Chapter 7: When All Is Said And Done

Sakura sped by, breaking records, shattering wood and covering herself in splinters, scratches, bruises and deeper cuts. But for all she cared, it was the least of her worries right now, because her friend's life was in danger. Ino's life was at stake.

She leaped frantically, only a few meters away now, throwing a handful of shurikens at full blast to try and deflect the trajectory of the deadly kunai. There was nothing else she could attempt before the inevitable impact, and she hoped it had worked. Oh god, she hoped beyond belief that it had been enough.

Ino had decided to use her last few seconds to attack the other guy, surprising him by placing a round kick right under his chin and sending him flying into a tree. So he didn't know I was in… urgh… Her thinking stopped as the body she was in coughed blood, a sharp pain seizing her chest causing her to double over and fall on her knees. And she then remembered another particularity of her jutsu her parents had told her about. If her own body was damaged while she wasn't in it, she would still feel the pain. But the damage would not be transferred over, to the contrary of damage done on the host's body, so why was she coughing blood?

Her question was answered when she saw the point of a spear planted through her host's chest, as her vision started blurring. She didn't think, only formed the hand seal to release the jutsu. The last thing she heard was Chouji's desperate yelp. Then she was back in her body, the pain still as sharp, her throat still bubbling with blood, and Sakura holding her with the most sad expression she had ever seen on her friend's face. She wanted to say something, reassure her friend, hold her tight, tell her how much she loved her. But no word came, and she passed out, just as she noticed the tears on Sakura's face through her clouded sight.

"Ino! Don't leave me. You don't have the right to die now!" Sakura yelled between sobs as her friend's body became limp, the blood on the corner of her mouth already drying. The sight was unbearable. Sakura wanted to fall on her knees and cry herself to sleep, death even. It had hurt to lose Sasuke, but it had been nothing compared to the pain she felt now at the prospect of losing her very best friend. Then something nagged at her, a strength she didn't know she had, a power beyond what she had ever imagined she could possess. Her body mechanically picked up the kunai that had been effectively deflected and had ended it's course in the tree trunk and she leaped down, a war cry of an impressive magnitude echoing in her trail. "You bastard!" She yelled as she gathered her chakra inside the kunai and swung it at the staff and spear wielding mist nin -the one that had killed his own teammate - who was about to send Chouji flying once again. The guy dodged the direct blow rather easily, but was nonetheless struck by the wave of pure power that Sakura had released. The pink haired girl didn't even wait for him to touch the ground as she leaped over him, nearly sitting on his flying form, now gathering chakra into her free hand and reeling it back. She then punched him with a rage she couldn't control, bringing their travel to an halt as the ground literally crumbled under the impact, the ninja's head blown to smithereens in the process.

That was one down for the count, but Sakura was not satisfied, yet. With tears pouring out of her eyes she slowly got up, her face distorted by pain and blind rage, her eyes cast to the whimpering form of the former team leader, now only surviving member of it. "T-Take the scroll. R-really. I s-surrender." He stuttered, totally frightened at the display of inhuman strength he had witnessed, paralyzed by fear. Chouji was slowly catching his breath, just as impressed by Sakura as the other guy, and was somehow ready to admit he was even scared by her. Her eyes were empty, her fists clenched, her expression deadly serious, despite the tears freely flowing down her cheeks. She had taken a few steps toward the other nin, intent on finishing the job, her grip on the kunai leaving her knuckles white. Then she flashed back to reality, and for a moment it seemed like she was fighting with herself to try and regain control of a foreign body.

Chouji kept watching Sakura, the realization slowly dawning on him as to the reason why she was in such a state. "Ino…" He whispered knowingly, but stood still, not trusting himself to make a movement without alerting Sakura. The other ninja had recovered enough to fish in his scroll bag and grab the scroll they needed out, ready to beg for his life if he had to. The atmosphere was almost just as heavy as when the Ematai had attacked them the day before, and Chouji let himself shudder at the reminder of the feeling. And then it was all gone.

