Chapter 223
INO
"Someone's excited," Ino teases with a beautifully easy smile.
"Yeah, Karin and I are going over some clan stuff," Naruto explains before asking, "what's up?"
He pauses at the sight of the beautiful blond in her casual royal purple thigh-high skirt that matches her purple, wide-strapped, buttoned crop top that meshed with her long white gloves. He instantly understood, 'easy to take off,' however, her face wasn't blushing like she usually does with impromptu visits. Nor was she looking at him with hungry, sensual eyes.
Naruto's obvious gazing was interrupted with Ino's embarrassed, "what are you looking at?"
Standing straighter, he smiles broadly as he happily answers, "you."
It's such a simple answer but adding to it his bold blue eyes and self-assured posture and a blushing Ino twists a little in place. She can feel her body soften under his gaze and shakes her head when the physical memory of their arousing time together raises her heart rate. After a few weeks without him and carefully managing her cravings with her toy, Ino felt confident these flashes of sexual arousal wouldn't happen, but here she is, getting wet just by being in his presence. It's humiliating for someone with her mental fortitude, but that only adds to her excitement.
Shaking her head to physically clear away the sex-provoking thoughts she contends, "I'm here to see my friend, not my… I thought you might want to hang out." Spotting the red hair coming up behind him, she responds before he can, "but I can see you're busy."
Peering Karin over his shoulder, Naruto waves away Ino's reservation. "It's okay. We were just waiting for visiting hours before we see Iruka-sensei. Do you want to come? He should be out any day now."
Smiling seems to only enhance Ino's beauty as she nods before saying, "I'd love to."
"Hi," Karin says from behind Naruto, adding with a bow, "I'm Uzumaki Karin, which you'd know if my cousin had any manners."
"Sorry, sorry," Naruto expresses with a chuckling grin. "Karin-chan, this is Yamanaka Ino."
"Hi, it's nice to officially meet you and welcome to Konoha," Ino responds, returning her own bow. Karin expresses her gratitude before Ino asks, "I hope I'm not intruding?"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
"No, of course not," Karin returns shaking her head. "Except for Naruto and Haku, I don't really know anyone here."
"If it's alright with you, I'd love to take you shopping," Ino proposes with an easy smile before adding, "I know all the best spots with the cutest outfits."
"Really," Karin gasps happily, though, after a second she realizes she has no funds here, nor does her cousin seem to make much. Naruto and Haku seem to pool their income to support themselves. Haku has even told her that Naruto works several jobs to make enough to buy ninja gear. Considering the amount of funds their clan needs to become official, Karin smiles weakly as she admits, "um, well, I'd love to, but, there's still so much to do. Would it be okay if we go at a later date?"
"Of course,"
Turning to her with a curiously quirked brow, Naruto asks, "but don't you need to buy things?"
Karin squints her eyes while she smiles a fake smile as she wraps a stiff arm around Naruto's neck and tells the beautiful blond girl, "just give us a second." Karin pulls Naruto back inside a few steps as she whispers to Naruto, "did you forget we have to spend a lot of ryō—that we don't have—on buying property? I have everything I need, so I don't need to go shopping."
"But if there's something you want, I can pay for you," Naruto argues. "I want you to be comfortable here."
"I am," Karin responds. "Being here is already a hundred times better than where I came from. And when we establish our clan, it'll be even better."
"…Alright," Naruto concedes. "But don't hesitate to ask if you need anything. We're family, which means we're in it together."
Returning to an inquisitive Ino, the Uzumakis apologize for stepping away, to which Ino asks, "is everything alright?"
After they assure her it is, the triplet take a leisure walk to Konoha's Hospital to visit a good man. Iruka is cheerful to see his former students and Karin again and it made them all happy to see him maneuver himself onto his wheelchair without assistance. As Naruto drives the wheelchair, the sensei is amazed to hear everything that happened during the Chūnin exams. From Ino and Karen's experience to Naruto's victory over Sasuke.
"I'm so proud of all of you," Iruka gushes.
"Why? Karin-chan and I didn't even make it into the final test," Ino argues.
"But you tried your best, which is all we can ask for," Iruka argues. "Don't forget, Neji-kun is a taijutsu specialist, a year older than you and the Rookie of the Year. Consider this moment a great learning experience that can help you locate areas of your training you can focus on."
"There's no short cut if you want to be the best," Naruto advocates, to which Iruka whole-heartedly agrees.
"I think I have enough to focus on with our clan," Karin casually admits. "Speaking of," Karin voices stepping ahead of the pace to turn, and while walking backward, ask the man, "I was hoping I can ask you a bit about how we can establish our clan? I read some of your books, but I could use a little more focus. It's a lot of information."
Adding a slant to his neck, Iruka answers, "I know some of what's involved, so I'm certain I can help, but I'm curious. Have you spoken to any clans about this?"
"Uh, like me," Ino interjects raising her hand. Turning to Naruto, Ino asks, "why didn't you ask me? I can always ask tou-chan if I don't know something."
"Really," Karin asks, before turning to Naruto. "I thought you didn't know any clans."
Feeling blitzed by the questions directed at him, Naruto tries, "I- wait," before pausing and recounting to Karin, "you asked if I knew any clan heads, which I don't… other than Ji-chan."
Karin slinks her shoulders wearily while Ino proclaims, "I can still help." Moving to bump Naruto's shoulder, Ino suggests, "how about you, Karin-chan, and Haku-kun have dinner at my place tonight? You can ask tou-chan anything you want."
Looking pleasantly pleased, Karin asks, "really?"
"You mean it," Naruto asks.
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