A/N: Alright, so here goes chapter 7. Thanks so much for those reviews and for reading. Here we go.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Temari watched over her sleeping friend from the comfort of her armchair. Ino had been knocked out like a light. The sandy-blonde haired female knew that she had more questions from her. There was simply more to the story and she had to know the details. She looked at her phone. It did not ring so Naruto had yet to receive her message. She knew he would have called by now if he had checked his voicemail.

"He would have been over here in a minute if he knew Ino needed him." She firmly believed this.

To be honest Temari was very concerned as well. She didn't want to see Ino in the way she was right now. The teal-eyed woman noticed Ino move slightly. She went to get a blanket and placed it over the platinum-blonde.

"We definitely need to talk when you get up Ino."

Temari sat back down and decided to wait for Naruto's call or for him to show up. Either way someone was going to tell her what was going on. There had to be a reason for Ino's change of behavior.

"Maybe I can get Naruto to tell me what happened."

She had a feeling Ino would probably be out for awhile and unable to answer any questions. Naruto would be her only way of getting any kind of answer. If anyone had to know the whole story it was Naruto.

"He'll tell me what's going on. I'll just have to wait."

Meanwhile Naruto had yet to check his phone. He usually kept it on vibrate but for some reason today it was completely off. He had no idea of the message on his voicemail. He was currently putting some boxes away when a voice distracted him.

"You're working hard I see."

"Hm," He turned around to see someone he hadn't seen in a very long time. "Sakura-chan, is that you?" He gave a warm smile.

The pink-haired woman named Sakura returned his smile. She was the last person he was expecting to see today. She was often very busy at the hospital where she worked.

"Hello Naruto."

He put the box down and went to hug the green-eyed woman. She wasted no time in hugging him back.

"It's been awhile, huh Naruto?"

"Yeah it has. How have you been Sakura-chan?"

"I've been okay, busy like usual. It's so good to see you Naruto."

He released her from the hug.

"Yeah, it's good to see you too Sakura-chan. Hey, I actually get off work in a few minutes. If you don't mind waiting for me we could go somewhere and talk."

"Sure that sounds fine. I'll wait." She decided.

Naruto found himself in a hurry to finish moving the boxes. Not only did he want to leave work anyway but it would be nice to catch up with Sakura for awhile. He hadn't seen her in such a long time. It was all the motivation he needed to finish up what he was doing. Once he was officially off the clock he and the pink-haired woman went to a nearby restaurant.

"I hope you don't mind but I'm starving." She spoke in an amused tone.

"It's okay Sakura-chan. You work so hard at the hospital you probably don't get much time to eat.

Sakura nodded. She had been pulling extra shifts at the hospital and working extremely hard. She did often miss a mean here and there.

"Yeah it can be really intense." She took a bite of her salad. "Aren't you going to order anything? I hate eating alone."

"I guess I could. I had ramen for lunch though."

Sakura chuckled.

"I swear you and that ramen."

"Yeah its one of the main things I could never resist."

Naruto ended up ordering some pork dumplings. Sakura was glad that she had some free time to catch up with him.

"I'm glad that I had some time to catch up with you today."

"Yeah," Naruto agreed. "Hey did you know Tenten-chan came back from China?"

"She's back, really? I had no idea. Is she still with Lee?"

"Yeah they're still going strong." Naruto answered.

"We should try to get everyone together. I don't know maybe have a party or something."

"That sounds like a plan." He smiled.

Having a party with the old gang might be good for a lot of reasons. Not only would it give everyone a chance to see one another, he was hoping that it might cheer Ino up a great deal if she were around their friends.

"Naruto if you don't mind my asking how is Ino doing lately?"

Sakura may have not been able to be around as much, but she had heard about the platinum-blonde's recent disturbing behavior.

"Is she…."

"She's still the same." Naruto answered. "She hasn't been the old Ino we used to know."

"Naruto I…"

"I should probably check on her."

