Disclaimer: I most definitely do not own Naruto

AN: I was going to post this on Monday, but after seeing all the excited reviews, I decided to post early.


As Naruto walked into the Korean barbecue, he was quickly flagged down by Kiba. Making his way over to the corner where the gang was sitting, Naruto scanned the crowd of guys. They guys were all sitting on the inside of the booth, leaving the seats on the outside for Naruto and the girls. Inuzuka Kiba was sitting furthest to the left, right on the corner of the table. Opposite him on the other corner leaning his head on the corner of the table was Nara Shikamaru. Despite his lazy appearance, Shikamaru was well aware of everything happening around him. Sitting to his left was his best friend, Akimichi Chouji. The heavy-set young man was diligently watching the kitchen doors, waiting for the groups order to come out. Sitting to Kiba's left was the ever quiet Aburame Shino. Even in the dimly lit restaurant, Shino never removed his dark sunglasses. Next to him was the boisterous Rock Lee once again shouting about 'The Fires of Youth'. The group was rounded out with the addition of someone Naruto had not expected to see. Seated in between Lee and Chouji was the man the blonde considered a brother, Sabaku Gaara.

Nodding sympathetically to the redheaded insomniac, Naruto took a seat on the outside of the table next to Kiba. Shaking hands with the feral looking Inuzuka, Naruto leaned back in his chair and asked, "Is this all the guys?"

Taking a sip of his soda, Kiba nodded. "Neji bailed on us once he heard that I'd invited Lee. Those two still don't get along too well. The only other one I invited was Kankuro, but his sister said there was no way he was going anywhere. Hey, Gaara, what did he do this time?"

Gaara slowly turned his blank stare towards Kiba and spoke in a quiet voice. "He broke Temari's favorite fan."

Both Kiba and Naruto shuddered. They knew how protective Temari was of her fans. The pair was surprised that Kankuro was still among the living, being forced to stay home was getting off easy. Relaxing back into the chairs, Kiba and Naruto as Shikamaru picked his head up off of the corner of the table and turned his attention towards the door. Following his gaze across the restaurant, the two guys watched as the rest of their party walked in. Turning back to Shikamaru, they stared at the lazy brunette in disbelief. Shrugging at their shocked looks, Shikamaru laid his head back against the top of the booth. As the girls walked up to the table, a blue-eyed girl with long blonde hair sat down next to Shikamaru and smacked him on his forehead. "Wake up, lazy. We get here and you're already sleeping," the girl shouted in a shrill voice.

Sighing heavily, Shikamaru opened one eye and looked at the blonde girl. "Troublesome woman. I'm awake Ino, don't worry. Did you see who's joined us tonight?"

Cocking an eyebrow at the brunette's question, Ino scanned the crowd of boys. When her gaze reached the opposite end of the table, the blonde's eye's widened and she let loose a squeal of joy. "Naruto!" she shouted while hugging him. "How are you doing, it's been so long."

Returning the loud girl's hug, Naruto smiled. He was pleased that Ino was excited to see him, he was afraid that his friends would be mad that he hadn't been in contact with them. Getting up from his seat Naruto greeted each of the girls in turn. The next girl to come forward to hug him was his old crush, Sakura. The petite pinkette hugged Naruto warmly. The two had made up shortly before graduation, after realizing that the Uchiha wasn't worth ruining their chances of being friends. Still smiling, Naruto released Sakura and took a look at the girl standing behind her.

No longer the shy blue-haired girl he knew in high school, Hyuuga Hinata had blossomed into a mature young lady. Smiling demurely, Hinata stepped forward and gave Naruto a gentle hug. Naruto had learned during their graduation that Hinata had once had a crush on him during their high school years. Embarrassed by his cluelessness, Naruto had apologized profusely to Hinata. She revealed to him then that her crush had passed, and that she had really been more in love with his spirit and personality than with him himself. Startled by her bold confession, Naruto had laughed off the situation, saying that he was glad that they could still be friends.

