When they were in the academy, Ino hated Naruto for the obvious reasons. Him being an obnoxious prankster, the worst student in the class, his ear-damaging voice, and his horrendously tacky orange jumpsuit.
That was over two months ago.
Now she hates Naruto because of his fighting style. His brawler style is so sloppy, with wide arcing swings and telegraphed kicks. His solid clones help his cause, but opponents just need to deal with more sloppiness. Surprisingly, Naruto is not the stupidest when it comes to understanding his own fighting style and he's adapted. He takes a punch, just so he can get a fistful of shirt. He takes a kick, just so he can grab a leg. And in the worst cases, he lets himself get stabbed, just so he can get some leverage.
And Ino hates Naruto for it.
They are on another C-rank mission, escorting a minor noble. Bandits attack them. They've faced bandits before, on previous missions, but these ones are tougher. Ino remembers Sasuke muttering about them being ex-nin while they fight. Kakashi-sensei, of course, focuses on protecting the client.
Ino dispatches one of the grunts and turns around to see Naruto take a huge hit from the largest bandit. A towering man with bulky arms and legs. She can hear the bones creaking as the man's leg lodges itself into Naruto's rib cage. Naruto barely flinches, instead grabbing the man's leg and pulling hard, forcing the man to lose his balance.
"Sasuke!" Naruto hisses, and the young avenger jumps over the blonde, delivering a swift knee to the bandit's nose. There's a terrible 'crunch' sound and loud screech from the bandit as he falls forward, passed out.
They see Kakashi deal with the last bandit and Naruto falls onto his butt, letting out a laugh that causes his face to contort in pain. Ino finds herself already by his side, scowling at the idiot. Her hands placed gently on his ribcage, causing him to wince, as she begins to use her rudimentary medical ninjutsu on him. Her hands glow green and Naruto's hiss of pain slowly turns into a moan of relief as the jutsu takes effect.
Ino knows she is terrible at medical ninjutsu. She did not have any interest in learning it, but Naruto hurt himself so much, and no amount of yelling would get him to change his ways, so she compromised by learning the basic techniques. It showed in her actual abilities, however. What takes the average practitioner one minute to heal, it takes Ino about five. However, for some reason, Naruto's body takes extremely well to healing and what normally takes Ino five minutes to heal, she can do in about thirty seconds on Naruto.
Kakashi comes to check up on them. "Is everyone alright?" He glances at Naruto with some concern.
"Nothing Ino can't fix!" Naruto beams up at their sensei.
"Hn." Sasuke responds.
Ino does not say anything, but she wants to punch Naruto for letting himself break ribs over a bandit. Who cares if they're ex-nin or whatever!
"I'm glad to hear so. Sasuke and I will head back to the carriage to guard the client, you two join us after healing and we will be on our way." Kakashi tells his pupils, and he turns to walk back to the noble.
"Hey, teme, nice knee, eh?" Naruto calls out to their other teammate, whose lips upturn ever so slightly before he heads back to the carriage as well.
It takes Ino ten more minutes to finish healing his rib cage. Naruto chatters away, but Ino does not respond, since it takes more concentration than she would like to keep up the technique. When she finished, she wipes away the beads of sweat that formed on her forehead and lets out a sigh of accomplishment.
Naruto stands up, dusting off the back of his pants, and offers his hand to Ino. She takes it and he pulls her up. Ino is taller than him by an inch or two. She looks down at him and sees Naruto staring back, his cerulean eyes twinkling. He still has her hand in his, it is warm, and she can feel the roughness of it. It feels strange, contrasting with her soft hands that she takes care of with lotions and creams. Holding his hand makes her feel anxious for no good reason and she's about to pull away, when Naruto smiles at her. It's a warm smile, and Ino forgets about removing his hand for a moment.
"Thanks, Ino." His voice is gentle, and it's nothing like the Naruto she thinks she knows.
"No problem." Ino barely whispers, but Naruto hears. He lets go of her hand and walks over to their teammate and sensei, and she follows him.
She hates that Naruto lets himself get hurt like that. She hates that Naruto thinks protecting her and Sasuke means throwing himself in harms way.
She still hates Naruto now like she hated him during their academy days, but its just for a different reason.
Ino remembers the few weeks before, when the team returned from their mission in the Land of Waves. It was the most harrowing experience of her young life. Fighting missing-nin was not an exciting experience, it was a horrifying one. Their encounter with Zabuza made her tremble in fear. But the scariest part was that Sasuke and Naruto risked their lives to fight Zabuza and Haku and to protect her and they nearly died. Sasuke being at death's door was the source of her nightmares for a while after the mission.
