A/N - Completely worn out from writing this.

Just take into account that this was way longer than it should have been.

But. We've reached the peak. It's nothing but hurling downward spiral from here.

Yay for reaching the top of the cliff.

DISCLAIMER - I do not own Naruto

Song used for this chapter - Trademark - Pop It Off (2014 Mashed Up)

It was a bad idea.

I knew it was a bad idea.

But I had dug myself so deep already, in ways I didn't even understand back then, that I felt trapped enough to go through with it. I should have just admitted I was lying, told her in all honesty I wanted to be left alone. But I didn't have the stomach to disappoint her in any way. Even unintentionally hurting her made me feel like shit. And despite how well I took it it when she told me, I hated how she thought I didn't want anything to do with her, no matter what point in time.

So I found myself being picked up by Naruto that night to go to a party he gushed about just finding. Sasuke sat in the passenger seat with a smile on as well, looking just as excited. They were surprised that I had bothered to hit them up, complaining how I had ditched them the past couple weekends.

But I had to. It was already hard enough to convince Temari that I was acting normally. With the entire gang there, I doubted I could pull it off. But Temari wasn't going to be there tonight, and no matter what happened Naruto and Sasuke didn't have enough clues to be tipped off that maybe something was up. My only concern was Ino.

But when wasn't she my concern?

When wasn't she always in the back of my mind?

I sighed, staring ahead from the back seat as Naruto and Sasuke continued to chatter away. But their conversation fell to the background, a dulled hum as it felt like I was staring through them. Past them. Ten blocks down the road, looking, wondering was there an end to this. Would I reach the point that I no longer cared, where everything just fell back into step of being normal. But normal was ten blocks behind us, shrouded with the fog that was starting to set in on our already gloomy city. Normal was fuzzy to remember.

So maybe that's why normal wasn't within sight.

Maybe that's why I felt trapped into all of this. (1)

"Sakura?" I blinked, pulling my palm from my chin and dragging my eyes away from the window. Ino sat next to me, smiling softly with a curious gaze, "Hey. What are you thinking about?"

Didn't even realized sometime during the ride we picked her up.

I was already spacing out. How was I possibly going to make it through the night?

I gave a small smile and snorted, looking away while muttering, "Thinking about how trashed I'm going to have to get tonight."

Not sure if she heard my reply over the music Naruto steadily turned up.

But she didn't bother to ask me to repeat myself.

X

Drink in my hand, pounding music at my ears, I nodded at whatever the girl in front of me was saying. My eyes felt heavy, my body like jello. How I was managing to stand, I had no clue. But the feeling was nice, relaxing even. Almost as if I was just about to float away, but the only thing tying me down to earth was the string my smile was tugging on. The string being attached to the very interested girl with suggestiveness in her eyes.

But that string was straining.

Because I seriously didn't give a shit about whatever she was saying.

Instead I was wondered if I could sneak another cup of whatever syrup like drinks they were giving out here.

Taking another sip, my eyes wandered over my cup, peering at the rest of the party. Naruto was next to me, being a good wing man while keeping the girl's friend some sort of company. Sasuke was being another sort of friend, entertaining Ino as they both danced with silly smiles on their faces.

They were having fun. A smile slipped my own lips, because I was genuinely happy to see that they were.

Just then Ino's eyes caught mine. The wiggling of her fingers brought out my own stupid grin, and I found myself being completely grounded as I yearned to go over and talk to her.

"Hello? Are you even listening?"

"Hold up, Jessica," I muttered with distraction, head tilting in curiosity at whatever Ino was mouthing at me. Was she asking me to dance?

"Jessica?" She repeated in outrage.

...Shit.

"Her names not Jessica," Naruto frantically whispered next to me in alarm. I had just enough time to repeat that to myself before I felt a drink drench me from head to shoulder.

Welp, there goes whatever good buzz I was feeling.

"Let's go. She's a complete asshole. I can't believe her," the girl's friend said furiously before storming off with whatever the girls fucking name was.

"Still don't know your name! Sure you told me?" I called out to them sarcastically, earning me middle finger as the kept walking. Huffing, I whipped my hands once hard before attempting to rub as much of the beer as possible out of my eyes.

"Sydny and Rachel," Naruto informed, biting back a laugh I knew that was dying to break out, "That's their names. Where the hell did you get Jessica from?"

