Day 13:

"Alright, alright…" Ino takes a moment to let her giggles subside. They're sitting side by side with their backs to the wall. She'd insisted they remain upright. Something about postures and tides that Sakura couldn't make sense of. "What about –"

"If you say Akamaru again, I'm going to hit you," Sakura warns, though she's smiling. "That joke's only funny the first three times."

"I wasn't!" She insists. "What about Rock Lee?"

Sakura makes a face. And not an "I like that idea" kind of face. "Lee? I know he used to like me, but –"

"Used to? Please, Forehead. He'd sell every jumpsuit he owns for a date with you."

"Too bad he's the only one…"

Ino raises an eyebrow. "You know, if you put yourself out there once in a while…"

"I'm too busy for that."

"You sure do find time to complain about it."

"But – well, yeah, but I –"

Ino bumps their shoulders amicably to let her know she's only teasing. "Answer the question."

"Fine, fine…" Sakura tilts her head back to stare at the ceiling. If she could imagine a future with Lee… "I think I'd learn to love him, to be honest. And he'd definitely make me happy or die trying." Ino laughs at that. "We'd probably go on a lot of sappy, romantic dates, and he'd probably do a lot of really awkward things with the best of intentions, and eventually we'd have a weird looking kid with a gigantic forehead and proportionately large eyebrows."

"Oh, God," Ino wipes the mirthful tears from her cheeks. "He's so energetic. Can you imagine sex with him?"

Sakura squeezes her eyes shut. "Absolutely not."

Ino, snickering, "I guess you can't really imagine sex with anyone, huh?"

"H-hey! I read, you know…"

Her lame defense does nothing but send Ino into a fit of hysterical giggling that's so bubbly and harmless Sakura can't even be offended. She finds herself smiling despite being laughed at. It helps, of course, that she knows the Rapture has totally thwarted any genuine feelings of condescension in the other girl. Ino can't be anything but happy right now, and it makes for some rather interesting, uninhibited, lighthearted conversations.

Well, it's not exactly Ino, per se, considering the drugs. Or maybe it's just a different a part of her. Either way, Sakura finds she's become rather attached to these talks.

"Don't tell me," Ino says once her laughter's died down a little. "Have you picked up your sensei's dirty habits?"

"The Star Swept series isn't that dirty…"

"The what? I was talking about Kakashi and Icha Icha – wait." Her eyes light up mischievously. "Don't tell me that Tsunade-sama reads dirty books too?!"

"They're romantic, Pig. They're not porn or anything –"

Ino lifts her hands to her mouth in theatrical surprise. "You've totally read them all."

"Well… I mean…"

"Sakura."

Sakura chances a look. Ino is smiling from ear to ear. "What?"

"How many?"

"…There's only twelve books – it's really not that many, when you consider the complexity of the plot, and there are only a few sex scenes in the whole – quit laughing!"

Ino doesn't, though. It's just so fitting that Sakura would devote so much of her precious time to cheesy romance novels, of all things. Eventually, fed up with her own embarrassment, Sakura nudges her in the hopes that she'll at last quit teasing, but Ino merely tips sideways and laughs into her shoulder instead. The touch becomes be too much too fast, and Ino pulls away to a more careful distance.

"I'm not really laughing at you for reading them," Ino explains once she can speak again. "It just suits you so well that it's funny, is all."

"Yeah… I know."

Sakura smiles despite herself, but it quickly drops the more she thinks about it. She's always been the romantic type, and it suits her in that way... In another, more depressing way, it also suits her because of the distinct lack of romance in her own life. It's like adopting a dog because you can't get a boyfriend, she thinks.

"Aw, don't get sad on me, Forehead," Ino whines half-heartedly. She grabs Sakura's hand with painful slowness, ignoring the way the drugs in her system burst like a cosmic collision under her skin. Sakura tenses a little, remembering the effects, but Ino forces herself to at least look like she has it under control. She's determined to make sure Sakura knows she's being sincere. "I know I make fun of you for it, but really, it's okay to wait for something worth your time, no matter what people tell you. You deserve it."

Sakura sighs. She can't help the cynicism after so long. "Deserve to wait forever, you mean…"

"Don't twist my words," Ino chides. "That's not what I meant. You deserve someone worth the wait because you are someone worth the wait. I bet there's some handsome man out there reading Star Sweepers –"

"Star Swept."

"Right – and thinking of someone exactly like you. So don't get all pouty, okay?"

It's hard to imagine. Sakura closes her eyes and tries to picture that man, but it's difficult to see his face. It's just a blank silhouette. "Do you really think so?"

"I do." Ino smiles at her confidently. Sakura can't help but trust her, and it's all warm and tingly feelings of friendship right up until Ino says mischievously, "And if not, there's always Akamaru."

"Pig! You – why – ugh …"

Maybe Ino is right. Maybe not. Either way, she thinks as Ino's contagious laughter at last forces her own, if this type of companionship is anything like being in a loving relationship, it'll be worth the wait.