Chapter 2
The heat from the sky blazes the grounds, creating a very hot, yet moist situation for our blonde shinobi. "It's so hot..." Naruto complains, sliding his shoulders to the side, his back slumped forward and his feet walking mechanical-like. He's walking up one of the many slopes in Konoha. The slopes in Konoha have some history behind them. Some of the slopes were actually created from all the fighting and destruction that occurred a long time ago. Anyways, back to the story. Naruto didn't get any sleep that night after the event with Ino. He felt so anxious after what she said, after the mentioning of a meeting that sleeping became an impossible task. He thought that maybe walking around the town would do the trick, nudge off the tiredness in his eyes, but it did the exact opposite. It calmed him down, but he wishes that he went to sleep after all.
He remembers that blush on her face. She looks cute when she's angry, it almost brings a smile on Naruto's face. The only thing he could hope for is that it's not a confession. He's not good with confessions, and that's why he constantly tries to leave it alone. The confession usually hangs dry, despite it hurting the feelings of his friends. That's the last thing he wanted, to hurt people's feelings. He's a pervert, there's no denying that, but Naruto never learnt to love and that's why no matter how experience he is or familiar with the female body. His dating skills, or being a boyfriend is zero.
Naruto looks at the bright sun above him, holding his hand to create a shade beneath his eyes, "Ino Yamanaka..." Naruto said softly, turning his attention to the Sakura tree's. He didn't realize his robot feet decided to take a break, he's not complaining. The area around here is nice and the wind is finally kicking up to gear. The Sakura leaves falling on the ground in rhythmic fashion reminded him of the festival coming soon. He could hear the chatter from the townsfolk that are casually tending to their business and according to them. The festival is being looked over by a new person and everyone's excited how he or she will perform.
Naruto felt bad leaving the girls to tend to questions, constantly wondering whether Naruto felt the same or not. He's not like Sasuke who can cool reject girls without really hurting their feelings, so Naruto decided he'll try now. If Ino does happen to confess, he'll say yes and try it at the festival. He couldn't help but chuckle, the soft laughter escaping his lips as he tries to cover it. It's not that Ino's a bad looking girl, in all actuality, if Naruto were seen with Ino it would look like it was Naruto who begged. He just found it weird that in the end of the day he would be thinking of Ino in this type of manner.
He thought about it, how Ino and him aren't too different. Ino's not a lot different from Sakura and Naruto can't help but still have feelings for her. This would also be a good thing since Sasuke and Sakura are hitting it off ever since Sasuke returned. It was looking good for the both of them. He nods his head, determination in his eyes. He's going to take this serious, perhaps maybe at the end of this tunnel, only good things can happen. He's also doing this for Inoichi. He should make sure Ino finds someone suitable and if it has to be him, then he wouldn't mind.
The Sakura petals begin to fall, touching the dirt road and staining it's beautiful pink color. It was graceful, yet kind of sad. He didn't know why, but he just figured it was. He looks the other away, ashamed his attention could easily be thrust down the corner. "Alright!" Naruto said, "I will become the best boyfriend Ino ever had. I owe it to her!"
Then, out of nowhere, a soft wind touches his shoulder and Naruto felt chills running on his spine. He didn't know someone could have such gentle hands. He then looks back to see a girl that looked beyond beautiful. The flowing black hair guiding in the wind, the Sakura petals couldn't even match it. Loving, caring eyes of a mother and that crazy smile...that gorgeous crazy smile.
The slight blush on her face, the way she postures up and her great womanly figure. It was like an angel had fallen from the sky. Naruto looks at his old friend, unsure if he should be happy to see her, or trying to hide. He knows that his heart is beating really fast.
"Hinata..." he whispers, absolutely frozen, "What are you doing here?"
Hinata looks worried about something. Her expression is rather bitter, but not mad, almost accepting something. She looks at Naruto for a solid minute, hiding whatever that thing was behind her back. She then smiles, almost like she was hiding her feelings. If it was really anything, Naruto didn't have a clue. He bought her smile and sighs in relief. She giggles, and responds in and ordinary fashion, "I was trying to scout the area for placements of booths. The vendor's have been knocking at my front door for the past week and it's driving me nuts!" she sticks her tongue out with a playful wink, "That's when I heard a confession from none other than the most surprising ninja himself."
