Reconciliation

Disclaimer: Naruto Chars belong to Kishi.

Author's notes: Just something I came up with during my dry spell.

"Neh, Sakura-chan… why don't you hang out with Ino anymore?" Naruto threw out his question as he carefully went to work pulling the weeds from the soft, moist soil.

"Ugh, I don't hang out with Ino-pig anymore because we're not friends anymore!" Sakura shot back, glaring lightly at the boy even as she angrily gripped on a weed and violently jerked it out of the earth.

"… But why?" There was genuine confusion on his face as again he carefully gripped at the base of the weeds, twisting slightly as he loosened it from the soil, then drew it out, roots and all. "I mean… you two used to be inseparable!

"Grrr…" Sakura winced quietly at the question, even as her eyes flickered for a moment towards Sasuke before huffing slightly. "None of your business!"

"But…" He had seen the glance, a momentary think flickering away before he sighed slightly and slumped his shoulders. "Ok, Sakura-chan."

For a moment, Sakura blinked at the uncharacteristic ease at which the blonde boy had dropped the line of questioning, before shrugging just a bit as she dismissed it. Maybe, just maybe the idiot was finally learning to listen to her. If she'd been looking, however, she might've seen the sudden, determined glint in Naruto's eyes as he methodically went to work on the weeds in front of him.

-o-o-o-

(Several days later)

"MMM! MMPH!!!!" Ino Yamanaka was squirming angrily as she hung over the shoulder of one Naruto Uzumaki, her slender frame trussed up in ropes and a thick cotton gag in her mouth.

"… Naruto, what're you doing with my little princess?" Inoichi's voice was deceptively calm as he appeared in the blonde boy's path, his cold blue eyes flinty and hard as the boy froze in place and instantly began to sweat.

"Mmm!" Ino let out a triumphant sound as she seemed to suddenly smirk down at Naruto as if to say, 'Now you're going to get it!'

"Well, uh heh… you see… um…" Naruto blinked then blinked again as he gave the blonde jounin a nervous smile then quickly pulled out a mission scroll and handed it over to the man. "That should explain it?"

"… You've got to be…" Inoichi paused a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose as he unfurled the official looking document and then stared at its contents, restraining the urge to fall on his face. "How the hell did you get this, Uzumaki?"

"Err well, um, you see… I kinda um…" Naruto flushed brightly under the man's glare as he nervously scratched the back of his head. "Agreed to buy the old man lunch for the week?"

"… The Hokage signed off on this… for a week's worth of lunch?!" Inoichi was twitching, visibly now as he glared down at the boy.

Ino's stare matched her fathers as her eyes flicked from the scroll to Naruto. He'd gotten a mission for this?! He'd PAID to be able to do this?! Oh he was sooooo dead!

"Errr… read the rest of it? Please, please, please?" Desperation filled the boy's blue eyes as he stared up at the irate and murderous look the jounin was giving him.

Frowning slightly, the man continued to unfurl the scroll before blinking slightly as he read its contents. "Oh for the love of…"

"What!" The boy winced slightly under the jounin's piercing stare. "It can't hurt, can it? I mean… look at the way they've been acting towards each other!"

"Mmph?" Ino blinked slightly as she glanced from her father to the boy who had her slung so easily over her shoulder uncertainty on her face.

"You do realize that they're going to kill you for this, right?" Inoichi stated flatly as he crossed his arms about his chest while Ino was suddenly nodding her head enthusiastically in agreement.

"Err… Good thing I heal fast? Ehehehe…" There was nervousness in the boy's face as he flinched slightly under the man's look, before suddenly steeling himself as he looked up into the man's eyes. "But if it works, it'll be worth it."

"Well, sorry princess." Inoichi winced slightly as his daughter leveled a murderous glare that threatened to melt him where he stood. "But he does have the proper paper work for this… Once this is over and done with, you can talk to the Hokage." Pausing a moment, the man suddenly grinned down right wicked as he smiled at his daughter. "And I'm sure he'll be happy to let you perform an appropriately… retaliatory mission on Naruto here once it's over with."

