A/N: Thanks everyone! As an added note, I received a handful of curious PMs/comments about Inner Sakura, so I figured I'd give a quick explanation to hopefully clear things up: she's basically all of Sakura's repressed feelings, hopes, fears, dreams, ideals, thoughts, etc., over the past nine or so years of her life that she hasn't let herself experience.
Namely, her greatest fear is speaking her mind and acknowledging her own thoughts / pains. Inner Sakura was, in combination with Sakura's childhood "idealized self," created by the repression of those things. Hence why she's so volatile and honest about her feelings, even when they're offensive. :P (Which, though I could be mistaken, is actually sort-of-kind-of close to how she came to be in the canon anime – Sakura being afraid to speak her mind.) The shy Sakura, meanwhile, is based on how she'd been as a young child in canon. Since Ino never befriended her, and Sakura suffered so heavily because of that, the two Sakuras were pushed apart into extremes, and – ta da! You have this fic, haha.
Anyway, I'm sorry I didn't make that more obvious! I guess that's just evidence of my needing more practice – whoopsies – but I just wanted to clear that up so it doesn't seem like I'm coming totally out of left field here. :) Thanks again for everyone's honest feedback, and happy reading!
Chapter 6
"The Best Pig in Town"
...
Ino wakes at six in the morning and spends another fifteen minutes procrastinating in bed. It's too early to be awake, she thinks lazily, even as her brain is reminding her that she spent most of her academy days waking up this early, and those days have been most of the days in her life.
Somehow it seems like years since then, though. Ino turns over and throws her arm and leg over an extra pillow and cuddles it closer to her chest. This distortion of time is not a pleasant feeling. It doesn't seem to be passing quicker due to productivity, but rather from a lack of results, and it feels as if she hasn't done anything at all since graduating despite the treachery she encountered in the Forest of Death. She strongly suspects it has something to do with losing the preliminaries.
All for nothing. Ino frowns and squeezes her eyes shut, inhaling deeply and forcing herself to relax. She turns onto her back and tries to meditate.
The first dozen times she'd tried to meditate had been pointless. Her father insisted she learn to do it, since meditation is one of the techniques the Yamanaka clan uses in order to fortify their senses of self, unifying mind, identity, and body, but in the beginning, she hadn't seen the point and lost her concentration. Sometimes she'd think about school, or friends, or later in life, her brain might decide to take a trip to fantasyland, which always proved to be embarrassing. Getting snapped out of an imaginary make-out session by your father's scolding can be rather scarring.
There seemed little use in the activity when Ino had, at a very young age, grasped on to her self-concept with both fists and never let go. She knows who she is and what she's made of, and she's never questioned that. It's why she's always been especially adept at the astral projection techniques of her clan – so much so that her father often hints she might one day grow up to lead it. So, sitting on her ass and thinking about herself for hours at a time? No, thank you. Ino might have more self-love than necessary, but that's taking it a bit far, even for her.
Because Ino isn't narcissistic, despite what some people might say. She's confident. She's candid, outgoing, competitive, compassionate, thoughtful and considerate…
Or so she'd thought.
"Damnit," she sighs, sitting up abruptly. She's wasted too much time in bed already trying this useless exercise. No matter what her father says about 'centering herself' and 'finding inner balance,' this type of thing just isn't for her. Ino brushes her teeth and throws on workout clothes under her work uniform before heading downstairs to open the flower shop.
She knows these steps like the back of her hand, and she smiles ruefully at her automatic actions. Ino is good at all things floral, and that, at least, is something she knows about herself despite all she's questioned in the past few days.
The water in the display arrangements is changed. The ribbons are restocked, the roses trimmed, the potted plants watered, and as she goes to flip the sign on the front door to open, that's when Ino senses that she's not alone.
The hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She turns to look around the shop, but everything looks in place, exactly as she'd left it last night except for what she'd just done this morning. Opening the door, she finds no one in sight. Nothing, in fact, except the usual bench, the "sale" sign, the cart across the street, Sakura, the –
"Ohmyfuckinggod," Ino leaps backwards into the store only to catch her ankle around the doorframe and fall flat on her butt. "Sakura! What the hell!"
