Standard Disclaimer. I don't own Naruto or Glee. So, there are a couple of time skips in this chapter, as well as the introduction of Naruto and Sakura to the story, who along with Quinn and Ino, are the other two main characters of this story. Please forgive any grammar or spelling errors, like I've said I try to catch them but I'm not always successful. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

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xXx-Chapter 6-xXx

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Quinn ran at the tree again, gathering Chakra into the bottom of her feet to try and stick to it, and once again she was sent catapulting away, forcing herself to twist and flip in the air so that she could land without hurting herself. She had seen many ninja's stick to walls before and had been curious about how they did it. When she had asked Iruka-sensei he had said that it was an advanced chakra control technique that she would learn when she became a genin, but that it was currently too advanced for her and that she should probably stick to the leaf sticking exercise.

She hadn't appreciated that. She wasn't being arrogant or trying to brag when she told him that it was too easy for her, that she could already do the leaf sticking exercise, but it had probably come out that way and so he had told her that if she knew how to do it then she should perfect it. How you perfected it though was something she had no idea on how to go about doing. She could make a leaf stick to any part of her body that she wanted, she could make multiple leaves stick. It wasn't hard, did she have to show up to class looking like the freaking swamp thing for Iruka-sensei to realize that she had it down?

Luckily Mizuki-sensei was a little more lax about that kind of thing. He seemed friendly enough to the average person and was always willing to lend a hand to any student who asked, though Quinn could sense a lot of anger and resentment within him whenever she sensed his chakra, she could also tell that he was fairly powerful, stronger than Iruka-sensei by quite a bit so maybe he just resented being stuck at the academy. So she had asked Mizuki-sensei if he would be willing to teach her how to do it and he had agreed.

The key was to find the right amount of chakra that would allow you to stick to the tree, similar to the leaf sticking exercise, but not so much that it blew you away and that was where she was having trouble. If she just stood next to the tree she could get the right amount of chakra to get her foot to stick to it, but it wasn't enough to hold her weight when she tried to walk up the tree. Mizuki-sensei had suggested that she begin with a running start and use a kunai to mark her place. When she ran she found she could make it up a little ways but as she got higher up the tree she would lose her momentum and the amount of chakra she was using would no longer be enough. So she tried to compensate and add more chakra, this usually sent her flying away.

Once on the ground she would start over. She had been working on this for two days now and she was getting closer and closer to that perfect output. She looks at the poor tree that she had chosen to practice off of. It was a rather large and sturdy old thing, hidden in the back corner of her clan's property, so she didn't feel quite as bad about its condition as she would if it were in a training field or something. The entire lower trunk of the tree near the ground was missing most of its bark, and then the higher you looked it was covered in slash marks from her kunai marking her progress.

She lets out a sigh, she would give it a couple more runs and then call it a day. There were other things she needed to work on as well, plus she needed to get home. She couldn't spend all day practicing this, she just didn't have the time. On her last attempt she had used just a little too much chakra so once again she would lower the output by just a tiny bit. She takes a calming breath and slowly starts to mold the chakra at the bottom of her feet, when she feels it reach the amount that she wants, she charges forward at full speed.

She sticks, perfect! She was doing it, she was almost to the top of the tree! However her surprise at successfully accomplishing her task after two days of hard work breaks her concentration and her foot slips. She was now falling head first towards the ground, and with the way she was falling there was no way she would be able to right herself. She puts her arms forward to try and cushion her fall a bit, better to break her arms than her neck after all, and waits for the pain. However before she hits the ground she feels a pair of arms wrap around her and the next thing she knows she's being held safely in her father's arms.

"Hi daddy." She says with a smile, hoping to defuse the situation. She could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't happy.

"What do you think you're doing, you could have seriously hurt yourself!?" He asks as he sets her down and begins to check her for injuries.

"I'm learning how tree climb with my chakra."

Her father pinches his brow. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that is to attempt on your own? If your mother hadn't sent me to come grab you for dinner, you would have been seriously hurt."

Quinn sighs, "I'm sorry… it's just… the stuff we're doing at the academy right now is too easy. Everybody is working on the leaf sticking exercise but I already know how to do that. It's easy. It's not a challenge, and I'm not getting anything out of it, at least not anymore its… well… it's a waste of my time."

