Of Blondes and Blondes
A NaruIno Oneshot

A/N: My second attempt of a NaruIno fanfic. Sequel to my SasuHina story: Confessions, but of different point of view. Come to think of it, I'm getting addicted to this pairing. (blink)…Nani?!

She stared outside their classroom window, her chin underneath her hand, as she unconsciously blew her blonde bangs out from her face in vain. It's unlike of her to be this…silent. But thoughts kept on running round and round her mind, like the merry-go-round she liked as a child. But then, it's making her less cheerful this time around, and its making her friends worry a lot.

"N-ne, Ino-chan…You r-really like him a lot, huh?"

She didn't have to turn around to know who was talking to her based on the stutters. Slowly, a melancholic smile graced her lips. Hinata stood before her, playing with her fingers before making up her mind and sat beside her.

"Hai. He's just…what's this…he's different, that's all."

She muttered as she watched him steal the ball from his rival. With a low grunt, he jumped, a thin layer of sweat glistening on his forehead, shooting the ball right into the hoop. Cheers erupted down there and she merely frowned all the more.

Great. More competition.

"Hm." Hinata merely said, watching the game as well.

"I think I know now why you liked him so much," Ino turned around as she faced a blushing Hinata, who suddenly started to play with her fingers again. "I'm very sorry, Hinata…if you still like him---"

"N-n-nani?! Iie!" She immediately refused, startled at the suddenness of it all. She merely shook her head and smiled. "I g-got over i-it…B-besides…" She trailed, blushing yet another undiscovered shade of red at the thought of a certain black-haired guy.

Ino merely smiled at her knowingly, although deep down inside, she's slightly jealous of the fact that Hinata is happy with her current…boyfriend, although the two won't admit it. However, the thought that she's happy with her friend overcame that negative feeling. She deserved it too, since things had not been so good with her since she was young.

But then, must fate be so unkind to me?

Her childhood crush about Hinata's boyfriend had long but since vanished. Unfortunately, the friendship she had with Sakura that cost that crush had not been redeemed. But with her problems right now, she couldn't think much of it. Sasuke's out of the equation since long she could remember and now, the new center of the problem would be his best friend and as well as her dearest friend: Naruto Uzumaki.

She let out a sigh at the thought. Hinata told her that Sasuke had helped her forget about the blonde after realizing that her long-term unrequited crush would remain unrequited forever. Somehow, Ino wanted to move on as well…but something held her back.

Maybe the thought that Naruto is one of her dearest friend and that he is obviously infatuated at Sakura made it worse. But she can't move on without telling him what she is actually feeling, unlike Hinata. It's different about what she felt for Sasuke. For Sasuke, she is not afraid to tell him what she's feeling and that she would gladly 'flirt' with him until on. But with Naruto…just something about him made her hesitate, afraid to be rejected again. She could not take no for an answer again…although if Naruto would reject her, she didn't know what to do.

And thus, concluded her current situation.

"Ne, Hina-chan…I don't know why he had this affect on me…he's just a dobe for all I know…" She grumbled, blowing a strand of blonde hair again. Hinata smiled at her knowingly.

"S-Sasuke had t-that effect on me, as w-well, Ino-chan," She said softly. "You are s-seriously…in love."

In love…In love…In love…

Hinata's voice echoed at her mind in an alarming speed. Frantically, she placed both of her hands at each sides of her head and looked at Hinata, who looked between surprised and worried, with wide eyes.

"I-i-in LOVE?!"

"Hai." Hinata muttered, somewhat amused by her friend's expression.

"D-demo! I…" She paused, realization hitting her like a train, and plopped herself on the seat, still dazed at the truth. "I t-thought it's j-just a crush…

"I-ino-chan…If this is just a m-mere crush like you had felt for S-Sasuke, then why aren't you f-flirting around with h-him?

Somehow, that's just the right question to ask.

"Ne, Ino-chan. Why are you being quiet than usual?" Naruto asked beside her as they walked down the street.

Since both of them lived at the same apartment, it would be normal if they became friends. They went to school and went home together and sometimes, Naruto would crash down at her place without asking her, hitting 'her' couch and dominating 'her' whole apartment. It worsened when she saw Naruto's cups of instant ramen sitting on 'her' cupboard. She wouldn't be surprised if Naruto would bring his own bed and start living with her.