Sakura stands with her hands over her mouth in a combination of shame, embarrassment, and worry. Walking around with her genjutsu up is so natural to her that she'd forgotten to dispel it until she'd gotten close enough to Ino to – well, scare the shit out of her. Then she'd winked into sight right in front of her face.
"I – I – I'm so sorry," she mumbles, reaching a hand down to help Ino up. "I didn't mean to scare you. I'm really, really, really –"
Ino, now on her feet, holds up a hand. "It's okay. I just – what are you doing here?"
"I – oh." Sakura mutters something about cheesecake and wrenches, or so it sounds to Ino. Realizing the other girl can't hear her, she tries again, a bit louder this time. "I remembered you told Gai you had to open your shop, so I thought I'd… see if you… needed any help?"
Ino does not need any help. She's been opening this shop and serving customers since she'd turned eight-years-old, albeit with supervision, but even so, it's a simple and thoughtless task for her now. But refusing Sakura seems cruel when she came all the way out here just to ask her that.
She was probably lonely.
"Sure, why don't you help me make some arrangements?" Ino gestures her in. "Although, you don't have to wake up so early on my account. We're not meeting Gai until nine, after all."
Sakura trails behind and stops in the middle of the store to await instruction. Unlike her other half, she'd rather walk behind Ino than next to her, Ino notices.
"It's okay. I usually wake up at five to train since – um, since there's no one there at that time, usually…"
Ino gives her a tight smile. "I see."
…Why am I so annoyed? Ino pinches the inside of her arm behind the counter, trying to snap herself out of it. She bends down to grab the ribbon and a vase, and standing again, points Sakura to the single-stem selection on the right wall.
"Do you want to make one? You can choose any colors you like," she offers.
Sakura looks like she wants to say something, but she chokes down her words and eyes the colorful blooms like an awed child, from white to red to black and every shade in between. Red is quite obviously her favorite color though, as Ino has already noticed, and she chooses a large rose, holding it up to the light and smiling at the depth of color she finds. Leaning forward to examine the rest, she catches the wonderful smell of gardenia and purple-pink sweet pea, the eye-catching blue of a cluster of hydrangeas, the feathery texture of a tall stalk of lamb's ear, the –
Ino bites her tongue literally and figuratively. None of these things match in the slightest. It's like she's picking them at random, or choosing her favorites rather than the ones that compliment each other, which is probably exactly what she's doing. Her outfit is an eyesore of a reminder that she obviously has no ability to color coordinate. And that's in spite of their flower arrangement classes to boot, which Ino now remembers Sakura had failed spectacularly – her whole bouquets looked as if she'd run around a forest and merely seen what stuck to her clothes, and –
It's not her damn fault, and I shouldn't be such a bitch about it, Ino shoves her criticisms down fiercely. How could she know any better when no one was around to teach her? Not even our sensei had been kind to her…
And herein lies the problem. Silently, Ino takes a deep breath to douse the spark of irritation making her clench her teeth.
What kind of person, she asks herself for the umpteenth time in three days, would allow this girl to suffer so much without intervention? And for the sake of convenience, no less?
Not someone compassionate, and considerate, and thoughtful. Not Ino.
But she had. She'd done it without a second thought, and she'd done it for nine years.
The dawning comprehension that she might not be who she thought she was, the self-doubt slowly chipping at her identity, is a new and unwelcome experience for her. The frustration is like an itch she can't scratch, and the constant annoyance is making her irritable, and she's taking it out on Sakura for no reason, which is only making matters worse.
I'm not mad at her, Ino reminds herself resolutely, I'm mad at me.
Finished at last, Sakura approaches Ino with one of the most hideous flower arrangements ever created by anyone over the age of six-years-old in the history of the earth. Like a mother trying to teach her daughter not to touch herself in public, Ino prepares to address this situation very, very tactfully.
"You picked beautiful flowers," Ino says honestly, because each blossom and stem on its own is quite beautiful. It's just together that they look like the excretion of some mystical animal. "What drew you to these in particular?"
Laying them out side-by-side rather compulsively, Sakura points at each one in turn.
