Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I hate saying it, but it's true. If I
didn't say it someone could sue me. But I do say it, so that means I can't
be sued!
A/N: So...I'm guessing that you people really like this fanfic. If you didn't you wouldn't keep telling me to write more, I guess. :D So I'll write more and all will be happy! I can only hope that I don't forget anymore plot lines...(Yes people...Naruto's forgetfulness at the end of last chapter was really mine...But it worked with the story, so it's all good!)
-- Sakura Kaijuu
*~*
After an hour or so of searching, Ino finally found Sakura. She was on the bridge, staring at the water. Ino quietly walked up and stood beside Sakura. "What's up?"
Sakura looked up, surprised, "Ino? What are you doing here?"
"Uh..." Ino's eyes widened as she tried to think of an excuse. Then it hit her. She didn't even have to lie. "Well, we never got to finish our conversation yesterday."
Sakura snorted and looked back at the water, "About Naruto? Why are you so obsessed with getting me hooked up with him?"
"What are you talking about?" Ino feigned shock and then laughed a little. "I honestly want to know what you think of him. It's nothing more than that. I promise."
"Then tell me what you think of him," Sakura glanced at Ino with a challenge in her eyes.
Ino met the challenge with no problems. "I think he's a loud mouthed idiot who needs a reality check. But I think he's pretty strong too. He still acts like a kid though. I'm not really sure if he has a chance at becoming Hokage."
Sakura smiled, "I think he has a better chance than a lot of people. I mean, he at least wants to be Hokage. And he does act like a kid. And he's still a loud mouth."
"Is that all?" Ino asked. She really needed this information so that she could get Shikamaru to compile a good plan.
Sakura looked up at the sky and then back at Ino. "No. I guess he is strong. Maybe even stronger than Sasuke-kun. And he's really honest. And he has a REALLY strong moral code that's almost gotten all of us killed more than once."
Ino smiled. This was the kind of thing she wanted. "Anything else?"
"I guess I'm grateful that I know him. If I didn't, I wouldn't know how to deal with idiots like that," Sakura smiled too. Then she shrugged. "It's weird. Naruto's one of those people you have to develop a 'taste' for. And even though he used to really bug me, he's okay now."
"I see..." Ino looked back into the water. "So why are you here?"
Sakura sighed. "The usual. Sasuke-kun turned me down again."
"Huh..." Ino looked slightly peeved. "Is this always the way it goes?"
"Pretty much," Sakura sighed again. "But I'm so used to it now."
"How do you feel about Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked, unable to stop herself.
"I love him," Sakura replied automatically. Then she blinked. Had this really become so much of a habit? So much of her daily routine? Did she really feel that way? She shook her head. 'Of course you do, stupid. Why else would you put yourself through this every day?' She looked back at Ino, "What about you?"
"I love him too," Ino turned around and leaned on the bar of the bridge. "Because he's cute and mysterious. He's so cool..."
"Huh...But you don't really know Sasuke-kun, do you?" Sakura continued to stare at her friend. "You don't know what he's feeling. You don't know what he's thinking. You never get to see him when he's down. So, Ino-Pig, what do you have to say about that?"
Ino had nothing to say to that. She was getting pretty angry by now though. She tried desperately to come up with a comeback, but couldn't think of one. She decided she'd let the Ino-Pig thing go. This time. They both smiled a little and looked back at the water.
*~*
At the entrance to the baths, Naruto stopped and sighed. Shikamaru stopped next to him and looked at him in a bored sort of way. He looked back and forth between the entrance and Naruto. "Why are we just standing here?"
Naruto sighed again. "No reason. Let's go..."
*~*
They entered the hot springs section of the baths and saw Jiraiya stooping at the fence, glued to a hole in the wood. Naruto rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "Oi. Ero-sennin."
Jiraiya jerked away from the fence and looked surprised at the sight of his student. "What? Naruto, what are you doing here?"
Naruto looked a little exasperated. "You said you'd help me with the Rasengan, remember?"
"Uh...Oh!" Jiraiya grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, it totally slipped my mind. You're right though. Who's your friend?" he said, trying to change the subject quickly.
"Nara Shikamaru," Shikamaru replied in a bored tone.
