"Sakura-chan!"

I squeaked as my arm was suddenly pulled, towing me off the street and into some passing shrubs. I knew it was Naruto from his voice. The scream was more because I thought Naruto was going to accuse me of avoiding him again. I had let a full day go by without talking to him, to allow us to have that alone time. I wasn't sure how long I should give him. One day wasn't very long, but maybe he knew that I had planned the time apart to be indefinite.

"Shh!" We were now crouched behind the shrub, his one finger to his lips while his other hand was over my mouth after I had fallen to my hands and knees. "We gotta be quiet. I'm on a secret mission."

I removed his hand. "Naruto, you really shouldn't be telling me you are on a sec-"

He cut me off, waving his arm. "It's not an official mission. It's my mission, so it don't matter."

I stared at him, waiting for him to explain what stupid nonsense he was getting himself into now.

"Sasuke's got this bird, right?"

"Is that a sex reference?"

"No, I mean a literal bird, with feathers and shit." Naruto looked up into the sky. "I fucking saw it."

"You saw Garuda?"

"No, no. The other one. The small one." He snapped his fingers. "His messenger hawk!"

I sighed. "Naruto, are you sure it was Sasuke-kun's hawk? Anyone could be sending out a messenger hawk. Or, you know, it could just be a regular hawk in the sky!"

"No, Sakura-chan! It had black markings on its wings!"

"A lot of hawks have black markings. Why would Sasuke-kun be sending a message to someone in the village?"

"It must be to Kakashi-sensei. He must be on a secret mission!" I was doubtful. I didn't want to get my hopes up that Sasuke-kun could be nearby. That was one thing. But I also was partly wondering if Naruto had started to go insane. He did mistakenly call Sai as well as Shikamaru 'Sasuke' the other day and admitted that he thought he saw Sasuke-kun in the town market. At this rate it seemed much more like Naruto being his normal obsessiveness than for Sasuke-kun to be back in our lives so easily.

"Did you see it going to the Hokage's office?"

"Not exactly, but where else could it have come from? Come on, Sakura-chan!" He grabbed my arm again. "Let's go find out!" He started dragging me to the Hokage's office.

"But I have work!"

"Be late! This is important!"

Everyone was used to Naruto just barging into the Hokage's office now. So that wasn't abnormal as I followed him strutting away, greeting everyone he passed on a first name basis. He was being quite friendly and polite until he wrenched open the careful door of the Hokage.

"Alright sensei, spill the beans."

Kakashi-sensei looked up, focusing his eyes on Naruto. "Ah, Naruto. Did you finish reading over that proposal we discussed-?"

"Oh no! Don't try acting like nothing's going on here!"

"Going on here?" He looked over at me as if to get clarification.

I sighed. "I see you've come back to work," was all I said, staring at his scrolls. Naruto was right. He did have his Paradise Make Out series in his office library. I wondered how long he had been back. I gave him a look.

"You are looking stunning today, Sakura," he said, watching me touch the spines of one of his books. "Did you cut your hair?" I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering what the fuck he was going on about. Since I had recently gotten a haircut, I couldn't accuse him of what was so obviously a statement telling me to keep my mouth shut.

"Don't ignore me Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto rammed his hands onto the desk.

"You're going to need to stop hitting my desk or you will have to get yourself a new one when you become Hokage."

"I saw Sasuke's bird!"

"Bird?"

"A messenger hawk! You have Sasuke on a mission, don't you sensei?!"

The Hokage stared at Naruto for so long that I really couldn't tell if it was because he was speechless that Naruto knew, or if he was questioning Naruto's sanity. It was making me uncomfortable.

"I'm right! What do you have Sasuke doing?!"

"Even if that was true, you know I can't be giving out details of other people's missions."

"Fine! You don't have to tell me the mission details. Just tell me how I can communicate with him."

"What do you need to tell him?" Kakashi-sensei asked seriously.

Naruto paused for a second. "Um, 'Hi'?"

Kakashi-sensei went back to whatever he was doing before we interrupted him. "If Sasuke wants to reach out to you two that's on him, but I'm sorry to say that it would be quite impossible for me to send out any sort of message to him by messenger hawk as I am unaware of his whereabouts. He is a man that doesn't want to be found."

"You're lying," Naruto declared. I quickly put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. Kakashi-sensei was always lying but never once had the two of us ever accused him as such. The way his dark eyes narrowed at us reminded me that he was in fact the Hokage. Naruto noticed it too, and I could feel a slight tremor in the muscle I was holding, almost like a shiver of energy that Naruto was debating whether or not to put into motion. I dug my finger into the pressure point, forcing it to relax. Naruto sighed. "You're right sensei. That wouldn't be a valid use of resources. I haven't finished reading that proposal. I'll get on that. Come on, Sakura-chan, you'll be late for work."

Naruto slowly pulled me out of the Hokage's office, defeated. We were silent for a moment more as we walked to the hospital, Naruto with his arms crossed over his head in thought. "Man, Kakashi-sensei has really been pissing me off lately. Spending all this time with him has been a real pain."

"What is going on with him?" I asked with curiosity.

"He just needs to get laid, is all," Naruto drawled carelessly.

"What?" I blushed. I even stumbled while walking. "Naruto, don't talk about the Hokage like that."

Naruto put down his arms and turned around to face me, walking backwards. "It's true, Kakashi-sensei is all butt-hurt over some kunoichi assassin that works down at the prison."

"Kakashi-sensei can't really be in love, can he?! Wait, who works at the prison? You mean Kahyō? I heard that was just a rumor. Actually, I heard that was a rumor that you started!"

