Naruto 1. Invitations

**Disclaimer: **I don't own. These warnings and disclaimers will only be in this first chapter, so don't worry about the wall of text.  
**Warning: **Yes, this contains a _ton_ of Yaoi and Yuri. Despite that fact, please do not flame. All negative remarks regarding pairings, homosexuality and/or bisexuality will be ignored and/or marked as abuse.  
**Warning.2: **Sex-scenes (limes/lemons) are very frequent. They're not graphic at all, but you may skip them if you wish. However, if you're uncomfortable with them, you may not want to read this story.  
**A/N:** Heh. Sorry. I've wanted to put this up for so long, and I just thought, you know, why not? I decided this will be a really dark story. Most of my stories (excluding Time Sky and equilibrium) are fluffy and funny. This is going to be, on the other hand, not for the squeamish. It will however end well. And it's not going to be bloody, gory, or full of action. It's kind of a psychological dark. And remembert, it's incredibly rude and thoughtless to insult someone's sexual orientation (or choice of cartoon characters sharing a fameless romance), so please don't mention the pairings, and we won't have any trouble. I hope you enjoy it!

_– forbidden –_

"You've been working out...?"

The feeling of Neji dragging his tongue along the nape of his neck to the base of his jaw, trailing up to his cheek to kiss the corner of his lips, was thrilling. Shikamaru's hands wound behind him and ran down Neji's waist, feeling his jeans. The clothing he wanted off.

"Mhm…" Neji murmured into Shikamaru's ear.

"And of course it's only for me," Shikamaru said with a sly smile, twisting around slowly to face his lover and pull his long hair out of his face. He kissed him full on the lips, feeling him grow limp in his arms. "You know," Shikamaru said after they parted from their short kiss, leaning in to whisper into Neji's ear, "you shouldn't sneak up on me like that when I'm in my room…"

"Your parents don't mind," Neji said simply, hands playing with the hem of Shikamaru's shirt. They could see each other only dimly; the blinds were drawn and the lamp was off, the only light coming from the computer on the desk in the corner of the room.

"My parents would mind if they knew what we did in private," Shikamaru whispered, breathe hot against Neji's face, who smirked.

"They would."

**Roll Party**  
1 _–_ _Invitations_

"Hey! Neji, Shikamaru, leave me behind why don't you?"

It was lunch, and the two boys sat in the hall, eating their sandwiches they'd bought. They turned and smiled welcomingly at TenTen. The brunette walked over huffily and sat down, setting her tray on the ground with a grouchy pout on her pink lips. Her hair was in two long braids that fluttered around her, and her eyes matched them, a deep honey-brown. She was their best friend, had been for a while now. Shikamaru had always liked her. She was smart, but not a bragger, and she was also quite quirky. He watched her smooth out her uniform skirt, frowning at the way if kept flaring up at the edges. Only because she couldn't handle ironing anything, she'd told them when they asked.

"Sorry. We couldn't see you, so we thought you were either absent or came here already. We went to buy lunch and came back here," Neji, sitting next to Shikamaru, excused themselves.

"Yeah? Well you could've waited," TenTen muttered gloomily. She sighed and reached out to grab her sandwich, then took a bite and observed the two. She swallowed. "What's wrong with you guys?"

Neji gave TenTen a curious look. "What do you mean?"

"You look tired as…" She paused, then groaned and turned away, saying darkly, "Had a nice night, huh?"

"Heh…" Shikamaru shared a glance with Neji and scratched the back of his head guiltily. "Um, let's change the subject. So TenTen, how's your self-realization going?"

TenTen sighed. She'd admitted to Shikamaru and Neji on numerous occasions that she was confused about her sexual orientation, after hanging around two very masculine gays for so long. She asked them, sometimes, for help and advice, but they reminded her that it was her own problem; they couldn't decide something like that for her.

"It's not going well. I just don't find myself hitting on either boys _nor_ girls. I never have! I've hung around guys all my life, so I've always been pals with them, and girls just aren't appealing to me. I can't find a way!"

"Maybe you're just not fit for romance," Neji said with a shrug.

"I dunno. Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. Either way, it bugs me. I just wanna _know_!" TenTen cried.

"Don't pull your hair out," Shikamaru said warily. "Just let it come to you." TenTen sighed and started up some sort of rant about the school food, which Shikamaru ignored while Neji listened politely. He looked around, distracting himself, and as he did so he noticed a couple walking down the hall. A tall boy with dark hair, guiding a pink-haired young girl with his hand on the small of her back, whispering something in her ear that made her blush and giggle. "Sasuke and Sakura got together, huh?"

"Hmm?" TenTen lifted her lips from her water bottle and glanced up at the couple. "Oh, yeah, they got together two weeks ago."

"Hasn't Sakura been hitting on him since freshman year?" Neji asked as the couple slipped through the crowd in the hallway.

"Yeah. I guess she finally got the balls to ask him out," TenTen said with a grin, gulping some water.

"_I _guess you don't like her," Shikamaru said.

TenTen swallowed and shrugged. "Her or Ino, her '_bestie_'." She shuddered visibly at the horrid word she'd mocked. "They make me sick."

"Your boobs, right?"

TenTen gave a sudden hiss that made both Neji and Shikamaru very uncomfortable as she looked up to glare at a tall, slim blonde standing before them, arms crossed and smirking, teal eyes flashing. Shikamaru had never seen this girl before. She seemed to be a senior, one year older than the other three. She was very pretty, and had an air of careless un-reliance around her.

"Not as sick as _this_ does…" TenTen whispered, before putting on a false smile. "Sorry, Temari, but _no_," she growled. Shikamaru saw, out of the corner of his eye, her hands form into fists. He hadn't seen her that mad in a while. "As much as you'd love to overhear something like that…"

She gave a harsh laugh. "Sorry, sorry, didn't mean to start an argument with you. I guess you're touchier than I expected." TenTen ground her teeth together. "So, what, are you in a threesome now or something?"

"How perverted are you?"

"Not as perverted as you. It's sickening, you know, the way you mindlessly search for your own romantic interests," Temari said, watching her haughtily. "You know-"

"Temari! Get over here!"

"Whoops." Temari turned to wave at TenTen mockingly. "See you later, idiot."

"Oh yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you?!" TenTen called after her as she watched away. TenTen growled to herself angrily for a bit, then, unable to take it, yelled, "_Bitch_!" after her down the hall.

Shikamaru and Neji stared at her as a brunette boy ran past them, yelling Temari's name down the hall. "Who was that?" Shikamaru asked curiously, taking a bite of his sandwich and successfully muffling his voice.

"Some he-she," TenTen said darkly. "Her name's Temari, and she's been bitching to me since I was a freshman just because she overheard me talking to you guys one day about…you know, _that_."

"Really?" Neji asked, tilting his head to the side. "You've never told us about her."

TenTen glanced at him and laughed guiltily. "Well…"

Shikamaru choked a bit on his sandwich and swallowed so he could gape at her thoroughly. "Wait…Don't tell me you _fought _her?!"

"Yeah…sophomore year, I kinda had enough…" TenTen said awkwardly.

Neji shook his head. "No. _You_?!"

TenTen nodded slowly, and Shikamaru grinned, handing her the rest of his sandwich.

"You, my friend, have achieved the rank of sexually confused, angst-filled, typical teenage bitch. Welcome to life."

TenTen glared at him as Neji laughed lightheartedly. "Fuck off. You would fight her too if you had to go through that."

"So who won, huh?" Shikamaru asked interestedly.

TenTen glowered and turned to fiddle with her hair. "Well…she did, but-"

"- Would you look at that, Neji; _she did_," Shikamaru quoted loudly with an arrogant smirk.

"I said fuck off! You're not making me feel any better!" TenTen snapped, twisting around furiously to face them.

Neji chuckled. "Sorry, sorry, we like teasing you is all," he said. "Now eat Shikamaru's sandwich. It's a reward."

"For what?"

Shikamaru held up his water bottle with a smile. "For joining the party of idiots."

"Yes, welcome," Neji said mockingly, holding his up as well.

TenTen stared at the two incredulously for a moment, before smiling and giving in, holding her own water bottle up as well. "What shall we toast to?"

Neji smirked. "To jackasses."

"To love," Shikamaru declared sarcastically with a grin Neji's way, who jokingly patted a hand once against his chest where he predicted his heart to be located.

TenTen smiled. "To knowing the way we roll."

The three of them laughed, and tapped their water bottles against each other's before they drank to what they didn't have.

_– forbidden –_

Sakura gave a squeal for the third time that day in lunch and tried not to laugh out loud, biting down hard on her lower lip to prevent herself from making any more embarrassing noises as she blushed and glanced upwards at Sasuke, who smirked down from her left side, his hand quickly retreating from her behind. He'd been doing that too much, lately, ever since…that night.

_"Sasuke…yeah, faster…ah…!"_

_"Mmm…you like that…?"_

They hadn't gone all the way. However, she recalled, they'd gotten pretty close. She had, of course, gotten a purity ring from her mother when she turned seventeen not too long ago, and she made Sasuke swear not to break that promise.

She felt herself heat up a bit as she wondered if he wanted something like that to happen again, and how she could make it as pleasurable as possible…

Naruto, Sasuke's best friend and the boy Sakura found quite the annoying third wheel, spared them both a disgusted glance before going back to his food he'd paused in the middle of eating. She ignored him and continued to chomp happily on her sandwich, loving the feeling of Sasuke's arm around her waist and the glares the cafeteria girls flung her way. At long last, he was all hers. Well, it was about time. They were popular, Sasuke and Naruto, but just as popular as Sakura was.

"Hi Sakura."

Sakura glanced up and smiled at her _own_ blonde, blue-eyed best friend Ino Yamanaka sliding in next to her on the bench gracefully. Rich, very distinguished, and slightly bitter. But a friend since childhood, and Sakura would not have it any other way. "Hi, Ino," Sakura said politely, putting the sandwich aside to talk to her. She felt that ever since she'd started dating Sasuke, she and Ino's friendship had been slightly muffled, and she wanted to rekindle it. She smiled. "Your birthday's soon, huh? Next week?"

"You remembered? Unlike last year."

Sakura sighed. "You'll never get over that," she mumbled as Sasuke let her go and started a conversation with Naruto across the lunch table. The cafeteria was white, completely pale white all around, with the faint scent of linoleum and sanitizer wafting around the room like the chemicals from a Chemistry class. It was crowded, because it was warmer there, since it was slowly turning from fall to winter, November's late chill settling in. Some people, since it was so stuffy, preferred to sit on the ground in the hall. Sakura and her friends, however, would never sit on dust like that.

"So my birthday's actually what I wanted to talk to you about, Sakura," Ino said, pulling her long bangs out of her eyes with her sharp fingers.

"Oh, you're turning seventeen, aren't you?" Sakura asked with a laugh. "Good luck. Your last year as a child. You'll have to do something special, huh?"

Ino smirked. "Exactly why I'm throwing an enormous _party_ over at my dad's hotel!"

"Wow, really?!" Sakura exclaimed. She frowned teasingly. "Well you invited _me_, right?" she asked mockingly.

Ino gave a fake gasp. "I forgot!"

"How could you?!"

The two girls laughed aloud as Ino retracted from her brown school bag (required for the school) a small, pale pink envelope, decorated with beautiful silver designs and with Sakura's name embroidered in white satin on the front. Sakura took it and gasped. "Aw, it's darling!"

"A cute little thing isn't it?" Ino agreed proudly as Sakura turned it over in her hands. "My uncle hired a professional; she does each card individually based off of your preferences."

"So basically you just told her a brief description of my interests and she took it from there?"

"Exactly. Each one's handcrafted, she said she spent _weeks_ working on them."

"Ah, I don't even want to open it!" Sakura said with a squeal.

"Go ahead, just don't rip it," Ino instructed, and Sakura did so. Sasuke, his attention attracted, looked over her shoulder and watched.

"What's this?"

"Oh, Sasuke, Naruto, I have cards for you two as well," Ino said with a friendly smile, immediately getting a wad of pale lavender cards from her bag and flipping through them. "The whole grade's invited. The cards for the boys and for the people I'm not particularly close to are just lavender."

"Wow, you really thought about this, Ino," Sakura said, looking over the card inside. "So it's next week, huh? You planned ahead of time?"

"Yep. And I kept it a surprise from _you_, loud-mouth."

Sakura laughed and poked Ino teasingly in the side. "Shut up!" She turned back around on the bench and slipped the card back into the envelope, which she placed delicately in her bag as Naruto and Sasuke read their own cards.

"Huh. Sasuke, can you give me a ride that day?" Naruto asked.

"You don't have a car?" Ino questioned. Sakura sighed. Ino and Naruto weren't exactly close, only acquaintances due to Sasuke and Sakura's relationship. She should have known Ino wouldn't have heard.

"Ino, Naruto crashed his car," Sakura whispered in Ino's ear as Naruto groaned and placed a hand on his forehead. Ino mouthed, _"Oh…_" silently, and Sakura nodded.

"Yeah, I'll give you a ride, idiot," Sasuke said, rolling his eyes as Naruto grinned gratefully. He turned to Sakura with a smile. "You want a ride? We can go together."

Sakura smiled back. "Sure!"

"Perfect, you guys can come an hour early then and help me!" Ino said eagerly as she swung her bag over her shoulder and stood.

Sasuke shrugged. "Fine with me."

Ino smiled brilliantly. "Alright, I'll see you three there next week. Don't forget."

"We wont'," Sakura called after her as she walked away. She turned back to Naruto and Sasuke. "Well, looks like we're not going ice skating that week, Sasuke," she said conversationally, turning back to her sandwich.

"That's alright with me," Sasuke said. "The night sounds interesting."

For some reason, the way Sasuke's voice swooped slyly as he said that made Sakura pause, mid-bite. She'd never really felt suspicious about her boyfriend before. But then, for the first time, she really wanted to know if she was thinking what he was thinking...

_– forbidden –_


	2. Alchohol

**Roll Party**  
2 – _Alcohol_

Ino Yamanaka usually wouldn't want to talk to two masculine gays and their sexually confused friend, otherwise known as homos and a bi-wannabe. She wasn't concerned with their sexuality, no. Sakura was, however, as she was a proud Christian and found speaking directly to people like them rather disturbing. And so of course Ino didn't find herself around people like them either. She was loyal to her friends, no matter how much of a disloyal lover she was - she knew she had a reputation for dropping a guy after their first night going all the way.

