A/N: Wow I am proud of myself, I don't think I've ever updated this fast. Well, I'm sure you all are wondering about when I'm going to get back to the present time. Don't worry we will be there soon. There are just a few more things I want to get out of the way first. Also sorry about the mistakes last chapter. I will do my best to make sure that doesn't happen again. Anyway, about this chapter. Sasuke will be mentioned (EW). I could really care less if they bring Sasuke back or not, sorry Sasuke fans but I am an Uzumaki fan girl lol. In this story he is still a missing ninja. I will also mention Asuma's death. But there will be no spoilers or anything like that. Okay, enough rambling on. Here is the next chapter.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto he and Gaara would have been best friends instead of Sasuke. But that didn't happen so I don't own it.

The blue eyed male put his hand to Ino's cheek. He stared down at her for a moment. There was a look of want and desire in his eyes. Those cerulean blue orbs seemed to be screaming "I want you". The platinum blond stared wide eyed at him. Why was he looking at her like this? Surely he couldn't be looking at her this way. Naruto gently stroked her cheek.

"Naruto, what are you doing?"

"Ino-chan, I want you. I want you more than anything." He whispered to her.

He put his arms around her waist, bringing her closer to him. She could feel her heartbeat through her chest. Her cheeks flushed red at his warm touch. Why was he causing these feelings to stir up inside of her? Couldn't he see what he was doing to her right now?

"But I thought that you wanted Forehead?"

"No." He shook his head. "I want to be with you and only you."

He leaned down, capturing her lips in a soft passionate kiss. Ino tried to resist his kiss. This was wrong, wasn't it? It shouldn't be happening. He was only her friend, nothing more, nothing less. Only she soon found herself giving in and kissing him back.

"Ino-chan I..."

She was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts by a loud clapping sound. It was Naruto trying to get her attention.

"Hey Ino-chan what's up? Where are you right now?" Naruto asked.

Ino shook her head, getting rid of the remainder of her thoughts. She looked up to meet Naruto's concerned gaze. She couldn't very well tell him what she was thinking.

"I'm fine, sorry that I was spacing out on you."

"Yeah." He nodded. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She tried to reassure him.

He did not really believe her, but decided not to comment any further. If Ino said that she was fine, he would just have to take her word for it. Whatever she had been thinking about must have been pretty good, since she couldn't seem to pull herself out of her own thoughts.

"I wonder what she was thinking about."

Naruto decided that it was really none of his business, and let go of any questions he might have had for her.

"Let's rest here for awhile, okay." Ino said to him.

"Sure."

Ino sat down underneath a nearby tree, her blond counterpart sat on a nearby rock. She gazed up into the sky. There wasn't a cloud in sight. It was really such a beautiful day. She felt that she should definitely enjoy it.

"It's a really nice day today, huh?" The platinum blond told him.

"Yeah." Naruto agreed. "It'll probably rain at some point though."

She blinked, and stared up into those cerulean blue orbs.

"What makes you say that?" She wondered.

"Huh?" He then looked at her. "Oh, you can just sense it. Hey Ino-chan when you're ready to get going let me know."

"Hey why are you going to the Land of Waves anyway?"

Ino had been in such a rush to go with the blue eyed boy, she had forgotten to ask him why he was leaving Konoha. The only thing that she knew was that she was bored out of her mind; and she had wanted something to do.

(Flashback)

Ino had been watching the shop, when she noticed a familiar head of spiky blond hair outside. She saw Naruto with his bag on his back. It meant that he was leaving the village. She ran to the door of the shop.

"Oi, Naruto where are you going?" She was curious.

Naruto turned around to see Ino, he smiled for her.

"Hey there Ino-chan. I'm going to the Land of Waves."

"You're going to go alone?"

"Yes, so I better go. I'll see you when I get back Ino."

He started to walk off. Ino stood there just thinking for a moment. Here she was, bored out of her mind. Was it really such a bad idea if she tagged along. It gave her something to do, that was for sure.

"Hey Naruto wait. Um, give me a moment to get ready okay. I want to go with you."

Naruto blinked in confusion.

"Um, Ino-chan you..."

"No." She cut him off. "I really want to go alright. I'll be right back, just wait for me."

All Naruto could do was nod, because she was already gone.

"Okay..."

