A/N: Okay. So here I am with the next chapter. I re wrote this a whole lot of times, and I still wasn't completely satisfied. I am sorry for that. I hope that you enjoy anyway. Also, this has nothing to do with the story. But I think that we should all take a moment to think of the victims in Myanmar and China. And to everyone who may have family over there, with everything that has happened in their countries. Thanks. Now I wont ramble on anymore. Here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Uzumaki Naruto let out an uneasy sigh. This was it. Today was the day that he would tell his friend about the Kyuubi. He was more than just a little nervous. He was worried about how Ino would react to his news. Was it possible that she might end up hating him? Would she want to end their friendship over this.

Naruto stood on the bridge where the former team seven used to wait for their sensei. He had asked the platinum blond to meet him here. She was actually running a little late. He hoped that everything was okay with her. Naruto was soon pacing back and forth, in a very nervous manner. It wasn't too late to back out. No one said that he had to tell her about Kyuubi today. But then he remembered Inoichi's words. Ino had a right to know, especially since they had been spending a lot of time together.

"Hey Naruto." he heard her voice.

He stopped pacing, and turned around. Ino stopped right in front of him.

"Hey. I'm sorry that I'm late. What's up? Why did you want to meet me?"

The blond male nervously shoved his hands into his pockets. He gathered up his courage. This was now or never. Do or die. There was no holding back any longer.

"Uh, Ino-chan. I have something I want to tell you."

"Okay." She nodded. "Go for it."

"I should have probably told you this before. I'm sorry that I didn't."

Ino simply blinked in confusion. She saw that he was having a hard time. She only wanted him to say whatever it was that was on his mind.

"Naruto, it's okay. Just tell me."

"Right. Well do you remember the attack on Konoha, 17 years ago. The one made by Kyuubi. Did you ever hear anything about it?"

Ino nodded. She had remembered her parents discussing it when she was younger. She wondered why he was suddenly bringing it up now. What did that have to do with him?

"Yeah, the fox demon that the Yondaime killed right?"

"No. The fourth didn't kill Kyuubi. He um..." Naruto stopped.

Ino put her hand to his shoulder. She didn't know of any other way to help him tell her what was going on.

"Naruto, how do you know about all of this. It's not really something that we were told about, you know."

"Yeah, I know. I'll tell you. I know that the fourth didn't kill Kyuubi, because it was sealed inside a newborn."

He paused again. Naruto looked down and stared into Ino's eyes. She was clearly waiting for him to speak again.

"That newborn was me. I have Kyuubi inside of me. I'm a jinchuuriki."

Ino froze. Naruto stared into those aqua colored orbs. She had a look of fear in her eyes. He had never seen her look like this before. She slowly stepped away from him.

"You're a freak."

Her words were painful to him. It was the way she uttered the word "freak". He hated the way she called him that so easily.

"Ino-chan...I..."

"No, you're a freak." She repeated. "I can't believe that you have that...that thing inside of you. And to think that I let you touch me. I let you hold my hand. How could I ever let a monster like you anywhere near me."

Each word she spoke felt like a stab to the chest. Her voice was filled with venom. He had never actually heard her speak like this. Not even to Sakura, whenever they had their little rivalry going on.

"But Ino, I'm not a monster. I'm still the same Naruto. You know, the one you always call idiot." he tried to smile. "You're friend."

Ino wasn't having any of it. She didn't want to hear any of his explanations. To her, he was not the same Naruto she once knew. He was a monster, a freak, someone she didn't want to be around.

"Don't try to get me to feel sorry for you, you creep. I'm out of here. Don't ever talk to me again. Goodbye."

He watched her walk away. Naruto tried to run after her. He had to stop her from leaving. He needed her to understand that he wasn't a monster, or a freak. He was someone that she could count on. He was her friend. When he caught up to her, he grabbed her arm.

"Ino-chan, please wait."

"Get the hell off of me, you goddamn monster."

She turned around and slapped him across the face. Naruto put his hand to his cheek. It had turned bright red. Ino had no sort of remorse in her eyes. Naruto only saw hate and disgust.

"Never come near me again."

With that she was gone from sight. Naruto never imagined that she would take the news so badly.

"Ino..." He whispered sadly.

