Teamwork 2
Chapter One: Moving
Asuka

Pairing: still NaruSasuSaku.(And Kyuubi, sorta. XD) Meaning threesome, menage a trois even. NOT love triangle. Meaning GAY and STRAIGHT relationships. Both genres at the same time, sometimes. Can't deal with it? Sorry for you, but I'm not changing my story to fit your ideas of what my plot should be.
Warnings: Rated R for Inner Sakura's potty mouth, some violence and blood, and allusions to previous and future sexual relationships.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't hit.
Notes: Ok, so maybe we're going to see Sakura's parents at some point in the manga. But at the time I'm writing this, we haven't yet, meaning I get to create them, looks, names and behavior. Joy. : :is lazy: :


(Sakura)

"You are NOT going to be around this monster any longer, Sakura!"

Her parents had been, as expected, frantic. For a few days, her mother had even refused to let her out of her sight; she'd had to lie to her to be able to see Sasuke-kun alone -- something about only authorized ninja being allowed to visit Sasuke's wing. The fib seemed painfully obvious to her, and she cringed at the thought that Kakashi-sensei was finally warping her personality just like he'd warped Naruto and Sasuke.

Haruno Hana already had difficulties tolerating the risk that her baby daughter would disappear during a mission -- but to have her disappear in the middle of Konoha, during what had been supposed to be a calm night out between friends, had been too much.

The lack of clearance was a great excuse to avoid going into details about what exactly had gone wrong during Sakura's visit. But the second Sakura found the moron who had let it slip that the Kyuubi had been involved, she was going to tear out his liver and stuff it up his nose. The first three days after she came back had been hard enough when all her mother wanted was to randomly hug her, but when the fourth day started with an argument over her going back to her team at the end of the week...

Sakura tried to talk, but could only produce a bewildered "What?" as reply. The least she could say was that she was flabbergasted. Hana had always been reserved about Naruto, but as she was not a ninja and hadn't seen first-hand the destruction the demon fox had caused, she didn't have for him the seething hatred Ino's or her other friends' parents had for him.

Her mother immediately launched into her argument.

"I know you're dedicated, Sakura, and I understand that you take things like clearance seriously, which is why --" her lower lip wobbled, and Sakura felt awful for lying and hiding things from her -- "why you can't tell me what he did to you, but Tanaka Megumi said he kidnapped you, and -- she suggested other things -- horrible things -- and I don't want you around him any longer!"

Sakura tried to reply, but her mother wasn't stopping -- she was pouring out everything at once, everything she must have been thinking during the three days. Now Sakura understood the worried, "discreet" sidelong looks better.

"Being in danger of injury or death during your missions is one thing, and I'm proud of you for being so brave, even though you give me more white hairs than your father ever had to his name--"

That was saying a lot, seeing as her father had been born white-haired, even though now he was balding quite badly at the top.

"...but being in constant danger because of your own teammate! That is unacceptable."

/Shit. Fucking gossips./ She had known it would happen, eventually, but she had hoped it would take longer. Sakura took her mother's hands, that the older woman was wringing nervously, and gave them a reassuring squeeze.

"Mom, calm down. I don't know what you heard, but it was nonsense. The whole thing was a misunderstanding. Naruto..."

Her mother shook her head in denial, almost unraveling her heavy chignon of graying red hair. "That thing --I heard -- I wish you would just tell me! I understand how loyal you can be to your teammates, and I understand that you've always been afraid to be rejected by the ninjas -- I never stopped you when you decided you wanted to be one as well, never! But you're taking this solidarity too far. If he hurt you, then you are going to change teams, or you are going to stop being a ninja."

"But he didn't hurt me!!" Sakura protested, letting go of her mother's hands. "And that's not even what you mean, is it? Why can't YOU tell me what you believe he's done?"

Her mother's lower lip wobbled, and Sakura fought not to wrap her in her arms. She was making her mother cry. She hated it.

"I hear he r-raped-- oh, god, Sakura!"

/It's not rape when there's consent,/ Inner Sakura muttered back, but Sakura had more sense than to blurt it out like that.

"He most certainly did not! If he had, I'd be trying to kill him right now, I would certainly not protect him!"

Apparently alluding to her willingness to kill people who wronged her wasn't the way to reassure her mother.

"My baby girl..."

"Mom, I'm seventeen, and I've been a ninja since I was twelve. I'm not a baby anymore." Half her age-mates were living on their own by now; the ones who belonged to a large clan, like Hinata, Neji and Kiba, had moved to independent rooms. By ninja standards, she was an adult.

