A/N: I am so sorry that this is so late. I would have had it up sooner, but alas things happen. Anyway please enjoy this chapter. I worked really hard on it and it is very long, so happy readings. Oh and all the italics are thoughts.
Disclaimer: If I owned it Naruto wouldn't wear orange. -
"Naruto?"
"Naruto-kun?"
"Naruto wake up, are you okay?"
The four kunoichi stared down at the blond male on the ground. They noticed the rise and fall of his chest, it told them that he was still breathing; and hadn't died from the shock. Tenten tapped him with her foot, hoping to get some sort of reaction out of him. Instead he remained on the ground, making no sudden movements.
"Damn, Ino way to go. Look at what you did to him." Sakura said.
"What?" Ino shrugged her shoulders. "I think he took it well."
"So, like what do we do with him?" Tenten wondered.
They couldn't just very well leave him there. Ino decided to take matters into her own hands. She sighed heavily and then lowered herself to his level.
"I'll handle this. Naruto-kun, Ichiraku's is going to go out of business if you don't get your ass up right now." Ino whispered in his ear.
Almost immediately a pair of cerulean blue orbs opened. Ino smirked, she knew he would react to that statement. Naruto sat up, focusing his attention on to the four girls.
"Ino-chan, Sakura-chan, Hinata, Tenten; what happened?"
"You just blacked out." Sakura reminded him.
He sat with his hand to his chin, as he tried to remember the earlier events before this moment. His eyes widened when he finally remembered. He then turned his focus on to the platinum blond.
"Ino-chan, do we have to have dinner with your parents?"
Ino frowned, but she understood his reluctance. It wasn't as if her father was going to make it easy for him. In fact she was almost positive that dinner was going to be very intense, and no doubt uncomfortable for him. She almost felt bad for what might happen.
"My mother likes him, that should soften things up a lot." Ino thought.
"But Naruto you've got to spend time with Ino-pig's parents; especially if you two are going to be dating." Sakura still couldn't believe that those words came out of her mouth. It felt all kinds of wrong to her. Ino and Naruto together in the same sentence just didn't seem right.
"Forehead is right." Ino nodded. "Naruto-kun please don't disappoint me. Do it for me okay." Her eyes shining hopefully. And to make matters worse she had added in the puppy dog pout. Naruto stared at her, it looked like she was on the verge of tears. He wasn't sure of course, but he definitely didn't want to see her cry. Naruto then put on a warm smile for her.
"Okay Ino-chan. I don't want to disappoint you."
"Great." She smiled. "So, what day will be good for you. I want to let my parents know ahead of time."
He thought to himself. What day would be a good day to look death in the eye? Did it really matter? Any day would be a good day to have his final meal; only why did his final meal have to be with Mr. Yamanaka. Naruto decided that as long as he avoided pissing Ino's father off, he would definitely live longer.
"How about Saturday?" Naruto suggested.
"That's fine."
"It'll be okay Naruto." Tenten put her hand to his shoulder. "When Lee met my parents it..."
"Yeah. I bet you guys had an extremely youthful time. And a youthful dinner with very youthful conversations." Ino laughed.
Tenten frowned resisting the urge to slap the younger girl into the next world. Although, it was no secret that Lee could never control his excitement over things.
"Actually, no Lee was a complete gentleman. He didn't mention anything at all about youth, because I asked him not to. It's all about compromise in relationships, but I'm sure that you two will figure that out."
When Tenten said that Naruto and Ino exchanged looks with one another. They couldn't very well say that this "relationship" wasn't real. They needed to keep up appearances. She stood up, helping him up as well. Their fingers becoming intertwined for a minute until they both let go.
"Yeah, well Mr. Yamanaka isn't exactly all smiles and cheerful you know. He's more like I'm going to kick your ass if you look at my daughter the wrong way. He's like, don't even breathe the same air as her." Naruto paused grinning at her. "I'm sorry Ino-chan."
She wasn't in the least bit offended. She understood why Naruto had said what he said. Her father was known to be a bit on the protective side.
"That's alright I understand. Come on Naruto walk me home."
"Sure thing. Bye Sakura-chan, Hinata, Tenten."
