If you guys like this, I'll continue. If not, then alright.
Does not follow Anime or Manga much.
Naruto x Ino. Not a harem. Also, for you Sakura x Naruto lovers, I'll be doing a fic for NaruSaku soon, but not this one.
(Finding Love)
Naruto Uzumaki was a seasoned Jounin with years of ANBU experience under his belt. He graduated at the bottom of his class, but things changed after Suna attacked and the Sandaime Hokage died.
Naruto trained like each day was his last. He trained in everything, but his focus was speed and stamina. Then, when Sasuke defected, he managed to stop the Uchiha at the Valley of the End. Was he respected after that? No. He was shunned, spat on, and beaten for beating the "Last Uchiha". This was how he thought of joining the ANBU.
However, he couldn't, or rather, wouldn't. He believed he was still too weak, and so he trained; and as Naruto trained, Sasuke was praised, not Naruto but Sasuke. He trained for two years, until news reached him. News that Sasuke and Sakura began dating. It hit him like a thousand punches from Tsunade. His resolve was shaking, until finally, he accepted it. He shut his emotions away.
That was when he skipped the Chunin exams and went straight to the Jounin exams. He was surprised when he saw that Tsunade was the new Hokage, but he hid it well. To be Jounin and skip Chunin was something almost unheard of.
Whatever the case, he succeeded, and joined ANBU shortly after.
Finally, he was asked to resign. When he asked why, the answer given to him was bullshit.
"Naruto-Taichou, Tsunade-sama says that you're already the best of us and said that you should have a normal life."
But he scoffed at it and asked in return, "Tell me, Tengu, do you think I should be replaced?"
And so, the answer to that question would be the key to his return as Jounin. "No, Taichou, but I swear that the ANBU you've led will remain loyal to you even after you leave." That reply was all Naruto needed for one of his first true smile. After two or more years of being so serious, Naruto finally smiled.
The ANBU were his family, and he'd be damned if he'd let them fall because of his disobedience, so he accepted and went back to the regular ranks as a Jounin.
This is where we are now, as Naruto walks down the streets of Konoha for the first time in two years, without being dressed in his masked outfit. He walks by many stalls when he notices the Yamanaka flower shop by a street. He was curious of what flowers they had now. He did garden, after all.
With his mind made up, Naruto goes over to the shop and enters. He ignores the, "just a moment" yell he heard from the back room and goes over to the flower section. He bends down to get a closer look at an odd rose he's never seen before. He looks beside it to see two more that were also odd. "Midnight Blue, True Blood Black, and Black?" He mutters each of the labels to himself.
"Would you like them?" Came a feminine voice from the counter.
Naruto had to restrain himself from pulling out a kunai when he felt the person move closer. He turned to face the person who asked. "Yeah, I—" His voice was caught in his throat as he said those words. In front of him was none other than "Ino?"
Ino blinked in her purple Shippuden outfit. When she looked at the man, he looked like a regular Jounin. Finally, she blinked when she saw the whisker marks, the oddly short blonde hair, and the cerulean eyes. "N-Naruto?"
Naruto stands with a sheepish expression on his face. His hand rubbing the back of his head as he says, "Yo, long time no—"
Ino didn't let him finish his sentence as she ran, jumped, and hugged him making both of them fall with Naruto landing on his back. Neither noticed their compromising position as Ino fell on top of Naruto. "Baka!" She says before looking Naruto in the eye. "Where the hell were you? You were gone for almost three years! If we didn't ask Tsunade-sama on whether or not she knew you were alive, you'd have been declared dead!"
"Gomen, gomen." Naruto says before pushing himself off the ground carefully to make sure Ino doesn't fall. He gives a thankful but subtle sigh as Ino gets off him first so he doesn't have to push her off. Once he finally gets to stand properly, Naruto pops his joints, especially his neck. "Well, Ino, as you can see, I'm clearly not dead."
Ino gives a cute giggle at that. "Yeah, and you're also Jounin, huh? How'd you do it?"
"Field Promotion." Naruto says a little too quickly as if expecting that question and rehearsing his answer beforehand. He looks at Ino's purple outfit and a dirtied apron by the counter. "So, you're the one handling the business now?"
"Only until my parents get back." She says with a smile before noticing how tall Naruto had gotten. She was now half a head shorter than him which was something to consider since Naruto was one of the shortest in the Academy. "Woah, you've gotten taller!"
Naruto blinks owlishly at that comment. "Uh… thanks? I mean, no offense, but that was just out of the blue."
It was Ino's turn to blink owlishly. Her eyes narrow teasingly. "Sounds like someone lacks some social interaction." The reply she received surprised her.
"You're right on that one." Naruto mutters, but Ino still heard it. "Well, even if I did, I'm sure this conversation's gonna fix me up!" He says with his bright smile.
Ino sighs as she shakes her head in disbelief. Naruto would always be Naruto, one way or another. Her attention then goes back to the roses. "So, did you want to get them?"
Naruto scratches the back of his head a little. "They're fake, aren't they? I mean, I've never heard of black roses."
Ino giggles at her fellow blonde. "True, but just a secret, our family was able to manipulate the genes of these roses allowing there to now be black, Midnight Blue as we call the black and blue roses, and True Blood Black as we call the black and red roses."
"Heh?" Naruto says in wonder as he seems to think about it. He smiles before turning his head to Ino. "I'll take one of each. I'll see if I can plant them and make them grow."
"Sure!" Ino says with a smile of her own and goes to the counter. "My parents always told me that you'd always come here for some plants when you were younger." She says as she starts to work back and for the between the counter and flower section. "I didn't believe that you could garden, but when they showed me pictures you sent them of the plants you bought, I was surprised. This just proved it more."
Naruto chuckles as he watches Ino do her job. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me, Ino." He pauses as he looks at three other roses. "Can I also have a red, blue, and orange rose?"
Ino doesn't stop what she's doing even if she is a little surprised. She answers anyway. "Sure. I don't see why not."
"Thank—"
"All done!" Ino chimes in before handing Naruto basket filled with the roses he ordered.
Naruto stares at her as if she insulted him and didn't know it. "Next time, let me finish saying thanks."
That made Ino laugh. "Sure, sure, whatever you say! Hahahahaha!"
"I'll see ya, Ino!" Naruto shouts over his shoulder as he goes to exit. After he takes a step out, he pauses making Ino look at him with curiosity. He shakes his head and smiles before walking away making it all the more confusing for the woman behind him.
Once out of sight, Naruto's smile disappears.
Evening comes and we find Naruto planting the roses in his miniature garden at the balcony of his apartment. Once finished, he smiles and looks to the sky. "I'll get through this… somehow."
(TBC)
Tell me what you think? Pretty short once I saw it, but I think it was long in its own right.
Finished on November 3, 2016| Philippines| 23:42 hours