I do not own naruto
The sound of her laughter
Chapter 2
Making her way towards her apartment, Sakura waved goodbye to the boys as they continued their argument headed in the direction of ichiraku. Sakura chuckled sadly to herself, if Sasuke was still here he would be the one arguing with Naruto. Things change, however, and as tactless and oblivious as Sai could be at times she did care for her new teammate.
Shaking herself out of the "what could have beens" the pinkette noticed a familiar ice blonde head of hair waiting by her apartment door.
"Pig? What are you doing here?"
"Ugh! Finally, I've been waiting forever for you to get back from your mission. We have a girls night tonight or did you forget? I thought that big forehead of yours was supposed to make you smarter." Ino said, tapping her best friend on the head.
"Pig, I'm exhausted, I haven't been home, or even slept in a real bed in weeks. Can we reschedule just this once?" Sakura pleaded.
"Nope." the blonde chirped "if we rescheduled every time someone had just come back from a mission we would never get together! So have a shower take a nap, and meet me at my place in a few hours to get ready"
Knowing she had no choice but to comply with the pushy blonde sakura sighed and nodded opening the door to her apartment. Ino gave her friend a bright smile and skipped away.
Shaking her head at her friends' antics she stepped into her apartment. cream colored walls and the scent of jasmine greeted her filling her with a sense of relief, it felt so good to be home. Opening her eyes she made her way toward her bathroom, shoulders drooping as her mind replayed the mission. Another mission...another complete failure, the lead on Sasuke once again lost. This constant chase was wearing on everyone even if no one showed it openly. Stepping into the warm spray of the shower sakura leaned her head against the tile wall. fingers tracing the grout lines idly,
is it even worth it? The long missions, the late nights tracking trails they knew were months old, then inevitably the disappointment on everyone's faces when they came home empty handed. He clearly doesn't want to be found let alone drug back to the village.
A single tear slid from her closed eyes, exhaustion always did bring out the pessimist in me, sakura smiled to herself bitterly.
Exiting the shower and making her way towards her room, Sakura pulled out her favorite pajama set. Flowy silk shorts and a silk tank top , fingering the silky cream colored fabric sakura brushed her hand across the lace strap and along her shoulder. Hand gripping her shoulder as she sat on the edge of her bed, eyes closing when her head hit the pillow. A hazy charcoal grey eye flashed in her mind, sleep husky voice calling out her name questioningly. Strong fingers gripped her shoulder like she was his only anchor to reality. Her shoulder tingled as if his fingers were still holding her in place, her last conscious thoughts wondering why a simple touch would affect her so much.
"Could you be more careful, pig!" Sakura exclaimed as Ino gave a particularly harsh tug on her lone rosette hair.
"Well maybe if you actually took care of your hair it wouldn't be this difficult to brush through!" the blonde sighed. " I mean really why even have long hair if you aren't even going to take care of it properly!"
Tenten and Hinata giggled at their behavior from the other side of the room
"They'll never outgrow insulting each other, will they?" Tenten whispered.
"Their friendship is rather unique," Hinata agreed with a small smile.
"So girls, the mission for tonight is to find forehead here a man." Ino told them spinning sakura around in the vanity chair to face the other two girls.
Sakura groaned and slid down in the chair, she just knew when she agreed to girls night this would happen. She was starting to believe that it might actually kill Ino if she didn't bring up sakura's singleness every single time they got together.
Pointing to each girl Ino continued her tirade, "Hinata has finally decided to seriously go after Naruto, Tenten and Neji have been looking extra cozy if i do say so myself" tenten blushed and sakura's eyes widened in surprise. "And tonight I will definitely get Sai to realize my feelings for him!"
The other three girls burst out laughing, Sakura laughed so hard she was wiping tears from her eyes. "Sai? Seriously? Well you've certainly got your work cut out for you there pig. Truthfully you could probably tell him straight out and he still wouldn't get it!"
"I have…" Ino murmured
The girl's eyes widened and went silent before laughing even harder, Ino pouted and shoved a bundle of clothes at sakura.
"Just get changed." Ino said, pulling sakura out of the chair and pushing her toward the bathroom.
Unraveling the bundle of clothing in her hands, Sakura openly gaped at the short black dress. "I… I can't wear this! It's way too short!"
Ino looked back at Sakura in the mirror, eyes shimmering with mischief, "I have another option if you don't like that dress."
Taking two steps backwards toward the bathroom, Sakura shook her head. Knowing from the look in her eyes that if she didn't wear that dress the other one Ino had in mind would be alot worse. Shoulders sagging in defeat, Sakura turned and made her way to the bathroom to change.
"Do you really think we should keep pushing her this way?" Hinata questioned quietly.
Ino sighed, blue eyes dimming. Turning in her chair she faced Hinata and Tenten.
"She can't keep waiting for him," Ino murmured, "it's killing her. She may not show it openly but every failed mission she comes home eyes a little more dull than before, and i can't watch him destroy her anymore she needs something else to live for"
Both girls looked at Ino and nodded looks of Determination crossing their faces. They would make sure their friend got the love she deserved even if it killed them.
The bathroom door opened slowly, and the girls' heads swiveled to Sakura lingering in the doorway, sheepishly tugging at the short black skirt. The smooth black fabric of the halter top dress clung to the contours of her stomach before flaring out around her mid-thigh.
"You look beautiful Sakura." Hinata complemented with a smile.
"More like hot" Tenten exclaimed standing up and putting an arm around Sakura's shoulders "you'll definitely be catching the attention tonight! You might even look better than Ino."
"As if!" Ino said airily tossing her perfect hair over her shoulder, "lets go!"
The evening air was cool against her skin, and the sky was beautifully clear and full of stars winking in and out. Lanterns hung from store fronts and restaurants illuminating their path in a warm glow. Ino's hair glowed gold in the lamp light, her deep purple silk slip dress fit her body like a glove, every contour perfect. Hinata's lavender dress matched her eyes perfectly, her skirt flitting around her calves as she walked. Tenten's emerald green chinese style dress slit up the sides showing off her best feature while her hair fell in waves down her back. Smiling to herself as she watched her friends. Maybe this won't be so bad after all. She thought. She deserved a break and a chance to let because she didn't have a man in her life didn't mean she couldn't get out there and support her friends, even if she'd rather die than tell Ino that. The blonde in question dropped back beside her, looping her arm through sakuras.
"If we don't hurry i might not get to see Sai!" the Blonde tugged on her arm.
Sakura snickered at her friend's antics and took one last deep breath of fresh air before they descended into the smokey bar.