(End)

"I'm going to the Land of Waves to visit a family over there."

"Oh." She blinked. "So it's a social thing?"

"Yeah, its been awhile since I last saw them. I just wanted to see how they were doing, you know."

"Yeah." She nodded in understanding. "Whatever, it beats standing around in the flower shop all day."

Ino got up from her comfortable position on the ground. She stretched her arms, a long sigh escaping her.

"Alright, well I guess we can keep moving then."

"Good." Naruto nodded.

He led the way with Ino following behind him. She was actually curious to see what would happen on this little trip with Naruto.

"It might be interesting. I've already been surprised by him."

"Hey Ino-chan, you've never been to the land of the Waves huh?"

"No, I never have." She admitted. "I heard that it was a pretty poor country though."

"Yeah." Naruto nodded. "It was, but they progressed a lot since the bridge was built."

"Hm, well that's a good thing. I bet you'll be pretty excited to see your friends again, huh?"

"Yeah, you'll like them. They're all really nice people. You..." The blond male paused, as he had now hit the ground hard, due to the fact that he wasn't paying attention and tripped over a rock.

"Damn." He cursed.

"Are you alright? Geez you're clumsy. Come here, give me you're hand."

Naruto reached for Ino's hand, and she helped him up from the ground.

"Hey." Ino smiled. "It looks like I'm already saving your ass."

"Yeah right." Naruto smirked. "I don't need you to save me Ino-chan."

"Yeah, we'll see about that. We've still got plenty of time in the day. You never know what might happen."

Naruto raised an eyebrow to his traveling companion. Was it him, or did it sound like she actually wanted something to go wrong; just so she could end up being his rescuer.

"Hey, it sounds like you want something to happen."

"There's nothing wrong with a little excitement." The platinum blond told him.

"Yeah I guess, but we're just going to visit some friends of mine. It's not a mission or anything Ino, you probably thought it was right?"

"Well, yeah I did sort of think that it was a mission. But hey, I don't mind if its just a social thing. I really did want to come with you."

Ino paused when she realized what she said, and just exactly how she said it. Naruto only blinked.

"Uh, Ino-chan..."

"Um, never mind that. Let's get going okay." She spoke cheerfully and started to lead the way.

"Um Ino, you're going the wrong way."

Ino quickly stopped walking. Of course she had no idea where the hell she was going.

"Stupid move Ino." She muttered under her breath. "Heh," Ino laughed. "I'll just follow your lead then."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea Ino. You don't want to get lost or something, you're father would never let me hear the end of it.

Naruto could just imagine the look on Inoichi's face, if he came back to Konoha without Ino. Although, he had been able to get through an entire dinner with Mr. Yamanaka; he would be a dead man for sure if that happened.

(Naruto's Daydream)

Naruto imagined himself standing in front of Mr. Yamanaka.

"Hi Yamanaka-san." He smiled nervously.

"Hm." He nodded with his arms folded. He then looked around for any sign of his daughter. He was positive that she said she would be leaving with Naruto. He saw that the blond male was back, but just where in the world was his princess.

"Naruto? Where is Ino? I assumed that she would be with you."

"Um, about Ino-chan. She sort of, kind of, got lost. Heh." He laughed running his fingers through his hair. Inoichi did not look amused in the slightest. Clearly, he had missed the joke.

"What do you mean she's lost?"

"I..."

"Naruto, answer me!"

"This is all we could find of her Mr. Yamanaka." Naruto held out Ino's hair clip. Inoichi's eyes widened as he took the hair clip from the young man. He gripped the hair clip in his hand.

"Uzumaki! I just have one question to ask you, before I torture you slowly, pull out all your insides, and use your body as a scarecrow. How the hell do you lose a whole person?"

"Um..." Naruto started.

"Too slow." Inoichi reached in his pocket for a kunai.

(End of Daydream)

"Naruto!, Naruto!, Damn it Naruto are you listening?"

"What?"

"Geez, now who's the one spacing out. What were you thinking about anyway?"

"Oh, just thinking about what I'd say to your father if you got lost on this trip."

"My father would totally hunt you down, break you into tiny pieces, and probably dispose your body some where that even Tsunade-sama couldn't find you. Whatever is left of you anyway."

