Not Beta-ed

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Sakura's thoughts are: 'Like this'

Inner Sakura's thoughts are: 'Like this, yah dig?'

Normal writing: Is like this.

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Mood Ring Color Meaning:
blue-green – inner emotions charged up, somewhat relaxed

"We are afraid to care too much,

for fear the other person does not care at all."

-Eleanor Roosevelt

.o.O.o.

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After Sasuke kissed her cheek, Sakura couldn't help but obsess over Sasuke's slightly bizarre behavior. She mulled over every possibility of why he would do that. More so, she couldn't help but wonder why he didn't at least give her a proper kiss.

When she realized just how ludicrous her thoughts were becoming, because really, Sasuke will never be the kind of man who is even slightly romantic, Sakura decided that someone must have been playing a cruel joke on her.

Inner Sakura was quick to agree.

'It was probably Koji, that one jounin we dated? Cause, um… Remember when I said I'd break up with the bastard? I may have let it slip that I ah, we, like Sasuke better.'

'Great, thanks oh so much for that bit of help I didn't need.'

'He called us a prude, someone had to take offense.'

'You always call me a prude.'

'Well duh, because you are… but I'm not.'

'He didn't know about you.'

'Oh, haha uh yeah.'

'Now he probably thinks I' m Bi-polar.'

'Probably. Sorry, I'll shut up now.'

'No you're not sorry.'

'You're right, but still. I'll shut up.'


With it decided that it was probably Koji who was at the dinner, masquerading as the Sasuke who kissed her cheek, Sakura tried to get some sleep. Instead of sleeping, she tossed and turned for hours while Inner Sakura created vivid images of better places Sasuke could have placed his mouth that wreaked havoc upon her system.

'It was just a kiss on the cheek, it meant nothing.'

'It was just a kiss on the cheek, it meant nothing to him…'

'It was just a kiss on the cheek… bastard probably doesn't know how to kiss.'

'Who the hell am I kidding? Uchiha's are perfect at everything… even a freaking kiss on the cheek.'

After the fourth fantasy, Sakura banished Inner Sakura to a dark corner before she developed a fetish for lips; and in a futile attempt to try and calm her frazzled nerves, Sakura re-read her favorite romance novel that consisted of the usual plot line for a smutty romance.

The heroin fights for her life against a psycho mad-man, and multitasks by snagging her reluctant hero, getting shagged senseless, and saving the day. Yet, even that didn't distract her enough, and it always worked.

'You know, I bet Sasuke would be an even better kisser than Hayate Isamu. I can imagine him bursting into our room right now, just like Hayate did, and pinning us to the bed to have his wicked way… God, I love this book even more now.'

So, Sakura decided, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Crawling out of her bed, she shimmied underneath it and grabbed a hefty box and pulled it out. Inside was a complete set of Icha Icha that Sakura had hoarded to herself since she had turned eighteen.

Skimming across the spines, she grabbed number 27, the most worn and faded since it was her favorite, before shoving the box back and crawling into bed.

Settling herself in, she was please to find that for the most part, her brain had shut off.

You didn't really need to use your brain when reading porn.


When Sakura woke up, she was surprised to find Inner Sakura shouting a mantra of 'oh my god'.

'Oh my god what?'

'We had the best dream last night.'

'Oh really' Sakura deadpanned.

'Yeah, Sasuke came into our room – like in the book, and then it took a turn towards Icha Icha and wow. We had some hot dream sex.'

'You're bluffing, I didn't dream about sex with Sasuke.'

'Stop trying to lie, you suck at it and I was dreaming right along with you.'

'Pfft. Well, whatever. Dream sex is just dream sex.'

'Maybe it will motivate you enough to get some real sex.'

'Just, shut up. I really don't want to deal with this in the freaking morning.'

Tiredly, Sakura rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hands before turning to the right to glance at her alarm clock. In bold neon green numbers, 7: 24 blinked at her.

'Yippee, a whole 5 hours of sleep last night.'

Letting out an irritated groan, she threw herself back upon her bed and burrowed deeper under her covers. After laying there for a half hour, she finally concluded she wasn't about to fall asleep anytime soon.

