Perspiration on her naked skin cooled Ino off in the aftermath of sex with Chouji. His arm and leg were draped over her, pinning her to the bed. A gentle snore let her know that he was asleep. It had been pretty good—sex with him was always pretty good—but Ino found her mind in other places. Well, in one other place. She was thinking about Sakura. She felt sorry for the girl. Remembering the blushing and the stuttering, Ino wished she could go back redo the earlier encounter, soothing the pink haired girl instead of shaming her. God, how could I have been so stupid? It was just that everyone she knew had kissed someone else, or multiple someone elses. They had all grown up! Kissing was a part of growing up! Even Ino had kissed several boys. Her first kiss had happened...god, years ago. So why should she not have been so surprised to learn that Sakura had never really kissed another boy? The blond girl being who she was began to scheme. It was well past time for Sakura to get her groove on, and now that they were friends, Ino knew she was just the person to help Wideforehead on her way! The question was just a matter of picking out the lucky boy to be Sakura's first kiss... - - - - - - The rain had made training miserable. Sasuke had been in a foul mood. In his time away, Sasuke let one thing slip in his quest for revenge—he had let Naruto get better than him. Sakura almost smiled when remembering the first few days of training after Sasuke had settled back in to Konoha. It had been awkward—what did one say to a boy who had deserted his village to train under the nemesis of everything they all called home? The real awkwardness occurred at the end of those training matches, though, when Naruto defeated Sasuke. It had been a not-so-subtle slap in the face for the Uchiha. After all, he had left to become greater and achieve more power because he had thought Naruto was not enough of a match for him. The losses showed that if Sasuke had stayed, if the whole incident with Orochimaru had never happened, his rivalry with Naruto might actually have made him stronger. Instead he was now just alienated and second-best. Today he was feeling alienated and angry. The rain weakened his Katon jutsu and Naruto was moving too fast for him, and without the added power of the fox demon. Sakura had been busy the previous day with medical training at the hospital, so Kakashi had allowed her to watch the two boys spar. It had been painful to see. Now she and Sasuke were walking home in silence. Naruto had run off the gloat to his perverted old sensei and Kakashi left to do what he called "grown up training." "Sakura, were you watching me spar with Naruto today?" Sasuke's question caught her off guard—even after returning, her rarely spoke to her directly. She blushed, thankful the rain was cooling her face and hopefully hiding the tell-tale pink. "Yes, Sasuke-kun, I watched the match. It was very close and you did well." At that, Sasuke scoffed. "I shouldn't have asked you, you wouldn't know how to help me. We are all chuunin now. I should stop training with Kakashi and Naruto and find someone else to train me. Someone who could actually help." His words stung her badly. Years ago, before he had left, she would have immediately felt guilty over his slight and assumed she had said something wrong. Years ago, Sakura would have apologized profusely, trying to win any sort of favor from the stoic Uchiha. But, crush or no crush, the older Sakura felt an immediate surge of anger. Even the fact that he had not used her name when mentioning training was an insult. "Do you mean go train with someone like Orochimaru? Because it seems to me that you should have learned that lesson now—finding a new ,'better' teacher only caused you and everyone else pain, and you are no better a ninja than when you left." Sakura's voice was dripping with sarcasm and it caused Sasuke to stop in his tracks, his mouth open in surprise. that did not stop Sakura from continuing, however. " You lost today because Naruto is better than you. I watched you two. You are still assuming he will fight like he did before you left. But it has been years, Sasuke. And you have been back now long enough that you should have noticed. But your eyes are clouded by arrogance. Do you want to know how Naruto kicked your ass? Because he is a twenty year old chuunin and you are still fighting like a thirteen year old genin. You want to get better? Then start paying attention to who you are fighting." Heart racing, Sakura stared at Sasuke, waiting for his reply. She was not sure what had just happened. How...when...what just came out of her mouth? When he didn't say anything, just narrowed his eyes, she felt her resolve crumbling. The silence stretched between them and it was almost as if she could feel him building a coldness, an