Terribly terribly sorry for the late update everyone. I had like 95% of the chapter done, read it, and was like nah. Scrapped the whole thing and started over. Came out a little better than the previous one so hopefully it is to your liking. Be gentle ples.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.


Chapter Six

"Rough weekend?"

I looked to my left seeing Paige gleaming happily at me as she sat down. Moving my things over to give her space, I nodded, "Something like that." She laughed softly, flashing me those perfect teeth of hers. I couldn't help but smile in return, settling deeper into my seat. I could feel Ino's gaze burning against the side of my head, though oddly enough, I couldn't bring myself to care.

She could get me to do just about anything she wanted but I refused to let her control every single aspect of my life.

If I wanted to talk to other people, I would.

So Paige and I continued to slip little jokes to each other throughout the class. Talking about the professor and his crazy stories he'd slip into the lecture to keep us awake. She was genuinely entertaining and I could probably spend all day listening to her go on and on. It was annoying that I couldn't invite other people over. It wasn't for my safety but rather for Ino's and while I didn't enjoy her company, I wasn't going to let anyone hurt her.

"Something wrong?" Paige asked innocently, her olive colored eyes showing heavy concern.

I shook my head, giving her a weak smile, "I'm fine, don't worry."

I could tell she didn't believe me but with our relationship still sitting at an acquaintance level, she knew not to pry. That didn't stop her from trying to work her way deeper into my life. "Give me your phone," she instructed. I watched her for a moment before hesitantly unlocking it and handing it over. I watched as she typed in her number, saving it to my contact list before returning it to me. "Now you can text me if you need to talk or if you're bored, I won't mind. You have to promise to text me though, okay?"

I swallowed the lump traveling up my throat, using every ounce of strength I had to fight off the blush I knew was forming.

She held up her pinky for good measure and without warning, laced it with mine. "Promise?" She repeated. Finally, I responded with a nod, mumbling out that I promised to text her later today.

Happy that she had gotten what she wanted, she pulled away slowly, biting her lip before focusing her attention back on our professor. I shut my eyes, repeating over and over in my head for me to calm down. She was just a girl. An undeniably attractive, funny and kind girl. She was a complete contrast to Ino, not in looks but in personality.

Why couldn't I have gotten a girl like her instead of Ino?

Perhaps it was for the best.

The more Ino gave me a hard time, the less likely it would be that I would be attracted to her. It made my job far less complicated and even if only a little, safer. Still, it was obvious that Ino wasn't too fond of me being too friendly, so the contact I'd have with Paige would have to be kept at a minimum.

I remained in my thoughts for the rest of the class, helping it to pass by a lot faster than I expected.

Standing up to leave, I felt an arm swing around my neck, pulling me in. My chin rested atop soft brown curls for a moment before Paige let me go. "I'll see you later, don't forget!" She tossed, rushing off to her next class. She had just hugged me, out of nowhere. While I would have liked to dwell on it longer, Ino had other plans, choosing to storm off without me.

Rolling my eyes at her immature behavior, I closed the gap between us with quick strides.

I didn't ask her what was wrong, already knowing from her actions. It was amusing to watch, I'd amit truthfully. How she tried to increase the space between us with no avail. She couldn't shake me, no matter how badly the both of us wanted. Unfortunately, the fun came to an abrupt end as a leg quickly extended out forcing Ino to the ground.

She managed to catch herself on her arms, just barely, glaring to her right at a girl with deep red hair and glasses.

I rushed over, taking her arms and helping her up, only for her to push me away a second later. "What the hell is your problem?" She hissed at the girl, shoving her back forcefully. The nameless girl only took a challenging step forward, forcing me to step between them with a scowl. "My problem is you," the girl spat harshly, "You rich brats don't belong here."

My scowl deepened, mumbling for the girl to back off.

She wasn't fazed, instead trying to step closer.

The look the girl gave me made me pause for a second. The words that followed next had me shook. "Why? Why the hell are you working for them? Have you fallen so low that your only option was to work for people like them? People who only care about themselves…" Her words were causing a spectacle and people were beginning to flock around.

I watched Ino, gauging the tensing of her jaw and to my slight surprise, the stinging of tears in her eyes.