Tossing aside her comforter, she crawled out and gently fixed her bedspread before heading downstairs to start her coffee. Halfway down the hall while running on autopilot, the smell of coffee reached her nose, and Sakura thought nothing of it.

That is until she saw something blonde rummaging in her refrigerator. Then she panicked.

"What the fuck?" Sakura shouted moving into the kitchen quickly and glaring at Ino, her best friend, with a little frilly apron wrapped around her waist, shoving a plate of omelet into her face.

"Eat that," Ino ordered, before tending to the coffee.

Confused but not about to argue with food, Sakura sat down and dutifully dug into her omelet. She wasn't about to complain when someone else cooked for her.

Before she even ate her third bite of breakfast, Ino handed her a cup of coffee fixed perfectly to her preference, and Sakura quickly gulped down half of its contents in two gulps.

"Almost awake yet?" Ino smiled, knowing her friend wouldn't be fully functional until she took her shower.

"Closer," Sakura mumbled, blinking with doe-eyes at her friend while slowly rubbing the sleep out of them.

"You shouldn't rummage around in my kitchen in the morning without warning though," Sakura continued to mumble, "If you didn't have food ready, I would have hit you thinking you were Naruto stealing food."

Rolling her eyes, Ino scoffed, "I would have dodged."

"Naruto's tried. I'm an expert at sleep-and-beat."

"That's why I had food."

"Smart woman," Sakura nodded scooping up another large bite.

"I try," Ino laughed continuing to clean the mess she made in the kitchen.

Taking Sakura's plate when she finished, Ino added it to the stack of dishes to be washed on the counter while rolling up her sleeves and opening the dishwasher. Glancing over her shoulder, she smiled at Sakura who was just staring at her with a confused look upon her face.

"Go take you're shower forehead, then I'll tell you why I'm here."

"Are you pregnant?" Sakura asked, shoving her bangs out of her face and squinting at Ino.

Ino laughed, "No, Shikamaru and I are still working on that."

Sakura wrinkled her nose, "No details please."

Ino rolled her eyes while giggling, "I doubt you could handle them anyways."

Snorting but ignoring the comment, Sakura just shook her head while walking down the hall towards the bathroom fully intending to take a shower and finally wake up.

Once she was clean and awake, Sakura decided she felt partially human again. Wrapped in her fluffy white bathrobe, she made her way back down the hall and found her kitchen cleaner than she had left it, and Ino sitting on her couch with a cup of coffee in her hands.

Making her way to the end of the small loveseat across from Ino, she scooped up her second cup of coffee of the nearby table and inhaled its pleasant aroma appreciatively.

Turning her attention to Ino she grinned at her friend before taking a big gulp of coffee.

Ino laughed, "Good morning forehead-girl, about time you woke up."

Taking another sip, Sakura nodded her agreement, "Mhm, it is a good morning."

"So, how have you been forehead-girl?"

"Busy as usual."

"Nothing interesting what so ever has happened? I find that hard to believe… but hold that thought," Ino spoke, reaching into her purse and pulling out a tube of nail polish, "Look at what I bought! It's a new color that came out, it's like… turquoise."

Handing it over to Sakura along with some nail polish remover and cotton balls Sakura hadn't noticed on the coffee table, Ino smiled, "You have to wear it today."

"It's pretty," Sakura smiled, turning the bottle over to read the name, "Azure for Sure, I need to buy a tube of this."

"You can keep that one," Ino spoke, waving her hand dismissively while taking another sip, "I bought two. Now put it on while I talk. I want you in a good mood today."

Knowing Ino meant business, Sakura did what she was told, and quickly continued her morning routine.

"So, today is our girl day, and I was thinking I could cut your hair this morning before we meet the girls for brunch, and then we could go shopping while we wait for our 6 o'clock appointments at that new Spa. What do you think?"

"Sounds like a plan."

"That isn't what I meant."

"Ino-pig, it sounds great."

"Better. You should call me Queen-Ino though; I think we're past Ino-pig and forehead-girl now."

"And what would I be called?"

"Ahh… she-who-dances-with-knives."

"That's lame. I'm sticking with Ino-pig."

