Ino P.O.V

Thursday, Twelve Twenty-Six in the Morning

I watched the small motions of Stoner's breathing. So relaxed and spaced evenly in small bouts of breathe. I reached a hand out to him, ruffling the soft spot between his ears, sighing at the relief it seemed to bring me. He hardly stirred when my hand rustled his sleep. Why couldn't I relax like that? Sighing, I removed my hand, but allowed my fingers to linger near his midnight brushed fur.

I just needed the connection with someone, even if it was in the form of my cat. I just needed something to remind me that I wasn't completely alone.

Even so, I couldn't help but to place my memories on subjects I simply wanted to fade away. My mind wouldn't allow for the disappearance of such things, no matter how hard I tried to displace them. As I stared out at the moonlit night, I did everything but throw these issues aside. Instead, my mind intertwined the ideas of past pain and sorrow. I hated that feeling; it made me feel weak and isolated. I wanted to be somewhere besides trapped in my head, disputing over emotions that I shouldn't have been worrying about.

I never felt complete after my father passed away. Even after he was gone, my mother never bothered to shorten her trips away from home. I wished she would have. Right now was when I needed someone to talk to, yet no one was there. Maybe I am alone because I chose to be. Maybe it is my own rejection to the world that's shoving everyone from my life and leaving me here to suffer with my emotional provocations.

My younger brother tries to help, yet I never allow him to. Pride seems to get in the way of those who try to provide me with comfort and someone to lean on. I never can find a way to give in to such a casual act of showing my weaker side. I hated admitting to needing someone in the first place.

With all family issues set aside, I can always brush up the topic of Sakura. I rolled over to my side to get a better view out my window, where I could let my thoughts travel as far as they seemed to be wandering. I wonder what it is she sees in me that makes it worth her time. I don't understand her completely, anything about her really. Her mysterious appearance, as if she was sent to be a solution for me. Doubt is always in my vision of her, since it feels I'll never be able to accept someone. I wanted to let her in, but I couldn't, not without complete understanding of what was between us. I wanted desperately to have someone I could let into my life… yet once again, I was closing her out.

Thursday, Fourth Day of School (Back to Sakura P.O.V)

I ran through the school doors in a hurry, I was late! I was screwed! I was dead! The teacher will quarter me alive!

I sped down the vacant hallway, stopping to a halt to sneeze. I was sick from walking in the rain yesterday from Ino's house. I sped my pace up again and ran to the office area, the staff giving me warning glances.

I gritted my teeth in panic, "I'm sorry for running in the halls, and being late! May I have a late slip please?"

A member of the office staff eyed me before casually writing a messy slip, I urgently snatched it and jogged to my class. I missed the meeting and I automatically knew I was going to regret it, especially when I see Tenten…She is going to skin me after my teacher is done with torturing me first.

I finally reached my class and abruptly opened the door, attracting all the un-wanted attention. My breath was quick in pace from running, and I wouldn't doubt if I looked like a mess too. The teacher, Kakashi, waved a friendly, more like mocking, hand to me, motioning me over to his desk. I scrambled with my head bowed in shame.

"I'm sorry Kakashi, I wo-Woah-Wo-WO-," I sneezed loudly while I felt my cheeks flush from its loudness. My classmates snickered at me while Kakashi gently plucked the tardy slip from my hand. He nodded and waved a dismissing hand, telling me to take a seat. I hastily took my seat and began to read my History book, well pretended because my mind floated to yesterday, my nose sniffled in the process.

I never saw Ino so emotionally detached and un-responsive. She didn't seem right to me. Did I do something wrong? And why would she not want to tell me her problem? I felt, in a peculiar way, offended that she wouldn't share, but then again, I wasn't her friend for a very long time. But she could've at least given me a chance to become a friend that she could trust her dark, forbidden secrets with.

