Chapter Ten: Hina-Naru-Ino

(A Week Later)

It was a clear sunny day in Konoha and everyone was taking advantage of the serene atmosphere. Naruto was walking around the village by himself after Jiraiya gave him the day off to allow his body to recuperate from last week's training. Naruto figured that it was just an excuse for him to go about doing his 'research' for his Icha Icha Paradise series.

He thought about going to visit Sandaime but then he remembered that Sandaime went out on a vacation trip with his grandson Konohamaru (age 6) and won't be back for another three days.

Tsunade was going to be busy all day at the office; something about diplomats from other villages coming to discuss some trading negotiations. Kakashi was out on an A-Rank mission and won't be back for another two days and Shizune was stuck at the hospital with a patient in critical condition.

Simply put it, Naruto was down on his luck today; his family was too busy with his or her own things and currently had no time for him.

This totally sucks, big time, Naruto thought.

'Don't feel dejected Naruto,' Minato said, 'I'm still around.'

I know father, Naruto replied, I just need to find something to do to keep me busy really.

'You can always go hangout with your friends from the academy,' Minato suggested, 'I'm sure that they'll be more than happy to hangout with you.'

True, Naruto replied, But many of them are busy today, and the all 'omnipotent' Sasuke is still with the "I must become stronger than you Naruto" complex.

'Then why not invite those two girls to hangout with you,' Minato said, 'If anything, Hinata and Ino would more than likely drop whatever it is they're doing in a heartbeat to hangout with you. And I know their fathers would definitely let them without any argument since both Hiashi and Inoichi know I'm your father.'

If I didn't not any better father I'd say you were trying to play matchmaker here, Naruto replied with a grin on his face, Not that I'm complaining. What girl in Konoha wouldn't want to date the son of great Yondaime Hokage?

Naruto heard Minato chuckling in his mind

'Don't get full of yourself my boy,' Minato advised, 'Though I may be revered as one of the greatest shinobis however, when it came to courting your birth mother I turned into a total idiot and she'd scold me for my love for ramen. She used to say that I love ramen more than how I loved her.'

Naruto started laughing on hearing what his father had told him while bystanders looked at him questionably.

(Meanwhile)

Ino was at her parents' flower shop helping her mother tend to a customer with the bouquet of exotic roses he was ordering. While this was going on, Naruto soon entered the shop and greeted them.

"Hello everyone," Naruto greeted as Ino and her mother turned to him. Ino smiled, obviously happy to see him, "Naruto-kun, what brings you here?"

"My folks are all busy today and I had no one to hangout with," he explained, "I was going to ask if you wanted to come and spend the day with me Ino-chan, but since you're helping out with-"

"Actually Ino wasn't doing much here anyway," Ino's mother suddenly cut, "In fact she can go and hangout with you now!"

"You sure," Naruto asked quizzically.

"Positive," Mrs. Yamanaka smiled as she gestured to her daughter to go on her way. Ino flashed her mother a 'thank you' smile before running over Naruto who turned and exited the shop with her. The customer just shook his head at the scene.

Young love, the customer thought with a grin.

As Naruto and Ino left the shop, out of nowhere they crashed into Hinata. Seeing whom she collided into, Hinata blushed and apologized, "I'm sorry Naruto-kun. I should have been paying more attention to-"

"Don't worry about it Hina-chan," Naruto assured, "Wanna hangout with Ino-chan and me today?"

Blushing redder, Hinata nodded her head. Ino snorted; she was really hoping it was going to be just her and Naruto. She didn't expect Hinata to have shown up out of nowhere so conveniently and bump into them.

"So what do you girls wanna do today?"

"I don't know," Hinata replied, "I was going to…go along with whatever you or Ino had in mind."

"Honestly I really didn't have much on my mind to do today," Naruto said sheepishly, "But I'm sure if we walk around a little we just might think of something."

'Smooth moves Prince Charming,' Minato remarked in sarcasm.

Who asked you, Naruto mentally snorted as he started walking with the two girls at his sides. The trio walked together through the crowd as everyone was going about their business. While they were walking, Ino and Hinata were sharing the same thought.

I wonder how Naruto looks like underneath that mask…I never seen him ever take it off…not once, Ino thought. Before she could say anything, Hinata spoke, "N-Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"How about I treat you to ramen," Hinata offered with a sense of innocence, "I'll get you whatever kind you like."