"Fine, fine Forehead-girl. You're so picky."
Giggling, Ino stood and walked over to Sakura and fingered the mass of pink hair hanging limply from her friends head.

Surprised at just how dead it looked, she wrinkled her nose.

"What the hell happened to your hair?"

"Ahh, Shishou altered it for a mission. It's a mess."

"Damn straight. How do you want it cut?"

"Whatever you think will look good, as long as I can put it up for missions."

"Got it girly. Go sit on the stool in the kitchen, while I go get my scissors."

"Yes ma'am."


After Ino had cut her hair, Sakura took another shower to wash the annoying bits of hair off her skin, before blowing her hair dry and scrutinizing the new cut in the mirror.

For the mission, Tsunade had used a jutsu to force it to grow out until it reached her waist, which unfortunately left it heavy, dead, and volume-less. Ino cut it so that it rested a little bit past her shoulders.

At least, the front part did. It got shorter in the back and stopped a little bit above her shoulders, giving it a nice shape to frame her face. She once again had bangs and so many layers in her hair, she couldn't tell where one ended and the other began.

Deciding she liked the new cut, Sakura smiled and wrapped a towel around her middle before opening the bathroom door.

Letting out a shout of surprise at Ino lurking outside the bathroom door, Sakura threw herself backwards and landed on her butt, narrowly missing hitting her head on the cabinets.

"What the hell Ino? I almost punched you in the face… with my freaking chakra! Are you suicidal?" Sakura growled while standing up.

"No, and you didn't, that's what matters," Ino mumbled her attention already on Sakura's hair.

Sakura rolled her eyes, turning around to humor her friend and give her a view of all angles.

After a few minutes of deliberation, Ino smiled, "It looks great on you."

Sakura scoffed, "I like it. Isn't that what matters?"

Putting her hands on her hips and stepping out of the doorway Ino snickered, "Sure, but it matters more if it looks good on you. I picked out an outfit for you. It's on your bed, go put it on, and hurry!"

"Yes mother."

"Sakura?"

"What?"

"Don't sass your mother."

Giggling and pulling her towel up a little higher, Sakura locked herself in her room and turned to look at the outfit Ino picked out for her.

The first thing she noticed was that it was not something out of her closet. Picking it up by the tiny little straps, and holding it up to her body, she decided the dark blue sundress was appropriate enough to wear in public.

Dropping the towel onto the floor and the dress upon her bed, she made her way to her dresser and began searching for her favorite strapless pink bra and matching panties.

Unable to find them, she huffed and settled for the black set quickly pulling them on before slipping the dress on over her head. Grabbing the pair of silver sandals sitting upon her bed waiting for her, she placed them on before noticing the little bag of make up.

With a sigh, she sat at her vanity and quickly dusted silver eye shadow upon her eye lids, following it with a black eyeliner, and mascara. Pulling a tube of red lipstick out of the bag, she gently put some on before putting the makeup back into the bag. Grabbing some money and her wallet, she placed them into a little purse before opening her door and heading back downstairs.

Ino was lounging upon her favorite chair and had probably gotten ready in half the time it took her. She was wearing a pretty dark green sundress and smiled at her, motioning for Sakura to join her.

"You've been planning this for a while now, haven't you?" Sakura asked, smiling as she sat down beside her friend.

Ino nodded, "We would have done this months ago… but you're schedule wouldn't allow it."

Sakura smiled sheepishly, before taking the cup of coffee Ino offered her.

"How did you get a vacation anyways?" Ino asked, tilting her head to the side and studying her carefully.

"Tsunade has been a scrooge about handing them out."

Sakura laughed, "I'll give you the whole story at brunch with the other girls, but the gist of it is that I almost killed my boys so… Sasuke, being the smart one, went to the Hokage and requested it."

"Smart man," Ino laughed daintily shaking her head and poking Sakura in the forehead.

"I guess your anger comes in handy sometimes."

Sakura nodded and said absently, "Mm it does, but I think confusing fits Sasuke better."

Instantly, Ino's attention zeroed in upon her and she leant in to better receive the information, "What happened?"

Worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, Sakura carefully decided how to word it.

