An: (Naruto's hair as will be mentioned in the chapter will be cut shorter to more resemble the hair style he has in Naruto the Last Movie. Ino will also be having an outfit change to her mission gear that I will go over next chapter. I will most likely make another character profile for on my deviant art account…when I stop being lazy. Anyways…I'll go into detail about such things when the time comes. Hope you all enjoy! Also in the Naruto universe the drinking age is 18.)
Chapter 12 Awful, But Sweet
~ 8 Days later – 6:45 AM ~
"Ermmm…" Naruto grunted softly, letting his eyes open to take in the morning sunlight that creaked through the curtains next to his bed.
He blinked slowly, letting his eyes adjust to the light. His head felt heavy and his body stiff. He could still feel the medication that flowed through him, keeping the soreness away from his right half. He laid motionless in his bed, recalling just where he was and why he was here.
He had entered surgery the previous evening to attach the brand new arm that Sakura and Tsunade were able to make for him by some miracle of medical ninjutsu. He wanted to lift his head and look at the new limb he had yet to see himself, but his body was just too heavy to move at the moment.
He sighed roughly and decided to just relax back into his pillow after the third attempt to rock his body forward and up from his current position.
"Naruto-Kun!?" A female voice spoke up next to him; it seemed as though all of Naruto's struggling had alerted his visitor to his now awakened state.
"Huh…?" Naruto mumbled out as he stiffly rotated his head on his pillow and looked towards his left.
His eyes lit up and a groggy smiled immediately spread over his features.
"Ino… Chan… You're back!" he said in a shallow tone, obviously still out of it from all the pain killers and anesthetics still in his system.
Ino smiled and nodded, standing from her chair next to Naruto's bed. She sat down a book she must have been reading onto the small table that was next to her. With careful movements, she leaned forward to stand above Naruto with a wonderfully happy look on her face. She reached forward and brushed the bangs away from his face that were sticking to his skin slightly from the moisture on his forehead.
"How are you feeling, Naruto-Kun? You need anything?" she asked sweetly, patting a small towel on his face to help dry his sweat.
"I'm okay, thank you, but when did you get home, Ino-Chan?" Naruto asked with a calm tone, loving the soft and soothing feeling of the rag Ino rubbed carefully over his face.
"Last night while you were in surgery," Ino informed him, turning away and placing the rag into a bowl next to his bed. "Shizune said you had already been in for about four hours and I would be able to see you in the morning." She spoke softly, not wanting to make Naruto uncomfortable with any loud noises.
"So… I stayed here until you were let out of surgery, which was about three hours ago, and sat and read while I waited for you to wake up." Ino said with a smile.
Naruto listened to her soft tone and it relaxed him, carrying the pain away from his body for a brief moment. His relaxed demeanor fell just as quickly as it came as he realized Ino had just spent the whole night waiting for him with no rest.
He looked her over; Ino was indeed still in her mission gear, some of the fabric of her purple top being torn and muddy. Her back pack was laid in the corner of the room along with some of her kunai pouches. Her hair was tangled with strands of platinum hair sticking out randomly, not nearly as neat as she always wore it.
"Ino-Chan… you look terrible." Naruto grumbled out, making Ino's smile fall.
She glared at Naruto with a small twitch in her eye.
"What was that… Naruto-Kun?" Ino asked in a sinister tone, her knuckles popping loudly as she pressed them in her hands.
Naruto immediately realized his mistake and tried to correct himself quickly before he was put into a much deeper coma then he had ever experienced.
"Wait, wait! What I mean is… you shouldn't have stayed up all night for me!" Naruto said loudly before letting his voice drop to a softened worried state. "You just got home from a mission… you must be exhausted. You need rest."
Ino let her anger drop and gave Naruto a smile, having understood what he had meant but still wanted to tease him.
"I wouldn't have been able to sleep, anyways," she said nonchalantly as she turned and pressed the call nurse button next to the bed.
"Why's that, Ino-Chan?" Naruto asked worriedly, trying his best to sit up. Immediately, Ino pushed him back down, insisting that he rest.
"Because, if I didn't know you were okay… I just wouldn't be able to sleep comfortably," Ino said softly as she still hovered above him, pushing his shoulders down so he would stay in his bed.
Naruto could feel Ino's breath on his face tickling him slightly making him blush. He desperately wanted her to move closer to him… to embrace him like she had done before in the shop. He stared into her eyes and she stared back into his before the sound of the room door sliding open made Ino jump back quickly and away from the bed. Naruto felt robbed.
"Awe, you're awake so early!" Sakura said with a smile as she walked in and slid the door closed behind her. "But what could I expect with you of all people, right?"
Walking over to the bedside, Sakura gave Ino a smile which she returned before both turned their attention to Naruto, who still laid motionlessly in the large white bed.
"How you feeling?" Sakura asked casually as she jotted down some notes onto a clipboard while looking at the monitor next to the bed.
"I'm good, Sakura-Neechan! I'm actually already starting to feel like myself!" Naruto said with a smile.
"Well, that's no surprise," Sakura said with a giggle. "Medications have always worn off on you extraordinarily quick."
Placing her clipboard down onto the table, Sakura reached forward and placed one arm around Naruto's back and her other on his side.
"Can you lean up for me, Naruto?" she asked softly. Naruto was indeed finally able to lean forward into a sitting position with Sakura's help.
Naruto immediately looked over to his right side to finally be able to see his new arm. It looked just like his old one he lost, but he wasn't really able to get a great look at it since it was completely covered in bandages. He made an attempt to move it, but he was only able to get a slight twitch from his fingers.
"How does it feel?" Sakura and Ino asked in unison, both looking at each other briefly before turning back to Naruto.
Naruto made another attempt to move the arm, but again only some slight twitches and spasms.
"I can't move it," he stated in a reserved tone, looking up at Sakura, clearly worried that the surgery had been a failure and he would remain a cripple forever.
"You'll slowly gain full control over it soon. Your nerves and tendons are still a little shot from the surgery, and the new blood and chakra veins are still opening up. On top of all that, the new bone we grew has to connect to your old one. So you'll be able to move it in about a day, but it will still need time to heal just, like a broken arm. Not even Kurama can help you with this one, Naruto," Sakura informed him while she did some small movement and touch tests, making sure it was attached correctly. "Well, not until the chakra starts to flow into it."
"Okay…" Naruto mumbled out. He was glad to hear this was normal, but upset that because of the new chakra veins, he wouldn't receive any extreme healing from his fuzzy friend for a while.
"So there's no problems with the arm?" Ino asked happily from over Sakura's shoulder, watching her play and test the limb carefully.
Sakura stopped her tests abruptly and pulled her hands away from Naruto's arm. He noticed how her brow furrowed after Ino's question and he felt a knot in his stomach starting to form from the look in her eye.
"Well... there is something..." Sakura said cautiously, making Ino and Naruto look back at her in concern.
"What is it…?" Naruto asked, looking from her, to Ino, and lastly to his arm with a growing dread that he might know what was wrong.
Sakura took a moment of silence before she reached forward and began to unwrap the bandages slowly, letting them fall onto the bed.
"After Shishou and I finished the operation… something… happened…" she said in a hushed tone, as if just talking about it was treason as she continued unwrapping.
Naruto watched as the wraps fell, revealing his new arm. The skin color was grey, almost as if it had never been in the sun before. It was completely different from Naruto's natural sun-kissed skin color. He guessed since it was the first Hokage's cells that must be why it was such an odd skin color. The skin itself was smooth and completely void of texture, hair, or wrinkles except for right above Naruto's new elbow, where it connected to what was left of his old arm. There was a thick scar that ran around his limb and the two skin colors molded and meshed together, with stitching and scar tissue holding it all together.