Naruto had completely forgotten the whole confession after that long pause from Hinata. He almost thought he was in trouble for something, "Eh?" he asked, until the memory registers in his head and he looks disappointingly at the ground for saying something so stupid. He then looks directly at Hinata, slapping his hands together as if he was praying, "Oh no! I wasn't confessing...I..." he sighs in defeat. He doesn't know if he should beg for her not to tell anyone or to tell her the whole truth. His mind's blank and he can't think of anything.
The long silence spreads between them once more. Naruto opens his eyes slowly, expecting a lecture about the birds and the bee's considering how motherly Hinata looks. It would almost be natural for her to say something like that. It wasn't like that all though and Hinata actually breaks the silence by changing the whole subject. Naruto sighs again, glad Hinata's not like one of those girls who would bring a whole detective case on this subject.
The sound of carts coming along this area as two by fours and construction men begin feeling the place up. "Anyway, we're about to close this place up so we can start creating the booths. Do you want to go to the tea house and chat for a bit?" Hinata asked, but she didn't wait for an answer. She grabs Naruto's hand and leads him away from the area so the constructions workers can begin to feel this place up. Naruto looks at the time of the day by watching the sun rotate, according to that, he has a good hour to chat with Hinata until he has to meet Ino. He just hopes she's paying because Naruto's broke right now.
It didn't take long to arrive at the tea house. Naruto never noticed it before, that being said. The place is really small. When they went inside the surroundings was completely too dark for Naruto's taste and the designs are kept strictly traditional Japanese. There's not a lot of people hanging around about, but considering the size of this place. It's easily half packed. The people have this book-worm look, almost like their the type who would read constantly. They're all really attractive people though, and Naruto could only wonder why he's only noticing them now.
There's an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach and he felt like retreating, but when he noticed where he's at and who has him close. He felt better. The mere sight of Hinata could calm his nerves no matter how weird or awkward it gets.
They find a seat sitting near one of the only windows this place has. Hinata sits naturally near the window and Naruto followed suit, on the opposite side. The waitress comes over and takes their orders and leaves the two by themselves. The ice had already broken between the two and they hit it off like old times. They talked about what they've been up to and their feelings. Naruto explains the situation with Ino and every second during the explanation it looks like he's stabbing Hinata with a knife.
Naruto doesn't notice it and continues on, but Hinata cuts him off, revealing something surprising, "Hey Naruto, you want to know what I was doing at the construction site?" she said, teasing him with this information. Naruto nods his head like a puppy dog and Hinata reveals the news, "I'm the new head of the Hyuuga clan!" she says happily.
Naruto's jaws drops an inch, "H-head of the household!?" he looks around and the people irritatingly trying to keep their comments to themselves clench on their book tighter. Naruto silently apologizes and turns his attention back to Hinata, "No way." he whispers, Hinata smiling a little a bit, "Yea, My father decided it's best to teach me things now when everything's peaceful. I guess the death of Neji really brought a new perspective to his life." It's still a painful subject to discuss, but it's slowly becoming an accepting fact that Neji's dead. There's a slight silence for Neji and the two continue on.
Hinata explains everything about her new job. The things she had to do were amazing and Naruto was interested throughout the whole speech. She has new adventures and only more exciting things will come her way. Naruto felt happy and proud he had such a friend. It's almost nearing the point where Naruto has to go.
"Hinata." Naruto said, looking at the time. He didn't want this meeting to end since he's not sure when he's going to get another chance like this. Hinata's going to busy throughout the whole year and a lot of things could happen until they meet again, "I have to go..." sadly he promised Ino that he'll meet her. Hinata looks surprisingly at Naruto, but eventually nods her head. She pays for the meal as promise and the two exit out of the unknown tea house, maybe one day to meet here once again.
The sun is slowly setting, but not fully. Naruto doesn't have a lot of time so he says his farewells, but before he could leave. He feels a that gentle wind once more and Hinata stops him by grabbing his shirt. There's a slow silent pause, Naruto staring intently at her while she's hiding her face beneath the shadows of her hair, "I want you to know..." Hinata finally said, "I...I'll be waiting for you. If it doesn't work...I'll be waiting for you..."
Naruto swallows hard, "What do you mean?" He asks, but Hinata lets him go and with a smile, runs back to her clan house. Naruto just stood there, watching her retreat back and felt lonely for some odd reason. "Goodbye...Hinata..." he said, feeling he's missing out on something.