Naruto woke up from his nightmare. He stared down at the seal on his stomach. That nightmare was still haunting him. He couldn't even begin to think of anything else.

"Ino-chan wouldn't react like that, would she?" He wondered.

He didn't want to even imagine that happening for real. It was then that he decided not to tell her. He would hold off on telling her for awhile. The young man had truly lost his nerve. At this moment, he simply didn't have the heart to tell her. For the rest of the night, he found that sleep did not come for him. He found that no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get back to sleep. The dream would not leave his thoughts. He wasn't sure how the platinum blond was going to react. Sure she was loud, pushy, and sometimes overbearing. Yet the blue eyed girl had a caring side. And he found that she could be very understanding. Knowing this did nothing to ease his nervousness.

"I guess telling Ino-chan about Kyuubi will have to wait a little while longer."

Over the past few days, a certain pink haired female had the opportunity to do some serious thinking. Watching Ino and Naruto together, was something that she was still trying to get used to. She found that she was spending less time with her blond haired friend. If he wasn't on missions. He was spending all of his free time with Ino. She missed him, but of course she wasn't jealous. At least, that was what she was trying to tell herself.

"I'm not jealous, I'm not jealous."

Sakura was sitting at a nearby bench thinking, when Tenten saw her. Tenten walked over to her pink haired friend. She noticed that the young woman was clearly spacing out. The brunette waved her hand in front of her. There was no response. She then started to shake Sakura, there was still no response.

"Sakura!"

The younger girl didn't acknowledge the brunette. Tenten was becoming visibly upset. Just what the hell was she thinking about, that had her so spaced out. It was as if Sakura was in another world.

"Konoha to Haruno Sakura, where the hell are you right now?"

Sakura didn't even blink. She was too deep in her thoughts to be bothered by Tenten. The older kunoichi knew that she had to do something. She needed to bring the green eyed girl out of her current state.

"Oh my god, is that Naruto cheating on Ino with Temari from Suna."

"Huh?" Sakura instantly snapped out of it. "Oh, hey Tenten what's up?"

"You tell me." The brown eyed girl sat down next to her. "You seem a little out of it."

"I'm fine." She lied. "I was just doing a little thinking."

"Yeah, I can see that."

Unknowing to the two girls, Ino was sitting behind some bushes listening in. She was actually going to ask Sakura what the problem was, but Tenten had gotten to her first. So here the platinum blond sat, eavesdropping on their conversation. She felt a little bad for doing this. Mainly because it made her seem like she had absolutely no life.

"Geez, what I am I even doing here. This is so pathetic."

As she was getting up to leave. She heard the two girls talking again.

"So what's on your mind?" Tenten asked.

"I was just thinking about Naruto and Ino."

She heard her name. There was no way she was leaving right now. She had to stay to hear this.

"What about them? They are so cute aren't they?"

"I don't know. Something just doesn't seem right with them. I can't explain."

"Oh shit." Ino thought.

This couldn't be a good thing. If Sakura was thinking thoughts like this, then she and Naruto simply weren't convincing enough.

"I don't get it. They seem like they're good for each other. You're probably a bit jealous." Tenten smiled.

Sakura's cheeks flushed red. No, that wasn't it. She admitted when she first found out that they were together. She was a little more than surprised. But it was to be expected. They were the very last people she saw making a love connection. She really didn't see that one coming. To make a long story short, she simply couldn't believe it. Although she had witnessed them holding hands, touching, and calling each other names like "sweetie", or "baby". A part of her still didn't really believe it. Or maybe she just didn't want to believe it. Was she really jealous? Maybe on some level she was. She did however feel that Naruto had been taken away from her.

Ino sat there anticipating Sakura's answer. If it was what she had hoped, she could go find Naruto; and tell him the good news. They would be able to end this little charade.

"Come on Forehead, just admit that you're jealous already."

"I..." Sakura started. "I am not jealous."

"Yeah, right, whatever you say Sakura. You are so jealous. I can tell."

"No I'm not. Look, think about it Tenten. Don't you think that their relationship happened a little too fast? They had one date, the next thing they are suddenly into each other. And haven't you noticed that they never kiss."