"Maybe that was the girl last week," I replied with a bland look, before my eyebrows came together in seriousness, "Or maybe the week before that... Who the hell is Jessica, man?"

"Fuck if I know," Naruto replied before full on snickering.

If I wasn't decently buzzed, I would be more annoyed. But at this point I didn't really give a shit, only thinking of the fastest way to dry out my shirt before getting another drink. I didn't have time to get too strategic before Ino was rushing over. Her eyes were filled with rage as she glared in the direction of where the girls disappeared, "What the actual fuck? Where did they go? I want to fucking talk to them personally. Myself. Maybe with a fucking fist in their face."

"Slow down, Ino," Sasuke said with an uneasy laugh, "Their long gone now."

"Oh no, they can't get far enough away from me. Not when they were brave enough to dump a drink on my best friend," Ino growled, moving to hunt them down before Naruto grabbed her wrist mid step.

"Whoa whoa, come on now. There's no way you're going to find them," Naurto told her, still fighting back his fit of laughter, "If anything, help Sakura out."

Ino parted her lips to argue, but Sasuke informed, "I have a spare shirt in the back, man. Just throw that one on."

"Thanks," I grumbled, giving my arms another hard whip before giving up with a sigh. Naruto dug out the keys, but before I could reach for them Ino snatched them from his hand before snatching my hand as well. A split second later, I was being dragged outside as she furiously stomped onto the front porch.

If I wasn't so sure I didn't do anything wrong, I would have been convinced she was angry at me with how hard she was trying to yank my arm off. But with her fury, I didn't dare complain as we started our long trek to where we parked.

When we finally reached Naruto's ten year old Ford Escape, she popped open the back before rampaging through the pile of mess. Finally finding what looked to be Sasuke's shirt, she turned to me and snapped, "What are you waiting for? Take that off before you get sick."

"Why are you biting my head off?" I complained under my breath. When she only glared, I looked away before tugging off my shirt swiftly. Just as I was about to reach for Sasuke's shirt, she stopped me by holding it back.

"Wait, maybe he has something to dry you off before you put it on," Ino explained, turning to search again.

"Well hurry up, I'm freezing," I shivered with a look around. It was dark and too chilly to be standing around in my sports bra, but the house party was far enough in the distance. No one was out, yet even from here you could hear the music and yelling.

"Here use this."

I turned back to see her handing me what looked like a relatively clean rag. The label read Gatorade, and I could only assume it was from Naruto's football practices. Cringing, I gave Ino a look.

"What?" She demanded with impatience.

"I don't trust it," I admitted.

One more good glare, and I was rubbing my entire face on that mystery rag.

She was seriously scary when she was pissed.

Before I was even finished, Ino was snatching the rag out of my hand, "God, what are you two? Don't you know how to dry yourself off properly?"

I gave my own glare, but didn't bother arguing when she pointed for me to sit at the edge of the trunk. Heaving a huge sigh I did as I was told and sat down. She stepped between my legs and ordered me to lower my head enough for her to properly reach. Seconds later, I felt the rag gently rustling at my hair as I closed my eyes, the heaviness in them returning.

"What was that about, anyway?" She asked, sound a bit more calm as the seconds began to tumble by.

"I called her by some other name," I answered, eyes still closed as I tilted my head to the right, relaxing even further as she rubbed at my ear before reaching at the back of my neck.

"What?"

The sound of her voice gave away her disbelief, but I only shrugged, "I completely forgot it and ended up saying something random. Stupid of me, I don't usually make that mistake. I know better than using names. Always stick with 'sweet heart' or 'angel' or some stupid generic shit."

The gentle rustling stopped.

My eyes opened in curiosity.

"Why would you stick to something like that? Wouldn't it just be easier to remember her name so something like this doesn't happen?" Ino asked, a frown at her lips.

I raised an eyebrow, "Seriously? You think that would be easier? These girls never stick around past the night. There's no way I can remember all of them, let alone the girl that was just talking to me. I still don't know her name, and Naruto literally just told me. And if you could take a look around, she's not here. Hence, why I don't bother to put that much effort."

Taking a step back, Ino's face twisted in disbelief, "That's incredibly disgusting."

I blinked, "What is?"

"The fact that you don't even take the time to remember the girls name!"