Her father sighs before giving her an appraising look. "Alright," he says as he rubs his chin. "I can see where you're coming from. You need more of a challenge and that's fine, but, you can't be reckless okay. Be smart about your training. You have plenty of time to advance, so to do something that could get you hurt just because you think you're not progressing fast enough is foolish at best and recklessly dangerous at worst." He scolds her.

"Yes daddy. I'm sorry." She says softly. She hadn't meant to worry him or anybody, but she couldn't slow down either. Plus, as much as she hated to admit it, she was enjoying it, her training. Since learning about chakra she had wanted to learn as much as she could about it and what it could do and now she was.

"However, that doesn't mean your old man isn't proud of you." He says with a smile, and Quinn can feel her heart swell. She loved to hear that, that her father was proud of her. "And since we're here, why don't you show me what you've got so far."

"I thought you said it was dangerous?" She asks curiously.

"I said it was dangerous to attempt it on your own, but you're not on your own now, are you? I'm here." He says with a wink.

Quinn grins at him. "Alright, watch this!" She says before taking off towards the tree, recalling the exact amount of chakra she had used last time, and just like last time it works. And unlike last time she stays focused and makes it all the way to the top.

"That's my girl!" he whoops, "Fantastic job sweetheart!"

She giggles at his enthusiasm, enjoying every bit of it. "Thanks." She says as she slowly makes her way down the tree. Hugging it and sliding down.

"I guess I still have a ways to go." She says sheepishly, when she finally makes it back down to him.

"Rin, sweetheart, do you have any idea of how far you've come?" He asks her seriously. "Honey you've been at the academy, not even a year yet and you've already learned how to tree climb, and you did it on your own too. I didn't even think to learn that until after I had already been a genin for a couple of months. You're coming along so fast and I am so very proud of you." He says and Quinn can't help it she flings herself into her father's arms for a hug.

This is what a father should be. This is the kind of man that every child should be lucky enough to have in their life. She hated herself for betraying the trust of this man. She had to tell him, she had to tell him the truth about herself and where she came from. That she wasn't really his daughter. After everything that he has done for her, she owed him that.

"Daddy…" Quinn wonders if she would be allowed to call him that after this was over. "Can… I need to tell you something." She says, her voice quivering.

"Of course, you can tell me anything."

And as she looks at the man that for the past six years had been her father, the kindness, the warmth and the devotion on his face… she just couldn't lose that. She truly was a coward at heart, but she didn't want to lose this family. She would keep lying to them, keep pretending that she was worthy of this family she had been placed in.

"I… love you."

"I love you too. Now come on we'd better get home, before your mother starts to worry."

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Quinn looks up from her scroll and for a moment stares longingly across the courtyard as Ino and Sakura laugh together. She felt a painful ache in her heart and the desire to go over there and join them was almost overwhelming. She missed the closeness that she and Ino had once shared. But a year and half at the academy had proven just how different the two of them were. Ino was a bright, happy, talented seven year old girl and Quinn loved her to death. But no matter how hard Quinn tried she just couldn't look at her as anything other than a child. She was seven and Quinn… wasn't. She could pretend for a bit, but ultimately that was all it was.

She loved Ino, don't get her wrong, her sister was everything to her but Quinn was not a child, not where it counted. In a way she was glad that Ino had found Sakura, she genuinely liked the other girl and thought she was a good friend for Ino to have. Ino was loud and boisterous, while Sakura was quiet and reserved, she thought they were good for each other. Ino brought Sakura out of her shell and Sakura helped to temper Ino. What made it hard for Quinn was how alone she felt as her sister found a new best friend.

Quinn felt she was physically too young to forge bonds with people who were her age mentally and too old to do the same with people with who were her age physically. She had a close relationship with her parents, but that was as parents to their child, not as friends and equals. And while she loved it and savored every second of it, she wanted something more. She knew it was greedy, she knew how lucky she was to have this second chance, but she felt isolated. But it wasn't like she could really do anything about it, her entire existence was based around a lie and maintaining that lie. She glances over at Ino and Sakura once more, and almost gets up to go over and join them.

Almost.

