Author's note: I just had this odd idea. For all of you who reach the 3rd paragraph and go, 'its grammatically incorrect!' it's supposed to be.
He stood on the top of the cliff, admiring the view; the cliff that had the famed Hokages. It was a beautiful day; the sun was shining, clouds were scarce amongst the serene blue sky. With his hands in his pocket, staring across his home, Naruto took this opportunity to ponder alone.
His homeland for many years had mistreated him for reasons which were unknown until it took an enemy to reveal the terrible secret. However, he was not bitter at that. Instead that only pushed his dream forward: the dream of becoming Hokage, and have everyone recognise him.
Ah, his dream of becoming Hokage, how wonderful it was. He had imagined what he would do, once he did achieve. Make no mistake: He will achieve it, no matter how stupid and impossible others insist it is. He had that unwavering, almost childish belief that he would make it. He was so damn sure of it. But once he got there, he was not under any false impressions about the job; it wasn't a simple promenade through the park. Firstly, he'd have to keep all the promises he'd made like changing the Hyuuga system, something that really irked him. He knew he'd have to change as well. Well, he wouldn't change much; he'd keep his ninja way. He just had to be a little more…refined, so not to embarrass his village in front of the other villages.
He gazed over the village: his home. He would prove them all wrong. He would gain their recognition and their acknowledgement and for all the right reasons. Not because he had some crazy monster in him, but because of his talent as a shinobi and his worth as a person. He leaned over the edge slightly.
It was funny, looking down now. If he slipped and fell, would anyone actually care? Kakashi always seemed so distant, much more focused on that Sasuke bastard before he left. Sakura, well, he wasn't so sure about Sakura. He cared for her. He liked her. Heck, he'd risked his life countless times for her. He was sure she didn't detest him, and they'd become friends. So maybe someone would care, aside Iruka, who was a given. But aside those people, he didn't think anyone would care. Well, his other former classmates would turn up, but he doubted they actually cared past the bonds of comradeship. Still, that was enough for him, to have that respect. After all, it was better than nothing, right?
He heard footsteps behind him. He turned to see someone who he least expected to find him here.
"Naruto," she said.
She'd first started liking him after he had ironically failed to retrieve the person she previously liked. She had gone to visit the hospital with Sakura, after having made up with her. After they stopped briefly over at Chouji's, who was still recovering, she was going to give Naruto a hollering for failing to bring Sasuke back after everything everyone had been through, especially Chouji. Heck, she'd even caught tear streaks on Shikamaru and who better to blame it on than the blonde buffoon? It was probably his reckless actions that led to this.
How naïve
As soon as they'd opened the door, Ino opened her mouth to begin but stopped. The poor boy was covered in bandages. Then her initial anger returned, redirected at herself and Sasuke.
That bastard had been responsible for all of this. Her two team mates, both injured, and she was aware that others weren't in good condition. She'd heard that even Rock Lee had gone out to do his bit, having barely recovered. Heck, even the sand siblings, former enemies, had gone out for Sasuke. Had he not cared at all? It was at that moment when her feelings for him rapidly disintegrated.
But she was angry with herself too. Angry, because she was guilty for being angry with the wrong people; she looked up at the energetic boy who was currently trying to entertain Sakura by unravelling his bandages to show where he'd already healed, and how he'd get back Sasuke for sure this time.
It was such a fake display. She could easily see through it and was sure Sakura could too. After all, she herself upheld her own image too.
Perhaps it was then when she started to fall for him, and in a completely different way to what she felt for Sasuke. Naruto wasn't exactly the hottest guy her age, nor did he portray an air of cool mysteriousness. But it didn't matter.
For one, he was inspiring. Nobody who had met him could deny that. His performance during the chuunin exams easily showed that. But that wasn't all. There were other things. At first glance, he seemed like an insensitive jerk that was always pining after Sakura. But behind that, he really cared for her. She found that out shockingly, when it was discovered that it had been Naruto, not as previously believed, Sasuke, who had defeated the monster that was Gaara. She remembered the conversation between her and Sakura quite vividly.
"Sasuke-kun sure is amazing! He managed to defeat that monstrous Gaara!" She squealed, complimenting her crush. Sakura smirked at her, looked at Naruto, who didn't look too happy at all, before she corrected her.
"Actually, it was Naruto."
"Huh?" Ino so ungraciously replied.
"Naruto was the one who defeated Gaara." She studied Naruto for a little while. He broke the short deadlock.
"What? You don't believe me? I can prove it! I'll call him over, and beat him again!" He exclaimed angrily. Ino was, for once, speechless.
"Anyone who tries to hurt Sakura-chan has to go through me first!" He proclaimed heroically.
"Hey, you say that like I can't take care of myself!" Sakura berated.
"Uh…that's not what I meant…"
There were plenty of other things she soon found she liked about Naruto, after visiting him in the hospital. Between observing him at chance encounters, joint missions, and conversations with Sakura, she found out there was a lot more to him than she originally thought.
Then he had announced that he was going to off to train with a 'perverted hermit'. It was just like him though; expect the unexpected. And so he left Konoha for two and a half years.
