CC Note: so I didn't reach ten reviews but the story alerts and reviews I did recive tell me I have somewhat of an audience out there! So as promised here's chapter two. I hope ya'll enjoy!

Entanglements

'Meet me after practice. Behind the tennis courts. Don't be late.'

That was all the note contained when Naruto had found it shoved haphazardly into his gym locker that afternoon. He knew that it could only belong to one person, Ino. The bossy blonde was really a piece of work but if she could help him learn more about Sakura he'd put up with her stubborn attitude for as long as he could tolerate it. Besides he had a stubborn streak of his own that was not to be underestimated. That's how he found himself leaning against the metal gate of the tennis courts and wondering what nerve that girl had of telling him not to be late when she was late herself. It wasn't that big of a deal though, but he made sure not to shower or change his clothes after practice so he was extra ripe, this was her repayment for being a hypocrite. She was going to have to deal with him, sweat stains and all. Naruto chuckled to himself, girls hated sweat.

"Hey dummy snap out of it!" came the impatient voice of the girl he'd just been thinking about.

She looked like she'd run straight to their meeting spot after her practice had let out. Her face was flushed and sweaty, her hair was escaping her usually perfect ponytail, and her clothes (and parts of her body) were powered with dirt that had been kicked up in the softball field. Even though she looked a complete mess Naruto had never seen such brightness in her blue eyes before. They were usually only apathetic, angry, or impatient, this was the first time he saw them with lit up with excitement. He liked it but not enough to restrain himself from teasing her.

"Hello dirt ball. You're late!" Naruto smiled and Ino punched him in his arm which caused him to burst into laughter. Apparently Ino Yamanaka didn't throw pussy punches either.

"What are you laughing at?" she huffed as she crossed her arms defensively over her chest.

"You're such a dude!" Naruto laughed and Ino resisted the urge to punch him one good time in the face.

"Anyway!" Ino shouted over his heckling, she was most certainly not here for her own amusement let alone his. "Let's get down to business."

"Alright alright!" Naruto grinned walked over to a large tree that was nearby and plopped down.

He had a feeling that this wasn't going to be a short meeting. Ino followed suit but instead of sitting down she remained standing, looking down her nose at the dirty boy. Naruto was never one for being subordinate. He smirked before pulling on the edge of her t-shirt hard and bringing her down to his level so she could sit beside him. Ino rewarded him with a glare.

"Rule one: no invading personal space." Ino mandated but Naruto only gave a sly grin.

"Don't I get a say in this?" he asked innocently as he batted his eyelashes and Ino had to bite back a laugh at the face he was making.

"No. Rule number two: you can never EVER tell Sakura that I'm helping you. That would defeat the purpose of what we're trying to do here." Ino stated firmly and Naruto nodded in solemn agreement, if Sakura was to find out this whole thing would backfire real ugly in their faces.

"Rule number three-" Ino started but Naruto interrupted her.

"God why do you have so many rules Ino?" he questioned and that earned him a smack to the back of his head.

"New rule three, don't interrupt me!" Ino grinned as the boy rubbed his head. "Now where was I….oh yea rule number four: trust everything I say, it's for your own good."

Naruto just rolled his eyes and leaned back until he felt his back touching the ground.

"Whatever you say princess Yamanaka."

"Anyway since tomorrow kicks off the weekend we can meet up again around two o'clock in the park." Ino suggested but Naruto shook his head.

"Can you make the time earlier I've got a game tomorrow night at six and I want to get some practice in beforehand."

"I'll tell you what, how about I help you while you practice; this way we kill two birds with one stone?" Ino offered and Naruto smiled.

"That works but why are you trying to get rid of me so quickly Yamanaka? Is my animal magnetism too much for you?" Naruto asked suggestively which earned him a not so light punch in the gut.

"No. The faster we get done with this the faster I can be with Sasuke." She huffed and Naruto rolled his eyes as he rubbed his belly.

"Yeah yeah yeah. I'm starving. Want to grab something to eat?" Naruto asked as he began to pick himself up off the ground.