"Roses are my favorite, they're – romantic? And complex – many layers, and, um… The gardenia and the sweet peas smell the best, I think, and I remember that hydrangea leaves can be used to make a tea, and it's an unusual color for a flower, so…" Sakura trails off, rubbing the lamb's ear between her fingers gently. "This one just feels nice."
Ino gestures at the last, a large, pristine yellow chrysanthemum, and here Sakura blushes profusely. "Ah, that one… reminded me of you," she admits. The tips of her ears are redder than the rose, and despite not wanting to embarrass the girl any further than she already is, Ino can't withhold an amused laugh.
"That's actually very sweet – sweeter than you know, I think," she says, mirth still laced in her voice. "Do you know what any of these flowers symbolize?"
Sakura shakes her head, too bashful to speak.
"This one," Ino holds up the rose, "is passion, or true love, though you have that covered already with the gardenias. Hydrangea and sweet pea historically mean gratitude, and the lamb's ear, support. The one you chose for me," Ino holds up the flower in question, "Actually means, 'precious one.'"
Sakura's eyes are wide in admiration. "You sure know a lot about this," she says, as if Ino had just explained some complicated theory of physical cosmology.
"It helps when your mother owns a flower shop," she brushes off the compliment. "And the bouquet – it's meaningful, and I think it suits you, but that being said," she smiles, making sure to let Sakura know that she's not upset, "It doesn't quite match."
"Ah…" Sakura's eyes drop, but only for a moment, and then she's peering at the flowers again. "How can you tell?"
She took that well, Ino thinks gratefully. Good thing I was so careful.
Ino grabs the bouquet and replaces each one in their respective place along the wall, then steps back, waving a hand at the selection again.
"Okay, start with one again, and we'll go from there."
Sakura hesitates, but again drawn to red, she chooses a brightly colored carnation. From there, Ino guides her through the process of color matching that she'd once thought to be a natural inclination or instinct and is now thoroughly, absolutely sure that it's not.
It takes several tries to explain to Sakura the idea behind complimentary colors and sizes, that a bouquet isn't usually made from all flowers, but from other types of plants that help break up the brighter colors and accent the shape and structure.
"It's not about picking the ones you like best," Ino reminds her several times. "It's about picking the ones that go together."
Their endeavor is eventually successful. After nearly an hour, Sakura finishes a very respectable arrangement that Ino deems perfectly fit to sit in the front window of the flower shop.
The pride on Sakura's face could light up a room.
She looks like she's just won the highest possible military commendation – a feeling achieved simply by having her choice in flowers validated. The unadulterated joy in her expression is something that Ino can't remember seeing on anyone's face old enough to realize that the Tooth Fairy isn't real.
Unbidden, the thought floats through Ino's mind. I'm sorry, she thinks, and the guilt is jarring, like waking from a falling dream.
"We should probably get going if we don't want to be late," she suggests. "I can hear my dad getting ready upstairs, so it should be safe to leave."
"Okay!" Sakura practically skips out the door.
Her good mood is enough to elevate Ino's as well, despite her rather somber thoughts, but after a few minutes of companionable silence, something occurs to Sakura.
"Say, um, Ino…"
"Hmm?"
"Everything you said about complimentary colors, and matching and all that?"
"Yeah?"
Sakura's face is very serious. "Does that mean my clothes don't match?"
"Eh heh, well…" It's hard not to laugh at how gravely Sakura is taking this news. "Not – not exactly," Ino admits. "But, you know, they're cute on you anyway."
And it's true. They're cute – just in the way that a puppy wearing a hat is cute, not in the way that, say, a girl in a skirt and heels is cute.
Ino clears her throat to stifle the giggles threatening to erupt at the thought. "If you'd like, maybe we can go shopping together sometime. I can help you pick another outfit."
Immediately, the spring in her step returns.
She's like a kid…
"Okay!" Sakura agrees, all smiles once again.
#
When they arrive at the training grounds, they're just in time to catch the tail end of a spar between Lee and Gai.
Lee's fight against Musumi during the preliminaries had been an impressive display and exemplary of Gai's words. Odd tricks like being able to rubberize one's limbs, while useful, fall flat in the face of superior skill, which Lee had demonstrated by quickly pulverizing him, but even that doesn't hold a candle to his performance against Gai.
