Naruto: A New Perspective

Chapter 18

"Come on, Naruto!" Ino had woken him up early a few days later so she could catch him before he went to meet his team, dragging him off towards the shopping district.

If anything had distracted him from training the last couple of days, it was his new girlfriend. She was proud of him for being in the finals, but Ino wanted what seemed to be every second of his time... she demanded it, and Naruto couldn't say no. His training had been greatly reduced by Ino's constant desire to spend time with him; it was nice in a way, that someone actually liked being around him in an intimate way... but Naruto was getting frustrated by how little he was getting done in terms of improving himself for the finals.

"Ino-chan, I have to train!" Naruto complained, "Why are we going shopping anyways?"

"Because you need something that doesn't scream 'kill me!'" Ino retorted, "Everyone goes after you and sees you as a target, we have to fix that, and the first step to showing it is a new wardrobe. How can you become a Chuunin if your clothes are suited for a clown?"

"I like orange though." Naruto protested, he really did like his jumpsuit; it made people notice him, even if it was only as a clown. Sure it wasn't appropriate for a ninja, but Naruto never cared about that before. The biggest problem Naruto had with shopping was that Ino might go somewhere that didn't want to sell to him, those places were numerous.

Ino began to rattle off the things he needed, "Some new pants, shirts, jacket, and maybe a bandana to cover your hair, it's like staring into the sun."

"You don't cover your hair," Naruto quickly pointed out, Ino slowed her run, but didn't let go of her tight grip on Naruto's hand.

Ino admitted, "It's true, I should... but look at my hair, it's beautiful, how could I possibly mess it up by wearing a bandana?"

"You could cut it," Naruto suggested, "Wouldn't that make it easier?"

His girlfriend paused, and idly fingered her long ponytail, "Do you think short hair is cute, Naruto?"

"Huh?" Naruto scratched his head, "Not really"Naruto said

Ino scowled a bit, "Naruto... come on, lets go get you some real clothes."

Thus, at the major attire store for ninja, Naruto was introduced to the 'wonderful' world of clothes shopping. Naruto may have gained some semblance of patience during his time as a genin, but nothing could prepare him for the long, never ending bore that was clothes shopping. His heart was pounding out of his heart as he distractedly glanced at the manager who held an obvious look of distaste. Ino didn't seem to notice though, and Naruto wasn't about to tell her he wanted to leave.

Everything Ino showed him was nice, and he told her as much... but like all (most) women, Ino couldn't accept anything but her own council. She critiqued everything, deciding whether that this or that would clash, comparing prices, making Naruto model for her... it was endless.

Naruto thanked the gods that he actually had a bit of money saved up, Tazuna had come through and recently sent in the extra cash for the A rank mission, and it was a pretty tidy sum, even split between five people. But Naruto had hoped to save that money up for a rainy day, which usually came around a lot for him... but when she asked how much he had saved of course he told her...

'Me and my big mouth...' Naruto thought bitterly, as the clothing piled up in his arms, with a quick seal he made two bunshin to help with the load. One took the regular clothes Ino was buying for herself, another took her ninja outfits, and the last took his ninja outfits. Ino's eyes lit up, "Great idea! Now we can get even more!"

Naruto groaned.

"What was that?"

Ino's expression became dangerous, and Naruto stammered, "N-Nothing, Ino... eheh..."