Naruto – Legacy of the Yondaime Hokage
Chapter 4 – Popular Girl, Yamanaka Ino
Disclaimer – I don't own Naruto. Naruto is the property Masashi Kishimoto. This is just a story using his characters and I'm not looking to make any money out of this.
"Demon/Inner Sakura" talking/thinking
"Flashbacks"
"Normal"
Warnings – Strong (though not invincibly strong), smart Naruto, Major OOC and possible Lemons (unsure at this point)
Two days later
Six-year-old Yamanaka Ino was sitting on one the benches in Konoha Park as she listened to her best friend, Haruno Sakura recount how Ami and her lackeys ambushed her and how Uzumaki Naruto, the boy that the adults all seemed to hate and despise so much came to her rescue and how they became fast friends. Needless to say, Ino did not know what to think. She, herself didn't really think much of Naruto at all. Sure, she'd seen him a few times at the academy and around the village from time to time, but she never really socialised with him or spoke to him. Ino was one of the most popular girls in the village… or at least in the academy and she never thought anything much of Naruto other than that he was a constant troublemaker. She knew that he often pulled pranks on people and to be honest; she had been too busy basking in the glory of her popularity to give him much thought other than the fact that he was nothing more than a major nuisance to everyone around him since she went with what all her friends had said when voicing their opinions about his pranks.
However, from what Sakura was telling her, she had to admit that it was surprising that the village nuisance had gone out of his way just to help Sakura when she was in distress. Ino had just recovered from a really bad cold that had kept her indoors and so, she could not be there to protect Sakura from Ami and her small band of merry followers. At first, Ino did not believe what Sakura had told her, but Sakura was persistent and she explained how she spent the rest of the day with Naruto and had gotten to know him.
"You got to know him?" she asked as she shot her friend a look of curiosity to which Sakura nodded.
"Uh huh," she replied with a nod, "He's really not that bad. He's just lonely and misunderstood. In fact, his situation's a bit similar to mine… you know since I have my large forehead and he… well not even he knows why everyone hates him."
"Isn't it because of all those pranks he pulls?" Ino asked with a confused look on her face, "I mean, you must've heard about all those pranks he pulls just to make everyone's lives miserable."
Sakura gave her friend a hard look and Ino couldn't help but notice the hint of disappointment and disgust in her eyes.
"Do you honestly believe that?" she asked in a serious tone laced with a hint of anger.
Ino's eyes widened at the look Sakura gave her and found herself taken aback at the harshness in her best friend's voice when she spoke. She realised then that Sakura was serious and that something must've happened between her and Naruto if she was willing to come to his defence, though she had no idea what. She knew that she had to watch how she phrased her next question, as the look she was receiving from Sakura told her that saying the wrong thing could end up ruining their friendship. After a few minutes of silence, Ino sighed and gave Sakura and honest look.
"What else could it be?" she asked, giving her friend a serious look, "I mean, he is a troublemaker. He let off a stink bomb in one of the stores last year."
Sakura remained silent, listening to this and then, at length, she sighed.
"So, you think that everyone wants to kill Naruto-kun just because of his pranks, is that it?" Sakura said as she her friend a disappointed glare.
Ino's eyes widened in total shock at what Sakura had just said.
"K-k-k-kill him, you're not serious, are you?" she said in total disbelief, "Please tell me you're joking."
Sakura shook her head and gave Ino a hard serious stare and backed it up with a harsh cold glare.
"Do I look like I'm joking?" she asked with not even the slightest amount of humour in her voice.
Ino flinched at the harshness in her friend's tone and then gulped before letting Sakura continue.
"You're wrong you know," she went on, "Naruto-kun's lonely and in need of friends. Since as long as he could remember, everyone's hated him. The people have tried several times to kill him. He's been beaten almost to death, glared at; stores refuse to serve him and those few that do ask for a lot more money than the item costs. He told me that one time, this guy overcharged him and when he gave the amount the man asked for, the man just asked for more just so he couldn't get what he wanted.. I don't know why and neither does he, but the way this village hates him; it's like he killed someone. Do you honestly believe that pranks alone could make people hate you to the point where they'd want to kill you…? I don't think so. Sometimes, those assigned to protect him would join in with the villagers and those that didn't were too busy with other things."
Ino was speechless as she stared at Sakura with a look of shock and disbelief, unsure of what to say. Part of her refused to believe that was true. There was no way that someone as young as Naruto could be hated that much. What could a six-year-old have done to merit the hatred of his own people. She had just thought that the adults hated him for his pranks and apparently, so did her friends and she had listened to them as they gave their opinions about his pranks since some of them had been in the area of one of his pranks at the time he pulled it off. However, like Sakura had said, how could pranks alone cause so much hatred in anyone. To be honest with herself, Ino never really thought much of the consequences of Naruto's actions, nor did she think about what he did in his free time. She just couldn't believe that Naruto was the constant target of lynch mobs or the stores either overcharged him or refused to serve him outright.
Sakura nodded at seeing the look on her friend's face.
"Uh huh, now you get the picture," she said in a content tone, "Many children did make friends with him, but their parents told them not to play with him and so, they left him and did what they were told and none of them… at least as far as he knows asked why. When I asked my mom, she said she'd kill me if I tried to find out."
If possible, Ino's eyes became even wider as she heard this latest piece of news.
"Kaa-chan said that we're not supposed to know why," Sakura went on, taking note of Ino's shocked look, "She really hates him and I think she's only letting me be with him because she thinks that Naruto-kun will eventually prove her right."
Sakura growled as she remembered the confrontation with her mother two days ago. She was shocked and stunned to hear that the children weren't supposed to know about the reason why Naruto was so hated, but she was even more shocked that her mother had threatened to kill her if she persisted in finding out, though she could tell by her mother's fearful tone when she had said it that she didn't want to do it. Fuhei herself had said as much and Sakura knew that much to be the truth. It had only served to fuel her curiosity and make her desire to find out the truth about Naruto even stronger, but for now she decided to just lie back, fearful that her mother would make good on her threat if she discovered her.
"Your mom said she'd kill you?" Ino asked, giving Sakura "You can't be serious" look.
Sakura sighed and nodded.
"Yeah, though I don't think she wanted to," she replied with a serious look, "It was more like she felt that she would have to if I tried to find out."
Ino just gave Sakura a look of disbelief, clearly not believing everything she had just heard. However, she decided to just let it go for now.
"O-okay," she hesitantly said with a nod, "So now what Sakura-chan?"
Sakura looked at her friend and then smiled.
"Well Ino-chan, I told Naruto-kun that I'd bring him to meet you," she said, letting out a soft giggle, "I'd like for us all to be friends."
