Distant

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In case you haven't noticed from reading the manga or watching the anime, Im sadly not the genius behind Naruto :/

He sighed to himself as he sat atop a building, watching the two girls below him speak to one another. He had loved both of them at one time or another, though it was apparent only one would return those feelings for him. Though the stress that the other one caused that made him question what was really best. It felt like he wasn't ready to let go, even though she had already thrown it away for over a year now…

"Naruto" Shikamaru said calmly as he sat down beside him, "it's a bit impolite to eavesdrop in on a conversation isn't it?" Naruto gave him a smile before letting out a sigh, "I guess…" his voice trailing off as he stared at his friend. His eyes strayed away and remained silent, before Shikamaru broke the silence, "you still haven't gotten over it?" he sighed as he spoke the words, something that seemed to be the only form of relief that anyone could get their hands on anymore. If only the sighs they let out could make the problems that Konaha was facing go away, perhaps the city wouldn't be in such turmoil. Naruto sat next to him a bit expressionless before looking down at the two females he'd been watching walk away from eachother and say their goodbyes. "Sometimes I feel like…everything is fine, like I can just forget it all, other times, it all just comes back, every moment that I enjoyed, the feeling, the memories…it just confuses me sometimes." trailed off slowly before mumbling something to himself that Shikamaru couldn't pick up.

Shikamaru chuckled softly to himself before putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "you realize, that she won't take that as an answer, she's not let you make the decision if you're not going to agree with her" Naruto's eyes dwelled around for a few more moments before he gave a small chuckle himself, "that's what im afraid of," his fingers playing around with the rubble laying ontop the ledge they sat on, "she always get what she wants" The Nara sighed before getting up to walk away, "See why I say they're troublesome?" He gave a wave before he began making his way across the rooftop, mentioning that he was supposed to give a message to Naruto but decided to leave it til tomorrow after Naruto's mind was a bit less stressed.

"Whatcha doin up here?" the voice coming from behind him before he felt a pair of arms wrap around him and someone pressed up against his back. He smiled and leaned back against her, turning to see her face before feeling her plant a kiss on his lips. "Nothing" he whispered softly as smiled, "Just looking for the most beautiful girl in town is all" Her arms wrapped around him tightly before he stood up and carried her on his back. "Did you find her?" She giggled a bit as she rested her head on his back while he began leaping from one building to the next. He nodded giving her a smile before looking up ahead, the breeze that could be felt as they flowed through the air was throwing off their voices as most of the trip was silent. Neither could really complain though, the night sky seemed to be set perfectly that night, mesmerizing both of them with its beauty, the moment seemed to die too quickly as they found themselves at the campground. He made his way past each of the green tents set up in the rubble of the old hokage building.

Her fingers began cringing, he could feel her grip tightening as the made their way to her tent. He reached the designated area only to receive a frown from her and a pout as she looked at him. He chuckled at her before opening the tent for her, "Yes," he smiled, "I'll stay for a bit" Her eyes lit up before she let out a small yelp of joy and pulled him in with her. She smiled before stripping off her clothing and slipping into her pajamas infront of the blonde who was trying as hard as he could to turn the other way. She laughed at his failed attempt to avoid her before pulling him down and rolling ontop of him. "You really know how to get things done don't you?" He chuckled as he felt her begin to relax against him.

She smiled as she kissed him softly, "hush" she laughed a bit as she spoke in a sarcastic tone, "you know you like it when I take control" Her hands running through his hair as she felt it softly brush against her hand while she stared at him. "Why do you always act like were a secret?" She looked into his eyes questioningly. "I've already answered that before" He brought his lips up to gently brush against hers as he finished. Ino stared at him questioningly before letting the words escape her mouth "Does she mean that much to you?"

She knew it wasn't right of her to say it, but she needed to get it off her chest. It had been months since the two had gotten closer, and throughout the whole time he still hadn't once mentioned to anyone that they were together. Of course, there was one thing in particular that he'd never done before which bothered Ino the most, four simple words that he never said to her. "You know that's not it," His eye's now straying away from hers, "if they know about anyone who is close to me, they'll come for them. You wont be safe…you should know that by now, the war started here because of me…" He sighed before facing her, he had faced things which would have could give others enough fear from just hearing the mission statement to leave, let alone actually be there to face it. But one thing he feared the most was receiving her judgment. He looked up to see her saddened eyes facing him. "You could at least tell me you love me" Her voice now soft and weak unlike before as she stared at him.

He stared at her letting his arms cradle her and hold her close. It was something that she had brought up quite often recently. "You know I do" Naruto now also whispering quietly as he tried to make her look up at him, her face tilted away as she tried not to show him the slight watering of her eyes. "If you do, then why don't you say it?"

There was an akward silence between the two as Naruto stared at her speechless. He wasn't sure how to say it, or explain to her. What she wanted him to say brought him joy, but it also brought him pain. He had only said it to one person before, the girl that caused him so much pain. His eyes slowly trailing around the room as he tried to avoid her gaze, he failed to do so as he eventually ended up staring at her. "I love you," he mumbled it softly to her and sighed right after he spoke. Her eyes immediately lit up, surprised herself that he gave in. "I love you too" She smiled as she pressed herself against him as he tried once again to avoid her gaze. "That wasn't too hard was it?" Now smiling as she spoke. He looked back up, this time staring straight into her eyes as he lifted his head up to give her a soft kiss. His face expressionless as he stared at her silently for a few moments before finally speaking, "No it wasn't," He smiled, "I was afraid those words would hurt so much, I don't know why"

She frowned looking down at him. As much as they had been together, Naruto still kept some of his emotions hidden from her. He always seemed to be hiding, so distant from everyone else, especially after his breakup with…Sakura. His emotions seemed to be locked up, and only spoke when necessary. Everyone saw him around still, but he was no longer the loud and vibrant kid who always seemed to be the center of attention. Instead he was replaced with a rather reserved Naruto, who seemed to have his mind somewhere else, probably why him and Shikamaru began spending more time together since then. She smiled softly thinking over what he said before letting her lips touch his, "you know I'll be here for you, you don't have to face everything alone…you don't have to face the pain alone" She saw him give her a smile as their lips parted. She held him close before closing her eyes to lay her head atop his chest.

"I know," he was now whispering softly as they both began to get drowsy from their exhaustion, "I'm just not used to it yet" Ino's smiled softly, her eyes shutting slowly as she felt each breath of air pass through Naruto's lungs, which made her rise and fall slowly, and with that the two fell asleep in each other's arms for the night.

A/N- Sorry this is a bit short, I was a bit exhausted when I started this. Its actually a reproduction of an idea I had a while back, I started it a while back but never really got into it but recently kinda felt like coming back to the story. I'll be editing this tomorrow and extending the length of the chapter, but should hopefully finish this weekend. Tell me how you like it so far ^^ and sorry for the short length of the chapter, typically they're longer but it's a bit late for me right now and my mind isn't exactly functioning at full capacity.

A/N #2 – Hope you guys enjoyed it ^^ I lengthened the chapter a bit and edited a few errors I had in the first copy. I probably wont be putting out the next chapter til next week probably. I'm glad to get a review, lol and this story has actually gotten quite a few more hits in a short amount of time than I had expected. I have one other story which I had began that hasn't gotten much attention either, it would be nice if you could take the time to give it a look if you enjoyed my work. That's all I really got to say for now, so cya guys later ^^.