I shook my head at my own inconsiderate thoughts. I should not expect Ino to openly flail her heart and feelings at me in a heartbeat, though the idea of it made me smile. She was a person, and like everyone else she needed time to trust, a lot of time, though I didn't have the necessity of having unlimited time to develop that trust. I closed my book suddenly, maybe a little too hard, attracting even more attention. My mind was once again going back to Tenten's plan. Everyday the scheme grew duller in my mind, and causing my guilt to drive me nuts. Another reason why I cursed myself for being late to school and missing the IR meeting…I missed a good opportunity to turn down the now demented sounding plot.

I took out a pencil from my overloaded backpack, twirling it in my hand to keep me entertained and a secret way of trying to deprive my attention from a bothersome topic. But it was all in vain.

My mind was addicted to Ino, un-able to maintain other thoughts without including Ino. It was always Ino this and Ino that, never about my own needs anymore. I had to admit I was falling head over heels for Ino. It was cheesy sounding but I couldn't explain it any better. After learning about her true self, I couldn't help but want to connect with her, show her good things about life and away from stupid people who judged her. I wanted to be someone she would tell her secrets only to, the person she would always want to be with. It was stupid as silly as it sounded, but I could not really care less because I did not need a reason to explain this infatuation. Or explain to everyone why I was going to call off the scam.

The intercom started to make static noises, warning us that something was to be announced. A reassuring voice called out from the speaker, making my cheeks feel warmer than usual, "Today's lunch has been edited, and instead of pizza we are having spaghetti. Thank-you for listening," and the intercom announcement ended. Everyone groaned in disappointment while I had a smile plastered on my face, few people glancing at me with weird faces until I glared them down. Ino's voice was not any better from yesterday's meeting, but just hearing her voice made me feel funny, a good type of funny.

I hobbled into the chemistry lab, my eyes felt heavy and I was exhausted. My sickness was finally dragging me out of my usual quiet alertness. I found a stool and dragged it to a table in the back, plopping myself into and fishing my I-pod out of my backpack which I dropped untraditionally on the tile floor. I put my Skull Candy headphones (1) over my ears and rested my head on the cold, comforting surface of the table, slowly falling asleep. My nose was plugged, making it hard to breathe while trying to sleep.

I went un-noticed by our Science Teacher, Orochimaru, as the students listlessly shuffled into the classroom, sitting in random areas.

Orochimaru instructed the class to start mixing chemicals into vials, warning them not to mix the blue with the yellow. A freshman named Konohamaru was stupid enough to mix the two together; a pungent smell hit the air immediately. The students quickly exited the classroom in fright while Orochimaru was on their tails, but I didn't budge, un-able to smell the poisonous air, oblivious to the danger.

I began to wake up to find the room in a haze; everything was so blurry and weird. All I could see was a gas mask and long, blond hair. My stomach felt like it was going to hurl up last night's meat loaf, I began to gag at the thought of it. I was moving really fast, but I don't remember running. I groggily glanced at my surroundings. I was being carried by a person, a nimble skinny girl, down the halls. We quickly took a sharp turn down another corridor, causing my stomach more grief. I began groaning from the sloshing in my gut. I was going to puke soon, and it wasn't going to be quick and easy.

The girl ran into a room where Orochimaru stood biting his lip while a woman with long blond hair examined me with her chocolate brown eyes. The person who was carrying me placed me on a white table gently. They began to say something but I couldn't make it out. It was all gibberish like they were speaking in a foreign language. I squinted my eyes and furrowed my brows in concentration to understand what they were talking about, but I couldn't no matter how much tried to intently listen. The woman smacked Orochimaru across the head while the man snorted in annoyance. She grabbed out a first aid-kit and some type of syringe from within the cupboards. The person who carried me started taking off her mask. But before I could see who it was I felt a sharp pain in my arm, the needle injecting an antidote into my blood stream. Every noise, the air conditioning, clock, radio, teacher's talking, feet tapping against the floor and breathing, came in full force to my ears and my stomach couldn't hold on any longer. I quickly rolled over on the table and surrendered my dinner from last night, every ounce of it, on the floor.