Ino seriously considered retiring from being a shinobi. She provided no value during the mission. Her sensor capabilities did not help them find those two ninja hiding as puddles, or Zabuza hiding in the mist. Her Mind Transfer jutsu was useless against high ranking ninja who could not be pinned down. The whole mission she did not feel like a kunoichi. She felt like a little girl playing ninja. It infuriated her, but it mostly depressed her.
These were the thoughts she reflected on when Naruto entered the Yamanka's shop.
"Heya Ino, I need a new watering can." Naruto said as he strolled up to the counter.
"You have plants?" Ino did not believe Naruto to be the green thumb type.
"Yup," He chirped, "got lots of pretty plants. You should come by and see them sometime."
"No, thanks." Ino was blunt. Naruto just shrugged in a 'suit-your-self' manner. "Well, the watering can section is over there." Ino pointed to one corner of the store. Naruto nodded and walked over, taking his time to browse before he made his selection. It's an orange coloured can. Ino lacks her usual snark in her to make fun of him.
"That's 45 ryo." Ino's tone is dull. She just wants for him to go home so she can stew in her thoughts.
Naruto fished out the money from his toad wallet. He placed it in her hand and picked up the watering can but does not leave. Instead he scanned her face, taking a long look into her eyes, and it pissed Ino off.
"What?" Ino snapped at the boy. Her irritation overriding her depression. Naruto does not cower. Instead he rubbed the back of his head and she can see him thinking for a moment before he opened his mouth.
"You are a good teammate Ino. Me n' Sasuke are glad you're on our team. The three of us, we are going to be the best team in Konoha, y'know?" There is a pregnant silence. "I, uh, I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" Naruto smiled at her and left.
The back of Ino's throat hurts, and hot tears rolled down her face. She wants to be a ninja, she does. More than liking Sasuke, more than her fears of failure, she wants to be a damn good kunoichi. So, she will just have to work harder. Put in the blood, sweat, and tears so she's not useless anymore. So, she can stand by Naruto and Sasuke as equals. She wipes her tears. That night, she slept peacefully.
She visited Naruto later, to see his plants. He takes good care of them, she can tell. Ino noticed his watering can is green and in good condition.
When she thinks about it, Ino is kind of mad it took Naruto of all people to set her straight.
Since they became genin, Ino found herself spending way more time with Naruto then she ever thought possible. It's not that she particularly liked Naruto, or that she would rather be with him over Sasuke, but Ino is a social creature by nature. Sasuke does not like talking, and Naruto will not stop talking.
It was a relationship of circumstance, really.
While Ino was lukewarm about her fellow blonde, he had become comfortable with her quickly. A far cry when they met on the rooftop their first day as team seven, snapping at each others' throats. Naruto, she found, was the type to claim friendship after eating a bowl of ramen together. She could tell he even had a unique fondness for Sasuke, although Naruto would never admit to any sort of positive affection for the raven-haired shinobi.
Sometimes she and Naruto would get lunch, or she would force him shopping with her, sometimes they would hang out at the flower shop and Ino would make him do some of her chores, and occasionally, occasionally, she would do his favourite activity and train with him. Which is what they did that day.
As much as Ino bemoaned the way Naruto fights, he is better at taijutsu than she is. He is physically strong, even though he does not look it. His frame belies the power his punches truly have. He's agile too, able to bob and weave around Ino's attacks. But the most annoying thing about training with Naruto is that he never wants to quit.
Ino laid on her side, breathing heavily from the exertion of their many bouts. They were training for at least two hours straight. Her muscles ached from head to toe, and she knows it will be worse tomorrow. On the other hand, Ino can see Naruto a few feet away, squatting. His arms resting on his knees, and his forearms hanging off them, his knuckles barely grazing the grass beneath them. He is perspiring, but not like Ino. Ino is drenched, her hair sticking messily to her face, her shirt darkened by the sweat. She looks like she dipped her upper half in a lake. Naruto meanwhile has some sweat dripping off his face and neck, but otherwise looks fresh.
Naruto is peering at Ino from his location, head tilted, enjoying the breeze. "Ready to go again?"
Ino scowls. "I'm exhausted, Naruto. Can't you see?"
Naruto squints at her but does not say anything. Instead he raises from his crouch and heads over to his jacket, which he had taken off before and thrown under a tree. He reaches in and pulls out a canteen. He throws it at Ino without a word, but she's not ready for it and it hits her in the side of the head.
"What the hell, you doofus?" Ino snarls, getting up.
"Sorry!" Naruto winces in guilt. "It's water."
