Summary:

The eyes of the Hyuuga are as cold and glittering as the iced-over snowflakes. Are their minds, their hearts, their souls any different? [AU] [Hinted SasuHina] [Non-Chronological Linked Drabbles]

General Disclaimer For The Entire Story:

I don't own Naruto. If I did, I'd have given a more character development and realistic reasoning for Epilogue!SasuSaku. Because, seriously? Just… no explanation whatsoever for that one. None. The cover picture isn't mine, either.


.

(sun and moon and sometimes cloud)

[Age 12]

"So. Introductions. Whoo. Yay. Name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, one fun fact, and goal for the future. Shoot," the strange gray-haired Jounin says, sounding completely unenthused, perched on the rooftop railing, his flak jacket worn from years of experience.

Sakura doesn't know what to think of him.

He's apparently their Jounin-sensei.

('A receptionist on the night shift would sound more enthusiastic than him,' she compares.)

Sasuke is silent (so stoic and cool~, some squashed-down part of her squeals) at her left, eyeing the masked man with an expression she identifies from her kunoichi classes as mixed neutrality and appreciation, clothed in a opened black vest, a large-collared dark blue loose long-sleeve, hitai-ate presumably hidden around his neck, two weaponry pouches on each side, and half-calf black many-pocketed pants, padded dark blue ninja-sandals finishing it off.

So, they have a strong Jounin-sensei, because Sasuke only ever appreciates strength.

Naruto is quietly humming something at her right, cross-legged and sunny, staring up at the sky with a light smile upturning his lips, seemingly content to let the silence stretch on, wearing a black jacket with dozens of pockets, a pale orange shirt, hitai-ate proudly slung around his right shoulder, two same-colored pouches tied to either leg, and black ninja-pants, bandages securing their hem at above his ankles, black slipper-like shoes on his bare feet.

It's rather shocking to notice how peaceful he is; the few times Sakura remembers really interacting with him in their very early Academy days, he'd been hyperactive and way too loud and overwhelmingly crude and childish and orange, yelling something every five minutes or so, mostly proposals to take her out on a date, proposals that had been dealt with rather violently.

Since when did he calm down so much between then and now?

(They both look so prepared, easily outclassing her light green no-sleeve turtleneck tunic and black leggings, ninja-mesh encircling her arms until they ended at her wrists, simple dark green sneakers on her feet, hitai-ate tying back her bangs and shoulder-length bob, a thin braided flat-rope around her waist as a belt, her mint-green pouches attached to the cord.

She's struck with a sudden surge of gladness that Ino-pig had helped her pick out this Genin outfit, put together from problems she's seen in the hospital and is determined to avoid.

Who knows how silly she would have felt in vivid red while they were all in darker colors, even Naruto in mostly-black.)

Nobody is talking, and she's shifting uncomfortably with the lack of direction, so she volunteers to go first, desperate to break the unnerving hush.

"A-Ano, I'm Haruno Sakura! I like-"

She reminds herself just in time to control her blush and to use her words, because Sasuke-kun likes strong, medium-haired, aloof, confident girls, and stammering noiselessly while staring at him would definitely give a bad impression.

(Isn't that what Ino-pig said he liked, years ago? Sakura never asked where Ino-pig had heard that from, but, well, someone was bound to have heard him say that, right? Rumors don't come from nowhere. … right?

Well, she knew for sure that Sasuke-kun didn't like fangirls; he'd made that very clear two years ago.)

Breathe, Sakura, come on now, breathe and give him space.

It still takes some concentration to think of what she likes other than Sasuke-kun, which briefly panics her, because surely she has a life of her own, too.

"-umeboshi-"

Don't focus too much on food, don't want Sasuke-kun thinking you're not a good kunoichi.

"-practicing my control, volunteering at the hospital, learning about poisons-"

Good, good, something to show I'm dedicated.

"-and… history."

Does that make me sound boring? Or smart? Ahhh this is so stressful and it doesn't help that Naruto's watching and Sensei's watching and ohmykami Sasuke-kun is paying attention too! He's paying attention this must be working! It's like what Ino-pig said about playing 'hard-to-get'!

