Don't worry this one will be much more cheery
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, on with the story! Make sure to drop a simple review if you enjoyed the story :3.

the morning was a bright one, the earlier rain had completely subsided with the sun's rays now enchanting the Hidden Village of Konoha into a lively state.

The villagers were out in storm – flooding the early morning market stalls and local shops, busy ninjas easily visible around the town and the gentle breeze helped to ease the heat that was making the day so vibrant.

Naruto awoke feeling refreshed, then again who wouldn't after an eleven hour sleep?, he flung his arms up into the air stretching as far as he could letting out a loud yawn, it was clear to see he was back to usual self.

"Eh! I-I-Ino-chan!" The words left his mouth too fast for his poor mind to process the previous night's events, he looked down at her with his re-gained glistening blue eyes to see her tightly wrapped around him.

The blonde kunoichi let out a feminine yawn, covering her mouth while she did so, the complete opposite of Naruto's.
"Good morning Naruto-Kun" she winked at him trying to cause more embarrassment than what was already plastered across his face. "Feeling okay now?" she said with an added amount of concern.

"U-Uh…yeah, Thank you Ino-chan, for everything you did yesterday…I'm Sorr-"
"Don't be silly, I actually kind of liked looking after you…besides you needed someone , and you kinda did save the whole elemental nations." She cut him off before he tried to apologize to her yet again.

'Besides that was a good sleep I had' she thought who knew Naruto could be so comfy smiling at the thought of the two the previous night.

He hugged her at the kind words she interrupting him with, without realising she felt into the soft embrace and her right cheek was softly placed against his hard chest, she wrapped her arms around him in return and could hear him chuckle.

Naruto was glad he was gently pressing her head against his chest, it hid the fact that a soft blush was defiantly creeping over his face. He felt so peaceful and didn't want to move from this spot for as long as he could manage.

Suddenly there was loud banging on the door – it reminded him of any time Sakura had visited previously…he then remembered her in his apartment yesterday at early hours, and how Ino also was involved in a heated discussion.

"I-Ino-chan " he muffled quietly to her "I'm sorry that you had to argue with Sakura yesterday, thanks for everything you said" he quickly spat out before he could be interrupted by the blonde beauty that was wrapped in his arms.

"Y-You heard all of that?" She said trying to sound composed, blushing heavily she was now glad she was so close to his chest – facing away from his view. "Shouldn't you be getting the door!" she shouted in order to save herself from the moment.

The bangs on the door continued "Naruto-Sama! Lady Tsunade demands you come to her office as soon as possible! I'll be taking my leave!" And with that the messenger departed before Naruto could open the door.

'He made me stop getting hugged for that?' Naruto thought a little disappointed that he had to let go of Ino earlier than planned 'wait…what?' Naruto even stuttered at his shock in his own mind.

She appeared in the doorway leaning against it slightly "Shouldn't you get going before Lady Tsunade gets angry Naru-t-o-kun?" It was Ino's turn to pay back the embarrassment winking at the puzzled blonde opposite her.

"U-Uh yeah! I should go! ...Bye Ino-chan!" He ran out of the door closing it without locking it, leaving her in his apartment. The blonde female was confused, did he intend for her to stay here?
'Oh well might as well make myself at home' she thought making herself breakfast at Naruto's expense. 'The least he can do is treat the lady who looked after him with breakfast' she sniggered to him remember the warm feeling she got while with him.

Naruto sped down the busy streets evading people like he were driving on the wrong side of the road after constant near misses he decided to take to the rooftops hoping he could make it before Tsunade's Anger-o-Meter was filled.

'She's going to kill me!' he thought to himself, speeding up even more, he'd already made it most of the way and the Hokage tower was now in his sight.

"Dynamic Entry!" Gai-Sensei announced on collision with Naruto mid jump, only to be quickly knocked to the ground easily by the out of sight Kakashi. "On you go Naruto" he said giving his famous eye smile.