"He told me I need to 'find myself a boyfriend' then kissed my cheek and told me he 'needs to approve of him first'," Sakura blurted out, adding in quotation marks while rolling her eyes.

"I have no idea what he meant by that, but after thinking about it, I've just come to the conclusion he enjoys confusing me."

Ino smiled slyly, "If you say so."

Sakura glared, "What information are you holding out on me?"

Shrugging, Ino continued to smile, "Nothing I just think he might like you… and that you might like him too."

Rolling her eyes, Sakura waved her hand dismissively, mimicking Ino's favorite movement, "I'm not twelve anymore, Ino-pig."

"No, you're not," Ino agreed, "Which is exactly why he might like you now."

Deciding not to comment, especially since it made her heart spasm with little bursts of hope, Sakura stood and pulled Ino up along with her, tactfully changing the subject.

"What time are we supposed to meet up with the girls?"

"Uh, 10:30 ish."

"Ino, its 10:20 and it takes approximately 20 minutes to walk there in these damn shoes."

"Oh damn."

Quickly scooping up her purse, Ino grabbed Sakura by her hand and pulled her out of the apartment.

"Hurry up and lock the door!" Ino ordered as Sakura laughed.

Huffing as soon as Sakura turned around again, Ino dragged Sakura down the stairs and then the entire way to the café, causing quite the scene.

When they finally arrived, four minutes late, Hinata and Tenten were already seated and waiting for them.

"Well, how nice of you to join us," Tenten teased, pointing to her watch and then at Ino who was never late. Ino quickly put the blame on Sakura.

"Sakura takes forever to get ready, and she just had to stop and tease me juicy details of what's happened to her so far this week."

Instantly, all attention was upon her and Ino smirked wickedly while they both took the empty seats at the table.

"Well, spill it out!" Tenten urged, while Hinata nodded after waving away a waiter.

"Yes, please tell us what has been happening."

With a sigh, Sakura rolled her eyes, "Where do you want me to start?"

"How about the part where you said you were going to kill your teammates?" Ino prompted, causing Tenten and Hinata to giggle.

"Isn't that everyday?" Hinata questioned.

Sakura shrugged, "Well, this was worse than most days…"

When she didn't continue, Tenten threatened to kick her shin.

"Okay, okay… so I had pulled a double shift at the hospital, and four hours after I got let off, Neji woke me up and told me the hospital needed me. It was a fucking mess since Shizune's round is entirely made of newbies or fucking hotshots who don't know shit, and I had to heal two critically wounded ANBU squads. Genma almost died twice, and even on his deathbed he tried putting the moves on me…"

Twenty minutes later, Sakura finished recalling her tale, and scooped up her cup of coffee and frowned slightly when she realized it had gone cold. Waving her hand at a waiter, she requested another one, and turned her attention to her friends who had gone oddly silent.

Ino cast a glance at both Tenten and Hinata who just nodded, and Sakura pretended to look confused. She knew what 'the-glance' meant.

"What?" she questioned, feigning confusion.

Adjusting herself in her seat, Hinata tilted her head to the side, "What are your feelings toward Sasuke-san?"

Tenten placed her elbow on the table, and rested her chin upon the heel of her palm, "Yeah, it seems like you like him sweetie."

Letting out a groan, Sakura glared at Ino before sighing exasperatedly, "Why does it matter? It's not going to change anything. We're teammates, that's it."

"But you want more," Tenten continued, suddenly serious.

'No point in trying to lie.'

"Yes, in fact, I do want more. Who wouldn't? I've been in love with him for years. Sure, when I first thought I was, it was extremely shallow of me, but then I got to really know him after he got back, and I haven't had a serious boyfriend since his return because I still love him and I compare any other guy I date to him. So, I don't bother dating and choose to be lonely, because I don't want to feel pathetic for still liking him all these years."

The girls stayed silent.

"Just because I like him, love him, doesn't mean I have to like it. It hurts. Especially when it isn't returned, so can we please let the subject of my feelings drop?"

Nodding their heads to keep Sakura in a pleasant mood, Tenten quickly changed the subject.

