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Sakura and Ino had been thrilled when Sakura was invited to join Team Ten as their third genin member to participate in the chuunin exams. They'd had a whole year since their first time trying it out, and at thirteen, they were far more prepared than they had been before. It took away time from her training with Tsunade and Shizune, of course, but Tsunade told her she needed to hurry up and get her vest, because no apprentice of hers was going to be a genin for long.
It meant she had a whole two months worth of extra time with Ino, though, so Sakura couldn't really find it in herself to complain too much. But the eve of their departure from Konoha was upon them, and they were getting one last morning training session in. They'd wrapped up their taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu, and all that was left was one last trial run of Ino's control over her clan's technique—after how their last exam had gone, they didn't want to take any chances about getting caught without extra weapons up their sleeves.
Having been one of the only people known to throw off the mind transfer technique, Sakura was of course slotted to be the guinea pig. not that she wouldn't have volunteered even if she hadn't been able to do so. Not like she could replicate that performance—Inner was gone, vanishing in the night at some point a few months into her apprenticeship. Both she and Ino suspected that meant Inner was just a coping mechanism, and now that her self-confidence had improved, Sakura no longer needed it. Still, it might be fun to see if she could at least neutralize Ino while she was in there.
So, Sakura settled onto her back as the others on the team watched over her and prepared to catch Ino's body when she inevitably fell as her mind entered Sakura's.
"Mind transfer jutsu!"
Sakura felt herself go limp, her vision whiting out. In the next instant, she was in a field of flowers, Ino standing at her side.
"Hmm, not a bad setup, Forehead," Ino hummed, looking around appraisingly. She took a step forward, away from Sakura, then stopped. Sakura didn't have to ask what was wrong, because she already had a suspicion. Ino's next words confirmed it.
"Isn't this—"
"Yes."
As though conjured by Sakura's confirmation, and image of two young girls appeared before them.
"Am I as pretty as a cosmos, Sakura?" asked the tiny, translucent version of Ino.
"Even prettier!" young Sakura exclaimed, a perfect mimicry of what had actually happened that afternoon years prior.
At least this is only a memory, the older Sakura thought, and she can't see—
She should have known better than to jinx it. Or rather, she should have understood that just thinking about her desires would bring them to the front of her mind, where Ino would be able to see them.
As though the sky had been turned into a giant movie screen and the inner sanctum of her mind a projector, a scene flickered to life in front of both girls as the younger versions of themselves faded away. The imaginary Ino was pinning Sakura to some unseen surface, while Sakura looked up adoringly, stars in her eyes as she waited for what Ino would do next. She wasn't left waiting long, as Ino swooped down to seal her mouth over Sakura's.
The image kept playing on loop as the real Ino turned to her, eyes wide.
"Sakura?"
Sakura hastily dropped her gaze as embarrassment washed over her, hot and itchy and overwhelming. Was this how she lost her best friend again? For good this time? Because she couldn't just be normal and like only boys like her parents wanted.
"Sakura, please!"
"I can explain, Ino!" She would lie, would do anything to keep Ino from hating her again. Hesitantly, she lifted her eyes back up. She needed to make her lie convincing, and eye contanct would be crucial.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw that Ino had moved silently as a cat to stand right in front of her. Her big blue eyes were pleading, waiting for something. And for once, Sakura found she didn't understand what those desires were.
"I'm sorry, Ino." A sob ripped its way out of her, any plans to lie in order to save face shattering in an instant. Tears welled up in her eyes and began dripping down her face, making her voice wobble as she went on. "I know it's wrong and I'm disgusting and—"
She found she couldn't finish her sentence, because something was pressing against her mouth and Ino's earth-and-peony scent was invading her nose. It was overwhelming, and Sakura couldn't move, couldn't even think anything besides: she's really kissing me. At least, until Ino pulled back from the kiss with a little frown, and her mind whirled as her stomach twisted in agony. Had she ruined it?
"You're supposed to kiss back, dummy," Ino scolded.
Sakura's stomach immediately untied itself from its knots, and her heart soared.
"Can…can I try again?"
Ino nodded, and slowly Sakura leaned forward, until finally Ino got fed up and grabbed both sides of her face, pulling her in. Their lips clashed a little too firmly, causing both of them to wince. But neither pulled back, and after their moment of shock wore off, Sakura reached out to hold the back of Ino's head as she deepened the kiss.
