Continuing from the last chapter, ENJOY!!
Please remember, Chapter 14
Half an hour later, around Konohagakure beach.
Naruto and Hinata were walking alongside the beach, Hinata's favorite relaxing spot, to enjoy some quiet time from the young Genins. Apparently, wherever Naruto and Hinata go, Konohamaru and the others follow just to mock him about having a girlfriend. Of course, during all that, Hinata almost fainted, TWICE.
"Thank you for the juice, Naruto" Hinata said, taking a sip from the 'Naruto special Cocktail', the sea water stroking her feet. Naruto practically walked in the water, sometimes walking on it or doing some things on it that would make Hinata laugh.
"No problem, I thought that you might try something new. Hehehe" Naruto laughed, making Hinata giggle.
"What's the deal with the name of this juice?" she asked, Naruto's eyes squeezed. "Hmm, it's a long story" He said. Hinata smiled, walking closer to Naruto, her shoulder brushing against his. "I've got all day" she said, which sounded more like a whisper. Both of them noticed how close they were so they both blushed and backed away a bit.
"Um, Ok. Well, on one day, after returning from one of the missions. I went to Ichiraku to eat some delicious ramen. But gi-chan closed the shop because he was making this new ramen that is one of my favorite right now…" he said, getting lost of his own thoughts about Ramen. "…Ramennnnnn…" Hinata laughed. She listened carefully to every word he said, except that ramennnnnn part.
"…anyway, I went to this shop, that I took you to a moment ago, and they had different kinds of Juice and I didn't know what to choose. I asked the guy there to bring me all kinds of drinks; I didn't like any of them. So, I ended up mixing them together, thus creating the 'Uzumaki Naruto Special cocktail'" he said, putting his fists on his waist as a mark of victory. Hinata giggled and took another sip of the juice. "It's getting pretty popular around" he said, grinning.
"Well, to tell you the truth, you have a very good taste. I really love it" she said, blushing. Naruto smiled. Five years ago, it meant a lot to him when Hinata wanted to be acknowledged by him. And now, he was very happy knowing that Hinata is always by his side, supporting him in every decision he makes, she even liked the cocktail he created out of pure boredom that day.
"I'm…"he started. Hinata noticed the change of tone in his voice, "I'm really glad that you liked it" he said, smiling sincerely at her. She smiled back, walking closer to him. Her shoulder bumped into his, he automatically raised his arm and put it around her shoulder, bringing her closer. She closed her eyes and relaxed, they were both walking silently, letting the sea breeze hit them softly. Hinata suddenly chuckled. Naruto looked at her.
"What is it?" he said, smiling. She looked at him. "Did you see the look on Neji's face when you showed up? I was watching from the window upstairs, hehehe" she said, taking the last sip of the juice before throwing it in a nearby trash can. They both laughed.
"Yeah, that was hilarious. He hates me, doesn't he?" Naruto joked. Hinata nodded in denial. "No, he doesn't hate you. You just get on his nerves." She chuckled. "He doesn't like me being around you all the time" he replied. Hinata looked at him and smiled.
"I don't care whether he likes it or not, I like it" she said, blushing. Naruto laughed and pulled her closer to him. "I'm really glad that I have someone like you in my life, Hinata-Chan" Naruto said, making her blush. Hinata put her arm around Naruto's back, the other rested on his chest.
"I'm glad that I have you, Naruto-kun" she replied. Naruto hugged her tighter. 'This is nice. I love this', Naruto thought, resting his chin on the top of her head, taking a deep breath of Hinata's scent. He always loved how she smelled. It was complicated. She smiled like…
"…honey." Naruto whispered. Hinata's eyes widened, misunderstanding this whole situation. 'Did he just call me honey? Oh my god' Hinata thought, her eyes were going to pop out of their sockets.
Naruto released Hinata out of his tight hug and looked at her, "Now, where do you want to go?" he asked, she was still surprised of the 'honey' situation.
"Uh, I-I don't know. W-where do you want t-to go, N-Naruto-kun?" she stuttered. Naruto's eyes narrowed.
"Are you ok, Hinata?" he asked, she shook her head and smiled, "I'm fine, Naruto-kun…" she started and then slyly said,
"…I bet you're dying for some ramen, right?" She said, he grinned. "Yup!" he yelled, she laughed. "Let's go, then." She said, running along the beach. "Oi, Hinata. Wait for me" he said, catching up to her.
Near Konohagakure river
Sakura had left Ino's house an hour and a half ago (Don't ask me about the times, because I don't care about them XD), she decided to take a walk, getting some fresh air into her lungs.
"Hmmm, what to do?" she said, looking around. She walked towards the bridge and stared at the flowing river beneath, thinking about her future, wondering if she would someday become like Tsunade-sama, a great Medic and a legendary leader. Sakura sighed; she didn't notice that someone was sneaking up behind her.