But by civilian standards, she was still a kid. Sometimes she loved it -- it was good not to have so many responsibilities, and she liked being her mother's baby girl, liked going to buy pretty dresses with her and having her play with her hair and watching her cook treats -- but sometimes, when she wanted to give her opinion on things like politics or the level of freedom she could claim, it stifled her.

"Sometimes, I think you want to prove how mature you are too hard. You ARE mature for your age, Sakura -- but you're still underage."

"Not by shinobi law," she countered sharply. Shinobi were legally under the responsibility and guidance of their parents until they turned fourteen or became chuunin, whichever came first. After that, it was traditional that they continue to defer to their parents as long as they lived under their roof, but if they wanted to move out, no one could officially stop them. Sakura didn't want to move out -- but she was pretty sure that if she'd been allowed to go through the exams again, she would have passed by now, which made her twice adult.

"The shinobi law is ridiculous -- how many of the genius children were allowed to climb through the ranks and killed and killed until they broke or went crazy ? It doesn't let children be children -- it only cares about ability, not emotional maturity, so don't use it as an excuse!"

/... damn, that was a good one,/ Inner Sakura muttered, annoyed at being forced to concede that point.

"... So you mean that at seventeen, I'm not emotionally mature enough to know better than to engage in an abusive relationship? Believe me, mom, if Naruto dared to treat me wrong, I'd beat him up so bad his grandchildren would feel it!"

A thought came at her like a kick to the chest and her breath hitched. Our grandchildren.

Hana's eyes were narrowed in righteous indignation. "Maybe you don't realize it, Sakura, but he's probably not as nice -- Sakura? Are you okay?"

"... I'm fine," she replied, voice wavering. She'd probably paled slightly. It was just -- just the reminder that -- god. She lifted a hand to her stomach, fancying that she could feel the little spark of warmth inside her, and fearing/hoping/wondering.

Her baby. Naruto's baby. Maybe. Maybe.

She understood her mother's fears, but she didn't want to hear her badmouth him. She just -- couldn't stand it. Couldn't stand anyone badmouthing Naruto, stubborn, faithful, chivalrous, silly Naruto, without even knowing him. Her Naruto. Her boy. Hers.

"Don't. You don't know him. He's sweet and funny and silly. He's risked his life to save me countless times. He's always protected me, cheered me on, smiled at me. Don't. Just don't. You don't know him. He's not the fucking fox!"

Hana jerked back, startled and visibly stung. Sakura allowed herself a second to feel guilty.

"Sorry -- but he's not, mom. I know you think you know better, but you don't know him at all. He's the fox's container, NOT the fox -- and I know people say it corrupted him, but how many of these people actually talked with him? Even just once? Why don't you stop listening to gossip for once and actually trust your daughter to know someone she's lived alongside for over five years?"

Her voice had turned pleading at the end, but then she was feeling pretty desperate. She hadn't inherited her stubbornness from her father, that was for sure, and the way Hana was scowling...

"Mind your tone and language, young lady."

Sakura winced and lowered her head. She didn't feel that chastened, but she didn't want to aggravate her mother now.

"You're too close. I can't expect you to be objective."

"Oh, because YOU are?!" she lashed back, incensed. Now THAT was grossly unfair!

"Maybe not," Hana replied just as quickly as her, "but how can you expect me to be? This is about my baby daughter's safety!"

"I'm NOT A BABY ANYMORE!!" she yelled, slamming her fist on the table.

The wood cracked under her knuckles.

Her mother stared as the table fell to the ground in two pieces, a plate landing on Sakura's foot and rolling off to crack against the wall. "... That's it. Go to your room. We'll talk later, when you're ready to be reasonable."

"Don't you mean, 'when you're ready to admit that I'm right and you're wrong'?" Sakura replied, shoving her anger down forcefully and leaving only cold control behind. She would not convince her mother that she was mature by throwing temper tantrums, but neither was she disposed to let her believe that Sakura obeyed her for any other reason than because she wanted to.

Hana looked about to suffocate from astonishment and anger. "Sakura--"

"No. We are going to talk, calmly and reasonably, and you will not guilt me into acting like a chastened child. We are going to list the things that trouble you, then we will talk about them until they don't anymore, and then -- I have some things I have to tell you too, but I am not saying anything until you're ready to listen and try to understand."

