Chapter 6: The Chat

"Hey Naruto, glad I caught ya."

The whiskered blonde was currently buying some milk when he heard someone call for him. Looking to his right he saw Ino approach. "Oh, hi Ino. What can I do for you?"

"Have you talked to Sakura lately?"

He nodded. "Yeah, you?"

Ino nodded as well. "What has gotten into her?"

Naruto shrugged. "I'm more confused than you are."

"What exactly did she say to you?" Ino asked.

"Well she trash-talked for a bit saying I'm not good enough to be hokage. Then she got really weird with this whole trying multiple girlfriends thing, saying she thought it was a good idea or something."

Ino hid her confusion. "So that really was her idea?"

Naruto nodded, not hiding his confusion. "Yeah what gives with that? Why would any woman, let alone Sakura-chan, actually suggest that? Don't girls hate that kind of thing?"

Ino nodded. "Yes, which is why I wanted to talk to you about it."

The whiskered blonde raised an eyebrow. "Did you think it was my idea or something?"

"I admit I did think about it for a moment, maybe Sakura was covering for you. But frankly I wasn't convinced. Since when has she ever covered for you when you did something stupid? Not to mention you don't really seem to be the kind of guy that would want this sort of thing in the first place. So no, I didn't think it was your idea, but actually hearing it from you wasn't a bad idea."

Naruto looked relieved, glad that someone actually gave him the benefit of the doubt.

"Which means that however unlikely it is, Sakura's idea of several girls dating you is legitimately her own." Ino muttered. She wasn't going to consider the possibility of someone else influencing her mind because frankly who would want to for this kind of thing? Not to mention Ino knew first hand that Sakura's mind had a natural resistance to outside influences. Whether that was still as strong now as it was then was debatable, but irrelevant at the moment.

"Ino, you're smarter than I am, so tell me, what does Sakura get out of all of this?" Naruto asked.

Feeling a little flattered by his praise, Ino thought it over. "Alright, since we can't figure out the why, let's work on the what if instead?"

"Mind if we head to my place while we talk? I do still need to put this away?" Naruto asked, gesturing to the milk.

"Oh sure, no problem."

Naruto completed the purchase of the milk, glad to be past the point in his life where shopkeepers would overcharge him for one reason or another. These days they stopped out of a mixture of latent respect for his accomplishments, Tsunade's intimidation, and overall just outgrowing their need to bully someone. If there was any place in Konoha that still barred him entry or planned to drain his wallet dry, he had stopped going there long ago anyway so it was a moot grudge on their part.

"Okay, I remember Sakura mentioning that the way she sees it, you don't really know what kind of girl is your type." Ino started as the two walked down the street side by side. "And her idea to fix that was to get you more exposed to girls other than just her. Even dating more than one, with each girl's awareness and permission. I leave anything out?"

Naruto shook his head. "Just the part about me not being good enough for hokage."

"Let's not worry about that for now. Sakura's interest in your love life is the real weird part here."

Naruto lightly frowned. "Ino, I appreciate your concern for your friend, but while we talk, could you not make it sound like I don't deserve a love life?"

Ino blinked, then frowned a little defensively. "I was not doing that!"

"So what bothers you the most? What Sakura-chan's doing or that it's me she's doing it for?" He asked. "If you had said 'Sakura's behavior is the weird part here', I wouldn't have taken it personally. But you specifically said 'Sakura's interest in my love life', like it's weird for someone to want me to be happy."

"That's not what I meant!" The platinum blonde said, then stopped and took a deep breath. "Look Naruto, I'm sorry if I offended you. You're a good guy at heart and I am sure you will make some girl happy. I just wonder why Sakura is now after years of denial suddenly changing her mind and why she'd suggest other girls date you too. It's nothing to do with you, it's Sakura that's being unusual here."

"Apology accepted." Naruto replied. "Wait, were you one of the girls she suggested date me?"

Ino had a hint of a blush at being called out on this. "Actually, yeah, but the thing is you're not really my type."

"By Sakura's logic, how do you know if you don't try?"

Ino didn't know whether to be confused or annoyed. "Are you asking me out Naruto?"

Now the whiskered blonde didn't know how to feel. "No, but not because of you Ino. You are a nice girl from what I know, it's just, well... I don't really know you that well at all."

"And how many girls, dateable girls that is, do you know?" Ino asked.

"Counting you, three or four at best." Naruto answered. "There's you, Sakura-chan, Hinata, and that Tenten girl."

"That Tenten girl?" Ino repeated, perplexed by the way he vaguely mentioned her.

"The bun-haired girl with all the weapons. When I think about it, I don't think I ever once heard her last name, so I might be wrong on what her first name is too. Am I?"

"No, her name is Tenten. But now that you mention it, I don't think I ever heard her last name either. But that's really all the girls you know?"

Naruto nodded. "All the girls within my age range and in town."

This was a bit of an eyeopener for the Yamanaka heiress. Sure she had always known that Naruto wasn't the most popular guy, but it was easy to forget when you were around him. Plus it had been years since they were in the Academy, yet the actions and behaviors they had taken against him still lingered to this day. Many people, even former classmates, were still hesitant to actually associate with him on their off time. It was like to everyone, even his friends, Naruto was just someone to put up with, but they didn't know they were doing that.

'Am I just like that?' Ino couldn't help but ask herself. 'Naruto is a decent guy. Hell, I was legitimately happy to see him come back to Konoha. He might not be the sharpest kunai in the pouch, but what boy is? Well, Shikamaru, but sometimes I swear he traded his personality for that IQ. Naruto at least is fun to talk to, even now. Honestly I'd much rather date him than one of my teammates, so why wouldn't I?'

