"It's all your fault we're in this mess!" Ino cried, removing her hair tie and shaking the water from her blond hair.

Naruto eyed her reproachfully, wringing out his orange jacket. "My fault? If you hadn't gone missing in the first place, none of this would have happened!" He turned away from her, too aggravated to pursue conversation. Ino had always been a bit ego central, but the fact that she was soaked from head to toe with nothing to change into made her even crankier than usual. Naruto himself was in a sour mood, also being wet, cold and hungry. He sighed, rubbing his empty stomach. To think this all started as a simple exercise.

"Naruto," Sakura whispered, lightly jabbing him with her elbow, "Do you have our scroll?" He nodded, showing her the rolled up piece of parchment. Sakura smiled, her aqua-green eyes sparkling with determination. "Good." Cautiously, the two of them poked their heads out from behind the bush they had been using as cover, scanning the surrounding area. None of the other squads were in sight. However, the dirt trail did consist of many footprints, so it appeared that someone had been there earlier.

"All clear," Sakura confirmed, beginning to crawl out from under the bush, "Let's go Naru-eh?" Sakura stopped, mid sentence, discovering with shock and annoyance that she could no longer move her body. "Damn, Shikamaru!" She breathed, "That's not fair."

"You're right." He replied suddenly, lazily emerging from a nearby tree. He yawned, releasing his possession of Sakuras shadow, and casually strolling over to Naruto, who was still half-emerged in the leafy bushes. "Look, man," he said flatly, "this is such a drag, I mean really. Why don't I just give you my scroll and-"

"Don't you dare, Shikamaru!" A shrill voice suddenly commanded. Shikamaru groaned, sagging his shoulders as Ino and Choji, his other teammates, came running towards him. Choji had no particular expression on his face, but Ino looked furious. "What are you thinking?!" She shrieked, shaking an outstretched fist at Shikamaru, "Don't you care about completing this exercise?"

He shook his head, sighing. "No, honestly I don't. There's no point."

"W-what did you say?" Ino's blue eyes narrowed, and from somewhere in her diaphragm came a low growl. "I should've expected no less from you, huh?" She barked glaring dangerously at him.

He shrugged, "Nope. Guess not."

Ino's face had reddened in her anger, and Naruto, who had fully emerged from his previous hiding place, laughed. Choji and Sakura also threw in a couple of hearty chuckles. That was Shikamaru for them.

"Agh!" Ino cried, throwing her arms up over her head, "You guys are impossible!! I'm going to go look for Sasuke-kun!"

Sakura stopped laughing. "Oh no you don't!" She snapped, ready to tail after her rival, who had already taken off. However, a loose grip on her shoulder directed her otherwise.

"Don't bother," came Shikamaru's indolent voice, "She's not going to be able to keep up with him, much less find him. Why do you think Sasuke went on ahead of you?"

Shikamaru had a point. Uchiha Sasuke was the most accomplished academy graduate in their age group, and in comparison, Ino hardly had any skill at all. Still, the thought of her being alone with Sasuke churned Sakura's stomach.

It was then the storm started. Lightly at first, just at few droplets every so often, but soon the fall of rain increased and the sky darkened to a menacing black. There was a clap of thunder, and Sakura yelped, covering her head with her arms. Even Naruto cringed, stuffing the scroll hastily in his jacket. He had never been on for thunderstorms, and he most certainly did not like being stuck in the middle of one.

"We should get outta here!" Choji whined. Shikamaru nodded, and the two of them began sprinting towards the training grounds' exit.

"W-wait!" Sakura hollered, before the sound of thunder drowned her out. "Damn!" She swore, clenching her hands into fists, "What about Ino?"

"Ino?" Naruto echoed. "I'm sure she's fine. Heck, for all we know, she could've caught up to Sasuke by now, and the two of them could be on their way home!" It was hard to hear, as the falling rain and booming thunder blocked all speech from entering one's ear. However, Naruto didn't need to hear Sakura in order for her to express what she thought about his last phrase. Her face darkened, and she flinched sharply, but only for an instant, before a streak of lightning across the sky reminded her this was no time for rivalry.

"Sasuke-kun aside, Ino is still my best friend, and as stubborn as she is, she's not stupid. I'm sure she would've been back by now, once she realized a storm was starting!" Sakura turned in the direction Ino had run off in. "I've got to go look for her, Naruto. She could be in trouble."