However, it _was_ a party, and she wasn't positively cruel. She knew these people, they were her classmates. She'd done a few projects with TenTen, she'd had to sit next to Shikamaru countless times (which was annoying, he slept way too much), and Neji had once helped pick up her fallen books (besides, he was an upperclassman so she might as well have respected him). They were nice people, from what she'd gathered, and she might as well be nice back.

So as she knelt down next to them and gave the confused trio a friendly smile, reaching into her bag, she was working off of pure courage and the knowledge that this was the right thing to do.

"Hi, um, you've probably heard about my party?" Ino said hopefully, wondering if they'd respond as she handed each of them a card. Neji and Shikamaru were known to ignore other people, as if they only trusted themselves, and TenTen.

"Yeah, we've heard about it," TenTen replied as Shikamaru and Neji predictably said nothing. "Are you inviting us?"

"Yeah, so if you'd like to come just show up. You don't need to RSVP or anything," Ino said, relieved, getting to her feet. That had been easier than she'd expected.

"Huh…" she heard TenTen say, however, as she turned her back on them, "Free alcohol? I should have expected…"

Ino grit her teeth as she walked away. Did TenTen really expect Ino not to have heard that?! The bitch! She had the guts to talk behind her back after she'd invited her to a party, and imply that Ino was a _whore_ while she was at it?! Who did she think she was?!

Ino glared ahead as she walked. She didn't care if this only proved everyone's hints that she had a temper problem. She'd get TenTen back for this, one way or the other. Just after the arrangements were over…

– _forbidden –_

"…And it's probably just her little need for publicity too, I mean inviting _us_, oh, _that'll_ make her seem like a better person!"

TenTen finished off the rest of her water bottle with an angry gulp. She exhaled slowly and continued on her rant. "And to top it off, she's a fucking _whore_! Did you see her selling herself on there? '_Hey guys! Alcohol! Get drunk! Come and get me!_'" TenTen crumbled the top of the nose of the water bottle with her fist. "God, what a slut."

"She seemed nice enough," Neji said simply. "Think you're over reacting?"

"No way. She's been a bitch to me since the first day I met her," TenTen grumbled. She glanced once more at the lavender card. "But the party _does_ sound fun…" She turned to face Shikamaru and Neji. "Are you two going?"

Shikamaru glanced at his lover. Neji shrugged. "I honestly don't care. But it sounds fun, like TenTen said, so only if you want to."

Shikamaru yawned. "Guess we're goin' then," he said leaning back to stretch.

"Are you guys gonna go together?"

"Sure, but we can take you along," Shikamaru insisted, straightening up. "We never leave you behind, right?"

TenTen grinned. "Right, I'm like your baby chick!"

"…Our what…?" Neji asked as Shikamaru stared at her incredulously.

TenTen let out a giggle at their faces. "I dunno! Baby chicks follow their mama's, don't they?"

"Yeah, but we're male, and we didn't _have_ you; in fact, sorry to inform you, but we _can't_ have children at all," Neji said slowly. "Let alone baby…chicks, if you're going to talk the chicken way."

"Jesus, girl, you really are a weirdo," Shikamaru said with a laugh, patting TenTen on the head, who glowered as some of her bangs came loose and strayed, curly and brown, over her forehead and eyes. "But I suppose that's why we love you."

– _forbidden –_

"You wanna…you wanna know –what I think?"

"No, I don't," Shikamaru said, rolling his eyes as TenTen cursed aloud, holding onto her beer tightly as she sat between him and an equally drunk Neji on a sofa in the corner of the reserved hotel lobby. A week later, Ino Yamanaka's party had begun, and so far, a couple hours into the night, it was a huge success. No adults, just a bunch of teenagers dancing, getting drunk, and dragging each other off to have sex in the rooms that were open for them in the back.

Shikamaru sighed, watching everyone stumble around; stone cold drunk. Immature. He never really got drunk. Sometimes Neji told him to lighten up, which was saying something when Neji was usually the stiff one, but every time he got drunk he did something completely idiotic that Neji would never let him live down, and he didn't like those situations.

"Shikamaru, you…you know what?" Neji suddenly flung an arm around his lover's shoulders and whispered in his ear. "_We should-"_

"Not when you're drunk," Shikamaru interrupted Neji calmly, removing his arm from around him. He sighed. He hated these parties…

"Well look at this. You got invited, hmm? Even though you're 'outcasts'?"

Shikamaru looked up and saw Temari for the second time, standing in front of them. He looked her up and down. She looked different when she wasn't in her school uniform, he noticed. Her legs, exposed by a tiny pair of shorts under a black tank, were long, her thighs thick and her calves muscled. If he didn't know better he'd say she was sexy.

"You're really pretty. Too bad you're such a _bitch_," TenTen said louder than average, spitting out the last word with a drunken slur as Neji nodded vigorously.

Temari raised an eyebrow. "Huh. Figures you two would be drunk on your first bottles," she said, glancing at the two empty beer bottles on the ground.

"Oh don't worry, they got two and a half each before I stopped them from killing themselves," Shikamaru said, raising a hand.

"Ah…" Temari nodded. She was looking him over as well, as if analyzing him.

"Aw Shikamaru, you're a sore loser…" Neji said, placing a hand sloppily on Shikamaru's cheek, who winced at the slight slap of his palm.

"I didn't lose anything."

"We were playing tag, weren't we? Remember, when…remember when we were, we were sick, _six_! When we were _six_, and-!"

"It's okay, Neji, don't hurt yourself," Shikamaru said with a small chuckle, giving Neji's hand gently back to him. He winced at the stench. "Why don't you and TenTen got get some punch, your breath stinks."

"Punch! I hope it's…I hope it's _blueberry_! Okay?! Neji, let's get blueberry punch!"

"…Yeah…"

Shikamaru sighed, watching Neji and TenTen, arms around each other's shoulders, stagger off, pushing past Temari and disappearing into the throng of dancers. "Jesus Christ…"

"Heh. Have trouble training them?" Temari asked, and suddenly she sat down next to him, crossing one leg over the other.

He glanced at her. "Why are you here? You don't seem the type to be friends with…" He coughed. ", anyone."

She rolled her eyes. "Please. I'm not even in your grade, and of _course_ I'm not friends with Yamanaka. Let alone anyone, but I could care less." She sighed, stretching her head back to stare at the ceiling. "It's my brothers."

"You have brothers?" Shikamaru asked, watching the tall beauty next to him. He was beginning to wonder why TenTen hated her so much. She wasn't that bad so far.

"Yeah, two younger ones, Kankerou and Gaara," she said to the ceiling tiles. "Kankerou should be in your grade, Gaara's a year younger. Kankerou's real popular, he has tons of friends so it's no doubt he'd be invited. And Gaara's hott, I guess that explains everything. So she invited them, and had to invite me so she'd look good."

"Heh. Probably the same reason she invited us," Shikamaru said, facing foreword. "Neji and I don't like talking to people like that, and TenTen hates her, and is kinda bitchy to her."

"You mean she isn't to everyone?"

Shikamaru frowned, facing Temari again, who was looking up at him with an expectant smirk on her face. "You know she's not as bad as you make her out to be. TenTen's sweet, she's one of my best friends."

"And Neji?" Temari asked, tilting her head to the side. Shikamaru noticed the way her hair, in a sloppy pony tail, flowed around her.

"…We're going out, that's all. That's the way I roll."

"How long have you been going out?"

Shikamaru sighed. "Why do you want to know?"

"Just curious. You don't seem the gay type."

"I'd rather not talk about it," Shikamaru said simply.

Temari laughed. "Sorry, sorry. I know homosexuality can be a touchy subject, I'll drop it."

Shikamaru glanced at her. "You sure you don't want to bug me about it?"

Temari smirked. "You think I'm _that_ cruel? Please, there are a couple things I won't bug people about; romance, unless they're idiotic and confused about their own sexuality like that idiot TenTen, and disabilities."

"Other than that you're okay with insulting them?"

"Mhm!"

Shikamaru couldn't help himself; he laughed.

– _forbidden –_

"TenTen…"

TenTen shivered at the feeling of Neji's stale breath on the back of her neck. The two drunken teens had skipped the punch for a dance. They were hidden from Shikamaru and Temari, forgetting the two even existed already, and ground against each other on the edge of the floor. She closed her eyes, feeling his lips on her neck, talking to her, saying something in a hushed voice that made her stomach twist.

"Neji, what are you saying…?" she mumbled as she pressed herself into him, the two moving in perfect motion to the music. "I can't understand a…word you're saying…"

"Sorry, I'm drunk…"

"Me too…"

They laughed together breathlessly as his hands traveled up and down her body sensually. TenTen let her head fall back into the crook of his neck, her hands moving up to his arms, guiding them.

"Mm…that feels good…" she said with a giggle.

Neji smirked against her neck. "That's good…" he murmured. As they continued to dance they flipped themselves around so TenTen was facing him now, her palms dragging up his chest and down again, grinding against each other eagerly. "Are…you still confused…?" Neji asked.

Drunk, TenTen did not hesitate to blurt out the truth. Unfortunately Neji had never done this before. They hadn't been _this_ drunk before. And he had never asked her that question when they were drunk before.

"Um, yes!" TenTen said, hands working around his neck. "I dunno what I am! I dunno who I wanna have sex with, Neji!"

He smirked a bit, watching her, almost amused. "You don't know…" He suddenly leaned down, and she gasped at the feeling of his hands groping dangerously low, and his lips kissing her neck.

"N-No…I don't…" she whispered, eyes large at the feelings he was giving her, pulling her closer.

"Do you wanna find out…?" he said softly against her cheek.

"Yes…" she mumbled, tightening her hands around his neck.

He suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her along, and she laughed, heart pounding, feeling excited and following after him eagerly.

– _forbidden –_

"S-Sasuke!"

Naruto and Ino both groaned aloud, having enough, as they sat next to each other across from Sasuke and Sakura, Sasuke smirking away and Sakura blushing bright red. Sasuke was retracting his hand from behind his pink-haired girlfriend's rear end, not really bothering to hide anything.

"What's that?"

"N-Nothing." Sakura giggled shyly, and the two shared a meaningful look.

"For god's sake…" Ino muttered. "You two know that the bedrooms are open, right?"

"Yes, _please_," Naruto said darkly. "You're starting to-"

"Sakura, let's go."

"Oh!" She smiled nervously. "Okay…!" She gasped when he pulled her up roughly, hand traveling yet again to that one spot, and she blushed. "S-Sasuke!" But he was pulling her away almost impatiently by the hand, and she giggled and followed.

Naruto and Ino stared after them. "Sheesh. Good riddance," Naruto snapped.

"It's one after the other…My birthday's turning into a porno," Ino moaned, hiding her face in her hands.

Naruto smiled a bit. "Don't worry, they're just drunk," he said. "A lot of people are getting drunk; it's only cause you're, like, the only one that's cool enough to actually bring alcohol to your party."

"I wish _I_ could get drunk and _forget_ about all of this," Ino said, sighing dramatically and looking up, pulling a strand of hair from her eyes. "But it's my party, it's my responsibility."

Naruto laughed. "Hah. You can actually keep yourself from it!" He held up his bottle of beer. "Come on, let go. One sip won't hurt!"

Ino glanced at him, then she sighed and smiled a bit. "I admire your ability to be so carefree…" she said honestly, taking the bottle from him.

He grinned. "Thank you!"

"Are you drunk?" she asked as she wiped her mouth after the sip.

He shrugged with a chuckle. "Who knows." He took the beer bottle and looked out from the crimson sofa at the large dark room they were in, the lights flashing on the bodies moving around in one large mass on the dance floor. He glanced back at her and she noticed him looking her up and down.

Maybe it was the alcohol already effecting her system, but she decided to be a little brave.

She had chosen her next victim.

She leaned back against the sofa. "Wow, I'm so tired," she cried dramatically, catching his attention. She made sure her curves were accented by the way she dipped her body into the fabric of the seat, her long hair falling down her back. She saw Naruto's eyes widen from the corner of her own eye and smirked. It was working.

"Ino…" he mumbled, nervously.

She took one of his hands casually, holding it up against hers. "Huh. I just noticed, you know; your hands are really big, Naruto."

"Y…Yeah, people tell me that…" Naruto said, not even looking at her hands but at something else.

Next it was conversation time. "So how long have you been friends with Sasuke?" she asked politely.

"Um…" He shook his head viciously and stared determinedly at her eyes. "Seven years."

Ino frowned a bit, letting his hand go; he was forcing himself to be a gentleman. Well, that wouldn't do.

"So…" she said, lifting one leg up higher than normal and letting it drop over her other.

"Hey Ino, um…you doin' anything Sunday?" Naruto asked automatically.

Ino placed her hands on her thighs, proud of herself. She had accomplished her goal quicker than she expected. Naruto was easy. But that just made him cuter.

"Um, no, actually. Why, you wanna do something?" she asked slyly.

"Uh, yeah, sure! How about…lunch?"

"Is _Ichiraku's_ okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, that's, uh…that's perfect…" He was gazing at her, and wanting to let him keep looking, she distracted herself coolly by watching the dancers. That's when she suddenly noticed something.

A couple sliding out of the crowd, a pair that she never thought she'd see hand in hand in her wildest dreams.

"Is that…Neji and TenTen…?"she whispered, shocked.

Naruto blinked and looked out. "Huh. Yeah, it looks like it is," he said, tilting his head to the side curiously. "Wonder what they're…" His voice faded as he saw the looks on their faces.

Ino stood immediately. "I'll be right back…"

"Wait, you shouldn't…!"

But Ino was walking away, her impossibly tall heels clacking against the floor, as quickly as she could, narrowing her lovely blue eyes. She ran a bit, pressing past people and ignoring the drunken calls of, "Happy Birthday!" hooted out to her, the only intentions going through her adrenaline-high mind to see if this was really happening.

And it seemed so. As she flitted against the wall, waiting and watching over the corner Neji and TenTen disappear into a room next to the one she could hear Sasuke and Sakura in (_"Sasuke, right there! God!"_), she smirked.

"Payback, TenTen."

– _forbidden –_

TenTen felt herself giggle as she kissed him. She didn't remember when he'd fallen on his back onto the bed, pulling her with him on top of him, but then again everything seemed to be happening so fast. It might have been the alcohol.

All thoughts of Shikamaru were gone, completely disappearing from their minds.