Now, her mother was suffocating. "Chastened -- reasonably -- READY TO UNDERSTAND?!"

Sakura felt a flush of anger rise to her forehead and took a deep breath, then another.

"I refuse to 'try to understand' why you put this -- this monster over your family!"

"BECAUSE HE IS FAMILY!! He's--"

Sakura noticed with horror that her mother's wide-eyed stare was fixed on the hand that was protectively splayed over her belly. "Uh. I didn't mean it like that..." she attempted, but Hana was clearly not listening.

"Oh god. He did. He did rape you."

"It wasn't rape, mom," she said softly.

Haruno Hana sat down on the closest chair heavily, her grey-blue eyes painfully wide.

"... my little girl..."

Her breath hitched. Sakura's control vanished. "Oh, mom -- don't, don't cry, it's not that horrible, really! You -- you're going to be a grandma, and okay it's a bit early, and you're still young -- but -- don't cry, please!"

She reached out, hesitated, then decided to hell with it and hugged her mother tightly. Hana was still for a few seconds, but then she was clinging back and sobbing, babbling words that Sakura had a hard time understanding. Hearing her mother cry, even without knowing that it was all her fault, was horrible, just plain horrible.

"Shh, mom, mommy, calm down, everything's going to be okay, I promise -- everything's going to be fine -- just breathe, okay? Just breathe."

"Fine? Fine? I don't -- I can't -- my baby, pregnant -- Kyuubi no Youko..."

She pursed her lips slightly -- it was that or letting them quiver -- and slowly let go.

"I've already seen Hokage-sama about it -- that's partly why it took so long for me to come back. She's going to keep an eye on the baby, make sure it grows up right. But barring an accident, he should be normal. Just a normal baby, mom."

"H-hokage-sama?"

"... yes... she was understandably worried too, but she made sure that Naruto's ... ah, tenant shouldn't interfere." /...too much, you mean. Because he's already interfering./ She couldn't tell her mother that if she wanted her to calm down, though.

Hana seemed mollified for a few seconds, then took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. "He's still what he is, and don't you tell me there's no danger at all. People hate him -- they might hate you, too. Even if you don't tell anyone who's the father -- my daughter, having a child alone! It's going to be so hard for you, and ... Maybe you should..."

"Get rid of the child? I thought about it. I couldn't. I just couldn't."

"But it's been -- how long?"

"A week," she whispered. Just a week. So short a time for her world to change so drastically.

It hurt to see the naked hope in her eyes. "Then you may yet change your mind! Think about it, more than that, Sakura!"

She decided not to reply that it was too late, way too late -- that the child was anchored to her and it would kill her to abort... literally. "I will. But don't hope for too much."

"Even if he was a normal boy, he's seventeen -- no boy I know wants to be a father so early. He'll abandon you, or he just won't be able to deal -- you'll be alone!"

Sakura shook her head, slowly. If there was one thing she believed in, it was that being alone was not going to happen. "... he loves me. He really does. He'd -- he'd die for me." That didn't have as much to do with being her significant other than it had to do with being her teammate, but her mother would never understand what it meant to fight and kill and save people and each other together, day after day after day -- sometimes she thought even romantic, soulmates-love straight from a novel could never compare to the solidity, the depth of the bond you developed with the ones who guarded your back. "He'd do anything -- and he'll be a great dad -- maybe not very conventional, but caring and attentive and mom, please, don't cry..."

Her mother was wiping her tears, biting her lip. She was shaking her head, unconsciously, denying what Sakura was saying. It hurt. "I thought -- I thought you were in love with that other boy -- that Sasuke!"

Sakura was silent for a few seconds. "I was. I am."

"Then why are you locking yourself in a relationship with someone who, as far as I know, is just a friend? If you love someone else? You're not going to be happy, Sakura -- and you have to think of what people will say, how they will treat you -- it will only make it worse..."

Sakura bit her lip. "... I love Naruto... I really do. But -- Sasuke..." How could she tell her? How could she explain? /Mom, your cute little daughter is a greedy slut./ No, she had a feeling that wouldn't work. "It's... complicated..."

Her mother's voice broke. "Then explain! Explain so I can understand, because I don't, I don't understand and I want to!"

"If you don't even understand that Naruto loves me, you're not going to understand the rest!" she snapped back, swallowing tears. "He's one of the best things that ever happened to me -- you don't have a clue how it feels to have someone accept you, cherish you that unconditionally--" Her mother couldn't have a clue, because Sakura herself barely understood it, barely realized the depth of the gift. But she knew enough to treasure it.

