Karin made the tenth call to a professional dancer while I slouched in my chair in embarrassment. She irritably moved papers to the side of her desk, putting them in neat piles. I almost wanted to roll my eyes at that because in a few minutes they'd be sprawled about her worksite, again.

"Hello, this is Karin, one of the managers at Leaf Studios, I was in need of assistance." Karin greeted professionally. It was very unlike her, but she always told me that it was just to woo them in her clutches. It made me wonder if she used the same technique with singles she was interested in. She put the last tiny-printed paper on a small, tidy pile with a smile. I watched her movements carefully, noting that the conversation was going charmingly so far.

"Nope, money isn't a problem," Karin said cheerfully even though she winced in pain. The choreographer must've asked for a lot- Karin was such a little miser.

"Okay, I need someone to teach Sakura Haruno to- hello? Hello…Hello, anybody there?" She began after being hung up on. She blinked a few times before yelling into the phone, waiting for a response. She sighed and clicked her phone off, throwing it in the trashcan in dismay.

"Who knew you sucked so bad at dancing that even the most professional wouldn't deal with you!" She exclaimed while throwing her hands up in the air. I winced. I didn't exactly know that I was that infamouslyterrible either. Karin slammed her head on her desk while her hands shot up to pull on her own hair.

"Ugg," she grunted. I shuffled awkwardly in my seat, unsure how to react since I was the problem she had to deal with.

She continued to grumble and whine about stuff, until something hit her, almost literally because she jumped out of nowhere and I could almost see the light bulb shine above her head. A big, triumphant smile adorned her face.

"So, Sakura, who all put up with your horrible dancing in the past?" She inquired me while hastily grabbing out a notebook. Well, that was an out-of-the-blue but it was a nice start. I began to rack my mind for my old teacher's names. I groaned. Yet nothing came to my mind. This was totally not a moment to be spacey. I had to get a dance choreographer or suffer and lose the UMC.

"Umm, well, there was Kurenai… Tsunade did some work until I moved to you. Other than that, no one else put up with me." I explained with a big smile. Yeah, they did put up with me and made me improve slightly! Yeah, we just needed to ask one of them and we'd be able to have a fair chance of winning.

"Ok, good, good!" Karin praised me while writing it all down. "Were they forced to or did on their own time?" Karin joked with me while giggling.

I felt my head fall backwards with a large groan of disappointment. Yes, they were forced. They were all under contract to the Music Academy for a while, and Tsunade was my last hope. I doubt they would want to put up with me again, especially if I was so behind in now-today's dance moves. Karin stopped laughing. I felt myself hesitantly glance back at her and bring my head forward.

"You aren't serious are you?" She asked me through gritted teeth. Her hand that was holding her pen was shaking violently while her knuckles were turning white. I began to laugh nervously.

"Sakura, please don't tell me you're serious," she hissed. I stopped laughing and glanced away quickly. Ok, I will tell her what she wants to hear.

"I wasn't being serious," I told her even though she knew I was lying. I was an incredibly bad liar.

"Seriously?" She asked again, some hope rising in her voice. I sighed. Who was I trying to kid? If I lied and told everything was fine then we would surely lose, and if I told her I would probably get killed. What should I choose?

"No." I answered meekly. She raised a brow.

"No, what?" She questioned me further while slowly leaning over her desk, looming like an ominous storm cloud. I scooted further down into my chair.

"!" I quickly replied while covering my face with my hands. It got eerily quiet, I was curious what she was doing but I didn't dare look, fearing that my eyes would get clawed out by the red-haired harpy if I peeked. I remained this way until I heard Karin.

"Oh-my-fucking-god," she sneered while banging her head off her desk again. I jumped when I heard her head hit the hollow desk. Though it could've been her head too- ok, I take my words back. This is the worst time to be trying to make fun of Karin.

I slowly and attentively peeked from behind my hands. She went back into her stressed position: Head pressed firmly against her desk, hands slowly ripping her hair out, and her body stiff as a board. It looked like I wasn't going to get assaulted. I released from the safety of my ball. I felt kind of bad for Karin. I didn't know it was going to be this hard to find a choreographer for me. I felt myself get deadpanned. Or let alone learn that my reputation of being a bad dancer.

Karin slowly brought her head up again. I watched carefully, wondering if she had another idea or was going to release her anger on me. She smacked her head off the table again in frustration. I frowned.

"You know," I began with some hesitation, "that won't help me get a person to help my…erm…crude dance skills."

Karin began to shake violently. I quickly jumped behind the chair for safety. Who knew if she was going to yell at me, or something crazier. She did have split personalities.

But, soon a muffled laugh was heard from her. She soon threw her head back in a fit of giggles. I raised an eyebrow. That wasn't something I was expecting from my usually stern, but somewhat playful manager.

"Your crude dancing skills!" Karin repeated to me while laughing some more. I rolled my eyes, some embarrassment pricking my cheeks. Really, it was great to see her happy now and all, but that didn't mean I wanted to be picked on either.

