Yay! Update!
I hope this modest offering of a chapter will satisfy you guys (and girls). Enjoy! It is long and full of horrible metaphors and yuri goodness! This is one of my first attempts at romantic dialogue and drama. Light implication of one-sided SasuNaru.
This is 12 pages long in open office. You'd better be appreciative, haha . . . not. I really don't care, as long as somebody enjoys this, I'm happy. I'd be way happier if you'd review though.
Also, major timeskip! And the story begins!
Today was not my day, my week, or even my year. Everything just seemed to go wrong, no matter what it was. I couldn't do anything right, and I couldn't get anything done in the first place. I just wanted to die, and I tried several times, but I couldn't even do that right. I took all the steps a suicidal maniac would beforehand, even going as far as writing a will and a suicide note, but in the end, I just couldn't do it.
I would think of Ino's pretty face and those pink lips of hers. Those same lips that had brought me to my knees when they brushed his. It hurt so bad to see her with him, the boy whom she thought to be a man, who abused her and threw her away, only to pull her again from the rubbish which he condemned her to lay with. I was losing my reason for living bit by bit, slowly but surely, with each touch and sound.
I no longer despised Sasuke. It wasn't his fault that half of the female population on the planet would drop dead if he gave them the word. He was just like me, young, depressed, and in love with someone completely oblivious to his feelings. The only difference was his popularity with the girls. Sasuke was simply a boy, lost in his own little world, searching for his lost fox.
"Naruto, I don't know what to do anymore. It's like she purposefully teases me, parading that asshole around like he's some kind of prince. It's like she doesn't even care about how I feel," I cried, burying my head into Naruto's old, rusty-orange jacket and hugging him tightly. We had been like this for a while, bawling our eyes out.
Naruto sniffled and patted my back, sobbing into my shoulder about Lee chasing after me instead of him. I felt deeply sorry for him, having to deal with both of our problems at the same time. I poured my misery upon him, trusted him with my secrets, for they were my water, and he was my sponge, with which I would absorb my pains.
"I just want to die, and no matter how hard I try, I can't even get that right! I wish my gigantic-ass forehead would just fucking cave in so I could take my brain and rip it out!" I screamed, clutching Naruto's tattered orange jacket as if it were my sole lifeline.
Naruto froze, "Sakura. Please, don't tell me you want to die and that you have nothing to live for. You don't have the right to say that until you at least try to tell her how you feel! Think about me. All I have is those pathetic excuses for guardians, you, and that maid. I don't even have real parents, Sakura! How do you think that feels?"
"Bad." I said, eyes down cast.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I just don't know what I would do without you."
"I understand, but . . Sometimes, I just don't think I can bear it anymore." I said, still staring at the floor of Naruto's room.
"It's okay, everyone feels like that some time or another in their life. Just please don't kill yourself on me, Sakura, because I'll die on the inside when you're gone." Naruto said, smiling weakly. Poor guy.
"Okay." I glanced at the clock, "Shimatta! I'm sorry Naruto, I have to leave! I'm supposed to be at Ino's house in half an hour!" I said, giving him one last hug before leaping from my seat.
"Wait! Take my bike or you'll never get there on time!" Naruto yelled at me.
"You sure? You might not see it again." I said nonchalantly.
He laughed, "For all I care, you can have it. It's actually my step-mom's."
"Okay, thanks Naruto!" I yelled over my shoulder as I sprinted away. Once I was outside, I hastily grabbed the bicycle and sped off on it, pedaling as fast as my wimpy legs would let me. It took me about twenty minutes of solid pedaling. Luckily, it was mostly downhill and before I knew it, I was turning into the driveway of the Yamanaka mansion. I tossed the bike to the side and ran up to the door, jabbing the doorbell a couple times before running my fingers through my hair and popping a piece of gum into my mouth.
"What's up, Sakura?" Ino said, opening the door and flinging her arms around me.
"The sky," I replied, deadpanning, "You know I hate when you ask that."
"I see. Not feeling very talkative today, are we Saku?"
"You said the same exact thing yesterday." I mumbled.