Rolling my eyes, I waved her off, "I'm pretty sure it's mutual, Ino. Other females just like to act like they don't do the same thing. Well, the females that I come across anyway."

"You deserved that drink the face," she declared, her face looking as if she tasted something sour.

"Yeah okay, I never said I wasn't the dick here," I replied with a shrug before staring straight in her eyes, "But I would feel worse if I didn't know personally that other females do grimy ass shit too. Like rolling over the morning after to find myself either alone in bed or a hopeful little expression on their face that says they want to forget everything that just happened the night before."

There was a silence and a flash of panic in her eyes.

Good, she knew exactly what I was calling her out on.

But I only smiled as I jumped from the trunk, "See, you've got some personal experience in the matter and so have I. Feels shitty as all hell, but guess what? I'm not butt hurt about it. I don't toss a plate of food away just to show how I'm in my feelings. Nope, I move the fuck on. And you know what else Ino, that girl tonight is going to do the very same thing. She's going to forget my face, my name, and how she even bothered to spare me the time of day. And continue to enjoy herself. So. Yeah. I think I'll live."

Pulling the rag from my neck, I tossed it in the back of the truck along with my shirt before hauling on Sasuke's. I was just about to close the back before I spotted a bottle of Captain Morgan wedged between piles of junk. Eyes instantly sparking with interest, I snatched it and gave a grin. Perfect. Clean shirt and a drink. Exactly what I wanted and problem solved back to back.

"Okay, so girls are shitty, but still," Ino mumbled from the side of me, as I was busy opening the bottle, "That doesn't mean you have to be a complete tool."

"I am a product of my environment," I replied conversationally, finally managing to open the bottle. Taking a long swig, I leaned against the trunk and sighed in content. "The girls I meet at these parties always want to be treated the same way, so I do just that. But you are right, I try very hard not to be the stereotypical dick head jock. I try very hard not to seem like a complete fucking prick. But tonight I got distracted."

"By what?"

"You," I answered simply, now watching carefully to gauge her reaction. My eyes darted to the nervous way she licked her lips and how she began to fidget with her fingers. "She was boring me, I had no interest in her. At this point I can't even remember who was helping who out, was Naruto the wing man or was I? All I know was that I glanced at you and whatever sliver of amount of attention I had been managing to give her flew out the window."

She seemed to struggle to find something to say.

I gave her mercy, because at this point I couldn't find it within me to care much about anything other than the bottle in my hand. "Which was why I tried to avoid hanging out with you at parties to begin with. You are always very distracting. But here's the conundrum. Even when you aren't around, you're distracting me." Her eyes flickered up to mine, and I held them steadily. "Yeah I know, fuck me right? So I direct my attention to the bottle, because other than you it's the only thing I can focus on correctly. And I feel like if I try hard enough, maybe one of these girls some night will grab my attention so much, I remember their name the second they tell me."

I paused with a frown. Pretty sure I was saying too much.

"Actually... I'm done talking. I think I'm drunk. And I really want some more of those weird colored drinks they were giving up."

I was moving to leave, but she grabbed my wrist giving me a worried frown, "You weren't drinking those, right? I'm pretty sure that was cough syrup and soda."

My eyes brightened, "Huh, no wonder I feel so nice. Yeah I wouldn't mind having another cup."

"No Sakura," she said, pulling me back as I attempted to leave again, "That stuff isn't good for you."

"I can name a lot of unhealthy shit in my life right now, Ino. Cough syrup isn't the top three," I brushed off while shrugging off her grasp, "Now let's go man. We've been gone long enough."

I could see it in her face. She wanted to argue. To keep me there.

But I learned my lesson from the last party we came to together.

Drinks and focusing too much on her would be my downfall.

So I walked. And just as I hoped, she simply followed.

X

Annoyingly enough, Ino managed to blab to Naruto and Sasuke about my new interest in the colorful drinks. Them being the irritating friends I knew them to be, made a point to keep me away from the table that was serving them up. Which meant I didn't get my second cup, but I couldn't complain. With Naruto unknowingly hooking me up, I kept my Cpt Morgan and nurtured it for the night.