She continued her fits of laughter until she was wiping tears out of her eyes.

"Seriously, you said that with such a…even voice, it was totally adorable." She waved with her hand while sighing in glee, a few giggles still erupting from her mouth. My cheeks were red with humiliation.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I quickly said while trying to change the topic, "anyways, we still haven't cleared out the problem."

Karin immediately lost her random humor and held a strict face. She put a finger to her mouth before another light bulb seemed to magically appear above her head. She was a smart girl.

"Oh! Was there any colleagues you had in the Music Academy that helped you with your dance moves any?" She inquired with hope, grabbing her notepad. I began to think. I didn't really hang-out with anyone except…No, that wouldn't work, but I did hang-out with Hinata, she was nice, but I seriously doubt Sasuke would want me getting help before the UMC. I continued to scour my mind for someone, besides her, but no one else came up or could fit the role, except her!

"Well," I slowly started while scratching the back of my head, hoping to find comfort in it. Karin leaned in slightly.

"Well?" She asked. I gave a lopsided smile, glancing away from her.

"Well…there is someone," I uttered uncomfortably. I didn't really want to suggest them, but that was the only person I got… she was my last resort, really.

Karin threw her hands up in the air; her pen went sailing through the air in the process.

"God damn, Sakura, we don't have time to play childish games! Just spit it out!" She yelled in anticipation. It startled me so much that I hastily replied back.

"INO!" I screamed back at Karin in fright. The red-head was dumbstruck once the words pretty much blew across her face. I stared at her before covering my mouth. Shoot. I knew how much she disliked Ino, and her songs, especially her songs. Karin would probably begin to lecture me on NOT saying that name around her or suggesting I took tips from such 'an amateur replica of Britney Spears that sounds like she is regurgitating crap instead of singing'.

Karin's glasses lightly slid down from the bridge of her nose, her hands still up in the air. She remained very, very still like one of those gargoyle statues. I was scared stiff, to say the least.

"Ino?" Karin echoed, mostly to herself than me. I gulped.

"Uh-he-he-uh…yes?" I replied, licking my lips in fear.

"As in Ino fucking Yamanaka," she repeated. She was still in her previous position though I could see her breathing quicken and shake. I nodded feebly.

Then a silence slowly drifted between us like mist. I didn't know what to think of this eerie silence besides sudden death. I was waiting for Karin to spring into action and bite my head off like a starving beast, but nothing happened yet which only caused more panic to rise within me. The air was filled with a thick layer of anxiety, on my part.

Karin's arms limply fell to her sides as her glasses fell from her face and onto the polished desk that was, for once, cleaned, with a creepy thud. Her face was struck from any emotion except shock which was highly alarming to me.

"Sakura," she choked out. My eyes widened in fright. Her quiet, unnatural soft voice caused a shiver to run down my spine. She had finally thought of a way to torture me for saying such a stupid suggestion, and was going to try and throw me off before landing me a sneak attack.

"THAT'S BRILLIANT!" She squealed before jumping across her desk and tackling me. I felt the sudden impact and the chair quickly fall backwards. I let out a gasp of surprise as we hit the floor. Karin wasn't a lightweight or the most graceful at landing.

"What-ha," I huffed out in confusion. Was she still trying to trick me? Because I was surely puzzled. How was that utter of fright brilliant? Last time, I recall Karin despising Ino and her 'pop-crap', but now Karin was acting like it was the best thing that ever blurted from my mouth!

"You're brilliant! Oh so brilliant," Karin murmured while hugging me more. I quickly brought my hands up to push her away in confusion. I didn't understand why I was so smart! What did she get that I didn't? What did she even think, to start with? I slowly pried the redhead off of me.

"Karin," I grunted while pushing her away, "What do you mean? Where are you coming at?"

She stopped; pushing her glasses up with her index finger, just realizing I was oblivious of what she had came up with. She gave me a wicked smile.

"You can go work with Ino," she said, hoping I'd get some clarity in the subject. Yet, I didn't. I showed her my blind state by motioning her to continue with my hands.

"You can work with Ino, Sakura, and"she repeated, "that way you can learn how to properly dance AND see what the competition has for you." She elucidated.

Oh! I got it now, but, a thought hit me, Ino would not ever be that dumb to agree to it. I frowned while scratching the back of my neck unconsciously. Ino wasn't as stupid as Karin thought she was, and would quickly come to realize that there was more than just choreography involved. She would easily and secretly practice at a different time, being wary of where I was at, what I asked, how I got help and everything under the sky. Ino was a very tactical girl, just never had the appearance of such a smart person. Plus, I don't think I'd be able to snoop around since I was so clumsy.

"She probably won't agree with it, Karin," I stated with a lopsided smile, slowly standing up. Ino wouldn't agree to it at all. She wasn't the type to be so careless.