No, it was good that Ino was making friends with someone besides her. She deserved to. She deserved to have someone who was there for her who wasn't a freak. And there was no doubt about it, she was a freak. She generally ignored it because what else was there to do about it. But she would often hear the adults and her teachers talking, and even her parents every once in a while, and they would all talk about how advanced she was and how fast she was coming along. The word prodigy was often heard in those conversations. She was different and there was really no way to hide it.

On the one hand it was nice, now when she asked for training in something people generally gave her the benefit of the doubt and would assist her, even if it was considered a little too advanced for her. On the other hand it brought her a lot scrutiny. Everyone was watching to see if she was the next legendary ninja to come to fruition. Not that it really changed anything, she was here to get strong enough so that she could protect her sister and make sure she could have a relatively safe and normal life. Whatever people thought of her as she worked towards that goal was irrelevant.

And they were watching her, she was progressing much faster than any of her peers. The problem was everything really was coming that easy to her, and holding back was never an option for her. She had been working on her chakra reserves and control since she was a baby, so anything the academy had to offer in that department had so far had been beneath her. She had the second largest reserves in class, only trailing behind a boy named Naruto who had an insane amount, and she had already moved on from tree climbing and water walking to other more advanced techniques and exercises. Currently she was working on a technique called Chakra Strings.

It was a little more obscure technique here in Konoha, than say in Suna, but it was nifty little trick and quite useful if you were able to master it. The concept itself was easy to comprehend but difficult to master. The user would send their chakra out and attach it to a target, kind of like a long distance leaf sticking exercise, while at the same time concentrating it into a very tight thin stream. Eventually the chakra would condense to the point where it became visible and looked like a string of chakra, though people who mastered the technique were able to condense their chakra to point that it was invisible. Once the chakra string was made and connected to another object you could then manipulate it from a distance.

Suna ninja were renowned for their mastery of this art and their ability to use it to move and manipulate deadly puppets that were specifically designed for combat. And while she had no desire to become a puppeteer, the ability to move and manipulate objects from a distance was an incredibly useful thing to be able to do. Plus it would have the added benefit of pushing her control through the roof.

She was starting off small and easy, just practicing gathering her chakra into the tip of her finger, concentrating it, and then sending it out. Getting herself used to the feel of it, and the way it pulled and strained her reserves. Not that it was a chakra intensive technique, not by a long shot, but knowing all of this helped her to know how to control it.

Her concentration is broken by a voice behind her.

"Hey, what'cha doing?"

When Quinn looks up she can see Naruto standing there grinning at her. They had shared the same class for a year and a half now but this was the first time she can recall either of them saying something to one another. They'd had no cause to. She was at the top of the class, quiet and always studying or training and he was well… the class clown. Loud, energetic, skipped class half the time and was always pulling some stupid prank or another. It wasn't like she disliked him or anything, it was just that he was very much a little kid and she wasn't.

"I'm practicing." She says politely back, with a little smile.

"Really?" He asks confused. "Because it kind of looks like you're just staring at your hand."

Quinn laughs, but stops when she sees the slight flash of hurt that crosses his face.

"Sorry," she says, "I guess it probably does look like that. I'm working on a technique called Chakra Strings. I'm just working out the mechanics of it all before I really get started."

"That sounds boring, what are you going to do with Chakra Strings?"

Quinn shrugs and smiles, "I'm sure I'll think of something."

"So hey, instead do you wanna come play ninja with me?" He asks with no real preamble.

"No thank you, I really want to work on this. I'm sure someone else will though."

Naruto laughs and scratches the back of his head embarrassed. "Sure, sure, no big deal, I just thought you looked kind of lonely over here by yourself that's all. Well I'll see you later."

Quinn felt kind of bad as he began to walk away, it was very sweet of him to offer after all. It was as she got back to concentrating on her technique that her sensor abilities picked up on it. Isolation, hopelessness, depression. It actually brought her up short and she grasps at her heart as she looks over at Naruto who is cheerfully walking away and she can't believe the emotions she is picking up from him through his chakra. If she was feeling these emotions from him, especially when she was suppressing her ability, then they were hitting him hard.

She was lonely, but at least she had people who cared about her. But this… these feelings coming from him, no child should ever have to feel that way. "Naruto-" Her voice cracks, but she recovers quickly when he turns to face her and she can see just how forced and fake that smile of his is. It was the same smile she used to wear, when smiling was the only way to keep from crying.