"Hinata slept with Naruto last night for the first time," Tenten giggled, leering at the girl over her cup of coffee.

"How do you know?" Sakura asked, glancing at Hinata who was blushing prettily beside the brunette.

"Ah, Neji was looking for her this morning, and found her at Naruto's house."

"And he assumed they slept together just because she had spent the night?" Ino frowned, "That's not very trusting."

Tenten giggled, "He wouldn't have thought that if Naruto hadn't answered the door naked and Hinata hadn't been cooking in the kitchen wearing a sheet."

"Oh."

"Wow."

Tenten nodded, "That's what I said."

"Was it good sex?" Ino asked, leaning forward on the table to discourage eavesdroppers.

Hinata nodded, "It was… wonderful."

"How many times did you guys go at it?"

Hinata bit her lip pretending to think, but raised four fingers.

"Oh wow," Ino giggled, "Shikamaru always falls asleep after the third."

"We only stopped because I was tired."

"Oh my god," Tenten and Ino groaned, "That isn't fair."

Sakura raised her eyebrows, and narrowed her eyes at Hinata, "How many times did you orgasm?"

Blushing even more, Hinata whispered, "I stopped counting after five."

Ino sat back with a huff, "Figures, that boy has crazy stamina."

"I'm surprisingly jealous," Sakura commented.

"Of her snagging Naruto and his insane stamina?" Tenten asked.

Sakura shook her head, "No, Naruto's like my big brother. Of the stamina maybe, but the sex is what I'm jealous of."

"When's the last time you had great sex, forehead-girl?"

"I can't remember."

"It was Kiba wasn't it!" Ino shouted. "That one fling you two had, where you were locked into his house like the whole day going at it like animals?"

Blushing, Sakura nodded.

"Oh my god honey, that was five years ago." Tenten gasped her eyes wide.

Ino's eyes widened, and she casually leant down and looked at her friends legs under the table, "Don't you have cobwebs down there?"

Sakura glared, "No. I've had a few flings, but they weren't great. They'd hit it and quit it, and never finished."

Even Hinata seemed surprised, "How did you last that long?"

Letting out a sigh, Sakura glared at her coffee, "Why do you think I work so much?"

"Oh honey."

"I really don't want a pity party."

The girls agreed.

"Well, after we eat, we'll go shopping and get you some killer freaking outfits so hot shinobi will notice you."

"And then you'll get great sex."

"And Sasuke might get jealous and then you'll get great Uchiha sex."

"Or angry sex," Ino added, "But that's hot too."

Sakura laughed, "Ah, okay. We can do the shopping and we'll see what else happens. I'm not promising anything."

With that said a waiter appeared before them and placed down the girls' usual orders and left them to eat.

"Who ordered?" Sakura asked, confused at never even seeing a menu yet.

Hinata smiled, "Tenten and I ordered our usual while we waited for you two."

Ino rolled her eyes, "I said I was sorry we were late. Now shut up and eat. We have shopping to do."


Just as the girls each reached into their purse and pulled out their halve of the bill, Sakura oddly stiffened in her chair before shrinking in it, and holding her wallet vainly over her face in a desperate attempt to not be seen.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Ino questioned, leaning to the right so she was right next to her friend behind the cover of the wallet.

"You see that lady at the door?" Sakura prompted, shrinking even lower in her seat.

Ino sat back in her chair and turned to look.

Hissing, Sakura grabbed for Ino and pulled her back towards her, "Don't look! She knows if you look at her, and then she'll come over here and harass me. She has weird psycho powers."

"Do you mean physic?" Hinata questioned.

Sakura shook her head, "No. I fully mean psycho."

Ino arched an eyebrow, removed Sakura's hand from her face and casually leaned back, flipping her hair over her shoulder and catching a quick glimpse of an elderly lady.

"You're terrified of an old lady."

Sakura looked disgruntled, "An old lady who really, really enjoys broadcasting her sex life, and making fun of mine which is virtually non-existent. Yet, the funniest part is, she thinks that Sasuke and I are dating so she's giving me all sorts of shit for not 'hitting that' yet."

Ino giggled, "She can't be that bad."