Eyes alight, Ino shot Naruto with a down right vicious grin as the boy sent a glare back at the smirking man. However, just as the boy began to start marching off after almost ripping the mission scroll out of the elder Yamanaka's hands, another voice spoke up.

"Now, Inoichi, stop threatening that poor boy." Two pairs of incredulous deep indigo eyes turned to stare at where an older blonde woman stood, her arms crossed about her chest. "I think what he's doing is very sweet and thoughtful."

"Hiya Mrs. Yamanaka!" Naruto waved cheerfully as he ignored the way Ino practically face faulted on his shoulder. "Did you get the cookies?"

"Why yes, Naruto, they were very good." The woman responded with a nod of her head. "Even if a certain father and daughter did go and decide they were going to steal most of them for themselves."

"Errr… wait… I thought you made those cookies, honest!" Inoichi responded quickly, holding up his hands as his eyes widened. "I had no clue that someone made them for… Wait… NARUTO! Why are you making my wife cookies?!"

On the blonde boy's shoulders Ino couldn't help but want that answer herself as she Naruto stiffened in defiance underneath her as he responded. "What? You trying to say she's not worth someone making cookies for?!"

"Wha…?" That made Inoichi blink slightly, staring at the boy as his wife watched on, her eyes glittering in amusement. "That's not even close to what I meant! You don't go making cookies for another man's wife!"

"Huh..?! Wha…? What're you talking about?" Naruto blinked slightly, slowly staring vacantly back at the man before realization dawned in his eyes. "WHAT?! What're you, some kind of pervert?! She's way too old for me to be interested in her that way!"

Instantly the temperature in the room dropped noticeably as Inoichi sent a covert, triumphant smirk back at the boy while his wife spoke in a sweet, icy tone. "Old, Naruto-kun…?"

Every survival instinct in his body screaming at him, Naruto quickly spoke up wincing visibly. "Um… I meant… umm… but you're old enough to be my mother, aren't you? And isn't it wrong for guys to be interested in people old enough to be their parents? That was what Sakura-chan's mom always told me! Even wronger for people old enough to be our parents to be interested in us, which, really is very, very creepy! I mean, it was creepy enough seeing that one guy with glasses staring at Sasuke like he was, and he was just a few years older than us…"

As Naruto took a moment to desperately suck in a breath, Ino's mother couldn't help but shake her head ruefully. "True enough, Naruto-kun… But you should remember, is NEVER a good idea to call a woman old. It's terribly rude."

"Not to mention a quick invitation to a violent death." Inoichi added with a quite mutter as Ino nodded her head in affirmation on Naruto's shoulder. "So, I take it that you're in on this?"

"Why, my dear, cookie stealing husband, I'm sure I have no idea what's going on, or why this fine young man has our cookie stealing daughter over his shoulder, carrying her off like some prize…" Both males immediately sent the woman a dirty look even as she lightly tapped her lower lip speculatively. "Though, it is rather romantic, don't you think?"

Inoichi practically fell forward on his face at his wife's response, while Ino and Naruto both blushed crimson as they shook their heads in vehement disagreement while Naruto's voice quickly rose over Ino's muffled protestations. "No! No way, no how, no Ino!"

Instantly three pairs of Yamanaka eyes were fastened on the boy, who practically wilted under their gazes, though Inoichi spoke up first. "Are you saying there's something wrong with my princess?"

Feeling a strange stir of courage bubbling up, Naruto stood up straight, locking his eyes with Inoichi and daring to nod his head. "Considering all the crap she's helped put me through over the years? Yeah, I do!" As Ino flinched on the boy's shoulder and Inoichi looked caught between outrage and guilt, Naruto continued. "I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do, NOT because I like her! Now, I've got to get going, you can yell at me about this later."