It took Naruto a while, but he eventually got over the Hinata scene. He managed to meet at the place he promised Ino and the sight is beautiful, actually, calling it beautiful is an understatement. The place was absolutely marvelous. It's god's work at best and Naruto could see Ino sitting on a bench near by the swaying tree's. She's looking at the sun, making it's way to set for the moon. It's like looking at a painting, all the colors mixing beautifully together. Two lovers point is too small to be called a mountain, but too big to be called a hill.
Naruto walks slowly, tiptoeing his way to the unsuspecting Ino. Her hair is drifting along the ocean breeze since Two lover's point is a cliff and below it is the roaring sound of waves. He grins, trying to mask his laughter. He's almost surprised that Ino didn't notice him, but then that's when he could see why. The sound of her crying, whimpering like a little girl. The tears sliding down her face. Is this what Naruto's been doing to the girls who admitted their love for him? Naruto couldn't scare her, he couldn't bring himself up to it. Instead, the shinobi touches Ino's shoulder, almost playfully shoving her to the side, "Enjoying the view?" he asked with a smile and Ino surprisingly looks at him, wiping her tears.
She desperately tries to cover her weak side and Naruto also helps by pretending he didn't see a thing. It was an awkward moment, but Naruto thought it was cute. She then glares at him, returning to her dominating female version that Naruto's familiar with, "What the hell took you so long!?" she sniffed, pointing at him threateningly. She stood up, still pointing and moving closer and closer to Naruto until she's pointing right at the tip of his nose.
"You made me wait!? For what?!" she yells, and Naruto could feel his balance shifting sides. He didn't do anything though, he found it cute that he was being scolded for arriving at a meeting. It felt nice having someone waiting for him, even though it's on top of a cold cliff and not in a warm home. "Yea, yea...I'm sorry..." Naruto says, sitting on the bench while dodging Ino's sharp and painful stare. "I was actually helping an old lady cross the street, get off my back." He lies, but Ino doesn't push into this subject. It looks like she wants to get straight to business as well.
Ino sat right beside him, if you were looking from behind them and had no idea what their up to. You could guess they're a couple who haven't seen each other for a long time. Ino closes her eyes firmly, her back straight and Naruto's casually sitting on the bench like he's at home. "So...you know that thing I asked you?" she said, still closing her eyes firmly, "I need it to be done immediately and! Like you said...you can't say no. There's no way out of this Uzumaki Naruto!"
Naruto almost felt frightened hearing this, but he keeps his promises so he nods his head and plays along. Naruto couldn't help but feel the tension growing and it's spreading like a wildfire. Ino's blushing and Naruto thought that maybe he wasn't so far off when he thought this was a confession. He didn't want to be that guy, so he prepared himself to automatically say yes.
If it's a date, then it'll be no problem. If it's a boyfriend, then he would give it a shot. He just has to say yes so there wouldn't be no one like...he couldn't finish. The image of the retreating girl back at the tea house appears in his mind and his heart cringes. Ino grabs his face, noticing he's beginning to think things through. She turns all his attention to her until they're staring right at each other. Naruto could see her beautiful blue eyes, the same color as the roaring tides below and it's mesmerizing.
Ino then satisfyingly nods her head, convince she has drawn his attention. She then opens her lips to display her request.
"I need you to be my husband for a year..."
"YES!" Naruto screams out, not thinking of what the question was. There's a long silence between the two and Ino's stunned Naruto's so ready for this. She thought she would have had to explain herself to him, but if it's really this easy to have a husband...the thought just brings blood rushing to her head and she nearly faints.
Naruto's still having the blood register into his brain. He looks at Ino who's having a hard time understanding this and he could tell she's about surprised as he is with his answer. The only thing that's roaming in his head right now is...
What's going to happen next!
A/N: Strong start, weak middle and ending. It's hard switching girls, but I promise I'll do better next time. I know I really went full out with the Hinata/Naruto scene, but the reason why I did this is because Hinata will not be mention at all anymore. As for Sakura, she's going to play a big part in the next part of the series in this book. It will only be two books written, so this one's only going to be about Ino. I hoped you like it and the next chapter will explain why Ino wants Naruto to be her husband. If you have any questions or you liked this, then please review.