I felt Ino smile into the shoulder of my hoodie and release me from her embrace, grinning. "Come on Saku-chan, let's go up stairs."
Minutes later, we were sitting on her bed together, swinging our feet while we talked about our day, Ino smiling and laughing while I fought back the urge to cry and tell her about all the things I felt inside. All I wanted was to let her know that she was the one I loved, the one I wanted to hold forever and ever.
"Sakura, are you alright? You look pale." Ino gave me the usual once over, a slight frown on her face.
This is your chance, Sakura. You know how it always goes in the movies, so TELL HER ALREADY! My inner self ordered like always, only increasing my anxiety.
Damn, here we go again, I thought to myself, silently condemning the screeching moron inside my head, begging it to leave me the hell alone.
"I'm fine, I – I'm just not feeling so great today," I said, only partially lying, fully knowing what question came next. "Really, there's no need to worry about me."
"Come on Sakura, what's wrong? You know you can tell me anything," Ino asked, turning to face me. I looked down. I couldn't bear to let my eyes meet hers, but I knew that her worried gaze was fixed on me, those cerulean orbs jabbing me like the sticks of timid children, dared to poke at a dead animal lying in the street.
"I can't tell you, Ino," I said, my voice retaining its firmness, "Not this."
"Why?" The tone of her voice changed, an undertone of hurt just beneath the surface.
I sighed, "I just can't. You would hate me for it."
"Sakura . . . I've told you before, and I'll tell you again, I could never hate you. Tell me what's wrong," She nearly pleaded. I glanced at her and looked away, biting my lip. There was no way I was telling her, no matter how much she begged. I resolved not to.
"Ino, I said I can't."
"Can you atleast tell me what it's about?"
"It's about someone," I said, being as vague as possible.
"That's a lot of information," Ino said.
"That was the point. I said I couldn't tell you, didn't I?" I asked, deadpanning.
"That was mean, that's what it was," Ino pouted, making the most pathetic puppy dog face I had ever seen in my life.
I sighed for a second time, "Come on, don't do this to me. Look, I'll tell you if you stop, okay?"
I looked away again, wincing. Times like these are what make me wish that I wasn't quite so agreeable. I just had to say that, even though I'd promised myself I wouldn't give in. Love and friendship be damned, either way, I always would get the short end of the stick.
I tried formulating a plan of how to get out of actually telling her. The best I could come up with was that I would tell her later. After all, I never did mention when I'd tell her anyway. Satisfied with my idea, I nodded to myself in approval.
"What're you waiting for? Tell me already, you promised you would!" Ino said, now mere inches from my face.
"Why are you so close to my face?!" I stammered, completely ignoring her question.
"Why does it matter?" She asked coolly, oblivious to the fact that I was about to have a mental meltdown from being within less than two feet of her, and to top that off, it wasn't just normal close either, it was kissing close. If I so much as sneezed, our lips would be just as messily plastered together as the paper in those fifth grade models you see at the science fairs.
"Just . . shut up!" I felt an even deeper flush spreading across my cheeks. My face was hot, hotter than ever, and I hated it. I hated letting people see my embarrassment, my feelings . . . Ugh. I sighed in frustration.
"Oh come on, you promised me," Ino frowned, making one of her signature faces. I couldn't help but think of how cute she looked when she pouted like that. What am I saying, hell, she always looked cute, no matter what she did.
"I never said when though! God, you're so impatient!" I said, constantly reminding myself not to yell, since I had a bit of a habit of it, what with Naruto and his rap music. He always blasted that stuff every chance he got. That damned Soulja Boy wannabe. At least it provided a good cover up, however, I mused.
Ino's frown deepened, then softened into a light grin, "Saku-chan, you're no fun . . But, I have an idea!"
I watched as she perked up instantly, "Hnn?" I too, perked up. What could it be? New clothes? . . Knowing Ino, probably . . Eh, well, hopefully, I won't be the one playing dress up, I thought.