They move so quickly that neither Ino or Sakura can pinpoint their exact location for longer than it takes to blink. The crashing of their limbs is forceful enough to reverberate the air in a soundless vibration. If not for their odd battle cries, the spar would have sounded like the heavy thrum of a bass, and the fluidity if their movements is reminiscent of an intricate dance. It seems as if gravity doesn't touch them, and any solid objects – each other included – are nothing but vehicles and opportunities for enhanced movement.
"Lee!" Gai calls. "It seems that our new students have arrived!"
Lee turns to wave at them and promptly receives a kick to the ribs that sends him sprawling across the training grounds.
"You should not allow yourself to become distracted by such things, Lee! I was merely trying to trick you, and you got caught up in your excitement."
"Yes, Gai-sensei," Lee says through a mouthful of dirt. Gai, meanwhile, gives him a firm pat on the back and a thumbs-up.
"It's alright, my dear pupil. Your interest is merely a sign of your youth. I will forgive you this time."
Lee gives him a radiant smile that's made slightly less radiant by the blood staining part of his teeth. "Thank you, Gai-sensei!"
Another brief thumbs-up, and then Gai turns to Ino and Sakura, the former of which is standing slightly slack-jawed at the pair's behavior.
"Now then! We will begin immediately," he instructs. "As a warm-up, you will both start with a ten mile jog – that's six laps around the training grounds. Begin!"
Sakura and Ino stare at each other. Ten mile "warm up"?
Gai hums, nodding as if agreeing with their silent bewilderment, and for a moment there's the brief glimmer of hope hat he might realize the absurdity of his request.
"Lee! Since it's their first day, why don't you join them?"
…Or not.
"Yes, Gai-sensei! Sakura-san, Ino-san," he bows politely, "are you ready?"
After another hesitant glance at one another, Ino shrugs, and they both give an unsure,
"I guess?"
"I think so…"
Before Lee darts off at a speed faster than either girl can sprint. But, ten miles is ten miles, no matter how fast they run it, and the sooner they finish, the sooner they can move on to something else. They follow as quickly as they can.
#
The circumference of the training ground is an uneven mess of treacherous topography: jutting rocks, hidden crevices, tangled roots sprawled across the forest floor. By the third time, both girls have learned to avoid the obstacles, but that hardly makes the trek any easier – just less injurious. By the time they're finished, neither of them can take a breath without searing pain in her chest.
Ino collapses fully on the ground and tries to regain some sensation in her aching limbs. I won't have to diet for a month after this.
Sakura somehow remains standing. Her jaw is clenched determinedly, and while Ino's knees had been shaking from the strain in her thighs, Sakura seems perfectly steady. She might've thought the other girl was showing off if she didn't know better, but she's too tired to think about the reasoning behind her apparently inhuman endurance.
None of it compares to Lee though. He's so unfazed it's like he hadn't even run it. But he had.
They know because he passed them six times before they'd even finished their second go around.
"Good work, my students!" Gai appears from seemingly nowhere. Lee salutes him and goes to stand by his side. "Your effort was exuberant indeed! As a reward, I will allow a ten-minute break for your recovery, and then we'll begin drills. Lee!"
"Yes, sensei?"
"In the meantime, shall we continue our spar?"
Lee jumps up, and the two are off, leaving Sakura and Ino to try very hard not to vomit in the grass. Sakura watches the two of them as they do a series of quick stretches before getting into a preparatory stance.
"How…" Ino gasps and tries not to give into the immediate urge to throw-up. "How are you still standing?"
Sakura merely shakes her head. Her lips are trembling and she bites them to cease the quiver. Only when Gai and Lee have begun to fight in earnest does she allow herself to sit down, and then she promptly rolls over and does exactly what Ino had been trying not to do – throws up.
"Are you okay?" Ino tries to get up to help her, but Sakura urgently waves a hand for her to lie back down.
"I'm fine," she says quickly, wiping her mouth. "It's nothing."
Ino isn't exactly convinced, but Sakura obviously wants her to drop it, so she does. They take tentative sips of water and try to cling onto the seconds as if they could slow down time by sheer willpower, but fifteen minutes is up all too soon.
