Glad to be wrong

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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, just the flowerguy, Akira.
Note: In honor of Ino-chan's birthday, I wrote this. Enjoy.


Yamanaka Ino smiled as she sat up in bed. Sixteen years old. Ino gave a small yawn and rubbed her eyes, and smiled when her father opened the door, grinned, and ran down the stairs.

"Hurry and get dressed!" whispered Inoichi to his daughter. Ino did so, dressing in a dark red version of her old clothes that covered her stomach, and some black shorts. After brushing her teeth and putting on her hitai-ate, Ino walked down the stairs to the lower part of her house; half of which was a flower shop.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY INO-CHAN!"

"Happy birthday Ino!"

"Now you're old enough to get married and get me grandchildren!"

"… Happy birthday… Can we hurry this up?"

The first exclamation was, of course Ino's father, followed by the Akimichi Clan and most of the Nara clan as well as some of Ino's friends, then her mother, and finally, Ino's close friend, Nara Shikamaru.

"Good morning, everyone! Oh yeah, and thanks!" exclaimed Ino happily, eyeing the flowers scattered around the dining room.

Everyone crowded around Ino, handing her gifts, except a lazy Chuunin who believed that was too troublesome, and a pink haired girl who happened to be Ino's best friend, Haruno Sakura.

'… Where's Naruto?' wondered Sakura. 'He, of all of us, should be here…'


In another part of Konohagakure no Sato, two eyelids opened, revealing bright blue eyes. They briefly flashed crimson, before changing back to the blue; adjusting to the light. The owner of the eyes sat up in their bed. The person was revealed to be a blonde teenage boy who had three whisker-like marks on each cheek.

The teenager let out a yawn and looked at the calendar across from his bed. His soon bore a wide smile.

"Ino-chan's birthday… Well, I'll make sure this year nothing goes wrong!" Jumping out of bed, the teenager known as Uzumaki Naruto ran towards his shower. "And I never go back on my word! That is my nindo!"


Ino sat down, fanning herself. Three hours of endless morning partying had taken it out of her. Sakura sat down at the table across from her, her gaze hard and stern. Ino raised an eyebrow.

"What's up, Sakura-forehead?" asked Ino tauntingly. Sakura's gaze did not falter. Then again, when someone had a boyfriend who thought they were an angel come down to Earth and being constantly told so, well, insults didn't work as well.

"Why isn't Naruto here? Is it your parents?" Sakura felt strongly for her teammate. Naruto was like the idiot brother she had never had, never wanted, but probably couldn't live without. "Do they not want him here?"

"I asked them not to invite him." said Ino softly. Before Sakura could unleash her inner self upon her best friend, Ino held up her hands. "Hey hey, listen… You do remember the 'Spa Incident' last year, right? He kinda messes these things up, even…"

"… That's not a valid reason to not invite someone who's head over heels for you to your birthday party Ino." said Sakura darkly. Ino frowned.

"I was gonna kidnap him tomorrow and spend the day with him, just the two of us, but…" Ino shook her head. "A girl only turns sixteen once, right?"

Ino's weak smile just made Sakura shake her head.

"It was fun Ino, but I think I'll go ask Lee-kun if he's still available for lunch. I canceled our date for this, and well, I think it's best if I go…" Sakura stood up, bowed to Ino's parents and thanked them for the invitation, before heading off. Ino was left in a pool of guilt. After a few moments, Ino decided maybe a full-blown camping trip with Naruto would make up for this…


Naruto ran through the village, heading to the hot springs as fast as his body could take him.

'DAMN IT!' yelled Naruto mentally. 'Ero-sennin was supposed to drop off the key this morning!'

Naruto skidded to a halt when he saw a necklace in the window of a jewelry store. There was a small purple gem, inside an orange rose on a gold chain. Naruto looked at it, before running inside to purchase it.


Ino sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Perhaps Sakura had been right.

'What he did last year was pretty sweet…' thought Ino softly.

One year ago, Ino's mother had given Ino and all of her friends a special pass at a spa she went to every so often with Chouji and Shikamaru's mothers.

"This is the life…" said Ino softly, lifting her leg out of the mud bath. Hinata smiled weakly and nodded at her.

"Thank you for inviting me, Ino-san…" said the Hyuuga girl softly. Sakura and Tenten looked at Ino and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, you could have kept this all to yourself!" exclaimed Sakura jokingly.

"Shut up, forehead girl!" yelled Ino, flicking some mud at her best friend. Sakura stuck her tongue out and deflected the mud with some flung mud of her own. Other spa-goers turned to glare at the girls, and the two in question sunk into the mud, only keeping their eyes above the murkiness.


"So Ino-chan went to a spa?" asked Naruto excitedly.

"Yes she did. Why?" questioned Yamanaka Inoichi, Ino's father.

"You see, I need to give her her birthday present before I go on a mission and it needs to be delivered personally by me!" explained Naruto happily, tapping his foot rapidly. Inoichi raised an eyebrow.

"Well… I've never been in a spa and honestly don't know what goes on there, but she went to the Yukina Spa down by the border." said Inoichi, pointing in the direction. Naruto gave a salute.

