Just a little drabble-thingy. I've been attacked by plot bunnies recently ..

Anyways. Ino and Sakura go shopping. Kind of girl-themed. No gossip or lame jokes about monthly curses. ButumtheydotalkaboutChojiinathong.

Enjoy!

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Sakura watches her body in the mirror, turning side to side and examining herself with slight interest. Dressed in nothing but a striped bra and bikini-type pair of red underwear, she raises an eyebrow at the small lump of a stomach that pokes out cutely. Her frame is a desired one- slender, with natural curves, and the gentle shape of muscles beginning to show.

Her short pink hair is still wet- the tips gently brush her shoulders, and the pink tresses are held straight back from her face with a headband. Her hair's slight waves are beginning to show; but Ino will be here soon to straighten it for her.

There are three knocks at her door. Well, speak of the devil.

"Who is it?" Sakura calls, reaching for her bathrobe just in case it's her mother.

"Me." calls Ino, stepping inside as she speaks. Sakura leaves the robe, and instead heads over to her dresser, gesturing Ino to come with.

Opening up several drawers, and disrupting Sakura's mother's neat stacking of folded shirts (her pink-haired friend laughs at the spaz-out this will earn from her parent), she picks out a lowcut, racerback tank and a pair of fashionably ripped and expensive dark denim, threadbare and ripped in the thigh, knees, and... behind.

Sakura gets dressed, Ino's back facing her as she files her nails idly. Ino calls to her that she'll never guess who she ran into today. Sakura wiggles into the skintight jeans and automatically answers, 'Who?'

She swears she can hear Ino grin, though all she can see is the blonde's long ponytail, like that of a gypsy, and her curvy frame, seated crosslegged on the bed. It was that Hyuuga boy, says Ino, Neny or Neji or Neki or something dumb like that. Sakura laughs at Ino's cruelty.

Sakura asks Ino if she should straighten her waved, slightly curled pink hair. Ino shakes her head, and produces a bottle of volumizing gel from her purse. She splatters some over her soft hands, running them through her friend's locks and poofing them with a grin.

Now ready, Sakura grabs a sequined purse, stuffed in her cellphone, makeup, and other needed things, and she and Ino set off, yelling goodbyes and vague words telling where they were going and when they were coming back to Sakura's mother as they romp down the stairs and out the front door, and then into Ino's father's aged convertible.

The mall is packed- they're forced to park eight or nine rows away from the back entrance; but they don't care, as long as they're here. The moment the automatic doors slide open and the long hallway of the mall is revealed, yells and shouts and incessant chattering falls upon their ears, and Ino grins at Sakura.

They shop for hours, going into all different types of stores; clothes, shoes, jewelry... even a sock specialty store.

Sakura goes running for Express, gleefully pulling things off racks and holding them to her body to see how they fit. Ino waits patiently outside the dressing room, filing her nails and tell Sakura what she thinks of certain outfits when the pink-haired girl pops from the room eagerly.

In the more crowded stores, Ino and Sakura share a dressing room, always asking the opinion of the other before buying anything. They find things like tropical, ruffly miniskirts, longsleeve, v-neck tees in paperthin cloth, striped beanies, and all sorts of flip-flops and purses.

The most interesting trip is into Victoria's Secret. Ino holds up a lacy thong with a forefinger and waves it at Sakura, teasingly asking her if she'd like to see Choji in it. Both break out laughing and nearly knock over a mannequin as they cackle. The blonde eventually convinces Sakura to buy a new padded bra, to "boost her self-esteem and her rack", and laughs when Sakura can't even look eye-to-eye with the obviously gay male salesperson who rings it up for her.

They're on their way to the food court, and have already passed Abercrombie & Fitch and its shirtless male models, when Ino lays eyes on the most gorgeous dress she's ever seen. It's wound around the curvaceous body of a mannequin in the store window, and a rich, sky blue color. The dress is an off-the-shoulder, and the sleeves are billowy and thin. The hem, addressed with beads of all sorts of other shades of blue, is slanted, and falls to the nonexistent knee of the mannequin at the lowest point and the mid-thigh at the highest.

Though Sakura is nearly collapsing beside her, complaining of sore feet and the weight of her shopping bags pulling on her slender arms, Ino drags her inside, quickly commanding the lazy sales girl to fetch her that dress in the window so she can try it on.

Ino rushes into the dressing room with it, and quickly returns, spinning and holding out the edge of the dress as she displays herself to her best friend. Sakura's eyes widen and a grin spreads across her face- Ino looks simply beautiful.

The blues of the dress accented her eyes, and the paleness of her skin and the shade of her hair transformed her into a beachside mermaid, calm and soothing in appearance but gypsylike in wit and the smile that curves mischeviously over her features.

Ino's fingers fished for the price tag, and the groan that was strung from her lips echoed through the store. "Two hundred and fifty dollars!" she whined, crossing her arms and leaning against the nearby wall with a grumble. "That's how much I've already spent all today." she grumbled, tossing her hand at the large pile of shopping bags pooled at Sakura's feet.

Sakura gave her a look of pity, and sighed. It was indeed a beautiful dress- and a shame that Ino couldn't afford it right now.

Ino grudgingly put the dress back on a hanger and handed it to the salesgirl, and Sakura offered her a meal of freshly cooked teriyaki in the food court, her treat. Immediately, Ino let out a grin. It would be great to break her diet.

The mall was nearly empty now, and Sakura took all of her bags, including her purse, and handed Ino her wallet so she could order while Sakura got them seats. The blonde didn't notice when Sakura slid into a booth and began fishing through Ino's purse, carefully watching her friend to see if she looked in her direction.

The two ate, Ino cackling when Sakura looked up from her eating and had sauce all over her mouth, and sharing a large soda, two bendy straws poking out the top. Each had a large order, piled high with the cooked meat, and both were only able to eat half. Pinching closed the takeout box, and proclaiming it tomorrow's breakfast, Ino stood to her feet and stretched. "C'mon girly, let's go home. It's been a hard day of shopping."

They drove home in near silence, save the radio murmuring away, Sakura's arm held out the window and riding the whipping night breeze. Ino dropped her friend off at her house, waving goodbye and calling to her that she'd see her tomorrow at work.

When Ino got home, she lugged all her shopping bags up the stairs with her at once, and nearly knocked over her mother's vase, sighing in relief when it fell from the dresser onto the cushiony couch without damage. Making it to her room without breaking anything, she deposited the bags on the floor and plopped onto her bed, grumbling at herself that she should go wash off her makeup and exfoliate before going to sleep. She fumbled for her purse and looked for her cell phone, to see exactly what time it was- and on the way, found a small wad of money with a note pinned lovingly to it.

It read, 'Hey babe. Here's thirty bucks for your 'Dream Dress' fund. You can pay me back in lip gloss. Love, Sakura.'

Ino stared at it for a moment, before busting out laughing and reminding herself to ask Sakura what flavor lip gloss she wanted tomorrow.

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