CC Note: This story is officially out of hiatus!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, I only own this plot. Enjoy

Chapter 7

All that could be heard in the Yamanaka household was the clatter of the three friends cleaning up the mess from breakfast. The air was thick with unspoken words that none of them knew how to grasp. To describe the situation as awkward would be an understatement. As the last dish made it into the sink Shikamaru cleared his throat.

"Eh, Ino-" he started but the blonde in question merely shook her head and proceeded down the hallway to her room.

The soft sound of a door closing in a distant part of the house was heard down in the kitchen. Chouji frowned at Shikamaru. He knew that his friend meant well but he had no concept of how to deal with the emotions others might feel. Emotions to Shikamaru were too complex to figure out and of course he was too lazy to develop tack when speaking with people.

"Shika, you were too hard on Ino." Chouji said and Shikamaru scoffed.

"Tch, whatever. It's not like her crush on Naruto will last forever."

"But her animosity towards you might."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at his friend's words. He only spoke the truth about the situation so what reason did Ino have to stay mad with him.

"I know you like Ino-" Chouji began.

"As a friend." Shikamaru interrupted but Chouji only shook his head.

"You like her. But she is never going to reciprocate those feelings if she thinks that she can't trust you with her thoughts. If you trample all over her feelings she can't trust you with her heart. The situation might not even be what you think it is. You of all people know how unpredictable Ino can be."

The two young men stared each other down intensely. Shikamaru was the first to break the staring match between them. Chouji had a point no matter how annoying his speech had been.

"Alright, alright, I get it. I'll apologize." Shikamaru conceded.

Chouji smiled at him and pointed down the hallway Ino had gone. Shikamaru rolled his eyes but began his trek down to Ino's room. He reached her door but there was no sound emitting from the room. He gave a small knock but there was no answer. He tested the door knob and it was unlocked.

'Naruto better not be in there.' he thought as he slowly opened the door.

Inside there was no one. All that greeted him was the cool breeze coming in from Ino's open window.

'Damn it' he thought. Ino would make apologizing to her a troublesome endeavor.

…

Ino leaned back on the park bench and let out a sigh. She hated it when she and Shikamaru butted heads, which was more often than not as of late. He was becoming more and more tense about everything she did. She made a mental note to confront him about it later.

"Ino!" a familiar voice called.

Ino was snapped out her thoughts and turned in the direction of the voice. Naruto waved at her from down the pathway to her right. He looked as chipper as ever, all evidence of this morning's abuse forgotten, and picked Ino up into a near bone crushing hug. Ino thrashed uselessly about in his arms until he laughed and let her go.

"What did I say about personal space huh?" Ino frowned but that did not crack the big goofy grin on his face.

"Yea, yea. Let's go to Sakura's house. You know the way right?"

"Of course I do idiot. Follow me."

The walk to Sakura's house was surprisingly quiet. Naruto didn't barrage her with questions, nor did they bicker. It was different. Ino gulped, maybe she had called him an idiot one too many times and hurt his feelings or something.

"Hey Ino, thank you." Naruto said as they made it to the sidewalk outside of Sakura's home and Ino stopped in her tracks.

"Why are you thanking me?" she asked, utterly confused at the statement.

"For helping me. You don't have to but you do." he shrugged and Ino felt a blushing sneakily creeping up her cheeks.

"You don't have to thank me...but you're welcome. Stay hidden, I don't want anyone asking questions as to why you're with me."

Ino quickly turned away from him and ran up the steps of Sakura's front porch. That Uzumaki boy was a conundrum. Why is he thanking someone who falsely accused him? Maybe he was a glutton for punishment. Ino knocked on the door and at first there was no answer but then the sound of approaching footsteps could be faintly heard through the door. The front door creaked open slowly to reveal Sakura's mom. She was a tall woman with fair skin, long pink hair, and soft blue eyes. Mrs. Haruno was a beauty to behold and living proof that Sakura herself would probably age as gracefully as her mother.

"Hello Ino!" Mrs. Haruno greeted cheerfully. "You're here early."

Ino smiled back up at the woman as best as she could. She could not divulge the fact that Sakura was missing if she wasn't home. Sakura would kill her if she got grounded and found out that Ino ratted her out.

'Fingers crossed she's home' Ino thought.

"Good morning Mrs. Haruno. I was just looking to see if I could return some earrings back to Sakura I borrowed." Ino replied as innocently as she could.

"Sure go right on up. Sakura's been asleep all morning."

"Thanks!"

Mrs. Haruno stepped aside to let Ino enter her home. Ino tried her best not to run full speed up the stairs to Sakura's room. The door to Sakura's room was slightly ajar so she pushed it open with all of her fingers and toes crossed. The room was covered in posters of boybands and stuffed animals were sparingly strewn about. On her desk were her school books, neatly stacked and obviously hadn't been touched since school had let out on Friday. Her bed was unruffled and sheets were cold to the touch. Sakura obviously wasn't here, nor had she been there since Ino had come to pick her up for the basketball game yesterday. Ino sighed, this search was going to get a lot harder. Just as she was about to give up hope Sakura's bathroom door was pushed open to reveal the missing girl in question wrapped in a fluffy green towel. Her short pink locks freely dripping with water clung to her neck and cheeks. Dark hickeys from her escapade with Naruto littered her slender neck.

"Ino?" Sakura asked, clearly surprised to see another person in her room.

"Oh my god Haruno! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Ino hissed as she clutched her chest. "Are you ok?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Sakura asked with a quirked brow. Ino was sure that just randomly showing up to Sakura's house probably made her look incredibly weird but Naruto had seemed so concerned over the girl's disappearance. She made a mental note to choke Naruto after this.

"No reason. I just lost track of you after the party and you didn't answer your phone." Ino said casually in an attempt to cover up her true reason for coming to Sakura's house. Her reasoning seemed to satisfy her friend who smiled as she started to dry her hair with a spare towel.

"Ooo the great Yamanaka cares about me." Sakura teased and Ino rolled her eyes but was thankful that they awkward tension in the air had dissipated.

"Well if you must know. My phone broke as I was trying to sneak out of Naruto's house. It was so freaking dirty everywhere after the party, I tripped over some six pack and ended up cracking my phone to pieces." Sakura said and Ino nodded along, ready for her friend to get to the juicy part of the story.

"Why were you staying with Uzumaki?" Ino prompted, Sakura turned to her and smirked like the cat who had swallowed a canary.

"Well wouldn't you like to know?"

Ino rolled her eyes before plopping herself onto Sakura's bed. This girl was always difficult when she had juicy gossip. Sakura flopped down next to her, her green eyes bright with information. Ino was sure that the girl would explode if she didn't get the information out.

"Well?" Ino asked.

….

CC Note: Alrighty then lovelies, this chapter is obscenely short but I promise that the rest of the chapters will be at least 2k words. I intend to finish this story and will never leave it so stale for so long again. This story will be updated every Saturday and if anyone is willing to be a BETA I would definitely appreciate the help! Anywho, please REVIEW and the meantime go check out my newest story DESERTED.