Rivals, Friends and Lovers (part 1 of 13)
A/N: My first uploaded story on and my first Naruto fic.
Both Sakura and Ino are 16 and Chuunins in this story.
Italic text is when someone is thinking
Please enjoy!
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Morning Call
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A late night in Konoha.
The apartment's doorbell was ringing endlessly, and refused to stop. Whoever was outside the door was not going away.
"I'm coming, dammit!"A morning grumpy Sakura yelled from the other side of the door.
She stepped out from her bedroom, wearing her black morning robe, hair uncombed and messy. She had no makeup on which made her look as if she had just stepped out of the bed, which was true of course. While walking to the door she took a quick glance at the clock and saw it was 4:58 AM, which really made her frustrated. Why the hell would someone come and knock on her door this early? It better not be some stupid salesman...
This better be good...if this is some kind of joke then someone is going to loose a limb... and it better not be some kind of mission from Kakashi-sensei.
She opened the double locked door to see a young male genin standing there. He couldn't be more than ten years old.
"Yes Sakura asked with a bored voice while rubbing one of her eyes and leaningher tired bodyagainst the door. She looked down on the shorter ninja with a tired and slightly irritated look.
"Haruno SakuraThe boy asked
"Mmm...yes. What is it?"
"I'm sorry for waking you but I have a message for youHe apologized in a polite voice.
"Oh really?" Hearing what the boy wanted, Sakura's voice tone turned more interested. With a raised eye brow in curiosity, she asked "What kind of message?"
"You are to report to Hokage's tower 6 AM." The messenger answered. Sakura frowned in some confusion and surprise. Why should she go to the Hokage's tower that early?
"Why? And who sent you?" Sakura demanded to know. If she had to go to the tower then she wanted to go because of good reasons. However, she did not get much more info from the genin.
"I am not allowed to say any more details but it is important and it is mandatory that your presence is there."
"Oh just great Sakura groaned and slapped her face. That was something she really wished she would not hear. "Is that all?" she asked the boy, still keeping her tired and unfriendly voice.
"Yes. That's all I have to say."
Sakura waited a few seconds and noticed the messenger boy was not going away. Was he waiting for something?
"I thought you were done..." Sakura sharpened her gaze as she could predict what the boy was waiting for.
"Well... aren't you supposed to tip a messenger boy?"He was unsure if he should have asked that question by looking into Sakura's angry face.
First Sakura did not say anything but suddenly her tired eyes changed from looking tired to murderous. This little boy wanted payment for completely ruining her day?? A vein popped out in Sakura's forehead.
"Miss?"The boy hesitated a bit and backed away a step. He really did not like the way Sakura glared at him.
"GET OUT!!"Sakura yelled down to the smaller genin who almost fell backwards from surprise.
"Y-Yes...right away!"
The messenger boy quickly bowed before hurrying away like a scared rabbit. Sakura growled and slammed the door closed. Right now she was pissed off!
Damn! What a nice start on the day. Why the hell do I have to go the Hokage's building in the morning? I am on vacation for gods' sake.
She and the rest of her friends had been given a two week vacation because their sensei's had felt they need needed a break after working and training extremely hard, and they could need some time for themselves. Although still some people continued to train anyway while others did not and took advantage of what little free time they had been given.
She had made sure to use the time to have fun with her friends and now that she was a few years older she usually stayed up much longer during the nights, which was why she felt so extremely exhausted.
Couldn't they have told me this earlier instead of just one-hour beforehand? If I knew this I would have not gone to that party or gone to bed so late.
She took a quick look on the watch again. Now it was showing 5:02 AM
One hour left...better start preparing myself.
Sakura really hated when she did not have time to prepare herself in the morning, for she knew every time she did not have enough time to prepare herself, the rest of the day would go as bad. Of course it also made her very grumpy, which Naruto often had to suffer from by getting beaten up after saying or doing something stupid to her.
After a quick shower, a change of clothes, and a small breakfast consisting of only a toast without anything on it, some dry rice and a glass of water that did nothing to satisfy her hungry stomach, she sighed. Walking to the Hokage's tower would take her about 30 minutes, so she had no time to eat anything else. Everything that was going through her mind was why she was being called to the Hokage's tower, which made her even grumpier and pissed off. Stepping outside the door, Sakura locked it by turning the key twice. Now a half an hour trip was ahead of Sakura, which did not help her mood the slightest. The young girl could not stop yawning and her eyes were so tired that they felt itchy.
