AN: I haven't written in years. This poured out of me because a good part of 2018 has chewed me up and spat me out and I wrote this to deal. So, be warned. I also intended this as a brief one-shot, but looks like that's not happening.
I'd also fallen out of the fandom years ago...and most of everything has been found through a google search. Some things are true to canon but others are just me taking artistic liberties. Starts somewhere before the start of Naruto Gaiden.
I: All that Glitters is Gold
It is a warm summer day.
The light yukata she has on is a soft lilac while her son wears one that is dark blue.
The two of them each carry an arrangement of flowers, hers a more somber one of mostly white lilies and chrysanthemums interspersed with yellow and his is a bright vibrant spray of flowers of his own choosing.
The walk through the graveyard between them is quiet, though there are many other families there on the first day of the Obon festival.*
"Ino-chan."
She raises her eyes and smiles in greeting, "Hey Hinata-chan."
Her son and her old friend bow in greeting, and Ino tilts her head at the Hyuuga, "Visiting Neji? By yourself?"
The dark haired woman nods, "Naruto and the others are busy today, but we'll be back tomorrow. Is it just you two today?"
"Mmhm."
"Could you use a third?" Hinata asks softly. Sweetly and kindly as she does.
Ino steps past Hinata with a warm smile, "Always."
The three continue on to the newer parts of the graveyard to a different section, as the sun shines down brightly. They pass Neji's grave and pay their respects, Ino and Inojin pluck a few flowers from their arrangements and leave it in his honor.
Everything in her chest constricts when she comes upon the grave marker for her husband.
Yamanaka Sai.
Other families have brought additional things with them like shearing scissors to cut the weeds back, but she does not because the grave is still considerably fresh. There isn't much to tidy up aside from a stray leaf here and there. So instead she places her arrangement down, and watches Inojin do the same. Her heart breaks even more as she catches the tears streaming down her son's face. Ino brings him close and wraps her arm around him, grief rooting in her chest as she presses a kiss to the top of his head. Before she knows it, her own eyes are wet with tears, and she feels Hinata's gentle presence beside her, and the shorter Hyuuga woman leans on her in a gesture of comfort and takes her hand.
She's sorry for this heartache her son's forced through because though this hurts like hell, Yamanaka Ino has been through this before, and knows better. Once she had almost seen the world come to an end, but the world isn't ending now. The sky isn't crashing down. The earth is still and quiet. The day is bright and calm, and Ino knows that heartache is survivable.
But she knows the world has tilted on its axis for her son.
Sai's funeral happened in the spring. Now the warmth of summer surrounds them and her grief is drenched in sunlight thick like honey and she can only smile a bittersweet smile through the tears, because though her husband is gone, her hands are held by her son and dear friend Hinata.
They are alive, they are here, and they are together.
Turning up her face to this beautiful day, she hopes he is up there, one with the clouds and as unfettered as the breeze.
.
.
.
Truth be told, Yamanaka Ino wants so badly to drift. The rooms in her house are too large. That extra chair at the kitchen table stares at her every morning she leaves and every night she comes home. Her bed in particular, seems to stretch out at night into a large expanse, reaching to a cold and lonely place. Staying in their house...simply hurt.
Her dreams are long and scattered, full of ink and paintbrushes and little smiles on a pale ivory face.
Her nights have grown long and her sleep has grown short.
Again, with grief.
Staring vacantly into the empty room, she knows that future, of perhaps puttering around a garden and watching him paint, is no longer possible. And Yamanaka Ino feels the exhaustion down deep in her bones but she can't drift along idly. Because she will not no matter how much she wants to. There is Inojin, her tether to her life. So she wakes up in the morning, day after day and goes out into the busy world, moving on with or without her. And takes care to the best of her ability. It is hard. Hard as Asuma. Hard as her father.
Why are men so quick to leave, she wonders. It's irrational, but part of her wonders if Inojin will leave her too and vehemently wishes that she'd had a daughter instead just then because of that.
In an attempt to quell her heart, she steps back into the flower shop again, now mostly managed by her cousin, to practice ikebana. It is a jarring experience when she finds that whatever well of propensity she harbored for it has run dry. She has nothing to offer these flowers.