"Yeah," Naruto yelled excitedly, "Let's go!"

Naruto hurried to Ichiraku with Ino and Hinata almost being dragged along with him. Ino wondered why on earth Hinata would treat Naruto to that stuff although knowing just how much he loves that stuff. That was when a revelation dawn on her as to why Hinata was treating him to ramen. A smile formed on Ino's face.

"HINATA, THAT WAS BRILLIANT!," inner Ino yelled happily, "I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW CUNNING YOU CAN BE! If Naruto is to eat, he'll definitely have to remove his mask. It's completely simple and perfect!"

It wasn't long before they reached their destination. The trio sat down together at the bar Teuchi greeted them.

"Hello you three," Teuchi greeted, "What'll you three have?"

"Oh," Hinata said, "It's not for me or Ino. We're treating Naruto-kun."

"Really," Teuchi replied in somewhat disbelief before turning to Naruto, "You're a very lucky kid Naruto. I didn't have that privilege back in my days. (Teasingly) You must have made quite an impression on these two ladies if they're treating you and not the other way around."

"Teuchi-jiisan," Naruto retorted with a blush burned on his cheeks, but was only partially scene from above the mask, "Just make one of my favorites."

"What are you talking about? They're all your favorites," Teuchi teased again before making Naruto his bowl.

"Why aren't you two eating," Naruto asked.

"I'm not hungry really," Hinata replied with the same sense of innocence.

"Me too," Ino said. Naruto eyed the both of them. The girls were acting like they had nothing to hide. He wondered what it was they were up to. Several minutes later, Ayame (age 15) came in and greeted, "Naruto-kun, I'm happy to see you again."

"The feeling's mutual," Naruto greeted back, "And how are you?"

"I'm O.K.," Ayame said before asking teasingly, "Who're your girlfriends?"

Naruto and both Ino and Hinata both blushed heavily on hearing that, although Hinata blushed a shade of red neither Naruto nor Ino could possibly match against. Hinata almost fainted from the comment alone had she not remembered that she'd have fallen off her stool if she did. Ino on the other hand thought she could get used to being called Naruto's girlfriend.

"To my right is Hyuugu Hinata and next to her is Yamanaka Ino. They're my classmates from the academy."

"Ino and Hinata," Ayame greeted, "It's a pleasure to see you two. Naruto is our best and favorite customer here so you both better treat him right. OK?"

Ayame winked at the masked blonde. Naruto sweated-dropped. It was as though it was an all-for-one teasing day on Naruto, he thought. Soon Teuchi came with Naruto's bowl of beef ramen.

"Here you go Naruto," Teuchi said as he handed him his bowl and chopsticks.

"Thanks," Naruto replied happily as he inhaled the steam from the bowl with the chopsticks in his hand. Ino and Hinata looked on at him quietly. Naruto looked at his bowl while feeling two pair of eyes staring right him. Turning to the two girls, he asked, "Why are you two staring at me?"

"We're not staring," Ino replied, "Just waiting for you. That's all."

Hinata just fiddled with her fingers as though she was nervously waiting for something. He looked at them suspiciously before shrugging. Turning back to his bowl, Naruto moved his hand to his mask. Hinata and Ino held their breaths as they awaited him to remove it.

"HEY INO! HINATA!"

Both girls yelped in surprise as they turned to see Kiba appearing from behind them with Akamaru in his jacket. Chouji, Shino and Shikamaru followed close by as they entered the small diner.

"What are you two doing here," Kiba asked. Ino replied, "What do you think? We're here hanging with Naru-"

That was when both Ino and Hinata turned to face Naruto, who now had his mask back on his face with a satisfied smile hidden inside the mask. The bowl in front of him was completely empty of all its contents.

"That was really good," Naruto thanked, "Thanks for the meal Hina-chan."

Although she blushed however, both girls frowned at how Naruto devoured the ramen with such inhuman efficiency while missing the chance to see his face without the mask on.

"DAMN IT!," inner Ino yelled with flames behind her, "WE WERE SO CLOSE! DAMN YOU KIBA!"

"You mean you both were here treating Naruto to lunch," Kiba remarked to with a tinge of jealousy, "You two never treated any of us guys to lunch."