Kakashi looked down to see Gai "You're an idiot you know…" he said flatly
"Ahhh as expected of my rival Kakashi! I see your youth still allows you to protect your team members flawlessly!"
"Since when was I rival?" Kakashi said coolly.
Gai's confidence dissolved as he plummeted to the floor in shock
"You've been so cold lately Kakashi-san" he despaired

_Hokage Tower_

Tsunade was sat at her desk, hands close to her face her fingers intertwined with one another looking sternly at the door. Suddenly it slammed open …she sighed 'So he's finally here'.

"Good Morning Baa-chan!" he announced strolling into the room, she couldn't help but not stay angry at him…But she was going to try her damn hardest!

"Don't good morning me brat! Who gave you permission to leave the hospital last night!" she bellowed shaking the Hokage Tower with her roar. He gulped – it looks like her Anger-O-Meter had filled after all.

She let out a sigh "There were some saddening reports gave in on your location yesterday…you had me worried sick Gaki" her act had fell apart but at least she got to see that stupid look on his face he always gives her when she shouts.

"S-Sorry Baa-chan… and thank you for ordering someone so caring to look after me while I was in hospital, she ended up following me to the roof of this building and then took me to my apartment where she stayed and watched over me" he said with sincere gratitude in his eyes.

The fifth Hokage was quite surprised 'Shizune did all that? ...wait took him to his apartment, where she stayed for the night! With "My Gaki!"' she thought to herself, she was clearly not going to accept such an act.

"Shizune! In here this instant!" She bellowed again causing the Hokage tower to wave its white flag in defeat of the terrifying shout that echoed through it.

"Y-yes? H-hokage-s-sama?" Shizune appeared hastily confused not knowing what she had done wrong, yet was trying to re-collect herself from the fear of Lady Tsunade. Naruto blinked at the newly entered assistant, what was she doing in here?

"Why the hell did you take Naruto to his apartment and then proceed to stay over!" Tsunade shot at the assistant with veins of rage starting to show on her forehead. Suddenly Naruto looked at his Hokage wide eyed.

"EHHHH! Why did I do what?" Shizune declared in utter confusion
"How could you insinuate such a thing Lady Tsunade!" she asked wanting to know when she managed to do such a thing.

"Naruto! You said did you not, that the person I ordered to monitor your condition took you back to your apartment and proceeded to stay the night?" she directed her glare at Naruto feeling she may have been tricked.

"…S-So why does that mean it was Shizune?" the thick headed boy said in confusion of the situation.
"Lady Tsunade, Yamanaka Ino took over for me and asked that she be the one to monitor Naruto-kuns condition." She said in anger, how did Lady Tsunade think of such a thing?

"Oh! Ho! Ho! This is glorious! She will not live this one down for years!" Announced the now chuckling hokage.
"It's a good job you're a woman Baa-chan! With that laugh and beard you have people would start thinking you were Santa!" he laughed at his own joke before realising the danger he had just placed his life in causing even Shizune to fight back laughter.

Naruto soared across the room and stuck out of the wall hanging by his head.
"Damn Brat! Shizune pull him out that's one head I don't want mounted on the hallway for everyone to see!" she instructed to the panicking Shizune, being glad she managed to fight back her laughter.

"Baa-chan I don't understand? Why was Ino the one looking after me then?" asked Naruto confused.
"Shizune? Did you examine this boy's head after his fight with Tobi? I think he's broken after all" she pouted at him showing she was mocking him.

"Ugh! Fine, well if that's all you needed then I'll be going! I'm starving over here!" the said to be broken male huffed out of the room only to earn laughs from the two in the room.

Naruto rummaged in his pockets 'dammit, forgot my wallet at home, I can't wait until my jacket is repaired I miss the extra pockets' he sighed to himself and hurried on to his apartment by rooftop he was hungrier than ever!

_Naruto's Apartment_

He opened the already unlocked door with his foot only to stop in his tracks…he was speechless.
"Ino-chan?" he asked wondering why she was still in his apartment, he didn't exactly mind but thought she would have defiantly left by now.

"Oh welcome home Naruto-kun" She smiled teasing him once more "How did your meeting go Dear?" she sniggered at him. Naruto's only response was to blush although she couldn't help but turn a bit red at the thought of calling him 'Dear'.

