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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...
What happened previously...
"Argh!" Ino charged at Naruto.
"Naruto turned to run, but got his long shirt stuck on the bookshelf. Ino slowly advanced onto Naruto, when-
"Come to the dining hall kids!"
Ino glared at Naruto and said, "This isn't over you dobe."
Naruto retorted, "Sure thing, Ino-pig!"
Ino and Naruto continued bickering all the way and Shikamaru only sighed, turned to look at Chouji and said, "That's why blondes are so troublesome. What a drag.
Chapter 4: The Only One to Understand
(This part will be focused around Ino...)
I glared at that blonde bitch. She was lucky that we were sitting across the table from each other. If she was sitting near me...
My tou-san turned to Shikaku-san and said, "So where did you find Naru-chan?"
Even my tou-san was getting trapped in that bitch's spell. She isn't even pretty at all. There she goes chattering away to Shika. That's what I should be doing. Not her. I won't let her. Never. She'll never take my spot.
Shikaku-san said, "I didn't find here. Shikamaru and I went to the playground and we met Yoshino there. After a few minutes of playing in that-what's it called?"
Yoshino didn't even look up, but she said, "Concrete tunnel."
"Thank you Yoshino. As I was saying, Shikamaru was in there for quite a long time and I was going to get him out when suddenly he pops out with Naru-chan."
I didn't want to listen anymore. It made me sick. What right does this Naru-chan have to steal my friends. None. Shikamaru and Chouji are mine. Not anyone elses. They can't replace me. I-I'm a necessary part of this friendship. Without me, what would they do anyway? Sleep, eat, laze around, NO! With me, they didn't do any of that. Wait-what's this about being an orphan?
"Yeah, his parents were killed in the Kyuubi attack."
"Really? Do you know who they were?"
"He's such a shy child. I couldn't tell what he said when he managed to stutter out his family name."
"-It's Uzumaki kaa-san," interjected Shikamaru.
It wasn't fair. Shikamaru never did that for me! Why is he doing this for her? They've only none each other for a few months or so. I've known Shikamaru my whole life! I glared towards Shikamaru, Chouji and the Dobe. They weren't even paying attention. The dobe somehow got Chouji to stop stuffing his face and Shikamaru to sit straight. Ugh!
"He has a lot of sleepovers at our place. He's such a sweet and polite child. He always was ready to help out. I think it's because he has to live on his own."
My parents never let me have any sleepovers. They always said that I wasn't close enough to my friends. Does that mean Shikamaru and the Dobe are that close?
"Hey Ino," said my tou-san, "you should learn from Naru-chan. He could teach you how to all sorts of the chores you refuse to do at home."
I knew that he was kidding, but it hurt. Did he want a daughter who could do household chores well? Was I not good enough.
"I hate you! All of you!" I screamed rushing out the door.
~~~~~~~~Everybody's POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After Ino rushed out, there was total stillness. One could even hear the crickets outside chirping loudly. Then all of a sudden, the dining hall became a flurry of movement. Inoichi tried to rush out, but landed on the floor, pinned by the chair his wife had thrown in her hurry to get up. Yoshino had gotten up and gone over to make Shikaku get up when they were hit by the fork that flew from it's place next to Chouji's kaa-san when she banged the table to make everyone stay still. Shikamaru had crawled under the table and was trying to sleep while Chouji was still eating, but off of his parents' plates.
Everything was a mess. There was no way anyone could catch up to Ino at this state. The adults were either unconscious or to lazy to get up.
Shikamaru said, "Naruto already went after her you know? Blondes are so troublesome."
Naruto ran after Ino as soon as she had left the room. He could hear a commotion behind him that let him know that the adults were otherwise preoccupied. He ran as fast as he could, following the flash of blonde around each tree. He was getting slightly tired from dashing through trees and jumping over logs when he noticed that Ino had stopped moving. He snuck up behind her, but stopped when he heard sniffling.
"Why now? What have I done wrong?" wailed Ino.
Naruto looked pained for a second, like he was remembering something horrible. He lifted his hand up and put it onto Ino's shoulder. She gasped and whriled around to look at him.
"You..." she shrieked, "What more do you want. Isn't it enough that you've taken my spot?"
Naruto looked so surprised at this, but didn't say anything.
Ino sniffled and said heatedly, "Are you going to tell me all the things that are wrong with me. Are you going to? Hmmm?"
Naruto slowly looked up into Ino's eyes and she gasped. There was so much pain in those eyes.
Naruto said softly, "Isn't it enough that you almost ruined the chance I had to have friends?"
"What do you mean? You're the-"
"You're a fool Yamanaka. You take everything for granted."
"No, I-I don't take-"
"What would happen if you never knew your parents? If you had to live in an orphanage since birth? If the people at the orphanage tried to kill you when you were only two years old? What would you do?"
"That would never-"
"That would never happen right?"
Ino nodded.
"You're a fool. It has happened. It's my life. Everyday I wake up, there's someone there to kill me, someone there to make sure I'm hurt, someone to leave me alone. Everyday is a struggle to survive. Me vs the whole world. No one's on your side. What would you do?"
"I would-"
"Would you lash out, make people scared of you. Would you sell yourself to get money for food. Could you survive only living on instant ramen and anything you could find? Could you?"
Ino's face seemed to pale as she watched Naruto slowly tear up.
"Everyday was the same in my entire life. Wake up, protect yourself from people trying to hurt you, find some money, buy food, find a safe place to sleep. Then I met Shikamaru."
Ino's face twisted in a snarl.
"He saved me."
Ino looked shocked, the snarl dropping off of her face.
"He figured out that I was wearing a mask. The bubbly prankster kid. The idiot who wanted to become Hokage. I do want to become Hokage, but I want it so that I can be respected, be listened to, so that I don't have to be afraid anymore. I understand where you're coming from. You're scared of being rejected, but you're not. Shikamaru and Chouji aren't those type of guys. Shikamaru is a lazy bastard... but he's the person I owe the most to and he cares about you deeply."
Ino suddenly flared up, "Cares about me. Hmph, he didn't even come after me! Besides all he did was talked to you the entire time."
Naruto chuckled and said, "Did he?"
"What a drag," lazed out Shikamaru.
"Shika..." murmured Ino.
"Let's go back. Come on!" shouted Naruto.
"Alright. Thank you," said Ino softly.
"For what?"
"For understanding."
They walked off into the sunset, the red haze outlining their comradeship...
"Am I late?" yelled Chouji.
Ino and Naruto looked at each other then burst out laughing. Shikamaru merely sighed and said, "Troublesome blondes."
Chouji stood there clueless, but joined in laughing.
In a clearing not to far away...
"Are you certain of this Weasel?" said a masked shinobi with a single red gleam from underneath his mask.
"Hai! I saw Naruto with the Nara's. Inu, what are we going to do?" answered another masked shinobi with red eyes gleaming out of his mask as well.
"We do what we were ordered to do. Monitor Naruto and make sure nothing harms him."
"So this is what you have become Uzumaki Naruto...someday. Someday you will be a great shinobi," murmured an old man smoking a pipe.
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