Chapter 171

However, Ino takes ahold of her hand, stopping Sakura as she tries to say, "It's…" Ino heaves finding this to be extremely hard to put into words. "It's…"

"Ino? My hand," Sakura points out, but Ino doesn't let go. "If this is about Sasuke, you saw him. He's fine now."

"It's not about Sasuke," Ino tells her, but though it's on the tip of her tongue, she can't quite say the words, 'I think I like Naruto,' as it feels like jumping off a cliff.

Forcibly removing her hand from Ino's weak grasp, Sakura hurries to ask, "then what is it?"

Beginning to pace in her room, Ino nervously combs her blond bangs with her fingers as she often does before simply asking, "nothing is set in stone, right? We were living like death wasn't as nearby when we were taught better than that, right? You remember those classes they made us take on Death and Perspective?"

Though thoroughly confused, Sakura's mind effortlessly recalls the syllabus for that course, perfectly reciting, "some degree of our behavior is generated by an unconscious fear of death and this fear generates deep anxiety and unease. It's very common for us to try and offset this anxiety with behavior such as status-seeking—marital or professional—becoming more materialistic, or blindly defending the values of our culture. We feel threatened by death, so, we seek security and significance to defend ourselves from it."

With a small smirk, Ino happily remarks, "I know I have a good memory but yours is something else-"

"Please don't suck up," a squint-eyed Sakura interjects.

"I mean it," Ino assures the suspicious pinkette. "Look, it's true I did horrible stuff to you—the crazy you anyway—but what's also indisputable is why I did it. Unless you think it was easy for me to do that to someone I actually care about."

"Yes," Sakura calls. "I do, actually!"

"Tch! Only in the beginning," Ino hesitates to refute adding, "when I didn't recognize the obsessed monster walking around in my best friend's face," Ino yells back. "My memory may not be like yours, but the things I remember with crystal clarity are the people I care about and all the times we've shared; good and bad! I remember what we may have done on any given day, what you were wearing at the time, what we talked about, who we saw, what we ate, what we liked. That's my knowledge base. Yet I stood back and witnessed you growing up warped because all that mattered was Sasuke. I accept my part in that as well, so, as hard as it is for you to believe, yes, Sakura, I care about you."

"…Didn't stop you," The pink-haired girl mutters loud enough.

With a knowing smirk, Ino quickly retorts, "because I'm made of sterner stuff," though after a serious breath, the beautiful blond adds, "and why would it stop me when I knew what you could be? Ever since that perfect summer day I met you, I… I always knew, Sakura," Ino replies and feeling a great boost of pride. 'I feel like Kurenai-sensei.'

Reluctantly, Sakura walks past Ino and takes a seat on the bed, which is progress in Ino's pupil-less blue eyes, but the pinkette says, "don't think that just because I'm willing to listen, I forgive you. Regardless of who shares the most blame, Naruto is my teammate, a good person, and he was left heartbroken because of us."

"You forgot to add, 'and a stud in the sack,'" Ino jokingly mocks, but Sakura remains stern of countenance, hard green eyes staring intensely into pupil-less blue on for several breathless seconds, unblinking… until eventually, Sakura loses the battle of wills by blushing fiercely at the persistent mental bombardment of her night with Naruto. Ino even catches the pinkette shudder from her pelvis.

With a huff, a blushing Sakura rearranges herself and leans against the headboard of the bed. Looking away from a smirking Ino as she asks, "so, what is it?"

Ino doesn't continue to metaphorically tug on Sakura's pigtails as she instead says, "I brought up that Death Prep class because I've had a lot of time to reflect and I think we took it the wrong way. We thought we should love more right away and go after the things we wanted because any mission, any day, could be our last, but lately, that's not how I think of it. I'm wondering if we may not know the full extent of who we truly are without powerful experiences to test and shape us."

Confused by this existential topic and cognizant of her death-inviting weaknesses after facing a terribly strong shinobi, Sakura can't help but ask, "what are you talking about?" Though ordered not to speak about Orochimaru, Sakura's shortcomings as a kunoichi have never been so clear to her, yet she knows Ino's never had to face one of the legendary Sannin and responds, "I know we just survived the Forest of Death but I'm fairly sure your team didn't have it so hard you'd question your own mortality."

"It's not about the forest…" Ino starts but thoughts of two boys nearly dying amends her statement. "Well, it's not completely about that. It's…" 'Arrgh, just say it!' Ino's mind yells. The welling ache in her chest demands, 'SAY YOU WANT TO DATE NARUTO!' Playing with the ends of her platinum-blond bangs, Ino's clogged throat struggles to release the thick words, "I just… want to… explore… new avenues… I might not have ever considered… before." Once a blushing Ino finishes, she feels out of breath and slightly feverish.