Neji was ripping her shirt off quickly enough, and she didn't bother to protest as she was busy with the buttons on his own shirt, pulling them apart impatiently with fumbling fingers and tugging it off of him, careful to graze her fingers along his chest, giggling again as she felt his muscles ripple at the touch. She bit her smiling lips when he slipped his hands under her thigh and the small of her back and flipped her around almost carelessly so he was on top of her, lopsidedly. He let her pull his pants off of him as he did the same with her jeans, slipping them down and throwing them to the side off of the bed. As soon as he'd rid her of the offending item of clothing, he didn't waste time; his hand slid under her panties, and she gasped aloud as his finger entered her gently.

"Mm, you're tight…" he mumbled distractedly. He smiled as she groaned at the sensation when he pulled his finger out very slowly, feeling blood drench the sheets; he'd gone a little too deep. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"N-No, Neji, I want…" She was beyond words. He almost sighed in pity.

"Alright. If you say so." Now two fingers slid in, and she cried out in pain and pleasure. Neji let them stay there, knowing she'd have to get used to it, feeling her walls tighten. He did this a few more times, then when he felt like she could handle it, he increased his speed, changed the number of fingers, until he was pumping his hand in and out of her and she was crying his name in ecstasy.

Everything was happening fast, furious, wild. They couldn't think, but somehow it seemed like every detail was sharp and pointy in their minds, sinking in slowly and sensually. And it felt so _good_.

"Not yet, hey…" He took his fingers out of her. They were drenched in her vaginal blood and her juices, and he looked down at her eyes; full of lust, longing. "You have some more ahead of you, you can't come yet."

Unconvinced, she just relieved him from his boxers viciously, and he kicked them off of his ankles with a smile before he proceeded to lower himself on top of his lover-for-a-night.

– _forbidden –_


	3. Streamers

**Roll Party**  
3 – _Streamers_

"Neji, I don't understand why you won't-"

"You're still going on about last night? I told you, Shikamaru, I just didn't feel like it."

"Neji, ever since that party you and TenTen have both been acting so weird, and you won't even talk to me as much as you used to. Tell me what's going on."

"Nothing, alright? I've already said; nothing's wrong, nothing's going on, nothing's happened."

"…Nothing."

"Nothing."

– _forbidden –_

TenTen had never before felt uncomfortable around males. She, Neji and Shikamaru had been best friends since the age of three, when their parents introduced them to each other. And although she didn't really remember every detail of their childhood, she knew that they'd always been close.

She also remembered the lack of girl friends she always had. She hated it when they split up the sexes, because she and Neji and Shikamaru would always been separated, and she'd have to deal with people like Sakura and Ino. The diva's of the world. Everything about them annoyed her, from their giggles down to the way they wore the most revealing of clothes possible. They never seemed to care how many wedgies they must have gotten…

So when she found herself, awkwardly and uncertainly, avoiding Neji and Shikamaru both as much as possible ever since her little experience with Neji, the new feelings running through her were driving her insane.

She felt sick, nervous, and found herself wondering how in the world she could have been so, god damn stupid.

And for some idiosyncratic, almost humorous reason, some part of her _liked _it. She felt self-realization coming on, and she was excited. Even though she knew it was wrong.

For now, she was just floating through, suspended like a particle in this little ripple of settlement. She didn't know what she wanted, so she'd just sit it out.

"Hey."

Unfortunately life was not piteous.

She turned around and saw Temari, the last person she needed that day. She was walking aimlessly through the halls during lunch. Going nowhere, responding to no one.

"What?" she asked glumly as Temari strode up to her. She didn't feel like throwing an insult her way, she was just too tired for it.

"Don't think I came looking for you, sweetie," Temari said with a smirk, stopping in front of her. The two stood in the dimly lit hallway, voices echoing against the empty walls. "I'm a messenger. So don't kill me."

"Stop trying to act funny. It's seriously not helping," TenTen muttered.

Temari kept a thin-lipped smile on her face despite the comment. "Shikamaru sent me."

TenTen paused. "Shikamaru? Are you…talking to him?"

"Yep. Why, something wrong with that?"

TenTen said nothing, and Temari didn't seem to mind. Although the answer was obvious. "So what does he want?" TenTen asked impatiently.

"He just told me to go get you. I guess I'm a nice person when it comes to him, I do what he says," Temari said with a small smile. It was a bit of a surprise to TenTen. She never saw Temari's smile. _Ever_. It was actually…quite pretty. In contrast to the harsh smirk she usually flashed.

"Well…tell him I'm busy," TenTen said simply.

"With what? Taking a walk or something?" Temari asked, raising an eyebrow. She placed a hand on her slim waist. "Listen, TenTen. I understand what happened." TenTen's eyes widened. "And I understand you wanna stay away from the whole issue for now. And let me tell you, that's the smartest decision you've ever done."

"You're actually complimenting me?" TenTen asked, scoffing. Trying to avoid the real subject at hand. "Are you high?"

Temari laughed. She actually laughed, and it was a pleasant thing to hear. Low and pure, honey-sweet. "Nope. I'm just impressed. You've finally managed to…what should I say…discover yourself." She sighed. "So here. I'll come with you."

"…Come with me?" TenTen wondered if this whole thing was a dream. "What the hell do you mean?"

"I'll come with you on your little lunch-time stroll. I have a little brother to avoid myself, so there's nothing else to do."

TenTen stared at the older girl in front of her, eyes flashing invitingly, and, not believing she was saying it, mumbled, "Okay."

– _forbidden –_

Ino watched Naruto passing the baseball back and forth with Sasuke beneath the table, and paused in mid-bite of her sub to smile a little, seeing his carefree laugh. She felt like a mother sometimes. It wasn't a bad feeling at all.

She was, after all, responsible for her boyfriend.

The date with him had been…interesting. Not exactly the best date she'd been on. He'd ended up spilling his drink all over his lap. But instead of ruining the night, she ended up laughing, and for the first time, she'd realized that a guy had made her laugh for real on their first date.

Definitely the most…_enjoyable_ date she'd ever had. It didn't matter if it was the best…

He wasn't the best person in the world. That didn't matter, to her.

"Ino, hey."

She winced at Sakura's voice hissing in her ear. "Sakura, you don't have to whisper," she said simply, turning around at the lunch table to face her friend, who was just sitting down with her tray of food.

"I'm asking you a serious question," she said, rolling her eyes. She glanced at Sasuke and Naruto. They were busy talking with each other. Ino's eyes strayed to Naruto's face again. His blue eyes glittering with sunlight and starlight, his smile beaming and sweet…

"Ino! I'm talking!"

She whipped her head back to Sakura again impatiently. "_What_?"

"Oh drop the attitude. It's about Naruto," Sakura said sternly.

"What about him?"

Sakura smiled slyly. "You love him. Don't you?"

Ino's eyes widened, and she crossed her arms nervously. "I-I don't know, he's my _boyfriend_, Sakura-"

"Ino, this isn't how you act with your other 'just-for-a-week', 'one-night-stand' boyfriends," Sakura said, lips curling up to show a grin. "You can't fool me with all your 'oh, he's _sooo_ good at sex' speeches. That look in your eyes is _unmistakable_, my friend." Sakura placed a hand triumphantly on Ino's shoulder, forcing her to look right in he eyes. "You love him."

"…No, I don't, Sakura."

But Ino knew she did. And Ino knew there was no way out of it. Not this time…

Ino suddenly noticed something that could change the subject, and her eyes widened. "Sakura. Your purity ring."

Sakura looked down at her hand on Ino's shoulder, and she retracted it quickly with a dark blush. "Oh, um…Yeah, I took it…off…"

Ino stared at Sakura, bewildered. "Oh…" She watched Sakura glancing at Sasuke shyly, playing with her fingers in her lap.

– _forbidden –_

_It was an accident._

"Neji, hey, eat your food," Shikamaru said, leaning over and waving a sub in front of the boy's nose playfully, as if the fumes would waft in and tempt him to drool over the thing. A piece of lettuce landed in his lap, and his took it between his fingers absentmindedly, slipping it between his lips.

"Okay, okay…" he said, pointing to his mouth to demonstrate the leaf he swallowed, waiting for Shikamaru to approve.

_It was a stupid mistake._

He felt something cool press against his chin, and he laughed distractedly as Shikamaru grinned and pressed the sandwich insistently into his mouth. He parted his lips, and Shikamaru slid it in very slowly. Neji laughed some more and snatched the sandwich away from him, chewing and saying, "Perv," teasingly with his mouth full.

Shikamaru just shrugged carelessly. "I seem to remember you being slightly perverted. Remember last month, when you…Er…I shouldn't be talking about that in public…"

_It was wrong._

Shikamaru sighed and leaned his head on Neji's shoulder wearily. "Damn, I'm tired…" he yawned. He snapped his mouth shut and frowned. "What's taking TenTen? I haven't seen her all day…and she didn't text me about being sick." He glanced at Neji, who was looking down at him on his shoulder. "She text you?"

Not wanting to be reminded of her, he just shrugged. This caused Shikamaru to bump his cheek against his, and he chuckled and kissed his forehead quickly, wanting to distract the both of them.

_It didn't happen._

And it worked, Shikamaru pushed Neji's bangs away from his face to get a good look at his eyes. Neji smiled, gazing right back into his own.

"I love you."

Shikamaru smiled back. "You too. But what's with the sad look in your eyes, huh? What are you all depressed about? You fail a test or something?"

"No. I just love you a lot," Neji said simply, draping his arm around Shikamaru's shoulder and leaning his head against his.

But Shikamaru parted from him, staring him straight in the eye. "Neji, you're sweet, okay?" he said seriously. "But I know, and hate it, when you keep secrets from me."

"I'm not-"

"And I know and hate it when you lie to me." Shikamaru suddenly began to stand.

"Shikamaru-"

"Just don't try, Neji," Shikamaru said loudly, frowning down at him. "It's not working. I'm gonna go find TenTen and find out what's going on."

"I don't think she's here today…" Neji said, getting to his feet as well slowly, heart sinking.

"Then I won't have to hear lies for the rest of the hour," Shikamaru said darkly. He turned his back on Neji, but paused. "…Eat your food…" he muttered before walking away swiftly.

Neji stared after him, then swore out loud beneath his breath in a furious hiss, sliding down to a seated position against the wall again and slamming his forehead into his knees.

– _forbidden –_

"Naruto!" Ino laughed happily as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Whoops…You can go on ahead, Ino, I'll pick these up," he said, kneeling on the ground in front of the piles of books and papers that he'd dropped. Together, they were alone in one of the long, empty hallways in the middle of lunch.

"We're going to _your_ locker, Naruto," Ino said, kneeling as well and giving him an almost scolding smile. "I don't know your combination." Sakura and Sasuke were somewhere else. Sakura had suddenly decided to have a talk with him, and so Ino had decided this was a good time to go to Naruto's locker.

"Eh…right." He grinned sheepishly. "Thanks," he said as her small hands flitted around, picking up his papers faster and cleaner than he could.

"It's no problem." She paused. "I…probably would have stayed with you even if I _knew_ your combination…"

He looked up, lips parting in surprise. "Really?"

She looked away, clacking the papers on the ground to straighten them. "…Definitely." She handed the papers to him, and he took them, but his fingers strayed on her hands.

"Thanks."

She turned to face him again, expression startled. His smile was warm, eyes tilted kindly. His fingers were gentle and soothing.

"Naruto…" Her voice faded away when she heard footsteps, and they both snapped out of it. He stood, filing his things away again into his bag, and they looked over their shoulders to see the owner of the footsteps.

Ino's eyes widened, and she saw, all thoughts of her experience that had just begun pushed out of her mind, Shikamaru Nara rounding the corner.

No. She saw a _chance_.

Her pretty pink lips curled in a smirk, and she put a hand on Naruto's arm. "Naruto, you can go ahead if you want. I'll meet you at your locker."

Naruto blinked, confused, then saw the look she was giving Shikamaru. "Wait…Ino, what're you doing…?"

"Don't worry about it." She started walking over to the advancing Shikamaru, and Naruto asked it again, voice a little worried.

"Ino, what're you doing?"

She ignored him, and kept going. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow as she kept walking for him. He slowed down uncertainly, but said nothing and kept going. Ino stopped directly in front of him, and he did as well, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

She gave him a quick once-over. His lips were pressed together tightly; how cute, he didn't want to talk to her. She didn't see herself as rather intimidating, but he and Neji seemed to be scared of everyone lately.

"Hi, Shikamaru," she said as kindly as she could. "Where are you heading? To your locker?" He shook his head, eyes dangerously narrowed, and she tilted her head to the side patiently. "Where, then?"

"I'm trying to find TenTen," he said simply.

"TenTen? Hm. I saw her earlier today," Ino said carefully. Inside, she was excited. This was it.

"She's here today," he gathered, seeming surprised.

"Yes, she's here today," Ino said, giving Shikamaru a friendly smile. "But why do you want to find her?"

"None of your business…" Shikamaru mumbled, trying to push past her. But Ino would not let him through.

"Say, Shikamaru. You're not, in any chance, trying to impose on her relationship with Neji in any way. Are you?" He stared at her, and she kept her steady smile. "Because I'm afraid I'm a little too nice to allow that to happen."

"What do you mean? Her relationship with Neji, what relationship?" Shikamaru demanded impatiently.

Ino widened her eyes, sticking a very surprised expression on her face. "Wait, you don't know? But you were there with them at my party, weren't you?"

"Well…yeah," Shikamaru said, raising an eyebrow. "What are you going on about?"

"Well…I mean, I just thought that you were…you know, _okay _with them," Ino said, shaking her head. "I saw you just sitting there flirting with Temari-"

"We were just _talking_. I'm _gay_," Shikamaru interrupted her. Ino saw the frustrated confusion burning inside of him, and her smile widened.

"Still?"

It seemed, to a gleeful Ino, that Shikamaru's heart had stopped.

_Drink this, TenTen. Bitch._

– _forbidden –_

"This your locker?"

Temari and TenTen stopped. They were on the second story, and TenTen nodded.

"Yeah." She began to twist the lock in her combination's order. Temari leaned against a locker not too far away, watching her with an amused look on her face. TenTen ignored her, trying to act concentrated.

"Well." TenTen tried not to wince when Temari spoke in her sarcastic voice. "That was an interesting walk."

"We didn't even talk, idiot," TenTen muttered. She tried to open her locker, and it didn't work.

"Wow, TenTen, what an insult, I am _so_ impressed."

"Shut up." She kicked her locker in frustration, then brushed her bangs from her eyes and tried again. "I don't feel like arguing. I don't feel like talking. Just shut up."

Temari was silent, then she sighed. "Yeah. Sorry."

TenTen's fingers froze, and her head snapped up in surprise. "Did you just say…sorry?"