"Y...Yeah." He gulped. "You're probably right Ino-chan. Or, I could probably make up some story about how you ran off with some rogue nin, and got married or something. Oh, and that you had no intention of ever coming back to Konoha.

Ino simply rolled her eyes at his comment.

"Oh yeah, that's very good Naruto, just brilliant. My father would never buy that story."

"Well, then, what would you like me to tell him, huh?"

"I don't know, but something else other than me marrying a rogue-nin. I'm sure that you can be much more creative than that."

"Okay I got it, we ran into a bunch of westerners. And they were like training for the circus or something. When they suddenly spotted you, they had never seen someone as loud or as blond as you so..."

Ino looked offended. She gripped her fist, holding in all of her rage.

"Uzumaki?" She questioned through clenched teeth.

"H...Hai, Ino-chan?"

"There are a few problems with your story. Its completely, totally stupid. Why would the circus only kidnap me, when you're just as loud as me. Oh, and are you forgetting that you are a blond too, you moron?"

"Heh." He laughed. "I just got you to admit that you're loud."

Ino's cheeks flushed red from embarrassment. Naruto was right, he had managed to get the blond to admit how loud she was.

"Shut up." She snapped. "If anyone is loud it's you. You got me beat, hands down."

"Nah, you're louder."

"Oh yeah?" Ino shouted.

"Yeah."

"Well you are the loudest times infinity."

"No." Naruto shook his head. "You are definitely the loudest times infinity and one, plus not three but four bowls of pork ramen. You're the loudest kunoichi in all of Konoha."

Ino sighed heavily, she took her fist and punched him in the head.

"Ow." He cried out.

"Watch it Naruto."

"I'm sorry." He apologized. "I didn't realize that you were so sensitive."

"What the hell are we doing? We're arguing about something that's so pointless."

"Yeah, you're right." He nodded his head in agreement.

"Besides, we both know that you are the loudest." She mumbled under her breath.

Naruto pretended not to hear her. He decided that there was no point in going back and forth with Ino. Truthfully, they were both equally loud individuals. He knew it, she knew it, the bottom line was that they both knew it. There really was no point in dwelling on it, and arguing any further.

"Damn, I think that I liked it better when you lost your voice. At least you were quiet then eh, Ino-chan?" He turned to give her a smile.

"There he goes with that damn smile of his. Wait, why am I even noticing his smile. It's not that big of a deal, right?" She wondered.

She had to admit that he had a very nice smile. His smile seemed to brighten up his entire face.

"Come on Ino, stop thinking about his smile. That should be the last thing on your mind."

Before long Ino put those sort of thoughts aside. When they came to the bridge, she immediately noticed what the words said.

"The great Naruto bridge." She read.

She turned to look at her spiky headed blond companion. She held her mouth open in slight shock.

"Okay, you are the only Naruto that I know. And I doubt that there's another one running around here. So, do you want to tell me what the hell you did to get a bridge named after you." Ino asked him.

"Heh." Naruto laughed. "I guess old man Tazuna named the bridge after me. Let's get going okay."

Naruto started walking away. Ino stared at the words one more time, before walking after him.

"So, you aren't going to tell me the story then. It has to be a big deal if you have a bridge named after you:

"It's an old story. It happened a long time ago, back when me, Sakura-chan, and..." he paused. "Back when team 7 helped this old man named Tazuna. There was this creep named Zabuza. He was basically a huge threat to the construction of the bridge, and the people were terrified of him. He really slowed down things for Tazuna. So, we had to help you know. To make a long story short we defeated Zabuza, and helped old man Tazuna out. Heh, I didn't think that he would actually name the bridge after me."

"It sounds like you guys did a lot of cool things in your genin days. Chouji, Shika, and I never went up against a known criminal when we were younger."

"Hm." Naruto nodded. "Maybe so, but you guys have amazing teamwork. I guess it's because your fathers started the whole Ino-Shika-Cho thing before you guys, right?" He wondered.

"Yeah, you have a point." Ino agreed.

Naruto came to a stop, he seemed focused on the ground for some reason. Ino raised an eyebrow to him.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She wondered.

"I was just thinking about the fight we had here with Haku. I always sort of felt bad for him. He really didn't deserve to die."

Ino could see the evident sadness in his eyes. It was written all over the young man's face.

"Who's Haku?"