The past few months left her feeling a bit like a hollowed out machine. But it really seemed to up her performance. Every once in a while, she gets sent out on a mission, but the meat of her salary has been her position at the Intelligence Dept, directly under Morino Ibiki as his second in command.
She's already been prepped and preened for the position, and now she finds that Ibiki-san has officially put her up for recommendation as his successor. All her hard work's paid off but she doesn't feel much about it at the moment.
Ino is not too interested in the position, she liked her current spot as second-in-command, she was allowed more freedom, less politics and less paperwork. She could even still get out on the field now and then. However, she agreed in the end because her mind desperately wanted something else to latch on to, because enough with the grief.
Her peers congratulate her on her success. Shikamaru and Chouji take her out for dinner and drinks.
As she goes home that night, and is greeted by that extra chair, she wonders if her men, ones whose names have been immortalized in stone, would be proud of her.
Ino hopes so.
Strangely enough, today is a cool summer day, and the horizon has been thick with clouds. A faint humidity lingers in the air, and it feels like a light drizzle will happen soon.
It is around his busiest season, paperwork-wise. The deadlines are set and that's when a massive load of documents and proposals comes rushing in last-minute and he finds himself sprawled in his chair idly staring at the ceiling and itching for something to happen. Some villain that could use a beating. Something. Instead, a fly buzzes by, and he busies himself momentarily to track it with his eyes.
Being Hokage usually required a more stationary position.
By the time the sun has long set, Naruto finds himself re-reading lines and proposals but can't seem to absorb the words. He leans back with a great big stretch and feels all the kinks in his body. He starts to understand why Baa-chan is always drunk now as he rubs furiously at his eyes. He mildly considers the option before he heads down to the cafeteria to take a break, just sort of searching for some wanton thing without purpose and massages his stiff neck.
"Mmm, another late night?"
He spins around to find her stirring a hot steaming cup of something and offers a quick smile.
"Yeah, just wanted to take a break."
She hums a soft acknowledgement.
The low thrum and lights of the cafeteria are bleak and everything Naruto looks at seems unappetizing. He presses his lips together, still feeling peckish, wanting something savory...warm and comforting. But not a full on meal. Hmmm.
"I think what you're looking for is oden from Auntie Shiro's ."
He perks up at the mention, "I think you're right."
Ino gives a listless shrug, an oddly graceful gesture that leaves the dark trench coat draped around her shoulders lifting like a pair of soft wings.
With a pang of guilt, it is one of the first times Naruto thinks he's really taken her in since the funeral this past spring earlier this year. He remembers the strange contrast of the heady scent of sweet spring flowers in bloom in contrast to how he witnessed her shoulders shake with grief, knuckles white clutching a bouquet to her chest.
She's one of the taller girls, and something about Yamanaka Ino had always felt bit larger than life, but on that day, she seemed so small. A lily flower bent and shivering in the wind. It was all in all, heartbreaking.
Naruto himself couldn't really believe the man was gone.
He'd come across her plenty of times with the girls and Shikamaru and Chouji. She is here and there in the tower as they work together but…well. There were always other things that demanded his immediate attention.
Unsurprisingly, she looks sort of tired. A little bit thinner too. Something in her face is much older than it was, but Yamanaka Ino has aged well, even through her grief. She wears her womanhood like armor, and bears a quality reminiscent of her father, Inochi, who was always a bright and charismatic man with a knowing smile. Until you tripped his temper that is.
But the woman before him now has liquid looking eyes that sort of hold a soft shine to them, perhaps magnified by the darkness underneath weighing at her skin - this recently widowed classmate of his.
It is unfortunate, but he's reminded that none of them are strangers to grief.
"I usually am," she smiles.
Naruto didn't know her all that well, but she'd always been a friend. He thought her to be kind of similar to Sakura-chan in the way that she is also equal parts smart, pretty and intimidating. They didn't talk all that much outside of group gatherings or without one of their partners in tow. But they were definitely friends.
He wants to ask her how she's been. Was there anything he could do? He just couldn't help himself, maybe he was looking to procrastinate but Naruto was itching for something to do and he'd always liked to play hero, always ready to lend a helping hand - especially to something more concrete, more human, with an actual face, than deciding on whether to divert more funds to District three or District five in the coming year.
And she does has a pleasant face, even if she scared him sometimes.