"Hold on, Sakura-chan," Naruto piped up, suddenly brightening, "why don't I look for her?"

Sakura cast a glance over her shoulder, dumbfounded. Naruto and Ino never got along. "You?" She asked, just in case she had heard wrong.
Naruto nodded, seeming quite pleased with himself. I finally have Sakura-chan's attention, he thought happily. "Yeah, and you can find Shikamaru and Choji. Tell them to help me look."

"Um...okay...if you're sure... "

The blond haired boy laugh chuckled confidently, and crossed his arms. "I'm gonna be Hokage someday! Of course I'm sure! I'll be back with Ino before you know it!"
Sakura's worried face broke into a soft smile. "Thanks, Naruto,"

'Thanks, Naruto.' His colleague's words kept playing over and over in his mind.
Spreading his jacket out on the ground for it to dry, he began cursing himself. Why had he tried so hard to impress Sakura? Why hadn't he let her go by herself, and be the one to gather a search party? Anything would be better than being lost in a storm with-

"Naruto!"

He cringed, listening regretfully as Ino's sharp footsteps became closer and closer.
"Yeah?" He responded reluctantly, without looking up.

The sound of Ino's feet ceased. "I'm cold and I'm wet and I'm hungry!" She complained, from behind him. Naruto twitched impatiently. Cold? Wet? What did she expect after being in the midst of a thunderstorm?

"What do you want me to do about it?" He replied in monotone.

"Well, you could start a fire or something; it's drafty in here!!"

Drafty? Naruto thought bitterly, biting his lip to keep from losing his temper, of course it's drafty. We're in a cave, after all...

Ignoring his train of thought, Ino tapped her foot expectantly. "Well? Come on! I can't just stand here and freeze to death!!"

"Freeze to death?!" Naruto repeated, voice rising as he whirled around to face her, "Just be grateful I found shelter from the storm!" He pointed sharply to the mouth of the cave, which revealed the ongoing downpour, streaks of lightning lighting up the sky every so often. "If it wasn't for me," Naruto continued, "You'd still be out in that, so be thankful I rescued you when I did!"

"Rescued me?!" Ino snapped, "I almost caught up with Sasuke-kun when you so rudely came along and disrupted my tracking! If only I had found him earlier, I know he would have taken me home!" She collapsed to her knees, hand thrown over her forehead like the drama queen she was. Naruto scowled clenching his teeth.

"Sasuke-kun," he muttered to himself before addressing Ino, "why does everyone always think Sasuke has the answers to their problems?"

Ino scoffed. "Because unlike you, he's smart, talented, calm, cool and just about everything!!" She had a dreamy look in her eyes as she spoke, envisioning her perfect hero. Naruto watched her fantasizing for a while, anger slowly welling up inside him. Once again, he was being singled out by his archrival.

"I can't believe this! Even when I save someone's life they act like I just got in the way!" He paused, "You can make your own campfire, Ino, because I'm through with taking your criticism!" He stormed towards the cave's exit, shaking with fury, and preparing to leave Ino by herself. I've got to go look for her, Naruto. She could be in trouble. Naruto came to a halt. Sakura. She was counting on him to protect her best friend. And as frustrated as he was with Ino, Naruto's feeling's for Sakura were stronger. He spun back around. "Look Ino," he said slowly, pulling himself together, "I'm not thrilled about being stuck here with you, but I promised Sakura-chan that I'd find you and bring you back." He took a deep breath. "So even though I'd rather go back by myself, you and I are just gonna have to get along. Okay?"

"You really don't like me, do you?"

"Huh?"

"Do you?" Ino was still sitting on the floor, untangling the knots in her light blond hair. She stared down at the ground. At first, it looked like another one of Ino's dramatic acts, but by the whisper in her voice and the nervous look on her face, Naruto realized she was being serious. He scratched his head, confused.

"Well, I don't hate you, but I do think you need to fix that obnoxious attitude of yours. I mean, you're really pretty, Ino, and you'd probably attract a lot more guys if you weren't so mean all the time."

Ino's focus was still on the stone floor of the cave, but she had stopped fidgeting with her hair. Had Naruto just called her 'pretty?' Something in her chest squirmed as she relayed his last phrase in her mind. She half expected to be angry with him, however, she wasn't-or rather, she couldn't decide. Either way it was a bizarre feeling indeed. She raised her head to look at him, blue eyes wide open. "Naruto...?"