"Are you ready for your next challenge?!" Gai grins down at them, and they nod, too exhausted to answer. "Excellent! I can feel your vigor coursing through my veins!" He clenches his fists, muscles straining with the force of his flexed fingers. Gai stands there for a moment, seemingly enraptured by whatever absurdly powerful emotion is overtaking him, and then he points a finger at Ino. "Ino! Why don't you take the lead?"
Are you sure I shouldn't just knock myself out and spare myself the pain?
"Okay," Ino sighs. She stands and is pleased to find her extremities in mostly working order. "What exactly am I doing?"
"Sparring!"
"What." She looks between Gai and Lee and shakes her head with more of that supposed vigorous energy than she thought she had left. "I don't think I'm quite up to your level, Gai-sensei, or Lee's."
He puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder but leads her to the unobstructed portion of the training grounds anyway. "Of course not, my young disciple! Lee has trained for tens of thousands of hours to get where he is now, but winning is not the purpose of this exercise. He will be going easy on you in order to allow me to gauge your skills, strengths and weaknesses, and create a training regimen accordingly. Your only goal is to land a single, unblocked hit."
Ino has to wonder what "going easy" on her really means, considering what she's seen and the fact that striking him even once is going to be a challenging objective. Someone with such exaggerated skill will only be able to tone it down so much, right?
Well, no pain no gain, she thinks grimly, squaring her shoulders and matching Lee's formal bow. She might not have been very invested in this training before, but Sakura needs her here, she reminds herself adamantly, and if she has to be here, then she may as well give it her best shot. Besides, it's not as if Ino is a pushover – she wasn't the best kunoichi at the academy because she was the best looking, after all. (Although she was that too, of course.)
As it turns out, however, her best shot doesn't amount to much.
Lee's movements are reasonably tempered at first. She throws the first punch, which he easily blocks, countering with a sweeping kick that she steps back to avoid. He spins on his extended foot like his heel is an axle in the ground, though, surprising her, and she narrowly avoids getting viciously kicked in the ribs.
They maneuver through a series of simple moves, Ino figuring out quite quickly that blocking his strikes is a mistake – the force behind them could crack bone if he struck her at the right angle, and it's not a risk she wants to take. Parrying proves effective for his straight jabs, and she backbends out of an uppercut. Just when she thinks she's beginning to get into the rhythm of his movements enough to go on the offensive, he increases his speed.
Now, it's all she can do to keep from getting hit. She flails to dodge a right hook, stumbling slightly and walking straight into the knee he aims at her torso. It strikes her in the gut like a bowling ball and she doubles over, wheezing, and Lee's no-nonsense demeanor quickly dissolves.
"Ino-san! Are you alright?"
"Oh yeah," she squeaks, feeling much like a deflated balloon. "I'm just dandy."
Along with all of their other odd attributes and behaviors, Gai and Lee are both apparently immune to sarcasm as well, and Gai pats her on the back, nearly sending her toppling to her knees.
"You did well, my student! You move with a youthful grace. I can tell that you are very aware of your body's movements. But," Gai adds, helping her into an upright position and walking her out of the sparring area, "You're overly concerned with taking blows. The first thing we must do is work on proper blocking to circumvent this, and beyond that, strength training."
Of course I want to avoid getting hit, she gripes inwardly. Not only does it hurt, but who wants to walk around covered in ugly bruises?!
And what does he mean, "proper blocking"? She's fairly certain that'd been step one in taijutsu training at the academy…
At Ino's exhausted look, Gai for once smiles in a way that's less "youthful" and more gently sincere. "Do not be daunted. A lot of work is ahead of you, but at great reward. I believe your major advantage lies in your grace. Precision should come naturally to you, and we'll build on that strength."
"Right," Ino manages a weak smile, reminding herself over and over again that, despite the forthcoming pain and soreness, she's doing this for an important reason. Not to mention, training with these two is going to burn so many calories. "Thanks, Gai-sensei."
Remember that sincere smile? It's now twinkling with unnatural light. Ino somehow does not roll her eyes.
"Okay! My next student – Sakura, are you ready?"
