I was supposed to update this in advance but in the end, I'm a bit late. -_-' I sincerely apologize.

Thank you to all of those who reviewed, fav or added this fic to their alert list. Your doing keeps me in line and makes me update faster. ;)

Please, enjoy! :)

-X-

Unnoticed Perfection
by Clementive

Sakura Haruno often looked over her shoulders over the years, calculating how far she had come, how far she had distanced herself from him. She would sigh reassured when the sight of her as a little girl remained behind still chained to her old demon. She didn't need to look up at anyone anymore because she considered that she had accomplished much on her own, fighting her way through med school, keeping her old insecurities at bay.

She could do this, Naruto taught her as much. She could walk and keep fighting for higher achievements. She could destroy any wall with her bare hands.

However, when she looked in Sasuke's onyx eyes, she felt as if she rejuvenated, intoxicated. She regressed within herself in the teary creature she had been. The little girl with long pink hair was back, hunched on her shoulder, staring back at the tall handsome man with her heartbeat pounding in her ears.

"I heard you are engaged to that idiot of Naruto," Sasuke smirked, his eyes drifting over her shoulder to the empty house. "May I come in?"

Sakura stood frozen, when his hand reached for her cheek. She almost leaned forward, remembering the velvet of his touch but her name vibrated from far away reaching her in a warm caress. The two sides of her fought, screaming.

Then, the arm gave away in a mix of dark blue and orange.

Hell broke loose, limbs and body leaning in the fight, hammering frustration on another's body. The scream left her tongue before she could weigh it; its shrill hissing with everything within her that had fought him as her darkest demon.

The two boys rolled on the ground, crushing her mother's flowers until Naruto's knees closed over his neck. The first blow came, erupting in splatter of blood on the blond's below lip.

"What the hell are you doing here?!"

Blood dripped and she was years back in junior year, holding on the loose ends of their friendship for them. At the time, she thought she wouldn't lose either of them if she stood in the middle of their fight. Now, she thought she would lose them both if she did.

"You bastard, I came to apologize and you are here!"

"You still fight like a girl, idiot."

"Stop it!" The scream didn't weaken, shaking every part of her mind in repulsion and fear. Yet, blows kept raining. They may as well be hitting her.

Suddenly, Sasuke bent over his stomach, blood raising to his head. He choked on air, the pain still searing through his abdomen. Naruto, skin flushed with anger, stood over him breathing hard. An old fear rushed through her veins as she saw the calm coldness creeping on her fiancé's face. Slowly, he sat on him. He kept hitting him, slicing his own phalanxes repeatedly on Uchiha's face.

"Stop it, you are hurting him!"

Her yell stopped him and a tremor ran through his body when he lowered his fists. Then, piercing cerulean eyes turned towards her. Tears poured down her cheeks, the image of his picture severed in her bedroom's floor flashing trough her mind. Shakily, she advanced towards them flustered fingers grabbing his shirt. Curious neighbours gathered watching in horror at the blood staining the grass and Sasuke's breath was a mere hiss.

"He hurt you, Sakura," he panted over every syllable of his shout. "Do you think he cared, back there? Do you think he cares now?"

Sasuke spat blood, his ears burning and his shoulders shaking. Naruto narrowed his eyes, his fists raising once more pushing her away as gently as he could. Stubbornly, Sakura stepped between them, pleading the blond to stop it in a little voice. Behind her, she heard someone screaming about calling the police.

"You are laughing, bastard?" She grabbed hold of his shirt once more and she folded in his arms, her tears rolling down his neck along with the blood through his ripped lip. "She cries and you still find this funny?"

Again, he pushed her away gently as she hiccuped and she could hear her heart breaking. It beat between them and she sunk to the grass, holding her sides.

"Sakura," the older boy rasped and he didn't laugh anymore.

"You know I hate people who lie to themselves," the blond said evenly, wiping the blood from his lip. "So, choose now, Sakura. Is it him or me?"

Sasuke turned his bruised swollen face towards her, his onyx eyes vaguely interested. A siren's slow shrill cleaved the tense air, red and blue passing over their forms. She closed her eyes, the colour imprinted on her retina.

She stepped between them and she lost one of them. She was still the little girl clinging to the idea of being loved by one and loving the other.

She could fight it, Naruto taught her as much over the years. She tucked at his warm hand when the police officer gripped his other arm reading him his rights.

