A/N: Thank you to SakuraakaMichelle for beta-ing this. Please visit her page and read her stories as well^^

Just to clear up some confusion: Ino is going to be one of the primary character in Part 2. I made her into a very protective and loving girl. Since she did not have the luxury of making friends other than Sakura when she was young, she craves attention from others. When she decided to chase after Itachi, it was mainly a playful thing and not really serious. She loves to flirt, but apparently it's not making any impression on him. In the previous chapter, it isn't true that she "has liked him for a long time", she just says that to exaggerate her feelings.

So no, Ino does not love Itachi at the moment. On a superficial level she wants rich and wealth, but on a deeper level she wants to marry into his family and protect Sakura. Either ways it's more convenient if she actually does chase after him.

For those who came to read the fluff between Sasuke and Sakura, I am afraid from this point on, there is only angst and tragedy between them. Don't worry, they are still the main characters. Anything happens to Ino and Itachi only acts as a foil to the relationship between Sakura and Sasuke. There will be more drama between them, but unfortunately, in Part 2 there is not much happiness between the two.

For those who wants to read about the happy and romance portions between our two protagonists, please wait for two month until Part 3 starts to update. Or go read my other story, "A cup of Rain." At this moment Sakura and Sasuke are very... affectionate toward one another.

Thankyou to those who have stuck with me for such a long time. I love you guys so, so, so, so much. If there is any questions and confusion that bothers you to no end and cannot sleep if you don't know the answer to it-please pm me. I will always reply^^

Chapter 25

"How could he not remember my name!" Ino wailed.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "He has a lot on his mind."

"But I'm pretty..." Ino wailed again.

Sakura sneered, "Most people would beg to differ."

Ino cried in humiliation, "I want him!"

Sakura patted her dear friend on the back, and said, "There there. Let's get you someone else to hook up with. You will forget about Uchiha Itachi in no time. Let's go to the bar and see which eligible gentleman is available tonight."

Ino whimpered, "Ok."

That was fast.

Once again, Sakura was speechless.

The two girls arrived at a local bar in Konoha 30 minutes later. Ino hastily put on some makeup while Sakura did Ino's hair. Since Sakura was already married, she didn't bother dress up. The main objective was to heal Ino's heart.

Ino swirled around the bar like a spinning tornado and then turned back to Sakura and complained, "There is no one hot."

Sakura rolled her eyes while ordering a bottle of cherry cider, "You mean there is no one as hot as Itachi?"

"Yea, that's what I meant." Ino said and she slumped against the bar counter while sitting on the stool.

Sakura sighed and then said, "It's alright, I..."

Suddenly, a red haired girl pushed her way through the screaming customers and reached the counter. She eyed Sakura and Ino from head to toe, then sat down and said, "Ino, still single? Nobody wants an old virgin like you, right?"

Sakura was in the middle of drinking water when Karin said that and sprayed her drink all over Karin. "Are you kidding? Virgin? Ino?"

Ino hissed, "Shut up, Sakura! At least I slept with more than one guy when all you had was Sasuke in your life."

Karin sulked at the "Sasuke" part of her sentence, "Is she the bitch who married Uchiha Sasuke?"

Ino made a simple introduction, "Karin, Sakura. Sakura, I told you about Karin."

Sakura smirked smugly, "You're not as hot as you think you are, Karin. After all, Sasuke-kun chose me!"

Karin turned her venom towards Ino since she was the easier target to humiliate, "I heard you haven't got laid in a while. Maybe you are losing your touch."

"Shut up," Sakura quickly defended her friend while handing her some wine. "Ino already has a boyfriend. Here, drink this."

Ino didn't know what Sakura was playing at, but one glance from Sakura and she could immediately play along with her.

"Yea, my boyfriend is the jealous type," Ino said quickly.

Karin frowned in suspicion, "I wasn't aware that you have a boyfriend."

Ino bluffed, "Of course I have one. We recently started dating. We are just to keeping it low-profile..."

Sakura quickly said, "Ah look at the time, got to go. Let's go Ino."

Then she dragged Ino away from the bar, leaving Karin the bartender with a fairly large bill and a rather confused expression on her face.

(^_~)

"Sakura!" Ino yelled while piling her guts out. "How am I going to find a boyfriend soon? And why did you feed me so much alcohol?"

Sakura smiled while dialing on her cell phone, "Sorry, sorry, I just thought I had to say something to that bitch. She pisses me off. I'm calling Sasuke to pick us up..."

Ino rolled her eyes, "Of course. She once stole your precious Sasuke-kun."

