Title: Knight in Shining Armour.

By: Kaara.

Genre: Humour/Angst/Romance.

Rating: PG13.

Disclaimer: I hold no claim whatsoever towards the original cast of 'Naruto'. However, the plot and minor OCs are solely mine. MINE, YOU HEAR ME? Cough, uh…

Notes: Sigh. I'm officially doomed as a NaruIno addict. Another one shot, with several (un)intentional pairings to complement the main one. Kinda un-beta-ed, because I'm still tired from the Orientation Week. Have I told you that I'm in a university now? I am, so updates will be scarce. Assignments are piling, people!

Dedicated to: Each and every one of you NaruIno shippers out there! Thank you for supporting this non-canon pairing; I love ya all!

Now, onwards to the fic, dear comrades!

…

… Did I just sound like Gai?

xxx

Knight in Shining Armour.

xxx

Uzumaki Naruto was angry.

No, not angry. Saying that he was angry would be like saying that Orochimaru was a God-fearing saint.

Uzumaki Naruto was flame-spitting, volcano-erupting, heart-stopping, stark-raving MAD.

Now, why would he be in such state, you ask?

The reason, the sole reason of his current predicament was sitting besides him, calmly sipping on a cup of tea and lazily swirling the noodles inside her half-eaten bowl of shrimp ramen with her long chopsticks. Gone was the round, radiant face of a twelve-years old, replaced by slightly pointed, heart-shaped visage of a deceptively innocent-looking young woman. Long golden hair, retaining the pale glow from her childhood days was bound in a loose bun at the nape of her slender neck, errant strands sticking out and fanned her face quite elegantly. Whilst her eyes were still pencilled with the cursory lines of dark make-up, she had long abandoned the hormonal need for glittery sheen on her supple lips, content with thin streaks of light magenta and nothing else. She was wearing an altered version of her genin days' battle dress, maintaining the top portion of the dress and traded her customary skirt for a knee-length dark purple pants, pouches of weapons strapped securely to her bandaged thighs. Her forehead protector was on the counter, beside her propped elbow.

"You don't have to do this," Naruto said, breaking the fragile silence that had comfortably resided amidst the swirling mist of steam coming from a large container of simmering soup. His eyes that were fixed on his companion seemed to flash with suppressed fury, clawing and waiting for release.

Yamanaka Ino cast a sideway glance at the blond that clearly showed what she thought he was; a stubborn, five-year-old twerp and a sarcastic remark was already tingling at the tip of her tongue. She turned to stare at her near-empty bowl instead and retorted softly, "I want to do this."

"But it's an S-Class mission!" the young man snapped in exasperation, eyebrows contorted into a frown underneath his forehead protector. "And you've just been promoted. We haven't even had time to celebrate yet. I don't know why that old hag insisted on sending fresh jounins and chuunins out there but Konoha can't afford to lose more shinobi."

The unsaid 'And I don't want to lose you' hung thickly in the air, mingling with coils of steam.

"I'm a chuunin now, Naruto and I have an obligation to fulfil for the safety of Konoha," Ino sighed, resting her chin on her folded hands. "We're in the midst of a war and you, of all people, should know that it is an honour to fight for our homeland. The Council are even pressing Godaime-sama into using our genins, our kids to be the backup teams, the last resort in order to stop the Sound from invading our home." The fiery blaze of determination made her blue eyes shone with intensity. "If us chuunins can be any help to the front line and by some miracle, we win this war, then those brats won't have to go through this horror. I can't allow that to happen, not while I could've done something to prevent it in the first place."

"Infiltration missions are poles apart from the ones that you usually take," Naruto argued. His fingers were curled tightly around his empty bowl, knuckles turning white from the pressure. "They demand flawless stealth to sneak into the enemy's territory undetected, and discretion to retrieve whatever information crucial for both sides. You have to think and act fast and once you're in there, you'll be all on your own. Your teammates won't be able to help you if you screw up."

Ino drummed her manicured fingernails against the wooden counter, an odd rhythm of taps echoed evocatively around them. Her head was tilted to an angle that made the artificial light highlighted her cheekbones, the lovely curves of her face more pronounced than before. There was weariness in her eyes, a faint trace of painful memories clouding her azure irises. "That's why I'm perfect for the job. Ibiki-sama was the one who recommended me to Godaime-sama and he should know what I'm capable of. I am, after all, going to be his successor."

