☾. 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘸𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘯 » 𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐫𝐚 & 𝐢𝐧𝐨 .
𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐆𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 / 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐖𝐈𝐃𝐄, 𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐘 𝐒𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐒. breeze carrying with it the tang of summer fruit: a haze of childhood nostalgia. but those two little girls are grown now, and it seemed worlds away. still, even despite time & distance, sakura never forgot. even after all these years. how could she ? ino was everything she wanted to be as a little girl. beautiful, smart, & not too shabby with a shuriken. she was always there. guiding her, encouraging her. and it was because of this that she’d been able to grow into the flower she was today.
and it would be a lie to say that sakura didn’t miss her deeply. that she did not regret it. this was why she’d come, actually. she couldn’t blame ino for any anger, & she knew going in that she might refuse, ( understandably so ) but sakura couldn’t help but want to try & mend things between them. to build their friendship anew.
and so she shook her head. ❛ i didn’t ask anyone else, ❜ sakura clarified, ❛ i … wanted to go with you. a pause taken, no more than a beat, before a continued, ❛ it’s okay if you don’t want to. i know i haven’t been around. and i’m sorry for that. really. and i’d like to try to change that. if you’ll allow me. ❜
𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐞. it’s unexpected, really. not once did ino ever think sakura would actually see how much she was hurting. in childhood, ino had built an island for the two of them to keep sakura safe from the taunting and teasing of the other kids. no one existed, no one mattered, except the two of them. after she left, the island morphed from a haven into a prison. yet, ino did not regret it. even now, she would choose sakura over and over again, just as she did then.
“ you wanted to go ... with ... me? ” if she didn’t know her any better, ino would have suspected this was some sort of cruel prank. hues search sakura’s features, looking for malice. all she can find is an abundance of earnestness. play it cool, ino. don’t be the one that goes running back to her.
“ hmmm, i mean i guess i can see if i have time in my schedule. you’re not the only one who has asked me, you know. ” a bold faced lie, unless you counted shikamaru and chōji expecting her to tag along with them. “ so, are you paying? ”