A/N - O.O... *Ducks* EEEP! I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting.

*tumbles* I swear I'm sorry. I SWEAR!

*kick flips 180 two-fifty with a pipe quarter turn in the air with a banana* EEEK I'm sooo sooo sorry!

DISCLAIMER - I Do Not Own Naruto

The young teenager sat in the hospital chair outside the thick wooden door. Hands together with fingers carefully intertwined were placed on her lap as she stared at the ground before her, the white walls making her sick. Her mind was empty and her thoughts quiet- if not vacant completely. Yet, no matter how still and wholly at peace she seemed to look, she was not.

If analyzed, her hands were shaking feverishly. Superhuman hearing would catch the frantic beat of her heart, which pounded blood to her ears as she swallowed at her dry throat. Nervous wasn't the correct word for her current state. She was wary.

Extremely wary.

Despite her front, she worried for her grandmother. Despite her hard exterior, internally she dreaded the news of her relative's condition. What if she had worsened? What if her condition turned from bad to grave? How could she have fallen so ill so quickly?

The woman didn't have a right to suddenly gain the pity of everyone around her! The insane babbling elder shouldn't be favored by every person who viewed her, leaving Sakura to be silently glared at like some problem child. How was a point to be developed if the lady was in a hospital on her potential death bed!

Twitching, Sakura's calm featured turned tart. Her grandmother wasn't on her death bed. She was fine, just slightly ill.

She repeated the statement with stale comfort. In her heart, she knew repetition couldn't paint over the truth…

Suddenly the door opened with a creak. A laughter came from the room as the Doctor happily spoke, "So there isn't any worries, Mrs. Haruno, it is only a matter of time before she is back on her feet."

"Thank you so much," Sakura heard her mother reply with waves of gratitude crashing in the most sickening way, "We were certainly worried this week."

"No need, no need," the man soothed as he walked into sight, his hand in his pocket with his clipboard as his side, "that woman has some strong spirit in her. Solid as a horse."

Sakura swallowed, soaking up the information she could from the conversation that was before her. Most likely her mother wouldn't bother to reassure her of Grandmother's condition, and Sakura wanted to the petty privilege to not need to ask.

Words continued to be passed between them, words in which that were not important so she didn't bother with the continued attention. Instead she focused on how she felt. The relief that she was entitled to feel never came. The soft breath of tension that was supposed to release at such heart soaring news was held within her chest. This feeling of wary turned south and plummeted into dread

A cold stare invaded her moment of utter peace and confusion. Feeling the temperature drop around her, emerald green eyes slid up to angry forest ones. Though the eyes cackled and cracked the air around her, Sakura refused to look away. Solemnly, she waited for her mother to speak.

A look of disgust twisted her mother's only recent happy features. Tearing her eyes away from Sakura, she snapped, "She would like to speak with you."

No surprise, she usually always did. As her mother walked away without another word, Sakura stood, and took a breath. She continued to stand there, right out of sight of her grandmother as she steeled herself for the conversation to come. Her uneasy feelings were still at her chest, and she felt as if they were showing. She was exposed, and exposed wasn't a thing she took a liking too.

With another second of peace for the sake of her sanity, Sakura then moved and entered the room.

Her eyes fell upon her grandmother's. They watched her enter, twinkling with a mixture of love, pity, and hatred. It was a look Sakura could only take so much of, so within seconds she tore her gaze away. Without a word of greeting shared between them, the girl sat in a chair and stared at the ground.

The white walls, they were sickening.

The eyes, they were numbing.

And the stories; the contradictions within her; the questions on which demanded what was real and what was fake. They were maddening.

A soft silence twirled between them, and as a small intake of breath was taken from her grandmother, a sentence was laid out before them both.

"We both know I have little time left, so let us speak truthfully one last time."

X

The moment my eyes opened, memories flooded to the forefront of my mind. Bed sheets were wrapped around my naked body as I laid there with the sun shining into my room. I sighed out a yawn of a sigh, stretching slightly inside the comforts of my sheets. Warmth spread throughout my body in such a tingling way that a smile slipped onto my lips. Rolling to my side, I took in the dancing sunlight and curled into my sheets just a little more.

That is when my eyes fell upon her. Somehow it felt startling to see her there, yet I knew that she hadn't left me, not after last night. Her pink hair were tossed around, lying on her pillows with locks spread at random places. A soft snore passed in a slow pace, her feather lips slightly opened as she slept. Her delicate features forced an ache within my chest, and for a reason I didn't understand, I wished to wake her from her slumber and meekly ask for her to hold me.