Ino wished that she could reassure him that dinner was going to go smoothly. Only she knew that there wasn't much she could say to ease his mind. Whatever was going to happen on Saturday would happen regardless.
"Hey, I'm sorry about springing the whole dinner thing on you like that." Ino apologized.
"Yeah you could have given me some warning."
"Well, at least now they really believe that we're together. That was the goal right?"
"Yeah. But Sakura-chan didn't seem to care very much."
"It's hard to tell with her. Like I said, she could just be hiding her jealousy."
"Maybe." Naruto whispered.
"Don't be so down." She spoke as she put her hand to his spiky blond head. "I'm sure everything will work out."
Ino wanted to be optimistic about the situation. Hopefully things would turn out the way that Naruto wanted. She really didn't want this all to be for nothing.
"Hold my hand okay. Everyone thinks that we're a couple now. So we definitely have to keep up appearances."
"Hai Ino-chan you're right. If it weren't for that, I'd say that you really like holding my hand." he laughed.
The platinum blond froze. Why had his words affected her for that moment. Ino soon regained her composure.
"Ha, yeah right. You're lucky that I'm even allowing you to hold my hand."
"Yeah." He grinned. "It figures you would say something like that."
Naruto immediately let her hand go when they approached her house. The last thing he wanted was to have Inoichi see this little display. He could just imagine the look on the older man's face. All hell would definitely break loose.
"Naruto, it's okay my father isn't around."
"Yeah." He laughed nervously. "Well, for all I know he could be lurking in the shadows, just waiting for the chance to strike."
Ino raised an eyebrow to him. "Now you sound paranoid. Cut it out."
"Hey, excuse me for trying to live."
"My mom likes you a lot. Isn't that all the confidence you need to get through dinner."
Mrs. Yamanaka was nice. He liked Ino's mother a lot. She seemed like a calm, reasonable person. He could handle dinner a lot better since she would be around.
"Hey, how about just you, me, and your mom have dinner. That sounds perfect to me."
"Naruto. We eat, we talk for awhile, and then you can leave. It's not that complicated."
"I guess I'm a little nervous." He admitted. "I've never had dinner with a girl and her parents before."
"Think of it as practice for when you and Sakura start going out. At least you'll know what to expect."
Naruto wondered why Ino had seemed so confident about his dating Sakura. Who really knew what would happen after this whole ordeal was over. It wasn't like she had any actual proof that this would be the outcome. What if in the end he and Sakura only remained friends.
"Must be a girl thing." He assumed.
"Oh, hello there Naruto-kun. How are you?" He heard.
"Hi Mrs. Yamanaka, I'm doing okay. Hey do you need help with those groceries?" Naruto offered.
"Oh, no that's okay. I've got them, but thanks for asking. What brings you by?"
"Um..."
"He was walking me home mom." Ino interrupted. "Guess what, Naruto said that he'd come over for dinner on Saturday."
A warm smile crept up on to the older blond's face. She was glad to see that her daughter had finally asked him over for dinner.
"Well. It's certainly about time that she asked you to join us. I was beginning to wonder if she ever would." She gently teased her daughter.
"Heh." Ino laughed. "I might have, sort have forgotten."
"That's okay, he knows now. So I'll be seeing you on Saturday, right Naruto-kun?"
"Ye...Yeah."
"And don't worry much about Inoichi. He's a real softie on the inside."
"Yeah right and Baa-chan isn't really an alcoholic." Naruto thought to himself. "Okay Mrs. Yamanaka I understand."
"Alright, well I better get these groceries inside. Take care, Naruto-kun."
"You too Mrs. Yamanaka."
Once the older woman was gone it left Naruto and Ino alone once more. The blue eyed girl turned to look at Naruto. He was standing there scratching his hair.
"See my mom really likes you, so don't worry so much."
"Yeah, you're right Ino-chan." He gave her a smile. "It probably wont be so bad."
"It'll be fine."
"Okay, as long as you're sure. Take care until Saturday, if I don't see you before then."
"You too Naruto."
She waved goodbye to him. Ino watched until he was completely gone from sight.
"Hopefully things will go well."
Naruto found himself outside of Ichiraku's. He decided that now was a better time than any to h ave a bowl of ramen. Of course, if you were Naruto there was always a reason to have ramen.
"Hey Naruto." A voice called out to him.
