Hello again! I think I'm going to try and release two different pieces per week; a one-shot on Wednesday, ranging from goofy to romantic and all over the genre spectrum, and a chapter of The Will of Fire on Saturdays. If you enjoy this, please check out/favorite/review my other works, Waiting for Rokudaime and The Will of Fire. Thanks for checking this out!

Blonde on Blond: A Naruto/Ino One-Shot

She never expected him to be so hot, but sweet damn that he was, in all the right ways.

Her experiences with the men of the village were less than stellar, to be fair; her teammates were lazy and fat, respectively, and her father and his friends were no better, although they were princes in their own right compared to the boys who had tried to pick her up: sleazy, greasy, and overly-confident seemed to be part of the uniform for Leaf shinobi around her age.

However, the man in the clearing in front of her was nothing like that; he stood tall and firmly, kept himself clean, and most importantly, to her anyway, he had a body like a god. His chest was chiseled and tanned, abs shining in the sunlight as his sweat rolled down his torso over the strange tattoo he had on his stomach; his arms were strong, long, and lean, muscles rippling as he flexed; his face was determined as he struck the training dummy over and over, blue eyes like oases in the center of a strong, manly desert...

She shook her head, careful not to disturb the bush that she was hiding in. Okay, maybe it was a little creepy of her to be watching him like this, but she couldn't tear her eyes away; those years away from the village had done him a world of good, transforming him from a nuggety-shaped goofball into... The gift to women that was standing in front of her, practicing his taijutsu.

She had caught a glimpse of him the other day, as he was sparring with Rock Lee. Their clothes had been torn to shreds as they fought, and Ino had become enthralled with the glimpses of tanned, sweaty skin and toned, rippling muscles as the two had punched and kicked, every blow perfectly blocked and countered; Ino had licked her lips and thought that this must be how men felt at a strip clubs she watched the two men dance their dance of danger. She realized as she watched that it wasn't enough: she needed more.

And so, when she had seen Naruto carrying a training dummy out of the front gate of the village, she had cancelled her lunch plans with Sakura and followed him out into the woods, walking down seemingly-endless trails until she found him, already shirtless and breathing audibly, beating the hell out of the dummy.

She pulled her hair away from her eyes and watched, open-mouthed, as he kicked, punched, and jumped all around the destroyed training dummy, his taut, tanned skin glistening in the midday sunlight...

He stopped, breathing heavily and grinning as he sized up his handiwork; the training dummy was in ruins, stuffing all over the training field, and his knuckles and feet were red and raw. He took a step back and crossed his arms.

"Man, it is so hot out today! And there's nobody for miles around, so I guess it won't hurt..." Ino stared as Naruto pulled his signature orange pants off, throwing them on top of his already-discarded shirt and jacket. HE stretched, wearing nothing but his boxers. "That's much better!"

His legs were just as well-defined as his arms, and Ino had to clamp her hands over her mouth and nose to keep from getting a nosebleed as she stared at the rock-solid legs and glutes...

Naruto went back to training, practicing his kicks exclusively this time; high and low, his foot flew at almost unbelievable speed, and as Ino took a long look at Naruto's backside, she had to resist giggling like Jiraiya often did in similar situations.

She felt her body growing hot as she watched, but whether it was from the weather or from her personal peep show, she couldn't tell and didn't care. Naruto's body was poetry in motion, the most erotic and beautiful thing she had ever seen... He moved fluidly from kicks, to punches, to jumps and flips, all the while unknowingly showing off everything that wasn't covered by his boxers.

The sun rose to its zenith above her, and Ino began to feel woozy as she watched. Her clothes had been so drenched with sweat that they appeared a darker shade of purple than usual, and her hair hung limply down her back and over her face, but she didn't care. Her fingers had often began wandering south down her body, but she knew better than to attempt that: she was a screamer.

Finally, as Naruto sat down to eat his lunch from a bento, she realized that she had to get back to the village; she was thirsty, hungry, hot, and too tempted. So she quietly got to her feet and, poised behind a tree, she stood up and turned around, taking a long last look at Naruto as she walked straight into something.

She fell, and looked back at the clearing; Naruto didn't seem to have noticed, being thoroughly engrossed in his food. She looked in front of her, wondering what she had walked into, and was greeted by a sweaty, glistening six-pack and pair of crossed arms.

"I didn't take you to be much of a closet pervert, Ino-chan." Naruto smiled, and Ino, partially from embarassment and partially from dehydration, fainted dead away.

