Okay hi. so i'm using this as my naruino series. I have gotten reviews of people wishing that this was a series so i took the time to write it. and i like it. i hope you like it. so enoy!

disclaimer: i unfortunatly don't own naruto.

Time was all that she needed, so that's what's I have her. I did not want to have had to wait long, but I did anyway. I waited and waited and finally got what I wanted, but it came at a price, I price that upset me to pay. You probably want to know what I'm talking about. So I guess I'll start at the beginning. I'm Naruto Uzamaki, if you wanted to know. It all started about 5 years ago I guess. It all kinda started when I brought Sasuke back I guess.

5 years ago...

I looked behind me. The sound ninja were still on our trail. I looked over at my team. Shikamaru and Ino were next to each other on my right, and Neji and an unconscious Sasuke were at my left. We were on a mission to retrieve Sasuke and when we saw him he looked at us in relief. Then the guards came. They attacked us and through those events Sasuke ended up unconscious. Ino had wanted to heal our wounds, but more sound-nin had come, so we had to run. And we were still running. Shikamaru looked at me, and silently asked if now was a good time. I nodded and Shikamaru signaled for Ino to stop with him. They stopped and attacked the ninja using their mind and shadow jutsus; that were more advance than they were in the chunin exams. Neji new what was going on as well as I did. Ino and Shikamaru, who were skilled team mates, were going to stay behind, and fight off the sound ninjas while Neji and I took Sasuke to safety in Konaha. As much as it pained me to leave Ino behind, I knew that it had to be done, that it was the only way to get to safety. Doing that was the first part of the price I had to pay, losing Ino to Shikamaru. I left them, focusing on my mission. Neji and I ran even though I knew that Ino and Shikamaru would need help, and one of them would end up in the hospital. Neji and I ran on through the woods to the village. Then we ran through the village streets to the hospital. Sakura gasped when she saw us she gasped.

"Naruto, Neji where's Ino and...Oh my god!" She trailed off when she saw that Neji and I were cut up and bruised, and when she saw that we had her precious Sasuke. "Shizune, come quickly! They have Sasuke!!" Shizune showed up and gasped. Then she grabbed Sasuke and pulled him away into a room. Sakura quickly attended to our wounds and sighed. I could tell that she was overjoyed that Sasuke was back. Sakura looked around, as if she looking for something.

"What is it Sakura-chan?" I felt like I had the right to know since we were the only ones in the room. Sakura looked at me with worry in her eyes.

"Where are they?" Sakura asked, like we were to know exactly who they were.

"Who are you talking about Sakura? We are the only people in the room." Neji asked blankly. Sakura still looked worried.

"Shikamaru and Ino, you idiots! My best friend and her team mate!" Sakura looked as if she was about to cry.

"Well Sakura-chan, the thing is, you see, they are still in the woods fighting, and uh, well we don't know where they are." Sakura's eyes filled with anger.



"What, you just left them!? Naruto how could you!?" Sakura hit me forcefully on my head and I fell to the ground.

"Sakura, look we had it all planned. Ino and Shikamaru were to stay behind if sound ninja followed us. We were followed so they stayed behind to fight them while Naruto and I moved ahead to get Sasuke to safety." Neji stayed calm. Sakura nodded.

"I see, I just thought that you guys would all show up together that's all." Sakura sighed, and turned around. "I'm going to check in on Sasuke, you guys should leave. And don't worry about Ino and Shikamaru, they're strong, they'll be back soon and unharmed." Sakura turned her head and smiled at us, and then she turned her head around and walked off.

I looked at Neji. He was tired, but at the same time a little shocked. I stood up and opened my mouth to talk when the doors of the hospital doors came swinging open and Shikamaru came rushing over; Ino slung over his shoulder.

"Shikamaru, what happened?" I yelled. He was cut up and bloody, I barely took one look at Ino, and knew that she was damaged heavily and need immediate care. I looked at Shikamaru and ran off. I ran and got Sakura, she looked shocked and worried when she saw Ino. Tsunade soon followed Sakura and took Ino off Shikamaru's hands and into the emergency room. Shikamaru got his wounds tended and then we all waited outside the emergency room for someone to come out and tell us the news on Ino.

A few hours had past and Shikamaru had fallen asleep, and Neji left to go see Tenten. So that left little me there to see if Ino was ever going to be okay. Which I really hoped was what was going to happen. I want Tsunade to come out of the doors and tell us, well me, that Ino was okay. She would recover fully and be back to her normal self within days. A few more minutes past and I didn't see her coming out anytime soon.

Another hour had past and Shikamaru woke up. He stretched and yawned. Then he looked at my dull face. He opened his mouth to speak, but we were interrupted by the sound of swinging doors. Tsunade came out of the emergency room. She wore an exhausted smile on her face. She came over to Shikamaru and me and began to speak.

"Ino'll be fine. She just needs to rest up some. And the poison is no longer in her blood. So in other words, she'll be out in five days tops and she'll be back to her regular self." Shikamaru sighed and so did I.

3 days later...

I walked in on my usual visit to see Ino. Today she was getting out of the hospital. So I was heading over to her to pick her up then take her out for some barbeque with her team. When I went to her room she greeted me with a smile. I walked over to her and hugged her and then went to talking to her.

"Ino-chan how about we go out, y'know just the two of us, kinda on a date?" Ino kept her kinda smile on, but it wasn't as bright.

"Naruto, as fun as that sounds, I'm just not ready to date anyone. Just give me some time. Kay?" My smile dropped.

Time was all that she needed, how much did she need? How much time was enough? How much time till she was ready?

so did you like it. please review. i worked hard on this. oh and yes the first part was like the bases of the story, this is what happened before the funeral and so on, next we'll go to the funeral and so on and so forth. hope you liked it!

-Rei-