Title: Without a Word
Pairing: Ino/Sakura, with implied one-sided SasuSaku and SasuIno
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: If you haven't read up to manga chapter 182 and/or seen up to anime episode 110.
Warnings: Implied m/f sex and f/f sex. Slight angst.
For: The pigxforehead LJ comm, challenge #1.
Word Count: 1,904
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Author's Notes: Un-beta'ed. This fic is one of those which I have great plans for in the beginning, and I was almost certain I'd be terribly proud of it, but it turned out completely different and very crappy... Ah well.

Without a Word

A few days after Naruto left the village with Jiraiya to train, Sakura arrives at the doorstep of the Yamanaka household in the middle of the night, despair and loneliness written all over her dark face. Ino is the one to answer the door, because her parents are both away to some other country to obtain some seeds for a rare type of flower. She is taken back by the sight of her best friend and rival, and is completely unprepared for the kiss that Sakura gives her, hot and fierce and desperate. It's clumsy too, but Ino can't blame Sakura for that. Neither of them has had much experience, to say the truth, and Ino returns the kiss just slightly less sloppily.

When they've stopped kissing each other, standing in the doorway at one in the morning, they look at each other with exactly the same expression which obviously says,

"What next?"

There isn't anything they can do, and they both know that. They're both only around thirteen, two lost girls who are in love with the same boy, and the boy's gone, and now they're kissing each other, for reasons that neither of them can think of. But what next? Something unsaid lies thickly in the air between them, something forbidden, untouchable, and neither of them dares to say it.

So they stand there, waiting for the silence to shatter, but there's nothing except their breathing under the blanket of darkness. Finally, Ino takes her hand, and leads her into her bedroom.

They lie together on that narrow bed that is supposed to be for one person only, and it's not long before the warmth of each other's body and their exhaustion overtake their worries about sleeping in the same bed as each other. And that slight fear that has lingered from their kiss, because both of them feel that there's something uncomfortably wrong about kissing each other like that.

---

The next day, Ino wakes up and wanders over to the bathroom, where Sakura is brushing her hair.

"About last night..." she begins, but Sakura cut her off.

"Don't ask." Sakura puts down the brush. "Sorry for using your brush. I'll buy you a new one." And then she's running out of the house.

She learns that Sakura doesn't want to talk about it. So she complies, and that's how things work between them. Without a word.

---

Ino's parents are back, and Sakura can't go and sleep in Ino's house every night like she had done during the time they were away. But she finds every opportunity she can to kiss Ino, because doing that always makes her feel better, less lonely and isolated from the world. The fear's gone. The fear had gone the second time she kissed Ino.

Ino keeps inviting her to sleepovers. Both girls' parents eventually get tired of those sleepovers almost every other night, and they have a discussion and limit it to once every two weeks. They are highly puzzled as to why their daughters are taking such a huge liking to each other again suddenly. They know that they had been best friends once upon a time, but that was long ago, and they had heard from Ino that she loathed that 'girl with the huge forehead', and Sakura that she despised that 'pig of a girl'.

But now, they seem to be on very good terms once more, and Sakura's become some sort of permanent resident in the Yamanaka household.

The strangest thing is, as both parents notice, the girls rarely talk to each other. The time they spend with each other are soaked in silence. It isn't cold silence though. It's as if that silence is how they communicate.

Maybe it's as they say, "Silence speak louder than words."

---

It's been a routine now for three years. Going to Ino's house every Friday night and sleeping there, sharing the same bed and secret kisses. Both of them live on this night, live on the comfort it gives them which supports them through the rest of the week.

But they can't deny that they want something more than just that. Their desires are growing just like their mind and bodies are. They're both sixteen, and when you're sixteen, desire and curiosity are beasts at their prime. They want something they don't dare to ask for, yet somewhere deep down, they both know that they need the same thing. It is as simple as that.

So Ino requests to move out. Her parents are shocked, and a little upset that their dear daughter is leaving them to live on her own, and Ino assures them quickly that she'll pay them regular visits, perhaps every week or so.

She finally convinces them that she can manage well enough on her own, so they buy her a small apartment not too far off from the Yamanaka flower shop and their house. That very night she moves in, Sakura visits her, using the excuse of bringing a housewarming gift.

Later, Ino supposes that Sakura did bring a housewarming gift. Not the average type. But something far better. The gift was made of caressing touches and wet kisses and entangled limbs. A night of sweat and pleasure and heat, a night unlike any other she's experienced.

It becomes another routine. Sakura feels safe in Ino's arms, and Ino finds the same security when she holds Sakura close to her.

And still, there are few words, almost none, exchanged before, during and after these intimate sessions. Because to both of them, it's much more enjoyable with the companiable silence.

