A pink-haired young woman was currently making her rounds at the hospital. She needed to keep her mind pre-occupied for the time being so she would not think about the events to come. She nervously shook her head

"That's easier said than done."

Sakura knew she would still be thinking of it no matter how hard she wanted to distract herself. The fact that she was trying this hard was only increasing her anxiety.

"It's not too late to back out Haruno." She heard her inner voice in her head talking.

"No," she shook her head. She couldn't allow herself to give in that inner voice. She dared not to give into the fear or the anxiety. The young woman knew she needed to be strong.

"Come on who are you kidding Haruno? You know that you aren't. You should really quit acting like you're so tough."

"Why don't you shut up, non-existent voice in my head?"

The inner voice laughed.

"Don't you try to ignore me because you can't handle the truth? You just need to face it Sakura. You won't be any good to anyone there. It's better to just not be there at all."

"Will you just shut the hell up already?"

"Hey, paging Dr. Haruno." A voice from reality called out to her.

"Huh," she quickly turned to see the older sandy-blonde haired female. A small smile washed over the green-eyed girl's face. "Hey Tem you know that I'm not a real doctor just yet, right?"

Temari chuckled lightly.

"Well you've been working your ass off for so long you might as well be. Besides, we can't escape what's in our nature. You are a definite Dr. Ms. Haruno."

Sakura appreciated the kind words from the teal-eyed woman. She honestly could not see herself doing anything other than this.

"Thank you Tem. What's up? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Sakura found it odd to see the sandy-blonde at the hospital since no one ever really just dropped by to visit her, unless maybe Temari was sick although she didn't look it. Sakura panicked anyway and grabbed the sandy-blonde.

"Tem are you sick?" she placed her hand across her forehead.

"Sakura,"

"You don't look sick."

"Sakura…."

"You look pretty healthy actually, but that's how things happen sometimes. We think everything is okay, then bam sick."

Temari sighed before placing her hand on to the nervous pink-haired girl's shoulder.

"See what did I tell you Dr. Haruno? I'm fine but if you don't mind I do have a patient that you could look at."

Sakura blinked a few times as she managed to calm down.

"Oh, who is it?"

"He's kind of nervous about hospitals. You wouldn't mind seeing him out front would you?"

Sakura didn't quite get it but chose to follow behind Temari as she led the way outside. At first there was no one there.

"Uh, Tem…."

"This is unbelievable." The sandy-blonde spoke in a slightly frustrated tone. "Are you really going to lurk around in the shadows like this?"

There was no response at first. Sakura knew for sure she'd have a splitting headache before the day was over.

"That's funny I thought the headache would come later on not now." She thought. "Um, Tem…."

"Will you quit being a coward? She agreed to see you out here."

As those words left her mouth Sakura looked to see the pale-eyed, brown-haired Hyuuga male.

"Neji,"

He only gave a nod. "Sakura,"

"What's going on?"

"Oh, you know how strong and tough Hyuuga-san is." Temari began. "But he needs to remember that he isn't superman. He needs you to check his arm out."

Sakura did see the way that he seemed to be in some kind of pain as he stood with his shoulder slightly slumped over.

"Are you okay Neji?" She asked as she walked over to him. She placed a hand on to his which made him flinch right away.

"Yes I'm fine. Its not as bad as Temari is making it seems."

Temari rolled her eyes.

"Well excuse me for being concerned about your health." She began. "You're here so why don't you let Sakura take a look."

"Well it doesn't feel broken and you'd be in more pain if it were. I can do an x-ray if you want but we're going to have to go inside for that."

Neji hated hospitals. He wanted to avoid them as much as he possibly could. The only reason he had even agreed was because Temari had convinced him to.

"I dislike hospitals."

"Yeah," Sakura nodded. She remembered that it had to do with his father's death.

"Hey," Temari spoke. "I get it, believe me." She too wasn't exactly fond of hospitals either but at the end of the day sometimes you had to face your fears head on. "But wouldn't you rather know for sure than to end up worse later?"

"She does have a point Neji." Sakura spoke. "You can at least let me make sure that it's just sprained. I can wrap it up for you and then you can go, easy enough right?"

"Oh and Hyuuga if you're really good I'll give you a lollipop." Temari playfully teased with the stoic Hyuuga even cracking a very slight smile.

"Very well Temari I'll do it, although I expect more than some candy. Come on Sakura let's do this."

She could only watch the interactions between the two.

"Oh they are definitely involved."

She needed no further confirmation when it was as clear as day.

"Hm, it's kind of random but if they're happy I guess it's okay."

Once it had been confirmed that his shoulder was not broken and he had been bandaged up. Temari thanked her.

"Thank you Dr. Haruno. You know how stubborn Hyuuga-san is."

He frowned but said nothing.

"Oh yeah I know." The pink-haired woman let out an amused laugh. "I'm aware of it."

Neji soon made it on to his feet. "I told you it was nothing to be concerned about. I'm fine, thank you Sakura."

"It's better to be safe than sorry Hyuuga."

"You're welcome Neji."

"Hm," he nodded. "I suppose I'll see you later for the planned intervention?"

"Yeah," she gave an uneasy whisper which did not go unnoticed by the teal-eyed woman.

"Naruto went through a lot to get this together so naturally everyone will be there. I only hope it works."

"Yea, we hope it works too."

Neji nodded again but randomly changed the subject. "I'm going to go but I'll see you later."

The brown-haired male then walked away but did not get too far when Temari called out to him.