But now he didn't like the darkness under her eyes. Just when he's about to speak, she tilts her head at him and turns her back to him, with a dainty hand beckoning him to follow.
"Well?" she peers past her shoulder at him, "let's go."
The walk over to the oden stand is quiet at first, and he finds that the Yamanaka woman seems to float along, lost in thought. Her steps are slow and drawn out, and despite having a set destination, it feels like she's wandering down the street. Just drifting along. He puzzles over her state of mood, and wonders why she even bothered to invite him along. Once again she surprises him by speaking first.
"So, do you think you'll ever grow out of orange, Naruto?" she slides her eyes over to him, there's something unreadable in her face.
"Huh?"
Her eyes settle down on his pants.
"What's wrong with orange?" He quips, practically out of reflex by now. Seriously, aren't people tired of giving him shit over this? Sakura'd certainly given him enough for his color choices in all of their years together. God, they really were alike sometimes.
Ino gives a small shrug. "Just wondering."
When it becomes evident she isn't really passing judgment and it is an honest question, Naruto softens a bit and decides to answer more truthfully.
"I like it. It's bright and happy," he shrugs.
Ino is quite sure that growing up invisible and orphaned, Naruto had a penchant for the brightest loudest colors one could find. But she is still curious to hear what the man himself would say.
"Well, only you could get away with wearing an entire suit of orange," she sighs.
He eyes her neutral facial expression - unsure of how to interpret her statement. "...Because I'm so good-looking?"
Ino's eyes widen in surprise at his cheekiness, and she huffs in amusement.
"Because - you can wear whatever you want and no one can beat your ass over it," she surmises for him with a roll of her eyes.
The man besides her seems to deflate a little, disappointed.
"Well. I guess." He idly scratches his cheek, steps slowing into an almost lazy languid tempo with hers. Yeah, he was pretty strong, but was it too much to ask to be really good looking too?
"Seriously, I swear ridiculously powerful ninja wear the most ridiculous things. And you all get away with it because no one can tell you shit."
Naruto sputters.
"That outfit that Obitio Uchiha wore? I mean. And remember Orochimaru's perfectly ribboned affair. Well. His everything. Tsunade-sama's cleavage? Sasuke's turban?" she continues to list, and then her eyes pointedly land on his pants again.
… did… did she just compare his pants to Orochimaru's huge bow?
"What wrong with my outfit?!" Definitely offended now. And the teme's lame turban? Really! Here he was, just trying to be nice and all.
She lazily turns her head to him, and Naruto instantly thinks of Shikamaru for a moment and wonders how much of Team 10 shared mannerisms with one another. He blinks as her liquid looking eyes appraises his full outfit, black jacket and all with a poignant pause.
"I guess it's acceptable," she concedes.
"You wear orange too! Don't think I didn't notice!" He folds his arms across his chest, quite pleased with his burst of brilliance.
"Yeah. A shirt maybe. Not an entire suit," she sniffs while haughtily throwing her hair behind her shoulder. "And I pull it off much better than you do."
He sputters again.
"Why're you so meeaannn, Ino-chan," he whines cutely in a way more befitting of a child.
Yamanaka Ino only raises a delicate brow at him, feeling her lips threaten to curl up into a smile at this man's persistently endearing qualities.
"Obviously. Did you just meet me?"
The oden shop comes into view, with warm curls of steam invitingly wafting into the cool air. The delicious aroma pulls them forward invitingly as the cool night air hangs around them.
As they eat, he accidentally drops a spot of soup on his orange pants and he finds himself frowning at the idea of it leaving an annoying oil stain.
"I like orange," he mutters, dabbing at the spot.
Ino looks over and blinks once at him. "I know you do," she replies, quietly bemused. Honestly, the better question would be who didn't know?
"And it - it means a lot to me." He's not really sure what possessed him to reveal that personal tidbit, just that he felt strangely calm and relaxed, he thinks her calmly dreamy drifty mood has passed over to him. And the oden really hit the spot.
All Ino does is pop a piece of tempura in her mouth and chew, patiently waiting for him to continue.
"It's the first thing I chose for me to be...me, you know?"
She nodded knowingly without a word and chewed away almost absently. Like she understood and he needn't say anymore on the matter because she's been there.