The scroll rolled to Sakura's feet as the mist nin ran away for his dear life. Then the pink haired kunoichi fell on her knees, her body instantly wrecked with heavy sobs as she punched the ground in helpless anger. Her arms hurt from the power they had wielded, and her skin burned in many places from all the scratches, but the worse part of it was the pressure in her chest as she felt her heart literally tear apart at the thought of losing Ino. Her closest friend. The person she cared the most about in the whole world.

Chouji had jumped up the tree to see for himself, holding in tears. He just couldn't believe Ino would die that easily. Not that pig-headed ponytail girl he had gotten to know so well. He knelt down next to her limp form and pressed his fingers to her neck, swallowing hard in anticipation. "Sakura!" His voice raised up suddenly, holding a spark of hope. "She's got a pulse, it's feint, but it's there!" Sakura shot up from the ground, dirt covering her face now. At the mention of a pulse she was already up, the scroll placed in her back pouch in a mindless gesture. With Chouji's help she lowered the body to the ground, and then began to tend to the worse wounds with the little she knew about healing.

She soon found herself running out of chakra, the wound caused by the spear still open and profusely bleeding despite her best efforts. She started sobbing again, her gaze falling on the gloves that Ino had offered her two days ago. She thought of her friend's smile then, of all they had shared together. How they had come to loathe each other because of Sasuke, and how his departure had brought them back close to one another. She thought of how she had just killed a man – her first kill – and how she knew she wouldn't have done this for anyone else in the world. "Ino…" she whispered, not expecting an answer. She swallowed, Chouji's gaze now on her. "I love you, my friend." She finished, her voice faint, and her eyes still teary.

Chouji walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "You did what you could, Sakura-chan." He said, his voice soft, a bit shaky from his recent crying. Sakura shut her eyes, feeling that she was about to start sobbing again. But she stopped herself from giving up and reopened her eyes, resolve clear on her face. And she purged into every last bit of energy she had left to keep healing the inert Ino. Her body was aching all over, her skin burning from the over use of energy, and every last bit of fiber in her being begged her to stop, but she kept going. Up until she collapsed out of exhaustion, and that the blonde girl's life was finally out of danger.

Chouji kept watch that night, not even leaving the girls for much needed food. He kind of felt bad at being unable to do anything else to protect his teammates, who wouldn't be moving any time soon now. He spent the night thinking of his fight again, at how he had been caught off guard, how the fight with the staff wielder had strained him. He came to his own conclusion that he was weak, and had to train harder from now on, although it was a little late to feel sorry for it now that her friend - because in the end, he really cared about Ino - was in a critic state.

The next day went by smoothly. A very sore Sakura had woken up to let Chouji prepare some food and then get his own sleep. She had stayed up, alone, watching Ino sleep, her brain incredibly quiet, as if her inner ramblings could disturb the blonde's more or less peaceful sleep. She attempted a bit of healing on the girl's most severe wounds, but her chakra was still dry out and the most she could do was ease a bit of the pain by repeatedly soothing the girl's hair and whispering as her fingers carried the little energy she had left, leaving a tingly feeling in the place of pain, if only for a moment.

Came the night, she was drained, and utterly depressed. Chouji had woken up to find her crying and had hesitated before offering a hug as comfort, but it hadn't seemed to help. He had then chuckled, earning a despising glare from Sakura. "We got our two scrolls, and we can't move. Talk about irony…" He had said, half-heartedly. Ino was still sleeping, occasionally groaning in pain when her breaths were too deep. But as annoying as it was, the noise was comforting. "Let's just hope nobody finds us…" he had added after a minute of silence, Sakura still staring at him. The girls eyes narrowed at the words and she barely managed to hold her fist back from smashing into the boy's forehead. "That's not the kind of things you say out loud, baka!" The boy shook his head and shrugged in response, taking a bite of freshly cooked rabbit to show he wasn't superstitious one bit.