"As long as you're paying." Ino smirked, always an opportunist, as Naruto helped her up.

"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah." Naruto laughed.

…

Ino couldn't help but marvel at how much Naruto had grown throughout all of her years of knowing the boy. His skin was tanned nicely from so much time spent out in the sun and all of the various sports teams he belong to kept him in shape year round. The muscles on his broad back glistened with the sheen of his sweat and rippled as he made another three pointer… Ino shook her head, why was she thinking these things about Naruto? Naruto. He was the annoying, yet persistent, blonde boy she was supposed to be helping win the heart of her best friend. Speaking of Sakura she needed to get back to the task at hand and that was finding out how Naruto already knew about her so she could build on what he knew.

"What is Sakura's favorite color?" Ino asked and Naruto shrugged before heading into a layup.

"Uhhhh pink?" He answered and Ino laughed a bit to herself before correcting his wrong answer.

"No her favorite color is green. She hates it when people think her favorite color is pink just because her hair is that color."

Naruto laughed when he missed his shot and made his was over to where Ino was sitting in the grass by his driveway after he kept his ball from rolling into the street.

"What's your favorite color?" he asked curiously, albeit he was short of breath.

"Why do you want to know that? You're supposed to be learning about Sakura here!" Ino teased and Naruto pulled on her ponytail.

"I was just asking don't get your granny panties in a twist!" he grinned as Ino smacked his hand away.

"I don't wear granny panties for your information!" Ino hissed.

"INO DOESN'T WEAR PANITIES!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs. Ino lunged at him and tackled him to the ground.

She furiously covered his mouth with her hands as she straddled his abdomen and he did nothing to stop her. He was completely amused by the situation. Even with her hands covering is obnoxiously loud mouth Ino could tell the boy was smiling at her embarrassment.

"When I let you go you will apologize and swear upon your unfortunate first born child never to do that again or else!" Ino demanded and Naruto nodded even though she knew he was getting some kind of sick amusement out of this.

She slowly removed her hands from his mouth but what came out was not what she was expecting to hear.

"Hey Sasuke, Neji!" Naruto greeted to the two shadows that were now hovering over their tangled bodies.

"Hn." Came the bored voice of the Uchiha that Ino knew all too well.

She quickly scrambled off of Naruto and tried to discreetly dust the grass and dirt off her bottom.

"We came to make sure you were getting ready for the game but as usual you out goofing off." Neji reprimanded but Naruto was unfazed and still smiling with that stupid grin plastered on his face.

"Well it's good you guys came by then." Naruto laughed and his two friends gave each other knowing looks. "Anyway this is Ino, she was over to help me out with homework while I did a few practice shots."

Sasuke looked the blonde girl up and down, she was familiar. Ino blushed under his gaze, this was the first time that he'd actually looked at her! Maybe helping Naruto was really worth something after all.

"Go take a shower and get your uniform together dobe. We've got warm ups with coach in an hour." Sasuke said as he turned to look at Naruto who now looked extremely uncomfortable about something.

"Yeah yeah bastard." He said waving his friends off. "You're coming to the game right Ino?"

Ino was snapped out of her visions of wedding dresses and babies by Naruto's question. She'd almost forgotten he was there.

"Oh! Yea sure, some friends and I were planning on seeing you guys play tonight. We heard you guys were good and wanted to see if the rumors were true. Rumors haha it's probably a fact though. Of course you guys are good! Why wouldn't you be? Yea there's no doubt about that so um yea I'll meet up with you guys again tonight. Well not meet up but you know!" Ino rambled on and on, her face growing hotter and hotter by the second.

Where the hell was an off switch when you needed one? Or better yet make it a self-destruct button. Why was she so stupid? The silence she heard from the boys was stifling and all she managed to do was squeak out a bye before scurrying out of there. If it wasn't possible to die of embarrassment before now she was about to be the next anomaly. The last thing she heard before she was out of earshot was the smooth, yet confused, voice of her crush.

"You sure know how to pick 'em Naruto."

CC Note: well there you have it folks! What do you think? The more reviews I get the faster I upload. Thanks for reading!