"Well shit," Sakura glared at Ino, "Speak of the devil, and she'll appear."

"Why hello Sakura-chan!"

The older woman practically purred her greeting as she draped herself over Ino's shoulder and Sakura meekly waved in greeting while dropping her wallet into her purse.

Ino flinched but offered a sickeningly sweet smile.

"Who are your darling friends?" 'Sex lady' asked.

Sakura rubbed her temples, "This is Ino, Tenten, and Hinata."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. Has Sakura let you into the interesting details of her tantalizing sex life? I would surely love to know."

Tenten coughed awkwardly, "Uh, no. We were just about to leave."

"What's your name?" Hinata asked, diplomatically, smiling politely.

Sliding right next to Ino, and curling her wrinkly arm over Ino's shoulder, the woman beamed, "Oh! How impolite of me. People call me Mimi, because I think it's just darling."

Hinata forced a smile, her lips settling into a grim line with her irritation, "What a pleasure to meet you, Mimi."

"The pleasure's all mine. Would you all like to hear a story? The other day, I literally bumped into your lovely friend Sakura here, and guess what she was up to?"

She paused, waiting for them to actively participate in her conversation.

Tenten conceded first, "What?"

Mimi grinned, "Why, she had been spending time with that delicious looking Uchiha boy."

Tenten shrugged, "Well, teammates are usually required to spend time together."

Ino nodded and shrugged the woman off her shoulders, "Yes, and it's customary that matters between teammates stays there. It usually isn't information for civilians. So if you excuse us, we have other matters to attend to."

Mimi giggled, unaware of Ino's frigid tone, "Sorry for the hold up, I just do love to gossip. Toodles!"

Without a backwards glance, each of the girls bolted up, scooping their things into their arms, and stormed to the door.

Once outside, Ino let lose a string of fowl words, grabbing Sakura's wrist and stormed towards the clothing district.

"I told you she was an annoying hag," Sakura grumbled.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE TRIED PRYING INTO YOUR LIFE! THAT WHORE!" Ino roared.

Patting Ino's arm, Hinata grabbed her wrist and slowed her down, "Its okay Ino, you handled it better than the rest of us."

"Yeah," Sakura smiled, squeezing Ino's arm, "Thanks for sticking up for me."

Eyes softening Ino smiled and nodded, slowing down her pace and relaxing, "Anytime forehead-girl."

Tenten laughed, "If it's any consultation, next time I see her and I'm in ANBU gear, I'll threaten to arrest her for indecent exposure."


Soon enough, the girls stopped by habit in front of Ino's favorite store 'Her Secret'.

Before Sakura could even mutter a protest, Tenten and Ino looped their arms through hers and pulled her into the dark shop. Expecting nude woman, and vulgar undergarments, Sakura was entirely surprised to find that the shop was actually tasteful.

The walls were painted a warm tan that didn't steal the attention away from the merchandise, which was properly displayed on mannequins and shelves.

"Oh wow," Sakura breathed, shrugging her friends off of her and heading towards the bra section.

The other girls grinned triumphantly.

"What type of underwear do you have, Forehead-girl?"

Sakura shrugged, "Some basic stuff, in normal colors, but not much cause I wear wraps and well… white underwear on missions."

"Want to know a secret?" Hinata smiled, walking over to Sakura with a lacy red panty set, "When you know your underwear is sexy, it makes a girl even more confident."

Ino nodded her agreement, "We're burning your old stuff, and buying you an entire new set of undies girly."

At the thought, Sakura grinned, "I guess it's a good thing I've been saving my money for a while, huh."

Tenten nodded, "Uh, yeah. When they did this to me, god, I had never spent so much money at once. I don't regret it though. Neji finally noticed that I am, in fact, a female."

"Oh!" Ino squealed, holding up a pretty black silk nighty, "We're updating your pajamas too!"

"Touch my pj t-shirts and die Ino-pig."

Ino grinned wickedly, "I won't."

"I'll burn your t-shirt that you stole from Genma. That you still have."

Ino gasped, "You wouldn't."

Sakura arched her eyebrows, "Then you better leave my pajama shirts alone. But we can still add some new stuff."

