Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any associated copyrighted property. All I own is my imagination and therefore, this plot.
Rating: Mature for language, drug usage, sexual references, and lesbianism (because apparantly, that's only for mature audiences).


"The perception of beauty is a moral test." -Henry David Thoreau

Chapter 4

Sakura smiled at Ino who made her way downstairs to eat with her, Mr. Haruno, and her stepmom. Things were certainly looking better for the blonde girl. It had only been a week, but at least Ino was getting around on her own without looking so weak. She had certainly been eating more and more and she was spending less time sleeping. She often just observed the activities going on in the house; Sakura reading, Mr. Haruno mowing the lawn, the kids running around if they were at the house, Shizune (as Sakura called her) coming home late from her work at the hospital, Sakura and her father kicking around a soccer ball in the back yard…

Ino had, as she watched these things, begun to realize that there was a lot she didn't have. She had missed out on so many things—her family wasn't really a family. It was a disgrace to families; a giant blunder and she began to despise the mere idea of the Yamanaka household. Her house was cold and empty, and the fact that it was so huge didn't help with those factors at all.

The Haruno household was… small, yes, and slightly dirty in a way that is expected of a house that was over 10 years old, but it was warm and populated. Filled with people who loved one another, and yes, sometimes when Konohamaru pissed on the toilet seat and didn't clean it up, Sakura went on rampage, but it was a home. Ino could feel it in her. Even when Udon and Moegi, the other stepsiblings of Sakura, decide to run around the house producing a ridiculous amount of noise when Mr. Haruno was sleeping, it was comfortable.

This was what Ino wanted. She'd always wanted it, even as a child. She knew that her parents weren't going to last, even at a young age. They never came to school functions and if parents were required to show up for a parent-teacher conference, only her mother would come, feigning interest. And it used to cut her deep when she'd walk up on stage during the awards ceremonies held during school and find that her parents weren't there, smiling at her with pride like the other students' parents were.

"Ino?"

Sakura's concerned voice pulled her out of her thoughts and she realized she must've been standing on the last step for a long while. Green eyes watched her with concern and Ino decided to turn her gaze away; her eyes wouldn't lie for her.

"Good morning," the blonde said softly, taking a seat beside Sakura and across from Konohamaru who was devouring his cereal at an unreasonable speed with an angry look in his eye. Well, Ino corrected that thought, because she had to quickly learn that Konohamaru's eyes were just very small and he always looked angry.

She looked to her left to see Udon and Moegi watching TV silently with one another. She was surprised that the two agreed on the show, but once seeing it was something educational, she wasn't so surprised. Udon was an absolute math nerd, and Moegi happened to find anything educational interesting just because Sakura found it interesting. The young girl idolized Sakura in a way that Ino thought was unhealthy, but it kind of reminded the blonde of the times that Sakura looked up to her in the same way.

Ino glanced to her left to see that Sakura was watching her intently with a worried look in her eyes. The blue eyed girl blushed and put a small amount on her plate. She was still unable to eat large rations without feeling sick, but she was trying her best.

It didn't take Ino long to eat the two pieces of bacon, the small ration of scrambled eggs, and the piece of toast. Sakura was taking her home to get more of her things—she certainly enjoyed letting Ino wear her clothes, but Ino wasn't the happiest person in them at all. Ino was no longer verbally rude, but Sakura could see in her eyes her disgust while having to wear the pink-haired girl's clothing.

"Are you ready to go?" Sakura asked as Ino set her plate down in the sink. The blonde looked over at her silently and briefly before looking away and nodding. She followed Sakura out into the driveway where her large unsightly van was parked. The ride to her house was quiet and comfortable. Ino spent her time gazing out of the window of the van, trying her best to ignore the turbulence of the vehicle.

When Sakura pulled into the driveway, it took a few minutes to realize something just wasn't right with Ino. It was the pallor of her face that alerted her and then when Ino looked like a cornered animal prepared to run she quickly seized the girl in a tight embrace. The blonde girl did put up a slight struggle, but compared to Sakura she stood no chance.

"Fuck!" Ino screamed madly.

"Ino, calm down," Sakura ordered sternly, tightening her hold on the other girl. Suddenly Ino slumped against her and began to sob. The green eyed girl was concerned and confused—what was going on? Why was Ino so emotional all of a sudden? Why was she pale and angry and crying…? She hated when she cried.

"Ino?"

In sniffled, gagging on her tears, "How long do you think he's been home?"

It was then Sakura realized that the open garage revealed not only Ino's Ferrari, but her father's BMW. And knowing she couldn't say anything to comfort the girl she hugged her close and rested her cheek against the blonde girl's head.

"Come on… this isn't you Ino. Since when did you become such a crybaby? When did you just begin to roll over and take shit from people?"