He then went to reach for his phone.

"Hold on Sakura-chan. I just need to make a quick phone call."

"Sure." She nodded.

As he turned on his phone he saw that he already had a voicemail message. He blinked curiously but listened to it.

"Hello Naruto its Temari. I know it's been awhile."

"Temari-chan," He immediately thought.

Why on earth would she be calling him? It wasn't as if he wasn't glad to hear from one of his friends. He just found it most odd that she would call him in such an out of the blue way.

"It's Ino she needs you."

He had definitely heard that last part. Sakura immediately noticed the look of worry on the young man's face.

"Naruto, what's wrong?"

"I'm not sure." He then dialed Temari's number. He needed to know just what was going on with the platinum-blonde. He was sure that he had left her at home. What had happened in those hours?

"Hello," The sandy-blonde female answered.

"Temari-chan I just got your message. What happened?"

"Oh," She paused. "Hello Naruto, listen I don't want to get into the details over the phone like this. Come over to my place as soon as you can. You remember how to get here right?"

"Yeah, I do." He nodded.

"Good. Ino is with me. Hurry if you can."

"Alright I'll be right there. Bye Temari-chan."

He hated to leave Sakura in the middle of this like this, but he needed to know what was happening. Ino needed him and he had to be there for her. He needed to be there for the woman he loved so much. He simply didn't know how not to. Naruto looked up to meet Sakura's concerned gaze.

"I…." Naruto started.

"Is it Ino?" She quickly asked.

"Y-Yeah, I have to go Sakura-chan. I'm sorry; hey we should really consider that party though. I'll call you."

"Okay Naruto. Bye." She whispered almost awkwardly.

"Bye Sakura-chan." He gave her a smile. "I'm sorry." He repeated again.

The young man quickly took out some money to pay for the dumplings he had ordered. The next thing she knew he was heading out of the restaurant. Sakura sighed and turned her attention elsewhere.

"Bye Naruto." She whispered to no one.

Temari continued to watch over Ino. She was also making some tea for her and Naruto to have when he arrived. She knew for sure that he was going to waste little time in getting here.

"Naruto," Ino ended up whispering in her sleep.

"Yeah, he'll be here. Don't worry."

The teal-eyed woman wanted to talk to him when he got there. She figured that they could have some tea during the conversation. She had a feeling that Ino was still going to be out cold for awhile.

"Why?" The platinum-blonde mumbled in her sleep. "Why did you leave me?"

Temari blinked in confusion as she wondered what Ino had been dreaming about. It definitely couldn't have been about Naruto. That boy had never once abandoned her in his life. He had always been in her corner and probably always would be.

"Ino," She wondered.

She dared not to wake her up now. Just as she was going to sit back down there was a knock at her front door.

"Damn, that was pretty fast."

She opened the door to see the spiky-headed blond. Temari gave him a half smile.

"Hello Naruto."

"Hi Temari-chan. I came as soon as I could. What's wrong?"

"Did you run over here? I didn't mean for you to actually hurry you know."

"Yeah I know, but I wanted to get here as soon as possible."

"Come on in alright."

Naruto entered the apartment. His eyes immediately landed on to Ino. She was clearly knocked out on the couch. She looked like she hadn't moved in awhile. He walked over to the sleeping blonde. He stared down at the woman he loved so much.

"Temari-chan what happened to her? Was she drinking again?" He asked knowingly.

Temari blinked.

"What do you mean again?" She spoke. "You mean to say that she drinks like this often?"

Naruto turned his attention on to the sandy-blonde haired female.

"There is a lot that you don't know about Temari-chan."

"You're right," She agreed. "Come on, she's going to be out for awhile. Let's go into the kitchen and talk ok."

Naruto followed behind the older woman as she led the way into the kitchen. She immediately poured some tea for the both of them.

"Naruto I want to know what's going on. What happened to her? She would never drink like this."

