What Friends Are For
Series: Sensei
As Tenten and Hinata walked away Tenten found herself glancing out the corner of her eye at Hinata wondering whether or not she was thinking what she was thinking. When Hinata reached out and grabbed her arm Tenten slowly began to grin.
"I think…we should watch them." Tenten began to blink rapidly and innocently. In a tone that showed a lot of forced bewilderment Tenten replied, "Are you suggesting we spy on them?"
Hinata, showing just how much she had been corrupted by her friends, retorted, "We're not spying. We're just making sure she's okay."
Because Tenten wanted to go spy too, she didn't argue or even smile. She simply nodded solemnly and allowed Hinata to lead the way.
Ino pulled away from Shikamaru and looked up into his eyes. He looked calm and content. He also didn't look like their friendship was broken beyond repair.
"How are you?" She asked searchingly, hoping to see whether or not her initial deduction was true.
"Stop worrying, Ino. I'm fine. We're fine."
She wanted to drop the subject and accept his words as truth, but she couldn't. She just had to pull the tail of the sleeping tiger. But then, what is a ninja that didn't live dangerously?
"Why did we break in the first place? I know my situation with Asuma left problems within the group, but what happened with us, Shika?"
He sighed and glanced up at the sky. "Do you really want to do this now? I thought you were going to hang out with your girlfriends."
Ino knew an evasion when she heard one, but she decided to let it go. It wasn't like the opportunity to present itself wouldn't occur again, and if he wasn't ready to talk then…she knew what that felt like.
"I am." Ino took a few steps back and said, "You'll tell Chouji I'm back in town if you see him before I do?"
Shikamaru nodded. "I will." He turned and walked away, lifting a hand in farewell, and Ino smiled slightly at his retreating form before continuing on her way to Tenten's house. It took her a few seconds to notice two familiar chakra signatures nearby. Ino growled when Tenten and Hinata appeared at her side.
"I could have sworn the two of you were supposed to head back without me."
Ino watched as Tenten's big cheesy grin appeared and rolled her eyes. "You do? I don't remember that at all." Ino threw Tenten a dirty look and would have replied, but she felt Hinata's hand on her arm.
"We're not leaving each other alone anymore. We're friends. We'll support each other." Ino softened slightly. A part of her wanted to hug Hinata, but decided not to. In the end, she marched forward, and called over her shoulder to her friends.
"I'll forgive you this time, but next time mind your own business."
She missed the glance that Hinata and Tenten shared that basically said that they were both free to ignore her last comment and marched after her. After all, that's what friends are for.
:::
"So I hear you've got a lot of men in your life."
Sakura scowled and looked at Temari who only gazed back knowingly. "She let you read the whole damned letter, didn't she?"
"And why wouldn't she?" Temari said airily.
"Because it wasn't your business."
"Sakura, darling, your business…is everyone's business." Sakura punched Temari on the arm, but Temari didn't even flinch. "Look Sakura, we're going to sort this out. We're here because we're not going to abandon you, we're not going to make you do this alone. There is a solution to every problem. It's just hard to find the answer sometimes."
"I get that Temari, I just hate that in that journey to find answers, there's so much pain involved."
Temari smiled at her sardonically. "That's life."
"Yeah, well, life sucks."
"And then you die." Temari retorted causing Sakura to snort.
"And then you're brought back by a creepy fuck like Orochimaru."
"You are such a buzz kill Sakura."
:::
While Temari and Sakura made their way back to Tenten's place at a sedate pace. Sakura glanced at Temari and asked the question she had been wanting to since her return.
"How is Ino?" Temari smiled slightly.
"She's a lot better than you think. Don't worry. You'll probably fall apart before she does." That didn't make Sakura feel even a tiny bit better, but Temari had never been big on comfort.
They made it to Tenten's house to see the lights on inside. Thankfully, they didn't have to wait outside for the others to arrive. Sakura knocked on the door before testing the door to see if it was unlocked. It was, so she made herself at home.
"Ten?" Temari called out, but Sakura simply followed her nose to the kitchen where something smelled surprisingly good. As she entered the kitchen it was to find Ino cooking like she said she would. She glanced incredulously at Tenten, who merely shrugged. She wasn't going to say anything because the Pig was liable to poison her if she did so she kept her mouth shut. Temari, on the other hand, felt no such compulsion.
"Aw, look at Ino all domesticated. Makes you wonder why, doesn't it?" A grinned stretched across Temari's lips and the mischievousness of it wasn't lost on anyone.
It certainly made Sakura wonder. But she figured it was best to wait until dinner was ready before demanding that secrets be spilled. Hinata made her way over to Sakura and grabbed her hand pulling her out the kitchen and Sakura let it happen. It seemed to her that Tenten was really enjoying having Ino back and probably missed her more than she did and that was saying something. She'd let them have their time together.
They settled themselves on the couch and Hinata looked in Sakura's eyes and with that one look Sakura somehow knew that Hinata knew part of her dilemma specifically the part about Kiba. Sakura looked away, but Hinata squeezed her hand tightly and said, "No matter what happens Sakura, I'll never hate you. I may get upset and maybe even angry, but I'll never hate you. You don't have to hide things from me."
Sakura felt tears spill from her eyes.