Sasuke's eyes were still watching them with interest.

"This isn't over," he spat at her feet and she knew it was a promise.

-X-

Absentmindedly, Ino toyed with a strand of her long hair. Her long legs ached and the position of her arm felt unnatural over her chest. 'Why did I agree to that?' She turned her head, her glance travelling down the crease between his brows, to the set of his jaw. Every time Shikamaru ran his pencil over the page of his sketch book, his shoulder jolted and his muscle tensed.

He committed to his art the point she didn't think possible considering the way he barely bothered with everything else. He leaned on the paper as if he could pour himself himself onto it, strain it with himself before casting anything else onto it.

"Stop moving, troublesome woman," the genius grumbled exasperatedly. "I can't draw you if you keep worming around like that."

She flushed sighing loudly before stilling once more. Pictures were quick, painless when it came to the pose. Drawing was slow, resting on her every lines, capturing the light and the rest in a careful stroke. Earlier, the mention of him exposing at the art gallery of the town next to the village sent sparks of excitement through her blood. So when the proposition came, she clung to it thinking it was the only thing she could do right. A pretty smile and an exposed skin.

She didn't know anything else when it came to men. When it came to love.

Shikamaru, however, frowned and moved her body, barely touching her as if he was modelling her out of clay. His fingers worked with precision, arranging her without softening the edge the way Deidara used to before a shooting. He didn't ask for a smile or her exposed abdomen, it was all in the posture.

"You're not paying me enough to ease the ache I feel in every pore of my body, Shika," she pouted trying to attract his attention to her face, to a place she could control.

"Fine," he gave in setting his pencil down. He slipped a blank thin page over his sketch before putting it down on his coffee table, "We can take a 15 minute break."

She sighed in relief, her fingers working on the muscles of her arm. Cat-like, she stretched as he sat down on the couch next to her.

"Will you come to the gallery opening?"

"Sure," she shrugged, her fingers now working on the muscle of her calves.

He cleared his throat, running a hand through his hair. He hated the way, she didn't mind him asking as if it was only natural and logical. He could see the image of the small boy he was coming back to espouse his features, his portrait long forgotten.

"I meant as in 'with me', troublesome woman."

She paused watching him carefully. His naked shrivelled chest lasted in her mind, but with his shirt on, with sluggishness lingering in all of his movements, he was still the little boy that yawned and slept through all of his classes.

"As in a date?" Ino managed avoiding his dark glance.

"Why, yes."

She blinked slowly thinking of the possibility of having Shikamaru's fingers lingered on her body. His touch still smelled of her childhood. He overlooked her beauty in a way that unsettled her, he didn't ask her to pose for him; she asked him if she could do it.

Now, she regretted it. Maybe, she hoped for Deidara's way of running his fingers through her hair or shape the perfection on her body and then comment on her symmetrical face.

Besides, she couldn't fight the way her chest still burnt whenever she thought of Deidara. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to tell him off while rolling her eyes, the way she did with errand boys through high school and then, later at the capital.

"Kiss me," she ordered, turning her body towards his.

The couch squeaked under her and his body stiffened. The air still smelled of pepper and tobacco. She merely wished something within her would tell her that everything is changed. That Shikamaru Nara isn't just her childhood friend or that Deidara really did break up in the most ungentlemanly way possible.

"What?" He coughed while she forced his hands around her thin waist.

"I want to know if it would be awkward," she explained seriously, imprisoning his face between her hands. "We've been friends since we're in diapers. You can't ask me on a date unless we settle this. So, com'on, Shika, kiss me."

It took him a few seconds before moving despite the impatience he saw boiling within her. Shikamaru leaned closer, watching the golden flickers of her irises. His hand ran up her spin holding her neck while his other arm circled his waist pressing her closer.

"Are you sure, troublesome woman?"

Ino's pale skin flushed, his breath caressing her cheek. Her nails dug in his shoulders and she didn't trust her voice. She still hesitated between drawing her closer or pushing him away. His fingers worked her scalp sending jolts of electricity through her veins. Suddenly, she pulled him closer, her eyes fluttered closed and she waited.

Then, her phone ringtone startled them but they remained clinging to another one.

"I say you ignore it," he muttered huskily, his lips softly brushing her cheek.