"So what's wrong, Sakura-Neechan?" Naruto asked, still inspecting the arm until Sakura stopped unwrapping just above Naruto's hand.
Sakura took a breath a pulled of the last of the bandages off revealing Naruto's hand.
"Look for yourself," she said in a bitter tone, stepping back to allow Naruto to lean forward and Ino to step closer past her pink-haired friend.
As both pairs of blue eyes looked upon Naruto's hand, they each felt a churn in their stomachs as they noticed the white circle mark that laid upon the palm.
"The Sun Mark returned…" Ino said worriedly as she looked up to Naruto with shaky, fearful eyes.
Naruto glared at the mark and swallowed a dry gulp. He tried his best to close his fist but was only able to muster a few slight movements from his fingers.
"Kurama told me the mark was not gone… but I still never thought it would return on my new arm…" he said hollowly.
"Well… it's back," Ino said in a concerned whisper before turning to Sakura. "Should we seal it…? If that things goes off again, Naru-"
"NO!" Naruto said suddenly and quite loudly, interrupting Ino.
Ino flinched at the volume in his voice and gave him a shaky gaze. Naruto glared down at his palm before he reached forward and grabbed the bandages Sakura had pulled off, rewrapping it himself.
"I need to control this… not run from it," Naruto said sternly as he finished wrapping his arm up to his shoulder. "I can't do that if it's sealed…. Even if it kills me one of these days… I'll try my best to learn how to control this… 'Gift' from that old Sage bastard."
Ino and Sakura looked at him with worry, knowing he was right in his methods, but uncomfortable with that kind of disaster still capable of happening. There was a silence in the room after that before Naruto turned back to his female guests with a smile to replace his scowl and glare.
"Sakura-Neechan?" he asked out sweetly, trying to swing back to a calmer mood. "When may I leave?"
Sakura sighed, knowing damn well at some point Naruto was going to ask that question.
"Well, with any normal person after such a surgery, I would say they would need to rest for about two days before being allowed to leave. But since it's you, and you're not anywhere near a normal person…" Sakura said, tapping her mouth with her finger, earning a frown from Naruto by her comment.
"I'd say you will be able to head out around noon," she finished with a smile, watching as Naruto's face it up.
"Really!? Hell yeah!" Naruto exclaimed as he fist pumped the air.
He quickly turned to Ino who was standing next to Sakura, looking at him with a warm smile.
"Ino-Chan, go home and get some rest! I'll be over later tonight to pick you up!" Naruto said excitedly as he practically bounced in his bed.
Ino's eyes slowly widened while a strong pink blush engulfed her warm cheeks. She could see how out of the corner of her eye Sakura had turned and given her a cheeky grin with narrowed eyes, daring her to answer to what Naruto had just said.
"What does he mean, Ino-CHAN?" Sakura asked with a sly grin, putting a deep emphasis on the "Chan" given to her.
Ino gave a quick glance to Sakura, who was still leaning ever more forward closing the distance between them. Ino stuttered back a few steps to escape Sakura's closing glare.
'N… Naruto-Kun, You dumb ass!' Ino thought bitterly as she glanced between the prying Sakura and the oblivious grinning Naruto.
"He's…. he's coming to pick me up to escort me to a clan meeting!" Ino blurted out quickly going with the first thing that popped in her head that sounded half-decent.
Sakura raised her brow and turned to Naruto, who also had his brow raised and was looking at Ino as if she was speaking another language. As blue orbs connected with blue orbs, Ino glared at Naruto, trying her best to convey the hidden message behind her gaze.
'Not another word, you fucking idiot!'
But unfortunately for Ino… this was Naruto she was talking to.
"Ino-Chan, what the hell are you talking about? I was saying how I was going to pick you up for our date you said you would go on!" Naruto said with another large grin and a slight blush brushing his features.
Ino physically face palmed as Sakura immediately turned back to Ino with a deep prying glint in her eye, wanting to know more about their new blossoming relationship.
"Care to try again, Ino-CHAN?" Sakura asked in a mockingly sweet tone. "Hehe!"
Ino scrambled back even further as her face continued to get redder and redder.
"I…I… I… I got to go!" Ino hollered loudly with an embarrassed scream.
With a grand flourish, she grabbed her belongings, yanked the medical room door open and dashed down the hall and out of the hospital in a blond and purple blur. Sakura only stood there with a sweat-drop on her head, not really ever thinking Ino would panic and just up and dip.
'What an idiot…' Sakura thought with a roll of her eyes.
Sakura turned her attention back to Naruto, who held a wide-eyed confused look on his face, not at all understanding what it was that just happened.
"So…did she run away because she didn't want to go on our date?" Naruto asked in a bland and confused tone, trying to hide his hurt feelings.
Sakura smiled and shook her head, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder.
"No, Naruto-'KUN'… I think it's quite the opposite, heehee!" she said happily, trying to tease the young man but only having it fly far over his head per usual.
"… Okay then…" he replied with an even more confused look plastered on his face.
'Shikamaru is right… Women are stupid…'
- 15 Minutes Later - Yamanaka House Hold -
"Stupid Naruto! …Stupid Naruto! ...Stupid Naruto!" Ino yelled loudly as she approached the front door to her large home, ignoring the worried looks passersby gave her on her heated trek.
With an angry yank, Ino pulled the door open and slammed it loudly behind her as she stepped inside, heatedly letting all of her Ninja tools and belongings fall onto the floor next to the door and letting her travel pack roll off of her shoulders lazily. She huffed and flicked her sandals off and onto the floor before she made her way through the home.
'Stupid Naruto! He can't just go yelling shit like that in front of Sakura and who knows else while I was away! They'll start spreading rumors and shit! It's none of their damn business who I or he dates!' Ino thought with a growl as she stomped her feet up the stairs and into her bedroom before pushing her door to her bathroom open loudly, slamming it into the wall and making her towel rack shake. 'Now Sakura is gonna open her big ass mouth and all the girls in the village are gonna swarm Naruto-Kun, knowing he's in threat of being taken of the market!'
Ino continued to grumble curse words under her breath as she turned on her shower, allowing it to heat up as she undressed herself. With every article of clothing she removed she threw angrily at the basket that was sitting in the corner of the small rectangular bathroom.
'Sigh… That idiot's giving me stress, and I'm not even his girlfriend!' She thought with a sigh, pulling back the curtains and stepping into the warm shower she so desperately needed. 'But now I at least have the chance… to become his…'
She let the warmth wash away her worries for now, knowing as soon as she got out of her relaxing down time… she would once again be stressed, but not because of her wanting to strangle Naruto, but rather… her new need to impress him.
-Hours later-
"No… Nope… nah… Ughhh! For fuck's sake, is there anything to wear in this fucking house!?" Ino yelled at the top of her lungs as yet another top flew over her shoulder and onto the colossal pile of clothing that reached up high next to her bed and covering the entirety of her floor.
"Ugh! I've been at this for hours! There has got to be something in this closet that will look amazing for Naruto-Kun!' Ino thought desperately as she continued to go through article after article of clothing.
She went through boxes, cases, drawers… anything that might hold a piece of clothing she owned. She must have gone through everything she owned at least five times. But she could never find anything that screamed… Ino. She had already done up her hair and luckily, the hour and a half she spent on her makeup wasn't a waste, as it turned out perfectly! If she could say so… based on her look so far… she was an easy 11! But all that needed to be done now was find what to wear, which was going…
"AHHH! This is going fucking terribly!" Ino yelled once again, throwing an empty shoe box onto her floor with all of her strength. A heated twitch of her brow and the look of an caged animal in her eyes showed that if she didn't find anything soon, then gods have mercy on the next person's soul who walked through her bedroom door.