Come to think of it, it's not a bad idea after all.

Blushing at the thought, she uneasily smiled at him and shrugged, deciding not to tell anything after all. Naruto looked at her, puzzled, for a long time, making her blushed all the more. Soon, he removed his gaze from her towards the street before them, not saying anything.

It's weird when there was silence between them. Normally, they would chatter end on, sometimes arguing over useless stuff. It felt awkward to be they are both silent. But then, she couldn't really blame him…or herself. Talking or arguing at each other had been normal to them as breathing.

But that doesn't change the fact that she's nervous.

"Ne, Ino-chan," He repeated, not looking at her. Somehow, something about his voice made her look at him. "I really like her."

She felt her heart stop.

"H-her? You mean, you have someone you liked?"

"Yep." He said, not even looking at her.

Pain gripped her heart as tears threatened to fall from her eyes, but she composed herself, more composed than she ever had been for years. Instead, she smiled at him and started to pretend.

"Really?! That's great!" It sickened her to act like this. "Demo, you didn't even tell me about it! Mou, Naruto…tell me about her then!"

He looked at her, his expression unreadable. She nearly stopped at her tracks when he gazed at her like that but she forced herself to smile instead. All these pretending…it made her want to gag.

"Hai," He removed his gaze from her. "She's like…the prettiest person I've ever seen. Her heart so pure and yet so wonderful. I don't know, it's like…I'm so happy to meet that person. She's like everything to me, you know that?"

She continued to smile, despite how much she wanted to break down and cry her heart out. Her jaw tightened at her forced smiling but she endured it all, just as long as Naruto won't get worried why she's acting like that. But then, she didn't know how long she would be able to pull it off.

BakaBaka. BAKA. You're so damn clueless! You don't even know that I'm hurting inside! BAKA!

But she refused to cry and continued to smile instead, although wavering.

"When I'm with her…it makes me feel…no, not complete, but just being with her makes me feel so glad and content that I don't want to leave her side anymore. Just being with her makes me wonder how fortunate I am to share that rare precious moment with her. Looking at her eyes…kami, just looking at her eyes made me feel like I'm the greatest man who ever lived on this earth. She's like…she's this small ball of unexplainable thing that would give you infinite happiness when you have it…"

He paused, even stopped at his tracks. Ino followed suit, smiling yet again, afraid to pull down that smiling mask. Then he looked at her, deep inside her that it made her want to gasp.

"No, Ino-chan. I don't just like her. I love her."

Amazing how that single statement could break your life into broken fragmented pieces. She could almost hear her heart shatter and just for a minute, she was frozen in time, her mask still on. It felt like she was falling into a dark abyss…falling…falling…falling into void where there is no return. Oh, how she envy Sakura at that time.

Then a single tear fell from her eyes.

"N-nani?" She muttered, looking confused as she put her hand on her wet right cheek. Horrified, the tears didn't stop. They kept on falling, much like the way she's falling into that abyss. Straining to put the smiling mask on, she avoided Naruto's gaze and uneasily laughed.

"N-ne, N-naruto," Her voice shook as the tears kept on falling. "I t-think I s-should g-go home a-alone…"

She turned to leave, desperate to unleash all those pent-up feelings inside her when a familiar hand grabbed her arm. Too dazed to think of anything, she was pulled into a warm embrace. She tried to move away, to push that person away, but the grip was tight, although not too tight. Defeated, she clutched his shirt at his chest and sobbed, not caring if it was Naruto who held her.

"Ne, Ino-chan," He repeated, his voice not changing and steady. "I don't just like you, I love you."

Stunned, she stopped. She was rendered speechless. Too speechless. To her surprise, Naruto chuckled as he stroke her hair, apologizing for making her cry. Soon, she cried all over again, not for the same reason as before but because she is too happy, too relieved and too overcome with dazzling possibility that she couldn't put it into words and just cry.

"B-baka…I love you too…"

A/N: Mah, I felt too squishy with this one. Well, not exactly sequel to Confessions but still, a sequel. Sorry for this one. I think it suck. Enough reason that I'm losing my talent, if I had any in the first place. Hope you like it! (Although I doubt it)

Please review and made me glad!