I don't own Naruto, but it means a lot to me.


"Listen, Ino. Can we just -"

"Will you just drop it already?"

"I'm not going to drop it, Ino. This is the whole reason we have this brunch."

"Oh is it?" Ino replies. "And here I thought it was just the kindness of catching up with your best friend? Silly me, how naive."

Sakura frowns.

"Pig. I can't give you a checkup if we don't -."

"Forehead." Ino's voice lowers with her cocktail, and green eyes meet purple in equal parts challenge and demand.

"I said drop it."

Sakura opens her mouth to argue, but a pointed glare kills her retort before it can pass her lips. Sakura reaches down, bringing a straw to her lips as she pushes a floral, decorative umbrella away.

"Pig." Sakura manages as she sips again, the taste of booze and fruit mixing in a way that causes her eyes to lose focus for a moment. Ino's grin grows wicked.

"Don't you just love it?" She insists, "That bartender's from Wave and I swear do they just have the most delicious drinks."

Sakura and Ino both take another sip of their drinks, and both women lurch as the kick hits.

"And gods," Ino cackles, "Strong."

Sakura blinks rapidly, flushing the alcohol down her throat with a slight gasp.

"I thought I ordered a single?" she says .

Ino shrugs, lounging back into her seat and sprawling her arms across the booth.

"I may have said two shots of vodka..." The blond grins, waving a dismissive hand towards the bar. Sakura glares across the table but leans in for another sip. The two settle into a silence, the buzz of the city street below matching the buzz forming in Sakura's ears with every sip. It's late summer, and the sky burns like amber as it finds its home in the western sky.

"So," Sakura says, drinking as much as her body will allow per sip. "You come here a lot?"

Ino nods, and her blue eyes shimmer as they soak in the evening skyline.

"Post-missions. It's so perfect. A place to just sit down and not worry about things."

Sakura nods, seeing the appeal. The city beneath them is dull enough to be background, and the pinkette can feel her own stress oozing out under the evening glow.

"And work?" Sakura posits, breaking the silence. "That still going well?"

Ino nods, bobbing her head but not turning to face the question.

"Oh, you know. Another day, another half-brained report of assassinations and political subterfuge."

The blond meets her companion's gaze with a lazy smirk.

"It's not dull, that's for sure."

What a fascinating euphemism for the complexities of war in peacetime.

Sakura smiles, and Ino reciprocates. They talk about work and nothing for short while until a familiar silence creeps back into the fold. Sakura's smile dulls as she once again struggles to find the words to proceed.

"How's Inoji?"

"He's good!" Ino's voice perks up slightly, a mother's pride seeping into her tone and posture. "Just a year and a half into his chunin career, and Shika tells me he might make jounin before another two in the corps."

Sakura smiles, and she means it. It's how they could tell they were getting old.

"Ino that's incredible!" She beams, "You must be so proud."

Ino lets her hair sway behind her in a breeze, effortless and golden without a single sliver of silver to be found. Sakura wonders if she dyes it, but doesn't ask.

"A proud Momma, indeed." She replies, "and he comes over and cooks his mother dinner twice a week. Successful and well mannered, as all Yamanka men should be."

"Oh? A young chef in the making?" Sakura asks. Ino chuckles to herself but hides her smile in another drink.

"It's the thought that counts, anyway."

There's a warm feeling, a happiness and a lightness that makes Sakura feel whole inside as they talk, but it's fleeting. Silence returns onto their talk, and Sakura feels like she's trying to build a sandcastle out of dry sand. It used to be so natural, so easy, and now she's out here running out of cards to pull to try and keep the conversation going.

"How's Sai?"

Ino pauses, the glass of her drink resting on her lips as an annoyed sigh escapes them.

"I know I said no check-up, but do we not have a better subject to talk about than my ex-husband?"

Sakura isn't sure how to answer that, so she sips her drink again, letting the icy and alcohol fill the silence. The potency makes her cringe, and it tastes like admonishment.

It didn't use to be this hard - talking. While their childhood friendship was insult ridden, Ino was the closest friend Sakura thinks she'd ever had. Less friend, more sister, honestly. Sure, maybe they were at each others throats and hurling insults enough to make grown women cry, but kids were always mean and it was only ever between them. God help the outsider who felt emboldened to comment on Ino's nose or Sakura's forehead.

"Ino…" Sakura pushes out. "Ino, I didn't mean to…"

The blond has her hand, the other pushing another gulp of drink down her throat.

"I know, Sakura." The blond answers. "I know, and I don't mean to snip I just…"

Ino takes another sip, and her eyes meet Sakura's with a gaze that reminds the pinkette that neither she nor her friend were little girls anymore. There's a weight and a weariness that reminders Sakura of her own in the mirror at night. Twenty years of war and loss and children and love and just time leave a chasm.

"We're not doing this to fix my love life." She says. "I didn't agree to this because I want to be a part of your checkups."

"No." Sakura says, feeling more lost than upset at the insinuation. "No, I know you didn't. I'm sorr-."

"And don't be sorry, either!" Ino snaps, but as her eyes met the blond's, Sakura can see the smallest little flame burst to life. Sakura bites her lip with a grin.

"Well excuse me, princess." She snorts. "Forgive me for trying to be apologetic for my oversteps."

"It's about time you did something about those." Ino agrees.

"The sass!"

"Well," Ino shrugs with another sip. "It apparently needed saying."

There's another silence, but this one's different. It wasn't perfect, and it wasn't like before. But, then again, they weren't like before, either. It was hard and difficult, and Sakura knew they both missed how easy it used to be. But growing up was hard and growing together was harder still.

"Ohhh." Ino smirks. "Watch your ten o'clock. Cutie on the deck."

Sakura tilts her head only enough to barely see. It's a chunin, one from the border corps, if she remembers properly. She looks back at Ino and takes a long sip.

"Hubba hubba." She buries into her drink. "Odds he has a brain cell between those big brown eyes?"

"With our luck?" Ino snorts. "Not likely. But it's a wonderful view!"

Both women descend into giggles.

It wasn't like it used to be. But they were trying.

That's all that matters.


This one was easily the most difficult to write, even though the feelings I wanted to convey were the easiest to feel.

- Free Drinks