With a blush I attempted not to stare. How clingy I seemed to be just after one night of… of… With a blink my eyes wandered to her lips, and as the pleasures of last night passed through my body with a dull ache, my cheeks flamed red. One night of…sex?

No. No, I was too embarrass to admit, only because it sounded so fluffy and sickeningly pink, but it was not one night of sex; it was one night of love. I couldn't describe it any other way, it couldn't be described any other way. Last night, with a part of Sakura in me in such a sensual way, I fell into a pit within her and I'm afraid I won't be able to escape.

I bit my lip and glanced at Sakura again. Eyes slipping across her features, I recalled the words I said, the words I called. I begged for her, scratched her back, and almost cried for her to allow me to release. With another prickle of my cheeks, I realized how desperate I was last night just for one girl. One girl who, out of nowhere, came in, swooped me off of my feet, carefully placed me into bed and showed me what every girl dreamed about having.

Well I'm sure they preferred a guy, but to me, love is love no matter where it comes from. And Sakura's love… it was too real and too passionate to ignore.

A soft sniff came from Sakura. As her lips moved and closed, she took in a deep breath and opened her eyes. Emerald gems stared at the ceiling for a moment as she blinked awake, but not seconds later did she slide them to me.

I hurriedly looked away, ducking back into my pillow in embarrassment. Caught staring at her after last night, I must have looked like such a creeper. As I hid, a yawn passed throughout the open, and then with a soft chuckle, I felt hands slowly slide to my waist. I peeked back up as I was biting my lip, and as I caught a glimpse of her soft smiling face, she leaned down and kisses my forehead.

"Good morning, beautiful." She whispered as her lips brushed against my hair, with another sigh of a yawn, she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me against her, "What a wonderful sight to wake up to."

My cheeks burned as I pressed against her, very aware that my naked body was being pulled against her smooth legs and shirted chest. Burrowing into her shirt to hide, I mumbled, "Good morning."

"I hope you weren't staring for long," She poked softly as she nuzzled into me, "I tend to do awful things when I sleep."

I blushed, "Oh god, you saw."

"More like I felt," she corrected with a chuckle, "within my dreams I felt a presence that my body seemed to automatically respond to. Even my deep slumbered mind seems to belong solely to you." When I whined out, completely mortified, she pulled me closer, "Don't act like that, I'm glad you woke me up. I wouldn't want to miss a second of you with me sleeping. I mean, look at the wondrous seconds spent useful last night."

Cheeks burning red I pushed her away and hid within the bed. A musical laugh danced around the room as she followed me under the sheets. As I attempted to wiggle away, her hands tickled at my sides and ran up my body. Rolling and tumbling within the sheets, I managed to only move closer to her. Sakura obviously had the superior out of us both, because against my will I ended up straddling her as she lay on her back.

The blanket tented us both as I sat on her waist, my legs curled against her side. I couldn't look her in the eyes as she rubbed at my abdomen softly, watching me with careful vision. After a moment, her hands slid up my smooth waist, to my stomach, and eventually my chest. I shivered as she carefully avoided my breast, and with one hand, she moved to the back of my neck and carefully puledl me down to her.

As I leaned down I noticed the small smile at her lips, and with a nip at mine, I was baited into a deep, slow kiss.

My mind swam; seconds within our passion and I was already losing my thoughts. Her gentle lips felt like silk and her tongue tasted like warm velvet. My heart began to race as I kissed her, and without me noticing, Sakura slowly began to move my hips against her.

I pulled to breathe, but she was already at my neck. Sucking softly, and purposely let her breaths hit my ear. I shivered again, my hips still moving. With a whine, I attempted to pull away, "You can't…" I whispered, unable to complete my thoughts.

"Mmm, but I thought you belonged to me, my sweet Ino." She stated with a nip at my earlobe.

I whimpered and nuzzled into her neck, my hands coming up to scratch at her skin as I attempted to steel myself, "But you can't leave marks."

"What if I already did?" Sakura asked in a seductive whisper to my ear.

I took in a breath and bit my lip. Cursing silently to myself, I tried again, "Please tell me you didn't."

"I recall you begging for something different yesterday evening." She teased, and with that she lifted me slightly and forced a leg between mine. Still sitting on her, she raised her thigh and moved my hips to grind into it. I gave out a soft moan, and as I whined she let out a deep groan as well, "I never knew you would sound this amazing to me. You are my new found drug."

