It came as an absolute surprise to Sakura that Ino had kept in touch with a lot of their mutual friends over the years. She hadn't remembered her to be particularly warm with anybody but it seemed they'd still hung around regardless. After pulling a few strings, Ino had even convinced some of them to come together in celebration. In Sakura's mind, there needn't be such a fuss over moving into her very first apartment but Ino wouldn't hear a word of it. Before Sakura knew it she was walking down the street huddled under a very unhelpful umbrella simultaneously towards the past where she had left her friends and the future where she would take them with her.
The whole little event felt overwhelming if nothing else but one step over the threshold and she knew the night would be an exciting one to say the least. The meeting place was a quaint restaurant, vaguely mexican-themed with heavy emphasis on drinking enough to forget that the polar bear was not native to Mexico, and therefore should not be portrayed on the mural of Mexican culture that was painted on the wall. In the far corner, Sakura could see Ino's long ponytail swishing with every mannerism she threw into her speech. Though she couldn't hear a word the girl spoke, she could see someone's face lighting up with laughter. The corners of her mouth itched to smile along with them. Hastily she shook her umbrella before heading toward the table.
"Hey!" cried a voice from behind her in excitement. Sakura turned to see a spiky-haired blonde boy looking absolutely elated to see her. Teetering dangerously in his hands and corners of his elbows were an assortment of drinks, the belly of his shirt already darkened with the stain of some spilled drink. "Did you just get here? Want me to go back and get you a drink?" He offered, beaming at her.
"No, no, here let me help you." Sakura smiled sheepishly, taking the drinks nestled in the crook of his arm that looked most in danger of being dropped. It felt strange standing next to Naruto Uzumaki. He and Sasuke had never quite gotten along. In essence they were rivals through and through, whose tempers would often get the better of them. A rivalry comparable to she and Ino's, even. Sasuke had kept her awake many nights miserable over the thought of the blonde boy besting him in anything. It was that fierce competitiveness that drove the two men apart. While Sasuke never truly gave up his desire to be the best at virtually anything, Naruto had learned some things were more important than winning, his nature no longer suitable to Sasuke's competitiveness.
She shuffled after him to the table where Ino was still standing, with her hands on her hips talking to those in the booth. "Took you long enough Naru ― oh, Sakura you're here!" Ino chirped happily, clasping her arm quick around the pink-haired girl's shoulders and pulling her close as if to show her off to the table, her audience while she continued her vulgar tale she'd been recounting moments before. The liquor on the blonde's breath told Sakura this party had already begun for her.
"She's been drinking already," Naruto explained, "She got here early to make sure everything would be perfect." He carefully extracted one of the glasses from Sakura's hands and handed it over to one of the boys sitting at the table. Their eyes met and Sakura couldn't help but smirk a little. Shikamaru Nara was one of the few guys Sakura had ever seen Ino bother to date, and though they were long since over with, their love life hadn't been tumultuous enough to ruin their friendship.
"Hey there." Shikamaru greeted half-heartedly, looking tired despite the grim smile on his face. Beside him, a chubby boy with long brown hair, Choji, smiled genuinely up at her before returning to the food dishes that littered the table.
Before Sakura could muster a hello, Ino was reaching into her arms for the final drink Sakura had been holding, which was evidently her's, slopping some of the concoction onto the floor but laughing despite herself.
"How troubleso ― " Shikamaru began.
"Hey hey! None of the t-word here, Nara!" Ino snapped, taking a brave gulp of her drink that left her shuddering long after the drink had gone down. "This is a celebration!" With brash confidence she steered Sakura into the booth, quickly scooting after her. Sakura was glad the blonde had taken a few gulps from her drink or it would've been spilled everywhere with her clumsy movements. On her other side, Naruto smiled and shrugged, nursing his own drink slowly. Sandwiched between the two blondes she would sit chatting amongst them for hours at Ino's persistent request ― "you gotta stay, Sakuraaaaaa" ― until the lights had come on and the place was shutting down for the night.
― ―
"Ino!" Naruto cried in exasperation, a disappointed scowl crossing his usual cheerful features. "How am I supposed to take you home now? How could you lose your keys?!"
Ino smiled easily, leaning dependently on Sakura's shoulder. Outside the restaurant it was damp and cool, the last remnant of the torrential downpour that had left Sakura soggy earlier that evening. "Some guy asked me for my number." she said simply, as if it had made all the sense in the world. "I couldn't think of a fake number to give him so I just handed him my keys."