"Oh, right..." Jiraiya looked back and forth between them and stood up. "Well, Naruto, let's go, shall we?"
"If you don't mind, can Shikamaru come along too?" Naruto asked tentatively.
"Why?" the white haired man looked suspicious.
Shikamaru was tired of beating around the bush. "Naruto has a deal with our friend Ino, and part of that deal is that I have to stick around him, so that she can be sure that he won't screw things up."
"Oh!" Jiraiya looked at the blond boy with renewed interest. He grinned evilly, "What's the deal about, huh?"
"Er..." Naruto started to blush a little. "Umm...Well, ya see, uh...I asked Shikamaru here if he would...um..."
"He asked me to help him get Sakura to like him. And I said hell no. But he convinced me to get Ino to help him. That's it," Shikamaru was getting fairly annoyed by now. All this was very troublesome, and the only reason why he was doing it was because he didn't want to get pounded by Ino. That would be embarrassing to him as a man.
"All right," Jiraiya clapped his hands, grinning very widely. "We should go somewhere else."
"Like where?" Naruto felt the red slowly receding from his face.
"Any clearing will do. But you know as well as I do that the Rasengan isn't something to play with in the middle of a crowded hotspring."
Shikamaru looked vaguely interested. He never had seen Naruto use this technique. He followed them with his hands in his pockets, wondering how this Rasengan worked.
*~*
Jiraiya was leading the boys out of the village, and as they passed through, they saw Sakura and Ino on the bridge talking. Naruto couldn't resist. "Hi Sakura-chan!!"
Both girls looked around and Jiraiya and Shikamaru stopped. Ino glared at Shikamaru briefly. Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Sakura looked a little surprised. "Oh. Hi Naruto, Shikamaru. Good afternoon, Jiraiya-sama."
Shikamaru and Jiraiya acknowledged Sakura's greeting, and Jiraiya studied Sakura carefully. She was tallish, with a small chest, but bright, bright green eyes. Her short pink hair shone in the sun, and he couldn't help but think of how she was like Tsunade. She was Tsunade's pupil, but he didn't know much about her besides that. But given what he knew about Naruto and Sasuke, Sakura was probably close to a replica of Tsunade's personality. Which was kind of scary.
"Um...What brings you here?" Ino asked, sounding a little more irritated than she meant to.
"Training," Shikamaru replied, staring at Ino until she looked away from him.
Jiraiya looked at Ino now. "And who's this lovely young lady?" he asked.
"Yamanaka Ino," she answered, bowing to the sennin. "It's an honor to meet you, Jiraiya-sama."
"Ah..." Jiraiya looked thoughtful. "I know your father. He's a very talented jounin."
"Thank you, sir. I'll be sure to pass that on to him. I'm sure he'll be pleased to hear that that compliment came from the legendary sennin Jiraiya," she was purposely trying to butter him up. They might be able to use him.
The white-haired man watched Ino now. She had commanding blue eyes and short blond hair, up in a small bun on top of her head. She was slightly more busty than Sakura, but not by much. She was glaring at Shikamaru. "Well, we have to be getting along. I hope you girls have a good day!"
Jiraiya started moving again, and Naruto and Shikamaru quickly followed him. Sakura and Ino looked after them, wondering what kind of training they would be doing.
*~*
After an hour or so of Naruto attempting to ascend to the next level of the Rasengan, the level that Yondaime had mastered, he was burnt out. It took a lot of chakra to keep that much control. Shikamaru had been interested at first, but was currently laying on his back and watching the clouds. Naruto flopped down next to him, "Jiraiya-sensei, I think that's enough for today."
Jiraiya looked at him carefully, then nodded. "Sure. You've been working hard for the past hour. Just make sure that you keep working at it when you have the time." He smiled a little evilly. "So why don't you explain more thoroughly your relationships to those two lovely young ladies?"
Naruto had given up on keeping anything from Jiraiya. He was bad at it. He always had been bad at it. He sighed a little. "Sakura's my teammate, and I like her a lot."
"I know she's your teammate. Is that it?"
"Yeah, I guess so," Naruto looked at him, unsure of what he was digging for.
"What about Ino?" Jiraiya asked curiously.
