Disclaimer: I Don't Own Naruto. If I did, I'd then have a job, which means money!!! Woah! That also mean's I'd have something to put on my resume, which I have nothing even though I'm 20! DX

A/N: I'm totally making assumptions from the end of chapter 330 in the manga right now. Let's just say I screamed 'EVIL CLIFFHANGER!!! DX' on that one. Honestly, I wanna know who the king is!! DX But anyway, the Kakashi and Naruto moment in that chapter was amusing. Oh! Finally, Naruto looks totally hot (I know, I'm pathetic) all angsty, in the Konohamaru moment.

A/N2: I'm going to take advantage of a filler episode series, when Naruto went Kyuubi against that fish dude and experiment girl (He ended up summoning Gamanbunta). Y'know, the one with Anko, Ino, Shino, and Naruto. Yes, totally taking advantage of the filler. How disgusting.

rain rain rain on my mind
i've got a secret life
wipe wipe wipe it away
nothing can make me dry
fight all the while
fight till i think i'm free
fear reigns so we never see
beautiful secret lives

Copeland, Choose the One who Loves you More

Naruto laid awake throughout the night before Asuma's funeral contemplating, and for some reason, found it in himself to begin worrying. Asuma had been a wind user, yet the guy he faced, from the information he'd gathered about the Akatsuki member was worrisome. Someone who seemingly couldn't die? He knew they were a group of obsessed psycho's, but damn. One can only go so far before hitting a wall of speculation on that accord. Whoever'd heard of an ability to never die?

Well, that probably explained why Orochimaru- that bastard- had joined Akatsuki.

Naruto sighed heavily and closed his eyes for a short while before he turned over in and out of bed, deciding that if he honestly couldn't sleep that he'd just get ready for the funeral now and take a walk. His mind was too filled with questions and at the rate that he was going, he'd never get the answer's. Naruto might not have been academically intelligent, but he was smart. It was just that people enjoyed ignoring that fact about him. Of course, it was mostly his fault, gallivanting around in orange the way he did and pulling pranks (especially his sexy no jutsu). Oh well, at least he'd gained a little 'teenage angst' and used black instead of blue.

See? He was learning! Black was a ninja color- a cliché one, but a ninja color non-the-less!

Deciding that he really needed to get started for the upcoming day, Naruto concentrated on the usual every-day-essentials (he was hygienic. One simply cannot ignore bad stenches with the slowly… or... rather, rapidly growing sense of smell he was developing) and once finished, made his merry way outside.

In the meantime, Ino was preparing herself for the day ahead. She was sort of upset with Shikamaru for picking Asuma-sensei's bad habit of habitual smoking, but after a very loud screaming match, she conceded to the thought behind it and left it alone. She knew tomorrow would be when they'd head out, and she was feeling both excited and apprehensive. Yet, she knew… no, felt it'd be alright.

Sighing, Ino stretched and got up deciding that now would be as good a time as any to get ready for Asuma-sensei's funeral. So, after about 15 minutes Ino found herself waltzing the silent streets of Konoha in the early morning. Ino breathed deeply, taking in the scent of the start of morning dew in the midst of a rainy season and looked at the still-dim sky. She smiled, enjoying the view while she could (heaven knew she didn't look up at the sky for leisure too much).

Naruto sighed in slight frustration as he found just how boring early morning could be. Heck, he lived on the worse side of town, yet not a single soul was awake! How pathetic was that!?! Other than a few random ninja running around, things were silent.

Naruto pondered if even the crickets were asleep.

It was then when he heard the sound of someone walking, and noticed a morning café with its lights on, casting a soft warm glow onto the still-dark street. Raising a curious eyebrow, he decided to check the place out.

At the same time, Ino noticed Naruto on the very same street as her, and decided to go talk with him.

She did still have one of his precious jackets at home.

Once she was within about seven feet of him, she paused and looked the young teen over, sizing him up as he read the menu of the establishment they stood in front of.

It was then that she came to realize how the café's light was hitting his face, and the shadows that were produced were rather… irregular. And this came from the girl who had a teammate who could manipulate his shadow.

Bridging the space between them, Ino made her presence more well known, "Hey there Naruto."

Slightly startled, Naruto turned to her, "Ino! W-what are you doing up at this hour?"

Ino smiled slightly, noting how Naruto was already dressed in his funeral attire, just like she was, "Well, I was awake and decided to take a nice walk." Looking at the café, she thought a moment before asking, "You ever been here Naruto?"

The aforementioned boy shook his head, "No, not really. Is it even open now?"

Ino smiled, "Well sure. Wanna grab a light breakfast with me here, then? Since you're so curious and all…"

Naruto smiled a little abashedly and apprehensively, "Well, alright." So long as they aren't avid haters…

Ino smiled at his 'shyness' and took his hand, pulling him in. Once inside, Naruto took in the wonderful aroma of coffee, pastry, and something he could only call warm. He also took note of the cocoa and grayish purple walls with tables and chairs that made the place feel like home and comfy to him. Ino then dragged the boy over to an entrance-side table and turned back towards the kitchen, "Ran-san!!! You have two customers who'd like a vanilla latte each, k?"

After a small commotion, a young woman with chocolate brown hair that was pulled up in a simple pony-tail, with blue eyes and wearing a nice purple button-up with jeans combo came out and smiled at the two, "Sure thing! I'll even bring out some of those pastries you like so much, Ino-sama!"

Nodding, Ino turned to Naruto, who seemed slightly surprised and perhaps… a little put out? "What's wrong with you?"