He turned around to see Sakura running up to him.
"Hey, Sakura-chan what's going on?"
"Nothing." She answered. "Do you mind if I join you?"
He knew that this wasn't considered a date in the slightest, but a chance to be near the pink hared girl was still something that he couldn't pass up.
"No I don't mind at all."
The former teammates sat down, and ordered two bowls of pork ramen.
"Say, Naruto I was actually hoping that I'd run into you."
"Really? What for? You're okay aren't you?" He immediately worried. Sakura smiled at his predictable behavior. He was always concerned for his friends.
"I'm fine, there's nothing to worry about. I promise."
"That's good." He smiled back.
"Besides, you're the one acting so weird lately. I still can't believe that you and Ino-pig are dating now."
Naruto swallowed his ramen. He knew that he had to say something to her. He could not sit here without addressing her comment.
"Yeah. I guess things just sort of happened. I like her."
It wasn't as if he had told a complete lie. He did find the platinum blond attractive. Besides, spending all this time with her had given him the chance to get to know her a bit better. At that moment though, Naruto didn't know if he meant he liked her as a friend; or if he was starting to like her more than that. He simply wasn't sure.
Sakura was silent, as she ate her ramen. Was she jealous? She wasn't sure if that was what she was feeling. It was definitely more than a possibility. If anything at all she was curious. For as long as she had known Naruto had liked her. It was all just very strange. Sakura couldn't exactly put words to it, but something was up.
"Naruto I...never mind."
Once he finished his bowl, naturally he had ordered another. There was an awkward silence between the two. Naruto was curious as to why Sakura wasn't saying anything.
"Sakura-chan, you aren't talking. Didn't you want to talk?"
Sakura turned to him. She put her hand to his shoulder.
"Yeah, I just wanted to tell you that I want you to be happy. But don't spend all your time with Ino-pig okay." She smiled. "I need you too, you know."
Naruto gave her a warm smile. He then stood up placing his hand on to her shoulder.
"Don't worry Sakura-chan. I'm always here for you alright."
"I know." She nodded. "But don't let Ino hear you say that. She just might kick your ass if she found out." Sakura laughed.
"Yeah, maybe."
"No, but seriously I just don't want to lose you completely, you know."
Naruto simply nodded.
"Yeah. I understand Sakura-chan. It was nice eating with you, but I'm going to go alright. Try not to worry about a thing."
"I wont I promise. Take care Naruto."
"You too Sakura-chan."
So, she never exactly said that she was jealous in any way shape or form. Naruto really didn't know what to make of the situation. Right now he could only say that he was confused.
"I guess that I'll just have to see how this whole thing plays out."
That night the spiky headed blond tossed and turned in his sleep. He hadn't had such a restless night in a very long time. He soon found himself in a dream.
(Naruto's Dream)
The blond male stood there with the pink haired girl in his arms. He had just finished explaining the details of his plan to her.
"Naruto. I still can't believe that you did all of this for me."
"Yeah." He nodded. "So, now that you know. What does this mean for us Sakura-chan?"
She let him go. Sakura smiled for him.
"I think that we should be together. Come on Naruto, lets go."
She gripped his hand, and started to lead the way.
"Wait!" A voice was heard.
"Huh." Naruto froze. He knew that voice all too well. It was a voice that he had grown very accustomed to. He turned around.
"Oh, Ino-chan?"
He saw the platinum blond standing there. She looked completely out of breath, like she had been running to catch up to them.
"Naruto wait. You can't go with her."
He blinked curiously, turning his full attention on to her. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she was serious.
"Naruto?" Sakura spoke. She pulled his arm trying to get his attention. "Come on, lets go okay forget about Ino-pig."
Sakura tried pulling him along, but stopped when she felt that he wasn't coming with her. She turned to see what the problem was. And there she saw Ino holding on to his other arm.
"No!" Ino shouted. "Forehead, you don't get a chance with him, not anymore. Naruto come with me okay. I can make you way happier than she ever could."
"No, don't listen to her Naruto. Come with me."
The two girls began pulling him in both directions. The blond male was starting to become dizzy from the constant pulling. He didn't know which way to go, or who to go with for that matter.
"Let me go both of you." He spoke.