"Yeah?"

She gives him a genuine smile of her own. "You're welcome to join me if you wish."

His eyes light up at that. "Sure!" He shouts as he runs back over and plops down on the grass next to her. "Are you going to teach me your Chakra String jutsu!?" He asks excitedly.

"Maybe, how good is your control? Have you completed the leaf sticking exercise yet?"

Naruto face falls, but he recovers quickly. "No, not yet but I will, believe it!" He shouts.

In the back of her mind Quinn was pretty sure that at this moment her days of peace and quiet were over but surprisingly she found that she didn't mind all that much. "Alright, you work on that for now and once you've gotten a good grasp on it we'll move on."

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Ino watched as Naruto sat down beside her sister and she wasn't quite sure how she felt about that. On the one hand she was thrilled that Rin was finally making a friend, on the other hand… why did it have to be Naruto of all people? It was pretty much social suicide to hang out with him. Not that Rin had much of a social life to begin with. Oh gods, what if Rin had a crush on him. Her mind was suddenly filled with visions of Naruto in family photos sticking out his tongue while hordes of miniature Naruto's trampled through the village. She loved her sister, but she had weird tastes and interests and it would be just like her to crush on someone like him.

She was always reading or training, and she never wanted to play anymore. To be fair Rin had asked her on more than one occasion if she would like to join her, and Ino had made similar offers but neither one of them had ever accepted. She missed her sister, but they were just so different. Gone were the days when she could just take Rin by the hand and lead her around, they were becoming their own people, and they just had different interests.

She figured that was what had drawn her to Sakura in the first place. She was so much like how her sister used to be that Ino couldn't help but want to look out for her. She was glad that she did too, because it was nice to have a best friend again. She missed Rin and it hurt her feelings a little bit that Rin seemed more comfortable sitting with Naruto than hanging out with her, but she was also glad that Rin was finally letting someone in. Ino's attention is immediately taken off of her sister when Sakura squeals in delight and points out that the strongest boy in class, Sasuke, had arrived.

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As Quinn is packing up her things to go home for the day she could sense Naruto's chakra signature approaching so she quickly finishes up what she is doing and waits. It was amazing really, she usually suppressed her sensor abilities, but this was the second time today that it hadn't mattered with him. Earlier it had been because of the powerful emotions he was feeling, but now that the classroom was empty and it was just the two of them it was glaringly obvious, he just had that much chakra. If there was nothing or no one to distract her from it of course she was going to pick it up. It was just a little surprising that someone not even out of the academy would have that much. Even her Uncle Chouza's reserves paled in comparison to Naruto and he had more chakra than anyone she knew.

"Hey Rin!" Naruto shouts as he approaches her because apparently the art of speaking softly was lost on him.

"Hello Naruto." She says politely as she slings her bag over her shoulder.

"Hey Rin, um… I was wondering… um… do you think you could keep helping me with that whole chakra string jutsu thing? I mean I'm already pretty close to figuring it out, but I figured a little extra help couldn't hurt, you know?" He tries to appear confident as he says all of this but she didn't need her abilities to sense the nervousness that is radiating off of him.

Quinn arches a brow at him, and gives a tiny little smirk. "You're pretty close huh?"

"Oh sure, just give me a couple of hours and there isn't any jutsu I can't master, believe it!" He shouts excitedly.

Quinn winces at the volume. "Well you'll probably be bored with me then, because I've nowhere near mastered it yet."

Naruto's face falls, but he recovers quickly. "Well, maybe I exaggerated a little bit but… um-"

"Naruto." She interrupts, "If you want to learn how to do it, I have no problem teaching you."

His face lights up, "Really!? Awesome! Let's get started, I'm going to have this down in no time flat, believe it!" He shouts.

Quinn sighs, "Naruto."

"Yeah?"

"You don't need to shout, I'm right here, I can hear you." She didn't want to come right out and tell the poor kid to shut up but then again she didn't want her eardrums blown out either.

"Oh!" Naruto stops short and then chuckles nervously as he scratches the back of his head. "Sorry Rin." He whispers.

Quinn laughs. "You don't have to whisper either, just don't yell, okay?"