anger like a stone wall. Finally, she cracked. "Sasuke-kun, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. It was insensitive and I don't really know what I'm talking about and—" He held up a hand to stop her. "Sakura, you are correct. You don't know what you are talking about. I don't know why I even asked someone like you—" his words were filled with disgust and pity—" a question about training. I am going home." With that, he turned and walked away, leaving Sakura standing shocked in the rain. - - - - - - Ino had just stepped out of the shower when she heard a knock on the door. It was too early to be her boyfriend—they weren't going out until later. Opening the door a crack, she peeked out, trying to conceal her towel-clad body. But the sight she saw caused her to fling open the door in a heartbeat. Her eyes were greeted by a soaking wet, mud splattered, puffy eyed, sobbing, sniffling pink haired mess of a girl. "Sakura, what on earth is going on? Come inside this instant! What are you doing in the rain?" She ushered her friend into her apartment. "I. just. Training. Sasuke. Beat. Advice. Crying..." Sniffles and choking cries kept Sakura from actually forming a coherent sentence. She gave up trying, instead opting to collapse on the floor in a heap of wet clothes and tears. "You aren't making any sense and you are getting my floor wet. Let's get you warm and dry, ok?" Ino used all her strength to drag the weeping girl off the floor. For her efforts, she got a big hug. A big, sloppy, freezing hug. "Ohhhhhhhh noooo! Sakura! I just got out of the shower!" This of course only made the girl cry more. In fact, Sakura began to wail. "Ok, ok, I'm sorry, it is fine, I can just rinse off again. Let's please just get you calmed down, for the love of all that is holy, so I can understand just what in the hell happened, ok?" And with that, she guided her friend to the bedroom. - - - - - - - Almost an hour later they were both clean, dry and huddled on the couch in the living room. Sakura was wrapped in a blanket. Her face was red and swollen but at least she had stopped crying enough to tell Ino what had happened. When she finished her story, she waited for Ino to berate her for saying something so foolish to the Uchiha. "You actually said that to him. To Sasuke. You said that to Uchiha Sasuke? I can't believe it!" "I know, what was I thinking I am so stu—" "Stupid? I don't think so, Sakura. What you are is amazing. I just can't quite wrap my mind around it! After all you have been through with him, for you to say something like that to him is just unbelievable." "Unbelievably stupid, you mean. Now Sasuke-kun will never speak to me again!" Ino paused, looking at her grieving friend. "Sakura...would that be such a bad thing?" Green eyes leapt up, full of suspicion. "You would like that, wouldn't you, Ino? Sasuke would stop talking to me. It makes it easy for you to sweep in and try to steal him from me! I thought you were with Chouji but now I can see how you really feel! I can't believe this!" Dumbfounded, Ino just gawked at her accuser. It took her a second to get her bearings and speak again. When she did, she fought to keep her tone even. "You stupid wide-foreheaded girl. I am not trying to 'steal' Sasuke away from you. I have a boyfriend I love and am content with." "Then why would you say it would be a good thing for Sasuke to stop speaking to me?" "Because he treats you like shit. That is all there is to it, Sakura, and you need to start using that brain of yours that you claim is so smart." Now it was Sakura's turn to be stunned. Ino took a deep breath before admitting the truth. "I know how you feel about Sasuke-kun. I'll be honest... I still harbor some of the love for him I felt when we were fighting for him—" "I knew it! I knew you still loved him and didn't want me—" But Ino cut her off. "Let me finish, baka. As I was saying. You are right, some part of me does still love him, I think. But I am your friend, and you are more important to me. If he cannot see what a smart, pretty, talented and capable ninja—and girl you are, then you need to realize that you can do better. I think you deserve better than Uchiha Sasuke." They both sat and looked at each other, the realization that they had both, in the same day, put down the love of their lives slowly hitting them. To say a bad thing about the Uchiha was blasphemy, right? But after the words were spoken, neither girl could deny their truth. Sakura was the first to speak. "So... if I am too good for Sasuke...then who is good enough for me?" Remembering her thoughts from the night before, Ino's eyes began to twinkle. "Oh, wide forehead, I am sure we can find a boy much more suited to your...ahem...needs. And I have one such boy in mind!"
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