And indeed, nobody came to try and attack them, which the team was grateful for. After a bit of small talk, Chouji and Sakura had agreed that they'd try to move the next day, carrying Ino if she hadn't woken up. They both fell asleep that night, Sakura snuggled up with Ino, pictures of that morning the day before replaying in her mind. How she had just felt safe with her friend so close, and how knowing where her hands were had… turned me on???

Oh please Sakura. Come to your sense already!

Meh, whaddaheck do you mean by that? She started arguing with herself.

You're in LOVE baka!

With Sasuke, thank you. I was aware of that!

Oh yeah, that man, with his black hair, his charming face, his cold, distant, mysterious eyes. And that big…

Gah shut the hell up I'm trying to sleep!

You so know I'm right…

About what? Is that such a secret that I like Sasuke?

Her Inner self sighed, and so she did, unaware that the blonde in her arms had partly stirred awake, confused by the trembling of Sakura's body.

No, that's obvious to the blindest person that you like him. You're doing all this for him right?

So what if I am? Is it wrong to have a goal to look forward to?

Hasn't it crossed your mind that maybe you were doing aaaalll of this, for the wrong reasons?

Shut up! If I don't become stronger, I won't be able to bring Sasuke back!

So what? Sasuke left you here! And Ino was there for you. Doesn't that mean something to you?

Sakura tensed up as her own words - as separate as they seemed to her usual self - sank in and she realized the truth in them. But she was still oblivious to the now frowning Ino.

Well, maybe I'm not doing this for Sasuke. But what's that got to do with the situation now?

Oh my god you're so blind…

"Sakura?" Ino's weak voice jerked her out of her inner dialogue and she instantly snapped her eyes open, now witnessing the worried expression on her friend's face. "Are you okay?" Ino added, concerned, struggling to get the words out. Sakura's expression immediately shifted to concern as well. "I should be asking you that question, Ino…" She said softly, lifting her hand to brush her fingers on the girl's cheek tenderly, as she had been doing seemingly all day. It was dark outside, so she couldn't see the blush that crept on Ino's face, and the burns on her fingertips prevented her from feeling the sudden change in body temperature. But something in her felt… different at touching the blonde's skin while she was awake, and she herself blushed too. Ino's eyes sparkled in the moonlight. "I'm hanging on… Thanks to you." Sakura shook her head and cracked a sarcastic laugh. "You mean it's my fault if you're in that state." Ino's eyelids closed halfway, and then she reopened them, her eyes loving. "No, we're alive thanks to you, and you only." Her voice was barely above a whisper, but it's sincerity filled the air around the two girls. Ino didn't let Sakura refute her answer and kept going. "You've really grown into a beautiful and strong flower, Sakura." The blush deepened on Sakura's face to a point where it was noticeable in the faint moonlight, and Ino chuckled despite the sharp pain in her chest it caused her. "Don't be afraid to admit it." She added, snuggling a little closer to her friend, a smile now drawn on her more peaceful looking features.

Sakura was about to say something, whisper a thank you… whatever her brain would let her lips say. But before she got anything out, Ino was once again asleep, her head positioned in the crook of her neck and her arm wrapped around the shape of her body. It was warm, and comfy, and for a moment she wished she could spend her life like that.

The next thing she knew she was awakening to a drop of rain falling on her nose. Then, before she could even yawn a good shot, it was pouring on the three defenceless shinobis. Chouji groaned and picked up their things before he even checked on the two girls. Sakura helped Ino sit up. "Think you're good to get to the tower?" She asked before pushing a strand of wet hair from in front of her eyes to get a clear view of the blonde's expression. Ino nodded. "Yeah, I think I can walk…"