"Are you a hundred percent absolutely, positively sure?" She replied while getting up and brushing down the wrinkles in her clothes, I hesitated in hastily replying with a yes. Was I sure that Ino would decline? I didn't exactly know her like how I use to so many years ago. She could've changed and stupefy along the way of stardom. But, another part of me didn't want to try and get the better hand on this competition- it would be cheating. I just needed help with dancing and Ino coincidently happened to be my last resort, and we could leave things at that.

"No, but I just don't want to cheat and try to spy on Ino's performance." I admitted with a sheepish smile. Despite where we stand now, I still couldn't do that. She use to be my friend and whether I liked it or not I couldn't bring myself to try and make things worse. I only liked the fact of being able to have an excuse to be near Ino again. Maybe through the progress of hard techniques and many face-plants on the floor we'd find the friendship we severed a long, long time ago. Karin emitted an annoyed groan of defeat.

"Sakura, you're too nice for your own good. It's going to bite you in the ass one of these days," she grumbled before walking around back to her desk. The papers that were once neatly piled on her desk were now strewn about the room, like a mini-hurricane hit the room and left a disaster behind. I glanced around at the mess.

"Because of declining my oh-so-epic plan, you have to help clean this up with me and then I will have to call Ino." She sighed while lazily eyeing the papers that were located all around her subtle office. I gave a half-hearted shrug before helping Karin pick up the documents. She slowly, if not hesitantly started to help after I collected most of the parchments. She was really behind in paperwork.

Once I put all the work back on her table she began to dial in a number on her phone.

"Good evening, Shikamaru," she addressed without a bit of happiness in her voice. I could hear the always-tired man's voice on the other side. I sat back down in my chair, shuffling uncomfortably. I was just waiting for Ino to get on the phone and viciously decline the offer.

"Yes, can I please talk to Ino…No, I would never do such a thing you silly boy…Oh he- What? Ok! Ok...Would you like to be Sakura's choreographer? M'hm…yeah," Karin took the time to roll her eyes, "Oh really….well that's no problem…ok!"

Karin quickly hung the phone with an irritated sigh before putting her fingers on the bridge of her nose, massaging it.

"She said yes," Karin replied irritably. I gasped. What? No! No! Ino wasn't supposed to say yes! Shit, this was going to be hell. But why was I so happy she said yes? I know all we were going to do was fight instead of work together. Yet, the joy of her saying yes was still evident. I didn't know what to do, be happy or frightened?

"Where are we going to work, what time, and how many days per week?" I blurted out to Karin while darting up to her desk. The redhead's glasses fell and she glanced at the phone.

"You know," she began, "Ino didn't tell me."

I felt the need to smack my manger around, until somebody knocked on the door. Karin leaned over to look who it was. I glanced back to notice that nobody was there through the glass panel. I furrowed my brows. Damn people…

Then, my eyes lowered to the floor to find a small, neatly-folded paper. I rushed over there, recognizing the folding instantly. Karin didn't bother because her phone began to ring wildly. She grumbled before answering the phone with another false happy filled voice.

I closed in on the letter and quickly snatched it from the ground, hitting my head off the door in process. Dammit. I rubbed my head a little before carefully attempting to pick up the letter again.

I un-wrapped it warily, making sure not to rip the paper when trying to unfold it. I could hear Karin squeal in delight, bouncing up and down (from the squeaks her swivel chair made). The note was written in purple ink, how surprising, and with exaggerated cursive handwriting.

Where: Konoha Park

When: 9am-12pm, all week starting tomorrow.

What to bring: Work out clothes and water

-Ino

I could tell that Ino wrote her name carefully, trying to make her signature look irresistible. I rolled my eyes. Of course she would try to look attractive in any way possible like in writing, even if the note was just for me. I stuffed the note in my pocket half heartedly. I turned around to tell Karin that it was Ino, but noticed she was occupied.

"NO WAY! She did? Oh my god, wow! What? You're here?!" She squealed, jumping about 4 feet in the air- her skirt riding up a little, causing me to avert my gaze.

"COOL!" She screamed and ran towards the window behind her, separating the blinds and peering out. She began to jump up and down again before bending over to open the window and pull up the blinds.

"HI KASEY!"

She was wearing a very short mini-skirt. I felt a dark crimson blush go up to my cheeks as I put my hands over my eyes.

Dear god, why the Hello-Kitty lacy underwear?


I fumbled around with my coat's zipper nervously. I was waiting for Ino at the park, having my second thoughts that she was just toying with me and left me to sit here like a fool. I sighed, the crisp autumn air freezing my breath. I glanced around to try and find something to humor me while I waited.

Sadly, there were only joggers out this early at the park. I anxiously huffed. I felt the want to see Ino, but at the same time I felt the need to run away from here. I pulled up my sleeve to take another look at my clock.

9:15am

"Timing me?" Ino called out playfully while coming towards me. I frowned and blew the bangs out of my face.

