Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters that appear in the anime/manga series. I like cake.

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SEX AND SENSUALITY

A "Three Years Later" Naruto fanfiction story

Based on the anime and manga created by Masashi Kishimoto

Written by Enigma of Bishieness.

Chapter One: Let t3h storeh begineth!

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I'm Haruno Sakura, fifteen years old, Chuunin-level kunoichi, apprentice to the

Godaime Hokage, and one hell of a tonsil hockey machine, if I do say so myself. Ino here doesn't seem to be offering a dissenting opinion either. Now, one might take to wondering: How exactly did one Haruno Sakura end up locking lips with former arch-enemy Yamanaka Ino?

Today is exactly a year after Sasuke left the village. Memories had been rushing back to me the entire week. The worst had come about today. I couldn't stop thinking about that day.

He walked away from the village with a calm, resolute look. Left the home he grew up in, left his friends and left his responsibility. I tried to stop him, tried to do something, anything to change his mind. Tears fell from my face as I begged him to change his mind. Finally, I told him the one thing I always thought of as a last resort. Something that he couldn't just walk away from, could he? Told him that I loved him, that I'd devote my life to him. Told him that I would make him happy, as long as he stayed. Not necessarily even in Konoha, just with me.

"You really are… annoying."

It hurt so much, hearing that from him. It wasn't even that he didn't like me. It was that I barely even existed in his mind. I didn't matter.

I threw myself carelessly upon the same bench I had sat on a year ago. The night sky was perfectly clear, with not a cloud in sight. As I lay there gazing upon the stars, I wondered why I was all alone. I hated it. It reminds me too much of when I was much younger, made me feel like I was back with the teasing, the loneliness, and the pain. Nowadays, the only people I see regularly are Shizune and Tsunade-sama. And with one needing to tend to the hospital, and the other running the entire village, there's not exactly a whole lot of time I've been able to spend with either of them.

The rest of the rookie teams all had their own things to do, their own lives to live. It's been quite hectic lately, with Tsunade-sama assigning as many missions as possible to everyone. The only people who regularly get a chance to see each other would be teammates. It wasn't fair. Where were mine? Where was my crush, whom I devoted so much to? Where was my other teammate, that loud, ostentatious blonde who, as strange as it was, was the only one that could bring such a sense of normalcy to me when he was around? As absurd as it is for Naruto of all people to be the one to make me feel normal, make me feel like life would go on, he just does. I think it's just an effect that he has on people.

So where the hell is he? Tsunade-sama told me he was off training with the sannin, Jiraiya. But the two of them left just a week after Sasuke. He's been gone for nearly a year. Hasn't sent a word back to anyone back here in Konoha, either. Tsunade-sama occasionally receives a letter from her fellow sannin stating that training is going well, and Naruto's making big improvements, but nothing from Naruto himself. No "Hey, how's everyone back at home doing?", no "Miss you all, I'll be back soon.", and not a word at all to me. Wasn't he supposed to be infatuated with me?

My mind keeps pounding thought after thought into my head. Memories of Naruto, of Sasuke, of the old team seven. My mind was so occupied with these thoughts that I completely failed to notice a certain blonde had made her way over to the bench and sat down right next to where I was laying.

"I-Ino? What are you doing here?"

She turned around and I got a good look at her. She wore a completely serious expression.

"You know, I've been thinking about this for a long time, but I just haven't worked up the nerve to say anything until now…" She began in a strained voice. I could almost guess exactly where this was going, but I tried to delude myself into thinking that perhaps Ino begins more than just one conversation this way. Then I saw what she was holding in her hand, however, and knew my first guess was right. That… that thing she's holding… I can't believe she still has it; she hasn't thrown it away yet…

"…but, well, today I finally feel like I can say it." Her eyes lit up, and she broke into a wide smile.

"I want to be your friend. Let's be best friends." As those words left her lips, her voice became softer, and her eyes dimmed, and lost all of its energy from earlier.

"You remember that, don't you? Those were the first words I'd ever spoken to you. That and I gave you this ribbon afterwards. You remember that, right? Right, Sakura?" I nodded numbly, not sure where this was going, but her grave digging of my old buried memories, added to the ones I was experiencing already, was really doing a number on me, and I knew that getting into a silly argument with Ino would only guarantee a colossal migraine the moment she leaves.

"What happened to us, Sakura? We were supposed to be best friends! And we let what tear us apart? A traitor and our own petty crushes. Look at all the time we wasted hating each other. I just can't do it anymore." She didn't look any different, physically, but I could detect the weariness in her voice.