The next two greeting passed quickly, with a simple handshake from the bun-haired brunette Tenten, and a friendly punch in the shoulder from Gaara's older sister, Temari. The girls took their seats, the girls placed their drinks orders and waited for the waitress to return. Taking advantage of this brief lull in the conversation, Naruto decided to ask what his friends were up to. Kiba had been going to veterinary school, hoping to work with his older sister once he graduated. Naruto was surprised to hear that Kiba was also dating Sakura. The two had gotten closer after graduation, and had shared many study sessions, since Sakura was studying to be a doctor. The pairs relationship had blossomed from there and they had been dating ever since. Upon learning this little tidbit of information Naruto offered his seat to the pinkette, who immediately refused, citing the fact that she spent most of her time with Kiba already.

Shino had gone to a prestigious college in the area to study Entomology. The young Aburame had explained that he had chosen his major based upon what his father had done when he was younger. Laughing boisterously at the quiet boys decision, Naruto had said that the major fit Shino perfectly. The blonde's good mood slipped for a moment when he realized that Shino was going to the same school as his rival. Seeing Naruto's face, Shino decided to share an amusing bit of information. He shocked the group by revealing the fact that the arrogant Uchiha Sasuke was in danger of being expelled from the school. After hearing about his rival's predicament, Naruto thought that the night couldn't get any better. He was pleasantly surprised, however, by the news that came from Lee. Lee had been training in martial arts for most of his life under the same instructor, Might Guy. After years of training, Lee had finally been appointed as a teacher in his master's dojo. Happy for the realization for his friends dream, Naruto had called for a toast.

After their toast, he asked his best friend what he had been up to. The redhead had shrugged noncommittally, claiming that nothing really incredible had happened. At this, both Temari and Hinata raised an eyebrow. Confused by their reactions, Naruto asked Gaara's sister what was wrong. Temari answered his question with what would be the most shocking news of the evening. Gaara had asked Hinata to go out with him. Dropping the drink in his hand, Naruto stared at the redhead sitting on the inside of the booth. As the waitress brought him a new drink, the blonde wondered how Gaara could act as though getting a girlfriend wasn't noteworthy news. Deciding that he didn't want any more surprises from the couple, the blonde turned his attention to the remaining members of the group.

Chouji had been going to a culinary school, hoping to be able to open his own restaurant one day. In response to his best friends dream, Shikamaru was taking courses in Business Management and Economics. He had hoped to be able to run the business and front of the house operations for his friends restaurant one day. Shikamaru's girlfriend had been working in an office, trying to support her two younger brothers. Temari glared sharply at her boyfriend when he made a comment about her being a 'troublesome woman', threatening him with pain if he said it again. Smiling broadly at his Temari's comment, Shikamaru held up his hands in surrender. Tenten chuckled at the couples antics, and brushed off Naruto's questions by saying that she had been working in her father's store since graduation. The last to speak was Ino, who dove into a detailed account of her work at her family's flower shop. In addition to an account of her work, Ino rattled off the different relationships she'd had since high school. While not many, all of her relationships were brief. Eyeing up the male blonde, Ino finally posed his questions to him. "So Naruto," she began seductively. "What have you been up to? Meet anyone lately?"

Blushing slightly at Ino's tone, Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head before he spoke. "Well, there is this one girl. She's in most of my classes, but she's a little older than me."

Naruto's response had caught the attention of his friends, and they all leaned in to hear the details. Realizing that he had no choice but to tell them, Naruto launched into his story. "I first noticed her in my Studio Art class. When I saw her, I couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. I was so entranced not just by her heart-shaped face, but also her lithe figure and her long raven hair. Those most stunning thing about her though was her eyes. They just looked so sad, beautiful, but sad. I wanted to ask her right then why she was so sad, but I chickened out. I didn't even know her then, but that changed pretty quickly. I began seeing her in almost all of my classes, except for my graphic design course. I know I made it sound like I learned a lot about her, but all I got was her name, Izumi.

