"New Sunshine"

Chapter 5: Of Meetings and Lunch Dates

Chapter 5: Of Meetings and Lunch Dates

"Oh, the joys of being the daughter of the owner." Ino commented to herself as she let herself inside the house. "I hope Inari isn't too mad about taking off as soon as we open up." She let out a yawn, "After staying up all night with Naruto, I'm just too tired to go to work today."

She paused for a moment as her mind drifted back to last night, "Naruto..." Once they had returned from the bar, she pestered him about it until he finally opened up. It wasn't that she was curious, but that Naruto was holding so much emotional energy inside and the only way to release it was to talk about the memories causing it.

The stories she heard were nothing close to what she had imagined. Some were sad, some made her hate Sakura, some envious, and a few made her blush as they seemed like private moments. At the end of all of it, she found herself wishing she was in Sakura's shoes. "Forehead, you really are an idiot. I'd give up my clan status and shinobi license just to have someone love me as much as Naruto loves you."

She sat her bag on the table and let out another a yawn. The lack of sleep she got last night had definitely taken its toll on her. Within minutes she had a pot of coffee on and her personal mug on the table.

"Nothing beats coffee in the morning... except a shower." She reached over and turned the coffee maker off, and while humming a small tune, proceeded through the hallway and up the stairs. It was still early, about seven to be exact, and if she knew Naruto, he was probably still sound asleep on the couch. Reaching up, she unbuttoned her sleeveless vest and draped it over her shoulders. With the same practiced ease she removed her bra and pushed open the door to her bathroom.

Too tired to notice, a shocked and naked Naruto stood near the bathtub with a towel in his hands drying off his hair. "Uh..." He eyes were wide, his spine had a frightful chill running up and down with the rest of his body paralyzed with fear.

"Oh, hey Naruto." She said nonchalantly while throwing her vest and bra on the sink. She went to unclasp her skirt... then it dawned on her. She slowly turned her head, praying that her mind was playing tricks on her.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" She screamed as loud as she could.

XX

Naruto, with a fresh black eye, laid on the couch unhappily. Across from him, in the lazy boy chair, was a freshly showered and fully dressed Ino, "Hey, don't be mad at me. At least you got to see my breasts."

"Pfft, you got to see the whole package. I don't exactly call that fair." He eyed her accusingly.

"Could be worse." Ino winked at him, "It could've been the other way around."

"Erm."

"Well... unless you're secretly gay." She gave him a teasing smile.

"Huh? Hell no!" He denied energetically.

With a carefree bounce and hop, Ino plopped down into his lap, forcing an "Oof" to escape from his mouth. She wrapped an arm around his neck as if it was the natural thing to do, "Yeah, you're definitely gay."

"Oh really? What makes you say that?"

"Any guy would have a positive reaction to a beautiful girl such as myself sitting in their lap." Ino burst in laughter as his face turned beet red. "For a pervert, you get red real easy around girls. Or am I just that beautiful?"

She leaned forward and gave him a sudden kiss on the cheek. "What was that for?" He questioned with a blush.

"For being you. Welcome back to the land of the living. You had me worried last night. I was about to have a nervous breakdown over you."