Hello! I was afraid it was going to take me a year to update but I'm glad it was only... 10 months?! i am so sorry.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

Please enjoy!

'Uncomfortable' was an understatement.

Sakura sighed—frustrated, but not entirely surprised. She knew this was going to come up eventually. Shizune had supplied her with a test tube, an interesting video collection (with a note from Kakashi, 'with love'), and a small, dim room with a single cot and television set.

They were going to need a sample.

The whole ordeal was mitigated by Shizune's professionalism and genuine lack of judgment, but that didn't change the fact that she was seeing first-hand the hormonal effects of her predicament. The TV was on, casting a bluish light on her features while she watched, enraptured, as a young, naked woman straddled a man whose face couldn't be seen on screen. The volume was turned down low, but still loud enough that she could hear sounds that could only be described as… indecent.

She bit her lip, heaving. She'd been going at it for quite some time now. Her hand disappeared underneath haphazardly opened camo pants, moving up and down while the woman in the video moved in the same motion, equally as fast.

The couple on-screen seemed to have hit their climax, crying it out in an orgasm that was most probably faked, but was convincing enough for Sakura's breath to hitch, and for her hips to start quivering as she felt herself coming. She suppressed the moans coming from the back of her throat, low and reverberating. And then there was…. Blue. Blue, and blonde, and soft hands, and warm breath that tickled at her ear and…

Ino.

"Fuck," she sighed, taking a moment to even out her breathing. She could already feel a rush of shame and embarrassment. What would Ino say if she found out that Sakura had been thinking about her while getting off?

Sakura checked down south and was thankful to find a sufficient amount of the 'sample' had made it into the tube. She quickly slipped a rubber stopper into the mouth and wiped it clean—for Shizune's sake—before labeling it and setting it into an icebox. The research team likely needed a… live sample of sperm. She still had trouble wrapping her head around the idea that it was hers.

The medic was ready to wrap it up and leave only to pause and blush profusely.

How exactly did boys clean up after their messy trousers?

"The last time I've seen you studying medical texts this hard was—" Shizune stopped abruptly, realizing that 'when Asuma-san died' would have been an incredibly tactless thing to say, "—when you were first offered hospital residency."

Ino gave a small laugh, oblivious to Shizune's almost-blunder. She looked up to the older woman who was leaning against her office doorframe and grinned a mischievous grin. "Don't tell Sakura I'm working so hard to help her. It'll ruin my street cred."

Shizune rolled her eyes, walking over to Ino's office desk to have a quick look at books and scrolls scattered there. They ranged from forbidden medical jutsu, curses and seals, to accounts of how certain kinds of chakra can influence a body's physical properties; much like Naruto's sage-mode and his frog-like characteristics. "You do know that Godaime-sama and I have that covered."

"It wouldn't hurt to help." Ino quipped. "Besides, Sakura has been so bitchy lately it's driving me insane."

"Which roughly translates to: 'I care about her more than I will ever say out loud.'," Shizune teased, earning an impressive glare from the blonde.

Shizune sat down on the guest chair across Ino, watching fondly as the younger woman diligently compared notes and texts. "This is actually really uncharacteristic."

"I didn't become a medic-nin by not reading anything, you know."

"Can't argue with that. I just couldn't help but remember when we first tried teaching you how to heal minor head injuries and you nearly scrambled the poor boy's brain," the older woman giggled.

"Shizune-san, did you come over to reminisce? Because I have a sake stash in my cabinet and—"

"Hey! That's not allowed in hospital premises."

"—I am a hundred percent willing to take a break right about now." Ino's eyes were already glowing while she reached over to the hidden bottles.

Shizune paused, attempted to reprimand her one more time, and then just laughed. "I just came to check up on things."

Ino groaned. "I am way too old to be worrying about tests. Is it the tests?"

"No!" The older woman chuckled. "We don't even check yours and Sakura's, we know you'd pass anyway." Shizune looked at her younger friend thoughtfully. "I'm here to ask about Sakura."