"How troublesome," Shikamaru stated in boredom. Chouji was busy eating his chips while Shino remained as quiet as ever with his hands in his jacket pockets.

"Hey while we're here," Kiba suggested, "Why don't we all get some ramen!? It'll be the girls' treat!"

Kiba suddenly found himself with his face to the ground with a lump on his head in courtesy of Ino who was now standing over him with her fist clenched tightly. Akamaru whimpered from underneath Kiba having taken the full brunt of the fall with his master top of him. Ino turned and grabbed Naruto's hand and dragged him out of the diner, "Let's go!"

Hinata paid for the food before she got up and apologized for Ino's actions and bowed to her friends before following Ino and Naruto; the lavender haired girl she that her plan ended in failure. Chouji and Shino helped Kiba off the floor.

"That Ino," Shikamaru mumbled, "She's so troublesome."

(Meanwhile)

Ino was still holding Naruto's hand as she was taking him to practically nowhere.

"Exactly where are we going," Naruto asked after a period of silence.

"Anywhere as long as we don't have to deal with boys looking for free meals at our expense," Ino retorted; ironic really since it was Hinata who treated Naruto to lunch with the intent on seeing his face which Ino figured out.

"You can let go of my hand now Ino," Naruto said, "I think it's safe to say that we're in the clear now."

Realizing that she was still holding Naruto's hand, Ino reluctantly released it, with a small blush on her cheeks.

"Sorry," Ino said, "I forgot myself there for a minute."

'That's an understatement,' Minato commented.

Naruto simply agreed but grinned underneath the mask, "I know where we can go! Follow me!"

The two girls nodded their head and followed Naruto to where he was going as he started running through the streets. Hinata and Ino made the effort to keep up with him but he was moving at a speed much faster than theirs.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata said, "We're not as fast as you!"

"You can at least slow the paste down enough for us to keep up," Ino added.

"Are you kidding me," Naruto said, "This is slow compared to how fast I can really go."

Naruto slowed down enough to allow both girls to catch up. When they reached him however, Naruto grabbed both of their hands and held onto them tightly as he ran faster with them being made to keep up with his speed.

"NARUTO!" Ino yelled, a cry that fell on deaf ears as Naruto simply laughed. In spite of this, Hinata just blushed crimson on the fact that Naruto was actually holding her hand.

(A While Later)

Naruto, Ino and Hinata found themselves at one of the training grounds. No one else was there besides them. Both girls were taking in large gasps of air almost as though they were deprived of oxygen.

"C'mon," Naruto teased, "How do you both hope to become great kunoichis if you're complaining about being out of breath already?"

"Well forgive us for not possessing your stamina," Ino shot back.

"There's nothing to forgive," Naruto replied, "You both will just have to work harder like I do, especially if you both want to maintain those nice figures of yours."

That last comment caught Ino and Hinata off guard, as they both blushed and looked away shyly.

He thinks I have a nice figure, Hinata and Ino smiled and thought at the same time, Does that mean he likes me?

Naruto smirked as their reactions. Breaking whatever thoughts they were daydreaming about, Naruto said, "Hey, whose up for some sparring?!"

The girls broke out their dreams to look at Naruto incredulously.

"Spar with you," Ino said, when inner Ino suddenly said, "This'll be perfect! That way I can yank off Naruto's mask and see how he really looks like underneath it. He must be hiding something if he's always wearing that mask all the time!"

"I accept," Ino replied.

"And you Hinata," Naruto offered, "You two can double time me if you want."

"He's making this too easy," inner Ino shouted happily as though victory would be quick and sure.

"Are you sure Naruto-kun," Hinata asked. Naruto replied, "Trust me; your hits couldn't possibly be anywhere near as hard as kaa-chan's."

"Oh yeah," Ino shouted, "We'll see about that!"

And with that Naruto took a fighting stance as the girls did likewise. Hinata activated her Byakugan and assumed the Hyuuga fighting stance. Naruto eyed both females cautiously, as they all wondered who was going to begin the spar.

"Anytime now," Naruto invited, "I don't have all day. So you either come at me or-"

Naruto didn't finish his speech when he suddenly dashed at the girls who were caught off guard by his actions. He did a palm strike to their chest sending them flying backwards off the ground momentarily before they landed down on the ground in a thud.