Ino huffs at Naruto, but picks up the canteen and drinks from it, nonetheless. The water tastes amazing after their training. She did not realize how parched she was until she feels the liquid run down her throat. Ino drinks about half the water and throws the canteen back at Naruto with more force than required. It does not matter, since Naruto catches it with ease, but it was worth a shot. Naruto seemed to have noticed, however, and stuck his tongue out in retaliation.
Naruto throws his head back and chugs down the rest of the water. "Whooo, that hit the spot!" Naruto exclaims after he finishes, wiping the droplets of water that escaped his mouth and ran down his lips with the back of his arm. He summoned a shadow clone and told it to go fill up the canteen. The shadow clone grumbled but did as it was told.
Convenient, Ino thought.
Naruto walks over to where she is and lies down next to her, splaying himself like a starfish and staring at the sky. Ino snorts.
"Who are you? Shikamaru."
Naruto grins and points to one of the clouds, "That one looks like a bird, dontcha think?"
Ino lies down, crossing her arms in front of her. "I can kind of see it, I guess."
The two took turns pointing out different cloud shapes to each other, arguing about a lot of them.
"Here, dummy." The shadow clone returned, dropping the filled canteen on Naruto's face, then disappeared in a cloud of smoke by dispelling itself.
"Ow!" Naruto cried, rubbing his nose.
"Wow, your clones even know you're a loser, huh." Ino giggled.
"Haha, so funny." Naruto rolled his eyes at his fellow blonde, a scowl stuck on his face. A comfortable silence overtook the two as they just stared at the sky and enjoyed the gentle breeze.
"Hey, Naruto." Ino started, picking at a piece of grass next to her.
"Hm?"
"How come you train with me, and not Sasuke-kun? He'd probably be a better training partner than me." She was half expecting Naruto to say he was better than Sasuke, or that Sasuke would hold him back…something along those lines.
Naruto sat up, tucking one knee close to his body and letting the other leg lay out. "You know, I want all three of us to train together. But he doesn't want to, cause he's stronger than me, and he's busy trying to do all that revenge stuff. I don't know, guess he thinks we aren't as important as that." Ino can hear the heat in Naruto's voice. She looks him in the eye, and she can see the frustration; the hurt, even. She does not know what to say, so, instead, she reaches over and gently rubs the back of his hand.
Naruto enjoys the sensation for a moment, before clasping her hand in his. His eyes soften, "Besides, you're a great training partner." He grins, "You just gotta stop acting so lazy! Now c'mon, lets practice some more taijutsu." Ino groans in dissatisfaction, but lets Naruto pull her up, and they begin training some more.
"Sasuke-kun, Naruto and I are going to get some lunch and talk about the chunin exam forms Kakashi-sensei gave us. Do you want to come along?" Ino twirled a few strands of hair around her finger reflexively. She hoped Sasuke did not think she was being too flirty, she even included Naruto in her invitation, so he would not think she was just asking him on a date. She knew Sasuke hated when girls tried to flirt with him.
"No thanks, I don't have to think about it. I'm going to be at the academy to hand in the application tomorrow…you guys be there too." Sasuke spoke plainly before he departed the group.
"Tch, that guy. Always acting too cool for school. I didn't know we were going to get lunch together, today. Where do you want to go?" Naruto asked, rocking on his heels, hands clasped behind his head.
Ino sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Just her luck that she ends up eating with Naruto instead of Sasuke. She supposes that is karma for trying to use him to get a lunch date with Sasuke.
"Anywhere but ramen."
"Ah man, you are no fun!" Naruto pouts. "Fine, lets go that barbeque place you like."
"Sounds good. I'll race you there, loser has to pay for lunch!" Ino smirked, already sprinting towards the restaurant.
Naruto stood agape before he realized what happened and chased after her. "Oi, wait up, you cheater!"
The two raced towards their destination. Ino realized that Naruto might have short legs, but he was pretty quick, and he ended up just beating her out to the entrance of the restaurant.
"Even with your cheap tricks, you're no match for me!" Naruto gloated, pointing his thumb at himself proudly.
"Wow, Naruto, you're really fast." Ino said, her voice sickly sweet. "You're super cool."
"Hehe, thanks, I know." Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly at Ino's praise.
"A super cool and nice guy like you wouldn't let a girl pay for his lunch, right?"
"Hey, you can't trick me twice! You promised the loser would pay." Naruto pointed angrily at his fellow blonde.
"Pleeeease, Naruto! Just this once. Can't you let it go, for me?" Ino fluttered her eyelashes at the boy, eyes wide and doe-like.
A small blush spread across Naruto's face at Ino's act. "Uhh, fine. You're lucky I'm such a swell guy! If it was Sasuke, he'd make you pay up for sure." Naruto scowled, but relented to his teammates demands. He turned around, heading towards the entrance of the restaurant.