"I'll be right back!" Ino said, sounding chipper and dashing off excitedly. I had a bad feeling about what was to come, yet I smiled anyway. After all, whatever she was going to get surely had to be fun and exciting. My train of thought was interrupted when Ino returned, minutes later, holding an object behind her back.
"Whatcha got?" I asked, anxious to see.
She held up a bottle, "This. Isn't it great?"
"Sake?! Where in the hell did you get Sake?!" I yelled.
"Shh! Quiet!" Ino glanced around, "I took it out of my parents' room while they weren't looking. They'll kill me if they find out!"
"And you somehow expect me to drink that stuff?" I asked, annoyed that she would even make the attempt of getting me to drink that. She knew I was sober . . I sighed. This was definitely not going to end well.
"Aww, come on Saku, this could be your last chance to enjoy life!" Ino said, waving the bottle up and down with frequent hand gestures. I noticed that she also had one small glass, along with the bottle. I had no doubts that we would soon be spilling alcohol everywhere if I ended up accepting her offer, however, I gave a small chuckle at the thought of us, giggling like those teenage girls you see in those mainstream animes you see on TV, covering each other in alcohol and clumsily running into walls, doorways and whatnot.
"Me? Enjoy life? I've never heard of such nonsense! How will alcohol help me solve any of my problems?" I ask, half seriously, considering actually trying the stuff. Maybe getting drunk could help me after all. Besides, she'd probably be just as drunk as I was, or so I thought.
I agreed to give the sake a try. Alcohol never really fucked anyone up, right? . . Wrong. By the time I was through with my second shot, I could have puked. The stuff tasted vile, like drinking liquid fire. I hated it. The only thing keeping that little glass moving up to my mouth was the fact that Ino was drinking from it as well. I never really realized until now, but Ino was considerably better than me at holding her liquor, not much better, but like I said, considerably. It was enough to be noticed.
Half an hour and a couple shots of sake later, we're both very tipsy, caught in the middle of one very interesting truth or dare game. I glanced over at her. Her eyes were slightly glazed over. She already looked like she was about to fall off the bed.
"Saku-chaaan . . Your turn," She slurred, drawing circles in the air with her fingers.
"My turn? . . To what?" I asked, struggling with my words and taking another shot of the fiery drink.
"Truth or dare, dumb ass," Ino said matter-of-factly.
I stifled a giggle and said, "Truth."
"Saku-chan, you're such a chicken . . but I guess I should go ahead and ask the question . . right?"
"Yeah . . . um, Ino?" I paused, glancing between the cieling and her, a contorted expression on my face, "Why do you keep worms on your ceiling?" I frowned, "I hate worms."
"Worms?! Oh my God!" she shrieked, making me immediately cringe and regret ever mentioning it.
"Woah, chill out . . You're like, really loud . . . So uh, Ino, can I ask you my question?" I said, half sober, mainly because I was pretending to drink the stuff, not just because I was a wimp, but because I knew Ino would never notice anyway, now that she was drunk. I passed the full glass over to her, knowing that she would probably think I poured it for her, instead of simply swishing it around in my mouth and spitting it back out again.
Okay, so maybe that was a bit mean, but I was already tipsy, so why get even more drunk when I could just pour my share of it down her throat. Sure, it had my spit in it, but if what they say at school is true, ('If you share a drink with someone, it's like making out with them!') then it's all good. I've wanted to touch her, be near her, kiss her, love her, in any way I possibly could since I can remember, really and if swapping spit with her is as close as I can get to true happiness, I'll take that opportunity, every chance I get. Now that I think about it, this sake stuff probably really was a good idea . . but that could just be the sake talking.
"Saku-chan are you listening to me?" Ino said, sounding even more drunk than she had before, if that were possible.
"Hnn? . . Yeah, I guess so," I said, draping my legs over the edge of her bed and flopping down into the soft comforter. "Mm, your bed is soooo soft!" I exclaimed.
Ignoring my comment, Ino asked, "Saku-chan? Who was your first kiss?," She plopped down next to me, sitting the sake bottle down on the nightstand and taking another shot. She added, "And old people don't count!"