"Sorry, it could be my dad," she stammered dry-mouth.

Detaching her body from his, she stepped away from his couch. Shakily, she fumbled through her purse for her phone, his warmth still cloaking her body. She wanted it gone, she didn't want change.

"Hello?"

"Hey, beautiful. Where the hell are you? I have knocked on your door like ten times during the last two weeks now, hm. Your landlord told me today that you left town."

"I'm in Konoha," she cleared her throat, crossing her arms over her chest.

Her heart fluttered in her chest; 'he hadn't forgotten me.' She almost laughed at her own stupidity. He couldn't forget her this easily, they had baggage, a relationship. She pressed her cellphone closer to her ear, trusting the concern in his voice.

"Alright, I will drive there over the weekend. I've missed you, beautiful, hm."

Her breakfast weighed heavily in her stomach and she looked down at her hands. She imagined them big and chubby; the paws of a pig.

"I've missed you too, Dei."

Shikamaru flinched, standing up without a word to grab his sketchbook. When his arm brushed hers, she jumped locking eyes with his. He saw in her posture that she had almost forgotten that he was there, standing on his feet, drawing her, wanting to kiss her. While she didn't.

"I will call you when I leave. Love you, beautiful."

"Ok," Ino said weakly. "I love you too, Dei."

Hurt flashed through his eyes. Long after Deidara hung up, she kept her phone pressed to her ear not wanting to face Shikamaru immediately with his proposal.

"Forget it," he said coldly for her walking away with his sketch book.

"About that kiss... It was silly of me, I'm sorry, Shika. I have a boyfriend," her voice sounded more apologetic than it should have been.

A part of her heart sank when he merely shrugged. She wished she could take it all back and fall back in her perfect pattern that brought them closer.

Later, his fists hit the wall the second she left, smiling and smothering her skirt. Pain sprang through his muscle and the wall stood still, unscratched.

He was back to being unnoticed.

-X-

"It was so scary," Sakura shivered her lips closing around the straw of her milkshake. "My mom thought somehow had slaughtered a pig in her garden."

"Oh please, forehead, two boys were fighting over you. Give me a break, you enjoyed the show at some point." Ino rolled her eyes leaning back on the red shiny booth.

The Mexican décor and the greasy spicy smell of the restaurant held now a certain comfort for the blond woman. Spanish unraveling from the screeching speakers was the sound of her laughter joining Sakura's band of friends. They drank beer when Kiba's shift finished and the light would gleam above their table.

The capital had nothing like that.

The pink haired woman glared at her, her emerald eyes shifting around.

"Where the hell is Tenten with her million sarcastic comments on-the-ready. Your jealousy just isn't as enjoyable, Pig."

"Shut it, forehead!" she hissed, blushing.

All her memories attached to the dark haired boy tasted of bitter betrayal when it came to Sakura. Her friend blended so perfectly in his group in a way Ino never could. By then, she ran between shooting appointment already drifting away from them or her any chance of winning Sasuke's affection. She remembered watching with jealousy pulsing through her as they grew closer and Naruto's face, sullen. At a party near the end of high school, she pressed her lips against the blond's in a cold passionless kiss. Instead of dulling the pain, they lay back aching for more.

Naruto eventually got the girl and she didn't. She packed her things and flew to a new kingdom exposing her body in a way she knew Sasuke couldn't miss. Then, came Deidara. Ino bit her below lip, pushing her milkshake away from her analyzing every word he had told her over the phone.

He was coming.

The perspective of having him back both unsettled her and drew her in. It was the same feeling she had whenever she ordered her cookie dough milkshake. But, that feeling was already slipping away from her. Including Shikamaru.

"Earth to pig!" Sakura snapped her fingers in front of her face earning a sheepish smile from the blond.

"Sorry," she distracted herself by looking around. "Seriously, where's Tenten? I sent her 10 texts."

She shook her head scrolling down on her unanswered text messages she sent the brunette hours ago. Guilt still clung at her sides whenever she thought of Tenten and her comment about the Hyuuga cold man. 'Lately, it's like my talking causes only trouble.' It used to be simple, with Deidara, the way he had never been with Sasuke or any other boyfriend she had been with.

"I don't know, she's not picking up but she would have barged in here the moment she learned of Sasuke and Naruto fighting. Especially that, I had to bail Naruto out... This is so unlike her."