"You should put back those bangs so people can see your forehead," she commented while zipping up her purple jacket a little, the green jelly bracelets sliding down her arm a little.

"Oh yeah," I agreed with bitter sarcasm. Ino gave me a side glance before putting down the stereo that she had which I didn't notice. I glanced around. I didn't want people to watch me try to dance, it would be embarrassing!

"Ino," I asked, "can we go somewhere with…less people?"

Ino was clicking some buttons before she straightened up and put a mocking hand on her chest.

"So you can seduce me?" She yelled loudly on purpose, causing a few joggers to stop and stare. I covered my eyes with my hand. Oh dear god.

"Why," she said with a smirk, "I never knew you were so infatuated with me, Sakura!"

I uncovered my eyes. Just as conceited and playful as ever. I knew that we would start out fighting, and before we even started dancing. It was typical of Ino to start it too. I just wanted to get this over with, but with Ino acting like this, I doubt that would happen.

"Whatever, but can we seriously go to a private place? I don't feel comfortable dancing in front of everyone." I uttered while bashfully glancing at the joggers who stopped and watched us. Ino noticed my uneasiness and slowly turned in a circle, making eye contact with all the bystanders.

"Why?" She inquired, still spinning around in amusement.

Why? Didn't I just answer her? I wasn't about to give her a speech on why I preferred to dance in a secluded area. She should know that I was a nervous wreck with so many people, especially dancing! I couldn't dance and she knew that. I only did a little sway motion while I played my guitar and sang. Didn't she know that already, or did she forget? I knew I looked like a dork trying to dance and I didn't want these people to start pointing and laughing at me. It didn't help that I had Ino, one of the best dancers, to be compared with!

"Because I don't feel comfortable while people judge every move I do!" I muttered through my clenched teeth in annoyance. Ino spun around one more time before stopping to look at me in the eyes. Her eyes were hazed over with something I couldn't place.

"So? You're going to be dancing on a stage in about one month from now with millions of people watching you. I am getting you prepared for that," she answered with a monotone voice. I flinched.

Get me ready? Well, I couldn't disagree with her, but shouldn't we practice until I was decent enough to start flourishing my body around in the public? She could at least teach me how to do a move or two before we show-off.

"But, is it really necessary? Can't we do this later on when I am at least decent?" I pleaded. Ino stared at me awhile, almost looking like she was considering my request until she knitted her brows together.

"Oh stop being such a baby." She growled lightly. I felt like I wanted to go crawl in a hole. I looked down at the ground in discomfort. I was going to humiliate myself just because I needed to learn how to dance and Ino was being difficult. I always hated doing new things because I didn't know if I would good at them or mock myself doing them. It always put me to shame when I did mess things up, and to have a crowd watching was just even more awkward. I felt Ino's eyes still on me. She sighed in a defeated way.

"Plus," she began, "you have me here to help you. I won't judge you too harshly. So don't worry."

It was as if those were the words I needed to hear. It erased the image of the joggers around me laughing at me attempting to dance. If Ino wasn't going to make fun, then I guess it wouldn't be so bad. I picked up my head to stare at her. She rolled her eyes and stooped down to adjust the stereo. A smile lightly graced my lips. Ino still did have her nice side somewhere within her.

Ino clicked the play button and stood up with a satisfactory smile on her lips. Behind her, the autumn trees were finally losing their orange leaves. Ino looked good against autumn a scenery, I quietly told myself.

A certain pop-beat hit my ears. My eyes widened and Ino turned towards me with a grin. Oh no, no, NO! I couldn't dance to that song. That monstrosity!

Baby, can't you see?
I'm calling a guy like you
Should wear a warning
It's dangerous, I'm fallin'

Toxic by Britney Spears, the pop goddess who went insane in the membrane. I shuddered.

"You have to be joking, Ino!" I exclaimed while listening to the music. The beat alone made me want to turn it off. I didn't understand how someone could dance to this. Ino laughed.

"You're going to have to dance to this Sakura, whether you like it or not." She grinned amusingly. I scoffed before crossing my arms.

"What if I don't?" I retorted.

Ino shrugged, "Oh, I'll just kick you away saying I want nothing to do with you and my dancing skills." She mockingly outstretched her hand in front of her, examining her manicured nails. I glared at her. She returned my stare with a soft teasing wink. I gasped and turned around, hugging myself even more. Ino was being childish. She was blackmailing me! I hated this song! I hated Britney Spears! I hate this!

"But, think of it this way, Sakura," she hummed while sliding besides me, standing disturbingly close, "try and dance to this and the sooner it will be over."

I rolled my eyes again. Did she not learn? I would never, ever dance to this song!

"Or else I'll scream you groped my ass," she replied with a wolfish smirk. My eyes widened in horror and put my hands to my mouth. Oh god, she wouldn't.

As if Ino read my mind, "I would."