Sakura licks her dry lips nervously under the scrutiny of her team, mentally noting to invest in a good tube of chapstick soon, preferably something clear; gotta look like a professional now, or Sasuke-kun won't take her seriously.

Would Ino-pig be up for some shopping tonight? The books say scentless toiletries are a must for ninja, because trackers can use smell, and all of my stuff has some sort of fragrance. Kaa-san just keeps buying me them, and it makes me feel guilty if I don't use them, but that was okay since it was the Academy. Now we're Genin, though…

Go for it! But wait, look alert, you were getting lost in thought, and staring off into space will definitely not help you make the right impression.

('Inner' doesn't speak up much. When she does speak, however, it's usually good advice, and Sakura tries her best to listen.)

Her teammates look vaguely surprised, and her Jounin-sensei is unsimilingly impassive.

He gestures for her to go on.

"I… don't like…" she draws out her words, long and slow, brooding over them carefully.

"… spicy things. Or losing to Ino-"

She almost says 'Ino-pig', but that's childish and immature and they'd made a sort-of-truce that's lasted two years so far, and that she intends to keep.

Can't let her show me up without even trying by calling me 'Sakura' in public and not 'Forehead-girl' while I call her 'Ino-pig'.

"-and losing in general. I also don't like it when it's windy and knocks senbon off-course and makes it miss because the lighter weapons need better precision and… yeah," she ends lamely, scuffing her ninja-sandals awkwardly on the stone steps.

Great going, Sakura. Rambling makes you seem too focused on that one topic. Do you want to be known as 'Senbon-girl'?

Sucking in another breath, she plunges forward in her agonizingly long monologue, determined not to overthink it, and to steadfastly avoid any mention of her crush.

At least Sasuke-kun doesn't look bored?

"My hobbies are playing trivia games, memorizing anatomy, and taking care of my weapons and poisons. One fun fact about me is that I have perfect chakra control. My goal for the future is- is to-"

Wavering uncertainly, the rest just slips out.

"-is to be someone Sasuke-kun would like."

The bright red blush is immediate, flooding her cheeks with mortification, and oh kami she really really really wants to cover her face and just run now and hide under her bed and maybe never ever come back out until everybody's dead and forgotten.

"I didn't say that!" she squeaks instead, viridian eyes terrified and wide, her blush in full force.

Her gaze darts between Sasuke-kun and her Jounin-sensei and even Naruto and she finds that she can't quite look any of them in the face.

In the end, she drop her head down and cradles it with her hands, closing her eyes and groaning miserably, her blush receding.

"I'm so sorry I really didn't mean to say that but it kinda just slipped out and I'm really freakin' sorry but now you must think that I'm a weak pansy and I'm rambling now and I'm starting to run out of breath so I'm just gonna shut up right now."

Somebody nudges her right shoulder and she jerks away reflexively, looking up tentatively to see lake-ripple eyes and suncatcher hair.

Naruto grins at her, not one of those goofy squinty-eyed grins from the past that makes her want to shake him until he drops it, but a sharp and assuring one that automatically relaxes her clenched insides and whispers of trustwarmthpeace.

What happened to him?

"S'okay, Sakura-chan. If that's your goal, then we'll support you, because we're your team. If you really didn't mean it, or if you want to change in later on, then we'll help you still, because we're your team, and that's what teams do for each other," he says in a matter-of-fact tone, the familiar affectionate honorific now casual and friendly.

(He hasn't asked her out in ages, and that distresses her more than she understands why.)

"Y- yeah, thanks," she murmurs and relaxed further, straightening up again.

"At least you've gotten past the majority of your fangirling," Sasuke-kun comments from his spot, rolling his neck.

She stubbornly beats back the reflexive blush with deep breaths and focusing on a cloud in the horizon.

"That's me, then," she says lightly, much steadier than she feels, imitating Ino-pig's breezily confident tone the best she could. "Who's next? Jounin-sensei, you never did give us your name."

"True, true," he answers, an eye-crinkling somehow-smile suddenly springing over his formerly unreadable face.

"Well, my name is Hatake Kakashi, my likes are torturing Genin, my dislikes are taking a Genin team, my hobbies are annoying people and my dream is not appropriate for underage explanation. And yes, I said 'torturing', not 'training'. It's impossible for you three to be as amazingly amazing as me, but through enough of my thinly-disguised torture-training, it's possible for you to perhaps get within the country as my skill. Alright, Pinky went, so next is Sassy-chan, and then Narky-chan!"

