Teachers and their Pets
Chapter 25
"Are you seriously trying to read a medical book while drunk and at a sleepover?"
"Yes, I-ah!" Sakura yanked her head away from Ino as the other girl spun her hair into a plait that was a little too tight.
The two best friends were having a great time together and it was now almost 2am in the morning. They'd decided to do each other's hair, and now Ino was behind Sakura -the blonde's own hair already screwed up into almost one hundred tiny plaits that hit against each other every time she moved her head- as the pinkette reached out and grabbed her large anatomy book, aiming to get some reading done while Ino 'styled' her pink tresses.
"Ino," Sakura turned her head slightly and fixed her best friend with a dark look before turning back round to face forwards, shuffling on her bottom slightly to get comfortable as she proceeded to open up her behemoth of a text book. "I need to get as much revision done as possible; Lady Tsunade wants to see how far I've come with bone restoration."
"Can't she just ask Kakashi?" Ino questioned innocently as she reached down to pick up a small bobble, aiming to tie it around one of Sakura's new tiny plaits.
Sakura's face dropped and she reached back with the book, slamming it into Ino's side. The Yamanaka shrieked and jumped up and away slightly, bringing Sakura's head with her. Sakura let out a yelp of pain and Ino quickly apologised, settling back down.
"Though you kinda deserved that as a rebuttal for your own vicious attack," the blonde said as she began combing through another few strands of Sakura's hair. "And anyway, I'm seeing Lady Tsunade soon too; you don't see me whipping out a text book while I have guests round."
"You forced me into agreeing to this sleepover," Sakura retorted, reaching with her free hand for her gin and tonic. "And it's not like you were ever planning on revising; I don't even remember the last time you came to training with Lady Tsunade."
"I've been ill!" Ino protested.
"Oh yes," Sakura replied sarcastically, wiggling her glass at the girl. "So ill; you've barely been able to finish those four glasses of gin and tonic."
"Who are you, my mother?" Ino shot back, taking a few more pieces of Sakura's hair in hand as she began another plait.
"No," Sakura replied plaintively. "If I was your mother I wouldn't be allowing you to go out with a thirty something year old man."
Ino let out a sharp bark of a laugh and then shoved her best friend, still giggling slightly. "You have nerve Forehead! If it weren't for me pursuing my dreams, you would never have had your sexy old Sensei for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."
"Eww Ino!" Sakura turned slightly to gift her best friend with a scolding look. "You're way too crass sometimes."
"Oh whatever," came Ino's response. "It's not like you've not said worse things to your precious Sensei while in bed with him,"
At this comment, Sakura's entire body heated up red hot, her skin turning pink. Ino watched with amusement as the girl's neck darkened a few shades.
"Ha, I knew it."
"What I do in bed with Kakashi is none of your business Pig!" Sakura yelped, her voice high as she then reached out and grabbed her glass of gin and tonic, glugging the fluid down.
"Aww c'mon Sakura!" Ino pouted, unseen, at her friend's back. "Tell me! I tell you everything!"
"It's not like I ask!"
"Yeah, but I tell you anyway! That's what best friends do!" The girl finished the last of Sakura's plaits and then got to her feet, trapezing around the sofa so she could sit in front of the pinkette with a wide grin on her face. "How many times have you done it? Lots of times? Is he good?"
"Ino!" Sakura dropped her head, letting her plaited hair fall in front of her face. "Why do you want to know all this stuff!?"
Ino reached out and grabbed the other girl's knee, a cheeky grin on her face. "Cuz I'm a nosy bitch!"
"You can say that again." Sakura muttered and Ino laughed.
"C'mon, you've not been together that long," the blonde said once she'd finished cackling. "I'm just curious as to what sort of stuff you've done!"
Sakura breathed out heavily through her nose and then looked up, her emerald green eyes just visible behind knots of pink. "Well, we've eaten breakfast together and we've held hands-"
Ino's face immediately became deadpan. "You sound like a pre-schooler Sakura. 'Ooh, he looked at me the other day. At least I think it was me he was looking at; it might have been the clock behind me.'"
"I do not sound like that!" Sakura yelped. "Look, I'm just shy! Usually when we talk about this kind of…stuff, it's just you showing off-"
"Oi."
"-and I just listen. It feels too…personal to talk about."
There was a long silence and after a while it got too much for Sakura. The girl looked up, only to see Ino gazing at her with a calculating look, her chin in her hand.
"You're in love." The blonde stated.
"Yes," Sakura replied, reaching out to trail a finger around the edge of her glass. "Is that crazy?"
"You're asking me?"
Sakura looked up and gave the other girl a rueful smile before glancing back down, bringing her knees up and tucking her chin behind them. "You know what I mean. Is it, well, possible? Naruto said something the other day that kinda struck a nerve. He asked if I was just…lonely. I didn't-I don't think that's why I'm with Kakashi, but…"
"If you were just looking for company Sakura, you could have picked an easier target," Ino's tone was jokey, but soft as she spoke. "Look Forehead, you're one of the strongest people I know, and your heart is strong too. You and I both know that you love Sasuke, that's a fact. It might always be a fact, but you know what?" The girl moved closer, reaching out and taking one of the pinkette's hands in hers. "I think you love Kakashi too, and I think you know you do. You've had your heart broken and you've worked very hard to fix it and you're scared, you're scared to let someone else in because you don't want him to leave too," the blonde squeezed her best friend's hand. "No one said feelings made sense, they're messy and stupid and complicated,"
Sakura sniffed a little, trying to keep back her tears. What Ino was saying was true. She loved Sasuke. He had broken her heart but she still loved him, and maybe, yes, she always would. But she also loved Kakashi. She felt like that man could fix the fractures that were on her heart. All this time the Haruno had placed faith on the idea that it would be Sasuke who would repair the pieces of her heart; she hadn't ever considered she might end up letting someone else in. It was kind of hard to accept. The pair were both silent for a while and then Ino drew her hand away, moving to refill her glass again.