"Oi Hyuuga, how will you get home without me? You are broken down after all."

He just shot her a smirk.

"I'm sure that I can manage bye Temari, Sakura." He added.

"Hm," she smirked too. "What an idiot."

Sakura waited until Neji was gone from sight before speaking. "Do you want to go after him?"

"No don't worry. He'll be waiting out front for me. So," she turned to look at the green-eyed girl. "What's up? Are you okay? Are you ready for later?"

Sakura knew that she'd get asked those questions.

"I'm not really all that okay and I'm definitely not ready for later."

"Yeah," Temari nodded. "Don't feel bad, none of us are. We're just being big brave actresses."

"Yeah," She agreed. "I guess we've got some time to pull it together. Naruto is counting on us."

"Yes and we aren't going to let him down, him or Ino. She needs all of our support. I'm hoping that she seems that this isn't an attempt to hurt her. This is only because we want to help her."

"Right," Sakura said. "I hope so too."

Temari then turned her attention to her watch. "I should go though there is still some stuff I need to do before later. Besides I don't want Neji to panic or melt in the sun or anything like that."

Sakura couldn't help but laugh at the joke.

"So there's something with you and Neji?"

Temari grinned. "Oh are we that obvious?"

"Yeah, just a little. He's uh, a man of few words."

"Yep that's Hyuuga alright."

"You two…it's just…I don't know kind of unexpected."

"A lot of things in life are Sakura. Some of the best things are too. He and I are complicated on our best days but I don't think, no I know that it's right. He's my match in an odd way."

Sakura nodded. She could understand exactly what the teal-eyed female was saying.

"Well if you're happy then I'm happy for you Tem."

Yeah I'm in a good place. Don't get alarmed by the insults it's just how we show that we care."

"Gotcha," Sakura laughed. "So is that what's happening with Ino and Naruto, she hurts him so much just because she cares." The young woman quickly thought but got rid of those thoughts fast.

"Anyway I'm going. Thanks for checking him out. He probably would have done something stupid like ignore the pain until he collapsed."

"Yep that sounds like him alright. I guess it's a really good thing that you're looking out for him."

"Oh yeah he's lucky. He'll never do any better and he knows that." she lightly teased. "I'll see you later Sakura. I know it's easier said than done but try not to worry okay. Just remember that we're all in this together."

"I will, thanks Tem. I really appreciate it."

The older woman smiled bravely. "You got it, see ya." She waved to her.

"Bye." She whispered then sat down with a single tear slipping down her eyes. "This being strong when I'm really not is such hard work." She sighed then wiped away her tear. "Come on Haruno you've got to pull it together. They're both counting on you."

Just as Naruto had said by the time they were both dressed and ready it had stopped raining. The sun was even out and shining brightly.

"See Ino-chan it isn't raining anymore."

"Yeah it stopped for now." She thought.

It was turning out to be a very nice day actually with the bright sun and clouds disappearing. The change in weather however did nothing to erase the platinum-blonde's mood.

"You have to trust me here okay. We'll have a good time."

"There you go with that again Naruto." she mentally sighed.

The boy simply did not see that the more he tried to convince her that there wasn't anything to worry about the more she'd get suspicious. She didn't say anything at first and her silence made him worry. The blue-eyed female walked away slightly.

"Uh Ino-chan," he questioned.

The girl stood with her back turned to him as she gazed out in space looking as if she had a billion thoughts on her mind. He didn't know what to do other than to let her talk when she was ready. Eventually Ino turned around.

"Hey do me a favor."

"Yeah, sure." He began. "I'll do anything."

She let out a weak laugh.

"You haven't even heard what I'm about to ask. Are you sure that you want to just blindly agree?"

She had a point. It was never a wise thing to go into anything blindly especially not with the blue-eyed female. You could never know for sure what the hell was on her mind.

"Just tell me what it is?"

"Okay." She nodded. "It's simple really."

The blonde girl then walked over to the whisker-marked male. She hugged him rather tightly as if afraid that if she let go she'd lose him forever.

"Whoa, hey Ino-chan what's wrong? Are you okay?"

She soon let him go and looked at him with quite a serious gaze in her aqua-colored pools. She carefully placed a hand around his neck and forced him to look her in the eyes.

"I need you to not make me hate you."

Naruto looked almost as if the wind had been knocked out of him. Naturally this had to be some type of joke.

"You are kidding right Ino-chan?"

The look in her eyes told him otherwise. She certainly looked serious enough.

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

No she didn't.

"No you're serious." He confirmed.

"I just don't…"

He then felt her hug him again. The hug felt so hollow in ways like he could literally feel straight through her.

"You need to tell me what you're hiding from me because I don't want to resent you later. Naruto you don't understand that you are the one constant in my life. I don't want to imagine if somehow I ended up hating you."

Naruto suddenly felt very sick to his stomach. There was a tight, uncomfortable feeling beginning to form in his throat. He didn't want to ever think of that happening, although it just might be possible by the end of the day.

"Aw." He laughed nervously. "Come on Ino-chan don't talk so crazy. That would never happen."

She shook her head as she let him go. Once again there was that all too familiar dead, hard look in her aqua-colored pools.

"We can't ever say never in this twisted, fucked up existence called life. Am I not proof of that?" she sighed. "Naruto please…" he heard that pleading tone in her voice. She was begging. Ino was desperate right now. He felt it in her words and tone. He saw it in her body language. He hated this. He truly did.

"Please tell me."