They trade incredulous (Sasuke), befuddled (Sakura), and resigned (Naruto) looks between them.

"I'm Narky-chan," Naruto admits with the defeated air of a combat veteran who has failed to vanquish their embarrassing nickname from existence. "Sasuke's probably Sassy-chan, since Sakura-chan's definitely Pinky, and Kakashi-sensei likes to try and keep the first syllable when convenient. Don't ask me how I know."

"How-"

"Don't, teme."

The introductions continue, much swifter than Sakura's hemming and hawing over her indecision.

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke. I like weaponry, practicing my jutsus, and tomatoes. I dislike losing, sweets, and being interrupted. My hobbies are training, sparring, and maintaining the Uchiha Compound. One fun fact... is that I do not like snow. My goal for the future is to avenge my Clan."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I like Hina-chan, learning more about my Clan, inventing new seals, ramen, and helping people! I dislike being overcharged, boring chakra control exercises, boring etiquette lessons, people talkin' trash about me without reason or a base for their accusations, and being restricted from eating certain amounts of ramen. My hobbies are sealing, training, eating ramen, fixing my clothes so Hina-chan doesn't scold me, and keeping my apartment clean, neat, and orderly so the seals aren't disturbed during creation. One fun fact about me is that my Clan was famous for having lots of chakra, and for their vitality and longevity, which means I heal faster and will probably be more energetic! All genetic, ha! My goals for the future are to make the Uzumaki Clan famous again, and to become respected enough of a ninja that people will elect me Hokage."

Kakashi-sensei appears mildly interested.

"... So, I've got a weapon-poison-taijutsu-medic-booky with average chakra reserves and perfect chakra control, a weapon-ninjutsu-genjutsu-taijutsu-strategics with above-average chakra reserves and above-average chakra control, and a seal-ninjutsu-powerhouse-charisma-commander with gigantic chakra reserves and barely-average chakra control. Support, nuking, tanker. Obviously a heavy-hitter specialization team. Great, meet me in Training Ground 7 tomorrow at 7 o'clock. It's not like I can't pass you three, so we'll be doing a teamwork exercise that will be mostly for my own sadistic amusement, and then I'll be running you three brats ragged. I've got arguably the best team out of the Academy, and we are going to bulldoze the other rookies so I can rub it in all of their Jounin-sensei's faces. Got it?"

He doesn't wait for an affirmation, instead Shunshin-ing out of sight.

"Man, what a jerkass," Sakura frowns, her words slipping out again, influenced by Inner's forceful speaking habits.

Before she can get self-conscious again, Naruto laughs mirthfully and even Sasuke-kun huffs out a small agreement.

A tanned arm slings around her shoulder, and she doesn't mind it.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto says seriously, his eyes reflecting the skies above, "You will find that Kakashi-sensei is not merely a jerkass. He is the jerkiest jerkass of all jerkasses who have ever been and ever will be. Except maybe Sassy-chan."

Sasuke-kun snarls and throws a shuriken at Naruto, who laughs again and dodges easily, hopping off the roof onto the next, his pursuer doggedly following with his never-ending assortment of sharp pointy weapons.

Sakura leans against the guardrail and feels very small and inadequate.

Then her sun twists around to wave and wink at her, the moon nodding as well.

She smiles, a little brighter.

Maybe she could eventually work her way into being their cloud?

Drifting in the background, sometimes there, sometimes not, supporting the shine of the two main actors, enhancing their beauty.

Maybe.

.

The Uchiha was a talker, it seemed.

There were ninja who, in combat, were utterly silent, preferring to dedicate their energy to concentrating on winning.

There were also those who, somehow, were apparently compelled to spill their life-secrets as they fought an ally.

It was rather silly, really, since it was simply giving their opponent more information to work off of, and ran directly opposite to practically everything the Academy taught.

Still, it remained a fact of life that it was appallingly easy to get caught up in the emotion and adrenaline and thrill of battle, slipping taunts and sharing answers far more freely than one would otherwise, and that most ninja fell somewhere between the two extremes of the spectrum.