Ino swallowed the lump in her throat. So this was what the whole thing was about. Sakura had a point. In front of their friends, she and Naruto had never once kissed. The most they ever did was hug, hold hands, and call each other little pet names. She couldn't believe that she had forgotten that little detail. Couples kissed, it was a well known fact. She had surely seen Lee and Tenten, and Hinata and Kiba enough to understand that.

She didn't want their entire plan blown to pieces, because of something as simple as a kiss. Besides, it wouldn't mean anything to either of them. She was positive that Naruto still wanted Sakura. She knew that much for sure. And she was simply Naruto's friend, nothing more, nothing less. She could kiss her friend with no strings attached. If this was all true, why did she feel nervous about it.

"So what." Tenten said. "Couples don't have to always show P.D.A. Who says that they have to be all over each other?"

Ino stood up from her position on the ground. She didn't want to hear the rest of this. Instead she went off in search of her blond friend. Sakura turned around. She stared at the bushes with a curious expression.

"What's up?" Tenten questioned.

"Um, its nothing. I told you Ten, its just weird. I can't really explain it but something is up."

Ino searched everywhere for her whisker faced friend. He wasn't at Ichiraku's, he wasn't training, no one had seen him. It wasn't as if he had vanished off the face of the earth.

"Naruto, where the hell are you?" She wondered.

"Oi Ino, you okay?" Shikamaru asked.

"Huh, oh hey Shika. I didn't see you laying there. You haven't seen Naruto anywhere have you?"

A yawn escaped the dark haired male. He looked up to meet his gaze. She seemed a little on edge. He was starting to wonder why that was.

"Naruto? No I can't say that I've seen him."

"Alright." She nodded. "Thanks I'm going to go find him."

She started to leave but Shikamaru called out to her once more.

"Ino, I know its not really any of my business. But are you and Naruto okay. I don't know, you seem a little panicked for some reason."

"We're fine." Ino smiled. "There's nothing to worry about. I'll see you around okay Shika, bye." She waved.

Shikamaru only shrugged his shoulders. If Ino said everything was fine, then it had to be true. He would have to leave any suspicions or questions alone for the moment.

"I guess that she's okay then."

The platinum blond finally decided to check Naruto's house. He had to be in his apartment. She knocked on the door. There was no answer at first.

"Naruto, open up."

She only knocked harder. He had yet to come to the door. A sigh escaped her. What was he doing in there that was so important? Could he seriously not hear her practically banging on his door.

"Naruto!" She shouted.

It was then that realization came to her. Perhaps he wasn't even home. It would explain why he wasn't coming to the door. Only, if he wasn't home. Where the hell was he?

"I better go then."

Just then a taller, spiky headed blond came to the door. He was dressed in nothing except his boxers, and a sleeveless t shirt. A blush rose to Ino's face, yet it quickly faded.

"Ino-chan." He yawned. "What are you doing here?"

"Get back inside. You hardly have any clothes on." She pushed him back inside his apartment.

"What's up? What are you doing here?" He asked again.

Naruto moved the many ramen cups out of the way, so that Ino could have a seat. The blue eyed female sat down and he did as well. She stared at the young man's arms. He had a well toned body, she could tell. She found herself wishing that the shirt was completely off. She wanted to see just how well toned he really was.

"No." She shook her head. "Don't think like that."

Ino took a breath. She needed to get her thoughts together. She thanked Kami that Naruto couldn't read her thoughts right now.

"Ino-chan?" His voice held concern. "Are you okay?"

"Hai." She nodded. "We've got to talk. I have some news. For one thing, Sakura is totally jealous."

"What?" He scratched his head in confusion.

"She is, trust me. I heard her talking with Tenten. Even if she's not admitting it, she definitely is."

Ino seemed to be completely confident in this little bit of information. Naruto, on the other hand wasn't sure what to make of things.

"Ino..."

"No. Listen we're making progress. It may be at a slow pace, but we are making progress. There's something else though."

Naruto blinked. He wasn't sure how to interpret Ino's tone of voice. She also appeared to be a little reluctant about sharing the next part of her news.

"Ino-chan what is it?"

"Well, to seal the deal we're going to have to show a little more public affection. We're going to have to..." She paused. "We're going to have to kiss."

As soon as he heard this, Naruto fell from his spot on the bed. He hit the floor hard. Ino simply shook her head.

"Get up you idiot."