Temari was watching her with smooth, teal eyes. "Yes," she said simply. TenTen stared at her. She'd lost the number she was on for her combination. Temari's voice was suddenly so soft, gentle. And it sounded so…_nice_. Sweet, wrapping her into her invitingly.

"…Thanks."

Had TenTen broken Temari's mask at last? She looked so unsettled, so alien. Not Temari.

Or maybe she'd just seen Temari for real. She'd given her a chance…

Temari turned her back on TenTen suddenly. "…Just lose that gooey, self piteous attitude. It bugs me when you get all sensitive."

"…Yeah…" TenTen turned back to her locker and twisted the lock. She heard Temari's footsteps walking away slowly.

She hadn't remembered Temari being so beautiful…

Her locker opened, and she reached a hand up to grab her book.

She hadn't remembered Temari making her heart feel ready to explode in her chest.

– _forbidden –_

"Naruto, for the last time, don't worry about it," Ino said simply.

"I can't not worry, Ino," Naruto said insistently, staring at his girlfriend walking beside him. That contented smile was ruining her pretty face...

"Naruto, I know you'll be able to soon enough," Ino said, waving a hand airily. That attitude was ruining her sweet personality, hidden like brick beneath wallpaper. She was distracted from him. No, from _herself_…

"No," he said, and she looked up at him in surprise. He didn't like doing this, he didn't like showing her the stone-cold face he knew he wore like a mask. But he had to. "I won't forget about it, Ino. And you _don't _know. You know nothing about me."

"Then I can learn, Naruto."

"You have no business messing with them like that."

Ino narrowed her lovely blue eyes. "Naruto. You don't know what you're talking-"

"Yes I do, Ino," Naruto said, and he suddenly stopped and took her hand. "Ino, I know more than you think. I'm not stupid." He coughed. "Well…I'm not the smartest person in the world. But I think I know when my own girlfriend's turning her back on me."

"I'm not!" Ino defended herself petulantly, anger sparking inside of her features.

"I don't appreciate it, Ino," Naruto continued, ignoring that. "If you're gonna go out with me…well…" He closed his eyes, not wanting to see her so mad. "I think we have a chance."

"…I do too…"

"Then…" He opened his eyes, staring into her own intensely. "Stop this."

She was unabashed. "Naruto, I am who I am," she said calmly. "If you don't like it, then you might as well break up with me."

Something snapped inside of him.

_She really thinks I'm an idiot, doesn't she?_

"Fine. I will."

She lost the expression for a startled one when he dropped her hand and began to walk away.

"…W…What…? Wait, I…didn't mean…"

He didn't listen to her, just kept going. It was painful. But at least he didn't have to live knowing that he wasn't smart enough to at least do _this_.

– _forbidden –_

_How could I have been so stupid?!_

Shikamaru clenched his fists as he walked, fast, through the empty, dimly lit halls. He couldn't see anything but the corners of the walls, all leading closer to Neji. _How could I have been so clueless? Why couldn't I see?!_

He thought he could see Temari, back to him, leaning against a wall deep in thought. He didn't stop to say hello, like he'd gotten accustomed to doing with her. He didn't feel like talking, seeing, listening to anyone but Neji.

_Neji and TenTen…How could I have not spotted it?!_

He rounded the corner to the hall outside the cafeteria, and the bell rang. Immediately people spilled through the cafeteria doors, but all he could see was Neji standing slowly, grabbing his bag.

_"I love you."_

How many lies had that boy told him…?

Shikamaru pushed against the crowd, threading through the throng and keeping his eyes trained on Neji, filing a book away in his bag and standing in the thinning mess of mindless students.

Neji looked up, noticing him walking closer, and seemed to recognize the look on his face. Neji's eyes filled with sadness, and he stood still as Shikamaru stopped in front of him.

Shikamaru regained his breath; he hadn't realized how fast he'd been walking. Neji watched him, his face blank and upset.

"Is it true?" Shikamaru asked finally. It wasn't like there was any hope left. Ino was a liar, but there was no lie in those eyes that time.

Neji closed his eyes. "Did TenTen tell you?" he asked. His voice was cracked with agony.

"No," Shikamaru said, and his voice was strained in the same way. That was a yes. A big, fat-ass yes. "Ino."

Neji looked up slowly. He was too blue to be surprised by that news. In fact, he didn't even seem that startled.

"Shikamaru…it was a mistake, we…we were drunk, and…" Neji closed his eyes, teeth grit.

Shikamaru stared at that face he used to think was so handsome. A smooth, long oval face, colorless lips that tasted so refreshing and felt so good against his…

It all looked ugly to him now, all of it. Repulsive.

He looked to the side, over his shoulder at the tiled floors. "We'll be late to class…" he said suddenly. The hall was empty. The only noise was the flickering hum of the cheap florescent lights, whose rays could not reach the dark corners of the rooms.

Neji said nothing, hands still clenching his bag with a painfully hard grip.

Shikamaru swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Bye, Neji," he said softly.

"Bye," Neji whispered after him as he walked away.

They were going to the same class.

– _forbidden –_


	4. Finger Food

**Thanks:** It really meant a lot to me to see so many people supporting me! Thank you all so much, I only had one person insult me (ShikaxOmi09).  
**Announcement: **This is the last time you'll see me for two weeks: I'm going to a Fine Art's Camp. So I'm on a two-week HIATUS.  
**Warning: **Hawt, graphic, outrageous, descriptive Yuri sex-scenes, also known as lemons/limes, ensue. You _may_ skip if you wish!

**Roll Party**  
4 – _Finger Food_

How did people force themselves to forget something they didn't want to remember? How did a person suppress a memory? TenTen pondered hitting herself very, very hard on her head. It wasn't like she didn't want to hurt herself already. Maybe it would jog her brain a little. She wouldn't even have to remember who she was. And she deserved the punishment.

"So what should we see, anyways?"

"I really don't care. Whatever you want, baby."

TenTen shut her eyes tightly as she listened to the mindless gossip around her as she crouched against the wall in the hall outside the cafeteria. Completely alone and hugging her knees to herself, she observed and listened to the teens pushing against each other like a herd of sheep, jostling past her.

"Ah, I'm hungry…Get me somethin' to eat. Please? I _looove_ you!"

"Hun, I'm sorry, but I told you, I don't have that much money left in my account."

What idiots. What clueless idiots. What was to lust about anymore? What was the point in the effort of falling in love? Lies? Tears?

"Sex?"

"Yeah, I told him I wasn't ready yet. I don't know if he understands or not…"

She'd lost her virginity to a guy she'd been friends with since childhood. What's more, they'd been drunk. It wasn't like it had meant anything. Right?

"Right! It's stupid to even think that!"

"Yeah! And he even said it out loud, 'I really think you're cheating on me', he said that _exactly_! I'm getting so tired of that 'I don't trust you' attitude of his!"

And now, she'd ruined it all, because she'd thought in a drunken stupor that she'd finally 'found herself'. She'd never felt so far away from 'herself'. She didn't even know who she was.

"But isn't that what you wanted?"

"Yeah, I wanted him to break up with me, but I didn't want him to completely embarrass me like that!"

TenTen stood up quite suddenly, and walked swiftly away, passing by an arguing couple.

"I'm sick of this."

"Fine, then let's just _break up_! You just _have _to get what you want _all the time_, right?!"

– _forbidden –_

Ino stared at the wood of her desk. Chipped, with graffiti scribbled in blurry black ink shouting out inaudible conversations. She tried to concentrate on the biography her English teacher read aloud.

"In Stamps, the young girl experienced the racial discrimination that was the legally enforced way of life in the American South."

She was single again. She remembered when she used to rejoice that fact. And it seemed not so long ago, too. When she'd smirk and look around the classroom. Who was next? She was always looking for the perfect person, someone to fall in love with.

Well, she'd found him. And, like an idiot, she'd lost him. And that was why now, she was not looking. She would never look again.

She drummed her fingers on the wood, preoccupied, and bit down on her perfect bottom lip, closing her eyes tightly. She tried to calm herself down, but her heart was racing in her chest, faster than it should have. It felt like it had sunk.

Two days since it had happened. Two days since she'd felt the need to get back at TenTen. Two days since Naruto had broken up with her. Two days since she'd heard from Sakura, running through the halls excitedly, the latest, juiciest gossip; Shikamaru Nara and Neji Hyuuga had just broken up.

It was supposed to be harmless revenge. She didn't want this to happen. Not any of it. Why, for the first time, was she not getting what she wanted?!

Her fingers reached for her cell phone in her purse, and she flipped through her contact list, finding Sakura's name and readying a text message, as she blinked back the tears that stung, hot and salty, at her eyes.

It had been two days since her heart had, for the first and last time, officially been broken.

– _forbidden –_

"Ola."

TenTen looked up. The room was dark, the shadows long and colored an eerie, navy blue, like a child had scribbled the ceiling and corners with a crayon. It was an unused classroom. The desks were pushed against the sides of the walls, and TenTen was standing across from one, staring at it aimlessly as her fingers nervously fidgeting with the strap of her schoolbag.

Temari entered the room, a look of curious amusement on her face. "You really owe me a lot, you know," she said, closing the door of the classroom behind her and standing with her arms crossed. "Making me skip class." TenTen said nothing, just bit her lip and nodded, and Temari raised an eyebrow. "So, why did you want to see me? And how'd you get my phone number anyways? You never texted back about that."

"I saw it on your Facebook," TenTen said. Her voice was quiet, timid.

Temari frowned. "Well, what do you want?"

"Did you tell him?"

Temari blinked, startled. She obviously hadn't expected TenTen to respond so immediately. TenTen watched her regain herself and lean against the door thoughtfully. "You mean, tell Shikamaru," she gathered.

TenTen nodded. Inside, she felt eager. But lately, anguish had been holding her down, like a heavy blanket around her shoulders. She wasn't going to show emotion, pleasure, or even pain. She wasn't going to allow herself any of the joys of existing as a human being.

"No." TenTen was immediately disappointed. "I didn't tell Shikamaru." Temari watched her as she sighed.

"Oh," she said simply, looking down at the grey carpet. She scuffed her heel along it moodily. "I was going to have to thank you."

"Thank me?" Temari laughed in bewilderment. "Don't you mean fight me?"

"No." TenTen closed her eyes, forcing herself to stay steadily insignificant. "Shikamaru deserved to know what we did. And Neji and I deserve all the crap we're getting."

"Like what kinda crap?" Temari asked. TenTen tried not to get too annoyed with that playfulness in her voice. Was this all just a joke to her?

"Our friendship is ruined," TenTen said stiffly. "A friendship that we've had since we were _three_. And it'll never be the same." She pushed back the sobs that she knew were furiously fighting her throat and instincts, trying to come up and burst forth. She turned her back on Temari intently, hiding her face. No way was she going to cry in front of Temari.

But oh, did she want to. It had always been the three of them, since they were little kids. Neji and Shikamaru had realized how much they loved each other in their freshman year of High School, after they were dared by TenTen to make out at a stupid sleepover they'd thrown together. And she'd supported it through every step they'd taken.

And it had all been ruined in one second.

She suddenly heard a click from behind her, and turned to look over her shoulder at Temari. She had locked the door gently, and her face was expressionless. But there was some sort of understanding in her eyes. TenTen hated that even more, and it definitely didn't help stop the tears. She turned around again, putting a hand over her eyes. She couldn't cry. She wasn't that weak!

She heard Temari's footsteps nearing from behind her. "Well…I don't know who told Shikamaru about what happened. But I agree, it must have lifted at least _something _from your shoulders, am I right?"

TenTen said nothing, but it was the truth…

"And…" Temari continued, and she stopped right behind TenTen. TenTen liked the voice Temari was using; very soft, gentle, and sunny…Deep, soothing. It was like a mother's, but like a friend's…

"…I guess that makes it easier for me…"

TenTen blinked, and pulled her hand away from her eyes. That voice, however sweet, implied something… "…What?"

"Well, you're feeling pretty down, TenTen…" It was getting playfully lighter, that stupid voice…it sent shivers down TenTen's skin, and she absentmindedly fingered the hem of her skirt. Temari placed her hands gently on TenTen's shoulders, and TenTen stiffened.

"What the hell do you expect?" TenTen asked with an angry laugh in an undertone.

Temari's hands, however, traveled down her arms. The journey was slow, and TenTen lost the bitter smile for a look of surprise when Temari's arms locked around her waist.

"What…are you doing?" she asked as Temari pulled TenTen back, close to her. It wasn't an embrace…but it sure as hell was _something_…

"Cheering you up…" Temari's mouth was suddenly near her ear, and her breath was warm against TenTen's neck, sending more shivers rippling through her entire body. Her skin suddenly felt numb, and her mouth went dry.

"What the hell do you think you're doing…?" TenTen repeated in surprise, voice hard, but Temari didn't hesitate. One warm hand brushed the skin of TenTen's stomach as it lifted her shirt up slightly, and the other hand slowly lifted up the upper hem of TenTen's skirt. TenTen's breath caught in her throat as Temari's fingers slipped under her panties, and crept lower.

"Temari, s-stop, I mean it," TenTen snapped, regaining control of her mind which was going fuzzy, and she grabbed one of Temari's wrists. But Temari's fingers slowly began to massage, and she froze all over.

TenTen squinted her eyes shut, and pushed back the shudders. "T-Temari, _stop_," she stuttered, raising her voice.

"Shh, we're in a classroom," Temari said softly, not listening.

TenTen grit her teeth furiously, and dug her nails insistently into Temari's wrist. "_Stop_!"

Temari did so automatically, and TenTen held her breath.

"You really want me to…?" Temari asked. Her voice was filled with lust and mirth. "You want me to stop, TenTen?"

"Y-Yes," TenTen said firmly.

"I don't think you want me to…" Temari said. Neither of them moved an inch. They stood there in the middle of the room, Temari's hand slipped under TenTen's skirt and TenTen holding onto Temari's wrist. "I think you want more. I think you want _me_."

"Y-You don't know what you're talking about, let me go," TenTen said, but her heartbeat was quickening, pounding hard and loud in her chest like an animal trying to get out of a cage.

"No, I do," Temari continued in a whisper that made TenTen want to groan; that god damn voice, it was honey-sweet and pulled her in more to Temari's whole wonderful presence. "TenTen, you were drunk when you had sex with Neji. That doesn't count. Are you drunk now?"

"Let me _go_, Temari," TenTen ground out.

It was silent again, and they still didn't move, neither of them even blinking. And finally, Temari retracted her hand. But she did it _so fucking slowly_, TenTen wanted to _kill_ her. It was tickling, teasing, and TenTen just couldn't take it anymore.