He only placed a soft kiss on the blue-eyed girl's forehead. It felt like the kiss of death and Ino felt as if her fate had been sealed in that moment.

"Ino-chan you've got to loosen up some. Come on, let's get going. I don't want to stand around wasting our day like this."

He then began to lead the way. All she could do was sigh while she watched him.

"So this is the way it's going to go. This is the beginning of the end, ne Naruto-kun?" she thought.

A feeling of helplessness came over the platinum-blonde. She decided to simply accept it for she felt whatever it was would be inevitable.

"I give up. I'll just go along with whatever."

"Hey Ino-chan," Naruto's voice brought her back to reality. "Come on already."

"Hai," she nodded. "If he's going to fake this then I can too."

A brown-haired bartender stood up cleaning some shot glasses. He had other thoughts on his mind that had little to do with work.

"Damn," Kiba sighed as he placed one of the cleaned glasses down. Just like everyone else he was thinking of Ino and the planned intervention. He'd be lying if he said he weren't nervous.

"It's going to be a nightmare."

There was just no way for everything to go smoothly. Kiba felt a bit on edge but he definitely knew he had to be there. Ino was his friend and it wasn't just as an image of the blue-haired girl flashed through his mind.

"Hinata-chan," he thought. He knew the pale-skinned shy Hyuuga would need his support. It had been a definite shock to her system when she saw the platinum-blonde behave in the way she did before. Kiba anticipated that the behavior would be worse than before.

"She'll lose it." he knew it for certain.

A glass soon fell out of his hand for he wasn't paying attention.

"Fuck" he cursed. He really hated when he dropped the glasses. It was however very rare when he did. Kiba had been 100 percent confident in his bartending skills.

"Oi, are you getting sloppy over there Inuzuka?"

Kiba looked up to see the lazy dark-haired male now sitting down at the bar.

"Nara, you lazy good for nothing." Kiba laughed. "You came here to sit and criticize my work or do you just need some place to take a nap?" he teased.

Shikamaru gave him a slight smirk.

"That's a good one. I'll have a beer."

"Right, give me a second to clean this mess up."

Once Kiba finished he opened up the beer bottle and put in front of the pony-tailed male.

"Are you getting a head start? Trying to numb out before later?"

Shikamaru knew immediately to what the brown-haired male was referring to.

"You could say that I guess. I don't think any of us are really prepared for it though."

Kiba agreed and almost found the need to crack open a beer himself.

"I'm worried about how Hinata is going to handle this. I know it really worried her the last time we were all together."

"I found her the other day." Shikamaru began but paused to take a sip of beer. "It wasn't pretty. She was drunk and very out of it."

Kiba sighed slightly as he began to wipe off the bar.

"I feel bad you know about my part in all of this."

Shikamaru raised his eyebrow for he felt curious by what the brown-haired male was about to say.

"I wasn't really much good here. Who was the one serving her up all those drinks?"

"Ah," the dark-haired male nodded. So that was where Kiba was going with it "Kiba," Shikamaru started.

"No," he cut him off. "It's true. I might as well have poured the alcohol down her throat myself. I helped make Ino like this."

Shikamaru visibly frowned. He didn't want for Kiba to continue like this.

"Kiba don't do this. Don't go beating yourself up now when we all need to be there for her. Ino would have found a way to get what she wanted." The lazy male completely believed it to be true. Deep down Kiba knew that Shikamaru was right because he knew the platinum-blonde better than most.

"Yeah you're right. Besides I can't go falling apart now not when people are counting on me."

"There you go." Shikamaru then took out some money to pay for his drink. "Thank you Kiba. I'll see you later on."

"You can count on it."

The lazy male nodded goodbye to him before exiting the bar. He had another stop to make before meeting up with everyone later.

"Ino we all have to see you through this."

"We're not doing this! We're not doing this" the platinum-blonde's mind raged as she saw where they were. Here they were standing in front of an old video arcade that geared towards small children. A lot of birthday parties were usually held here. Ino shook her head. She had not seen let alone thought of this place in years.

"You're joking." She started.

Naruto turned to her with his all too familiar grin on his face. It told her that Naruto was not kidding.

"You're not joking."

"Come on Ino-chan cheer up. I brought you out here to have some fun. Remember how much fun we used to have here."

Oh she remembered alright. That was of course a hell of a long time ago.

"Yeah when we were like little kids. Naruto what in the hell kind of joke is this?"

He laughed then put an arm around her shoulder.

"Trust me okay. It'll be fine."

She didn't trust him or anything about this weird situation. If this had been Naruto's idea of a good time before whatever shit hit the fan he was seriously lacking knowledge in that department.

"Why the hell couldn't we just drink until we both pass out, now that's a good time." she thought to herself.

Once inside she and Naruto received strange looks from several of the workers. They looked a lot more than a little out of place in this situation.

"Um sir are you absolutely sure about this? A teen boy with severe acne asked Naruto who was still grinning almost madly.

"Yep, why is there a problem?"

"Is there a problem?" Ino wondered with her eyebrow twitching slightly. "Naruto of course there is a problem. Do we look like children?"

The boy simply stared at Naruto with a clear look of shock on his face. "Is this dude for real?" was all he could think about before talking. "Um, no sir you can take your girlfriend out wherever you like. Sir, um here's your tickets."

"Thanks." Naruto then handed him a five dollar bill out of his change. "Don't spend it all in one place kid."

"Gee thanks sir."

Naruto then walked off with Ino following after him. She could not believe her misfortune. They coming here was simply all kinds of wrong.