"But...but Ino-chan we,...um we can't do that."

"I know." She agreed. "We have to. If Sakura sees it, its bound to have some sort of impact on her. Besides, couples do kiss."

She caught the look of worry on the blond boy's face.

"I know what you're thinking. It'll be okay Naruto. It's just a quick kiss. We both know that it wont mean anything. You do want Forehead don't you?"

A sigh escaped Naruto. He stood up, and made his way over to the window. Ino stared at him. She waited patiently for some sort of response.

"Ino-chan, what if this is really a waste of our time. I'm not sure if this is a good idea anymore. Maybe we should just give it up."

Ino almost didn't believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. This wasn't possible. Uzumaki Naruto was quitting. Sure, he had always been a bit reluctant since the beginning. He had always had his doubts about the whole plan. But she thought that he was all for it by now. And she didn't come all this way to give up now. She wasn't ready to call this whole thing quits.

"Uzumaki." She called out to him in a stern voice. "We didn't come all this way to give up now. We just have to push a little harder. You and I can do this. Listen, I really want to help you. At first this was just a stupid game to me. I wanted to tick Sakura off. But now..."

Naruto turned around to meet Ino's gaze. She was being serious, he could tell by the look in her eyes. She also had a very serious expression on her face.

"Ino..."

"Let me finish okay. I want you to have the things that you want. Although, I did tell you that you needed to get over her. Forehead has always been one of those things. She's always been the girl of your dreams. So, if I can help I want to. So," She smiled. "We're in this to the very end, got it."

There was something in her voice that made him not want to disappoint her. She seemed determined. He ended up giving her a half smile.

"Uh, sure."

"Good. Now don't worry so much about that kiss. It's only for show, remember?"

"Yeah."

"And I would hate for all of our progress to be ruined. We've come to far to end this thing now, especially since its just something as simple as a kiss. I'm going to go now. I'll see you."

"Bye Ino-chan."

"Bye." She waved.

The platinum blond exited his house. She leaned up against the door for a moment. Ino took a breath.

"That takes care of that. I can't believe that he almost gave up. We've worked too hard to give up."

With that Ino left his apartment and headed home. All she could really think about was the conversation with Sakura and Tenten. Why couldn't the pink haired girl accept what she and Naruto had already produced? Now they had to actually kiss. This might prove to be difficult. Ino saw that they had a challenge ahead of them.

"Things should work out fine. Yeah, as long as I remain optimistic. It should work out okay."

Naruto watched until the platinum blond was out of sight. To say he was nervous about this kiss was an understatement. He was down right panicked. He was more than just a little worried about it. Then again, there was no real reason to panic. Like Ino said it wouldn't mean anything.

"Yeah." Naruto laughed. "It's only a little kiss. It wont mean anything." He told himself.

One day the "couple" sat together holding hands, like they usually did. Ino figured that today was better than any other; to get this kiss over with. Unknowing to Naruto Sakura had been nearby. Tenten was standing next to her.

"Sakura, what the hell are you doing?" She asked.

"Shh, I'm watching them."

"Oh yeah, and you're definitely not jealous. Sakura do you see yourself? Look at what you're doing. You're sitting here spying on them from the bushes."

Sakura chose to ignore Tenten's comments. Although, she really did have a point. This was more than just a little ridiculous. This was down right crazy. Naruto felt the nervousness running through him. He was almost a complete wreck. He was sweating, and he felt like his throat was about to close in. Ino turned to look at him. She slowly loosened her grip on his hand.

"You're palms are really sweaty. Are you alright?"

She gently placed her hand to his forehead. He didn't have a fever. So he definitely wasn't sick. It was then that she came to one conclusion.

"Are you nervous?"

"Yeah, kind of." He admitted.

"Don't be. It's not a big deal like I said. It's going to be okay."

"Yeah I..."

Ino suddenly wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Naruto blinked in confusion. Why was she doing this. None of their friends were around. She was now firmly pressed up against his chest. He let out a muffled groan.

"Ino-chan, what are you..."

"Shh, she's watching us."

"Who?"

"Sakura. I see that pink head of hers. Who does she think she's fooling?" Ino spoke in an amused tone.

Ino pulled away slightly. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Aqua orbs staring into his confused cerulean blue pools. He didn't like that look in her eyes. She had something planned he could tell.

