As Naruto tilts his head in deep thought, Haku responds to Zabuza, "it doesn''t hurt to try."


    "How''s this for diplomacy," Zabuza irately tells them. "When I win, not only will I take Kubikiribōchō, but I''m killing the thief and taking his daughter. Of course, Haku will be my weapon again."


    Tenten freezes at the usible turn of her fate. Haku remains serene as ever, unbothered by the possibility of murderous change while a confused Karin asks Haku, "uh, are you okay with that?"


    "Of course," Haku serenly answers. "As a tool, I love both these men more than life itself. If one dies whether by the other''s hand or not, I will mourn him while following the other."


    "You''re a special cookie, aren''t ya," Karin mumbles, though Haku only smiles merrily.


    Naruto was quiet throughout the exchange, staring sternly into Zabuza''s eyes. After another moment of silence, Naruto tells the tall Kiri-nin, "that won''t work, but, it doesn''t matter because I''m going to win. And you''re not going to die because I''m not going to kill Haku''s special person. So, when I win, I''m lending you Kubikiribōchō and you have to stop doing bad stuff like kidnapping people and hurting them for no reason."


    "Counter-proposal," Zabuza insists. "I kill you and everything else falls into ce like I expect, but if for some ungodly reason you manage to pull off another little miracle, I''ll… borrow Kubikiribōchō and I''ll give you the option of keeping Haku or the Bun Head."


    Shocked by a ludicrous counter-proposal, Naruto yells, "what?"


    Zabuza threatens, "we both know if I say the word, Haku wille right back to me."


    "You can''t do that," Naruto asserts, ring at the much taller assassin.


    However, Zabuza gravely reasons, "if you can''t choose Haku over everyone, then you don''t deserve him."


    "But that''s wrong!"


    As he sets Kubikiribōchōfortably on his back before Zabuza raises a hand seal to his chest as he asserts, "then prove it, Naruto." Chakra created mist swirls around the tall Kiri-nin, shrouding the man, his scratchy voice rings out, "Haku knows where to go. If you don''t show, I''ll kill the thief and his daughter," before the Demon of Hidden Mist disappears.


    XXX


    INO


    After her father happily agreed to help her pink-haired former friend, former rival, and current undetermined rtion, Sakura follows Ino into the blond heiress''s bedroom before closing the door behind her. Ino doesn''t find it strange at all for Sakura to once again be in her room, let alone ask her n for assistance. Their bond was strong that way.


    With concern, Ino asks, "do you really think you''re in danger?"


    "Kakashi-sensei is just being cautious," Sakura answers as she stands in the middle of the clean and fragrant room with her luggage over her shoulder. To bring her luggage with her to ask, Sakura must''ve assumed they would say yes, making Ino smirk at the audacity.


    "I''ll make sure tou-san knows to beef up the night patrols," Inoments as she moves to her walk-in closet. "Our cousins always ask for extra hours anyway."


    "Thanks," Sakura mentions, looking around awkwardly before slowly asking, "um, I''m not staying in here, am I?"


    "Of course you are," Ino states loudly from within her closet, visibly looking through a long line of cool colored outfits.


    Sakura''s shoulders slump and her heavy bag slips off as she asks, "why? Your home has, like, five empty bedrooms."


    "Why not," Ino casually asks as she walks out with a neatly hung royal purple mini skirt, a white long sleeve crop top, a purple scarf, and ck thigh-high leggings. "We''re not having sex again, if that''s what you''re worried about."


    "No, I''m not worried about that," Sakura huffs with pink cheeks, wondering how Ino can be so casual when bringing up sex. "I thought you liked your personal space. I mean, I could be here for weeks or even a month."


    "I don''t care," Ino tells the pinkette with a shrug as she begins changing. Sakura promptly turns around as Ino asks, "do you want the bed?"


    "I-In another room? Yes," she asserts before queerly stating, "and you should care. I didn''t think I shoulde here after everything that''s happened between us, but you''re offering me your bed like it''s just another sleepover. How do you not care?"


    "I''m not forgetting everything we''ve been through," Ino mentions as she zips up her mini skirt, checking over her skirt and bra form in the full-length mirror. "I wouldn''t dare forget, as if I did nothing wrong."


    Turning to the womanly figure of the Yamanaka n''s most prized flower, Sakura wants to know, "then how can you be so calm about this?"


    "We may not be best friends, or friends, exactly, but we''re no longer rivals," Ino begins, taking a moment to don on her long sleeve crop top before continuing. "We have history, a lot inmon, most notably boys, and hell, we were even beaten by Hyūgas."


    Recalling those chillingly veined white eyes seeking her our to destroy, Sakura shivers as she mouths, "ugh, don''t even mention their name." Gripping her tummy, she adds, "my stomach still shudders at the thought."


    On her bed and slowly slipping on her ck thigh high leggings, Ino chuckles as she ims, "I actually feel lucky matching up against Neji-kun. I was so weak, he didn''t even use his Byakugan on me."


    Nodding in clear understanding, Sakura asks a content Ino, "so, are you being nice or casual about this because you feel you owe me?"


    "No," Ino asserts, standing in front of the mirror again to make sure the threading of her legging is straight and isn''t pulling unduly anywhere.


    "Well, then I don''t understand," Sakura heaves, roughly setting down herrge backpack. "You raped me, then ckmailed me, repeatedly…" Sakura pauses as her mind quickly evaluates the cause and effect of everything that''s happened to her in the past couple of months, mostly how it rtes to Naruto and Sasuke; her positive opinion of Naruto rising in equal proportion to her hard realization of Sasuke.


    ''He''d kill me or my parents as easily as he nearly did Naruto,'' her mind repeats for the thousandth time as a mostly dressed Ino takes Sakura''s bag and drags the heavy pack beside the desk.


    Moving to sit on the bed, an objective Sakuraments, "look, I hate being this aware of this reality, but I can''t say I don''t prefer the brutal truth, no matter how colorless, tasteless, loveless… bleak… challenging… grotesque-"


    "Alright, I get it," Ino calls out with a smirk as she drags the desk''s chair in front of Sakura and takes a seat, crossing her toned legs.


    "It would be so much easier if you were evil about it all… but the truth matters," Sakura huffs, recalling her role in it all. "You did something horrible to me, but I was doing something horrible to myself. I hated you for what you did, but… if I wasn''t so…"


    "I get it," Ino speaks. In her perfect posture, Ino enjoys the serenity rity tends to offer. She''s grown confident because she has the answers Kurenai-sensei helped her to learn and it shows. Content in herself and her environment, Ino light-heartedly affirms, "neither one of us was in the right mindset. Kind of like being in a pit we, not only, couldn''t get out of but didn''t even know we were in. Thoughts and emotion dictate our actions and if we only ever thought of Sasuke-kun in a world where any mission could be ourst, our actions would fall in line. Everyone told us we were acting boy-crazy, but we couldn''t listen because we hadn''t woken up enough to listen. I mean, how often did your short term goals matterpared to your long term when it involved thest Uchiha?"


    Recalling her Optimal n, Sakura can easily tell Ino, "every spare second I had was dedicated to Sasuke."


    Nodding, Ino adds, "we should''ve been training instead of worrying about our hair and nails. In my case, nothing else mattered, and from that standpoint, the decisions I made for myself weren''t healthy ones. All that said, I''m aware that despite the reason, despite my own lunacy for Sasuke, I know what I did to you and I know what that makes me. We were best friends but I raped you. I want to see you seed but I ckmailed you. Rivals to roommates, yet, evil nevertheless."


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