p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'I am awake.' Shino's fingers were nimble on the keypad of his nondescript, black flip phone as he typed. Why? Because my kikaichu are restless tonight, rendering me unable to relax. As in person, his text was formal and a bit stilted, but he got the point across. That was the key to effective communication, was it not? 'What did you have in mind for this 'chilling'?'/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was comical how he phrased things. Still, Shino hadn't exactly been well socialized as a child, so could he be blamed for his pattern of speech? Few children had wanted to play with him due to the kikaichu, and he wouldn't say any of his current friends had truly become friends until closer to the time of Academy graduation. By then, he was already beginning to be set in his ways./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Figuring his pre-bed meditation routine was a moot point, at least for the time being, Shino began tugging on his shades and coat. He assumed Kiyoshi would let him know the location at which they would be meeting for this little hang out, and it was better to be productive (and therefore prepared) than to merely lounge around while waiting for her reply. The Aburame compound was a bit of a journey from Kiyoshi's place of residence, after all, so even if they met somewhere in the middle it would take a bit to walk (roof hopping seemed a bit too urgent for a meeting that was presumably casual)./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I will be meeting Kiyoshi for an unknown amount of time," the clan heir announced to his father, Shibi, as he passed through the living room to reach the entryway of their home, where his shoes awaited. "I do not believe I will be out past midnight." Even if he had been an adult in the eyes of Konoha law since he received his forehead protector at twelve, it was still polite to let his parent know his whereabouts. After his cousin Torune's disappearance (that Danzo had almost certainly been behind), it was better to keep on top of things like that than risk another incident./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"_/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I thought I'd surprise you," the dark haired woman proclaimed, forcefully ignoring the unusual fluttering in her stomach. That fluttering was only reserved for Sakura, right? They had… something going on, and it was weird to navigate without adding those same feelings for her other best friend! In an impressive display of self-control, she willed those thoughts away, shoving them into a corner of her mind to deal with later. When she was alone. For the moment, she merely allowed Ino to drag her deeper into her home./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Everytime I get to see you, Morino yanks you away," Fuyumi commiserated as they took a seat on one of Ino's (absurdly comfortable) pieces of furniture. "Then you get called on a mission or I get called to the hospital." A heavy sigh escaped her. That was their fate, not even having the time to plan a girls' night! "So," she turned her entire body to face her blonde friend, leaning in ever so slightly in her full attention. "Tell me what's been going on." She wanted to hear anything and everything Ino would divulge!/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Fuyumi was also bursting to divulge the newest gossip at Konoha General, which she'd quite literally stumbled on in the broom closet beside the break room earlier that day, as she was looking for something to mop up the coffee spill in the aforementioned break room. It wasn't information of a patient or anyone's health, but would definitely be something Ino would want to hear about! Still, she waited for her turn patiently, attentively listening to every word the blue eyed woman uttered. If she leaned just a slight bit closer as time went by, or if her eyes took on the faintest sparkle of some unnamed emotion, well, who was to say?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"_/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Through exhaustion, Kiyoshi managed to form a warm, fond, smile at who texted first. Although Kiyoshi and her clan had been adopted by the Leaf Village a few years back, Shino had been one of the first to express acceptance of her. She was, also, appreciative of how straightforward he was despite his choppy speech./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He had been good to her as a friend and, in turn, she rewarded it with confiding in him. "Just needing some advice, texting wouldn't do it justice-" Kiyoshi spacily typed, "I'm elated to hear all about why your bugs are restless. I'm close to the park- see ya soon!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The summer night was warm and sticky, a film of sweat coveting Kiyoshi's body enough to make her (black) t-shirt and shorts slightly cling in various areas. Not even having her raven hair up in a rather messy bun gave her relief as she felt the frizz threatening to break another one of her hair-ties. Kiyoshi managed to meander over to and inside the gates of the nearest park where she found a swing to sit and wait for her friend to show. She debated what she would relay to Shino, after all, it wasn't typical of her to discuss her innermost feelings./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It wasn't as though her and Gaara had outwardly confessed anything. They had been on several missions together and the only relatively close intimate moments exchanged were primarily her harmless teasing over him- much like how Temari treated Shikamaru. Regardless, they had come quite some way from their initial encounter where she had found him quite rude and ended up teasing him for it. The longer Kiyoshi's thoughts spiraled, the antsier the got as her leg began to bounce./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Thankfully Kiyoshi knew Shino was quite the collected man and she knew he'd be able to tell her what she needed to hear, but how did she quite express the concern of her smitten disposition for a man that was not one of them?