She snaps to attention. "Um, yes, sensei. Is… are the rules the same?"
"That's correct, Sakura! Your goal is one unblocked blow. Begin when you're both ready."
"Well, actually…" she hesitates. Her eyes flit over to Ino, who quickly picks up on what she can't quite bring herself to say.
"Do you mind if the other Sakura goes first?" Ino asks for her. "I can only imagine that she's looking at this in a very… youthful way."
"You don't say?!" Gai shouts, immediately excited by Ino's phrasing. "That won't be a problem at all, will it, Lee?"
"No, Gai-sensei! I am ready when you are, Sakura-san, and though I do not wish to hurt you, for your sake, I will not go easy on you."
"Ah… thank you..."
She's getting much better at this, Ino notices. It only takes two minutes before Sakura's eyes open again. Her back straightens from its usual subdued stance, and she rolls her shoulders with a grimace.
"Good God, that was one hell of a warm-up," she grouses. "Who the heck knew that running could make your arms sore?"
Lee looks to Gai for guidance, and the older (but still youthful) man hums thoughtfully.
"Your posture has changed significantly."
"Yeah, Sakura's doesn't like to punch people. Me, on the other hand," Sakura grins confidently, lifting her hands in something akin to a boxer's stance. "I think it sounds like fun. Are you ready, Lee? I'm not going to hold back either."
But Lee and Gai are too busy watching her with wide, tearful eyes, their joy overflowing in thick rivulets down their faces. There is a gentle hum that begins in their throats that escalates slowly, tremulous and rising like the song of some tone-deaf bird, until finally it explodes from their mouth with a shout,
"So youthful!"
"Sakura-san! This version of yourself has instilled me with such unbridled passion! It is an honor to be your sparring partner on the spring of this day!"
"It's July…" Ino corrects quietly, fully knowing she'll be ignored and not really caring. At least she gets a free show with her break, she thinks sardonically.
"Two of my students, coming together in the springtime of youth! It's almost too much to bear! Are you ready, my dear pupils? On my mark – go!"
As much as Sakura respects the two taijutsu masters in front of her, she's fully perturbed by their displays of oblivious absurdity and had been about to say just that, but at Gai's call, she turns her attention back to Lee.
She leads with a kick at his side, which he easily parries with his arm, forcing her leg to the ground in an awkward stance. She pivots on her outstretched foot to avoid a punch to the face and leans back to dodge his follow up punch, falling back onto her hands and flipping to gain some distance.
In an instant he's on her again, sending a powerful kick out with his right leg. He puts enough force behind it to break her ribs, but he intentionally leaves his body open for an obvious dodge that he knows she'll take. He has only the briefest of moments to regret it when she does not, in fact, move, and then another split second to doubt his regret when she flashes him a rather victorious smile and catches his shin in her palm, the force of the kick dissipating completely as if he'd just stuck it out to tickle her with his foot.
"Surprise!" She laughs, wrapping both of her hands around his leg and spinning on her heel, sending him flying like a discus. He lands gracefully on his feet, sliding about a yard before coming to a stop.
"Very impressive, Sakura-san," he says, and his romantic affection is practically leaking again from his wide, spongy eyes –
I should have brought a snack, Ino thinks, thoroughly amused. And impressed. Whatever it is that this Sakura does to allow her such strength, it's much more powerful than the normal chakra enhanced kicks and punches they'd learned to do at the academy. But, as Gai already predicted, it's not enough to win her the fight – or the challenge.
When Lee comes back he is significantly faster, and although Sakura can withstand the force of his blows with her strange strength, it doesn't matter if she can't catch them all. Which she can't.
She goes down with an uppercut. Her teeth crash together noisily, though thankfully her tongue doesn't get caught between them.
"Damn, that hurts." She's rubbing her aching jaw, but there's still leftover excitement in her voice. She'd obviously enjoyed the fight. As Lee gets back into a fighting stance, however, she shakes her head. "It might be fun, but there's no way I can keep up with you, Lee – I gotta forfeit this one, unfortunately."
"It was an honor to spar with you, Sakura-san."
