A/n: Yeah I'm sort of sorry for leaving it at a cliff hanger (grins)…sort of. By the way, thanks for the response! I'm glad I'm not the only one who loves NaruIno

Inspired Song: Stupid Little Love Song, Fefe Dobson

And now away with the more romantic chapter…hehehe

Chapter 4:

He slapped his forehead, grunting all kinds of curses in the name of Ino. Miss stupid idiotic Ino Yamanaka who caused him to lose focus. He even thought he could get away with it; he had Sakura all to himself but that blonde just had to invade his thoughts.

"I uh…" He coughed, scratching the back of his ear as he bit his lip. Sakura had her hand to mouth to suppress a gasp as she continued to stare, agape. The pupils in her emerald tinted orbs contracted. Oh the horror, Naruto could not configure whether the option to run away or whether explaining everything was the right path. His heart plummeted into his stomach, nerves twitching in him like acid. All he could gather was a petty smile of anxiety as he spoke,

"Sorry!" With that said, he fleeted. Out of the town streets, as fast as his feet could scurry, dirt itched its way into his socks but was disregarded. Naruto huffed air in and out of his lungs, trying to catch his breath. His legs bounded, wanted to sprint into the ocean if he could reach that far. He wanted to rewind time and act as if nothing had occurred. 'Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.' His conscious stomped that awful word, making it clear.

Ino blinked. She blinked, she sighed, and she lightly banged her head with the palm of her hand. She lifted an eyebrow and sat down in the middle of the dirt road, in front of the early evening townspeople in Sakura's kimono. Crossing her arms, she made an effort to contemplate over what exactly had happened. What appeared to be Ino pretending to be Sakura in order to get to Sasuke turned out to be Ino…trying to get with Naruto?

A laugh flew out of her mouth, she quickly clutched her mouth as her azure eyes darted to the east and then to the west before uncontrollable giggles erupted from the pit of her stomach. It wasn't any minor sensation that was going on; it was sort of a relief. It was months of unease and jealousy as well as anger that trailed out of her mouth. Bringing herself back up to her feet she patted the dust out of her kimono. Knowing that she couldn't keep her chakra in maintenance any longer she went to the nearest store to conceal herself in the bathroom before transforming back to her usual self.

It was then after that she became aware of the sunflower, instead of tearing apart the damn blossom she stuck it inside her pocket, as a sort of gift to show Naruto who exactly was dominating who.

'Wait,' she paused during her walk back to her flower shop. 'What if…' She tapped her chin, lingering on the thought of what would have happened if things would have hung on. Soon enough the image of her kissing Naruto came to mind, "Ah! No…" I retorted aloud amongst herself. "I, I don't like Naruto! He's…" She grew silent; thinking up lame excuses to push Naruto away was becoming a hassle. Frankly, what was wrong about liking Naruto?

She contemplated over him when she arrived at the flower shop, pushing past the glass store and changing the sign to 'Open'. Settling herself at the front, she thought about it once last time, and what came to mind was the night where she discovered Sakura and Sasuke, when she ran blindly until she fell near the lake. It was the night where she felt as if her world was caving in and the same night where she met Naruto. She always was acquainted with him but she never knew him until that faithful night.

Ino softly rested her hand onto her chest, flinching when she realized just how animated she was when it came to Naruto Uzumaki. The hue in her orbs dimmed as the person whom came to mind was Sakura. Slowly pressing the side of her cheek onto the counter her eyes scanned the shop, wondering if it was the right idea to just close the store and hit the hay sack. "Oi, Sakura even when you're not present you still succeed in screwing everything up." It wasn't surprising seeing Naruto being passionate, he was quite an affectionate guy.

With a slight lift she allowed for her forehead to bang against the hard surface. "Face it, you're not Sakura, Bump you're not the beautiful one. Bump Sasuke will never even acknowledge you Bump and the guy you now like is only interested in Sakura." She grimaced, wondering how in the hell she allowed for herself to be entangled in this love triangle. It wasn't as if the obvious could not have been conceded. Sadly, this whole dilemma could have been avoided, if only she had denied his request to help him win Sakura…

"Ino, what are you doing?" Lifting her eyelids, she grumbled from her interruption of self pity. After all, it was satisfying being self destructive, eh? Almost wishing that she conceivably did close the store, she grinded her teeth as she saw Naruto poke at her shoulder.

"What are YOU doing?" She let out a phony laugh, rubbing exhaustion out of her yes. She took the time to return the gesture, jabbing his cheek as she accepted the flush that spread onto her cheeks.