She tasted like summer, like everything warm and bright and happy, and Sakura knew she would never want to kiss anyone else ever again. So when she felt Ino's tongue dart out to run along her lips, Sakura let her in with no hesitation.
There was no telling how long they stayed there, kissing in the meadow, that constituted Sakura's mindscape, but suddenly she was being shaken awake by Shikamaru. Next to him, a concerned Chouji hovered over Ino, who looked as groggy and offkilter as Sakura felt. (She was still the prettiest girl in the world, though.)
"Are you guys okay?" Chouji's voice swam a bit, as though Sakura was hearing him through a shoddy silencing seal.
"Huh?" she asked as eloquently as she could. Which was to say, not at all.
"You were in there for half an hour," Asuma-sensei replied, a half-smoked cigarette dangling from his mouth. "That's why we pulled you out."
"Oh." She tried to resist, bringing her hand up to touch her lips and see if they were as swollen as they felt.
"I could have gone for longer!" Ino protested. "How am I supposed to get better if you won't let me really test my limits?"
"You know the agreement, Ino," Asuma-sensei sighed. "If you want to try something new with your clan technique, you have to do it with your father's supervision." He let out another sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Besides, we leave for Suna tomorrow— there's no time to learn anything more."
"Whatever." Ino pouted, ignoring the way Chouji had to support her as she stood, because her legs were too wobbly to allow her to stand on her own.
"Just go home and get some rest, all of you. Meet at the gates at oh-seven hundred." Asuma-sensei Slouched off after that, ignoring Ino's grumbles of protest at the departure time.
Sakura was at her side a moment later.
"I'll walk her home," she told Chouji. Her own training with Tsunade allowed her to shake things off more easily, so she was already far steadier on her feet than Ino.
"Sure," Chouji agreed easily. "Thanks, Sakura-chan!" He immediately turned to Shikamaru and began talking about going to Yakiniku-Q for lunch.
Sakura and Ino looped their arms around each other's waists as soon as the boys' attention drifted to food. Their eyes met, and Sakura felt her cheeks heat up as Ino's ears began turning a vivid shade of pink.
"Whatever, let's just go home."
Sakura nodded in agreement, and together they made their way towards the Yamanaka compound in silence. Only once they were at the door to the main house did either of them say anything.
"You should stay for lunch." Ino blurted out. "Since mom and dad aren't home to keep an eye on me. You know, in case I get any side effects from staying in your head for too long. Since you're the team medic."
"Okay," Sakura agreed before Ino could stumble over herself anymore. (Though, it was fun watching her be flustered for once.)
Both of them ignored the fact that not only was Ino completely back to normal by then, but even if an emergency came up, Sakura didn't know enough about the Yamanaka hiden to be of any help.
They started to fix lunch in silence, until Sakura tried to turn up the heat on their stir fry too high, and Ino had to tease her.
"Don't burn our food, Forehead! We do need to eat, you know." She took a look at Sakura's burning cheeks, and her mischievous grin softened. "Geez, I guess we'll have to get you cooking lessons soon. My girlfriend can't go burning my house down, after all."
Sakura's heart stopped for a moment, and then she was smiling so loudly she thought her cheeks might split open. She just barely held back from flinging herself bodily at Ino—at her girlfriend.
"You mean it?"
"That you're a hazard in the kitchen? Yeah." Ino tried to play it cool, but it was futile with the way redness was creeping up her neck. Sakura was so giddy that she couldn't even find it in herself to be annoyed.
"That we're girlfriends, Ino!"
"You heard me the first time!" Ino snapped her head to the side, refusing to look Sakura in the eyes. but Sakura caught the way her cheeks filled with color. It was so cute, so Ino, that she felt the overwhelming urge to start kissing her again.
So she did.
It was only on the cheek, since Ino had her head turned, but it was enough.
"We should go on a date then, right? After we get home from the exams?"
Ino nodded, trying to look sage (and, in Sakura's eyes, succeeding.)
"We'll need to celebrate our promotions, after all."
The unshakable confidence Ino had in both of them being promoted warmed Sakura all over, and she used Ino's focus to steal a real kiss.