"It was indeed a good fight," Gai acknowledges. "Your power is impressive, though I have a feeling you don't know exactly where it comes from, but you rely too heavily on it. We'll have to work on your speed and counters to utilize it more appropriately."
"Sounds good to me!" Sakura agrees. She could've more or less guessed a critique like that would follow, considering her rather offensive approach. "Should I let Sakura try now?"
"Yes, Sakura! Let's let," Gai blinks thoughtfully for a moment, but continues, unfazed. "Let's let Sakura attempt now."
The switch again takes a mere two minutes. Sakura's hand drops from her injured chin to fall at her side.
Lee, catching on quickly, gets into his stance, but Sakura turns to Gai.
"Just to be sure, I'm sorry to ask again, but… you did say one strike, right? Is there – is there a time limit or anything, or any other rules…?"
"Just one strike, no time limit. The only rule is taijutsu only. Don't worry, Sakura," Gai smiles, guessing her hesitation is stemming from her clearly nervous personality. "I'm sure you'll do fine."
"Right…" she blushes at the vote of confidence and turns to face Lee, lifting her hands in preparation.
Ino tilts her head from her position cross-legged in the grass. Even the fighting stance looks unnatural to her – it's difficult to imagine Sakura brawling with anyone with the intention of hurting them. Even in their preliminary match, this Sakura hadn't so much as attempted to land a blow. Each offensive move had been at the control of the other one. It makes sense, she supposes, given her experience. Attempting to defend herself at the Academy would only infuriate her tormenters.
Sure enough, Sakura makes no move to hit Lee, though she does a good job of fluidly dodging his strikes. Her movements are coordinated and careful. Ino can't help but find it at odds with the rather panicked look in her eyes, but, either way, she manages to avoid getting hit right up until Lee kicks her in the thigh, dropping her like a rock.
"Oh! Sakura-san!" Lee bends to help her, clearly flustered. "I am sorry, I did not mean to put so much force into –"
She blinks up at him, her face expressionless. "It's okay, Lee-san, really. I'm fine."
She stands and resumes her position, and albeit a little hesitantly, Lee follows suit.
When they start once more, Lee has slowed down to his original pace, and once again, Sakura dodges each of his strikes. When he speeds up, however, he sends her flying with a punch to the gut.
"Sakura-san! Are you –"
"Fine," she says through a shaky breath. "It's nothing."
And then she gets up and does it again.
It's after the third time that Lee turns helplessly to Gai, as if begging him to call the match, but Gai's face is uncharacteristically serious when he shakes his head. Resignedly, and trusting his sensei above all else, Lee continues.
As much as he dislikes hurting her, he continues to do so at the urging of his beloved mentor, and each time, he can sense the impending impact like the second before it connects, but he doesn't dare let it show for fear of disrespecting Gai or Sakura. The fourth time he strikes her, she lands on her side from a hard blow to the ribs. The fifth time, on her back from a boot kick to the chest.
The sixth is going to be a right hook aimed at her cheek, and he can sense, as he had the other times, that she isn't going to be quick enough to dodge it, and he feels his fist hit the side of her face with a dull thud –
But this time, she doesn't go flying. Her right eye is squeezed shut from the pressure of his fist pushing her cheek up, and his knuckles are pressed so hard into the flesh that he can feel her teeth against them, and that is, in part, because she'd actually turned her head into the strike, grounding her heels in the dirt and dispersing the force through her body.
And then, as if they were children on the playground, she gently taps him in the stomach.
There is a moment of stunned silence from the group. Lee's mouth drops open and he stands paralyzed in his astonishment for so long that she actually steps out of his fist against her face before he thinks to retract it.
Then, nervously, she turns to Gai.
His frown is deep and thoughtful and lasts a moment longer before he smiles, but Ino is no amateur at reading people, having been inside the heads of many. She sees the comprehension on Gai's face before he masks it with his usual exuberance.
Sakura is obviously used to taking punches.
"Well done, Sakura! I honestly wasn't expecting that outcome, but you've surprised me with your spirited determination!" He flashes her his trademark grin. Soon, Lee is bouncing beside him, looking equally as proud. "Your endurance is quite impressive, and I can see that you are skilled in dodging. I believe we can play on those strengths and leave your lack of aggression to be compensated for by your other self. What do you think?"