He returned her stare with a sincere grin. "I'm going to get some firewood, Ino.
I'll be right back! Don't go anywhere!" Turning on his heel, Naruto quickly sprinted out of the cave, -never taking the smile off his face. Ino watched him go, still feeling strange.

"Shikamaru, you idiot!" Sakura cried angrily, ramming her fist into the young shinobi's face. He moaned slightly, wearing a blank expression, either not aware or not caring about the current problem at hand. He moaned again, letting the kunoichi hit him as she like. If she was anything like Ino, reasoning with Sakura while she was like this was futile. It would be better to wait until she calmed down. No that he was willing to waste precious energy in an argument, anyway.
"Are you even listening to me?!" The pink-haired girl snapped, noticing how little effort Shikamaru was putting into dodging her blows. He shook his head subtly.

"Not really," he said with a dreary look on his face, "It's too troublesome."

"What's troublesome is how the two of you," and here she jerked her thumb in Choji's direction, "would so carelessly leave the third member of your squad behind!"

"What's so bad about that?" Choji asked, in between bites of his potato chips, "Ino knows perfectly well how to take care of herself."

Sakura rolled her eyes. Choji always seemed to have food with him. "I know that," she said hurriedly, making sure she spoke before she lost their attention, "but it's not just Ino I'm concerned about."

"Is it Sasuke?" Shikamaru asked, stressing the last letters of Sasuke's name, in obvious detest.

Sakura blushed at the shinobi's question, knowing that traditionally, Sasuke would be her primary concern. However, right now was different. "Actually," she corrected, face falling, "It's Naruto. He offered to go after Ino for me, but-"

"The two of them don't get along and you're afraid Naruto might do something reckless." Shikamaru cut off sharply. He took a long, tedious breath. "So what?" he finished, massaging his temples, "They're both annoying."

"That's not the point!" Sakura bellowed, eyebrow twitching, aiming to punch Shikamaru again. He made a small noise, and without even looking up, casually sidestepped her. He was fed up with being used as a punching bag. Making a few hand signs, Shikamaru activated the Nara clan's trademark shadow-possession technique, trapping the kunoichi where she was. Sakura noticed almost instantly, having being completely rendered from movement. She swore at him. Shikamaru was such a pain. "Let go of me!" she barked, "We need to go back to the training ground and-"

"Look," Shikamaru interrupted wearily, "why don't we wait here for another half hour. If neither Naruto nor Ino show up by then, then we'll inform your sensei. Alright?"

Sakura gritted her teeth. "Alright."

Naruto's certainly been gone a long time, Ino thought, staring past the cave's mouth and into empty space. The sky had darkened, but Ino hardly noticed amidst her own jumble of thoughts. Naruto. She hadn't been able to get him out of her head since he left. She sighed deeply, pulling her legs close to her chest, trying to concentrate. Why couldn't she stop thinking about Naruto? There wasn't anything remotely attractive about him. He was loud, naive, clumsy, inconsiderate-an overall idiot. Still, why now was there a funny feeling in her stomach every time the boy's face popped into her head?

"Maybe I'm just tired." She said aloud, flopping onto her back. It was getting late. And cold. Ino longed more than anything for a nice toasty campfire, both for warmth and for light. "Naruto had better hurry up." She muttered to herself, rubbing the bare skin on her arms, attempting to create a false sense of heat. Her brow furrowed when she realized the attempt had failed, and she shivered. I'm sure he'll be back any minute, she assured herself, staring blankly at the ceiling, he'd better be. Rolling over onto her stomach, she propped her chin up with her right arm, letting the left one fold in front of her chest. It was no use. The strange feeling wouldn't go away. As she lay there in the darkness, Ino began to wonder if it really was the fire she was waiting for so anxiously. Maybe, something in the back of her mind kept saying, maybe, it was Naruto.

"No no no!" She fought, shaking her head viscously, "Not Naruto!!" She stopped, creasing her brow further as her eyebrows lowered, "I love Sasuke!!" then, a bit quieter, added, "what would I want with a guy like Naruto, anyway?"

This went on for several minutes, until finally she gave up, and let her head fall gently on the makeshift pillow of her crossed arms. I am tired, she concluded, yawning. But... maybe I'll wait up for- Her eyelids were growing heavy,-NNaruto...tell him off for-they closed-taking so long...

KRAAKOOOM!