Ino's eyes widened in surprise as she just stared at her friend.
"Y-you want him to meet me?" she asked simply.
"Uh huh," Sakura said with a nod before her face took on a pleading look, "Come on Ino-chan. He's not that bad once you get to know him. Naruto-kun's not that much of a troublemaker. It's just how he deals with his loneliness."
Ino thought about it for a moment. Should she really socialise with someone like Naruto? If asked before, she would have answered, no right off the bat. Being as popular as she was, someone like Naruto was pretty much considered as being beneath her and hanging out with those kinds of people could pretty much tarnish her well built-up image and ruin her reputation and Ino did value her image and reputation above everything else. She had been shocked that Sakura had even socialised with someone like that and had it not been for the fact that Naruto had saved Sakura from Ami, she would have urged Sakura to abandon him since she had always considered people like Naruto who were troublemakers as lowlife ruffians who deserved to sleep in dumpsters.
She then remembered how she had met Sakura. She had been on the way to meet up with her friends when she had heard someone crying and had gone to investigate and found Sakura sitting on one of the pathways in the park. Of course, she had heard of a girl with a big forehead before meeting Sakura through the local gossip that spread around among the children, but until she met Sakura, she never thought much of those gossipers. Again, she had been too busy basking in the glory of her popularity to take notice. However, when she saw Sakura crying, she had immediately went over to her and enquired about her forehead, since she had heard that the girl with the big forehead had pink hair. As she had suspected, it was Sakura, but unlike Naruto, Sakura had done nothing to cause Ino to look down on her in the same manner she looked down on Naruto and she saw that Sakura was in need of help. So, the next day, Ino gave her the red ribbon that she currently had tied on the top of her head and brushed Sakura's bangs aside to expose her forehead since she knew that by trying to hide it, Sakura was only fuelling the flames and then she introduced Sakura to her friends who quickly took a liking to her and Ino had also stood up to bullies like Ami who still sought to make Sakura's life a living hell.
However, Naruto was different. Ino had always felt that he was nothing more than a prankster and a troublemaker that deserved everything he got and for the longest time, she believed that his pranks were the main reason that everyone hated him so much. However, if what Sakura said was true, it would mean that the adults all knew something about Naruto; something that they all hated. From what Sakura said, the adults had always hated him; even before he started pulling pranks. She had absolutely no idea that Naruto's everyday life was a constant struggle for survival. She could not image herself in that position; waking up and wondering if she was going to survive long enough to see tomorrow. What could Naruto possibly have done to deserve such cruel and barbaric behaviour? Part of her still refused to believe any of it, especially since, according to Sakura, the adults seemed determined to keep the truth from the children. It seemed too farfetched and too unreal to be true. However, for now, she decided to just go along with Sakura and then judge Naruto for herself when she met him.
"Okay Sakura-chan, if that's what you want," she said with a sigh before giving her friend a serious look, "However, if he causes trouble, that's it."
Sakura sighed as she nodded, feeling a bit deflated.
"Alright Ino-chan, fair enough," she said with a defeated sigh and hoped that Ino would let go of her prejudice of her newest friend.
It was probably just Ino's "Miss Popular" she figured. After all, Sakura knew more than anyone how much Ino valued her reputation and image and would probably have gone with the in-crowd just to hang onto it had it been anyone else who asked her or if she hadn't learned that Naruto had saved her best friend from her worst enemy. Ino was the sort of person who had a closed mind and took a lot of things for granted and built up opinions on people without getting to know them. Sakura knew that Ino would take one glance at a person and if he or she didn't meet a certain criteria, then she would immediately judge that person without a second thought. However, Ino had seen that Sakura was in need of help when she first saw her, so perhaps there was hope for Ino to change. Sakura remembered how during a class with Suzume-sensei, Ino had commented on how she was a bud that was yet to bloom into a flower and said how she had a lot of potential as a person. Normally, or at least in Sakura's mind, the popular people were too absorbed in their own glory to care about others. Ami was someone who was popular herself and she was too self-absorbed to worry or care about others, even her two lackeys who Sakura reckoned she only kept around to bolster her image. Ino however genuinely cared for her and she had acknowledged her despite her self-confidence being pathetic. Perhaps Ino could see past Naruto's annoying and carefree attitude just like she had seen past Sakura's big forehead.
One day later
Sakura was walking towards the park with a nervous Naruto following in tow. It was clear from Naruto's slow pace that he was fearful about meeting Ino. The glares both he and Sakura were receiving from passers by did little to boast his confidence. Sakura just returned the glares with one of her own while Naruto cringed. The fear of meeting someone new and then that person abandoning him was plaguing his mind. Sakura had wanted him to meet her best friend, Yamanaka Ino and though Naruto didn't really associate himself with her, he knew her by reputation at the academy and knew she was one of the most popular girls in the academy. Sakura had arranged this meeting and Naruto was at a loss for words. He didn't really picture one of the popular kids socialising with him. He felt that those kinds of people would always see his kind of people as being riffraff, ruffians and lowlifes that were far beneath their notice. His countless pranks and his seeming lack of respect for others definitely would be off-putting to someone like Ino. He was no fool when it came to popular people. In his mind, people like that valued themselves above everyone else and didn't care for the troubles of others. They used the people round about them to boast their image and make themselves look better than they actually were. One such person Naruto knew of was Uchiha Sasuke that Naruto knew to be so full of himself that he probably viewed himself as a god among men. Sasuke hailed from the Uchiha Clan, the most powerful clan in all of Konoha and he was pretty popular, especially among the academy's female student body. He was constantly hounded by those girls due to his clan's power and wealth and it didn't help matters that he excelled in everything he was given, scoring the highest marks in his class, which only served to inflate his already overinflated ego further. Sasuke was the number-one favourite to graduate as Rookie of the Year come his graduation.
Naruto growled just thinking about it. He and Sasuke never really got on that well. Sasuke constantly looked down on Naruto and belittled him on his lack of skills. Even after Naruto showed improvement due to Kakashi's training, Sasuke had just blown it off, saying that no matter how hard he'd try, he'd never reach his level. Of course, Sasuke didn't know about Naruto's sabotaged education, nor did he know that Naruto normally got tests that were beyond his ability to complete. However, since he started training with Kakashi, he could easily answer most of the test questions and he had been tempted to switch Sasuke's test paper with a more advanced one when the senseis weren't looking, but thought better of it. He knew that Sasuke thought too highly of himself and being from a clan as powerful as the Uchiha he probably had advanced knowledge, which would only bolster his ego further and even if he didn't, the senseis, who thought highly of him would find out about the switch and immediately know who was responsible and since they were out to get him, he knew that he would be playing right into their hands, plus if Sasuke knew that he was capable of something he wasn't, it would only serve to make him a target for Sasuke's aggressions since Naruto knew that people like Sasuke hated it when others did better than them, though Naruto still wanted to prove himself to Sasuke; that he was just as good, if not better than he was. However, for the moment, he'd just let Sasuke live out his fantasies. He didn't want a fight with Sasuke at the moment and would wait till such an opportunity arose in which he could fight Sasuke and beat him without being made to look the bad guy.