"I want you back, Sakura. I want my best friend back. I want back the girl that I could talk with, laugh with. I don't care about anything else anymore. I want you back. It was the worst mistake I ever made, letting a crush over Sasuke break our friendship. I have no interest in him anymore. I couldn't, not after he betrayed us all. Our rivalry is over, isn't it? I just want another chance to be your friend."

"Please… please tell me that we can still be friends."

And after that, I should have been happy, right? I got what I wanted, I was no longer alone. Ino and I were still a bit awkward around each other for the first few days, but we gradually slipped back into our old 'best friends' routines. We would spend as much time together as we had. Which translates to just about anytime she got back from a mission, since most of my work nowadays was hospital related, and rarely left the walls of Konoha.

It was on one of those days, one of those plain, ordinary days when the two of us took our friendship to a deeper level. I'd have liked to say that it was a well thought-out step that we both rationally talked about before taking that step. I'd have liked to say it.

Just one of those Saturdays, one of those lazy Saturdays where the sun is bright, the clouds are fluffy, and I couldn't stand to stay cooped up in an empty hospital room and practice jutsus by myself. So I ditched training and went to find Ino.

Eventually, I found her back in the Yamanaka garden, in the process of weeding. Obviously, it wasn't long at all before I was dragged into helping. I spent the rest of the day there, helping out. I didn't mind much. At least I had a chance to make up for lost time.

I glanced over at Ino and couldn't help but smile. She was covered in soil and sweat, whistling a tune as she worked, and barely looked like the pristine, completely professional kunoichi that I had gotten used to seeing. This was the old Ino, the one I had grown side-by-side with. The one that didn't mind association with dirt and soil, be it gardens, playgrounds, or little crying Haruno Sakuras.

An unfamiliar set of feelings welled up inside me. I felt right. I felt like all was well in the world, that everything was back to the way it used to be, the way it should have been. It was Ino. It had to be Ino. Just getting her back as a friend could do this much for me. What if…oh… what if… we could take things further? Of all things possible, did I run in a huge circle just to finally realize that Ino was the one that could really make me happy?

I recoiled mentally. I was…like 'that', was I? Well, I certainly wasn't expecting to just 'realize' something like that… I thought if anything, it'd at least take an extremely traumatic experience to have an effect like that. But more traumatizing experiences have happened to me, and I certainly didn't feel any different afterwards.

I tried to clear my mind a little, to think a bit more rationally. I suppose I wasn't particularly upset by the idea, it just caught me off guard. I reasoned that I could always break the idea to Ino, and see how she would take it. I've heard of other girls 'experimenting' at this age, this wouldn't be any different, right?

I continued debating internally whether it'd be a good idea at all to mention something like this so soon. After all, it was merely a hypothesis, wasn't it? I should probably go home and sleep on this and figure something out before I do something rash.

As I looked over to see if Ino was finishing up, I caught a glance of her wiping some sweat off her brow with the back of her hand. I'm really not sure what exactly happened next, but… "Well, Sakura-chan, I think we're done here, you wanna go and grab some foo-"

I don't know why, but for some reason, as she was wiping her brow, I just wanted her. I've never felt this kind of feeling before, but I was extremely attracted to her, in the physical sense. Before her sentence was finished, I'd cut her off with my lips, as I looped one arm around her waist and pulled her in. Linking the fingers of my free hand with her corresponding digits effectively prevented her from pushing me with that arm.

I could tell something was wrong. She wasn't responding. Ino made no attempts either to respond likewise with her own kisses or to try to push me away. I slowly relaxed my grip on her. I pulled away from her to try to get a better look. She wasn't happy, or angry.

She was upset. Whatever was left of my adrenalin high from before evaporated real fast. I've never seen Ino just plain upset before. She would cover it with yelling, or pretend whatever happened didn't hurt her. This was new. Suddenly, all the euphoria I'd experienced with Ino for the last few weeks vanished. Gone, were the mannerisms I had reserved for my best friend. Indeed, I felt like I had just grabbed and kissed Ino, when she was still my rival. I reacted accordingly.

I was quite busy yelling at myself hysterically. What the heck have I done? Didn't I just get through telling myself to not do anything rash? Where did the calm, logical Sakura go and why did I impulsively react like that? And speaking of reactions, Ino's certainly won't be good, judging by the look on her face.

It took a whole minute more for Ino to form any sort of comprehensive response. "Sakura, I think I need some time to myself."

"But, Ino-chan…" I tried.

"Please, Sakura. I…I don't know what to…please go."

It was a little over a week before Ino finally gave me her response. I had been worrying the entire time about how her reaction would turn out. Would she refuse to ever speak to me again? Would she revert back to the days of our rivalry? I wasn't sure what I would do if I lost Ino's friendship again.

She found me shortly after my hospital shift, as I was heading home. Autumn was over and from the looks of her shivers I could tell she had been waiting for me to pass by for a while now.