Half of Naruto looks at her and thinks that maybe she does get it, because she's quite convincing. But the other half of him argues that she can't possibly get it. Yamanaka Ino was a popular kid. She was always self-assured and bright and loud and assertive. Yamanaka Ino always knew who she was and she never seemed to compromise. And really, not much has changed. He remembers his particular brand of envy towards her when they were still small at the Academy. Because she seemed to carry herself in whatever way she wanted, whether or not you liked it.
In the most genuine sense, she seemed quite untouchable in that way. Unapologetically herself.
That had always struck him about her, and he'd never really forgotten it.
But orange, for him, was the color that had people noticing him. That he wore wanting people to notice him, instead of cowering back then, trying so desperately to hide from the villagers that only saw the demon, death and destruction when they laid their eyes on him.
He had to earn his sunny disposition.
For some inexplicable reason, as he watched her nod knowingly and continue eat without pause, he just had to get his point across.
"Orange got me to me." Actually, did that make any sense, he pauses.
Ino swallows, "Yeah. It did. I get it, Naruto." Again, she nods, almost absently. Almost dismissively.
He frowns. "Do you?"
Now he's caught her attention and she peers at him curiously, the lazy curls of steam rising from the bowls between them.
"I do."
But what does Yamanaka Ino know about being invisible? He knew a lot of men tripped themselves over her and that she got along with almost everybody. Soft, pretty, flower girl of Konoha, adored from the beginning. Not even Sakura-chan had that start. Or Hinata-chan.
He frown dug deeper into his face, but then he realized what the fuck does it matter, he's being weird and trivial, and then turned his full attention back to the delicious comforting food before him.
The kunoichi watches him eat for a few moments before speaking.
Her voice is soft but clear. "Orange is the color for when you claimed yourself. Including being taken seriously as a shinobi and a person. It's how you declared to the world that you were somebody, not just a nobody. It's speaks for you even if no one is willing to listen. You're Uzumaki Naruto, and no one can fuck with that. Something like that, right?" she offers casually.
Naruto snaps his gaze up to her, slightly bewildered that she had so eloquently summarized his feelings in a hot second.
"Yeah…" he settles on around a mouthful, slack jawed. He composes himself and squints at her in thought.
The man swallows a large gulp and then more words fall out his mouth, "What does a girl like you get about that though?" He quietly ponders and takes another sip of comforting broth.
She laughs a short mirthless kind of laugh, and he finds himself lost and frowning again. Here he was pouring out his heart and shit, and what kind of reaction is that supposed to be? Damn, this entire conversation just took the weirdest turn. This was the farthest thing from his intentions that night. He was expecting a heart-to-heart about Sai, not the color of his pants.
"You think people take me seriously? People have never taken me seriously. Ever. They still don't."
His mouth snaps shut, surprised. He looks at her liquid eyes and the soft shine, without malice or bitterness.
"I'm not the strongest or anything near that. But I still work hard. And Ibiki-sama and Tsunade-sama know that. And so do most people I've worked with. People are always friendly and they like me but every time I get recommended, I see the questioning if it's because I'd screwed my way up the top. Every time people consider me for a job or as a shinobi they doubt."
He has no idea what to say. Yet again.
She continues, "People look at me, and all they see is what I look like. I'm shallow and into fashion. And even more, that I just don't look like a typical shinobi."
Naruto felt the shame spread over his cheeks. The realization hit him. It's true. And he was also definitely guilty to an extent. Hell, he was just guilty of it a few moments ago. He'd never thought Ino rose in her success through those means by any measure, he knew she was capable but he couldn't deny that in all the years they'd known each other - he'd never bother getting to know her because he'd written her off as a kind of judgy and shallow woman. Smart on top of that, sure, and definitely caring but the other stuff always overshadowed it.
Her finely manicured hands catch the light, and Naruto looks at the soft shade of blue she has painted them along with her prettily made face.
It's true though. She looks like the daughter of a delicate nobleman. Not someone who'd shed blood and fought in wars and could topple governments.
The woman shrugs nonchalantly. "I don't blame them though. I'm definitely not a typical shinobi. And I'm definitely going to use whatever I have to my advantage," here she absently tucks a long silvery gold strand of hair behind her ear, "but obviously, most people still think I'm a joke. At best, I'm just a glorified broadcasting system for large scale communication. Even as the new Head, I often get asked more questions about my beauty routine than my work."