After huffing and panting, Ino slid down to her knees and buried her face into her hands, not even realizing how lucky she was that her makeup was smear proof.
"I… is something wrong, sweetie?" Ezra asked with a concerned tone and shocked look at seeing the piles of clothes that lined her daughter's floor.
Ino spread her fingers just far enough to allow her to see Ezra poking her head around the corner, clearly home from work for the night. Slamming her fingers shut around her face once more, Ino turned her head towards the floor and continued to stay quite from fear of screaming bloody murder if she tried to speak about her dilemma.
"Oh, come now, sweetie, it's okay! What's bothering you?" Ezra asked once more, weaving her way into the room, trying to not step on pieces of clothing before kneeling down in front of Ino's balled up form on the floor, noticing how she was only wearing a large white shirt and a pair of black panties.
With Ino's continued silence, Ezra was able to also notice how Ino's hair was down from its usual pony tail, and if she had to guess, her daughter's makeup was done up as well behind her closed hands. She smiled as she scanned the room one last time before looking once again at Ino, who still covered her flustered face.
"Going somewhere tonight?" Ezra asked in a soft tone, which Ino only nodded to slightly while keeping her hands over her face. "And you can't find anything nice to where to impress a certain someone, huh?" earning another nod.
"Uh-huh..." Ezra said with a smile, knowing who the person was and also wanting to tease the flustered girl in front of her. "So… when is Naruto-San picking you up, then?"
"Seven…" Ino whispered out in reflex before realizing what her mother just said, making Ino pull her face from her hands with a wide eyed blush on her face.
"Y… you know?" Ino asked the smiling Ezra with a baffled expression.
Ezra simply stood up from her seated position and began to walk around, picking up discarded clothes.
"I know a lot of things, sweetie," Ezra said casually as her motherly instincts kicked in and began to mindlessly fold the cloths around her and stack them neatly onto the bed. "I also know that you're putting way to much thought into this and you should go with what feels comfortable."
Ino scowled at her mother's words and stood up quickly with her balled fists at her side.
"It's not that simple, Mom!" Ino hollered back, picking up a pair of jeans off of the floor and throwing them against the wall beside her with distaste. "I have to look amazing! If I wear something dumb, then Naruto-Kun will think I'm an ugly bimbo!"
Ezra only rolled her eyes and continued to fold clothes, knowing her daughter was simply overreacting like she normally did when upset.
"So you're telling me Naruto-San is shallow and is only going on a date with you for your sense of fashion and looks?" Ezra asked with a knowing raised brow, seeing Ino's face drop slightly and turn away with a grumble.
"N…No! Naruto doesn't care about that kind of stuff!" Ino retorted, defending her crush. "He's super sweet and caring! His and my personalities blend well!"
"Then you just answered the question to your own problem, baby…" Ezra said calmly, still focusing on the folding more than the conversation.
Ino raised her brow and let her scowl drop from her face, her hands now relaxed from their previous aggressive fists.
"Huh?"
Ezra put down another shirt onto the pile and walked over to her daughter, placing her hands on each of Ino's shoulders and looking her lovingly in the eyes in a way only a mother could.
"Naruto-San will not care if you look amazing or if you look terrible. He's a kind hearted young man who cares about people's inner beauty more than their outer, honey." Ino looked back with a calm face as she listened to her mother's wisdom. "So wear whatever you want to! I promise, Naruto-San will be more than happy. After all, he's going out tonight with a lovely young woman… not an outfit."
The last little joke got a soft giggle from Ino, who stepped forward and pulled her mother into a tight hug. With both women being roughly the same height, Ezra gave her daughter a soft kiss on the cheek.
"Now hurry up and put something on! It's already 6:48… He will be here soon!" Ezra said with a wink stepping away from Ino and walking to the door.
"Mom!" Ino called out, earning a look over the shoulder. "Thank you… and I love you."
Ezra smiled and tuned the corner to exit Ino's room.
-A few minutes later-
*Ding Dong!*
The doorbell chimed throughout the home, making Ezra flinch slightly away from the magazine she was reading on the couch in the living room. She smiled and rolled herself to her feet, making her way down the hardwood-floored hall to the front door. With a quick glance through the peep hole her smiled grew even wider, and she turned the bolt and pulled open the large slab.
"G… g… good evening, Mrs. Yamanaka!" a sheepish looking Naruto said with a quiver as he stood like a statue in front of the doorway.
Ezra smiled and greeted him back as she took in the young man's attitude and dress for the evening.
Naruto was wearing a pair of knee-length black cargo shorts and a red, short-sleeved shirt with the only distinguishable marking being an Anbu swirl on the right sleeve of the shirt. His right arm was in a blue medical sling as to hold the arm very still, given his little control over it. He had on his black ninja sandals that went half way ups his calves. His hair was actually cut shorter then how he usually wore it, showing he had went to a barber before arriving. She then noticed how squeamish he looked just standing there and having her stare at him so calculatingly.
"You look very handsome tonight, Naruto-San." Naruto weakly smiled at the compliment and turned his eyes to the floor embarrassingly. "Please, come in."
Obliging to the request, Naruto quickly walked past Ezra into the hall way. Closing the door behind him, Ezra walked back towards the living room and motioned for him to follow her into the home. Naruto simply continued to be as stiff as a board and followed with little response.
"Sweetie! Naruto-San is here!" Ezra called up the stairs.
'Deep breaths… deeeep breaths.' Naruto thought nervously as hetook the seat on the couch he was just offered by Mrs. Yamanaka after she yelled for her daughter. Putting up a goofy uncomfortable smile, he tried to look as if he wasn't freaking out.
Taking the love seat on the opposite side of the couch, Ezra only smiled and thought about letting the poor boy squirm a little longer before trying to calm his nerves, but decided against it. He obviously would soon hyperventilate or something else if she didn't say something to him soon.
"Ino will be down soon, but in the mean time you should probably breathe," Ezra said calmly seeing as Naruto was beginning to turn three shades of purple.
*GASP!*
Naruto took in a large breath realizing in fact he had not taken a breath since entering the home.
'Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!' Naruto thought angrily at himself at being dumb enough to forget to breathe as he continued to try and catch his breath.
Ezra simply smiled sweetly, letting a soft giggle escape her lips.
"Is this your first date, Naruto-San?" She asked getting a robotic nod from Naruto.
"Y…yes ma'am! I've never really done anything like this before…" Naruto informed in a weak voice, rubbing the back of his head.
"I see! Well, please be more calm, Naruto-San… I don't bite," she joked, earning a more relaxed smile from Naruto.
"O… okay!" Naruto replied, actually feeling himself beginning to relax. Ezra had the amazing motherly quality where if she wanted someone to be calm and comfortable, she could make it happen. Even if she was simply talking to the man.
"So, where will you two be going this evening?" Ezra asked, receiving a slight open-mouthed pause from Naruto.
"I…"
But before he could answer, his eyes drifted to the staircase behind Ezra's chair. His face seemed to flush immediately and he rocketed to his feet from the couch.
"Hey… Naruto-Kun," Ino said sweetly from the top of the stairs as she slowly made her slow walk to the bottom.
Naruto had a look of wonder on his face. His eyes shined and his mouth was just slightly agape. The pink to his cheeks was unmistakable on his tan complexion. He looked like he was looking at the most amazing thing he had ever seen in his lifetime. Ezra loved it.