"I know, maybe the old Ino wouldn't have but things have changed these last few months."

Temari was more than a little curious to say the least. Ino happened to be a very good friend of hers. She never had too many friends growing up so she cherished the friendships she was able to make when she was older. If there was something wrong with one of her friends then she wanted to know about it.

"What happened?" The teal-eyed woman questioned.

"Well you know how Ino-chan has always had bad relationships for as long as we've known her?"

"Sure. I know that she's had some pretty nasty break-ups."

"Yeah," Naruto nodded. "But I guess this last one was too much for her. I think it really sent her over the edge. She's been drinking heavily, and making completely bad choices in life. Ino-chan has changed. She isn't the same person we used to know."

Temari folded her arms and frowned. Naruto looked up when she didn't say anything.

"Um say something Temari-chan."

"You want me to say something, okay." She nodded. "You've got to be fucking kidding me Naruto. This recent behavior is all because of her break-up with…."

"No." Naruto interrupted. 'Don't say that bastard's name. It's his entire fault that Ino-chan is like this in the first place."

Naruto didn't even want to hear that assholes name let alone have to talk about him.

"Fine we won't talk about him. I still don't believe that this is all because of a break-up. She's stronger than that Naruto."

"I think she really loved him that's why. She probably still does." He spoke in a highly disappointed tone which did not go unnoticed by the older woman.

"I'm sorry. I know how you feel about her."

Naruto took a drink of the tea. He wouldn't deny those feelings. He couldn't anyway everyone already knew how he felt. So there was no point in denying it.

"It's okay."

"So her father kicked her out of her place?"

"Yeah he did. She didn't have anywhere else to go. I couldn't let her stay out on the streets so I told her to stay with me."

"It's good that she has somewhere to stay. She'll be okay with you so close by. So I don't have to worry now do I?" She already knew the answer to that question. Of course she was safe in his care.

"I'll take care of her."

It was silent for a few moments as she sipped her tea. Once she finished she looked over to the whisker-faced male.

"She asked for you, you know."

Naruto looked up upon hearing this bit of news.

"She did?"

"Yes." Temari nodded. "I called you because she said that she needed you. And any fool could see that it's true. She does clearly need you Naruto."

"She has me Temari-chan. I'm not going anywhere."

"I know. I know you're good for her. If only she could see that right?"

"I don't think that Ino-chan wants to get into another relationship."

"It won't be just another relationship if it's with you Naruto. You're not just some guy. You really love her and I know that you would never hurt her."

"She won't give it a chance. She claims that she's far too broken."

"That is bullshit." Temari said simply. "Time will heal her heart and she'll eventually move on. I'm not accepting this break-up as an excuse for her to trash her life."

Naruto agreed with the sandy-blonde female. He didn't approve of the way she chose to handle her break-up. But everyone handled pain in different ways. Unfortunately Ino had chosen to handle it in a very negative way.

"We'll just have to stop her before something worse happens." Naruto said.

"Are you talking about having some sort of intervention?"

"Sure, maybe."

"That might not be a bad idea." Temari agreed. "She just might need it."

Naruto went to say something but a voice coming from the living room caught both his and Temari's attention.

"Temari-chan," Ino mumbled.

Both blonds quickly entered the living room to see Ino awake on the couch.

"Ino you're up."

Naruto bent down to look at Ino. He gently put a hand to her head and gave her a smile.

"Hey,"

"N-Naruto,"

She wasn't sure if she was dreaming or not. Was her spiky-haired hero really right here before her?

"Yeah, I heard you were asking for me. Are you okay now Ino-chan?"

She slowly sat up and hugged the blond male.

"Naruto I'm sorry."

He knew that she was apologizing for going drinking. What else would she possibly have to be sorry for? He gently rubbed her back.

"Why did you have so much to drink?"

"It was because of the things my father said to me." She admitted. "I needed a drink. Naruto please don't be mad."

