A/N: Oh, Jashin. I'm so sorry. xD That took ages to write. My head was blocked for muse…blah. But here it is! :3 I hope you all like it…please review if you do? I'll give you a cookie…or a lovely stick of pocky. Which I'm eating right now. Yummy. :D

I don't own Naruto, Guitar Hero, or Samara Morgan. n.n

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Raindrops, One by One

-Second-

The first time we had a sleepover we were six years old, and I was so terrified of sleeping in a place other than my own house that I stayed awake the whole night, shivering in the dark. Too proud to call my mother to take me home…even then I had way too big of an ego. Obviously it doesn't bother me now, so many years later, and we have a tradition of swapping houses every other weekend.

Sakura's was up, and we were hiding out in the basement, free to laugh and be as loud as we wanted without bothering anyone. To take advantage of the sound block, I'd brought my Guitar Hero set over for later.

There was nothing like spending time with her that could take my mind off how annoying my life was. Not like there was any real, health-endangering thing, but it was fucking annoying. I couldn't say a word about my sexuality to my mother because she was too gung-ho on me finding some prince charming, and I couldn't possibly talk about it to my best friend, because…well, sort of obvious. Geometry never ceased to fail me, and I had zits exploding in so many places that it was getting hard to hide them all under concealer.

So. Annoying was the word.

But, being smiley and laughing with Sakura made me feel calmer. All of those little things were able to evaporate when I had her nearby. Okay, mostly. Not, of course, the whole predicament about me loving her, but I was genuinely happy to simply be her best friend. No, it didn't stop me from wanting to be more, but it put the burning pressure in my head somewhat to rest. If I could make her smile, I could smile too.

She was giggling insanely then, clutching a DVD case. "Ino-chan! It's not that scary! Why are you hiding behind the couch?!"

Yeah, this one time I wasn't so happy she was laughing at me. if I had one weakness, it was scary movies. In particular, The Ring. Gory things like Saw I had no problem with, because gore didn't bother me. However, crazy psychological things freaked me out. "Saku, please? Put it away!" I whined, "Samara scares the shit out of me. And you know, it really doesn't help that my house is ancient and it has an old well in the cellar."

"Ha! I forgot about that since we're always up in your room for your weekends…"

"Exactly, now get rid of that movie!"

"No, this is just too awesome."

"Sakuraaa! Please?"

"Ha ha. I love torturing you…"

"Eh? Damn it, you mean person!"

She sighed, rolling her eyes. "For someone who's so tough on the outside, you are really soft."

"But it's fucking creepy…" I peered out from behind my barricade. "Are you going to put it away?"

"Yeah, yeah. Fine, I will…" Sakura moved to shove the Motion Picture From Hell back into its spot by her other films, but I stopped her.

"No! Somewhere where it can't escape. Like a drawer with a lock."

"Ino. No."

"Oh…fine." Pouting some, I flopped onto the couch, grabbing up a pillow and hugging it. "Whatever. So can we just do something harmless that doesn't involve psychotic, homicidal little girls?"

"Like Guitar Hero?"

"Precisely!"

"But you always beat me…it's really not fair, Ino-chan."

"If it's any consolation, you're farther than me in Kingdom Hearts." That didn't break her all-knowing stare. Eh. Yeah, I liked to win. And yeah, I brought it with me so I could win. (An added bonus: She was very, very cute when she was frustrated because she lost.) "Awh. Would you play it if I just watched?"

"Maybe. Wait, isn't that boring for you?"

"No, I'll be your cheerleader!" I smiled, thrusting the game at her. Anything to be free of that damn movie of hers. I never could understand why she preferred that sort of thing over chick flicks. Honestly…it made no sense, judging by the rest of her personality.

With a sigh, Sakura took it from me, loading it into her PlayStation. When the familiar opening began on the screen, I felt much better. The threat of Samara Morgan was past.

"Wow. You do suck. You only play on medium?" I giggled, and Sakura sent another glare my way.

"So what exactly happened to being my cheerleader…? That doesn't sound very encouraging to me…"

"Ha ha. Oh, sorry. I'll shut up now…"

"Thank you." She muttered, a smile still skating on her face. It was a game we had, this constantly poking fun and picking on each other.

A best friend thing.

And I was so happy to have something like that. It meant a lot to me…truly.

She groaned loudly as she missed yet another note. The success meter was hovering near red, and she'd barely just started the song. "Ew. Urgh. Dammit. Hey, Ino-pig! I don't think I suck as much at this as you do at cheering…because at least I'm not missing everything. You haven't said anything helpful."

Ooh. I'd been zoning out, hadn't I? Shaking it off, I moved over to where she sat on the floor, struggling to stay alive in the game. "Here, let me help you now."

I put my hands over hers, leaning over her shoulder so I could see the television screen, too. My fingers guided hers over the frets, and slowly the meter climbed back up into the clear.

As the song went on, I noticed how nice it felt to be so close to Sakura. Side by side, her warmth seeping into me and feeling her breathing.

I didn't want it to be over.

"Ino?"

I never wanted to leave that moment, so close to her. Sakura-chan…

"Ino!"

"Hm?" I murmured, eyes flashing open to see we'd beat it together. My moment of bliss would have to be over…for now. Only for now, hopefully. But maybe I was just a wishful thinker… "Look, we won."

"Uh-huh! For once in my life. Even though it was really all you." Sakura paused for a second, giving me a reproachful look. "But you were spacing out there the whole time. What were you thinking about, Ino-chan?"

I smiled slightly in spite of myself. "Ah, nothing really. So! Want to get fat on potato chips now?"

She laughed, stretching her arms as she stood. "Oh yeah! Bring on the junk food!"

Another day of keeping secrets.