Truths and lies go hand in hand. Both can hurt, both can heal. But while lies will usually spiral further and deeper into the void of mistrust and pain, the truth shall set you free.
In the following week, Ino had truly buckled herself down at school. Having apparently had some kind of change of heart after their talk, Sakura had noticed a distinct lack of her usual lazy behavior in classes as well as a lot more time reading at home. As unusual as the sudden focus on her lessons was, and as exhausted as she was during the evenings, Sakura couldn't help but feel happy, proud at the sheer level of effort her best friend was giving.
That was, until she broke down.
It wasn't clear how much stress Ino had been putting herself through until a few days after their biology mock exam. The day had been going well as far as the pinkette was concerned, classes were mostly relaxed during the buildup to the exams that capped the school year and Ino had been putting on a brave face after they'd sat the practice tests, it was subtle but Sakura was aware that she was worried. She wished that she'd asked her about it, assured her that she was going to be okay no matter what the results were, but evidently the pressure of trying to keep up had taken its toll when Sakura heard a scream of frustration, followed by a crash from the kitchen.
"Ino?! What the hell was that? Are you-"
Emerald eyes widened in horror at the scene that presented itself before her, as she hastily rounded the corner into the room she had to grab the door frame to keep herself from slipping on the puddle spread across the tiled floor. The large pot that the girls used for dishes such as stews, still rolled slightly on the ground, its contents of hot water, various vegetables and a small amount of chopped meat spread wide over the kitchen floor, the knife that Ino had been using to cut the meat ready for the meal had been apparently thrown across the room and lay just under the cupboard with a small chunk taken out of the wooden door where the tip had hit and fallen out. Scanning her eyes over the aftermath of Ino's outburst, Sakura struggled to hold back a loud gasp as she spotted the trembling blonde in the corner, trying to make herself as small as possible with her head against her knees and her hands shakily gripping whatever clumps of hair they could reach. The beautiful blonde being stained crimson as she pulled and ran her bloody fingers over the strands that weren't being yanked out in her frustration.
"Ino! Holy shit, hold on!" Sakura winced in pain as she stepped through the still scalding hot water from the pot, making her way as quickly and carefully as she could to her friend's side, kneeling down to try and get the sobbing blonde to lift her head. "Ino, what the hell happened? Did you hurt yourself? Please, talk to me Ino."
She was scared, in all the years she'd known her she'd never ever seen Ino in this state, but if she was going to help she needed to keep as calm as she could. She tried again to gently lift Ino's head, only to be met with a swatting hand and a cry of fear. As close as she was now, Sakura could see that the blood on her right hand was coming from a cut on her finger, apparently the knife must have slipped while she working on dinner, but what concerned her more was the nasty looking burn on her forearm. From the evidence she could see, Sakura pieced together that Ino had cut her finger and just lost her composure, rather than deal with it calmly, she'd opted to push the pot full of boiling water on the floor, and gotten splashed while doing it.
"Ino, you need to get up, we have to put something on your arm before it does some serious damage."
Her only response was short, shaky breaths followed by feeble whimpering. Sakura was starting to panic herself, her eyes welling up as she tried to think back to her lessons, she'd had a few crash courses in medical care for physical treatment, but nothing had come up for psychology, she had no idea how to help someone having a panic attack or anything related. Feeling helpless and defeated, unable to find some way to bring her best friend back to her senses, Sakura simply draped herself over the blonde, sniffling as she wrapped her arms around her back and head, trying to hold her as close as Ino's curled up form would allow.
"I'm sorry Ino... I'm so sorry... I.. I shouldn't have pushed you so hard, I shouldn't have made you put yourself through this. I just... Wanted you to do well, to feel as proud of yourself as I am when I see you." She couldn't stop herself from crying, pressing her forehead into Ino's hair as her tears stained the shiny blonde on top. "I'm sorry..."
It didn't take long, Sakura's tear-glossed eyes opened in surprise as she felt Ino's arms slowly snake around her midsection, holding her tightly as the shivering blonde started to gain a little more control over her breathing.
"Y'know... I don't think, a doctor is supposed to cry over her patients."
Ino's trembling voice caused Sakura to give a strained chuckle, pulling herself away just enough to see her best friend's face staring back at her. A pained smile on her lips, her eyes red and puffy as her expensive mascara stained her face with dark streaks, a small cut on her lower lip where she'd apparently been biting on it. Regardless of how bad she looked, Sakura couldn't help but smile back, tears rolling down her own cheeks as she pulled herself closer to plant loving kisses over the blonde's features, hands delicately stroking the back of her head.
"I'm sorry Sakura, I didn't mean for things to get this bad..." She gently pulled the pinkette closer, touching her forehead to her own, eyes closing as she used the contact as a focus to try and keep herself calm. "I just, wanted to be better for you. To feel like, I really deserved to stay with you, not just scrape by while holding your hand through the hard stuff."
Sakura simply shook her head, her hands moving to gently take Ino's, not caring right now about the crimson staining her skin.
"You don't have to push yourself to this kind of breaking point just to prove you want to be with me. You know I love you, Ino, and as much as I want to have you alongside me, I would never want you to destroy yourself to get there."