'Wow…'
Naruto blankly continued to watch Ino make her way down the stairs. As she reached the bottom, Ino turned and did a little twirl on her left foot, letting Naruto get a full look at her.
"Well…What do you think Naruto-kun?" She asked in a confident yet still skeptical tone.
Ino wore a tight, curve-hugging, strapless white dress that cut off just at the middle of her thighs. The black and white heels that put her just below Naruto's height matched well. Her hair was down from the ponytail she usually wore, the white-gold strands stopping on her lower back. The purple she chose to highlight her eyes made them pop and had Naruto melting into the floor. She was stunning.
"Wow…" Naruto simple remarked with a dumbfounded look, copying what he'd thought the first time.
Ino loved the response and did another twirl in the opposite direction one last time.
"Yeah, I clean up well, don't I?" Ino asked cheekily, loving the attention she was getting.
She stepped forward and ran her hand through the awe stricken man's hair playfully, making him blush deeper and snap out of his trancelike state.
"I like the new hair," Ino said with a smile.
"Oh! Uh… th… thank you Ino-Chan…" Naruto said shakily, rubbing the back of his head with his eyes on the floor. "You look amazing… as usual…"
Ino smiled her biggest in a long time and her cheeks tinted pink. Lacing her arm around Naruto's left and being careful as to not bump the sling, Ino leaned on him with a large smile on her face.
"Shall we go?" she asked lovingly, enjoying the intoxicating aroma of Naruto's cologne.
Naruto nodded while looking at her sweetly, but before he could even start walking to the door a bright flash blinded the couple.
"Ah! What the hell, Mom!?" Ino asked angrily, rubbing her eyes while Naruto tried to blink the light spots in his eyes away.
Ezra lowered the camera away from her face and smiled apologetically with a sweat-drop.
"Sorry, sweetie! I just really wanted a picture!" she explained with a sorry giggle. "You two look so cute!"
Ino rolled her eyes and yanked Naruto down the hall to the door, wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible before her mother tried to do something even dumber to embarrass her. As she pulled the door open and stepped out into the night air, Ezra called out one last time as she trotted down the hall towards the door quickly.
"Wait! Before you go, I need to speak with Naruto-San one last time!" Naruto and Ino turned and waited for her to reach them.
With a large smile plastered on her face, Ezra leaned in from the door way and gave a wink.
"Now remember Naruto-San, my daughter is not your sex slave for the evening! But even if you two do decide to bump nasties, have her back by 11!" Ezra said with the sweetest tone ever before pulling the door closed, leaving the wide-eyed, red-faced, slack-jawed Ino and Naruto staring at a now closed door.
Ezra walked with an accomplished grin on her face back to the living room, entirely happy with herself.
'That little jab was for you, honey!' Ezra thought happily with an image of her recently passed husband in her mind.
'Mother…I'm going to murder you…' Ino thought blankly, being the first to recover from the shock of what they had just heard.
"S… Sorry, Naruto-Kun! That was so inappropriate! Just ignore my idiotic mother!" Ino pleaded with a sweat-drop, trying to break the young man from his stone faced gaze at the door.
With a slow turn of his head towards Ino, Naruto looked at her with a calm look on his face with a slight twinkle of what seemed like opportunity in his eye.
"Your mom's the coolest…" Naruto replied blankly with a growing blush, earning a wide-eyed red face from Ino.
*WHAM!*
"NOT A CHANCE, PERVERT!"
-20 Minutes later Konoha village streets-
The weekend crowd was definitely buzzing in Konoha this evening as young couples and villagers walked through the crowded streets enjoying the warm weather. Road lanterns and flashing neon signs of shops and vendors made it a spectacle to the eye as they made their way through the village. The sky was beautifully clear, stars peering their way out of the darkness. All different types of soft music played through the streets from restaurants and stores alike. The potent aroma of food caught the senses, making even the weariest of travelers stop and stay awhile. The night was calm and full of life… that is, until a loud whine from a blonde man following behind by yet another heated blonde broke the mood.
"Oh come on, Ino-Chan! I already said a thousand times already I was sorry," Naruto whined loudly with a pout on his lips as he tried to cheer up the still put-off woman walking in front of him.
With only a slight glare out of the corner of her eye, Ino huffed in disgust with her nose to the night sky above.
"You'd better be, or next time I'll do much worse then leave a bump on your head!" Ino responded heatedly, crossing arms with a glare in her eye, making the apologetic young man squirm under her tone.
"Y… yes, ma'am!" Naruto responded with a flinch watching the irritated woman stomp down the path as he tried to keep up.
Ino finally came to a halt with a huff, allowing Naruto to catch back up to her. She kept her eyes to the path ahead, watching the villagers walk by with smiles and laughter. She slowly turned back to look at the nervous Naruto with a glare, who only stood and stared obliviously, trying to think of something to say.
"So… where are we going, Naruto-Kun?" Ino asked more sweetly, deciding she would let the pervert event pass for now to give herself a chance to enjoy the evening.
Naruto stood with a blank expression for a moment before he smiled with a grin and passed by Ino, motioning for her to walk with him to dinner. Ino walked by the knucklehead with a soft smile on her face as they moved slowly through the crowded streets. She would occasionally look up at the man as she saw how happy yet unknowingly flustered he was. It made her smile even larger seeing him actually try and make the night lovely. She wanted to intertwine her fingers with his… but she would let him set the pace with how things went. It was his night to impress her, after all.
'Speaking of impressing…' Ino thought with a narrowed eye.
"Naruto-Kun?" Ino called out with a sweet tone, earning the gaze of her date and a smile.
"Where are we going to dinner?" she asked with fluttering eyes, hoping the information wasn't a surprise or a secret.
Naruto raised his brow for a second before looking back to the path with a smirk.
"How does that fancy restaurant uptown with the fish that swim in the glass floor sound?" Naruto asked cheekily with a tap of his lip, watching from the corner of his eye as Ino's posture lit up with shock.
"You're taking me to the Golden Swordfish!?" Ino responded with loud surprise, getting a few villagers to look at her in shock as they walked by.
Seeing Naruto's smirk grow to a foxy grin, Ino could barely tame her excitement.
"Wow, Naruto! That's one of the most expensive and exclusive restaurants in all of the land of fire! How in the hell did you get a reservation there!?" Ino asked with an intrigued excitedness as she wanted to cling onto the man next to her and kiss him for the soon-to-be experience. "I hear there's a waiting list over a year long to get in that place!"
Her feelings of excitement and joy came to abrupt halt as Naruto's trek down the crowded village streets came to a pinpoint stop. She looked back up to him with a raised brow, seeing the blank raised eyebrow look he sent back at her.
"What the hell's a reservation?" Naruto asked blankly, earning a wide-eyed and dumbfounded stare from Ino before her palm smacked against her face.
"How the hell do you not know what a reservation is, idiot!?" Ino asked angrily with her shoulders arched and fists clenched. "You expected to just walk up to a restaurant on a Friday night and get a table!? Not to mention the most exclusive restaurant in the entire village!?"
Ino's yelling made Naruto flinch back a step as even his hair shook from the volume in her voice. He had no idea what she was screaming about, but he figured out of the two times he had spoken to the woman so far on the date… he wasn't doing too well.
'I really do suck at this, don't I?' Naruto asked himself looking into the angry eyes of Ino, who was standing silent now and waiting for his answer.
"I just figured I would take you somewhere nice that was to your level of class…" Naruto responded in the quite childlike tone of a 5 year old trying to explain himself to his mother. "I never meant to upset you, Ino-Chan…"
Ino blinked a few times to calm herself before closing her eyes and sighing heavily. Letting her arms fall back to her sides, she simply motioned over her shoulder for the man to follow her, which he intelligently did.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head and kept pace with her through the crowd. He could plainly see now she had some sort of goal in her eyes.