"Try Neji's number," Ino offered shrugging, her red nails drawing the pattern of her glass.

Sakura blinked slowly, releasing her deepened frown. An embarrass blush settled on her cheeks.

"She's the only one who has his number, I think... and Shikamaru, I suppose. Oi, KIBA!"

The waiter raised a brow, as he kept writing down a couple's order. Kiba gave them a glower before nodding carefully at what the red haired woman in front of him said. Later, he trotted to the kitchen, mouthing a curse to them.

"You're so useless, forehead girl."

"Am not, pig! Usually, Tenten is the one who calls in the meetings. She's never missed one before." she bit her lip. "You think, she's in trouble?"

"I hope it's because you want to order something else or my boss will strangle the living hell out of me," Kiba growled cutting off Ino's reply while tucking at his sombrero.

"Spill whatever you know on Tenten, Inuzuka!"

The tall dark haired young man grinned leaning on the table with his two palms. The flirtatious edge in his posture was lost on his costume of Mexican. Faintly, Ino felt Shikamaru's fingers on her scalp. She shook her mind. 'He's in love,' she thought watching him carefully. Her beauty was once more forgotten, abandoned on her face that she felt growing bigger, fatter. This time, her milkshake almost neared the edge of the table.

"A little bird told me, they had a fight."

"Who's 'they'?"

"Well, Neji and Tenten of course! You guys didn't notice, the guy is also no where to be found."

The two young women looked at each other. Frowning, they looked down at their cell phone scrolling through their historic looking for a clue.

"Why didn't she complain to us?"

"Like hell, I know. She's probably at the shooting range, though."

Kiba shrugged tapping on his pad with his pen. When out of the corner of his eye, he saw his boss pocked his head out of the kitchen, he straightened his back.

"So, what it is going to be, ladies?" he asked in a shout, grinning at his boss. "We have excellent cocktails and nachos."

The doors of the kitchen flew closed and his grin dropped. He slid on the booth, hushing Sakura closer to the window.

"Listen, my little bird told me it was serious. Neji's all sullen and shit."

"Your little bird is Hinata, isn't it?" Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Maybe," he smiled broadly a mysterious glint in his dark eyes, taking a sip from her drink.

Ino blamed it on her career, on the way people looked at her, smiling at her face rather than at her. Her insides twisted in a tight knot, jealousy whirling within her. Even when it came to Sasuke years ago, she thought she was the pretty one compared to Sakura while she was the brainy one.

In the end, it didn't matter.

In the end, only the count did. She felt the irresistible need to weigh herself and calculate the number of calories she could cut to disappear deeper within her skin. At least, then, her face wouldn't be as unnoticed.

"What else did she say?"

Ino felt herself nodded but she watched Kiba's face instead and the easy joy that curved his lips. He shared his laugh like he distributed their drinks, uncaring at the person who asked for it but dedicated to the way it was delivered.

"That, he had been sending her flowers, like everyday."

His hands moved, weighing the impact of his exasperation. Ino admired his genuineness, the fact that he lived his life to his fullest, pausing at each of his feeling to voicing its proper resonance before passing to the next one. She wished she could do as much and throw her hands in the air every time she thought of Shikamaru, yelling how lost she felt, how she missed Deidara and wished Sasuke had once looked at her.

"You lazy bum! Clear the 42! I don't pay you to sit with your friends and chitchat with them until my dishes turn cold!"

Abruptly, Kiba jumped to his feet, saluting them with a move of his sombrero before leaping back in the kitchen. Deadpanned, Sakura turned towards her, pressing her hand on hers.

"Can I stay with you for a couple of days? They told me that Sasuke's anklet won't allow him beyond the park and your house is on the other side of town." She shuddered thinking of his last words and his velvet voice.

"Yeah, sure, no problem. My dad will be glad to have you over." She faked a smile the way she used to when anyone asked her to join them for lunch. "Sasuke's trial begins soon so it's really no problem."

Her missed meals would go unnoticed as they always do. Hunger blunted her senses, softened the edge of her voice.

It made her free, noticeable and beautiful.

In the end, to her, it was all that truly mattered.

But her fingers turned her straw in the consistent liquid of her milkshake while Sakura squeezed her hand. Her nose was still filled with tobacco and pepper.

-X-

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Until next time! ;)