"You always do this, christ!" Naruto huffed, though the trace of a smile flitted across his lips. "Did you even tell him where you live?"
At this, Ino smiled wider, exposing her white teeth. "He didn't even ask, the dumb drunk." Obviously the hypocrisy of her own words had gone right over her head, but Sakura couldn't help but laugh.
"She can stay at my place, I don't mind." Sakura said with the remnant of a laugh still in her voice. It felt extraordinary to be able to call somewhere her place. Ino hadn't been available for the moving-in (forcing Sakura to finally say yes to her father's, "Need some help, sweetpea?"), so she would decidedly be her very first guest.
Naruto paused, unsure whether it was a good idea, but Ino piped up louder than necessary, "To Sakura's place!" They said their goodbyes and headed in opposite directions, Sakura knowing full well that Naruto was peering over his shoulder every so often to make sure they were still alright. The guy had a big heart.
It may not have been a long walk from the apartment but certainly felt longer on the way back shouldering Ino's near dead-weight precarious steps. Every so often, Ino would sniff or clear her throat but was otherwise quiet for the walk, very different from her uproarious state earlier as she entertained the table and drank.
As they carefully clambered up the stairs to her third floor apartment, Ino said quietly in the shell of Sakura's ear, "I don't want to throw up." Her alcohol-stained breath felt like a cloud surrounding Sakura's head and she felt her ears burn red.
"I don't want you to throw up either." Sakura answered as steadily as she could, hoping for some fresh air once she was able to put the blonde on a nice soft surface without fear of her breaking her neck. Every key on the ring seemed to be wrong with Ino's hot breath falling in smooth elegant puffs on her neck. Finally she managed to jam the right key in with a rough shove and hurried into her apartment.
The stark white walls still felt so unfamiliar in comparison to the warm colors she had chosen for the home she and Sasuke had shared. An obstacle course of moving boxes still lay here and there between the door and her bedroom, Sakura adjusted her grip on Ino's hip and shuffled her across the room.
Her bed was made and covered with an abundance of pillows and for Sakura's aching shoulders from dragging Ino, it couldn't have looked more comfortable. Ino groaned gratefully as she sagged into the softness, curling her legs up to clumsily drop her shoes to the ground.
"Well?" Ino said suddenly, struggling over top the covers until she'd successfully slithered beneath him. "Aren't you going to kiss me goodnight?"
Sakura paused, looking at the pathetically drunk blonde, snuggled deep in her sheets, in her bed, in her smell. Her lips were pursed, no doubt dripping with the taste of bitter alcohol and whatever quiet taste of chapstick that managed to survive the night. For a few excruciatingly long moments she considered the idea, the invitation hanging in the air with the weight of the world on those words and yet Sakura couldn't help feeling feather-light, like her head was in the clouds, her heart fluttering excitedly in her chest.
"Goodnight, Ino."
The blonde stared, seeming on the cusp of saying something else but chose instead to smile to herself as if a secret had just been shared between the two of them. Whatever the secret may have been, she seemed to be relishing in it.
Swiftly, Sakura retrieved a small trashcan from the bathroom and placed it delicately beside the bed where Ino's head lay in the event she found the urge to vomit profusely. Better to be safe than sorry. Evidently she hadn't been too swift for by the time she'd returned, Ino was fast asleep. She envied the blonde for being able to so effortlessly drift off, no worry or concern too large to keep her grey-blue eyes open a second longer than they needed.
With her bedroom floor protected and the blonde sound asleep, Sakura climbed into bed beside her, their backs just barely touching. She thought guiltily of the last person she'd shared a bed with and what it had meant, bringing tears welling silently in her eyes. That kind of love and intimacy was long gone and she had little feelings left to linger on Sasuke but Ino's warm back against hers stirred something in her she hadn't realized she'd ever missed.
This simple physical closeness, hearing Ino's steady breathing and her sides rising and falling in a quiet procession. This familiarity where she could lay beside a warm body without feeling resentment or sadness. It had felt fine lying alone while staying at her parents, texting Ino far into the night until one of them had fallen asleep. It had felt fine, lying here beside the blonde, sharing body heat and the same air, it felt more wonderful than she could've ever imagined.
The thought of spending tomorrow night alone felt terribly lonely.
I just bought Animal Crossing: New Leaf. My mayoral duties keep distracting me from writing ;-;