"Baa-chan punched me through the wall "He wept playfully "And she shouted at Shizune for staying over at my apartment and taking care of me" he said confused about the whole situation.
"I didn't know Shizune came over at all, never mind slept here…did you let her in, I don't mind I just don't know what Baa-chan was talking about."

Ino's smile drooped, she was in for it- how could she possible explain this too Lady Tsunade and Shizune without embarrassing herself further? She'd never live it down, especially if that pink, large fore headed girl brings up her memory of the night!

"Ino-chan do you know why she shouted at Shizune?" he asked totally bewildered, Ino looked at him questioning if he was serious 'you're not the brightest light are you Naruto?' she thought to herself.

"It's because I offered to take over Shizune-sensei's shift at the hospital, she looked tired especially after dealing with the casualties of the war…Its tough work you know!" she said nodding along to her story , eyes closed , finger pointing up into the air.

"I guess Tsunade's age is getting the better of her." He sniggered
"Naruto! How can you say that about the Hokage!" questioned Ino
"I heard that you damn brat!" Tsunade shouted from the hokage tower, Naruto wept, for he was a dead man.

"U-Uh Ino-chan? …" Naruto asked hesitantly
"What you expected me to leave? I can go if you want!" She said in a newly found tantrum
Naruto shook his head in denial "No-no, no I was going to ask if you uhh…w-well if you wanted to come to Ichiraku's with me, since you took such good care of me yesterday." He asked expecting the worst.

The blonde females eyes lit up and she unfolded her sulking arms "S-Sure, that'd be nice …I guess" She said a little embarrassed by his sudden question 'phew! I thought I was going to get kicked out for sure, I guess no one can resist my sweet seduction after all!' she giggled to herself.

The two set off towards Naruto's favourite ramen shop in the world, however he didn't give Ino a chance to enjoy the walk as he dragged her along hurriedly. The soon reached the Ichiraku Ramen store only to be greeted by Ayame, the daughter of the store owner.

_Ichiraku Ramen Stall_

"Good morning Nee-chan!" Naruto announced happily to her.
"Well if it isn't 'The hero of the elemental nations' "she teased looking over to see Ino sit down next to him.
"Oh, what have you done to this poor girl to make you follow her around like that?" she continued her onslaught of embarrassment to the blonde haired hero.

"T-This is Ino-chan, Ayame Nee-chan, I said I'd treat her to the best ramen in the world because she looked after me while I was in hospital" He said trying not to blush at her embarrass no jutsu.
"Awh well isn't that sweet of you Naruto-kun" she said with a kind smile. She looked towards the now sat Ino.

"So, how much is he paying you for this?" she giggled, leaving Ino victim to a blush staring back at the waitress. "Nee-chan!" Naruto intruded Ayame's teasing only for her to giggle at his frustration
"Sorry, Ino-chan" he said softly.

"So then what will it be Naruto?" she asked finally deciding to serve him his meal after her work was done. "I'll have the Uzumaki special please!" He grinned in delight finally getting to order.
"And what will the lady be having?" She questioned trying to sound fancy.

Ino turned to Naruto; she didn't eat ramen much and didn't know anything about it really, well not compared to the Ramen Hermit Naruto anyway! "Uhm, N-Naruto?" she asked quietly, "I don't know what to order…I don't eat ramen often" she said expecting an outraged response.

Naruto grew quietly serious; this was a personal S-Rank mission! "Ayame Nee-chan! Bring an extra Uzumaki special!" He declared with a certain glint in his eye.
"Don't worry Ino-chan! I'm sure you'll love it!" He announced confidently.

Ayame came out with two steaming hot bowls of ramen expecting Naruto to engulf the bowl with his face until it was quickly relieved of the substance that was currently inside it, however to her surprise, he turned to Ino educating her on Ramen and what makes it so good, she scratched the back of her head…'well it is Naruto after all' she thought.

The day was going brilliantly in Naruto's mind, even Ino was enjoying herself in weird way as Naruto, explained and lectured her the many things he knows about Ramen, seriously he could probably write a book about it 'I better not mention the book writing…in case he decides writing a book would be just like Jiraiya-sama" she smirked slightly at the thought of him actually going through with it.