I covered all of my face with my hands. This can't be happening. What should I do? Dance to such a dumb song or have the papers saying, 'SAKURA HARUNO GROPED HER RIVAL, INO YAMANAKA'S ASS IN THE PARK YESTERDAY!'

Get called a pervert or get laughed for my crude dancing? I knew if I didn't budge then Ino would scream and I would never hear the end of it, but if I did the other then I'll have a permanent wound in my pride. I felt like screaming into my hands. The options were both bad!

"So what is it going to be, Sak-ooo" She hummed mischievously to me. I shuddered. I'm going to have to dance. I knew it came down to that. I allowed my arms to turn limp as I turned around and went near the stereo.

"Just get this over with, please, Ino." I whined while watching Ino jump happily and frolic to the stereo to restart the song. She clicked a button quickly and got beside me, showing me how my stance should be.

I wanted to run to a sturdy tree and bash my head against it. I would rather be called crazy than a horrible dancer. She got beside me. Ino's once glee filled face was grim. I felt myself feel awkwardly ashamed. Why was I feeling this? Ino began to lecture me on my stance, her voice stiff and stone cold.

What happened? Did I miss something? I had a blank expression. I didn't understand. Just one second ago she was happy and now she was just stone cold. I wasn't sure if this was how she was when she tutored people or not.

I didn't believe that, instead I blamed myself for some unknown reason. I could feel that it was my fault somehow, that she was now in a bad mood. Why? Well, I didn't know but I knew on the inside. It's hard to explain. It was just a gut feeling that told me so. I had to admit, I didn't expect this.

I looked at her tired expression. I frowned. Were we that far apart? Was it really this bad?


I threw myself on my bed, slowly crawling under the covers and snuggling my head into my soft pillow. Today was a long, excruciating day. I knew I was going to be sore. My legs never went that high and my arms definitely didn't stretch that way either. But, Ino, she easily maneuvered to the beat and made the song not so horrible. She knew how to dance, that was for sure, while I slowly, awkwardly followed along behind her.

Sure, there were, like, two people who watched us, but they didn't make any bad comments or laughed. They just seemed happy to watch. I didn't exactly get what was so great by watching us, but I took the hint they were ogling over Ino. She was beautiful- even I had to agree to that. Though, for some reason I couldn't totally believe that. They were watching with something else than flirtatious reasons. I nestled my head further into my pillow and lazily turned my alarm on, flopping my arm down after I heard the distinct click of it being turned on.

Tomorrow, we had another practice session. I wasn't looking forward to it. I didn't like today's training because I felt so humiliated, but not as bad as I thought. I frowned. I wasn't even paying attention to Ino's tutoring actually…wow. I was a bad student.

I sighed and rolled around in my bed until I found a comfortable, cold spot on my bed.

I was going to be sore tomorrow and have to put up with Ino again, but it wouldn't be that bad, right? To be honest, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would've been. Ino seemed to make the humiliation a little softer when I was by her side.


Next morning, it was easy to say that I wasn't too happy.

"Sakura, you're lagging again." Ino interrupted while stopping the next technique. I winced as I tried to outstretch my sore leg. Ino noticed this and was quick to make a comment of it.

"Already wore down," she mocked. I rolled my eyes.

"Unlike some people, some don't get a good amount of exercise." I grunted, trying to get my muscles warm. Maybe if I tried stretching a little more then they wouldn't hurt as much.

Ino scoffed and turned off the stereo. I glanced at her.

"What?" I asked with an annoyed voice. Ino crossed her arms and watched me stretch about.

"You aren't dancing so why have the music playing?" She stated more than questioned. I flinched, but shook my head to clear away the small pain her words caused. She said it so fiercely…

"I just needed to stretch. I am sore. I can't dance like you, you know." I replied softly back, still taken back by her words. I sat down on the grass and outstretched my legs, leaning forward and touching my toes with the tips of my hands. I could feel my legs, back, and arms ache in protest. I held my breath. I just needed to stretch them more, get warmed up and start with Ino's tutoring again. It shouldn't take too long. Instantly, I felt the burning and aching intensify with each second that passed by while I stretched.

Ino plopped down on the ground in front of me. I stopped stretching and glanced up at her. She eyed me with that hazy look I couldn't describe. It made me feel uneasy and unwanted around here. I shuffled uncomfortable and tore away my gaze. I tried to continue my stretches but I could feel her eyes on me the whole time. I attempted to ignore her but it didn't last too long until I gave up.

"Why are you staring at me," I quickly inquired. Ino seemed to be caught off guard, for once I felt like I had the upper hand around her. She averted her gaze hastily.

"What else am I suppose to watch? I'm here for you, aren't I?" She growled. I shook my head at her stubbornness. I wouldn't question her further. She was obviously staring at me for some other reason. So I believed anyways.

"Whatever, say what you want," I grumbled. I wouldn't start anything right now. I just wanted to get home and soak in a nice hot bath while watching my favorite movies. Mmm, that sounded good right about now. A smile crept to my face at the thought of the comfort.