The smug, slightly arrogant grin that graced Ino's lips made Naruto scowl darkly. "I wish I was there when Mr. Doom and Gloom decided to take fancy on you. I could've knocked some sense into Ba-chan's wrinkled brain and that torched paedophile."

"Well, too bad you were too busy running around with that perverted old toad to visit me," sneered Ino, her grin morphing into a wide smirk. "Not even a single letter. Zilch. Nada."

"I told you, Jiraiya forbade me to send letters. That would've revealed our location," the blond youth replied, frowning at Ino. "The Akatsuki and friggin' Snake Man was going after me. Ain't my fault I'm hot stuff."

"I know, I know. I'm just being selfish again, okay?" she shrugged and took another sip from her cooling cup of tea. "And I'm glad Ibiki-sama take me in, you know. He's a bit psychotic and all but he's a great man. An experienced shinobi and he treats me with respect, unlike others."

"I always respected you," Naruto huffily scoffed and shifted on his stool so that he was directly facing the platinum blonde kunoichi. "From the very first time we met."

Ino grinned snidely. "Yeah right. If I remember correctly, that was when I almost win over Sakura and you called me a bitch. Some respect that was."

Grimacing as the events from their first Chuunin Exam flashed through his mind, Naruto said, in an attempt to defend his action, "Sakura was my teammate. I couldn't let her lose."

"Of course, you still had that silly crush on her at that time, eh?"

"Unfortunately, I had been the idiot that kept misjudging people for what they're worth," the dark and heavy tone of Naruto's voice concealed a layer of hidden loathing that gnawed incessantly at his conscience, overwhelming tides of guilt as if he blamed himself for everything that had happened. His eyes were downcast, clear blue tinted with slivers of raging crimson.

Ino then realized that she had been treading on a dangerous ground and that she had just tripped into a rather forbidden boundary. She hesitantly placed a hand on Naruto's thigh, leaning closer so that her face was inches away from Naruto's. Her warm breath ghosted over his tanned skin, and her voice was uncharacteristically soft when she coaxed, "It was not your fault, Naruto. She was not your fault."

Naruto looked up, eyes burning with fury. "She damned well better not be my fault! I can't believe it; after all that I've done for her…" he trailed on, anger wavering into unrelenting regret. Balling his fingers into shaking fists, he snapped his head down again, growling something incomprehensible.

"Sakura made her choice when she went after that traitor," Ino continued, eyeing the young man before her carefully. "You tried to offer her an alternative and she refused it. That's her loss. You have to let go, Naruto."

"Ba-chan was crushed when she left!" Naruto all but hissed. "Do you know how long she stayed up to wait for Sakura's return?" Ino shook her head obligingly. "Three bloody weeks! Shizune-neechan told me that Ba-chan didn't even get any decent sleep after that!"

"Now I'm officially jealous," jested Ino, pouting exaggeratedly at her boyfriend. She extended the distance between them and crossed her arms against her chest. "I never knew that there are so many women in your life!"

That seemed to snap Naruto out of his temporary funk. He blinked at the accusation and immediately blanched when his brain supplied some mental images. "Eew! Ba-chan and Shizune-neechan are family! That's just sick!"

"Joking, joking!" the kunoichi laughed, dodging a playful swipe towards her head. The stool that she was perched on wobbled dangerously at the wild movements, clacking its protest against the floor. Ino took a second to balance herself, still chuckling faintly at the affronted look on Naruto's whiskered face. Her eyes lingered on the ragged stripes that ran almost halfway across Naruto's cheeks, before she held out a hand and mindlessly ran her fingers along the calloused skin like it was the most natural thing to do. Naruto sat as still as a statue, eyes widened and his lips parted slightly in surprise at the sudden intrusion of his personal space. His skin tingled pleasantly where Ino had touched him, and he felt warmth radiating from her fingertips, like vines scaling over his cold defences. Before he could lose himself inside her expressive eyes, he vaguely heard Ino said, "You never told me how you get these scars."