The three of them were soaked to the bone in less time than it took them to be on their way. Chouji threaded in front of them, alert, while Ino rested most of her weight on Sakura who had her arm wrapped around her back, and walked slowly. They were starting to see the shape of the tower not that far from where they were, and that gave them hope. "Hey, maybe we'll make it without encountering anyone else!" Chouji let out happily. Both girls instantly glared daggers at him. And he chuckled at it. "Come on, it's not like there's a lot of people out there left, anyway. The chances that we'd stumble on anyone are like…"

"… Slim to none." Came a shallow voice from high up in the trees, completing Chouji's sentence. "Yeah, so we're lucky we found you!" Another, much more familiar voice echoed from behind them, soon followed by an enthusiastic bark. Chouji tensed. A part of him was mad at being proved wrong, and the other was just as ready as ever for a showdown, even if it was with friends. Hinata walked out of the forest on Sakura and Ino's right. "Uh, yes." She said, poking her fingers together in Hinata fashion. Shino jumped down from his perch in front of them, his bugs covering him from the rain. Sakura squared her jaw, if it came down to this, she would fight to the end.

A confident chuckle echoed from Kiba's direction. "Don't worry, we already have our scrolls." He said, releasing some of the tension. "Why did you want to find us then?" Sakura asked, genuinely interested. Hinata blushed and took a step forward, receiving a nod from both her partners. "There's this bunch of shinobis waiting near the tower to ambush anyone who would try g-getting there. We thought it would be s-safer if we t-teamed up with you guys to pass." She finished looking down, earning a raised eyebrow from Ino. "I wish we were of any help." The blonde kunoichi said, her voice low and broken. She was struggling just to stay up.

"Bah, then we'll help you guys pass. Least we can do for friends, right Shino?" Kiba's voice resonated clearly above the rain and Akamaru barked in approval. "Sure." Shino answered, and Hinata nodded her approval as well. This is when Sakura noticed the bruises the three other leaf shinobis wore – they weren't exactly in a good condition either. Chouji crossed his arms over his chest and eyed the three team eight Genins suspiciously. "I want to see your scrolls…" He said after biting his lip a few times. Shino and Kiba exchanged a look before flashing two distinct scrolls up for everyone to see, and then putting them back where they belonged. The Akimichi boy released a relieved sigh. "Can't blame anyone for being cautious." Shino admitted in his usual detached manner.

Just at that moment Ino's knees buckled and if it hadn't been from Sakura holding her, she would've fallen face first in the mud. "Ino are you okay?" Sakura's voice was full of concern. Ino simply nodded, clinging to Sakura's clothes trying to regain her balance. She ended up being lifted back to her feet by a struggling Sakura, that didn't have much more energy than she did. The effort extracted a few grunts from her and she had to use both hands to finally get Ino straightened out. Their heads had moved a mere inch away in the process and something just… clicked. Their eyes met and suddenly the chuunin exam was somewhere far, far behind.

"Err, are we interrupting something?" Kiba asked uneasily after watching the two girls for a moment. They seriously looked like they were about to kiss, and it was somewhat a turn on, but they had other business to attend to. Sakura was the first to blink out of the daze, suddenly a lot more conscious to all that was going on around her, how everyone was staring at them, and how the whole thing suddenly struck her as totally wrong. She pushed her body away from the blonde almost violently, and caused her to lose her balance once more, this time to fall in the arms of Kiba. Ino's eyes were wide, that was the last thing she expected from her friend. Sakura didn't even look at her though, and didn't notice the pure hurt that showed in Ino's eyes. People are going to start thinking we're going out or something… Oh my god what if… No. She can't be… The flowers, the gloves, the hands in places… No. Way.

Kiba had straightened Ino up once more and was giving a puzzled look to Sakura, who shook herself out of her Inner ramble and returned his stare. "Hum…" Hinata's shy voice piped up, somewhat bringing everyone back to the plane of reality. "H-how about we g-go to the tower now?" Everyone agreed to that, and Kiba decided that he would be carrying Ino on his back so they could go faster.

