Chapter 3: Moonlight, Candlelight, but no romance

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The third time our hero Kakaru returned to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, his fellow clan members didn't go to the market to trade. They didn't check into an Inn. They weren't there at all. The thirteen year old walked in all by himself.

A young man had walked into the village with a slight limp and a new scar on his cheek. He winced as he checked in with the ANBU at the gate as his mother had often done for him. His pants were torn, and his shirt was as well, possibly from thorns tugging at them in the forest. He thanked the guard and walked into the town, with nothing but a backpack on.

He wandered over to where he remembered where Ino's house was. He had arrived there just after one o'clock in the morning, exhausted. He tried to wait out infront of her house for her as he always had done, but he fell asleep/passed out on the bench infront of her house.

He awoke several hours later, a matured Ino shaking him awake. His eyelids slowly parted and he smiled. "Ino-chan...good morning" He said softly, moving himself up with his aching muscles.

"Kakaru! What happened to you!" Ino said in a worried tone, pushing him back down so he wouldn't strain himself.

"Well...I got seperated from the rest of my clan...we were attacked three months ago by rogue ninja" The scruffy teenager said.

"Oh my!" Ino said, still worried.

"I looked, but they were gone...even Mom...luckily I had been messing when her map when it happened, so I could find my way here" He said, smiling warmly at her. Back to you Ino-chan...he added mentally.

"Are you ok? what happened to your clothes! come in! come in! You have to wash up and get some fresh clothes on!" She said rapid fire, tugging him into the house and shutting him in the bathroom.

He sighed and undressed, stepping into the shower, letting the steaming hot water wash the grime away.

Ino walked into the bathroom, covering her eyes.

"Umm...Kakaru? I've got some clothes for you! They're my dads, so they might be a little big, but they should do ok!" She said loudly before beating a hasty retreat out of the bathroom.

Kakaru finished cleaning himself, took out a razor he kept with him and shaved his slightly longer than stubble chin hair. He dressed, then went out to meet his host.

Ino was sitting at a table, nervously sipping tea as she waited for him.

He snuck up on her and wrapped his arms around her. "T-thanks a lot Ino-chan...this means a lot to me..." he whispered, his face turning soft pink as he embraced her.

"Its...no trouble Karu-kun..." she said, turning red from suprise.

She offered him a seat, which he took. He explained that he had fallen down quite a large hill on his way here. She stifled a laugh, but he when he smiled at her she burst out. He let her finish before starting to talk again.

"Do you want to hear something crazy..." he said, looking away and blushing deep red.

"When we were attacked...and after when I was wandering...all I could think was how much I wanted to settle...how much I wanted to stop moving around, live in one spot...and then, not even before i was done desiring the settled life, when I thought 'I could live with this...if only...if I..." he trailed off, still not looking at her.

"What?" Ino asked softly, leaning closer.

"Y-you know what...forget it. Hey, are you hungry? Come on, lets go get something to eat!" He said, grabbing her hand and pulling her out of the house, desperate to avoid what he had started.

"Ok.." Ino said, letting him drag her along.

They stopped in at Ichiraku ramen, and they had a light meal before Kakaru made her go out to the training field and show him all of the jutsu she had learned. Of course this meant posessing him and making him put on makeup and lipstick. After she cancelled the jutsu, she couldn't stop laughing. Kakaru was slightly less amused.

Ino stopped at her house to shower and change clothes quickly, after she had been demonstrating jutsu for several hours for him, all of which he found completely amazing.

While she was in there, he asked her mother where the best restraunt in town was, and she chuckled. "What, are you proposing to my sweet daughter!" Inochi practically lept into the room, and got so close to his face, he could tell exactly how much of what he had for breakfast. "Umm...no! Nothing like that!" he said, backing up. Inochi stepped forward and bumped him slightly, but just enough to cause Kakaru to trip over a chair and fall "SO WHAT? YOUR SAYING SHE IS-Mpha!" A hand was firmly clamped over Inochi's mouth, and it belonged to his wife.

She gave Kakaru the directions to the finest restraunt in town, with tables on the roof so you could watch the stars while you ate, as well as her blessing.

Ino came down, somehow oblivous to the commotion that had occured while she was away, in a light white dress cut just above the knee's, and Kakaru was speechless. She stunned him, and he actually stared at her, mouth agape for a moment. She blushed and Inochi cleared his throat rather violently. The phased youth snapped out of it and grabbed Ino's hand gently, leading her outside. "Hey Ino-chan...um...do you wanna..you know, get something to eat? I saw this place I thought looked good..." He said shyly, blushing again severely.

Ino didn't catch the hint. "But its getting dark, lets go back to my house for dinner!" Ino said, tugging him towards the house. He didn't move.

"Please Ino-chan...I really want to go there" He said, pulling her away from the house.

"Oh...Ok" she said, walking along with him. It was getting late, so most of the crowd had cleared out, which made it easier for them to navigate. But also it made it unneccessary for them to hold hands. Kakaru didn't take notice of this fact, so he had her hand firmly locked in his.