"I'll come at you," Naruto said with a grin on his covered face. The girls soon got up from off the ground. Ino saw that parts of her clothes and hair now had dirt and bit on grass on them, as did Hinata.

"You're gonna regret that," Ino declared as she and Hinata readied themselves to attack.

"Come make me, girlfriends," Naruto taunted while doing a hand gesture inviting her to come at him. Ino and Hinata charged at Naruto at full throttle, throwing as many punches as they could at him. Naruto simply dodged and evaded every last one of them as though he was taking a walk through the beach. During this process, Ino made several attempts to grab and pull off his mask, but he was too fast for her to make contact.

He jumped away from them, but Hinata followed in hot pursuit. Stopping, Naruto charged at Hinata and threw fast punches, kicks and palms strikes at her. Hinata dodged, blocked, ducked and evaded his attacks as they came and she threw punches and kicks of her own. Ino soon came and rejoined Hinata in battling with Naruto. If one was looking carefully you think Naruto was dancing ballet with both girls at the same time seeing how fluid and swift his movements were. Naruto soon started moving faster, making it harder for Ino and Hinata to keep up.

Sudden as Ino and Hinata charged as him, he dashed pass them at a speed their eyes couldn't see. Seconds later, they found themselves falling to the ground flat on their faces. When they tried to get back up however, to their horror they saw that their legs didn't work anymore.

"My…My legs," Ino cried as she tried to push herself off the ground, "I can't feel my legs!"

Hinata was in shock at what just befell them. Did Naruto cripple them, she wonder, it was supposed to be a 'friendly' sparring match. Naruto walked over to them and with his index finger, he hit a certain section on their backs. When that was done, he stood in front of them with a grin on his masked face.

"Ino-chan, Hina-chan. You two can stand up now," he said.

"Is that some kind of joke," Ino barked, "This is all your fault! We can't move our legs!"

"Really," Naruto said as he moved and grabbed one of their two feet, removing their sandals before tickling their feet. Ino and Hinata laughed hysterically as they struggled to break free, senselessly not realizing that they were kicking Naruto with their other free foot. Naruto released them and said, "Your feet seem fine to me if you both can kick that hard."

That was when they realized that they could indeed move their legs after all. Putting their sandals back on, Hinata asked, "Why was it that we couldn't…move our feet for a moment?"

"Pressure point," Naruto answered, "I hit one of your pressure points cutting off your brains' sensory to your legs thus momentarily laming you both. After I unlocked it when I hit your backs a second time, were you two able to stand and walk again. And for the record, during our match, I could have done that the entire time."

Ino and Hinata were left speechless. Exactly how advanced a fighter and shinobi was Naruto if he was capable of something like this. This only served to induce Ino and Hinata to learn more the blond braided-ponytail shinobi.

"Well I had fun," Naruto smiled, "Thank you Hina-chan and Ino-chan for showing me a good time. How about I drop you both home?"

"Naruto-kun," Ino said.

"Yeah?"

"Hinata and I have been meaning to ask you this; what's with that mask you wear all the time? Do you have something to hide or do having some kind of disfiguration you don't want people to see?"

"You two wanna see what's under my mask," Naruto said, "If that's the case, all you had to do was just ask."

Hinata and Ino looked at him stupefied, as though they were thrown into a loop.

"THAT'S IT!?," inner Ino exclaimed, "That was all we had to do!?"

"You two wanna see underneath this mask?"

The two females nodded eagerly.

"…Alright then," Naruto sighed as he moved his hand to his mask. Ino and Hinata pictured several variations of how Naruto would look like based on their own ideas of what makes a guy look really cute. Upon reaching his mask, Naruto pulled it down to reveal…

"ANOTHER MASK!," Ino shouted in disbelief before her and Hinata went into a daze and fell backwards. Naruto chuckled to himself as he went over and picked up both girls, carrying each of them over his shoulders as he walked off with them back to the village.

Too bad they didn't asked to see underneath the second mask, Naruto thought with a smile, They'd have seen my face that time. Oh well…

(An Hour Later)

Naruto was standing on top of the roof of one of the buildings. Both girls were still knocked out. He gently set Hinata and Ino down before picked Ino up again, carrying her bridal style this time as he hurried made his way to her house. After dropping her off to her father Inoichi and explaining what happened, Inoichi took and carried his daughter to her bedroom after giving his good-byes to Naruto.