"Naruto, are you ready?"

"Um...ready for what?"

Ino rolled her eyes at his comment. It figured he would say something like that.

"Never mind, just come here." She then pressed her lips to his for a quick kiss. Sakura's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets.

"What the...do you see that...they can't be...what?" She repeated.

"Well, what do you expect they are a couple." Tenten reminded her.

Naruto never relaxed into her kiss. Ino frowned slightly. It was so tense and uncomfortable. The very least he could have done was kiss her back.

"Naruto, what the hell are you doing?" Ino thought.

"I don't believe this." Sakura whispered.

"Ew, gross get a room you two." Kiba's voice was heard.

The two blonds immediately looked up to see the feral boy. He had a grin on his face.

"Shut the hell up Kiba." Ino shouted. "If I want to kiss my man, I'm damn well going to. Besides we didn't say anything when you gave Hinata-chan that hickey the other day."

A slight blush rose to the brown haired boy's face. It quickly faded.

"Yes. Naruto-kun and Ino-chan are just enjoying a youthful moment together."

Tenten sighed heavily. She then made her way over to her boyfriend. She had to get him to shut up.

"Lee-kun, shut up."

"Oh, hello Tenten-chan. Where did you come from?"

"Yeah Ten, where did you come from? Ino asked with a suspicious look on her face.

Tenten swallowed the lump of nervousness in her throat. She didn't want Ino to know that she was with Sakura. She really didn't want a any part of that mess.

"I was just walking by when I heard Lee. We have a date right now, remember Lee?"

"Huh?" He was definitely confused.

She stepped on his foot and pulled him closer to her.

"We have a date don't we?" She repeated.

"Um oh yes, yes we do, lead the way Tenten-chan." He smiled weakly.

Ino just let out a laugh. She stroked Naruto's cheek. She could see right through Tenten's quick lie. Well, she did get points for thinking quickly though.

"If I knew that we we're going to have an audience. I would have invited them over a lot sooner huh, Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah Ino-chan." He gave her a smile.

"Whatever." Kiba laughed. "I didn't mean to crash your make out session. I'll be on my way. See you guys." He waved.

"Bye Kiba." They said together.

Ino was trying to decide on whether or not she should confront Sakura. The pink haired girl had to still be nearby. She highly doubted that Sakura had left just yet. Ino closed her eyes, and then opened them again. She was now staring in the direction where Sakura was sitting.

"Sakura, you can come out now."

"Shit." Sakura cursed.

She pulled herself together before coming out from her hiding spot.

"Hey, you two."

"Did you enjoy the show? Or do we have to give you a repeat of it?"

"No thanks. I got more than an eyeful."

"Good, I'm glad that you saw. Now you see just what you don't have, huh. Now you see what you're missing don't you?"

"What? Ino-pig I..."

"It's perfectly okay you know. I'm not mad because your jealous. I think it's kind of cute actually."

Sakura held her mouth open. She tried to find some words to say, only she found that she had none at this moment.

"I..." was the only thing that she could say.

"What's the matter Forehead? Are you speechless?"

Sakura closed her mouth for a moment. She needed to come up with something to say back to Ino. She couldn't let Ino get the last words in.

"Shut up Ino-pig. Why don't you and Naruto go back to sucking face. I have to go."

"Oh. Sakura, next time ask first before you watch us."

"Whatever." She shouted and then stormed off. Ino waited until she was completely gone from sight before talking. She didn't want their conversation to be overheard. She turned to face her blond haired friend. Naruto was already staring at her.

"Tell me that you saw that. She was so jealous. It was written all over her face."

"Maybe." Naruto spoke.

"Naruto she was, trust me. We're doing good."

Naruto only nodded. He then stood up. Ino watched him with a curious expression. She hoped that she didn't say anything to upset him.

"Hey, what's wrong Naruto?"

"It's nothing." He lied. "I'm going to go. I'm sorry about that kiss."

"Don't be. It didn't mean anything. It was nothing like I said. So, if that's why you're leaving right now..." She started.

"It isn't." Naruto quickly cut her off. "I'm just going to go."

"Okay then. I'll see you. And next time I will get Forehead to really admit that she's jealous. She's so stubborn, I swear."