Tenten and Hinata laughed when Ino pouted but didn't pursue that subject.


Three hours later Ino, Hinata, Tenten, and Sakura were all loaded with bags of clothes that now officially belonged to Hokage's apprentice. It was unanimously decided that they would drop the bags off at Sakura's house before making their way to the Spa.

Walking past the market back towards Sakura's apartment, the girls laughed as Sakura attempted to make them hurry.

"Sakura, seriously, what's the big rush for?" Ino asked, slowly strolling beside her panicking best friend.

"I, it's just that. Sasuke and the guys are still in the village, and I'm carrying backs from 'Her Secret' and everyone knows that place only sells sexy underwear."

Tenten laughed, "What's wrong with sexy underwear? It's not like your wearing a sign that says 'I read porn'."

Sakura blushed and turned around to glare at the brunette, "It's practically just as bad!"

Slapping a hand to her forehead when her friends continued to laugh, she turned around and continued stomping in the general direction of her house.

"Uh, Sakura?" Ino called, attempted to hurry up and catch with her friend.

Sakura didn't reply, and even started walking faster.

"Well shit," Ino grumbled when Sakura all but barreled into Sasuke, launching her bags into the air, and landing on her butt for the second time that day.

Hinata looked at the mess through covered eyes, and Tenten continued pulling the girls along.


Sasuke had been inspecting tomatoes, and was surprised when he felt Sakura's chakra surging towards him. He turned towards her, expecting a greeting of some kind, and instead was struck stupid by the four bags dangling from her right arm.

'Sakura shopped at 'Her Secret'?'

The little fact was enough to have him standing there, a little less aware of his surroundings as his thoughts wandered to Sakura in sexy underwear.

It was in that moment that she ran into him, launching her bags into the air, and he was thankfully in the right enough frame of mind to catch them before the contents scattered all over the ground leaving everyone to see Sakura's new sexy underwear.

The fact that she was red in the face gave him the strange urge to tease her.

Squatting down before Sakura, he smirked down at her when she blushed even more at the mere fact he was holding bags that contained her underwear.

'He's holding my thongs.' Sakura despaired.

'It's not that bad. I wish I knew what underwear he was wearing.'

'Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. Oh god.'

"Uh, can I have those back please Sasuke-kun?"

He grunted and shook his head no.

Reaching into one of the bags, he pulled out a lacy red thong out on his pointer finger and the corners of his lips quirked up in amusement before returning it back into the bag before anyone else could see.

Mortified Sakura quickly snatched the bags out of his possession; her cheeks flamed red as Sasuke coughed to cover a smile and stood.

"I have to go," Sakura squeaked as she scrambled up, taking a step around him to the left, and sprinting to her household.

The rest of the girls continued to walk at a normal pace towards Sakura's home, Ino patting Sasuke's shoulder as they passed, snickering at the man's blank expression.

Shaking his head and smirking broadly, Sasuke continued his way home, making a quick stop into 'Her Secret' for a gift for his flustered teammate.


When the trio found Sakura, she was already sorting out the clothing into piles by color so they could be properly washed, and desperately fighting off the embarrassment of Sasuke seeing her underwear.

Ino decided that now wasn't the time to tease her about it, so instead the girls helped her sort out the clothes before heading towards the spa.

After spending three hours getting massages, pedicures, and facials, the girls sat in the lobby of the spa sipping tea and felt as if the day had been well spent.

"That was the best massage ever," Hinata quietly sighed, stretching her arms over her head.

"I feel wonderful," Sakura smiled.

"We should get massages every week," Ino breathed, breaking out into a wide grin.

Tenten and the others nodded their agreement before settling back down and enjoying the quiet.

After a few minutes spent in silence, Ino began looking for a clock, "Just what time is it?"

"It's about half an hour past nine, miss," a lady behind the counter smiled.

Hinata gasped, "I'm going to be late for dinner!"

"Shit!" Ino hollered, "Me too!"

Tenten rolled her eyes and turned to Sakura, "Their dinner is at 11, but you know how long it takes them to get ready."

Sakura giggled and nodded, "Yeah, I know."

Waving a vague goodbye from Ino and Hinata, Tenten and Sakura had a more leisurely departure.