"Well anyway, you can't blame me for all your crazy emotions, I just wanted you to fuck him and leave it at that, it wasn't my idea for you to go fall in love."
Sakura looked up, a sly smile on her face. "Follow your own advice first Pig, before you go distributing it to us lesser mortals."
Ino let out a gasp and then reached out to push the pinkette.
"Ino."
"Uhhh."
"Ino."
"Uhmm."
"Ino!" Sakura grumbled inwardly to herself as she pushed, yet again, at her best friend's long legs. The two girls had ended up going to bed around four and Ino had decided to take over the bed. It was now eleven am and Sakura had woken up to discover she was trapped in a tangled mess of Ino's limbs. The blonde had thrown her legs over and under the Haruno's, and the Yamanaka's arms were wrapped in an almost vice like grip around Sakura's neck.
"INO!"
"Whu? Ah!" Ino woke with a start, nearly head-butting her best friend as she rose from her pillow, her expression dreary.
As Sakura was released from her grip and sent spinning back onto the mattress, Ino gave her a weary chastising look. "Why're you being so loud?" She mumbled, reaching up to rub at her head.
"You were strangling me to death." Sakura retorted, sitting back up and gifting her fellow Kunoichi with a glower.
"Stop over exaggerating," Ino replied, moving back down to rest her head on the pillow.
Sakura was too quick for the girl however and swiftly ripped the pillow out from under the girl's head, resulting in the blonde smacking her noggin against the mattress.
"Owww."
"Get up," Sakura pulled back and then released her legs, kicking Ino from her bed. "I'm going to make breakfast."
"My head hurts."
"That's because you drowned yourself in gin last night." Sakura retorted just as the doorbell went.
"Whozat." Ino murmured, closing her eyes and nuzzling the carpet as she settled into her floor nest.
Sakura swung her legs over the side of the bed and pulled Ino to her feet, not listening to the girl's cries of distaste. The pair began moving down the stairs and Sakura left Ino on the bottom step, head upon the wall, before moving to the door. She whipped it open only to reveal Kakashi.
"Yo." The man greeted, taking in his girlfriend with a quick once over. "You look tired."
"We just woke up," Sakura returned, unable to stop the pink blush that was currently making its way across her face.
"I'm sorry if I woke you."
"You didn't." Sakura suddenly felt coy. She'd never been with Kakashi in front of Ino, she wasn't really sure how she was supposed to act. Thankfully Ino took it upon herself to do some talking.
Upon noticing Kakashi by the doorway, the Yamanaka brightened up considerably. "Well if it isn't Kakashi Sensei! What brings you around these parts?"
"Good morning Ino, you look especially exhausted," Kakashi greeted, his tone carefree as he raised a hand. He turned to look at Sakura again. "I actually came to drop off your book; you left it at my place and I remember you saying you had an examination soon." The man brought up a hand to present Sakura with one of her large medical books.
"Oh, thank you!" Sakura beamed, accepting the book and tucking it under her arm before grabbing Kakashi's hand and bringing him into her home, closing the door behind him. "We were just about to have breakfast, do you want to join?"
Kakashi cocked his head and closed his eye, signalling he was smiling. "I'll never turn down a meal from a pretty lady."
Sakura went red and then smiled, moving in to place a kiss against the man's clothed lips. Ino whooped behind them, though she was now apparently too tired to bother to be cheeky as she was slumping against the wall again, eyes closing.
"What exactly have you guys been up to?" Kakashi asked as he padded into the kitchen, leaving Sakura to grab up Ino and pull her best friend into the room to join them.
As she seated her best friend, Sakura rolled her eyes. "Ino drank too much last night."
"Did not." Ino returned, slumping onto the table this time.
"I hope you didn't drink too much," Kakashi commented. "You are both still underage."
"What are you? Her dad?" Ino began giggling quietly to herself. "I bet she has called you daddy. I would…"
Sakura and Kakashi watched as she dozed off and then Sakura moved to be behind her boyfriend, placing her hands on his shoulders as she brought her face down to his. She pulled his mask down slightly and placed a kiss against his lips, relishing the feel of his skin once more. "I didn't, don't worry."
Kakashi smiled at her, allowing her to pull up his mask and then he watched as she began grabbing mugs from the cupboards. Then he looked to Ino who had awoken again, and was now blinking around, confused. She spotted Kakashi, looked to Sakura, looked back to Kakashi and then developed a worried expression.
"We didn't have a threesome last night did we?"
Sakura let out a shocked sound while Kakashi smiled, his expression innocent. "We were planning on, but you fell asleep."
"Kakashi!" Sakura yelped.
"Bummer." Ino muttered.