Note: Again, this is an AU.


Chapter 2:

"Troublesome woman!" That familiar voice jolted Ino out of her thoughts, making her jump in surprise. By the tone in the Nara's voice, he'd called her name more than a few times before shooting out his go to fraze for her.

Ino cringed slightly. She hadn't been paying attention, too immersed in her mind. Just that one glimpse of Hinata from down the street had made her forget about everything around her. Good thing she hadn't been the one to go during the first sparring match. She was probably going to be useless for a little while longer until her thought process went away from her love path.

"Sorry, Shikamaru. What did you need?" Ino blushed slightly in embarrassment as she looked at the her two team mates.

Dark eyes studied the flushed skin, and shifting eyes. For a second, Ino thought he was going to ask her what was wrong. Instead, he grunted, and after one more piercing look, let it go. "Naruto wants everyone to meet at the bar later tonight. He says we haven't had a gathering in a long time. Can you make it?"

Ino blinked in surprise for a moment. "Sure! Is everyone able to go?"

"Hm. I think so. The only one that might not make it is Sai. He was sent on a B-rank mission a few days ago and he hasn't come back yet. The Hokage doesn't expect him until next week at the latest. He might get back today, but it's doubtful." Shikamaru sighed, placing his hands into his pants pockets, shoulders slouching. He studied her with half lidded eyes.

Ino knew he was going to ask her why she hadn't been paying attention earlier. Before he could open his mouth, she beat him to it. "That sucks for Sai. What time do we meet up? And which bar? There's like a million!"

Shikamaru sighed in exasperation, giving her disgruntled look. "Ino, there aren't a million bars in Konoha." Meanwhile, Chouji was munching on his chips, looking slightly amused.

The blond teammate shrugged, a smirk tugging at her plump lips. "You know what I mean, Shika! Just tell me because I'm not going from bar to bar looking for you guys!"

"Right. It's at The Drink and Kiss."

"Oh! I've heard of it! It's the one with the best Rice Sake in Konoha, right? I've been wanting to try it!" Ino grinned. "Well, I'd better go and start getting ready!"

"Troublesome. It's still early. We're not meeting for at least two hours." Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"Cha, right! That's barely enough time! I need to look goooooddd!" Ino gave a sultry look, hand going to her waist.

"You look fine though. We could just hang out until it's time to meet." Chouji complimented her, hand reaching into the almost empty bag of chips.

"Men!" Ino huffed and walked away with a wave. "I'll see you guys later!"

After a few steps, a beautiful smile popped onto her face. "Hinata's going to be there..." Eagerly, the tall blond hurried home She had the perfect outfit in mind. Maybe it would catch Hinata's attention.

Maybe...

...She could hope, couldn't she?

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Water flowed down soft skin. Long blond hair clung to Ino's back as she stood motionless under the falling, warm liquid.

After a few more seconds of letting the water relax her mind and body a bit, Ino reached over for her shampoo. It was her favorite kind. The mixture always left her hair smooth and silky, with a faint hint of jasmine. It was one of her favorite scents.

Ino worked the gel in her hands a bit before running her long fingers through her hair. Suds immediately appeared. She could smell the jasmine already. After gently scrubbing her scalp for a minute, Ino leaned back into the spray. Suds slid down her hair and slowly disappeared as it was rinsed away.

Eyes closed, Ino ran her hands through her hair again. Her mind drifted towards Hinata.

What would it feel like to have Hinata's hands running through her hair? Exploring her body?

Ino's hands trailed down, she imagined that they were Hinata's instead of her own. She crossed her arms, hands holding lightly onto her shoulders.

What would it feel like to have Hinata touching her?

Her soft lips on her own?

How would it feel?

Ino touched her lips with her fingertips, brushing against them lightly.

How would it feel?

Skin against skin?

Lips against lips?

What... What would it feel like to gaze directly into those lavender colored eyes and let her love show?

Let her know?

