Somehow it's not real. She doesn't even remember how it begins; it's nothing new, to taunt her rival a little. Sasuke is her team-mate (is, is, she refuses to say was because that is like letting him go) and Ino has barely spoken to him, after all, unsolicited glompings aside. The words are familiar in her mouth, and it's all unreal up until the point where Ino snaps and grabs her by the shoulders, shoving her against a tree.
"Damn it, Sakura, he's gone! Get used to it!" Bark is rough against her back, edges digging uncomfortably into her shoulderblades, and Sakura wonders why she thought coming out here would relax her. Weren't they supposed to be sparring, and why does her stomach feel so peculiar, sinking and fluttery at the same time?
"Let go of me, Ino-pig!" she demands, purely out of habit, but she doesn't shove hard enough to actually break the other girl's grip, because she knows her. Ino is angry, for some reason she can't begin to fathom, and somewhere inside Sakura knows that if she lets this turn into a fight, she might as well wave goodbye to her friend. Permanently.
"Why does it always have to be about him?" Ino demands, and even though there is only one person she can be referring to, Sakura can't seem to follow her logic. Which is peculiar, because she does know Ino, and they've always been able to understand each other, and why is her mind skittering so stupidly? Sakura feels like a mouse staring down the trap, and the look on Ino's face � pained, guilty, frustrated � only unnerves her further.
Ino shouldn't be upset, Sakura decides. That's not right; Sakura was always the crybaby, the dependent one, and seeing Ino like this just feels wrong. Her eyes are raw and the pain in them echoes something in her, and Sakura doesn't know where it comes from but suddenly she has an arm around the back of Ino's neck, pulling her down, and they're�
Oh. Oh. For a moment it's awkward, and Ino is stiff with surprise, so still against her that Sakura can feel the fluttering pulse of her heartbeat. She's just thinking that maybe she's wasted her first kiss after all when Ino makes a sound, low in her throat, and suddenly Sakura is being pushed back against the tree, and Ino's mouth is moving on hers and oh. Yes. A few things come into sharp focus, and Sakura squirms, wanting more of this shivering contact, this sudden aching heat in her belly that flares as Ino's hands fumble at her waist, fingers twisting in cloth. She has both arms around Ino's neck, and their tongues are curling slick around each other, oh.
Ino breaks the kiss, gasping, face pressed into Sakura's neck, and this should be weird, it should be strange, but should falls by the wayside as teeth meet in the join of her shoulder, and Sakura has her head tipped back, is scrabbling at the back of Ino's dress. Ino laughs, breathy, and licks her neck, tongue dragging hot-wet across sensitised skin. Sakura shivers, gasping, and the feel of Ino's hands on her ass should shock her but somehow rational thought seems to have fallen by the wayside and she can't even care. Ino is kissing her again, licking the corner of her mouth in a way that makes her knees wobble. Sakura presses closer to her, moaning into her mouth as Ino's knee finds its way between her thighs.
Ino's hand slides over her hip, up her side to splay over her left breast. Sakura has always thought herself small, but Ino's palm fits her perfectly, and she gasps, feeling the nipple tighten.
"Mmmmh," Ino hums against her lips, and Sakura can feel her smiling. Annoyance mixes with the maelstrom of emotion and sensation that's distracting her senses, but it's temporary, and when Ino tugs on the zipper of her dress it's gone along with her sanity and self-restraint. The sound Sakura makes when the blonde girl bends, mouthing her bared breast, would embarrass her if she weren't beyond caring. She clutches at Ino, tipping her head back to rest against the rough tree bark, watching the little patches of blue shifting between the leaves above. Ino's lips around her nipple � oh. Oh. � send little sparks of fire shooting through her stomach, wet heat centring between her legs.
Sakura gasps and hisses and wriggles, arching her back and pressing into Ino's mouth, and somehow Ino's hand is under her skirt, pushing the waistband of her shorts down� She fumbles to reciprocate, suddenly desperate to touch and infuriated beyond reason by the layers of wrapping Ino wears; what's the point to that, why can't she�?
Her fingers slide into slippery warmth, and Ino gasps, jerking against her. It's weird, the same but different, and Ino's so wet there� Sakura feels herself shake all over as Ino's fingers press between, into her, just there, and it feels� Ohh� Ino is stroking, rubbing at her, and her hips are moving, they both are as Sakura moves her hand, and it feels so good, so much better than touching herself has ever been. They're rocking against each other, hips moving helplessly, kissing again; Ino's tongue is in her mouth, bark in her back, and Sakura can't even moan; she's coming apart, breaking into pieces as Ino touches her, everything concentrates there and the world fades away into white, shaking with trembling, silent spasms.
Somewhere distant, Sakura feels her knees giving way, feels Ino slumping bonelessly against her as they slide down the tree-trunk to the ground. Ino is still shuddering, fine tremors shivering through her skin where it rests against Sakura's. She's sweaty and sticky and wet with more than her own fluids, and she's never felt so alive.
"Heh." Ino breathes out against her neck, and shifts so that Sakura isn't bearing all of her weight. "You okay, forehead-girl?"
"Mmm." Sakura shrugs a shoulder, knowing Ino will feel it and feeling disinclined to any further movement. "Ino-pig. Just don't call me stupid."
Ino pokes her in the side. "'s my job, stupid forehead-girl." She doesn't seem to want to move any more than Sakura does, though. Her breath tickles a little, in a shivery kind of way. Sakura decides maybe they should fight more often, and she's so busy imagining it that she almost misses Ino's whisper. "�missed you."
The sky above is tree-leaf green and patchy blue, and yesterday it would have reminded her of Sasuke. Sakura smiles up at it. "Maybe I missed you too."