Naruto waved his hand and turned back around. "Yeah so? Kakashi-sensei wasn't giving me the good missions. And he's totally lying about not liking her! I thought maybe, saying so would get it to push forward and get him lucky or somethin', but I think it actually backfired because he is being so adamant that nothing is going on, that I think he's breaking Kahyō's heart. Not that that's anything new."

"How do you know so much about Kakashi-sensei?"

"We've been spending way too much time together! I've been saying! Oh my god. He's such a dick."

I was interested to know more. Anything about Kakashi-sensei I was always interested to hear more. He was such a mysterious man for someone that I felt close to for the last five years. But I knew Naruto was giving me the extent of his knowledge on the subject, or possibly more only based on what he had concocted up in his own head. There wasn't much that Naruto didn't tell me these days. And it wasn't like Kakashi-sensei was willingly giving up these details to Naruto. I felt Naruto just picked it up from people, like by sharing the same air as a person, he could suddenly read their soul.

I forgot all about my former team during my shift at work. There's something about working as a medic that takes you completely out of all other aspects of your life. There is no outside world. There is only what is going on at the hospital. Sometimes I felt like a whole other person, one devoid of much personality besides my rehearsed caring compassion. In a way it was a blessing, giving me a break from my life. There was no uncertainty. Every ailment had a solution as long as I worked through it. The hustle and bustle didn't give me enough time to have feelings about it, or feelings for anything else.

I honestly loved working at the hospital. It made me feel useful and that I mattered. I was in my element. But as with most people with shift jobs, there's still a portion in the brain that is counting down the seconds until you clock out, that excitement knowing that you can leave in five minutes. You rush home to get there as fast as possible only to find now you have nothing to do. The accomplished feeling you had at work is gone and all you can do now is wait for your next shift.

I wondered if this was the real reason why I sought out Naruto so often, to make sure I wasn't just sitting in my bedroom doing nothing but getting lost in my own head. But Naruto was a very busy person, and I always felt guilty when I saw him doing something else with someone else, like I really shouldn't be bothering him so much. That was why I was so grateful when he went out of his way to seek me out, that he still had me in his thoughts when it was so easy to get lost in your own work, your own life. I needed him to need me.

On my way home it was a little after 8:00 pm. I saw a couple taking an evening walk. The humid air was still quite warm even after the sun had gone down. They were too far away for me to get a good look at them in the dark, but I could hear them giggling as they leaned into each other, perhaps spiced with some after dinner wine. The stars were very bright tonight, not a cloud in the sky. It was the type of night I didn't really want to be alone in.

I wasn't sure if it was alright for me to visit Naruto. I should have asked him if he was free tonight when I saw him this morning, but I had already been thinking that I wasn't going to see him for a while.

I saw the couple stop walking to steal some kisses, leaving me with a spark of lonely jealousy. I wondered what it was like, to be in love with someone and have that person love you back, the world just accepting it and everything being perfectly simple. Embarrassed, I hurriedly walked around them to home.

When I came into my house, I heard my mom had a friend over while I was taking off my shoes. By her rather loud voice, I could tell she had had a few glasses of wine. I tried to sneak past them to get to my room, but my mother saw me.

"Sakura! You're home!" She quickly grabbed my shoulders and steered me away from the staircase. "Don't be rude! Meet our guest! This is my friend from grade school." I tried to greet the person as she introduced herself, but my mother started talking over us as she was rather drunk. "Isn't my daughter beautiful? Oh, look at her!" she cooed, rearranging my hair. "So lovely she is. She was in the war, you know. She saved the lives of one hundred million shinobi on the front lines." Every time my mother made this statement, I noticed that number grew larger. "And she knows Uzumaki. She helped him save the world," she said as a matter-a-fact.

"You don't say!" exclaimed her friend. "You mean Uzumaki Naruto?!"

"Who else?! She's very close to him. They spend all their time together!"

"Oh..." her friend murmured knowingly while my mom nodded her head.

"Mom!" I was torn from wanting to escape this conversation and staying to prevent it from turning into something worse.

"We were so worried about her when she was young. Her first crush was that Uchiha boy..."

The other woman tsked disapprovingly.

"... completely love struck. Just think what could have happened if he had-"

"DAD!" I cried desperately.

He stuck his head out from around the wall of the kitchen. "Yes, dear?"

"Mom needs... help with something..." I tried to think of an excuse. I wasn't really sure what I was hoping to accomplish by bringing my father into the mix, but for all the times he had seemed to be as clueless as a sack of potatoes, he actually came through for me.

"Did you know," he said, separating me from the other women with his body so I could make my escape. He deftly confiscated my mother's wine glass. "... that they can breed guinea pigs and rabbits together? It's called a hybrid."

"Oh, yes!" exclaimed my mother. "They are so cute. We were thinking about getting a couple. They are infertile so we won't have to worry about them breeding. They never do sex them right at the pet shops." I quickly made my way up the stairs.

I had to move out. I had to move out as soon as possible, I realized.

I had been working. It couldn't be too hard to start paying my own bills if I started to budget my money better. It would be easier if I had a roommate though.

I decided to go to bed early in the hopes I didn't hear whatever other nonsense my parents decided to talk about tonight. Besides, a little extra sleep couldn't hurt. Not that I hadn't been giving myself extra sleep already. I had brushed my teeth, changed, and gotten in between my sheets when I heard a creak by my window. I still wasn't too used to seeing large figures on my windowsill and the first fright I had made me wonder if I should have made sure I was armed. The thought was only an instant, as the nasty hope of thinking it could be Sasuke-kun sneaking into my room quickly replaced it. If I hadn't imagined it so many times in my head already it would have never occurred to me.