That seemed to strike a nerve with Ino who, for once in Shizune's life, looked like she didn't know what to say. "We're… okay?"

"You're…?" The brunette raised an eyebrow. "I was just asking about her."

"Why don't you ask her?"

Shizune sighed, rubbing at the back of her neck while looking at Ino a little apologetically. "I'm not good at that sort of thing. I have a feeling this whole thing is probably getting to her a lot more than she's letting on."

Ino's expression grew soft. "I know what you mean. But you've got to admit, she's pretty good at dealing with it."

"That's our Sakura," Shizune shook her head, smiling. "We're running some lab tests and are hoping for good results. Half of me is tempted to just cut the whole thing off and have her mitotically regenerate."

Mitotic Regeneration.

"Wait a minute—" Ino's brows furrowed, her eyes darting downward to scan a half-opened scroll on her desk. "—you mentioned that the laboratory Sakura raided was cleaned up by ANBU and Konoha Research operatives afterwards."

"Yeah?"

"Did they go through the material? Were there any reports of other cases or specimen?"

Shizune sat upright, catching onto Ino's thought process. "No living specimen were found, but they did have records of previous trials. The exact formula of the contaminant still couldn't be found but littered notes suggested that it was some kind of agent used for hormonal change or it was an agent for DNA-rewriting."

"What if it was for a sex change?" Ino blurted out, blinking.

"If—what?"

"A sex change. I've been seeing medical journals that report people going through sexual re-assignment by taking hormones. Maybe they were just sex change hormones."

"I'm pretty sure concentrated testosterone isn't enough to grow a penis." Shizune crossed her arms, unconvinced.

"I'm pretty sure not everyone has a Strength of a Hundred seal and Mitotic Regeneration. We can't throw Sakura in with the rest of the folk. We already know that her body doesn't react to medicine the same way as everyone else; it might be true with synthesized hormones and serums."

"But what about other changes?" Shizune scratched her chin. "Lowering of her voice, growing facial hair—hey don't laugh!"

"Sorry!" Ino snickered. "That just gave 'peach fuzz' a whole new meaning for me."

Shizune brushed the comment off and continued. "Change of sexual drive and preference?"

At the last inquiry, Ino felt herself burn red. She hoped Shizune didn't notice. "Maybe the agent was synthesized to target reproductive organs?"

"That would be consistent with reports of Orochimaru trying to find a way to sire an heir."

Ino shuddered. "I don't think I'd like to see that come to fruition."

Shizune laughed. "I agree—but at the same time, it would be amazing if he succeeded."

"I just want this to end for her," Ino said in a tired voice. And for me.

Shizune put her hand on Ino's shoulder and paused in what looked like sympathy. "Let's have lunch. Crazy science can wait a few more hours."

"But the sake—"

"No. Lunch."

The rest of Sakura's day was eventful. After her 'session' with Shizune in the morning, she joined Sai and Naruto for taijutsu exercises through lunch and until the afternoon. Lately their team had been going back to the basics, re-learning the foundations of combat and tactics. Sai and Sakura were candidates for genin instructors, and Naruto was already being groomed to be Hokage. Sakura wasn't sure how she felt about the former, though. The thought of teaching and handling her own three-man team excited her, but her role as a senior medical officer of Konoha was much too heavy to do part-time

"Tenten's having a party," Naruto mumbled through all the ramen he had stuffed in his mouth.

"Again? How great it is for Tenten-san to have so much time," Sai said benignly.

"It's tonight at the bar beside the yakiniku!" Naruto slurped down the last drop of his miso soup. "The usual group."

"What's the occasion?" Sakura finally spoke, already thinking of a way to excuse herself from attending.

Naruto shrugged, grinning sheepishly. "I forgot, but Hinata-chan mentioned it to me this morning. She told me that Tenten told her to tell us to go. Ne, Sai—are you seriously reading a 'Party Etiquette' book?"