"Not stole," Sakura corrected, "He was drunk, and she was fat and ugly."

Ino didn't say anything. She was sure that Sakura imagined the whole thing. Truth to be told, Sakura only heard stories about Karin from Sai, and that made Ino doubt their accuracy. She has lost her trust in any Uchiha a long time ago. Ino did not want to find out what happened between Sasuke and Karin, this whole wedding deal is making her head ache. She rinsed her mouth with water and felt a lot better.

"Sakura," Ino said, "I need to think of a plan before Karin gets on twitter and tells everyone that I have a boyfriend."

Sakura said, "Nobody follows her anyways."

"But what if she tweets me?"

"I thought you blocked-"

Ino grabbed Sakura by the collar and yelled, "I want Uchiha Itachi!"

A black limo approached them, and the window was rolled down. Itachi's face appeared. He looked at the two girls and smiled, "Sasuke isn't available at the moment. May I escort you ladies home?"

Ino, who was still holding onto Sakura's collar, lets go and smiled, "Certainly. Come on, Sakura."

They got on the limo while Sakura was trying to control her laughter but failed miserably, "Did he hear that?" She whispered to Ino.

Ino hissed, "I don't know! Let's go back in time and try that again just to find out!" She glared at Sakura, then turned to Itachi with a smile plastered on her face, "Itachi-San, how kind of you to pick us up."

Itachi smiled back, "My pleasure, Ino-San. Please forgive my rudeness the other day, I certainly didn't mean it that way."

Sakura wondered, what other way could he possibly mean?

But Ino was not mad. She smiled and tilted her head slightly to show him the angle of her that she was so proud of, and asked, "Itachi-San, all is forgiven. In fact, you made me realize how conceited I was. Please excuse my intrusion as to confess my feelings, I certainly do not want to impose unnecessary burden upon you..."

Itachi's smile didn't fade one bit. He said, "Not at all. I am used to it."

Sakura could see the flames and fire burning behind Ino's eyes, since Itachi was immune to her charms; but Ino was still smiling, and Sakura had to admit her perseverance of her frozen and smiling face.

Finally Sakura decided that she must step up and face her fear of her brother-in-law, "Itachi-San, I am glad you are getting along so well with Ino-chan. Both of you are very important in our lives."

Itachi flickered his eyes towards the blond girl, and then faced his sister-in-law with a straight face, "Of course, Sakura-chan. I am very happy for you. When is the wedding exactly?"

"A week from now on," Sakura said happily. It was true that she and Sasuke were married legally. But both of them needed to have the ceremony and reception.

Itachi nodded, and said, "Well, we're here."

Sakura gave Ino's hands a squeeze as she got off the limo and into the Uchiha Household. Ino watched in sadness as her dear friend walked into the mouth of a lion.

Itachi looked at Ino expectantly, "Ino-chan. Where do you live?"

Ino raised her eyebrow at the change of suffix, but she was very mad at him at the moment, mostly because she wondered why didn't he respond to her attempted flirting. So she gave up entirely and said, "Just take me to the nearest bar."

Itachi observed her for a few seconds, then decided that he couldn't care less, and said, "Very well. Ryuku?"

The driver started driving.

The car ride was excruciatingly silent as the limo moved on. Ino frowned. She wasn't comfortable at all in this place. She had always thought of the Uchihas as arrogant, ignorant, and very asshole-like. And she was right.

She hoped Sakura wasn't going to be bullied by them.

Ino's frowned intensified, Sakura could be so ignorant at times that she could count the money after she had been sold.

Ino sighed. She wanted Sakura to be happy.

The drive seemed to be a lot faster this time. She returned to the bar she originally came out from. She nodded at Itachi as a gesture for her thanks, grabbing her purse and walked out of the limo.

Unfortunately, Karin stood at the bar entrance, smoking. She squealed, "Ino-pig! Is that your boyfriend?"

Ino said, "Uh..." and quickly slammed the door behind her.

Karin was even more suspicious. Ino must be hiding something.

So Karin ran to the limo as it drove away, and found there was an Uchiha crest engraved at the sides.

"OMG, you are going out with an Uchiha?" Karin yelled louder.

"Uh..." Ino said.

"Sasuke's taken. So you can't possibly be.. oh my gawwwwwd, you are Uchiha Fugaku's mistress!" Karin screamed.

Ino yelled, "No! Shut up ok?" Then she marched into the bar.

Karin thought hard, then screamed as loud as she possibly could when walked into the bar, "Ino-pig, you are going out with Uchiha Itachi!"

Ino wanted to die as the crowd turned silent and looked at her.