They came within a certain perimeter of the tower within an hour, when Akamaru barked at Kiba to make them stop. "Okay. Hinata, what do you see?" He asked, renewing his grip on Ino, who didn't exactly enjoy her predicament, but liked it better than to be stuck with Sakura at the moment. Something had shattered in her although she couldn't put the finger on what exactly. She knew that Sakura was the cause of it, and she preferred staying away from her at the moment.

Hinata activated the byakugan and scouted their surroundings, frowning in more than one occasion. Shino immediately sent his flies to even better gauge the situation they were in. "There's three of them." Hinata stated, her eyes squinting as if she was making sure of what she was seeing. "One of them has an ext-extraordinary chakra." One of his flies came back to Shino and he nodded. "They're from Suna. The one with the immense chakra looks like a fighting expert. We can expect his striking force to be similar to Naruto's…" Hinata nodded and then seemed to hesitate. "The other t-two seem to be pretty low on Chakra though…"

Sakura frowned and looked from Shino to Hinata and back a few times. "Shino?" She finally asked, secretly hoping she was wrong. "What?" He answered behind his glasses. "Is there a way to verify if that guy can absorb chakra?" Anyone who was watching Shino right then could've sworn he had smirked, even though his face was barely visible. "That would explain what they were trying to tell me…" Kiba growled when he heard the confirmation. "We so don't need to be drained of our chakra…" He said, fishing in his shuriken pouch to take out a smaller pouch. He opened it carefully and took a pill from it, then chucked one at Akamaru. "Anyone else needs one?"

Everyone helped themselves at Kiba's reserve of military pills, immediately feeling better. Only Ino didn't have one, Sakura insisting that taking that now would only worsen her weak state. "We also need a plan…" She said as they started threading into the lion's den. Chouji's eyebrows knot together. "I may have an idea…" he simply stated, and everyone's gazes shifted to him.

After just a bit of explaining, everyone agreed to Chouji's plan, as… weird as it may have seemed. The task of carrying Ino went back to Sakura, and even though the pink haired girl debated protesting, she knew that it was the only way. In different circumstances, Ino would have enjoyed the piggy back ride. But Sakura's now apparent disdain made it all seem like it was the worse idea ever.What happened? Did she notice anything was off? Oh my god, what if she realized I tried to kiss her the other day? And here I thought that maybe she would be okay with this… Why? Ino sighed and tightened her grip around Sakura's shoulders without noticing, causing the girl to turn her way with a raised eyebrow. "Don't you dare drop me again, forehead." The blonde answered to the questioning glare. Sakura simply returned her focus to the task at hand.

"My bugs are in position." Shino crossed his arms over his chest again, waiting for everyone to get ready. "Okay, here we go, Akamaru!" Kiba nearly shouted, forming hand signs to perform his beast transformation, and in a second a huge twin-headed wolf was racing towards one of the opposing ninjas. Chouji ran just behind him, preparing an ultimate size duplication technique. Shino followed him as well, kunai in hand. Sakura and Hinata waited, and just a fraction of a second later, the kunai planted in the ground at their feet, signalling them that the way was clear. So they began racing towards the tower, shielding themselves from sight thanks to Chouji's size. Shino's bugs were attacking the guy with the most chakra, apparently neutralizing him for the moment. The two others were so busy with the relentless attacking pattern of Kiba and Akamaru that they never noticed the girls. In seconds they were through, soon joined by Shino and Chouji. Then Kiba landed into the wall and turned back to normal. The real teams reformed and after a nod they headed full speed towards their doors, the ambushers not knowing one second what in the world had hit them.

Meanwhile, in the Hokage special loge, a few of the jounins were watching the action, and hardly believed what events unfolded in front of them.