"Naruto," I hissed, annoyed that he wasn't Sasuke-kun, but I was getting a sense of déjà vu with him sitting crouched over there, that it made me change my tone. "Are you hurt? What's wrong?"

"Oh, no." He had been halfway from crawling fully into my room but had paused when he heard my voice.

"Why are you coming through the window instead of the front door?" I asked, wondering if this time, this was in fact a booty call.

"I didn't know your parents would still be awake, or you'd already be in bed. So, I guess that means you're not coming over tonight." He brought in both legs but didn't come any closer.

I pulled the sheets up close to my chin as I peered up at him. "Well, I mean are you all done with... done with that thing?"

"Oh, yeah," he waved his hand. "Psh, completely done. So done. No need to worry about that anymore."

"Hmm. Okay." I turned to my side. "I'll remember that for tomorrow. Goodnight," I said, clearly telling him that no, I was not going to go out through the window with him into the night and parts unknown. I was feeling extra depressed today, the mention of Sasuke-kun seemed to be more than usual.

"Can I stay here?"

I looked up at him, startled. "My parents are here!"

"I'll be quiet!"

I started to imagine my mother finding Naruto in my bedroom. Unlike normal mothers who would either ground their children or throw them out of the house, she would probably be ecstatic. She would invite Naruto downstairs to meet her friend and have a drink before planning our inevitable wedding. I wasn't sure how my father would react. He'd probably just go along with it. I had never seen my father angry before.

I hadn't answered Naruto, but he was already creeping to my bed, pulling off his shoes and shirt. He was making a rather attractive silhouette with his broad shoulders and the moonlight so bright behind him. Naruto really did have a nice body and it was preventing me from protesting as he climbed in the bed with me. How was it possible to want someone around and to be alone at the same time?

"It's too hot for snuggling," I finally said as I made sure to be facing away from him.

"Oh, okay." I felt him shift, and knew he was on his side facing me. I could feel his breath behind my neck every so often. "So, I'm sorry for acting kind of crazy this morning," he suddenly said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know how I sometimes get... like obsessive with stuff?"

I laughed.

"Kakashi-sensei was talking to me later today about how I need to focus yada-yada, but then he also brought up that every time I bring Sasuke up in front of you, I'm forcing you to think about how he's left again, which is making you try harder to not think about it, and when you are trying not to think about it, you work harder and stuff and don't let yourself relax. And every time you do relax, I'm there bringing it up again. Or he said something like that."

"Kakashi-sensei said that about me?" I asked, once I decided I had deciphered what Naruto was trying to say.

"Yeah, he's like really smart, but sometimes he says things in a blunt sorta mean way that makes me miss the way Pervy-Sage would say things, but yeah. So, what I'm saying is, that I'm sorry that I make you feel that way, because before, I was like fuck what anyone else thinks. I wanna talk about what I wanna talk about, but then I didn't realize you might not feel the same way."

"No... I kinda like that about you. It makes me feel less pathetic sometimes."

"'Cause I'm more pathetic than you?"

I laughed. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Yeah, you did," he teased. I felt him trace a finger along the shoulder band of my tank top. "But I decided I'm going to distract you in a good way, instead of allowing you to distract yourself in a stressful way, so we won't talk about Sasuke. Unless you want to. We can talk about other things!" His fingers started digging more firmly into my back. "Is this okay? It's not too hot for a backrub, right?"

I moaned a little bit from his fingers separating my muscles. "I don't think it will ever be too hot for a backrub," I confirmed.

"So, how was your day?"

"Fine, I worked."

"Anything good?"

"Nothing too interesting. Parents have someone over. I don't like the way they talk about me."

"What do you mean?"

I didn't really want to say. I knew my mother was proud of me. I knew she just wanted the best for me. I had been insensitive when talking about my parents to Naruto in the past. He had always taken it in stride even when it hurt him. He was trying so hard to be sensitive to my feelings about Sasuke-kun, the least I could do would be the same with his feelings over him not having a family of his own. "It's just crowded," I wound up saying. "I think I should move out soon. I'm 18 now. Seems like it's just the time."

"Oh. That'll be cool," Naruto said with some excitement in his voice.

"Well, I have to find a place first. I haven't been saving my money that well. I keep buying all these medicinal herbs instead of getting off my ass and looking for the local ones myself."

"You could live with me."

I don't know why I hadn't expected that invitation. I didn't answer. Naruto's hands had stopped their massage in anticipation. "I... I don't think that would be a good idea," I finally said.

"Why not? You're over there practically all the time anyway. You wouldn't have to keep bringing clothes or your toothbrush back and forth, and if you don't have much money, I'll let you stay there for free!"

"Naruto," I rubbed my face hard with a hand. "I would of course pay you rent, but that's not the issue. It'll look bad if I move out of my parents' house to go live with some man! Especially you because-"

"-Because people think we're going out?"

I tried to erase his hurtful voice from my memory. "You're popular so people are in your business more, and I don't want things to be complicated when Sasuke-kun comes back. I don't know how we're going to do that yet."

"We're going to do it by not giving a fuck about what other people think!"

"But my parents..."

Naruto heaved a sigh. "Okay, fine. We'll wait on coming out to your parents for now. But it's not something you can like hide for the rest of your life."

Couldn't I? I swallowed. It hadn't been easy since throughout my teenage years my mother was always very insistent in knowing my friends or who my boyfriend could be, but surely once I moved out it would be a lot easier. I would be able to keep what I wanted to myself and not have anyone know anything I didn't want to. I was reluctantly jealous that Naruto had his own apartment.