Blonde brushed against pink as Ino shifted, lifting her head without a word to bring her lips to Sakura's. There was no hesitation, and Sakura released her friend's hands to gently cup her face, her eyes closing as the pair shared a few seconds of intimacy, the blonde's body finally relaxing as she hissed slightly into the mouth of her savior.
"Ah, shit. We really need to do something about your arm Ino, it's only going to get worse if we leave it."
She got a nod in response and the two slowly stood, making their way out of the kitchen to run her burnt skin under a cold shower.
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Sakura made sure to keep a close eye on Ino during the following days, making sure she wasn't getting too stressed out and generally keeping her company as often as she could. She even made an arrangement with Mrs. Yuhi to slightly change the seating arrangement, keeping the details vague but stating that she had to stay beside her due to an 'incident' at home. Naturally the woman was skeptical at first, but the sight of her student practically pleading with her to reconsider gave her no choice but to bend the rules just this once. The pair had explained to questioning students and teachers that the bandage around Ino's forearm was simply an accident while cooking, to which a few people stated that she was lucky she was roommates with a doctor in training.
"Yeah, she's been taking care of me, even fed me a couple of times cause I couldn't use a fork without it hurting" Ino winked at her friend Karin, something of a know-it-all redhead who shared the same medical studies classes with Sakura, giggling as the pinkette delivered a playful swat at the back of her head.
"Don't make it sound weird Ino, I'm helping you recover, not babying you."
Both girls shot each other a smile, before returning to their respective conversations with schoolmates.
The day of the exams rolled around like any other, the two getting themselves ready to leave before Ino suddenly grabbed Sakura by the shoulder, yanking her attention to her.
"What the he-"
Sakura paused, looking Ino in the eyes as the blonde stood before her with an expression of fear staring back at her, though she was trying her damnedest to look calm.
"Look, I know all this stuff is important today, and I'm gonna give it my all." She took a deep breath, never once breaking eye contact. "When it's all over, I promise you, I'm never gonna lie to you again."
The pinkette blinked, not entirely sure what her friend was talking about, but before she could ask she was being led towards the door by her hand, held firmly by Ino.
"C'mon, lets go kick some ass."
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"God damn! That felt like an eternity!"
Ino slumped down into her favorite spot on the couch, kicking off her shoes on the way as her overwhelming need to relax took over and she gave out a long sigh of relief.
"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad." Sakura gently nestled herself into the spot beside her, leaning back against the cushions as she watched the blonde's reclined form with her bandaged forearm over her eyes in a dramatic display. "Besides, you seemed to be pretty focused, looking all serious like that."
Lifting her head, Ino turned to give her friend a half-smirk and a raised eyebrow.
"You were watching me? How freaking quickly did you finish?"
"Quick enough to watch you trying to count to sixty on your fingers."
She was met with a sudden blow of a soft cushion to the face, gasping as she returned fire with her own in hand. The pair of girls giggling like children as they battled each other on the couch, eventually coming to a close when Sakura pushed Ino onto her back, straddling her hips as eyes met and playful giggles died down into awkward chuckles, both pairs of cheeks dusted with a soft pink and fingers intertwining as the blonde's hands wriggled free of the pinning grip to hold them gently.
"Ino, I wanted to ask you something." The pinkette's eyes averted from Ino's seemingly unsure of what she might be in store for. "This morning, before we left the house. What did you mean when you said about, never lying again?"
"I think it's pretty self explanatory Sakura."
Twisting her hands free from the gentle grip, Ino reached to slide her touch up Sakura's sides, prompting a light shiver from the girl sitting atop her, half-lidded eyes scanning the features of the delicately rose-tinged face above.
"It means that I'm done hiding things from you. No more secrets, no more lies." She took a slow breath through her nose, looking her best friend in the eyes intently focused on her and her alone. "I love you, Sakura. Always have, always will."
Sakura's cheeks flushed a slightly deeper shade of pink, but she simply smiled.
"Oh, Ino, you know I love you too. We've been together for as long as I can remember, and I don't think anything is gonna stop us being friends."
A heavy frown and a shake of the head caught the pinkette's attention, but the sudden pull of Ino's hands behind her head and the rough way she smooshed her lips against her own caused Sakura to blush fiercer than she thought she ever could. Holding the clumsy kiss for several seconds, Ino left the pair breathless as they parted and simply stared into each other's glazed orbs for what felt like eternity, each of them seeming to find something they had been missing for the longest time in such a simple moment.
"I.. love you. For real, Sakura, you mean everything to me and I don't want to spend another day without you. I don't want any more of this pretending what we have isn't real, all I want is for you to see it too."
Sakura hadn't been able to tear her gaze away from Ino, the entire time she spoke her eyes darted around her face. Gorgeous eyes, full lips, cute button-nose, painstakingly shaped eyebrows, everything about her was perfect, and making Sakura realize just how beautiful the girl she'd grown up with had become.
"Ino... I.." She paused, only for a few seconds, but the wait was almost agonizing. "I would be lying if I said there's nothing between us, I don't know any friends who do the things we do." She smiled, a subtle but caring expression that had the blonde fighting back tears in anticipation of what was coming. "But, can we really do this? We've been just as close as any couples out there for so long, what makes you think that calling each other girlfriends will be..."