"This is… Since when do teams team up together for such an exam?" Anko latched, suddenly getting up from her seat. Tsunade simply chuckled at that. "They passed using what they could find. I think that strategy was brilliantly…" Kakashi interrupted. "… stupid." Everyone in the room agreed. "I'm surprised it worked. I guess all of them are beyond exhausted." One pretty calm Genma stated, chewing on his senbon thoughtfully. "So, after that team from the Hawk village came walking in the sky, we get two teams crawling in… Anyone else left in the lot that could finish the exam?" Anko asked, casting a glance to Shizune in the process. The Hokage's aide's shifted her gaze from the action, remembering how she had reacted to seeing the Hawk team walk in the tower, and into the room two days ago. "How was I supposed to know he was the Ematai kid?" She shouted back angrily, getting up from her chair and squeezing her pig a bit more than usual.

"I think we all were surprised by him…" Asuma's voice came from the door. He had finished greeting his team and was sporting a proud smile. Tsunade shuffled through a few papers on the desk she was sitting at and sighed. "Considering those kids brought 4 scrolls instead of only two, I don't think anyone else will be able to complete the exam. It's over. Go find the remaining alive genins and send them home… Shizune, fill out the administrative papers and the death reports… And tell the medics to be on alert. Gai you're coming with me." She didn't even wait for protests and walked out, past Asuma, and down to the place where the three passing teams were waiting.

Sakura had laid Ino down and suddenly felt a pang of guilt at her attitude toward the girl. So she sat down next to her, just like they had done after their fight during the previous exam, but this time she was the one giving the warm apologetic smile. "We did it." She said, not sure what the blonde girl would answer to that. "Yeah, we did. Thanks to you and Chouji… and Kiba's team." Sakura frowned. "You helped too. A lot. You saved me at the memorial slab…" Ino scoffed. "Oh please. You had noticed him. You would've probably ended up with just a scratch." She sighed, and Sakura looked at her, her eyes full of concern. "I was useless." Ino trailed off.

Sakura bit her lip. She wasn't used to see her friend so down, and with so little confidence in herself. Something was off. And then she thought back to the forest, and all the little moments where things had just been plain weird. If it was what she thought, of course Ino would have been unable to concentrate fully on the mission at hand. She shivered at the thought though. Ino and her, together? Admit you would love that… Her inner self decided to interrupt, right then, but she kicked her far in the deep recess of her mind. She didn't need a part of herself putting doubt in her mind. She was in love with Sasuke, and he was the only one she'd want to end up with.

"What's on your mind, Ino?" She finally asked, after a long moment of silence. The blonde raised her gaze to meet her friend's eyes, expecting to see the disdain and disturbed glare from earlier. But all she found was love and understanding, and so she decided that it was now or never. "Sakura I… I-"

"Congratulations everyone!" Tsunade's thundering voice echoed through the big, empty room. "You all passed the preliminary chuunin exam!" she then added, her gaze surveying the three teams present with her. Sakura and Ino were sitting and leaning on a wall, with Chouji not too far from them, and looked incredibly exhausted. Kiba and Akamaru were at the other end of the room, apparently playing catch, while Hinata stood alone in her corner, dreamily looking at the ceiling. She's probably thinking about that Naruto brat… Shino had his hands in his pocket and was looking straight at her through his hippie glasses. They had a few burns and scratches, but their main energy was not too affected.

And then there was the Hawk team. Iketetsomaru had his arms crossed, a look of pure boredom on his face. He was standing near a wall, but had decided that standing on solid ground was too normal for him, and was thus floating in the air, leaning on an invisible wall as well. Izlude had trouble standing in one spot, constantly shifting his weight from one foot to the other, the ground beneath his feet deformed by how much pressure he was putting into his steps. But that was nothing, absolutely nothing compared to the shock she had when she raised her eyes to find Hanmaru, hanging from the ceiling by his hammer and doing pull-ups with one hand, totally oblivious to whatever was going on down there. And what more, none of the three sported a single scratch. She turned to Gai, and found the same bewildered look in his eyes as she had. Well this was sure going to be weird.