"Come on Naruto-kun," Sakura said, bringing him out of his thoughts, "You're getting slower and slower. In fact, if you go any slower, you'll be like a snail."
It was then that Naruto realised that Sakura was way ahead of him and he ran towards her.
"Oh, I'm sorry Sakura-chan," he said rather hastily as he caught up with her, "I was just lost in thought."
Sakura sighed and she mentally winced. She knew that this would probably be difficult. Ino had made it quite clear that if Naruto caused trouble, then she'd forget the whole thing and Naruto was no doubt worried over the possibility that Ino would abandoned, not only him, but her as well. She knew that Naruto didn't want her to break off her friendship with Ino because of him, but Sakura vowed that she would stick by him no matter what. She knew that if he lost her as a friend, he wouldn't be able to cope with it since she knew the real him and not the reckless, uncaring troublemaker he portrayed himself as to hide his pain. It would destroy him and yet, he was willing to give his friendship with her up if it meant her breaking off her friendship with Ino; more proof that the adults were wrong about him since he put other people's needs before his own. In the short time Sakura had spent with him, she had learnt that underneath his "mask", he had a big heart and it touched her dearly in a way she never thought she could be touched. It really moved her that he was willing to make a sacrifice and deny himself what he wanted just to prevent the person he cared about from experiencing pain. However, Sakura would not let him do it. Two could play at that game. She was also willing to make a sacrifice for the benefit of a friend, even if it meant losing another in the process. Ino had plenty more friends she could hang out with, but Naruto had none. Losing the only friend he had, one who knew the real him would probably cause him to give up on life altogether. Come the next lynch mob; Naruto would probably just let them beat him to death and that frightened Sakura deeply. No way was she going to allow that to happen and she'd be damned if she'd let Ino talk her out of it. Anyway, Sakura resolved that they would wait and see how this meeting went before she did anything.
She let out a disgusted glare at passers by who glared at Naruto and her. That was another thing. Since people saw her with Naruto, they had started giving her the same kind of glares they had given Naruto and she had heard whispers between people, though she couldn't make out what they were saying, she did pick up on words like "demon slut" or something along the lines of "the demon's corrupted her", "why would she hang out with that thing?"… Stuff like that. In one case, someone actually attacked her, though Naruto had intervened before the man could hurt her and the would-be attacker ended up with a black eye.
Two days ago
Naruto and Sakura were currently walking down the street on their way to the Ichiraku Ramen stand as many passers by just stared at the pair in shock. What shocked them was that the "demon brat" was not alone this time. He had a girl with him and this caused people to whisper among themselves as their surprise turned to glares directed at Naruto.
"I can't believe that that girl's hanging around with that thing," a man whispered to his wife, "She's got to be a slut to be going around with the likes of that thing. Demon slut."
"Hush, she's only a child," the man's wife whispered back, scolding her husband for making such a suggestion since she knew that Sakura didn't realise the truth, "She doesn't know what we know. If she did, I'd doubt she'd be with him at the moment. Remember the Hokage's decree."
The man just gave a groan of displeasure.
"Yeah, yeah, I suppose you're right dear," he said as he turned to face Sakura, giving her a nasty glare, "But I still say she's a whore."
"It's probably just corrupted her soul," a third person said, voicing his opinion and joining the husband and wife's conversation, "Poor thing. I really wouldn't want to be that girl's father at the moment."
Sakura and Naruto continued on as the whispers continued and they both ignored them. Sakura had expected something like this to happen when she had befriended Naruto the previous day. She knew that she would probably be in for the same kind of treatment Naruto himself had suffered. Maybe that was one of the reasons all the other children went along with their parents. Perhaps they feared being treated the same way or having their parents disown them. It would make sense considering how deeply the adults hated him. The previous day, she had no idea of the depth of the hatred the adults held for him. She only had her mother's example, but Fuhei was just one person. It was only now, looking into the eyes of the villagers, she was beginning to understand the level of hate they held for him and no doubt, through socialising with him, she'll end up being regarded the same. However, that didn't bother her. Those people, as far as she was concern were ignorant and uncaring. They just could not see past whatever reason they had for hating him. They didn't know the real Naruto and from the looks of it, they weren't interested in getting to know Naruto at all, electing to just simply kill him and that would be the end of it. However, yesterday, she had gotten to know Naruto and she remembered that he had broken down a few times as he recited his experiences. She had seen that he was in desperate need of a friend and had decided that she would stand by him and take whatever treatment the villagers gave her. If she had to be the target of lynch mobs or be refused service or be overcharged in stores, so be it. At least Naruto would know that even though he still suffered, he would not suffer alone. She would stand by him till the end.
However, she was so absorbed in her thoughts that she failed to notice a man running towards her, wielding a pitchfork with hate and rage burning in his eyes.
"Those who side with the demon are traitors to this village!" he shouted as he lunged at Sakura, bringing his pitchfork back and ready to thrust it into the back of her neck.
Sakura was immediately brought back to reality as she spun round and gasped, placing her hands over her mouth as the man, who was just a few feet away moved to thrust the pitchfork into her throat since she had turned around after he got her attention. However, before she knew what had happened, she noticed the pitchfork had stopped just a millimetre short of her throat and she noticed Naruto standing in front of her to her left with his right hand grasping the pitchfork and the man's face was pure white as he looked down at Naruto with horror evident in his eyes.
"Sakura-chan, you might want to back away," Naruto said in a seriously hard tone without looking at her, his gaze still fixated on the man who had dared attack his friend; eyes filled with the same sort of hate and contempt the villagers had directed at him over the years.
Sakura did as she was told and took a few steps back as Naruto violently tugged the pitchfork towards him, causing the man to release it and then he threw it aside to his right, leaving the increasingly horrified man unarmed.
"If you want to pick a fight with me, fine, but I will not allow you to hurt my friend," Naruto said as he intensified his glare and took a step forward, causing the man to step back, "You all hate and despise me and for what, I don't know. Let's see how you like all that hate directed at you asshole."
Before the man could muster the courage to respond, Naruto lunged towards him, driving his fist into his stomach, causing the man to double over as he winced in pain. However, Naruto wasn't done yet and he jumped into the air, delivering an uppercut to the man's face. However, he then performed a spin till his back was facing the man and then he savagely slammed his elbow into the man's left eye socket and caused him to fly back a few feet till he landed on the ground on his butt in a humiliating fashion.