He got her to the fancy restraunt and pulled a chair out for her to sit on. He pulled it out a bit too far, and she ended up falling. The evening didn't get much better from there on. The table on the roof was nice, but really cold and windy. The moon was out, but only when the giant clouds parted. The food was good, until it got cold and bugs started wanting a taste. After that disaster, Kakaru started to walk her home in this awkward silence. He still hadn't told her. And he was running out of chances.

Eventually fate stepped in, in the form of him getting lost and leading her to the field where they had been watching the sunset the last time they were there. He sat down and sighed and she joined him. "Thanks for dinner..." Ino said, smiling at him. "Dinner was...A Disaster! It couldn't have gone more wrong!" Kakaru said, looking down. "Yes...but it was a sweet disaster." She said, pulling his face up by his chin.

Back at Ino's parents house her parents were waiting, broad smiles on their faces. "You think they had a miserable time?" Inochi asked. "Of course! It sounds so romantic, but it's aweful! Don't you remember the time you took me there! Hopefully they will be as attracted after the disaster as we were" Mrs. Yamanaka said, laughing hard.

Kakaru smiled and looked deeply into Ino's eyes, and she returned his gaze. Almost like magic, the clouds escaped to the north and the stars were out, glowing like litle gems.

The teen's eventually broke eyecontact, and the male was the first to break the silence.

"Uum...Ino-chan...before what I was trying to tell you was..." He said softly

"Yes?" Ino said, leaning in closer to him.

"It was you! You are the one I wanted with me during my traveling! Even before the attack, I missed you so much! I hated that I had to wait a year to see you! I wanted to stay here! With you!" Kakaru said suddenly, blurting it all out before the shy part of his soul could stop him.

"Karu-kun...I had no clue..." Ino said, shocked, and turning very red.

"I'm sorry...I shouldn't have said-oomf!" He was interrupted by a certain blonde kunoichi pressing her lips against his. In that moment, it seemed like time stopped entirely. He wasn't in his own body, he could see himself frozen in time, kissing the girl. The Girl. The stars seemed to reflect how they felt and amplified it a thousand times.

He wrapped his arms tightly around her and pulled her in closer to him. He tilted his head slightly to the side, kissing her deeper. They parted for a moment, smiling intensely. Then, just as suddenly they had stopped, their lips melted passionatly back into each other. Ino leaned foreward and pushed Kakaru down on his back. She climbed on top of him and continued to kiss him with the same intensity. He placed his hands on her sides and nibbled gently on her lower lip. They broke contact again, this time to breathe. The caught their breath and then they just laid there. Ino gently nuzzled Kakaru while he stroked her hair gently. "Ino-hime...I don't want to seem forward...but I could see spending my life with you..." He said suddenly, kissing her gently on the forehead.

"W-what are you talking about?" Ino said, gazing into his eyes. She could see living with him too, running a little shop in the village.

"Ino-hime..." he said, holding her head close to his chest. "I want to live here...I've wandered for 11 years...I just want to live with someone...I just want to live with...you Ino-hime...I...L-l-love you..." he said softly, eyes welling up in tears. "A-a-nd three days from now i will have to--" he was interrupted by Ino placing her pointer finger on his lips, silencing him instantly.

"Let's worry about that tomorrow...I love you too..." She said, kissing him softly on the lips. She had hoped before that Sasuke would be the first person to kiss her, as well as her first love, but secretly on some level, she had wanted Kakaru also. And now she had him.

Kakaru returned her kiss, and not too soon after, he removed his lips from hers, and gazed deep into her eyes. He kissed her gently on the lips, then on the cheek, his kisses trailing down her face, and his mouth settled on her neck, his soft kisses moving all around. Ino let out a soft moan to show her appreciation as Kakaru started sucking gently on her neck. "Ah...ooh! It tickles Karu-ku-mhhhmmmm..." Ino started, but was interrupted by Kakaru's lips meeting her's again. This time he kissed her deeper, pressing his face gently into her's. Soon after he had started, Ino parted her lips. Her tongue licked his lips and begged entry. He allowed it and soon their tongues gently caressed and rubbed each other. His hands pressed her body closer to his, as suddenly he wanted the gap between them to be nothing. Their tongues now weren't gently massaging each other, they were wrestling with each other almost violently. Soon, their lips had to part so they could breath, but their tongues kept at it. They realized exactly what they were doing, and went back to the more traditional style of kissing.

"Ino...mhmm...Ino-hime! We should stop...I love doing this, but if your dad found us...I'd be dead before I hit the ground" He said, attempting to fight off her kisses. She had finished kissing him on the lips, and was going for his neck as he had hers.

"Aww...well I suppose you are right...walk me home Karu-kun?" Ino said, smiling and standing up.

"Of course Ino-hime!" He said, lacing his finger's through her's as he led her back to her house. Her parent had already gone to bed, leaving behind a note saying how much trouble she was in if someone didn't kidnap her.

"I love you Ino-hime, good night!" he said, shutting the door and walking towards the Inn he stayed in. He couldn't help but be giddy: The Girl of his Dreams! She actually liked him!

22222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222Thanks for reading ! I hope you enjoy! The current time is 1:07AM! Sorry, but this will be it for a few days, I'm off to Camp! Hopefully Werewolves won't get me!