When she came to, she felt much colder than she should have; an ice pack was lying on her forehead, and she was lying on top of a soft bed in a cool room. The walls were burnt orange, and decorated with various posters depicting shinobi and the symbol of the village. Ino looked around groggily and saw, on the nightstand next to her, a half-full glass of water with a few half-melted ice cubes. She reached for it and, sitting up slowly, took a long drink, some water spilling over and running down her chest...

She dropped the glass and looked down: her blouse and skirt were missing, and she was garbed in only her normal under-wrappings and fishnets.

The door on the far side of the room opened, and Naruto walked in smiling, holding her clothes. "Good to see you're awake, Ino-chan, I thought you might have been seriously ill." Ino didn't reply immediately, several different questions fighting for dominancy in her brain.

Finally, one asserted itself over the others.

"You undressed me while I was out cold?! What the hell, Naruto?!" Ino yelled, and Naruto laughed, setting her clothes on the foot of what she assumed was his bed.

"They were soaked and smelled kinda funny, so I gave them a wash. Besides, it's not healthy to stay in wet clothes like that. I didn't do anything to you that I wouldn't do to a sister.

"Besides, I was more worried about the fact that you were nearly dehydrated; watching me like that for hours, you could have gotten really sick doing something like that in this heat." Naruto's voice was half-scolding and half-playful, Ino noted as she readied herself to start shouting again.

But no words came, and her anger slowly went away as his words echoed through her mind. Meanwhile, he walked back to the door and slowly closed it behind him with an assurance of her privacy.

Ino pulled herself up and stood on wobbly feet; she felt better, and she assumed Naruto had given her some water while she was out. She pulled her clothes on, blushing at the thought of him carrying her back to the village.

When she was fully dressed again, she opened the door and stepped into the rest of his apartment; a large window, just past his tiny kitchen table, caught her eye, and she noticed the world outside was getting darker.

"Naruto, I want to thank you for helping me." She called out, looking around for him and seeing no one. "And I apologize for spying on you..." She walked to the front door and, pulling her shoes on, stepped outside and ran straight into him.

As he had stepped out of his bedroom to give her time to change, Naruto heard a soft knock on his door. He walked over and pressed his eye up against the peephole. He recognized the shock of white hair, and threw the door open.

"Good evening, Naruto." Kakashi smiled at his student.

"Oh, uh, hey Kakashi-sensei! What's up?" Naruto eyed him nervously; the last time Kakashi had knocked on bhis door at night, it had involved a very long, sucky mission in a swamp.

"I was wondering if you would like to join Iruka, Sakura and I for dinner." Kakashi deadpanned. "And you don't have to sound so suspicious!" Naruto stepped outside and pulled the door shut behind him.

"Gee, Kakashi-sensei, that sounds great! I should get ready then, so if you want you can run ahead and I'll catch up?" Kakashi narrowed his eye and looked at Naruto.

"What are you hiding?" Naruto shook his head vehemently.

"I'm not hiding anything sensei! What makes you say that?" Kakashi stared at Naruto and was reminded of how Pakkun looked after he had had an accident on the carpet as a puppy.

However, before he could say anything else, Naruto's apartment door swung open and a blond girl ran straight into Naruto, sending the both of them tumbling to the ground. Kakashi perked an eyebrow as he recognized the long hair and purple clothing.

"Oh, hello Ino. I was just inviting Naruto to dinner, would you like to join us?" Kakashi grinned under his mask; he finally had some gossip that Kurenai didn't.

"It's not what you think!"

"It isn't like that!"

"I'll take your generic statements of denial as an acceptance of my invitation. I'll see you at Sushi Kumamoto in thirty minutes." And with that, Kakashi disappeared, leaving Ino and Naruto in an embarassed pile.

"Naruto?"

"Yeah Ino?"

"Your hand is on my ass."

"And your foot is on mine."

They seperated from each other, both blushing and looking sheepish. Naruto looked at Ino, eyes soft.

"Well, Kakashi-sensei didn't really give us an option on whether we'd go, did he?" Ino smiled weakly. "Tell you what, I'll stop watching you train if I can join you guys."

"You don't have to stop, you know." Ino flushed and looked at Naruto, who was grinning widely. "To be honest, I'm flatt-" Ino interrupted him with a quick peck on the lips, and Naruto's jaw hung loose.

"Well? C'mon, let's go Naruto." Ino walked down the hall, and Naruto shook his head, grinned, and followed.

A/N: I'm not entirely sure how to feel about this one. Leave a review and tell me what worked and what didn't, and you'll be my favorite. I promise.