Ino sighed, opening her eyes and breaking her illusion of the dark haired woman. If only she really were right there, right in front of Ino.

She wished she could really touch Hinata instead of just being an image in her mind. A pale figment that could never truly compare to the actual being.

It was a dream. A dream to be able to touch the Hyuuga, and to have her return the touch... to feel the same love that was in Ino's heart. If she ever did...

Would Hinata be shy? Or would let her pleasure be heard?

Ino wanted to find out. She wanted Hinata to kiss her. To find out what they each liked, to touch each other...

Hands trailed down her breasts as images of Hinata rushed through her mind.

"Ino?!" A voice outside her bathroom door called out, breaking, shattering the images. Ino could feel the flush rush up her body. "Troublesome woman. You're still not ready? We came to pick you up!"

"Shikamaru! You idiot!"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Ino stopped just outside the door of the bar, trying to control her rapidly beating heart. She hadn't been in the same room as Hinata for months. They hadn't been necessarily close before that, but she'd at least seen her daily. Maybe that was the reason she'd spaced out earlier. Just seeing that one glimpse of her had brought back all her feelings, tenfold.

Sometimes, Ino wondered how her heart had set on Hinata. It wasn't like she had a chance. Hinata was straight. Her obvious crush on Naruto when they were in the Academy had made that clear. That clear crush had stopped Ino from doing anything idiotic many times.

To distract herself... To keep anyone from knowing her secret, she pretended to fight Sakura over Sasuke. Ino hadn't wanted to keep fighting with Sakura but she'd tried once to tell her she wasn't interested in him and Sakura hadn't believed her. So she'd played the part of adoring/crazy fan girl.

If she had any less desire to be a Kunoichi, Ino could have become an actress instead.

Seven...

Seven years of living a lie. If she wasn't so upset about the circumstances, she could have boasted of her amazing acting skills. But...

It was getting harder to keep up the mask. Something had to give.

Ino shook her head, and glanced down at her outfit to make sure everything was in place and perfect. There wasn't even a wrinkle on the short, sleeveless black dress with a sweetheart neckline. It hugged her body, showing off her curves and accentuating them. She didn't have much in the chest department but the dress made it seem like she had a bit more than she actually did. Ino had fallen in love with it as soon as she'd seen it. One of the few times that it had happened while clothes shopping. Usually, it took her hours to decide on something and multiple trips to the dressing room.

Ino brushed her loose hair over her shoulder, took a breath, and walked in. Blue eyes searched around the brightly lit bar for her friends. After yelling at Shikamaru, she wasn't surprised to see him with Chouji, drinks in hand.

"Ino! You made it! About damn time!" Sakura cried out, rushing towards Ino. She gave the tall blond a hug . "I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!"

"That's what I was thinking!" Ino replied, not about to say that it had been about Hinata instead of her pink haired friend. Not that she forgot about Sakura, they had become closer again in recent years. After Sasuke's defection and subsequent return, Ino had dropped the act. People still thought she had a crush on the Uchiha though. And Sai. It was getting more than a tiny bit ridiculous because as far as she knew, she'd never shown interest in him. Ever. "Is everyone here?"

Sakura shook her head in the negative. "So far, only Naruto, Lee, Tenten, Shikamaru, and Chouji have made it. The rest should be here soon though." A giggle escaped Sakura's lips and that was when Ino noticed that she had a drink in her had. By the way she slightly wobbled, it wasn't her first of the night.

"Geez, you couldn't wait for the rest of us to start the party?" Ino teased her as they walked over to the group. Ino immediately spotted her fellow blond, and one of the loud mouths of the group. The orange and black shirt was like a neon sign advertising his location. "Naruto!"

"Ino! You made it!" Naruto waved enthusiastically as they made their way over to the group. They hugged and chatted for a bit before being interrupted by the second loudmouth of the group.

"Ino! You look amazing!" Lee cried out, giving her the good guy pose. "A beautiful exotic flower!"