"A few weeks later, I finally got a chance to talk to her. Our Studio Art teacher made us pair off for one of our in-class assignments. We both ended up partnerless pretty quick, so the teacher paired us up. She was pretty quiet at first, and I was trying to figure out how to talk to her. She really shocked me though by asking me questions about myself. Every time she asked a question, she waited for me to answer, then she gave me the same information about herself. I was so shocked that she'd even be interested in me that I just kept answering her questions. We found out a lot about each other, except for out last names, every time we got close to that she changed the subject."

Deciding to have fun with her fellow blonde, Ino interrupted. Faking surprise, she asked, "Well, if you don't know her last name, how can you be sure that you're not related?"

At Ino's remark the rest of the group shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Naruto lowered his eyes to the plate on the table in front of him. Without looking up, he responded. "Easy Ino, because I don't have any family."

Realizing her mistake, Ino was quick to apologize. "Naruto, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean that, please forgive me."

Waving off her apology, Naruto sighed. "It's okay, sometimes even I forget that she isn't really my mother. But that's not the point, back to my story. We've got a lot in common, she's as obsessed with dango as I am with ramen. We've both been studying martial arts since we were kids and, we're also both orphans. Her parents died in an accident years ago. She's really amazing, she put her self through business school and then once she graduated she decided she wanted to go to art school. She plan's on opening her own art gallery once she's finished. But guys, we really hit it off. We got so caught up in our conversation that we almost didn't finish our assignment in time. What surprised me more was a couple days later in our Art History class. She walked in and sat down right next to me. I was speechless, I honestly didn't expect her to talk to me again. Our professor assigned us a research project to do in pairs, and when I turned to ask her if she wanted to work together, she was already looking at me. I didn't even have to ask her. This girl is amazing, guys."

Smiling happily for their friend, the group was ecstatic that Naruto was interested in someone again. Wanting to see how far along the blonde's relationship was, Tenten asked, "So how long have you two been dating?"

Blushing scarlet, Naruto stammered out his response. "Uh...well, we...uh...we haven't...well, actually started dating, yet."

"Uzumaki Naruto," Sakura's voice cut in. "Do you mean to say that you've been fawning over this girl for who knows how long, and haven't made a move?"

"Well, it's not that simple Sakura," Naruto replied.

"That's crap and we all know it," Temari remarked. "Are you afraid that she'll say no? Because from what you've told us, she's just as interested in you."

Naruto perked up at this. "You really think so?"

Rolling her eyes, Temari gave the blonde a look that spoke volumes about his naiveté. "Of course, in everything you've told us, she started it all. How did you miss that?"

Slightly offended, Naruto spoke up in his defense. "Well, I'm sorry. I never was particularly observant. I always missed a lot of stuff."

"That's definitely true," Kiba snorted. "You completely missed Hinata's crush on you. Not that you would have done anything anyway."

Glaring at his friend, Naruto huffed in annoyance. "You don't have to rub it in," he muttered.

Shaking her head, Sakura voiced her opinion. "Kiba, you be quiet, you had no idea I was even into you. I practically had to throw myself at you." The group watched as the Inuzuka boy blushed furiously. Turning her attention back to Naruto, Sakura continued. "You should give this girl a call and see if you can't get her to go out to dinner with you. It wouldn't hurt to try."

Nodding vigorously at the pinkette's wisdom, Naruto agreed. "Yeah, you're right, I'll never know until I try. I'll give her a call later and ask her if she'll go out with me tomorrow."

The girls smiled at the blonde's drive, while the guys nodded solemnly, hoping that their friend would come out of this alright. They didn't want to get their hopes up, afraid that this would end in disaster. The conversations turned to other mundane subjects as the food came out. The group of friends dug in, making sure to give Chouji a wide berth.


AN: Hi there, just want to say a special thanks to all the reviewers so far. Thanks very much El Frijolero, WraithReaper, Imperial Mint, ranita4ever, and dementia-notAhumanbeing. Also, you're going to see a fierce rivalry between the two within the next few chapters Imperial Mint. Thanks again for the reviews, and please don't forget I also except flames. See Ya!