And with that the blonde boy practically stormed out of the room, growling angrily under his breath as he adjusted the quietly protesting girl on his shoulder.

For a moment, silence hung in the air, before Inoichi could hear his wife's voice ringing with a cool curiosity. "Now, Inoichi, dear… What did Naruto-kun mean by that, hmm?"

"Eh heh…" Inoichi could feel a cold trickle of sweat drip down his neck. "Sakura did it too!"

"Dear, I think it's time we had… a talk, don't you think?"

-o-o-o-

Sakura awoke to find herself resting on a decidedly unfamiliar bed, and immediately moved to sit straight up, only to discover she was tied up rather snugly. Blinking owlishly she looked around the moderately sized room as she felt oddly lethargic. Immediate realization coursed through her mind as she silently cursed her mother, wondering what the crazy woman was up to this time.

She had no clue why she kept trying to hook her up with NARUTO of all people. And speaking of her blonde teammate, a thick metal door suddenly swung inwards, revealing the normally cheerful looking blonde with another, familiar blonde slung over his shoulder. As she stared back at the scene, Naruto dropped Ino down onto the bed next to Sakura before walking back to the door and swinging it firmly shut.

Once that was done, the boy walked back to the pair and pulled out a kunai as he cut the ropes on both their wrists before he started to speak. "All right…"

Anything else was cut off as Sakura ignored the way Ino started to protest and angrily threw a punch at the boy, causing him to disperse in a puff of smoke.

Quickly pulling the gag out of her mouth, Ino glared at the pink haired girl next to her. "Way to go, Forehead, now we have no clue what the hell was going on."

"Shut up, Ino-pig! How was I supposed to know that he was a shadow clone?" Sakura grumbled after she pulled her own gag out and then glanced around the sparsely decorated room. "When I get my hands on that idiot…!"

"Good luck." Ino shot back with a grumble as she began to untie the rest of the knots still holding her body. "He apparently got an official mission for this."

"… Are you kidding me?!" Sakura practically shrieked as she went to work on her own knots. "Ooooh that little…"

"And I know my mom was probably in on it." Ino offered lamely with a grumble before flopping back on the bed, now completely freed of the ropes.

"Considering how I'm still a little woozy, mine too." Sakura grumbled as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Knowing her, this is probably one of crazy schemes to get me hooked up with Naruto."

"… Wait, your mom has been…?" Ino stared back at Sakura, blinking owlishly at the girl.

"For the last year or so, yeah." Sakura grumbled as she drew her legs back up against her chest. "I swear, she must've been spending too much time in her damned lab."

"My mom is apparently fond of him as well." Ino noted with a twitch, before she reluctantly continued. "And he apparently makes some really good cookies."

"Cookies, Ino-Pig?" Sakura offered with a teasing smirk on her lips as her eyes twinkled mischievously.

"I thought my mom had made them, Forehead!" Ino shot back, growling slightly even as she blushed. "So did my dad…"

"If I thought my mom had made em, that'd be all the more reason for me to NOT touch them." Sakura responded with a shudder. "The last ones she gave me…"

"Oooh, that was the day you started thinking Naruto was a toad, Sasuke-kun was a snake and you were a slug, wasn't it!" Ino grinned back at Sakura who immediately buried her face in her hands.

"Ugh, don't remind me about that!" Sakura whined slightly as she hung her head, before smirking just a bit. "Wasn't that when I first saw you as Ino-pig?"

"Hey, I thought it was kinda… well now that I think about it, it's really, really creepy." Ino began before she stared at Sakura. "Especially since you guys are on a team together now."

"Eh? What're you talking about?" Sakura blinked owlishly back at the blonde girl as she shifted nervously under her stare.

"Come on, you're the one who's supposed to be a brainiac!" Ino rolled her eyes slightly as she smirked back at Sakura. "A toad, a slug and a snake, all on the same team?"