"Naruto what in hell have you been smoking and not informing me about this wonder drug?"

"Hey Ino-chan look." He pointed at a familiar game to both of them that involved a hammer and hitting the mole that came out of the hole.

"Oh yeah I remember that game."

"Yeah it was a good way to relieve tension. Here you should give it a try?"

"W-What?" she really didn't have time to object since he was now pulling her towards the game. He placed the hammer into her hand.

"Naruto are you nuts?"

"Yeah, maybe." He laughed. "Go on you need to relax and get some of the stress out of you."

"Oh," she started in a whisper. "I can think of a much better way than this to get stress off me." The ideas involved her and Naruto in the bed, couch, or anywhere possible to fuck each other's brains out. She knew however that didn't look like a real possibility. So she decided to give the whisker-marked male what he wanted. He never asked for much anyway.

Naruto put some coins into the machine and the game began. It began relatively normal for the blue-eyed girl until the mole became someone else. There was now pink hair and pale skin instead of brown fur. There were no longer beady little dark orbs but jade green now stared back at her.

"What the fuck," she angrily thought as she began to hit harder.

"Alright," Naruto cheered for he was glad to see her loosening up and showing some enthusiasm. "Alright Ino-chan that's…" he froze as he saw that her attacks were getting harder. She showed no real signs of slowing down.

"Fuck," she shouted as she slammed the mole so hard into the hole Naruto thought that the machine might break. He grabbed the hammer back from her.

"Jeez Ino-chan cool it a bit okay. Are you trying to break the machine?"

She slowly paused as his words hit her ears. She realized just exactly what she had been doing. She hadn't meant to lose her cool that way. A sigh escaped her.

"I'm sorry." she apologized.

He looked at her with worry filled eyes. He meant to bring her here to reflect on good times not to put any more stress on her.

"I wanted you to have fun, bad idea so far huh." he laughed weakly. "How about we just grab something to eat for now?"

"Sure," she agreed without as much as a word of defiance. Naruto went to grab some pizza from the food area while Ino sat at a table. The sight of some children running around with water guns in their hands brought back memories from when she and all of their friends were younger.

(Flashback)

"You can't catch me Naruto-kun," a small platinum-blonde haired child teased the blue-eyed boy who was currently chasing after her with a black colored water gun.

He grinned. "I'll catch you Ino-chan." He increased his speed as he chased the blonde girl and dodging several of their friends on the way.

"Naruto watch it."

"Heh, heh sorry Sakura-chan." He quickly apologized to the pink-haired girl. He ran passed a semi-asleep Shikamaru and a snacking Chouji.

"You're too slow whiskers."

"Huh," Naruto mouthed and then realized Ino had been referring to the unique whisker-markings on his face. "Hey that's not fair. You'll pay for that Ino-chan."

She shot him a playful smile as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh yeah well you'll have to catch me first."

He laughed. "You can count on it."

Ino shot her own water gun at him before speeding up and nearly knocking down both Tenten and Lee in the process.

"Hey," the brown-haired girl screamed. "Watch it Ino."

"Yes, you're not being very youthful at all Ino-chan." Lee spoke which earned several groans from their friends.

"S-Sorry," she apologized. "Jeez Lee and his youth stuff again. He really needs to grow out of that." she just didn't know how wrong she was at the time. Unfortunately she had been so distracted by those thoughts that she tripped over the plugs of a video game machine and fell.

"Ow," she cried out with her hand immediately going on to her ankle. Naruto had seen what happened and quickly ran to her side.

"Oh Ino-chan are you okay?" he sat down next to her.

"Y-Yeah I'm okay. I just wasn't paying attention."

He gave a nod then reached for her hand so he could help her up.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kept on chasing you, I…" he was cut off when he felt her lean forward to kiss him on the cheek. His face turned bright red

"It's no big deal. I just tripped it's not the end of the world you know."

He nodded. "Yeah, but…"

"Hey at least I know that you would come for me if I were really hurt. Thank you Naruto you're really sweet."

If possible his cheeks only burned that much redder.

"Y-Yeah, sure Ino-chan,"

"Even way back then huh Naruto." the platinum-blonde thought to herself. Naruto had loved her for almost forever it seemed. She shook her head.

"No, now is not the time for thoughts like that."

She didn't have much time to continue think about stuff like that anyway since Naruto had returned. Only he had returned with an entire pizza. Her eyes widened in disgust.

"Naruto what the hell are you doing? Good lord how hungry are you?"

He laughed loudly and took a seat beside her.

"It's not all for me Ino-chan. We always used to have pizza here, remember?"

She remembered. She also remembered that the pizza was always meant for everyone to share. She looked around the room.

"Well unless you're hiding Chouji around here somewhere this is way too much pizza." Her eyes traveled to the amount of orange, bubbly grease and cheese as well as the many layers of pepperoni.

"Jeez what the hell are you thinking anyway? I thought that you were on some kind of health kick anyway?"

As soon as she said this Naruto was picking up a slice and currently biting it. She thought she would gag right away.

"Ew,"

"Come on, eat its good. This place always had the best pizza."

"We can't possibly eat all of this!"

Naruto agreed. He knew he'd be able to eat at least three slices but Ino seemed reluctant. He'd be lucky if she even ate a full slice.

"Alright you're right. I'll be right back okay. Don't try to eat it all before I get back okay." He joked which earned him the platinum-blonde rolling her eyes.

"Yeah right," she started. "You're wheel of grease and instant heart attack is safe Naruto. It's not like its beer or something." She added that part in a whisper. "Then you'd be in trouble."