"Yeah sure, no problem."

"Now, I just need to find my sister and then we'll be off."

"Oh yeah, that's right, Ino is your sister right?"

"Yep… ah there she is." Quinn says as she focuses in on her sister's location. "Come on."

Quinn leads her and Naruto through the school and out into the courtyard where Ino, Sakura, and couple of other girls are all waiting around. Quinn makes her way over next to her sister, while Naruto stays behind. "Hey Ino."

"Hey sis," Ino says smiling as she wraps an arm around Quinn's shoulder. "I'm glad you're here. There's a new shop that's opening up and we were all going to go check it out, do you want to come?"

"Um… actually I was about to ask if you wanted to come and hang out with me and Naruto, we're working on a new technique."

"Oh come on, please!" Ino pleads, "All you ever do is study, you need to live a little. Trust your big sister, she knows what she's talking about." Ino says knowingly.

"Just leave it Ino, Rin's a stick in the mud anyway." One of the other girls scoffs, Ami she thinks is her name.

"Watch it!" Ino snaps, coming to her sister's defense. "Rin may be a little too into reading and stuff, but she's still my sister and really cool too. Plus she's a better ninja than you so I wouldn't make her too mad."

"Whatever…" The girl mumbles quietly to herself, but she definitely drops it not wanting to risk it. It was well known that Rin was at the very top of the class, currently tied for that first place spot with Sasuke.

"So how about it, will you come?" Ino asks.

"It would be nice if you could join us Rin." Sakura adds.

Quinn hesitates. "Well… can Naruto come too, I already said I would hang out with him and I'm not going to just ditch him."

"No, absolutely not!" The same girl as before says, "I draw the line at that loser."

"I don't think its good idea either, both of my parents say that he's no good." Another girl pipes up.

"I heard that his parents are really famous traitors and that they just left him here so that they wouldn't be slowed down as they tried to escape from the hunter-nin." A third girl adds.

"I'd buy that, he's such a jerk I can totally see him coming from traitors. I can't stand him." A fourth girl says.

"No kidding. I don't want to hang around him, Ami's right, he's a loser."

"Well I heard-"

"That's enough!" Quinn shouts, her anger getting the better of her as memories of her own past actions come to mind, remembering the way she had treated people. All of the girls' mouths snap shut, having never heard Rin yell before. "Naruto's really nice, a little loud but he's certainly not bad or anything, and it's disgusting the way that you all stand here and talk about him like that! Like he's not a real person with feelings! You should all be ashamed of yourselves!"

Quinn scoffs, as she looks at them in disgust. "I'm out of here."

"So," Ami snaps, "We didn't want you to come anyway."

Quinn stares at the girl and arches her brow, giving her the driest most unimpressed look she can. "Oh no." She says flatly, "How will I ever survive the heartbreak."

Quinn then turns to look at her sister who is standing their looking very uncertain. "Nice friends." She says softly before she begins to walk back to Naruto.

"Wait!" Ino calls out. "Rin, of course we want you to come and," here she turns and glares at the rest of the girls. "If Naruto wants to come too then he's invited as well."

"Ino!" Ami gasps, scandalized.

"Don't, my sister is always welcome to join us, always." Ino says with a glare. "This was my idea in the first place and I can invite whoever I want. And if Rin wants to invite Naruto then she can. You can either suck it up and come with us and have fun or go home."

Quinn is grinning at her sister. There was the Ino that she knew and loved.

"Ino's totally right." Sakura speaks up. "Look if Rin says he's okay then we should give her the benefit of the doubt and give him a chance."

"Whatever, I'm out of here." Ami scoffs, and two of the other girls hesitantly follow her.

"Good riddance." Ino says, she and Ami had always butted heads anyway. She looks around, Sakura and her two other friends were still here, so if Rin and… Naruto joined them, that was going to take some getting used to, then they would be back to a full group.

Quinn goes over and hugs her sister. "I'm sorry, I know that must have been hard, I know they were your friends but that was really brave of you."

Ino smiles. "You're my sister. It wasn't that hard. Besides, if you love Naruto then I guess I'll have to just get used to him."

Quinn chokes on her own spit. "What!? No, we're just friends."