"This isn't even your first party," Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"I am simply reviewing my notes."

"Speaking of notes!" Naruto exclaimed, miso sputtering from his mouth. "Have you been reviewing yours Sakura?"

Sakura groaned, annoyed at the fact that Naruto and Sai had prepared notes for her—what's worse was that she actually needed them. She still remembers the headache she got when they told her about 'Operation: Jackhammer Care'.

"Yes, Naruto," She grumbled. "As mortifying as it is for me to admit that."

"What chapter are you in?" Sai asked. "Have you gone past 'Dealing With Wet Dreams and—"

"SHANNARO!"

"Sakura-chan…" At this point in their friendship, Naruto simply snickered at Sai's new black-eye. He turned towards Sakura, still unfazed. "But for real, how is it going?"

"The same as it's always been." Sakura sighed, annoyed. "Uncomfortable but manageable."

"Nothing… new going on?" Naruto prodded.

"Nothing, Naruto, I'm not going to spontaneously grow a beard."

"That isn't what I meant but now I can't get the image out of my—"

Naruto really thought he knew how to handle Sakura's punches by now. He had most certainly thought wrong that afternoon.

"I was just asking, 'ttebayo!"

"I swear, you two are going to drive me insane!"

Naruto successfully dodged a thrown chopstick, "but we're curious! Like… everything can't just be the same, you know! With the things you… like. Your preferences."

"While I'm mildly impressed you know what 'preference' means—"

"Hey!"

"—I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I think what Naruto-kun is trying to say," Sai had finally recovered and joined in on the conversation. "…is do you like girls now?"

Sakura flushed pink, snapping a fresh pair of chopsticks in half. "Y—YOU STUPID IDIOTS!"

It was their third round of drinks and they still didn't know why Tenten was throwing a party. At this point, though, no one was asking.

"But like… what about emotionally?" Kiba leaned forward, holding a dish of sake steady in his hand while he spoke with Sai. He was already a little bit drunk, flushing light pink on his cheeks and nose.

"What do you mean 'emotionally'?" Sai tilted his head in confusion.

"Like—Like how Kurenai-sensei was our second mom and stuff like that. I mean if you're going to handle a three-man team of genins, you'll need to have even a little bit of emotion—"

"Kiba-kun!" Hinata, mildly horrified at Kiba's interrogation, suddenly appeared with a tall glass of water for her teammate. "Drink this! S—Sorry about that, Sai-kun!"

Sai simply smiled. "It's no problem. I will read about exactly what 'emotion' it is Kiba-san is referring to."

Hinata rubbed at the back of her neck, smiling apologetically at Sai. He was a little weird, sure, but everyone thought so at the start and then came around. Hinata's budding relationship with Naruto meant that she suddenly spent a lot more time with Team Seven than before. She slowly became familiar with their dynamic, sometimes accurately predicting their behavior in familiar scenarios. Naruto, Sakura, and Yamato had become emotional anchors for Sai—they have inevitably become a part of who he was. Hinata was glad to see that happen right before her eyes.

She took a seat beside Kiba, half-heartedly listening to the two boys' new topic of conversation. Curiously, she looked around for Sakura. She isn't here yet… but it's already so late. She noticed that Sakura was behaving odd lately. It wasn't anything big. She still did her worked dutifully, speaking with the same confidence and purpose that their generation had grown accustomed to. She just seemed… off balance. Even more suspicious was that lately whenever Sai, Naruto, and Sakura were together they always seemed to be keeping a secret. Well, it's none of my business, Hinata decided. If Sakura was going through something, surely the boys and Ino would be more than enough support.

Ino? Hinata paused to look around the bar. Blonde hair was hard to miss, but Ino rarely ever missed these occasions. She was probably at another section of the bar, sharing quick drinks with acquaintances (she had a million of those) before returning to their group.

"I can't believe she actually bailed," a man suddenly said from behind her.