"Hey," Naruto declared, sensing my inner turmoil of my lying to myself. "We'll find a great apartment for you! One with lots of windows, and even a bathtub!"

"That does sound nice."

"And a great big bed!"

"It doesn't need to have a bed. There's nothing wrong with this one. I can just take this one with me."

"But it's gotta be big enough to fit all three of us!"

I was quiet.

"Sorry, I wasn't supposed to bring up Sasuke again."

"You weren't," I agreed.

"I don't think I'm not able to... Don't think about him! Think about me instead."

He gave me a squeeze and I giggled, as he pressed his face to my neck. Naruto himself would always remind me of Sasuke-kun. I didn't know if I could think about one without the other. I realized I was forgetting the no snuggling rule as Naruto's hand moved down my arm to interlock with my fingers.

"I'm sorry," he whispered again. I wasn't sure what for. His one arm had managed its way underneath me and I brought the hand that I was holding up to my chest. I could feel his mouth on the back of my neck now, hot, and wet. The thumb of the hand I was holding grazed my chin. I let his fingers be pulled out of my grasp for him to touch my face. I was still facing away from him.

"I miss him," I admitted. His finger stopped at the corner of my eye, soaking up a tear I thought I had been able to fend off by staring at my wall.

Naruto didn't respond. Instead, he kissed my cheek. I felt my heart speed up. I should tell him to stop. The temptation was too great. His thumb grazed my bottom lip, and I felt my mouth relax into his warm hand. "I don't want you sad. I want to make you happy. Tell me how to do it."

"I don't know," I admitted.

I sensed Naruto's frown rather than saw and he gave me a nip on my neck. I retaliated by biting the pad of his thumb, my tongue grazing the skin. Naruto went still. And then he shoved his thump deeper into my mouth, clutching me tightly as I gave a short moan.

He ripped his thumb out of my mouth to replace it with his own, kissing me deeply into my pillow. I let my fingernails scrape through his hair, the feel of it satisfying in my hands. The action seemed to fuel Naruto's behavior as he dug his erection into my thigh, hands all around me wildly. He soon found a way around my underwear, his mouth pulling down the tank top. His fingers pushed inside me, and though I admit I had gotten myself off a couple of times during the time apart from Naruto, it was nothing compared to what Naruto could do to me. The cry that escaped me was loud when he entered me, and when he curled his fingers, he pulled the sound out of me again.

I gasped, holding his head. "Please," I whispered. Please what, I wasn't sure. Please stop? Please continue? Please fuck me silly? During my moaning, neither of us had heard my mother come up the stairs until she laughed loudly in the hallway.

"Hold on a second! Let me find it!"

Naruto ripped himself away from me, startled. He rolled away so violently that he went right off the bed and hit the floor hard. I was sure my mom would have heard that.

We waited, holding our breaths.

"Here it is! The picture of Kizashi when we first met. My, look at that body..." I heard my mom close the door of her bedroom and go back down the stairs.

"I think we are safe," I said after a few more moments.

"Should I sleep under the bed?" I looked down and saw that's where Naruto was hiding.

I rolled my eyes. "No, you don't have to sleep under the bed!"

"Oh, good. I didn't want to bother your under-the-bed monster."

"What?" I started rearranging my pillows, making a pillow wall. Deciding to ignore that last comment, I warned, "But no more touching. It's too hot!"

I looked over at Naruto as he stood up, face red as he nodded his head. He climbed back into bed, and we attempted to go to sleep. My panties had gotten pretty wet, so I kicked them off, laying on top of the sheets, Naruto on the other side of the pillow wall silent. Horny as hell, I traced my fingers across my thighs, debating on touching myself with Naruto sleeping beside me. I was afraid he would hear my breathing change. I was sure he could still hear my heart pounding. I eventually fell asleep.

"Oh great, you're here!" Ino ran out of her mother's shop after seeing me through the window. I had come over when she called and told me she had some sort of emergency. I really wasn't sure what could be so important. In truth, I hadn't talked to her for a while.

She purposely dragged me away into the shadow of two other buildings. She looked both ways to be sure no one else was around before she turned to me. "I kissed a boy," she said.

I gasped, clapping my hands together and bringing them up to my gaping mouth. "Oh my god! I'm so excited for you!"

"Don't be! This is the worst possible thing that could ever happen!"

"Why?"

"It was a mistake. I regret every aspect of this situation!" Ino again looked around to make sure no one else was nearby. "Don't you dare tell anyone this, Sakura." She grabbed my arm and pulled me close to her, her hand concealing her mouth as she whispered into my ear. "It was Chōji."

"WHAT?!" She immediately covered my mouth with her hand.

"Don't say anything!"

I waited for her to remove her hand before I spoke anyway. "I'm just really surprised! How did this come to be?"

"Shikamaru and Chōji stopped at my house after we were done practicing a new technique we've been working on, and Shikamaru, the lazy ass, decided to fall asleep on my bed!"

I briefly wondered if that was a normal occurrence.

"So, Chōji wouldn't leave without Shikamaru and he's too much of a pansy to wake him up, and the fact that my mother offered to make us snacks made it definitely so Chōji wasn't going anywhere."

"But how did you guys kiss?"

"Well, I couldn't kiss Shikamaru!"

I didn't understand how that answered my question. "Why?"