"Ah!" Ino's eyes snapped open as a deafening boom of thunder echoed across the sky. She sat up with a start, clutching the area of her heart-which was pounding hard. I must have dozed off, she realized, frantically rubbing the sleep from her eyes, wonder what time it is... From somewhere in the back of her groggy mind came the faint recognition of the pitter-patter of rainfall. "So it's still raining" she murmured sleepily, tilting her head to the side. From the comer of her eye, Ino could see the entrance to the cave, and what's more, the purple-black sky beyond it. What time was it?

Slowly but surely, Ino's drowsiness was beginning to wear off, and as it did so, the kunoichi was able to get a better grasp of her surroundings. Amidst the darkness, Ino could vaguely make out the stone walls of the cave surrounding her. By the way they occasionally glimmered, she guessed water droplets were lining the walls-moisture from the cold stormy outside mixing with that of the inside temperature. Ominous, Ino thought, wrinkling her nose as the damp air around her tingled her nostrils. I hope the storm lets up soon. If we have to spend any more time in here my poor hairs' gonna get all frizzled. She ran her slender fingers through her blond hair, and turned her head, expecting to see Naruto lying beside her, fast asleep. But to her surprise, he wasn't there. She also noticed that the firewood Naruto had offered to gather was nowhere to be found. Ino rolled her eyes. Don't tell me he hasn't come back yet. She knew Naruto to be a bit absentminded, but if it was as late as Ino thought, he had been gone for a very long time.

Worry was beginning to take over her previous aggravation, and a knot formed in the pit of her throat. She contemplated all of the possible reasons for keeping him so late. Maybe something happened to him, or maybe he reaUy was having trouble locating firewood, or maybe...She stood up suddenly just then, the knot in her throat sinking down into her stomach. Naruto wouldn't have-he couldn't have ... could he? Something Naruto had said earlier dawned on Ino just then: 'So even though I'd rather go back by myself...' Ino's teeth grinded together and her hands formed into angry fists. That was it, wasn't it? He had taken the first chance he got and left her here alone. Everything he had said to her, about her being attractive, about the firewood, about 'being right back,' was a lie. A horrible, rotten, backstabbing lie. "Damn you, Naruto!!" she shrieked, bolting out of the cave in a blind rage. "To think I-" she choked, angry tears rolling down her cheek. She was such a fool. Getting her hopes up like that, believing she could-believing Naruto could...

"I-Ino..."

She skidded to a stop. That sounded like...

"I-I-Ino!" The voice was weak and raspy, but she recognized it right away. It belonged to Naruto. The hatred bubbling up inside her was growing more intense as she scanned the area with her cold eyes. So now he was playing games with her, too?

"Dammit Naruto come out!!" She shot, "I don't have time for any of your-" Her statement was cut off as she screamed, realizing with surprise that something-or someone- was clutching firmly to her leg. Whipping a kunai from the pouch attached to her hip, she held it above her leg, poised and ready to strike.

CLANG. Ino's eyes widened fully, as the kunai slipped from her hand, landing on the hard surface beneath her. "N-Naruto?" She looked had down, but had not at all been ready. Indeed, Naruto was the one who had fastened himself to her appendage, but his grip was so shaky that Ino didn't recognize it. And for good reason, because Naruto was barely recognizable himself. Almost the entire left side of his face was stained with blood, while the right had a large gash across it. His bright orange jacket was now a shade of sickening red, and he had three shuriken lodged in his back, amongst at least four other kunai. His arms were covered in cuts and bruises, and the skin was absent from his right hand. Even his legs were a mess, as one of them was missing from the knee down.
Ino gasped and fell to her knees. She felt nauseous just looking at him.

"N-Naruto?" She whispered again, her voice cracking as her eyes watered. "W-what happened to you?" Her heart was pounding violently against her ribcage as she started to remove the various weapons from Naruto's back. He looked at her with difficulty, one eye half-closed.

"When I...went to look for firewood I-I was attacked" he coughed, bits of blood spurting from his mouth, "ninja from another village...I t-tried to hold them off...but I...I... "

"Yes?!" Ino cried, aware that Naruto's voice was fading, "What happened?!"

He smiled weakly, "I...had to...protect you...had to warn...you...I-I... promised..." His voice trailed off again and he fell, his head resting on Ino's lap.