The nurse grunted in disgust while Orochimaru scoffed in amusement. Ino didn't say anything before leaving the room. Once done I quickly glanced around in search of Ino, wondering what was going on.

But before I could jump to questions Orochimaru answered all of them in a short sentence, "Chemistry and freshman don't mix well."

My mind was intelligent enough to put two and two together quickly. Something wrong happened in the lab where I fell asleep in…woops. Orochimaru shrugged before walking out, I was going to follow until the nurse stopped me. She had…big assets which were hard not to notice. A name tag was on her nurse vest, 'Tsunade'.

"You can't leave. I have to take some medical tests on you to see if the poison affected you any." Tsunade ordered while grabbing more needles out. My eyes widened, my fingers started to twitch. I began to chuckle nervously despite my usual composed self.

"Don't tell me you're going to stick those in me," I stated more than asked. Tsunade laughed heartily, terrifying me to the bone.

"Of course I am," she said while popping a needle into my arm quickly. I gasped and bit my lip to hold back my yelp. I think I would rather be poisoned than getting shots and blood withdrawn, any day and at any time. She slowly injected the liquid into me. I allowed myself to let out a grunt. The woman gave me a soft glare before continuing.

My mind wandered to why Ino left so suddenly. Was she busy? Did she have to report that I was in the classroom? I frowned and momentarily forgot the pain, only flinching when the pain registered my mind.

"Why so quiet," Tsunade asked while she walked over to her desk, avoiding my vomit, and writing down something. I eyed her until she bent over to reach something. My face flushed while I glanced away in embarrassment.

"I'm just having a rough day," I said while sneezing again, snot coming out of my nose. Tsunade turned around and chuckled at me before giving me a tissue, I snatched it quickly to wipe away the snot. She watched me with pity filled eyes, something that made my stomach churn.

"Are you sick," she casually asked. I nodded, "Somewhat."

She sighed, "Then go home Sakura, you don't need to fill the halls with your germs."

I nodded with a soft smile; even if her words were harsh I knew she was giving me a break. I got up to leave the room before her hand placed on my shoulder. I mentally melted in annoyance. She knew she was going to give me some lecture about being happy, I turned around with a questioning glance.

"You still need to clean up your own puke, kid." She stated while pointing to the Janitor's Closet across the hall from the Nurse's office. I blushed while giving a soft chuckle in embarrassment.

"Yeah, right," I quickly added before heading to get the mop and bucket. Tsunade mumbled something about freshman while staring at my vomit in disgust. Once done I quickly grabbed the note from Tsunade to excuse myself from school. A team of scientists came and cleansed the school from the mild gas quickly when I left. When I reached home I quickly went up to my bedroom and flopped on my bed, wanting to rest my eyes just for a few moments.

Where was Ino? Is she ok? Why did she ditch out once she brought me to the Nurse? Was she uncomfortable? When will all my answers be answered?

Ino P.O.V

Again, I was furled into another mess I shouldn't have been involved in. Why was I so stupid to walk into a situation I could have avoided? I know it could have been avoided, yet it felt so natural to run to her. I felt compelled to make sure she was o.k. It was so stupid of me though, I should have been more collected and focused on the reality of the situation.

Normally I wouldn't run into things without thinking about the situation. Yet, this was an odd occasion, a onetime event where I excused my other senses and went for trouble. It was for her though, wasn't it? Was it normal to rush into a situation like that when someone I cared for could have been in danger? Still, it was too impulsive for me. This was something I should have easily set aside knowing the situation could go without my intermission. It was odd though. I was worried for her, and it wasn't just slight worry. It's obvious to me now that I was dropping all other senses when I felt the need to run for her. I felt like I had to be there, and nothing else mattered. It felt like the world collapsed into nothing, and my protective instincts raveled all my other senses away, where I couldn't side with them any longer. My motives to know if she was alright made up my world at that moment, but why, why would I drop my consistent ease of thinking things through? This was so unlike me.