It was very early in the morning and because it was autumn, it took a while before the sun even showed up in the morning. The temperature was not very high either, only about ten degrees. Sakura put her arms around her to warm her freezing body. The town was very quiet; there was no one around to break the morning silence. She really hated to walk alone in the village when it was dark and especially when it was very cold. A growling sound was heard coming from her stomach.
This better be important and go quickly. I am so hungry...
Frustrated she kicked a loose stone on the ground sending it forward in great speed.
Damn!
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Finally, after 25 long and cold minutes of walking and plenty of cursing from Sakura, she finally saw the gates leading to the Hokage's tower. Squinting her eyes, she saw a familiar person standing nearby, the first person she have seen since she left her house. The person was really someone she would not want to meet at a time like this when she felt she just wanted to kill someone randomly. It was a cute looking girl in both Sakura's height and weight with a long blonde ponytail and purple kunoichi(Means female ninja) clothes. There was only one girl in Konoha village that had that description...
INO-PIG! What is she doing HERE??
And Ino it was. Sakura's long-life friend and rival at the same time. She walked towards the gate where Ino stood who was leaning against the stone wall. Judging by her face you could see Ino too had not received much sleep last night either. She looked tired and exhausted and had bags under her eyes. Hearing Sakura's foot steps, Ino raised her head and smiled tiredly after seeing saw Sakura walking towards her.
"Oh...Good morning... Sakura-chan." She said to Sakura with a sly look, smirking.
"Good morning to you too... Ino-chan." Sakura replied back with much less friendlier voice. "So what brings you to the Hokages tower this early in the morning?" Sakura asked.
Lifting her head up a bit to show her pride, Ino answered "I have been told by the Ninja council to come here." Ino said arrogantly, grinning. "It must have been really important. They probably felt they wanted to give their best female Chuunin a special secret mission so they asked for me to come here." A vein popped out in Sakura's forehead in anger.
She has been called here too? Of all the female chuunins they chose her?
Sakura really wanted to tell Ino that she had been called here to the Hokage too but she refrained.
"Bah! Who would want to hire a filthy pig?" She spat out, calling Ino by her old nickname.
"Oh, do I sense a bit of jealousy in the air, Sakura?" Ino just smirked arrogantly back.
"HAH! You still feel so sure and proud of yourself as usual, don't you Ino!"
"Definitely jealous." Ino said and smirked to show her superiority. Sakura took a breath, hoping to shock Ino with her news.
"Then why don't you ask me what I am doing here in a cold morning like this?"
Once the words had left Sakura's mouth, Ino stopped and stared at her with the same, looking rather confused. She glanced around quickly before asking with a frowning eye. Sakura smirked when she saw that.
"What... are you...doing here?"
Finally she asks! Sakura's lips formed the same sly and weak smile Ino had before as she told Ino what she did not know.
"The same reason as you Ino-pig! I have been told to come here for something special as well." Sakura's lips spread wider into a grin when she saw Ino's angry reaction.
"WHAT?" Ino spat out shockingly "Why the hell would they want you??"
"Because one of us actually has a brain! Now there's definitely some jealousy in the air, but it's not from me, Ino!"
"Pfft! You have nothing for me to be jealous about!"
"Then why are you getting so upset all of a sudden?"
"YOU!" Ino took a step forward towards Sakura and pointed at her with a finger manically. "Just looking at you is enough to ruin my mood! You make my eyes bleed!"
"And your presence is enough for me!" Sakura shot back, taking a step forward closer to Ino too "I feel a stinking aura coming from you!"
"Just the fact that you live on the same planet ruins my life!"
"Ohhh you are really asking for it now forehead girl!" Ino's voice grew hostile, and she balled her hands into fists.
"Then come on Ino-Pig. Bring it on!" Sakura got into defensive stats and clenched her fists to prepare herself.
The tension between the two girls increased to the point where they were just about to start fighting, but before a punch could be thrown, the gates clicked and opened suddenly. With heated glares, the two walked into the courtyard.
