Disclaimer: Definitely not. If I owned Naruto right now I'd be typing this from a bomb shelter in fear of the fangirls finding me.

Notes: Yiruma is seriously THE best pianist I've ever heard. Honestly. Go listen to him when you're done reading this.

Dedication: this (oneshit!) drabble-ish thing is dedicated to Rissa, who knows me in a way few people do, who is so completely amazing and who I can have conversations with that make absolutely no sense but make me grin like an idiot, because it's Rissa, and she is totally the Naruto to my Sakura. I love you, seriously. (After all, you love me enough to rant with me about the Mets, even though you don't understand a damned thing about baseball, nevermind the MLB. Marry me?)

And, oh yeah, because I sort of made you allow me to write you this. There's that, too.

Naruto, Ino concludes, is like a bright, shiny, distracting object. Everything about him is bright, from his golden locks, just a shade darker than her own, to his cerulean eyes, and that grin that always lights his face and speaks of will-be-kept promises.

Ino, of course, cannot hope to understand his morals, why he clings so desperately to Sasuke, why he tries so goddamn hard to save someone who obviously does not want to be saved.

(Or maybe Sasuke does. Maybe Sasuke is screaming inside, a broken, pleading cry that only Naruto and Sakura can hear. But Ino will never hear it, and though a part of her wants to, the bigger half does not want to know what Sasuke sees when he closes his eyes.)

Naruto, though, is not picture perfect; far from it, in fact. She believes he tries to save others because he cannot save himself; because he is still looking for a piece of himself he cannot seem to find. So he covers up the broken shards of himself, he gives foxy and idiotic grins and yells and screams and is loud and an overall idiot. (My idiot, she thinks, almost fondly, except that that title is reserved for Naruto from Sakura. So Ino will pray, just mine, please just mine.)

"You're doing it again." Sakura murmurs quietly, smirking as she stirs her tea and then drinks from her cup. It says miles and miles (and years of tears, of begging, of broken, shattered dreams and incomplete teams and the ability to learn to start over) of how close Sakura and Ino are that Sakura can observe Ino-looking-but-not at Naruto, to be able to see the body language Ino excludes when she is observing the other blonde.

Ino sighs. "I know." Like how many things began, Ino's (infatuation? Crush? Adoration? …love?) Naruto-watching began with denial, in which she swore vehemently that she was absolutely not! looking at Naruto. And then she began with 'it's only because he's so damn loud!' Sakura, however, is smart. Too smart. So finally Ino broke down and admitted that, okay, maybe she was attracted to the Number One Hyperactive Ninja. Maybe. But Sakura is Sakura, and she (understands) was okay with it.

Sakura watches her closely over her cup. "You could tell him, you know." She says quietly, and fey eyes snap back to the other girl's face in shock. "Naruto is a dense, idiotic moron, but he's not a complete idiot either. And," she adds with a smile, a tiny bit of smugness in those viridian irises, "neither am I. I see the way he watches you."

Sakura's words are like a bolt to Ino's system, and for a moment, she forgets to breathe. Then she exhales forcefully and looks away. "I don't know about that," Ino says miserably. "It's probably just the same way the other guys look at me."

Sakura' s eyes flare with protection for Naruto--they protect each other, because that's all they have, each other, since Sasuke left and took part of them with him, the very foundation that they are so they are only somewhat complete when in the other's presence--before it settles. "He's not shallow." She breathes out, shaking her head, and Ino swallows, trying so hard not to hope, because she has seen what it has done to people.

"I know." Ino knows how defeated she sounds, because Naruto is the one undeniable force in her life. You just can't doubt Naruto, it's practically impossible.

A pale hand goes on top of Ino's, and she looks up at Sakura's patiently understanding face. "I know you've always wanted your fairytale," she says, and her voice is quiet, subdued, but still rings in Ino's ears; when Sakura speaks, people listen. "But not everything can be a happily-ever-after."

"I know that too," Ino sighs, tugging at the long piece of blond hair that obscures her eye. "But it's just so hard to let go of that dream, to be swept off your feet, you know?"

"I know." Sakura says, and her words ring sincere. ("Sasuke-kun!" "Sasuke-kun and I will get married some day, just you wait, Ino-pig!" "Sasuke-kun is so cool!" "Sasuke-kun…please…don't." "Sasuke-kun please, stay with me! I love you more than anything!") "But," she adds, grinning, "Naruto is more inclined to knock you off your feet than to sweep you off them." Ino laughs and Sakura laughs along with her before she sighs, gathering up her purse.

"Just…just think about it, okay?" Sakura is biting her lip and looking at her anxiously, and Ino thinks of how ridiculous it is, that Sakura cares more for other people's happiness than her own, that she worries more about people than herself and damn Sakura's unselfish tendencies. (She thinks that maybe, in another life, Naruto and Sakura would have been perfect for each other, but Sakura is too busy chasing after a stupid, dark-haired missing-nin. If life works the way Ino believes it should, he will be running back. And for people like Sakura, it should happen. It will happen, even if Ino has to drag him back by that beautiful hair of his and drag his perfect face through the mud, it will.)

"Okay." Ino agrees finally, and believes that it is worth it when some of the tension leaves Sakura's face and she closes her eyes in relief.

"Okay." The other girl repeats, and a soft smile crosses her face before her eyes open again. "I need to get back to the hospital, I'll see you later, right?" Ino nods, and Sakura gives her one last look before she turns and walks away.

Ino breathes out slowly once her friend has turned the corner and looks up at the sky, eyelids closing. She opens them, then leaves money on the table and gets up, gathering her things. She walks the opposite way that Sakura did, and almost like it is fate, Naruto is leaning against the wall of a building, talking and laughing with Kiba and Shikamaru, the latter of which is looking up at the sky; however, he turns when he senses Ino's presence, because they had been teammates for too long and friends for even longer for him to not know when she's around. He seems to sense a different kind of purpose in her walk, and almost-grins at the fire in her eyes when her gaze locks on Naruto.

("I'll be your princess if you'll be my prince.")

"Kiba, c'mon, let's go to my house to discuss the mission statement." Shikamaru tells the dark-haired boy, and he nods, saying a quick goodbye to Naruto, who is surprised at his friends' sudden leaving. Shikamaru looks at her, giving her a nod (like a nod of approval, and her throat closes up with some kind of emotion that Ino cannot name but is something a lot like love and friendship and Shikamaru always being there, for forever and ever) and Naruto watches them go.

But he is not a ninja for nothing, and when he turns to her and grins, Ino knows she can do this.

A/N--TWO STORIES IN ONE DAY? OH MAN, GO ME! (And it is shameless self-pimpage, but ohoho we are all just dirty little review whores, DON'T DENY IT: the other story is called Fall For You, and it's under my collab account with Neon Genesis, which is CtrlAltFngrl. Go read, peoples!) Um, first time writing NaruIno, which is why it's sort of vague and there's no REAL physical action going on. There is, however, mentions of SasuSaku, simply because I cannot write a story without them in it. It's like trying to stop me from breathing, and will last just as long. Anyway, I'm sure we've heard enough of my rambling, yes? Yes. Reviews and comments are love, flames will be laughed at and mocked.