Then my mind shifted elsewhere, closing off my inner thoughts. Ow. A trashcan. I felt my feet stumble as it rumbled in the hallway, the metal clanging with an embarrassing noise echo through the halls. I looked around myself with a flushing face, hoping no one had seen my mistake. Gathering my feet and pace back to a normal stride, I sighed. That was one way to break my turmoil.

I woke up from my sleep and eyed my alarm clock. It was a little after four. The memories of today started flooding my mind.

Where was Ino?

I got up abruptly and quickly exited the house, leaving my mother with a dumbstruck facial expression. I wanted to go see Ino, because I wanted to get all my questions answered. I was tired of wondering and not being answered. I ran towards the school, and once there, and out of breath, I tried to find Ino. I ran inside to see if there was a meeting, but only the janitor was there.

"Was there a meeting today?" I asked while breathing harshly. He eyed me with a surprised face before smiling.

"Yes there was," he said in a sprightly tone.

"How long ago," I asked impatiently. He stretched his arms in thought.

"OH I say about five minutes ago," he answered. Once I heard those words I quickly took off towards the exit. The janitor's eyes grew large before stuttering.

"Don't-," I slipped on the wet floor and epically fell on my back with a loud smack. The janitor laughed in a loud burst. He subsided while I got up, rubbing my hurt back.

"I just mopped the floor, little late for that," he kept giggling. I rolled my eyes and took off running again, with a limp to keep my back from hurting too much. I continued to run down the road towards Ino's house, until I finally ran out of stamina. I slowed down considerably and tried to catch my breath. I looked ahead and saw a blond ponytail bobbing, my strength returning almost immediately. Once I was a generous pace behind her I stopped running and walked casually.

I was about to say something until she detoured off to a cemetery. What was going on? She had a red candle in hand. I was now terribly curious on what she was doing. Did she see me and wanted to see if I was following her? Was it a funeral?

I tagged behind her until she stopped a gravestone, the words 'Inoichi Yamanaka' engraved on the marble stone. I stopped quickly and felt guilty for following her. She was visiting her father's grave, and I was watching her moment of vulnerability. She placed the candle down and brought matches out of her pocket, lighting the red candle and placing it carefully near the gravestone. She began to shake while kneeling down in front of her father's stone. She began to cry, and I was stuck there, un-able to talk or move. My breath was quiet but quick and I was in inner-turmoil, deciding whether I should comfort her or leave her. I tried to say something but I silently choked. I couldn't accomplish anything.

I took a hesitant step forward. She heard me and turned around quickly in startle. I couldn't do anything but stare at her tear filled eyes. She was hurting after all…

Ino P.O.V

These tears weren't meant to be seen. I wasn't meant to be caught with emotion streaking my face, but now I was. Now I had to face Sakura with broken composure that was supposed to remain hidden from the world. I was exposed at this point, and I felt like the image I had set for myself was drowned within the tears. Carefully I looked at her, trying to close out the sorrow glistening in my eyes, but I knew it was a worthless act. It made me want to further my sorrow, because now she was seeing a part of me I never intended to be visible outside my soul. I felt like a weak soul near her, and that wasn't what I had intended to ever reveal. I stammered slightly, shifting the options in my head. I could try to make excuses, but this wasn't an excusable display, I could tell that by the look in her eyes. I could ignore her presence and walk away, perhaps leaving my broken pride behind as I walked a trail to my composure.

Then again, maybe I could reach out. No. I couldn't give in to the temptation of admitting my frailty. Going to her now, that would prove I had frayed my pride and allowed something defenseless to slip over me. Right now though, it felt right to give into the nagging feeling of finally letting her in. I turned from the candle light to face her completely, dropping my guard seemed so easy right now, and the moment felt right to collapse into my emotions with her.

"How long have you been there, Sakura," Ino's voice was sharp and pained. I flinched and took a step back. Should I run? I put my head down in shame.

"W-when you got here," I told her truthfully. She cocked her face to the side in shame, bringing her hand up to touch her wet cheek. God how sad she looked, I was right after all, she was secretly depressed. I kneeled down in front of her with a soft, comforting smile.