"N-Naruto?!" She cried, shaking him slightly. He didn't move. Ino felt her heart stop. "NARUTO!!!!" Tears began flowing rapidly down her face as she pressed his still head to her chest. "No... " she sobbed, "I-it's not fair... Naruto..." Ino held him tighter, the volume of her cries increasing. That's why he hadn't come back. He had sworn to protect her, and he stayed true to his word, even at the highest cost. He truly was remarkable, Ino thought sadly, I just didn't see it until it was too late. The flow of her tears increased as she realized, still in shock, that her heart would never belong to a pretty-boy like Sasuke, or a lazy strategist like Shikamaru, or even the sweet and chubby type like Choji. Naruto, the crazy, hyperactive knucklehead with a big mouth was the type of boy she could have fallen in love with. Could have. But now I'll never find out, she reflected, staring down at his expressionless face. The face she had so foolishly thought to mistrust. She should have known better. Naruto would never have done anything to hurt her. He had promised.

"INO!"

"Huh?!" Ino raised her head, startled. Someone was calling her. She looked around frantically. Was it one of the rogue ninja Naruto had warned her about?

"Ino!"

No...the voice sounded young, and oddly familiar. "Naruto?" She hollered hopefully, glancing down at the body resting on her lap. He hadn't moved, he couldn't; he was dead. So how...?

"Ino! Ino, wake up!"

'Wake up?' 'Wake up?' She searched for the location of the voice.

Strangely enough, it had no direct location, as it seemed to be coming from all around her. Wait a minute. 'Wake up?' How could she wake up unless this was a...

"Ino!"
Ino's eyes bolted open as she snapped awake. Had it all been a dream? Or...She looked around, and was surprised to discover the cave was glowing with a soft orange light. As her eyes wandered to the source, she found a campfire had been set up not more than three feet away from her. A campfire? She questioned, but I thought...

"Ino, are you alright?"

The kunoichi jumped, startled at the voice coming from behind. A voice she recognized. Turning around, she came face to face with Uzumaki Naruto, who was staring at her with a concerned look.

"N-Naruto? She asked, relieved but also unsure of whether to believe he was there. Her heart leapt in her chest, when she realized he was no longer covered in blood. ''NARUTO!!'' She cried suddenly, throwing herself on him. She began to cry again, burying her head in his jacket. ''Naruto ...I thought ...I thought you were ... " Her words were cut off by a harsh sob.

Naruto just stood there in disbelief, gawking at the girl clinging to his chest. She wasn't behaving anyway like the Ino he knew. It almost scared him. "I-Ino," he tried, "You were crying in your sleep, and I-"

"I-I-I thought you left me..."

"W -what?" Naruto was taken aback. Had Ino really been this worried about him? "I told you," he said, softening his words, "I'd be right back, remember?"
This only made Ino cry harder, as the images from her nightmare flashed through her mind. 'T-that's what you said...but ... then you...and I...and..."

"What?" The blond-haired boy asked anxiously.

Ino stopped, raising her tear-stained face. She smiled in a way Naruto had never seen before. "I-I'm glad you're alright, Naruto..." She managed, before going into a fit of hysterics again.

"Ino..." He murmured, watching her. He was still confused about the whole matter: about Ino's dramatic change, specifically. True he had seen Sakura cry plenty of times, but not like this-not like Ino was. He racked his brain, trying to think of a way to calm her down. He had never been good with girls, and Ino was no different. But I gotta do something, he thought desperately, what would Kakashi-sensei do? Naruto knew his sensei had always been popular amongst the females in Konoha; he just had to remember why. Suddenly, it dawned on him. Lowering himself to the floor, he carefully took the sobbing girl in his arms. "It's okay," he said soothingly, stroking her hair, "it's okay."

"Uhn ... " Naruto groaned, rolling on his side. The bright sunlight pouring into the cave easily penetrated the cover of his eyelids, making it impossible for sleep. Too lazy to use an outstretched arm as protection, he yawned, and reluctantly opened his eyes. The sun's rays stung his newly exposed pupils and he winced, blinking several times.

When he finally had become used to the light, Naruto sat up and scratched his head sleepily. From what he could tell, the storm had fmally stopped, but just to ensure his prediction Naruto shifted his blue eyes in the direction of the cave's mouth. Sure enough, the black clouds plaguing the sky were no longer there, and neither was the heavy downpour of rain. That's a relief, he thought, rubbing his empty stomach, now we can go home and I can finally have something to eat. A hollow gurgling noise came from his abdomen and he frowned. It had been over a day since he'd eaten anything, and for Naruto, that was almost torture. He sighed, and stood up, preparing to awaken Ino so that they could leave the training ground.