"He was Zabuza's right hand man. He was completely loyal to him, and did pretty much whatever he wanted. He wasn't that much older than me when he died. I thought that if we had lived in a different time, he and I could have been friends."

Ino put her hand to Naruto's shoulder. She hated to see him down like this, although she could definitely understand why.

"I'm sure that Haku is in a good place now."

"Yeah." Naruto smiled bravely. "Let's get going okay."

"Sure."

The companions continued on in an almost deathly silence. There was very little conversation between the two of them. Ino assumed that it was because this place held a lot of memories for him here.

'He was only 12 when it happened. It had to have a big impact on him."

She would often steal glances at him every now and then. Ino felt that there wasn't really much she could say to him. Perhaps maybe in this case silence was golden. She should probably leave him to his own thoughts for now.

"Ino-chan, I'm sorry for getting all quiet on you." He soon apologized.

"Don't apologize, its really okay. You probably have a lot on your mind, right?" She asked in a knowing tone.

"Yeah, I guess I do."

"Out of the way, coming through." A boy's voice was heard.

Ino and Naruto turned around to see a young dark haired boy running at full speed. He went crashing into the two blond, causing Naruto to fall down on the ground.

"Damn it, what's the big idea?" Naruto asked the boy with his fist raised.

The boy then turned around. He was greeted by that unruly blond hair, cerulean blue orbs, and those all too familiar whisker marks.

"Naruto-nii-chan?"

"Huh, you know him?" Ino asked while helping her friend off of the ground.

"Yeah." The boy nodded. "Naruto ni-chan don't tell me that you forgot all about me?"

Naruto studied the young boy's face. He was definitely for sure a few years younger than them. And although he looked different, much more mature. Naruto knew those big dark eyes anywhere.

"Hey Inari." He smiled for his friend.

"Oh good." He sighed in relief. "I was about to get worried there for a second you know, seeing as how you're closer to middle age now." The dark haired boy teased.

"Very funny Inari, I never forget." Naruto said proudly.

"Okay I get it. So, Nii-chan who's the pretty girl?" He pointed to Ino.

A slight blush rose to Ino's cheeks. A compliment was always appreciated, no matter who it was from.

"Hm." Naruto pretended to look around. "Nope, no pretty girls around here, that's just Ino." He laughed.

"What!" Ino exploded.

She quickly punched him aside the head. Inari laughed upon seeing the fresh lump on Naruto's head.

"Oh I get it, so she's your girlfriend. I can tell by the way that she hits you."

Ino grew silent for a moment. Naruto turned his gaze elsewhere. Before long he put his familiar goofy grin on.

"No, Ino-chan and I are just friends." He spoke honestly.

"Oh cool, so then I can try my luck with her."

"No way." Naruto said. "Ino only goes for the cool, awesome guys like me, right Ino-chan?"

"Wrong." She shook her head.

"Aw man." Naruto sighed. "It was worth a try."

"Come on Naruto, Ino-chan lets go to my house. Mom and Gramps will be very excited to see you."

With that the three of them started for Inari's house. It didn't take long for the questions to start rolling. Inari wanted to know what Naruto had been up to. Had he done any other cool things since they last saw one another? If Ino wasn't really his girlfriend, then where was she? Was she locked up in a cage somewhere? Did he ever let her out for sunlight?

Naruto hesitantly answered all of his questions, even all the really stupid ones.

"Wow Naruto-nii-chan I can't believe that you don't have a girlfriend. You're so cool."

"Hey, I don't exactly see your fan club around here."

At this the dark haired boy laughed. "Just because you don't see them, that doesn't mean that they aren't around." Inari said.

"That's a good one Inari." Ino laughed, mainly because of the questionable look on Naruto's face. He probably was just kidding about that fan club thing.

Inari then turned his attention on to the pretty blond girl. He couldn't understand why such a pretty girl would cover half of her face like that. What was the deal with the extra long bang? He had to know the answer to that question.

"Hey, Ino-chan?"

"Yes?" Ino answered.

"I don't get it, what's with the hair do. Why are you hiding so much of your face? Is there something wrong with your eye? Do you have a glass eye or something? Oh, I know maybe you have two color eyes and you don't want anyone to see it; is that it?"

Ino looked almost stunned. She didn't know whether to scream or to punch him in the face. How dare he ask so many stupid questions. Questions about her hair no less.