"So where are we going if we won't be able to get in anywhere?" Naruto asked cautiously, not wanting to make his date even more upset with him.
"Were going to the Golden Swordfish," Ino informed him, getting another confused look.
"But… I thought you just said-" Naruto questioned before being interrupted.
"Yes, normally it would be impossible for us to get in anywhere tonight without a reservation… But!" Ino said with a finger in the air, pausing for dramatic effect.
"Buuuuut?" Naruto asked, leaning in as they walked as if what she was about to say was a secret.
A coy smile graced Ino's lips as she turned and winked at Naruto.
"But my date's the Hero of the Five Nations!" she said with a giggle, stopping and looking up at a large golden swordfish sign that was placed above a large, nicely decorated building.
"Uh… So?" Naruto replied, not getting at all how this was going to get them into the place for dinner.
He stopped next to Ino and saw that they were standing in front of the restaurant. He looked back at her with a furrow of his brow as she walked away from him to the front sliding glass doors of the building.
"Just watch and learn, Naruto-Kun…" Ino said with a smile over her shoulder as he followed. "Watch and learn."
Naruto and Ino walked past the sliding doors and up to the hostess. They stopped in front of the large black podium, waiting for their presence to be acknowledged. Eventually, the woman behind the podium looked up from her scribbles to see a sly smiling blonde female and a confused looking and slightly nervous young man.
"May I help you two?" the woman asked with a tone of confusion as to why the man looked lost.
"We, uh-" Naruto started before being interrupted once again by his loud companion.
"We would like a table for two, please! A patio table would be preferred, if it's available!" Ino said with a sweet tone, her hands clasped together and eyes closed so her smile could be as large and sweet as possible.
The woman calmly looked from Naruto to Ino and back before narrowing her eyes.
"Do you have a reservation?" the hostess asked blankly, not letting her tone rise nor fall from monotone.
Naruto felt put off from the "holier than thou" attitude the middle-aged woman was giving off. He hated when someone acted in such a way to him. Growing up on his own for so long and having to live in the poorer side of town in his early years, he had learned to despise anyone who felt they were better than him simply because of money or class. He glared at the woman who calmly ignored his gaze as Ino continued to speak to her.
"Yes! It should be Under Uzumaki… Naruto Uzumaki," Ino said with a smirk as the woman's eyes widened at hearing the name. "It could also be under Great Hero, Blazing Angel of Konoha, or even Orange Maelstrom. You know, sometimes, we just like to screw around with our reservation names, heehee!"
The woman's mood became more and more nervous as Ino riddled off nicknames that Naruto had been given through his years. Now knowing who the angry looking man was in front of her she was definitely not going to do anything to screw up the night of the great Uzumaki Naruto!
The woman immediately went to looking for any of the names Ino had mentioned in her reservation book quickly, never noticing the accomplished look that Ino held on her face. After a moment though, the woman turned back with a gulp and frown.
"I… I'm sorry Uzuamki-Sama, but… I… I can't find your name anywhere in my book." This earned a "well, of course" look from Naruto, but a fake angry glare from Ino.
"Whaaaat?!" Ino protested in a loud fake anger that made the hostess flinch. "How dare you not have our reservation scheduled!? My boyfriend and I made it over a year ago!"
Naruto could only stand back with an expression of confusion and embarrassment at hearing Ino refer to him as her boyfriend. Although, he had the feeling it was just so whatever the hell was she was doing would work even better.
"I hope you expect to still seat us! Because if Naruto Uzumaki walks out of here after a year wait because someone made the mistake of forgetting to write down his great name into your book, everyone in the Five Nations will hear of it!" Ino paused to see the fear in the hostess eyes before she finished with a comedic dark tone. "You'll be finished, kaput, done!"
At this, the hostess scrambled for the things needed for the table and gulped back a dry breath after gathering the materials.
"P… p… please follow me!" she said in a shaky, fearful voice as she led the couple through the restaurant.
As Naruto walked behind Ino and the hostess in a line past tables heading further into the large restaurant, he slowly came to realize what it was that had just happened. A large smile came over his face, watching Ino look back at him with a winning expression and a wink.
"You sly dog!" Naruto said quietly, getting Ino to smile even wider and she placed a finger over her lips, showing not to say anything that would ruin her little fake tantrum.
'Well, one thing I'll need to keep in mind if Ino and I do become an item… is that Ino always gets what she wants," Naruto thought with a smirk as he pulled out the chair for Ino to sit down, earning a smile from her before he took his own. 'But... I don't think I'd have it any other way.'
Having taken their seats, Ino and Naruto enjoyed the scenery of the patio table they sat at. There were on a wooden balcony that held only a few tables. Each table was covered in a long white table cloth that reach the floor and was topped with a nice, formal candle that was lit in the center. There was an assortment of lanterns and lights that hung down in streams from the wooden over hanging roof above the tables. The floor was a beautiful brick that seemed to glow with the lights of the restaurant, keeping a warm mood in the air. The soft music that lofted through the night from the restaurant was calming, and just the right touch for a romantic mood. The night sky was still clear and calm, making it the perfect night for an outdoor meal.
Ino watched Naruto look around with a smile, enjoying the atmosphere of the location. He looked as if he had never been to such a fancy restaurant before, and maybe even felt he was underdressed. She kept staring at him, just enjoying his presence up until he turned back to look at her happily. Ino only gave him a wink and giggle before she lifted her menu in front of her, blocking her face from his view. Shaking his head at how playful Ino was when she wanted to be, Naruto also began to go over the menu, looking to see if they had a seafood ramen or something for him to enjoy.
They didn't.
"Welcome to the Golden Swordfish!" a happy and well-mannered young woman announced, pulling the blonde duo from their reading. "My Name is Anna and I'll be your server for this evening!"
"May I start you off with our specials this evening?" she asked politely as she filled the two glasses on the table with water for them to enjoy.
"Yes, please," Ino responded, smiling to the woman politely.
"Okay! We have a grilled sea bass that is drizzled with garlic and lemon, served with diced peppers that are imported and peeled fresh every day. We also have only for tonight seared scallops with a jalapeño vinaigrette, served over a bed of pasta and a side of alfredo sauce," Anna informed happily. A large, wide-eyed happy look from Ino and a disinterested scowl from Naruto made her have to fight back the need to giggle.
"Ohhh! I'd love the scallops! I'll be having that!" Ino excitedly ordered while she tried to hide the fact she was salivating at just the thought of how delicious it was going to be.
Anna smiled and jotted down the request before looking back up towards Naruto, who was currently looking over the menu with a frustrated pout.
'They sure don't give you a lot of time to browse, do they?' Naruto thought with a huff.
"I, uh… I guess just get me the grilled tuna with pasta," Naruto said, not quite happy they didn't have anything that could be substituted for his beloved ramen and trying to hide the fact he had just noticed how freaking high the prices were.
'Ugh... this is for her… not you," Naruto thought bitterly, knowing this meal alone was going to cost him an entire D-rank mission's worth of pay.
With a smile and a nod, Anna politely took the menus from the couple before pulling out another from her apron.
"Lastly, would you two like a glass of wine with your meals this evening?" she asked, placing a small beverage menu in front of them.
Ino cringed at the thought of drinking that bitter drink again, but she didn't want to be rude to Naruto. She would definitely not drink it if he said yes, though.
Picking up the list, Naruto browsed through it briefly before smiling, finding something he thought Ino would like, knowing she was not a fan of the wine he gave her last week.