Naruto unwillingly broke their eye contact, reaching up to grab the fingers that were tracing his whisker marks. A brief flicker of anguish flashed through his eyes but was replaced by good humour in a matter of seconds, the cheerful mask obscuring whatever veiled pain from plain view. He grinned widely and said, "I'll tell you all about my scars but you'll have to drop this mission of yours."

"You know I can't do that," scowled Ino, wrenching her hand away from Naruto's grip. "And you're changing the topic again."

"I don't remember what the topic was," Naruto shrugged nonchalantly. He turned and tapped the wooden counter to get the cook's attention. "More tea, please." The pot-bellied old man conjured a miniature teapot from somewhere behind him and set it gently onto the counter, the sweet fragrance of freshly-brewed tea adding into the myriad of scent inside the small stand. Naruto nodded his gratitude and refilled Ino and his empty cups. "I don't understand why this mission is so important to you."

Ino took a small sip and cringed, the scalding liquid burning her tongue. "Well, I don't understand why you're so worked up about this. It's not like I'm going on a suicidal mission or something."

"I told you before, it will be suicidal if you're not mentally and physically prepared," said Naruto, the frown back in place.

It was now Ino's turn to frown. "Are you doubting my ability, Naruto?"

The young man immediately held up his hands in a defensive stance, sensing danger ahead. "I'm not saying that you're not good enough, but a bit more experience for this kinda mission will help. You're just a chuunin, dammit! Even jounins rarely take on S-Class missions. There are reasons why they're classified S-Class, after all."

"You're underestimating me," she spat out the words, eyes narrowed dangerously. "Just because I'm a lowly chuunin and you're the 'I-blew-up-so-many-enemies-that-I-joined-ANBU-by-special-request' prodigy doesn't mean that you can act all high-and-mighty. Shoulda conk your head down the drain when I had the opportunity. Fuckin' bullshit."

"Look, that's not what I meant, okay? You're putting words into my mouth," Naruto retorted scathingly, long-forgotten temper flaring. "Why can't they send that lazy bastard? Or Lee?"

"Lazy bastard? Oh, you mean Shikamaru," Ino's shoulder trembled with the force of her chuckles and mirth danced in her eyes where anger had declared residence earlier. "He's locked somewhere inside the Intelligence Department, being drilled constantly by those old goats to come up with new strategies to win this war. Karma must've been getting back at him for all those years he spent doing nothing but cloud-watching."

An amused grin found its way into Naruto's feature. "Serves that bastard right. I don't think he even get a good lay nowadays."

"You'd be surprised at how many chuunins think he's cute. Some of the girls that I know would do anything to get into his pants."

"I don't need to know that," snapped Naruto, scrunching up his face in disgust. He suddenly swivelled on his stool and suspiciously stared at the giggling Ino. "How about you?"

"What?" Ino's eyebrows shot up in understanding after seconds. She gaped incredulously at Naruto. "For Leaf's sake, Naruto, don't tell me that you're still jealous! It's been a year already!"

"I'm not jealous!" denied the young man, though his eyes betrayed him all the same. Jealous. Jealous. Jealous. "And even if I am, I've got a perfectly good reason to be so. You shared spits with him!"

"You make it sound as though I was having an affair with him behind your back and it's called a kiss, not spit-sharing, you dolt," Ino icily retorted, glaring at her spiky-headed consort. "Let me remind you that I was not attached to anyone at that time." She jabbed at his chest with a finger. "And you were too busy swooning around Hinata to notice my existence." Another jab. "Therefore, I had the right to kiss anyone that I want. Shikamaru included." One final jab, followed by an annoyed huff.

Naruto pursed his lips stubbornly. "At least I didn't kiss Hinata."

"Well, good for her then," she scoffed, waving around her cup of tea. "She might've had a heart attack if you did. And Neji would've murdered you."

"Neji's an overprotective psycho. Have you seen him glaring at those messenger birds everytime they delivered an order to him?" tittered Naruto, argument forgotten. His attention span could've rivalled that of a gnat's. "I swear I could've burst a spleen laughing."

"He's still going on about that destiny crap thing?" asked Ino, arching one fine eyebrow. "I thought you've pummelled some sense into him last time you guys fought."