He released her from the hug and pushed her bang out of her face. He just gave her a warm smile.

"I'm not mad Ino-chan. I'm glad that you're okay now. Are you sure that you're okay?"

Ino nodded then Naruto sat on the couch besides her.

"Temari-chan," Ino started. "I just wanted to say thank you."

"Sure," Temari nodded. 'Ino you're going to be okay now aren't you?"

She reached for Naruto's hand and ended up giving it a slight squeeze.

"Naruto is here now. He'll make sure that I get home okay. But thank you Temari-chan for what you did for me earlier. I'll be okay."

She stood up with Naruto standing alongside her. He put his hand to her shoulder.

'Can we go home now?" She asked him.

He loved the sound of that, the fact that they would be going home together. He looked over to Temari as if somehow waiting for the older woman's approval. Temari on the other hand did want to confront Ino on what she had learned about the situation. But found that perhaps now wasn't the right time.

"Don't let me stop you. Naruto I'm sure you can handle things from here."

"Yeah," He nodded. "We can go home. Bye Temari-chan, thank you."

"Bye you guys. Hopefully I will see you both soon."

She walked the two of them to the door and they left her apartment together. A sigh escaped the older sandy-blonde haired female.

"Take care of her Naruto."

The entire walk home Naruto noticed that Ino had yet to let his hand go. He didn't say anything but it made him feel good. To any stranger the two of them looked as if they were a couple right now. Oh, how he wished she really was his girlfriend. They walked in silence, neither of them not really having much to say at this moment. Naruto wanted to wait until they were home before striking up a conversation.

"This is nice." He thought. "I like walking besides her and holding her hand like this."

Ino only ended up gripping his hand tighter within hers. This action caused the young man to look over at her. Maybe there was something else bothering her.

"Ino-chan, what's wrong?"

"There isn't anything wrong." She answered. "I'm sorry. I didn't hurt your hand did I?"

He chuckled lightly. There was no possible way her smaller hand could harm his larger one. Her grip simply wasn't that strong.

"No I'm fine. You just seemed like something had been bothering you."

"I…." She started. "No I'm fine."

"Okay." He let it go. She might eventually tell him if something had been wrong. He wasn't going to push her.

They soon arrived back home. A yawn escaped the platinum-blonde. She had still been feeling a little tired. She started to lead the way back to the bedroom.

"Come on lets go lay down."

"Um, sure." He agreed.

She sat down first with Naruto sitting besides her. To his surprise she took his hand and wrapped it around her as they sat together.

"Hey Ino-chan,"

"I want to sit like this with you Naruto. Is it okay?"

"Yeah it's fine."

The simple truth was that he did not want to say no to her. He enjoyed the feeling of being close to her like this. Ino leaned her head against his chest.

"How was work today?" She decided to ask him.

"It was fine. Oh, yeah guess who I saw today."

"Who did you see?"

"You won't believe it but I saw Sakura-chan today. She stopped by."

"Oh," Ino spoke. "Did you really?"

He wasn't completely sure but it did not seem like Ino was too interested in that detail. Sakura had been one of their closest friends. Why wouldn't she care at all that he had seen her?

"That's nice. How is old forehead doing?"

He smiled a little as she used her nickname for the pink-haired woman. So maybe she did care somewhat after all.

"She looks good, a little tired but she's busy at the hospital so that's to be expected."

"I'm glad that she's doing okay then. She was always a bit of a work-a-holic."

"That's true." Naruto agreed with her.

Sakura had always been serious about school and her job at the hospital. He really respected that quality in the pink-haired female.

"Well at least if anyone ever got hurt we could say that we know her. She'd take care of us."

It was definitely good to have a friend that worked in a hospital that was for sure.

"Hey Ino-chan,"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"What did your father say to you to make you go out drinking?" He wanted to know.

He was curious to know what happened. He needed to try harder to get her to stop turning to alcohol.

"It's not important Naruto."

