The evening shift at Dippin' Donuts had always been the easiest (and therefore most coveted) of all shifts, and as such, it was quite rare that Sakura was able to snag it. After the doors closed for the night and only the drive-thru remained open, she and the rest of the crew would find their favorite spots to stand and text until someone drove up to order, which was thankfully few and far between at this time of night.

The hours waned on forever but not a single complaint left anyone's lips ― no one could turn down money for merely standing around. Periodically she would text Naruto or Ino (who seemed up to speaking to her now) and wait idly by the window for customers that may or may not be on their way. All this spare time allowed her quite a lot of time to think over what little Naruto had been able to tell her.

As far as she could tell (or remember), she and Ino had both liked Sasuke, and they had both been very aware of the other liking him. She could even remember her own smugness right after getting the "yes" from Sasuke, over having one-upped Ino. But what had driven the spike between them? The thoughts swam in her head for so long that the clock seemed to move faster than usual and her manager was already coming up to her. Discreetly he handed Sakura the key and asked if she was willing to close tonight without really waiting for an answer. Of course, it didn't matter to her ― the place was more bearable empty anyway, so she agreed.

As 2 am quickly approached she began instructing the rest of the crew to finish up their nightly cleaning while she finished up with turning all the machinery off for the night, nervously checking and rechecking. This was not her first time closing but the responsibility always made her a little jittery in fear that a mistake might make it her last. As the final hour winded down she made what she felt was a pretty hefty decision. She would ask Ino herself. With deft fingers she typed out a single question, "Hey, can we talk?" and without giving herself one second of doubt, pressed send.

Her heart pounded hard in her chest awaiting a reply but as the minutes ticked by it never came. She wasn't sure if she was disappointed or relieved, unable to stress further or relax. However as she ushered out the night crew so she could count the cash register for the end of the night, she noticed a blonde girl standing outside, cheeks red from evidently the run here. One of the employees glanced at Sakura skeptically, unsure whether to let the huffing and puffing blonde in but she gasped out, "I'm ― Sakura's ― ride home." Not giving it a second thought, the employee opened the door further and allowed Ino to enter.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked uneasily, counting out the first register without looking up at Ino. She hadn't seen Ino in days since her abrupt departure from her apartment and the last thing she wanted was to see that sad guilty smile of hers again.

Ino still didn't seem fit to answer her question but held up her phone feebly. "Answering ― your message." She said through her heaving gasps. She swore at her feet, grumbling, "Wow. It feels ― like gym class all ― over again."

"You could've answered like a regular human being." Sakura said with a smirk but Ino wasn't smiling at her, her eyebrows knitted together in a less than happy expression.

"I will never answer a 'can we talk?' text message. Its always something bad so I'd rather hear it in person." Ino explained, seeming to have found her bearings at last. "So what's up? Did your apartment burn down? Are you pregnant?"

"No!" Sakura said automatically, feeling more stunned on the inside than she felt her face portrayed. Privately she wondered if Ino thought about Sakura's sex life the way Sakura thought about hers ― with the faintest trace of anxiety. "I wanted to talk ― about everything."

Ino's eyebrows lifted in curiosity. "That's a pretty broad topic, it might take a few days. You can take notes if you like." Ino quipped mildly, though there was no smile on her face nor in her voice.

Choosing not to beat around the bush though her heart thudded rapidly in her chest, Sakura took a deep breath and asked, "Why did we stop being friends?"

With how much Naruto had emphasized Ino's preoccupation with this era of their friendship, Sakura had expected a bit of shock or panic to register on Ino's face but her expression remained completely unchanged. When she opened her mouth, it was a different story however, for her unsteady voice betrayed her heart more than her expression ever could. "Why should we care about that? That's... in the past."

"Its still bothering you though." Sakura insisted, putting her hand on the blonde's shoulder in some meager attempt at comfort. Ino didn't relax but she didn't push her hand away either.