"Thanks Yamanaka-san!" yelled Naruto happily, running as fast as he could in the direction Inoichi pointed.

"Call me Inoichi!" yelled Inoichi for what seemed like the millionth time. Then again, the Yamanaka, Akimichi and Nara clans were some of the few who accepted Naruto for who he was and what he was, knowing he was not the demon sealed inside him. Naruto just seemed too grateful for this sometimes, trying to be overly polite and the like…

"Honey, you do know that if Ino is in the spas, she'll most likely be naked…" said Inoichi's wife Yuki, whispering in her husband's ear and wrapping her arms around him. Inoichi paled.

"And… And you let me send him there?" exclaimed Inoichi in shock. Yuki smiled.

"Well, the sooner they see each other bare, the sooner they give me grandchildren, as the saying goes." replied Yuki, walking into the kitchen to fix herself a snack.

"… I've never head that saying before." said Inoichi dryly. "And anyway, Naruto is a good kid, even though he trained with that pervert, I know for a fact he is saving that for when he and Ino-chan get married."

"Where did you hear this?" asked Yuki, poking her head out of the kitchen. Inoichi smiled.

"I made him tell me his intentions for Ino-chan when I found out Jiraiya-sama was the author of Icha Icha Paradise." said Inoichi as a matter of factly. "And it was true as well, he's a good kid, good kid…"

Yuki shook her head and went back to her onigiri.


"So many spas!" yelled Naruto angrily, getting the attention of everyone in a fifty foot radius. "Where the hell is the Yukin- There it is!"

Going even faster, Naruto skidded to a halt in front of the spa and took a deep breath. He looked over the building. One floor, with no roof…

"Wait… Ero-sennin has told me about this place as a good place to peek…" Naruto gulped. His teacher had brought him to this place once, showing him the ideal spots to peek. However, Naruto had also seen the ideal spots to not peek, but still communicate with someone who might be inside.

Running over to the wall and using a quick chakra sensing jutsu, Naruto stood before the wall that his girlfriend was behind. He took a deep, deep breath and…


Smiling, Ino sunk into the mud, nearly asleep. Just as she was about to fall into slumber land, she heard a familiar voice.

"This is for the prettiest girl in all of Konoha!" came Naruto's voice. Ino's eyes widened and she turned to Hinata, who was wide eyed.

"Where is he?" spluttered Ino frantically, looking back and forth.

"Byakugan." whispered Hinata, activating her bloodline limit. She paused, before deactivating it and sighing in relief. "He's on the other side of the wall, not peeking. And-."

"INO, OH INO! YOU ARE SO BEUTIFO! INO, OH INO! YOUR VOICE IS SO PRETTY! OH INO-CHAN, YOU ARE THE GIRL FOR MEEEEEEE!" horrible off key, tuneless singing soon came from the wall in Naruto's voice. Ino stared at the wall, slack jawed.

"He used to know how to sing…" said Sakura thoughtfully, remembering the time Kakashi had managed to get Sasuke drunk. He started singing angst songs before passing out. No one ever spoke of that again. "He's much better than Sasuke anyway…"

"OH INO, OH INO! YOU MAKE ME BELIEVE I CAN DO ANYTHING-O! OH INO, OH INO, I LOV- Who the hell are y- HEY! Get off me!" Naruto's voice suddenly lost the horrible tune it had, but Ino was temporarily fixed on the word Naruto was obviously going to say. However, this feeling soon evaporated. "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

"Everyone, into the mud!" yelled Sakura, making sure her entire body was covered; save her head. A few moments later, and hundreds of Narutos appeared everywhere. They were not looking at the women though, they were running in different directions, knocking things over, trampling over people and the like.

"Na… Ru… TOOOO!" yelled Ino, flames burning in her eyes. A worker walked over to her.

"Yamanaka-san, we are sorry to inform you of this, but we are banning you from this spa." The man bowed and walked away.

"NARUTOOOO!"

Ino shook her head and went to have some punch, deciding to not think about that.


"ERO-SENNIN!" yelled Naruto as loud as he could. "STOP PEEPING AND GIVE ME THE KEY!"

Yells of "pervert," "hentai," and "bastard" soon came from the hot springs, and a very disgruntled Sannin appeared next to Naruto, glaring at him.

"What have I told you about calling me that…?" hissed Jiraiya angrily. "And when I'm gathering information no less…"

"Just give me the key!" exclaimed Naruto, crossing his arms and growling impatiently. "I'd like to use it more than once, so I can't break the door down!"

Naruto thrust a hand towards Jiraiya, scowling.

"Oh, I forgot to drop that off…" Jiraiya rummaged through his pouch and dropped a small silver key in Naruto's outsretched hand. Naruto grinned brightly.

"Thanks Ero-sennin! I owe you, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" with that, Naruto ran off. Jiraiya stared at the clone.

"Why are you here?" asked Jiraiya. The clone rolled its eyes.

"I can't believe this… Harem no Jutsu!"

"Thank you Naruto!"