I was gone. My attempts to stopping her didn't work, and by now I no longer cared. I wanted her again. And again. And again. I wanted her for as long as she would take me. I bit at her neck as I attempted to keep in my moan. She scratched my waist as she hissed in at the slight pain. With a nip at my ear she whispered, "Let me have you again…please."

Oh god.

Knock knock knock.

We both froze. I held my breath, and after a moment, I whispered, "Was that the-"

Knock Knock knock.

Eyes wide I jumped away from Sakura frantically, "In a moment!" I called out to whoever was knocking, "I'm not decent!"

"Are you ever?" a snap of a reply came back through the door, "It's why I'm here. You have another date, I need to get you decent."

My heart sank as I recognized the voice. It was Anna. Hurriedly I rushed to my drawer, snatching the a quick shirt and pajama pants, "Just a second!" I yelled, shoving the shirt over my head, "Honestly just hold on, I'll get the door myself!"

After I put on my shirt, I dropped the blanket to the floor and moved to put on my pants. With a glance I saw Sakura staring at me with a perverted grin on her face, and with an exasperated UGH and a throw of the blanket, I shoved my legs through the pants a quickly tugged them to my waist. Running on the tips of my feet for speed, I snatched the doorknob and whipped it open.

"Hey," I said in a breathy smile, when she only looked at me with small wary and confusion, I asked, "So…why are you here?"

"A date." She stated, pushing past my poor attempt to stand in her way to keep her out, "You have a date and I need to get you ready. Yet again you're overly idiotic brother failed to mention this to me earlier. You need to be ready in 45 minutes."

"A….date?" I asked with a blink and a confused stare, "A date?...With who?"

Anna gave me a glare of annoyance, "Well as hard as I-" Just then her eye caught something to the right of her vision. She turned and saw the lump on the bed and walked over, "What the-"

Poking her head out, Sakura gave Anna a meek smile, "Uh… morning!"

Anna stared. It took her mind a moment to comprehend what exactly was happening here, and as soon as she did, she whirled back to me, "Oh god, please tell me you didn't."

I bit my lip and squirmed as I rubbed my arm, "Tell you I didn't what?"

She whirled back to Sakura, and with a frustrated noise, she flew up her hands, "What the HELL are you two THINKING!"

I opened my mouth to speak, but Sakura poked in, "I came to visit last night. Why are you so surprised?"

"I'm surprised because you are STILL HERE!" Anna stated as her anger continued to rise, "You were supposed to be gone when she went to sleep!"

Sakura shrugged, "Things got…out of hand."

"No no no no no NO." Anna said, attempting to contain her yelling, "You see things can't just get out of hand in the house! That's not how things work."

Growing frustrated as well, Sakura snapped, "Well it did. No point of screaming about it now, obviously I'm not going to magically disappear just because I was SUPPOSED to be gone."

Anna opened her mouth to give Sakura a piece of her mind, but before she could I quickly stepped between them. Giving Anna a shaky smile, I rushed, "I know I know, we messed up. But it's alright; she was just about to leave."

Eyebrow twitching in annoyance, Anna gritted, "Then hurry up. And leave. We need to get. Ready. For. This. DATE!"

I nodded quickly and agreed, "Ok, I will! I'll take my shower right now, alright? Check back in 5 minutes."

Anna's breath was a furious one. With a glance towards Sakura, she snapped, "You better be gone by then."

Sakura opened her mouth to snap back, but I interrupted again, "She will. Now go on. If you can find me something quick to eat, that would be great."

Anna furiously turned around, grunting in reply to my favor. Before I could say thank you, she screamed, "5 minutes, Ino. That's all you have." And with that, she slammed the door.

I stood there, a breath huffing between my lips in exhaustion. The diffusion left me completely drained. With a rub of my eyes, I turned back to Sakura. She sat there on the bed, a glare on her face. I bit my lip, "What's wrong?"

She frowned and looked away, "You are going on a date, that's what's wrong."

I frowned also, rubbing my neck as I took a step towards her, "Well… yeah I guess I have to. It isn't like I want to."

"Either way, some man is going to be running about with you, his arms and hands-" Sakura stated, furiously coming to a halt as she stood from the bed and quickly came towards me. With fire in her eyes, she gritted her teeth and spoke, "I don't want you to. I don't want his hands anywhere near you."

I gave her a look of sympathy. When she continued to stare at me with a fiery plea within her eyes, I let out an exasperated sigh and stuttered to her, "But, Sakura, I can't not go on this date. Naruto must have arranged it; it means it's for the company."

"No, it means Naruto is still trying to sell you off to some guy," she snapped.