Ino coos at her, "It's okay baby sister, you don't need to be shy. Sure you could have picked someone a little cooler to have given your heart to and he can be kind of loud and… well… but if you like him then he must have really good qualities too."

"Ino." Quinn huffs.

"Ah, ah, ah, don't keep your boyfriend waiting." Ino scolds her playfully.

Quinn rolls her eyes because she knew that she was going to have to put up with this for a while. Once Ino got an idea in her head then there was pretty much nothing you could do to change it. So with a sigh she turns and heads back over to Naruto who is watching her nervously but quickly forces a smile onto his face.

"Hey Rin, it's cool if you want to go hang out with them, we can maybe catch up tomorrow if you want to, so no worries."

"You can come with us." Quinn says.

"Nah, that's okay, I don't want to impose or anything besides… I could kind of hear some of what they were saying and…"

"That was just Ami, she's a b…" It was a little harsh to call a seven year old a bitch. "Brat… she's a brat. Besides who cares if she doesn't want you there. I do. You're my friend, so come on, I even have a little money so we can get a treat or something."

Naruto looks close to tears. "Um… are we… are we really friends?"

Quinn just smiles and grabs him by the hand and leads him over to the group. The happiness and joy that was radiating from him was almost palpable and it made Quinn feel happy too. Nobody should ever have to feel alone.

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"Hey Rin, hold this dress in front of you." Ino says as she hands her a light blue dress.

"What? Why?" Quinn asks, still doing as Ino asks.

"Because I want to see how I'd look in it, duh." Ino says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

Quinn rolls her eyes but doesn't argue. They were after all completely identical. Ino currently had her hair cut shorter while Quinn had favored letting her hair grow long where it now hung loosely at her lower back. But otherwise it was impossible to tell them apart physically.

"That's a pretty dress." Sakura comments. "Are you thinking of getting it Rin?"

Quinn shakes her head. "No, this is for Ino, definitely." Way too much lace and frills for her taste.

"Well it looks good." Sakura says, her eyes lingering for a moment before she shrugs and turns her attention to a rack that had various hair braids on it.

"It does, doesn't it?" Ino says, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Ino." Quinn warns, to no avail.

"Oi, Naruto come here." Ino demands.

Naruto's head pops up from a manga that he was looking at and heads over. The new store was a large general store that had branches in major cities throughout the Land of Fire. It had just about everything, including some ninja gear. Nothing as high quality as you could get from a local smith but certainly not too shabby. "Uh, yeah what's up?" Naruto asks when he gets there.

Ino places an arm around Naruto's shoulder. "Naruto, don't you think Rin looks really pretty in that dress?" Ino asks in a leading voice.

Naruto turns bright red. "Uh… um… yeah s-sure." He stutters out.

"You don't sound too sure. Don't you think my sister is pretty?" Ino asks with a glare.

"Of course I do! Rin is really cute!" He shouts out, alarmed.

"So you do like her then?" Ino teases.

"Of course I do, Ah! I mean no I don't… no wait that's not what I meant, I-" Naruto is completely flustered and so Quinn decides to take pity on him.

"Thank you Naruto, I know what you meant. And as for you," Quinn scolds Ino lightly, "Stop teasing him."

"I was just asking him a simple question." Ino says with an air of innocence that Quinn didn't buy for a second.

"Yeah right." She says dryly, before pushing the dress back into Ino's arms. "Here's your dress back."

"Hmmm, I don't know if I want it." Ino says thoughtfully.

"Right, Naruto do you want to come check out the rest of the store?" She asks. She needed to get poor Naruto away from Ino and her scheming. Her sister wasn't being cruel, but Naruto was so far out of his league that it wasn't even fair.

"Yeah sure." Naruto answers quickly, his face still tinged pink.

As they are walking away they hear Ino call out. "You two behave now and Naruto it's customary to hold your date's hand!"

Quinn looks up to the sky and sighs, heaven give her strength. She looks over at Naruto who seems frozen in place. "Don't mind her, she just likes to stir up trouble. Come on, I want to check the stuff that's over there."

"Oh… right…" Naruto stutters out nervously. His eyes darting from her and away again as his cheeks flush a light pink.

"Naruto she's just teasing. Don't take her too seriously. We're friends, it's okay for us to hang out together."