She choked on a sob, closed her eyes not to see her mother doing the same. Some part of her had hoped that her mother would be happy for her. Objectively she'd known that it was stupid -- she hadn't even been happy for herself at first; even now she wasn't sure she entirely was -- and that even in the best of conditions it would probably take months for her parents to fully understand and accept her new situation -- and this situation was so far from good, it could only get worse if her mother learned about the threesome.

"Can you accept? I don't ask you to understand, but can you accept?"

"Do you know what you're asking? Accept that my daughter is -- is -- with THAT mons-- that boy -- and pregnant, and you're barely seventeen --"

Her mother was not ready to listen. And she still thought that Naruto was a monster. Naruto was not a monster. He was a brat, and a bother sometimes, but not a monster. Sakura closed her eyes. Then calmly, she stepped back and bowed to Hana. Then she turned away and went to her bedroom.

"... Sakura? What are you doing?" Her mother was hovering behind her, wringing her hands, eyes wide.

She grabbed her emergency pack from under the bed and shouldered it, eyes shuttered. "I'm giving us space. Space to breathe and think. I don't -- I can't -- if I say anything more, or you do, then -- I love you, mom. I love dad too. We'll talk later. Promise."

Before Hana could add anything, before she could reply, Sakura had disappeared.

+

Her steps had directed her exactly where she always went when things got bad, but she didn't notice until her hand landed on the door of the Yamanaka flower shop. Ino wasn't in sight at first, and realizing that she may very well be on a mission, Sakura suddenly felt like crying right in the middle of the street.

"Welcome, how may I help you -- ah, it's you, forehead-girl." Emerging from the back, Ino was wearing a dirty apron and wiping her hands on a rag, a bunch of flowers that Sakura didn't feel like identifying under her arm.

"Ino..." With faint horror, she heard herself choke; two seconds later the bunch had been abandoned on the counter, the little plaque indicating the shop's opening hours had been turned and she was being pulled to the backyard and the greenhouse.

"Okay, spill." Ino pushed her until she sat on a bench in the corner, crossed her arms on her chest and waited. Sakura breathed in the smell of the flowers spilling over the sitting spot, trying to calm down.

"I fought with mom." She lowered her head; both her hands were fisted in her lap.

Ino argued with her father about every other day; huge rows that contained screaming and throwing things and sometimes an amazing array of ninja skills, and brought all the neighbors to the windows to watch the neverending Yamanaka drama. But it was very different; Sakura almost never did more with her parents than exchange a few annoyed comments -- which were usually enough to worry her to death, seeing as her parents were not the arguing sort at all.

"Wow. Must have been a bad one. What was it about?"

"I -- I... Ino... I don't know w-what I can say..."

Belatedly, she was remembering that there was a fairly good chance Ino would not be happy to learn that Sakura had snagged Sasuke for herself, and she wasn't sure how the blonde would react to learning that the shyer, more traditional Sakura had managed to get herself in a threesome. And there was the Kyuubi problem... what was she going to think of her now?

"What's your level of clearance?" she whispered. It was probably higher than hers; Ino was a chuunin. But she wasn't sure it was enough.

"Whoa there. If it's village business, then you might be better off not telling me."

"It's -- okay, not telling details. But -- Okay." She took a deep breath, then another -- then yet another. Ino was looking worried. "It's -- something happened the other evening with Sasuke-kun and Naruto and I'm pregnant."

Okay, maybe that was a lot to blurt out in one go. Ino seemed to need a while to digest that one.

"Uh. Okay. Just so we're clear, Sasuke-kun and Naruto are related to the reason why you're pregnant?"

Sakura couldn't help but laugh, even if it sounded more like a sob. "Rather, yes."

"So. That sort of related. Yeah, I. Wow. Crap. Wait-- not that I think it's inherently bad that they were but -- wait wait wait, which one of them?"

Sakura whimpered and curled up, hiding in her hands. Her face was burning.

Ino didn't move for a few seconds, her breath just a bit too fast, and then she reached out and tentatively touched her shoulder.

"... I... Don't know," Sakura admitted, so softly she wasn't sure she'd actually said anything.

Ino squeezed her shoulder softly. "Okay, okay. I'm guessing there was a good reason -- I mean, I know you, Sakura." Her tone turned from shell-shocked but hiding it into falsely snide and she nudged her gently. "Your forehead is way too huge and your breasts way too small to reel in two men at once. You vile temptress, you."