The villagers who were all in the area all gasped at this as they witnessed the "demon brat" just take out a fully grown with apparent ease. Sakura was surprised and also relieved that Naruto had come to her rescue. However, she hadn't expected him to take the man out. He wasn't even a proper ninja yet.
"Unbelievable," she thought to herself, amazed at Naruto's strength, "Just how did he get so strong?"
"Seems Kakashi-sensei's training is paying off," Naruto thought to himself with a brief smirk before he resumed glaring at the still-dazed man.
The villagers in the area couldn't believe it either. Sure, they had heard that since that incident six months previously on 10th October, Naruto had started fighting back, but none of them had been victims of his previous fights and they were the kind of people that refused to believe something unless they saw it with their own two eyes. However, now that they had witnessed Naruto in action first hand, they couldn't help but stare at him with fear and terror in their eyes. Were they next? Was he going to target them next to satisfy his anger?
However, Naruto just glared down at the fallen man who had dared attack his friend and noticed that the area round his left eye where he had elbowed him was coming out in a huge black bruise.
"Okay, listen up you child-hurtin' piece of crap," Naruto said as he placed his foot on the man's chest and violently pushed his upper body to the ground, causing the man to take a lying position, "I'm only going to say this once and once only, so you'd better listen. The good news is that I won't kill you. The bad news is that if you try to hurt either me or Sakura-chan again, then the parts of your body you use to do so will not be touching anything ever again, got that?"
As he was talking, he had curling his finger on his right hand as if he was holding a sword by the hilt and then waved his arm in front on his in a diagonal line as if motioning a slash to emphasise his point. He then glared back down at the man who just nodded fearfully before Naruto turned back to Sakura, giving a glare to everyone else round about them, causing them all to back away with fear clearly written on their faces.
The man who attacked Sakura just rolled over onto his front and picked himself up before running down the street in the direction he had came, forgetting to retrieve his pitchfork.
Present
Sakura had been amazed at the fact that Naruto had not only beaten a grown man, but at the fact that he had chosen to defend her without a second thought, more proof that the adults were wrong about him. However, from the glares they both were getting, it was clear that none of the villagers had gotten the message, which infuriated her to no end. Were they so blinded by their anger that they couldn't see a good deed? Maybe it was because it had been Naruto, it didn't matter to them. A monster would not have saved her, even if she had been its friend. Monsters only looked out for themselves and would abandon their "friends" in order to save themselves or just let their associates die when they needed help. Naruto did not do that. He had intervened to defend her without hesitation and even threatened the man should he decide to attack her again. Her heart went out to him. That was twice he had saved her, this time, he had saved her life.
However, the villagers were so caught up in their hatred that they failed to see or recognise that act. As far as they were concerned, the "demon" had saved its associate and they didn't care one bit about the reason. Either they were clueless about how bad guys operated or they were just in denial, just refusing to accept the act as a good deed just because it was Naruto who saved someone who had clearly become his "accomplice". Whatever the reason they had for hating Naruto; it must run pretty deep if the villagers were in denial over him saving Sakura. She had seen many TV shows and movies in which the main antagonist cared little for his underlings and threw their lives away just to save himself/herself or didn't help them out when they needed it, considering them expendable. Naruto was the opposite of those villains. He had saved her when he could've just left her to die and Sakura knew that she would forever be indebted to him.
Anyway, they both finally arrived in Konoha Park and Naruto saw a girl with short blonde hair and big greenish aqua blue eyes sitting on one of the benches. She wore reddish brown sandals, dark brown trousers and an orange sweater with a dark brown strike running down the sides of the sleeves with a circle in the area between the shoulders and elbows with a kanji symbol in the symbol. She also had a green hairclip at the front on the left side of her forehead and wore two silver bracelets on her left arms and a dark wrist band on her right (Basically the outfit she wore in one of Ino and Sakura's flashbacks during the Sakura VS Ino fight in the preliminary rounds of the Chunin Exams).
Naruto recognised her immediately as Yamanaka Ino and his nervousness returned as he jumped behind Sakura for cover. He knew that Ino was popular and was fearful that she'd denounce him because of his many pranks. Popular people seemed to always have a habit of looking down on others, at least in Naruto's mind.
"Don't be shy Naruto-kun," Sakura said as she turned round and gave him a smile, "Don't be afraid to say hi."
"B-b-but what if she doesn't like me?" he replied nervously as Sakura saw the fear and uncertainty in his eyes.
There was that, Sakura knew. After all, in the past, Ino had always agreed with her friends whenever they voiced their opinions on something and no doubt she had built up a pretty bleak picture of Naruto as nothing more than a troublemaker and a ruffian who didn't care about anyone but himself. However, Sakura hoped that Ino would be as open-minded with Naruto as she had been with her. After all, someone that didn't just ignore her when she easily could have could not be bad, could they? With a sigh, Sakura was about to reply when Naruto's eyes widened causing Sakura to turn back round to see what was going on.
Ino had lifted her head and had noticed them and Naruto immediately bolted behind Sakura, hiding behind her.
"Hey Sakura-chan, so you showed up after all," Ino said as she stood up from the bench and started walking over to her best friend.
"Of course I did," Sakura replied, shaking her head, "I was the one who set this up, wasn't I?"
Ino nodded with a laugh before noticing Naruto hiding behind Sakura with his knees bend, his hands grasping the back on Sakura's sweater and was pushing his arms into the sides of his body in some feign attempt to become unnoticeable. It sort of reminded her of how Sakura had been when she had introduced her to her friends. Sakura had done the exact same thing, though this time, Sakura was the one who was introducing someone and the person was just as nervous as she had been when Ino introduced her.
"Well hello there," Ino greeted in a polite tone, "Sakura tells me that you saved her from Ami two days ago."
Naruto just brought up his head till his eyes were peeking over Sakura's shoulder.
"U-uh huh," he replied nervously before ducking back behind Sakura.
Sakura shook her head and took a massive sidestep, exposing Naruto to Ino, causing him to eep as desperately searched for a new hiding place. He was really afraid that Ino would not approve of him and despite what he told Sakura about ending their friendship so she could remain friends with Ino, he just couldn't cope with that possibility. After all this time, he had finally found someone who liked him for who he was and who didn't abandon him because of their parents' orders and he had never felt happier. It was a strange new experience for him, feeling happy and content, but now he feared that he'd have to give that up to preserve his friend's friendship with another person. No matter what he said to Sakura, he knew that he could never accept that, even though he would back down. If he lost Sakura, he knew that he wouldn't survive the next time the lynch mob came for him. He'd be too distraught and dispirited to fight back or run away and he'd be dead before the shinobi reached him.