Sakura is absolutely beaming. "I think that's a good idea," she agrees.
Ino can only imagine that two compliments in one day has made this the best day of Sakura's life thus far, and it's at once heartwarming and heartbreaking.
Mercifully, Gai gives them two days to recover, and although Ino strongly suspects that they'll both be sore until they're twenty-five, she doesn't say so. Sakura is clearly enjoying the attention, the validation, and the training, and Ino is enjoying that Sakura is enjoying it. She supposes the opportunity to improve is nice, too, along with all of the new, sleek muscle tone she's going to get…
"I think I'm going to eat two dinners tonight," Ino jokes. "I'm pretty sure I lost five pounds in the past three hours."
"For real! You wanna hit up one of those all-you-can-eat barbecue joints? Lee gave us one hell of an ass-kicking and I hurt so bad it feels like my skin is just one big bruise."
Ino startles, realizing immediately that the Sakura walking beside her is not the Sakura that exited the training grounds with her.
"Why'd you guys switch, if you don't mind me asking? Not that I mind," she adds.
Sakura turns with her palms out and shrugs. "She passed out."
"She – what?"
"Taking all those hits left her totally worn down, and that last punch was a complete brain rattler – like I said, I hurt so bad I feel like bending my knees might break me in half."
Does that make sense? Ino wonders. Maybe…
She can control an unconscious person's body herself, after all, and the word is "unconscious." If someone has two "consciousses," then it might make sense that they'd have to be made doubly unconscious to be actually unconscious… is there a word for that? Unconsciousseseses…?
She dismisses the thought. There's a more pressing question in her mind, anyway.
"So, you're in a lot of pain?"
"Ooooh yeah," Sakura sighs, but even that seems to hurt, and she winces. "Like, a lot a lot."
"Why didn't Sakura say anything about it, then? I mean, you guys have to be feeling the same amount of pain, right?"
"Yeah, I mean, we do, but Sakura thinks that –" she stops as if the words get snagged in her throat, blinks, and promptly changes her tune. "Well, nevermind. You can ask Sakura about it some other time if you want. But, barbecue?" She asks urgently, already tugging Ino along by the hand. Ino pulls back with equal pressure to turn them in another direction.
"I was actually planning on meeting my team for dinner, so why don't you just come along?"
"Mmm… I don't know… which restaurant are you going to?"
"Honey Pig. Why?"
"Ehh," Sakura grimaces. "That place is okay, I guess."
Ino scoffs. "What? They're the best in town!"
"Maybe if you like Konoha-ized barbecue, but the authentic stuff is from the smaller shops, like Kogiya or Yechon. They've got the real deal."
"I assure you," Ino says through gritted teeth. "I've been going to this restaurant since I was a kid, and they've got the best barbecue."
"Mm… I doubt that."
Ino throws her hands up. "Yes they do!"
"Oh, and I guess you would know," Sakura replies snarkily. "Being a pig and all, I'm sure you're an expert on barbecue."
"I do know quite a bit about barbecue, Forehead, and I think you should trust me since you obviously haven't stored any domestic skills behind that wide brow of yours."
"I don't need to know how to cook to know how to eat, although I guess eating is your forte!"
Ino's aggravation swells despite knowing that Sakura is purposely provoking her, and she determinedly ignores the part of her brain reminding her that she'd been the first one to yell.
"As if! I could diet you under the table! And anyway, I'm telling you that they have the best pig in Konoha," she snaps. "That's why they're called Honey Pig."
"And I'm telling you that you're wrong!"
"I am not wrong!"
"Yes you are!"
"No I'm not!"
"Yes you are!"
"No," Ino shouts. "I'm not! And how would you know anyway?!"
"Because!" Sakura throws her hands up and shouts back with matching volume. "I do!"
It takes Ino a second.
And then she sees the grin on Sakura's face. They've somehow managed to argue all the way to the restaurant. The people seated outside give them odd, prolonged glances that they both ignore.
Ino slaps a hand to her forehead and groans. "That's way too cheesy," she grumbles, but she's smiling anyway.
#
Flower meanings are from Wikipedia, if any of you are curious!
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