Her expression changed, almost as if a spark had gone off somewhere in her head and lit up her eyes in a sudden explosion of realization.
"That... That's what I want, I want that." A slight tilt of the head and a confused look from below caused Sakura to well up, her quivering lips curling into the warmest smile Ino had ever seen from her. "I want you. Just you."
There was no time to respond before Sakura had taken her face in her hands and was smothering her with kisses, both girls starting to laugh through flowing tears as they connected, lips locked in the first truly passionate kiss they had shared. Ino pulled the pinkette close, bodies pressing tightly together as they began the unsynchronized dance of lips and tongues, both faces flushed a cherry red while breaths became hard to take. Subtle whimpers were almost drowned out by the wet sounds of the pair's passion and intensity, suddenly broken by a short yelp as Sakura felt a stealthy hand slide under her skirt and take a firm hold of her plush behind.
"I-Ino.. Wait a minute." Sakura sat up, hands pushing her hair back behind her ears as she took a moment to catch her breath, the panting blonde's hand still waiting patiently on her rear. "We.. We're gonna.."
Stifling a soft chuckle, Ino simply nodded. As confident as she was coming across, her near-crimson face and heart hammering against her ribs betrayed just how nervous she was.
"Do you, think we really can?" She gently lowered herself back down to Ino's level, eyes locked on her partner's while her trembling hands held her up from either side of the blonde's shoulders. "Wouldn't it.. be weird?"
"You're kidding, right?" Ino raised a quizzical eyebrow, giving a sassy smirk. "Sakura, I've seen you naked, felt you up at school, kissed you nearly every day for the last five years. What part of this could possibly be weird after all this time?"
"This time it.. Actually means something."
Both girls stared silently at each other for a moment, Ino's free hand rising slowly to cup her girlfriend's cheek, her thumb rubbing delicately over damp, smooth skin.
"Yeah, it means everything."
With another quivering smile, Sakura leaned down to reclaim her love's lips. Eventually pulling away to free herself from Ino's hold and stand, she answered the blonde's confused expression with an outstretched hand.
"There's more room on the bed."
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Ino felt her way, slowly and teasingly along the outer sides of her girlfriend's bare thighs, Sakura let slip a soft gasp and her body shivered against the tender touch of her love's slender fingers. Slipping her fingertips under the waistline of the pinkette's cute, childish panties, Ino's lips curled into a playful smile. Sakura lifted her head and looked down at the lustful eyes of her partner, suddenly whipping her hand around to hold Ino's in its place, catching the attention she was seeking, she gave a somewhat worried expression which caught the older girl off guard.
"Sakura? What's wrong?"
Ino twisted her wrist to hold the trembling hand that touched hers.
"If you're not feeling up to it, we don't have to-"
"No!"
Sakura blurted out louder than she really intended to, retreating her posture as a blush crept its way over her face.
"I mean... I want to, I just."
"Then what's the problem?"
The blonde gave her a strange look and cocked her eyebrow, she loved Sakura but couldn't deny that she could try her patience when she got flustered.
"I don't.. want you to get mad at me."
"Sakura, c'mon. What about this situation could possibly get me mad at you?"
"It's just... We're supposed to be open now, no secrets."
"Secret? Have you somehow gotten a naughty piercing without me knowing?"
Despite Sakura's futile effort at protest, Ino hooked her fingers under the waistband and slowly pulled, watching the pinkette's shy demeanor, the back of her hand held over her mouth and her cheeks flushed a deep pink while her last line of defence slid delicately down her legs. The blonde's hand slid over the lower region of the girl's stomach, feeling her way over lightly toned abs, playfully probing at the ticklish point of the navel, teasingly gliding over the gentle curve that led to her fingertips stroking over the soft and tidy patch of hair above her womanhood.
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"Holy shit..."
The pair of breathless girls lay beside each other, both staring blankly at the ceiling as their vision attempted to clear the stars from their eyes. Barely covered by the blanket that was draped over their naked bodies, their hands entangled between them while their heavy breaths took over for any noise they had been making before.
"That was... Just.. Wow..."
Slowly turning their heads, the girls locked eyes and couldn't stop the loving smiles that crept over their lips. Reaching up to pull her hair behind her ear, Sakura gave her lover's hand a squeeze.
"Ino, let's make a promise."
"Don't we already have a new promise?"
Rolling onto her side, facing the blonde, Sakura prompted her to do the same, resting her forehead against Ino's.
"This one overrides all the others, the promise to end all promises."
"Alright." The blonde giggled softly. "What is it?"
"I promise, as long as we both live, and even beyond. I will never love anyone, but you. Even if we end up in different places, we'll always have each other, and we're sure as hell gonna make it count when we have time together."
The pair giggled as they leaned in for a kiss, pulling each other close and gently intertwining their legs beneath the covers. Each ended up with both hands resting comfortably on the other's rear, as they parted and gazed into each other's eyes.
"So, I have a question."
"Hm?"
"How the hell have you managed to hide all this time, that you're not naturally pink?"