"Oh great, now you've done it. She'll kill us both." Naruto sighed.

"For the record both of my eyes are blue. No, I don't have a glass eye. No, I'm not cross eyed, nor do I have a lazy eye. They are perfectly normal, and they've been that way since I was born. I just like to wear my hair this way, is that okay with you?"

"Uh..." Inari started. "Sure."

"Good." Ino smiled. "Now please, no more ridiculous questions."

"I didn't think it was so ridiculous." Inari whispered to Naruto.

"Hm," Naruto agreed with him .

"Oh that's right, mom and gramps. Let's get going."

The party of three soon arrived at Inari's house. Tazuna was already seated outside.

"Inari, you've brought some friends have you? Oh...hello there Naruto, it's been awhile."

"Yeah, it sure has."

Inari's mother soon came outside to see what was happening. She certainly hadn't expected to see Naruto standing there.

"What's happening out here? Oh, hello there Naruto-kun, it's been so long. My, you've grown into such a handsome young man."

She paused as she noticed Ino standing there next to him. She was positive that she had never seen the platinum blond before.

"Oh hello there. You must be a friend of Naruto-kun's."

"Yeah." Ino nodded. "Hi, my name is Ino Yamanaka."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Ino. And Naruto, it's about time that you stopped by to visit us. I was getting worried that you weren't ever going to come back."

"Yeah." He nodded knowingly. "I'm sorry that I haven't been by sooner."

"It's alright Naruto-nii-chan, at least you came now."

"And we will have a nice dinner to celebrate." Tazuna spoke in a cheerful tone. "Naruto, I take it that you saw the name of the bridge?"

"Yep, I sure did." Naruto nodded. "Thanks a lot."

"No problem, we should be thanking you, you know that."

Ino listened while Inari, his mother, and old man Tazuna caught up on old times. It was a nice sight to see. It was certainly true Naruto could make friends with anyone.

"I better go and get dinner started."

"Would you like some help?" Ino asked Inari's mother.

"Sure, that would be great Ino-chan. I really appreciate it."

Ino followed the older woman into the house, Naruto decided that he would stay outside with Tazuna and Inari for awhile.

"So, you decided to bring your girlfriend on your visit, eh?" Tazuna nudged him in the shoulder.

"Huh?" His cheeks flushed red. "Um, no Ino-chan is just a friend."

"What a shame, if I were your age I would have already made my move." The old man spoke proudly.

"And you would have got rejected in a heartbeat. Ino-chan goes for those weird, pretty boy types."

"What?" Tazuna frowned.

"Ha, he's right gramps." Inari laughed.

Inside the house Ino was helping Inari's mother in the kitchen.

"So, if you don't mind my asking. How long have you and Naruto-kun been together?"

Ino stopped cutting vegetables and started coughing. It took a few moments for her to regain her composure.

"Oh, um Naruto and I are only friends. I was just tagging along on this little trip of his."

"Hm, I see, that's okay you don't have to give me the details Ino-chan." She smiled and went back to the soup she was making.

Ino sighed in relief, she was glad that she wouldn't ask anymore questions. Although Ino could tell that she really didn't believe her. When she heard laughing she looked outside to see the boys playing. Naruto now had Inari tied up to a tree, where he managed to get a rope from, she didn't know. Yet seeing Naruto so happy made her feel happy as well.

"He hasn't changed a bit, huh?" Inari's mother spoke.

"Yeah, he may look more mature, but he's still the same old Naruto."

"I'm glad of that. He was always a very likable young man. We've never forgotten about him, and I'm glad that he never forgot us."

Ino smiled for her. "Don't worry, he'd never forget his friends."

Dinner that evening was full of laughter and fun. Tazuna was making jokes about Naruto and his grandson. Naruto was firing back by calling him a sleazy old man, even Inari had to get his jokes in here and there.

"So Naruto, do you think that you'll ask Ino-chan out sometime in the near future. You know some time before you're my age." Tazuna laughed.

The two blonds looked away, avoiding each other's gaze.

"Dad that's not very nice. From what I hear they are only friends."

"Yeah, that's right." Ino whispered.

"Yep." Naruto nodded.

"You both should stay here the night." The older woman suggested. "It's late, you can head back to Konoha tomorrow."