The day rolled on and after many bowls of ramen each Naruto paid the bill and they walked away from the stand together, Ino was surprised, he pulled it off he actually made a date out of ramen…'wait, date? No, no it was just a thank you for looking after him' she felt heat raising in her cheeks at the thought she quickly at had to shoot down.

"T-Thank you for today Naruto-kun…I actually had fun" She said to him while pouting, trying desperately not to boost his ego too much.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it! …would you like me to walk you home, Ino-chan?" he asked the blonde kunoichi beside him, an evil smirk spread across her face
"Sure Naruto-kun that would be nice." They set off in the direction of Ino's house when suddenly she put her scheme into place.
"W-where are you going Naruto-kun?" she said innocently giving a glance of puppy eyes with a direct hit! Naruto looked at her confused.
"W-well, our apartment is the other way silly!" she said keeping her innocent puppy eye act going trying her best not to giggle.

"U-Um… I-I "she laughed at him struggle to form his sentences "W-well if you want I guess it'd be okay if you stayed "he said questioningly not knowing if she was serious or not.
Ino's eyes widened …should she accept his offer? She was starting to like being around him, it made her laughs and smiles more than she had done in a while. 'What am I thinking?' she quickly shook of her thoughts

"I was only joking Naruto-kun the walk home would be fine" She giggled at him
"Oh, Okay" Naruto answered still confused about pretty much everything that had happened to him today.

The two proceeded to walk to Ino's house, and they said their final goodbyes before Naruto departed, he suddenly missed the company, but was appreciative of the time they did spend together the past day or more, Across the street walking in the opposite direction was a pink haired kunoichi – a team mate of Naruto's who he knew he should talk to after the whole event that had unfolded.

He ran over to her, expecting her to be upset about the whole thing.
"Oh hey Naruto-kun I didn't see you there" she smiled at him. This wasn't the first thing that confused him today – why did she call him Naruto- Kun and she was smiling at him…did she need something?
"Hey Sakura-chan, I wanted to talk to you about …well everything that's happened, can we go somewhere?" He asked expecting to be shot down immediately.
"Sure Naruto-kun I know a place we can go" she smiled hopefully, maybe he was okay now? 'I guess even Naruto can be effected by emotions and expectations when he is the hope of the hold world' she thought to herself laughing at the image of Naruto holding up the planet in space in a cartoon like style.

Sakura led the pair to a quiet park, and then across some grass land up towards a huge tree that gave shade protection against the suns hot rays but still provided enough warmth for it to not be cold, the view from where they sat looked straight out into the forest of Konoha they sat in the shade anxious to start their conversation.

_ Konoha's Quiet Park_

Naruto was the first to start the conversation; his guilt was too much to sit in silence with even after their conversation at the apartment the night before, especially as Ino-chan was the one providing his answers for him.

"Sakura-chan I…I'm sorry for everything that happened, I hope you didn't visit me while I was in hospital…I-I-I, No – I mean! Not that I wouldn't want you to visit me! Uhh… I meant I wanted you to see himwhen I wasn't there…I couldn't cope with seeing the pain it must of caused you" he spoke to her softly, except for in his moments of panic in which he started speaking loud and quickly in order to defend his life.

"Naruto-kun …thank you… For bringing him back just for me I mean, I know being a med-nin that you could barely walk with just your own weight never mind the extra…" She didn't mention how she'd cried for so long, it already stung when he mentioned not visiting him in the hospital…even when she did visit she was too late.
"I did visit you though…I got really worried…" she smiled weakly " I thought I'd lost you as well with the hospital room being empty, I was so glad when I found that you were in your apartment after all" She hugged him tightly without realising what she was doing.

Naruto sat still, not knowing what do to do, eyes wide and a blush covering his face he took his chances and held her in his arms. "S-sakura-chan" he said quietly in a surprised manor. She quickly recoiled from his arms realising what she was doing.

"*Ahem*, I thought it'd be a better thank you than just words she said" a blush was on her face that was plain to anyone to see even to the dim light that was Naruto.