"Naruto told me. You don't even remember what happened." There was nothing accusatory in Ino's tone but it pierced Sakura down to the bone, hurt bubbling in the pit of her stomach at the thought of Naruto selling her out. "Don't blame him." She said quickly, seeing Sakura's expression change. "He's a better friend than I've ever been."

"Why do you say that?" Sakura asked dryly, growing tired of the run around both of the blondes seemed to be giving her. "What does any of this even mean?"

"It means," Ino gave herself a moment to compose herself, evidently this was taking more out of her than Sakura had given her credit for. "We made a promise and I broke it."

"Promise?" Sakura asked, her voice fading into her thoughts. The word sounded foreign in her mouth, like she'd never uttered the word without the context Ino was trying to give.

Watching Sakura's mystified expression (perhaps checking for sure that there was no trace of anger on the Haruno's face), Ino continued, smiling sadly, "We promised we wouldn't hate each other if the other got to date him ― Sasuke, I mean. But I hated you. I hated you both."

Sakura smiled feebly, her heart feeling more at ease than it had in a long time. "That's it?" She asked gently, "That's all?"

An expression of frustration passed over Ino's face, her cheeks burning an unpleasant pink. "You're so clueless sometimes, Sakura." Despite this, a smile graced her face. "Seeing how much you liked Sasuke showed me a really cute side of you."

Listening to Ino speak after feeling such relief that it had been a minor issue made Sakura feel like she was a hundred leagues under the sea. Ino was speaking words but she hardly made any sense, she wished the blonde would just hold up a neon sign with exactly what she wanted Sakura to understand.

To her surprise, Ino indulged her. "I wished I could see that cute side of you more so I made you fight me for him. Until you won and that cute side became something only Sasuke was allowed to see." She was no longer smiling. "And I absolutely hated you for that."

This forgotten memory caught her off guard.

"Ino, you promised!" Sakura cried, wiping swollen tears from her pink cheeks. They had been arguing for what seemed like hours now and every moment Sakura wished it was the last.

"I don't care!" Ino hissed, her arms crossed. Unlike the pink-haired girl, Ino had no tears to shed over this matter. "You chose him over me ― the second he asked you to be his girlfriend our friendship was over. I'll never forgive you!"

There didn't seem to be any words to mend their broken friendship, nothing to be said that could undo what she had done. Sakura hung her head, her hands balled up into fists. If Ino was beyond reason, Sakura was beyond trying to explain. "I'm sorry, Ino." She whispered through her tears, though she wasn't sure Ino had even heard her. At that time, she felt that if she couldn't be Ino's best friend, couldn't be Sasuke's girlfriend, couldn't be happy, she could always be sorry.

"Maybe if I had been more honest from the beginning, things wouldn't have turned out like they did." Ino said quietly, breaking Sakura from the depths of her memory. "Maybe I could've told you how I felt."

"But its over now. You dodged a bullet with Sasuke, believe me." Sakura frowned, perhaps more for herself than anything else. "Why does it even matter now?"

"Because!" Ino barked, avoiding looking Sakura directly in the eye. She wished the blonde would just look at her and stop messing with her head for once in her life. "Because I could've been the one making you happy all this time, it could've been me you couldn't stop thinking about because I sure as hell couldn't stop thinking about you!"

It was beginning to make sense, Ino's words connecting into a city of tree branches, all birthing from one single fact Sakura was scared to name lest she be wrong. This unwritten story she'd been living had paragraphs she must've skipped and with these blanks filled, their broken friendship made all the sense in the world. "You loved me." Sakura said softly, no tone of accusation in her voice.

"I did," Ino began, smiling sadly, "... I think I still do. But you never realized; this whole time you never knew."

Their eyes met, finally understanding everything on the same wavelength instead of being separated by a world of static. "Well, I know now." Sakura said with a quiet smile. It was true she did not see Ino romantically but in that moment, she looked like her best friend again.