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{ impressions }
Ino skipped down the sidewalk, her sticky hand tight in her father's grasp, and hummed happily to herself.
Last night, Inoichi Yamanaka returned from a month-long mission and his first order of business, other than sleeping in his own bed, was to get reacquainted with his young daughter. So when morning came, he surprised Ino with a trip into the village shopping district. He let her lead him wherever she wanted to go, buying enough shoes and dresses and little baubles to fill several bags. After that, Inoichi treated his little girl to some ice cream, smiling to himself when she insisted upon an extra napkin so it wouldn't drip onto her clothes. And despite it not being what he'd personally consider a fun time, it had been a good day so far.
"Look, Daddy!" Ino exclaimed. "There's the playground! Can we go? Please, please,please? Mama never has time to take me."
"Alright, alright. We'll go," he conceded. As quickly as the words left his mouth, she ran. With a chuckle, Inoichi sat down on a nearby bench, which was already occupied. "So, Chouza, out with your boy?"
"Yeah," his big-boned teammate replied. "Chouji wanted barbeque. Your girl?"
"Shoes and dresses."
Chouza grinned. "Sounds about right."
"Daddy!" Ino huffed as she ran up to him, a beaming smile on her face. "Here, hold my flower while I play."
"Now, where'd you get that?"
"From my new friend, Chouji!" She turned and waved proudly at the boy. "See, Daddy, there he is. He's super nice. He even lets me boss him around, unlike that stupid Shikamaru." Ino stuck her tongue out in playful disgust, then ran off again before Inoichi could so much as make a comment.
Next to him, Chouza burst out in laughter. "She's getting attention from boys already. I do not envy you."
"It's your boy." Inoichi pointed out grumpily. "And don't think his age or our friendship is going to protect him if he hurts my little girl."
"Oh, don't be so dramatic. They're only five."
Inoichi sighed as he watched the two children play. "Yeah, but they won't always be."