(Nevermind that ninja were supposed to be emotionless killing machines; that only really happened all the time if you were a personality-less low-rank mook or a hardcore dedicated ANBU [or a blank-faced blank-hearted ROOT].)

Hinata herself admitted to falling prey to the trap more than once.

In everyone's defense, oftentimes a bit of combat chatter will rile up the other, causing sloppy mistakes that a good ninja knows how to capitalize on.

So the point was, conversing in battle was common, and the Uchiha was one of those who were more talkative while exchanging blows than when not.

He was also a chronic complainer, who liked to 'de-stress' while aggressively trying to set things on fire.

"Fangirls-" he emphatically forced out, flashing through hand-signs.

His sparring partner dodged the thin, concentrated stream of fire he exhaled.

... And kept dodging in a continuous twirl, as he kept up the burning 'rope' that lashed after her, until he coughed up a lungful of dense smoke.

"-are the bane of my life," he finished, with a rather parched throat.

"Yet you've never done anything to fix it," Hinata dryly pointed out, ducking in for a Jyuuken thrust with one hand and knocking away the kunai he prepared to counter with with the other.

The Uchiha followed up the aborted kunai-pierce by leaping backwards and assaulting her with dozens of shuriken, carefully keeping his distance from his Taijutsu superior.

"All vitals?" she noted, arms flashing in bright chakra bursts, batting away the ones she couldn't dodge.

A split-second Kawarimi happened right after, and he was suddenly face-down on the ground with a knee on his back and fingers jabbing rapidly over his increasingly numb body.

"A win for me," Hinata finished, getting up and unblocking his tenketsu points graciously. "You still need more speed to dodge. It is good, however, that you've stopped calling out your Goukakyuu, and that you've refined it somewhat."

"Anything I say will be seen as encouragement," the Uchiha argued, referring back to the 'fangirl problem' as he stretched his sore limbs. "And I can hardly dodge a full-force Jyuuken attack from the back. My archery is rather useless, too, until I can conceal my position better and evade you long enough to get far away."

"But have you ever tested that theory? The one where you use the words you have."

"Yes," he intoned flatly, not appreciating her barely-there sense of humor.

"What did you say?" she persisted, undeterred, going through a few warm-down katas of her own.

She liked to be right; it was a forgivable flaw of hers.

"I told them to stop bothering me. They squealed, burst my eardrums, half of them fainted, and the other half were harping on about me 'acknowledging their love'," he repeated, sounding visibly disturbed.

Fangirls (and fanboys): the Uchiha Clan's age-long curse.

"How did you deter your fanboys? They're so much quieter," he realized after a moment of thought.

"Well, they were always quieter to start with," she corrected, "and it appears that my countenance invited admiration of the distant kind. I did, however, have to politely turn down the few souls who I can't decide are braver or dumber, and a spar would knock down the stubbornest ones. As it is, after the first request for a date three years ago, I told him very precisely and bit louder than needed that we were 7. An emphasis on the 7. Now we are 10, which isn't much better. He looked appropriately abashed and apologized. Since then, I mostly receive gifts on White Day and Christmas. Hanabi appreciates the chocolates.

"Which brings me back to my suggestion. Since you apparently have something against striking fangirls physically, then make it verbally understood that you are not interested in a fangirl, ever. State it clearly and strongly, and people will listen, if only a few will actually change. That's good public speaking advice, as well."

The Uchiha seemed dubious.

Hinata was not fond of being doubted.

"Try it," she stated it clearly and strongly.

He listened.

And then he spun around and tried to stab her with another kunai.

The spar went on.

.

Sakura determinedly dashed down the street, skidding to a stop in front of the Academy.

Checking her red watch and the sky above, she figured she was an hour earlier than when her Year 5 class officially started.

Perfect, she wasn't too late.

After five straight minutes of winding her way through the confusing-as-heck maze-like hallways, a red-clothed pinkette slammed open her classroom door, before cringing at how it had drawn her Sasuke-kun's attention.

Oh no, she must have startled him, and slamming doors is so unladylike, and now he's going to hate her forever!