"Right." Naruto says with a smile, looking more than a little relieved.

Once the two of them are out of sight Sakura, Mia, and Natsumi all go up Ino. "Are they really dating?" Sakura asks, wide eyed.

Ino laughs. "Probably not, I think they're just friends. But I like to tease my sister and that was too good an opportunity to pass up, plus Naruto was just too easy."

"Awe, that's too bad. I think they look cute together." Natsumi says, sounding a little disappointed.

"You just want something to gossip about." Mia teases, nudging her friend.

Natsumi giggles. "Maybe just a little bit, but honestly, Naruto's not as bad as I thought he would be."

"Yeah, I guess he's alright." Sakura agrees, a thoughtful expression on her face. "He was certainly a lot quieter than I'm used to."

"That's because he was nervous." Ino says softly. "A little teasing is okay as long as it's all in good fun and nobody gets hurt. But let's not take it too far okay. Rin has a hard time making friends and I'm really happy for her and I don't want to ruin it for her."

Sakura smiles at Ino. "You're a good sister."

"Yeah, I wish I had a big sister like you." Natsumi says.

"What are you talking about, you already have an older sister?" Mia says confused.

"Oh yeah! I forgot."

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It was late in the evening when they finally had to call it quits and head home. While Ino was saying goodbye to her friends Quinn was saying goodbye to Naruto.

"So thanks for inviting me... I actually had a lot of fun." Naruto says shyly.

"I did too. I'm glad you came, but we lost out on a whole day of training because of it so we're going to have to work extra hard to make up for it tomorrow." Quinn says with a smile.

"Definitely!" Naruto shouts excitedly. "We're going to have that chakra strings jutsu down in no time, believe it!"

Quinn nods her head in the affirmative. "You got it, I'm counting on you to help me do it too."

Naruto has a confident smile on his face. "Definitely."

"Oh hey, before you go. Here, I bought this for you. I saw you looking at it so I grabbed it before we left. I hope you like it." Rin says pulling out a little green blob and handing it to Naruto.

Naruto takes it from her and looks confused for a moment before he realizes what it is. He had been looking at wallets and had seen this green frog wallet sitting there. He thought it was an odd little thing but he had wondered if Rin might like it. He had wanted to get it for her as a thank you for inviting him, but unfortunately he didn't have enough spending money to buy it. He feels choked up that she had even noticed him looking at it and got it for him thinking he liked it. Nobody paid that much attention to him, ever. And with that, what had initially been an odd little thing that he was considering as gift for a friend had just become his most prized possession.

"I love it, it's fantastic!" Naruto says, forcing himself not to cry. Boys weren't supposed to cry, that's what he had heard Kiba say anyway, they were tough. But boy was it hard not to right now. "I'll call him Gama-Chan!"

"I think that's a great name." Quinn says smiling, glad she had made the right choice and gotten him something he had liked. "So I'll see you tomorrow then. Goodnight Naruto."

"Goodnight Rin!" Naruto calls out as he starts to run back home, a real smile on his face. Today had officially been the best day of his life.

"He seemed happy… did you give him a kiss goodnight?" Ino asks impishly.

"Ino-"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I'll stop okay. Actually, I'm really glad you've made a friend. I worry about you."

"What? Really?" Quinn asks, confused.

"Yeah, you're always working so hard. I'm glad you're starting to make friends and… I'm glad we got to spend some time together today. We don't get to do that all that much anymore."

"No… I guess we don't." Quinn says softly.

"You know, today doesn't have to be a one-time thing. You can come hang out with me any time you want." Ino offers.

"We already did what you wanted to today, next time you come and train with me instead." Quinn counters with a smile.

"Deal. I know we're growing up but let's still make time for each other okay. I've missed you and I don't like that we've been growing apart so let's try harder okay?" Ino says seriously.

"You're right, I miss you too and I need to do better."

"That's not what I said you goof," Ino says affectionately poking her forehead. "I said we need to do better. So, what time is training tomorrow?"

Quinn smiles, she hadn't really realized just how much she truly missed spending time with Ino until today, training was no excuse to neglect her sister and she needed to stop making excuses and start making an effort. She didn't want to drift apart from Ino the same way that she and Francine had. "As soon as class lets out."