She dragged me into a corner and pulled me into the tightest hug I ever remembered her giving me, and whispered into my ear.

"Sakura… I've been thinking a lot for the past couple of days, and… well… I guess what with the way things were, and all, I kind of expected us to be best friends, and keep it that way… But then I considered this possibility, and well, we've always been fighting, and then we had that rivalry, and… oh, this isn't coming out at all the way I rehearsed it at home…"

"Sakura, I want to give it- give us a try. Sorry for reacting that way last time… but you did catch me off guard…" Her voice drifted off as she loosened her grip on me slightly. I felt slightly lightheaded, and barely took a breath, before she caught me in the tenderest kiss I could ever imagine.

Words fail me. The Sasuke-kun of my imaginations certainly didn't kiss like this. Fantasies certainly didn't feel so real, didn't affect me so much. I wondered momentarily if Ino became slightly empathic from years worth of mind-jutsu usage. I honestly wasn't surprised if she was, this was everything I had ever imagined, and more. Granted, my imaginations usually didn't contain another girl, but I'm certainly not complaining right now.

We broke apart, and for the first time in what seemed like an eternity, I began to notice my surroundings again. Almost as if time had stopped for us while we were occupied, and we didn't even notice.

She grinned. I must have followed suit, I could have sworn I felt the corners of my lips curl upwards slightly. It was as if something fell into place. I felt like I was one step closer to solving the puzzle that is life, like I had found the solution to this particular problem, that I was on the right track. I knew that I did not make a mistake in trusting my emotions to Ino.

Since that day, I've been, well, happy. I guess that, all along, I just needed someone to care for me. Someone to like me; to know as well as I did how hard it was to want somebody. My unrequited love for Uchiha Sasuke did wonders for my appreciation of Ino, who would finally return something I had wanted for so long.

For the first time in a while, I could honestly say life is good.

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A/N: Okay, I know I said that I'd finish the first set of monologues before working on Sex and Sensuality. Looks like I was wrong. Seems like during my planning process, I conveniently forgot that I had no idea how to write a convincing Kankuro that I don't need to stop every fifty seconds to ponder 'what the hell did I just write?'

Anyhow, Kankuro's on hold, and I'm not even going to bother thinking of Shino's thing, because it'll give me headaches. For Tenten, I still need to consider the surname question, and Naruto's coming out last, because it's Naruto.

Argh, I just wasted two paragraphs on monologues stuff… Okay, I was wrong about another thing. I'm really big on not making Hinata a replacement girlfriend for Naruto, and I rant about it a lot. (Seek Bishie's profile for more ranting) Needless to say, I conveniently overlooked similarities of Naruto coming off as a replacement boyfriend for Sakura. I'd brush it off as the two of them being different situations, but I already thought up a plotline to match, so I'm not going to change it. What I'm trying to say, however, is that Sakura will be having a SasuSaku moment. I wouldn't be able to wholly justify NaruSaku without it; that's just the way I feel. No worries, I'll keep it short, and hopefully everything will work itself out.

Oh, and by the way, I'd hate for people to kill me over this, but I estimate that at the earliest, NaruSaku get together at around chapter 23-24. Hey, wait, where're ya'll going? Get back here!

Shoutouts to Nekopaw for the humorous Orioke no jutsu comment (I found it funny, however wrong it might've been), all the guys that came and dropped a review, and all those readers out there that'll keep reading this fic simply because they like it.

Ergh. And that third paragraph waaaay back up there is indeed a flashback within a flashback. Think of it as homage to FF Tactics, or something. Or think that Bishie completely sucks as a writer, that works too. )

Tune in next time for more of Bishie's crap. Story. Yeah, story.

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Omake!

"Sorry, kiddo, but that's just a lesson you'll have to learn sooner or later. Never skip out on duties in Tsunade-sama's hospital, even if you were only supposed to be practicing jutsus. She knows everything that happens in there, all the time." Shizune gave me a consoling smile, but I couldn't help but suspect she was secretly chuckling. After all, being punished with three weeks worth of hospital bedpan duties was quite funny, if it wasn't happening to me.

"Oh, and did you find out the same way, Shizune-san?" I asked, curiously. Hospital gossip always turned out more amusing than one would normally expect.

"Well, actually…" Shizune reminisced "Funny story, really, but when I was training under Tsunade-sama, the only places we really stayed at were gambling districts, and she was more interested in sneaking off than I was…"

"!"

"Erm… actually, perhaps that's not the best thing to tell you… Sakura-chan? Hey, Sakura, wait! No! That's inappropriate blackmail material! Did you hear me, Sakura? …Oh, I'm really in for it this time…"

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This chapter was finished on: December 9, 2005