"Wha..?" Sakura's brow furrowed slightly as she considered Ino's words. "A Toad... a Slug... and a Snake?"

"The sannin, duh! Geez, Forehead!" Ino shook her head in exasperation as she stared at the pink haired girl in front of her. "Jiraiya, with his Toads, Tsunade with her Slugs, and Orochimaru with his Snakes!"

"... You really want to associate Sasuke-kun with a traitor?" Sakura countered with a frown as she lightly glared back at the blonde girl.

"...Ugh.. I forgot about that." Ino made a face as her nose scrunched back up against her face. "Nor do I really wanna associate Naruto with ANY of the sannin."

"Tell me about it!" Sakura grumbled slightly as she shook her head and flopped back against the bed. "This stupid little idea of his… do you even know why he…" Suddenly recollection dawned in her eyes as the pink haired girl groaned loudly as she slapped her hand in her face. "That idiot."

"Eh? What're you talking about?" Ino blinked slightly and stared at the girl, narrowing her eyes slightly in confusion as she looked at Sakura curiously.

"A few days ago, Naruto asked me why I didn't hang out with you anymore." Sakura groaned out as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "I got angry at him and told him because we aren't friends anymore."

"Well, we aren't, remember?" Ino snapped back as she glared at the girl. "We're rivals for Sasuke-kun's affection!"

"Right." Sakura agreed, albeit not quite as vehemently as she glanced around the room and sighed. "I am so going to kill that idiot."

"I'll help." Ino agreed as she sat up and started walking around the room. "Dad told me some good places to dump bodies."

"… So has my mom." Sakura admitted uneasily. "Though, she was more telling me them as places she'd dump Sasuke-kun's body if I ever brought him over as my boyfriend."

"… Huh." Ino blinked slightly in confusion. "My dad just said he'd do that to ANY boy I brought home as my boyfriend."

"I don't know why, but my Mom doesn't like Sasuke-kun." Sakura paused a moment, before frowning slightly. "Actually, Mom doesn't really like Uchiha period. She told me the only worthwhile one she ever met died before I was born."

"Hey… look at this." Ino spoke up, carefully holding up a photo album left on the table. "I wonder what's in this?"

"If it was left by Naruto, probably pictures of his pranks," Sakura said dryly as she grinned slightly back at Ino who opened up the album and blinked in shock.

"Wow… How the hell did he get these?!" Ino stared in shock at the page, before carefully flipping to the next, then the next, her blue eyes wide in absolute disbelief.

"How did he get what?" Sakura asked curiously as she walked up behind the blonde girl then blinked as she looked over her shoulder and stared at the photos before her. "Oh, wow…"

They were pictures of the two of them, when they were younger. Back when they were almost inseparable in fact. Their hair was cut far shorter than it'd been in years as they hung off each other's shoulders, while each held a broad, happy, care free smile on their faces. Smiles so bright, so happy, so cheerful they seemed to light up the rest of the photograph.

"Man… we really were happy back then, weren't we, Forehead?" Ino noted as she lightly traced a finger across one photo in particular's surface, her birthday party in fact.

"… Yeah, we were." Sakura responded quietly, as she struggled to recall smiling like that since they'd made each rivals out of one another. "Practically inseparable."

"Mom was really disappointed when I told her we stopped being friends." Ino admitted quietly as they came to a picture with the two of them and their families, all smiling together back at the camera. "Especially when she found out why."

"Mine almost yelled at me." Sakura admitted softly as she shook her head slightly and sighed just a bit while she sat down on one of the chairs by the table. "She almost demanded I go and apologize to you and ask to be friends again right then and there, especially when she found out that it was for Sasuke-kun."

"I think the only reason mine didn't was because she thought we'd get over it and go back to being best friends pretty quickly." Ino responded quietly as she lightly ran her fingers over another picture before turning the page. "She was really upset when we stopped hanging out period. She'd give me a glare anytime I started complaining about having to put up with you."

