-1AH! I messed up.
This chapter is part of the previous one. I forgot to add it; there's some character depth that needs adding. Sorry!
Enjoy.
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Tsunade walked into the room. She blinked. She walked out of it.
The door shut, feebly.
Then it burst open again, just in time for Ino to whisk the covers over the both of them.
"What is going on here?!" She thundered. "From Tenten, I would expect this, but you? Naruto is definitely rubbing off on you."
"In more ways than one." Ino laughed.
Tsunade flushed. "Insubordination! I could have you fired--"
"All my fault, Tsunade." Naruto groaned.
"What?" She asked.
"The innocent Ms. Yamanaka was sitting there, innocent as a bird, when I hypnotized her with my stunningly powerful male magnetism. Under my perverse influence, she cannot be held accountable for anything she did, has done, or was about to do."
"Male magnetism." Tsunade said, twitching.
"It's all in the pheromones." Naruto smiled.
"Very well. Ino, please leave. Mr. Uzumaki and I have business to attend to."
Ino had been slipping on her bottoms as they spoke. "Sure thing, boss." She slipped through the door, blowing Naruto a sultry kiss as she turned away. He winked, and mimed catching it, then blowing back one of his own. She blushed--It hadn't been aimed at her face.
"Out." Tsunade ordered.
She left.
"So harsh." Naruto said, sadly. "Mercy can be a desirable trait. For all the effort you put into looking young, you still act every one of your sixty years."
The bed was pushed back a full three inches, as Tsunade grasped it with her enhanced, terrifying grip. "Don't, and I mean don't.pull any of that flattery on me. I know all about your history of tomcatting, and I'm warning you, Ino won't be able to cope with it. Break it off, now, before I crush your tiny, chauvinist windpipe with my hands."
"I love her."
"Is that what you told her? I suppose so, that's exactly what you said to the others; all fifty of them."
"Sixty-five, actually. And no, I never did."
Tsunade gave a triumphant leer. "Hah! Wait---" she frowned. "What?"
"Why do you think they left me--all sixty-five of them? Each one told me the same thing. I never graduated beyond a 'fling' with them. They told me I was too impersonal, that I seemed like I was holding back, like I was waiting." He brought a bandaged arm up to cover his eyes. "women's intuition is an amazing talent. Of course, they were right."
"Why Ino?" Tsunade asked, suspiciously.
"Why not Ino?"
"That's no answer."
"I've wanted to be her lover. Ever since I was five." He laughed. "Ever since that first schoolboy crush. She…" He sighed. "Well, she probably doesn't remember. But she did something for me. Something that no one else would…could do. And over the years, everything I saw in her, loved in her, just grew."
"Grew how?" Tsunade snapped. "And if you say anything about her breasts, hips, or arse, I'll kill you."
"Pssh. Her smile. Being a fellow woman, you probably didn't notice it. Women all have different kinds. There's the "oh, I don't really find you funny, but I'll play along because I need male attention" smile, there's the "I'm trying to get you to sleep with me, so please smile too.", and who can forget the old; "I'm smiling in order to scare the living shit out of you, and by god, its working."" he laughed. "like you, for example.
Ino's is nothing like any of them. She has his smile,--this beautiful, heartstopping smile. The kind you measure in megawatts. And it says this; "I'm smiling, because I'm happy. Because you've made me happy. You're welcome to join in." That sums her up, character and all. She's happy when she wants to be. She doesn't give adamn what anyone else thinks, but if they want to be happy too, they're welcome. I love that. I love her."
Tsunade blinked. She started to smile, checked herself, then smiled anyway. "Since when are you so deep?"
"I've been this way for a while. But to continue--I was totally in love with her. And then she found Shikamaru, and I let her drift away. Because--as you know well, women aren't balloons. You can't just reach out, and tie one down to wherever you want her. Or that's what I told myself." he smiled ruefully. "But every minute she was with him, I felt totally, utterly stupid."
"You made the right choice." Tsunade said. "If you'd tried to break them up, I would have ripped your arms off. Go on."
"Er…yes. Well, she seemed happy enough, if a bit subdued. So I decided to live my own life as well. I'd learned…things from Jiraiya, that I thought of putting to good use, and I took off from there."
"Thus was born Naruto; man-whore of the hidden leaf."