Shikamaru turned his head a little to hear Naruto's reply. "Well, I guess she's really nice, but I think she's only doing this because she hopes that Sakura will give up Sasuke and she can go out with him."
Something inside him felt trodden on. Shikamaru frowned. What did he care what Ino did? But this was the same kind of feeling as when Naruto had calmed Ino down. It was almost jealous.
"What about you, Shikamaru?" Jiraiya had sat down next to the boy. "What do you think of Sakura and Ino? Honestly."
"Bah..." Shikamaru shut his eyes. "Women are all troublesome. It doesn't matter if they're my teammate or not. I wouldn't even be involved in this if it weren't for Ino."
Jiraiya sensed something about Shikamaru's tone. "What's different about Ino?"
"Nothing!" Shikamaru opened his eyes again and sat up. "There is NOTHING different about Ino. There never has been. She's the same, troublesome girl that she's always been."
"Then why are you so defensive about it?" the old man did remember something from when he was that age. And he always knew when someone was hiding something.
Shikamaru stopped. Usually he had an answer for everything. But this was one thing that he wasn't so sure about. Why did he always help Ino with her schemes? He could easily say no...But why did he always say yes? And why was this question from Jiraiya bothering him so much?
Jiraiya watched Shikamaru carefully and saw that he was getting more and more uncomfortable. He decided to drop the subject. "Hey Naruto, it's getting late. You wanna head over to Ichiraku to meet Iruka?"
"Yeah!" Naruto hopped up, all energy restored. Both Shikamaru and Jiraiya wondered how this boy could be so full of energy.
Shikamaru stood up and stretched. "I should be getting home soon too...My mom will kill me if I'm late again."
"Well, let's get going," Jiraiya started to walk back towards the main village. Shikamaru and Naruto followed, both thinking about food.
*~*
A/N: Ack! I'm really sorry that it took so long for this chapter to come out!! The new semester started, and now I have tons and tons and tons of work. And I don't have health class to write my fanfics during...I feel so horrible. But whatever. It's not really my fault. It's more my school's fault for going to block scheduling. Stupid block scheduling. I hate it...
Anyway, that's about it...I don't think you really want to read my rantings about my school. That's what I have friends for! Heh heh.
-- Sakura Kaijuu
A/N: So...I'm guessing that you people really like this fanfic. If you didn't you wouldn't keep telling me to write more, I guess. :D So I'll write more and all will be happy! I can only hope that I don't forget anymore plot lines...(Yes people...Naruto's forgetfulness at the end of last chapter was really mine...But it worked with the story, so it's all good!)
-- Sakura Kaijuu
*~*
After an hour or so of searching, Ino finally found Sakura. She was on the bridge, staring at the water. Ino quietly walked up and stood beside Sakura. "What's up?"
Sakura looked up, surprised, "Ino? What are you doing here?"
"Uh..." Ino's eyes widened as she tried to think of an excuse. Then it hit her. She didn't even have to lie. "Well, we never got to finish our conversation yesterday."
Sakura snorted and looked back at the water, "About Naruto? Why are you so obsessed with getting me hooked up with him?"
"What are you talking about?" Ino feigned shock and then laughed a little. "I honestly want to know what you think of him. It's nothing more than that. I promise."
"Then tell me what you think of him," Sakura glanced at Ino with a challenge in her eyes.
Ino met the challenge with no problems. "I think he's a loud mouthed idiot who needs a reality check. But I think he's pretty strong too. He still acts like a kid though. I'm not really sure if he has a chance at becoming Hokage."
Sakura smiled, "I think he has a better chance than a lot of people. I mean, he at least wants to be Hokage. And he does act like a kid. And he's still a loud mouth."
"Is that all?" Ino asked. She really needed this information so that she could get Shikamaru to compile a good plan.
Sakura looked up at the sky and then back at Ino. "No. I guess he is strong. Maybe even stronger than Sasuke-kun. And he's really honest. And he has a REALLY strong moral code that's almost gotten all of us killed more than once."
Ino smiled. This was the kind of thing she wanted. "Anything else?"
"I guess I'm grateful that I know him. If I didn't, I wouldn't know how to deal with idiots like that," Sakura smiled too. Then she shrugged. "It's weird. Naruto's one of those people you have to develop a 'taste' for. And even though he used to really bug me, he's okay now."