"Why are you smiling like an idiot?" A voice called me out of my thoughts. I shot a glare in her direction before hopping up.

"Let's just get this over," I said while rolling my shoulder blades. Ino smiled, crawling to the stereo and turning it on and getting up. She got in her position, I did the same.

"Ok, first lets start, like usual, with our foot coming out first." She began while pointing her left foot out. I mimicked her movements with a small ache in my body. I would be sore for a week, I thought. But, it wasn't too bad. I could still remember the days of participating in kick boxing when I was younger. It was brutal how sore I got, but I still loved it. A smile unconsciously washed on my lips while I listened to Ino's instructions.

I also didn't notice that Ino had a genuine smile on her face as well. The whole time we practiced, we were smiling and in sync. I listened to her and didn't venture off in my own thoughts. Ino would smile and compliment on small things.

It was almost like…we were friends again.


"Hey, miss pinky," Karin greeted as she entered the studio with a mug of coffee. The mug had a black cat on it that reminded me strangely of Sasuke. I brushed the thought off as I tried to get comfortable in my chair again, holding my guitar. I didn't get to take my well earned bath yet, even though I would have really appreciated it about now. I still had to practice on my guitar. I tried to straighten my back but ended up groaning in pain. Damn my sore back.

Karin walked near me, sipping on her coffee, "Uh-oh, somebody sore?"

I nodded my head, squirming around in my seat to find a more comfortable position. It was almost useless. My whole body was practically sore.

"Oh poor thing," Karin piped happily while twirling around in the room. I gave her a small smile at her maturity. She smiled and winked back at me as she pulled up a chair beside me.

"So," she began, "have you and Ino fought yet?"

I gave her a certain look as if telling her she was plain stupid for asking it. Karin pushed up her glasses and leaned back in her chair.

"Of course we're fighting. Every single second when we work together, I don't know what her problem is either." I muttered, strumming my guitar instinctively. Though, I made it sound worse than it really was. This morning, however, was different. We didn't fight or have crude remarks towards each other. I just didn't feel like mentioning that to Karin, sort of in fear that I'd jinx myself.

Karin sighed.

I continued to ponder about the previous practices. Ino acted like I did something terribly wrong in the sessions. I didn't know what but each time she would give me this look that said 'you failure, Haruno', or something similar, and it sent pain throughout my body. I didn't know what to think of it. I brushed it off at first, thinking it was just a spazz-attack.

"I don't know either. I actually don't even know why she bothered accepting to help you in the first place, no offense and all." She murmured before reassuring me. I nodded understandingly. I didn't feel comfortable with Ino like how I did when smaller. I was nervous all the time and felt afraid to make the smallest mistake, even when annoyed or angered. She just gave me that look which made me feel like I was walking on needles. It just bugged me.

"She's just…being difficult. She can't help herself. She was always difficult when we were young but she tried hard to not be stubborn with me. I just don't see why she is letting it on me. But she just gives me this stare…and I feel like I'm on pins and needles and it bugs the hell out of me! You know?" I told Karin, hoping for some inspiring words from my manager. She glanced away to think over it. I watched as her mouth opened slowly to say something, but, her phone began to wring.

Karin sighed and gave me a sympathetic look, "I'm sorry." She said as she excused herself and answered her phone with a polite introduction. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and scratched the back of my head. I guess I'll have to think it over for myself.

I continued by myself tying to think about why Ino would give me such nasty stares. What was running through her head? An idea popped into my head, a little too quickly for my liking.

She could still be mad over what happened in the past. It was my fault, but I couldn't be blamed so harshly because I was a kid back then, a foolish ignorant child! I didn't know any better, anyone would know that!

But, even when I tried defending myself, why did I feel such guilt over it? I shouldn't feel this ashamed. It was so long ago, yet, I was feeling the wound as if it was just inflicted. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. I could feel the tangles in it from this morning's sweat and workout.

I definitely needed a bath to think things over.


The next morning, I was in an even worse mood than yesterday. I glared at the joggers who started to sit down nearby to watch me and Ino dance. I began to try and warm up my body.

I extended my arms out, trying to get my muscles ready. I didn't get that much sleep last night from being so sore. Never in my entire life did I think my body could hurt so much from dancing! Someone stopped and looked at me with a bright smile. Not another fan, I groaned to myself before glaring in their direction. The person froze, startled, and ran the other way. I gave myself a small smile of satisfaction. I know, I know, it was horrible to act hostile to a fan, but, when I wasn't in a good mood everyone had to suffer. Karin and everyone in the world by now should know that. And I wasn't in the best of moods today. I wanted to sleep, I wanted to laze around in my house and watch TV all day, but I couldn't do that because I had to come here and dance my stupid ass off! I shivered from the autumn cold, again, and felt my muscles ache from it. Why couldn't we just go inside this time? It was so stupid of Ino to make us stay out here and do our dances like this.