"Naruto…" she said with concern, "…W-where you afraid of me?" She sobbed while asking the question "I thought you didn't want to see me" she gulped "I didn't want you to hate me!" she said slightly louder letting a tear fall down her face.

"S-Sakura…" he quickly wiped her tear away from her face, "I'm sorry, it was too much – I-I couldn't do it, I didn't want to see the pain seeing himwould give you, and I was to blame…I was the one who killed him!" He said apologetically wincing in expectation of her shock."B-But I could never hate you Sakura-chan" he said trying to re-assure her.

"I-I know about…about Sasuke and that you were the one who…Ino told me while I was at the apartment…I'm sorry for interrupting you two…and I'm sorry about the nasty things I said."
she looked away from him not wanting to see him upset at the reminder of the memory.

"Interrupting us?" he said looking deep In thought at the possible meaning in the sentence
"I don't hear most of it Sakura, Ino covered my ears for the most part, but I heard the important things you said as you left." He said still questioning the 'interrupting you two.'

"W-well you know … I didn't mean to interrupt you and Ino when you were…" she started to blush at trying to say her next sentence "You know! …while you were together!" she said leaving heavy insinuation on the word together.

"O-Oh! N-No w-we weren't " he blushed at the thought of how it might of looked "I-I … I wasn't exactly myself that must of hurt to of been heard coming from me… and she spent the night comforting me it was really nice of her!" he said while trying not to make Sakura believe they were together.

"O-Oh…what kind of things did you say?..." she asked in concern.
"Well after I escaped the Hospita—"
"You escaped the hospital!" Sakura interrupted
"Y-Yeah… I said to her…" he clenched his fist at the side of his body " I said to her when I woke up and she was taking care of me…that I deserved to be alone, and I escaped to be alone."

Sakura's eyes widened in shock, he was that bad? And yet she was clutching to a dead body instead of being by his side? 'No wonder he was so appreciative of Ino comforting him, It's not like anyone else does it!' she mentally shouted at herself.

"Where did you escape too…?" She asked fearing he may of tried to leave the village.
"I sat on the Hokage tower." He said bluntly.

It was him up there after all, and the second figure that joined him…that must have been …Ino?
"Is that where you said the things that shouldn't have been said...you certainly didn't speak much at your apartment. "She questioned.

"Yeah I said those horrible things on the Tower." He said looking saddened
"What do you mean? What kind of things? She was expecting the worst from here on.
"I-I asked her…I-I asked her"
"What did you ask her?" she interrupted trying to get it out of him
"I asked …Am I being selfish?"
"Selfish?" She didn't understand how had he been selfish?
Naruto's faced looked grim, showing regret of what he had asked the blonde haired kunoichi
"…" his fists clenched even harder "I then asked …Would my death be too much for me to ask?"
Her eyes widened in horror 'he wanted to kill himself? He was in such a state and I was nowhere to be seen' she felt tears of guilt well up in her eyes.

"Was that all of it?" she said softly not keen to hear more.
"I asked her…would it be too much to ask of my friends to accept…for me to die?"
"Naruto!" she shrieked, "How could you think such things!" She said letting another tear escape her eyes
"I…I, after what happened at the headquarters." Sakura winced in anguish thinking of the memory
"I didn't want any more pain…I didn't want to see it, and I didn't want any more inflicted on me…I'm sorry" he sobbed

She pulled him back into her hug, knowing her actions this time and shoved his head against her shoulder "I don't want to hear anything like that from you ever again!" She commanded
"Ino may have gotten lucky this time but next time I'll be the one to comfort you for sure! ...It's the least I could do" She smiled towards him, Naruto was now wishing for the day to end…hoping that this would at least be the last time he was confused…he sighed and enjoyed the hug not trying to work out what was going on any longer.

Authors notes: I hope I managed to make this one a lot more positive! Although the drama kicked in again at the end but it is towards tying up the whole scenario of misery bear with me it'll cheer up a bit soon!

Always look forward to any criticism or opinions, opinions especially, I want to know if you guys like it :3.

Thank you to anyone who has read this far!