"Thanks so much!" Ino wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck, hugging him from behind. She saw the boy's cheeks stain a darker red, and that made her giggle.
"Yeah, yeah I get it. Now let go, people are staring!" Naruto heatedly replied, smacking her hand gently in a gesture for her to release him. Naruto walked into the restaurant, talked to the waitress and then led Ino to one of the booths. As they waited for the waitress to bring the food, Naruto began talking, "Say, Ino, what do you think about the chunin exams?"
"I'm not sure. I think its kind of early for us. We've only been a team for a few months." Ino told her honest opinion, but she saw Naruto sag from it. She knew he was excited to take it.
"So, uh, are you going to turn in the application?" Ino could tell he was trying to sound casual, but was hiding his worry that she would say no.
"I'm still thinking about it. I mean, I don't want to let Sasuke or you down, but I don't feel strong enough. You guys can easily take it without me."
"No way, don't think like that Ino! You're plenty strong, plus we are wayyyy stronger as a team. Me and Sasuke need you." Naruto's voice was loud enough to draw attention from other patrons.
"Quiet down, Naruto. You're disturbing the other customers." Ino scolded the boy, but internally she was please with his sweet words. Whenever she felt down about her impact on the team, Naruto always seemed to notice and cheer her up.
"What's this? Are you guys talking about the chunin exams?" Ino and Naruto turned to see a bearded man with tanned skin talking to them. It was Asuma-sensei. Along with him were his three students. Shikamaru, Choji, and-
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed in delight, his voice just as loud as before. "Yeah, we are, are you guys going to enter too? C'mon sit down with us!" Naruto blabbered, scooting over to the end of the table, making space for the others.
"That's nice of you, Naruto. What do you say, guys?" Asuma addressed his team. Choji had already moved into the seat next to Naruto. The blonde boy frowning.
"Hey, I wanted Sakura-chan to sit next to me!"
"Not in you dreams, Naruto." Sakura sniffed in disgust, then hesitantly sat next to Ino. "Pig." She greeted, curtly.
"Forehead." Ino accompanied her retort with a glare that Sakura returned.
"What a drag. I was hoping for a quiet lunch. Instead I get two loud blondes." Shikamaru drawled, sitting next to Choji, leaving the last seat on Ino's side for Asuma. It was a tight fit for both sides of the booth, but especially so for Naruto's side. Naruto himself was pushing against Choji, trying to make extra space for himself. The larger boy paid no mind, and Naruto eventually gave up.
"Where's Sasuke-kun?" Sakura said, looking around for the heartthrob.
"We asked him to come, but teme went home to jackoff." Naruto said.
"Naruto!" Both girls exclaimed his name in disgust at his crassness. Choji chortled and Shikamaru was smirking.
"I didn't see Kakashi around either. So, you guys didn't come as a team?" Asuma asked the two.
"Nah, it's just me n' Ino." Naruto replied absent-mindedly, looking around for the waitress to see if she was brining the meats yet.
"Oh my god, so you two, are like, on a date?" Sakura asked, her lips nearly splitting from her grin.
"It's not a date!" Ino hotly exclaimed. She realized how harsh a sudden retort like that would sound and glanced at Naruto, but he did not seem affected by it.
"Me and Ino, get food all the time." Naruto commented. "Man, this waitress is taking forever!"
"All the time?" Sakura squealed. "Does this mean I have less competition for Sasuke-kun?"
"Nah, Ino's still as crazy about him as ever." Naruto replied, turning his vision over to the pink-haired girl. "Why don't you forget that guy and go out with me, Sakura-chan?" He winked at her.
"Ew." Sakura sneered.
"No need to be mean, Forehead." Ino frowned at her friend's behaviour.
"Anyway," Asuma begin, eager to steer the conversation away from love-talk. "Our team is applying for the chunin exams, how about yourselves?"
"Really, Forehead, you are taking the exams?" Ino asked, the thought that Sakura would compete was incredulous to her.
"Hey, our team is good!" Choji interjected, a frown on his face.
"Yea, you guys, maybe, but Sakura?"
"Don't be mean to Sakura-chan!" Naruto defended his crush.
"You should be on my side, Naruto. She was so rude to you just a second ago." Ino folded her arms and scowled at her teammate.
"We know our teams' strength, and Sakura is a part of it. Personally, I think this whole thing is a waste of time, but we will do better than you guys." Shikamaru cut in. Ino was surprised Shikamaru would take the time to defend Sakura. She knew he was the loyal type, but it still seemed like too much effort for him.