I gave her a look and desperately stated, "Either way I have to go. It's not like I am going back to his place. Just a nice breakfast I need to force myself through and I will be home. With you. We can do something together if you like," I offered meekly, struggling to come up with a way to make her feel better, "We could watch a movie together with popcorn and in the complete dark. That could be fun."

"So I'm supposed to twirl my thumbs and wait for you to come back from a date some random guy takes you to?" She spat in reply, ignoring my attempts.

I sighed and bit my lip, "Sakura… it's impossible to get out of. You know that, right?"

"No," she gritted, tearing her glare away from me, "I don't. I'm going to call him as soon as I reach my company and demand what game he's playing."

With a sudden spurt of fury, I pushed past her and huffed, "The same game you are playing! The same game every company plays when a daughter is born and not a son! I'm only part owner of the company until I marry off, and whoever I marry off to is up to my brother, the true owner himself."

As I grabbed my towel that hung from my chair, I heard Sakura reply to me from behind, "Fine, but he knows how you feel about me right? Have you at least stated your preference to him?"

I frowned and whirled around, "Naruto absolutely despises you. Do you think some 'true love' claim will keep him from continuing to hate you? If anything, he will hate you even more. Also, he never wants to join your company; We are complete rivals!"

She gave me a deep frown. And with dark green eyes, she whispered a sentence that sounded more like a growl, "Rivals from the past, why let that dictate our future?"

"You have me convinced," I brushed off with a flick of my wrist, "don't speech to me, I already agree. It's Naruto who you need to force to see the light. He's so far sunk into my grandmother's past that…"

Just then my thoughts wandered. And with a jolt, I realized what I had completely put off and forgot until now; The original company and how there were no documents of it. The reason of how we shut down in the first place was a complete mystery, or was it all true that Sakura's company ran ours to the ground? With a frown, my dreamy eyes wandered to Sakura, "That… he will never forgive what you guys did to us."

Sakura stiffened and shifted uncomfortably. Taking stride towards the bed, where her jacket lay on the ground, she snatched it and mumbled to her hands as she brushed the dirt off, "That is too far into the past to apologize for, to even begin asking for forgiveness. Back then my family was cruel, and there were certain people who wanted to destroy what we had."

"Destroy what you had, yet it was our property which was completely demolished right from under us," I stabbed in a calm tone, my eyes at my own hands, "That sounds a bit… unbelievable."

"Not we as in my company, Ino," Sakura corrected, turning to look at me with deep green eyes, "We as a relationship: We as in your company and mine."

I blinked, confused. Just as I was about to breathe out a question, a door knock interrupted me.

I bit my lip and glanced at the door, giving Sakura a look, "You should go. She will be furious if you are still here."

"Sure," Sakura bit off with frown, taking stride towards the window, "whatever you say."

As I watched her start to climb out the window, my stomach churned uneasily. She sat on the edge as I walked over, fighting with myself to say something more before she started to climb down. I stood behind her as she looked back to me, a wary look on her face as she mumbled, "Tell me when you get back. I know you won't call if I don't sk."

I nodded, "Ok…I will."

A sigh slipped her lips as she looked down at her feet, "And… just do your best to keep him away from you.."

I smiled softly and placed my hand on her shoulder, "Nothing inappropriate, I swear."

She glanced back once again, looking even more wary and jealous. My stomach flipped at the tension that was passing in waves between us, and with a burst of courage and nervousness, I squeaked, "Can I get a kiss before you go?"

Sakura blinked, surprised. Then with a split second later, a grin split her lips as she turned her body, moving her hand to my cheek then neck as she pulled me down to her level. The second our lips touched, heat spread throughout my body. Tingles spread down to my toes as I curled them, shutting my eyes tight as my stomach swam with butterflies. I felt as she nipped my lips, her tongue urging me to open my mouth, and when I felt her tongue exploring inside I let out a moan. She pulled me closer then, dominating as she ran her tongue along mine.

She nipped my lips before she pulled away, and when I let out a small whine of protest, she smiled softly against me, "Don't worry love. I will be here tonight."

I opened my eyes and bit my lip, already excited.

She chuckled before turning and jumping down, not another word exchanged between us.

The knock at my door grew even more impatient, and with a groan of frustration, I turned and mentally prepared myself for the day.

X

My heels clacked across the ground as I attempted to keep my annoying feather like scarf around the bend of my shoulders. It was transparent green, an attempt to please Sakura's spirit that I knew, if even a small piece, was floating around restlessly to keep an eye on me. I shrugged my shoulders to get the scarf more comfortably around me as I continued to walk, feeling a tad nervous.