She unfroze out of her despair as quickly as she had fallen into it, metaphorical flames ignited in her eyes as she spots the crowd of girls fighting tooth-and-nail over the empty chair directly to Sasuke-kun's right.

Oh they are not getting their bitchy hands on that fucking chair! Sasuke-kun's mine! SHANNA-fucking-RO!

The dark, roaring voice of Inner pumps her up as always, and it gives her an extra bit of vindication when she finds that she'd beaten Ino-pig to school.

Her elation is heady and strengthening.

She dives headfirst into the fray with eagerness and bloodlust vibrating in her veins, fighting tooth-and-nail-and-hairpull, elbowing with the best of them.

Decorum be damned, first thing to getting Sasuke-kun to properly notice and fall in love with me is to get that chair!

(Blinded by spittle, among other things, Sakura doesn't notice the empty chair a seat over from the object of her obsessions' left.

Some others see it, and a few dare to try and take it, but the quiet and fearsome Hyuuga heiress' stare and soft warning of 'this seat is taken' chases them off.

Hyuuga Hinata is top of the female Taijutsu spars, and, as events two years ago have shown, the top of the male Taijutsu spars as well.

She isn't a fangirl, so despite their beloved Sasuke-kun's relative closeness to her, none of the fangirls bother her much.

At least, not after the infamous and disastrous confrontation [also two years ago].

They accept that she isn't a fangirl, and leave her alone whenever possible.

She isn't popular among her own gender...

But she's respected, and more than a little feared.

Perhaps her reputation prevents many from examining her too closely.

As it is, none of the brawling fangirls noticed her very, very, very faintly amused look.

None of the non-brawling students could tell the difference, anyway, so it doesn't matter overly in the long run of things.)

An hour flies by like a messenger hawk, swift and with a goal in sight.

The teacher slouches in, calls role call.

Sakura triumphantly sits in her hard-won chair, breathing heavily with slightly torn clothes and mussed hair that she frantically pats into place, darting dreamy glances at her Sasuke-kun the entire time.

Lost fangirls grumblingly fill in the chairs left, Ino-pig glaring bitterly at her.

(She pretends it's just her being jealous, and mutes that uncomfortable feeling at having her once-bestie glaring death at her.)

Oddly, no one notices the deadlast of the class slink in silently, nod gratefully to the imperious Hyuuga, and take the reserved chair, only that he wasn't there before yet miraculously appeared when his name was called.

(Except, he's not deadlast anymore.

He's actually hovering somewhere near averagely-average range, but the name's stuck, and he doesn't correct it.)

It's a daily phenomenon that strikes probably everyone but lazy Shikamaru, the Hyuuga, and Sasuke-kun, who never seem surprised, so it's dismissed easily as habit.

Lessons pass as accustomed:

Teacher teaches, students study, fangirls fangirl.

Then lunchbreak is announced, the teacher leaves, and a deviation from the schedule happens unexpectedly.

Sasuke-kun turns to look at them.

Sakura immediately blushes a glowing red, eyes wide and sparkling, teetering on the edge of a faint.

She doesn't need to look behind her to know that the rest of her fellow fans are the exact same.

Because Sasuke-kun has never looked at them before, never looked specifically, and pretty much everyone in the Sasuke-kun Fanclub has fantasized more than once about him asking them out in that gorgeous voice of his.

Kami, what if it's me!

"I-" he starts, and at least three thunks come from people falling out of their desks at him actually addressing them.

"-will never be interested in a weak fangirl who will always be waiting for me to save them. If you don't grow up and become competent kunoichi, then this profession isn't for you. Being a ninja isn't a fun, glorified job."

It's the closest he's come to a speech in forever.

Most of the fangirls look ecstatic, either ignoring the words entirely or believing themselves to already be fantastic kunoichi.

Sakura...

... would have been in the latter, or perhaps in both categories, if she hadn't been sitting so close to him.

She's close enough to stare into his eyes, which is actually what she'd spent most of the schoolday doing so far.

In his eyes, right now, she sees disgust and scorn and hatred, and something inside of her shrivels up at the sight.

Maybe it's the proximity, but it seems like all of that is specifically aimed at her.

It makes her question herself.

'Am- Am I really one of those weak fangirls?'