Speaking of the damned, Ino jogged into sight, a little late like usual. She held that look in her eyes that disturbed me. I glanced away, not wanting to even start with that again. I didn't even want to be here. I should've just stayed home. Hell, I could just walk away right now.

"Ok let's get started and get this over with," she murmured in an uninterested tone. I shot her a soft glare. She was in her normal mood of being distant and cold, like usual. Hey, she agreed to do this with me. It wasn't like she was forced. So she could at least put on a fake smile and act like she was enjoying this, even just a little! But no, she just had to be so difficult like usual! What was she getting from that? I didn't understand her at times. She was so freaking complex! Why couldn't she be like every other girl and show the emotions she was feeling? Because I certainly did not believe she was always feeling this mean every day. It was probably because I, Sakura, was Sakura Haruno, her BITTER rival. Ugg, I wanted to smash something into the ground. The stereo began to play the annoying Britney Spears song again. That would be a nice target to destroy first.

"Sakura," Ino snapped her fingers. I felt the irritation rise within me as I shot her another glare.

"What?" I spat. She narrowed her eyes. She was looking at me like that again. Why did she give me that look? She never used it on anyone besides me! I was already sick of it!

"On your period," she teased with an all too sweet smile. I felt the last of my patience snap. God Dammit, Ino! I swear you said the worst things at the wrong times!

"Shut up! I'm not on my period!" I spat back. I didn't need to hear this crap. It was her fault! She started it! I watched Ino's face flicker from shock to irritation.

"What is your problem?" She barked back at me. I shook my head with a scoff.

"No, Ino, no, what is your problem?!" I retorted. Ino scrunched up her nose in bitter confusion.

"What has gotten to you?" Ino demanded with venom, clearly avoiding my question. I growled in frustration. Why couldn't she just answer my question?! I would answer hers if she answered mine! How could that not sink through her thick skull?!

"I am sore, didn't get any sleep because of it, had to wake up early, get in this ugly cold weather, and have to see your scolding face and LISTEN TO YOUR BITCHING!" I yelled in her face. I could see some shock and fear in her eyes which gave me some satisfaction until she decided to talk back.

"I am not forcing you to be here, Sakura. I am trying to help you, even though it's turning out to be one big freaking mess." She spoke in an even, but dangerous voice. I rolled my eyes.

"You know that I have no choice, Ino, unless I want to win-"

"What is with you and winning," Ino snarled, stomping her way to me. "It's always win, win, win, and nothing else!"

I felt a sudden vicious anger and reflex to defend myself. That topic was off limits between us and she should know that. She knew that I felt beyond guilty for doing it, but for fucks sakes, I WAS ONLY A KID!

"Don't even go there," I roared at her while dangerously marching towards her with gritted teeth. Ino scoffed.

"What? Go where? Oh, go where you broke a great thing? Oh yeah. Oh yeah, Sakura, just ignore what you've done wrong. Try and act like you're all innocent, because you aren't! YOU JUST AREN'T!" She furiously spoke to me with sharp words.

"Just shut up," I demanded. She better not even start on that subject, because I know I'd be the one walking away from it. I wouldn't be able to end it and she knew that! It was a low blow, such a freaking low blow that it shouldn't even been thought of! I felt myself shudder in anger. I wasn't in the mood at all. If she hit too low again, I swear I could scream and instantly destroy the world. I suppressed my anger and tried to stop my hands from shaking.

"Oh, look, I hit a small fault of you and you're already crumbling! I swear, you are such a child just like you were when you-"

And my hand made swift contact with her cheek, snapping both of us out of our rage. Ino and I were both shocked, and then just now noticed crowd that was around us. Everyone gasped as loud murmurs circled us, but I didn't pay attention to that for long because my eyes were glued to Ino. My attention stuck to her and didn't waver.

My hand was still near her face from where it slapped, as if haunting me that I actually did smack Ino. I never wanted to hurt anybody like this, ever, even if it was Ino. I watched as Ino's eyes turned from that dangerous tint of disgust into pain and sadness. They were distant as if in another world than this one. She was staring at me but not looking at me. Beneath her eye her cheek was turning to a harmful red where I hit her, and I could only guess how bad it stung from the bitter morning cold. A big wave of guilt was shoved down my throat where I could barely even speak.

"I-Ino," I choked out quickly. I brought both of my hands up to her shoulders. She flinched hard and looked at me, as if I was going to hit her again. I lessened my grip. She slowly slid down to her knees, my arms going limp and returning to my sides as I gazed down to her. She slowly brought her hand up to look at it, examining it in a peculiar way. I did not understand why she was doing this, but it compelled me to look at my own damned hand, the one that struck her unconsciously. I didn't tell it to do it. I didn't make it do it! Why did it just go up and hit her? I didn't tell it to, Dammit! I DIDN'T DO IT!

I heard a familiar voice accompanied by another break through the crowd and its disturbing whispers.