"Old habits die hard, I guess," he flashed Ino a lop-sided grin, revealing two-inches long canine. "Put aside his fortune teller-worth mumbo jumbo, he's a nice guy. Bit screwed somewhere up there but a reliable comrade." Naruto's eyes widened and he slammed his cup onto the counter. "Hey, why don't I ask him to take over for you? He owe me one for not telling Lee that he used to have the hots for Ten Ten."

"For the last time, Uzumaki Naruto, I will not give up this mission. Get that through that thick skull of yours," Ino smacked the blond once for good measure but leaned conspiratorially closer. The glint in her eyes could've made every shinobi worth his or her salt cringe in pure terror; Ino was the Queen of Konoha's Grapevine. "What do you mean Neji used to have the hots for Ten Ten?"

If was crystal clear that Naruto felt like kicking his own head at the slip. "Uh oh…"

"Now, now, Naruto-kun," her voice was no more than a sensual purr, with promises of pure violence if he denied her demand for juicy gossips. Ino's hand clamped down onto Naruto's forearm to stop her prey from escaping. "You do remember that we keep no secrets from each other, right?" The clamp threatened to cut his blood circulation by then. "Right?"

"But I gave Neji my word!" whined the blond, squirming under Ino's assault. "And Uzumaki Naruto never breaks a promise! 'Sides, he's gonna kill me for sure if this goes around!"

Ino sighed, a deep, suffering sigh. She released his arm reluctantly, knowing full well that Naruto held on to his so-called 'Ninja Way' like a child with his first lollipop. Such a waste of good scandal, really. "I don't think I wanna know anyway. Last time I saw Lee, he came to the shop and looked so deliriously happy that I didn't have the heart to tell him the flowers he bought were funeral arrangements. Ten Ten's lucky to have him at her beck and call. Unlike someone that I know."

"Oy, that's hitting below the belt!" Naruto protested indignantly and poured himself more tea. He was actually contemplating in ordering a bottle of sake to ease the migraine that was currently abusing his head but thought better of it. It was still too early to get smashed, after all. "What's the point of gettin' you flowers anyway? You've got tons of 'em downstairs."

"It's the principal of things, baka," said the kunoichi, lips pursed into a pout. She exhaled dramatically and gazed at Naruto with half-lidded eyes. "Makes me regret going out with you in the first place. So unromantic and too practical. You're starting to remind me of Asuma-sensei."

Naruto humph-ed in response. "Shall I start smoking too? You can wear red contacts, dye your hair black and drench yourself in that godawful cologne Kurenai loves so much. Maybe I should grow a beard and learn how to talk like an old man and play Go all the time. Oh wait, that's Shikamaru."

"Ha ha, very funny, smartass," Ino snapped sarcastically. Tucking a few loose strand of pale golden hair behind her ear, she added, "At least Asuma-sensei agreed with Ibiki-sama's decision to send me out there. He even gave me some pointers about the Sound's base, said something about being there to rescue someone before. I think it was Aoba-san, but I'm not too sure."

"Asuma's into this as well?" questioned Naruto, annoyance seeping into his sky-blue eyes. "He should know better than butting in where he's not needed. If he's so free nowadays, why don't he take this mission?"

"You're so full of shit, you know that?" Ino growled and glared daggers (and other pointed weapons) at Naruto. "For your information, Asuma-sensei's bed-ridden. His last mission, the one with the Sand, went down the drain. Got ambushed in their way back and he took a katana through his chest for that Kazekage's sister."

"Gaara's sister? Temari?" Naruto choked in disbelief and almost spat out his mouthful of tea. "How come I was not informed about this?"

"You were on that 'uber classified' (note the sarcasm) mission in Hidden Mist and Godaime-sama ordered us to keep our traps shut. You needed the concentration," answered Ino. She raised her cup, its uneven brim brushing lightly against her luscious lips. "Asuma-sensei was lucky they brought Shizune-san along or he would've died before they reached Konoha. Godaime-sama told me that the blade punctured a lung and he might take months to properly heal. Fond of playing heroic, isn't he?"

Eyeing the platinum blonde kunoichi curiously, Naruto said, "You're being too calm about all this. Are you all right, Ino?"

She waved aside his worry and laughed softly, though the mirth didn't quite reach her eyes. "Death is a part of a shinobi's life. You told me that at… Chouji's funeral."