"What? . . Nobody, I guess, Ino-chan, unless you count that time when me and you were at Naruto's house, but that was totally innocent . . right?" I asked, frowning and trying to wipe the smell of sake from my lips.
"You never kissed anybody else, ever? Why not?" She asked. Leave it to Ino to answer a question with a question . . . and a hard one to answer at that.
I could've sworn she sounded excited. Pfft, I wish. The only things Ino ever got excited about when she was drunk were bugs, shopping, or more liquor. I sighed inwardly. Will I ever manage to confess my love to her? Ever? I wondered.
"I've been saving up for somebody, in a way." I said truthfully, hoping she might take the near non-existent hint I gave.
"Who?" She asked, flipping over to face me. Her hair went into my face in the process, causing me to blush even more than the question itself.
This is your chance! This makes twice in a row now! Take it before it's gone!!! My inner self screamed, making my drunken head pound harder than it had before.
I swear, I'm killing you if you make me screw this up, I thought, cursing that pathetic excuse for a conscience, when Naruto's words from before came to me.
Flashback
"Sakura. Please, don't tell me you want to die and that you have nothing to live for. You don't have the right to say that until you at least try to tell her how you feel!"
/Flashback
"I – I . . Uh, it's . . it's . . ." I trailed off embarrassedly.
"Come on, forehead, you can tell me," she coaxed.
"Ino-chan," I took a deep breath, knowing that what I was about to say would change our relationships forever. There was no way I'd be saying this right now, if not for the liquid courage coursing through my veins. "Please don't hate me for this, please . . Ino, I'm begging you. I've wanted to tell you this for a really long time now. Please don't hate me, or I'll die inside, more than I already have. I – I think I love you, Ino-chan. I love you so much, I can't bear to lose you, even if we're too young to really know what love is . . . No matter what, I always want to be with you."
"Sakura . . ." Ino whispered, mouth hanging half open.
This is bad, very bad. Shit! Stupid Naruto! Damn you! Now she's going to tell the whole damned school about me being some crazy lesbian rapist stalker person! She hates me, I know she does, I thought, chewing my lip and trying to hold back my tears. No way was I going to cry in front of her, not after what I just said.
"Don't hate me," I said, sounding just as helpless and alone as I had in the days when we were younger; the days when I used to sit under that damned cherry tree, when she found me.
"Sakura, I could never hate you. I've told you that once already today," Ino said, frowning slightly. I had never seen her so serious, with such fire in her eyes, not while she was intoxicated, at least. "Why didn't you tell me?!" She asked, half wailing, as the glass she tossed away hit the ground, doubtlessly shattering into thousands of tiny pieces as it crashed against the wooden paneling of her floor.
I said nothing, how could I? I knew it would simply be shot down anyway. She wasn't done talking, and whenever Ino was drunk, I knew damn well not to interrupt her while she was talking. It was simply something you just didn't do, or if you did, your ass got slapped into the middle of the Chinese New Year . . or something like that.
"Sakura, how could you? I thought you said we could tell each other anything! Didn't that mean anything at all to you?!"
"Ino, look, would you tell your best friend in the whole universe you loved them if you thought they were straight? If you knew deep down in your heart that you could never have them and they'd never want to see you again if they knew? Would you?" I paused, wiping away a tear, "You meant everything to me. I never wanted to lose you, not because of some stupid fucking love interest, not because of anything. Don't you understand?"
Ino sighed, blowing strands of hair from her face, "I . . I don't know what to say. Look at me, Sakura, I'm drunk, the ceiling is spinning, and I need some time to think about this, okay? I think I understand, but I don't know if I can take this right now. If there's one thing I do know though, it's that no matter what you do, Saku, I can never hate you. Never."
Ino sat up and looked down at me with her characteristic smile and twirled one of my pink locks reassuringly, all signs of being frustrated having been gone by now. If I didn't think I was going to puke at any moment, I would've tried to reciprocate somehow. I felt like my stomach was busy knitting sweaters in my torso and believe me, that wasn't a good feeling.