"That sigh sounded like you're troubled, am I right?" a girl's voice said, Sakura looked to the source of the voice. She saw a girl almost her height, probably her age. The girl had a long brown hair, tied in a bun and hazel eyes. She wore red pants and a Satin long sleeved white Kimono-like shirt. She politely stood. Her hands were behind her back.
"You're right." Sakura said. The young girl stood by her side, leaning on the railing. Sakura looked at her and narrowed her eyes, "You look familiar…" She said, the girl smiled and replied. "You might've seen me in Tsunade-sama's special course of training. We're both Tsunade-sama's apprentices…" The girl said, "…I've been practicing with Tsunade-sama for two years now." Sakura awed and smiled.
"That's good. What level have you reached?" Sakura asked. The girl looked up to the sky, trying to recall the information.
"Um…level 99, I guess" the girl said, Grinning at Sakura. Sakura was surprised, "That's awesome, I've been with Tsunade-sama for five years now and I'm still at level 83" Sakura replied. The girl laughed, turning around a leaning her back against the railing. (I made up the whole level thingy, because I like it XP)
"What was your worst level?" she asked, Sakura laughed, "I would say Level 61, working with Gamakichi and Gamatatsu was a pain" both girls laughed, "I liked those two" the girl said.
Their laughter slowly turned into small chuckles. Sakura extended her right hand. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Haruno Sakura, and you are?" Sakura said, the girl smiled and shook Sakura's hand, "I'm Ishikawa Kagome, nice to meet you too" She smiled sincerely. Sakura smiled back. She thought it was good to know someone who shares the same ability besides Tsunade-sama, both Sakura and Kagome talked about their Medical abilities and each Shared information about things the other didn't know.
Yamanaka residence
Ino was trying the new clothes which were bought for her by Sakura. Looking at the mirror, Ino smiled to herself. 'These clothes were made for you, Ino' she thought, grinning to herself in the mirror. She turned around and walked towards the bedroom door.
'I have to convince them to go out, I'm sick of this' Ino thought as she went downstairs, "Mom, dad." Ino called, and then stopped when she saw this weird scene.
Her father was wearing a pink apron and oven mittens while her mother lied down on the couch, watching TV, "Ino sweetie, how do you feel?" Asuka asked, sitting up. Ino still had a shocked look on her face.
"Wow, this is nice. My parents are officially the weirdest parents on the face of the earth" she muttered, then replied to her mother.
"Hey mom, I'm fine. I've never felt better" Ino said, trying to look and sound much better than she feels, she would sometimes feel a little dizzy or light-headed.
"That's much better" Inoichi replied, he was baking some kind of a cake. Ino swore that she smelled something burning.
"Uh, Mom, Dad, I'm going to the flower shop, See ya!" She said, walking quickly towards the door.
"WAIT A MINUTE, MISSY" Inoichi said. Ino stopped in her track; both she and Asuka looked surprisingly at him. What he said didn't sound very masculine. He was surprised himself.
"Well, the doctor said you shouldn't leave your room, not to mention the house" he said in a firm tone. Ino frowned, "But I'm really bored, I feel like I can't breathe. I'll stay inside the shop, I promise. But please don't keep me here. I'll die, you know. Yamanaka Ino doesn't like to stay at home 24/7" she said in a whiny tone. Asuka laughed, both Inoichi and Ino looked at her.
"Ino, go. You'll be fine. I'm sure of it. Just be careful not to hit your head again, you're being clumsy." she said, remembering how Ino finally managed to get the lost memories of the incident the day before and told her about it, she laughed at her own daughter's carelessness.
"REALLY? Thank you mom…" Ino said, going to her mother's side and hugging her. "…I owe you BIG TIME" she said, Asuka laughed. Inoichi smiled, watching his baby-girl walking out the door.
"Are you sure it's ok?" He asked, Asuka sighed, getting up and walking towards the kitchen.
"Yes, she'll be fine. And please, get out of the kitchen. You're making a mess" she smirked. Inoichi Laughed and helped his wife to fix the mess he created.
Konohagakure streets
The red haired young man was walking down the street, enjoying his time in this big village and getting some fresh air in the process.
"Kazekage-sama" Gaara turned around the moment he heard his name being called. He turned around to see a little boy. "Um, yes? How can I help you?" Gaara said as calm as possible. The kid smiled, holding a little ball in his hand.
"I-I'm the boy whose ball a-accidentally hit y-you and I-I wanted to a-apologize for that. Sumimasen" the boys stuttered, raising the ball as a significance to his words. Gaara smiled and kneeled down.
"You don't have to apologize. It was nothing" he replied, the young boy smiled. "Are you going to stay here for a while, Kazekage-sama?" the boy said, Gaara smiled and put his hand on the boy's head.
