INFATUATION

7.

"I'm glad we can finally meet up again, Ino." You smiled, taking a scoop of cake and bringing it up to your mouth. Ino nodded, she leaned her cheek against her palm. "I know, I knew ninja work was hard but.. I didn't expect it to cut our hang time almost entirely!" She whined.

You carefully placed a hand over hers, "We'll get through it, don't worry." She made an effort to believe you, sighing out, "Maybe you're right," Ino then smirked evilly. "How's Sakura? Still no luck shrinking that big forehead of hers, huh?" You forced out a small chuckle.

"I guess not.. but, Sakura's good! I don't.. think she likes me much." You crossed your arms. "But I don't think I like her either.." you mumbled. Ino laughed at this. "Still no luck with Sasuke either.. right?"

You shook your head. "Nope. Not at all. But uhm, how are you and your team?" Ino shrugged. "Not bad. Our sensei has a smoking problem, though."

"Does it affect his skill?"

"No, but it affects his awful aroma." She stuck her tongue out playfully. She took a sip from her healthy smoothie, making a face right after. You grimaced at it. "That looks gross. Why did you get that? We're at a café, there's better stuff you know." She frowned sadly.

"Well.. to be totally honest.. Choji has been sharing his snacks with us a bit too much." Ino placed her hands over her tummy. "He makes them look so good too! I can't help myself! Even when he's not around, I crave his chips. So I've been having to go out and buy a bag for myself.." she explained, a gloomy aura surrounding her as she hung her head.

You frowned, "Ino.. just eat, you're a growing kunoichi! You gotta give into the need sometimes! Besides, someone as pretty as you couldn't ever become unattractive. Especially if you're just gaining a little weight. So, don't even stress over it." You tried comforting.

A blush painted itself on Ino's cheeks. She nervously laughed and placed a hand on her warm face. "Maybe you're right.." She cleared her throat. "You and Naruto seem closer. Did something happen?—" She then smirked.

"—Is it because of that kiss~" Now it was your turn to blush. You quickly looked around to see if anyone heard. "Ino!" You gasped. "No! It's not that!" Your hands covered your reddened face.

Ino laughed while you cooled down. "It happened after Naruto snuck into Sasuke's room." You admitted. Ino hummed and placed a hand on her chin. "I think I remember that... Yeah! My team was right next to that!" She recalled.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

(FLASHBACK CHAPTERRRR :33)

You rubbed your hands together in an attempt to get them warm. "Fuck, it's cold." You mumbled to yourself. You noticed Naruto from a distance, he was seated on a presumably cold bench.

'Naruto?? What is he doing all alone.. and at night?' You stared at him for a moment, debating whether or not to check up on him. With a sigh, you practically forced yourself to go. You may not have been on good terms, but your sympathy outweighs your anger.

"Isn't it a bit too late for you to be out here, Uzumaki." You asked, cupping your hands over your mouth, then exhaling onto them to get warm. He quickly looked up, almost as if you scared him. Which you definitely did.

Once Naruto realized it was you, he let himself relax. "Geez, you're good at popping up randomly.." He frowned at you. You laughed, "Sorry. I was on my way to Ichiraku's." You took a seat beside him. Almost immediately regretting it.

You shrieked and stiffened up, "This bench is as cold as ice.." You shivered. He glanced at you, then sadly looked away again.

You furrowed your brows, hugging your body, but still staying. "What's up? You're not usually this quiet." Naruto sighed, "I blew my chances with Sakura.." He admitted.

You stared curiously, "Huh.. What happened?" Naruto fiddled with his fingers. "Well.. She invited me to have some ramen with her but.." He gulped, "I-I thought.. it was Sasuke playing a trick on me and.."

"No..." You whispered, already guessing what he had done. Naruto covered his face with his hands, bushing in embarrassment. "yes.." he whined. You held back on laughing. "Oh." You cleared your throat.

"Well.. I'm sure there will be more chances, don't feel too bad. After all, we're gonna be stuck together for a while." You sighed, Naruto smiled a bit, "Yeah.. You're right!" His smile then grew. He jumped off the bench excitedly. "Maybe soon Sakura's gonna see how cool I am! And then she'll forget all about Sasuke! Believe it!"

You nodded, pretending to agree. 'Keep dreaming..'

"Thanks Y/n.. Maybe you're not as bad as I thought after all!" He smiled, you stared up at him curiously. "After all?" you repeated. Naruto froze, "Well.." He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "To be honest, a long time ago.. When we first joined the academy I thought you were cool, way better than Sasuke! You were really nice and-"

'Pretty.'

"And.. you treated me like I was normal!" Naruto then frowned. "Unlike everyone else.." He mumbled. "But, I remember one day after class, someone told me it was all a joke."

"Huh?? What do you mean by a joke?? Who said this." You stood up off the bench.

"I-.. don't really remember who. But I was scared they were telling the truth, and I hated you because of that. I'm sorry that I didn't confront you about it first.. That was super dumb of me."

You stayed quiet for a bit. 'That explains a lot, actually..' You sighed. "At least now I know."

You smiled a bit. "Now that you know it was only a rumor.. Can we start over?" Naruto smiled back at you, "Yeah!"

He shyly looked away, "Can we maybe.. get Ramen together..?" You happily agreed. "Of course! Let's hurry, it's so cold out here I might actually freeze to death." Naruto's face lit up, he had an idea.

"Here, take this for now." He unzipped his jacket and tossed it onto your head. "Hey!" You quickly tried removing it from your eyes. Once you did you carefully placed it over your shoulders. "Are you sure? What if you get cold?" Naruto shook his head. "I'll be fine. I'm not a baby like you." He teased.