With that task done, Naruto then hurried back to Hinata. Reaching her, he lifted and carried her bridal style and hurried to the Hyuuga compound.

(Thirty Minutes Later)

Ino opened her eyes and found herself back in her bedroom. She sat up and asked aloud, "What happened? I don't remember coming back here."

A minute later, the door to her room opened. She turned and saw her father entering the room.

"Ino you're awake," Inoichi smiled, "Naruto carried you back all the way home. He said that you and Hinata wore yourselves out to exhaustion while sparring with him. The boy must have some stamina to be able to go toe on toe with you two girls and then carry you both all the way home after you and Hinata passed out. From what he told me, both you and Hinata made quiet a team giving him a good fight. He said that you girls should spar with him again sometime."

Ino knew why she and Hinata passed out and was surprised that Naruto covered for both her and Hinata. She couldn't image the embarrassment she'd have experienced were Naruto to tell her father what really happened, although most of what Naruto said was true. For Inoichi, his only regret was that he didn't have his camera with him upon seeing his sleeping daughter being carried home by Naruto. He'd have never let her hear the end of it.

(Meanwhile)

Hinata had already woke in her room, surprise in her expression. She wondered how she got back as she got up and left the room only to see Neji (age 12) making his way toward her room.

"Hinata-sama," Neji greeted with a cold demeanor. Hinata partially fidgeted, but not like she used to.

"Neji-niisan," Hinata replied back.

"You finally woke up," Neji said, "Naruto-sama carried you back here."

"He…did," she asked with a reddened face that held a small smile of joy, "He…carried me all the way back here?"

"Yes and he dropped off Ino as well. He explained to Hiashi-sama that you and Ino were sparring with him until you and Ino wore yourselves out to the point that you both passed out. Hiashi-sama was most pleased with the details Naruto provided him with about your style of fighting."

Hinata was in her own world now; not only did Naruto carried her all the way home, but he put a good word in with her father. Had Naruto told Hiashi as to why she really passed out, she could only wonder how her father would have reacted. Still, she knew she gave Naruto a good spar, as she usually tries to do whenever they spar together.

"I'll be on my way now," Neji said with same demeanor as he turned and walked off, not giving her a second look. Neji couldn't believe how Hinata had improved from the way he remembered her to be. Still, Neji believed that fate can't be changed, and that Hinata, in spite of her evident improvements, won't change at all.

(Elsewhere)

Sasuke was walking through town with Sakura following close by. He sighed to himself that Sakura wouldn't leave him alone for once. As this was going on, they soon saw Naruto walking towards them from the opposite direction.

"Hey Sakura! Sasuke," Naruto greeted.

"Hey Naruto," Sakura greeted back, "Where are you coming from?"

"Just came from dropping Ino and Hinata off at their homes after spending the day sparring with them," Naruto answered, "Those two were relentless."

"Hn," Sasuke snorted, At least those two girls know how to spend their time, rather than wasting it being flirts like some annoying pink-haired fangirl I know of.

Sakaru made a mental note to get all of the details from Ino about what happened. It was definitely something she had to get the latest info on.

"Well, I have to be going," Naruto said, "Kaa-chan and Shizune-neechan said they'll be home around this time. See ya."

With that Naruto continued on his way home leaving Sasuke and Sakura.

"So Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, "You wanna spar with me sometime?"

"No," was all Sasuke said coldly as he started walking off leaving Sakura behind. Dejected, Sakura's head slumped as she wondered why Sasuke was always so cold towards her.

I sometimes wish Sasuke-kun could be more like Naruto, Sakura thought.

(All The While)

Two figures with ceremonial bamboo hats wearing dark black robes with red clouds drawn around their robes were standing on the roof looking down at Naruto as he happily made his way back home at the Hokage mansion.

"So that little blond kid is the one," asked the taller shark-faced figure with a large bandaged sword carried on his back.

"Yes," replied his partner with his fully developed Sharigan activated, looking at Naruto with narrow eyes, "He's the one our organization wants us to bring back. But we'll wait a while longer."

"…," the shark-man simply nodded before they vanished from the roof…

This doesn't sound good to say the least and it appears that Naruto has trouble waiting for him on the horizon. Will Naruto be able to come out of it in one piece? Find out next time.