"Okay Ino-chan. Bye."

"Bye."

Ino sat there for a little while longer. She put her hand to her lips. She could hardly call that a real kiss. He didn't even kiss her back. There was no feeling, except for discomfort.

"No. It was nothing, it meant nothing. I'm fine." She whispered to no one.

With that the blue eyed girl got up and went home. The only thing on her mind now was Naruto, and that almost kiss that happened between them.

That night Naruto was laying in bed with his arms behind his head. He stared into the ceiling. All he could think about was almost kissing Ino. He wasn't considering it a real kiss either. The only thing that happened was her lips being pressed up against his. He had never kissed her back. Naruto wondered why he couldn't reciprocate that kiss. He turned when he heard a light tapping at his window sill.

He saw the platinum blond out there. She had a smile on her face. It was late, what was she doing out there. She had to be okay, she was smiling after all. So he knew that she was in a good mood.

"Hey Naruto-kun, open up okay."

He went to the window. She entered and stared back into his eyes. He looked more than just a little surprised to see her.

"Hey Ino-chan. What are you doing here?"

"Shh." She put her finger to his lips. She walked closer to him. The blue eyed girl wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He stood there frozen for a moment. He almost felt the urge to wrap his arms around her waist. But, decided against it.

"Naruto, I didn't get my kiss. You never kissed me back. You didn't give me the opportunity to really feel your lips against mine."

The taller blond's cheeks turned red. He felt his heart race, his pulse quickened. Ino was really close to him right now. He could literally feel her heartbeat. Why did she have to be this close to him right now? Her chest was pressed firmly up against his. He could feel each and every outline of her body. It was now causing certain sensations to run through him. He felt his lower half stiffen. Naruto turned red with embarrassment. If Ino had felt it, which he was sure she had. She didn't say anything about it.

"Uh...Ino-chan?" He started.

She now had her hand on to his face. She smiled up at him. There was a look of want in her blue eyes. She came here for a kiss, and she clearly wasn't leaving until she got that kiss.

"I want my kiss Naruto-kun. Don't deny me this time. Let me really feel how well you can kiss a girl. Don't disappoint me."

She leaned forward pressing her lips to his. It took a moment before he relaxed into the kiss. After a few moments he eased his way into her kiss. Naruto wrapped his arms around her waist, deepening their kiss. Something that has started out so innocent and light, was now much turning into something much more heated and passionate. He felt his heart pounding through his chest, with each passing moment. Naruto ended their kiss by pulling away. Ino also felt her pulse quicken. She hadn't expected it to be that good.

"Wow, Naruto. Who knew that you actually could kiss."

Naruto instantly woke up. There was sweat pouring from his forehead. It was a dream. It all just been one big dream. None of it was real. Although to him it had felt very real. He literally felt her lips on his.

"Oh boy." Naruto sighed. "I need to get a grip."

Naruto thought about something. Maybe it wasn't a bad idea to get out of Konoha for a little while. He could definitely use a vacation. A little trip that wasn't a mission for once. Naruto nodded his head.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. I'll get out of Konoha for a little while."

The next afternoon, a pink haired girl was walking the streets of Konoha. She walked slowly with her shoulders slumped over. She was tired out of her mind. She had a terrible nightmare of Naruto and Ino getting married. The next thing she saw was a whole bunch of annoying, loud, blond children. She shuddered at the very thought. That couldn't possibly happen. Sure they had kissed, but marriage and children, that was out of the question.

"No, I can't be godmother to the spawn of Naruto and Ino-pig."

She stopped walking and looked towards the gates. She saw two heads of blond hair. Speak of the devils. There was Naruto and Ino together, like usual. So she wasn't really surprised to see them together. But this time they were leaving the village. And they weren't holding hands. Hell, they weren't even standing all that close to each other. Naruto was clearly leading the way, with Ino following behind him. Sakura raised a eyebrow in question. They were too far away for her to call out to them. She knew that right now she couldn't ask any questions. She watched until both blonds were gone from sight.

"There is something definitely up with those two. Oh well, I guess I will confront them about it when they get back. Naruto, Ino what's really going on with you both?"

A/N: Okay. So I hope you all aren't too disappointed. I'm working on the next chapter as we speak, so it should be up quicker. Hopefully. Read and Review please.