Sakura couldn't help it, she laughed. Sobbed a little, but mostly laughed.

"Hey, wait a sec. You had sex with Sasuke-kun!! You bitch."

Sakura flinched.

"Was he any good?"

"Ino!"

Ino was tapping her chin with her finger mock-thoughtfully. "Yeah, well, most pretty boys think their looks will be enough for everything, but alas, I have learned it doesn't compensate for bad skills--"

Sakura whimpered and put her hands on her ears firmly. Ino smirked at her, tugging on her wrists until she let go.

"More seriously... I'm... a little jealous. Wait, scratch that, a lot jealous. But... sure, I still like him, but... you love him, don't you?"

Sakura nodded, looking down at her knees.

"Then I'm happy for you. And we're going to spar tomorrow, and this time I will kick your ass."

"Heh. You can try, Ino-pig."

Ino seemed worried suddenly. "Uh -- unless it was just sex? It wasn't --"

"Oh, no. We're... well, together. Sort of. I guess."

Ino's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You guess?"

"Okay, okay. We're together, but -- it's not as simple as that."

"... because you don't know who's the father?"

"No... I..." She took a deep breath. "He -- he offered. He's going to m-marry me. I'll be an Uchiha. Uchiha Sakura. That sounds weird, doesn't it?"

Slowly, Ino sat down on the ground, her eyes empty. Then she shook her head, and looked up. Sakura gave her a worried look, but Ino refused to talk about what was bothering her.

"I... see. But what if it's Naruto?"

Sakura played with a lock of pink hair nervously. Ino hadn't joked back; the marriage proposal must have shaken her rather badly. "Well... Officially -- it can't happen. Too much trouble. But... well, unofficially, there's a good chance it's him." She took a deep breath and continued. "You see, Naruto has this -- this problem that makes everyone old enough to remember fear and hate him -- I would tell you more but yeah, the clearance problem ... I can just tell you that it's like a bloodline, and it's potentially very dangerous, and my mom is already freaking out and I haven't even told her about Sasuke yet!"

"Yeah, I see the problem. She'd be happier just knowing that you're marrying Sasuke..."

"I already told her about me and Naruto. I'm not going to hide him," Sakura growled, scowling.

Ino blinked at her, visibly surprised by her protective response.

"You mean... it wasn't a one-time thing then."

Sakura swallowed nervously. She should have explained better. There was a difference between having sex with Naruto by accident, and dating him. Maybe Ino ...

"Hey, I'm not saying I was expecting it, but you know him better than me, and if you like him, then I say good for you. I just... I didn't know you liked him, that's all," Ino finished awkwardly.

Sakura lowered her head, hiding behind her hair. "I... it's weird. He was just -- just my friend, you know, I didn't even see him like that -- and now, with everything that's happened... it's just so weird."

"Oh, I get it. Before, he was just a boy, and now he's a boy."

Ino was leering. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Something like that, yes. I mean, he's still silly and noisy and a glutton, but ... but when he caresses my hair -- or when he smiles at me... I don't know, I feel so weird inside, because he's still Naruto, one of my teammates, someone I've known for years, and yet... And yet there's a whole side of him I didn't know... and he loves me, Ino, he loves me so much and I don't know what to do..."

She realized she was sobbing quietly when Ino enveloped her in a hug, rubbing her back gently.

"Okay, I'm kind of confused," she commented in a soft, soothing tone. "We're going to go over it again, to sort out the details. Okay?"

Sakura nodded, sniffling.

"So you and Sasuke-kun and Naruto ... had a wild passionate orgy."

Sakura elbowed her friend, but didn't deny it.

"Then you got pregnant. Then Sasuke, being his handsome and regal self, proposes to m-marry you. How do you feel about that? Just that bit."

Sakura registered the hesitation and gave her friend a worried glance, but she was smiling with determination; she would not talk about it just yet. Sakura took a minute to think. "I'm... happy. Deliriously happy. I'm scared too -- that he's only doing it out of duty. That would be worse than being a single mother. I know he tolerates me, even has a sort of affection for me, but he's so uncommunicative..."

"Right, so at some point you need to sit on him and make him tell you out loud. Then you'll be sure. Now about Naruto. How did he take it?" she asked, frowning slightly.