Naruto sighed as he leapt from building to building. He had been searching for hours, yet no sign on Ino. No sign of anyone!

"Why can't I find her?" yelled Naruto angrily, stopping his search and landing in front of a flower shop that was on the other side of town from the Yamanaka's and not very popular. Naruto grinned. "Well, I do need flowers… I hope my order is ready."

Naruto walked purposefully into the flower shop. The teenage boy at the counter looked up and grinned.

"So, our only customer, back again?" asked the boy, sitting up, taking off his glasses, and rubbing them. He grinned. "You know, you're the only person keeping us in business besides the occasional break up thing…"

Naruto grinned. This was his flower-stop, seeing as he couldn't exactly buy flowers from the Yamanaka shop. After all, Ino would know and there would be no surprise.

"Is my order ready, Akira-san?" asked Naruto. The boy nodded and smiled.

"You ordered a lot this time. What's the occasion?" asked Akira as he began getting the order.

"Ino-chan's birthday!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Ah…" Akira nodded and went back to work.


Ino waved as Chouji and his family, the Akimichi clan, left the Yamanaka household. They were the last ones to go. Ino sat back against her chair, sighing.

"Ino-chan, maybe you…" Inoichi walked in front of his daughter. "Maybe you should go see Na-."

"I'm going for a walk, tou-chan." said Ino quickly, guilt filling her as she left her home, not seeing Inoichi smile.

As Ino walked through Konoha, she kept looking at eateries, weapons shops, scroll libraries, and anywhere Naruto might be. As Ino was about to go to the Ichiraku ramen stand, Naruto's favorite place in the world, she was picked up by someone behind her. That someone then leapt onto the rooftops and began running.

"Who the hell-." started Ino, preparing to counterattack her assailant.

"Sorry 'bout this Ino-chan." came Naruto's voice. Before Ino could break free from his grasp, she felt some pressure points being struck,

"Naruto-kun?" whispered Ino as she fell limp in Naruto's arms.


Ino opened her eyes slowly and looked around. She was on some kind of couch, a fairly comfortable one too. In front of her was a table, candles as the centerpiece, and the table was very fancy looking. Ino also noticed that the room was lit by a strange red lighting, but she could still see colors. She could see the different colors of the various flowers, scattered around the room, in vases, and pretty much everywhere she could see. The walls were a light red, as was the ceiling, and the ground was carpeted.

"Where am I?" asked Ino drowsily, standing up and rubbing the back of her neck. Wherever this was, it looked like the kind of thing a husband would do for his wife or something… Then she remembered… "Naruto-kun?"

"Over here, Ino-chan." Naruto walked up to her, smiling brightly. Ino stared at him, forgetting he had kidnapped her. "Happy birthday!"

"Y… You did all this, Naruto-kun?" whispered Ino in awe. Naruto grinned and scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, you kinda deserved something really good after, well, my 'serenade' last year…" Naruto smiled brightly and looked around the room. "We're in a little house Ero-sennin and I made. It's in the woods, but it's mine. Though technically I wanted it as a place for us, but Ero-sennin said it was time I got a house… I don't think so, but… Oh yeah, I got you a present! C'mere Ino-chan!"

Naruto began fishing in his pockets as Ino walked over, an eyebrow raised.

"Originally, this fancy dinner Tsunade-baa-chan helped me cook was gonna be the present, but then I saw this in a store and…" Naruto pulled out a pretty velvet case and handed it to Ino. She took it, and stared at it. Naruto did not have a ton of money, she knew that much. She hoped it wasn't that expensive, but then that greedy part of her that everyone has kicked in and she hoped it was something good.

"… Orange and purple?" Ino lifted the faily beautiful necklace out of the case. Naruto took it from her and turned her around.

"I'll put it on for you." said Naruto, pulling the chains and snapping them together. He left his arms around Ino's shoulders. "Ne, Ino-chan, wanna know what it means? Do ya?"

"Sure, Naruto-kun." said Ino, ignoring the light blush that had grown due to the sudden close proximity of Naruto and herself. The blush faded as she waited for his words to come.

"See, I wear orange and you wear purple a lot." said Naruto. Ino's expression showed she still didn't get it. "Well, I'm not so great with the meanings of flowers and stuff, but this means I'll protect you forever, that I want to hold you forever."

Ino smiled lightly as Naruto pulled away and spun her around, hugging her. Her head fitted right in the crook of his neck.

"So, Naruto-kun, are you proposing?" asked Ino joking. Naruto laughed.

"Nah, I'm gonna do that when we're a bit older!" exclaimed Naruto happily as he pulled away from the hug. "Plus, if we don't get married by the time we're twenty five, your mom will force us…"

Ino shook her head and chuckled, before getting on her tip-toes and instigating a passionate kiss. When it ended, Naruto looked flushed, and Ino felt she did as well. Her blue eyes scanned the room once more, and she looked back at Naruto.

"I'm so glad I was wrong…" said Ino softly.

"Wrong about what?" asked Naruto, tilting his head. Ino smiled.

"Nothing… Don't worry about it Naruto-kun." And then Ino kissed him again.

The End