Ino blushed. "Because Chōji was there! Follow the story, Forehead! Chōji was sitting on my floor, content to not say anything ever. I tried to make, like, small talk or whatever. I tried really hard, but he was set on being an awkward idiot. So, since there was nothing interesting for either of us to say, we made out for thirteen minutes. That's how long it took for my mom to bring up the snacks."

"Oh, wow."

"Yeah, Chōji has like, really big hands."

"Well, this is great for you, Ino! Chōji's nice. I think he would make a great boyfriend!"

"What are you talking about, Billboard Brow?! Chōji's fat!"

I was silent for a moment. "Then why did you-"

"That doesn't matter anyway because Chōji doesn't want to pursue the relationship. He said it wouldn't be fair to Shikamaru."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know! AND he said I wasn't his type! I'm not his type?! Who else is going to kiss him, besides me?! I'm so out of his league. He should have thanked me for kissing him at all! His type..." Ino scoffed. "His type is a fried Kobe steak."

"Wow... I'm so sorry, Ino."

"So, Chōji's mad at me and we're not speaking to each other. Also, even though Shikamaru was sleeping the whole time, I'm not one hundred percent sure he was... so I'm avoiding him too."

"Well, you really should try to patch things up with them eventually. They've been family friends so long that this isn't going to destroy all that history."

"Ugh! Why did I let this happen?! What was I thinking?! We're just as bad as Team Seven!"

"Ah..." I didn't want to bring up Sasuke-kun if I could help it, but I knew there was no stopping Ino-Pig's big stupid mouth.

"How is Team Seven doing anyway?" she asked, hands on her hips. "What's going on with you guys?"

"Nothing is going on with us."

"Liar. Sasuke's left again. Naruto was so heartbroken that he failed the Chūnin Exams for like the 5th time, and now you guys are secretly dating."

"We are not dating!" I stated.

Ino's eyes narrowed at me in disbelief. "Secretly fucking?"

"No, we don't do that anymore," I said confidently, because in truth it wasn't a lie.

"Hmm, it is probably for the better since Sasuke's gone, Naruto's gotta be rebounding."

"Hey, Ino?" She turned to me, raising an eyebrow at the tone of my voice. "You haven't told anybody what I said about… Naruto's and Sasuke-kun's… ah…"

"Pussy gay relationship? No. Who would I tell anyway? I'm not talking to Shikamaru or Chōji. I have no other friends!"

"That's good," I sighed in relief. "Oh, speaking of friends, I was actually wondering… I was thinking about getting my own place soon. You know, like moving out from my parents' house? But I need a roommate-"

"Oh my god, yes!" Ino took both my hands in hers. "This is perfect! The only boys my mom lets me have over are Shikamaru and Chōji. That's how all my problems happened! With you, we could have whoever we wanted stay over!"

I smiled uncomfortably, wondering if trading my parents for Ino's late date nights would be worth it or not.

"You're a lifesaver, Sakura! I knew you would come up with a solution for my problem. Roommates is the perfect idea! Ever since my father died, my mother has been so suffocating and overprotective! When she found out about my date with Izumo she-"

"Who?!"

"Izumo. He's the hotter one of those two."

"Ino, he's like 12 years older than you."

"Exactly. I'm done with boys our age. They're not mature enough to handle me. My mother on the other hand doesn't agree."

"I had no idea that you were dating Izumo!"

"Well, I didn't get that far. My mother made me cancel my dinner reservations, so I never had a chance to ask him out, but once we move out, that won't be a problem anymore!"

I sighed. "Ino, what are you doing here? Do you even like any of these guys?"

"Liking the guy isn't the point, Sakura. I need to lose my virginity while I'm young and still hot. There's no way I'm waiting to have sex until after I'm married. Can you imagine it? I'll be fat, and old and not even know what I'm doing!"

"I didn't say until marriage. Wait until you actually share some sort of connection with someone."

"Sorry we don't all have Narutos who kiss the ground we walk on. Wait a second." Her large eyes gleamed evilly at me. "There's Naruto! He'd say yes, if I asked, wouldn't he? We could be Eskimo sisters!"

My face turned bright red. "W-what!?"

"I mean, I wouldn't if he was your boyfriend or something, but you're saying he's not."

"That's not fair Ino, and you know it!"

"I see, so you have feelings for him then! Just admit to it and I won't approach him."

"Of course, I have feelings."

"Aw, you love him? Finally over Sasuke I see. In all reality you two will probably be the first ones to get married. It's kind of sickening."

"I didn't say I was in love with him!"

"Anyway, let's start looking for apartments right away. What is your price range? We definitely need a two bedroom. No way we are sharing a room…"

Ino took me to go see some listings in the local paper, circling the promising ones. There was quite a bit with the reconstruction of the town to choose from. It was going to be a lot of work visiting each and every one for a showing.

Naruto said he wanted to help so I went to go meet him with the ads to see if he would be free to go with us, once Ino was done helping her mom at the flower shop. Naruto had earlier been researching a few rooms that were in his own apartment building. I had already vetoed them in my head, feeling like we wouldn't have enough personal space if I were to live in the same building as him, but I let him ramble about it anyway as I told him I would think about it. I wasn't really listening to what he was saying, as I found myself thinking back to Ino's statement.

I knew Ino was just teasing. It was part of the unwritten code of sisterhood to not go after someone your friend had already been with. But it was also part of the code to not go after someone your best friend also liked, and Ino and I had never been very good about that rule.