Ino just stared at Naruto, studying his behaviour, which only served to increase his nervousness and fear. This was a different Naruto than the one she was used to. She had seen him a few times at the academy and he always seemed to be so carefree and mischievous; constantly pulling pranks and earning everyone's disapproval without a care in the world. However, seeing him now; she could se a very frightened boy who was trying to avoid her like she was some kind of disease or something.
"Don't be afraid, I don't bite," Ino said in a polite tone and enforced her tone with a smile.
"I think he believes you'll disapprove of him Ino-chan," Sakura spoke up, hoping to prevent a disaster.
As much as she didn't want to lose Ino as her friend, she knew that Naruto was in more need of a friend more than anyone else in the village. She just couldn't end her friendship with Naruto; not when she knew the real Naruto and how devastating it would be for him to lose the only friend he had. Sure, he had the owner of the Ichiraku Ramen Stand and his daughter and from what Sakura had seen of them, they were both quite nice people and perhaps the only two villagers who didn't go with the in-crowd and treat him like a disease. However, she knew that they were too busy with the stand to spend any time with Naruto and they couldn't compensate for her. She just knew that Naruto needed her and she wasn't going to abandon him, even if it meant giving up what she had with Ino.
Ino just stared for a few moments before turning to Naruto.
"Naruto, wasn't it?" she said with a smile, "There's no need to be afraid. I'm not going to yell at you."
"B-b-but m-my pranks," Naruto stuttered as Ino looked him right in the eyes and gasped at what she saw.
Like Sakura, she wasn't that good at reading people's emotions through their eyes, but she could clearly see the fear and uncertainty in Naruto's eyes and she could also see the years worth of pain within them. They were the eyes of a frightened, lonely boy who was now afraid of losing his only friend because he was afraid that his friend's friend would disapprove of him. This wasn't the loudmouth, troublemaking carefree prankster she had seen all those times at the academy and he definitely wasn't what all her friends said he was. How could someone like the person she had seen so many times pull off countless pranks with little or no regard for the consequences be so scared and afraid? She had to admit that had it been anyone other than Sakura who had told her about him, she would have no doubt scoffed and just waved it off. However, she felt that she had a special bond with Sakura and would do anything for her. In many ways, Naruto was acting a lot like Sakura in the first days of their friendship with one another.
"Calm down Naruto-kun," Sakura said to him, "Ino's not gonna bite you."
Naruto stopped and stared at Ino with uncertainty in his eyes and Ino, who stared right back in his eyes saw it. In many ways, he was like Sakura. She had been so uncertain about meeting new people and was afraid that they'd just poke fun of her forehead. Naruto may not have a huge forehead, but he definitely was afraid of her disapproval. However, thanks to Sakura, she had become a bit more open-minded and was taking in Naruto. Before she would have just blown him off and passed him by without so much as a second glance. It was because of Sakura that she was now seeing this and now that she had, she realised that she couldn't disapprove of him. From their talk the previous day, Ino had already guessed that Sakura would end their friendship if she did disapprove of him and she could see that Naruto would do the same with Sakura in an attempt to preserve her friendship with her. She didn't know how she had come to that conclusion, but somehow she just knew that Naruto would do that and given the look in his eyes, such an act would devastate him to no end and Ino knew that he would just give up on life. No matter what, she couldn't let that happen. She didn't think highly of him before, but even then she didn't want him to die.
"Get away from my daughter you little vermin," a new voice came, catching everyone's attention.
Ino let her eyes travel up from Naruto and gasped when she saw a woman walking towards Naruto at a quick pace.
"Kaa-chan," she said; surprise evident in her tone, "What are you doing here?"
Ino's mother, Yamanaka Shiori had long beautiful golden hair tied into a ponytail at the back by a purple ponytail band. Her eyes were a beautiful sparkling oceanic blue that seemed to twinkle in the sunlight. She wore black sandals, a long ankle-length light purple skirt and a white turtleneck shirt with a tinge of light purple decorated with beautiful stereotypical flower drawers that were different shades of purple and blue with yellow centres.
However, at the moment, her beautiful blue eyes were staring at Naruto full of fury, revulsion and hate as she advanced on him. Naruto backed away from the advancing woman and cringed at her hateful tone. Normally, he would have made a comeback or moved to defend himself, but since he was in the presence of the woman's daughter, whose approval he was seeking, he felt that he would destroy any chances of getting Ino's approval if he harmed her mother… that is, assuming that her mother hadn't already ruined his chances already.
However, Sakura walked up in front of him and glared the older woman down, causing her to stop her advance and stare at her daughter's best friend with a look of shock clearly written on her face as Ino looked on with a confused expression on her face, wondering why her mother was here.
"Back off Yamanaka-san," Sakura demanded in an aggressive warning tone, "Who do you think you are belittling Naruto-kun like that?"
She then intensified her glare with a stare that suggested that she was daring the older woman to challenge her.
For a moment, Shiori was speechless. She had no idea what to make of this startling development. Her daughter's best friend had just come to the "demon's" defence. It was definitely unexpected. She had initially thought that the "demon" had been harassing her daughter and her friend. She had been out for a walk to get some exercise had had just happened to come upon the scene and seeing that the "demon" was too close to her daughter and her best friend; she immediately decided to step in and take action. Sakura's defence of that "thing" had caught her off guard. However, she eventually managed to find her voice.
"Naruto-kun…?" she blurted out in a stunned tone before shaking her head and regaining her composure and glared back at Sakura, "Stand aside Sakura, you have no idea what you're doing."
Sakura just scoffed.
"I don't know what I'm doing," she repeated before shaking her head, "I know perfectly well what I'm doing Yamanaka-san. I'm defending a boy who's alone and misunderstood and you all seem to hate him and what him dead for no apparent reason other than the fact he exists. I know you feel you have your reasons, but whatever they are don't justify what you're doing since he's just as clueless as the rest of us children and I should point out that my kaa-chan told me that we're not supposed to know and even threatened to kill me if I tried finding out."
That speech stunned both Shiori and her daughter. Ino had heard Sakura talk about how the adults hated Naruto to the point of wanting him dead and even now, she was having a hard time believing it to be true. She had been too busy basking in the glory of her popularity that she hadn't even bothered looking into Naruto and why he was hated. She just waved the reason off as being his pranks without a care, not bothering to enquire about it and that was that. After all, why should she care about someone who, in her social group was considered far beneath her notice? She had seen Naruto as a nuisance and a pest that got everything he deserved. Heck, if not for Sakura befriending him, she wouldn't have even considered meeting him and had only went along with it for Sakura's sake, but what she had seen of Naruto so far since the meeting began and how he reacted, she was quickly coming to realise that her views on him were wrong.
