Disclaimer: I deny any and all claims to own Naruto, because I uh…don't?

A/n: I have too many new ideas and I wanted to spill them all out before I forgot any of them. Basically it's a NaruIno because I absolutely love them together.

Ino threw the empty box behind her, content to know that it was the last of the some thirty boxes that implicated most of her lifestyle. Grinning, she marveled at the way her room was aligned. "Done! DONE! YES!" She jumped, running out of the room and past the kitchen that meshed with the living room. Placing her hands on her hip, she smiled.

It was a happy feeling to know that she had now officially moved into her one bed-room apartment.

It had taken convincing from her parents as well as patience to come up with the money, but by the age of eighteen Ino Yamanaka was able to move out of her parent's home. Although they were relatively close, fifteen minutes away to be exact, Ino was happy to know that she was taking a stride towards that voyage of womanhood.

The blonde haired glanced out of her window, seeing the rain begin to pitter and patter against the glass. She sighed, rubbing her stomach as the growls soon followed. "I'm so hungry, but I didn't even manage to get groceries." Grimacing at her idiocy she grabbed her umbrella and was determined to walk through the rain.

Uzumaki Naruto strolled silently through the empty streets, his eyes focused towards the concrete. He mentally counted the number of cracks on the floor, apparently bored. While the rain spilled into his hair, dripping against his cheeks, he chose to ignore such and continue about in his pace. Besides, what was the point? The thought of rain never come to mind, and so an umbrella was left forgotten. A little thing like rain wouldn't ruin his day.

He sighed, kicking the pebble out of vision. His attempt to win Sakura failed miserably, as always. And she made it a dark effort to have it established that she had no romantic feelings for him. Again. Sigh.

He'd always ignore it, always ignore the fact that she had only friendly love towards him, in that sense he was ignorant. Yet today, in front of a crowd he had so boldly stated his love in front of, she had condemned him in her reprimand. In a way, he knew it was wrong to nourish off of Sakura's pain, as she was also in despair because of Sasuke. He and Sakura were one and the same.

That was when an apple caught his sight, ending his trail of thought. He glanced northward, eyeing the trail of fruits that carried on in front of him. Grabbing at the drenched fruit, Naruto wrinkled his nose at the strange sight.

"What? What's with all these fruits?" He asked, his vision following the trace of fruits, until it had indeed stopped at a young woman. He caught sight of the blonde hair protruding from the dark jacket as he smiled. Not that Jiraiya's perversion of woman had become a characteristic to the now adult Naruto, but at the fresh age of eighteen it was safe to say that his hormones have kicked in.

For Ino, it wasn't an easy task to concentrate on holding two bags of groceries with the hook of an umbrella on her right hand. With the rain dripping harshly against the cloth of the umbrella, Ino thought she had succeeded in keeping the bags unbroken. "It just doesn't get any better than this?" She remarked sarcastically, her vision darting towards the end of the road; the sight of her apartment leaving her gratified.

"I'm sorry miss…" A voice whispered softly against her ear, her nerves soared as she felt her heart take a leap. With a twist of her neck she took witness of the cornflower mesh of hair that was soaked with water; the sapphire eyes that regularly blazed with happiness now dim beside the murky weather.

"Oh you…" They both blurted out, each scowling in defeat.

"Excuse me?" Ino clutched the umbrella's handle, swiftly turning to meet Uzumaki Naruto. "What do you want, Naruto?" She asked, rather obnoxiously. As if it was more of a duty to acknowledge him, Ino wished she was at her home. Uzumaki Naruto was known as an annoyance, especially by her friend Sakura. Frankly, she didn't want to associate with anyone who obsessed over her rival the way he did.

"Oh, so it's that way I see…" The young man rubbed his neck, raising his eyebrow.

"Ah, so I guess this here is for me." Naruto exposed the now polished apple, bringing it to his lips as he bit into the crimson fruit. Ino widened her eyes in surprise, softly placing her bags on the floor as she returned her gaze to Naruto.

"No. Where did you get that from?"

"This is pretty sweet…good choice Ino." Munching on the sugary apple, he savored the taste of the produce. "By the way, there's plenty of fruit behind me…Oh say around five. That's a lot of wasted money, don't you think?"

"Naruto!" Ino growled under her breath, more for her own lack of knowledge. She stepped to see that there wasn't anything but road ahead of them.

"Ah, but I picked them all up." The young man patted the bulge in his jacket. "You should be careful."

"Yeah, yeah…" She rolled her eyes, pulling out her hand. "Let me get them."

"Wow, that's pretty rude." He then added, "I thought ladies are supposed to be graceful, not spiteful."

Ino bit back a feud of curses, instead she faked a smile. "Oi, I'm sorry for being so rude Naruto, can I have my fruits now?"

"Ah, I knew there was some elegance somewh-OW!" Soon following a strike from Ino, Naruto only grinned knowing it was of his consequence for that mouth of his. "Alright, sheesh." The future Hokage whined, reaching over to grab at her bags of groceries.

"What are you doing?"

"Being a gentle man; isn't that what I'm supposed to do." Came his innocent reply, Ino caught herself flustered under such a surprise. But that would not last long, "Besides you just look so pathetic Ino, I have to do something." His mischievous response left her angered but nevertheless she needed his assist. Feeling slightly generous she adjusted her umbrella over their heads, leaning in closer to protect he as well as herself from the rain, even if did seem meaningless. She chose to ignore his stupid remark, knowing exactly what he meant by that.