"Oh aren't we the comedienne? Anyway, thanks a lot." He huffed out, pushing her arm out of his face. Naruto sighed, his lips curving meekly. "I almost had Sakura…I was think close," He exampled with his digits, squinting his eyes to exaggerate, "until your words of wonderful wisdom came and disrupted me from kissing Sakura." His grin grew, knowing that it pestered Ino whenever her rival was mentioned. It was the entire reason for walking over a mile to see Ino, to tick her off. Watching her fluster, her face reddening when she ensued in scolding him, it was amusing. In fact, she was cute when she became angry, not that she wasn't attractive, but there some appeal in watching her berate about.

"Not today Naruto, I'm not in the mood." A dark shudder quivered down her spinal column, the converting familiarity of guilt oozing.

"Oh, is that so? I made a jackass out of myself and you're not in the mood?" He laughed softly, propping both arms onto the counter. He used his palms as support for his head, his stare mocking Ino's previous attitude. "Oh, I forgot! Here…" He reached from behind to pull out a flower. "Sorry for being…well I don't particularly know what the hell I'm sorry for, but you seem to be pissed at me for some reason, I'm just sorry!"

She tensed at the sight of the sunflower, which astonishingly maintained its state of beauty. Logic told her to take it and pretend as if the flower came out from sheer fondness but pride demanded to be heard.

"I don't want that flower," Ino turned away from Naruto, her fingers clutching into a fist. "You can go and give it to Sakura-"

"Ay, Ino. I really am sorry," Naruto frowned, hoping that she would cut the stubborn nonsense already. He watched as she turned fully away from him, his eyes trailing down to glance at the bright object sticking out of her back pocket

"Hey where did you get that?" He reached over to tuck the sunflower out, examining it intently. "I…" His mind wandered to the hours prior, where he gave Sakura the very same-

"Uh I-." Ino tried to snatch the flower but he pulled out of her reach. "Wait!" She jumped over the counter, trying her best to grab the stupid blossom from Naruto's hand. "Give me that!" Protests unheard, Ino could not snatch the flower while each attempt Naruto only dodged her movements. Fed up, Ino charged at him, grabbing his shoulders as the two lost balance. Naruto cried out in shock, his back landing onto the rug floor with a bang. In the midst of it all flower pots were toppled over, dirt dropping onto the ground. "Jeez, idiot. Give me!"

Watching her only had him entertained for the moment; he lifted the flower above his head, Ino climbing over his torso in order to reach for the damn matured bud. He cackled, teasing her as they fought for her prized possession. She adjusted her body so that her hips were atop his chest, trying her best to grab for the yellow plant.

"Ino, you're not going to get it!" Naruto continued to tease, waving the plant in front of her eyes. Now provoked, Ino dove for it, missing as her body collapse atop Naruto's. He ceased his fits of laughter, taking his time to grasp that Ino was laying on his upper body. He blushed furiously, allowing for the sunflower to slip through his fingers. Ino panted for air, her face staring down at the boy before her. They could only gaze at one another, silence filling the store.

"Don't look at me like that," Ino managed to huff out, narrowing her eyes, "as if I'm Sakura-"

"You're nothing like Sakura." Naruto blurted. Ino's blonde locks tickled his cheek as he reached over to brush Ino's hair out of her eyes. "You're cute when you're angry, Ino."

"Shut up." She reproached darkly, "and get off of me!"

"Ino, you're on top of me." He responded calmly, a smile still gracing his features. "Let me change that, shall we?" Promptly he toppled over her, bracing her wrists over her head. He lifted his head, gazing at Ino. Her face was flushed, moisture glazing over her eyes. Her eyes were half-lidded, yet the pale cerulean did not cease to pierce through him. Instead of following her wishes he decided to torture her a bit, now that he knew exactly what was going on here. "Ah, you smell nice." He chuckled, brushing his nose against her neck as Ino quivered with the warm touch. She growled, trying her best to fight him off. Something swelled in her throat, and she prayed for him to quit.

"NARU-." He took the opportunity to brush his lips against hers, and as shocked as Ino was she allowed for it. He pulled back, trying his best to fight the nerves. He tasted candy, and he wasn't exactly ready to give that up. Ino, in her moment of impatience, lifted her head to meet Naruto in a bruising kiss, wanting to know just exactly what he tasted like. He was taken aback by the sudden action, but instincts took over. He pushed for an opening, and was more than delighted when he was accepted. His tongue explored her mouth and brushed against every inch he could find.

"Ahem…"Inoichi coughed, trying his best to restrain himself. Although he already knew of Ino and Naruto, it didn't exactly mean that he was so accepting to let his daughter go. He could almost laugh at how ridiculous the kids looked in front of him.

"D-I. I-I-I-I, uh…hi Inoichi." Naruto quickly pushed himself off, pushing himself as far from Ino as possible. Rouge tinted under his eyes, he tried his best not faint. Ino only chuckled nervously as she scratched the back of her head.