"I see..." Ino looked back into the water. "So why are you here?"
Sakura sighed. "The usual. Sasuke-kun turned me down again."
"Huh..." Ino looked slightly peeved. "Is this always the way it goes?"
"Pretty much," Sakura sighed again. "But I'm so used to it now."
"How do you feel about Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked, unable to stop herself.
"I love him," Sakura replied automatically. Then she blinked. Had this really become so much of a habit? So much of her daily routine? Did she really feel that way? She shook her head. 'Of course you do, stupid. Why else would you put yourself through this every day?' She looked back at Ino, "What about you?"
"I love him too," Ino turned around and leaned on the bar of the bridge. "Because he's cute and mysterious. He's so cool..."
"Huh...But you don't really know Sasuke-kun, do you?" Sakura continued to stare at her friend. "You don't know what he's feeling. You don't know what he's thinking. You never get to see him when he's down. So, Ino-Pig, what do you have to say about that?"
Ino had nothing to say to that. She was getting pretty angry by now though. She tried desperately to come up with a comeback, but couldn't think of one. She decided she'd let the Ino-Pig thing go. This time. They both smiled a little and looked back at the water.
*~*
At the entrance to the baths, Naruto stopped and sighed. Shikamaru stopped next to him and looked at him in a bored sort of way. He looked back and forth between the entrance and Naruto. "Why are we just standing here?"
Naruto sighed again. "No reason. Let's go..."
*~*
They entered the hot springs section of the baths and saw Jiraiya stooping at the fence, glued to a hole in the wood. Naruto rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "Oi. Ero-sennin."
Jiraiya jerked away from the fence and looked surprised at the sight of his student. "What? Naruto, what are you doing here?"
Naruto looked a little exasperated. "You said you'd help me with the Rasengan, remember?"
"Uh...Oh!" Jiraiya grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, it totally slipped my mind. You're right though. Who's your friend?" he said, trying to change the subject quickly.
"Nara Shikamaru," Shikamaru replied in a bored tone.
"Oh, right..." Jiraiya looked back and forth between them and stood up. "Well, Naruto, let's go, shall we?"
"If you don't mind, can Shikamaru come along too?" Naruto asked tentatively.
"Why?" the white haired man looked suspicious.
Shikamaru was tired of beating around the bush. "Naruto has a deal with our friend Ino, and part of that deal is that I have to stick around him, so that she can be sure that he won't screw things up."
"Oh!" Jiraiya looked at the blond boy with renewed interest. He grinned evilly, "What's the deal about, huh?"
"Er..." Naruto started to blush a little. "Umm...Well, ya see, uh...I asked Shikamaru here if he would...um..."
"He asked me to help him get Sakura to like him. And I said hell no. But he convinced me to get Ino to help him. That's it," Shikamaru was getting fairly annoyed by now. All this was very troublesome, and the only reason why he was doing it was because he didn't want to get pounded by Ino. That would be embarrassing to him as a man.
"All right," Jiraiya clapped his hands, grinning very widely. "We should go somewhere else."
"Like where?" Naruto felt the red slowly receding from his face.
"Any clearing will do. But you know as well as I do that the Rasengan isn't something to play with in the middle of a crowded hotspring."
Shikamaru looked vaguely interested. He never had seen Naruto use this technique. He followed them with his hands in his pockets, wondering how this Rasengan worked.
*~*
Jiraiya was leading the boys out of the village, and as they passed through, they saw Sakura and Ino on the bridge talking. Naruto couldn't resist. "Hi Sakura-chan!!"
Both girls looked around and Jiraiya and Shikamaru stopped. Ino glared at Shikamaru briefly. Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Sakura looked a little surprised. "Oh. Hi Naruto, Shikamaru. Good afternoon, Jiraiya-sama."
Shikamaru and Jiraiya acknowledged Sakura's greeting, and Jiraiya studied Sakura carefully. She was tallish, with a small chest, but bright, bright green eyes. Her short pink hair shone in the sun, and he couldn't help but think of how she was like Tsunade. She was Tsunade's pupil, but he didn't know much about her besides that. But given what he knew about Naruto and Sasuke, Sakura was probably close to a replica of Tsunade's personality. Which was kind of scary.