"Yes, for a while…" he said, the boy's eyes glittered, "…and Call me Gaara, The title is just too long" the young boy was glad, he didn't have anyone as cool as Gaara –or so he thought- to talk to.
"That's great, Gaara. My name is Kenji. It's very nice to meet you" he said, bowing in respect. Gaara was surprised to see a five years old act like a grown up. He was starting to like this kid.
"It's nice to meet you as well." Gaara replied, the boy grinned. Gaara chuckled when he noticed that one of the kid's teeth was missing. "Where do you live, kiddo?" Gaara said, getting up. The boy looked up at him and pointed behind him.
"I live over there" Gaara turned around. The house was a couple of meters away. He turned his attention to the boy again.
"Aren't you supposed to be having lunch now? It's almost noon" he said, the boy nodded. "Uhm, I'm on my way home, actually. I have to go now." Kenji said, running and waving at Gaara.
"It was nice talking to you, Gaara" Kenji yelled. Gaara raised his hand and waved it a bit. He smiled at the kid's energy, reminding him of a certain blonde. As soon as his thoughts were finished, he saw him, at his usual place, Ichiraku Ramen Bar.
"OLD MAN, BRING ME ANOTHER MISO PORK RAMEN. PUT IN A BIG BOWL THIS TIME, PLEASE!!!" Naruto yelled. Gaara laughed at his straight-forwardness. He noticed that there was a young girl with him 'probably his girlfriend' he thought, chuckling and continuing walking.
He reached a familiar road; he was here a couple of nights ago. The street was full of people: buying, selling, giving, taking, eating, kissing…Um, you name it. He was looking around; they all seem to know each other, very well, that is. That's expected from a village that has known nothing but peace.
That's when he saw her, the blonde girl from that day, coming from the opposite direction, not noticing him. She paced quickly into a shop. He looked at the sign, it said:
'Yamanaka flower shop' he thought. He stood still, thinking.
'Should I go in there? Say hello? Check on her? Or…just walk off' Gaara was having a mental fight, not knowing what to do. Is he going to walk empty handed? Not giving her anything as a 'get well soon' gift. He didn't know what to do. This wasn't very familiar to him. 'It's not like I do this everyday'
He made up his mind. Gaara took a deep breath and continued walking.
Yamanaka flower shop
Ino walked into the shop. Behind the counter, stood Shikamaru's beloved, Sasame. Ino smirked; she knew Shikamaru hated the sound of her name. But Ino always mocked him by calling Sasame 'his beloved'.
"Good morning, Sasame" Ino said cheerfully, waving as she came in. Sasame smiled brightly but quickly had a puzzled look on her face; she checked the clock above the door.
"Hmm..." she started, putting her index finger against her chin. "...it's almost noon so I don't think it is morning anymore. I think you should say good afternoon or…good noon, or something, yeah." Sasame babbled non-stop about the 'good morning's and 'good afternoon's and things like that for a whole five minutes. Ino's jaw almost hit the ground. 'Oh my god she talks too much' she thought, shaking her head.
Ino raised her hands in front of her, "Ok, Ok. Calm down, STOP!!" he said, Sasame stopped talking. Ino sighed, lowering her hands to her sides.
"I'm going to be in charge today." She simply said, walking behind the counter and picking an extra white apron that was under the counter. Sasame stood there. "But I'm the one in Charge today" she said, Ino tied the apron around her waist, tying the knot, as hard as she can, in anger.
"Well, I came back so…" she clapped her hands together and used both hands to point at the door. "…you're free to go" she said, smiling. Sasame sighed and took off the apron. She looked deeply at Ino, Ino's eyebrow raised. "What?" she asked, Sasame sighed deeply and said.
"Do you know how to do this?" She asked, Ino mentally fell down and then got up (Anime style) she rubbed her temples with both the middle and index fingers, sighing HEAVILY…and I mean HEAVILY.
"You're also tired so…" she said, only to be cut by Ino.
"Sasame, I'm going to say this one more time. I, Yamanaka Ino, will be in charge of the YAMANAKA flower shop, which I was born and raised in, today. So unless you have anything else to say, please leave, Or stay, whatever you want. Just stop talking, PLEASE!" She said in an impatient tone.
Sasame took off her apron and put it aside, "Ok, Ok. You don't have to tell me twice." She walked away from the counter and towards the door. On her way, she accidentally hit one of the small pots which were recently –generously- watered, but Ino didn't pay attention to it. Sasame turned around with a dramatic look on her face…
"You could've been nicer to me, Ino…" Ino felt bad for once, she shouldn't have spoken to her in that tone. But she really got on her nerves. Sasame continued, very dramatically:
"I'll be back…" and with that, she was out the door. Ino rested her head on the counter, she couldn't believe that this girl can cause this much trouble.