She reviews her grades and droops at the memory of her lackluster Taijutsu showings, which she'd always taken as 'good-enough' before.

A sudden reminder hits her of the note on her last report cards, reading, 'Sakura is a decent student, but is disinclined towards furthering herself. It is recommended that she take up a desk position later, to complement her scholastic achievements.'

There were further notes on her below-average chakra pool and weak but textbook perfect katas that she'd dismissed, too caught up in her daydreams of Sasuke-kun to take seriously.

Sasuke-kun turn away again, and stands up, leaving, his piece said.

Sakura trails her gaze after him, bewildered and a little bit hurt, thinking thinking thinking.

A movement near his vacated seat automatically catches her attention.

It's Hyuuga Hinata, murmuring something to that Naruto-baka, moving gracefully out of her chair with the surety and footwork gained through hundreds of hours of training.

Something hot surges in her chest, something envious and angry and ashamed, all at once.

She realizes that, out of them all, she's the most competent kunoichi, really.

Part of her wants to blame it on Hinata's Clan status and Heiress status and thus obviously superior training.

(Like Ino, like Ino leaving her behind so fast she can't even cry in the dust-)

The rest of her reluctantly accepts that she's angry at how much better Hinata is, and ashamed that she's targeting the Hyuuga for doing nothing other than besting her without intention, and doubly shamed for blaming someone else because she herself didn't do more to improve.

(But it's galling because what is everyone better than her first Ino her savior best friend and now this graceful girl who she's inferior in every way and it rankles her that she didn't try harder practice more be better for once in her fucking life-)

Probably, she doesn't even know who Sakura is, other than those five-second beat-downs during their assigned spars.

But if Sakura wants to gain Sasuke-kun's acknowledgement, gain his acknowledgement like the Hyuuga obviously did, then she'll just have to get better and become a competent kunoichi, won't she?

Sasuke-kun sees strength, and Sakura wants Sasuke-kun to see her.

Never let it be said that Haruno Sakura isn't mulishly stubborn and fast at bouncing back.

Alright, we're training after school today!

Atta girl! ... Why not ask if Ino-pig has had a change of heart as well?

'Inner' is really a suppressed, isolated part of Haruno Sakura that had, slowly, evolved over time into it's own pseudo-sentience, serving as a more vocal conscience, amid other things.

'Inner' is, therefore, the parts of Sakura that she usually ignores.

Meaning, some part of Sakura must have wanted to reconnect with her very first and best friend, even if she refused to consciously acknowledge that at that point.

Ah.

Give it time...

.

Yamanaka Ino is a badass kunoichi, and you'd better know it!

"Ugh, no," she suddenly frowned into her mirror, where she'd been practicing her team introduction.

(There was still a few months to go before graduation, but Ino had no doubts about graduating, and her team was practically filed-in-paperwork already.

'Ino-Shika-Cho', obviously, just like the generation before her, and the generation before that, and so on and so on all the way since the three Clans first allied in the Warring Clans Period.)

"That sounds way too much like Naruto's 'believe it' slogan, and there's, like, no chance in hell I'm gonna stoop to copying him!"

"Technically, you just repeated his slogan when stating what it was. Though, I actually haven't heard him say that in a while... Anyway, talking to yourself is a sign of insanity, Ino-pig. Seeing as your dad's a psychologist..." a voice pointed out, bored and edged with humor, from behind her.

"Oh, shaddup," Ino sniffed and waved her hand without looking back, pretending to be mock-offended. "I'll have you know, Forehead-girl, that after 18 months of hard work and too much father-daughter time, I'm practically a certified psychologist myself, methinks! And I'm not talking to myself... you're here, aren't you?"

Sakura grinned, fond and wry, her reflection in the mirror also grinning from her position on Ino's bed.

"Whoah, 'methinks'? Where'd you hear that? Heck yeah I'm here, though. The world needed some awesomeness to counteract your unawesomeness."

That caused Ino to whirl around in genuine indignation.

"Oy!" she commanded menacingly, one finger sticking imperiously in her direction.

Unimpressed, her pink-haired too-smart-for-her-own-good friend stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry.

Folding, Ino gave in and giggled at the childishness of the retaliatory gesture, and bounced onto her comforter, pushing her pillow off onto her swiveling desk-chair.