"If this is a mission, I'll be the one to get it!!" Ino spat out, hitting her chest with her fist. "Not you"
"I won't lose to you, Ino."
"I'm not going to lost to you either, Sakura!"
As they made their way through the long square courtyard, Sakura's gaze was reluctantly drawn to Ino's body and could not help herself from admiring her form while feeling a bit jealous. During the past few years Ino had really grown and matured into a nice looking woman. Although she was only 16, she looked very adult. Many boys (and sometimes even girls) their age often stared at her as she walked down the street. In fact, countless of those boys had tried to ask her out...however few were successful for she always says she's still saving up for Sasuke.
Sakura hated that Ino's body looked so much better than her own. Her breasts were at least two times bigger than her own, and her butt and the rest of her body were perfectly shaped. Although Sakura felt that she looked good herself she always somehow felt uglier when Ino was near. However, Sasuke still didn't look at Ino, regardless of how sexy she'd become. His personality was still the same as always, he thought girls were annoying and only got in his way.
Feeling jealousy begin to consume her, Sakura felt like taking Ino down a peg or two.
"Heh, your face sure looks greasy today. Been up all night or did you get rammed by a bull?" She asked sarcastically, not realizing that she was looking just the same.
"Not greasier than you," Ino replied haughtily before her face turned into a smiled and continued. "I spent a wonderful night with an incredibly gorgeous and charming man I met last night in the village. We talked all night long!" Ino hugged herself with delight and giggled.
"And he told you he will call you next morning?" Sakura said ironically.
"How... how did you...bah! Forget it." Ino grumbled.
Sakura smirked. She knew exactly what to say to piss Ino off.
"So Sasuke is not important anymore to you? He's all mine then?"
Ino thought for a moment, which struck Sakura as odd. Ino usually became very active whenever she heard Sasuke's name, but this time she was quiet. Sakura had no idea what was going on inside Ino's head.
"Sasuke is...well Sasuke is...I am too tired to explain." She shook her head" I will get Sasuke soon but until that I need to 'practice' with other boys."
She easily noticed that something was not right with Ino for she was never ever too tired to talk about Sasuke. Besides she was a terrible liar. After knowing her for many years, Sakura had learned to see when Ino was lying. But if Ino really lied or held back something, what part was true and what part was false? And besides, she said Sasuke and not Sasuke-kun. That was very rare to hear.
Once they had reached the front doors, Ino knocked loudly. The door swung open suddenly, and the two exchanged a glance before walking in. Confused, they stepped carefully inside a dark, which was pitch black, with no one to be seen or heard.
"You sure this is the right place?" Ino asked Sakura as she looked around for a light switch.
"The message said inside the Hokage's house, so here we are."
"Then where the hell is everyone?" Ino complained. "And why is it pitch black in here? I can barely see my own hand."
"Don't ask me, I know as much as you do" Sakura replied.
Ino sighed.
"This is your fault, Sakura! We probably went to the wrong place or got the time wrong."
"Hey don't blame me, Ino-Pig. We got the same message remember?"
Ino did not reply, and instead contented herself with glaring angrily at Sakura who glared back.
"Welcome."
A familiar male voice came from behind and the two kunoichi spun around in shock as the lighs went on. Two male jounin stood in the light, and Sakura and Ino recognized them easily. Kakashi and Asuma.
"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura frowned.
"Asuma-sensei?" Ino echoed.
"Sorry for bringing you here so early." Kakashi apologised, running a hand across the back of his neck.
"And sorry that you need to come during your vacation but it was important." Asume interjected.
Important... both the girls thought at the same time. It was time to find out why they had been dragged here in the dead of morning.
End of chapter 1
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A/N: Chapter 1 out of 13 done ) For what reason have Ino and Sakura been called to in the middle of the night? That will be explained in chapter 2 to stay sharp. While you wait, please give me as many reviews as possible. Did you like it? Hate it? Why?
I would to thank my 2 female beta readers Kinumi and Mrs Kakashi. It's thanks to them this story got finished and so good. They are both good writers and I recommend your read their stories.
You want to talk with me about the story personally? Then check my profile and contact me.
Onwards to Part 2
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