Beautiful People

Chapter 19: Cornered on Wednesday.

Beta: strawberries and napkins

…

I'm so excited I can barely stand; I'm dancing around the room trying on several pieces of clothing that last month I would've rather slit my throat than wear. I'm excited I guess, too excited. But the more I think about it, the happier I get because finally I can confront Sakura and get my best friend back.

I pause and relish in the funny feeling I get when I say that. Best friend.

Of course, the possibility of her still being upset with me for rejecting her feelings might come back up, but what was I supposed to do? She was in a relationship, and in my mind I was technically still in a relationship with Naruto.

I sigh, and then tackle my hair full-force with a brush and hairspray and then top it all of with a simple faux-diamond clip. Perfect.

"The last time I saw you smile was six months ago," Neji says to me, as he looks me up and down, checking my outfit. I look at myself over again too, after being clean and re-dressed for the first time in probably over a week. My clothes are simple, fitted shirt, loose pants. Then I decide to wear the ninja sandals with a heel that Sakura bought for me a while ago.

I give him a pointed look. "Support?"

"All I have to give you." He steps aside, out of my way. I take my first steps out into the hallway, and then I pause.

I take a shaky breath. "…Neji?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell Dad I said thanks for revamping my room…for me?"

He pats my shoulder twice. "Sure."

It takes me over fifteen minutes to get to Sakura's 'shared' apartment with Ino because I stopped to talk to Shino and Tenten. Then I passed by Ichiraku Ramen and so of course I run into Naruto and Sasuke.

We shared a three-person hug. Well, I tackled Sasuke because I needed more support and Naruto didn't want to feel left out. When I tell them that I'm headed over to Sakura's house they both seem to freeze for a millisecond.

Then Naruto whistles and says, "You look good, Hina-chan."

Sasuke feeds me his deep gaze until he's sure I got some message. I didn't want to question it, so I nodded at him slightly, and then quickly took my exit.

What he was trying to tell me, I don't know. I just hope it's not another thing that'll be throwing me off my mission because I desperately need her again. But when I get there, I'm unprepared for what I'm seeing. The front door is wide open, and the front of her home is littered with boxes.

Lots. Lots of boxes.

Then my breath hitches. Okay, either moving in or moving out. Then I see Ino walking out of the wide open door. Her hair was in a messy bun, and she looked exhausted. When our eyes met, I waited. Then she waved softly, almost shyly. I jumped at the chance, and hurried to the front.

She crosses her arms like she's waiting for me to say something. So I look around. "Hey Ino."

"Hey." Her eyes are still steely.

"Is uh, is Sakura home? I kinda need to speak with her."

She glares at me, but I won't back down. I refuse to. When she doesn't say anything for a while, I repeat myself.

"Mission," she says simply. My heart sinks. I was prepared to do this, but it looks like it won't happen for a while. At first, I want to turn away and just go home. But then I see the way Ino's eyes sink to the ground, and I realize that Sakura's absence was no mistake.

So I gently squeeze her arm. She flinches, but meets my eyes.

"Ino…you wanna talk?"

She shrugs, and flushes a little. Then her eyes scan our surroundings and she says, "I can't. I'm packing…duh."

I laugh despite myself, and it brings a small smile out of her. "Need any help?"

"Sure, you can start here," she says, and then she leads me back into the house and up the stairs, into the guest bedroom. I'm surprised, actually, because I always thought that she would be sleeping in Sakura's room…with Sakura. But then my mind recalls images of me sleeping in Sakura's bed, and suddenly I feel guilty.

"Are you…and Sakura…?" I trail off, not knowing what I want to say next. I shift from foot to foot and Ino doesn't immediately respond to me as she heaves a smaller box and tackles it into my hands.

I falter for a second and then straighten my posture to hold it tightly. "Ino…?"

"We broke up," she says was so nonchalantly that I stare her down until she relents and tries it again. "Well, she and I…we're having some problems so I thought it 'd be best if I moved out…for the time being."

I shift the box's weight, a bit uncomfortable. And to think that I dressed up all nicely for this. "But you two haven't broken up yet…right?"

"Yes…no…god, why do you ask so many questions? I don't know!" She's frustrated with me by the way she glares. She turns on me, and I follow her back out and we settle some boxes onto a cart, headed by a strong looking horse. Every time we go back and forth and the cart piles up higher and higher, the more depressed Ino's face gets.

I don't think Sakura knows that Ino is trying to leave.

But I don't want to say anything just yet, so I follow her along and keep up my observations. She looks so different than before when I left, and I think this may have been what Sasuke was trying to warn me about. I know that she and Sasuke were still rather close to each other the way Sakura and I are, but I'm too muddled to figure it out.

Too many things are happening at one time! I heave another box onto the back of the cart, and then I slump down on the cart myself, leaning on one box. "Why do you have so much stuff?" I moaned, annoyed that I had started sweating through my clothing.

"Jealous, much?" She says, and pushes her nose up in the air. Then we both start to laugh. My body jiggles too much, and then my arm pushes into something sharp, making me hiss and draw away.

"God, what is in this lumpy thing?" The box was uncovered, and there were tons of miscellaneous objects in the box.

I pull out the thing that poked me. An old, leathery, and sharp-edged book. "What is that?"

"Oh that old thing?" She takes a look at it and then shrugs. "That's my journal."

Enjoy my poorly constructed cliff-hanger, I'm incredibly tired. Thank you for all those reviewing and hopefully you enjoyed the chapter!