Sakura's brows are strewn together and her green eyes are squinting trying to see underneath the underneath until her brain click pieces into place and her green eyes pop wide open in wild surprise. "Ino! Really? I thought you… Kami… Um, I'm flattered, r-really, but, uh, regardless of everything we did this past month, I still prefer men."

Locking her eyes on Sakura's, Ino yells, "No! No! That's not what I meant, Forehead! I still prefer men too!"

Skeptical of Ino's denial, Sakura asks for clarity, "are you sure? I mean, I don't really care if that's what you're worried about."

"Yes, yes, I'm sure," Ino retorts with a montage of Naruto's sexual prowess devouring her flashes of memory.

Sighing in frustration, Sakura warns her, "I'm leaving in the next ten seconds if you don't start making sense."

Somehow, nine silent seconds pass in what feels like one before a flummoxed Ino sputters, "how- how was it?"

Suspicious and baffled, Sakura asks, "how was what?"

"You- you're a woman now," Ino points our and immediately Sakura blushes. "In spite of how it happened, you're the first out of our class to have sex with a boy." If the pink-cheeked Sakura noticed the pause in Ino's false assertion, she didn't comment on it as Ino continues, "not only that, but the glassy-eyed state you were in? It was so obvious you liked it. So, how was it?"

Sakura is blushing deeply questioning, "w-why are you b-bringing that up?"

"Oh, come on," Ino gasps. "We absolutely need to talk about this! I want to know everything!" Ino quickly asks, "was he good, bad," however, Ino already knows the answer to that and without giving Sakura a second to respond, Ino immediately follows with, "who took the lead? You or him," but she could guess that answer as well. The thing Ino really wanted to know was, "what did you do? Like, how good were you?"

Overwhelmed with memory-driven embarrassment, Sakura hotly declares through her very pouty, cute blush, "I… I don't want to talk about this with you."

"Who else are you going to talk to about this?" Ino continues to ask, heavy-handedly attempting to convince the pinkette. "Your teammates, your sensei, your parents? I know Mebuki-san was fairly rebellious in her youth but-"

Horribly disturbed, Sakura calls, "please don't bring my mother into this." She's heard snippets of how wild her mother was in her youth and more than ever before, Sakura worries how much of her mother's eccentricities she's inherited.

If Ino does have sex with Naruto again, and the odds are very high that she will—she blushes when she imagines it might happen as boyfriend and girlfriend—she wants to be able to last as long as he does. They've had sex many times now and she's failed to outlast him every time and tiring him out has now become a point of pride for her.

Ino even fantasizes about a fully nude and satisfied Naruto waking up beside her and asking, 'did your earth-shattering prowess as a sex-goddess make me pass out again? You're just too good Ino-hime.'

Ino takes a deep and calming breath and focuses on the task at hand; extracting useful information from Sakura, for there's a possibility the pinkette may have done something she hadn't thought of. But Ino couldn't know Sakura had been repressing that experience to the best of her meager ability.

To begin with, forgetting random information is generally hard for Sakura. Forgetting the first time she had sex—the loss of her precious virginity—is impossible with her mental acuity. Forgetting all the mind-numbing, knockout orgasms is infinitely more impossible as it feels like the experience has been recorded into the DNA of her marrow, muscle, and mind. She had even lost enough sense that night to ask him to scratch the itch in her ass, which, to her great surprise, felt wonderfully thrilling. Throughout her time with Naruto, Sakura passed out five times from the overwhelming torrential bliss plundering her mind, and the blush currently on Sakura's face spoke volumes.

Ino couldn't help but ask the silent girl, "were you bad?"

Ripping her out of her memories, Sakura asks, "what?"

"I knew it," Ino huffs with disappointment. "You were bad, weren't you?"

"Shut it Ino-pig," Sakura curses, defending herself with, "I wasn't bad! And how's that even possible? I'm the girl. It's the boy's job to do everything."

Wide-eyed and befuddled, Ino cautiously asks, "you… you're joking right?" Sakura is silent long enough for Ino to assert, "that couldn't be more wrong! How outdated are you?"

"Without me, he'd still be a virgin," Sakura yells. "He was even lucky I went along with his crazy demands-"

"Demands? What demands?" Ino gasps, pondering how far her once friend went with the same boy she's had sex with. It was incredibly odd for Ino to think about how they've both lost their virginity to the same boy, and though Ino knows Sakura's night with Naruto wasn't going to be a reoccurring thing, the platinum-blond found she didn't exactly hate that it happened. Ino may even conclude it's exciting to think that the same dick was inside both of them, engorging their sensitive sex organ until they burst in mind-numbing pleasure. Ino pauses a moment to close her eyes and calm her breathing to keep from triggering.

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