"I'D LIKE YOUR ATTENTION EVERYONE!" She yelled, a vein bulging near her temple, as she tried to keep her calm. Suddenly, everyone was standing in front of her, almost saluting in fear of the Hokage's wrath. Save for the Ematai guy, who was lost in his own world. Tsunade decided to drop it. She wasn't in the mood to try fighting that kid. "As you can see, there are nine of you present here. The rest of the exam will be done next month, where you will all fight in a tournament. Until then, feel free to rest, train, or whatever fits your fancy. I'm not going to give you guys the usual speech." She then looked at Gai and extended her hand, receiving the tournament chart immediately. "First round will be Kiba Inuzuka versus Chouji Akimichi." She kept reading and frowned, not quite sure what to think about the following matchup. Worry for her student nagged at her. "Second match will be Sakura Haruno and Iketetsomaru Ematai." Both Ino's and Sakura's eyes went wide at that. The pink haired girl would have to go up against the strongest of them in the first round? Well that left Ino more chances of being better than her for once. "Third match…" Tsunade continued after taking a deep breathe. "Will be Izlude Asasenkou against Hinata Hyuuga… And last match of the first round will be Hanmaru Dasane versus Ino Yamanaka. The winner of the third match will then face Shino Aburame, and then the second round will begin. Unless one of you wants to drop out of course." When she said that she cast a glance to Sakura, who wore a very determined expression. Iketetsomaru chose that exact moment to come down with the others and raised his hand. "Izlude can't participate." He said, the surprise on everyone's face just faintly dimming. The small guy simply nodded. Tsunade blinked a few times and readjusted herself. "Then Shino will be fighting Hinata… "

And on that she waved dismissively at everyone. "You're free to go, if you need medical assistance there's a few medics over there." She pointed to two nurse-dressed guys holding a stretcher and then disappeared, soon followed by Gai. A very worried Shizune was waiting for them in the room. "I really don't like these Hawk guys…" she simply stated before flopping into her chair, massaging the bridge of her nose. Shizune sighed and dropped a huge file in front of her. "What's that?" Tsunade asked her, seemingly disinterested.

Shizune looked her sempai straight in the eyes and spoke in a low, hollow voice. "It's the Ematai file."


AN: O.o That chapter was a weird write. No seriously, it would flow one moment, and then I'd shift the action around and ended up blocked. I'm not much for action packed writing - and you got to admit its not easy to fit in some InoSaku moments when they're in such conditions. Now, as to Sakura's attitude. This is Sakura we're talking about. And she's still uber certain that she's in love with Sasuke. So of course, a part of her will grow colder, as she gets closer to Ino, in fear and denial and all that. I'm not just shifting her mood around. This is really how I believe things would've happened between them. Still want to say sorry for how the flow of the action might seem interrupted at some points.

Now, I have finally moved into the main plot, HA! (Chapter 7... gee how long am I going to make this?) But don't worry, plenty of InoSaku moments coming up (the next chapter is going to be almost solely about them! - that and the Ematai file), and well, apparently I'm on a roll so there might be an update before next weekend. Maybe. I want to thank all of my fateful readers, but most importantly DarkInu418 who's reviewed every single chapter of mine up to now, and who's fic Living With My Worse Nightmare has been a great source of inspiration to me. You should all go read it!

Also, I have an itch to scratch with an idea of mine, that I'd love to write about, just so I don't try to insert it within this fic cuz well... For one it would require me to change the rating (naughty naughty mind x.x) and secondly, well I don't wanna rush the story just so I can insert that um... special InoSaku moment, lol. Thirdly... well I'm usually a songfic person (all my chapter titles are song titles -.-), and a song-chapter in such a fic wouldn't fit at all... I just need a pretext for Ino and Sakura to be fighting over... that's not Sasuke. And I can't seem to find anything remotely interesting to be fighting over. So if you have any idea, feel free to chuck them at me (and review on the way :D). I already have the song picked though (Just in case you're curious... I Hate Everything About You by Three Days Grace - this song just sooo fits with Ino and Sakura, somehow)!