"Morning sleepyhead," a benevolent voice chimed from behind him, "Care for some breakfast?"

"Breakfast?" Naruto echoed, suddenly perking up at the mention of the word. He twisted his head to the side, and caught Ino's smile out of the corner of his eye. He also noticed a newly lit campfire, which had a nice little shiscabob of what looked like fish resting above it, held up by two large sticks on either side of the lustrous flames.

"H -How..." He started, baffled by this act of kindness. Ino blushed, increasing the length of her smile.

"Well, since you were still sleeping, I took the liberty of finding something to eat. You know, so we'd have our strength back." She beckoned him towards it, not a hint of ignorance or conceitedness in her tone or actions. "Come on, she added, pulling her hair up, "aren't you hungry?"

He cracked a grin at her. "Ya, I'm hungry! Thanks Ino!"

She fell silent after that, face flushing an even darker shade of red. Naruto, oblivious, took this opportunity to grab one of the shiscabobs from the fire, stuffing it in his mouth.

"Wait they're still h-" Ino warned, but he ignored her, tearing at the meat hungrily with his teeth. He was being foolish, she knew, only to find out the hard way that the thing was still hot, nevertheless, something about his act made her heart flutter. She gritted her teeth. "U-Um Naruto?" She squeaked, a little nervous.

"Mmf?" He grunted, face full of fish.

"U-uh, well, I..." she hung her head, "I just wanted to thank you."

"Thfank meff?"

"Yeah, um, you know, for um... saving my life." She was wringing her hands on the hem of her violet vest, biting her lip as she waited for a response. She had been so mean to Naruto earlier, and wasn't at all sure that he'd take an apology from her. However, the boy practically choked on his breakfast when he had heard what she said, and, after swallowing the rest of his meal somewhat painfully, he turned to her. His rich colored eyes were observing her carefully, as if he had never seen her before.

"Soooo...you admit it?" he inquired, wiping his hands on his jacket.

"W-what? I..." there was a long pause, as Ino's previous personality fought for control. She brought a hand up to her forehead, sighing.

"Yeah...yeah I admit it." She answered finally. "When you caught up with me I wasn't anywhere near Sasuke; I was hopelessly lost. And when I slipped and almost fell into the river rapids, you yanked me back." Her face softened as Naruto continued to stare at her, not quite believing what he was hearing. Not quite sure what he was feeling, either. The Ino he was listening to now was completely honest with her words, hiding nothing, but explaining everything. He couldn't recall any other girl being so forward to him, at least not in such a sincere way. Not even Sakura.

"Ha-ha, sure did, huh?" He replied, a bit uncomfortable. Ino giggled. So ignorant and yet, so comforting. "Hey, Ino," Naruto added, a bit clumsily, "glad you finally changed your attitude. I like you better already."

Something inside Ino swelled and her whole body tingled at his comment. He liked her. He liked her! The smile on her face transformed into a large grin. "Thanks a lot, Naruto-kun."

"He's late. AGAIN." Sakura stated furiously, stomping back and forth in front of the training ground, obviously annoyed. It had been over a day since Ino and Naruto had gone missing, and Sakura was about to lose her patience. "Of course. Just when we need him the most, Kakashi-sensei decides to take his sweet time doing who-knows-what!" She turned to Shikamaru angrily. "If we had gone after them when I wanted to, the storm wouldn't have gotten worse and we wouldn't have had to wait until morning!!"

Shikamaru sighed, crossing his arms over his head. "Yes, but then we could have gotten lost too-or worse, and would have no way of sending for help. Unless we were to go out in the storm, but you saw how bad it got, didn't you?" He shook his head. "Man, if I didn't know better, I'd say you had feelings for Uzumaki."

Uchiha Sasuke, who had been leaning against one of the poles supporting the entrance sign, raised an eyebrow, but the action was so subtle that no one caught it. "Personally, I don't care if either one of them returns," he muttered coldly, "we'd have an easier time without that dunce following us around, and I could do without Ino's constant 'fangirling.'"

Sakura stopped pacing. "Sasuke-kun how could you say that?"