"Ah, thanks Lee..." Ino grinned at the taijutsu master after a double take. It was surprising, but Lee didn't have his usual green spandex suit. He was wearing a green shirt and some deep blue jeans. "Still not allowed to drink?"

Ino had to hold back a giggle as Lee nodded his head. "I am still banned from consuming anything containing alcohol! Therefore, I will be drinking tea and making sure Sakura get's home safely!"

Ino giggled and turned to look as her friend wobbled over to Lee.

"She's going to need all the help she can get by the end of the night." Ino shook her head and shared a smirk with Naruto.

"Sasuke! You came!" Naruto cried suddenly and jumped away from Ino and headed over to the Uchiha. Ino shook her head with a smile as she watched her fellow blond drag an obviously disgruntled Sasuke to the bar to get drinks.

"Ino, you finally made it." Chouji stepped up to her, a drink in hand. "Do you want me to get you some sake?"

As the blond looked at the group, she saw that everyone had one drink in hand. "I'll get one later, I don't want to start drinking yet."

"Troublesome woman. Weren't you the one that wanted to try the sake from here?" Shikamaru walked over, a cigarette held between his lips.

"Yup, but I can wait for it til after everyone gets here." Ino grimaced as the smoke made its way to her nose. "And next time, I would appreciate it that you didn't break into my house."

"Why? We've always done it before." The Nara raised an eyebrow.

Ino's face turned pink, and it slowly darkened. She then cleared her throat so her voice wouldn't squeak. "Well, you never know! This time I was in the bathroom, what if next time you walk in on me changing... or something! Just knock and if I don't answer, leave a note!"

"Or 'Something'? Do you have a boyfriend we don't know about, Ino?" Shikamaru stated, eyes narrowing slightly as he noticed the blush on her face.

"What? You're crazy, Shika."

Chouji decided to ask the question on both his and Shikamaru's mind. "It's not Sasuke, is it?"

"Sasuke? Why Sasuke?!" Ino crossed her arms and shook her head.

"Then it's Sai?"

That was a shock to Ino, she hadn't been expecting that. She'd thought her two teammates had more sense than anyone else. Clearly, she had been wrong. "Sai? Why wou- nevermind! I don't have a boyfriend!"

She looked over her shoulder. That was when she saw her walking through the doorway.

Hinata was there. Ino could feel her face heat up as she eyed the shy Hyuuga who was making her way over to their corner with Neji close behind. Ino couldn't help but study Hinata. She was wearing a lavender long sleeved shirt and skinny jeans. Her hair was down, and fell to the middle of her back.

She didn't notice the look Shikamaru shoot her as he saw the blush. His eyes darted away and landed on Neji. He shared a look with Chouji.

"H-hello, Ino-san..." Hinata stuttered with a blush on her cheeks. She then turned to the two flanking Ino. "Shikamaru, Chouji."

"Hi, Hinata, Neji! Glad you could make it!" Ino replied, over the moon that she had talked to her first. She hadn't been expecting that. And it might have been her imagination, but for a moment it seemed that Hinata's eyes had stayed on hers for a moment longer then the other two.

"Me too." Hinata said with a shy smile, then looked down shyly looking up at Ino through her lashes. Ino wanted to kiss her right then and there. She had to stop herself from leaning in a few times.

Neji just nodded a greeting at them as he stopped besides his cousin.

"Do you want to get a drink, Hinata?" Ino found herself asking.

"S-sure, something non-alcoholic." Hinata stuttered slightly. Ino reached over grasped her hand, leading her away from the group. She couldn't help herself. Hinata didn't seem to mind the small touch, and just followed the blond through the crowd. Ino's hand felt warm, a tingly sensation where Hinata's fingers held on tightly.


A/N: Thank you for reading, following, faving, or reviewing! I really want to know what you think, and enjoy when you tell me :).

Special thanks to my reviewers! Hope you liked it!