"It's ok," I said, un-sure what else I could've said. She sniffled and choked on words, more tears streaming down her vanilla skin. I brought my hands up and wiped away her tears with a smile. She stared intensely into my eyes as if she was un-sure she could trust me or not.

"Sakura," she uttered while more tears trickled down her cheeks. I could hear the raw emotion in her voice. She sounded so alone like no one was there for her. I lowered my hands to her hand, cupping it between my slightly larger hands while staring in her eyes.

"I'm here for you Ino," I stated while gazing into her beautiful blue eyes. She started shaking, her hand wiggling in my hands. She started stutter on her words before hugging me intensely, throwing herself on me. I fell over in surprise, her falling down with as well. I was sprawled on the ground with Ino hugging me tightly, crying her eyes out into my school uniform. I stared up at the cloudy sky with half-closed eyes. What was I suppose to do now? All I could do was hug her back, right? I brought my arms up and hugged her back while she continued to cry.

What caught me off guard was that I was enjoying her crying, and not in a sadistic way. It showed she trusted me and cared to show her weakness. I stroked her back while playing with her long hair. She was just letting her feelings out on me and I loved every second.

"S-Sakura," Ino uttered harshly. I let a strand of her silky hair fall away from my grasp.

"Yes," I asked in a soft tone, trying to show her I wasn't minding this. She coughed while brining her head up and staring at me in the eyes. Hesitation clouded her eyes along with a hint of fright.

"You will never hurt me, right? You won't leave me like my dad did, will you? You'll always be here, right?!" She cried while tears fell onto my neck and face, I savored the feeling of them leaking down my body. I felt myself blush in shame. How could I promise her that when I was just supposed to use her? I licked my lips while watching Ino's lips quiver. How could I utter lies right into her face, was I that bad of a person who could lie to someone while being stared straight into the eyes? I hitched on my breath before speaking.

"I won't leave you," I whispered to her, hesitating to add the last part, "and hurt you intentionally." I couldn't say I would never hurt her, or I would break that promise. Ino didn't seem to notice my inner-turmoil, she just pressed closer into me, cuddling her head into my chest to dry her tear stained face.

"Thank-you," she replied. I couldn't smile, still guilty that I practically lied to her right in her face. I continued to stroke her back until a rock landed near us. Ino shot her head up in the direction of the stone while I cocked my head backwards, trying to view the person who threw the rock.

A guy with brown hair looked at us with a weird face, sitting on his bicycle. "Get a room," he yelled at us. We both blushed while Ino got off of me and dusted her skirt off. I shot up and turned towards the guy who was now smirking at us.

I brought up my middle finger and stuck out my tongue at him, "We can do whatever we want anywhere we want." Ino scooted closer to me with a blush while the guy laughed and rode off on his bicycle. Ino tapped my shoulder shyly. I turned around with my eyebrow raised.

"Was that necessary?" she asked with a slightly embarrassed voice.

I chuckled before answering, "It was." She began to giggle with small tears still sliding down her face. I brought my hand up and removed them from her eyes, her face grew instantly red.

"Sakura, only couples wipe tears away from others," she question more than stated. I withdrew my hand slowly with a lopsided smile, before swiveling on my heel and walking towards the exit of the cemetery.

"I suppose, but it doesn't matter to me, I just don't want to see you cry, Ino." She stuttered on a few words before shaking her head and chasing after me. She grabbed my hand quickly and held it within hers, rubbing the back of my hand with her thumb. Her hands were warm, and mine were too. I lied to her again, about not caring. I actually did care, now that I noticed. I cared for Ino a lot. I wanted to be a couple, I wanted to be with her and have the title of being her special someone. I wanted her to be infatuated with me, like I was with her now that I noticed. I smiled while squeezing her hand a little tighter.

A/N:

(1) Skull Candy headphones are like…the holy grail of loud music for I-pods, enough said.

Kudos to my best buddy Nickel for writing the Ino Point Of Views! Because I wanted you to see the difference between the two characters.

Ok late update but whatever! I hope you like it!