"Oh, yea? Just wait, Shikamaru. Sasuke-kun, Naruto, and I will wipe the floor with you guys." Ino jeered at her childhood friend, her nervousness about applying for the exam, all but dissipated.
"Does that mean you are going to sign the application?" Naruto asked, hopefully.
"Of course! We gotta show them we're the best rookie team."
"Don't sound so confident if you just thought about signing the application right now, pig."
"Why, I outta-"
"Food's here." Asuma interrupted, passing around the uncooked meats and vegetables.
"Oh boy, I was starving." The Akimichi member said, drool escaping the corner of his mouth.
"Me too." Naruto licked his lips.
They began cooking the food, Ino and Sakura mostly chatting with one another while the three boys boasted about their training. Asuma was mostly silent, enjoying the warm atmosphere of the two friendly teams.
"Hey, Ino, stop piling all the veggies on my side!" Naruto shouted at his fellow blonde.
Ino sternly responded, "Shut up, Naruto. If I didn't force you to eat veggies, you would have got scurvy by now." She placed more vegetables on his side of the grill. "And eat some of those raw too!"
Naruto pouted, but did not argue with the girl, taking some raw peppers and cabbage onto his plate.
"She's got you whipped, eh?" Shikamaru remarked, grinning. Choji laughed while Asuma choked a bit on his drink. Naruto stuck his tongue out at the boy but kept eating.
"Shut up, Shika." Ino rolled her eyes at the shadow user. Ino noticed Sakura staring at her. "What is it, Forehead?"
Her friend leaned over, so she could whisper in Ino's ear. "Are you guys really not dating?"
"Of course not! I still like Sasuke-kun! Naruto is just a good friend."
"Oh, okay. It's just…never mind. My mistake." Sakura leaned back, frowning, but accepting Ino's remark.
"What are you two whispering about? How devilishly handsome I look today?" Naruto asked the two, wiggling his eyebrows at them.
"Puh-lease, Naruto. We were talking about how awesome Sasuke-kun is, right Sakura?" Ino wrapped an arm around Sakura's.
"Uh, yeah." The pink-haired kunoichi was startled by the sudden physical contact from her rival, could not say anything other than agree with the blonde.
"Bah, whatever. Hey, Shikamaru, Choji, I saw a cloud the other day and totally looked like a bag of chips!" Naruto went back to talking to the other male members of team ten. The six ninja chatted and ate, eventually leaving the restaurant after a few hours. Before, Ino and Naruto could leave, Sakura pulled on Ino's arm and dragged her a few feet away.
"What is it Forehead?" Ino noticed her rival was slightly flushed.
"Ino, you've kind of, you know, mellowed out since the last time we talked." Sakura started, looking at her feet.
"Have I? I don't feel much different." Ino shrugged.
"Well, I notice it. And I, uh, I want to, you know…"
"Oh, just spit it out already, Sakura!" Ino huffed and blew a strand of hair out of her face in irritation.
"I want to be friends again! I know we both still like Sasuke-kun, but I had a good time at the restaurant, and I was hop-" Sakura's plea was cut off as Ino wrapped her arms around her fellow kunoichi who was squealing in delight.
"What are you even saying, Forehead? Of course, we can be friends again." She smiled warmly. "I mean the whole thing with Sasuke-kun was so stupid. Why can't I like him and you as well?"
"Yeah, yeah it was. After becoming a genin, the last three months, it made me realise some of the stuff we fought about was so petty." Sakura admitted. "I'm glad we can say we are friends again…but our team is going to clobber yours in the exam." Sakura was grinning now.
"Oh please, we have Sasuke-kun!" Ino laughed, letting go of her friend.
"Yea, and you have Naruto too." Sakura pointed out.
"He's…he's not so bad." Ino defended the blonde. "We will find out soon, anyway. See you later, Sakura."
"Bye, Ino." The two friends smiled at each other before departing with the rest of their teams.
"What was that about?" Naruto asked, the two of them walking towards the academy. Naruto had his hands in his pocket, while Ino had hers clasped behind her back, a large smile on her face.
"Oh, nothing. Me and Forehead are friends again."
Naruto blinked, contemplating her words. "Wait, when were you guys not?"
"Hm, you guys made it." Sasuke spoke nonchalantly, but the corner of his lips were threatening to tug upwards.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world, teme." Naruto pumped his fist in the air, earning a giggle from Ino.
"I'm…glad." The avenger said, quickly turning around so his teammates would not see his face. The words made Ino swoon a bit, and she could see the large grin plastered on Naruto's face. Stepping into the academy building, the three of them never felt like more of a team than at that moment.