"Is that true kaa-chan?" Ino asked, shooting her mother a serious look, "Does all the adults hate him so much they want him dead?"
Shiori was too stunned from Sakura's reply to her statement to reply and from the looks of it; she hadn't even heard her daughter speak. However, after a few moments, she shook her head and regained her composure.
"You dare defend that thing," Shiori said in an outraged tone as she glared at Sakura with a look of pure fury, "That thing isn't even human and you defend it?"
She then paused and let out a sigh as she calmed down a bit, but her anger was still present.
"I guess I can't really blame you," she said, shaking her head, "After all, you don't know the truth and if you did, I doubt you'd be so willing to take its side."
"Why does everyone hate him so much kaa-chan?" Ino asked as she stared at Naruto, giving him a sympathetic look.
Unfortunately, Shiori saw this and her temper flared.
"Don't give it that look Ino-chan!" she snapped, shooting Naruto a furious glare, "That thing doesn't deserve anything other than to be put to death."
Naruto cringed at the woman's harsh tone. It was nothing he hadn't heard before. The villagers often addressed him an "it" instead of a "him" like he was some kind of animal. What made this different was that this woman had every intention of ruining his chances at gaining a new friend and that upset him terribly and since this woman clearly knew Sakura, he had this growing fear that she'd take her away from him as well.
"Why do you call him it like he's an animal?" Ino asked as she gave her mother a demanding look, "All he wants is some friends. Even I can see that. He's lonely."
Any doubts Ino had that Sakura's story about Naruto being hated for his very existence had been squashed after listening to her mother. Now she was seeing first hand the hatred of the adults that Naruto had to deal with everyday and she could tell just by looking at Naruto that it was tearing him apart and looking into her mother's eyes, she could see nothing but rage, hate, disgust, revulsion and so many other hateful emotions. It was shocking to say the least. Her mother had even confirmed Sakura's story with her last statement. She now felt that she understood Naruto, even if just a tiny fraction. She understood that his attitude that she had seen so many times in the past whenever he pulled off a prank was nothing more than a façade, a mask he had put up to hide the fact that he was lonely and in pain. Ino wouldn't be surprised if she learned that he cried himself to sleep every night and he also feared that he may not live to see the next day. It was heartbreaking and what upset Ino the most was that her mother was one of the ones involved.
"He's a demon embodied as a boy," Shiori said in reply to her daughter's question, "That's all you need to know. Like Sakura said, you're not supposed to know."
"You're the monster," Sakura retorted with a furious outraged glare, "You and everyone else in this village. Can't you see what you're doing to him? I can relate to him since I was bullied for my big forehead. Everyone seemed to hate me because of my forehead and it hurt. I remember crying myself to sleep at night and I sometimes just cried out of the blue because I was so lonely. I didn't have anyone other than kaa-chan. Naruto-kun's situation is just a whole lot worse version of my own and you're wrong. He isn't a monster. He saved me from Ami three days ago and then, the next day, he saved my life when someone tried to kill me."
Ino's eyes widened at this.
"You never told me that," she said, looking at Sakura in shock; shocked that someone had tried to kill her best friend.
"Sorry Ino-chan, but I guess it slipped my mind," Sakura replied, giving her friend an apologetic look, "But yes, he did save my life from this guy who tried to kill me with a pitchfork."
Ino's eyes widened even further as she looked at Naruto in wonder.
"He defended Sakura-chan from some random attacker?" she thought, guessing that the guy must've attacked her because of her association with him.
It also opened her eyes to the possible consequences of socialising with Naruto. She could lose her friends and end up being treated as sorely as he was. Could she really give all that up? Before, she would have answered no right off the bat. Socialising with people like Naruto was beneath her and she cared more about her reputation than anything else with the possible exception of Sakura of course. After all, it was because of Sakura that she was seeing the real Naruto. She wouldn't be here if not for Sakura and from what she could establish, it was clear that Naruto's situation had quite a few similarities with Sakura's. She knew that Naruto was possibly hated for something beyond his control, just like Sakura was bullied because of her forehead, which she had no control over. She had confronted Sakura out of morbid curiosity the day she had met her and once she saw that Sakura needed help, she just couldn't leave her to fend for herself. Despite being popular, she just couldn't allow Sakura's situation to go on. She didn't want to think about the possible consequences if she had ignored Sakura that day.
Now that she knew the real Naruto, she could see that he was similar, though with Sakura, Ino didn't have to worry about others targeting her just because of her choice to become Sakura's friend and the people bullying Sakura weren't looking for her death. They just enjoyed teasing her because of her bigger-than-average forehead. Even though Naruto's situation was far worse, Ino could see that like Sakura, he needed help and knew that Sakura could only do so much herself. He would need more friends if he was to make it in this village. All her friends probably listened to their parents and did what they were told with regards to Naruto like most children do, but thanks to Sakura, she had a more open mind than most others and after hearing that Naruto saved Sakura's life, her respect for him shot up dramatically and she came to a decision. Yes, she would be his friends, everyone else be damned if they thought that she was too used to being Miss Popular to consider such a feat. Like Sakura, Naruto needed help; he needed all the help he could get and Ino would help her friend in helping Naruto, even if it meant giving up everything she had. She could abandon him, but then her conscience wouldn't give her peace.
"Lies, all lies," Shiori said, much to both Sakura and Ino's outrage, "He's just trying to trick you. He'll kill you eventually. I can't believe Fuhei-chan would allow you to hang out with such a repulsive creature Sakura."
"ENOUGH!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs before shooting Shiori a rage-filled glare with as much anger and hate as the one she had given him, "You don't know a damn thing about me, not a damn thing!"
He then turned and ran away with tears pouring down his cheeks, unable to take the Yamanaka matriarch's verbal abuse any long.
"Naruto-kun, wait…!" Sakura shouted as she ran after him.
Ino watched him go; shocked at his outburst with surprise in her eyes, but then again, she couldn't say she blamed him for running off. She then turned and shot her mother one of the nastiest glares she could muster, causing Shiori to look at her in shock.
"You call him a monster?" she said in a dangerously low tone, rage quickly pouring into her eyes, "The only monster I see here is you. You ought to be ashamed of yourself for what you and the rest of this village put him through. You all hate him and refuse to tell us why and you poison and infect us with your hatred just to make his life miserable. I can see the real Uzumaki Naruto. Before, I only assumed that it was because of his pranks that he was hated and I was so caught up with myself that I went along with what everyone else said. If not for Sakura befriending him, I probably would've still been like that. He saved Sakura from Ami and saved her life. That's not a monster. He's just alone and misunderstood and all because you and everyone else decide that he's some kind of monster."