"Yeah it is. I want to know."

She folded her arms across her chest and closed her eyes. She moved away from him slightly. Naruto put his hands to her shoulders.

"Ino-chan, please tell me."

"He was just saying things that were true."

"What things? What did he say?"

She turned her face away from his and he turned her back towards him. His cerulean-blue pools were staring into her blank aqua-colored orbs.

"Ino-chan!"

"He… He told me that I shouldn't stay here too long before I end up bringing you down. He was right, the last thing I ever want to do is destroy your life Naruto."

She could feel tears starting to formulate in her eyes. Naruto frowned and shook his head.

"Don't say things like that."

"It's true though. Naruto he was right."

"You're father is not right." He forcefully hugged the platinum-blonde. She remained still in his embrace.

"Ino-chan you won't bring me down. So don't ever let me hear you say that again."

He slowly pulled her away from him. He wiped the tears out of her eyes.

"Please don't cry Ino-chan."

"Naruto I…."

"Ino,"

She pressed her lips to his and pulled him into a soft kiss. Naruto did not hesitate to kiss her back. She placed her arms around his shoulders. The two blonds were so involved in their kiss they weren't paying attention to anything else. The next thing Naruto knew he was flat on his back with Ino lying on top of him.

"Ino-chan," He moaned into her mouth.

He placed his arms around her waist as he held her in place on top of him. He had no intention of stopping as he attacked her mouth with hot, passion-filled kisses. Ino soon broke the kiss for some much needed air. She stared down at the blond male.

"Naruto," She whispered his name.

"Ino-chan," He called back to her.

He put his hand to her cheek. He stared up into her eyes. They appeared just as empty as he remembered. Naruto still found himself searching for the light, the radiance that once shown threw those beautiful eyes.

"That light is gone isn't it Ino-chan."

"Naruto I…" She leaned down to kiss him again.

The blue-eyed male felt her slip her tongue into his mouth. His hands were placed firmly on to her waist. A part of him couldn't believe that this was happening. He decided to go along with it. Besides he wanted her too much to want any of it to end. Ino began pulling at his t-shirt in an attempt to take it off. She ended the kiss again and turned her attention to the shirt he had on. She was eager to get it off of him. She pulled it over his shoulders and put it to the side. Ino then placed an arm around his neck and began to attack his neck with kisses. The platinum-blonde wanted to show him how appreciative she was for every single thing he had done for her. He moaned out her name at the feel of her soft lips to his skin. Naruto was sure he would soon be sporting a hickie if she kept this up. He didn't care if she left a mark there. Her kisses felt too good.

"Ino…" He whispered her name.

Ino pulled herself away from his neck and was about to take hold of his lips again when there was a knock at the door.

"Damn," Naruto sighed.

"No." She started. "Don't answer it we are busy."

"Ino it could be important."

"Fine," She sighed as well and moved herself off of him. The blond male sat up and was about to put his shirt back on.

'You should leave it off. You look good without it on." She told him and placed a hand on to the young man's hard abs. Naruto was definitely in good shape she could see that. Ino found she wouldn't mind if he walked around the house shirtless. In fact she just might insist on it.

"Ino-chan will you stop kidding. I…"

A second knock at the door got his attention.

"I'm going to get the door."

"Alright," She nodded and sat back down on the bed. She could care less about who was at the door. Hopefully whoever it was wouldn't be too important. She wanted to get back to what they were doing. The young man looked at her once more before leaving the bedroom and entering the hallway. This had better be important. Whoever was at the door was cutting in on his time with the platinum-blonde.

"Alright, hold on, I'm coming."

His mind was focused on the little make-out session he was having with Ino, and how badly he wanted to get back to that. But at the same time he would not be rude to the person on the other side of the door. His time with Ino was going to have to wait a bit longer. Naruto opened the door.

"Hey," The person spoke.

"Oh," He was more than a little surprised. "Hi, Sakura-chan."