"That's enough," I told the girl. "What I do and why I do it is none of your concern. You touch her again and I promise you'll wish you hadn't. The rest of you clear out of here there's nothing to see." The crowd separated, leaving room for Ino and I to push through. I managed to find a restroom, grateful to whatever god that existed to find that it was empty.

I took her chin, twisting it gently and eyeing the rest of her to make sure she wasn't hurt.

"Stop," she ordered.

I did, not because she had told me too but rather the tone she had used was unlike any I'd ever heard from her before. It was soft, too soft for someone as headstrong and assertive as she was. I could tell from the way that she avoided my gaze that something was off but she wouldn't allow me to pry. "Take me home," she said, not waiting for an answer.

"You're going to miss a whole day's worth of lectures Ino," I mumbled, "I can't do that."

"That's an order," she sternly warned and I knew that was the end of it.

With a sigh, knowing that arguing it any further was futile, I nodded, following her out of the bathroom. She didn't even wait for me to get the door for her, getting herself and slipping her earbuds into her ear as she shut her eyes. I eyed her carefully on the silent trip home, trying my hardest to gauge just what was the problem only to come up empty handed.

Once we made it back, she swiftly strode up the steps and disappeared inside. By the time I had made it up myself, I wasn't surprised to see her door shut. With a careful twist of the knob, I confirmed that she had in fact locked it. Rubbing the back of my neck, I retreated to my own room, plopping on the bed as I whipped out my phone. Thankfully, Tenten was in the rest of our classes so I could get the rest of our assignments for the day from her.

With nothing else to do, I figured now would be as good a time as any for a nap. However, my mind began traveling off to places that I hadn't intended, remembering once face in particular that I had hoped to forget.


"Sakura, you've been inside all day. Why don't you go out and look for something to do?"

Pulling my eyes up from the book I'd been familiarizing myself with for a test in two days, I guided them to the concerned gaze of my caretaker. It was true. I had woken up early this morning to go outside and train only to come back and force myself to study this material.

Even at eleven years old, I was always taking my job seriously. After all, I wanted to win.

Even if that meant depriving myself of a normal childhood.

Rubbing my eyes and setting down my book, I sighed, "I have to study Lina. I don't have time to play right now." I watched as a scowl crept upon her lips. I could tell she wasn't happy with my answer, not that it was anything new. She sat down beside me, pushing my hair back from my face as she took my chin.

"I know what this means to you sweetheart but I also don't want this to be your only dream. I want you to go out, have fun and try new things. Find someone or something to make you happy besides this, just in case it doesn't work out. It's what your mother would have wanted, don't you think?" She finished, fixing me with a stern look.

Rolling my eyes, having heard this speech a million times before, I nodded.

With a soft smile, she pressed her lips to my temple and rose from my bed. "Go on, dinner will be ready by the time you get back."

I nodded, watching her leave. With a sigh, I reluctantly hopped up from my bed and picked through my clothes. I knew it was tad bit cold but not terribly so. Shrugging on a black jacket and jeans, I pulled on my favorite sneakers and slipped out the door. I shoved my hands in my pockets as I walked down our street, occasionally waving at the people who recognized me.

I began mulling over just what to do, having no clue where any of my classmates lived or how to get in touch with them.

I knew there was a run down park a few minutes from my home, figuring that it would be a good place to start my search. Upon arrival, I wasn't shocked to see that it was completely empty. Not many kids came here and if they did, it was only to challenge one another to take on the deathtrap of broken slides and swings.

Nonetheless, I decided to stick around.

Settling on the cold ground under the slide, I fished a small book from my jacket pocket.

I felt bad for not listening to Lina sometimes but ultimately, I just didn't care. I was outside which had to account for something but in reality, I was just being stubborn. I didn't have time to fool around what with preliminaries just around the corner. I had to take every opportunity available to study and train so that when the time came, everything would be a breeze.

I suppose karma was bound to catch up with me sooner rather than later.

It just so happened to come in the form of another child's laughter resonating from behind me.

Peaking out from behind the slide, I spotted a girl running after a small dog. Her platinum blonde hair was pulled into a neat bun and green eyes glimmered in the faint sunlight. My eyes slipped down to the small dog she'd been running after. It was white, with pointed ears and black spots littering its fur. It would dart back and forth, tongue flailing about as he forced the girl into several abrupt twist and turns.