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"_/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Ino was flattered and flustered that Fuyumi had gone out of her way to surprise her, and the pink dust that peppered across her nose indicated just that. Whatever butterflies that had started manifesting diminished when Fuyumi mentioned their lack of connection as of late. It was true, Ino had been swamped more than usual as of lately. It was that time of the year when sickness and crime seemed to run more rampant than any other season- so it wasn't uncommon for shinobi in their respective fields to see spikes in activity./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oh no! You go first, I insist! Mine is gonna be sooooo boring." Ino half-lied, still unsure about her precise team and the possibility that Lady Tsunade would still require Sakura as a 'more experienced' medic ninja. The thought itself almost forced a tick mark to formulate on her temple out of usual frustration. She managed to joke back the jealousy and directed her undivided attention towards her favorite guest./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Ino was aware she had time to discuss her dilemmas later that night, however, she was much more interested in spending time with Fuyumi. After a long day Ino was elated and eager to forget the days stresses, even if it was only for a brief time, "What's new with you? Anything interesting going on lately?" She giddily prodded, her own paleish-greens twinkling with excitement./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"_/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sakura had just finished sanitizing and storing away her medic equipment for the day. It had been just like yesterday, Sakura had spent copious amounts of hours extracting and formulating copious amounts of different vials of trial medicines for the newest virus hitting Konoha. Just like yesterday, Sakura had come no closer to an antidote and although it was disheartening she still had to clock out inevitably./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As she was extinguishing the lights Sakura could've sworn she had the inkling of a feeling she was being discussed, but chose to dismiss the intuition altogether. Figuring she was exhausted Sakura took extra care to lock up before she, too, found herself out in the muggy heat of Konoha. Along the way she stopped for takeout, taking extra precaution with the items she had been entrusted to bring home from work to study further./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"With her valuables stored away in a tote bag she used for hauling things to-and-from work, and her to-go bag clutched in her hands, Sakura began the walk home. She sighed, glancing up to star-gaze and reflect. Stresses aside from work, she felt herself missing Fuyumi. With Lady Tsunade still being a relatively fresh leader, everyone's lives had drastically become busier than usual- which had ended up leading to some slight loneliness on Sakura's behalf. It was a fact that Fuyumi and her had had something going on, (and likewise Sakura was aware of Ino's infatuation with Fuyumi as well), and although they were not together she was more self confident in her attraction of women and knew she was jealous./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Cha, if that Ino-pig thinks she's winning Fuyumi over either- she's in for it!' Sakura fumed, slightly sulking as well./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was comical how he phrased things. Still, Shino hadn't exactly been well socialized as a child, so could he be blamed for his pattern of speech? Few children had wanted to play with him due to the kikaichu, and he wouldn't say any of his current friends had truly become friends until closer to the time of Academy graduation. By then, he was already beginning to be set in his ways./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Figuring his pre-bed meditation routine was a moot point, at least for the time being, Shino began tugging on his shades and coat. He assumed Kiyoshi would let him know the location at which they would be meeting for this little hang out, and it was better to be productive (and therefore prepared) than to merely lounge around while waiting for her reply. The Aburame compound was a bit of a journey from Kiyoshi's place of residence, after all, so even if they met somewhere in the middle it would take a bit to walk (roof hopping seemed a bit too urgent for a meeting that was presumably casual)./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I will be meeting Kiyoshi for an unknown amount of time," the clan heir announced to his father, Shibi, as he passed through the living room to reach the entryway of their home, where his shoes awaited. "I do not believe I will be out past midnight." Even if he had been an adult in the eyes of Konoha law since he received his forehead protector at twelve, it was still polite to let his parent know his whereabouts. After his cousin Torune's disappearance (that Danzo had almost certainly been behind), it was better to keep on top of things like that than risk another incident./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"_/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I thought I'd surprise you," the dark haired woman proclaimed, forcefully ignoring the unusual fluttering in her stomach. That fluttering was only reserved for Sakura, right? They had… something going on, and it was weird to navigate without adding those same feelings for her other best friend! In an impressive display of self-control, she willed those thoughts away, shoving them into a corner of her mind to deal with later. When she was alone. For the moment, she merely allowed Ino to drag her deeper into her home./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Everytime I get to see you, Morino yanks you away," Fuyumi commiserated as they took a seat on one of Ino's (absurdly comfortable) pieces of furniture. "Then you get called on a mission or I get called to the hospital." A heavy sigh escaped her. That was their fate, not even having the time to plan a girls' night! "So," she turned her entire body to face her blonde friend, leaning in ever so slightly in her full attention. "Tell me what's been going on." She wanted to hear anything and everything Ino would divulge!