Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Unlikely Alliance ❯ Clothed Appropriately ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The clock read 4:00am, and the Yamanaka household was very alive, especially one young kunoichi who was inside, screaming in fury and annoyance.

Ino sat on her bed, hoping that Naruto would get out of the shower soon. Apparently, her suspicions about his hygiene were wrong in immense proportions... It had been fifty minutes, and he was still in there...

"Stupid Naruto..." she muttered to herself, shaking her head. How, if he was so clean-obssessed, did he seem so... dirty? He was always smelling, and he was pretty sure that it wasn't him... Sh'd have to ask him about that later. For now, though, she'd submit to her urge to scream...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH! NARUTO!" she screamed and got up from her bed, fully ready to go over and pound down the door down...

"I'm out!" Naruto called, presumably from the bathroom, and Ino raced to the door. In her haste she didn't notice that Naruto standing at her door.. and they has a collision. Well, THIS was awkward... Naruto, with only his towel, and Ino, spralwed on him, their noses bumping painfully. Only more painful was the CRACK that came from Naruto's back. Ino quickly rose, ashamed and embarrassed.

"INO! You could have NOT run me over in your frantic rush to clean your hair..." he grumbled, sitting up. "If only it was Sakura-chan..."

"HENTAI! NO WONDER you're in Kakashi's team!" Ino screamed, her embarrassment gone suddenly as she smashed the boy over the head and headedfor the bathroom. 'Honestly...'

Only one thought ran through his mind as he lay there, sprawed out on the Yamanaka's hall floor. 'Am I... a pervert?"



~~~~~~~~~
Unlikely Alliance
Chapter One: Clothed Appropriately
V. 2
~~~~~~~~~

Ino sighed as she slowly moved her lipstick across her lips, thinking furiously about the blond genin who was currently on her mother's spare room bed. 'Twas the first day of their punishment, and she was wondering how this would all turn out. Also, who WAS he, really? I mean, who were his parents? What happened to them? The kyubi? 'Maybe, but not likely...' she thought, 'There would be at least ONE 'Uzumaki' on the heroes monument...'.

'There must be some connection, shouldn't there be? Between my parents', and everyone else's, seeming hate or disregard for Naruto and his absent parents? What could it be? Were... were his parents missing-nins? Leaving a newborn baby to live alone? Ino had no memory of Naruto EVER having parents, it seemed... Who'd raised him, really? because there was no-one to take care of him when he was too small to loook after himself...

Then the realisation REALLY hit her... Naruto hadn't had parents. When he learned to throw a shuriken, there was no one to tell happily, when he was sad, no-one to hug or comfort him... The thought really made Ino shudder, and think sadly of all the times she'd woken from a bad nightmare, or when she'd scraped a knee, all of the hugs that Naruto didn't get, and she did... She felt ashamed, when she was picking out presents for her tenth birthday, Naruto had to buy groceries and pay bills... This was sick, truly and utterly. How could the Konoha council, or whoever, do something like that? Sasuke, at least had a decent amount of money left from his family...

'Naruto must've lived on something... Don't be stupid, Ino, it's none of your business. Naruto obviously doesn't want pity, or anything like that you should stop those kind of thoughts at the root.' Ino scolded herself mentally, then put the lipstick in a drawer and headed out of the room to greet her family.

Heading down the hall to her kitchen, the stopped in the doorway, surprised. There were her parents, sitting calmly at the table eating breakfast... Normal, really... Unless you factor in Ino's mother and father talking to Naruto between bites in a nice, friendly matter... Ino hoped this wasn't something bad, anfd just that they'd accepted the fact that this boy was going to be staying with them for a while, and had learned to grin and bear it...

Then Ino saw her father reach over and ruffle his hand in Naruto's hair, like a familiar adult or parent would. For the girl who hadn't expected her parent to be even CIVIL to the boy, this was weird, and unexpected. 'What's going on?' she asked herself, knowing that she just had to find the answer, or else she'd go insane...

"Ohayou, Ino-chan!" her father greeted her warmly. "I gotta day off, so I'm, y'know, gonna be around all day!"