"Wouldn't it be a good idea to clean up all that glass over there now?" I asked, relieved that Ino and I were still on good terms. My head was still spinning from the alcohol, giving me a massive headache.
"Shit! I forgot all about that!" Ino said, leaping up and looking around the floor, stumbling as she did so. I could've sworn that she was trying to do the moonwalk too, but that could've been just because of the fact that the room looked like some kind of hurling spaceship, and with the addition of Ino falling all over the place in the middle of it all, it was making me quite queasy as I stood up and followed after her.
"Maybe this isn't such a good idea," I muttered after we had ran into her bookcase for the fifth time.
"Yeah, I think I'm gonna puke. Ugh, I hate puking."
"Okay, you open the door, and I'll drag you into the bathroom . . kay?" I grimaced, pulling us up from the newly waxed floor and bracing myself against the wall. Who knew a little sake could debilitate a person so much?
Ino groaned, "Fine with me, just don't throw up, or Imma kick your scrawny little butt," she finished with a burp.
"Is that a threat?" I asked.
"Um . . no."
"Good," I said, "Because if it was, I'd just drop your ass right here."
"Damn, you sure are bitchy, Sakura. You sure you're drunk?" Ino said, pulling against the door with all her might, which didn't amount to much, really.
"Yes . . and . . Um, you're supposed to turn the knob, Ino."
"Oh," she said stupidly, turning the knob and opening the door with minimal effort. "Now that I think about it, that was actually kind of easy, I guess. Saku-chan, you're a genius!"
"No, I'm just not that drunk, Ino pig. You hogged all the sake up!" I said, starting to laugh hysterically and succeeding in making a fool out of myself.
Ino frowned, "How in the hell is that funny?"
"Um, I don't know, actually." I sighed.
"Weirdo."
"Shut up," I said, dragging her along.
In reality, the bathroom was only about a thirty second walk from Ino's bedroom, but it seemed like an eternity of giant heaving floorboards, hurling picture frames and carsick doorways until we finally got there. I couldn't have been more relieved, or disgusted, when we arrived. The latter feeling being triggered by the sight of Ino losing her lunch over in the toilet bowl repeatedly and the former by the fact that I was able to get rid of the churning feeling in my stomach with a few burps.
Five minutes later, Ino and I were back in her bedroom, lazing about on her bed. Thank God she managed to get that horrible stench out of her mouth. I hate the smell of vomit. Just the thought of it is revolting enough to make me want to puke. Aside from that, we swept the glass fragments under her bed with an old sneaker. It was temporary, supposedly.
"Ino-chan, my head hurts," I mumbled as we cuddled, trying to get to sleep.
She sighed, "What do you want me to do about it? Kiss it and make it better?"
"Actually, yes . . . but not on the forehead!"
"Why not? It'll be the easiest target to hit, I mean, you know, it's just so big. It'd be hard to miss!"
"Shut up, Ino." I sighed, not liking the forehead joke.
"Oh come on, you practically set yourself up for it . . What, you want me to kiss you on the lips?" She asked, grinning.
"I think we both know the answer to that." I said, blushing.
"Fine, Saku-chan, but just this once. Okay?" She said, eyes slightly widened. I couldn't believe what was happening. She was actually going to let me kiss her, after all these years. I silently prayed that it wasn't just the liquor talking, begging every deity I could think of to make this moment real.
I nodded quickly, not wanting to ruin any of my chances. I looked into her eyes as she slowly leaned in, the lidded orbs slowly disappearing from my view as we drew closer, lips mere centimeters from each other. It was as if time stood still when our lips met. I can't describe the feeling. It was great. Her lips were so soft, so gentle, unlike anything I'd ever known. It was truly heaven on earth.
Alas, all good things come to an end, as did our rather chaste exchange, and for the rest of the evening, neither of us said a word, up until it was time to go to bed. We had no need for such trivial things. Language was useless in such situations. Why use words when we could talk with our bodies all night long anyway? Too bad that we didn't say much before she passed out in the comforter, minutes later, leaving me to try and find sleep in her arms.