Furthermore, I wasn't entirely sure Naruto wouldn't say no. Naruto had always been so bad at flirting. He had been turned down so often that it was no surprise when Naruto started to look quite desperate. I mean, of course this failed attempt of flirting was normally directed at myself, but Naruto wasn't one to not be charming to anyone else he had come across. If it wasn't for his newfound fame, no one would have given him a second glance after knowing his obnoxious personality. Now with the people's change of heart on their opinion of Naruto, even Naruto seemed to be slightly weirded out when he had fan girls fawning over him. It was almost like he didn't know how to process it when his charming smile didn't lead to a smack in the face.

Eventually he would get over it, wouldn't he? And when he realized that he could have anyone, would he really want to still be going after Sasuke-kun and I? Sasuke-kun was impossible as it was, and I, there were plenty of people who were prettier than me, and a whole lot nicer.

Like Hinata…

"What's wrong?" I must have been sitting in Naruto's kitchen for a good ten minutes not saying anything. "You don't have to live in this building. I know! I know! It's not a prime location. I just can't help it since this exact spot is all I've ever known. I'm not the best person to talk to about moving."

"If Ino asked you to sleep with her, would you do it?"

Naruto laughed. "What?" He shook his head, grinning before the smile dropped away as he realized the strangeness of my question. "What?" he asked more seriously.

I turned the page for one of the apartment ads absentmindedly. "I don't think she will. But Ino is having some sort of crisis and wants to lose her V-card as soon as possible. Do you think it might have something to do with her father passing?" I dropped the page I had been holding. "Oh, no. She must be trying to fill some kind of void. I don't know how to help her with this." She probably needed some sort of professional therapy. Psychology was not my strong suit as it wasn't something I could just reconstruct back together with my chakra. Maybe I should get some books to brush up on the subject. I knew a number of people that could certainly use it.

"Ino wants to fuck me?" Naruto asked in disbelief, pulling me back to the conversation and my worst fear.

"You would say yes," I stated, staring into his wide eyes.

"What? No, I wouldn't!" Naruto exclaimed offended. "I'm in a very serious polyamorous relationship with you and Sasuke!" He broke our eye contact. "I mean, I think. It's serious to me. But you can do what you want Sakura-chan. I don't want to hold you back. If you want to fuck Ino, I'm not stopping you!"

"I don't." I glared.

"So, this isn't leading into a threesome request? Because I'm always a yes for threesomes."

"God, Naruto! Of course not!"

"But wow. I always thought Ino hated me."

"She does," I confirmed. "Were you not listening to what I was saying earlier? She's having a crisis!"

"Oh, man. I really wanna help!"

I frowned.

"If I were single," he said, turning the page of the catalog and circling another listing. "But I have a commitment." Naruto shook his head, letting out a breath. "Ino is hot though. In a bitchy kind of way. But like, a totally different type of bitchy than Sasuke. Ino's got this presence that makes you want to let her walk all over you while Sasuke's just…" Naruto grew silent, staring out listlessly.

I could feel my heart beating and it hurt my chest. Why couldn't we figure out a way to think about Sasuke-kun without pain? "Sasuke-kun's the bitchy one?" I scoffed, trying to lighten the mood.

Naruto looked up at me. "Well, yeah. I'm not saying you're not bitchy, but you normally have a legitimate reason as to why you're a bitch."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Now is not a good example."

The annoyance in my voice was more due to the fact that Naruto would sleep with Ino if he could. If he had been put into Team Ten instead of Team Seven, he might have crushed on Ino rather than me. She was already way prettier than me. It didn't matter how bitchy she was. It didn't matter how bitchy Sasuke-kun and I were.

"Do you think Ino is hotter than I am?"

Naruto's nervous look was not making me feel any better. "No," he finally said. I couldn't really hope for a better answer, I guess. "Ino's too materialistic. Nothing against her really, but I don't know if I would be able to fall in love with her, you know?"

"But you love me?"

Naruto locked his eyes with me. Before he could answer there was pounding at his front door. "Hey, are you losers still in here?" Ino's voice carried through the wall.

Naruto got up.

"Don't say anything about what I said!" I told him quickly. I probably should stop talking about one, to the other. It was not a good practice to fall into the habit. Naruto made a motion of sealing his lips before answering the door.

Though Naruto did not mention that we talked about Ino having a sexual pursuit in him, it did not stop him from treating her differently. He made sure to give her more attention, additional dopy smiles directed to her than normal. Him doing it subconsciously did not prevent it from being both awkward and annoying.

"Ladies first," he announced as he let Ino enter an apartment before him but walked in before I did. Ino gave me a disparaging look and I rolled my eyes. I hoped she would just assume it was Naruto's normal Naruto-ness and had nothing to do with her expressing her interest in him to me.

It was a long day, Ino continuously only liking apartments above my price range and Naruto finding affordable but more sketchy locations. Naruto did have a big list, on account he seemed to know everyone. By the end of it, Ino had just about had it with Naruto trying to subtly impress her with his weirdness that she started yelling at him for any wrong breath he took, Naruto fumbling around in nervous embarrassment.

"Naruto! Stand on the other side of Sakura. You smell like a boy's locker room full of dirty socks, and your breathing, like, right into my ear!"

"I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm sweating so much. I did shower today." It was really hot in the attic apartment on the third floor we were currently in.

"Where did you find this place? It looks like people come up here to overdose on drugs!"

"Actually, this old woman who sells hard candy owns it. She told me she was looking for renters. But if this one's not good enough, I've got tons more! I thought the ceiling was kinda cool."

I briefly wondered if Naruto had a kink for people being rude to him. He scratched off a listing from a notebook he had.

"What is it that you don't like about this one? Third floor? Would you prefer the first floor? Oh! Or the sweet spot of the second floor? You know, not too high, not too low, just right?" He wiggled his eyebrows at Ino who returned it with a glare.