His eyes softened considerably at the tone of her voice. "Ino…"

"It's okay," Ino emptied her cup in a single swig and refilled it swiftly. She offered Naruto a grim smile, before saying, "I'm tired of being weak, always the one who was left behind. I showed them I am strong enough in the Chuunin Exam—"

"Ah yes, when you screwed around with the Mizukage's son's mind," Naruto dryly interjected. "We spent weeks trying to mend his mental state and persuading that old pudding of a Kage not to sever the ties they have with Konoha. With the Sound waging a war against Konoha, we need as many allies as possible. Brilliant, Ino, just brilliant."

Ino grinned sheepishly. "His fault for being incompetent. I don't even know how the heck he passed through the second stage; even my team had difficulty surviving the desert. My point is that I don't need you, or anyone else, babying me. I'm not the frail little girl anymore. I don't need a knight in shining armour to bail my ass out of trouble everytime; I'd rather rescue myself."

"That infamous Yamanaka's Pride again," said Naruto, one corner of his mouth twitched upwards into a smirk. "One of these days, your pride is gonna be the death of you if you're not careful." His voice lowered slightly as he continued, "I don't mean to baby you, or however you wanted to put it as. I'm just worried that I can't be that knight of yours when you needed me the most."

"Guilty conscience, huh?" she teased, though the humour was lost in the seriousness of his statement. Ino sighed and absentmindedly traced a finger along the brim of her empty cup. "You should stop taking everything onto your shoulder, being your burden alone. You're not invincible, no matter what your little fan club might think. You can't protect everyone, Naruto."

"I know that. I was hoping that I can, at least, protect you," the young man sullenly uttered, staring down into the murky depth of his tea.

Ino's lips curved into a genuinely fond smile at the honest confession. "I agreed to take this mission because I believe, no, I know that I'm good enough to make it through. I want to offer some help to our force. I want to be the one who do the protecting, instead of being protected. I've gone through my fair share of a lifetime in being a damsel in distress."

"I see…" Naruto finally said, knowing defeat when he stumbled upon one. "When do you have to leave?"

"In two days. Ibiki-sama predicted that it may take one and a half day of six-hours running to arrive at the outskirt of the Sound's base, so I'll most probably be gone for four days max."

"That's reasonable enough; Ibiki should know the distance since he's one of the front line. So, did you get to pick your own team or has it been arranged for you?"

"My choice," she answered smugly. Her grin widened, obviously excited with her first experience to leadership. "Four man's team. One healer, one tracker, one backup and the infiltrator, me. I was thinking of taking Shizune-san, but she had to accompany Raido-san and Genma-san in an A-Class mission around the border so that option is out. I know this chuunin guy, Chikato or something, who once told me that he's a medic trainer but he looks weaker than a genin. I don't want anyone slowing us down or dying on us when he's supposed to do the healing." She turned to stare at Naruto. "Any suggestion?"

The spiky-headed blond nodded. "Hinata. She's a certified medic and is quite capable in handling her opponents with Hyuuga's Gentle Fist style. One more advantage is that she has the Byakugan, that's a real asset in a mission like yours. Hinata can scout for possible traps, numbers of enemies and possible obstacles, making your task easier. The chances of getting in and out without alerting the enemy will be higher. I don't think she's engaged in any mission right now but you have to ask her yourself."

"Right, I'll check up on her later," replied Ino, eyes narrowing in concentration as she made necessary mental notes. "I've already spoke to Kiba about being my tracker and he agreed to join in, so that settled it. And the backup… maybe Neji wasn't such a bad idea after all."

"Nah, you can't ask him," Naruto shook his head, mischief twinkling in his eyes. "I just remembered that Ba-chan sent him to the Sand this morning; he's going through an Anger Management session with Gaara."

Ino gawped at the unexpected news. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Nope," chortled Naruto, clutching at his stomach. He burst out laughing a second later and was joined by an amused Ino. "Gotta – wheeze – be the – gasp – funniest – ha ha – thing since Lee – he he – proposed to Ten Ten!"

"They're so going to glare each other to death," Ino observed, sniggering to herself. An image of a chibi Neji and chibi Gaara battling it out with sparks and thunders coming out of their eyes and innocent civilians running amok everywhere only served to further fuel her laughter and soon, Ino found herself leaning heavily against Naruto, both paralysed from their respective fits of guffaws.