Ino sighed, wiping at her cheeks in embarrassment. She realized that cried in front of Sakura a lot; it was like Sakura was always there when she fell prey to her emotions and broke down in teenage weakness. But it was ok for her to cry, right? She had just left an environment filled with love and family connection only to come home to find that her father was home and that he hadn't even been concerned enough to worry about her wellbeing or location.

But after thinking that, she refused to cry any longer. She tilted her head a little, realizing she was becoming a bit too comfortable in Sakura's awkward embrace.

"Sakura, as much as I like you hanging all over me…"

"Oh, sorry," the pinkette replied with a blush on her cheeks as she quickly released the blonde.

"Anyways, thank you. You're right," Ino mumbled before heading off towards the house. Sakura followed Ino into her room, still working on wiping the blush from her warm cheeks. The blonde didn't seem fazed at all by the room, but Sakura entered the room only having bad memories of it bombard her mind from every possible direction. Bad memories of finding Ino at death's door, stomach full of medication, dying slowly and painfully… and of finding Ino lying on the ground, delirious and weak.

She barely registered that the blonde girl had handed her a bag and asked to her just fill it with the random clothes she found in the drawers. The green eyed girl did so absently, lost in her thoughts and worries until an unexpected visitor appeared in the doorway; until then, she hadn't realize she had been elbow-deep in the girl's colorful underwear. Sakura had never seen so many thongs in one place, ever. Not even at the stores; then again, she never did look around stores for thongs.

"I thought I heard something in here," Mr. Yamanaka said in a stern voice. Ino merely glanced up with fire burning in her sky blue eyes, and she did so very briefly before looking back down at the clothes she was packing.

"Where are you going?" he asked stepping into the room. Sakura cringed at the scent of cigarettes that he seemed to exude.

"What do you care?" Ino bristled, and Sakura could see how close to losing it Ino was.

"I don't have to fucking care about you. I just need to know where you are sometimes; Mr. Uchiha isn't very happy that you and Sasuke have broken up." Sakura was momentarily appalled that the man had spoken that way to his daughter.

"You know what?" Ino said, dropping the bag onto the bed. "Fuck you. And fuck Sasuke too. Do you think I care about what your stupid business partner says? I couldn't care less. So I'm leaving to go stay with some people who seem to care about me more than my own sack-less dad could ever care."

Sakura's green eyes frantically turned to Mr. Yamanaka after Ino stopped talking… yelling. Hell, she didn't really know what to call it—it certainly wasn't loud, but neither was it smooth, calm, or gentle.

"You're right; I don't care. I could care less too, so why don't you just fucking tell me who you're going to be staying with so I don't have to cause a scene here in front of your little friend."

Sakura raised her eyebrows, having already labeled the yelling fest a scene.

"She's staying with my family and I, sir," Sakura decided to take the matters into her own hands.

"And you are?" he asked, taking out a small black electronic palm planner from his pocket.

"Sakura Haruno, sir," she replied politely with a blinding smile. He quickly typed in the name and added a note to find the girl's information later.

"Thank you; I'll be sending you a check each month for taking Ino in. The first check with also cover this past week you've had Ino staying with you."

Sakura was about to protest but the man merely turned away and headed towards the door.

"What a polite girl, that Sakina. Ino, why can't you be more like your friend? Stupid slut."

And he was gone.

Ino rolled her eyes and then chuckled, "Sakina."

That was what was said last between the girls before they left. Ino insisted in driving her car back to Sakura's house, and the pink haired girl allowed her to do so. Once they got there, Sakura assisted in lugging all of Ino's things into her room. Sakura had been sleeping in a sleeping bag since Ino had begun to stay with them. Sharing a room with the girl had proven to be quite the difficult task, but it allowed her to keep a close eye on the girl during the night—the best time for her to do something strange like binge on medication or vomit in the bathroom.

After silently organizing everything in an orderly fashion Sakura spoke, "I want to go to the park."

"Why?" Ino asked, looking quite tired and a bit unhappy… She always had a gloomy look on her face, however, and that was all Sakura had known on her since they were reunited those weeks ago.

"I just want to get some fresh air… are you going to come with me?"

"Sure," the blonde said. "But I'm driving."


The sun was high and blinding, but the girls managed to seek refuge underneath trees with tightly entangling branches right next to the rushing river. The sound of running water always seemed to calm Sakura, and she figured Ino would enjoy it as well. She had miscalculated her estimation of the number of mosquitoes that would be there to ruin their outing, but Ino didn't seem to want to verbally complain about them. There was merely a deep furrow in her eyebrows as she watched the natural force rush past her.

"Have you ever thought of jumping in?" Ino asked randomly, playing with a bit of blonde hair.

Sakura made a face, and then gave a slight laugh.

"Well, of course. We swimmers think about jumping into rivers all the time," the girl explained, wondering if she'd be able to tangent her answer enough to distract Ino from suicidal thoughts. "I've actually done it before, when it was still summer and it was uber hot. The water was so cold and refreshing… Why do you ask?"