Now that she really thought about it Ino did feel the urge for a drink. If the rest of her day was going to continue on like this Ino knew that she needed to be drunk by the end of it.

"Hell, like I'll even be able to sneak a drink in at any point today."

Soon the sound of two children laughing broke her out of her thoughts. There she saw Naruto heading back with the two children who were laughing.

"What the hell is this?" she wondered.

"Hey Ino-chan this is Haru and Ayame. They're friend of mine. Will you guys say hi?"

The girl Ayame had bright green eyes and brown hair. The boy was dark-haired with grey orbs. The smiles on their faces were actually too adorable to ignore even with her mood. Ino felt it start to soften.

"Hi Ino-nee-chan." They spoke together.

"Hello Haru-kun, Ayame-chan."

"They're going to have this pizza with us since we can't possibly eat it all."

"Fuck," she thought as he threw her words back in her face. For some reason the sight of those two kids was making the young woman feel that she could be friendly. They were only kids after all.

"Will that be okay Ino-nee-chan?" Ayame asked.

"Oh sure Ayame-chan." She started. "Why don't you two sit down? Naruto and I couldn't eat all of this. When you reach his age you have to watch out for your heart." She joked which made Naruto feign hurt.

"Ouch, Ino-chan that's low."

Ayame then looked up at the whisker-marked male.

"You don't look so old Naruto-san. How old are you?"

"I'm almost 22."

Her eyes looked as if they were going to fall out of their sockets. "Wow you're really old."

Naruto nearly choked over his slice and Ino couldn't help but laugh.

"Jeez thanks kid. Ino-chan, do you see what you're doing by teaching Ayame-chan bad habits?"

"Hey it's not my fault she's obviously a bright and observant girl."

Ayame couldn't help but smile at the blonde's compliment.

"T-Thanks, Ino-nee-chan."

"Sure, well aren't you and Haru-kun going to eat? Like Naruto said we can't eat all of this, so please have some."

"S-Sure," the two kids agreed as they began to help tackle the large pie.

"This is great." Haru grinned. "Thank you Naruto-san."

"You're welcome Haru."

Ino could see that Naruto seemed to know these kids on a personal level. She felt sort of bad since she thought for a second that he literally picked these kids up from nowhere just to invite them to eat. She even noticed he was eating rather normally for him and not devouring his food like he often did.

"Hey, you got something on your face Naruto."

"Huh," he blinked but before he knew it the platinum-blonde reached over with a napkin. Her touch had been so soft that he couldn't help but blush lightly. "Is…is it gone?"

"Yeah it's gone, there.'' She then ended up kissing his cheek which completely caught him off guard. The sound of giggling and a loud ew suddenly distracted the two.

'Ew that's gross. We're eating you know." The dark-haired boy complained.

"Haru, calm down okay it's not like they were kissing on the lips or anything. Naruto-san is Ino-nee-chan you're girlfriend?"

He froze immediately at the young girl's question. How in the world was he supposed to answer the question? He dared not say the truth 'Oh she's my unrequited love interest turned houseguest and eventual fuck-friend."

"Oh I…"

Before he finished Ino turned to the young girl then smiled.

"Naruto and I are closer than two people can ever be. He's been by my side forever and I'm incredibly lucky to have him."

"Oh," Ayame smiled. "That's so nice. Have you known each other that long really Naruto-san?"

He nodded. "Yeah, since we were kids."

"Whoa," Haru said. "That's a long time. are you guys always going to be together?"

Naruto felt Ino's eyes and looked up. He actually saw some real emotion there for once. It was a rare sight that only usually happened when the blonde was upset. There was hardly ever any other reason for her showing any emotions. Ino then smiled once again for the children.

"If I'm lucky enough to have him forever then I'm truly a blessed girl. Now eat up you two before the pizza gets cold."

Ino found herself enjoying the kids company. They reminded her of how she and all of their friends once were. Naruto was actually glad to see Ino at peace.

"At least she is kind of happy, for now."

Before long the pizza had been finished and Naruto paid for it with Haru and Ayame going with him. Ino stayed to wait.

"Ino-nee-chan is really pretty Naruto-san, you were right."

"Yeah," Haru nodded in agreement. "I hope you really do stay together. We'd better go dad's waiting."

The whisker-marked male nodded.

"Will you two be okay getting home?"

"Yeah we'll be fine. Thanks again Naruto-san, bye." The children waved to him then left. He found Ino waiting for him at the table.

"They were nice." She began. "You didn't tell me how you met them."

She followed behind Naruto while he led the way out of the video arcade.

"They're my boss's kids. They're pretty well behaved. I've hung out with them before."

Now it all made sense on why the three of them seemed to be so friendly.

"Ah," she nodded. "You were good with them."

"Yeah well kids are very easy to please once you figure out what they like. It's not really all that hard to keep them entertained."

"Maybe, but Naruto you've always been able to just blend in and get along with everyone. You have a certain magnetic energy."

The blond male ended up letting out an amused laugh. "What?"

"It's true." She started. "Ever since I've known you, you've been able to make friends with just about anyone. People are just naturally drawn to you. just look at how you changed Gaara-kun's life."

Naruto didn't feel like he was some kind of saint going around saving lives or anything like that. he also didn't brag but also couldn't help but feel flattered. After all this was the girl that he loved praising him.

"You know," he paused while he held the door open for her. "If anyone had that magnetic charm it was you Ino-chan."