"Oh," he smartly responds. Sufficiently cowed.
"I get the orange," she says.
Ino slides her gaze over to him, noting his embarrassed silence. "Seriously, what kind of ninja are you? Hokage too? You realize you pay me to be pick people apart, right?" she scoffs.
He pouts at her quite fiercely, and her lips curve fully into a smile.
"What about looking underneath the underneath, huh?" the woman finishes in a mock baritone with her hands fisted rigidly over her hips. Her slender finger comes up wagging at his face, reminiscent of so many of his old sensei's. Naruto's mouth twists up at her teasing.
"Whatever! You're just mean and shallow," he huffs and sticks his tongue out a her.
She returns the favor and the two mock one another childishly for a few moments, leaving Auntie Shiro of the shop incredibly amused at the antics of two thirty-year olds acting thirteen.
When it's over Ino laughs for real this time, and Naruto can't help but feel happy that she looks like the bright classmate he remembered.
It was supposed to take half an hour at most. In the end the two of then ended up wasting hours together, stopping for a quick hot sake (he's pretty sure Baa-chan would definitely approve) - chatting from work to family and somehow landing on loud proclamations of Sasuke's recent doings. The conversation flowed smoothly as the sake poured into their cups.
"Ahhh - that guy! I swear!" Naruto bemoans. His brain feels pleasantly fuzzy from the drink.
"I know, I know," she pats him on the back reassuringly. Ino frowns, because from the last she saw of Sakura recently she figured in an instant that her friend and the Uchiha had been bickering. About what? Who knows, she didn't get the chance yet to ask. Ino was quite sure it had to do with the state of the Uchiha compound and perhaps Sarada, but she'd have to wait and see.
The Uzumaki turns to the woman beside him, warm from sake and regards her with a mild curiosity. He attempted to distract himself from her dainty hand rubbing his back, because Ino is definitely one of his more casually touchy friends and he'd never really learnt how to deal with that properly.
"You don't like Sasuke-teme?"
She frowns. "Why do you ask? Is it surprising?"
The sake makes his words a little freer and his face a little warmer. He shrugs, "I dunno. I just didn't expect you to agree with me when I brought it up."
She returns his shrug. "Well, I do agree. And it's not that I don't like him."
"I thought you had a crush on the guy for the longest time!"
"That was ages ago, Naruto. We were children. I'd just always hoped he'd be less of a dick."
He makes a long low noise from the back of his throat and takes another sip, sufficiently relaxed – stiff neck and kinks completely forgotten.
The Yamanaka sniffs, "Forehead deserves better, I think." The sake was really loosening her words a bit too much, she notes.
"Oh. I think I get it."
He swirls the sake in his cup, contemplating the liquid glow, "Sasuke's a good guy and all and I know he loves her, but I feel like he just doesn't think about Sakura-chan sometimes." He frowns, a bit sad and at a loss of what to do. "Not like he does it on purpose. Doesn't matter what I say, it's just always been like that."
"Exactly."
She pours the remaining bit of sake into their cups, surprised that Naruto understood. She expected him to argue with her. Kettle calling the pot black, I guess.
Then, she gets an idea.
"Hey, Naruto."
Naruto blinks in rapt attention at Ino's sudden somber tone. "What - what is it?"
"We should teach him a lesson."
His eyes widen. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know," she confesses airily, delicate manicured finger tapping her chin, feeling contently warm from drink. "Slip a small cake of red ink into his pocket so that next time his clothes come out the wash a matching set of pink?"
Naruto struggles to swallow to make way for a short bark of laughter. "OH man! That would be something to see! Ah...now he can match Sakura-chan," he finishes with a dreamy smile, eyes sparkling at the possibility.
Another bottle is soon hailed down, but then set aside, forgotten, as the two begin to plan out the details of this so-called 'lesson.'
With the months since Sai's funeral, and her struggling to not be swallowed by grief and stay strong for Inojin, seeing Naruto is a surprisingly nice reprieve from it all. Perhaps because at most he was a distant friend, and not someone who knew her as intimately as Sakura or Shikamaru or Chouji, who could spy the melancholy woven into her very skin up close.