"No. I'm only protecting what's mine." They both said at the same time.
"Sakura-chan, Ino-chan I can't be with both of you. Or can I?" He smiled.
Just then two fist went flying and punched the young man in the face.
"No the hell you can't." They screamed at him.
"Right. I understand." He mumbled. "I was just kidding."
"Very good Uzumaki. Now that you realize that, I guess you better choose." Ino told him.
"For once I agree with Ino-pig. Choose."
"I..." Naruto started.
"Choose now." Sakura said.
"Right now Naruto!" Ino spoke.
With that the blond teen awoke from his dream. He sat up in bed, his bangs falling over in his eyes. A slight sigh escaped him.
"What a weird dream." he whispered.
The blue eyed teen threw on a t-shirt and his jacket. He had a good feeling that he would not be getting to sleep anytime soon. He decided to go out for a walk. All he could really think about was the events of his dream. He walked the streets of Konoha with his hands in his pockets.
"Man, I really can't believe that dream."
He couldn't have feelings for Ino could he? No, that was impossible. She happened to be his friend. And, she definitely didn't see him as anything more than a friend, he was positive of this.
"Come on Naruto. Snap out of it. It was only a stupid dream. There's no reason to dwell on it."
It was a cool night, the breeze felt extremely good to him. The air seemed to calm him. Once he felt relaxed enough he decided to head back home. There was no real good reason for him to stay out here. He might as well try getting back to sleep.
"Naruto, what are you doing out at this time?"
"Iruka-sensei." He looked up to see his former teacher. "Wait, what are you doing out here? Isn't it way passed your bedtime." Naruto teased.
Iruka laughed and put his hand to Naruto's head, messing up his already spiky blond hair.
"Very funny Naruto. I could be saying the same thing about you."
"Yeah, yeah." Naruto smiled. "But seriously what are you doing out this late?"
"I was at the academy drawing up my lesson plan for tomorrow; and I sort of lost track of time I guess."
Naruto nodded in understanding.
"So no hot date, huh?" Naruto nudged him in the shoulder.
"No. I'm afraid not just school work." When Naruto grew silent Iruka blinked in confusion. He wondered what was troubling the young man.
"Naruto is there something wrong?"
"Huh? No of course not. I..."
Iruka smiled knowingly at his former student.
"Come on lets sit and talk." He then led the way to a nearby bench. Naruto didn't speak right away. Iruka stretched his arms out, leaning back against the bench.
"It's a shame that it's so late, otherwise I could treat you to a bowl of ramen."
"Yeah, well maybe next time, huh Iruka-sensei." He spoke in a hopeful tone.
"We'll see Naruto. Now tell me what's on your mind."
Naruto took a deep breath, gathering up all his thoughts. If there was anyone that he could talk to it would be Iruka. He had always been there for him no matter what.
"Iruka-sensei. I kind of need some advice."
"Okay, well I'll be happy to help in any way that I can. What's going on?"
"Alright. Let's say that old man Teuchi had a brand new flavor of ramen out. I'm talking, like an undiscovered type of ramen. And I was thinking of trying it. But, what if I cant bring myself to try it because I'm still stuck on pork ramen. What do I do Iruka-sensei?" He shouted in a slight panic.
It was the only way he could think of to describe his situation. He had never been in this sort of predicament, so it was only natural that he would panic. Iruka only held a bewildered expression on his face.
"Naruto, why couldn't you just enjoy both kinds of ramen. I don't understand."
It was clear that Iruka had no idea that wasn't talking about ramen at all, or rather he was talking about his feelings for Sakura; and his possible feelings for Ino.
"No. Iruka-sensei that's not going to work. I can't have both."
"Naruto, since when have you said no to ramen. No matter what the flavor is. Oh..." The brown haired male paused. It was as if a light finally clicked on in his brain.
"Naruto, this doesn't have anything to do with ramen at all does it?"
"No, it doesn't. It's more like a girl problem."
"Ah. Well if it makes you that uncomfortable, we'll continue talking in your terms. Why are you afraid to try the new flavor of ramen? Are you afraid that you may end up liking it more than you first thought?" Iruka asked.
"Maybe, but I don't know if I even like the new flavor. I think that I'm still into the old flavor. I don't know what to do Iruka-sensei."