She blinked as he turned to her and smiled. "You've always been the rock star."

Her face turned a light shade of red at his compliment. She could only sigh however. "Poor boy," she thought then patted his head. "I've never been anything like that Naruto."

"Yeah, you have Ino-chan. Why do you think everyone wants you back so badly? We all want our rock start back."

"You want her back even if she's gone." She thought to herself. "So," she decided to just change the subject. "Where are we going next or can we just go home now?"

They most certainly were not going back there. He only smiled.

"no way, we're not going home. the day is still young come on Ino-chan we better go."

"Sure," she agreed. "This is all for you Naruto." she decided. "I'll keep it together just because whatever this is seems so important to you."

She just didn't know exactly what she had to expect. it was something the blue-eyed female wasn't prepared for.

"It just has to be done." Naruto thought to himself. "Ino-chan this is for your own good."

A blue-haired petite female stood with her back turned as she was in the grand room of the exclusive Nobununga Hotel. She put her hands together in the familiar nervous manner she had often done when she was younger.

"Old habits are hard to break." She thought but she couldn't help it. simply thinking about what would take place here was making her very nervous.

"Some things just don't change huh?" a familiar voice spoke that caused the blue-haired female to turn around. She smiled when she saw the brown-haired male grinning back at her.

"Oh," she began. "Hello Kiba-kun."

"Hey." He then began to walk over to her. "You're always the early one no matter what eh, Hinata-chan."

She felt her face turn slightly red.

"Kiba…"

"I'm just teasing. I'm glad that you're here. How are you?"

He had definitely been worried about her.

"I'm fine." She lied to him which Kiba right away sensed. A frown washed over his face.

"You're a bad liar Hinata-chan. You always were a really bad liar. Hey, its okay we're all pretty nervous too."

A sigh escaped her but she managed to smile bravely at that moment.

"I think no matter what Ino-chan needs all of her friends. Just knowing that gives me the strength I need."

Kiba expected nothing less from her. he suddenly hugged her which did through her off guard.

"Hey that's the spirit Hinata!' he damn near roared. "I…"

"K-Kiba…." She stuttered out in an all too familiar tone that he couldn't help but laugh at.

"Some things really don't change." He thought before letting her go. "I'm sorry." he apologized.

"Oh, no, it's okay Kiba-kun."

There had been a moment of silence then Hinata turned around with her hands clasped together.

"I'm really worried though Kiba-kun, aren't you?"

He was definitely worried.

"Yeah, you bet I' am. I, uh, I actually feel really bad about how Ino is now."

Hinata looked at him with a curious expression on her face. She didn't quite understand what he meant.

"What do you mean?"

"Heh, heh," he laughed nervously. "Who was the one giving her so many drinks? It was me your favorite red-striped dude." He pounded at his chest. Hinata's eyes flew open instantly. She through his act and his words and could see his pain within.

"Oh," she whispered sadly. "Kiba…."

"I hate how messed up she's become." He gripped his fist. "I know deep down that I can't blame myself but I do feel responsible Hinata. I'm not guilt free here. She's all sorts of messed up and it's…."

"No." she spoke and suddenly wrapped her arms around him. He stood frozen for a moment in her embrace. It felt good to be this close to the blue-eyed female. He had always wanted this.

"H-Hinata…"

She shook her head as she tried to hold back her own tears.

"Kiba don't blame yourself for what has happened to Ino-chan. It's no one's fault at all. It's just an unfortunate thing that happened. What matters is that we're here for her now okay."

"Y-Yeah." He stuttered out then ended up wrapping his arms around her as well. "Thanks Hinata-chan."

"Eh-hem," a loud coughing sound had been heard which caused both Hinata and Kiba to turn around.

"Oh…" Hinata's face turned bright red. "Hi," she started. "Tenten-chan, Lee-kun."

"Hello to you too Hina, Kiba." The brunette raised her eyebrow in a suspicious manner. "We're we interrupting something?"

"I…"

"Quit it Ten."

"Oh," the dark-haired male spoke. "I think we were interrupting a youthful moment between our dear friends."

Tenten sighed heavily. "Lee-kun, please enough with the youth speeches today. We need to be serious."

The tone in his girlfriend's voice hit him right away. he of course understood how important today was. It had been a long time in the works so naturally everyone was a bit on edge.

"Yes you're absolutely right Tenten-chan. I apologize."

"Everyone's going to start showing up soon." Hinata spoke in a whisper.

Tenten and Lee nodded it would be a matter of time before all of their friends showed up. Not to mention the guest of honor herself.

"How do you think Ino-chan is going to react?" Lee asked but before anyone could answer a serious, feminine voice was heard.

"How do you think she's going to react? You know it won't be good."

They all turned around to see the tall sandy-blonde female with Neji standing next to her. everyone had their suspicions that the stoic Hyuuga and the teal-eyed woman were involved. It was especially thought of giving how everything happened when they last met up. Although it definitely seemed as if something were up they knew now was not the time or place to pry for details.

"Tem." Tenten spoke first. "Hey it's good to see you. uh, hey Neji."

"Hm," the brown-haired male gave a nod.

Lee simply blinked. He opened his mouth to say something but sensing the idiocy right away Tenten grabbed him by the mouth.

"Lee! Not now, for god sakes not now."

"But Ten…" he mumbled out which in turn she stomped hard on his foot. "Ouch!" he screamed out in pain.

"Jeez," Kiba sighed.

"Oh, Lee-kun are you alright?" Hinata couldn't help but to ask since Tenten did appear to take it too far sometimes.