It was nice to pretend everything was normal, even for a brief moment. That she was just a colleague having after hour drinks to relax after a long day.
With the warmth in her belly, Ino is surprised to find herself doing something she looked forward to, not as a mere distraction, but something that actually looked inviting in this fog that clouded her, stupid and little as it may be.
When the night comes to close, the two break off, and bask in a sense of rejuvenation.
.
.
.
No one knows really, what to make of the Hokage and the new Head of the Intelligence's bright signature blonde heads huddled together over the next week, sinister giggles escaping ever so often.
But. Everyone is definitely wary. And just a bit afraid.
They're answered by the loud guffaws from the Hokage doubled over in laughter as the famed Uchiha Sasuke shows up in his office, dark and scowling on laundry day, where underneath his dark cloak an undershirt tinged pink could be seen.
He'd only been in town for three days and this happened. The Uchiha was 100% certain he'd checked for any red articles of clothing in his load but discovered Sarada's tiny red shirt squashed unassumingly in one of his shirt sleeves in the process of drying, eye twitching at his misfortune. Just so perfect for this to happen the one week Sakura was out of town on business, and him left to do his own load.
Just wonderful. He sniffs indignantly as Naruto unfortunately catches his apparel. His mood immediately darkens at the huge grin plastered across the man's face.
"So what's with the shirt, teme?"
The Uchiha frowns.
"None of your business."
Ino happens to breeze into his office then, the quick gust of wind from the door timed perfectly to afford the new arrival a glimpse of his rosy hued colored shirt underneath his fall coat before he covers himself. She lifts a delicate eyebrow, amusement rolling off of her in waves, "Nice shirt, Sasuke," she does a quick full sweep of his outfit just to miff him, "Sakura's delicates accidentally get mixed in?"
She sets down an official looking scroll on Naruto's desk, "the info you requested, Hokage-sama," she winks when her face is out of the Uchiha's eyeline.
"It's a good look on you," the Yamanaka comments as she breezes out the door with a teasing smirk, gone as quick as she came.
In his agitation and embarrassment, Sasuke misses how Naruto's mirth turned sly like a fox at the arrival of the other blonde before dissolving into another wave of laughter at his expense.
"I mean, I've heard of Ino-chan as the Flower of Konoha, but you can be the Rose of Konoha if ya want, teme!" He guffaws.
Sasuke nearly sprains his eyes from the force of his eye roll and smacks the idiot over his head.
Later in the afternoon, still faintly giddy , the Uzumaki opens the official looking scroll out of curiosity, wondering if there was actually anything inside he needed to look at. The thing is blank, until he unfurls it further and a tiny note falls out.
'Think we can get his hair to match?'
Naruto can't help but snigger happily to himself at the mere idea.
.
.
.
Running into one another while burning the midnight oil has become a commonplace occurrence. But neither mind and actually look forward to their strange little encounters as prank planning ensues. Honestly, Naruto didn't even realize that Ino- chan had this side to her. He mostly remembers her anger rivaling Sakura's with a different flavor of psychic terror. But this! He likes planning pranks. While he did it for different reasons when he was younger, pranks are enjoyable, and he felt a renewed sense of self. It's nice.
It's just fun. Free-spirited fun, a break from his never ending responsibilities. The darkness has nearly all but faded away from Ino's eyes, and that only makes it all the better.
Somewhere along the way, it became expected that they'd take their lunches together.
Naruto is opened to an entirely new world of colorful gossip. The more ridiculous the better. And Ino really had heard everything. A true gossip queen. She parsed through ridiculous rumor and passed along kernels of truth in reports – but the rest she regales to him in person over tea or lunch. Ino teases him often, but turns out the Hokage had quite an ear when it came to gossip, and the way he'd learn forward eyes wide like not unlike his children waiting for a bedtime story is endlessly amusing to the Yamanaka.
The two blondes are found lounging about on the roof, taking a brief reprieve from the long hours.
"Hear anything recently, Ino-chan?"
A languid shrug is his answer.
The two watch the bustling people below, and in the distance she senses a familiar brooding energy of the Uchiha with his daughter.
"You know. I kind of think Sasuke isn't straight."
His resounding screech is her immediate reply.
"Nooo wayyyyy! He's with Sakura!"
