Disclaimer: see chapter one

"so who am I going to meet? Another perverted old man?" Sakura asked with a bit of a smile. It would figure that if anyone could weather two and a half years with the super pervert that wrote the icha icha books, and come out with little to no corruption, it would have to be 'konoha's number one hyperactive, knucklehead ninja', always surprising everyone, that was the naruto she knew, and she wouldn't give that up for anything. A few years ago, she even had an argument with her parents about him, but since then, she has truly grown to appreciate what he has done for her.

Flashback:

"That's it, I am going to the hokage and demand that thing be taken away from my daughter, I objected to her having to sit in the same room with it, but the academy is one thing, I will not allow that beast to be on the same team as my little baby!"

Sakura heard the voices raising in volume, and came out of her bedroom. "mom, dad, what are you yelling about?" Her father pacing around the living room was never a good sign, but her mother just sitting on the couch clutching a pillow, not that had her worried. She had just gotten back from wave with kakashi sensei, sasuke and naruto last night, and was taking the time today to sort out her travel bag, and restock it with clothes and other necessities when she had heard her father start.

Her father spun around, his face a picture of fury, but upon spying sakura, his face melted into one of an upset parent. "sakura, sit." The command was followed without thought, the tone of voice used promised many unpleasant thing otherwise. "why was I only informed of your… teammate… when I inquired at the hokage tower, as to whether you were on a mission or not, and when to expect you back?"

Hoo boy, of all the topics for him to drop. Naruto was about the only subject that her father refused to have anything to do with, and sakura had been told in no uncertain terms that any questions as to why she was told to stay away from him, would not only go unanswered, but there was a punishment as well, and the more she asked, the harsher the punishment. Now, she was being asked why she hadn't told him about her team? Logic apparently was on vacation today, and she wouldn't have it. "dad, mom, I love you both, but who my teammates are is not really any of your business, and dad, I specifically remember being told I was to 'never' mention him to you. You ask why I never said anything?"

Her blood boiling, she stood, and started to her room, before she heard her father's sputtering. Quickly tossing all her supplies into her bag, she opened her window, and hopped out. She needed to finish sorting and loading her pack, but with her parents as worked up as they were, she couldn't do that here. Silently apologizing for leaving without a word, she hopped up to the roofs, and headed towards the yamanaka flower shop.

End flashback

'at the time, I didn't think he was bad, just annoying, always asking me on a date, and thanks to my father, I had to brush him off. I wonder if things would have been different if my parents hadn't hated him so much?' sakura was sinking deeper into thought, but her head snapped around at naruto's answer.

"I actually wanted you to meet my twin sister, Sena. I told her about everyone while we journeyed, it was lonely travelling with pervy sage, so I would talk with her instead."

Sakura blinked as her brain slowly caught up with the information that she would have sworn was driving a very large vehicle when it hit her. "sister! Why didn't you tell me earlier?" the outburst came almost as a reflex, as did the arm raising.

"sakura, you promised!" the yelp from naruto snapped her back into reality, and she blinked as she looked around, before a deep blush spread across her cheeks. "you're right naruto, sorry, it's a reflex."

About that time, a familiar golden head popped out of a door nearby. "hey forehead! Stop yelling in front of my families shop, you'll scare away our… oh hey naruto, welcome back." Ino belatedly realized that they weren't the only ones there. "what's up guys?"

Naruto chuckled at the usual antics, and spoke. "hey ino, we were just going to get lunch, wanna join?"

He almost didn't get to finish his sentence before ino was gone, a muffled thud and a few clangs later, and ino was back, the closed sign in the window, and with a final click, she turned back. "I have been looking for a reason to get out of there, dad stuck me with cleanup as well as minding the shop. So, where are we going?"

"I thought maybe we could hit that little place just a few blocks away, the one choji always used to get me to try. I'd have suggested ichiraku's, but I know most of my present company doesn't really care for it…" Naruto trailed off as ino just stared. "what? Do I have something on my face?"

"you know, I think we got ourselves an imposter here." Ino smiled mischievously and placed her hands on her hips. "ok, who are you, and what did you do with our lovable idiot?"

Naruto grabbed his chest, as though he'd been shot. "ouch, ino-chan…. That wasn't very nice." He whined her name like a whipped puppy, and cringed inward. Reflexively, ino reached out to comfort him, but stopped mid motion. If she hadn't seen the smirk on his face, she would have totally bought the act, as it was, the flush suffusing her cheeks, and the laughter surrounding her bore testament to how close she really had been.

"I haven't seen you pull that face since the academy." Sakura giggled, holding her stomach. "don't worry about it ino, I almost fell for it the first time he hit me with it too." She wiped at her eyes, and straightened.

Ino had finally gathered her composure, and with all her dignity and maturity, she stood tall, looked naruto straight in the eye, and… stuck her tongue out at him. This of course sent everyone into fits of giggles and chuckles, while she motioned for naruto to lead on, as she felt some of the stress of the day seeping away.