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when ino got a mission with sakura, naruto and sasuke, she was so mad at kakashi she couldn't even answer his questions. which wasn't fair, she knew, because he had no idea why it was offensive. she didn't know why either.
it was just...him. why did it have to be him? no one else would accept a mission with him? it made sense. he almost went apeshit and destroyed the whole village not to long ago. no one would feel safe enough.
she wasn't afraid of sasuke though. she was mad, furious. she wanted to punch his face to the ground. and she didn't know why. he was better, he was trying, he had apologized and tried every single day to show his change and she saw that.
she was a lot of things, but most of all she was honest. especially with herself. sasuke uchiha was a changed man. he didn't let anger take a hold of him. he kept his fire under his eyes and he whispered, begged for mercy in every single one of his actions. he was lost and trying to find himself.
an ugly part of ino wished he was back at his worst, because then her anger would make sense.
she didn't want to see him. especially not next to sakura. not after everything. she didn't want to be next to naruto either. she liked him, maybe even loved the guy at this point. they weren't that close at the beginning, but they knew each other for too long. ino definitely liked naruto, now.
but she liked sakura better, and she wanted to be by her side, even in this silly mission, and it hurt.
it hurt they had to form fake pairs to represent konoha in the cloud village, to dance together and smile at strangers. and she would do that holding naruto's arm while sakura held sasuke's. because she chose him. and it hurt.
"man, i hate this. why do they wear this?" naruto was pulling his collar, looking uncomfortable. he was a airhead and ino loved to bully him, but he was also a gentleman, and he wasn't even touching her while they danced. she supposed it had to do with both his chivalry and awkwardness.
"at least you look cute." she flashed a compliment, not even looking at him, but beyond, trying to see a glimpse of pink hair.
"ah, ino-chan! you're so nice! but i like someone else..." she kept looking for sakura anywhete behind him. like a mad woman. "and you do too."
"excuse me?" her eyes went back to his, and there wasn't an ounce of humor in them.
"you like sakura."
"duh. she's my best friend." she responded, dumbfounded.
"nah, she's my bestie at this point. i love her, not in the way i thought i did, not in the way you do, but as a best friend." he smiled, his relaxed posture contrasting with ino's. "but you love her, the way i thought i did. the way you thought you didn't."
"this is so confusing. do you even know what you're saying? did you hit your head?" she took his jaw and pushed down so she could examine his head. he laughed and brushed her off.
"i'm fine! in fact i had to really use my brain to figure out what was going on between you two, you know." he looked so proud of himself, she wanted to knock him off.
"there's nothing going on except the usual. there's nothing new between us." she shrugged.
"well, i connected the dots." he smirked.
"you didn't connect shit-"
"i've connected them."
someone poked her arm.
it was sasuke.
she felt a bitter taste in her tongue.
"sakura is calling you. we should be going soon."
[...]
on their way back, sasuke and naruto were behind, talking non stop. or, naruto was the one talking non stop while sasuke barely participated in their conversation. not that it mattered to ino, her mind was somewhere else. she was thinking about what naruto said, what she felt at the party-mission, what she was feeling now, the anger she felt when sakura said "i should be paired with sasuke".
because why, why after everything would she want to be with him still? why would she choose him again? was she really in love?
ino always thought it was a crush, something superficial, something that would eventually go away. like it was for her. but sakura didn't let go, she let herself be broken by their bond countless times like naruto did and it hurt. seeing her hurt.
"hey, pig. you seem a little too lost in your head today." sakura jokingly pushed her, gently. ino looked at her and she was smiling, while walking down beside her, making her way to konoha. their home. "i'm the one who should think hard with this big forehead of mine."
she must have felt something was wrong because she was now joking about her own insecurities.
"i'm fine, sakura." she wanted to give her a proper answer, one with more emotion in her voice. she wanted to verbalize her feelings because that's what she took proud on doing; being honest with herself. but she felt shallow and tired.
"you're hiding something." sakura pressed, because she wasn't the patient type.
"can we talk about it later? i'm tired from the mission." she kept walking, looking straight ahead, avoiding sakura's eyes.
"fine." her answer was short and cold but heavy with a lot of frustration and ino knew it. sakura was impatient and she didn't like when she didn't knew things.
but the world wasn't about what they wanted.
they kept walking in silence.
[...]
"what's going on?" sakura asked as soon as they were alone, close to ino's house.
"i'm tired." and she was. she sighed and closed her eyes.
"me too. but i'm not being a bitch. so what's wrong with you?" sakura crossed her arms, her eyes glowing in anger.
she looked pretty in a way that made ino angry, too.
"you're definitely being a bitch." ino scoffed.
"i don't recall being the one throwing shade at sasuke at any given opportunity."
ino laughed, looking like a maniac, walking back from her.
"sorry if i got over a war criminal." she felt dirty, the most awful person in the world, while saying that.
sakura flinched, blinking her eyes too fast.
"is this what this is about? me liking sasuke?" her voice was lower, she sounded hurt for some reason.
"no, it's about choosing him over everyone else." ino felt trapped, maybe this was similar to what other people felt when she used her mind transfer jutsu. it was like the words were forming and spilling out without her consent. "it's about him being the most important person for you when he has done nothing but hurt you! and you can't let go of him! there was nothing to like in the first place!"
"you liked him too!" sakura sounded like she was about to cry and that made ino hold her anger a little.
she breathed in.
"i liked you." sakura opened her mouth, caught in her sudden confession, her eyes wide open. she blinked. once. twice. but she wasn't responding though, and that was unlike her.
"i never liked him. but you did, so i pretended i did too. at the beginning i thought we were both just pretending..." ino cut herself. she was tired. she was tired of lying to them. she wanted to get that out, even if it hurt their relationship. even if it changed everything between them. she wasn't going to hold back anymore. "i lied to you, i hate him and i hate seeing you with him. but you chose him. you always did. what was i supposed to do?"
sakura had tears in her eyes.
ino knew there was no going back. no pretending.
she broke something between them and in some ways it was for the better, but she would have to deal with the worst too. so she just stepped closer to sakura, looked into her tearful eyes for a second and then kissed her forehead. she felt sakura tremble.
they could figure it all out. maybe she had ruined it all forever. maybe she had opened something. there was a lot to say, but it was late, and she was tired. she needed to go, to think, to let sakura think and to calm down so her words would be kinder later.
"ino-"
"good night, forehead."
they had time.