The words of Sakura from a few days ago came to her. 'He can't cover your expenses, so you'd rather focus on a guy who can. Sounds to me like you want a wallet more than you want a boyfriend.'

That memory stung, as well as other memories of that talk coming to her. Comments that she herself made talking about how little she cared about Naruto's love life and while she didn't condemn him for trying to find happiness, she thought the girls involved were the only ones who needed to be considered. As a result, she had completely overlooked how this affected Naruto, assuming that even on a date the whiskered blonde was just someone to put up with.

'Maybe Forehead was onto something here. Naruto does need to learn more about what he wants in a girl, but he's not the only one who needs a lesson. We're all so hung up on how he used to be that none of us really notice who he is now. Hell, now that I think about it, he's the only boy I know of that has an actual goal in his life. That alone makes him more mature than the others.'

"Alright, so here's another thing to consider." Ino started, getting the conversation back on track. "Let's assume that you do listen to Sakura and actually do find a couple of girls to date all at once. What do you think will happen?"

Naruto shrugged. "All I know is when it's over someone's not going to be happy."

"Well to be fair you risk that even if you date just one girl." Ino commented. "But I don't think you'd ever intentionally hurt a girl, so it's likely you're not going to have any ugly breakups like that."

"Assuming any actually like me." He muttered to himself. Looking ahead he could see his apartment. "Well this is my place. Nice talking to you."

"Actually Naruto, if you're not busy, we can hang out a little longer." Ino started. "Not that this will be a date or anything, but I'm enjoying this and I don't really have any other plans. If you're not doing anything, there's no reason for us to be bored."

Naruto smiled. "Thanks Ino. I'd like that."

"Do you... happen to have a swimsuit?" Ino asked, trying her hardest not to blush at the idea she had.

"Yeah, why?"

"I'm in the mood to go swimming. You can join me if you'd like?"

Naruto nodded. "No problem. I'll be ready in no time."

He went into his apartment while the platinum blonde waited outside. 'I can't believe I did that. I mean, yeah there's nothing wrong with this, and I am curious about a few more things, but this is nothing like how I expected things to do today. Heh, maybe Sakura's not being so weird after all. Maybe she's just trying new things like I am.'

Naruto came back, claiming to now be wearing his swimsuit under his jumpsuit. Ino led them back to her house where she had to get her own, as well as some towels, sunscreen, and two water bottles in case they got thirsty. Like Naruto she put hers on under her clothes. Satisfied, she came back out and they went to one of Konoha's lakes.

"I'm surprised no one's here." Naruto noted when he saw the absence of anyone else.

"Oh this lake is owned by the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi clans collectively. It's where we like to have large clan parties or more room in training, so only we come here. Others like you only can come with invite, and yes you have one just by being with me so don't worry about it."

"Alright, well I'll go find a tree to get behind and get ready." He replied, thinking that even if his swimsuit was under his clothes it would still be inappropriate to take off his clothes where she could see it.

Deciding to toy with him, and see one of the things she was curious about, Ino grabbed the bottom her top and pulled it up and over her head, revealing her not-too-modest bikini top covering her breasts. Naruto's eyes nearly popped out of his head at this.

Ino smirked at his bashfulness. "Just because Sakura's cup size hasn't changed doesn't mean the rest of us never grew boobs. You should see Hinata's. She still makes me look small." Throwing away her top, the Yamanaka heiress removed her arm coverings then her skirt, showing the last bits of her bikini. "Like what you see?" She asked, taking a pose.

Untrusting of his voice, Naruto just nodded.

"Thanks. Could you put some sunscreen on my back?" She grabbed the bottle and without waiting for an answer tossed it to him. He caught it, and she set out a towel for her to lay on.

Confused, he came forward and put some lotion in his hands. "Whoa, what are you doing?" He asked when he saw her move the back part of the bikini.

"Making sure the strap doesn't get in the way. Besides, it's just my back."

Feeling awkward, Naruto went about gently massaging the blonde girl, who was enjoying it. 'He's a bit clueless, but entirely harmless. He's definitely not going to treat any girl who dates him badly. Hell, right now it looks like the girl is the one who's going to push for sex before he will. My little experiment is certainly making me feel better about Sakura's idea.'

"Hello Mr. Yamanaka?"

"Oh Sakura, you just missed Ino. She just went somewhere with your teammate."

Sakura was quite surprised. "She's with Naruto right now? What, like on a date?"

Inoichi, who was tending to some flowers in the shop, laughed. "Oh no I didn't think that at all. Believe me, Ino knows I'll know if she dates without me knowing it. I think she's just killing time with a friend beyond her own team. Nothing wrong with that. I like Shikaku and Chouza like brothers, but they're not my only pals after all."

"You know where they are?"

Inoichi shrugged. "She didn't say. Anyway, I'm sure she'll be back in an hour or two. Whatever you wanted to say to her you can then."

"Thank you sir." She said politely then left the store. 'I just hope she can help me. I don't understand anything that's going on.' Her thoughts paused for a moment. 'Why would Ino be with Naruto? She told me herself he's not her type. Is she doing this just so I can't say she didn't try? Or is she more interested in him than she first thought... like me?'

As confused as she was about this whole thing, one thing was crystal clear to the pinkette. She was indeed interested in Naruto. Whatever feelings she might still have for Sasuke, the fact was he was gone and Naruto was a constant in her life that she might have been taking for granted. He deserved better, and frankly life was too short to spend waiting for love to bring itself to you.

'At least Hinata's not giving me trouble. Ino still will, unless she's convinced. Could I do that? Should I? Augh, why is everything so mixed up for me? When I spoke to Hinata everything just made sense to me. What's different now?'

Not knowing what else to do, Sakura continued her search for Ino, not knowing where to look.