Shiori responded by viciously backhanding her daughter across the face as her anger exploded. She was absolutely livid that not only was her daughter standing up for that "demon", but she also had the nerve to talk down to her. Shiori had a brother who was a ninja and he had lost his life during the Kyuubi's rampage six years ago and unfortunately, she was best friends with Haruno Fuhei, which only intensified her hatred for the Kyuubi brat since Fuhei lost her husband in that same attack and they often denounced Naruto whenever they spoke with one another. However, she hadn't expected her daughter or her best friend's daughter to stand up for him, much less talk down to her like she was a child who had done something wrong. Something about children talking down to their elders absolutely infuriated her to no end. Children were supposed to follow their parents' example, no questions asked. That was what she believed. Children were not supposed to question their parents. Ino wasn't supposed to befriend the "demon brat", she wasn't supposed to question why.
Unfortunately, she had and something about that caused Shiori to cringe in disgust. She hated rebellious children; hated them with a passion. If the "demon brat" gained friends, it would certainly cause problems later. The younger generation may see fit to challenge their elders. All it would take was for one rebellious child to stand up to their elders and the rest of them might decide to follow their example. In Shiori's mind, it was what the "Kyuubi" was hoping for. If it could "corrupt" the minds of the younger generation, it would most certainly cause a rift to form in the village and lead to insurrection among the younger ranks of Konoha's shinobi. Such a scenario would be disastrous and could lead to civil war. Shiori wasn't a shinobi herself, but she had heard enough from her brother to understand how ninjas operated. An insurrection by the younger generation of Konoha could lead to Konoha's enemies capitalising on it and it would be the opportunity they're looking for to wipe out the village and all because of that "monster" kid.
"Don't you ever talk back to me young lady," she said, giving her daughter a furious glare, "You're messing with things you couldn't possibly understand. Now be a good girl and follow our example and don't ask questions. It's how things are meant to be. As a child, you are supposed to be an obedient little girl and follow our example, no questions asked."
Ino looked up at her mother with a look of absolute shock in her eyes as she caressed her sore cheek. Her mother had just hit her and hit her hard and not only that, but from the looks of it, she was trying to force her opinions onto her. She remembered looking into Naruto's eyes and seeing the pain and loneliness they possessed and she remembered the hate and disgust in her mother's eyes. It was infuriating to say the least. She knew that her mother was wrong, but from her mother's point of view, she was right because she was an adult and Ino was a child. Adults were always right and that belief absolutely disgusted Ino to no end and she was even more repulsed at the fact that this woman was her mother. How dare she assume that her daughter should be nothing more than her obedient servant and go along with her and believe that she was right all the time just because she was her mother?
"Okay Shiroi-chan, that's enough," a new voice came, causing both Ino and her mother to turn and stare at the newcomer; a man with long brownish blonde hair, tied into a ponytail by a red ribbon and dark brown eyes. He wore dark blue sandals, dark brown trousers, a black shirt with a green ninja vest and a long sleeveless red coat over that. He also wore light brown arms guards that ran from just below his elbows to his wrists with the top running over the tops of his hands and he also had a hitai-ate tied on his forehead, signifying him as a ninja.
"Tou-chan," Ino said in surprise with a stunned look on her face, wondering what her father was doing here.
Yamanaka Inoichi had been out looking for his wife, since she had been out for a while and he had found her, unfortunately just as she backhanded their daughter across the face.
"What's going on?" he demanded, giving his wife a hard stare, "Why did you hit our little girl?"
"She was standing up for that demon brat; her and Sakura both," Shiori replied with rage in her voice, "The demon's trying to corrupt our poor girl's soul."
"That's not true!" Ino shouted back in protest, "Naruto-kun's just a lonely misunderstood boy. I looked into his eyes and saw it."
"See, she even admits to socialising with that creature," Shiori said, her voice laced with outrage as she glared in the direction Naruto and Sakura ran off in.
Inoichi sighed as he shook his head. In truth, he was one of the few people who never really held anything against Naruto for what the Kyuubi did. In fact, he knew that Naruto was not the Kyuubi itself and that he only had it sealed inside him. Unfortunately, not many shared that view and many believed that he was the Kyuubi itself and those who were told that he had the Kyuubi sealed within him and that he wasn't the beast itself had developed the notion that the Kyuubi may take over him at any given moment and continue what it started six years previously. It disgusted Inoichi to no end just how stubborn some people were. He knew that those people who believed that the Kyuubi would take Naruto over were just looking for an excuse to justify and hang on to their hatred of him. Hatred runs deep and Inoichi knew that there were those who would not be swayed from their beliefs even if irrefutable proof was shoved in their faces. Many would go into denial and outright refuse to believe it. It felt like some people just had to have someone to blame for their misfortunate so they could feel better about themselves and he knew for a fact that his wife was one of those people.
He looked down at Ino with an inquiring look on his face.
"I guess you're one of those who hate Naruto-kun to, huh?" she said, giving her father a nasty glare.
"Don't call that thing that!" her mother snapped as she moved to backhand her daughter across the face once again, but Inoichi grabbed her wrist and shot her a glare.
"I said that's enough," he said before turning to face his daughter and his look softened somewhat and he flashed her a smile, "No, I don't hate him, but then again, I never actually stood up for him either, so I guess in a way you have every right to be angry with me musume-chan. However, I won't hold it against you if you want to be his friend. Go find him if you want."
Ino looked at her father with a surprised look on her face; surprised that her father didn't hate Naruto like mostly everyone else did. However, once the last of her father's speech was absorbed into her brain, she nodded and ran off.
"We'll discuss this later," Inoichi said in a hard tone, giving his stunned wife a furious look that told her that he was in no mood to argue.
He then sighed. True, he never viewed Naruto as the Kyuubi nor did he participate in the beatings the villages constantly gave him, but he had never actually taken steps to help him either. He was sorry that Naruto was living such a harsh life, but he never did anything that benefitted Naruto. He remembered one time two years ago, he had come across a group of villagers throwing stones at Naruto and he did stop. However, he just gave Naruto a pained look as if to say, "Sorry, but I can't help you" and just walked on. He guessed that it had been fear; fear that helping Naruto would label him a target as well. He knew that the owner of the Ichiraku Ramen Stand and his daughter were not all that popular because of their acceptance of Naruto, but they had their stand, which was acting as a form of protection since there was no other ramen stands in the village. He had the flower shop, which was the only flower shop in the village, but his wife was a well-known Naruto-hater and if anything happened to him, she'd probably take over the shop.