/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Fuyumi was also bursting to divulge the newest gossip at Konoha General, which she'd quite literally stumbled on in the broom closet beside the break room earlier that day, as she was looking for something to mop up the coffee spill in the aforementioned break room. It wasn't information of a patient or anyone's health, but would definitely be something Ino would want to hear about! Still, she waited for her turn patiently, attentively listening to every word the blue eyed woman uttered. If she leaned just a slight bit closer as time went by, or if her eyes took on the faintest sparkle of some unnamed emotion, well, who was to say?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"_/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Through exhaustion, Kiyoshi managed to form a warm, fond, smile at who texted first. Although Kiyoshi and her clan had been adopted by the Leaf Village a few years back, Shino had been one of the first to express acceptance of her. She was, also, appreciative of how straightforward he was despite his choppy speech./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He had been good to her as a friend and, in turn, she rewarded it with confiding in him. "Just needing some advice, texting wouldn't do it justice-" Kiyoshi spacily typed, "I'm elated to hear all about why your bugs are restless. I'm close to the park- see ya soon!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The summer night was warm and sticky, a film of sweat coveting Kiyoshi's body enough to make her (black) t-shirt and shorts slightly cling in various areas. Not even having her raven hair up in a rather messy bun gave her relief as she felt the frizz threatening to break another one of her hair-ties. Kiyoshi managed to meander over to and inside the gates of the nearest park where she found a swing to sit and wait for her friend to show. She debated what she would relay to Shino, after all, it wasn't typical of her to discuss her innermost feelings./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It wasn't as though her and Gaara had outwardly confessed anything. They had been on several missions together and the only relatively close intimate moments exchanged were primarily her harmless teasing over him- much like how Temari treated Shikamaru. Regardless, they had come quite some way from their initial encounter where she had found him quite rude and ended up teasing him for it. The longer Kiyoshi's thoughts spiraled, the antsier the got as her leg began to bounce./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Thankfully Kiyoshi knew Shino was quite the collected man and she knew he'd be able to tell her what she needed to hear, but how did she quite express the concern of her smitten disposition for a man that was not one of them?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"_/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Ino was flattered and flustered that Fuyumi had gone out of her way to surprise her, and the pink dust that peppered across her nose indicated just that. Whatever butterflies that had started manifesting diminished when Fuyumi mentioned their lack of connection as of late. It was true, Ino had been swamped more than usual as of lately. It was that time of the year when sickness and crime seemed to run more rampant than any other season- so it wasn't uncommon for shinobi in their respective fields to see spikes in activity./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oh no! You go first, I insist! Mine is gonna be sooooo boring." Ino half-lied, still unsure about her precise team and the possibility that Lady Tsunade would still require Sakura as a 'more experienced' medic ninja. The thought itself almost forced a tick mark to formulate on her temple out of usual frustration. She managed to joke back the jealousy and directed her undivided attention towards her favorite guest./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Ino was aware she had time to discuss her dilemmas later that night, however, she was much more interested in spending time with Fuyumi. After a long day Ino was elated and eager to forget the days stresses, even if it was only for a brief time, "What's new with you? Anything interesting going on lately?" She giddily prodded, her own paleish-greens twinkling with excitement./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"_/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sakura had just finished sanitizing and storing away her medic equipment for the day. It had been just like yesterday, Sakura had spent copious amounts of hours extracting and formulating copious amounts of different vials of trial medicines for the newest virus hitting Konoha. Just like yesterday, Sakura had come no closer to an antidote and although it was disheartening she still had to clock out inevitably./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As she was extinguishing the lights Sakura could've sworn she had the inkling of a feeling she was being discussed, but chose to dismiss the intuition altogether. Figuring she was exhausted Sakura took extra care to lock up before she, too, found herself out in the muggy heat of Konoha. Along the way she stopped for takeout, taking extra precaution with the items she had been entrusted to bring home from work to study further./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"With her valuables stored away in a tote bag she used for hauling things to-and-from work, and her to-go bag clutched in her hands, Sakura began the walk home. She sighed, glancing up to star-gaze and reflect. Stresses aside from work, she felt herself missing Fuyumi. With Lady Tsunade still being a relatively fresh leader, everyone's lives had drastically become busier than usual- which had ended up leading to some slight loneliness on Sakura's behalf. It was a fact that Fuyumi and her had had something going on, (and likewise Sakura was aware of Ino's infatuation with Fuyumi as well), and although they were not together she was more self confident in her attraction of women and knew she was jealous./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Cha, if that Ino-pig thinks she's winning Fuyumi over either- she's in for it!' Sakura fumed, slightly sulking as well./p