Now, normally a girl can forget about, dare Ino admit, a crush on Naruto over such a long period of separation. Hinata sure did; her eyes roamed closer to home as she found solace in the Dog's best friend: Kiba. Unfortunately, this didn't seem to be the case for Ino.
Frequently, while she had a moment or two to spare, she found her thoughts wondering to what Naruto would be doing now. He was probably training hard, inspiring someone, surprising someone as he had done to her. And she wondered, after so long, would he have found someone whilst away? She hoped he had not.
Then came the moment he returned. She reacted as she always did; irritated by his presence. She didn't know why, but felt it was much easier to react like that than admit her undying crush for him. Unfortunately for her, some others were not as dense as Naruto when it came to such delicate matters.
"Why were you so mean to Naruto?" Sakura asked, seemingly out of the blue.
"What are you talking about, forehead girl? That's how I've always treated him." Ino flippantly remarked, before laughing nervously.
"Really? I thought you liked him." Sakura matched her flippancy.
"Why would I like him!" Ino incredulously asked, in an attempt to hide her feelings.
"You just gave off that impression. I mean, you always compare a lot of the boys we talk about to him."
"That's because they're so much better!" Ino almost screamed. Sakura rolled her eyes.
"Sure Ino. Whatever you say. Besides, I have to get to Team 7's training ground. I'll say hi to Naruto from you." Ino's expression resembled someone who'd just been slapped into reality.
"Don't you dare!" She called after. Sakura only chuckled in response, before taking off. For the second time, Ino felt jealous of Sakura. She was on the same team as the boy she wanted to be with. That girl had the kind of luck she didn't.
After Team 7's first mission, having been reinstated, Sakura and Ino met up again. They made small talk, and Ino tried to avoid the subject of Naruto as much as possible. It was time to get over this silly little crush. Besides, unlike Sasuke, Naruto had already made clear who his heart belonged to. Ino looked over and couldn't help but feel envious of the pink haired konuichi. She couldn't sit around anymore.
"Oi, Forehead-girl, I'm going to take a rain check," Sakura grimaced at the nickname, which had still stuck after all these years, even after their friendship had rekindled.
"Fine, just don't do anything disgusting, Ino-pig!" Sakura called after.
Ino didn't reply and set off, jumping tree to tree, getting higher and higher until she reached her destination: the Hokages' cliff face. It was a nice place she could normally come to ponder and be left alone when she needed to. Shikamaru had his clouds, Chouji had his food, and she had this.
She didn't expect to see him, of all people, here.
"Naruto." He turned around, eyes widening in shock.
"Ino, what are you doing here?" So he knew her name. She walked up to him, facing the view.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" He followed her gaze over Konoha.
"Yeah, it's amazing." He concurred, hands in pockets, slightly slouched.
"Uh, Naruto, can I tell you something?" She felt uncharacteristically nervous now. This was definitely different to what she felt for Sasuke.
"What is it?" He asked innocently, in that cute way of his. Ino quickly regained her composure. She really had to get over a lost cause. It was now or never, she decided.
"I like you. A lot. For a long time." She spoke in short sentences, unable to deliberate further. Damn, this was turning out harder than she'd thought; much harder than expressing the crush she'd had on Sasuke.
"You…like…me?" She couldn't say it again and just nodded instead. She'd gone as far as to have lost her voice, the butterflies in her stomach preventing her from speaking. He turned away and began to walk away. She cringed. Well, she hadn't expected him to exactly profess his eternal love for her.
He stopped now.
"Do you really like me?" She twitched. Now, it just irritated her.
"I already told you! What more do you want?" She shouted at him. He smiled, almost apologetically and now faced her. His right hand went down to his waist and under his shirt. What the hell was he doing? He closed his eyes, and began to lift his shirt up. She would've assumed the obvious, if it wasn't for the concentrated look on his face. She looked down at his exposed abdomen. Something was surfacing, something black and spiralled as his eyes snapped open.
"What…what is that?"
"The Kyuubi seal." He let the shock overcome her face before he continued. "That's right; I have the Kyuubi sealed within me. The Yondaime never killed it. He sealed it in me. That's why everyone hates me." He continued standing there, holding his shirt up, waiting for reaction. This time, it was he who was surprised.
She walked up to him, with a face telling conflicting emotions. It almost looked like she was going to walk past him, shun him and hate him like everyone else. Like how it was meant to be. Naruto could accept that, he supposed.
But she didn't. She stopped next to him. She stuck her hand out, and onto the seal. She could feel that a monstrous chakra was stored within. It made her shudder. But then she did something that even the unpredictable Naruto was astonished by. She slid her hand around his waist whilst the other went around the other side, and linked up. She was only inches away from his face, and he was positively red. Even she had a red tinge across her cheeks. She smiled cheekily.
"I already told you. I like you." Then she kissed him, a short peck on the lips. During that brief moment, his arms embraced her.
"Thank you."
Author's note: Interpret it any way you will. If you reached this far, you may be thinking that was totally OOC and it'll never happen. You're probably right.