She'd felt these feelings before. But not this strong. _Never_ this strong.

Something had snapped inside of her. And it wasn't getting mended.

"Wait."

Temari did, and TenTen almost sighed in relief; Temari hadn't been doing what TenTen had been asking lately…

TenTen took Temari's wrist again, but gently, less stern. She could just _feel_ Temari's smirk, and TenTen bit her lip. "I…"

"Hm?" Temari murmured, and suddenly her lips were close to TenTen's neck. She could feel Temari's breath, warm like her voice, like the sun's rays reaching out and resting on her arms.

"I want you…" TenTen said breathlessly. She'd never spoken those words out loud like that. She didn't feel like herself.

_"But isn't that just what you wanted?"_

TenTen moved Temari's hand lower.

_"I'm sick of this."_

"I want you…" she repeated, closing her eyes and waiting for the pleasure she knew had to come soon. "Please…"

More standing still. Motionless, as their hearts beat against their cage bars.

"Whatever you want…"

TenTen gradually let go of Temari's wrist as her fingers snuck back to where they'd been and resumed their massaging and fingering, and this time more vigorously, as TenTen, almost uncertainly, slung her arms behind her and around Temari's neck.

TenTen closed her eyes, not wanting to watch the blinded windows, not wanting to watch anything; her vision was going fuzzy again. She bit her lip, trying to stop the moan, but it came out anyways, and Temari gave a sort of pleasured sigh from behind her.

As TenTen gave a small shudder, her head falling back a bit, she wondered if these sounds coming from them had just an effect on Temari. As a bit of an experiment she let free a mewling sound from her mouth, and Temari ground a little closer into TenTen from behind.

TenTen was only turned on even more, and she let herself go.

"Temari…" She let her head fall all the way back in pleasure, and she kept her eyes closed. "Ah…"

But just when she was on the verge, Temari turned her around and stopped her massaging. TenTen's eyes opened as she was twirled around to face Temari full on, and immediately Temari gave her the most forceful, lusty kiss she'd ever received, and she returned it eagerly.

When she heard Temari moan from the pressure they were exerting onto each other, when she felt their hands gripping each other's arms, and Temari's breasts press against her own, she gave a moan of her own, gasping, overwhelmed and halting the kiss. Before she could beg for more, Temari locked eyes with her, and she couldn't speak.

The look they exchanged took her breath away, quite literally. It was beautifully dangerous; her heart sped up to a terrifying rate that made her whole body feel like she'd taken a whiff of laughing gas.

Temari's hands undid the buttons on TenTen's shirt, fumbling slightly, and unbuttoned all the way down, but their gaze never left each other's. She let TenTen's shirt drop to the ground, and she kissed TenTen's lips, then her chin, then her neck, and her lips trailed all the way down her neck, between her bra, all the way across her stomach and towards her navel where she stopped, bending her knees, as TenTen shivered each time her lips touched her.

TenTen's hands grasped Temari's shoulders in anticipation as she slowly unzipped her skirt and let it fall to the floor. She watched as Temari rose again and kissed her hard, and TenTen pressed into Temari, moaning impatiently.

Temari parted, both of them breathing hard, and she rubbed her hands up and down TenTen's arms, moving her slowly down. TenTen sat, and let Temari kiss her yet again, moving her farther back so she was lying, propped on her elbows, before she retracted very suddenly and stood.

TenTen's eyes widened in surprise. Was Temari really doing this? She stood in front of TenTen on the ground, and the two stared at each other steadily as she began to undress slowly. First the shirt, then the skirt. TenTen watched as more of her skin was shown. Temari was gorgeous; her skin very lightly tanned, her legs long and thick. Her breasts, from what she could see (they were covered by that damn bra, TenTen promised herself she'd tear it off) were perfect…

Finally she lowered again, pulling herself on top of TenTen, and TenTen grabbed her to kiss her roughly, starting to get even more impatient. Temari's hands worked around TenTen's sides to undo her bra, and she parted from the kiss to press her lips between TenTen's breasts, her eyes straying to her chest for only a second before her hands darted there quickly, and as she worked there she kissed her way back down to TenTen's navel.

TenTen moaned again, the feeling she was experiencing was getting too hard to cope with, and she moved to press her fingers to her clit, but Temari grabbed her wrists quickly and smirked.

"Not so fast, TenTen…" she said, and TenTen groaned at the sexy, sultry tone she used. Temari's smirk widened, and she removed TenTen's panties; they were useless, soaking wet. TenTen moaned and closed her eyes, the need filling her up. She felt Temari breath teasingly against her clit, smelled the delicious, musty scent, and she moaned louder.

"Temari…Temari, god, please…"

Temari just kept going at her torturously slow pace, and she dragged a finger up her clit, causing her to buck her hips forward eagerly, her back arching off the ground for a brief second.

"Please…Temari…" TenTen gasped breathlessly. "I need you…"

Temari's tongue entered her obediently, and TenTen felt like she had died and gone to heaven.

She knew it, like she knew the greatest rule in the book, the one the world had to follow, a rule like "Don't kill.", or "Don't hurt yourself.".

She and Temari were making love, and she had officially found herself.

– _forbidden –_

Sakura handed Ino the fifteenth tissue she'd had to hand her. And that, was in the most perfect literal sense. Because she had been counting, had been counting since Ino had texted her in the middle of class and begged her to accompany her in the bathroom. Now, she was sobbing over the sink, mascara and eyeliner dripping down her face in a thin black river.

Sakura heaved a sigh as Ino mopped her face, still crying. She couldn't believe she was still this upset. She'd never gotten this worked up over anyone, any_thing_!

"Ino, aren't you afraid of…you know, your makeup?" Sakura asked meekly, rubbing a hand on Ino's shoulder.

"_Nooo_ …" Ino moaned, voice echoing off the linoleum sink. "I don't, I don't care about anything right now…" She sniffed into the tissue. "I-I mean, besides the fact that I'm an _idiot_! Sakura, you were right, I was in _love _with him, and I just let him _walk away_!"

"Ino, Ino, you told me that about fifty times…" Sakura said with a piteous sigh. "Tell me why he broke up with you, then. I mean, I was _wondering _where you two were at lunch for the past two days."

"I-I messed with Shikamaru and Neji. Well, mostly TenTen..." She groaned. "I'm such a bitch, and Naruto saw it, Sakura, he _saw _it."

"What, _you_ were the one to break Shikamaru and Neji up?" Sakura asked inquisitively.

"Yes, I…I told Shikamaru that Neji and TenTen had sex, because I saw them at my party…"

"Wait, really?!" Sakura's mouth fell open, and she grinned. "Hah, see? God made Adam and Eve for a reason, right? Those relationships never work out, good job."

"Sakura, would you cut the _crap_?!" Ino snapped, and Sakura blinked in surprise. Ino stared at her, then sighed and turned away again. "I…I just…I know it's religion and everything, but I feel awful…"

Sakura watched her, and she frowned and handed Ino yet another tissue. But before Ino snatched it, Sakura retrieved it. "Ino, this is my last one, make it count."

Ino blinked, then glanced at the mirror. She saw the makeup dripping down her cheeks, and she groaned in hatred at the sight of her face, or at least that's what Sakura thought was going on as she grabbed the tissue and cleaned up her face to the best of her ability.

"I'm so _stupid_, _stupid, stupid_!" Ino repeated glumly.

"Whoa, _whoa_!" Sakura stopped Ino from hurting herself as she began to slam her forehead against the sink. "What do you think you're doing?! You're losing it, Ino!" Sakura cried in exasperation as she pulled Ino away from the sink. She let go, and they both regained their breath.

Sakura composed herself, then placed a hand gently on a distressed Ino's shoulder, turning her to face her directly and giving her a gentle look. "Here; why don't you come over to my house tonight, okay?"

"H-Huh?" Ino sniffled.

"Come over tonight," Sakura said with a friendly smile. "I have booze, chocolate, chick flicks…perfect cure for a broken heart."

Ino sighed, breathe shuddering. "Don't you want to be with your boyfriend?"

Sakura's smile thinned a little. "Oh, well…We don't have to be together _every _night…" She fingered her opal ring behind her back. In truth, she was mad at him; he'd made her lose her virginity at Ino's party. She'd thought about giving up the oath, and praying for forgiveness.

But no. That just didn't work out, she was _not_ going to be the slut of the school. She and Sasuke had had a falling out, and weren't talking to each other at the moment.

There was nothing else to do that night…

– _forbidden –_

TenTen lay on her back in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Her room was dark. Just like _that_ room…

TenTen grit her teeth and turned around, hiding her face in her pillow. Was she just a whore?! What the hell was wrong with her?

"I wasn't even drunk…" she whispered to herself, voice muffled by the pillow.

She reached over onto her bedside table, grabbing her cell phone. She had one call from Neji; she'd ignored it. He'd only tried to call once, and he was probably just as scared as she was. She flipped through her contacts till she reached Temari's number, and she gulped.

After lying there with her, Temari had suggested they go home, and they'd simply gotten dressed, walked two different ways down the hall, and driven home, skipping the rest of the school day.

TenTen had spent the entire day just sitting there in bed, wondering and worrying. Were there cameras in that room? No, the school was cheap and security was not their top priority. Did anyone hear them? No, it was a classroom near the cafeteria.

Did Temari think this through? Or was she just as confused as TenTen was?

Now, it was midnight. She still wasn't asleep, and she couldn't _get_ to sleep. She felt sick to her stomach, and wondered if throwing up would solve her problems. No, only this could…

TenTen pressed 'Call', and she waited quite nervously. The ring was shrill, it hurt her ears. Everything hurt, and she could still remember the heat, the humidity, the sweat. The smell, the tastes, the hands grabbing each other, slipping into each other, the sounds they made, the way they cried each other's names out in ecstasy…

_"Hi TenTen."_

TenTen's breath caught in her throat, and she had to clear it. "Uh…hi."

_"Hey."_ It was silent, the hiss of the phone annoyed her beyond reason.

_"I didn't think you were gonna call me,"_ Temari finally said conversationally.

"Y…Yeah…" TenTen searched her mind for a way to say what was on it. "Um…Are we…?" She licked her dry lips. "Are we going out now? Or something?"

It was quiet, and TenTen held her breath.

_"Yeah."_

TenTen's heart felt like it was flying as Temari continued, _"I mean, if you want."_

"Yeah, I um…I do." She didn't know if she was happy, excited, or nothing at all. All she knew was that she wanted to go to sleep. "Listen, um…" She gave a nervously breathless laugh. "I um, I'm tired as hell."

Temari laughed over the phone, and TenTen adored the sound of it. _"Yeah, I understand. I have a headache like a bitch."_

TenTen grinned in spite of herself. "Sleep."

_"…Yeah. Bye TenTen."_

"Bye."

– _forbidden –_

Meanwhile, Ino and Sakura stood naked against each other, lips pressed to each others, beer bottles dangling in their hands. They were in Sakura's living room, a chick flick flashed on her TV behind them, outlining their bodies. How they'd gotten here, neither of them knew, but they didn't mind in the least.

"Get on the sofa."

Sakura obeyed Ino immediately, her cheeks pink with a drunken blush as she spread her legs wide, eyes wide in longing and lust. Ino leaned herself into Sakura as Sakura moaned.

"Ino…god, I want you, Ino…please…Ino…"

"That's better…" Ino murmured as she sucked on Sakura's neck. "That's better…"

– _forbidden –_


	5. Lights

**Roll Party**  
5 _—_ _Lights_

Three days later, in first period Advanced Geometry, Ino Yamanaka came to the understanding that something must be wrong with her. She must be the stupidest person ever unfortunately spawned on this sad earth.

She had been Sakura's friend since they were young children in Elementary School. Nothing had changed when they grew up, and now, they were still supposed to be close…This…this wasn't supposed to change…_ever_! She wasn't part of some B-Grade soap opera. She wasn't an idiot. None of this added up.

"Ino. Pay attention."

Piece of shit teacher. She glared up at Kurenai. The rest of the small, grey classroom stared at her in surprise as she stood up very suddenly, chair rumbling along the tacky navy carpet, and began to pack her things away.

Kurenai, sensing the commotion, turned around from the whiteboard she'd been tapping on at the front of the classroom. "Ino?" Ino didn't reply, she was busy stuffing books into her bag. "Ino," she tried again. No answer. "Ino, what are you doing?"

"Leaving."

"…Wh…Why? Because I politely asked you to pay attention?"

"It wasn't a question, it was an order." Ino finally got her last book to fit inside of her large bag, and began to make her way towards the door.

"Ino, I _am_ your teacher." Kurenai stepped in front of her, an eyebrow raised, holding onto a ruler that she'd been using to demonstrate to the class how to graph a three-dimensional shape.

"You're my teacher. Wonderful. I didn't know that," Ino said dryly. She could feel everyone's eyes glued to her stupidly behind her. She didn't really care.

"Ino, don't use that attitude with me," Kurenai said sternly. Ino just stared at her numbly, and Kurenai heaved a sigh. "Dear, what has gotten into-?"

"-Don't call me that."

"…I'm sorry-?"

"-Don't call me '_dear_' like you're my fucking grandmother or something. You're not." Ino's heart was going crazy. She felt sweat beading on her forehead.

Kurenai narrowed her eyes. "Watch your mouth."

"Don't _you_ use _your_ goddamn attitude with _me_," Ino retaliated. Her voice was quiet, calm even, but there was a shake to it. Her knees were quivering.

She watched Kurenai's expression change to a frown, some deeply desired comebacks building up in the back of her throat that she could never say. It only gave Ino more satisfaction, and more courage. "Ino. Go to the office, now," Kurenai said thinly.

"No. I'm going home."

"You can't go home in the middle of the school day. Maybe we can call your parents and arrange that if you _really_ want-"

"Stop acting like a sarcastic bitch, Kurenai, you sound like as much of a whore as you look."

"Ino Yamanaka, _get out of my classroom_!"

"Don't order me around."

"_Get _out!"

"No!"

"Ino-!"

Kurenai never finished her sentence. The next couple things that happened were a blur to Ino. She remembered leaning forward to punch Kurenai so hard in the face that the lady was thrown backwards into the desk behind her. Some of the boys behind her in their desks flew to their feet and ran forward to restrain Ino, and a few girls shrieked. Ino immediately commenced to fighting off the boys. In the commotion, Kurenai had picked herself up, and grabbed the ruler, and the next thing Ino knew, she was lying on the ground, and Kurenai was saying, "Someone dial for the hall guards, _now_."