She grabbed the notebook from Naruto's hands. "One that doesn't suck!"

"Sure thing doll face."

"Did you just call me doll face?"

"No?"

"Naruto," I cut in. I wasn't sure how much my annoyance was contributed to Naruto and Ino bickering or me just being hungry and tired. "I think we are done for today. We can try again tomorrow."

"Actually, I have a mission tomorrow," Ino said, though quickly waving her hand and shaking her head at me while Naruto wasn't looking. "So, don't worry about it Naruto. Don't want to take time out of your busy day."

"Well, I do have that thing I need to do…"

"Good, good. You do that! Thanks, Naruto, for your help!" Naruto's beaming smile was clearly making Ino uncomfortable as she proceeded to leave as fast as possible. "Sakura, I have some important girl stuff I need to talk to you in private."

Oh no, oh no, oh no.

She knew. She knew!

We walked for a good ten minutes without speaking to each other. The both of us looked back every once in a while, to see if Naruto had followed us. I didn't really say goodbye to Naruto, but sometimes it didn't seem like he noticed.

"What in all hell was Naruto going on about?! It was like he was using even less than the half of a brain cell he only has!"

"I don't know what you mean. He's always like that."

"Did you tell him I was interested?!"

"No!"

"You did! Oh my god, this is so embarrassing! Oh no, now he thinks I like him!"

"I didn't say you like him," I tried to defend. Ino was walking pretty fast, and I was having a hard time keeping up with her without breaking into a run.

"Well, you told him something! And now… wait, is he interested?! Does he like me? Oh, gross!"

"No, I mean, he's a guy, so I mean-"

"So, you did tell him!'

"I just- I wanted to make sure…"

"Make sure what?!"

"Like, if he was like actually… offered what you said, what he would choose."

"So, he's interested?" Ino turned around to stare at me for a second. I didn't know how to answer her without hurting her and my own feelings. "Don't answer just yet. Let's go someplace safe."

We headed out to the woods surrounding Konoha near Nara Forest. Only the Nara were allowed actually in the woods, so we were right outside of it. "Careful," Ino whispered. "Shikamaru sometimes takes naps around here, so keep your voice down."

She bent down to push some other shrubs away from the base of a tree to pick up a cardboard box, but she didn't explain what the box was. She looked at me. "Is he interested?" she asked again.

I let out a breath. This was really my fault. I should have just kept my damn mouth shut. "No, Ino. He didn't say he was interested."

Ino's shoulders slumped. "Not even the loser? Of course!" I felt like our tables had turned in such a bizarre way. It was unfathomable to think that Ino thought she was not a desirable woman. She was gorgeous. But even if her thoughts were being silly, it should have been my duty to reassure her. She was the one that took me from my dark place when I was six years old.

"No, listen. He probably would if it wasn't for… you know me. He explicitly expressed great interest in a threesome, so it has nothing to do with how attractive you are. He said you were really hot, actually!" That should have made her feel better.

She nodded her head. "Alright. Cool. I'm down."

Wait, what?

"Actually, this is perfect really. With a threesome, you'll be there to guide me so I don't make a complete fool of myself during my first time, and you're already comfortable with Naruto so it should work fine."

That was not what I was agreeing to. "You can't be serious?"

"Yeah, we'll just do our normal act."

"I am not agreeing to a threesome!" I shouted.

"Why? Because you don't want to have sex with Naruto, or because you don't want to have sex with me?!"

For a second, I didn't have any air in my lungs. "Ino, I-"

"No! It's because you have feelings for Naruto!" Ino gave me a slap in the face, though it was really so light it didn't hurt. "I shouldn't have to threaten you with a threesome in order to get the truth from my best friend. But whatever. I'll get the truth out of you some other time. I don't need your help. I already have a plan in the works." She pulled off the top to her box and tossed it casually onto the ground. "This will take my virginity…"

"Oh my god…" I was barely able to audibly murmur. Inside the box was a giant black dildo.

"I couldn't keep it at the house," Ino said, as we both stared at the silicon instrument in the box. "My mother would have surely come across it, and I had to order it for delivery so no one could see me go in and out of the sex shop. It's really a miracle my mother didn't see it amongst the flower delivery."

"How do you…" I took another breath. "How do you even use a dildo?" I lifted my eyes once to glance at Ino's face, but like a magnet, my gaze went right back to the box.

"What do you mean, how do you use it? You use it like a dick!"

"I guess so, but I mean… do you like hold it in your hands?"

"I don't know." Ino reached for the lid on the ground. "I'll figure it out. But I want to make sure my body is prepared first. I don't want any blood on my first time, or pain, or anything to go wrong. Since I still don't know who that's going to be with yet, I got the biggest size they had at the store."

"I'd say."

"So? I mean, I'm sure there are bigger dildos out there, but this size, is it bigger than normal? I don't want to be surprised. I know you probably don't have too much to compare it to, but at least you can compare it to Naruto."

"Ino," I said, a hand over my chest. "This is way bigger than Naruto or Sasuke-kun, so I don't think you are going to have a problem." I didn't realize what I had said until Ino dropped the box all together.

"WHAT?!"

At this point, my brain decided to completely shut up, and I turned around to walk away. Ino's quick movement to catch me sent me bolting into a run, but it was too late to escape as she tackled me to the ground. I screamed, affronted that she had the guts to tackle me. She screamed back, making me even more disoriented.

"YOU'VE SEEN SASUKE-KUN'S PENIS?!"