He gave her the thumbs up and a smile. "Hai I'm fine Hinata-chan. Tenten-chan would never seriously hurt me." He gave a bright smile which did make her melt almost right away. she never could stay angry with him.

"Oh Lee-kun." She kissed his cheek. "You're too lucky I just can't seem to stay mad at you."

Temari and Neji tried to remain with straight faces but on the inside they were both thinking the same exact thing.

"If we ever act like those two, god help us."

Kiba noticed some refreshments on the nearby tables. He ended up grabbing a plate of chips.

"Kiba!" Tenten exclaimed. "You're not seriously eating right now, are you?"

"What I'm hungry. Besides it's here isn't."

She could only shake her head. "Oh, boy…"

"Don't be upset Tenten-chan; Kiba eats when he's nervous." Hinata explained.

"You would know him so well huh." Temari gently teased which made the pale-eyed girl blush heavily.

"Temari-chan, really…"

Neji knew for sure he didn't want to know any details about his younger cousin and the wild brown-haired boy.

"Are you the only one's here?"

"Yea." Lee nodded. "No one else is here yet. They are coming right?"

"Don't worry they'll be here. Naruto will call when he and Ino are on the way. for now all we have to do is wait."

"It's okay if everyone's a little nervous." Tenten said while glancing over to the brown-haired male who was still eating chips.

"I'm worried about how she'll take all of this. she isn't exactly in the best of mind frames right now.

"No." Temari agreed. "She's not but we try anyway. Naruto can't help her alone anymore. we should have done something sooner but what matters now is that were doing something."

"It's better late than never." Someone spoke.

The group turned around to see Shikamaru. It was rare to see the lazy male actually somewhere early and seemed to be quite alert for him.

"Nara." The sandy-blonde spoke. "What happened? Did you set your alarm clock three hours ahead of time to get here so early?"

The group laughed and Shikamaru looked less than amused. Temari would certainly never change.

"This is important so I'd be here."

She gave a nod. "Gaara is on his way. he'll be here soon."

"There will be a few surprise guests too." Shikamaru explained. "Some people Ino hasn't seen or spoken to in a while but care." He looked around to see just who was here. He noticed one significant person who wasn't. "No Sakura?"

"No." Hinata answered. "She isn't here yet."

The pony-tailed male couldn't help but to wonder if Sakura might not show up. There was that slight possibility of that happening.

"I wonder if she'll have second thoughts."

"She's just as nervous as the rest of us." Temari remembered from their earlier conversation. "Even if she has more reason than any of us I don't think she'll ditch this."

Tenten nodded. She knew the pink-haired female very well. Sakura would show up.

"Yeah don't worry Shika she'll be here."

It had been hell getting her boss to agree to let her go early but she managed to do it. She had the time to go home, shower, and change her clothes and head over to the hotel. The green-eyed female felt her nerves swelling up inside of her all over again. She absolutely dreaded what was coming however there was no way around it.

"Come on Sakura you need to pull it together."

"Are you still trying to act so strong?"

There the voice came again with all the doubt eating away at her.

"Oh fuck I must be losing my mind if I'm still hearing you."

The taunting voice laughed.

"I 'am you. I'm just trying to help you out. We both know that you can't handle today."

Sakura gripped her fist and paused.

"Shut the hell up already. I'm doing this. I've already made up my mind."

"You're seconds away from falling apart."

She put her hand to her chest as it now felt tight.

"Shut up!"

"I only speak the truth. You're a fool if you don't think Ino will tear you apart."

The green-eyed female was now on her knees with heavy, erratic breathing.

"Just get out of my head already."

She wanted to scream but there was no voice and then she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see the familiar red hair and sky-blue orbs.

"Gaara,"

"Sakura are you alright?" he questioned.

She gave an uneasy nod. The red-head extended his hand to her. He never saw this type of behavior from her and it surprised him. Sakura had always struck him as a strong character. With Gaara's help she stood up.

"I'm fine. Thank you."

"You don't look fine." He didn't have to be a genius to see it. The pink-haired woman was in distress.

"No I'm fine I promise."

He decided to leave it alone for he was never really one to pry. He could tell she most likely didn't wish to talk about it. He did have an idea on what it could be about. It could only be about one thing.

"As long as you're sure I'm on my way to the hotel too. Do you want to walk with me?"

"Sure." She agreed. "Gaara, please don't tell anyone I was like this. I really can't fall apart right now."

"Alright." He agreed. "But Sakura it already seems like you are." He thought to himself as they made their way over to the hotel.

"Why did we come here?" Ino questioned as they were now standing on top of a high hill in one of the parks they used to play in as children. Naruto didn't answer right away as he gazed out into the horizon. He then turned to the platinum-blonde who looked confused.

"You know how you have your place by the docks? This is sort of mine, besides you remember how much fun we used to have here as kids."

She gave a nod then walked over to him.

"Yeah, sure but that was a long time ago. Why are we here now?"

Perhaps on some level Naruto was doing this to remind her of all the good times they shared here with they're friends before the hard stuff began.

"Is there something wrong with just wanting to remember the good times for a change? I hate how messed up things have become for you and the fact that I can't fix it."

"Stop." She cut him off. She walked towards him. "That's a part of the problem right there Naruto. You always feel like it's your job to fix things for me, it's not. You can't be held responsible for my bad choices."

She didn't get it. She simply did not get his stand on the situation. How many times did he have to tell her he loved her before it finally began to sink in?