"Perhaps, you should give the new flavor..." He stopped again. "Alright, this is too weird. Naruto it's perfectly fine to try new things, and open your eyes to a different experience. Who knows, if you give this girl a real chance; you might be pleasantly surprised."
Naruto looked at his hands for a moment, while processing what Iruka had just said to him.
"Yeah, even if I did give it a shot. I doubt that she would return my feelings."
"Give it some time Naruto. You don't have to make a decision about either girl right now."
"So, you think I should just sit and see how things turn out."
"I'm just telling you that you don't have to rush into anything. I'm sure that the answer will come to you, when your ready. Now I'm going to head home, goodnight Naruto."
"Goodnight Iruka-sensei. Oh, and tell Shizune-neechan that I said hello." Naruto laughed.
"Huh?" A slight blush rose to the brown haired males face. "Um...that is none of your business. And Shizune-san and I are just friends."
"Yeah, okay Iruka-sensei. I'll see you around."
"Bye."
The blond male waited awhile before heading home himself. His only thoughts were on the conversation he had with his former teacher. Perhaps, he only needed to spend more time with the platinum blond, to find out if he really did have feelings for her.
"Maybe Iruka-sensei is right. I should try the new flavor... I mean give Ino-chan a real shot. Yeah, maybe I will." He decided.
Saturday came quicker than the blond haired male had expected. He found that he wasn't as nervous as he was before. It wasn't like he planned to make Mr. Yamanaka upset in any way.
"Besides, he can't kill me with Ino and her mother around. There would be too many witnesses."
Naruto dressed casual, wearing black pants and a blue shirt. He placed his chunin vest on top of the shirt. There was nothing wrong with looking presentable in front of Mr. Yamanaka. He then tied his hitai-ate on his forehead. He thought he looked decent enough.
"Alright, I'm ready. I better get going."
In truth, he was actually hoping to be a little early. He was debating on whether or not he should tell Ino about the dream. She most likely would laugh at him, and say that he was being ridiculous.
"Stop being an idiot. It was only a dream." He heard Ino's voice in his mind.
"Yeah. She'd probably say something like that."
The more he thought about it, it was pointless to talk to her. For all he knew the dream could have been just a silly little dream. Not every dream had to mean something. If this was the case, why was his mind telling him otherwise. Why did it feel like it was more than just a simple dream?
"Hey, Naruto-kun. I hear that congratulations are in order." A black haired male spoke. This caused the blond to look up at his friend.
"Hey there bushy-brow. What do you mean congratulations?"
"Congratulations to you and Ino-chan on your new found relationship. Everyone's talking about it."
"Oh." Naruto smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, so everyone's talking huh?"
"Yes." Lee nodded. "But Tenten-chan and I weren't surprised in the least. We are very excited for the two of you. Perhaps we can double date in the near future."
Naruto could only imagine what kind of date that would turn out to be. He could imagine the look of horror on Ino's face, while Lee continued to talk about youth. Naruto chuckled to himself at the thought.
"I don't know. I would have to check with Ino-chan first."
"Right." Lee understood.
"I'm going to get going though. Lee, I'll talk to you soon alright."
"Yes. I'm already running a little late to pick up Tenten-chan. I should be going as well, stay youthful."
"Will do." Naruto nodded.
The friends said goodbye to one another, and both boys went their separate ways. Naruto decided he would most likely not tell her about the double date invitation. Then again, with the way she had sprung this dinner on him. Why shouldn't he get a little payback.
When he finally arrived at the Yamanaka's house, he was greeted by Ino herself.
"Hi Ino-chan." He smiled for her.
Ino stood there staring at him. She moved to the side so that he could enter the house. Ino leaned up against the doorway, and waited for him to come in.
"Hey Ino-chan what's going on?" He noticed her hair was down again and she had a blue butterfly clip in it. She was wearing a blue skirt, and a white top. "You look nice, um..." He paused.
The platinum blond was still silent. Naruto knew for sure that something had to be wrong. Since when did she not respond to a compliment. Naruto scratched his hair and then pointed to her.
"Okay, what's up? You are never this quiet, ever." He added.
Ino frowned and was about to hit him upside the head. Unfortunately, her mother had intervened. She sighed knowing that she would not be able to hit him now.
