Tick tick.
Naruto looked at Ino and blinked twice. At the same time, he pieced everything together in his mind. Then, he lowered his eyes slightly, and spoke, "Should I go explain things to them?"
"Explain what?" Ino frowned.
"After everything that happened, I couldn't reach you for days. I was worried sick." Naruto lowered his head and pondered for a moment, "I couldn't sleep at night and couldn't focus during the day."
This was one of Naruto's classic moves. No matter what, he would first play the sympathy card and then make a transition to actively lead the topic to the relationship between the two.
He ran his fingers through his blond hair, and spoke in a slightly hoarse voice.
"I waited two days, but there was no word from you. I was going crazy thinking about you. At night, the apartment felt so empty, just me alone, helpless."
"Every... every night, I hugged my pillow, wishing it was you. The only thing that gave me any comfort was catching your scent on the sheets."
"These past few days, I've been desperate. and I've thought a lot, and... I think I finally understand. Ino, I can't live without you."
"I know I've been greedy before, but I... I really missed you. I can't stand being apart from you anymore. Ino, can you forgive me?"
"No."
Ino sat on the couch with her hands folded, clearly sulking, "I'm not your anything. Why should I forgive you? What right do I have to?"
"Ino... will you be my girlfriend?" Naruto threw himself at her, wrapping his arms around her, greedily inhaling the familiar scent of her skin.
This is a lie.
It was just another one of his tricks, which is taking what should have been established long ago and playing it as a last resort. After all, before they have any intimate contact, they should have confirmed their relationship as a couple.
But Naruto was too slick, and Ino nor Hinata were not the type to make a scene. They were so busy being emotional that he managed to fool them.
So now, in the face of this completely unforeseen accident, he was pulling out this trump card. To advance in order to retreat. It seemed that the relationship had taken a big step forward, but in fact, it was just a step back.
Ino heard the answer she wanted, but was also made a little weak by his sudden ambush, her whole body tingling.
"I... I don't know. I need to think about it." Ino murmured, her voice already wavering.
Saying that she needs to think about it basically meant that she had agreed.
Naruto's mouth curled up slightly, and he breathed a sigh of relief. This thing was too brain-burning, but fortunately, he reacted quickly on the spot.
Ino said she was considering it, and she was indeed shaken in her heart. But when she thought about the time he and Hinata spent together, about all the moments she wasn't part of, her chest tightened.
Even though he apologized and explained, the anger kept building in her heart. Yes, because she was jealous. Just like the relationship that should have been established but was absent, this jealousy also came very late.
Maybe it was because of that conversation she'd had with Hinata in the bath six years ago. Maybe they had been competing againt each other, but refusing to ask.
Whatever the reason, she was jealous now. And she was not happy.
Naruto trailed kisses from her neck to the corner of her lips, finally brushing them lightly against hers before pulling back to look at her seriously.
"So... when will you have an answer?"
"I don't know." Ino turned her head slightly. In fact, she was already hesitating, and was most likely leaning toward that answer in her heart.
But for some reason, even though they were right there, she didn't want to give in so easily, and she wanted to make him wait out of spite.
Naruto didn't react, just stunned for a moment. Seeing him like this, Ino's heart twisted, and she stood abruptly.
"I'm going home."
"Okay."
"..." Ino almost couldn't believe it and forgot to take a step. She had just been putting on a show.
In fact, she only needed him to coax her a little more, and she would definitely agree. She had even thought about it the moment she stood up. But she didn't expect it to be like this.
The weight in her chest plummeted straight to the pit of her stomach.
Ino's breath hitched, and pursing her lips, she turned and walked away. She slipped on her shoes at the entrance, stepped out, and closed the door behind her.
The hallway was bathed in sunlight and the cool wind was blowing gently.
Staring at the shadowed staircase ahead, she felt like crying, but she held back the tears. The hope in her chest faded, sinking to the bottom.
'Maybe this is for the best.' Ino thought as she walked down the stairs with heavy steps. At this moment, she's telling herself she'd go home, pretend nothing was wrong, and deal with it alone.
If he really didn't care anymore, then she'd be happy for Hinata.
'Whoever he ended up with, he'd be happy, right? I'd just... quietly forget, and no one would even notice.'
As she was thinking, Ino had already walked downstairs. She looked back at the dimly lit building. When she saw no one came out to chase her, the last sliver of hope in her heart vanished.
Walking through Konoha's streets, the warm sunshine shone on her body but she could not feel any temperature at all.
It was not until she saw the Yamanaka Flower Shop in the distance that the grievances in her heart gradually overflowed.
'How could someone I've loved for so long just...'
She took a deep breath and took a step forward, her eyes completely blurred by tears.
Suddenly, she felt herself being pulled by a huge force.
The next second, she was suddenly hugged by someone and a familiar scent flooded her senses.
…
In the quiet alley.
Naruto stood in the shadow on the side with his back to the light, while the tip of Ino's shoe just aimed at the light-dark line created by the sunlight, and her whole body was bathed in gold.
She suddenly raised her head, her throat was no longer able to make any sound. She was afraid that if she tried speaking, her voice would shake. But her body was still trembling, and her tears betrayed her.
"You... you didn't..." Ino looked up at him, her voice cracked.
"Hm? You haven't gone home yet. And you call yourself a Shinobi. I have followed you all the way." Naruto said with a smirk, "When it comes to loving you, I've never hesitated. I was just figuring out how to express it."
"So... have you figured it out now?"
"Yeah." He lowered his head and kissed her, his lips lightly touching her lips, then he pulled back to meet her eyes and said seriously, "Some people are just meant to be together. Like you and me."