"I don't know how you can be tolerant with this girl, but if I were you, I would've blown up" someone said, Ino gasped. 'That voice, I know it…'
Ino looked up slowly, to see none other than Gaara, standing as nonchalant as ever, smiling at her.
"G-Gaara" she said, he walked towards the counter, "I see you've gotten a lot better than the last time I saw you" he said, she stood straight and nodded. "T-that's true" she barely spoke out the words. For some reason, Ino was afraid of him. She was especially afraid of that look in his eyes. If looks could kill, she'd be 6 feet under by now.
Gaara didn't know what to say. He wasn't a very verbal guy. Instead, he looked around, checking a few flowers. A flower in the back row caught his eye, the same purple flower he saw almost a week ago in the cheap hotel he stayed in. Ino walked to his side.
"How can I help you, Gaara?" she politely asked, he looked at her for a while then turned his attention back to that flower.
"I want two of those purple ones…" he pointed out at them then looked at Ino, who looked back at him, "…Please" he continued politely. She nodded, smiling and leaned to pick it up. Unconsciously, Gaara was watching her the whole time. She turned around and held them in her hand, explaining to Gaara what they mean:
"That's an excellent Choice; purple flowers represent dignity, pride and success. They also represent accomplishment and admiration. That fits your preferment as Kazekage" she sincerely smiled, taking a step forward, forgetting about the spilt water by Sasame. Ino gasped and slipped, closing her eyes and waiting to hit the ground but she didn't. Instead, she felt a pair of strong arms holding her around the waist.
'What happened?' she thought, slowly opening her eyes. Bright bluish-green eyes were staring right back at her own. For once, Ino felt her heart stop beating. Gaara smiled, helping her to stand up straight but still had his arms around her.
"Are you ok?" He said, grinning. Ino stuttered, "Um, Yes, I-I'm fine" Ino was still in a shock. He was there, smiling at her, holding her in his arms. She looked in his eyes and he looked back. Both were lost in each other. Ino swallowed hard as she felt his face getting closer to hers. She automatically closed her eyes, preparing herself for what could be her first, most amazing kiss in her life. He was leaning closer; their face was only centimeters apart. He titled his head so his cheek would caress hers, his lips getting closer to her ear.
"Ino…" he whispered. Her breath was caught in her throat "…You should be careful. You don't want to get hurt like the last time I found you. I might not be here the next time." He said, moving his head to face her, to look in her eyes. With those words he backed away, Leaving Ino in a mental shock, still holding the flowers in her hands.
A few seconds later, Ino shook her head slowly and walked behind the counter. Gaara slowly walked closer towards the counter. She quickly wrapped the flowers and handed them over to Gaara who gently accepted them, His hand touching hers. Ino could feel the Goosebumps form on her skin.
"Thank you" he said in a very mild tone. His voice was as warm as it was in the hospital. Ino nodded, smiling nervously as he handed over the coins.
"Thank you for coming to Yamanaka flower shop, please come again" she had to say this sentence. Her parents always told her to be nice to costumers; she had to be nice to him, To Sabaku no Gaara. He smiled slyly.
"I'll be sure to do so…" he nodded respectfully and walked out the door. The moment he walked out, Ino sat down on a chair- which was behind the counter, holding her hand against her chest.
'My god…' Ino has never felt such a rush. Her heart was beating so fast and strong she could actually see her chest move with the beats. She felt as she was almost out of breath, her eyes were almost watering. The situation that occurred a moment ago left Ino feeling a bit of dizziness. She assumed that blood must have stopped flowing to her brain. (The Gaara effect XP)
"Gaara…" she said, turning her shocked expression to a smile. She remembered 'Sabaku no Gaara' from five years ago, the heartless cruel bastard who was hated by everyone. Now he's back, to fix everything…and to steal her heart away, starting today.
"…I'm amazed by you…" Ino muttered, thinking about him.
B.R.E.A.K…L.I.N.E.
FINALLY!! THIS CHAPTER IS FRIGGIN DONE!!!
Didn't you notice that Gaara took 5 minutes to walk for 3 meters maximum? Man, he's slow!!
I can't believe that this chapter is THIS long that I had to cut it in TWO PARTS
Naruto: Damn Right-Tebayooo!!
TLD: Smacks Naruto's head with a paper fan Get Out of here…I'm talking to the readers.
Naruto: I'm only Advertising. Can I please say it?
TLD: say what?
Naruto: The Magic word??
TLD: what magic word!!?
Naruto: the one you say to the readers every chapter!!
TLD: scratching her head …you lost me.
Naruto: Looking at you, readers. PLEASE REVIEW!!!!
TLD: you heard the little Fella!!
PLEASE REVIEW!!!