"I'm starving," Tenten grumbled as they slowly walked home, "Neji should be home within an hour, maybe he'll want to go out for dinner."

Sakura smiled, "Mhm, I'm hungry too."

"Do you want to join Neji and I for dinner?"

Sakura shook her head no, "Ah, my mom left me this delicious recipe I want to try out."

'Liar Liar, pants on fire.'

'I don't want to intrude.'

"Okay," Tenten smiled, pausing on the corner where they had to turn onto separate streets, "I'll see you tomorrow sometime?"

Sakura nodded, "Yeah, good night Tenten."

"G'night Sakura!"


Heading home, Sakura slowed her pace even more and enjoyed the quiet settling in as the shops closed up, and the last stragglers of shop owners and shoppers went home.

Letting out a wistful sigh, she allowed herself to envy the other families hurrying home to their loved ones, while she went home to an empty house.

'You should get a boyfriend'

Sasuke's words came back to bite her in the ass, and she couldn't help but frown at herself.

She knew that she wanted a boyfriend, the trouble was getting one. It was almost an impulse of hers that she compared every possible candidate to Sasuke, and then, when someone actually passed that little hurtle, the boys always scared him off.

'You're ruining our good mood.' Inner Sakura groused, pulling Sakura out of her own self-pity party.

'You're right.'

'Don't worry, we'll get a boyfriend. We'll just wear something new tomorrow, spice things up, and we'll see what happens.'

'I suppose that couldn't hurt.'

'Flirting won't hurt you either.'

'No, I suppose it wouldn't.'

While having a pity party and then conversing with Sakura, she reached her house sooner than she had intended.

Just like always, the building looked cold and standoffish, and didn't feel like a home.

Nibbling on her lower lip, Sakura focused chakra to her feet and walked up the wall to the fourth floor and towards her balcony.

'Maybe we should move. New scenery would do us some good too.'

'A new start?'

'Yeah, like an entire makeover of our life.'

'I suppose it couldn't hurt.'

'It's probably not going to happen right away, I… we should just keep our eyes open for something.'

'I'm all for the idea, no need to argue with me.'

'Okay, good.'

'Mhm.'

Wandering in towards the kitchen, making her way through the dinning room, she flipped on lights as she went. At the smell of a simple beef stew, she was surprised to find a meal already set up at her dinning room table. Her plate was set up, with utensils, and a bottle of sake was placed on the table as well.

Curious, she made her way over to it and snatched up the note resting on her plate.

'Here's to the simple things.'

'Here's to the simple things? What does that mean?'

'Ah, no idea.'

Nibbling on her lower lip, she opened up the pot simmering on a table burner, and gently reached out with her chakra checking for poison. When none was detected, she scooped some up into her bowl, poured herself some sake and enjoyed not having to cook.

When she finished eating, she carefully cleaned everything up before wandering into her laundry room to grab one of those new negligees to wear.

When she wasn't greeted with chaotic piles of clothes with all the tags still on them, she was confused.

'Someone broke into our house to steal our clothes? What is wrong with the world?'

Looking into the washer and dryer, nothing was in there so she wandered into her room with her mood darkening. Yanking her pajama door open, she was surprised to be greeted by the negligee she had in mind, folded nicely and tucked in neatly among her other clothes.

"What the hell?" Sakura shouted, pulling it out of the drawer before stripping off her clothes and pulling it on.

'This is weird. Someone cooking me food and washing my laundry before folding it and putting it away? Yeah, weird.'

'Maybe it was Shizune.'

'She's on a mission.'

'Well, it has to be someone we're close to. They're just being nice; we should leave it at that.'

Deciding that was a smart idea, Sakura wandered back into the kitchen to get another cup of Sake before settling into her bed with a new romance novel. Fighting to keep her eyes open and find out if Ume got the man or not, Sakura lost the battle and fell asleep with the book open on her chest, her head tilted back against the headboard and her legs curled to the side, the weird clothe washing incident forgotten.


ps. Rating has been bumped up to M because of multiple sexual references, and some things soon to come in the future. :P

Review? I'd really, really love you.