Sasuke turned away from her, his face a slight shade of red. He didn't answer her, nor did anyone else. There was a short silence, the only noise coming from Choji who, once again, was munching on a bag of potato chips. I guess he does always carry food with him, Sakura thought in disgust.

"Good morning everyone!!" Hatake Kakashi sang cheerfully, appearing all at once in a puff of smoke.

A synchronized scream followed his arrival, then an individual voice spat, "Where the heck were you, sensei?! We've been waiting for over an hour!!"

"Oh have you?" he asked playfully, checking a make-believe watch on his wrist, "Terribly sorry. Shall we get on with our search?"

The base of Sakura's eye twitched. The search hasn't even begun sensei, she thought irritably, sauntering over to him with the rest of the group. Why he continued to make himself late was a complete mystery to her.

"Alright," Kakashi began, brushing back his silver hair, "the plan is to split up into groups of two: Choji-you go with Sasuke, and Sakura-you with Shikamaru."

"What?!" They both articulated, glaring at each other, "I am not going with-"

"Hey guys," Choji cut in, pointing a finger at the training ground's entrance, "look!"
On cue, everyone turned to where Choji indicated, and stopped, astonished.
There were Ino and Naruto, side by side, strolling towards them. By the slight skip in their stride, and the way they were conversing with each other, not to mention the way they were holding hands, it was nearly impossible to tell that prior to this, the two of them never got along. Rather they seemed to be enjoying each other's company, which was very odd.

"Hey guys!!" Naruto called out, waving his right hand in the air. "What's up?" Ino seconded, waving her left hand.

Both Sasuke and Shikamaru groaned in unison. So much for ridding themselves of annoyances. However, Kakashi and Choji waved back, and eventually, so did Sakura.

"About time you two got back!" Kakashi said to them, before patting Sakura on the head and whispering to her, "You see? I knew Naruto and Ino would be alright." She scoffed. Just another cover-up for being late.

"Hey Sensei!" Naruto hollered, picking up his pace and pulling Ino along with him, "Sasuke, Sakura!!"

'Sakura?' she realized, catching the absence of Naruto's name attachment for her, what happened to 'Sakura-chan?' She slumped against the pole Sasuke was leaning on, bemused. However, she didn't take Naruto up on the matter, for he and Ino were busy describing their experience to Choji and Shikamaru, who as usual, wasn't really listening.

" ... and the thunder was all like 'boom!!' and the lightning kept going on and off like an over-abused flashlight," Naruto went on, mimicking the lightning flashes by opening and closing his hands several times, "And it was really cool!"

"Oh please," Shikamaru retorted, "You were just as scared as anyone."

"He was not!" Ino suddenly defended, "Naruto went out in the middle of that storm to get some wood to make a fire!!"

Naruto put a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe so," he agreed, turning to face her, "but you were the one who went and got some breakfast!"

"N-no way..." Choji stuttered, in awe, "you mean Ino actually did something?" he smirked, and slapped five with Shikamaru.

"Yes she did, and she cooked it all by herself!!" Abruptly, his stomach growled. "Which reminds me, I'm still hungry." Ino looked at him suspiciously and he smiled sheepishly. "No offense to you, Ino."

She smiled warmly at him, "none taken." There was a pause.

"Well that's good! Now you can come with me to get some ramen!"

She blushed, once again slipping her hand into his. "I'd love to, Naruto- kun." She replied in a singsong voice, "Let's go."

Haruno Sakura walked up and down the streets of Konoha, deep in thought. So much had happened during the past week that her head was still spinning from it all. Specifically Naruto and Ino's change in attitude towards each other. Even now she was still having trouble understanding it. She brought her hand to her head and began massaging her temples. This whole thing is so troublesome. Great, now she was sounding like Shikamaru.

"Sakura! Hey Sakura, hold on a sec!!"

Ino. What a coincidence. Knowing that her voice was coming from behind, Sakura spun around on her back heal to face her best friend. "What do you want, Ino?"

The kunoichi smiled at her, holding out her hand. "I'm calling off our rivalry on Sasuke."
Sakura's aqua-green eyes widened in surprise. Their rivalry for Sasuke's affection had begun during their childhood. Ino wouldn't even consider calling it off unless she received something from Sakura in return. The pink-haired girl crossed her arms. "And what do you get out of it if I agree?"

A surprised expression appeared on Ino's face. "Nothing," she said truthfully, "it's just... "

"What?"

Ino blushed, smiling sweetly. "...I've fallen in love with someone else."