

Ino's look became deadpan and she stomped over to him, grabbing his arm in a vice like grip. "We're going into my room."

"Why? I…Oh!" The Uzumaki grinned slyly. "Ok Ino, but I did have quite a lot to drink last night so don't expect everything to run super smooth-"

"NO!" Ino shrieked, realising halfway through what the boy was suggesting. She flicked a glance over at Sakura and Sasuke, both of whom were watching her and Naruto with bemused expressions. "That is so not what I was saying Naruto," she began shoving him towards her bedroom. "And nothing like that ever happened between us ok? And…and it never will!" She threw over her shoulder, nodding defiantly once before pushing Naruto into her room and leaving Sakura to it.

Whatever 'it' was going to be.

The Haruno had no idea whether she should tell Sasuke about Itachi or not. The idea of ruining something that could be so great before it had even begun was almost infuriating, and though it wasn't exactly Itachi's fault, Sakura couldn't help but feel annoyance for him. How was this fair? Eh?

Sasuke brought his eyes back to her face. "Was it Naruto that made you leave? I'd understand if it was."

Sakura let a small smile slip across her pretty features. "No, no. It wasn't those him. I actually found him and Kiba quite funny, and before you even say it, I believe that you're not part of team man whore, honestly."

Sasuke looked down at her, obviously beginning to become very confused. "So…what was it?" His eyes shifted to the side.

Oh God. Sakura stared up at him, her heart, beating a mile a minute, in her mouth. Could she do it? Should she do it? It half felt like telling Sasuke she'd gone out with his brother would be destroying any potential they themselves had as a couple. It felt like Itachi was following after her like a ghost, wrecking opportunities for her. She hadn't felt this way about a boy since Itachi. Sasuke made Sakura feel things she hadn't even felt with Itachi come to think of it, and she'd only known him for a day. It was insane how intense her feelings felt already.

So…why let Itachi ruin it? Sakura kept her eyes trained on Sasuke's face, thoughts running through her head. How do I even know that Sasuke's Itachi is my Itachi? And if I hadn't seen the text, how would I know anything about Itachi even exisiting?

Right.

It was decided.

Ignorance was bliss and Sakura was going to be blissfully ignorant.

She cocked her head, pasting an awkward smile onto her face and hoping against hope she'd eventually be able to squash the feelings of guilt she was feeling about lying by default someday.

"Didn't Shikamaru tell you? It's kind of awkward, but I…I got my period," she winced. "And I had to go. I thought it was better I leave earlier rather than later, you know? I wouldn't want you to be disappointed."

Sasuke brought his eyes back to look at her. "That's really the reason?" He checked. "Shikamaru told me that was what you said, but he said you looked so freaked out he wasn't sure he believed you. I was kinda worried you thought I would pressure you into doing something or something like that; that's why I came here, to make sure you knew I'm not that kind of guy."

Sakura gazed up at him, the smile on her face widening. "I know you're not Sasuke," she said. "You're a real softie aren't you?"

Sasuke's cheeks blazed red now and he glanced to the side again, pouting slightly. "Hn," he muttered.

Sakura began poking him in the chest playfully. "Do you believe me Mr Soppy Pants?" She grinned, moving closer.

"I'm not soppy." Sasuke returned, though he was smirking slightly, his gaze still fixed to the side.

"Yes you are!" Sakura exclaimed. "You're a secret soppy pants!" She went to poke him again, but Sasuke caught her hand. He pulled her in close and gazed down at her, his hands resting on her backside. Sakura stared back up at him, the breath nearly knocked out of her as she looked into those almost impossibly deep pools of black. Her hands were trapped against the hard plains of his chest. "Sas-"

Shino's door opened. "Sakura, I've just remembered that there's ant larvae in the pocket of that shirt. Be careful please."

End of Chapter 2

An: Thank you so much for all your reviews so far! They honestly help me so much and make me strive to keep writing. Also thank you for all your favourites and follows. I'm so pleased you guys have liked this so far. I hope you enjoyed this chapter too.