"Um..." The blond boy started.

"That'll be great." Ino smiled politely.

"You'll have to share the guest room. But it's big enough so that you both can have your own space. It should be okay, right?"

Both teens turned slightly red, due to the fact that they had to share the room.

"Um...sure." Naruto soon said.

"Yeah, it'll be okay as long as Naruto keeps his hands to himself. You can resist me can't you Naruto?" Ino smiled playfully.

The boy swallowed the lump in his throat. He then put a smile of his own on his face.

"Of course, you're the one who can't keep your hands to yourself. Ino-chan try not to have your way with me when I'm sleeping okay."

"You..." Ino started.

"Now, now you two settle down okay. This is not the time for a lover's quarrel."

"Old man." Naruto went wide eyed.

Tazuna let out another laugh. Ino and Naruto could see that there would be plenty more couple jokes to come.

"You two be good okay." Inari teased. "No funny business."

Naruto could only sigh. This was definitely going to be a long night.

(Meanwhile back in Konoha)

Inoichi Yamanaka paced back and forth in the living room. It was getting rather late, and there was still no sign of his daughter.

"I wonder where Ino-chan is, it's getting kind of late."

Just then Ino's mother remembered something. "Oh yes, Ino-chan isn't here. She went to the Land of Waves with Naruto-kun."

"What!" Inoichi asked.

"Yeah, she left earlier this afternoon. I'm assuming that its a mission."

The older male stopped pacing for a moment. He didn't have a overall problem with Naruto. In fact, he thought that he was a very nice young man. The fact of the matter was that he was a boy. His gender was the problem. Boys were not to be trusted. And he and Ino were alone together, anything could happen.

"You, you let our princess out on an overnight trip with a boy!"

"Inoichi-kun settle down. It's Naruto remember, we like Naruto, we trust Naruto."

She put her hands on to her husbands shoulders in an effort to calm him down. Inoichi took a deep breath, he knew that his wife had made a valid point.

"Okay you're right dear, we trust Naruto." Inoichi took another breath and closed his eyes. "Uzumaki." He shouted. "You'd better keep your hands to yourself or you're dead."

Naruto froze, a sudden uneasy feeling running through his body. He could have sworn someone had just shouted very loudly.

"Naruto ni-chan are you okay?" Inari asked.

'Huh, oh yeah, I'm fine."

The two boys were now sitting outside watching the stars. It was really a beautiful night.

"It was cool of you to visit nii-chan."

"Yeah, I'm sorry that I didn't come sooner. I was just a little preoccupied." He admitted.

Unknowing to them a certain blond female was watching them. Naruto leaned back against a nearby rock.

"Hey Ni-chan, what happened to your friends Sakura and Sasuke? Why didn't they come with you?"

"Hm, oh Sakura-chan is back in Konoha, and Sasuke..." He paused. "I don't know where he is." He spoke honestly.

Inari noticed the look in Naruto's eyes. He saw that the topic of Sasuke was a sore subject. He decided to talk about something else.

"So, are you sure that Ino-chan isn't your girlfriend? You two seem pretty close to me."

Naruto just laughed. He then put his hand to Inari's hair, messing up his scruffy black locks.

"No, Ino-chan goes for those really weird pretty boy types. She and I are just friends, she wouldn't go for me." He spoke honestly.

"Okay if you say so. Hey, I'm going to go to bed now. I told Ino-chan that she could have my room, since it would be weird for you two to share a room."

"Where will you sleep?" Naruto wondered.

"It's fine, I'll take the couch; its not a big deal. You guys are guests. I'll see you in the morning, bye."

Bye, goodnight Inari."

Naruto was now alone. He soon got into a more comfortable position. The young man was now lying with his hand's behind his head. He took a breath before speaking.

"Hey, Ino-chan you can come out now."

The platinum blond soon walked over to him. She had a seat besides her whisker faced friend.

"Are you okay?" She wondered.

"Yeah I'm fine." He nodded.

"Sasuke is still a tough subject for you."

Naruto had always felt badly for not being able to get Sasuke to come back to Konoha. It took awhile, but he was soon able to accept that Sasuke had to make his own choices. If one day, the Uchiha decided to come back then he would like that. But he wasn't going to go out there and drag him back. There was no point in chasing after him anymore.