Ino could barely move. She struggled to get up. The only thing she wanted to do was punch and kick and bite, whoever was closest to her. But she was seeing lights, swirling around her head, and she felt herself get dizzy. The last thing she saw was Kurenai kneeling down next to her among the spinning lights, and caressing her head gently, murmuring something under her breath soothingly, and the last thing she knew was that she wanted to hurt Kurenai so bad she'd never walk again.

Then she passed out.

— _forbidden __—_

Temari didn't know if she was happy or not. She knew she was _supposed_ to be. Well, not ecstatic. But somewhat content.

She had TenTen practically wrapped around her. TenTen wasn't particularly obsessed with her, but she was close enough to it. It was cute, really. Funny. But…it just wasn't…

Temari didn't find anything romantic about it. She'd felt the sort of feeling before, but in a different way. She had a larger family than normal, consisting of two younger brothers. Sometimes, there would be situations like…like when there was only a little bit of ice cream left in the fridge, enough for just one bowl. She'd feel bad snatching the rest of it, knowing her brothers would kill her for it later. But it was worth it, she would remind herself as she snacked on it eagerly.

That's what it was like. Just…worth it. It wasn't _good_ enough.

But it was still…It was still _nice_, she had to admit it. Being TenTen's lover, it just felt like she had been waiting for it forever.

In reality, she reminded herself silently as she walked the halls with a pass for room 321, she hadn't expected what had happened with her and TenTen back in the empty classroom last week. She hadn't even thought it through. Sure, she'd thought about…doing it with TenTen, but not…not for real…

She sighed and watched the lights reflecting on the shiny floors in front of her as she walked. She was alone in the hallway, and it was somewhat unsettling. She was a people person, she knew that. She always needed someone.

Just…_need_…Was that what it was? Was that why…she and TenTen…

She grit her teeth and brushed a stray bang out of her eye. No. No, she and TenTen were different. It was right. It was how it was supposed to be. That was it.

That was it.

— _forbidden __—_

Sakura had prayed last night.

It was something she did often, in the safety and privacy of her own room. She prayed to God for forgiveness for her sins. She prayed to God for forgiveness for her _friends_' sins. Many times she had prayed for Ino.

Not last night.

Yes, she was angry. Hell, she _furious_. She wanted Ino to be _punished_. She had _never_ wished punishment upon someone before. Never. It wasn't moral. But…no, _this_ was moral. This was _honest_. It was what she _wanted_. What…what _God_ would want. Right?

"Sakura, honestly, you're acting like a fucking weirdo."

She glanced up at Hidan. It was lunch. Her friend from her Youth Group had, without asking, sat down across from her. Hidan was a senior, and had a tendency to curse more than he should have. But he was a faithful Christian and a loyal friend, and Sakura respected him. "How am I acting like a weirdo?" she asked him quietly. She was otherwise indifferent of his appearance. He had a habit of doing that, popping up in random places and not bothering to say hello. She'd say 'rude' if he wasn't such a sweetheart at times.

"Listen, just get over it," Hidan said, rolling his eyes and leaning on one elbow on the tabletop. He knew about Ino. Sakura hadn't told him. But he knew. He just…_knew_ these things. It was strange. Maybe it was…obvious…

Sakura cringed at the thought. It shouldn't have been. She'd gotten drunk, and had sex with Ino, and then they'd fallen asleep, and Ino had apparently run for it in the morning, for when Sakura woke and it all came flashing painfully back to her, there hadn't been a sign that the girl had been there.

Except - Sakura couldn't get over this one – a blanket spread over her on the sofa, where she'd been curled up peacefully. She'd thanked her parents for it at breakfast, but they said that when they'd gotten home from the bar it had already been there. The beer bottles were missing, she'd found them in the trash can in the kitchen later. The TV was off.

And there had been a wet towel on her forehead. It had been stuck in the cushions of the couch in the morning, but Sakura knew where it had been…

She felt queasy, suddenly. She didn't know why, but she knew she would like very much to throw up everything in her stomach at that moment.

"Hey, Haruno. Snap out of it." Sakura blinked and switched her gaze, which had been stuck on the wall over Hidan's shoulder, to his actual face. "…S…Sorry…"

"You're thinking about Ino."

"N-No!" Sakura shook her head rapidly, but knew that made it altogether more obvious, for Hidan smirked and leaned back in his seat, scrutinizing her. "Wow…" he said, eyes tilted in amusement. "This is just so hott."

"Hidan!" she cried, appalled, and she leaned forward and grabbed his arm, pinching it hysterically. He flinched, but she didn't let go and pulled him down to face her as she hissed: "Listen to me; This is not a good thing. This is _terrible_. I've sinned. This is a goddamn sin, and it's _nothing_ I can _ever_ ask for forgiveness for! And it's all her fault!"

"Shit, Sakura, calm down-"

"-I _can not_ calm _down_!" she whispered wildly under her breath, feeling her eyes grow huge, feeling the tears brimming over the edges. "I can't! I can't stop thinking about it, I don't know _why_, I can't stop _thinking_ about it-!"

"-That's a good thing, you fucking idiot!" Hidan pulled his arm from her grasp carefully and leaned over the table, narrowing his eyes and grinning devilishly. "Sakura. If you ask me, this is a sign from God. A sign that he-"

"-This is not sign from _God_, Hidan, this is a sign from the Devil if a sign at all, this is not _good_, Hidan!"

"Stop thinking about homos."

"How can I _stop_ thinking about-?!"

"Pretend it was a guy!" Sakura stopped speaking altogether and stared at Hidan. Hidan smirked at her expression. "Remember, Sakura?" His voice grew softer as he leaned even further along the table. "Remember how much fun we had…?"

Sakura's eyes grew wider. "You…you promised not to talk about that…" she whispered. But memories were splashing back into her head, now. Reasons. Explanations. Secrets.

She hadn't been a virgin when she'd had sex with Sasuke Uchiha.

"Well, Sakura, it seems that I was right that night anyways." Hidan leaned back again into a normal sitting position, looking her up and down.

"Wh-What do you mean?" she stuttered. She was going to cry any second, she knew it. Her heart was hammering against her chest. She was shaking. She was _afraid_.

"Well, you remember what I called you?" he asked. His lips curled to show a handsome, sly grin.

"Remember when I called you a _whore_."

And that was the last straw. She had to get out of there. Any way, any how, she had to leave. She had to…she had to walk, to clear her head. _Now_. She stood up, and ran. She ran blindly for the doors to the cafeteria. She imagined hearing Hidan's laughter, she ran faster, almost _sprinting _now, until she finally ran into someone, which was a given in the crowded room.

She fell to the ground immediately, and let out a small groan as she landed on her side. She looked up, pink hair splayed clumsily across her forehead, and stared wide-eyed at Sasuke Uchiha.

He was looking down at her, having stumbled backwards, and his eyes were large as well. Naruto wasn't over his shoulder, like he usually was. He looked…alone, without the boy. Lost. "Sakura? Hey, sweetie, what's-?"

"I had sex with Ino."

He froze midsentence. "…Wh…What…?"

She got to her feet, stumbling, and braced herself with a hand against the wall. She could see the doors behind him, only a couple feet away. "I had sex with Ino," she repeated, eyes glued to the doors. She still only really had one thought going through her head, that she had to get out of there, now. "I got drunk five days ago. And I invited Ino over to my house." She swallowed the phlegm covering her throat. "And we had sex."

And she pushed past her boyfriend, and ran out through the doors. Finally.

That was all she could think about, actually. Finally. That was the only word she could think about.

Finally…

— _forbidden __—_

When Ino woke up at last, she was lying on her back staring at lights above her. Brilliant, and blinding, and giving her the worst headache she'd ever had. She groaned, the stiffened and sat up as straight as a board immediately, covering her thighs as best as she could with her tiny school skirt. She realized she was on a cot in the nurse's office. She rested her hand on a small bar on the edge of it, and tried to cure her dizziness.

Finally, when the world stopped spinning, the first person she saw was Kurenai, sitting in the chair near the closed door. She and Kurenai stared at each other in silence for a while. Neither one moved, made an expression, said anything. Just stared. Their eyes didn't even talk for them.

Finally, Kurenai said slowly, "If you want to hit me again, do it now. I don't have a yard stick in my hands."

Ino glanced down at Kurenai's hands now, since she'd mentioned them. They were folded politely in her skirt. Ino's gaze moved back up to Kurenai's eyes, whose smile was inviting and warm. "Are you alright?"

Ino said nothing, but she swung her legs carefully over the side of the cot, and put a hand up to her head. She avoided Kurenai's eyes now, and looked up at the corners near the ceiling, but Kurenai spoke anyways. "Ah, yes. I expected your head would hurt. And I assume I'll get in a lot of trouble for doing that."

Ino suddenly heard something strange. A laugh. She turned back to Kurenai. The woman was giggling in a pleasant undertone, holding a hand up to her mouth as if embarrassed. "I-I'm sorry," she stuttered bubbly. "Ah, you really are a fighter, aren't you? So stubborn!"

She sighed and leaned back in her seat, staring at Ino and letting the chuckles die down. To Ino, the sound was like an orchestra. Like a lullaby. And oh, how she wanted to go to sleep, then wake up again and let realization unfurl as a dream.

A dream, and that's it. A good dream. And a bad dream. And a funny dream worth laughing to.

"I'm jealous." Ino's eyes widened as she shared a long gaze with Kurenai. Kurenai shook her head slightly in subtle amusement, her eyes never leaving Ino's. "I'm jealous," she said again happily. "I wish I had that fire in me still. But you know. You lose things in life, and when you're alone, well…" Kurenai sighed, and said with a smile:

"Well, you're only human, right?"

The door next to her opened. Ino didn't say a word as an overweight lady with frizzy hair and grey-red cheeks bustled in, asking if Ino was alright.

"Oh, she's fine," Kurenai said, standing up and excusing herself. "I guess it's time for me to go," she said. She didn't look at Ino as she left, just said, "I guess it's time for me to go," and left the two human beings alone in the room with each other, with nothing to do but test blood pressure.

— _forbidden __—_

"So this is where you've been."

Temari smiled a little and leaned her weight onto one hip. "Hi TenTen." She was in the same room that it had all began inside of. The abandoned classroom near the cafeteria, where she'd taken TenTen, and TenTen had taken her, and here they were now…

She turned around to face the girl. "What're you doing? I thought you were going out to eat."

TenTen shrugged, smiling and closing the door behind her. "I changed my mind. I'm not really hungry."

"Yeah, neither am I."

"I figured." TenTen laughed lightly as she walked over to Temari, and Temari joined in, but unenthusiastically. How bland. Wasn't there anything else to talk about? She couldn't find anything in her mind. It was just…this. That was all she could discuss with TenTen, ever. Nothing else. Nothing new. Nothing exciting. No bursts of bright lights, no fireworks exploding in her mind like before, no moments that made her heart beat faster. Just this.

"So guess what my cat did yesterday," TenTen said cheerfully, plopping down on a nearby desk. Temari had to admire the way she could do that so churlishly, and still seem adorable. It made her jealous. "What?" she asked, smiling and sitting next to the girl.

"He brought in a dead rat, but it was _huge_!" TenTen proceeded to hold up her hands, demonstrating the size of the rat.

Temari grinned. "Oh, now you're doing the 'it was this big' thing?"

"Huh?"

Temari sighed in exasperation. "_You_ know. The penis thing."

"…Oh!"

Something strange happened just then that Temari couldn't help but notice; TenTen lost her smile.

It was a short happenstance. Just a flicker in which TenTen's face didn't glow any longer, and Temari felt the same revolt and loathing she'd felt for the stupid twat when she wasn't even sure of herself before. It was that feeling that made Temari punch her in sophomore year, trip her in the hallway, chuck pieces of balled up wrappers at her at lunch…

But then TenTen's smile was back, and Temari stared into those two brunette eyes, sparkling yet again with a glint of happiness, and wondered what she was hiding, and why in hells name she had to hate it so much.

She wondered what was wrong with her. She wondered what was missing. She wondered why none of this felt right.

And that's when they heard the crash just outside, and a familiar voice shouting, "_Get out of my fucking way!_"

Familiar, and low, and giving TenTen that look again. That look that made Temari hate her. More than anything.

— _forbidden —_

Shikamaru didn't really know how it was happening. But he was doing it. He was trying to kill Neji.

Maybe not trying to_ kill_, but he _wanted_ to. Of course, he also wanted to get into college, and he also wanted a clean record, and he also wanted to see Neji bleed, so he would settle for that.

"Shut the fuck _up_!" he roared, slamming the boy yet again into the lockers. They were alone in the hallway near the cafeteria. The lights were off, allowing only the sunlight from outside glint glaringly against the linoleum floors. "I told you to shut the fuck up about that!"

Neji grit his teeth, and soon Shikamaru felt an elbow sock him in the chest, hard and breathtakingly painful. He stumbled backwards, letting Neji go, who grabbed him by his collar furiously and forced him to look up at him. "What, all the shit I said about Temari?! Well _you're_ the one who ran into me and started shit about TenTen! What the hell happened to being her friend, huh?!"

Hearing himself say this, Neji seemed to realize just how terrible it was, and making a frustrated noise he punched Shikamaru hard in the stomach. Shikamaru fell to the ground painfully as Neji yelled, "_You're her fucking friend_!"

"You son of a _bitch_!" Shikamaru shouted in a rage, and he pulled himself up to blindly sock Neji right in the face. Neji yelled in pain and fell backwards into the lockers again, clutching a bloody nose, and Shikamaru advanced furiously. "Don't you _dare_ start that _shit_ up with_ me_!" he roared. "_You started it!_"

Neji's eyes widened as he faced Shikamaru, and the younger man suddenly saw something that made him freeze. He could see that face he used to kiss romantically, caress with nothing else but tender care and affection. A face he used to love, and now…it was just…

It was just so goddamn beautiful.

Shikamaru drew his fist back, ready to punch that beautiful face, but the sound of a door opening made he and Neji both freeze and turn to see Temari sprinting out, grabbing Shikamaru's arm, and throwing him backwards, crying "Cut it _out_!" as TenTen rounded the corner as well. Catching sight of the blood on Neji's face, she shrieked and stumbled backwards, holding her hands to her mouth.

Shikamaru supported himself on the wall behind himself, having only eyes for Neji, who was standing against the lockers across the hall, staring right back at him now through his fingers, blood oozing between them.

Shikamaru stared at nothing but Neji as complete silence rebounded against the walls of the hallway.

And then, Temari obstructed his vision.