The next morning, I awoke to find myself still encased in Ino's arms, head pounding, muscles aching. It was definitely not a good morning. The sun was evidently beginning to peek over the horizon, as there was a slight yellowish light played about the room. Great . . . I wake up and it's not even nine o'clock yet. How wonderful, I thought, cursing the sun for choosing to rise in the sky at such an hour.
I sighed, now committing myself solely to keeping the light out of my eyes and being still. I wanted to savor as much contact with Ino as possible. Then I remembered the night before. I had confessed to her and she had kissed me! Would she remember? I wasn't sure. I remembered how drunk we were. It seemed nearly impossible to even think that we were capable of speaking coherently, considering that we couldn't even walk upright for more than ten seconds at a time.
"You're awake," Ino said tiredly, startling me and ending my thought process.
"Yeah. So what?"
I stretched slightly, causing Ino to grip me tighter. Evidently, she really didn't want me to move, most likely because it was nearly as cold in here as it was outside. In fact, it was cold enough for Ino's window to ice over. The air was so frigid, I could've sworn that my eyes were going to freeze open. It's a good thing they didn't. I don't think I'd be able to cope too well with being blind.
"It's cold in here." Ino murmured pathetically.
"What does that have to do with anything?" I said, quirking an eyebrow as I lay beside her lazily.
She sighed, "You're supposed to warm me up, you retard. Don't you ever watch TV?"
"Um . . no," I answered, slightly ashamed. The last time I saw a television outside of a shop window, it was in the process of soaring over my head and crashing into the wall after it magically unbolted itself from the wall and flew at me . . or so my father said. Needless to say, that was the last Super bowl we ever got to watch at my house. I grimaced at the thought of seeing another one of those hell-spawn flying menacingly, aimed in my general direction.
"Sakura, are you okay? . . . Saku-chan?" Ino said, finally managing to bring me out of my state of reminiscence, thankfully. She shook me, as if to emphasize that she cared.
"Hnn? . . Oh, yeah, sorry, I spaced out." I said, sighing for the fifth time in a row.
"You do that a lot . . So, what's up?" She asked, sounding like she had been up for a while.
I shrugged and started to point upwards, but immediately retracted my hand back into the safety of the blankets. "Holy shit! It's cold as fuck in your room!"
"Really? I never noticed!" Ino said sarcastically, gesturing at the ice on her window, "I totally don't have goosebumps all over me!"
"Um . . what?"
"I'm being sarcastic, which means I meant the exact opposite of what I said. Geez, Sakura, what have you been doing all your life, living under a rock?"
"I guess. Shouldn't we be getting up now?"
"No way, it's too cold! Snuggle me before I freeze to death, Saku-chan!" she pleaded, squeezing me even tighter than before.
"You've got to be kidding me." I said, pushing against her shoulders lightly, "I'd prefer to remain a non-conjoined being."
Ino sighed, "Come on Sakura, you know you want to."
"Well, whatever . . At least I'll know that I'm not going to be alone in my ice block," I replied, sighing apathetically as I was defeated. I wrapped my arms around her frame and pulled her close, once again savoring the contact between us.
"Mm, Saku-chan, you're warm." Ino mumbled, running her left hand through my ruffled hair playfully.
I blushed. Usually, this situation would be the other way around, me playing in her hair and her pressing her face into my body, not me being pressed into her body. It was especially awkward since I was freakishly tall and thin. My feet were only about half a foot from hanging off her bed, which strangely was the same one she had had since elementary school. Despite my slight discomfort, I didn't move away, after all, she was pretty much my only sanctuary from the cold. Covers can only keep one so warm. I sighed contently, nuzzling her lovingly.
"You're not going to sleep up there are you?" Ino asked.
"No. I just woke up ten minutes ago. Why would I go to sleep that soon?"
She shrugged, "No reason I guess . . it's just that last time you did that you were falling asleep on me."
"Oh."
"I'm hungry." She said, minutes later.
"Same. Wanna go get some food?"
"Only if you come with me," she said, starting to peel back the covers bit by bit.
