Chapter 7: The Bonding

"Okay, all done Ino." Naruto said when he had finished putting sunscreen on where she couldn't reach.

"Thanks Naruto." She said, getting up and adjusting her top back in place. "Now how about I do the same for you?"

She had expected a blush and maybe some nervous sputtering, but what she got from Naruto was him looking afraid and trying not to show it. "N... no I'm good. I don't sunburn at all. Really."

Ino tried to ignore her confusion. "Unless you got some kind of kekkei genkai, no one is immune to sunburning." She reached for the lotion bottle, but the whiskered blonde batted it away from them both as if it were dangerous for her to touch. "What's wrong Naruto?"

"It's okay, I just heal well. So no big deal if I do get a little red." He stated, making a nervous chuckle. "C'mon, let's get in the water."

He tried to get up, but Ino grabbed his wrist and kept him down. In the process she noticed him tense up and pull away until she released him, even backing away a bit. "Naruto, now I'm convinced. Are you afraid of me or something?"

"I'm here with you aren't I?" He asked back.

"So why are you afraid of me touching you? You were okay when we were just talking and enjoying each other's company, and reasonably bashful when I asked you to touch me, but now it's like you think I'm going to attack you."

"Well why shouldn't I?" He objected. "Name one time a girl has ever wanted to touch me without it being a hit? Just one time? Oh wait, you can't, because before now you've never wanted to spend any time with me Ino. I'm trying to be nice Ino, I really am, but face it, which one of us is more likely to hurt the other one here?"

The platinum blonde found herself feeling rather remorseful and looked down a bit. No matter how much it hurt, she had to admit her fellow blonde was completely right here. For all the insults, scorning, and general horrible things she and their classmates had done to him over the years, Naruto had never once retaliated. Even his pranks were harmless. If there had been any times he had instigated hostility, such times were few and far between and honestly memory could no longer guarantee such actions were not somewhat justified.

"You're right Naruto, you would never ever hurt me, but the same can't be said for me to you. You have every reason to worry that I'll explode and lash out." She whimpered, then regained eye contact, looking like she was close to crying. "But I promise you I won't do that to you. I want us to be friends, not just comrades." She slowly reached over and took ahold of his hand, relieved that he didn't pull away. "So please, relax. I won't hurt you."

Naruto inhaled as if to calm himself. "Okay, sorry for freaking out."

"Don't be, sometimes I forget just how we treated you and how it affected you. You're just so strong that it's hard for us to remember that you've had a lot of disadvantages compared to the rest of us."

"Please don't pity me Ino."

She shook her head. "I'm not, it's respect. You've had the deck stacked against you all your life, yet you keep winning even when the opponent has all the advantages. That deserves respect. That makes you one of the strongest people I know, heck, maybe the strongest person I know." She paused for a moment. "Heh, now I think I see just what it is that attracts Hinata and even Sakura to you."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What is it?"

She smiled a bit at his naive innocence. "Think about it, you can take any bad situation and make it better. You're the reason Tsunade-sama regained faith in Konoha. You're the reason the kazekage is no longer a psychopath. You're the one who got Neji to stop being such a martyr. You're a hero in at least three other countries from what Sakura's told me, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a couple more at the moment. You inspire people to change Naruto, to be better than they are."

Naruto looked less than happy to hear this. "But not Sasuke."

"Some people need more time than others to change Naruto, or want to change. Some people need more than just some pretty words or a confidence booster. Sasuke is not Tsunade-sama or Neji or anyone else, I don't know what he needs to want to change but you can't inspire him the same way you did them."

"But if I can't save him, how can I be good enough to become hokage?" He questioned.

Ino made him look directly at her since he was trying to look away. "Naruto, you've spoken with two separate hokages on multiple occasions haven't you?" He nodded. "At any time did either one of them say they never made a mistake or failed a mission?"

"No, in fact they were both clear that they had big regrets, but-"

"But nothing. Hokages are not perfect Naruto, so why do you seem to think you need to be?"

"Because no one else will let me be anything but a failure." He declared, making her jerk back slightly. "You said it yourself Ino, I've had the deck stacked against me my entire life. Do you know what that means? It means all anyone did was chew me out, tell me my best was never good enough, that I was never good enough. All those great things I've done? How many people actually talk about them when I come up in a conversation? When people talk about me, are they complimenting me or making fun of me? Hell, with all the heroics and great things I've done or been a part of, why is it people can only see the reasons why not to promote me to chuunin?"

The platinum blonde was stunned silent, and a few tears escaped her eyes.

Naruto got up. "Sorry to ruin the mood. I should go before I make things worse." He turned and started to walk away, but to his surprise Ino suddenly pulled him into a hug from behind, softly crying into his back.

"Don't be sorry, you've done nothing wrong." She said softly.

"Then why are you crying?"

"Because it's so unfair. You do so much to help others have better lives and become better people, but when it's time to return the favor, all anyone does is find excuses not to. They're even trying to destroy your dream, make you think you will never be good enough to become hokage. You deserve to have someone else inspire you for once Naruto. And don't tell me you don't, part of being a friend is accepting help, not just giving it."

Naruto was unsure what to say.

"This... this reminds me of the time Hinata cheered me up." He finally managed to say. "Before the Chuunin Exam finals, I was feeling rather... insecure, wondering if I really had a chance of beating Neji. Hinata was there and... she said she'd still admire me even if I lost. That was the only time I've been told it was okay to not be perfect. When Sakura-chan said I couldn't become hokage, that was the first time I heard it from someone whose opinion really mattered to me."