She shrugs again, "Yeah, I guess."
She doesn't mention this inkling to Sakura. Obvious reasons. And of course, it's not like she has any sort of proof. Just an abstract kind of niggling.
And she mentions it to Naruto because it's obviously fun to do that kind of thing to him. The man is just all sorts of endearing with his intense scandalized confusion. She scoffs amusedly as the Uzumaki next to struggled with the very idea.
Her interest is piqued when he goes still suddenly and stares at her.
Could it be? Did he come across evidence without realizing it?
"I mean – Did – did you…come across something?" He sputters against her, eyes wide.
She lifts a brow.
"You mean, did I catch him or something?"
Naruto looks fit to burst. "Did you!"
She only stares at him coolly. Disappointing. "I have better things to do with my time than spy on him of all people, Naruto."
"Oh."
"Mmhmm."
"Then…then why would you say that!"
She shrugs again, "Dunno. Just a feeling."
"…did you…hear it…y'know?" he taps his temple at her.
Ino rolls her eyes.
"No, I didn't. I actually try my damndest to tune people out." His mutterings she finds especially displeasing. She doesn't feel like listening in on a man completely haunted.
"Oh."
"….are…you actually…disappointed, Naruto?"
"What! NO! I – I just – if he was, y'know. I'd like to be the first to know. I'd still support him! And….poor Sakura-chan."
She rolls her eyes again.
"Alright then, dork."
He pouts at Ino's fondness of calling him anything but his respected title.
She doesn't bring it up again. If anyone would know, it'd probably be Naruto. Even if he wasn't the keenest on these things, her little inkling would just remain as it was. Frankly, it only matters to her in the sense that it'd affect Sakura, but aside from that - really, none of her business. She knows that he does love Sakura...in his own way. He really does.
But really now.
There was a kind of vibrancy to his raven coloring when he was around dudes compared to being around women. Hm. Now that she thinks about it, the Kazekage seemed like a potential too.
She slides her gaze to the blonde beside her.
Well, one heart attack for the Hokage about his brothers' questionable sexualities at a time.
She can't help but smile to herself. Unlike Shikamaru's near immunity to her ways, Naruto is too fun to poke at.
.
.
.
Something is growing between them, and it grows more palpable each passing day. Especially when the Hokage makes it a habit to swing by the Intelligence Dept whenever he wants a break, cup of coffee or tea or just whatever in hand, and she does the same and the two leave the office even brighter together than apart, trailing laughter and light.
It mostly manifests itself in plague of pranks. The two having been spied sniggering and giggling and plotting at random intervals throughout the day.
One day, the entire office of his floor finds that their chairs glued to the floor. Easy enough to deal with, if annoying for ninja. Hilarious for the two blondes. They get an earful from Tsunade and Shikamaru's disapproving gaze.
Soon, the two floors they work most closely to would refer to the pair as the 'Golden Terror," with a mix of amusement and anxiety.
Sakura obviously has come up as a potential target. But the idea of paying property damage and processing insurance claims has the two passing her over.
However, some of their most noted accomplishments include replacing entire packs of Shikamaru's cigarettes for literal dried grass rolled in paper, replacing the book covers of Kakashi's Icha Icha series, and Tsunade's sake stash for water (a regrettable decision), having Sasuke's socks all either two sizes too small or two sizes too large and pouring glitter into his shampoo.
Even Sakura laughed at the sight of a sparkly Sasuke. She only chides Naruto half-heartedly with mirth in her eyes.
It's certainly one of their finest feats.
And Ino breathes because in these brief moments, she felt young again. She felt like her brash teenager self - confident and ridiculous. Not a widower, not a kunoichi who men liked to leave.
She is happy to have his loud friendship in her quiet passing days.
Winter comes and passes and all too soon spring is creeping up around the corner again.
Today he'd catch her around the building, and everything she did felt...felt...wrong. She looked pretty normal. Lipstick perfectly in place. Quick smiles and eyes bright.
But something kept rubbing him the wrong way. When he came across an odd looking flower that literally blew across the wind into his lap, he decided to get her a cup of green tea with yuzu honey because it's the afternoon and she only liked coffee in the morning. On a second thought, he grabbed a mango mousse dessert to go with it.