---

When Naruto brings Sasuke back to the village at last, Sakura's heart doesn't skip a beat as she sees Sasuke, and the butterflies in her stomach flutters in not quite the same way as it had in the past. Naruto is bloody and battered, while Sasuke is, shockingly, completely unharmed save for one or two small bruises. Sakura runs to them, calling out Sasuke's name, and it doesn't feel the same on her tongue. It feels so dry that Sakura is confused, but she turns her attention to Naruto instead, checking his wounds. She can feel Sasuke's eyes trained on her back, and she's strangely uncomfortable.

Then Tsunade's here, and they carry Naruto away together. Sasuke is still watching her as she leaves for the hospital. He's watching her, noticing her properly for the first time in her life, and somehow, it doesn't make her any happier.

It is past midnight when she walks home after treating Naruto, half-asleep and dragging her tired feet along with her. It feels as if those legs don't belong to her. This point is proved when, suddenly, she finds that she isn't heading in the direction of home anymore. She's walking to Ino's, and she's too exhausted to do anything about it. So she follows where her feet are taking her, and she's there. She's at Ino's doorstep.

She rings the bell, and doesn't get an answer. Frowning, she peers in through the window. The house is dark, and there seems to be no one inside. She has taken all the effort to get here, and she's not going to turn back for her own house now. At the moment, it is more than a million miles away, and she's certain she'll collapse before she's halfway there.

She climbs in the through the window to Ino's bedroom, and notices the piece of paper lying on the pillow.

Sakura,

If you're reading this, I can't believe you're here. After all, he's back. Why are you still coming here then?

But I thought you would. Because it's just what you would do, Sakura.

Well, you can guess where I am. I'm having a fun time with him right now. I'm sorry, but I won't be back anytime tonight. Sad?

Ino

She stares at that little slip of paper disbelievingly. She hasn't ever thought before that words can have such power on someone. These are cruel words, injuring words, and her heart hurts as if someone has pierced it with a kunai.

"She's with Sasuke..." she murmurs to herself, dropping the note. It drifts to the ground, and at the same moment, Sakura's body hit the bed. She refuses to cry. She isn't a crybaby, dammit. When she started it with Ino, she should have known that it'll end once he comes back. Maybe she did know it back then, but she's forgotten it along the way.

She's as stupid as always. Sakura curses herself, hates herself for being so foolish. But she isn't going to cry. So she buries her head in Ino's pillow, and Ino's scent is there, bringing back blissful memories.

Sakura falls asleep without leaking a tear.

---

Ino stumbles home at around four in the morning, and the moment she walks in through the door, she knows that Sakura is here. In the quiet apartment, she hears her own breathing, and another person's. A spiteful smile forms on her face. She has triumphed. She has slept with Sasuke. That'll show Miss Forehead. She steps into her bedroom, ready to spit her victory right into her rival's face, and there's Sakura, a figure curled up on her bed, both hands wrapped tightly around Ino's pillow.

"Wake up," she says, poking the girl.

Green eyes open sleepily. "Ino?" Blinking twice, Sakura pushes herself up. She remembers the note, and she asks as casually as she possibly can, "So, did you have fun?" Her expression is blank, and the only trace of anything there is defiance. Sakura is determined not to lose this war.

"I did," Ino replies.

"Congratulations." But that's the last thing Sakura manages to say, because her nose turns sour, and her eyes are brimming with tears. If she says more, she'll choke, and there's no telling when the tears will stop falling then.

Ino is speechless, and the war doesn't matter now. She thinks back to Sasuke, and how cold and distant he had looked, and how nothing felt like it should between the two of them. And she can't bear it anymore. She throws her arms around Sakura, and she's the one crying, all arrogant spite gone. Sakura's eyes widen, but she doesn't push her away.

Sakura's skin feels so much better than Sasuke's against her touch, and she's more thankful than she has ever been in her life. She isn't a girl who cries very often, but she doesn't feel any shame doing it, even in front of Sakura of all people. No, especially in front of Sakura. Because... because she's in love with her. And it's something she hasn't realized until now.

She knows that "I'm sorry" won't suffice, but she says it anyway, hoping it'll make things better. Sakura accepts the apology wordlessly, and she presses closer to Ino. She smells Sasuke all over her, but underneath it all, she can taste Ino. And herself. Her scent hasn't been erased. It's still there. She's still there.

She starts laughing and her tears are streaming down at the same time. Ino kisses her to shut her up, and it feels good. Sakura knows without asking that Ino thinks it tastes better than kissing Sasuke.

Sakura is happy, because she's in love with Ino. She's in love, and no Sasuke, no any other boy or girl matters to her anymore.

'Cause she's in love with her.

The End