"Sakura, Sakura! Are you ok? God Dammit! What did Ino do to make you hit her?" Karin called out to me in a worried voice. I didn't respond to her. I continued to stare at my hand, wondering how I could've even done that. I didn't want to…I swear…

"What Ino did?" Shikamaru butted in with an irked voice. "More like what did Sakura do!? Ino has more composure than her! She wouldn't dare to do anything to Sakura!" Shikamaru argued back to Karin while putting a blanket around Ino. Karin scoffed and rubbed my back in comfort. I watched as Ino trembled a little from the cold, I hoped, and not from the pain or what she was feeling. I tried to swallow the lump in my throat.

"Don't you dare brush that off! Ino would never hurt Sakura physically, Dammit! She still holds hope for her, whether you, me or her," he spat pointing an accusing finger at me, "likes it! You better hope she even wants to continue tutoring Sakura! I can't believe she even agreed to this! She was only hoping things would get better!-"

"She was acting hostile from the first day to Sakura! She always gave her this death glare and would not crack a smile!" Karin shot back in acidic defense. Ino flinched at this. Shikamaru growled.

His words rang through my head like a contagious childhood lullaby. Hope? She had hope to recover this friendship? I never would've believed such a thing, but Shikamaru never did lie. Did he? I didn't know what to believe in that delirious moment of guilt and pain. My hand began to shake. If so, I struck down Ino when she was trying to make things better? But why, why did she look so distant and cold every day? What made her so gloomy?

"Did it ever cross your thick skull that maybe she was hurting on the inside?!" Shikamaru retorted. I flinched this time. "Maybe she was distancing herself from Sakura, fully knowing that she was just being used as a tool to win the UMC!"

Was I that oblivious of her pain? Did I not see through her cold demeanor that there was pain? Or, was I so guilty that I was objecting it? I sat there, questioning myself for what seemed like ages until I noticed that I was going nowhere and the answers I were seeking was something I couldn't answer, not right now with all this mess.

"-business. And that was Sakura to blame, and you should know that Karin! You of all people should know how it ended between them!" Shikamaru continued to rant to Karin who remained quiet while her hand continued to rub my back, hoping to calm me a little. She could feel how guilty I was feeling at the moment. We both knew it was my fault, but never actually sat down to talk about it and cleared things up, and we both knew I was severely guilty of it too. It didn't look like Shikamaru, or maybe even Ino knew that I was, but right now I could barely breathe let alone talk. The pain was resurfacing with such paralyzing waves that it made me want to succumb to the ground and hope for mercy.

Shikamaru and Karin's bickering stopped instantly. The crowd around us was quiet as well.

"Ino," Shikamaru quietly addressed, "are you ok?"

Ino didn't reply. I dropped my hand from my stare and averted my gaze to her. I was standing right before her and she was kneeling in front of me. From the crowd it would look like a fallen knight telling a royal subject that they failed on a mission, but the roles were reversed. I should be down on the ground, begging for forgiveness while Ino decided what happened. Yet, here we were where I was being viewed as the bad guy again and Ino being the innocent one. It was never really this way…

Sakura! We're going to win this competition! And maybe I'll share the trophy with you!

She acted so selfish back then.

Man, Sakura, you're such a klutz.

She made fun of me at times.

Isn't Sasuke cute? I am going to marry him when I am older.

She even chased after the same boy I liked when I was little, just because I said I liked him yesterday to her. She was never the damsel in distress. I was, at first, but I picked up my courage and moved on, so I thought, but in the end I was viewed as the bad guy. But, Ino was never the evildoer either. We both had our fair share of being the cop and the robber. That whole incident was never clearly talked about, and people concluded to a thing or two which never benefitted us both.

I watched Shikamaru slowly bring Ino to her feet and lead her out of the crowd. Karin stood, still rubbing my back, and waited until I wanted to leave. We left once the crowd disappeared and my thoughts went from rapid blurry movements to painfully slow ones, leaving ugly marks in my self-esteem. My conscious kept blaming me but I tried to defend myself.

That was how it was. I was the one to do everything for myself. I had to boost my own ego now, I had to slap myself back to reality, I had to tell myself it was bad to do this, and everything else. I became independent ever since I 'ditched' Ino. She used to take a fair share of my pain, I'd take a fair share of her needs, and we'd help each other. Now we don't have anyone to do that. I think we would both agree that we never found a place for another person where I or she was in our lives. The spot where the other was would forever be vacant unless we came back and occupied it once again.

I watched my breath rise into the air before me until it died out as we walked to Karin's car. It started out so great and solid, then, dying out as glorious as it started.


A/N:

Did you really think I forgotten about my InoSaku? WELL, guess again. Angsty cliffhangers are usually for the win and HOPEFULLY you guys (girls) will stick with me until I update again. Terribly sorry for the long time between updates but my newest infatuation of the pretty, almost canon pairing of YoruSoi has been taking up my updates (let's not even start talking about school work and such...jeebus.)

Reviews are totally loved.