Today is one of those days where their schedules were more hectic, and neither one had the opportunity to take a real lunch, only snacking here and with quick greetings to one another. Her face left him confused as he presented it to her in the late afternoon in the hallway as she thanks him.
He shrugs. "Don't need to thank me. But is everything okay?"
"How did you know?" She asks him quietly puzzled, with a smile.
Now he's confused. His hand idly plays with the edge of his sleeve, "What do you mean? I mean...you...you just needed it, didn't you?" After he says it, it finally occurred to him that his answer is a bit odd.
He just...knew.
She peers at him curiously for a moment over the rim of her tea, wondering if somehow she'd accidentally been at fault for tethering herself to him too strongly mentally. As a professional spy, if Yamanaka Ino wanted to hide, or to appear a certain way, it was genuinely undetectable. The aromatic tea perfumes the air and she takes a sip, and lets the liquid warm her core.
"...I've decided to donate the last of Sai's things today. Getting an early start on spring cleaning," she ends with a humorless smile.
"Ah."
His hands are shoved in his pockets, and Naruto shuffled his feet together out of a juvenile habit.
"I'm sorry," he offers.
"Don't be. I can't hold on to everything for forever."
He nods.
"I've kept some of his things for myself, and for Inojin." She pauses and eyes the man, "Would you like to take a look at his things, Naruto? I know you two were also close."
"Sure. Yeah. You know what - yeah, I think I would."
.
.
.
Later in the week, Naruto finds himself at Ino's place, boxes everywhere as she prepared to move into an apartment now that Inojin had decided to strike out on his own. His heart is heavy as he rifles through some boxes that Ino places at his attention. There are so many sketches. Paintings. Drawings. He is surprised to come across a few of him. Of Sakura and even Sasuke. Lots of scribbles he did and didn't understand. Naruto isn't very artistically inclined and going through these things lends him a sense of awe and lingering appreciation for Sai's talent.
He comes across quite a few sketchbooks that are peppered with what is easily recognized as Ino and their son, Inojin. There are also flowers of every kind and wild beasts alike. He pauses briefly over what looks like a sketch of an intimate portrait. He can make out the definitive lines of Ino's face, her smile and the infant child in her arms to be Inojin. Naruto wonders at just how hard Sai tried to be better and his mouth twists in the idea of it. Sai learned to love with this woman, and from what he knew of the man - it really was something that he didn't expect to happen so quickly in his lifetime. He didn't understand, but he was happy for the awkward man.
"Oh, I see you've gotten to his sketchbooks," her smile is soft and tinged with sadness.
"...yeah. I've...never seen these."
The two of them go over a few loose leaf sketches sandwiched between pages and he lands on another one of himself, rendered much more finely. He recognizes it to be a few years ago, perhaps just before he'd been officially sworn as Hokage. Naruto feels odd to recognize himself on paper.
"He really adored and admired you," Ino says quietly.
His chest is tight and all he can do is return her sad smile.
"He said how you'd help him through everything. All...his confusion." Ino lets out a light laugh.
Naruto shakes his head with light mirth, "I mean...Sai really was pretty confused about a lot of things." He sighs and shakes his head.
"We were both confused about a lot of things," he admits. "I don't know. He really tried so hard when it came to you though, Ino," he stares at a scribble of ink. "I mean, well, I'd never seen him work so hard. And he was always a hard worker." He goes to another stray sketch of what is surely Ino's profile and hair. "It was pretty inspiring."
When she also begins rifling through the papers, he can't help but notice her eyes are spilling over with tears, but that smile stays tattooed on her lips. "Ah, one of his sketchbooks." She briefly takes it from his hands and flips through it knowingly before placing it back in his hands.
"I think you ought to take this one, Naruto," she grins. "I think he'd be happy to have you have it."
He looks at her, then the sketchbook in his hands and smiles at her, grateful for the opportunity.
"Thanks, Ino. It means a lot."
The day fades away as the two blondes go over boxes and begin to reminisce. They share stories and quiet laughter over the awkward well-meaning man.
When Naruto finally heads home with a few of Sai's things in hand, the sight of Ino standing by herself while waving goodbye to him in the fading sunlight leaves his heart tight.
She's alone in that house of hers. Sitting and sleeping in rooms meant for two.
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