Hinata immediately recognized Shikamaru by the smell of his cigarette. "Ino-chan?" she replied, nearly yelling over the noise their party.

"Mm. I'm tempted to go find her." He shrugged, "but I can't be bothered."

Hinata chuckled. That was just like him.

"Looks like Sakura-chan can't make it either," Hinata pouted.

"Ah," Sai turned to look at Hinata, joining her conversation with Shikamaru. "She was given an urgent mission by Hokage-sama. I thought Ino-san would have told you guys ahead though. She asked me earlier this evening and I told her the same thing."

"…and then she just bolted," Shikamaru took a puff. "How troublesome. She's a grown woman, she'll be fine."

Sakura and Ino… tonight's going to be a handful without those two to help me keep everyone in line.

"Hinata-chan!" Tenten's scream for help was the first sign of the night ahead. "Naruto's drunk and wants to give Shino and Lee Kyuubi-chakra for their arm-wrestling contest!"

Hinata sighed, slightly amused. Here we go.

Ino stood at Sakura's doorway, arms crossed and looking very unimpressed. "I'm jealous. Since when did Rokudaime-sama classify reading a book with a nice cup of tea as an S-Class mission?"

"Ino, please, don't." Sakura groaned, wishing nothing more than to be left alone. "You should be enjoying yourself at the party."

"And so should you!" Ino put her hands on her waist. "I also can't believe you have enough pull to convince Hokage-sama to issue a fake mission order."

"He gets it," Sakura grumbled while she pulled her blanket up.

"Gets what exactly?"

"The situation, Ino." Sakura tried not to sound so distressed. "You do, too."

"I do, but seriously stop moping," Ino let herself in and made her way to Sakura's bed. She sat at the far end, checking her nails to feign indifference. "Get your mind off of it. Shizune and Godaime-sama are working their assess off and you know they always get their shit done."

Ino thought that Sakura might argue some more but Sakura just turned her eyes back to her book.

"I'm in the middle of a very interesting book."

"'Chakra, Anatomy, and Neural Manipulation'—I know that you've read this at least thrice before. Now, are you coming or are you going?"

Sakura's eyes nearly rolled back into her skull, "I'm staying in. What's so bad about that?"

"The fact that I know you don't really want to. Come on, Sakura, you're first runner up to Naruto when it comes to—" Ino raised her fingers to form air quotations, "friendship and camaraderie."

Sakura actually snickered, swatting Ino's hands away. "I'm starting to think you just came here to poke fun at me."

"Which isn't exactly wrong."

"Come on, Ino." Sakura jokingly threw her a pillow, "you aren't going to get me to leave. You're missing the party."

Ino raised an eyebrow, "I'm trying to figure out if you actually do want me to leave or if this is a friendship-test."

"What are we, twelve again?"

"This is kind of a second puberty for you—"

"Ino!"

"It's okay," Ino laughed, "I still have those Sex Ed for Children modules, maybe we can start with where babies come from."

"I am this close to kicking you out of my apartment. How did you even get in here!"

"You've told me that like a million times by now, idiot. You also gave me a key."

Realizing she no comebacks for that one, Sakura settled with throwing Ino her book.

"Really?" Ino caught offending object with ease. "I'm not going to get you to leave, am I?"

To her credit, Sakura looked genuinely regretful. "Not even you, sorry."

"Okay. Can I stay over?"

Sakura didn't know why she froze over. It should have been an easy 'yes', but somehow she couldn't say it out loud. Ino's expectant gaze was bearing down on her harder than the awkward silence in the air.

"…sure?"

"That wasn't very convincing and I am mildly offended," Ino raised an eyebrow.

"It's just… you know." Sakura hung down her head, frustrated at the sudden turn of events. There was a reason she didn't want to go to the party. She even asked Kakashi-sensei for a false excuse because she knew Ino wouldn't just let her mope at home for no reason.