"Good evening Naruto-kun its great to see you. Please come in."
"Sure." He nodded giving Ino another look before entering the house.
"You'll have to forgive Ino-chan. She caught a nasty cold and lost her voice."
"Oh." He nodded in understanding. "Sorry about that Ino-chan."
Ino nodded.
"But, hey Mrs. Yamanaka at least the house will be quiet for a few days huh." He teased.
The older blond woman let out a laugh. She soon regained herself, when she caught the displeased look on her daughter's face.
"That's not very nice you know. Come on have a seat. I'm going to go check on dinner. Inoichi should be here soon."
"Mrs. Yamanaka is there anything I can do to help?" Naruto asked.
"There he goes being Mr. Helpful again." Ino thought.
"Well, you can help Ino-chan set the table. I'll be right back.
The moment her mother left, Ino walked over to him and hit him upside his head.
"Ow. Damn it, Ino what the hell?"
The look of sheer annoyance on her face made him remember why she hit him.
"Oh." He grinned apologetically. "I was just kidding...mostly."
"Whatever." Ino sighed. "Follow me." She motioned for him to come with her into the kitchen, to retrieve the plates. Naruto was immediately greeted by the wonderful aroma that was coming from the room.
"Wow, it smells awesome in here Mrs Yamanaka."
"Oh." She looked up. "Thank you Naruto, everything should be done shortly. After you two set the table Ino-chan, why don't you show him around the shop."
"Sure mom."
The blond male helped carry the plates back to the table, so that he and Ino could set everything up. As she was placing the chopsticks down, her fingers accidentally brushed up against his. She looked up to meet his gaze. They stared at each other for a moment.
"Oh, sorry Ino-chan."
"No problem." She slowly pulled her hand back. Only she could still feel that warm feeling there. That warm feeling caused by his fingers. As soon as the table had been set up, the platinum blond led the way to their flower shop. Naruto walked behind her with his hands behind his head. He stared at her with a curious expression on his face. The whole time he kept thinking how unfortunate it was, that she had lost her voice. They could have been having some sort of conversation, if she were able to communicate with him.
Ino, on the other hand didn't know why she was even showing him the shop. Would he even care about flowers? Somehow she doubted it. This would probably be a waste of time. Naruto stood in awe at all the many different types of flowers.
"Wow, Ino-chan so many flowers."
"Yeah, you got it."
"Which ones are those?" He pointed to a red flower.
Ino wanted to be able to tell him what they were, and the meaning behind it. But, naturally at this moment she couldn't.
"Those are red carnations Naruto-kun." Ino's mother spoke. "Would you like to know what it means?"
"Sure."
"It means, my heart aches for you, or that you have an admiration for someone."
"Oh." He nodded.
"Ino-chan, help me water these white carnations, and those chrysanthemums. Oh, and after that would you mind helping me finish arranging this bouquet.
"No problem." Ino shook her head.
"Hey, I can help water these too Mrs. Yamanaka. I'm not an expert like you or Ino-chan. But I have some plants at home."
"Oh, do you like to garden Naruto-kun?"
"Heh." He smiled. "Sometimes." Naruto admitted.
"Well, that's very good Naruto. It can give you and Ino-chan something to do together. Why don't you water those gardenia's over there." The older blond passed him the water pail.
"Sure thing."
Ino watched with interest, as the blue eyed male handled the flowers with utmost care. It came as a surprise to her. He just didn't strike her as a person who would take an interest in gardening.
"He always seems to surprise me."
"Oh, I'd better get dinner on the table. Your father should be home by now. Ino-chan, you can handle the rest of this bouquet right?"
"Of course. You know that I can do this in my sleep." Ino smiled confidently.
"Good, thanks a lot."
Mrs. Yamanaka exited the room, leaving Naruto and Ino alone once more.
"Okay, well that takes care of that." Naruto whispered since he had finished watering the gardenia's. He went to look for something else to do, but became distracted when he saw what Ino was doing. She was standing there finishing up the bouquet, that her mother started. She looked completely at home and relaxed. This was Ino's domain. She was a natural at this sort of thing. She seemed so focused, as she added another flower to the beautifully mixed bouquet.