So paralysed they were that they didn't realize another chakra signature that had just appeared nearby.

The curtain of Ichiraku parted noiselessly and a head poked in.

"Anou, excuse me… Uzumaki-san?"

Said blond regained his cool composure in a fraction of a second and regarded the intruder with calculating vigilance, subtly sneaking glances at Ino, who had stopped laughing her brain out the instant Naruto did and was sipping nonchalantly at her cup of tea. "Something I can help you with, Akira-san?"

A green-haired young man, wearing typical jounin attire nodded and said, his tone curt and monotonous, "The ANBU Commander wishes to see you, Uzumaki-san, regarding some new information that Ibiki-sama has acquired from one of our Sound captives. And Yamanaka-san," Ino had looked up from her tea at the first syllable of her family name. "Ibiki-sama requested for your attendance in his next interrogation session, before you depart for your mission."

The kunoichi nodded and turned her attention back to the tea without a word.

Naruto's reaction was similar to Ino's, sans the tea part. "Is that all?"

"Yes," Akira did a short bow and before anyone could say 'thanks', he disappeared amidst a cloud of chakra smoke.

Eyebrows knitted into a frown, Naruto grumbled, "I thought I was relieved for today. " He nudged Ino's rib with an elbow. "What's wrong with you? Awfully quiet, aren't we?"

Ino shrugged, still not looking away from her tea. "Uh… nothing?"

"Come on, spit it out! You look like you've seen your ex-boyfriend or something!" jeered Naruto, laughing at his own joke. But when Ino refused to reply and her shoulder tensed ever so slightly at his implication, the young ANBU's laughter ceased at once, comprehension dawning at the pit of his stomach. "You don't say…"

"I didn't say anything!" the young woman snapped, glowering at her companion. Her face had turned into a pretty shade of crimson. "You're the one who's making crazy assumption!"

"But Akira— and you!" sputtered Naruto, his wide eyes and gaping mouth made him resemble a half-dead goldfish. "How— that guy! Since WHEN?"

Her expression turned sour at the question. "After Shikamaru and before you almost got yourself killed fighting that Uchiha traitor."

"You mean, you were dating someone else when I… I asked you out?" Naruto's voice rose to a painfully high screech, disbelief and (oddly) triumph battling for dominance on his face.

Ino scowled some more. "Shouldn't you be going along to do whatever it is that your beloved Commander wants you to do?"

"I always make it a point to hear about my girlfriend's tragic past," Naruto retorted. "Besides, the dingy old bat can wait. He'd always been a pain in the ass. So tell me, what happened?"

"It's complicated, okay?" Ino growled menacingly and she stared at her empty cup, as if blaming the inanimate object for her current predicament. "I was bored with Shikamaru's stupid ways, troublesome this and troublesome that and this guy jumped into my life with flowers and his sweet talks." She threw a nasty glare at Naruto when she heard him snigger. "Shut up or die."

Naruto grinned impishly and waved a hand. "Go on, I'm listening."

"So, I told Shika it's over and started dating Akira for about… two weeks. And when you suddenly developed a brain and asked me out, I left that great guy for your pathetic ass. Don't ask me why, I must've been crazy or was suffering from some diseases closely related to insanity."

"How about mutual attraction towards me manifesting itself?" Naruto mischievously offered, the grin threatening to split his face into two.

Her death glare was beginning to burn twin holes through Naruto's protective vest. "I rather liked having you here to boss around and a dead you will be of no use to me."

"Well, at least that explains why he acts like he got a stick up in his ass whenever I'm around," Naruto exclaimed in satisfaction, smiling amusedly. He caught sight of Ino's dark scowl and placidly said, "I'm flattered that you chose me over him, even if I'm an unromantic, too practical sod that resembled your ex-teacher."

"Naruto. Shut. Up."

"Wait. Does this mean that you have a crush Asuma?"

"What the fuck! Naruto, I'm warning you! One more word—"

"And you're treating me as a substitute for your unrequited love!" the blond swooned dramatically, placing his hand over his chest in an imitation of a wounded lover. He was apparently unaware of the homicidal vibes radiating from his girlfriend. "O' tempura! O' treachery! The pain! The anguish!"