"You know… my mom didn't want to keep me when she found out she was pregnant. She was 100% sure she wanted an abortion. My grandparents saved me… I, um," she cleared her throat and began to make a pile of freshly fallen leaves beside her sitting form. Her chin rested on her knees and she had one arm wrapped around her tucked legs.

"I've never really felt any need to be here… alive. I've always felt that life was just something to do, until you die. I've never felt there was a reason to live or there was much to accomplish."

Tilting her head so her cheek was resting on her knee she looked up at Sakura in a shy manner. Ino's piercing blue eyes shot straight through Sakura's, intruding into the deepest parts of her heart. The green eyed girl struggled with her will, fighting to keep herself staring right into the blonde's soul as long as she could; she wouldn't lose this fight. Ino was finally talking to her. This was it.

"And so, I see you now, and I see what you want to be. When I see your family, I hurt so badly inside. You have what I don't, and I'm jealous." The blonde's eyebrows furrowed even deeper if that were possible, before she continued speaking.

"I'm not who I used to be, Sakura. I'm not young and foolishly ambitious. I know what pain is and I'm no longer ignorant. I need to know what you want to gain from this. I need to know now, before I let myself hurt again."

Sakura regarded the girl's quickly dampening blue eyes.

"What I want, huh?" Sakura mused, somewhat playfully. Ino gave a decisive nod and Sakura smiled brightly.

"I want you to know that my family is your family. We're technically sisters now, ok? So you can just forget about whatever… wait, no; don't forget. Our hardships make us strong. You remember, and you learn from it, and you look at what you've just gained and you love it for all that it's worth to you. I want you to promise me this is what you'll do; you owe me that little bit, ok?"

Ino's face tensed into a pathetic expression and she struggled to keep back her tears and set her jaw.

"I never used to cry so much," Ino mumbled, looking upwards into the sieve of yellowing leaves to keep her cheeks dry. "But yeah… I promise."

Sakura smiled smugly and caught Ino's eye, "Look, I'm not here to take advantage of you when you're down, or whatever. So we can sit here silently from now on, you don't have to talk about anything. It's ok."

It's ok.

Those words settled in Ino's mind and she wrapped both arms around her legs, resting her forehead against her knees. The only sounds that were left to hear were the rushing water and the wildlife in the trees. Sakura watched Ino, worried that the girl was much more unstable than she thought. Turning green eyes away from her friend, she watched as a couple walked through the park to settled at a part of the river that was rocky enough and shallow enough for them to get their feet wet.

The girl was somewhat thankful for this development of Ino's troubles; not because Ino was struggling with life, but for the fact that worrying about Ino had allowed her to forget her own troubles for a moment. In comparison, her problems seemed so small.


"You don't understand how close I am to kicking you off the team," her coach sighed in disappointment. Sakura shifted on her feet, feeling worry fill the pit of her stomach. No way could she be kicked off of the swim team just because she missed a couple of practices! She had a legitimate reason!

"But Kakashi, I have a good reason…"

"I know, I know—Yamanaka—but she isn't your responsibility," the man said, glancing past her to give a brief glare to the blonde who was sitting silently on the bleachers doing school work—she was working hard on catching up. Sakura was surprised to learn that Ino was actually really smart. She had expected Ino to not be the brightest sun in the sky because she fit into the prep stereotype and a girl with "hobbies" like hers didn't seem the type to have any time for academics, but Ino had proven her wrong after a few moments of helping her study for her Physics test one night. And then again for a US History test. And once again for a Statistics test.

"She is my responsibility," Sakura said in a defensive tone. "Ino's like a sister to me, and you don't understand how it affects the family when something's not ok with her. She needs help and attention and I give that to her because she's comfortable with me and only me; I need to be there for her sometimes, ok? And if you don't understand that, then I quit. I wouldn't want to swim with you if you were waving a big fat college scholarship in my face."

Sakura turned on heel, irate and annoyed. Didn't he understand that she just couldn't make practice every day?

"Sakura, wait," he called out, catching up to her. The pink haired girl couldn't help the blush that painted her cheeks as he caught a hold of her hand. "Look… I'll make an exception, but only because you work so hard for this team. I can't allow you to be captain, however, since you miss so much practice nowadays."

Sighing, Sakura considered the proposition, and nodded carefully. It was only fair that she was stripped of her title.

"Good," he said with a smile. "Go ahead and do a few laps to warm up."

Sakura quickly walked away from her coach. She had had the biggest crush on him since she had first joined the team her freshman year—of course, he was way too old for her, but he was just young enough to be considered extremely hot eye candy, and she loved the fact that he got into the pool with them to coach.