I had a brief thought that if Shikamaru was sleeping around here, he would have to be awake now. But I also knew that in no shape or form did he want to get involved in this argument.

"HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!" I was being showered with a series of slaps raining down on me that I didn't even know where to start defending myself. I was mostly just stuck on screaming my head off.

If I really wanted to, of course I could have just overpowered Ino and flung her to the other side of the village, but I was too scared from being caught in my secret. Ino may have had the same thought too because she abruptly stopped attacking me, sitting up but still pinning me with her legs. The look she gave me could have destroyed whole towns. "What are you doing?" she demanded.

I almost accused her of what she was doing, but I was too busy trying to figure out how to pry her thighs off my chest without hurting her.

"You did both of them! You have both of them! You have two boyfriends!"

"I wouldn't call them boyfriends…" yet.

Ino gasped so loudly that it almost sounded like a scream. "Behind their backs?!"

"Of course not! Every participant knows everything. There aren't any secrets between us."

"Ho, ho, ho! Here's a couple of secrets! Naruto loves you, and you are going to break his heart!"

Neither of those were really secrets, but that didn't prevent the truth from her words constricting my chest. "It's not what you think," I said. "Naruto's fine with it. It was his idea."

"Yeah, anything to get you to sleep with him!"

I thought of telling her. Naruto himself wasn't one to keep secrets about himself. Surely, he would confess if he was here. I had already told Ino I saw Naruto kiss Sasuke-kun. She would believe it.

But still. This was a big secret to tell for someone else. I almost felt like all three of us should be here before I said anything. Also, Sasuke-kun.

Sasuke-kun would never want Ino to know. He wouldn't want anyone to know about anything.

"I can't talk about this with you anymore. You'd have to talk to them." My voice sounded strange in my mouth.

"I don't have to talk to Naruto to know what he's trying to do. He's changed. I mean, he's still goofy and love struck when you are around, but when you are not, he's serious and says sentences that make sense, and I don't like it! He wants to marry you!"

I don't know why I laughed at that.

"But he's stupid if he thinks he can marry you and still let you fuck other men… I mean I guess he could. Oh man, Sakura, this is so sad. You can't do that to him."

I finally was able to push Ino off of me. "That's not what's happening."

"And then you doing it with Sasuke, why would that be a good idea? How are you ever going to get over him now?!"

I pushed myself up. "Ino, please stop-"

"He's been inside you. His DNA is in your skin! It's going to be so much harder to get him out of your thick skull now!"

"INO, I KNOW!" I finally shouted at her, holding my arms as if I could feel Sasuke-kun in my cells at that very moment buzzing around. "But you want to give your body to someone you don't even care about! Sorry I can't be undramatic like you and not have feelings involved!"

"Shut up, Forehead." Ino pushed herself up as well and gathered her box. "I know what fucking love feels like. Fuck! I've been in fucking love!" She slammed the dildo back into the box. "This is a stupid conversation. I'm done talking about it."

We left quiet. Next time I saw Ino, things probably would just go back to normal like the fight never happened, but I had a small nagging feeling that it wouldn't. The last fight we had that lasted 5 years also involved Sasuke-kun. It would make perfect sense to cause another fight just as long if not longer, right?

But we were older now. We were more mature, weren't we?

"Sakura-Chan… Heard you were looking for me."

I squeezed my eyes tighter in my sleep. What time was it?

Naruto wasn't available the night I had the fight with Ino, or I might have gone to him for advice. I kind of already knew what he was going to say, and I didn't really think he had Sasuke-kun's wishes in mind.

I rolled deeper into my pillow. "It has to be like three in the morning, Naruto. I'm going to start locking my window…"

"It was locked."

"What? I blinked and turned my head to him. He was spinning a kunai around his finger.

"Not the best ninja proof windows, Sakura-Chan."

"My parents don't know any better," I grumbled, moving over so Naruto could crawl into bed with me.

"Wait, I need to show you something."

"What is it?"

"I couldn't bring it here. You have to come to my place."

I groaned. "Naruto…"

"No, I promise this is something you will agree is important. You'll be so glad you didn't wait."

"Is it another apartment ad because I think I'm apartment out."

"No, way better." Naruto scooped me up bridal style. It reminded me of what Ino had said about Naruto wanting to marry me. We were way too young to get married. I held on to him anyway because he was warm in the cool night.

"Are you covered in scratches?"

Naruto didn't answer me, but he had a giant grin on his face the entire time we were going to his home. When we arrived one of his clones opened his new window for us, since I was still in Naruto's arms. There were a couple of other Naruto clones guarding his closet door.

I thought I could hear squeaking behind the wood.

I was beginning to feel nervous. "Did you kidnap an animal? If this is a pet for a gift, that's not a good idea. I don't have time to take care of a cat. I hope it's a cat," I said again as I stared at Naruto's beaming scratched up face.

Naruto threw open the closet door with a flourish.

There was a wild animal tied to the rack in the closet, all of Naruto's belongings no longer hanging, as the creature had knocked them to the ground. Feathers were everywhere.

"What the hell, Naruto!" The very unhappy creature was hanging upside down, tied by its feet, its wings flapping uselessly and chaotic.

"It has the rack to perch on, but it refuses." Naruto went in, grabbed the bird with its wings pinned to its side, and righted it on the rack. The bird seemed confused for a moment before it bit Naruto on the hand and went back to trying to fly away.

"Did you steal someone's messenger hawk? You could just get one from-" I stopped talking. I had seen this bird before. And when I looked for it, on one of its legs was a tag of the Uchiha symbol.

"We can send messages to him now."