"No, I think we will pass on the wine… But we would love to try a glass of your Krug Clos d'Ambonnay," he said with a smile earning an excited nod from Anna.
"Great choice, sir!" she said as she jotted the order down. "Alright, well I hope you two enjoy your evening, and I'll be back soon to check on you!"
Watching Anna walk away from the table, Ino scowled at hearing what Naruto just ordered for them. She hadn't been a fan of the last alcoholic drink he had given her, so she was expecting to have the same reaction to whatever it was he just ordered.
"What's a Krug Clos d'Ambonnay?" Ino asked dryly, trying to pronounce the drink as Naruto just had. With a new curiosity she lifted the beverage menu from the table to try and locate it on the list.
"It's a type of champagne," Naruto replied casually while looking out past the walls of the patio and watching people walk through the streets. "It's different from wine. I think you'll enjoy it."
Ino scrunched her eyes while listening to Naruto. She was still scanning the list, trying to find what he had requested. She reached out to lift her newly poured glass of water to her lips as she read, taking a nice gulp of the cold liquid as she finally found the champagne Naruto had order.
Reading over the price, she nearly choked on her drink and spit it out violently over the table.
She was able to gulp it down before doing so, though. Ino stared at the price with wide eyes before turning to look up at the smiling Naruto who was looking away.
"24,000 Yen per glass!?" Ino blurted out in a flabbergasted surprise, tearing Naruto's attention away from the village streets. "Naruto-Kun, there's no way I can let you pay for this!" (1)
Naruto only smiled briefly before raising his brow jokingly with a faked panic.
"Wait… I thought you were paying for dinner, Ino-Chan?" Naruto asked in a joking worry. Ino's eyes grew wide with an unreadable emotion before Naruto laughed slightly. "Haha… Nah, I'm just kidding! It's no big deal, Ino-Chan; this night is supposed to be special."
Ino simply pouted, placing the list back onto the table. She mumbled something under her breath about prices before looking off towards the streets just as Naruto had been doing.
Naruto ran his gaze over Ino's face, taking in her beauty just as he had done at her home. She was absolutely glowing tonight, and just looking at her made his cheeks burn. He couldn't tell what it was about her tonight that was so amazing. She was beautiful all the time… but tonight there was something different. Then he finally realized it.
"Y… your hair…" Naruto whispered, just loud enough for Ino to catch and turn towards his gaze. "Your hair is down…"
Ino looked surprised for a moment, blushing at having Naruto notice her in a specific way. She reached back and pulled her hair over her shoulder, running her fingers through it nervously.
"Ya… I didn't feel like putting it up tonight, so I left it down after my shower," she explained with a smile. "Do you like it?"
Naruto's awed blush grew into a wide smile.
"I love it, Ino-Chan…" Naruto said politely as both blondes' shyness grew tenfold.
Naruto immediately turned his attention away, trying to hide his flustered state. Ino only smiled and continued to play with her hair. They both knew they were being unnaturally shy for their personalities, but I guess that just comes with the first date jitters.
They continued to sit like this in silence for a while, each trying to get past their nervousness and engage in a conversation.
'Come on, Naruto! There's got to be something you can come up with to talk about! It isn't that hard!' Naruto thought in frustration. He was so nervous, he was drawing a blank.
'Oh…. what would Naruto-Kun be interested in talking about?' Ino also thought with frustration at her own nervous quirks. 'Jutsus….? Ramen….? Ugh, I can't think of anything!'
Neither was able to take the step past their own inner date dilemmas for what felt like an eternity, but just as Naruto was just about to try and come up with something to talk about, their food was suddenly placed in front of them, jolting the couple from their troubled thoughts.
"And here are your glasses!" Anna said cheerfully, placing the two champagne glasses with silvery liquid bubbling inside on the table.
"Thank you!" Naruto and Ino announced together before turning back to each other after Anna's departure.
Ino lifted the glass up, inspecting it carefully with a sense of distrust as Naruto watched her with curiosity. He knew she was skeptical of the alcoholic drink, but she was being childish… it was cute. He reached forward and picked up his own glass before holding out in front of him, gesturing for her to do the same.
"A toast before you try it?" Naruto asked with a wink, having something in mind he had seen his belated sensei pull off on his travels a few years ago.
Ino blinked at his gesture before slowly lifting her own glass to be held in the air just inches from Naruto's.
"But what shall we toast?" she asked with a puzzled look.
He gave her a look of pondering as he twirled his glass in the air, the liquid swirling in a circular motion. He then smiled with a glint in his eye Ino didn't miss.
"Cheers to me," Naruto said calmly, reaching out and tapping his glass against Ino's.
Ino looked a Naruto with bewilderment and raised her brow at the odd toast she had just been a part of. She spoke up before Naruto was able to reach his lips with his glass, stopping his toast.
"Cheers to you? What the hall makes you so special, huh?!" Ino asked with distaste, honestly expecting Naruto to say something romantic for a first that would make her knees quiver… yet she got that.
Naruto simply narrowed his eyes with a sly smile as he once again began to lift his glass to his lips, stopping mere centimeters before his lips touched the cool glass.
"Cheers to me… because I'm the one who has been blessed enough to have been able to spend the night with such a beautiful young woman." He grinned cheekily from behind his glass before tilting it back and taking a sip.
He relished in the awe struck, "moved off of her seat" look Ino was giving back to him. She was only able to stare back with an open mouth and bright red cheeks. Naruto had to fight back his giggles of victory.
'Ero-Sennin, when I see your old ass again, I'll definitely have to thank you for that little trick!' he thought with a new smugness.
Ino on the other hand was taken aback by how smooth Naruto was. She had no idea he was going to be able to pull something like that off on her. It was so… formal and dashing…totally not something she'd expect from the loud blonde man. She eventually just smiled and closed her eyes with contempt, feeling the need to quote something Naruto had said just minutes ago.
'Humph! Looks like you're the sly dog, Naruto-kun, he-he…'
After Naruto's sip, he placed his own glass down before reaching out to help Ino move her own glass to her lips. With a soft push to help guide the glass to the still flustered woman's mouth, Naruto giggled.
"Hehe, you know champagne is much better when it's cold. So hurry up and try it before it warms up and goes flat!" he said informatively, getting a slow nod from Ino who finally took a sip of the cool beverage.
Pulling the drink away she looked down at it with wide eyes and a happy glisten in her eyes. She once again took another sip before smiling and looking up to Naruto.
"This is so much better than wine!" Ino said excitedly, obviously enjoying the newfound fondness for the high class alcohol.
Naruto simply gave a nod before gesturing towards her meal which Ino honestly had forgotten was placed in front of her.
"Oh, shoot!" Ino exclaimed before placing her glass down and unwinding her silverware from her napkin and placing the cloth on her lap. Naruto watched with a calm endearment to her antics that he noticed she probably didn't know about.
Naruto smiled, watching Ino dig into her meal and moaning with pleasure after her first bite. She took another bite mimicking her actions of the first before noticing the eyes that were on her, causing her to stop.
"Why do you always watch me eat?" she asked with a blush, after swallowing her mouth of food.
"Because you're cute," Naruto responded with no hesitation, resting his chin in his palm relaxingly.
Ino looked surprised at his unhindered response before settling into a smiling fluster that made Naruto giggle.
"W… well knock it off, creeper!" Ino stuttered out, earning a grin from the man across from her. He listened to her plea and began to enjoy his own meal.