Ironically, the 'reason' decided to pay her a visit instead. Sakura didn't want to avoid Ino; even up until now they were inseparable on regular work days. It just so happened that her situation and a party with alcohol didn't seem like the best combination.

"I don't. That's a very vague explanation," Ino said flatly, still looking at her expectantly.

Taking a deep breath, Sakura threw all her cares to the wind. "I don't think it's a good idea if I get inebriated around you."

She didn't expect Ino to laugh, but the blonde did.

"Inebriated? Really, Sakura?" Ino paused when she saw that Sakura wasn't laughing, and slowly scooted over closer. "Is it because of what happened to us that night?"

The medic nodded in silence.

"I thought… that we talked about it already." Ino began looking down at her nails again—a habit Sakura knew by now meant she was nervous or uncomfortable.

"I know. I'm just having a hard time processing it."

"Look, I'm sorry if I pushed it and—"

"That's not the issue." Sakura bit her lip. "I think it was a bit too good of an experience for me. I don't want to keep thinking of you that way, but I do and—"

"There you go again," Ino looked at her again and all her apprehension was gone. "You talk about what happened like it was a freak accident and that you didn't have a mind of your own."

"What are you talking about? Don't you get that I'm trying to do this for the sake of our friendship?" Sakura grew aggravated. "Ino, god, I'm sorry but sometimes when I'm around you I—I remember things. Things that all of a sudden I really want to do."

"Sakura—"

"Let me finish!" Sakura set her jaw. "I don't want to be around you when I'm drinking because I'm scared of how I'll act. I'm scared of what I might want to do to you."

Ino bit her lip. "You were thinking of me."

Sakura looked away. She leaned back and crossed her arms defensively. "There. That's the bottom line of why I'm staying in."

Ino carefully assessed the situation, realizing that she had put Sakura in an uncomfortable spot and probably cornered her into admitting things she wasn't ready to. She sat at the foot of Sakura's bed, staying quiet for a few moments while she let Sakura collect her book and return to her former reading position in peace.

"Then… can I still stay?"

Sakura's eyes snapped back to lock with Ino's. "I thought I just told you—"

"It's not like we'll be drinking." Ino said as casually as she could. "Despite what you said, I'd hate for you to spend the night alone," she added in a softer voice.

Sakura was caught off guard. She felt something warm spread across her chest, accompanied by the relief of being around someone she could trust with her life. Despite her earlier protests, she was thankful for Ino's insistence.

"Fine," Sakura relented.

Grinning, Ino kicked off her shoes immediately searched for Sakura's box of nail polish.

"This is okay?" Sakura mumbled. She realized that after everything that's happened between them, having Ino crawl underneath her blanket wasn't the same as before. Not anymore.

"Yes, it's fine." Ino chided, annoyed that this was nearly the hundredth time Sakura asked that.

Of course, maybe it wasn't okay. Ino scooted over closer, pulling the covers up to her neck while she felt Sakura's arms hesitantly wrap around her torso from behind. The warmth and security she felt from Sakura ironically alarmed her. It meant trouble. It meant feelings. Yamanaka Ino realized that she was no longer in the position to be there for Sakura without motive or intention.

Still, Ino hummed in contentment. She appreciated the breeze that blew in from Sakura's open window. She appreciated the warmth that the medic held her with, the sense of comfort and belongingness she felt within her best friend's living quarters. It thrilled her a little and worried her a lot. What a mix, she almost laughed to her self. Throwing caution to the wind, Ino entangled her fingers with Sakura's.

Sakura responded by gently tugging on Ino's shirt with her free hand as if to ask, 'come on over?'

'Okay.' The blonde lifted Sakura's arm off of her torso—letting her hand go for only a fleeting moment—and gracefully rolled over to face the other woman. Sakura's eyes were closed, but Ino would like to think she looked very content at that moment. The medic's arms settled around her waist once again.

"This isn't such a bad alternative to a party," Ino smirked, daring to push a few stray locks of pink from Sakura's face.