He blushed, rubbing the back of his head slightly embarrassed, "Uh, oh nothing… I was just a little surprised. I've never seen uhm.. Ran-san around before…"

Ino smiled, "Well of course not! Ran came into Konoha from a bordering village to set up this coffee shop about a year and a half ago. I don't know if you like coffee or anything, but the latte's here are awesome."

Naruto smiled and nodded, never really having had a latte before and simply took her word for it, "Hey, so how are you doing?"

Ino blinked at the sudden switch in conversation, and shrugged a little, "I'm alright. I mean, I'm still upset but… I have to keep going forward to make Asuma-sensei proud!"

Naruto smiled, "Well that's good to know. You did always seem to be rather strong."

Ino gave him a big genuine smile, "Think so? I didn't think of you as one to study one's character, Naruto. With how Sakura-obsessed you seemed to be when we were younger…"

He shrugged, "Maybe not initially, but I do have an understanding of people."

Ino nodded, mulling that over. It was shortly after that Ran returned with a plate of pastries and their latte's, "So, who's the guy Ino-sama?"

Ino shifted slightly at Ran's absurd look of girly mischievousness, "This is Naruto. He's a part of the infamous Rookie 9, and the only one who's still a Gennin." Naruto was about to make a comment when Ino raised a hand and silenced him, continuing, "Of course, he couldn't help it since he's been away the past couple of years."

Ran nodded and smiled pleasantly at Naruto and stuck her hand out in a hand shake, "Well, I'm Mouri Ran, owner of this little café shop!"

Naruto smiled and masked his nervousness and shook her hand, "And I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and someday I'm going to be Hokage." Believe it!!! Bwahahahaha!

Ran laughed lightly, "Well, if I can fulfill my dream, I hope you can fulfill yours Naruto-sama."

Naruto blinked and smiled, " Thanks… You're honestly probably the first person to honestly take my dream seriously."

Ran raised an eyebrow, "Why's that?"

Naruto smiled cheekily and winked, "That's an ultra-super class secret."

Ran laughed lightly, "I see. Well, I better get back to making some more pastries for the day. You two enjoy yourselves now!"

Once Ran was back in the kitchen, Ino looked to Naruto with a raised eyebrow, "Would this have something to do with those weird marks on your cheeks?"

Of course, as fate would have it, Ino asked this just as Naruto was testing out his latte, and thus, proceeded in the atypical comical choking. Once his lungs were cleared of hot nice drink, he scratched the side of his head and tried thinking of a way out of this one, "Uhm… well, what do you mean?"

Ino rolled her eyes, trying to give him the benefit of intelligence, "I mean exactly what I said. Why do you have those marks on your cheeks? I know it's probably a little bit much of me to ask you but…"

Naruto waved a hand slightly, "No, no it's alright. I'm actually surprised no one's ever really asked me that by now. Especially Kiba, with that big yap of his. As for my marks, well, they've just always been there. I'm not really sure why that had to be the side effect of my… uhm… blood limit but… it's because of that I have these marks."

Naruto was totally sweating bullets now.

Ino watched him closely the whole time, knowing he was both lying and telling the honest truth at the same time. "Is it really that big of a secret, that you can't fully explain it?"

Naruto immediately became downcast and stared blankly at the table, "Ino… There's a reason why I was a bit surprised that Ran-sama was friendly with me."

Ino's eyes widened a bit, thinking back on what she could remember of Naruto.

The only thing she could remember was feelings of annoyance, hate, and him being alone.

Completely, absolutely alone.

"Naruto…"

He shook his head and smiled a little bitterly, "I'm a lot like Gaara, Ino… He once said that he was like a memory that people only desperately wished to forget. I'm… I'm the same as him. I'm simply something that everyone wants to forget, and thus, they've never really treated me well…"

Ino watched him as he played with the pastry he had almost started eating before her question and looked down at the table. "I'm sorry… I guess I shouldn't have pressed…"

Naruto smiled, "It's alright. I mean, you were on my squad in that mission when we went to that weird village with the fish girl and-"

Ino jumped slightly, "Oh! That one with Anko-sensei! Uhm.. Yeah, I remember that a little." she blushed a little at her outburst.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, well… Do you remember sensing some weird creepy chakra? A lot like the kind that I used against Neji in the Chuunin exams?"

Ino thought for a moment and nodded, "Yes. I remember that rather… well, actually."

"It's because of that chakra."

Ino looked at Naruto silent and somewhat startled, feeling a sense of finality in their conversation.

They finished their early breakfast in a both awkward and comfortable silence and departed shortly there-after. It was then that Naruto's nagging sense of worry came back, and he realized that he was worried for Ino.

And he hadn't even the slightest idea why.

A/N: And there you have it. A nice second shot. I'm going to try and make the one shots fit together, if I do anything more with this. Please, review and tell me how you liked it! Also, Thanks for the reviews for the previous chapter! 30 on a possible-only-a-One-Shot is like.. Awesome. I'm also on a couple of C2's. Thanks! With my other name… I like, barely got 5 reviews per chapter so… Please, don't stop supporting me through reviews now. I need words to motivate me, even if it's "Great chapter/story!" I appreciate you all!

Advertisement: I'm going to throw this out- Check out Copeland (Album 'In Motion'). Great shtuff (if anything, check out lyrics). Also, if you've ever seen YuGiOh, you MUST see YuGiOh: The Abridged by LittleKuriboh on YouTube. Awesome, hilarious, and nothing like the usual parody's people (especially guys) put out. Oh, and Look out for the imposters!