"Of course Ino is good at this sort of thing. She's probably been doing this sort of thing ever since she was a kid."
Naruto walked over to her, watching closely.
"Wow Ino-chan, you did a really nice job."
"Thank you." She nodded.
He looked at her. A sigh escaped him, which caused her to turn to look at him. The blue eyed male then looked up. There was a bright glint in his eyes.
"It's so hard not being able to hear your voice Ino-chan. I got so used to hearing it." He laughed. "I..." He stopped talking. "Never mind let's get back to the table. I don't know about you but I'm starving."
Ino followed behind Naruto this time. He led the way back to the dining area. Once there, they were greeted by Mr. Yamanaka. He was already seated at the table. He had his hands folded underneath his chin. His gaze already focused on Naruto.
"Oh, hey there Mr. Yamanaka."
Ino noticed that Naruto didn't stutter or seem nervous. He had either gotten an extra dose of courage over the last few days, or he was simply pretending not to be scared.
"Hello Naruto. It's good of you to finally join us. I asked Ino to invite you over awhile ago."
"Really?" He questioned while looking over to the platinum blond.
"Alright, yeah so I let it slip my mind. Just sit." Ino grabbed a hold of his shoulders and pushed him in the seat.
"Now, now Ino-chan you shouldn't treat a guest that way." Mrs. Yamanaka spoke.
"Yeah Ino-chan you shouldn't treat a guest that way. Its impolite." Naruto smirked.
Ino simply rolled her eyes at his remark.
"Oh, Naruto I made something especially for you. Ino-chan told me how much you liked ramen."
The older blond haired woman placed a bowl of hot steamy ramen in front of him. A huge smile exploded on to his face. He was extremely grateful to Ino right now.
"Thanks a lot Mrs. Yamanaka."
"No problem." She smiled.
Ino closed her eyes expecting to hear the young man immediately diving into the bowl of noodles. She expected to hear the loud slurping sound. To her relief, she found that he was eating like a normal person. He was probably to afraid of her father to not show decent table manners.
"Mrs. Yamanaka this is really good. It's almost as good as Ichir..."
He tried to finish his sentence, but Ino put her hand over his mouth. He should never go insulting a woman's cooking. It was something that should not be done.
"Idiot."
"Yes, thank you I could never get it to taste quite as good as Teuchi-san. But that's no surprise after all he is the expert."
Mrs. Yamanaka sat down and dinner was finally underway. For awhile there wasn't any conversation. Everyone seemed to find the food on their plates extremely interesting.
"Things are a bit too quiet." Naruto thought.
Naruto noticed that Ino wasn't eating anything. Was it possible that she was dieting again? He hoped not. She didn't even need to diet in the first place.
"Um..." He started.
"So, Naruto." Inoichi spoke. This caused the blond boy to turn to look at the older male.
"Yes Mr. Yamanaka?"
"I was curious to learn more about you? What are your plans? You're goals for the future."
He waited for a moment before answering Inoichi.
"Well sir, my main goal has always been to become Hokage. I've always wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth something you know. And, also I want to protect this village Mr. Yamanaka." He stopped. All eyes were now on him. "It's like, when you have something precious to you; you only want to protect it."
Inoichi looked at the young man for a moment. He could tell by Naruto's tone of voice, and the look in his eyes that he was very serious.
"Well at least he has goals in life that's a good thing." Inoichi thought. "I understand perfectly well what you mean."
"It's a very good dream to have Naruto-kun." Ino's mother nodded.
"Thanks."
"I have another question, Naruto." Inoichi spoke again.
"Ask away sir."
"Where does my daughter fit into all of this? I only want what's best for her. You wouldn't have any plans to just use her and then drop her when she doesn't hold your interest anymore do you? I would hate for something terrible to befall you if you did." There was an intense look in those blue eyes.
Naruto simply swallowed the lump of nervousness in his throat. He knew that he couldn't show his fear now. He turned his full attention on to Inoichi.
"Sir. I have no intentions on hurting Ino-chan in anyway. I promise you that you have nothing to worry about. So, nothing terrible should happen to me, right." He laughed. "Um, speaking of Ino-chan why isn't she eating?" He finally asked his question.
"I'm not sure. I even made her some soup to help with that cold of hers. But she didn't want it." Mrs. Yamanaka answered.