"I think that I'll always feel bad about not bringing him back. And sometimes I do feel like I should have tried harder."

"Naruto, no one tries harder than you. You did everything you could to get him to come back. If Sasuke can't appreciate that, then it's his loss."

Naruto raised an eyebrow to Ino. It sounded as if she was no longer a Sasuke fan girl.

"Sounds like you're not a big fan girl anymore?"

"Hm, I've been over that one for years. It was just a stupid crush that got out of control. I know that he was your friend, so it's okay that you think about him."

Naruto noticed the somewhat sad look in her eyes. He put his hand to her shoulder.

"You still think about Asuma-sensei a lot huh?"

"Yeah." She whispered. "He was like a second father to me. So, I'll always think of him. But there's a difference in our situations Naruto. Asuma-sensei is dead, Sasuke is probably still out there somewhere. He might come back one day, if so then you get your best friend back. But if not, at least you know that you did everything that you could."

Naruto only nodded, he knew that Ino had a point.

"I guess what I'm saying is don't put your life on hold. And stop worrying about if you didn't try hard enough. We both know that you did. Don't have any more regrets okay?"

"Alright Ino-chan."

"Good." A yawn escaped her. She stood up and stretched. "I'm going to go to bed now. What about you?" she wondered.

"I'm going to stay out here for a little while longer. Goodnight Ino-chan."

"Goodnight Naruto don't stay out here too long okay."

"Sure thing."

Ino left her blond haired friend alone. He used the time to reflect on everything the platinum blond had said to him. He was aware that everything that went down with Sasuke wasn't his fault. And he did indeed try his hardest. This was just one of those things that was beyond his control.

"Ino-chan was right, I did everything that I could."

Naruto decided that he would take the blue eyed girls advice. He shouldn't have any more regrets. It was best to just move on and live his life to the fullest.

"Besides." He smiled. "I can't become Hokage if I'm slacking off."

The blond boy stood up from the ground. He decided that it was time for him to retire as well. The entire house was quiet, meaning that everyone had to be asleep. Naruto found his room and sat down on the bed. He put on his infamous black night cap, he had a feeling that he would need it. A yawn escaped him. He didn't know why he suddenly felt so tired. He knew that he would get a good sleep tonight, he was definitely tired enough.

Naruto laid flat on his back, gazing up into the ceiling. It was such a nice, peaceful night he shouldn't have had a problem falling asleep. Although he felt the sleep, it simply wasn't coming for him. He tried sleeping in different positions, only nothing seemed to work. He eventually stood up and walked around the room. He paced back and forth.

"Gotta, get to sleep."

After a few minutes he stopped pacing and got back into bed. It was then the door opened. Naruto looked up, he saw that it was Ino. Her long blond hair had been released from its ponytail. Her hair was now cascading around her shoulders. He couldn't make out her facial expression but he knew that it was her.

"Um, Ino-chan." He mumbled.

The blue eyed girl stood there for a moment. She entered the room, and made her way over to him. Naruto watched as she got under the covers with him. Ino wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Uh Ino...what are you..."

He noticed that the young woman's eyes were closed. She had been asleep the whole time. He had no idea that Ino was a sleep walker.

"She was sleepwalking."

Naruto tried to move her away from him, only she had a deathly tight grip on him. She clearly had no intention on letting him go. He could barely even move over. They were extremely close right now. A sigh escaped him. It didn't look like he was going anywhere tonight. A small smile came to his face.

"Well Ino-chan, it looks like we're stuck for the night, huh?"

Back in Konoha Inoichi's father senses were tingling. He stood up from his chair and gazed out of the window. Something was happening, he was sure of it.

"Something is definitely happening out there. If my daughter has been deflowered or violated Uzumaki is a dead man."

"Inoichi-kun stop with the threats already and go to bed."

"Hai." He nodded in defeat. "Yes ma'am."

Naruto's eyes popped open, a sneeze escaped him.

"Shit, it looks like someone's talking about me. That can't be good."

The blue eyed male looked down towards the sleeping Ino.

"Goodnight Ino-chan." He whispered.

A/N: Alright so I hope that you all enjoyed this kick ass chapter. Well at least I thought it was killer. I totally stole that sleepwalking scene from Evangelion lol. Anyway I just need a bit of patience we will definitely get back to the present time soon. Read and Review please.