"Hmph!" Sakura glared mildly at the girl before sighing as she would cross her arms about her chest. "Complaining about me? You're the one that always kept trying to embarrass me in front of Sasuke-kun!"

"As if! Like you need any help in that area!" Ino shot back with a snort. "Or are you forgetting just who it was you finished behind, hmmm?"

"Ugh, shut up, Piggy!" Sakura growled back as she glared at the girl, her emerald eyes blazing angrily. "Who was it that ended up on his team?!"

"And how far have you gotten with him then, hmmm?" Ino countered glaring back at her former friend as she crossed her arms about her chest. "I don't see you going on any dates with him, and you've been on his team, what, a week or two now?"

Sakura let her shoulders slump down as she let off a soft sigh of resignation as the mark hit home while she crossed her arms about her chest, hugging herself tightly. "I… I've tried. But… But… He thinks I'm annoying. The only one on our team that seems to pay attention to me is Naruto."

Ino paused a moment, uncertain how to react to that as the pink haired girl seemed to deflate back in on herself, all her self confidence seemingly melting away. "… Everyone? What about your instructor?"

"He's always busy with Sasuke or Naruto. It's like I'm not even worth his time." Sakura's words made the slight rise of triumph Ino felt plummet to the pit of her stomach with an icy weight. "And honestly? I'm starting to wonder why I'm even a ninja. I mean… Even compared to Naruto I'm starting to feel pathetic."

"Compared to Naruto?!" Ino stared at the pink haired girl next to her and couldn't help but blink slightly in shock. "That idiot? Why would you…?"

"Do you know what shadow clones are?" Sakura cut in, her voice suddenly a bit harsh as she stared at her former friend.

"Shadow clones? Yeah, my dad uses one on occasion. It's a jounin level technique that has to be used carefully because of how it splits up your chakra." Ino shrugged slightly and blushed sheepishly. "I tried to get him to teach it to me so I could leave a clone to mind the store while I went out training and he refused because it was too complicated to learn and too dangerous for someone who hadn't developed the right amount of chakra reserves."

"Naruto knows it." Sakura answered the unspoken question in Ino's eyes as they immediately widened in shock. "He wouldn't let me know where he learned it, but I found out he learned it in a couple of hours, and he throws the clones around like it's nothing. I've seen him pull out 20 or 30 at a time and he tells me he could do a lot more if he wanted to."

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Ino stared at Sakura, gaping slightly in disbelief as the pink haired girl shook her head. "He knows a jounin level skill like that?!"

"I got curious and looked up what the library had to say about the technique. It wouldn't go into the details, other than to say it was incredibly dangerous and why." Sakura responded as she nodded her head back to Ino. "When I found out what I did, and went to Kakashi about it, and about the dangers that the book said about the technique, he gave me one of those smiles and told me that it was good I was worried about my teammates, but Naruto is uniquely suited to using the technique."

Sakura let her words hang in the air for a moment, before shuddering slightly. "But, he still acts like such an idiot! He goes and learns a technique like that… so quickly it's insane, and then turns around and just keeps acting like such an idiot!"

"Yeah well…" Ino flipped the page again, before blinking slightly as her mouth fell open in absolute shock as a familiar ribbon came into view. "How the… Ugh, Mom must've helped him."

"Is that…?" Sakura blinked slightly for a long moment as she stared down at the ribbon even as her fingers reached down, hesitantly letting her touch run along its length as she almost smiled slightly before the memories of the last time she'd seen it came crashing down. "You… kept it?"

"Hmph! Yeah, I did, though I don't know why I bothered." The cold venom dripping off of Ino's words felt like rising blister on Sakura's skin as the pink haired girl flinched back from the blonde's words. "After all, you made it clear how you felt about things between us."

"Ino…" Sakura paused a moment, hanging her head as the ghosts of the past clung to her with an icy grip. "I just wanted to… I didn't want to be just known as Ino's friend. I wanted to be my own person… I wanted to be strong."