"That's no good Ino-chan." He shook his head. "You have to eat. Mrs. Yamanaka if you don't mind, could I go and get the soup that you made for Ino."
"Sure it's in the kitchen."
Inoichi had to admit that he was curious as to what Naruto had planned. He was actually glad to see that he hadn't scared Naruto too much. He was glad to see how confident the young man seemed. Inoichi didn't want some punk dating his daughter, that was for sure.
"Either he's really good at pretending he's not scared. Or that young man has grown some balls over the last few days." Inoichi thought.
Ino just sat there thinking about how Naruto had just spoken to her. He actually had some concern for her. She could hear it in his voice. It actually gave her a good feeling to know that.
"No. Ino don't think like that. He's not into you that way. He was just being a good friend."
Naruto came back with a bowl of soup for the platinum blond. He sat down pulling his seat closer to her. Ino raised an eyebrow to him in question.
"What is he going to do?"
Naruto took the spoon, and smiled warmly.
"Okay Ino-chan open up, you're going to eat alright."
"He's not planning on feeding me, is he?"
"I'll even blow it for you if it's too hot. I don't care if I have to feed you myself, just to make sure that you eat."
The blue eyed girl blinked. She really couldn't believe him. He was showing such confidence in front of her father, by offering to feed her. It was refreshing to hear him talk like this. But, it was all so overwhelming at the same time.
"He's been so polite, like a real gentleman. My mother likes him. He actually showed an interest in something that's always been important to me. And now he wants to feed me...I can't take this."
Ino rose from her seat, and ran up the stairs. Naruto blinked in confusion. He wondered if maybe he had done something wrong.
"Um I..."
"Don't worry about Ino-chan. She'll be alright." Her mother promised.
"Yeah. Hey Mr. Yamanaka, Mrs. Yamanaka thank you for inviting me over for dinner. I should probably get going. Tell Ino-chan I said goodnight, okay."
The young man stood up from the table. He started for the door, but stopped when Inoichi called out to him.
"Naruto, wait a moment."
"Yes sir?"
"I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for being so harsh with you before. I was simply concerned for Ino-chan's best interest. You can understand that, right?"
"Oh yeah. I understand sir. So, then you aren't going to come and kill me in my sleep." He laughed.
"Certainly not Naruto. Inoichi is a real softie once you get to know him."
Inoichi walked over to the young man. He put his hand on to his shoulder.
"Listen son, I want you to know something else. I do not blame you because of the Kyuubi."
Naruto's eyes widened upon hearing Inoichi's words. In truth, a part of him had wondered what Ino's parents had thought about that.
"That's right dear, we do not judge you because of something that's not your fault." Mrs. Yamanaka spoke.
Inoichi nodded in agreement. He still wore his serious expression, but Naruto found that there was nothing to be concerned about anymore.
"There is something that I believe you should do."
"What's that Mr. Yamanaka?"
"I believe that if you're going to be spending time with Ino-chan, you should tell her about the Kyuubi. It's completely up to you. But, I think that she has a right to know."
There was silence for a moment. Naruto knew that Inoichi had a point. He should probably tell Ino all about the Kyuubi. They were friends, and he did feel that he could trust her with that bit of information.
"Okay Mr. Yamanaka." He nodded. "I understand. I'm going to go now, have a good evening."
"Hm." He shook his head. "You have a good evening as well, Naruto."
Meanwhile Ino sat in her room staring out of her bedroom window. She wasn't sure why she had run off like that. The only thing that she knew was that she couldn't sit there for a minute longer.
"Heh." She thought. "He was actually going to feed me that soup. What the hell was he thinking?"
She looked down to see Naruto walking away from her house. She wanted to be able to shout something at him, anything at all so that he could look up at her. She sighed knowing that right now she couldn't. Soon the blond male came to a stop. He turned around and looked up at her from downstairs. He smiled for her.
"Goodnight Ino-chan." He told her before heading back to his own apartment. A small smile rose to Ino's face as well.
"Goodnight Naruto."
A/N: Told you it was long lol. Now Read and Review and let me know what you thought about it. I think it was the best chapter by far, but that's just my opinion. More importantly I hope that it was to your liking.