For the next half hour or so, the blondes just ate and talked about mindless things. They enjoyed each other's company and it turned out to be a very enjoyable dinner. The conversation seemed to relax them as time wore on. It wasn't as difficult as they first thought it would be once they got past their inner insecurities. Eventually, their meals were finished and their glasses were empty, leaving them to just enjoy the other's presence. Even the art of no words at all can give off the most meaning… and emotion.
Ino turned her attention to the clambering of villagers that were walking down the path laid next to the patio. Her hands were stacked on top of the other on the table top, playing casually with her fingers. She was lost in thought for the moment, but that didn't upset Naruto, who had actually been waiting for her do such a thing all evening.
Smiling nervously to himself, Naruto slowly ran his hand across the table top, slowly inching his way towards Ino's. Making sure she was oblivious to his actions all the while, he eventually made it to her hands. Naruto smoothly and quickly intertwined the fingers of his hand with Ino's, keeping both palms on the table.
Ino immediately looked over to the man with a flushed face, complete surprise in her eyes. She noticed Naruto had a similar color to his cheeks as well. His face was turned to the side and his eyes were scanning the streets nervously, acting as if he had no idea he had done what he had, but his blush was giving it away.
Ino smiled and moved her hand closer to Naruto's, letting their fingers mesh together even further. The warmth was pleasant and her skin was soft, which made Naruto's tint deepen. Ino had a similar thought to his, but more of rough rather than soft feel.
Naruto finally turned his head back to her, catching Ino's gaze with his own. They continued to remain silent with each other, but the calm understanding look of lovingness that glowed in each other's eyes was enough to fill a thousand conversations. Naruto had never seen nor felt such feelings being directed to him. He couldn't describe the pleasure it put in his fragile heart. All he could do was smile.
'Such a bone head...' Ino thought with a smile. 'But I wouldn't have it any other way…'
They continued to stare at each other in silent fondness with their hands still intertwined, enjoying the moment. Suddenly, a small figure approached their peripheral vision at the edge of their table, causing them to jump apart quickly. They both whistled casually in embarrassment.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to kill the mood!" Anna said with a sad pout, watching the two blonde's try and grasp their bearings. "I was just bringing you the check!"
Naruto simply waived it off with a smile, taking the bill book from her happily.
"You're fine, you're fine… I was going to ask for this soon anyway," Naruto explained, trying to think of something to get the frown off the young woman's face.
"Okay! Well, let me know when you are ready to cash out!" Anna said happily before turning on her heel and heading off to another table.
Opening the bill book Naruto scanned over the details before placing the small parcel down for him to reach into his pocket and retrieve his ever faithful Gama-chan. With a pat of his pocket he felt only his key and phone before reaching across his body to pat the other pocket. At inspecting the other side Naruto froze stiff and turned a snow white color, which caught Ino's attention. His eyes were blank as to say he was panicking internally.
"Is there something wrong, Naruto-Kun?" Ino asked dryly, fearing that the bill was more than Naruto could pay.
With a slow blank turn off his head. Naruto stared blankly at Ino with his still wide eyes before he shakily decided to break the news.
"H… hey, Ino-Chan… remember how I joked that you would be paying for dinner?" Naruto choked out with dread all over his demeanor.
Ino only blinked slowly a few times with narrowing eyes.
"Huh?"
~ 10 Minutes Later ~
"How the fuck do you forget your wallet when you're taking someone on a date!?" Ino hollered angrily to the quivering man behind her who followed her stomp through the village streets carefully.
"I said I'm sorry, Ino-Chan!" Naruto responded as he twiddled his fingers together in embarrassment, not realizing how this was becoming a theme for the evening.
Ino continued to march down the path towards her home with arched shoulders and clenched fists. The anger radiating off of the woman could be felt from miles away, causing any person in her line of path to get the hell out of dodge.
"I want every penny repaid to me in full, Uzumaki!" Ino yelled out without turning back, knowing Naruto heard her loud and clear. "Not a cent less!"
"Y… yes ma'am!" Naruto replied childishly, trying his best at the moment to just keep himself from being punched across the village.
With a quick step, Naruto ran in front of Ino without keeping her from breaking pace by backpedaling in front of her. Ino simply rolled her eyes and turned her face away after seeing Naruto try and get her to look at him. If he wanted to try and talk to her and do his best to fix his dumbass mistake then he was more than welcome, but she would not stop her trek towards home for any reason.
"Listen, I know I screwed up, Ino-Chan! And I promise, I will pay you back every cent I owe you! I'll also take you somewhere nice to help you forgive me!" Naruto pleaded, making sure he didn't lose his footing going backwards.
Ino only looked in front of her towards Naruto, giving him a dark glare after mentioning taking her somewhere 'nice'. Naruto noticed with a gulp.
"And I'll actually not fuck up when I do!" Naruto added, making Ino's glare sharpen by just a fraction more.
"And what the fuck makes you think I'll even want to go with you somewhere after tonight!?" Ino responded in a hiss, wanting the remark to leave some kind of impact on the man.
She got what she desired after Naruto's face fell into a look of shame and sadness. He stopped his backpedaling and stepped off to the side to allow the angry woman to pass by as he stood there. He only looked on at her with sad dull eye's as she passed by him. Ino continued to march for a few more steps, not planning on stopping even though Naruto had. She walked for a few more yards before she as well stopped in her tracks in the middle of the village street.
Naruto only looked at her back sadly, waiting for her to turn around and berate him and get even angrier with him, which he felt he did deserve after ruining their date with his many mistakes. He let his eyes fall just slightly so they hid behind the shadows of his short bangs.
After a moment that seemed like an eternity to Naruto, Ino took a deep breath before sighing roughly. With a turn on her heel she crossed her arms and stared down the man who was now locking gazes with her. She furrowed her brow calculatingly.
"I want to hear it…" Ino stated blankly, getting a confused response from Naruto. "I want to hear your true, honest to gods apology, right here and right now… or this is the end of it and the possibility of us."
Naruto only stood solid as he looked back into the calm and calculating blue gaze of the angry Yamanaka. He closed his eyes for a brief moment to think properly before reopening and looking back with a look of shamefulness.
"I'm sorry I ruined our first date…" Naruto began with a bowed head and blank tone.
"And?" Ino responded with continued disinterest.
"I'm sorry I'm such an idiot…"
"And?"
"I'm sorry I didn't take the proper steps to make sure the night went correctly…"
"And?"
"I'm sorry this night wasn't at all easy going and stress free…"
"And?"
"And…. if given the opportunity, I promise to make sure our next date… if there ever is one… will be absolutely perfect!" Naruto finished with a clenched fist and a new confident look to replace his sorrowful one.
Ino, calm and still reserved in emotion, stared back at Naruto. She smoothly let her arms unfold from over her chest as she walked her way back to Naruto, who didn't dare break his eyes from hers. Once reaching him, Ino clasped her hand around Naruto's, turned on here heel, and without breaking stride, made her way home once again. Naruto walked or more liked dragged behind Ino with wide eyes and a confusion written all over his face.
Turning to look over her shoulder with a sweet smile, Ino winked.
"That's all I wanted, Naruto-Kun!" Ino said happily but unsuccessful in changing Naruto's confused mood. "I knew this date was going to be a tossup of good and bad, but I had no idea it would be this bad!"
Naruto frowned at this with drooping eyes, not liking at all how she kept jabbing him with her words.
"That's why I already decided before I even left with you I would forgive you of any mistakes as long as you apologized genuinely and promised to do better next time!" Ino explained happily, still dragging Naruto behind her.
Naruto blinked at hearing this before jumping his attention to something she specifically said.
"Wait… Promised to do better next time…" Naruto's eyes glistened with hope. "Does that mean you're…?"
"Yes Naruto-Kun… I'll go out with you again," Ino stated happily, giving him a look over her shoulder.