Slowly peeling my eyes away, I refocused on my book, lips parting as I mumbled the words to myself.

Suddenly, a soft whine brought my attention back to them. The girl is on the ground, holding her ankle with a pained expression on her face. I sighed, knowing fully well that I couldn't just ignore her. Hopping up to my feet, I slipped my notebook in my pocket and jogged over to her. With a small whimper, she tried to stand up only to let out a cry of pain. "Don't move just yet," I instructed her softly, dropping to my knees as my training suddenly kicked in.

"This might hurt a bit," I warned, putting slight pressure on her ankle as I slowly straightened it out.

She drew in a sharp breath, tears lingering in the corners of her eyes.

She was trying to hold it in, I could tell. It didn't matter to me whether she cried or not. Pain was a part of life and everyone has their own response to it. Softly, I mumbled, "It's okay to cry ya know?" She shook her head quickly, "I'm not gonna cry! My big brother said that big girls shouldn't cry." Rolling my eyes, unable to stop the comment from flowing past my lips, I uttered, "Your brother is stupid."

I looked to her face, watching as it scrunched in annoyance.

I definitely should've kept my mouth shut.

"Hey...look my bad. I didn't mean to say-"

"You're rude." She sharply interrupted. I frowned, knowing fully well that her comment was technically true but feeling offended nonetheless. Choosing to ignore it, I returned back to her ankle. It wasn't broken, that much was obvious. However, there's no way she'd make that trip back on her own. Knowing that there was only one way to solve this, I turned around, settling onto my knees.

"Get on," I instructed.

"Why?" She asked.

Another irritated sigh. "You won't be able to walk back home. I'll carry you back," I responded simply. She was hesitating, that was obvious. I didn't blame her but it wasn't exactly common for a kid to kidnap another kid. Not that I was aware of at least. Finally, she relented and managed to drape her arms over my shoulders and with a huff, I stood.

I glanced down at the surprisingly well behaved dog. He stood when I did, eyes watching me carefully as he tagged alongside me.

After a bit of investigating, I discovered that she didn't live terribly far from my home. The walk was pretty quiet, the only noise coming from my feet hitting the pavement. It was midway through our walk that she asked my name. "Sakura," I answered coolly, making a left at the corner when she instructed me to do so.

"Sakura huh? That's pretty, like the flower," she slipped casually.

Me on the other hand, I couldn't stop the burning of my cheeks at her comment. I forced my teeth together, swallowing nervously as her arms squeezed me tighter. "My name is Reika but you can just call me Rei. Okay?" I nodded, thankful to see her home appear off to the right. The dog rushed past me, yipping as he ran up to their door and scratched softly.

I took her up the three brick steps, keeping her arm around my shoulder for support.

Within seconds, the door was opened, revealing a boy, perhaps a few years older than myself. His tousled black hair drooped over his face as his piercing green eyes stared back at us. "What happened to you Rei?" He asked with concern. "I fell after chasing Miko and I hurt my ankle but Sakura carried me home!" She exclaimed excitedly.

He stared back at me making me feel completely uncomfortable. With a sigh, he mimicked my actions and placed her on his back. "I can't exactly let you leave without thanking you, how about you stay for dinner?" He offered. I shook my head, giving him a slight bow, "That's alright, dinner's almost ready back home. I should be heading there soon anyway." He nodded in understanding but Rei gave me a pleading look instead.

"I'll see you around," I tossed with a wave as I made my way down the steps. She called after me, telling me to promise that I'd come by again. Little did I know, I'd end up sneaking off to come see her everytime she asked. She was my first friend. My only friend. My first everything. Yet no matter how special she was, I never stopped by to tell her I was leaving.

What was worse?

I'll never get the chance to tell her I'm home.


It was the sound of screaming that had snapped me awake. Ripping me from my blast from the past.

Of course her door was still locked and no matter how hard I screamed her name, she couldn't hear me.

Backing up, I kicked the door hard enough for it to open. I didn't have time to take in the layout of Ino's room, my first instinct was rushing to her side as I tore the covers from her body and pried away her clawing hands. She was covered in sweat and her eyes shut tight. Nothing physically seemed to be wrong; no bruises or anything like that.