"Well, the job's not going to be available today or tomorrow Naruto, so you've got time to become better qualified for it." She assured him, releasing him. "But for now, how about that swim?"

He smiled a little. "Yeah, that sounds good."

"Ugh, still can't find them." Sakura muttered to herself while walking down the streets of Konoha. She had been searching for most of the afternoon, with it getting much later and closer to night. "Where would Ino go that I haven't already checked? And where would she go with Naruto, assuming he's still with her?"

With that in mind, she thought of something else. "Hmm... couldn't hurt to ask." She changed directions and headed towards the Hyuuga estate. Naturally she noticed guards at the gate. "Is Hinata home?"

"She is, what business do you have with her?"

"I just want to ask her a favor is all. Can you go get her?"

One of the guards left to go inside, leaving another to keep post.

"If you don't mind me asking, why do the Hyuuga even have guards?" Sakura asked curiously. "I don't think I've ever seen one of the other clans have guards around their property."

"Perhaps you just weren't looking hard enough." The Hyuuga replied with a bit of an annoyed sneer at the question.

"So wouldn't that mean you're not hiding good enough then?" Sakura asked back.

"The other clans have not had their heiresses abducted from their own property before. We make a show of force that any attempts to sneak in here will be costly." The guard declared.

Sakura nodded in understanding, and could tell the guard really wanted her to shut up now.

A few minutes went by, giving enough time for the sun to finish going down, and Hinata was brought out. "Sakura, what's wrong?"

The pinkette smiled. "Oh nothing. I was just looking for someone and let's face it you're a better tracker than me. Care to help me find them?"

"Find who?"

"Ino and Naruto-kun."

Hinata blinked. "Why would they be together?"

Sakura shrugged. "I dunno, but you do want to talk to Naruto-kun right? Well, what's keeping you from going right to him?"

Hinata squirmed a little. "You know it's not that easy for me."

"Would you feel better if I was there to back you up?" Sakura offered.

Hinata gulped. "I can't imagine I'd feel worse."

"Then c'mon, let's go find him. You know no one can find him better than you can."

The two walked away and Hinata activated her byakugan. Numerous chakra signatures came into view, but to the Hyuuga heiress Naruto's stood out the most. It was hard for her to describe but his chakra always seemed brighter and warmer compared to others. She knew others didn't sense it, how else would he be so good at evading the Anbu or tricking even Neji with his shadow clones?

"I see him in one of the forests. There's a lake nearby, and someone's with him. I think that's Ino."

"A lake? Oh yeah, Ino's family has a place she got to for fun weekends and things like that. Don't know why I didn't think to check there." Sakura thought out loud.

"Does this mean Ino's wearing a swimsuit in front of Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, a tad bit jealous and not doing a good job of hiding it.

Sakura saw that and smiled. "Let's go find out. Unless you want Naruto-kun to think she's sexier than you."

Hinata flushed red, but when Sakura continued to the forest she followed, and moved with a little more of a hurry than she needed.

"Thanks Ino, that was pretty fun." Naruto said when he and the platinum blonde got out of the water now that it was starting to get cold.

"Thanks for staying. It's no fun doing this alone." Ino replied, handing him a towel. "Not unless I was skinny-dipping."

Naruto blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Skinny dipping? That some kind of weight loss thing?"

"Oh I wish." Ino joked, starting to dry off. "No, skinny-dipping is when you swim naked. Yes, sometimes people do that."

Naruto was surprised, but then a memory came to him. "Oh yeah, I think I saw something like that once." He immediately panicked. "Wait, that came out wrong! I wasn't peeping!"

To her credit, Ino was not immediately accusing him or anything. "Go on, what happened?"

"Okay, it was right after Sasuke left and we were looking for this beetle that should have been able to find him. I had some pretty crappy luck finding one, and tried doing it during the night. I saw some girl by a waterfall dancing in the water, and I couldn't see anything but a silhouette but I knew she was naked. So she was skinny-dipping?"

"Sounds like it." She said. "What, did you think I was going to explode or something? Naruto it's pretty clear you're too shy around girls to do anything inappropriate to them."

"I am not shy around girls." Naruto protested.

"You are when anything sexual comes up. As soon as that happens you're as nervous as Hinata." Ino replied. "Hell, I could strip naked right here in front of you and tell you it's okay to look, and you'd still look away until I put my clothes back on."

Naruto crossed his arms. "Yeah, like you would actually do that. If you didn't strip for Sasuke you're sure as hell not stripping for me."

Ino smiled coyly like she was about to win and firmly grasped the string of her bikini top that was between her breasts. "The difference is back then I didn't have anything to show Sasuke." Before he could react, she yanked her top up, exposing her healthy bosom to the boy.

Naruto was naturally shocked and couldn't help but look, but instinct and reflexes kicked in and forced him to spin around and look away, even if it did take a second or two for him to do so.

Ino chuckled. "See what I mean? Why should I think you're a pervert if you're still shy around a girl who is willing to let you be one?"

"What is going on here?!"

Both Naruto and Ino turned to see the wide eyes of both Sakura and Hinata looking at this scene.

'Oh yeah, today's the day I'm going to die.' He thought.