That made Ino grin. "Ohayou Mama, Dad... Naruto..." she said, sitting across the table from him, quickly assessing the table. 'Cereal today, ok, I'll just grab my...'

"THEY'RE ALL GONE! YOU!" Ino made a rush to strangle Naruto.

"Ino-chan, please don't strangle a guest..." Ino's mom whined teasingly. Ino HATED it when her mother whined, and she knew that she did it on purpose to annoy her. She sat back down, and grabbed her next favourite cereal. "I'll go out or groceries today, Mama... Naruto, you comin'?"

THIS was weird, but Naruto wasn't one to pass up an offer to go anywhere with someone if they were willing, even a boring grocery store. What he didn't know is that Ino was planning on making HIM carry it all... "Sure, Ino..." he said hesitantly

~~~

While they headed down the aisles, Naruto looked around. Ino took a quick assessment in her head.

"Naruto, get anything you want," Ino wasn't onew to waste words. Her family had plenty to spare, with a Jounin and a shopowner bringing in money.

"...ANYTHING?" This concept was strange to Naruto, who'd had to scrimp and save to buy the essentials. "Really, Ino?"

"Yeah, we have enough..." Ino didn't care if it sounded like she was bragging, because... well, that's how Ino is, really...

Naruto's eyes widened in glee, and he set about picking thijgs off shelves, with Ino just behind picking up the family foods she needed. Within twenty minutes, their cart ewas full and they were paying.

"15,000 ¥ please," an elderly woman said in a droning voice, her dull, yellow-green uniform unmatching the smart blue ones worn by the other cashiers.

"With pleasure!" Ino said, proffering a credit card.

After finishing, the woman passed the card back and said, "Have a nice day..."

The two young shinobi walking out, Naruto almost crushed with the weight of the bags, and Ino sighing with relief. Naruto had a question, and since Ino knew everything about fashions and clothes in Konoha, she would know this one easy.

"Why was that lady wearing that ugly yellow, and the others wearing blue?" Naruto asked her.

"She said the new measurements didn't fit her, and she wanted the company to save some money so they could pay her more, so she kept her old uniform when the store change uniforms. Hey Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"How many sets of clothes you have?"

"Five..."

Ino was thunderstruck. "FIVE!? FIVE!? I WEAR FIVE SETS OF CLOTHES IN TWO DAYS!" she almost screamed,, then dragged him into a nearby clothing store.

~~~

"Ino! What are we doing!?" he yelled as she dragged him through the store, grabbing things from his size.

"I'm just... helping out a friend!" she said enthusiastically, dragging him to the dressing room and almost literally throwing him in. "Try those on!" she said, before sitting down and waiting.

There was a few bumping noises, and Ino called out, "You okay?" A muffled response, and she sighed. She heard the lock give a little CLICK!, and leaned forward eagerly...

Naruto was arrayed in a pair of black jeans, a black leather jacke with a crimson t-shirt under it, and a black headband. His hair was swirled over his eyes to give him a dangerous look, and the little grin he gave perfected the look. Ino thought, 'This day just keeps getting better and better... who'd've thought that Naruto, of all people, could look hot..."

Ino was only minorly flustered at this, though, and sent him back in after clapping a little.

~~~

An hour later they were done, and Naruto was staggering under the weight of his double load of food and clothes, with Ino carrying omne box of eggs. "Why aren't YOU carrying anything?" he asked her pointedly.

"I'm a girl, dumbass," With that, her firt and his head met for the first time. Meanwhile, a younger boy was watching the two...

"What's Naruto-nii-chan and crazy forehsead girl's friend doing together? This is a job for - KONOHAMARU CORPS! Umm... Oh no, Udon and Moegi are waitng, I'm late!" And with that, he disappeared.

~~~

And so endeth Chp. 2!

Is this better? I'm hoping... If you like Naruto clothes shopping scenes, check out Sakura and Shino's in Kagezuchi's "Butterflies"... It's cool...

Should I continue this? I'm enjoying myself... Are they OOC in thois chp.? I get the feeling....

- Konoha Jounin, Alden signing out!