"Feel free to leave anytime, then." Sakura lazily opened on eye to throw Ino a sarcastic look, only to be caught off guard by the fact that their noses were almost touching. Instinctively, she pulled back, but Ino pulled on the hand she was holding to keep Sakura in place. Giving in to Ino's insistence, Sakura stayed close, hovering near enough to nuzzle her nose against Ino's, an action which the blonde timidly reciprocated.

Sakura could feel her pulse instantly race, and she licked her lips while pulling Ino closer by the waist. The blonde draped her arm around Sakura's neck and ran her fingers through messy, pink hair. They stilled for a moment, forehead against forehead, and both were apprehensive of taking any further action.

Ino's lips hovered over Sakura's mouth, slightly parted, breathing warm and heavily. Not giving in to her temptation she moved downwards instead, placing a kiss on Sakura's jawline.

Sakura almost cursed out loud. She balled her fists, pulling on Ino's shirt, becoming vividly aware of the warmth and strain pooling between her legs from the tension. Her hand slowly crept up, ruffling Ino's shirt upwards—but then she paused, resuming only when Ino gave her a small nod. Sakura's hand slipped underneath the cloth and lay flat against the bare skin of Ino's side.

Ino had the audacity to wrap her leg around Sakura's waist.

"Ino," Sakura breathed, slowly beginning to explore the skin her palm now had access to. She crept backwards to find the dip of Ino's spine, raising goosebumps where she touched, brushing her fingers lightly against the smooth expanse which was now beginning to sweat from the warmth. Ino cupped Sakura's face and they looked at each other through half-lidded eyes, discovering a new kind of intimacy—different from the transactional and crude exchanges they've previously had.

This is something else.

Sakura was the first one to look away, moving downwards to kiss Ino's throat while her hand continued to trace circles on the bare skin of the blonde's back. A small noise of satisfaction encouraged her to kiss upwards, brushing her lips along Ino's neck up until underneath the blonde's ear. Ino's hand shot back up to gently pull on Sakura's hair.

Oh, god. Sakura really liked that. Gripped by the moment, she pulled her hand out of Ino's shirt, resting her forehead against the other woman's. Her heart raced, and she was surprised to realize that she knew what she wanted and how much she wanted it. Then, Sakura looked at Ino. She slowed down and really looked at her—her blue eyes, darkened by the room, her hair that almost looked platinum. The way she looked back at her. Biting her lip, Sakura felt an ache in her chest and sighed. She felt the built-up sexual tension be released at that moment, and then it was soon replaced by a feeling she couldn't understand.

"I want to kiss you," Sakura whispered.

Ino looked at Sakura's lips and then back into her green eyes. The medic closed her eyes as Ino leaned in.

She felt a warm kiss on her cheek.

Sakura's eyes opened, and she instinctively touched her cheek. She was blushing. She thought—

"I'm sorry," Ino whispered, leaning to rest in the crook of Sakura's neck. "We… should probably just rest."

"I—Uh… Yeah." Sakura bit her lip, feeling like an idiot but understanding her all the same.

Tonight was different.

It had nothing to do with unfortunate medical conditions or well-intentioned 'assistance'. She didn't push Ino away, and neither did the other woman disentangle herself from Sakura. They were content to hold each other comfortably— conservatively—but the reality of the moment was sinking in: it was completely between the two of them, and nothing else, this time.

Hello there! Here's another fresh-off-the-oven-after-baking-for-10-months chapter! I'm really sorry if takes so long for me to update, guys, but I just don't have as much time as I used to. :( One thing I can absolutely promise, though, is that I intend to finish this story no matter what so I hope you bear with me!

Also - SORRY NO SEX YET HEHE I know that deep inside, some part of me wrote this just for a vivid InoSaku smex scene with but I really, really wanted to pace it and build it properly because I want it to be done right and have content/meaning. I feel like these two have too much between them to just sleep around w/ one another.

Hope to hear from you guys! xoxo, Kay Ross