"Why wouldn't I?" I said, throwing the covers off both of us and leaping from the bed. Ino followed reluctantly, shivering and complaining about freezing her ass off during the entire time we spent walking down the the second floor, where the kitchen was. Luckily, it wasn't quite as cold there, and there was already food set out. It was some kind of oat meal.
We shared the bowl, glad that we didn't have to actually fix anything four ourselves at this time of morning. You'd think that they'd have fancier food at such a nice house, but apparently not. Now that I think about it, Ino's parents were always sorta tight wads . . . Either way, we finished eating the rather meager food, which was thankfully warm. I glanced at Ino, who was still perched atop the stool beside me, drumming her fingers on the marble counter. She was beautiful. I had no idea what I would do without her.
We went back upstairs and climbed back onto her bed, still dressed in the same clothes as we were the night before and just as sleepy. I yawned, taking my respective side next to her, and fell asleep in her arms for a second time that day, woke up again, and finally left, but not without saying good bye of course.
"I'll miss you, Saku-chan!" Ino said, the sound muffled by the shoulder my wrinkled hoodie, which I could've sworn she was sniffing me the entire time we hugged. We were standing in her yard, letting the snow fall on us.
"I'll miss you too," I said, giving her a reassuring squeeze, "I can come back again tonight or tomorrow if you want, I mean, I wouldn't want to impose or anything, but seriously, I need to take a shower and change out of these clothes."
"That would be great! I don't have any plans tonight or tomorrow, so you can come whenever you want. Call me when you're on the way, kay? I'll leave the door unlocked, if you want." She said, brushing fresh snow out of her hair and returning my previous squeeze.
I smiled, "Okay, no problem. I'll probably be here around eleven or so. My parents wake up at about twelve, and you know how they are . . . Anyways, you have any ideas for what we could do?"
"Hmm . . . Well, we could break out the sake again, if it's cool with you, but that gets old fast. Maybe we could invite Hinata or someone else over."
"Sounds good to me. You want me to call her for you?"
"Nah, I'll handle that . . Oh, and Saku, before you go, I have something to give you." She smirked. I felt it.
"A present? Am I really that important?" I asked semi-sarcastically.
She laughed and withdrew from our hug, "Just close your eyes and bend over a little."
"You're not going to write something on my forehead, are you?" I said, crossing my arms, trying to keep from freezing. I missed her warmth the second she let go of me.
"No, I'm not going to write on your forehead, Sakura. Just do it, dammit," she said, tapping her foot impatiently.
"Fine, but you better not try anything, or I swear . . " I said, trailing off as I closed my eyes and bent over slightly, just enough to put the top of my head around the level of her eyes.
No response.
"At least tell me what it is!" I yelled, trying be still. The suspense was killing me, even more so when I heard Ino's delicate footsteps crunching the snow in front of me and her breath lightly blowing on my face. My heart pulsed rapidly, to the point where I was starting to get lightheaded. Dammit, Ino, you always know how to drive a girl crazy!
"This," Ino said, as if it was all very simple. She put her hands on my shoulders to brace herself and I felt her lips against my forehead, the lip gloss she wore leaving a sticky residue behind where her lips had once been.
I froze. "Ino, what the hell?" I murmured, my voice barely above a whisper.
"A big big forehead deserves a big kiss, Saku-chan," She said. "Ja ne! See you tomorrow," and then she was gone, leaving me standing in the snow, cold and alone.
"Ja ne." I whispered to the wind, staring down at the footprints that Ino left behind. I wonder what she's getting at, I thought, Kissing me on the forehead like that . . What nerve, but hey, a kiss is a kiss . . I sighed inwardly, . I walked to where Naruto's bike was thrown down and set it upright, dusting snow off the seat and hopping on. It was going to be a long, cold ride.
A/N: So, did every one enjoy this chapter? I know, it was kinda dull, but I had to get this finished and make everything a little less one-sided. I know, Ino was drunk when Sakura confessed, but if I didn't make it happen right now, it probably never would, and the story would be full of endless Sasuke hating and sappy metaphors about how truly pathetic our dear Sakura truly is.
R&R please!