Shikamaru blinked in confusion as something new came over him. Temari was moving her mouth as she glared up at him, and she was obviously furious with him, her arms flying all over the place in an attempt to accent her fury. But Shikamaru could only see something different.

Something scary, and something beautiful.

And it was a beautiful feeling that came over him upon seeing that, and that was why it was scary.

"Shikamaru!"

_Now_ he could hear what she was saying, because she said his name, and just seeing the way her lips moved to say it, and seeing the way her eyes narrowed into little teal slits, and the way it sounded so perfect coming out of her mouth, it all made his heart slow down, then speed up, then stop and start over again.

"Are you even listening to me?" she demanded. He stared at her stupidly for a second, the question registering in his foggy brain. Then, finally:

"What?"

That was all he could say. Because that was all he could think. And he didn't care if it sounded dumb. He meant it. That question was everything to him now, because he was saying it to _her_. And 'what' was right. He didn't know the answer. No one would ever know the answer. How could they?

"My god!" Temari suddenly reached forward. Usually, when someone leaned into him, Shikamaru flinched or cringed on instinct. But for her, he just waited. Waited, hoping for some contact, and she gave it to him; she grabbed his wrist, and pulled him after her, and he half-reluctantly-half-willingly hurried clumsily after her.

It felt like he was falling. It felt like he was flying. Like he wasn't alive.

He was in love.

His eyes widened, and he pulled his wrist out of her grip. Temari turned around shortly, staring at him, glaring. "Shikamaru—"

"Would you shut up?!" he yelled at her. He tried to regain his breath, but his eyes were drawn to hers. They were wide, and confused, and a little hurt. "You…Just stay away from me, alright?" he continued angrily. "Stop trying to stick your ass where you shouldn't be, just…get out of my life…"

Temari's lips parted in surprise, but Shikamaru was running past her before she could even react. He dashed around a corner, slammed into the doors of the men's restroom, and flung himself against the wall, pounding it furiously. He felt the pain in his palm, felt himself bruise, but he didn't care, in fact, he figured that he deserved it. Squinting his eyes shut, he pressed his forehead against the cool tiles of the bathroom wall.

He listened to the hum of the vents, the ticking of a clock, his breath echoing loudly back to him off the shabby ceiling. But all he could see under his closed eyelids was Temari's face, all he could feel was the skin burning where her hand had wrapped around his wrist.

He was in love. With Temari. With a _woman_. And he liked the feeling. He _liked_ it.

And she was going out with the girl who had taken his boyfriend from him. He was going to pass out, he knew it. He was going to pass out. His head hurt. His _heart_ hurt.

And as he panted, panicking, frightened and confused and enraged with himself, all he could do was ask the same old question again:

"What?" he mumbled. But no one heard him.

— _forbidden __—_

Temari had run after Shikamaru. She probably wasn't going to get far. In fact, knowing Temari like she did, TenTen figured she would just go home by now, not seeing a reason to stay for the rest of the school day.

TenTen was alone. Alone with Neji, but yes, that meant she was alone. In any other world, the difference would be clear, but to her, it was just alone. Maybe she had no eyes but for him, no feelings but for him, at that moment, but she was alone, so he wasn't there. Not really. Not yet.

Neji suddenly coughed, and TenTen snapped out of it when she saw the blood pouring from his nose. Trusting all instincts, she walked forwards tentatively, stopped after a few steps, then hurried towards Neji again, and took his arm. She saw him look down at her from the corner of his eye, but avoiding his gaze she simply said, "Come on," and, firmly staring at the door across the hall, took him into an empty classroom.

Neji didn't resist, and even let her sit him down in one of the chairs once they got inside and closed the door behind them, but the two did not look at each other for even a moment. TenTen dragged a chair at an angle in front of him, and sat in it, facing him.

"You, um…" TenTen cleared her throat; her voice sounded raspy. "You should stop the bleeding." She nodded towards his nose, and looked up at him. To her, the blood didn't even make a difference. His face was still so pretty. As he slowly cupped his hands to his nose, his eyes flicked up to meet hers from over the tips of his fingers, and she felt her heartbeat speed up.

Trying to get her mind off of the beauty of those eyes, she reached over, and grabbed his tie. He flinched a little, and TenTen's heart seemed to be tugged a little by an imaginary string; he used to flinch whenever strangers touched him, but never, _never_ when _she_ touched him. Why now? Had it really been that long?

She pulled his tie out of his shirt collar, and balled it up. "Here," she said, looking back up to his face. "You'll need a cloth for that."

He moved his hands slowly away from his nose, still staring at her with wide, lovely eyes, and let her gently swab at his nose with the cloth.

"Sorry…"

TenTen blinked in surprise as his voice spoke muffled from between her fingers. "Huh?" was all she could say.

"Sorry," he repeated, mumbling. He took the cloth from her and continued to swat at his nose. TenTen's hands lingered in the air reluctantly, then fell to her lap sadly. "To make you go to the trouble. But you can go—"

"—If you say 'you can go now'…" TenTen took a deep breath and just stopped talking.

Neji looked at her curiously. "What are you mad about?" he muttered.

"Nothing, I just think fighting Shikamaru was a stupid thing to do," TenTen said thinly forcing herself to stare at her palms clenching her skirt in her lap.

"Well, you're right." TenTen drummed her fingers on her thigh. "It was stupid."

TenTen nodded. She could hear the squeak of the stupid plastic chair as Neji leaned farther back into it, heard the way his breath dipped melodiously in a sigh that was probably too graceful than it should have been. Now she understood what Shikamaru always used to rant to her about when he'd say just how gorgeous his former boyfriend really was.

Well, now they both knew. They both knew by heart.

"And I'm…sorry about everything." TenTen stopped drumming her fingers and closed her eyes now. It was so, so hard not to look at him.

"For everything?" she asked, and her voice was hoarse. Tight, with the agony of the words. Because she and Neji knew what 'everything' meant. It wasn't as many things as they'd thought it was.

"Yeah." Neji coughed again, and TenTen looked up this time, unable to stop herself. His eyes were closed, now, and he seemed to be in pain. It was no wonder, he had the tie pressed to his nose way too hard.

"Not so rough," TenTen ordered under her breath.

"What?"

TenTen groaned. Neji always was a fantastic ditz. "You're only hurting yourself more," she muttered, reaching over and snatching his hands away from his nose. He watched her, unblinking, as she stood up, bending over so she could gently dab at the blood now clotting in his nose. "You have to be gentle, otherwise it won't heal," she explained brusquely.

"…Oh…"

TenTen nodded curtly, and kept dabbing at his nose. She could still just barely remember the last time she'd been this close to him, and the thought made her queasy.

But she liked it.

She didn't really know what she was doing. Everything was suddenly coming to her in an incessant flow of distortion. She felt like some sort of memory was flashing through her mind, but it eluded her.

She wanted to be impulsive. She wanted to do something wrong. She wanted to get closer, to touch. It was a burning, twitching impatience running through her that she was unable to resist.

But at the same time, she felt like she didn't want to give away the ending. What if it all stopped here? It was like she'd forgotten, as though on purpose, something she'd remembered a minute ago. It was a sick feeling of something left undone.

She put her hand on Neji's shoulder in order to steady herself as she bent a little further, pretending to examine his nose. And maybe, just maybe, he felt the same. Because he turned his head, and kissed her.

She couldn't feel anything for about a second, and her heart stopped altogether, before it started again, fast and wild and excited. She tilted her head, shutting her eyes, trying to get better access to his mouth.

She had never felt like this before. Never wanted anything more than this. She could stay like this forever. Frozen, always like this, with him…

Whatever world she'd thought she'd lived in was crashing down around her and Neji now, and she loved it.

— _forbidden __—_

Sasuke liked it when he went over to Naruto's house. Not because the kid was his best friend, or that Naruto made him feel much better about himself. It was just such a happy place, to him. It was bright, and someone was always smiling when he entered, and Naruto would always welcome him, and it smelled like food. It was a home to Sasuke, almost more like a home than it was in his own house. It could always cheer him up. Even after this…

"Holy shit…" Naruto whispered for the fifteenth time.

Sasuke nodded in glum agreement. "She's a bitch," he said for the fifteenth time.

"Totally," Naruto said for the fifteenth time.

And Sasuke took his fifteenth swig of beer to reassure himself. A stupid, pink-haired little twat was not going to ruin his life. Good thing he had Naruto to punch that into his mind for him. He was a great friend, Sasuke had to admit as he watched Naruto scurry over from the sofa to the refrigerator to retrieve a bag of M&M's. As much of an idiot he was, he was a great friend.

"Why the hell do you keep your M&M's in the fridge?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow as Naruto kind of moon-walked back over to the sofa.

He plopped down next to Sasuke with a grin. "I like 'em cold! Don't you?"

"I guess so." Sasuke accepted the wide open bag as an invitation, and reached a hand in (the bag was so big it came all the way up to his elbow) and pulled out a fistful. He popped a few in his mouth, and let out a sigh, leaning back into the sofa.

Naruto watched him, sticking a few M&M's in his own mouth thoughtfully. "You okay?" he asked cutely.

Sasuke shrugged, setting the beer bottle on the table next to the sofa. "Considering I'm drinking at far too young an age, sure."

Naruto laughed. "Well, I figured we deserved it. We were cheated on by each other's girlfriends, with…each other's girlfriends." He laughed merrily, and swept an arm around his living room/kitchen. "Fortunately, my place has everything we could ever need! Booze." He pointed to the beer bottles on the table near the sofa. "Chocolate." He held up the bag of M&M's. "And _each other_."

"Adorable," Sasuke said with a smirk as Naruto laughed at his own sarcasm and nudged Sasuke in the ribs with his elbow.

"Aw, come on, you know you were touched!"

"Sure, sure. My heart is soaring."

"Ah, you're no fun. Play along, Sasuke!" Naruto set the bag of M&M's aside on the arm of the sofa and brandished towards Sasuke dramatically, whilst popping the rest of his handful of M&M's in his mouth. "Yew wook wovely tonight!"

Sasuke blinked, staring at his stupid friend who grinned at him with a mouthful of chocolate candy. "What?"

Naruto held up one finger, and swallowed, then shouted, "I said 'You look lovely tonight!'"

"Thank you."

Naruto groaned. "I was _joking_, Sasuke!"

"You told me to play along, didn't you?"

Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hands all of a sudden, and started playing mercy with him. Sasuke just played along. Naruto did this a lot, just started random games of mercy. Sometimes Sasuke won, sometimes Naruto won, but either way, Naruto always seemed to make some sort of fool out of himself.

"You need to _— ouch!_ _— _lighten up, Sasuke," Naruto muttered distractedly, sticking his tongue out of the corner of his mouth, determinedly trying to twist Sasuke's hands around.

"_You_ need to stop being an idiot," Sasuke replied calmly, feeling one of his fingers crack with strain.

"Shut up!"

"You shut up first."

"No!"

Sasuke suddenly felt himself falling backwards. Naruto had pushed a little too hard on his hands. Sasuke was soon on his back, his eyes shut tightly with the momentum.

When Sasuke opened his eyes, the first thing he saw seemed to be beams of light shining down on him, which was really Naruto. Naruto and his gleaming blonde hair which fell over glowing blue eyes wide with surprise. He was lying on top of Sasuke, their hands still connected, theirfaces inches away from each other.

Sasuke couldn't move, and not because he was trapped beneath Naruto, but because he was absolutely paralyzed. And he didn't really understand why for a moment, before he finally snapped out of it and threw Naruto off of him.

He slowly sat, flustered, and muttered, not looking away from the upholstery of the sofa beneath him, "Don't do that, stupid."

"S-Sorry…" Sasuke finally looked up carefully at Naruto, who was staring at his hands, cracking his knuckles. There was an awkward, confused look on his face.

Sasuke had to admit, it was kind of the cutest thing he'd ever seen. Unable to resist, he suddenly pushed himself forward, grabbed Naruto's wrists, and fell on top of the boy. Naruto landed on his back with a small, "Oof!" and stared up in shock at Sasuke. This time, their faces were mere centimeters from each others.

Sasuke gazed into Naruto's bright, blue eyes for a moment. He could feel Naruto's pulse beneath his fingers. Fast, and warm, and sweet. Like Naruto. Like everything about him. And finally, Naruto's lips parted and he mumbled "Um", and Sasuke snapped out of it again.

He smirked, and said softly, "Just kidding."

Naruto's expression was confused at first, and then he glowered. "Sasuke, you suck…"

Sasuke laughed and sat, brushing himself off as Naruto pulled himself up as well glumly. "Your face was hilarious."

"Shut up!" Naruto grinned as he jumped to his feet. "Hey, wanna watch some horror flicks?! I just rented one from Blockbuster, it looks really bad!"

"Yeah, sure." Sasuke watched Naruto hop over to the DVD's under the television, and his smile lingered, but frailly. His fingers were curled in on themselves, his nails digging into his palms, because he was trying to control his heartbeat, which, before, had begun a race to match to Naruto's. And his eyes were burning, because they were so used to the lights in Naruto's eyes. And his fingertips tingled, because they wanted to touch Naruto's.

— _forbidden —_


	6. Balloons

**Roll Party**  
6 _—_ _Balloons_

A human being, to Ino, was a creature of faults. It was something wrong, and stupid, and terrible. They ran on mistakes, and fed themselves with lies and broken promises.

Ino stared at the phone in her hand, which was about to reach it's final ring, before she finally snapped it open and held it her to ear; the glowing screen—casting a light over her dark, shaded bedroom from where she sat on her bed—read the name 'Sakura'.

At long last, Ino's pink lips parted and she said, "Hello?"

It was quiet for a while. She could hear Sakura breathing, then finally she said hoarsely, _"Ino…why did you do it…?"_

Ino couldn't find an answer. She sat there on her bed, her knees drawn up to her and her hair loose and splayed across her face. "I…" She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I don't know…" she mumbled. Her voice was high-pitched and weak.

_"Well I hope you're happy,"_ Sakura said, and Ino could hear the sob caught in the back of the girl's throat. _"Sasuke broke up with me because of you."_

"Wh…What?!" Ino sat up straight, hair flying. "You told…Y-You told him?!"