Beside me was Anna, who walked with a frown on her lips. It seemed her expression was just about the same for the past few days, and after a moment of courage, I spoke my dislike about it, "Why are you so upset? It's not like you are being dragged out of the house with a man you barely know."

She glanced at me, and I watched her question if she should even grant me a response. After a moment, she sighed out, "It is because you are going out with a man you barely know that I am upset."

I blinked, surprised. Then, with my eyebrows coming together, I asked, "You are upset that I have another bachelor date?"

Before we could take another step she stopped walking, grabbing my wrist as she pulled me to a stop as well. I turned to her with a curious look and she gave me a wary one in return. Another sigh slipped past as she gnawed at the inside of her cheek, attempting to get her story straight. Taking a breath, she whispered quickly, "I know I have been very short tempered with you recently, and that isn't fair. It is just that I'm stressed, and it's mostly the status of your life that I am stressed about, as ironic as it seems."

My heart thudded, and with a nervous frown, I whispered back, "You mean about Naruto and his personal feelings on who I should marry and partner with."

She blinked, surprised I knew that much, but quickly passed her surprise and nodded, "Exactly. It's aggravating to me that he isn't taking you into account."

I shifted, glancing down the hall to make sure no wanderers were strolling past to see us secretly speaking, "I know it upsets you, it upsets me as well-"

"It isn't just I who is upset, Ino, it is your mother, father, even Wilson is frowning upon Naruto about this." Anna quickly informed.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise, "So everyone is upset?"

"Yes," Anna stated gravely, crossing her arms, "I know it states more that they are upset as well, but even if it was simply me, Naruto usually rethinks his actions."

I smiled slightly at her sentence, "Naruto truly cares for your opinion that much?"

She gave me a look and opened her mouth, but quickly shook her head and brushed whatever thought she was about to say, "A story for another time. What is most important that you take in now is that Naruto knows everyone is displeased by his behavior, but he continues to do as he wishes."

I nodded, trying to soak everything in. With a small suggestion of a tone, I tried to connect the dots myself, "And that isn't like Naruto?"

"When it comes to you, Ino, nothing he is doing is like Naruto at all," Anna said, confirming my statement, "You are his absolute world, so for him to be doing things like this is… completely strange."

I bit my lip, knowing exactly what she meant. As I shifted I looked around us again, knowing that we were spending too much time talking and that we would have to keep moving. We both began to walk,, and as we did I rushed, "So…what should I do?"

"I'm telling you this to keep you informed," Anna whispered, looking around as well, "I'm telling you because you have a right to know and a right to state your preference. No matter who or what you might be, human is definitely one of them. You must fight, along with Wilson and I, you must continuously state how displeased you are as well. Your mother and father can only do so much from such a far distance."

My eyes widened. Taking a step back, I stuttered out, "Why are you saying it in such a way. Like this is some type of war. And my preference is something that is almost impossible. Naruto would never agree."

Anna gave me a wary look, "No matter who it is, you have to tell him, because I am truly scared that Naruto might disregard us all and pick the bachelor himself. And we both know who he has in mind."

We reached the end of the hall just as Anna finished her sentence. With an eerie feeling passing us both, we saw who my date was with for the morning. It was almost not as surprising as I thought it would be.

My heart sank as Sasuke Uchia smiled at me from the distance, his eyes watching me steadily.

I bit my lip and glanced at Anna with plea. She squeezed my hand with sympathy, "I will speak with Naruto again, but until then Ino…be careful. I feel as if that man has something to do with Naruto's behavior as well."

Before I could stop her she quickly walked away. Cursing silently, I made my way to the very man my every nerve was screaming to run away from.

"My dear Ino," he whispered with his bangs shifting in a knowing way, "I have counted the seconds of your return to me."

Obvious statements = 1) It's short. oh god i know don't hate me 2) It's late. I completely know. Trust meh D: 3) You hate me OMG PLEASE DONT.

K soooo. I love you. And I... hope you review for this SUPER late chapter. It MIGHT motivate me to continue like RIGHT now because yeah, it is short, and I DID want to continue this chapter but it just didn't FEEL right trying to. It just... FELT like it needed a chapter break right here at this very moment. Like trust me I wrote a couple of lines and it just didn't feel right.

"What were the couple of lines Shycadet, so we know you are a lying little jerk we know you are" :O well...they were... this..?

"I looked at his face and was just like GROSS CREEPER MUCH!"

Omg I spoiled the next chapter for all of you. HA-HA!

Shycadet loves. Out.