Even with Sasuke's shirt that slightly didn't match my outfit, I didn't have such a bad time. Actually the moment we walked in, I found myself a corner and drank. The relaxing feeling from my first cup hadn't completely disappeared, and my eyes felt heavy in such a nice chill way. Naruto and Sasuke didn't feel the need to bother me then, and Ino had wandered some place.

I was out of sight and out of mind. And I was starting to dig the lifestyle of slowly fading in the background.

In my peacefulness of not needing to do a damn thing but stand there, a girl wandered over. And the second her eyes caught mine, a frown drifted to my lips.

I really didn't feel like being bothered.

"Oh, I must be interrupting," the girl joked as she came into ear shot.

I struggled to force a smile on my face, "Sorry, just... was digging being by myself."

"At a party?" She asked with a raise of her eyebrow, "Funny. I'm pretty sure we come here to do the exact opposite."

Snorting, I looked at the bottle in my hand, "Yeah sure, most people. These days though, think I come here mostly to drink for free."

There was a pause.

I glanced back over to see her tilting her head at me curiously, strains of her bangs falling from her forehead as her eyes locked me into place. They were an overwhelming mix of blue, green, and brown, and I found myself staring at them. Maybe I had too much to drink, but the swirl of them captured my entire attention.

Finally, a small smile pulled her lips, "I thought for a second you were just playing the loner type, but I can see you actually take this lifestyle serious."

Blinking out of my trance, I gave a small smile of my own, "Maybe I've got you fooled, I'm always with some sort of girl at these parties."

Her hum of thought drowned out the music around us as my focus slowly drifted from everything to simply her. Her hair was brown with almost a wispy texture as it was tossed in a messy loose bun. On top of that, her make up was little to none with only enough eyeliner to bring out her eyes. Her choice of attire was simple. Her body moderately covered up, and that perking smile was infectious.

I came to the conclusion. Just then. That she was fucking gorgeous, and she wasn't even trying.

"I can tell when people are just trying hard to make some sort of outward image. No, you are in fact a loner. I recognize my own kind anywhere," she informed with another glance at me, her eyes amused.

Unable to help myself, I asked randomly, "Hey uh... what's you're name?"

"Hazel."

Just the fucking sound of it brought a smile to my lips. And for the second time I couldn't help myself as I repeated, "Hazel... don't know why, but it suits you."

"It's the eyes," she informed with a shrug, rolling them as she continued, "Mom simply knew I'd have the same as her's I guess. What's your name?"

"Sakura."

"Well Sakura, as I have said. I'm a loner. Which means I didn't just come up to talk to you, because of course; Loners don't do simple shit like that. Actually, I had a favor," she spoke while turning fully towards me, biting her lip with a pleading expression already on.

Fuck, just with that look she could have whatever she wanted.

"What's up?" I attempted to sound as chill as I could, but already I felt antsy. I needed the girls number before she got away from me. Already I was thinking of clever ways to ask.

"Well Captain Morgan happens to be my favorite drink, and they don't have any here," she explained, eyeing the bottle in my hand. "Now I'm not saying to just hand it over." Wonder if she knew that I would have without a second thought. "But I was wondering, since they have a little limit on how many codeine cups you can grab. I'll trade you mine for yours?"

Her hopeful expression matched my brightening eyes at the offer. I could definitely use another cup. Just as I was about to agree, I felt a grip on my arm. Glancing down, I realized my good buzz was yet again smothered by Ino and her tight smile, "Oh hey, best friend. I was just wondering where you were."

I scowled. Christ was it impossible to be left alone when I wanted to. But despite myself, I grunted out, "Sup."

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to take her away, we're just about to head out," Ino explained to Hazel with what I knew wasn't an apologetic tone. Tipping off the fact that she was either butting in to be a total cock block on me getting another color cup or coming for a completely different reason.

Hazel looked slightly disappointed, but I knew exactly why. I wasn't stupid enough to believe my company was that entertaining, but I did know what she had been hoping for all along. With a smile, I handed her my bottle, "Well, looks like my partying is done anyway. So it's all yours, Hazel."

"Are you sure?" She asked with her features brightening. I nodded. "Oh god, thanks so much. Do you still want my cup? I guess you could take it to go."

"No she'll pass," Ino stepped in, now not even going as far as putting on a smile, "She doesn't need anymore of that stuff." Then turning to me, she glared, "Isn't that right?"

I rolled my eyes away.