Ino's left eyebrow twitched.

"My poor, poor heart is broken! Shattered to pieces and—" the theatrical proclamation stopped to an abrupt end when Naruto was forced to duck two newly-sharpened kunai that were whizzing straight towards his eyeballs. One of them barely nicked the tip of his ear, before impaling themselves into a wooden column right besides him. Half-grinning and half-frowning at Ino, Naruto straightened up and rubbed his uninjured ear lazily. "Ma, ma… I thought you said that you love me, Ino-chan," he drawled out, emphasizing on the "-chan' in his old nickname for her. "Are we starting a new tradition of kunai-bonding, love?"

"Don't call me that," Ino hissed out through gritted teeth, willing her fingers not to stray towards her weapon pouches again. She stood up, fishing some crumpled notes and coins from one of the pockets of her pants and dumped them unceremoniously onto the counter. She ignored Naruto's insanely large grin and bowed rigidly at the stand's owner. "Thank you for the food."

"Aa," the words tumbled out in smooth baritone from the older man's mouth as he smiled fondly at Ino. "Send my regard to Inoshi, will ya, kiddo? Quite some time since he last dropped by."

"I'll tell him that," with another polite bow, Ino turned to glare at Naruto. "Get going, slowpoke. Ibiki-sama's waiting for me."

Naruto pouted and batted his eyelashes flirtatiously. "Aw, Inoooo! Don't you want to spend more precious time with your beloved Naruto-kun?"

"No," the kunoichi deadpanned. "Don't make me use the kunai, Naruto."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming," he slipped out two Konoha notes from his snakeskin wallet and placed them neatly on top of Ino's pile. Naruto bowed to the owner and followed Ino, who had stalked ahead. Peering into the kunoichi's face, he asked playfully, "Ne, are you still angry? I didn't mean to offend you, you know."

Ino shrugged and continued ahead without looking at Naruto. "Hn."

"I think hanging around Shino does no good to your conversation skill," the blond teasingly remarked, crossing his hands behind his head. When Ino made no respond to that, Naruto sighed and decided to change the topic before Ino commanded him to sleep on the couch tonight. "You haven't decided on your backup yet. Other than Neji, who do you have in mind?"

"I don't have much choice," Ino finally opened her mouth, glancing thoughtfully at Naruto. "Most of our colleagues have their own missions to deal with, and truth to be told, I can't trust most chuunins to be my backup. This is my mission, my team and I'm responsible for their safety. I want to be absolutely in sync with my men, and I barely got along with those outside of our batch." She wrinkled her nose in annoyance. "I overheard one of them saying that I'm too 'scary' and is also the younger version of Ibiki-sama, only that I have nice hair and a pair of breasts."

Naruto was about to laugh but upon noticing the murderous look on Ino's face, he immediately faked a cough to cover his escaped chuckles. "I would've offered you my help but," Naruto grinned sheepishly. "I just agreed to do Jiraiya a favour and accompany him on a research trip by tomorrow."

Ino narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Don't tell me you're his peeping accomplice now! I swear, Naruto, if I heard one complaint about you and Jiraiya inside the woman bathhouses, I'm going to castrate both of you using a fork. At the same time."

The golden-haired ANBU winced and his hand subconsciously strayed towards the general direction of his crotch, eyeing the kunoichi besides him warily. "Don't be mean, Ino-chan, this is my manhood you're threatening here. Rest assured that I'd rather wear Gai's god ugly stretchy suit than become a pervert like that old man."

"Good to know that," Ino shot a sickeningly saccharine smile at Naruto. "The threat still stands, though. Just in case you change your mind."

"Uh… Let's talk about your backup. Or the lack of it," Naruto interjected, fearing more for his reproduction organ if Ino was allowed to pursue her trail of thought. He wanted to die a happy old man, with litters of spike-headed urchins running around his wrinkled ankles, thankyouverymuch. "How about Kankuro? I heard he's tutoring Konohamaru into being a puppeteer."

"Oh yes, I remembered coming across that closet-pervert Ebisu complaining to Godaime-sama about Kankuro's 'negative' influence on the late Third's grandson. Something about face paint and lipstick," muttered Ino, scratching her chin in contemplation. "I've worked with him before, when we had to assassinate a corrupt businessman at the east of Fire Country. His strings work and joints' coordination are impressive. Can't believe I didn't think about him before."