"Oh -- he wasn't jealous at all. Because -- you know... it's Sasuke, and... it's Sasuke." Sakura tried finding a better explanation, but it was difficult, because for her, it made perfect sense.

"And Sasuke, was he jealous?"

Sakura bit her lip. "No." She disliked herself for being bothered by that point, when she was relieved that Naruto wasn't jealous. One part of her would have been thrilled to see Sasuke getting possessive of her. But what bothered her the most was that her first thought had been, 'no, Sasuke hasn't been jealous of me'.

"And now, who's with who?"

Sakura winced and took a deep breath. She was pretty sure Ino had guessed, but it was the first time she was going to actually say it.

"Us. The three of us."

It was actually pretty liberating to say it. "We're together, Sasuke-kun, Naruto and me. They're -- my boyfriends."

She met Ino's eyes, and started giggling. She had said it, and it didn't sound particularly depraved, and Ino hadn't jumped on her feet to tell her in detail how perverted and immoral she was. And the sky hadn't fallen on her head.

"... congrats, I guess."

Immediately, Sakura felt her giddy laughter die. Ino had sounded... weird. As if she was gamely pretending to be happy.

"What's wrong?" she asked, worried. Maybe Ino was disgusted finally, and was just too good a friend to tell her openly...

"It's just -- it's the end of an era, you know?" Ino replied, a slightly forced smile on her lips.

She still looked sort of ... almost hurt, and uncertain; Sakura didn't like that. She took her friend's hand and squeezed gently. "Ino-chan?"

"Naw, it's nothing, I just -- I figured he... maybe he... didn't swing that way. Since we never heard of him ever dating... And now he's ready to share you with another guy. Just so he can have you. Just... wow."

Sakura bit her lip not to blurt out her thoughts about that side of the problem. There was already a lot for Ino to deal with. She wasn't going to start babbling about the faint niggling worry that it was more about her sharing Sasuke with Naruto, about Sasuke humoring her because Naruto wanted her in.

"...I don't even like him so much anymore. I mean, sure he's handsome and mysterious and all that, but. I mean, he's a prick too -- and he almost got Chouji and Shika killed."

They fell silent for a minute. By a wordless agreement, Sasuke's almost-betrayal was usually ignored.

"So, no, I don't like him like that anymore. But it's still a bit weird. To be frank... I never thought that either of us would ever have him -- it was almost more of a thing to bond over, in a really twisted way -- see what I mean?"

Sakura winced and nodded.

"But you did it. You got him. You won." Now Ino looked annoyed. "I demand a rematch."

Sakura started to laugh. "You already scheduled a fight for tomorrow, Ino-pig. So unless you mean we should fight over Shikamaru or something..."

"Hell no. Look at Shika and die. Your harem's already big enough."

"Aha, so--"

"NO. I am NOT possessive of my teammate. It doesn't mean anything -- stop laughing at me, forehead-girl!" Huffing, Ino poked her in the ribs. "What do you plan to do then? Go live with them?"

Sakura was a bit startled by the change of subject, but she was now relaxed enough that thinking of such things didn't panic her anymore. Or not a lot anyway.

"I don't think so. I mean -- we're okay, but -- it's so new and I'm so confused and it's so complicated -- it's moving so fast, Ino... I just -- I need somewhere... neutral, you see? Where I can calm down and think things through -- and where my mother can't think I'm choosing Naruto over her. You see?"

"But, don't you want to see him? Them?"

She tugged on a lock of her hair guiltily. "...Not especially -- not now, I'm tired, I don't know what to say..."

"But they should know about your mom. And maybe you'll feel better if you get to spend some time with them."

"... not yet."

Ino sighed, then shrugged. "Okay. You can stay at my place. No problem. And I'll even drop your parents a note so they don't worry. 'kay?"

Sakura hugged her, tight. "...thank you, Ino. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Oh, you'd probably mope and make a mess of things. Just like now, except way worse. Good thing I'm so dedicated." She winked teasingly, and Sakura relaxed enough to crack a small smile. "Besides, this isn't going to be free."

"Oh -- I'll help out at the shop, of course..."

"I was thinking of another sort of currency, forehead-girl."

"Eh?" She knew what Naruto would have thought of such a direct line; she squirmed and prayed for her blush not to show.

"Details! I want details. Juicy details."

Sakura started to blush.

"So, how are they in bed? Any good? And the rear view? You have to tell me everything about the rear view-- tight, shapely, muscled? Who's got the biggest--"

"INO!!"


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