Hazel giggled, a laugh that made my stomach feel light. I found myself smiling at the sound. Then, no longer caring of being smooth or clever, I parted my lips and took a breath to take a chance on simply asking for her number. But as I was about to, I was being pulled away. Alarmed, I looked back at Ino and snapped, "Hold on a second. I just need to ask Hazel something."

"We have to go Sakura."

My eyes darted back behind me to the blue, green, and brown eyes still lingering there. The smile on her lips lifted with her fingers as she parted me with a motionless wave.

Just before disappearing in the crowd.

What the fuck.

Taking my arm away, I glared at Ino who simply glanced at me. And despite how I struggled to do so, I swallowed down my irritated words and simply followed her to the car. But I found myself glancing behind me through out the walk, wondering if I could spot Hazel in the crowd.

I never did.

Sighing at my lost chance, I wandered to the Naruto's truck in silence only to discover when we finally reached it we were both alone. I looked around in confusion before turning to Ino. "Where the hell are they? You made it seem like they were waiting on me."

"It was just a lie to stop your from drinking that stuff," Ino muttered while avoiding my eyes.

Mine must have burned with fury. "Wait. What?! Are you fucking kidding me?" The silence that answered my demand only irritated me further. Setting my jaw, I forced myself to keep it shut before I said anything to hurt her feelings. Me being beyond toasted and angry wasn't the best combination on ensuring I didn't say anything I didn't mean.

Instead, I simply shook my head and turned around, "You're fucking ridiculous. You could have just said that instead of dragging me all the way out here. I'm going back."

Her fingers wrapped around my wrist, and that only sparked my anger. I was just about to snatch my hand way before she tugged and mumbled, "No. Could you... stay here please?"

I turned back to her avoiding my eyes again, her free hand gripping her own waist as her arm crossed her stomach in a nervous sort of stance. Eyebrows pulling together, I instantly sensed something was off. Taking a step towards her, I muttered, "Hey, what's up with you? You alright?"

She nodded, but I didn't believe her. Dipping down to catch her face, I took a small breath in relief as I realized, "You're drunk."

"Maybe," was her only reply as she bit her lip.

A small smile pulled my lips before I huffed out, "That makes two of us. Are you feeling sick?"

She shook her head, staying silent for a moment before her eyes finally slipped up to mine, "Her name. Do you still remember it?"

I blinked at the random question, caught off guard. Frowning, I asked, "Who? You mean Hazel?" Suddenly the light grip she had on my wrist slipped away. Eyebrows coming together, I glanced to see her hand falling down to her side. My gaze reached hers just as she was looking away with her body leaning back onto the truck. Shaking my head in confusion, I asked, "Is that who you were talking about? Or that other girl? Uh. I'm sure it started with an 's' but I'm not entirely-"

"I want you stay here with me."

"I'm not going to leave you out here by yourself," I assured without a beat, glancing around without knowing what to do. She seemed pretty gone, going back to the party didn't seem like the best idea. Frowning, I wondered if Naruto and Sasuke were ready to go home yet.

I went to dig for my phone, but was stopped when Ino asked, "You said girls do mean things too, but maybe they are just confused."

My eyes came back to hers. I was entirely too drunk to decipher her back and forth, and for the first time in awhile I wished I wasn't. It wasn't often Ino depended on me for things, especially like this. It was always the other way around, her taking care of me. Thinking hard, I nodded, "Yeah, I'm sure that's the reason. Hey, want to sit in the car?"

She nodded, so I quickly walked around hoping beyond all hope that we forgot to lock the doors. Which we didn't. Cursing, I wondered if there was a chance the trunk was still open. Walking back, I took Ino's hand before carefully pulling her back as I tried. Thanking whatever of higher power for at least the trunk being still open, I cleaned out a decent enough spot for her to sit. Unfortunately with all of Naruto's junk, there was only enough room for her.

"Alright, come here so I can help you sit down," I said, smiling slightly as she obeyed without issue. She was oddly compliment as of right now. Whether it was the drinks or just her mood though, I didn't know.

She stood in front of the trunk and with a grab of her waist I lifted her with ease to sit down. She wasn't that small, but I didn't want to force her to climb. Settling instantly, I gave a satisfied nod, but before I could pull away she gripped my arms to keep me there. Her legs spread wider as she pulled me closer.