"We prefer the term 'tomcat.' After her disastrous break-up with Shikamaru, I wondered whether I should try it properly for once. But Chouji appeared, and I lost my chance. And then…" His eyes turned downcast. "He died. How, Tsunade? Ino talked of suicide."
"That's her business, and no one else's."
"So that's why she and Tenten…First Lee, then Chouji. Of course they became fast friends."
"Lee's death is also confidential." Tsunade said stonily.
"He died as an ANBU. I have access to all my subordinates' files."
"So you know--"
"Their stories are both tragic. And they both blamed themselves, to a point. But Tenten found what she was looking for. She found Neji. And, even though he's a royal prick to other men, he still managed to pull Tenten from the brink." Naruto murmured, more to himself than to anyone else, "Arrogant bastard might be a better man than I thought."
"And Ino?"
"She had no one. Shikamaru ignored her. Chouji's father hated her. She was so sad. So hurt. She withdrew, she grew cold, and she didn't smile. And every moment of that, every moment she was in pain--" He tossed his head fitfully against the pillows. "It was like watching her die, slowly. So I intervened."
"More male hypnosis?"
"More love. But only as far as she wanted. That's all I can do; I'll go as far as she wants, but no further. No tricks, or man-magic, Tsunade. I offered, and she chose."
"and she chose you."
"I'll never forget it." Naruto reached up to her breast, to a small necklace hanging from it on a tiny gold chain. It gleamed, with gold and inset jewels, and was shaped like a small toad. "I know it hurts, years afterward. I know that it hurts, watching us falling in love, and growing old together, when you were never given that chance. But I can't live without her touch…her breath. If you try to keep us apart…you're killing us, just as surely as Jiraiya was killed."
"Don't you dare bring that up." Tsunade warned him.
"Remember? He could always cheer you up, always buoy your spirits, by saying something stupid. Even though you'd never made love, anyone might have thought you were lovers."
Tsunade gave a strangled sob. "I did sleep with him." She warbled. "Once. The day before---"she choked miserably. "before…you know. Oh…" she smiled through a haze of tears. "the old bastard wasmagnificent. His hands, and his movements! Like an acrobat." She heaved. "But you don't understand. You can't. What it feels like to have your heart ripped out, piece by painful piece."
"I don't." Naruto admitted. "And neither will Ino. Ever. Because I'll make sure she never feels that way."
"Then promise me you'll never force her into the hell that I had to go through."
"I promise." Naruto said, solemnly.
"just remember. I'm in charge of every medical facility in this city. Should you ever piss me off---" She cracked her knuckles. "I just might call in sick, when you're severely injured."
"Accepted, comprehended, obeyed!" Naruto agreed, saluting her rigidly. He winced, in discomfort. "Can you do something about these bandages?"
"Ask Ino." Tsunade waved a hand dismissively. "She's good with knives."
She stood at the door threshold, and nearly toppled a young nurse who had been standing by the door.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
The nurse's eyes darted, first left, then right. She tried to run down one of the long hospital corridors, but was foiled by Tsunade's darting grip.
"Can I help you?" Tsunade asked again, menacingly.
The nurse crumpled to the ground. Her eyes went empty, then her jaw went slack.
"Ino." Tsunade muttered. She strode briskly down the hallway, to find Ino in the waiting, room, smiling innocently.
"How much did you hear?" The imposing hokage asked.
"All of it." Ino said, then blushed. "He meant it. Even through the door, I could feel how much he meant it."
"He learned deepness, and kindness, somewhere along his travels. Where? Probably from Ji--Ji--" Tsunade hiccoughed, and stopped herself. "probably from his master. He could be romantic, when he had to be. But no one's asked him to display it; usually all they want from him are successful missions, and fantastic sex. You're bringing out his better half!"
"He's bringing out mine. What's your judgement of him?"
"Absolutely adorable. If you two don't hook up, I'll call in the konoha neurological corps, and have your head examined. Possibly lobotomized."
"Perish the thought!"
"Well…it does have its merits…"
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Narutomaniac(see review 53) is right; it never bodes well to have the titular characters seem too---whore-y. Thank goodness I uploaded the second half in time!
And Tsunade is meant to seem dragonish. We all know she doesn't mean a word of it.