Naruto wanted to stop right there and do a dance for joy! Sure he had screwed up again and again and again so far, but he had accomplished the mission he had put in the back of his mind before picking her up… that he would somehow get another date with the lovely Yamanaka Ino. Naruto decided since he couldn't dance happily he would at least stop dragging his feet and actually walk next to the woman.
Walking next to her Naruto intertwined his finger with Ino's, earning a soft smile from the platinum blonde. He looked at her with a bright smile as they were closely reaching her home. He then realized something that made him blush massively.
"Wait…" Naruto said suddenly, getting Ino to stop smiling and turn to look up at him. "If we're going on another date after this… then that means we're… we're…"
"Dating?" Ino finished with a grin, which only increased Naruto's. "Yes, Naruto-Kun, I guess we are now officially dating."
Naruto had a twinkle in his eye as he already knew what the next question he was going to ask. Yet before he could even get it out, Ino jumped right in to kill it instantly.
"But no I am not your girlfriend," she said blankly with a wagging finger in the air to show her point.
Naruto deflated physically at hearing this.
"Oh… okay." Naruto said in a down tone, his shoulders hanging loosely with disappointment.
"I'm sorry, Naruto-Kun, but I'm still waiting to see something from you before I do say that I'm your girlfriend," Ino stated, grabbing Naruto's interest.
"Oh… and what's that?" Naruto asked with a raised brow.
Ino giggled, causing Naruto's eye to twitch. "That's for you to figure out, silly."
'What the hell is that supposed to mean!?' he thought in frustration.
Naruto was about to ask again on the matter before Ino's walking came to a stop, causing him to realize they were in front of her home. Unlocking her fingers from his, Ino pulled her house key out of her small shoulder bag and placed it into the doorknob. With a turn and a push, she opened the door to her home before turning back to Naruto who stood politely behind her.
"Well… I should be heading in…" Ino said after a moment of them standing there, quietly looking at each other. "This night stressed me out way more than I was expecting."
Naruto sweat-dropped, knowing she was trying to make fun of the events, but he was still very sore on the matter. He noticed how she just stood there rather close to him, looking up at him with tinted cheeks as she played with her keys slightly. He felt he was forgetting a very important lesson from his belated Sensei.
'Awe man! What was it Ero-Sennin said a woman wants when she plays with her keys after a date!? …. Ugh…. I should have paid more attention to his drunken rants!' Naruto inwardly scolded himself, not noticing Ino was beginning to lose patience.
"You know, you're a real dumb ass, you know that?!" Ino growled out, grabbing Naruto's collar and pulling him towards her forcefully, giving him no time to respond.
Wide shocked eyes stared back at closed, long, full eyelashes. Naruto felt a warm, sweet, and soft sensation on his lips. But before he could even wrap his head around what was happening, Ino leaned away and broke theirs lips apart with a soft pop, a sweet smirk appearing on her face.
"Good night, Naruto-Kun… See you soon," she whispered to him. With a wink and a twirl, Ino walked inside and closed the door behind her quickly, leaving an awe struck and blushing Naruto.
Naruto stared at the door blankly for the second time that night. His hand was up touching his lips, trying his best to remember the sensation he had just felt on them just moments ago. He wanted more of the sensation, but for now he had to be patient. He smiled before slowly backing away from the door with a love dazed sway in his step.
"Night… Ino-Chan… I'll figure out what I'm supposed to do to make you my girlfriend. You can count on that…" he whispered sweetly with a dazed gloss over his eyes.
If Naruto was a failure, he sure knew how to fail in style…
~Yamanaka Residence~
Ino quickly kicked off her heels and bolted through the hall and up the stairs to her mother's room, knowing at this hour she would be in bed reading one of her books. Rounding the corner at the top of the steps, Ino slid to a stop in front of her mother's door, which was open. Ezra sat in bed, casually reading her book before Ino's burst through the home and sudden stop outside her bedroom door made her place the book down onto her lap. She watched Ino lean against the door frame with a massive blush on her face, which Ezra could easily guess from what.
"I'm home!" Ino suddenly announced, earning a smile from Ezra.
"I can see that!" she responded calmly. "Soooo…. how did it go?"
Ino smiled as she pulled her hair over her shoulder to begin playing with it.
"Mom… it was by far…" Ino paused for dramatic affect as her mother leaned in slightly, waiting excitedly for her analysis of the night. "…the worst first date I have EVER been on!" she finished with a frown.
Ezra deflated slightly at hearing this, scanning her daughters face for hurt or sadness, but oddly enough not fining anything of the sort.
"Wait so… It went bad, huh?" she asked with a raised brow at how her daughter seemed to be on cloud nine… very unlike someone who just had a terrible night. "What happened?"
Ino smiled.
"Oh, Mom, he was so bad at dating! He acted like a pervert… which by the way, you need to shut your mouth sometimes! He didn't know what a reservation was! He didn't bring his wallet to pay for dinner! He just didn't know anything about how to take a girl on a date!" Ino explained, all the while never losing her blush and smile.
Ezra raised her brow at the story, but even more so for her daughter's seemingly unaffected mood.
"So he failed miserably?" Ezra asked, getting a nod from Ino. "And based off of how happy you look… that's… good?"
Ino's smile widened as she nodded, confirming her mother's suspicion.
"Mom, he failed so badly, but at the same time… he was so sweet. I mean every moment I'm around the guy I feel like I'm reaching just a little piece of paradise!" Ino said with her hands clasped over her heart, twirling in the doorway like a school girl. "I mean, he failed, sure… but I honestly couldn't think of anyone else I would want to have a crappy date with.
Ezra smiled at this, rolling her eyes at her daughter's antics.
"Seems my sweetie's gotten bit by the love bug, hehee," Ezra teased, making Ino stop her twirling and lean against the door frame with her back to it.
Ino sighed in happiness as she still had her hands over her heart.
"Maybe so, Mom… maybe so."
"So are you two a couple?" Ezra asked, feeling the need to get as much information as possible before her daughter stepped down off of her cloud and began to shut her out as usual.
Ino shook her head no before looking over at her mother with a smile.
"I want him to figure something out first," Ino explained with her head leaned back against the door frame, looking up towards the roof.
"And that would be?" Ezra urged her to answer.
"That if he even has the capability of having a girlfriend right now…" Ino whispered, her eyes darkening to show her seriousness. "Naruto isn't in a good place right now, and I don't want him jumping into something serious with me if he isn't able to go the long run with it. I guess I just want to see and even for me to see if he truly likes me for me. Or I'm just a rope he can grasp onto for now to help him out of his hole."
Ezra frowned knowing there was a hidden meaning behind Ino's sudden wall.
"It sounds more like you just don't want to give someone the chance to hurt you again..." Ezra spoke out calmly, watching Ino's face turn to the floor.
"Yeah… maybe," Ino whispered out. "But I'll see how things go for now… Night mom, sleep tight."
Ino turned and walked her way out of her mother's doorway and turned down the hall to head to her own room, breaking from her mother's sight, clearly a little more down after hearing what her mother had to say.
Ezra only looked at the now empty doorway with sad eyes, wanting to go after her daughter, but also knowing she needed time to herself.
'Oh, sweetie… it would seem Naruto-san is not the only one in need of some healing…' Ezra thought gently.
"Good night, honey… I love you," Ezra whispered out to the dark, empty doorway.
Love just as with pain has the power to damage… even before you knew there was a wound…
End Chapter 12
AN :( Next Chapter- The owed favor and the journey to the edge of the Land of Rivers! )
24,000 Yen is just below 200 US dollars.