"What's with you tonight, Ino?" I mumbled, following her tugs between her legs. I rubbed her waist with my thumb, attempting to focus as much as I could on her expression. I was fading fast, my eyes already felt heavy and the last bit of what I drank was kicking in. I was completely useless in this state, but I wanted to at least succeed in comforting her. Bending my head down slightly, I caught her chin and forced her crystal blue eyes to me. They were glowing as I watched her, "Tell me you're alright. I'm getting worried."

She only nodded, moving to press her forehead against my shoulder. Sighing, I stepped closer and wrapped my arms fully around her. She responded by nuzzling closer to my neck. I shivered, but pushed the reaction away, mumbling soothingly, "We'll get home soon, alright? Just need to give Sasuke and Naruto a call."

"Okay..." she said in such a small voice that my chest tightened. Fuck, I needed to get a grip. But she was still nuzzling, now grabbing at my shirt and tugging me closer as if I wasn't already flush against her. I ran my cheek across hers as I moved to whisper in her ear, "Did something happen tonight?"

She shook her head.

"Are you sure?" I pressed, because her behavior was completely out of the ordinary. Sure she acted like a brat half the time, but she was never this... touchy. This clingy.

I felt her head nod.

"Don't lie to me Ino."

The fingers at my shirt twitched tighter before she mumbled, "I don't mean to lie."

My heart automatically began to pick up speed, "What happened?"

She muttered something that I couldn't catch. I moved away to hear her, pulling her back to at least watch her lips as she spoke, but instead I found myself locking eyes with her. She stared at me with wide blue eyes, and after a full second she bit her lip in the same nervous way she had before. But instead of looking away she brought her hands to my neck.

Her nails ran across my skin, causing me to shiver before I felt her tugs pulling me downward. I watched her until the moment we were inches apart, her lips peeling apart as I took in a shaky breath. And whatever time I had to react disappeared when I felt her lips brushing across mine.

That same sparking hope I thought died out came roaring back to life, and despite myself I found my eyes shutting and moving automatically with hers, just as they did the other night.

But I didn't have the courtesy of stopping there like I had then. Instead, I gripped her waist and dragged her closer to me just as I felt the nails at my neck scratch down my skin in another shivering way. I kissed her long and slow, but my heart beat was short and fast as it hammered in my chest. My fingers were digging into her sides, forcing them to stay put when they wanted to wander. But when the grip became too tight, Ino pulled away to whimper against my lips.

And I lost all fucking control.

That's all I remembered.

Losing the sanity I had been holding onto since the beginning.

And from that point on.

That summer felt like a downward spiral.

(1) – Do you know how many times I had to ready that out loud to myself. The last 3 paragraphs. Christ. I wanted it to flow nicely. It sounded good the first time around, but I wanted it all to roll off the tongue and into your thoughts. 2020 Vote for Shy.

(2) Critic anon. If you are reading. Since you do not have an account for me to reply, all I can do is suggest my other stories that do not have the same feel to them. IE: Forlorn. Dawnstar Academy. Everybody Wants to Rule the World. But I suggest Forlorn, because that's the only other story I'm sure to be updating as frequently as this one. I understand that a lot of them have the same concept, but understand most of them are simple twists and play offs of eachother as I attempt to find some a nice common medium of an actual story I like all around. There is a reason Bod came right after Gats- when gats was unfinished. I love writing as a passion, but I use this site as my idea tosser.

Jeez. This took a lot of energy out of me. It's a short story, so chapters aren't supposed to be this long. And while it isn't as long as it COULD be. It was long enough.

But that's fine. I did all this work knowing that we have officially reached the top of the cliff. This is the peak. This is where shit starts getting pretty fucking sketch. At this point, it'll be nothing but fun for me but utter hell for you.

So yeah. I win.

Besides that. Hope you like it. I admit. I am pretty toasted. So. Forgive me. Lot's of mistakes. I hope you guys still like it.

As always. Read review. Tell me what you think.

Pupper, I haven't forgotten about you. This was pretty much written. Next chapter update WILL be of Forlorn. Because PupperSocks (a nickname I came up for you) has answered correctly. A true fan is amongst us. So you get what you wish for, and hopefully the chapter is JUST as long.

Shycadet loves those who still pay attention. She continues to ask for love and support.

Out.