"Alright! Reports, ladies and... Sakura! Give 'em here!"

"What are you implying, Ino-pig!? That I'm not a lady!?"

"Well, do you wanna be a lady or do you wanna be a kunoichi, Forehead-girl!?"

Sakura opened her mouth to retort hotly.

Then she paused, soaked in those words, and nodded.

"I guess you're right," she admitted. "But then are you saying that you're not a kunoichi?"

There was a quite-real tinge of uncertainty lining her question.

If it weren't for Ino, Sakura probably wouldn't have ever entered the Academy.

(It was silently agreed that they don't speak of the 'fangirl period', unless situations called for it specifically.)

Ino beamed with (inside) pride at that accomplishment, but couldn't resist one more teasing line.

"Nah, I'm just saying that I'm awesome enough to be both a lady and a kunoichi at once."

"Wh-what!? But you just said-"

"Exactly, in order to prove my point."

"And that point is?"

"I'm far more awesome than you are, duh."

"No way, I'm stronger and I'll win Sasuke-kun's recognition!"

They immediately quieted, and Ino stared hard at her friend, who blushed and ducked her head, unable to meet Ino's eyes.

"Sakura..." she started, faintly disappointed.

"Yes, yes, I know the rules. Don't speak of 'That Period', don't mention 'Him' by name, don't say anything about winning 'his' recognition," Sakura sulked, embarrassed and abashed.

"Right, because...?"

"Because we're both awesome girls who will become awesome kunoichi!" the pinkette finished, regaining some of her former zest.

Ino smiled, prouder, and coaxed Sakura into chattering away about her progress in weaponry, devouring books, taijutsu, beginner's poisons, etc.

It was nice to have her friend back, to have things go back somewhat to how they were before Sakura got that inferiority complex and wanted something to prove she was on the same level as Ino.

Really, for her, Sasuke-kun had been a nice dream, but ultimately nothing extreme.

Sakura had taken things a bit too far in her spirit of competition, turning their friendship into a bitter rivalry, Ino left feeling vaguely betrayed and angry that the flower she'd taken care of had turned around and pricked her once budded.

Even now, Sakura's main motivation seemed to be Sasuke.

Ino just wanted her friend back.

Ino just wanted to keep her friend this time.

It was more than a petty fight over the surface reason of a shared crush.

"Hey, Ino-pig, I've read pretty much all of the theory scrolls for iryo-ninjutsu that are available to Academy students from the public library, but I can't really find anyone to teach me the practical. The hospital is understaffed, and to apply for lessons, I'll need a sponsor. Do... um, would you mind...?"

Sakura was jealous of Ino's Clan, envious of Ino's confidence since childhood.

Ino would give all of those things to have her friend happy, to have her meek-hearted seedling unfurl her bright blooms.

"Sure, no problem, Forehead-girl! I'll bring it up with Tou-chan, I swear that he and Kaa-chan like your egghead self better than me at times! Want to spar today?"

"Ha, I'll definitely win, Ino-pig! I've gotten better at my katas! You won't know what hit you!"

"In your dreams! I've been working on my Clan jutsus too, y' know!"

"Race to the usual place!"

"Oh, you're on!"

Tumbling off the mattress and laughing, shoving and elbowing, squeezing through the door and sliding down the stairs, footsteps chestnut-pelting on the dirt-packed roads.

Some friendships lasted best in rivalry.

If theirs was so, then Ino would do her best to ensure it was a healthy rivalry.


#

#

In which Hinata interferes, Ino is stronger, and Sakura is complicated. (Her character is now a mix of her former self-consciousness, of what she could've been, of determination to improve herself, and of vague affections for Sasuke as her initial motivation.) Also, clearer characterizations for Team Seven.

If some things about Sakura don't seem to match up, that's either your opinion, or it's from something I forgot to fix when I put this together. I wrote some things at different times.

#

#

-Reviews are appreciated.-

-Shout out to turtlehoffmann2251 for being the only one to say 'gooseberry', as well as post a review after last chapter. Also, you should probably take all of those drabbles as AU or indecisively-canon, because again, I write things at different times, so some details might not match up. I try to make sure they do, but mistakes happen.-