"Ino…" he whispered.

She had her back turned to him.

"Well it's a pretty view from up here." She changed the subject. "I get why you like it up here. You're always trying to incorporate me into your life somehow, huh Naruto. This is your place but you chose to share it with me. You're too good to me."

There were simply no other words for it but that. Naruto was way too good for her and she simply didn't think she deserved him. She could never even hope that she would ever deserve him. Yet knowing all of this to be true she simply didn't want to let go. She was selfish in that way. The sad part had been that Naruto wouldn't allow it anyway. Their entire relationship had been a mess. Sakura was right and Ino knew it.

"Ino-chan what are you going on about? We both know why I do the things that I do for you."

Boy did they know it. They knew it all so very well. Everyone did for it was the worst kept secret.

"Don't you ever just want to let go?" she asked. She then turned back to look at him. Those aqua-colored eyes looked as if tears wanted to come pouring down them. He didn't want that. He honestly never wanted to see her cry. It literally hurt like hell watching each tear fall from her face.

"Naruto, would it really be so bad to give up on me?"

The blond male blinked. Was she really doing this now? Did she really want for them to possibly get into a fight here?

"Ino-chan let's not get into any of that right now please."

"We'll have to talk about this eventually Naruto. Honestly we've ignored it for long enough."

Maybe so but Naruto truly didn't want to get into it now.

"Okay but not now. I brought you here to help you relax not to cause stress for both of us."

She frowned a bit.

"If you wanted me to relax we could have just stayed in and you just fuck me all day." that would have been perfect to her. Why could they not do that? Naruto let out a sigh. When would she get that sex wasn't always the answer.

"The point was to get out of the house today. You did have some fun back at the arcade. I just want to help you Ino-chan. Why can't you accept that?"

Just then she ran over to him throwing her arms around his neck and pulling the surprised young man into a deep, passionate kiss.

"Ino…" he breathed out. "W-What…"

"Why can't you get that it's not your job to fix me? That none of this is your fault and that you need to stop blaming yourself."

He bit down on his bottom lip then grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Why can't you understand what you mean to me Ino-chan!" now he was frustrated. "Why do you think that you're not worthy to be loved, like your some terrible person?"

"Maybe because I' am." she thought to herself. "Naruto." she spoke. "One day maybe you'll understand."

"no, maybe one day you will."

The two blonds then stared into each other's eyes and in an instant their lips met. It began soft but didn't take long to heat up. The kiss was so intense it sent them both falling on to the ground. Ino was now currently on top of him kissing him deep and hard. Naruto put his arms around her hips to hold her in place. they broke away at the same time. she put her hands on to his face.

"Naruto I want you so bad right now."

The funny thing was that he honestly felt it too. He didn't want to be the bigger person and try to convince her that they shouldn't. he wanted her just as badly.

"Do you?"

"Yes, fuck yes. I don't care if someone walks by and sees us. I need you now."

Naturally he'd give her anything she wanted nothing changed on that front. They kissed again and she lifted herself off of him just so he could free his cock from his pants. To no one's surprise he was already hard. Luckily for them Ino had been wearing a skirt so there wasn't anything to do but slide those panties off and climb back on. She put her hand on to his member which throbbed in her hand.

"Fuck you're so hard." She told him as she kissed him again. She stroked his length and he groaned into her mouth.

"Mm…"

The next thing he felt was the blue-eyed female slowly easing herself down on to his rock solid length.

"Oh shit yes." Ino cried out at the instant feel of his cock slipping into her. "God that feels good."

His hands instantly went on to her hips as he thrust up into her. he groaned out at the hot, tight feel of her surrounding him.

"Shit this feels good."

He grabbed her ass cheeks and pushed her completely down on to his cock.

"Fuck…" Ino shouted with his entire tool being thrust up into her. it felt incredible, the fullness, how thick and hard he was filling up every inch of her womanhood. she didn't understand how she could have gone so long without sex this fulfilling. He reached up to squeeze her breasts through her shirt.

"Mm...yeah Naruto that feels good."

"Ride me." He moaned. "I want you to ride me."

She did and slowly began to move herself up and down his throbbing length. She bent over to kiss him before carefully moving herself faster.

"Fuck." He groaned again all he felt was the warm, hot wetness squeezing down on him, letting go, and squeezing again.

"I'm so close…" he thought.

He began to match her movements. He wildly began to pump into her. she moaned upon feeling the throbbing of his member.

"He's close."

She paused when she felt a few raindrops but it did not stop Naruto who continued to pound her.

"Uh, fuck Naruto right there, again."

He aimed himself at that particular spot.

"Oh shit…"

The rain only began to come down harder. Naruto sharply thrust and cried out. "Oh fuck….I'm cumming."

The first wave of hot white rushed out of him. He violently pulsated within her.

"s-Shit that feels good. I'm going to cum too…" his orgasm made her reach one as well.

"Fuck Ino…" her pussy seemed to be swallowing him whole as a few more spurts erupted from him. After a few more hard thrusts he pulled out of her and she fell down on top of him. The rain was still coming down and covering them both.

"Naruto…"

He looked up into her lost blue orbs.

"Yeah," he breathed.

"I fucking hate the rain."

He could only watch as she carefully slid off of him. She fixed herself back and he sat up too with his cock slowly returning to a state of rest.

"I need a moment okay." She said no more and walked off. Naruto waited a few moments and once she wasn't within earshot he took out his phone.

"Hello, Temari-chan. Yeah it's me…we're on our way."