"Yeah, you've managed that sooo well, haven't you?" Ino's voice dripped in acidic sarcasm as she glared at the girl next to her. "And all for a guy, a really hot, dreamy guy, yeah, but still a guy." The blonde shook her head for a moment, and growled softly. "And you know what? I thought my mom was right, that we'd spend a bit of time playing at being rivals, then go back to being best friends."

For a moment, Ino studied the girl who couldn't bring herself to meet her eyes anymore before she continued in a much softer voice. "But, you wouldn't let that happen, would you? You just couldn't admit you were wrong and come back."

"Wrong?" Sakura's eyes suddenly flashed with fire as her head jerked up and she glared at the girl. "I wasn't wrong! I wasn't about to come crawling back like some whipped dog! I wasn't going to go back to being your little sidekick in the shadows! Besides, you're the one that was all for us being rivals!"

"Because I though you'd get stronger!" Ino shot back, snorting softly. "But, you didn't! You completely forgot about becoming a strong kunoichi! You gave up on not being weak anymore!" The girl glared at her even harder as she clenched her fingers tighter into her palms. "Do you even have a CLUE how lucky you are to have the team you do?"

"Lucky? I'm stuck with that idiot Naruto and Sasuke-kun thinks I'm worthless! How the hell am I lucky?!" Sakura shot back as she glared at her former friend.

"An idiot that mastered a jounin level technique and actually WANTS to train and get stronger! And we both know how Sasuke is about training and getting stronger!" Ino countered again as she growled slightly. "Me? I'm stuck with the two laziest guys in our class as teammates, because of that stupid Ino-Shika-Cho combination! I have to yell at them, SCREAM at them to get them to do anything! And our instructor isn't much different!"

"At least your team gets along!" Sakura responded with a glare as her eyes glistened. "Mine are always fighting! As soon as Kakashi dismisses us, Sasuke-kun is gone, and Naruto… When he's not asking me to go out with him, he's off trying to train himself! It's just… there never seems to be anything I can do!"

Ino took a slow, deep breath, before she opened her eyes up once more and settled a look on Sakura. "And how much time to you spend training, as opposed to trying to get Sasuke to acknowledge you?"

It was then that Sakura realized Ino had dropped the kun honorific from Sasuke's name as she stared at the girl incredulously. "Sasuke, not Sasuke-kun? What, that mean you've given up on him, Ino-pig?"

"Argh!!" The blonde girl let off a scream of frustration as she slammed the photo album shut and used it to take a swing at Sakura. "Did you listen to a word I've said?! No! I haven't given up on him! I just won't sacrifice becoming a strong kunoichi just to try and get closer to him!"

"Hey!" Sakura looked affronted as she glared back at the girl in front of her as she ducked back from the girl's swing. "What the hell!?"

"You're only listening to what you want to listen to!" Ino growled for a moment before she placed the album back on the table between them. "I asked you how much time you spend training, and you just turn around and gah! What the HELL happened to you, Forehead?!"

"I… I don't know what you're talking about!" Sakura shot back as she growled angrily and turned her head, ignoring the way Ino was staring at her.

"Don't know?! You're…! Ugh!" Ino practically growled softly as she glared at her former friend as her fingers clenched angrily back into her palms. "I asked you how much time you spent training instead of trying to get his notice!"

"I… uh…" Sakura fidgeted slightly as she glanced away. "There's the team training exercises Kakashi-sensei has us do, and um… some stuff he has me do while he's working with Sasuke-kun and Naruto…"

"And beyond that?" Ino pressed, her eyes glinting angrily as she stared at the girl in front of her.

"Beyond that?" Sakura blinked slightly, looking at Ino incomprehensibly with wide, emerald eyes.

"What do you mean beyond that?" Sakura was just staring at Ino as she struggled a bit to see what she meant. "I mean, how much training do YOU do beyond your team stuff?"

"A lot."