However, it was clear that she was a victim of her own thoughts, trapped in some nightmare with demons I wouldn't imagine.

I shook her gently, calling her name and hoping for some sort of reaction. She didn't budge. A more forceful shake caused her eyes to shoot open and a gasp for air to jump from her lungs. She was trembling, eyes darting nervously to each dark corner of her room before focusing on me.

I shifted back slowly, giving her space to breathe as she came to. I looked on, concern evident on my face.

She looked down at her hands, shock crossing her features as if she hadn't expected them to be there. "Ino," I whispered. Her eyes carefully looked to mine, breath still releasing in short gasps. I reached for her slowly only for her hand to dart out and strike me across the cheek as she screamed for me not to touch her.

Something was wrong.

I could tell by the way that her eyes seemed to look past me rather than at me that something was amiss. Then suddenly, everything seemed to refocus. She ripped her eyes away, snatching her phone from the nightstand and typing a number in before bringing it to her ear. Her voice was shaky and nervous as she called for someone to come over.

The conversation ended abruptly as she dropped the phone at her side. Pulling her knees to her chest, she drew in a long breath.

"Ino...what ha-"

"Get out," she ordered hastily, eyes glaring at me coldly. If I wasn't sure she hated me before, I was sure of it now. "Ayame will be here soon, get the door for her and show her to my room. We are not to be disturbed, understood?" With an annoyed acceptance, I nodded, "Yeah, got it."

I left her room without a moment's hesitation, finding Aris standing there and waiting for me with his head tilted to the side in confusion.

I sighed, motioning for him to follow as we hung out in the common room. Flipping on the TV, we sat there comfortably, me scratching Aris' ear as his tail thumped happily against the couch. The time spent waiting was brief, perhaps only ten minutes had passed before the doorbell rang. As expected, Aris erupted into a fit of soft barks, forcing me to roll my eyes as I followed him to the door, scooping him up as I opened it.

Ayame was there, Rin as well. Ayame gave me a weak smile as she nodded in the direction of Ino's room, "That's it?" I nodded, watching her go as she disappeared behind the door, shutting it and locking it without another word.

"What was that about?" Rin asked, taking Aris from my arms as he excitedly whined.

Staring at the shut door, I sighed, "Hell if I know. She just kinda spazzed out of nowhere and I went to go check on her. She woke up, called Ayame and here you guys are."

She nodded, following me into my room, claiming my bed as she stretched out, kicking off her shoes. "You're making yourself a tad bit comfortable, don't you think?" I huffed, slipping my hands into the pockets of my sweats as I eyed her warily. Smooth smirk slipping onto her lips, "Why shouldn't I? Ayame said we were staying here for the night."

Staying here?

What would they need to stay for?

"You guys didn't even bring any extra clothes or anything," I replied with a scowl, not completely understanding what was happening. "Well, Ino and Ayame are pretty close so I'm sure they'll just share whatever Ino has, not like she can't buy more," Rin tossed tiredly, settling further into my pillows.

"And as for you?"

"Oh, I can't borrow yours?"

I blushed. Taking notice of her shape, I had no doubt that she could fit in my clothes, though they'd be a little loose perhaps. Nervously rubbing my neck, I nodded, "Fine. Pick whatever, I'll come in when you're done." She scoffed, hopping up from my bed and shoving me to the side, "Don't be a prude Haruno."

I ripped my eyes away as she peeled off her clothes one by one.

I didn't dare open them until she said it was okay..

And when I did, I swore my heart skipped a beat. Hair tied into a messy bun and donning only my favorite hoodie. Climbing back into my bed, she stretched out with a yawn, "Don't mind me, I'll be out in seconds." She settled in under my sheets, Aris curling up beside her as they both made themselves comfortable.

And I had to admit, I liked the view. I liked it a lot.


I apologized if I missed something when trying to edit this. Hopefully you all enjoyed it. The reviews give me life and help me stay motivated. To Copper, this was an original idea that popped in my head when I was high out of my mind lol. One time experience that gave me plenty of good vibes and inspiration for this story. I honestly don't think I'm anywhere near good enough to turn it into a book but I'm glad you think it'd make a good one. Much love! And to sweetdeadlyangel, of course! We are simply building the relationship slowly. There will be plenty of InoSaku forbidden love and fun times. Don't worry my precious!