_"Damn straight I told him,"_ Sakura snapped. _"I couldn't hold it in anymore, Ino, you know me!" _She suddenly let loose a sob, and Ino bit her lip as Sakura whispered, _"You know me, you know how guilty I get. And because of that…b-because of you…"_

Ino shook her head, starting to get defensive. "Sakura, you're the one that got us drunk, you—"

_"—It was your fault!"_ Sakura yelled tearfully. _"You started it! You ruined…everything, Ino! I used to pray for you, every night, I trusted you! And I loved Sasuke…"_

Ino felt the tears starting to pile into her eyes. "S…Sakura, you know I…" Ino couldn't talk. She didn't know what to say. She could hear Sakura sobbing on the other side of the phone, and Ino whispered, quivering, "We can do this…okay…?"

_"D-Do…what…?"_

Ino tried to smile. "You know what…We can—"

_"—Don't you dare."_ Ino paused in surprise at the anger that was suddenly back in Sakura's voice unexpectedly. _"Don't you dare try to imply that, you…you bitch!"_

The sound of the phone on the other end snapping shut made Ino jump. She stared at her own phone, taking it down from her ear and gazing at the screen. The contact picture of Sakura still glowed there. She was smiling, smoothing her pink hair back from her face.

Happy. Pure, and beautiful.

— _forbidden __—_

School was an absolute nightmare for Temari.

She wasn't one to be such a wuss. She never complained she was tired, and she hated it when girls flipped out about broken hearts. But she was, today, about ready to collapse from exhaustion.

TenTen was _annoying_. Not because she was talking to Temari too much, oh no, if that was the case Temari would just slap her sharply and tell her to check herself for ADHD. It was that TenTen was so obviously in love, it was almost funny, and it wasn't even with Temari.

For example, that morning when Temari was walking in with her after driving her to school, Neji had, by chance, walked by. He didn't notice the girls, but TenTen noticed him, and automatically she tripped over Temari's shoe.

Later, between second and third hour, Temari was holding hands with TenTen as they walked down the hallway, and when Neji walked past them, he and TenTen looked at each other, then looked away in a flash. And at that moment, TenTen's hand became sweatier, warmer, and rather disgusting, really, and Temari had to drop it so she didn't punch TenTen straight in the face.

And was that love, really? She'd never been in love before. She didn't know. She knew she'd felt, once before, an enormous amount of _lust_ for the girl, but that was…

…somewhat over now…

And now, by the time it was lunch, she was sick of it. She'd been dreading this for a while, but she was suddenly sick of everything about TenTen.

It was awkward. They sat together at a bench in the hall, and TenTen kept looking over to look at Neji, who was working on his homework, alone, in the spot Temari could remember them sitting at before. Just Neji, TenTen, and Shikamaru.

Temari looked over the hallway one more time for Shikamaru. Not there. She didn't know why she kept expecting to see him. She even kept seeing people that looked like him and, ready to say hello, felt disappointed that it wasn't Shikamaru after all.

He was her first friend, after all. Well, kind of a friend. Not really…as close as TenTen used to be to him…

"Temari, are you—?"

"—No," Temari interrupted TenTen loudly. TenTen blinked, and opened her mouth, about to say something in defense, but suddenly someone plopped down next to her. TenTen turned around in surprise, and smiled. "Lee! It's been a while."

Temari raised an eyebrow as the boy grinned and gave TenTen a hug. "It has! I haven't had the chance to talk to you since last month! How is everything going?"

TenTen coughed. "Uh, perfect!"

Little liar. Temari sighed and stood up. "I'm gonna go buy a water bottle," she said to TenTen, who simply raised a hand in acknowledgment, but did not turn away from Lee. Temari narrowed her eyes and walked away swiftly, not really knowing where she was going because she actually didn't have a cent on her, and she wasn't thirsty.

But she spotted Neji, now hidden from behind a large crowd of rowdy freshman, and paused. She stared at him. He was flipped through a book, seeming bored, his cheek resting on his fist.

It wasn't like she hadn't been meaning to talk to him for a long time. She proceeded to walk over to him.

— _forbidden __—_

Shikamaru didn't know when his habit of watching other people first kicked in. He didn't know if he even enjoyed it that much. Only, there was nothing else to do while sitting in the hallway alone, waiting for lunch to end, so why not?

He gazed on at Sasuke and Naruto. They were also waiting in the hallway together. Good friends, Shikamaru recalled, since childhood. But rather awkward, too. Together, they attracted enough girls for the two of them and more, but chose them carefully, and seemed to consult each other before doing so.

Shikamaru found this predicted tradition rather stupid, but then again the two boys were very stupid themselves so it wasn't too surprising. Why not make themselves available? It was a good thing they were loyal, and a good thing they didn't whore themselves around, but it wasn't smart to base their romantic relationships off of their friendship…

He sighed, knowing that was just what had happened to him. He and Neji and TenTen had closed themselves off from everything else, and he and Neji just _had_ to make that one, big mistake that gave them the longest relationship they'd ever been in.

For some reason, Shikamaru missed Neji. He was a sweetheart, he really was. He wasn't in love with Neji. He knew that, he knew he'd never been in love with Neji. But at least Neji was something. While now, he couldn't stop thinking about Temari, and she was nothing, and she never would be anything. At least, not to her. Not to him. Not to each other…

"Come _on_, you bastard! Why won't you do stuff with me?"

Shikamaru looked up at Naruto and Sasuke sitting side by side a ways down across the hall. They hadn't noticed him, as he was next to one of the open doors of one of the empty classrooms.

"Don't say it like that. Idiot," Sasuke mumbled. Shikamaru recognized the tone of his voice, even if Naruto, the, indeed, idiot, didn't. Sasuke was embarrassed.

"Say it like _what_? I don't get it, Sasuke," Naruto whined. He tugged on Sasuke's arm. "Come on, come on! You've been so boring lately, you didn't even wanna talk on the phone. Are you sick? Yeah, maybe you're sick!" Naruto suddenly pressed the back of his hand against the side of Sasuke's face, which immediately flared up a bright red.

Naruto gasped and pulled his hand away. "Sasuke, you have a fever!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes as Sasuke muttered, "No I don't." Fever? Yeah right. The guy was blushing.

He stretched his legs out and crossed his arms behind his head, observing the two. It was so plain to see, he wanted to laugh. Sasuke was infatuated with Naruto, and neither of the poor things realized it.

"Are you _sure_ you're okay?" Naruto pouted. "Sasuke," he said softly. "I'm worried about you."

Sasuke stared at Naruto. His eyes were dimmed sadly, but he smiled gently and said, "I'm okay, Naruto. Don't worry about me."

Shikamaru could understand their expressions so easily. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. He'd felt like them before.

It was stupid, he recalled. He'd been stupid once, too.

Maybe he still was.

— _forbidden __—_

When Ino saw Sakura at last in the cafeteria, she whispered, "Perfect," under her breath. The pink-haired girl was sitting at a table close to the doors with the upperclassman Hidan. Hidan looked amused, Sakura was looking nervous.

Ino frowned as she started her walk over to Sakura. She didn't like Hidan. And she definitely didn't like Hidan talking to Sakura.

"S…Sakura…" Ino said bravely once she got to the table.

Sakura turned around, and didn't seem surprised at the sight of Ino. "What?" she asked thinly.

Ino swallowed, feeling Hidan's gaze glued to her. A few of Hidan's dirty friends were also crowded around the table, and it was at that moment that Ino realized how many of them had had the opportunity to sleep with her. So many of those boys, and that one girl…

"_What_?" Sakura asked again, voice raising impatiently.

Ino cleared her throat. "Can I talk to you…in private…?" Her voice was slurred and throaty.

Sakura narrowed her eyes to green slits. "No," she said shortly. She suddenly stood up. "Just don't talk to me at all."

Ino stared after Sakura as she pushed past her and walked out of the cafeteria. Ino grit her teeth and followed, calling "Sakura, _listen_ to me—"

"—I'm done listening, Ino," Sakura interrupted her, speeding up and getting through the cafeteria doors. Ino hurried after her, and started jogging to keep up, finally running and coming to a stop right in front of Sakura.

"I know what I did was wrong," she cried, trying not to start sobbing right there. "A-And I know how you feel, really, I do. The same thing happened to me…" She clenched a fist. "The same thing happened _to both of us_." She desperately tried to look Sakura in the eyes, who determinedly stared off to the side at the floor, her mouth set in a furious line. "It happened to _us_, Sakura," she whispered earnestly. "And _we_ can get through this…"

Sakura finally looked up at Ino, but Ino's heart sank; the girl's gaze was so angry, it literally hurt.

And what Sakura was going to say next…Her words were going to burn more than anything else…

— _forbidden __—_

Temari knew Neji thought she was weird. Well, it was kind of a taboo to just come walking up to your girlfriend's ex-friend/one-night-stand. But this had to be done.

"Neji…" She sighed as the boy looked up at her; she just hated those gooey, sensitive eyes he had, they reminded her too much of TenTen's eyes. "Just…" She groaned aloud. "Just tell my girlfriend you love her already."

Neji's expression twisted to one of angry surprise, but Temari said quickly, "And she'll tell you the same thing."

Neji gazed at her as she suddenly turned around and plopped to the ground next to him. She was just too tired to stand. She drew her knees up to her and muttered angrily, "It was a mistake, okay? It was a stupid mistake, and I never should have taken her from you. So I'm sorry, and I'll get rid of her soon anyways, alright?"

Neji's mouth was open, appalled, but he coughed and said slowly. "When I…heard you two were going out, I thought you were seriously…" He shook his head, and closed his book. "I thought it was a big deal," he said thoughtfully, staring out through the crowd of people in front of them to TenTen over on the bench.

She was giggling slightly as she talked to Lee, but there was a sad, distracted look in her eyes.

"Of course…she doesn't look very happy…when she's with you…" Neji continued softly.

"Exactly," Temari said with a groan. "And I'm not exactly ecstatic either, sorry to say it."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Neji muttered. "I'm not…It's over…" He shook his head. "I ruined it all for us, and a long time before that stupid party too."

"It's not over," Temari murmured. Neji turned to look at her, and she tried her best to smile at him. "It's not," she repeated.

Neji blinked in surprise, and frowned. "You…" He suddenly smiled as well. "You look like Shikamaru when you say that…" he said softly, and Temari's eyes widened in shock.

But before either of them could say anything more, there was a loud yell:

"Ino Yamanaka, just _give it up_!"

Temari and Neji whipped around in surprise, and out of the corner of Temari's eye she could see the rest of the hallway doing so as well, along with TenTen. Sakura and Ino were standing, face to face, in the middle of the hallway outside of the cafeteria, and Sakura looked furious beyond belief.

"We can not 'get through this'!" Sakura shrieked. "And you know why? It's because of _you_, Ino!" Ino winced as Sakura hissed, "It's always because of _you_!"

The entire hallway was dreadfully silent. "Sakura…" Ino started, but Sakura would not hear of it.

"You're a _bitch_, Ino, you're a goddamn _slut_! And you wanna know the only reason everyone went to your _stupid_ party?!" Sakura suddenly laughed with anger. "It's because of the booze and the sex, and because _you_ advertized it!" She shook her head. "That's all you are to people, Ino! And that's all you'll ever be." She pointed at the girl to emphasize her point. "Everyone thinks you're a whore, and no one likes you!" she shouted. "Myself included!"

Sakura's voice echoed down the hall. Temari, letting the shock sink into her, looked around curiously. The hall guards stood by warily. In the corner, Kurenai, the math teacher, was leaning against a wall, watching Ino expectantly. And TenTen was perched on the edge of the bench. Her eyes were wide. Her fists were clenching her skirt.

Ino stared at Sakura for a few seconds as Sakura, frozen, just stared right back at her. Their reflections glinted on the linoleum floor beneath them, and the hiss of the vents and pipes were the only things anyone could hear.

Finally, the tension popped like a balloon, and Ino let the tears fall from her eyes and to the floor. She turned on her heel and ran down the hall, past Kurenai, and around the corner out of sight.

Sakura stared after her, straightening up, then looked around. Everyone watched her. Their mouths were hanging open. Some of them looked angry, the others confused or intimidated. Sakura seemed to realize what she'd just done, but also seemed to think it was for the best, and she turned away, and disappeared back through the cafeteria doors.

Temari shook her head in disbelief as Neji whispered, "Wow," from next to her.

But suddenly, their eyes were both drawn to a figure capriciously getting to her feet across the room. TenTen slung her backpack across her shoulder, waved goodbye to Lee, and with that was marching down the hallway after Ino.

Temari noticed Neji's gaze following her. She noticed the way Neji's hands got sweaty. She closed her eyes, and rested her head against her knees.

— _forbidden __—_

"Hey."

TenTen didn't know why she was suddenly sitting down next to Ino Yamanaka in the hallway. But Ino didn't seem very surprised.

The girl had by now, apparently, cried herself out. Her eyes were red and swollen from what TenTen could see next to her, and a single tear was perched on her cheek. A bit of mascara was running down her face in a dark river. She didn't care in the slightest.

As if there was nothing to care about.

TenTen crossed her legs as best as she could in her skirt and drummed her fingers on her knees. Ino turned to her and watched her. "H…Hey…" she said softly, her voice still quivering from the tears. "Um…about what I did…I didn't mean to tell—"

"Don't say sorry," TenTen interrupted her suddenly. Ino blinked and watched her. TenTen sighed. "Truth is…" she said slowly. "…I'm kind of glad you told Shikamaru about me and Neji."

Ino blinked and tilted her head to the side. "Wh-What? Why?"

"It's better not to hold that kind of stuff in…" TenTen said with a shrug.

Ino gasped and nodded, suddenly flinging herself to her knees and leaning closer to TenTen. "Right!" she whispered earnestly. "It's just like…like all the things I've done, with all those people…It's best not to hold it back, right?"

"It's unhealthy," TenTen agreed, seeing where Ino was going. And she liked it.

"And that's high school!" Ino said. Tears were starting to form in her eyes again. "That's all it is," she said. "And…we're only human..."

The bell rang, echoing through the walls of the school. TenTen and Ino both looked away, then back to each other, and smiled at the same time. "Thanks," Ino said quietly.

"…Thanks," TenTen repeated.

Their hearts rose again. Like balloons. Back where they were supposed to be.

Where they belonged. And they knew it.

— _forbidden __—_

A human being, to Ino, was a creature of faults. It was something wrong, and stupid, and terrible. They ran on mistakes, and fed themselves with lies and broken promises. They kept rising, trying so desperately to get to the top, and they didn't know they'd pop like a balloon as soon as they got there, and fall to the ground like tears.

Human beings were ugly. And they were beautiful because of this.

Later that day, Temari broke up with TenTen. It was quick and clean, and for some reason they were both very happy about it.

A tension was lifted that day. High into the air.

— _forbidden _—


End file.

Naruto, Drama, Romance