"Um...What brings you here?" Ino asked, sounding a little more irritated than she meant to.
"Training," Shikamaru replied, staring at Ino until she looked away from him.
Jiraiya looked at Ino now. "And who's this lovely young lady?" he asked.
"Yamanaka Ino," she answered, bowing to the sennin. "It's an honor to meet you, Jiraiya-sama."
"Ah..." Jiraiya looked thoughtful. "I know your father. He's a very talented jounin."
"Thank you, sir. I'll be sure to pass that on to him. I'm sure he'll be pleased to hear that that compliment came from the legendary sennin Jiraiya," she was purposely trying to butter him up. They might be able to use him.
The white-haired man watched Ino now. She had commanding blue eyes and short blond hair, up in a small bun on top of her head. She was slightly more busty than Sakura, but not by much. She was glaring at Shikamaru. "Well, we have to be getting along. I hope you girls have a good day!"
Jiraiya started moving again, and Naruto and Shikamaru quickly followed him. Sakura and Ino looked after them, wondering what kind of training they would be doing.
*~*
After an hour or so of Naruto attempting to ascend to the next level of the Rasengan, the level that Yondaime had mastered, he was burnt out. It took a lot of chakra to keep that much control. Shikamaru had been interested at first, but was currently laying on his back and watching the clouds. Naruto flopped down next to him, "Jiraiya-sensei, I think that's enough for today."
Jiraiya looked at him carefully, then nodded. "Sure. You've been working hard for the past hour. Just make sure that you keep working at it when you have the time." He smiled a little evilly. "So why don't you explain more thoroughly your relationships to those two lovely young ladies?"
Naruto had given up on keeping anything from Jiraiya. He was bad at it. He always had been bad at it. He sighed a little. "Sakura's my teammate, and I like her a lot."
"I know she's your teammate. Is that it?"
"Yeah, I guess so," Naruto looked at him, unsure of what he was digging for.
"What about Ino?" Jiraiya asked curiously.
Shikamaru turned his head a little to hear Naruto's reply. "Well, I guess she's really nice, but I think she's only doing this because she hopes that Sakura will give up Sasuke and she can go out with him."
Something inside him felt trodden on. Shikamaru frowned. What did he care what Ino did? But this was the same kind of feeling as when Naruto had calmed Ino down. It was almost jealous.
"What about you, Shikamaru?" Jiraiya had sat down next to the boy. "What do you think of Sakura and Ino? Honestly."
"Bah..." Shikamaru shut his eyes. "Women are all troublesome. It doesn't matter if they're my teammate or not. I wouldn't even be involved in this if it weren't for Ino."
Jiraiya sensed something about Shikamaru's tone. "What's different about Ino?"
"Nothing!" Shikamaru opened his eyes again and sat up. "There is NOTHING different about Ino. There never has been. She's the same, troublesome girl that she's always been."
"Then why are you so defensive about it?" the old man did remember something from when he was that age. And he always knew when someone was hiding something.
Shikamaru stopped. Usually he had an answer for everything. But this was one thing that he wasn't so sure about. Why did he always help Ino with her schemes? He could easily say no...But why did he always say yes? And why was this question from Jiraiya bothering him so much?
Jiraiya watched Shikamaru carefully and saw that he was getting more and more uncomfortable. He decided to drop the subject. "Hey Naruto, it's getting late. You wanna head over to Ichiraku to meet Iruka?"
"Yeah!" Naruto hopped up, all energy restored. Both Shikamaru and Jiraiya wondered how this boy could be so full of energy.
Shikamaru stood up and stretched. "I should be getting home soon too...My mom will kill me if I'm late again."
"Well, let's get going," Jiraiya started to walk back towards the main village. Shikamaru and Naruto followed, both thinking about food.
*~*
A/N: Ack! I'm really sorry that it took so long for this chapter to come out!! The new semester started, and now I have tons and tons and tons of work. And I don't have health class to write my fanfics during...I feel so horrible. But whatever. It's not really my fault. It's more my school's fault for going to block scheduling. Stupid block scheduling. I hate it...
Anyway, that's about it...I don't think you really want to read my rantings about my school. That's what I have friends for! Heh heh.
-- Sakura Kaijuu