He then let out a sigh. He knew that dealing with Shiori the next few days was going to be difficult.
Ino ran off in the direction Naruto and Sakura had run off in, hoping to catch up with them and hoping that her mother hadn't destroyed her chances of becoming Naruto's friend. She had been surprised and glad that her father didn't share her mother's beliefs. She was happy to know that not all the adults were against him. However, she was furious at her mother for her attitude towards Naruto and for her beliefs in what she, as her daughter was expected to do. Her mother had wanted her to just obey her and go along with everything. Children may be expected to follow their parents' example, but that didn't make them mindless drones or that their parents' example was right. The way Shiori had said it made Ino believe that her mother believed that children should have no right to think for themselves and were supposed to be the mindless drones she believed they were. It disgusted her that such a person was her mother. She could think for herself and could see what was there.
"I'm right because I'm the adult and you're the child," her mother's voice came in her head as if taunting her, "You shouldn't even be allowed to think. You're nothing but an extension of me, meant to follow my example."
Her mother didn't say that, but that seemed to be the underlying message that she was trying to get across and the more Ino thought about it, the more it repulsed her. What right had her mother trying to force her own beliefs on her? Okay, she was her mother, but there was a line and Shiori had crossed that line.
The sound of crying immediately brought her out of her thoughts and back into reality as she slowed down and walked towards a tree where the crying was coming from. She then heard someone make comforting sounds as if to try and calm the person crying down. She walked round the tree and found Naruto crying on Sakura's shoulder as Sakura just hugged Naruto in a comforting embrace.
"Don't let what she said get to you Naruto-kun," Sakura said as she patted Naruto on the back, "She's wrong about you. They all are."
"B-b-but, s-s-she ruined e-e-e-everything," Naruto sniffed as he struggled to fight back the tears and regain his composure, "I w-w-was really h-h-hoping that Ino w-w-would be my f-friend."
Sakura nodded with a sigh in agreement. It seemed that the arrival of Ino's mother had ruined everything for him.
However, Ino just stood there, awestruck with the scene in front of her. Sakura may only be seven, but from the way she was comforting Naruto, she seemed to be someone who was wise beyond her years. It was definitely something to see her friend comfort someone else when she herself had been the one needing comforting in the first days of their friendship. It seemed that befriending Naruto had been beneficial for Sakura as well. Her confidence and self-esteem seemed to have risen dramatically, especially since she stood up for him when Shiori let her feelings be known. Ino couldn't help but smile. Sakura had been hoping to help Naruto and yet, Naruto was unknowingly helping Sakura overcome her own faults and helping her to bloom into the flower Ino herself had said she had the potential to become. She knew right there and then that she would become his friend to. There was no going back now and if being Naruto's friend meant losing everything her popular status had given her and receiving the same sort of treatment as he received, then so be it. He wouldn't be alone anymore.
She walked closer and Sakura looked up in surprise, clearly not expecting anyone to be there.
"Ino, what…?" she started to say, but Ino just raised her hand to her, silencing her before letting out a sigh.
She then looked directly at Naruto… or more specifically, into his eyes as Naruto looked back at her in confusion. He was about to lash out at her, believing that she had agreed with her mother and had just sought him out to torment him. However, looking into the blonde's eyes caused his words to leave him as he saw nothing in them expect for guilt, sadness and hope. There was no deception in her eyes and Naruto's anger dissipated as he realised that this girl wanted to be his friend.
"Naruto-kun, I'm so sorry about what my mother said," she said with a sigh as she continued to stare him right in the eyes, "If anything, she just proved what Sakura-chan told me to be right. I admit that at first, I didn't want to believe it. I mean, I saw you as nothing more than this troublesome prankster that deserved everything you got. I was too busy being caught up with myself and listening to others that I never bothered looking into it. I thought everyone hated you because of your pranks and that was that. I never imagined that everyone wanted you dead. When Sakura-chan told me, part of me refused to believe it and I only went along with it just to keep her happy, but after meeting you and seeing you for myself. I've come to realise that I was wrong about you and my mother destroyed the part of me that refused to believe it. You're not a monster or a demon. Monsters and demons don't cry and they don't feel lonely."
Naruto looked at Ino for a moment and then took a small step towards her.
"You mean, you want to be my friend to?" he asked in a hopeful tone with a hopeful look in his eye.
Ino nodded with determination in her eyes.
"Yes Naruto-kun, I want to be your friend," she said with a nod, "I want to get to know you… the real you and not the troublemaker I so often saw in the past. You use that image to hide the fact that you're sad and alone. I may not understand much about what it's like, but I don't have to for me to realise why you become a troublemaker."
"B-b-but your other friends, your image… what about those things?" Naruto said, concerned that Ino would lose everything just for her socialisation with him, "I don't want you to end up losing all them because of me."
Ino shook her head.
"I'll admit that if not for Sakura, I wouldn't have given you a second thought," she admitted honestly, "However, if not for Sakura, I'd probably be more like everyone else. Besides, you may not know it, but you helped her out as well and I'm grateful for that. I will be your friend and nothing; not my image, not my friends and most definitely not my mother or the villagers will change my mind. You need all the friends you can get and I'll be more than happy to help Sakura-chan and you. Besides, because of you, I finally see kaa-chan's true colours."
Glossary
Tou-chan – Father (the chan suffix probably means the person saying it means daddy)
Author's notes – That's chapter four done… finally. I did say before in my notes in chapter one that updates would be random and could be far apart. This chapter, I must admit was pretty difficult for me since looking back at Naruto in the beginning, Ino didn't really think much of Naruto and with Naruto, the feeling was mutual (I believe during Sakura's fight with Ino, Naruto called Ino lame addressing her as "that lame Ino girl") I had a plan before, but I eventually realised that it would be weird and so, I had to change how Ino and Naruto would become friends. I felt that being so popular, Ino wouldn't be swayed from her outlook of Naruto until she saw the real him and fortunately, I believe that making friends with Sakura helped her become more open-minded about certain aspects since in this timeline that I'm working on, Sakura never ended her friendship with Ino over Sasuke. I also felt that Ino had to see Naruto's treatment first hand (her mother being the one to dish it out) in order to squash any doubt in her mind. Anyway, I got three reviews this chapter, the most I've had for a chapter, though one more did review chapter one. Next chapter Hinata will become Naruto's friend, thus completing the foursome I'm planning and then a few chapters of them interacting, though I'm thinking about a small before-canon arc (about three or four chapters), though at this point I'm not sure. On a side note, on Monday 15th June to Friday 20th June, I'll be away on a five-day holiday trip down in the East of England, so don't expect any updates between those dates and I'm telling you now in case I don't get a chance later.