They spent time doing practice laps and playing pool games. Everyone had questions about Ino whenever there was a moment to speak. Sakura was willing to tell them whatever was appropriate to share. The girl was surprised to find that Naruto, of all people, was one of the most concerned. She would've figured the boy would've been mad because Ino was who Sakura was spending time with, and he hardly got to see the girl outside of school. That, and Naruto's mind worked in a child-like way, and it was only expected the boy's jealousy would be very strong.

Sakura found herself and Naruto to be the last ones to exit the pool.

"Naruto," the girl said, grabbing her towel, "it just occurred to me that since you were co-captain, you're bound to be moved up to captain."

"I was thinking about that," the blonde boy said, drying his face with his towel. "I don't know whether or not to be happy that I'm getting the position, or sad that you're losing yours over something like this."

"It's alright Naruto," Sakura smiled, watching is deep blue eyes narrow as he furrowed his eyebrows.

"No, it's not alright. It's wrong," he huffed, tossing the towel down on the bench.

"It is alright, because you'll make a fantastic captain," the green eyed girl said with a somewhat forced smile. He looked at her, futilely trying to hold onto his remorse of Sakura's loss of title and power. A hesitant smile broke out onto his lips, and Sakura admired how he seemed to look older and older every day. He was getting so handsome, not to mention how he was in perfect shape.

"Heck yeah I will," he said with a wide smile.

The pink haired girl smiled and rolled her eyes, and removed her goggles from her head to prepare to go take a shower.

"Hey, Sakura," Naruto said in a shy manner. She looked up to find his cheeks blazing red. "Are you going to be doing anything tomorrow night?"

Sakura blushed, flattered that he was asking her out… again… but she had promised herself that she wouldn't be doing anything with friends unless she could bring Ino along, and she figured that Naruto wanted an intimate outing, and a party of three was just one too many.

"I'm sorry," the green eyed girl said with a blush, averting her gaze. "I'd really love to, but I can't just leave Ino alone by herself."

"She could come too," he tried, looking a bit hopeless. "We could go watch a movie or we could just chill at my house."

"Naruto, I'm really sorry," she said again, feeling disappointed that she disappointed him.

"Oh, I guess it's alright," he sighed in a down hearted nature.

He reached up and touched her cheek with his water softened hand.

"I'll see you later."

As he disappeared into the men's dressing room, she felt her heart flutter, just a bit. What was wrong with her? She obviously felt some sort of attraction to the boy; so what was stopping her from just saying yes?

"You should've accepted," Ino's voice traveled to her from across the empty pool area. It echoed slightly, and she looked up to see Ino shaking her head in slight disappointment.

"Do you want to be single all your life?" the blonde said, slinging her backpack onto her back, with all of her things packed safely inside.

"This isn't about that," Sakura defended in embarrassment as the girl advanced. The sight of Ino's ice blue eyes surveying her body didn't pass unnoticed, and she couldn't help the pink tint that engulfed her cheeks—she was already uncomfortable enough in her swimsuit.

"It is about that," Ino retorted in a passive kind of way. "The way I see it is that Naruto asks you out pretty frequently, and you keep letting everything possible get in the way of going out on a date with him."

"I don't like him that way. Plus Hinata likes him; I couldn't do that to her."

"Fuck Hinata," Ino scoffed. "If you don't go for what you want, you'll never get it. Take Kakashi for example."

"W-what?" the pink-haired girl stuttered, with her cheeks turning a deeper pink than her hair was.

"I was just like you last year; blushing after him and staring at him. One day, he asked me to stay after class to ask about… well, I don't remember, it was my grade or something. Anyways, to make a long story short, I went for it, and that was an amazing week," she winked playfully at the swimmer and turned away.

"Ino that's… that's so ridiculous! I can't believe you…"

The blonde flinched at the tone of disgust in Sakura's voice and sighed.

Sakura watched the blonde storm into the men's locker room with wide eyes. Surprise filled her as she head yells, shouts, and screams drift out of the door. A few moments of silence and then Ino exited with a smug look on her face.

"Naruto's going to pick you up tomorrow morning for breakfast. Be ready by nine. I'll see you at home," Ino said breathily as she headed towards the exit of the pool. Sakura turned around to see a bunch of half naked guys from the swim team watching after Ino with lusty looks in their eyes.

She rolled her eyes at the guys, annoyed by their uncontrollable sexuality and then sighed, somewhat confused about what to feel. She was certainly envious of Ino's brazen attitude, and was thankful that she had set up a date for her with Naruto, but then at the same time she was not. She didn't feel like she liked Naruto enough to even attempt to date him—and what would she tell Hinata once word got to her about the whole ordeal?


A/N: Sorry for not updating in a while. . I had to finish one of my college apps and some scholarship stuff and I was pretty busy with that. Good news is, I updated AND I've applied to college!!! (well, my safety school at least lol). Anyways, thanks for reading and please review!

-E.E.