"He's a shady character. Didn't talk much unless it was to cuss somebody."

"Kankuro's not that bad."

"Yeah, he's worse. I think he's as crazy as Gaara; you never knew it with these silent type."

"Shino is so going to kill you if he heard that."

"S'long as his six-legged friends steer clear from my pants, I can handle 'em anytime. Besides, that guy is crazy. He's in love with one of his bugs."

"You're mean, you know that?"

"And you love me for it."

Both blondes grinned fondly at each other, walking close together that their shoulders were almost touching. Naruto averted his eyes from Ino's face and said, "So, you'll ask Kankuro?"

"Yeah, thanks for the suggestion," the blonde kunoichi smiled in genuine gratefulness, inviting an almost invisible spread of pale red over the young man's cheeks.

The administration building cast a huge shadow over the two shinobi, as people, ninja or not, busily went about with their business. The place was considerably more crowded than usual, as demands for skilled bodyguards had increased several notches because of the war. Most were from travelling businessmen that had to cross over the village's boundary and could've been easy targets for the Sound's force if they were to travel unprotected. All the shinobi were working overtime, jobs after jobs lined for them as soon as they came home from one mission. Konoha was rapidly building their force and reputation, the impending war fuelling everyone to follow the gruelling routine. Some who recognized either Naruto or Ino, or both, raised their hands in greeting before going back to whatever it was that they were doing. The twin glass of the clear sliding door opened up to the pair and they stepped inside, deftly avoiding the bustles that could've easily rivalled that of a stock market.

But that was the least of their worries.

"Uzumaki-kun, there you are!"

"I've been searching everywhere for you, Ino-san!"

"Really, Naruto, you're practicing Kakashi's tardiness nowadays."

"Yamanaka-sempai, can I have a word with you about the Shintenshin?"

Naruto stared at Ino mournfully, grimacing at the incoming mob of comrades/superiors/admirers. "Dang it, I was hoping that I could spend the day with you."

"Tough luck, Mr. Popular," she smiled bitterly, returning the sentiment. "I'll see you later, okay? Are you going to be home for dinner?"

"Uh… you don't have to cook, Ino," Naruto hurriedly assured, glancing back at the mob. "We'll just order takeouts from Ichiraku."

The young woman chuckled sadistically. "Oh no, you don't. I've been taking cooking lessons just because you complained that you never tasted home cooking. I'm not going to let my efforts go to waste. Do you know how humiliating it was to have Kiba laughing at my soba when he accompanied Hinata to the class? Do you?"

"What I mean was that we'll both be busy! No time for making poison, uh… cooking, as you called it—"

"That's it! You're coming home tonight!" she issued a death glare that would've easily rivalled the evilness of Orochimaru's snakey glare and punched a fist into her other hand. "I'll show you what real food is! Yamanaka Ino will not be defeated by the kitchen!"

"Uzumaki-kun!

"Ino-san!"

"Naruto!"

"Yamanaka-sempai!"

The mob had finally arrived.

"I'll see you for dinner," Ino exclaimed, and then dropped her voice into a venomous whisper. "Don't you dare disappear and come up with a stupid excuse like before; Lee won't be there to save your ass again." She flashed him a sweet smile, contrasting starkly against the psychotic grin that graced her lips earlier, one of the many traits that she inherited from Morino Ibiki. "Ja, love. Enjoy your day."

She pressed her lips against his in a chaste kiss and glided away with a wave of hand, pursued by her own share of followers.

Naruto groaned and made a mental note to buy lots and lots of sake tonight.

Just in case he needed to wash down the food without having to taste it, knowing Ino's 'extraordinary' talent in turning even the simple instant ramen into cuisine catastrophe.

Kami help him.

END

A/N:

Tried out a new style in this piece. Anyone noticed that this fic is filled with dialogues, instead of the usual paragraphs? Kudos to you if you did. I never knew that writing conversations are hard, until I was halfway through writing this. I think it's because you have to keep the natural flow and make it believable, that the characters were actually conversing and interacting with each other. Never shall I look down upon those that enjoyed writing dialogues. Never.

Kaara